Capítulo 6: Prologue part 6
In the rising sun, a silhouette could be seen sitting next to the river flowing through the forest. That silhouette was bundled up on herself, her arms hugging her knees against her chest, with her red hair cascading around her.
It was Jane. Since that dreadful night, she hasn't moved an inch after bathing to get rid of the blood. Almost a week and a half has passed since then. The only moments she could be seen moving were when Anna took control of her body to attend to their most basic needs, including eating. Of course, the soul couldn't use Jane's gift—after all, it was hers. But she used her magic to hunt small animals before cooking them.
She wasn't a great cook, but at least they still didn't eat them raw.
The rest of the time was spent without moving. The redhead kept replaying that night over and over in her head; there were a lot of things she could have done to avoid killing those men. But there was no medicine for regret: it was too late—their lives and souls were gone.
Jane didn't speak either in that time. Anna left her alone, since she knew what she did was something hard to come to terms with. But now she couldn't watch her friend any longer.
{ - Jane. You know you were right. If you didn't do it... I think I don't need to tell you what would have happened to you and anyone that got caught by their group. }
Of course, Jane knew that; it was way too obvious to ignore. But knowing she made the right choice and making it were two very different things.
Feeling her weapon go through their bodies, the little resistance the flesh gave, the blood splashing from the gaping wound, their hearts getting pierced through—all these sensations were too vivid for her. It should be the same as killing an animal, but she couldn't think like that; after all, she was human too... And it's against the very nature of humans to kill each other. At least, that's what she thought.
{ - You know, we haven't been together very long. Only a bit more than a week, after all. You may not trust me a lot, and that's normal. But let me tell you that I've already grown fond of you. You are fun to be around, and I'm pretty sure your life will be a constant adventure. So you should know something: I'll always be your friend. Even if it's raining, I will protect you from it, and when the sun shines, we'll shine together. I swear. }
At these words, Jane lifted her head little by little, her gaze staring straight ahead. A little smile crept on her lips. What Anna said touched her heart profoundly.
A little sigh escaped her lips, and she slowly got up from her spot before stretching toward the sky.
- Well... I still don't think killing is a good idea. But it's true that we did something useful at least... Hm. How much time has passed, Anna? Do you know?
{ - Almost two weeks. I had to take care of our body, you idiot! How can you seduce anyone if we look like shit, huh?! }
That comment made Jane burst into laughter. She knew her friend was cheering her up, but there was some truth too. Based on the little comments Anna made in the village... She guessed her friend was in need of some human contact.
A sigh escaped Jane's lips.
- Then we should go back to the village now. I'd like to take on a few new missions. And I should have an answer to my letter.
After a last stretch, the young redhead vanished from her spot.
Meanwhile, in the office Jane visited when she got her Mercenary Card, Eliza was sitting behind the desk, holding a strange rock in her hands. It was something that came with the response for Jane's letter.
- Seems like the Denki still have these rocks around. There should only be two of them, and they sent one of them to Jane. She really is who I thought she was, I guess.
A smile appeared on her lips. It seemed like she had found the one she needed. Maybe it would soon be time...
Back to Jane, the young woman reappeared right in front of the Guild. She immediately entered and looked around in the main part of the building. This time she didn't wear her hood; there was no use to it if she could still get stalked and attacked with it on.
Some mercenaries eyed her for a few seconds before turning their heads around. They weren't interested in someone they'd never heard of; most of them were here for the money or the fame.
Jane made her way to the counter where the old man from last time was.
- Hello, Miss Denki. How can I help today? Do you want to look at another mission?
- Hello! Yes, I'd like that, but can I know if a letter came for me, please? I sent one a few days ago, but I couldn't come and check for an answer.
- Let me go and ask if we did!
With that, he turned around, left the counter, and went through a door near them. The wait didn't last very long, and the old man came back with a smile.
- Eliza would like to see you in the office, Miss Denki. She has the response you were waiting for.
A bit surprised, Jane still nodded her head and followed the old receptionist to the office she'd visited last time. Her companion stopped at the door and gestured for her to enter the room.
After closing the door behind her, the young woman turned around and faced Eliza.
- We meet again, Jane Denki. I think you were looking for that, right? And before you ask, no, there was no letter with it.
In her hand was a strange little black rock, no bigger than her palm. She was playing with it before throwing it to the redhead, who caught it without a problem. She turned it around to see all of it. She knew what it was—a magical rock used by the hunters from her village. There were only two of them: both were the property of her parents. The use was simple: following a set of manipulations, you could make it glow in some colors, and the other one would glow the same.
There were three colors: green for "everything is fine," blue for "there are some small problems," and red for "danger of death." She was surprised that all she got was that rock, but it still brought a smile to her face. It meant that her parents approved of her, even if she could perfectly imagine her father grumbling a lot.
