Chapter 240: The Castle of Separation Part 1

It had been a few hours since they got off the train and now they found themselves walking through a vast forest on their way to that enigmatic castle.

In the lead were Gray and Sakura, who were talking about trivial things while the only adult here, Waver Velvet, was crawling on the ground begging for mercy.

The man tired rather quickly from this long walk through the forest illuminated by the strong rays of the sun.

"A rest...that's all I want...it'll only be five minutes."

Groaned the man lying on the ground. His clothes had been soiled by this pathetic act, but neither Gray nor Sakura wanted to stop here.

Still, they both looked at each other and sighed.

"Just 3 minutes."

They both said in unison, perfectly timed, so timed that Waver felt like for a moment his right lung would pop out of his mouth from the suddenness of that.

***

The three of them sat in the shade of a tree with their backs leaning against it. Waver looked up at the clear sky, perfectly blue and bright, with pure white clouds moving slowly overhead.

"The train ride was very difficult."

Sakura said to break the ice, to which Gray said:

"I can imagine how you felt."

"Yeah... I get motion sickness on transports during long journeys. If it's just a few minutes I can handle it, but when it gets past an hour it becomes hell."

Standing next to Sakura, Toru folded his arms listening to the conversation. It was obvious that he would be brought on this trip, but the journey was a long one. Still, that didn't bother him.

He waited like this until the three minute break was up.

Everyone stood up and moved on down the road.

After that, nothing interesting happened.

***

[There's weird guy asleep on a rock. I feel he is dangerous. Stay alert]

Toru's monotonously bored voice echoed inside Sakura's mind.

She looked in the direction where Toru's presence was strongest and, on a tall stone about two and a half meters high, a white-robed man seemed to be resting.

Sensing the presence of the three people watching him silently, he woke up and looked at everyone.

"Haa... finally someone here, what's this? Two young ladies and a gloomy man. What a strange combination. The two ladies don't fit the image of this remote place. Could it be that I'm seeing something I shouldn't?"

The man hopped down from the stone. His voice was quite animated for his slightly portly appearance, his sharp gaze and his mustache and beard that showed quite well where he came from.

"Who the hell are you?"

Waver asked. To which the man, his tone animated, adjusted the thick black scarf covering his neck and replied.

"Flue. That's my name."

"That's a rather cute name for someone like you."

"Well, my name really is Flueger, but I don't like the sound of it. If you leave it at Flue, it sounds better, don't you think?"

Saying that, he walked over to Sakura and then to Gray.

"Hm... Why are you wearing a hood? You're a beautiful girl, there's no point in hiding your face. And you, violet-haired miss. You're not even from this continent, it can easily be seen."

"I would appreciate it if you would leave my daughter and my apprentice alone."

"Your daughter? But they don't look anything alike."

Sakura sighed.

"My father adopted me a long time ago."

"Well, that explains everything. Still, little girl. You're hiding something... why are you wearing gloves? What can't be seen of a lady's beautiful hands? Do you have any scars to hide?"

Getting too close to Sakura, Flue observed this girl's hands. This alerted Toru, who prepared to appear if anything strange happened.

Fortunately, Waver stepped in again.

"I told you before, leave my daughter alone."

"All right, all right. What an overprotective father you are."

"Anyway. Were you invited too?"

"Of course."

Flue took out a letter from his robe and showed it to Waver as proof that he wasn't going to do anything weird for now. Waver accepted this.

"Then, if we're going to the same place, wouldn't it be better to go together?"

Waver looked at Gray at the sudden suggestion.

Flue immediately agreed.

"You don't have to ask twice. I accept. Again, I'm Flue. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I am Lord El-Melloi II."

"Gray"

"Sakura Velvet."

Flue nodded.

"What interesting characters I met today. The famous Lord who appeared out of nowhere nine years ago, his student, and his adopted daughter. Although... don't you think bringing your own daughter to this place was a bad decision?"

Sakura interrupted.

