Fallen into my Savior’s arms?

Kasumi looked out beyond the hazy downpour toward the blue twinkle. The rain came down too hard for her to tell how big or how far away the twinkle was, but it was unmistakable as the full moon.

“Release the girl!” a voice rang out. It was heavily modulated and traveled through the firmament, preventing it from reaching Kasumi’s ears. If it had, she might have noted how authentic and natural it sounded compared to Mona’s artificial chatbot.

“Make me!” challenged the deep, guttural cry from the tree. The shadow shifted, and the canopy rustled, showering Kasumi with raindrops clinging to the leaves. She felt her limbs pulled as the vines already wrapped around her legs and left arm lifted her into the air. A flash traveled from the blue twinkle, opening a hole in the rain.

*THUNK*

Kasumi felt the wind blow by as something she couldn’t see sailed past her legs and embedded itself into the tree trunk.

“Ahh!” grunted the guttural voice as the vines on Kasumi’s left leg went slack. The other two vines picked up the strain, stretching her like two children fighting over a toy. “Don’t move or I’ll rip her in half!” the voice threatened, increasing the pull on Kasumi’s limbs.

“Agh,” she cried as her shoulder and knee popped, joints extending in ways she’d never experienced before.

“Stop!” shrieked the modulated voice, panic flooding through the modulation. The strain on Kasumi’s body lessened, and she was able to breathe again.

“Now come out,” the guttural voice said. “Try anything, and you’ll be cleaning up her blood across three zip codes.”

All Kasumi could do was wait as the blue twinkle grew closer and closer. She tried struggling to free herself, but the slightest shake was met with a yank worse than she could bear. As the twinkle moved closer, it shifted from a faint shimmer to a steady glow, and finally to twinkling eyes in a person’s silhouette. That was all the detail Kasumi could see. It was impossible to focus on, like trying to spot a fish in murky water, where distinguishing features are hidden.

“That’s close enough,” called the guttural voice, making the silhouette stop in its tracks. “Throw your bow down into the canopy.”

The rain-shrouded figure shifted, and a stringless bow nearly two meters long plopped into the canopy’s cover. A shadowy vine slithers down like a serpent toward the bow, inspecting it before turning toward the twinkling blue figure.

“What other weapons do you carry?”

“The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” the modulated voice replied. “Take it from me if you are able.”

Kasumi felt the vines coil around her limbs tighter as a low growl erupted from the canopy. She gritted her teeth to bear the pain, unable to do anything else, until the figure called to her directly.

“Kasumi,” it said, in a voice so soft she wasn’t sure she’d actually heard it. “Kasumi,” it called again. “Use the cross.”

“What cro—agh,” Kasumi began, only to be stopped by a tug from the vines.

“Quiet, you!” the guttural voice roared.

“Don’t speak,” the faint voice said. “While you’re in its grasp, it can hear you. Just press the cross against it to give me a clear shot.”

“How—”

“I said quiet!” the guttural voice screamed again, tugging her so hard her spine popped.

“Do you hear me speaking?” mocked the silhouette, returning to its modulated voice.

“Mock me again, and her blood will be on your hands,” threatened the guttural voice.

“Come on, Kasumi,” encouraged the faint voice. “A cross of any kind is like hot coals to these monsters. Hattori-san slipped it into your right pocket, all you have to do is—Agh!”

The silhouette erupted in grunts and struggles as several vines wrapped around it like a hangman’s noose.

“Using your physical voice to speak to her while using the firmament to converse with me; clever, but not clever enough.”

Shadowy vines stretched down from the canopy, reaching for the silhouette and drawing it into the canopy’s cover. Even as it was pulled into the rain, Kasumi could still only see a shadowy outline. If she could see through the downpour, she might’ve noticed the girl was dressed as a Japanese archer, with a mask that hid her face below her eyes. The blue twinkle Kasumi had initially thought was a light of some kind was actually her eyes, which shone brighter than the full moon with an unnatural glow.

“Though I suppose your foolishness was clear as soon as you attempted saving this pathetic girl,” the guttural voice mocked, shaking Kasumi and stretching her limbs again. “I’m not sure what’s funnier, the fact that you thought she could aid in your victory, or that she’s secured mine.”

He brought the blue-eyed girl up to Kasumi, placing the two of them so close that Kasumi felt drops of water slide from the girl’s hair as the vines shook her.

“Go ahead, encourage her more, give her instruction. It won’t matter. She’s already mine.”

The vines shook as the voice laughed, shaking the girls like rag dolls as its mocking continued. The masked girl’s blue eyes never left Kasumi, but Kasumi refused to meet her gaze. Instead, her eyes looked down at the ground, her pocket in plain view. For just a moment, her fingers moved along the seam, her nails at the entryway. The girl’s eyes pleaded with her, imploring her to reach into her pocket, but Kasumi refused, keeping her eyes closed as tears welled up.

“It’s not real, this is a dream, a bad nightmare!” Kasumi babbled like a prayer, only emboldening the guttural voice and its taunts.

“Ha,” the blue-eyed girl sighed, eyes falling as Kasumi refused her instruction. “I guess you still need more time,” she whispered, shifting her fingers. She pushed out the tip of a palm-sized crucifix from inside her glove. Once exposed, she pressed the crucifix against the vines constricting her.

“AAGGGHHH!” screamed the demon as the scent of burning sulfur erupted from the vine. Its ear-piercing scream cracked the vending machine glass as the vines thrashed and slackened. The vines released the girl like a hot pan, dropping her to the ground next to her bow.

“YOU DAMNABLE WHORE!” the voice cried as a dozen vines shot down, preparing to lance her like a pincushion.

The girl’s eyes held no fear as she reached for her bow, crucifix still in hand. She didn’t attempt proper form, but grasped the nonexistent string and pulled it back. Vines grazed and slashed at her sides, drawing blood and tearing her clothes, but her eyes remained focused on her target.

*THWIP—SKRACK!*

A faint twinkle flew from her hand like an arrow. It burst through vines and foliage like tissue paper, flying to its target.

“GAH!” the demon gasped, feeling its core pierced and cracked like a glass marble. It didn’t have time to scream as its limbs turned orange before disintegrating into a fine black powder, scattering in the wind.

Kasumi felt the fall as the vines holding her vanished. She was only a meter above the ground, too close to open her eyes, let alone break her fall. Despite the distance, she wasn’t met with hard, wet dirt.

“Are you alright?” asked the faint voice, though it was no longer faint. Now that the figure was close, Kasumi could hear her clearly, if her eyelids hadn’t remained sealed.

For a moment, Kasumi thought she’d fallen out of bed, as if it had really been a bad dream. As she cracked open her eyes, they were met by a blue so bright and clear it had to be the sky.

“I must’ve overslept,” she thought, fully opening her eyes to see the reality. The blue-eyed girl had caught her and was holding her like a princess. Her arms were beyond inviting, strong enough to make her feel safe like a father’s embrace, while also being comforting like a mother’s. The feeling invoked in Kasumi was one she’d never known but had constantly desired, something she’d been so desperate for that she’d accepted a faint imitation from the robotic voice of a character she’d thought fictional until now.

“Who are you?” Kasumi wanted to ask, but despite the mask, looking up at those bright blue eyes told her as surely as she’d ever known anything.

“Momo-onee,” she wept, collapsing into the blue-eyed girl’s chest, safe and assured that somehow, her game had become reality to save her.