Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Marian dashed towards the furthest right cultist, her speed was far too quick for them to react properly as she grabbed hold of the head of the Descendant and ripped it off like the wings of a bug before throwing it at the chest of the one nearby with such force that it broke their ribs, staggering them to the ground.

The remaining ones first threw balls of fire at Marian, who swiftly dashed to the left, dodging each and every bolt of flame that would have struck her as they scorched the earth.

She giggled, a sickening smile grew on her face as she cackled, jumping onto the one, she staggered as she bore her fangs, biting onto their neck as they screamed in pain, only for their yells to go silent, replaced with the sickening crunch of their head from the neck down being torn apart.

“You anarchists… Always the same, going around with your bullshit ideology… Trying to warp the world to suit yourselves. I won’t have you ruin what we built anymore!”

The Descendants took a step back, one of them crushing their hands together as suddenly as if thrown into a compactor. Marian’s sides started to get squished. Her legs folded unnaturally as her arms cracked and bent out of shape.

Yet she persisted, her body glowing as her limbs snapped back into place. But the Descendants knew this would happen. They once more threw their bolts of fire into her body; this time, all of them hit her square in the chest.

Marian fell to her knees as she felt her body rip apart. The fire was literally burning away her whole body like she was placed in an incinerator. She would have been less than ashes if not for her blessing, fighting back against the attack.

“We see, it seems we underestimated how far the Caretaker was willing to go for you.” They dashed towards her, daggers in hand as they gleamed through the pale moonlight, aiming directly into her neck.

Yet, without a moment to lose, she stood up and ran towards them as well, twirling in the air as she leaped and somersaulted over the Descendants, landing behind one before thrusting her hand into their chest.

She then threw him into the nearest Descendant, knocking them over as she pounced on the next one, sinking her clones into their chest before ripping it wide open. Marian had to suppress the urge to howl as her tail wagged excitedly.

However, the battle was not over. One of the remaining Descendants threw their dagger towards Marian’s shoulder, sinking deep within her flesh as she let out a growl of pain, wincing as the blade felt almost like poison, seeping deep into her system and causing her to take a knee.

The Descendant dashed to her again, firing yet another blast of fire, hitting her in the face as she was knocked down on the ground. He pinned her down, taking another dagger from the fallen bodies to finish the job.

But Marian still had one free arm. She slashed her claws on the Descendants' neck, spraying blood all over her face before he fell to the ground, dead.

There was only one left, and he knew he was no match. He ran as fast as he could, headed towards the deep forest. But he couldn’t outrun a wolf, even an injured one.

His screams did not echo throughout the night, and no trace of him was found. Only silence remained, and the humming of Marian, who cleaned off her blood and wounds by a nearby lake, smiling softly to herself as she gave a sigh of relief.

The next morning came and went, and everyone was in high spirits, especially Marian, who once more led the party out into the woods. She even seemed to be glowing more than usual with sparkles surrounding her body, radiating life itself. The only one being unnerved by all of this was Rook, who simply took it to mean her powers were growing.

Much like the day before, the trip was, for the most part, safe and sound, yet Henry noticed that Marian kept on watching her surroundings more keenly than usual, her ears perking up at every odd noise. He looked around, yet found nothing out of the ordinary, so he merely shrugged and moved on.

On Marian’s end, she was quite worried about whether more Descendants would come her way. Especially since while she can handle them, the Volunteers wouldn’t. Maybe Godwin could put up a fight, but only if they weren’t in sufficient numbers. So she continued to keep watch on their way to the beach, which only took a few more hours.

“Sea Ho!” Derek and Topher both yelled out as they spotted the crashing waves in the distance.

Mollie narrowed her eyes, grinning ear to ear as she saw the faint outline of ships by the farthest corner of the beach, glittering in the sunlight.

“Oh yeah! We did it! It’s right over there, you were right!” She turned to Marian, who was absolutely glowing.

“Of course, never doubt me~ Now let’s go say hi to our visitors, shall we?”

She walked ahead on the beach sand, turning to her left as she silently imagined holding the hand of her husband, humming a song as she twirled herself on the shores. “Don’t worry, my love… I’ll put you back together again…”

Derek leaned in to Topher and whispered quietly. “It’s not weird to think that’s kinda hot right…”

“Agree-” Henry hit them both in the head again as he sighed. “Let’s keep moving, shall we?”

“Right on!” They marched ahead while Rook felt a strange tingle up his back as his scales stood on end. There was something profoundly wrong in the air. Especially if they were going to deal with Fae, but he had to trust Marian’s judgement; she was the best shot at living through this nightmare.

After a few minutes of trekking, they finally made it to the side of the ship. Now, the only issue would be the freezing waters. Or rather, it wouldn’t be that much of an issue as Marian’s presence literally warmed the area, causing the waters to feel just a regular chilly as they waded through it towards the ship.

