Decay of Agony

Chapter 21

A/N: How would you define a villain? Is the mysterious woman a villain or not? Read to find out.

Please enjoy!

"Is this the place?" Lucy asked herself as she checked her note again before looking up to find a hut in the middle of the forest. "Please don't tell me a witch lives here..." She debated to just turn around and leave, but before she could even decide what she could do, she heard a voice.

"Welcome, dear Lucy." The voice rebounded and echoed throughout the trees, so the Celestial mage could not determine where the voice came from.

She clutched the note tightly in her hands, now sure that this was the place. She pocketed the note into her pocket and took a deep breath. "Where are you? Show yourself!" She said while staring at the hut in front of her.

"Please... come inside." The voice beckoned as the door to the hut opened on its own.

Lucy gulped as the door creaked as it opened. She couldn't see any lifeforms from where she stood. Does it look like she has a choice? But she needed answers. With a deep gulp, she decided to risk it and approached the hut and stepped through the door.

It was dark and when she stood in the middle of the room, the door closed behind her. Lucy turned around with a little jump. This place is giving her the heebie jeebies. Just like a haunted house. Where's the light switch? She was scouring for the walls when she heard the same voice again, but much clearer.

"Glad you could make it here, Lucy."

The blonde froze, keeping her back to the mysterious person. Slowly, she slowly turned around, only to find a woman behind her. It took her a moment to put the pieces together. "Daphne?"

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance." Daphne smiled with a small bow. "Follow me, I have some snacks for you. And of course, we'll talk."

Lucy stared at the woman as she turned and walked away. She glanced at her surroundings with a shiver. She made a no-brainer decision to follow the suspicious woman. Better than being in this room alone. There are probably spiders hiding, waiting to attack her. And she does not want to be there when they decide to do so. Nasty little things.

After following Daphne through a room and into a hidden passage behind the bookshelf, they descended the stairs and soon, they were in a really nice lair. And if Lucy was being honest, this place was a lot nicer than her place. "Wow." Was all she could say.

"Please take a seat, I'll get some snacks and we can finally talk. I've been wanting to talk to you." Daphne said before walking away, assuming to get snacks as she said she would.

But Lucy felt alarmed. She never met this woman before, so why would she want to talk to her? Despite that, she took a seat. Looking around, she noted that there weren't any picture frames on the walls or on the shelves. Just decorations. And there was a nice fireplace in the corner. Very medieval looking and very nice to look at. The flames were even gentle and beautiful to watch. This place is really a nice place.

Lucy blinked a couple of times before she let herself be lost with the beauty of this place. This was no place for her to be taken in by the beauty of it. First off, this was the place of a weird woman that gave her the creeps. But she's nice, right? Seems nice.

"Ah, see you're already feeling at home." Daphne appeared with a tray of snacks and drinks and set them on the table and took a seat across the young blonde. "So, how are you feeling?"

Lucy frowned at the food, which seemed to have been made by a professional. She looked up with a question in mind, ignoring the question that the woman had asked. "Who are you really?"