Aftermath

[Clownpiece]

A cute giggle cut through the forest, soft, nearly silent, barely audible over the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. Twigs snapped and foliage whispered as it was brushed aside. A dirty, white dress and large black and red wings could easily be made out through the thick underbrush, the hell fairy wasn’t exactly sneaky in the slightest. Of course, she didn’t actually need to be all that stealthy. Even if the people she was stalking saw her, they wouldn’t assume that it was actually a big deal. After all, she was just a simple, mischievous fairy, following some pranking targets until she had a chance to strike. 

Liberty’s wings fluttered excitedly, even if that didn’t actually do anything for her ability to fly or generally move. Her heart pounded, she felt just like one of the heroes in her favorite plays. It was exciting to play the part of the scrappy young hellspawn, trying to take on the supposedly undefeatable army of demon-slayers! Despite how serious the matter probably was, the little fairy couldn’t help but see it through a childish lense.

Up ahead, she could faintly see her targets. A procession of rival humans, from another village, according to Lady Shirogane. In the midst of a group was a cart covered by a tarp of some sort, being slowly drawn through the difficult terrain by a horse. While the woodland around here wasn’t nearly as dense as closer to the shrine, they were still having a difficult time traversing it. But if they were carrying supplies, it may have been the only option. One man sat atop his seat on the cart, occasionally flicking and pulling the reins of his brown steed. Surrounding those vital supplies were six soldiers clad in a metal armor she’d never seen before, not Greek, Roman, nor Japanese, three on each side. Each carried a spear in their hands, had a sword strapped to their left hip, a quiver on their left, and a bow on their back. They were very well prepared.

Liberty crept closer through the underbrush just as unsubtly as ever, trailing them from behind. Despite how loud she was being, for someone trying to be sneaky, they didn’t seem to notice her. Perhaps it was the squeaky wheel of the cart doing it. Or maybe they did hear her and just didn’t think she was a threat? The hell fairy pouted. She’d show them who wasn’t a threat....

In about an hour, when they actually reached their destination. Wherever that actually was.... The distinct crinkling of paper could be heard as Liberty retrieved a parchment from within her dress; the orders that the Lady had provided her. She peered closely at it again, reading ever so slowly. Apparently a camp of some sort? Lady Shirogane had mentioned that they were gearing up for an attack? Something about the darklings that her and Clownpiece may or may not have attracted. She didn’t really understand all the details....

Voices cut through the sparse trees, drawing the fairy’s attention back away from her instructions. In her distraction, the caravan had managed to sneak away from her, but she could still tell vaguely where they were. They must have found the camp! Liberty shoved the paper back into her pocket, working her hands under her, ready to leap back up, run over and find them again. She hadn’t even managed to push herself off the ground when she felt someone grab hold of the back of her collar and wrench her up into the air yet again.

“Stooop! You’re gonna stretch the collaaaar!” This time the fairy’s complaints were much milder, her struggling rather half-hearted. She could already tell she wouldn’t be able to escape. Nevertheless, she at least put up a token effort, small hands shooting up to grab hold of the wrist that had lifted her up. They closed around an arm smaller than she’d expected, but armored about the same. She couldn’t feel any skin, only the cold metal of her assailant’s gauntlets.

“I’ve captured her!” Another feminine voice called back into the forest, casual, as though this was business as usual. The only response back she got was a generic acknowledgment, it seemed they were confident she could handle it. Once that brief conversation was over, whoever was holding her turned her attention back to the fairy. “Who sent you?” Her voice was stern, rough, straight to the point. Once she was certain that Liberty was done struggling, she swung her off to the side, turning her enough that she could look her in the eyes. The small, brown-haired child hesitantly turned her head to face her, seeming to curl up a bit as she did so. This lady was too intense....

“Er, um... Sh-Shi-” Suddenly Liberty clapped her hands over her mouth, brown eyes going wide. No! She wasn’t supposed to give a name! Not even to this very scary woman! Her eyes flicked over her assailant. She wore the same armor all the rest of them had, virtually indistinguishable, and she couldn’t see her face for the helmet. Though her sword was different, it was longer, more curved....

“Shi?” The swordswoman asked sternly, shaking the little fairy as though that would make an answer drop out of her pockets. “Who’s this ‘Shi?’”

“N-Not Shi! L-Lady, um....” Liberty couldn’t help but stutter nervously as she was rattled around. “M-Miss Reimu!” She came up with the best lie she could on the spot. Surely the miko wouldn’t mind. And if she did, well, she could handle it, right? The shaking stopped immediately.

“Reimu?” There was some subtle shift to her voice that the fairy could hear, but couldn’t tell what it meant. “Hakurei?”

“Y-Yes?” The little girl shifted timidly in her grasp.

“The Hakurei maiden sent you?” She said slowly, almost in a whisper, as though she didn’t want the others to hear her question.

“S-She did...” Liberty lied, curling up in a little ball in the air, trying to hide from the interrogation.

“Why?”

“Sh-She lives o-over there...” The fervor of her captor’s questions started to get to the little fairy, tears starting to well up in her eyes. “B-By the t-town you’re about to attack.” Her assailant suddenly fell deadly still, an eerie silence falling over the two. They both stayed there like that for a solid few seconds, before a heavy sigh escaped the armored swordswoman.

“Just my luck...” She mumbled, her grip on Liberty easing up until the fairy fell out of her grasp. Black and red wings fluttered, and the fairy caught herself midair. Righting herself until she faced her supposed enemy, she stared into the empty eye-holes in her helmet, all of her bravado suddenly returning. She straightened her back up, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Yeah, you better release me! I’m Clownpiece’s strongest ally! You don’t know who you’re messing with!” The little fairy spat useless threats, stupidly confident in the face of a foe who had just manhandled her.

“I do not have time for your silliness, fairy.” The soldier’s voice was, as usual, completely unamused. “Tell me, what is your goal?”

“Burn down the camp!” Liberty stated boldly, floating tall, almost looking down her nose at her interrogator. “That should disrupt your plans, according to Shi-, er... Miss Reimu.”

“I see....” She said slowly. Thanks to her helmet, the fairy couldn’t see her expression. “What is my name?”

At that question, the small girl simply stared blankly. A deep, heaving sigh escaped the swordswoman. Her free hand reached up, and she pried her helmet free, easing her head out of it and revealing a deep purple hair, long, but tied up to fit inside the helmet. She stared with a completely serious expression on her face.

“Tell me, what is my name?” She almost demanded. “And, failing that, tell me what your instructions say.”

“Um.....” Liberty quite obviously didn’t have an answer to that. Immediately, she started digging into her dress, digging around for the paper that held her orders on it. Her small hand darted out of her white outfit, and she unfolded a crumpled piece of parchment. Her brown eyes narrowed as she peered closely at it, reading it as quickly as her fairy brain could decipher. Every now and then, her eyes hopped up to look at the face of the purple-haired soldier, then back down to her orders. “Uh.... Don’t know?” It took a solid minute, but the little fairy finally admitted that she hadn’t the faintest clue who this woman was.

In an instant, the paper was ripped free from her hands. Fortunately, no tears appeared on it, and the soldier peered closely at it, making sure that what the fairy said was exactly correct. The ever-present frown on her face deepened and she squinted, leaning slightly closer. That wasn’t the gaze of someone having trouble reading, but rather one of someone who didn’t entirely believe it. Finally, she shoved the paper back into Liberty’s hands.

“Well, it seems you are not lying.” The swordswoman said gruffly. “I am not mentioned anywhere on there, nor is any other name. So you at least know of the Hakurei maiden.”

“Yeah! I do!” Liberty exclaimed boldly, fluttering in place. “In fact, I even live with her!”

“Is that so?” A small smirk appeared on her face. “Well, I may just have use for you then. I’m willing to cut a deal with you, fairy. How about it?”

“Hey! Is everything alright over there?” Suddenly one of the soldier’s from earlier yelled into the forest, interrupting their conversation for just a moment.

“It’s just a fairy!” The swordswoman called back. “I’m convincing her to leave us well alone!”

“Okay! I trust you’ve got it all under control!” His voice petered off, silence returning to the two.

“Now then, where were we?” She turned back towards the fairy.

“Something about a deal?” Liberty continued to speak boldly.

“Yes, that...” The soldier stared at Liberty with a completely stoic, no-nonsense expression. “My name is Meira. For the past year or so, I’ve made my home at the castle called Aldwood, just over yonder.” She nodded her head in the opposite direction of the shrine as she said so. “You said that the Hakurei Maiden lived down towards the villa over yon?”

“Yup!”

“And you need to stop this attack by any means necessary?” The woman she now knew as Meira asked, staring closely. “According to your note, it was ‘burning it all down?’”

“That’s right!” Liberty announced without a care in the world. At that, Meira’s head fell a bit, a look of deep concentration crossing her face. Even a slight hum escaped her. Eventually, she lifted it up again, her deep purple eyes meeting the fairy’s brown ones.

“Do you know any long-ranged fire spells?” She asked.

“I do! I’ve got a super strong one I learned from the strongest fairy in hell!” The hell fairy seemed excited as she gushed about it, lowering from her haughty position floating just a bit above Meira, down a bit closer to the ground. “It’ll make quick work of any dumb old camp!”

“I will permit you one attack,” Meira emphasized the number, leaning closer, a very intimidating look crossing her face. Her voice dropped, probably so none of her comrades would hear her. “And it must not be towards anyone in the camp. Got it?”

“Ah... Got it!” Liberty didn’t really know what was going on, but she was going to seize this opportunity. One attack, just don’t hit anyone.

“One good hit should be enough to disrupt the attack.” The swordswoman stated, eying her seriously. “Afterwards, I should be able to... talk them out of initiating another one....” Her words were surprisingly ominous for one so serious. The little fairy simply nodded along eagerly, a menacing, if childish giggle rising up from behind her lips. This was it, this had been the moment she’d been so positively giddy for, after all....

"One last thing." Meira stopped her before either could walk off. "Your name?"

"Oh, um... Liberty Belle." The fairy answered, caught off guard by the question.

"A pleasure, Miss Belle." The swordswoman bowed politely, rising back up to face Liberty again. "I hope we get along in the future."