During a sunny morning, we found ourselves roaming the stone-paved grounds of Minuka City, one of the largest cities in the world. We didn't plan to stay there long, just to get Dylan ready to go who knows where next, and into the ship that lead to the main continent. We'd figured that if another Minor would happen to appear, we'd have more of a chance finding them if we went to the main land.
"So tell me," Dylan said as we walked by the stone built houses and grounds with few people out in the rich, happy city.
"Tell you what?" I asked confusedly as I looked up to him, trying to figure out what he was saying. We walked down the city walkway, passing by a city lamp. By now, it was late morning, and the lazy people had just gotten out of bed, roaming the city like ghosts dwelling in a haunted house. The city was quite large, a whole forest to the south of it and a sandy beach port to the north. The city was under populated for it's wide area, but many houses still stood high in pride on ever corner of the long walkway. There were no streets like a formal city, it was all just stone, and people were happy to go wherever they wanted. The air there was fresh, and the whole place was shaped like a hexagon. The oxygen the inhabitants breathed had hints of the ocean air in it, which was strange considering how close we were to the sea. I pushed all these notices of mine into the back of my head as I waited for Dylan's reply. I didn't know why, but I couldn't help thinking that I had forgotten something.
"Tell me how my powers are really like and how they work," he finally told me as we turned the corner, his hands behind his head, walking in a carefree and relaxed manner.
"Oh," I realized. I guess he would want to know something like that. But this question of his… wouldn't it be one that you would get from someone with a thirst or awe for power? "Well," I began. I wasn't sure if I should tell him, but I knew that I should learn to trust them and get them as close to me as I could. "You can only use some light powers so far, I see, but there's so much more. Your type of skill is related to the element of botany, which also involves plants. I've seen Kakori-sama use plant attacks all the time. You've probably used plant techniques without realizing it, though," I told him, in confidence that he wouldn't go all ballistic and power hungry and betray me. Why did I think this? I thought. Have I not yet learned to trust people?
"Kakori? That's the name of the Botany council?" he asked me, his expression piqued with interest. "So, what do you mean by plant skills that I haven't noticed me using?"
"Yeah," I told him. "Well, remember back in the ramen store, when you couldn't feel any spices?" I asked, picturing the scene. The memory still made me disgusted. It's hard to believe a human could eat that much ramen and not turn sick.
"Yeah," he told me with a realizing look. "I still don't know how that happened."
"Well, basically, it's a skill called ingrain. I don't know how you activated it, but it's when you implant roots into the ground from your feet and absorb the water from any underground sources the roots can find, and since you were near the coast that time, there was tons of water sources. But your vines had to reach down far to get to them, though. So I'd say you're pretty much getting the hand of power control so far."
"Ingrain? Roots from my feet? Sounds pretty creepy," he said in a kiddy manner. "But I'm glad to hear that I can do so well so fast," he told me with his cheerful eyes.
"Yeah, but more importantly, just where exactly is your house? I feel like we've been walking for hours," I told him, changing the subject of focus. He put his finger to his chin, putting a thinking look on.
"Well, let's put it this way. My home isn't really my home," he told me, releasing his thoughtful look, turning the next corner.
"What do you mean?" I asked him, following him.
"I mean, I don't live with my parents. My life doesn't involve them."
"So where do you live?" I asked with piqued interest. At this moment I realized that he knew so much about what I was doing, while I had no idea of what kind of person he was.
"In my friends' house. They take care of me. My parents… well let's just say they're not too friendly. So I left," he told me, slowing his pace, his expression unchanging from his normal happy one.
"They weren't too friendly? That's why you left them? Does that even seem normal for a kid to leave just because of that?" I asked him, not knowing of how the parent-child system worked. I never knew my real parents, after all. But I knew that I wouldn't leave the Council if they were just a little mean. So why should it be any different with parents? I just couldn't understand.
Dylan laughed at my comment. It wasn't a put-down laugh. It was a kind of playful one. The kind of one you cracked just for the heck of it when someone doesn't understand something and you're just laughing at the whole situation. "It's hard to explain, okay? Let's not talk about it anymore," he told me, stopping and turning his focus to a wooden house.
