Chapter 3: The Banquet
After the boat festival ended, smoke began rising from the
factory area. The Fire Hunters resumed their duties immediately after the
festival was over. Fire Hunters deployed in the field would hunt even during
festivals, but the ones in the city were desperately needed for other tasks.
The factories had been closed for a week, and now that operations had resumed,
every factory in the city was in need of fuel simultaneously. The capital's
Fire Hunters ran to and fro, making deliveries. If there wasn't enough fire
fuel to go around, the Fire Hunters would leave the city via the tunnel and go
hunting in the Black Forest to bring more back. The tunnel was cut into the
cliff, and beyond it, there was no barrier. Koushi couldn't even imagine what
going beyond the barrier would be like.
Back in the basement of Okibi Estate. Before Koushi's eyes,
lightning fuel shone with a golden glow, held in an egg-shaped glass container
supported by a trivet. He had no choice but to use all of the lightning fuel to
make weapons for Yuoshichi.
Koushi read his library notes over again. He'd returned to
the Central Archives' third floor several times over the past few days to take
better notes and bring them back to his work station. He also took notes on his
observations of the lightning fuel and compared them. In the end, he completely
filled three thick notebooks, though not all of the content was unique. There
were times when he'd forgotten that he'd already made a transcription of
something.
Perhaps I need to
reorganize the contents of that hand-bound book... If I could read it through
without decrypting it from beginning to end, maybe I could finally make sense
of lightning fuel, Koushi thought.
Koushi had copied the drawing of the Fallen Beast out of the
encrypted book. He wasn't a skilled artist, but he'd attempted to reproduce the
drawing as faithfully as possible. Floating in the sky, wingless, it resembled
a dog or a lion with its fangs bared. It wasn't a Fire Fiend, but something
different. Special.
One other illustration had escaped Koushi's notice when he'd
first read that book, since it was on the last page before the cover. He'd
reproduced that one, too, as well as he was able. This illustration was...
different. It wasn't of a Fallen Beast, and it was drawn in the different
style, making Koushi think that it had been copied from elsewhere. When he'd
first seen it, his eyebrows had lifted in surprise. He wasn't able to look away
from it for a long while after.
The book claimed that the image was of the Millennium Comet.
The central part of the image was pure light, floating above
a mountain range with the dark sky above it. The light trailed off in many
directions, spiraling and whirling. Flickering
Flame was written at the bottom.
Koushi had copied the illustration, hardly daring to
breathe. The Millennium Comet didn't look like a mechanical doll. It wasn't
even humanoid. Maybe the light obscured its true shape. It was like the
luminescence from the the lightning fuel before his eyes right now: too bright
to be natural.
As Koushi stared at the gold-glowing fuel, he felt like the
answer was there, somehow, just under
the surface of it. He was so close to understanding everything. By piecing
together information from the Central Archives and his research on lightning
fuel, he was closer than ever to knowing how the Fallen Beasts and Fire Fiends
came to be.
But Koushi was running out of time. He might not find out
everything he wanted or needed to know before the weapons had to be done.
The door to the basement creaked open, and Yuoshichi looked
inside. "I'm sorry to interrupt you," Yuoshichi said. "Do you
have a moment?"
"Of course," Koushi said.
Yuoshichi stepped into the workroom, then shut the door
behind him.
Koushi lost his concentration almost at once; he didn't feel
like the lightning fuel held secrets anymore, only riddles.
Yuoshichi coughed low in his throat. That small sound of
disapproval reminded Koushi that he'd been coming to the workroom late at
night. Maybe he'd been using too much oil. Yes, of course: he'd been using up
resources and hadn't produced any results as yet.
Looking at Koushi from under his bushy, animalistic
eyebrows, Yuoshichi said, "Are you coming to dinner? We're holding a
banquet for the city's Fire Hunters tonight. Your father's friends are
concerned about your well-being. Could you please visit with them for a little
while? Kira would like to see you as well, though I've instructed her not to
detain you for long."
"Of course I'll come, sir," Koushi said.
