Chapter 48: A Reflection of Spiritual Matters

Danson tapped the shoulder of a sect member and watched him freeze like his friends. He smiled at his work, and touched his earring, thinking about how genius Leyu truly was. The training he was undergoing was far from done, but between getting the earring and getting to this point, he had learned to use the curse to amplify his spells. If Leyu didn't expect that, the elf would be shocked. There was no way he'd be sent into battle with a curse upon him unless the Dadawe boy knew Danson could turn it into a weapon. He'd ask when this was all over, just to be sure, but before he could go forward he felt the buzz of his wanderer's note.

It was a message from Diana. The Astral Wraith that Kiara saw, and she had just battled a malevolent spirit possessed by it.

“The spirit was possessed?” Keigo replied.

“That’s the best way I can describe it. It definitely wasn’t a normal spirit one way or another, my detection sensed something else, like a corruption.”

“I mean, you don’t even have to prove it. People use gyo to fight spirits, but yours isn’t far along enough for you to win.”

"Rude! But yeah. When the spirit blew apart, the wraith disappeared and I sensed a fruit."

“A fruit?” Danson wrote.

“Yeah, except it felt like him too. In fact, I can sense him in two places right now. Back where we fought and somewhere else.”

Keigo asked, “Why go for a malevolent spirit in the first place?”

“I don’t know. It was kinda strong, but I feel like it could have been more dangerous, based on what you told me about spirits.” Diana answered.

It took a moment, but Kiara finally chimed in too. “What if it needed the spirit to make the fruit?”

“What do you mean?” Diana asked her.

“I only fought one wraith before…maybe… It was a woman and a big cat, there wasn’t any kind of fruit at all. The cat was attacking people all over the city, they thought it was a wild animal…but what if it was preying on them for a specific reason?”

The writing stopped for a moment as they all thought that over. Danson wondered if they were coming to the same conclusion. Maybe not Kiara, if her world was as lacking in magic as the stories went, but he was sure everyone else was thinking of only one thing that hunted like that.

“Vampires are real?” Kiara asked suddenly, and they could feel a blast of her surprise. “Shuraat just told me vampires are real. He said it sounds like a special kind of vampire. Vampires are real?”

That was the conclusion Danson was moving toward. Not quite that the wraiths were vampires, but that they acted like them in a way. He wrote, “You couldn’t encounter them in the Elven Kingdoms, but there were plenty in the east wing. There’s something about the taste of elven blood in particular that gets them intoxicated. Half-elves are often their favorite targets, and a blood drunk vampire is bad in the first place, worse when its drunk on elven blood.”

“You think the speckled beast was working like that then? Not just attacking people, but attacking people with a specific…” A pause. “...what?”

“Presence?” Diana offered. “Like, let’s consider some things. This thing could take over a spirit, use its powers, be as hard to damage as a spirit normally is. It’s like mind control.”

“Except spirits don’t really have minds, they’re born of energy. So it’s more like…controlling the intentions of that energy.” Keigo added. “If it can’t go around hunting people with a specific…” He paused.

"Signature? Like energy signature." Kiara started and they could feel her pen upon the paper until she thought better of it. "I guess I just mean like how reiki is different from mana and magyeon. It can’t eat the astral energy in people."

“So it controls a farming spirit, even a malevolent one, and grows its own.” Keigo continued and they felt Diana curse before she wrote it.

"So it's going to eat that fruit to get stronger!"

“The speckled beast attacked people who gave off astral energy…” The was an air of discovery to what Kiara wrote. “But this one can just grow its own. This feels really bad.”

“Maybe not as bad thanks to Diana. I can only sense one more strong spirit around here, and it seems invasive. Assuming the wraith isn’t possessing this one, it might not be able to use anything too weak. If it’s about energy, maybe a weaker spirit would be too small.”

“So what’s the plan?” Danson asked him.

“I’ll go after it. It needs to be exorcised one way or another.”

