Pardon the small wait there everybody. I got caught up in a few things for the past few days so that interfered with me writing the next part of the story. But now... lets continue!
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Wilhelm couldn't see what was on top of him clearly due to the low lighting that peered through the rough tree branches and leaves above him but what he could tell is that the figure on top of him was menacing, a bit on the small side and... feminine? Wilhelm struggled in fright at the sudden surprise and after a brief second he broke himself free, pushed away the figure and ran back towards Franz at the half track. The figure, who was still merely a silhouette from the light behind it, stood there in a threatening stance as the two Germans struggled with their gear to prepare themselves for this mysterious threat. They pulled out two MP-40 rifles and clumsily began to load rounds into the chambers, still shaken at their ambush.
Still in front of them, the figure pushed back it's blonde hair and put its hand behind it's back to reach for something. It pulled out something long, silvery and sharp looking with an intimidating unsheathing sound. It looked like... a scythe! It's blade glistened light off of it from the skyline above. Our German duo gasped at the amazing weapon and how it shined so brightly. They were so amazed at it that for a second they forgot to keep preparing their weapons. As soon as the scythe was laid bare for all to see, the scythe was flung behind the assailants back in a throwing position and at that same time the duo finally had their rifles ready and aimed at the dark figure.
The scythe was then thrown towards the two Germans, spinning rapidly at them like a flash of circular silver light. It was so fast that the duo were barely able to react to it coming towards them. Before the spinning scythe registered in their minds that it was coming towards them, it had already arrived! The scythe stopped at Franz first and it chopped his MP-40 rifle clean in half right besides his face as he was looking down the sight of his gun. Seeing as his rifle pretty much disintegrated in front of him from the sharp cut of the flying spinning scythe, he let out a loud noise of surprise to now see that he was disarmed. The scythe did not stop there though, just as soon as Franz's rifle was chopped in half, it ricochet from Franz and then headed directly towards Wilhelm. Wilhelm's rifle was chopped in half instantly by the spinning scythe as well, rendering it useless towards there unknown attacker. Wilhelm let out his famous Wilhelm scream (
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdbYsoEasio) at seeing his rifle destroyed and he fell backwards from the wind that the scythe was spreading from slicing through the air. The scythe then headed straight back to the figure, who caught the handle of the scythe with ease and made it look like child's play to catch a spinning blade of death.
The figure then pointed it's hand towards the sky, which then made all the lights around it start to light up more, making seeing the figure clearly much easier. Franz and Wilhelm looked on in astonishment to finally see their attacker clearly. They did not expect their attacker to be such a dainty looking young woman when compared to the threatening looking silhouette from just before. This woman had blonde hair that was down to her shoulders and was curled up towards the ends. Her red ribbon was not attached to her hair but was actually attached to her white sunhat that she wore on her head. Her eyes glowed bright yellow with a piercing glare. She wore a long flowing red dress that went down to her ankles that were matched with two clean white socks that amazingly were not dirty from her walking around barefoot and of course this woman's scythe was carried on her shoulder with its blade wrapped around the back of her neck. She pointed towards the two disarmed Germans and and shouted her introduction at them.
"I'm Elly, head gatekeeper of mansion Mugenkan and caretaker of the Lake of Blood. Anyone who dares to trespass on my masters grounds with have their heads decapitated without mercy!"
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Wilhelm still looked a little shaken from having the close encounter with Elly's scythe so close to his face but Franz spoke up with his questions to ease his obvious confusion. "M...Mu-gen-kan?" Franz stuttered out from his mouth while still obviously coming to terms with everything that just happened. "That's right!" Elly said with a smirk, "behind me here is the marvelous mansion Mugenkan and I am it's gatekeeper. Sure, the mansion might not have its master live here anymore and sure, the mansion has fallen into a decrepit condition from not being lived in for many years now, but damn it I swore an oath to Miss Kazami that I would protect this mansion from outsiders with my life if necessary. It's been more than a decade since I last seen Miss Kazami but my duty is my duty!" Elly spoke directly to the German duo but after that a tear drop rolled down her face. "Oh miss Kazami, why have you left me here with this empty mansion all to myself? Where could you possibly be right now?" Elly spoke to herself as she tried to hold back her tears and keep her brave face on.
"Kazami?... didn't we speak to a woman named Kazami just a little whole ago?" Wilhelm turn and asked Franz quietly who's attention was still directed at Elly holding back her sobbing. "I don't care about that! What is this Mugenkan and lake of blood? We were suppose to be in the forest of magic to collect these magical healing mushrooms but where on earth are we now?" Franz barked his questions at Elly in a state of annoyance for not knowing where he was now.
"Oh that... Mugenkan and the border of the fantasy world is right next to the forest of magic, so it seems that you probably traveled a little too far out of the forest. Sucks to be you. The lake of blood is just over there to my right, however over the years the blood has slowly began to dissipate and now there is nothing left but fresh water. No idea why that happened but at least I now have a place to wash my clothes. Mugenkan is the great mansion of fantasies behind me... but it has been a lot more fantastical in the past when my master actually slept here" Elly described to Franz the area around them. Franz looked over to the lake and sure enough, the water in the lake was crystal clear. Franz found it hard to believe that blood used to once be the entire contents of that lake... Was this Elly girl telling the truth? He found it hard to believe a woman who just attacked him.
Wilhelm spoke up next. "Wait a moment... you said before that this mansion has fallen into a ruined state or something because nobody lives there anymore. If you are the mansions guard then don't you live there?" Wilhelm puzzled to himself over this contradiction at Elly. "Oh that... Miss Kazami never actually let me stay inside the mansion because she wanted the place all to herself. I live in that humble little tent over there outside of the estate. Miss kazami has forbidden me to ever enter the mansion and has told me to only guard the exterior... douse she not trust me with the mansion at all? *sob sob*" Elly began to look a little upset again when thinking about her position. The two Germans looked over to the tent close by to the left of them and sure enough, a small yellow tarp tent was there that was small enough to only house one person. They could see a few spare items inside the tent through the open flap like a sleeping bag and some scattered books and a small campfire was warmly glowing just outside the entrance. Elly was obviously serious when she said she was forbidden from entering the mansion under orders from her neglectful mistress.
Franz frowned a face of disinterest and shrugged his shoulders. "listen you weird lady, me and my buddy here are just on a mission to gather these special mushrooms for science sake and to explore and document the surrounding area. Your little sob story really is of no concern to us. If you want to see what suffering really looks like, you should come to our special camps we have back home. But for now, please just let us pass and we will be on our way" Franz said in a serious tone to try and reason with this easily upset woman.
Elly wiped a teardrop from her left eye and then got serious again with a menacing look with a hint of curiosity. "You two... your human, aren't you?... It has been so long since I have seen humans in the flesh like yourselves. The last humans I saw where dressed in red and one was in black. They defeated my master who I was sworn to protect. I really am strong, you know? Despite my mistakes I make when I underestimate people" Elly said as a grin was slowly growing across her face. "What are you getting at here?" Franz asked in both confusion and annoyance at this woman who was taking up his time he wanted to spend elsewhere.
"What I am saying is that I am loyal right to the end, even more so when others have already given up. I haven't seen miss Kazami in years and my friend Kurumi had enough of waiting for her return and returned to hell long ago, forcing me to protect both the mansion *AND* the lake. Despite her still being my friend, she was weak and unloyal! All those who desecrate this sacred ground of my master will be punished and maybe then, my dear mistress will return to me! I will prove once again that I am indeed strong, after my defeat to the red and black one's. Maybe then my mistress will return to me with open arms!" Elly said while she began to look increasingly erratic with every sentence.
"I don't like where this is going, Wilhelm" Franz spoke softly to Wilhelm while Wilhelm replied "No, me neither!". Elly then groaned angrily and shook her head from side to side. "Enough of this time wasting! It's time for me to perform my duty that I have been patiently waiting to do for years" Elly barked at the Germans with a look of intense anger plastered along her face. The German duo began to brace themselves for something bad but they still had a look on them of fear of what to come next.
Elly raised her scythe behind her like she was going to throw it again towards them. Before she threw it at them for one last time, she uttered one final sentence. "When I send you to hell, if you meet a devil called Kurumi there, tell her I'm okay... and that I'm still loyal!" Elly muttered her line with anger but with a twist of coolness to it. She then threw her scythe again at the German duo as hard as she could, and this time she intended to kill.
The scythe span quickly towards them and again made slicing noises through the air as it traveled toward them. Wilhelm screamed in fright and crouched down with his hands over his eyes, cowering over his potential demise. Franz stepped back a step when seeing the scythe travel towards his quickly but instead of cowering, he thought quickly as to what he could do to stop the scythe coming to slice his head off. His brain was ticking as fast as it could to think of something to do to stop this blade of death taking his life. A moment past... but then he thought of something that might work.
His MP-40 rifle might have been chopped in half, but he still had a Luger pistol holstered to his side like a cowboy from the wild west. Without time to think it through, he quickly drew the pistol from his holster and fired at the scythe that was speeding towards him. he hoped to himself that it would do something as the bullet flew from the chamber and began to collide with the scythe head on. The bullet from the Luger hit the scythe dead on in the center of the blade... and then a miracle happened. The bullet ricocheted off of the scythe and the scythe stopped spinning toward the two Germans. With a loud *ping* noise, the scythe was pushed away by the bullet and began to descend down to the ground away from them. Success! The bullet stopped the scythe from slicing them up and it stopped the momentum of the scythe that was now twirling away from them. But still, the bullet ricocheted off of the scythe... which was now directed towards Elly!
Before she could dodge or even recognize this stray piece of lead, the bullet hit her in her right shoulder and it pierced right through her, coming through out the other side. She let out a small gasp at the shock of getting shot for the first time in her life by a real world bullet and she began to clutch her wounded shoulder with her left hand, as if her shot shoulder was Paralyzed in pain. She began to sway and grow light on her feet as her bright yellow eye's began to grow dull... then she collapsed on her back.
Wilhelm looked on at what happened and as if he forgot about her trying to kill him a moment ago, he rushed to her side to see what happened more closely. While Wilhelm ran to Elly's side, Franz simple holstered his still smoking Luger pistol and walked slowly over to her. He walked over not to see if she was okay like Wilhelm did, but to see if this scythe slinging woman was actually dead. Wilhelm knelled down over Elly to inspect her body. Thankfully, she was still breathing and was wearing a look of pain on her face as she continued to hold her wound where she was shot. She would live... but she was still in a lot of pain. "Gaaah, urrrgg... this pain... I have never felt anything like this before... Grrrrah!" Elly continued to wince from the shock of the shot, barely noticing Wilhelm looming over her.
"Poor girl... she was only doing her job and remaining loyal to what she believed in, her mistress. She would make a fine lieutenant to our F?hrer, she would. Wilhelm said will looking remorseful over her pain stricken body. Elly still didn't notice him as she was still groaning in agony over her pain. Then... Wilhelm had an idea... the green mushrooms, of course! He had a handful of them in his pack so it wouldn't hurt him if he spared one to ease the suffering of one downed combatant. Wilhelm dug into his pack and pulled out a single small green mushroom, then he looked over to Franz. "shall we?" asked Wilhelm, seeking approval from Franz as it was obvious to him what he was about to attempt. Franz frowned for a moment, though about his options and then finally shrugged a single shoulder. "...fine, consider this only a test run of the mushrooms, nothing else" Franz responded to Wilhelm coldly, but still felt a small soft spot over the girl who fought with them valiantly. Wilhelm proceeded to put the mushroom in Elly's open mouth. "Here, eat this, it will help you" said Wilhelm as he clumsily put the mushroom in her mouth and she began to slowly chew on it before finally swallowing it.
"Aaaah, the green ones... I have these regularly for dinner over the fire" Elly spoke softly with her eyes closed as she began to relax a little and not feel so pained. The effects were almost immediate, the bullet wound began to slowly close itself over with new skin and the two Germans looked on in astonishment as the wound slowly knitted itself back together through the hole in her dress. The mushrooms had worked, even on a youkai like Elly.
