Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 299: Interlude - 18: That Day
"I look like, Anastasia?" Jotou fluttered her lashes.
"What’s this supposed to mean?" Asobi glanced to Iridina.
"It’s her mind, she should tell me," Iridina shrugged.
"So this is unprecedented?"
"More like irrelevant. I’m more intrigued by, all of this," the mouse-girl crouched down to wave her hand over the grass. "SNAP!" A flower coated in the miasma stretched up and tried to bite at her hand.
Jotou put her left arm in front of Asobi, "I assume that’s unprecedented too?" the blonde’s blue eyes narrowed.
"..." Iridina recoiled and stayed on the path. "It feels like I know more about you... but I still don’t... I can’t access all your memories as of yet," her irises changed into a dark blue hue and back.
"Whatever enchantment this is should be the main focus."
"Of course, however I can normally access everything by now. If I can find the way in, then we can understand the enchantment better. Give me a moment."
Iridina closed her eyes and flickered her hands around. She took a deep breath, sending her glowing white hair drifting into the air whilst the other two watched.
Her eyes jolted open and a soft pink flash burst forth from her location, pulsing across the space like a sonar. "BRRR!" The space around them quaked, prompting the elf to hold onto Jotou’s shoulders while the blonde widened her stance.
What an odd vibration it was. The ripple shifted all perception, like the ground was akin to an ocean’s waves. The ceiling above enlarged and shrunk, almost as if they were about to be crushed, but they somehow knew it wouldn’t.
The space returned to normal, leaving them standing where they were. "That was spookily fun!"
"Fun?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"I see." Iridina turned to them. "This enchantment has taken root in your affinity. You, are an enigma to even yourself... A lot of things are in disarray and I do not mean the enchantment on your mind.
That’s as much as I can get; everything else I can’t confirm, for I cannot glean further. The memories are all fuzzy."
"So, that’s it? Is there any way you can know more?" Jotou knitted her brows.
"Perhaps. However, with a thousand locks and single key for them all, how am I supposed to get through any door?"
"I’ve already got a massive dilemma over here," Jotou waved her hands around the miasma, "I don’t need riddles on top of it."
"Jotou, you need to give permission," Asobi uttered.
"I already did, that’s how we’re here," the blonde faced her.
"She’s solved the riddle it seems." Iridina shook her head and sighed, "You still don’t trust me; you’re too paranoid. You’re trying to keep the doors locked, giving me only what I need, instead of giving me access to it all.
It seems you’re trying to eat your cake and have it too. If you don’t want to trust me, then I can’t help you. You have the ability to hide your mind behind this enchantment. So if you want the truth, it’s up to you to come out."
Jotou stood staring silently at her.
"Jotou, are you scared?" Asobi leaned in, overtaking the blonde’s view.
She watched the jade-green eyes waver in concern. Her brows unknitted and her shoulders relaxed. "Maybe... I hate the idea of someone being able to read my mind.
There’s a lot of thoughts I can’t control and some things I think of that are just, wrong. I can discern and control that easily, but if it’s able to be heard and read by others... You heard my innermost thoughts before..."
Asobi tilted her head, "The one wanting attention and compliments? That’s not so bad. Everybody wants that! Besides, you wanted to be a hero, right? You want to be remembered, so it only makes sense."
Jotou’s lips curled up as she gazed at the floor, "There’re much worse thoughts than that in here..." she hushed. At that moment, she felt a hand grabbing hers and looked up to notice Asobi.
The magician watched the blue eyes—not Jotou eyes; not the ones she knew. "I won’t think any differently of you. I know who you are; you’re you," there it was—the smile that could brighten any room.
"I..." Jotou exhaled, letting her mind calm down. "Alright," she gripped Asobi’s hand tighter. With a deep breath, she let all her paranoia, worry and fears go.
A low hum resonated from Jotou and going outwards from her, the dark purple miasma retracted and retracted, till it vanished...
Flowers of blues, yellows and purples twinkled all throughout the teal grass. The moths were not moths, rather butterflies of pure lightning that fluttered and fizzled in their flight.
Above them, through the fragments of glass the made up the dome was a sea of stars that was glittered with stars of all colours and cosmic dust bubbling, swirling and floating up—or was it down?
The cottage looked a lot like their house in Kria; except there was a large telescope sitting upon the roof and a table set outside with five white chairs.
"Pring! Pring!" A bicycle meant for children went around the place on its own. While it was not raining nor were there clouds in sight, the chill of an incoming storm breezed past their hair, bringing along the scent of petrichor with it.
"Woah..." Asobi’s eyes glittered.
"Enchanting is it not?" Iridina’s irises turned pink. "What a wonderous mind to hide. Perhaps you should be less fearful of how you perceive yourself.
I can see clearly now, those dark memories of times when you were much bitter. No regrets? Yet you’re haunted more by them in your awareness than anyone else."
