Chapter 6: The Race Begins
It wasn't much longer after they had returned from the shrine that Sully came back. He seemed mildly surprised that they were still there, but they managed to look convincing enough with all of their books and notes. To him, it looked like they were just reading up on more history. To them, it was research.
Anything and everything they were able to find on the sword or any of the gods and goddesses in the myth was written down, as well as any classical Japanese characters they could find. A few hours into the evening and Sully had brought up take-out, and they were currently digging into sushi on the couch of the hotel room.
"You don't happen to have a phone at your house back in Colombia, do you?" Sully asked, clearly still unsure of what to do with them.
"Nope," Nate replied with a small smirk.
"Don't smirk like that, kid. My ass is on the line with your brother. He's not going to be happy about this, ya know."
"We left him a note," Alex replied, feigning innocence as she stuffed a piece of sushi in her mouth.
Sully sighed, running a hand down his face. "You kids are a piece of work, you know that, right?"
"I prefer the word….determined," Alex corrected.
Sully remained silent for a moment, watching the two eat and exchange glances.
"So Sully," Nathan started, putting his box down, "since we're already here for the next week, we might as well make use of our time here, right? Some sightseeing, maybe some…treasure hunting?"
"Oh, hell no, kid. I told you, no looking for the sword. And as far as I'm concerned, you two are staying in this hotel suite until I can bring you home. Don't think because you're a coupla troublemakers that you're gonna get what you want," Sully scolded. "Not even my own kids and I'm getting gray hairs…."
Alex sighed, placing her empty box on the side table and then bringing her knees to her chest. "Come on, Sully! I think we can find it. I can feel it. And it's not like you're spending all your time at meetings."
"Yeah, but-"
"The sword could be worth millions! We have the start of the trail, if we could just translate the texts from the rubbings," Nate exclaimed.
"I don't-"
"It's gonna lead us exactly where we need to go. I'm sure of it," Alex agreed.
"Alright, alright!" Sully shouted, causing the two of them to stop their chatter. "If I hear one more thing about a sword…."
He paused, suddenly looking between the two of them suspiciously.
"What rubbings?" he asked, leaning down to light a cigar, probably in an attempt to reduce his stress.
Crap.
Alex looked over to Nathan, silently cursing him for revealing something that they didn't want Sully to know. But it was too late now. She knew that he wouldn't buy anything less than the truth. After all, he was a crook, and he'd know a lie when he heard it.
"Er…," she started, unsure of exactly what to say, but thankfully Nathan saved her the trouble.
"The rubbings we got from the restricted section of the shrine?"
There was a deadly silence in the room and Alex was sure that the vein in Sully's forehead would burst. She expected him to start shouting, and when he didn't it made her even more nervous. Nathan caught her eye and she stared at him, eyes wide. But it only took a moment of awful silence for Sully to finally explode.
"And you explored the shrine when?" he asked, struggling to keep his voice down but failing.
"Earlier today," Alex said quietly.
"Goddamn, do I even want to know how you guys managed to get past the front desk?"
"Climbed out the window…," Nate admitted sheepishly.
"Are you two out of your goddamn minds?!" he exclaimed, practically dropping the cigar from his mouth.
"We're just….determined," Alex offered, trying not to start laughing at the actual absurdity of the situation.
Here they were in Japan with a man they had only met a week ago, after having snuck on his private plane, and now being yelled at for searching for the treasure they came here to find. It seemed like Nathan was thinking the same thing as her, because a glance at him and she saw his throat struggling to hold back laughter. It was when he caught her eye that she couldn't hold it back.
The two of them started howling in amusement, leaving Sully to stop in the middle of his rant as the two clutched their stomachs. He was quiet until the two of them stopped laughing, but he didn't hide the roll of his eyes or the clenching of his jaw.
"Sorry Sully, this is just too funny," Alex said, struggling to get a breath in. "Can you believe we are actually here and this is actually happening?"
"No. I wish it was just a goddamn dream," Sully grumbled, running a hand through his hair and sighing.
There was a moment of silence before he spoke again.
"Since I obviously can't trust you two alone, you're not leaving my sight. You're coming with me to my work meetings. And don't think you're going to have time to explore the city. When my business is done, you're right back here."
Alex scoffed. "Come on! That's cruel!"
"Yeah, you can't expect us to not go anywhere for a whole week!" Nate exclaimed.
"Oh I will. You kids don't want to follow the rules, you get consequences. I don't want to hear any more of it. Do as your goddamn told," Sully demanded, exhaling a puff of smoke.
