The Kyoto Ordeal (Tales of the Other Universe Book 1)

by J. G. Taschereau

  “And you did, but he didn’t tell you?”

  “He told me he knew,” Dee said. “But since I had just agreed to become his assistant, he didn’t want me to just run off. It wouldn’t be fair to him, and I agreed. So I decided I would stay by his side until he was ready to let me go off again.”

  “So the Creator is important to you as well,” Adam concluded. “Is that why you’re so worried now?”

  “It sounds a little selfish. Part of me wants him back so I can be sure to know about my master, but I really am worried about him. I’m always worried when people I care about just disappear, ever since my master.”

  Suddenly things made more sense to Adam. The reason she was so upset when he had left Magid was because he had repeated what her master had done as well. And now the Creator had done the same.

  He was about to speak up again when there was a thumping sound outside. Both Adam and Dee turned their heads towards the hallway as they heard faint voices outside and the door clicking open. Dee sprung out of her seat, tossing the blanket aside. Adam watched her hobble through the darkness and enter the hallway. He followed her and got into the hallway as Dee stopped moving, her eyes locked on the door.

  Two snowy figures stood in the doorframe. The front most of the two brushed the fresh powder off of his head. He looked forward to see Dee staring wide eyed at him. He smiled.

  “Hello Ms. Gatti,” the Creator said. “You’re up awfully late, aren’t you?”

  Her smile widened into pure joy as she rushed towards him and embraced him tightly. This only lasted a moment, as the cold from the snow against her nearly bare skin reached her. She backed away and shivered while the Creator laughed quietly.

  “It’s good to see you too, Ms. Gatti. I certainly hope I didn’t worry you too much. Everything is going to be alright now.”

  Adam turned his attention to the second figure, someone he did not recognize. The blond man returned the gaze but said nothing.

  The Creator yawned. “It’s been a long night for us, so I’m afraid I’ll have to explain things tomorrow morning. For now, let’s all get some sleep.” Dee nodded happily and turned back to Adam.

  “Thank you for keeping me company,” she said with a smile before heading towards her room.

  Adam looked back at the Creator and his guest, hoping to get at least some explanation immediately. Instead, the Creator flashed him a faint smile and led the other man down the hallway. Adam watched the new player in the game as he followed the Creator. He certainly didn’t look like anything special to Adam, but for the Creator to go out of his way there had to be something about him to make him valuable in the upcoming fight. Whatever that may be, he knew he’d have to wait for morning.

  He looked down the hallway and saw the door to Shuya’s room close behind the stranger. Adam sighed, moseying back into the living room. He fell onto the couch and covered his face with his arm. He knew he’d be spending the night there. Outside, the storm raged.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  The New Plan

  December 22nd, 2004

  The storm ended sometime in the night and the world outside was still in the morning light. The sun warmed the house, sending drips of melted snow down the icicles that lined the roof. There were no cars or people on the street, and for a while it was calm.

  Ayumi yawned as she stumbled down the hallway, still in her pajamas. She was used to waking up early to get ready for school, and her body had woken her up far earlier than she needed to be. Immediately after, it complained about tiredness, but she was too awake to be able to fall asleep again. Barefoot, she stepped quietly towards the living room. She peered in and saw the chair where Dee had been sitting in was empty. Did that mean that the Creator had come home? Either way she smiled, happy that Dee was no longer wasting away in that spot.

  She was about to move away when she noticed that the living room wasn’t empty. A pair of dirty socks stuck out over the arm of the couch. Curious, and a bit ticked off, Ayumi entered the living room and saw Adam sprawled out on the couch. His arms were wrapped tightly around him in an attempt to stay warm. It looked like he had just passed out on the couch without thought of a blanket or pillow.

  Ayumi looked over to the chair where Dee had been sitting and saw the blanket she had been wrapping herself in lying on it. She noted Adam’s foolishness and got the blanket for him. It was large enough to cover him, so she unfolded it and gently laid it over him. In his slumber, he gripped the blanket and nuzzled his face into it with a sleepy mumble.

  “Idiot,” she said with a smile. “Learn some common sense, would you?”

  Behind her, something shifted in the kitchen. Ayumi listened as there was more noise. Someone was in there, shuffling through the cupboards. She thought about who it could be: Dee, who may have only just left her chair; the Creator, having returned home without an announcement; Mathias, probably looking for something to eat. She decided to find out.

  She walked towards the door and froze. There was a man in her kitchen that she didn’t recognize. She ran up against the wall to hide herself and tried not to panic. In the kitchen, the stranger continued routing through the cabinets until he found what he was looking for. Ayumi peeked back into the kitchen and saw him open a rubber topped can that she knew to be filled with coffee.

  “What’s going on?” she asked herself. The stranger took the can to Ayumi’s coffee machine and inspected it carefully. It looked like he was trying to understand how it functioned. Was he really just making coffee?

  She studied the intruder: he was still young, but older than her. He was white with sandy blond hair, clearly a foreigner. So where did he come from?

