Her lungs burned.
And looking at the rest of the group, they also felt the same way.
Exiting Rher's realm had been exactly like running towards a door in a nightmare. If even one person slowed down for a second, they found the door further than where it was supposed to be.
In the end, they ended up sprinting their way to the exit. Which meant they were all drenched, and Marina was feeling quite conscious about it.
When they made it back, she was definitely going to-
Click.
Right, the real world. They were in the real world again.
Turning around, the group found themselves faced with a gun!
Of all things that would find them stumbling in their tracks, it wasn't the ancient super cultist, but a common soldier of the Kaiser.
"Greetings, my name's Pav, we met on the train," He tipped his hat, as though the gesture was enough to remove any animosity between them. "And let's just say, I'm trying to run from the Kaiser and his nasty attack bitch."
He spat the words like they were venom. Disgusting. But ironic that a member of the Kaiser's own army would be hiding from him.
"If we can all just agree that we didn't see each other, then that would be for the better. Before that woman comes back out here." His arms stretched, finger on the trigger as the soldier glanced back at them.
"What do you say?"
Taking a step back, Marina tried to back away quietly. She signaled the others to follow suit, as they slowly backed off.
"Do what you want," Abella replied for the party, loudly gulping, as the gun was finally trained off her.
But, what was he doing here? Wouldn't it have been easier to hide in the city itself instead of the slums?
The idea crossed the cultist mind. Though, she wasn't sure if this Pav was aware of that fact.
She quietly kept it to herself.
In case this Termina thing went to shit, she could always retreat into her hiding place.
Cooler heads eventually won over, as each party back off step by step, as though bolting it would have caused the end of the world.
And once the soldier was gone, the group breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"Close, too close." Tanaka said, standing on boneless legs.
"Quite," Marina curtly agreed, a hand over her beating heart. "But with the haul we brought, it shouldn't be long before we make it back to the train."
"And with the train fixed up, it won't be long either before we make it to the local station…" Abella replied, grasping at her chin. "But, I doubt much will be any different."
The temperature dropped a few degrees, Marina clenching her fists.
She didn't want to say it out loud. She hoped things were stable…
But who was she to say things were the way she thought they were?
If the slums had it hard, maybe the lock they found on the gate to the city was not just bolted to keep the slum dwellers out.
But maybe, it was to keep the city folk in.
Shaking her head, Marina reminded herself not to think of those kinds of thoughts.
It was better to stay positive.
Afterall, she knew better than the average person.
That kind of thinking only brought with it despair.
There was bliss in ignorance from the truth.
"Then we better keep going, before any more of those things find us." She reminded the party, who all gave their chorus of agreements.
Though, even knowing that might be danger, Marina still felt the need to hold onto Lenora's wheelchair a little bit tighter…
Soon, they trudged back to the train. Encountering minimal threats along the way.
But not before Abella tried her hand at breaking open the gate to the city.
Seeing as it wasn't relevant earlier, it wasn't something that Marina thought to remember.
But, they were not only chained, but locked shut to make sure they couldn't be removed. To make matters worse, the gates couldn't be scaled either due to the liberal use of barbed wire to prevent people from climbing it through conventional means.
Any measure that could be thought off, there was a countermeasure for it.
When Marina had used a hurting, it barely scratched the thing. And when they bashed the locks, Abella's wrench almost clubbed Tanaka in the skull.
Eventually, it came down to a tentative, no until they found something else.
Thankfully, it seemed like Abella, or Tanaka had found something in their search to help them.
A pair of boltcutters, and what looked to be a key with the ensignia of an eagle at the end.
First, the group tested the bolt cutters.
Only for them to break when they all put as much force as they could into breaking one of the chains.
Steel that was more than supernatural, somehow, a small part of her mind blamed the moon for the predicament.
Next, they tried the key, one which Tanaka found in his search of any valuables.
Though, the added detail that Tanaka found it on a dead body had irked her more than a little bit.
But Marina knew the salary man didn't mean it.
Looking at the lock, it seemed one of them had a similar mark on their body of similar ensignia. Where one was an eagle, on the otherside of the gate, there was another lock with the symbol of a lion, the kind of the jungle.
Two eagles and one lion. There was definitely a pattern to this.
They just had to search the entirety of the slums in order to find the lock's other half.
And made the parts they got all the more important to the cause.
"Let's head back," Brows furrowed, Abella had no choice but to make their way back to the train.
"It's still noon, Bella. Don't you think we can try at least one more time? Maybe a spell might crack through it." Marina hoped against hope that this would be the way. As, the chances of the train work seemed practically nil if such measures were made for people trying to go by the main entrance.
"After what we've been through? It would be a crime for the train not to work!" The mechanic grumbled, heading back towards the train. "Come on! If you lot keep stalling for much longer, I won't be able to be done with the train until tomorrow."
Glancing at Tanaka, they both shrug before following along.
There wasn't much of a choice.
They made their way back with much caution stalking them at every step. The fear of an ambush still lingering after Pav drew that gun of his on them.
Chills crept up on Marina's body.
But it soon dissipated as soon as she caught sight of their destination in the distance.
It shined like a beacon, a star in the dark night sky. Hope in the hopeless game of higher beings!
Making it back, she felt the tension in her back finally release, her body practically collapsing at the door, as the pair of Marcoh, and Oliva came to greet them.
"Wow, you look like shit. What fresh hell chewed and spat you lot out?" Blunt, like the end of a baseball bat.
Apparently, the man wasn't one for letting a person down gently.
"Mutants," Marina chose to answer. The mountain of muscle seeming to consider it. "From dogs with no faces, to villagers with a violent vendeta. It was all fights, one after the other."
"We haven't had a rest for the longest time," Abella yawned. A sentiment that was quickly shared with the rest of them.
"Doesn't explain what happened to her though," Olivia pointed towards Lenora, weary of who the new girl was. "Don't think I saw anyone looking like that earlier. Got the girl's name?"
"Lenora," Marina introduced, "None of us know what she's about. But, she got like that fighting some sort of crazy clown with a gun. Don't seem to be any wounds, so it was probably from the shock of the situation."
"Then again, it's been a while since it happened, so she's probably not waking up for a while longer…."
A pensive look crossed her face, but not before she was able to contribute to her one good deed of the day. "You can use the wheelchair after we get her settled though. "
Olivia looked stunned for a moment, before a dusting of red appeared on her cheeks. The girl hiding what she could as her hand covered her face.
"That would be nice. Thank you for offering,"
"But, back to the main question" Marcoh reminded, pointing towards the backpacks. "You got any parts that you might be able to use for the train?"
"Should be," Abella stated from her seat. "Not unless someone of the more precise mechanisms was damaged… Or heaven forbid, the moon interferes with the repairs."
"The moon? What would the moon have anything to do with the train?"
The red head then went on to explain exactly what happened. And it was safe to say, the pair had the same exasperated look they had when discovering it.
Alas, there was little that could be done.
They weren't going to try contesting whatever mutated the town's folk. That was suicide with extra steps.
Instead, the now larger group agreed to leave meddling with the powers that be until they had a more reasonable answer to their situation…
Or any answer at all, for that matter.
That yellow priest from earlier. He seemed to be in a hurry.
Maybe he knew a thing or two after all?
Marina shook her head.
She was getting nowhere thinking like that.
For now, it was better to rest.
Laying against the seat, with Lenora resting her head on Marina's lap. The cultist allowed the tension and stress to bleed from her mind. Her thoughts settling once she was able to sort through those that were the effects of a spell, or other.
The heat in her chest and loins were soothed. A distant problem for another time.
One which she hoped wouldn't come up until much later.
Unfortunately, she doubted that to be the case.
Her eyes grew heavy, and her body felt faint.
A troubled expression crossed her face. But she would take things one step at a time.
She didn't need for things to turn into a bigger mess than they were.
{---}
Samarie was in a very hot mess. And it wasn't the good kind.
Spells game at a drawback. A cost for their power. An equivalent exchange.
And the cost of the hollow orb she had fired was immense.
Samarie was relegated to being a prisoner in her own body.
Stuck to watch as everything passed her by. Unable to move a single muscle.
It was like she was watching a film in her mind, watching the world go on without her.
Truly, no punishment could trump it.
Afterall, how was she not going to suffer when Marina was right in front of her! And she wasn't able to do a single thing about it.
Of course, she could have projected her thoughts, but it wasn't until entering Rher's dimension did that even appear as a possibility.
Though, the realm might have possibly been what made her recovery possible in the first place.
Rher, was the God of Dreams, Trickery. Whose realm was a boundless pool of otherworldly energies.