Alex wrinkled her nose and leaned back in her seat. It didn't seem like there was any way to get out of this one. Usually when they were stuck in circumstances like this, they were able to come up with a solution, but now…it looked like they were stuck.
"Fine. Whatever," she huffed, pushing herself out of her seat, Nathan following her lead.
As they headed back to their room, she heard Sully muttering something about having to be a parent and hating kids. She rolled her eyes, plopping herself down on the bed and sighing gently.
"That went well," Nathan murmured, spreading out across his side of the bed and looking up at the ceiling.
"If only Sam would've let us come and come with us. Then we could do whatever we want," she grumbled, leaning against the pillows.
He merely grunted in response. Looks like their week of fun had turned into a week of glum. Who knew how boring Sully's meetings would be? Sure, he was a crook, but negotiating with some other old guy about how much the job would cose didn't sound very interesting. Feeling defeated, she curled onto her side and slowly fell into a deep sleep.
When she woke, it was to the sound of Sully banging on the door and telling them they needed to get up and ready. With an annoyed groan, she ducked her head under the pillow and tried to fall asleep again, only to be nudged by Nathan.
"Come on, I have an idea," he muttered, throwing a pillow at her when she didn't respond.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well Sully's gonna be meeting with people who know about lots of old legends and history, right?"
She finally pulled the pillow off her head, looking over at him in the darkness of the room.
"Since we'll be sitting in with them, we can figure out if they know anything we don't," he suggested.
"Even if they do, how are we going to be able to search for anything with Sully watching us like a hawk?" She raised a brow.
"And that's gonna stop us? Come on, remember at the orphanage we would still manage to get away when we were being watched. He can't watch us every second of the day."
He had a point. There was always time during the night or when they needed to slip away to the bathroom. They would have to be careful, but….
"Okay. But we gotta make sure we're careful," she said, sitting up and stifling a yawn.
With a new plan in mind, the two of them got dressed and ready for the day. Sully had brought up a bowl of fruit for them to have for breakfast and because of their slowness to start the day, they had to eat quickly.
As they stepped outside into the brightness of the city, she felt refreshed and excited for what might come of today. Who knew what other interesting artifacts and legends that these contacts of Sully would know? Even if they didn't find out anything new about the Kusanagi sword, there were still countless legends to explore in the world.
They used a taxi to get across the city to a small, hidden shop tucked between much more lively and big buildings. When they entered, she realized it was an antique shop, full to the brim of old pieces, mostly Japanese, but also from other places. She noted Victorian and some Tibetan and she almost lost the other two through the winding aisles just gazing at everything in wonder.
The three of them were led to the counter, where an older woman sat sipping from a tea cup. She had graying hair neatly tucked up in a bun, and the wistful look in her eyes made Alex think that she knew and saw a lot in her many years.
"A world of dew, and within every dewdrop, a world of struggle," Sully said to her.
"Haikus?" Alex asked with a raised brow.
But the woman knew exactly what he meant and got off her wobbly stool, making her way out from behind the counter to one of the back walls. She pulled out one of the books on the shelf that was built into the wall, revealing a handle that she turned and opened. Smiling kindly, she stepped aside to let them go through.
"Secret phrase," Nate said, giving her a small smirk.
Was this what being a crook was like? Because if so….she was glad she was here. She could just imagine how many other places like this must exist in the world, tucked away and hidden from the average Joe.
She followed behind the others, the passageway darkening at their descent but then getting brighter as they went down a larger hallway, with multiple doors. Sully led them to the last door at the very end of the hall, knocking three times in a specific pattern on the door. There was a pause before the door opened, and a tall man appeared, curly black hair slicked back and a neat suit tucked onto his body. His eyes wandered past Sully to the two of them, and he seemed confused but intrigued.
"Hello Victor. I wasn't expecting you to bring…company," the man spoke, his tone strained.
"Good morning, Richard. Ah, it's a long story. They won't be any trouble, they brought things to do. My cousin lives here and had an emergency while I was visiting. I told her I couldn't take the kids, but she didn't have anyone else…. Long, boring story," Sully said convincingly, laughing slightly afterwards.
Richard looked the two up and down, seeming slightly frustrated with the circumstances, but he moved aside to let them through. "It's rather unorthodox, but I have had stranger meetings."
"Thank you," Sully said with a chuckle, leading them inside.
The room wasn't very large, with a desk on the opposite end and four small armchairs facing it. There were lots of papers, maps, and artifacts hanging on the walls, and she exchanged a look with Nathan. This guy definitely had to know something about the Kusanagi sword.
