Lady Murtell's rescue

In a dingy little room several miles from the citadel, Astrola struggled to her feet. The pain of having her Charm forcibly dispelled was still wracking her head with waves of pain, but there was no time to lose. She paused only to ensure her Glamour was still working before exiting the abandoned building, and, with a quick glance around to verify that the alleyway was empty, spread her wings and took to the sky.

**** the princess' companion had been a risk, but a calculated one. As directed by her mistress Leraje, she had come south to the capital several weeks ago to investigate the strange events that had been occurring there recently. Infiltrating the Cathedral was out of the question; the arrays they were using to protect it were among the best the Light-races had, so she had had to content herself with the little her people could glean from the gossip that filtered out of the compound.

The citadel, on the other hand, was doable. Dangerous, but doable. So if she couldn't get much on the Saintess' disappearance -beyond confirming that it had happened but that she was now back- she would at least do her best to figure out the details of the princess' recent escapades. If the reports were true, the princess had been working with an oni, and other Dark-races had been involved. She wasn't sure what this meant, but it wasn't something that could safely be ignored.

Approaching the citadel herself was dangerous in the ****, so despite the fact that she would have preferred to handle the work there herself she had had to resign herself to having a thrall do it for her. Even so, she had had to wait until a night like this one when there was so much activity due to the ball that her own machinations would go unnoticed. She would have preferred a little more time to prepare, but one of her people had stumbled on the intelligence that the traffickers were seeking **** on the princess, and that Lady Murtell had already been targeted once.

This would not do. She needed the woman alive, at least until she had a chance to question her. It did give her an opportunity to kidnap her and have it blamed on the trafficking ring, however, which made things slightly easier. So she had laid her plans with that in mind, but something had gone terribly wrong.

With how important it was that this go smoothly, she had been monitoring her connection with her thrall closely. She had not been able to get any other people into the citadel, so it was his job to smuggle the noble out of there to where her people could take over and bring the woman to a secure location for interrogation. It was only because of this close scrutiny that she had noticed him abruptly falling ****.

He was compromised, that much was obvious. She had been trying to decide whether she ought to get all her people out of there and leave the capital entirely for the time being or not when the blinding pain of her connection being forcibly severed had hit her. She knew the strength of her Charm spell; there were few who could outright break it like that. The Saintesses definitely counted, though, and she had gotten a report only an hour or so before that two of them were attending the ball. If the Saintesses were involved, it was past time for her to no longer be. Her mistress wouldn't be happy, but it was better than dying for underestimating her enemies.

The castle loomed large before her by now, but she dived sharply down and to one side. Much as she would rather be adding to the distance between herself and the Saintesses, she had brought some of her best underlings along to help her on this mission and losing them would hurt her mistress' efforts almost as much as losing herself. Not that she intended to stick around until they were all out of danger. No, that would be foolish.

She landed in an alleyway where three rough-looking men and a woman were loitering around. All started forward as she landed, Glamours falling to reveal demonic features as questions started to their lips. She forestalled them with a gesture. "We're compromised. At least one of the Saintesses are involved as well. Glaufey, get the message to our other agents to drop everything and focus on getting beyond the reach of any possible pursuit. Everyone else, get out of the city immediately."

"What about the noblewoman?" One of the devils asked.

"That's a wash," Astrola replied. "My thrall was discovered somehow. Now go!"

There was no argument. All four melted into the shadows immediately. Astrola herself took to the skies again, casting an anxious glance at the citadel as she circled to gain altitude.

Then she banked so hard she nearly fell out of the air. Her single glance had caught the sight of a dark figure rappelling down the outer curtain wall of the castle, carrying a suspiciously human sized bundle. A part of her screamed about how foolish it was to pursue this lead, even though she was nearly certain of the identity of the two. But she really didn't want to have to go back to her mistress empty-handed. No sign of the Saintesses had manifested yet, so she judged she should be safe to intercept the assassin and take his cargo from him, if said cargo was still alive.

The devil shadowed the dark figure from above as he slipped through the alleys towards the lower quarters of the city. She waited until he was a good distance from the citadel before folding her wings and diving at his back.

Somehow he sensed her coming and dodged at the last second, the bundle being thrown from his shoulder to roll across the alley, stopping against one of the buildings with a muffled grunt of pain. So she was alive. Good. But first Astrola had to deal with her kidnapper, and quietly at that. A disturbance at this stage would all but seal her fate.

