Chapter 12
The people of the valley—with very few from the Hideo-Jin Dynasty—had been aware of the Cosmo Cradle. Its black, spherical mass continued to loom over Rei and Susumu. Additional trails of lightning began to stream from it, causing their flesh to tingle. The power from inside of the object left massive boulder around it suspended in place.
Rei was greeted by a hiss as the wind rattled against the rocks around them. The air had reminded her of the Rising, the power Shugo channeled during his battle with Jin. Its chill called back memories and emotions long bottled up.
“This battle does not have to continue,” Rei called out to him. She tried to take a moment to try and regain her stamina. “You don’t have a stake in this battle.”
“I don’t leave jobs unfinished.” Susumu replied.
“What do they plan to do with this?”
“They plan to harness its energy. Whether or not they finish it makes no difference to me,” he looked further out towards the cascading ponds, “I tried to use the Nojuro to steal the Rising from your tribe, because such a technique would give me the power to overcome any obstacle in my way. But I feel that my only chance at learning such a technique has finally been smothered.”
“Not yet,” Rei said after taking a quick breath. She did not have much energy to stand, much less fight. The only thing that mattered was buying enough time for Tetsu to finish planting the bombs. She tried with all her might to reach for what power she could as she continued, “That knowledge is still alive. The Hideo-Jin Dynasty and its secrets live in me.”
“Is that so?”
“My father is Hideo-Jin-Ni, and he trained me to carry on his legacy,” she started to raise her head, struggling to get the words out. “I know the secrets of the Rising.”
The revelation was striking, leaving Susumu’s gaze locked on her. It soon became one filled with intrigue as he said, “I am listening.”
“Let us pass, and I can teach you the Rising.”
“If you knew it, you would have used it,” he came to a pause. The wind continued to tear through his long and flowing hair while he slowly began to tilt his head. “The Hideo-Jin Dynasty was built on deception, but its disciples are incapable of such.”
“I’m not here to deceive you. I can teach you.”
“You have nothing to offer because you’re buying time,” Susumu corrected her before taking another step closer. “You are all that is left?”
“I am.”
“I was from your village.”
She seized up, feeling a bizarre sense of familiarity as another piece from her past was unveiled. She could not recall anybody ever leaving the village in her years. The thought of living with the outside world was considered taboo. There was no reason to go into the world beyond.
“I don’t believe you.” She said.
“Long ago I left the village with your father. Did he tell you that or did his pride let him take that to the grave?”
Every second is more time for Tetsu, she gave in, calmly responding, “He told me about that, but he never told me about you.”
“Is that it? Anything else,” Susumu started to square up again, releasing a cold chill into the air as he began to reach into the Deep. “Because if you have nothing for me, I have no use for you.”
Rei knew she could not fight back, instead dreading the oncoming assault. She kept her hands to her side, trying to offer some understanding as she said, “I know the Rising. I’ll show you.”
“Then show me,” he declared, opening his defense for her. “I will give you one final chance. You have no weapon, and the only way out of this is through me. I will give you five seconds.”
“You don’t have five seconds,” Tetsu called out to him from over the rocks. The sudden outburst caused both Susumu and Rei to snap at him. In his right hand, Tetsu gripped the detonator, gently placing his thumb against the trigger. He stepped forward and asked, “Do you know what this is?”
“Get out of here.” Rei called out.
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“There’s nothing you have done yet that I can’t forgive,” Susumu said to him, preparing another attack. “Don’t do anything you might regret.”
“You don’t have any business with her,” Tetsu spoke up, finally lifting his thumb from the button. “Give up now.”
“That’s not how this is going to work. You know I can just kill you before you do what you’re going to do.”
“Think you can hit me before I can press a button?”
The challenge caused Susumu to nod, promptly returning with, “Let’s find out.”
Susumu quickly pumped his chest forward, causing a gust of wind to envelop Rei and Tetsu. Before Tetsu could press the button, he was pulled off the ground and thrown back several feet once by the attack. Rei only managed to turn her head before receiving an equally powerful blast head on. The remote had been knocked from Tetsu’s grip after slamming full force into set of jagged rocks. The skin and clothing over his back had been torn open, leaving him flat on his face.
He raised his head just in time to see Susumu appear before him to deliver a final stomp. The sudden strike caused Tetsu to flinch, but immediately he felt his spirits sink after seeing Susumu’s foot smash through the remote next to him. There was a loud crunch that was sounded in unison with an unearthly hiss from the Cosmo Cradle.
