Princess of Silver Sands - Chapter 28
Posted by: Kura in Writing, Princess of Silver SandsPrincess of Silver Sands
Book 01
Chapter - 28 - Torn Family
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Torn Family
It is late at night and Hitsumi is unable to sleep, the sound of the waves moving up and down keeping him awake. “I never could fall asleep on ships…”
The is a moan as the figure next to his begins to stir, Angel pulling toward and wrapping her arms around Hitsumi as she mumbles out his name. “Hitsumi…”
Hitsumi nervously looks over at Angel the princess smiling while latching onto him, he wasn’t quite sure how his situation had turned into this but one thing was defiantly for certain. “Echo is going to kill me…”
He pulls himself out of Angel’s arms sitting up in the bed that he was in, an unsure look on his face as he tried to figure out how he had ended up this way.
Angel lowers her head, an upset look on her face. “No suitors ever came to mine. The boys the royalty would choose for me, were always too afraid to show up. Afraid to be near the person who’s destiny it was too be killed by demons.”
Angel closes her eyes. “Every year it was the same… until I was fourteen years old. When I was delivered a message that I would no longer have suitors… the royalty gave up on me… and had just stopped choosing people…”
Angel looks back towards his face. “You said that after this journey you would be going on another… and you didn’t know if you would be able to make it back to me…” She pulls him down towards him closing her eyes and kissing his lips as her hands moved towards the button on his shirt. “I want to give you something to look forward to, something that you will want to come back to.”
Hitsumi looks back down to Angel’s sleeping figure. “What exactly did she mean by something like that?” He thinks it over for a moment. “Something… to come back to…” A terrified look fills Hitsumi’s face. “Did she just brand me!?”
He gets out of the bed and begins pacing around Angel’s room, not sure of what to do now. “This is bad, this is bad, this is bad!! What do I do!?” He stops pacing as he begins searching the room for his clothes. “I need some fresh air…”
After dressing himself Hitsumi leaves Angels room, carefully closing the door behind him as to not make any sound, Hitsumi looking from the door and ahead of him to find someone standing right behind him, Hitsumi screaming and jumping back.
The follow passenger stares at Hitsumi for a moment before turning away from him and continuing his way down the hall.
Hitsumi lets out a shaky sigh as he tries to calm himself down while hoping that he hadn’t woken up any other member within his group, especially Echo. He begins making his way down the hall in the direction he knew the deck of the ship to be in.
The whole ship was dark and a little difficult to navigate through but thankfully the hall was literally straight forward, not making it overly difficult to get out of it and onto the deck. Hitsumi soon reaches the deck of the ship stopping and stretching his arms out as he took in a deep breath of the sea’s air.
He knew it was probably very late, it felt like he had been laying awake for a few hours at least. He hangs his head not sure why this was turning out to be so much of an issue. “This is stupid… I’ve done stuff like this to probably more then a dozen other girls… why is it so different for her?” He holds his head not sure how to explain it at all. “Why do I feel… so guilty… and scared…?”
A sound catches his attention, the bandit hearing the distinctive sound of someone humming a song. “Someone else is awake and up here?” He looks around the ship spotting a man with long black hair dressed in strange black robes, the humming coming from that figure.
Hitsumi stares at him having never seen anyone wearing robes like that before. “He… doesn’t look like a normal traveler…”
Hitsumi curiously walks over to him to get a closer look. The wizard in black stopping his humming once Hitsumi got too close to him.
The wizard sighs in an annoyed tone before he begins to speak to Hitsumi, his voice higher and more womanish then a mans. “I thought no members of royalty were scheduled to go on this ship? What do you want from me?”
“Member of royalty?” Hitsumi looks confused by the comment. “What are you talking about? I’m not a member of royalty…”
The wizard looks a little surprise to get that response, he turning around facing Hitsumi. “Oh…” The wizard smiles warmly when he sees him. “Oh it is you!”
Hitsumi looks a little confused to have this stranger recognize him. “Do I know you?”
The wizard looks a little unsure as he tried to explain. “Hu? … well, no not really I suppose… It is just that I have seen you before.”
Hitsumi still looks a little confused.
The wizard in black puts on a smile and places his hands together, it being rather late so it would be better for the two of them to get straight to business so they could go their separate ways to rest. “I am sorry, it is not often that I am approached by people outside the royalty. Umm…” He puts his hands over lips as he waits for Hitsumi to say something. “What kind of information are you seeking from me?”
Hitsumi still looks confused. “Information?”
The wizard stares at him now sharing the same confused look Hitsumi wore on his face. “You… are not looking for information?” Hitsumi shakes his head no, not having come at all with any intention like that.
The wizard now doesn’t at all understand why Hitsumi had come to see him. “Why then have you come to me?”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders as he answers him. “No reason really… I couldn’t sleep so I decided to get some fresh air… while I was up here your humming caught my attention and when I saw you I just thought you kinda stood out a little… so I came to look.”
The wizard smiles as he begins laughing a girlish laughter, never in his long years of living had something like this happened to him. “You really approached me without knowing who I am? Do you do that to all strangers?”
