Chapter 20
Obsidia Krauze was very much Rasha’s older sister. Even from a distance, the resemblance was obvious. They had the same face structure, the same nose, the same brilliant green eyes, the same dark hair. Where Rasha held himself in a casual, sometimes even meek way, though, Obsidia was the exact opposite. Her confidence, bordering on overconfidence or arrogance even, was on full display. Everything from the way she was standing to the clothes she was wearing to the wild way her hair was styled just screamed out power and danger and confidence.
Despite the cold, she was wearing a sleeveless black dress that ended mid-thigh, her legs covered in a pair of black boots that nearly met the hem of her dress. There were black gloves on her hands and a black cape trailing down from her shoulders. A pair of goggles rested on top of her head, somehow not blending in with the wild mass of black hair that was also somehow floating around her head. It very much was a reminder that her title was Obsidia the Whirlwind.
All of this - the bold costume, the wild hair, the confident stance, the shit-eating grin on her face - was obviously an intimidation tactic. And the mere fact that she was standing on the platform at the train station in Nixian meant that she was obviously trying to intimidate us. Yes, she was obviously there for Rasha but I was becoming more and more sure that this display was equally meant to intimidate me.
And maybe I should have been intimidated. After all the rumors I’d heard about her, after everything Rasha had told me about her, I probably should have been intimidated.
“Why is my sister there?” Rasha groaned.
“Oh? She is? Where??” Koreo demanded, crowding beside me to look out the window.
“I’m just guessing that the very tall woman with crazy hair and a cape is her?” I asked, trying very hard not to sound sarcastic. Rasha sighed and gave a nod, turning away from the window with a frown. As he got out of the booth, Souta eagerly moved to look out the window as well. I glanced away from the window over to Rasha, who was starting to look a little ill. It was almost the same expression he’d had when we had been approaching the Yellow Witch.
“Whoa, yeah, that’s gotta be her. She looks a lot like you, Rasha!” Koreo exclaimed. “Uh, in a good way?”
“What’s with that costume, though? She’s a Spectrum, right, is that some kind of uniform?” Souta asked, turning away to also look at Rasha with concern.
“No, that’s just how she dresses,” Rasha confirmed with another sigh.
“I’ll bet that cape looks cool as hell when she uses magic,” I grumbled. As we got closer, I started to notice some of the other people around Obsidia. They were standing in a way that made it clear that they were trying not to look like they were with her. Bodyguards, or maybe employees? Either way, they all looked dangerous as hell, too.
“Who are those people with her?” I asked.
“Those are… it’s a bit hard to explain in Astorian. There’s a specific word in Xianese, but basically they are from a family that has served my family for many generations. They’re sort of like bodyguards and assistants and spies all rolled into one,” Rasha explained. Unlike Obsidia herself, they were all dressed in casual clothing, much more appropriate for the chilly weather, mainly in shades of browns and greens. Glancing around the crowd that was gathered at the platform, I was relatively sure that there were at least three of these bodyguard-assistant-spies. I was also fairly confident that at least two of the people on the platform were Astorian spies, too. Probably on the lookout for us. I sighed and turned away from the rapidly approaching platform to address everyone else.
“I’m pretty sure our cover is blown, so I guess we can get rid of the disguises,” I lamented. We were all wearing Gilliam’s hair color changing necklaces. I was currently blonde, while Rasha was wearing the moss green necklace, Koreo was a brunette, and Souta had dark hair.
“Aw, I kind of liked being a brunette…” Koreo lamented.
“Well, you can keep the necklace on if you like,” I said, even as I was reaching up to pull off my own necklace. I kept most of my hair shoved under my hat, though. Koreo seemed to think to herself for a moment before leaving it on with a wide smile. Souta all but ripped his own necklace off. I’d caught him frowning at his reflection all morning; it seemed he wasn’t fond of how he looked with dark hair. Rasha sighed and removed his own necklace.
“Seriously, what is my sister thinking?” he complained.
“That there isn’t anyone stupid enough to try anything against the infamously most powerful Spectrum?” I suggested.
