“What do you think?” Naizo asked. “Quaint, right?”
“It’s… impressive.” I said. “Are we leaving now?”
“Not just yet,” Naizo was quick to reply. “My father insisted that we bring another with us on this trip.”
“Oh?”
“He believes the Meiziki are waiting for us to seek aid and could use their numbers to route us if we separate ourselves, but the team he’s assembled this time…” Naizo snorted. “I think he might have gone too far.”
“Hello, everyone!” Abul Shikon came to stand before us, seeming pleased about the coming journey. “I have a feeling it’s going to be a lovely day!”
--
Elder Nagao had made the three of us leaders over a crew of around thirty men, as all manpower had been primarily concentrated at our base of operations in case Meiziki attacked earlier than planned. The foot soldiers he’d assigned were generally specialists in their own field and didn’t need much more attention than Naizo already took care of as he labored obsessively in the control room, which was located in the center of the structure.
Naizo managed the schedule for all of us, believing a round trip would place us back at the Citadel the night before Mendo arrived to challenge us. The heir of the Nagao had us gather in the center to brief information that was rather simple but did help me later get better acquainted with the entire ship, one which proved to be more of a maze of rooms and unnecessary corridors.
“The elliptical design saves space.” He declared as if he’d become a scholar on the subject overnight. “Fortunately, Nagao forces managed to steal this one away from the enemy—”
“You mean Rokshasa.” I interrupted.
Abul burst into laughter as Naizo grew red in the face.
“No, dumbass!” He shouted, still believing I possessed no real intelligence and thus failing to become truly angry. “I mean my soldiers!”
“Okay.”
“Dumbass.” Naizo remarked again before continuing, “The control terminal is set up next to a private shower and bed, so I’ll be claiming this room for myself.
“That’s fine with me.” Abul replied.
“Tavon and Abul, the Elder ordered that the two of you be placed in the same room as each other—I have no idea why.” He looked puzzled.
“Well,” Abul began eloquently, “if Tavon is a true family member, then I suppose this is his attempt at fostering a better relationship between our two forces.” Abul continued confidently, “Either way, the Shikon have no intent of engaging those who do not attack our home directly.” He stared at Naizo. “We cannot join you in your quest for further bloodshed.”
Normally, Naizo would’ve reacted with an insult already prepared, but Abul struck some kind of fear in him. His only defense was, “We didn’t want this…”
“Of course you didn’t.” Abul smiled.
31
Lovely Day
NAIZO, REFUSING TO OPEN HIMSELF UP to anyone, isolated himself from us and became almost nonexistent as I explored the cruiser with my strange new friend. We walked the corridors after locating our assigned chamber on the map, seeing few other passengers than those hurrying to one of the breakrooms littered throughout the vessel.
“To save on having to pay chefs, the leader of the Nagao chose to give us meal rations… basic meal rations, Tavon! These people have no taste, no sense of style.” He chuckled. “Perhaps you would make a good Shikon, what do you say?”
He took me by surprise. “I’m not—”
“Just kidding.” Abul winked as we continued on.
I didn’t even feel the cruiser move as it began to take flight, and I only knew we’d begun traveling when we suddenly passed a window revealing fellow cruisers on a vast hyper rail.
“This thing is pretty incredible.”
Abul shook his head. “You haven’t seen anything yet, Tavon.” He jabbed at my arm. “You’ve got to get away from the Nagao if you want to become really world-weary.”
“I gave them my word.” I said resolutely. “The Elder has done right by me, Abul…”
“Forget about it, my friend; it seems you really are a good person. I believe I might’ve misjudged you.”
Eventually, we made it to the metallic entrance of a room mostly decorated in grey and wood furniture over a carpet of a similar, albeit lighter shade. At the far end of the room, we noticed a long window exposing the tinted windshield of a cruiser traveling next to us. On the east side, a holographic television had been set up along with a stereo and some obscure gaming system we never tried.
Other than that, all that was left in the room was an overheard light, two small cots, an older Kom Cell, and several shelves full of books ranging from philosophy to erotica to medicine.
I imagined that my conversation with Abul was soon to reach a much more significant level, but the Shikon heir became immediately absorbed in the amount of knowledge presented before him. All but the erotica, thankfully.
“Abul.” I spoke, trying to get his attention.
He began perusing a human anatomy book and murmured to himself before sitting on one of the cots and zoning out of reality altogether. Abul had left me alone in the room, and so I picked up the Kom Cell and accessed the Citadel’s web server.
From there, I was humbled by how small the Nagao’s problems were in comparison to issues faced all over a nation condensed into a city.
“There’s to be an embargo on Gaspul soon…” Abul finally said and curiously picked up what looked to be a thick, black and white block.
“But it says Enrec is withdrawing forces—”
“It’s a ploy, Tavon. Hah—” he gasped upon realizing something, “I thought it was a book… --but no! It’s a chessboard!”
