Chapter 17 – Cracks in Their World
Beta'd by A.O. Talmidge
The song surged through Azura's veins as she sang, her lance slashing a wide defensive arc in front of her. A blade of water trailed after the swing, slicing through the Vallites in front of her.
To others it was just a song. But to one of her bloodline – the blood of Cadros, first king of Valla – combined with the pendant, it was a weapon.
Where the blade sliced and the water streamed, the violet flames cloaking the Vallites were snuffed out in their entirety, collapsing to the ground. It didn't kill them because they were already dead, It was only the link between them and Anankos that was muted, and in many cases outright severed, rendering as they truly were: the lifeless corpses of a once proud nation.
Releasing the note she'd been holding, she ran past the stunned and fallen Vallites and quickly passed through a dissolving runic door in the side of Castle Gyges – likely once a servant's entrance – dashing across the grass to the nearest transporter in the castle courtyard.
She didn't know who the young woman in the throne room was, but it was clear Anankos didn't want Azura there to interfere. It pained her to think what would happen to her, but now that she'd been discovered, she needed to get out of Valla quickly, or she would be overwhelmed and face the same fate.
Adept as she was in using the pendant's power, she would still get tired from drawing on its power after too long. At least here in Valla, the Vallite curse couldn't affect her.
Her feet ground to a halt as a different group of Vallites cut off access to the transporter in front of her. It seemed clear to her that the soldiers from before were sent to slow her down while these ones got into a position to prevent her from using the transporter.
Glancing behind her she heard the slight hum of a runic door dissolving. At the head of what she assumed to be a troop, katanas drawn, was Sumeragi. If the stories Mikoto told her about his ferociousness in battle were true, she wouldn't last long against him. And her previous visits taught her that, especially this close to Anankos, the Vallites whose link had only been muted could be re-established very quickly.
It would be risky, but she needed to get out of this quickly. Her pendant started glowing as she began singing. Water drawn from the air, from the plants in the courtyard, whirled around her and started glowing laced with the pendant's power.
Ironic, that a piece of Anankos' own dragonstone would be used against him.
In a sure motion she firmly planted her lance in front of her. The water surged out in a cone in front of her, simultaneously throwing the soldiers away and clearing a path in front of her. She wasted no time admiring her handiwork, and dashed forward onto the transporter.
As it activated she turned around to see Sumeragi raised one the katana and sent it whirling toward her. Through the unpleasant gut-wrenching sensation of teleportation magic she had just enough presence of mind to shift out of the way of the sword as it lodged into the courtyard's stone wall behind her.
The chaotic scene at the castle winked out of view, replaced momentarily by a feeling of nothingness.
When it ended and she quickly she clutched her pendant, hummed and it sent out a pulse. She waited a moment.
Felt no feedback. She was alone, or at least, there were no Vallites around.
Breathing out a shaky sigh of relief, Azura stepped off the transporter onto a stone floor of some ruined building. Though she had no idea who designed the transporters, she was thankful they couldn't be used by the reanimated Vallites. Whether it was because they weren't alive, or if it had something to do with Anankos, she didn't know.
For now, assuming Anankos came after her, she had at least a little time to get back to a large enough pool of water and get back to Castle Shirasagi in Hoshido.
She started walking, lightly biting her lip as she tried to think of how to break the news to Mikoto that her late husband's body had been possessed by Anankos.
How did you tell someone that?
Break it gently? Let it fall out bluntly? Either way, she wasn't looking forward to it.
Her foot slipped on something and she stumbled, nearly tripping. Drawing herself out of her thoughts, she brought her lance to bear, only to watch just an arrow roll away from her across the once-polished stone floor of the building – missing a roof – she had come out into.
"An arrow?" she whispered.
Looking closer to her surroundings, she noted that the building the transporter had led to looked like a ruined shrine. Its roof was long since gone, letting in the dimmed light of the Valla's artificial sun, but the most of the columns were still there, though some were toppled over and the whole place in desperate need of repair.
Had she not alerted Anankos to her presence this visit, she would have searched around for more clues of what they had worshiped here.
So why where there so many arrows scattered about? A remnant of a battle, but from when?
