BOOM! CLAP! the sound of my heart

Karo who was watching Belle waited on her to catch up.

Belle was slightly out of breath and paused.

"Karo, let's go save these people!" Karo glanced at Belle and saw the resolve in her eyes. She nodded slowly before walking forward.

' The resolve of a princess' Karo thought as she lead the way.

Belle internally commented on the actual length of this tunnel. It looked like a sewer had been completely blocked off, only letting the water pass by below the floor. She looked at the walls which were slowly showing signs of water damage from leaks and lack of adequate repair and questioned what could be in this area of the sewer.

Belle who wasn't looking forward bumped into Karo's back. She was about to question what was wrong but then something strange happened. In the distance lights lit up and the flames began to dance in a circle around an altar. Hooded figures could be seen dancing and muttering in spirit language.

"Dance of the Jumbi?" they both uttered silently. Belle looked towards Karo with a suspicious gaze. Karo glanced back and briefly respond.

"Anyone can learn it. You just understand it from the get go." Belle's faced immediately flushed red. She never thought that she wasn't that special after all.

Karo seeming deciding on something continued. "You are however the only ones who can see spirit contracts and alter them accordingly. Most who make a contract with a spirit get scammed with some terrible side effects depending on their request. That's why other witches refrain from making contracts with them without someone from you Realm to look it over."

They continued walking and the lights shone brighter in their eyes. Belle thought to herself 'so I'm basically the lawyer of the witchcraft realm…. nice'

Lamenting on her own uselessness. The lights finally caused their pupils to dilate. In front of them was an alter surrounded by the heads of different young and beautiful women. Their faces were torn and mutilated. Their eyes were cut into slits and an oddly shaped moon was cut into their foreheads. The crescent looked as if it had a bite taken out of it.

Belle gagged but was ultimately able to stomach the sight. Karo muttered quietly to herself. Belle could vaguely hear the words. 'Cult of the False moon.'

Karo didn't elaborate. She pulled out a folded metal sheet, wire, and smaller pieces of metal from her backpack. Gears began to turn in her eyes and the equipment dully lit up and she began to gently mold the items in front of her into a gentleman's pistol. She then began molding the smaller pieces into the trigger and other intricate parts.

Afterwards she began assembling them. Belle was surprised how fast this process was. It took her no longer than 2 minutes to do this. She did however notice that she didn't craft any bullets for it.

During those two minutes she would occasionally look towards the cultists and they didn't seem to hear anything which seemed like a coincidence but she assumed they were too entranced in their dance.

"Their blind" Karo stated perfunctly. Belle then immediately focused on their eyes and noticed that they were. Their eyes were cut into similar slits that were on their bodies. Their foreheads even had that weird moon shaped carved into it.

Before Belle could ask for more information and how she was able to notice such a minute detail in this lighting a blank shot rang out. However , one of the cultists dropped to the floor with a crisp hole in his head. The other cultists stopped and looked towards the direction of the shot.

Karo was looking down the scope again fired without hesitation. Another body. They cultists immediately flared and began ravenously charging in her direction. Skillfully two more shots were placed in the center of their foreheads. Belle realizing that they were battling started backing away.

They both dived in opposite directions. Karo threw a knife from her bag realizing she didn't have a weapon. Belle caught it but fumbled it slightly. She then got a grip on the blade and two cultists began to run towards her perceiving her as a new threat to their dance.

She waited for them to come to her. The first scratched her face and in turn she slit their throat. That didn't stop them as they continued to claw at her body.

She then realized that Karo had shot their heads on purpose. Before she could dwell on it too long the cultists friend joined the fiasco.

Belle was now covered in wounds. She cried out and started screaming in the language of the spirits. The cultists bodies immediately froze and she skillfully stabbed the center of their cranium. In her tattered clothing her tattoos pulsated a deep purple.

Belle immediately began running towards other cultists and continued muttering unintelligible words sometimes they would trip and miss their attacks leaving a fatal opening for her to abuse. Her kill count steadily rose and she started suffering less injuries. Her attacks also became more compact and not wasting any movements or energy.

One the opposite side of the room...

Karo ran across a wall and did a flip and let out 3 shots. Each delivering a new soul to the underworld. Losing her momentum, she kicked one of the cultists in front of her before lodging the gun into their mouth and firing. Using the force of the shot to hit one of the cultists stood behind her.

Using the added force, she completed the anti clockwise rotation showing her superb flexibility. She then continued her rampage. It looked effortless.

Belle watched in awe. Her revel was soon ended as the tattoos on her body started to dim and she could feel her body getting extremely tired. She didn't waste what little energy she had left. She looked at the two cultists left in front of her and began to charge towards them. She used whatever energy she had left stabbed their skulls in succession.

Karo who had looked at Belle tiring decided to wrap things up quickly. She pulled a small square box out of her cat pack and threw it at the last bit of cultists before grabbing Belle and running out the alter room into the corridor. Karo pointed to her ears and Belle quickly covered hers .

BOOM! An extremely loud sound was heard. The roof above them slightly crumbled and the ground beneath them quaked.

After a few seconds they slowly got up and walked out of the settling dust. Inside was pieces of the ceiling which had crumbled down along with the charred bodies of the cultists.

The alter surprisingly remained untouched including the heads which surrounded it. It was clear of debris or rubble.

Seeing this Karo frowned before walking towards it. She shot at the alter but nothing happened the airwave disappeared right as it touched it.

Belle who was left behind suddenly felt herself get extremely sleepy. Belle fell to the floor unconscious. Karo who wasn't paying attention turned to the sound of a thud and saw Belle laying there with her eyes glazed back. She ran towards her and began screaming her name.

Belle woke up inside a small bedroom and laying on the bed was a small child dressed in pajamas. The boy looked up toward her and stared blankly at her.

Belle looked at the boy and when she saw his gaze directed towards her she froze. In his eyes were the symbol the cultists were worshiping.

She felt her body and mind decaying at a rapid rate.