A storm of glowing ,crystaline butterflies swirled around serenity, obscuring her form in a vortex of pure light. Inside the shimmering cocoon , her physical body underwent a complete transformation,
Her hair bleached to a stark , pristine white ,framing the face of a breathtakingly seductive, middle-aged woman.
The light reflected to reveal her frame in a tight off -the shoulder black dress and matching black hat. Both garments were heavily embellished with golden butterflies that seemes to pulse with their own internal warmth.
Elegant black lace gloves hugging her hands, and a luxurious white fur scarf-shawl draped effortlessly over her right shoulder. In her grip she held a delicate black lace fan.
She stood in her her place with closed eyes and ash was staring intensely at the changes happening right before him but had no idea what to say,
"Who are you?"
Serenity slowly forced open her previously dead eyes , and raised her right arm, exposing her open palm to the swirling vortex.
As if obeying her silent command, one of the crystalline butterflies broke from the swarm and came floating downward, hovering just above her hand. It's radient image reflected inside her pale eyes , bazing her gaze in a warm , golden light.
The butterfly dissolved. It turned into a fine ,glittering dust that sank directly into her irises. She snapped her eyes wide.
-open-
The dull, lifeless color washed away , replaced by brilliant, bloody red . Her irises were staring at him with intensity swallowing his soul into deep chaos,
"Guilp!....what is that?"
Across the crimson surface , fine golden threads move together, shaping perfect ,glowing butterflies deep within her eyes.
Serenity saw he wasn't moving do she tapped his shoulders with her fan,
" you better not be staring at my eyes of belive ne you won'tlive to see tomorrow" she tried to justify her words by saying ,"they tend to be jealous for their master, and i like them just like that."
'So she means if they hurt me she will stand and watch!....so much tyrany for a little girl.' From the look on her eyes he know whoever that master is he is not allowed to ask any further but still he was so curious about her magic .' But those butterflies ....'
he asked asked as if none of her words reached his ears,
"Why do you own this magic?"
She crossed her arms staring at him like a child curious about his little game,
"Go on."
Ash asked in a strict tone; his deep voice made his words sharp as a knife, as if it was a threat,
"You are a daughter of a snow elf so how come you own a mariposa. A magic that is supposed to be unique to elves of nature?"
Her eyes were glowing in red; the golden butterfly became restless in her eyes, resonating with his words releasing a terrifying storm within her. She raised her hand hiding her right eye with a look of madness is all that is remained in her other eye,
"You angered my little babies!" She said
"!!?"
Ash froze instantly upon seeing that terrifying look in her eyes . he took a few steps back only then did her madness strike calm down .
"No need to be afraid they won't kill you ,yet."
"Am i supposed to be happy?!" He asked
She rubbed her timples and started explaining, "a mariposa isn't the only magical butterfly ;there are exactly three types of them , two are spirtual beasts including the mariposa and this one on me while the last one is a living species "
The confidence in her voice made it clear she wasn't joking but for ash that was hearing auch informations for the first time he found it unbelievable,
"I have an underline who is a user of a mariposa so i find what you're saying hard to believe....but the fact that you transformed like this makes me a little hesitant " he said
Serenity pressed her fan against her mouth staring intenselyat him ,
"That's because it's not a mariposa...a mariposa is a healing attribute , it's a totally diffrent category from my babies. But still your underline cannot possibly be a holder of a mariposa."
Ash felt intimidated by her look, but his face was as good as a stone; nothing appeared on him saying,
"Are you going to tell me why?"
She tilted her head asking,
"Does it matter to you?"
"Pardon?!"
Serenity repeated herself again as she walked slowly towards him.
"Does it matter to you what power I have or... how exactly I got it?...will it affect our relationship as it is right now ?"
Ash didn't hesitate for a second before answering her,
"Not in the slightest...just satisfying my curiosity."
"Curiosity, huh!?"
Serenity narrowed her eyes staring at that stone like face ,'It's really hard to think you're not the same person when your personalities are the spitting image of each other...how i wish you were him but that's just a waking dream that will never come true unfortunately. '
" I won't tell."
She kept advancing twards him with steady steps untill only an imch of air was left between the two
Using her hand she adjusted the position of his chin. She tilted his head slightly downward, aligning his face with hers .
She stares at the solid black band across his eyes, completely covering his sight, creating a direct line of sight between them despite the obstacles.
Serenity locks eyes with the man, her lips curving into a challenging, confident smile as she whispers in his ear,
"Try your best to pry open my secrets, pretty boy…"
The moment her words strike him, a sudden chill raced down his spine; instead of backing away in fear , a rush of pure excitement surged through him as an unconscious smile breaks acrosshis face.
