The moment we were all back from my Mindspace, Yugo told us that he’d be setting up the backyard to prepare for the day’s training. Archie reminded Yugo that we lived in the middle of nowhere, but Yugo just said that he wanted the place to look “cooler”.
Following this, Lochness and a brown owl I recognized to be The Historian both raced for the kitchen. Archie had been making something before we’d left to meet with Fallen Star, and now that we were out it was all we could smell. The rest of us followed after them, though I stayed in the back because I didn’t know my way around the house yet.
Archie had made cookies. I wasn’t disappointed by that or anything, but it’d been hours since I had an actual meal – not counting those horrible octopus balls. He insisted that they’d substitute for an actual meal, and to my surprise – and partial concern – they did. Just one of those things was as filling as a bowl of rice. We’d been eating in the dining room, a luxurious wood-paneled room with a faux cherry blossom bonsai tree at the center of the low-cut table. We needed to sit on the floor to properly use it, as was the case with many traditional Saikyojin furniture. I sat next to Archie, and across from us were Lochness and Somnia. The Historian had seen himself out, flying back to Yugo’s side to help him prepare the training arena.
“So,” Somnia said, covering her mouth as she chewed and spoke. “I don’t mean to pry any or anything, but…”
“Tell us about yourself!” Archie urged, nudging me with an elbow. “You said something about cults, right? And Bukimiburgh is the cult hotspot. Plus, your Mindspace was pretty eerie. I bet you have a ton of stories.”
“I suppose I do,” I shrugged. “What do you guys want to know?”
“Whatever you’re comfortable with sharing.”
“Everything!”
Hiss!
Archie and Somnia exchanged dirty looks, but I stopped them with a hand before anything could happen. Like I’d said before, if we were going to be teammates, it was important they knew who I was. Of course, this worked both ways, and they both swore to answer any question I had for them when I finished. In the end, I ended up being rather upfront about my life; I was raised in a cult that worshipped me as a god who would destroy and recreate the world. Somnia had called me a twisted version of this long-dead “Izanagi” Myth, though I had no clue what that even meant. Archie had asked me why I left, and I told them honestly that it was because they forced me to kill my mother.
“After that happened, they didn’t waste any time putting me to work. They trained me to fight, then they’d force me to use Fallen Star on the smaller villages that the Galerose and Mamoru families couldn’t reach. When my 18th birthday came, I felt confident enough in my strength to use that training to my own benefit.”
“How?” Somnia asked.
I smiled. Even Fallen Star let a few soft laughs out in my Mindspace. “I cut my way out.”
”That sounds rough. I’m sorry that happened to you,” Archie said, placing a hand on my shoulder. “That reminds me of this time when I was younger. I messed up an order for a wedding cake the night before. I had to use the pudding mix method on a new batch just to salvage it! My dad sampled the leveled cake and immediately tasted the difference. He got so mad that he made me write the proper recipe on my notepad for a year straight! It wasn’t fair!”
“...That isn’t comparable at all, Archie,” Somnia sighed.
“Sorry for trying to relate I guess?” Archie frowned.
I chuckled. “It’s fine. I appreciate the effort.”
Archie grunted in defiance, causing Somnia to roll her eyes. When she turned to me, she made a sympathetic face. “I’m glad you got out of the Fallen Star Cult, Rui. I hope you don’t feel too much guilt over your past. My father always says that everything that happens, good or bad, will eventually lead to victory You’re here with us for a reason, and I’m sure that reason will be made clear in time.”
“Yeah,” Archie added. “I know you talked about wanting to kill the people who did all that stuff to you, and I can only assume you wanna do the Contract Termination Ritual at some point to distance yourself from all that. But like…” He patted my shoulder. “There’s more to life than fighting! Look, if you ever need a break from it all, I can put a good word for you in with my family. We can always use extra hands.”
“I’ll keep that all in mind. Thanks, you guys. I’m looking forward to our time together.”
Somnia gave me a warm smile and Archie slapped my shoulder a few times. Even Lochness hissed her approval, slithering over to me and curling up in my lap. I didn’t even know how she managed to make herself small enough to do that. Just a few moments ago she’d been as tall as a fully-grown man. At any rate, the atmosphere in the room felt… different. It was like being in the Perrow’s house, except I didn’t feel like a guest. I couldn’t place the feeling, but it felt… nice.
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“I recall you both said I can ask you two anything,” I said, finishing up the last cookie on my plate. “You all have reasons for being in the Seekers, no? What are they?”
“Helping people!” Archie said immediately. I waited for some sort of clarification, but none came.
“That’s it?”
“That’s it!” He laughed. “The powers that be blessed me with strength and some good aura reserves for a reason! That’s all there is to it. Plus,” He said, grabbing Lochness from my lap and lifting her into the sky like a trophy. “I get to make this pretty girl the scariest Myth in Minashire while I do it! It’s a win-win.”
