Arc 2, Chapter 58: Before the Storm

"Ha… Can this be the rest of today's training?" Jotou sipped her tea, water rippling with paint next to her.

"Perhaps when you've earned it," Master Tensuo smirked.

Jotou rolled her eyes, the sword handle next to her was still recovering from the handprint around it. Sweat patted out by a towel, "Then what are we waiting for? I prefer to relax at the end; if I take breaks in between, I'll procrastinate."

"Hm, it's good to have spirit, but taking a break can help you rethink the things around you; including your strategy to fight."

Jotou scoffed, "I seem to do that better under pressure."

Master Tensuo laughed. "That you do. I'm happy you stick to your principles. You still have a long way to go in your training, but a novice is more deadly than a master.

It's harder to counter a novice who cannot be predicted than someone well-trained with a limited set of combat styles."

"You're telling me I'm better now than if I trained more from now?" she raised a brow.

"Not exactly, just more difficult to counter. The way I have trained you, you're not learning any past techniques, you're making it up as you go; your own fighting style.

I've merely taught you the basics and you're the one building it out from the foundations. I hope this style sticks with you; so that during any encounter, you will be as unpredictable as a novice yet as deadly as a master."

"Don't get comfortable with any one combat style and keep changing it… Ai, ai, ai… Sounds easy enough, no pressure," her eyes glazed over before they widened.

'Huh? A warning?' Jotou's eyes darted around the room, the electricity dissipated across her hair. The Sun's presence did not touch the garden…

Master Tensuo looked out alongside Jotou… "A thunderstorm?" her words were superseded by the flakes of white from above.

"Knock! Knock! Knock!" Her head turned.

"Who is it!?" Master Tensuo furrowed his brows.

"Uhm, hi! I'm kinda lost and this place looks official; can you help me find some guy named Master Tensuo?"

"Asobi?"

"Jotou!? Is that you!?"

Jotou looked to her master. "One of your friends? Let her in."

Jotou walked over, opening the door to the magician. "Jotou!" Asobi hugged, "We're all leaving Kria!"

"Oh- Wait, what?" Jotou put one arm around to hug, but the other stayed stunned in confusion. She leered behind, "Snow… Just like last time…"

The people of the district stopped in their tracks to glance up with their mouths agape. "Asobi, what's wrong?"

The elf jumped back, "Well! Uh, HI! I'm Asobi, Jotou's friend! We have some, private matters we need to talk about," Asobi leaned closer to Jotou, "Meko figured out the case…" she whispered.

Master Tensuo looked out and then back with his arms folded.

'She figured out the case!? Nice job Meko… Though, if it's snowing…' "You can say whatever you need to Sobi, it's fine."

"Oh, okay!"

_

Fingers scrunched into her blonde hair, her thumbs massaged her temples; if only that would stop the rising headache. "The Lexokodac… they're involved in all of this…?" her voice nearly growled.

"Uhhhhhhh, I don't think so? Meko just said Lexi."

"News in and out's being moderated, Kor's been lied to, people've been keeping an eye on us since day one… GAH!" she threw her arms out.

"No wonder the Krialin immediately came to me when I woke up in that coffin. It was all an act! Even me killing velatos with no magic…

Ugh, whatever, I can clearly kill them now. The snow, the sudden price drop, it all makes sense now. Ana was good with her work and when she figured out Kor was getting odd reports…

Kowalski, the store owner, Moren… Who the hell do we trust!? They played us like fiddles, we didn't even know half of what was going on!

And it's snowing… That means their next mission is right now. Master, I'm sorry I have to ask, did you know anything? Can I trust- Master?" Jotou's gaze turned.

Solemn he was, staring at the floor, "Moren…" he exhaled. "To what end…?" A single tear went down the wrinkles, "Jotou; I strive for Kria's safety… if one of my own has… I am unaware of all of this," he steadied.

"You, trained Moren Mataya?"

"Please, if you have any use of me, now's the time," Master Tensuo looked to the snow.

"Jotou, your master's your butler?" Asobi tilted her head.

"No," Jotou glanced back, "What do you mean, use?"

"You have a plan brewing or am I wrong about my student?"

"Well." 'You're not wrong, but the hell do I do?'

"Fumeko's packing her stuff. Hotaru went to the Magistrate District Krialin Station to get her father out of prison and I'm here to pick you up. Hotaru said we'd leave Kria."

Jotou's eyes bubbled, "That's not a great plan… We can't just leave. And, wait, you said we were targets didn't you? Why would you all split up!?"

Asobi hid behind her wand, "Hotaru said we can't just leave the people too, but Fumeko said she was scared… and we were going to go, all together…"

Jotou breathed out clouds, placing a hand on Asobi's shoulder, "We can do this all together, but not the leaving Kria part."

"Jotou…" the elf's eyes sparkled, "You really are a hero! You want to save all of Kria!?"