She took a seat next to Nate with an empty chair between him and Sully, and Richard went to the other side of the desk, rifling through some papers and placing them on the desk. Her eyes couldn't help but wander to the words and images on the papers, noting that each had a different object and articles taped to the sheets.
Richard noticed her peeking and gave her a stare. "Nosy, aren't we?"
Alex's brows furrowed and she shifted her gaze away. What a nice guy. Seems like he would be really fun to hang around, she thought with a roll of her eyes.
"Alright, Victor. I have two jobs for you right here in Japan if you are interested. I also have one out in Mongolia, but I assume if you take the ones here in Japan you'll do that one after," Richard said, taking three of the papers and shifting them toward him.
Sully leaned in, taking a quick look at each item. "And do you have a location where they're held?"
"This one," Richard pointed to a golden coin, "is the Coin of Huvishka. It's located in the Ancient Orient Museum in Tokyo."
"So in a more highly populated area," Sully added.
"Yes, but it is a smaller museum. After that, I have this." Richard moved another paper over to him. "These are seals of the Han period. Worth a pretty penny each. And they're located in the National Museum of Japanese History in Sakura."
"Alright. And what are you offering?" Sully asked, leaning back in his chair.
"For the coin, I'd be willing to pay one thousand. For the seals, four thousand," Richard offered.
Sully nodded. "Alright, you have a deal. Your timeline?"
"Two weeks. That should give you more than enough time to make a plan of extraction and carry it out. But…I'd be willing to offer you more if you were still interested in our previous discussion…."
"I told ya already, that thing is a myth. I'll wish you luck on finding it though, if you ever do," Sully said with a laugh.
"You mean the Kusanagi sword?" Alex said without thinking, eyes lighting up.
Richard's head snapped toward her, his eyes narrowing slightly. "How do you know about the sword?"
His tone was curious, but also hard, like he thought she knew something she shouldn't. Or maybe he thought that Sully said something that he wasn't supposed to say. She knew that she probably shouldn't have blurted it out like that, but she couldn't help herself.
"I've heard about it in Japanese folklore. It's supposedly in the Atsuta Shrine, but no one has seen it. And given the layout of the shrine, unless there's a secret entrance there that no one knows about, it's definitely not there," she said, looking over to Sully's frustrated look.
Richard seemed intrigued now, moving around the desk and coming to stop right in front of her. "And have you heard the power it holds?"
"If you mean the power of the wind, then yeah. That's kinda a big part of the myth," Nathan piped up.
Richard became quiet and he looked between the two, eyes narrowed. She had to admit it was a bit unnerving, but she stood her ground, feeling a bit of tension rise in the air the longer he stayed quiet.
"Anyone who possesses the sword would wield that power. And if it's not in the shrine, it's most likely lost to the world," he continued, moving away from her to behind his desk once more.
"I'm sure it's out there. I'd bet my life on it," Alex disagreed.
Richard smirked and he let out a low chuckle. "I'm sure you would. No matter, I have others who are very interested in the search. Sullivan, we have a deal?"
He turned abruptly toward Sully, almost dismissing her and Nate altogether. Of course. The adults always underestimated the kids. If she and Nathan were left alone with the information they had, she was sure they'd be able to find the sword. If only Sully would let them go….
"Five thousand, right?" Sully asked, standing and holding his hand out to him.
A moment of tension passed before Richard shook his hand, sealing the deal. "Alright, well I suppose you should get going. Wouldn't want to keep your cousin from her kids now, would we?"
Alex shot him a hard stare before getting to her feet. Nathan followed behind her and the two of them filed out of the door into the dark hallway. With a final farewell, the door shut behind them.
"Thought I told you kids to keep quiet?" Sully grunted, pulling a cigar out of his pocket and lighting it.
"Sorry. He was kind of a dick, though, you have to admit," Alex snorted.
"Well, that dick pays my bills," Sully shot back, though paused when he saw Nathan snickering and rolled his eyes. "Damn kids…."
As he moved further down the passageway, Alex stopped Nathan just as Sully got out of earshot. "We're going to get that sword before he does."
A mischievous grin lit up Nate's features. "You bet your ass we are."
A/N: Well we've met the big bad of the story! We'll see much more of him later, but for now just a brief introduction. Alex and Nate will have no problems getting into more trouble with Sully later haha. Poor guy, just trying to do some business. Anyway, it's been a long time coming but I'm glad to finish this chapter up. Hope you guys enjoyed! :)