Arc 1, Chapter 14: Jig's Up!

"He's not going to be happy with this," she took out her wand hid behind her back and waved it at the creatures.

The shadows disappeared like holograms, the moonlight shone through the illusion till it faded completely. Now, giant greenish-blue slimes were fast approaching their location.

"He wanted to come to Kria and fake a velatos attack so that he could get more customers; he said, "It's free advertising," and made me tell a fake story," Asobi's mouth ran.

"Why would he do that?" Jotou inquired.

"The circus was dying down; we were losing money to live. If a big deal happened around the circus, people would get interested. I had no choice!

Both of us were going to take the money and quit, so he raised the ticket prices and everything, I'm sorry!" she begged on her knees.

"Time for this later, move!" Hotaru warned as they all scattered from their hidden spot into the open. The two other slimes were fast approaching, with each push their momentum grew, only making them faster.

"Up the hill!" Fumeko rushed up the slope followed by the others, but the slimes had no issue scaling upwards.

They circled around the clearing, trying to lose the slimes' hunt. The slimes only shifted faster, bubbling up all the shrubs as it got engulfed by their gelatinous form and leaving behind acid-burned plants.

Their translucent eyes were locked on fleeing targets. Their sound, their shadow, the ruby red—were nothing more than illusions. "We need a plan; we can't outrun them!" Jotou lost all her silence.

"What else do you know about slimes Hotaru!?" Fumeko was even louder.

"They're enemies even beginners can defeat-"

"Great!" Fumeko cut off.

"-in small sizes," Hotaru finished, prompting Jotou to groan.

"The bigger ones are extremely difficult, but they all share the same weak point. Their slime core, the brain, it's always in the centre," Hotaru panted, "Rejuvenate!" water splashed on all of them.

"AHHHH!!! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen! We were just supposed to turn back!" sweat dripped down Asobi's cheeks.

Jotou ran her mind, "Asobi! How good are your illusions?"

"HEH!?"

"Can you make illusions of us!?" Jotou suggested.

"Yes! Yes! I did an entire circus; I can do four people!" Asobi shouted.

"That entire circus was you!?" the three screamed in shock. Suddenly, it made sense why the circus was so dimly lit…

"That makes you pretty much an expert level caster; maybe even better than me!" Hotaru retorted with furrowed brows.

"Later! Now, if you can fool those slimes we can run out of the woods," Jotou jumped over dense bushes before it could snag her clothes.

Hotaru shook her head, "They'll get faster! It's only a matter of time before they catch up!"

"Hell! Fine, I got another plan," Jotou sprinted.

"Why are we always running when you get a bright idea!?" Fumeko mouthed off.

"Shut up! Fumeko, we need to stab the brain inside!" Fumeko nodded to the blonde.

"Slimes are more acidic towards the centre! Your hand will be a skeleton before you finish them off!" Hotaru stated. The sizzling of disintegrating plants approached closer.

'Wait, surely…' Jotou turned her head back, "Hotaru! Throw water at them! Healing or not doesn't matter!"

Hotaru not even thinking about it, flowed water through her arm till there was enough for a splash, "Rejuvenate!" she threw back like sprinklings of rain. "SIZZzzzz."

It… became slower, like adding water to juice, it thinned; leaving sludge in its tracks. The slime was somewhat smaller, but regaining speed. Its pace like a melting tyre before the water stopped affecting it.

"Keep diluting it!" Jotou yelled. 'Seriously? Their weakness is water? They're useless in the rain. Whatever; thank you Crispy for getting me into chemistry.'

"Nice one Jotou!" Hotaru commended, while the other two slimes began beating the pace of the other.

"Okay, I made a plan. Asobi, use water to-"

"Water!? I can make illusion-water; is that okay?" Asobi cut her off.

"Ai, ai, ai… Alright, I have another plan! Asobi, distract the slimes with illusions, whatever to draw their attention and get them in one spot.

Hotaru, do the rain thing again to dissolve them completely. Fumeko, me and you stab the brains when they're small enough."

They all nodded before Jotou slid down the slope. The other three followed, "Asobi, now!" she directed as the slimes followed them down the decline.

Asobi chocked up a bit. "Come on! You're a magician! Put on a show!" Jotou yelled as she ran alongside Fumeko and Hotaru.

The jade-green pupils shined in the moonlight and glittered with white light—a new way to see her problem. Eyes wide and reflecting the starlight on her skin, "You're right!" she grasped her hat and vanished into a puff of smoke.

"Hello slimes! Prepare to be amazed! What you see before your eyes, may put you in a daze!" she pulled out her wand.

With a whisk of her wand, "Smokescreen!" the air turned to glittered clouds; the slimes rushed into it. The smoke settled and the slimes halted… Their eyes flipping to every side of their body.

A giggle came from up the slope, "Looking for me?" Asobi stood atop, her hat reappearing.

The slimes turned around, going for her once more. One of them made it up, engulfing the image; image? "Tsk, tsk," Asobi reappeared, showing off that she had not moved an inch from the clouds.

The slimes paused for a moment… then followed their meal, "Am I here however?" another image of her appeared to the right of the slimes, "Or am I here?" to the left as well.

The slimes began splitting up, "Am I there!?" she appeared in the middle of where the slimes were splitting up.

Their eyes turned to their backs focusing on the middle before the image disappeared into a puff of smoke as the slimes collided into each other.

"Am I everywhere!?" the birds in the woods all flew out as her voice projected from too many angles to distinguish.

"Hotaru!" she had gone up the hill behind the fake image of Asobi as Jotou called out. Jotou and Fumeko were ready to strike from behind.