Koushi closed his notebook and put away his tools. He placed
the lightning fuel he'd been working with back in its sealed container and
removed his notebook. Then he followed Yuoshichi upstairs. Yuoshichi's black
robe trailed behind him as they climbed the staircase.
"Have you made much progress?" Yuoshichi asked.
Koushi kept his head
down for the ascent. He didn't look up when he answered, "Some."
Yuoshichi's question had been business-like, so Koushi gave him a brief and
business-like answer. "To be honest, I'm not really sure how well things
are going. Thank you very much for the blueprint of the shrine and factory
area. It was very helpful."
"I see," Yuoshichi said, noncommittal.
"What if the Spiders attack? Is there still time?"
Koushi asked.
"The Fire Hunters are investigating that,"
Yuoshichi said.
They reached the top of the stairs and went through the
study back into the hallway. The banquet was being held in the estate's grand
hall, which was large, windowless, and lit up brightly with artificial lights.
When Koushi finally looked up Yuoshichi was still standing
in front of him, illuminated by the dimmer lamps in the hallway. Servants
scurried back and forth from the kitchen to the grand hall. In the distance,
Koushi heard voices--not just of the Fire Hunters, but of their barking dogs.
That takes me back,
Koushi thought, remembering his father and Kanata. He looked out of one of the
windows in the hallway and saw that the sun was going down.
Yuoshichi was dressed all in black, with Hibana dressed all
in white as a sharp contrast. Kira's gown was embroidered with silk thread; she
flitted like a butterfly from place to place, greeting guests along with her
mother. Some of the Fire Hunters were looking at Hibana with admiration in
their eyes: her elegant gestures and cultured speech charmed them.
A brilliant-bright lantern was lit in the center of the hall, illuminating a sumptuous feast was spread on a large
table.
The Fire Hunters' dogs were exploring the courtyard and
garden while their masters ate in the hall. So many dogs: Koushi tried to
figure out how many there were but he lost count.
In the grand hall, the Fire Hunters relaxed in corners,
drinking and eating and mingling with one another and their hosts. Lubricated
by alcohol, the occasion took on a festive atmosphere. The Fire Hunters sought
out old friends to trade recent stories. One Fire Hunter sat cross-legged in a
chair, head practically in his cup, and barely moved.
Hibana and Kira worked the crowd with practiced ease, not
lingering long with any guest but circulating to make sure they greeted them
all. They listened attentively to the tales the Fire Hunters told, and made
sure that no Fire Hunter's cup or plate went empty by giving signals to the
servants.
"That's your seat," Yuoshichi said, pointing to a
round table where four Fire Hunters were already seated. Koushi recognized
them; they'd worked with his father. He followed Yuoshichi over to the table.
"Um... hi. It's been a long time," Koushi said to
the Fire Hunters.
The Fire Hunters looked up at him, wide-eyed. Two of the men
were still bearded; they'd rushed here straight from their most recent
excursion and hadn't had any time to shave or change clothes.
"Oh, how've you been, kid?" one of the Fire
Hunters asked. He shook his head. "Haijuu, what were you thinking, leaving
your sick wife and your kids behind like that? Your sister must've had a rough
time of it."
"Haijuu loves work," another Fire Hunter said.
"He might turn up. He's probably off somewhere doing something crazy
dangerous, like usual."
Koushi nodded. "Thank you for your concern. My sister
and I are doing well."
"Oh? I heard you got taken in at this place," a
Fire Hunter said. Koushi remembered him: a man with a huge laugh who'd come to
the house fairly often. He'd slapped Koushi on the back when his father had
disappeared, and he'd visited often to ask where he'd gone.
Koushi put his hand behind his head and gave a noncommittal
reply. Should I laugh? Cry? I don't know
what kind of face I should make...
"Well, kid, I wish you luck. I'll go over there and get
a plate... Excuse me, I haven't had dinner yet, so I'm hungry. I'll see you
later," Yuoshichi said, patting himself gleefully on the stomach. He
walked away.
As he did, Koushi noticed that the Fire Hunters were all
dressed in their work clothes, not the fancier and less practical clothing that
was in style in the capital. Perhaps their uniforms counted as formal clothes.
