Chapter 8: What is the worth of emotions, of virtue?
Takamichi thanked the fates that at least some of his memories weren't blurred after all these years. He had remembered the secret route out of the sewers he and the crimson wing had used several years ago. After a seemingly endless time trudging through the sewers they had managed to reach the old, forgotten exit. The exit had almost collapsed totally and Takamichi had had to clear the way with his kanka several times. Yet, they had gotten out of there and after having left the area to avoid potential pursuers they had now gotten to a large patch of trees that gave them cover enough that Takamichi felt somewhat calmed. He and Asuna were currently sitting beneath an outcropping of rocks. Around them pine trees rose and the ground was covered by their needles. Takamichi sat silent by one of the trees and looked at Asuna. Or rather, she and the massive beast that lay next to her.
The beast was even more massive than he had thought in the sewers. It was about as high as him and approximately eight meters long. Looking distinctively canine or lupine, the massive monster had three furry tails and black, shaggy fur. Its eyes were deep red and shone with beastly instincts. It had to weigh at least something around six-hundred kilos, a lot of it being muscles. Yet now this massive beast was calmly lying next to Asuna, seemingly asleep.
Where had that thing come from? Takamichi just couldn't comprehend it, how could this massive beast know Asuna? Asuna herself had claimed that she had never seen the beast before, meaning it was not some old guardian animal of the royal family or some such. Nor was it a spellbound animal, it hadn't tried to bring Asuna somewhere. It seemed like it was some old pet that had found its way back to its long lost master. But how did this work with an animal like this?
And Asuna... the girl was sitting beside the giant beast, her face a blank mask of soulless emptiness. She sat with her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around the legs. Her clothes were dirty and grimy, as were her hair, and large parts of them were still damp. Yet she did not even seem to notice it, being as distant as she had been as a child. Beside her, leaning against the large rock, was the large sword she somehow had gotten hold of during the riot.
"Asuna-kun..." he begun after a short while, trying to figure out exactly what he was going to say. Asuna turned to look at him, her eyes attentive but still emotionally dead. Takamichi faltered when he saw those eyes, not knowing what to say. Was she the Asuna he knew? Was she the princess? In that terrible flood of memories, what had happened to Asuna? Said girl kept looking at him, calmly waiting for his question, and Takamichi found himself more and more unable to say anything. Yet in the end he pressed forth the first thing he could think of.
"How do you feel?" the asinine question almost made him groan in embarrassment but it was all he could think of. Asuna sat still for a few seconds, contemplating the question she didn't really understand. Takamichi remembered her as a little child and it was uncanny to see her like that now, when she was a teenage girl.
Why had he even asked her that? He knew what she'd say didn't he? She'd get a contemplative look on her face for a few seconds, then she would look straight at him and say...
"I don't know." Asuna said, the girl now having turned her head to look straight at him after a few seconds of contemplation. "How do you mean?" she continued. The emotionless Asuna often asked that, being that she hadn't known what it meant to feel she asked, wondering if they could explain what "feeling" meant. Takamichi felt like he was going to start crying soon. Had everything been undone, all the humanity and emotional life Asuna had gained in these years been undone now? Had she been thrown back into the pit of emptiness, this time to never come out?
The doubts and uncertainties Takamichi had struggled with only grew stronger. He felt like he was holding sand in his hands, no matter how he tried to stop it from pouring out it slipped through his fingers. And to make it even worse it seemed almost as if fate was compensating for his failures, first through Nekane, then Kagetarou, then this beast. Takamichi's thoughts went to the possibility that they might have some unknown benefactor again.
Chamo perhaps? With the ermine's connection to the first of the nether realms laid bare Takamichi admitted that there was a lot of things happening that humanity did not have any insight into. Was this their work, the demons of the first nether? Or was it something else? Someone else? Takamichi looked up at the sky, wondering who the players of this journey were.
However, even more vital was the question of where they'd go now. Takamichi racked his mind, trying to figure out where to go. The last time he had been here had been after that incident with the senator during the schismatic war, they had been forced to escape through the sewers and Gateau had shown them an old passage only he knew of. It came out to the north of the capitol, near the town of Aicun. Aicun was a nigh-lawless harbour town, a smuggler's haven where the corruption ran so deep that even if the town would be annihilated and rebuilt there would still be criminal activities going on there.
He didn't really want to bring Asuna there but did they have a choice? No not really, finding passage there would be their best bet, also between him and the beast Takamichi couldn't imagine any smugglers trying to make a move on Asuna. Yet... there were one thing they needed to have settled first.
"Asuna-kun." Takamichi said again, deciding it was time to see exactly how the beast beside Asuna viewed her. Asuna looked up at him and he motioned for her to rise. "We need to see whether you can control that animal." Asuna got to her feet and the beast glanced at her, keeping an eye on what his supposed mistress was doing.
Takamichi still couldn't really get his grip on the fact that this beast for some reason saw Asuna as its mistress.
"Try to command it." Takamichi said, that would be a good way to see if the beast was a trained one. If it was, then that would probably mean that someone had sent it. Asuna looked at the beast with a pondering look.
"Sit." she told the beast, her voice being as unemotional as always. The beast only looked at her though, not understanding what she said.
"You can't do it like that Asuna-kun." Takamichi said, shaking his head. "It doesn't understand words, all it understand are intentions. You need to really want him to do it and then show it with your body language."
