Future of Calamity [Under Rewrite]

Chapter 35 - Real Me

Howling throughout the great walls did winds rove, blighted dark remaining ever so shrill and still above the sleeping city. Stars began dying out in the wake of fading night, yet the solitude and serenity belied this sinful deed. Movement shifted behind shadowed cobble and cement, metal clicking against pavement throughout this vacant plaza.

"Stealing a malak from an exorcist... How did you pull that one off, Magilou?"

Uncaring of their clear words through this haunted dark, the band of evildoers trekked the grand centre with the mutterings about this long and winded night crept on.

"Bienfu was my malak to begin with. Then, he betrayed me and ran away from his rightful home." Gleaming with horrendous mischief, those viridescent eyes glanced on towards the hovering malakhim that nervously inched away. Springing forth from the woman's clutches, a waterfall of tears streamed from the Normin's buttoned eyes as he leapt onto the nearest refuge: nestling worriedly into a soft head of white.

"Nnghh... Miss Magilou treats malakhim so bad-bad-bad... I couldn't take it anymore!" Hand cloaked in cloth, plucked the shuffling malak from his own hair, holding the feline-esque creature with an uncomfortable gaze. "After a little while, I came across Madam Eleanor. She was soooo much nicer to me!" The huing red painting over the malak's cheeks at his explanation only served to weird the half-breed out even more.

"I see, I see..." The lowly and conniving tone sent a shiver up Bienfu's back, before he was suddenly plucked from the safety of Sarid's wary grasp and tightly bound in a vice grip. "Now, how am I going to punish you for THAT little slander on my character?" Magilou irritably remarked, thrusting a rough finger into the cat's cheek.

"Bieeeen! The bad-bad days are here agaaaain!"

"You're an exorcist, then." Velvet's cold statement caught attention, and the Witch's torment upon the creature halted for the moment.

"Bzzzt! I'm a witch, silly! Bienfu here is the catalyst-thingies for my magic!"

"But only exorcists can form a pact with malakhim."

"Oh yeah? Says who? Someone who likes making dumb rules?"

A grisly growl of irritation came once again, and Rokurou simply shook his head to dissuade the attempt. "Enough, Velvet. Questioning HER is a good way to go mad."

Sarid's exhausted massage of his temple was evident at the Witch's side, "As if we haven't been driven there already..."

Soon after, the chilling bite of the everlasting dark was cleansed, brushed away by the soothing warmth and cozy atmosphere emitted from that of the tavern they so frequently found themselves in. And, even through these hours of waging and action, Tabatha the tavern owner remained comfortably awaiting their return at the bar.

"You did the job well, it seems," she began at the ravenette's approach, commending their efforts.

"You heard quickly."

"That's about all I'm good for. And with these old ears, sometimes it's hard to hear at all."

"And did you hear anything about the 'key' for passing through the barrier?"

"Yes. Only the high-ranking exorcists can enter through the barrier protecting Artorias and his temple." The lady's silver stare leapt from each of the full malakhim standing in the room. "An exorcist is considered high-ranking if they are accompanied by at least four greater malakhim."

Rokurou's hum of thought interrupted the spew of information. "So, if we had four powerful malakhim with us, we could slip through."

"But malakhim outside the Abbey's control are rare," Eizen interjected, "They thought this through."