A scorching heat encompa.s.sed the orchard behind Anne"s house, and multiple bees buzzed around from flower to flower, inadvertently pollinating the area. An extremely concentrated smell of summer fruits pervaded Anne"s nostrils as she walked through the orchard. She plucked all manner of fruits as she strolled along, including something that looked like a blueberry but many times larger, and blackberries and strawberries too. She had placed all of the fruits into a brown basket filled halfway with water. Anne hummed to herself as she made her way back to her house with a spring in her step."Okay, let"s see," Anne mumbled as she looked at the barrel containing the Black Water given to her by Vice. She had seated herself by the sofa on her living room, and was inspecting the liquid very carefully with her eyes which had been augmented by her mana. The mana that flowed into her eyes caused them to sparkle like crazy, and allowed her to see the arcana particles in the substance.
Water dripped onto her bright red floral sundress as she removed some of the fruits from the basket. She took the fruits and submerged them into the Black Water for a while. As she waited for her preparations to complete, she tied up her long black hair into a floral bun, using an a.s.sortment of flowers she"d previously plucked.
"I"m going to hate this, but anything for you Vice," she said under her breath. Anne then took out the fruits from the Black Water, a thick black liquid dripped off of the items. She waited a moment for all of the excess liquid to fall back into the barrel, upon which she took the fully coated berries and threw them into her mouth. Without chewing she swallowed them whole.
Anne"s face contorted in disgust, her lips twitching momentarily as she felt the urge to throw up the contents of her stomach. The bitter taste of the Black Water mixed with its highly viscous texture caused her to wretch violently. Her whole body was flung forward from her sofa, and a loud thud resounded through the room as she impacted against the floor.
A bright yellow aura in the shape of a bear hovered above Anne"s body as she convulsed on the ground, thick black liquid drooling out of her lips. The image of the bear sniffed at the air. It"s nostrils soon became vacuums, and the minimal amounts of arcana within the barrel of Black Water were pulled into the bear. After a short amount of time, the barrel was sucked dry of all of the arcana within it, and the bear roared wildly, before jumping into Anne"s still convulsing body.
Anne jumped up off the ground the moment the yellow bear came back into her. She slowly walked to her sofa, her steps a struggle, and let herself fall onto it. "Ahh as soft as a cloud," she thought. Anne rubbed her muscles slowly, the motion helping to ease some of the pain within them. She stifled a moan as she reached a lump in her calf, but soon ma.s.saged it with utmost care as she weaved in some yellowish arcana into it. Her calf stung as the arcana flowed into it, but Anne enjoyed the sensation.
"Ahh this is the worst part," she mumbled, and held her head tightly. The girl slumped back into the couch, and closed her eyes tightly. The mana from within her arcane core gushed out, its color that of a sweet nectar, and surrounded her body in its light.
"AHHH," she screamed as he clutched even tighter onto her head. Her brain felt like it was wriggling with thousands of worms who were eating through her. Not long after she began to convulse again, but this time she completely pa.s.sed out.
…
Anne rubbed her head as she slowly opened her eyes. A lethargic feeling had filled her from head to toe, and she struggled to get onto her feet as her legs buckled against her command. After a couple of attempts, she was finally able to stand up.
"Ugh, where am I this time then?" she thought as she looked around her surroundings. "Oh right, I"m at Vice"s house. Of course where else would my spell take me when the Black Water was found there."
The girl leisurely walked toward the kitchen of Vice"s old home, the flames having yet to ensue. A tall man was stood in the middle of the kitchen, wearing nothing but black shorts. Anne was unable to see most of his facial features, as he was more of a blur to her eyes, however she was able to make out one very distinct feature. Two horns protruded from his head in the same manner that Vice"s did, and his eyes were also pitch-black.
"Vice? Is that you?" Anne called out. She stood frozen to the spot with her mouth agape, unable to process the image in front of her. "No, that can"t be right. There"s no way that"s Vice," she thought to herself. "If only this image wasn"t such a blur."
The figure knelt down to the floor, and huge surge of arcana flashed into existence around its hand. A bright red flame burst forth, which the figure quickly threw into the barrel of Black Water. The man leisurely stood up and walked forward to where Anne was stood. He stared straight into her eyes, his nose only centimeters away from hers, before he maneuvered around the girl, and left the house. As the figure left, Anne was able to spot another distinct feature. The person wore a unique earring in its left ear that resembled a wolf fang.
"Wh" Anne thought, her heartbeat racing so fast that she thought it"d explode any moment now. "He can"t have seen me through my spell, I"m just an observer looking at the past through the lens of his arcana…"
The area quickly blurred as the flames in the Black Water barrel exploded outward, creating the raging inferno that would leave a Vice"s house destroyed beyond recognition. Anne was instantly transported out of this vision, as her body was flung into the ground.
…
Anne"s body lurched forward off the sofa, causing her to hit her head onto the coffee table. "Ouch," she said as he held onto her forehead which was now glowing brightly red. She rubbed the spot in circular motions until the pain subsided.
"Who was that?" she thought to herself. Anne breathed in heavily as her heart wouldn"t stop shaking in fear. Her face had lost its usual color, and the spark in her yellow eyes was all but dulled. "I need to talk to Vice as soon as possible," she said to herself as beads of sweat dripped down from her forehead.
She stared out of her window for a moment, it having long turned to night. "Vice, pick up already, this is important," Anne shouted into a large golden card.