Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 259: Arc 4, Act II, - 104: Midnight Cascade
"Jotou~"
The moment her eyes opened, she could feel warmth under her eyelids, an uneasy hotness against her forearms and legs, her bangs stuck to her forehead... "Ugh..." This was what you got for waking up at noon.
In the uncomfortable heat, the blonde awoke to empty beds all around her. The dulcet voice of a certain redhead in her ears, just as the same person appeared by her bedside.
"Wake up," a kiss was planted against the same ear.
"Don’t do that when I’m like this," Jotou’s face scrunched and she faced up.
"I’ve seen in you in worse conditions," Hotaru remarked and stood upright. With the strength of a teddy bear, the Thundering Blade lifted the sheets off of her and lazily sat up. "It’s shower day."
Eyes previously half-shut and in a daze, popped right open, "Finally," Jotou exhaled. She observed Hotaru in her full adventuring attire, both hands behind her back...
"Here you are," the smiling Hotaru handed a bouquet of thundering blitzes from behind.
Jotou fluttered her lashes, "For, me?"
"Well, obviously," she chuckled.
A warm fuzzy feeling. "I," the corners of her lips curled up and up, staring at the six-petalled flowers of white, three petals long and three short and curved.
The nitrogenous, intoxicating aroma of sharp sweetness, filled her lungs. She tilted her head and beamed, accepting the short but large bouquet, "Thank you."
Hotaru smiled wide till her fangs glistened, "You’re too adorable."
"Shut," she faced away.
"I asked for these on the last supply run; since you keep saying ’I’m disgusting!’ even though you’re fine," Hotaru rolled her eyes. "You can wear a few throughout the week and you won’t have to worry too much."
Jotou hummed as she fell back on the bed, keeping the flowers safe in one hand. She closed her eyes.
"Hey, come on, wake up, it’s going to be one."
"Hm... No thanks. But you’re more than welcome to join me~"
Hotaru grinned, "I’ll have to decline Ms Howllett, I have things to do; like healing people."
The sly smile faded away, "How’s it been?" Jotou asked.
The wolf-girl took a deep breath and sat next to the fallen blonde, "It’s been better since last week; I’m not relying on rejuvenates anymore so that’s nice. I’m not tired, it’s just been repetitive.
Soldiers transported all the way to Division Six’s main base just to be healed by me or Feyan and then sent back. I understand healing magic on our side has its benefits, but I can’t help but feel that maybe it’s being taken advantage of for every little injury."
Hotaru flinched as she felt two arms hold onto her from behind and give a soft hug, "There, there. This won’t last for too long. Keep doing what you’re doing, you’re doing amazing," Jotou had risen back up to hang off of the redhead.
Hotaru closed her eyes and savoured the embrace. Who needed some rejuvenate spell?
’Won’t last too long. Easy words to say when you have no idea how long the long is. Today? The 24th of October; a week since we got back from fighting Dread.
Time flew by, counting every second and betting every hour on when the next disaster will be. I got to see a few mission reports here and there, the other filled me in on anything else important.
All of our divisions are advancing, minimal losses for most cases. However, one saw a devastating loss; Division Four. They’re fine for the most part, but a lot of their forces were cut down after what happened.
Even so, things are actually working in our favour. The one constant variable in all of it? Not a single report or sighting of another elite soldier. Could this be it? That’s all she wrote? The last of the elite soldiers? Heavily doubt it.
Still, we’re not needed. Which meant that we spent most of our time sitting around here, waiting for something and a whole week went by.’
_
’And once again, it’s already night within the blink of an eye. Feels like I did nothing today too.’ Sat upon a rock was a blonde woman. Her ponytail fluttering in the wind with a few loose blonde strands.
She peered up to the sky, the hour ticking a few seconds after midnight. She would only see shelves of dark clouds looming, one or two flashes of purple within them.
She observed; thin, not too fluffy. She could see the winds blowing and yet in the distance she swore the sky was clear. A small burst of rain was headed for the Ufaedari Plateaus.
’It’s cold; a nice chill compared to the day. So much better. Heh. I’m slowly becoming nocturnal again. Maybe I should wake up in the evenings. So lucky weather, why have you come tonight?’ "Just to see me?" she joked to herself.
Shadows formed and with it brought a brunette. Fumeko paused, glancing at what Jotou peered to. "You know the stars aren’t coming tonight, right?"
Jotou kept her eyes on the sky, "You know if you wanted to talk to me, you can say hello instead of that, right?"
Fumeko grumbled, "There’s just nothing to do, alright? And they said no more food for today, to me; to me! This is an outrage!" 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
"Why don’t you go practice your spells?"
Her brown eyes darted away, her outcries going silent, "You think I haven’t? Teleport must sorta be like blink, it’s just a matter of distance and upscaling it.
I have no clue where to even start with Spider Walk. I keep running up things and keep falling! There’s barely an indication the spell even worked."
Jotou gazed down to Fumeko, "Well, why don’t you take it slow and climb using your hands and feet. You know, like a spider? As in the name of the-"
"Yeah, yeah!" Fumeko huffed. "I’m trying, it’s still hard. Which should be possible for the great detective, Fumeko Namora, a master level caster," she flaunted her hair.
"Uh huh..." she looked back to the sky.
