CHAPTER 442: ARC 6, CHAPTER 58: TO CATCH A PLAY

’Twenty-three hundred hours... What a day...’ A black-haired Jotou, with cat ears and a tail, ambled around the guild hall, avoiding being bumped and her footsteps weaved through leg after leg.

With her coat disrobed and her sword in a common sheath, she finally found, "Crispy."

The red-armoured figure looked up from his mug of mead. He squinted, "Jotou...?"

The ’cat-girl’ took a seat in front of him, "Obviously."

"You know, I always thought you were the type."

Her tail flicked behind her, "...The type to what?"

"Never mind," he took a gulp of his drink.

"No, this is just a good disguise, don’t think any deeper of it," her ears folded while her eyes glared. "No roaring fans?"

He looked down, "I told the guild staff I didn’t wanna be bothered right now."

Jotou cocked her head to the side, slightly surprised. "Anyway, I’ll be off soon."

"Off?" Ben blinked a few times. "Off to where? To bed?"

"Belle-Ventrialis. Based on some reasonable theories, we think the cult’s heading to Palais Celneir—if they haven’t already got there. It’s the oldest functioning opera house in the world and has a lot of valuable history, art and all around significant treasures."

"Wait, wait, wait, back up," he raised his hands. "Dude, you’re leaving tonight?"

Jotou shrugged a single shoulder, "It’s the best way for us to catch up to them. We’ll have to worry about rest and sleep on the way."

"Well, I can’t argue with you on that front..."

"Besides," her tail swayed. "We’re done here. We’ve gotten everything we can and have no reason to stay."

"And if the cult’s not there?"

"Meko will send a letter later to her dad so he can rendezvous with us at Belle-Ventrialis. Before he does, we also will have asked him to look into Winnefred Opera House back in Dolpool.

Out of those two possible locations, if the cult’s not at either one of them, then... back to Dolpool I guess. Listen, I," Jotou looked away, "I’m not gonna ask you to come.

I spent the majority of my time in this world with Daiyu as it is, so I feel bad for only hanging out with you for so much less than that. But you seem to be grappling with enough things as it is," she got up from her seat.

However, her wrist was grabbed by a red gauntlet that reached out, "Wait. I already lost one friend, I can’t lose another..." he told.

Jotou smiled, "You’re not losing me." She glanced back with a more pensive expression, "I’m sorry about Colwyn. And I imagine you don’t wanna leave things as they are with Clyde either."

Ben’s hand slowly slipped down and off of her arm... "She was real," he whispered to himself. "He’s real too; he’s real Jotou, he’s real," he uttered.

The cat-woman’s eyes softened and her lips pouted to one side.

"But... I feel like I’d be betraying you if I don’t come with you man. I mean, you said it, the best way for me to honour her is too keep going. I said I’m with you."

"Yeah, I have an unfortunate tendency for the dramatic..." Jotou took a deep breath. "You don’t have to take my word as law is what I mean. Make your own choice, I’m not gonna try to persuade or dissuade you.

But I won’t think it’s a betrayal if that’s what you’re worried about," with a smile she walked off. "We’re leaving at midnight; come say bye—it’s the most I should ask for."

_

"So, I made my decision."

Clyde still stood at his sister’s grave; now with crossed arms and an unending glare to a red-armoured figure.

"I understand if you don’t wanna come along... and I’m sorry for everything that happened, I really am," Ben continued.

...

...

...

All the lustre from Clyde’s eyes had disappeared. His eye twitched, "...You lot are monsters." He turned and sat down in front of the grave.

Ben’s lips opened to say something in his defence, but... His shoulders fell and he simply did not. He sighed and lifted each foot one by one out of the cemetery. "Bye man... I hope we’ll meet again..."

_

Jotou yawned while she took a step forward.

"Careful," Hotaru guided the blonde by the hand, for it was a step forward into a boat in fact.

Their belongings had been strapped down and two lanterns hung at the bow and the back of the boat. "Have we chartered a landau once the waterways are traversed? One imagines the nocturnal fare to be abhorrent."

"It definitely cost extra, but considering our circumstances, I think we’ll be fine," Hotaru secured herself in the boat. She hushed, "Even the boatman at this hour was expensive."

Fumeko snapped her fingers in front of Asobi’s face.

The magician jumped awake.

"Don’t sleep on the boat," the brunette stated.

Once Jotou was sat and secured, she looked around. ’I thought he’d at least come say bye... Well, I’ll see him again-’

"STOP THE BOAT!" a voice came shouting down the path from the guild. His armour clanked in the dead of night and a large pack of dangling supplies jingled with it.

Fumeko’s eyes glazed over, "The boat hasn’t even started."

"Crispy, don’t tell me you’re actually," Jotou cocked her head to the side.

Ben came to a halt by the dock and held his knees to pant profusely. "I’m," he took a few breaths. "I’m coming with you. I’ve been stuck here long enough."

"Clyde?" the blonde asked.

"He’s uh... It’s just me," he righted himself back up. "I told you, I’m with you... Am I," he scrunched his eyes a tad. "Am I making the wrong choice?" he searched for assurance.

Jotou knitted her brows, "I don’t know... That’s entirely up to you."

