Chapter 7: Separate Ways

With the week almost halfway over, Alex and Nate needed to move more quickly to get a good lead on the sword. After all, at the end of the week, Sully would be shipping them back to Colombia and they would lose their chance. Keeping this timeline in mind, the two of them scoured every single book they had brought, even stealing a few others throughout the touristy shops they passed through to get meals. Luckily, Sully had no choice but to bring them on one of his heists that Richard was paying him for. Otherwise, there wouldn't be enough time for him to complete it and he wouldn't get paid. Sully grumbled about this the rest of the night as he looked over floorplans from the museum to try and come up with a plan.

The job Sully decided to start with was retrieving the Han seals. Its location was a little ways outside of Tokyo and he thought it would be better to bring them to a less populated museum since the other job was in the center of the city. She and Nate only got a glimpse of the blueprints Sully had but it was enough for the two of them to try and recreate it and figure out what might be something helpful. As of now, Sully's plan was to go during business hours to get a better idea of where everything was and then come back for the retrieval late in the night.

Despite Sully's sour attitude after most of the morning, he at least treated them to mochi on the way to the museum. Alex was nibbling on her strawberry flavor as they pulled into the parking lot of the museum.

"You think we'll find anything we need here?" Nate asked, finishing off his sweet treat.

"There has to be. It's the National Museum. If it's anywhere, it has to be here, right?" she said with a shrug.

She could sense Sully trying to pretend he didn't hear what they were talking about and it made the corners of her lips curl upwards.

"Alright now listen up, the two of ya," Sully began, turning in his seat to look at them in the back. "I want ya to stay with me at all times, got it? If ya run off, I'm gonna wring your necks, I don't care who's watching."

Nate shot her a glance, that she barely caught before turning her attention back to Sully.

"Okay, fine. No need to have a stick up your ass," Nathan muttered.

Sully's lip twitched and in that moment, Alex could practically see his hair shedding from the stress the two of them were causing.

"You two are the stick up my ass," he grumbled, shifting to open the car door.

Nathan shot her a smirk and she couldn't help but join as they shuffled out of the vehicle. They finally got a good look at the museum and just the sight of it made her heart pump faster in anticipation. Even if there wasn't anything about the sword here - even though there was no way there wasn't - it would still be cool to learn some new things about Japanese history and culture while also watching Sully's process of prepping for a job.

Both teens had their notebooks tucked into their pockets at the ready. It wouldn't be proper research without taking notes.

Once they entered, it was like stepping back in time. Alex had to do her best not to gawk and stop at every single exhibit. There were several different galleries, all with different time periods and topics, and it seemed so overwhelming to figure out where they needed to go. Even though Sully's target was easier to pin down because of the organization of the galleries, he wanted to make sure he looked at the whole building and memorized all the entries and exits in case things went hairy.

The very first gallery was where the Han seals were kept, but it was also where most of the mythology and history of deities was located, which was perfect for them in regards to the sword.

A few other things caught her eye as they wandered inside, and she couldn't help but drag Nathan toward a Japanese iron helmet from the Kofun period.

"Alex, relax!" he exclaimed, barely holding back the laughter bubbling in his tone.

"Sorry, sorry, but look!"

Her eyes raked over the helmet and thought about what it would have been like to be in that time period and go into war, all decked out in that armor and trained as a samurai. Thinking about things like that always sent a dreamy glaze through her eyes that Nathan often remarked on and teased her about.

She tore her eyes away to note that he was watching her instead of looking at the exhibit. Her brows puckered and she gave him a questioning look.

"What? Why are you staring at me like that?" she huffed in question.

A small smile tugged at his lips and he shrugged, looking away and shaking his head. "Nothing. You're just doing it again."

Alex laughed softly and looked away, reaching to tuck some hair behind her ear. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Just like pointing it out."

Even though his words were teasing, they had an edge of softness to them that made a weird, fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She brushed it off and tried to bring her focus back onto the many different things to look at, which soon overwhelmed her senses and made her forget.

Sully was across the gallery, taking a peek at some other things, so the two of them decided to join him to see exactly what he would be stealing from the museum later tonight. They passed by a few other interesting things before finding the Han seals. Even though they were small they were still beautiful, shimmering in gold and silver and copper. They didn't spend too much time by them so it didn't look suspicious, but she noticed Sully already mapping everything out, glancing to each corner and crevice of the room to make sure he knew what to do.

Alex decided to take a quick peek as well to see what he might be looking out for. Obviously security cameras and alarms, but probably other things as well. She noted three cameras total in the room, with one pointed in the general direction of the seals. Besides the cameras, there was one singular window in the room near the back and a door nearby that specified it was for employees only. There wouldn't be a lot of ways to get out if things went hairy.

"Hey, Alex!"

Nathan's voice broke her from her observing and she spotted him near the front of the gallery next to a display of a scroll.

"What's up?" she queried, moving to stand next to him.

His face split into a wicked grin and he merely gestured to the scroll. Her eyes skimmed the Japanese characters as well as the words on the display next to it and everything clicked into place. The scroll was written in traditional Japanese and the plaque next to it was a translation with a short explanation of some of the differences between the older Japanese characters and the newer ones.

"Shit! Nice catch," she breathed, hands immediately reaching for her notebook.

"It's a lot to copy. I'll copy the characters and you'll copy the translation and the other stuff," he instructed, moving to grab his journal.

"Aye aye, Captain." She grinned and turned to the nearest blank page.

Alex worked quickly because Sully was almost done making his way around the room and she knew that he wouldn't want to wait for them and would make them leave before they finished if he had to. Luckily between the two of them, they wrote everything down before it was time to move on to the next gallery. Even if it wasn't exactly enough to fully translate the rubbings, it would still be a really good start and they might be able to fill in the gaps with just some good thinking.

The three of them spent the next hour and a half at the museum. In total the museum offered six galleries for them to look around. Sully spent much less time looking for potential problems in the other galleries, but it gave the two teens enough time to do their share of exploring and learning. By the time they left, they were exploding with new knowledge and buzz in their bones.

Half the day was gone, but with a long night ahead of them, it felt like the day just started. Alex made a cup of ramen as soon as they were back at the hotel and brought it into the bedroom to eat while they poured over the new findings. Nathan seemed too distracted to make food, but she let him have a few bites of hers so he wouldn't keel over and die of starvation.

"Okay, so if this symbol translates as a feminine pronoun, we can plug that into the rubbings," Alex started, scribbling the symbols and the translations they knew already across a sheet of paper.

"Some of these are more easily translated. These symbols spell out the name 'Kusanagi' which is the same in the old and modern Japanese," Nate observed.

Alex nodded, brows puckering as they worked furiously to try and translate what they could and infer what they couldn't. Sully came in to check on them once more before bed and he left with an eyeroll when he saw what the two were doing. He thought that he would hold them back from this, but they had been living on the streets for quite a while now, and even with his knowledge of thievery, they still had a few tricks up their sleeves. Plus everyone always underestimated the kids.

It was around midnight when they finally were able to get some sort of translation out of the text. Most of it told of the story of the Kusanagi sword, but at the very end, there was a small script that seemed to be a poem.

Alex brimmed with excitement. "Wait, listen to this! A poem:

Kusanagi gleams

Sacred blade of legends past

Wisdom forged in steel

Beneath deep blue waves

In the heart of the Japanese sea

Atorantisu lies still

Kusanagi's light

Guides lost souls to Atorantisu

Where secrets reside."

Alex couldn't help but grin at the end of her words. They actually found something! How could anyone have missed this? Or someone could have found it but not known how to continue from there.

"Wait, Atorantisu…? What does that mean?" Nathan asked, biting the tip of his pen.

"Not sure. It's the one word I couldn't translate. But wait, there's also something else at the end, look." She moved to the last line after the poem and pointed it out. "The grass to the southwest be your guide."

"Southwest of what?" he questioned. "That could be literally anything."

"You know, it might have something to do with those murals? There were a few things that were different than some of the paintings I've seen. That might be the best place to start."

He nodded. "You might be right. Only one way to find out - we have to go back to the shrine."

"Okay, and how are we gonna get away from Sully long enough to do that? He's been on our asses since he learned we went to the shrine yesterday."

Nathan's shit-eating grin never meant anything good, and she was sure this time wouldn't mean anything different.

"We could go now," he suggested, sitting up a little straighter.

"...now? Are you crazy?"

"Wait, hear me out. The shrine's not that far from here, we could be there in a ten-minute walk. And since it's emptier, we'd be able to get in and out more quickly. There can't be much more security than there was during the daytime. And it's the only time we'll be able to get away from Sully."

He had a point. Alex hated to admit it when his crazy plans seemed to be the only reasonable ones. But her excitement and desire to search for the sword and continue on this crazy adventure they started outweighed her pride.

"Okay. Let's do it," she agreed, hastily ripping out the page with the translation on it and folding it to stuff in her back pocket. "Window is going to be the best way to get out again."

Since there was no way Sully could keep the window locked, he had to reluctantly hope they wouldn't use it to get out again. And they hadn't until now. But he wouldn't know. They'd be back before he woke and would be none the wiser.

Alex used some of their pillows to make some bundles in the covers so it looked like they were still there if Sully woke and tried to check on them. Hopefully, he wouldn't look too closely.

After that was done, the two of them shimmied out of the window onto the ledges outside. The air was cooler than it had been during the day, but it still held a bit of humidity that only made it more difficult to climb onto things while her palms were sweating. Despite the moisture in the air, the two of them were able to climb down from their window with little issue and soon they were bounding across the darkened street to the shrine.

Her stomach rumbled and vaulted with anticipation as they slowed the corner, and she paused to take a look around and breathe.

Nathan crouched down to pretend to tie his shoe as he scanned the area. She remained standing but looked around as well, trying to make it seem as if she was just waiting for him to be done. There weren't many others around anyway, at least that she could see. From where they were at the beginning of the pathway, she could spot two or three guards wandering the premises, but in the darkness, it would be all too easy for them to slip by. They just had to stay out of the lighted patches and it wouldn't be too difficult.

"What's the plan?" she murmured. "And please tell me you have something."

He let out a quiet snort, smacking the back of her knee as he raised himself from the ground and causing her to bend slightly to get back on balance. "We should head around the back entrance that we came out of the other day when we were being chased. We're probably gonna need your lockpicking skills again."

Alex gave a firm nod. "Okay. Let's stick to the outskirts on our way over there. It's probably less likely that we will get spotted that way."

Nathan gave a thumbs up in agreement as he turned to scan the area one last time. She let him take the lead as they headed to the farthest corner of the yard, making sure to stay low and quick. The two of them quietly trotted the perimeter. None of the guards bumped into them on their way, but one was lingering by the back door when they got into view of it. All they needed was to get him away and it would be smooth sailing after that.

"Get your hairpin ready," he whispered, his eyes twinkling in the darkness. "I'm gonna make a distraction."

"Okay. Just yell if you get into trouble," she informed, pushing her shoes more firmly into the dirt as she prepared herself to move.

Nate slipped out from beside her and disappeared into the darkness, leaving her alone. Even though the shrine and Japan in general were beautiful during the day, she wouldn't lie and say that it was a bit eerie at night, especially given some of the lore they had been studying the past few days.

A loud noise echoed from her right, and the guard startled out of his stupor. She lowered herself as he flicked on his flashlight and moved the stream around. Another noise made him jump and shine the light even further to her right. Two noises seemed to be enough to get his attention because he moved from his post and began to creep across the grounds. As soon as he left the light of the door, she booked it across the grass.

The soft ground cushioned her footsteps, muffling them almost to the point of silence. She took more cautious steps when she got up to the door and concrete landing but made quick movements with her fingers as she slipped the pin inside the lock and jiggled it around. Because of the quiet air, she was able to listen for any sounds inside the lock and it made it quicker for her to pick it.

She swallowed thickly and took a glance around before deciding to slip into the shrine. It was less likely that she would be spotted inside where it was darker than outside right under the light. Nathan hadn't screamed yet, so she knew that he was okay for now, and she would wait for him here before moving on, no matter how much she itched to start ahead.

Alex tucked herself in the corner right next to the door and waited. There didn't appear to be any guards inside at the moment, so as long as no one suspected anything, they could probably get in and out easily.

It took an agonizing five minutes that felt more like five hours for Nate to finally slip inside. He spotted her almost immediately and squeezed himself up next to her, chest heaving with nerves and exertion.

"Had a few close calls, but I got them far enough away that I could get in. I had to go around the building twice!"

She grinned at him, giving a gentle nudge with her elbow. "You make a good bait boy."

"Ha ha, very funny," he grumbled, elbowing her back a little harder.

"No need to be so uptight," she said with a snicker, pushing herself ot her feet. "Come on, let's go."

He didn't argue and followed after her, their footsteps echoing softly through the corridors as they tried to gain their bearings. It seemed all too easy for them to find the door they ventured through earlier, and with another quick lockpicking endeavor, they crept to the mural room to try and see if they missed anything.

It was dark inside, but Nathan had a small flashlight that he turned on to shine around the room. She pulled the note out of her pocket, looking over the poem once more and the final note on the bottom. The grass to the southwest be your guide…. She hummed thoughtfully as she scanned the murals for anything that could help. There was lots of grass in each of them, but nothing that seemed to point to anything that might be useful. Wait a minute….

She leaned over to notice that there was a long border of grass along each of the murals, almost like a pathway. It looked like a simple border before, which was why she hadn't thought much of it. Her eyes flickered along the grass path, spotting a few symbols that seemed to reside between each mural.

ん

んわ

んエ

そ

そ わ

そエ

"Wait, Nate!" she exclaimed, finally understanding what the symbols meant after having spent so much time translating. "Look at these letters. N, NW, NE, S, SW, SE….. Compass directions! North, South….This might be our ticket."

His eyes widened as he looked over the symbols. "Okay, now we just need to find the southwest! This one is north over here, so go down."

