by Tj Dixon
Maintaining my focus on all the miko in the temple I pass the time thinking up the most vicious traps I can come up with. Being torn limb from limb would actually be quite merciful compared to some of my traps.
“You’re grinning creepily.” Emi says.
“Sorry, did I wake you?” I ask as I look down at my miko, servant and lover.
“No and I wouldn’t have minded even if you had. I’m all yours. So who’s going to be punished?” Emi asks.
“An enemy that snuck into the temple. I’m having trouble finding them but when they come out of hiding I’m going to make them wish they hadn’t.” I answer.
“Did the temple shield go down again whilst I was asleep?” Emi asks.
“Yes, it went down a few times whilst you slept, but it won’t be going down again.” I tell her.
“Did you do something to strengthen it?” Emi asks.
“No. Do you remember when Rin and her mother came here asking for advice?” I ask.
“Yes, but I didn’t really follow what any of you were talking about.” Emi admits.
“Well she used that advice to create a defence that the enemy can’t penetrate. Cherry and Aventurine then deployed it around the temple. Now that it’s active there’s nothing to worry about, other than the one enemy already inside the temple.” I explain.
“Are Cherry and Aventurine ok?” Emi asks.
“Yes.” I answer.
“Rin’s mother really is a genius.” Emi says sounding rather awed.
“Hey! I’m the genius. I’m the one she came to for advice.” I remind Emi.
“Of course you’re a genius. I’ve always known that.” Emi says.
“Well as long as you do remember it.” I tell her.
“Of course. So do you want…?” Emi starts to ask.
“Stop.” I tell Emi and my eyes ice over.
“Sorry.” Emi says sounding hurt but now is not the time for her feelings, or for mine.
“Don’t move or speak.” I tell Emi. I can’t pin down exactly where they are, but there is definitely someone in here with us. Warning them would be pointless. No ally would be hiding their presence like this. Whoever this enemy is she will soon regret entering here.
I create every single trap I had been imagining, filling the entire room except for the area immediately around Emi and myself. The effect is immediate as first one trap goes off and then a whole chain is triggered. It creates a blue ripple in the air just in front of Emi as enough dimensional energy is released to overpower, at least briefly, even a shield as powerful as the temple shield. Blood and gore goes everywhere as body parts are forcibly ported all over the room.
“Too quick. I should have been more brutal.” I say as I realise I let the enemy avoid a real punishment for daring to threaten Emi. Or was she after me? Either way whoever the enemy was she’s dead now.
“You’re as dangerous as I was told.” A deep man’s voice says from right in front of me.
I catch a crimson blade right in front of my heart with dimensional energy. The blade is enchanted and drains far more energy than I’m comfortable with. I send a blast of dimensional energy straight at the man’s head, or at least where I’d expect it to be. Sure enough a headless body holding a red sword in one hand is revealed. Blood gushes out of his neck, but a moment later his head has reappeared. Now that he’s visible he looks familiar, though the blood falling on his hair makes for a disturbing image.
“Where have I seen you before?” I ask, not really expecting an answer.
“You’ve forgotten me already, little godling? Once Queen Perry makes me emperor you’ll not forget me. Except that you’ll be dead by then, so I suppose you may not remember me after all.” He laughs.
“You were one of the emperor’s body guards.” I say, remembering now where I last saw him. This bastard can regenerate his entire body. He doesn’t seem to be using that annoying shield this time though. Is he unable to, or does he just not consider me enough of a threat? If it’s the latter I had best not let this fight drag on. Also he’s a god slayer so I had really better not underestimate him.
Without another word he thrusts his sword towards me again but again I block with dimensional energy. Without pausing he then swings his blade at my neck. I dodge by shifting behind him and with a second shift only narrowly dodge a small dagger that he throws backwards right at me. I then grasp him with dimensional magic and forcibly shift us both between worlds. We’re surrounded by grassland as far as we can see but neither of us have time to admire the view.
