"You know, you could stay a night if you want to. I have a spare pillow and a blanket."
"Don't worry about it - it's totally fine. I'm not a human, remember? I don't need to sleep as much as you, nor do I have problems navigating in the dark." I reassure worried Koko. I understand her fears but even I, with my at-a-times pessimistic world views, think I'm gonna be alright.
"Well.." She hesitates before handing me my magenta book. "... Alright. Don't be a stranger to visit me if you'll find yourself passing by!" I take the spellbook and give her a light smile. We wave goodbye and part our ways - Koko goes back to her house as I levitate myself further away from it.
Maybe I should visit Paris? If I, hopefully, was an adventurous person in my past life, I'd surely have visited the Eiffel Tower once. Perhaps getting a good look at it could help me regain at least some of my memories?.. Ah, I should've asked Koko what direction I should head to… Oh well.
I take a look at the night sky - it's dark blue, with stars of different sizes all over it… Woah! Is that a shooting star? Looks like a good omen.
No, wait, is that star just made a 90 degree turn and now heading into my direction? What the he-
I step away just in time as a long and sharp blade crashes into the ground breaking rocks on the road. What... Where did it even came from? If I remember correctly, France isn't really famous for it's sword rains... Unless-
No. It can't be!
That soon?!
I hear a short laugh behind me and this is the only warning I get before something slashes my back. I was too slow to levitate myself away - my back is burning with a freshly deep cut.
I yelp and dash away from the shadows, turning around to face my opponent.
"Ha! My second catch of the day! And I haven't even found my bookkeeper yet!" He steps out from the darkness. A tall, jester-like mamodo steps out of the shadows. I notice a blade in his hand that looks exactly like the one that is still stuck in the ground.
Well, it's now or never - I fly up a few feet into the sky to see my environment better and activate my telekinesis. Nothing - can't move nor a mamodo, nor his sword. Jester looks amused by my attempt to use non-verbal magic on him. Does he know I can't use telekinesis against him? If only I could ask a more friendly natured mamodos about how magic affects this world...
No wait. He knows more than I do. Shoot. I'm screwed, aren't I?
This is cheating. I literally can't do anything against other mamodos! He tosses his second blade into the air before sending it flying at me with a kick (Show-off!). I rush into the opposite direction, still keeping my eyes on my opponent. He ran up to his first blade, before snatching it up from the ground, still running full speed.
I hear a whistle of his second weapon coming to attack me from behind. How is this guy able to control his swords in mid-air?! I barely avoided the hit in time.
I need to get away from him as fast as possible. I take a flight into the night sky, hoping to get away…
"Hey! Where are you going?" I try to avoid his attacks as he keeps throwing his swords at me. It feels strange - sometimes he doesn't even try to hit me… More like-
Something silvery shines as a sword passes by me. Oh… So this guy didn't use telekinesis to move his swords like I'd do. It wasn't even verbal magic - just a prestidigitation.
I should've been more watchful and mindful of my surroundings… But, maybe even with good night vision you can't see thin threads tied up to the handles. The guy played me like a flute. This sicko is just toying with me!
Swords rush away from me as my whole body gets tied by silvery strings. This sudden movement tips me off my balance and I crash down from the sky like a rock with a loud booming sound of cracking rocks on the road.
Somehow, I'm still conscious - mamodo endurance is surely something else… But I do need a second to stop seeing doubles. I don't feel my book in my hands but I see it a few feet away from me. Must've dropped it when I was falling down.
My opponent doesn't waste much time - he walks up to my book and picks it up. This can't end like this! I am finally in my world and I will not go back to the Mamodo world, not now!
The blades on a string were clever, but, like any magical trick, it's good only when you don't know how it works. I grab the strings tight with my hands and dash into the air. As I thought - jester gets pulled with me as strings still attached to his own arms from. He drops the book back onto the ground.
I fly higher and higher, dragging him with me before finally freeing myself from the strings and dropping them down. The guy looks slightly surprised by this… but not frightened.
"Still got some fight in you, huh?" He says as he falls down. Why does he sound so cheerful?!
He turns in the air like a cat right before hitting the ground and lands on his feet. Crap.
He give a side eye to my book. Oh no you don't!
I fall down like a rock but right before I can reach it something smashes into my side sending me flying into a wall. Oh shoot, some people started turning lights on in their houses… If I don't hurry up humans might get involved and who knows how this jerk will react to his new auditory!
I try to get up but before I can, he appears right infornt my face, holding his swords close to my neck. The only thing that holds the blades away from my vitals is my own mamodo instincts, that raised my arms to catch the sharp objects with bare hands before my brain could even comprehend what the heck just happened.
I feel a hot stinging sensation in my fingers and all I can do is hope that this is just my imagination and my hands are perfectly fine but a drop of blood sliding down the blade tells a different story…
This is the end? This guy is going to kill me over a stupid title giving tournament! But..! I…
I can't-
My opponent frees his swords from my hands and swings them up, ready to strike down, until-
|RADOM|
A small but powerful explosion escapes my damaged hands, hitting the jester right into his stupid face. I slide away from him, using smoke as a distraction.
I look into the direction of the familiar voice that has read the spell. Koko stands not far away from the scene, holding an open magenta book.
KOKO?!
