Foes and Heirs: Segment Three: The Dangerous Life

SEGMENT THREE: THE DANGEROUS LIFE

"Never was anything great achieved without danger."

10: New Plan

For Daiyu, the morning couldn’t have come quickly enough. The sun shone from outside her cabin window, and she blinked in the startling light – even as she began to hear bumps from around the rest of the ship. Was it the others? Probably. It must have been. Suddenly slightly afraid, she rolled out of her bed – having taken one of the room that had an actual, physical bed – and crept to the door. The footsteps grew louder. It had to be them. It had to be them. She opened the door just in time to see Azura trotting past. She was saying something – Daiyu wasn’t sure what – and it helped her to relax. Yes. Azura was out and about, and it was just the people she knew and trusted on the ship.

Well, almost.

It was just as she had this thought that she caught sight of said thought’s… reason for being thought? Did that make sense? In any case, the girl that Loden and Iamos had brought back with them was walking down the ship’s hallway. She was wearing the same clothes as the previous day – various shades of white and grey, sophisticated embroidery, pretty-looking flats. She was obviously very wealthy, which was only made more apparent by how she carried herself. Her chin was turned up, as though she viewed the world by looking down on it. Her arms were by her sides, not stiff and yet not swinging in any sort of unsophisticated fashion. She reminded Daiyu quite a bit of the various… other well-off people she had met. It was disconcerting.

And it also made her more curious about what had actually happened the previous day. Loden and Iamos had been gone far longer than they said they would, they hadn’t returned with any food – which was a shame, as Daiyu had become used to actually eating regular meals – and they had brought this stranger with them. And where exactly had this girl come from? It would have been one thing if they had found someone off the streets like her, but this was… this had to be explainable. She needed an explanation.

After waiting for a moment, letting the other girl walk past, she silently made her way to the upstairs room, with the table. It was where, like, meetings had happened previously, right? It made sense for someone to be there now, if anywhere. Someone had to be planning to tell her and Azura what had happened soon. But what had happened?

Before her mind could take her to any of the dark possibilities she might have thought up, she focused on the sound of voices coming from the top of the stairs she had arrived at. One was feminine, and shouting quite loudly. She couldn’t really discern the others beyond masculinity. Trotting up the stairs, she was encountered by a sight that was either funny or scary. She couldn’t decide.

Azura was sprawled forwards onto the circular table in the centre of the room, lying on top of it on her front – as if she had jumped forward onto it. Had she? She might have. She seemed like the sort of person who would. Her arms were stretched out, her fists grabbing onto the lapels of Loden’s jacket. Ah – Loden! He was sitting opposite her, looking somewhat panicked, as the younger girl pulled him closer to the table. She looked up into his eyes with her own (presumably – Daiyu was behind her, and could only see her head rising).

“You have to tell me!” She was saying. “Tell me everything! I want to know what happened!”

Loden seemed about to say something to her, but then he caught sight of Daiyu, who had frozen at the top of the stairs, observing the scene. He gave a startlingly lazy wave with one hand.

“Hey, Daiyu.” He said. Azura’s head whipped around to stare at Daiyu, who began to feel very intimidated.

“You want to hear what happened, as well, right?” She garbled, tightening her grip on Loden’s jacket. Both Loden and Daiyu winced, and the latter held up her hands in what she hoped was a placating gesture.

“Even if I do, I’m not strangling Loden over it.” She pointed out, truthfully. “I… well, I’m sure that Loden and Iamos plan to tell us what happened. At least, I hope so.” She trailed off. Could she have sounded accusatory, or otherwise implicating? She hadn’t meant to. Hopefully Loden hadn’t taken it that way. She breathed in. She breathed out. She continued. “But we need to let them get to that… telling stage at their own pace, you know?”

“But this is big!” Pointed out Azura, shaking Loden’s jacket and pulling him back and forth. “There are four of us, and now there’s five! That’s a twenty-five percent increase!” Her eyes suddenly narrowed – whether in thought or in anger, Daiyu didn’t know. “Plus, that girl they brought back with them looked weird. What was she wearing, anyway?”

It took a second for Daiyu to grasp what Azura meant. “Did you mean… she looked rich? As in, wealthy?”

Azura considered this. Then nodded. “Yeah.”

Daiyu considered this. She had looked quite wealthy, yes. Like one of the people who would live in large estate houses or palaces, separate themselves from the rest of society because they were able. Now that this perspective had been brought back to her attention, her prime instinct was a wave of curiosity. If this girl was one of those people, then the fact that she had come back with the boys was all the more extraordinary. She found it unlikely that anyone would be willing to leave that life behind. What had happened?

“Am I interrupting anything?”

Daiyu gave a start and fell backwards – the girl was standing on the stairs, looking across the room with an expression of what looked to be schooled indifference, typical of the ones usually worn by people like her. How had she managed to get so close without Daiyu hearing her? Had she just been distracted? Her heart was thudding against her chest, and her fingers trembled slightly from adrenaline. She licked her dry lips, and forced herself to calm down. It was ok. It was ok. It was ok.

“It’s you!” Azura stared at the girl as if she had just confessed to a murder.

“It’s me.” Agreed the girl, walking past Daiyu – walking seemed too ungainly a description, it was like she was effortlessly gliding across the floor – and sitting down at the ship’s round table. She eyed Loden, wearily. “Aren’t you going to introduce us?”

Loden rubbed the back of his neck as everyone’s gaze turned back to him.

“Uh… yeah.” He sighed. “The hyperactive one here is Azura. She’s our youngest. And Iamos’ sister.”

Azura stuck out her arm, fist clenched and pointed forwards. “Welcome aboard our ship!” Her mouth was set like an apple slice – upturned, with implications of sweetness. The girl, after a moment’s hesitation, reached forward and daintily shook Azura’s arm up and down, in something of a one-sided handshake. If anyone else had done it, it probably would have looked ungainly and awkward. The girl, however – she still managed to look refined. As though she were in firm control of the situation.

Loden rolled his eyes. “And, yeah, the other one’s Daiyu.”

“Daiyu?” The girl repeated, rising from her seat to greet Daiyu, who was hit with a wave of guilt for not going over to her before she had to rise. “A pleasure.”

She held out a dainty hand. Daiyu tentatively grasped it in her own, only to find it surprisingly firm – not only was her grip stronger than expected, but her skin wasn’t nearly as soft as Daiyu had thought it would be, either. A very faint smile flashed across the girl’s face as their hands shook once before the connection was severed. What was that all about?

“Anyway, this is… uh…” Loden trailed off, before turning to the girl. “You’ll want to do your own introduction, I presume?”

“You presume correctly.” The girl said, a hint of teasing in her voice. All of her emoting, Daiyu noted, seemed to be very reserved and minute. Not that she was as emotionless as she might have appeared, but she had to be supressing a lot. But why? What reason could she have had for having such a tight grasp on her emotions? Unless she was simply naturally unemotive. That was possible too, right?