Astrola flared her wings to stop her skid, twisting around to face the assassin, who had already recovered from his dodge and was watching her warily, a dagger ready in his hand. "Give me the woman and I will allow you to live," she said, allowing her Glamour to fade just for a moment so he could see who he was truly dealing with. His eyes widened, then he smirked and straightened. Astrola narrowed her eyes. What was he playing at?

"You sure we can't make some sort of deal? I'm afraid I got kinda attached to this one. She's a real beauty, you know?"

There was a muffled grunt from the side, and they both glanced at its source. The noblewoman had twisted around to survey them both. She was half swallowed by her skirts, but Astrola could still see the bonds which kept her secure as well as the terror in her eyes. She turned her attention back to the man across from her.

"I have offered you a deal. Your life, for her. I am already being generous in giving you a chance to walk away still breathing."

"Yes, yes, very magnanimous of you. But I was thinking something more along the lines of trying to find a solution that lets both of us get what we want. For instance, what do you even want with her?"

"That's no concern of yours." Astrola shifted impatiently; this conversation was burning valuable time. Time she could be using to flee the capital. Her fingers itched to loose a fireball, but the explosion would be sure to attract attention.

"Oh, but I think it is. You see, it was no easy feat to get her out of the citadel, especially on a night like this." He gestured idly towards where the light blazing from the castle could still be seen in the distance. "So if I'm to be convinced to hand her over to you, I'd at least like to know what you intend to do with her."

"All you need to know is that if you don't want to face my wrath, you will walk away. Now."

Sadly this did not have the effect Astrola had hoped, even with her subtly tweaking her Glamour to make her seem more terrifying. Instead, he sighed. "You're not hearing me. I'm fine with working with you to make sure we both get what we want, but I'm not interested in just giving her up without any sort of compensation. Especially if you plan to do something as banal as killing her on the spot."

Astrola was silent for a long moment, thinking. It seemed she'd be unable to intimidate this man. Either he was a good deal stronger than he looked, or he was considerably more stupid. And he didn't strike her as a simpleton.

"Fine," she said. "I intend to-"

She broke off. There had been a flash of movement from above. Her instincts screamed at her and she dodged backwards, the cobbles where she had been standing reduced to a warped smoking crater almost before she vacated them by the spell that had been launched from the sky. A woman settled gently onto the ground across from her, a woman she immediately identified as the Hero herself, Saintess Tomoko Sakurai. She was still in evening dress, but Astrola knew better than to assume that meant she was at any sort of disadvantage. A quick glance revealed no sign of the strange man; he had taken the opportunity to disappear, though without his prize the noblewoman.

"It's over, demon," the Saintess said, leveling a sword at her that radiated so much holy power it made Astrola's eyes water just looking at it. "Answer my questions honestly and I'll make your **** quick."

Privately, Astrola had to agree with Tomoko's opening statement. Her life expectancy had plummeted into the seconds as soon as the Saintess had arrived, but she didn't intend to go down without a fight, however futile it might be. Accordingly, she snarled, "Sure, because I was the one who **** this woman, and not the human you just let get away."

"We found your trace on one of the servants of the citadel. There's no way you're not involved."

"I never claimed I wasn't, but- ...never mind. It's all been ruined anyway."

"What's been ruined? Your abduction attempt?"

Rather than answer, Astrola loosed a fireball. Tomoko caught it on a barrier of pure mana, the dark magic laced throughout the fireball licking ineffectually at the shield. But the devil had known her attack wouldn't work and hadn't waited around to note its effects. Instead she had launched herself at the nearest opening that would put her beyond the Saintess' line of sight.

A spell slammed into her side, throwing her hard into the opposite wall. She let out a gasping cough, tasting blood in her mouth, but dragged herself back to her feet anyway. Tomoko was approaching, another spell at the ready in her right hand while the left still held that thrice-damned sword.

Forgoing subtlety, Astrola unleashed her Final Form, the dark power howling through the alleyways and out over the rooftops. The Saintess stopped in her tracks at this, but Astrola, knowing any hesitation was likely to prove fatal, unleashed a volley of fireballs that curved around the Saintess to strike her from every direction at once. In response she expanded her shield into a sphere that entirely surrounded her, holding it against the continuous barrage Astrola kept up against her. The stone at her feet began to melt with the heat from the constant explosions, but the shield remained impervious.

Astrola knew she would run out of mana long before she broke through that shield with such weak spells since the Saintess could simply reinforce it whenever she wished. But the purpose of the barrage hadn't been to harm her enemy, it had been to immobilize and hold her attention long enough to let Astrola prepare her true weapon. A spell which concentrated all its power in as small an area as possible, it was just barely possible that it might punch through the Saintess' barrier before she could strengthen it against the new threat, and hopefully the resulting damage would give her enough to think about that Astrola would be able to make her escape.

