3.

  Cass lowered her cloak, letting her numb face, pink, red-splotched hair and eyes show to the world. Well, not the world. She'd taken precautions to make sure not many people were around. The last thing she'd want is someone unnecessary seing her.

  She pulled out a small pocket mirror, gently infusing mana on it's touch. The recipient on the other end understood what it meant, and answered.

  "はい、カシオペア、何ですか？"Yes Cassiopeia, what is it?

  "私は…容疑者を捕まえることはできませんでした。でも、彼らが誰なのかについて、もう少し情報を集めることはできました。"I… I didn't manage to capture the suspect. I did manage to gather more information on who they might be though. She answered, her hands shaking slightly.

  "じゃあ、行って捕まえてこい。失敗したらどうなるかは分かってるだろう。"Well then go get them. You know what'll happen if you fail.

  "ああ"Yes [sir]

  Her knees grew weak once she hung up, collapsing on the spot. She loathed following the royal guard's orders, even if it was for rooting out the witch cult. They call her a witch behind her back, yet expect her to destroy those who supposedly worship her? Absurd. If those sacks-of-iron-flesh didn't have any leverage over her, she'd leave as soon as she could. She quickly patted her sides for the parcel which she had stashed—

  [Oh fuck.]

  She'd dropped that parcel of evidence somewhere earlier, almost carelessly. It was vital evidence to the crown's case, yet she lost it so easily.

  [Was that what that girl was trying to return to me..?]

  Cass pondered, thinking at the exhausted looking girl that was ready to move hell and high waters to 'return' something to her.

  [Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaghhhhh, I'm so [extremely] stupid—] She panicked, packing up and tossing her cloak back on.

  "確か、空中戦の時に追っていた男のローブの内側に…妙な模様があった気がする。それが何かの手がかりになるかもしれない…？"If I recall correctly, during our areal fight, the man I was chasing had a… peculiar design on the inside of his robes. Maybe that'll get me somewhere..? Cass scrunched, preparing to throw herself to the streets once more.

  4.

  Theo had been gaged for the woman's convenience earlier. She still screamed and struggled as much as she could, but the nun's nails were like steel stakes. The 'virtuous' woman had dragged her throughout the streets, and by her guess, probably across town by now.

  Seeing an approaching chapel, Theo could only think 'Ah, shit. Not this crap again.'

  With a swift motion, the nun both swung open the doors and threw her into a corner.

  "こちらでお待ちください。すぐに神父様がお見えになるはずです。"Please wait here. The father is sure to see you shortly. She spoke only after Theo was confirmed to be incapable of running away.

  "mm mnfh fh 'nv hv nvbmr',"So much for 'love thy neighbor', Theo growled, choked by the fabric in her mouth.

  Now that she had ample unobserved time, Theo worked on rejecting the 'ball of socks' in her mouth. It took longer than she would of wanted, but she was able to spit it out, hacking and coughing violently from it's entrance and exit.

  "J'leur ai dis de—cough—d'y pas toucher au marchandise—hack"I told them—cough—, hands off the merchandise—hack Theo's brain had reverted back to french at the pure volume of foreign speech she was forced to confront on the way.

  Left alone with her thoughts once more, Her thoughts wandered to what she'd left behind. All of the friends, family, and places she had, gone. As if by snap of a finger.

  Desperate to not confront this reality, Theo rammed her shoulder into the pipe-like object she was tied to, trying to break free. The last time she thought of this, it was a slip up. A mistake she shouldn't have thought of. Seemingly in denial, she resolved to never stop looking forward.

  "神父様が今お会いになります。"The father will see you now.

  Theo was dragged out of the waiting room by force, the nun not waiting on any of her shenanigans.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  "やあ、坊や。君の活躍についてはたくさん聞いているよ。さあ、悩みを話してごらん。"Hello there young child. I've heard much about your exploits. Come, explain to me your worries.

  The man was draped in white clerical robes, with a sort of coloured scarf draped on his shoulders. The rest of the clergy was dressed same as him, but more pious.

  The entire cathedral was too close for comfort for Theo. The last thing she wanted to do right now is touch anything with a near similarity to Christianity, but this building, it drove a steak right through that.

  "Quel crappe de viarge veut tu qu'je bouffe? Laisse-moi s'en aller déjà."What virgin Mary's holy shit do you want me to eat? Let me go already. Theo barked, instantly on edge.

  "Ah. Ainsi, vous parlez déjà la langue sacrée, quoique de manière fort rudimentaire. Cela accélère considérablement les choses."Ah. So you already speak the holy language, albeit quite crudely. That speeds things up quite a bit.

  "Quel 'Langue Sacrée'??? Lache-moi!"What holy language??? Let me go!

  "Vous ignorez même la langue que vous parlez ?"You don't even know what language you speak? The priest's eyes widened in surprise. Eerily, his mouth slowly took the shape of a smile. "彼女は聖女だ！本物の聖女だ！絶対に逃がしてはならない。"She's a saint! A real saint! We must not let her get away.

