A/N: Holy shit my writing addiction is back. I just wrote 5k words for this in the past two and a half hours and I'm still going. We back boyos. The missus made me cut down my hobbies a bit for a while but addiction is eternal.
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"What should I do with 'im?" James questioned rhetorically, crouching next to the unconscious priest propped up against a cracked wall. He noticed that the man's rosary had fallen to the ground and respectfully pocketed it.
Killing a priest felt... taboo. But, as he'd come to know, the Catholic Church was the main force combating the Mage's Association and about just as brutal as the latter, if not more, with their methods. He'd once seen a couple of their executors and whatnot light up a whole darn town just to flush out one magus on a job nearby.
He didn't much appreciate that fact.
"I eat him?" Vritra offered idly, cocking her head a bit.
He just narrowed his eyes at the overgrown lizard brat.
She seemed to think for a moment but James knew not to get his hopes up. She proved him correct a second later.
"...I eat him later?"
This time, he didn't deign to answer.
"I don't... eat him? But that's-... Grr, I want chicken then. I want it now."
"You ain't gettin' nothing if you don't do something about that attitude of yours."
The dragon grumbled something fierce, baring sharp teeth. Then, she huffed and tossed her hair aside before indignantly lowering her head. "Can I get chicken... Please?"
Vritra was loud, rowdy, indignant but he'd learnt early on that she relented if he treated her like the runt she was instead of a dragon, which she also was. There was a decent chance she'd burn him on the spot, but he wasn't the sort of man to just sit down and take it cause some mook had a bigger gun than he did or was a better shot.
"See? Was that so hard?" James smiled.
He rose, patted her head once, making her bite at the air before a loud knock distracted them both. Immediately, James reached for the revolver on his belt while Vritra just eyed the door, arms crossed.
Another knock followed, then another. This time, he realised it wasn't the door, it was right under it. Letters formed in the air, spelling out 'BASEMENT' in capital letters. James glanced at Vritra, considering whether to take a gander, leaving her with the priest or be a little sissy and take her along with protection.
The answer was clear.
His hand reached for the pen in his breast pocket, but he quickly decided against it. His revolver was much better suited for circumstances like this than his rifle.
Without hesitation, he strode over to the basement door beside the podium and kicked it open.
"Now, ain't that all ominous?"
It was a simple narrow passage with stone steps leading down into a room he couldn't quite see.
With finger on trigger, he made his way down to find that it was only Medea.
The Witch of Betrayal had morphed back into her real garb, just without the hood to hide her face. Her ears twitched when she saw him, growing ever so slightly red. Man, were those ears the cutest thing ever... besides maybe the little cow he raised.
"This structure is right over a leyline, some sort of evocation site as well, it would make for quite the workshop." Medea explained in layman terms. Leylines were meant to be this network through which mana flowed through the planet in immense volumes. The mana it was costing to maintain both Medea and Vritra would be negligible if he got access to it somehow.
"It would be impenetrable, and with Vritra... Our chances of winning would go up but... there's this..."
She knelt next to something he couldn't quite make out, afraid to touch it. When his eyes adjusted to the dimmer light and he finally realised just what it was. His stomach dropped when he did, and his earlier amusement was replaced with a deafening silence.
"He was using them as mana batteries. For what, I don't know... There is nothing here he'd need it for."
"Goddammit."
To her credit, Medea wasn't nearly as disconcerted as he was.
"It never gets easier."
"That is a good thing, Master." She comforted in a quiet voice.
It was children. No, husks... Sad little things with shrivelled skin stretched over thin bones. They were still alive, he could tell by the gentle rise and fall of their chests.
James pursed his lips.
What was it with all the people involved in the magical side of things using people-... children, for their experiments. He could never fault the Church for hunting down magi for that very reason, but... the man responsible for this was a priest.
His perception of them faltered, but James didn't have time to mull over it when Medea suddenly raised her hand, pointing her palm at the children as the latent mana swirled.
"The only thing you can give them now is mercy." The Witch said.
He disagreed, "Can you save them?"
She paused, closing her eyes.
"Yes. But I doubt they'd want it."
Somehow, it felt her heart wasn't in it when she said those words. They were too measured, and she was too attentive. Almost... as if she were testing him. Testing what exactly? He didn't know. He didn't care.
James grabbed her by the wrist, and her spell fizzled out in sparks and wisps of mana.
"Ain't no one on this Earth gets to decide that 'cept God in cases like these. Help as much you can."
With that, he left her and rushed up the stairs, revolver drawn and hammer cocked.
If that priest loved God so bad, he'd set up a meeting right now. Then, he could find out just how much the latter appreciated the desecration of a sacred place with this manner of atrocity. Something told James the man upstairs wasn't going to be all too happy.
Except, when he reached the top, the priest was nowhere to be seen. Vritra was lazily lying on a pew with her head against a palm, tail slapping up and down impatiently. The crack in the wall where he'd hit it was still there, but Kirei was just gone.
"Where's he at?"
The dragon offered no explanation, "He ran away."
"And you ain't think to stop him?"
She just shrugged her shoulders and turned to face the other way.
And then, she had the gall to wonder why he had immediately replaced her and be upset with his choice. This was a being so ancient and so immense she didn't care whatsoever for anyone's feelings, he understood that. To her, it didn't matter what happened and she had almost certainly seen worse over her long life.
He had no right to be annoyed with her.
But, he still was.
"Why?"
"You could've just let me eat him... but eh, I thought it'd be amusing to see what he'd come up with."
James put a hand on his hat and sighed.
At their first meeting, Vritra had absolutely clarified that she would be the greatest hindrance he could possibly encounter, and that her amusement came above all. He never expected it would cause this. And yet, she owed him nothing either.
This was his war, not hers.
The servants were meant to get a wish but she possessed no wish for it except minor convenience. But if minor conveniences were so darn important, then...
"You're not getting food from me for the rest of this war till that priest is six feet down under and on the way to meet his maker."
The dragon perked up. She looked at him with wide eyes, as if he'd done her the greatest of injustices.
"No bed either." He added.
"H-Hmph! I'll just get it myself."
Mana danced once more, and another command seal burnt away as James spoke.
"You're now forbidden from doing either of the two without my express say so."
A waste of a command seal? No, not really.
He needed her under control if he was to make any progress, and for now, this was the best method towards doing so. Besides, he could pry off more from the cold dead corpse of the priest if ever he needed them.
"You monster! You have no heart!" She protested, flailing her hands about harmlessly. "I'll betray you for another Master!"
"No, you will not."
Vritra ducked her head. "No, I will not."
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Hope you enjoyed.
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