A Strange Encounter [Private | Lestacia]

Rima could feel overwhelming exhaustion creeping up on her as she continued to walk forwards. It had been a couple of days since she had gotten any naps in, so she barely had the energy to keep going. However, she had to keep pushing herself to find her purpose in this country, especially after the unexpected split with Diana. It was under very strange circumstances that they had to separate, but hopefully her friend would forgive her for rudely leaving like she did.

The purple haired magician let out a sigh of relief as she finally made it to her destination, a small fishing town known as Luzhi. She had heard that some weird things had been going on in this town, but she wasn't entirely sure if she was going to get involved yet or not. The first thing she saw when she got into town was a large sign that revealed there was an inn nearby. She pulled out her coin purse in a hurry, checking if she had enough money to spend the night and possibly get a warm meal. Sadly she only had enough for the meal, making this another night she'd have to spend sleeping outside. "This blows..." she said under her breath, sitting down on the ground getting her stockings dirty. "I miss Diana..."

---

Headless Caster:

Set:

Lestacia had been traveling for quite a while around Kou. Cyrex had been carrying her around with her. She loved the giant. It helped her get places but it was also pretty docile. Cyrex was more of a pacifist although he never said anything. She happened upon the small town of Luzhi while traveling and decided to stop by. It was getting pretty late and she was getting tired.

Cyrex let the girl down as she looked for a place to stay. The inn was the most advertised place and she found it with great ease. She patted Cyrex's leg. "I don't want you to sleep out here alone but it doesn't seem as though you'd fit inside. Sorry Cyrex, find a nice spot in the forest to sleep tonight and I'll call you later. Night Cyrex!" The golem walked away from the girl and disappeared into the foliage away from the town. The young magician turned back around towards the inn and walked inside. She bought a room for the night but went to explore outside however there seemed to be a purple haired woman sitting outside. She was beautiful however it looked as if she were having some trouble.

Lestacia parted the hair from her eyes and bent over a little bit. "I'm sorry to bother you, but are you okay by any chance? You seem a little... distraught."

Love:

Cyrex:

Rima was slightly startled by the sudden gentle voice that came from behind her. She twisted her head immediately and moved her hand towards her Headless Caster, just in case she needed to defend herself. The built up tension from Rima's defensive maneuver completely went up in the air as her eyes finally focused on the orange haired woman that had snuck up on her. "Oh...yeah. I'm fine..." she said nervously, getting slightly red in the face. "I just got a bit upset after remembering something." The purple haired magician then picked herself up, took her hand off her wand's hilt, and dusted some of the dirt that got on her stockings. "My name is Rima by that way, what's yours?" Rima said, outstretching her hand to the stranger while bearing a gentle grin on her face.

Rima wasn't entirely sure if she could trust this newcomer. Something about her just seemed kind of off for some reason. She'd play along for now though, maybe she'd even be willing to go half and half for a nice meal at the inn. The thought of actual home-cooked food caused her stomach to rumble and roar.

"Well Rima it's a pleasure to meet you I'm Lestacia." Lestacia held her hand out to shake Rima's. As their hand shake proceeded she heard a loud rumbling sound coming from Rima's direction. The young strawberry blonde giggled while holding love at her back. "Well your stomach seems as if it's screaming for help. Come in i'll buy you something to eat." Lestacia gestured toward the woman. She was in fact hungry too, not as hungry as the female but just about. "Come on what do you say? Let me treat you, Magician to Magician." She assumed the girl was a magician by the looks of her wand. It was a safe assumption, wouldn't save her from being wrong but it was safe.

Parting the hair from her face once more she gave Rima a reassuring look that she had meant the girl no harm. It was a warm and gentle smile. She often smiled like this when helping other people. However she did want something in return, she wanted to know about the woman. Why was she here? Why didn't she have enough for the inn? Or to be much more frank. Who was she? Was she a good person? Was she bad? Was she strong? Lestacia wanted to ask all these questions and more however she kept her cool and played it calm while waiting for the woman to answer.

Rima gave the strawberry blonde a quick black-lipped smile and nod. "That'd be fantastic! However, is there something you'd want in return? I don't have much..." Rima said, looking at the ground now. It was obvious this young girl didn't have any bad intentions, but something was still off about her. Even though Rima couldn't figure out what it was just yet, she decided to play along anyways. The magician bent down to pick up her quite heavy bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Let's get going! I'm starving~"

Rima was quite impatient and wanted to fill her stomach with delicious food as soon as possible, so she proceeded to walk towards the Inn before Lestacia even had a chance to respond. "I wonder if they have anything made with eggs...Diana loves eggs!" she said cheerfully, bursting through the Inn door. She placed her hand over her eyes as if she were scouting out the room. "Let's sit over there!" she said, pointing towards an isolated part of the room that had three vacant seats. Again, she wasn't paying much attention to the magician that had actually offered her the food, she instead had continued to walk towards the spot she pointed towards and sat down, now patiently waiting for Lestacia to take a seat with her.