  "The fuck are you talking about grandpa." Theo spat. Her uncanny surroundings shafted her back into french afterwards.

  Some of the spirits from earlier had found her, slipping through the cracks to surround her. A few of the red spirits lit a flame, burning the rope off of her legs and arms. It was just a small fraction, nothing much, but the gesture meant a lot to her.

  "Il semble que vous ne compreniez pas. Il est manifeste que vous jouez un r?le plus grand dans la volonté des esprits. Autrement, nous ne serions point en train de converser à cette heure. Nous souhaiterions comprendre précisément en quoi consiste ce r?le. Ne désireriez-vous pas, vous aussi, le conna?tre ?"You seem to not understand. It's clear that you have a larger role in the spirits' will. Otherwise, we would not be speaking right now. We would like to understand exactly what that role is. Wouldn't you, like to know it as well?

  "TABARNAK NON! J'y veut pas joindre à ton culte de lards."FUCK NO! I don't want to join your swine's cult. A small, almost unnoticeable hum picked up in the back of her hearing. Theo herself wouldn't notice it if she weren't stupidly aware of most fibers in her body.

  "Cela est… bien regrettable. Voir un tel amour et de tels dons gachés par une ame à la bouche si impure…"That is… unfortunate. To see such love and gifts wasted on someone with such a foul mouth… The priest hangs his head slightly in semi-shame.

  "あの者を捕らえよ。逃がすな。どれほど否定しようと、あれこそ聖典が語る聖女に違いない。"Seize her. Do not let her escape. She is our saint the scriptures spoke of, no matter how much she denies it.

  The men, at the order of their leader, quickly moved to restrain Theo.

  "Let go of me you damn freaks..!"

  She fought back as best she could, dragging the scene out a solid 15 minutes before one man got a clean shot at her, almost knocking her out cold.

  "Let go… of me…"

  Theo collapsed to the ground, the men taking this chance to pile on to her.

  "Laisse… moi…Khhh… khh… cal?sses…"Let me… go… Khhh… khh… fuckers…

  In the moments before she lost consciousness, her senses dulled. She faintly heard the priest giving a crazed speech, but not much else. Her vision was obscured by bodies, her touch being so as well.

  One of the things that didn't dull from her senses, was the sharp humming coming from an unknown place. If anything, it started to grow faster, higher pitched, overpowering her brain's attempt to shut down—

  The sound of Wood shattering reverberated throughout the chapel.

  "Lina!"

  A child-like voice shouted.

  "hmpf. Yes yes Illya."

  Two motes emerged from the shattered tabernacle at the front. One red, the other ice-blue. They poured out an absurd amount of mana, to the point where you could feel a disturbance in the air, letting it waft to the pile-up.

  In an instant, the mana compressed. Fire and ice were forcefully compacted together. Not liking that at all, the pressure built up until the small constraining area burst, throwing away each and every man in a white robe. Theo, who was already flat on the ground, did not avoid it's effects. The scorching heat and freezing cold nipped at her backside, stripping her of her little-remaining life-force.

  "Miss! Miss! Are you okay!" The red mote shouted.

  The blue one, her sister, tried to wake Theo up with an ice-cold shock on her neck. But, it was to no avail. She did not respond, nor was she breathing.

  "Stand back Illya." The sibling named Lina barked.

  The air in the room grew stagnant, the blue mote–Lina–sucking it up. With a dry crack, she fired a bolt of lightning—from Theo's chest through her heart—as precisely as she could.

  Theo remained unresponsive. Another dry snap was fired.

  "cough cough, gasp, gasp," Theo finally coughed, much to the twin's delight.

  "Are you okay Miss?" Illya pondered.

  "Can it. It won't be long until they wake up. Can you walk?" Lina demanded.

  "cough, cough… wait a moment… you two… you're speaking.. english…?"

  "I don't know what they call it in other places, but yes, we do! Born and raised in Acadie!" Illya yapped.

  "Illya cut that out. We need to get out of here, now. These bastards are tougher thank you'd think."

  "How'd you know that..?" Theo struggled standing up, but eventually managed.

  "They caught us once before! What was that… maybe 50 years ago?" Illya jumped in again.

  "Damn. Y'all are old."

  "Not by spirit standards we aren't!" Illya glowed positively.

  "Shit. They're starting to wake up," Lina grabbed her sister, leading the way for Theo. "Come on! We have to go! Now!"

  "Right… right!"

  "So what's your name miss? You already know ours." Lina asked, being dragged behind her twin light as the group desperately ran out of the cathedral.

  "…It's Theo."

  "Alright! Hi Theo!" Lina (probably) smirked.

  "I hate to ask you, but can you open this door? They've been practically force feeding us in that box so we're a bit more… chunky than usual." Lina asked, ashamed of what she said.

  "She means that we can't just go through stuff now, even though we're really young. Like with that wood box from earlier." Illya chimed in.

  "On it!"

  Theo shouted, rushing ahead without resistance.