Chapter Text
The Seeker of Truth stood on the precipice of potential, where the threads of reality before her unfolded in an eternal, ever-expanding web of ifs, have beens, and could bes. A sight so familiar to the Seeker, yet nonetheless ever so intoxicating to her curious mind.
Again, she stood there to fulfill one purpose, the same as it always was—to solve a mystery.
This time, to find a missing friend.
The walk back home wasn’t that long, but to Taylor, it felt like an eternity.
For a while, she had thought that she was doomed to be stuck playing guessing games with the creature in her head. That she might just get strung along like a puppet on a string towards some nebulous goal she wasn’t even sure aligned with her interests—no matter how many reassurances Ina might give.
But now, I have a way around that. Taylor entered the house, shrimp box on hand, and made a beeline to the basem*nt, with Ina following closely behind. There was nothing particularly special about what was down there, though the stacks of dusty, bruised boxes of forgotten junk sure did seem to catch the bookish girl’s interest.
What was special about the basem*nt, however, was what wasn’t inside.
Attention.
As soon as she shut the door, she suddenly spoke up, surprising Ina who wasn’t expecting her to speak up. “Okay, now tell me how we’re doing this.”
Ina blinked, before fiddling with her sleeves. “Well, it’s not really that complicated. You just have to focus on what you want when you’re doing the ritual.” Ina said, doing that nodding-humming thing.
Taylor nodded, squinting down at the large box of shrimps in her hands. That’s easy enough. Answers, and a solution.
Simple.
“...Oh, but, um.” Ina’s hesitance gave Taylor pause. “Maybe we should put this off for a bit? Don’t you want to get used to doing magic, first? You haven't even learned what your powers are…”
“What?” Taylor’s voice came out a little louder than she intended it, but she didn’t care. Maybe if Ina stood in her place, she’d understand, too. That paradoxical feeling of being so wildly in control that you were out of control, where every fleeting thought and urge seemed to justify an unproportionate response, yet being so perfectly aware of her tenuous sense of self, it was—it was maddening.
Contrary to Ina’s belief, it wasn’t curiosity driving Taylor to act. She needed to know what they were after so she could get them out.
The thought of intentionally dipping inside that well, again and again… “Why should we do that?”
“I just feel like… maybe we’re going a little too fast.” Ina nervously laughed. “I don’t think there’s any harm in—”
“Ina, listen.” Taylor cut off Ina’s protest swiftly with a tone that brooked no compromise. “The longer we spend doing nothing, the more problems we’re going to have. We can’t hide all this magic stuff from Dad forever, and he’s gonna have questions for you eventually, too. We can't just have you living in my house without telling him anything. How are we gonna explain that you’re literally from another world? Then, when he knows, he’ll just keep asking for more, and I doubt he’ll take it as–”
Taylor stopped herself once she realized she was starting to rant and calmed down once more, letting out a huff. “We just don’t have the time, okay? The sooner we get our answers, the sooner we'll get this entire situation sorted out, send you back home, and go back to living our lives.”
Ina mulled over her words with a worried hum. “I… Yeah, that’s pretty fair. I guess I’m just used to a slower pace. But, okay!” Ina nodded, hands balled up to her chest as she gathered her courage and put on a serious face. “If you’re sure, then I’m down for it!”
“Good.” Taylor let out a sigh of relief before taking a look around the basem*nt. Hopefully this room survives a heaping of some mumbo-jumbo. “Okay, there's no windows down here, so no one will notice any sudden light shows. Think we can do it right here?”
“Um. Maybe?” Ina nodded as she started looking around as well, before tilting her head at Taylor. “But is it me you should be asking?”
Confused, Taylor opened her mouth to ask—
No ma▓░er how much she tr░es the hole will stay se▄red into her s█ul ░nd the hole will forever sta█ unt—
“R-right. Yeah… it should be fine here.” Taylor gritted out, hand shakily combing through her hair as she tried to mask the fear in her voice. The pit in her stomach that she’s tried so hard to ignore stretched deeper, ever colder.
“Great! Then show me how it’s done, sensei!” Ina giggled. If she saw something wrong with Taylor, she sure didn’t show it. “Your grateful student will follow whatever you sen-say, heehee.”
…Taylor took a moment to calm herself. She could do this. Mind over matter. Or magic, whatever.
Hard to imagine that she’d thought magic just existed in fiction. If someone would’ve said that was real to her face yesterday, she would have thought they were stupid. It’s still hard to believe now, if she was being honest. But it’s all real.
Maybe someone else would be in awe of such a revelation.
To her, though, it felt like every step she took was one she couldn’t turn back from.
“Before I do… this,” Taylor crossed her arms as her shoe tapped the ground anxiously. “Are there any other details I should know? Anything at all? Like, is this going to attract any attention?”
She felt like it was a reasonable concern. Magic, in general, seemed to be the exact opposite of subtle.
Instead of answering her question, however, Ina serenely pressed her hands against her heart. “In their absolute magnanimousness, the Ancient Ones chose us as their eyes and ears, the window to our mortal plane for their ever-watchful gaze. We are their hands and their will, and so our actions shall be theirs as well. So you know, I think they’ll be totally cool about it.”
That’s… going to be a lot to unpack. “Ina, I just meant if anybody’s gonna hear us.”
“Oh.” Ina paused, before giving Taylor a thumbs up with both of her hands. “You’re good ta-ko!”
…Tempering her response to roll her eyes at Ina’s joke, she set down the box of shrimps on one of the plastic storage boxes littering the area. However, taking another look around the basem*nt… she heaved a deep breath. It was simply too messy to do anything properly inside, as it was. “Alright. Let’s get everything ready, then.”
The two promptly went to work. For all the privacy the basem*nt gave them—actual free space was a commodity they’d had to earn. Boxes needed to be rearranged, stray items had to be properly put aside, and with how unkempt the place was—some light dusting and sweeping to cap off the entire ordeal. Taylor chose to ignore the fact that Ina was using her tentacles to manipulate the broom and dustpan while she moved around some boxes, humming a cheerful tune all the while.
Soon enough, the two had cleared out a rather sizable space in the middle of the basem*nt, and went about taking up spots on the floor, kneeling next to each other.
Feeling a little anxious, her eyes—for some reason—drifted to her side and met Ina’s, who gave what was meant to be a reassuring smile in return. In Ina’s hands, that magic book of hers was there, staying thankfully inert for now.
Taylor set the box of shrimps by her side, and pulled open the lid to use as she set a handful upon the plastic container to place in between them. With one last deep breath to try to calm the storm of feelings that this whole situation was giving her, she hardened her gaze.
“Let’s do this.”