"That's more like it," he said.
He takes a single, deliberate step back, smoothly transitioning into a polite , elegant bow.
he takes her hand and gently kisses the back of it . As he lifts his head , his respectful demeanor vanishes, and his face is completely taken over by a mischievous, sharp smile ; a silent , fierce declaration that he accepted her challenge.
"Looking forward to our journey together, mysterious noble lady." He said
'So alike!....even their manners are so alike!' That was the first thought that came to her mind when she saw him like that.
In a split second there her rigid mask was torn appart and her face couldn't hide the surprise. Her lips moved saying only one word,
"crazy!"
Ash let go of her hand , adjusted his posture, smiling so confidently as he said right to her face,
"Right back at you…"
In less than a second all emotions were wiped out of his face as he looked straight at serenity,
"Enough with the chit-chat. Why did you bring me here?...I believe you didn't show me what your little kids can do for nothing."
"Oh!?"
Serenity snapped out of her daze and leaned on the walls, pointing with her fan at the corner of the alley.
" look over there."
Ash penned over to see and there was obviously nothing; the alley was empty, not a soul, not to mention it's a dead end, it was full of dirt and dust as if not a soul passed from there for over a decade.
He tilted his head her way asking,
"What are you trying to say?"
She didn't even look his way instead she kept her eyes closed, calmly waiting,
"Not now, wait a few seconds."
"Till when do w-"
Serenity cut him mid-talk, placing her hand over his mouth, and started counting.
"...3...2...1..look over there."
"?!".
Serenity removed her hand looking at the alley with deep focus in her eyes and ash followed right behind but was immediately stunned by what he saw; a group of people wearing masks and black clothing walked right through the wall.
"What The....!??....who builds a portal in such a dirty alley?!!" he asked
Serenity corrected her posture and started explaining ,"More than just a portal, a small world opened at that spot, and it seems someone has taken control over it, turning it into a black market."
Ash also corrected his posture looking ahead in daze ,"And here I was thinking the herbal shop was shocking enough; turns out it's just the tip of the iceberg..."
Serenity gave him a know-it-all smile. "Although the herbal market can be called a national treasure, at least it has some legitimacy to it, but this place is the complete opposite; no one other than a few know about it, and all of them are wanted figures, so you know what it means, right?"
'This is a lot for just one day, and...where the hell did that information come from?' He felt suspicious, saying, "This actually sucks.... but how exactly did you know?"
"Pay attentionto your image."she said
"If you don't tell who would even know?!" ,he was seriously annoyed about all those surprises one after anoter and paying attention to his words seemed the last of his concerns right now.
She didn't answer him but settled saying, "no comment"
Feeling helpless, he dropped the subject and went directly to the main topic.
"So what exactly are we doing here?...You don't want to crash the place, do you?" Although he said it as a joke, the look on her face said otherwise.
Ash pointed at the walls with disbelief clear in his voice ,"You really want to raid the place?!!."
She tilted her head innocently saying,
"What do you think..... inside that small world there is something I want, so I am getting in there, whether you tag along or not."
He shook his head in helplessness, but somehow he expected it.
"I see no point in asking any further, so... what are the rules this time? I bet going in there won'tbe less complicated than that shop."
She brushed him off saying,
"It's simpler actually ; we can get inside the normal way, but first...."
Serenitykept staring at his clothes with clear disapproval written all over her face,
" we need to find a way to change your looks get you a new mask"
"Why?!" He asked
Serenitypassed her hand over her face and a butterfly mask wrapped around her eyes ,then she looked his way as she explained ," when entering, someone might recognize you.... Do you happen to have anything to change into, or should I just do it myself?"
He raised his hands, making a sign for no.
"I can do it myself; no need to trouble you."
With a heavy stomp, the man strikes the ground.
A black magical circle appears out of thin air on the surface . Darck smoke erupts from the ruins, wrapping tightly around his body., as his physique ansorbs the dark mist, his form begins to shift and change.
When the smoke clears , he wears a black coat decorated with intricate golden threads on both It'sneck and sleeves. His hair has transformed into a smooth ,brilliant white.
An ominous black dragon mask now covering his face entirely. On his hand a pair of black gloves stands out , beautifully decorated with golden dragon claws.
Serenity frooze in absolute shoke ,her eyes widening as the ground trembling beneath her feet. She took a sharp breath , her hands flying to her mouth to muffle a gasp while her gaze is locked onto his mask.
She asked with trembling voice,
"Why did you!....why did you change into this look?!"
Ash tilted his head at what he was wearing and gave her a shoking explaination ,
"I don't know why but i have been able to transform into this form for quite a while now, but as long as it changes my appearance it will do just fine ,right?!"