“The fact that I even exist is supposed to only be a rumor,” he continued complaining. “Why would she go out of her way to confirm it?”
“Maybe that isn’t what she’s doing. Maybe she has a plan,” I said. I gently moved Koreo out of the way so that I could scoot past her and out of the booth, coming over to where Rasha had slumped on the floor, back against one of the walls. The train was slowing down as we approached the station.
“Uh…” Souta interjected. I turned to look at him, and he was staring out the window, jaw practically on the floor. “No, I don’t think that’s what she’s doing at all.” Koreo also looked flabbergasted at whatever she was seeing.
“Oh no, what is it?” Rasha asked, standing up frighteningly quickly and darting back over to the window. I followed, and my own jaw also dropped. Two of those bodyguard-assistant-spies were now standing on either side of Obsidia, holding onto two wooden rods. Stretched between the two wooden rods was a large banner that read, in huge letters in both Astorian and Xianese:
WELCOME HOME RASHAGA
“Yeah, never mind, she definitely wants people to know you aren’t a rumor,” I said, trying very hard but ultimately failing to keep my voice from sounding strained. Honestly, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to laugh or scream. Rasha somehow managed to do both.
As the train rolled to a stop at the station, I could see Obsidia carefully checking each window of the train. It seemed like Rasha noticed that too, because he ducked away from the window like it was burning him.
“Okay, so there are two options here,” I said, turning away from the window to where he was now pacing the small room in frantic circles. “We can either try to sneak past her with disguises, or we can go meet her face-to-face.”
“As much as I would prefer the first option, there’s no way we’ll be able to sneak past her,” Rasha replied, finally stopping his pacing to frown over at me. “Even if you could disguise me enough to fool her, chances are she already knows what the three of you look like.”
“That’s true,” I said with a decisive nod.
“What? How?” Souta asked.
“She knows Rasha is on this train, which means that, at minimum, someone saw us board the train at the mushroom city. Possibly earlier,” I said. I frowned. “...probably earlier, actually.”
“I’ve been looking out for jiande,” Rasha said with a huge sigh. “And yet…”
“Jee-yon-day?” Koreo asked, and Rasha made a face, like he was halfway between offended and amused.
“Jiande,” he repeated. “Sorry. That’s the word for the bodyguard spy assistant people.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. I didn’t notice anyone suspicious either. It’s possible she’s been tracking us with magic or by some other means too.” I moved over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked over at me, still frowning, but he nodded.
“Yeah,” he agreed.
“And hey, she’s probably expecting us to try to sneak past her. What she’s not going to expect is you coming out to meet her face to face, right?” I pointed out. He nodded, still frowning. I leaned in closer to him, talking a little more quietly. “You’re not the same person you were when you left. And don’t forget, I’m here. I don't care if she’s a Spectrum, I’ll fight her if I have to.”
“Please don’t,” Rasha replied, eyes going wide.
“Just try and stop me,” I said, grinning in a way that I hoped conveyed that I was joking… mostly, anyway. It seemed to calm him down, because he gave me a shaky grin right back.
“There’s a fight I’d pay to see,” Souta said. I laughed in response.
“Now then, shall we get this show on the road?” I asked, finally taking my hand off of Rasha’s shoulder and turning to gather my things. I heard him take a deep breath and slowly let it out.
“Might as well,” he said.
Predictably, we were some of the last people disembarking from the train. I caught sight of Aimerik’s distinctive blonde hair in the crowd ahead of us. I halfway expected that he was going to beeline straight for Obsidia but, then again, it was entirely possible that he didn’t know who she was. Or that he had the good sense not to bother her outside of her office. Or rather, Reginald probably had the good sense not to bother her outside of her office. Either way, the two of them quickly disappeared into the crowd heading out of the station, and I turned my attention to the two people that had stepped up right beside both Rasha and myself. I hadn’t noticed them until they were standing there - but they’d come up from behind us. Koreo and Souta hadn’t noticed them either. I carefully looked at the rather tall man now standing on my left - or what of his face I could see anyway - and then turned to look at Rasha, to my right.