“Daiyu.” A voice drew her out of her thoughts. “Azura.” Continued the girl, making eye contact with each of them in turn before lowering her head and speaking almost solemnly. “My name is Motokami Ame Miyuki. I am the daughter of Motokami Ame Ryo, the emperor of the Cheinise provinces.” She rose to meet them again. “I am a princess of this land.”

There was a silence for a moment, and then Loden grumbled.

“I thought you may have wanted to keep that to yourself.” He admitted. “Now matter how bad of a father your own may be – he’s still the emperor, and you’re still the princess, so action’s going to be taken to get you back.”

“I would gain nothing by keeping my identity a secret from these two.” Miyuki argued. “From strangers, I understand, but these are your crew. I don’t know how much time I shall spend here, and it’s not something that ought to be revealed by someone else further down the line.”

She may have had more to say on that matter, but at this moment her words hit their audience. Azura’s intake of breath was so deep and sharp, Daiyu couldn’t believe that her lungs would be able to hold so much air. Then, she began to speak.

“Oh my God.” She began to say, grasping the table and jumping up and down, several times. For Daiyu, it trod the line between endearing and unsettling. “She’s a princess she’saprincessshe’saprincess-” – she stopped, one of her legs still bouncing up and down. She indicated wordlessly to Miyuki for several seconds with her arms, waving them up and down in her direction. Her excitement was palpable, as though it were a physical thing.

“W – what’s it like?” She gasped, stars in her eyes. Miyuki seemed – understandably – a little surprised by Azura’s enthusiasm, but after a moment, she relaxed, and let a full smile blossom across her face. Which was odd, noted. Daiyu. Why was she now showing an emotion so openly?

“It’s nice.” She admitted, with the air of a parent or carer talking to a child. Age-wise, this may well have been plausible, but the illusion was slightly shattered by the fact that Azura was obviously the taller of the two. Nevertheless, she spoke in a maternal-esque fashion. “There are a lot of expectations, and a lot of people watching, which can be hard. But you get to see amazing things. And if you’re good, history will remember you.”

Azura nodded enthusiastically, head practically a blur as it moved up and down. Was she taking it all in, or was it all going over her head in the rush? Daiyu couldn’t tell. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself either way, though, so… oh well.

“Do people do everything for you?” She continued. Was she getting even more excited? Her words were becoming less discernible as they shot out of her mouth like cannon fire.

“So often that you wish you could do it for yourself, after a time.” Miyuki nodded sagely.

Was Azura even speaking words anymore? A high-pitched, excited, exclamation was coming out of her mouth as she jumped up and down. Whatever it was, it lasted for several seconds – long enough for Daiyu to wish that she could cover her ears without looking rude.

“…How are you here with us?” She eventually squealed. She was quite the sight, hopping from foot to foot as she stared expectantly at Miyuki, who was able to continue to patiently smile. What had brought on this change in attitude? She had seemed so… uncaring, before.

Miyuki brought one finger to her chin, in a show of thought. “Well, it’s a long story.” Her eyes flickered to Loden, and her smile grew a tiny bit wider. “I suppose you could refer to it as a daring rescue.”

Azura gasped again, turning to Loden and back to Miyuki. “A rescue!”

Miyuki tittered. “I am afraid that I cannot recount the entire tale right now. There are some pressing matters to be attended to first.” She leant forward, and stared Azura in the eyes. “But I promise you, when I have the opportunity, I will tell you the entire story. Does that sound fair?”

“…Yes!” Azura fumbled with her body for a moment before sinking into a clumsy curtsey. “…My lady!”

Miyuki laughed again. “No need for that, Azura. “Miyuki” is alright.”

“Okay!” Azura nodded to show that she had understood, before her gaze started flickering around. She began to bound towards the stairs. “I’m going to go check on the engines again!”

“Alrighty.” Loden waved her off. “Take care.”

“See you later!” Azura waved before vaulting down the stairs, landing with a metal clang. A moment passed – metal clangs could be heard getting ever-louder as she hurriedly ran back up the stairs. Her head popped over the top of the floor, from where she hit Miyuki with one last sunshine-y grin. “It was really nice to meet you, princess!”

“Miyuki.” The princess reminded, smiling back in kind as she gave a dainty wave. Azura nodded, then ducked down the stairs again. The sound of her footsteps quickly faded. Without the girl’s presence, the room suddenly felt very empty. Definitely a lot quieter. As she listened, Daiyu realised that the ship must have landed again – the hum that could be heard when in the air, which Daiyu had assumed was from the mechanics of the engines, couldn’t be heard.

Miyuki’s shoulders sagged slightly, and her face returned to one of indifference. Had it all been an act, then? Daiyu found that she wasn’t sure whether that disappointed her or not.

“Sorry about that.” Loden smirked as Miyuki moved back towards the table and sat down again.

To Daiyu’s surprise, Miyuki smiled again.

“Don’t be.” She said. “As a matter of fact, I actually enjoy talking to children and younger people a great deal.”

“Why?” Daiyu blurted out before she could stop herself – mortified, she slapped a hand to her mouth, but Miyuki didn’t seem to take offence at her interruption.

“Some of the most earnest people I have ever met have been children.” She explained. “No hidden agendas, no dark thoughts. They always seem to mean well, and it is refreshing when they do not take everything so seriously.” She waved a hand. “Adults are always overthinking matters, trying to outwit and double-think one another into submission. Children-” she paused. “Or maybe it’s not fair to call her a child. I don’t know exactly how old she is. But she has that quality of childlike wonder and innocence – at least, that is what I see. In any case, people like her say what’s on their mind. They’re honest, and kind. After all of my experiences, it’s…” she seemed to genuinely search for the right words. “Refreshing.” She eventually decided.

“Makes sense.” Loden shrugged, before folding his arms as he leant backwards in his chair. It was a precarious position, and Daiyu couldn’t help but worry that he might topple backwards, but he seemed confident enough. “You said that “pressing matters” needed to be attended to?”

“Indeed I did, prince of nonsense.” Miyuki declared, smiling at him before schooling her face into a more intense expression of experience. Prince of nonsense? Where had that come from? Loden wasn’t reacting badly, so… maybe it was an inside joke? In any case, Daiyu dismissed the issue. It was obvious that something more important was being discussed. “You see,” continued the princess, “I… well, no, I’ll start with this: thank you.” She faced the two (mostly Loden). “Thank you for allowing me to join you, or – at the very least – tolerating my presence. That being said…” She turned directly to Loden, now. “You were right. My father will try to get me back, and he will be relentless in doing so.” She sighed. “Which is why we have to leave the country.”

“Leave it?” Loden repeated, sounding incredulous. Daiyu couldn’t blame him. It sounded like a drastic proposal.

“Once we cross a border, we will be out of his jurisdiction.” Clarified Miyuki, extending a hand in a placating gesture. “What were you going to do with this ship? We could adjust it, or come to a compromise?”

