Arc 2, Chapter 61: Control

Snuggling her scarf closer to her neck, the redhead in the blue trench coat walked out of the carriage. A hand above her eyes, she checked the Krialin Station sign.

She glanced around, this place was usually, packed… Regardless, some people went about their business—the Ordinate tower loomed in the distance.

"Hm. Slow day," she pushed past the doors… A front desk, cubicles in the back. She had been to this Krialin Station one too many times.

It was either this one or the one in East Kria. Her gaze went to the stairs leading down—the holding cells. Lights were on, files and papers scattered…

But where were the people? Hotaru got closer, leaning over the front desk, phone silent as a mouse. Then who called her? Her eyes widened, "If you're hiding somewhere, show yourself!"

Her voice echoed into the empty station. Heartbeats ran a marathon—she checked her watch with a gulp. Fumeko did say the Krialin were in on it…

She had evidence, enough to put them all away for a long, long time if not a death penalty for aiding in a war crime… "But no hard evidence," she justified, walking past the desk.

Every corner she checked. The doors to the public was one good sprint away, but not if she walked any further in. Water formed at her fingertips…

"I didn't realize this was a trap from the start… Then again, if I didn't come… Show yourself! I'm here!" If she could just get one face, one report; it would be enough.

End this case for good; it's already tried to kill her twice… Healing magic for herself, or if she decides to fight the undead that would appear around… that corner!

Nope, nothing. Ears kept sharp, they would look like crimson horns from behind—her tail akin to a red cactus at this point. "Fine," she strode forward, checking through what papers were there.

_

In the back corner of the back corner, keys dangled from filing cabinets; she had been searching now for hours; not a peep, not even a roach ran by.

Feverishly she shifted through each file. Her fingers knowing the end of a set, moving onto the other set to flip the pages; not even crinkling it as she turned.

Her eyes barely stopped at one word; she had done this for years after all, she had to just find- "Fumeko? A merc spotted assaulting three men in Brate's Pub and Inn?

When did Fumeko go to that awful place?" her fingers drifted. These papers fresh, unlike the brown ones they were sandwiched between.

"Theft, Fumeko Namora. Location High-Town, spotted stealing… fish cakes from a street vendor…" Hotaru sighed, "That girl…"

"Destruction of property, West Port. Destruction of property, Kria Adventurers Guild. Damages, Bargain District, shops, windows-

These are all velatos related commissions, they would be pardoned by the guild. But these are just ours and they're all in really old files…"

Hotaru shut the folder, skimming through the rest. Fumeko's crimes on her first day here, Jotou resisting arrest, Asobi obtaining tips from various establishments while entertaining, and a few more.

"They're covering up our crimes?" the only possible conclusion for the files' location, "They tried to even possess Jotou… They wanted full control over the situation," she pondered on her way out.

She heard a howl against the window? She squinted—webs of frost had taken over the corners. Her ears bristled, "Oh no…" the sounds of chaos outside she neglected to hear throughout her search.

She dashed out the- "Dad," she halted, rolling her eyes. "Might as well check first," she paced to the stairs, picking up the chain of keys from the wall.

If chaos and snow had arrived, then there was no point sticking to rules right now. The jail cells, row by row devoid of prisoners, except for one body lying in the corner.

She breathed out, "You've been here this entire time? Yeesh," she went forward, knowing his favourite spot. "Come on dad, wake up, I have to go," she sneered.

Curled up against the wall, brown filled with greys his fur and torn clothing. She jingled the keys, testing them one by one, lips tightened, "Dad, wake up, Kria's not safe right now," her brows furrowed.

She opened the cell, entering, "Come on you drunk, I have friends to go- Dad? Dad, hello?" she kicked him by the side. Not a reaction from him.

She leered… Crouching down, her pinkie finger poked him, "Let's go you disgusting sack of… Dad? Seriously, wake- Dad?" he barely moved.

Fed up with her own shenanigans, she pulled his body over as it limply fell to her touch, "Dad!? Dad!" her hands filled with water, shaking his chest and stomach.

Crimson trailing down his neck, "No, no, no! Dad, no!" her hands shivered over his neck, ears drooping down, "Heal, heal, heal, please heal." Not easy healing a corpse.

