Netori: Stealing The Hero's Party!

It was night on the island and the witch stared into the dark–into the thicket while the rest snored inside the camp. Being on guard duty, she kept a stern eye on all movement, but something was different about what she was seeing. There was no man nor a woman staring back at her, but simply a collection of figures coming into view like the moon appearing briefly from behind a cloud before disappearing.

The creatures wore smiles, toothy as can be. Their faces were melting, their necks tilted at an angle, and yet that damned smile flashed through the dark whenever they decided to appear. After a while, she heard them chuckle like hyenas–their voice echoing through the dark, even scattering the birds living in those trees. Yet somehow, despite their voices echoing all around them, none of the party members were awakened from their sleep.

"What are you doing?" However, there were those who hadn't slept at all, and Linkle decided to confront her while still looking at the front.

With a jolt, Erika's head turned to the witch's back, but before she pulled away from Raven she slipped the necklace off of his neck. Pocketing the necklace quickly, she slowly walked next to the witch and looked down at her sideways, confused as to what was so interesting for her to be staring into the dark like a hawk stalking prey.

"Just forget you saw me tonight, trust me, whatever I'm doing it's best if they don't know unless I confirm something myself," she replied, following the witch's gaze.

As soon as Erika looked to the front, however, being a priestess–unlike Linkle, she saw an army of mimics hiding amongst or even pretending to be trees. Gripped with the cold clutches of fear, a silent gasp left her lips. Her toes curled and her eyes quivered, and although her body urged her to move, she kept herself planted like a tree as well.

"I think they're waiting for me to stop looking at them," for once breaking eye contact since Erika was keeping an eye on them now, Linkle looked up at the priestess and said in a whisper. "Be back before my eyes grow tired, I'll be waiting."

Turning her head to the front again, she gave Erika a moment to process everything that was happening. And the moment she did, the priestess broke eye contact from the many ghostly mimics and nodded at the witch.

"Y-yeah…give me half an hour or so," wasting no time, Erika turned around and headed to the very edge of the island so that the light of teleportation wouldn't wake up anybody.

"Now then…" As the light from the teleportation came on and went away, Linkle pressed her hand to the ground and let her mana seep through the mud and dig downwards. Going further and further in search of something that had been bothering her, she found it after a while–a crystallization of all magic that the island had absorbed from people over the years.

Keeping a stern eye on the mimics, while tracing the crystal, she was reminded of her body made from a similar crystallization of mana. Forcing her mana through the crystal, she permitted inside and tried to get to the runes carved at its center. Over the years, the mana absorbed by the runes had turned into a physical entity–which was the crystalline amalgam of different forms of magic.

'You can make a cosmic wizard out of this damn thing if only it wasn't so impure with air pockets!'

A bit disappointed in its integrity, she thought back to her own body again. A collection of stardust bursting into a blinding light–that was the origin of many cosmic wizards, and she was no different just with a deadlier ambition.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

'This is useless.'

Pulling away from the impure crystal, Linkle continued to stare at the mimics. Wearing a deep grimace, she tried to think of Andromeda, and the constellations amongst other things to distract herself from the disappointment. Stay connected via empire

'I hope the priestess comes back quickly.'

She thought, having given up on everything.

Watching from afar, Athenia felt the same. The witch was trapped in a box with different choices closing in on her from everywhere. From killing the devil who has her body to mining the Arachne cave for resources, even trying to find the necro flower or perhaps finding another way to get rid of their deal, there was just no way out and the choice seemed close yet distant.

'This could be…No, it is a problem.'

Athenia thought, gauging between the witch's usefulness to the party and the risk that she brought along. The witch hunter, the devil, and the risk of trying to get their hands on the flower, she didn't think it was worth keeping her around for. However, that wasn't the only thing that worried her, as with a fan of her hand she changed the sight in the looking mirror to Erika appearing beside Reina in the back of her shop.

The two were having a small fight–mostly on Reina's part, but knowing the priestess's intention to reveal the mystery behind their paternity, the goddess wanted to interfere and stop her from chasing memories.

"How much did the priest really know?" Asked her clone standing beside her.

Staring at the priestess for a while longer, the goddess heaved a sigh before looking up at hers.

"Amedith, the elves, and Erika–they should be in the records, but…" Turning her attention back to the front, she stared at the priestess once again. "I'm not sure about Raven, because of…you know why."

"Hmm," staring down at herself, the clone hummed to herself while thinking things through. "Well, let's hope he took the records up to the upper city church when he got promoted, I doubt Erika will check there."

Nodding along, Athenia hoped that was the case–otherwise, a great deal of distraction would descend on the entire party.

"As for the witch," shifting back to Linkle in the mirror, Athenia stretched a finger towards the glass and began pulling out her nail. A squelchy sound echoed inside her prison and the light and dark changed places, but finally, as she pulled out her bloody index nail, she let the gold drip off her finger and onto the floor before throwing the nail through the mirror.

"Consider this a birthday present," she whispered, even though the present was for Linkle but would inevitably help the party get rid of at least some of the risk.

Note: Raven didn't wake up when Erika took the necklace because his body doesn't recognize her as a threat.