Lestacia nodded her head. "Well since it's safe to assume you're a magician like I am, all I want is information on how you use your magic really. There are so many things that I can't learn while being stuck in Magnostadt." Soon Lestacia's stomach growled and the girl made  a great suggestion to head back inside to eat. Lestacia headed inside with the girl and waited for Rima to pick a table. She followed close behind her and sat across from the woman.

"So tell me exactly who is Diana? By the sound of it, you must care about that person a lot."

Rima tapped her black nails against the table until Lestacia finally took a seat. She gave the strawberry blonde a quick look-over, trying to get a better view on what kind of person she was. "I'm not really sure if my kind of magic would really suit you...From the looks of it, you are someone who likes to protect her allies, correct?" Lestacia wouldn't have much time to respond as a well-groomed man walked up to the table, asking the two what they'd like to eat.

"I'll take a big bowl of stew and some fresh bread if you've got it." Rima said to the man giving him a warm smile, and waiting for Lestacia to order before she continued to talk. "Anyways, I might be able to give some tips and pointers, if you're looking for something like that. Oh, and sorry about that. Diana is a dear friend of mine, I just happen to think about her a lot."

As the magicians sat down for a meal and maybe more leisurely talk, a boy named Sollas stumbled in the room with his head down. At first glance, he seemed like a normal little boy, but his lips constantly moved and he wore tattered clothing with dark stains in them. Those around him would notice he was having a one-sided conversation with himself, or perhaps with some inner demon, and thought him to be strange. The boy, on the other hand, paid them no mind as he roamed around the room, eventually walking toward the two magicians that entered not long before he did. Being so engrossed with his mumblings, he bumped into the chair the woman with blonde hair sat in, causing him to cease his ramblings and stare at her for a moment. “I’m s-sorry,” he stuttered before once again resuming his earlier murmuring.

“No, it was my fault.”

A pause.

“There’s no need for that. They don’t deserve to─” He stopped abruptly and crossed his arms over his chest with clenched fists. “What are you talking about? They look like nice people.”

The boy shook his head and looked at the two magicians, especially the blond he ran into. “Hello. I’m sorry about bumping into you. I wasn’t paying much attention. Are you about to eat?” he asked, now clearly speaking to them.

"Why yes I am." She said in quick reply to Rima's assumption. She was about to start another sentince until a well-groomed man walked up to the table, asking the two what they'd like to eat. Lestacia was just about to order when someone bumped into her chair. They stared at each other for a moment. She looked at the ragged boy in his tattered clothing, he apologized and immediately began having an argument with himself. He then apologized again and asked if they were about to eat.

"Oh don't worry about it! No one was hurt." Lestacia Gave him a friendly smile as well. "We were actually just ordering, foods on me, would you like to join us?" Lestacia pulled out a seat right next to hers and patted the seat. "Don't worry eat to your hearts content it's on me!"

There wasn't much talk between the two magicians right away, but things took a much stranger turn when a creepy little boy bumped into Lestacia. It looked as if he was muttering to himself and all of his clothes were tattered. Rima took a closer look at the tattered clothes, realizing that the dark stains on them could have easily been dried up blood. A cold sweat went down the magician's neck as the boy started to make conversation with the strawberry blonde. 'Who is this kid? Is this town even big enough for a kid as young as him to be abandoned completely? Things just don't add up...' Rima thought to herself while the keeping a close eye on the boy.

Rima then cleared her throat before talking. "Thank you again by the way, I might have starved if it weren't for you." she said, giggling lightly, while also feeling sort of bad considering the newcomer was most likely actually starving. "So, little boy. Do you have any parents? You look like you've been through a lot for someone your age." Rima said, giving the boy a look of concern, while also feeling quite nervous about his appearance. This feeling was strong enough to make the magician keep a very close hand to her Headless Caster.

At the mention of being able to join them by the blonde magician, the boy beamed. “I’d love to! Thank you very much!” He sat in the vacant seat, still wearing that wide, toothy grin, but all around him, the other people in the room whispered at their tables with their eyes glancing and fingers aiming his way. He noticed them all, and took note at how defensive the purple-haired magician was being with her hand near her magical conduit. The boy, however, looked at a menu, his tiny hands cradling his face as his wide eyes scanned the words with interest, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.

