Thursday 26 December 2013

Messiah 14 : Sprain

They hiked, and hiked for hours to come. The noise of Roberia's leather boots and Katachi's sabots sounded clearly about the forest, as they walked along the riverside.

One would normally not hear footsteps next to a river - The sound of flowing water is usually enough to mask sounds like the crinkling and shuffling of grass. But the yellow substance in the river was much more viscous and thicker compared to water, and its flow is much slower in comparison - So the goo stream is actually very quiet. A bit too quiet.

They kept walking and walking, until eventually...

K : "!!" (Is that...)
R : "! There it is! That's where the water turns gooey!"

... They arrived at a part of the river where normal water and the goo intersects.

K : "... I figured as much..."

And at the bottom of the river, was a tiny pebble with a golden word on it.

.

K : "... ! That character..."

Katachi had seen that word before. He took out the ring dangled on his neck, and confirmed his suspicions. Sure enough, the Word of Power that lay at the bottom of the river, was the exact same as the one on his ring.

Roberia walked towards him from his back, and held his ring up to read the inscription.

R : "... Huh. Your name's a Word of Power?"

K : "Yeah, I... I think it is. That's right there, isn't it?"

Katachi pointed at the small golden word at the bottom of the river.

R : "... So, how are you going to get that one?"

K : "I don't know, but I'll try to, at least." (I'm not sure if I can lock it into the book from here, though. But it's worth a shot, I guess. 锁Lock within book - !)

A coarse whisper gasped in his head, and the  he had placed was misplaced by a little bit, missing the  at the bottom of the river by a few centimeters.

K : "!" (I can't focus on it properly?... Maybe the goo above the word is disorienting my focus on its position?)
R : "Did you miss? It's off a little ways..."

K : "It's okay, Roberia. I'm just trying the methods, they don't need to work on the first try." (锁Lock within book - !)

The  went off its course once again, and this time Katachi squatted down to see for himself. It suddenly became clear why that method of obtaining  was impossible.

On the goo river's surface was the word . The goo on the surface itself seems to have a sticky property that completely negates Katachi's ability to reach the Word of Power, let alone acquire it.

K : (This one isn't in a Sealed Room. That means someone whom had this Word of Power died in the river. The corpses down by the river... Have they also attempted their hand at this? Is that why they lay in the lake, dead?...)
R : "What's wrong? Did you notice something?"

He clenched his fist hard, and leaned over to the river.

K : (...I should be really careful about this.) "You should stand back, Roberia. I'm going to try a different method this time."

Katachi placed a  on his own chest, and slowly leaned his body over the river. With care, Katachi tried to stick his left arm down the yellow goo to fish it up.

*Cozy's Notes : Here's where he gets owned XD*

As he stuck his left hand inside the goo, he felt his hand slowing to a stop rapidly, and his left hand was being carried away by the 'rapids'.

K : "!?" (I... I can't pull my hand out?!)

The next thing he knew...

*crack*

K : "!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHGGGH!!"

The sound of bone snapping was heard.

R : "!! Katachi?!"

Katachi's left hand was still stuck in that position, but his hand was now dragging his body along the riverside, as he tries to pull his left hand from the goo.

K : "NNNNNGGGHH!! HHHHHNNNNNNNNGGGHHH!!!!!"

He pulled and tugged with a desperation and fervor that surged through his blood vessels. He felt the struggle to survive overcome his body, and he yanked at his broken left hand, with much difficulty.

His body slid across the grass slowly, but consistently. Katachi supported his right foot up, and changed his body into a kneeling position. The calm breathing he had changed into quick, deep breaths, sucking and exhaling the air out quickly. He was determined to pull the hand out of the stream.

R : "Hang on! I'm going to pull you out!"

Katachi bent his right ankle inward, to steady his body against the sliding motion along the grass. He then shifted his left foot into an upright position, and tried to stand up straight.

He felt the goo stuck to his left hand, threatening to pull his entire left arm out. A fear surged within him. Is he going to make it out alive? Will it succeed? Or will he simply lose his balance, and fall into the goo, just like the other corpses?

He didn't have the liberty to think about too much. The desire to live overwhelmed him, and he straightened his back and shifted his center of gravity backwards. He was determined to come out alive, even if it meant disarticulating his entire arm.

... Arm.

An arm wrapped around his torso from the left, and he felt a sudden jerk backwards. It freed him from the goo, and caused him to collapse backward, landing on his right.

*Cozy's Notes : If you don't understand what happened, Roberia used her left arm to grab Katachi by his chest, and leapt backwards. They landed on their right sides.*

But his arm was still intact.

Katachi was alive.

He couldn't tell how many times he's felt this relief, this joy of being alive, running through his body. It made his mind fuzzy, and he just wanted to rest, in exhausted relief.

R : "Katachi! Are you alright?"

From behind him, the warm sensation of Roberia's body heat seeped through his skin, and he returned to his senses once more.

K : "... My arm is still intact."

A sigh breathed warm air onto his neck, and he felt the warmth behind him disappearing as Roberia stood up.

R : "Good. Can you stand?"

Roberia stretched her left hand out at Katachi, to which he grabbed.

A pain flooded through his left arm.

K : "!!! Oww!!"

His left wrist was still sprained.

*Cozy's Notes : You might wonder : His 'status' is constant, so how can he get a sprain? Surely being in a constant status means he can't transition from normal --> sprained. This... Well, this needs a good bit of explaining, which I will have to do sometime soon. Not immediately, not now, sometime soon. But know this - The reason why his arm isn't ripped out from his torso is because of his constant status.*

R : "What's wrong? Where does it hurt?"

K : "... My left wrist..."

Roberia examined his left wrist, and found the irregular bulge on his wrist.

R : "Let me see... Hmm. That's a pretty bad sprain, Katachi."

K : "Yeah. Dipping my hand into the goo river is definitely not the smartest option."

Roberia, in a fit of anger, slapped her hand onto his left tricep.

K : "!! Ow!"
R : "Of course it isn't!"

She was clearly angry, having slapped his old wound so hard it was throbbing red.

R : "Haven't you seen the corpses inside the goo lake? Don't tell me you forgot about them!"

K : "... I didn't forget! I really didn't, I just thought the Constant Status would let me defy the river's flow!"

R : "Well, you thought wrong, Katachi. Look at what happened to your left wrist!"

*** ***

*Cozy's Notes : Remember when I said that Cloud words, the small white faint clouds that appear next to the Words of Power, is actually excessive? It is. When you use Cloud words with a Word of Power, you essentially block out all other meanings the Word of Power can take on, and filter it into a single effect. But filtering it weakens its precedence level.

Too complex to understand? When a chemical goes through procession, the probability for the yield to remain 100% is impossible. Something will always be lost when you're extracting something useful from a mixture, be it the residue, the impurities, or simply some of the useful substance you need being retained on the filter itself.

Katachi's usage filters his own , weakening its precedence level, but the  at the bottom of the lake didn't use any Cloud words at all. Though the effect it applies is random, it is raw and in full strength. It's also why his  cannot phase through the goo created with .*

*** ***

Katachi headed further upstream, and took off his clothes spare his undergarments.

R : "Are you sure this will work, Katachi?"

He shook his head a little bit, showing his lack of confidence over the plan.

K : "... I don't know what will happen, Roberia. But, I would like you to stand further down the river, to catch my body."

R : "Catch your body?"

K ; "Yes. If I die from this, please-"

R : "Don't even talk about death! Just shut up and do it!..."

Her voice quivered.

Every time she's had a proper conversation with Katachi, death always seems to linger by his lips like it's some chant or curse. She hated that about him. She couldn't stand talking to someone whom could accept the word 'death' this easily.

K : "... Okay."

Katachi held a rather large rock against his chest, and dived into the river. He laid his body flat against the riverbed, and slowly drifted over to the intersection.

Just like the plants that grow on the riverbed flow with the rapids, he allowed his body to slowly drift towards the intersection, and his body entered the thick liquid slowly.

He held the rock in his hand, primed downwards. He checked for the position of the  along the riverbed, and got into position.

The pace of the flow slowed drastically when he entered the yellow goo. It had become really, really sluggish, and now that his entire body was submerged into it, he felt the liquid's properties in full.

It was tough to move or even budge. It felt as if walls of cold, dead flesh sandwiched him, and he could only move a bit at a time. It was a wise choice preparing the rock in place, or he would have never been able to do it inside.

And he finally drifts to the part above the .

He put every ounce of strength he had into straightening his right arm, and the rock touched the  on the riverbed. Slowly, the goo around him started to change back to water.

It was smooth and cooling around him. What had been the feeling of being trapped and clamped between a tough wall of muscle was replaced with the fleeting rush of water.

He swam back out with his right arm outstretched, and reached the riverside, where Roberia waited along further down.

She had no need to wait for him that far down the river, but her concern for him made his heart feel light.

K : "Haa... Haa..."

Katachi laid on his back, and panted. The  on the center of his chest faded off, and he finally relaxed his whole body against the soft grass.

Its ticklish blades rubbing against the back of his neck was a welcoming sensation, and he drifted off to sleep.

*** ***

R : "So, Katachi, what does this word mean?"

The two of them began walking down the river, back to the Anikan borter.

K : "... I don't know, to be honest. But it's the same character as my name, so I won't be forgetting about this one anytime soon."

They were walking with their heads by each other, looking at the new addition to the thousand-paged book.

R : "... Huh. So you collect these Words of Power into this big paper book, but you don't even know them?"

K : "I'm not Anikan, so don't expect me to understand Anikan characters like these please."

Katachi's left wrist was tied with a straight stick, and his wooden dagger. The makeshift supports immobilizing his wrist wasn't much, but it helped to prevent the sprain from worsening to some degree, Roberia argued.

As they pondered over the  now sealed within the book, they reached the clearing they had entered from. The sun was already beginning to set.

The bloody goo lake that deposited at a small trench on the hill has now transformed into a bloody lake.

K : "..."
R : "Hmm. Well, we reversed the goo to water, but I guess death can't be reversed to life."

Katachi heaved another short, tired sigh.

K : "... no. No it can't."

He closed his eyes in prayer, and prayed for the salvation of the corpses within the lake.

K : (Segus bless them. May Vithrolu release them from their suffering.)
R : "... Katachi."

K : "... Yes?"

R : "I was thinking, you see, maybe we should walk the long way about to the borter. If we approached the borter from their own forest, that would be too suspicious, don't you think? They might think we are fugitives or something, you see."

K : "... Yeah. Good point."

The two of them walked the long route around, down the hill, and back to the road they had started from.

*Cozy's Notes : And the next part is confusing because there will be a load of Chinese. seriously, I mean it.*

Monday 23 December 2013

Merry Christmas!

Hello again. I am Cozy. And today, I wish to celebrate Christmas to you readers out there.

I used to recall a rather interesting piece of trivia in my youth - How 'Mary had a little lamb' isn't actually that simple.

It's said that Mary Sawyer has had a little lamb, which she took to school one day, when her brother suggested it to her. John Roulstone, nephew of a Reverend Lemuel Capen, met her at school, and saw with interest how the little lamb wanted to be by Mary's side, even with the teacher barring it from the class. Inspired, he wrote a poem, and traveled back to the little schoolhouse, to hand the poem to her.