“Airi. Tian. It’s good to see you,” he said, addressing the two of them. I heard Koreo behind me gasp and Souta quickly muffle a swear as they noticed the two new people standing in our midst.
“Lady Obsidia wishes to greet you,” the woman standing to Rasha’s right said. She was short, probably even a little shorter than Koreo, and she had dark hair and…that was about all I could tell about her, considering the fact that she was covered nearly head to toe in black clothing. The man standing to my left was also similarly decked out in all black, even wearing a mask over the lower part of his face and a hood over what looked like similarly dark hair.
“I can see that,” Rasha replied, sounding very unamused. “And you’re here to make sure I don’t try to run?”
“I’m here to ensure the safety of you and your companions,” the girl replied. “Lady Mori, especially.” There was a surprise. Not that she knew my name, but that she was especially interested in making sure I was safe. Interesting. If that was the case, I was more than willing to bet that there were more than just these two lurking about, then.
I managed to angle my head in a way that let me see a little bit behind me and, sure enough, there were two more black-clad people standing behind Koreo and Souta.
“You sure this isn’t a hostage situation?” I asked, turning to address the guy standing to my left.
“I assure you, we are merely here to ensure your safety,” the girl replied.
“So we can leave, then?” I asked, turning to face her directly. “We can walk right out of this train station, and you won’t stop us?”
It was hard to tell with the mask covering up most of her face, but she looked exasperated.
“Lady Mori, I think you will agree that it would be most impolite not to greet Master Obsidia. She rarely makes public appearances-” the girl continued, but I interrupted her.
“Oh yeah, impolite for sure but you’re not gonna threaten us with knives or something if we decide to just leave?” I pressed. I could hear the frown in her words when she spoke next, after taking a second, probably to collect herself.
“This is not a hostage situation,” she said, her words measured. “You are free to go as you like.”
“Rasha too?” I asked. Rasha was now looking back and forth between the girl and myself, growing increasingly more anxious.
“Master Rasha may do as he pleases,” she said. I grinned at her.
“Great! That’s all I needed to know,” I said. I turned to Rasha now, fully putting my back to the man standing to my left. “So, Rasha, it’s your choice.” He sighed.
“Lead the way, Airi,” he said to the girl.
“Very well. This way, please,” Airi said, sounding relieved. She headed off in the direction that we’d spotted Obsidia in earlier, Rasha falling into step behind her and me right behind. I heard Koreo and Souta follow, but try as I may I could not hear the other three black-clad people walking behind us. They were good. It was making my skin absolutely crawl, knowing they were behind us but that I couldn’t tell.
I did, however, spot several Astorian spies along our short walk. Fun. And people that were probably from one of the many factions of people after us from all the way back in Kiiren, too.
We were escorted through the crowd and straight to where Obsidia was still standing, bilingual banner above her head. She grinned broadly when we finally arrived.
“My dear younger brother,” she exclaimed, far too loud, “Welcome home!” Rasha gave a nearly inaudible sigh.
“Sister,” he said. She frowned.
“That’s it?” she demanded. “Really, Ashie.” I heard Souta mutter “Ashie” behind me with an aborted snort. I saw Rasha’s frown deepen slightly at the nickname. “We haven’t seen each other for ten years, I closed up my office and came all the way here to welcome you back, and this is the greeting I get?”
“Of course I’m happy to see you, Dia,” Rasha said very carefully. “You’ll have to forgive me, I’m just quite tired from the journey.”
“And what a journey it’s been!” Obsidia said, barking out a laugh. “You’ll have to tell me about it over tea. I’m excited to hear from all of you.” She finally turned her attention away from Rasha and her gaze fell onto me. “Especially you, the famous Spikora Mori.”
“Oh, I’m famous all the way out here in Nixian? What an honor,” I replied. Obsidia’s grin in response was… sharp.
