At this very moment, many people that where in the pub started to flee, scared for the sudden flames that came from nowhere. Some jumped through the windows, others used the door, and some stood there, too drunk or beat to move.

The flames on the hooded figure’s hands came forward, to which Tomoe jumped sideways, under the table that was to her left. Kicking it on one side, Tomoe stood up and used the table as a shield, in order to block the next attack.

She gathered more of the blue Aura, this time into her entire body lest the head, entered into position, and pushed the table against the hooded man, table which went out suddenly flying.

The hooded man concentrated his flames on the middle, cutting the table in two before it hit him, with the intent to actually keep the laser concentrated enough to continue firing through.

Tomoe jumped to her right, with the laser coming closer and closer behind her. She went alongside some tables, flipping them over to use as a shield, and sending them to him as projectiles. Chairs also went flying, but the concentrated flames cut through them all long before they reached him.

Many bottles of wine and beer exploded, and some columns that kept the two floor pub on foot were cut too, making the pub emit a cracking sound, indicating that it started to be crushed down by its own weight.

Tomoe lunged forward, and with the laser at the level of her head coming from her left, she concentrated even more blue light on her body, ducked and rolled to her left, and then jumped forward with new strength that she hasn’t revealed in the fight before hand.

The hooded man reacted, trying to move the laser again back in the course of the girl that was coming right at him. But he knew that he wouldn’t be able to do so, his mind may be able to process the information fast enough, but he can’t react to it as fast as he wants, so, he dissipates the laser instead, turning it back into a flamethrower.

The girl concentrates the blue Aura once more, this time in front of her, as the flames hit the light and moves sideways, being completely deflected. She reaches to where the hooded man is, just in front of him, takes his hands with her left hand, points them down in order to make him duck, and with the blue Aura concentrated in her right arm, delivers a punch directly to the jaw.

In the fraction of the moment that the man is about to take the punch, the man manifests a red Aura, and perhaps by instinct, concentrates it on the front of his jaw, and takes the hit. When the hit connects, the red Aura that had formed some sort of shield in front of the man’s jaw shattered completely.

The hooded man drops to the floor, without being able to stand up.

The One-Eyed Wolf is burning down and there is still people inside, unable to escape due to the absurd levels of beers they have drank all that night. Oscar comes to the front and grabs two people that are lying on the ground, “what are you waiting for? Pick them up, we need to take everyone out of here… And yes, take the bastard out of here too.”

After some moments, once the remaining customers are finally out, Tomoe and Oscar stand outside, with the drizzle coming down on them, as the One-Eyed Wolf keeps burning down in front of them, with the rescued passed out people surrounding them.

“Maybe I can still save it” she says.

“Don’t bother girl, you alone will only put you in unnecessary risk, I can always rebuild it later” Oscar answers, then adds “rather, why don’t we talk with our buddy that is too fond of fire for his own good?”

The hooded man is lying down there, right next to him. He went limbless with the hit Tomoe delivered, but he is still breathing, and moves ever so slightly.

“Had to be my luck I guess…” he says “to face a monster like you girl. It was supposed to be an easy… transaction. Go in, and go out.”

“There isn’t supposed to be any fire tamers in this city,” says Tomoe, as she takes the man by the neck, taking out the hood and revealing the man to be a red head with thin features “What are you doing here?”

“It had to be my luck… really… being born with this useless red Aura, there was never a chance for me to beat a blue Aura like you.”

“Answer my question.”

“Sweetheart, you little monster, let me save you a little bit of time: I’m ready to die here. I’ll say you nothing.”

Tomoe starts collecting blue Aura in her hand while saying “Let’s see if you continue to be so cooperative and brave, oh mister bad luck.” But Oscar puts a hand on her shoulder and interjects, saying “Girl, leave him to me. I’ll take him away and make him talk.”

“But, master, I remember well enough yo-”

“I’m sure you do girl, but these… kinds of things, I don’t like seeing younger people doing them. Leave him to me, I’ll make sure he speaks, after all, it is because him that now I don’t have a business.”

Tomoe stares at Oscar for a moment, then chuckles and says “Thought that you didn’t work anymore as a Beheader.”

“For everyone else, that is true, but your mother… can be quite convincing.”

“The word you want is scary.”

