Shuichi took a deep breath and stood up from where he was sitting. This wasn't the first time that Shuichi had seen Helen like this. In fact, there were a lot of times that the novelist would stare at the wall while tapping her fingers on her laptop. Normally, he would associate it with the fact that she needed to meet deadlines for her novels as Hanasaki Kikue.
But that wasn't the case all the time.
In this case, however, he knew fully well that the reason was something else. The one that even the other Vessels had wanted to ask to Itsuki since they heard his last words before fainting.
He crouched down on one knee before flicking the girl's forehead. With that, of course, she yelped and raised her head to face the one who did it. Helen's eyes widened upon seeing Shuichi face to face in front of her. On her level.
"Shuichi-san...?"
The biker took a deep breath first before he spoke. "You're not yourself since we got here. Are you sure you're okay? Did you exert yourself too much again when you used your Hasureiki to power up Erika's ability?"
Helen didn't know where to start. Even she was confused as to what exactly transpired in the barrier between Itsuki and the Triske Monster that made the composer say something like that before passing out.
"I could actually write what he said in a novel, to be honest. But..." Helen paused and looked around. Her heart beat faster when she saw the others looking at her with worry. "I wonder why he said those words to me. What does he mean by saying that 'I finally came to life'? It's not like I died or I existed in a fictional world or anything like that."
The other Vessels didn't know what to make of what Helen asked continuously. Even they were confused with Itsuki's words. But they were all sure of one thing.
It originated from somewhere. It could be a dream, an experience, or even from what he had heard or read over the last ten years since the tragedy. Something happened that they were not aware of.
Yes, it was crazy for Itsuki to say vague things like that. But only the young composer could answer their questions.
Once he felt like answering them, of course.
Shuichi took a deep breath and put a hand on Helen's head. It made her look up to him in confusion.
"Look, we're all confused as you are because of what Itsuki had said. But knowing that guy for ten years already, he wouldn't say things without a plausible reason. For now, only he knew that reason. What you need to do right now is to rest and take it easy. I have a feeling that we'll be needing your help when Otoguri starts attacking again," Shuichi said and smiled warmly at the novelist.
Helen could only look at Shuichi even after he said that. But she knew he was right. She was the one who knew how to deal with an illusionist, so it was natural that the Vessels would be needing her help to conquer the enemy. And if her hunch was right about the reason for Otoguri to seal off Itsuki in that empty space...
'Wait... seal off? It's obvious that only Itsuki-san was in the area at the time the attack started. But wouldn't it be faster if that Triske Monster had sealed off the Seitengers in one area as soon as they arrived together? Why was it targeting just one Seitenger at the time?'
Did that monster actually think that killing one Seitenger would prevent something from happening? But the only event that could possibly happen was ---
'Great minds think alike. If the records are right, then Otoguri should be working under that particular Great Shadow Defender. He must have observed a certain pattern among the Seitengers that we didn't.'
"Helen-chan, are you okay?"
That voice startled the said girl. Once Helen managed to snap out of her reverie, she noticed that the Vessels and even the other Vessel Supports were all looking at her with worried eyes. She turned to look at Shuichi once she managed to calm her mind down from so many thoughts running.
"What's wrong?" the biker asked, his hand still on the top of her head.
She took a deep breath before speaking. "Please take care of Itsuki-san. I have to go to the records room after this."
Of course, what she said confused the others once again. But she held her ground.
"Helen-chan, I know you're dedicated to helping us get stronger. But you should also rest and take care of yourself," Eichirou said, his tone reprimanding.
Helen shook her head. "This is something I have to do, since I think I have an idea why Otoguri targeted Itsuki-san and sealed him off, preventing us from going inside and helping him immediately."
The statement created more confusion among the people in that room. But the novelist knew what she meant. It wouldn't take long before the others could catch on to that.
"Hey... you're not saying ---"
Helen nodded. "It's just a possibility. But Otoguri must have been ordered to target a certain Seitenger who has the greatest possibility of achieving another feat if they let that person live. That Triske Monster's master must have wanted to make sure that it wouldn't happen at all."
xxxxxx
Tareus Dimension was in chaos once again, which was evident because of all the thunder roaring and lightning crackling all around the fortress and even within the Throne Room where the enchanted ceiling was located. But this time, the rage was directed to someone else.
Or at least, the other Great Shadow Defenders wanted to direct that rage to someone.
"You could've just finished them all off if you're not so dumb to target only one of them, Orcus!" Alvre screamed.
But the scholar just shoved her off and proceeded to assist his Triske Monster trying to recover from the initial ordeal with the Seitenger. Even he couldn't believe that the green Seitenger could strike down Otoguri with such a force enough to break the illusory barrier.
"What were you thinking, targeting just one of them? Do you think you could end the problem by striking at them one by one?" Karkino continued.
Just like before, Orcus paid them no attention. Siriso fired an energy ball towards the scholar but Otoguri was faster and created a barrier to protect its master. Orcus smirked at the action of his subordinate.
"You don't have to do that, Otoguri. They're not worth your barrier," Orcus said as he continued pouring his own power to his Triske Monster to heal it and help it recover its lost energy.
The three Great Shadow Defenders soon left the room in a huff and decided to focus on pouring more energy coming from human hopelessness to the slumbering emperor. Of course, they were all aware that it still wouldn't be enough to fully wake their leader up.
Only Nemia remained in the room and soon approached the scholar.
"I thought you left with them, as well," Orcus commented, but didn't face the female ninja standing behind them.
