Well, Ritsuka thought dryly as they all sat in a circle. The one, and probably only good news, was that whatever angry person grumbled in Yomi stopped and hopefully went back to sleep. Either that or they were preparing an ambush, but the master tried to be positive right now. Still, things weren't looking too good.
"Can't break out now. None of us have the fire power. Worst case, we'll collapse even more," Nobu said with a frown, hand resting on her cheek in thought.
"We can't just do nothing... !"
Nobu patted Mash on the head, ruffling her hair with a small smile.
"If you have a hidden teleportation power I don't know of, by all means, now's the time," she joked. However, it fell flat, as everyone let out a deep sigh. Fortunately, the low mood didn't last long, as Amako slapped her cheeks and shot up, hands on her hips with determination.
"Sis told me to find something and I'm gonna!"
"Did she say what?" Kagetora asked, standing up like everyone else. Without missing a beat, Amako pointed at the ceiling.
"Notes!"
"So back to what we did before. Goodie," Nobu sighed, with everyone slumping their shoulders in exhaustion. This time it was even worse than before. With all the fighting, while they tried to keep the fighting as far away from the workshop as possible, some stray... shots did bring even more chaos into it. Many papers were thrown over their shoulder after checking them. At some points, he might have fallen asleep. Kagetora sure did, drooling on Harunobu's shoulder, whose eyes were barely open themselves. They might have been at it for days, Ritsuka had no idea with the lack of a sun in Yomi. However, after what felt like an eternity, his expression turned ecstatic.
"I think I got something!" Ritsuka shouted. His excitement died down a little, but he still smiled, shaking the roll of notes in question. "It's sealed up, so it has to be important, right?"
At once, the entire gang formed up. Kagetora didn't miss a beat to cut the seal open. At once, papers scattered to the ground and they all looked over it, hope in their expression. That hope slowly died out and they hung their heads low.
"Code? Really?" Nobu muttered in annoyance. Indeed, while there were a bunch of Japanese words, they created no coherent words. How long would it take to crack that code? If they were in contact with Chaldea, Sherlock could probably-
"I can read it."
They all turned, slowly, towards Amako, who could hardly believe her own words, as she stared at the writing with wide eyes.
"Just like that?"
"It's... it's a code only the heads would know," she muttered, staring at the papers in her hands. "But... why would they... ?"
Not change it, Ritsuka finished in his head. The answer, he thought with a soft expression, was obvious. While one could chalk it up to them forgetting, from what he could tell about their relationship, it was more than that. He rubbed her back reassuringly.
"She still considered you part of her family."
"Sis... " She sniffed, before forcefully sucking her tears back into her eyes, a determined grin on her face. Takeda slapped her back with a hearty laugh.
"Alright, you get to encrypting that. Focus on finding two things, the rest you can read later."
"How to get out of Yomi and how to get into the Shogun's fortress!" Amako yelled, throwing her fist up in the air.
"If you find any weaknesses, that's cool too!" Nobu shouted, raising her thumb. The circle cheered, throwing their arms up in the air. Then, in anticipation, they stared at Amako, going through the papers in her hand with a concentrated expression.
Naturally, with nothing to do, the motivated air quickly died to the oppressive darkness. While the magus was completely focused, her forehead furrowed in thought, the others were... bored. Kagetora and Harunobu leaned against each other, playing some sort of viewing game, however that worked. Mash began to clean her equipment, with Ritsuka helping out. Then there was Nobu, pacing around, impatiently. In the end, she crossed her arms, hummed annoyed, before nodding to herself.
"Screw it, I'll take a look at whatever spooked Raiden!" She yelled, throwing her arms up in defeat. Ritsuka looked up, narrowing his eyes.
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
"Don't you?" She asked before waving him off dismissively. "That sumo guy was afraid of something and that tickles my interest."
Ritsuka would liked to say he had an iron will and discipline that would never be tempted by things like those. However, he was the Master of Chaldea, so stupid decision making was part of the job. With his lips pressed together, he stood up. Mash rolled her eyes in exasperation, but stood up as well.
"...Nothing else to do, so let's go." Ritsuka raised his finger with a frown. "But we will not wake whoever he was afraid of up!"
"Have fun."
"Don't get lost."
