Eldritch 43

Rossweisse flew just above the Wychwood with keen eyes.

To the normal humans, it was just a forest they were trying to preserve, about two square miles in size.

But to the supernatural, there was definitely something...more going on here.

"There is a hidden place in this forest," she said to herself. "This must be where Lady Frigg wanted me to search."

She flew down and felt a slight resistance as she passed through some field that the mundane were unable to perceive or comprehend.

She descended past the canopy and frowned as she found the forest to be dark and ancient. Just looking about, she could see that the trees were old with roots that ran deep into the earth.

"Careful where you fly."

Rossweisse turned in an instant with her spear materializing in hand, pointed at the speaker.

She froze at the sight of a beautiful black-haired woman with a circlet of green vines around her head.

"You might find yourself ensnared, Warrior-Maiden of the One-Eyed," she said with a deceptively friendly smile.

"Titania, Queen of the Fey and the Gealach of Tir na Nog," Rossweisse recognized with cautious respect. "Lady Frigg said I would probably meet you."

"I expected nothing less from the Foreseeing Queen," Titania said fondly as she strolled amongst the trees. Sometimes she seemed to phase right through them. "I'm sure she always warned you to be wary of myself and my kind. Many consider us similar to those gods considered foreign not only to this world but to this reality."

Rossweisse let her silence speak for her.

"Do not threaten, we will not deter you. We deter none whe venture here," Titania said as she paused, placing a hand on a tree, stroking in in an almost loving way. "This forest is not mine."

Rossewise blinked. "What do you mean? I thought all the forests of Britain were under your power?"

"They are, or were in this case," Titania said fondly. "I gifted these lands away, to house one that was lost and could not find a way home. It is under that one's power now. Many have come here, seeking power for themselves. Those you might call Witches, who took the knowledge they could handle. Others ventured further and became guards of the lost one."

She paused, looking at the Valkyrie with her ancient, mystical eyes.

"Be careful. They will not trust you. Warriors of more than one God have come here to claim or destroy the source of the power here," she warned.

Rossewisse chose her words carefully. "Would a word from you not assure them that I mean no harm?"

"Perhaps," Titania said with a mischievous look. "But if you were meant to help the lost one to become found, then you will overcome such an inconvenience without my aide."

Rosseweisse had more to ask, but just as suddenly as she came, the Queen of the Fae vanished, her form becoming one with one of the trees as her presence vanished.

"When even the Fae tell you to tread carefully," Rossweisse murmured to herself before looking around.

There wasn't a true path, but there was....a pull in the air.

To the mundane, probably a lure to trap them.

To her, a lead.

The Valkyrie set forth, walking through the forest with her sword at her side.

As she went, the greenery became....greener.

At first, it was just simple things like taller grass, thicker bushes, and denser tree tops.

Then it was moss and vines up and down the trunks of the trees.

And, at last, she found where the green bled into everything. A verdant glow below the bark of the trees, like veins in the very food. The very soil had a viridescent hint to it, as if stained and corrupted by it. Even the air she exhaled seemed to carry a faint chartreuse mist about it.

Rossweisse was aware of the insidious whispers in the back of her head as she looked down at herself, just to see something of another color. Voices imitating her own, saying how it was wrong that she was not green, that she should cover herself in it.

Her eyes went to the side, seeing a corpse on a tree. He had been some ancient knight who had found himself here, and succumbed to the Green and the Green took him. He was overtaken by roots and vines with his long dry bones covered entirely in moss with flowers all about him.

She looked keenly around, seeing many more graves of those who had the misfortune of passing through here.

It was a deceptively peaceful place for being a collection of graves.

"You would make for some wonderful fertilizer."

She stopped in her tracks, looking around carefully for the voice. "Show yourself. I mean no harm if you mean none to me," she said cautiously.

"Oh, do not worry, stranger," a voice, neither male nor female, spoke from her right.

The moss moved and shifted to form the likeness of a face upon the trees.

"I am not a killer, merely a tender. The Tender, here," The Tender answered in amusement. "I merely distribute the fertilizer, the nutrients of the bodies that lay in this place."

Rossweisse didn't exactly relax at that but didn't draw her blade either.

The moss-eyes narrowed curiously at her. "Tell me, are you a witch, perchance? One seeking power from nature?"

"I cannot say that I am," Rossewisse denied.

"A pity. Those are always special," The Tender said with a sigh that let loose a cloud of fungus.

Rossewisee leaned away from that, not trusting it in the slightest. "I seek an audience with this Lost One that lives here."

The Tender chuckled as his face moved from tree to tree. "Perhaps you will be left here. The guardians hop to it when it comes to killing interlopers that reach their village. Your intent will not matter to them."