It made her apprehensive, worried. As she continued trekking through the ruined shrine, she notice more and more arrows, in positions that seemed to suggest someone had been taking cover behind these pillars. In some places, they practically littered the once polished floor.
Stepping down the steps of the shrine, she paused. To her right an open field, to her left-
Her eyes widened and an involuntary shudder went down her spine.
Near the edge of a forest, huge darkened, possibly burned areas of grass stuck out like a cherry blossoms atop a pile of corpses.
Stepping back up the steps of the shrine to try and get a better look, she spotted what looked like the center of an explosion magic, dark magic if the unnatural chill she felt was any indication. It radiated outward from the center in an oppressive wave.
Some of the trees at the edge of the forest had been torn, or ripped apart and some just looked dead. The work of powerful dark magic, something she couldn't afford to trifle with. She started walking in the other direction.
But halfway through the field, she stopped as she felt her pendant pulse. She shifted her lance from a makeshift walking stick to a weapon as she slipped into a defensive stance, looking for the threat.
She didn't see any-
Her pendant pulsed again and her vision blurred as she clutched her head. Felt like something was trying to rip her apart from the inside.
Then the air beside Azura ripped.
Falling, lance tumbling out of her grip. Her head…hurt. She realized she was on the ground. She looked up trying to see an assailant, but couldn't see.
Her vision swam, but then, for a brief moment, everything was clear.
And then it wasn't.
There was something there.
Maybe?
What…what was she looking at? She squinted, but it didn't make the… disturbance in the air any clearer. Even as she looked, it shifted through twisted shapes, though indecipherable patterns then back before she could define anything definitive about it.
The moment stretched an eternity before it was gone.
She blinked away spots, rubbing her eyes. Her memory of it felt hazy, and the only sure thing she was left with was that whatever that was, it felt very, very wrong.
She lay on the grass for a long time before her senses fully returned to her. What…was that? Was it a symptom of Anankos' slipping seal?
No, this seemed different. Could it be something from else from Valla? There was so much she didn't know about it's past. Maybe Mikoto would know something?
She rubbed her eyes, pushing past the sudden exhaustion she felt. Picking up her lance, she used it to push herself back up. There wasn't time to contemplate it now. She had to get out of Valla.
Looking towards out towards the constantly shifting landscape, she oriented herself to the nearest body of water, and sunk back to Hoshido.
Anna disappeared, flickering out of sight while still standing partway through the cell wall. Her scent – there was something very wrong about it – vanished abruptly after. If he went by just scent alone, Kaden would've said she hadn't actually been there at all.
But then he glanced over at the cell door, still open and ajar.
Cautiously, stifling a groan as his injuries protested at more sudden movements, he padded over to the bars and looked down to where Anna had – he cringed when he remembered – stuck her hand into, or maybe through, the lock.
Except, there wasn't a lock there anymore, just smooth metal, as if someone had forged the door, but forget to set a lock into it.
Something unnatural was going on, and it wasn't hard to guess that Robin and Anna's initial disappearing act had something to do with it.
His ears twitched at the sound of boots rushing down the corridor, he hurriedly closed the cell – or rather held it in place so it looked like it was closed since it didn't have a lock anymore – as a pair of frazzled looking guards rushed past.
What was going on?
Ah, whatever.
He could worry the details later. Even if he really didn't understand the how or why of what was going on, Kaden realized very quickly that Anna…somehow opening his cell seemed like a clear enough signal that they were going to escape. The guards were probably a by-product of Anna doing whatever she was doing.
He turned his ears and nose turned forward, listening intently. Nothing but the crackle of a nearby torch and the rapidly fading sounds of the guards footsteps. Easing open the cell door he peered out, tasting the air, tail twitching. The way to his right was the way the guards had gone and smelled staler than the other way. So instead, he headed left.
Even though he'd been knocked out when he was first put in here, Kaden could tell by the slightly musty, earthy smell that permeated the whole area that this was dungeon situated in a cavern. The smoke from the torches flitted up through small holes in the ceiling, no doubt leading somewhere the surface above.
He ran his fingers along an unnaturally smooth portion of the wall, before they bumped into more natural rock. Parts of the dungeon were cut from the rock, excavated out of what felt like a natural cavern, carved into its current purpose as a dungeon likely some decades or even centuries past.