A few more cultists came into sight, and Danson was about to put his notebook away when a question came to mind. “By the way, does anyone know what’s going on? I can sense bursts of magic now and again, and when they happen I find new people to fight.”

"Oh, right!" Came a blast of surprise from Kiara. "I guess I'm still not used to using these because I forgot to mention that Chiaki has an ally that's controlling this place. I guess she's controlling us too. She's trying to make this fight work out."

Danson thought of the name before Diana wrote it with excitement, “A conductor!”

“But I don’t think we can reach her normally. She reached out to me and thought I was a dragon.” Kiara replied.

“That’s still good information. It means there should be no surprises.” Danson said.

"And it means that if I can sense this spirit ahead of me, she wants me to take it out," Keigo said. He must have put his notebook away, for the feeling of him leaving the page buzzed through Danson's mind.

“Should we figure out how to tell Tsukee too?” Kiara asked.

“No. I’m sure she’s been in more combat than the four of us combined. If she hasn’t figured it out already, she doesn’t need to know.” Danson answered.

“So what’s our plan?” Diana asked, and for a moment, he paused. It was clear he had to take out the people in front of him, and if it went as smoothly as last time, it’d be a simple feat.

“Fight forward, and see if we can figure out what that wraith is doing?” He offered.

“Right.” Came Diana.

“Okay.” Came Kiara.

He got the buzz of them leaving too and put his notebook away. As he approached the unwitting cultists, he wondered if Keigo would be the first to message back…

Keigo rushed toward his new target, half-wishing he had been a bit more honest. Technically he could sense at least four powerful spirits. The spirit of this domain, of course, somewhere where it couldn't fight. The one he rushed toward now. One he was sure was the work of Chiaki, which had only appeared for the briefest moment and made his blood run cold…and the one she probably called it for, the vestige of Yokumori that was attacking her right now. That was his fault, and definitely a part of what slowed this battle down. He didn't think the wraith would try to go for the vestige if it hadn't already, and if it tried it wouldn't work out. But to have such a threat still active against them could be bad, especially if Chiaki had to keep summoning spirits to fight it. He'd have to trust that she could wrap it up, he supposed, and trust that his friends would forgive him later.

His rush came to a stop as the spiritual presence grew closer, and he slid into a field of tall stalks. He peered through them at another boy. He was older, with a bronze skin tone that reminded Keigo of Pialla. His curling hair was that same shade of brown as hers, but his clothes said he came from a different island. Or maybe a different land altogether. He dressed in a slender fit with a telltale mark on his left sleeve—a compass rose, with a paw sitting at the southern point. A chain of reflective circles hung around his hips, and silver rings found a way to sparkle in the light of the domain. The boy looked around like he was lost for a moment, and sucked his teeth. Touching a clip on his ear, he let out a sigh.

"It's pointless." Came his smooth voice. "I feel like I've been walking in circles for a while now." He listened to whoever spoke back. "Man, I don't know. I think all we can do is keep trying. I'm sure the Cardinals will work something out." He laughed. "Pfft, how about you survive, nothing’s going to be killing me.” Another chuckle. “Alright, we’ll see! I’ll get back to you if something changes.” The conversation ended, and the boy sat on a stump.

This was clearly not a spirit, not in the sense of one holding a disguise nor in the sense that it was possessing a body. Spirits didn't tend to talk like that, and couldn't easily speak to anything like it was their friend. That meant this boy was a spirit's vessel, but even that didn't quite make sense. Why was a vessel working with the Yoshiki sect? He might have mistaken him for one of Chiaki's allies if he knew what was going on, but that conversation told Keigo enough. He produced his daggers and eased closer, looking for the right moment to strike, and caught his reflection in one of the plates on his hip. The boy looked toward him immediately, and even as Keigo tried to reposition, sure he hadn't really been spotted yet, olive eyes followed him through the brush.

“Give up, guy.” The boy called. “It’s too late to hide at this point.”

Keigo tried to fade, but even as his mirage went one way, the boy’s eyes followed him the other. He cursed. So the chain wasn’t just for show. He wouldn’t be able to play this off like he was a trapped victim either. That meant it was time for the direct approach. He pushed out of the stalks, and the boy gave him a big grin.

“Just a scary looking kid.”

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“Kid?” Keigo grimaced. “You’re not that much older than me.”

“There’s more than one way to tell if someone’s a kid.” The boy shrugged. “But I’m not about to talk to a kid about that.” He snickered.

"Well, while you're still talking. Why is a vessel working against spirits?"

He cackled. “Oh man! You must be from a good part of the spiritual community! There’s no way you’re asking that!”

Good? No, Keigo wouldn’t say that at all, but there was a way these things worked. No vessel had control without training. No vessel would be trained without understanding the importance of balance. He said as much to this boy and the snicker came back.

"It's Lalohett, by the way." The boy said. "My home isle was part of an archipelago east of the practitioner island, since you're curious. Small and unnoticeable. People came from there, but hardly went back." He stood. "The ones who'd never leave would always talk about the beautiful pond spirit, sacred to the island. She was bountiful, you know? Could take one loaf of bread and make it twenty. Could take one fish and make it a hundred. She was basically worshiped, and they used to tell us to keep our eyes on the pond. It was a big deal if we could see her. So when I saw her one day, when I was about six, I was screaming at the top of my lungs. I told my mom and dad and they told everyone, and there were lots of gifts and food because that meant they could get the spirit's bounty again! This old spiritualist dude started training me, and I spent six years of my life getting ready. Do you know what happened after that?"

His tone said it was nothing good.

"I spent another six years trapped in that spirit's domain! Those garbage backwater people trained me and celebrated me just to trap me with the spirit! Vessel? Pfft, sure! A vessel to channel its power through. The spirit needed a sacrifice and rewarded the village for it. I spent six years under the surface of a pond, interacting with reflections! I had no one. Nothing was real! And the worst part was that I wasn't the first. You know how many people become malevolent spirits in a situation like that? A lot! And the bounty disappears when a malevolent spirit kills the most recent host." He kicked dirt. "I spent all that time just trying to survive, while everyone else was living like they were rich. My training was only so I could survive, and I'd still be stuck there if it wasn't for the Yoshiki Sect."

Keigo frowned. That was the type of thing Spirit Guards were supposed to prevent, but Spirit Guards didn’t have a worldwide reach. Saying that to Lalohett would change nothing though, and probably only reinforce his allegiance. Still, Keigo had a question.

“So they did what they’re doing in this domain?”

“Damn right they did! The best part was seeing all those spirits wreak havoc on the village. Pay back was great.”

So same thing that Shuraat said. The sect invaded the domain and did something that let malevolent spirits get out. If it was as simple as weakening it, that wouldn't be enough. The spirits would have weakened too. This had to be more about thinning the border or maybe punching a hole in the domain. But what did that mean?

“I’m sure they didn’t come there to save you.”

Lalohett shrugged. “But I was saved, wasn’t I?”

“And why didn’t they just kill you?”

“Pfft, why would they?”

“You’re a witness. Even if you’re with them now, you were a wild card then. Hell, someone had to have responded to the malevolent spirit activity.”

Lalohett held Keigo’s eyes for a long moment, then smirked. “Oh, you’re phishing for information!” He laughed. “You’re trying to figure out what we’re doing, aren’t you? You’re in the dark and your messing with us? That’s crazy!”

So this interrogation was up then. Well, he got more than Lalohett knew. If he was trapped in a domain since he was a child, he likely didn't have a battler effigy. If his training was only meant to keep him alive, he probably didn't know how to use the spirit's power. Direct fights were always a gamble, but the odds seemed to be in his favor. He started conjuring an essence spark and watched it form a gem on his ring. He thought about what Leyu told him and made a hand sign.