Lochness cheered a hiss in response before coiling herself around Archie’s body.
“That’s noble,” I noted. I turned to Somnia. “Is it the same for you?”
“Not quite. I agree with Archie’s sentiment, but I want to use my strength to make myself a beacon. For the weak, and the silenced. You mentioned earlier that there are places in Minashire outside of the Galerose Family and the Mamoru Family’s reach, no? Well, I want people in places like that to see me and have the courage to fight for themselves.” She blushed. “I… also want to lead the Galerose Family someday.”
“Not to be rude, but how do you plan on doing that without a Contract?” I asked, genuinely curious. The strongest Unbound that I’d ever met were within the Cult, and they’d been the easiest ones to dispatch on my escape.
The air around Somnia changed a bit. She’d given off this calm, practiced aura from the moment I met her. Now, though, she had that intensity that I’d come to expect from the Galerose Family. “Scary” didn’t feel like the right word, but “ominous” felt a bit too soft for it.
“Myths, Curses, and Unbound all use aura. Plain old aura.” Her voice was softer when she spoke, though it sounded unsettling coming from her. “You shouldn’t fear men who bleed the same blood as you. For that same reason, I won’t fear an opponent who uses the same aura as me. As long as I’m better at using it than my opponent, it doesn’t matter if they have a Contract or not. I don’t need a Contract to kill. I can do that on my own.”
Archie leaned forward at the table. “And you were doing so well…!” He turned to me. “She gets like this sometimes. That whole wise teammate thing is just an act. Don’t believe it.”
Somnia blinked. “Oh! My bad. I… er…” She surrendered. “It isn’t an act! I just… if I’m going to lead the Family someday and be a role model to the people of Minashire, I can’t afford to act like an angsty Cambion. Like my mother always says, ‘I am a work in progress.’”
“Aren’t we all!” Yugo called from somewhere in the house.
I followed Archie and Somnia’s gazes to find Yugo dressed like a landscaper. He wore blue jeans and a gray sweatshirt with black boots paired with thick white gloves and a beige bucket hat to match.
“I’m done! Well actually, I’ve been done for the past twenty minutes but what kind of monster would I be to break up this cute little bonding session?” Yugo turned to me. “You know, before you came those two would argue like siblings all the time. I think you might be the missing link we’ve always needed.”
Archie and Somnia shared an awkward glance but didn’t say anything to contradict him.
“Anyway, fighters bond in combat. Talk time is over, let’s get to the fun stuff.”
He moved to the head of the table, standing at attention as The Historian and a meter-long koi fish floated above him at either shoulder. Yugo had gone into greater detail about his two Myths on the train ride here, saying The Historian allowed for a second Contract only if he and the second Myth were both capped at Level 500. His second Myth, the Minashire Monitor, was apparently just as legendary as The Historian itself, but Fallen Star had no clue what it was. I decided to scan them both.
NAME: THE HISTORIAN
APPROXIMATE LEVEL: 500
CLASSIFICATION: KNOWLEDGE
NAME: MINASHIRE MONITOR
APPROXIMATE LEVEL: 500
CLASSIFICATION: COMBAT
The Minashire Monitor floated in place above Yugo’s right shoulder. I wasn’t sure why, but I got the impression that it was looking through me. It was a hard sensation to place, but if I had to compare it to anything I’d compare it to Mr. Perrow’s Fairy Myth. She was as part of the family as his children were, and his particular Fairy would fuss over them and heal them completely if they had so much as a scraped knee. When I looked at the Minashire Monitor, I got that exact same “concerned nanny” vibe that the Fairy used to give me.
“Ahem.” Yugo fake-coughed, looking at me like a preschool teacher to a misbehaving student.
“What?”
“It’s rude to scan people without asking first,” The Historian noted.
“Sorry.”
“Did you scan us?” Archie whispered.
“...Of course not. That’s rude.”
“I wouldn’t get mad if you did.”
“Well… it’s… I was trained to scan first, so…”
“Ahem!” Yugo fake-coughed even louder. “Listen up! Your mission is simple: Archie, Rui, I need you two to land a Wraith Strike on me!” He turned to Somnia. “Somnia, I need you to hit me with an Aura Punch. That gunshot thing won’t count today.”
“Sounds easy enough,” Archie shrugged.
“Got it,” Somnia said.
“You never taught me how to do a Wraith Strike, though. We just made it possible.”
Yugo gloured at me. “You shouldn’t have talked through my lesson.”
“You never gave a lesson! You weren’t even talking!”
“Not that you would know.” He turned his nose up at me as The Historian flew into the yard. The Minashire Monitor, however, didn’t budge. She continued to look directly at me. “I guess you’ll just have to ask your teammates how to do it now, won’t you?”