She burst through the door and looked on to the townspeople in her coven base.
“And what are you doing here?” She snapped. She looked to Oz. “You! State who you are and what business you have being in here!” She pointed her staff at him.
“I don’t mean any harm,” he said, voice firm and steady. “My name is Osmund Birchardt, local bodyguard.”
“So you’re the bodyguard, huh?” The lady straightened her back to stand up taller before him. She walked forwards and stopped a few paces in front of him. “I’d like you to know this place belongs to me. I want you to get all you and all of your friends out of here.”
“I need you to understand, miss...”
“Miss Ophelia to you.”
“Miss Ophelia, I need you to understand...please, let us stay here until the crisis has been averted. These townspeople have nowhere else safe to go. I need to provide them with shelter and this is the safest place we’ve got.”
“And who dared to bring you here? Who gave you the right?” Ophelia glared. “Do you know Mendel and Mari?”
“Yes! Yes, I do. We’re friends with them. They brought us here to keep us safe.”
“Where are they.”
“Th...They went out to the forest to trap the Juggernaut and carry it back here, for defusing it and stuff. They’ll be back soon.”
Ophelia glared. “You are all townies, aren’t you.”
“Well, most of us, I’m not sure, I don’t really know specifically.”
“I’d give you mercy if it weren’t for the fact that you scum are the reason we’re driven out and killed off one by one, town after town.” She glared and brought her staff to her side. “You can’t keep the knowledge of where my base is in your mind. Therefore, I’ll have to kill you all myself.” She stabbed her staff forwards, on the sharp end, but Oz held up his shield and pushed her back. Ophelia used her wings to shove herself upwards and grabbed the shield with her talon. She used the other one to latch onto Oz’s face, raising her staff. Oz tossed her forwards and continued using his shield to dodge and shove her back.
“I don’t want to kill you, ma’am, it’s against my morals.”
“What, afraid of hurting an old lady?” She cackled. “You’ll at least have a fun story to tell the Mediums once I finish you off.” She flew up and grabbed him with her talons once more, shoving him aside. People started running away, trying to reach the door and flee. She cocked her head back and hissed. “Miserable people, you’re going nowhere.” She lunged out to grab a survivor, but Oz quickly flee before her and shoved her away from them. He kept her back, deflecting her stabs with his shield, letting them escape.
“Stay in the upper floor!” Oz called out, strained. He finally lowered his shield and shoved Ophelia down, pinning her to the ground. “You aren’t going to hurt these people.” He raised his fist. “If I have to, I will kill you as my job as a bodyguard.”
“Finally learning how to play, huh? Let me show you something.” She let out another bird-like screech and her eyes lit up with the spinning red and yellow spiral, staring directly to Oz and causing him to stop and fall limp to her. “That’s right, my puppet.” She stood and waved her staff, causing Oz to stand up straight. She thrust it forwards and shot Oz across the room, slamming him against the wall, and then lifted him up, holding him still. “Now be a good boy and stay where you are.” She thrust him down to the ground and he crumpled into a little heap, and when her eyes returned to normal he stayed there.
“I’m going out,” whispered Rascal, and he got up.
“Don’t! She’s pissed!”
“Cause a distraction, then!”
“She’s gonna kill me!”
“Better than a survivor dying! Besides, aren’t you night immune?”
“I don’t know what the hell I am to a Coven member!”
Ophelia grabbed survivors that tried coming at her and stabbed them with her staff, tossing them aside and whacked others over the head with the same weapon, hard so that they would drop to the ground. She swung them around and shoved through, making sure nobody got away from her. She approached the study.
“Well, we have to try something! She’s getting closer!”
“I hear you, little townies!” Ophelia laughed.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Skuggy hissed under his breath, crawling out. He pat himself down. “R-Rascal, your switchblade! F-fuck, quick!”
Rascal tossed him his switchblade. “Go! You’ll be fine!”
“Come out wherever you are...”
“Oh god...tell my husband I love him...” Skuggy grit his teeth before charging out. “Hey, Coven shithead!” He shouted. Ophelia cocked her head to him and glared, feathers standing on end. “Yeah, you! Bird brains!”
“How dare you, you little brat!” Ophelia sqwuaked and lunged fowards as Skuggy sprinted away from her. She thrust herself forwards with her wings and tackled him, holding him to the ground with her talons. “Who do you think you are?!”
“W-Well,” Skuggy gulped, trying to keep his cool, “my name’s Skuggy, local butcher, how about you?” He shanked her in the leg with his blade and managed to crawl out, running towards the throne room now instead. He saw Rascal peeking out from the study and nodded briefly to him. He slipped out.
“You’ll regret being snarky to me, young man.” She dove forwards and grabbed him by the scarf, yanking him back.
