Arc 2, Chapter 26: More Than You Can Chew

"Jotou! Try the eye again," the shadow disappeared just as fast as it blinked in, pointing a dagger next to the ruby red.

"Got it!" Jotou dashed towards the beached creature.

"Over here whaley!" Asobi's voice echoed from the left of the velatos. Its ruby red had no pupils, but what was caught in its attention were thousands of illusory-

"Quack! Quack, quack, quack. Quack!" an army of brown and white ducks running wild on the beach. The flock of ducks in its view did not disappear when it looked to its right either, more ducks distracting it.

"Made you look! I think…" nevertheless all the ducks faced the ruby red from both sides and with a resonant "QUACK!" their bills opened up and from each of them came out a bright white light shining into its eyes.

The whale shut its lids and its flippers shifted again, preparing to cause another mini-sandstorm across the beach.

Shadows appeared with a brunette, standing on top of the whale itself, "…Eugh, creepy," Fumeko muttered to herself as she examined the slick back of the creature.

Though it seemed slick, it was not slippery nor did the water stay on its form…

"Is it some sort of aura? Come to think of it… that centicrab wasn't wet either after coming back from the sea," she thought out loud to surpass the loud noises around her.

Fumeko made her way up the velatos' back—the surface easily climbable; she hoped to find the brain to take this all down.

However, "What in the-" she found the blowhole, "Come on Namora, how many times can you be wrong before you're correct? Ugh. What would Jotou say?"

Her eyes pinched together, "Right, she'd tell me I could do it. If I can't even figure this out…What did that damn biology teacher teach me?

Okay, this is the blowhole, ejects water by- Wait a second," the gears in her head shifted as Jotou and Hotaru ran closer to the whale's maw.

The eyes were perhaps bigger than their heads combined. Shadowed form and an intent to attack—how was it in such a vulnerable position?

Jotou made her way close. 'Don't lose your cool' wasn't even a thought in her mind; she would not, no, she could not let fear or doubt seep in.

The hilt of her sword felt the grip of both hands and a surge of electricity, "Zap!" the blonde shouted and bashed against the eye of the creature.

A flash of lightning flickered and went across the form, all the way up its head in one blow—skimming over. The vapour cleared only to see the ruby red shining as bright as it was. The seawater sparked with jolts.

Jotou's eyes widened, "It didn't work!" hoping Fumeko would hear through the quacking and beaming of ducks behind them.

The blonde took a leap back as the whale opened its mouth, to reveal rows upon rows of barbed-brush teeth all gleaming with shadow for but a second, before it closed.

Jotou felt a shiver down her spine; she shook her head to snap out of it. She gave a nod to Hotaru for their next plan.

Hotaru, with a nod back, prepared her spell; water coalesced around her hands and ribbon-like sleeves.

Shadows appeared to where Jotou had stood back, the purple headband appearing, "Jotou, there's-"

Before the brunette could finish, Jotou grabbed Fumeko and moved her back in an instinct; a sparkle of shock went over her blonde hair, warning her of something. "Hotaru!! Get back!"

The redhead's feet stumbled to a halt in the sand.

"HOWL!!!!" They all cowered and covered their ears as the sound reverberated. Its shriek like banshees shedding their tears.

The ducks all disappeared as Asobi reappeared out of invisibility behind all of them, moaning in pain as she shut her ears and fell to her knees. Those who fled and those around would feel a slight ring in their ears if they were lucky not to be close…

The sand continuously dusted up and the waves splashed behind as the wail faded…

The ground felt… wavy… the waves were shifting as a white dot disappeared from Jotou's view. 'Ugh.' It was the only thought ringing, like the ringing in her ears.

"Ow… it's lucky how my ears aren't bleeding," half of Fumeko's sentence went through Jotou's returning sensation of sound.

"My head…" Hotaru's ears quivered and wiggled. Her hands held her forehead. Perhaps it was difficult to spot the crimson dripping down her ears through the red strands of her hair.

"What were you going to say?" Jotou held her head.

"The whale, it's blowhole can spray water. That water probably summoned all those water babies. Maybe it's a weak point, I don't know, I'm grasping at straws here."