She didn’t know if those words were meant for Ina or for herself, but the whispers quieted down, as if to help her focus. The room went silent as Taylor tried to focus on the knowledge that she desperately wished she didn’t have.
Only a small part of her wasn’t surprised when words started to flow through her lips, unbidden. For a moment, Taylor felt like a passenger in her own body as she mumbled words that didn’t sound like any language she knew. Next to her, Ina joined in on the chanting, mumbling much the same.
Okay, I have to… focus on what I’m willing to… sacrifice…
It was a little hard to do so, but she kept her eyes on the lid filled with shrimps, even as the room began to darken a little more than seemed normal. She had to make sure she did this correctly, so even as she felt the dread from the presence enveloping her, she tried to focus.
And next, intent. What… do I need? What do I want? That would be…
…What did Taylor want? Yes, she had done this to try to find some answers, but what if this was the wrong way to go about it? Maybe what she actually wanted wasn’t answers, but an easy way out of this situation. God knows she would rather wash her hands of everything here and never think about it again. Could she cut this entire ordeal short by simply asking for someone that could send Ina back home and get rid of these weird powers she had been given?
In her desperate attempt to center herself, her mind achieved the opposite effect. Every one of her senses seemed to shout at her, begging for the attention she’s forced to withhold. The presence of the voices grew heavier, tickling the back of her mind even in their repressed state. The worst of it all was the smell of the shrimps, becoming so pungently intense that her mind couldn’t wean off it successfully.
No… F-focus…! I…I want to–!
And before Taylor could even finish the thought, the sound of shattered glass rang out, and a glowing crack in reality appeared before them. There was a stunned moment of silence as the two of them beheld the tall, glowing scar that remained suspended in the air, before it suddenly split open, and everything went wrong.
The moment the hole in reality opened, a great stream of water began to gush out of it like a broken dam, quickly beginning to flood the entire basem*nt.
“sh*t! Ina!” Taylor cried out as her eyes widened in panic, quickly turning towards the girl in question, only to find an equally panicked expression on her face.
Before she could react, Ina sprang into action and swept her up in her arms as her tentacles lifted them up and away from the goddamn river that was pouring out of the hole she had created, the sound of rushing water drowning out all other noise.
The two of them stood suspended by Ina’s tentacles above the rapidly rising pool of water as they watched in stunned bewilderment as fish, algae, rocks and random sea detritus spilled out of the hole in reality and into the rapidly flooding basem*nt, before the crack suddenly sealed itself shut, abruptly cutting off the stream of water and plunging the room into a dead silence.
Taylor stood in shock as she beheld the absolute mess she had caused.
All of the previously stored items in the basem*nt were now scattered around the floor, soaking wet boxes with their ruined contents spilled all over the room, floating in a pool of water that came up to her shins. To add to the chaos, there were now piles of dead fish, bones, algae, seaweed, rocks and even coral spreading outwards from the center of the room, mixed into the entire mess.
Taylor's mouth flapped uselessly as her brain failed to come up with any sort of response to what had happened. A moment later, the awful, pungent smell of fish guts and seawater hit her nose, causing her to gag from the sheer stench of it all. Ina, to her credit, didn’t react at all to the smell, just looking at the destruction of Taylor’s basem*nt with wide eyes.
“Taylor? I think something is–” Ina began, only to abruptly cut herself off as she froze, eyes wide as dinner plates as she stared straight ahead. Taylor followed her gaze, and froze as well.
The big pile of seaweed in the middle of the room was moving. Something alive was squirming underneath it, slowly shifting the whole thing. Abruptly, an arm shot out of it, a small clawed hand finding purchase against the floor and slowly dragging itself out of the pile.
The two of them stood petrified, not daring to make a sound, wide eyes watching in fear as a… a creature pulled itself out of the pile of filth before shakily rising to its feet, standing in a wild, hunched over pose. Most of its features were hard to make out due to the fact that its entire body was covered in seaweed, algae and fish guts, but Taylor was able to barely catch a hint of silver hair, gray scales covering what few parts of its skin were visible, and some sort of robe that at some point might've been white, but by now was mostly reduced to a ripped, stained mess of rags that barely clung on. A long fish tail of some kind emerged from its lower back, lazily swinging in the air.
The creature suddenly folded over and began to cough up water, and with a startling discovery, Taylor realized it was a person. A girl, even, judging by the high pitch of the coughing. The fish… person? continued hacking out a concerning amount of water out of her lungs, and even more was flowing out from the sides of her torso—were those gills?—until she was seemingly drained of all water. The girl then took a very deep, shaky breath, tasting air for what seemed to be the first time in a very long time, and Taylor watched in fascination as the few patches of gray scales she could see on the girl's body slowly disappeared, leaving behind pale human skin. Through it all, Taylor couldn't help but notice how small the girl looked, almost like a child.
The… fish girl? paused once her breathing settled, took a deep sniff of the air, and promptly froze, head snapping to the side in an instant, gaze homing in on the box of shrimp now sadly drifting through the flooded basem*nt, and immediately lunging for it.
Taylor watched in morbidly horrified fascination as the girl dropped down on all fours and began to savagely tear into the box of shrimp, serrated triangular teeth and sharp claws violently tearing her prey apart before gulping it all down, plastic included.
The sounds of cracking shells, spilling shrimp guts, breaking plastic and messy, starved chewing occupied the silence in the basem*nt.
What in the actual f*ck.
Taylor felt like she was dreaming, that at some point through it all, the world simply stopped making sense. In a daze, her hand blindly rose to her side to repeatedly tap Ina in the chest as if to confirm she was still there, and to verify that they were seeing the same thing. She felt Ina's hands quietly take hold of her forearm and give it a reassuring squeeze, and out of the corner of her eye, she saw the girl’s gaze was just as transfixed in the bizarre sight before them, unable to tear her eyes away.
Taylor's gaze reluctantly scanned across the basem*nt, confirming the fact that yes, everything was still flooded, and yes, there was some kind of midget Swamp Thing lookalike devouring the box of shrimp she had set aside for her dad.
This was her life now.
Licking her dry lips as she thought of how to even begin to approach the situation, Taylor's gaze slid to Ina before returning to the bipedal fish too busy eating a f*cking plastic container to even notice her surroundings, or the fact that there were two people in the room with her.
In the lowest possible tone of voice she could muster, Taylor whispered. “...Ina. Ina! What the hell is that thing?!”
Blinking out of her trance, Ina's gaze briefly met Taylor's, before both of them turned their attention back to their bizarre guest.
“I don't know! Something must've gone wrong with the ritual. Did you–” was as far as Ina got before she froze.
Ahead of them, the fish girl twitched in place before coming to an abrupt halt. She remained eerily still for a few seconds, before her head slowly turned in their direction.
