A month or so after Magoichi and Two’s arrival at the village and her magical influence over the food in helping it grow, many odd occurrences came to the people. Because Two did not stay to maintain the balance of her songs presence and the people ate the food, their began outbreaks of insanity and murderous carnage among the populace.
People murdered each other, many minds were shattered and without the power of the Intoner there the people all but died off in the village. Those who survived abandoned the small town, and have not returned since.
[Well Magoichi wasn’t about to fight with Two about all of this, that yell of hers shut him up quickly, and it warranted his silence for a good while. Magoichi kept that silence, even as the villagers began to talk amongst themselves, even as the young child walked up to them, Magoichi stayed silent, both in fear of Two’s wrath, and because of the pain in his back. The back pain was getting worse and worse as the minutes dragged on, but thankfully, it seemed that these people were finally going to offer some help, thank heavens for that.]
.
“We are so sorry!’
“Thank you for what you’ve done, really!”
“Gosh look at that wound, come on lets get him some help!”
— Soon enough, the villagers— and some of the city guard,what was left of them— would gather around Magoichi and Two. Some of them offered apologies for the terrible attitudes they put forth, while others simply gave thanks for saving their village from those dreaded vagrants. A few of them however, helped Magoichi out of Two’s grasp, leading him toward the village doctor, a place where he could get proper rest and medical care.
It was a long walk to the doctors hut, but Magoichi was in good hands now. His life, as it stood, had been saved.
[As he was being led away by some of the villagers, toward the doctors hut, Magoichi would turn around to look at Two once more. From all the blood loss, he wasnt able to shout or anything like that, but he did manage to get a good look at Two, and for a moment their eyes would meet. Magoichi still had some doubts about this woman, especially in regards to her sanity, but she wasnt all that bad. Before he got too far away, he’d smile in Two’s direction, before falling unconscious altogether.]
Despite the chatter that surrounded the Intoner, all the voices were mute as she watched the mercenary being carried off to the other side of the village. And in that moment their eyes locked, her cerulean to his chestnut and quickly broke away, his body limp from exhaustion, pain and no doubt blood-loss.
Even then she could not hear the children dancing at her feet, circling and chanting her name; Lady Two, Lady Two! Those words only brought pain to her, a horror of the past she couldn’t quite escape. But all of that was fine, she could endure the torment of her mind and the voices if only for Magoichi to be well again. If only for him.
———
Time felt so fast to the Intoner, not that she kept track of it, but Magoichi had reached full recovery by the end of the week since the bandit attack. Much of the blood and corpses had been cleaned away, and life had returned to normal in the small town.
Many of the towns people were distressed to see them go; Two had displayed many of her powers while they were there. The crops that had been trampled? She sang and they sprang back to life. The buildings that had been damaged? Egregori was a good asset to help rebuild the damaged homes and gathering materials; due to his size and there being two of them. Life for the people have improved dramatically now that they had a god helping them, but just as they were trying to leave they were being offered so many things!
‘Please don’t go!~ Here, we’ll give you our first born!’ 'Any man of the village is your choosing, Lady Two! Stay!’ 'Lady Two, bless me before you leave! Bless me so that I may live a peaceful life!’
But the pleads and offers were shunned for the Intoner had something none of them could give her; she had Magoichi now.
"Sorry! We gotta go now! Be good, all of you, alright?!“ The cerulean goddess pressed a single finger to the side of her nose, squealing out in laughter, "and don’t be greedy with all that food either!”
[Magoichi was relieved when Two came back from that trance calmly. For a moment there, he thought she might snap, and if she had snapped, he no doubt would have been right in the way..But it didn’t come to that, because somehow, Magoichi managed to bring Two back from the brink. There was of course, another problem that had to be dealt with now, and that problem was Magoichi’s wound(s). They weren’t bad but, Two was right, if they stayed open, and if he continued to bleed like this, things might not turn out well..]
[The people around here though, the ones who hadn’t been slaughtered by the bandits, didn’t seem too trusting of Two, and by default, Magoichi. Yes, this duo had managed to save their lives, and their village as a whole, but these people were scared, scared of what they had seen Two preform. Some of these people shouted at Two and Magoichi, while some hid away in their homes..Watching all of this happen, Magoichi would take a deep breath— it was time to bare with the pain, and act strong he figured.]
❝If these people don’t want to help then we may as well get moving. I’ll be fine Two, honest.❞
“NO!” Two snapped at him, this wasn’t a light situation. Magoichi could probably go a ways before he fell of his injuries, but he needed to rest and eat, and if he kept walking around and pushing his body to go on when it was in this state nothing good would come of it. Again she turned to the villagers who hid away, watching from the safety of their doors and windows.
