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| Art by Loish |
Cosmic trees. They sway in the wind, dropping precious stars from their branches, each a emitting brilliant crimson. The ground beneath her was red in colour, but unlike the trail of blood she was following, it was violent. Long thin trails here and there, small puddles her boots would splosh in. But other than that, there were birds, purple and blue, each with four wings, gazing down on her from the treetops so they were pretty cute. "Air's getting thin" she whispered. The forest opened up to a field of red stargrass, each blade ever so delicate as they danced to the tune of the wind. Ellery summoned her spear. A dash of kaleidoscopic colours rushed around her arm, forming a magnificent pear-white spear ending in a blade that appears to be in the shape of a lambda.
"I know you're here" she exclaimed. Silence. A comet the size of a baseball flew straight at her! She tilted her head. The comet brushed past. Except, it stopped mid-air. It turned 360° straight at her once more. This time Ellery twirled her spear. The comet continued to dart around her like an annoying fly. "You really think your little meatball here's enough?" Ellery stuck her spear into the ground and leapt in the air, kicking the comet away. It flew a good distance. This time, it started revolving around an obscure figure. "Csceny". A swirl of gold starlight revealed the dashing figure. Long raging blonde hair, tucking away a pristine face with looks of delightful schemes. His black coat was adorned with fur, the seams of which were traced by gold starlight. "My my, what is little celery doing out in these parts?"
She furrowed her eyebrows. "The village nearby, where did you take them?" Csceny was busy twirling his comet, not meeting her furious gaze. "Oh those guys?" he made a finger gun and pointed it towards Ellery. "killed em". Her eyes widened. As horrid as they were, the Zodiac Corps would never take the lives of innocents, let alone those who lived on the outskirts of the city. Besides, killing them beat the whole purpose of their slave stratagem. "Relax" he said. "I shot them all in one go, pow! Straight through the heart!" he said firing his finger gun. "Oh you should've seen the little ones, they were awful. Their height difference messed up my accuracy. But what do sticks and stones have against a Zodiac's Opus?" She felt a weight tug at her throat. "That village was classified non-participating. They did nothing but hunt animals and create pottery to sell to the city. You're telling me the Zodiac Corp sent their ugliest guy to kill all those people?" His gaze finally met hers. "I don't expect a girl like you to understand" said Csceny brushing his hair.
"Then where are the bodies?" asked Ellery. "Ah, you see umm-" the comet fell into his hand. "I can't tell you". Ellery gripped her spear. "You will". Csceny smiled. "Now now celery, you know pointing your Opus, if you can call it that, at a member of the Zodiac Corp is major offense". Something was off. Ellery's rose pink hair felt as if it was floating. The sky lost its colour, replaced by a faint layer only observable to keen eyes. "Y-you" she said, struck with realization. Csceny wore a different aura. "In addition to the purging of Ragako Village". His feet left the ground. "I was also given another task". The comet spun around him with blazing speed. "If you see Ellery Hunter". His eyes were merely black spaces. "kill her".
NEXT CHAPTER: Commander of the Libra Opus, Csceny
Thanks for reading!
