CHAPTER 11 – First Taking

The morning after the incident left the entire village on edge. Quality meat was still left in the traps, and some needed to be reset, but it was too dangerous to go out now. Just knowing that the person responsible for the stampede was still out there sent fear to everyone in the village.

Midnoon arrived, dry and chilly. Had it not been for the Silverwolf coats in the armory, they’d surely get frostbite. It was especially cloudy too, fitting of the Jiuli’s paranoia. Losing anyone now would be a hard hit to their already depleted population.

Only Lei-Lei was able to head outside but only to use her ether field. She sat on the roof of the center house where the sick kids recovered and concentrated. Her sister was inside, tending to the sick children. Yushia and Suzaku were stationed by the food storage near the edge of the village, while Payuei stayed outside the room housing Mrei, Yoyei, and Nyuei. Danei and Kuei stayed by the armory.

Soon it was evening, and the sun began its retreat under the horizon. Lei-Lei had nearly depleted her ether supply a few hours before and took a nap to replenish it.

“I’m starving,” Yushia commented, his hand on his stomach as it growled.

Yushia wasn’t allowed in the food storage; absolutely nobody was allowed in there unless their names were Fei or Lei-Lei. Had it not been for the frequent food shortages in CM-22, he wouldn’t have been able to endure his hunger.

“Once Lei-Lei arises from her slumber, my greatness is sure she will treat those who stayed on watch,” Suzaku said. “And you will be of help.”

Not long after, Lei-Lei finally awoke. Her ether had recovered enough that she could expend it freely without worry. After some stretching, she released her ether back into the air.

Someone is missing, Lei-Lei told herself. She held her staff tight and slid down the roof of the house and hurried along the bridge to where Payuei was stationed. Despite its shakiness, her body was straight and composed. She continuously deactivated and reactivated her ether field, hoping there was some sort of error to what she sensed, but there wasn’t.

“What’s wrong, Lei-Lei?” Payuei asked.

She pushed past him. Lifting the drapes, she focused her ether field within the enclosed space. Mrei is missing.

“Lei-Lei, please,” Payuei begged as he entered the house. His relationship with Lei-Lei wasn’t the best, even before he accidentally let the Erklings take the village’s children. “I don’t understand why you’re still mad at me.”

Lei-Lei dug her nails into her palms. “Where is Mrei.”

“Mrei? He’s probably still sleeping right there—”

The sudden pause was confirmation. Mrei was really gone.

Lei-Lei thrusted her staff at Payuei, its tip just inches from his face. “I gave you a chance to redeem yourself. Tell me. Where is Mrei?”

How could this be? His love for Lei-Lei burned strongly within him, and a mistake like this could make her lose her trust in him forever. He had no excuses, however.

“He was right there!” Payuei yelled. “Please, Lei-Lei, believe me! It wasn’t long ago when I checked on the kids. They were all there, all three of them sleeping together peacefully. There should have been no way for Mrei to have left while I watched over him!”

Yushia and Suzaku had heard the commotion and went over to check it. They lifted the drapes and headed inside.

“What’s the issue here?” Yushia asked.

Payuei shouted. “My brother’s gone!”

A Shijin Orb hovered over the empty space beside the other two children still sleeping. Suzaku looked at her wielder and put a finger to her lips. The Jiuli couldn’t see the Shijin Orb, and if her greatness and her wielder both knew he was dead, they’d be leading suspects in the murder.

Lei-Lei walked out with such gravity that the hood of her robe over her head fell back, and she didn’t bother to fix it. “We will search for him.”

Payuei left in a hurry, leaving Yushia and Suzaku inside the room. Somehow, despite Payuei’s yelling, the kids managed to remain sound asleep.

Yushia bent down and picked up the dark red Shijin orb, squishing it with his fingers. “There wasn’t any blood when he died.” It felt oddly empty as if the ether within it had been taken out.

“You must not mess with the deceased in that way, especially if it is a child,” Suzaku advised.

“Sorry,” Yushia apologized, setting the Shijin Orb back down. Deep down he felt a sickness in his stomach. He felt sorry for Payuei. He knew too well how it felt to lose people precious.

“You do not suppose it was the man in the white suit, do you?” Suzaku asked.

“It had to have been,” Yushia replied. “But right now, how do we tell them that Mrei died?”

“We do not. The Shijin orb is here, but the body is not. My greatness believes it is best that we keep this a secret for now and find the body—if it is out there somewhere.”

Yushia agreed. He and Suzaku left the room and rushed to the armory. Payuei sprinted past them with his lamp and sword in hand just as they got off the bridge, almost knocking them off. He apologized, but looked back and gave Yushia a nasty look.