"If it makes any of you feel better, I’ll leave… but only if you help him.“ It seemed like a fair enough deal; after all it was her they were mostly afraid of ( or so she was just assuming ), and maybe they’d be more becoming of Magoichi. Just as she stood and her sword disappeared, a young boy approached the pair with his mother screaming for him to return.
Slowly he walked up to the two of them, his face smeared with blood, "I saw it, I saw it."
”….?“ Two blinked curiously.
"You tried to save that man… and you also saved my sister and me. Those bad guys, they were gonna come into our house next and you punched them away. You looked at us and went back to fighting!"
She couldn’t quite recall the details; perhaps she had, but the power of song had taken away her concentration. When she was in the zone she tuned out most of the world, so her looking to the children may have just been her body reacting; not necessarily her doing it.
The young boy turned to his mother who finally approached, snorting, "these guys are the good guys, mom! Can’t we help them?! They saved all of us, why would they hurt us?!”
As the two watched on, they saw many of the villagers expressions began to change once the fear began to ebb away. If she had been a monster and wanted them destroyed, wouldn’t she had done it upon entering the village? And the man, he hadn’t really done anything either; he paid for drinks, he wandered around the village and was one of the first to fling himself into the fray to help.
Step by step each villager emerged from their hiding places and began to surround the two of them; one with herbs and a bucket of water, the others food and a blanket.
“You’re right,” spoke a young beautiful woman with eyes the color of wheat, “you’ve done us a great service. Those thieves have been murdering and stealing from us for months before you killed most of them. I lost my parents in one of their raids… and its such a relief that they’re gone.” There was another long pause.
"They called you a demon, and many other horrible things. But that can’t be true; you’re so kind, and so strong. And your powers! Obviously you must be a goddess! A goddess sent here by our prayers! Our calls for help! And we are so grateful for that!“
Two held up her hands, seemingly nervous, "just… just please help Mago. Please help him.”
[Before long, Magoichi noticed that a good number of the bandits— the stray ones anyways, those who had not been fighting Magoichi or Two directly— were fleeing from the village streets. With a good number of their comrades scattered across the dirt roads, plastered on building walls, and hanging from the edges of rooftops, they probably got the hint that it was time to get out of here. Good riddance too, because Magoichi was starting to feel the full effects of these wounds’ he’d sustained— now that he thought about it, he probably shouldn’t have drank too much.] ❝Aw shit..This is gonna hurt for a few days.❞
[Magoichi would make a full turn, his body slouched slightly from the pain that was throbbing from the open, bleeding wounds on his back. To his delight, what Magoichi saw when he first turned around was Two, who was running toward him with great haste. By the looks of it, Two had fared better during all of this than he did, as she didn’t appear to have a single scratch on her body,amazing.] ❝Oh,There you are.❞ [Magoichi’s lips curled into a halfhearted smile once Two came close enough.] ❝Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fin—…..Um❞
[Magoichi found himself at a loss for words as he watched Two cup her ears and start to shake her head. Just a moment ago Two seemed semi-normal, a bit ecstatic over his wounds yeah, but that was a lot more along the norm of things than this.] ❝Two?…Look I said I’ll be fine, its not that bad.❞ [Magoichi’s first instinct was to back away slowly, but he didn’t do that. Instead, Magoichi moved closer to Two, dropping his musket onto the ground and ignoring his pain as he then put his both hands onto Two’s shoulders. Gently, Magoichi would shake the intoner, as if trying to bring her out of this mental flurry she was in.] ❝Two..?❞
In a matter of seconds when she felt him touch her shoulders, Two turned from sobbing and torn to relaxed and calm. His hands brought her back to the reality of the situation, and his voice soothed away the voices from her past into the back of her thoughts – away from her conscious. “I–I’m sorry.. I… I just remembered–.."
Firmly she gave a few shakes of her head before she stood up, trying to guide him gently up as well. "You… you shouldn’t be out here with a wound like that! It could get infected…we– we should…"
Twisting in place the Intoner spied down the long stretches of dirt road, the villagers that had remained through the fighting slowly began to emerge from the houses. All of them looked a little frightened and others uncertain, all this time they thought that she was a normal woman… and instead she had summoned beasts from thin air!
"Please!” Two begged, “will you help my… friend?! He’s hurt!” The cerulean goddess watched each turn to the other, debating if she was good or not, if they were safe or not.
