[25.4] A Willing Sacrifice

With a heavy sigh, Zephyr morphed into this demon form and rushed to the nearest guard.

I watched as a faint smoke was released from Zephyr's body and moved to the guard, covering him completely. The guard straightened up and started walking towards the door leading into the prison.

Using his power of conscious manipulation, none of the guards questioned each other as Zephyr followed one of them down the hall to the high-security prison cells.

Zephyr fiddled with his hands nervously until they finally came to a cage with the woman in red.

Although she was still beautiful, her appearance was ragged and far more pitiful than when he last saw her. Although now, he could see a clear similarity to the woman claiming to be Reika's mother. He even wondered if they could be distantly related.

The woman furrowed her brows, "What is this?"

The guard motioned her to follow which she did in confusion. Eventually, she was brought out to the courtyard where Zephyr whispered into her ear, "Pardon the intrusion."

Her eyes lit up as Zephyr forcefully possessed her body.

He furrowed his brow as he looked at her small wrists still in chains, "Why did she not even try to fight me off?... Well, whatever."

A bell started ringing and the guards rushed over to the far courtyard, "A prisoner is escaping!"

Zephyr expected them to attack him, but instead watched in awe as they ran past. With his hands still in chains and the collar around his neck, he walked over to the wall where I was waiting. I opened a hole in the wall and helped him through before quickly closing it behind me. We both avoided the excitement and walked back to the building in the slums.

Zephyr spoke to me in a whisper still using the woman's body, "Reika. I have a bad feeling about this. This woman didn't even try to fight off the possession."

"So? Why is that important?"

"All humans fight it off… Although it's usually useless, they still fight. But she didn't."

"I still don't see why that matters."

"It's suspicious!"

I let out a sigh, "Maybe she just thought you were her demon buddy there to save her."

He shook his head, "I don't think that's it. My instincts are telling me that there is something wrong with this situation."

"It's nothing. Stop panicking." I glanced at the collar around his neck, "Hey. How are you able to use magic to take her body even though she's wearing that collar?"

He smiled smugly, "These things don't work against possession. As long as I don't use magic in her body, I won't be zapped."

I hummed to myself as I looked at it closely, "Let's keep it on for now."

I walked into the building and pointed at the third spot in the diagram, "Just leave her body there."

He hesitated, but under my stare, he let out a sigh and walked over. He sat down and a mist came out of her body. Zephyr left her body and returned back to his childlike human state.

The woman collapsed in a moan and looked back at us with an exhausted expression, "Ah, good morning. You know, if you would have asked I would have just followed you. There was no need for possession."

I clicked my tongue, "Somehow I don't believe you."

A sly grin crossed her face, "Dare I ask what your plan is for me?"

I moved to the last spot on the magic circle making sure everything was perfect, "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to use your body as a sacrifice. Consider it your proper punishment for what you did to Cyrus and me."

She giggled, "I don't see it as much of a punishment."

I snapped, "Just shut up and sit there."

She nodded, "As you request."

Zephyr's body trembled, "Reika… P-Please don't… Please don't do this. I usually wouldn't care, but this doesn't feel right. That woman inside of you begged me not to let this happen. A-And I agree. This is wrong-"

I growled at him, "Don't tell me what is wrong! What's wrong is that my mother died too young! What's wrong is that this woman tried to kill Goldilocks! So don't tell me what is wrong!"

Zephyr lost his courage, but managed to speak, "But… That woman inside of you… She doesn't want-"

I shoved him in a fit of anger and shouted, "If you're not going to help, then GET LOST!"

He flinched, "Reika…"

I shoved him again, "LEAVE!"

He stared at me with rejection in his eyes. He lowered his head in dejection with his tail tucked between his legs, "I… I just don't want to see you get hurt-"

He quickly stopped himself and shook his head. He turned around and started running away as he shouted over his shoulder, "Dumb human! I hope you die this time!"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes as I watched him run away. I mumbled under my breath, "If I die, it would only benefit you."

…But this time I won't fail.

There's no need to worry about dying.

I looked back at the woman on one spot of the magical circle staring back at me with an arrogant smile. Noticing my attention was on her, she tilted her head with a smile, "Little mutt… You should listen to that fox. Necromancy will stain those tiny hands of yours."

I snickered, "Why would you care?"

Her smile turned sinister, "Care? I don't care at all. In fact, I am happy to see you go through all this effort just for me."

"It's not for you. It's for my Mummy."

"For your Mummy? Don't lie, mutt. You are doing this for yourself…" She let out a content sigh, "But I'm not trying to dissuade you. In fact, this will bring you one step closer to us."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You talk a lot for a sacrifice."

She laughed, "I can't help it. I love serving my master."

I raised an eyebrow, "And just who is your master? I heard that even with the key of truth, you wouldn't tell them who it was. How did you manage to lie?"

"You're wrong." She grinned, "I did tell the truth. I have no idea who my master is nor do I know where to find him."

I frowned, "And what about your name? You wouldn't even give that."

Her smile faltered slightly, "Because I don't have one to give."

So it will force you to speak the truth, but if you don't know the truth then it's worthless?

I clicked my tongue, "What a useless item."

She chuckled, "It's useless, but also an annoyance to my Master. But you won't have to worry about that silly key any longer. My Master is going to take care of it."

I paused, "He's going to take care of it? What do you mean?"

An eerie smile passed over her face, "Things have a tendency to disappear during times of chaos."

Now I understand what Zephyr meant about having a bad feeling. Things are going far too easy to be lucky.

But I don't have time to figure it out.

I have to bring my mummy back.

I pulled out the vial of blood and poured it onto the last symbol. The magic circles turned bright red and pulsed as an evil energy started to leak out.

I raised my wand, "Just stay right there and don't say a word."

As I recited the spell from memory, I concentrated on the image of my mother.

A faint, icy blue light emerged from my body and condensed over the charred corpse. I kept reciting and pouring out my mana as I watched the faint blue light take the shape of my mother. She had her hair pulled back into a long braid and her gentle eyes stared back at me with affection.

Her soft voice called out to me, "Reika… You don't have to do this. I don't blame you for what happened. I don't need to return to the living… I just want you to be free and happy."

I ignored her words and continued the spell.

This time I won't hesitate.