"Wwwwhat, iiiiss, thhhe point of this?…
onTHhhe moment thhhe rituals affffects wear off. Yourrr both done for!"
Weakly looking up, Noctis tried to muster the strength to speak , but failed miserably.
Every part of his body felt sore, his skin was developing a dark rash his wounds from before were worsening by the minute.
What kind of hateful sorcery is this?
Gazing weakly to the side, a bunch of immobilized bodies fell into his eye, every one of them groaning, showing similar symptoms to the ones he himself was having.
A vindictive glea arising within.
Even if they were being controlled, Noctis had a grudge against the group after what they put him through.
"Why… didn't… we prepare… something…less… painful!"
Trisha, who was lying further away, groaned in a similar state as the rest.
"Shut… up!… You… said…. most… effective… methode."
The ritual she used to immobilize them, obviously, was affecting her as well.
There were two types of rituals. One, pulling strength from oneself. The other pulling strength came from something else. To use one's own connection to higher beings and ask for their support in exchange for something else, the most commonly used resource for this being Notium.
Unable to move, all of his thralles, completely motionless. Raef slowly turned his arm, his palm now visible, for all to see. A minuscule wound opened at the tip of his finger. What flowed out was no red, bloody liquid. No, it was a dark blue mist rising up. Converging and breaking, decaying.
Raef was trying to create something, some moments horrendous abominations showed themselves in the mist, before they fell in on themselves, their flimsy forms not able to withstand the sorcery cast over this space. Another time, a girl, her neck broken and distorted, manifested her form more physical than all the others, and yet it still started falling in on itself, her already bloody, distorted visage breaking down, melting away, looking like spilled paint a few moments later, as she became a puddle on the floor.
More and more horrendous scenes appeared, some clear and terrifying monsters, others more abstract displays of scenery.
In the end, it all fell in on itself, the mist forming all kinds of entities before dispersing and turning into a puddle below, which grew with every new entity's death.
What was the guy's ability, and symbolism!?
He had seemed to do whatever he wanted. Nothing seemed to make sense when it came to Raef.
As it stood, he had to have multiple abilities!
Consuming fear, infusing fear, extracting fear, manipulating fear, and now this!
Was this a rituals result?
No, this seemed different, more internal to him.
Suddenly, Noctis noticed that the slow decay of his muscles was subtly slowing, and the spreading rash on his skin was fading.
Others might have thought this was a good thing, since their suffering was lessening.
Those people would be fools, after all, if the effects on Noctis were lessening. Didn't that mean Raef was in the same predicament?
Seeing the surrounding students starting to struggle under the force of decay, a cold shudder ran down Noctis's back. This won't hold them long enough.
Whatever Raef was doing was working.
Everyone was slowly starting to prop themselves up at different speeds.
Peculiarly, Noctis was the first to be free of the sorceries' malicious effects. A second later, Raef did the same, slowly, his muscles still strained.
This was no coincidence, since Trisha's spell pulled power from the Authority of change, so Individuales of the change domain would be most affected, while the neighbors of the change, hearth and death, were second up.
So these two were more prone to influence from this authority. It just so happened that emotion, to be precise, the emotion of fear, was of the heart family and so was more prone to the effects of change.
Noctis's eyes met Raefs's for a moment. They both stood still in an unmoving standoff.
Jumping back, Noctis started his run for safety, but Raef did not follow.
At this moment, his gaze was unusually clear, the clouds obscuring his thoughts from time to time fully lifting.
Analyzing his surroundings, a dissatisfied expression appeared on his face before being replaced by a ruthless flash of brilliance.
"Are you really going to leave her here?
I did not take you for such a calculative individual."
Of course, Raef was talking about Trisha, who, ironically enough, had been hit hardest by the spell she herself activated.
Stopping in his tracks, Noctis took a quick look back. The silhouette of Raef, closing in on Trisha's limp body, fell into his eyes.
"Everything has pros and cons. It's so difficult to keep those around you alive, and they leave such a wide opening for attack.
That's why I prefer to work alone."
Noctis knew that he wouldn't kill her for the same reason that he did not do so with him, and still, he felt extremely hesitant.
What should he do?
Leave?
Stay?
Taking a deep breath, Noctis turned around, not closing in, holding his distance.
"What do you plan on doing now?"
Raef stopped approaching Trisha, who was slowly crawling away, a smile appearing on his lips.
"Just to make it clear, if you dare to bring a third party into this, I will kill both of you. At that point, everything is already compromised to a point where killing the two of you won't make a difference.
So you should be able to guess what happens to the two of you."
Narrowing his eyes slightly, Nox understood the message.
Raef would kill Trisha regardless of the consequences if he ran and got Laurence.
Runcless appeared on his forehead, as Noctis' contemplations of running were fully overshadowed by the fear of him killing Trisha. If the fear originated from him or was artificially implanted by Raef, Noctis could not tell.
"Then what do you propose?" Noctis asked hesitantly, common sense telling him to run.