They weren't carrying their sickles, but Koushi got the sense that they were
always ready for something to happen.
"I'm sorry if my father's absence has caused you all
any trouble," Koushi said, and though he meant it, his tone was flat and
emotionless.
The four Fire Hunters sitting at the table exchanged
glances, then offered Koushi a place to sit.
"I guess you can't drink alcohol, but they've taken the
trouble to let you live at this estate, which isn't nothing," one of the
Fire Hunters said. "You're living the good life, but you haven't gained a
pound! Just like Hyorosuke." His voice had a nasally quality that seemed
to irritate his comrades.
The Fire Hunter invited Koushi to sit near him, but he
didn't really want to, and searched for the right words to use to refuse
politely.
"Koushi!" Kira ran up to him, starched blue skirt
trailing behind her. She bowed to the Fire Hunters. "Hello! May I please
meet your dogs, Mr. Fire Hunters?"
Hibana approached behind her, walking briskly toward a
smiling Kira. "Whatever shall we do with you, my daughter?" she
asked. "Koushi is clearly speaking to our esteemed guests. It is rude to
interrupt." She frowned at Kira's obvious over-excitement. When she tilted
her head, Koushi noticed that Hibana and Kira were wearing matching pearl
earrings.
"But it's important that I greet our guests, too,
mother," Kira said. "And hunting doges are important
companions-in-arms. I would be remiss if I didn't offer my greetings to
them."
The Fire Hunters around the table burst out laughing. One of
them cleared his throat and said, "Really, ma'am, it's all right. It's
clear that your daughter is enamored of our dogs, and the dogs would be happy
to let her pet them."
"Why don't you become a Fire Hunter?" one of the others
asked. "You'd get a dog."
Hibana put her hand over her mouth, trying not to violate
etiquette. She managed a forced laugh, then said, "Oh, please don't tease
my poor daughter. This girl will take you seriously, sir. My daughter is
academically excellent, unlike me, but she is quick to believe
everything."
Koushi looked up at Hibana's charming smile as she batted
her eyelashes at the assembled Fire Hunters. Kira tilted her head, making her
long hair spill over one shoulder.
"Since I've received such a nice invitation to pet the
dogs, I think I shall go do that, mother. What about you, Koushi? Would you
like to come?"
Kira took Koushi's hand, and together they practically ran
toward where the dogs were. It was as if Kira was trying to pull him out of
danger, they moved so fast. Leaving the pomp and circumstance behind, Koushi
and Kira hastened to the exit of the banquet hall.
Koushi noticed someone standing by the wall near the exit:
another Fire Hunter. He stood with his arms folded, back flat to the wall. His
skin was suntanned to a deep and burnished brown, and in his brown uniform he
nearly blended into his surroundings. He would be easy to overlook in all the
extravagance and excess of the party. Kira didn't seem to notice him at all as
she rushed past, tugging at Koushi's hand when he paused.
Koushi exchanged glances with the Fire Hunter. The Fire
Hunter gave him a brief and enigmatic smile, only the corners of his mouth
lifting.
"Look at the all the dogs!" Kira said.
"Aren't they wonderful?" She pet each of the dogs, dozens of them,
and was careful not to leave anyone out. She approached each dog by extending
her hand to be sniffed. Fire Hunter dogs were well-trained to never bite
defenseless humans, and the dogs were especially friendly to Kira, licking her
face and sitting on her feet to hold her still for more pets. Kira's hair was
in disarray and there was drool on her dress after she'd pet several of the
dogs, but she didn't seem to care. One of the dogs stood up on its hind legs
and jumped on Kira for a hug. Kira trilled a laugh.
"I didn't know that you liked dogs so much,"
Koushi said. He stood near a tree at the edge of the garden, watching Kira
frolic. Hinako came out and joined her a short while later. It was hard to
believe that Kira was a nobleman's daughter when she behaved like this among
the dogs.
"I like all kinds of different animals," Kira
said. Suddenly, her tone became somber. "I always wanted a dog, but mom
doesn't like them."
