Gathering a small collection of the illustrated books, the woman was about to return to the beam of light to read when she heard the faint sound of whispered conversation from afar.
Not recognizing the language, she furrowed her brow, glancing down at the book open in her hand. Making an educated guess she assumed the voices might be speaking whatever language was transcribed in the pages before her.
Focusing on intently her hearing, she studied the intonation of their words and letters, trying to match them to the unknown lexicon printed on the page in front of her.
As she listened, the voices grew closer, their conversation fragmented and short as though they were trying to remain hidden. Frowning, she moved into the back room after realizing the state of her garments. Searching the rooms from top to bottom, she didn't manage to find a single piece of clothing that would fit her towering frame.
Huffing in frustration, she decided to use her mana briefly, if only to maintain her dignity. Activating her power, she quickly compressed her body, shrinking until she was just above half her original height. Wincing, she quickly released her mana and wiped the ichor trailing from her eyes.
Focusing again on her hearing, she heard the unknown people a few buildings away. Speeding up, she quickly donned the most intact of the clothes she'd found—a long flowing purple dress that flared out on either side of her legs with silver highlights.
Looking at the design, she found it suited her style, but the tattered cloth and faded colours diminished her presence. Sighing in annoyance, she smoothed out a few creases and wiped off the last drops of ichor from her cheeks.
"I suppose this will have to do for now. I'll commission whatever species made this dress for a better one later." Making her way to the door, she stopped just short of the entrance, looking to the side she reached out and grabbed a strange fabric sack from the ground.
Examining it from different angles, she eventually found a strange device holding it together. Grasping the object, she gently pulled it, and as she did, a zipping noise echoed out and the bag opened.
"My... this is quite a nifty little device. I can store my books with this." Smiling lightly, she began stuffing all the illustrated books she'd gathered into the strange sack before closing it again. Chuckling in amusement, she slung it over her shoulder using the strap attached to it.
Happy with her outfit for the moment, she made her way out of the room and back into the wide area full of books. Treading over the fallen shelves, she found it far easier to navigate the building with her shorter height.
'Well, time to greet these people.'
***********************
Outside the building, a large force of hunters had gathered with the sole purpose of subduing a strange beast. Toward the front of the building, Danny and the old man both waited atop a tilted rooftop, looking down into the abandoned bookstore.
"So are you certain this is the correct building? We don't want to miss this creature and let it escape." Addressing Danny beside him, the old man sought confirmation on their target, eager to see whatever entity had his second-in-command so interested.
Turning toward the old man, he confidently responded. "Yes sir, I'm positive this is the correct building. Should we move in with a small squad?"
Rubbing his chin in thought, the old man seemed to mull it over.
Nodding slowly, he stepped closer to the edge of the building while folding his arms behind him. "I want you to wait here, Danny. I'll go in alone and see if the entity is still there. I may be old, but I'm certainly the fastest. Besides, if it does get me, then at least I'll make a ruckus."
"Wait, sir! You can't go in alone. What would we do if the creature gets you?"
Chuckling lightly, the old man turned to face the scarred man. "You worry too much. If it gets me, then you need to take over—it's what I've been training you for."
Opening his mouth again to object, Danny was forced to concede the matter after seeing the look on his boss's face. Sighing reluctantly, Danny broke eye contact, turning his gaze to his men gathered nearby as the old man hopped off the roof behind him.
"Okay, men, keep your guards up and prepare for contact. We don't know how this will play out."
Listening to Danny's orders as he walked away, a small smile graced the old man's face. However after realizing he was getting distracted his expression hardened and his steps grew quieter. Carefully making his way around the loose rubble scattered across the ground, he stealthily approached the dark hole in the buildings wall.
As he neared the structure, his eyes slowly adapted to the dim light within, and he began to make out the faint glowing silhouette of a woman.
Tensing up, his breath caught in his throat and his steps faltered as his instincts screamed in panic. Standing motionlessly in the opening to the building, his body trembled violently and cold sweat ran down his forehead.
