Itadaki no Hecate

Caught in the Midst

That same night, a bus half-filled with people travelled on a free flowing highway. Among its passengers was what seemed to be a well-built but middle aged man with gray hair and sunglasses, as well as a mature woman with long, dark, straight and silky hair and even darker lipstick, but her most distinctive feature was a circular eye patch over her right eye. The former wore dark semi-formal clothes, like casual business attire, while the latter was clad in a long black dress with a fur-lined neckline low enough to expose her shoulders, collarbones and a little of her cleavage.

Sydonay breathed in with a cigarette in his mouth and let out some smoke, causing several passengers to complain around him. The Thousand Changes opened the window to his right.

"Remind me again, Bel Peol, why we have to share a vehicle with these whiners?"

"I don't like it as much as you do, but it won't be smart to have a full-scale war start until we're through with our preparations, so we're staying as far under the radar as we can for now," the Strategist explained calmly.

"Well, at least he will come following after us later; we get enough of him in Sereiden," said Sydonay, resting his forehead on his fingertips. "Although I don't exactly enjoy the idea of leaving him there unsupervised."

His companion simply smirked.

The Thousand Changes rested his arm on the windowsill as a wisp of smoke trailed out from both his lips and the cigarette between his fingers.

"Wait for us, my Hecate, you won't have to suffer alone anymore."

Episode 19: Caught in the Midst

Eventually, Kazumi had let out enough tears, and ceased crying, but continued to rest her head on Yuji's chest. Her eyes were blurry and stared into space as her hands still clung to the Mystes's Yukata.

"Feeling a little better?" Yuji asked her. It was the best thing he could think of to say, but he had to say something. He felt her head rub against his chest as she nodded.

"Yes, thank you."

They sat there in silence for a while; it was an awkward quietness, but it was an improvement from the shock of before.

"So, about this Treasure..." Yuji began, showing her the monocle. "It belongs to the Flame Haze who calls himself a Tuner, right?"

The girl nodded, and wiped her eyes.

Yuji sighed and put the object away. "Seeing as our evening's ruined now, we might as well meet him," he said. "He has a lot of explaining to do."

"Sakai-kun..." Yoshida muttered, but she had to agree; she did have to meet with Khamsin for the Tuning after all.

The Mystes stood up and offered to help the girl to her feet. Just as she took his hand, he suddenly turned his head towards a distant hill from where one could overlook the river.

"Sakai-kun? What is it?" Kazumi asked as she got up, turning her head towards the general direction he was facing.

"There's going to be a battle."

"Qadesh Heart Chamber."

"Aster."

Simultaneously utilizing their unique Unrestricted Methods with a monotonous voice, a golem of stone quickly formed and leaped aside as a hail of energy impacted violently on the spot the Flame Haze had just been. And the stone giant continued to strafe the other energy projectiles with surprising speed.

They fought on the side of a hill which overlooked the festival, where Khamsin had been waiting. Beams of light came after another in droves as the Priestess unleashed her wrath in a deadly shower. Ages ago this would have decimated the Flame Haze.