Queen of the house no more

GRACE UNDER FIRE

They had split apart once they went upstairs, Sorano and Hoshi moving towards the bathroom while Eris headed off in some other direction. It was probably better this way, allowing them to search more quickly. Even in her spirit form, there was a slight throbbing at the base of her spiritual noggin, causing the girl to flap her aural hand uselessly in that general area of her skull. She could now understand the other mage’s frustration with her ghostly form. Normally when she transformed, it was off and running, beating up some monster or mage or whatever without really any time to move around and have to actually do more careful things in this form. Now that she was finally feeling it, she felt a faint, irritable twinge of frustration. It was like she really was some sort of ghost, her energetic body passing through objects unless she gathered a certain amount of matter in in certain part to allow her to land a blow. How had Eris managed it?

It seemed, however, that the other mage had found a way around the issue already, for as Hoshi’s yelp of panic emanated throughout the mansion, the kitsune was by her side in an instant, a thin layer of dark armor coating her ghostly form, making her body act as though it was solid. Easily, with the grace and experience of someone used to situations such as this, Eris took the two ghosts out. So captivated by the elder mage’s technique, the words she uttered before throwing the chain out was nearly missed by the letter mage.

“You better at least give me a kiss as a reward once we’re out!” The irritated tone of the kitsune’s voice jerked her ears back into the waveforms of her area, barely catching on to the end of that particular phrase.

“W-what?” Sounding embarrassingly flustered, Sorano’s brows knit together in confusion. See, the poor girl had been too busy trying to appear all grown-up and stuff, casting off as adult an image as she possibly could, which acted as some sort of repellant to any potential suitors. The closest anyone had gotten to a less than platonic relationship with her was that dumb Laughing Coffin mage from back then, with the wacky white hair and uncertain grasp of his abilities. And then, he disappeared from her life, probably for the better. She doubted she would be able to emotionally satisfy any sort of romantic partner in her current state of mind. And so, she was stuck there trying to figure out what this new mage was trying to do. Pursuing an actual relationship, just teasing her, or casual flirting? It was all very befuddling in her mind, and she didn’t even notice the snicker that Hoshi hid behind a paw, even as the two ghosts were smattered into ectoplasm, leaving behind an impatient looking Eris.

Following closely behind, Sorano relished the newfound speed of her legs that this form provided her with, allowing her to keep up with the kitsune that she surely would have struggled to keep up with in her normal body. At around the same time as Eris sensed it, Sorano paused for a moment, following quickly behind Eris, speeding down the hallway in the direction of that strange, unnatural energy source. As she drew closer to the doorway, the throbbing at the base of her skull only increased, causing her to blink roughly a few times to try and push the sensation away. What the hell? She thought her transition into this form had already sent that away, but apparently it wasn’t quite strong enough for energies of this level. Shoot.

Looking into the bedroom, the energy came rushing out at them full force, overwhelming Sorano’s senses. She rarely hated this particular ability of hers, but this was one of those moments when she wished her magical senses were only as strong as the average mage. Shoving the flood of energy away, the letter mage cleared her mind with the ease of long practice, frowning at the figure seated atop the golden throne at the end of the room. It was spacious, decorated with tapestries of a blood red cover, golden ornaments shining all over the place. An intricate chandelier hung from the arched ceiling, ghostly candles dripping with transparent wax. She shuddered at the thought of one of those hot droplets falling on her head while they fought. That would be pretty painful. Pulling out one of her knives, she checked the mark on it that represented Hoshi. The exceed had fallen behind, having to take care of Sorano’s human form. It was probably better this way, anyways. She wouldn’t be able to do much in a situation like this, completely cut off from any connection to her deity in this mansion.

Instead, the two hired mages sized up the girl sitting atop the throne, gauging her ability levels. The specter laughed eerily, the sound waves bouncing off the walls around them, her crimson eyes glowing a bright warning to all those who dared challenge her. Unfortunately, now it was them.

“You guys? Ha, they send weaker and weaker mages every single time. Do they seriously think I can’t take two normie mages easily? I haven’t been out in a long time, but the council must have gotten lax with their requirements if they’re sending in deformed foxes and pre-puberty kids in to fight. Well, not much to do, then! Come at me, oh selected mages, and defeat the terribly evil ghostly monster: Silica! If you are able to spare you, you shall be released, oh valiant heroes! Now hurry up, I don’t have all day.”

