In an immense circular arena, similar to a Roman amphitheater, under the night sky, two Servants were fighting; a woman with long, straight black hair and a face covered with a war paint and Gaius Julius Caesar. The Masters were in the rear. The Master of the War Painted Servant was a dark-skinned boy with long, loose hair, and his opponent was Alessandro Serpi.
The two Servants were on par. They both backed away. Alessandro exclaimed:
"α Saber, are you ready to use your Noble Phantasm?"
She looked at him. She smiled.
"Obviously."
"Good. Then go. Finish your rival!"
Meanwhile the other Master turned to his Servant, worried:
The two Servants were on par. They both backed away. Alessandro exclaimed:
"α Saber, are you ready to use your Noble Phantasm?"
She looked at him. She smiled.
"Obviously."
"Good. Then go. Finish your rival!"
Meanwhile the other Master turned to his Servant, worried:
"Ω Saber, are you sure you can win? That other Saber looks pretty strong."
"Master, don't worry about me. With this Noble Phantasm I will kill that demon."
The two swords of the two Servants lit up. A golden light and a marine-colored light.
"Crocea Mors! (The Sword of Certain Victory)"
"Caturix! (The King of the Endless Battle)"
The impact of the two Noble Phantasms unleashed an explosion so powerful that both Masters fell to the ground. Alessandro banged his head against the stone wall and passed out.
He opened his eyes. He turned right and then left. He was on the train. The only passenger in a wagon. He looked up at a digital screen showing the trajectory of the train; there was a quadrant in which you could see the date and time.
September 12, 2021
The train came out of the darkness of a tunnel and a strong light passed through the window hitting Alessandro's eyes directly; the boy lowered the curtain and rubbed his eyes. With his right foot he slammed against the backpack making it fall; the books came out and even a piece of stone on which 'CAESAR' was written; it was a relic that could be used to summon Gaius Julius Caesar, the Servant who had fought alongside Alessandro during the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. Seeing that heirloom Alessandro remembered the dream he had just had.
"Better not think about it," he muttered to himself.
Alessandro put the stuff inside his backpack, closed everything and tried to go back to sleep but at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something strange in the carriage ahead; through the window of the door he could clearly see a man with silver hair and red eyes, elegantly dressed, who was motionless; he was staring at him. His eyes were wide open and aimed at him.
Uneasy, the boy thought he was still stoned and so he rubbed his eyes. The man was still there. He shifted a seat. The man's gaze followed him. Alessandro moved again, he started to sweat but didn't lose focus. Without being seen he snapped his fingers and whispered:
"Inveniet Vitam."
Alessandro would have expected to see the man's body light up white but nothing of the kind happened.
"Homunculus. A fucking homunculus." Alessandro did not know what he wanted from him but he was aware that sudden movements would have triggered a fight. He turned, buildings were sprouting to his right, it was a station; he grabbed the backpack slowly and placed it on the seat. He was determined to escape. The homunculus didn't move an inch.
Then Alessandro saw that outside the train there were five other homunculi who were waiting for him. The train was stopping in one of those small stations typical of the more rural countries of Southern Italy. Alessandro couldn't hope to defeat six homunculi using physical strength, but at the same time he had no intention of using Magecraft in a confined space. Fortunately, the exit was in his own wagon; the train still hadn't stopped. The boy stood motionless, wiped away his sweat and eagerly awaited the clang that trains make when they stop.
Alessandro got up. The homunculus opened the door. It was time. Alessandro quickly put his backpack on his shoulder and ran towards the homunculus, snapped his fingers, exclaiming:
"Adversarium Ferio!"
The homunculus was pushed into another wagon by an invisible force. The train stopped and the boy ran out, being careful not to fall, and escaped from the five scoundrels who wanted to grab him. He walked away, snapped his fingers again:
"Adversarium Ferio!"
He outwitted his pursuers and ran as fast as he could. He left the station and went into this little village whose name he didn't know. He looked back but no one was chasing him however he knew he wasn't safe and resumed his escape ignoring the confused looks of the villagers.
A girl of about twenty appeared on his street; Alessandro stopped, apologized because he was about to bump into her and started running again but then, suddenly, he was paralyzed. He had the impression that he had already seen that person. He turned and saw that she was wearing a robe that resembled that of a nun. The girl, with straight brown hair and green eyes, was not an inhabitant of the place, she was a Hunter of Heretics sent by the Coven.