Seeing Raefs's annoying smile further light up, Noctis suppressed scowling, the thought of him playing into Raefs's hands all too present.
"As I see it, we have two ways to go, one mutual destruction, or two, silent harmony."
"I won't let you brainwash me!" Noctis interjected immediately in a stern tone.
"Oh no, no, since it has come this far, I won't do such a thing.
I'd propose a contract."
"Contract… you want me to get paper to draft something?" Noctis asked in ridicule.
"Ha, humor, such an unoriginal way of hiding one's fear.
No dimwit! I mean the ritualistic kind. The most fundamental form of rituals.
One where none of us can ever reveal anything about the other."
Noctis stayed silent for a few long moments before he asked bluntly.
"What would be the terms?"
As Raef thought for a few moments, Noctis contemplated.
If they were to make a contract, Trisha's talent for rituals would prevent any funny business, so in essence, Raef was not unreasonable.
Noctis had luckily long since shaken his suspicions of Trisha, which, looking back, had most likely been planted by Raef.
He had seen a commonality between those controlled by Raef. The strings of fate connecting Raef with other individuals were far thicker then other connections NOctis had observed, with a few exceptions.
Like Trisha or himself.
To add on, he would see a spark of blue from time to time in the affected connections, so brief that it could have been his imagination, but there was definitely something.
Which quickly cleared Tirsha.
Sadly, there seemed to be some weakness in the method, considering Noctis had judged Siana to be free of his control, as well.
So, if he was truly going to make the deal, he had all the tools.
Raef spoke in a casual tone, completely unfitting to the situation, using his charisma that had been buried under his erratic ways just moments before.
"Let's keep it simple. Getting attention in these halls isnt the smartest move.
Neither party is to interact with or harm the other in any conceivable way.
Neither party is to reveal anything about the other that could potentially harm the other.
We will simply stay away from each other, and if one of us breaks this contract… well, depending on the severity of the breach, you'll be subject to the other party's authority.
Do you agree to these terms?" His hand, still far away, stretched out in the position of shaking hands. The image overlapped in Nox's mind with the one of them shaking hands, as Nox relived Elisa's memories.
A memory that hung strongly with him, since it was the day the mental torture of Elisa ended.
Noctis mumbled over every word, searching for any traps, but it was true. It was kept simple, and there seemed to be no loopholes to exploit. Trisha seemed to be of the same opinion.
"I have conditions," Noctis said in a tone that did not leave room for negotiations.
In Raef's eyes, there was an amused spark, a spark of seeing a child trying to negotiate with an adult.
"Oh, do tell."
"Let me think about this for a bit…"
Hearing this, Raef showed a bit of annoyance as he spoke out loud.
"5 minutes a minute longer, and I'll kill her, consequences be damed." He said ruthlessly. One could feel that he meant it as well. He seemed to have no qualms about killing. Life was worth as little as dirt in his eyes.
Five minutes passed in silence.
"It's time, speak your conditions!" Raef said with an expectant expression.
The thrawls lying around them at this point were mostly in a stable state, already standing once more. Yet none of them started walking towards Noctis. Clearly, Raef had given them the command to stand down.
"Hm, am, hm," Nox mumbled out, clearly mulling over his words, as he seemed conflicted about something. After a few moments of this, Raef couldn't take it anymore, growing impatient.
"Spit it out!" He said his voice was icy.
"Ahm, yeah, sorry for that. Could you give me 5 more minutes?"
At this point, Raef was steaming with anger, doing his best to suppress it.
"5… more… minouts than." He said with gritted teeth as he kicked Trisha in the stomach, making her yelp in pain.
Noctis felt for his friend, but what could he do?
Five minutes passed in silence. Raef could not really deny him the request, considering the only chip he had in hand was Trisha, while Nox had his life in hand. Of course, he would accept such terms as long as it meant keeping the hope of survival alive. Even if he made empty threats.
"Before you say anything, you can't have another five minutes!" Raef said venom infused his words.
"Oh no, no, I would never.
First, we should discuss how we can ensure Trisha's safety throughout the transaction.
Then we can…"
Listening to him prattle on, Raef's eyes gradually narrowed. Something was off!
After a few moments of intense observation for any suspicious points, he found nothing. But there was something weird. What is he looking at?
Noctis's eyes would flicker to some seemingly random direction from time to time, a single golden line reflecting in each eye.
What is that? What aspect of fate is he in possession of?
Seeing the place, his eyes wandered from time to time, slowly overlapping with Raef…
"What are you stalling for?"
At the same time, two thralls walked over to Trisha, who had only partially recovered, seemingly planning to make good on his promise.
Noctis seemed startled for a moment, yet before he could say a word to persuade Raef…
tap
A loud echoing footstep came from behind Raef.
tap
Than another.
Not turning his head, Raef sprang into a sudden sprint, all of his thralls running in the opposite direction.
Raef was running towards Noctis.
Far behind him, a man in black leather attire, crowned with a crow's mask, slowly walked towards them, an army of students running in his direction.
The Doctor had appeared.