Hitsumi frowns. “Well… I… I don’t know…” He looks to the side thinking it over. “Maybe… now that I think about it…”
The wizard quiets his laugher as he stares back at Hitsumi having never before encountered a human that would hold such a casual conversation after only just meeting him. “How curious…”
Hitsumi stares back at him curious as to what the wizard though was so curious about him. “What?”
The wizard shakes his head assuring Hitsumi that it wasn’t a bad curiosity. “Nothing… I am just a little surprised that you came to speak with me. Aside from people that have business no one approaches me… unless they are curious children of course.”
Hitsumi frowns at the comment, slightly insulted. “Are you saying I’m a kid?”
The wizard smiles at him laughing slightly at Hitsumi’s response. “No, not at all… it is pretty clear to anyone that you are not a child.”
Hitsumi looks the man over once more, the robes he was wearing kind of reminding him of the robes Echo always had on. “Are you… by any chance… a wizard? You dress like one…”
The wizard smirks as he tries to nod his head, he hardly able to believe what he was hearing. “You really did approach me with no clue as to who I was.” Hitsumi nods his head not at all thinking it was as weird a thing as the wizard seemed to think it was. The wizard smiles back at Hitsumi warmly. “Yes… I am a wizard.”
Hitsumi looks him over once more, although he wasn’t surprised to hear he was right he was a little surprised to find out that this person was actually was a wizard like he had suspected him to be. “Wow… you look really young for a wizard… I mean well… I know that Echo looks like a kid and all… but I thought all the other wizards were really, really old… and you look younger… or more… I guess cause everyone says I look young… you look the same age as me… like a teenager…”
The wizard stares back at Hitsumi at the mention of Echo, the wizard trying to stay on topic regardless of hearing it. “I am almost five thousand years old, though this number is normal to me to you humans it is strange because our race ages very slowly compared to yours.”
Hitsumi nods his head in agreement. “Yeah… I thought so seeing as Echo’s less then a hundred years to being one thousand.”
The wizard smiles at the information Hitsumi had just given him, as if he were welcome to hear it. “Echo… that is right he is around that age by now. I have not seen Echo since… well since the death of Master Seclude.”
Hitsumi lifts his head in recognition knowing that he had heard that name many times before.
Hitsumi frowns remembering that he had heard a story like that before. “So then… Echo is one of Seclud’s students?”
Li shakes her head no Hitsumi getting it wrong. “Echo is Seclude’s son not one of his students, Echo was too young at the time Seclude was alive to begin learning magic.” She closes her eyes thinking back quietly to herself. “Seclude’s students disappeared after his death… few know of what happened to them, but they’re both alive I can guarantee that. Just because some people can’t find them easily doesn’t mean that I can’t.” She looks back to Hitsumi and Ashton. “They’re both demon hunters just as their teacher was… and they work loosely alongside the royalty. I’ve had the misfortune of crossing both of their paths.”
Hitsumi doesn’t understand Li’s comment. “Misfortune? Are they not pleasant people to get to know or something?”
Li doesn’t answer Hitsumi’s question avoiding it instead. “Both of his students are unbelievably powerful, they’re both the most powerful out of the few wizards still alive and are force to be feared.”
Hitsumi nods his head able to understand that. “Well… they sound like they’re powerful but why should I be afraid of them? From the sounds of it only demons should be afraid of them.”
Li chuckles to herself before she begins to leave. “If I’m traveling with you then that means they’ll probably be your enemies.”
Hitsumi points to the wizard a little shocked over what he had just come to realize. “You’re one of Seclude’s students? One of the fearful demon hunters?”
The wizard nods his head confirming Hitsumi’s suspicions, the wizard lifting his hand and resting below his neck and introducing himself to Hitsumi. “I am known as the Black Demon Hunter, and yes… I am one of Master Seclude’s students… but that is not the reason why I call him Master… All wizards once called Seclude their Master as he was the leader of our entire race. The only wizards that did not have to call him Master were his sons.”
Hitsumi looks a little confused, as Li had told him that Echo was Seclude’s only living son. “Sons? Echo has a brother?”
The wizard shakes his head no. “Echo had a brother… Secludes first son died before he was even able to transform into a human long before Echo was born. It happened so long ago that I cannot even remember the details… as I do not think I was even born when it happened.”
Hitsumi keeps his eyes on this wizard, still a little surprised to find out that he was such a figure. “So you’re the Black Demon Hunter right?” The wizard nods his head again confirming the question. “You know… you’re a lot more friendly then I would have thought you would be…”
The wizard laughs at the comment. “You expected me to be frightening? Now why would that be?”
Hitsumi laughs. “Of course I thought you were going to be, you’re labeled as the Black Demon Hunter! That’s kind of a scary title you know.”
The wizard laughs at the comment understanding what Hitsumi meant. “I suppose you are right.”
Hitsumi smiles having never thought someone Li had labeled to be frightening could be so easy to talk and laugh with. “What’s your name?”
The wizard looks a little surprised to hear a question like this. “What? But I have already told you that I’m the Black Demon Hunter…”
Hitsumi nods his head. “I know you’re known as the Black Demon Hunter… but I want to know your name… I’m sure you have a name too don’t you.”
The wizard looks happy to be asked such a question. “My name…”
Hitsumi is a little confused as to why the wizard wouldn’t answer him right away. “Ya… you have one don’t you? Everybody’s got a name right?”
