After the first trial, many of the contestants grabbed lunch in one of the mess halls or went to their rooms where they presumably had it brought to them. Maria grabbed Yama’s hand and dragged him to lunch, a large bowl of steak soup for her and several steaks without the soup for him. I showed Kano up, Yama thought happily, allowing himself three cookies for his victory. Beside him, Maria descended on a chocolate cake like a pirate on a ship stranded in space; ruthlessly and with a great deal of one-sided banter.
When the cake was no more, Maria les Yama to her suite. A stack of books rested on her table, rising to Yama’s navel and stuck from bottom to top with a rainbow of notes. Horse Physiology: A Primer, Metanalysis of Horse Racing, Tatan Steeds and Breeds: A History of Excellence. “Did you bring all of these books with you?”
Maria shook her head. “No. I scoured the lord’s library and took these. I must say the pictures are quite great.”
Yama opened one to a drawing of a muscled horse leg. “Indeed. It’s also in Tatan.”
“And?” she asked. It’s Tatan, not some dead language. It was quite helpful in choosing a horse.”
“Perhaps I will take it with me to pick mine,” Yama said. “Now how are we going to do this examination?”
“If you would please strip to your underwear, that would be a start.” Maria retrieved her dex. “Do you care if I take pictures, for my own study?”
Yama shrugged and began to strip. Purely scientific. “I better not see my package on the dex-net, I have secrets to protect.”
“Let me guess, you use a scoop and a half of whey instead of a scoop?” She giggled. “That’s what Orphiel says at least.” She strode to Yama’s side and began to take pictures of Yama’s arms. “Flex, please.”
Several poses later, Maria finally stepped back from the brute and grabbed her laptop. “So, you know Tatan?”
Yama nodded. “Uni, Nimese, Aurcourian, Atlasian, Pharan, Nerconorian, Tata, and Far-north,” he rattled off. Mother said it would get me far in life.”
Maria nodded. “I’m sure, certainly has expanded what jobs I can take and”—she smiled as she scrolled through pictures—”I like cursing people in their own tongue.”
The giant turns to the girl. (I’m sure she just told me that so I’d do well in language class. I think she’d be ecstatic that I know eight languages more if you count all the variants of Northern.) Before she can respond, he’s turned back form his work, and she sighs happily before settling into her chair.
“Seeing anything in those pictures?”
“Well, it’s certainly different than Orphiel’s,” Maria mumbled. “Would you mind if I took some blood from you as well? If it helps, it most certainly won’t end up on the dex-net.”
Yama nodded and Maria retrieved a large plastic syringe from a nearby bag. A minute later as she pulled the needle from his arm, a knock came from the door. “I’ll get it,” the giant said while Maria dug through her bags to retrieve another device.
Opening the door revealed Ginevra, dressed in black leggings and a purple shirt, with a purple hooded cloak over the entire getup. “It’s Walker!”
“How lovely! I’ll put some tea on!”
“Actually, I’m here for you,” Ginevra glanced down and smile, “once you get some pants on, that is.”
Looking down, Yama realized he was still in his underwear. “One minute,” he mumbled before he shut the door. “She’s here for me, for some reason.”
“Use protection!” Maria called out as Yama made his way back to the door, stumbling as he tried to line his feet up with his pant legs as he walked.
Ginevra was grinning when Yama returned to her, and he pretended Maria hadn’t said what she had. “What do you want?” he asked as gruffly as he could, betrayed by the small giggle that followed after his words.
“None of that right now. There’s something I think you might want to see since you fought Temujin and are now dogged on serving his son.” Yama frowned. “Nothing to do with the marriage, if that helps.”
Yama relaxed his scowl. “Where to?” he asked, closing the door behind him. “The great hall? Should be able to find that one without issue.”
“No. Me, Asha, and Bri are all investigating something in the castle and didn’t want to ask one of the other guys for some muscle given that most of them are more toxic than vats of radioactive sludge.”
Yama stopped. “No. I’m not getting involved in whatever business the princess has put you up to.”
Ginevra shook her head. “It’s separate from that. Kinda.”
“What is it?”
Ginevra sighed. “We think there’s something here, a relic of sorts that Temujin was using to empower his raiders. I figured it’d be something that you’d know about and be interested in.”