"I understand." Asuna said, raising one hand. The beast immediately turned its attention to the hand and Asuna threw it down towards the ground now, pointing at the ground and speaking again. "Sit" There wasn't much more volume in her voice, but there was determination. Takamichi was rewarded with the sight of the beast immediately lying down with its head lowered.
"Great!" Takamichi snapped his fingers in relief. The animal was trained, that was good. He shuddered to think what could have happened if they had brought it into a settlement and it was still wild.
Keeping up the instructions, Takamichi told Asuna what he knew about handling animals. To his relief he discovered after about half an hour that the animal seemed to have formed a mental link with Asuna. The precision with which she seemed able to command the beast was too great and had been reached too fast to be anything natural. Similar in some ways to a pactio, the animal had in a way imprinted upon Asuna and now even their minds were connected. It was nothing unheard of, many beasts had that ability, but it threw a shadow over Takamichi's conclusion that it was trained. However he was still relieved, even though this fact threw more of a shadow over the beast's origins it made it easier to handle.
Now just to figure out how the heck to get out of Megalomesembria.
Inside a shady bar in the worse parts of the town of Aicun an old man was sitting by the bar-desk, sipping on a glass of cheap beer. The man was old, almost ancient, and he looked infirm and weak. Yet his hands were free from tremors, his voice clear and his eyes awake. Had anyone been able to see beyond time and space to Narita Airport only five days ago they would have seen how the old man had walked down one of the corridors of that airport, holding the hand of a a sickly little girl in his.
The bar was a run-down and decrepit place, the wood covering the floor and the walls were sticky and creaky, the tapestries on the wall were torn and several of the windows were boarded up. It was a disgusting place, one that the authorities would have closed down years ago had they not been as corrupt as the rest of the small town. With beer at a drachma per glass and with a two-litre pitcher available for three it still drew a crowd though. The cheap beer and the equally cheap prostitutes filling the place offered enough that the assorted riff-raff who sought a night of intoxication and willing women before they left the town with their ships the next day.
The old man had managed to finish his first beer, a cheap, bitter thing that must have come from some less-than-reputable brewery. Now he was making a gesture for the bartender to come and refill his glass. As the shady-looking bartender man came over and refilled the glass the old man pushed over a ten-drachma bill and motioned for the man to lean in. The bartender looked at old man and eventually obliged, taking the bill in the process. The old man now whispered in his ears.
He quietly told him what he wanted, passage to Hellas, and hinted that he'd order more beer at the same price if the man answered. The sour looking man idly picked his nose now, digging something out of it and wiping himself off on the apron before he grunted that there wasn't much traffic that way these days, that the empire had gotten anal about border protection recently. He did know some that might work though, even if his moment was pretty bad these days. The old man pushed over a fifty drachma bill towards the man without a word and the man snapped his fingers, a wet snap coming from them as he seemed to remember a few people.
The old man was told of the two the bartender could think of that might be of aid. One was the crew of a smuggler's vessel that used to run trips to Nyandom. They were about to leave within a few hours and the bartender pointed towards them.
The old man turned to see some of the most unsavoury characters he had seen sit by one of the table, currently loudly laughing at some of the men's stories about something. After a few seconds he turned back and shivered in disgust as he heard what they were talking about.
The other was actually just a fisherman, a man who was currently sleeping in a corner with his face down in a large puddle of liquor. Said fisherman apparently used to ferry people across the sea for a pretty cheap penny. His boat was one of the really old ones, not even a proper hovercraft but a skimmer, a vessel that only could skim across the water's surface. However he was a notorious drunk and prone to random outbursts of grief. The old man looked at the sleeping man with exasperation in his face. That man might very well end up driving them into the straits.
He turned to look back at the bartender and asked if there were no other people who could help. The bartender shook his head resolutely and the old man sighed, actually raising his glass and taking a swig of the beer. The second glass beer wasn't as bad as he had feared but it was not by much. Looking back at the two options he had he pondered what the heck to do. Neither of them were attractive options and normally he's have stayed away from each of them
Yet, as it was he had too much at stake to not take one of them. In a cluster of trees a rough mile from this town the girl had had sworn to bring back to her homeland was waiting along with her new-found animal companion. They had remained here for too long as it was, the sooner they got out of the nation the better.
The smugglers or the drunk, which was he going to take?
"To Hellas, Hellas, we set our course." the one-eyed man muttered to himself as he looked out across the clouds. The sun was rising behind the ship and was illuminating the distant coastline far to the south.. The man was leaning on the railing on the ship's roof and sung an old air-shanty which supposedly was as old as air-travelling itself as he looked at the sight. "High through the clouds our ships will soar. In Hellas, Hellas our journey will close, travelling to the empire's core."
"Oh suck taint." a voice behind him muttered. The one-eyed man looked back to see one of his companions, a man with mohawk and a sour look on his face, stand behind him. "Far as I know we might as well we dead before we get there."
"Getting tired of being the bitch of our passengers?" the man asked, his companion nearly punching him. The mohawk had been run ragged by the man they were ferrying to Hellas, à man that initially had seemed like a harmless old coot but turned out to in truth be none other than the great hero Takahata Takamichi. Despite the man's reputation as a polite and gentle man he had made it very clear that he wouldn't hesitate to kill half the crew if they tried anything against either him or the girl accompanying him.