With both hands now he swings the sword at my neck again. I block with dimensional energy but I can’t afford to keep blocking his attacks. Not that I can afford to let any of them hit me either of course.
I raise a wind shield and then forcibly shift us a second time between worlds. I take us back to the world we just came from, but this time I pick a very different destination. Unfortunately the bastard picked up on my windshield and created one too. That means we both have air, for now.
All around us there is nothing to see except the void of space and the light grey barren surface of the moon that we’re standing on. I pierce the enemy’s wind shield with dimensional magic and grin as I watch the gory sight caused by the airless void all around him. If I had to describe it I would simply call it a human implosion. He recovers almost instantly though and his body somehow adapts to the void. He must be enhancing it with mana.
He grins as if to say that he has the advantage here. He only has to penetrate my windshield and I will be exposed to the void too. Unlike him I can’t regenerate if I’m killed. I could just leave him here, but then I might have to face him again in the future if he ever manages to return to our world. Besides, even if he doesn’t know it, I am the one with the real advantage. That advantage is knowledge.
I blast him with dimensional energy again but this time I focus on his chest. As his heart and lungs are blown away he is pushed back a step. Of course he regenerates them almost instantly, but that doesn’t matter. I blast him a second time in the chest destroying his heart and lungs again. He is pushed back a second step. That second step is fatal.
As his heart and lungs regenerate a second time he realises what was behind him. It was inactive and invisible before but now that he has entered it, the grey stone gate to hell flares up with dimensional energy filling the gateway forming a constantly swirling, distorted rainbow of dark, mostly metallic colours. He struggles to pull himself out but it’s useless. It would normally be almost instant but his struggle to remain here keeps him in place for almost half a minute. I wave with a big smile on my face as he is dragged to hell.
I am about to shift back via the world I just used but as the enemy is dragged to hell two people, if you can call them that, fall out of the gate. Kuroneko in black catwoman form and Juliet. They are covered in deep cuts, scratches and ice burns. Even Kuroneko looks pale. Unusual for a black cat!
“Peter?” I ask with mind magic.
“He stayed behind. Take us back.” Kuroneko says urgently. I sense angels similar to Peter all around us so I waste no time shifting us to the other world and then back to the temple. Even for me returning to the temple like this is challenging, but I still get us back to the throne room as planned.
“What happened?” I ask now that we are safe.
“We attracted too much attention too quickly.” Kuroneko says sounding exhausted. I look at her wound worriedly.
“The physical wounds don’t matter.” Kuroneko says.
“You lack the power to heal them though, don’t you?” I ask.
“Yes.” Kuroneko admits hanging her head in shame.
“What about Peter?” I ask.
“He still had the strength to fight, but it was looking bad for him.” Kuroneko tells me.
“I suppose conquering hell was never going to be easy, but why didn’t he retreat with you?” I ask.
“He bought us time to retreat. Returning from hell leaves you vulnerable for a few s
econds. Against an army of demons a few seconds would be fatal.” Kuroneko says.
“So he defended both of you for a few seconds against an army of demons?” I ask.
“Yes.” Kuroneko admits.
“Well I suppose we won’t be seeing him again then. Talking about armies, we have one outside the temple. It seems Mayor Perry wants to be queen so she’s rebelling and we’re her first target. At least if what that bastard from the empire said was true. Either way she’s attacking the temple. We have a dimensional slicer up so we’re safe but we can’t attack either at the moment.” I say.
“What’s a dimensional slicer?” Kuroneko asks.
“It’s complicated. Just think of it as an impenetrable shield.” I explain.
“There’s no such thing.” Kuroneko says.
“It’s not exactly a shield, but it is complicated and it may as well be a shield.” I say with a shrug. “Anyway, I’m going back to check on my miko. Have a think about how we can get out of this situation.”
