Chapter XXXIII: Short hair! Glasses! Lab-coat! I win!

            Credo was almost out of the bitter darkness. His eyes were hazy as he tries to gain vision on his current predicament. The familiar scent of sampaguita wafts from his left, making him less sick than he already is.

 

            Suddenly his reflexes play their part.

 

            His vision then starts to clear and he finds himself swiftly grasping a woman’s arm.

 

            The first thing his contrasted eyes beheld was a bespectacled beauty with glittering brown eyes as if clad with bronze. She was seated perpendicular to where he rests on the bed with a sponge in hand about to clean the minor lacerations and puncture wounds on his neck. The lab coat she wore was spread out on the bed, revealing the grey sleeveless blouse underneath.

 

            “Are you alright?”, she asks with a calm voice whilst her body is still paused.

 

            “Jackpot.”

 

            Yep.

 

            She’s right on his strike zone.

 

            “What was that?”

 

            Realizing he said that out loud, he lets go of her arm, sits up straight and says: “My neck sorta hurts...”

 

            Real smooth, Credo.

 

            “Well that’s what happens when you get bit by a monster with cytotoxin.”

 

            She returns the sponge back to the basin on a small table next to the bed. It looks like it’s filled with water and sampaguita essence.

 

            “Where am I?”, he looks down and sees his top half stripped, “...and where’s all my gear?”

 

            “In the other room”, she says as she ducks down and takes something from under the bed. “Now that you’re conscious”, she wets a piece of cloth with some sort of liquid from a bottle she just got, “Let me see your neck.”

 

            “What’s that?”

 

            “Hydrasaur Urine; it’ll dull the pain.”

 

            “Oh”, he nods... “Wait, what? Dragon piss?”

 

            “It’s a natural antiseptic acid”, she holds it up to him.

 

            “It’s horrible”, he remarks as he backs away in disgust.

 

            “I’ll wipe it off after it takes effect; now let me see your neck.”

 

            The girl forcefully lifts up his chin and applies the substance as he reluctantly lets her do so. The black marks on the surface of the skin of his neck then started to fade away. He felt as if the liquid was absorbing the cytotoxin from that bite. Credo has only ever fought Demons in his life, but he’s never felt the painstaking struggle against a mindless winged beast with venom in its mouth. But now he has a cute girl that strikes him as attractive who’s tending to him. Not a bad situation if you ask the writer.

 

            “Done.” She washes her hands with the liquid in the basin. “Are feeling any better?”

 

            “I guess”, he probes on his neck. “Thanks.”

 

            “You’re welcome.” She takes the sponge from the basin again and tells him to put his chin up. Her left hand was holding his head up while the other rubs thoroughly on his face and neck. “What’s your name?”

 

            “Credo”, he replies, looking up.

 

            The girl stops wiping and looks at him with her face really close, making him feel very uncomfortable. Her hair was pretty short but he can feel it poking his cheeks.

 

            “You’re the one that killed the Impaler”, she states like their current state was nothing at all.

 

            “Yeah, and you’re a little too close.”

 

            “What kind of Elemental are you, Mister Credo?”, she ignores his remark with her face still unbearably close, enough to making him lose his temperance. I guess this guy’s famous for killing the Impaler, whoever that is.

 

            Knowing exactly what to do in these types of situations, he sends a layer of frost to form on the surface of his face, kind of like a self-defense against women who got too close that he’s developed throughout the years. Damn Harem King.

 

            The sudden chill in front of her made her back away and fall on her butt.

 

            “That’s enough about me”, he leans toward her. “Thanks for your help and the magical piss but I’d like to head back now, please.”

 

            The stone faced expression she had earlier suddenly changed as she began to laugh.

 

            “What’s so funny?”

 

            “I-I’m sorry...”, she chuckles, “... I was just trying to see if you were that kind of person.”

 

            “Um...”, he makes an indifferent expression.

 

            “You know; the type of person that’d recklessly rape a complete stranger just because-“

 

            “I’m not that kind of person”, he sneers with a serious, displeased look.

 

            “That being said”, she stands up. “I’m Therese, Earth Elemental”, she reaches out her hand, “Nice to meet you, comrade.”

 

            “Much obliged.”

 

            That’s what he says when he shakes her hand but he’s actually thinking:

 

            This girl might actually be my type.

 

            “So what brings you to Death Valley?”

 

            He snaps back to his senses. “Oh, I came here to fulfil a book.”

 

            “We’re on the same page, then. Me and my sister are also trying to follow Binomial Nomenclature.” Credo’s new comrade snaps her finger as if finding out the answer for something. “You’re here to take us with you, aren’t you?”

 

            “That’s the idea.” And then it hits him... “Say, you haven’t seen an airship flying about, have you?”

 

            “You mean the one with wings made of Daora Webbing? It crash-landed on [1]Echidna’s domain while I was dragging you and your cat here.” She points behind her and he sees Lina sleeping on a cushion. “If that crash doesn’t kill the passengers that crazy b*tch probably will.”

 

            “I have to get there”, he tries to stand.

 

            “Whoa there, buddy”, she lays him on the bed. “That’s one hell of a bite there and I don’t think you should be running around with something like that.”

 

            “They’re Elementals too. Three of them, plus a pilot, his co-pilot and a maid.”

 

            “A maid..?”

 

            “Look, it’s a long story, but if what you say is true, they’re probably gonna die there. That’s why I have to go.”

 

            “Alright, then.” Therese takes some sort of golden bracer from under the bed. “I’ll go.”

 

            “You sure you know what you’re doing?”, he asks, surprisingly concerned.

 

            She adjusts the bracer on her wrist. “Don’t worry; I know every square inch of this place”, she happily proclaims as she proceeds to exit. “If you need anything, just scream in pain.”

 

            The steel door closes.

 

            “I guess she really is my type.”

 

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            “Stay here and wait for Sierra to come back”, Therese commands.

 

            It looks like she’s talking to her Anima, Cisqua, who had grey fur and a tiny blue dot on her forehead, although I don’t know what the hell that thing is for.

 

            “But I wanna go, too!”

 

            “No, you keep a close look at our guest. If you want, you can ‘examine’ his partner as well.”

 

            “Have fun!”, the cat says as she trails quickly upstairs.

 

            Apparently, Sierra, her sister, went out for a quick hunt at that time even when she specifically told her not to go. They may be twins, but I guess their attitudes are little contrasted. Unlike Sierra, Therese is a well-mannered yet ill-natured young girl, if you know what I mean. This kind of reminds of[2]Momo and [2]Nana when they try to defy each other but ultimately resolve to their older sister, except these two never had an older sister; they had a mother. A rogue scientist from Draconia who went into hiding at Death Valley found them when they were kids, fighting over a stalk of sunflower. When she died, the two of them were left to take care of themselves, but they never got along ever since. That’s what happens when someone dies; a part of you dies along with them.

 

            That doesn’t matter to Therese anymore. She knows that the only reason they’re sisters in the first place is to complete the eight Primal Elements. The reason why she spread word about the two of them looking for other Elementals is to get the job done. After that, she could easily break ties with Sierra and continue living on her own.

 

            Which is why she has to go. Dealing with someone and leaving them without a damn to give is the best revenge you can ever have. It’s not that she hates Sierra; she just doesn’t want a sister.

 

            She opens the hatch that leads to the lower part of Origami Canyon right after adjusting her thick-framed glasses and straightening her lab coat, the only mementos she had from her dear foster mother, and she steps out, faithful that she can finally discard the miserable existence that’s been tied to her for so long. 

 

            “Kaunti na lang... Tiis lang...”

 

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1. Enemy boss from Devil May Cry 4

2. Characters from To-Love-Ru and To-Love-Ru Darkness. They're twins too.

Reviews

[❀Subaru_Nyaa!
..]

This chapter doesn't have that much action like the previous chapter, but I wasn't a let down, it was entertaining. I like glasses