Chapter 317 - The Ark Of The Child Next Door

A giant fire beam shot out of the opened snout of the Bahamut. The water around the area dropped to create a large Water Element shield in front of him. By this point, the child was already tossed into fantasy land and anything goes for her. But it was still brilliant.

She knew about the existence of Magecraft, after seeing Ysabeau's wings a couple of times. But this was breathtaking. The fire and water collided, colors from the red and blue spectrum danced within her vision. But alas, the red overpowered the blue.

This caused the man to be burned badly. A few seconds passed and he finally fell onto his knees. The Bahamut took a step forward, getting closer to the man. It merely stomped on the man. When it lifted its feet, the man was nothing but ashes.

"That was the most pathetic battle I ever had. Especially against another Mage. What a waste of my time" complained the beast.

With the man dead, the child got off from her bum and ran towards the beast. She kicked the ashes and went to hug the giant beast. This shocked the beast, having a foreign human girl hugging its tail.

"Aren't you afraid? I am a creature of destruction. I just killed someone in front of you," said the beast, confused out of its mind.

"Yea, but you are also a mother, right? You are that mother next door! And you saved me, I was sold to that man."

The beast froze and gently prided the child from its tail. It then transformed into a human form, revealing to be indeed Ysabeau. She still had her wings out.

"How did you know who I was? And how did you know that I am a mother?" asked Ysabeau, as the child ran into her arms.

"I saw you! I was in the other house. My mother locked me in a dark room for most of the day, but I saw you playing with a baby within a crack through the wall," said the child, burying her face into Ysabeau's dress.

"But the only one living beside us is Alice... I didn't know that she had a child..."

"Well, it's the woman with white hair, right? She is my mother, but she says that I'm just a tool, not a child."

Ysabeau nodded but she felt sick in the stomach. How can someone call their child a tool? She knew that Alice had a husband that loved the drinks more than his family but she had no clue Alice had a child. And was torturing the poor kid.

"I saw you walking with a man a few nights ago... Why?" asked Ysabeau, crouching down to the girl's height.

Upon closer inspection, the child was most like about seven to eight years old. That woman hid this child for so long?! And she was covered by bruises from head to her bȧrė little feet. Her clothes could hardly fit her and her hair was laced with lice.

"He was just one of my mother's clients. Usually, these clients pay them to perform sėxuȧŀ acts with them. But I'm alright, most of them don't beat me up like my mother."

The child's eyes lit up as she remembered what she heard from her mother. She then grabbed onto Ysabeau's dress and tugged on it.

"I just remembered! My mother sold me for few bottles of liquid. He said that it could annihilate Mages once and for all. I wanted to escape to tell you that. My mother wanted to poison the well but judging by the bombs, I don't know if she made it on time," explained the child.

Ysabeau shook her head. No way, The only one that could touch the well later would be Alice. And that's her best friend. Right? Ysabeau smiled gently and patted the child on the top of her head.

"I don't think she has it in her to do such a thing..."

"She locked me up and broke my bones! Please, we have to go!" yelled the little girl.

"Open it! That is the same bottle that my mother bought! I managed to take an extra that she bought before she left the shop!"

As Ysabeau popped it open, her mind whirled with the smell of poison. Atropa Bella Donna, otherwise known as Deadly Nightshade. It was growing wild around these areas, so it won't be farfetched to get them.

But why would Alice want to harm her family? It wouldn't make any sense. But she looked at how honest the child was. And then it dawned on her; Ysabeau's husband was Alice's ex-boyfriend.. She had been a great girl until something happened and the two split.