Taylor's heart seized in her chest as she beheld something that would haunt her nightmares for days to come. Beneath the thick mat of seaweed and algae and muck hiding the fish girl's features, a pair of slitted red eyes glowed from within the darkness, staring directly at her. The moment their eyes met, Taylor knew down to her bones that there were no rational thoughts behind the hungry gaze of the predator standing before her. And with a horrified realization, she made another startling discovery.
That… is not a fish.
That's a shark.
Before she could even formulate another thought, the shark girl sprang to action. Going from standing completely still to leaping straight towards them in an instant, water splashing all over the place as she jumped with a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth wide open and angled in their direction.
Ina let out a terrified yelp as she held onto Taylor for dear life and dived out of the way, the shark girl intentionally sailing past them to land on the wall, only to immediately leapfrog off of it and straight towards the basem*nt door as if that had been her goal all along, cracking the cement wall and smashing through the door in the process, reducing it into a million splinters.
Did she just juke us?!
Taylor and Ina tightly clung to each other, hearts beating a mile a minute.
“Are you okay?!” Ina asked, not even loosening her hold on Taylor, scared as she was.
“Y-Yeah, I’m…” Taylor muttered back as she pulled away from Ina, only for her hands to accidentally brush against something at her side. Looking down, she saw it was… a scallop, at first glance, marred with sand and muck from the shark girl, but the way it shone on the light revealed something more… metallic, for it to simply be an ordinary shell. Struck with a sense of suspicion from such an anachronistic sight, Taylor barely hesitated to pick it up off the floor. “...fine…”
Gold, it turned out with a wipe of her hand, inlaid the surface of the shell in a decorative fashion. In fact, the way it was styled reminded her, vaguely, of those Greek vases she saw in a museum once. But what got her interest the most was the hinge that replaced what would have been the seashell’s natural ones.
A pendant?
That was as far Taylor’s train of thought went, however, as the sudden sound of the kitchen window being shattered brought it to a complete stop.
The kitchen window that led into the backyard, and out of the house.
“Oh no…” Ina uttered in dawning realization.
Taylor felt the blood drain from her face in horror.
“We… We need to go after her…” Taylor faintly muttered, feeling as if her life was falling apart in real time. “I–We need–Ina! We need to go after her!” Taylor yelled, shaking the shocked girl out of her stupor.
“R-right!” Ina was quick to gather her wits, giving a determined nod in response as her tentacles quickly carried them out of the flooded basem*nt and into the living room.
Once there, she deposited Taylor onto the ground and the two of them separated. Immediately, Taylor's worst fears were confirmed as she saw a trail of water and bits of seaweed leading straight to the kitchen window and out into the backyard.
“f*ck me…”
Taylor stared at the broken window that was just about as shattered as her mind felt right now.
Would they even have the time to fix it later? What if her dad finds out? How was she supposed to explain this, then?
Keep thinking like that and you’ll lose the shark, Taylor! Move!
Shaking her head and finally snapping into action, she rushed towards the kitchen door that led into the backyard and quickly unlocked it, Ina swiftly following behind.
As soon as she threw the door open, she saw the shark girl already making good distance as she jumped over the wooden fence in one solid leap, already making it to the other side before Taylor could have a good look at her.
Taylor was already starting to move before Ina’s tentacles attempted to wrap around her midsection. Moving away from their grip, she turned around to glare at Ina. “What are you doing?!” Taylor yelled, irritated at everything going on.
“Taking the Tako-express!” Ina said, nodding at Taylor as if it was a good idea. “It’ll be our best shot at—”
“No! Absolutely no tako express, or whatever—no tentacles!” Taylor hurriedly replied, not waiting for Ina’s response as she rushed to the fence, trying to climb over it frantically. Why on Earth would she take the risk to out herself in her own neighborhood?
Taylor was never really physically strong or agile, and it showed here as she clambered over the fence with all the grace of a crippled chihuahua, losing precious time. She only managed to catch a brief glimpse of the shark girl running on all fours like an animal across the street and jumping onto the walls of another house to climb onto its roof, not slowing down in the slightest, before disappearing between one moment and the next. Feeling her heart in her throat, she slipped through the alley beside her house as quickly as she could, noting the sounds of Ina making her own attempts to climb behind her.
This time, Taylor had a perfectly good view of the shark girl. Unfortunately for Taylor, she was done jumping between houses, and was now crouched atop the roof of a refrigerated truck that seemed to be in a hurry.
Uncaring for her destination, the girl sniffed the air, before crawling towards the back of the truck and clawing at its door until she managed to partially pry it open with a screech of bent metal. Hanging from the back of the large truck while upside down, she poked her head through the gap she had made, before hurriedly taking hold of the rest of the door and simply ripping the entire thing off in one pull. She casually threw the heavy metal door aside onto the street before diving into the heaps of food that must’ve been inside the truck's refrigeration unit, and began to ravenously rip through its contents like a starving animal. It was as if she’d completely forgotten about her pursuers… or knew that she had successfully evaded them.
Taylor was about a second away from screaming in frustration as loud as she could, damn the consequences, before she spotted a bicycle lying against a fence, looking perfectly unattended. The seat even looked big enough for two people.
Taylor took a moment to stare before she heard the sounds of labored breathing behind her, courtesy of Ina, who sounded like she had run a marathon as she hunched over and put her hands on her knees. “Ta-Taylor…where did she go…?”
Taylor tried to get herself back on track as she rushed forward, and got on the bike, a silent apology to the owner as she got on the seat. Thank god she knew how to ride a bike. “Ina, get on!”
“Huh?”
“She’s over there, hitchhiking on that big truck,” Taylor said, pointing forward towards where the girl was, feeling baffled about how the driver didn’t notice the shark girl stowing away on their vehicle. “If we don’t catch up to her now, we’ll never find her!”
Ina took a moment to catch her breath before she did as Taylor asked, climbing on the bike and holding onto Taylor’s shoulders for support. Thank God Ina weighed about as much as a feather, or else they’d be slowed down even more.
With that done, she started to pedal, pushing her legs as fast as she could to catch up to the truck ahead of her, adrenaline making the task easier than it should have been.
However, no matter how fast she pedaled, she couldn’t stop the truck from gaining ground as it continued on its merry way, growing more distant by the second. Despite the magic she could do now, she was still human, and there was no way a human would be able to catch up to a speeding vehicle with a bicycle carrying two people.
If this kept up, they would lose the shark girl, and Taylor would be back where she started at the beginning of today. Lost and wanting for answers.
f*ck, if I can’t find her—!
“Taylor,” Ina spoke up. Out of the corner of her eyes, Taylor saw Ina’s tentacles start to move towards the pedals. “Um, I think there’s a way we can speed up, but… please hold on super tight? Also, don’t hate me.”
