Thundering Blade: Adventuring Heroine In Another World

Soft echoes wobbled against the wall and bounced back to her. Tiffany’s eye sided to look behind her as much as possible; although the brunette held no firearm, it was still as if a gun was pointed at her back.

"There’s nothing here," the blonde hushed.

Fumeko kept her eyes in a swivel and a stack of folded up blueprints under her arm, "You’re not trying hard enough."

"Fuck you."

"I’m not keeping you hostage," Fumeko walked up to the wall. Tucked away around a corner with clear signs saying it was a prohibited area, was merely a covered up dead-end on the ground floor.

"Are you joking? I live in your house," she snapped back.

’Her affinity’s most likely taken a tumble. Maybe I should’ve waited till we were home to confront her... More than that, I can’t really let her leave... but it’s not like I’d chase her if she ran...’

Fumeko sighed. She put her ear up to the wall, "Try again."

"Only I can clearly hear my echoes that way."

"Tiffany, I need you," she retorted.

The blonde’s lips sealed shut the moment she heard those words...

"If you wanna leave after this, whatever; if you wanna stay forever, that’s fine—it’s not like I’m paying for the place. But right now, we have more pressing matters. Your life’s not over."

Tiffany closed her eye and concentrated. "Fine, stand back. I shall try once more."

Fumeko took a few cautious steps back.

With another wave of echoes, she hit the wall. However, she continuously let out the soft echoes that were reverberating to a point where they buzzed and began cancelling each other out on the way back.

Tiffany tilted her head and redirected the echoes along and across the wall, slowly tracing its entirety with her near-silent sound.

’With an affinity like hers... The cult could’ve recruited her—as someone permanent. Maybe they intended to before we dragged her away to South End. Was she aware of that and went with us anyway? It’s a possibility.’

The pale blonde stopped and said, "There might be something behind it, the frequency’s odder the lower I go. It’s very fuzzy for me to tell with certainty. But whatever it is, tis down and not up? A slope of some sort perhaps?"

Fumeko flipped her dagger out of its sheath and got low, before she stabbed the blade into the wall.

"W-ww-what are you doing!? You can’t just d-destroy the building!" her whispered yells did not stop the detective.

The brunette jammed the blade until the hilt. To no shock to her, she was able to feel the tip wiggle as she twitched it left and right. ’Full-brick wall, still less thick than the blade, so thirty-ish centimetres in?’

Fumeko began to carve into the wall, "This wall was the least consistent with the building. It’s in the middle left, but there was no way so much space was just filled in with bricks and concrete. Now we know something’s behind it, and you don’t wanna check it?"

"Uh-I..."

"Do you have a better way to get us in?" she was carving it to her height.

"I guess not," Tiffany glanced around; the sound of commotion was certainly not distant. She quickly darted into the hall next to the brunette’s impromptu demolition work.

Fumeko cut it to a slightly bigger width and then continued down.

Tiffany lugged a rubbish bin on its back wheels towards the detective. "Be quick, we can hide the hole with the wheelie bin."

"Do I look like I’m trying to go slow?" Fumeko grunted.

A moment or so later, with fortune shining that the were no passersby, the two squeezed through the new opening, and reached a hand out to pull the rubbish bin against the wall.

...

...

"What a bright idea you had," Tiffany snarked.

"You wouldn’t have happened to learn the glow spell from Aru, would you?"

"Didn’t you?"

"Right, cause I would’ve asked you if I had."

"We’re getting nowhere with this discourse."

The faint glimmer of the purple glimmer was visible, but it gave no true light in the pitch dark. Her pistol’s light was completely hidden by her clothing, while there was an extremely faint orangish glow coming from her finger.

Fumeko raised her finger and pointed it around, but it was to no avail. ’So much for this dumb ring.’ She waved it around, and a flicker of flame briefly lit up her middle finger and went away.

’...Right, it can make a fire... WHY THE HELL DID I WEAR THIS THING!?’ "Can you figure out how to make a glow? Cause I can’t."

"I need it not. Being as blind as a bat is of no detriment to me. There are stairs a couple of metres from where we stand. An odd wall lies at the end of it."

"Odd how?"

"Tis akin to jelly in texture."

"So, slime?"

"My echoes have hit slime before, this is different. It bounced back with a tense rubbery texture; slimes are, squishier."

"Is it gonna be a threat to us, or not?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s inanimate if that helps."

"Let’s go then," Fumeko crouched down and patted the ground while she inched forward to find where the stairs were.

"What are you doing...?" disappointment oozed out of the blonde’s voice.

"Finding my way obviously."

Tiffany sighed, "You’ll have to trust my guidance if you wish to continue."