Serenity nodded her head and started mocking how they looked,
"We look like we're going to a masquerade..."
Ash looked at what he was wearing, then looked at her again giving his approval.
"Agreed."
She slammed her head, thinking, 'Only this single word....the more i look the more resemblance they get but still it shouldn't be like this..!'
She removed her hand and stared at the man full of life standing tall in front of her thinking deply ,'that form of his, apart from him i don't recall anyone capable of summoning such combination, just in case i need to find a chance to look into his eyes and see what his soul truely looks like, maybe it's not as simple as some shared habits '
Ash came out of their hiding spot and started walking towards the wall he knockedon the wall a few times.
-knock...knock-
'All i see is a normal wall ,if not for seeing people enter i would've thought i have finally lost it'He thought staring at the seemingly normal wall in front of his eyes ,'to think i have been staying here for a while but never knew about such places....regis people are truly something else hiding so many secrets under everyone's nose is nothing but a ticking bomb.'
"Don't be harsh on yourself even i couldn't feel it let along others"
Serenity extended her hand for him to hold; he seemed confused and asked,
"Can you see or not?!"
She flicked his head placing one of her butterflies over his mask changing it to an emptu face without telling him thinking to herself ,'better safe than sorry!'
She turned her head away saying. "I can share my view with my butterflies and get a normal sight but it's not wise to always use this method"
"What kind of trouble can a mariposa cause?" He asked
Serenity rubbed her timples explaining ,"I told you it's not...you see, my dear, those babies of mine love nothing but eating their own mother, so they are better off sleeping."
'Eating ?!...such an interesting choice of words' Ash stared at her in complete silence
Serenity had no choice but to explain the situation ,"i already told you we will enter through the normal way which is to have the gate key and i only have one ,i don't think i need to explain any further right? "
Ash asked her suspiciously, " how did you get the key?"
"I found it with someone i plan on killing if we crossed paths ....end of this story. Are we heading inside or not?"
She sais it so casually making him question his existence ,'after everything we went through today all i could think about is that this is so much like her'
A faint smile drew on his face. after hearing her words ,'holding a grudge ,huh...looks like this little fox is not as innocent as she appears to be'
He took her hands, and held thenpm tightly saying,
"Let's get going then"
They walked towards the wall holding each other tightly. As the wall felt the key in her pocket, it's magic was activated instantly, and they got teleported to another dimension, where it was a completely different sight from what they expected.
The portal dropped them on a huge bridge surrounded by thick white mist from all directions, but what was most surprising was the sky above, an ominous cloudy sky centered with a brilliant red moon the only thing that broke the fog.
Neither of them made a sound , they just kept moving forward without a second of rest untill they reached a huge metal door,
'This place gives me a familiar feeling... just like the demon realm! Especially that red moon.' Trapped in his own thoughts, ash didn't realize they reached the end of the door.
Serenity grabbed his hand tightly, and snapped him back to reality saying,
"We've arrived. …"
"..." Ash looked at the huge wall in front of him. There was a huge sword engraved in the middle. He looked around, and saw no trace of life around.
Without a sound, Serenity dragged him by hand. Using her fan, she tapped the edge of the sword a few times; a keyhole appeared out of nowhere. She took out a golden key and placed it in the hole.
The red gem started glowing and the key was pushed back into her hand while the wall split open.
-screek-
-ka-chak-
The next second it felt like entering the night market, so lively and completely different from the dead silent along their road the total opposite.
Serenity suddenlywarned him, "Hold my hands tightly; if you're lost, then forget about leaving here alive."
Ash removed her grip and placed her hand around his arm.
"Much better, let's go."
Serenity was confused but still kept going anyway, "O...okay?!"
Serenity kept walking nonstop, dragging ash behind her in silence all the way , while ash was admiring the places around him ,'i thought the herbal shop was impressive enough but this place in a whole another level for sure'
He tilted his gaze downward at serenity asking himself, 'how in the name of god did she manage to know the existence of such places?!'
Serenity didn't turn his way not even once instead she kept passing one vendor after another till she finally reached where she wanted, in front of a shop gambling stones.
"Is this where you wanted to go?" Ash asked Serenity, turning at her as if saying, "Are you kidding me?" and she felt it as his gaze passing through her head.
"Stop giving me that creepy look." She said
'What the hell was i thinking following this little kid?' ,He slammed his head in disappointment saying,
"You!..Stop fooling around...what the hell are we doing here of all places?"
"We are here to buy, obviously." She said
Ash tried to warn serenity about the danger of this place,
"Buy what?!...These are gambling stones. It's illegal; if caught, you will be punished. Think it over."
