Much to the disappointment of the villagers Kiisan and Ocha left early the next morning and continued to follow the Highroad in a westerly direction towards the state of Serif. Kiisan felt constantly tired from all the walking. Walking many miles was not the problem so much as the speed that Ocha traveled at. She took large steps and walked fast; she probably would've preferred to run or jog, but knew Kiisan couldn't keep up. Two days past the creek-side village the encountered a large, red brick wall. The High Road ran straight up to it coming to an awkward end. Ocha mumbled to herself about how some people put up walls in such strange places without even thinking about how this would trouble others following the road. Kiisan sighed and decided to walk around the wall to see if the road continued on the other side. As he paced around the wall he realized that it was not just a single wall, but it met another at a right angle. Kiisan took a few steps back to see if he could get a better look at the strange building.
"Ocha! Hey Ocha! Come here! Look at this!" Ocha ran swiftly around the corner over to Kiisan and also took a look. The tops of buildings were visible over the wall, as were many willow trees whose viridian leaves swayed in the soft, warm wind. "What is this place?" Ocha shrugged and squinted for a better look. "We could look for a door or something." "Why not?" decided Kiisan, who began to look around the other side of the wall. The two companions both walked around the brick wall in the opposite direction, eventually meeting on the other side in front of a white wooden gate. The gate was much lower than the rest of the wall and Kiisan peered over it cautiously, "Is there anyone home?" As Kiisan leaned on the gate it swung inward slowly. Ocha and Kiisan stood where they were, unsure of if their entry would be welcomed. Ocha glanced around to see a small, older man in a long robe and a silk cloth draped over his head come running towards them, "Visitors! We have visitors!"
"Uh, h-hello," stuttered Kiisan. The small, dark-skinned man squinted at them from under the end of the piece of green fabric and smiled, "Ocha the Time Mage and Father Kiisan, the keeper of the Circle Rune; I have been expecting your visit for some time. I am the Wizard Matataki."
Murasaki Fuji no Shita ni Kuni
"The Country Under the Purple Wisteria"
Chapter 12- Prophecies of Stars and the Call for Revolution
While Ocha and Kiisan had been heading to the west so had Kiisan's other companions. Father Carlos had near recovered from his wound and his chest was marked with a large scar. He was still rather weak so Falina sat behind him on one of the remaining horses so as to keep an eye on him. The return trip to Serif went fairly rapidly and when they arrived in Serif City the turn out to welcome home the revolutionaries was quite large. The whole state was up in arms against the imperial monarchy, using Kiisan; the young soldier turned priest, as a figurehead. When Turan Magno greeted the group in the reception hall of the main government building he was furious, "Where is Kiisan? What happened to him? Captain, your job was to make sure he made it to Crystal Valley and back safely! Sonoa, Rizu, Lucien, Junsuke- could none of you perform this duty?!" Sonoa clenched her teeth and dropped to her knees, putting a restraining hand on Mai Mai, who growled at the turan ferociously. Falina felt rather frightened although the blame was not being placed on her. She pulled her feet up onto the chair, trying to make herself less noticeable. As the turan fumed, much to his secretary's dismay the companions whispered to each other, trying to formulate a good plan of action or way to calm the turan.
"Kiisan is headed back this way. He's just taking a little bit longer than we did. It doesn't take much to get him sidetracked." All heads turned to Han Li, who had stood up and was looking straight into the turan's eyes. The larger man shrank back nervously out of Han Li's gaze. "I-I see. I suppose we'll just have to await his arrival then. Perhaps he'll have learned something useful for us by taking the long way. Thank you all for your time, you're all dismissed." The turan hurried out of the reception hall with Amarilla trailing behind him. An infectious smile first bloomed across Falina's face, followed by Jirobane's and Russ's until all assembled were beaming at Han Li. Yuber even gave a short round of applause to their momentary benefactor. The True Rune bearer blushed slightly, took a bow, and sat back down next to Falina; "I was only saying what needed to be said..."
*********
The name of the village inside the walls was Klikk. It had been called the "Village of Magic" and the "Moving City" at times, but it had as many names as there were mysterious legends about it. Some claimed it was the "Eternal City" the Cyndar had sought, while others believed it was the source of the True Runes. Of course it categorized as one of the many places children were often told stories about, but adults usually said they did not really believe existed. The Wizard Matataki, who wished to be referred to merely as "Sensei," explained to Ocha and Kiisan that the village was currently attempting to find a more permanent location, but had stopped here to see if an encounter with the Circle Rune would be possible. The tiny magician was constantly fiddling with the cloth on his head, which he told them was for keeping the sun out of his eyes. (One was blue with silver flecks and the other was yellow with gold flecks. He claimed they were very sensitive)
Matataki took his two honored guests on a short tour of the village, causing them to observe that Matataki was by far the oldest person there. All the other inhabitants seemed to range from childhood to their early twenties. No common ethnic link seemed visible between these young people whose tones of skin and hair, eyes color, heights and builds were all as varied as the shapes and patterns of snowflakes. All the buildings were on the small side and painted white with red tile roofs. After the brief walk Matataki led Ocha and Kiisan into his office telling them, "Don't mind the mess."
"I would like to present you, Honorable Father Kiisan, with a companion who might prove useful on your quest, but could also prove quite detrimental without the proper treatment. Now, now," he added, seeing Kiisan's distressed expression, "I will tell you how to take care of him later. For now, please say hello to Sasshalai."
********
By the following day Turan Magno had recovered both from his indignation over the disappearance of Kiisan and the confrontation by Han Li. He sat at his desk in his office with his five agents situated in various chairs around the room. "Although yesterday I voiced some disapproval it was only because I am quite agitated by the ongoing battles with Medina. They seem to be ready to even go so far as to support the imperials if that will keep us their enemies. Lucien, I would like to send you to Khu-ruhak in Medina to try and negotiate a peace treaty or at the very least a temporary cease-fire. I know for a fact that they hate the imperials in Rupanda as much as we do and would like to try the "enemy of my enemy is my friend" approach in this case. I suggest you bring Russ, Jirobane, and perhaps that Han Li fellow along with you for support. They seem like trustworthy men who could most likely protect you if there was any treachery afoot. I request that you leave immediately." Lucien stood up and saluted, "Yes, sir!" as he left the office.
The turan leaned forward onto his desk, peering at his four remaining agents seriously. "I don't believe you can completely trust a man with mix-matched eyes. However I want to attempt to convince that Han Li into working for our ends." Rizu raised a hand tentatively, "Turan Magno, Han Li is only with us because of Kiisan. He wants to follow Kiisan, so how much longer can his support last? Besides, he doesn't have mix-matched eyes. They're both dark brown."
"He has you fooled then Rizu. One of his eyes is an oaken brown, but the other is as orange as a marigold. Didn't any of you see when he looked me in the eye so powerfully yesterday? Unless he keeps his composure he can't hide his "true colors," so to speak. As for your other inquiry, I believe that if he thinks upholding the revolution is what Kiisan wants him to do, he'll do it. The other one I realize we have to use extreme caution with is the tall man with the black armor. I think he could be our greatest asset in battle, but chaos turns and attacks he who sent it without the slightest warning. I would like to observe, on the other hand, that revolution is chaos, so perhaps if we play our cards right..."
"What are you speaking o', m'lord?" questioned Sonoa. The turan grinned and answered slowly, "The revolution behind the facade. What will take place once we have our martyr."