Departed
Ashaki stood in the middle of a field, with long grass that waved in the breeze tickling her shins. It was here that Ashaki and Adorabat were in another training session. This time, they were putting the techniques Adorabat has learned into practice in combat.
The whooshing of wind was Adorabat's give away, that was how Ashaki could perceive the quick movements she has grown used too.
Billowing out from behind a cloud, Adorabat zeroed in on Ashaki, channeling chi into her wings, it took one big flap of them to hurl her towards Ashaki.
A straight charge such as this was virtually suicide by a novice chi wielder, but Adorabat was an exception. Due to her sweetypie anatomy, she had dense bones, and would in turn be unaffected by a forward rush.
Ashaki raised a hand towards Adorabat, a green circle appeared around Ashaki's wrist, and with a turn of her hand, blocks of ice formed around Adorabat, until it encased her entirely, except for her head.
The extra weight pulled her off of her course, crashing into the ground the ice shattered into pieces, and Adorabat flapped away unscathed, circling Ashaki.
"Remember Adorabat," Ashaki called out to her. "In a battle of chi, brute force means nothing. What matters is if you can put think your opponent, use their tricks against them, and if you can't do that, find a hole in their tactics."
Adorabat took some time to think. Up to this point, Ashaki has yet to take a step. Her contacts let her perceive almost anything. But what if she couldn't see?
When Adorabat was behind her, she channeled chi into her wing, and with a whoosh, send a wave of wind at Ashaki. The result breeze got under her cape and flipped it up, where it fell over her face. The same thing Mao Mao did in his sparring match against Minori.
While she was blinded, Adorabat performed another rush, this one didn't have the same build up as the last one, but it would at least knock her off balance.
Ashaki, as soon as her vision was impaired, predicted that Adorabat would perform a straight rush once again. So her response was to push her chi through the Muladhara, the root chakra, and levitate upward about ten feet.
Adorabat zoomed through empty space, using a series of small chi powered flaps to slow herself down. Looking back, she saw Ashaki floating up above, readjusting her cape. Once she was settled, she gave Adorabat a smile.
"Very good!" Ashaki called out to her. "I think we will call it here for today."
"What?!" Adorabat cried. "I wanna keep going!"
"I'm sure you do," Ashaki said as her feet came in contact with the ground. "But it's time you went to see your father."
"Oh alright," Adorabat said, her tone making clear that she wasn't exactly enthused.
The two of them started making their way to the location that Badgerclops had described to her earlier. Ashaki held a small piece of paper with a map etched into it. If the drawing was accurate, it would be just another couple of minutes before they arrived.
"Hey, Aunty Ashaki?" Adorabat asked as she flapped next to her head.
"Yes, Adorabat?" Ashaki replied, her eyes still shifting back and forth from the map to the path.
"I was wondering about the realm," Adorabat trailed off, trying to find the words. "The one with the departed."
"You mean the schnepp realm?" Ashaki answered looking over to Adorabat finally.
"Yeah, that one!" Adorabat exclaimed.
"What about it?" Ashaki asked, already having a clue as to what Adorabat was asking.
"Is there any chance we could take a look?"
Ashaki's brows furrowed in annoyance. "I told you yesterday just how dangerous that place is, and you have no need to go there!" Ashaki growled at Adorabat. "Why on earth would you want to do to something so dangerous?"
"I... I want to see my mom," Adorabat said meekly.
Ashaki went silent for a moment. "How long has she been... gone?"
"A few years?" Adorabat answered.
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Ashaki said. "The schnepp realm is only for those who still have a strong emotional attachment to the living world. After that much time, I'm afraid your mother has already passed on."
"You don't know that!" Adorabat interjected. "She might still be there!"
"Adorabat, the answer is no," Ashaki said sternly. "And if I catch you trying to enter the schnepp realm without my supervision, this will be the end of my training you in the mystic arts. Am I understood?"
Adorabat huffed, turning her head away from Ashaki.
"Adorabat," Ashaki said. "Am I understood?"
"Yes Ashaki," Adorabat grumbled. Ashaki felt a throb in her chest, Adorabat had taken the habit of calling Ashaki and her sisters Aunty. Hearing her drop that felt like a cut to her heart. But she only had the best intentions. She was already overstepping as is, she couldn't be putting Mao Mao's protege at risk as well.
Just through the trees, Ashaki could make out the painted walls of a house. The teal structure was a three story building, but for sweetypies, the house was a bit small, for three stories, it looked more like two to two and a half stories.