The house was different from all the others. The other houses in the city were made of granite, marble and rocks. Why was this one made out of wood? It was smaller than the others, and stood out above the rest. Strange, I thought. Is this where Dylan and his friends live? It seemed to be old fashioned, a temple shaped kind with a sign above the doorway spreading the message, "Kusanaga Residence." The house looked one-story one too, with only one floor and an attic.
"This is where you live?" I asked him with concerned eyes. Were he and his friends poor? They couldn't be. No way can you be poor and afford twenty extra large orders of ramen. So why did they live in such a old fashioned house? They could have luxury lives.
"Yeah. I know what you're thinking, it's different from all the rest, right? But it doesn't matter. My friends and I believe in the phrase, 'You should only own what you need, and a few things you want. If not a few, none at all,'" Dylan spoke with a mouth full of pride. "I'm actually glad that this house stands above the rest," he stated.
I guess it was true about what he said. The Council pretty much had a total luxurious life in their own private dimension they created for themselves, but when I was new to the whole thing, I thought, woah, why do they have so much stuff? They don't even use most of it. I didn't say much back to him, but just followed him into the house.
As we walked in, I smelled the scent of fresh tea and cakes. The walls were made of brown bamboo, the furniture all wooden and wicker. "Mizoryu!" Dylan shouted through the living room, his voice bouncing off the walls.
"You're here!" a voice shouted back from another room. In a matter of seconds, a man that seemed just a few years older than Dylan came into the living room with a teapot in one hand and a plate of multicolored pudding cakes in the other. He set both of them down on the wooden table which was low to the ground, and shone a big smile that told both of us that he was happy to see him again.
I began to wonder. Is this what true love was like? Being away for a long time, and coming back to find people happy and excited in your return? Would the Council treat me like this when I came back? I sure hoped so. I watched as Dylan and the complete stranger caught up in a conversation, saying things like, "I've missed you," and "How've you been? You've been gone for a long time."
I had to wait a while until the guy asked me, "And who is this young man?" I finally felt noticed.
"This," Dylan said, side by side with me, leaning down to my height. He gave me a look and turned back to the man. "is Ikimichi Jeremy. Jeremy, this is my friend, Mizoryu-san."
"Nice to meet you, Jeremy-san," he said, shaking my hand. He was a strong man, I felt like my arm was going to break. He seemed old enough to be a father, with his wild mustache and white headband donned like he was a fish monger. His hair cut was short-short-short, and was about three feet wide and six feet high. His hands were dry and cut, like a carpenter's. His eyes seemed old and wise, but his body type had the age of a man in his early twenties. How strange, I thought. I soon began to realize that this "Mizoryu-san" scared me.
"So I assume he's going to be staying with us?" Mizoryu asked, turning back to Dylan. Oh, god no. Even if I wasn't on a quest to find the Minors, I would've been out of there in ten seconds, tops.
"No, actually he's involved with something more important than that," Dylan told him with a nervous laugh and crinkled eyes, his hands motioning In a way of telling Mizoryu that he was wrong.
"Oh? Too bad. Something important like what?" Mizoryu asked in a stricter voice. I felt Dylan's expression tense more, nervous sweat drops coming down the side of his head. He gave another nervous laugh as he replied. He was about to tell him everything when I stopped him and whispered in his ear.
"I think it's best we keep the whole Minors thing a secret, since we don't want White Cloak to find us, you know?" I whispered in the lowest possible voice. He gave me an "okay," and turned back to Mizoryu, who was still waiting for an answer. I wasn't sure what happened next, I think Dylan made some lame excuse about going on a journey and/or vacation and told him he had to get packed up and ready.
We stayed for about twenty more minutes as he took a shower, packed all kinds of necessities and strapped on his light-blue backpack as we were almost out the door until Mizoryu stopped us. "Wait," he said, walking to the wooden table. He took the plate of assorted colored cakes and wrapped them in plastic. Then, a second right after, he gave them to Dylan. "Just to keep you going," he told him as he handed him the plate. Dylan accepted it and put it in his bag. The next thing I knew, we were out of there. And I was thankful.
