"...What kind of wizard is that guy? It's too scary."
Joshua, who was knocked away by Maka's rapid-fire spells, is now running away frantically. He had to run away because this was the first time since he had this power that he was beaten with a magic spell and was unable to fight back.
Although he didn't know how powerful his master was - it must be very strong, right? However, the master has never used offensive spells to deal with them, because the master only needs to activate the brand to make them completely lose their will to fight.
No, they are just a group of timid children. Where do they get the will to fight
"...Didn't he come after him?"
Joshua ran wildly in the alley, looking back from time to time, but there was no sign of anyone chasing him. But he was so frightened that he couldn't stop—he didn't even have the courage to take a breath!
He kept running, just to get as far away from the monster wizard who suddenly appeared... as far away as possible!
He didn't think about where he should escape, he just ran away instinctively.
The buildings on both sides continued to recede as he ran, and gradually merged with the night. Occasionally, there are one or two owl hoots, which are as shrill as a child's cry and so sinister that it makes people shudder.
Joshua felt as if he had returned to his childhood, to the period before his master took him away. He thought of his father, the father who drank heavily, gambled excessively, and beat himself whenever he had nothing to do.
He also recalled the scene when he escaped from that filthy and terrifying home one night, but was chased by his father holding a stick and broke one of his legs.
Yes, that's right... That night was also so dark, without stars or moon, the street lights were flickering, and the hissing of night cats made his legs and feet weak.
He kept running, and the lame, terrible father was chasing closely behind him. The stick in his hand was thick and hard, and the scratches on his back were burning.
His father planted a seed of fear in him.
"... Don't come here! Father... don't hit me... "
Joshua's spirit was almost on the verge of collapse. He dragged his weak body and ran forward with all his strength, muttering incessantly.
This chaos seemed to bring him some strength. As he was running wildly, black mist appeared again and gradually covered his whole body.
Not long after, he suddenly jumped into the air and subconsciously rushed towards the exit of Jackson Square.
The wind whimpered in his ears, but he didn't hear it at all. He was overwhelmed by his own fear, and that inexplicable power invaded his body, disrupted his thoughts, and forced him to act according to his instincts.
He wanted to go home, to the place where his "father" could not be found, and then accept the punishment honestly. Although the master's punishment was terrible, for him, it was a different kind of salvation.
Because no one is nice to him, no one needs him—only his master needs him!
"... Accept the punishment well, and then the master will continue to need me. I want to go back there and escape from the terrible 'father', and the master will hug me as usual... "
There were many children taken there. He was not the first, nor was he the last. It’s unclear what the other children were thinking, but that was what Joshua was thinking.
When he rushed through the brick wall and reappeared on the streets of New York, he had completely transformed into a dense black fog flying at high speed.
In that black mist with a long tail, there were several times more "sparks" mixed in than usual, and it looked like a shining red meteor flying in the sky.
The meteor streaked high beneath the low clouds, heading west toward the city center.
…
Next to an abandoned warehouse, there stood a slightly dilapidated monastery. The outer walls of this monastery are mottled gray and yellow, with dark green ivy covering a lot of area, and most of the original exquisite carvings have been destroyed.
Just from the outside, it doesn't look like a place where anyone has come back.
"Squeak-"
Joshua pushed open the tall wooden door in a daze and walked in with heavy steps. He did not stay in this dusty space, but walked straight towards the courtyard behind.
There is nothing unusual in the atrium either. Withered and yellow weeds are everywhere, and the fountain pool has long dried up. There seems to be some strange graffiti carved on the wall, but it has already become a mystery that no one can solve.
Joshua passed the atrium, climbed the loose stairs, and walked into an empty room on the second floor.
In this room, there is a tattered bed and an empty desk. And on the wall opposite the desk, there is a broken and cracked mirror.
The mirror was covered with dust, making the figure almost invisible.
"The Thestral's tail feathers."
Joshua faced the mirror and read out the command incoherently. However, as time passed by, the mirror did not produce any changes.
"The Thestral's tail feathers!"