His eyes looked up at the purple-haired magician when she spoke. The smile that marked his face mere seconds before vanished, replaced by small frown. “If I did, I don’t remember them,” he replied solemnly. Within his mind’s eye, dark memories flashed in chaotic spurts, but the boy was soon distracted by the menu before him and a smile once again appeared on his face. “Oooh! That sounds yummy! That too!” the boy exclaimed, pointing to all the different items listed. He looked up from his menu a few minutes later to tell the magicians what he wanted. “Can I have some soup and tea? Ooh! And chocolate cake please? Two slices!” One of his hands tugged on Lestacia’s sleeve as the other pointed to the items he picked. Unfortunately, his excitement did not hinder the voice that echoed in his head.

“Look at them,” a voice hissed inside his mind. “Look at how they ridicule you. Everyone here thinks ill of you, of us. Such actions must be punished. Do it. Pass your judgement on these feeble creatures!”

Suddenly, without any warning or reason, about seventy percent of the people in the room, except for Lestacia, Rima, and a few others, fell over, their heads completely gone and blood spewing from their corpses like fountains, staining the surrounding area in liquid crimson. From anyone else’s perspective, the boy had done nothing to cause such a disaster for his hands were visible at the time of the incident, neither hand making any movement that  hinted he cast a spell, and he had no wand to cast such destructive magic.

The boy stared, his face frozen in fright, at the bloody sight that transpired before his very eyes. A blood-curdling scream erupted from the boy's mouth, and he buried his face into the blonde-haired magician, trembling uncontrollably with tears cascading down his face. He didn't seem to know what had happened and was traumatized.

“Good. Now kill these magicians. If you don't they will blame you and harm you. Just look at how the magician with purple hair is acting.”

“No. Don’t. Let’s see how they react. We’ll pass our judgement then.”

He regained some clarity when the second voice chimed within his mind and decided to obey, but still cried and shook with confusion and horror as he held onto the blonde magician.

Lestacia smiled as the boy took the seat and pointed out what he wanted. He was like a kid in a candy store. He was adorable! As the boy pointed out what he wanted Lestacia smiled and nodded in approval, she was about to place hers when something red splattered on her face. Looking to where the red splatter came from the scene seemed to happen in slow motion as everyone's heads stayed suspended in the air a bit then dropped to the floor. Lestacia Gripped Love with one hand and stood up quickly. The scene was like one out of a horror movie. There was blood everywhere. Whatever attacked them might have still been around. The boy began crying and buried his face into Lestacia. She hugged him close and tried to calm him.

"There there it's alright, i'll make sure no one hurts any of us." She pet the boys hair and kept him close. "Hey Rima we should get out of here. At this rate if anyone finds us here they'll assume that we caused this. I can get us out of here quickly so leave transportation up to me." Lestacia Knelt down to the boy and smiled. "Okay I need you to listen to me. We need to act fast okay! We may not be welcome in this town anymore! So let's go and get you to safety!" She held the boy close while still on guard. "Watch out just in case whatever attacked these people may still be around." The pools of crimson red blood started to reach her feet. "Rima is there any other exit besides the front door! We cant walk out of here with this blood everywhere. We'll be pegged with this crime on the spot!"

Rima was slightly unnerved by the boy's response about his parents, but it could have very well been him just not wanting to talk about it. However, Rima's uneasiness started to go down as the boy started to talk about what he wanted on the menu. In that aspect, he had actually reminded Rima of herself back to when she was but a mere child. Her cold expression slowly shifted into a warm smile as she moved her hand away from her wand, back into her lap. "You're quite hungry, aren't you?" the magician said, giggling.

However, things took a sudden turn for the worse when Rima suddenly found herself covered in a thick red substance. The girl's eyes had widened, her bottom lip started to quiver out of fear, and the horrible smell of iron had now covered the entire room. Her eyes began to dart back and forth, trying to figure out what had happened. As she caught sight of the grotesque event that had transpired, horrible memories of the past began to consume her mind. 'Why, why, why?!' she thought to herself. However, the horrible thoughts and her attention to what had happened seemed to disappear, as her eyes focused directly on the boy that was sobbing into Lestacia's arms.