“Peter won’t die.” Kuroneko and Juliet both say at once. They look at each other in confusion for a moment and then laugh. Do they really have that much confidence in Peter, though and more importantly is it well founded? He is on his own against an army of demons.
Chapter 20 (Kai)
I wake on a futon in a little pale brown wooden hut. The whole hut is barely twice as wide as the futon and the futon is the whole length of the hut. The bare earthy ground beside me smells familiar. The warm grey blanket covering me feels familiar too. Yes, this is my home. This is where I grew up. So why does it feel odd to wake up here? I feel like I shouldn’t be here, but I can’t think why.
“Kai onee sama! You’re awake!” Chi chan exclaims happily, with her shoulder length black hair waving as she practically jumps up and down with excitement. Her green eyes sparkle and her pale skin glistens. Why is Chi chan so excited?
“Yes Chi chan. I’m awake.” I say and smile back, but I can’t help thinking it feels odd to be talking to Chi chan like this. Why though? We’ve worked together as assassins since Chi chan turned sixteen. How many years ago was that now? Five? Six? Something like that.
“We’ve got a big hunt today.” Chi chan reminds me.
“We do, don’t we? Who was it again?” I ask. My mind is just too blurred to remember even such an important matter as our next prey.
“It’s that bald guy who insulted the emperor.” Chi chan says in her usual manner. Why can’t she just tell me the name? Oh well it’s always been like this.
“The priest… High Priest Nakamori.” I say finally remembering his name.
“Yes, the bald guy.” Chi chan says.
“Didn’t we kill him already?” I ask scratching my head.
“Don’t be silly onee sama!” Chi chan laughs.
“My head’s a bit blurry right now.” I tell Chi chan.
“Did you not sleep properly?” Chi chan asks worriedly.
“I feel like I slept better than I’ve slept in years. Maybe that’s the problem.” I say.
“You need to clear your head before the hunt, onee sama. Let’s go to the stream.” Chi chan tells me.
“I suppose you’re right. Hunting right now would be dangerous. Some cold water should wake me up from this daze.” I agree.
I push the blanket aside and get up. I look briefly at my light brown trousers and pale grey linen shirt. They seem familiar but why does it seem strange that everything feels familiar? It should be familiar because this is where I have always lived and what I have always worn.
“Onee sama, let’s hurry!” Chi chan says and pulling on my left hand races out of my hut. Pulled along I look briefly at the village. Everyone’s huts are the same but for some reason I feel a bit nostalgic. Why is that? Nostalgia is something that should only happen when you’ve been away from something for a while. I’ve only been ‘away’ for the time I was sleeping. Mere hours of sleep shouldn’t be enough to miss anything. It shouldn’t, right?
We’ve almost left the village without seeing anyone. That’s normal, because it’s day time. Assassin villages are only normally busy at night. Night time is a good time to train. Only people on jobs tend to come out when the sun is up.
Just as we are about to leave the village I catch a glimpse of my neighbour returning from a hunt. She looks a little similar to Chi chan with the same shoulder length black hair, green eyes and pale skin. She would also probably be about level with my chest if she ever stood close enough to see.
Unlike Chi chan though, who I’m always with, I’ve never even spoken to my neighbour and I don’t try to now either. All I know about her is that she lives in the hut next to mine. She darts past us and probably reaches her hut in just a couple of seconds. We could too if we wanted to but we’re taking it easy, because we still have our hunt ahead of us.
Other than my parents and Chi chan all the villagers are just strangers who live nearby. I’m lucky to have three people I care about. I suspect many of my fellow villagers don’t even have one. Friendship and love are discouraged amongst assassins. They can make you lose your edge and your life.
“She must have had an easy hunt.” Chi chan says sounding annoyed.
“When did she leave?” I ask.
“Just before sunrise.” Chi chan says. That’s only a few hours ago.
“That really was a quick hunt. Our next one will last at least a few days.” I say.
“A day to get there and a day to get back, but the hunt itself should be over quickly. The two of us can easily kill anyone.” Chi chan says.