A rack of lamps was set up on the walls inside the armory. Suzaku lit her wielder’s lamp, and with together, they followed Payuei. Her wielder took her hand, and her body wrapped itself in glowing threads of ether.

The light was enough to make Payuei look back at the transformation, stunned as he saw Suzaku turn into a blade.

Yushia ran past him and flew down the steps down to the forest floor.

“Any ideas on where to look first?” Suzaku asked her wielder.

“The hunting grounds,” he said. He felt a chill run up his spine.

“You are scared, are you not?” Suzaku asked.

Even though he was scared, he couldn’t just stand still. Even in the darkness of night, running was a sure-fire plan if he wanted to live. He was still Cerulean, after all. With that in mind, he kicked off the ground. “You wouldn’t believe how scared I am.”

The air was frigid and kissed Yushia’s body as his body moved swift like an arrow. His legs brushed against sharp thorns and his feet trampled over prickly sticks, but regardless of the pains, he kept moving.

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The air smelled of blood and dead meat: he’d arrived at the hunting grounds. Although it was night, it was eerily quiet. Not even the chirping of nightly critters dared make a noise.

“Ease your nerves,” Suzaku advised. Serving as another pair of eyes, she reassured him. “I will inform you of even the slightest movements.”

Yushia exhaled slowly and relaxed his grip. His eyes didn’t know where to look—they wanted to focus on every little detail of the forest. He held his lamp out front and began his careful venture deeper into the hunting grounds. Leaves crunched under his feet, the sound of it heavily amplified in the utter silence. Suzaku could feel the anxiety, and that made her nervous as well.

“Watch it, you idiot!” she whispered as her wielder nearly stepped on a leg trap. Her voice could only be heard by her wielder, but it still felt wrong to yell.

Yushia made sure to watch his feet and kept searching. Nearing the edge of the hunting grounds, his attention drew to the faint sound of a low whimper behind a bush. He jumped when he heard it.

The whimpering grew louder as he grew close. When Yushia looked over the bush, his eyes widened at who he saw.

“Payuei?” Yushia mumbled.

“He’s dead,” Payuei breathed. His lamp was knocked on its side as he knelt. “And it’s my fault.”

Mrei was laid out on the ground, soaking in the blood that left his rotting corpse. His limbs had been dislocated and played with until out of order. The pink bruises on his ankles, wrists, and neck resembled rope burns.

When Yushia stepped out of the bush, he plugged his nose. Mrei’s stomach had been gutted. His bowels poured out and dozens of young larvae feasted upon him. His eyes were still half open, but only the whites were visible.

Suzaku exited from her Ghost Mansion, reverting to her human form. “Payuei, move away from the body.”

H e continued mumbling unintelligibly to himself. “No, it’s really not my fault... It can’t be my fault, there’s no way it’s my fault...”

“It is the fault of nobody,” Suzaku corrected. She bent down to meet Payuei, wary of his state, and took one last glance at the body. She paused suddenly, eyes widening in shock as she rose back up to stand beside her wielder.

Carved into Mrei’s neck and scabbed were the words ‘Cerulean.’ Suzaku eyed her wielder and he shook his head no, denying his involvement. Though he coulnd’t read, he’d seen the writing for his people numerous times before and remembered.

Payuei slowly reached for his sword. “I knew it’d be you... It was never my fault!” His sword scraped the ground as he lifted himself on one knee, twisting his body as he hastily arose from his kneeling position. He swung his sword upward, nearly slicing Yushia’s head but missed. The Cerulean had moved back in time, falling back as he fell on his bottom. Payuei breathed heavily, raising his sword over his head. “YOU DID THIS—”

Suzaku tackled him, knocking both him and his sword to the ground. She got up and grabbed her wielder’s arm before bringing him back to his feet. “We leave, now!”

Yushia’s hand met Suzaku’s as she entered her Ghost Mansion. He dashed through the forest, retracing his steps back to the village.

“It wasn’t me!” Yushia said, panting.

“Of course, it cannot be you if you were with my greatness the entire day, idiot!” Suzaku yelled. “Did you think my greatness was made unaware of that fact!?”

A leg trap caught Yushia’s ankle, making him tumble. He recovered and tried prying the metal jaws with his sheer strength, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t free himself.

Suzaku shouted. “My greatness can melt the metal!”

In a hurry, he placed the flat side of Suzaku’s blade on the metal jaws. Her Well Mansion activated, increasing the intensity of the flames as she melted her wielder free. Yushia scrambled to his feet but was knocked down again by a blunt force thrown at his back.

“Don’t run now!” Payuei roared, slowly approaching with his sword in one hand and several rocks in the other. His lamp hung from his waist, shining a dim light on his terrified face. “You’ll pay for what you did to my little brother!”