She crossed her arms, "What? You’ve got Webbing Lightning down?"
"I’m not even supposed to be thinking of that spell."
"Which is exactly why you are," Fumeko’s eyes glazed over.
Jotou peered back down, giving a content smirk, "You know me well detective~ I’ve been attempting to at least figure it out." She lifted her right arm and clenched her fist.
Jolts of electricity began to arc from her knuckles, jumping down the back of her palms and to her fingertips. The lightning began to fizzle and spread down her arm within a second.
The sound got louder and louder, like it was charging up- Jotou opened her fist and the spell dissipated. She winced, flapping her right arm before she grabbed her palm.
Jotou massaged and soothed from her wrists till her fingers, "I obviously don’t wanna cast it right now. That already makes my hand feel stiff and fuzzy... I know I can cast it, I can feel it, but-"
"You have no idea what happens once the spell fires."
Jotou tightened her lips and shook her head.
Fumeko sighed, "We’ve been sitting here for a week twiddling our thumbs anyway, maybe you should try casting it tonight. Test it out, Hotaru’ll be on standby and we can see what happens-"
"FWOOSH!!!!! WASH!! SPLASSH!!!"
"The hell!?"
"THE HELL!?"
Both of them swivelled around to the noise, the soldiers patrolling all turned to one direction. From the southwest came a sudden flood of glowing murky blue water.
It gushed through everything in the direction, including tents and soldiers who were caught and dragged along the flow. All of it coming towards the two of them.
Jotou leapt down from the rock and Fumeko glanced around, "Jotou! They’re asleep!" Fumeko pointed at the tent to the right, still away from the incoming flood.
"Go, go, go!" Jotou sprinted in the direction whilst the other blinked the entire way.
"HEY, FLOOD, GET UP!!!" Fumeko burst into the tent.
Daiyu groaned awake and sat up in one motion, "Flood?" she half-closed her right eye. Hotaru mumbled herself awake, her bent down ear flicked back up. Arabella stretched herself up.
Asobi threw the blanket she was holding a tiny illusory show under instead of sleeping. "How can there be a flood in a desert-y place like this?"
"YOU THINK I KNOW!?"
"You are the detective," Daiyu replied; at which point her brows furrowed, hearing the muffled splashing of water behind her.
Meanwhile, Jotou a bit slower to catch up to the blinking brunette, came to a halt. She turned to the incoming water; no longer incoming that is.
It was no flood, it was a wave... The water rose up and crashed down, and now what remained was the remnants of its path. The soldiers moved towards it to get their comrades who were swept away.
Her blonde brows knitted, watching the water spread across the previously dry earth and trickle down the many things it went through... ’That came out of nowhere... Magic...’
Her eyes circled in their sockets, calculating. ’One of the elites?’ "Rainstorm?"
"So you know of me."
Jotou twisted her head to the voice. Atop the tent her friends were in, loomed a figure as tall as her. Light blues, five thin fabrics fluttering in the wind behind him like a cape.
A helmeted head with a wide, faded blue visor; carbon-like plating across his entire body. A striking resemblance to what Jotou had seen Frost wear.
However, there was no mistaking her voice with his. It was sonorous and filled with pride. She only had a moment to memorize the figure.
"Think carefully of the next steps you take," was the only warning he gave before he lifted his arm up. Jotou drew her blade. With the movement of his arm—"SPLUSH!!!"—water surged from underneath the tent he stood.
"NO!" Jotou’s eyes widened.
Just a second before the water emerged, Fumeko looked down, seeing glowing water droplets forming out of nothing. When the splash it, it was too late.
"AAHH-BLUB!" Fumeko shut her mouth and held whatever breath she had left. The others had now fully awoken, only to be submerged in a torrent of water.
Jotou watched as the tent and everything within was uprooted and flung into the air by a spout, while Rain rode the jet into the air and leapt from the tent.
The soldiers rushed to her side while the blonde was stood idly, unable to do much except hope. Rain formed the water into discs he hopped onto to break his fall before they dissipated.
"BLAST!" "Blast!" "BLAST!" Rifles and muskets fired, many of them drenched, making their firearms useless. ’Think of something, think of something.
HE’S IN THE AIR, WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO!? FLY!?’ Jotou glanced around, no sign of her friends and no sign of anything of where they were.
Rain formed drops of the water into a blade and leapt onto the side of the falling tent. "PWOOSH!!!" Water jetted him sideways and another spout blasted through the tent’s entrance.
As Rain was flung forward, the back of the tent tore open, letting out a burst of water and alongside it, five trapped bodies. Jotou ran towards the direction Rain sprang.
"CHUFF!" "CHUFF!" "CHUFF!" "CHUFF!" "CHUFF!" Like stakes being driven into the ground, the surge of water formed into five pillars, each trapping one of the five.
The remainder of the water rained down as Rain landed in front of the five pillars of glowing murky blue water. The five bodies emerged from the pillars to the front side, several metres off the ground.
They all gasped for breath, Arabella being the only one completely drenched; the ash around her eyes was gone, while the rest had their adventuring gear. Even so they were soaked from head-to-toe.
Their arms and feet were trapped in binds, only half their bodies stuck out of the pillars to allow them to breathe. Rain stood upright, the sword made of water in his grasp; he stared to the incoming blonde and put his hand up, to signal her to stop...