“Not quite anyone.” I tell Chi chan.
“You’re too modest!” Chi chan laughs and tugs at my hand as she continues onwards towards the forest at the edge of the village. The trees are bare because of winter, but even without leaves the trees quickly obscure us from view as we enter the forest.
“I can’t quite think where the stream is.” I admit.
“Kai onee sama likes to joke.” Chi chan says.
“I’m serious.” I tell Chi chan.
“Did onee sama hit her head?” Chi chan asks sounding concerned now.
“I don’t think so.” I answer.
“Let’s get you to the stream and wake you up properly.” Chi chan says.
“I feel like swimming.” I say.
“Then we’ll go to the lake instead. It’s on the way anyway.” Chi chan says happily.
“Why do I feel like I’ve done this before?” I ask.
“Onee sama really likes to joke! We’ve swum in the lake more times than I can count!” Chi chan says. Yes, that must be it.
“Normally you’re the one who wants to swim though.” I say.
“Only if onee sama is there! Swimming alone is boring.” Chi chan says.
“I suppose it would be.” I agree.
“Swimming is good training too, but if I have to train I’d much rather train with Kai onee sama than on my own.” Chi chan says.
“I’d rather train with Chi chan too.” I say and Chi chan’s face is filled with a huge grin.
“I love you, Kai onee sama!” Chi chan exclaims and hugs me tightly.
“Don’t let anyone else hear you say that.” I scold Chi chan.
“Don’t worry, we’re alone.” Chi chan says.
“Well I suppose you of all people would know whether or not anyone was hiding.” I say.
“Nobody can hide from Chi!” Chi chan says and I have to agree with that. Her senses are beyond good. That’s why she was paired up with me. I can hide very effectively thanks to my dwarven blood, but not even I can hide from Chi chan. That means she can keep an eye on me and should I betray the empire it’s her job to kill me. Of course if Chi chan betrays the empire it’s my job to kill her. That’s what being assigned as partners means.
“We’re here!” Chi chan exclaims happily as we enter the grassy area around the lake. Even though the lake is huge, with my senses I can tell nobody is in it. There could still be others planning to use it
though.
“Is anyone else nearby?” I ask.
“No. Nobody anywhere near us.” Chi chan says happily.
“Good.” I say and wasting no time I undo and remove my shirt. I allow it to rest on the dry grassy ground and soon the rest of my clothes are lying on top of it. Chi chan was even quicker than me and is already waiting in the lake with a huge smile on her face. I do a few quick stretches and then dive in and begin to swim. Chi chan catches up to me in an instant and swims beside me. Even though I’m swimming quickly Chi chan is so relaxed that she has time to watch me attentively.
“You’re so beautiful onee sama.” Chi chan says blissfully.
“I’m just big. I’d much rather have a smaller body like yours.” I tell Chi chan honestly.
“There you go again, onee sama.” Chi chan says.
“You’re the only one who thinks I’m beautiful and it’s not like we can get married.” I tell her.
“I wish we could.” Chi chan says.
“Not happening.” I tell her bluntly.
“So cold!” Chi chan complains.
“Yes this water is very cold.” I agree with a mischievous smile.
“I wasn’t talking about the water and you know it!” Chi chan complains.
“I know.” I agree.
“At least the water seems to have cleared your head.” Chi chan says.
“I still feel odd.” I admit.
“Odd?” Chi chan asks.
“Almost like this is a dream.” I say.
“If it is a dream I want to keep dreaming!” Chi chan says.
“Me too.” I agree.
“It really is cold though.” Chi chan says.
“The water?” I ask just to be sure.
“Yes.” Chi chan says.
“It does feel a little colder than I remember it.” I tell her.
“We’ll have to keep each other warm when we get out!” Chi chan says.
“We’ll have to swim harder and dry off quickly when we get out.” I tell Chi chan.
“I’ll help you with that.” Chi chan says.