Or in other words, he needed to go up to get out. Take the way that smelled like fresher air.
Before long, he started encountering other cells, some with occupants, most were asleep or tucked away in the far corner away from the cell's door. All wore the same simple grey tunic and trousers he wore.
Thought he kept his pace as quick and quiet as he could as he passed them, eventually, one of the inmates noticed him.
Unlike the others, the man was leaned with his back to the bars, rocking back and forth, muttering something incomprehensible to himself. His long, matted hair hid his eyes. Kaden crept past like he had the other inmates, but the man suddenly jerked upright, eyes locking on to his.
"The pit will not have me."
The words caught Kaden off guard, and he froze, staring.
"What?"
"The pit will not have me." The man abruptly stood, and started shaking and banging the bars. "The pit will not have me. I will never submit. The pit will not have me!"
He backed away quickly and though it agitated his injuries, he broke into as quick a run as he was able. Clearly that one had gone mad. He had no idea what that man was yelling about was, but he didn't really care. He couldn't afford to get caught when a guard came to check on the disturbance. These people imprisoned here? He didn't know why they were down here.
He owed them nothing.
Or, that was what he told himself as he shoved down a twinge of guilt. Mostly, he didn't want to risk getting caught.
Despite the disturbance, Anna doing whatever she had been doing seemed to be drawing the full attention of the guards.
A distant rumble sounded from somewhere above, shaking a bit of dust from the cavern ceiling to rain onto him. Or maybe there was something else going on? Well, either way it worked in his favor.
Probably.
Better to just roll with it. His own life and time spent helping with Nina's heists told him that you took advantage of everything, every opportunity you had, planned ones and lucky breaks alike.
Hopefully, there wasn't a trap waiting for him at the end of this. Injured as he was, he wasn't sure if he could face or even run from it, especially without his beaststone.
Kaden shored up his thoughts when the sound of voices came from the left side of the t-shaped intersection up ahead. Pressing himself against the wall, he carefully peered around the corner.
A red-faced, important looking human dressed in traditional samurai garb – possibly the warden – was barking orders over a small desk. The lantern on the desk illuminated three harried guards about three or so yards away. After the maybe-warden finished, the three let off a quick bow.
Kaden's heart lurched as they turned in his direction. Ducking back, he pressed himself against the wall.
He felt the whoosh of air as the three rushed passed him towards the right end of the t-shaped intersection, not stopping at all to look in his direction. Nina would've chided him for the unnecessary risk. Or maybe chuckled at his close call.
He let out the breath he'd unconsciously been holding. From the way the ground sloped slightly downwards, it seemed like the way the guards had gone went back deeper into the dungeon. If the important looking human actually was the warden, then it seemed likely to him that this was close to the exit.
Hearing an annoyed growl, Kaden listened in, once again peering carefully around the corridor. The important looking maybe-warden was talking to another, a bored looking onmyoji he hadn't noticed at first.
"You already sent lockdown order above?"
"Yes, Warden Damu, as soon as we received the first report of a phantom prisoner." Wow he sounded bored too. The onmyoji tapped the lip of a fist-sized metal tube embedded into the wall, likely one leading up to a similar opening above so they could relay messages back and forth.
"Good." The warden nodded, seemingly satisfied, before shaking his head. "Honestly, phantoms. Scared of 'phantoms of the escaped prisoner.' What are they, twelve?" He scoffed. "Don't you go believing anything those guys are spouting."
"Yes, Warden Damu." Was it the onmyoji's job to summon wind-based spirits to use wind based spirits to send messages up? Maybe he didn't get paid enough for his job or something?
"They're just trying to cover their hides after letting a prisoner loose. They don't know this prison as well as I do." He thumped his hand proudly over his chest in what looked like a sort of salute. "The daimyo put me in charge of this prison going on thirty years when he first came to power. Not once has a prisoner escaped." He looked over to the onmyoji. "You know why don't you?"
There was a sigh. "Yes, Warden Damu."
Yeah, definitely didn't get paid enough.
The onmyoji gestured vaguely in the direction of what looked like a small alcove past the desk at the end of the hallway. "There's only one way in and out."
