Brave Story (94 page)

Wataru turned his eyes beyond the town walls to look out on the vast grasslands surrounding Gasara. Here and there, he could see outcroppings of rock in between darker patches where copses stood. Everything was dyed a dark pink by the setting sun, still and silent at the ending of the day. A flock of birds like dark specks shot across the sky, disappearing toward the forest in the distance.

Wataru took a deep breath, resting his elbows on the railing, and looked up at the night sky.

The Blood Star.

It shone a brilliant crimson. Yet, perhaps on account of the twilight, it did not look so ominous tonight. If Wataru reached out and plucked it from the night sky, it would make a nice pendant for Meena.

Wataru stared at it for a long time, trying not to blink. The Blood Star winked first. Wataru felt like it was smiling at him.
What are you so worried about, boy?

Wataru, Kee Keema, and Meena had come back to Gasara after their confrontation with Mitsuru in Sono. Once it became clear that Wataru would become one of the sacrifices, there was nothing to do but wait. And if that was to be his fate, Wataru wanted to wait here, in the first town he had come to in Vision, where he had met his friends, where he had taken the Highlander’s oath.

Meena had cried a lot on the road from Sono. Kee Keema had been silent for the most part, and it seemed like his darbaba, too, was grumpier than usual.

Wataru asked Meena to sing for him. She had always sung earlier on in their trip, swinging back and forth on the darbaba cart. Meena nodded and began to sing in her beautiful voice. But before she could finish her first song, her voice choked, and she veered off key.

Then Wataru tried to sing. He would attempt one of Meena’s songs, or sometimes, he would sing a song he remembered from the real world.

Back in Gasara, Kee Keema reunited with the other darbaba drivers and went out on patrol with the Highlanders. Meena worked with the dog-eared doctor at the small hospital in town. Wataru once again started working for Kutz, going on patrols like Kee Keema or helping Trone with his paperwork.

“Been busy of late. Haven’t had much time to sift through all these files,” Trone explained, though it was clear he just didn’t like doing paperwork. But he did enjoy making others do his paperwork for him.

After their return, Wataru told Kutz everything. He wasn’t expecting any sympathy. He just wanted her to know the details, so that she would be prepared when word got out that he was to be chosen.

As expected, Kutz didn’t seem particularly concerned. “Understood,” she said simply. “Living in a lodge isn’t very comfortable, I’d imagine. Why don’t you move in here. There’s a storeroom on the second floor; you can clean it up and stay there if you like. If you need anything else, just tell Trone, and he’ll get it for you.”

And that was all.

When the time comes.
Kutz said it as though she were talking about going shopping for groceries or making an appointment. After that, she made not a mention of Halnera or the sacrifice—which Wataru took to be her way of showing that she cared.

Wataru had climbed the watchtower because he wanted to see the Blood Star from as close as possible.
I’m not scared
—which was a lie, but he had made his peace with what was to come. He wanted to let the Blood Star know.
Maybe it is a lie. Maybe I really am frightened.
He wasn’t sure himself. That’s why he felt he had to say it. If he stood up there, looked the Blood Star in the eye, and was able to say it, it would become true. A least, he hoped it would.

It had already been eight days since their encounter with Mitsuru in Sono. He was probably already in the north by now. Try as he might, there was no way Wataru could hope to catch up. Two minus one was one. That’s all he could think about. In fact, he made himself think about it. There was nothing else for him to do.

Above his head, the Blood Star winked and sparkled. Its rhythm seemed steady, no alteration in the pattern. When would Halnera end?
It sure is taking her a long time to choose her other sacrifice.

“Oh?” The tower guard grunted suddenly, walking over to put a hand on the top of the ladder. “To what do we owe this unexpected honor?”

It was Kutz. She had three steps left to climb on the ladder, but instead of taking the guard’s outstretched hand, she jumped up, springing over the railing to land on top of the platform. The black leather whip hanging at her waist shone with a lustrous gleam in the twilight. For those who didn’t know the considerable skill with which she wielded it, the weapon might have looked like nothing more than a curious fashion statement, so well did it match her leather attire.