"It’s not about you," Fumeko got up. ’I can’t see shit... How am I supposed to do anything? Maybe it’s best to get out and get a light source first.’

"Just take my hand."

"..."

Tiffany’s hand grabbed the brunette’s hand with no issue.

"If we find something, we can’t read it."

"Then we shall bring it out. We got a bit lucky, but let’s not risk being seen in and out of here. We’re not even sure if paperwork would be stored in an abandoned site."

"...Fine," Fumeko held the blonde’s hand back.

"Stay close," Tiffany walked forward, with the detective right beside her. "Step. Step, step." They descended down until they hit the wall Tiffany describe; except, it was simply a solid wall to the touch rather than ’akin to jelly’.

"Why’s it cold?"

"And smooth," Tiffany mentioned.

"It’s metal; it’s a door. How big is it?"

"Uh... Three-ish metres wide, four-ish metres tall?"

"Where’s the latch?" Fumeko began patting her hand all over it.

"I don’t know, I still sense that rubbery texture."

’So much for not being a detriment... It’s clearly solid. ... ... ...!’ Fumeko pierced her dagger towards the door and slashed up.

A thine white sheen of energy rippled out as she tore through it. The glimmer and glow of the light illuminated them for a few seconds, deteriorating from her slash.

At the same time, the illusion of a brick wall they could now see, disappeared and revealed a massive dark metal door. The light faded away and left them in the dark again.

"A barrier," Fumeko uttered.

"An enchantment?"

"And an illusion. It’s the same as the one that was around the clocktower... except I could feel that one. It’s no doubt the cult’s work."

"...Where could this even lead?"

"If the barrier’s still active, it must be protecting something," Fumeko felt up the door for the latch she spotted previously, and hauled it open.

The hinges creaked and the metal scraped the floor as they both pushed it open. Within was the same darkness that enveloped them before.

"...All of this has been underneath the orphanage for the past four years?" Tiffany remarked.

"All of what? Where are we?"

"It’s a less of a where; it’s a system of tunnels. It’s like a maze in here as far as I can tell, and I don’t sense any exits, any rooms, nothing—nothing nearby anyway, there are a lot of branching paths."

"I figure your echoes can’t go that far."

"Nor reach me back. We will have to venture further in."

"...This might actually be the best plan we have. If we had a light, we’d lose our stealth. And you can sense what’s actually real and not," Fumeko sheathed her dagger, removing what little glow it had.

"Illusions cannot stop us; let us be on our way then," Tiffany led the detective down what sounded like a hallway.

Fumeko kept her eyes on a swivel, trying to discern anything. ’The walls feel wide. Ceiling’s at least... taller than the initial door.’ "Where are we going?"

"Unexplored branches—by my echolocation I mean."

They walked what felt like hundreds of metres; Fumeko could feel every tug and pull whenever the other turned a corner, or if the brunette was too close to hitting a wall.

’What’s the purpose of all this? This used to be a base of operations, so what’s with the tunnels? Has no one explored them before? Not a single mage from Burnetrout could break a barrier? No, this place must’ve been explored. So why do I feel like this is a lead? ... ...

...! The enchantment had to have been recast. Meaning, these tunnels must still be operational, but the exit or entrance to the current orphanage is just sealed off.’

Just as the detective was lost in her mind, Tiffany’s shoe clacks came to a sudden halt and she gripped Fumeko’s hand tightly, causing her to stop. "Shh. Someone’s here."

"How many?"

"Just one. A bit further ahead and off to the right."

"Let’s go see it."

"Are you certain? I also sense that jelly-like sensation off to the left; it must be another barrier or exit."

"The place isn’t gonna go anywhere, the person will."

"Okay," Tiffany led them in the direction she sensed the other being in the tunnels.

And finally, as if their eyes regained vision, the glow of a hooded lantern could be seen in the distance. Fumeko’s footsteps came to a silent stop; Tiffany’s heels however, made an audible enough clack as she halted.

The hooded lantern’s light turned to their direction, as did the silhouette of the figure. "Who goes there?" the male voice echoed down to them.

Tiffany’s widened eye looked to the brunette, and back to the light shining at them with sheer panic. Fumeko furrowed her brows, "A friend!"

...

The lantern’s light turned and the figure all of a sudden dashed down one of the halls.

"Fuck, after him," Fumeko grumbled as the light disappeared.

Tiffany went into a sprint towards the light and her echoes direction. Twists and turns, turns and twists—the light trembled in every which way, but they were no closer to catching their quarry.

Fumeko began to pant and had to hold Tiffany’s hand tighter as she came to a stop and caught her breath, "Wait, I can’t, keep up," she held onto her knees.

The blonde paced her breaths, "I don’t sense him. Did he get away?"