“What do you mean by—” Taylor cut herself off as soon as she felt Ina’s cold tentacles wrap around her legs. Taylor yelped but didn’t have time to react as she felt her legs be moved by the tentacles as they pedaled for her, moving up and down more quickly than her legs ever could on their own. Just like that, the bike sped up tremendously, like she had slammed the gas on a car. “—Holy sh*t!”
Just like that, Taylor broke records as she just barely managed to keep her balance on the bike, trying to focus on her main objective of catching up to the summoned girl. The singular thought process she’d dedicated to trying to keep everything down-low screamed at how unsubtle they were being, and how identifiable they might have been, so with one hand gripped tightly on the bike, Taylor pulled up her hoodie in a single panicked motion, trying to keep at least a hint of anonymity as she biked at superspeed.
In the distance, as if to remind her of the impending danger, she saw smoke rise up from afar. If she strained her ears a little bit, she could even hear the sounds of more bombs going off in the distance, making her tense up further in fear and apprehension as she realized the bombings were still ongoing.
I got lucky once. I won’t get lucky again. Taylor thought, both hands back to gripping the handlebars so hard it almost hurt.
This time, with the help of Ina, she managed to slowly but surely catch up to the truck, feeling the wind blow past her as she continued to cycle at superspeeds, allowing her to finally get close enough to the shark girl.
She was still there, this time, contently munching on an apple while lounging atop the ruined remains of the packaged food the truck once held, blissfully unaware of the world around her. However, that all changed when she twitched, head tilting in their direction and pausing when she got a good look at Taylor and Ina again, causing her to snarl. With one arm co*cked back, she threw the half eaten apple at Taylor’s face, forcing her to duck as close to the handlebars as possible as she narrowly avoided the sudden fastball to the face. Behind her, she heard a pained squawk of protest coming from Ina, most likely due to being hit by said fastball. Taylor hardly had a chance to react as the shark girl crawled to the hole she had made in the back of the vehicle, crouched down, and—
And jumped to one of the passing houses, claws making a nasty dent in the roof as she did another jump in the same direction, intending to try a different strategy to get away from the pursuing pair.
As Ina’s tentacles let go of her legs, allowing her to slow down to more manageable speeds, her thoughts started to race.
She’s heading towards the boardwalk. Taylor said, recognizing where the girl’s path would lead to. I can’t catch up to her, even like this, but if I could cut her off…
“Taylor?” Ina’s voice held a little bit of doubt as she rubbed her shoulder with a wince, her dress splattered with the remains of an apple. “I think I can just take us there using—”
“Ina, just speed us up again, please.” Taylor said, focusing on keeping her balance as she started to turn towards the boardwalk.
When Ina did so, after a short pause, Taylor directed all her attention to the task at hand.
Once more, she dearly hoped Dad took his sweet time before he got home. Taylor felt like she was going to be a while.
Whatever happens, just please don't let this be traced back to me. Taylor thought as she continued to blaze through the city with a normal bike. It wasn’t long before their impromptu chase led them both to downtown.
Taylor would have found it difficult to track the girl in any capacity as she ran away from the chasing pair, were it not for the claw marks and deep gashes in the side of buildings leaving an exact indication of where the girl was going. If this didn’t attract the attention of certain individuals, she didn’t know what would.
It felt like ages, and her legs were starting to seriously burn, but it wasn’t long before she finally got another view of the shark girl, a…hotdog in her mouth while she ran on all fours. Seriously?!
“Wow, she’s such a big eater for a small girl,” Ina commented, hands still on Taylor’s shoulders as she watched the shark girl somehow outrun their bike while scampering across the ground like a wild animal, trailing the dwindling remains of the seaweed, algae and filth that had covered her up when she had been summoned.
“Is now really the time to be impressed?!” Taylor shouted, all her focus directed on keeping herself steady while chasing the girl down.
However, this time around, instead of persisting in going the same direction, the shark girl abruptly switched course, heading for…
Wait a second. Right now, we’re at 16th Avenue. So that means she was probably going for—
“Ina, stop speeding us up, right now!” Taylor ordered, making the tentacles stop their pedaling as she skidded to a stop, right in front of their destination.
The boardwalk looked so different. It was supposed to be the one bright spot of the Bay, or at least look the part—the one place that people would feel safe in without fear of a sudden gang member coming to ruin their day. Now, like many other places in the city, it was damaged. Abandoned stalls and ruined buildings, with an undeniable feeling of danger that was absent just a few days prior.
Despite that, there were still a decent number of people here. It seemed like some had wanted to help, giving out food and supplies to those most affected by the bombing. Lines of people were cued up to get food, water, or medical supplies.
And of course, because of Taylor and Ina’s sudden high-speed entrance, they had attracted attention, as a multitude of eyes briefly focused on them. Not a lot, but enough for Taylor to take notice of, and enough for her anxiety and fear to worsen.
But despite that, her eyes noted the shark girl in the distance, who was now jumping across from building to building, but noticeably slower this time. Luckily, none of the people in the boardwalk had seemed to notice her yet.
She’s getting tired. Taylor thought, feeling a little inkling of hope well up inside her. Good. If Taylor had to keep this up for a couple more minutes, she’d fall apart herself, too. Especially since she couldn’t use Ina to bike their way over to her again. Not in a crowded area like this. If she wanted to keep any semblance of a peaceful life, she needed to keep it subtle.
Speaking of… Taylor’s eyes landed on an abandoned Protectorate merchandise stall that was likely left behind in a hurry. It wasn’t anything noteworthy, but one thing did catch her eye. Hung on the corner of the stall were several toy masks of the Protectorate and the Wards. They looked cheaply made, but if nothing else, they would do for Taylor’s purpose.
Taylor took a moment to catch her breath before she got off the bike. “Ina, come on, we have to keep chasing after her.”
She didn’t wait for Ina’s response as she made her way to the stall, swiped three of those masks, and went back to Ina, who was much slower to get off the bike. With one hand already putting on her Armsmaster mask, she handed a Clockblocker one to Ina. “Here, take it.”
“Huh?”
“We don’t want to be outed, remember?” Taylor stressed the last word as she pushed the mask to Ina, turning around to see another hint of the shark girl making another leap across a building. With another deep breath, she started to run forward, trusting that Ina would at least keep up. “Come on!”
“W-Wait, Taylor!” Ina yelped from behind her, sounding tired.
With that, Taylor tried her best to move through the crowds of people, chasing down the girl who would hopefully be her source of answers. She had more than a few eyes focused on her as she pushed through the crowd of people, but if nothing else, the mask and her zipped-up hoodie would hopefully keep her identity safe.
