Konnichiwa, Konnichiwa! Planeshunter desu!
How are you guys? With today's chapter there's some important announcement, but I'll leave that for the afterword. For now, enjoy The Stray: Part 2!
PD: Urgh... Please forgive any messups, this chapter is pure patchwork.
Hourai is in position, unamusedly floating a good five feet over the crowd. Shanghai is too, sitting near the door, her red dress easily missed against the velvet carpet. She's got her Round Table ready to enforce a safety circle around her. That covers all her bases. Looking around, she checks Lily and Patchouli in position too. It's a bit depressing, to be honest.
Alice is the first to accept (even if begrudgingly so) that Marisa is better at planning. Still, no matter how trustworthy her leader's skills, she would very much prefer to be on the loop. A list with preparations to make followed by a another about how to react to different situations might be the most brilliant plan ever, that doesn't make her feel less like a tool, though.
Patchouli doesn't trust their leader completely, and doesn't make any effort to hide her suspicions. In times like this, Alice too wonders what's hidden under that confident grin and bright eyes. But that's just baseless paranoia, isn't it?
As she tries to locate the slight blur that's the only hint about Marisa's position, a funny thought crosses her mind. Is this how her dolls would feel, if they had their own souls like she so often wishes for?
-"Cutie-pie!" -No time for ponderings now, it seems- "Heads up!"
The invisibility ends like a bursted bubble. 'Heads up' is the cue for Hourai to act, a cue she spectacularly misses, caught by what happens next. In a dash of red petals, four different shapes fly through the room in different directions at lightning speed. She's obviously intended to catch the book while the decoys and the very Marisa provide distraction, but…
Red roses? Like Ruby's? What's going on?
Fortunately, a burst of wind catches the book for her, and a hand (Patchouli's) patting her shoulder reminds her what she's supposed to do. Hourai moves in to get the book as soon as the wind weakens, and both of them make her way towards the door, unnoticed amongst the panicking people trying to get away.
-"Okay girls!" -Marisa is already at one of the big coloured windows, and stops only to shout the next cue before breaking it and jumping outside, Lily following close behind- "See you later!"
'See you later' means they are on their own. Does that imply trust? Or simple disregard? Now is not the time for such questions, but she'll remember. Seems like, after all, Patchouli's paranoia is contagious.
With a frantic zigzag pattern, lily tries her best to dodge everything thrown at her. And she's doing a good job, her aura is taking pretty much no damage. This is danmaku, after all, a game she's played with her friends since longer than she's even able to remember. More than seeing, she 'feels' a respite in the hail of projectiles trying to shoot her down, and turns around for a quick counterattack.
But as soon as she does, an explosion shakes the windows of the floor they just jumped from putting out of commission all the suited men firing at them from the auction room. Beside her, Marisa is freefalling with a confident grin as she blows the smoke coming out from the tool on her hand.
For a moment, she can only watch their leader nonchalantly working to reattach the mini-hakkero into her broom as more suited men appear from other windows and the hail resumes. The effect gets somewhat diminished when the engine stalls at the first try, but that's not the point.
The black and white witch remained behind, providing a more obvious target, and yet seems as unscathed as she herself. What's more, she still managed to take hold of the chance and fire back faster than her. Now she feels a bit silly about being so proud of her skills. Marisa quickly takes the lead, and she subduedly follows… for about three seconds, the time it takes her to pump her fists and put more resolve in her flight.
-"Seems like I still got ways to go!"
Busy firing herself up, she doesn't notice the two silhouettes tailing them, jumping from building to building.
Patchouli can't really complain about the plan. Sure, some guards tried to stop them when they rushed out, but everyone was rushing out, not like the poor suited men could do much, especially after Marisa (it was her, no doubt) pretty much blew up the outer wall of the room.
As much as it irks her to admit, the plan was well-thought and kept the item safe and away from the attention. Where does all this ingenuity come from? Most of the time the girl seems like a brash idiot, and then she goes and does something like this….
Is it hidden talent, cunningly masked behind her foolish behavior? Genuine outbursts of geniality? Is she taking instructions from somewhere? Even if that's the case, she's doing all this to get that grimoire for her. Patchouli was the real fool, thinking she could acquire a copy of "Tales of the Brothers Grimm" with her own funds. The disdain with which she regarded Marisa's comprehensive planning makes her blush with embarrassment now.