Fumeko stood up, wiping away the sweat she felt at her brows. ’What’s happening? I can run much faster and a whole lot longer than that! ... ... ...!’ As she realized the answer, she seethed in place and her eyes practically rolled into the back of her head. ’Fuck you affinity.’

"We need to give chase, come on!"

Fumeko pulled out the pistol and stared ahead, "Find him then."

"I cannot- Wait," Tiffany’s head spun to the right, down another pathway. "I found him."

They sprinted down the way Tiffany led, and a figure did run past, not that either of them saw it. However, besides the sound of running, the brief glimpse of the figure displayed eyes that glowed white.

The two chased the figure down, however with the sheer number of tunnels, it was no surprise that even Tiffany could not follow every thread of her sound before it was just a cacophony to her mind. "Huh?"

"What-? Gh!" Fumeko hit her face against a wall; fortunately, she had slowed down. "Tell me when there’s a wall, you..." she growled.

"Who asked you to run ahead of me?" Tiffany replied. "But I swear, he was here. He ran straight here into this dead end, and I thought we had him cornered. But now it’s the same jelly-like sound."

"I heard him too, he definitely went this way," Fumeko felt up the wall; it was cold to the touch. "It’s a door."

"How did we hear nor see nothing then? How would he have passed into it?"

"I’m as confused as you," Fumeko stuffed her gun back and pulled out her dagger.

"Fumeko, another," Tiffany whipped around.

"Another person?"

"Three. No five; they’re moving, there’s a pair that just came into my range."

’...This might be more dangerous than I thought. ... ...’ Fumeko snarled in annoyance. "We have to get out through the way we came in. I’m not keen on finding out what’s on the other side of this door. Only we know about this, and we can’t take on a fight in the dark."

"That gives me much relief. ...But I don’t know where our exit is..."

"Tiffany..."

_6 Hours Later_

"Wait a moment," Tiffany whispered.

"I need water..."

"I do as well, just wait," Tiffany’s placed her lips at the gap in the wall, then quickly put her ear up to it after. "There’s no sign of anyone."

Tiffany pushed the bin blocking the way with her foot, and squeezed through, pulling the brunette with her.

Fumeko crawled out and she was stunned, as her head lolled back, her eyes squinted and she writhed on the floor. "Dah..." she rolled onto the floor and had to shut her eyes with her hands.

"Tis quite bright," Tiffany pulled her eyepatch to the other eye, revealing the one with a more faded colour that she had to squint with. All she saw was a blurry mess, but at least it hurt less.

With her echoes and through the blobs of colours and shapes, she managed to grab the rubbish bin and push it back into place. "Stop rolling around, we have to at least not be seen here."

"Shut up," Fumeko rubbed her eyes vigorously.

"I cannot believe I ever thought you were intimidating," the blonde muttered.

With the help of Tiffany, Fumeko was escorted out of the vicinity and into the orphanage where kids ran and the chatter got much louder.

Fumeko’s vision cleared and she took a deep breath; the scent of edible goods was nearby. Large windows revealed the dusk sky outside, while children ate their dinner at long tables. "A cafeteria?"

"Water."

"Water."

Tiffany led her to where a caretaker gave them a nod, but stopped the children who came behind them from entering the line at the makeshift buffet. "No, both of you already had some."

The two kids whined, "But she wants seconds, we were out with our kits the whole day. She’ll faint!"

The kid that one was pointing to, wobbled from side to side, somewhat dizzy.

"You already had some," the caretaker repeated a bit more sternly.

"Tis fine, that child can have the portion of mine share," Tiffany told. "I merely require the sating of mine thirst. This one does not require sustenance either," she pointed.

’This one’ glared.

The caretaker gave a nod. Both the children rushed up to the blonde, "Oh thank you! Thank you!" They rushed up to get their second portions by the next second.

Tiffany just grabbed a cup and filled it up by the water dispenser; Fumeko did the same and gulped down several cups. She wiped her mouth with the back of her palm, "How noble of you," she mocked.

"Don’t trust those cretins, they’ll put on a whole pantomime of innocence to get a few favours," Tiffany scoffed. "We already have food at home, so might as well."

"Hm." Fumeko threw the cup into the bin.

...

...

"Fumeko."

Fumeko looked at her, now more composed than when she exited the underground tunnels.

"...I do apologize... for everything. I’m sorry I did not say anything sooner, I couldn’t," Tiffany’s eye darted away.

...

...

"Your makeup’s smudged."

Tiffany’s brows furrowed and she glared at the brunette, "What-? What has that have to do with anything?"

Fumeko shook her head, "Nothing. Just an observation." She turned, and walked away.

The blonde watched her go towards the exit... She looked into her cup of water, eyelid waning. She drank it down, and followed shortly after...