Any thoughts about the story so far?
The sounds of footsteps woke him. Painfully opening his eyes, he saw a man dressed in furs, with a gold crown. The man's red hair and green eyes stood out. Seeing him, Shin thought he was in the middle of a Shakespeare play. Or in front of a mirror, he thought.
"Get up Warrior of Water. We have much to talk about." The man said. He too had the same accent as Nuala.
Slowly getting up, Shin noticed he was still in his armor. He was missing his helmet and trident. The armor also felt heavier than normal.
"You shall not need your armor here." The man said as though he was reading Shin's mind.
The man headed down a tunnel of ice and rock. Not knowing what to expect, Shin followed with his guard up.
"I am the Ocean and the Sea. I go by many names as every human culture has a name for me. For now though, you may call me Lir. The woman in white you was fighting was my daughter, Fionnuala. I apologize for her actions."
Shin decided to not comment. He was still trying to grasp the ideal of many names being one deity.
"What we are about to do is bring you close to the one who involved you in his plans but not close enough to know you are on his threshold."
"What?"
"Whatever reason Fionnuala brought you to the southern pole, was part of some preparation of something bigger. Something else is leading it, and you are just a pawn. But I am about to turn a pawn into a stronger piece."
"You're talking about chess?"
"Metaphorically, yes. Do you play it?"
"I'm not great at it." Shin grinned, "And the other team's King?"
"Donn, Lord of the Dead. He is bored and decided to overthrow me by replacing me with you, hence why Fionnuala was tricked into convincing you to flood the world. He knew a human commanding the water would bring him more souls to play with."
"So if we're talking about chess, he can't steal a pawn from the other team and use it."
"No, but this is not completely like chess either." The man laughed.
"What about the other… gods I guess? Can't you ask them to help?" Shin asked.
"Unfortunately no. But we do have one thing he does not."
"What?"
"You and your looks." Lir said turning around.
"You want me to convince him that I'm you?"
"Yes. You even have the beard to look the part. If you can fool him long enough that will gives us enough time to counter him after I go looking for my sons."
"Checkmate with the real King?"
"Yes, now you get it."
Shin thought some more, "Where are they?"
"In the Otherworld. I must bring them back to seal them away." He moved a wall from the tunnel, "Here we are."
Shin looked through. It looked like London, but in all white.
"London, England? You're bringing me there?"
"Far enough away to keep your armor safe but close enough to convince him that you are me protecting the coasts."
"And if this fails?"
"You have your armor and a lousy sense of humor. You can keep him busy for a week or two. Just do not use the armor of water. You are free to walk around with other humans. We spirits and gods tend to be around people to keep up with the times." Then the ocean spirit smiled, "While you are in London, you should try some of the ales."
"Is there anything else I should do to keep his attention in London?"
"I will take care of that. Just stay out of trouble and act like a king."
Shin frowned before he left the tunnel. He was blinded by light.
When he could see again, Shin found himself outside of a library. He was out of his armor and in the clothing he was given back in New Zealand. He stuck out like a sore thumb.
"How nice of him to put me in front of a library." Shin said out loud to himself.
Walking in, he noticed an elder man behind a desk.
"Excuse me, sir," Shin started, "I'm looking for a certain Irish tale."
"Ah, which one? There's plenty I can set you up with." The man sat back in his chair, and readjusted his glasses.
"I don't know the title, but it has to do something with Lir."
"The Children of Lir. Follow me. It's a bit of a sad one."
The man walked directly to the bookcase. He started looking through the titles and grabbed one.
"Here you are. Need anything else?" The man returned to his desk.
"No thanks." Shin said, flipping through the pages.
Sure enough, the book explained his dream he had a few months ago. The swan was Fionnuala. That was her curse along with her brothers. One thing it he still didn't understand was why the spirit was helping the Lord of the Dead. Closing the book, he placed it on a rack. He was about to walk out, but stopped to ask the old man where the nearest bar was. He was pointed in some direction. Pulling out his wallet, he realized that he only had yen on him. He sighed, and asked for the nearest bank. His fifteen minute walk became an hour after trying to find somewhere to get money.
Walking into the pub, Shin asked for a phone.
"There's a telephone outside, love." The woman behind the bar said.
"Do you have change?"
"Sure."
"Thanks." Shin said, getting the change.
He walked to the phone booth, and dialed a number.
"Mori Pottery House." A tired Japanese voice was heard.
"Sayoko."
"Shin? Where the hell have you been? It's nine at night here."
"Lots of places. I'm in London at the moment."
"Did you desert? I swear if you tarnished the Mori name…" Sayoko started to sound angry.
"No, armor thing came up." Shin sighed, "I know I should have called sooner, but I'm doing so now."
Shin kept the talk short, figuring that his sister was about to head to bed. He then dialed another number.
"Touma, I swear," the voice on the other line threatened, "You could have called at another time when it's not dark outside."