With that, they left Amako under the protection of Kagetora and Harunobu. For a while, they walked in silence, making sure to keep track of the turns they were taking. While it was still relatively monotone, with all the darkness and ghosts becoming an old fad, at least he managed to move his legs.
But it was at that point, that Nobu spoke up, weirdly serious as she crossed her arms as she walked backwards.
"So, master. When will you tell them?"
"What?"
"The truth. About them having to die regardless." His and Mash's eyes widened in shock, but Nobu had no mercy as she raised an eyebrow. "You do know it's cruel to give the girl false hope, right?"
Ritsuka flinched. He wanted to refute her, that it wasn't false... but he couldn't bring himself to lie. With a sigh, his shoulders slumped.
"I can't just not help... "
Mash nodded in agreement, guilt ridden as she clutched her shield. They both didn't plan this. To keep the lie up so long, to lie to Amako like that. But every time it came to Panhuman History, her face just lit up with hope. And she believed in them so much, that she dismissed her family's words... Part of Ritsuka wanted her to keep believing. That they weren't bad people trying to destroy them. Because of that, Ritsuka sighed before looking Nobu in the eyes.
"I don't want to tell them."
"You really think they won't figure it out on their own? It'll turn ugly."
"It'll turn ugly either way!" He exploded, causing Mash to flinch. Deflating a bit, he held her hand in apology before glaring at Nobu. "At least this way, there might be a chance they get to die in peace."
"Is it wrong to wish for a peaceful end for them?" His Shielder muttered, squeezing his hand. Nobu in response shrugged.
"It's weird, but that's how you two just are." Narrowing her eyes, she leaned back as they came to a stop. "Just tell me. Will you stop Kagetora or I from doing our jobs when it doesn't go well?"
He wanted to say yes. He wanted to believe that if they found out, they could talk their way out of this. Or even just accept their justified anger. But in the end, he had to think of what he had lost. Of what everyone lost. So in the end, as much as it pained him, he lowered his head in shame.
"...No. I'd really want to, but I won't."
"All I needed to hear." He looked up in surprise to see an encouraging grin on Nobu's face. "Chin up, master. I don't blame ya. Just wanted to make sure you didn't get any second thoughts, what with your relationship with Amako." She crossed her arms behind her back, beginning to walk again. "I'd prefer everyone remaining ignorant as well. Way easier time that way."
"Nobu…"
"Besides. You're the master. She's the Shielder." A somber smile was on her face as she pointed at herself. "Leave the blood spilling to the murder classes."
Mash sniffed, touched by Nobu's way of worrying. Ritsuka had to smile as well, as he nodded in gratitude.
"Thanks, Nobu." He let out a small laugh. "Didn't expect this from you."
"Oi, I can be serious if I want t-" She came to a sudden stop. She narrowed her eyes as she summoned a musket, causing the other two to tense up. "What the... "
It was only now that Ritsuka noticed. The thick, magical energy saturating the area. It was actually kind of hard to breath. Leaning to the side, his eyes widened.
It was a giant, green glowing rock, floating in the air. The area around it seemed to be under immense pressure, distorting everything. And the rage it radiated... it was a simmering kind, as if one dreamed of something bad. If he had to compare it, it was like a giant dragon, sleeping in front of them. The sound that occured after the Serpent collapsed the entrances akin to a stirring of said dragon.
Every instinct in him told him to not touch it whatsoever. That releasing, or even just waking whatever was in there up, was going to kill them. And fortunately for him, Nobu seemed to agree. Letting her weapon vanish, she took Mash and Ritsuka by their shoulders started to drag them away from it.
"Yeah. No. Not touching that."
"What is that?"
"It felt so... so oppressive... " Mash muttered, wiping some sweat off her forehead. Nobu shuddered, shaking her head.
"With our luck? Some sort of sealed god or demon. We have enough on our plate right now." She glanced back, pressing her lips together. "Whatever it is, it's way above my paygrade.."
Hopefully Amako figured something out by now...
/
Amako ignored her guardians. They were softly talking about things, as they, for lack of a better word, cuddled. She didn't mind. While the relationship could be summed up as weird, she was glad Lord Takeda was so bubbly lately. However, she didn't have time to appreciate it. She had notes to decrypt and read through, and man, there was a lot.