"This," his brows furrowed. "It sounds wrong, but it feels right. Can I... come along?"

"The mere, the morrier," Asobi slipped away into dreamland before Tiffany shook her shoulder to wake her.

"Woah there, boat’s already at her weight limit. No offence big fella, but all that armour’s gone make us done sink," the boatman halted.

"He can take the next boat and be right behind us," Fumeko suggested.

"If there is a next boat," Hotaru peered over at the boatman.

"I can come pick yer up after you lot get across, as long as yer payin’."

"I’m sure you can pay your own fares?" the redhead turned to look at Ben.

"Uh, yeah, of course," he bragged and took out a pouch of his money.

The brunette, "I’m more concerned about the carriage. If he can sink a boat, I’m sure it’ll slow down some horses."

"Okay look, how about I just follow you guys to where you’re going," Ben replied.

"We’ll be heading north via carriage till we pass the border of Belle-Ventrialis and stop at Hending Station. From there, we’re taking a boat from Alodie River into the Celine River and will stop at Guinzione Bridge Station.

If you’d prefer to go on land, I think that both the gondola station and the carriage station are combined at Guinzione Bridge Station. So you can meet us there, probably an hour or two behind," Hotaru mapped out.

Ben nodded along, "I think I got all that..."

"Whatever gets you quickest to Palais Celneir. It’s at the end of the Celine River by the bay—apparently hard to miss," Jotou added on.

"Big opera house, Guinzione Station, I’ll let whoever’s taking me there know," Ben noted.

The boat set off, leaving Ben standing at the dock to await the next ride over. "Are you sure he should be coming?" Fumeko was the first to speak once they were out of earshot of the red-armoured figure.

"I’m agreeing with Meko on this one, hasn’t he just attended the funeral of someone close to him who died only hours ago?" the redhead’s ears folded.

"If he wants to help, he can help," Jotou looked over at the two of them who sat beside her. "We’re sorta used to death at this point and he’s processing it in his own way."

Hotaru and Fumeko exchanged glances with each other.

"Look, remember back when I first came into this world and how many things I said and did wrong—all the mistakes. It took me time to figure it out, didn’t it?

Sure, I’m not exactly the same as him and Ben has a whole other set of things to work out; but I’m lucky enough to have had all of you to let me have a breakdown quicker and accept the world around me.

He’s going through that right now, as long as it’s taken him. He’ll do his self-reflecting in his own time, I know him. If he wants to help us in fighting the cult, then so be it. Who am I to judge?

Me and Meko weren’t there when you all fought with him against the Briar Prince. How was he then?"

"For certain a braggart," Tiffany, who sat opposite Jotou, replied.

Fumeko squinted, "Coming from you...?"

Tiffany’s one eye leered.

"He held his own and was fairly useful; in fact, he’s a part of the reason we even survived that situation with the new god," the wolf-girl admitted.

"Then that’s that. We’re already iffy with the government, the more hands we have on the cult situation, the better," Jotou yawned. ’Hopefully Ben can prove his worth. I can’t keep defending him like this...’

As per Hotaru’s directions, they boarded a carriage once they were off the boat. At this extremely early hour, their pace was cut by half from what it was when they first arrived.

Every jagged pebble rocked the carriage up and down. Only a few bright yellow lanterns gave any sense of direction for the horsaroaches to traverse in the pitch-black forest.

Fumeko’s head pressed up against the window as her eyes began to wane into slumber. The shaking of the carriage became a rhythm to get used to rather than a disruption and the fabric of the curtain gave some comfort.

...

She was then startled awake! Her blurry vision whizzed around the carriage. Was it an hour or a minute that passed since she shut her eyes. Looking down, Jotou’s head had fallen into her lap and the blonde was fast asleep.

Fumeko glanced over to her right to see the redhead with weary eyes.

"Shh," Hotaru shushed in a slight daze. "Sorry, she just fell off my shoulder," she mumbled.

Jotou had fallen asleep across both the redhead’s and brunette’s lap while her legs were folded up on the seat where she was sat.

Fumeko’s scrunched up eyes looked ahead at the opposing seat to see Asobi sleeping against one window and Tiffany’s head against the other window—sleeping with her knees tucked up against her chest.

"Even if we make it there, d’you think we’re in any state to take on the cult again? Possibly more of them?" the brunette muttered.

However, she got no response. Hotaru had leaned her head back and fallen asleep—her arms resting on Jotou’s waist.

Fumeko sighed through her nose. She reached into her pinafore pocket, making sure not to disturb the blonde in the process. She held up a note, "Hopefully I have enough mana now."

She concentrated. "Fwoosh!" Purplish-black shadows escaped from her palm and engulfed it before it disappeared. "Eugh... I’ll see you there dad."

Fumeko bunched up the curtain fabric and laid her head against it. Her hand absentmindedly brushed Jotou’s head, till it became deliberate as she caught herself doing it.

Her fingers sifted through golden strands, petting the blonde while Jotou’s unconscious head seemed to lean into the comforting touch.

Filled with some sense of guilt or, regret? Fumeko retracted her fingers and just rested her hand on Jotou’s ear before she went to sleep herself.