"I found you, Alessandro Serpi." She said pulling a kukri out of a scabbard attached to the back of her belt. "You will die, heretic."
"Vittoria Toscano, the Beast of Arezzo."
"Exactly."
"Hasn't the Grand Master yet decided to leave me alone? I'm done with the Coven by now, if you have a minimum of empathy leave me alone and go. Pretend you've never seen me, you don't need to start this battle."
She didn't answer. The six homunculi from before arrived. Vittoria snapped her fingers and said:
"Volucre Ferrum." The kukri blade glowed red, the girl struck a single blow and a red sword-like shape cut off the heads of all the homunculi present. People ran away screaming and Vittoria, with a satisfied smile said: "One less problem." She looked at the corpses. "Six fewer problems, if we want to be precise."
Alessandro snapped his fingers:
"Idolon!"
A transparent being, similar to a ghost, identical to Alessandro Serpi, jumped on Vittoria and immobilized her; the boy fled.
"Do you think these freak tricks work for me?"
The kukri, with the blade still red, pierced the ghost and made it disappear.
Alessandro hoped he had managed to escape from that woman's clutches but suddenly he found himself in a dead end. He thought about changing direction but as soon as he turned he saw Vittoria again.
"Did you really think you could escape me?"
"I don't want to fight. I'm tired of fighting. The war is over and the Coven has no more reason to hunt me down."
"Are you really convinced of this? You're not only a traitor and a heretic but also a thief. With you, you carry the relic capable of summoning the Servant who defeated Sheol. We cannot leave you with such a treasure in your hands. That Servant was given to you by the Coven, it's our property and you must return it."
"I'm not going to do such a thing."
"Then you will die."
"Why are you acting this way?! Listen to me!"
"I don't listen to heretics," she replied with an evil grin.
Vittoria prepared to hit Alessandro but at that moment the ground under the boy's feet rose; Alessandro saw himself rise in the air about ten meters, he remained motionless so as not to fall but he was frightened; noticing Vittoria's surprised look, he sensed that she too was unaware of what was happening. Surely it was Magecraft.
"Geomancy," Alessandro said to himself. "But who's doing it?"
The clod of earth stopped moving vertically and started to move horizontally and then Alessandro really started to worry; not having the Magecraft to fly, he couldn't move from there; he bent his knees, so as not to sway too much, and waited for the end of the journey preparing for the worst. Vittoria tried to chase the boy.
"No! Come back here, coward! Heretic!" she screamed.
That floating patch of earth was too fast for the girl and she finally had to give up.
Alessandro was now far from that village, he was on a wheat field that surrounded an old house, made of stone, with broken windows and a rotted door; Alessandro saw that he was lowering himself and so he prepared to fight, but as soon as he returned to the mainland he was surprised to learn that there was not an enemy waiting for him but a girl he had already met.
"Ina? Ina Shandilya?"
A young Indian girl with black hair tied in two puffy tails, purple eyes and eyeglasses; she was shorter than him and she wore a pink sweater with a long black skirt; she, with the yellow scarf, tried to hide the fact that she was blushing.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Her voice was one that he was pleased to hear.
"You don't have to apologize, you saved my life. Thank you."
Alessandro raised a smile full of gratitude but the girl, in a shy way, said:
"Don't thank me, it wasn't just a coincidence. I swear. I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?" Alessandro looked around. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"You see ..."
"Is there anyone else?"
"No."
"All right. How did you get here then? How did you find me?"
“Oh my God… sorry! Sorry!"
Alessandro's questions were putting Ina in awe.
"What are you apologizing for, Ina?"
"I ... I ... stalked you." Ina uttered these words in a very low voice.
Alessandro approached the girl.
"Can you repeat? I didn't understand you."
She took a few steps back and as she did so her glasses fell to the floor.
"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"I'll take care of it, don't worry."
"No, you don't have to ..." Alessandro had already taken her glasses and handed them to her. "Excuse me," she said.
"Now can you tell me what are you doing here?"
"Do you promise not to get angry?"
"Why? Should I get angry by any chance? In short, you saved my life, I don't think it's- "
"I stalked you."
"Sorry?" Alessandro asked, astonished.
“I'm sorry, really, but I had to do it! In fact you told me to do it! " she exclaimed agitated.
"Huh? I? I told you to stalk me? When? I don't generally give these permissions to people."
"But not in that sense!"
"I don't understand you, I swear."