“Are you a demon?!” One man called out. "Are you going to kill us if we don’t?!“
[Shot after shot rang out in the crowd of bandits that was to Two’s rear— thats where Magoichi was. Steadily, bandit after bandit was falling to Magoichi, whether it be by his muskets shot, or the piercing strength of its bayonet. True, Magoichi was just a human when it came down to things, but he wasn’t weak, he was far from it. With two big swipes of his musket, he’d cleave through a good few of the bandits that surrounded him, his bayonet tearing through their flesh like a warm knife cutting through butter.] ❝Come on, come on!—❞
❝— You guys aren’t even trying!❞ [Magoichi called out, moving with great haste as he tried to fight his way through the crowd around him. As Magoichi stood there though, he heard Two’s voice, he heard her calling his name. It sent chills through his body, Two sounded so serious, she sounded so..— Magoichi didn’t have much time to think on that, he had let himself get distracted, and the consequences of that distraction would take the form of a large slash across his backside, delivered by one of the bandits. The slash wasnt deep, but it hurt like hell.]
❝Shit..❞ [Thats what Magoichi thought as he felt the bandits cold steel dig through his clothing and his flesh. The wound burned, it throbbed, and as the bandit brought down his weapon for a second slash, the pain only intensified, but Magoichi wasn’t going to let a few flesh wounds slow him down. Suddenly, before this ‘lucky’ bandit could get another blow in, Magoichi spun around, his musket held outright as its bayonet slashed through a number of bandits, before finally getting to the one who hit him.]
❝Sorry bud, I kind of need to live. Better luck next life.❞ [Magoichi would give a overtly sarcastic shrug to the last bandit standing there, the one who had been lucky enough to land a few blows on Magoichi. Following the shrug, a large shot erupted from Magoichi’s musket, one that sent that bandit flying into the ground, to his death as it was. With that bandit down, the group around Magoichi had been dealt with, and that gave Two a clear view of Magoichi— and the slashes across his back.]
“This is hopeless!” “I DON’T CARE WHAT THE BOSS SAYS, I’M NOT DYING HERE!” "Screw this bitch!!“
The hooligans were quickly being decimated by the two; Magoichi with his musket and Two with her sword. How easily she cut through the masses and sent men flying through the air, others sliced open and in half. Her power was unlike any they had ever seen, and quickly they were beginning to realize they were no match for her.
Soon from one by one to groups did the gang disperse, running for the hills of their supposed base camp she could only assume. Gasping for breath a few times, Two swung the blade over shoulder and finally turned to spot Magoichi; his back presented to her and sliced up from a sneak attack.
"Mago?!”
Panic returned to her face while she rushed over to Magoichi, the stench of blood quickly filled her nose while he bled out from the wounds on his back. They may have been light but he’d been drinking earlier, and since alcohol thinned the blood it was no surprise he was bleeding more than he should have if he hadn’t been boozing. "There’s so much of it! I–I don’t know if I can get it to stop!“
But there was a way, a specific method that could cause him more harm than good in the long run. Was it a chance she was willing to take? So long as he was protected by her presence and thus her song, maybe he wouldn’t go crazy?
Immediately her gloved palms reached up to cover her ears, shaking her head profusely as if to banish the voices. Those haunting voices! All those poor people who she had to kill, who she had to stop! All because of her song! No, she couldn’t it on Magoichi….
She couldn’t lose him to the madness that was her gift. "Nm….”
❝Hold up is that—…Wow.❞ [When Magoichi heard that song, he was surprised, but when he watched Two fly past and above him into the crowd ahead, he was awe struck. For the brief moment Magoichi saw Two, to him, she was so..enchanting. The way her hair flowed, the way she was glowing, the way she glided so seamlessly through the air, it was all very impressive, but above all it was downright sexy. Magoichi was a bit unsure of himself when this all started, but damn was the sight of Two one hell of a morale boost.]
[Ah but that beautiful sight of Two would not last forever, and when she sped out of view and smashed into the ground up ahead, Magoichi swiftly turned his attention back to the enemies at hand.] ❝I guess it was only a matter of time before she made her way here,—❞ [Soon enough Magoichi took aim with his musket, sending a barrage of bullets into a couple of the brigands that were rushing at him.] ❝— these poor fools don’t know what they’re in for.❞
“Its some kind of demon! Kill her!”
”Burn the foul creature!”
“Strike her down! Take her head!”
“Skin that thing alive!”
— The bandits, while shocked, didn’t take too kindly to Two’s presence here. Upon watching some of their brethren fall to her attacks, a group of the vagrants from the opposite path began charging toward Two, weapons drawn and fury in their hearts. They shouted, screaming their cries of war into the heavens as they approached the Intoner.