What is she doing here?!
"Koko!" I cry in distress dashing to her. The guy who almost ended my life is already getting back on his feet. Shoot.
I fly up to Koko, grab her hand and pull her away from the jester, urging her to run behind me.
"I've heard very loud sounds of fight from the direction you've headed. I got very worried and-" She starts but I hush her down, prompting her to keep running.
"Not now Koko! We need to get away from town, if anyone sees us - there'll be victims. I have no idea what's the guy's problem but he looks like he'll attack anything that moves, especially after that explosion he took in his face…"
That's a lot of infodump but she quickly follows up and nods.
"Aren't you guys supposed to only burn each-other's books? Killing you seems to be too radical…"
"As I stated before - I have no idea. He just appeared from nowhere and…" I sigh. She looks bothered... Is she thinks I'm mad at her for helping me? If Koko didn't show up I'd be dead for sure. "Thanks, by the way. For getting me out of that messy situation back there."
"Ha, you're welcome." She says, brighting up, although she clearly struggling to get her breath as talking and running at the same time seems like a titanic task. She still very confused and she wants to know more information about whatever the heck happened… "Can you-"
"I promise we'll talk later." I interrupted her. "Right now we have more important matters on our hands."
No time for small talks when we have a supernatural maniac behind our backs.
We finally leave the town and rush into the forest, hoping it'll cover our tracks or, at least, hide us from people's eyes so nobody could intervene.
There's a weird but familiar whistle behind us. I pull Koko away from the blade that slashes the air seconds after. He finally catched up to us.
He walks from the shadows of the trees like a monster from a children's book. Unnatural, uncanny.
"Heh, still feisty?" He says but now there's little to no of past cheerfulness.
I stand before Koko, ready to protect her from anything this guy is going to throw at us. Koko opens my book, prepared to read the first spell.
Without any warning, mamodo rushes at me at incredible speed, sending his blades to the sides… He's going to keep me busy while his blades will strike Koko behind me! I draw my hands to the side, ready to send the swords back with an explosion.
|RADOM|
Blades fly out into different directions as explosions creates a lot of smoke. Jester barely misses me in them as I deliver a kick to his face, putting him off balance, making him fall down. That when I notice his book - All this time it was strapped by leather belts to his back. Ha, finally found it!
A familiar whistle in the air reminds me that battle is not over yet and I dash away from the swords, back to Koko's side. The guy jumps back to his feet, but instead of repeating his action of ramming straight into us he start running circles around us, sometimes hiding in the trees.
I float around Koko, closely following his movements and keeping my eyes on his swords, trying to figure out what his next move could be...
Suddenly, he's nowhere to be seen. He must've hid behind trees, waiting when we put our guard down or-
"Up!" Koko screams and I raise my hands to the sky, ready to strike. I see, so he decided to play dirty - take us by surprise, attacking from above.
"Radom!" Koko yells but... nothing happens. Magic in this world acts like there's no basic rules for it. I jump back, pushing Koko from the way of incoming attack. The swords hit the ground and bury themselves deep into the earth right where we were standing moments ago. But our opponent isn't done yet - even if he missed, he's still extremely close to us. And we can't do anything about it.
With no better options I prepare to take on his attack. Maybe if I stall him for long enough Koko will be able to escape-
Something dark falls from the sky, hitting mamodo right infront of us, pulling up big clouds of dust. I stand still before Koko, in case another mamodo decides to join the fight. My knees tremble. I'm not that tired. Why are…
A sensation of fear and dread hits me as I feel the familiar aura. No. It can't be.
A dust cloud clears and I see a figure in black clothes standing on the body of my past opponent. He's standing with his back to me but I know who I am looking at.
I was struggling so hard to fight off a 'normal' mamodo. I stand no chance against the one labeled an 'elite'!
"Koko…" I whisper, trying not to get attention from a newcomer. "Leave the book and run."
"I'm not leaving you here." She's frightened herself, I can feel it. Not sure if It's because she almost was cut in half or because Brago is here.
"Koko this is not…" He turns around and I actually see his eyes. Words die out before I can say them. I feel Koko's concern starts overweighting her fear but she gets up and starts walking. I'm glad she caught a memo. He doesn't know she's a bookkeeper, maybe he'll leave her be.
She walks right in front of me, pushing me behind her, shielding me from a new threat. Stupid girl. Don't your own instincts scream at you to turn tails and run? This is not the fight you have even a slight chance of winning!
"Koko!" a new voice calls out. Koko appears to be shocked by the sound for a second, before focusing on something behind Brago. Oh, great, civilians! Just what we need right now (not)! Just how much worse can this night become?!
"Sherry?" I can feel many emotions coming from the arriving woman - anxiety, worry, happiness… Yeah, they must be really close but, um, how can those two be so casual when there's Brago standing literally infront of them?!
Sherry walks away from trees in our direction, I feel my heart skip a beat when she passes Brago as if he's the most common thing in the world. Something is not right here. Why didn't Brago bite her head off?
"Koko, thanks god. I was so worried about you - there were reports of explosions near your house and I was so afraid I've-" She finally looks down at me. I give a somewhat uncomfortable wave. That's when hell breaks loose.
[hi author here
this chapter is small...
thats all i wanted to say]