Chapter forty four- Fire and Brimstone

"Ah, Semiramis~, what a happy coincidence! You're just the evil queen I wanted to see~!" Rider greeted the other servant, clasping his hands together dramatically. Muu stood a few paces behind him, arms crossed and not nearly as theatric as his servant.

"Funny, I was looking for you as well."

Caster and Kouen had been en route to Muu Alexius' apartment, but were pleasantly surprised to see the pair had met them halfway. Caster strolled forward to look Rider over casually, while Kouen remained in place a few steps beside her.

"Kouen Ren," Muu addressed the redhead with a firm nod.

"Alexius," Kouen returned the gesture. "What are you doing here?"

"We were actually on our way to see you," Muu explained lightly, though tension was slowly filling the air around them between the streets of a parking garage and an apartment complex. "It seems we have a common enemy."

Kouen cocked an eyebrow at Muu, "A common enemy? Asking for an alliance, are you?"

Semiramis scoffed, "We were on our way to attack you, not make friends. Surely you recall what you did to Kougyoku, yes?"

"Kougyoku?" Rider echoed, unaware of the owner of the name.

"She's your sister, isn't she?" Muu asked Kouen. "I believe I saw her at the party you held."

"Don't play dumb," Kouen spoke flatly.

Muu frowned, "What are you talking about?"

"You placed a charm upon Kougyoku shortly after the party, correct?" Semiramis interrogated, her gaze drifting between Rider and Muu.

"You've been using her to spy on us and learn information, Semiramis confirmed it," Kouen continued.

"Surely we've been framed," Rider turned to look back at Muu, confirming that his master felt the same.

"I'm afraid not," Semiramis spoke. "And even if you were framed, you're still targets that need to be eliminated."

"Such is war, I suppose..." Rider sighed, directing his words to Muu, "Looks like we'll need to find an alliance elsewhere. Are you up for a fight?"

"No, wait, we're not fighting" Muu raised a hand, "we should settle this misunderstanding first-"

"I'm sure you'll be more eager to fight once you realize the consequences of your actions..." Semiramis interrupted him, drawing a razor from her dress. Slicing a slit into her right wrist, she watched the blood pool abnormally fast around her ankles. Slowly, the crimson liquid made its way towards Rider and Muu.

"Ew...how is she bleeding so much?!" Muu took a few steps back, disgust crinkling his features as he raised a foot to find blood dripping from the sole of his shoe.

"Master, don't touch it-!" Rider warned all too late, reaching out to the pink haired mage. Noah pulled Muu back by his shoulder so he was facing him, scowling at the blood trailing down Muu's fingertips.

"Queen's Enchantment~" Caster caught the males' attention with a smirk, the cut on her wrist healing and the blood around her dissipating.

"What...? Nothing happened?" Muu looked his hand and body over cautiously. Everything seemed normal, but-

Muu gasped, hands moving to block his ears as an ear-splitting cry rang out. "W-What the hell...?" He dizzily searched for the source, but found he was no longer in the streets of Fuyuki.

"Where...am I?" Muu straightened his back from leaning over, surveying the area. He knew instantly where he was.

Muu Alexius was in Italy again, at his childhood home. He took a few steps through the dark hallway he was in, running his left hand along the worn wallpaper as he went.

"Myron? Is that you? I thought you were going to be out for the next few hours? Myron...?"

"Scheherazade?" Muu tried to speak, but found his mouth wouldn't open. Unease made him hesitant, but he pressed on, slowly nearing Scheherazade's bedroom door.

~

"What did you do to him?!" Rider demanded, glaring up at Semiramis and Kouen from where he crouched beside Muu's unconscious body.

Semiramis shrugged, simply replying, "I've only shared with him a rather fond memory of mine. It's sure to get him a bit more into the fighting spirit."

"A fond memory?" Rider growled, furrowing his brows. Turning back to Muu his concern only grew as the master seemed to be struggling against something. He laid Muu down gently, standing to say, "Bullshit. Release him from whatever nightmare you've placed him in or so help me..."

"My, my, Noah," Semiramis remarked with a sly grin, "I nearly forgot about your short temper..." She cast a glance at Kouen, who returned her deceitful look with a small smile. Looking back to Rider, she challenged, "If you want your precious master to survive, you'll have to kill me, Noah~"

"With pleasure."

~

"Scheherazde?" Muu tried calling out to his adoptive mother again, but his body still refused to listen to him. His feet ignored his demands to stop, continuing to carry him down the hallway that seemed far longer than Muu had remembered. It was as if he was within a nightmare- a fictional world he couldn't recall entering.

Muu reached out to open Scheherazade's bedroom door, surprised to see the short blonde already in the doorway though his expression wouldn't show it. His hand drew itself back, a small grin curling at the corners of his mouth. He wanted to step forward, to pull Scheherazade into a tight hug, to breathe in her warm, sweet, scent and forget all of his anxieties, but Scheherazade was not happy to see him.

She gasped, taking several steps backwards, "You... Who are you?! How did you get here?!" Scheherazade stumbled over herself and her words as Muu stepped towards her, matching her pace and maintaining the small distance between them.

"What? Scheherazade, it's me! Muu!" Muu found himself looking at his hands, despite wanting to get through to Scheherazade. His eyes landed on the dagger in his hands. Silver with a deep purple handle. In his left hand.

Muu Alexius was not left-handed.

His head rose. He watched as his hand moved into his vision from the left, thrusting forward of its own accord to try and stab Scheherazade.

"N-No!!" Scheherazade and Muu screamed in unison, only the former's voice echoing around the small bedroom.

With another small squeak, Scheherazade raised an arm, knocking the blade from Muu's hand and onto the carpet floor. Another sly smile pulled at Muu's lips. He stalked even closer to Scheherazade, seizing her easily by the throat. The blonde choked, struggling against Muu's iron grip as he stepped to press her back against a nearby wall.

What am I doing?! Stop! Muu screamed at himself, willing his body to listen to him. Scheherazade...!

Minutes later Scheherazade's struggling had toned down, her legs hanging limp instead of kicking, her hands no longer digging her nails into Muu's forearm. Her bulging eyes had turned to stare over Muu's shoulder, at the phone on the nightstand. Kid's desperate calling of her name could be heard from even across the room.

Muu's body glanced back at the phone. Is that Titus?! He turned back to Scheherazade, who was struggling to keep her consciousness, face growing dark red. Muu felt his heart sink at the sight.

Another set of footsteps entered the room. Muu didn't hear them, not until they hung up the phone, earning a strangled gasp from Scheherazade.

"That's enough, Caster. I've finished setting up."

"I told you," Muu spoke, though his voice was not his own, "call me Semiramis."

Dropping Scheherazade to the ground, Muu watched as she crumpled to the floor, unable to even pull herself up. Instead, she breathed heavily, glassy eyes glaring up at Muu with what little strength she had left.

Looking away from her, Muu turned to the standing mirror to his left. He smirked at his reflection, the mirror cracking on his face and spreading throughout the glass at the simple movement. In the distorted image Muu's anger and dismay only grew, his suspicions confirmed. The person he saw in the mirror was none other than Semiramis.

"Good," She replied evenly to her master's previous comment. Semiramis looked back at Kouen, whose expression was just as unreadable as usual. "Not enjoying yourself, are you, Kouen?"

"Let's just get going."

Outside, Muu watched, silently seething, as kouen trailed gasoline from a square red container down the cobblestone pathway from his small childhood home, the trail leading all the way back to Scheherazade's bedroom door and in practically every inch of the house.

Once they were a safe distance away, Kouen placed the canister aside, pulling out a book of matches. He turned to Semiramis as she asked, "You don't think she'll make it out of there, do you? She is a magician, after all."

"Impossible." Kouen replied, "She was already in bad health, and your actions weakened her further. There's no way she'd survive." Kouen lit the entire book of matches, admiring the flame for a moment before tossing it to the ground where it caught on the gasoline. It took mere moments for the fire to race its way along the line, setting the house in an orange blaze with ease.

~