by Jake Taylor
The final bandit spotted her, but this one had been given a pistol. Haruka spun back into cover as he fired and slipped away, back through between platforms only to climb on top of them. She circled around and ended up coming down onto him from on top of one, landing on his shoulders and bringing him to the ground. She turned the pistol in his hand and fired it into his head before climbing off of him, panting. That was the last one, but she was a fool to think it was over. A long blade jutted out from the wall and slid towards her at a ridiculous speed. It was parallel to the ground and about three feet up. Haruka had no time to dodge; she threw her arms up in a cross block and channeled as much chi as she could after thirteen long training sessions in a row and endless fights.
It was enough to keep her from losing her arms as the blade slammed into her, but it still cut to the bone, sending a spray of blood everywhere. Haruka gave a cry of pain as the blade hit her, and another as it shoved her back and slammed her into the wall. She fought for breath as she was pinned in a corner and her arms were pressed against her chest. The blade continued shoving, trying to cleave her apart. She struggled against it, trying to push back, but now she couldn’t even breathe. She opened her eyes and saw her father watching from the observation area, making no move to stop it; as she expected. The blade cut deeper into her arms and she could now feel the bones weakening at the points where the blade pushed on them, as well as her ribs bending. One of her ribs cracked from the force but she held on, knowing that if she gave up, she was dead.
A whirring sound barely made it through to her oxygen-deprived brain – her father had activated another turret. She could see it lowering in the opposite corner and turning to aim at her. With a burst of strength Haruka slammed her knee up into the wall blade, snapping it off. The part of the broken blade remaining in the wall shot past her, no longer being restrained, tearing a gash in her right side as it did. Haruka ignored the pain, she had to, as she threw away the piece of the blade that had cut into her arms and darted away from the wall as it was filled with bullets. She barely managed to stumble behind a platform, safe from the turret.
“Make it to the exit,” her father’s voice said. Suddenly every turret in the room activated; they were set up so that there was no place to hide but down between the platforms, and those areas were now filled with superheated flame. Haruka’s eyes went wide and she leaped up to catch the edge of a platform, leaving blood on it as her injured side hit against it. She hauled herself up, ignoring the blood trailing from her arms and side as she began sprinting and leaping from platform to platform. Dozens of turrets filled the air with fire, forcing her to flip and kick off and slide her way across the room. Several times she nearly fell into the flames below or felt the air from the hail of bullets, but somehow she finally made it to the exit.
She stumbled out and fell to the floor, shuddering from a lack of oxygen, blood loss and exhaustion. The door to the observation room slid open and Kazuki stepped out, his arms folded behind his back. “I see you’re done for the day. When you’re ready, you can try to do better.” As he walked past her she clenched her fists but she didn’t make a move; she never made a move. It was pointless.
Isabella shook her head. “That’s not even training.”
“Father’s training was never easy, never safe.”
“His actions make no sense! He lost his wife so he constantly almost kills his daughter?”
Haruka sighed. “He thinks Mother died because we were all too weak to prevent it. In his mind, if I’m not strong enough to make it through his training then I would die anyway. He thought he was either preparing me for survival or preparing himself for my death, however it went. But over time he changed. What was left of my father is long gone now. He doesn’t understand what caring is anymore. He thinks it’s forcing something to be invincible.”
“So he’s coming after you now, refusing to let you go, because it’s supposedly more dangerous for you to be free?”
“Something like that. I’m sure he thinks you’re weakening me.” Haruka shook her head, looking up to catch a glimpse of the sun through the trees. “He’ll never understand or actually care about another person’s emotions, and it’s been a long, long time since I last hoped he would.”
Isabella squeezed her hand, watching her face. “Loss can twist people very easily… Just look at me.”
Haruka gave another sigh, meeting her eyes. “I guess so. Maybe what happened to him is something similar. Maybe I should be more understanding…”
“No,” Isabella said harshly, her eyes narrowing. “Loss doesn’t excuse you from being responsible for your actions. I am guilty of what I did, and so is he. Worse, he still had family. He had a child. He had a responsibility to be there for you after you lost your mother, and he wasn’t. I have a hard time forgiving parents for things like that.”
“Does it make me a hypocrite?” Haruka asked as she looked at Bella searchingly. “Being so willing to forgive you and not caring what you’ve done, but hating him so much?”
“What he did affected you directly,” Bella said softly. “In that time period, I could have been the one to kill your mother if we had lived in the same country. You could have spent your entire life training to kill me. But I never hurt you, so you have nothing against me.”
Haruka shook her head. “No… No, it’s more than that.” She looked at Bella with conviction. “If you had killed my mother and I’d spent my life preparing to kill you, when I met you as you are now, I would be unable to do it. You’re a different person and I would be able to recognize that even then. No, Bella, you’re something special. You aren’t like my father. You feel guilt for what you did. It pains you as much as it pains anyone you hurt, I can see that. When that man we ran into hated you for what you did, I could see that no one in that room hated you more at that moment than you did. I consider you as much a victim as anyone.”