The wizard nods his head happy to answer such a question. “Yes!” He holds his hand out for Hitsumi to shake smiling when Hitsumi places his hand in his own. “I lost the privilege of having a name long ago, but my name was Cry when I did have one.”
Hitsumi frowns as he begins thinking over the other names of wizards he had heard so far. “Cry? Echo… Siren… Whisper… I’m starting to see a pattern here…”
The wizard laughs to himself. “Humans always think that it is a strange pattern, but for us wizards it is normal. Animals communicate by sounds rather then words you see.”
Hitsumi nods his head, slightly getting it but at the same time not really understanding it.
The wizard continues to explain telling Hitsumi how he had ended up with such a name. “I am the youngest of six brothers, the name Cry was given to me because I was always picked on, and because of that I would cry a lot as a child.”
Hitsumi laughs at him, finding it funny that someone would openly admit something like that. “It must be weird being labeled as a cry baby for the rest of your life.”
The wizard turns around looking back at the water as he laughed to himself. “I do not mind the name at all. It is not something that humans realize at first but only important wizards are granted the privilege of being give a name… for hundreds of years before receiving the name Cry I lived without one…”
Hitsumi looks a little shocked to hear him say something like this. “Having a name is a privilege for wizards? For humans it’s more of a right…”
The wizard looks back to Hitsumi not finding this information to be strange at all. “Wizards and humans are not the same.”
Hitsumi nods his head that obviously right. He looks back at the wizard when he realizes something else he had mentioned when telling Hitsumi his name. “You said you lost the privilege to have a name… how the heck did that end up happening?”
An upset looks falls upon the wizard’s face. “After Master Seclude’s death I refused to bow before my new Master. So it was taken from me as punishment.”
Hitsumi looks a little shocked to hear this having never before heard of someone loosing their name just because of that. “Wow… wizards sure are serious about this Master thing…”
The wizard stares out into the ocean ahead of him explaining the things as he knew them to be. “We wizards… there are laws we must follow. If we do not follow these laws the humans may regard us as their enemy and will attack us just as they do the demons. To break these laws is to become a sinner, and to have a sin upon your name is the worst thing that could happen to a wizard. That is why great punishment for disobedience is given, in my case I lost the privilege of keeping my name.”
Hitsumi didn’t like the sound of that idea, after all independence without following anyone was an ideal life for him. “Just because you didn’t want to listen to your new Master… that doesn’t seem fair.”
The wizard narrows his eyes, although he greatly missed having a name it was clear that he did not regret his actions. “Seclude was and still is my Master… I will bow to no other, especially one as controlling as Siren.”
Hitsumi recognizes that name as well. “Siren… that’s the same master that Echo follows under right?”
The wizard nods his head. “Yes he is the same… now if I wish to reclaim my name I must follow the orders of the royalty until the demon threat has been completely purged. Only then will I once again be granted the privilege of having my name.” He turns back to Hitsumi. “That is what I am doing right now…”
Hitsumi looks a little confused, after all it seemed like a lot of work to go through just to get a simple name returned. “So… after the whole war with the demons is finished, you’ll get the name Cry back as your reward hu…?”
The wizard nods his head. “It may sound foolish to you, but it is fine if you do not understand the importance that it holds to me. I do not expect for you to understand and never expected that you would ever, just having someone interested in knowing about me is well enough for me.”
Hitsumi stares at him a little surprised that the wizard didn’t seem to have a problem with him not understanding what or why he was trying to do something that sounded so silly to him, he instead simply being satisfied with having someone to talk to, the wizard sounding very lonely. “People are really that scared of you?”
The wizard smiles back at him thinking that something like this should be obvious. “I come from a family of wizards well gifted in the art of forbidden magic. Of course people are afraid of me.”
Hitsumi pauses for a moment as he thinks this over. “Forbidden magic… no wonder you cried when you were picked on, I can only imagine what types of things your brothers could have put you through!” The wizard begins laughing at Hitsumi’s comment, no one in his life ever saying such a thing such as that to him. Hitsumi turns back to the wizard curiously. “They don’t still pick on you do they?”
The wizard’s laughter slows to a stop, the smile still fighting to stay on his face as he answered Hitsumi’s question. “Sometimes I wish that they still did… but as things are they are unable to do such things anymore… all five of my brothers are dead.”
Hitsumi cringes not meaning to have brought up something like that. “Dead? What happened?”
The wizard closes his eyes as he began to speak of that situation. “My eldest brother died protecting his master when we still lived on the country of Merlin, my four other brothers… as well as my father were killed by the End Plague that consumed Fynta…”
Hitsumi groans to himself, how could he have been so stupid? This was something he should have known and thought of avoiding when trying to talk to any wizard. “That’s right… the End Plague is what caused the fall of wizards by killing off pretty much their entire race… sorry I had forgotten until now… I don’t know how it could have slipped my mind.”
The wizard looks back to the waters that surrounded them. “There are very few of us left… I am actually the second youngest of all the remaining wizards, I used to be the baby until Echo came along, but now Echo is the baby.”
Hitsumi curiously turns back to him, wondering how the wizard managed to survive when all his brothers and even his father had died from the End Plague. “How come you didn’t get sick from the plague?”
