Linked Together VI / Misdirection

I seized Shina’s wrist and shot forward. Once I’d put a few feet of distance between us and our assailant, I spun around and released her, interposing myself between the two as a precaution.

I didn’t know if we were in any real danger, but Professor Seris’s warnings about Fleur came rushing back to me the moment Shina uttered her name.

A dark shadow rose from the ground where Shina and I had entered the alleyway, shaping and blending itself to match the surrounding architecture. Once it completed its ascent, it resembled the nearby walls so closely that someone walking along the main road likely wouldn’t realize there was a passageway hidden behind it.

In other words, we were sealed in. Or, at least, it looked like we were. If Fleur’s specialty was illusion magic, I suspected we’d be capable of running straight through that wall if we tried.

Fleur looked dumbfounded at my reaction, perhaps justifiably so. A moment later, however, a smile danced back onto her lips. “Maybe you are more like Leon than people were saying, swooping in to save little Shina at the first sign of trouble like that. Aww, how heroic of you.”

The contents of her words stung like mockery, but her tone contained no hint of insincerity. Neither interpretation felt right, yet neither felt wrong. In some sense, her aptitude for such inscrutability made her my natural enemy.

I felt a light tug on my shirt. “I don’t necessarily trust her, but I don’t think she’d actually do anything bad to us. Let’s hear her out, at least,” Shina whispered into my ear.

Though I didn’t want to take charge here, Shina would be just as susceptible to any tricks Fleur might try to use on us. That being the case, I’d rather take on the brunt of them.

“What do you want? And why’d you seal us off? If you just need our help, that’s a pretty suspicious thing to do.” Trying not to show any weakness, I kept my voice as steady as possible as I sent my first wave of interrogations her way. I’d have time to overthink my words later.

As if already bored of our antics, she began to idly twirl a lock of her wavy, golden hair. “Listen, I hate having to come to you as much as you hate having me interrupt your little date. If we can get this over with, I’ll leave you two be, promise.” Suddenly acting interested again, she punctuated the final word with a grin and a wink.

A finger jabbed into my cheek, hard. “What’re you all silent for!? Tell her we’re not on a date!” Shina hissed into my ear.

I haven’t had a chance to respond yet! And you could’ve told her, too!

“Sh-Shina and I aren—”

“I’m being followed,” Fleur said, cutting me off. “I thought at first he was just a creep, but he’s too good to be your run-of-the-mill stalker.” She didn’t sound particularly concerned about the whole ordeal.

Finally inserting herself into the conversation, Shina interjected, “S-seriously? You don’t think…”

“I don’t know for sure, but if I were a betting woman, I’d place money on him being an Iccasian.”

The unease I’d started feeling since she arrived was growing worse. If she was telling the truth, we—and many innocent townspeople—could be in serious danger right now. But that assumed her story had even a kernel of veracity to it. Maybe it was cruel of me, but based on everything I knew about her, I was inclined to believe she was lying to us.

“I can tell you don’t want to believe me, but make up your mind quickly. If you want to leave, fine. I can try to deal with him alone. But now that I’ve slipped away, he’ll probably make a move. You don’t have long to choose.”

I still wasn’t convinced, but I also felt guilty leaving her alone if she needed help. In the end, however, my indecision didn’t matter.

“Do you just need me or Everett to restrain him, since your magic isn’t good with that kind of thing?” Shina asked for confirmation, and Fleur nodded. “You better not be messing with us, but… we should help her, Everett. Just in case.”

“Well, looks like I have no choice,” I muttered under my breath. I’d never forgive myself if I left Shina behind and something happened to her. “Fine. So what exactly do you—”

Suddenly, the air began to warp around me. As space seemed to curve and bend in on itself, a strange film formed around me on all sides, creating a transparent cocoon.

“Don’t move, or it’ll break,” Fleur said, barely loud enough for me to hear. However, before I could process what was happening, another element entered the picture.

“Hey,” a male voice called down the alleyway from the entrance opposite the one Fleur had blockaded. “I apologize if I’m being presumptuous, Miss, but you shouldn’t wander down side streets alone. It’s dangerous.”

The man seemed like a young adult, and he was handsome, with a kind-looking face. The concern in his voice sounded genuine, and if it weren’t for what Fleur had said, I doubted I’d find him suspicious. But… what does he mean by “alone”? There are three of us here.

