Part Four:

Fai brought the sled to a halt in a larger village than the one they had first visited. A gray haired woman with a gold and fluorite staff greeted them with an entourage of men dressed the same way Fai was: large white coats with blue trim.

"Mayor Tanya! Did the demons pass by here?"

"Yes, Master Fai. There were only three of them, though, and they didn't pause enough for me to catch one. I gave it my very best efforts for Master Yuui. Please let me know he's doing fine. I'll leave now to Luval to help him."

Fai turned to Kurogane and explained, "Mayor Tanya D Vagin has been Yuui's recent tutor in the healing arts." He turned back to the woman and shook his head. "Your best role is being the mayor of Kella and watching over the citizens. King Ashura and a guest have him stabilized. We need to focus on catching one of these demons alive, so we can help Yuui."

"I'm glad to hear he's stable. His natural abilities are incredible; they'll help. The creatures headed north. It's getting close to evening, so you need to stay over here and head out tomorrow morning. Let's have dinner and then my personal hamam is ready for you and your guest."


***
The dinner was odd to Kurogane's taste, but not too dissimilar from Nihongo fair. It was something called rakfisk, which Kurogane understood to be raw, fermented trout. He was baffled by the stuff called sour cream on the fish. He hated that stuff, but had been taught to be polite and not up turn his nose at the food offered.

Fai, on the other hand, sulked and huffed at the food, openly, in front of the mayor and her servants. They then put down two other dishes. One was called krabbelag, which would have been good if it wasn't for something called mayonnaise on it. Kurogane ate it politely as Fai sighed dramatically over the course and poked at it with his eating utensil called a fork.

The one dish Kurogane couldn't bring himself to put in his mouth was called lofotfiske. The odor stung his nose. Fai was now openly wailing.

Mayor Tanya smiled as if she'd dealt with Fai's behavior before and was actually charmed by it. "I forgot you hate fish and seafood, Master Fai. I'm sorry about that. It was all I had in store."

Fai flashed her bright smile and waved his hand. "Yuui adores this stuff."

"But you cook it so well. You'd never know you couldn't stand it," she said.

"It's only to please Yuui," Fai said, with a softer smile. " I have to admit, I have more of sweet tooth than him."

"You cook?" Kurogane blurted out, never once hearing of a man voluntarily cooking outside of camping out.

Fai nodded. "Cooking is one of my favorite hobbies. That, and archery."

Kurogane wasn't surprised at the mage having such feminine hobbies. At least archery was useful in combat. Fai really had too many contradictions; on one hand, he could blow up a forest with his magic, but on the other hand, he wasted time doing something he could have servants do. Kurogane snorted and shook his head wondering what had scrambled the mage's brain so bad.

"May I have some Syrniki, Mayor Tanya?"

"Of course!" she exclaimed with an indulgent smile.

"What? You really are shameless!" Kurogane bellowed. "Is there not one person in this forsaken ice pit that doesn't baby you?"

Yuui shook his head with a small chuckle. Mayor Tanya sighed and shook her head, too. "When King Ashura brought them to our world, we all were smitten with them. They were in desperate need of some tender, loving care, and no once could say no to those big, blue eyes."

Fai grew somber and he waved a hand in the air. "Kuro-pon doesn't want to hear about those times." Servants stopped any further discussion as they produced little floured disks coated in sweet preserves and sweet stuff Kurogane found disgusting. Fai dug into the dish with enthusiasm.

"Delicious!" Fai declared. The smiling mage held up a floured cake towards Kurogane's mouth and commanded, "Take a bite."

"Not on your life, you twit! Leave me alone!"

"But it's so good. You should taste my version, if not this. It'd curl your toes in delight."

"I doubt it. I'm finished, so I'd like to go to sleep."

"Not before a visit to the hamam. It's very necessary to warm up after our travels," Fai said. He turned towards the mayor and thanked her profusely before dragging Kurogane down the hall.


They gave Kurogane a pair of light, cotton shorts to wear in the sauna and steaming, enormous bathtub. He came to understand the word here for a room with a hot bath and a sauna was hamam, and here they were taken seriously as a social event to warm up after travel. Kuorgane had been given white shorts to wear during the bath, a robe to sleep in, and several fluffy towels.

In Nihongo, bathing together with friends and family was a similar custom, so he wasn't put off. However, it was typically only family and close friends. In Celes, things were different. Fai plodded in the hamam wearing shorts and a light, white robe. Obviously, strangers could bath together.

Kurogane lounged in the hot water of the tub, trying to ignore the blond, but he opened one eye to watch the mage as he lowered his robe. Both eyes popped open when he caught sigh of a large tattoo coving the mage's back. It was dark and in the shape of a bird of some sort. It even covered his upper arms and dipped below his waistband.