“I came to watch the sunset. I get romantic sometimes too, you know.”

Kutz had changed the style of her hair while Wataru was away from Gasara. Previously cut short, her hair now came down over her neck. She looked good. Her right shinguard and the firewyrm band on her left wrist served as crimson accents to her otherwise black leather garb.

“What’s with you? You look shocked,” Kutz chided, with her hand at her waist and her head tilted. “Stunned by my beauty, is that it? I should think you’d be used to it by now.”

Wataru blushed. He had been stunned, it was true. Kutz was beautiful, there was no denying it. If he hadn’t come to Vision, Wataru was sure he never would have met a woman as gorgeous, and as capable, as she was.

She turned to the guard who stood chuckling at the edge of the platform. “I’d like to have a few words with the boy here. Can I borrow your post awhile?”

“Of course,” the guard nodded. Picking up his copper megaphone, he passed it to Wataru. “Then I’ll let you hold on to this while you’re here.”

“Right. I’ll let you know if I see anything.”

“That’ll do just fine,” the guard said, disappearing down the ladder.

Kutz walked over and leaned her elbows on the railing. She looked out over the grasslands in the fading light. “This your first time up here?”

“Yes.”

“Great view, isn’t it? I think this is my favorite spot in town.”

“I like it too.”

“You should see the sunrise. Even when it’s raining, or there’s a mist, the view from here never disappoints.”

Kutz shook her head, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and looked up at the night sky. “I was born in a small frontier town in the mountains. Nothing but fields cut into the mountainside and a few simple huts in the middle of a little forest. I remember when I first came out to Gasara and saw the grasslands. What a shock that was. I never imagined the world could be so vast.”

This was the first time Kutz had ever spoken of her home. Wataru wondered if she had left by herself. How old had she been? Did she have some reason for leaving?

Kutz didn’t say anything else. She and Wataru stood side by side in comfortable silence. After some time had passed, Kutz suddenly spoke. “Got a lot of nerve, don’t you.”

Wataru spun around. “What?”

“Not you. That,” she said, pointing a finger at the Blood Star hanging in the northern sky. “Shining all pretty up there like a jewel. Too high up for anyone to grab and put in its place.”

Wataru smiled. “I bet your whip might just be able to reach it.”

“I’ve got half a mind to try,” Kutz said, her hand going down to the hilt of the whip quelled at her belt. Then she grinned and looked at Wataru.

Her eyes weren’t smiling. They were frighteningly serious. The smile faded from Wataru’s face.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she said, making it sound like less of a question and more of a confirmation.
I know how you’ll answer, I’m just making sure.

“Yeah…I think.”

“You give up easy.”

Wataru shrugged. “I guess I feel like there’s nothing I can do, so why bother?” Wataru hunched his shoulders, thrusting his hands in his pockets. His fingers brushed the edge of the wyrmflute. “On the road back to Gasara I was tempted a few times to call Jozo and try my chances at following after Mitsuru. I could get to the north if I was riding on a dragon. But even if I did catch up with Mitsuru, I don’t think I could beat him. His magic is too powerful.”

And Wataru was one gemstone behind.

“In any case, I’m too late. I have to accept my fate—and not worry about it so much.”

Kutz stood with her arms folded in front of her. Her leather vest bulged out above her arms. Wataru stared, then blushed, and hurriedly continued, “I’m not one of many, like whoever the sacrifice from Vision is to be. I’m only one of two. I guess that makes it easier to accept.”

Kutz said nothing. Pulling a cigarette from her vest pocket, she lit it with a match, puffing in the twilight.

“Also…I don’t think I’ve told anyone this before, but the whole reason I came here to Vision in the first place was thanks to my friend—the other Traveler, Mitsuru. That’s not all. If he hadn’t come to save me, I would’ve died. Twice—once in the real world and once in Vision. He saved my life.”

