Myrlin Samael Wyllt
Jade came bursting into the gaming room while the rest of us kids were keeping ourselves entertained. She had this, worried and panicked look on her face, almost as if she were in a hurry, "hey kids! What do you say we play a game of hide-and-seek?" Her voice had a shaky tone, "everyone in this room has to hide, otherwise we all lose…"
There was an unusual melancholy that didn't sit right with neither me or Nerva. I paused the game we were playing and directed my attention to our elder, "Jade, what's going on?" I asked, being sure I didn't break eye contact with her.
There was a bead of sweat racing down the side of her face, "what do you mean, Little MurMur, there's nothing wrong at all!" She quickly scratched her head, "I just think this game would be a lot of fun!"
There was no questioning it, she was hiding something from us; she only ever calls me that when she wants to keep me in the dark, and there was no point in arguing with her to tell the truth, but that didn't mean I still didn't try, "we're smarter than the adults give us credit for, ya'know?"
The look on our cousin's face sank as her eyes swelled with tears, "oh Your Highness," she dropped to her knees, "Big Sis Ruby told me to keep you all safe, but I can't, I haven't faintest idea of what's going on outside and even if I did, I'm afraid my signature is only good for movement." Her eyes looked like the moon sitting on a rippling bed of water beneath her tears. I looked to my siblings and they looked just as confused and grief stricken as Jade.
It was clear that I was the only one that could help us in a situation like this, I only wish that my mother and Rubella were here with us, that way I could make sure we could all escape. "Big Sis," I walked over to her and reached my hand out, "don't worry, I've got a plan." I gave my cousin a smile, a big ol' toothy smile, stretching from ear to ear. My cousin looked up at me, and as if she'd never been crying, she gave me and my siblings a heart melting smile that helped rid the despair that had plagued them.
I gathered everyone in the carriage and explained the basics of my Temporal Stasis, giving them the ins and outs of how the ability functions and how long I can stay in suspended time.
"So you can use it five times a day?" Monspeed raised a hand, "that doesn't sound like a lot, and sixty seconds is too short!"
He wasn't entirely wrong with his observation, but it was clear my younger brother didn't understand how increased perception works; I mean, I don't expect any kid to understand it to be honest.
"Just know that when we're in the frozen world, time moves slowly, isn't that right, MurMur?" Nerva asked, signaling me to respond.
"Exactly," I stated, "and the one minute spent in the Chamber is equal to about two and a half weeks in the real world. Meaning, I'm going to use it twice to get us prepared for what's to come."
Everyone in the carriage looked around with confused faces, "and what're we preparing for?" Nerva raised a hand.
"Our 'Get Back'!" I smiled deviously. I wasn't sure what was going on outside, but I did know that we were in no position to retaliate in the state we were in. The only real option we had was to get stronger, and I just so happened to have an ability that would allow us to at least an edge up in this situation.
THUD—! THUD—! THUD—!
Suddenly, from outside the carriage, we could hear what sounded like three heavy sacks being thrown on the ground. That doesn't sound good, I thought.
"What was that?" Meliodas asked, making his way to a nearby window. Thinking quickly, I tackled my youngest brother to prevent him from blowing our cover. It was clear by Jade's reaction and the lack of information that we were in the middle of an ambush.
Jade looked to me with the same worried expression as before, "what's your plan, MurMur?" I looked around and all my siblings and Jade looked to me as if I had all their answers. I mean, I did say I had a plan, and I intended to make it a reality.
"Everyone, gather around," I said as I made my way over to Boudicca to pick her up, "make sure you have a hand on me, it's super important. Otherwise you'll get left behind, and as much as I'd like to stay back and wait for you, in this situation, I'm afraid we can't do that."
My brothers seemed concerned at first, but after Nerva agreed to the conditions without hesitation, they immediately followed suit. The three of them, and Jade, each placed a hand on me; I wasn't entirely sure if I could even pull off what I was about to attempt, but I went ahead and dove in feet first, "Stasis!"