Upon their heads were scarves of yellow, and in their eyes was the intent to kill. These lowly vagrants may have been no match for Two, but that wasnt going to stop them from trying to cut her down.
Another hard swing and twirl, the ethereal arms following in suit of her graceful steps, smashing and knocking away many of the humans. Two had hoped she could merely scare off the bandits with the sight of Egregori’s giant hands, but it wasn’t working – instead they lifted their swords and charged her down. Ready to kill.
Demon Burn Kill her
Why did hatred fill them so? Why did they think they had the right to murder countless people like this? And to think they wanted to skin her? Because of their ignorance? Two did not call out to them, instead she merely huffed ad puffed, squealing with each missed hit. This wasn’t going to work, and it was going to be quite messy if she decided to just start smashing them down with the giant angelic fists.
Immediately the arms disappeared and the song died down, and immediately the Intoner stopped to lift her palm high into the air, her sword appearing through a spark of bright blue flower petals, how they swirled along her arm and down and disappeared.
Swinging the blade elegantly over shoulders and head, Two held the giant sword with ease – as if it were nothing but a paper weight. “If you won’t leave… if you continue killing these people, then I’ll have to kill you!"
A boisterous laughter came from some, while others continued screaming out in vengeance for their fallen comrades. They came at what seemed like the hundreds; just where did all these men come from? Some even women among them! How strange… the cerulean goddess felt a pang of guilt as she readied to strike down the first wave; in Midgard the sisters had taken to a rule of never slaughtering women and children – but these women threw themselves into the fray, sided with the bad guys… so they were fair game.
With a swift swing she sent the first few through the air, blood spilling through the air and coating her skirt while she danced through the masses, cutting them down with little problem. But she couldn’t help but feel she was forgetting something… someone.
"Mago?!” She finally called, worried still, after all he was just a human himself. “MAGO?!”
[There was a lot of people running past Magoichi now, all of them fleeing the direction that the smoke had popped up in. Obviously, something was going down, and Magoichi wanted to find out just what it was. Musket in hand, and a big grin on his face, Magoichi picked up his pace and continued on through the city streets. Only, as Magoichi turned down another pathway, he’d be stopped by a rather disturbing sight— Bandits.] ❝Uh oh..❞
[From what he could see, a group of bandits were moving from building to building, killing those who dared not leave their homes, or those who were not fast enough to escape. A sense of heroismflushed over Magoichi now,because there were people that needed to be saved, and Magoichi figured he was the one fated to save them.] ❝I knew it, work always has a way of finding me, not the other way around.❞
[After muttering a few words to himself, Magoichi would walk toward the fighting— it was time to get to work. All the while, Magoichi hadn’t even noticed Two following him, but with the way things were going now, it would only make sense she’d show up at some point— some point.]
Two could feel her heart thundering in her chest, part of her wanted to scream out and tell him to wait for her, but that most certainly would blow her cover. Promptly as the two rounded a corner and were met with the chaos of the bandits, the cerulean goddess felt her heart wrench in shock.
Humanity… Freedom… Choice….
She could remember One’s lessons on the human race, their choices and their desires, how it ranged from the destructive to inspirational. To give freedom to them was to subject them to the horrors of themselves, and to control them was to accept their resentment of your protection and loss of freedom. A double-edged sword that was a necessity.
And this only reinforced those beliefs.
Just as her object of affection slipped into the crowd, the bandits almost immediately took heed of him. Probably because of his weapon, which many of them figured him to be a guard; many had been fighting and were dying due to the sheer number of the thieves.
“Help us!” “Aaaah!!! I don’t wanna die! Help!" "This is useless! We’re getting overrun!"
Each voice pulled at her soul, manifesting events of the past when the Orphanage fell to the foul magics of Cathedral Hall coupled with her song; but how could she save anyone now? Wouldn’t her song harm them?
Not if she didn’t embed any of the humans with it… perhaps it be okay?
Quietly an aura of power swallowed up her body, forcing the wind to kick up around her feet while her eyes washed away in a blinding blue light. Her expression was blank while her hands raised high, her lips parted while she began to sing.
”aaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!“
Clapping her palms together, she turned her hands into tight fists pumping them into the sky, screaming with rage, ”EGREGORI, LET’S DANCE!!!“
Two portal’s parted on either side of her person, just above, and from them emerged two large ethereal arms with dagger-like claws emerged. They formed into fists just as Two’s hands did, and they followed her every action. Promptly she sped into battle, taking a large leap and smashing into the ground, kicking up bandits in the process.
[In no time, Magoichi would finish up with his drinks, tip the server, and continue on with his search for work. That creepy feeling of being watched was still there, but when Magoichi turned to the left, right, and behind him, he never saw anyone suspicions..Maybe he was just being a little paranoid, that had to be it.]