Walking up onto the porch, Ashaki knocked on the front door. She heard someone call from inside, probably saying that it would just be second. The swung inwards, but Ashaki didn't see anyone, but she noticed a chandelier on the floor, and casting her gaze upwards, she saw chairs, bookshelves, and other arrangements of furniture attached to the ceiling. Or maybe it was the floor?
The person who answered the door hung from said ceiling, a teal bat wearing glasses. When he spoke, his voice was rather nasally. "Hello, Adorabat! Who's this with you? Where's Mao Mao?"
"Greetings," Ashaki answered. "My name is Ashaki, and as for my brother, he couldn't make it today, I hope you understand."
"Don't worry about it," The teal bat reassured her. "Come on in, make yourself at home!" Adorabat flew in, flipping upside down and attaching herself to the ceiling. Ashaki levitated up, realigning herself so that she now stood on the ceiling. As long as she kept the chi flow throughout her body consistent, she wouldn't suffer from the blood flow to her head. "Wow, you really made yourself at home."
"If you don't mind me asking," Ashaki said, looking at some of the pictures on the mantle of the fire place. "What prompted you to let your daughter take part in heroics?"
"Well, at first, nothing," Eugene answered, blowing his nose into a tissue. "I didn't even know she was doing that for some time, and when I did, I pulled her from the Sheriff Department immediately."
"Yet she's still running with my brother to this day," Ashaki noted.
"Yes, well, I guess I was just scared," Eugene settled down in a chair, staring off in thought. "After Sonara passed, I was scared of losing Adorabat. But she doesn't need protecting, she's the bravest member of the group after all."
Ashaki wasn't sure she'd call that bravery, more like blind determination. Much like the rest of the furniture, the chimney was also upside down. Ashaki dare not even try to grasp the physics of how it worked with flames trying to burn into the floor of the fire place.
Along the mantle were a series of pictures, picking one up, Ashaki felt the picture resist her for a moment before releasing. On the mantle, and the bottom of the picture were a series of small magnets. The purpose of the magnets were obvious, they would keep the frames from falling down towards the ceiling.
"Is this your wife?" Ashaki asked, the picture was of a purple and a younger Adorabat holding a gemstone. The purple bat wore loupe monocular magnifying glass on their head, most likely for the purpose of appraising the gems.
"Yes, or at least, she was," Eugene's voice took on a more somber tone. "She and Adorabat went exploring in a nearby cave, you see. They couldn't have known about the cave dragon slumbering in its depths. It was that same dragon that took Sonara from this world, and Adorabat's leg as well."
"My condolences," Ashaki said, placing the picture back where it was placed originally.
"Oh gosh, don't worry yourself about it, that was a long time ago, and Adorabat and her friends dealt with the beast as well," Eugene said the last part with pride. Surely there was some form of closure, knowing the beast that killed someone you held dear got it's just desserts.
Several hours go by, Adorabat catches her father up on all of their adventures. He looks like he could launch into a panic at any moment, hearing how close Adorabat comes to death from time to time. Once Adorabat had finished, Eugene donned a strained smile, saying how proud he was of Adorabat.
Ashaki and Adorabat leave the bat household, Adorabat was in a slightly better mood after hanging out with her father.
"Adorabat," Ashaki called to her. Adorabat looked back, but didn't say anything. "Do you still wish to visit the a schnepp realm?"
"Yes!" Adorabat screeched, her eyes lighting up.
"I'll come to a compromise with you," Ashaki told her. "I will escort you through the realm, however, should we fail to find your mother, or it gets too dicey, we will leave the realm immediately. No pouting, crying, screeching, or anything of the sort. Understand?"
"Yes!"
Ashaki nodded to herself. In truth, she hadn't changed her mind about the schnepp realm in the slightest. However, what Adorabat hadn't told her was that she had lost her mother prematurely. It was one thing if it was by age, or disease. But by monster attack, that meant Adorabat never got to properly say goodbye, and maybe going to the schnepp realm would give her some closure.
Once they got back to HQ, Ashaki brought Adorabat to the dojo. Sitting down into their meditation positions, it wasn't a minute before they rose into the astral plane.
"Why are we here?" Adorabat asked. "I thought we were going to the schnepp realm."
"We are," Ashaki answered. "You can't enter the schnepp realm by conventional means. At times, it can leak into the corporeal world, and the astral plane. So we're going to enter through the leak in the astral plane."