There was a stillness in the air, as the sounded quickly damped and eventually ceased altogether. The life, such as plants and animals all throughout the forest that surrounded us became completely grayscaled and lack any color. I looked to my family and everyone was accounted for, they were amused by the ability and wanted to know how it worked. As much as I'd liked to divulge in the intricatcies of my signature, I reminded them that we were in this space for a reason.
"It may seem like we have a lot of time here," I began, setting Bo aside, "but the fact is, we don't. While we're in this Chamber, I want each of us to hone our abilities to help us get out of stick situations, and worse case scenario, defend ourselves if necessary." I looked over to my brothers and sister, my main concern is exactly what everyone's signatures are. I thought, Unlike me and Nerva, Speed and Mel hadn't gone through an awakening yet.
Meliodas lifted his hand and in his palm, swirled visible wind, "Big Bro, I had an awakening two days ago." His expression was somewhat blank and indifferent, but I could tell that he was proud of himself for it. "I have a wind signature called Ariael Ace, it's a combative enhancement type, giving me a speed boost and increased magical attack power." I was thoroughly impressed at how much he knew about the skill.
"Whoa! You got your awakening too?!" Monspeed leaned over Mel's shoulder, "me too! I accidentally burned down an old outhouse near the woods of the manor!" My brother erupted in a big belly laugh.
"Well that's a relief," I sighed, picking Bo back up, "I was worried that one of you hadn't awakened; but that's not a concern anymore! For now, let's head to the roof and see if we can escape somehow." Everyone nodded their heads and we began our way to the roof of the carriage.
Once there, we had a chance to see the full picture of the horror that had Jade in such a panic; and my hunch was correct, we'd be stopped by a group of lizardman bandits. Getting a good look at the numbers, I saw thirty-three of them still standing. The majority of the lizardmen seemed scrawny and a bit malnourished; however, the one in the middle, the leader, was anything but. He was a hulking, monster of a lizardman, he had scars covering his body that looked slightly infected, and his pale scales scerected a thick mucus, that I'm sure didn't have a pleasant smell.
"Kids, there's a ladder over here," Jade called out, "we can escape this way, into the forest to take cover!" We followed her lead and made our way through the dense foliage and after a few meters, we found ourselves in a clearing.
"Is Mama and Rubella gonna be okay? MurMur, we have to go back!" Nerva cried, "we can't just leave them alone back there!"
As much as I wanted to, there was nothing I could do to help them, I was limited to using Temporal Stasis five times a day and I've already dedicated two of those times for our training. And even if I had more opportunities to use it, there's still the problem of using it in front of our attackers. As much as they didn't want to hear it, the rest of them eventually agreed with my reasoning.
"For the next, what will feel like two and a half weeks," I began, "you each will train and master your signatures to the best of your abilities, and once that's done, we'll spend the following two weeks developing a strategy to rescue Mom and Rubella." I looked to my siblings, each of them had a blazing fire in their eyes, and I was determined to burn down the jungle of despair our foes manifested.
Rubella Les Fleurs Préceueses
Her Majesty scribed a wind barrier around me and as she finished, she leaped from the carriage to my side; we had our backs against each other as we were surrounded by the enemy, "M'Lady, perhaps we can take a few out together," I whispered, "I'll hinder them, and you deal the final blow." The combo was a gamble, but that was the only option that made sense in a time like this.
"Ideally, I'd have my accordion or my harmonium in situations like this," Her Majesty began, "the multiple keys allows for not only targeting multiple opponents, but also allows me to maintain a steady Embara output; however, I've only got my mandolin… I should be able to make do with that."
Her Majesty's signature is called Silk Songstress, its treasured within the Les Fleurs Précieueses family, making her the absolute perfect Bard. Her talents don't stop there, in our homeland of Jigoku, before becoming a Micko, Her Majesty would use her magic to not only entertain the masses as an idol, but also protected the land with that same magic; she was the very definition of power.
