Disclaimer: I don't own Mai Otome.
Beta'd by: Beaustiful
This was a request/challenge/thing (I dunno what to call it) by Glasthiem, but I hope the rest of you enjoy it as well! :D I've grown attached to this pairing. X3
"Holy One, do you copy?"
Yukariko pressed her finger to the earring in her left ear as her right hand held her bow, "Yes, I copy." She replied quietly. She took her finger off the gem and continued to stalk through the forest, looking around as best she could in the moonlit area.
She, Yukariko Steinberg, was the Otome sent out to find the demon that had recently been stealing the water supply of the nearby towns; it would sneak in and steal water from their wells or dry up nearby rivers and lakes until the rains came.
Otome, in this realm at least, were nothing short of Demon Hunters. Trained in various forms of combat, they acquired many different skills and knowledge; these were female warriors trained with the sole purpose of finding and killing demons that tread on human soil.
"The demon is a mere twelve yards in front of you, at a lake," Youko Helene's voice came through Yukariko's blue gem again. Yukariko nodded, even though she knew Youko couldn't see it, "Copy that." She walked as silently as she could upon the forest's bed while her eyes narrowed, flicking left in right only when she sensed movement.
Steinberg wasn't new at this, she'd been fighting demons for a while, but people didn't know that much of her because she didn't 'stand out'. Average was her score most of the time and now she did smaller jobs where as big-name Otome, such as 'The Columns', did the bigger jobs that got news coverage.
Her black dress fluttered slightly in the soft wind that made it through the browning canopy, brushing her short brown hair into her blue eyes, only for it to fall back into place. She tried to steady her breathing as she got closer, anxious about this job; she hadn't been given any details about what type of demon it was, because the demon was too swift to be identified.
For all she, or even the whole Otome Agency, knew, she could be up against a Column-level demon! That would certainly explain its unquenchable thirst.
Her ears perked at the sound of water trickling somewhere close by; a small stream the lead to a lake. She started to count her steps as she slowly stalked, materializing an arrow silently out of thin air and notching it. She flinched lightly when the string whined, her blue eyes darting around for anything startled by the noise.
Nothing moved.
She silently sighed and continued on.
When she smelled water nearby, she glanced around until she saw some light flicker to her left. She turned to see that a she was near a shallow lake. But the odd thing was, lines of erosion were far higher than the current water level. Not only that, but above the water line wasn't even dry, meaning something must have been draining the water at a rapid pace.
That must mean…
Her eyes finally caught it, but just barely. It had a female humanoid figure, but was made of a clear liquid that moved and simmered in the night light. It was in a seiza-like position, bowing at the waist over the water; its 'hands' plunged into the water where they seemed to merge together; it had its lower jaw partially submerged in water and from the sounds of it, it was lapping up water.
A water nymph.
Yukariko frowned, lifting up her already pulled bow up to get a clear, level shot. She would strike it in the head, embedding the tip silently with a small amount of magic. (Normally, one did an incantation for casting, but weaker spells didn't require any.) The reason for the weak magic is because nymphs in general didn't pose that big a threat to humans, they were weaker demons, but their ability to change into their host environment made it so just plain weapon attacks didn't work.
Yukariko got the code name 'Holy One' for being especially proficient in light magic.
Just as she sent the arrow flying, the demon pulled back, probably sensing that something was off. The purple orbs that were its eyes went wide as at stared at the white arrow before taking off the next second, not even looking back at its assailant. It darted into the forest, knowing that going into the water would be futile; the Otome could just use a high-level magic attack and get rid of the water, taking her with it.
Blast! Steinberg exclaimed in her thoughts, frowning at the missed arrow before running off after the nymph, summoning up another arrow as she did so. Due to her training, her was a tad faster than the average human, and in turn, faster than a nymph. She soon saw the glittering aqua stealer, following its wet footprints.
She sent off another arrow once it was in sight, missing by a hair as the nymph once again made a sharp turn. This continued for a few more minutes until the nymph ran toward a cave entrance. It skidded to a halt, looking back over its shoulder to find Yukariko standing right there.
It tried to turn left, and an arrow cut off its path, making it pivot and turn around, just to find another arrow. It ducked, a third arrow zooming past its head as it ran into the small cave. Just as Yukariko ran in after it, it turned around and made a run for it, trying to get past Yukariko as it sped toward the exit.
On instinct, Holy One reached out her hand, trying to snatch the demon as it ran by, only to have her hand phase through it; it was made out of water, after all. But as she retracted her hand, she felt something soft on her fingers.