"We couldn't have entered through the real world?" Adorabat asked. Ashaki felt the need to correct Adorabat's definition of "real", but she was five, she wasn't going to have an easy time saying corporeal.
"No, and for two reasons," Ashaki answered. "One, we would need the physical location of the leak. Two, if we entered through the corporeal realm, then we'd be in our physical bodies, and any damage we take will affect those bodies. So it's a little safer to enter through the astral plane."
Just as it was yesterday, the plumes of the dark purple clouds that billowed in from the schnepp realm. Arcs of electric blue lighting danced in the clouds folds.
"Stay close to me," Ashaki said. Adorabat adhered and sidled up near Ashaki. Holding out her hand, Ashaki created a translucent green sphere, comprised of her chi. "We're going in."
The orb began to drift through the empty space. As it drew closer to the clouds, a streak of lighting arced towards them, striking the orb. Adorabat jumped, a high pitched squeak breaking through her mouth without meaning too.
"That's why it's dangerous," Ashaki explained. "The schnepp realm lashes out at anything foreign. It knows we aren't supposed to be here so it's trying to expel us. It's almost as if the realm itself is alive."
They drifted through the electrifying clouds, occasional strikes knocking at the outer layer of their orb. It took everything just to keep the orb stable. The three dimensions were virtually the physical manifestations of the three aspects of living individuals.
The corporeal world represented the body, the astral plane represented the mind, and the schnepp realm represented the spirit.
In the corporeal world, the body was the most defined aspect; the same goes for the astral plane, where you can do anything you can think of. The spirit however, there was only a handful of ways to strengthen it, and now the schnepp realm was chipping away at Ashaki.
"Adorabat," Ashaki gasped out. The last time Ashaki entered the schnepp realm, she didn't have the orb, she dodged and redirected the lightning. Now with the orb she had to take the shocks of electricity. "I don't know how long I can retain the sphere at this rate. We may need to turn back."
Adorabat opened her mouth to object, but remembered Ashaki's conditions. Hanging her head, she gave a small nod. Ashaki began swiveling the orb around. As they began to depart, Adorabat heard something just past the arcs of electricity.
"Wait!" Adorabat screeched. "Go back!"
"Are you joking?" Ashaki bit back.
"I hear something! Over there!" Adorabat pointed back the way they came.
"Adorabat," Ashaki grunted. If she turned back, she may not have the energy to get them out.
"Please!" Adorabat shouted, looking back at Ashaki.
Ashaki knew the look on those eyes. She had a similar look when she was exploring ruins, solving the mysteries of the past. "Okay."
Turning towards the direction Adorabat pointed to, Ashaki set off. Sparks of electricity continued to bounce off the sphere, drops of sweat beaded Ashaki's brow as she struggled to maintain the shape. As they continued, Ashaki began to hear it. Just as Adorabat said, there were a pair of voices just beyond the veil of clouds ahead. Just a little more.
The sphere came in contact with the veil, a continuous spark spread across the surface of the sphere. Ashaki struggled to hold the sphere, she could feel it teetering on the edge of shattering while they're midway through.
Adorabat saw this, wishing she could help. Looking at the tips of her wings, Adorabat thought that maybe there was a way she could give Ashaki some of her chi.
Stepping towards Ashaki, Adorabat wrapped her wings around Ashaki's leg. Trying to remember what Ashaki had taught her, Adorabat began leading the flow of chi in her body towards her wings, she tried transferring the chi to Ashaki.
However, this wasn't the correct way to transfer chi to another individual. Luckily, Ashaki knew what Adorabat was trying to do, and began opening herself to Adorabat's chi, pulling it into her own well of chi. Using the new amount of chi, Ashaki quickly reinforced the bubble, and suddenly the other side of the veil didn't seem so far away.
They began to protrude from the other side of the veil. Once all the way through, Ashaki dropped the sphere. They were now within an "eye", a form of pocket within the clouds that acted as a safe zone. Usually these were the product of a departed soul. For reasons Ashaki had yet to fathom, the departed seem to have sway in this realm, much like how the bodies of the living have sway in the corporeal world by chopping down a forest.
Pulling her head up, Ashaki saw the departed that resided within the pocket, her eyes widened. Sitting at a table were two departed souls, one of which was the same purple bat that Ashaki saw in the family pictures at Eugene's house.
Adorabat stood in silence, her mouth agape. Was this real? Was this actually happening? Adorabat's vision became blurred, the corners of her mouth turned as she rocketed forward. Adorabat cried out, her voice breaking as she said a single word. "MOM!"