“Come now, no time to waste. It’s a short walk to my office, and by the time we arrive the tea will be ready and waiting for all of you,” she said. “Or would you southern types prefer coffee instead?” She turned her attention back to Rasha. “And can I assume you still can’t drink tea without putting milk and sugar in it?” Rasha’s frown deepened even further.
“If it will please you, sister, I can punish myself with bitter tea,” Rasha replied. Obsidia rolled her eyes and then turned back to me.
“And what of you lot? I suppose it’s worth asking if any of you have ever had authentic Nixian tea,” she said.
“Well, not authentic,” Koreo replied. “But I have dabbled in Nixian green teas before.”
“Uh, yeah, same here,” Souta replied, sounding intimidated.
I’d gone out of my way to try authentic Nixian green tea after hearing the locals talking about it while I was trying and failing to get into the off-limits sections of the National.
Not to go off on too much of a tangent, but - the National Library of Nixian (the National for short) is the biggest building in Nixian by a lot. New floors are being added almost constantly. It had been up to fourteen stories the last time I’d been here, which was over ten years ago so I had to assume it was much bigger now. Other nations had big libraries, sure, but the National was big enough that you could spend an entire day in it and not see everything you wanted to see. And I definitely had. I’d spent weeks there, actually, doing all of the research I could think of about how to get my mana back, how to break witch’s curses… the whole shebang. I’d also spent an enormous amount of time trying and failing to get into the sections that were restricted to government employees. I’d tried to get access the legal way, then I’d tried sneaking in, and all to no avail. Fortunately even ten years ago I’d had at least enough sense to know that trying to force my way in was a bad idea. I was lucky that even my failed sneaking in attempts hadn’t gotten me thrown out of the library… or thrown out of Nixian in general.
My study vacation in Nixian hadn’t been nearly long enough, but while I’d been here I’d taken ample opportunities to try the local cuisine. In fact, the tea I’d sampled had been so authentic it had been served by a tea master. I’d tried it undoctored, of course, and while bitter it had been so flavorful that it had elevated the bitterness to a whole new level of flavor. So in short, I’d really liked the tea here.
But I had a bone to pick. I felt a sharp grin of my own start to form.
“I’ve had authentic sencha,” I said, earning Obsidia’s immediate interest. I shrugged. “It was fine. Could’ve been improved with milk and sugar.”
I could see it on her face - I was on her hit list now. Just as planned.
“Very well then,” Obsidia sighed. “I’ll have milk and sugar waiting along with the tea.” Here she finally looked away from me, giving both the man to my left and also Airi meaningful looks as she talked. They both, near perfectly in time with each other, bowed deeply to her and stepped away from us, each heading in opposite directions. Obsidia turned away from us with a sweeping motion, her cape flaring out dramatically. Nearly a dozen people, several of which I hadn’t clocked at all as being part of her entourage, stepped in sync with her as she made her way through the train station. The crowd started to part for her. I hesitated, but set off after her, Rasha right beside me and Koreo and Souta following.
It really was a short walk. Nixian had been built very deliberately - or, rather, rebuilt very deliberately - so that the major transportation hub was also a short walk from a lot of the major, important buildings. It was actually pretty fascinating. I’d learned all about it during my study vacation, between failed attempts to break into the restricted sections of the National. Like most cities that had been around since the dawn of civilization, Nixian had at one point been a complete mess, with important buildings and infrastructure just kind of built wherever. Then along had come Emperor Dian Xu, the hero of a bloody revolution that had overthrown the previous warlords and united the nation for the most part. After very firmly establishing a very very concrete boundary with Astor in the west, Dian Xu had then turned Nixian into his own pet project. Sure, a whole lot of lower class citizens had been displaced and had probably died in the process, but the end result was a city that was very meticulously planned out. The guy had even reshaped the Xian river! It had flowed directly through the city before, but with a lot of construction the river had been reshaped to flow around the city in a large circle. The circular shape of the river had previously been the outer border of the city, but it had long since expanded out past its banks..
