Chapter V: Malevolence and Benevolence

"For the last time could you stop addressing me like that," Rory growled as she stood. "Only my Father may address me as Rose!"

The Noble boy's brow twitched but he managed to keep a smiling face. "As ever your passion burns as bright as your fiery hair." He tried reaching for a lock but Rory smacked his hand away.

"Do not... Touch my hair..."

The Noble boy rubbed his hand, his smile fading as the irritation began to set in. "You'd do well to remember that I am Prince Fernando Von Baskerville, Second Prince of Baskerville! Even though you are the Grand Cross's daughter you still have to show some respect to the kingdom."

"If she doesn't want to be bothered, then please don't bother her."

Blast, I'd spoken up without realizing it.

The Prince's gaze was now fixed on me. "Harold... Issac... I believe this Imp addressed me."

The two boys behind him snickered and the larger one of the two stepped right up to me. "Imps don't have permission to speak in the Prince's presence." He jabbed me in the chest with his meaty finger. "Open your mouth again and I'll pop your head off like a cork."

"Leave him alone you brute!" Rory shouted.

"Rory my dear... I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to associate with an Imp." Prince Fernando grabbed her hand and began pulling her along to the carriage. "Come now... What would your Father think of you being around such rabble."

"Hey! Leave her alone!" I shouted again. Before I could race after them the larger boy slammed the back of his hand across my cheek. Toppling to the ground, the pain across my face rang in my head like church bells going off.

"I told ya to keep your trap shut Imp!"

"Ragi!"

Rory shook herself loose from the Prince's grip, sprinted toward the larger boy, and kicked him in the back. The boy didn't move that much but now he turned to face Rory. He began to chuckle as he raised his hand to strike Rory.

"Harold you stupid oaf. Do not strike her!" The Prince commanded. "Grab her and get her in the carriage. Father will want to hear about this."

Harold reached for her arm this time. But Rory snatched his wrist from him pulling him into her as she reared her head back. Slamming her forehead into his like a hammer, Harold tumbled to the ground like a bag of bricks.

Prince Fernando and Issac were taken aback by Rory's sudden display of violence, and even I was a little scared.

Rory turned to the Prince with her fists still clenched. "Either get out of here now or end up like him..."

The Prince while shaking in his boots, cracked a sly smile. "You laid a hand upon a noble of the Baskervillian court. There's no way you can escape punishment now. Wilhelm! Seize her and her little Imp."

The knight drew his sword though he seemed rather reluctant. "You couldn't just indulge the little brat could you," he said as he approached us. "Don't make me hurt you."

I tried standing to my feet to get in between her and the knight but as I stood something hooked me to the ground.

"O Chains... Bind the little Imp to the Earth," the Prince chanted.

I'd been caught by an Arcane Binding spell. I tried remembering off the top of my head what countermagic I knew. But then it hit me, even if I could counter the spell I wouldn't be able to cast it. Even if Rory could handle the knight in front of her the consequences of striking a knight of the crown were severe. There had to be a way, there just had to be.

"Child..."

I tensed up. Hearing that voice again was the last thing I needed. Though the world seemed to slow down around me.

"We are not so weak as to allow such petty magic to hold us..."

"B-Be silent... I'm trying to think of a way out of this..."

"Come now... Victory is just within reach... The only chains that bind you are the ones within your mind..."

I examined the chains once more I tried concentrating as much as I could to formulate a spell. Yet the result I arrived at was the most unorthodox idea I'd ever have. I felt something cold seeping down my jaw. "Saliva?" I thought.

"Yes... Now you're getting it... The power of the feeble Prince... Devour it... It shall become the fuel for your power..."

Listening to the vile voice that whispered dangerous ideas in my ear was undoubtedly the worst decision I could make. Yet in these times it was the only decision I could make. So as time began to fasten around me I used all of my might to pull my wrist toward my mouth and opened wide.

"Yes... You are much more powerful than you let yourself be... These mortals will never be able to stand against you... Now... Stop running from who you are... Embrace it... Devour it all... Show these mortals that you aren't an Imp... BUT A REAL DEMON!!!"

I bit into the chain as hard as I could tearing the magic away as it flowed into my body. The rest of the chains that bound me collapsed into pure mana and seeped into my skin. My body started to get warm then heated up even more. For the first time in my life, power coursed through my veins. Raising my hand I allowed all the power I accumulated to concentrate there. Then while clenching all but my index and middle finger I swiped them upward.

"Arcane Barrier!"

From the ground, in between Rory and Wilhelm a red barrier was erected shooting upward. As Wilhelm approached he ended up slamming into the barrier. "Ugh... Arrggghh!" Wilhelm shouted as he dropped to his knees.

"What the hell!" The Prince shrieked. "An Imp like you raising a hand to a human! Guards seize them this instant!"

From different portions of the plaza, guards began to spill out like ants from their destroyed hill. I tried looking around for an exit until I saw a small alley with a hooded person standing there. They were mouthing something to me and beckoning me to them.

"Hey... Kid... If you wanna escape follow me."

There was no time to waste, I grabbed Rory's hand and aimed my free hand toward the prince. "Shadow Mist!"

From my palm, a cloud of black smoke was expelled obscuring the area around us. Pulling Rory along I headed straight for the hooded person.

"Ugh... Those insolent fools! Get them you louts!"

The Prince's mad ravings and the clanking of armor were the only things that could be heard from the court as we made our escape. When we reached the hooded person they were accompanied by another.

"Worry not helpless urchins. Those leashed dogs will not pass into here."

