Chapter XCIV (94)- The Breakup

The last couple days of the school excursion were relatively uneventful. Half the time Kizu went to special brewing lessons with Allik and the other half he learned about astronomy used by the Akaq Tribe. Their mythologies regarding the stars was almost as interesting as learning about their unique herbs. Kizu noted a not so subtle bias for constellations involving bears.

As they departed, Allik clasped his arm in farewell. He made Kizu promise to contact him if he ever returned to the tundra. Then he passed Kizu a letter for Professor Knoff.

The Ilaanquciq Tribe, who had kept to themselves on the outskirts of the academy’s camp since Nanook’s return, stood outside their snow caves and watched Kizu and his classmates’ departure. Or, Kizu assumed they watched. It was hard to tell with their veil of quills obstructing their faces. Glancing over at Evie, Kizu saw her huddled in the center of their sleigh with her head down.

“When I was a kid, my neighbor got abducted by a cult that looked just like that,” Ione commented as they passed them. “Well, without all the porcupine parts and snow equipment. But still, same energy.”

“I doubt we will see them again,” Kizu said, remembering Allik’s warning.

“I sure hope so. I can’t wait to get back to the academy. I thought Basil was just being whiny when he complained about the weather here. But it’s actually miserable. And I didn’t get to study a single magical creature. Probably because they’re all smart and are hibernating for the winter. Complete waste of time.”

Kizu rolled his eyes. “It’s not much of a surprise you didn’t get much from the trip. You practically hibernated yourself all week as well. I barely saw you.”

“Normal people sleep when it’s dark. Not everyone is nocturnal.”

“It’s always dark here,” Kizu said dryly. “And I recall someone sleeping on the beach instead of participating in my last swim lesson.”

“That’s besides the point. And that’s a nap anyway. Completely different.”

They disembarked at the ruins that housed the movable room. Before entering though, Kizu looked back over the tundra one last time.

Peeking out from behind a piece of ancient rubble, Kizu spotted a small red fox. Kizu tapped Anata on the shoulder and pointed. Her face lit up and she grabbed his arm. After making eye contact with Anata, the red fox bound forward toward them, but a white fox lunged forward and held her back, grabbing her tail with his teeth. She yelped in surprise and whipped around to tussle with her brother. A breeze rippled over the snow. By the time it cleared, it took all signs of the foxes with it.

“Come one,” Kizu said to Anata, who stared at the place the foxes had been moments earlier. “They just wanted to say ‘goodbye.’ They know where to find us.”

Nobody questioned Anata joining them on their return trip as she sat next to him on one of the couches. In fact, people actually gave them a bit of space out of respect. The rest of his classmates had been told by Professor Grove that Kizu was her babysitter. They were told the lie that she was the daughter of a close friend of the headmaster. And Kizu redirected any further questions back at the headmaster. Since Anata remained silent and nonintrusive, most of his classmates forgot about her existence pretty quickly. They all likely thought her some half-wit girl Kizu had to chase after into a snowstorm. Since Ulric had been sent back a few days earlier to visit with Professor Kateshi, Kizu had no reason to stress as they traveled home. He closed his eyes and took a nap of his own.

When they finally arrived back at the academy there was little fanfare. A James stood at the room’s exit and ticked their names off a list, then they were free to go. They had the rest of the day to themselves.

Kizu knew what he needed to do, but he instead found him wandering around the campus with Anata. They ended up sitting on a bench in a courtyard. A few students played a game where they had to kick a ball into a basket. But the ball was enchanted to avoid them. It dodged and weaved through their legs as they attempted to pass it to one another.

Gregor, from Kizu’s Music F class, raised his arms in victory as he finally scored into their basket. His friends whooped and patted him on the back as they reset the ball.

Sighing, Kizu finally reached into his pack and pulled out his scrying orb. Anata perked up, likely thinking he was going to use it to produce another book for her.

Instead, he sent Emilia a message.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Are you available to meet today?

He felt his heart sink as she messaged back almost immediately.

Yes. The town square after dinner. 7 pm.

Well, it was done. As much as he dreaded this meeting, he needed to talk to her. If he had met with her before the school trip, the entire fight with Ulric could have been avoided. And, while he didn’t regret his decisions in the fight, he hardly wanted more complications like that in his life.

This time cheers went up as a friend of Gregor managed to kick the ball into the basket. The Tainted boy lifted his friend up on his shoulder and they all cheered before he collapsed under the weight and they devolved into laughter.

“Let’s go home,” Kizu said to Anata.

