The Barefoot Girl (Part IV)

“Look at me…” the girl rasped, “So much time has passed… and I’m still making things… harder for myself…”

“Shut it!” Amos tightened the chokehold, trying to expel what little oxygen she had left to produce. The barefoot girl simply chuckled before entering a brief coughing fit. Her nails were still digging into his arm. And then, a gust of wind swept past them. This sudden change in the air around them seemed to provide the girl an opportunity to fill her lungs.

“I-If…If onii-chan could see me now…” Nanaya continued. She clenched her right fist, now brimmed with orange energy. “...Surely…he would scold me for being so thoughtless…I can't have that… Can I?”

Amos tried to apply more pressure to the smaller target's neck, but no matter how hard he squeezed, all he could feel was the girl's mana circulation as its intensity began to rise at an alarming rate.

This energy… Where is she getting it from?!

“Matsuga!!” Nanaya croaked as a swirling sphere of energy formed around her fist. The air once again shifted around the two of them. She then threw her fist back, pounding Amos square across the face.

“Augh!!”

The sphere gyrated furiously, grinding into his skin before a powerful gale sent him flying backward. He slid violently against the ground, head, and limbs hitting a few jagged rocks before slamming back first into a tall tombstone.

“Gahh!!”

The spine-crushing impact forced him to cough up more blood and vomit. His forehead was now wounded, throbbing vigorously. His vision was slowly becoming stained with red. He looked over at his target. She was coughing violently, trying to calm her labored breathing.

“You said... you’d do anything... to get the answers that you seek…” Nanaya panted heavily, she now sported a swollen left eye and bright-red liquid ran down her bruised nose. Amos' offense had done quite the number on her face.

“Well, then…”

The girl took to the sky. Once she was high enough, she closed her eyes and channeled her mana, emitting a massive sphere of red aura floating just above her head. It began to take on a new shape, stretching outward as it was ovated into wedged-shaped layers. From where Amos was seated, he could make out the sphere’s shape.

“Let me show you my resolve!!”

Amos sat there staggered as he stared up at the large object. A flower?… No… a chrysanthemum × morifolium?

Nanaya grinned before bringing both of her arms downward. A mighty gale followed, nearing the wind speed of an F5 Tornado. The wind rushed through the cemetery as the roots of nearby bushes and shrubs and trees held on to the soil for dear life. The force pinned Amos to the tombstone as if holding him in place for the oncoming attack.

“Matsuga…” she uttered as her eyes produced an emerald luminescence. Her pale sundress and long golden tresses danced in the maelstrom.

Damn… She put everything she had into that previous attack… And she still has enough energy to spare?

With all feeling gone in his arms and legs, Amos could not move, let alone fight against this powerful wind. He could only watch as the red ball of aura shaped itself and dispersed into multiple flowers.

I never stood a chance…

“...HANA!!!!!!” The girl roared as the flowers rained down on him. The suffocating aura seeping from them told Amos that he would not survive should this attack land; the sheer amount of red light illuminating the cemetery around him was bound to get caught in the blast as well.

Suddenly, a humanoid figure in black dropped down from the sky, landing in front of Amos. Even with his crimson mask and blurred vision, he could make out the ethereal features of the girl staring back at him.

“...Fr… Frida?”

She nodded before standing up straight and turning to face the threat bearing down upon them.

The girl quickly shed her tops and began to change her form. Her skin transmogrified into sickly pale blue flesh, similar to Amos' temporary arm. She then stuck both hands into her chest and proceeded to rip open her torso, which made a gross peeling sound. The harsh snapping of bone filled the air as her rib cage sprung open like a bear trap, revealing an ominous black rift in the center.

“What?!” Nanaya's eyes widened in both wonder and fear.

The rift then began to vacuum the large sphere. The magnificent gale didn't seem to phase the undead girl one bit as her feet remained planted firmly on the ground. Nanaya watched helplessly as her strongest attack was being drawn into the girl's body.

“......”

“......”

“......”

As soon as the attack was fully absorbed, the undead girl's midsection made a gross squelching sound as it closed itself back up. She shifted back to her original appearance and threw her crimson shirt and black leather jacket back on as quickly as she removed them. Her Bon Appetit ability required her to be half nude from the waist up. Replacing her ruined clothes after every use would get quite expensive, so this was the best solution. Any normal person would have found the whole prospect embarrassing or unbecoming. Not this girl.

“Hmm.”

The girl then turned to gaze down at Amos. She had limestone skin, round pale green eyes, and long jet black hair tied into a single Artorian braid with a crimson ribbon on top. On the surface, Frida McCoy appeared to be the quintessential teenage beauty, but her speech easily betrayed her true age. Her aforementioned tops were paired with a black and white grid textured skirt, black leggings, and a pair of black platform boots. This outfit was a bit outside of the usual dress protocol for Eden Academy, let alone Order of Eve missions, but no one would dare tell the headmaster’s eldest ward what to do.

“Another one??” Nanaya growled.

After belching out a tiny orb of red light, which quickly dissipated, Frida's gaze shifted up at Nanaya, who was still in a state of utter disbelief. However, upon receiving the black-haired girl's gaze, she quickly returned the sentiment with an icy glare of her own. Amos could feel an overwhelming amount of aura emanating between both parties.

Nanaya brought her gaze over to Amos, back to Frida, then back to him. At that moment, Amos could tell what questions were swarming through her head judging by her dazed expression: Who was this strange girl? Where did she come from? And how was she able to absorb her strongest attack in mere seconds? His role was never to try and eliminate Subject-724 outright, all he had to do was to soften her up a bit until Frida swooped in for the kill. At least, that had been the plan they discussed just days prior. Her cue was far overdue.