She'll have to properly thank her later. But now they are reaching the meeting point and should make sure they weren't followed before joining up. They chose this park because Lily has enough plants to use her semblance if things get rough. Also, the place is easy to trap.
-"Anyone following us?"
-"I have trap-wired all the path behind us" -Alice answers, her usual proud tone gets a bit humbler when she remembers what they just did and what kind of people might be after them- "If someone manages to get close unnoticed, we wouldn't stand a chance anyway."
-"Relax" -The plan was solid. Of course that doesn't mean stealing in the face of all Vale's underworld and some abroad was exactly a safe business, but things should be fine- "Don't you trust our fearless leader?"
That came out with a bit more sarcasm that intended. She's about to try soften her remark when Marisa painfully crashes in front of them, closely followed by another figure. At first, is hard to distinguish anything in the dust cloud that ensues, but when it settles they can see Marisa sprawled on the ground, no trace of her usual grin as the business end of a katana points at her throat.
The katana is held by a young woman with white hair in a bob cut and a black ribbon of stern features, wearing a green yukata with white flowered patterns. Even with her eyes locked on the witch, she hold a shorter blade in her left hand, pointed towards them.
-"Marisa Kirisame" -She lets out slowly- "It has been months without hearing of you. I was wondering what rat hole you had disappeared into this time. But trying to steal in the black auction? Looks like you've finally gone crazy."
-"Yo, Youmu-chan!" -Marisa finally composes herself, and tries to nonchalantly wave the blade away as she smiles her answer. It doesn't move an inch- "How's yer boss? Thought we were in good terms after last time (ze)?"
The familiarity of the conversation hints at some close relationship. Has Patchouli finally found a lead to Marisa's past?
-"I would very much appreciate if you stop trying to bribe Yuyuko-sama with food" -The tone is serious, with some exasperation mixed in her voice- "Also, this and that are completely different matters."
-"Certainly," -A second stranger appears from within the trees, holding Lily by the back of her dress- "You can't just mess around with the Black Auction like that, there'll be… consequences."
This second person is a rabbit faunus of long purple hair wearing a black business suit and sunglasses. She holds an Uzi, and a second one hangs on her waist. She throws the little girl near Marisa and casually places her hand on it.
-"Oh, did I interrupt yer date?" -Marisa retorts with a knowing smile- "I'm sorry, ya guys sure have it though, with all that feuding families and shit..."
Patchouli can only sweatdrop at the instantaneous effect of the malicious words, that shatter all attempts of both girls at looking professional in an exploding blush.
-"We… We are not a couple!"
Fists behind their hips, both of then close her eyes in the cutests refusal ever. Marisa's grin widens, the reaction of this two lovebirds is as predictable as always. A short burst from Broomstar later, she and Lily have closed ranks with the others and their chasers are couching dust.
-"I swear… this NEVER gets old!" -She fixes her hat, taking note on how the embarrassment turns into anger and both ready their weapons- "Shame I can't play with you guys today. Lily!"
-"Leave it to me!"
Right before the assailants can regain their bearings, the floor explodes in a sea of thorny vines, that quickly surround them. Youmu manages to cut down some of the vines, but in the end her arms get trapped. They should be nicely tied and ready for delivery now. Even then, you never know with this two, is best to put land in between before they do something crazy.
-"Did we get them?"
Of course, Lily had to ask the forbidden question. Even if all the branches make it hard to tell for sure, they seem to be struggling. Marisa decides to take it as a good sign. Once they get free, things will get serious, so this should be the chance flee.
-"Nevermind them!" -She grabs the fairy's hand and starts running- "Cutie-pie, Bookworm! Let's scram!"
*BANG*
The loud sound of what seems like a high-caliber sniper rifle. Did that gun freak Reisen modify her weapons again, she's never had such firepower in the past…Did she hit anyone? Nevermind aura, such a shot taken by surprise can be a real problem
*Looks back*
Bookworm jumped in the way of the shot. Damn, talk about crazy. Even if she had time to react, that'll hurt like a bitch. Only an aura master could completely deflect something like that, a huntress-in-training like her... That was reckless as hell.
*Realization*
No, Bookworm can't use her aura for protection, she said so herself.
*Worry*
Is she alright? Where was she shot? Oh, Dust, this is serious, a bad hit could kill her for real. She turns around, intending to catch her fall and give her a ride.