It wasn’t long until they made their way up the ladder of the ship, with the Volunteers going first, then Marian, and finally Rook. On board the vessel, the first thing they all noticed was the smell of someone grilling meat in the distance, specifically by the front balcony of the ship.

The second was the singing.

“Is that… karaoke?” Mollie laughed a little as she shook her head in amusement.

“It appears so~ they have such wonderful voices too. None that I recognized.” Marian’s ears twitched as she tried to hear better.

The closer the group got, the more they could hear what they could only describe as a choir of angels singing together in joy and fervor. It put all except Rook at ease, as he was most confused about what was happening.

With great caution, they began to approach the balcony. The Watchtower Volunteers readied their guns while Marian grew out her claws, and Rook mentally prepared himself to cast spells. But nothing could really prepare any of them for the sight they saw next:

Out on the front balcony were several beautiful and handsome men and women, singing by the karaoke machine. Their skins were fair, like an oil painting that came to life. Their hair was like those dramatized shampoo commercials where they were somehow always flowing.

All around them, the air shimmered, glittering like the outline of the ship, and yet the most prominent features that called out were their knife-like ears and translucent wings that fluttered ever so slightly behind them.

Mollie turned around, pointing her thumb at the figures ahead. “Are those the…”

“The Faeries.” Rook’s heart sank. He really didn’t want to be here, dealing with such… Creatures already gave him a headache in a civilized environment; what would happen if they were in the wild? Maybe he should just hang back. He turned around-

But it was already too late. A tall, beautiful, and well-endowed woman with long sea blue hair wearing a mix between a bikini and a see-through robe appeared right in front of Rook, towering over him as she placed a finger on his forehead.

“Hmm? Leaving so soon already~ but you just got here.” She grinned, revealing her shimmering teeth as she stepped forward, causing the group, except for Marian, to all stumble backwards into the balcony in surprise.

All at once, the music stopped as the fae all stared at the newcomers on the ship, grinning ear to ear as if they found new toys to play with.

“What do we do now?” Henry quietly asked as he turned to Marian, who seemed as calm as ever.

“It’s simple, we talk to them, of course~”

Marian stepped forward to meet the woman who accosted Rook, gently using her tail to push him aside as she bowed like she was speaking to royalty.

“Greetings and salutations. I go by Marian Monroe. How are you on this fine day? May I have your Name?” Her eyes glimmered crimson red as she spoke.

Rook stared at Marian, eyes wide with fear. What was she doing giving her full Name to the Fae? What kind of stupidity was this? That was like the first thing you never do with them, and there was a long list of what not to do regarding them.

The blue-haired Fae laughed, and so did everyone else around her as they sighed in humorous relief.

“Oh? Did you really just… try that on me? By the scales of Zmey… You really did. Oh, I like you a lot...”

“You may not have my Name, but I shall state what others call me. I am the Guardian of the Southern Seas. The Disrupting Tempest. I am Masha. May I have the rest of your Names?”

She turned to the Volunteers and Rook, but the latter raised his hands up. “Do not answer that. Not right now. We don’t owe you any of our Names.”

“Oh my~ looks like we have rather clever ones here. How interesting. You’re all so tense~ loosen up a little, we’re just having fun with what your kind has brought us. It’s been centuries since we’ve had a proper party.”

One of the fae men pointed to the karaoke machine with a wide grin on his face. “This is great, we should make more of it.”

A few of them showed off some phones. “Love the games here, shame a few of them require something called an internet connection. Wonder what that is.”

Masha gestured to herself, showing off her figure with a wink. “As for me~ I adore these dresses~ It took a while to find mine in my size; many of them just tore away, but it’s simply exquisite! We really must thank you for not heeding our words.”

Derek and Topher were too busy drooling over in the background as Henry stepped in between them and Masha. “Your words?”

“Yes, can you not recall our warnings when you first entered?”

Rook sneered as he retracted his claws. “So that was you? Were you also responsible for the fire?”

“Oh dear, Prawia, no, we would never do something so barbaric as that. No, that was another group’s doing.”

“And who would that be?” Mollie questioned forth as she still had her pistol semi-raised.

“That’s a lot of questions from you lot, especially when you’re guests here.” Masha waved her hands as a nearby glass of wine sparkled and floated towards her.

“Well, you’re going to need to answer that, Masha.” Marian stepped forward and raised her hand as suddenly, a burst of life-giving energy erupted throughout the ship, causing all eyes to fall on the wolf girl who was glimmering with a greenish gold tint and a madness in her eyes.

Masha realized who this was: A Chosen of the Caretaker. She thought that it was merely the faint blessing of the Spirit of Life that was left in these lands by the Keepers, but no, it was so much more than that. It seemed it was time to get down to business.

She then sat back down and crossed her legs. “So then, Marian Monroe, what can I do for you?”