Chapter 19:The Visit
One hour passed. My body was sweating so much that I was producing smoke.Crazy right?I came second in the tournament out of thirty other contestants.Everybody was at the town square like Aizakku said,except for Isura.
"Where is she?"I exclaimed.Aizakku shocked his head.There were no sea serpents among the crowd.Everybody here had barely any ability manipulation.Minutes went by and nothing.
"She's taking way too long.Wasn't she with you girls?"
"For a short time,yes.But when we left the building,Isura was nowhere to be seen."Just as Aizakku was about to look for her,she appeared near one of the shops in a rush.
"Sorry for being late,I had to pay the spa after the session."
"You payed before though?"Emma questioned.Her mouth jolted like a moving serpent.
"I wanted to leave a tip!"
"Whatever you say."
"So…where could Kimiko be?"
"We could ask a landlord where her house might be."
"Kimiko?"Chief Lenny suddenly appeared again with a cup of tea in his hand.Hunter sweated a little bit after Lenny took one glance at him,but he didn't care.
"You know Kimiko?"
"Sure do.She's one of the only survivors of the Genshi in the palace that crashed three years ago.WAIT,EMPEROR AIZAKKU IS THAT YOU?I DIDN'T RECOGNISE YOUR IDENTITY UNDER THE HOOD?"
"Sure is,I'm glad you appreciate me.I've been trying to do better recently and hopefully more problems will be resolved."
Everybody looked at us.Children started point and before you knew it,a stampede of people charged at us.
"TERRIBLE RULER!DIE!"The crowd shouted.A mob mentality.
Everybody gathered around Aizakku and pushed us away like we were peasants waiting for the gift of death.
"Now's our chance to leave!"Emma tried to whisper so that she wouldn't provoke the crowd even more.
"DIE!DIE!DIE!"The chant went on.The chaos went on.Lenny pulled out his gun but nobody noticed.
"Stop this havoc!"They went on.
"Stop I said!"Nobody listened.
"I SAID STOP!"He shot his rifle.Bullets darted at people,hitting their limbs or head.
People fell to the ground.Dominoes were dropping.One falls,everyone does.
A clump of bodies but one soul.A hive mind.I grabbed Lenny's arm and ran away from the crowd.
"FROZEN BODIES!"Aizakku muffled.Not many could hear. As soon as he shouted that,the crowd froze.Ice spread like wildfire.
He huffed and puffed repeatedly.The blood stopped splattering. He walked it off like it was nothing.
"WHERE?"Aizakku demanded furiously.
"Up the hill over there,there's a hatch which goes underground.She'll be somewhere there,I PROMISE YOU!"
Aizakku picked up his pace slightly on the dirty pathway up the grass hill where desolate jungles and shallow swamps hid the hatch.
We pushed our way through bushes and vines and all the greenery.There it was.The metal hatch.Aizakku grabbed the handle and twisted it.Fog emerged from the cracks.
"THAT'S A STRONG SMELL…"I coughed frantically. We walked down the stairs into what seemed to be a basement originally. We knocked on the rusty door and waited for a response.
"I don't like visitors."A female voice came from behind the door.
"We're apart of the Genshi clan.Let us in,please."
The person sighed but opened the door.She was sitting in a chair yet opened the door from such a great distance.Gravity manipulation perhaps?
I couldn't tell.Her aura was orange.Either tier five or six.Around my level.The house was a mess. It was rat infested and smelt revolting.
"Genshi huh?Four of you wear the clothing while three of you are outsiders!"
"Kimiko stop it!"I grabbed my tanto and pulled it out.
"How do you know…my name?"
"Because I'm your brother."
"THATS NOT TRUE!EVERY GENSHI IN THE CASTLE DIED!THERE WERE VERY FEW THAT WEREN'T IN THAT CASTLE."
"I survived,even after it crashed."
"LIAR.You all are probably navajo trying to manipulate me."I shook my head,trying to convince her.
"Time manipulation.Reverse!"
My vision became warped and blurred.The ground felt weird,as if it was shifting.
So strange,I remembered something but can't quite tell what it was.I heard shuffling behind the door,it must have been Kimiko.
We knocked on the rusty door and waited for a response.
"I don't like visitors!"She shouted.
"We're apart of the Genshi clan.Let us in,please."The voice sighed and the door slowly creaked.The room was silent but full of rubbish.
We walked in and but nobody was there. It felt isolated,abandoned.A hole was dug up with a shovel next to it.
"Kimiko escaped."Aizakku said horrified. He examined the hole and bent down to see if anybody was there.
"HELLO?"Nothing. No reply.
"Irai. Go get some cursed chains from down town."
"What?"
"Take some money and go buy cursed chains quick,we're going to capture your sister."
"WHAT!"
"DO IT FOR THE SAKE OF OUR LIVES."
I grabbed the money and bolted up the stairs.I opened the hatch and ran all the way down the pathway into town.
Aizakku just had this much yen being carried around like nobody would try to steal from an emperor?
That was dumb.
A few stacks of his cash could practically buy and own Japan!
