Ch.2-3 ¤ High Seas Slaughter

The smell of carrion was overwhelming.

I made my way inside the superstructure with a quick pace; eager to find the real target hiding inside. The scent of blood was strong as well, but it was starting to get overpowered by the scent of decay. It was such a waste... I could tell from those smells alone that the mastermind of this little play was a Magical Girl who had very little of "magical". She was a butcher, worse than me no doubt. Silke tagged behind me at a slower pace. I thought her suit might filter out at least some of the smell, but she seemed to be fairly affected by it nonetheless.

 In all fairness, even if we Magical Girl are all familiar with death, it's usually deaths of small scale. Death within a barrier, death of a rival, death of by-standers, death of a friend. Sometimes entire squads may die, and that's all part of the life we've chosen.

This is not that life. This is carnage, one that very few ever get exposed to. The smell of iron and rot was so strong it spoke to me. It spoke of numberless corpses waiting ahead. It spoke to me of Deaths unneeded and Deaths in torment.

"Silke, you can turn back if you want. It's going to become even worse, a lot worse." I broke the silence with a serious voice.

"What are you talking about?" she didn't stop, instead quickening her pace to catch up with me. Thanks for the headache by the way. "I-I'm fine, really! I was just... a little surprised that's all, I wasn't hurt anywhere I swear!"

That was the kind of things I could recall rookies saying when they really were injured and were trying to hide it or play tough, but her suit didn't have any damage so I could tell she wasn't lying. For all the obfuscation of that tinted visor and distorted vox-caster, sometimes I felt like the Culexus could be an open book. She was a bit naive, and yet not... It was strange and difficult to explain, but it was why I felt compelled to shelter her from the hell she was going to see if she continued.

"I wasn't doubting you or your abilities." I continued. "It's just that I know what's waiting ahead, kinda, and it's not the kind of things I think you want to see."

"A truckload of corpses yes, it does not take a genius to figure it out." Her voice seemed to be tainted by a little exasperation and a good measure of sarcasm, taking me by surprise a bit. "I am not a kid." she then stated flatly before turning her head away slightly. "I-I know I won't like it... but I can't just.. let you shoulder it all alone. That's why I have to be here!"

I blinked, finally understanding and breaking in a small smile. Not a crazy smile, not a bloodthirsty smile, just a genuine, warm smile. She was a good girl and I'd just have to deal with it. She barely knew me, fuck she most likely had more reasons to want to be -away- from me than otherwise, but yet she was steadfast in wanting to be there and help. I couldn't help but feel like despite how naive it was, it was also a little admirable.

I ripped open one of the nearby, smaller doors by shoving my left claw into the joint and pulling, tearing it off its hinges in the process. What may one day have been a cafeteria was no longer fit to serve this purpose. All the furniture had been shoved to the walls and the entire space had been covered in bodies and vitae. I flinched when the smell hit my augmented nose. I think the fact that I was used to this smell was the only thing that prevented me from puking my guts out from how strong and foul it was. Silke was having a similar reaction, but managed to hold as well, probably due to the air filtration I assume her suit has.

I moved in first while she remained stunned at the sheer charnel. A quick look gave my worst suspicions much more weight. The bodies were all disparate with no obvious common factor of age, gender, or social class, but they had all been killed in the same way; ritual sacrifice with some sharp object, probably a knife. And it wasn't clean deaths either, no quick deaths. They had all been stabbed and sliced in ways that they would die slowly, bleeding out as much and as long as possible.

"W-what is this... " I heard Silke whisper with a hint of fear and horror. No matter how much I would have tried, even I couldn't have remained unaffected by this either. From my gut feelings, those were all random innocents who had nothing to do with this. "Who.. why would anyone do something like this?" the Culexus' voice choked a little. "There's... no reason.. no logic... so why?"

I moved in with a rising feeling, a hunch. I walked through the pooled up crimson and the twisted mass of once-flesh, making my way to the center. I cleared the center of the room with my feet, trying to make some space to see the ground underneath and I froze. It was just as I suspected.

+Stop being so silent! You're creeping me out!+ I flinched visibly and turned back, the stabbing Pulse forcing my attention. Silke continued with a calmer tone and looked over, perhaps considering if she wanted to attempt heading over to my position. "You know something about this don't you?"

I nodded lightly and reached down, picking up the source of my suspicions and showing it to her.  Between my skeletal fingers I had found three completely blood-stained Grief Seeds.