"That is, you ... you didn't tell me to stalk you ... but I did it, I had to do it!"
"Okay, but how did you manage to stalk me-?"
"But I didn't stalk you in THAT sense, but in another sense!" Ina was sweating and her ears had turned red as peppers, she had completely forgotten to hide behind her scarf and he could perfectly see the blush on her cheeks.
"Okay, maybe what we need is a moment of pause," Alessandro asserted taking a deep breath. "Can you tell me exactly what you did?"
"I used Magecraft!"
"To stalk me?"
"Yeah…"
"Well-"
"But no."
"Then can you-"
"I can explain to you."
Alessandro pointed to the girl with his forefinger and said:
"That. It would be nice if you did just that. "
Finally Ina calmed down and invited Alessandro to enter that old abandoned house so as not to be found by any magus of the Coven. The place was in very bad condition: the wooden furniture was full of holes, while the only sofa had cushions torn into shreds occasionally crossed by cockroaches. Alessandro and Ina both remained standing and she began to speak:
"Do you remember the first time we met? On that train?"
"Yes obviously."
"Ok, then… after our chat I did what you asked me to do, I took that book you gave me to the library and then, there, I came across some books that talked about Yoga Upaniṣads and I inquired about it. I spent every single day of every month exercising but then, four days ago, I got a call from my mother… she wants me to go back to India."
"No offense but I don't understand what-"
"We met about six months ago and you gave me that book by Giordano Bruno, you told me to take it to the library, since then my life has completely changed. I discovered a world ... a world that I was ignorant of and if I had to go back everything would go back to normal, my mother would never let me continue these practices. Sorry, I know I'm pathetic but I don't know what to do. I'm disoriented, I'm completely lost and I need you to give me a hand."
Alessandro sighed slightly annoyed and said:
"You didn't answer my question, though."
"Ah, sorry!" she exclaimed, blushing. "I've used yoga. I have practiced and learned Magecraft, just like you, even if it's different from what you do. I used a siddhi which I obtained through the awakening of Muladhara. I was able to follow your every movement using my mind, I carefully watched every move you made and I followed you. "
"How did you follow me? I haven't seen you."
"I used an unorthodox method."
"Unorthodox? Did you teleport?"
"No ... I jumped."
"Did you ... jump?"
"Yeah. A lot. I jumped a lot."
"Like a kangaroo?"
"Like a person ... but higher ... much higher."
"And you came here."
"It wasn't fun but it was partly the fault of the situation. I was hoping to meet you at the end of the train ride but when I saw you running away from those people I knew you needed help and so here we are."
"Okay, that's enough, thanks for the explanation."
"So, will you help me?"
Ina put her glasses in place and unwittingly showed her sad purple eyes, it was obvious that the girl had serious problems but Alessandro didn't really know how to help her and didn't want to make the situation worse.
"What do you want from me, exactly?"
"Help me choose," she replied immediately.
"We're talking about your life, I have no right to do these things. I don't know you well enough to give you any useful advice. I thank you for saving me but ... please don't-"
"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here."
"I know, but what do you think about me? Do you really think I can help you? I can't work miracles, I can't change your life with a snap of my fingers. You should take care of these things, not me."
"Give me some advice as a friend, then."
"I don't know …"
Alessandro no longer knew what to say. The girl was determined to involve him in her life.
"Ina, please don't drag me into these complicated matters. I don't want to ruin your life because of my mistake."
"You will not."
"Ina-"
"Please!" she screamed.
That reaction was like a bolt from the blue. Even Ina was shocked by what she had just done, as if she hadn't been the one to move her lips and scream; she closed her eyes and took off her glasses then, with the sleeve of her sweater, she wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ina." Alessandro wanted to hug the girl to console her but then stopped when he thought he was the cause of her sadness. "Now I understand, it's my fault. If I hadn't been so arrogant as to induce you to explore the world of Magecraft, you would never have faced this terrible situation. I'm sorry, I was selfish."
"That's not it. You don't understand ..." she murmured, putting her glasses back on.
Ina left the house. Alessandro had no intention of following her, he knew he had made a mistake about her and if she had forgotten him it would have been better for both of them. At that moment the sky began to roar; the boy looked out of a window and noticed that it was starting to rain. He immediately ran out of the house and joined Ina.
"Go back to the house, it will rain." The girl was in front of him but she wasn't moving. "Ina?"
Alessandro approached and noticed that she had her eyes on the wheat field, she was enchanted.
