Chapter 115 – Hags

"What… the hell are they?"

"Ikarus is right Penelope, I've never witnessed such creatures too"

"Uh huh, the smell is horrible inside here as well"

Having just entered a cave, we're greeted by a rotting pungent smell and the three of us phoenixes are disgusted by the sight of the creatures dwelling within the cave. Imagine a horrid human bird hybrid that looks like something from a failed experiment, just obviously not as cute as my hybrid form since these creatures seem to have the worst of both sides.

Their faces are basically rotten beaks, their feathers look decayed and scarred as well as looking like creatures from a nightmare. They kinda remind me of those plague doctors for Victorian Europe if I'm looking to compare those birds to anything. At least they can kinda stand like humans but there's nothing human looking about them, it's a little odd none have come to greet us or maybe they don't even realize we're here just yet.

As for where we actually are, around the coast of Jötna lies quite the few uninhabited tiny islands and this one just so happens to be the closest to the island we basically control. The cave itself is nothing special, just has a few nests lying about as well as a few tables with potions… huh, I guess there's a few shelfs filled with ingredients and a couple of storage crates too.

"Hehe… they really are vile creatures, aren't they!? Welcome to the cave of the cursed witches' phoenixes! Most of these lot use to be students until they tested the forbidden dark arts and their appearances clearly reflect that! They actually smell pretty nice compared to usual!"

It's obvious her Magi guild have a long and complicated history with this sort of thing so best not to question everything, there is obviously some questions I can't help but want to know but perceptive Petra gets to it before me like usual. I could see it being a little annoying but it makes sense seeing that I have to narrate everything I'm thinking apparently…

"Penelope, they don't seem to realize we're here, I'm guessing they're blind and deaf?"

"Ah yes, that's just one of their afflictions unfortunately! There is a way you can speak with them but it requires something a little more delicate. By that, a good shock should make them wake up!"

As we're walking over to the half bird half human creatures, I can't help but feel a little empathy for them, no one deserves to live in such a horrid state but I'm not going to say anything about it. Ariza is a much more empathetic person though.

"Are they okay though? I can try healing them but I don't think it would help… I don't like killing as well but if they want, I can do something to make it painless"

Jeez, that's gotten pretty dark there, Ariza's only trying to be helpful but I'm surprised she'd be willing do such a thing. I guess even she realizes not everyone can be saved and there's only one other alternative in that situation. She definitely would've killed before so it makes sense she'd be that way, it's always the last resort after all… even if Zeki enjoys it and I view it like it's nothing.

"Hehe, there's no need for that sort of thing Ariza! These four desperately wanted immortality and were willing to go to any lengths for such a thing, they're surprisingly happy for such vile creatures! If they wanted to die, I'd have chopped their heads off ages ago!"

Ignoring most of what the batshit insane Miss gender bender said, it really makes you think how lucky we actually are though; we get granted with immortality just like that and these poor four people sacrificed so much for such a thing… it says a lot about my mental state that I'm struggling to find any empathy or pity for them anymore yet I feel like I probably should.

Still led by Penelope, she makes her way off from us a little and puts out her arms. Then, a bright lightning bolt lights up the cave shooting from her outstretched arms straight into the bottom of one of the four darkened feathered creatures. It barely even flinches from the attack though.

<Awk, ask your questionss or begone foul creaturess>

<Yess, speakss or leavess>

<Disgusting trespasserss>

<…>

They way they speak using telepathy is really something horrible sounding, it's almost as if you could imagine a snake speaking inside your head, my automatic translator can't help when something sounds that repulsive to listen to. I'll still try to be nice despite the attitude though, they are basically experiments gone wrong even if they apparently wanted this and we do need their help.

"Come on old students! Don't be like that, I've got guests with me this time around so try to be nice!"

<Who do you think we're calling foul Penelopee?>

<Grosss, dirty excuse for birdss>

<Horrid phoenixess>

<…>

Okay, fuck them if they're going to be rude to us birds... hang on, they know we're phoenixes? Let's leave the questions for now since this is supposed to be Ariza's thing after all, I'm only going to get pissed so it's best to just leave Penelope to speak to the phoenix haters. It's probably just a stupid reason like magic anyways.

"You don't need to worry! Just tell us where to find a crystal ball and we'll leave straight away!"

<They want a glasss ball?>

<Ha ha ha, the birdss want a playthingg?>

<No no no, none for youss>

<…>

Listening to this conversation is going to give me a headache if this continues on for too long, the way they drag out the end of sentences as well just adds onto the irritation. I could imagine how annoying the subtitles of what they're saying would be to read as well.

"Don't be like that! You four are obviously in a happy mood today so why don't you just give us your one? It's not exactly like you even use it anymore!"

All four of the odd-looking creatures turn around away from us almost as if they're discussing something between themselves now. By this point, it's pretty obvious us three phoenixes haven't a clue what's going on, this basically has become Penelope's show right now. This is all for Ariza anyway.

It must be a few minutes before they turn back around, now it appears they have questions for us this time around.

