Only preoments of light remained in the sky over the nd of Atntis. The vilge 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 vilge. 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 vilgers. Returning vilgers already pleted their shopping in the m. Evening arriving sighe closing of businesses. Anything found during the day took time to prepare. Family members that came back got weled and meals set out. Only the tavern or odd stall stayed open.

  Yumi was keeping mostly to herself just taking ihing she saw. ‘I guess I never really thought too much about night time being a time to stay home. There’s alces open and people enjoying the night time in Japan. But here every day is work and it starts in the m…’ 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 mahe 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 womahe food. She locked in focused oask 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 motioo Yumi to start moving away.

  When they had enough distaween 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 fner.”

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

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

  “I’ll try!”

  Aall lined up for their shopping. Yumi was tinuing to keep to herself while trying to mind her as. ‘Should I just do what the vilgers do?’ Each a she took became over-thought and self scious. 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 ao her questions. All her back spoke of seemed to be fidenbsp; A self-assured sense of what she was doing was correbsp; ‘She acts so cold…a I sense something deeper…something powerful and driven…’ Yumi felt a little shaken, suddenly receiving a fusiion in her mind. ‘What is this feeling?’

  Chapter 102 – Looming Uainties

  Inside of the inn room, Seiji and Chiharu came to a bit of a lopsided stalemate. Only Chiharu called it a stalemate. It pced Seiji in the unfortable 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 banced out.

  Yori and Fumiko left the two to act like troubled siblings not having the energy to deal with them. All of the forced marg from Eudokia left them feeling fatigued. Long walks or any great amount of exercise didn’t e naturally to them. Uhe 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 resider his view. ‘I’ll watch you until I uand…’

  His st thoughts to himself spurred a separate thought in his mind, another 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 oter. Invading and attag aire nation is a bad idea even being informed. And we’re doing this pletely blind…’ Yori stood up ing to a decision.

  He approached Yuki waiting for a sign nition, whiever 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 make anything right?”

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

  “I want you to make me a transtor for the Atntean nguage.”

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

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

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

  “But you just ask Ayumi.”

  “She’s holding baubsp; I ’t trust someone’s words when they’re being that secretive.”

  The debate started to press Yuki into a er. All the time that he spent with Ayumi told him very little about her, as he realized. Unknowns that ed Yori were rational. “But you ’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 ohat he ’t see anything else. There’s still so much we don’t uand here!’ Yori took a step baake his presence seem less demanding and oppressive. A neroaeeded to be taken. “I don’t pn on exposing myself to the locals. I learn from just hearing what they talk about. sidering 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 versation. She uood Yori’s i and had some questions of her own. “We won’t do anything reckless.”

  “But…”

  “Think of this way. Yoing to be King right? So this will just help you uand what life is like out here.”

  Yuki’s eyes widehe moment that Fumiko mentioned being King. Shaking in his hand developed quickly aried to hide away from sight. Hesitation built up in his voice with uainty. “King…well I—“

  “He’s not going to be staying here dammit!” snapped Seiji from underh 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 ahat 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 situatioer would help us against the enemy.”

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

  Agreeing to do Yori’s request settled dowension in the air a little, but heighte for Yuki. The thought of Ayumi’s rea etched into his mind. ‘I really don’t want to keep up a field for the eime…if I could just do it…another way!’ Several waves of light pulsed from his feet over the wood fl 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 betweeenna fog in the ter. The light gathered together and focused on the wood fl. 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 lohe beam of light sted. Another beam of light grew out from the tered mass on the opposite side of the box creating something on the floor. A pair of items soon took shape as the light tis 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 matg set of simple studded earrings with a green gem set oal. “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 wear it and it’ll transte 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 aplishment. “I don’t wear earrings!”

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

  Fumiko stepped in taking the tws from Yuki hoping to cut off further arguments. She examihem trying to find the back csp, but saw they came with none. “Uh, Yuki… I think you made a mistake. You ’t put these on. There’s no pce to put them through a pierg.”

  “They’re special like that! I didn’t really know if you had piergs 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 stitil you take it back off.”

  “That’s pretty forward thinking…” She checked the earring out once again before pulling back her hair to pce it on her left ear. Once she put it in pce she cautiously backed away and checked to make sure it remained. “You’re right!” Fumiko hahe other one over to Yori insistiake 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 fet. 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 cheg 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 st 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 ended up being how far it may st with the size of their group.

  Yumi calmed dowling into a mindful awareness of her body and surroundings. It was easiress, making the time pass by smoothly. She tio watch Eudokia to ahe main reason she went along with her shopping. Part of it certainly had her is in keeping the group dynamics smoothed out, a taxing job she never inteo pick up. The other half of her motives lied in a deeper personal nature.

  Ever sihe ship, the as that Yumi found herself taking worried her. She began to piece things together and khat 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 untrolbly. She tried to keep it from showing by tightening at her sides for support. ‘She be open around him a her guard down. She’s so protected of herself, yet with Yuki…’ The more Yumi thought about them the rger the problem grew in her head. It fed on her own fears quickly blowing up out of her trol. ‘…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 ba reality. She had let her mind go wild. The way she became absorbed and ed 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 uainties bato 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 eaent. She saw Eudokia opposite of her, looking as arrogantly fident 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 trol. ‘I…’ Yumi felt like she could see Eudokia almost ughing at her helplessness. She was going to steal Yuki away. She mocked Yumi knowing how insignifit 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, trating 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 mao discover ended up being everyday versation as that made them wish they hadn’t heard them to begin with. Hiding around the ined them with a start and they thought they didn’t o 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 e back with something that made the risk worthwhile. He didn’t know what he looked for, but khat he would know when it happened. The insisten pying safe from Fumiko kept him from doing anything too reckless, however he tio push his limits. He o know.

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

  “In a moment, I know I’m close! I feel it.” He holy didn’t uand it himself, but his gut told him to stay. An inner voice seemed to speak softly to him encing his as knowing that it meant a pay off. Yave it no trated thought. He just followed it as instincts.

  “Yori!”

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

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

  “You noticed too, huh?”

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

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

  “Whehey going to annouhe new King? We’re running out of time!”

  “It’s beeuries since a new Kihis 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 mud 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 nd…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?!’