"Ina, what are you doing?"
She raised her finger and opened her mouth:
"There is someone in the middle. It's a person. I saw it."
"A person? Where?" Alessandro raised his head and with his eyes scanned the field in front of him.
At first he didn't notice anything strange but then he saw something approaching the two of them. From the thick forest of wheat threads came this androgynous figure with a purple right eye and a green left one; he had a long lock of green hair that came down only from the right side of his head, and on his left ear he had an earring that depicted a skull; he wore a purple dress with blue pants; what made the creature frightening was the fact that his mouth was visibly sewn up.
Alessandro heard a voice in his head but could not determine if it was that of a male or a female:
"Finally we meet Alessandro Serpi."
Alessandro stood in front of Ina to protect her, the girl was terrified of that being who had a demonic grin.
"Do you really think acting as a shield will somehow prevent me from killing her? Your only luck is that the time has not yet come. The death you will have will be another and it will be glorious."
"Who are you? What do you want from us? "
Alessandro was ready to fight but that guy was calm.
"My name is Vergil and I will lead you all to the heart of Hell."
"What are you talking about?"
"Listen to the bells, far, far away, ring the melody of dear misfortune, it's a funeral, the procession carries the body of Humanity and throws it into the flames of Justice. The war begins."
"War? What war ...?"
Then Alessandro understood. A cold shiver of terror went through his entire body. He grabbed Ina's arm and ran towards the house, put the girl inside the house; he turned to Vergil and snapped his fingers:
"Dis!" he exclaimed.
Nothing happened.
"Alessandro, do you really think your lower Magecraft could have some effect on me?"
"Son of a bitch!"
"What's happening?" Ina asked, worried.
"We are in trouble ... no." He turned to the girl. "You have to escape. You can't stay here! I don't know what he's going to do but he must not to get close to you."
"What do you want to do? Do you want to be alone and face him? "
"I have to kill him before another massacre begins!"
"Sorry I can not!"
Ina overtook Alessandro, came out of the house and with a movement of her hands lifted two immense rock walls from the ground and knocked them against each other with the strength of her thought, Vergil was in the middle of them. Alessandro was amazed by the girl's Magecraft but when he turned to the left he saw that uninjured guy, with his arms crossed and that smirk.
"Bastard, how did he do it?!"
"I ... I thought I hit him ..."
"Dear sweet Ina, you can't hurt someone like me."
Alessandro heard the voice say:
"The time for games is over, Serpi, it's time for you to fulfill your destiny."
Under the feet of Alessandro and Ina two magical circles appeared, neither of them could move; both disappeared in a flash of light.
"Master, don't worry about me. With this Noble Phantasm I will kill that demon."
The two swords of the two Servants lit up. A golden light and a marine-colored light.
"Crocea Mors! (The Sword of Certain Victory)"
"Caturix! (The King of the Endless Battle)"
The impact of the two Noble Phantasms unleashed an explosion so powerful that both Masters fell to the ground. Alessandro banged his head against the stone wall and passed out.
He opened his eyes. He turned right and then left. He was on the train. The only passenger in a wagon. He looked up at a digital screen showing the trajectory of the train; there was a quadrant in which you could see the date and time.
September 12, 2021
The train came out of the darkness of a tunnel and a strong light passed through the window hitting Alessandro's eyes directly; the boy lowered the curtain and rubbed his eyes. With his right foot he slammed against the backpack making it fall; the books came out and even a piece of stone on which 'CAESAR' was written; it was a relic that could be used to summon Gaius Julius Caesar, the Servant who had fought alongside Alessandro during the Holy Grail War of Yggdrasil. Seeing that heirloom Alessandro remembered the dream he had just had.
"Better not think about it," he muttered to himself.
Alessandro put the stuff inside his backpack, closed everything and tried to go back to sleep but at that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed something strange in the carriage ahead; through the window of the door he could clearly see a man with silver hair and red eyes, elegantly dressed, who was motionless; he was staring at him. His eyes were wide open and aimed at him.
Uneasy, the boy thought he was still stoned and so he rubbed his eyes. The man was still there. He shifted a seat. The man's gaze followed him. Alessandro moved again, he started to sweat but didn't lose focus. Without being seen he snapped his fingers and whispered:
"Inveniet Vitam."
Alessandro would have expected to see the man's body light up white but nothing of the kind happened.