The utter sincerity in the man's threats and the giant dog-like monster that had followed him aboard had both terrified the crew and one of them, namely the man with the mohawk, had more or less become the servant of the group, having to cater to their every wish.
"I've been fetching shit all night." the mohawk said, "Clothes, shower, food, do they want a tainted massage next? If so I'm gonna give them a good old head-massage with the wrench, I can't take this shit any more." the one-eyed man laughed at this and handed the man a bottle he had been carrying in his pockets.
"Here," he said, "Drink. It makes it better." "Thanks." the mohawk said as he downed a large swig of the contents in the bottle. He grimaced when eh felt the taste but still swallowed.
"You still pissing in bottles?" he asked, making one-eye shrug.
"You're the one drinking it." he said. "Says more about you than me really." the mohawk snorted now and looked at the coastline far below them.
"Hey great." he said, "There's the horns," he pointed at a large outcropping of jagged rocks down by the coast. "Means we'll be in Nyandom soon. Can't take this much more."
"You should have asked for a tip." the one-eye said.
"Oh shut up..." the mohawk said as he turned around to go below deck.
The ship steadily flew through the skies, keeping its course and within the hour the city of Nyandom, the gateway to the empire, was visible in the far distance. The old ship calmly flew towards the city, passing through the two ivory towers that guarded the way into Nyandom, and soon it reached the large sky-harbour.
The traffic was not as bad as usual and the ship could get a pier to dock at immediately. As it slowly slid up along the pier and came to a halt along the winding steel tower most of the crew could give up a sigh of relief as four pair of feet made their way towards the exit of the ship.
Two of the pairs were covered in the same kind of boots that the crew were using and two of them were naked, only the paws of their owner landing on the metal floors. Three figures walked down the gangway, a young girl, a grizzled man and a giant, three-tailed, black beast. Both the man and the girl were wearing the coarse clothes of the shippers on the boat they left.
In the girl's eyes nothing but emptiness was visible but the man's showed grief and determination, the beast's eyes showing only the instincts of animals. Takamichi looked out across the city below them and the sky-harbour. The great city spanned out across the landscape below them, a full million people lived here. One of these would be that man, Kagetarou.
His plan had been a good one but now Takamichi and Asuna had been forced to flee after him. They needed to find him though, he'd be an invaluable source of knowledge as they made their way south. Also: Takamichi had an idea about where to go. Looking back at the massive beast that was trailing behind Asuna he realized that it would be too eye-catching to let that animal walk the streets.
The harbours were rough places though and it would be a risk to leave her here, that being the only way they could conceivably leave the beast behind. In this loud, sprawling area where skyships wires, hovertrucks and many other things created a constant roar of activity many crimes were committed. Had they any options though? No. Takamichi needed to get into the city and Nyandom was safe enough that he could do it, they were in the empire now after all, no matter how rough the harbour was it beat being in the middle of the enemy capitol.
Adding to this the fact that the beast was as powerful as he, perhaps even more so, and it was a reasonable risk to take. She'd be in good care with the massive animal. Leaning in to whisper a few words to Asuna, Takamichi told her what she should do. He handed over a small amount of money to her in case she'd get hungry.
Asuna nodded as she got what her former teacher meant and walked over to a bench to sit down, the beast lying down next to said bench. Takamichi looked at Asuna, the girl seeming so similar to Chachamaru where she sat, expressionless and totally still. In the large, only partially fitting clothes she wore she looked too much like the many fugitives he remembered from the schismatic war.
Yet, he had to leave. With a little luck they could find the man within the day, something he really hoped for. Leaving Asuna behind was hard, very much so, but he had to do it. Takamichi stepped out on the pier again and looked down at the city. Below him Nyandom was spread out, from one hillside to another, vast and populous.
Takamichi flexed his shoulders and felt his neck, realizing that he was more or less totally recovered. He leaped down from the sky-harbour and plummeted though the air towards the ground. When he hit it it was with a deft series of steps that caught him easily. He had landed on one of the crowded streets of Nyandom, many having turned to look at him when he landed.
Regrettable, but he'd need to draw attention for what he'd do now. Thankfully it paid off, a few moments after his dramatic descent he noticed a figure dashing around the corner and into an alley, away from him. All he had time to see was a large, slouching cap covering the head of whomever was running.
Takamichi smiled, realizing he had succeeded. With two rapid instant movements he zipped around the corner and into the alley, appearing in front of the owner of the large cap. A small kid, seemingly about twelve years old and with a tanned face, collided with him and bumped to the ground.
"Ow!" the kid yelled and looked up at him with a pissed glare, seemingly about to speak up. However when he saw the man towering above him his eyes widened and he looked back at the street where Takamichi had been standing only seconds ago. Seeing that there was no one there the little boy's face started to rapidly look back and forth between Takamichi and his former position. Surprise was evident on his face Takamichi put a large smile on his face as he reached out a hand to help the kid up.
"Get up." he said, "You look silly on the ground." The kid looked at his hand, for a second apprehensive but then accepting it. Takamichi stepped back as he dragged the kid to his feet in order to get out of the reach of the kid's nimble fingers. "You are one of Nikodemos' kids, right?" He asked the boy, who almost had managed to get his hand into his pocket. The kid immediately went into defensive position now, hiding his surprise behind narrowed eyes.