So that’s why Brianna was mapping the halls. “You have my interest, but I’m not working against the khan,” Yama said, entering the hall and closing the door behind him. Could be soon when the Ganzorigs are my enemies once again, he reasoned, disgusted at how he was thinking. Otganbayar was his host, and until the khan betrayed that trust, such thoughts had no place in his mind. I need to keep an eye on those three if they are planning against the khan. “Lead the way.”
Ginevra nodded, but Yama saw her roll her eyes. “Of course. We’re not even sure if it is what or where we think it is,” she said. “Temujin was a great leader, I won’t deny that, but he was playing with more than the full deck when it came to his armies.”
“And what do you think it is the khan has?”
She clicked her tongue, turning a corner. “Not the khan so much as his captain,” she said. “If it’s what Bri thinks it is, it could land the khan and the rest of the western edge in deep shit. You fought them; imagine them back and tougher than they were before.”
Tensions reigniting is the last thing anybody needs, Yama reasoned, Otganbayar especially. Any goodwill this tournament brings him will be put to pasture if the war in the west is back on next week. He remembered the man he had shot and how their skin grew back, the remembered all the men like that one he had shot. His knees creaked at the thought of going back to something worse than that, all his extra cartilage doing fuck all. “Not sure how that’s possible when taking the smallest of Temujin’s depots felt like sieges sometimes.”
Ginevra nodded. “Varden said as much, that every engagement was a war in itself.”
Yama raised a brow. “Who?”
Ginevra waved her hand dismissively. “Another Blade of Nightfall,” she said. “Bri seems to think whatever gave them the boost is in this castle.” Ginevra stopped at a door before rapping on it five times. “Bri, Let us in!”
A crash was be heard before Brianna came to the door, panting. “Oh, you managed to get Yama here. Right this way, Asha is waiting for us,” Brianna said before she led the duo to her own sitting room. Arranged on the tables were several beakers, burners, and cylinders, all with some concoction or other inside. “Don’t mind the clutter,” she said, as if every other step wouldn’t set the room on fire. “Oh, nice work with the stones Kikuchi.”
“He’s here. Good,” Asha said, still dressed in her clothes from the trial. “Seems we won’t need one of your potions after all Brianna.” Nonetheless, Brianna turned off all her burners before grabbing one of the vials and putting a plastic stopper in it.
Once everyone was sat, Brianna pulled up a map on her laptop. “The pink lines are what we’ve tracked through the nights that we’ve been here and the blue lines are what I managed to scrap together from some old floor plans,” Brianna explained. “Red squares are locked doors.”
Ginevra tapped a red square with no blue lines around it. “We all found this one, right?”.
Asha and Brianna nodded. “Yea. It’s an elevator that doesn’t work,” Asha said. “Or what looks like elevators doors. They won’t budge.”
“That’s why you wanted me,” Yama chimed in, drawing nods from all. “Look, I can open a door but if I’m going to be sneaking around under the khan’s nose, I want to know just what it is that we might be looking for.”
Brianna brought up another tab before expanding it to show a grape sized red gem with wisps spiraling around it. “An Eitri stone,” Brianna said. “Supposed to be formed from the very first energies at the start of the world.”
Yama scoffed. “That’s just a tag line. I’ve seen thousands of Eitri stones”—he made air quotes—”and they all turn out to just be another mid-level alterial battery. Now, those are always a pain in the ass, but it’s not like every empire or warlord worth the title isn’t popping them like candy.”
“Temujin had his best men guarding it when it was on the battlefield, entire camps worth of spec ops guys,” Ginevra said. “Choibal II, Nalaikh Minor, Ölgii IV, some of the worst fighting in the past decade and change, it was always there.”
And Yama had been there as well, each city that Ginevra listed more of a hellish slog than the next. Temujin’s raiders hadn’t started off being able to regrow their face at Choibal II, but they had worked their way up to it by Dharkan’ undercity, perfected it years later. Would Otganbayar’s soldiers just give the Nine Deaths both barrels altogether if they were allowed a few more years of practice? “You know this, how?” Yama asked, a deep furrow rippling across his brow like a seismic tremor. If he had gone through all that shit and Janus had been able to stop it…there wouldn’t be enough number jockeys or lawyers to stop him from wringing their board of directors like a washcloth.
Ginevra shrugged. “The Blades spent a lot of time tracking his moves. Janus wanted to know what he was up to.”
Yama’s eyes darted between Brianna and Ginevra. “Did Janus send both of you?”
Brianna shook her head. “No. I came searching for the rock to confirm its existence and she was”—Ginevra glared at Brianna—”hired.”
