Chapter 55

The next day Lily and Eileen found themselves sitting in a rather empty guild hall, Night and Aida being the only other two around.

Supposedly all the other members were busy today, though Six’s intuition seemed to be putting both him and Lily on edge as they cautiously kept note of their surroundings.

“Are you alright? You’ve been spacing out this entire time.” Aida asks while sitting on the counter in front of them.

Despite the strange situation the fairy was as chipper as ever, seeming to lighten the mood a bit with just her presence.

“Huh? Yeah… just had a lot on my mind is all.” Lily half heartedly replied as she looked at Aida, trying to force a smile that was clearly convincing no one as they all looked a bit more worried.

“Relax, I know you’re probably on edge but nothing is going to happen.” Night chimes in, placing a cup of water on the counter for Lily. “If something were going to happen it sure as hell wouldn’t be in my guild.”

“Right… guess I’m just overthinking things.” Lily replies with a reluctant admittance.

She slowly takes the water and drinks a bit of it before a thought comes to her mind. “Where’s Vonder?”

“Oh he’s preparing some extra resources in case studying the monster goes wrong.” Aida happily explains. “He really took that little accident very personally, it was a hit to his pride as a hunter you know.”

“A hunter?” Eileen asks while looking at Aida with genuine curiosity.

“Hunters are people who specialize in hunting non sentient monsters and those who threaten the realm.” Night begins while giving Eileen her own cup. “Think scary monsters like the one from the woods and cultists.”

“Do people not normally do that?” Eileen asks while looking at Night, clearly not understanding.

“Not normally, even adventurers like us don’t go after threats like that… we normally help with mid level tasks at most, Hunters go after the really dangerous stuff-”

“Vampires, Lords of Darkness, Quarlians, Elder Beasts, that kind of stuff!” Aida says while cutting off Night. “But don’t think they’re some grand heroes, they’ve got a lot of baggage.”

“Like the ghosts haunting them or the augmentations?” Eileen asks nonchalantly, not a hint of remorse or venom lingering in her voice.

She only paused when noticing everyone went quiet.

“You could tell?” Aida asks, a mixture of surprise and horror on her face.

“Of course she could.” Vonder’s voice comes from the entrance as he walks in, a colder look on his face than normal. “This is the infamous Witch from the northernmost village, the one who fled her world in order to escape a horrible fate.”

Eileen seems to go wide eyed at this, moving a bit closer to Lily to hide behind her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to hurt you, nor am I trying to hunt you, just explaining how you know these things.” Vonder says with a sigh as he pauses, slowly bringing one finger up to under his eyes. “It’s her eyes, it’s been well documented that she had the sight of a deity, letting her see stuff that should be impossible to see.”

“You know?” Eileen asks, barely peeking out from behind Lily.

“Of course I do, it's a Hunter’s job to know these things.” Vonder calmly replies before taking his seat. “Your eyes are a gift and could help the world after all.”

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Aida looks between Eileen and Vonder before getting an idea. “Well, why don’t you tell us what you see? Give us a little idea of what you can see?”

Eileen pauses, looking around the room slowly before looking at Lily, her eyes seeking some kind of confirmation.

Lily slowly nods, giving Eileen the confirmation she needed.

Quietly she takes a deep breath before beginning by pointing at Night, focusing on the wolf intently.

Though no one could see it Eileen was analyzing a world of details at that very moment.

In Eileen’s eyes Night’s details were more defined as certain traits came to the surface.

A tint of scarlet red in her golden eyes.

A bloodstained golden pendant hanging heavy around her neck.

A ghostly figure standing behind her, several soon coming into view.

Mirror shards begin floating around her.

Lastly there were two glowing scars, one around her neck and one over her heart.

Eileen’s eyes become sorrowful, her mouth opening but she pauses as she figures out what to say, only being able to squeak out an “I’m sorry.”

Night seems confused for a moment before her eyes widen and she shakes her head a bit. “Nothing for you to be sorry about…”

Aida flies up to Eileen, hoping to cheer her up. “Hey, hey, why don’t you do me next?”

The kid slowly looks up, focusing on Aida intently.

Just as she sees a bunch of flowers begin to form on her, Vonder cuts the group off.

“We get the picture, now the important thing is analyzing this Quarlian.” he says calmly while sliding the mask on the table.

Eileen looks worried as she stares at the mask, seeing plumes of shadows rising from it.

Her discomfort is clear as she retreats back to Lily once more, the older looking down at her with worry.

“It’s fine, everything will be alright.” Six says to Lily as he manifests next to her. “The spirit is trapped and has no way to escape, even examining it won’t release it.”

Lilly glances at Six before sighing and grabbing the mask. “It’s okay Eileen, nothing will happen, I promise.”

Quietly Eileen watches this, seeing the shadows die down at Lily’s touch, much to her surprise it seems to be soothed instead as glimmers of stardust roll over the mask.

Her eyes widen as it glows and calms down, a tiny little spirit hovers above the mask.

“What do you see?” Vonder asks while looking at Eileen.

“A small person made of light!” Eileen says in amazement. “It looks like an elemental!”

“A light elemental… corrupted and forced into this form… that explains some things.” Vonder says as he sighs a bit in frustration. “That tells me all I need to know.”

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Night asks, a bit of sorrow lingering in her voice.

“Not him specifically, but one of his subordinates.” Vonder says while throwing a piece of cloth on the table bearing a crimson symbol.

A wolf’s head with black smoke billowing out of the mouth.

“Garrus, current head of the Beast Lord’s Cult, a dark mage with no equal… and The Dark Lord’s personal assistant.”

“So, Raime’s reach has extended this far…” Aida murmurs while looking at the cloth, a melancholic gaze filling her eyes.

“Raime, The Dark Lord, Garrus… I don’t understand any of this.” Lily sighs as she picks up the mask. “It sounds serious though, super serious if they can make a monster like this.”

“Turning Elementals into abominations is no joke.” Night says sternly, a bit of anger and remorse lingering in her voice. “You lose parts of yourself every time you do, slowly chipping away at your own soul and memories to create nightmarish weapons.”

“Raime is a traitor and conqueror who only wishes to further his own gain.” Vonder says while standing up, focusing on Lily and Eileen. “And if you two are going to encounter him then you need to be ready.”

“What are you going to do?” Lily asks, cautiously standing up now as well.

Vonder crosses his arms, locking eyes with her with a ferocious fire in his eyes. “I’m going to teach you how to fight abominations.”

“To counter the Dark Lord’s regime.”

“To fight like a Slayer.”