Hisa wound the balatma tendril another turn about a wooden wheel that had kept constant tension over the last few hours.
Each turn caused Ema’s closed eyes to crease in pain, her pallid face contorting in spasms. She fought a relentless battle to shield her mind from the parasite, whether awake or asleep.
Masahide gently took her hand and said, “I should have saved you faster. I didn't know how much you meant to me.” He turned to Hisa. “What can I do?”
Hisa gave one more crank. “I can help her. You need to be out there, fighting. Bring Akitomo to justice. You watched him kill a knight in an iron maiden. He’s rigging tournaments. And this Black Order needs to be brought down.”
“But what if she dies? “
“If she loses the battle before I can remove it, she will become a balatma.”
“I must help. Tell me something I can do. Everything else can wait a moment.”
“Alright. You can enter her mind and help her fight the parasite, but it has dragged her dreams into Everywhen, so if you die, it's a true death. You won’t have your rings or sword. You will be helpless.”
“That’s fine.”
Hisa brought out a figurine of an elephant, which sat in the palm of her hand. “You two will need to be naked and under the covers,” she said. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not a pervert. Well, not in this case.”
Masahide removed his clothes and folded them beside the bed. He sliced Ema’s shirt as it couldn’t be pulled over the tendril. Being trapped in the tower had slightly softened the lines of her body. He crawled in beside her, and the blanket blocked the crisp mountain air, and he waited.
Hisa raised the elephant, and an ethereal blanket fell on him. A weight pushed their bodies into the mattress. A thin green light pulsed from her hand with a low vibration. “You must find the parasite and make her realize what it is. She must do the fighting.”
His vision was a pond reflection, and the waters warped the world crazily as the spell disturbed it. He struggled as he tried to piece reality back together in his mind, but like shattered glass, nothing fit.
Then, all was sane.
He was in the forest under a blue sky, standing in the middle of the road. A cart bounced past him with a canvas tarp over the back. An arm stuck out from under it. It was a cart of bodies.
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Worse, Ema was gone. He’d expected to travel to Everywhen with her, but she was nowhere to be seen. He had to find her.
He hiked up the road beside the ruts and entered a town. The well and the bridge felt familiar, and he realized it was Wythmere. Of course, this was Ema’s home before she decided to join Whitebeard, Kichi, and him to Dunaguard.
A robust woman tossed a bucket of dirtied water and wiped a hand on her apron. “Go on, Sir, and find another town. No one will let you stay here on account of a plague that came through a few weeks ago.”
He turned from her and searched for the Lion Cave, where he first saw Ema. Why did it feel like years ago when it had just been weeks?
He had been so sure of his destiny as a knight, and he’d had full faith in the twelve orders. But were they all like the Black? Does each spawn from those like the Duke? He had uncertainty now.
“Hey, Sir. You look like a knight. The voice came from a gangly girl with a basket and a doll. The doll was a sad thing of fabric and rope.
Masahide decided he’d try to lie. “I’m not a knight.” The words came out. This place wasn’t the same as the world he’d left. It abided by a different set of rules. “Aren’t you a little old for dolls?”
She looked down. “Maybe, but I have no one left to talk to. Everyone’s in bed or gone.”
The look on her face broke his heart, but he reminded himself she wasn’t real. “I’m looking for a woman named Ema. Do you know her?”
“That’s a common name in my family. My mom, me, and my cousin are all named Ema.”
This Ema had a lot of freckles. He figured it was her cousin. “Can you bring me to your cousin?”
“She’s very sick. I’m trying to gather enough food to bring back. It’s my fault they’re so sick. I can’t find enough. I’m just going in circles.”
“I can help, but could you bring me to her first?”
“I suppose so.”
He followed the girl over the bridge and down the footpath, where a stream cut through a clearing of trees. Three houses stood there, with abandoned gardens and loose animals.
Ema shooed the chicken and went up to the front door of the closest house. “These are all my family's. Two of my uncles are woodcutters, and they built these houses.”
A stench wafted out when she opened the door, and he pulled his shirt over his mouth.
There were rows of people, and to his shock, many weren’t breathing. Some rolled their eyes toward him but didn’t have the strength to speak. A blade from a large knife or dagger had scrawled cursed on the wall.
The girl set down the basket and kneeled. “This is Ema right here.”
Masahide
Level: 34
Focus: Conjuring (conduit) +2
Secondary focus: Quake, Firequake tandem attack, spirit punch
Weapons: pure sword - 35% pure
Items: Heart of the Earth