“We…” Loden trailed off, frowning. Daiyu nervously viewed him, then Miyuki, then decided to speak again.

“We didn’t have a plan, as far as I know.” She confessed. Feeling Miyuki’s gaze turn to her, she flinched. “We… we used the ship to escape from a… from our village after it was destroyed. We don’t have any sort of plan.”

Miyuki steepled her hands together and leant back in her chair as she processed this, before leaning forward again to address her audience.

“As empty as it may sound, know that I am sorry for what happened to you.” She said, voice low and solemn. Daiyu nodded acknowledgement – Loden said nothing. “But…” She continued, “this does mean that you can leave the country. Technically.”

There was no immediate reply. She sighed.

“Believe me, I want to stay. It is important for me to interact with, and understand, the people of my country. But if my father catches me, this will have all been for nothing. He will take me back to Phek-Kai, and place me under heavier guard than before. This is my only chance to see the world.” She turned to look towards the ceiling, as though she were speaking as much to herself as her audience. “I am the caged bird that has fled the cage. Someday, I shall return. But the knowledge and experience that I could gain by prolonging the inevitable…!” She trailed off. The words remained unsaid. To Daiyu, at least, her point had been made. But the decision wasn’t hers. She turned to Loden, who shrugged.

“Don’t know if it’s our call, to be honest.” He admitted. “We’ll have to check with the others, to see what they think. But…” He stopped talking, and raised his head to meet Miyuki’s eyes. The two stared at one another with a certain intensity. “Miyuki, I get it. And I think that we can give it a try.”

There was no overstated celebration, and no dramatic embraces. But Daiyu was still able to sense from Miyuki a feeling of palpable gratitude.

“Thank you.” She dipped her head humbly, the power of the two words resonating with Daiyu and almost sending shivers down her spine. Loden, for his part, simply winked.

“No problem, princess.”

**********

Two hours later, Iamos finally awoke from his slumber. Upon hearing a groaning from the room that he had claimed, Daiyu wandered to the door and gently tapped on the metal. She was met with a sleepy “Yeah?”

“You’re awake, then?” She asked, trying to keep the tremor out of her voice. As much as she wanted to befriend Iamos (and, to a certain extent, she had), there was still that underlying current of fear from when the had first met. How little effort had it taken to trap her? Could he do it again? What else would drive him to it? Granted, it was mostly irrational. She had discerned enough about his personality by this point to understand that he would never do something like that without good reason, and that he felt no ill will towards her. But there was still a small part of her subconscious that could only view him with fear.

“…Yes.” He said, before opening the door. He blinked wearily as he itched the side of his chin, where a thin layer of stubble had grown after days of neglect. He – he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He wasn’t wearing a shirt. Daiyu clapped a hand over her eyes as she felt heat rush to her cheeks. Was he okay with that? Had she crossed a line? Had she invaded his privacy?

“You alright? Didn’t you want something?” Iamos continued to talk. Either he couldn’t detect her embarrassment, or he didn’t care. She exhaled sharply through her nose, making a snap decision to bite the bullet.

“Are you alright with me seeing you without a shirt?” She managed to say without gabbling or choking up the words. She couldn’t see Iamos’ expression (still covering her eyes), and there was a petrifying moment of silence before he replied to her question.

“It’s fine. I don’t mind.”

She uncovered one eye, spreading her fingers apart across her face. “Are you sure?”

Iamos nodded, looking down at himself before – was he meeting her eyes? No, not quite, but it was still jarring to see his gaze relatively in line with hers. He was, she decided, looking past her head. Not quite eye contact, but there was something notable – and somewhat flattering – about the effort that he appeared to be making. “I’m not really bothered by that stuff, I guess. Apparently, when I was younger, Rainer had to keep reminding me to put clothes on, because it wouldn’t… uh, it wouldn’t register with me.” His face visibly fell, and Daiyu winced at the mention of the old man. They still had no idea if he had survived or not.

“So…” She tried, awkwardly, to fill the silence. “Does it embarrass you at all?”

He shrugged. “I guess I grew into a little bit of self-consciousness. But people just seeing my chest doesn’t bother me.” He frowned, suddenly. “Wait, does it bother you?”

“Huh?” She was taken aback by the change in the conversation’s direction. Did it bother her? “I – I mean, I didn’t… I didn’t want to embarrass you, that was my main worry.” She stuttered.

“Does it bother you?” He repeated in almost the exact same tone, only he placed a bit more emphasis on the question.

“A… a little.” She admitted, blushing again. “But only because I’m not used to it!”

Iamos almost stumbled over himself as he backed out of view, poking his head round the door whilst hiding his torso. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok!” She gasped. “Really!”

“I’m sorry!” He said, again, before shutting the door with a metallic clang. Daiyu stood stock-still in place for a moment, unsure how to react, before dragging her hands down her face in mortification. Her toes had curled inwards inside her shoes from the embarrassment. She must have stood there for several seconds in a semi-petrified state before the door opened again. Iamos reappeared – this time, the purple shirt was slung over his chest.

“I… just realised.” He mumbled, now looking down at the floor (as usual). “You, uh… you wanted something, right? Was there… was there a reason for coming to see me?”

“…Yeah.” Daiyu’s voice was a whisper. For her part, she couldn’t look him in the eyes either. “It’s about where we’re heading next.”

Iamos sighed, as his body began to lose tension. She heard him inhale, then exhale. “Yeah, alright. Makes sense. I’m the pilot.” He straightened up again, clenching his fists by his sides as he rose to his full height, as though he were shrouding himself in confidence. He turned to Daiyu. “So, uh, where are we headed?”

Daiyu recalled Miyuki’s words. “we have to leave the country”, she had said. But Iamos wasn’t one for change – she knew that now, she thought. How would he react…?

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sight of him staring intensely at her. His eyes were actually making contact with hers. A deep cerulean, like an ocean, they had an indescribable piercing quality. It was as though she were being stripped bare, removed of all secrets or lies, and her soul was in his sights. She shook her head to clear the thoughts. He was speaking.

“You don’t want to tell me.” He said, frowning. “Is it that bad?”

He could… tell? How she was feeling?

“…We have to fly out of the country.” She admitted. “So that Miyuki’s father doesn’t take her back.”

Iamos closed his eyes. For a fleeting moment, his face contorted into something painful, but then it relaxed again, and he opened his eyes again – though they weren’t looking at her any more.

“I figured it was something like that.” He admitted. “At least, I figured we’d have to pretty far to get away from the Emperor. Did everyone else think it’s a good idea?”

Daiyu nodded. “And, once we’re across a border, we won’t be under his jurisdiction.” She repeated. He nodded back.

“Got it.”

The next thing he did was to pull a fast-becoming familiar piece of parchment from his pocket, tied up in a bright green cord. His master’s map. Unfurling it to its full length – the size of a large scroll, or thereabouts – he held one end in either hand, stretching the whole thing out until it filled up most of his vision. Daiyu watched, expectant. Suddenly, Iamos said with such an authority and clarity that it made her jump:

“Map. Show me the quickest route to the nearest national border.”

