“Kujo,” Ratnakar said finally, “I am fine, as you can see.” He stepped down off of his bed, still naked, and came to where Kujo and Furi stood. As he approached, Furi moved to the side and knelt down as the other girls were doing. When he finally stood in front of Kujo, the other man was able to speak.
“What are you?” Kujo whispered.
“I...” Ratnakar said, holding the sword up for all to see. The onyx flared across their eyes and all fell to their knees in front of him. “I am a god now.”
Chapter Eight
The birthday celebration had been amazing. Akio enjoyed himself with his friends, soldiers, and almost the entire town well into the early morning hours. He noticed that while Saru and her parents were there, her sister was not. When he inquired about the little girl, he was told that she had been extremely ill that day and was not well enough to attend. He thought it a bit odd, but went on about the festivity.
He hadn't told many people about his plan to lead a party the morning after. The only souls who knew were the ones who were going with him. He was taking Kiso and about seventy-five of his best soldiers and guards with him. He didn't want too big of a group but he also didn't want to be caught without help if they did stumble upon the gang.
After the celebration ended, he headed into his chambers, expecting to get a few hours of sleep before dawn. Instead, he was greeted by a ghost. In the middle of his room was what could only be described as his grandfather.
Takeaki stood as solid as any man alive that day. Akio froze in both fear and amazement. “Grandfather?” he asked, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. “How are you here? It’s not possible.”
The older man smiled at him. “Akio.” He moved toward his grandson without moving his legs at all. Akio was transfixed. “I came to talk with you.”
Takeaki approached where Akio stood. “Do not be afraid, Akio,” he said. “I am not here as a spirit to haunt you, or to harm you. I am here thanks to Aichu. I am here to help you.” He paused and a worried look ran across his face. “And to warn you.”
At the mention of Aichu, Akio just knew this wasn’t a hallucination. “Warn me?” he asked. “Warn me about what?”
“Tux'els has been given a new host,” his grandfather said. “The host has Tux'els full power and abilities and has been charged with destroying the fire soul.” He paused and looked at his grandson, now fully grown into a man. “And you.”
“Me?” Akio was surprised. “Who is this host that I should be watching for? Should I seek him out now? Kill him while he is still learning?”
His grandfather shook his head. “No, Akio. The host already has all of Tux'els’ power, and more thanks to the Kurou No Tatsu, the dark dragon. That sword is like the Hi No Tamashi, in that it carries with it more power than mere humans should ever bear.”
“So,” Akio pondered, “how am I to beat him then? I cannot allow him or this host to destroy Aichu, or me.”
Moving across the room, his grandfather sat in one of the chairs that had been in his formal military room for a very long time. He smiled upon seeing the chairs here. Akio watched the shade of his grandfather with amusement that it would have the need to sit anywhere.
Finally comfortable, or the appearance of being comfortable, his grandfather looked up at him. “I loved these chairs,” he said. “Did I ever tell you how I got them?”
Akio shook his head. The man continued, “They were a gift to me from the previous shogun. I saved his daughter from a horde.” He ran a weathered hand down the ornately carved wooden arms of the chair. “He presented me with these chairs from his royal court.” Akio stood silently as his grandfather studied the piece of furniture. Eventually, the older man looked up at him. “I am sorry. I forget sometimes that I am no longer here in this world. I do miss it. I miss you and this house.” He looked around. “I am proud of what you have become so far, Akio.”
“So what am I to do grandfather?” Akio asked again. “How am I to win this fight?”
“You have to become something else, Akio. Something more than you are.”
“How? I am completely at a loss here. How can I do that?” Akio asked, taking a couple of steps across the room to sit in the other chair, next to his grandfather. He could hear the night birds outside singing to each other.
“You must go to Aichu tonight,” Takeaki told him, reaching over to pat his hand. Akio was amazed that he could feel his grandfather's touch on his skin, even if it was light. Tears welled up in his eyes.
“Understood,” Akio said, choking back tears, “I will go to her, grandfather.” He looked up at the other man and added, “And I am going to find the men who killed father. I will make sure they receive what they deserve.”
“Yes.” His grandfather nodded. “Yes you will. I have seen it.”
Akio could no longer hold it in. He began to sob. His grandfather moved over to him and put his arms around him. Akio felt an amazing sense of comfort with the light touch that the shade had. His tears stopped and he opened his eyes, ready to ask his grandfather what else he had seen.
But the spirit was gone.
Akio buried his face in his hands for a moment, trying to compose himself. As the minutes passed, he started to question himself. Did he really see his grandfather? Then he remembered the touch of his hand, the feel of the hug, and how comforted he had felt – and he knew the man had truly been there.
Akio got up and swiftly changed from his party clothes into a black training outfit. Once dressed, he slipped out the back door and through the gardens. He moved like a cat, quick and stealthy, through the forest behind his compound and around the city, until he came to the crevasse where the ship waited. The builders had not begun to build yet, but they had laid out stakes to mark where posts would be planted.
Quickly, he jumped down into the crack, and almost immediately the hatch opened for him. He darted inside.