Sarah Josepha Hale, the well-renowned author of the poem we recognise today, changed a few stanzas and added her own to it - But that made the first 16-lined version of the poem much less childlike and weighed with morals. It held a deep, powerful meaning to the little story described in 16 lines. That version was not one that could be interpreted by children easily - I mean, come on, the poem turned from a cheery melody to a pretty deep one about showing kindness for everything you do, even after you pass on.

Mary had a little lamb,
Its fleece was as white as snow,
And every were that Mary went,
The lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school one day;
That was against the rule;
It made the children laugh and play;
To see the lamb at school.

And so the teacher turned it out;
but still he lingered near;
And waited patiently about;
Till Mary did appear.

And then he ran to her, and laid
His head upon her arm,
As if he said "I'm not afraid,
You'll keep me from all harm."

'What makes the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry;
"O, Mary loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.

"And you each gentle animal
To you, for life may bind,
And make it follow at your call,
If you are always kind."

That is pretty deep. Deep enough to have some of the adults I know hang their heads in shame.

But yeah, essentially, that is the story of Mary's Little Lamb. But, why share it on Christmas?

Because here's where it gets interesting.

Saint Mary, Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. These names are used to depict the Mother of Jesus, Mary. And, if you do recall from the Gospel of Johann (or rather John), he claims Jesus to be the "Lamb of God", as can be seen from the line "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world."

I'm not one to simply say that these two incidents are tied together or anything, but I have recently tried out Zero Escape : 9 Hours, 9 Persons (weird how it isn't People), 9 Doors. And it touched on a pretty interesting concept in that story - Morphogenetic fields.

Let's say there are 80 people in a room, with dividers separating them into 80 different spaces. All the people are gagged in the mouth and restrained so they can only move their hands and forearms, but not enough to free their mouth. They can see and hear, but the dividers are too high to see anyone else. They can only think it's a sort of warehouse they're trapped in. Now, before these 80 people, lies a weighed Rubik cube. Their objective is simple - Solve the Rubik cube.

Once they do, and the weight of the cube is divided across evenly, the Rubik cube has to be placed back onto the table, to release the door holding them captive. The huge warehouse is made in a way such that it is air-tight - It was used to preserve food, after all. The oxygen inside will run thinner and thinner until they eventually pass out. So unless they wished to die, they have to solve it. The net amount of air in the warehouse is limited. (Of course, there are windows and chambers around to exchange the air, should it get too dangerous. The point is not to murder the 80 subjects but to test the morphogenetic fields, but they have no way of knowing that with the dividers blocking their sight.)

The first time this experiment was conducted, all the subjects, with no knowledge of Rubik cubes, took 51 minutes and 14 seconds to finish the test. The second time this experiment was conducted, it was by another 80 people, with no knowledge of Rubik cubes. The time to complete was 47 minutes and 29 seconds. This experiment was conducted for 5 times total. I didn't really get to see the 3rd and 4th result, but by the fifth, it had only taken them 29 minutes and 17 seconds.

400 people. All with no knowledge of Rubik cubes. And every time the experiment was conducted, the time shortened further and further. I'm just saying, that these random, non-repeated participants have become better and better at solving the Rubik's cube as the number of experiments increase, even when they have never touched a Rubik's cube before. Almost as if it was saying, that the more people around them knew how to solve a Rubik's cube, the better they themselves were at it.

Why is that so? They were gagged on the mouth, and the only indication that they have to solve the cube, was the clicking sounds they heard from other segments with people trapped within. How could they, without communicating with each other, have progressively known how to solve the Rubik's cube?

That is one of the experiments to investigate the morphogenetic fields. There have been others, like Locke's Socks, the Ship of Theseus, hell, there's a whole lot of them. Rupert Sheldrake delves deep into the subject field himself, you can go research on that if you'd like.

What is interesting, though, is that how morphogenetic fields can tie the future and the past. I understand that at the true ending of the 999 story, one of the subjects used their morphogenetic field to communicate with someone 9 years in the future. It seems wack, but perhaps real. And who knows - Maybe it wasn't limited to 9 years.

Mary's Little Lamb was composed in 1830 A.D. and the birth of Jesus, well, is in 1 A.D. You don't say - D'oh. The year is named after Jesus's descent itself. We're talking about a distance of One Thousand, Eight Hundred And Twenty-Nine Years. Perhaps the Lamb of God has knowledge of the morphogenetic fields, and transmitted his knowledge onward into the future, to keep the religion strong.

And perhaps that wasn't the only contact Jesus has made with people of the future - Martyrs, priests, abbots, there could have been many opportunities that someone from the past could have intervened with someone from the future, with the usage of morphogenetic fields. There have been people in history whom has communicated with Jesus in their dreams, and who's to say? Perhaps it's not limited to Jesus alone. The gods we worship, they could have this ability too - The peaceful meditating figure underneath the Bodhi tree may have been communicating with other people.

Is that not a possibility?

... Well. I've shared my piece for Christmas. I hope you enjoy it. And now, back to a subject relevant to the story. You guys have probably been waiting for this - The Legend of Segus. (Who is totally Gesus. Y'know, Jesus.) If you haven't read the story this far, Segus is the Legend that Katachi and Mother Rinnesfeld worship.

Segus, The Revenant Of Chaos
Lore of Words of Power Quest
______________

From a young age, Segus was already renowned as a pacifist. He loves the plants and animals, despite being abused, as a slave child. He took care not to hurt any of them, be it trample on, or kick by accident, because he understands the value of life, and its transience. He has a very careful nature and gentle air about him, much like Katachi - Or rather, Katachi has a very careful nature and gentle air about himself, much like Segus. Segus was one of the people whom Vithrolu respected, because of his equally-heavy respect for life.

Segus has heard many, many tales of tragedies and of the lost in his youth. But, as a slave child, he could do nothing but silently tend to his roles assigned. He hasn't really paid much attention to any of those because he couldn't anyway, and lived hard, but simple - He tended his master's little garden with equal care. Well, until the day arrived where the garden was destroyed by a magus battle in the square.

Some magus that used ice had a fierce battle with a puppeteer, and they fought and fought, to win their freedom - Slavery was a rather large theme where he was from. The ice magus used a Phronia spell (Phronia is the Goddess of Limits and Lady of the Tundra, wife and consort of Dardicel, the Lord of the Earth) which shattered the garden he was tending while he was out running an errand. He could do nothing but weep silently for the plants and insects that had once lived in what remained of the garden.

... And that ignited a saintly fury.

He threw his life away. He scorned these methods of taking a person's life. And so, he stepped forth, to fight the ice magus whom won against the puppeteer. Unlike the ice magus, he didn't fight for freedom. He didn't fight for vengeance. He didn't fight for the joy of fighting, unlike Ilpoh. He didn't fight for any other reason.

He fought to show the meaninglessness of fighting. (I know futility is a better word, but I just felt like typing meaninglessness.)

With that, his first debut as the Revenant of Chaos began. He faced the ice magus, whom shot and attacked him with barrages and barrages of ice upon ice. But he stood there, and opened his arms wide, accepting the attack altogether. The ice disappeared before it even reached his body. Any attack that was directed at him, was destroyed. He simply stood there, accepting it all. The ice needle that was formed on the magus' hand headed right for him, but it was shattered. It couldn't hurt him at all.

The bystanders were amazed that the young child nullified every attack that came his way. So the magus changed his style of attack, aiming for his blind spots, but even then, nothing. It shattered just as it always had.

Segus has a signature pose - His chest puffed out, his arms widespread, and he had become invincible. Nothing could harm or hurt him, by doing and maintaining that pose.

He was a legend that specialized in Nullification Magic.

Much like how Sha'koth specialized in Illusion magic, much like how Axia founded Astral magic, much like how Kafki wielded Intoxication magic. All legends founded their own subroots of Magic.

Gods are a different story - They have no magic to impart. Magic is a tool created completely from Image Power. The Gods can use Image Power to reinforce their Arts, but Arts are not Magic. That is why Image Power is the greatest sin, to use Image Power without an Art to practice with.

In any case, Segus traveled far and wide, after earning his freedom by defeating the ice magus, the other slaves, and the Slave Warden himself. He searched and searched, he walked and pondered, and simply hiked and trodded on, all to find a specific location - The mythical Island amongst the Clouds. He wishes to reach this island, and settle down in peace, away from the horror of conflict and self-interest that he believes to have plagued the lands below. His journey to find this island is essentially what forms his legacy. He drank poison, ate things that weren't supposed to be eaten, he has walked places nobody would go, all to find the one utopia in his mind - The Island amongst the Clouds.

Nobody could say for sure that he found the Island - Nobody has seen him, nor his corpse, to know if he has died in a swamp somewhere in Western Anik, or on the mythical Island itself. Nobody knows.

But his lifelong dream, his fervent pursuit of it - That inspires many people to move forward, in what they believe is the ideal.

But sadly, not many people share the same 'ideals' as Segus has. His followers, blindly following his example, copies him without knowing why they ought to. That is why he is the Revenant of Chaos, because there have been people killing others 'in the name of Segus', which, though it was nonsense, was enough to frighten everyone about.

So there you have it. Segus lore. The story about a slave's journey to utopia, if you believe that he found the Island amongst the Clouds. Or, the slave's eventual demise, if you believe he died before he ever found it.

Saturday 21 December 2013

Messiah 13 : The_Goo_River

K : "!! Bleargh!"

With a violent coughing fit, Katachi forced the quicksilver out of his mouth. The silver, slippery liquid had poured onto the pavement he stood upon, running and splashing across a huge area of the path, his feet and sabots, and the side of the fountain.

Katachi still felt the metallic substance in his mouth. Desperate, he leaned over to the fountain and submerged his mouth into the water. Bubbles formed as he began gurgling and purging his mouth of any remaining quicksilver, before he finally raised his head, letting the water flow back into the fountain.

R : (That must be uncomfortable, forcing himself like that...) "... Are... Are you okay, Katachi?"

Katachi sat down on the pavement, and leaned his back against the fountain, vehemently breathing in what air he can hold in his little lungs.

K : "... Yeah. I... I think I'll live."

R : ('I think'? That puts me on edge...) "... Why did you do that, Katachi? Why did you take that attack head-on like that, and risking your life like so? Did you not promise me you wouldn't do something like that ever again?"

Between his gasps for air and his wheezes, he tried speaking, only to garble out that which could not be understood. He took deep breaths, and properly calmed down, before explaining himself.

K : "... At one point, I think I could have been capable of swallowing that without any consequence."

R : "!?" (Swallow?! He said he could have swallowed it before?) "I... I heard that quicksilver is poisonous!"

Katachi gave a weak chuckle, as he tries to fish his tongue about his mouth, searching for any remaining deposits of the quicksilver still in his mouth.

K : "... I know. At one point, I could have gulped down that quicksilver perfectly fine..."

*Cozy's Notes : This is the second last hint I'll give you guys, in relation to his past. You can guess it at your own time, at your own leisure, on how he changed into the him that was today. Good luck, and if you think you know the answer, post a comment below. The person whom gets it right spot-on (You can't partake in this Tiat Wee, you cheater), or gets the closest to it, gets a dedication to them.

For their great creativity and understanding of the story's lore and system. Though, with the upcoming Christmas post giving away the biggest hint possible, well. The contest is still open, so good luck. Answers before the Christmas post will be given a dedication AND a role in the story, while answers after gets a dedication only.*

R : "... Is that... Even possible?..."

K : "Yeah. That was the least of my worries - I remember doing things more dangerous, like climbing a root ladder, or eating latex off trees and wild mushrooms that could drive a man deranged."

