Moon and Star Episode Two: Book Two of the Moon and Star Saga (The Jakai Chronicles 1)

by Mike Bergonzi

  They seemed eager to learn, in fact. Their eyes were filled with anticipation.

  "I didn't bring anything to assist me, So I'll need some volunteers." She scouted the room for three people. "You, you, and you over there in the back. Please, come join me. I promise I'll have more materials next time."

  Two burly men and the inn keeper's daughter walked onto the stage. Their feet soft enough to not trigger the creaky floorboards. Are they all ninjobi? She eyed the rest of the room, wondering how many of them could walk the stage without triggering the wooden boards to creak.

  "Lady Kanrei?" the inn keeper's daughter asked. "What should we do now?"

  Yuri snapped out of her thoughts and clasped her hands together, creating a loud clap which echoed throughout the basement. She winced. Clearly she was the loudest thing in this room.

  "Our first lesson is about our nation's heritage. You see, we weren't always our own country. Long before the shogunate was established, we were ruled by another nation. They were called the Kachaku and used the many islands of Jakai to help fuel their economy. Everything worked out well between the two nations. Both worked together to further each other's role in the world."

  "So why are we independent now?" a woman in the crowd asked. "I mean if things were going so well, why become independent."

  "An excellent question," Yuri said, pointing to the lady. "And this is where my helpers come into play. Now, pretend each man represents one of the nations."

  The crowd nodded and scribbled notes on their scrolls.

  "Okay," she said, pointing to one of the men. "Hit him as hard as you can."

  She gestured to the other man. The man she instructed looked at her. A look of confusion on his face. The rest of the group murmured to each other. Some voices were louder than others and the general consensus was why did she want the man to hit him.

  The man finally did as instructed and hit him in the stomach. The other man doubled over in pain. After regaining his strength, he got up and tackled the man who had attacked him. In a blind fury, he beat him senseless. The man lay there, his body unresponsive as the other man's fists continued to make contact.

  When the attacking man showed sign of giving up his assault, Yuri stepped in.

  "That's plenty, you've made your point. Now then, who can tell me what just happened? Why did this man beat up the other?"

  "Because he hit him first," one of the men in the crowd said. "He deserved it."

  "Did he?" Yuri asked. "As I recall, I told him to do it. Why then didn't he attack me?"

  The crowd murmured. Their faces showing confusion. This is going to be harder than I thought.

  "Things change when emotion is added," Yuri said. "It becomes illogical. As with most things, there are multiple sides to every tale. The Kachaku claim they acted under orders from their ruler. The Jakain people say that the attack was unjustified. The ruler of the Kachaku stated the people of Jakai slaughtered his family.

  "No proof was found regarding Jakai's involvement." She paused for dramatic effect. "I'll say it again. Even after years of searching, no evidence has ever been found linking Jakai to the death of the Kachaku royal family."

  "Was there any evidence at all?" the woman from earlier asked.

  Yuri shook her head. "That's the most troubling part. They appear to have committed suicide, though no blood was found on their body. To this day, nobody knows who killed the Kachaku royal family––but without an heir, they could no longer rule Jakai."

  "And that's why the former ruler thought Jakai killed his family," the woman said, excitement in her voice.

  "Well, yes, but it gets a bit more complicated than that. You see, Jakai was responsible for one death in particular. The eldest son; the next in line to rule. But the Jakain people claimed to be acting under orders from someone."

  "And who was this someone?" Sesshu asked.

  Yuri shrugged. "No one knows. The facts of the tale end there. Anything else is speculation. But I think there was a third force at work. I can't tell you why I think that. It's just a gut feeling I have."

  She looked around the room for any questioning eyes. They all seemed to understand and she continued on with the lesson until the sun came up, All the while wanting to run for her life before they decided to drop the act and attack.

  ***

  Night seemed to fall faster than normal. Did it have something to do with Mayumi's unconscious state? Kaito had watched both of them for at least an hour. Neither one showed signs of wakefulness.