“Oh, you’re going to try and seal me or something?” Lalohett went on guard.

Keigo needed to name his forms…He didn't like that. Diana would be better at this than him, but he couldn't contact her now. He laughed at the thought either way. There was no way they would come to an easy decision.

"Razor…" The essence spark grew. He supposed the name was accepted, except he still hadn't transformed. Did it need a trigger? "Henshin." It was like a bolt of lightning hit him, rolling over his body, electricity reshaping flesh. It was the quickest he had ever transformed, and before Lalohett could register what had happened Keigo was behind him, daggers falling toward his back.

He still hadn’t registered anything as they almost bit flesh, but his mirrors certainly did, spewing out a reflection that knocked the blades away. Keigo slid back and Lalohett jumped, turning to meet the cheetah form but moving all too slow. Keigo was behind him again by the time he turned around, this time kicking up dirt to blind the mirrors. He came in low as their glass went dark, blades upturned for the soft flesh of Lalohett’s back.

And then the boy was gone, without a drop of blood drawn. Keigo's eyes were following him though, watching as newfound speed sent him toppling away.

"Whoa, whoa…" He stumbled to a stop, his body transformed much the same. Keigo grimaced, and Lalohett laughed at his new claws. "You're a shapeshifter…and I can reflect your shape." He bore sharp teeth from ear to ear. "I thought I could only project reflections!" He shifted from right to left, finding his balance as he tested his speed. "And that look on your face? Oh man, you didn't expect this either. Bet you thought you could take me out real easy." He flashed forward, knee shooting up. "But disciples train with all the masters." He clocked Keigo in the chin, making his head snap back. Lalohett's arms came up and he struck with several swift blows. "I could say I'm a disciple of Yoshiki Ayaka, but I've been trained by Baroq too!" He kept at it, fast blows battering into the assassin's body.

Until they battered a mirage that quickly became air. Keigo came up behind him again, blade coming around, and Lalohett ducked and swung an arm up. With a backstep, Keigo was out of the way. With a duck, he dodged a whipping kick and threw shuriken. Reflections rose to knock those away, and the cultist shifted from left to right, grinning wide again.

“You can’t beat this.” He laughed. “I fight better. I got better defense. What can you do?” He came as Keigo conjured another essence spark.

If the transformation was as fast as it seemed, it’d pay off.

"Mercury! Henshin!" The flash, the lightning, and Lalohett's knuckles breaking against a suit of living armor.

The boy roared and slid back as Keigo turned his arm into an ax. Lalohett was still holding his bleeding hand as that heavy body moved. The ax came down and rebounded off a metallic shoulder, shocking them both as Lalohett gasped.

"Always a reflection," Keigo said. He still had the advantage of knowledge though, and used it, serrating his edge as he carved into Lalohett's chest. Unlike proper soul shifting, the form probably wouldn't come undone. Living Armor was just a type of slime, and at the heart of any slime was the core that kept it alive. He slashed and slashed, opening Lalohett's body up.

The boy swung his arms together and made a shield, pushing Keigo back, and turning his arm into a drill.

"I guess that's your weakness then!" He slammed the drill into Keigo's chest, tearing the metal away with ease.

It went through him, and Keigo punched through his chin with a pickaxe foot. The blow was far from fatal, but all too shocking, making the cultist stumble back even as his face opened to free it.

“Not fair…” He held his face as it stitched back together. Keigo ignored that for his still exposed core, his arm turning into a spear as he stabbed.

And Lalohett was gone.

Lalohett was gone and alarm bells were ringing loud as Keigo looked around him. Why was he gone? How was he gone? The strength of living armor was that it was dense and could shift into anything, but the weakness was that it was too slow for evasion. So, how was he gone? Something tore a deep gash down his back and as he turned, it tore up his body. Too slow to track, he watched pieces of him come out again and again, trenches ripping out of him.