"Are you seriously talking about being legitimate in here?...really?" She kept staring at him with disbelief and he could easily tell what she was thinking, 'dude, did you forget we are in the black market?!'
The way Serenity looked at him made him question himself: he hurriedly said ,
"Stop right there. Here, maybe yes, but once outside, if caught, it's not a good ending ,even your family background won't protect you."
"I get what you're saying... Don't worry, I am not here for mana stones anyway; what I want is something else." She said
Even though she didn't say it, his worries were reasonable: 'Those stones were either stolen or acquired by some illegal means without a purchase record. If i were to be caught, it's a dead end for me.'
Serenity walked in with Ash, passing through one table after another till she reached one that was full of junk. After staring at them for a while, a smile was unconsciously drawn on her face.
'Found it!' She turned around and raised her voice, "Where is the person in here?"
A moody old man with a thick beard and messy hair, wearing some torn-out cloth, came from under the rocks, starting them,
"I am here. What the hell do you want, little girl?"
'Can people actually sleep in such a place?' She thought stunned but quickly regained her composure and said,
" I want to buy?"
The old man talked with indifference while playing with his ears. "Huh...stop fooling around, kid. Who in his right mind would want to buy this useless junk!?"
"You sure know your stuff, old man."
An old greasy man with a huge build and golden teeth covered in all kinds of jewelry , with an aura shouting nouveau rich approached Serenity from the side.
"Young lady, are you sure you want to buy from him?...If you want, I have even better ones, and I can even give you some extra service if you want."
He tried to touch her waist, but she used her fan to slowly push him away and turned to the old man. "Old man, are you selling or not?"
"Of course selling...not every day can you stumble upon such crazy people…so how much do you need?" The old man jumped with joy clear in his eyes thinking ,'I refused to throw away this junk because it had cost me three years of my life i couldn't accept it nor did i have the courage to throw it away ,yet today someone actually wants it , is it finally my lucky day?!'
The greasy man saw them ignoring him and snapped on the spot,
"Are you both ignoring me?"
He was so anger and tried to throw a bunch on her, but Ash grabbed his hand midair and broke it on the spot.
"You shouldn't have done that." He said, and next second the loud sound of a creaking bones echoed through the entire market, leaving the greasy old man screaming in agony.
-crack-
"Aaaaaaaaah...my arm...you bastard, why the hell did you do this, huh?..."
Ash glared at him saying,
"If you know it hurts, why do it in the first place?"
Ash kicked his leg, making him fall on his knees, then grabbed his face with one hand, and used his leg to stomp over his other healthy hand, warning him in a cold voice that pierced his soul like a stream of knives,
"If you ever act impulsive again, the next time a broken hand will be the least you fear, got it?"
His intimidating presence made the greasy man shut his mouth tight from fear of what might happen if his stubbornness kept kicking in.
"!!?"
Ash kicked him away, and the man hurried outside crying like a little kid ,
"Bwaaaaahah...~"
Ash stared at his hand in disgust ,he removed his gloves that turned to black ashes on the spot, and started wiping his hand like a madman.
'This is so disgusting, i shouldn't have touched that filthy thing with my hands!'
In his mind, he was so frustrated from touching that trash he couldn't help but wonder,
'Why do you need to make a mistake to learn you weren't supposed to? Can't people just not do them?'
Serenity noticed the change in him and placed her hands over his, separating them from each other, and placed a new one over his hands saying,
"Don't worry yourself about some trash...it's not worth it."
Seeing her understand his mind like that, his heart couldn't help but flutter. He calmed down and his harsh voice from just now disappeared, and with his mind cleared up, he gently answered her.
"You're right…it's not worth my anger."
"Good," Serenity smiled at him ,'all your actions ,habits and small details passed the point of mere resemblance, are you really him?'
She turned to the old man. "Old man, wrap the ones I tell you about."
"On it"
Serenity pointed at about 20 stones for the man. After he wrapped them for her, Serenity asked him,
"Hey, old man…tell me, where did you find those stones?"
"Ha...why would I tell you? It's my work secrets , how can i tell you...no, I won't tell." The man seemed stubborn absolutely against giving any information but his eyes exposed his greed.
"How much are the stones i choose?" She asked
The man replied ,"50,000 silver coins"
Serenity slammed a pile of cash on the table.
"I will give you a 50,000 gold ."
"Deal"
The old man actually took the mony into his pocket, before he even teplied afraid she might change her mind,
"Eh!?...that was fast.." ash said looking at the shameless man in front of him, 'what work secrets are this easy to get,he obviously wanted money '