Staggering back a few steps, his foot caught on a rock and he almost lost his balance, but with his refined senses he quickly regained his footing. Luckily for him, the brief stumble was enough to snap him out of his shock and allowed him to regain his wits.
Breathing in deeply, he mustered his courage again before moving forward, stepping through the hole into the building he approaching the glowing figure with trembling steps and white knuckles.
Standing opposite the woman with his mind in turmoil, he could barely manage a coherent thought. What he did manage to notice however was how Danny's estimate of her size was way off.
Where Danny had estimated her height at approximately 320 centimetres, the woman before him was a neat 175 centimetres tall. In addition, he couldn't see any of the injuries Danny had reported, suggesting she had some form of healing factor.
Slowly adjusting his grip on his knife, he anxiously waited for the entity to make the first move. Taking a closer look, he noticed she had long pointed ears similar to the elves of myth, her eyes were swirling pools of kaleidoscopic energy, and she was wearing a tattered purple dress.
"Whwbheba biefbe hjbefuysv nabueab?" Opening her mouth, the entity spoke in a strange language the old man had never heard before.
Nervously swallowing his saliva, his mind worked a mile a minute as he tried to think of a suitable reply, his mind drawing up only cheesy alien films.
"Um... I come in peace? My name is Nathaniel." Nervously stammering out a reply, Nathan fumbled his words slightly but got the general message across. Fidgeting on the spot, he tensely waited for the entity to act or reply.
Tilting her head to the side, the being tapped her chin in thought before slowly pointing a finger at herself. "My htheba htiwbif?" Mimicking the pronunciation he used, she seemed to try and copy what he said.
"Hello?" Relaxing a fraction, Nathan tried again to communicate, offering a greeting to the ethereal woman, in response she just looked confused.
Seemingly coming up with an idea she reaches into the bag slung across her shoulder, rummaging for a few seconds before pulling out a manga. Flipping through the pages, she stopped at one and turned it toward him while pointing at a box of text. "Hello?"
Baffled, he looked between the manga and the ethereal woman in confusion. Tentatively reaching out, he took the outstretched text from her.
Nervously glancing down at the manga, he took a step back before flipping through the pages. Rapidly reading through all the speech bubbles, he stopped when he saw one that said 'hello.' Tentatively turning it around, he pointed at the text while reading it aloud. "Hello."
Completely baffled by the turn of events, he absentmindedly watched as she took the book back while repeating 'Hello' over and over again. Flipping through the manga, she seemed to look for something. Stopping mid-flip, she looked up at him and pointed to the comic in her hand.
"Whabet?" Blankly looking at the ethereal woman and back at the manga, a slow chuckle escaped his lips at the sheer absurdity of the situation. Deciding to play along with whatever was happening, he spoke aloud while maintaining his grip on his dagger.
"That is a manga." Thinking over his words for a second, the woman slowly repeated them back to him. "That is a manga." Locking her gaze on him, the ethereal woman seemed to want to know if what she said was correct, or at least that was the impression Nathan got from her body language.
Scratching his chin in thought, Nathan couldn't help but recall his time working as a teacher many years ago, the current situation being practically the same despite the apparent danger. At the same time, he began to consider the possibility of the woman-shaped being actually being able to help them without needing to fight her.
Steeling his resolve, he decided to at least try and communicate with the strange entity. If he could make peace with her, then he wouldn't have to risk losing his men in a fight against her. If he couldn't... well, he was already prepared to die when he entered, despite his better judgment.
**********************
Meanwhile, outside, the minutes dragged on slowly with no response from inside. As the half-hour mark rolled around, Danny reluctantly turned to the nearest scout.
"Jimmy, we may have to consider that Nathan might not come back. I need you to quietly get atop that building and try to find out what's going on inside. We need to know where the entity is before we attack."
Nodding with a grim look on his face, Jimmy jumped off the roof and quietly sprinted across the road. Leaping off the ground, he landed on the opposing roof with nary a sound before disappearing from view.