A very faint scratching to be heard, like distant pen over faded parchment. Daiyu didn’t have a proper view of what was happening, but she could see dark shapes appear on the other side of the map, implying that something was being drawn on the front. What was happening? She stepped back, both figuratively and literally, to examine the map in a new light. Though she wasn’t sure what was happening, she believed that she could guess. Was the map… changing based on Iamos’ instructions? His wants?

Did it have something to do with the man from the village? Daiyu remembered Iamos saying something about the map, as though it were important. Then she remembered the fire, and then she shuddered, breaking herself out of her memories. Iamos was already marching ahead. She almost tripped over her own feet following as they made their way to the cockpit. Iamos wasted no time in sitting down in the pilot’s seat, positioning the map on top of some dials so that he could see it. Daiyu sat beside him in the adjoining seat.

“Iamos, are you sure about this?” She asked, coming to a sudden realisation. “You’ve been doing a lot of flying already, don’t you want to-”

“What time is it?” Iamos interrupted. Daiyu obediently peered through the cockpit’s glass at the sun.

“It looks like early in the afternoon.” She said. “Do you think you’ve gotten enough sleep, then?”

“If it’s the afternoon, then I’ve slept for upwards of twelve hours.” Iamos revealed, flicking switches and pulling on the wheel that seemed to control the ship’s steering. The Origin jolted to life. The hum of the engine returned – a constant, soft background noise. “I’m good to go.”

Before Daiyu could say anything else, Iamos tugged on the wheel again, and slammed his leg down. The Origin began to drive forwards before lifting off into the sky. As Daiyu clutched onto her chair to balance herself, she suddenly noticed a button she hadn’t observed before. Frowning, she edged her finger towards it. What if it was dangerous? What if it wasn’t? She pressed it before she could change her mind. It brightened up a colour, but nothing happened.

“What did you-” Iamos’ question was cut off as it became apparent what she had done. His voice should have only been in the cockpit, but now they could hear it from outside the room, booming down the corridor. If Daiyu had to guess, it would be carried all around the ship.

“I think it’s to let you talk to everyone at once.” She revealed, in wonder. Her voice, too, carried everywhere at once. The Origin, it seemed, still had surprises in store. Just what kind of vessel was this?

“Cool.” Iamos muttered, before speaking louder. “Okay, everyone. After consideration of a passenger’s requests, we are heading for the nearest border – once we’ll cross over it, we’ll be in an area called the “Icy Wastes”. Rough estimates are that it’ll be…” He frowned. “At least a couple of days.”

He glanced towards the horizon, and his frown turned into something lighter. A confident smile that Daiyu didn’t think she had seen on him before.

“But we’ll get there.” He assured them.

11: Hostile North

The wind was surprisingly quiet, all things considered. This may, she thought in an admitting manner, be attributed to the fact that she was inside the Origin – from the inside, external noises were severely limited, with the only sign that the weather was as bad as it was being the constant deluge of snowflakes pattering against the windows; a flock of angry snowbirds, waving their wings against the glass as she watched. Her eyes scanned the pale horizon. The ground was snow-covered, the sky was cloud-covered. The sights morphed together to create the illusion of an empty world, devoid of everything from life to colour. Of course, she knew that all she had to do was look out of a window on the other side of the vessel to see civilisation, of a sort. A week after leaving the city of Phek-Kai – four days of flying, three days of rest and finding supplies – the Origin had settled down on the outskirts of a snow-covered town somewhere in the lands north of the Cheinise border, collectively known as the Icy Wastes.

She bit into an apple. A pair of her earrings had been traded in for three baskets of them, and the cold environment had helped to keep them preserved – one of the baskets, as it happened, was buried in the snow outside the ship. She had initially feared that the crew themselves would suffer in the cold, but as it turned out, being inside the Origin was like being in a room with a fire. Part of the strange technology of the ship appeared to be the ability to keep warm its inhabitants. Whilst mostly a mystery to her (it was Azura, after all, who had taken it upon herself to figure out how the mechanics of the ship functioned), she wasn’t going to question the turn of good fortune.

A raven flew by the window. As she swallowed the apple, she stared at it for the brief moment it was visible. A pure black coat, flecked with specks of white from the incessant snowflakes, as though someone had immaturely flicked paint onto its form. Eyes the same colour as its back, mad banquets of darkness that it used to hunt. Ravens, she had been told, were the spirits of her ancestors, appearing in a physical form to watch over her. Had she seen any proof of this, technically? No. But she hadn’t seen any proof to the contrary, either – she considered her mind open to the possibility. She frowned. Auspicious or inauspicious, she wasn’t sure, but if that really had one of her distant relatives, then they had to be there for a reason. She resolved herself to being ready for whatever may have been coming her way, before taking another bite of the apple.

Her trip so far, she mused as she ate, had been quite the success. After arriving in the town (following an escape from her father’s area of jurisdiction), she had taken opportunities to venture out of the ship, and interact with the town’s inhabitants. It wasn’t as though she had been particularly short of options, to be fair. A lot of food was needed to keep five people sated, and everyone had been in want of some clothing good for keeping out the new cold weather. As a matter of fact, Loden and Daiyu had, just that morning, left to go and find some good snow boots for everyone. In any case, as well as being present for the transactions and handling of her belongings as they were traded for supplies that the crew needed, she had also taken the chance to talk to as many people as possible. It was a little jarring, so many new faces, but she had been able to adapt to her new circumstances, she wanted to say, relatively well.

The people of the north were definitely not cut from the same cloth as the nobles that she had known back in Phek-Kai (though that should have been obvious from the outset). Increase in volume and cursing aside, the extent to which they were willing to speak their mind was incredible compared to what she had seen in the past. Arguments were not drawn out over months through the use of passive-aggressiveness, underhanded strategies, suspecting glances, and – in general – nothing more than insinuation. Instead, they were often ended in the same hour they were conceived. She had seen two men break into a fight, at one point. Not any sort of duel with weapons, but a fistfight that had them both rolling on the ground in the snow and dirt, surrounded by a cheering group. After several minutes of this, they had broken apart, both heaving and retching and covered in blood, before wandering away, as though it had never had happened! She had been stupefied after this.

There were, however, the higher-class members of this town. She hadn’t seen much of them so far – understandably, the rarely travelled into the area of town where the people less well-off lived, and where the Origin had landed itself. They seemed more typical to what she was used to in characters, rarely walking on feet, but instead riding on horseback, surrounded by an unhappy-looking retinue. The rest of the town’s inhabitants seemed wary, which was worth noting, but she didn’t yet know enough about interaction between the two factions to know whether that was commonplace or not.

“Your highness!”