"Homunculus. A fucking homunculus." Alessandro did not know what he wanted from him but he was aware that sudden movements would have triggered a fight. He turned, buildings were sprouting to his right, it was a station; he grabbed the backpack slowly and placed it on the seat. He was determined to escape. The homunculus didn't move an inch.
Then Alessandro saw that outside the train there were five other homunculi who were waiting for him. The train was stopping in one of those small stations typical of the more rural countries of Southern Italy. Alessandro couldn't hope to defeat six homunculi using physical strength, but at the same time he had no intention of using Magecraft in a confined space. Fortunately, the exit was in his own wagon; the train still hadn't stopped. The boy stood motionless, wiped away his sweat and eagerly awaited the clang that trains make when they stop.
Alessandro got up. The homunculus opened the door. It was time. Alessandro quickly put his backpack on his shoulder and ran towards the homunculus, snapped his fingers, exclaiming:
"Adversarium Ferio!"
The homunculus was pushed into another wagon by an invisible force. The train stopped and the boy ran out, being careful not to fall, and escaped from the five scoundrels who wanted to grab him. He walked away, snapped his fingers again:
"Adversarium Ferio!"
He outwitted his pursuers and ran as fast as he could. He left the station and went into this little village whose name he didn't know. He looked back but no one was chasing him however he knew he wasn't safe and resumed his escape ignoring the confused looks of the villagers.
A girl of about twenty appeared on his street; Alessandro stopped, apologized because he was about to bump into her and started running again but then, suddenly, he was paralyzed. He had the impression that he had already seen that person. He turned and saw that she was wearing a robe that resembled that of a nun. The girl, with straight brown hair and green eyes, was not an inhabitant of the place, she was a Hunter of Heretics sent by the Coven.
"I found you, Alessandro Serpi." She said pulling a kukri out of a scabbard attached to the back of her belt. "You will die, heretic."
"Vittoria Toscano, the Beast of Arezzo."
"Exactly."
"Hasn't the Grand Master yet decided to leave me alone? I'm done with the Coven by now, if you have a minimum of empathy leave me alone and go. Pretend you've never seen me, you don't need to start this battle."
She didn't answer. The six homunculi from before arrived. Vittoria snapped her fingers and said:
"Volucre Ferrum." The kukri blade glowed red, the girl struck a single blow and a red sword-like shape cut off the heads of all the homunculi present. People ran away screaming and Vittoria, with a satisfied smile said: "One less problem." She looked at the corpses. "Six fewer problems, if we want to be precise."
Alessandro snapped his fingers:
"Idolon!"
A transparent being, similar to a ghost, identical to Alessandro Serpi, jumped on Vittoria and immobilized her; the boy fled.
"Do you think these freak tricks work for me?"
The kukri, with the blade still red, pierced the ghost and made it disappear.
Alessandro hoped he had managed to escape from that woman's clutches but suddenly he found himself in a dead end. He thought about changing direction but as soon as he turned he saw Vittoria again.
"Did you really think you could escape me?"
"I don't want to fight. I'm tired of fighting. The war is over and the Coven has no more reason to hunt me down."
"Are you really convinced of this? You're not only a traitor and a heretic but also a thief. With you, you carry the relic capable of summoning the Servant who defeated Sheol. We cannot leave you with such a treasure in your hands. That Servant was given to you by the Coven, it's our property and you must return it."
"I'm not going to do such a thing."
"Then you will die."
"Why are you acting this way?! Listen to me!"
"I don't listen to heretics," she replied with an evil grin.
Vittoria prepared to hit Alessandro but at that moment the ground under the boy's feet rose; Alessandro saw himself rise in the air about ten meters, he remained motionless so as not to fall but he was frightened; noticing Vittoria's surprised look, he sensed that she too was unaware of what was happening. Surely it was Magecraft.
"Geomancy," Alessandro said to himself. "But who's doing it?"
The clod of earth stopped moving vertically and started to move horizontally and then Alessandro really started to worry; not having the Magecraft to fly, he couldn't move from there; he bent his knees, so as not to sway too much, and waited for the end of the journey preparing for the worst. Vittoria tried to chase the boy.
"No! Come back here, coward! Heretic!" she screamed.
That floating patch of earth was too fast for the girl and she finally had to give up.
Alessandro was now far from that village, he was on a wheat field that surrounded an old house, made of stone, with broken windows and a rotted door; Alessandro saw that he was lowering himself and so he prepared to fight, but as soon as he returned to the mainland he was surprised to learn that there was not an enemy waiting for him but a girl he had already met.