'No, no possible way...he's but a mere child. Sure he's odd, but there's no possible way he could have pulled this off himself. I-' The girl had let out a deep sigh and picked herself up from her seat. In a much more empowered tone of voice, the girl simply said "Grab the child and let's leave. I don't know what happened, and I don't really want to find out either, or else we might end up like them." Rima swiftly commanded Lestacia. The purple haired magician quickly armed herself with her Headless Caster, taking in the black rukh that pulsated from the item.

In reality, the magician's heart throbbed in terror. However, she planned on becoming stronger before she met back up with Diana. She wasn't going to die in this place, nor was she going to cower like some little child. She had faced horrible criminals, and even fought in the coliseum by this point in her life. More importantly, she still had to find the masked man that had killed her brother. If she was going to die anywhere, it would be by that man's hands.

The boy paid close attention to how the magician’s reacted to the sudden gore. The blonde didn’t seem at all concerned with the people who died, nor did she show any signs of fear or confusion. She was like a statue, void of emotion. All she cared about was getting out of the bloodied room so they wouldn’t be blamed. Surely she knew that if they left, the few remaining survivors would think they were behind the massacre since they left so quickly. Or that those outside could blame them on the murders too. Still, she cared about the boy and consoled him, despite the amount of gore before them.

The purple-haired magician, on the other hand, was a bit more rattled. It didn’t pass the boy’s notice that her gaze locked onto him, almost as if she suspected him. He heard the voices in his head argue about whether or not to kill the magician, but he resisted since she didn’t outright accuse him. Yet. Before coming to any solid conclusion, the boy would wait. He wasn’t sure what would happen first: them leaving or town guards storming the bloody room. As it so happened, it was the latter, sort of.

Some guards, two men with red hair, came in, though they weren’t aware of what happened upon entering. They were just there to grab a meal, only to have their appetite gone thanks to the corpses and blood coating the floor. Each scanned the room before their eyes landed on the two magicians, who were standing while holding their wands, and the boy. One guard stayed by the door while the other carefully tread toward the little group.

“I hope you’re not too much in a hurry to leave,” he said, “because I’d like to know what happened here.”

Lestacia froze. What could dshe do in this situation. She knew they were innocent. None of them were murderers...(she hoped). She hugged the boy tighter and reached out to grip Rima's open hand. She was scared. She held out a brave front but as soon as the guards walked in, it broke down revealing the fragile magician that laid behind the bravado. Lestacia would try to speak but no words would come out. She was speechless. "It's okay girl get it together. You're surrounded by friends. The only potential threats here were these guardsmen. If they played it cool they might get past. With a little mental conversation and the closure Lestacia got from gripping Rima's hand gave her a bit of strength.

"We were in a rush yes but not to leave however, but to find you or any other guardsmen! It all happened so sudden..." She clenched Rima's hand tighter she needed her help to tell the story. Whatever they would say sounded completely far-fetched. Hopefully they wouldn't jump to conclusions, if they did however they would have to use force to get out of this. Lestacia held the wand closely and Clutched the boy. "We just came here to have something to eat and get some rest." Lestacia didn't want to have to fight but she held Love Closely and the boy closer. She didn't want anyone to get hurt.

Rima's heart felt like it was going to burst out of her chest due to the fear and confusion growing within her. A cold sweat went down the back of her neck as she heard footsteps coming towards them and the gruesome scene. It was two red-haired guards, who were completely clueless on what had happened. 'What exactly DID happen?' she thought to herself, still trying to piece it all together. Nothing added up, sure the boy was incredibly creepy and strange, but she didn't see him do anything that could have killed the people around them.

“I hope you’re not too much in a hurry to leave,” he said, “because I’d like to know what happened here.”

The magician's eyes focused directly on the guard speaking. Her breath heavy and her body trembling. Her shaking hand was hovering over the Headless Caster that was tucked under the sash around her waist. Something in her mind was telling her to kill these guards. It was the same voice in her head that made her kill all those fighters in the coliseum. 'I'm not going to listen to it, I can't! I've been fighting these feelings back for so long now...why are they still here?' she thought to herself. She wasn't aware at the time, but the amount of Black Rukh around her began to grow in numbers, signaling any nearby magicians of the malice and hatred growing inside of her.

"I don't know, how could I even begin to understand happened? Everything happened too fast." the magician said in a quiet tone of voice, looking down at the blood-soaked floor under her geta.

The boy cowered behind the blonde magician when the guards showed up, obviously still rattled from the incident and not in a trusting mood. He listened to the voices in his head but remained where he was, mentally assessing the situation. He didn’t expect the guards to walk in, but here they were, posing a threat. The boy didn’t know whether to kill them or not, but it was Rima that stopped him. The black rukh was gathering in swarms around her, signaling her hatred and malice. He stared from behind Lestacia, intrigued.