“Fuck, not again—“ He sliced through his scarf quickly. She swung her staff as him and he managed to deflect it with the blade, eyes wide. They continued doing this, staggering backwards and exchanging glares. Finally Ophelia nailed him in the gut and he grunted, falling back. She stepped on his chest and held him down, raising her staff, until she noticed a little blonde boy trying to sneak out.
“Ah, I see what this is. A little coordinated escapade, huh?” She laughed and kicked Skuggy away, now soaring towards Rascal.
“G-God, no!” Skuggy shoved himself forwards and stumbled back up, running to catch her. She tackled Rascal and was about to dig her talons into his face, holding him down by grappling her claws into his chest. He cried out. Skuggy drew back and threw the switchblade, hoping for a spark of luck.
It landed into Ophelia’s back. She screeches and turned around swiftly. The knife was cushioned by her feathery coat, but it still dug in.
“Get off him!” Skuggy barked, shoving her to the side and kicking her down. She grabbed him and brought him down as well. Skuggy took off his scarf and tied it around her eyes, pulling her head forwards and blinding her. She scowled and yelled out, lashing her staff out at random, but it didnt stop him from holding her down. He looked back to Rascal, who had gotten up. He nodded in thanks before making it out the door and into safety. Skuggy smiled, but quickly it disappeared from his face as the Coven leader grabbed his neck with her sharp nails and yanked him forwards. She ripped the scarf from her eyes and opened them wide, the spiral beginning to form once more. Skuggy gasped and tried to wriggle free, but she closed her grip around his throat tight.
“You will tell me exactly where Mendel is so I can punish him for this mess myself. You will stop fighting against me and do what I tell you.”
“H...He’s...” Skuggy grit his teeth, squeezed his eyes tight, kicked and squirmed. “Mendel, I know where he is! You don’t wanna kill me!” He gasped.
“Tell me!” she demanded.
“He’s being taken by the Juggernaut!” he yelled. “He’s gonna get killed if we...we don’t help him now!”
“Open your eyes.” Skuggy hesitated before opening them. Her eyes were still the mesmerizing spirals, and he found himself unable to struggle anymore.
“Tell me again where he is, and don’t lie to me.”
“The team are trying to save him from the Juggernaut,” he said. “They were going to the bunker in the forest, so they shouldn’t be far from there. He’s alive.” Ophelia narrowed her eyes and stood silent. She released him from her grip and he gasped in air, falling to his knees.
“And tell me why I shouldn’t kill you and your little friends,” she said, moving his chin up with her staff so he could face her.
“I’ll help you,” he spoke, “and Oz knows exactly where they’ll be.”
“So be it.” She snapped and her eyes went back to normal. Skuggy blinked a few times and felt his consciousness come back to him, getting back up to his feet. She pointed the sharp end of the staff to his throat.
“D-Don’t kill me!” he yelped.
“I won’t as long as you don’t try any funny stuff.” She saw Oz come back to his senses and lunge towards her. She dodged as he came and grabbed his jacket, lurching back with him and trying to drag him back. He spun back around and went to swing a punch at her, but she caught it in her hands. “Listen. I’ll spare you as long as you help me find my Coven. I apologize for the rampage, I despise that others now know where we are. But...I suppose that’s all I can do for now.” All the survivors either fled, hid, or were laying unconscious on the floor. “We’re ditching this place anyways.”
“You hurt innocent people,” Oz grit. “I’m not helping you.”
“Oz, cut the bullshit. Do you want to die again?”
“I suggest you help me. I need to save my Necromancer.” She narrowed her eyes. “He might be in loads of trouble, yes...but he’s good at his job. I can’t let him die off.” She let go of Oz’s fist. “Kindly lead me to where they are.”
Oz didn’t speak.
“Oz, c’mon... Listen, the faster we get to Mendel, the more chance we get to save him, and if we save him, then Gene gets brung back. We both want that, right?” Oz felt a stabbing feeling in his gut.
“...Alright, I’ll help.” He nodded. “But you guys have to get out of here once this Juggernaut mess is resolved.”
“We were already planning on doing so. Let’s go.”
“But the survivors—can they stay here?”
“Absolutely not. Find somewhere else to store your garbage.”
“W-We can take them to Gene’s house,” Skuggy butt in. “We should have enough room there. He’d be okay with it. And we have medical supplies there, too.”
“...I’ll take the survivors to the new location.” Oz turned to Skuggy. “Skuggy, you know where the bunker is. It’s marked on the map.”
“I can’t read a fucking map!”
“It’s simple. It’s up north in the forest, not too far from our trapping spot, and we all traveled there by foot. You know where that was, right?”
“Y...Yeah.”
“Go north from there. You’ll pass a creek and a long stretch of burnt vegetation. That’ll signify you’re getting closer to it.” Oz turned. “I have to get everyone home safe. I know you two can do it.”
“....Okay.” Skuggy sighed. “So, you’re taking me. Let’s go.” Ophelia led the way out the door and up to the above ground.