She unleashed the spell, a pencil-thin beam of energy that crossed the distance between them in an instant and, to her own surprise, broke through the spherical barrier around the Saintess and found purchase in the body of her enemy. A cry of pain was **** from between the Saintess' lips, then a wave of sheer **** erupted from her, throwing Astrola completely through the stone wall behind her. Before she could even begin to recover a golden white beam of Light magic followed, eradicating the shield she tried to throw up to block it almost instantly and continuing on to consume her in its blinding burning light.

When it finally ceased she pulled herself up painfully to rest against a scrap of broken stone, noting almost disinterestedly that half her right side had been burnt completely away. She looked up as Tomoko came to stand above her, glaring down at what was left of her. A dark patch of blood stained her dress at the waist, indicating where Astrola's spell had struck home.

The devil couldn't suppress a broken chuckle, even through the pain and the knowledge of her own imminent ****. "So I was able to draw blood from the Hero herself. Not bad for a scrappy gutter rat like me." She coughed, the edges of her vision already fading into black. "I hope you- get yours ...someday."

Tomoko stared down at the body of the demon before her, still frowning. She didn't know why, but the entire exchange with this demon bothered her. She had obviously been in the wrong; for gods' sakes, she had been trying to abduct an innocent woman and she had mind controlled someone else in order to do it. Not to mention she was a demon, and everyone knew demons were evil. ...But then why did Tomoko feel uneasy about her words? What human had she been referring to?

After a moment, she shrugged off the thoughts and turned away, back to the alley where Elmeria and the princess were now rapidly approaching. It didn't matter. She had won, and Lady Murtell was now safe. Who cared what the demon had said?

Elmeria did, as it turned out. Once they were all safely back at the citadel, the dark elf questioned her closely, not letting her rest until she was positive she knew everything that Tomoko herself did. Once finished she lapsed into thought, allowing Tomoko the chance to look across the room to where Lady Murtell sat, sipping at a cup of tea at Princess America's urging and exchanging words with her in a whisper.

Her ears were sharper than they had ever been before- before she had become a Saintess, though, so she caught a couple words. They seemed to be discussing the possibility of getting ahold of someone. She couldn't quite catch the name; Ren something? Elmeria jerked as it was spoken, however, her gaze riveting on the pair which sat opposite.

"Do you know who they're talking about?"

"I-" Elmeria hesitated. "Maybe. But they clearly do not mean to be overheard, so we had better not say anything unless they talk to us about it."

Tomoko nodded. They both lapsed into another silence, only broken when Elmeria said, "This is not the way I expected this evening to go."

"Me either," Tomoko agreed. "I hope I can get the bloodstains out of this dress. It's one of my favorites." The wound the demon had been so proud of inflicting had been a small one, easily healed, though to be fair it was still more than most Dark-races had been able to achieve. The worst part was the blood that had soaked into her dress and the small hole the spell had made in the fabric.

"I might be able to help with that," Elmeria volunteered. "Sit here next to me."

Tomoko did as she was asked, and Elmeria flared her magic, waves of energy passing back and forth through the bloodstain. "What are you doing?" Tomoko asked.

"You know I have a purification spell, right?"

"Yes, I remember you using it to give us clean drinking water back when we were hunting down the Demon King."

"Well, I'm trying to see if I can 'purify' the blood out of your dress. Marstolle knows you can't go back to the ball like this; there would be no end of rumors." Elmeria's brows were furrowed in concentration. "This spell really wasn't made for this," she murmured, as if to herself.

Across the room, Grace sat huddled over her cup of tea. She wasn't badly hurt despite the night's escapades, only having a few bruises to show for her adventures, but the toll it had taken on her mental state was far greater than that which it had taken on her physically. The terror for what might await her at the hands of the one who was carrying her away, the worry of what would become of Felicity, the useless thoughts of what she could have done to avoid being ****... She could still feel that man's hands on her, calmly possessive, as though she had already belonged to him body and soul. She shivered.

Her thoughts turned again to Ser Fenrir. It seemed as though she would never feel entirely safe again unless she were placed under his protection. She had thought herself safe in the citadel, but her enemies had proven themselves capable of penetrating even to its depths. Had it not been for the Saintesses... She shuddered again, and took another sip of the brandy-laced tea.