  He left the inn to get some fresh air, clear his head. He walked through the village, looking at the people and the disheveled state of their buildings and homes. Mayumi's storm tore this place apart. Its devastation was much larger and more destructive than he first thought.

  Everything from floorboards—–splintered, cracked, and broken–—to various decorative items littered the ground, as common as dust or sand. Was his life worth the lives of this entire province? He watched as several men tried helping a boy move some rubble off his leg. To think things were so bad here.

  Mayumi said things are a lot worse now. What did she know about this place? What wasn't she telling him? If he was going to lead his people against the northern capital, he needed to know the situation in its entirety.

  And the best place to find answers was the palace.

  Kaito made his way up the stone steps to the castle. Like the town at the foot of the hill, the castle town was in shambles. Unlike the port city, the castle town looked far worse. He found it odd how most of the devastation was farther away from the shore.

  Kaito didn't know much about tides, but an entire section of the port city told him one thing, the storm was anything but ordinary. To think Mayumi had that much control over tsuki no ha-ken where she could flood two out of three sections of Yoshino without disrupting the middle.

  Once Mayumi woke up, he'd have a long talk with her. She'd tell him everything like she promised when they first started this journey.

  People ignored his presence as if he didn't exist, despite the fact he was the heir of the southern capital. But based on what Sora had said before he mysteriously vanished, everyone thought him dead; so it made sense. With his mission perceived a failure, it seemed odd they would want to go on the offensive against the Shogun's armies. They didn't have the sun saber. Why attack Kyotomo and risk the lives of their men?

  Kaito approached the front gate. A single guard stood by the door. Like the others, he paid no attention to him. He wondered if he even saw him. To test his theory, he ran past the guard. He made it a few steps past the entrance when the guard ordered him to stop.

  Kaito froze, wishing he'd thought more about his so-called plan to get information. What was he thinking, blindly entering the castle? It's not like anybody would believe him if they told them he was the son of their Shugo.

  The guard walked over to him. Kaito fought the urge to run away more, but the logical part of his brain was now working and decided to have him stay—–even if it meant punishment or something worse.

  "Come with me," the guard said.

  Kaito did as requested and followed the man, keeping enough of a distance between them where the guard couldn't grab on to him. If things went south, he wanted a way out.

  The situation, it seemed, was a lack of men on guard duty. Why else would there be a lone guardsman standing watch? In fact ...

  Kaito looked around as he walked. There were hardly any guards here at all. If the Yoritomo clan were serious about going to war, shouldn't their defenses be more fortified than this? Something was definitely wrong with this whole scenario.

  "Where are you taking me?" he asked.

  The guard said nothing and continued to lead him down corridor after corridor, with no end in sight. Finally, they stopped.

  "This way."

  Kaito followed him into a vast, open room. He could feel the breeze from the ocean, despite the fact he was inside. Whoever his father was, he sure had interesting taste in ar
twork. Far different from Jin's. These were done by professionals. They looked far more complex and articulate than one of Sesshu's masterpieces. He'd only met the man once as a boy and it was an accident.

  Sesshu seemed like a kind old man who loved to paint. But there was a difference between loving art and profiting off it. This artist clearly profited from his work in the arts. The amount of colors in each painting. He could barely count them all. Each one of them jumping off the canvas. Portraits of ...

  Kaito blinked, looking closer at one of the paintings mounted on the wall.

  It was a painting of a boy and a man—–probably the father. The art itself wasn't great when compared to the rest. What caught his eye was the striking similarity the boy had with Sora. And the father? He looked like Eiji.

  No, it can't be, Kaito thought. Eiji's my father?

  "Keep moving," the guard snapped.

  The sudden hostility in his voice made Kaito's heart race.

  Could Eiji really be his father? Why didn't he say something when they first met? Mayumi must've told him who he was. There must've been a reason he never mentioned the possibility. No, it wasn't a possibility. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he could see the resemblance in his mind. Ever since he was a child, Kaito had always been the odd child out. He looked nothing like Jin and he knew why. At least, he did now. The explanation was simple, but what if there was more to it, than simple appeasement.

  The day surrounding his birth was shrouded in mystery and politics. Even when he asked Yuri during one of their lessons, she told him not to worry bout the past and focus on becoming a well-educated shogun, rather than a close-minded one. She must've known Kaito was Yoritomo.

  Kaito grumbled to himself. He hated not knowing things about his own past. Things beyond his control. It was like everyone thought he couldn't handle the truth. If Eiji was, in fact, his real father, then what did it mean overall. Could it be that ...

  "Pick it up. Lord Eiji doesn't like to be kept waiting."

  "Lord Eiji?" he asked.

  How did a ship captain become the ruler of an entire province? The man knew his way around water and boats, but to understand how to rule a kingdom? Not everyone was born a leader and he seemed the kind of person to want to act alone whenever possible. Come to think of it, the only people onboard the ship were Mayumi, Kaito, and Eiji. To think one man could get them to land on the shore during one of tsuki no ha-ken's storms was unfathomable.

  He did wield the lunar blade before Mayumi, however. Perhaps he knew a way to maneuver the boat in such a way where each wave didn't destroy the ship.

  How could I have missed something so glaring?

  Kaito was smart, able to notice things most adults tended to overlook. Sometimes the simplest answers are the right ones and Kaito felt stupid for not picking up on how they managed to survive during the tsunami. To not even question the possibility or logic of staying alive when nature was in no way on your side.

  He walked into the guards back.

  "Hey!" a familiar voice shouted.

  No, it can't be. “Sora?”

  Chapter Seven

  Mayumi rubbed her forehead as she slowly got up from the floor. Her back ached from sleeping on the uneven wooden boards. The flat side of some nails jutted out from the floor, causing her great discomfort as she stood up. She stretched. Her mind still a fog from last night.

  Naomi was asleep. Despite her normal outward-looking appearance, Mayumi knew she had lost a lot of blood. It would take a few hours before her body replenished the blood it lost. The blood itself was inside the sword.

  Where's Kaito? He couldn't have gotten far.

  She dashed to the door and opened it in one swift motion. The inside of her head spun in small circles. She tried reorienting herself, but she lost a lot of blood trying to save Naomi. Her body still ached, having not recovered from tsuki no ha-ken's blood absorption power. Sometimes it felt like the blade had a mind of its own. The amount of blood it took the last few times was much more than normal.

  She looked everywhere, but Kaito was no longer here.

  Mayumi heard the door to her room open. It was a distance away, a normal person wouldn't be able to hear it. But, Mayumi having trained her ears, could filter out noises she didn't want to hear. She conditioned her brain to remember the distinct pitch and frequency of each sound.

  She glanced up at the second floor of the inn where her door was open, despite closing it before she came to check the rest of the inn for Kaito. Seemed Naomi had woken up faster than expected. The possibility of her waking up was slim, however. Mayumi's first time with the blade, she was knocked out for seven days and nights. Something was wrong.

  Mayumi ran up the stairs and inside the room, not caring about what dangers lied inside. All she wanted was to keep her promise. It was the least she could do.

  Naomi sat huddled in the corner, her whole body trembling, eyes wide with fear.

  "What is it, Naomi?"

  She didn't respond. Mayumi rushed over to comfort her, but the girl pushed her away as soon as she was within arms reach. Her hands still extended, she screamed.

  "Get away!"

  An invisible force pushed Mayumi back, launching her backward through the air. She regained her footing mid-step, landing safely on the wood floor. The floorboards creaked underneath her. It was the first time something like that had happened in years.

  Mayumi looked at her niece in horror. How could she manage to knock her around like that? Normally she'd be able to recover more quickly. Yet, somehow, Naomi knocked her back with a power Mayumi had never experienced. In all her years, she never would've imagined Naomi to be so skilled. But skilled in what?

  She approached Naomi in a more cautious manner. Careful not to upset her. It appeared she was still out of it. Her eyes were glazed over. Fire appeared behind her milky gaze. Inside the flames, Mayumi saw Naomi's emotions as if they were manifested out in the open. To be able to enter someone's mind and show them was one thing. But being able to conjure visions like this ... She didn't think it was possible.

  There wasn't any more time to waste. She had to use the technique. Hopefully, her body could handle the strain.

  ***

  Kaito stared into his younger brother's eyes. A brother he thought dead. A brother he didn't even know existed before this journey of his. How did he escape the forest? Last time, Kaito saw him he'd been poisoned by a spider. His heart even stopped beating.

  "How are you still alive?" he asked.

  Sora looked at himself, twisting his torso left and right as if he wanted to examine his body for anything out of the ordinary.

  "I don't remember dying," he said. "Are you sure you're not confusing me with someone else? Who are you anyway?"

  Kaito took a step back. Didn't he recognize him? Sure they'd only met once, but ... to forget about him entirely? Sora must've hit his head when he escaped the forest. It was the only explanation.

  "It's Kaito. Don't you remember?"

  "Kaito?" Sora asked, scratching his head. "No, sorry, never heard of anyone by that name. No one in the southern court is named that. Have you tried asking one of the villagers? I'm sure they'll be much more help in finding this 'Kaito.'"

  Kaito couldn't believe it. Part of him didn't. If this was some kind of a game his younger brother created, it was getting old fast. But the look in his eyes made Kaito more curious than angry.

  "Sora, what did I tell you about speaking with the villagers?"

  Kaito turned and saw Eiji making his way around the corner. Their eyes met for a moment. The ship captain acknowledged him by nodding slightly. At least, he thought it was a nod. He ignored Kaito and escorted his son away as if he were diseased.

  “My Lord,” the guard said. “This is the boy that was caught trespassing. What should we do with him?"

  Eiji stopped and turned his body, examining Kaito with a slow up and down movement of his head. When he finished, he waved the guard away.

  "It's fine," he
said. "I know him. He won't be any trouble."

  The guard nodded.

  Eiji continued walking. Right as he was about to turn the corner, Kaito said something he wished he hadn't.

  "Why'd you give me up? I mean, I know why. But, I guess ... I'd like to hear it from you. Why did you sacrifice your first born?"

  Eiji stopped in his tracks. "Leave us, but stay close."

  The guard bowed and left. A few footsteps later and the sound stopped. Eiji turned and ran at Kaito, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up when he got close.

  "How dare you impersonate my son. Mocking the dead like that. Have you no shame? I should kill you for this." He sighed and loosened his grip, then pointed a finger at him. "But you will be punished. Guard!"

  The guard approached the three of them.

  "Take this boy to the dungeon," Eiji said. "I'll deal with him later."

  The man bowed and grabbed Kaito's arm. He shrugged him off. First his former family and now this? He truly thought his actual family blood would be different. Looks like they're the same, he thought. All just using me as their puppet.

  What could he say that would make him believe he was telling the truth? He looked over at Sora, who hid behind his father. Their eyes met and Kaito got an idea. A way to prove he knew Sora and was Eiji's son.

  "I know how your mother died."

  Sora's face went pale. He hadn't expected a reaction like that. Don't tell me he's hiding something, too? Eiji walked over and slapped Kaito.

  "What do you know of my wife's death?" Eiji snapped. "Speak, and you may be allowed to live."

  "I just." He swallowed. "I know she was murdered."

  "Tell me something I'm not already aware of, boy. I know my wife was murdered. Almost everyone in the castle does. I want to know who?"

  Kaito said nothing, staring at the floor. He was certain mentioning it would be enough. All it appeared to do was infuriate the man even more.