Chapter 19: what to do next.
“I’m definitely going to be grounded.” Kaiya sighed as she stood next to Okimodo watching as numerous red and neon coloured koi swam around in the small circular pond in front of them. “But that’s fine.” She smiled. “It was worth it.”
Okimodo remained silent, unable to take his mind off of the demon he had seen the previous night. From a young age he had been regularly visiting this circular pond and knew the demons and spirits that dwelled in the area very well. It had been his first ever time seeing that woman. It was required by law for all of the demons, spirits and other none mortal existences in the area to be registered and documented. This was so that the government could know what individual entities were hostile towards ordinary people. Okimodo had to report this sighting to the closest authority as well as the clan head. If he didn’t and the entity decided to hurt or kill someone and the authorities found out that Okimodo knew of it’s existence and said nothing, then he would be in some deep shit. Right now he had to get as much information as possible.
“Koisama!” Okimodo uttered.
At the next moment the koi fish quickly darted away as the water in the pond began to swirl into a small world pool. A figure slowly rose up from within the pond revealing itself to the two youths.
“Whoa…” Kaiya was in awe at the entity that levitated before her. It had the body of a shrivelled up old man with the face of a crimson koi fish. On either side of the entities head long webbed ears protruded from its long white hair.
“What do you want?” The entity whose name was Koisama asked bluntly.
“What’s with the sudden attitude today?” Okimodo enquired.
“Attitude?” Koisama scowled with his plump koi lips. “Well excuse me for being a little irritated after all of the noise you two brats made last night. Why the hell would you decide to get down and dirty when you know this is my home.”
“I didn’t know at all.” Kaiya was immediately flustered. “I’m really sorry.”
Okimodo rolled his eyes. “There’s a new entity here. Its appearance is that of a gaunt woman.”
“Oh!” Koisama jolted up in surprise. “You saw her? That woman who emerged from the ocean last night?”
“She emerged from the ocean?” Okimodo couldn’t help but feel weirded out.
“Did you get the chance to speak with her? Do you know why she appeared randomly?”
“She asked me where the shang rokai live and I could tell by the aura surrounding her that she was a vengeful spirit.” Koisama answered.
“A vengeful spirit?” Okimodo’s expression immediately became one of great haste. “You didn’t tell it where the clan residence was right? If you did then you can kiss your ass goodbye right now.”
“Hey relax.” Koisama threw up his arms. “You know very well that us spirits can’t lie, but that doesn’t mean I told her the truth. I never answered her question, I simply remained silent.”
Kaiya who was listening silently had grown pale from what she had heard. Someone in the clan had done something despicable and now a vengeful spirit was after them.
Okimodo ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Damn it I should’ve just reported the sighting immediately. You can go back now thanks for telling me this.”
Koisama slowly sank back down into the pond and the water tunnel beneath it.
“Let’s go Okimodo.” Kaiya urged tugging on his robe. “We have to tell the clan authorities straight away.”
Okimodo gestured for her to lay in his arms which she quickly did. A pair of eagle wings erupted from his upper back and the two were soon off back towards the clan residence.
“It’s so beautiful.” Kaiya was astonished by the sight of the countless buildings beneath her.
“It is beautiful isn’t it?” Okimodo laughed as he soared across the sky. “I’d fly like this all the time if it didn’t drain me dry.”
“What punishment do you think my parents will give me?” Kaiya smiled as she felt the sun kiss her skin and the coolness of the passing breeze. “I’ll definitely be grounded and banned from seeing you, I might even be disowned.”
Okimodo couldn’t help but chuckle. “You’re being over dramatic. When you approached my family you lied saying that you wanted to study prayer. Didn’t you tell your parents the same thing?”
Kaiya’s smile changed, gaining a hint of sadness. “I did, but they always catch me in my lies eventually. I don’t really care anymore to be honest. It’s not like I had a good life ahead of me anyway.”
“You poor thing.” Okimodo felt deeply empathetic as he gazed straight ahead, fixing his eyes on the statue of heshea as its looming frame got bigger and bigger in the distance. As he got closer to the residence he circled around the statue and descended towards the clan palace where the clan head resided. His first priority was informing the clan higher ups of the vengeful spirit before it could do any harm. But with him having fallen asleep immediately after doing the deed last night, the vengeful spirit could have already struck.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Okimodo couldn’t help but lampoon himself internally as he landed gently before the clan palace.
“Whoa.” After being put down, Kaiya looked around and observed the aftermath of the previous night. Countless tents were scattered across the cobblestone floor in front of the palace. Among them there a few ones which were being taken down by their merchant owners as they prepared to leave the city. Several dozen women from the Ionoon school were scattered across the area, some thanking the merchants as they left and a few simply gossiped amongst themselves.
“Kaiya…” Okimodo spoke recapturing the girl’s attention.
“What is it sweetie?” Kaiya answered lovingly looking deeply into his eyes.
“Thanks for last night.” Okimodo smiled. “I’ll see you later.”
“You’ll see me later?” Kaiya frowned. “Can’t we spend the day together.”
