“This can’t be happening!!” Miyako shrieked after they’d made it back along the mountain path.
They had raced down the night roads in the wagon, made their way across the dark mountain, and deftly acquired the rare panacea, moonlight grass. If they could just hurry back along the way they came, they could save the girl suffering from the frightful disease miasmal autointoxication. But...
“The wagon is... gone.” said Fuuka.
There was no trace of the wagon they rode in on.
“Do you think it was mountain bandits?”
“Whatever the reason is... how are we going to get back to Shan Li-san’s house?”
It was a several-hour journey by wagon. It was already the dead of night. They might reach Shan Li’s house a little after midday if they walked. But if they did that, they wouldn’t make it in time. Miasmal autointoxication would kill the girl first.
“What should we...”
Miyako bit her lip. I guess I was being a bit arrogant, thinking I knew more about the world than Fuuka-chan, thinking I could protect her. The truth is I didn’t even consider the possibility the wagon might get stolen like this. I’m a total failure. But, even so, I’m not giving up no matter what. Miyako wanted to do her best to support Fuuka, whose eyes were welling up with tears of shock and confusion, who’d come all this way, determined to save that girl.
“Nyaa.”
Just then, the fluffy cat cried out from inside Miyako’s arms.
“Umi?”
“I wonder, why is my master fretting over the loss of a mere wagon?”
Miyako felt Umi’s warmth gently vanish from her arms. A moment later, Umi, the fluffy Persian cat, was sitting on the ground in front of them. A cool aqua blue light shrouded her body, just as when she cast the water-type spell Protect in Shan Li’s house.
“Umi?”
“I am grateful to you for freeing me. I’m a water spirit of this land, and you, Miyako, are my master. So, all you have to do is command me in your name... Nyame?”
“Did you just force a ‘nya’ in there?”
“Nyaha, characterization is important,” laughed Umi.
Miyako took a deep breath. She’s gonna help us?
“Miyako, even the best summoners think twice before giving a direct order to a spirit!”
“But... I trust Umi!”
Miyako clenched down on Fuuka’s hand. She shut her eyes, and filled her lungs. When her mind cleared, the words sprang out by themselves.
“O Undine of the cool waters, abide by our contract and unleash thy power. My name is Miyako. As thou art the one I have named Umi!”
“Thy wish is my command. My name is Umi. As thou art the one who singest of the blue waters of the abyss!”
In an instant, Umi’s soft fur glowed a dazzling blue, which swelled up in a vortex of light.
“Wh-Whoa?!” exclaimed Miyako, while Fuuka screamed.
Miyako and Fuuka instinctively drew close to each other, and when they next opened their eyes, what stood before them was a magnificent mythical beast, seemingly formed of nothing but cool water. Several times the size of Miyako, the creature was big and beautiful.
“A-Amazing.”
“Nyahaha, quite the show, I imagine?”
“How divine. Is this your true form as an Undine...?”
“Nyot quite. We do nyot have ‘true forms,’ so to speak. This is the form Miyako wished for me to have.”
“I did?!”
Miyako was taken aback. I never knew my heart was capable of imagining something so beautiful... Who knew the dorky teenager in me was still alive and well? I thought I’d lost her in my days spent toiling away as a wage slave.
The sight of Umi’s new form right in front of her thrilled her to no end.
“...This is amazing.” Even Fuuka’s voice trembled at the spectacle before her. Her hand was grasping Miyako’s, damp with sweat. But, oddly, I don’t mind.
“Nyow then, my masters,” Umi announced, twitching her beautiful whiskers. “Get on my back, and let’s run through the night. I’m sure I’ll give you a comfy ride. It’ll feel just like floating down a stream.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Shan Li stood glaring out the window. Her beloved daughter’s breathing from the bed where she lay sounded pained, and it gradually grew weaker. Shan Li couldn’t bear to listen to her agonized groans.
It doesn’t look like she has much time left.
Although the traveling merchant from the Continent didn’t look any older than fifteen, the expression on Shan Li’s face was filled with a mother’s anguish.
Thinking back on it, I’ve put my girl through a lot. She’s never known her father. I followed a business opportunity all the way to Pajan before she could even talk. At one point we didn’t even have a place to call home. There must have been times where she felt lonely; I was always off working.
And yet, she still grew up to be a healthy, kind-hearted girl. If I could have just been here by her side, I might have noticed something was wrong sooner.
Regrets of that sort swelled inside Shan Li’s mind. But all she could do was trust in Miyako and Fuuka, and wait. Trust in those eccentric girls who one day out of the blue moved into that cabin, far from the village. Maybe it was God’s providence that I met them.
“Please, make it in time,” whispered Shan Li, as though praying, while she stared out the window.
In the brightening sky Shan Li caught sight of a shooting star.
No. Something was slicing through the heavens, shrouded in light as blue as the sea.
As the light grew larger, Shan Li saw it for what it was. She gasped.
A beautiful beast was charging across the sky, carrying two young girls on its back. It reminded her of the fairy tales she heard as a child.
“Ah, everything’s gonna be all right...”
As the girls came back, riding a falling star, Shan Li wished a blessing for them in her native tongue.