R : "!!!" (... That... Is not unheard of, though. I seem to recall a certain cult being blessed by a legend, Kafki, to be immune to poison.)

Roberia walked over to Katachi's bag, and took one of the water pouches that lay on its side.

R  :"... You gurgled the quicksilver into this fountain?"

Katachi could only nod sheepishly, after fully realizing what he had done.

K : "... I hope nobody drinks from this fountain..."

*** ***

As the traveled North, questions surfaced in Roberia's mind.

R  :(I have a handful of things to ask him...) "Katachi."

K : "Yes?"

R : "What... What did you and Bael talk about?"

She had been nervous. They could have discussed her lineage and actual identity without her even knowing. She laid her full focus upon Katachi's bodily signals and functions, doing her best to determine whether Katachi was lying or not.

K : "... We... We talked about... Hmm..." (Well, I did remember talking about the meaning of 'Baka', and how Bael got here, then she asked me if I was in an 'affair' with Roberia...)

R : "Well? What did you guys talk about?"

K : "... Not much, actually. We talked about the meaning of an Ohdean word while she patched this shirt up. I asked her about how she managed to come all the way here to Fereport, and she ask me about... Uhm... Us."

Roberia raised an eyebrow, in suspicion.

R : "What do you mean, 'us'?"

K : "... Well. She asked if I was in an affair with you or something. I don't even know how she reached that conclusion, but maybe some of your long, red hair was stuck onto my clothes or something and she noticed. I couldn't deny it, but I couldn't just... Blurt it out"

R : "Why not?"

Katachi's cheeks reddened and his arms shifted inward, holding his humerus close against his body.

K : "... It's embarrassing."

R : "Marriage with me is embarrassing? How is that so?"

She tried her best not to let her voice quiver, and pursued further.

K : "..."

Katachi remained wordless.

R : "Are you, perhaps, regretting marrying me?" (Does he trust me or does he not? Is he simply using me as a shield against that woman Bael, or did he consider my feelings? Or perhaps... He really loves me?... I... I don't even know.)

K : "!! No! Nothing of the sort! It's just... Well, I..." (I'm sorry, Roberia. I can't answer that question. I can't answer that while I'm not so sure myself. I don't know if it's regret, or something else I feel..)

Katachi couldn't speak any further.

And so, the two of them stayed silent for the journey ahead.

*** ***

Without even realizing, a small outpost had surfaced into their view.

R : "Here we are... There's the official borter."

*Cozy's Notes : Well. Borter = Border Port. Instead of a federal post or a customs and immigrations post, or border guards (Lol, border guards, in an age of magic? Are you crazy?), I prefer using borter, even if the word doesn't exist.*

The two had finally reached the border that separates Findel from Anik. On the posts, two guards donned in proper uniform sat on benches laid upon either side of the path, waiting patiently and looking at the two figures on the path. Behind them was a small hut, with stone walls and an open archway with no door.

K : "They... They look menacing..."

R : "Is this your first time crossing a border, Katachi?"

K : "... No, no, it isn't, but the unsettling feeling never seems to bland..."

Katachi knows that in his heart - He could not avoid the border check. Although it was entirely possible to move from Findel to Anik without passing the borter, they can't do anything without the Band of Approval that states their permit to access the country. Moreover, without the Band of Approval, they are practically exposed to danger.

R : "You'll get over it eventually, Katachi. Let's go."

Katachi feebly protested, and continued walking.

People without the Band of Approval play a great risk when in a foreign country - They will not receive their country's protection should anything short of an accident, or an attack from bandits. Their house, belongings, all their possessions will be reclaimed by the country they came from.

Though not a particularly scary prospect for Katachi, since he was poor to begin with and everything he had belonged to Mother Rinnesfeld, spare for his thousand-paged paper book, and his wooden dagger.

Roberia, however, ought to be far more nervous.

Had she died in Anik without a Band of Approval, not only will it throw her country into chaos, but a good portion of the treasury back at her castle will be given to the Cabinet - A wider deposit of gold for the ministers to spend, but with Rugnud's current situation, gold only served to seed more corruption.

After a while, they reached the borter.

*** ***

"Halt!"

The guard sitting on the bench stood up to face the two, and barked.

Upon a closer inspection of their uniforms, it was clear that they were well-equipped to face resistance. Katachi recognized the items and equipment they had with them.

Their uniforms, a viridian brilliance, had some fabric sewn onto the chests, serving as pockets. On their shirt was a vibrant badge of a crested shield with what seems to be a small bird, and on their sides were belts and pouches. The stitching was well-done, and their uniforms served to reinforce their authority and intolerance against illegals.

But the things strapped onto the belt was what made Katachi uncomfortable. On the blackjacks they carried on the side, Katachi saw for a brief glance, a familiar symbol - The Richter rune.

A rune that is usually used for spectral projection.

Assuming that the guards used proper equipment, the blackjacks on them are not to be trifled with. Being able to cast a spectral projection meant that they are technically able to hit anyone they have a vivid focus of, from any distance, from any range. Though people may argue that wearing armor made to absorb spectral magic was a viable solution, it is impossible to become completely immune to spectral projection, not unless they are experts at illusion, or spectral magic itself, or followers of Sha'koth, the Trickster Legend.

The other magic items by their belts were basic tools like an Axia coin, Croxa's Lantern, and a couple of other things standard and expected of a guard. The Richter runed blackjack, however, has Katachi both shaking with eager curiosity, and quivering in fright - An understandable reaction, from just about anyone who had just recognized its potential without any safeguard or method against or around it.

Katachi feared that he may be attacked with the weapon. Simply looking at it made his head giddy.

K : (... We... We wouldn't be attacked by those, will we?...)
"Have you come to enter Anik?"

K : "Yes, we have."
R : "Yes."

The bald guard signaled another guard with short, grey hair to move towards them. Katachi felt uncomfortable at his approach.

"We got a woman over here! Frelti! You check the other woman!"

A lady wearing a proper uniform with short, blond hair stepped out from behind the archway. She approached Roberia, with an air and aura that struck her as dangerous.

Very, very dangerous.

She seemed far more aggressive and powerful than the others whom wore that uniform. Simply her walking was enough to send chills down his spine.

It was a strong, powerful and confident march - One that was firm, and one that lusted for battle. A headstrong posture that almost seemed too eager to witness every little trick her opponent has to offer.

A powerful stance, much like Roberia's.

R : (!! Frelti? Lindra Frelti, one of Luce Frelti's younger sisters, perhaps...)

Roberia glared at the woman, and when they locked eyes, they seemed to instantly recognize each other.

L : "... Well. What brings a pretty thing like you to Anik, Roberia?"

She had a friendly tone, but her comparatively deep voice for a woman made it sound stern.

R : (That voice...) "Hello again, Lindra."

"! Frelti, you recognize this person?"
"! They know each other?"
K : "!!" (They recognize each other...)

L : "Yeah. She's fine. She can pass."

The female guard turned around, and walked back to the archway.

"... What's this, kid?"

The guard withdrew Katachi's wooden dagger from its sash.

"Is this wood?"

K : "Uh, yeah, it's wooden."

The guard inspected the wooden dagger thoroughly, and found a strange carving on the fuller.

"What's this symbol mean?"

K : "Ah, er, it's a carving of an Anikan symbol. It's supposed to mean 'calm'."

"Check it up. This symbol. Search if this really means 'calm'."

With a cold, swift instruction, the guard beside him pulled out a small strip of paper. He wrote something on it, and ate the paper.

"... Yeah. It can be used to represent a state of 'calm'."
K : "!" (... That's one of Sha'koth's reincarnate spells. That man with the Richter blackjack is no joke neither...)

"What would you need this dagger for?"

Katachi tensed up. He didn't expect the question at all.

K : (... I can't just say that I'm using the wooden dagger to attack people... That's not very ethical, and it will most likely deny me of the Band of Approval... But I shouldn't lie, either...) "... I..."
"... What's wrong, kid? Speak up."

K : "I... I'm using the dagger to cut and harvest plants."

"!?"

The guard had a confused look upon his face.

"Harvest... Plants?"

K : "Uhh... Yeah. The wooden part is all I need. I'm... I'm not going to Anik to kill people, and a steel dagger is too heavy, so I'm just using a... A wooden dagger..."

"... I guess, this thing is pretty blunt that you can't hurt other people."

The guard poked himself with the wooden dagger.

"... Very well then. The two of you, head towards the archway."

K : (Did... Did we pass?)

*** ***

The woman, Lindra Frelti, awaited them as they passed the archway.

L : "You know what to do, Roberia."

With a signal, she pointed at Roberia's ponytail.

Roberia undid her hair, and removed her two-banded green-gray hairband, to reveal the Band of Approval

K : "?!" *surprise* (Her hairband was the band of approval?)

Lindra took the hairband from her, and swapped it for another hairband with a different color - A two-banded green-red hairband.

L : "There you go."

R : "Thanks, Lindra. Do send my regards to your sisters."

L : "Certainly."

The woman Lindra then walked to Katachi.

L : "So, this is your fresh meat, is it?"

Roberia glared at her.

R : "... Yes."

L : "... Very well. You have short hair, so a small Band of Approval is a bit hard.

Lindra then opened a drawer, and looked into it. Inside, Katachi could see many smaller boxes segregated within. Many two-banded bands were within the drawer itself - Of different colors and different shapes. Some were in the form of belts, some were in the form of rings, some were in the form of hairbands like Roberia's, some were in the form of slings, some were in the form of anklets. There were a huge variety of bands to choose from.

Lindra withdrew a Band of Approval shaped like a bracer.

L : "Arm. Out."

Katachi silently followed the terrifying woman's instruction.

*** ***

K : "Whew."
R : "We passed..."

The two were on their merry way onward, but their journey was stopped short before something... strange.

There was no one around. Nobody at all.

Though the gap between the borders were rather dangerous, they would have at least expected a settlement, or something like a cabin all the way out here, between the borters of Anik and Findel.

The small amount of land between the borters are often bountiful with resources. Rivers for water, land for farm, forests for wood and , quarries for rock, there are many things that can be used to create a place to settle and rest at. But... There was nothing. There's nobody around them. Nothing but the plains about and the sun glistening down on them.

K : "... !?..."

That was no sunbeam in his eyes.

K : "Roberia... Do you see that?!"

Roberia turned her head to her right, towards where Katachi stared-

R : "! What is that?!"

-to see a yellow stream flowing into a huge pool of red, murky mud-like liquid.

The two of them looked at each other briefly, in shock.

K : "... !"
R : "... !"

They raced towards the strange lake.

*** ***

Upon arrival, they were shocked by what laid before their eyes.

The huge pool of murky mud-like liquid was actually formed from the yellow stream and blood.

Several corpses were found within the huge pool of strange, honey-yellow water. Within, many chunks of viscera and bones floated within the pool, and the red blood seemed to seep out ever so slowly. Even as one of the corpses has its flesh eroded to the bone, the blood seemed to siphon outwards lazily, like smoke emerging from an incense. A sickening, sour odor of blood, rancid fat and rotting flesh could be smelled in the air.

K : "Mmhh!"
R : "!!"

Katachi gagged. The entire scene made his stomach churn and groan. Had he food in his stomach, he thought he would most probably have puked it out a long time ago.

The view was absolutely atrocious. It was sickening enough to make anyone vomit in revolt. The entire lake looked like some giant tomato soup. Katachi wasn't sure if he could eat anything for a while after looking at that.