Koushi frowned, remembering Hibana's rebuke in the banquet
hall. Was it really right to shame her daughter in public like that? He didn't
understand why Hibana went out of her way to express her displeasure at Kira in
front of honored guests.
"Shimaki, Tatsuta, Iwao, Kagura..." Kira was saying the names of the dogs whose
faces she knew, gently petting their heads. All of them were dogs that had partnered with Kanata before. Koushi offered the dogs his
more measured greetings. The dogs sniffed and gathered around Hinako, but they
didn't play with her like they did Kira. Koushi thought that they could tell
that she wasn't in the best of health, and were being careful with her.
"But you, I've never met," Kira said, petting a
new dog's head. "Say, don't you and Hinako have a dog, since your father
is a Fire Hunter?" she called over to Koushi.
This would have been an uncomfortable question just a few
weeks ago, but Koushi and Hinako were friends now, if not quite siblings. So
she asked.
Hinako smiled at Kira happily. "We do have a dog. His
name is Kanata. He has gray fur and is very strong and brave and gentle. I want
to see him again someday." Hinako's face fell.
"I'm sure you will," Kira said. "All Fire
Hunter dogs are very smart. They are good companions to Fire Hunters, but they
don't forget their families."
The garden was brightly lit; the windows of the estate were
open and all the light spilled out. The lamps strung atop the gateposts were
also lit, revealing an old man who worked as a gardener and a house guard
feeding some of the dogs. Kira went to him and got some food for her and Hinako
to feed to the other dogs.
A dog licked Hinako's palm when she was out of food, and she
laughed at the ticklish sensation. "I've never seen this girl dog before.
She's so cute!" Hinako said.
Kira pet another dog on the back. It was thin, with a dark
blue-gray coat. The color reminded Koushi of summer stormclouds. The dog's
snout and tail were pure white, as was a triangle of hair on the dog's chest.
The legs were unusually long; Koushi guessed that this dog would be a very fast
runner.
A reliable dog for a
Fire Hunter, Koushi thought.
The Fire Hunters needed their dogs. Now more than ever.
Koushi shook himself out of the scene and remembered the threat of the Spiders.
He wondered if any of the Fire Hunters here at the banquet were investigating
them, since Yuoshichi had said that they were.
Yuoshichi was a wealthy man with many resources, but he was
like every other ordinary citizen when it came to matters of the Guardian Gods.
Asking the Fire Hunters to investigate might be illegal or treasonous, since it
was matter for the Guardian Gods to handle, not normal people. If the Guardian
Gods found out, would Yuoshichi be in trouble? Would the Fire Hunters
investigating the Spiders be in trouble?
Koushi felt like he would have leave soon. He was itching to
get back to the basement and continue his research. "Hinako," Koushi
said, calling to Hinako from the base of the tree where he stood. "Let's
go back upstairs. You should sleep so that you feel well in the morning."
He was genuinely concerned for Hinako's health, too. He'd had too many
conflicting priorities lately.
"We're coming," Hinako and Kira answered together.
Kira, Hinako and Koushi reentered the estate and went back
upstairs.
Kira gave Hinako an encouraging little push on the staircase
when she hesitated. "Go on, Hinako. I have to stay and entertain our
guests for a little longer, but I'll come up and visit you before I go to
sleep."
Hinako nodded, then said good night to Koushi and Kira. When
Kira returned to the party, Koushi followed her. He would need to get the keys
to the basement room from Yuoshichi if he wanted to keep working tonight.
As Koushi started drifting away from her, Kira called him
back. "Uh, Koushi... don't take this the wrong way, but you're not just
studying obsessively all the time, are you?" Her expression was serious,
laden with concern. She clasped her hands together nervously and spoke slower
than usual, as if she were hand-selecting every word. "You seem to be
short on sleep all the time. I'm glad that Hinako is recovering so well, but I
don't want to see you get sick from overwork. Sometimes I see that happen to my
father, and... I hope he hasn't gotten you caught up in something. I'm so
worried..."