"Where are you hiding it!" Lalohett's voice followed the carving of new scars. "You can move it, right? That's why it wasn't in your chest." He carved and carved, searching for Keigo's core. With this speed, the assassin wondered: had this boy combined both of those forms? "Where is it!" Lalohett shouted and Keigo let the drill tear through his head. He caught Lalohett's arm just then and confirmed it. Most of him was that spotted feline body, but his arms seemed coated in a layer of liquid metal.

A fast kick came up and sent Keigo rolling back.

Lalohett was gone again, but where shock filled Keigo before, amusement filled him now.

Without proper training, simply through survival instinct alone, this poor vessel had used his power to make a chimera transformation. It wasn't perfect, and hardly the combo Keigo would have used if he could, but between the two forms he had taken already, this was more than enough. The speed of the cheetah, the strength and versatility of living armor. The only advantage Keigo had was that he could move his core, but his body was thinning fast. His options were thinning faster, though. Several forms flashed through his head and none of them would make this chimera worthless. Except maybe one. Never used. Worthless without a deeper transformation. Failure meant a loss, but he supposed he was walking that road either way.

He brought his hands together, moving them swiftly through hand seals. His spirit felt charged, in motion. He added one more essence spark to his ring. That made three. Do or die. “Jester. Henshin!” A flash, lightning, a transformation in mere seconds. He didn’t get the chance to marvel at his scaly yellow skin, the black feathers upon his head, or the frills going down his arm. Lalohett stabbed and the drill went through him, spewing bits of his heart onto the ground.

“Bad choice, I guess!” He heard him laugh as his body fell forward.

He hit the ground fast and his eyes closed slowly.

They snapped back open, and he felt the drill punch through him again.

“Bad choice, I guess!” The same words, the same laugh, the same feeling of grass beneath his body.

Eyes closed and shot open and he was on his feet again, folding forward, ducking as the drill flew. He turned and stabbed up for the boy's chest. His head danced through the air away from his body, and again Lalohett laughed.

“Bad choice, I guess.”

And again Keigo was back on his feet, folding, turning, jumping back away from a whipping kick. He threw a knife for Lalohett’s neck and felt a blade slash fast through his head. The top of it didn’t even hit the ground when his vision faded and he was on his feet again.

The dance repeated, a few more steps finding their way in. He only ever had a chance to strike before a second attack came, but he went through his arsenal for the one that'd do it. How many times did he die? How many times did the magic of this lizardfolk save him, snatching him away from the jaws of death, giving him one more chance to carve a path that didn't lead to his end? Stabbed. Gutted. Bisected. Brained. Skull pierced. Chest pierced. Neck torn. Chest caved in. Death came so quickly that they blended together. It came so quickly, he learned to accept it. Death came so quickly that he almost missed it when it didn't, when a spear filled his hand and ran through Lalohett's body.

A deep gash tore down his own, but the magic only undid death. It wouldn’t undo Lalohett’s though, as he stared down at the spear, blood gushing from his mouth, his power fleeing him so fast that he couldn’t even maintain the form.

“How?” He sputtered.

No answer would satisfy him. No answer would take it back. Keigo could give a full history of the lizardfolk—the sauryl—how they came into their power, and how they had to actively awaken it, but unless he knew how and reflected Keigo now, it wouldn’t matter. It was like knowing how to move your core. Some things came with the essence of the form.

"Bad choice, I guess." Keigo ripped the spear back and watched the boy fall over.

A hand went under him, trying to push him up, only to slip on blood and make him hit the ground again.

“How…?” He gasped, tears in his eyes and Keigo bowed his head.

He stayed there through several more how’s each one weaker, some replaced with why. He watched the life leave Lalohett’s eyes and closed them, then undid his form.

With a sigh, his note came out and he sent off the message.

"The wraith wasn't here." It said, and he continued on, wishing he didn't have to be the end of Lalohett’s life...

[Chapter 48 ends…]