And as we waited as fellow passengers, Abul taught me how to play chess, something I felt unconfident learning after my recent efforts at studying anything new. To our mutual surprise, I grasped the fundamentals rather quickly and we were soon launched into several extremely serious competitions against each other.
While I less than gracefully lost more times than I can count, my attention had been drawn away from the fact that our vessel had moved on from the Fourth Quadrant and now proceeded toward a customs station barring the exit.
I peered through the window anxiously as we glided and slowed down within a colossal platform populated with Zone Police who managed all travel from behind glass counters.
“Will we be able to get through?”
Abul chuckled. “Nagao has gone through customs before. Although I’m not comfortable putting my trust in Naizo, he should know enough about what to do—and he can perform online transactions for passage fees through the cruiser’s main interface.”
I felt stunned by the vehicle’s capabilities… to own such a thing.
“Rokshasa did not take this vessel alone.” Abul said. “Your Elder respects the power of the Shikon, and so he requested our assistance.”
“I thought you refused to help him in his endeavors.”
“And I do.” He replied in annoyance. “But after the coming war, this ship has been promised to the Shikon…” He clenched his fists. “There’s more of my family I need to save from the chaos of Gaspul, Tavon.”
“I don’t know anything about that place.”
“I wish you weren’t about to learn anything about it at all… it’s a condemned country—and now involved in an idiotic plan that will costs lives.”
“You care?”
Abul looked at me with a mixture of puzzlement and annoyance. “Is that what you think I am?”
“I was—”
“I’m not human, but that doesn’t make me some evil spirit bent on devouring people, Tavon.”
I was embarrassed for a moment as I looked away.
“I am, however, a prince. For you to think so low of me…”
“I don’t think low of you.” I said. “I’m just pissed that you’ve put me in checkmate again.”
--
Th
e cruiser remained at customs for some time before finally being allowed to take off into a bright white, cylindrical tunnel leading to the outside world. I wasn’t able to view the Citadel behind us as we left, but it was something surreal to be engulfed in the entrancingly blue atmosphere.
“I can’t believe you’ve never left the Federation.” Abul spoke in amazement. “Most people become sick of its confines quickly. It’s vastly overpopulated for the amount its really capable of sustaining.”
“Everyone warns about the World Below, about the horrors that lurk in the real world.”
“You fool,” Abul rolled his eyes, “horrors are present wherever you search, Tavon… —was Dfari’s intervention not something horrible?”
“How do you know about that?”
He grinned. “Stop underestimating me; that’s why you keep losing.”
I didn’t understand, because I’d already become wary of the Shikon prince.
“I may not be built like Rokshasa, but even the samurai know to proceed with caution.” He smirked. “I’m excited to spar with you one day.”
“Spar? How exactly do you fight?”
--
Abul remained tight-lipped about himself directly but seemed comfortable asserting his legitimacy as a figure of royalty as the trip continued.
“Soon, I’ll be much like the Elder,” He mused. “Blindly carrying a legacy while trying to avoid oblivion.”
“What?” I spoke so fast that my thoughts and words synchronized to an extent.
“Hmph.” Abul smiled while making his move in yet another round of chess. “It’s arguable that there’s no reason for us to exist in the way we do… that Nagao and the other gangs are remnants to be squashed by a regime growing in power.
“The Dawn Federation eventually seeks to cleanse everything happening in the Mid-City and below.” His expression grew serious, and he tensed slightly. “That’s why it’s crucial for me to make the right moves now, Tavon… The Shikon family is counting on me, and I represent a proud tribe. Tell me,” he said, “how do you feel about the coming war?”
Beatrice.
“These people care for no one but themselves.”
Abul appeared shocked as he exclaimed curiously, “Who?!”
I shook my head. “All of them, Meiziki or Nagao—it doesn’t matter.” For once, I looked at him sincerely. “It’s all for the money, right?”
Abul creepily peered at me for a moment, his irises seeming to flicker brightly before he smiled in a wicked manner. “So you’re not an idiot…” He perked up in astonishment. “Not an idiot and lethal, that’s perfect—much more like Mendo than Rokshasa ever desired to be.”
“Rokshasa is above their games, too.” I said bitterly.
“A compassionate thug.” Abul remarked. “It’s no wonder the Elder kept you around for so long; we all couldn’t understand why he’d adopted a homeless guy out of the blue!”
We played late into the night, and, as the light outside faded, I noticed something about the Shikon prince. “You’re not tired at all…” My own weariness finally began taking over and easily showed itself in my performance. “You don’t sleep?”
“No.” Abul pondered the chessboard.
“Like at all?!”
“I’m not one of you, remember? The barrier between human and the Other is quite… vast.”
It was hard to think of him as some different entity, something that had taken on a human form just for my sake. I immediately recalled a time before that I couldn’t help but continue to remember since…
It was important.
“Abul.”
“Hmm.” He acknowledged me with a nod while still contemplating how to take my knight.
“What happened to Uban?”
He was quiet for a time.
Abul breathed in deeply before addressing me, “Tavon… do you believe that some matters should be left untouched? Unspoken?”
