~Chapter 179~ Part 3
"We're almost there. Don't fall behind."
Hearing the Shamash matriarch's warning, the rest of the group hastened their steps to catch up to her. Fidèle's presence made the whole group look peculiar, leading the procession through the woods in her fancy black dress and matching parasol in the middle of the night. Not that there was anyone else to watch them (other than me, that is), yet the gang must've subconsciously recognised the weirdness of the situation, because they looked more perplexed than anything else.
It was only after they reached their destination and came to a halt at a completely inconspicuous spot at the bottom of a forested valley that tensions began to rise a bit, and Josh in particular kept eyeing the other Abyssal woman at the back of the group. His attention couldn't linger for long though, as suddenly the whole world flashed in photo-negative colours before settling into familiar purple hues.
The shift in the scenery also brought a slowly unfolding, swirling disk of colourless magical light into view. Nobody else reacted to it, so it was clearly a portal-in-potentia that hasn't fully manifested yet.
"Good. There's still some time left before the gateway fully opens." Fidèle confirmed my suspicion and turned to the group. "The situation may develop in unexpected directions once you're on the other side, so if you have any questions, ask them now."
Her candid tone, nothing like the amicable demeanour she showed me during our meeting, took the gang aback, though not for long.
"What do you mean by 'unexpected directions'?" Ammy spoke up first, and while she was trying to sound self-assured, she was bad with strangers as usual and was partially hiding behind Elly's back.
"It is exactly as it sounds," she responded frankly and made a vague gesture towards the still-growing portal-in-the-making. "Paranoia's been running rampant in the Noble Alliance ever since the betrayal of House Nergal, so the only way I could secure an entryway for you was by requesting a gate for myself. There's no telling how the other Houses may react if you arrive in my stead, and there's only so much protection House Shamash can provide without my presence, so you have to be prepared to react as the situation demands."
"You're not coming with us," Judy stated, instead of asking, as she often did, and Fidèle nodded in the affirmative, with an eye on Snowy.
"I'm certain you're already familiar with the limitations of gateways we use to traverse to and fro the Abyss. The one you'll be using is tuned for me, so if I entered with you, it would destabilize the passage, which could lead to disastrous consequences."
Hearing that made Penny audibly gulp in the back.
Meanwhile, Fidèle lightly twirled her parasol and added, "I have informed my inner circle about your arrival, but the rest of House Shamash, let alone the liaisons from the other Houses, may not show proper hospitality. If anyone doubts you, show them my personal token."
Before anyone could ask, 'What token?', she sent a meaningful glance at the other woman idling behind the group. Corbeau stifled a groan and came to the front, and after reaching into her cleavage again (seriously, did she have some kind of pocket-space there?), she produced a palm-sized brass shield bearing an embossed family crest depicting a simple sceptre with a large ring attached to it floating over the depiction of a fancy throne.
"Here it is. Who's going to hold onto it?"
"That'll be me, I guess," Josh volunteered, so Corbeau tossed the emblem over to him without any fanfare.
"You can use my name and this token to avoid scrutiny, and I recommend you keep your identities a secret until I can join you. It will be safer for you that way. However, if you ever feel threatened, you should flee, or if necessary, fight without second thought. Do not worry about the consequences; I shall bear them for you, and resolve everything upon my arrival."
"That is… very generous of you, Lady Shamash," Snowy spoke up, and when she glanced at her, the Abyssal woman's expression eased up a little for the first time since she appeared tonight.
"It is the least I could do," she responded with a slight tremble in her voice, followed by a shallow sigh. "I was the one who convinced Polemos to intervene in our civil war, and I was not only unable to protect him when the Nergals stabbed us all in the back, but he was the one who stayed behind to ensure my escape. That is a debt not easily repaid, and so I'm obligated to provide you with all the support I can until Polemos is freed from captivity. This, I swear on the name of House Shamash."
There was a long beat of silence in the wake of her declaration. Josh, in particular, looked like he didn't quite get the significance (or care for the ceremoniousness) of her words, and was more focused on the token in his hands. Even that didn't last for long though, as his gaze soon shifted to the blonde Abyssal woman by his side, and he raised a critical brow at her.
"I understand why you're helping us, but what about her?"
Corbeau was momentarily taken aback by the question, but then she let out a throaty chuckle.
"You're less naïve than you look, boy."