"Let's go!" Dylan told me, fixing his white hair. I could see he was re-energized in the twenty minutes we had stayed, and ran off down the walkway again. I tried hard to catch up with him, but that guy was fast. I eventually caught him because he slowed down to a jogging pace, and asked me, "You ready to run again? The ship's going to take off in five minutes, and it's pretty far from where we are now."
"What?!" I cried suddenly. Five minutes?! No way! We didn't even have tickets yet! We had to catch that boat no matter what. We couldn't waste another day on Midgarts Islands. "Okay," I told him, knowing that I was unready. But I had to force myself to run as fast as I could. It was either my own breath or the whole mission. And I chose the whole mission. Lives were at stake, as well, I knew. I couldn't fail this mission no matter what. I wouldn't let Dylan down. I wouldn't let myself down.
In seconds he took off like a raging werewolf in the middle of the forest, and somehow, someway I caught up to his speed. We soon found ourselves out of the city and into the sandy grounds. Touching the unsteady sand on the bottom of my sneakers made me remember how I was lost in the desert, and how I felt so helpless and unsteady. I hated the sand and anything that had to do with it. It was like each grain of sand represented every bad memory I had to keep in, even though I didn't know what they were, I knew that there were millions of them waiting to be discovered. And I wasn't sure if I wanted to know them at all. I raced across the slipping sands of pain and bought tickets for the ride. The line wasn't long, and there was about thirty seconds for boarding on the ship left. We ran across the sand again, my feet and soul hating every second of it, but we made it and beat the clock. There was about five seconds left, and the ship attendant held the doors for us.
We took whatever cabin room they had left for us as they reeled in the anchor and began taking off. We had to catch a breather as soon as we boarded the ship, but we still ran to find our cabin. Our room was small, but we had to deal with it.
There was a small circled window that let some light into the dark room, and had two separate beds on opposite sides with one nightstand and three drawers in between. Dylan immediately put down his backpack on the nightstand and rest his whole body on the white-sheeted bed, not caring that his sandy shoes were on the bed as well, relaxing face- up and arms behind his head. His eyes were closed peacefully and I stood in the doorway and watched as a tiny amount of the light from the early afternoon sun spilled upon his face and clothes. I felt like I should relax, too, but I chose not to. I left the room and closed the door and climbed out to the ship's boardwalks around the cabin rooms.
I watched the afternoon sun as it shone brightly in the sky, giving light to the clear, blue waters and the whole ship. The ship, painted white, rocked with the calm ocean, and I saw nothing but blue on both ends of the horizon. Clouds floated freely in the sky, calm and carefree from any problems in this world. I leaned on the railing around the ship that made sure no one would fall off. The cool metal bars on my forearms felt good against my skin. I watched the clouds as they passed by and the ocean as it swung its currents lively in the water.
I began thinking as my stare dazed off into the sunny surroundings. I recalled the old looking young man, caring so much for Dylan and happy to see him back after his trip to the Midscape Marketplace. Offering him tea and cakes as they caught up on the events that happened, as I stood there in the same spot I had walked up to until Dylan stopped, being left alone and unnoticed until someone had to mention me. Would I have someone to treat me like that with so much caring and love when I returned to the Council's dimension? Would I be showered with presents and love when they saw my face again? Or would they not give a rat's bottom as to where I was right now? I began to think that this whole thing was a hoax, set up by Dylan and the rest of the Council only to hurt me in the end. Did they really care about me at all?
I waited for any sign of reply amongst the world. But the only sign of answers I got was the steady rocking of the ocean and the calm winds brushing my hair slightly and delicately as I stared up into the mindless skies. I sighed as I let the sun's rays paint my face with the fake love it provided. That wasn't real love. It was just light that gave you a happy feeling. Nothing more. I thought wild ideas in my mind as I looked for some way to know, to at least get a sign that the Council cared about me. But I came up with nothing until – suddenly it came to me. Suddenly I had an idea on what to do. I would do something I had promised myself to during that night at the hill as I drifted slowly to sleep, the grass comforting my legs with their calm touch. I would contact the Council through the locket, and tell them about the progress I made.
Slowly, I turned my glance to the locket. It was shining brightly in the sun with a speck of reflection off to its side. It glinted wildly in front of my midsection, the golden string trying hard to continue to lift it. I was used to the locket's heaviness now, I realized, and I was glad. Carrying the old thing around would be a drag. I gripped the wide circle in my tiny, childish hands and opened it up. The lid opened with the same grace it had done last time, revealing the screen embedded into the inner circle.