Kira's voice was lower-pitched than that of most girls, and
the concentrated focus of her concern touched Koushi deeply. She cared for
people because she could; there was no meanness or malice anywhere in her.
"I've been learning to work in the factories,"
Koushi said. It was a blatant lie, but he thought it was one he could make Kira
accept. "I'm also studying on my own. I have to prepare for the future.
Someone has to support my family, right?"
Kira was stunned speechless at this revelation.
Koushi was sorry for the lie, but he thought that this was
the most effective way to make sure Kira didn't poke around.
Kira recovered quickly, flashing him a brief smile. "I
see. I'm sorry if what I said came off as rude. Shall we go and say good night
to Hinako later?"
Koushi nodded, though he recognized that this was probably
just an excuse to speak further with him, and followed Kira back to the banquet
hall. On the way, he took off his glasses and scratched his scalp. He was angry
at himself for lying to Kira, because she didn't deserve that. He was making
weapons--no, he was making tools, so
that he could protect both Hinako and Kira. So that he could protect everyone.
He didn't want Kira or his sister getting involved with this project. It was
too dangerous.
After the party and saying good night to Hinako, Koushi
tried to sleep, but he couldn't. He got up and sought out Yuoshichi for the key
to the basement. The party was still in full swing and showed no signs of
ending soon. More food and drink spilled out of the kitchen to satisfy the
estate's guests. Some of the Fire Hunters were leaving, each accompanied by at
least one servant who led them politely to the door.
Was my father treated
this way at banquets? Koushi thought. Did
he come here? What would his face look like if he was drunk? Koushi had
never seen that.
Just before Koushi entered the banquet hall, the door was
opened from the inside.
"Are you leaving, sir?" a servant asked. He was
speaking to the unobtrusive Fire Hunter that Koushi had noticed earlier.
"Um, all right." With brisk steps, the Fire Hunter
headed toward the entrance of the estate, watching the party while keeping
close to the wall of the hallway. The servant accompanied him down the hall.
The Fire Hunter had long hair that was tied behind his back; it swayed with his
quick movements.
When the Fire Hunter noticed the servant still following
him, he turned and said, "Please, return to your duties now. You must be
so busy. You don't need to accompany the whole way."
"But, sir..." Yuoshichi had expressly told the
servants to escort all guests to the front door when they decided to leave.
The Fire Hunter held his hand out in front of him.
"Please excuse me." The Fire Hunter smiled, creating wrinkles in his
deeply tanned face. He bowed, then hurried past the confused servant.
Maybe this is the
owner of the dog that Kira didn't know, Koushi thought, remembering how
she'd greeted an unfamiliar dog. He'd watched this exchange from the side; he
was still looking for Yuoshichi.
Then the Fire Hunter noticed him. "Boy, you were out in
the garden earlier. Do you know which dog is mine? Is he awake yet?"
Koushi had only seen the unfamiliar dog once; he wouldn't be
able to identify it without Kira's help. But he nodded anyway. Even if he
guessed wrong, it would be unlikely that he'd be punished. And refusing Fire
Hunters anything, especially at a party held in their honor, would be bad
manners.
"Well, that's good then. He's a fickle beast, but good
at his job. It'd be a shame to have to carry him home while he was
sleeping." The Fire Hunter turned on his heel and left.
Koushi was left with his strange impressions of the man. He
stood in the entryway of the estate for awhile, looking at the Fire Hunter's
retreating back.
"Um... excuse me..." A servant called out to
Koushi in a low, quiet voice. The servant had her hands clasped together in
front of her light gray uniform, shaking a little from nerves. Koushi didn't
know the names of many of the servants at the estate, since he'd never been
formally introduced to them, so he was confused why this servant seemed to want
his attention.
"You might not remember me," the servant said.
"I served you and Lord Yuoshichi tea on your first evening with us. My
lord might scold me..." She looked down.
"Scold you? For what?"
The servant approached Koushi, paying close attention to her
surroundings. "I was with the others cleaning up your rooms when I found
this. I thought it must be something important. I've been waiting for an
opportunity to give it you, young master."