Elly opened her eye's slowly to Wilhelm leaning over her with a slight smile coming across her face. "You... you guys must be EX bosses... such power... with only one hit... heh... I feel stupid" Elly said while she began to look sleepy but also peaceful. "Nah" replied Franz "I am simply an intermediate in basic firearms training at boot camp" he said in a slight joking way. "You humans... sure are weird" replied Elly with a short breath inbetween. "It's been a long time... since I fought like that... it feels nice... to not be forgotten by the world... thank you" sighed Elly as she looked on into Wilhelm's eyes. Wilhelm had his lip tremble a bit and a single tear rolled down his cheek, feeling a little emotional over the whole series of events. "I think... I'll have... a small sleep now" said Elly one last time and then she proceeded to fall asleep, probably from the effect of the mushrooms or simply from exhaustion.
Wilhelm picked Elly up in his arms and carried her to her humble yellow tent where he carefully put her on top of her sleeping bag, while still fast asleep. Wilhelm wiped a tear from his eyes and went outside to see Franz again. Franz was smoking a cigarette as Wilhelm met up with him again. "This place" said Franz suddenly "really lacks common sense" he said as he dropped his cigarette and squashed it with his boot. "Yeah" replied Wilhelm in simple agreement.
"Still, we can't spend all of our time here when we have a task to complete at hand Wilhelm. We may have some of those miracle mushrooms that we can have our science department analyze but we still have the mission of mapping out this area. That was our prime objective all along, Wilhelm" said Franz with a hint of assurance in himself that he must push forward. Wilhelm nodded in approval, knowing that there was still a job to be done. "The next area we are going to investigate... is that mansion the girl spoke of" said Franz decisively as he made up his mind on where to go next. "But" Wilhelm stuttered "that's the place that Elly was protecting from outsiders. Surely there are other places we can go" stated Wilhelm as he remembered how important Mugenkan was to Elly.
"Our mission is to gather intel on all the places of significance in this area Wilhelm, and if that means exploring a crumby old neglected mansion in the middle of nowhere then so be it. Besides, since the place is abandoned, maybe we will find something of significant value that was lost for someone like us to find. You know how Goering loves to add new pieces to his art collection, right?" said Franz with a smile as he thought about setting foot inside the old manor. "C'mon Wilhelm, we are doing something that could greatly benefit the German people and possibly enrich our culture if we find something great inside. I know you are curious too as well as I am to see what's inside that warrants a gatekeeper to stand guard" Franz said with a look of curiosity and mischief in his eye. Wilhelm looked to his right and said "well, maybe just a little...". "C'mon then, let us see what is so magical about this mansion of fantasy as that girl put it" said Franz as he proceed to walk on ahead towards the old mansion. "Aaah, wait up Franz!" shouted Wilhelm as he jogged briskly to keep up with Franz.
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Meanwhile, several hours later at the same location
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"Oooh mister ghost!... mister ghost... where are you?... show yourself right now!" shouted Remilia as she walked through the same area that the German duo just went through. "My goodness, I've been looking all over this forest for this Crimson Ghost and it's getting late already. "I'm all alone, hungry and tired... looking for this ghost sucks!" said Remilia as she was getting cranky with her uneventful exploration. She put her hand above her eyes and scanned the area carefully to see if anything was interesting. While scanning the area she looked upon the mansion that is known to many others as Mugenkan, but to her she did not know. "Bah! the cleaner of that mansion should be scolded for such lackluster maintenance. Seriously, I am tempted to offer the owner of that dump Sakuya for a day so they can make the place look nicer on the eyes" Remilia uttered to herself in disgust at the eyesore of this mansion. "No matter, I'm growing tired of looking for this thing that I cannot find. I'm going to head back to my mansion and have myself a cup of tea and a nap before I look for that ghost again... probably, depends if I feel like it... besides, tonight's the night of a full moon. One of my favorite times of the month!" Remilia grinned to herself when thinking of seeing her precious moon again. She fluttered her little vampire wings and took to the sky, heading back to the Scarlet Devil Mansion as dusk was setting in across the land.
And just out of earshot from Remilia's ears, the Crimson Ghost she was looking for roared greatly in the distance around the Youkai mountain, still engaged in the race that lingered on still.