“No,” Tetsu started to mutter as he lay defeated.
“Rei,” Susumu spoke finally before turning away from Tetsu. “You have five seconds, show me the Rising or I’ll kill him. So, if you don’t mind, five—”
Rei clenched her fists in preparation. I can do this. The only person who had attempted to teach her was Shugo, and she was not certain if it was in her power. Nevertheless, she began to reach into the Deep as Susumu muttered, “four.”
Find your center, keep your balance, she had these words drilled into her head by now. The center was the point of your body where you would channel your energy. For years, she and the others of the Hideo-Jin Dynasty had believed that the Deep was something unique to everyone. Shugo had told her it was something beyond their reach—something deep inside yet so far from our reach.
“Three.” Susumu muttered. His voice had been dampened by the haunting soundscapes of the void. Rei had not been certain if what she was channeling was the Rising or enough to defeat him.
It had worked for Shugo in his battle against Jin, she was starting to fall even deeper as the countdown neared one. Her hair had started to flow, slowly being graced with a cold chill like the morning breeze from the ocean. Susumu braced himself, keeping his stance while Rei tried to complete the transformation.
“This power is significant,” he said after finishing the countdown. “You have certainly increased your strength, but this is not the Rising.”
Rei jumped forwards, keeping her stance while she went for one final attack. Susumu stood in place, letting her deliver a punch straight to his forehead. There was a loud crash like a wave, causing a blast of power to tear apart the ground around them as her fist smashed into him. One final shockwave from the impact ripped the two away from each other, leaving Susumu standing in place. Dust and debris from the ground started to rise from beneath them, clouding the area. She pulled the bottom part of her robe over mouth to shield it as the dirt and grime covered her.
“This is my ultimate attack,” Susumu’s voice ripped through the cloud of dust and caused a gust of wind to sweep away veil of powdered dirt. He quicky shouted, “Falun Daya.”
The tattoos across his body immediately shined red while his long streaks of black hair began to rise. Rei only caught a quick glimpse of him before receiving a strike straight to her solar plexus. She felt herself immediately pull away from the Deep while a tingling sensation unlike anything she had felt surged through her body. Without even a scream or a whimper, she dropped to her knees and rolled began to tumble down the side of the hill.
The presence she had felt from the Deep was no longer there. In her head, she could hear silence while every bit of her strength began to deplete. She tried to prop herself up, instead succumbing to the pressure and collapsing. She finally came to a moment of lucidity and noticed the horizon before her had started to darken like the night sky. Before her, she could see a lone rose in the grass—bruised and stained with blood after she rolled over it.
The image had begun to bring back many memories of the village and staring at the same image. Once again, she stared into the bloodstained rose trying to understand where she had gone wrong. The sight had felt like another presence trying to send her a message that she could not decipher.
“Your mercy is what cost you this battle,” Susumu said as he started to walk down the side of the hill. He approached Rei and pressed his foot into her back, reigniting the memories of her defeat against Vic. “Your connection to the Deep is much more powerful than I had anticipated. Any lesser, and you would have been with your friends.”
“Don’t kill her,” Tetsu shouted, struggling to keep his breath as blood started to soak his clothes. “She’s just following orders, please.”
“Nojuro, you already owe me something you cannot repay. What do you offer me?” he asked him, this time receiving a defeated stare in return as tears began to roll down Tetsu’s face.
“Run, please.” Rei finally muttered. She let out a loud groan just after Susumu started to push his heel deeper into her back.
“Nojiri is yours, I won’t stop you.” Tetsu barely got the words out.
“You are not welcome in the valley, Nojuro. Take your friend,” Susumu pulled his foot off Rei as he spoke. He began to step away from the two, leaving them battered and bloody after their struggle. “If you return, you will not be spared. Do not mistake my mercy as a weakness. You have tried to bribe me with something you can’t give me.”
Tetsu, still struggling to lift himself watched in disbelief while his opponent began to step away. The merciful gesture was quickly reciprocated, causing Tetsu to quickly try and lift Rei and take her to safety. As he fled, he could not shake the image of Susumu’s back turned to him, the enigma of his mercy haunting his thoughts. Their survival was a shock, but that fueled him to continue to carry Rei back towards the woods and to safety.