For who? Yama’s mind race back to the night before, only to remember Asha hadn’t been at dinner. “Whatever. Let’s get going,” Yama said before leaving the room, women in tow.
“Anybody else looking for what you’re looking for?” Yama asked as they walked.
“None that I know of,” Brianna said. “But if word got out, I could see Kano starting to search for it.”
“Becker too,” Ginevra chimed in. “And if Maria found out, I have no doubt she’d try to secure it for the Bone Father.”
“And she’ll get Orphiel on board,” Asha added. “We’d like to keep this under wraps, Kikuchi.”
So why bring me on? Yama wondered; Dumb, big, ugly, nobody had ever accused Yama Kikuchi of being stealthy. “Do the Tatans know?”
“I’m sure Batu at least has an inkling,” Brianna said as they came upon the door they had pointed out earlier. “And I’m sure Bolor is in the loop.”
Ginevra scoffed. “Especially if Batbayar has told him what’s up. She pushed open the door, revealing two slabs of grey metal, ten feet high and both wider than Yama was tall.”
Yama pointed to a plate with several buttons adjacent to the doors. “Have you guys tried pressing the open button?”
“Ha ha ha,” Ginevra said mockingly before she pressed one and nothing happened. “That’s why we need you to wedge them apart.”
“Treating me like a piece of meat,” Yama muttered, wedging his fingers into the plastic dividing the doors. “I am billing these hours by the way.”
The divide was narrow, but the metal crumpled ever so slightly. Yama thrust his fat fingers into the narrow space, wedging the slabs apart and revealing…another set of slabs.
Ginevra nearly stomped her foot through the ground. “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!”
“You’re not the one moving these things,” Yama said through metered breaths, looking around for some fire extinguisher to douse his arms with. “For what it’s worth,” he said after he had wedged two more rows of slabs apart, “my rate is going up.”
“That’s got to be six inches of steel,” Brianna said. “Must be something important behind there.”
Asha raised her hand and spoke before anyone could call on it. “And how are we going to keep this secret, exactly?”
“I’m not sure,” Brianna muttered, pulling out the potion she had made. “Kikuchi, do you need a potion?”
Yama took it and downed the contents. Earlier on the fifth stone, his muscle and skeleton had simply tried to leave his skin, but now Yama’s body was going to run a race naked if he didn’t find some other avenue to expend the influx of energy. Shit, it might start sprinting regardless. The giant dug his hands into the slabs and pulled them apart like a swimmer scooping water. Ten more slabs parted for the Nimese brute, and Yama had to catch himself lest he tumble down the stairs that were revealed. Fire raced up and down his arms and Yama was glad the next challenge was horse racing; he didn’t want to think about his arms for another day, let alone do anything the useless sacks of flesh.
“Nice job Kikuchi!” Brianna exclaimed, striding past Yama. Asha followed behind and pressed a button near the parted slabs, closing them.
“So that covers up us being here. Asha leaned over the stair railing. “How deep do you think it goes?”
“Could be miles,” Brianna said with a sigh. “We are at the top of the city after all.”
“Top of the titty,” Ginevra said under her breath, drawing a smile from Yama and eye rolls from Asha and Brianna.
“City curvature aside”—Asha glared at Ginevra when she snickered at curvature—”we don’t know where this goes and we need some way of getting back here.”
“I can phase through the slabs if we need to get back in,” Ginevra suggested.
“Why didn’t you just do that?” Yama asked.
Ginevra’s eyes narrowed. “Because I didn’t know if anything was beyond it, duh,” she explained. “Wouldn’t want to phase my body into the slabs.”
Fair enough. “Then why don’t you go down the dark stairway and if there’s any creepy crawlies you can phase back up here.”
Brianna pulled a vial of thick, white liquid from her pocket, and Ginevra backed away like it was the plague. “I’m not drinking that.”
“You don’t drink it,” Brianna shook the vial in her hand, causing it to glow. “Sun in a bottle, or a vial, in this case.”
“Thanks,” Ginvera said nervously, taking the vial with two fingers before unclasping her cloak and handing it to Asha. “Don’t want it getting dirty down there. Keep it warm for me, will you?” Ginevra asked before beginning her descent.
Asha threw the cloak over her shoulders and brought up the hood. “How does it feel?” Brianna asked.
“Surprisingly warm.” Asha unclasped it and let it fall into her hand. “Want to try?”