The wizard holds a hand to his chest. “I was affected by the plague… and I am the only person in history who caught it and lived through it… everyone else who survived developed an immunity towards it before contracting it.” He smiles to himself. “It was because I had someone to help me through my struggles that I lived through it…”
Hitsumi looks back at him a little amazed to actually meet someone that had managed to live through one of the most deadly epidemics in history. “You’re pretty lucky then.”
The wizard nods his head. “In some ways I supposed I am.”
Hitsumi frowns to himself as he tries to change the topic. “So then, I know wizards are really powerful, I mean I’ve seen what Echo can do, but what about you? How powerful are you?”
The wizard laughs at Hitsumi’s question, finding it slightly silly that Hitsumi was asking him to compare his power to the other living wizards. “Out of the wizards who are alive today I am the second most powerful.”
Hitsumi whistles in an impressed manner. “You’re the second most powerful? That’s pretty impressive…”
The wizard smiles back at him. “I suppose…”
Hitsumi frowns to himself, Li has stated before that if he was going to be traveling with her that the demon hunters would be their enemies, and from what it seemed like so far it didn’t look like the wizard had any intention of being his enemy. “Say… do you know a girl named Li?”
The wizard looks back at him having never heard of the name before. “Li? I am sorry… but I cannot say that I know a girl by that name.”
Hitsumi sighs wondering why then Li would say they were enemies. “Well… she said that you were an enemy to her…”
The wizard shakes his head having never heard of someone by that name. “No, I have no enemies by that name.”
Hitsumi frowns things concerning Li growing even more confusing. “Strange… I wonder why she would say something like that then.”
The wizard places his hand on his chin. “Li…” He frowns as he starts thinking the name over. Hitsumi stares at the wizard, realizing that he now had a rather serious and concerned look on his face.
The wizard turns back to Hitsumi pushing the problem aside. “I am sorry if I have been keeping you awake with my babbling, I did not realize how late it was until just now. I enjoy talking you see… and it has been a long time since someone only wanting a casual conversation came to speak with me.”
Hitsumi smiles at the wizard happy to be of service to him. “It’s no problem, I couldn’t sleep anyway.”
The wizard smiles at him happy to see that the human didn’t mind him occupying his time. “What is your name? If you do not mind me asking.”
Hitsumi points to himself happy to answer the question. “Hitsumi.”
The wizard pauses at the name. “Hitsumi?” He begins laughing as if it were a strange thing for him to hear. “That is the first time I have heard a human called that name!”
Hitsumi nods his head admitting that it was one that not a lot of people had. “Yeah… it is a little unusual I supposed.”
The wizard looks back at Hitsumi as he begins to explains why it was unusual to him. “Hitsumi is an elvish name… I have not heard it since I used to live in the
Hitsumi stares at him a little confused not sure of what to make of that comment. “Elvish…”
The wizard turns to leave knowing now that he had stayed up much longer then he should have. “Well then Hitsumi… it was a pleasure to meet you. I hope we will be able to cross paths and speak so casually once again.”
Hitsumi waves farewell to him. “See you, I’ll tell Echo I ran into you.”
The wizard stops dead in his tracks quickly turning back to Hitsumi, his mood completely changing. “No! You must not do that!”
Hitsumi looks shocked by the wizard’s reaction. “Why not?”
The wizard lowers his head ashamed that it was something he could not do. “I am forbidden to face him… if you tell him you saw me he will want to see me…”
Hitsumi doesn’t really understand why the wizard would be forbidden from seeing another wizard. “Why… are you forbidden from seeing him?”
The wizard holds his hand to his chest. “We are… both of us… we are forbidden from seeing him…” He shakes his head this topic being hard for the usual over talkative wizard to discus. “Not until we have lifted the sins off of our names…”
Hitsumi stares at him in disbelief, not understanding why they would be unable to do something like that as well as why they actually followed a rule like that. He lowers his head to the ground not even trying to understand it. “The life of a wizard… is more complicated then I’ll ever be able to realize… isn’t it?”
The wizard looks down at his feet as he continued trying to explain. “Echo is… or… his father was… the two of us… we were broken by the wars… It was Echo’s father who took us in as students when all others longed for us to die… Echo… Seclude’s son… he was like a brother to us… we were all decedents of different blood… but we were still a family…”
Hitsumi stares at the wizard quietly, the wizard had kept saying ‘us’ meaning that more then just him was bound by that same rule. “Us…? That’s right… Seclude had two students.”
The wizard narrows his eyes as he continues to stare at the ground. “When Seclude fell to the demons… our new master separated us from one another… we have not been reunited since then…” He turns back to Hitsumi. “We cannot be reunited until our sins have been purged.”
Hitsumi stares at the wizard in disbelief, not believing what he was hearing right now. “What kind of master would rip a family apart like that?”
The wizard’s stare turns into a cold glare, he obviously having a hateful relationship with his new master. “One that wants to control and continue controlling the three of us at all costs.”
Hitsumi is unable to find anything to say, not knowing if there was anything or even if she should say anything.
The wizard walks up to Hitsumi pleading with him not to mention anything to the younger wizard. “Please… I have already lost one family to the plague… if I do not obey the conditions that have been placed upon me then I will lose this one as well.”