The two started to follow the grass and the symbols, and it didn't take long for them to make it to the mural that was southwest. This particular mural contained Amaterasu with the sword being presented to her by Susanoo. It appeared that they were outside in the grass, underneath a canopy of cherry blossoms. How were they supposed to know exactly where this was?

"Wait, Alex, look here." He pointed to a small building in the background of the mural. "That looks kinda like another shrine, right?"

She squinted, tilting her head. "Yeah, it does. But what shrine could it be? There's so many in Japan!"

"It has to be one that's dedicated to Amaterasu. Did you see anything about something like that in the shrine book you stole from the tourist shop?"

"Wait, yes! What was its name…." She bit her lip, trying hard to think of what it was called. "It was Grand Shrine….something."

"The Grand Shrine of Ise?"

Alex almost choked when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind the two of them. Nathan spun, shining the ray of his flashlight to the other side of the room, where the voice originated. Standing clearly in the light was Richard, the man Sully was doing business with, and three of what she could only describe as henchmen. They all wore slick black suits, and she couldn't help but notice that each of them had a gun strapped at their hip.

"I must admit I was quite surprised to see the two of you here," Richard spoke in a smooth voice. "At first, I thought you just knew a lot about history. Some….children are interested in it."

She glanced over at Nate nervously.

"But after hearing your interest in the sword and seeing you here now… I can't help but wonder who exactly you are, and why Sullivan has been watching over you," he continued, taking a step forward.

"I don't exactly see why we have to tell you," Alex spoke, much more bravely than she felt.

"It's quite simple," Richard rumbled, taking another step forward. "And I'm not sure you'd want to disappoint me."

His fingers tapped against the gun on his hip. They had to give him something, right? It didn't have to be the truth…. But what exactly could she come up with on the spot?

"My older brother is really close friends with Sully," Nathan said.

If they hadn't been in a life-or-death situation, she would have laughed.

"Is that so?" Richard queried.

"Yes. And Sully had asked him about the sword and we overheard…. It sounded exciting."

Alex's eyes flickered around the room as she tried to figure out how they were going to get out of this. If Nathan kept talking, she might be able to think of something that would get them away from these men. A distraction or something…

At the very edges of Nathan's flashlight stream, she spotted a small device fixed to the wall next to the door. She didn't even need to translate it to know that it was a fire alarm. All she needed to do was get over there quickly, especially before they whipped their guns from the holsters and started shooting.

Nate had been keeping Richard occupied with his conversation, but she knew it wouldn't last for too much longer. With everyone's attention mostly on her friend, she knew this was the only shot and she had to be quick.

Purposefully, she shuffled over an uneven patch of the floor and proceeded to do the most dramatic tumble of her life, letting the flashlight in her hand fly across the room and her body soar toward the fire alarm. There was a brief moment of darkness as Nathan scrambled to find her with his light, but that second was all she needed to feel for the alarm and give it a mighty pull.

Lights began to flash like a strobe, sending rapid bursts of red across her vision. She could hear Richard and his men start shouting, but she was so focused on finding Nathan that she didn't understand a single word. A hand wrapped around her wrist and she almost pulled away until she realized it was her friend by the leather bracelet encircling his wrist. He almost barreled over her as he shoved her to the door. It took a moment for her to get oriented as they started to run.

With the flashing alarms and the darkened hallways, it was difficult to navigate exactly where they were going, but after trying a couple of doors, the fresh air hit her like a ton of bricks.

"We can't go back to the hotel!" Alex panted, eyes darting around. "They know we'll go there if we're with Sully."

Nate clenched his jaw. "We just have to make it to the Ise Shrine ourselves. Let's get out of here before they find us. Then we can figure it out."

Alex didn't hesitate to start running again, though her lungs screamed in protest, and they made their way through the grounds and toward the street. It was only when they found a small alleyway a few blocks away that they settled down, keeping their ears tuned into the sirens as they blared in the distance.

"How are we going to get to the Shrine with no money? All we have is back at the hotel," Alex murmured, leaning heavily against his shoulder.

He was silent for a moment, clearly trying to figure that out himself, glancing around. His head stilled, and a small smirk curled the corner of his lips. He caught her eye and jerked his head to a couple of bikes chained up to a lamppost across the street.

"We ride."

A/N: Things are gonna get quite hairy now that they've left Sully. But they're on the trail to the sword! I'm very excited about the plans I have for the treasure and the history and stories. I've spent a ton of time trying to link my ideas to history and mythology to make it accurate but also my own. Anyway, sorry this took so long to come out! Life has been insane lately so I'm trying to balance everything and my writing, and sometimes it's easy for me to lose motivation. But I'm doing my best to push through! Thank you guys for sticking with me and reading through each update! Don't hesitate to leave a review and let me know your thoughts! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)