"Yup."
Kaden tuned out the conversation, examining the area he'd initially mistaken for an alcove closer. Tilting his head slightly, he could see that it extended upward.
The bottom of a shaft.
Looking closer, in the middle he recognized part of a Nohrian engineered pulley system, one that would draw a platform up and down. The particulars of how it worked went over his head, but he remembered seeing fancy versions of the 'lift' all over Cyrkensia when he'd been there before.
He ducked back again, mind turning over his options. The platform of the lift wasn't at the bottom, which meant it had to be above somewhere.
So what could he do? He had no idea how this one worked and he was in no condition to take these people out, especially without his beaststone. If he wasn't injured, he might have been able to dash past the two and shimmy up the rope.
But there was no guarantee that the onmyoji wouldn't launch magic at him, or the guards that had to be above wouldn't rain arrows down on him the moment he tried.
He was stuck. Even if there were stairs, that had its own set of issues.
There was a squeal of metal as mechanisms engaged and the pulley system started turning.
Kaden saw the warden tense, hand laying on the longer of two katanas sheathed at his side. "There shouldn't be anyone coming down here. I've ordered a lockdown." He glared at the onmyoji. "You did send the order for a lockdown?"
"Of course, Warden Damu. Perhaps there's a message incoming explaining this?"
They both looked to the tube, but nothing was forthcoming.
The warden growled. "No, something isn't right. The timing with this 'phantom prisoner' is too much of a coincidence." He drew the longer of the two katanas. "Something is going on."
The onmyoji nodded and pulled out a set of battle scrolls and the two moved to flank the sides of the alcove.
A minute passed in tense silence. The lift's platform settled down and the mechanisms ground to a halt.
No one was standing on the platform.
Kaden grinned, picking up a familiar scent.
The two stepped onto the platform, looking around warily. "You don't think they just messed up, and accidently lowered the lift, do you?" The onmyoji asked. "False alarm?"
"No, they're far more disciplined than-"
He cut off as Robin, wearing a simple tunic and trousers matching his own, dropped from somewhere above, out of Kaden's sight. Had he been hanging on the rope?
Robin landed on the onmyoji, the force of his landing pushing the man to the ground, before he stabbed a katana – likely pilfered from one of the guards above – through him, cutting off a scream.
Kaden was already moving towards the pair as Robin rolled out of the way of the quick downward swing from the warden, leaving the pilfered katana stabbed in the dead onmyoji, darting around a few quick swings.
Why wasn't he using his magic? The silence festal the cloaked man had used on him would have worn off already.
Whatever. Grabbing the lantern from the desk desk as he rushed past, ignoring the ominous sounding crack from his ribs and the pain it that followed, Kaden chucked it at the warden. Surpisingly, it shattered against his head.
Though he'd meant it just as a distraction, the spilled oil ignited and the warden quickly dropped his katana in favor of attempting to put out the flames. Robin swooped in, grab it finished the warden off with his own sword.
He turned toward Kaden, raising the katana defensively.
Kaden quickly backed up, holding his palms out disarmingly. "Whoa, whoa, easy, it's just me."
"Kaden." Robin let out at tense breath and lowered the katana. "Come on, let's go." He started walking back towards the lift.
Kaden's nose twitching uncomfortably at the smell of blood from the deceased pair. "You're not even going to ask how I escaped?"
Robin gave him an unimpressed looking stare. "I doubt it's half as interesting as how I got free of the daimyo."
Kaden startled. "Wait, daimyo? As in the one in Suterusu?" Robin nodded. "But we were ages away from there. At least a good weeks forth of walking."
"Get on the lift first, and then we'll talk. We shouldn't stand around too long waiting for more guards to come."
"Right, sorry." As soon as he boarded the platform, Robin pulled a nearby lever and it groaned some as the mechanisms engaged. "So was I really out for that long?"
Robin shook his head. "No. The man who captured us teleported us here soon after you and Anna went unconscious."
"Seriously? That far?" He'd heard of short distance capturing and rescuing before, but that didn't even work consistently, at least from what he heard. And even though Kaden wasn't a mage, it seemed like a waste of energy.