Breath quickening, water ran down his shirt collar just like the tears from her brilliant blue eyes; her spell failed again and again. She checked his eyes, the same colour as hers, but hazy…

If they were hazy… How long did she spend upstairs…? Was he long gone when she walked in? Her father's blood tainted her palms, mixing with the water as she clasped her mouth shut.

She turned behind her, the cell door was missing; she turned back, the wall was missing, so was the ground, the other walls. Nothing more than her father's corpse and her, surrounded by inky black she had seen before…

Ruby red eyes… an office? The sound of shoes and was that? "Dad," her hand reached out, but his corpse was still on the floor. He stood near a desk, hair brown and groomed, in a suit.

Pen across paper, writing down details, but then his ears stiffened. "Dad?" she tried calling again, but it was futile. He walked around, but the scene she watched barely moved an inch. These were memories—his.

He overheard two others in the office talking, "I get that they were a tortured and experimented bloodline or whatever, but just kill 'em off already. Why'd these animals get human rights?"

Scoffing, "Someone in the office gets rabies, then they'll reconsider," the two chuckled. His ears folded, he walked away with a sigh.

Hotaru's brows furrowed, "That's not like you at all…" she whispered as the shadows warped and reformed. His hair with greyer bits and suit barely intact—loosened tie.

He sat isolated, near the entrance of a pub. Bottle in hand, he sipped, dividing his earnings on the table. The doors burst open as a stray dog ran in.

Right next to the doors, he flinched, kicking his leg up and accidentally booted the brown dog. The dog snivelled then growled at him, barking, but before long two Krialin rushed in, capturing the stray and taking it away with an apology.

"This is what invitin' a dog into your pub gets ya. All the mutts run towards the scent," some voice from a shadow behind. He side-eyed, sighed and put away his things.

"Past lover Liam?" the bartender laughed. He growled a little and let it go. "Oh right, is that the bitch you screwed to get that daughter of yours?" laughter went around.

His tail spiked and ears bristled, the chair screeched back, "Leave my daughter out of this you sacks of shit!"

"Look what ya done now Brate, you got the mutt pissed off."

He growled, "You wanna go at me go right ahead, but you're the godamn dogs around here. My daughter's gonna do better things in her life than all you jackasses combined!"

"Pfft. You're better off selling your bitch to some brothel Liam. At least get some money to pay your tab. Hey, sell her to me. I'll make sure to give her some treats and make her a good pup for hire. Some people got their kinks-" "CRASH!" "-GAH!"

A glass bottle shattered against the bartender's face, "YOU BASTARD!"

Hotaru faced down to his slit throat; she no longer cared to wipe her tears, "Dad…" she whimpered. "Again dad?" Hotaru looked up, the shadows reformed—her own voice she heard…

A shadow-Hotaru cleaned up his bruises, "I can't keep doing this," she sighed, healing the wounds.

"They were talking bad about-"

"Part-humans?" Hotaru cut him off, "You're not helping the problem dad, you're just making it worse."

He sighed, "Yeah; Sorry little firefly," he brushed his finger across her face, "You learned to heal your acne? Your face is so clear."

Hotaru slapped away his hand, "Stop calling me that. And I don't have to tell you anything, you don't even care about what's going on in my life. I better not see more booze in the house again."

"Eh, what do you know kid. Study all you want, they're not gonna treat you right," he knitted his brows.

"So? I should just give up? I won't know till I try and I'll make it right. You're the idiot here. So do me a favour and shut up for once. I'm not the one picking fights with every idiot who annoys me."

The shadows reformed, leaving the brilliant blue pools of tears staring, mouth agape… Watching through a doorway, two people argued, her hand so small… The voice of her mother?

Someone grabbed her wrist, she was outside, walking down the streets, starry-eyed.

"Come on firefly, we're going somewhere better. Somewhere for a fresh start, where the cultures clash for every meal imaginable, the sea brings a fresh breeze and there's a beautiful night sky. The City of New Beginnings."