She took her dowel and began scribing her name, ever so gracefully in the air, and as she did, a thin thread manifested beside her. Without hesitation, Her Majesty reached towards the thread, and as if the thread were a piece of fabric, Her Majesty, The Empress, my cousin, stuck her hand behind the fabric of reality and from that invisible world, she pulled out the finest mandolin I'd ever seen. The base was made with the wood of Dartaani Sea Oak and it had Sidhean runes carved into its face. Our attackers each wore a puzzled expression as she started to strum the instrument.
"Hey Boss Ringo!" One of the men shouted, "she thinks she can fight us with a lute—!" And just like that, the once talkative lizardman snapped and his body contorted into grotesque position. Unbeknownst to our foes, Empress Twyla's signature not only gives her the ability to play every instrument, but if her intended target speaks during her performance, she'll then gain absolute dominion over them. She calls this…
"Aspect of Songs: Silk Songstress Signature: Idol Worship!" Her Majesty breathed life into her spell as fourteen of the thirty-three men each contorted the same way as the first. Their boss quickly covered his ears and flicked his tongue several times to communicate with the remainder of his men. It didn't matter though, once the Empress has someone trapped in her web of songs, the only release is death itself.
The remaining lizardmen regrouped as Her Majesty's song was coming to a close. The battlefield was set with a more even, albeit slightly unbalanced, but even nevertheless.
"H-how… M-may… W-we, serve y-you, Silk Songstress?" Each of the possessed lizardmen prostrated themselves.
"Oh, so you're the Silk Somgstress?" Boss Ringo snickered, "ya'know, I'm something of a big fan of yours. Actually, the village I'm from love music so much that we learned how to weaponize it, just like you…"
Her Majesty's eyes widened with disbelief, "I've heard whispers of a tribe of barbarians crafting a weapon that uses sound to crush their enemies, tell me, do you come from this deplorable group of Majin?"
Boss Ringo scaly smile grew more menacing as he reached for the weapon tied to his back. It looked like some sort of two pronged dull fork, hardly the intimidating weapon; however, I would be lying if I said that Her Majesty shared the same thought process. It seemed like she knew exactly what the object was, and when she fully proposed what the weapon was, there was a loud and explosive ring that caused all of the empress's men to collapse, us included. There was a heaviness in the air that weighed us down, almost as if we were beneath a mountain.
As the pressure continued, I saw the leader direct some of his men inside the carriage; however, upon their return, it would appear that the children and Jade were nowhere to be found. I was at least relieved that they weren't near to witness what just happened.
SCUFFLE— SCUFFLE—…
As the ringing stopped, some nearby foliage began to rustle behind the carriage, that's odd, I thought, wildlife usually retreats to safety when combat is present. One of our pursuers snickered as he went to investigate the noise; however, after a moment or two, he'd let out a blood curdling scream.
"Dagon. Belinda. Go see what's up," the leader commanded, "as for you two, you're coming with me. I may not be able to indoctrinate your kids, but that don't mean I can't try with you, and I have plenty of methods of teaching." He licked Her Majesty's cheek.
If I weren't pinned down and out of Embara, I'd shove the slimy tongue up your rear end! I was fuming, as one of Emperor Olodunosuke's Battle Maids, I've disgraced not only his name, but the name of The Treasured Flowers for allowing Her Majesty to be defiled like this.
"I'm not too worried," Her Majesty struggled to force a smile, "did you forget this forest is in my domain? And wherever my domain is, he too holds dominion over it…"
Boss Ringo squinted his beady eyes, "and just who would you be referring to?"
With all her strength, the empress lifted her upper body up to meet the man at eye level, "Garyūshi Olodunosuke, The Golden Dragon Emperor." The boss's breathing became labored as his eyes darted around, looking at the remaining men, "I pray your end is a merciful one, for I know, that man can and will return you from the dead one hundred times over, all for inconveniencing me. So, imagine what he'll do to you knowing you went and did this…"
SMACK—!