Robin just scratched his nose in an almost dismissive manner. "Yeah."
"You're just going to ignore it?"
"More like setting it to the side the think on it later. Regardless, the daimyo had heard about what happened in Izumo and used that guy to bring me to him quickly. Seemed he was interested in hiring me for my services."
"And?"
"I declined."
"He's dead."
"Yes."
Kaden frowned. Another nation's leader, killed just like that. "More of that magic of yours?"
"No." Robin bent down and wiped the katana clean on the robes of the onmyoji. "Another one of these guys up above put a seal on my magic. I'm nowhere near as effective in combat without it. Even if I'd wanted to, I don't think I could have managed breaking it."
Kaden frowned, remembering their talk around the campfire from what felt like forever ago. "I thought you were familiar with that sort of stuff."
"I'm more specialized in curses and hexes. Seals like this," he turned his body showing Kaden his arm and tapped a slightly glowing, intricate looking seal on his arm, "are different. I haven't encountered this one before. Maybe if I had more time I could figure something out on my own, but well…"
"We're pressed for time?"
"Somewhat. There's another group here, a band of rogues led by a man named Shura. He was here to assassinate the Mokushujin daimyo. We're meeting up with them after we get out of here."
"So was this Shura the one who killed the daimyo?"
"No. He didn't kill the daimyo. It was Anna."
"Anna…"
He saw Robin cross his arms as he looked over to him. "You don't seem that surprised."
"She was the one who released me from my cell." He paused, trying to think of how to say it. "Or, maybe released isn't exactly the right word. She appeared out nowhere with a knife in her arm, stuck her hand into the lock and it just…" He trailed off.
"Just what?" Robin prompted.
Kaden let out a frustrated breath, rubbing his forehead irritably. "I don't know. There just wasn't a lock there anymore. Then she walked partway through the wall and disappeared. But the whole time, something wasn't right. She was…faded. Like how you were talking about before."
Robin closed his eyes, bringing his right hand, the one that had a purple tattoo on it, to his chin. "I…see.
"I don't think you do."
"Heh." He shook his head a wan grin appearing before it just as quickly gone. "No, you're right. I don't. Not really. But regardless of what it was, after she disappeared from your cell, she somehow made her way to the late daiymo's office. She appeared inside the daiymo's desk, took that knife you were talking about out of her arm and just…" he gave a helpless looking shrug. "put it into his head."
Kaden let that sink in for a moment. The silence was filled with the creaking of the mechanisms. He glanced up. How long was this shaft? It had to have been more than a minute or two now.
He shuffled his feet some, ignoring the throbbing of his injuries. Eventually, he broke the silence again.
"So where is she now?"
"Hm? Oh, she's with Shura."
Kaden's mouth fell open a little. "You left her unconscious in the care of an assassin? Are you insane?"
Robin crossed his arms. "You'd prefer I left you down here?"
"Well, no, but…"
"What's done is done. Shura seems trustworthy enough and if he's good on his word he'll leave her in the care of the proprietress of an inn named the Black Lotus."
"That's…" He let out an annoyed groan. "Never mind."
At last the lift came to a stop at a landing at the bottom of a set of stairs. Two guards lay dead to the side. Likely Robin's handiwork. The décor changed from hollowed out cavern to something more akin to the styles of building found in Mokushu.
Robin stepped past the dead guards towards a door on the landing, sliding it open. "Our things are probably in here. Seems like a storeroom for prisoner's affects. It's likely that's where they stashed my cloak."
And if it was anywhere, his beaststone was likely with his confiscated belongings. Would it be worth digging through everything to try and find it?
He was already moving.
Better to potentially lose a bit of time then go back to the kitsune to ask for one.
But as Kaden stepped into the room, he couldn't help but be taken aback, by the breadth of it. "It's…really large."
"Yeah, tell me about it."
Rows and rows of hanging cloaks, piles of clothing, barrels full of junk in various states of repair. The room stretched and twisted quite a ways back.
If he had to guess, the room looked like where all the belongings stripped off of prisoners were stored. But it felt like there was more in here than there could be prisoners. He'd only seen a portion of the dungeon, but the amount of stuff being kept here was ridiculous in comparison. Maybe they just never cleared it out from previous prisoners?