"What's an Nikodemos?" he asked after only a split-second, assuming an unknowing and widely smiling façade. "I'm Axios," the boy continued, "I'm the best tout in Nyandom, yessir, that's me!" Takamichi noticed that things were as usual with these kids, they wanted payment before they did anything. He fished out a hundred-drachma bill from inside his clothes now and held it out in front of the boy. Axios' eyes lit up when he saw the large bill. His small hands begun to grab after it but Takamichi pulled it away before the boy could get hold of it. For a few seconds Axios continued trying to grab the bill and Takamichi continued to deny him it, pulling it left and right as the boy's arms flailed after it.
"Do you want to earn this boy." He asked now. Axios immediately nodded, his small eyes shining with greed. "Then you know who I want to see." Takamichi smiled. Now the greed was diminished somewhat and replaced by hesitation.
"Well sir, I ain't knowing no Nikodemos I don't." he said now, "But for that I'll gladly show you the best gentlemen's clubs in the city and..." Takamichi chuckled as he pulled out another hundred drachma bill. "... oh you meant Nikodemos!" the boy instantly shifted tracks now, faking an understanding look. "I recognize the name now I do. Follow me sir and I'll take you there." the boy smiled widely and held out his hands now. Takamichi put one of the bills in his hands now and the boy grinned at him before he turned and waved for Takamichi to follow. "This way sir!"
Takamichi followed the kid as he led him through the streets to the home of Nikodemos, Nyandom's secret king of information brokering, the man said to have every bum in the city in his pocket and who knew everything.
If anyone knew where to find that person, it was him.
It was the sixth day of Kagetarou's hiding in Hellas and he was currently sitting at a small table inside the hotel room he had rented. The hotel he currently stayed at was one famed for its diverse and exotic clientèle and one which never asked questions, meaning it was a good pace to maintain a low profile at. The small room had few windows and was quite cramped for a man of his size, yet it was sufficient for him.
On the table he was sitting at was a map over the eastern parts of the continent was splayed out and Kagetarou was currently marking down possible routes to the Pyrith mountains. A lot of the lands between Hellas and northern Vespertatia consisted of shrublands and moors, perfect areas to be spotted in. Also both the Hellas border patrols and the possibility of Megalomesembric attempts at reinforcing that border would be an issue.
If they attempted to cross the border from that direction that was.
Kagetarou had drawn their route from another direction, namely from the city of Al Jamila, the capitol of Kadesh. The city was almost as infamous as Granicus and a perfect place to find someone to smuggle them into Vespertatia. What Kagetarou was the most worried about was the very last part of the journey though.
Even when discounting Megalomesembric patrols, the fact that the country was still at war to a large part and that there was no guarantee the resistance wouldn't strike first and ask questions later, the mountains themselves would be their worst enemy. The Pyrith mountains was one of the most infamous places in the world, being charged with immense amounts of magic. This magic made strange mists blanket large parts of the valleys and passages in the mountains, mists that easily could displace you. Throughout the millennia countless thousands of people had died in those mountains, some getting lost in the mists and never coming out again, some finding that all landmarks had changed or simply falling to one of the many colonies of tiger-dragons that lived and thrived in the mountains. Even teleportation and telepathy failed in these mountains, sometimes horrifically.
The mountains had been mostly tamed by Vespertatia, centuries of hard work allowing them to channel away the magic of the mountains and creating giant geysers of magic energy that channelled the magic harmlessly into the sky. This epic feat of engineering and ingenuity had granted the western parts of Vespertatia the curtain of unforgettable magic lights that had adorned its western horizon for centuries. Yet those geysers had been destroyed and the mountains were now as chaotic and unpredictable as they had never been.
Only the mountain peoples of the Pyriths knew how to navigate them safely and they had all joined the resistance a long time ago, as much as they had resisted Vespertatian attempts to rule them they had a thousand times greater reason to hate Megalomesembria after several of their villages had been bombed during the invasion of Vespertatia. When the blitzing Maglomesembrians had bumped into the mountain villages their inhabitants had instinctively attacked the skyships that appeared above their villages. The result had been carnage.
Kagetarou supposed that he should be grateful for this fact. The mountain peoples were a strange sort, their culture was martial, ruthless and taught that perseverance was the highest virtue. Vespertatia, who never had been much for any sort of warfare, had no doubt had great help from these men. After the soldiers who had survived after the fall of Ostia had retreated into the Pyriths this people must have been an invaluable aid to them.
His train of thoughts were interrupted now however as someone knocked on the door to his room. Kagetarou tensed, wondering who that would be. He didn't expect anyone and he had few whom he called allies in this city. Therefore it was understandable that he slowly wrapped one of his shadow bands around his hand and preparing himself for the possibility of a fight. Getting up from the chair he was in he headed to the door and slowly reached for the handle.
Opening the door he saw.... nothing. There was nobody there. The hallway was empty .
"Hi mister Kagetarou!" a voice said far below him and Kagetarou looked down to see a tiny kid, somewhere around twelve years old, with tanned face and a large, slouching cap on his head. He was currently dwarfed by Kagetarou, who was almost twice his size. Kagetarou found himself blinking at the sight.