"Ina? Ina Shandilya?"
A young Indian girl with black hair tied in two puffy tails, purple eyes and eyeglasses; she was shorter than him and she wore a pink sweater with a long black skirt; she, with the yellow scarf, tried to hide the fact that she was blushing.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
Her voice was one that he was pleased to hear.
"You don't have to apologize, you saved my life. Thank you."
Alessandro raised a smile full of gratitude but the girl, in a shy way, said:
"Don't thank me, it wasn't just a coincidence. I swear. I'm sorry."
"What do you mean?" Alessandro looked around. "What are you doing here, anyway?"
"You see ..."
"Is there anyone else?"
"No."
"All right. How did you get here then? How did you find me?"
“Oh my God… sorry! Sorry!"
Alessandro's questions were putting Ina in awe.
"What are you apologizing for, Ina?"
"I ... I ... stalked you." Ina uttered these words in a very low voice.
Alessandro approached the girl.
"Can you repeat? I didn't understand you."
She took a few steps back and as she did so her glasses fell to the floor.
"Oh!" she exclaimed.
"I'll take care of it, don't worry."
"No, you don't have to ..." Alessandro had already taken her glasses and handed them to her. "Excuse me," she said.
"Now can you tell me what are you doing here?"
"Do you promise not to get angry?"
"Why? Should I get angry by any chance? In short, you saved my life, I don't think it's- "
"I stalked you."
"Sorry?" Alessandro asked, astonished.
“I'm sorry, really, but I had to do it! In fact you told me to do it! " she exclaimed agitated.
"Huh? I? I told you to stalk me? When? I don't generally give these permissions to people."
"But not in that sense!"
"I don't understand you, I swear."
"That is, you ... you didn't tell me to stalk you ... but I did it, I had to do it!"
"Okay, but how did you manage to stalk me-?"
"But I didn't stalk you in THAT sense, but in another sense!" Ina was sweating and her ears had turned red as peppers, she had completely forgotten to hide behind her scarf and he could perfectly see the blush on her cheeks.
"Okay, maybe what we need is a moment of pause," Alessandro asserted taking a deep breath. "Can you tell me exactly what you did?"
"I used Magecraft!"
"To stalk me?"
"Yeah…"
"Well-"
"But no."
"Then can you-"
"I can explain to you."
Alessandro pointed to the girl with his forefinger and said:
"That. It would be nice if you did just that. "
Finally Ina calmed down and invited Alessandro to enter that old abandoned house so as not to be found by any magus of the Coven. The place was in very bad condition: the wooden furniture was full of holes, while the only sofa had cushions torn into shreds occasionally crossed by cockroaches. Alessandro and Ina both remained standing and she began to speak:
"Do you remember the first time we met? On that train?"
"Yes obviously."
"Ok, then… after our chat I did what you asked me to do, I took that book you gave me to the library and then, there, I came across some books that talked about Yoga Upaniṣads and I inquired about it. I spent every single day of every month exercising but then, four days ago, I got a call from my mother… she wants me to go back to India."
"No offense but I don't understand what-"
"We met about six months ago and you gave me that book by Giordano Bruno, you told me to take it to the library, since then my life has completely changed. I discovered a world ... a world that I was ignorant of and if I had to go back everything would go back to normal, my mother would never let me continue these practices. Sorry, I know I'm pathetic but I don't know what to do. I'm disoriented, I'm completely lost and I need you to give me a hand."
Alessandro sighed slightly annoyed and said:
"You didn't answer my question, though."
"Ah, sorry!" she exclaimed, blushing. "I've used yoga. I have practiced and learned Magecraft, just like you, even if it's different from what you do. I used a siddhi which I obtained through the awakening of Muladhara. I was able to follow your every movement using my mind, I carefully watched every move you made and I followed you. "
"How did you follow me? I haven't seen you."
"I used an unorthodox method."
"Unorthodox? Did you teleport?"
"No ... I jumped."
"Did you ... jump?"
"Yeah. A lot. I jumped a lot."
"Like a kangaroo?"
"Like a person ... but higher ... much higher."
"And you came here."
"It wasn't fun but it was partly the fault of the situation. I was hoping to meet you at the end of the train ride but when I saw you running away from those people I knew you needed help and so here we are."
"Okay, that's enough, thanks for the explanation."
"So, will you help me?"
