[Original] Chronicles of the Paranormal [Novel]

Chapter 12: Transparent

Chapter 12: Transparent"We can't make any hasty decisions," Ayano said as she tried to calm Kotone down."How can you stay so calm?! Isn't Megumi your friend too?"

"Of course she is. But think logically, Kotone. We have no idea where her whereabouts are, and we can't be unprepared when fighting against whoever has his hands on Megumi. I have a bad feeling about this, but regardless, we will not make anything too hasty or else Megumi will get killed and we'll have a larger problem on our hands than just whatever paranormal spook is coming after you."

"How do you know that Megumi doesn't have a time limit or something?"

"I think that, if my calculations are correct, he is merely using Megumi as leverage against you," Ayano said as she stared at Kotone with cool silvery blues. "He might be a weak-level paranormal that wants to lure you out for some reason and then nab you at the same time. It's a trap, basically, he was counting on you getting over-hasty with your emotions and running to rescue Megumi as soon as you can. But think about it carefully, Kotone-san. What will you do when you finally make your way to this guy's lair or whatever? How are you going to rescue Megumi when you don't know a single thing about the paranormal world or any spells that will protect you from people like him."

"I'm sure I could improvise," Kotone said, though the fight drained out of her as she sagged back into a simple chair to process everything going on. She was right. "But if you think that Megumi is being used as leverage against me—who says that he won't just kill her or something?"

"Don't worry, I've got a plan in place," Ayano said grimly, before she looked towards Kotone with a serious expression on her face. "We're not going in blind. You see, I put a little companion on Megumi before we departed. Useful, she is."

"Companion? I didn't see anything!"

"That's because she's small, but I work with little Glimmersprites that can turn invisible and turn to the size of a speck of dust if they want to. She should be around Megumi. However, I lost contact with the Glimmersprite, so we must know she's somewhere deep underground."

"Underground? YOu mean like the sewers or a labyrinth?"

"Precisely, because the connection between a Glimmersprite and a master turns funky when really high in the air or below underground. Or it means they could be out of the area. But I doubt they're outside of Japan, or very far from Tokyo, so we're going to narrow down our searches to where Megumi was last seen."

"All right, we'll go back near there again," Kotone agreed, before saying. "How are we going to get anywhere this late at night though?"

"Simple, we'll use the portal, Ayano said with a smile, before Kotone did a double-take.

"Oh duh, why didn't I think of that? Though you said that portaling is serious business, right? That some parts of you can end up disconnected from one another. Are you sure we should be using it that casually?"

"This is an emergency, is it not?"

"True, I guess I'll worry about the nausea trip and being dissolved into gooey ectosplasm later. Let's do it."

Ayano took out the gold-gilded mirror in her room and set it in he middle of the room. The mirror itself started to fog over when she muttered some incantations to teleport towards the place where she picked up Kotone and brought her back to her house. Before they entered inside of the mirror, however, Ayano said, "This is only a portal to that destination, so we might have to wait till morning to get a ride back to our homes."

Kotone nodded. "Anything for Megumi."

"Do you hve any idea what paranormal he might be?" Kotone said.