Jotou got her up and steady, "That's more than expected, it's fine. It makes sense, this son of a bitch hasn't opened his teeth, probably to trap the water in."

"Ngh… I think it can tell the illusions," Asobi groaned walking towards them, holding her head and her wand.

"Not specifically. Look at it," Fumeko pointed, "It's not clever at all; attack without reason, just like any velatos. The water babies were aimlessly wandering till it got something to attack.

If the controller is mindless, then the water babies are too. The real question is, what the hell are these velatos made of and what makes them intelligent like the one you talked to?"

"I don't know, but we'll figure that out later; for now, last plan. Asobi, blind the thing to hell, Meko, keep looking for anything and Hotaru- Hotaru!?"

The wolf-girl's ears were surrounded by healing waters. "Yes?" she raised her voice, but couldn't shout.

"Are you okay to still try and heal it?" Jotou took a few steps towards her before Hotaru gave a thumbs up from where she stood. "Alright then, let's go."

_

'She said it wasn't slippery, my armour's waterproof; I can barely swim, but time to get on that thing I suppose. Thundering Strike as a last resort; as a last resort.' The blonde went past the ruby red.

"HEY! You like sounds!? Check this out!" a bombardment of fireworks burst aloud causing the whale to glare to the elf.

Hotaru got closer and closer, the ringing in her sensitive ears only now coming to fade; her jog turned into a run realizing what Jotou was doing.

"Let's go fight a whale, it's worth the trouble they said," the blonde muttered in irk to touch the shadowed form.

With a sigh, she made her way into the water using the body itself as support. The tides shifted her back and forth while the whale splashed.

Her feet no longer touched the sand below as she covered her eyes with one arm when the saltwater splashed. She went till she could climb up the body—her heart beating faster as she examined the sheer size she was about to scale.

With her hair pushed behind her ears, Fumeko blinked back to the front, Hotaru within touching distance of the creature.

"Uagh… I don't feel so good," Fumeko's stomach grumbled and her body went stiff. She took a moment to catch her breath.

"You're blinking too much… You're still perfecting it, don't overexert yourself," Hotaru advised waiting for Asobi's distraction.

Fumeko breathed, "Of course… can't even manage this right, can I?" she talked only to herself.

"HEY! HEY! NOW! NOW! GO, GO, LIGHT!" Asobi gave the signal as two of herself appeared to either side of the creature and a blinding ray of light shined into its eyes, lighting up the clouds from below.

"Time to go," Hotaru readied her spell and brought the water up to cast heal against the front of its skin. It wailed quietly compared the howl it unleashed before.

The splashing intensified in response to the light. Her water glowed against the body. Like a lightbulb on a black screen… it didn't do anything to clear it up…

The whale opened its mouth, the teeth still shut tight to keep the water in—some of it trickled through the glossy black.

"Hey!" Hotaru yelled as a shadowed limb ejected from the teeth and grabbed her by the arm, "Let go!" she began struggling as more seemed to be coming off of the rows of teeth.

"Hotaru!" Fumeko blinked behind her, "Hang on!" she pulled, but her feet didn't even leave a footprint in the sand as Hotaru was hoisted up.

More limbs began grabbing onto her as Hotaru's eyes widened and tail spiked, "GRRR!!! GET OFF OF ME, YOU'VE TRIED THIS BEFORE!"

Fumeko blinked in front, her dagger in hand. "Clink!" She stabbed into the limbs that were grabbing Hotaru, to no effect. She could sense the slithering coming towards her and Fumeko blinked out immediately, "Hotaru!!!" she shouted.

Jotou could barely hear the cries from below, the splashing, the sand. The velatos itself, seemed to release a soft hum. She looked down the blowhole and what shimmered within, "You're filled up with water…"

She looked to the sky, then down to where the creature flailed before sighing, "I don't think the body's any different on the inside, but if I can electrocute the water…"

Jotou kneeled down, bringing her sword to her right. She lowered her arm down the hole with much disdain worn on her face.

"Spark. Come on… just a little more," her head was lowering, getting lower and lower down the blowhole.

The blade tip didn't even skim a drop; Hotaru was drawing closer to the teeth, healing as she did; Asobi's spell was not really bothering the creature any longer; all the while Fumeko watched helplessly…