Bella looked at her, shaking her head. “I’m still trying to believe that. I don’t know if I can.”
“You will,” Haruka said with a nod, tightening her grip on her hand. “You will.”
Chapter 12: Arrival and Departure
“There’s no escape from this situation. We’re just fighting to stall it.”
IXH
Kazuki was not happy.
He was never happy, but today in particular he was nearing the point of rage. He didn’t trust Aranea’s plans to get the job done, and he especially didn’t like that she was working with someone he didn’t know without his permission or consent. For all he knew, her “partner” would kill his daughter. Apparently they had some sort of interest in the whore his daughter had run off with, despite the distinct lack of anything interesting about her. And, as much as Kazuki hated to admit it, he didn’t think his daughter would give up this foolishness until that woman was dead.
Aranea’s plans didn’t include killing Isabella, and that wouldn’t do. Kazuki regretted ever bringing her into this now; he was going to fix this as he should have early on, with his own people. In a distant corner of the monastery Kazuki approached a traditionally styled house that other monks tended to give a wide berth. Kazuki was the only one who would ever approach it fearlessly, and he brushed a hand through his greying hair in frustration as he knocked on the door with another. A servant slid the door open and announced him as he stepped inside. The three he was looking for were inside waiting, apparently having expected this visit.
Kazuki folded his arms and looked over the three figures before him. “I assume you know why I’m here.”
“Of course,” whispered a hoarse male voice.
“You’ve finally decided to have us take care of this situation,” a female voice added.
“Yes,” Kazuki acknowledged with a nod. “This ridiculous rebellion has gone on long enough. I want you to capture my daughter and bring her back.”
“What about the others?” asked a much deeper, gravelly male voice.
Kazuki looked at the speaker firmly. “Kill them.
Let the others escape if you have to in order to ensure your primary mission, but make sure you kill the woman Isabella.” Three grins widened and Kazuki left without another word.
Across the courtyard, hidden away in shadow, Aranea listened through a spider perched on the outside of the house. She turned her head and peered through the trees she hid behind at Kazuki as he left the house and headed back into the monastery proper. So he’s bringing in the Triad, she thought to herself, a frown of irritation touching her features. He is actively fighting against my plans now. This will not do at all. She melted into the shadow and ended up in the hallway to her room, shaking her head.
“Naughty Kazuki, that’s cheating,” she said with a smile as she entered her room, looking to the mirror set up on a stand in the corner of her room. “I’ll need to enlist a little help here, I think. I can’t trust Haruka’s little group to defeat the Triad alone. After all, how would I ensure my own deal goes through?” She moved to the mirror, deciding which favor to call in. She always kept a large number of contacts that owed her, and today one of them would be paying their debt. No matter what Kazuki tried, Aranea was determined to win their little game in any way she could. She hated to lose.
IXH
“My parents aren’t insane,” Suria was saying as they walked along. “They’re just… really overbearing.”
Haruka smirked. “So they won’t be sending people to kill us?”
“Oh, no, no. Nothing like that. They just, um… Well, my dad’s a really important person in the Imperial City, and he and mom have always been very strict. I’ve spent most of my life in one room or another studying old tomes and books.”
“Ack,” Freya said with a shake of her head, “I’d go crazy.” She glanced back to see Isabella, Haruka and Able staring at her silently. “…More crazy.”
Suria giggled as they all nodded. “I never felt crazy. Just… frustrated, I guess. And lonely. I had very little access to the outside world, no siblings and no friends until I became a teenager and was finally allowed to attend the Academy.”
“What kind of academy?” Isabella asked curiously, wondering if it was anything like the one she’d attended.
“The Imperial Academy of the Magi,” Suria said with a smile, “A place with a pretentious title and even more pretentious people.”
“So you at least got to meet other people, then,” Able said, seeking a silver lining.
“Yes!” She nodded, then paused. “Well, for a time.”
“It sounds like your life was like this for a long time,” Haruka mentioned as she looked over at the younger girl. “What made you finally decide to leave only a month ago?”
Suria sighed, clasping her hands behind her back as she walked. “Over time my parents declared all my friends a ‘bad influence’, weeding them out until I had only my best friend left. She was fine in their eyes, so I still got to talk to her.”
Isabella frowned. “And that changed recently?”
“They told me she was a ‘distraction’,” Suria said with more than a hint of irritation. “They forbid me from seeing her again. You have to understand, before the Academy, I was in my room all day every day. I never did anything, never went anywhere, and never met anyone. I couldn’t go back to that – I couldn’t go back to looking forward to my monthly doctor check-up because it was one more person I’d be able to talk to for a few minutes. This was two months ago. I just decided I had to leave.”
“So what are you going to do with your newfound freedom?” Haruka asked, wondering what she would have done had she left at the same age.
Suria shrugged. “I don’t know. Is it weird to be looking for something when you don’t know what it is?”
“No,” Isabella answered honestly. “I’ve been there. Did you ever have any hopes? Dreams? Goals?”
