Chapter 2: White Mana (2)
~2.2~
*****
Well, this is bad. Who steals a baby in front of so many people and gets away with it? This guy is brave.
Kye glared at the inside of the pot.
My infant body isn't going to let me protect myself, and to make matters worse... IT'S HOT IN THIS POT. New Mom, heeeeelp! Wait, I sense a strong mana signature approaching. It's James!
"Excuse me, Lieutenant," James said. "May I take a look at that pot?"
"But of course," he said as he held it up. "The General brought the wrong pot with him. I am returning this one and retrieving the correct pot that was gifted to the new parents."
"... I see. Very well." James was suspicious but decided to let the Lieutenant continue.
Nothing seems off about this man. He's not suppressing his mana or moving in a manner that would give him away as a kidnapper. He could be a good actor, but not likely good enough to fool me. The pot has an anti-mana coating or some such. I can't peer in with mana to gauge the contents.
"Allison, the Demon Lieutenant is my prime suspect at the moment, though I suspect he is an unwilling party in this scheme. I think it would be best to wait and watch for now."
"Understood. Wait..."
"What?"
"Something's not right with Layla."
"Keep me updated. I'm going to follow this Lieutenant."
"Where are you?"
"Outside at the side entrance."
"Is he carrying anything?"
James was instantly weary of the Lieutenant and glued his eyes on the man. "Yes. A pot."
"Do not let him leave!"
"Got it."
James quickly moved in front of the Lieutenant and stopped him. "Hold up just a moment. You can switch out the pots later. There's no sense in missing the party just for this."
"That is all right. I do not mind at all." The demon smiled at James before stepping forward again. James did not move.
"I'm afraid I must insist."
*****
Once Layla noticed she was no longer holding Kye, she immediately dropped the cloth in her arms that now held a rather realistic toy infant and yelled, "Guards, lock it down! Nobody leaves until I return!" Allison had just finished speaking with James and ran out of the room with Layla.
Zen looked over at a platinum-blonde man standing nearby. "Leonardo!" Without as much as a look, the man rushed after Layla and Allison. The three were out of the room and to the side entrance in moments, moving fast enough to appear as a blur for most present.
"Is that the one?" Layla asked as she approached James and the demon, the latter of whom had begun sweating.
"The pot he holds is protected. I cannot sense what is within," James said.
"No matter, we'll find out." Layla approached the Lieutenant holding her hand out. "Hand it over."
The demon was shaking, but immediately held the pot outward so that Layla could take it. Before her hands reached the pot, a cloaked figure appeared and took it. The cloaked person was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving behind a very surprised group. Allison, James, and Leonardo took action instantly. The three were in hot pursuit of the cloaked figure, jumping onto the roof and following them into the city.
"Lady Layla, what is going on?" the demon lieutenant asked.
"My... newborn daughter... IS GONE!"
By then, a group of guards had caught up to Layla, who ordered them to take the Lieutenant inside with the rest of the party. Layla then quickly jumped onto the roof and chased the others into the city. A blue cloak of mana suddenly exploded from her body as she took to the air after jumping toward the city from the outer castle walls. She allowed an enormous amount of mana leak from her body as she flew toward the chase.
Allison, James, and Leonardo sensed Layla's explosive display of mana, and each did the same. Allison and James were both coated in blue mana, while Leonardo was coated in golden mana. That triggered the cloaked figure to do the same, who cloaked himself in black mana.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Allison yelled as she flew alongside James and Leonardo. "This is actually going to require a small modicum of effort."
"No kidding, but we have to be careful about what we do over the city," James said.
"Where could he even go?" Leonardo added. "Incoming!"
The cloaked figure launched a black wave of mana backwards at the three. Leonardo held out a hand and canceled it out with his own wave of golden mana. Several more waves came toward them in various shapes. Some were swords, some were spears, some were simple balls of mana. The three chasing the cloaked figure held back but kept the mana attacks from falling into the city without slowing down. Layla caught up and passed them, closing in on the cloaked person, prompting them to release more mana and speed up. In a game of back and forth, the cloaked figure and Layla gradually increased their output and speed, leaving the other three with no choice but to follow suit to keep up.