As if it knew what I wanted, across the screen immediately indicated the words: CONTACTING COUNCIL… with the ellipsis repeating themselves in a pattern. The words were bold with a digital kind of green, until a few moments later was I taken to the portrayed face of Shintenmaru. Could I really talk to him through this thing? I thought.
"Yes, Jeremy-san, may I help you?" a voice came through the locket like it was recorded. The picture of Shintenmaru tilted his head and struck a smile, like it was some kind of video. I felt like talking to a screen, which technically I was as I told him about my progress with smiles and crinkled eyes. He didn't seem to be surprised that I found one all ready. All he said in reply was, "Good job, Jeremy." Well, a "Good job, Jeremy," doesn't show me that you care. You could've faked your words for all I know. I told him everything I could have told him, except the way I felt.
He replied with nodded heads and "mhm's" all through the conversation. I eventually became tired of smiling with every word and just waited for a reply. "Dylan even looks like Kakori, almost. Isn't that amazing? I guess the half spirits really did choose their owners like they did as free spirits."
"Yes, I suppose so," he said with a low laugh. It sounded fake, I could tell. It had no heart in it. I wasn't stupid. Did they think I was to fall for that stupid laugh? I asked him how things were over there, and he told me that they were okay. Just okay. I bet great without me there, right? "Well," he continued finally after a long pause. "You're making great progress, Jeremy, keep up the good work," he told me, pushing up his rectangular glasses, reflecting the dim light the dimension gave off. "I guess I'll speak to you later in another progress report, then?"
"All right," I told him, totally tired at heart and desperately trying to find the care in his eyes and expression through a screen.
"Okay, good bye, Jeremy-san, and good luck. Be safe," he told me as the picture on the screen faded and all that was seen was static, with a soft click followed by a slight fizzing of static from the locket. Be safe? I thought. He probably hopes me to be eaten and torn by wolves.
I closed the locket because I knew I had found out enough. They really didn't care, did they? Not at the moment, at least. I put down the locket and slid it through my shirt. I didn't feel like looking at the thing right now. It just made me sick.
I continued to look at the crashing seas as they were cut by the ships pointed front, and the sky as they were being shone on a little lighter now than before. The ship, blank and whitewith the name, "S.S. MARGENTINE" spread across the side front of it seemed to travel slowly along the riding waters.
I heard a door click and open, and felt the presence of someone come out from behind me, not closing the door. From my sense of mind with help from my side vision , I knew who it was. Dylan, finally awoken from his nap. "Jeremy, you all right?" he asked with a concerned look on his face.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him promptly without looking at him or changing my position. I just kept my stare on the ship's dead name spread across it, meaning nothing but a thought to others.
He didn't seem to sense my loneliness at the time because he replied with, "Well, if you're fine, how about you come in and eat the jelly cakes with me? They're pretty good you know."
I stammered at first, unsure of whether or not I felt like eating, but I decided to go back in anyway. We walked back into the dark room that had a small hole of sunlight sticking through and closed the door. We sat on our beds on the opposite side of the room and ate jelly cakes from the nightstand. They were sweet and sticky, but I couldn't find myself to enjoy them. We sat stilly without talking or speaking to each other. We didn't even sigh. There was dead silence. Only the sounds of munching and chewing of killing two cakes at one time was heard by Dylan while I focused on my one small piece, chewing it at a slow pace and taking soft and tiny bites. I didn't feel too energetic anymore like when I had that rush of energy when I ran for the ship.
Moments later, I found Dylan asleep on his side of the room, asleep on the bed with his back turned to me. Just like I felt everyone else I knew in the world has. I shifted myself and climbed into the sheets, the covers going up to a little below my shoulders. For a while, I looked at the jelly cakes, tiny bits of eaten ones tinting the plate, only one left alone like I was inside, the plastic cover opened and left open like a wound that would never heal.
As I felt my eyelids become heavy with sad, sorrowful thoughts, I began to wonder if anyone I met or will meet would ever come up to me and give me my ownplate of jelly cakes.