"That much I was already warned of," Rosseweise said with a frown. "Can you point me in the right direction?"

The forest shifted, moving even with no wind to be felt, and Rossweisse saw a path of red flowers form before her very eyes.

"Follow them, and they will lead you to the Glade of the Witches. You can find your own way from there. But be warned, others in this forest are not so polite as I," The Tender warned before his wicked smile stilled and vanished.

Rossweisse looked from where the entity had been to the path of roses before her. It might be a trap. After all, there was no reason to believe The Tender truly wanted to help her in any way. Still, it was her only lead, the only way out of this haze of green.

She wasn't sure how long she followed the roses. Time likely wasn't a fixed factor here. Yet as she continued down the path, she found the all-consuming green fading. True, there were still leaves and grass that felt more vibrant than they should, but she could actually see the brown of dirt and bark now along with the colors of other flowers dotting the landscape. Not to mention she caught a peak of the blue sky as well through the canopy.

At last, she reached her destination. The roses brought her to a glade, just as The Tender said. In the center of the clearing was a small pond.  It was just wide enough for a person to lie within.

Around the pool were what appeared to be pillars, but as ROssweisse moved closed, she saw what they truly were.

The bodies of women, six in total. Witches, most likely. Each was kneeling around the pond, their hands limp and open at their sides with lifeless eyes staring into the waters. Their skin was deathly pale with a tinge of green about them. Their bodies were covered in strands of long grass that had grown up and circled around them as if trapping them even in death to this place.

Perhaps they were.

Rossweisse looked down into the pond, the reflection far too clear and perfect to be natural. It was more like a mirror than a body of water. "Is this what Lady Frigg meant....?" she asked herself as she reached for a pouch on her hip.

From it, she pulled out an orb that was white and glowing, covered in rotating bands with magic runes. It floated in her hand for a moment before magic runes vanished, and the orb floated high above the pool, just above the trees. The orb expanded and grew brighter, the light turning a soft silver. The sky around them grew dark, leaving only the orb as it reflected into the pool as an imitation of the moon.

The pool of the glade burst with power as it became a portal, a dark and murky one.

"Why have you come, Warrior of the Aesier?"

Rossweisse stopped, looking at the bodies again.

The corpses were all staring at her with their sightless eyes.

"I've come to meet with the lost one," Rossweise answered firmly. "Who are you?"

"We are those that peered too deeply."

"The Lost One brings a window."

"A Window to the Abyss."

"Through it, Witches gain great power."

"If they are not claimed by it in turn."

"We are those claimed by that power."

Rossweise took that in grimly, her face resolved. "That isn't why I'm here."

"We know," they all spoke as one, their tone almost apologetic. "You wish to take the Lost One home. But the Glade will not allow us to let you pass so easily."

As one, the six Glade Witches stood, as green magic formed around their hands.

Rossweisse held her blade at the ready as she started her foes for any movement. "I hope at the least that you all find peace when I end you here."

Meanwhile

"You have a sister?" Issei asked in surprise.

Koneko was almost annoyed by the question.

She hadn't been planning on meeting with the Eldritch King today, but she was just grateful his Queen wasn't here.

Well, not really.

Koneko glanced at the "Aza" next to Issei as they sat at a table for lunch. Everyone in Rias and Sona's peerage was aware of this, that the Daemon Sultana had some sort of "double" that stood in for her. More than an illusion, something that warped mundane students into thinking everything was normal with "Aza" and not noticing anything amiss.

While it didn't have the same danger as being near the real thing, Koneko was still a bit uneasy about just being near her likeness.

The Aza double smiled at Koneko and the neko felt her hair stand on end.

It might not be the real thing, but the queen could definitely gaze through it.

And her gaze carried a terrible weight.

Koneko turned her focus back on Issei and kept it firmly on him. "Yi asked if I cared what happened to her. I assumed that she got into trouble with some of the Eldritch," she explained dryly.

"Whatever it is, nobody brought it to my attention yet. Which is either really good or really bad for her," Issei mused, giving her a strange look. "Though, is there a reason you wouldn't care about your sister?"

Koneko scowled.

"Yid was in your mind, so she wouldn't ask that if there wasn't a reason," Issei remarked before blinking and turning sheepish. "Sorry, I was thinking aloud mostly there. If it's too personal, you don't have to say anything."

Koneko looked at him skeptically. "Aren't you just going to ask Yi or that Time-God of yours?"

"Hey, I'm not a creep like that. Granted, they might tell me anyway if it's somehow tied into why they're asking about her at all," Issei said honestly.

Koneko nodded, mulling over what to say, if anything.

Issei, however, frowned and narrowed his eyes as he looked to the side.