Sinking easily into her throne, the girl’s voice dripped with sarcasm and contempt, her translucent form shining softly against the gold of the chair. It sounded like she had recited this script many times over, and was utterly bored at this point. Quietly, Sorano stood there, tapping her toes lightly against the ground. Subtly, she sent out waves of energy through the soft tapping, building it up to a higher source that suddenly exploded out from beneath the throne, erupting in a burst of mixed black and white energies.

Silica floated up lazily, however, looking slightly surprised but otherwise unaffected. “Hm. Nice try, but not enough for someone like me~!” Smirking, she extracted a long, dark blade from the inside of her wrist, a long black and red scythe revealed as she struck the floor before her with the blade. The room was still for a moment, before the energy from the weapon burst outwards in a devastating wave, shaking the house on its foundations. Blown backwards into the wall, Sorano was once again thankful for this form. What the heck was this sort of power?

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Plowing into the wall with a soft oof, the girl found herself crashing into something that was weirdly fluffy. Feeling the unfamiliar mist of the ghostly mage’s breath on the back of her neck, she blinked, instinctively trying to wiggle free. However, the weird contact of spirit form with spirit form caused Eris to be completely solid to her touch, and as such, she was unable to escape her strong grip. Wrapping her arms securely around Sorano’s body, the fox rested her chin gently on top of her head. It was the weirdest sensation, the way the younger mage could feel the ghostly muscles in Eris’ face shift in place as she smirked at Silica. What the hell was she trying to do? Frowning in confusion, she tried to turn herself around to look at the kitsune, but her grip remained sturdy, and Sorano didn’t want to hurt her or anything by using her energetic form to break free. Instead, she dubiously trusted in Eris’ motives, only to find herself very much taken by surprise only a moment later.

Hearing the unfamiliarly possessive tone of the fox’s voice and the obvious flirty undertones to her actions, Sorano’s cheeks might have flared up in red out of habit had she been in her typical body instead of this conveniently monochromatic form. But even so, it would serve only to confuse her even more, something she seriously did not need to deal with in the middle of some huge battle with an evil spirit child who used ridiculously large amounts of power. But watching Eris’ next few moves reassured the letter mage that the kitsune was most certainly not your run-of-the-mill mage, the amount of energy radiating off her form almost terrifying in their level of strength. Undergoing a drastic transformation, the candles flickered briefly in the chandelier as the cheerful-looking fox rapidly shifted into an uncanny darker form, color palette almost matching that of Silica’s garb. Eyes flashing a much more menacing shade of amber, like that of superheated flames, she sent the ghost child flying with one blow, power radiating off her body in tremendous waves, her form seeming to flicker in the ominous light she cast off.

Nine devastating tails would spring from her back, lush and raven-colored, meeting at a point in front of her body and generating black, flaming spark that drilled a hole into the extravagant red carpet beneath their feet. She had long since released Sorano, but the girl reckoned she should probably let Eris alone as she did her thing, for fear of accidentally getting hurt herself. Trapping Silica within a circle of blame flames, the pressed together into a flaming column, burying the girl inside with a hiss of fury, sounding like the fizzling of a fire under a downpour of water. The tapestries and carpet were instantly disintegrated, the candles splashing down their wax from above as the unbearable heat touched their delicate tapers, and the golden chandelier and throne and decorations began to deteriorate as well, losing their formlery ornate designs and shapes and drooping into unidentifiable globs. The chandelier toppled into the column of fire, and Sorano was even more grateful for this spiritual form. At least she wouldn’t be burnt to a crisp.