The young woman bowed to her white-haired interlocutor.
- Thank you. It's more than enough; there's no need for any letters.
Eliza nodded, her smile still on her face before talking again.
- Well, I guess you didn't come here only to get that, right? Maybe you are ready to trust me now? Telling me the truth about that fight against Regg?
The young woman rolled her eyes at the mention of that. She doubted the... Receptionist? Was seriously thinking she would come here to spill all her secrets?
- No, I'll go ask for some new miss-
While she was talking, the rock she was holding started to glow a red so intense that it illuminated the whole room, even starting to heat up badly.
Shocked, Jane looked at it for a few seconds before Anna broke her reverie.
{ - Jane?! What's happening? Your emotions are a total mess! What is that rock exactly? I've never seen anything like it before! }
- I... I have to go. Now.
She turned around and stormed out of the room. There was no thought of hiding her gift now, as she activated her highest speed from the get-go. She didn't even bother stopping to open the huge front doors of the guild, choosing instead to summon her katana and cut her way out, leaving behind a whole room full of astonished mercenaries and an Eliza in shock at what she'd just witnessed.
The white-haired woman regained her senses after a few seconds and whispered to a shadow near her.
- Follow her, try to keep her safe.
She didn't hear an answer immediately but almost a full minute later.
- I... Will try, my lady, but... I'm not sure I can match her speed.
- No matter. It's almost sure where she went; go there directly.
She heard an affirmative grunt, and one of the shadows in the room wriggled a bit.
While that conversation was happening, Jane was already out of the village after having explained to Anna what was happening.
{ - Slow down then! You don't know what really happened over there. And if what you told me is true about that rock, then it's dangerous! It's better if you keep some strength for whatever we will encounter! }
Jane knew her friend was right but she couldn't stop worrying. She still slowed down a bit, maintaining the speed she'd used to come to Vanel the first time. It would take her the better part of the day, but at least she'd still be able to fight if needed once she arrived.
It made no sense to her. How could they be in danger of death? Nobody should know where the village was. Even when she'd sent that letter, the messenger had to wait somewhere before someone from her village would contact him. The only one who knew the location was Jane, and she hadn't told a single soul.
The run to her destination was painful. With every moment that passed, she felt more and more anxious. She never let go of the rock, which was still glowing an intense red all along. Her friend was trying to reassure her as much as she could along the way, but Jane's emotions were too messed up to really pay attention to these attempts.
After almost the whole day, the young woman finally arrived at the little clearing where she'd stopped the night she left her village—the same one where she'd met Anna for the first time.
{ - Wait, Jane. Let's take a break here. You didn't stop at all since we left Vanel! Eat again, maybe try to sleep a bit. Even just an hour can be good! }
The redhead struggled a bit internally before nodding her head reluctantly. She sat down on the spot, a little out of breath, before getting out a few sandwiches she'd kept for emergencies. After devouring them, she tried to sleep for a bit. But it was impossible—not while she still didn't know the state of her village and her family. So she got up and vanished from her spot, as Anna sighed in her head.
From here, it didn't take long before her village was in sight. Strangely, nothing seemed wrong at first glance. But after taking a closer look, she couldn't help but notice how everything was eerily calm. Like nothing was moving or even living. It was mid-afternoon, so there should have been kids playing in the street, people going back and forth doing all kinds of tasks. Even the guards should have been active right about now.
- Where's everyone?..
The moment she stepped foot in the village, she sensed something wrong and twisted her body sideways. She was a bit too late, though, and a line of blood was drawn on her cheek, made by a dagger thrown from one of the rooftops. She didn't even have time to check who threw it before a dark-clad person ambushed her with a sword in hand.
Her own katana materialized in her hand in an instant, blocking the sword coming for her throat. Jane felt she had more strength than her opponent and used that to push aside the weapon before using the momentum to spin and cleave the person's body in two at its midsection.
After doing that, she ran to a side street to avoid the throwing opponent. She lifted her hand and touched her injury a bit. It wasn't anything serious, but it was still bleeding a lot.
She couldn't understand what was happening, or why, nor where these assailants were coming from. But she couldn't think for long, as another dark-clad person popped out of nowhere and tried to cut her down around her waist. She jumped backward to avoid it, exposing herself once more in the open street.
Immediately, another dagger was thrown at her, targeting her leg this time. Since she had no time to dodge normally, she had to use her speed to twist her leg out of the way, making it cry out in protest. She almost broke her leg doing that.
{ - We need to do something about that dude throwing knives! We'll get killed at this rate; he's way too good! }
[{ - Don't you think I don't know that?! Let me just try to pinpoint his location! It's just too hard with these strange people ambushing me. Where do they come from?! }]
Even with her leg in pain, she didn't stop moving. Between dodging the knives and the strikes from her ambushers, she had almost no time to breathe. Even when she used her speed, the knife thrower was just predicting where she would land.
After blocking a new upward strike, she finally discovered the hiding spot of that sniper. Using her speed to bait him into throwing, she picked up a pebble on the floor and threw it with all her strength, her gift adding momentum.
A second later, a corpse with a hole in the middle of his forehead fell from the rooftop.
[{ - Okay, one thing dealt with. Now... Oh, you've got to be kidding me, right?! }]
Without her noticing, she was now surrounded by almost twenty dark-clad people, all wielding swords. A tense silence reigned, broken by the strangely synchronized movement of her assailants. They all attacked at the same time with a downward slash. Jane felt the pressure increase exponentially around her. She had to use her speed to help block almost seven strikes, but the other thirteen landed on various parts of her body. Surprisingly, they weren't targeting vital areas this time.
These opponents weren't the same as before. They seemed more experienced, as if the first ones were just some kind of newbies who had only recently got around to wield a weapon.
The injuries started to ooze blood, but for now, it was manageable. All her assailants took a step back, as if avoiding a retaliation strike, but almost immediately launched another assault, this time with a side slash targeting her ribs. She spun as fast as she could and managed to block almost all of them, but one or two still managed to slip through the gaps and scrape her waist. The injuries were shallow, but still enough to draw even more blood.
This time, however, they didn't retreat fast enough, and Jane vanished from her spot, reappearing in front of one of them and cutting off his head with one stroke of her katana. Meanwhile, another fell with a dagger lodged in his throat. She was starting to pant, her vision going blurry from blood loss, and she repressed a groan as she saw the remaining men reforming a circle around her, placing her in the center once more. The redhead grew more anxious by the second as her injuries began to hurt badly.
A few minutes of back and forth continued until only two assailants remained, but Jane was even more bloodied than before. She had almost no part of her body unscathed, even her face was scarred. One of the men stepped closer to her, but she couldn't react at all. All she felt was pain, and she felt as if she were made of jelly.
Seeing this, the two remaining opponents took her by her arms and dragged her toward the center of the town, leaving a trail of blood behind.
After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the central area. This brief "break" allowed Jane to regain some bearings, and she took in her surroundings. She noticed the two men dragging her across the floor and saw an uncountable number of similar men all around the plaza. Then she looked ahead, wondering why her captors had stopped, and her eyes widened so much that they nearly fell from their sockets.
In front of her lay a gruesome sight: piles upon piles of mangled bodies. She recognized every single one. There were guards, hunters she used to play with, and even some distant relatives. But the worst of all was at the very back. There, she saw her aunts, cousins, uncles... all with varying degrees of wounds, and a single one on their throats. This final injury had clearly been the one that ended them.
A clashing sound, like the one two weapons make when they meet, suddenly echoed, drawing her attention to an ongoing fight. Here she saw her father battling someone. The person wore a strange robe with a hood but no sleeves. For some reason, her gaze focused on a tattoo on his arm: a snake biting its own tail, forming a circle around the number one.
That person blocked another strike from her father and used the force to jump back. He turned his head, but Jane couldn't see his face at all, not even a part of it—it was as if the abyss were staring back at her.
The action attracted her father's attention, and his face turned pale.
- Jane! What are you— No matter! You have to run *now*! They are Our—
- Tsk, tsk, tsk. No, I can't let you spoil anything now, Denki. You should just join your dear wife. I'm sure she misses you already.
Her father was cut off before he could finish as the strange man vanished from his spot and reappeared behind him, driving his sword straight through his heart.
- NO!
Jane struggled in her captors' grasp but soon gave up. She had no strength left. Her head dropped, her hair hiding her face.
The strange man laughed at the sight and started to make his way toward her with deliberate, slow strides.
- So. Here's the new star of the Denki family, right? Jane, was it? You have no idea the amount of effort we deployed to find this village—all for naught. But thanks to you, we finally rid ourselves of that pesky family. It's time for a new age, Jane, and you will be the last stepping stone. Any last words?
At the end of his monologue, he stood in front of the young redhead, her face still veiled by her hair. Since she didn't respond, he shrugged and raised his sword high, intending to end her life. But before he could do so, he suddenly jumped back, just in time to dodge the flames rising from Jane. Unfortunately, the two men holding her arms weren't so lucky and burned to a crisp in less than a second.
The flames spread rapidly toward the other dark-robed men, awarding them the same fate as the two before. The fire receded as quickly as it had come, and Anna's tired voice echoed in Jane's head.