"Who are you?" he asked the kid, glancing to the sides to see if it was a trap of some sort. "What do you want?" the boy grinned at him and folded his hands behind his head.
"The name's Axios sir." the boy said, "Best tout in Nyandom. I'm here because I'm paid to bring you a message from a friend of yours."
"What "friend"?" Kagetarou asked with suspicion in his voice. Now the little boy pursed his lips.
"Well: he didn't give me no name he didn't." Axios told Kagetarou, "But he was an old guy with glasses, was a pretty scruffy too, with short silver hair. Oh, and he was really fast too, he caught up with me in no time at all, yes sir he did. He said that it was a matter of royal proportions."
Kagetarou blinked at the strange turn of phrase before he froze. That description, coupled with the strange turn of phrase, was enough to make his heart freeze. If it meant what he thought it meant... this could be very bad. He motioned for the kid to wait a moment before he walked into the room and made sure all his items were securely stashed away. It only was a few seconds before he get out into the hallway again and locked the door. .
"Where is he?" Kagetarou's voice was one that wasn't going to tolerate delays. It was cold as ice and demanding. Axios didn't seem to mind though, all he did was keeping up his grin and motion for Kagetarou for follow him.
"This way sir!" Axios said as he hurried through the corridor, Kagetarou hot on his trail. The little kid led him out of the hotel and down towards the nearest plaza. The streets were bustling and several times Kagetarou nearly lost sight of the kid but he managed to keep up. A gnawing worry had settled in him now, festering away at his soul. Would it be Takahata-dono? What had happened? They soon reached a narrow alleyway by the end of the plaza and Axios pointed him inside said alleyway.
"Your friend will be here, yes he will sir." the boy grinned. "And if you ever need to get anywhere in Nyandom, that's me you wanna... hey!" the boy's monologue was ignored by Kagetarou, who stride into the alleyway with swift steps. He didn't care for what the street urchin had to say, what he did care for was the identity of whomever was inside this alley.
The alleyway took a left up ahead and even though the streets were only a few meters behind him it was almost as if the sounds died off at once, muted in this small, cramped alley. Like in many alleys, the sides were lined with trash and debris. Yet Kagetarou could see a figure up ahead, a person wearing the rough, simple clothes of a shipper and who was currently smoking a cigarette. As he came close, he saw who it was.
"Takahata-dono." he greeted the man, silently fearing what the man's presence here meant. Takahata looked up at him and took the cigarette from his mouth.
"So you're Kagetarou." he said, his voice was soft and gentle, yet still rich and deep. There was a power to it, a hidden, yet unmistakeable power. Kagetarou willingly admitted he was a bit nervous in front of one of the legendary members of the crimson wing. Even though his deeds during the war were modest in nature those who still kept their eyes and ears open knew that this man had long since surpassed his master. There were few who Kagetarou would admit could beat him easily, but this man was most probably one of them. "I've been told what you've done for Asuna," Takamichi continued, "I'm in your debt."
"You aren't." Kagetarou said, "What I did I did due to my debt to her family, one I can never fully repay. Yet, how come you are here?" he continued, making Takamichi sigh.
"We were discovered," the man said, "The inn we were hiding at was firebombed and we only barely managed to escape." The man's words made Kagetarou cold inside. Firebombed... by the fates, but what about...?
"Where is the princess?" he asked urgently, bit by bit all of his fears were coming true.
"She's safe." Takahata said making a calming motion with his hand, "More safe than either of us could make her."
"Did you leave her with Nikodemos?" Kagetarou didn't know how this man had managed to get the street urchin to help him but he guessed it was through the number one information broker of Nyandom. However that man was infamous for his appetite for girls. If Takahata hadn't known this...
Takahata only shook his head with a smile though. "Don't worry." he said, smiling slightly. "I know of the man's reputation. She's at the skyharbour in fact, with the best bodyguard she could get."
"Then we can't delay." Kagetarou said, "let us go find her." he was about to walk past Takamichi and out of the other end of the alleyway but Takamichi stopped him.
"Wait..." he said, his face showing a sudden sadness. In his eyes Kagetarou could suddenly see a deep grief, Grief and shame. "There's... there's something you must know first..." he leaned in and Kagetarou did so as well, deeply troubled by the man's eyes.
Asuna sat silently on the bench, untroubled by the looks she attracted. Both her looks and the beast laying next to her attracted a lot of attention. Her looks might have attracted the wrong sort of attention but the giant canine did a wondrous job telling those with wrong ideas to stay away. The beast lay with its head high and its eyes scanning the passer-bys.
The girl was at the moment chewing on a wrap containing some kind of fish, vegetables and liberal amounts of some kind of green sauce. It was apparently speciality of Nyandom, a famed and iconic one. Yet the girl didn't even feel the taste. She sat and absently consumed the meal, chewing and swallowing with an almost robotic look on her face
The girl was deep in thought at the moment. Even with her emotions ripped out, Asuna was still there, still awake, and she had a lot on her mind. Without emotions it was hard to find a direction for the thoughts to take, without feelings it was hard for her to judge what things meant. Yet she still thought.
