Holding On

Itsuki's eyes shot open, darkness fading from his sight as energy coursed through his body, jolting him awake.

He could see again. Think. Feel!

He flinched as a humming reverberation intensified, spreading everywhere in him.

Ack, perhaps a little too much.

His neurons were firing on all cylinders now, sensations flaring as piece-by-piece parts of him regained function.

A woman's face draped with hair blue like the sea focused into view above him once his vision fully returned. A teal light danced around her form and seeped into his like water.

"Kisaragi! Can you hear me?!"

Sayaka's head peeked in beside the new woman. She looked pale like a ghost when illuminated by the burning environment, but the moment they locked eyes, a bit of color returned.

"Thank the triumvirate, he is not lost," the blue-haired woman whispered, withdrawing the strange light before addressing him. "Kisaragi was it? You should count your blessings, living after a brush with one like her."

"I uh, thank you?" Itsuki croaked as he forced himself into a sitting position, residual pain lingering in his back. Everything looked about the same, though he couldn't see any more combat nearby.

"By the way, did you just heal me? Because if so—"

The woman shook her head. "Do not fret, I will not charge for my service. I don't do so for allies of my town." Her expression softened a bit before scanning their surroundings. "Quickly though, we must rejoin the action before any more harm can fall upon Lerwood."

She stood up, a priestly raiment of sorts flowing beneath a chest plate and armor as she looked down another street.

"The fighting has scattered toward the marketplace it seems. And while my vice-captain and guard are skilled, the cultists greatly outmatch them in number. They'll need all the help they can get."

Sayaka immediately came between him and the woman. "Wait. Lady, I appreciate you saving him, but why does it sound like you want us to fight?!"

"Hm? Are you not Ardents?" She looked confused as she glanced them up and down. "Your accents are not from here, conviction flares in your souls, and few in their right mind would fight Diluvians so brazenly."

"Ardents?" he repeated as his mind rebooted. "Sorry, I don't follow. I was just trying to find the little sister of a girl with orange eyes. Have you seen her?"

"Do you mean Eflam?" she asked, looking rather concerned. However, before any more inquiries could be made, the girl from before suddenly appeared out of breath from a side street.

"Matron Velena! M-my sister! I saw her! S-she was—"

"Refi?!" The lady's brow raised in worry. "What are you doing here?!"

She swallowed hard, clenching away any wetness in her eyes as they flicked between her and Sayaka. "M-Matron, the Diluvian, they found us shortly after this lady helped bring me there. They're heading toward the western side gate now, and they have my sister too!"

The woman's expression dropped.

"They compromised the shelter's wards? No, if they're here too…"

Water and stone suddenly manifested around her, rising to orbit in bands.

"I don't have much time." She shot a quick glance to him and Sayaka. "You two, I know I am asking a lot for non-Ardents, but may you keep Refi safe? I promise you shan't be unrewarded."

She didn't wait for a response, immediately bursting forward in the direction the girl had indicated.

For a few seconds after, the only sounds were the crackling of flames and the muted sounds of combat.

"Well…" Itsuki scratched the back of his head as the situation sunk in. "Refi, huh? Uh, let's get going then. Do you know any safe—"

A draft hit him as the girl legged it after the matron.

"I'm sorry! I need to save my sister!"

"H-hey!" Itsuki instinctually grasped in an attempt to stop the kid.

However, instead of gripping fabric or even air, his hand closed around something almost ethereal.

A strange sensation pulsed through him.

***

Grief, panic, desperation. The familiar emotions engulfed Itsuki but through a different, smaller lens. He was connected somehow, experiencing things in parallel with each heartbeat as if Refi's very being had been placed in his hand.

A few scenes flashed by—all of them memories.

Death, death, more death. It was everywhere and had come for everyone. Her grandparents, her older siblings, her uncles and aunts, and now with this attack—her parents. Nobody was safe from its visit.

Yet each time it came she had to be strong, had to not cry.

Because she was Eflam's big sis, and if she cried, so would she.

Even with her world crashing around her, even with her heart wanting to shatter, her voice echoed with a purpose—the last one she had in this world.

'I'm coming, Eflam.'

***

Itsuki gasped a few breaths once it'd faded, unfurling his hand in shock before it could go any further.

What the heck was that just now? Did he just read her mind?

He didn't know for certain, but…

Itsuki immediately rose, snatching the mace from the ground and readied himself to give chase—

"Get back here!"

But not before Sayaka could do it first, sprinting across the ground.

"Usami?" He shouted as they ran after Refi, both of them now side-by-side in pursuit.

"We need to save her," she said, muttering something to herself under her breath before continuing. "One thing though. Be more careful, Kisaragi. Please."

"Huh? More careful?" He blinked. "Where did this come from?"

"Just answer! Will you be more careful?"

He focused ahead as he thought of the unexpected request.

"I'll try to be, but I can't promise anything."

