Strings Attached

Elenore twirled the needle in her hand, thread flowing from her briefcase. Bolto held steady, waiting to fire the toy carriage he had wound up on the track on his arm. Lyra held an unlit sparkler between each of her fingers and clenched her fist. Each one waited for the other to make a move.

A red boss skull appeared behind Elenore as she dashed at Bolto. He released the primed carriage, and it ran down the track on his arm, firing toward Elenore. She slid low, thread flashing in her wake, and the carriage sailed over her.

Bolto leapt back, farther than he meant to. The unexpected power in his legs sent him crashing into a tree. Elenore jabbed her needle forward, catching his sleeve. She pulled the thread tight, stitching his arm to the bark.

Lyra stepped in, startled by how fast she moved. Her sparklers burst into life, arcs of fire trailing from her hands. She swung wide, blinking at the blur of her own attack, only to find her target behind her reach and herself overextended. She tried to correct herself, but her reflexes went faster than she could keep up with, tripping over her own feet.

Elenore didn’t waste the stumble. She threw her briefcase up and over a branch and flicked her wrist, looping a line of thread around Lyra’s ankle. A sharp tug yanked Lyra off balance, pulling her up into the air as Elenore twisted, planting a powerful kick. Lyra skidded across the grass in a spray of sparks.

Bolto's carriage carved through the dirt, coming back to him like a boomerang. He tore his sleeve free from the tree. The carriage aimed low, while Bolto attacked high with a strong right hook. Elenore was already moving, thread spiraling around her.

She moved with trained grace, bending backwards and dodging both Bolto and the carriage threatening to knock the ankles out from under her. She twisted away from the hook, only to find Lyra back on her feet. The sparklers in her hands screamed as she slashed them forward, bursting against her shoulder.

Heat seared through her blazer, singeing the fabric and making her stagger half a step. The thread in her hand went slack for the first time since the fight began. Elenore’s glasses tilted down her nose as she straightened, patting out a small flame on her sleeve.

Bolto didn’t give her time to recover. He was already charging his carriage against his arm again. He released it, letting it drive along the ground. It bounced up and met with the briefcase to block the impact.

She hurled her briefcase straight at him, the latch snapping open as it spun. Thread spilled from it in a glittering line. Bolto rolled out of the way, but Elenore pulled at her needle once again. The momentum dragged her toward him like a guided missile, and she drove her heel into his gut.

Bolto wheezed, then froze as he realized her heel was stitched into the fabric of his shirt. Elenore smirked, flicking the needle again. The thread darted out, looping and pulling, sewing him to a jagged rock. In two quick motions, she had him pinned, his arm stretched awkwardly and his feet unable to find balance.

Bolto strained against the threads, but every pull only tightened them further. Elenore gave the line a final tug, locking him in place, then cut the thread with her teeth. She pivoted toward Lyra, restringing the needle.

Lyra lunged in, her movements still too quick for her to process. The burst of speed threw her swing off course again, and Elenore slid past her hip, letting the flame lick harmlessly in the air. In that same breath, the needle snapped forward, grazing Lyra’s sleeve.

Lyra barely noticed the sting before the thread cinched tight. A second stitch bit into the fabric at her hip, and a third anchored itself to the low branch above her. Elenore darted behind her, the final pull snapping taut.

The momentum jerked Lyra upward, suspending her awkwardly with one foot brushing the dirt. She twisted and kicked, but the seams held fast, binding her to the branch like a marionette mid-pose.

"Two down." Elenore adjusted her glasses with a flick of her finger, the glint on the lenses hiding her eyes. She looked at Aki, hiding behind a tree. "You would rather not join the negotiations?"

"Direct combat's not my forte." She said, clutching her explosive vial.

"Funnily enough, it's not mine either." Elenore pulled her briefcase back to her. "But with some creative accounting, we can tweak our resume for future meetings."

Aki revealed herself from her hiding spot. Elenore looked down her nose at her and smiled. Aki’s eyes flicked over Elenore’s poised figure. She watched the fight and stayed out of the way, not just because she was underequipped, but to gain intel.

She had noticed the others' missteps and determined them to not be errors of their own making. Elenore was doing something to them, but what? It had nothing to do with the thread. It was more subtle than that. It had seemed that they were better than they knew, in some way.

"Perhaps a deal can be struck between us." Elenore said, looking at Kael. "We're going to take the System and probably kill the man it brought to this world. I'm still willing to allow you to leave here. Just stand still."

Elenore dispelled her needle, creating a potion vial in its place. Her briefcase snapped open, letting loose alchemical ingredients, already ground and ready for mixing. Aki felt a strange power welling up in her muscles, but she lackedsomething important: her Alchemy skill.

"I get it. I know your job." Aki said, motioning to Lyra.

"Well, it's not a secret, dear." Elenore continued mixing the potion. "My job... is Loan Officer. And with my Loan Shark skill, I can give out predatory loans and take collateral. It's temporary without proper paperwork, however."

"And you increased my strength to take my Alchemy skill as collateral?" Aki asked, confirming.

"Exactly right. I'm just going to make Kael a potion and then return it to you." Elenore said.

"I guess you can't tell." Aki smiled as Elenore finished the potion. "My job isn't Alchemist."

The clattering of dice sounded in Aki and Elenore's head. They could feel it in their chests. Natural 1. Elenore's eyes widened, her confidence shaken.

The vial shone with bright light, energy rising within the bubbling liquid. Lyra lit the fuse of a firecracker, using the sparks to cut the thread that held her and released Bolto. Aki pushed past Elenore, reaching out to Lyra, who threw the firecracker at Aki.

Activating Pestel, Aki ground the firework to dust, whipping it around and into Elenore's potion. The power grew more intense until it couldn't be contained anymore. Elenore had taken and used Aki's special Unlucky Alchemist version of the Alchemy skill. With no levels in the Unlucky Alchemist job, the only result was a backfire and explosion.

Back to the present, the forest exploded. Colorful sparks spread across the sky, bouncing off of each other and creating more explosions. With a whistle and a pop, a charred and injured Elenore comes flying from the forest.

Aki, Lyra, and Bolto came flying from the forest behind her, reuniting with Haruto.