[A few paces later, and Magoichi would soon forget all about that paranoia, because another problem was about to come to the forefront and steal all his attention.] ❝What the hell is going on over there?❞ [Magoichi muttered those words to himself, all as large pillars of smoke began to rise from another part of the village.]
[Curious, Magoichi began to rush toward that direction, maybe work had presented itself yet again, he thought.]
The more Two stalked him the more she felt empowered, aroused and skilled; not once did he catch on that it was her following him around, and from each angle she watched him from he was as attractive as the last.
He wasn’t the only one to notice the smoke, for just as she changed positions to hide behind a few crates that were behind him, she also caught sight of the smoke and flame. In the distance she could barely hear the hoarse cries of peasants fleeing for their lives, and everything came flooding back; the memories, the horror….
“….Ah–!?”
"Mago…??“
A panic took her heart in that moment; watching Magoichi begin jogging in that general vicinity. What if he got hurt? What if he was killed? She couldn’t allow such an event to occur, and immediately she went flying after him, though tried to keep quiet. If he knew she’d been following him he might get upset.
[By the time Magoichi had put some distance between him and Two, he realized that he hadn’t given her any money. Quickly, Magoichi turned around, ready to head back to Two and give her some coin for the room but she was..gone. That was odd, where hell did she manage to go so quickly? ] ❝Uhhhh….Alright then.❞ [Magoichi shrugged, then turned back around, as he continued on with his walk. If Two really needed the gold, Magoichi figured she’d come seek him out.]
[For now though, Magoichi had some time to himself, and instead of looking for work, he decided to stop at a open bar. Once there, he took a seat, and ordered a mug or two of whatever they were serving. Magoichi intended to go look for something to do, but he figured a drink or two beforehand couldn’t hurt, right?] ❝Ugh, These people really don’t know how to brew, do they?❞ [Magoichi mumbled under his breath, sipping from one of the mugs he ordered, a cringe on his face all the while.]
[‘This was a big let down’, Magoichi thought, but it was better than nothing. Something to soothe the senses before he got into any serious work, thats what it was. It may not have been good but, it’d do. Something was off though..because Magoichi couldn’t help but feel he was being watched the whole time he sat here. Now wasn’t that strange?]
In and out of the shadows did the Intoner dive; a hop, skip and a jump led her to one end of the tavern and quickly to the other. Now she slunk in with little notice of the other patrons, and watched ever carefully at the man as he downed a drink or two.
Many of the people around Two, however, sure were surprised. After all this beautiful woman was scrunched down and hiding, even using people as a form of visual block from the mercenary. Had that man done something to her?!
[Coming to this place wasn’t Magoichi’s first idea, honestly he thought they were headed toward a larger city— but it seems he made a mistake at one of the crossroads..Damn, well, no sense in turning back now, this place looked sufficient, mostly sufficient anyways. The people here were nice enough, and while the architecture wasn’t of the highest quality, an inn here would certainly be better than spending another night out in the wilderness thats for sure.] ❝Yeah, I guess we could stay here, It looks nice enough.❞
[Magoichi himself was in high spirits, and after a night like the one before, who wouldn’t be? Yeah Magoichi was a bit..sore, and he sort of walked with a limp because of it, a noticeable limp, but apart from that, Magoichi had a big smile on his face, and for once, he didn’t feel so uncomfortable around Two. Magoichi felt a little uncomfortable, but not overtly so.] ❝Hmm.❞ [Magoichi would stop when they got into the village square, his head turned toward Two, and for once, without fear, he’d gaze into Two’s eyes.]
❝You can go on and find a room at the inn here if you want, I was gonna take a look around this village and see if there’s any work to be found.❞
“Mmm? I can?”
For a moment Two felt as if she was being helpful; Magoichi was looking to her to accomplish a task of putting a roof over their heads tonight. More than happy to oblige him, she gave an eager nod and turned on her heeled boots, marching for what appeared to be an inn.
Yet, the further from Magoichi she marched the more insecure she turned, her mind nagged at her to keep an eye on him. And another excuse was her lack of coin; how was she going to acquire them a room if they didn’t have any money? Perhaps she could work it off? But Mago was looking for work!
Oh! None of this made sense!
“……Mmm, well, he said I could do this but— I’m sure if he didn’t know, it wouldn’t hurt him.”
Two nodded to herself and her reasoning; yes, perhaps following him from a distance wouldn’t be such a bad idea. And with her powerful legs she did a quick flip out of the inn and dived behind some crates, crouching like that of a prowling tiger.
