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Chapter 67: The Dance
Last Updated:
2023-12-18 20:27:39
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The next morning, the day broke bright and clear but Aki and Temujin were late getting up. Sasha prepared breakfast and started the hippocamps pulling again. Even then, Aki and Temujin looked bleary-eyed and had trouble staying awake. “Step to, me hearties, and keep a weather eye on the horizon!” Sasha shouted to them as he came down the companionway to the main hold. In one corner was a long table where they would spread out maps and navigational charts or, like now, eat their meals. “There be pirates afoot round these waters!” “Well, you can tell those pirates,” Aki said, not lifting her head up from the table, “that we’d rather brave the planks than eat burnt omelet.” “Opps! My bad,” Sasha said. As they had proven many times, he was good at preserving leftovers but wasn’t keen on using fire to cook. “But seriously, we’d soon be passing the tip of the Terra Furca continent. You better get some grub in those tummies of yours because we don’t know what’s waiting for us round those
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“Nevertheless, another part of me felt oddly conflicted about running out of time and everything going back to normal. I wasn’t sure I was ready to give up my extraordinary circumstances just yet. I mean, I hadn’t completely tested the span and limits of my unexpected abilities. Think about it. I was probably the only Slayer in the world who had defeated a ghost and ended up in an in-between realm. Apart from the obvious goal of scientific research, I had plenty other things I wanted to do before I lost my newfound freedom.” “Really?” Aki asked. “What things?” “Well, for one, I had to make a quick trip to the school library.” “The library?” Aki echoed. She admired Sasha’s devotion to study but wondered if it wasn’t a bit much. “Oh,” Sasha said, guessing what the other two were thinking, “it’s not what you think. You remember the numbers the Ayakashi gave me right before she disintegrated? I had figured out what they were. They were book call numbers.” “Call numbers? That can’
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“The Ayakashi – Himiko – wanted you to read the book,” Aki concluded. “Hence the riddle of the blue or red cover.” “More like tested him,” Temujin said. “She wanted to make sure that the person she would lead to the book had previous knowledge of the secret she was guarding.” “That makes the most sense,” Sasha agreed. “But both of you should remember that we’re all just rationalizing the actions of the Ayakashi. Nobody could really know what she was thinking.” “That goes without saying,” Aki said, “but ghosts often have unfinished business. Purpose that they failed to complete when they were still living.” “Actually, the more I thought about it,” Sasha said, “the more I felt that Himiko wasn’t really a ghost. At least technically. She’s more of a doppelganger, you know, like in Bushinjutsu.” Bushinjutsu (Clone) was another specialty of Aki’s clan. She had yet to reach the mastery required to execute it and the most she could achieve was the Kosoku Zanzo Jutsu (Rapid Image). During
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“He was mad!” Aki exclaimed. “Only the gods have the power to create or bring back life. It’s blasphemy!” “Is it though?” Sasha asked, his eyes lowered. “What’s forbidden and what’s fated? Who are we to pass judgment? The boundaries are muddled. If the shaman hadn’t reactivated my ki, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. And if my eldest brother hadn’t died in the hands of pirates, who knows if my parents would still have sought to limit me. Even the grownups can’t tell what’s right from what’s wrong. They’re so scared of death that they hold back from liv—” “Sasha!” Aki shouted in an admonishing tone. “Don’t tell me you believe the ravings of that lunatic? Shame on you. You of all people should know that some borders aren’t meant to be crossed, some secrets are never meant to be discovered by ordinary mortals.” “Gomennasai,” Sasha quickly apologized, suddenly realizing how he might’ve sounded to Aki. He had lifted his thoughtful, lowered gaze as though from a broken spell. “All I wa
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Aki leapt from roof to roof. Her tabi boots touched the tiles lightly before pushing off. She was harnessing Karamijutsu (Body-lightening). Without warning, a tile she was stepping on broke and she slid straight down to the edge of the roof, only managing to grab the gutter in the nick of time. She was dangling there when Yuriko appeared on the incline, just a few feet away, crouching and fanning out a set of throwing knives. Apparently, she had launched a projectile that broke Aki’s foothold. “Fancy a prince tah rescue ye, princess?” “I’m not a princess,” Aki replied through gritted teeth. “I’m a SLAYER princess!” With a back flip, Aki brought herself upside-down with her legs spinning in a wheel kick. Yuriko held her forearms up in an X shape and the casings of her katars blocked the kicks. Aki landed right in front of her. They were soon locked in hand-to-hand combat; something rare for Stork Slayers who emphasized defense over offense, evasion over brute strength. Yuriko projec
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In the afternoon, after their cheerless and tasteless brunch, the captain came down to the brig to grace them with his presence. Aki was right, the four most important people on the ship were: Captain Fang, the Dark Emperor, Kosano and Yuriko; in that order. But because they were pirates, it was easy to imagine incessant politicking among the last three. The entire crew was of course curious about the young Slayers who had kicked their butts, but they were under strict orders to stay on their posts and perform their duties. Nevertheless, Aki recognized Zaterra and Ganzorig; the first was endlessly cutting his nails with a dagger. Temujin also noticed his cork backpack slung on Zaterra’s shoulder. “Hey, that’s mine!” Temujin shouted, gripping the dragon-bone bars of his cage. “Finders keepers,” Zaterra replied and stuck out his tongue. “Give it back to him!” Aki demanded. “Be yer companions knowin’ yer secrets in this here bag?” asked Kosano. Temujin fell quiet. “Cat got yer ton
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They were held in separate cells down the ship’s brig. Aki’s and Sasha’s were adjoining while Temujin’s was across from theirs. Each cell had an additional feature. For instance, Aki’s had a water barometer to monitor the slightest change in atmospheric pressure if she attempted to form winds inside the ship. Sasha’s had a quicksilver thermometer to keep the room temperature in check. Last, apart from confiscating his flint and steel, the pirates put Temujin in a cell with the fire-proof bones of a red dragon for bars. In case the prisoners showed any signs of defiance by using their powers, the pirates also had a weird-looking contraption like an electrically charged spear. Sasha figured it was a weaponized version of the Leyden jar. If it touched their prisons (the conductor), it would discharge tens of thousands of volts. This last piece of technology suggested a link between the pirates and Tamerlane’s research on the fifth element, but all of them pointed to the fact that the cap