"..." The little German remained silent for a moment and I looked back down, giving one last look to the small piece of floor I could examine, kicking some more once-flesh out of the way and scraping the blood-paint away with my free claw. "Some sort of runes, Barrier-like." I announced as I stood back up.

Silke took a deep breath and seemed to steel herself, desperately clinging to calm "So... what.. does it mean?" I made my way back to the doorway,  bloodied Grief Seeds still held in my left hand.

"I can only speculate, but from what I can observe; those are 'dormant' and were 'fed' the agony of all these people. All their fear, their regrets, their despair, their dying thoughts, used in some kind of... fucked up ritual. I'm willing to bet it's what brought those Daemon-familiars into the real world earlier."

Silke nodded slowly, trying to take it all in. I put the Grief Seeds in my Inventory for further study and made to reach out for a pat on her shoulder, but ultimately thought better of it when I factored in that my hands were stained with much blood. "Who.. who do you think could so something like this? I... we have powers of our own... we don't need this... so why would anyone go to such an extent?" Her voice was trembling now, but I couldn't tell if it was from shock or hatred. I secretly wished it was hatred, because that's what boiled in my blood at that point too.

"Someone who doesn't really understand what they're dealing with." I stated with a sigh and made my way outside. "Come, we don't have much time left."

"Until what?" the German Culexus  quickly followed me, most likely more than eager to leave that necropolis.

----

We quickly made our way to what we assumed to be the bridge, only to find it underwhelmingly empty. At least the stench of rot wasn't there anymore so my nose stopped suffering. We searched the bridge for a minute and found out it wasn't as empty as it first looked. I sensed a presence and found a young man hiding in a  hollowed out compartment, quivering in fear. He let out a scream when he saw me and started begging, so I turned back to Silke for opinions.

"...There's already been too much killing... he  doesn't seem like a threat so.. just.. leave him alone..." her voice trailed off a little, seeming tired again. I looked back to the young man with a straight face and told him to shut the fuck up. He did.  I then asked him what the fuck he was doing here. He answered.

Apparently this guy was a member of the pirate crew, but he went into hiding when their bosses came and asked everyone to follow them for a meeting. He had heard what had happened to the prisoners - because he admitted that the people down below were captured by them - and had been completely freaked out ever since. He said he never wanted to kill anyone and thought they would be used for a ransom or something. His voice was frantic, broken, as if trying to blurt out apologies and atonement at the same time as information.

The guy seemed way over his head, having joined with the crew for promises of wealth and adventures. It was all supposed to be fun he said. It was all supposed to be 'magical' he said. He seemed broken enough by the experience that a magical girl in the same state would have already Witched Out, but he seemed like just your average guy lured by false sweet words. For a moment I wondered if any of the others I mercilessly killed outside had been the same, but I chased away the thought as soon as it came.

Never again. I can't think like that anymore.

"From how he's describing it, I think it confirms our suspicions to the presence of a Callidus." Silke spoke softly, mitigating the distortion of her Vox-caster somewhat for a reason I couldn't quite grasp. "She must have used her abilities to charm and suggest her way into commandeering this ship and gaining more followers." the young man looked up, confused but trying to follow. "Just stay here for now, we will take care of everything." she reached down and gave him a small pat.

"I have a bad feeling about this, we need to get going." I insisted firmly, not fond of Silke wasting her time like this.

"You have been having those ever since this mission started." she responded with a small sigh.

"And things have been fucked since this mission started." I rolled my eyes and countered.

"You have a point." She finally conceded.

The man hailed for us to wait and told us the location of the meeting, earning a small thank from the little German. I just moved on ahead.

On our way down to the cargo hold, the German Culexus got closer and asked me a few questions with an uncharacteristically cold tone. "Why do you look like you know more than you let on? You've been facing this kind of things before haven't you? I'd.. like to believe that rather than the alternative."

"Then believe what you want to believe." I simply responded without slowing down. The tension between us rose sharply, I could sense it; her distrust, her hostility.

"I can't believe it." she spat with disdain.

"Don't take me wrong."  I remained calm, focusing on the objective. "I never did anything like this, even if I was part of a group like this before. I was low on the ladder, didn't really know what the fuck I was doing at the time. It was before I contracted; a really long while ago."

There was a silence, a heavy, unpleasant one. "Fine, I'll believe you for now, then what are they?" Silke inquired with a voice that meant to be uncompromising. I wasn't exactly intimidated, but then again I knew better than to fuck with her since what she did to me back at Suzume's place.

