Chapter 4: Hope of Morning (Icon for Hire)
The next day, I was taken to the main office. Zebra had already left yesterday with Toriko and the young man whom I had learned was Chef Komatsu. I would be walking into the Lion's den alone. I took a deep breath as the doors opened to reveal Ichiryuu, the president of the IGO, waiting for me. He invited me to sit down in the chair across from him and I quietly obeyed.
"So what are your demands?" asked. I gathered my thoughts.
"First of all, I should explain the reasoning behind why I steal from gourmet restaurants," I said.
"Okay," he said.
"When I was a kid, I lived in the slums of a poverty-stricken country. I know what it's like to be starving and helpless. The food I steal, however, isn't for me; it's for the people of the countries not supported by the IGO. And I will have you know that I will continue to steal until everyone gets three meals a day," I said, giving him a serious look. He seemed to be amused.
"I guess I can't really argue with that," he said with a laugh, "however I will take those people into consideration when I'm planning. Is there anything else you would like to bring to my attention?"
I thought for a moment, trying to remember anything else that I found important to say.
"I also have something to say about the weapon making condition. The amount of weapons you asked for is going to take a while because I go into a lot of detail and use good quality materials. To get those materials, I would need the help from a skilled bishokuya who isn't afraid to go into such places," I explained.
"So, are you saying you need an assistant to help you get the materials?" he asked.
"Precisely," I said.
"How did you your materials before now?" he asked.
"I have connections with the Gourmet Yakuza and Dragon Queen Takeshi. As you know, until just recently, Takeshi only occasionally came out of the Gourmet World. The Gourmet Yakuza has many other important things to do than help me get materials for guns or blades. Some materials I am able to get on my own," I explained.
"I see. Very well. I will arrange everything. Do we have a deal?" he asked, holding out his hand for a handshake. I sighed.
"I believe so," I said, shaking his hand. What am I getting myself into? I wondered. I walked back down to my cell and gathered the things I had, though, it wasn't much. Love came into the room with the clothes I had first entered the prison with. It was cleaned and folded. I put it on remembering how it had been 3 years since I had worn it. It was a traditional long-sleeved purple Vietnamese dress with tight black pants and tall brown boots. I put the belt and its leather tongue hung down the center to my knees. I put on black fingerless gloves and a purple bandage headband over my forehead. The headband matched the dress perfectly. Lastly, I tied a green bandage around a small lock of hair. Coco had given it to me when we were kids and even though we aren't really talking to each other, I still see him as a friend. I grabbed my things and walked to the entrance of the prison. When I went outside, I found someone waiting for me. I dropped my things in surprise. I know it's been 3 years and all but I didn't think he would grow so fast, I thought.
"Hades!" I cried as I ran to the devil serpent. I hugged him with tears in my eyes, "You're so big now!"
I had practically raised him since he was a hatchling. 5 years ago, I had stumbled upon the nest after I had accidentally killed his parents. He has always thought of me as his mother and he grows stronger everyday to protect me. The guards seemed surprised to see a devil serpent at their front door and were even more surprised to find that he was my animal partner.
"Let's go home," I said to Hades as I picked up my things and jumped on his back. He slithered into a tunnel that took us under the ocean to the Puffer Whale Caverns. We went up and out of the caverns after we removed the rocks from the entrance. We went up into the mountains until we reached our secret valley. There was a river that ran through the forest at the bottom. Right above this was a ledge and a cave opening that led to a labyrinth of tunnels. We took the left tunnel and entered the cold forge. The furnace hadn't been used in 3 years so it would be difficult to light. I went outside and gathered some fallen branches and twigs. I went back inside and started a fire in the furnace. Hades curled up in the corner and warmed his scales with the heat of the raging fire, falling asleep in its warm embrace. I took out some ingredients and prepared to cook them. Tomorrow, I'll go to Nerg City with some of these ingredients. They'll be glad to see me, I thought.
The next day…
I collected more ingredients and left with Hades to the city. Some seemed afraid of him because it's not every day you see a gigantic snake in the slums. I saw movement in the corner of my eye.
"Mama Chiru!" a little girl screamed with excitement. She jumped into my arms just as I was tackled by many other children.
"Hey guys! I'm back!" I said as I tried to get up. These guys should become football players and wrestlers someday. They're already pretty good, I thought.
"I brought you guys something. I need you guys to call everyone over here," I said as the children ran around, knocking on doors. I grabbed the bags of ingredients and found that the little girl was still standing next to me.
"Hana-chan, do you want to help me pass out food to everyone?" I asked. She didn't respond. I looked more closely at her and saw that her eyes seemed glazed over and her pulse was getting weaker and less stable. My eyes widened with surprise.
"Hana! Don't tell me you ate poisoned puffer whale?!" I exclaimed. Before she could answer, she passed out in my arms. I quickly ran into a friend's house and put Hana on the bed. I luckily had some puffer whale poison antidote to cure her. I made a makeshift I.V. and gently insert the needle into her arm. After an hour, Hana slowly opened her eyes and looked around.
"Mama Chiru?" she asked. Everyone outside the small house cheered happily. I walked over to her and gave her a hug.
"You'll be okay. You just need to drink a lot of water to get the poison out of your system," I explained, giving her a glass of water.
"I just wanted to try puffer whale. I didn't think it would hurt," Hana said, crying. People looked at me when I started laughing.
"I'll be right back," I said, running to the kitchen with a certain ingredient. I summoned my demon to find where the poison sac was and took it out in 2 seconds. I cut the whale into sashimi and walked back into the room with the large plate full of fish. Hana looked at me with big eyes. I put the plate down in front of her.
"This is real puffer whale," I said with a smile. Hana picked up a piece and slowly brought it to her mouth. As she ate it, she started to cry. But these were not tears of sadness, but tears of pure delight.
"I think everyone should try this," she said. I smiled in agreement.
"I have plenty more to go around," I said, "Can I get some people to help cook and pass food out?"
Several people volunteered and we all had a party, eating gourmet food. I stayed in Nerg City for a week to monitor Hana's condition. Then, I went back home to clean up a bit. Little did I know that a certain someone was waiting for me.