{ - Sorry, Jane... that's all I can do right now. And sorry I didn't help you sooner. I hope we'll see each other in the next life! }
[{ - That's okay, Anna. You did plenty. Let me kill that bastard, and we'll give my family a proper funeral. }]
Now freed from her captors, Jane rose slowly, lifting her head. Now that her face was visible, her tears were apparent to all. But they weren't ordinary tears; they were red. When someone undergoes intense trauma, they sometimes shed tears of blood. And that's exactly what was happening to the redhead.
Jane lifted her katana once more. Even though she was injured and had lost a great deal of blood, her hand didn't waver.
Strangely, the man didn't seem particularly worried. He could see that the young woman was at the end of her strength. With a contemplative expression, he observed her before jerking his head around. Even though his face was hidden, it felt as though he were frowning. In a blur, he caught an iron arrow and clicked his tongue.
- Tsk. I guess I should retreat for now. Didn't expect *that* shadow to show up here.
With these words, the man vanished from his spot.
Jane was surprised by his sudden disappearance, but her attention quickly returned to the surrounding corpses. She spotted her parents and struggled to make her way over. Once there, she fell to her knees beside them, holding their bodies close, her bloody tears still falling without sigh of them stopping.
{ - Please, Jane, tend to your wounds... We've survived for now, but not for long if you stay like this. }
She didn't respond immediately but stayed there, motionless for a few minutes. Then, she placed their bodies on the ground and closed their eyes.
- I'm sorry. I'll find them and make them pay once I'm stronger.
She took out some first aid from her dimension and began bandaging her wounds as best as she could. It took almost an hour, as she was injured nearly everywhere, her clothes nearly nonexistent by now. She changed and, once done, devoured some sandwiches and cookies she kept in her dimension.
After that, she searched for a shovel in one of the now-empty houses and started digging graves for each of the fallen. The work was exhausting and long, with her village holding nearly three hundred people. But she wanted to do it; it was the least she could do since she had arrived so late.
Halfway through, her bandages were bloody, some even starting to leak, but she ignored the pain and carried on.
Almost a day later, she heard a carriage going down the street but paid it no mind. The carriage stopped at the plaza's entrance, now unrecognizable, with nearly two hundred graves.
The carriage door opened, and Eliza stepped out, stopping in amazement at the scene in front of her.
- She... How long has she been like that?
- Since yesterday evening, my Lady. I don't know how she hasn't collapsed yet... I don't dare touch her; she seems like she will crumble at the slightest touch.
The white-haired woman nodded at that answer and decided to wait without disturbing her. The only thing she did was wave her hand a bit, and at that, it seemed like Jane got a little energy boost. The redhead didn't really notice and focused on her task. It was almost evening when she finally finished everything, burying her parents last.
Once that was done, she crumbled on the floor, unconscious.
Eliza sighed a bit, then gestured to the one accompanying her to carry the young woman to her carriage.
It was only two days later that Jane opened her eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling. Her memories were a bit fuzzy, and everything hurt. Especially her head. She was naked, but everything was hidden because of the bandages that covered her body.
{- Finally awake, sleepyhead? You really scared me, you know?}
Jane frowned a bit when she heard her friend's voice echo in her head. But she still smiled when she sensed her deep worry and relief at seeing her alive and well.
[{- I'm sorry, Anna, but where are we?}]
{- I don't know. I actually woke up at the same time as you. My magic really drained me, so I lost consciousness before you while you were digging all those tombs.}
While she was wondering where the hell she had ended up, the door to her room opened wide to reveal Eliza. The woman widened her eyes when she saw Jane awake and made her way to her as fast as she could, but with careful steps, like she was afraid of breaking the young woman.
- How are you feeling? Any pain anywhere? Healing magic is good, but you will still need rest.
Jane couldn't understand what was happening. She could guess it was Eliza who took her from her village. But why? And who were those men she had to fight back there? She had questions and wanted answers.
- I'm fine... I guess I should thank you for taking care of me, Miss Eliza. But... Why were you here? And why save me? Who were they?
When she asked about the men, a burning anger rose inside her. The white-haired woman sighed a little and dragged a chair to sit next to Jane's bed while the young woman raised her upper body with a frown of pain.
- Well, let me first explain who they were. They are a group called "Ouroboros," the snake that bit its own tail. They are extremists who think of themselves as cleaners of the world, to make a new one every once in a while. We don't know their number; all we know is that they are really well hidden and numerous. They still have leaders, all marked with a tattoo of a number in the center. The one who killed your parents was number one. Maybe he's the supreme leader... maybe just the strongest. We actually don't know.
Jane listened intently while locking eyes with Eliza. She balled her fists and whispered.
- So... I guess I'll need to track them down. The hunt is starting.
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