Hitsumi holds his hand out towards the wizard, hardly believing that he was being asked to keep silent on such a small thing. “Don’t worry… I won’t say a word…”
The wizard places his hand in Hitsumi’s smiling in relief as she slowly shook his hand. “Thank you…”
He turns walking away and leaving Hitsumi, Hitsumi staring down at his hand wondering if keeping silent was really the right thing to do. “Separated… for more then nine hundred years… and unable to see one another until the demons have completely been eradicated…” He clenches his hand into a fist. “That’s torture…”
He turns heading back to his room knowing that he had kept himself up long enough and should attempt to get some sleep.
*******
Angel stands out on the deck of the ship, the sunlight warm against her skin as she looks out into the gentle waves that surrounded the ship. “Who would have thought that miles and miles of water could look so pretty?”
Li walks up next to her joining her in gazing out at the water. “You’re lucky this is a small ocean… you would get sick of it if you were on a boat for longer then three days…”
Angel pauses for a moment as she tries to imagine what spending weeks and weeks at sea would be like, figuring out that it would get rather repetitive and quickly loose its charm. “I guess so…”
She turns to Echo who is up on the railing of the ship crouching on top of it and looking down at the side of the boat. “Echo you should be careful… what if you fall?”
Li waves Echo off. “Don’t worry about him… he’s used to perching on things and even if he did fall he can just fly back up, wizards are able to change from human to animal rather quickly… if they’re powerful enough anyway…”
Echo stares down at the side of the ship commenting on how well it was built. “This ship is really built well… and is really reinforced…” He looks back out at the water. “Are they afraid that there is something capable of breaking a normal boat…?”
Angel stares over at him in disbelief. “Wasn’t it you and Li that told me that there was a demon that lived in the water!? It’s probably because of that!”
Echo nods his head. “Yes… but I mean… the reinforcement precautions have recently been added.” He looks back down at the side of the boat. “Like they’re expecting to be attacked…”
Li looks back at Angel. “Maybe they heard that Angel might be one of the passengers.”
Angel glares over at her a little insulted. “That’s not funny!”
Echo looks back at Angel not meaning to rub it in but leaning more towards reality. “She may be right you know…”
Angel hangs her shoulders a little disappointed. “I don’t mean to cause trouble…”
Li shrugs her shoulders giving Angel a reassuring pat on the back. “Regardless, it’s a good thing. In case we are attacked we’ll have a better chance at surviving.” She pauses when she realizes that Angel is giving her a bitter stare. “Hey I know you didn’t do it purposely… but if you think about it it’s still your fault as unintentional as it was.”
Hitsumi yawns tiredly as the bandit comes up from below to join the others, looking over each of them tiredly. “Hey guys…”
Echo smiles always happy to see him. “Hitsumi!” He stops when he notices how sleepy Hitsumi is. “You look tired…”
Hitsumi rubs the back of his neck the bandit still obviously in need of sleep. “I don’t sleep well on ships… the thought of being surrounded by water keeps me awake…”
Li smirks as she looks over at Hitsumi now as good a time as any to start insulting him. “I thought you were afraid of baths not water…”
Hitsumi glares back at Li quickly snapping back at her. “Hey! I’m not ‘afraid’ of baths… I just don’t like taking them… as for being surrounded by miles and miles of water… I don’t know, it’s not like it’s frightening or anything like that, it just keeps me up.”
Angel looks over at Hitsumi concerned. “Please don’t say you didn’t get any sleep because… you’re upset over what happened yesterday.”
Hitsumi turns back to the princess giving her a smile. “Angel you couldn’t possibly upset me, I’m telling the truth I can’t sleep well on ships.” He crosses his arms. “I hope you got decent sleep… I mean… I know that I… really… I don’t know…”
Li and Echo look over at one another, neither really understanding what was going on between the two.
Angel smiles up at him thankful of his concern. “No… I slept just fine. Thank you for your concern, although I was a little shocked to find you sleeping somewhere different.”
“You’re not… mad at me for that are you?”
Angel shakes her head no, she had been neglected her whole life by her parents and somehow this didn’t hurt near as much, as it didn’t really feel like Hitsumi didn’t want to be with her at all. “No… I’m not mad… I’m just a little confused that’s all…” She looks back at Hitsumi with concern. “Did you eat your breakfast?
Hitsumi nods his head having indeed not missed something that had anything to do with food. “How could I miss it? When I woke up I found it delivered to my room…”
Li frowns at Hitsumi’s comment. “It was for all of us… the idiot woke me up knocking on my door so I-” She stops when she realizes the stares she was getting from her companions. “I… I did nothing…”
The group sighs all of them shaking their heads, they knowing better then to believe that Li had actually been able to hold in her temper.
Echo looks back at Hitsumi curiously. “I wonder why they didn’t wake Hitsumi up before you, he’s a morning person isn’t he?”
Hitsumi looks back at Echo repeating his situation. “I told you I was having trouble getting to sleep. It didn’t mater how tired I was it just wasn’t happening.”
Echo jumps down from the railing he had been perched on, lifting a finger to Hitsumi. “You should try to get some more sleep tonight, it won’t be good if you’re tired when we reach the west continent.”
Hitsumi looks annoyed with being lectured by something that was smaller then him, even if he was thirty-six times older then him. “Don’t worry about me I’ll be fine, I’m not as sissy as ‘some’ people that need hours and hours of sleep to be able to function.”