The rock didn’t hurt as badly as the leg trap, but he was no longer in any condition to run like before. He dug his feet firmly into the ground and held Suzaku in a reverse grip beside his waist. With Payuei closing in, he had no choice but to fight.

“You shall not kill the boy,” Suzaku told her wielder. She knew how unpredictable his actions could be.

“We’ll say he attacked us first,” Yushia replied, his breath unsteady.

Again, Suzaku exited her Ghost Mansion. “No,” she said. Her back faced him as she took ten paces forward, letting Payuei get closer. “Incapacitating is enough.”

“Out of the way!” he cried. “You’re not the one who needs to die!”

Suzaku knew the boy had no business with her and watched as he walked past. Once out of his vision, she took his lamp and threw it to her wielder. “Now!”

Yushia threw away his own lamp deep into the forest before punching Payuei’s as it flew in the air. It was too dark to see now, but that worked in his favor as he ran and struck Payuei in his jaw, dazing him. He grabbed Suzaku’s hand—her Ghost Mansion activated—and pulled her along. “Come on, let’s go!”

The duo quickly made it back to the village and climbed up the steep steps. They lifted the drapes of the house they’d been given and took deep breahts. Yushia sat against the wall, staring at the entrance with ready eyes.

“Payuei will lie,” he said while clenching his chest. All he could think about was the name of his people scarred on Mrei’s forehead. How in Inanis did it get there?

Exiting her Ghost Mansion, Suzaku sat beside her confused wielder, hugging her knees. “My greatness will vouch for your name, so you may rest assured.”

Yushia shot his gaze at her. “Do you really think there’s anything we can do now? ‘Cerulean’ was marked on his chest! The name of my people were on the body of a child who was brutally murdered!”

Suzaku returned her wielder’s look with a dominant glare. “How dare you raise your voice at my greatness. Must you forget that both of us were posted at our designated locations?” She poked her finger in his chest. “It is impossible for you to be the culprit of Mrei’s death.”

Although she had a point, Yushia still had his doubts about the Jiuli’s trust in him. As they sat back down, they heard a thud behind the drapes.

“Be quiet!” a little girl whispered.

“You’re the one who made me fall!” a boy replied.

Suzaku moved toward the drapes and lifted them, spotting two children who’d been eavesdropping. “What are you two doing?”

“Is it true!?” Yoyei blurted, her lips quivering. “Mrei, is he...”

“He didn’t die, did he!?” Nyuei blurted next. “Please tell me you both were just joking...”

She was reluctant to tell the truth. On the other side of the bridge, two more visitors made their way over.

“You kids get back here!” Kuei yelled.

Danei added on. “Don’t you know it’s dangerous right now!?”

The kids ran past Suzaku, barging into the home. Yushia’s eyes widened in fear when he saw the kids sprint in, and to his surprise, they sat beside him.

“Suzaku!” Kuei panted. “Danei and I were tasked by Lei-Lei to keep watch over these kids, but the moment we looked away, they ran off.”

“Tell them it’s not safe right now!” Danei said. He suddenly bent over to cough. His age was getting to him. “Always up to no good... We’ve lost enough people already!”

“Calm yourselves you two,” Suzaku advised. “Come inside.”

There were now six people inside Yushia’s refuge. The two kids scooted over as they let Suzaku sit beside her wielder. Their rings glowed as their hands clasped, prepared for whatever came next.

“I’m scared,” Yoyei whimpered. She leaned her head forward and tears began to stream down her face. “What happened to Mrei? What really happened?”

“He died,” Yushia said bluntly, looking at the ground. His mind raced with thoughts of being chased out of the village. Again, he’d be blamed for something he had no part in.

“Another man lost,” Danei murmured. Both he and Kuei held their hand to their face in disappointment. There weren’t many men left in the village. Eventually, there would be none to protect it.

Yoyei crying made Nyuei cry. The more Yushia thought about Mrei’s death, the more he started to consider his possible part in it. He’d been made out as a monster this whole time, so it’d make sense if he did.

“You must calm yourself,” Suzaku whispered into her wielder’s ear. Just by holding his hand, she had a taste of his restless thoughts. “Breathe. When morning arrives, remember that my greatness will be the one to stand in front of you.”

“You don’t understand,” Yushia whispered back. Despite the reassurance, he couldn’t brush away the many years of his life being conditioned to think the way he did now. “I tried so hard to do good, and somehow, I’ll be painted as the bad guy again.”

“For the last time, the fault is not yours—”

“Do you think they'll believe that?!” Yushia shouted out. Everyone stared at him, surprised by the sudden outburst. The room became silent, and so did he. In a low breath, he uttered quietly enough for only Suzaku to hear. “We should just run away."