Getting up from the ground, all I could do was stare at Mary. I was in a state of shock, the only confirmation that what just happened was real was the bloody hand print still smeared across her cheek.
I glanced at the spot where the cultist had vanished. Nothing. As if he had never been there. Like a shared hallucination between two people on the edge of unraveling.
Looking at Mary, who still seemed a bit frozen from everything that happened, I tried to snap her out of it.
"We have to leave, now."
I tried to make my voice sharp, to wake her up from her stupor.
"If you've alerted the Hierarch, then they know they've been found out. Heretics never ambush alone."
Right on cue, an explosion thundered from the west wing of the mansion. The floor trembled.
I stared out into the hallway through the open door. It was still empty. Ominously so.
"...And never without a back plan."
I positioned myself in front of the door, scanning the hallway more to make sure no one was there. I glanced back at Mary, who was still standing, in a daze.
"Y-You knew I was alerting the Heriarch? B-but how-?"
Without letting her finish, I grabbed her hand. With an annoyed face, I started to run to the door, with her in tow. I made sure to look away from her, so she couldn't look into my eyes.
"I told you already. My ability. Now move. Didn't you hear him before? Arthur and all those pig faced nobles aren't the target anymore."
Mary gripped my hand tighter as she ran behind me, still questioning me while we rushed.
"W-we should be safe, right? The priest will protect us, and the others should be here at an-."
I stopped.
To my left on the ground, a bloody knife lay, and I picked it up, flipping it in my right hand, and still holding Marys with my left.
Glancing back at her, I put on a serious expression, so she would know the gravity of the situation.
"Mary, I guarantee you right now..."
Mary's eyes widened in shock as her hand trembled in mine. Gun shots could be heard in the distance, and another large explosion pounded my ears, this time coming from outside the mansion.
"Half of them are already dead."
The drinks.
My head pulsed with pain. I didn't know how, but I knew. The drinks had been spiked—poisoned. Anyone who drank them...
We got too complacent.
Still running, I turned a corner I vaguely remembered. This mansion was a labyrinth, and I was flying blind.
I need to find the Regent and Arthur.
They weren't allowed to die. If any of the named characters died now, the whole story would go off course. I couldn't afford mistakes like that, not after I had come so far.
Was this something that happened in the story? I don't remember any of this.
Turning another corner, my left eye pulsed. I saw an afterimage.
A girl, lunging at me. A knife aimed at my throat.
Charlotte's eyes...!
Letting go of Mary's hand, I twisted my body. She tripped behind me, but I didn't have time to check. In a single motion, I switched the blade to my left hand and ducked.
Feeling the wind behind me, I made a gamble. With the blade in a reverse grip, I swung it behind me, putting my whole body into the swing.
Please land-
The blade struck something. But not flesh.
I turned.
It was the little girl who had directed me in the hallway, her innocent cute face replaced by a cold dark determination. She looked... empty. The knife she held in her hand had blocked a full swing from my knife. She effortlessly blocked it, contrasting her fragile frame.
She flicked her wrist. My blade went flying, embedding itself into the wall.
She lunged. Aiming for my throat.
Am I seriously going to die in here of all places...?
"Fall."
Just inches away from my throat, the little girls movements suddenly halted, and she collapsed, like a puppet with its strings cut. The knife dropped to the floor, and her along with it.
But I wasn't elated, because I recognized the voice, and so did Mary, who looked behind me in utter terror.
I slowly looked behind me, cursing my fate.
You have to be joking...
It was him. The deranged cultist. Cloaked. Masked. Smiling. With the same black milky eyes as before.
"So sorry children,"
He clasped his hands together, and offered a slight bow - as if he was asking for forgiveness.
"It seems one of my puppets have caused you trouble. We had a kill on sight order, but didn't account for you two. So please accept my utmost apolo-"
He vanished. Again.
I stood there, slight aghast at the same thing happening twice. I didn't exactly know what was happening, but one thing was for certain.
The priest is certainly fighting him.
But where from, or to what magnitude, I had no clue. It seemed they were fighting an invisible battle, the only evidence being the explosions I could hear.
Looking at Mary, I wanted to tell her to run again.
But than I saw the cultist again.
Behind Mary.
This is ridiculous.
Mary, seeing my shocked expression, now had her turn to turn around, she was still frozen where she stood, and I could see a faint tremble from her figure.
The Mans smile seemed to be gone, replaced with a slight frown as he stared at us.
"That bothersome pig out there won't let me have peace. I just want to talk to the children, is that really too much too ask!"
He shouted the last sentence in the air, looking slightly angry as he pouted. I would find this whole scene comical, if not for the face he was strong enough to face that monster of a priest.
If hes able to do this...
A Bishop. At the very least.
He vanished.
I didn't hesitate. I grabbed Mary's hand again and grabbed the embedded blade from the wall. Pressing my back against the wall, I scanned every angle.
That's when I saw it.
Him.
All I could see around us, was the cloaked man. There were now 10 of him, constantly appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye, flickering out of existence. He kept inching towards us, as I heard the explosions get louder.
His smile was getting wider now, as he inched closer to us. Inch by inch, he moved and with every inch, the grin on his smile grew. His eyes were locked on Marys now, with the same mad glint as before.
"That stupid priest, he really wants to protect you little girl. But during the night, it is our domain. I'm going to kill him, and once I do...
He raised his hand.
"You children can finally be reunited with your true fami-".
He was cutoff by a blinding yellow light engulfed the corridor.. It was a burst of pure mana, and it oddly felt familiar to me.
All the figures disintegrated, disappearing permanently this time.
I knew who the culprit was, and I finally let my knees give way as I gave a slightly annoyed, toothy grin.
The man held a sword in his left hand, and his right hand was held forward. His sword glowed a bright yellow, and his hair danced in the air. He was the one person I wanted to see right now, and he came just in time.
I'm getting flashbacks.
"Took you long enough, Arthur."