Asobi looked to her hand, still gripped by the other. Her gaze trailed up her arm, only to see black sleeves and a yellow coat; the blonde strands ended in blacks and her eyes the brown she was used to.
The blonde looked around and closed her eyes. Her brows knitted, "Do you hear that?" She wasn’t talking about Iridina’s harsh remarks of course.
Asobi and Iridina hunted with the ears out. Softly, they began to hear the rhythm which gradually became louder and louder. Jotou’s foot was shaking to the beat long before the two heard it.
"What’s this song? It’s unique..." Iridina’s irises went red. "Ah, music of your world?" she detected with a quick flash of pinkish light.
"I, never thought I’d hear music like this again," her teeth shined as the pop music she hadn’t heard for so long returned to her senses.
Jotou swaggered along the path with her eyes closed, following the beat. Her shoulders swayed and in twirls she went along, pausing to strike a pose whenever the rhythm suited it—shame was a mere afterthought given the circumstances.
Asobi giggled before hopping along right behind. "Right then, to the memories we go," Iridina followed with a slight bob of her head.
How were the lyrics so accurate? How could she possibly remember any of this? Even if she tried she could barely hum the tune normally, but in the mind~
The butterflies of lightning danced around her as she moved, sparking along her form to her movements till Asobi took her by the hand to be guided along.
The blonde took no issue; with her eyes still shut she turned the solo act into a duet. Lip-syncing the lyrics, the stars in the sky gleamed brighter, almost like a spotlight and the grass settled, turning into a holographic dance floor to her footsteps.
Every scrunch of the nose and every wrinkle on her face Asobi observed, laughing at the blonde lost in a trance. The elf saw a much more genuine smile than usual, before-
Asobi was hit with a wave of memories causing a loud gasp. "What was that!?" Her brows wrinkled and around her was just darkness...
Still, her hand was gripped by a boy in a dark grey jacket, "Sobi~" he smiled.
Asobi blinked a few times.
"Why? My music tastes not good enough?"
"No, it was phantasmagorical! I just, I feel like I just saw... never mind it might just be me."
"Well, if you saw something," Jotou looked up and lights began to form like twinkling stars. Each one playing a memory as they expanded.
More and more appeared—beneath them—around them. "I have a pretty good guess of what you might’ve seen."
"Welcome to your memories. It seems you’ve given me full access to your mind," Iridina popped into existence before them.
"Have you found out what you needed to find?" a songbird-like voice asked. Asobi glanced; the same hand she held, but within the blink of an eye Jotou was a woman again.
"Yes. The moment of death-" "CRASH!!!"
A male Jotou shuddered, holding Asobi’s hand tighter. They were no longer in void, but watching fragments of glass in frozen time, a car seat in front of them about to crush them...
"This is..."
"The crash that spelled the end of your previous life, yes."
"Jotou, where are we?"
"This is my friend Ramond’s car."
"Ooo, a sedan!"
"Right- Wait, how do you know that?"
"Daiyu told me and Meko about cars in your world!"
"Figures," Jotou glanced around the frozen scene. "That truck," Jotou leered to the large lorry that was crumpling into the front of the small car. "Ramond wasn’t paying attention, sure, but why was the truck even on this side of the road?"
"That day, is the day we got the Thundering Blade in this world," Iridina let the scene play out in slow motion... However, this was something Jotou couldn’t recall.
As far as he remembered, there was a flash of white light and he was she. He didn’t even remember the truck or the feeling of his legs being crushed...
"I’ve turned off the ability for you to feel currently, for obvious reasons."
Ramond’s eyes wide in shock. Crispy’s head leaning to the right and expression unknown. Daiyu being flung forward and Kaleb unable to be seen from Jotou’s view.
"Jotou..."
"I’m fine," Jotou’s songbird-like voice replied.
The memory kept playing, before dark purple mist began to flood it. Iridina froze the memory, "This is when the spell took effect. At the moment of death, when that enchantment took you.
When you obtained an affinity, the enchantment rooted itself into it." The memory continued. A flash of white light, like being pulled through stars, but Jotou was as good as blind.
Next thing the memory showed, was a bright light shining through. The smell of thundering blitzes, lying upon something comfy and, "Augh!" the need for air.
The reflection of a woman with yellow hair surrounded by white flowers. The brown eyes reflecting back as she sputtered and coughed before throwing her hands against the glass, "Help! Get me out!" the songbird-like voice screamed...
"Wait," the memory paused as Jotou spoke. "I don’t remember seeing a purple mist; I just woke up in that coffin after I heard the crash. How can I not remember that?"
"I don’t think magic was involved in that. I believe the panic of the moment made you forget. However, I can enchant the mind to recover even forgotten memories. This is what truly happened as your subconscious remembers it."