Li glares over at Hitsumi able to tell that his comment was a direct and deliberate insult to her. “Don’t make me break your neck.”
Hitsumi turns back to Li never one to take any threat from her seriously. “What’s that Li? You want me to kick your ass AGAIN?”
Echo steps in between the two trying to get the bickering to end as soon as possible. “Now, now you two… we’re going to be on this boat for a while longer still… there are other people on board as well, and they don’t need to listen to your arguing.”
Angel nods her head agreeing with Echo. “That’s right… we are riding first class so we’re supposed to be acting civilized, I don’t know if either of you realized but the both of you are making a really big scene!”
Hitsumi and Li stop for a moment looking away from one another and over at the people that were staring at them, several of the passengers whispering or commenting in low voices about them.
Hitsumi rubs the back of his head taking a few steps back a little embarrassed by all the unwanted attention he had managed to gather. “Oh… sorry…”
Li glares over at the spectators. “What is it? Do you have a problem with me?” She pulls her dagger from her side pointing it to them, watching as the passengers that had been watching begin to scream and scatter.
Echo quickly grabs onto Li’s dagger forcing it from her hands. “Li don’t do that… if you keep that up we’ll be thrown out of first class.”
Hitsumi laughs to himself. “They can’t do that.” His laugher falls silent when he gets no response. “Can they?” He glares over at Li when he again gets no response. “You better not get us kicked out of first class! Do you know how much I had to pay to get us here!?”
Angel nervously looks the both of them over. “Maybe it’s best if we keep them away from one another for today… so that they don’t get into any fights. I won’t want to be thrown out of first class.”
Echo nods his head in agreement. “Sounds like a good idea to me.” He looks back at the two. “So which one do I get?
Angel raises her hand wanting to get first choice. “I’ll take Hitsumi!” Her eyes begin to sparkle. “This is going to be great! There’s so much things we can do together on a ship!”
Hitsumi looks really nervous with this idea. “Really… what kind of things do you have in mind?”
The princess smiles as she begins to think about it. “Well… we could…you know… a second time…” She squeals turning away to hide her blushed face.
Hitsumi laughs weakly to himself. “Right… well then… I think that I will… go with Echo today!”
Angel looks back at Hitsumi a little surprised to hear this, after all Hitsumi had never avoided doing things with her before. “Oh… really…?”
Hitsumi nods his head. “Ya! Me and Echo… we’ve got some serious male on male bonding to do.”
Echo looks back at Hitsumi with a horrified expression. “What!?”
Li begins to laugh as well while the group wait for Hitsumi to realize his mistake, the bandit quickly jumping to correct himself as soon as it sank in. “Oh god no! I mean ‘and’ not ‘on”
Echo stares at Hitsumi not saying a thing, Hitsumi looking back at him a little confused. “What!?”
Li crosses her arms putting on another display of how annoyed she was. “Why do I have to stay with the princess?”
Hitsumi looks back at the girls. “Well Li’s teaching Angel how to fight right? Maybe Angel can teach Li how to be a normal woman who isn’t abusive.”
Li growls under her breath snapping back at Hitsumi with a warning. “Watch it.”
Hitsumi looks back at Angel realizing that the princess had a really upset look on her face. “Don’t worry Angel, I know Li’s a bitchy prick but it’s only for a day. I promise I’ll make up for sticking her with you later!”
Angel looks relived to hear this. “Really!?”
Li turns away from them, angered that she was viewed as being more annoying to be around then Hitsumi or the princess. “I feel so loved…”
Hitsumi glares back at her. “Ya well if you don’t give it out to begin with you’re not going to get any back.”
“Lousy bandit…”
Hitsumi growls at the comment before responding the bandit never one to back down from a name calling competition. “Worthless bum!”
Echo grabs onto the back if Hitsumi’s shirt and begins dragging him away. “Let’s break this up before it gets any worse…”
Li watches the two of them leave feeling free to announce her displeasure for Hitsumi even when he wasn’t there to hear it. “I really hate him…”
Angel stares in the direction that Hitsumi and Echo had gone in, an upset look on her face. “What am I doing wrong?”
Li looks back at the princess after hearing her comment, groaning when she sees the look on Angel’s face. “Great…”
Angel glares over at her. “You’re wonderfully compassionate when it comes to others people feelings you know that!”
She turns around storming away from her, Li sighing as she turned to follow her. “Why are woman so difficult…”
*******
Echo sighs as he leans back against the wall after getting out of both Li and Angel’s sight, the wizard taking a moment to look back at Hitsumi with a stressed expression. “Honestly… why can’t the two of you just get along? I was sure that eventually you guys would start to work a little better together… but I swear every time I think that it’s getting better it jumps right back to being as bad as it was when you first met.”
Hitsumi looks back at him, obviously Li was the evil one and he was the innocent victim. “Hey! I’m not the one who starts the fights!”
Echo narrows his eyes talking to him in a bitter tone. “The least you could do is not continue them.”
Hitsumi shakes his head, him doing something like that simply unheard of. “What and let her win!? I don’t think so.”
Echo sighs knowing the fighting between the two was going to be hard to bring to an end. “Both of you are hopeless… you two argue more then siblings.”
