Tools and parts, Marina had to remember their goal in searching through the slums.
It wasn't because they had forgotten their purpose for going there… But because it was hard to think about anything when at every corner, death awaited them with wide and open arms.
It scared her, honestly.
To watch the place that she had grown up in fall apart like this. The many people she would have normally smiled and waved at, gone.
Just as easily as one would snuff out the light of a candle.
But just as unfortunate, was to be the one actively snuffing out that light.
An axe swing, and an ear piercing screech.
Creating distance, Marina allowed Tanaka to take charge.
More and more, she had seen how weak she was. How much control Sylvian had over her body.
Normally, it wouldn't be a problem. She personally knew several worshipers of the Goddess that danced with the grace of a spider catching prey. Along with the cunningness of an octopus.
Admittedly, she didn't have even a fraction of talent for the other Sylvian arts. As her expertise focused on rituals, and scholarly pursuits…
It was only fortunate that dabbling in spellcraft was necessary along the way.
Equivalent Exchange, life for life.
"Mend which is broken, Sylvian, wrap my heart in your embrace, so that my companions may take shelter in your warmth as well. Spread your light onto me. " Otherworldly energy wrapped around her being, script forming in the air.
"Inverse of Negative, Duality of Creation, Light of Mutation."
"Healing Whispers…"
The script wrapped around each and every member of her group, solidifying in front of their eyes, as it glowed a deep fuchsia.
It revitalized their bodies, allowing them to push back against the blood crazed creatures that roamed the slums.
Watching from the back lines, Marina could only huff, as those touched by the moon's light slowly dwindled down.
The violence was starting to get to her.
But it wasn't just that pressing at the back of her head.
Faint embers spurred her chest, a growing heat pooling between her loins.
It was something that Marina hated when using spells of rituals serving Sylvian. The casual displays of carnal desires… She'd rather not think about it, if she could.
Afterall, she would turn into a liability, if she did.
Focusing, Marina felt the chill of a cold ice bath pressing at the back of her spine. The after effects of the spell lessened, but not entirely cleared from her mind.
"Tanaka, switch," She ordered, running behind the salary man, as she swept the axe across.
However, Marina wouldn't find her mark, missing only by a hair's breadth.
It wrangled her. Her weakness again. If only… Then maybe she would have not only struck her target, but slashed through him in one fell swoop.
The hand axe weighed heavy in her arms. But, she wasn't one to stop at just a swing.
Using the momentum, she followed up with another strike. Her opponent bringing his sickle to bear, as they clashed where their weapon's met.
Steel met steel in a sparking fight for dominance. The force behind her blow winning Marina the initial push…
But, she was steadily losing ground.
Instead of contesting a battle of strength with a fully grown man, she instead allowed herself to lose. Using her shorter frame, she allowed herself to get between the man and his weapon, striking at the primary male weak point.
An uppercut, no matter who it came from, or their skill in punching, would hurt if it hit a vital area.
Her opponent shuddered, the malformed being dropping its weapon, as it clutched at its family jewels.
Marina stared at the prone body. Casually picking up her axe, she mounted the body.
The cultist raised her axe high, and swung down with a harsh impact.
One after the other, she didn't leave the villager's survival up to chance. Not until its head was bisected.
Dead.
Fighting had given her a rush of dopamine stronger than anything else ever had.
However, it wasn't due to her being a maniac who loved duels of strength and wit.
But, it was because of her affinity to the gods.
Though, once she came to, she realized the fight still hadn't ended.
Peering across the slum's plaza, across the many turned stalls, and at the foot of the cross piled with bodies, were Tanaka and Abella fighting a masked figure.
They looked to be at a stand still.
A masked man, holding a tank of sorts, waved a nozzle with wild abandon. Huffing and puffing as though it were loudly gloating at them.
Though the mask did make it hard to understand, not helped by the fact, the nozzle whistled every time it was used.
Was he… He was spraying pesticides, creating a field around him that was virtually uncrossable.
It was why her companions could do nothing but stand and back away, hoping against hope that the man would eventually run out, before they were too heavily affected.
Seriously…Just what was going on in this city?
Bracing herself, Marina set to focusing once more.
She chanted under her breath, throat dry from effort, but still pouring everything she had to turn her words into reality.
Equi-
However, Marina's attention was drawn elsewhere.
Someone who wasn't from the train had appeared.
A dress of fine black fabric.
A hat and mask which obscured any of her features.
And a tall, domineering presence that demanded to be noticed.
