Looming Uncertainties

Only precious moments of light remained in the sky over the land of Atlantis. The village grew busier with the returning men and women from gathering, husbandry or hunting. They built a low stir of the atmosphere through the few streets of the village. Outside of the inn, where her new friends rested, Yumi and Eudokia searched around for food and supplies for their journey.

Their request gave them a few strange looks from the villagers. Returning villagers already completed their shopping in the morning. Evening arriving signaled the closing of businesses. Anything found during the day took time to prepare. Family members that came back got welcomed and meals set out. Only the tavern or odd stall stayed open.

Yumi was keeping mostly to herself just taking in everything she saw. ‘I guess I never really thought too much about night time being a time to stay home. There’s always places open and people enjoying the night time in Japan. But here every day is work and it starts in the morning…’ The small booth they found still open seemed to be taking advantage of providing those that returned with a small snack before their dinner. A young woman that probably bordered on thirty managed the stall. Most of her table was filled with fruits and small baked goods that could be eaten by hand.

In front of Yumi, Eudokia bartered with the woman over the food. She locked in focused on the task not letting anything distract her. The debate seemed to have drawn her in like she enjoyed herself. After the sale went through she turned around with her leather bag filled up. Eudokia motioned to Yumi to start moving away.

When they had enough distance between them and the stall, Eukodia snapped her hand down at Yumi’s hands lightly together in front. “Careful with your mannerisms. You’re showing as a foreigner.”

Her hands jerked apart to slide uncomfortably at her sides. “Sorry… It’s habit. It feels a little strange to just stand with them by my side when I’m not walking.”

“Just be mindful. I gave you an appearance that won’t make them suspect, but your actions will still show through.”

“I’ll try!”

Another stall lined up for their shopping. Yumi was continuing to keep to herself while trying to mind her actions. ‘Should I just do what the villagers do?’ Each action she took became over-thought and self conscious. Nervousness was ruling her movements and made for stiff posture.

‘What should I do? Ayumi’s so calm right now even knowing the risks…’ She was staring at Eudokia trying to find an answer to her questions. All her back spoke of seemed to be confidence. A self-assured sense of what she was doing was correct. ‘She acts so cold…and yet I sense something deeper…something powerful and driven…’ Yumi felt a little shaken, suddenly receiving a confusing sensation in her mind. ‘What is this feeling?’

Chapter 102 – Looming Uncertainties

Inside of the inn room, Seiji and Chiharu came to a bit of a lopsided stalemate. Only Chiharu called it a stalemate. It placed Seiji in the uncomfortable position of being exhausted and sat upon like a throw pillow. Chiharu rested atop her rough-around-the-edges teenager cushion. She had a satisfied look on her face though she tried to hide it, as though the score balanced out.

Yori and Fumiko left the two to act like troubled siblings not having the energy to deal with them. All of the forced marching from Eudokia left them feeling fatigued. Long walks or any great amount of exercise didn’t come naturally to them. Unlike the others in the room, they weren’t built for such work.

The pensive Yuki drew the attention of Yori. ‘Something’s on his mind…he seems to be a lot more withdrawn than I expected…not like what I’ve heard…’ He wondered if he might have to reconsider his view. ‘I’ll watch you until I understand…’

His last thoughts to himself spurred a separate thought in his mind, another concern that he had about their trek. ‘We’ve only heard her side of things and not the whole story at that. I want to see what these people have to say on the matter. Invading and attacking an entire nation is a bad idea even being informed. And we’re doing this completely blind…’ Yori stood up coming to a decision.

He approached Yuki waiting for a sign of recognition, which never came. “Hayashi.” Yori saw that Yuki existed deep in thought making it difficult to reach him. He tapped him on the shoulder and that seemed to be enough to grab his attention. “Hayashi, that power of yours can make anything right?”

“More or less…” Yuki hesitated, getting the sense that a request was about to be made of him. “Why?”

“I want you to make me a translator for the Atlantean language.”

Yori’s request drew the room’s attention. Everyone perked up and focused over on the two of them. He figured that the others would end up taking an interest. However, Yori held his attention on Yuki wanting an answer.

“Why? Ayumi said to stay in the room.”

“I need to know more about what’s going on.”

“But you can just ask Ayumi.”

“She’s holding back too much. I can’t trust someone’s words when they’re being that secretive.”