Energies that provided her enough power for Samarie's mind to touch Marina's while she was attempting to bring a spell into reality.
It was a lot to take in, at first.
But, she was able to aid her beloved in creating an orb of positive emotions, to counteract the black orb. Helping her survive the ordeal, and escape the dream realm.
Samarie was… very much relieved when she touched Marina's mind. Caressing her beloved's form with her thoughts, feeling both the positive and negative sides of the great deity she served….
It brought great joy to be sandwiched between the two. So much so, that Samarie… It was better left unsaid what she did, but she was more relieved that the group was able to escape before she once passed out from over exertion.
In her sleep, she was brought to the audience of the Great Deciever and His servant.
The bird happily preening its feathers, as it calmly addressed Samarie from its perch.
"You are back," Per'kele greeted. "Quite the lively one, aren't you? Much satisfied, My God is at your performance."
'You can shove it up yours,' She had wanted to say, but wisely kept her mouth shut.
This only seemed to make the perpetual grin on his face widen, squawking like a dove. "In light of this, The Great One has deigned it proper to give you a gift."
Samarie was hesitant to accept whatever it was that came from this man. Especially when it came from the very thing mutating people in the town.
However, just as she was about to protest, Per'kele produced a fist-sized sphere from his sleeves. How and where exactly it fit on his person would likely allude her.
Though, asking questions about the Gods and Their servants was a quick trip to insanity.
It was best not to question it.
"This will be useful in the coming days. A gift most suited for your journey," Per'kele chuckled, like he was telling a joke she wasn't in on. "Whether you use it will ultimately be up to you…"
The sphere shot towards Samarie's body, merging with her chest as soon as it came into contact with her.
It disappeared into the confines of her being, absorbed and making no changes to her person.
A gift?
What was it?-
For an instance, her mind was flooded.
Images flashed in her mind's eye, flooding her like a torrential downpour.
Weighing heavy on her thoughts, she swiftly consumed the knowledge.
Understanding it to be a spell of briars.
Briars? It sounded more like All-mer's domain than Rher's?
Trickster, as the Deciever was, the deity wasn't one to engage in domains beside His.
Was something messing with Per'kele? The festival?
"Inverse Crown of Thorns." The words were a whisper on her lips.
One which the bird found mightily amusing.
"Good, your genius was wasted under those fools." Per'kele showed his hand, the compliment sending Samarie into a stupor. "Alas, this is all the time permitted of us. I'm afraid you are needed in the world of the waking once more."
He waved his hand, a circle appearing before the girl's feet.
"Remember, eliminate the other contestants, and search for the tower stretching into the sky. You'll find what you seek, if not more."
Before Samarie could bite back, she was engulfed by a flash of light, ripping the breath from her lungs, as she awoke with a start.
Her arm stretched in the sky, as she gazed into the roof.
The roof of the train cart, with a very familiar face staring back at her…
Wearing her witch's hat…
"Good afternoon, sleeping beauty," As though the words were from Sylvian herself, she found her lower half rousing awake before her mind. "Lovely day, isn't it?"
The way the setting sun's light reflected off Marina's skin…. And the way her voice sounded so melodious!
It was a gift from the heavens themselves that she was a witness to this sight.
If only the moment could last a lifetime.
"Y-Yes," Samarie stammered, hand moving to her face.
The mask was still there, right?
Marina could not know of her identity….
The mask… was broken, but still there. It revealed the left side of her visage, but no more.
Still, Samarie made an effort to cover up, shielding the disgusting sight away from Marina.
Samarie would never live it down if she was caught in front of her Goddess!
"Seeing as you made quite the scare," Marina began, a cheshire grin playing at her features. "Then you wouldn't mind answering a few questions for me, right?"
"N-No." Again, she stuttered. A heat blooming on her cheeks as she desperately held things together.
"Then, who are you, Lenora?"
The words brought Samarie to a pause.
"Not your name, that much isn't necessary," Marina waved off, her hand moving towards Samarie's mask. "What are you, Lenora? Beyond the mysterious girl from nowhere, who are you beneath the mask?"
Who was Lenora?
She wasn't asking for Samarie, or else the answer would have come faster than a freight train.
Who was she when she wore this dress? Put on this mask?
"Lenora is Lenora," Samarie stated simply. Just as how the grass was green, and the sky was blue. "Serve Marina,"
The touch on her face, how she wished it to last an eternity more.