White cloth?
She looked up, outside the tunnel, to see the demon kneeled on the ground, trying to pull off clamps that formed around its wrists. Suddenly, two more bands formed on its ankles, shining a bright gold in the moon's glow. Suddenly, spreading out from the four, metal binds, the liquid-like body started to change into human-like skin. The peach coloring spread until it covered its whole form, complete with brunette hair. A silver band was fastened around its neck, a clear jewel placed in the center.
The naked creature then looked up, turning its head around to show Steinberg an all-too-human looking expression of pain and exhaustion. Shining brightly in the middle of her forehead, much like being imprinted with a branding iron, glowed three dots forming a triangle. Smoke escaped the dots, hissing as it settled in a blue color.
No… Yukariko took a step back, becoming hesitant. It looks… too human…
She could never bring herself to kill off a demon that looked too human. She couldn't do it, no matter how hard she tried. It cost her a few hunts, leaving her to be punished by the Academy and, in a couple cases, she broke down crying.
I can't kill something that looks human.
The demon looked at the human, then to the cloth in the human's hands. She closed her eyes, a wretched look on her face, before standing up and turning to face the human, opening her eyes. The female nymph took a deep breath, slowing letting it out, as if resigning to something.
"Holy One? Are you okay, Holy One?" Youko's voice sounded through the gem, sounding distant to the light magic user.
Yukariko watched as purple eyes fixated on her, a firm commitment showing brightly in those eyes as the demon strode forward, a warm smile on its face. It stopped in front of the stunned human and got into seiza position once again, bowing respectfully at Steinberg.
"What are you… doing?" Yukariko asked shakily, stunned, almost unable to get the words out. In fact, she was surprised the demon even heard her at all.
The demon picked up its head and looked at her, still giving a comforting smile. It pointed to the cloth in Yukariko's hand and then reached up and lightly grasped the Otome's weapon-free hand, bringing it to her forehead and letting the archer feel the marks.
Yukariko's blue eyes widened as she remembered something taught to her in one of her classes. Something about if you're able to take a nymph's attire, you'd be able to basically 'own' that nymph.
"But… I have to kill you!" Her voice was coming out shaky, her throat clogged up and hard to use as her emotions started to get the best of her.
The demon simply continued to smile as it stood up, standing a few feet back. It looked on warmly, invitingly, as if to tell her that it wouldn't move, even if it was shot at.
Yukariko's eyes started to tear up, memories of an illusionist demon tricking her into killing a young human girl. She shook her head, the image of the little girl looking at her with fear-filled eyes as she slowly died in front of Holy One. "I can't…" She choked out. "I can't…" kill anything that looks human… The rest of the words died in her throat as she silently hiccupped.
The demon, seeing the distressed look on the human's face quickly walked over and pulled her into a hug, bringing her hand up to stroke the Otome's head comfortingly. Yukariko gasped at the sudden contact, but soon found herself relaxing into it. The demon hadn't muttered a word, a sound, but its actions spoke volumes. A cheek pressed to Yukariko's temple, a hand caressing her hair.
A dam of emotions broke open, pouring out.
The bowman wailed as her heart finally set free pent up emotions from years past. She clung to the demon's newly formed skin like a survivor of a sunken ship clings to a life-ring. She kept going until she felt she couldn't any longer, all her feelings draining out of her.
The demon stepped back, the smile still on her face as she lifted her hands to cup the Otome's cheeks, gently whipping the tear streaks away with her thumbs. When she was done, the water nymph stepped back, giving Steinberg enough space.
Feeling empty and tired after her outbreak, Yukariko didn't say anything for a while, but when she finally did, it came out in monotone, "Why did you… why did you do that?"
Purple orbs softened as the smile turned sympathetic. Still, no words came out, but they weren't needed. Yukariko understood.
"I see…"
"Holy One," A gruffer voice sounded through the blue gem in Yukariko's earring. "This is Kruger. Are you alright? Do you need backup?" Her voice sounded urgent, troubled.
Kruger Natsuki, the second Column.
Yukariko didn't break her eye contract as she lifted her hand to touch her gem, "I'm fine." She dropped her hand to her side, fidgeting unconsciously with the demon's cloth in her other hand.
"Are you sure? You and that demon have been facing each other for a while now." A reply didn't come. "Holy One?"
"… Thank you," Yukariko said at length to the demon, feeling a little weird when the demon's smile brightened with both understanding and compassion. Her cheeks felt a little warm, her mood being effected simply by the water nymph's grin. She felt… elevated.