Turning, she caught sight of Azura standing in the doorway. The younger girl appeared to be in quite a state – covered in grease splotches, breathing heavily in the door. Miyuki leaned forward.

“Is everything alright?” She asked. Another time, she might have reminded the girl to call her “Miyuki” instead of “your highness”, but her visitor seemed rather agitated, so she let the matter slip.

“Come look at this!” She urged, indicating with her hand. Miyuki realises that she was clutching a metal tool of some kind in her hand.

“What do you mean, when you say “this”?” She rose, in spite of her caution, clutching what was left of her apple like a lifeline as she did so.

“It’s-” Azura paused in her speech for a moment, even as she continued to move. It was a tic of hers, Miyuki had observed, that conveyed implications of her mind moving a little too fast for her mouth. “It’s nothing bad, I promise!” She eventually managed, which only muddied the waters further. The phrase “it’s nothing bad” was one often said when things were actually quite bad. She was beginning to feel slightly trepidatious. Would an apple suffice as a weapon?

“Then what is it?” She prompted as the two strode down the Origin’s corridors, Miyuki breaking into and out of a jog in order to keep up with the girl’s quick and long strides. It was frustrating how, despite Miyuki being the better half of a decade older than Azura, Azura was still the taller of the two. She had grown used to her own height, of course, but still-!

“I’ve figured something out.” Azura’s voice lowered as they stormed through a final door and into what Miyuki had come to recognise as the room that housed the strange machines that kept the Origin afloat and moving. Azura had been spending a lot of time inside them, so it made sense for her to pick things up over time, Miyuki supposed.

“What do you mean, when you say “something”?” She pressed. Azura did not immediately answer. Instead, she crouched low and peered at one of the machines, giving Miyuki the chance to look around. There was a faint cloud of steam at the top of the room, and a large amount of dust and rust on top of the machines in a thick coating. Strange icons flashed with lines, and pieces of metal clacked back and forth in rhythm. Everything was coloured varying shades of grey and brown.

“This –” She said with a flourish, indicating to a small glass window in a large segment of machine, “is what powers the ship! I think. Maybe. I mean, it looks like it does from a certain angle, and I saw it one day, and I just kind of…”

Miyuki blocked out Azura’s words as she approached the window, peering inside. Surrounded by wires and other components was a circular object. It possessed a gold and shiny surface, and rotated slowly within its chamber, as nearby metallic components moved with it and forced the rest of the mechanics to move as well. It was, she thought, the sun to the ship’s system. And, starting with it, she could see the spread of movement throughout the mechanics as the engines softly whirred, in a sort of standby, waiting for the command to move from a pilot.

Gold trim aside, it looked almost plain for something that might have been so important. Whatever it was that powered the ship, she couldn’t help but feel that its relevance was a little understated. Instead, she mused as she stepped backwards, one had to focus on its surroundings to see the important effect it was having. Because it did seem to be having an important effect. She believed that much. Azura’s theory on it powering the whole machine wasn’t very far-fetched.

“…watched it when we were flying one time, and it was moving around faster.” She faded back into Azura’s words. The younger evidently hadn’t realised that her companion hadn’t been paying complete attention in the first place, and Miyuki played along, a wave of embarrassment hitting her as she realised her failure to conform to such a simple social etiquette.

“Yes.” She tapped her chin in a considering manner. “That does look significant.” She couldn’t pretend to understand the machine’s workings, but she had no intention of giving Azura the impression that she didn’t care. What would that do, she wondered, the young girl’s spirits? “How do you suppose it works?”

Azura shrugged quickly. “I don’t know, exactly. There’s a thing marked “fuel” somewhere over there, but I’ve been looking at it for, like, weeks, and it’s barely moved. I don’t know if that’s some kind of super-fuel, or if that’s just a key piece of the actual mechanics. Either way, I’m not risking taking it out. What if everything gets screwed up?”

Miyuki sighed and drew back, allowing Azura to peer closely at the orb. “Fair enough.” She conceded. “Though it would perhaps be a good idea to carry out at some point. Surely, we need to know what the ship runs on, considering no-one seems to know how long we shall be travelling for.”

Azura peered even closer, hunching over. Her grubby shirt was ill-fitting and torn, with one of her shoulders having slipped through the neck hole. She tentatively reached a grimy hand (the one not holding a tool) towards the machine, but then drew back.

A metallic banging. A few days ago, Miyuki might have jumped out of her skin, but by this point she recognised it as a signal that someone had returned from a reply one, and was now “knocking” on the ship’s rear door to be let in. Based on the strength of the banging, it was probably Loden – though it seemed to be quicker and louder than normal.

She could have sworn that Azura’s ears had physically pricked up upon hearing the noise.

“Loden and Daiyu.” She decided, before scurrying out of the engine room. “Come on, let’s meet them!”

Miyuki nodded, and began to stride towards where she knew – well, suspected – the rear door was. After a week or so on board the ship, she was beginning to understand where everything was, and how to navigate the Origin’s metal corridors. She heard the slide of the door, a moment’s pause, and then Loden’s voice.

It sounded very different to what she had grown used to.

“Azura,” she heard Loden say, “I need to talk to Iamos, I- I need to talk to Iamos and Miyuki right f- uh, right hecking now.”

His voice was low and urgent. None of the usual playfulness that she could hear whenever he opened his mouth. She could almost imagine the grave expression on his face. She could feel an uncomfortable feeling spring to life in the pit of her stomach. Something had to be wrong.

“Why?” Azura said back. Then, another short pause. Then:

“Where’s Daiyu?”

Miyuki felt a chill creep up her spine. The next moment, Loden was storming past, most likely not even noticing her presence. There was a stream of blood running down his lip, and a bruise on his cheek. His teeth were bared in a barely-contained grimace.

Something had happened, she decided wordlessly. That much was very obvious. But what exactly had occurred, and what had happened Daiyu?

“Loden.” She said, holding out a hand. He wheeled around at the sound of her voice, brows raising in surprise.

“Miyuki.” He breathed. “Princess.”

“What happened?” She stepped forward, with the intention of getting straight to the point. Loden cringed. His hands quivered slightly, and Miyuki noticed that his knuckles were smeared with blood. His gaze flickered down, following hers, and then met hers once again. His bright eyes glimmered with the fire she had grown used to seeing in them.

“Not my blood if, that’s what you’re wondering.” There was a self-satisfied smirk on his face for half a second, before it was replaced by cold anger once again. “But there’s no time. Daiyu… Daiyu’s been taken.”

**********

Loden was on one side of the table. Miyuki, Azura, and Iamos were all bunched together on the other side. A captive audience. The air was heavy, leaden with depression and anger. To Miyuki, it felt palpable, like a thick blanket. The silence ate away at her – at all of them. Eventually, it was Iamos (of all people) to muster the courage to speak.

“Give us the details.” He said, speaking softly, like a parent trying to get a child to confess to a misdemeanour.