Roberia simply stared in silence, with eyes wide and a frown on her face.

K : "... What... Is this?..."

R : "I don't know. But this is pretty nasty. I haven't seen this much death in a place before aside from- !" (Oops! I almost gave myself away again!)

K : "... ? Aside from...?"

Katachi's head cocked in her direction.

R : (I have to find something to distract him with...) "... Uh...! The river! Look at that branch floating down the river!"

Katachi turned his head to look at the yellow river once again - The scene was... confusing.

K : "What a big branch..."

A large branch that had presumably fallen off from a tree was flowing down the river slowly, at the speed of the viscous currents. Something was definitely off.

K : "... That's not... physically possible, is it?"

The situation was familiar to Katachi. He had often waddled in rivers and the like, when there were no children out in the field playing with the Plaincoat Sheep. He recalls seeing branches smaller than the one in the yellow river, sinking to the very bottom of the lake.

How was it possible?

The large branch should have been much heavier than the smaller branch he remembered. Yet, the large branch is being carried away by the lazy current, while the small branch remained submerged in the weak rapids.

This prompted Katachi to get closer.

K : "... Let's go."

R : "Okay."

*** ***

They arrived at the yellow river.

Katachi looked about, and found a stalk of grass that was especially long. He plucked it, and dipped the tip of it into the river, to test its speed.

What he didn't expect, however, was for the yellow river to suck in the simple tip, and tug at the tiny stalk.

The strength was unbelievable.

The small tip of grass in the river had been snapped right off of the stalk in his hand.

K : "!!!"
R : "!!!"

They realized immediately, the reason why people lay dead in the huge lake.

The yellowish liquid in the river was extremely sticky and viscous, and sucked up pretty much anything that landed within. Branch, bone, foot, it didn't matter what entered the stream - They were pulled along its steady flow, all the same.

K : "... It's like... A river made completely from sticky goo..."

R : "... That's horrible..."

They could only stare, in helplessness, over the lives lost because of it.

K : "... Vithrolu have mercy on them."

With that, Katachi turned and began to walk upstream.

R : "Where are you going? The borter's that way!"

K : "I'm going to the source of the goo river, and I'm going to shut it down completely. The borter can wait."

Katachi marched upwards.

R : "... I agree."

Their journey takes another detour.

*** ***

Tuesday 17 December 2013

Messiah 12 : Visitor

A small rumbling, churning sound was heard.

Ro : (We didn't get to eat breakfast... Those two and their quarreling, and the mob chasing us has worn me down a bit...) "... I'm hungry again."

K : "Bear with it, Roberia. We're almost at Fereport. This is the last leg."

Ro : "You keep saying that, but your stomach growled too, didn't it?"

K : "..."

Katachi was no different. He felt the juices in his stomach churn and gurgle, and he stared at the dirt path they walked upon.

K : (... I didn't get to eat breakfast at the inn. Well, Sherayal and Dante were quarreling pretty fiercely over how Dante ate our dinner, but this isn't the first time I've skipped a meal, so how am I so hungry?...

... I don't remember feeling hungry this quickly when I ate Mother Rin's cooking...)

*Cozy's Notes : Heheh. He's missing home already. I think I would miss home quite a bit too if I went to National Service.*

The two continued their long, grueling trudge on the dirt path.

*** ***

Meanwhile, back in Mielfeud...

"... Mother Rinnesfeld..."

Ri : "Yes?"

Mother Rinnesfeld was removing the skin on a small orange with a golden word inscribed onto it.

*Cozy's Notes : Heheh. My bad. I forgot to include the part where he gives the orange to Mother Rin, but hey, it's just gifting, Nothing much happened besides that. It's not that important, even though it's the little details that count.*

"... Is this... Is this true?"

A fluttery, quivering and soft voice that did not fit his composed stature escaped his throat. A big, brawny figure held up a piece of papyrus, with the headlines 'Rugnud Princess In Affair'.

Ri : "Ah, the one about the shortage of Intundia? I heard it was because of the lack of Bloodswarm locusts around the region this time of y-"

"No, Mother Rinnesfeld, this. 'Rugnud Princess In Affair - A civilian was reported to have sighted the soon-to-be Empress of Rugnud, Matalpalhallafaelladrapahamo Roberia, with a boy of presumably Ohdean descent.' There's a typo of Katachi's surname, strangely enough, it being Kozuba instead of Kotsuba... However, I would like to ascerta-"

Ri : "Ah, that? Yes. It is true."

"R- Really?! That boy... That boy, Katachi married the Empress of Rugnud?!"

Ri : "Yes. They forged an oath with Segus right here, at this church."

"... This... This is incredible... I... I see..."

A small, slight grin bore onto the big hulking man's face. His eyebrows loosened, and he appeared more relaxed that he did moments before.

"... That boy has grown so much, since the last time I saw him..."

Ri : "Yes, yes he has."

*Cozy's Notes : I'm loving Mother Rinnesfeld more and more by the minute, yo. That sort of nonchalant way of answering people... Melody to my ears.*

He turned his head slowly, to gaze at the bench Katachi often sat in quietly.

"... I still remember his face, from when he looked at me while I was on the pillory."

The big, brawny guy began reminiscing a lovely memory.

"... He astounded me."

Ri : "He did, did he?"

"... Yeah. He fed me bread, and even tried to wiped my face and hands covered in rotten tomatoes and spit. To think, that my daughters whom were older than him, could only tug at my pants and cry helplessly at me suffering for their mischief... It makes me ashamed to have raised my daughters so."

The man's eyelids lowered, and focused onto a specific area above the bench, where Katachi would usually be, silently reading the books from the library.

"Hahah, I even remembered his struggle, of raising that long butty high above his head, and trying to guide the end of the loaf into my mouth. He's such a nice kid."

*Cozy's Notes : Gah, writing this makes my heart go throbbing with a strong urge to draw, even though I suck at drawing. Makes me want to draw a 3-year-old Katachi, raising a baguette high up above his head with his arms, trying to feed this guy. Also the 3-year-old Katachi jumping up and trying to wipe the man's hands, and never reaching his face XD Hahahh. That's so CUUTE ~ ...

... I've gone insane. Mother of God. Mary. She had a little lamb, of God. Dat Jesus. I'm mad yo.*

Ri : *munching* "Mm-hmm."

The man walked towards the bench, and patted the dusty spot Katachi used to sit on before sitting down himself.

Ri : *gulp* "I'm just glad he found someone to be with, be it rich or poor."

"... Yeah. As have I."

He grasped the locket on his neck, and held it tightly in deep prayer.

"... Cecilia..."

*Cozy's Notes : 'Cecilia' is the name of his wife. Where it is unimportant in Messiah, it plays a big part in another route! You don't have to jot it down or anything though, so relax.*

*** ***

"You know, the news said "Kozuba Katachi", but the notice at our school said Kotsuba. I think it's actually him."

"Seriously?! This isn't fake, is it?"

"I'm not joking! I really think that the cheating champion guy is in cahoots with the Empress of Rugnud. It says so on the news."

"Whoa... That is crazy. I thought he was already powerful enough, but to have him marry someone as important as the ruler of a country..."

Their chatter echoed through the garderobe, but was lost quickly between the murmurs of the other students outside.

*Cozy's Notes : Google garderobe. Just in case it's down, garderobes are Medieval-aged water closets. Those little shacks with a small square window or the moon symbol on the door, etc etc.*

"Hey, who knows? Maybe that Word of Power on him has an ability to control another person's mind. It's just like what he did on Mister Rekter."

*Cozy's Notes : This is very true of rumors. Where an event can be interpreted as something good and welcoming to a family, it is often ostracized in the eyes of the media. News in the current age, news in the past... It's only difference is the content and advancement of language, culture or technology within the rumors.*

"Hahah, you don't mean he forced the Empress to fall in love with him? That's disgusting and down-right unethical! It's unheard of!"

"Who knows, the Words of Power are pretty atrocious themselves. From what I've read about them, it once made all the people in a village faceless! How ridiculous is that?"

"Ohh! I remember that one! It was on the news too!"

"Don't we all? It's no surprise that he would use his strength to force her to his bidding."

"That may be, that may be! Hahahahahah!!"

Their conversation had been eavesdropped by a girl with blonde, braided hair.

B : "... He... He what?"

*Cozy's Notes : IT'S BAEL, OH NO, THE WORST OUTCOME

I don't know how you guys pronounce Bael. Bah-El, Bail, Bale, Bile, Bell, Ball, Boll, Bull, Bill, whatever. I don't care. Stick to the way you think her name is pronounced. I stick with Bail. Her name is pronounced Bail in my dictionary.*

Something in her heart plummeted to the very bottom, and her entire body felt heavy and sluggish.

*** ***

After a tiring journey, they finally reached the town of Fereport.

Normally, one would travel from Mielfeud to Fereport directly when properly equipped for the trip. However, the journey from Mielfeud to Fereport directly is a long, and arduous journey, that takes three whole days and a half on foot.

When not properly equipped for it, one could die from thirst simply by taking a wrong route - The route from Mielfeud to Fereport directly has no rivers or streams around to replenish one's water supply from. Therefore, many travelers without the coin to take a carriage would prefer a route to Eliasbury first - Both to rest their weary feet and resupply, and to meet a more diverse market about.

*** ***

Ro : "Finally... We're finally here..."

K : "... Yeah...*

A hoarse gasp was emptied from Katachi's lungs, and he inhaled deeply, the refreshing air energizing his body whole.

K : "... Haa..." (With the bag off my shoulder, this feels much better. I feel alive..."

Roberia placed her belongings down as well, and sat on a bench. With her body in a relaxed position, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath through her nose, and slowly exhaled the air from her mouth.

Ro : "... Ahh, the relief."

*Cozy's Notes : Being warriors in a world of magic would usually mean a great disadvantage against foes that can use magic, since magic can be ranged, mental, elemental, and most of all, unpredictable. To compensate that, pure warriors of this world have trained themselves to become strong, resilient, agile and tough enough to rush magi down.

Roberia is a bona fide pure warrior - Interestingly enough, she is the only one in her entire heritage to be a pure warrior, and one of Rugnud's finest at that. Breathing exercises, nerve stimulation, breath control, heartbeat regulation, willpower to ignore physical pain, many little feats have been used by these warriors of old, to overcome the many tricks the magi imploy. The spellsword warriors use magic themselves, to complement both styles together.*

K : "Roberia!"

Katachi called out to the red-haired girl, and she opened her eyes once more.

Ro : "Yes?"

K : "I'm going to go to a fountain to refill these pouches!"

Ro : "Okay! Go ahead!"

The black-haired boy picked up his bag, and withdrew two empty water pouches from his bag, His grip unsteady, he accidentally dropped a pouch, before bending down to pick it up.

Ro : "..." (Dropping a water pouch like that so clumsily...)

Something uneasy stirred in Roberia as she stared at Katachi disappearing behind a corner.

Ro : (I lost to a magus that can't even hold on to what's in his hands firmly. Those Words of Power he has on him... Are they really that powerful, to have me lose to a boy like him? One with no confidence, assertiveness, no distinctive traits?)

Roberia pinched between her fingers the ring strung upon her neck, its glistening, white gem showing a innocuous purity. She held it up to her eyes, and observed the gem carefully.

Ro : (... I've already decided that I would marry him. It may be out of impulse, it may be that I am not famous amongst Mielfeud people, but...)