"Hey! Who permitted you to address our Boy so informally?!" Deus flared up without warning, only to quickly calm down when Judy put a hand on her shoulder. She still defiantly crossed her arms and declared, "Besides, his question is a valid one! Were you not part of the conspiracy that saw Polemos captured?" Suddenly her eyes turned blue, though it was hard to see it due to the poor lighting conditions, and Angie added, "Yeah! I wanted to ask since forever, but nobody spoke up!"
"What… was that?" Corbeau blurted out in surprise over the sudden change in the friendly neighbourhood Celestial's tone and mannerism, but Josh shook his head.
"Don't mind that, and answer the question."
The rest of the group nodded along, though only Penny seemed to be in full-breasted support of the childhood friend duo. Snowy was still focused on Fidèle and was looking at her kind of like as if she had just met her childhood hero or something, while Judy and Elly…
"Is this a trope?"
"Maybe, it depends on her answer."
"No, I mean, her being here in general. What was it called again…? Hell-Face Turn?"
"It's 'Heel-Face Turn', and again, we can't know until she answers."
"… I don't get it."
…
The two of them were acting like flies on the wall and taking notes, while Ammy was trying to listen in on them and make heads or tails of their hushed conversation.
Meanwhile, Corbeau let out a sound that had a curious mixture of a scoff and a chuckle and retrieved her cigarette case again. She pulled out another smoke and then presented the tip to Josh.
"Give me some fire, and I'll tell you."
Before the guy could respond, the class rep suddenly broke away from my girlfriends and skipped over to the main group. She raised her hand, palm pointing upwards, and after hastily sputtering a faux-Latin chant, she thrust it between Josh and Corbeau. A moment later, the whole group was bathed in warm orange light as a baseball-sized globe of vigorously dancing flame popped into existence over her palm, and she exclaimed, "Please, let me!"
The Abyssal Seducer eyed her for a moment, then muttered something about 'A gaggle of weirdoes,' under her breath before sticking the tip of her cigarette into the flame. She closed her eyes, took a big puff, and her whole body language grew languid at once.
When she opened her eyes again, she looked at Josh directly and uttered a single word.
"Revenge."
"… For what?" Penny asked, looking genuinely taken aback by her answer.
Corbeau sent her a flat glance. "Now what. Whom," she corrected her, then took another drag from her cigarette. Since Ammy was still maintaining her fireball, the flickering orange light gave the Abyssal woman a strange, almost ephemeral atmosphere, and for once, she actually felt like one of those classic Femme Fatales. A long beat later, she exhaled a stream of white smoke and explained, "Tracas was a mean bastard, unreliable, and a compulsive gambler, but he was a friend. He didn't deserve to go out like that."
That was it. That was her whole motivation, yet her tone and the forlorn expression on her face made it sound profound. It also made my stomach churn as I recalled the moment the man's lifeless body hit the ground, and then my head started to hurt as I considered whether this outcome was part of future-me's machinations.
Before I could fall too deep into that train of thought, Fidèle let out a low hum and twirled her parasol again, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"I believe the gateway is about to manifest at any moment. I reckon you should prepare yourself."
No sooner had she said that, the churning portal near her began to expand, and based on the steadily growing shadows of the group, its light was entering the visible spectrum. Seeing that, Josh stepped up and turned to face the others.
"Okay, guys. Just to be safe, we're gonna pair up."
"On it!" Penny exclaimed and entwined her arm with Snowy's. "This way, we can't get accidentally separated!"
"Passing through the gateway only takes a few seconds," my Abyssal sister pointed out, but my other sis remained adamant.
"I promised Mom and Dad to be super-careful, so it's better to be safe than sorry. O-Of course they didn't know we were going to do this, but… You know? It's the principle that counts!"
Emboldened by my sisters, Elly also linked arms with Judy, much to my dear assistant's mild disapproval, and since Josh would naturally pair up with Angie…
"W-Wait! What about me?" the class rep called out in alarm, and she hastily snuffed out the fireball she was still holding over her palm. "I have nobody to pair up with!"
"How about you hold onto the back of someone's clothes?" Judy advised, and Elly followed her up at once.
"Or someone's backpack! That could work, too!"
"I still don't think any of this is necessary, but if it makes you feel better… um… You can hold onto me," Snowy proposed, and while they were busy figuring out the logistics of that, the portal stopped expanding and its outlines were becoming more defined by the second.
It was… a bit on the smaller size. At least compared to the ones I'd seen so far, though to be fair, I had a fairly small set of data points to judge these things. It was about half the size of the portal I used to officially enter the Abyss, and that was already a third smaller than the big one from the time of the school incident with Crowy and the Chimera.