Taking the place of the river cutting directly through the city, there was now a major road. Before trains had been invented this had been primarily used for carriages and wagons and the like. It had been very easy to transition part of the road into train tracks, however, so the end result was a city bisected by the train tracks with the major road on both sides of those tracks. There were three major stops for trains along those tracks, one of which was almost directly in the center of the city. This was the big transit hub for Nixian; smaller trains and trolleys stopped there, too, before whisking people away to other parts of the city that aren’t along the major train tracks. This is where we had disembarked, and as it was right smack dab in the center of Nixian it was also right smack dab in the center of the downtown area where - you guessed it - all the major government buildings and other major attractions are located. That included the office of the resident Spectrum, of course. It also included the National, several museums, the courthouse, a playhouse, an enormous indoor-outdoor marketplace…it was truly insane. The number of buildings packed into the center of Nixian was a sheer testament to the insane amount of planning that went into Dian Xu’s lifelong undertaking of rebuilding Nixian from the ground up. It almost made up for the fact that he practically had to raze the entire city to do it.
Obsidia’s “office” was, naturally, large and impressive and imposing. I’d seen my fair share of places that different Spectrum had called their bases of operations in my travels. You could really tell what a Spectrum was all about based on where they did their business. The more research-minded Spectrum tended to have ones that looked more like libraries or laboratories. The diplomatically-minded Spectrum had ones that resembled churches or courthouses.
Obsidia’s was just a big ol’ arena. It was pretty obvious that she, and for that matter at the very least the previous local Spectrum, favored battling it out over research or diplomacy. I was sure there was actually an office in there somewhere and we were being led to it, but even once we got close the towering rows of seats and meticulously kept lawn were all I could hope to focus on.
Obsidia led the way with our group and the rest of her entourage following behind. She didn’t say much, trying at first to get Rasha to talk to her but giving up with a roll of her eyes when he gave her very short responses. As we walked I observed something a little strange. Some of the people that we passed on the street were very friendly, waving and calling out to Obsidia or even just nodding as we passed. Others, particularly older citizens, were actively less friendly. Some frowned, others looked anxious or frightened. Some practically dove out of our way as we walked. I made a mental note to ask about that later, but I had my suspicions.
Obsidia marched us right up to the public entrance to the building, nodding to some very clearly armed guards who saluted her and turned to open the enormous set of double doors they were guarding. As we entered the lobby I noted a sizeable chunk of Obsidia’s entourage splintering off from the group and entering some of the smaller, less noticeable doors along the walls. The lobby itself was as huge and impressive as the rest of the building. It was certainly very showy with black marble floors and white marble walls, a high ceiling and statues just kind of everywhere throughout the lobby. Another set of guards opened another set of doors on the opposite side of the lobby. These were a bit smaller and made of some kind of dark wood instead of stone. On the other side of those doors was a large room that was very similar to a courtroom. A desk on a raised platform was facing the doors, while rows of seats were facing the desk itself. This was pretty clearly where Obsidia conducted official business with the public.
As soon as we were all through the set of wooden doors they were closed behind us. I glanced to Rasha to see if he was worried, but he mostly just looked tired. I took that as a sign that we weren’t being led into some kind of trap, and we moved onward. Obsidia marched down the center aisle and took an abrupt left turn, pushing open a modest, nondescript door and passing through it. This led us into a series of plain-looking hallways and staircases that ultimately led us to yet another door. I wasn’t entirely sure that Obsidia had led us on the most direct path to get here, but nonetheless I still managed to keep track of all the different turns we’d taken just in case we needed to make a hasty retreat for some reason.
The room Obsidia led us into appeared to be some kind of observation room overlooking the arena below. One of the walls was almost entirely a large, solid glass window that curved with the architecture of the arena itself. The window was flanked by two doors that led out to a balcony with chairs. Inside the room there were comfortable looking chairs and couches scattered about along with tables full of all manner of food and drinks. Directly in the center of the room was a modestly-sized wooden table with six chairs and five steaming cups undoubtedly filled with tea. A heavy looking iron kettle was warming over a slab of emberslate in the center of the table, and there were pots of what were most likely cream, sugar, and possibly honey arranged around it.