"Witch Cults" I said coldly and she repeated it in disbelief. "There's a variety of them all with their own creeds, but all of them are obsessed with Witches. Some of them think they're some sort of higher power, whether for good or bad - that's mostly the human ones - and then there's Witch Cults who think they can gain power by messing with the natural order of things - that's usually the ones Magical Girls get seduced by."

"And you think we're dealing with one of the later?" The Culexus' voice softened lightly, apparently satisfied with my quick explanation. I responded with a firm affirmative and she continued. "And... what... kind were you in.. back then?"

I shook my head, we were almost at the cargo bay. "I'll tell you that when we get back. We're almost there." the sound of screams suddenly rose up. Panic, betrayal, anger, frustration. All punctuated by gunshots.

I detonated the gate to the cargo bay with a quick application of volatile doombolts and entered right through the gap in the same moment. What I saw there was enough to get my blood to seethe again. They were killing their own followers. Slicing them like pigs for another sacrifice. The floor was covered in blasphemous runes and the blood was already flowing strong, but it was too late.

It was too much. The smell of blood was too strong, and because of the freshness, the smell of carrions hadn't been growing yet. I didn't need to call upon Empyrean energies this time, my body was already moving on its own; guided by the hunt, guided by the hatred. The hatred became all. The hatred is everything.

I didn't even have time to see what Rank the first was. She spotted me from the corner of her eye but it was too late. By the time she had turned to face me my left claw had already tasted blood, sinking into her neck and pulling sharply. Red. Everything was red. The broken body of the cultist snapped and fell down, the knife it had been holding hitting the floor first.

The second one had quicker wits and attacked me the second I closed in on the first. She wielded a sword of some description and managed to score a cut to my side, but it mattered little. I knew no pain when those feelings overwhelmed me. A slice just wouldn't cut it, she needed to sever wholesome to have a chance.

But she wouldn't get it. I had already forced her on the defensive and my claws harassed her blade with murderous glee, gnawing at her body a little more with every opening and every parry that was just a bit too slow. It was a fellow Eversor all right, to be able to survive this long. It was also a driven one all right, to be stomaching the pain and strain with a smile. But it was also a forsaken one all right, to be facing me in such a place.

The arm fell down first and I could feel more fresh blood warming up my fingers, washing away the old blood that was already there. The chest came second, feeding the senses of my other claw as it tore through. I cared not for the Soul Gem and turned to kill the last, only to find her body already fallen and Silke standing next to it, giving the final blow.

Finally, my blood cooled down and settled. There was a number of so-called pirates still alive as we had stepped in during their execution, but they were too shaken to do anything now. My breath was heavy as senses returned to me; not from physical exhaustion, but from mental exhaustion.

"H-hey.. are.. are you fine? you're.. you've got a strange look." The Culexus hazarded with a cautious tone, as if she was worried her voice alone might trigger another outburst of violence from me. I couldn't blame her really; this wasn't me anymore... I hadn't let myself get overtaken by rage like this in a very long time before... Well, before the world changed. "I'll be fine now..."

Warbringer... my right hand grasped slightly at the hilt that wasn't there, longing for its presence. My partner, my friend. The weapon, as ill-omened as it was, had helped me remain stable. Without it I felt like I could lose control again like this with little provocation. I hoped I was just being too pessimistic.

Silke walked closer to me in silence and looked at me from behind that opaque visor of her. I was so sure she was judging me right now; maybe looking down  on me. Most likely all she would see from now on was how I fought and what I used to be part of. She--

"You did good." she reached out a hand, her voice calm and level as usual. I blinked. "Let's head back."

I was stunned for a moment, only managing to mutter a small "alright". She made to leave but I spoke up. "Wait, how do we know it's over." She didn't stop.

"I know, I read it from her."

 I blinked. "Read? what? and the Soul Gems?"

She shook her head. "The people they manipulated will have their justice."

I didn't need to look around to realize this was true. The surviving "pirates" were getting back to their feet and they would surely take their revenge against those "cult leaders". Most likely they would finish them off while they were vulnerable. It was no longer our concern; the cargo was safe.

We made our way back to our original ship and the engines started back up after I destroyed the ramp connecting the two vessels, both of which began to limp back to their respective port with what little remained of their crew - although thanks to Silke ours sheltered a lot more survivors.