Ina put her glasses in place and unwittingly showed her sad purple eyes, it was obvious that the girl had serious problems but Alessandro didn't really know how to help her and didn't want to make the situation worse.
"What do you want from me, exactly?"
"Help me choose," she replied immediately.
"We're talking about your life, I have no right to do these things. I don't know you well enough to give you any useful advice. I thank you for saving me but ... please don't-"
"If it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here."
"I know, but what do you think about me? Do you really think I can help you? I can't work miracles, I can't change your life with a snap of my fingers. You should take care of these things, not me."
"Give me some advice as a friend, then."
"I don't know …"
Alessandro no longer knew what to say. The girl was determined to involve him in her life.
"Ina, please don't drag me into these complicated matters. I don't want to ruin your life because of my mistake."
"You will not."
"Ina-"
"Please!" she screamed.
That reaction was like a bolt from the blue. Even Ina was shocked by what she had just done, as if she hadn't been the one to move her lips and scream; she closed her eyes and took off her glasses then, with the sleeve of her sweater, she wiped her eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ina." Alessandro wanted to hug the girl to console her but then stopped when he thought he was the cause of her sadness. "Now I understand, it's my fault. If I hadn't been so arrogant as to induce you to explore the world of Magecraft, you would never have faced this terrible situation. I'm sorry, I was selfish."
"That's not it. You don't understand ..." she murmured, putting her glasses back on.
Ina left the house. Alessandro had no intention of following her, he knew he had made a mistake about her and if she had forgotten him it would have been better for both of them. At that moment the sky began to roar; the boy looked out of a window and noticed that it was starting to rain. He immediately ran out of the house and joined Ina.
"Go back to the house, it will rain." The girl was in front of him but she wasn't moving. "Ina?"
Alessandro approached and noticed that she had her eyes on the wheat field, she was enchanted.
"Ina, what are you doing?"
She raised her finger and opened her mouth:
"There is someone in the middle. It's a person. I saw it."
"A person? Where?" Alessandro raised his head and with his eyes scanned the field in front of him.
At first he didn't notice anything strange but then he saw something approaching the two of them. From the thick forest of wheat threads came this androgynous figure with a purple right eye and a green left one; he had a long lock of green hair that came down only from the right side of his head, and on his left ear he had an earring that depicted a skull; he wore a purple dress with blue pants; what made the creature frightening was the fact that his mouth was visibly sewn up.
Alessandro heard a voice in his head but could not determine if it was that of a male or a female:
"Finally we meet Alessandro Serpi."
Alessandro stood in front of Ina to protect her, the girl was terrified of that being who had a demonic grin.
"Do you really think acting as a shield will somehow prevent me from killing her? Your only luck is that the time has not yet come. The death you will have will be another and it will be glorious."
"Who are you? What do you want from us? "
Alessandro was ready to fight but that guy was calm.
"My name is Vergil and I will lead you all to the heart of Hell."
"What are you talking about?"
"Listen to the bells, far, far away, ring the melody of dear misfortune, it's a funeral, the procession carries the body of Humanity and throws it into the flames of Justice. The war begins."
"War? What war ...?"
Then Alessandro understood. A cold shiver of terror went through his entire body. He grabbed Ina's arm and ran towards the house, put the girl inside the house; he turned to Vergil and snapped his fingers:
"Dis!" he exclaimed.
Nothing happened.
"Alessandro, do you really think your lower Magecraft could have some effect on me?"
"Son of a bitch!"
"What's happening?" Ina asked, worried.
"We are in trouble ... no." He turned to the girl. "You have to escape. You can't stay here! I don't know what he's going to do but he must not to get close to you."
"What do you want to do? Do you want to be alone and face him? "
"I have to kill him before another massacre begins!"
"Sorry I can not!"
Ina overtook Alessandro, came out of the house and with a movement of her hands lifted two immense rock walls from the ground and knocked them against each other with the strength of her thought, Vergil was in the middle of them. Alessandro was amazed by the girl's Magecraft but when he turned to the left he saw that uninjured guy, with his arms crossed and that smirk.
"Bastard, how did he do it?!"
"I ... I thought I hit him ..."
"Dear sweet Ina, you can't hurt someone like me."
Alessandro heard the voice say:
"The time for games is over, Serpi, it's time for you to fulfill your destiny."
Under the feet of Alessandro and Ina two magical circles appeared, neither of them could move; both disappeared in a flash of light.
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| Vergil by Bikowolf |