Obsidia, naturally, sat at the head of the table. There was a chair at the other end of the table, but it was pushed in and there was not a cup of tea sitting in front of it. I, perhaps with too much confidence, walked over and took one of the cups and the fancy wooden coaster it was sitting on and moved it over to the seat opposite of Obsidia, pulling the chair out for myself and sitting. Koreo and Souta hastily sat down in the two seats nearest me, leaving Rasha to sit closer to his sister, the chair on her right now empty.
She didn’t look surprised at all by my rather blatant disrespect. If anything, her grin said that she was probably starting to take me seriously.
“So, let’s cut to the chase, shall we?” Obsidia finally addressed us after taking a sip of her tea. “On behalf of the Krauze family, I would like to formally extend our thanks to you, Spikora Mori, for rescuing my dear younger brother from whatever foul intentions the other bidders at that auction may have had for him.”
So, she knew about the auction. That information wasn’t exactly surprising, and it was going to help speed the conversation along significantly. I nodded, and she continued.
“The winning bid was ten million, correct? I’ll have that taken out of his personal accounts to repay you. And as for myself, I’ll be rewarding you with a convenience fee for returning Ashie to me in one piece. Would five million be acceptable for the trouble?”
Now, fifteen million is a lot of money to just throw around. Heck, even the five million convenience fee is a lot of money. More than enough for any intrepid young adventurer to comfortably retire to a peaceful life somewhere. Buy some land, have a house built, start a business - whatever. Any sane, normal person would have agreed right away. But, as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now… I’m not exactly sane or normal.
“I’m not interested in selling,” I said, with a grin that was nearly wide enough to match hers. I saw Rasha, not to mention Koreo and Souta, all turn to look at me in disbelief. I didn’t look away from Obsidia for even a second, though. I watched a full range of emotions dance across the Spectrum’s face. First was shock, of course. Then, annoyance at my blatant and continued disrespect. Then, a sort of begrudging admiration for my disrespect. And then, finally, amusement. She finally broke eye contact with me, throwing back her head and laughing.
“Oh, Ashie, I like her,” Obsidia cackled. Rasha looked nervous and uncomfortable. My grin widened. “She’s got guts.” She turned her focus back to me. “So, I take it you’ve gotten so attached to my dear brother on your little journey here that you want to keep him?”
Well, that was something I didn’t really have the time to unpack at that point. That was a question with a very complicated and kind of terrifying answer. So instead of answering, I deflected.
“Well, for starters I think he’s certainly worth more than fifteen million,” I said. “And I do certainly expect to be repaid the amount for the bid. As for the convenience fee, I’m not necessarily after money for the reward - I’m after information.”
“I see,” Obsidia replied. She put her palms down on the table and leaned forward, clearly interested now. “No doubt you are aware that just like Ashie, I can’t give you any information about the Serpentarius.” I nodded.
“Correct. I’m not specifically looking for information about that anyway,” I said. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“Reeeeally?” she asked, drawing out the vowels. “Now that’s a surprise.”
“Of course, I’ll take any information about the Hecatus stones I can get if I can get it, I’m not insane,” I said. “As for the information I’m after, it’s really only two things. First and foremost, I’m looking for any information whatsoever about how to break or circumvent a Witch’s Curse. And, second, any information about the symbol tattooed on Rasha’s shoulder.”
Obsidia sat back with a nod, her wild grin back in place. It was beginning to remind me of the too-wide grin of the yellow Witch we had all just faced.
“Well, I am afraid that I must inform you that Witches are not even remotely my area of expertise. Based on the rumors I’ve heard about you, Spikora Mori, I’m quite certain you know more than I do about Witches,” Obsidia said. I nodded - this was, sadly, a very normal response. There weren’t a whole of people that knew anything about Witches that aren’t themselves Witches, after all. “I think there may be some information in some of the restricted archives of the National. I can arrange for you to have special access.”