“Akio...” Aichu's voice came from the chamber ahead, “come! We have so much to do.”
“I know,” he said to her. “Grandfather told me about the host.”
“Unfortunately, the timeline has been moved up tremendously with this host appearing. I fear that there may not be enough time to fully train you before you meet him for the first time,” Aichu said. On the screen appeared a picture of a young man about the same age as Akio. “This is the host,” she said. “He goes by the name of Ratnakar.”
Akio studied the face and burned it into his memory. The young man had a gentile face, one that he was amazed could become the pawn of an evil alien overlord. On the screen next to Ratnakar appeared the sword, the dark dragon. “This is his sword,” Aichu continued. “It is called the Kurou No Tatsu. It has been dormant for many years, and I had lost track of it. Apparently, it has now found the one that it needed to control. The one that can destroy me and the key to reviving my people.”
“So what do we do?” Akio said. “Where do we start?”
The chair moved from the floor and began to glow softly. “Sit,” Aichu told him. He moved to the chair and sat down as soon as it stopped moving. “I have too much to teach you and not enough time for you to fully comprehend it all. So, I will have to do so in a different way.” She paused. “It will hurt. I cannot make it any other way. It will hurt bad.”
Akio steeled himself. “I am ready, Aichu. Do what you need to do.”
All along the chair, odd serpent-like protrusions moved out of the seat and toward Akio. They burrowed into his clothing until they found the patch of skin they were looking for. Then, as one, each buried itself into his flesh. He let loose a slight scream, but did his best not to fight them. Electricity coursed through his body as the odd metal snakes began to work.
His body jerked backwards into the chair and his eyes rolled back into his head. In almost a seizure-like state, Akio started to receive all of the information that Aichu could give to him without overloading his brain. The full history of her planet, the training o
f their best warriors, the powers of their people, everything came rushing into his mind. On his arms, symbols appeared right and left, taking up the lined space on the tender part of his inner arms. Strength coursed through his soul and his body as did knowledge and power.
After the better part of an hour, the metallic snakes detached themselves from him and retreated back into the chair. He slumped over, his eyes closed.
“Akio?” Aichu inquired. “Are you all right?” No answer. “Akio? Can you hear me?” She knew that the young man was strong enough to endure the procedure; he was the chosen one after all.
Eventually, Akio moved slightly. He sat up a little in his chair and then raised his head. When he opened his eyes, Aichu knew that everything had taken as it was meant to. His eyes, once a brown so deep they appeared black, were now a sky blue, almost white with lines of electricity in a blue color running through them. He saw everything, all at the same time.
Looking around him, he was quiet for a moment. Then he got up and began to move around the chamber, brushing symbols here and there, interfacing with the ship itself. Aichu was still silent. The chamber changed color as he touched different places, moving from the beautiful soft white to a blue to a purple to a radiant yellow. Finally, Akio withdrew his hand and the chamber moved back to white. He returned to the chair but did not sit down. He cocked his head slightly at the screen.
“Ugai?” Aichu asked.
He nodded. Akio knew that there was a presence inside him, aiding him, guiding him. He could feel the overwhelming power of the other presence but it was a warm, welcoming power, unlike the power that had taken over Ratnakar.
“I am,” Akio said to her. “Ugai lives.”
On the screen, a map of the area around the countryside where Akio ruled was shown. A spot on a larger town about thirty miles away suddenly had a glowing spot. “Here,” Aichu said, “is where you will find two things: the men who killed your father… and your first encounter with Ratnakar and what he has become.”
“Will I do battle with him?” Akio asked.
Aichu seemed to ponder the question. “It is unknown,” she finally said. “You shall meet, yes, that much is certain. However, the time line from there depends on you both.” Ratnakar's face once again appeared on the screen next to the map. “He knows not what you look like, Akio, so the element of surprise is yours. How you use it is up to you.”
Akio studied the face for another moment and nodded. Then, he heard the door swish behind him. “It is almost daylight,” Aichu said softly. “Your men will be waiting for you. You must go.”
He began to move to the door. “I will return, Aichu,” he said. “When I do, you will have more for me, yes?”
“Yes,” she replied. “Safe travels, Akio.” He moved out of the doorway and toward the hatch at the other end. “Keep him safe, Ugai,” she said as the hatch closed after him.
Back at the compound, Akio was barely able to sneak around the back and in through the gardens without being spotted. All of the men who were traveling with him were waiting in the courtyard. Before he could shut his door, he heard his mother clear her throat.
“What is happening here?” she demanded. “Where are you thinking you are going?”
He froze. He planned to tell her... right as he was walking out the door. She must have heard the commotion of the men outside and awoken. “Mother,” he said, turning around, “I have something that must be taken care of.”
It was her turn to freeze. “Your eyes!” She breathed, her hand fluttering to her chest. Inside him, he felt Ugai moving slightly and a quick apology flashed through his mind from the presence. He glanced to his right quickly, just in time to see his eyes shift from the white-blue back to the deepest brown possible.