“Is that so?” He grunted, glancing back at his partner who was making sure nobody would leave or enter the scene of the crime. “Well, then… I won’t let you leave until you tell me exactly what happened here.”

The guard looked down at the boy with raised eyebrows. “Who’s the kid? Doesn’t look like he belongs to either of you.” The boy shifted his gaze to the guard as he positioned himself behind the blonde magician once again. The guard, now frowning, wasn’t amused with the kid playing hide and seek. “Who are you, kid?” After the boy failed to answer, the guard reached forward to grab him. Inside the boy's head, he heard a voice telling him to kill the man, but if he did then the two magicians would surely suspect him. So, the boy ran off instead in hopes to get away from the soldiers, his bare feet splashing in the blood as he sprinted toward the entrance the other guard was blocking. The guard by the door, on the other hand, was ready and grabbed the child.

“Let me go!”

The man lift the boy by his dirty shirt. The boy shook his head to which the soldier responded with a rough shake. “Then why are you trying to run away, huh? Who are you, you little brat?”


‘Kill him…’








The boy, his eyes red from crying and wide with fear, struggled. If the magicians answered the guard’s question, things would probably end in a peaceful manner, but if they chose to attack, there was no guarantee everyone would leave without injury.

As the man asked who the kid was Lestacia would begin to answer but he had escaped her clutches and made a break for the door. The guard caught him by the collar however and held him up.

"Let him go! He has nothing to do with this. He just walked in and saw his as we did." Lestacia said looking to the guard angrily. "Let him go now! You wanted to handle this peacefully but you insist on antagonizing." Lestacia pouted and crossed her arms. "How Childish you guards must be to pick on a defenseless child who is obviously innocent." Lestacia was now ignoring the sight from behind her and walked forward towards the guards judging them intensely. "What manner of guards are you that would incite such incompetence. He simply walked in and I treated him to eat out of the kindness of my heart. However my appetite is now lost. The scent of Iron stung her nostrils as the blood continued to seep around the them. "The only reason why we are here is because I am a traveling student from Magnostadt and this woman here is my instructor. She is here to teach me the different various types of magic. She wanted me to experience how people in different countries utilized magic in different ways. Isn't that right Master?" She turned to the purple haired woman and appraoched her. Lestacia's face was stern when looking at the woman. "We were simply passing through town when we got hungry and we were attacked out of the blue. We didn't catch a glimpse of what attacked us but, the person behind us used a magic tool that cut everyone's heads clean off. Luckily my Instructor here spotted this and had us duck as fast as we could. She saved our lives." She looked to Rima softly and hugged her. After releasing the girl from her embrace Lestacia looked to the guards this time. "So can we please leave or discuss this elsewhere. This place and sight are sickening and as traumatized as we are I think it'd be best for us to just be out of this building." Lestacia clutched love tightly. If worse came to worse she would have to fight these guards but, she really didn't want to fight anyone. She really just wanted to leave like everyone else.

The hate-induced trance Rima was under suddenly broke the moment the kid tried to make a run for it. However, the Black Rukh continued to amass around her, granting her a much more menacing aura than normal. Her gaze locked onto the guards who presented themselves in front of her, Lestacia, and the mysterious child. “Listen, neither of us had anything to do with this and obviously the child didn’t either.” She waited a few moments before continuing her train of thought, making sure to listen carefully to the story Lestacia was making up for them on the spot. “She’s correct, though, we only got to Kou a few weeks ago. You see, I owe quite the debt to her father, so I’m teaching his daughter the ways of magic to repay it.” Rima said, giving them a sincere yet eerie smile.

The purple-haired magician put a black-nailed hand up to her heart and took a deep breath. The droning sound of the Black Rukh fluttering about her was enough to give her a small headache, however, the pain wasn’t severe enough to speak up about at the time. Lestacia continued to add to the role that she had made up for them, giving Rima a soft hug in order to try and prove their innocence further. “So, that being said...could you just let us go? The smell of all this blood is making me a bit lightheaded, clearly, we didn’t do anything and the whoever did is long gone by now.”

The longer they waited in the room, the greater Rima’s bloodlust grew. If the guards didn’t let them go soon, she might lose her sanity again like last time. Her original intentions weren’t to kill anyone today, hell she wanted to do her best to prevent that. The biggest issue was Diana wasn’t here to keep her emotions in check, so things could possibly get ugly.