The little Hotaru smiled, walking with her father down the roads of Luxinor. That memory was not his… She could recall those words through innumerable tears…

"Dad," she picked him up by the back, "I'm so sorry," her face scrunched, "I'm so sorry, dad, I'm so sorry," she hugged him, "You tried, you tried your best, I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry I couldn't see it, I'm so sorry," she sobbed over and over. He wasn't the best father, but he was hers; gripping tightly his body, it had long gone cold.

"Why… do you care… about… the people Hotaru?" whispers surrounded her. Her head darted up, "Do you want to save… the bystanders because… you care about their lives…? Or is it because… you want to prove that you're… a good pup?"

"No," she could barely whimper out. The doubt caressing her mind like the shadows around. Was it true?

"You want to be… cherished… by the people who stoned you… admit it… You only care… so that you can be treated like a hero…"

Her tail curled up in her lap—hands around her dead father—all she could do was cry. Limbs reached out from the darkness, in the corners of her tears. Was there any point to fight…?

"I want to help… I do want to be praised…" she murmured, "I want to change things… I want to be better than the people that shun me… I still care for their lives."

Was that too much to ask for? A naïve child's- "I think that dream is sweet! Doesn't sound stupid at all to me," Asobi's reassurance that day. The limbs drew closer.

"We look out for one another, right? We all have problems; we all have things haunting us, we all make mistakes. But that doesn't mean you need to be the perfect one to guide us all out.

You're no longer alone. You have me; you've saved my life plenty of times by just being you. Wolf-girl, part-human, beautiful redhead, it doesn't matter.

It's who you want to be that counts. You're not a burden. You're the most coordinated person I know," Jotou's words before the limbs struck forward.

Her father dropped onto the floor as Hotaru grasped onto the spike about to impale her heart. Just this morning, holding the panicked brunette's hands; for a moment, she noticed how Fumeko steadied and calmed.

Healing wasn't working, why wasn't it working!? She groaned, before another limb- "Shtick!" It pierced through her heart from behind, as a choked breath escaped her lips; a limb wrapped around her neck.

A fading white through her vision she saw, whimpering her breaths through the stinging pain. Don't lose, don't lose; don't lose control.

"I can do all that… and have people to care for."

"Let this be my verbal contract to you, Ms Jotou Howllett."

"I hope I'll get to explore the world someday."

"YOU BETTER NOT GET INTO A SITUATION LIKE THAT AGAIN WOLFY!"

"How about, we play hide and seek!?"

…

Her hand managed to catch the limb piercing through her, "Heal!" she screamed. Water glowed blue and burned the spike she held as well as the other.

Her breath quickened, managing to push her spell into her punctured heart—the bones and tissue along with it as the limb retracted and disintegrated.

She wedged her fingers between her neck, "Heal!" the water wrapped around, like acid to flesh it recoiled. She took a big gasp, "I have people to care for. And people who care about me."

She stood up, snarling, ears and tail spiked, "You don't have control over me." She brought her hands out, water forming as something grabbed her ankle.

Her father, ruby red eyes; her own eyes faltered for a second, "I'm sorry dad."

"My daughter's gonna do better things in her life…"

Glowing blue, the water gathered and gathered, like an orb in between her palms. The shadows began to retreat, "HEAL!" she splashed it across the room, causing sizzles to emit.

It was nothing like her healing before… It glowed much brighter—rain against the entire cell as her father fell to the floor, limp.

Hotaru took a breath; around her fell hundreds and hundreds of bugs from roaches to ants—dead rats scattered about. "Thud! Thump!" As well as bodies of Krialin in uniform and people—presumably prisoners.

"So that's what you're made of," the things all lied dead around her as she creased her face.

She knelt to her father… and took a moment… She kissed him on the forehead, "Thank you; for doing your best. I'm sorry I ever resented you, but you didn't make it easy, did you?" she brushed his hair, a regretful smile she wore.

"I swear by my name and my blade. We can set Kria free from the shadows."

"Jotou?" she peered up, hearing the voice echoing in the cell. She pulled her father out of the cell and leaned him against the bars, "Rest all you want," she set her scarf around his neck.

"To laugh, to play and to fight together!" The snow whisked past her face as the redhead stepped out. The Ordinate in the distance was shrouded in blue wind, velatos attacked and Krialin were stunned in place after what they heard.

"Asobi."