Return of the Fallen Volume 4 Chapter 72
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Author: Blue_Rat
ch72
The moon held high up above, shone down illuminating bits and pieces of the land as it pierced through the slow-moving clouds passing under it.
A small fire burned a few logs here and there, barely enough to warm the few who surrounded it. Each one of these people sat tired and hungry. Their clothes torn to tatters, allowing the wind to roll off the frozen snow and stab at their exposed flesh. Even with their enhanced bodies, being out in the cold for so long with little sleep and no food depleted them both physically and mentally.
Normally, this would have pushed regular folk beyond their breaking point but what lay within these people’s eyes was a determination unlike any other. A hope for what was to soon come. Every now and again, soft whispers were traded back and forth, occasionally, they’d peek off to the side at a tall figure, standing silently in the shadows.
A small break in the clouds allowed a bit of light to shine on said figure.
Reya’s crimson eyes glowed as she peered at Danny and the others shivering around the campfire.
(Soon. I will have my Master’s compass and I’ll be able to return to her side.)
Reya saw her human hostages cold and tired and chuckled inwardly.
(No doubt they are trying to plot against me but it won’t work. Humans without magic tools are merely ants beneath my boot, insignificant.)
Although she thought this, Reya had yet to take her eyes off of Danny and the others for even a moment. No blinking, no looking away. She claimed them to be weak and no threat but remembering Danny’s sword made from ice told her differently. She believed them weak without their tools but she would not stop watching them. She told herself it was just in case but that line of thinking in itself contradicted her beliefs. Either they were weak or they were strong. Reya decided they were weak and put the thought to rest but again, her eyes never stopped watching.
Everyone felt a shiver run up and down their spine. Whether it was because of the cold constantly bearing down upon them or the ever-watchful eye, waiting for them to slip up. In the end, they all agreed it was both.
Danny sat with his back to Reya, his hands slowly moving in front of him, just pt of her sight. After about ten minutes of slow and painful movement with his hands and fingers, he breathed out heavily.
*Fhuu*
“Does everyone understand now? If you all do this exactly as I did but just change the hand sign I made for water and replace it with your element…”
*shaa*
A tiny 3-inch blade of ice formed in the palm of Danny’s hand. However, after only a few seconds, the blade fell apart and crumbled, silently dissipating into the night.
Kimi’s brows scrunched and she whispered.
“Why did it break so easily? How are we supposed to use this if the effect is so weak? And besides, in case you haven’t noticed, I only have one fucking arm. I can’t…It won’t work for me.”
Sam gently wrapped an arm around Kimi and squeezed her in a hug. Kimi leaned closely into him and her shivering faded away. Kimi relaxed and her expression softened. Still, she felt depressed.
“Kimi, that’s not necessarily the case. We all saw Kazuki’s memories and he’s used the ancient hand symbols a few times with only one free hand. I’m not gonna lie, for you, it will definitely be slower but as long as you practice, you should be able to do this before the night was through. At first, I shared your thoughts but after pondering it and going through the memories, I realized I didn’t have to actually learn anything new. The memories are inside us all already. Kazuki did the hard part by learning it step by step. All we need to do is call upon those memories of his and practice with our own bodies so our bodies will remember. As for why my sword appeared to be weak, well the slower you go the less power the magic has. It feels almost like it reaches a saturation point after a while and the power begins to leak away or something like that.”
Kimi rolled her eyes. She got tired of the long-winded explanation and thought about it for a moment and finally decided to just try it out for herself. It’s not like she had anything better to do she thought.
Kimi felt frustrated having to still rely on Kazuki even now but it was their only chance right now. Kimi closed her eyes for a moment and looked through her mind. Slowly her hand began to move. Since she was on the other side of the fire, Reya couldn’t see what she was doing but just in case, Shin got up and sat next to Danny to block her vision even further.
Kimi pointed forward one moment and then next she made an M with her fingers and flicked her wrist. Her movements were slow but the further she went, the more she began to feel a small power build up around her hand. Her eyes snapped open as she stared dumbfoundedly at her hand.
She couldn’t see anything different with her hand but she recognized the magic energy forming around her hand.
(It really works!)
An itch grew in Kimi’s heart as she once more slammed her eyes shut and began to concentrate. Starting back over, her hands moved and flashed in an odd manner. Every now and then she felt a pain tear through her hand as she contorted her fingers unnaturally. She grimaced in agony as her face paled but feeling the power growing stronger and stronger around her hand, she refused to stop.
(Did he feel this pain every time he did this? How could he use such a power every time with such a calm expression.)
Kimi was already hating the feeling in her hand and couldn’t even imagine having the same feeling in her other hand if she still had it. Going through Kazuki’s memories, she could see just how his face twisted as he learned this power.
(No wonder no one uses magic back on earth. If they had to suffer like this every time, wh the hell would ever use it.)
As her thoughts began to wonder, her mind began to go blank and her movements became faster and more natural. Eventually, even the pain was slightly less, or rather she was able to ignore it or block it out slightly better.
*Shaa*
Kimi felt Sam’s hug around her body suddenly grow stronger and it became extremely uncomfortable really fast. Her eyes snapped open and she was about to ask him what was going on when her sight was filled with light.
Sam had jumped in front of Kimi before Reya noticed and he covered her in his shirt.
Kimi’s eyes were filled with the light of a small blade made entirely of golden rays.
(I…I did it!)
*Eugh*
Sam grunted in pain and Kim finally noticed Sam’s well-defined abs just past her blade. Her blade had appeared so suddenly that Sam had jumped right in front of her. The result of this was, Kimi’s blade had cut across his stomach without her notice. Only after Sam made any noise and she saw blood begin to pour out did she notice what she had done.
She almost jumped up in a panic as her blade of light vanished into thin air. She was still under his shirt however so when she stood up this fast, the top of her head, collided with Sam’s chin.
*Thud*
*Aeii*
A small yelp came from Kimi as she grabbed her head in pain. Sam though felt almost nothing from this collision and simply held her up so she didn’t collapse.
Reya hadn’t seen the light but how could she not see Sam’s large frame suddenly stand up out of nowhere.
Reya walked over annoyed.
(These humans are always up to something.)
“What do you two think you’re doing?”
Reya came over and just caught the scene of Kimi’s head poking out of the top of Sam’s tattered shirt. The two now had both of their heads poking out of the same hole and looked like a weird turtle monster.
Reya was left both confused and more confused. Shin spoke up for the two’s odd appearance.
“What do you expect. Look at their clothes. We are out here on this freezing cold night with this tiny fire. Unlike you, we humans need warmth to survive, so the two could only turtle up in these conditions.”
A question mark appeared above Reya’s head.
“Turtle up?”
Shin laughed on the inside. Pointing at Sam and Kimi he said with a serious face.
“That’s what those two are doing. Two people share one shirt and put their heads through the same hole, it’s called turtling up. As a matter of fact, I and Asuna were just about to turtle up as well, weren’t we?”
Shin looked at Asuna. Clearly, he was joking but when she heard that her eyelid twitched. Not even a second later a snowball flew straight at Shin. Shin of course dodged and yelled at her.
“Are you crazy, you trying to make me catch my death with that cold shit?”
Asuna retorted back.
“Crazy my ass, you want to turtle up then go do that nasty stuff with Danny. Don’t even mention my name.”
The two shared glares that could kill, while Danny felt his shoulders sink. His voice was weak as he mumbled.
“Why involve me?”
Reya was already annoyed from earlier and these two only pushed her further. She stomped hard on the ground, sending spiderweb-like cracks out from the epicenter.
*Crack Boom!*
“SILENCE!”
Asuna and Shin became as quiet as mice instantly. Reya pointed at the logs they had been sitting on just a second ago and she ordered.
“Sit your asses down and no more arguing. I might need you all alive but it’s not like you all need every limb intact. Keep on spuing crap and I’ll take an arm, GOT IT!”
Asuna and Shin nearly dove at their seats and nodded like sheep.
Reya smirked.
“Good!”
She glanced at Sam and Kimi’s weird scene and ignored them completely.
(Weird ass humans.)
She then turned and went back to her spot from earlier and watched them all like a hawk.
Kimi looked at the wound on Sam’s stomach and it was already closed. She gently rubbed it and sighed in relief.
“You’re not hurt anymore?”
Sam nodded.
“I’m fine but you, you did it.”
Kimi blushed slightly and the two shared a silent moment as they stared deeply into the eyes of one another. Kimi shut her eyes and stood on her tippy toes and the two locked lips, while still inside of one shirt.
Shin rolled his eyes at the two.
“What a lovely couple. Maybe share with the whole class though.”
Kimi and Sam both glared at Shin who shut his mouth at once. He turned his eyes away from Sam’s and started to quietly joke with Danny.
Sam hugged Kimi close to himself and whispered in her ear so that no one else could hear.
“I knew you could do it, good job.”
Kimi didn’t know why but these words really hit her. Ever since she lost her arm, she’s felt like a burden, a weakling. All the anger, all the despair, in this one moment, the words from Sam uplifted her and she felt warmth.
Kimi hugged Sam with her one arm even tighter and a few tears flowed down her cheeks. No more words needed to be said between the two.
[previous_page]
[next_page]
Comment (0)