Brianna nodded like her head was on a piston. “Yes!” She threw it around her shoulders for a moment before looking up at Yama. “Do you want to try?”
Yama scoffed. “It’s a bit small.”
Asha lightly hit Brianna on the shoulder. “Don’t need him taking this cloak from us,” she said, eliciting a giggle from Brianna. “Say, Kikuchi, why are you here?”
“I’m here for Kano. I’m going to show him up in every event there is, and then when we fight, I’ll kill him for the whole universe to see.”
Asha raised an eyebrow. “Business?”
“Business,” Yama said, drawing a smile from Asha. Although I can’t say I won’t take pleasure in what has been done or what will be done. “I’ve told you mine, now you tell me yours.”
Brianna looked at Asha and chuckled nervously but Asha merely grinned back at Yama. “Just because you wear your emotions and motives on your sleeves”—Asha rubbed her bare forearms—”doesn’t mean I do. You want to find out, big man, make yourself useful and show that you can look past all those tenets of yours to do what actually needs to be done.”
Before Yama could say anything, Ginevra appeared between the two as a quickly-focusing purple hologram. “Oi, Kikuchi, need you down there,” Ginevra said, jerking her head down the stairs before running back down.
The steps ended a silent three minutes later. A tunnel cut 20 feet into some deeper part of the castle before being stopped by a stone—twice as tall as Yama—like a cork. Carved into the rock were several red glyphs with extravagant curves, swooshes, and loops. Don’t know this one, Yama conceded as he looked the glyphs over. I’ll need to amend that. ”Nowhere to move it.”
“I’d need a lot of acid to cut a path,” Brianna added.
Asha stepped cautiously to the stone and ran her hand over one of the glyphs. “Looks like Sultanii glyphs, old ones.”
Ginevra crossed her arms. “Do you know what they say?”
Asha shook her head. “No, but I’ll bet my bottom zenith there’s something in the khan’s library.”
“Temujin was known for his library that he filled with tomes he looted,” Brianna said before quietly adding, “after all the rape and pillage.”
Yama scoffed. “Doubt he ever got around to reading them.”
“Regardless, we can’t do anything with this rock now. Let’s all touch base after the race,” Ginevra proposed, eliciting nods from Asha and Brianna. “Does that work Kikuchi?”
I should keep an eye on Asha and Ginevra, Yama reasoned. Even better If they can find that Eitri stone or whatever. “Yes.”
“Great,” Ginevra said with a smile before she phased away. The remaining trio exchanged glances before making their ascent.
Ginevra waited for them at the top, arms crossed and foot tapping. “You guys move like old people fuck,” she muttered. “I’ll take Kikuchi back to Maria; I know she hates when someone takes her company.” She flicked her hand at them. “Get going, I’ll close it from here.”
Sheepishly they did so, and Ginevra closed the slabs before phasing back to them. The quartet took a few steps before Asha and Brianna went their separate ways, leaving Yama and the purple assassin alone. “Who hired you?” Yama asked shortly after.
Ginevra smile teasingly. “I hope that’s not how you ask a girl on a date.”
“Who hired you, please?”
“Nobody, Bolormaa is a friend of mine and suggested I enter.”
“How does a princess know an assassin?”
“How does a princess not know an assassin?” Ginevra shot back. She sighed and her features softened. “BoN did some work for Otganbayar back in the day and I was assigned here once or twice.”
“You spied on the khan and worked for him?” Yama asked, remembering how she mentioned an associate.
“Don’t tell me Ishi never has you and Danzo working different sides?”
He has, Yama conceded.
Before Yama could say anything, Ginevra stopped at Maria’s door. “Here we are.”
Maria came to the door much faster than Yama thought her frail form would allow. “Oh Ginevra, you’re just in time! I put some tea on if you’d like to join.”
Ginvera shook her head. “No thank you. I have to grab my cloak from Bri anyways,” she said before phasing away.
“Well don’t stand there, you’ll get cold,” Maria said before she pulled Yama in and closed the door. “What did she want with you?” Maria asked after she had poured two cups of tea.
Yama set the cup down before he accidentally crushed it. “They seem to think there’s some red Eitri stone deep in the castle. Personally, I think it’s bullshit.”
Maria raised a brow. “Perhaps not. Nerconorian lore is filled with depictions of such a gem,” she said before she grabbed her dex and showed Yama several mosaics of the Bone Father, all with a red gem on his prayer beads. “Whether it is smooth or faceted is a matter of some debate.”