She remembered her family, how they had lived, how they had loved her, how they had died. She remembered Takuro, her strict father, the man who had seemingly been made out of iron but who could – when he was sure nobody looked – display such affection that he became a different person. Her mother Yoshiko, a woman who had always had a smug smile on her lips and was infamous for how she played everyone around her like a master musician yet who never had shown Asuna anything but the most sincere and loving smiles. Her eldest sister Arika, the ice princess who had emulated both her parents and strove to be a perfect ruler. Ice cold, calculating, forceful and perceptive, she had only shown Asuna love a few times but the times she had done it were memories Asuna held dear. And Sato... the rebellious, audacious trickster who left the palace regularly, sometimes for months, and always came home battered and bruised but with a giant smile on his face. Unlike the rest of his family he had always shown Asuna love, even when decorum called for restraint, and at times people had said that the only lady of his heart was his little sister.
But what did all these things mean to her now? Nothing. She couldn't attach meaning to anything, her heart was too cold to do so. The only thing she could conceivably attach meaning to was one thing.
Survival.
People wanted her dead, she did not want to die. Why did she not want it? Because that would be the end of her existence, then it would all be over. Endless possibilities snuffed out, millions of paths torn off. She did not know what she wanted but she did know that no matter what she wanted it would be denied if she died. Survival was therefore her goal.
For survival, she needed protection. She was weak and inexperienced, her training with Negi and Setsuna had been a patchwork and she did not have the strength to fight the people who wanted her dead. Therefore she needed to go back to Vespertatia, her people would want to protect her. That was what she had to do to survive. Survival was all that mattered, that was all that could matter to her.
The sudden growl of the beast by her feet made her look up and see two figures approaching. She immediately put one hand on the beast's neck and sent a calming command to it and the beast responded. It was good that she had managed to get this level of control over the animal, it made her chances better if she had something like this on her side. Also, the two figures that came towards her were on her side as well, meaning that they were keys to her survival.
Kagetarou and Takamichi both got up to her and Asuna put away the now empty paper in which the wrap had been resting. Kagetarou fell to one knee and bowed his head to her.
"Your highness." he said humbly, "I'm glad that you're safe." the man didn't even seem to glance at the huge beast next to Asuna but Asuna could tell. She didn't say anything though.
"Do we head for Vespertatia right away?" she asked, thinking that there was no point in delaying here.
"First thing in the morning your highness." Kagetarou said, "We need to buy equipment and supplies for the journey. But tomorrow we'll leave at dawn."
"Then let's get to it." Asuna said, getting up from her seat. The more the scales could be balanced for her survival, the better.
"As you wish, your highness." Kagetarou got up from his kneeling position and respectfully motioned for Asuna to follow him. The beast got up from its resting place as well and followed Asuna.
Yet, there was one person who did not move instantly. Takamichi had been frozen on the spot when he had heard Asuna's voice and seen her eyes. Suddenly the girl had changed, she had gone from distant and uncertain to what he could only describe as ice cold. Her eyes, her voice, they were those of a person who looked on the world and saw only numbers, only statistics. The ice cold, inhumanely rational voice of someone who's emotions were frozen into ice and who only could see the world with the cold, logical eyes of total amorality.
That girl wasn't the confused, lost girl he had travelled with back then. She had the same lack of emotions, but her emptiness was cold, frozen.
"By the fates..." Takamichi thought to himself, "Asuna what have you become?"
Inside the massive chamber the massive dragon roared as it charged the intruder. The ground trembled as it took flight and spread its wings wide. It threw a massive shadow over the human it attacked as it growled. It was just about to pounce upon the cloaked figure that just had entered the large chamber when said figure suddenly raised its hand and with a single command, uttered in latin and spoken with the crack of a whip, a massive burst of snow and numbing cold detonated in the beast's mouth. The dragon's roars turned into howls of pain as the figure kept on walking, chanting as it did so.
Reaching out towards the beast that had landed a few dozen meters from her and which was now trashing wildly, a flash of light erupted from the figure's hands. When said flash had abated the massive dragon was coated in ice. Massive amounts of ice covered the barren chamber, a chamber that once had been filled with life but which now held only small sprouts and singular leaves. It was a sight of irony, he massive ice covering what looked like the first efforts of spring to awaken and the giant beast.
Yet none of this mattered to the figure. A smile spread over the lips visible under the heavy hood before it snapped its fingers and spoke two more words. This command made the ice covering the dragon shatter. With it, the dragon shattered as well, being reduced to small, frozen chunks. The figure didn't pause even for one second to consider or watch the shattered corpse of the giant beast, it only kept going .Right in front of it now as a large flight of stairs leading up to two massive bronze gates. The figure quickly ascended the stairs and when it reached the gates it slapped them.
The action, seemingly more reserved for chastising someone than opening a gate, was much more effective then its appearance suggested. The gates flew open with a crash, trembling as the figure passed through them and into the verdant landscape beyond them. Framed by the unsteady ringing of the gates, the figure looked out across the verdant, green landscape that lay beyond, a land of water and vegetation surrounding a tall, wide tower.
"Albiero!" a female voice came from the figure. It was the deep, sensual voice of a fully grown woman, a voice that could send shivers down many spines. Yet at the moment it screamed, a scream filled with fury more ancient than the very chambers around it. The sheer power in her scream was enough to make the air whip into a short storm, magic sizzling around the woman.