She twisted the ring a little, to reveal her name engraved at the bottom.

Ro : (... Have I been too rash, I wonder? I mean, we may be wed, but we haven't actually done anything that would befit a couple. We haven't held hands, we haven't hugged, or kissed, or anything. At this point, it's just a marriage for the sake of a marriage. Did I really agree on this just because I wanted to defy Father's orders? ...)

Her face slowly twisted in accordance to the unrest within her heart.

Ro : "... Perhaps... This is the feeling of regret?"

She stood up, and walked forward.

It was time to confront Katachi.

*** ***

K : "Uh... Ah!" (I can use the fountain rim here to put the cap.)

Katachi placed the cap of the water pouch onto the rim, and dipped the pouch into the fountain. The little bubbles escaping the pouch, followed by a gradual expansion in its size, was something that he enjoyed watching.

He picked up the pouch, and depressed the pouch a bit. It caved in slightly, before reforming to its original shape.

*Cozy's Notes : ... Am I writing the right story? This... This can't be Katachi, can it? That's so... Weird, like he's stupid or something. Daniel clone 4041, maybe, since he is SUPPOSED to become gradually more stupid and simple, but Katachi?*

He liked that. Katachi enjoyed the whole process. Dipping the pouch into the water caused a change from its empty state to its full state. Squeezing the pouch gently induced a change to the pouch's shape too.

He felt like his actions made a difference, no matter how insignificant. He felt, within a small, meaningless object, his existence.

*Cozy's Notes : ... Okay. I'm writing the right story. It's fine.*

He reached for the cap on the fountain rim, when a shadow formed behind him.

*** ***

K : "?"

Katachi turned around to face a girl with blond hair tied into four braids, wearing a simple cloak.

K : "!? Bael?!"

His eyes widened and rocked back slightly, taken aback by her presence.

B : "KATACHI!!!"

Bael strutted forward quickly, and embraced him in her arms, squeezing him hard.

K : "Wait, wait! Bael, I- Aaah!" (Her nails are sharp!! Ow!)
B : "I've missed you so... Did you miss me?"

With him in her arms, she took a good look at Katachi.

B : "Ah- Your clothes! What happened to you? And here? Why is it so tattered, like it's been tugged at?"

Bael held the holed sleeve in her right hand, over Katachi's left sleeve which had cushioned the impact between his body and the sandy path from before.

*Cozy's Notes : Refer to Messiah 9, where Katachi skidded across the sandy path.*

K : "I, I can explain..."

B : "Take off your shirt! Take it off right now!"

K : "Hah?! N- N- Now?!"

Bael fished out from behind her back a compact sewing kit.

B : "Now! I'll mend it right here!"

*** ***

K : "... It smells funny."

B : "I can't help it! I've worked with dead animals and plants for so long, the decaying stench just lingers!... Just bear with it, Katachi."

Bael twiddled the cloth about her palm to reach a comfortable position, and continued sewing small pieces of fabric onto the shirt. The patches were not of the same, dull color of the fabric, but rather, polka-dot square pieces of linen.

K : "..."

B : "... Aren't you going to complain about the patches being of a different color than the shirt itself? It's not a welcoming sight to see such a bright red square with white dots sewn like this on such worn-out clothes, you know."

K : "... I don't really mind. I'm just grateful that it's being patched. So...Thank you."

Bael gasped in a small breath of air. After a long, dull period of 2 months, she had finally met Katachi once again.

B : "... Hahaha... You haven't changed."

His voice, his small and weak body next to her, had been something she awaited for the whole of two months. Others could berate, defame and scold him all they wanted. The rumors about him have been pretty nasty, but the Katachi she envisioned wasn't someone as evil as the others would think.

She knows, deep in her heart, that Katachi is kind.

Though she teased him on his name, Katachi asserted his stand clearly, but didn't go further. He tries his best not to hurt the feelings of others, and he takes the things he does with care, unlike most of the others Bael had met. She sees that he still takes delicate care and maintenance of that dagger on his sash. The bag beside him looked a bit stretched, as if it had been overstuffed at one point, but the small grime marks at the base of the bag, suggested that Katachi hoisted his bag with his arm, instead of dangling its full weight onto the sling the bag provided.

He has this careful, delicate air about him, as if he understood the transience and importance of everything around him.

*Cozy's Notes : Which is also a behaviour induced by his past. And, well, it's something I can easily relate to - Katachi's whole meticulous personality was based off my own behaviour over the daily things I interacted with. Pushing the fridge door ever so slightly to shut it tight, reinstalling the hook at the shower door, many of his mannerisms is like bread and butter to me. It almost scares me, how sometimes I see my younger self in the story in Katachi's stead.*

He was definitely different from most, whom would walk and kick the pebbles in their way out of sheer fun, whom would take wide steps on the ground in a prideful swagger, and be headstrong over everything they believed in. He would walk with his head slightly lowered, staring at the ground, as if every step he took was deeply thanked for, as if walking was a privilege graced upon him.

K : "... Bael?"

Even his speech, where he patiently waits for the party to finish their piece before asking for a permission to voice up, was lovely to Bael. She had become partial to Katachi, even without realizing it.

B : "Yes, Baka?"

K : "... Bael. Please. Don't use that phrase ever again."

His face contorted into one of frustration and misery.

K : "... I know what it means now. It means 'idiot' in Ohdean, and it's hurtful. So... Please, Bael. Please don't use it anymore."

B : (!! He's really upset...) "... Very well. I won't use it, now that I know its meaning."

K : "... Thank you."

*Cozy's Notes : This is something adults would get better, but in case I have non-adult readers : When Bael didn't know what it meant, she could use it liberally, without any concern. She just needed to assume that the word 'baka'/'馬鹿' wasn't harmful or negative. But now that the meaning is known, she can't carelessly use the word anymore, not unless she means it. Like how the small child yearns to play with a toy from the store, but they gradually stop as they grow up since it had become beneath them with time.*

B : "Right. You were saying?"

K : "... How did you get here from the Sage Raufid Magus Academy? Did you travel all the way just to find me?"

B : "Ah, don't worry. I had a couple of these tokens that allowed me to use the teleport circle at school."

Bael withdrew from her chest pocket four wooden tags with 瞬移 carved on both sides - Except for one of them, which was carved only on one side.

K : "! Those are really costly, aren't they? Did you use them to come and buy ingredients and herbs?"

B : "No, I came here for you, Katachi."

K : "Wha- Me?! You shouldn't do something like that if it's not important! Those tokens-"

B : "IT IS IMPORTANT!!!"
K : "!!"

Bael's sudden proclamation shocked Katachi.

B : (It's awkward, but... Now's the time to ask...) "... Katachi. Are you... Really in an affair?..."

K : (An affair? What- Do they already know about Roberia and I? How... Exactly how many people have already known about her unpaid debt to the bar at Eliasbury?) "Wh- Wha- An- An affair?! An... An.... An affair..."

Katachi's shifty eyes only served to frustrate Bael even further.

B : "... Katachi... If the rumors are lies, then prove it to me!"

K : "Ru- Rumors?" (!! What- What's she doing?!)

Bael's impatience has coerced her body to lean forward, closer and closer to Katachi, until their faces were right up before each other's.

B : "... Katachi..."

With a dry whisper, Bael closed her eyes, and cocked her head forward-

K : (!! The infidelity! I- I have to stop her! I'm married already!)

-to have her entire mouth covered by something. Appalled by the unexpected turn of events, Bael's eyes opened wide, and her head retracted a bit, to see Katachi's hand at where her face once was.

B : (... That's the confirmation, isn't it?) "Why, Katachi?"

Her eyes began reddening, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

B : "Why did you reject my kiss, Katachi? Are you... Are you..." (I can't believe he actually rejected me. Doesn't that mean that he is indeed having an affair with that princess from Rugnud?)

*** ***

Roberia saw the two sitting on the fountain rim, close to each other. As the blond girl's face eked closer and closer, something in Roberia's heart panged.

She had been an outsider. The boy whom she had set eyes on, was actually seeing someone else.

What pained her was not that they married. It was not that he had someone else. What pained her, was that Katachi might have been carrying a torch for that blond girl all this time. That fit the pieces well. He avoided contact with her where possible, like when they talked about making him a sire and bearing his children. He tried to shun away interactions with her, by sleeping separately. He had not been weak, but simply cautious of his own body, preserving it as well as he could for that blond. So many things that have happened between them fit the puzzle well, like a butter churn and a plunger going hand-in-hand.

The guilt gnawed at her heart, but she walked forward. She had no reason to back down. Though it may have been wrong to take away the boy with a forced coercion, she did it with honor; Not with her status as Matalpalhallafaelladrapahamo Roberia, but as a girl, Roberia. She had won his hand in marriage.

Had he truly loved that blond, he would have shrugged off her assaults on the humiliation he brought upon her. If he were truly in love with her, he would have never agreed to the marriage. With that blind intuition on her mind, Roberia walked forward, clinging upon the last ray of hope she still believed in.

R : (... I don't know what will become of this. But I will walk forward and confront this, regardless of the outcome.)

She felt her muscles tense up. She wasn't sure what to trust or believe anymore. Everything that she had seen up to now, that which had once seemed so solid and unchanging, was now foggy and distorted. Everything she knew about the boy began to fall apart.

And then...

The boy, with a huge frown on his face, blocked the blond's lips with his right hand.

R : "!" (He rejected it...)

B : "Why, Katachi?"

And the blond girl, disappointed by his action, began crying softly.

R : "!!"

It had dawned on Roberia then.

There she was, staring from a distance, at her own husband being up close and personal with another woman, and all she had was disbelief and mistrust in her mind. She could only think of how long the boy had deceived her. She could think only of how the boy intended to break the 'truth' to her, after forming a man and wife relationship with her. She could think nothing else but of how everything he had done thus far, his soft, kind and serious demeanor, his actions were all fake.

For the whole duration she stared at them... She imagined only of malice for the boy. Not once did she believe that the boy was faithful to her.

A different feeling panged at her. Where it had been a menacing, constrictive clutch of guilt, it was now a slight, lingering sore feeling. A sore, depressed feeling formed on her lungs and heart. It made her ashamed to call herself his wife. A wife ought to support her sire, to be by his side, to serve him well. She had realized, in that small act, how much the boy cared for her.

B : "Why did you reject my kiss, Katachi?"

And with newfound confidence, she stepped forth, to support her husband once more.

*** ***

R : "Katachi?"

Roberia's voice rang through their heads, and they turned to face her.

B : (!! That voice...)

Bael turned to see the red-haired girl, with hands straightened and behind her back, looking at the two sitting on the fountain rim.

K : "Roberia! Uhm, this... This..."

R : "That's unfair of you, Katachi. You didn't introduce me to your friend there."

K : "Ahh- Ahh! Right! Uhm, Bael? This, this is..."

B : "I know."
K : "?!"

Her eyes seethed with a rage that made Katachi flinch.

B : "This tramp's name is Roberia, isn't it?"

R : (I really don't like how aggressive she sounded. What if I get exposed?) "Yes, yes it is. I don't know your name, though."

K : (Tramp?) "! Right! Right. Roberia, this is Bael, my senior at the Sage Raufid Magus Aca-"

B : "So, this is your way of seducing Katachi away, isn't it? Hands behind your back, with that fake, innocuous look and all."

R : "Fake and innocuous... At least I refrain from kissing someone whom does not share mutual feelings with me."