"For some reason, they are afraid of something they have sealed in Yomi. It might be a weakness... but I will not rely on something I don't know anything about of. Worst case scenario, we'll free whatever is inside, but until then, I gave the order to leave it alone."
Management. Information about old enemies. Lots of interesting, but currently irrelevant stuff, that was glanced over and put away for now. But some things stuck out. Escape, for example.. Sasaki honestly tried to figure it out. And from the notes she was reading, she at least had a working theory to go by. Using possession of some sort to "fool" the underworlds, to allow free passage into other worlds even after breaking open the seal. The details were lacking or flying over Amako's head... but from the amount of writing she saw, it could've been possible.
And now that path was forever closed. Amako's hands shook. Sasaki was the expert. Not her. She lacked the sort of understanding for these things. Slapping her cheeks, she took a deep breath. No time to get distracted. She got what she wanted out of this, some sort of navigation trick when one was in Yomi. Something that was supposed to become something more. With hurry, she turned to the next section and the headline caused her to smile.
Rebellion. Amako let out a snort, a fond expression on her face. A little on the nose. Hopefully it was what she needed. The first lines caused her smile to vanish. It was nothing more than lines of hate for the Shogun. How much Sasaki hated him. How much she despised his rule. How much she despaired. All that spit formed into the information she saw now. Raiden lacked details, not revealing anything they didn't know already. The Serpent was too shrouded in mystery in the notes as well. However...
"The problem isn't her or Lord Raiden. The problem is the Shogun. Killing him is nearly impossible, unless one can kill the divine. After all, The Divine Shogun has stolen the Authority of the Goddess Izanami."
"Izanami?!" She hissed in shock. She ignored the wide eyed looks she received. The spouse of Izanagi?! The goddess of death?! How in the world did they pull that off?! Shaking her head, she refocused her attention to the text.
"The Shogun can control the degree of resistance one has against death. Solutions to kill him haven't been found yet. However, another problem is reaching him."
Amako licked her lips in anticipation. There it was.
"He essentially creates a Yomi like territory in his fortress. He can decide who passes or not. Raw power usually won't work to enter it, much less destroy it. Honestly, I don't know if it's possible at all."
The girl growled in frustration as she turned pages, eyes flying over lines upon lines. Sasaki was better than this, she had to have found out something! Skipping some pages about mindless rambling and theories, Amako narrowed her eyes at a certain key word.
"I believe I know how one can enter the fortress without the Shogun's position. One needs to be his equal or his superior to enter. In that way, one can supercede his authority of isolation in that regard. Thus, the Four Treasures are the key."
Amako blinked, turning to the next page, revealing an entirely different topic all together. In disbelief, she turned the previous pages around, hoping that she could've missed something. But to no avail. That was it. There wasn't anything more to it. She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration. Damn it! She crossed her legs as she tapped at her head. Think, think, think!
Brute force was out. Infiltration was out. They needed the Shogun's permission and that was ridiculous, unless they had really good disguise magecraft available. Pretending to surrender? No, he would be smarter than that. She bit her lip. Getting his permission would be hard or next to impossible. There had to be something. Someone else's permission. But that would be equally impossible. Equal... equal to the Shogun… The only one in theory was the Emperor. But the Emperor was kidnapped, or even worse, perhaps dead. No chance to grant them entrance that way. He was the last of the line as well. Nobody else was there, as far as she knew. She hit the ground with her fist, growling in frustration. Damn it, if only one of them had some sort of connection to-
She froze. Wait. Amako shot up, her mind racing. A distant lesson, from Hisoka. About the origin of the term "emperor". Where it came from, from a land distant and separated since 400 years ago. The reason why the Four Guardians exist. Why the Center exists. Amako bit her thumb, muttering under her breath as she recalled the memories.
"Uh, Amako? Are you okay?"
"Haru, I think she lost it."
The voices didn't matter. All that mattered was cracking that key. Four Treasures were the key. They needed an authority equal or above the Shogun. They didn't have an Emperor…but they didn't need to anyway! It clicked in her mind. Shouting in celebration, she jumped up and down, just in time for Ritsuka to have returned. Racing towards him, she grabbed his hands, swinging it up and down.
"I got it! I got it! I'm the Emperor!"
"...What?"