The servant slipped a piece of folded paper into Koushi's
hand. The servant closed her eyes, bowed silently, then turned her face away,
acting as if she'd never called out to Koushi at all. She walked away, toward
the kitchen.
Koushi looked down at the paper in his hand. He flipped it
over and unfolded it with a tense expression. The letter was in bad shape--it
had been shuffled around a lot--but Koushi would know his mother's handwriting
anywhere. He shoved the letter into a pocket and re-entered the bustling grand
hall. He found Yuoshichi and asked him to unlock the basement room so that he
could continue work.
Even as Yuoshichi unlocked the basement door, Koushi felt
the letter burning a hole in his pocket. He thought he heard someone calling
out to him just as the door closed, but then the door was shut, and so were the
sounds of the outside world.
Heart pounding, alone in the rough-hewn stone basement,
Koushi unfolded his mother's letter. The handwriting was poor because of the
shakiness of her hands and her failing vision at the end of her life. The paper
seemed to have been relegated to a corner of the floor for quite some time,
since it was covered in dust and crumpled. The disease that had killed his
mother had progressed rapidly, and soon after the mother took to her bed, she'd
lost the ability to speak. Had she written this without Koushi's knowledge and
dropped it somewhere that he would find it later? He must have packed it with
his things when he'd left the house. But he hadn't discovered it--a servant of
the Okibi Estate had. Why had the servant passed it on with such nervousness
and secrecy?
The only answers to his questions that were available were
in the letter itself. Koushi read it, and some things became clear.
Koushi, Hinako, please
don't resent your father. He didn't leave us without saying goodbye, and he
will come back. Your father wrote a letter to Morikami that said that the world
would soon end. He wouldn't leave you two alone in such danger. I am certain that
he will return someday. 'Face the fire started by lightning and take it in your
hands.' That's what he said to me. Please forgive me for dying. Your father
will return to take care of you, Koushi and Hinako. Until then, do your utmost
to stay alive.
Koushi couldn't breathe. His father... had written a letter
to Morikami? A letter to the Guardian God
Morikami? What did he intend to do next--write
a letter of complaint to the capital's rulers? The very idea was
ridiculous. But then, why did he leave his home and the capital?
"Flickering Flame..." The name popped into
Koushi's mind unbidden. The Millennium Comet: the wandering star, thought lost.
Memories of the dead sunk deep in the sea, where a Guardian God in the shape of
a whale collected and protected them. Koushi thought he heard water rushing at
him, or maybe in him, whooshing
around his skull.
But the feeling passed. There was no water here, in the
basement of Okibi Estate. What he'd experienced was an illusion, or the power
of suggestion. Koushi pressed his back against the door of the basement
workshop to ground himself in physical reality.
"The situation has changed," Koushi said to
himself. "I have to make a
weapon. I have no choice. I have to protect us all from what's to come..."
Koushi shook his head violently to clear it; it still felt
waterlogged even though he couldn't hear water rushing at him anymore. It was just an illusion, Koushi thought.
All in my head, because I haven't been
sleeping well.
Everything Koushi was doing was for survival--and not just
his own. "I have to save Hinako." He looked down at his mother's
letter and muttered to himself.
Water had put an idea in his head. He placed a drop of water
onto a dish and watched it flow toward the lightning fuel. When the two touched, the
lighting fuel flared in its glass container, and the dish shattered.
Koushi took a slow, deep breath. If he could contain the
water somehow and increase the distance between the container that held it and
the igniting fuel, he could gain finer control over the resulting reaction.
He remembered the illustration of a Fallen Beast that he'd
seen on the third floor of the Central Archives. A beast flying through the
sky, wingless and impossible. Koushi felt like he was finally getting some
answers to his endless questions.
Carefully, Koushi folded his mother's letter over, then
glued the edges of two pages in a frequently used notebook to make a pocket for
it. He felt like his mother was calling out to him across the distance of time,
but he couldn't understand what she was saying to him.
Koushi was irked that there was a party tonight. He needed
to talk to Yuoshichi now--five minutes ago. A cold wind blew in from the city's
factory area--cold and impossible to refuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment