Arc 2, Chapter 1: Thunder

'I woke up in a coffin, was greeted by a father I never knew and then, I was arrested. I've seen shows, read things and played games enough to kinda know what's going on, but this is not what I would've expected.

I don't know how I got here and I'm no closer to figuring out how to get back—still.' Jotou's eyes awakened to the increase of chatter around her.

Hotaru still on her knees next to Jotou's head, Asobi entertaining some injured guild member to her right and Fumeko sat near her feet; all of them turned to stare towards something—the sound around quieted down.

'I've made friends out of my allies and have done things here that I could never do in my world. For some reason I have an ability; one that can possibly save this city.

It's pretty obvious now. I have to face whatever this threat is and the sooner I do that, the sooner I get answers. I want to see my friends, my family even though I hate them and… myself again, at least once.

I may feel a little happy now, but if I don't try, I might never get those answers. The only way through this, is through this.' Jotou grunted slightly; her blonde hair drifted out on the mat she lied on, Hotaru still fiddling with the strands.

"Jotou," Fumeko noticed first.

"Huh!? Welcome back!" Asobi rushed over from doing her parlour tricks.

Hotaru's fingers retracted from the blonde, "Finally," she whispered. "You don't look like you just bled out of every pore of your skin."

"What!?" Jotou sat up, gawking at her hands, her arms; they were as pristine as ever. She sighed, not a pain in her body, "I get it, I shouldn't've done that. No need to lie to me," she took a deep breath.

"I'm not lying. You think doing a spell you've only read and never done before doesn't have repercussions? I spent three straight hours healing you!" Hotaru scolded.

"All three hours asleep and not one piece of meat in sight; I'm actually getting hungry," Fumeko grumped.

"Sorry…" no wonder her skin seemed flawless. It was all brand new. Jotou noticed that the scar on the redhead's neck was faded and gone.

A chilling breeze whistled into the room, the slight glimmer of dawn. Not from a window or an open door; instead, from a sundered upper floor.

Towels and clothes hung on the broken foundations of the roof, wind making them flutter. It was gone—the backside of the entire floor.

"What are you gawking at? You did that," Fumeko stared up to where Jotou peered. Shattered glass still dangled, not a trace of the dark creature she faced before left standing.

"We got all our stuff out though!" Asobi pointed to a neatly packed bag, a gigantic duffle bag and a sack tied together by rope, "All your stuff's in Fumeko's sack," Asobi poked it with her wand.

Jotou glanced around; the snowstorm had subsided, but the cold still reached her breath. Around her, injured members all on mats similar to her on the ground floor.

The stairs leading up was being cautioned off, Krialin beginning to wrap up the entire gap from one end of the hallway to the other with some sort of fabric.

It seemed like firefighters were also helping, judging by their uniform of blacks and reds and with the emblem of Kria on their shoulders.

Jotou could feel when she awoke, the many eyes peering towards her, injured and non-injured alike… "What exactly, in more detail, happened?" Jotou queried.

"Hm, you were dragged into the room after getting me out," Hotaru recalled.

"Then we heard you scream the spell. Hotaru almost ran in when you said it, but I held her back—fortunately," Fumeko crossed her arms.

"Me next! Me next!" she swished her wand, "Then a bunch of lightning shot out! Breaking all the bricks and windows through all the rooms with a loud BOOM!" Asobi recreated the display with awe in her eyes.

"Everyone's saying they heard it. Heard it through the entire city," Fumeko told them from her eavesdropping.

"Entire city…?" Jotou's mouth was agape.

Hotaru closed Jotou's jaw, "Then we rushed in and saw you bleeding out onto the floor. Eyes, nose and mouth dripping out blood, swollen nerves, blood vessels popped, rips in your skin-"

"Okay, okay; I don't need the image," Jotou threw her hands out in surrender. Jotou exhaled, her party falling silent for a moment. Odd looks and stares from every corner of the hall.

"Come on; you two can't be angry at me forever," Jotou pleaded.

"Probably not," Fumeko's eyebrows rose.

"Come on! Jotou did a MASTER level spell! Isn't that at least exciting!" Asobi cheered.

Hotaru could not hold her grimace any longer, sighing as she went to hug Jotou, "I'm not mad, just, annoyed you did that. You saved, everyone.

A lot of people were injured by the velatos, but I think you crashing down the building injured way more… But, you saved them from something worse," Hotaru placed a finger across her healed scar.

"Nobody died and that's because of you," her tail wagged as she let her go. "To control your emotions and have the ability to cast a spell much higher than you should be able to; and live? You must've had some resolve. Call me jealous," she assumed.

"Isn't it a bit suspicious that, nobody, absolutely nobody, died?" Fumeko looked around the guild.

"I wake up to conspiracy theories."

"Yeah, yeah, thanks for saving us, hooray; but what an amazing coincidence no one died," Fumeko glanced at the hole being covered up, the broken bricks…

"Well detective, what equation are you brewing now?"

Fumeko leered to the surroundings, "Not a single person died. The only person we know who came close, is here," she looked to Hotaru.

"The velatos can't attack you for some inexplicable reason, but it sure as hell can hit me," Fumeko pointed to Jotou. "If the velatos wanted to kill, like it did with Hotaru, then why pull me up to the ceiling instead of slitting my throat?

Does it feed on fear? If that's the case and it had this much power, why attack the guild? Wouldn't hundreds of houses be easier to feed on fear rather than brave adventurers?"

"We don't know the extent of the attack; maybe houses were also affected," Hotaru suggested.

"Then the timing of the snow? Not like a wild animal, it seems coordinated. Does it like playing with its prey? Can it summon snow? Things aren't adding up and I'm getting hungrier!"

Jotou recalled her previous conversation with the shadowed entity, "Well, I have some information about that," before Jotou could spout, everyone's attention went to the opening of the guild doors.

In full adventurer's attire, flowing black hair and muscles. A sword sheathed by his side as his boots stomped the ground.

"Oh! And something about Moren Mataya coming to make an announcement," Asobi stated, the three of them forgetting to tell Jotou.

Moren easily gathered everyone's attention; his ember eyes surveyed the damage for the second time now. "I've helped clear out the snow around the guild. Roads out are clear for departure," he announced.

His gruff voice groaned, his eyes flickering over to Jotou who stared back. His stomps approached with melting snow under his boots, past all the other people sitting or lying down.

Three of them backed up slightly, "Hi!" Asobi waved.

"Hi…" he said in exasperation; his stubble poked out, not even having the time to shave today, "Stand up Howllett."

Jotou gulped, the air around growing in silence as he towered above them. She stood, Hotaru and Fumeko following suit whilst Asobi rolled backwards and stood up.

He grasped both sides of Jotou's shoulders and she winced, still feeling some essence of pain and fatigue. He looked her in the eye, "I hear you're responsible for this… Thank you."

Jotou blinked a few times, "Aren't you mad…? That I, destroyed, you know…"

He glanced over to the covered gap in the building, "Needed to remodel anyway," he replied without a smile. His gaze returned, "What happened?"

Jotou stared him back in the eye, a little jittery, "Velatos. Much smarter, talked to me. It said it would tear the city apart; so I killed it," but she remained steady as she answered.

"It what?" Fumeko's eyes widened. Hotaru's hand went onto Jotou's shoulder.

Moren's gaze never shifted, his lips curling into a smirk, "I knew you were right for this guild." He let her go and turned back to the whole guild.

He scratched the back of his neck, "I'm sorry for your injuries and the loss of your belongings," Moren began. Asobi placed her wand near Moren's neck as his voice projected further.

"Hm? Thanks," he said to her, "However, you knew the risks of being an adventurer. While your positions within the guild will not change, there is no longer free lodging.

Food will be served in requirement and not in excess, so request before dining. You are welcome to stay here, the floor is all I can offer, but otherwise I would suggest finding other places of residence.

Fortunately, we have just enough funds to repair these damages and we'll be up and running again within the month. Till then, investigations will take place surrounding the matter before any news is released.

No other attacks occurred to my knowledge, any family you have are safe and compensation will be given to those who help clear out the snow throughout the city.

Which I will be getting back to shortly," he sighed. "And thank you, to Jotou Howllett, for," he looked to her, a nod of respect, "protecting Kria," he finished.

Mild mutters of thank yous went throughout the crowd, "You're all, welcome," Jotou hid her face slightly.

Moren moved Asobi's wand away, "Thanks to all of you," he faced the four. "I'll be on my way then," he regained some of his usual vigour as he left the guild, some members following him out.

They were left standing; people went back to their business with one or two glances at Jotou every now and again. Fumeko grabbed her by the collar of her dress, "The velatos talked to you!?" she whispered.

Jotou recoiled back, "It did. It also technically talked to Hotaru," she stated not in a hush.

"I suppose it did," Hotaru winced as she relived the memory.

"And that's all it said?" Asobi enquired.

"Not exactly."

"We need to go talk," Fumeko held her stomach.

"Maybe not right now?" Hotaru disagreed, "Look, we all just went through that. While we do need to discuss it, we need to make sure everything else is stable.

We need to be careful with money and we need a place to stay. This place isn't going to make us feel calmer. We need some rest and need to clean ourselves up."

"No!" Fumeko whined, "I want breakfast! I want to eat first; I'm starving from all the stress!" she shook her leg.

"I'm hungry too," Asobi uttered.

"The kids do need to eat," Jotou said to Hotaru.

"Hey!" Fumeko shouted louder.

"Yeah! Meko's the kid! I can drink! She told me!" Asobi argued whilst getting a glare from the girl in purple.

"Fine, we can do that," Hotaru conceded.