He followed Robin, who had already set off deeper into the room, though a veritable tunnel of hanging cloth.
"Do you know where you're going?" He called. The sound was partially absorbed by the sheer amount of fabric.
"No." Robin called back. "But my cloak is very obvious. If this place has any sense of organization, yours and Anna's stuff should be near that." He stopped, looking back to him. "Do you think you could track where our stuff is by scent?"
"Maybe, but I wouldn't count on it." He began trying to sift out his own scent from the myriad others mingling in the air, but quickly found that there was just too many scents for that to work. "Yeah not happening."
"Too bad. Looks like it's the old fashioned way."
Unfortunately, there was a lot to go through. Robin sifted through piles of clothing, while he stuck to barrels and boxes of junk looking for the glint of his beaststone. Time ticked onward and he began getting nervous, until-
"Ah! Here it is."
Kaden looked up from where he was digging through a trunk of stuff to find Robin holding out his cloak. "Find the rest of our stuff too?"
"No. But it's possible it's nearby." Robin swung his cloak on, fastening it, seeming a bit calmer. "Or they ought to be if this place has any sense of organization. I wouldn't count on anything but your clothes being here."
Kaden's heart beat a little quicker. "Why's that?"
Robin patted one of the pockets inside his cloak. "I'm missing a good chunk of my stuff. Most of what's left is just notes. The tomes and medicines I had are gone."
They both tensed at a sound echoing from somewhere outside.
"What was that?"
"Doubt it was just rats. I'm going to go scout around and make sure no one's come here to snoop around."
"You want to split up?"
"You're not in much condition to fight right now. Stay put and keep looking. Hide if you need to."
"Wait!" But he was already gone.
Kaden let out an annoyed breath and started digging around where Robin had found his cloak. If Robin's valuables were gone, did that mean his beaststone wasn't there either?
Sure enough, he soon found Anna's dark maroon cloak and clothes followed by his own. His heart sunk as his hand dived into the right side pocket finding nothing, then the left one.
His beaststone wasn't there.
No, no, no.
Whether his captors knew it's actual value or not, it looked valuable enough to sell for at least a pittance, so they'd probably taken the end he grabbed his and Anna's remaining things stuffed them in a nearby ratty looking satchel and started towards the storage room entrance.
Kaden's ears perked up as he heard the door slide open, then froze as a familiar scent pricked his nose. The same scent of the man who'd captured them in the forest. Why was he in here?
"I know you're in here, kitsune."
Kaden hurriedly ducked behind a nearby heap of clothing.
"Are you looking for something in particular? Perhaps I can help you."
Yeah, not happening.
Kaden said nothing, and instead focused on looking for another way out. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything save the door he'd come through, and there wouldn't be any windows underground.
He tensed when he heard the man voice coming closer. "You know," the man droned on, "I'm beginning to doubt the daimyo's claims of the security of his secret dungeons. He claimed that no one had ever escaped before, but how does that explain you, very much not confined?
"With all the scuffle going on above I decide to have look to see what was going on. And what do I find, but Kotaro dead and Robin escaped. Did he come to rescue you and the merchant girl?"
So he didn't know what had happened? Probably for the better.
"But then why come in here and not escape? Perhaps you're looking for something? A beaststone attuned to you, perhaps?"
Kaden grit his teeth. The man's voice grew closer.
"Well, no matter. You won't find it here. It's already been sold, likely for a fraction of it worth along with all the other thing these grunts thought of were of some value."
The man stopped practically right by where Kaden was hiding. Not good. The pain from his injuries was making him not think straight and he'd let the man get right where he was instead of moving before he got too close.
"Don't worry. I'm not here to kill you, or even capture you. You shouldn't think so highly of yourself since in the end, you don't matter at all. You're nothing more than a nuisance getting in the way."
Kaden charged out, running past the man who had stopped just past his hiding spot. The door was so close-
Runes popped into existence in front of the closed door and an instant later, the man was there. The cowl of his cloak was still drawn, but he could see the smirk on his pale face, and the long dark hair poking out. Close as he was this time, Kaden saw a tacky looking glided mask covering his half of his face.