"I'm being serious you know," she said between pants. "Don't throw your life away."

"Mm?" His lips quirked, cynicism that hadn't seen the light of day for years momentarily resurfacing at the irony.

"Like you did?"

She stuttered. "I-I'm still very sorry about getting you caught up in it, but that's not what I meant. I don't care about my life."

She vaulted over an overturned cart with him. "You though, you deserve to live! So if anything happens, let me be the one to die. I'm the one that screwed everything up."

His response was sharp.

"No, out of the question."

"O-out of the question? But why?!"

He inhaled, holding his breath as they ran through a pall of smoke.

"Because that's stupid. On top of your life having value, you don't get to choose who live or dies in the heat of the moment. It just happens, whether or not we want it."

"Value?! You really think my failure of a life has value?!"

His brow furrowed. "Of course it does! Especially yours. So stop calling yourself a failure, Kae—"

He bit his tongue once the name registered on his lips.

Crap.

"Sorry, forget I said anything. Let's just focus on saving her, okay?"

Thankfully before Sayaka could say anything or protest, Refi came back into view up ahead, a wave of heat sweeping through the street.

They'd run pretty far from the town center at this point. The surroundings had narrowed into a district with older-looking buildings constructed mostly of brick. Fire hadn't claimed them yet, though blackened marks pocked their exteriors, and glass lay shattered in the streets.

"Hey!" Itsuki shouted, pushing himself to close the remaining distance. "Refi, hold up!"

The kid's ears twitched, briefly glancing to look back at them.

"Sorry, mister, but I already told you. I have to rescue my sister!" she yelled, no signs of slowing down in her stride.

"We're not saying you can't! Just let us help!"

"Wait, what…?"

The girl's pace began to slow.

Itsuki breathed in relief. Thank goodness.

"I won't ask you to stop, just let us help you get her back—keep you as safe as we can in the process!"

She didn't respond, though her speed pattered out until it was more jog than run.

"Thanks for hearing us out," he said as they finally caught up.

"…Are you serious about helping me get her back? Fighting against the Deluvians?"

"Of course," he said without hesitation. "Not sure what we can do, but—"

"Kisaragi?!" Sayaka harsh whispered at him. "I can get protecting her and trying to save her sister, but fighting those maniacs? That one elf lady nearly made you more puddle than person."

"How do you propose saving her sister then?"

She shrunk. "I…"

A shockwave blasted through the streets from the gate up ahead, clearing the air of smoke and shaking the foundations of the town.

The sounds of combat resumed right after.

"What was that?" Itsuki asked, staring ahead in the now exposed street. He could make out glimpses of color and glints of metal, each clashing together right outside the gate.

The blue-haired lady from before was fighting against several black-robed figures alone. Roots sprung from the ground beneath her, wrapping around a few of them as water and earth pounded into others.

However, her attention didn't seem to be on them. Rather, it was on a figure that whipped through the sky like a wisp. Itsuki couldn't even see what they were, only that they were launching near imperceptible attacks against the woman and forcing her to evade blasts like some sort of demented dance.

"Matron Velena! Is she really trying to face them all by herself?" Refi gasped as the conflict neared. "So this is how she fights for real…"

Cobble gave way to packed gravel and dirt as they passed through the side gate. They were back outside again, the forest stretching out far to the mountains and haze thinned by the wind. The sky that'd once been a clear blue had turned a dark grey, and a wetness clung to the air.

Itsuki immediately started looking for any sight of prisoners and of the girl's sister. As much as he would've liked to gawk, his main priorities were a bit more pressing.

"Is that them?" Sayaka asked, pointing at a group of chained people being carted behind some kind of beast of burden. They were in an enclosed wagon and guarded by a few cultists, though it appeared the robed figures were more concerned with dodging the matron's attacks than keeping watch.

Hm. They might be able to work with this.

"Usami, how confident are you in your magic thing? The one you used before on the cult lady?"

"My magic thing?" Her lips pursed. "I… honestly don't know. I just threw my hand out and hoped something happened like in those magical girl manga."

Itsuki's heart clenched as he heard that.

Magical girl manga? Damn it, why did she and Kaede have so many things in common.

He shook the thought from his head. "In that case, Usami, can you try and do the same thing to protect Refi? Possibly her sister and the rest of the prisoners too?"

"I can try," she hesitantly said. "But what are you planning? There's a look in your eye I don't like."

His left hand experimentally clenched above his chest, remembering the strange feelings from earlier. Just as it closed, he felt it again, palpably flooding his system even as fear and anticipation gripped him.

Warmth. Strength. Will.

Thunder rumbled in the distance as he basked in it.

"…I'm going to attempt something. Can you try sneak around the left side now? Hide in the bushes close to the prisoners with Refi?"

Her brow flattened. "That's not an answer. Seriously, what are you planning?"

He exhaled, palming the mace as his gaze locked on the wagon's lock.

"Something hopefully my style."