They snapped at each other right away, with scowling expressions.

K : "... You two look like dogs fighting over the last bone..."

B : (So this is the Empress of Rugnud... I thought better of you, Katachi! Why did you choose the Empress of Rugnud as your lover?! Are you really that materialistic?!) "Katachi, THIS, is the quality of women you fell for? I can't believe you..."

R : "Quality of women? Don't you even speak of quality before me. I for one am not a cheap, debauched hag who fraternizes with another's husband."

K : "Roberia, that's mean. Bael's not that ugly to be called a hag."
B : "... !?"

Bael's fierce expression quickly changed from anger to shock as she, once more, hears the unexpected.

B : "... Husband!?... Katachi... You-"

When she had turned over to look, Katachi was holding the ring dangled on his neck, in his hand.

B : "!!!"
K : "... Sorry, Bael. I didn't tell you, but this... This is the reason why I... Why I... Why I cannot accept your feelings."

Bael clenched her fist hard.

So hard, that blood flowed from her palm, and painted a magic circle callused onto her palm.

B : (They pulled out all the stops...) "... You vixen."

K : "She's not a vixen, Bael-"

B : "DON'T YOU DARE DEFEND HER!!"

Her voice blared towards Katachi's direction, and the onlookers briefly took a glance before returning to their activities.

B : (I hate these rich, orguillous princesses who flaunt their wealth and power about the most.) "You people think you can do anything, just because you lot are powerful, huh?"

A menacing aura emanated from Bael, as she outstretched her arm, and a small, metallic ball of quicksilver formed on it.

B : "... And he did drink, for only sinners feared death."

K : "!?" (Quicksilver... The time Segus drank quicksilver as a trial from Kafki!!)

The silver ball of liquid extended, and formed a thin, serpentine tentacle. With a great strength, it lashed out at Roberia, with great speed.

K : "And he did drink!!"

Swiftly, Katachi held his arms widespread and his mouth open. The bolt of quicksilver changed its course, and flew into Katachi's mouth directly. Continuing on the redirection, Katachi slurped up the quicksilver, to prevent any from being used by her.

K : "!!!" (... I didn't know that quicksilver tasted like this... A taste befitting its smell... A strange, prickly, slippery and metallic taste...)
B : "Tch! Baka!!"

Angered at her failed attack, Bael held out the wooden token with 瞬移 carved on one side.

B : "He won't be there to protect you forever, Roberia! You'll rue the day you took Katachi from me!!!"

She raised the tablet high up above her head. And with a flash, she vanished.

Saturday 7 December 2013

Messiah 11 : Run_Faster

Roberia's eyes glistened in the dark.

She stared at the sky outside the little square window in their room longingly, remembering her life before she began the adventure.

R : (... I wish I still had a weapon of sorts. I would be training right now...)

It had not been unusual for her to be awake in the middle of the night. It had not been unusual for her to be unable to sleep. But it has been unusual for her to sleep on such a comfortable bed with a well-prepared pillow she was not accustomed to.

Matalpalhallafaelladrapahamo Roberia simply didn't need that much sleep. She had been used to a lifestyle which would have crumbled men of weak will. She had hunted, and trained, and struggled for so long, until the moon begins setting. She has had 2 hours of sleep every night, where normal people would have about 6 or 8, before waking up to a routinely sparring with the knights in her army.

*Cozy's Notes : I know that I have portrayed Roberia as someone who seems weak and all, but I can say one thing for certain - She is definitely not weak. In fact, she is very, very strong. Strong enough for her to stand triumphant in her own throne room. Strong enough for some of the really, really tough and powerful people (who will become Katachi's enemies) to be in her army willingly.

She's portrayed as a 'weak' character without much action currently because she has no weapon to practice with, but later on, she will wake up and sneak some sessions here and there. You'll also see exactly how strong she is in the other routes, when Katachi isn't going to become a Scholar. Unlike this route.*

She stared at the boy, whom laid his right arm against the cold, wooden floor. The pillow he slept on may not have done much to mitigate the discomfort from the planks.

R : (How's his arm doing?) "Katachi..."

Quietly, she got off her bed and sneaked up on the boy, and pulled his left sleeve up. The lacerations on his arm were healing, but the size of the injury suggested that it would take a while before he heals completely.

R : (I hope for the wounds to heal quick...)

Roberia lay her head against the wound softly, and felt up the uneven flesh on his arm with her cheek.

R : "... You have to heal quickly, alright? Don't make me worry for too long."

*** ***

Morning arrived.

Katachi got up from the floor, and looked around the room, then out the window. The room didn't appear as bright as he would have liked it to be - The weather outside was a brewing storm, with thunder rumbling off in the distance, so the light filtering this room was comparably dimmed.

K : (... Looks like a storm. Perhaps we should wait it out...?)

Katachi looked around the room for Roberia, to find her missing from her usual bed.

K : (She woke up already? Where is she?...)

He dressed himself back into the raggy, torn clothes, and headed out into town.

*** ***

Katachi searched, and searched, and sought high and low for her. He went around corners, and walked in circles, and tried to find anything distinctively red, in hopes of finding her.

On his way about town, a lean shadow approached him up front.

M : (There's the boy she's with! This is my chance!) "Excuse me, child, but could you direct me to a bakery? I heard it's around here somewhere..."

An old croaky voice appeared from under the hood.

K : (An old man...) "Huh? Uhm... Are you speaking to me?"

M : "Yes, child, I can't seem to find the bakery around here. Could you take me to it?"

K : "Bakery, huh..." (Bakery, bakery, where have I smelt bread at?... Maybe around that lumber checkpoint?) "Uh, I don't know the exact location, but I can try. I think it's this way."

M : "Thank you, child."

The lean figure followed behind Katachi as he tried to sniff the air for the smell of fresh bread.

K : (I remember smelling it around here somewhere...)

M : (Hahahahah! All according to plan. He 'helps' me out, I get his name, and I'll have a big scoop! This is going to rile up the masses!!)

K : (Ah, over there.) "This way, mister."

M : "Why, thank you very much, child. You are so kind. Yes, indeed, a kind child."

K : "I'm not that-... I mean, thank you."

M : "May I know your name, child?"

K : "Ah. Katachi. Kotsuba Katachi."

M : (Kozuba, huh...) "Such a nice child."

*Cozy's Notes : LOL HE HEARD IT WRONGLY HAHAHAHAH*

Mandred pulled out a pouch, and emptied a few coins onto the table before forming a circle with his thumbs, index and middle fingers. Katachi continued his search of the red-haired girl silently.

M : (Good. He's gone.)

Mandred headed off slowly, mimicking the frail stature he disguised himself as for the walk back to his office.

*** ***

K : "! There you are!"

Katachi headed up towards a small fence, where Roberia stood there leaning against it, watching two kids pretend to be swashbuckling knights in the 'heat' of battle.

R : "Ah, Katachi. Good morning."

K : "What were you doing all the way out here?"

R : "Not much, not much. I'm just watching these two fight and battle each other."

K : "?"

Katachi looked into the pen and saw two boys holding raw, gnarled branches and swinging it at each other, screaming and shouting taunts, which they had probably learned from a story.

"Ha! Is that the best you can do? I've seen whelps put up more of a fight!"
"Say all you want, but I will not yield to you!"

The kids clashed the branches at each other from many different angles, and circled around each other, trying to re-enact the story as close as they could with wide grins on their faces.

K : (This is... From the Lifesunder's story, I think. While Ufel's family was still whole, his relatives bared blades at each other. That scene is where Marcell and Jivet fought for Riancia's necklace.) "... They look like they're having fun."

*Cozy's Notes : Refer to the Happy Labour Day! post for the Lifesunder Diehl's lore. Well, the part after all the ruthless conflict, anyway.*

R : "Indeed." (... I wish I could have fun like they do. But, their breathing and their swings are out of pace, their posture is weak and their grip isn't firm. If I fooled around like this, Father would get mad at me. Not to mention, since I'm sparring against knights with real swords, one moment of foolery could cost me my life.)

K : (I suppose it is enjoyable in a sense, watching them like that. They look pretty carefree, enjoying their acting like that.)

R : (I'm so jealous of them, being so blissfully ignorant of the dangers in an actual battle. How I wish I could have fun like this too without bearing consequences.)

K : "Ah, right. Roberia, it looks like it's about to rain soon. Do you think we should set off to Fereport now?"

R : "Hmm? Hmm..." (The temperature is a lot cooler, and there's a chilling draft. This really feels like it's going to rain soon.)

Roberia raised her head and sniffed the air for a moment.

R : (Breezy... I can smell a sort of salt. A breeze from the sea...) "... It does feel like a storm is coming. I guess we can hold off another night here."

K : "Okay then. I'll go to the library for the day."

R : (? Library?) "What would you go to a library for?"

*Cozy's Notes : Rugnud is a country based off of physical strength as a foundation of power, unlike Findel or Yhorfe or most of the other countries with a lot of magi. I gotta have a post with the countries and what each of them is oriented around, et cetera someday. It will take a while, though. Still writing the Segus lore.*

K : "I could use a few books written in Anikan or Ohdean. They're pretty useful if I want to increase my ability to use the Words of Power." (... Even though I may not understand the meaning of the words... At least I can note them down or something.)

R : (I feel like the Words of Power on him are strong enough, though. But if he insists, I'll believe the expert's advice.) "... Okay then. You enjoy your day at the library, Katachi. I'll just look around town for a bit."

*** ***

D : "Sherayal! Come out! Our guests are hungry!"

S : "You lie, Dante! I heard the two of them leave through the front door! There's nobody else in here except you and me!"

D : "Come on, Sherayal, make me breakfast!"

S : "No! Make your own breakfast!"

D : "Arrgh, fine! You useless woman!"

S : "Did you just call me a useless woman?! I heard that! And I am NOT a useless woman! You're just a useless man who can't go out and work for your own coin!"

D : "Shut up!"

S : "You shut up!"

D : "... Damn. Doesn't look like I'll get breakfast at this rate."

Dante looted and rummaged the clerk's desk, looking hard for the small gold deposit he saved.

D : "... I know I had it somewhere... Sherayal probably confiscated and hid it away again... Curses. Trust the heretic to even have the gold to book a room here, while I'm sitting like a duck, with horses and a nasty wife and nothing to eat. Hmph."

The inn door opened, and Dante marched out of the door grumpily.

*** ***

The library door creaked a little, and the hinges squeaked a bit, as Katachi opened the door to the library.

K : (... Hmm. A bit dusty here and there, but well-maintained otherwise.)

He gently closed the door behind him, and started browsing the books one by one. Since the books were unlabeled, there was no sign or indication that the particular bamboo scroll or paper book was in Ohdean or Anikan, so there was no choice but to glance through each and every one of them with care.

K : (... Not this. This is about Yhorfe. It's highly similar to Findeli. This is too distinct from the word structure of the Words of Power.)

*Cozy's Notes : Yhorfe --> Fe-Or-Yh --> Corrupted pronunciation of Keyori. Britain. That shout-out to Keyori. Debatable humor warning.*

One by one, the stack of books on the desk before him began piling up.

K : (... Aiecol, I think? The character is sort-of similar, but this symbol has been repeated a lot of times in this particular book, and the words look... Softer, than the clear and sharp structure the Words of Power has?...)

*Cozy's Notes : Aiecol --> Col-Ie-A --> Korea. Ha... Sort-of.*

The books were, however, organized neatly on the table, for ease of replacement should he be finished with that particular row of books.