They returned to Owl’s Respite and found an armless Sojan on deck, wielding a fishing rod with his teeth. His mouth full, the enchanted dagger just growled something when Kizu questioned him. Kizu left him to his fishing and entered Aoi's laboratory.

The princess had both of Sojan’s arms spread out on a work table and was poking at them with an enchanted needle. He watched her for a few minutes as she muttered to herself and pricked different parts of the arms. Occasionally, they would twitch slightly. Despite the severed limbs and a bucket of decomposing fish bones in the corner, the room smelled sterile.

“Will you be able to reattach those?” Kizu asked.

Aoi jumped and dropped her needle. It skewered the arm’s palm. She turned and scowled at him.

“Don’t sneak up on me. Yes. I’ll be able to reattach them. As long as he’s attached, Sojan can help meld the arms back in place. I want to experiment with another method as well, but I can’t because of how Sojan reacts to third party substances. And he stubbornly won’t let me pull him out. Once I get the cloning process better figured out, I’ll have more subjects to test my hypothesis on. But this is all only possible because of this very unique tool I found the instructions to create on one of the pages. It preserves body parts. As long as I keep experimenting with it, it will keep body parts from decaying. This gives me a unique opportunity to view the limbs at a state of near stasis. Is that all? I need to focus.”

Kizu hesitated. “Have you ever broken up with someone before?”

Aoi lit up. “You’re dumping Emilia? That’s great news! I hope it ruins her day.”

Kizu gave her a flat stare.

“Oh, don’t be like that. I’ve never had to terminate a relationship before.” She thought for a moment. Then she stabbed one of the arms again with the needle. “Well, I managed to sneak out an engagement my mother set up for me last year. But that was all politics. I doubt that will help you. My experience is mostly just turning people down out right.”

Kizu left the laboratory and went to read his current library book to try to pass the time. But, after reading the same paragraph about the relevance of space to a gate spell, he realized he wasn’t getting anywhere.

Down in the crew quarters, Anata slept in a hammock with Mort nested on her head. The gnome skeletons played cards, just as they always did whenever they lacked instructions from Aoi. Kizu drew a hand for himself and joined them.

He continued to lose at cards for the next few hours until it was finally time to go. He jumped to the shore and started his walk back to town.

Emilia was already there in the town square when he arrived. She sat in the center, next to a fountain wearing her academy uniform. All around her stall vendors packed up their wares. Freezing in place, he contemplated turning around and running back to the ship. He could just send her a message through his scrying orb. But no. He forced his feet forward while his stomach knotted.

“You’re breaking up with me,” Emilia said, not looking at him as he approached. She stared off into an empty street.

“Yes,” Kizu admitted, sitting next to her.

“I knew it was coming. I’ve known for weeks now.”

There was a moment of silence between them. Kizu spotted Jeri the gnome chatting with someone on the other side of the town square. He chatted amicably, the setting sun glinting off his bald head. Kizu was tempted to just walk over and start talking to them. To end the horribly awkward moment between himself and Emilia.

“Okay,” Kizu said. He took a step away, thinking he might be able to just end it there.

Emilia sighed loudly and looked up at the sky. “I suppose I’ll have to break the news to my parents. They’re going to be so disappointed. They really liked you.”

“Why? I never met them.”

She glanced over at him, looking a little irritated. “I explained this to you already. Unifying our families would be a guaranteed success for trading negotiations. It bypasses several tariffs between Edgeland and Hon. We could easily coast just off the trade routes we inherited. But it also opens a world of opportunities for expansion.”

Kizu stared at her. “And what does Ulric’s family have?”

“Ha. Ulric? Nothing. Less than nothing. They’re buried in debt and expect him to carry them out of it. A task he clearly isn’t up to. That’s why we split.”

There was another pause in the conversation.

“I still love him,” she finally said. “It makes no sense. He's an unfriendly brute. By all rights, he’s horrible for me. When I finally broke up with him, he threw a massive tantrum. It was after that party where I first met you. And then there you were. You have the potential to be so perfect. Everything I should prioritize wrapped up in a nice, safe package. But still, I don’t feel the same way as when I separated from Ulric. I didn’t love you.”

Despite the fact he initiated the breakup, her words still hit like a punch to the gut. Rationally, it was a good thing that she wasn’t hurt. Right? Wanting her to feel hurt would be deranged.

He decided it was finally time to go. It was over.

“Thanks Emilia. You taught me a lot. I’ll…see you around.”

“See you around, Kizu.”