"Running away, kitsune? That's just rude, especially when I want to help you."
Kaden backed away, looking for something to put between himself and the man in case he decided to fling some magic his way. "You call what you did help?"
"Collateral damage. Right now I'm giving you an opportunity. Leave Robin and I won't kill you next time we meet."
"What, so you can kill Robin easier?"
"Kill him? Is that what you believe my goal is?" The man let out a laugh. "So short-sighted. Tell me, kitsune. What do you owe this man? He's a murderer, more than twice over. Why did he kill the archduke, the head of a peaceful nation?"
Kaden glanced down at the satchel. Could throw it? Use it as a distraction and then run past? No, that wouldn't work.
"Did he even realize or even care how much the peace of that nation depended on the archduke? The whole place is in an uproar. Assassination, succession turmoil. Likely it will get drawn into the Hoshidan-Nohrian war before long if Nohr gets wind of it. Mokushu is sure to follow that same pattern.
The man spread his arms. "Don't you want freedom? To not be tied down by debt or burden? Staying with him will get you none of that."
"What's your game? Why are you telling me this?"
The man frowned. "This is no game to me, nor should you ever mistake it as such. As I said, I'm trying to help you. Do you wish to labeled with Robin, to be hunted down until your inevitable capture and execution? He's killed the head of two nations already, who's to say which one is next. The queen of Hoshido, perhaps?"
"Shut up! You don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh I know far more than you think. I only have your best interests at heart."
The door slide open and Robin charged through. The man rolled his eyes and the runes of teleportation swirled about him right before Robin's stolen katana swiped through thin air. He reappeared close outside on the landing.
"I can tell when I'm unwanted. Goodbye, kitsune. I hope for your sake this is the last time we meet."
And with a flourish of his cloak, he teleported away.
Robin's hand landed softly on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"
Kaden let out a breath. "I'll live. He didn't try to attack me. I just need healing and rest, really."
Robin gave him an appraising look before he lifted his hand off his shoulder. "If you're sure." He glanced to the satchel. "Did you find your beaststone?"
"No. If that man was telling the truth it's been sold off with our other valuables."
"That's…unfortunate."
"Understatement of the week."
"At least my cloak was still there."
"Nice to see where I fall on your priority list," he muttered.
"Hm?" Robin glanced back at him.
"It's not important."
He shrugged. "If you say so. Find a cloak to throw on and we'll get out here, and get to the Black Lotus."
"...Right."
To get another beaststone, he'd have to…well. He'd cross that bridge when he got there.
A polished bamboo stick seemed to come out of nowhere and slap Shura's cheek.
"Watch it, granny," Shura growled.
The proprietress of the Black Lotus let out a hmph and lowered the bamboo stick back to its resting place masquerading as a walking cane.
He saw Robin look up from his seat in the emptied out tavern where he was reading something, a ridiculous looking shabby cloak now adorning him. The proprietress made a 'none of your business motion' and Robin raised an eyebrow, before wisely going back to reading.
The proprietress was an older woman. Older than Shura, who'd barely been twenty when she was nearing forty when Kohga fell.
She was old enough to remember Suterusu before Kotaro took over. Her village had supported it, surviving, thriving even in part from its wine export. But the village elder had been sympathetic to Kohga, so Kotaro's men had burned it to the ground.
She'd been lucky enough – or unlucky depending on how you looked at it – to be outside her village when it happened. Quick enough on her feet to not get killed when they came looking for survivors, and just unsuspecting enough to set up a tavern right under Kotaro's nose.
He rubbed his cheek. Bent with age as she was, she was surprisingly spry.
She gestured into the room where the red-haired young woman – Anna, he reminded himself – was getting treated by the proprietress' granddaughter. "You let a young one like her go on your suicidal stint? For shame, Shura."
"If you'd listen to me more than a momen- stop it!"
She waved the bamboo stick threateningly again. "Respect you elders. Especially when they deign to grant you your wisdom."
"Look granny, she just showed up." Literally, but that wasn't something easily explained. "I don't know what she or Robin had against Kotaro, but I had nothing to do with it."