Things seemed to take a turn for the better as the shark girl started to climb down into one of the alleys, and into the less populated areas. At least Taylor would have less of a mess to clean up if she finally got through to her.
The chase continued as Taylor ran and ran and ran, watching the girl dart on all fours from one alley to another. Taylor faintly noted how she was slowly seeing more worn-down and damaged buildings. A good portion of which were damaged by the bombings, as the smell of smoke filled Taylor’s nose. But that didn’t matter now.
Taylor instead focused on how the girl was finally losing some steam after what felt like forever. It seemed like her persistence had finally paid off. She continued to run as the girl darted to one alley, prompting Taylor to follow her until—
Until she saw a dead end, a brick wall marking the end of her progress. The shark girl had no such issues as she jumped from wall to wall, clambering up and over a building and out of Taylor’s sight once more.
Taylor felt too tired to even care at this point as she continued to catch her breath, hands falling on her knees as sweat dripped down onto the floor.
“Did we lose her?”
Taylor startled when she heard a familiar voice speak, just right behind her ears, startling her. “Holy sh*t—!”
—she turned around to be greeted by Ina, who looked absolutely fine despite having run out of breath at the start of the chase. Had Ina not spoken up, Taylor would have no clue that she was behind her at all.
“Taylor?” Ina asked, and Taylor looked down to realize that the cultish girl hadn’t been, in fact, standing this whole time. No, instead she’s been propped up high by a pair of tentacles that had mimicked a chair for her to sit on.
“...Have you… been using those… this whole time?” Taylor asked between gasps.
Ina tilted her head. “Um. Kinda? I know you don’t like the Tako-express, but I’m not very physical, so rather than falling behind…” The tentacles underneath her gave an apologetic shrug.
…There goes not being outed. The masks should help, right? God, if these things didn’t actually do anything for their identities at this point, she’ll… she’ll think about it later.
Taylor took another deep breath to put her shame and embarrassment away, before she resigned herself to taking the only option left. “...She made her way up the building. If you’re gonna use those anyways, can you take both of us up?”
“Oh, sure! Tako time!”
For the briefest of moments, as the octopus girl happily nodded, Taylor felt a pang of regret. Of the few times she had to directly deal with Ina’s appendages so far, her mind had rather been preoccupied with far more important matters.
That was to say, now without anything else to distract her, she could only look forward to the cephalopod-assisted ascension as it was—all ten stories of the trip—with all the enthusiasm of a woman facing her inevitable doom.
Don’t scream, she tried to think, instead, as the grip around her waist turned into a lurch. Suddenly, everything was a nauseous blur to Taylor’s vision as Ina rose up with her in tow, hovering mere inches away from the wall, with such smooth and silent motion that they would barely leave any hint of their presence behind.
Like a blast of wind surging upwards, and with how Ina kept to angles not so easily seen, perhaps nearly as invisible to the blissfully ignorant.
It’s when they were about to reach the rooftop that Ina immediately stopped, before dipping back down. She whispered to Taylor, “I think I see her!”
Yeah, well, that’s fantastic and all, but the only thing Taylor could see was brick.
“Whoops, sorry, hold on!”
The tentacles—they’re so smooth and cold and undulating it feels so creepy—shifted around so that both their heads popped slightly over the ledge, finally letting Taylor get a good view.
She saw it, then.
The wasteland that Brockton Bay had become, stripped of the worn ruggedness it had. There was something to seeing it for yourself from up high, unhindered by a television screen or the grounded perspective on the streets.
Seeing the shark girl on the opposite ledge of the building, some of her body still covered in muck and filth as she overlooked that same destruction, contrasted against the scene—it made Taylor come to a very distressing conclusion.
Could she… accidentally summon something that could cause as much damage?
Goddammit. f*ck.
“How do you think we should get close?” Ina whispered to Taylor, snapping her out of thoughts. “We probably won’t have another chance.”
“Let me think.” Taylor frowned. What cut the space between this building and the next—from where the girl was standing—was a highway, too wide to cross in a single bound, even with how far Taylor had witnessed the girl jump. Could that be the reason why she stopped in her tracks long enough for them to catch up?
Though that didn’t mean exactly that she was completely out of options. She was agile, and fast, to a ridiculous degree. Taylor knew that if she was an actual cape, the PRT would have given her a rating appropriate to the feat. Not that she knew the exact one, clueless as she was to cape culture, save for the rare exception.
Nevertheless, it was clear. Even if they try to catch the girl in a pincer maneuver, she might just very well juke them again successfully.
There had to be a way to trap her, somehow… or, at the very least, bait her into getting caught?
“...I think I got something.” Taylor dipped into her hoodie, and fetched her very recent collection.
Ina squinted at the thing in her hand, and made a confused sound. “Is that a seashell?”
“Yeah, some sort of pendant.” Taylor nodded as she twirled the pendant around, making it glitter from the sun. “This is hers, I think. I didn’t really look inside.”
...Actually, this could be a good opportunity, couldn’t it? Pawing around the lip of the shell gave her no way to open the pendant at first, until she incidentally depressed the tip of the shell, loosening some sort of internal hook with a simple click.
“Oh,” Taylor breathed out, as she raised the now open pendant closer to Ina. “It’s… a family.”
A painting of one, to be exact. Hidden behind a cracked glass, a stern, bearded man with a regal air about him stood straight at the furthest, and leftmost side of the picture. On his right was a beatifically smiling woman, dressed in a vibrant blue toga, bedazzled entirely in glittering gems.
Sitting on her lap was a vaguely familiar child. A little girl garbed in white with a sharp, beaming smile, clothes similarly decorated by gemstones. With her silver hair—the same as her father’s—she looked like an ethereal little cherub.
Taylor idly traced the crack in the glass with her thumb. For all the wear the surface of the pendant seemed to have, the contents inside were practically spotless, save for that one crack.
The girl, however she’s acting now, must care about it deeply.
Her happy little family.
Something about it gripped Taylor’s heart with a vengeance.
“Let’s use this one,” she whispered to her more eldritch-inclined partner.
“Are…are you sure?” Ina tilted her head, wary. Taylor was sure she’d see a frown there if she could see the octopus girl’s face underneath the mask. “This pendant is probably really important to her.”
“That’s why we’ll give it back,” Taylor insisted, though her next words had significantly less heat in them. “...T-two birds, one stone, right?”
Ina kept staring at her for a few more seconds, before smacking a fist into her palm. “Okay! If that’s what we’re going with, I think I have a plan…”
Right… Taylor took a deep breath, as she stood on the same buildings as the shark girl. Her hand was gripping the pendant firmly, but not overly so. Ina was nowhere to be seen as she prepared herself for what she needed to do.