"I was the one who decided to come. My father had nothing to do with it. Now, it looks like we're a little late, let's go quickly."

"You're right."

Waver looked at Gray.

"Let's go fast. And you, Flue or whatever, if you're slow we'll leave you behind."

"Don't worry, Lord. I'm confident in my endurance and speed."

"If you have time to make double entendre jokes, that means you have time to walk."

***

Thus these four characters made their way through the trees of the vast forest around the castle. Occasionally Gray and Sakura would talk about anything to distract themselves. Flue liked to tease Waver with overly personal questions, while the Servant, Assassin, walked silently beside his Master.

He watched every movement of the mysterious man who explained some things about himself that he kept deep in his memory in case he could use it to his advantage.

So, for a few more minutes, even if it was boring and stressful, he watched everything in silence.

When they were able to exit the forest, into everyone's field of vision, among the trees and the vast forest, entered a monstrous and gigantic white castle, with three large and imposing statues of angels with large feathered wings carved in marble on the ceiling. The angels had their hands clasped together looking heavenward, as if they were praying. In turn, the great walls that rose from the ground, which seemed to want to tear the sky, had strange patterns resembling twisted white intestines on the walls. Overall, the castle had the shape of a colossal arch with trees and flowers inside.

This place somehow evoked a strange feeling in Toru, who looked at the carved angels on the ceiling thinking how someone could build something so monstrous and sickly.

Sakura thought the same thing. This place somehow made her feel uncomfortable, leading her to wonder about the creator of this "divine" castle.

While Sakura and Toru were distracted by the castle, Waver and Flue talked about some writings in the bible. Gray admired his mentor's extensive knowledge.

In the end, Flue, seeing the castle, remembered everything he knew about it.

"The creator of the Castle of Separation is known as the Magus of the Ashbourne. You didn't come all this way without knowing that, did you?"

"Huh... What a bother. Looks like I'm stuck in another one of those trouble spots."

Waver shook his head.

"Anyway. There's something we don't know yet. Who are you? And I don't mean your name."

Flue smiled and answered truthfully. There was no point in hiding his identity knowing that this man is one of the Lords of the Clock Tower anyway.

"I am a mercenary. I work mostly in the middle east gambling my life on whatever magecraft involves. Sometimes the Clock Tower asks for my services."

[A mercenary. Master, I'll stay as close as I can to you.]

Sakura nodded at her Servant's words. At the same time, after that exchange of words between these two men, they all advanced to enter the castle.

As they walked, Sakura admired the yellow flowers lying in the main garden of the castle. Still unable to shake that uncomfortable feeling, she felt that Toru was quite close to her.

She felt happy to think that this boy is protecting her. Although more than that, Toru saw it as a nuisance to let his Master die since after that she would only have two options left. The first is to disappear and return to the Throne of Heroes, and the second is to look for another Master. Either of those two ways is a nuisance, so he saw it feasible to protect Sakura.

Of course, Sakura did not know this. She thought that the Toru of the past was being reborn in this new Toru, but that was far from reality.

Among all those thoughts and conversations that ended in awkward silences, they arrived at the main entrance of the castle, a large gleaming wooden door, so gleaming that you could see your face reflected in it.

In front of that door, a man dressed as a butler waited. Seeing you, the butler stepped aside and opened the door.

"Please come in."

He said. So the group entered the castle.

...

...

[Something like this...]

"It's sickening..."

Upon seeing the interior, Sakura and Toru had the same reaction. Angels everywhere. On the walls, on the ceiling, like perfectly sculpted statues. Everything so white and bright, so bright that it blinded anyone with astigmatism.

This couldn't be described as just a collection of angels as Waver explained to Sakura a few years ago during her Magecraft classes. This was more than that. It was as if the same person, the owner of this castle, had given himself over completely to an unhealthy obsession. If that were the case, the angels' feathers, their radiant looks, all of this....

[It's like having entered into that person's head.]

Toru whispered, and almost instantly, Gray fell down clutching her arm tightly.