*A spring of blo… wait, gold?*
No, it's not gold, just glowing papers. Thoughts of relief and curiosity get overwhelmed by pure wonder. In a daze, she reaches for one of the papers, the page of a book. Glowing pages are flowing from Patchouli for some reason and they are… beautiful.
-"Earth and Metal Dust: Emerald Megalopolis."
-"Wha…?"
Her reverie ends when, with a ground shake, numerous green walls surge around their attackers. Cutie-pie tops it off throwing an exploding doll inside. That might be enough to make a normal pursuer think twice, but this two are fanatics. What's more, neither one is willing to look bad in front of the other.
-"Let's go" -After staring at the wall for an instant, Alice is the first to resume their flight- "I didn't get them."
Relief and rage well up inside Marisa, perhaps with a bit of embarrassment. Of course, she's glad nothing major happened, but worrying over nothing feels… really irritating. She getting dumbified by what's obviously a semblance didn't really help her self-esteem. Without saying a word, she resumes her escape, barely noticing the paper she caught before is still in her hand.
As she has to slow Broomstar to a pace the others can keep and Alice is a way better lookout than her anyway, she can afford to take a look….
"After Sakuya helps me down the car, I spy around without raising my head too much. It's my first time at the beach after all, I'm a bit excited. There's a nice breeze around us, and the sound of the waves is truly soothing. On the other hand, the sun is too strong in my eyes, and there's something in the air that makes me feel itchy all over. But Remi and Flan seem really excited, and I'm not going to become a party pooper.
It's so rare to see both of them smiling lately... I guess they are still thinking about that incident. Remi is a worrywart at the bottom, so it doesn't really come as a surprise, Flan on the other side... She must have been feeling really guilty about the whole [...]"
The page burns in a heatless flame, disappearing between her fingers before she can finish reading it.
-"What was it about?"
The Bookworm tries her best to keep a neutral face, but there's a hint of worry she can't hide. Not from this treasure hunter, at least.
-"Just something about going to the beach for the first time (ze)" -Before continuing, she casts a questioning glance towards Cutie-pie, she quickly shakes her head. Seems like Reisen and Youmu retreated for good. Good, she's about to ask some delicate questions, it won't do to be ambushed by those psychos now- "That was obviously semblance-y. Anything to do with how you took a bullet between the eyes like it was nothing (ze)?"
-"Yeah!" -Lily intervenes, puffing her cheeks- "You said your aura wasn't suitable for defense, that gave me a good scare!"
-"My aura is NOT suitable for defense" -The emphasis in the negative is resentful- "It couldn't deflect even a snowball. That's why, whether I want or not, every time I take a direct hit my semblance activates."
-"And those pages?" -The explanation is pretty much what Marisa was expecting to hear, that means...- "Are they..."
-"Unmoving Library absorbs any and all cynetic force used against me, but doing so comes with a price" -She shakes her head, staring at her feet. After remaining silent for a while, right when Marisa was about to forget the conversation, she continues- "For most, the power to block incoming damage automatically is worth any cost and yet, for a seeker of knowledge like me, this semblance is the worst curse. Those pages were memories, shards of a past that I've now lost forever."
Marisa gulps with difficulty. That's one mean semblance for sure. Makes one wonder if all that obsessive reading isn't just an attempt to protect the really precious memories somewhere safe amongst that swamp of information.
You guys have no idea how hard I had to resist making a "do a barrel roll" in the scene with Lily and Marisa… And how much I struggled to deliver the Patche being shot scene. Goddamnit, I had to crawl through every sentence, only to immediately delete it back. I can't even remember how many formats I tried. Even now, I'm not completely happy with the results but… that scene alone has taken a good part of this last weeks. Seems like I got nothing better to offer '
Also, I had a good joke about them trying to do combined attacks… that in the end made no sense and had to be removed. Shame, I worked so hard in that for nothing…
Also, You might've not noticed the delay in this chapter, cuz my schedules have been kinda hectic lately, but the chapter was intended for last monday. Truth is… in spite of all my boasting about "never stopping writing" or not "letting my job get in the way", something even more fearsome appeared on the horizon eating away my hard-earned free time: Preparing tests to get a better job
To not leave things too in the air, and taking advantage of where we stand right now, I plan to go on a hiatus after finishing Volume 1 with next chapter, "Black and White". Most likely till November, can't say for sure yet. I can't make promises about when said chapter will be published either, but I'll do my best.
That said, till here we get today, folks! See you around next time!
-Planeshunter