Okimodo heaved a sigh before laughing to himself. He knew that from Kaiya’s perspective they were now in a relationship. This was due largely to his own lack of self control. He had sworn to himself and Chaiseky that he would never touch Kaiya and now look at what he did. What was even sadder was that there was no way in hell for a relationship between him and her to work which she knew all too well.
“Kaiya listen…” Okimodo knew what he had to say, but as he looked the beautiful girl in her huge green eyes he couldn’t muster up the strength to put her down.
“Let’s go to inform the clan elders about the vengeful spirit.” Okimodo sighed before grabbing Kaiya’s hand and walking forward through the scattered tents.
The shriek of an older womam rippled through the air stinging the ears of the two youths and stopping them in their tracks. The commotion came from just behind a tent not too far infront of them. They began to walk forward again, as they got closer the sound of choking could be heard and as they turned the corner an awkward sight befell them.
“Mom help!” A blonde girl rolled around on the ground grasping at her own throat, her face was caked in make up and was quickly growing paler by the second. Her white and blue ionoon school robes were gradually ruined as she toiled across the dusty cobblestones.
An older woman who was the one who screamed a few seconds earlier kneeled down quickly and cupped the girls head in her hands. She then flipped the younger girl into a sitting position before violently slapping her back. A small object shot out from the girl’s mouth and landed just before Okimodo’s feet. The girl immediately rolled on to her stomach heaving several relieved breaths.
“You idiot!” The older woman spoke in a disappointed tone. “What did I do to deserve such a stupid daughter.”
Okimodo squatted down to observe the object that came from the girl’s mouth. It was a turquoise marble, an object that was often mistaken for candy pearls which were a common candy consumed by people of all ages. It quickly became obvious to Okimodo that the girl had attempted to swallow the marble, believing it to be a delicacy. Kaiya who stood silently next to him couldn’t help but notice how well done the younger woman’s make up was. According to rumours there was a girl in the Ionoon school whose battle strength rivalled that of Ioseph. Her name was Asheyrah and she was said to be so talented that she advanced to the rank of older sister in just a single year. This girl was said to have pale skin, almost white blonde hair and a face caked in makeup. The descriptions of the make up itself matched on perfectly to what the girl in front of her was wearing. But this girl before her was in the midst of an embarrassing display. Surely it wasn’t her?
“What the hell were you thinking Asheyrah?” The older woman yelled in a fit not noticing the two observers.
Upon hearing that name, both Okimodo and Kaiya were lost for words. Okimodo himself took a second look at the girl, naturally he also had heard of Asheyrah in the past as well.
After catching her breath Asheyrah spoke. “I thought that merchant gave me pearl candy, I didn’t realise it was a marble until it was too late.”
“I had never thought there’d be a day when I’d witnessed an Ionoon school prodigy making such a childish misjudgment.” Okimodo said standing back up.
The two women immediately turned to face him and Kaiya with embarrassed and apologetic expressions.
Asheyrah immediately stood up and brushed herself off to little results. She looked at Okimodo and immediately recognised him as one of the two first timers that passed the rite of passage. In that moment she wanted to die and disappear from the world forever. To think that she’d embarrass herself like this infront of a prodigy.
“I’m so sorry!” The older woman apologised frantically. “Please ignore my daughter’s behaviour, it’s unbecoming of a woman of the Azurai clan.”
Beside her Asheray simply stared at the two youths awkwardly not knowing what to say or do.
Okimodo decided to spare them of any jokes and immediately get to the point. “There’s a vengeful spirit on the loose. It appeared last night seeking out the Azurai clan residence. Go and report this to the clan head or elders immediately.”
The two Ionoon school women freezed briefly upon hearing the news before they both snapped out their dazes and ran towards the clan palace immediately.
With the vengeful spirit situation handled, Okimodo quickly began to ponder over his future plans. Having passed his rite of passage, the next step was for him to receive his shang rokai robe and immediately seek out jobs.
The Azurai clan was a mercenary clan whose vast wealth had been accumulated over the centuries through various war related exploits. After passing the rite of passage Azurai boys were all ranked according to their achievements and reviews. New shang rokai such as Okimodo himself were at the bottom of the pecking order and so would generally receive the jobs with the lowest prestige. His plan for the day was to head home to receive his robe from his father and then immediately leave to do some low ranking mercenary jobs. While there were plenty of friends he wished to brag to and countless ways he wanted to celebrate his advancement into adulthood, Okimodo was not interested in doing such things. The life of the shang rokai was rough and filled with competition.
“Where are we going now?” Kaiya put her hands behind her back and leaned forward as she looked up at the boy she was infatuated with.
Okimodo gave her a slight smile but didn’t answer her question. The days when he could walk around idly with friends ended the instant Shimpacha declared his passing of the rite of passage. He knew that if he wanted to achieve the greatness he sought after in life he would have to lock in on the first opportunities that presented themselves. This also meant that any distractions had to be avoided, including those of a more primal nature.
“I’ll see you later Kaiya.” Okimodo sighed before vanishing into fin air.
“Wait!” Kaiya yelled out fruitlessly. Her right hand grabbed at heartless air in front of her searching for something she wanted but couldn’t have for herself.
End of chapter 19: