Helio moved backwards while Puppet stayed at his feet, serving as a backup. He planned on taking out his new sword, but knowing how Anasiy might not be possessed, he held out his dagger which he had gotten from the office. "Hey Puppet, what do we do next?" He spoke while looking down at Aefia's wolf.
"I don't know, she has done something to Aefia." Puppet spoke back while looking at its owner. "She had done something to her eyes, and that's affecting her mind and changing her personality into a more gruesome one. And it seems to be part of a skill, but not a ritual. Strangely, the Wolf element should have been able to reject all effects of the skill."
Anasiy stepped back as she let go of the hand, untied the bandage on Aefia's left eye and dropped it. A red, six petalled, sharp edged flower replaced her pupils and made it look like a seal was stamped into her eyes. As if she were the past self, a few drops of blood fell from that eye.
"Now, watch the fun part." Anasiy loosened the strings and Aefia went limb for a few seconds. When she looked up, there was just vast darkness and void where she could feel the objects around her, but her eyes didn't allow her to see. She lifted the snow and squeezed them while leaving handprints everywhere else.
But without any difficulty, she still got up. "It's absurdly dark, am I blind Anasiy?" Aefia spoke while slowly turning around and walking towards her with no knowledge of where she was. Using only her core memory of the landscape and scenes, she hugged Anasiy while stabbing a knife into her back.
Before long, she stepped back and looked at the mess on the ground. Where it was supposed to be Aefia's blood drawn, it was Anasiy's, and that left all the others silent. As soon as she lifted her hand, the ground broke and the tiny red hands wrapped around Anasiy as it restricted all sorts of movement.
Another one of Aefia's eyes started bleeding as it left vibrant colours of crimson staining her pale face. Without any clear memory of where obstacles could have been, she took of her black gloves and used her bare hands to touch the snow as it melted with her grasps.
With that small amount of water, she wiped her eyes and used her sleeves for the remaining of the blood. "Sorry, but I hate fighting blind and with my eyes bleeding like a serpants. But I am assuming that you are more in an unstable situation then me." Aefia spoke while closing her eyes.
"I have already distorted the way you use your skills, so basically, I can actually see with my calm mind." She spoke while flinging her knife into the air and right when it came within hand's reach, she used her fist to throw it towards Anasiy.
Anasiy immediately closed her eyes and waiting patiently for her turn to get more killed. But instead, the blade slammed into the tree behind her with a thud and Anasiy stepped away from the tree bark. Atill unaware of where to walk, she slammed into Aefia who was looking down.
She extended her hand towards the blade and it came flying back into her hand and Aefia pinned Anasiy against another tree bark while holding the knife right above and in front of her face. "I think it's best to end you. I maybe far from Nada, but don't underestimate how I always keep an eye at what happens around the office." She spoke as she tried to slam the knife down.
"Goodbye...colleague." Aefia spoke as Anasiy closed her eyes for one last time. Seconds passed, but still no injuries or pain erupted and she only reopened them to see what the problem was. "Well, I hate how someone tries to stop me from killing everytime I reach my temper's maximum limit." Aefia spoke while still trying to pull on the blade.
"But she is still a human like Nada." Helio spoke as he struggled to keep Aefia from stabbing the knife, and eventually she gave up and let go of the hilt of the knife. In the short time, he let go of her wrist and she slapped Anasiy hard across the face while letting her fall on the ground.
Aefia stared down at her on the ground. Her glowing red eyes were restored to their original state and it took Anasiy a split second to recognize how she had regained her sight. But something else seemed to get her attention beside the person on the ground as her pupils shrunk.
She stumbled backwards and fell while holding her mouth. Blood fell from the gaps of her fingers and spilt on the white surface, meanwhile Anasiy stared confusedly at her with no idea of what had happened to all of her magic energy. It seemed to her, that she was getting into an insane state.
Helio and Puppet stayed close by, but they too couldn't sense danger. Aefia felt hands squeezing her throat and it was as if they were actually grasping her trachea instead. She glanced at her hands, noticing how strings were still tied to her fingers, they were controlling her like a toy puppet
There is a strange presense behind you. A voice was heard inside her mind, that rang back and fortt. Without a second thought, she did so and a huge dark figure appeared from the thick fog and it seemed that that strings hung from the limbs were that moved it. Aefia stumbled backwards.
She held her head as it hurt. Her hands were shaking due to the shock and fear as she used them to cover her face. Her fingertips suddenly turned bright red and the flower and veins pattern immerged on her skin. Anasiy glanced at Aefia as she noticed the new print appearing onto her and rushed over to grab her.
Both of them fell onto the ground as Anasiy lay Aefia on the ground and held her as the vision slowly burned and her head spun while she struggled to dogde her painful grip. Helio tried to run towards them as Puppet grabbed his sleeves and held him in place. Its eyes shone as they resembled him not to move forward and into the chaos.
Aefia ran into her last breaths as she was pulled up to a kneeling position and she grabbed onto the two hands blocking her airways. Slowly enough the patterns dissappeared, leaving her pale skin with stained blood across her cheek and the edges fo her mouth.
Anasiy got her strength back, making her return to her confident strong self as she used her skills on Aefia and she immediately felt like going limb again, as if her body just gave up to Anasiy's orders and slowly, her mind felt like drifting into a sleep.