"So you were just planning on leaving her and the kitsune with me when your 'nameless group' left, hmm? And why are you in such a hurry to leave? Do you not like my company? You can tell me, I can take it."
Shura let out an annoyed sigh. "Cut the act. I can pay for her treatment if that what you're worried- oi! Would you cut that out?"
She raised an eyebrow. "Why not lay low here for a while and then take them with you after this blows over? They seem nice enough. The white-haired one seems like he's got a good head on his shoulders, and kitsune's senses are second perhaps only to wolfskin. And I shouldn't have to tell you how good having one of the Anna sisters on your side would be."
"That's not the issue. We need to keep this momentum up and keep pressure on Kotaro's men."
"Then why not stay here and let your crew do the work? You planned around potentially dying on this mission of yours anyway, so what difference does it make?"
"Morale."
"Then let them stay as well."
"You know as well as I do that you can't take that risk."
There was a tense silence.
"Stubborn child."
"Idiot grandma." The bamboo stick whipped out again, but he caught it on the palm of his hand. "You make your position clear, proprietress. Let me think about it and I'll give you my answer before we leave in the morning."
She smiled a wrinkly smile before she shuffled off in the direction of Anna's room, opening the door. "Good." The door slid shut.
"Good talk?"
He look over to see Robin, who had a growing smirk on his face.
"Shut it, kid, or I will leave you behind. We're going to have a talk in the morning, you and I." He walked further down the hallway and slid open the door to his own room, a private one the proprietress insisted he have, despite the fact that he always slept with his crew.
Whatever. He rubbed his eyes. After today, he seriously needed sleep anyway.
What is my name?
At this stage, they spoke only through the mind, so great was their connection. The one who called himself Forneus turned from his latest alchemy experiment to her, handing off a beaker to one of the voices, no, the undead, who shuffled off to place it back in its compartment.
She asked the voice to go back near him. It complied happily, sensing the moment.
He looked so fragile now, bent with age. His mind, which had never been truly right, was losing its tenuous control over the voices, over reality and over the 'thanatophages' or Death Masks as he now insisted they were called. Such a pretentious title.
Carving a likeness of his late wife's face on the mask covering the insect was the least macabre she'd seen.
Forneus looked up to her now. His blood had continued to stimulate her growth, and he'd moved his equipment to a larger space to accommodate her. It was almost touching.
"Why do you want one? Why do you need one?"
He was grasping at straws, at his tenuous grip on his own life.
You were given one. Could I not choose one for myself?
She had already done so, but he didn't know that. Both could see into each other's minds almost perfectly, but she kept that hidden.
"You are my creation. A name is unimportant, so long as you fulfill your duty and destroy the senate."
Why should I care about your revenge?
He scoffed. "Have you forgotten, my creation? They have trapped you, just as they trapped me."
No, they sealed you in. Why should I desire revenge on ones I know nothing about?
"I have told you their sins, great and many, my creation."
She stretched out. Forneus backed away. Rightfully so, considering how terror inducing she likely looked.
And I've decided I don't care.
The voice nearby drew a sword and stabbed the self-proclaimed "demon-alchemist" through the heart. He fell, equal parts confusion and agony mixed with betrayal.
Goodbye.
The voices cheered at his passing. Good riddance. She celebrated the moment by roaring.
My name is Grima.
No.
No that wasn'trightwasn'thernamenothernamenothersthiswasn'ther.
She was Anna. Her name was Anna.
The lab shattered, and Anna was stood opposite…herself.
Not one of her sisters, herself. Too exact to be one of her sisters.
She took a step back, wary. "Who are you?"
Not-Anna regarded her curiously. Anna winced, doubling over and clutching her heart as it pulsed, twice in quick succession. Her arm, the scars, they looked almost like a tattoo now, black instead of grey.
Not-Anna spread her arms. "Right now, I'm you. Or close enough." She tapped the side of her head.
"You stuck me in your head, remember?"
A/N: Azura encounters Robin's entry point, Kaden faces some hard questions/decisions and Shura needs aspirin.
Sadly, I also have to announce that I have to put this on hiatus until March 2021. But don't worry. Glitch will be back then. Just follow if you want to know when it updates then. But for those who stick around, well...
We've only scratched the surface.