<Who are trying to call?>

<Yess, curious about birdss>

<Who do phoenixes want to disturbb?>

<...>

"You four remember that old pervert's master? We're trying to contact Mr Loki of course! You really won't care that much on the reason though"

I guess we're just sharing that information to the messed-up witches then, I'm not sure if that should've been left confidential or not but we'll just trust the magical idiot then. This isn't going to backfire at all.

<Ha!? You want to call Mr Lokiss? Why didn't you say soo?>

<Give them the ball sisterr>

<Bitee me Mell, the silent one can do itt>

<...>

Then the silent one of the four witches goes to one of the crates, finds a crystal ball and passes it to Penelope. That looked a little awkward to hold because of its wings but I'm always focusing on dumb things, I'm probably just trying to distract myself by how weird this is. At least everything has gone well and peaceful, I guess?

<Now leave and don't returnn>

<Begone fleshbagss>

<Scummy phoenixess>

<...>

"Bye bye!"

And just like that, we exit the cave with our communication device in hand, there's no chance we're setting off for a flight without a quick conversation first. I get that we're on a quest for gender bender reasons but to come across deformed witches providing us with a crystal ball? This is only going to get weirder I reckon.

"Well... that was a weird fucking experience, what the hell just happened?"

"Heh, don't look at me Ikarus, I'm just as confused as you"

"Uh huh, I'm also confused"

Why did those creatures look happy when Loki was brought up? And why are they willing to help us? I seriously doubt I'm going to get anything useful out of Miss gender bender though.

"Hehe, you lot really don't get around that much! Hags have always been like that; we should be really grateful they've given us one just like that! This is the best mood I've seen them in for centuries, they must really like you three!"

Yeah, they really like us just by how 'disgusting' we are... as for the centuries thing, it's obvious Penelope's age must be comparable to Petra. I'm not sure who's older but just by judging how strong Penelope is as well, she might be older. Humans are naturally weaker than us birds but even if you exclude that EXP nerf we get, Penelope was still in the seven hundreds and at least from what I've heard, she's basically been around since forever. Not a single person knows her age and the Magi guild's age.

Her brain power is definitely not comparable to her actual magic though, that jolt of lightning she did actually lit up the entire cave all from what was basically a snap of her fingers. I bet that wasn't even a fraction of her showing any true power. Huh, there's a damn load of insanely powerful women in this world, it's pretty obvious why women don't seem to have any discrimination but it does seem to be pretty commo which is kinda cool I guess. As for someone's species, that's a completely different thing though, damn racists...

"So... we've already got the ball then, what next? How do we contact him?"

Let's give the God Loki a call, hopefully we don't call him while he's on the toilet or something stupid like that...

"Ah, we'll need several ingredients Petra's lover! Some are quite easy and pretty convenient like using currency to make the call, that should take a gold coin or two! The other part is a little trickier and more barbaric... we'll need the still beating heart of a pure blood virgin! I have no idea where we'll find that though"

...

What type of barbaric ritual is this!? Me and Ariza are completely taken aback by how this has turned, it seems Petra might know what she's talking about though. It's obvious we're not going down that route even if it helps Ariza, she's definitely not the type of person to kill someone for the sake of losing her third leg... I'm pretty fucking crude as well at times.

"Penelope... think I know what dark art you're getting at now but that's a little inefficient, why wouldn't a goat's heart work just as well?"

"Seriously Petra!? Have you forgotten everything about the ways of the forgotten ones? It's always something horrible, disturbing and evil! A pure maiden's heart has always been a sacrifice the Gods pay the utmost attention to!"

"It's just manipulating the egos behind such a thing Penelope; don't tell me you've been doing everything the hard and difficult way?"

"Never! I do things the right way, the way the grandmaster taught and..."

Sighhh, I really dislike these types of in-depth magic stuff, I get that there's different types but stuff like magic theory is impossible for me. Even if I could care to learn about it in extreme depth, the problem is it's extremely doubtful I'd be able to use anything but fire and my abilities, I'm kinda locked with my destruction class unfortunately. As for Petra, her system does seem a little more flexible with these sorts of things but we've discussed this before and even she reckons it could be useless for me to learn it, my system was always basic but I like that so don't complain Aesa!

[<Hmph>]

"...Penelope, we're both getting carried away now, both Ikarus and Ariza haven't a clue what we're talking about. The point is, I can get a goat's heart to work just as well"

"Fine! We'll do things your way but if it blows up in your face, then don't say I didn't blame you!"

"Heh, I'll keep the warning in mind"

It actually appears Miss gender bender is pouting and sulking from Petra destroying whatever magic theory crap they were discussing, enough about all this though. It's time to go hunting, then find a spot to conduct the ritual.

"Let's go find a goat then..."

__________

(Ikarus) "Hey Penelope, how did they even go about achieving immortality? I don't want the gross specifics like the ritual though"

We've set up at an old ruin deep in the woods and luckily enough, there's a partially destroyed alter perfectly ready for use here. Getting a live goat wasn't exactly a challenge but I'm definitely going to turn away when those two barbarians go through with the plan. Killing, then eating something is one thing but actually cutting out a beating heart is something completely different, at least the goat will still be dinner tonight but I'd rather just kill something outright.