"Enough." Allison was already fed up with the exchange. As soon as they cleared the city, she released a far greater amount of mana than the other four put together had been using, caught up to the cloaked figure in an instant, and kicked them to the ground with a loud crash.
"Allison! My daughter could be in that pot!" Layla shouted as everyone stopped, shocked at what Allison had just done.
"Relax, she's fine. I transferred some mana to the pot when I kicked him to cushion it." Allison pointed at the crater she had just created with the cloaked person as a projectile. The pot didn't have a scratch or even a speck of dirt on it. The four landed in a circle around the cloaked figure. "Surrender."
"You're not getting past us," James added. Layla and Leonardo said nothing, but each held up a hand with a large amount of mana pulsing in their hands. "We'll be taking the pot."
Allison stepped toward the cloaked person to retrieve the pot, but noticed a crack suddenly form on the pot, earning the attention of everyone present.
"What?" came a distinctly male voice from under the cloak. Another crack formed on the pot. "Impossible."
"Explain your reaction!" Allison demanded.
"This pot is coated in divine mana. It shouldn't suffer a scratch even if you had hit it directly. You'd need divine mana to even open the pot!"
Allison's eyes began to glow blue as her mana cloak refined itself into a blue cloak of aether. "That won't be a problem." The power emanating from her was entirely different than it had been before. Her monstrous mana was so thick that everyone present felt an extra weight pushing them down. Her aether, on the other hand, was calm and warm and put no pressure on the others. But the sheer power was unmistakable and intimidated the kidnapper so much that his body refused to move.
Another crack formed on the pot shortly before it exploded, throwing the cloaked man away and pushing back Layla, James, and Leonardo somewhat. Only Allison remained unfazed thanks to her aether. Baby Kye was floating in place where the pot had been, her eyes glowing white and her body glowing in a cloak of the same color. Her power gave off the same warmth as Allison's aether.
"White?" James said. Leonardo, Allison, and Layla were speechless.
Kye floated over to her mother, who held out her arms to catch the young girl. As Kye reached her mother, her power disappeared. Layla swiftly examined her daughter for injuries but found nothing. Kye was perfectly fine. "Thank goodness you're okay. I'm so sorry. I don't know how they switched you out of my arms without me noticing."
"Layla, don't beat yourself up over that," Allison said. "There were traces of divine mana on the cloth, and the pot was coated with it. This was no small endeavor."
"Who would even go that far? And why my baby?"
"Perhaps they knew of the power she possesses. I've never even heard of anyone possessing white. Though how anyone could discover that before any of us..."
So, I'm special? That's a cliché for reincarnation. Not only do I start with everything, but I have a special type of aether. I don't know much about this world, but anyone that would attack a baby is on my bad list. You people just wait until I grow up, even a little bit!
"Regardless of the reason, kidnapping the newborn daughter of the King of Nippon Sekai and myself?"
"That's not a punishment I would wish on anyone," James said. He turned to the cloaked man. "So why?"
"No idea. I'm just the delivery boy," he said. "If that kid has divine mana, I want nothing more to do with this."
"You don't exactly have a say in the matter," Leonardo said. "You're under arrest."
"I'll pass on that." The cloaked man grabbed the ring on his left hand with his right fingers and triggered a spell. He disappeared only a moment later.
"The hell?"
"Troublesome..." James mumbled.
"Gah!" Kye said as she reached up for her mother's face.
"Kye, sweetie." Layla dropped to her knees and held her daughter close. Kye wiggled a bit to get Layla's attention and brought her baby hands together. "... what?" Kye pointed at where the cloaked man had stood, then put her hands together again.
"Is she trying to communicate?" Leonardo asked.
Kye responded by reaching toward her curious guard.
"Not just trying," Allison said. "She is certainly communicating."
"I'm not certain this is communication..." James muttered. Kye turned and pointed at James with an upset baby face. "Okay, I stand corrected."
"... Ah!" Kye tried to say.
"Sweetie, it's okay. You don't have to struggle to speak," Layla said. "We can wait until you've grown a bit."
I hate this phase of life when I come in conscious...
*****
Revision: 7-13-2023