When Mom turned the gas on in the apartment and when I was being dragged to the guillotine at Triankha Hospital.
“I owe him a debt. Maybe this is how I can repay that debt.”

Kutz took a drag on her cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. Then she stabbed it out on the railing, twirling the butt between her fingers. “You know,” she said, her tone suddenly changing. She was staring out over the grasslands. “I don’t care to hear your excuses.”

It’s not excuses, that’s how I really feel.
Wataru was going to protest, but something in Kutz’s voice made him hold back.

“I won’t ask if you’re scared of being sacrificed. I don’t care if you’re fine leaving Kee Keema and Meena to mourn, or if you’re happy not meeting the Goddess. You came here to Vision to change your fate. If you become the sacrifice, you won’t be able to do that. I won’t stand here and ask you if you’re okay with that.”

Her words were strong and she spoke with no hesitation. “You left your mother in the real world when you came here. You won’t ever be able to see her again. Right now, she’s worried to death, and she’ll never know what happened to you. She’ll wait for you and waste the rest of her life in loneliness. But I won’t ask how you can stand to do such a thing to your mother.”

You are asking.
Pain stabbed at Wataru’s heart.

“You’re a smart kid. Brave too.” Kutz praised him in angry tones. “That’s why I’m sure you’ll have a suitable answer no matter what I ask. I’m sure your answers will be satisfactory. After all, you’ve had plenty of time to convince yourself. You’ve had lots of practice.”

Wataru was silent. He felt like she was expecting him to say something, but he couldn’t find anything worth saying.

Darkness slid over dusk, and the brightness in the sky gave way to the deepening violet of night. Whereas moments before the only light in the sky had been the Blood Star, now other stars appeared around it.

Her back to the starry sky, Kutz faced Wataru and looked him straight in the eye. “There is one question I would have your answer to.”

Wataru swallowed and took a step back.

“Are you just going to let Mitsuru go?”

“Let him go?”

“Are you just going to let him get away with this?”

Wataru blinked, uncomprehending. “What do you mean? What is he getting away with?”

“What isn’t he getting away with!” Kutz slapped the railing with the palm of one hand. “Think about it. What has he done? What is he doing? At Triankha Hospital, in Sono, he used his magic to kill dozens, maybe hundreds of people. The port town of Sono lies in shambles because of him. What do you think about that?”

Wataru was flustered. It felt like the carefully laid pieces of armor he had put over his heart were coming undone. “B-but…”

“But what?”

“At Triankha—he had to do that. He was up against those fanatics. If he hadn’t struck back, they would’ve killed him, and neither of us would’ve been able to get out of the magic barrier they created.”
And… and…
Wataru’s mind raced, looking for more excuses. “He’s done good things too. Like in Maquiba. He used his magic to put out a wildfire there. If the fire had been left to burn, the whole town would have been ruined.”

But then Wataru remembered how Mitsuru had turned down the Precept-King of Dela Rubesi’s request. He simply didn’t have time, he said. Yet he did find the fugitive—not to capture him but to use him to cross to the north.

“If he’s such a powerful magician, then I’m sure he could have found more subtle means to achieve his ends. If he wanted to, I’m sure he could have found a way without hurting and killing people from Vision and destroying our towns. Why didn’t he?”

Wataru took a step back. Kutz pressed on. “Let me answer for you. It’s because this Mitsuru kid doesn’t care a lick about Vision. As long as he reaches the Tower of Destiny and meets the Goddess, he’s happy to leave and never look back. I doubt he’d ever set foot in our world again. That’s why he thinks it doesn’t matter whom he hurts or what trouble he causes. Even if he should leave a mountain of corpses in his wake—as he has—who cares? Advancing toward his goal by the fastest possible means is paramount to all other concerns.”

Kutz reached out, grabbing Wataru by the shoulder. “And you’re okay with this? Do you think what he’s doing is right?”