Obviously Ariza looks disgusted by the whole idea too and has already tried to stop the plan but we're still going through with it regardless. The thing is, she and Zeki do hunt and kill animals for food so it's not like she's unable to do it, just I think she's a little shy about having people do stuff for her and not the fact she's an animal lover. She always was a little sensitive and caring after all but sometimes she should just accept other people's kindness I guess... even if a goat of two ends up being sacrificed because of it. You know, vegetarians must absolutely despise us...

I don't actually think Petra's too keen on doing it as well but it sounds like this might the only way, it's this or we decide to hunt a pure blood virgin after all. Penelope is an odd specimen though so she's just been smiling about the chance of committing the dark arts once again so she's forgotten about that idea already. Should I be slightly worried she'd be willing to kill another human like that? Nah, I think she likes Ariza just as much as we do.

The question I just asked is simply just me trying to make small talk while my waifu and Miss gender bender set things up, just call it morbid curiosity I guess, the pun was intended. This really is going to get gruesome very shortly.

"Ah, it was an old concoction involving a backbreaking ritual and drinking tainted phoenix blood! I did tell them it wouldn't achieve full immortality since you birds don't actually live forever, would've been better to use dragon"

So they're not actually immortal then... Hang on, I'm missing the important thing here, Petra's clearly beaten me to the response then.

"Those hags used phoenix blood for such a thing? Does this not seem like an important thing to mention to us idiot? How have you never brought this up?"

Whoa, Petra's actually pissed at Penelope for that, it's actually made her stop painting whatever crest is on that alter. Setting up this ritual is pretty boring thinking about it.

"Calm down Petra! You never asked about it so why would I have said!?"

"*Sigh*"

This reminds me a little when it comes to learning certain species traits with Aesa but Aesa isn't stupid as hell, Petra does seem a little worked up from this though. Seeing her not remain calm and composed is always a rarity. I can always give her a quick hug to help but I don't think she'll want it right now.

"Petra, you okay?"

"Apologies Ikarus but I've known that mess of a person for centuries now, you'd think she might've mentioned something about phoenixes seeing that she's always known about it. Even when you and the others came alone, she's purposely been sitting on that information"

I'm pretty sure I did mention that Penelope has always known about us even when we first met, magic sense or whatever it's called seems to be the main reason behind such a thing. I can see why Petra would be pissed though; I'd be annoyed in her situation.

"I don't actually know that much though! Other than that yellow guy lived to just past a thousand, you're infertile and that you basically are comparable to demigods! Oh, he also said something about four is the maximum that can be alive at one time, forgot about that one!"

"*Sigh*... you never mentioned any of that as well"

And the trademark facepalm comes out, some of that we already knew but this sort of information does seem to come up at completely random times.

"You know anything else Miss Penelope like why we exist even or more about the evolving thing then? Ria did give us a little bit but it only ever gave us more questions than answers"

"Unfortunately I don't! It's definitely got to do with some God wanting to mess about with how things work but no idea why though! That yellow guy was probably the same person who met the tree spirit Ria! He did like to get around a bit but he's definitely dead now, I kinda miss him a little..."

So that yellow phoenix is the same person who spoke with the dryad? I bet he's the same person who bumped into father too, the old lizard did say something about meeting a phoenix once or twice ages ago. By the sounds of it though, he might be dead if that four thing is anything to go off, that's a shame but it's not like he's family or even a friend.

(Ikarus) "Who do you think could be responsible for such a thing though Penelope? Which God since there seems to be way too many?"

"If I had to make a wild guess... maybe a God associated with fire!...

Well no shit... that really seems like an uninformed guess but didn't Loki have a little to do with fire as well? I only remember him being a prankster God but who knows, it does ring a bell though.

"...Although I'm unsure how they'd know how to summon or even put you inside an egg, it's just a guess of course... Anyways, looks like we're good to go! Petra, take Mr Goat and let's prepare the sacrifice!"

It's difficult to describe what Petra and Penelope were doing through that other than drawing signals. Seriously though, this looks like something you'd use to contact a devil, I'm guessing Petra made her power deal using something like this but I'd rather not know.

"Uh huh... do you really have to keep naming him Mr Goat though Miss Penelope? You're just making this worse"

Heh, Ariza doesn't like that our sacrifice has a name, does naming him actually make any difference though? He's still going to die regardless of how cute he looks; it doesn't help he's making me hungry as well.

"I could've named him something like Gerry or even Garry but then that would be barbaric! Mr Goat will do!"

I can't help but chuckle now, Garry the goat! The dwarf really wouldn't like that he's now sharing a name with a sacrificial goat but let's just get this over with since Mr Goat is going to be our dinner once this is done.

"Uh huh... can we just get this done now please? I feel a little sick"

"Sure Ariza, you and Ikarus look away while me and Penelope do the deed"

"Yes! You can look but it's about to get pretty fun and bloody!"

'I mean, I could look but this bit is guaranteed to be really gory, I'm kinda curious but it might be better to look away...'