Loden’s fingers tightened around the sleeves of his jacket. His arms were folded, defensively, and for once, he couldn’t meet any of their faces. “Iamos… I…”

“I don’t blame you.” Iamos sounded more firm, now. “I wouldn’t blame you for this. But I want to know exactly what happened.”

Though Loden made no effort to address the issue of blame, his tight frame loosened slightly. Miyuki suspected that he was quite relieved. “We had just- we had just been in town.” He said. “Looking, for, you know, boots.” He paused. “Like we said we were going to do. And then…” He sighed, suddenly. “Then, these… these guys. They came after us, all of a sudden.”

“How many?” Iamos pressed. Had she been in his shoes, Miyuki would have let Loden speak at his own pace – questioning would feel hostile, and interrogative. But (and she realised this with no ill will towards the content of Iamos’ character), he didn’t seem to understand a lot about social interaction. Yes, he was aversive, but he remained unaware of the small cues, and the possibilities and feelings, that someone like her or even Loden would be able to pick up on. Loden, to his credit, seemed to not be perturbed any further by Iamos’ questioning tone.

“…Three.” He decided, after a moment’s hesitation. “One went for Daiyu, two for me.”

“What happened?” Iamos was relentless. Probably, she realised with a jolt, he was anxious about Daiyu’s fate.

Loden shrugged, still trying to pretend that he possessed even a sliver of confidence. “I fought them off.” He confessed. “But it took a while.” He licked his split lip, and spat a globule of blood onto the room’s floor. “By the time they were both down, Daiyu was basically gone.”

Iamos leant back in his chair. Miyuki could feel the despair seemingly radiating from him. “Completely?”

Here, for the first time since his return, Loden was able to produce one of his classic smiles. “Nope.” He reached into the pocket of his grey jacket and tossed something – a slip of paper – onto the table. Azura grabbed and unfurled it, and the trio all read it at their own pace, taking in the information on it.

It was Azura who spoke first. “Auction?”

Loden nodded. “Nasty business.” His eyes flickered to Iamos and Miyuki – a message? – but Azura seemed dissatisfied.

“Daiyu’s my friend.” She declared. “Yeah, it could be bad, but I don’t want to be left out.”

Loden sighed. “Figures.” His eyes narrowed. “It’s an auction of people. A slave auction.”

There was quiet after his words. The discomfort in the pit of Miyuki’s stomach had returned with something of a vengeance.

Loden pressed on. “I… well, I had a “talk” with one of the guys I laid low.” He clenched and unclenched his fist again. “Turns out this town is well known for it – in poorer circles, people know not to visit here unless they want to be snatched up, and in richer circles, people know all about the regular opportunities to bag yourself a nice slave or two.” His mouth was bared in a snarl as he finished speaking.

Perhaps, Miyuki mused, that was why she had seen the higher-classes be observed with such wariness and trepidation by the rest of the town’s civilians. They had known something about this.

“So.” Iamos’ voice was low. “What do you suggest we do?”

She wasn’t sure who he was speaking too, but it was Loden who responded.

“Actually, I have an idea.” He revealed. Everyone else leant forward as he began to explain. “You see, I had a nice, long talk with my would-be kidnapper. Got him to tell me all that, for starters. I also got him to tell me the name of the place. Evercrest Mansion.”

Iamos’ brow furrowed, and he reached into his pocket before pulling out – Miyuki peered at it. She hadn’t recalled seeing it before. He pulled from the paper a lime-green cord, allowing it to unwind, and spoke in a clear voice: “Map. Show me how to get to Evercrest Mansion.”

The scene on the paper began to morph. What was once a map of the entire continent suddenly shifted, until it was one of the entire town – complete with them in the Origin. There was a deep black path that was pulsating and vibrating, emerging from the Origin, and snaking through the houses until it reached a large rectangle labelled “Evercrest mansion”.

“What the-?” She heard Azura gasp. “It’s a magic map!”

The map shifted again. Bright red text scrawled over the top, reading:

“Obviously.”

“A magical map with an attitude.” She mused.

“Yo.” Loden muttered. “So… so that’s why Rainer said it was important, I guess. Right?”

“Right.” Iamos nodded, before returning his attention to the map. “So, we… we know where it is?”

Suddenly, Miyuki had a thought.

“Map.” She said, leaning forward. “Show us where Daiyu Abernathy is.”

Slowly, a black dot faded into existence within Evercrest Mansion – tiny text labelled the dot as “Daiyu Abernathy”. Nobody spoke for a moment. They had a confirmation.

“What do we do?” It was Azura who posed the question that was surely on everyone’s mind. To Miyuki’s surprise, however, Loden raised his hand.

“If I may.” He said. “There’s, ah, some more information on that paper I gave you.”

Azura held up the page once again, hunching over as she squinted at it. “There’s… there’s a date here.”

“That’s right.” Loden sounded as though he had regained some of his roguish confidence as he folded arms and tilted his chin upwards in a satisfied sort of triumph. “On there, they’ve got the date for the next auction they have scheduled. See, the thing is, it’s an open evening.” He smirked. “They’re not gonna limit the number of potential buyers by making it an invite-only event, so they’ve made it so that anyone can attend. I mean, I say “anyone”, but they’re not going to let you in unless it’s obvious that you’ve got both the funds for slave, and the need for slaves. I mean. Probably.”

“And there’s our issue.” Iamos tilted the map downwards, his brow furrowed in a disappointed sort of look – only for a moment, however, before morphing into something more closely mirroring mortification. “I mean- uh, I’m assuming that your plan is to go there ourselves, and try and find Daiyu. Right?”

Loden performed what Miyuki could only describe as some kind of mock bow.

“Spot on, you beautiful genius.” He applauded, before pausing and eying Iamos shiftily. “But you said there was a problem?”

“Loden, we can’t pass for rich people.” Iamos spread his arms out wide, holding the map in one hand, to illustrate his point. “We don’t look like rich people, and rich people probably act in a whole other way as well. We have no idea how to do any of that stuff.”

It was at this moment that Miyuki felt compelled to clear her throat. The rest of the room’s occupants turned to her, realisation dawning on their faces.

“You forget,” she told them, “I grew up in the royal court. I don’t think environments get more “rich” than that.” She allowed a wry smile to form on her face. “Some of the outfits I brought with me will be suitable disguises, and some can be traded in or sold in return for ones that might be more suitable for…” she eyed Loden and Iamos. “…men.” She finished. “As for the mannerisms, the social cues, the hidden gestures and courtesies of a higher-class life? Well, I suppose it’ll be my job to whip you all into shape.”

Loden looked as though he were about to dive across the table to embrace her. “You livesaver.” He breathed.

Azura began to jump up and down, yelling something intelligible about princesses and parties and daring rescues –

Iamos turned to her, gratitude brimming in his eyes. He held out a hand.

“Thank you.” He said. Miyuki offered him a courteous smile as she grasped his hand in her own.

She stared into his eyes. “We’ll get her back.” She told him.