  He turned away from the counter and his eyes met Ayumi’s gaze. Her heart shot into her throat and she whipped back to hide herself behind the wall. She couldn’t help but panic a little now and her heart began pumping rapidly. She heard footsteps in the kitchen, expecting the intruder to be coming towards her. She could only run outside, but that would be a bad thing for her with only what she was wearing.

  The sound of water from the tap cut off Ayumi’s thoughts. He wasn’t coming after her; he was just getting water for the coffee machine. Ayumi let out a quiet sigh of relief as she heard the machine being filled. The stranger clicked the machine on and the heater within began to work. Ayumi wondered if she had time to move across the door to the other side of the house before he could turn around. It was her only real option to get away. She decided to take it.

  Ayumi dashed to her right. As she passed the doorframe, she found the stranger standing directly in it. He gave her a curious look as her face fell with fear. In shock, she stumbled and fell to the floor. As she corrected herself, the stranger stepped out of the kitchen and looked down at her.

  “Are you alright?” he asked in English. Ayumi stared back at him. He didn’t appear threatening and he showed no signs of hostility towards her. He was just a strange foreigner making coffee in her house, that was all.

  “Who are you?” she asked, staying safely on the floor. She must look really pathetic, she thought.

  “My name is Cody,” he answered. “Is this your house? I’m sorry, it must look like I’m intruding.”

  “Why are you here?” Ayumi asked.

  “Someone asked me to come out here to help him. You must know the Creator, since he brought me to this house when he arrived last night.”

  “Creator? You mean Daniel-kun,” Ayumi said, beginning to understand. So he was back, and he had brought someone with him. That made sense. He left when he learned they had lost an ally, so he went out to find another.

  Cody bent over and extended his hand to help Ayumi up. Shyly, she took his hand and got to her feet.

  “My name is Ayumi Hiwatari,” she said with a slight bow. “This is my house. Daniel-kun and his friends have been staying with me while they’ve been in Kyoto.”

  “I see,” he said. “So they’ve inconvenienced you as well.”

  “No, it’s no
inconvenience. I am happy to have them stay with me.”

  Cody looked over the girl. “You seem like a normal person. You’re just a regular girl, right? You’re from here, and didn’t have any supernatural business in your life before meeting ‘Daniel’, right?”

  “That’s right,” she answered. “Why?”

  “Just offering some friendly advice.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. “If you want to keep on living a normal life, if you want to avoid losing your happiness, you’ll get as far away from these people as you can.”

  “What are you two doing?”

  Cody turned around and saw Adam standing in the doorway of the living room. He seemed to be wide awake, as if he hadn’t been completely asleep just a minute before. Cody had to look twice at him to make sure his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him. This person in front of him appeared to be the Creator, but he knew that the Creator was still asleep and had not left his room.

  “You woke up quickly,” Ayumi said.

  “I’m a light sleeper,” he replied, eyeing Cody. “You’re the one who came here with the Creator.”

  “I am,” Cody said. “You’re not him, then?”

  “Not in a long time. Adam Evans.”

  “Cody Moon. So are you like him then? A god?”

  “I suppose that depends on what you consider a god or what you don’t,” Adam said. “I’m immortal, and I look like the Creator because I used to be a part of him. Aside from that, no, I am not like him.”

  Cody continued to study him. He was identical to the Creator, at least nearly so. There were a few differences, mostly around his face. His eyes were blue and much sharper than the Creator’s. While the Creator tried to pass off the aura of a happy young man at all times, Adam did not. He showed the weight of his troubles. He wasn’t hiding anything.

  “Pleasure to meet you,” Cody said casually. “I take it you’re here to fight against The Baggins too?”

  “No, actually. I’ve got another matter that I came here to deal with personally. The Creator was the one who followed me and brought that Baggins character with him.”

  Cody was stunned. He had to restrain himself from shouting. Not only had the Creator failed to kill The Baggins, but he was the one who brought him to Earth? His chest began burning.

  “Excuse me,” he said, holding in his rage. He tore past Ayumi and walked to the end of the hall. Rather than enter the room where the Creator was sleeping, he turned towards the bathroom.

  “Is he alright?” Adam asked.

  “I don’t know,” said Ayumi. “He got very tense when you said that. You don’t know who he is?”

  “He came in with the Creator late last night. Based on what’s happened here the last few days, I would assume the Creator brought him here to fight against The Baggins.”

  “Really?” Ayumi turned back to the direction he had stormed off. “Is there something special about him? He looks like just a normal person.”

  “I couldn’t say,” Adam said. “The Creator said he would explain everything this morning.”

  “He’d better. I’m getting tired of him leaving me in the dark about everything.”

  “You’re not the only one. He didn’t tell anyone where he was going, not even Dee.”

  “Speaking of which, did you talk to her?”

  “I did.” Adam leaned against the wall. “Things went well. I think I was able to cheer her up.”

  “Well good! See, I told you everything would be fixed if you were just upfront about things to her.”

  “I guess she trusts me more than I thought.”

  “Well, she obviously does. I mean, wasn’t the only reason she came all the way here to find you? She’s got to like you a lot to do that.”

  “It was just strange to me, I didn’t know her all that well. We’ve only know each other less than a month, but she feels close to me.”