I'm ready.
“Hey!” Taylor yelled out, her voice successfully getting the attention of the shark girl.
The shark girl jumped, whirling towards Taylor, her sharp teeth on full display from what little she could see of her face as she growled, covered in seaweed as she was. She seemed ready to bolt once more, getting down on all fours and preparing to jump, but then she froze as her eyes locked onto the one thing in Taylor's raised hand.
Her pendant.
“This is important to you, right!? You want it!?” Taylor waved the pendant, taking no pleasure in the shark girl's fear and desperation as she frantically patted herself down. “Then come—!”
Taylor hardly had any warning before the girl leapt towards her, moving in the blink of an eye to take back what was hers.
She couldn’t even brace herself in time as she was painfully tackled to the ground, her back and arms taking the brunt of the fall. She let out a grunt, but didn’t have time to register what had happened before there was suddenly a shark on top of her, desperately making a grab at Taylor’s hands.
Taylor tried her best to play keep away, grab the pendant as tight as she could, buy enough time, anything, but it was no use. Like it was nothing, the girl wrenched the pendant from Taylor’s fingers in the blink of an eye, her petite hands carrying deceptive amounts of strength.
Taylor’s heart seized as, once having retrieved what was hers, the shark girl grabbed her by the neck and slowly leaned in towards her face with a growl, angry red eyes drilling into Taylor's as her tooth-filled maw opened with a snarl, inches away from her throat. All the while, the horrible smell from all the filth and muck the girl was covered in assaulted her nostrils and made her want to gag.
f*ck, Ina, please hurry—!
At that moment, it felt as if time had slowed down.
Out of the corner of her eye, Taylor saw a familiar mass of purple emerge from the other side of the rooftop. Ina didn’t let out a peep as her tentacles swiftly approached the two of them, intent on capturing the shark girl.
But at the very last second, the shark girl swiftly rolled off of Taylor, just barely managing to dodge the tentacles when they were an inch away from wrapping around her. Somehow, the girl’s eyes were now focused on them, tracking the movement of the tentacles without issue.
What?! But I thought…!
Taylor watched all of this happen as if in slow motion, before the world snapped back to its normal pace.
Ina let out a gasp as the shark girl successfully evaded her grasp. “She's slipperier than my tentacles!”
“For god's sake, are you really saying that now?!” Taylor retorted, her aching limbs scrambling to get up, before Ina's tentacles helpfully pushed her to her feet.
With a sound of crunchy gravel, the shark girl stood on her feet, her hand protectively cradling her treasured memento to her chest as she backed away from the two of them, edging closer and closer to the edge of the building, growling all the while.
No, she’s going to get awa—!
That was when the shark girl, having not watched her footing, stepped on a loose chunk of a roof, making her lose her balance. She barely had time to yelp as she went over the side of the building, falling out of Ina and Taylor’s sight.
“No!”
“Oh no!”
The duo quickly rushed to the edge of the building, Ina’s tentacles swiftly picking up Taylor as they both lurched forward, intending to save the girl from hitting the ground head-first.
And then, Taylor felt an electrifying wave course through them, before being followed by a loud sound that came crashing into their ears. Her ears popped at the impact, momentarily losing all hearing besides a tinny ringing that slowly resolved back… to a shrill scream.
Dread still clear in her mind, she hesitantly looked down, along with Ina, to find the source.
Fortunately, the shark girl hadn’t hit the ground.
Unfortunately, that was also because she was caught in something else. A field, of sorts. The air itself seemed to distort and warp as dust and trash flew around randomly within it, with no gravity weighing them down. The girl hovered in the middle, twisting, spinning, moving around in wild abandon as she tried to move a single inch away from her spot, and failed.
Her efforts, combined with the run from before, had shaken off most of the detritus that clung stubbornly on her, enough so that her face could finally be partly seen, even from afar. There was such a naked expression of panic on the glimpses Taylor could see there as she flailed around and yelled, that it made her stomach twist.
The bombs. That must’ve been one of them.
She bit her lip, before turning to Ina, who looked just as worried.
“Ina,” Taylor spoke up. “Can you take us down without getting too close?”
Ina nodded, her tone sounding serious. “Yeah, don’t worry, Tako-express won’t fail us now.”
With that, the two scaled down the edge of the building, taking extra care not to touch the warped space as the girl continued screaming. It was nerve-wracking, but they had successfully made it to the ground floor without any trouble.
Notably, as Ina’s tentacles let go of Taylor, she saw that pendant once more on the ground at her feet. The girl must have dropped it as she fell. There was a ugly crack on the outside, now, too.
“Taylor?” Ina’s hesitant voice shook Taylor from her thoughts. “We’re going to get her out of there, right?”
Taylor shook her head to get herself back on track, putting the pendant in her pocket once more and taking off her mask for now, prompting Ina to do the same. It should be fine now that they're in a secluded alleyway, right? “Yeah, we are. Can your tentacles reach her from there?”
Ina looked back at the girl, making a thinking pose as she put her fist over her mouth. “Maybe, but I don’t think she’ll react well. I don’t know how she can see my tentacles, but she doesn’t seem to like them, so…”
Taylor let out a sigh, her mind working on fumes as she tucked away the information for later. “Okay. How about this? Wrap them around me, and drag me to her. Then as soon as I grab her, drag us both back.”
Ina frowned, looked at Taylor with no small amount of concern. “Are you sure? What if she lashes out at you? You could get really hurt.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll be okay.” Taylor lied, waving off Ina’s concern. She was about as sure as the supposed priestess was, but on some level, she felt like she deserved getting hit by the shark girl.
The shark kid, really. Sure, Taylor wasn’t the one who put her in… whatever situation she was in, back then. But the chase? And this bomb. This was hers, entirely.
Just another tally to put in Taylor’s asshole moments list. How many was it, now? Two for two?
Regardless, Taylor turned around, missing how Ina’s frown grew a little deeper at those words. “If it’s our best shot at saving her, then it’ll be okay.”
Ina let out a sigh as her tentacles swiftly wrapped around Taylor’s midsection. She felt a little proud of herself for not flinching this time. “Okay, if you say so, then I’ll trust you.” Ina shot a small smile Taylor’s way. “You ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Taylor said, taking a deep breath. She felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she approached the field in front of her. “...Let’s do it.”
Promptly, Taylor took a few steps back. She wasn’t sure if her momentum would completely disappear the moment she entered the field, but if it didn’t, a little extra push from a run might help her efforts.
With the tiny space she had to navigate with, it didn’t amount to much besides a few giant strides to build up speed, then suddenly—she had found herself inside.