"What and miss getting yelled at?" Shin laughed.
"Shin?" Seiji spat out, "Where in earth are you?"
"London."
"As in London, England?"
"Yeah." Shin said. He could hear Shu in the background yelling, and another voice laughing.
"We thought you were dead or something. We all had visions of you in Antarctica."
"Yeah, I'll explain later."
"You better Suiko. I had to jump into cold water and ice to search for you." He heard.
"Who was that?"
Seiji laughed, "A very angry Anubisu."
"You were that worried about me that you called him?"
"Well yeah, we had no other way of getting to the South Pole." Seiji spoke in a defensive manner.
Shu took the phone from Seiji, "Hey Fish-boy, what the hell are you doing? You had us sick and worried."
"Do you mind giving the phone back to someone who isn't going to yell on the phone?" Shin said, pulling the ear piece away.
When Seiji was put back on the phone, Shin explained what had happened. Putting more change into the phone, he continued saying that they should probably head to London when able.
"Yeah, we'll call Touma as well. Be careful."
"I will. For now, I'm heading to a pub. Cheers." Shin laughed.
"You and Touma should be related." Was Seiji's good-bye.
Before leaving the booth, Shin looked out, only to see a dark haired man on a corner. He had a serpent tattoo like the man in Japan did. The warrior of water left the booth and back into the pub, and waited to see if the man followed. Sure enough, the man did, and sat away from Shin.
"What can I get you, love?" the bartender asked.
"How about the Porter?" Shin said, remembering what Lir had said.
"So, where are you from?" she asked.
"Japan."
"Really? You sure don't look like it."
"My mother's English."
"Ahh, visiting family then?"
"Yes." Shin lied, "I have some cousins that live here."
Shin heard the door open again. A couple of guys walked in.
"Afternoon." The bartender said.
"Kelly I swear you better have an ale ready for us." One of the men said.
"I do. Right on time again, might I add."
The two guys sat on the other side of the bar. They went on talking about their recent job at sea. Shin stuck to his own before one of the men spoke about him.
"Who's this wanker?"
"Be nice Geoff. He's from Japan."
"Is he? Can you fight then? Some ninja skills?"
Shin looked at them and gave them a small grin, "Not if I have to."
"Hey, I know you." The other one, Tom, spoke, "He's the bloke that jumped out of the helicopter when our ship went down. I can never forget a face. What's your name, Murray?"
"Mori." Shin corrected and then recognized him, "You're the guy who wouldn't let me save you. You kept holding me underwater as I was trying to get you to the raft."
"That's right; sorry about that, mate. I was terrified I was going to drown. What are you doing here?"
"Vacation." Shin continued with his lie.
"Geoff, this is the kind of guy we need around us," The man said, "Hey Kelly, his next one is on me."
They spent the next couple of hours talking about random things that had happened at sea. Shin would on occasion, look to see if the tattooed man was still there. He felt disappointed when the man was.
"What are you doing tonight?" Tom asked.
"Trying to find a hotel before I go to Canterbury in the morning." Shin said.
"There's a great club some of us go to after a long trip. You should come."
Shin laughed, "I'm sorry, I'll have to decline this time."
"Come on, the least we can bloody do is take our savior out."
Shin continued to decline.
"Alright then. Kelly, can we get some chips over here?" Tom asked.
"Sure thing, love."
A few pints later, Shin paid his small tab. He probably drank a bit too more than he was wanting, but a free drink was a free drink. And he got a good place to stay for the night. The two sailors hooked him up with a hotel not far from the train station. Although he wasn't really heading to Canterbury, he knew that if the others showed up, he could take the tube to Heathrow.
As he was enjoying the wet night, he kept his ears open for the tattooed man. He knew that he was being followed, but didn't know if the guy was going to do something. Taking another street, Shin slipped into a corner. In his drunken state, Shin was tired of being followed. The man also took the corner, but was surprised when a fist came at his head.
The man cried out, before sending one of his own out. Feeling it hit him, Shin recovered to knee the man in the stomach and then slammed him into a wall. People had scattered from the fight.
"Alright, who are you?"
"You're worst nightmare, Lir." The guy said.
'Good,' Shin thought, 'Donn took the bait.'
"Too bad for you, I'm too drunk to dream tonight." Shin said, hitting the man at the neck.
Taking the man's hoodie, Shin covered his head. The man smelt like cigarettes. Or maybe it was him after being the pub.
Shin took a taxi to the hotel. His left hand hurt from punching the guy as well as his face from taking a hit. He was sure that he scarred the lady at the hotel lobby when he walked in.
"Reservation for Shin Mori." He said.
"One moment." The woman said, having a look of disgust on her face. She soon came back, "Three nights?"
"Yes."
"Second floor. Enjoy." She said.
Shin grabbed the key and headed for bed.