Dramatically, the small figure of Silica pushed her way out from under the column, emerging with her clothes in tatters, skin burning away the remaining scraps as she glowered at them, finally getting serious about things. Eris made a comment about needing to recharge, leaving it up to Sorano to further weaken the girl. The haze at the back of her head suddenly came on, full-force, and she guessed that the girl was trying to get her mind to collapse in again. However, in the reinforced form, her mind was also much more rigid and resistant to outside forces, and managed to hold up despite the onslaught. As the charred figure looked about furiously to wreak her revenge upon the fox-girl, Sorano pressed much of her energy into the walls of the place, slipping past in tiny tendrils and slivers of magic that would easily bypass even Silica’s magical senses. As her strength levels were far inferior as opposed to the spirit’s, she couldn’t exactly throw a bunch of energy at her like Eris had. Instead, after her body was depleted to only a meter-tall and exceedingly thin figure, she directed the magic energy accumulated in the walls to collapse down into a net, suddenly encasing the figure in the light net of magical energy. Pressing the pure energy that made up half her aural form onto the strings that came into contact with the burning figure, she watched as Silica’s eyes bugged out in shock and agony at the unexpected presence of the pure, white energy. It seemed that the girl had completely disregarded Sorano after her humiliating attempt at a first blow. At least surprise was still on her side.

Watching as the netting tightened around Silica, Sorano’s hopes dropped quickly as she realized that the material would not contain her for much longer. The ghost was powerful, much more so than Sorano, and a few magic tricks would be nothing against someone like her. In a flash, dark blades sprang out from the girl’s back like wings, tearing apart the aural material and sending it back to rejoin Sorano’s form. Tearing into action herself, the letter mage responded similarly, a set of deadly sharp wings tipped in an icy cold white sheen sprouting from her shoulder blades, a burst of power beneath her feet catapulting her far up towards the ceiling. Silica would leap as well, a confident smirk on her face as she spun at an alarming speed, wings slicing towards the younger mage. However, just as the girl was about to strike, the letter mage would suddenly drop, falling to the ground even as the crystalline monochromatic wings wrapped around her, the sharp blades of energy piercing into Silica as she was encased within an orb of fibrous, twisted energy.

Sorano fell back to the ground, now even smaller than before as her mind whirred with ideas. What to do next? What would accomplish her purpose? Already, even her spiritual body was heaving with exhaustion, having never had to push itself to such limits before. Hopefully Eris had ideas too, because she was running out. With a soft sigh of resignation, she pushed the remaining bits of her aura into the walls, the humanoid form that vaguely resembled her completely fading out as she embedded herself within the very room. Now, wherever the girl touched in any point of the room, she could concentrate all her energy there and deliver a direct attack, something that might even be able to bring about a possible end to this.

GRACE UNDER FIRE

Hissing at the pressure from the sudden buildup of dark energy, Sorano concentrated her energy down at Silica even as Eris charged up, easily punching her right in the face, a fistful of dark matter sending an extra force to boost it. The orbs of dark matter swirled around her easily, an armor forming over her ghostly form so she had a similar consistency of a real physical person. It seemed that the stronger mage had been fully refreshed, and was totally ready to get back into it. As the orb veered off to crash into the wall, Sorano quickly extracted her presence, settling down into a humanoid form on the ground. It seemed that that method of attack was no longer necessary. In the corner of her senses, she felt something give, and hope surged in her chest at the thought of a hole having opened in the realm.

Meanwhile, Silica had collapsed onto the ground, shivering and weak. It would be easy for the letter mage to get in a blow or something, but it seemed it was no longer necessary. Letting her spiritual form fall back into her body, the letter mage carefully picked herself back up. It seemed that Eris had the situation well under control, facing the demonic girl with a sword in her hand. Begging for the Joyan woman to release her, Sorano blinked in surprise as the colors of the girl’s aura shifted into one of genuine fear. It seemed that everyone had something they couldn’t bear, and death must be one of those things to the spirit. Gauging Silica’s energy stores, it was also doubtful that she’d be able to conjure up any other spells – even someone who wasn’t technically a normal mage had limitations, after all.

Bowing her head, Silica would put her hands together as if praying, and that strange empty and dark presence of the house faded away, a thin ray of life suddenly visible from one of the carefully covered windows. Opening the curtain, the exhausted mage could see the normal gray skies of the Pergrande Kingdom. They’d done it, huh…

Slowly, they picked their way back out of the house, leaving the broken dark spirit behind in the manor. There wasn’t much else she would be able to do for a while, anyways. The spirits had been released, and that was all they’d been instructed to do.