The electrifying feeling from before stuck close to her skin as she felt herself slowly rise up from the ground, a small sense of vertigo making her dizzy for a brief moment. The only thing stopping her from drifting ever upward was Ina’s tentacles, tugging her back down, and gently directing her towards her main objective.
The girl was still screaming endlessly, spinning in place as she futilely struggled against the lack of gravity itself. Her eyes soon met Taylor’s, prompting the girl to redouble her efforts.
“Wait!” Taylor shouted, trying her best to inch over faster to where the panicked girl was, stretching her arms forward to reach her. “We’re just trying to—”
—Only for her hands to be rebuffed by a swipe from the girl, wrenching them completely to the side.
“You have to calm—” Taylor continued her efforts still, extending her arms again.
"Αφες με μόνην...!” The girl rasply screamed at her—the first time Taylor ever heard more than a wordless shrill or a growl from her—before her hands were angrily swiped away, again.
Pain.
It was the first time the girl had actually used her claws on her too, Taylor realized, as she looked down at the ripped sleeve of her right arm, and the now-bleeding gash from within, leaking blood that spilled oddly into the air.
Taylor entirely wasn’t sure what she was thinking at that moment. Something insane, perhaps. But she couldn’t deny something tethered at the edge of snapping at that very moment, and her hands surged to grab both the girl’s wrists, somehow becoming strong enough to hold them in place.
“L̵͈̈ist̸en!” Taylor felt the slithering underneath inside her sleeves, but paid it no mind. “Listen,” she repeated, taking deep breaths as the girl strained against her newfound solid hold.
“I’m… I’m sorry. I… know you don’t want to be here, that this… place must seem so scary and dangerous to you,” Taylor said as softly as she could, trying to make her voice as soothing as possible. “We just wanted some—no, we’re just here to help out now, I promise.”
She locked eyes as hard as she could with the girl, trying to convey her words the only way she knew how.
For a moment, she wasn’t sure she got through to her. Taylor just heard the girl speak now, and it was a language nowhere near English. Why should she expect the girl to understand what she was saying?
But, surprisingly enough, the shark girl’s struggles seemed to calm down a slight amount.
Ina must have taken that as some sort of signal, as Taylor could feel the appendage wrapped around her waist start pulling her back. Quickly, she dragged the shark girl even closer to her, securing her with a tight hug.
The girl growled, making Taylor tense up, anticipating retaliation. However, the girl didn’t do much else other than that, as she continued making warning growls into Taylor’s hoodie instead of attacking her directly.
Taylor didn’t let herself relax the slightest bit until she felt the edges of the field touch her back, only then letting loose a relieved sigh.
…Until the shark girl realized that they were out, too, and started to go wild in her crutches.
“H-hey…! Stop moving…!”
Taylor’s tenuous grasp couldn't hold against the girl’s struggles as she broke out of Taylor’s arms once more. However, owing to how tired they all were, the shark girl instead scampered off behind a dumpster, not making any moves to run away further from the two, watching them warily.
…Right. She still had to return it.
With a hand reaching into her pocket, Taylor once again took out the pendant. It made a slight clicking sound as she opened it up to show the girl.
“Here.” Taylor’s adrenaline finally ran out, making her painfully aware of the sheer exhaustion lacing her entire body. “You dropped this, earlier,” she tiredly said, speaking gently as she kneeled closer. If she was being honest, it was more like her legs finally giving out than anything else. “It’s pretty important, right?”
Tentatively, after a great deal of silence, the girl revealed her arm from behind the dumpster, gingerly taking the pendant from Taylor’s hand.
It took even longer for the girl to crawl out herself, cradling the pendant close to her chest. It was clear she was still on her guard with the two, even with how she seemed to go out of her way not to glance at their direction. Ina, for her part, made no sudden movements or noises, looking on with baited breath.
Notably, the girl didn’t look like she was primed to run away anymore.
Taylor took a long and deep breath as she finally let go of the last bits of lingering tension in her body.
Thank god, we did it… Taylor thought. She would have tipped over from sheer relief were it not for Ina catching her at the last second.
That’s only when she realized how dirty her clothes had gotten. Wrangling with the shark stained the front of her hoodie something fierce—just leaving a giant murky blotch of foul-smelling mistake, all peppered with algae.
Taylor scrunched her nose in distaste. How many washes was this going to take to come out?
“Taylor?” Ina muttered, looking at the gash on Taylor’s arms with naked concern. There was a certain tone to her voice that made Taylor feel worse, somehow. Guilt. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine…” Taylor let out, taking the opportunity to look at the injury on her arm as well.
Instead of the grotesque injury that she was expecting, however, underneath the gash of her sleeves was a perfectly unblemished arm. That… she was sure she got hit.
…I’ll think about this later.
“Are you sure?” Ina continued to look worried. “Does it hurt somewhere? Even if it looks fine, you might’ve gotten slashed somewhere that’s like, hidden—”
“I’m fine. See?” Taylor insisted as she rolled up her sleeve to show her unharmed arm to the priestess, trying to put on an unbothered face as she shakily stood up. “Besides, we have more important things to do.”
Ina didn’t seem the slightest bit appeased, but ultimately, she seemed to concede to Taylor’s point as she turned back to the girl, who was still holding her precious memento.
“Hi,” Ina quietly said, crouching down and making a friendly smile towards the shark girl. Somehow, the girl’s odor didn’t seem to bother her at all.
The shark girl jumped, like she had forgotten the two of them were there, before leaning back in slight fear, still holding the pendant tightly.
“Sorry for everything we put you through. We didn’t mean to scare you.” Ina’s soothing voice seemed to do its job as the shark girl remained calm… or at least, unresponsive, even as she got closer. “I know this doesn’t make up for this whole mess, but…”
Ina reached into her purse to take out a paper bag of cupcakes they had made earlier. They were a little disfigured, thanks to the sudden wild chase, but the girl seemed to barely notice, her eyes instantly darting to the cupcakes, mouth watering as she audibly sniffed at the sweet treats coming her way.
“You seem like a hungry girl, so maybe you’d like something like—ah!”
Ina didn’t even get a chance to finish her sentence as the girl gleefully snatched the cupcakes from Ina’s hand. She dug in without any hesitation as crumbs fell on her legs, devouring the entire literal bag in one go, packaging included.
Ina giggled in amusem*nt, while Taylor could only blankly stare.
Given how thin she was, maybe Taylor shouldn’t have been that surprised, but she still seemed like a black hole for food, somehow.
“Oh! You know, I don’t think we told you our names, did we?” Ina asked, prompting the shark girl to look up from her food. “I’m Ina, and this is Taylor.”
Predictably, the shark girl stared blankly at them, tilting her head like a confused dog, cheeks puffed up from the cupcakes she shoved in her mouth. Taylor was pretty sure at this point that the feral girl didn’t speak a single word of English. That didn’t stop Ina from trying once more, though.
