Chapter 138: A Ballad for a Curious Water Sprite, Part Eleven

As she didn't know how long her disguise would last, Xhez needed to make every second count. She took that elevator down, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves.

[Everything will be fine!] She told herself. [You can do this!]

With a determined expression, she marched out of the elevator as soon as it opened, stomping her way to the front door of the hotel.

Just before she could open the doors, though, she ran into someone.

"Look, I am not saying we should re-consider, I am simply suggesting that we have a backup in place," a woman was telling someone else, as she entered at the same time that Xhez was exiting. "O-Oof, e-excuse me!"

She threw an annoyed look at Xhez, and the sprite bowed, stepping out of the way.

"Mother, I know," the boy she'd been speaking to replied, completely ignoring her collision with Xhez. "But, as things stand right now, having the D'Ana family in our pockets still benefits us."

"I understand that," the woman replied to her son, giving Xhez one more distasteful look before walking past her. "I'm simply throwing it out there that..."

Xhez walked out the door quickly, putting that behind her. The nighttime lights of Libera's streets glowed dimly as the sprite began to run beneath them.

[I need to make it back fast!]

She knew the way. All she could do now was sprint to the Academy and hope her disguise lasted long enough. She cut through the streets quickly, her bare feet almost scraping along the sidewalk as she tried to move as quickly as she could. She stumbled a few times, nearly tripped altogether, but if her memory served her right she was making good progress.

Right up until she found a guard walking in the opposite direction, from ahead. He was carrying some strange cylindrical object that was emitting a stream of light, aimed ahead. Xhez gasped and found a nearby alley to hide in. The alley itself was a dead end, with only some big square metallic object and some crates in it.

[They can see through illusions,] Xhez remembered, as she peeked her head out to see if the guard was still passing. He was moving at a very slow pace, which was terrible for Xhez who could feel her Spirit slipping as she sat there, crouched and anxious.

A strange smell came to her nostrils just as she contemplated this, making the moment even more unbearable.

[Ahh, come on! Could you walk a little faster!?]

It nearly felt like the guard was messing with her, as he stopped for a second to turn and inspect the parts he'd just come from.

That smell was getting worse. It burned her lungs as Xhez watched, waited, and waited for-

"Yo."

"AGHJAJ!?" Xhez flinched, fell, and landed on her butt. She took heavy, strained breaths as she saw a human there.

"Hey." The human said, lifting a hand casually.

"Who- what- why-!?" Xhez couldn't get her thoughts in order. The human in front of her was... strange. She was wearing a tight, small shirt and some shorts like Xhez had seen Rin wear, but she had big floppy ears the likes of which Xhez simply hadn't seen before. In addition, between her index and middle fingers on her right hand, she had a strange, little, tube-like object that was emitting some smoke, burning. As the smoke went up, Xhez realized that was where the scent was coming from.

[Disgusting.]

"Uh, you good?" The girl asked and Xhez tried to stand up.

"No, I am not good!" Xhez complained, dusting herself off.

"Oh? Why?"

"Because!" Xhez huffed. "I am trying to wait for the guard to move so that I can pass undetected!"

"Hm? You mean, him?" She pointed behind Xhez.

"Yes, I mean hi-"

As Xhez turned around, she realized the guard was looking right at them.

"Not gonna lie, kinda looks like he saw you," the woman said nonchalantly, putting that strange tube thing between her lips and inhaling.

"I can see that!" Xhez whispered, annoyed.

"Hey! You!" The guard narrowed his eyes and pointed at them. Xhez yelped and pulled back.

"I-I have to go!"

She went to do just that, but before she could run away, the girl held onto her hand and pulled her, keeping her in place. Xhez turned toward her, baffled.

"What are you doing!?"

"Why are you running?" The girl answered her question with a question.

[This person...!!!]

Xhez looked back and forth between her and the rapidly approaching guard.

"B-Because I am not..." Xhez argued. "L-Let me go, please!"

"You know he'll just catch up to you, right?" She asked, raising a brow. "Unless you've got some muscles too under that illusion of yours, it's probably not the best move to make yourself look even more guilty."

At that, Xhez pulled back, freezing.

[What?]

"How...?"

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"Hey!" The guard finally reached them. "You... What the hell are you?" He asked.

Xhez didn't even turn to look at him.

[How do I get out of this? How do I...?]

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve!"

Both Xhez and the guard stopped.

[Huh?]

The girl with the floppy ears had yelled that.

"H-Hey, you stay out of this," the guard told her. The girl ignored him, stepping between the guard and Xhez.

"Man, it doesn't take much to be a guard these days, huh?" She asked. Her voice had taken an entirely different tone to Xhez's ears. It sounded like she was a completely different person. "Haven't you ever seen a chameleon-born before?"

"What?" Both Xhez and the guard asked simultaneously. Thankfully, it didn't seem like the guard caught Xhez's confusion.

"Yeah, see?" She pointed at Xhez. "Blue skin. Shiny eyes. She's a chameleon."

"Look, I-I've never heard of a..."

"And you want to pester her just cause she's out late? What, are you from Cradle or something? Huh!?" The girl asked him. "Fucking disgraceful."

At that, the guard clicked his tongue and gave Xhez one last look before turning away.

"Watch your tone, citizen..." He said through gritted teeth, walking away. "Carry on."

Just like that, the guard walked away. The floppy-eared girl stared him down as he did, before then turning toward Xhez with a smile.

"Heh, if you don't want to look guilty, the last thing you should do is run away like that. You're basically screaming 'hey, arrest me', you know?"

"H-How did you...?" Xhez asked, before shaking her head and taking a step back. "I-I need to go, my disguise is..."

"Okay," the girl said with a smirk. "Good luck. Whatever you are."

[Wait, what? She does not know I am a sprite?] Xhez wondered for just a second before she then turned around and ran away.

"Thank you!" She said as she left.

Xhez gave one last look and found that the girl simply walked back into the alley.

[What just happened?]

Sometime later, she was arriving at the Academy, running inside and up the stairs. The halls were thankfully empty. As she ran into Rin's room, both she and Elisa woke up at the commotion.

"Xhez?" Rin asked, with a worried expression on her face, just as her disguise ran out of Spirit.

As Xhez changed back to normal, she collapsed to her knees, tired.

"Are you okay?" Elisa asked as she got up and jogged over to her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Xhez nodded at the blonde.

"Y-Yes, I am fine," she let her know. "I just... Something happened."

"Anything serious?" Rin asked, getting up too.

"Nearly," Xhez replied. "It is okay, though."

"Come on, take a second to breathe," Elisa said, helping her get over to her bed. Xhez sat down beside her.

"Do not worry," Xhez said, "I am just tired. But, it is all fine."

"... Okay, good," Rin said, visibly calming down. "If anything happened, feel free to say so."

"I... I will tell you tomorrow," Xhez said. "I just... I need to go to sleep."

"Okay, understood," Rin said with a sympathetic voice. "Holy crap, you had me worried for a second," Rin said with a relieved smile.

"Sorry," Xhez told her with a smile of her own.

Elisa gave the two of them a look before the other adventurer then said:

"Come on, let's get you in the bag."

Xhez took off June's clothes and Rin then went and held her bag out for her. With a quick "goodnight" to both Elisa and Rin, Xhez entered her bag.

Here, she finally calmed down. The weight of the night's events hit her and she sank to the bottom, but amidst it, all was that one girl's mischievous face.

She had no answer to consider as she went to sleep and yet, her mind still asked the question:

[Who was that?]

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