He stretched his hand out and it glowed a brilliant vermillion color. Turning around a large red magical gate appeared and a Greatshield emerged from it blocking access to the alleyway. It was from there we took off without being pursued.

We ran for a good thirty minutes until we reached an alley a couple of streets away from home. As we stopped to catch our breath I could feel the feeling from earlier begin to fade slowly. As unfortunate as it was, there wasn't any more need for the magic.

"Thanks... I didn't think... We'd be able to... Ugh..."

"It looks like you need to exercise more kid," said the first hooded figure. "But it's no problem. Humans can be uppity sometimes."

Rory cleared her throat and the hooded figure raised a hand. "No offense."

"Whatever... Aside from that. Who are you two?"

The two hooded people looked at each other and nodded. They took their hoods off revealing that they were a Solar Elf and a Calico Cat Beastwoman. Strangely enough, the two looked a bit familiar. The Solar Elf more so than his compatriot.

"Right... We should probably..."

"Insolent cur!" The Solar Elf spat, "How dare you not prostrate yourselves in the presence of our magnanimity. Then you have the gall to demand our names."

The Beastwoman jabbed her compatriot in the side with her elbow. "Shut it Geru."

"Ugh... What. You dare strike my perfect form!?"

She jabbed him again and a bit harder as it looked like. He buckled over and groaned loudly.

"My apologies for my colleague's rudeness. Seems like you traded one entitled noble for another."

"This loud-mouthed nobleman is Miura Shigeru, Son of the Miura clan within Tsuki no Yayoi. I'm Ophelia Schild, a Sister of Faith. It's a pleasure to meet you both."

"Wait... Miura... Schild... You wouldn't happen to be related to both Sister Ester and Uncle Goro?"

Ophelia tilted her head and her eyes narrowed as she examined me. "Wait... How do you know us."

"My Father mentioned something about Miura-san and Sister Schild coming today."

The Solar Elf known as Shigeru stood to his feet again. He ran his fingers through his long blond hair and crossed his arms. "Your Father? You mean to say you are Master Daedalus's son?"

I nodded and as I did he seemed a bit shocked. Dropping to one knee he bowed his head. "I beg your forgiveness Son of Daedalus... If I'd known I'd have quelled my arrogance."

"N-No... It's fine Shigeru. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm."

"Could've fooled me," scoffed Rory.

"No... As your Retainer, I cannot allow any affront to you even if it is my own. I believed you to be a common urchin girl along with your companion here."

"Common urchin!? I'll have you know I'm an important person too."

Rory's anger aside I patted Shigeru's shoulder and as he looked at me I could see the fear in his eyes. "Please. You don't have to be all formal now, we didn't know each other."

"If you command it I shall..." Shigeru stood to his feet and bowed once more. "Please Master Sunai, call me Geru."

"No, please... Call me Ragi, it's my name. This is Rory Sinclair, my friend."

"Ragi? So you've got a Draconic name," Ophelia noted. "Then there's your friend... If you're a Sinclair that must mean you're one of them."

"Yes, I am... But don't worry you don't have to bow are anything."

"Wasn't going to... Only the Gods deserve such reverence."

Right, I'd forgotten. It was probably best to not allow them to get too argumentive.

"Show some respect, Ophelia," Geru demanded. "This is Ragi's precious friend. The differences between the Ecclesiarchy and Divine Ark can be put aside for his sake."

The girls stared daggers into each other's eyes for a moment longer before turning away from each other.

"Whatever... Anyways we've killed two birds with one stone. We saved these two and now we can bring them back to Master Sunai's house. I'm sure he's weary from using all of that magic."

"Oh right... I did use magic... I used magic... I used magic!!!??

I opened my hand and although I felt the power in my fingertips it wasn't as prevalent as before. "I've got to tell my Father. I gotta hurry too."

"Your magic was almost as radiant as mine," said Geru. "Though I did detect a bit of magatsu-"

Ophelia jabbed him again. Then shook his head.

"Anyways... You're correct Ragi. We should go back to your father's house," she suggested.

As we turned to the other end of the alley we all spotted the visage of a warrior standing at the other end. They didn't seem to be one of the guards or a knight but they were certainly suspicious. The armor they wore was reminiscent of one of the Tsuki no Yayoi's Onna-Buigeshia guards.

Rory got in front of all of us, holding her hands up in our defense. "Another one of Prince Fernando's goons. This will be over in two seconds flat."

I wished the magic wasn't slowly being drained from my body otherwise I'd cast another shadow mist spell. Geru stepped forward but not in our defense. He held his arm in front of Rory.

"Stand down Demigod... It's just my useless sister."

The warrior approached us and she lifted the face mask from her face. Her knees buckled and she started shivering out of fear. She was a Lunar elf. But instead of their usual blue markings, she has red ones much like Geru should've.

S-S-S-Sorry... B-Brother... I was sent to... Find you both..."

"Zuka... You know you're supposed to announce yourself when you approach people." Geru pointed behind himself toward Rory. "You nearly caused a scene."

"Caused a scene? I doubt I'd have trouble," said Rory.

"Trust me, Demigod... My sister may be useless in everything else but you'd have some difficulty in battle... Anyways why are you here? You should be back with our esteemed Parents..."

She started pushing her index fingers together as she collected herself. Our eyes met for a second but she quickly looked away.

"It's better if... You lot just come with me. You wouldn't believe me if I'd just told you."

The way her voice sounded the sadness in it. Which led me to believe something has happened at home. While everyone was lost in their confusion I started walking. The walk slowly sped up turning into a brisk sprint.

Something happened at home. Something I felt was terrible.