"Rejuvenate!" she casted in a shout as a halo started raining around the slime. The sound of sizzling followed, liquifying the slimes smaller and smaller. Their pink and green cores all becoming more and more visible.

"Fumeko, our turn!" Jotou hopped over the shrub, sliding down the slope as the slimes became no bigger than a baby, allowing Jotou, "Hya!" and Fumeko to stab into the cores successfully. "Shink!"

"SPLOOSH! SPLAT!" The slimes lost all retention and sentience, falling into mere goop onto the wet grass below.

Asobi reappeared behind Hotaru, "What a performance!" she panted. "I'm exhausted," she fell down, panting. "I didn't even get to rest… I did the show, then the fake velatos, then fake Asobi-s," she yawned.

_

They regrouped below, where Hotaru dug her hand into the dissolved slime to pick up the cores, "Ew," Jotou uttered.

"Don't 'ew' me. These things are at least worth six gold all together."

"Now then, you and your ringmaster have some explaining to do," Fumeko glared at Asobi, wiping the sweat off her forehead.

"Ehe…"

_

"Master Zayexiwovu! Uh, we've been caught," Asobi cupped her hands around her mouth. "Wovu! Where is he?" Asobi searched before entering the back rooms while the other three followed.

"So, all the performers were actually you?" Hotaru questioned while Fumeko began rummaging through chests.

Asobi faced her, "Yeah! It was me and him; and at one point there were a lot of us then, it became just me and him again. It takes a lot to remember all the routines of the people coming and going, but I love doing tricks!"

"If all of it was you, that's pretty impressive to be a one-woman-circus. But what did the ringmaster with the annoying to pronounce name add to anything?" Jotou glanced at the roof.

"He gave me food, shelter and a job!"

Fumeko peered out of the tent into the park.

"Well, at least your salary must've been high," Hotaru thought as she looked in the mirror—she wiggled her ears one after the other, then both to watch her own reflection.

"Isn't celery a vegetable? I think I don't like celery," Asobi replied whilst Fumeko checked at the back of the tent.

Hotaru turned to Jotou and Jotou cocked a brow, "He pays you, right?"

"Oh, when I was ten, I asked him about that after someone gave me a tip! He said, he'll take care of all the money so I wouldn't have to! He's really responsible," Asobi smiled.

Fumeko came to her conclusion, "Oh… Asobi…?"

"Yeah?"

Fumeko winced a little, "This place looks like it's been cleared of anything important. It's just clothes and random props left…"

"Well, we were supposed to leave today. He probably packed his things; though, I haven't packed my things yet. It's a not a lot though, shouldn't take me long!" Asobi replied whilst Jotou and Hotaru caught on to what the brunette figured out.

Fumeko scrunched her face further, "The cart with horsaroaches you came in with is also missing…"

'Horsaroaches? Oh, those weird bug horses. Ugh.' Jotou shivered.

Asobi's eyes darted around the room, "He probably wanted to go get some dinner before we left!"

"Asobi, he abandoned you!" Fumeko gave up.

"What?" Asobi looked at the three of them… one by one, "No," she still smiled. Her brows furrowed a bit, "He's like my father," her voice cracked—the smile slowly faded.

"He wouldn't… He took care of me ever since I was so tiny, he, he… He gave me a place to stay and told me I should learn to control my magic and then we started a circus when I was six! I-" her eyes searched the floor.

Hotaru placed a hand on her shoulder, "Asobi," Asobi looked to Hotaru, "He used you…"

"Right," Asobi laughed before walking over to a chest, "Then why would he tell me where he stashed his money?" Asobi reached down, past the illusory barrier in the floor and took out a pouch, "See?" she jiggled it.

She opened it to see it filled with pebbles… "Asobi, this was his last show…" Jotou uttered.

Asobi's eyes went a bit blank before she gulped. "Thud!" "It's… it's his last trick," Asobi began giggling as the pouch fell from her hands.

She dropped to her knees; her smile quivered as tears began pooling in her eyes and rainbow-hued tears ran down her eyelashes—before she covered her face.

Asobi wiped her tears away, looking up at them and smiling once more, "It's okay! I'll pack my things and I can go look for him!" her breath was a little heavy.

"Uhm, you guys can go. I'm really sorry about the trick. Maybe we'll meet again sometime and this will all be a funny story!" that acting voice of hers returned.

Fumeko shuffled over to the other two. Jotou whispered, "Let's leave her be. I don't wanna bother her, especially with something like this."

"Jotou…" Hotaru spoke back, "We can't leave her like this…"

Jotou looked over to Asobi still on her knees, glancing at the ground, staring off into space.

"She is a good magic caster and as annoying and naïve as she can be, she still seems like a good person. What I'm saying is, this doesn't seem like some kind of con and maybe, we can give her a place in the party?" Fumeko suggested.

Jotou looked over… 'She did do well against the slimes… she had no one and the only person she had, bailed on her like she meant nothing. She must feel alone; at least I had friends… friends are what she needs.' Jotou sighed walking over.

She placed a hand on Asobi's shoulder, "I'm really sorry this happened to you," Asobi looked up at the hand on her shoulder, "It's not much, but we could always use more magic on our party.

Since the circus is gone… We fight velatos, squabble with ourselves, help people out, sometimes… Would you like to be an adventurer with us? I'd really like to get to know you better. I'm sure it'd be fun."

Asobi glanced to Jotou's smile; it felt like a warm light. The slight breeze drifted the tent flaps open, to let the piercing moonlight shine behind the blonde. Her jade-green eyes glittered in white light.

She leapt up and the smile on her face returned, "Life on the road sure gets bumpy! Give me some time to pack!" Asobi gulped, "And, thank you…"