"Okay, I understand that... But what do you mean, ’rooted itself in my affinity’? You’re saying that, that spell brought me here, right? I couldn’t’ve had an affinity before that and Anastasia didn’t have an affinity, so how’s that work?"
"Your mind is very confused right now."
"My mind is too..." Asobi replied.
Iridina’s sigh they both heard, "Let me rephrase what I’ve found. A spell was cast to bring you from your world, into our world. That spell successfully did so as you died.
That spell or enchantment first latched onto your mind, bringing your subconscious and memories here.
As you entered this world—the process of which I cannot clarify because there seems to be no recollection of that in your mind—you gained an affinity of your own accord.
Affinities are closely related to your memories and mind; they are the gates that allow you to collect and transform the natural mana of the world into the spells you cast.
The spell or enchantment, then latched onto your affinity as well. Not unintentionally I should add; it seems this process was somewhat thought out."
"So you’re saying, someone casted a spell that brought me into this world."
"Highly likely. This enchantment uses your affinity to protect itself even; which is why you felt sparks whenever I tried to read your mind before."
"So the ability to sense incoming malcontent when my guard’s down."
"That is very much a natural ability of your affinity, not the enchantment."
"So, is the spell on Jotou’s mind, like a parasite...?" Asobi followed along.
"Hm. Surprisingly, I’d describe it as symbiotic."
"What does that mean?"
"It means the spell benefits me and benefits off of me," Jotou answered.
"And seemingly has no negative effects either."
"Seemingly?"
"I can only gauge it based on your memories and subconscious," they could feel Iridina shrug. "It doesn’t pose any harm, but it is still unsettling. A spell with the need for survival?
I couldn’t even dispel if I wanted too; it seems, too potent for a caster of my level. Even so, I can sense you don’t want it dispelled."
"Jotou, you want to keep the creepy enchantment?"
"It’s not doing any damage as far as I’m aware. I understand it a little better—doesn’t mean I understand it fully. It sounds like someone casted the spell with very specific commands, which means..."
"There’s no telling what could happen if it were to be dispelled," Iridina supported.
"If it’s the spell that brought me here, then I could be dead without it."
Asobi took a sharp inhale, "No! Let’s not mess with it then!!!"
"Actually, I can tell you that this spell is not sustaining your life. You’re simply, living. The consequences might be something else which I can’t predict; it might be nothing at all even."
"Phew..."
"Well that’s good to note, but I still don’t wanna mess with it. I want to understand it better first."
"You’re safe and that’s enough," Asobi could still feel her hold on Jotou’s hand, though neither could see the other. The frozen memory of Jotou within the coffin faded.
Memories flew by like a river and within an instant another memory played. One in which Asobi placed her left hand on Jotou’s shoulder and planted a quick kiss on her cheek.
The memory continued with Asobi stood in sand. Butterflies flew from Asobi’s wand, light surrounded her and white sparkles floated all around her like tiny stars.
"Huh? Jotou, what are we seeing...?" Asobi squeaked.
"Oh... This is- You wouldn’t remember this, would you."
"This looks like, Hartamat? Was this one of the time loops?"
"Yeah. It was just an innocent kiss, sorry I didn’t tell you."
"It’s okay! It feels like you were really happy and looks like I was too," she giggled.
"Guess I was," a smile could be heard in Jotou’s voice.
The image of Fumeko’s broken headband popped up in her memory. "Is that!?"
"I was gonna reset this loop, because well, this is one of the times Meko and Aru..." Jotou forced herself not to think of the images of any of their dead bodies she remembered...
As the memories of exactly that popped into existence, hundreds of the word ’DON’T!’ covered the entire memory like pop-up ads covering a website.
"That’s a lot of don’t-s..."
"Well don’t worry about it."
"I, get what you meant. Meko and Hotaru, I know..." in sincerity the elf spoke. "You don’t have to hide things for my sake."
"...I still don’t want you to see that."
"Then, what about a happy memory!"
"Happy..." The memory of the small celebration in Hartamat played from Jotou’s view as she twirled and smiled around; the sound of revelry she could hear.
Asobi giggled.
The memory switched to Kria, in Master Tensuo’s neighbourhood after the Velatos Case. The memory of Jotou smiling as she watched Asobi play with the children.
Asobi laughed, recalling the memory herself, "You were looking at me?"
"I was just looking at your smile- Wait, why are we still here? We finished what we came to do, right?" Jotou queried.
"That we did," the previously missing Iridina spoke. "You seemed to be reminiscing some memories, so I allowed you to do so. If you wish, you can have a stroll through your memories for a little longer?"
"Hm... Actually," Jotou appeared back in the void, as well as Asobi still holding her hand. The blonde faced the elf, "I’d like to remember some stuff in my old world. Care to join me?"
Asobi beamed brighter as her eyes glittered, "That would be AMAZING! Yes, please!"