Suddenly, she felt her stomach grumble and her bright blue eyes widened, staring down at it. She looked up to see the demon had brought her hand to her mouth, the other arm over her stomach, eyes shining with mirth as shoulders shook with suppressed mirth.
"Ah… I.. haven't eaten in a while." The truth was that she hadn't eaten since before the meeting for this hunt, held at noon earlier that day. Needless to say she was due for a meal. Her cheeks pinked embarrassment as her eyes went downcast to the ground.
She heard shuffling and looked up to find the demon a little ways in the cave, brushing aside some of the leafy forest bed. She watched curiously as the demon picked something up and stood back up at her full height. The nymph turned back around, showing her a slightly dirty red apple.
Yukariko blinked, Is she going to give that to me?
The demon closed her eyes, encompassing the apple is an orb of water. The demon opened her eyes, letting the water drop and evaporate, revealing a shining apple. The demon smiled kindly as she held out the apple to the Otome.
"For me?" Steinberg studied the apple.
A nod.
The archer took the apple and looked at it a little more closely. In truth, she probably shouldn't be eating an apple given to her by demons. But then again, what kind of demon lets you cry on their shoulder?
The human munched on the apple, a small smile appearing on her face, half relieved the apple wasn't poisoned. "Thank you," she said after she finished, a sincere expression on her face, "It was good." She threw the core onto the ground, knowing an animal would eventually find and eat it sooner or later.
The demon simply nodded.
"Holy One! Can You hear me!" Kruger's voice had become panicked.
The real situation at hand re-entered the bowman's thoughts. "I was sent here to kill you," She voiced them aloud.
The smile fell off the demon's face, her face showing that she understood as she nodded once more.
"But I don't want to kill you," Yukariko continued.
A confused expression found its way onto the water manipulator's features.
Yukariko looked the demon dead in the eyes, "I can't kill you." She lifted the hand that held the cloth in her hands, holding it out to the demon. "You can escape."
Purple eyes widened at the action, looking like a fish out of water. She looked down from the cloth to Yukariko, and back down to the cloth, all the while hesitantly walking over. Once she got close enough, the demon slowly reached out toward the cloth, as if she thought Yukariko would try to pull back at the last second.
But she didn't.
They both grasped the white, airy material, looking into each other's eyes. It seemed like hours had passed where nothing happened. Finally, the demon smiled, shaking her head and cupping the human's hand with her own, tightening the mortal's grasp on the cloth for her. She then grasped the human's wrist and started to walk off, leading the human.
"Wait," The demon stopped a turned around at the human's words. "Where're you taking me?" The light magic user asked.
The demon pointed to Steinberg's earring.
"The Academy?" Yukariko's eyes widened before filling with worry, "They'll try to kill you!"
The demon frowned, the resolute expression coming back onto her face as she nodded solemnly, as if to say 'Yes, I know they will.'
"I swear if you don't answer me back in three seconds, Steinberg, I will personally come down there to back you up—"
Kruger was cut off as Yukariko answered back, "I'm on my way back, Ice Silver Crystal."
"What? But the demon's not dead yet." The second Column was clearly confused.
"I'll explain when I get there."
A bewildered silence came from the other end.
Yukariko nodded her head to the demon, a warm smile on her face, "Lead the way."
The water nymph smiled back before taking charge.
"Er!—…"
Purple eyes glanced back, wondering what was wrong. She found Yukariko to be pointedly looking away from her, a pink blush on her cheeks, "Co-could you make some clothes, before we go?.." The human had heard that water nymphs could manipulate both the color and texture of water so maybe she could make clothes out of it?
The demon blinked, looking at Yukariko, then down at her body, then back up to the human, before a sly grin formed onto her face. She started to act, silently mock sighing as if burdened by the request. She shrugged and snapped a finger, water on her body and quickly taking on the form of a white, fitting dress similar to the Otome's. She silently giggled as she waited for Yukariko to turn back around.
"Are you done yet?" Yukariko peaked to see if the demon was done. When she found that the water nymph was covered, she sighed in relief before smiling brightly, "Alright then, let's go."
The demon, which was smiling calmly by this point, nodded, once again reaching for Yukariko's hand. This time, though, she caught the human by surprise by interlacing their fingers together before leading the way, leaving the poor Otome in a bashful state as they walked.
I unintentionally made Anh Lu mute. Whoops. o-o Anyway, please review! :)