Ch 2.27: Captive

Elaina tensed up, but did manage to follow Carline’s instructions. She and the others all transformed out of their class gear and into their regular outfits, or school uniform in Elaina’s case. “Where, Carline?” she asked while sticking Temmie back in her bag.

“Quiet, coming around the corner now.”

Tira drew her mundane whip, and Flora edged forward, both preparing to protect their juniors, but no one rounded the corner. “Are they waiting?” Flora asked with a hushed voice.

“No, they’re… Hey! I know you’re there!” Carline was glaring at the entryway, then went wide eyed with panic. “I lost them.”

“They left?” Tira said, still at the ready.

“No, I mean, maybe, but they didn't leave my range, they just vanished.”

“I hear someone nearby, someone else,” Temmie said from inside the satchel.

“We need to leave,” Tira said, stepping forward and slicing out in front of them with her whip. “If something’s fucking with Carline’s senses then we’re not safe no matter what it is.”

“Not so fast!” Flora shouted, spinning and jumping towards the air next to Carline. At first Elaina thought it was a warning like Tira’s attack, but Flora very much grabbed something, lifting it into the air, hands clenched over seemingly thin air, but not closing.

“Elaina, grab it!” Tira said, launching another string of attacks around them. Elaina obeyed of course, felt the involuntary pull of [Good Girl] to to conjure a rope, wrapping around just below where Flora was gripping. There still wasn’t anything there, not visibly, but the rope was obviously wrapping around something.

Once Flora saw Elaina had hold of her target she dropped the phantom enemy and rushed forward again, fists raised in a brawler’s stance. “Whatever tricks you have aren’t going to work here. I can feel you messing with me.”

Tira drew back her whip, holding out, eyes darting around the cavern as Elaina ran up behind her. Flora was still right next to Carline as they stood, waited for what seemed like minutes, their silence only being broken by the sound of strained breathing. Elaina turned to the source of the noise, her bundle of ropes, but it wasn’t just ropes anymore. There was a woman there, eyes glazing over, mouth gasping for air, tied up in the coils of Elaina’s creation.

“Flora, you grabbed her throat?” Carline said, bending down and placing a hand on the woman’s neck.

“Wha— Why is this on me? She was invisible!”

“Focus,” Tira said. “There might be more.”

“No,” a soft voice said in between coughs. “They left me…”

The woman’s breathing began to normalize as Tira and Flora stood guard, but Elaina was focused on Carline and her surprise patient. “How can we trust you?” she asked.

The woman sighed, trying to wriggle her hands beneath the rope. “This is really tight. Can you untie me?”

Elaina looked the girl over, trying to assess the woman for potential danger. She seemed unarmed at the moment, but there was a dagger on the ground a few feet away that Elaina didn’t recognize “The person that turns invisible and carries this around?” Elaina asked as she picked up the weapon. “Sorry, but no.”

“I don’t turn invisible, it’s just—” The woman cut herself off, shaking her head. “Nevermind.”

“No no”, Tira said, “keep going, explain how the aspect works to us please.”

The woman frowned, looking away. “How long have you been following us?” Elaina asked. “You can tell us that much, right?”

“It’s…” The woman hesitated for a moment, looking  We weren’t following you. We heard sounds from the cave, that monster’s groaning. We came to investigate.”

“It is a pretty loud echo,” Carline said, standing up. “Her throat’s good now.”

“Is your aspect okay now, Carline?” Elaina asked.

“Her? I can sense her, yeah.”

“We really need to leave now,” Tira said, swiping at the air in front of her again. “If this girl doesn’t turn invisible then that means someone else turned her invisible.” Flora looked back at the words, eyes narrowing at their captive, but she didn’t say anything.

“Right,” Elaina said, pulling a length of rope from her bag. She slowly unbound the woman’s torso with her created rope as she wound around her with the new one, a little less tight this time, tying the permanent restraint onto her and letting the other dematerialize. “We’re taking her back?”

“Only thing to do,” Flora said, walking forward. “She’s with the poachers, obviously.”

The woman didn’t say anything, but her shameful look to the side was enough confirmation for Elaina. “Come on,” she said, grabbing the rope and pulling the captive forward.

“I’m still not sure how…” Carline trailed off as they started walking, their same formation from before. “I’m not sure how we didn’t hear them coming up behind us.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Flora said. Her voice was direct, the sing-song nature it usually had absent.

“But what if they attack again?” Elaina said.

“Then we kill them,” Tira said, lashing out with her whip again. The sound echoed throughout the cave, ringing and hurting in Elaina’s ears. “Any more invisible people decide to come up on us, they’re cleaved in two.”

The image caused Elaina’s stomach to turn over. She was pretty sure Tira was just grandstanding, but the casualness with which she said the words still felt wrong.

“I told you that they left,” the woman said. “We weren’t looking to pick a fight with anyone, certainly not Endrin students…”

“Then what were you doing?” Flora asked. “You were going after my friend with a blade; you were right next to her.”

“That was—” The woman shook her head again, tears starting to form in her eyes. Elaina had only the smallest amount of sympathy for those. “I didn’t want  to do that. But when the boss tells you to do something…”

“You do it,” Tira said. “I can respect that, just like I respect your silence so far. But you’re going to tell us who your boss is sooner or later. My friend with the ropes is nice enough, but me? Let’s just say for your sake, I hope you fess everything up before we make camp and I have a chance to get my hands on you.”

The woman sniffled as Elaina pulled her along, still talking at a whisper, probably only audible to Elaina, muttering to herself more than responding to Tira. “Nothing you can do will beat what she can…”