Prelude to the Festival and Miracles | Chapter 3

[healingbonds]

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(Woosh)

Faust: So this is where the ancient Eastern temple lies...

Nero: A village in the corner of the dark blue mountains.... Guess this is the right place according to the map Snow and White gave us, but....

Shino: Are there really people living out here?

Faust: There are plenty of water sources. The ground is damp, and there's a small waterfall over there. So long as there's water, humans can live here.

Heathcliff: But... It's not very clean water. ...It smells weird... Like rotting carcasses....

(Screech)

Akira: ....!? What was that....

Shino: It sounded like a scream. A human's, or an animal’s.....

Faust: No.

Akira: Faust....

Faust: ....Be careful. The humans here are used to killing wizards.

Akira: Used to killing wizards....?

Shino: ....That’s ridiculous. How could humans....

Nero: Shh... something's coming....

Heathcliff: ...... I can't sharpen my senses.... I can't tell what's coming....

Akira: ...! Heath, you look ill.

Heathcliff: Something is weird... Usually, I can tell if someone's a human or a wizard when they approach....

Shino: It's just an animal. I'll go check.

Faust: Shino. Don't move on your own.

Shino: You're all letting your nerves get the better of you. That's why the Northern guys look down on us. Let's finish this off before they arrive....

(Rustling sounds)

Shino: ....!

A black shadow appears right before Shino’s eyes.
Faust makes himself invisible and reaches out towards Shino in an instant. He grabs Shino’s arm and stands in front of him, as if to protect him.
The figure who appears in front of them is a boy, around the same height as Shino.
Maybe he was working on something. He's covered in dirt and smells like blood. His blue eyes stand out on his soot-covered face.

Boy: ...Ah....

Faust: ....A child....

Shino: See, I told you. You're all overreacting.
Are you a kid from a nearby village?

Boy: ...I am, but... Who are you....?

Shino: We're the Sage’s wizards. I'm the Eastern wizard Shino. That's the Sage. And Heathcliff, Faust, and Nero.

Boy: ....The Sage’s wizards...?

Shino: You don't know about us? You really are a country bumpkin. Whatever. Can you guide us to the village?

Faust: You don't need to guide us there. Just tell us where it is.

Shino: Faust.

Faust: I'll explain later. —You, please tell us.

The boy hunches his shoulders, as if in fear. He points to the top of the bare mountains.

Boy: That way... If you keep going, there's a lake, and if you keep climbing, you'll see the village church.

Faust: Got it. Thank you.

The boy nods and tries to turn away. But then he stops and stares, as if mesmerized by something.
It's Heathcliff. Heathcliff notices him and smiles, though his face is pale.
The boy looks surprised, as if chills have been sent down his spine, and he disappears into the dark blue mountains.

Nero: Haha... He looked like he had just seen an angel. ...Heath. Are you all right?

Heathcliff: I'm fine... I think the strange smell and the screaming sounds are making me feel gloomy....

Shino: Let's hurry to the village and rest. This is why we should've just followed him.

Faust: Wizards use magic with their hearts. If their hearts are disturbed, they can't perform magic like usual.

Faust peers worriedly into Heathcliff’s face, and quietly mutters.

Faust: Humans, wizards, animals — the same things disturb all their hearts. The stench of carcasses, and the screams of death.

Shino: Screams of death? That back there?

Faust: That's the sound of a flute. It's called the flute of death, made to sound like a dying person’s screams.
It's a tool used to exhaust wizards’ minds. The humans used it against me when I fought them. Heath, close your eyes.

Heathcliff closes his pale eyelids in response. Faust touches his forehead and utters a spell.

Faust: << Satillquinart Mullcreed >>

Heathcliff exhales. I think he looks a tiny bit better.

Heathcliff: The smell and sound are more distant now... Thank you, Mr. Faust.

Faust: I just numbed your senses. Make sure it doesn’t numb your response to danger. Sage, you too.

Faust’s palm approaches my face, and I close my eyes.
While I’m distracted by the gentle fragrance of perfume coming from his hands, the disturbing sounds and smell grow distant.

Akira: Ah... I do feel a bit better. Thank you, Faust. Nero, are you and Shino all right?

Nero: For now, yeah. I'm pretty sensitive too, so it's kind of rough, but....

Faust: Same goes.... Eastern wizards are sensitive to their surroundings, after all. Shino, how about you?

Shino: I'm fine.

Faust and Nero look at Shino, impressed. It’s true; Shino really does look fine.
Shino takes a step towards the mountains, sniffs, and squints his sharp eyes.

Shino: The stench of carcasses and the screams of death are where I was born. They were where I crawled and wandered about until I arrived at Blanchett.

Heathcliff: Shino....

Shino: For me, they're just some old friends. Let's go.

✦✧ ☾✧✦

(Screeching)

As we climb, the smell of rotting carcasses grows stronger, and the screams of death grow in frequency.
I think I would’ve gotten ill were it not for Faust’s spell.

Akira: (I didn't realize that sound and smell could influence your heart so much.... And this dark scenery.... It feels like an abandoned and forgotten graveyard....)
(Whoosh)
(It's dark, lonely, and depressing... Even the naked trees shaking in the wind look like they're cursing something....)

Chapter 2 << | index | >> Chapter 4