I almost couldn’t contain my excitement at hearing that. I barely managed to keep my expression neutral.
“I would greatly appreciate that,” I replied.
“And as for the tattoo… it shouldn’t surprise you to know that just like Ashie, my lips are sealed on the matter,” she said. This time I couldn’t quite keep my expression neutral. This was not surprising but very disappointing, to say the least.
Obsidia’s grin morphed into a smirk though, for some reason.
“Buuuut,” she said, drawing out the ‘u’ sound very dramatically, “There is a big difference between myself and Ashie in that regard.” She leaned forward again, hands on the table, eyes bright with mischief. “I know how to break my own curse.”
“Y-you do?!” Rasha yelped, clearly shocked by the statement. Obsidia nodded, and I started to get a sinking feeling. If she knew how to break her curse and hadn’t done it yet… well, it must either be impossible or insanely difficult.
“Oh yes. It’s really quite simple. You see, I am allowed to speak candidly with any person that manages to defeat me honestly in combat.”
Oh.
Well.
I found myself laughing at the absurdity of it.
“And before you ask,” Obsidia continued, “No, I can’t just throw the fight. Not that I ever would, mind you, but that is a stipulation of the curse itself. I have to be wholly defeated in one-on-one combat for it to count. I have to be giving it my all, and I shouldn’t have to tell you this but my all is a lot.”
“Your reputation precedes you,” I agreed with a nod.
This might have been where the story ended. I might have given up right then and there. I might have just accepted the fifteen million and left Rasha there in Nixian with his sister and returned to Kiiren. If we had never had to fight that yellow Witch, if Rasha hadn’t told me to cast that Glaive and if I hadn’t trusted him, I would absolutely have given up here.
But I didn’t.
To be honest, I probably should have. Instead, I just grinned.
“So when and where are we dueling then, Obsidia?” I asked. I heard Koreo gasp. I heard Rasha make a startled noise and gape at me, jaw practically on the floor. I saw Obsidia’s black brows shoot up in genuine surprise. She stared at me for a second before that enormous, sharp grin spread across her face again.
“Interesting,” she cooed. “So either the rumors of you not being able to cast magic really are just rumors, or you have a death wish.”
“Why not both?” I shrugged. She cackled.
“It’ll be your funeral,” she answered. “We can have our duel tomorrow afternoon in this very arena, if you’d like.”
“Why not sooner?” I asked, and she laughed again.
“I thought I’d give you time to get your affairs in order. Get a casket, arrange for your body to be transported back to your home, you know. You might even be able to enjoy some of Nixian before you die,” Obsidia taunted.
“Spikora, you…” Rasha finally managed to say. I finally broke eye contact with Obsidia and looked over at him. “You don’t have to do this.”
“I know I don’t have to,” I said with a shrug. “But honestly, I’ve always wondered how I would stack up against the infamous Obsidia the Whirlwind, you know?”
“But — this is crazy!” he protested. I shook my head at him. “You don’t understand how powerful she is, she—”
“Oh no, I do. I still want to at least try,” I said. He frowned but stopped protesting. I turned back to Obsidia. “So, what are the rules for the duel? Weapons? Magic?”
“I can’t hold back in the slightest or it won’t work. Believe me, I’ve tried everything to break this curse,” she said with a sigh. “You can bring weapons, of course. As a Spectrum I can make my own, as I’m sure you know.” I nodded.
“Obviously this can’t be a duel to the death. If I kill you you won’t be able to tell me what I need to know,” I said. She grinned and nodded.
“All you need to do is simply knock me unconscious in order to be declared the victor. As for me, well, I’m sure you know that unlike normal magic, a Spectrum’s magic can kill. I’ll have healers on standby, but death is a very real possibility,” Obsidia replied. “If you change your mind, I won’t be offended.”
“I’ve heard you have some of the best healers in the world here in Nixian,” I said. “Great. I wouldn’t want to accidentally kill you instead of just knocking you out,” I taunted. She turned to Rasha.
“Good job getting rescued by someone with a sense of humor!” she chuckled.
“Uh, thanks?” Rasha sighed in response. Obsidia turned back to me.
“So that’s what you want if you can actually manage to defeat me? Information?” she asked. I nodded. “Well, what’s in it for me? Other than the pleasure of handing you your own ass, what do I get out of it?” I thought for a moment.
“The way I see it, I’m doing you a favor by breaking your curse for you,” I said. “Is that not enough?” She smirked.
“The favor of having my curse broken in exchange for information about Rasha’s tattoo is a fair trade, but you wanted two pieces of information, correct?” she asked. I blinked.
“You already said you don’t know anything about breaking Witch’s curses,” I pointed out.
“Ah, but what about information on the Serpentarius?” she asked. I nodded, slowly.
“Okay, what would you want in exchange for that? And before you say anything, no, Rasha is not on the table as a bargaining chip, here,” I replied. She folded her arms with a pout.
“Take all the fun out of it, why don’t you? Okay, fine. Information for information,” she said. I blinked, confused.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“If you can actually defeat me, I will want to know how you did it,” she said. My brows furrowed.
“So, wait. If I lose neither of us actually benefit at all. You don’t want anything from me if I lose?” I clarified. She nodded. “But if I win and break your curse you’ll tell me what I want to know and I have to tell you how I did it?” She nodded. “That’s…not how wagers work.” She laughed.
“Who said this was a wager? Gambling is for fools. If you lose there will be no point in humiliating you further, especially if you won’t turn my dear Ashie back over to me,” Obsidia replied.
“You said yourself that the money is coming out of his accounts,” I pointed out. “Once I’m repaid, he can do whatever he wants.” I turned to look at him. “If you want to stay here, you can. If you want to keep traveling with us, you can. Heck, you can go back to Kyrens if you want.” He gave a short, stiff nod. When I turned back to look at Obsidia she looked, for the first time, kind of annoyed.
“And what gives you the kind of authority to declare that, Spikora Mori?” she asked. I reached into my bag and produced the deed to the auction. She frowned. “Do you know how dangerous it is for him outside of this city? Even within the city?”
“Very dangerous, now that you’ve gone and declared to the whole world that he exists and that he’s here,” I pointed out. There was a flash of irritation on her face. I decided to press the issue. “But last I checked, Rasha isn’t an object or a pet, he’s a person. He can make his own decisions.”
The room was very, very quiet. So quiet that I could almost hear how annoyed she was. I held her gaze with what I seriously hoped was cool, calm confidence. Surprisingly, it was Rasha that broke the silence.
“Sister, I—” he started, but flinched a little when both of us turned to look at him. He seemed to gather himself with a deep breath. “Harrowing as it has been, I’ve actually enjoyed myself a lot over these past few days. I would very much like to do some traveling after all of this. I won’t even take money out of my accounts for it.”
Obsidia frowned, looking pensive. Rasha seemed to be holding his breath. I started to say something, though I honestly have no idea what, when Obsidia finally spoke.
“Traveling, hm? How very like you,” she said. She sighed, closing her eyes and standing up, and somehow I hadn’t seen the jiande before she was pulling Obsidia’s chair away from the table for her. “I’ll think about it. In the meantime, you lot haven’t eaten yet, right? Would you like to go to your favorite restaurant, Ashie?” Abruptly, the tension in the air evaporated and Obsidia was back to the sharp, jovial persona she’d had before.
“My favorite?” Rasha asked, also rising. There was a jiande pulling his chair away, too. I made a quick glance over both shoulders and nearly jumped when I noticed the same taller man from before standing just behind my left shoulder. He looked impassive, almost disinterested, but pulled the chair away for me when I also stood up. I thought I was good at telling when there were people behind me, but these jiande really were something else! I wondered if they would share their trade secrets if I asked nicely enough.
“Ten Ten,” Obsidia said. “The one with the—”
“The one with the cakes!” Rasha cut her off, excited. She reached over and ruffled his hair fondly in response, and he looked a little put out but… he let her do it.