Oscar snorts “Who knows? Either way, I’ll take him back. Try helping these drunkards on the ground, wait for Amelia and go back together.” He says, as he grabs the hooded man in order to take him away, and Tomoe ends up alone with a lot of people passed out at her feet.

Then, she looks at the other side of the street, the one where she came from before, to get to the One-Eyed Wolf. As the rain continues, a fire is still alight down the street, and a column of vapor is starting to get very tall.

Still… Something is not right.

Tomoe tries to wipe her eyes and protect them from the rain, and sees again. Shadows are moving, and it becomes more clear that the rain is bouncing off said shadows.

The shadows are coming closer, and the light of the burning down One-Eyed Wolf finally hits the shadow, revealing to be another person in a coat, with a hood.

“What happened here?” The hooded person asks.

Tomoe stares at her, and then raises her hand, answering “Don’t worry, this is a matter of the state and is now under control.”

“Control? This?” says the person pointing towards the pub in flames. The shadows at the chest reveal that this person is a woman.

“Well, yes, it could’ve gone better, but it is under control now… the lunatic who did this is under control.”

“Under control? Are you sure? He seems dangerous if he was able to this.”

“Don’t worry, once he gets to the Beheader barracks, an ant will be more dangerous than him.”

“The barracks uh? I see. Thanks for telling me… Now I feel safer.” The woman says, and after a giggle, she adds “Good Beheader… you and I never met.”

From the end of the street the flames rise in the rain, taking the shape of a serpent, a serpent that lunges forward towards Tomoe at high speed.

Tomoe recognizes this behavior.

Another one!?

For a moment, her eyesight lowers to the floor, seeing the people around her still passed out.

She then raises both of her hands, and a bright blue Aura appears in front of her. The serpent strikes against it with strength, starting to push Tomoe backwards.

Looking around her once more, she whispers to herself “never again, never again. I’ve swore that I’ll always be prepared for everything.”

She brings her right hand down, and with a slight twist of her wrist, the water that is in the floor moves.

The hooded woman is still with both of her hands together, focusing the fiery serpent into Tomoe, when she feels the water moving at her feet, and some cuts happen. Again, an Aura appears, this time yellow, to block the attack at her feet, but forcing her to stop her attack and move to her right.

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Tomoe takes the chance, and starts moving all the water in the floor, forming her own serpent, but made of water. The water serpent forms, floats a bit in the air, and then jumps forward towards the hooded woman.

She runs towards the One-Eyed Wolf, and her yellow Aura moves into the flames that are eating the pub down to ashes. With these, the flame serpent comes back. The flame serpent and the water serpent face each other and hit head on, liberating a large quantity of steam into the street.

The street falls into silence.

The rain is setting off, and the steam has lowered the vision to a minimum. Tomoe has her Aura down to half thanks to the little water serpent trick, and she is wearing off fast. Cold sweat dropping from her forehead, her heart overworking, and the silence, the sudden silence. She starts calling the water of the street that she still has to herself, and surrounds the people on the floor with it. She reaches for the people on the floor, and Aura comes from her hands towards their faces.

Tomoe hears screams from outside of the mist, surely people that are watching, maybe pointing fingers. The sounds of people running, the cavalry will get here, although maybe a bit late. Tomoe feels how her breath is getting heavier, how the mist embraces and warms up her face.

Now… from where will she attack? What is the best approach against me?… that would be…

Then, from her back, a laser comes through. Tomoe reacts, having expected this, and rises a water wall big enough in order to contain the laser for some moments, enough to put herself in front of it.

“Amelia is truly going to kill me for this!” Tomoe says, this time out loud.

Focusing her Aura in front of her, a barrier of blue Aura is formed, and she starts walking forward, towards the point from where the laser is coming from. Little sparkles of light are shipped off constantly, dropping like dust that is leaved to the wind.

Tomoe bites her lower lips, as she faces the overwhelming power that fire taming can give even to the less powerful Auras.

Focus!

Then, as the mist is moved away by the wind, she finally has the point of origin of the laser on sight. Once she raises her sight though, her heart jumps, and her guts contract, as she tries to understand what she is seeing but to no avail: The laser is coming from a little ball of light, that is shrinking fast. The hooded woman is nowhere to be seen.