Hitsumi pauses after hearing Echo make a comment like that. “Siblings hu…”
The wizard looks down at his feet as he continued trying to explain. “Echo is… or… his father was… the two of us… we were broken by the wars… It was Echo’s father who took us in as students when all others longed for us to die… Echo… Seclude’s son… he was like a brother to us… we were all decedents of different blood… but we were still a family…”
Hitsumi lowers his head, having to be reminded of that situation was a little upsetting. “I never really had brother’s or sisters… but I guess Ashton was pretty much a brother to me, sure I get into fights with him often but it’s nothing like the fights I get into with Li.”
Echo smiles back at Hitsumi. “You don’t have to be blood related to consider someone your brother.”
Hitsumi nods his head having no problem believing a comment like that to be correct. “I guess that’s true.” He turns to Echo, wanting to talk about him more then himself when it came to this family subject. “Your dad’s the great wizard Seclude right?”
Echo nods his head proud of being known as the son of one of the greatest wizard that ever lived. “Yes, I am the son of Seclude.”
Hitsumi looks down at Echo curiously, although Seclude’s name would appear often in history it was also the only one that came up when it came to Echo’s parents. “Who was your mom? I mean… I hear about your dad all the time but I never hear about your mother.”
Echo stares up at Hitsumi confused, having never really thought of having any parent other then a father. “What? Well I don’t know… I guess my mother was an owl…”
Hitsumi stares down at Echo more lost on the situation then he ever was before. “What? Okay now I’m confused.”
Echo slouches his shoulders having forgotten that Hitsumi was rather ill educated when it came to wizards. “Oh…”
He crosses his arms trying to think if there was a way for him to easily explain this to Hitsumi without him becoming confused. “How do I explain this… wizards… they don’t actually have children… wizards are animals that are able to change into humans.”
“When a wizard wishes to have a son they will enchant a young animal, giving them the ability to take the form of a human and learn magic. It can’t be just any animal either… it has to be an animal capable of understanding the language of humans… and those animals don’t exist in this country, they only live in Merlin.”
Hitsumi sighs to himself, nothing concerning wizards could ever be simple, not even the process of having a child. “Everything has to be complicated when it comes to wizards doesn’t it!?”
Echo shakes his head. “It’s really not that complicated… at least… I think it’s simple…”
Hitsumi turns back to him. “Well you’re a wizard, you’re not aware of how complicated your race is.”
Echo looks back to Hitsumi. “If you ask me humans are even more complicated! All the complications like flirting, flaunting, swooning and crooning and everything else you have to go through to attract a mate, then there’s the sex.”
An uneasy look fills Hitsumi’s face as he looks away from Echo that not really being a topic he wanted to discuss at this moment, especially after the night he had with Angel.
The small wizard continues to speak with him. “You think that sex would be the easiest part of the process because it’s something common for most species but no! Even that’s complicated! I once read a book in my Master Siren’s collection that explained in detail the various ways that humans go about this task! Did you know that you can’t even just get straight to it? There was a whole long chapter on something known as foreplay and how important it was.”
Hitsumi quickly speaks up not sure if he could listen to anymore of this at the moment. “Echo enough!! I get it! It’s complicated!!”
Echo continues on. “Then even after that long process there’s no guarantee that the breeding process worked the first time, and you have to keep doing it over and over and over again.”
“Echo…”
“And that’s not the most complicated part, once humans pick a mate they go through this big thing called a wedding, and then after that they’re forced to stay with that exact same person for the rest of their lives! I mean who would want that!?”
“Aaaaarr!”
“Now the most confusing thing about this is that sex is no longer just seen as a process of reproduction, but as an entertainment because it’s enjoyable? How can humans go and do that kind of thing to each other without even thinking about it?”
“Echo… you’re killing me here… do you understand that…?”
Echo crosses his arms believing that he had said enough to prove his point. “Wizards are much more simple when it comes to these things then humans are.”
Hitsumi nods his head agreeing so that Echo would continue onto something else. “Yes, yes… enchantment is no where near as complicated as sex…” Echo nervously laughs as Hitsumi tries to sort through what Echo had told him. “Wait… so then… you’re not really Seclude’s son… you’re just an animal enchanted by him.”
Echo shakes his head. “No… am I his flesh and blood… everything within the original animal body is replaced and changed so that the animal eventually becomes the flesh and blood of the wizard who originally cast the spell, no longer an animal… but a being with both the form of a human and an animal. A wizard.”
Hitsumi nods his head in understanding. “So then… wizards are… like parasites!”
Echo frowns at Hitsumi’s deduction. “Well that a rather rude way of putting it… but I guess it would sort of be the same idea…”
Hitsumi looks a little confused, if it was that easy for a wizard to make another wizard then how was it that there were so few wizards left in the world. “How are you a dying race then…?”
Echo looks back at Hitsumi a little surprised that he had known information like that. “Who told you we were a dying race?”
Hitsumi looks to the side. “Well… so I’ve heard anyway…”
Echo tries his best to explain the reason to why no more wizards had been created. “Well… not only would you have to be incredibly strong to be able to caste the spell on an animal, as I said before animals capable of fully understanding human language at birth only exist in the country of Merlin… and all wizards are afraid of traveling to Merlin… I mean… that is the country we ran away from.”