He nodded. “I know.”

12: Fear

Breathe.

In, out. In, out. In-out-

A rough hand gave her shoulder one final shove, and she stumbled forwards into the cell that she had been brought to. Her knees hit the floor, painfully. She choked back a sob as the door slammed shut behind her with an almighty clang. The cell floor’s moisture soaked through her trouser legs, mixing with the blood from her scraped knees.

Breathe.

Her hands were shaking, she noticed. She clenched her fists, suddenly overwhelmed by a shameful anger. Tried to get them to stop. But they didn’t.

Her heart felt like it was trying to burst out of her chest.

Breathe.

Her throat was tight, as well-! It felt like someone had grabbed her windpipe, and was slowly tightening their grip. She sucked in another small lungful of air. Her mouth was dry. Too dry. She licked her lips.

Why was this happening? Why was any of it happening?

She bit her lip, and forced herself to hold back tears.

Breathe-

A hand clamped against her shoulder. If she had had more energy, she would have screamed – it came out as a shuddery gasp. She violently jerked herself away from the hand. She tried to limit the movement to her torso, but ended up wriggling her entire body, and falling to the floor with an undignified thump.

“Easy-!” Someone said. Who was there? There was someone else in the cell with her! Who-what-?

…

She suddenly felt very tired.

In, out. In, out. In… out.

The adrenaline began to wear off. With a heavy heart, and a heavier head, she began to lean forwards.

“Oh, no you don’t.” Someone – was it the same someone? – held her up, stopped her from just falling straight to the ground. Despite panicking over the contact a second ago, Daiyu now had to resist the urge to just sink into this person’s arms.

“Trust me when I say that ground is filthy.” They continued. “There is a bed.”

She didn’t reply, focusing on forcing her throat to move and flex, removing the pressure. She gasped once. The pressure was slowly withdrawing as she calmed down. She shifted her legs, and stood up, breaking away from the other’s grasp.

Breathe.

Though she had many questions, she settled for the most pressing.

“Where… am I?” She said, looking around. She could barely see anything – there was no real light. She could make out the silhouettes of metal bars in one direction, and there was damp rock under her feet. Some kind of… some kind of prison cell?

Her question was met with a snort of bitter laughter.

“A total lortehul.” The person said, the distaste clear in their voice. “Worst place I’ve ever been, for sure.”

Daiyu turned her head to view the person in her cell. Another girl, she could tell that much. Everything was too dark to discern many details, though. She looked to be wearing rags of some kind? Probably. She certainly couldn’t imagine their captors giving anyone particularly nice clothes to wear, at any rate. Her hair looked to be… a shade of red, perhaps? It was also quite long, and obviously very matted and tangled.

“That’s… that’s all you know?” She did want to press her cell-mate (assuming they were her cell-mate – who else could they be?), but she just had to know.

“Basically.” The cell-mate shrugged. “I haven’t really focused on that.”

“Then…” Daiyu faltered. “What have you, uh, been focusing on?”

The darkness meant that she couldn’t see her cell-mate’s expression. She could only hear the wryness in her voice

“Giving these… people…” she spat the word like a curse – “a hard time.”

“I…” Daiyu, for her part, wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Right.” She eventually managed, feeling like an idiot.

“Loosen up.” She felt an arm sling over her shoulder, and flinched. Her cellmate seemed to pay her discomfort no mind, and continued to speak. “I mean, you’re obviously not one of them, otherwise you wouldn’t be in here with little old me.”

“Yeah, I…” She trailed off. What could she even say? “L- look, what’s your name?”

“Akane.” The cell-mate replied. Akane. Ok. Perhaps she should have been more nervous (or, at least, trepidatious!) to meet someone new like this, but she seemed to have run out of fear for the moment. Besides, there were more pressing issues than the terror of social interaction… right?

“Okay, Akane.” She said. Ignoring the rhyme. “Can you, uh, please tell me everything you can about this place?”

There was a sigh from Akane. “You sure you want to know everything, uh…”

“Daiyu.” She managed, in a rush. “My name is Daiyu.”

“Die-you.” Akane muttered, testing how the name sounded on her tongue. “Ok, well, let me give you the lortehul talk.”

“What does “lortehul” mean?” Daiyu blurted, before clapping a hand over her mouth. She hadn’t meant to interrupt. How would Akane take it? She anxiously glanced off to the side, to see her cell-mate sniggering to herself.

“You don’t want to know, pige.” She told her. “Just trust me.”

Daiyu was burning to know, but kept her mouth shut out of fear of affronting her only companion. After a moment’s pause, Akane began to speak again.

“Anyways, welcome to the lortehul.” She said, doing something with her hands. What was it? Daiyu couldn’t tell. She squinted some more. She was twirling a lock of hair in her hands. Oh, that’s what it was. “A place of… well, of nothing good, basically.” Oh, Akane was still talking. She focused again, embarrassed by her easy distraction. “You are probably here because you were kidnapped or something. Well, the good news is that the kidnapping was nothing personal. You haven’t done anything wrong, or, like, offended anyone. You were just unlucky.”

Daiyu nodded, frowning. One of her thoughts, in all honesty, had been that this was all to do with law enforcement. It was a slight relief – only very slight, but still – to learn that she wasn’t a criminal now, on top of everything else.

“The bad news?” Akane continued, probably relishing the chance to have someone to talk to. How long had she been in here? Daiyu was almost afraid to find out. “You’ve been taken by slavers. These people will kidnap you, wear you down for a bit, and turn you into a slave to be sold at an auction. You’ve got anything from days to months before they decide you’d make a good sale.”

“Slavery?” Daiyu’s blood ran cold. “Isn’t there any way we could escape?”

“I’ve been thinking about that, myself.” Akane admitted, turning her head to stare upwards at the cell’s ceiling. “But it won’t work.” She faced Daiyu again, who could almost see the light in her eyes. “On top of everything else, these guys use magic.”

“Magic?” Repeated Daiyu. Akane’s eyes rolled.

“Stop repeating everything I’m saying! Yes, magic!” She snapped. Daiyu reeled back, wincing. Now she had blown it. But Akane continued to explain, voice lowering to an almost-whisper. “Look, I don’t know all the details. But whenever a slave is bought, they head down there-” she pointed out of their cell, down the corridor. “And they… they do something to them. I don’t know what except that it’s magic, but the people they take down there are put through some kind of freaky ritual before being sent off with their masters. And believe me, I want to escape, but I have no idea what kind of magic they use. For all I know, these guys have the power to curse me for a thousand lifetimes or something. Besides, there’s still this mess of tunnels – and armed guards – to deal with. Much as I hate to say it, your best course of action is probably… I don’t know. Whatever you want to do before being taken away forever.”

Daiyu crawled to the bars, craning her neck to try and see down the corridor. She couldn’t. It was too long. Instead, she could see two walls of iron bars, and several shadowy shapes shifting in the darkness. She felt sick. How many people were down here?

