Attack
As I climbed up the stairs in the inn I was surprised to find Celestine standing in the corridor upstairs looking upset. Her eyes narrowed as she saw me, and she swiftly moved closer into my personal space and stared at me in anger with our faces only inches apart. She'd been doing this as a way to rattle me for a while now since she realized I found it uncomfortable. I didn't step back this time though, like I always do, instead I pushed her back. She stumbled back, a strange voice leaking from her mouth in surprise. "You are too close," I said. She glared daggers at me. "Anyway, what are you doing just standing here?"
She huffed and looked away refusing to answer me.
"Whatever," I said and attempted to walk past her but she grabbed me quickly in the arm and pushed me against the wall. It was my turn to let out a strange sound.
Her face came inches to mine again and she had that scary expression. "Where have you been?" She asked quietly.
I glared at her for a moment then sighed. This child, fumu..... "I went to sight see the village. What about you?"
The question caught her off guard. "I.... I just went..... Ah, I didn't see you when I returned!"
Went where? The latrine? That kind of thing is embarrassing to a girl like you isn't it? "Well it's no matter little princess, can you let go of me now?"
Her eyes narrowed even more if that was even possible. "What did you call me?!"
I frowned not even remembering what I just said. This old mind! Ah, curses! Did I call her big boss Viktora's heir? I sometimes call her that in my mind, no wonder she's angry. "Sorry little princess..... ha!" This girl actually stepped on my foot and fled in anger. What happened?!!! I had called her little princess the first time hadn't I? With me thinking of my interaction with Presila I wasn't attentive enough. Curses! I did better chase after the princess and apologies. Damn it! I ran downstairs after her asking Sonya the inn maid the direction the princess went. She pointed outside and I ran out not even thanking her.
I chased Celestine up to the forest where she stopped and turned back to glare at me. Two ice blades formed in her hands coalesced from blue frost, dapples of sunlight fell on her body through the leaves of the canopy above. "Don't look at me!!!" she screamed.
I was startled for a moment. What is she feeling? Her voice was filled with guilt and grievance. "Celestine...."
"I said don't look at me!"
"OK," I looked away, "I don't just know what's happening,"
"You are doing it again!"
"What?!"
"That's what you do, always treating me as if I am a child while we are the same age. I am heir of the winter throne but no matter how hard I try you always outsmart me with less the effort and always knows different things, and never losses your cool, and never takes me seriously....." She trailed to silence. At this point I took a sneaky glance at her. The princess was looking at the ground with her head hung. She was wearing her white cloak with her silver hair bare and her ice swords out. She looked like the perfect fantasy mage.
How cool.
But anyway how to deal with this? Hmm. This might work. "Um listen Celestine," I said earnestly. "I'm a Highvoid so I'd always be smarter,"
"You dare?!" She snarled.
I grinned happily. "That's the spirit little princess I was getting tired of your whining,"
Celestine suddenly paused, looked at me seriously, then sighed in deep resignation. "You don't know how to treat a lady Sainty but I'll accept your apology. In favor you must accept my challenge; I will work hard and surpass you in six years time,"
I shrugged. "You can try," honestly I didnt really care. Why should I? I just cared about surviving and immortality, not rivalry with a child. Ah, maybe I am being a bit harsh and deserves to be humbled... Nah, not by this one that I saw grow up. Really Celestine, you were cuter as a child, now you just give this old man trouble.
Our bounding time was suddenly interrupted by a scream. I turned to the direction further in the forest. It sounded like a little girl's. Me and Celestine looked at each other then we ran there. It was by a river not that far from where we were. My sword was already out and I thought myself ready for anything, but what I saw actually made me stumble to an abrupt stop.
Before the clearing of the river a little girl of eight or so stood facing a round large red tentacle monster with half its body submerged in the river. The monster had two round eyes on its main body, a recess for a nose, and a wide toothy maw of a mouth that appeared as if it split it in two. The girl was too afraid to move and just stood there screaming while pissing herself. Around her vague signs that other people were here and were eating by the monster could be seen. Like the chaotic footprints in the sand ground, the sign of discarded possessions, and the fact the girl was even here. Surely she was too young to trend into a forest on her own. With all that I understood the situation. They were some people here who were ambushed by this creature and eating before they could react, only this girl remained and the monster was taking its time as it underestimated her. Low guy, playing with its meal. But guess what moron, she brought in help.
The monster noticed us as soon as we arrived and reacted with casual disregard of our strength. It lazily sent two of its tentacles to capture us. Celestine made a shield wall before us, it was white and see through, while I touched the creature's mind. I realizing one thing in disappointment; that just like a human I couldn't get in without its name. Maybe it's something about intelligent beings unlike stupid animals that I can control without their names. But well that didn't mean I didn't mean i was out of options to hurt it.
As the two tentacles hit the ice wall, I promptly pushed at the creature's mind as if trying to break in by force. It screamed and shuddered. Effective! Let's call this technique mind blitz. Celestine capped it all by gathering a ball of ice and shooting it at the creature. It was the same move she used to kill that devil; she calls it ice bomb I recon. Worthy of its name the bomb exploded atop the monster in casing parts of its head in ice. The creature screamed again realizing we are not soft prey, then it opened its mouth. We tensed expecting an attack but the creature instead shot out its tongue and wrapped it around the girl before retracting it back with her into its mouth. I have seen a frog do a similar move while catching flies in a documentary I watched in my former life. Natgoe wild you need to record this! I was fighting and thinking as such.
The monster was thinking of other things though as it quickly submerged wholly into the river. Me and Celestine looked at each other again in amazement; this creature is really shameless. "I won't let you!" Celestine shouted gathering her powers. I was faster; I stretched my hand towards the river and activated mind blitz. The creature screamed in the water and a piller of water was sent into the air. That's all the delaying Celestine needed me to do to it. She sent a massive ice bomb up and down river, trapping the tentacle monster between instant walls of ice.
Tentacles flared in panic trying to break the wall, but I mind blitz the monster and Celestine started throwing ice bombs on it trying to freeze the whole river with it. The creature was intelligent enough to realize that so it stopped trying to break the walls and hurled itself over the other side of the river and started running deeper into the forest. I looked at Celestine and our eyes met, her mouth was open in disbelief like my own.
"L... Let's chase it!" She said.
"OK," I replied without hesitation. Thus we chased after the monster. It'll be good if we saved the girl, assuming she's not digested yet, but the truth is, fighting the shameless monster was fun. In this world with no phones or TV or football games, fun was in short supply. So I chased one.
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