The princess sat in the chair next to hers, her expression making it as clear how much she wanted to help as it did her uncertainty of how best to do so. But just her presence helped, as did her concern. Still, Grace reflected, she wasn't looking forward to going to bed. The nightmares were not going to be pleasant.

None of them ended up going back to the ball. It might raise an eyebrow or two, but most who even bothered to notice were likely to dismiss their absence as them simply having chosen to go home early. Elmeria and Tomoko took leave of Lady Murtell and the princess before much longer; it was clear there was nothing more they could do for the present.

On the carriage ride home, Elmeria determined to contact Fenrir as soon as possible. Tomoko was still in the capital, true, but she should be able to use this attack as a cover for her real purpose, and it wasn't even completely a lie. It just wasn't her entire reason for needing to leave.

"Princess America mentioned something about a trafficking ring," Tomoko spoke up. "What was that about?"

"Oh, that," Elmeria said, pulling herself from her thoughts. "There was a trafficking organization operating in the capital, specializing in moving slaves for various ...purposes. The princess was responsible for rooting them out about a month ago now. From what I've heard they have cells in multiple other cities across the continent, even in the Empire."

Tomoko frowned, obviously troubled. "There are that many Dark-races even here?"

Elmeria shook her head. "The traffickers were mostly human, I'm pretty sure."

This did not clear the Hero's countenance, as Elmeria had expected. Instead, her frown deepened. "Was that who the demon was referring to?" she asked, as though to herself.

"Maybe," the Archbishop replied. "The princess broke the back of the organization here in the capital, but she doesn't think she got all of them. This attack may have been a retaliatory strike against the princess and Lady Murtell."

"So you really think there was more than one party involved in **** Lady Murtell?"

"It's the only way I can explain that demon's thrall being left **** on the floor as he was. Even if he wasn't intended to take Lady Murtell out of the citadel it would make far more sense for him to simply go back to his duties. That would raise far less suspicion. My theory is that the demon and agents of the trafficking ring were both trying to abduct her and ran afoul of each other, both in the citadel where we found the servant and in the alleyway where you caught up with the demon. Are you sure there wasn't anyone else in the alley?"

Tomoko shrugged. "I didn't see anyone else, but I admit, when I saw that demon I didn't waste any time checking the shadows. She was standing as though confronting someone, though, and Lady Murtell was off to the side." There was silence for a moment, then she said, "What's up with Lady Murtell, by the way? She must be really important for so many people to take such an interest in her."

Now it was Elmeria's turn to shrug. "I don't know. She helped to take down the slavers in Eldfall somehow, but that's basically all I know about her. She and the princess seem close as well."

"Well, we had better make sure nothing like this happens again. Do we have any leads on the remnants of the traffickers here in the capital?"

Elmeria hesitated. How much could she afford to tell Tomoko? "...A few, but none are very solid. I'll be heading out tomorrow to chase one of them. In the meantime, could you try to find out more about the demon you killed? Where it came from, why it wanted Lady Murtell, who it was working for, all that? I'll admit, I'm more than a little worried about the implications of there being a demon so bold as to infiltrate the very heart of the kingdom like this. And it almost got away with it, too."

"Now that you mention it, I agree, that is worrying. I'll look into it."

The rest of the ride was made in silence, both women deep in thought. Despite the circumstances, Elmeria couldn't help being jubilant. Soon she would be able to see Fenrir again! Not even the dangers that seemed to lurk in the shadows all around them could dampen the excitement that that thought brought her. She only hoped he hadn't yet tried to return to Apollyon.

Two and half weeks already, oh no. I do have a reason for the delay; directly after posting the last chapter, work called, and I had very little time to write for the space of a week and a half.
But enough of that. We learn the identity of the demon, get a glimpse of the strength of Tomoko, Grace's other would-be assassin/abductor slips away in the confusion, and Elmeria gets the excuse she needed to go find Fenrir. Grace is left with some mild trauma, but at least she has a friend to help her deal with it in the form of America.
You may not remember, but we have seen Astrola before, in Interlude: The Waves we Make. She was a pretty strong devil, as evidenced by her being the direct subordinate of Leraje, not to mention having access to a Final Form. But Tomoko is a walking cheat, so the Saintess comes out of it with nothing more than a mild injury (easily healed) and some uneasiness regarding what Astrola said. Mostly because she doesn't want to believe humans can be really evil.
Next chapter we return to Fenrir and co. and what they're up to amongst the oni. He'll be headed off back home soon, and after that- but we'll get there when we there.
Enjoy!