Neither Yog or Yid had piped in at being mentioned. Something must have their attention right now.

One more thing to worry about.

His face softened into a smile as he felt "Aza" lean against him, wrapping one of her arms around his.

He grinned at the double, knowing that the real Aza could see it.

Then he leaned in and killed her, giving her a peck on the lips.

The double giggled, but he could sense Aza fuming at being "teased" like this.

"Still right here," Koneko remarked as a reminder.

She stiffened as the double looked at her again with a smile.

"What's the matter, little kitten? Do you want a kiss too?"

Koneko couldn't answer, grabbing the table so hard her knuckles turned white.

She inhaled sharply as a foot touched her own. She tore her eyes back to Issei who was smiling reassuringly at her.

She released her grip on the table, sighing in relief.

"Aza says sorry about that. She can't really stop her double from interacting with you if you talk to her," Issei explained sympathetically.

Koenko nodded. "My bad," she said, subtly reaching down to check to see if she had wet herself again. "What...is she doing, anyway?" she asked, knowing she probably wouldn't like or understand the answer.

"Oh, nothing. She just left so we could talk," Issei answered with a shrug. "Yid said the double was safe for you to be around." 

Koneko blinked and made an effort not to look at "Aza" in confusion. "She knew?"

"Our "Time-God," as you put her, said you'd be trying to talk to me today and Aza decided to head elsewhere for today," Issei explained.

Koneko started. "You knew I was going to talk to you, but you didn't ask what it'd be about?"

"What, you want me to come off as some all-knowing asshole that's playing twenty moves ahead of everyone? Sorry, not my thing," Issei answered with a chuckle.

Koneko hummed. She just focused on Issei's foot on hers and how it kept her feeling grounded and safe right now.

Meanwhile

Taking out the witches had been rather easy.

Too easy, truly.

Their magic called forth the very forces of nature against Rossweisse. With plants, earth, and water at their beck and call they would probe a terrible challenge to most that might come this way. But her own magical power was nothing to ignore. Her circles of elemental magic and explosions had ripped through them rather handily, leaving only the broken and withered corpses of these old witches.

It wasn't until the battle ended that she noticed the faint purple mist that emitted from the corpses, fading into the air.

The Valkyrie's eyes widened and gritted her teeth as she felt her body getting sluggish and her vision hazy. "Poison?" she realized grimly, cursing her carelessness. Of course, there would be a poison factor with enemies like this, routed in nature magic.

It wouldn't kill her, she could tell that much, but it would make her weak and vulnerable until it got out of her system.

She steeled herself and moved to the pond at the center of the glade. At the very least, the other side of it wouldn't have this poison in the air.

She stopped at the edge, just to make sure the portal was still open before she jumped in and landed.

On her ass.

".....Was that the poison affecting me or did the entire world just tilt ninety degrees?" she asked herself uncertainly as she sat up.

She was in a cave now, a small and cramped one, like a crack in a wall more than anything.

Still, the air was fresh and clean, if a bit damp. She placed a hand over her mouth as she began to cast some minor healing magic on herself. If nothing else, it would help her body clear the substance out of her system.

Slowly, carefully, she got to her feet and began to move forward in hopes of finding an exit. The path went on for a while, with the tight walls of jagged stone threatening to cut her. If she were a normal human, she would have many lacerations just from trying to move through here.

Eventually, she came to a steep slope upwards, a bright light coming from an opening at the top of it.

The steep and muddy climb might have proven difficult if one couldn't fly with magic.

With a press off her feet, she soared up to the exit- only for her powers to give out, making her yelp as she fell and rolled down the slope.

"What just....?" Rossweisse asked to herself, covered in mud now from her tumble. She tried once more, flying slowly while remaining closer to the ground.

Right as she reached the light, her magic gave out again. Luckily, she was able to stop her fall from going all the way down and merely slid a few feet down.

"Something is canceling out my magic," she murmured. "I guess I just have to climb the rest with my own hands."

And so she did. It was a hand thing, the wet ground beneath her constantly wanting to send her down to the bottom if she slipped or grabbed the wrong loose stone.

Not to mention, she was worried. What awaited her passed this point, what kind of foes might she have to fight with her powers suppressed?

One thing at a time though, as she found herself at the top finally.

It was still too bright for her to see just yet, and as she tried to pull herself over the top, her foot gave way.

She nearly cursed as she felt herself about to fall and possibly end up at the bottom when something stopped her.

She looked up and saw a hand grabbing her wrist.

She looked up and was surprised to see a woman.

A woman with very...distinct ears.

"Bunny ears....?" Rossweisse realized with a furrowed brow.

That was all she got to say before a fist impacted her head, and her world went black.