Interlude 3: Pride and Joy

Amity was fascinated by, and now also hated, planes.

It was incredible how humans not only charted their entire planet, to the point where they could figure out its shape, size, and movement; but they had also invented a transportation device that allowed them to travel from one side of the globe to the other in less than a day.

Airplanes were unbelievably amazing…

But after spending 16 and a half hours in a row in a flight from Windsor Locks, Connecticut all the way to Beijing, China; stuck inside a metal tube tens of thousands of feet above the air, which shook violently from time to time, where the food was absolutely tasteless by virtue of physics, and where there was a singular baby crying unconsolably FOR THE WHOLE THING… She was ready to NEVER DO IT AGAIN, EVER. (Titan, she has to go back, doesn't she? Fuck.)

Now, if you are wondering why Amity was in Beijing to begin with, well, so was she. As well as most of the witches in that plane.

For some undisclosed reason, Tokugawa had called the tournament to halt for a few days. He said: "In his excitement for the competition, I had forgotten about a very important date that was coming up. We shall suspend the tournament while we attend a particular event, and we shall resume after we come back. I apologize for the delay, but I hope you can understand, this is of great importance to us."

The "us" in that statement wasn't very clear. Tokugawa had then invited not just Amity, but Willow, Sclep, Miyuki, Jessica, and even Hunter and Darius for some reason (although Hunter said he knew the reason, which was weird). Luz and the remaining human competitors were also invited.

When Amity got into the Tokugawa group's private plane, she recognized some other people in there: Jack, Sukune, Shibukawa, Katsumi and Doppo Orochi, that kid called "the strongest fighter", Baki, as well as his girlfriend, Kozue, a man with a beard and glasses called "Jaku", etc. It was a group of the people that were called "the strongest" on the human realm. On the back she also saw 2 particular characters that stood out more than the others: One was Miyuki's master, the legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi; and the other she saw for the first time in her life. He was MASSIVE, even bigger than Jack. His arms and legs were too long and too muscular, his neck was too thick. He almost looked like a wild animal, but his face was kind and gentle, even his fangs couldn't make him look like a monster. That was the primitive human, Pickle. A miracle of history that managed to survive for over 65 million years trapped in salt, and someone who apparently fought monsters so big, not even the biggest creatures in the Boiling Isles could compare to them.

Baki was carrying a baby as well… was it his?

She got to talk to some of them while they were in the air. Musashi was oddly nice, for someone who was a natural mass murderer. Jack was very polite and dignified, and spent most of his time talking to Sclep. Sukune was a charmer, but reserved and polite. She got along quite well with Katsumi, and there is where she learned a fascinating fact about Hunter (but that's for another day).

It was a pleasant flight (if you ignore all the other stuff).

However…

When they landed on Beijing, the mood shifted.

They were welcomed by a very old man in the airport. VERY old, he was apparently over 140 years old! And he certainly looked the age for a human. His name was Kaku, and he was quite respected in China, as everywhere they went people stepped aside to make way for him. They went to a temple in a mountain and got up the stairs.

All the way, the mood from the humans that knew why they were here was somber, almost melancholic. Amity was confused, but decided not to say anything, in case it was something sensitive. Even Pickle, who was always cheery and upbeat, was silent and had a sad look on his face. And Musashi was oddly quiet.

They got up to the entrance to the massive temple and knocked on the door. The door opened and they were met with another massive human. This one was a man with white hair, beard and mustache. He had an intimidating aura surrounding him.

"… dy."

?

"…Can…dy"

Candy? … what?

Doppo Orochi then stepped forward, and pulled a small, round candy from his pocket to give it to the massive man.

"Hello Dorian. You are looking well! How are you doing?"

A smile formed in the big man's face as he took the candy and ate it.

"mmmm! Good! … I've been … good! I made… paintings! Do you want … to see them?"

"Well, I would love to! Heh heh! …"

"…"

"Dorian… do you know what day it is today?"

The man's face dropped his smile into a frown. After a moment, tears began to well up in his eyes. He nodded and stepped aside to let everyone in, and joined the group going in.

Inside the temple, they were greeted by a group of monks that welcomed them and led them inside. In the courtyard of the temple, they were shocked by someone's presence.

The Ogre, Yujiro Hanma was standing there.

Everyone froze, it seems not even Tokugawa was expecting him to be there. Baki approached his father and they stared each other down for a moment.

"…"

"…"

"I'm not going in there."

"… I know. Figured as much"

Baki walked past his father and into the building.

"… Thank you for coming."

Yujiro did not speak.

Everyone walked past the Ogre and into the building, not really sure how to react to this.

Everyone except Musashi, who stood at the entrance. They all stopped for a moment.

"… I… I shall not accompany you. It is not my place to be in there."

No one responded. No one knew what to even respond. So they just went in and the doors closed.

Outside, Musashi and Yujiro stood next to each other. Musashi was the first to speak.

"… We are only here out of respect. But we do not belong to this place, to this world… to this era… Perhaps we should leave?... But to where?... Where could we exist that would not inflict agony on others by the virtue of our mere existence?... This loneliness I feel… I despise it. I have reached such heights, and yet I am in agony and regret… as if being mighty bears nothing but pain…"

"… … … You get used to it."

Inside the building, they were all led past a training hall and into a massive room with a bunch of spherical stones in pedestals. One of the pedestals was weirdly empty, and one had a rock so perfectly spherical it was smooth.

They walked past the rocks to a small door in the back of the room. The monks left and everyone stood in front of the door. Katsumi stepped forward. He looked at his right arm for a moment, the darker tone of the skin and the massive scar in the middle stood out to everyone. He then used that hand to open the door.

Inside was a small room with a small shrine. There was some incense lit beside the photograph of a Chinese man with dark skin. Amity had no idea who this was. There were some characters written on small stone pillars that were on each side of the shrine. The characters were different on each side. Amity figured those were the man's name, did he have 2 names?

Amity realized that this was a tomb.

No one spoke.

Katsumi stepped into the room and stared at the picture. The somber aura loomed heavily in the atmosphere.

"… It's already been a couple of years, hasn't it?"

"…"

Katsumi then turned around and started speaking.

"To those who knew him, there are no words I can say that you have not heard already. But to those who do not know this man, allow me to indulge for a moment, if you will. We have not brought you here for no reason. You are the ones that have taken the mantle of martial arts and that will carry it into the future. You have made the decision to dedicate your lives to the perfection of fighting styles and the exposition of your ideals to the world. You are the future of martial arts. For that reason, I feel it is important for you to know what "dedication to martial arts" is truly like."

"This man is not just any martial artist. He is the pride and joy of China. He is the pride and joy of Chinese martial arts… And Chinese martial arts are his pride and joy. I would be so bold as to say that he is not only the embodiment of Kung-fu, but the embodiment of the very soul of martial arts as a whole."

"So, if I can be so selfish, I would like to ask you to listen to his story."

"He was born as Li Xuan Xiaolong. And became the greatest martial artist China has ever seen."

"His name was Retsu"