Frida raised a hand to the air. Black aura coursed through her petite body as she made to cast a spell. While the cemetery no longer oozed with paranormal activity, a skilled necromancer like Frida, however, still had thousands of corpses at her disposal, putting Nanaya at a huge disadvantage.

The blonde girl's breath caught in her throat. Realizing the looming danger, she clenched her fists and muttered something to herself before swinging her arm clockwise. Suddenly, a giant rift opened up beside her, flowing with immense astral energy.

Amos' eyes widened. “A portal!?”

“She intends to flee!” Frida immediately lowered her arm, canceling her Raise Undead spell, but it was too late. Without hesitation, the girl swooped into the portal. Its surface rippled as her body passed through it, and her feet were the last thing they saw before her form completely vanished beyond the rift.

“Damn.” Frida clicked her tongue in annoyance as a pair of large bat-like wings sprouted from her back. Crouching, she balanced on the balls of her feet, preparing to leap into the air and give chase.

“Wait!” Amos called out to his sister, raising a hand to halt her. “Let her go.”

“Hm?” The jet-black girl furrowed an eyebrow. Watching the portal close, her large green eyes then flicked over to the boy, shooting a searching glance. After a few seconds, she snapped her fingers before pointing at him.

“Tracking device?”

“On the hem of her dress... It should pick up her location shortly…” The boy nodded before changing the subject. “You sure took your sweet time.” He grimaced, applying pressure to the wounds he was able to reach. “I know you were only testing me… but did you really... have to let her beat me to a pulp like that?”

“What was it that you were thinking before?” his sister asked with a rather dull look on her face, her voice devoid of any real emotion. Amos however knew her long enough to know when he was about to be mocked. She placed a finger on her chin, adding insult to injury. “‘Sorry, Frida, I may not need your help after all.’ It was something along those lines, yes?”

“That was a… a temporary lapse in judgment,” He smiled weakly, blood running down his mouth as he looked up at the girl. His head had hurt so much, that he had nearly forgotten that his mind had been intertwined with hers long ago. For as long as someone shares a blood pact with a vampire, the familiar's mind, body, and soul become an extension of their sire. Ergo, the sire can always see what their familiar sees, feel their every emotion, and hear just about every little thought that comes to mind.

“Uh-huh,” Frida said as she stood over him, dangling a bottle of green potion above his head. “Here, I need blood from you, so drink up.”

“Oh right. Th-thanks,” Amos said before he tried and failed to reach for the bottle. “H-Hey. I can't really feel my arm. Could you… help me out a bit?”

Frida sighed as she set down the bottle beside her before grabbing Amos and propping him down from the tombstone, laying him flat on his back.

“Ow, ow, ow!!” he yelled, raising his hand as high as he could in protest. “Please be gentle.”

“Beggars cannot be choosers.”

Frida sank to her knees. With the potion bottle in hand, she removed the cork…

“H-Hey, wait! You're supposed to shake those first! And you could at least sit me up before you—”

...and shoved the bottle into his mouth.

Amos coughed violently as he guzzled down the potion. As soon as the bottle was emptied, Frida sat him up and smacked his back a couple of times. His wounds were quickly beginning to disappear.

"There, there,” she said dryly as her brother continued to cough. “Did it go down okay?”

Does it look like it went down okay?!

“Augh! Well, that wasn't intentional at all, I'm sure,” Amos cringed. “And what's with this strange behavior? Watching you attempting to play ‘mother’ in any way shape or form is simply…off-putting to say the least.”

"Hmph. Well, you are most welcome, my dear brother." There was a heavy layer of sarcasm in her voice as she crawled between his legs. "Now, hold still…"

Frida drew closer, ripped the collar off of his skin-tight suit, extended her jaws, and sank her razor-sharp fangs into his exposed neck. Amos, who was used to having two-inch fangs lodged in his flesh by now, still found himself wincing ever so slightly.

(That Spectral Counter… It was much grander than the ones from previous missions.)

Frida's thoughts spoke to Amos, flowing through the boy's subconscious as she fed. Their telepathic bond was so strong, that only the world's most powerful psychics could pick up on their frequency.

(It is a sign that you are growing much stronger.)

(Do you really think so?) Amos answered. He didn't feel any stronger. If anything, his exchange with Nanaya proved that he still had a ways to go. No matter what he threw at her, she always seemed to have a counter. As frustrated as he was about that, of all things, the girl's outburst was still fresh on his mind. His physical wounds may have healed, but this wound felt different entirely.

(Worry not about what that girl said.) Surprisingly, Frida’s words sounded almost comforting. (Exorcising souls is a tremendous feat. Soon you will be strong enough to lift my curse.)

Amos gave a slight nod. The curse. Of course. That's what this all boiled down to in the end. Long ago, when the world was much different, his sister was born to a vampire and a lycan, making her a werepyre. Conception between the two races was forbidden at the time, and her hybrid blood had made her a pariah among the monster races, who deemed her an abomination. For the crime of simply existing, the Witches Council had cursed Frida with eternal life. She was then abandoned in the Great Forest of Everwood where she would spend this eternity terrorizing its inhabitants. However, the half-breed girl was soon discovered by the headmaster. With the promise of finding a way to break her curse, he took the werepyre girl in and raised her as his first ward for the next millennium.

Then, just five years ago, the headmaster approached the boy himself. Amos had no recollection of his life before that point, only his name and age. According to the master, his spectral magic was the key to freeing his sister from her curse and finally putting her to rest. This task was the main reason he was brought to this continent. Simply put, he had to do it if he wanted to remember everything.

He had only gotten this far because of Frida's training. The least he could do to repay the girl was to break her curse. I need to get stronger, he told himself. Her entire life, she has been denied the very thing that every person will one day experience. She's lived a long life, seen everything there is to see, and done everything there is to do. My sister is overdue for a well-earned rest... That much I owe her.