Beneath the hood two emerald eyes were glowing with rage enough that shades of red was dancing in them, at many times even drowning out the green. Her teeth were clenched and in the corners of her mouth fangs had appeared. The woman started walking again, heading straight towards the tower with the rage seething around her and making the very air boil.
An unfortunate willow hung down over the path and, brushing over her face as it swayed in the wind. The woman didn't even look as she annihilated the large, nearly a century old tree with a single spell, reducing it to frozen shards with a shivering detonation. As she reached the tower she did not take the stairs, instead throwing herself into the air and taking flight as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
She rapidly shot high into the air, soon reaching the top of the tower and landing upon the marble floor of the terrace there. It was there that the person she sought stood. Wearing his usual coat and with his usual nonplussed look on his effeminate face The woman threw back her hood now to reveal a head filled with long, golden hair that glittered in the soft light filling the chamber.
"Why hello there kitty." Albiero said with a smile as he saw her. The man was seated on a chair by a table set for tea. The waterfalls surrounding the towers threw a steady sound of falling water over the roof. "Quite an entrance I must say. I take it the power-limiters are gone?" He wasn't surprised, after the cataclysmic battle if was expected that the spells that kept her powers sealed away had collapsed.
"Where is he?!" the woman snarled, cutting Albiero off and making the man blink. Her voice was brimming with barely-controlled rage, "Where is Nagi?!" she screamed now. "He's nowhere on Mahora, I've looked for him. Where did that twit go!?"
Now Albiero's expression changed, from non-plussed it went to solemn. "I see..." he sighed, lowering his head somewhat as he put down his cup.
"Where!?" the woman's rage wouldn't accept silence for an answer.
"He left." Albiero said quietly. The man glanced at her before he continued. "Evangeline, I know you're angry, but please, try to understand." Albiero's face showed only sadness and sincerity as he spoke. "Nagi was devastated after what happened, he refused to even speak. As much as you rage, try to understand. He was sent over the edge, he couldn't deal with it."
"Do...." Evangeline seemed as if the anger had slipped off her now. She stood still and stared at Albiero, who gently approached her, seeing the disbelief in her eyes. "Do..." Evangeline only blinked her eyes wide. "Do you believe I care for even a second about that?!" In only a second her anger returned at full force and her voice rose to a scream again. The air whipped around her as her anger became palpable in the every air. Albiero was actually force to step back as the anger boiled around the ancient vampiress.
"He made a deal." the woman hissed, "Three years, if I showed I could live in his precious "light" for three years he would free me. Yet he didn't free me when the time was up. I can stomach that, he was trapped in the nether realm, but now when he came out of it he's run off again?! Never!" This time her anger took physical shape, the ground under her feet detonated as Evangeline sent a surge of her magic into it. Most of the roof of the tower was blasted cleanly off and it took a good while for the debris and the dust to settle.
Albiero, who had managed to stay upon one of the few remaining pieces of roof, removed the sleeve from his face and stared around him. This anger, this power... by the fates he had almost forgotten what Evangeline's true power was like. As if on a cue, Evangeline came out of the clouds of dust, flying through the air with her cloak billowing behind her. Beneath the cloak her expensive black silk dress whipped furiously and in her face only rage was visible.
"If he will not abide by the terms of the deal made I will hold you responsible!" the woman snarled. "Free me, or I swear you will regret it!"
"Easy kitty." Albiero said, seemingly calm but a bead of sweat was rolling down his brow. "There's no way I could undo Nagi's handiwork, the spirit answers to him only and..." Evangeline didn't give him time to finish the sentence before she tore down another section of the tower, making only half of it remain standing up and the rest fly through the air propelled by a massive detonation. The debris crashed into the water around the tower and created a steady thundering for the better part of a minute.
"Don't mess with me!" Evangeline's voice cut through even the explosion. "I know that if anyone gave him that spell it was you!" she screamed at Albiero, the man finding that his feet had been frozen into ice. Before he could do anything Evangeline's slender hand had already clenched around his throat and started to, with inhuman strength, clench it.
"You have one chance Albiero." the woman hissed, her eyes filled with malice, hatred, fury and indignation. "One chance to free me. If you don't, I'll swear I will raze Mahora to the ground. If I'm to remain trapped here I'll butcher every single one of these infantile brats and their asinine teachers!" Albiero was now forced to his knees by Evangeline, the ice having disappeared as quickly as it came. Yet now the hand slowly squeezing the life out of him was of greater concern. Evangeline's eyes showed no hesitation or mercy, the vampiress was more furious than she had been in decades.
"Do you..." Alberio gasped as he fought Evangeline's unrelenting grip. "Really... intend to.... throw away... all these... years...? All that's... happened.... does it... mean no...thing?"
"Fifteen years of having to endure the company of the ditz brigade and having the fact that Nagi betrayed me rubbed in my face?" Evangeline snarled at him before she pulled him close, close enough than their faces nearly touched. "Not two weeks ago I was the handmaiden of the man intending to destroy the world." she whispered, her voice showing no hesitation when recounting that terrible event, "Don't test me!" She tore him away to dangle him over the edge of the small piece of the roof that still was intact.
Albiero was caught. He couldn't get out of this, Evangeline was in possession of her full power, a power he stood no chance against. Only Nagi could hope to contend with this woman and he wasn't here. She was here though, with her hand locked around his throat.
