Chapter Six
"Of Ships, and Kings and Sealing Wax"
Lin and Ian spun around to see what appeared to be a small boy, about 8 years old, wearing light grey pants, a light grey jack coat and a white shirt. Next to him stood two huge, red armor clad akuma who now lowered their halberds at the two visitors. Lin clutched Ian as he spoke up "He stole the Kurari and Akarui Runes from Yubaba and Zeniiba. We came to get them back and he decided he'd rather try to have his way with Lin here and kill me." The boy held a hand to his chin and asked "And how do I know you're not some highly trained assassins come to kill me?" At that, the guards took a step closer and Ian slid in front of Lin to protect her. A cough to one side broke the silence and a third armored akuma in the back bent to one side and reached down. As he stood, he pulled up, by the scruff of the neck, Bandaged Guard. All turned to the two as the akuma said in a Darth Vader like deep voice "My Lord, one of Itami's men." All eyes were on it now . It gulped, smiled and begged "Oh please don't kill me or give me to your sisters Lord Kawaru." Lin and Ian looked in astonishment to the boy."Lord Kawaru?" Lin mused. The boy ignored her and asked the guard what happened. He told of Itami's plan to steal the runes and then throw a coup and overthrow Kawaru, his sisters and their parents and then ride for conquest of both the human and spiritual relms. "But sire, I only realized this a day ago, the full plan that is, and I'd never go against you." "Then why not tell his lordship?!" demanded an akuma guard. The guard looked up and replied in a frightened voice "I wanted to, oh yes I did, but you know how General Itami can be especially to us subordinates and I feared worse things would happen to me than if your lordship tossed me to her ladyship, Lady Disorder." All eyes were now on Kawaru. A long pause felt very unnerving until he finally spoke. "The guard here will be released, but given guard duty in the northern expanses for no less than a decade. As for you two," he turned and looked at Ian and Lin and finished with "Come with me. I must show my gratitude for stopping the coup and maintaining order." He turned smartly and walked into the castle. Bandage guard was let go and the two original akuma guards extended their arms as if saying "after you" to Lin and Ian. Lin looked at Ian who just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. The two, hand in hand, entered the castle followed by their escort.
As they walked down the mahogany paneled hallway, Lin noticed that the floor, looking like black marble, was actually like if they were walking on glass and stars, planets, galaxies and comets were beneath them and this became apparent when one star went supernova. She let out a gasp but kept walking. Ian just looked at her and smiled. As they continued, Ian spoke up. "Excuse me Lord Kawaru?" The boy stopped, turned and gave a 'Yes?' look. "A few minutes ago, you said we maintained order, yet isn't this the part of the spirit realm where chaos resides?" Kawaru smiled and replied "In a world of chaos, chaos becomes order and real order becomes the chaos." Lin gave a look and asked "What? That doesn't make sense." The boy lord smiled and replied "Simply, consider evil. In a world of total evil, an act considered by say, us, that is of good intent and not evil, would be considered evil." Ian squeezed Lin's hand and she looked at him. "In other words, one man's garbage is another's treasure." Lin pondered and then got it and smiled. "Hmm, interesting version of the analogy but yes, correct." Kawaru mused. The group continued and now the hallway displayed some small, model ships on pedestals. Ian stopped to take a closer look and realized each ship was made entirely out of pearl rice, a type of rice with very minute grains. "Ahh, I see you're admiring my collection. That particular ship is a triame from the Greek era." the boy said. Ian looked it over and commented "very good craftsmanship. Who makes these?" Kawaru smiled and replied "I did using only pearl grain rice and a special sealing wax that also acts like glue when dry." Moments later, the group arrived into a large office like room. It was done over in a Victorian Style and had a rather large oaken desk and equally large, overstuffed, leather chair. The type one sees company owners use in old movies from the 1940s. Kawaru sat in the chair and motioned for Ian and Lin to sit in smaller chairs in front of him. The two sat down and Kawaru began. "You see, though not really liked by others in the realm, my family is actually trying to keep balance. You might say that we are the Yang to Yubaba and Zeniiba's Yin. Both sides have the power to destroy the other side, but in doing so, the human realm gets harmed even more and thus forms our downfall." Ian nodded and said "So basically MAD or mutually assured destruction." Kawaru nodded and said "Correct. Hmm, interesting that a spirit would use that human term from the 1960s." and raised and eyebrow. Lin suddenly blurted out "Well that's because he's a human." and at realizing what she had just said, covered her mouth. Ian facepalmed but Kawaru smiled "Hrm, a chaos moment then. Who'd expect that the ones to save both realms would be a human and a spirit realm member. More than likely you work at the bathhouse yes?" Lin nodded and he continued "I see. This is almost like that incident a while back when a young human girl crossed over." "Her name is Sen or Chihiro." Lin began "When all thought she was a spirit she was assigned to me at the bathhouse as a worker girl." "And you?" he asked to Ian. The handsome man at Lin's side leaned back in the chair, smiled and replied "I'm a friend of Sen's human family and that aside isn't this incident with Itami going to cause problems diplomatically?" Kawaru quickly thought to himself 'He dodged the question masterfully. he's hiding something..' He raised his hands and clasped them together atop the desk. "Well, I can go with you back to the bathhouse and explain it all to Yubaba and Zeniiba." Lin looked at the boy and asked "You go with us? A bathhouse girl and a human?" Kawaru smiled and replied "Of course. I rarely get out and I've never been to the bathhouse. I hear the herbal soaks there are quite refreshing." Ian spoke up with "That's cool, but Lord Kawaru? How are we going to get there?" Kawaru smiled and leaned back in his chair "Oh, there's still one ship you haven't seen that I've built."