“It’s a long kind of ritual, whatever they do.” Akane was still speaking. “Lot of words in languages I don’t understand. But once they finish, that’s it.”

“That’s it?” Echoed Daiyu. Akane paused for a moment – finger on chin – before shrugging, apologetically.

“Well, most people scream.”

She flinched.

Blinking several times, she tried to focus on what little she could see. Her vision began to blur at hot tears trickled out of her eyes. Another wave of fear hit her, and she felt herself physically rock backwards. Shaking. Shaking.

Breathe. Breathe. Breathe-!

“Lort.” Akane approached, then stopped. At least, Daiyu thought she could see her approaching. She wasn’t sure, and she- she wasn’t in a position to trust her senses, surely. “I’m sorry, Daiyu. I shouldn’t be so…” She trailed off, snapping her fingers. “What is the word? Ligesom afslappet… uh, flippant? Flippant. Yes.”

In, out. In, out.

Daiyu said nothing.

What could she say, anyway? What good were words?

Akane waited for a moment longer before speaking. “This is a bad situation. I know. I’m sorry. I’m used to it by now, so I feel more… more, uh comfortable with it.” She laughed what was probably the most humourless laugh Daiyu had ever heard. “As twisted at that may sound.” But the laugh faded, and her face twisted into one of strained sympathy. “But this is all new and scary for you. I’m sorry.”

Breathe.

“S’alright.” Daiyu muttered, feeling the shock wear off again. Whenever the panic faded, she was left with a feeling of helplessness and tired-ness. Like all of her energy was sapped away by the fear. The panic.

It made her feel so… inadequate.

“The fault is mine.” Admitted Akane, sitting on one of the beds chained to the wall. “So, let’s not talk about that anymore.” She sighed. “Let’s talk about something else, if you want?”

The question echoed throughout the cell for several seconds, which gave Daiyu enough time to wonder why no-one else was talking in any of the cells. They should have been able to hear and speak, right…? She shook her head (and immediately regretted it as a feeling of dizziness washed over her) to clear it of those thoughts. Focus on one thing at a time. She panted. The floor was cold, the bars were cold against her back, Akane was sitting on the bed. She focused on grounding herself, bringing herself back to reality. The underground air was warm and humid against her skin, and smelt vaguely of clay.

“Yes.” She managed to say. “Let’s talk about something else.”

“Okay.” Akane seemed to brighten up a little at the idea. Daiyu saw her body perk up slightly, saw her sit a little straighter. “What do you have in mind?”

Nothing immediately came to mind. Immediately.

“Akane.” Daiyu eventually ventured after a few moments of pensiveness. “How do you… how do you stay positive, in situations like this?”

“How?” Akane laughed slightly, and Daiyu felt another rush of panic. Was that a stupid question? Then her cell-mate started to speak.

“I myself do not know.” Said Akane, leaning back against the wall. “I think… I think everyone deals with fear in a different way. My way of coping is jokes. Is humour. I use it to hide my fear.”

Daiyu wanted to take comfort from what Akane was saying, but could only feel herself becoming more depressed. Was her panic, her helplessness- was it how she dealt with fear? She could feel her brow furrowing at this. She couldn’t even handle her fear right.

She felt pathetic.

“Besides,” Akane continued, doubtlessly unaware of Daiyu’s inner turmoil, “I have no specific fear of this. I mean, the whole situation is bad. Yes. But it is not a personal dread, or fear, of mine. There is a saying where I come from: et brændt barn frygter ilden, og et bittet barn frygter hunden.” Daiyu must have looked confused, because Akane sniggered, and spoke again. “It means, uh, the burnt child fears fire, and the bitten child fears the dog.” Her face fell, but instead of fear, Daiyu could see a sort of grit. A determination. “It is true. I am the bitten child, and I fear the dog.” She suddenly spread her arms wide. “But I see no dogs here. So, I am less afraid.” She turned to face Daiyu. “Do you get it?”

It took Daiyu a moment, but then it hit her, what Akane was essentially saying.

“So… it could be worse?” She ventured. Akane shrugged.

“Sort of.” She turned to face Daiyu. “What is your biggest fear, Daiyu? What are you the most scared of? What haunts you when you are alone in darkness?”

It took Daiyu a moment to decide. If only because the thought scared her.

“…Fire.” She confessed. Rather than provide any sort of condolences, Akane laughed again. Logically, Daiyu should have been insulted by Akane’s lack of sympathetic reaction. However, she couldn’t help but feel slightly uplifted.

“Then you are the burnt child!” She grinned. “You and me, burnt and bitten.” She let her laughter trail off, before pointedly looking around in the cell. “But look around, pige. Do you see any fire?”

There was no fire in the cell, no. There were, Daiyu conceded, burning torches outside. But that was okay. The lights were small, and covered by with a metal grating around the flame, and they were helping her to see anyway. They did not resemble the wave of orange light and heat that still haunted her dreams, still made her leg ache. Still made her tremble with fear.

“No.” She said, before realising how stupid she must have sounded, with the torches outside. “I mean-! Nothing, uh, bad. Nothing bad. Nothing scary.”

Akane nodded sagely. “So. You are here with me. It is dark. And the future is uncertain.” She grinned. “But close your eyes and imagine that fire, Daiyu. Imagine it closing around you, turning you to ash, blowing you away on the wind.”

Daiyu found that she could, vividly. She could feel the hair standing up on her neck, she could-!

Breathe.

“And open your eyes.”

Daiyu opened her eyes and looked around. Everything seemed a lot darker than it had before. She found it comforting.

“There is no great fire.” Akane finished. “And doesn’t that just fill you with relief?”

It was… a bizarre coping mechanism, to be fair. Conjuring up some greater fear or dread, to make her current predicament seem less significant. However, Daiyu mused, there had to be something to it. She honestly felt a little better.

“I wouldn’t say “fills”,” she confessed. “But… I do feel better now.” She turned to face her cell-mate. “Thank you, Akane.”

“You’re welcome, Daiyu.” Akane smirked. “Come on, let’s find another way to pass the time. Know any good stories?”

Daiyu tapped her lip, thoughtfully, trying to think back through her life’s experiences. Funnily enough, it was something recent that eventually came to mind.

“Well, a strange thing happened to two friends of mine recently.” She said, cautiously, but warming up to the role of storyteller as she spoke. “They went out to buy groceries, and came back with, uh, a princess.”

Akane laughed raucously, the sound echoing throughout the corridor. Could Daiyu hear, she wondered, more than another voice laugh? There seemed to be other people in cells. Rather than the possibility of a larger audience daunting her, it instead filled her with confidence.

“Go on, go on!” Akane clapped her hands, rubbing them together like a satisfied rodent. “How did this happen?”

Daiyu struggled to recall the details that Iamos, Miyuki, and Loden had each let slip over the past few days.

“Well, I believe it started when these friends of mine didn’t bend the knee when they really should have…”