On second thought, it made sense, I supposed. Those were made for multiple people in mind, while this was for just the Shamash matriarch. Even if we accounted for some 'overengineering' for the sake of safety, it still felt a little iffy… but I was sure they accounted for that. Or at least I hoped so.
In the meantime, the gang stepped up to the gateway. Josh and Angie at the front, then my girlfriends, followed by my sisters, and then the class rep at the end, holding onto their backpacks with both hands.
"Uhh… I know this was my plan, but I'm having second thoughts."
"Come on Ammy! Don't get cold feet now!" Angie called out to her over her shoulder and flashed a reassuring smile. "Everything's gonna be all right!"
The Shamash matriarch slightly inclined her head towards the group and said, "I wish you the best of luck," in a soft voice. "I shall follow after you as soon as possible, but if an opportunity presents itself, or you find yourself in danger, don't wait for me and act at your own discretion."
It was obvious that Josh wanted to give a nice, uplifting reply, but he took too long to think of one, so it was Snowy who responded first.
"Thank you for all your support, Lady Shamash." She bowed a bit, dragging Penny along. "We'll make sure to prove that your confidence wasn't misplaced."
Fidèle returned the gesture with a simple curtsy and a mysterious smile, as if amused by my sister's earnest words, then gestured towards the gateway. However, before they could get moving, an unexpected voice chimed in from the rear.
"Good luck, you lot, and if you encounter Noir Inanna, make sure to give him hell."
Corbeau's aggressive encouragement eased some of the tension in the air, and Josh went as far as to flash a devil-may-care grin and give him a thumbs up.
"Sure thing! I've got some unresolved grudges with the guy, so I was gonna punch the daylight out of him anyway."
Now it was Corbeau's turn to smile, if ever so wryly, and she flicked the stub of her cigarette away with a quiet, "You better," displaying an absolutely appalling lack of forest fire safety. If Critias had a forestry bear mascot, it would've been shedding a single disappointed tear at this point.
More importantly, now that neither of the Abyssal women had anything else to add, Josh and co turned to face the portal, closed ranks, and at the mark of the guy at the front, they all marched through the threshold of the gateway, and I… remained in the forest.
I learned from past experience and shifted my anchor mark to Corbeau. It wasn't because I was suspicious of them, but because the last time I entered one of these gateways, I ended up effectively magically flash-banging myself. I didn't want to go through that again, so I decided to linger behind and then shift my point of view over to Josh once I was sure they had already arrived at their destination.
The fact that it also let me catch a snippet of an intriguing conversation was just the cherry on top.
"With all due respect, Lady Shamash, do you really believe these kids are going to make a difference?" Corbeau asked out of the blue.
Fidèle twirled her parasol again, which made me think it might've been a nervous tic, and she flashed an inscrutable smile at the other woman.
"I have full confidence in these children's capabilities, but even if they fail at their rescue operation… one way or the other, their presence in the Abyss is bound to shatter the status quo."
"But is it going to be in your favor?"
"Maybe not," the Shamas matriarch said with a careless shrug. "But sometimes, it is better to trust one's instincts and believe that everything will turn out just fine."
"The last person who told me something similar had his neck snapped for his trouble," Corbeau replied flatly and turned on her heels. "We're done here. I'm leaving."
The other woman didn't say a word, but then the outlines of the body blurred and she rapidly sublimated into a familiar cloud of black smoke with an orange-red core. The ball of haze circled around Corbeau, then collided with her back and disappeared, causing the woman to tense up.
"Ugh… I can never get used to this…" she grumbled as she circled her shoulders, then reached for another cigarette, only for her hand to stop mid-motion, then twitch and fling it into the undergrowth. "Stop that. It's my body, and I need it."
Still grumbling, she made a couple of gestures with her free hand to open a smaller portal, and the Abyssal Seducer (plus her voluntary possessor) left the Purple Zone. I could feel my point of view being dragged along with them, but I could already see the edges of the gateway wavering, so I stopped lingering here and Far Glanced at my girlfriends… only to nearly jump out of my bed in surprise.
"Uuu… This expedition is not off to a good start…" Elly whined, and it took me a while to reorient myself and recognise what I was looking at.
My draconic girlfriend was holding my dear assistant in a bridal carry, and they were both hanging from a large branch about ten meters off the ground, held aloft by the straps of Elly's backpack and gently dangling under the cloudless sky populated with red-tinted fake stars. More alarmingly, I couldn't see the rest of the gang anywhere, and when I looked for their marks…
"Well, crap. I hope I wasn't the one who jinxed things this time…"