Her hood fell off, revealing her face and emerald green eyes. Toru saw her suffering and deduced that she is going through the same thing as him.

The moment he entered this place he had a strange sensation whispering in his ear. Hundreds of voices whispering, inducing a strange hallucination in his head.

A vast hallway with white walls, with dozens of doors stretching the length of it. There are eyes on the walls and the dust of the place seemed to become hundreds of feathers filling the floor.

Voices whispered unreadable words, but Toru just sighed and activated the Shigan in its dematerialized form. Upon doing so, the illusion dispersed and everything returned to normal.

Still, even though Toru was able to get out of this one very easily, it seemed Gray didn't have the same fate. She was clutching her head in pain, suffering the consequences of seeing hundreds of little angels approaching her.

Seeing her suffer like that, Sakura took Gray in her arms and, without taking her eyes off this girl's face, she put her finger in her mouth. Thus she took out some saliva with her finger and put it in Gray's mouth. As she did so, she closed her eyes and began to meditate.

When she least expected it, Gray calmed down and opened her eyes.

Waver's calm voice echoed after that.

"It seems I should have anticipated your training on defensive meditation. I'll have to add it to your homework when we get back. Thank you, Sakura."

"It was nothing. This is something you taught me a long time ago."

"I did it so no one would take advantage of you. Now, Gray, what was it you saw?"

Rising from the ground with difficulty, Gray felt a sweet taste between her lips and tongue. Deciding not to ask the reason why her mouth felt so sweet, and putting her hood back on, she looked at Waver.

"I saw a pantando of brain matter and many eyes looking at me."

"I understand."

He took this as a reference to what's going to happen. In fact, Waver also knew that Toru is here right now. With this, he thought that whatever happens here would be very easy.

Suddenly, the footsteps of elegant shoes echoed in the emptiness of the castle approaching on the white, gleaming, luxurious ceramic floor.

Sakura looked in the direction from where the footsteps were heard and recognized the man who had just entered the scene.

"Looks like we weren't the only ones to overcome that illusion."

Seeing the man, Waver recognized him instantly. A boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore an impeccable white suit with a red handkerchief in his right pocket of the same color as the shirt he wears under his jacket.

This was the knight Heine Istari, obviously of the Magus Istari family.

"It has been a long time, Lord El-Melloi."

"Lord El-Melloi II, please. If you call me without the II it is too heavy a name for my weak shoulders."

"How humble you are. I have heard of your exploits as Lord of the Clock Tower."

[Is it all the time like this with Magus?]

Toru, seeing the cordiality with which these two began to speak, felt a little uncomfortable. Well, he came from a culture where respect is something you have as a badge, but... he had already forgotten about that after so many things.

Sakura, on the other hand, was used to it. She already knew Heine Istari by her own father's word.

"Even if you don't like it, yes."

That was the truth. It was just the cordiality that one Magus has for another; the mask that hides the intentions of anyone who wears it. Cordiality is also a powerful weapon and both Heine and Waver knew it.

Thus he peered into the shadows in his ghost form, analyzing with his cursed eyes everything that moves within this place.

Just as suddenly as Heine's entrance on the scene, a little girl very much like the latter appeared.

At the same time, in the shadows of the lobby, three more people were waiting to make their appearance. With this, Toru's eyes glittered dangerously watching everything. He folded his arms and waited beside his Master.

[Putting all that aside. The people in this place are very suspicious, do I have permission to kill them in case the situation gets out of hand].

Sakura whispered her answer to him.

"You don't need to kill them. Take that option as our last resort. Besides, thinking about killing everyone as soon as you meet them is a bit rude, don't you think?"

[I only think about what is necessary for survival. Right now there are some people who are hiding near us. Whatever is going to happen in this castle, I don't like it very much to say...]

Because for a few minutes now those voices that echoed inside that illusion have been talking in your ear.

'They've already realized that I'm the only one who can hear them...'

The hundreds of souls enclosed within the walls of this castle....

To be continued...