Except he already owns it.All of it.I bought the cursed chains for thirty million yen.
These were only temporary cursed chains and the original price was reduced by ninety percent for a week meaning the cursed chains were actually meant to be three hundred million.
I grabbed the chains and ran back up the hill into the hatch.Aizakku was holding Kimiko by the neck,some sort of headlock I presumed.
"PLACE IT ON QUICK BEFORE SHE DOES SOMETHING!"I nodded and gulped in fear.Before we knocked on the door,I zoned out like I was in a trance.I couldn't remember what it was but something important happened.After wrapping the chains around Kimiko's limbs,we took a bin bag and sealed it shut after she climbed into it.
"How to we take her from Shibuya to Tokyo without people raising suspicion?"Aizakku questioned momentarily.
"Invisibility cloak."She turned invisible and Aizakku closed the bag.
"There's your answer.Come on now,we need to get back to Tokyo.Where are the horses?"
"Right outside like we left them."Aizakku nodded and we all headed up the stairs out of the basement.The sun was setting fast.The sky was a painting just because of the beautiful sunset.
"Wait…"Aizakku looked around. He opened his mouth and widened us eyes.
"What is it?"Emma began to worry.
"We don't have a carriage to place Kimiko in…"
Just as he said that,Jasper neighed frantically. He ran away into the woods.
"Jasper wait!"I bolted into the woods after him.
"IRAI!"I shook my head with my face still turned away from Aizakku.
Chromo visualling.
There were footsteps.Something was chasing Jasper but I couldn't quite tell what it was.I shoved a branch out of my way and ended up on a cliff with the ocean's view.Such a sight that the human eye was meant to see.
Beautiful.
"IRAI!!!"Maku shouted my name from the distance.His voice got louder and louder.
He emerged from the woods and ran up to me,face to face.
"Where's Jasper?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out.One moment he's with us,the next,he's gone!"
"You got any idea why he ran off so scared?"
I halted for a moment.
I was about to tell him about the navajo but for some reason,I wanted to lie.
Reality is bitter and illusions are sweet.That's why we desire for what we can't have but reject what's real. That right there.That was my…thoughts kicking in.Something is telling me,encouraging insanity.
"No. He just ran off all the sudden."
"You didn't talk right away.You were shaking a little.Are you sure you don't know why he ran off?"
"I'm certain…that I don't know."
Animals can see navajo right away while humans need chromo visualling to see spirits.They're better at us in some things but knowledge is the greatest power to have.
"Well,we don't know where Jasper is so we'll have to go back to the group-"
"But he's been my horse for three years."
"I know. He may seem like a friend to you but at the end of the day,that horse is an animal Irai."Maku exhaled and turned around,walking back into the forest.I rubbed my eyes and faced the floor.
"Irai,you coming?"
"I'll be right there Maku."The two of us trotted through the greenery and plants and colourful scents back into town where the group found a carriage in such short time.
Although there were police in the area,nobody suspected we had a body in the bag.And it was the perfect plan.
Once you're invisible,nobody can touch see or hear you,not even with chromo visualling.That's what makes invisibility the perfect stealth ability for getting past anything.
It only lasted five minutes so we had to cover her mouth in case she tried shouting anything.After the ten minute journey,we got back to the Genshi palace and placed Kimiko in the underground basement.The invisibility cloak wore off and we could see her again.
"Now we just need to moonstones…"
"Celestial,the demon sorcerer.How can we find her if we don't have the ancient book."
"Don't worry I'm right here."She appeared out of nowhere.
"AGH!"I jumped in fear.
"Irai don't worry!I have the cursed moonstone."
"Where's the normal one them?"
"In the police station."We all sighed,sweating heavily.
"We've travelled so much during these past few days…"Emma sobbed.
"This is our last journey before going to the demon sorcerer dimension."
"You need to go there with Sosu,not us."
"You see,once the moonstone is merged,Edo and reality collapse and time is paused for you until you return."
"THE HELL?"
"What is it?Something wrong?"
"You didn't tell me that in the deal…"
"Sorry,it seemed obvious to me..I'll teleport there now.Give me five minutes."
"Alright."We all sighed and sat on the couch,waiting for celestial to come back.Ten whole minutes went by.Something was definitely wrong.
"Where the hell is she?"Aizakku mumbled. He opened the palace's entrance and saw something disturbing.
"What is it Aizakku?"Hunter questioned. He didn't say anything back,just stood there in disbelief.I ran up to the door besides him but it was a bit hard to understand what was going on.One by one,after a few seconds we were all at the door,standing there puzzled.
"Why is the moon…red?"
"It's a blood moon,"Aizakku trembled. He took another step.
"Blood…moon?"Yanagi pointed.The crimson aura of the moon was covered by thick mist in the distance.
"A blood moon is an ancient event when a gravity user gets hold of a cursed moonstone."
"Meaning…"
"Someone took celestial's moonstone."A figure in the distance emerged.Two actually.
"A crimson eclipse.What a nice way to start a blood moon..."The one with the mask shouted. He seemed so familiar…