He stared blankly at the broken mirror and repeated the password again, but there was still no movement at all - the scene he expected did not appear.
"... How, how could it be... The password is correct... Thestrals' tail feathers! Thestrals' tail feathers! Thestrals..."
He rushed to the mirror, pressed his hands against the wall, and began to chant crazily. He wanted to go back, to the place that he was both afraid of and attached to.
But the cold reality before him gradually made him despair. The broken mirror seemed to be telling him silently that the last salvation in his life, the last light in his darkness, had been quietly extinguished at some point.
"It seems... you have been abandoned?"
A voice suddenly sounded behind him, which frightened his feet and fell to the ground in panic. He didn't hesitate, almost crawling to the dirty corner on his hands and knees, shivering and huddled up.
In the direction of the sound, Maka's figure gradually appeared - he was standing at the door of the room, watching everything here silently.
"Did you get the news so soon?" He squinted and murmured, staring at the mirror.
The other party's response to Sirius was to immediately start erasing it, because for the Obscurus, dealing with Sirius was not a difficult task.
If Maka hadn't come, if Maka hadn't arranged for Acromantula to protect him, Sirius might have been quietly eliminated long ago.
No, even if there is one more alienated Acromantula, the opponent can send reinforcements to try to destroy it. Therefore, there is no reason for them to choose to abandon an Obscurial who was finally cultivated so decisively.
Then, there are not many reasons why they abandoned Joshua, and the most likely one is the arrival of Maka.
He stretched out his hand, groped around the mirror, and carefully sensed the magic fluctuations in it. A large amount of magical knowledge flowed rapidly in his mind, comparing it with the magic feedback in front of him.
After a moment, he put his hand down.
"Your name is 'Joshua'... right?" Maka turned her head and looked at the trembling young man huddled in the corner and said, "Want to follow me in and take a look? I think you would want to ask them how they are. A question…”
He paused for a moment, then chuckled and said: "... Of course, that's assuming they haven't run away yet."
As soon as he finished speaking, the staff in his hand was already raised. During the surge of magic power, a series of complex magic characters faintly flashed across the top of the staff, and fell into the hazy mirror fragments one by one.
Immediately afterwards, the broken mirror was suddenly covered with a layer of silver light, and the damaged and old places began to be repaired automatically.
Not long after, a brand new full-length mirror that was incompatible with the surrounding dilapidated environment suddenly appeared in front of him.
In the mirror that was as clean as new, Maka couldn't see his own figure. All he could see was the scene in this room. But what is different from the actual environment is that the room in the mirror is not dirty or old at all.
Maka turned her head again, and the young man named Joshua got up when the mirror glowed with silver light, and walked to his side in a daze.
But when Maka's eyes fell on him again, he took a few steps back in fear and stood aside with his neck hunched and his back hunched.
"It's up to you to decide whether to enter or not."
Maka didn't have time to waste on him. After casually saying a word, he walked directly into the mirror.
The monastery in the mirror has a lot of traces of life. The hanging lamps in the corridor are still emitting a gentle glow, the red carpet is soft and clean, and the landscape oil paintings on the wall are vivid and clear.
Maka walked gently in the corridor, occasionally opening a room to take a look, but found no one.
He came to the hall downstairs. The fireplace seemed to have just been extinguished, and there was still a warm breath among the embers.
In front of some seats on the long dining table next to it, there were even leftovers of rice, and an unfinished pot of pumpkin cream soup was even steaming a little.
"Did you just leave not long ago?" Maka frowned and said, "The clue has been broken again..."
He pulled out a back chair and sat down, leaning his forehead on it and thinking quietly.
After a while, while Maka was still sorting out her thoughts, Joshua walked in nervously. He immediately saw Maka sitting at the dining table, and immediately stopped in a panic, stopping at the door without saying a word.
He seemed a little at a loss and didn't know what to do. He didn't dare to talk to Maka, nor did he dare to turn around and leave - he didn't even know where he would go from now on.
He could only stand there silently, staring blankly at the patterns on the carpet with his lowered eyelids.
"Do you know where they went?"
As Maka asked, Joshua's whole body trembled.