"That was a tough battle, but now I guess I can take my turn of stabbing you." Anasiy spoke as she picked up the knife on the ground and held it high above Aefia while she smoothly lowered it down with a swift movement. It all happened in a split second and within that short frame of time, there was multiple realization rushing into her mind as she slowly closed her eyes.
A small amount of her conscious escaped the controlling grip of her mind's environment and staggered her awake with a push from the back of her mind. Her eyes opened, with the corners of her sight slightly darkened and fading. She held the end of the blade with her bandaged hand and grapped onto Anasiy's wrist that was blocking her airways.
Aefia pushed her out in the front and let go of the blade to free both of her hands as she finally managed to get oxygen rushing into both of her lungs. What a psychopath! She has a death wish for me, and she will finish what she started before actually giving up!
Anasiy grinned as she continued to hold the blade above Aefia while watching her get up on the ground. Two types of string were currently tied to her limbs, one from that puppet behind her and other from the person in front of her. Her tongue was paralized and speech became slightly difficult.
The remaining of her consciousness that was left untouched, was becoming caged as well. Only one of the grips were weak, the one coming from the controller behind her. So if the wrong owner absorbed the Cat element, they get sealed just like this. But once the power has been returned, the thief is released from the seal. What a fascinating element.
Aefia flashed a smile, as she looked up at Anasiy with a death stare. She couldn't speak, but the only words she could afford were, "Puppet! Return..." And in that moment, a crack appeared behind her as if a glass were broken in space.
Slowly, the remaining of the grip was torn as the strings split apart with a snap and Aefia twisted her wrist with her other hand. "You managed to get through me, but let's see if you can get through my disciple." She spoke as she fell backwards and vanished inside the crack.
Before she left, they shared another sharp stare and once the portal had dissapeared, Helio came rushing over with a dagger pointed at Anasiy's head. Puppet pounced onto her while pinning her to the ground by her wrist and Helio went to stab the box that was still in a not buried state.
In a swift movement, the entire air shifted and Anasiy dissapeared from the ground as if it were just an illusion. Puppet stared with disbelieve at the ground where she was supposed to be. "Thats the thing you call a devil disguised. Anasiy isn't the culprit here." It spoke while scratching the ground and sitting down.
"So what happens next?" Helio spoke as he glanced at the broken box. "Aefia didn't actually want me to fight, but she seemed to be asking for something before she left." He pricked the ground where he had dug out the chest from. Puppet walked over with a side eye and snatched the box out of his hand.
"You send this..." It used his paws to help it levitate on the air. "To her lady back at the other world." Puppet made the box dissappear into somewhere, but nowhere Helio could see it move to unless he had gotten permission from Aefia or she had assigned them another mission.
"Alright then that's done, next?" Helio shrugged as he kicked snow into the gap where the soil was missing. But instead, the snow instantly melted and the surrounding carpet also did. Confused he looked at Puppet, expecting an explanation. "What do you think? Do I look like I know?" It spoke while scratching at his knees.
"Ouch! Why didn't Aefia come back to pick you up?! I had enough with Cindy!" Helio spoke while holding his left knee and skipping one-legged on the snow. "This is a hassle that even pet owners will struggle to maintain!" He leaned against a tree bark.
"Do you even know that Aefia is currently struggling with not only the office matters, but the castle and the other two dimensions as well!" Puppet shouted at his ears as it turned into a small floating wolf version of itself. "You think you are the only one who is undergoing stress at this world? Aefia has to suffer with snake-faced colleagues while having to look after the remaining of the team members."
"Yeah I know that, anyway, I will head back to the office. The sun has already risen in the sky, and we need to proceed with the training shortly afterwards." Helio spoke as he walked over to the end of the woods and towards the office.
Puppet turned invisible and followed behind him while glancing both left and right through the dense forest. It didn't know why Aefia had acted that way and seemed as if she had seen something strange before her. Although, one thing was certain how she had actually absorbed all of Anasiy's power and gave it back to her in a short amount of time. Due to the distortion between the connection of its owner, it couldn't get what she was thinking.
***
Back at the palace, she jumped down form the crack formed on her room's mirror and landed on the bright red as gold carpet of the palace's grounds. She glanced at herself from the mirror and checked for any damage caused to her clothing. Except of a small tear at the sleeve, the entire of the uniform was intact.
Not a huge problem honestly, I can just use my skills to repair it. She placed a hand at the tear and once she lifted, the tear was completely brand new like it were made just yesterday. Aefia hesitantly walked towards her desk as she lifted the glass pen to continue writing, calculating and signing.
Her day so far has been a problematic one and she was already overwhelmed how much longer it would last. As a small motivation, she placed her pocket watch up front and kept track of how much time had passed. But soon enough, the motivation became intimidating and drew her mind into tiredness.
Besides that, she wanted to visit the library again in a short time but she was completely aware of how the receptionist might react, so she kept her thoughts from recirculating into it. Furthermore, there was a small library inside the palace itself and she was free to wonder there anytime.
The most curious thought that she was looking around to, was the white lie they were told about how the Guardians were 'killed' to become a King or a Queen. She judged whether that was possible because the fact that the terms 'King and Queen' have completely different meanings. Even in novels, they didn't lie about it.
Unknown to her, she was already pacing the room while thinking about certain informations that could have been wrong and ones that could be right. I don't know why they would deceive people like that, but what if the Torture Cell aren't as bad as they seem?
Suddenly, a guard barged into her room as he bowed. "The duchess would like to meet you."