Suria rubbed her head. “Not… really.” She sighed, giving a humorless smile. “I spent so long working hard towards my parents’ goals that I never even thought to come up with my own.”
“They push too much,” Haruka said, keeping her eyes forward. “You can’t let others decide your life for you, though. It’s time to think for yourself. Leaving is a good first step.” She felt Isabella’s eyes on her and looked at her, receiving a smile of support. She smiled in return, taking the woman’s hand as they walked.
“Ruka’s right,” Freya said as she turned around to walk backwards. “You gotta decide things yerself.” She grinned. “Ever thought about bein’ a pirate?”
Suria blinked and tilted her head. “What exactly does a pirate do?”
“Drink,” Able offered.
“Pillage?” Bella suggested.
“Plunder,” Haruka added.
“Drink,” Able said as he looked over.
“Sail,” Bella nodded.
“Fight,” Haruka commented.
“Or some mix o’ those,” Freya said with a wink.
“Drink,” repeated Able.
“Drink!”
“Drink.”
“Aye, an’ sometimes we shepherd sarcastic ingrates across th’ world fer no pay an’ no good reason.”
Isabella beamed at her. “Because you like them.”
“Doesn’t sound so bad,” Suria said with a smile. “Maybe I’ll try it. I might just try any option that comes up.”
“Really?” Able said with a look at her. “That’s how you’re gonna handle being aimless? Aim at everything?”
“Why not?” Suria shrugged. “How else am I going to find something meaningful?”
Able seemed to think about that as Freya nodded. “We could sure use a mage. Deadly on a ship, y’know.”
“Oh, so I’d be valuable, too?”
Haruka chuckled. “I’m pretty sure living flamethrowers are valued by every group.”
“Ah, but my ship’s th’ best o’ th’ best!”
“You’re certainly confident about it.”
“Braggin’s part o’ th’ pirate code. But I’m th’ Pirate Queen o’ th’ Eastern Seas, lass, my braggin’s backed up.”
Suria looked at the others, who nodded. “Wow. Okay, this group is pretty odd. We have a Pirate Queen, a Knight-Commander from Areya, and the heir to the Black Sun?” She peered at Able. “All that leaves is you, mystery boy.”
Able raised an eyebrow. “What about me?”
“Maybe you’re super-important, too. I wanna know.”
“So do I.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” Freya said as she moved up a hill, looking back at them with a grin. “For now, we’ve arrived.”
All of them moved up and stopped, looking down into the valley that stretched before them. Tents reached into the distance and hundreds of soldiers could be seen moving between them. Some tents were personal ones, some were huge like a large rectangular one that had to be some sort of mess hall. In the center of the camp stood a square tent that was taller than the ones around it. Two flags were on either side of it, and more versions of that flag were set up all around the massive camp; it was a black flag with a blood red circle in the center.
“You weren’t exaggerating about there being over two thousand of them,” Isabella said as she looked over the encampment.
“Nope. You’re safe ‘ere as you’ll ever be,” the pirate said, winking at her before beginning to lead them into the valley. Mercenaries guarding the camp’s edges greeted her as they passed, heading towards the tent at the center.
As they approached, a woman was exiting the tent. She had a somewhat formal, respectable appearance; she was wearing a black robe-like uniform with a military quality and had her dark hair up in a bun in the back, with long bangs down the right side of her face. She appeared to be in her late twenties and more or less a serious person. Glasses with thin black frames rested in front of her blue eyes, which focused on the approaching party with surprise. “Freya!”
“Heya, Phelly,” Freya said with a grin as she sidled up to the woman and put an arm over her shoulders. “You an’ my nephew an item
yet?”
The woman colored slightly. “That isn’t really an appropriate topic of conversation, Miss Black.”
Freya laughed, letting go and patting her shoulder. “Sorry.” She looked at the others. “This is my nephew’s second-in-command. She takes care o’ pretty much every detail; one o’ those geniuses.”
The woman smiled. “Genius is a subjective term. My name is Ophelia Morvant; I would really appreciate it if none of you took up the use of ‘Phelly’.”
“I think we can leave it up to Freya to be the annoying one,” Isabella snickered.
“Bah! An’ after I was kind enough t’ bring you all ‘ere,” Freya said with a snort, looking at Ophelia. “Dal inside?”
“Yes, but he’s quite bus-“ Ophelia blinked as Freya brushed past her and swept aside the tent flap, stepping inside. She gave a sigh, looking to the others. “I should have expected that. You may as well all go in.”
They stepped inside to see Freya holding a dark-haired man in a headlock with a large grin as he struggled against it. “Get off me, you old hag!”
“Is that any way t’ talk t’ yer Auntie Freya?!” Freya said as her grin widened.
Two other mercenaries stood to the side and shook their heads as their leader gripped his aunt’s leg. “It’s the way I’m gonna talk!” Freya yelped as he yanked her leg out from under her and sent her to the ground.
“Yer gettin’ better,” Freya chuckled as he helped her up before looking at the others.