The leader backhanded the empress, to which she laughed in his face. He instructed his men to restrain us and to execute the men Her Majesty was able to gain control over.
"We're done here for now," Boss Ringo stated, "Dagon and Belinda are looking for the runts and in the meantime, we'll head back to base so I can make this report. I ain't got time to be worried about some coward emperor."
The empress and I were roughly escorted through the woods until we made our way to a massive abandoned armory. The air smelled fowl and there was a grime that sat on the Embara in the area, that it made it hard to breathe properly. Once inside the building, we were thrown in a cell with a young imp boy who looked to be no older than Myrlin.
"Hi, do you have a name?" Her Majesty asked with what little strength she had, "would you like a hug?" She reached her hands out towards the boy. He was hesitant, but after a few moments, he'd eventually found himself cradled in her arms.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle underneath a pile of loose hay. "What's this?" I asked as I picked up the object, and as if it were a priceless gem, the boy pounced out of Her Majesty's arms and tried ripping it out of my hands, and because of the sudden scare, I ended up dropping the thing and it landed in front of the empress.
She picked it up and opened it, "it's a locket—," her words came to a halt as she examined the inside of the locket. Crawling on all fours, Her Majesty approached the young boy and reached her arms out yet again, "come, you need a mother, yes? Let me be that mother."
Still a bit apprehensive, the boy inched closer to her as she gentle caressed his cheek, "your new name is Iniko; Iniko Wyllt, and you are my son," Her Majesty declared. There was a brilliant white that surrounded him, and the once impish boy that we had the pleasure of sharing this cell with, looked more like a healthy adolescent dragonman.
"Your Majesty, what would Emperor Olodunosuke think of this? You don't know this child!" I lectured; that was Her Majesty's only fatal flaw, she just has to see the good in everyone.
"I-Iniko…" the boy spoke, "Iniko Wyllt, my name is Iniko Wyllt—wait, I can speak?!"
Dagon
"Gaaaaaah! All these damn leaves and branches!" I screamed, "the hell is a desert lizard doing in the damn forest?!?"
SWINK—! SWINK—!
"Would you quit your whining?" Belinda snapped, "they couldn't have gotten far—hey look! I'm sure that's one of them!" She pointed ahead, an she was right, the kid looked to barely be ten years old, practically a toddler, stumbling around; however, as quickly as we spotted him, the kid bolted left.
"A game of cat and mouse, eh?" I smirked, "I'm always down for a good hunt!" Belinda and I nodded and perused the little twerp. As we did, I noticed the light from the sun suddenly vanished, and the air started to warm up. "Hey Belinda, something don't feel right…"
"Look!" She interrupted, "he's just ahead!"
The boy stood in the middle of a clearing with a light shining down on him, almost as if he were waiting for us. "Belinda, I don't like this…"
THWIP—! THWIP—! THWIP—!
Suddenly, shadow like tendrils shot out of the ground pinned both Belinda and I to the ground. The boy slowly started levitating towards the light, "You two aren't very bright, are you? You walked right into a trap, don't you notice the sun disappearing? How it was getting harder to breathe from the lack of breathable air?"
This fucking brat! I sneered, you have the audacity to look down on me??
"Mel, hurry up!" I looked up and saw a few more people peeking into the light hole, "only way out is up! Speed's gotta light the furnace!"
"Coming MurMur!" The boy they call Mel shouted, "real quick, before I go, this information won't do you any good, but I'm feeling generous; you're currently inside a structure made entirely out of sand and is reinforced with shadows. As you were chasing me around in here, me and my big brother MurMur were siphoning away the oxygen in here. And if you were still kicking, then we'd have Monspeed set the place ablaze as I make my exit with the last bit of breathable air!"
Who the hell were these kids?! Neither I or Belinda had ever come across anyone as cunning as these kids, and they were just that KIDS! The boy zipped out of the structure as a flickering light was tossed in his place, and in an instant the mostly dark enclosure we'd found ourselves in had become a fiery, nightmarish scene.