Was she another cultist? Or better yet, was she the one that had previously helped them against the woodsman?
She wielded a long black staff, holding it with the ease, and grace of mastery.
Confidence in every step, she took to the face, as though she were stepping onto a stage.
Just then, a long scarlet arm sprouted from her lower back, forming the seal of Gro-Goroth as it emerged.
Who was this woman?
And why did she feel so familiar?
{---}
Samarie shivered in delight.
Her entrance had been made!
She waited for the right time to strike. When her entrance would make the most impact.
Whether to enter just as the battle reached its climax, or when it was finally over… Or maybe when it had begun.
However, when one of the villagers entered spraying aerosolized poison over the plaza, she knew it was her time to shine.
After all, her goddess was risking madness if she employed the use of another spell. And the others only option was to throw everything they had at the man.
A strategy that had the slightest margin of succeeding.
Samarie would know… she tried it on a priest once, and the bastard had gloated for hours afterward.
That was the last time she was ever going to throw a dildo at someone…
However, with the use of her Bikaku, she could assault the man, until his equipment broke…
Or she could try making him take off the mask…
"What?" she had whispered, although, it took much out of her to even try.
'Confidence. Confidence' Samarie had internally whispered. 'Do not stutter now!'
The man's mumblings became louder.
And still, nobody was able to understand what he was trying to say.
"What?" She whispered again, holding her ear up to the man as her bikaku echoed the action.
The man's fists clenched, flailing the canister, and the nozzle, like a child who didn't get a treat after service.
The gas grew thicker, a more visible miasma wafting over an area spanning three meters around the man.
"W-What?" Softer this time, Samarie saw the man throwing his equipment to the ground, lifting his mask to respond…
Only for him to inhale the very gas he was spraying. His eyes immediately turning bloodshot. "Only the VILE!-"
A choked gurgle left the man's throat, as he fell to the ground, red foam frothing from his lips.
Samarie quietly hummed to herself.
A job well done, and she didn't even have to lift a finger.
She was quite satisfied with herself, now that she thought about it.
Very good!
Looking at the others around her, they all seemed to be in shock.
Though, she supposed it was due to the fight appearing as though she had forced the man to kill himself.
When in reality, all she had done was bait him into speaking.
It wasn't her fault, that the gas was everywhere.
No, Samarie was a good girl.
A good girl for Marina~.
Turning, it was the first time they locked eyes with one another. Samarie's heart fluttering in her chest.
Today is the day!
Despite her excitement, however, she still had to put on an air around her.
How were they ever going to believe that this persona, and the real her, were totally different people if she didn't act so dark and mysterious. Just like the protagonists in those gothic novels Marina was ever so fond of…
Especially like the ones she would read herself to sleep with after a long day of rituals dedicated to Sylvian…
'Gyah!!!' If Samarie didn't have the hat and mask right now, they would totally see her blushing! Then the charade would be over, and Marina would see how much of a girl failure she was!
'Relax, relax,' She coaxed, using her bikaku to subtly rub circles on her back. 'Just remember to project confidence. It doesn't matter if you barely speak.. Just that they understand the point you're trying to get across.'
"Who are you, and what do you want?" The mechanic spoke, waving her wrench as though Marina's bikaku wouldn't snatch it from her hand the moment she tried to do something.
Still, it spoke well of the mechanic's character that she protected Marina from potential harm. So, she begrudgingly deserved Samarie's respect.
But, she still bore Samarie's ire for being so close to Marina.
"I said who are you?" The mechanic repeated, louder.
"Sa-" The girl quickly cut herself off. What was she doing? This was her alter ego! "L-Lernora…"
She darkly whispered, an aura of nonchalance making the scene far more dramatic than it normally should have been.
And to accentuate her point, she silently pointed her staff towards Marina. Tilting her face upward to show her pale face, and pitch-stained lips. The gloss on her lips somehow making them darker than normal.
Now was the moment of truth, to see if they'd react positively to what just happened.
"And what do you want with me?" Marina asked, standing to meet her gaze.
However, Samarie would remain silent.
Not because she didn't have anything to say…
But because Marina spoke to her!
Butterflies blossomed in her stomach, a giddy feeling rising in her chest.
Listening to Marina speak through her thoughts, and listening to her in person was like night and day.
There was a clear difference in tonal inflection, and fidelity, pitch, and presence.
Of course, when a person heard their own voice, it sounded different compared to how it sounded to others. Samarie was no different, as she had seen from the many times she'd peered into the mind of others who had tortured her.