Looking around for a second on the rooftop, Jimmy quickly spotted one of many holes in the roof and ran over to it. Moving around the hole as quietly as possible, he didn't manage to see anything, but he did notice the muffled sound of speaking.
Moving over to another hole, he checked through that one with similar results. Jumping from hole to hole, he eventually found one with a proper view. Below him, he spotted Nathan drawing in the dirt with a stick while an ethereal woman made of light muttered words next to him in broken English.
Shocked and baffled, he stood there staring down the hole for longer than he would have liked, only snapping out of it when the woman stopped and looked directly up at him. Instantly, cold sweat pooled down his back and his legs locked up when he made eye contact with her.
Looking at him for a few seconds, the woman seemed to think about something before slowly raising her hand. "Hello."
Gazing into those endless rainbow eyes, the single word seemed to change his entire perception of beasts in an instant. Stumbling back away from the hole, he didn't turn until he broke eye contact with the woman. As soon as that happened, he sprinted away as fast as possible, leaving her confused.
Turning to the man teaching her his language, she tried her best to ask about the person she'd seen. Tapping her chin in thought, she tried to piece together a semi-coherent sentence with the little words she knew, eventually settling on one as she tapped his shoulder.
"Why two you?" Confused, Nathan looked at the woman in front of him, unsure what she was trying to say. Following her pointed finger, he looked up at the hole in the ceiling but still couldn't figure out what she wanted.
Shrugging his shoulders, he tried to convey his confusion to her. "What? I don't understand?"
Staring at him for an uncomfortably long few seconds, the woman eventually snatched the stick from his hand and began scribbling in the dirt next to his pictures. Starting with a stick figure, she wrote 'You' in deceptively neat letters above it before drawing a second stick figure next to it. Pointing first at the second stick figure, she made sure Nathan was paying attention before pointing back up at the hole in the roof.
Instantly, Nathan connected the dots in his mind. "Oh, you're asking, 'why is there another person,' right?"
Shooting a glare at him, the woman responded with a simple nod before shrugging her shoulders.
Mentally thinking it over, Nathan tried to consider why another person would be on the roof when he suddenly remembered the raid party outside waiting to kill the woman before him. Smacking his head in annoyance, he tried his best to make a 'Stay' motion before running back to the hole in the wall.
Stepping through, he was temporarily blinded by the light but quickly recovered. Looking at the surrounding rooftops, he noticed the hunting party getting ready to move in. "Wait a second, don't attack her yet."
Yelling upward at the surrounding people, he received confused looks in return, but they stopped for the moment. Stepping forward, Danny positioned himself on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at him.
"What are you talking about, sir? The creature in there isn't human. We need to subdue it quickly and study it—we might be able to purify our country." Confusion evident in his tone, Danny spoke logically with a hint of scepticism.
"I know all that, but we have to delay the mission. Whatever she is doesn't matter—what matters is she's sentient and wants to communicate. We at least owe it to humanity to attempt peace. She may be able to help us with the gate corruptions as well if we play our cards right."
Frowning, Danny looked down at his mentor with a conflicted face, his logic warring with his emotions until eventually logic won out. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have to assume the beast has you under mind control. You would never normally spare a beast no matter how it looks. Don't worry though, sir—we'll take the beast down and free you."
"What are you on about, Danny? I'm not—"
"Jimmy, Dave, please restrain our leader so the beast can't use him against us." Cutting him off mid-sentence, Danny ordered the two closest men to capture Nathan.
Frowning in annoyance, Nathan opened his mouth to speak again but was cut off when Dave jumped down behind him and muttered a spell. The magic struck his back before he could react, and Nathan instantly felt the sleep spell take hold as his eyes grew heavy and his limbs sluggish.
Tripping on a loose rock, he was about to fall face-first into the dirt when Jimmy caught him. Looking up into the conflicted gaze of one of his best men, Nathan could only feel deep regret as his consciousness faded.
He hoped the woman would be merciful, for with an aura like hers, no one stood a chance.