“It depends.” I didn’t back down from him.
This was about her.
Because he remained silent, I led the conversation. “That ‘vast barrier’… before Uban Kai was slain, it already looked as though he’d crossed it. Abul—”
“Don’t be insolent now, T—”
“I saw how upset you were.”
Abul glared at me darkly. “It can get much worse, if that’s what you’d like.”
He finally moved. Feeling aggression rapidly building inside of me…
—I took his knight.
“Fuck!” Abul slammed his fist on the chessboard, shifting nearly every piece. He ruined the match.
I laughed. “Sorry, man.”
Abul smirked. “You saved yourself.
--
Not long before I’d gotten too exhausted to continue, Abul broke another period of silence.
“You’re smart, Tavon.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” he laughed. “Naizo speaks of you as if you’d fallen on your head as a child.”
“Fuck him.” I said.
I thought for a moment before moving a pawn forward, not really understanding what I was doing that late into the night.
“About Uban.” He said.
“Uh huh?”
Abul paused before continuing to talk. “There was indeed something done to him, but I can’t talk about that with you.”
“I’m your only friend.” I looked at him seriously. “Who else could you talk about this with?”
“Another demon.” Abul retorted flatly.
“What?!”
“These are matters not meant to be discussed between a demon and a human; though I do enjoy your company far more than that of other because of your genuine nature, this is simply something I shouldn’t do… however…”
Abul eyes lit up. “You do have it.”
“It?”
“Mhmm,” He nodded. “You’re not like the other humans, Tavon, but most people your age would understand why by now—and this leads me to believe that you haven’t truly Awakened… normally, these are the characteristic of a childish mind, but that’s not you case.”
“Nothing you’re saying makes sense, Abul. What is ‘it?’”
“I’ll put it this way for you.” He smiled.
“Please.”
Abul exhaled before bringing his voice to a whisper. “Imagine your inner humanity… the essence of what makes you who you are. Most like you have enough personal history to understand their own power—and that power reveals itself in numerous different fashions. What was it like for you growing up?”
I had to explain this yet again, “Abul, my first memory is me opening my eyes on a smuggler’s cruiser… my organs were to be sold off for profit.”
“Oh…” He said in amazement. “You really don’t remember anything before that? Anything at all?”
“I rarely dream, but when I do it’s in small fragments… pieces I don’t understand, Abul.”
“I see…” His look revealed concern. “Perhaps your origins are murkier than my own, friend.”
Abul sat in concentration before admitting, “Uban was made to see himself, Tavon. And when he saw himself… his own mind became hostile. His insanity overcame him, and that is why interaction between us should remain limited at best.”
“I don’t agree.” I responded. “Because I’m not afraid of you.”
For the final time, Abul put me in checkmate.
He smiled and said, “That’s the spirit.”
32
Mystic Bounce
THE LANDS BELOW THE CITADEL weren’t what I’d expected.
As we ventured further toward our destination, the region around us became increasingly more barren before giving way to a vast canyon threatening to swallow us as we proceeded into its depths.
“What the hell?” I looked further to see a dense fog engulfing the path ahead.
“It’s nothing to worry about.” Abul remarked while attempting to finish his second book in the time I’d been asleep. “It’s unclaim
ed, useless territory… bad for humans, good for everything else.”
“So the fog around us…?”
Abul shrugged. “In this world, you can’t know until you really know, kid. But I can guarantee that demons live here.”
The cruiser accelerated faster along a channel facing the rising Sun, barreling past towering ridges above us over a wide stream.
“The rest of my family abides in Gaspul, some of whom I’m very fond of…” He smiled while thinking back in time.
“It must be nice.”
“Hah,” Abul smirked, “I’ll be sure to introduce you to them… and to tell them not to eat you.”
“Eat me?!”
“Yes, Tavon.” Abul chuckled. “They’re that type of demon—which is why Gaspul is a perfect fit for them. A lot of bodies piled up after numerous invasions. You can thank human nature for that one.”
“Why did the Dawn Federation invade them anyways?”
“You ask far too many questions with complex answers, Tavon.” He scratched his ear. “Like am I your friend or your life tour guide?”
“I’m sorry.” I said without allowing myself to feel embarrassed. “There’s a lot I don’t know…”
“Remarkable.” Abul looked at me wide-eyed. “A humble warrior.”
The route Naizo had chosen led us into a desert bordering a small river.
“You see those mountains?”
The sandy dunes were replete with several grassland areas, the majority of which became concentrated around a moderately-sized forest preceding several tall mountains climbing far into the heavens.
“My uncle… he watches over everything from there.”
As we continued on our journey, the terrain became uniformly mountainous throughout; a minor sand storm had begun to pick up around us.
Abul appeared to perk up even more. “We’re almost there!” He exclaimed. “There’s so much I have to show you and so little time—”
“The explosives.”
“Nasty business, right?” He smiled at me.
“Your uncle approves of us bombing Meiziki?”
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