Although, Samarie just wasn't ready to hear the sound in person.
It was just like All-mer had whispered to her the secrets of the universe. The Ascended One gracing her with knowledge no human should be blessed with.
And so, Samarie stood. Silently staring a hole into Marina, as she barely held back the temptation to prostrate herself.
She was better than that… There would be more, she felt it in her bones.
If she could hold out for just a little bit longer, then Marina would bless her corrupt body with more.
The girl's imagination ran wild. Even though, outwardly, she radiated the aura of someone the other had no right messing with.
But, she couldn't stand stalk still for all of eternity.
"Are you friend, or foe…" Marina questioned, pressing forward, as her axe gleamed a menacing crimson.
'Was she?'
'Oh my, she was trying to intimidate me!' Crowed Samarie, her mind overloading at the amount of adorable on display.
Marina, who was no more than one hundred and fifty-six centimeters, was trying to intimidate her!
Samarie, whose malnourished, stretched limbs made her look more like a man than the dignified lady she was supposed to be. Cursing her with the disgusting height of one hundred and eighty centimeters…
Instead of giving a response that might have implicated her further, Samarie elected to simply nod her head. A smile played on her face, as she gracefully bowed like a princess at those Opera.
"You familiar with her, Mar?" The damned mechanic shortened her name!
Only she was allowed to decide on a pet name for Marina!
"N-No," The dignified lady denied. "But, I feel a connection to her, like she's familiar in a way…"
Marina reached towards Samarie, a hand grasping at the fabric of her dress.
Of how Samarie wanted her to-
"Either way, we should be safe from her. She doesn't seem to bear any harm towards us."
Of course, Samarie agreed with the statement, once more nodding her head.
She really couldn't take the mask or hat off. Not unless she wanted to ruin the charade.
"Then we should use her helpu to escape the city," The salary man suggested, grunting as his accent slipped. "Or at reast, find out what is causing this mess."
"Right," The mechanic drawled, eyeing her weerily. "Still, we should keep our guard up with her around… This place is weird enough with these mutated freaks out for our blood. Never know when she's going to turn out to be like one of them…"
Samarie however, wasn't listening. Her mind still on the sensation of Marina's hand on her body.
Oh how she'd give the world for another moment in her tender embrace.
It was then a deviant idea crossed her mind…
One she wasn't able to clamp down on before her body acted on its own.
While she was able to stop her arms, Samarie's Bikaku hovered over the diminutive form of Samarie, the appendage hovering over her head.
Without thinking, both Tanaka and Abella were on guard, already in the motions to attack Samarie.
When all Samarie did was gently caress the top of Marina's head.
The softness of her hair… The fragrance of her shampoo!
For a fleeting moment, Samarie imagined a life free of the burdens both of them had been through. A normal life, where they worked, met, and fell into each other's arms.
A life where neither of them were forced into the situations they were put in. For better, or worse.
However, Samarie reminded herself that it would only last for a fleeting moment. As life often wasn't so sweet to those that went against its plans.
And so, her bikaku left Marina's luscious locks… retreating into the recess of her lower back.
"I don't know what kind of funny business you have with Marina, but you better keep your paws to yourself," Abella cut in between them. Covering the diminutive girl with her larger frame. "Touch another hair on your head, and you won't like the outcome."
On the other hand, Tanaka held his lead pipe with a deathgrip. "Neither do I know of your relations. But I won't standby as my friends are hurt in front of me."
It was a lot more spine than what the foreigner had shown previously. Standing tall against a danger he didn't understand.
Samarie, quiet as a cold night, nodded. Her features mastered into a cold deadpan.
It was her fault for losing control of her emotions. The mysterious facade broken in her lapse of judgement.
She bowed low for her transgressions. Lower than the one she used to swear herself to Marina.
It wouldn't happen again.
After all, if she wanted to separate this cold beauty, this maiden in black persona, and the shadow of her original self.
Then she would need to act the part.
Samarie couldn't come out.
She was Lenora.
Lenora did not act like Samarie.
Samarie was a frail girl from the Vatican. She used spells to ward off her attackers. She was a wallflower who was afraid of her own shadow.
Lenora was a domineering presence. A mysterious gothic figure that came from out of the pages of a dark romance. She used her poise, grace, and her bikaku in order to fend off those who wished harm on her master, Marina.
There was a difference between obsession, and devotion.
Samarie would need to find the middle ground in both of them.
I am Lenora. And Lenora did her best to serve her master.