She leaned into the caress, staring at Marina with a deadpan expression.
"Lenora is whatever Marina wants," She muttered, her lower bits feeling more uncomfortable with every second.
Samarie really didn't want to speak anymore.
Afraid another word would turn the situation into a shit show.
"Then Lenora, what can you do?" Marina asked pointedly.
Instead of speaking, Samarie simply sat up.
A confused expression took over Marina's face, but when Samarie opened her hand to the cultist, she complied, with more than a little bit of hesitancy.
It was fine.
Just as long as she was trusted.
Just as the moon had sent her the gift of self inflicted torment, the blessing residing in her soul also gave something as well.
Refinement of the body.
It wasn't alteration in the exact sense, she would not be able to turn people into hulking monstrocities, or change man to woman, just yet.
However, she was able to morph a person's muscular structure into their idealized selves.
As soon as she reached out for the ability, and touched Marina's hand, a whole new world bloomed inside her mind.
The power to change one into their 'ideal' self.
Samarie reached out into Marina's mind, the connection between them sending her deeper than she'd ever reached with anyone before.
Then, she saw it.
Marina's idealized state.
Divine femininity.
It was closer to the second coming of Sylvian, than any human.
But still, it was so far from being a god.
An in between where her appearance was uncanny enough to appear inhuman. But also alien to the image of the Old Ones that she couldn't hold a candle to how they conjured themselves in the human consciousness.
But, where there was perfection, there was also an inverse.
The negativity, Marina's darkest thoughts and desires.
It crawled on four arms, and two legs. With a mouth where its head was supposed to be, and a face in place of genitals.
It showed the darker side to how Marina viewed herself.
A spider, but one that seemed incomplete.
It moaned of being controlled by the one on its back. Seeking vengeance on an invisible figure.
She knew who was controlling her.
But looking at this version of Marina… She also knew it wouldn't come to pass.
Otherworldly energy flowed from her body into Marina's, subtly influencing her frame.
Giving the girl the necessary push to make her feel more comfortable in her skin.
Just as Marina had done for her. Samarie would make the cultist shine as though she were born with a radiating soul!
A radiating soul…
It really was wasted on her.
A smile crossed her lips, Marina looking more and more confused as the seconds passed.
Samarie wasn't one to believe in horoscopes, despite her background.
Afterall, every other person she'd met had been cruel.
It didn't matter when they were born. All that mattered was how many times they'd whipped her that day.
But when she touched deeper than she had ever before, she realized something cruel about the world.
Deep inside every soul, was a marker. One that subtly guided a person towards a certain predisposition.
One which they may choose to follow, or not.
So what did that mean for those born with a decrepit soul?
What about Marina, who was born with a changeling soul?
Did that mean she was always meant to live a life where she would never be comfortable in her own skin? That she had to pray night and day to uncaring Gods just for a chance to change herself?
Domination, Endless, Enlightened, Tormented.
Blank, Caressing, Changeling, Chaotic, Decrepit, Latent, Radiating, Shadowed, Solitary, Suffocated, Tainted.
Amoral, Antagonistic, Beastly, Defiant, Gladiatorial, Halved, Innocent, Loving, Mourning, Order, Sheparding, Stagnant, And Submissive.
Were these just labels? Or were they identities that people embodied?
Were people simply cruel because their parents decided to fuck at the wrong month?
A chill crept along Samarie's spine, one that Marina noticed.
"Is there something wrong?" She asked, a frown coloring her face. "If you don't want to talk, then we can do it some other tim-"
Samarie's hands grasped Marina's now slimmer frame.
Diminutive, malleable in her grasps.
She pictured the expression on her face, and how she was holding Marina…
Okay, perhaps it was best not to scare the girl.
But… How she wanted to scoop her up and suck on those…
Stop!
It was then that Marina looked down on herself, seeing the difference in her body… How unfamiliar it felt.
The change wasn't perfect.
But it was a step in a direct Samarie felt right, but wrong at the same time.
"H.Y.L.I."
She needed to work on her self-confidence more if she was just going to abbreviate her words.
"What did you do to me?" Marina asked, a hand over her chest, a dusting of red exploding on her face.
"H.Y.L.I." Samarie firmly repeated.
"Urgh, this is going to be a long Tuesday… I hate Tuesdays!"