“Hm?” Fleur put on a charming smile as she responded to the man. “How sweet of you. You might be right. But there was a stray kitty back here, and I just had to pet it.”

Complying with his request, she walked toward him to exit the alleyway. She passed Shina and me without sparing a single glance at either of us. Except…

Where did Shina go!? To my shock, she was nowhere to be found. Finally, it dawned on me what the bubble that appeared around me must’ve been: invisibility, courtesy of Fleur’s perception-bending magic.

With our presence erased, she strolled up to the man, not one crack forming on her façade. “Thanks for looking out for me, Mister. What’s your name? Mine is—”

It happened in an instant.

By the time my neurons processed the visual stimuli, it was too late. The distance between them was at least 10 feet, but he crossed it in a blur. A squelching sound of steel piercing flesh resounded from where his blade struck her chest.

“FLEUR!” I didn’t know her, but I cried out her name all the same.

“Woratoto!” Shina’s body reappeared as she swung an arm forward and called out an incantation. Two small pillars of ice burst from the walls flanking the man, threatening to crush his torso from both sides.

Showing off his agility once more, he slipped out of the way of her attack and kicked off the ground, bounding toward his new target, whose shield of invisibility had vanished the moment her movements punctured its veil.

One second was all it took to close the distance. His blade jutted forward, intent on ending things in an instant. But I’d die a thousand times before I’d ever let him touch her. Luckily for me, Leon was also the agility type, and with my cocoon still intact, I had the element of surprise.

My right hand reached for the sword directly, grabbing hold of it by the blade and ripping it out of his grasp, lacerations be damned. My other arm shot to the side elbow-first, striking him square in the stomach to contest his body’s momentum.

He slid back a few feet and immediately reached into his coat, eager to replace his stolen weapon. Think! What do I—

Clang!

The man crumpled to the ground, something big and metal striking him in the head.

“… Huh?” A sound of confusion left my lips as the body of someone I just saw die moments earlier materialized before me.

“You really thought a master of illusion would conceal her allies but march straight into battle herself? It hurts that you think so little of me.” Fleur gave a mocking pout as she corrected my foolish assumptions, before tossing the metal rod she held back in with the discarded junk of the alleyway.

My gaze shot to where her “body”, slashed through the heart, should be resting. Yet, while Shina’s ice pillars remained, there was no corpse to be found, nor blood to prove it ever existed.

“But the attack even sounded real. How did you…?”

“I can bend sound as easily as I can sight. I even lured you here with a smell, remember? And if you were paying attention, you’d have noticed that my ‘body’ vanished shortly after it was stabbed. I guess you were more than a little distracted, though.”

I let out a long sigh of relief and dropped the blade in my hand. It was scary for a moment, but everything turned out okay.

“Everett!” A voice rang out from beside me.

“Are you okay, Shina?” I said, turning to her.

“What do you mean? Are you? You’re bleeding!” She took my hand to inspect the damage.

“It’s alright. From the angle I came in at, I mostly just hit the flat.” It hurt, but it was by no means lethal, nor was it a wound that wouldn’t heal naturally over a few days.

“Mmm, I guess. You know, you’re really brave.” For some reason, her tone made it sound less like a compliment and more like she was frustrated.

“Should I stop?”

“Of course not. I just wish you were that brave when it wasn’t life-or-death…” Without elaborating on what she meant, she continued, “Come on, let’s find some bandages. And we’ll need to contact the academy to report this whole incident.”

As Shina seized my wrist and led me out of the alleyway, a voice called out behind us. “Thanks for the help, you two. And really, sorry for interrupting your date.”

“We’re not—” I started.

“It’s alright. I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone now.”

“That’s—”

“If you want any recommendations, I know a few places.”

“I—”

“Oh, and if either of you end up single, just talk to me. You’re both pretty cute; I’d be happy to scoop up whoever comes to me first.”

She’s doing this on purpose, right? I tried to use my gaze to communicate with Shina.

She nodded, a look of exasperation on her face. “Yeah, she loves teasing people,” it seemed to say.

I had a feeling I’d struggle to deal with Fleur in the future, but, if nothing else, I was beginning to think my initial impression of her was misguided. One day, the seven of us would need to fight side-by-side to save the world, and when that time came, I wouldn’t mind having an ally like her to fight alongside.

Though, I still hoped that day would not come for a very long time.