Sonara held her wings open, embracing her child as she rammed her full force. "Hello my little gem," Sonara cooed, striking the back of Adorabat's head with her wing.
Ashaki looked on in silence, as happy as she was, she was stunned as to who the other spirit was. It was impossible for her not to know, their picture hung in the halls of the Mao Monastery.
She was massive, probably only dwarfed by Brunhilde and her father. Ears clipped with rings, flourishing a wide fur cape, and captain's jacket with worn gloves. Most notably were the giant sword that laid at her side, and the eye patch that covered her right eye.
Pushing herself up, Ashaki ambled towards the woman taking a swig of her mug. "Y-you're..."
The woman took notice of Ashaki, a wide evil like grin spread across her face. "Well, well, well. If it isn't my great-great niece, how's the hero business?"
"This is one of your relatives, Blackbeard?" Sonara asked, holding her daughter still.
"Yeah, my great-great niece," Blackbeard responded. "Where are my manners? Ashaki, this is Sonara, Sonara, my niece Ashaki."
"Yes," Sonara said looking back down to her daughter. "I've seen you giving my little gem lessons on the mystic arts."
"That mystic stuff always went over my head," Blackbeard cut in. "Nothing beats a sword paired with some grit."
"You truly have no manners," Sonara chided.
"At least people get what they saw with me," Blackbeard laughed.
"What are you doing here?" Ashaki asked. Blackbeard looked back at her niece, with a raised brow. "This place for those who have regrets and still have an attachment to the corporeal world."
"I think you just answered your own question," Blackbeard answered, taking a swig from her mug. "You're supposed to be the smart one aren't you?"
"I mean what attachments could you possibly have?" Ashaki struggled to get her thoughts into words. "You were legendary! You had riches like no other! You had so many achievements to your name!"
"You really want know?" Blackbeard set her mug back on the table. "I still have things I wanted to do, but besides that, my attachment is to the Mao Clan itself."
"The clan?" Ashaki repeated.
"I don't have time to tell you my backstory," Blackbeard waved the thought aside. "Pfft, that's an obvious lie, I'm dead, I've got all the time in the world!" Blackbeard sputtered into a fit of laughter, while Ashaki stood in silence.
Adorabat on the other hand was still crying into her mother's shoulder. "Mom! I-I'm s-so-"
"Shhh, it's okay little gem," Sonara whispered to her child. "Everything is alright."
"B-but I-" Adorabat continued to cry.
"You didn't do anything wrong," Sonara consoled. "It was my choice." Adorabat finally calmed down into a series of sniffles. "You have become such a strong brave woman, and I am so proud of you."
"I-I really miss you," Adorabat finally rasped.
"I know, I'll miss you and your father more than you could possibly know," Sonara reassured her.
"It might be time for you to go," Blackbeard said, standing up from the table. "The schnepp realm will be harsher on you the longer you stay. Which will make for a very unpleasant return ship."
"She's right," Sonara said to Adorabat. "It's time for you to leave."
Adorabat took a big sniff. "O-okay."
"I'll help you out," Blackbeard walked over the edge of their pocket, putting her hand against the veil. The wall opened up into a spiraling tunnel, leading all the way to the edge of the schnepp realm. "That should do."
"Before we leave," Ashaki said to Blackbeard. "What did you mean, when you said your lasting connection was the clan?"
"When you dedicate your life to something impossibly grand, it becomes more of a cage than a duty," Blackbeard answered. With Ashaki's confused face, she put her hand on her niece's shoulder. "You'll understand one day, I just hope it's not too late when you do."
Adorabat finally pulled herself away from her mother, joining Ashaki at the threshold of the door. Taking Adorabat's wing into her hand, the two set off, walking steadily back from where they came.
Once they were gone, Blackbeard went back to the table, sitting down back in her spot. "Now, you were telling me about some of the gems you came across?"
"Right," Sonara wiped away her tears. "Well, there is this one I found in a cave on the outskirts of the kingdom. The whole cave was filled with the stuff, and in the reflections of each one was, well, me! Yet at the same time, not me. Different versions, as if from different universes."
"You don't say?" Blackbeard took another swig. "I wouldn't mind having the chance to see other versions of myself!"
"They weren't anything compared to the Ruby Pure Heart," Sonara returned.
"Really?" Blackbeard leaned forward. "We'll come on! Out with it!"
"You really want to know?" Sonara asked rhetorically. "Oh alright, I'll tell you."