“Afraid of Merlin…?”
Echo nods his head. “Yes… my father was the only one brave enough to travel to Merlin to create me, but he left so soon after that, I don’t ever remember being there. Wizards are unable to retain memories until they are able to transform into a human form… and that can takes up to fifty years.”
Hitsumi stares down at him, unsure of how wizards were capable of putting up with a child for so long.
Echo smiles to himself as he thinks back. “The first thing I can remember… is waking up one day… to the sound of one of my father’s student’s humming. It was a nice sound… She would always hum it when she was happy.”
Hitsumi stares back at Echo, the humming of the black wizard what had caught his attention prompting him to talk to him was the same wizard Echo was speaking of. “Cry…”
Echo nods his head. “Yes, Cry was one of my father’s students.” He pauses for a moment looking back to Hitsumi. “But… how did you know that?”
Hitsumi shrugs his shoulders doing his best not to admit anything. “I guess Ashton must have told me… you know how smart he is…”
Echo nods his head easily believing what Hitsumi had said, not even considering that he could possibly be lying to him. “Cry was the name of one of my father’s students, the second student was named Whimper.”
Hitsumi smirks as he tries to hold in his laugher, not really seceding at all in doing so. “Whimper? That was the other one’s name? Geeze you were stuck with two crybabies?”
Echo looks back at him a little annoyed. “I’m not the one who named them… but regardless of they’re names they were still good people. Now they’re known as the White Demon Hunter and the Black Demon Hunter.” Echo lowers his head at the reminder of them. “I haven’t seen them since the death of my father… and I am unable to find them either… it’s as if they do not want to see me…”
Hitsumi looks to the side. “Hey… Echo…”
Echo looks back at him not wanting Hitsumi to worry at all about his problems. “It’s alright… I can understand why they don’t want to see me. After all I am the reason their beloved Master… my father was killed.”
Hitsumi looks back at Echo a little surprised. “I thought demons killed your father, how would it have been your fault?”
Echo pauses for a moment, as if he really didn’t want to talk about this at all, the wizard beginning to explain anyway. “My father was hunted by the demons for a long time, and my father was not well… the years of fighting demons had made him weak… he was almost def and day by day he was loosing his sight, also because of his age he was rapidly starting to loose his memory. He fought hard to survive and make me and his student’s his successors before he died… but then I grew sick… and I was unable to travel. Instead of continuing to stay out of the demon’s reach my father stayed by my side waiting for me to get better… the demons caught up to him… and he was killed…”
Hitsumi stares at Echo in silence as the young wizard clutches his staff tightly, the wizard able to remember the attack that had killed his father as if it had only happened the day before instead of hundreds of years ago. “I am sure… that is why they do not want to see me.”
Hitsumi looks over at him not believing for a second that the wizard he had met was possibly blaming Echo for such a thing. “Are you sure that’s why… maybe they want to see you… but they can’t…”
Echo looks back at Hitsumi. “What do you mean?”
Hitsumi clenches his teeth lowering his head realizing that he had almost admitting to Echo what the wizard in black had told him. “Nothing… I just don’t think it’s your fault that you haven’t seen them since your father died…”
Echo smiles at Hitsumi, a little comforted to hear him say that. “You don’t like the idea of me being the one at fault do you?”
Hitsumi closes his eyes, unable to find a way to respond.
*******
Li is with Angel as the princess continues looking out at the sea, Li leaning against the railing looking unbelievably bored to be stuck with her. “Are you going to be like this all day?”
Angel sighs as she turns back to her companion. “Li… am I doing something wrong?”
Li looks back at her. “Wrong? Not really you’re just being boring.”
Angel frowns unable to tell if Li was really stupid or just pretending to be. “No… I mean… with Hitsumi… last night… and this morning… I think that he’s rejecting me… and I don’t know how I should take this or what I should think of it…”
Li pushes herself up reminding the princess that it may not be her fault at all and could just be Hitsumi’s fault like many other things were. “Maybe he’s just nervous… you are a princess after all… that kind of a huge and frightening thing.”
Angel shakes her head not believing that it was something like that. “So… do you think I could be doing something wrong? I admit this is the first time I’ve felt this way about someone… so I don’t really know how I’m supposed to go about doing stuff like this…”
Li frowns to herself not understanding what Angel saw in him. “What do you like Hitsumi for? Hitsumi’s an idiot…”
Angel lowers her head a little upset that she was unable to get a serious response from Li. “I won’t pry into your past… but I was hoping you at would at least know what I’m going through… so that I could have a little help…”
Li stares ahead of her in silence she actually knowing Angel’s situation rather well, she doesn’t respond as she turns away from the railing beginning to walk back to her room. “I’m going to take a nap.”
Angel watches her leave a little disappointed to be abandoned when she was like this. “Wait!”
Li turns back to Angel before leaving. “I’ll speak with Hitsumi later… this time I won’t fight with him… it will be a one sided argument.”
Angel looks a little confused by Li’s words. “What do you mean?”
Li heads back towards her destination calling out to Angel as she left. “Don’t worry about it I’ll deal with him… just try to enjoy your time here.”
Angel smiles slightly, happy to hear that Li would help her despite this being her personal problem with Hitsumi. “Alright…”