"I don't associate myself with such hotheaded people. They ruin what little peace of mind that I have left since we were all stuck here in this dimension for 5,000 years." Not long after, Nemia took a deep breath. "It seems to me you're sure that the green Seitenger is about to achieve their third incredible feat since the group's awakening."
The statement didn't surprise Orcus, however. He remained assisting the Triske Monster recover.
"Not once have I made a mistake about my assumptions with regards to my enemies, Nemia. I'm sure you know that. But..." Orcus paused the moment the healing was done.
He soon ordered Otoguri to leave at a given time and proceed once again with the original plan. The creature obliged and left the Throne Room. At the moment, only Orcus and Nemia remained there.
"It seems to me that the Seitengers have an illusionist comrade among their midst," the scholar continued in a grave tone.
Nemia frowned. "What do you mean?"
"No one could break through Otoguri's illusory barrier unless it was another illusionist who would do so. Especially if that person would only use the voice to break through the target's trance state. But this is the first time I've noticed that there was an illusionist among them."
"But... there was only one person I know who could do such a thing."
Orcus soon faced Nemia and nodded. "Our illusionist comrade who's been on the surface world since she managed to get out of here for eleven years. Only that person could do such a feat. And yet ---"
"---someone was able to do something similar just now. Is that what you're telling me?" The ninja scoffed before laughing. "But that's not surprising, if we were to base it on what the Seitengers had achieved in such a short amount of time since their awakening."
The scholar soon laughed and looked at the enchanted ceiling, now sporting a crack. The sight of that made him sneer this time.
"This is going to be interesting!" Orcus screamed and fired a more powerful barrage of beam shots to that cracked enchanted ceiling.
Nemia shook her head, her cunning smile never left her face.
xxxxxx
Back in the Mizuhashi mansion, it was night time and the people inside were just done eating their dinner. They didn't actually feel like eating anything, if they were going to be honest. But they knew that both Hideoki and Nanami would scold them if they skipped dinner while they were recovering from their ordeal.
It didn't take a while before one of them --- specifically Erika --- decided to check on her brother's condition. Misae said that she'd soon follow after she finished practicing archery as part of the archer's night routine. The pianist agreed and proceeded to Itsuki's room.
Around dinner time, it was when Itsuki finally regained consciousness. The room's light remained turned on even when he was sleeping. So he was surprised to realize that it was already night time outside.
"Wait a minute... How long have I been out?" he couldn't help asking himself despite his hoarse voice.
No answer came, both from around him and even in his mind. He took that chance to look around before trying to sit up and check on himself.
"Urgh! Damn it!" he cursed as he endured the pain searing through even with little movements he would do.
Even with that, he was glad he made it out of there. He never expected to be targeted by a Triske Monster at the worst moment of his day when his mind was all over the place.
Itsuki soon recalled the last bits of the event that happened before he lost consciousness.
"That illusion of the little girl in my dreams..." he murmured and soon closed his eyes.
He seriously didn't expect the illusion to slowly shift in front of him, revealing something shocking the moment the girl soon turned to face him.
"Why did the girl change to become Helen?"
That was the question that truly shocked him to the core the moment he saw it. But now that his mind cleared for a little, he realized that the little girl indeed looked like the younger version of Helen. How come he didn't notice it before?
But no matter how shocking it was, Itsuki realized that the illusion that he saw after Otoguri retreated wasn't the Triske Monster's doing. Something --- or someone --- retained that illusion in the area for him to see. For him to realize certain things that he might have ignored for a long time.
The illusion could have been a part of the answers he desperately sought for since he started dreaming about the little girl after the fire tragedy.
But if that was the case...
"Woah! You're finally awake, Onii-chan."
Itsuki looked up as soon as he heard that voice. He smiled upon seeing Erika enter his room with a tray of food for him. Since he saw from his window that it was already night time, those foods must have been what the others had cooked for that day's dinner.
"How long have I been asleep?" he asked as he tried to get up, but winced at the surge of pain that struck his head.
"Don't move too much! Misae-san's healing power still isn't strong enough to fully heal your injuries. So don't be surprised that you could still have pain in other parts of your body that Otoguri had struck you with," Erika said as she hurriedly placed the tray near the end of his bed that his feet couldn't reach.
Not long after, she was assisting him in sitting up properly before she placed the tray table in front of him.
"Now eat up. Five hours of sleep still isn't enough for you to fully recover your lost strength."
Itsuki did what Erika had wanted him to do. It was enough that he made her worry about what happened, so he decided not to bring up the topic about the battle just yet. Not to mention, he was indeed hungry since he hadn't had lunch. Adding the aftereffects of the battle, he was definitely going to devour the meal in front of him.
All the time while he was eating, however, he couldn't help noticing that Erika was just staring at him. As if watching his expression or contemplating on asking him something. As time went by, he couldn't take the tension slowly building up as she continued watching him.
"Erika, if you want to ask me something, shouldn't you be doing that already? In case you're not aware, you're about to put a hole in my face with the way you're staring at me the entire time," Itsuki said after he finished his meal. Honestly, he thought he was about to choke on his food as if the tension blocked his throat.
But the pianist remained pouting as she continued staring at him. It took about a few more moments before Erika sighed and faced him properly.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable with the way I was looking at you. But you're right. I've been meaning to ask you something even before you passed out."
He frowned at that. Could it be about his actions about leaving the training without a word? Come to think of it, he had to apologize to the others about that. He was the one who sighed this time. But before he could even open his mouth to say something ---
"Onii-chan... have you been experiencing something all this time that you're not telling me?" Erika asked.
No comments:
Post a Comment