"O...okay." Albiero croaked, "I'll.... try." if Evangeline didn't get her will through it was highly likeable that she'd really do that. Mahora had only just been recreated after the battle and things were as fragile as could be, if Evangeline went berserk they wouldn't have time to save the students, thousands would die. There was no doubt that she'd do it. Evangeline wasn't going to let this insult slide and Albiero feared that most, if not all the change he had seen in her these years were undone now.
Evangeline threw him to the side, making him land on the roof and roll limply across it. He stopped only when he reached the fence and groaned. Gasping for air, he wiped his mouth to get rid of the small trickle of blood that ran down it. Evangeline' foot landed in front of him now as the woman looked down at him, her eyes filled with now cold fury.
Albiero forced himself to his feet as he took out his pactio card. Evangeline had him in a corner, with brute force and pure rage she had pushed him to the point that there were no options left. Looking down at the card he swallowed, hoping that it would work.
"Adeat!" he said, making the books appear around him and with a deft move he picked out the book he sought. Opening it and putting the bookmark inside it, he gave the latter a sharp pull and within only a second Nagi Springfield had appeared in Albiero's place. Glancing at Evangeline, he suddenly wondered if these minutes he could be in this shape would be enough to beat her. He was the Thousand Master, had all his power. Perhaps he could...
No, the risk was too great, if she escaped she'd massacre Mahora. He was trapped, there was no way out. Evangeline stepped back to give him space and Nagi closed his eyes, trying to remember the exact incantation. He was Nagi now, down to the core, and hopefully that was enough to fool the spirit presiding over the curse.
Raising his hands, he begun to chant and weave the magic needed for this spell. A rapacious glow started to glow in Evangeline's eyes now, the glow of a predator who knew that freedom was near. That it had come to this Albiero thought. It was something he had thought a lot recently. Negi's fall to darkness, Nagi breaking and now this. More and more his accomplishments faded around him.
Evangeline wasn't in the grip of despair though, in fact the ancient vampiress was more delighted than what she had been for years. Something akin to hope had started to grow inside her as she looked at the chanting man, Nagi in appearance but Albiero in soul. She didn't scream in joy yet, there was a chance that Albiero would be annihilated as he tried this, but she did not care about this. All that mattered was her freedom, the freedom she had been denied for too long.
When Albiero finished the roof was enveloped in light. A blinding light surrounded Evangeline and she felt something crawling through her body. She gasped as she felt how she was lifted into the air, the spell running through her. It worked... it worked! Inside the miasma of light, Evangeline felt how her chains were undone, how she was released from the curse that had made her recent years insufferable.
The surge was immediate, when the spell had ended Evangeline suddenly felt how she was flooded by magic, the spell that had kept her imprisoned here ended and the vampiress was free, not limited to the streets of Mahora, not forbidden to pass beyond the Mahora bridge, not limited anywhere. She was free! The exhilaration exploded inside her, as did the magic, and she unleashed a storm of magic as she screamed from the joy.
"At last!".she yelled in wild joy, the air whipping around her again. The pulse of magic tore off yet more parts of the roof and the vampiress' joy whipped across the platform. It wasn't long before she stopped though, coming to look at the limp figure lying in front of her. From Nagi's unmoving figure a groan came and Evangeline guessed that the spirit hadn't been that happy about being tricked.
She walked over to Albiero and pushed him over with one foot. The man groaned as he rolled over on his back. His eyes were unfocused and his brow furrowed his pain. To see the thousand master writhe in pain like this... it made her happy. Also. A chance like this was too good to waste. Evangeline kneeled by Albiero's side and took his head between her hands. Feeling his hair between her fingers she marvelled again at how perfect the copy was.
She raised his head and leaned down, planting her lips on his and kissing him deeply. The start going through his body told him that he was shaken back to reality but she didn't stop. As much as she had abandoned her foolish infatuation with the man, to kiss even a copy of him was thrilling. Especially considering the taste of him, his mouth, his saliva... it boded well. When she pulled away she was met with Nagi's confused eyes, so sincere that it seemed as if Albiero and Nagi had become one in their shock.
"Now..." she whispered sensually, "Give me what I want." she smiled at him, baring her fangs as she did so. Before Al could stop her she had planted said fangs in the throat of the faux Thousand Master, intending to take a deep sample of his blood. The taste that almost overwhelmed her was rich, powerful and potent, laden with magic and emotions. It was some of the most purely delicious blood she had partaken of for centuries and she almost lost herself as she gorged upon the copy of the man who had betrayed her. The feelings of the man shivering under her, at first trying to push her away but then succumbing to the intensity of the sensation, was as heavenly, and Evangeline almost moaned in delight.
When she finally tore away from the man's throat Albiero had gone pale and unmoving. Having been knocked unconscious by the sudden anaemia, he looked like a corpse. Evangeline wondered if she had taken too much but the sight of the man's chest still heaving made her dismiss those thoughts. The man was a cockroach, you did not kill him easily. Evangeline got up to her feet now, absently licking the last drop of blood off her lips. The sensation of the blood running through her, in greater amount and more filling than she had felt in decades, was enough to make her shiver in delight.
With one flick of her arm she sent the cloak swirling around her. Darkness teleportation wasn't something she had done for a long time, the curse had forbidden her from travelling through the realm of darkness, yet now she was free.
She had a lot to do, a lot indeed.