“Seems like I win, girl” Tomoe hears, as a cold sensation runs down her back while she turns to the people on the floor behind her. The hooded woman is there, standing besides them, knife in hand, right next to the throat of one of the woman in the floor.

“Let’s make a deal sweetheart, ” says the hooded woman, while catching her breath “you will let me go, and I’ll not kill this poor soul on the floor. If you don’t, I’ll kill as many as I can before you take me out. Of course, until I’m sure I can be free from you, this poor soul will be my hostage. What do you say?”

Tomoe is standing there, shoulders raised, falling down to her knees. She tries to move the last water that is around her that she still controls, something that the hooded woman notices.

“Drop the water now! Or do you want to have this woman’s blood paint the street and your hands?!”

“Please… ” says Tomoe, as she drops the water, and but raises her hands to her anyway “please, don’t do this.” Tomoe starts to breath more heavy, tears start flowing down her face.

“Don’t wanna see her blood all over the street and mud? Then hear my demand! I’ll take this woman with me, and you will not follow me. Once I’m sure I have disappeared, I’ll leave her, but if I see even the slightest hint that I’m being followed, I’ll slice her throat!”

A strong sound is heard in the distance, making the woman raise her head. Taking advantage of this small opportunity, from the hostages’ faces Tomoe raises their sweat into multiple small needles against the hooded woman. Realizing this, the hooded woman swings her coat, blocking all the needles. She then raises her knife and goes for the first hostage’s life.

“No!” Tomoe screams, as her mind goes blank.

In this very moment, a blur goes pass her, and reaches the woman in an instant. A petite girl, with reddish hair that reaches her waist, manages to stand in front of the hooded woman.

“Wha-” says the hooded woman, but the petite girl concentrates her large yellow Aura in her body, and with short sword in hand, still sheathed, swings the sword right to the hooded woman’s chest, sending her flying down the street, breaking the barrier the hooded woman had made with the little Aura she had left.

The petite girl sighs in relief. Checks on the people passed out the the floor, and then moves towards Tomoe.

“You look horrible” says the girl, as she tends her hand to Tomoe with a smile.

Tomoe sat there, without words. The rain had already stopped, Tomoe knew that, but its sound still haven’t leaved her ears. She can clearly see the petite girl’s face, right now in front of her, and as she sees around, every hostage is overall unscathed. A soothing-like feeling runs through her body, but she doesn’t stop hearing the rain, with every droplet stinging her skin like little thorns.

After of some moments of being stunt, she smiles back and says “I must be” while taking the girl’s hand to stand up. Then, she adds “thanks… thanks for your help, Amelia… if you didn’t make it on time… I don’t know how I would be able to handle the guilt. You saved all of us.” All while chewing her insides of her lips a little bit.

“Seriously Cotton, how is it that you are able to clearly understand the situation, yet continue to expose yourself alone to danger?”

Tomoe keeps herself silent for a moment, and then says “I promise that what happened today will not happen again.”

“Cotton…” says Amelia, as she closes the distance between them and puts her face right in front of Tomoe’s “don’t make promises you know you won’t be able to fulfill.”

“Wha-”

“I mean!” Amelia interrupts “as long as we continue paired, I’ll not let you out of my sight ever again. That little trick you pulled today will not fly, not anymore!” she says, as she backs up towards the hooded woman laying on the floor a couple of meters away, adding “I’ll take care of her. You take care of the civilians on the floor.”

While Tomoe moves the civilians further away from the burning One-eyed Wolf, she whispers “Sorry you had to put on with my selfishness.” Looking at Amelia, now surrounded by other Beheaders that are taking away the hooded woman, she can’t avoid thinking that, even for a really petite body, her mere figure truly inspires safety and confidence to her.

Putting a hand on her chest, Tomoe lets sink the guilt she already has for how the situation has developed, right now. “I truly wasn’t prepared for this… I have to do better.” Tomoe whispers again. A smile is drawn on her face.

Yes… this is good. Never forget this feeling.

Further down to the other side of the street, from inside of one of the houses, someone is watching within the shadows. Sighing, and with a palm on his face, he says “Those morons… Gotta go back, they will not be pleased with this.”

One moment he is there, and the next one, he’s gone.