The debate started to press Yuki into a corner. All the time that he spent with Ayumi told him very little about her, as he realized. Unknowns that concerned Yori were rational. “But you can’t talk to anyone. They’ll know you’re not one of them. That’s something Ayumi wants to avoid and I don’t think she’s wrong. We don’t want to start a panic.”

A grim expression drew across Yori’s lips seeing that he got more trouble from Yuki than he expected. ‘He’s so focused on her that he can’t see anything else. There’s still so much we don’t understand here!’ Yori took a step back to make his presence seem less demanding and oppressive. A new approach needed to be taken. “I don’t plan on exposing myself to the locals. I can learn from just hearing what they talk about. Considering the importance of the King and his death, there must be talk even out here.”

“I’ll keep an eye on him, Yuki,” said Fumiko, joining the conversation. She understood Yori’s interest and had some questions of her own. “We won’t do anything reckless.”

“But…”

“Think of this way. You’re going to be King right? So this will just help you understand what life is like out here.”

Yuki’s eyes widened the moment that Fumiko mentioned being King. Shaking in his hand developed quickly and he tried to hide away from sight. Hesitation built up in his voice with uncertainty. “King…well I—“

“He’s not going to be staying here dammit!” snapped Seiji from underneath Chiharu. The words spurred his strength and he effortlessly cast aside the ninja. He rushed into the group holding out his determined assured fist to anyone that disagreed with him.

Fumiko backed away from Seiji not wanting to get him anymore excited. She remembered how he got when he heard about Yuki. “It still remains that knowing the situation better would help us against the enemy.”

Watching his friends eased some of the wavering in his heart and mind. He just hoped that Ayumi forgave him for using his powers for such a purpose. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

Agreeing to do Yori’s request settled down the tension in the air a little, but heightened it for Yuki. The thought of Ayumi’s reaction etched into his mind. ‘I really don’t want to keep up a field for the entire time…if I could just do it…another way!’ Several waves of light pulsed from his feet over the wood flooring disappearing after a few meters.

Out of the ground appeared a simple box with a couple of antennas. When it finished materializing a beam of light shot out between the antenna focusing in the center. The light gathered together and focused on the wood flooring. Sparkling dust like particles began to float up from the wood as it disappeared creating a perfect circle buried into the board. It grew deeper the longer the beam of light lasted. Another beam of light grew out from the centered mass on the opposite side of the box creating something on the floor. A pair of items soon took shape as the light continued its meticulous work.

The light faded away along with the box leaving only two identical objects behind as proof. Yuki leaned down to pick them up, handing them over to Fumiko and Yori. In his hand, a matching set of simple studded earrings with a green gem set on the metal. “Here you go, one for each of you.”

Yori hesitated, feeling like part of some joke on Yuki’s behalf to get back at him for making him do something he did not want to do. “That’s an earring.”

“Yes, it is! Pretty clever hiding it in an earring huh? You can wear it and it’ll translate sounds going in your ear and no one will ever think anything of it!”

It seemed that Yuki failed to grasp his problem. Yori’s eyelids lowered a little, not impressed the way Yuki appeared about the accomplishment. “I don’t wear earrings!”

“It’ll be fine! No one’s going to care.”

Fumiko stepped in taking the two earrings from Yuki hoping to cut off further arguments. She examined them trying to find the back clasp, but saw they came with none. “Uh, Yuki… I think you made a mistake. You can’t put these on. There’s no place to put them through a piercing.”

“They’re special like that! I didn’t really know if you had piercings and figuring for Yori I thought it’d be easier if they were made without. You just touch the back of the earring to your ear and it’ll stick until you take it back off.”

“That’s pretty forward thinking…” She checked the earring out once again before pulling back her hair to place it on her left ear. Once she put it in place she cautiously backed away and checked to make sure it remained. “You’re right!” Fumiko handed the other one over to Yori insisting he take it. “It’s only for a little while. None of us will say anything!”

A begrudged groan of disapproval came from Yori before he took the earring and quickly attached it. He tried not to think much about the fact of its presence, but part of his mind didn’t let him forget. Yori caught a smirk from Seiji who found the situation very amusing. Rather than giving him further time to revel Yori marched off to the door checking on the hallway before exiting. Fumiko swiftly followed behind him to stick together.

