Homebound

          The women walk across a bridge with a stream passing under it. Rivhild stops in the center and watches the water pass below her. Reioi stands beside her and waits for Tuipa to catch up. "I'm sure glad we are almost home, you sure bought a lot of fireworks." She comments as she stares at the large bag flung over Tuipa's shoulder.

"It's been a while since there were fireworks back home, so I thought I should get some." Tuipa retorts.

"Some? That's more them some. I wouldn't be saying anything if it was just a few, but buying so much is waste of money. It's not like you're a duchess who can afford such frivolous spending." Reioi shakes her head with disappointment.

"I've never seen fireworks before." Rivhild mentions as the group continues across the bridge. "What are they like?"

"Oh they are amazing. So many colours lighting up the sky, you’ll love them.” Tuipa tells her.

The trio walks down the path, traveling through the fields of wildflowers. As she is walking, Rivhild plucks one of the flowers and puts in her hair. Tuipa suddenly stops and takes a few paces back. Reioi pauses herself and turns back. “What’s wrong?”

Tuipa pushes aside some grass. “Come look.” Rivhild and Reioi come see what their friend is looking at. Then they see it, a giant footprint. “It’s an ogre. It’s probably a few days old.”

“We are getting pretty close to home, I sure hope everyone is alright.” Reioi mutters.

The group once again continues on their way. Everything is calm for a while, until a scream breaks the tranquility. The three ladies look around franticly to see where the scream is coming from, only for it to be suddenly muffled. They look around again, more slowly, but no less urgently. Rivhild then spots what they are looking for. “There!” She shouts, pointing to an ogre carrying a boy over his shoulders. The ogre as one hand over the boy’s mouth, but the boy is still struggling in his grip. Tuipa drops her bag full of fireworks and the trio chases after the ogre.

The ladies don’t catch up to the ogre until they reach his home, which is a shabby shack deep in the forest. The ogre throws down the boy, just as the young man is about to run, the ogre grabs him by the leg and turns to the trio who chased after him. “Just the three of you, so young too, and with a nice foolishness to go along with it.”

Reioi steps forward. “I am-“

The ogre interrupts. “I don’t care about your battle etiquette or who you are, all I care about is if you taste good!” He then hurls the boy at the trio.

The boy ends up knocking down Reioi and Tuipa, luckily Rivhild manages to jump up in time and uses her wings to stay in the air long enough for the boy to roll away from underneath her feet. She grabs her bow at her hip, then an arrow, she lands and pulls back. “Divine…” she inhales, “arrow!” Her arrow glows with a golden light as it releases from the bow as she exhales. The arrow pierces through the ogre’s chest.

Rivhild didn’t hit anything vital, but the ogre still clutches his chest where he was hit, blood soaking through his fingers. “You brat!” He screeches as he begins to advance. Without warning, Tuipa’s kyoketsu-shoge slashes at the ogre’s arm. The ogre grasps for the weapon but fails, giving Reioi a chance to attack him on the other side. “Pests!” The ogre snarls. After a few more hits from the women, the ogre manages to grab Reioi’s axe, although the black haired woman won’t let go either, so the ogre has no choice but the throw Reioi along with her axe at Tuipa.

Rivhild launches another arrow into the ogre’s chest, he stumbles but remains standing. He grabs Rivhild by her ponytail. He throws the young goddess across the clearing he calls his front yard, right into a tree. She stands up and watches her friends fight the ogre. She looks down at the bow in her hand. “I know I’ve been using some magic to make my arrows stronger, but I should still have enough magic to fire one of my blasts, this guy doesn’t seem very fast, and Reioi and Tuipa are keeping him in the same position. I’m going to try it. Wait, what if…I hit one of my friends?”

She watches her friends fight, her thoughts of what might be consuming her. The child imagines, blasting off the ogre’s head, but hitting one of her friends, which one it is keeps changing in her mind. In her daydream she runs over to what’s left of her friend, bawling her eyes out. Then the one who survives looms over her, “You killed her, I never want to see you ever again!” She snaps. The one that survives leaves with the boy, both scowling at her.

The child cries in reality. “I-I can’t do this!” She wails. She reaches into her pocket and summons Chimes.

The angel kneels when he sees his goddess crying. “What’s wrong, are you hurt?”

“I can’t do this!” She screams at him suddenly. Chimes pulls back, unsure what to do. Rivhild points to the ogre. “Just take care of it.”

Chimes rises to his feet. “As you wish.” He remains calm as he loads his shotgun. He takes aim and fires. “Divine bullet.” He mutters. The bullet flies through the air before finding it’s way through the ogre’s skull. As the body falls, Chimes kneels next to Rivhild again and takes her up in his arms. He hugs her as she cries. “It’s okay, he’s gone now.”

Tuipa and Reioi run over. “Rivhild!” Reioi calls out. “Are you alright?”

“Did he hurt you?” Tuipa asks as the women crouch down.

Rivhild shakes her head, refusing to answer for a while. She swallows. “I-I was scared.” She admits.

“Of the ogre?” Reioi questions. “You’ve killed one with your bare fists before.”

“No, I was going to fire one of my blasts, but, I was worried I was going to hit one of you and kill you! I froze and was too scared to even fire any arrows!” She wails.

Tuipa takes a moment to process what she just heard. “Oh Rivhild.” She touches the girl’s shoulder. Reioi does the same. The three comfort the girl until she stops crying.

The four then make their way over to the boy. “Hey, thanks for saving me. It’s nice to see that you two are back. I see you made some new friends.”

Reioi introduces the boy. “This is Biliao.” She turns to the boy. “Biliao, this is the goddess Rivhild and her angel Chimes.”

“I thought we had to keep it a secret I was a goddess.” Rivhild pipes up.

Tuipa chuckles before explaining. “Bloshaino Village is one of the few places magic users are welcome. Although, not many come around as they are banned everywhere else. We can’t exactly advertise that we are pro-magic.”

“And if our count ever found out, well it would put an end to one of the last places that allows magic.” Reioi adds.

The group head back to the path and Tuipa collects her bag filled with fireworks. They start heading towards the village when Rivhild asks; “What is the punishment for doing magic?”

“Well, first offence, they will throw you in jail for a few days and take anything magic related from you. Second, you’ll be in jail for a month or so. For the third,” Reioi pauses, “well, you see, it fully depends on what kind of magic you do, your exact punishment is decided on by the king himself. Some are simply imprisoned for few years, some for the rest of their lives, but thing king seems to favor… burning at the stake.”

Rivhild stares at the ground as she walks. “Do you think Count Isateo will tell on us?”

Reioi shakes her head. “I don’t think so, but I can’t tell for sure. Just, if we get in trouble, don’t expect help from him.”

The group then passes by a sign that reads: ‘Welcome To Bloshaino Village’. The village beyond is a colourful sight, the smell of flowers and various plants wafting over to the young goddess, who face lights up, seeing her friends’ home for the first time.