Kurogane's father had a tattoo of a dragon down his left arm, and they were considered solely a masculine thing. You got one only when you accomplished some sort milestone in your life. Kurogane asked, "So what did you do to earn that?"

Fai looked baffled for a few moments and looked around in incomprehension. "Sorry? Earn what?"

"That tattoo across your back and arms. Only the most seasoned warriors would have the right to wear them in the place I come from. To have one so large and dark would say that you did something with extreme courage."

Fai looked stunned for a moment and shook his head with sly smirk. "Not here. This is a marking infused with magic. You see, this isn't the first time I've earned King Ashura's wrath. He placed the mark on me as a governor of my magic. It's supposed to prevent me from casting anything over my skill set. I guess it failed. I felt it tingle when I cast the spell that brought the demons over, but it didn't burn like it was supposed to."

"Burn?"

"Just a warm reminder, really. You see, King Ashura put this on me almost a year ago because I melted a whole mountain of ice and almost flooded a village. I was trying to help them, but it was too much. I was able to save the village and correct my mistake, but he decided I needed something to control my power. He put this mark on me. It's supposed to burn when I cast something above a level dictated by King Ashura." Fai smiled as he slipped into the tub beside Kurogane. "You know, it was one of his rare punishments, but I like carrying it. It's something special from King Ashura. It shows his concern for my safety."

"You're warped," he scoffed and leaned back in the tub. Fai made himself comfortable and then got thoughtful. They sat in silence for a long period of time. Kurogane was just enjoying feeling warm again. His reverie was interrupted when the mage started wriggling around.

"That would mean my magic is growing stronger than I realized. I wonder if Ashura knows I overcame his marking? I don't know that he'll be pleased when I tell him."

"Maybe if you practiced discipline instead of magic, you'd be better served," Kurogane snapped bluntly.

Fai looked offended, as if he were going to protest, because his mouth gaped opened. He then pressed on a smile. "If I'm a spoiled trouble maker, then Kurgs is certainly a big know-it-all blow hard."

"Why you..." Kurogane growled, but Fai was too quick for Kurogane's hand as he ducked under the water and moved to the other side of the gigantic tub. Fai slicked back his blond hair when he resurfaced. He was laughing hysterically, which enraged Kurogane.

Kurogane settled back. He wasn't going to rise to the bratty mage's bait. "No need in getting riled up before bed," Fai pointed out before hauling himself out of the tub. Kurogane followed suit and accepted a towel from Fai. "We've got a big day of travel tomorrow. We should get to the destination late afternoon."

"Fine," he mumbled. He pulled on a robe before taking off the damp shorts and leaving them in a basket at the doorway; Fai did the same. He followed Fai down the hallway to where a large room had been prepared with two beds. "I can't even get away from you for one lousy night."

"I wanted to head out early in the morning again. Besides, I can't all asleep without someone else in the room, so you'll just have to fill in for Yuui."

He glared at the mage and sat on the bed with his freshly laundered clothes. He put them aside and flopped down, his back turned away from the irritating teen that was stretching out on his stomach.


After a quick breakfast, they left in the sled with fresh reindeer and supplies. Fai actually let Kurogane drive the sled, while he consulted a map. Kurogane glanced over the paper and then went back to guiding the reindeer through the thick forest. It seemed as though the landscape was getting hillier.

"That map shows roads, but I don't see any," Kurogane pointed out.

"These are ley lines. They're like roads for magic energy underground. I'm trying to figure out exactly where that void is. I can sense it's slightly left of our current direction." Kurogane corrected the reindeer and leaned back in the sled. Fai then looked up from the map. "We should be there within three hours. Fortunately, the snow has backed down."

"I'm just glad it's summer in Nihongo. I can't wait to get back."

"What is your home world like?"

"Nothing even close to this. There are actual seasons and fields of green grass. Trees with fruit and rivers that aren't frozen all the time."

"It sounds like a nice place. You mentioned parents earlier. What are they like?"

"My father is a very strong ninja who's devoted to keeping Nihongo safe. My mother is a miko that supports him with her magic."

"You're lucky to have a mother."

"So what were your real parents like?" Kurogane asked, figuring it would be polite to return the conversation. Fai clammed up behind a false smile and pretended he didn't hear the question. Kurogane snorted. "Whatever," he mumbled.

After a few moments, Fai did say, "I remember everything about my mother, but Yuui doesn't very well. He found her... when she... died... and I think that's why he doesn't think about her. He was silent for weeks and it really scared me. We were four when it happened."

Kurogane had a feeling there was more behind the word 'died,' but for the mage to confess this much was huge. He didn't want to pry further. "I'm sorry to hear that. My mother is sick. That's why I want to get back as soon as I can."

Fai's expression softened into a genuine smile. "Then I promise to do my best, so you can get home as soon as possible."

To be continued.