“Ina…” She gestured to herself, before promptly gesturing at Taylor. “Taylor.” Then, she repeated the motions a couple of times. “Ina, Taylor. Ina, Taylor. Do you understand?”
Taylor almost thought it a lost cause before the shark girl opened her mouth and…
“Guwa,” the girl mumbled through her food, before swallowing and trying again. “...G-Gura,” the girl, Gura, said, pointing to herself.
“Your name is Gura?” Ina asked, tilting her head, a growing smile on her face.
“Gura.” Gura said, pointing to herself once again. Then, she tried her luck with other names, pointing at them as she tried to say it. “...I-na. Tay-lor.”
Ina’s smile was as wide as could be. “Well, I sea! It’s nice to meet you, Gura!”
Taylor wished she could feel the same. She really did. All she felt now was exhaustion, dread, and a whole bunch of myriad feelings that she couldn’t even begin to unpack right now.
God, I’m so tired…
I never expected today to be so… exciting! Ina thought, as she watched Gura finish off the last of the snacks she had in her purse.
Well, to be fair, this was basically a sentai world! Exciting chases and the like were probably par for the course here! Maybe this was a good excuse to do some cardio in case she needed to run without using her tentacles… but exercise is pretty heart work.
Stifling a giggle from her pun, she handed Taylor one of the masks that they got earlier. Even if she didn’t need it so much herself—the Ancient Ones had their own way of helping keep the masquerade—Gura might find it more useful. Though with how she instantly tried to fiddle with the mask that Taylor just put on her face, she would probably need to get used to it a bit more, heehee.
Taylor, for her part, looked for a place to sit to immediately play as their lookout.
In the back of Ina’s mind, the whispers intensified for a brief moment as she looked at Taylor.
‘𝖂𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖆 𝖑𝖔𝖓𝖊𝖑𝖞 𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙. 𝕾𝖍𝖊 𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖙𝖚𝖗𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖘𝖊𝖑𝖋 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝐤𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖆 𝖈𝖆𝖚𝖘𝖊 𝖙𝖔 𝖉𝖎𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗.’ a facsimile of her own voice echoed, the clearest from the choir.
Yes, Ina could very much see that! Had most people been put in Taylor’s shoes during the chase, they would have given up long before she did. It was no small feat that they managed to catch up to Gura when they did. Personally, though, Ina found that a little admirable, if nothing else. It seemed like the Ancient Ones picked a good candidate to bless with their powers!
And speaking of Gura… Ina looked back at Gura, who was currently crouched down and playing with a discarded wrapper. Once more, her own voice whispered to her.
‘𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖗𝖊𝖉𝖆𝖙𝖔𝖗 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖆𝖙𝖔𝖕 𝖆 𝖒𝖔𝖚𝖓𝖙𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝖗𝖚𝖎𝖓𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍. 𝕴𝖙 𝖎𝖘 𝖆 𝖋𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖔𝖋 𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖎𝖓𝖌, 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖆 𝖕𝖗𝖎𝖘𝖔𝖓 𝖚𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖊𝖗𝖛𝖊𝖉. 𝕴𝖓 𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖎𝖋𝖊, 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝖋𝖆𝖙𝖊 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖜𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖘 𝖍𝖊𝖗𝖘, 𝖙𝖔 𝖞𝖊𝖙 𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖙𝖗𝖆𝖌𝖊𝖉𝖞.’
…Huh. Ina thought, tilting her head curiously as she looked at Gura in a new light.
Admittedly, Ina didn’t know what to think of that tidbit. She didn’t doubt the Ancient One’s blessing and knowledge, but to be told that this shark girl was someone she had been super close friends with in another life was really interesting!
Maybe we can be friends again, too!
“Okay…” Taylor took another deep breath, the frown in her face having stuck there ever since they’ve started chasing Gura. Yeah, she really needs a break after today. What could be a fun way for stress relief? Does Taylor like drawing? Drawing always helped her relax!
Ignorant of Ina’s whole internal spiel, Taylor continued. “I think that’s enough of a break. Now we just gotta get back home. One big problem, though.”
She pointed at Gura, or more specifically… the giant tail sticking out of her legs. “How are we supposed to hide that? Gura’s gonna stick out like a sore thumb.”
Gura perked up at the mention of her name, and tried to follow where Taylor’s finger pointed to, only to find her tail. She waggled it a little confusedly.
“Is it that much of a problem? Oh, we say that it’s, like, part of her costume! Heroes wear crazy costumes all the time, don’t they?” There was still like, all sorts of seaweed and plant goop and stuff that covered her tattered robe—they can probably pass her off as halloween-themed, right?
“It’s… a bit too real to pass off as a costume, I think.” Taylor crossed her arms in thought, and looked closer at the shark girl and her state of dress while scrunching up her nose, for some reason. Oh! Maybe she was starting to see it, too!
Of course, it turned out that Gura’s tail wasn’t just going to be their only problem.
"여기서 들었어요!"
Ina’s ears twitched as she heard a voice in the distance. Some person talking to another in…was that… Korean?
‘𝕿𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖉𝖘 𝖒𝖆𝖞 𝖇𝖊 𝖆 𝖒𝖞𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖞, 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖎𝖗 𝖎𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖓𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖈𝖑𝖊𝖆𝖗. 𝕳𝖎𝖉𝖊.’
It was then that Ina’s worry grew a little stronger, as her mind tried to come up with a solution to their problem.
Taylor was quick on the draw, tensing up further at Ina’s alarm and leaning in closer and harshly whispering to her. “What’s wrong?”
“Someone’s coming!” Ina whispered back, taking no pleasure in seeing Taylor’s eyes grow wide as she swiveled around in a panic, the grimace on her face deeper than before.
Gura seemed to be aware enough to also recognize something was wrong, as she crouched down and let out a low growl, ready to pounce on anything she saw as a threat.
Although, that was exactly the problem, wasn't it? Taylor and Ina might seem normal, but Gura would surely break whatever source of normality this world had, and bring untold amounts of attention to them. She wasn’t sure they could hide her actions behind a silly costume if that were to happen.
Ina had experience in hiding the occult from normal people back in her world. It was part of her duty as the Priestess of the Ancient Ones to keep up the masquerade whenever she could. But right now, she couldn’t think of a clean way out of this, not with the amount of time they had.
What to do…
And then, Ina was startled as Taylor grabbed her and Gura’s arms firmly, a grim look on her face.
“Hold tight and don’t let go,” Taylor whispered, her voice just barely on the edge of Ina’s hearing.
Just as suddenly as Taylor grabbed them, they descended into the ground, disappearing into the shadow of the dark alley.
Leaving no trace behind.
