"And that makes five."
Swinging her blade through the air, she cleared the blood from it. Seeing as there were no more stalkers in the area, she allowed it to de-materialize. She breathed in deeply, as she allowed her body to rest. It had been a long time since she had been forced to exert so much energy.
She sat down, and closed her mind off from the world around her. A deep fog began to surround her body. Opening them she found herself surrounded by the fog, with a single light shining in the distance.
'Well, at least I can access this place again. Damn, I really need that book.'
Moving closer to the light, it became blinding, as it completely obscured her vision. As it died down, she was able to see once more. Her surroundings had changed into that of a small bedroom.
The bedroom seemed completely empty, aside from a single bed, the red bladed katana, and a broken mirror standing on the wall near the bed. She sighed to herself at the sight then walked over and peered into the mirror.
Throught the broken glass, she could see a small child curled up on the bed. A soft smile appeared on her face, as she saw the girl. The girl noticing her presence, looked up at her. There were tears streaming from her eyes, and marks left on her face, as though she had been crying for a very long time.
Seeing the woman's face, a soft smile appeared on her own. She began to wipe away her tears, not wanting the woman to know of her aching heart. The woman's face softened as she saw the small light appear in the girls eyes. She moved closer, placing her hand on the broken glass. The girl slowly stood, making her way towards her.
"Hey Em. I'm sorry for leaving you, all alone."
The girl tried to speak but no words could escape her mouth.
"It's ok, I know."
It broke her heart to see her like this, god knows how long its been since she's seen anyone else. She'd been locked inside the room all alone, with nothing and no one to comfort her.
The woman slowly took her hand away from the mirror. She held it out, opening her palm, sparks of light started to form above it. They started to merge together, creating a small item in her hand.
"Take this, it's a promise ok. I have to go, but I promise soon..., very soon, I'll come back for you."
A tear streamed from the girls eye as she heard this, but she gave a small smile anyway. The woman placed the doll against the mirror, the girl placed her hand where it was. The mirror began to ripple like water, as the doll passed through it, into her small hands. The doll, was created in the image of the woman, in hopes to comfort her, if even just a little bit.
Looking up the girl smiled as she happily held it in her arms, but her eyes suddenly looked past the woman. Her face paled, and a deafening scream was let out. The scream shook the world around the woman, the world began to collapse around her as a panicked expression grew on her face.
Suddenly she found herself back in the forest, she quickly rolled from her position, narrowly dodging a giant claw. It crashed down, leaving deep marks in the ground. Looking up she could see that it was another stalker, but this one was twice as big as the others.
The faceless creature, had black skin. It's fingers were sharp and pointed, like claws. It's limbs were long, making it tower above her. Unlike the others whom were tall and lanky, making them almost invisible amongst the foggy forest. This one was bulky, having large muscles. It also wore dark armor with golden cracks littering it. The creature smiled at her, showing it's razor sharp teeth.
"Damnit, I was in the middle of something, you ugly bastard!"
The creature swung at her once more , she rolled out of the way. Stopping herself, she dashed forward, the red blade materialized in her hand. She swung at it's neck, aiming to end it in one blow. The blade, slice through it effortlessly. As it cut through, the creature turned into black smoke.
'Damnit, a mirage.'
The next moment, a large hand smacked her from behind. Blood spilled from her mouth, as several of her ribs broke, from the impact.
She struggled to stand as her body faught to heal itself. She hadn't expected such a strong foe to appear, especially when she herself was back to full strength. Yet somehow a creature of such a high level was able to appear in this world, while the seal was still in place.
'Damnit I shouldn't be struggling this much.'
In that moment, the Stalker Leader became distracted by something in the distance. A few seconds later the ground started to rumble, once more. A smile grew on her face as a pool of darkness escaped through the entrance. She could feel her body grow stronger once more, her wounds started to heal faster. But she still wasn't sure she could beat the leader.
Luckily for her, with the leader distracted, she had time to come up with a plan. It started walking towards the entrance, as if being pulled there by some invisible force. Only to stop a few steps away. She raised an eyebrow as she watched it, it stood there motionless, unmoving.
Then it collapsed to its knees a few seconds later. Out from behind a small man could be seen.
"My dear, Scarlett. Struggle does not look good on you."
"Ic... Icarus what are you..., how are you here.... Don't tell me, the prison planet they sent you to... was here."
"Oh, so you didn't know. Guess that means you're not here for me."
He looked her up a down, her body was bruised and, cuts littered her face and hands. He noticed they were healing, but much too slow for someone of her caliber.
"I see. It makes sense given what you are. Your power was sealed, so you came to get it back. Yet you were unable to get past the barrier simply because it was opened before you had the chance to disable it.
The group ahead of you, not part of your plan, I'm guessing."
She scoffed as she looked away. It was true, if it weren't for them she could've gotten the book and her power back in one fell swoop. But now, knowing that he was in there as well, made it more complicated than she anticipated.
A dark figure appeared behind Icarus. She barely noticed it's presence, yet she could still feel the dark power hidden deep within it.
"What should we do with her?"
Behind him was a tall woman, she wore a black dress with a slit down her right leg. Her long black hair ran down her back, her dark horns protruding from the top of her head. Her eyes glowed red as she looked at Scarlett, there was a bit of madness hidden behind their calm appearance.
"Leave her, we saved her life. Safe to say she owes us a favor, wouldn't you agree, Scar."
She could see the hint of eagerness in the woman, she could tell all she needed was a reason. Just one little push, and she would kill her without hesitation. Looking back to him, there was a warm smile on his face, but she knew it was nothing but a lie.
"Seems that way, doesn't it."
The was a slight frown on the woman's face for a second, but that quickly changed when a thought came to mind.
"What of the humans, they set us free, no. Shouldn't we greet our saviors, maybe even reward one or two."
Icarus thought for a moment then sighed.
"Fine, you can kill two or three, but not all. It's not worth our time."
She smiled as she turned, she dissipated into dark smoke as she returned to the cave below.
"Such an eager one isn't she. Huh, it can't be helped, we have been locked away for god knows how long now."
That is true, but it could be worse. She could've gone on a rampage in the nearest city. She seems more tame for the moment."
She quickly turned to see another tall woman behind her. She wore a prestine white dress, there was a golden bracelet on her arm, on it hung a small silver cross. Her blonde hair, reached down to her ankles, as she walked barefoot towards her.
"Celeste!?"
"Hello dear."
"But.. ho-"
The woman place her finger to her lips, it became surrounded by a warm white light. In that moment Scarlett could feel her body heat up, it was a comforting feeling. It felt as if she were drinking hot chocolate by a campfire. It was soothing as it consumed her, she closed her eyes as she felt all of her worries drift away. She opened them when it began to fade, yet the comfort persisted. Looking at herself, all of her wounds had been healed. Including that of her broken ribs.
"Do not mind Daria, she's a sweetheart once you get to know her."
Scarlett tried to find the words to say to the woman, but she couldn't find any. Looking up at her, she smiled back at her seemingly innocent demeanor.
"It's ok, save your words child, I have no doubt we will meet again."
Before giving her the chance to respond she too dissipated into smoke following behind Daria, leaving her and Icarus alone.
As she rose to her feet, he walked closer to her. Placing his hand on her cheek, he moved a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
"I hope to see you soon, my dear. And hopefully you know which side to choose, when the time comes."
He turned to walk away but stopped after a few steps.
"Oh and I'll be calling in that favor real soon, I hope you deliver."
With that, he was gone without a trace.