"Uh, that's more of an added benefit… If they have eyes on us and are pulling a plan like this, there's not a chance in hell we're leaving Kria with our lives. The only way out is head-on.

You guys planned to meet at the Ordinate right? And Kor's still there. We'll go there first, see if the other two made it. If not, we circle to Hotaru once we know the location of that station and get back home for Fumeko.

Once we're all together, we can pool our minds and come up with the best plan. Save your strength and your magic," Jotou inhaled, "Today's gonna be a long day."

_

"You may the keep the blade; it is the one you're most adept with," Master Tensuo strapped two swords to his sides.

The blue hilt poked out of her sheath, "I, can't guarantee it won't break from my spell…"

"The sword is a tool Jotou Howllett. Nothing would honour it more than to be in a battle such as this… So, this was the Regime's scheme all along," he pondered out loud.

"The Krialin are involved, no help there. The Ordinate has a few bad and a few good eggs. And I'm unsure about the adventurers. If there was one spirit assassin, who knows how many assassins there are in the shadows.

If Fumeko found their secret lair and the information was left in the open, then clearly they have no use for that information anymore. Which only means they have another, or multiple places to hide.

It adds up considering that it's snowing now. The plan is in action; how, what and where are the questions left—we know the who and the why.

But if they wanted control over Kria via shadow government… What's the play here by bringing the snow again? Get people inside? I guess that's the best answer we have."

"Fumeko always calls you paranoid, but I think she's wrong. I think you're really clever Jotou!"

The blonde's brows knitted, "I know it's supposed to be a compliment and yet…"

"Ready to leave then?" Master Tensuo turned on a lamp near a framed picture before he re-joined their conversation.

"Oh! Jotou, Meko said something about the Frosting Wind? She just said it was why the snow came."

"The Frosting Wind?" Jotou looked to her master. He shook his head. "I guess snow makes visibility low? People get cold and sluggish from a wind that's frosty?"

With a shrug, she approached the entrance—Master Tensuo and Asobi following behind. "What illusion should I make?"

"Like usual; make us look like we're somewhere else and us invisible-"

"Shh," Master Tensuo shushed, grabbing Jotou's wrist before it could reach the sliding door.

"What is it?"

"SHH!" he glared to the elf as she flinched. He brought his ear to the door.

They listened. The wind picked up and- "Crash!" "AAHHH!!!" All this time, the screams were behind closed doors, muffled by the wind.

"Someone's in trouble," Jotou slid open the door, other hand on her hilt. Snow flew past her bangs—a giant toad, covered in black shadow and ruby red eyes, a demented—"Ribbit."—before its tongue smashed into the floorboards.

Master Tensuo shifted back as Jotou held out her left arm in front of Asobi. "Master, cover your eyes! Asobi, blind it!"

"Got it!" she pointed her wand, "Well hello there froggy! Hope you don't mind being groggy! Blinding Light!" a beaming white shot out into its eyes.

"GRrrr!!" it croaked, staggering back and shaking its head out the doors. Jotou brought her arm away and unsheathed her blade. She ran out, the other two following.

Past the leaves and falling white specks, down the street till its end and only faint sounds around the corners—he twisting black shadows against the cold shiver.

Ruby red eyes gleamed at every home—roofs broken, creatures of all types, all sizes whilst the toad fell down the steps. "Looks like they were waiting to release their army…"

"What do we do Jotou? There're creepy-crawlies everywhere!" Asobi peered to the sky then around the door.

Jotou looked to the streets, not yet frozen over and the homes not yet destroyed. Blinding… The toad kept staggering back, uncomfortable.

"The plan hasn't changed, we just need to be faster. If they can control this many velatos, they probably have the area surrounded; I remember when I looked into one of its eyes…

If we can group them together or make them look in one direction; Asobi, you're gonna need one hell of a blinding light. We can't save everyone, but we can buy time."

"Okay, a big spectacular shiny boom, coming right up!"

"I can help protect the people here. You leave and enact your plan," Master Tensuo drew both his swords and descended the steps.

"Master, are you sure? Only master level spells can take them down."

The toad got back up. Blades spun in between his fingers as he swivelled them forward. "BASH! Slash! SLING!" He staggered and shoved the toad to the edge of the building with, not strength, but swift movements. "I'll manage."

"I… trust on you that," she put her blade back in its sheath.

"You can end this, I cannot. The more time you spend here, the later this ends. Go. This is my home; I will defend it, but I entrust you to save it."

Jotou stared… "We can't just leave an old man here, can we?" Asobi questioned.

"Eh, I'd rather not underestimate him. Please be careful Master. I'll try to put an end to this…" 'Can I even do this? I have to…'

"Go!" he swivelled his blade into battle.

"Come on Sobi," Jotou ran to the bike laid on the side.

Asobi hopped on behind. The pedals shifted, the blonde looked back as her Master pushed away velatos after velatos, going into the street while she rode away from it. "WEEE!!!"