Chapter 40
Chapter 40
WIND was blowing. It started out gentle. Wafting in on the wind was a sumptuous and sweet scent. Wind was blowing. When Yuki realized it, the wind had kicked up a whirlwind of dust. Red flower petals blew in from somewhere and were dancing in the wind.
Wind was blowing. Eventually, the flames trying to consume Yuki were drawn away as the oxygen moved away with the wind. Wind blew. The wind blew as it did in the Japanese legend of the three weasels that were said to blow in with a supernatural whirlwind. The wind coiled and wrapped through the air, shaking the trees. Red flower petals danced through the air.
A woman stood in front of Yuki. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Her short hair—that appeared either gray or black depending on how you looked at it—fluttered in the wind.
With a smile she said, “You’ve got guts to smile in a situation like this.”
None of Yuki’s five senses seemed to work. She couldn’t hear the crackling sound of the wood under the fire below her or feel the searing heat of the flames whipping at her legs. Only the sound of the woman’s voice perfectly reached her.
“I came to take a peek when I heard they caught my impostor, to find they actually found a violet child. They worked hard to make this one work,” the woman grumbled, folding her arms. She closely examined Yuki. Her face contorted just as she spotted the burns on Yuki’s chest.
“They sure were elaborate about it. They even went as far as a Licorice…calling that a flower bud is disgusting and repulsive.”
Yuki thought it looked like the woman shrunk a little. No, she was undoubtedly shrinking.
“Adolunde’s snot-nosed mamma’s boy has sickeningly bad taste.”
Rather than a woman, the little girl who now appeared to be in her early teens smiled sweetly when she made eye contact with Yuki.
“Poor thing. You had such a thing forced on you. It must’ve hurt,” the girl said compassionately. Yuki noticed she was now the same size and physique as her.
“Who are you?” Yuki asked.
The girl with boy’s length hair grinned, “The real thing.” The girl’s violet eyes gleamed in the light.
By the real thing, she means she’s the real Legendary Witch?
“It happened a lot in the past too. Rumors they’ve caught my impostor. Well, there hasn’t been too much of that lately. They used to cast illusions on tempted Witches, so they appeared to have violet eyes or would brainwash people.” The girl peered intently at Yuki. “But you’re the real deal, huh?”
Eh? Huh? Whaat?
The girl continued talking, ignoring Yuki’s confusion. “Well, I don’t really care whether you’re an impostor or the real thing. I’ll save you.”
“…Huh?” Yuki didn’t know how to respond to this woman who suddenly appeared, shrunk into a girl, and immediately offered to save her. “Why would you? When nobody else would?”
There’s no reason for her to save me. If anything, she should be angry I impersonated her.
“Why, you ask? You ask interesting questions, girl. You don’t want to be saved? Even in this situation? You were crying and shouting so much for someone to save you earlier.”
“That’s true, but…” Yuki fumbled for words. She glanced down and saw the flames were locked in place, like a wave of flame frozen in time.
Oh yeah, it’s not hot.
The flames denied the very passage of time, stuck where they had been when the wind blew through. Yuki looked at the girl.
“Oh yeah,” the girl laughed. “I wouldn’t be able to chat with you if I hadn’t done that. I’m the one who’d be troubled by them claiming the Legendary Witch died. At the very least, I wish they’d talk about it after I’ve really died.”
The girl sighed and shrugged. “Anyhow, to answer your question, I am helping you because I can. I don’t want to deal with the problems my death will bring, so I’ll just get you down from there and randomly drop you off somewhere. You cool with that?”
Suddenly being asked if she were cool with being saved that way didn’t register in Yuki’s mind.
What the heck is even going on right now? How is this happening? I don’t get it. She wanted to hold her head, but her hands were still tied behind her.
“Okay?” the girl asked to make sure. She sighed during Yuki’s long pause to find an answer. “Aaaah, sheesh. Do you want to live? Do you want to die? Which is it!”
Those words brought back the terrible situation Yuki was in. The intense heat billowing up at her feet, the rampant bloodlust from the jeering crowd. The insanity of it all. Lifeless eyes. The chants calling for her death.
“I don’t want to die!”
The girl grinned, “Good job.” Her words came out distorted.
The girl snapped her fingers.
***
THE next thing Yuki knew, all her senses returned. Her feet and legs were being burned by the rising heat. She could hear the jeering and clamoring of the crowd seeking a better look. She felt their bloodlust as their eyes burrowed into her. The only difference from before was the sweet scent of flowers and the young girl standing between Ain and Yuki.
The girl smirked and cackled in a high-pitched voice. Her voiced boomed through the area. Whether people were silenced by her mere presence or a more sinister method, silence reigned.
“Are you watching? O’ Prince of Maruk and quack prince,” she sneered, waving her hand in a specific direction. Countless rose vines erupted from the ground at her feet and jutted toward Yuki. Before long, the vines put out the blaze at Yuki’s feet and grew longer and longer.
“What bad boys you are. I’ll punish you for mistaking me.”
Wind kicked up.
“What is this?” Yuki was flustered by the vines suddenly wrapping around her.
“Yuki!” Ain’s voice echoed.
“Ain!” Yuki cried back.
The girl glanced at Ain. “Oh dear. Are you her friend?”
“What are you doing with Yuki!” Ain shouted.
“Do you want to save her?”
“Of course I do!”
“Then I’ll save you. You’re captured too. Nice going with that, utterly failing to rescue the damsel and all. Although I feel as if I’ve seen your ugly mug somewhere before,” the girl grinned and clapped her hands in front of his eyes. Ain slowly fell over like a puppet after its strings were cut.
“Ain!” Yuki screamed.
The girl waved her hands in dismissal and casually said, “No need to worry. I won’t do anything bad to you two.”
The girl glared into the distance again. “I don’t know what Adolunde’s sniveling brat who still sucks at his mother’s teat said to you, but you’d better fix that sister complex of yours too—or else the world will crumble around you.”
Rose vines wrapped around Yuki’s entire body. Wind ripped through the gathered people, sending them screaming. Bright-red flower petals danced in the wind. Yuki’s vision was obscured in the embrace of vines.