Yama’s worship of the father rarely went to so far as the stories in the liturgy. “Have you ever considered it’s a stylistic choice?”
“Bones no!” Maria gasped. “You may not be an expert in Osseo-gnosis, but I am.” She held a hand up as if swearing an oath. “And Ossborn, red stone in hand, did lay his hand on Winston and from his hand new skin did grow on the dammed bones of his servant,” Maria recited before her body relaxed. “Mind you, this is during the time that our lord had forsaken his holy skin and walked among us.”
Yama chuckled. “You say it like you were there.”
“Oh how I wish I was!” Maria exclaimed before she sat back down. “The first restoration of skin? I’d give my right rib to see it.”
She could go on for days, Yama reasoned. “Did the pictures you took of me give you anything?”
“In fact, they did,” she said as she retrieved her laptop. “Your mother should be very proud to have birthed a man as strong as yourself. Your results are very promising.” Maria spun the laptop. “Your bone to muscle ratio is better than Orphiel’s,” she explained. “You use blockers in addition to micro-guts for , yes?” Maria bounced her hand off her brow. “What am I saying? Of course you do. Well, if you stopped, you could grow beyond”—Maria looked absently at the ceiling—”ten feet, I’d say, with little hunch.”
Yama’s eyes widened. My billing would go through the roof! ”Are you sure? I’ve never been able to be off them without some growing pains.”
“What do you use? GrowNo? BodyBlock? Stuntify?”
“PituProhibitors,” Yama said.
“Oh my,” Maria gasped. “Your acromegaly must be something serious to take that heavy of a dose, then. You have experienced no growth with Pitu, yes?” Yama nodded. “Well, I might suggest switching to something less severe to allow some growth, mind you, your dose would still be quite large.” She placed her hand gently on Yama’s. “That is, if you want to grow further. As you showed today, you are plenty strong.”
Getting through doors is already a problem. It will be impossible if I’m as large as Orphiel.
But I could be stronger. I should be as strong as I can be, Yama reasoned. “I’ll think on it,” he said as he got up to leave.
Maria smiled. “Of course. With your data, Orphiel’s, and that little Brianna and her potions, I’m sure I could figure something for you.”
Brianna’s name made Yama stop. Whatever was in that potion was something strong for sure. If I could feel like that all the time… “Would there be a way to keep the growth contained, perhaps tendon twinning like augments do? As much as I like the idea of being ten foot tall, I have enough problems with hotel beds as is.”
Maria stroked her frail chin for a moment. “Well, I suppose there might be,” she said after a moment. “Like I said between me and Brianna, I’m sure we could manage it.”
“Thank you,” Yama said with a bow before leaving Maria’s suite. With the help of a servant, Yama found Bolor, encountering the man at the fire in each hallway. Each time, the man simply shook his head before disappearing. With Bolor in the stables on the other side of the castle, this happened too often for Yama’s liking.
Bolor had dressed in black leather pants and a puffy red coat as he brushed the mane of a black Tatan warhorse. The razor-thin ridges of its skull held its skin tight like a garment laid over several clotheslines of different heights. Bolor had thrown it some apples, and the juts of bone along its neck flecked like an accordion as it ducked to earth them. The horse snorted as Yama came in and dragged a foot behind it like it was going to charge.
Bolor ran his hand under the horse’s mouth, gently pressing it closed. Not fast enough for Yama to not see the rows of teeth like mountain ranges. His heart set into a light gallop as a dull ache spread through him, as if his wounds were yawning and stretching awake. Don’t look a horse in the mouth, especially not a Tatan horse.
“Easy, it’s only Kikuchi,” Bolor said. “I must say, I am impressed with what you did with the stones, but tomorrow’s victory will not come easy.”
Yama pointed to the horse who still glared daggers at him. “Is that one yours?”
Bolor nodded. “Khar.”
Black. “Fitting.”
“Indeed,” Bolor asked as he put his brush to the side. “Come to pick a horse? Might as well before all of the larger ones are picked over and you’re left with a mule.”
“I suppose I will since I’m already here.”
“Excellent,” Bolor said before he escorted Yama out of the open stables. “We’ll be able to find something for you far easier than we did for Orphiel.”
“You did find something for him, right?”
A sly grin crept across Bolor’s face. “Just you wait until tomorrow.”
A samurai must be aware of all threats
A blind eye is of no use
The Tenets of Tenshi