K : (... This won't do. Most of these are about countries in the Western region. If I want to find a book written in Anikan or Ohdean I have to look elsewhere.)

Katachi placed the books back onto the shelves neatly, and began his search on another row of books.

K : (Huh. This particular row is full of paper books. That's a rarity.)

*Cozy's Notes : Fun trivia : Remember when I said Image Power is dominant in their world? The tree is a great symbol of resilience, when Kafki the Serpentress attempts to search for the then-mythical Dream Poison within the trees of the world, with Yvolki's help. Some of the trees they split open, despite being halved, are able to continue living, and even grow despite being cut in half. Therefore, the image power people have of the trees is really formidable, and that inadvertently also results in cutting lumber for houses and paper really, really difficult.

Most of the wood are harvested from fallen branches and twigs, then shredded and finally fused together magically into larger chunks of wood. That wood is extremely precious, because harvesting enough twigs for just a plank is no easy feat. To cut a tree with magic is tough - even Bertund faces difficulty doing so. When Katachi talked about kindling the flame in the previous chapter, he meant that they didn't collect enough twigs to substitute a log - Simply gathering them for a small campfire is tough enough. That is why paper is a rarity in their world.*

Katachi picked up the books in order, and read through them all, one by one.

*** ***

He waited for a chance where nobody was around. Quickly, Dante kicked his boot against a dirty wall to shake off the soot stuck on the bottom of his boots.

D : (I guess I'll go have another round at the raffle.)

Dante reached into his pocket and felt up the small, cubic stones.

D : (... Good. My lucky dice are still there. Thank god that broad is never smart enough to flip my pockets.)

But his eyes were not focused on what's in front, so he bumped into a red-haired girl.

D : (!) "Watch where you're going, you numbskull- !!"
R : "!!!"

... Who happens to be Roberia holding a bun.

R : (He called me a numbskull. That is a great insult to me. I am NOT a numbskull.) "So I am a numbskull now, am I?"

D : "No! No! I'm sorry, miss! I didn't mean to call you a nnn- !!! Aaaaggk..."

Roberia lowered her body and widened her feet, fisted him in the gut with a solid punch, and he collapsed onto the ground, writhing and twitching on the ground.

D : (This hurts!! This hurts so much!! I don't even know which position helps compress the injury! When I relax one side, the opposing muscles clench and it hurts!!! My mind is going numb from one punch alone?!)

Dante couple only clutch his stomach and try his best to compress the wound, as Roberia took a bite off her bun and spewed crumbs out as she spoke.

R : "Garbage like yourselves don't even deserve to have your blood drank."

*Cozy's Notes : Like I said, Image Power is dominant in this world. When a person drinks another's blood, the vigor of life to his opponent, the image power that one accepted their vigor into one's body empowers one so. This also means that the more high-quality blood of strong people you lap and accept into your stomach, the stronger the image you cast on others, and once it reaches a certain point people are going to be afraid of just walking past you.

There's a reason why Diehl is called the Lifesunder, and why his weapon is a serrated fleshrending sword made specifically for his opponents to bleed. Also, that was really unladylike of Roberia to talk with her mouth full. She's a warrior princess, not a princess, though. So it's acceptable to a certain degree.*

Roberia stomped Dante on his shoulder, and headed back to the fence.

*** ***

"Can I help you?"

A deep, masculine voice rang out from behind Katachi as he browsed the Legends section.

K : "Ahh, you are... ?"

"I am the librarian of this place. May I help you?"

K : "Good! That's good. I uh... I need to find a book, that is written either in Anikan or Ohdean. Either will do."

"This way."

Katachi turned around, to greet a relatively large man with bulging muscles and a beard. The white strands amidst the grey suggests that he is not of a young age.

"Most books we have in this library are often written in Findeli, or Aiecoli. That's why you can't find Anikan or Ohdean easily. Only the really old books that date all the way back to Fiorsal have other languages. I've compiled a collection of books in other languages on that particular shelf, however. Feel free to browse there."

*Cozy's Notes : A lot of trivia notes this time, well, because it's hard coping with the lore's progression by devoting every post on the blog to it. Okay - Fiorsal is Findel's name in the past. Much like how a land-line used to be called a telephone before globalisation, or how, well, a titular example - How Tokyo used to be called Edo. I would know, since Ohde is the reverse of Edo.*

The librarian directed him to a row of books which were really old - Some of the things on the rack were scrolls, tablets in a really old language, and some bamboo and paper books. He picked up the bamboo book written in Aiecol and placed it neatly onto the shelf he just pointed at.

K : "Thank... Thank you."

"If you need any help, consult me. I'm a librarian, and I am here to help."

The muscleman headed around the corner, and a sound of an unbalanced wooden stool leg clacking onto the floor was heard.

K : (... Wow. Some of these are old. Really, really old - I don't even recognize them. I wonder what they mean, though?)

Katachi picked up a scroll, and read the contents carefully.

K : (... I can't understand this at all... This is really ancient. I haven't seen such a language before.)

He quietly put it back down, and picked up another scroll.

K  :(!! This is in Anikan! Uhm... Let's see... )

Finally, he had found something useful. Like an excited child looking forward to his new toy, he read the contents of the scroll as thoroughly as he could.

K : (... I haven't even seen most of these characters, let alone understand them. I suppose I better copy them down, though, since it could come in handy in the future.)

He took out a piece of charcoal, and some powdered, ragged cloth that used to belong to his old garments from his belt. Katachi drew all the characters upon the powdered cloth with the charcoal, and then kept the cloth safe and secure in a small pouch.

"Why do you need to copy those down?"

K : "?!"

Someone had snuck up upon him while he busied himself with copying. A boy younger than Katachi himself held a book and a flat piece of wood with an engraving : The Old Master's Favorite.

K : (A kid with a bookmark...) "Uh..."

"I mean, you could just borrow the scroll if you like. Just be sure to return them."

K : "... Because... I'm not sure if I can return it if I borrow the scroll."

"Why not?"

K : "... I won't be staying in this town for that long. Even if I borrow this, it would only be for a day, and uh... And I'll have to return it by tomorrow, probably, or I would be stealing it."

"Huh. Okay then."

The boy picked up a book with a bookmark placed within, and opened it to the marked page. He slotted the bookmark in his hand on a further page, took the previous bookmark out, and continued reading from what he presumably left off.

K : (Maybe he knows something about this?) "Uhm... By the way, what does this scroll say?"

*Cozy's Notes : There is a good reason why I am not writing the boy's thoughts.*

"... ? That scroll?"

K : "Yes. This uh... This one."

"Do you see all the characters with a sprout from a pot, and the one that looks like a bear wearing an Anikan cap, to the bottom of each column?"

Katachi looked at the scroll once again, and affirmed it himself.

K : (... He's right. There are these weird characters, 占, and 空, and they are appearing at the bottom of each column...) "Yeah... Sort of.

"Of course you do. That's a checklist for supplies to be sent from Yaozhi to GuiAnWan, when they suffered from Cropswarm locusts eating their crops."

*Cozy's Notes : And this is why. XD

K : (Hmm, yes, 14 diapers, check. Very interesting. This could be useful, hmm, yes, indeed. I see, 22 sticks, unchecked, they didn't get enough sticks, must have been tough for them, but not like it matters since I will never see these items anyway. 8 cinder blocks, checked, yes, interesting, very interesting indeed, hmm, yes, indeed. So they counted cinderblocks like this back in the day, intriguing..)

XD Imagine Katachi being like that. XD I couldn't spoil this with translating his thoughts XD*

K : "This document is a checklist?"

"And here I was, wondering why someone would take such keen interest into a simple checklist of the past! Hahahah!!! You are absurdly stupid, you know that?"

K : (That's rude!) "I... I may be stupid, but you don't need to be so... So... So direct with, with blurting it out on my face..."

"I know, I know. I'm just messing with you. I don't get to have fun like that often anyway, so just let me enjoy this. The other kids outside playing about are stupid just like you, but you look more co-operative."

K : (He just wants to relieve himself... I don't mind, then.)

The kid sighs, and glances at the scroll in Katachi's hands.

"Still, as stupid as it is, that scroll is still a piece of history. The old man's never bothered throwing this out. It may be stupid, but it does tell the history of Anik, and what happened then."

K : "I agree..."

"Much like every book and scroll and tablet that's found its way here. They all carry a certain weight, a specific history about the things they once were. Much like how every person has a different fate."

K : (Different... Fate...)

"... Hey, stupid."

K : "... I'm not stupid, I have a name. Kotsuba Katachi."

"Whatever. 'Baka' in Ohdean means 'idiot' anyway."

K : (!? He knows Ohdean as well?!) "You know Ohdean?"

"Of course I do. I've spent enough time in this library to learn most and speak some languages, spare Aiecol. That place is a nightmare. Too many consonants and word combinations."

K : "Then, then, could you tell me if the name on this ring is correct?"

Katachi took out the ring hung on his neck, and showed the boy the white-gemmed golden beauty.

"... Hmm. That's an unusual name. I'd have thought your Ko- in Kotsuba would have meant small."

*Cozy's Notes : That is very true, by the way. Ko- in Japanese could mean 小 for small, 子 for Child, 個 for individual, and many other meanings. His Ko- is a very abnormal word for a name. And you'd learn why - Because his surname isn't supposed to use 凝椿 for Frozen Camellia, but rather 小椿 for Little Camellia. On that note, 椿 is supposed to be pronounced Tsubaki. The -ki is omitted for their name, but that's acceptable too.*

K : "Unusual?"

"Whatever. I don't exactly know what's going on in Ohde that would result in you having a name like that, but factually, that is your name."

K : "... Thank you." (Maybe I could learn some Anikan and Ohdean from him? If I could understand the characters, it would help a whole lot.)

"You're welcome. Right, if you'd excuse me, I gotta go buy some food for the chickens."

K : "! Ah, wait! I still have to ask-"

"If you're planning to look for a good book to learn the language itself, I strongly suggest you look over on that desk, third stack, 5th book bottom up."

And with that, the boy took his leave.

*Cozy's Notes : This kid is baller. He's got swag yo. He even predicted Katachi's thoughts. KATACHI, YOU HAVE TO BUCK UP AND BECOME A SMART, HEALTHY YOUNG BOY OKAY? ... I sound like Bael. Good lord. XD Just goes to show how prepared and excited I am for writing Messiah 12.*

*** ***

Night had fallen.

Katachi stared into his empty pouch, and frowned at how lightweight it was.

K : (16 gold... No dinner for the night, huh...)

With a sullen face, he passed the door and headed for his room.

R : "There you are, Katachi. Where have you been?"

K  :"I was at the library, reading up on the books there  to get something."

R : "So, did you find anything?"

K : "Yeah, I uh, I found this tally list they used to record supplies."

R : (What use is that?) "How does that help us?"

K : "... It doesn't."

R : (Wow. That's pretty unproductive.) "..."
K : (How do I break the news that we have no dinner?) "..."

The two fell silent, and looked at each other.

K : "... Say, Roberia..."

R : "What is it?"

K : "... We... We may not have dinner tonight."

R : "Why not?"

K : (... I wouldn't want her to worry about the gold, but this is important...) "... Well, to be honest-"

S : "Dinner is ready, you two!"

Sherayal's voice rang from the kitchen, followed by the loud, slamming sound of a door.

K : "Wha- We get dinner here?"

R : "What are you talking about, Katachi? The inn is supposed to provide us the food and lodging. It's all paid for already."

*Cozy's Notes : Derp. He didn't know that inns provided food when you paid to stay. That just goes to show how limited Katachi's knowledge of the world is. Lore-wise and magic-wise, he is pretty good since he's read a lot from the library at home, and he's nice in that he does the chores, but when it comes down to living in society, he's still a kid. There's a lot for him to learn.*

K : "... I... I see."

R : "Come on, then! This way!"

*** ***

The meal had been heaven for Roberia.

Despite the simplicity of the dishes present, it had been a generous and well-prepared meal fit for a king. The bread had been kept warm and toasty, and its fragrance permeated her nostrils as she savored every bite and chew. The meat was succulent and juicy and tender and rebounded with every bite like a sponge, the variety of cheese was wonderful and offered many possible combinations, the assortment of fresh lettuce made the sandwich crisp and light-flavored, the tomatoes sweetened and enhanced its general appeal, the broth by the side was a refreshing change of a thick, slippery and slightly bitter taste, likely brought upon by the usage of spices and herbs. For a small inn, that had been pretty extravagant.

The meal had invigorated her body after a leisurely day of searching around the forests nearby for sticks and pebbles to train with.

R : "This is great, don't you think, Katachi?"

The meal had been a luxury he couldn't afford.

One so glamorous, he could only silent stare at her eat so heartily while chewing on the plain wheat bread.

K : (So much food... I thank the lands for birthing these foods, I thank Dardicel for his land, I thank Vithrolu for his mercy, I thank Kafki for these herbs, I thank Soltak for the sun to grow and nurture these...)

He held a tomato in his left hand, and gnawed at the bread.

R : (He's eating the bread plain? Even with such a wide assortment before him?) "What's wrong? Just eat, Katachi. You paid for this."

*Cozy's Notes : Social standings in the past. When you're rich and powerful, you could take the food without fear of being looked down upon by others since you're rich enough to pay for everything on the table. But when you're poor like Katachi, whom has supposedly not paid for the meal at all, you should be grateful that you get sustenance, and eat the amount that keeps you alive. Luxuries like eating to your fill, or having a gratifying burp, or having a bloated feeling in the stomach... Those are things the poor could never hope to afford.*

K : "... I guess I'm not used to eating such a large quantity before me..."

R : "Well, in any case, try to eat, Katachi. Energy is important, and letting this food go to waste is not good." (Ilpoh decrees that one must obtain thy food through rightful means. Since he has done so, he ought to eat to his fill, and to do everything with passion and vigor, for he who lives may not live to see the next sunrise, nor the next sunset.)

K : (Segus teaches that food is precious, and the labor of the farmers whom have tilled and worked their lives to provide for us... She's right. I ought not to let this food go to waste.) "... Okay."

*Cozy's Notes : You start to see a sort of orientation around their beliefs. Ilpoh's ideals are towards a future sense, for one to keep moving forward and are generally assertive / proactive. Segus's ideals are oriented around the fact that one ought not to forget their roots, to remember the past and to continue onward by honouring the past.

Where Segus' teachings speak of a reason to move onward, Ilpoh's teachings provide said method to walk forward. It is true that they are opposites, and at the same time, they aren't. Two opposing sides of the same coin, yet they lay on the same side. So, ask yourself - What defines the 'coin', exactly?*

He arranged a simple sandwich of lettuce, tomatoes and bread before him, and made a sandwich.

R : "You shouldn't neglect your meats. Have some veal, or an egg, at least."

Katachi nodded silently and grabbed an egg from the bowl, and placed it into his mouth. The hard-boiled egg was mashed up in his mouth, and he swallowed it whole.

R : "Hey, be careful! Don't choke on your food, you idiot!"

K : "... Idiot..." *cough* (That kid said the same thing too. My name has an 'idiot' in it...)

R : "?... Don't do this to me, Katachi. Please say something meaningful, I'm trying to have a proper conversation with you."

K : "Ah?... Ah! Er, sorry about that. I... I guess I'm just spacing out."

R : "What could you possibly be thinking that would be so distracting?"

K : "... Uhm... Well, it's not much, but I found something quite disturbing. That's all."

R : "Disturbing? Disturbing like seeing a person's offals?"

K : "!! Mmmh!!" *gags* (Oh my goodness... I can see it in my eyes when she says it like that...)

That ruined his mood to eat any further.

K : "... I'm sorry, Roberia. I don't think I can keep on eating. I'll... I'll go sleep now."

R : "Okay. Let's go together then."

The two left the dining area, as a hungry and crazed Dante came around the corner and gobbled their food as fast as his gullet would allow.

K : (...Whoa... He's had it rough. Amongst the three whom used to bully me, he's the worst, but to have him starve this much is a bit drastic, isn't it?)

He took one last glance at the starving beast hogging the food on the table to himself, eating in the silence of the hall.

*** ***

*Cozy's Notes : Juval is the big brute guy who forces Katachi to an isolated corner in an alley, because Dante tells him to. Zirco fibs and lies to the adults, to wrongfully vindicate Dante's behaviour. If I can say this... Juval and Zirco didn't even want to associate themselves with Katachi, since the adults told them that he is a bastard child - Rather, Dante, being their 'friend', asked them to bully him because of his own superiority complex, which led to them reluctantly doing so. Makes one wonder what the hell Dante's been through to become like this.

(lol Divine Comedy pun. Get it? Because in Divine Comedy, Dante went through Hell. Hah.)

On a side note, notice how Katachi is soft and kind at heart. That's the Katachi I want to portray : He's serious about his goal, he's also kind and compassionate to others, even his bullies. But this by no means represent his mental strength - He's weak, too, to have fallen into his inferiority complex... Well, that's part of the reason why Roberia respects his mercy, and is troubled by his self-depreciation at the same time.*

*** ***

The sun's golden rays shined onto Katachi's face.

K : "..."

Katachi turned around to face his back against the sun, only to feel a strange warmth before his face.

He opened his eyes, to realize exactly how close to the wall he had been. The warmth was from his own exhaled breath, bouncing off the wall and flowing back at his own face.

*Cozy's Notes : GOTCHA! Thought that was Roberia behind him, didn'tcha? Ha! They're not at that level!... yet.*

Katachi got up, and looked around the room. Towards a corner was Roberia leaning on a wooden chair's backrest, brushing and combing her hair straight.

*Cozy's Notes : Her hair's straightness is actually from a special oil harvester, which grows an oily fungus at the top of the jar. The oil it produces seeps down the jar's sides, and accumulates at the bottom of the jar. It fills up in time, and if she wants to have lots of oil, she needs to remember to feed the fungus at the top of the jar something to degrade, like leaves or insects. Not animals, though - If you put a dead rat there and pressed it against the fungus, its blood might flow down from being squished and contaminate the oil with red the color of her hair. Unnoticeable, but disgusting.

I didn't want to put this detail in, actually. It's pretty disgusting, but I just had to. This sticks faithfully to the story's setting, instead of giving it a weird and illogical reason like 'Oh, her hair is ironed straight by magic!' or something cheap. SHE'S A WARRIOR PRINCESS, HOW WOULD SHE KNOW HAIR-IRONING MAGIC. That's also why I used her as the deuteragonist instead of Bael - I couldn't find an excuse for Bael to use this oil, without it dripping all over her assets and having it look like it's something out of an adult story with erotic content. If I ever write eroticism for the story's realism... I'll tag the front of the chapter with a [H18 ALERT] so don't worry. I'll also summarize what happened in the [H18] chapter on the next chapter so rest easy.*

K : "Good morning."

R : "Good morning, Katachi. The weather's pretty nice - Think we should head out to Fereport now?"

K : "Sure."

They packed their things together, and got ready to set off.

*** ***

"Breaking news, breaking news! News that will shock you! News you simply cannot believe!"

The two of them headed towards the gate when they saw a crowd gathered around a wall with various posters of sorts.

K : "? I wonder what they are gathering for?"

R : "Katachi?"

K  :"Ahh, no worries. I'll just go there to have a look."

R :  "... Okay..."

Placing his bag beside Roberia, Katachi headed towards the crowd, and made his way to the front. His small stature allowed him to squeeze through the many adults to the front, where an old man with a bell handed him a piece of papyrus with current events written on them.

K : "... Thank you."

Katachi made his way back out of the crowd, and found Roberia standing right behind the crowd, with an anxious face.

K : "I'm here."

R : "Ah, good. I was worried that you'd be stuck in there."

K : "I won't be. I'm small. Heheheh. Well, the man sitting there handed this to me..."

R : "? What's it say?"

*Cozy's Notes : Ah, by the way, it works a bit differently in this fantasy world. Most people in the middle ages were illiterate. If they needed news to spread, they simply shouted. Newspaper and stuff like that were usually posters stuck on walls and such, but it works differently in this world. Findel is a country famous for magi, and so they must be able to understand basic words and terms before they can incite and chant spells.

Rugnud, a warrior country where strength is power, has no need for reading. So finding libraries in Findel is easy, whereas finding a book or any sort of documentation in Rugnud would usually be for the aristocrats only. Same thing applies to other countries in the story too.*

K : "Hmm... Let's see here... this big title says 'Rugnud Princess In Affair', this medium one says that Minister Lein will be visiting Eliasbury soon, these small ones say a variety of things..."

R : "!!! Rug-! Rugnud Princess In Affair?!" (Wha- When did this happen? Who leaked this information? How much do they know about us? Who wrote this?!)

K : "? Do you recognize this princess, Roberia?"

Upon calling her name, the people behind him turned around with a face of utter stupefaction and astonishment. The entire crowd soon followed suit, staring at her with eyes wide open.

R : (!! Everyone's looking! Crap! They know who I am!) "Katachi, do exactly as I say, and follow me! Drop everything, grab your bag, and let's RUN! NOW!!"

K : "Ah-?! Ah! Okay!"

The two ran as hard as they could, towards the gate. The crowd roared behind them in hot pursuit.

"Stop that red-haired girl!"
"After her!"
"She has answering to do!"
"Get her!"
"Someone stop those two!!"

R : (Crap, crap, crap! They're following us!!) "Run faster!!"

K : "Why are we running?! And why are they chasing us?!"

R : (I'm sorry, Katachi. This is the one time I'll lie to you, so please understand...) "I... I might have a bit too much to drink yesterday!!!"

K : "You WENT to DRINK?! WE DON'T HAVE THAT KIND OF MONEY TO SPEND!!!"

R : "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so please, run with me! I don't want them to take you hostage! RUN FASTER!!!"

K : "AHHH, THE PAIN!!!!!"

The two sprinted with all their might, and after turning two corners, the gate was finally in sight.

"Guards! Stop them!"
"Catch them!!"
"Don't let them escape!"
"Defend that wall with all your might!"
"Close the gates!"

The two guards with halberds formed a cross on the pass, stopping anyone from crossing them.

R : (Curses, not now!) "Katachi! Follow closely behind me, and run forward with all your might!"

K : "I already am running forward with all my might!!!"

R : "Okay, here goes then! HAAAAHH!!"

Roberia rammed her shoulder into one of the guards and tackled him down. Following closely behind was Katachi whom dashed past the gap in their defense, while Roberia pushed off against the soldier's body on the ground, flipped forward before catching herself with a good landing. With only the clear plains ahead of them, they made a heavy sprint, a last push to further the distance between them and the chasing crowd.