“What about them, mother?” he asked as he stepped closer.
Confused, her features narrowed and her head cocked slightly to one side, she studied him. “They... they were blue, Akio.” She breathed, taking his face in her hands and staring at it. “They were blue.”
“Oh, mother, as you can see they are not blue.” He laughed lightly. “It must have been a trick of the light.”
Not satisfied, but not wanting to overshadow the real reason she was in his room, she dropped it. “So, where are you going, son?”
“I have a lead on the men who killed father,” he told her. “I am off to find them.” He clenched his fists. “And kill them.”
He fully expected her to argue with him, to plead for him to stay here, where it was safe. However, her reaction surprised him. “Good,” she said. “I want you to slit the throat of every last one of them.” Her face twisted into a look of pure hatred that he had never seen before from her. He felt her pain suddenly, pain at losing someone she loved so deeply.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. “I will, mother. I promise.”
After a few moments, she pulled away. “I should let you get ready. What can I do to help?”
“Nothing really, mother,” he said, moving toward the table. “I just need to grab a few things here, but everything else is ready.” She stood in his room quietly as he gathered up the maps and other resources he needed, and as he slipped behind the silk screen and changed clothes. When he emerged, in his father's armor, she gasped and tears flowed from her eyes.
“You look so handsome,” she whispered. “He would be so proud of you.”
He hugged her once more and then strapped the Hi No Tamashi to his back. She followed him to the front porch, and as the men saw him come out of the house, they all came to attention.
He addressed them from the bottom step. “Men,” he began, making sure to look at Kiso, “as you know, we have been brought a lead on the bastards who murdered my father. We are going after them.” He looked up at his mother, who was still standing in the doorway. “We will slit the throat of every man who was involved with this infamy.”
The men cheered.
“Now, let's go!”
He moved down the last step and over to his horse, swinging himself up onto the steed. The other men mounted, and they rode off through the city toward the gates and toward the sweet glory of revenge.
***
The ancient library was filled with books that were falling apart. Asas had studied them all, multiple times. He sat with his back to the shelves and stared out the window at the morning sun. A knock at the door broke him from his thoughts. “Yes, come in,” he said.
The door opened and a man entered. Baba Munemitsu was an oddity for a monk. He had not trained traditionally with the others, but instead had trained at a warrior monastery several hundred miles away. He had been summoned by Asas after Ratnakar left as the older monk knew that a time would come when the boy would return, without any good intentions.
Baba stood silently until Asas turned around. “What have you learned?” Asas inquired.
“It is as you have feared,” Baba began. “The boy has not only built a large gang of his own, but he now has one of the most feared assassins in all of Japan at his service. Asai Furi is with him in his small compound on the outskirts of town and has been teaching both the boy and others.”
Asas sat down at the large desk and steepled his hands in front of his chin. He sighed. “Is that all?”
Baba shook his head. “No, he also has a sword.”
“Every gang member has some sort of weapon.”
“Not like this.” Baba produced a piece of paper from his pocket. “I caught several glimpses of it as he has been practicing in the woods alone. I drew this to show you.”
Asas took the paper and was taken aback by the drawing upon it. He knew he had seen this sword somewhere before. It was such an odd shape and the markings were so unique, it was a weapon that had caught his interest. Now, he just had to remember where he met it. “Thank you Baba.”
“What else do you require of me now?” the monk asked.
Asas looked up from the paper. He shifted his head
slightly to the left, studying the man in front of him. “I want you to train my monks.”
Baba's eyebrows raised in surprise. “Train your monks?” he replied. “Train them in what way?”
Asas stood up and came around the desk, then sat on the edge of it in front of Baba. “I fear that Ratnakar will return here, to the monastery, as I have foreseen,” he said. “I would like for you to train – as best you can – the monks here so that they can, at the very least, defend themselves when that day arrives. I do not want to be caught so off guard that we are all destroyed.”
Baba stood quietly for a moment, staring at a dark stain on Asas’ desk. Then he nodded. “I will do as you request.” He bowed his head lightly. “Do you have weapons?”
“We do.” Asas stood. “Come, I'll show you.”
He led Baba through a couple of different hallways and down into the basement of the building. In the far back of that basement, when they reached a locked door, Asas produced a key. Inside the room were various crates filled with swords, bow and arrows, and spears. Baba was amazed to see the assortment of weaponry here in the monastery. He turned to Asas and said, “You are serious.”
Asas' face fell. “Unfortunately, I am.”
Chapter Nine
The men headed out along the countryside and Akio marveled at how beautiful everything was around them. He had been out traveling a few times, but never in a procession that he commanded. It was truly empowering to him. Before they could reach the town where the gang had set up their headquarters, they would pass through the large city where the shogun resided and would stop and pay homage to him. Shigenoi Kuninaka was the shogun and it was rumored that he was not so well. Akio wanted to make sure that he was on the man's good side when he passed away so that he would continue to retain his lands and title, if not more, when the emperor assigned a replacement.
Samurai 2.0 - Destiny: A Harem Fantasy Adventure Page 11