  “She seems to me as the kind of girl who gets easily attached to people.” Ayumi held her hands behind her back and leaned on her heels. “Or maybe she likes you more than you think.”

  “Well she obviously does, I didn’t think she liked me much at all until I saw her at the train station.”

  “No, I mean maybe she loves you.”

  “Highly unlikely,” Adam said, crossing his arms. “Like you said, it’s probably just how she is.”

  “Whatever you want to believe,” she said with a wink. “At any rate, I’m glad things are settled with you two, so you can focus on what you have to do.”

  “You’re right,” said Adam. “There are only two days left until the time of the duel.”

  “Have you thought of a plan for how you’re going to carry things out?”

  “No, and now that this Cody guy is here it changes the plan a bit too. I don’t know how he’ll want to carry out his part of the fight.”

  “So where do you go from here?”

  “If it were only up to me, I’d continue training myself for the match. But I have to consider the other people involved. I’ll have to wait for them to decide.”

  “I wonder, did my talk with you yesterday really have an effect on you?” Ayumi asked slyly.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “Because, you’ve certainly come a long way from the solitary man I met a few days ago.”

  Adam thought about it, and he realized she was right. He was not likely to consider the thoughts of everyone else when the conflict had begun.

  “You’re right. Let’s hope it stays that way.”

  By midmorning, everyone was awake and seated in the living room. With New Baggins gone, the Creator took it upon himself to prepare a light breakfast and tea for everyone. Cody elected to stick with the coffee he had prepared earlier. He hadn’t spoken directly to the Creator yet but had calmed himself down and sat on the couch across from him. Dee, happy to have her employer back, was more than eager to sit by him. Mathias, who was still unfamiliar and unsure about their new arrival, sat in a chair further from the others.

  “I’m sorry I couldn’t explain the situation before I left, but it was important for me to leave as soon as I could,” the Creator said. “As you all know by now, New Baggins has given up his body entirely to The Baggins and now is conspiring with Iilil-ja’s other half in whatever scheme he is planning. Because of that, I thought it necessary to acquire the help of someone with experience against this new enemy. There is no other person more qualified than this man, Cody Moon, who has fought The Baggins head on in the past.”

  The others all gained a sudden interest in Cody and stared at him in slight awe, something that seemed to put him off. No one was more interested to hear this than Dee, who nearly leapt from her seat.

  “Is it really you? The boy from the legend, the one they called Coyote Moon? You’re him?”

  “That’s correct, miss,” Cody said.

  “That’s incredible,” Dee said, still entranced. “That legend is my favorite myth. You’re one of the greatest heroes in the old stories.”

  “I assure you, that war was neither a myth nor a story. Nor is it anything to be excited about, or consider favorable. It was a war, plain and simple. There weren’t any things worth celebrating, no heroic journeys or happy endings. Quite simply, it was hell.”

  “Hell?” Dee asked, shrinking back at Cody’s scolding. “What is that?”

  “It’s something bad. Very, very bad.”

  “Well, that’s enough about all that,” the Creator said. “At any rate, we should be considering our next steps as time runs short. We had settled on making a move on the enemy’s location on Friday. However, considering the situation with The Baggins, I believe it would be best to move as quickly as possible.”

  “I don’t agree,” Adam cut in. “I intend to keep the conditions of this fight. I’m sorry that you lost control of one of your subordinates, but I’m not going to go against my principles because of one change.”

  “Please don’t make it seem like I am to blame for this, Iil
il-ja,” the Creator said as calmly as he could. “I can’t be held responsible for the actions of someone I thought to be loyal to me. I’m just as much as a victim as the rest of you.”

  Cody rolled his eyes, something that wasn’t unnoticed by the Creator.

  “In any case, leaving The Baggins free to act as he pleases would be a mistake. Not to mention I don’t wish to keep Cody here any longer than is necessary. I’m trying to act in the best interest of everyone here.”

  “Just a moment,” Cody interrupted. “As eager as I am to go home, I can’t just run off into fighting. I’ve been out of practice for over a year. I need time to center myself and sharpen my skills again.”

  “Kid’s got a point,” Mathias said. “There’s no use of him going in cold. Plus, I gotta say I could use another day or two to rest myself up.”

  Neither Mathias nor Adam had mentioned anything of the events that took place on Mt. Higashi to anyone, and neither intended to. Mathias was still recuperating from being trapped in the rock tomb, and Adam knew that he would favor waiting as well.

  “I think I agree with Adam,” Ayumi said. “If you go in now, you might catch them off guard but if you’re not ready there’s no point.”

  The Creator looked around the room as all of his companions sided against the immediate attack. The last to speak was Dee, who sat quietly besides him. He looked to her for an answer, but she shrunk in her seat.

  Dee was not the kind of girl who would change her mind based on how the rest of the group voted. She was capable of making her choices and sticking to them. Now, behind the Creator’s pleasant smile, she felt pressured to side with him. She looked to Adam. His face was stern, yet she felt a less demanding presence from him. He believed she would side with the Creator.

  “I think it’s best we wait,” she said meekly and without further explanation. The Creator raised an eyebrow but didn’t show any sign of distress.