Dusk had set in fully with it waning into evening quickly. The last couple of stops they made filled up most of their bags that Eudokia carried as well as some of the ones Yumi carried. They brought nearly all of the packs from the group with them. Everyone would be carrying some of the food. The only concern ended up being how far it may last with the size of their group.

Yumi calmed down, settling into a mindful awareness of her body and surroundings. It was easing her stress, making the time pass by smoothly. She continued to watch Eudokia to answer the main reason she went along with her shopping. Part of it certainly had her interests in keeping the group dynamics smoothed out, a taxing job she never intended to pick up. The other half of her motives lied in a deeper personal nature.

Ever since the ship, the actions that Yumi found herself taking worried her. She began to piece things together and knew that she always got a tightening feeling in her chest whenever she saw Eudokia with Yuki. She kept her feelings within, but the sight of them made that swell. Yumi didn’t want to admit it, she realized. ‘It’s jealousy isn’t it? What I’m feeling towards Ayumi…Eudokia…’

Just the thought of it made her hands shake uncontrollably. She tried to keep it from showing by tightening at her sides for support. ‘She can be open around him and let her guard down. She’s so protected of herself, yet with Yuki…’ The more Yumi thought about them the larger the problem grew in her head. It fed on her own fears quickly blowing up out of her control. ‘…why…she’s so rude and cold to everyone, but the way he looks at her…’

Yumi shook her head a little trying to focus back on reality. She had let her mind go wild. The way she became absorbed and consumed by it scared her. The weight felt too much to bear. Each emotion seemed easy making it difficult to resist. Yet Eudokia’s back jerked the uncertainties back into her. ‘Is it because they are the same and I’m not like them…powerless? It’s not fair!’

Yuki fell further out of reach of her with each moment. She saw Eudokia opposite of her, looking as arrogantly confident in her position. Yuki stood between them drifting slowly towards Eudokia. She didn’t want to see another moment of it. ‘Yuki!’ The breaking point came for Yumi as she struggled to keep herself in control. ‘I…’ Yumi felt like she could see Eudokia almost laughing at her helplessness. She was going to steal Yuki away. She mocked Yumi knowing how insignificant of a challenge she gave. It made Yumi burn again with the same feeling she had before, but it felt stronger.

Yumi raised her head back up to face down Eudokia, concentrating on haggling with the shopkeeper. Determination and resolve surfaced, Yumi’s eyes drawing down focused. ‘I’m not going to lose to you! I’m not helpless! I’ll show you and everyone my strength! I’ll show Yuki!’

Time ran low for Yori and Fumiko in their efforts to gain useful information (useful being the important factor). All that they managed to discover ended up being everyday conversation and secrets that made them wish they hadn’t heard them to begin with. Hiding around the inn presented them with a start and they thought they didn’t need to venture further, but nothing came to them.

Their failure in the inn brought them outside, a bigger risk for them. For Yori, it just meant he had to come back with something that made the risk worthwhile. He didn’t know what he looked for, but knew that he would know when it happened. The insistence on playing safe from Fumiko kept him from doing anything too reckless, however he continued to push his limits. He needed to know.

Fumiko tapped Yori on his shoulder from their hiding place in the shadows of the inn and neighboring home. “Come on, Yori. We should be going back. If we get back after Eudokia and your sister they’ll know something happened.”

“In a moment, I know I’m close! I can feel it.” He honestly didn’t understand it himself, but his gut told him to stay. An inner voice seemed to speak softly to him encouraging his actions knowing that it meant a pay off. Yori gave it no concentrated thought. He just followed it as instincts.

“Yori!”

He noticed another two men passing by the street. “Quiet!” A hopeful lean pressed his hearing as much as possible to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“The crops don’t seem to be growing so well this season.”

“You noticed too, huh?”

“I’m getting concerned that the yield might not be good enough if this continues.”

“The yield’ll be the least of our concerns. Besides, I doubt it’s a coincidence that the crops are poor this year.”

“When are they going to announce the new King? We’re running out of time!”

“It’s been centuries since a new King went this long unannounced.”

“And we’re going to be the first to suffer!”

“It’ll be like after King Theseus died! So many people died and so much land was lost!”

“Our homes will be destroyed!”

The two men passed out of hearing range for Yori, but it had him spinning questions in his head. ‘What was all of that about?! People died and land…just because the King died? Was it a war or something else? Why is it so important to have a new King? Is this…what’s got Eudokia upset? What’s going to happen?!’