It had already been eight days since their encounter with Mitsuru in Sono. He was probably already in the north by now. Try as he might, there was no way Wataru could hope to catch up. Two minus one was one. That’s all he could think about. In fact, he made himself think about it. There was nothing else for him to do.
Above his head, the Blood Star winked and sparkled. Its rhythm seemed steady, no alteration in the pattern. When would Halnera end? It sure is taking her a long time to choose her other sacrifice.
“Oh?” The tower guard grunted suddenly, walking over to put a hand on the top of the ladder. “To what do we owe this unexpected honor?”
It was Kutz. She had three steps left to climb on the ladder, but instead of taking the guard’s outstretched hand, she jumped up, springing over the railing to land on top of the platform. The black leather whip hanging at her waist shone with a lustrous gleam in the twilight. For those who didn’t know the considerable skill with which she wielded it, the weapon might have looked like nothing more than a curious fashion statement, so well did it match her leather attire.
“I came to watch the sunset. I get romantic sometimes too, you know.”
Kutz had changed the style of her hair while Wataru was away from Gasara. Previously cut short, her hair now came down over her neck. She looked good. Her right shinguard and the firewyrm band on her left wrist served as crimson accents to her otherwise black leather garb.
“What’s with you? You look shocked,” Kutz chided, with her hand at her waist and her head tilted. “Stunned by my beauty, is that it? I should think you’d be used to it by now.”
Wataru blushed. He had been stunned, it was true. Kutz was beautiful, there was no denying it. If he hadn’t come to Vision, Wataru was sure he never would have met a woman as gorgeous, and as capable, as she was.
She turned to the guard who stood chuckling at the edge of the platform. “I’d like to have a few words with the boy here. Can I borrow your post awhile?”
“Of course,” the guard nodded. Picking up his copper megaphone, he passed it to Wataru. “Then I’ll let you hold on to this while you’re here.”
“Right. I’ll let you know if I see anything.”
“That’ll do just fine,” the guard said, disappearing down the ladder.
Kutz walked over and leaned her elbows on the railing. She looked out over the grasslands in the fading light. “This your first time up here?”
“Yes.”
“Great view, isn’t it? I think this is my favorite spot in town.”
“I like it too.”
“You should see the sunrise. Even when it’s raining, or there’s a mist, the view from here never disappoints.”
Kutz shook her head, brushing the hair out of her eyes, and looked up at the night sky. “I was born in a small frontier town in the mountains. Nothing but fields cut into the mountainside and a few simple huts in the middle of a little forest. I remember when I first came out to Gasara and saw the grasslands. What a shock that was. I never imagined the world could be so vast.”
This was the first time Kutz had ever spoken of her home. Wataru wondered if she had left by herself. How old had she been? Did she have some reason for leaving?
Kutz didn’t say anything else. She and Wataru stood side by side in comfortable silence. After some time had passed, Kutz suddenly spoke. “Got a lot of nerve, don’t you.”
Wataru spun around. “What?”
“Not you. That,” she said, pointing a finger at the Blood Star hanging in the northern sky. “Shining all pretty up there like a jewel. Too high up for anyone to grab and put in its place.”
Wataru smiled. “I bet your whip might just be able to reach it.”
“I’ve got half a mind to try,” Kutz said, her hand going down to the hilt of the whip quelled at her belt. Then she grinned and looked at Wataru.
Her eyes weren’t smiling. They were frighteningly serious. The smile faded from Wataru’s face.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” she said, making it sound like less of a question and more of a confirmation. I know how you’ll answer, I’m just making sure.
“Yeah…I think.”
“You give up easy.”
Wataru shrugged. “I guess I feel like there’s nothing I can do, so why bother?” Wataru hunched his shoulders, thrusting his hands in his pockets. His fingers brushed the edge of the wyrmflute. “On the road back to Gasara I was tempted a few times to call Jozo and try my chances at following after Mitsuru. I could get to the north if I was riding on a dragon. But even if I did catch up with Mitsuru, I don’t think I could beat him. His magic is too powerful.”
And Wataru was one gemstone behind.
“In any case, I’m too late. I have to accept my fate—and not worry about it so much.”
Kutz stood with her arms folded in front of her. Her leather vest bulged out above her arms. Wataru stared, then blushed, and hurriedly continued, “I’m not one of many, like whoever the sacrifice from Vision is to be. I’m only one of two. I guess that makes it easier to accept.”
Kutz said nothing. Pulling a cigarette from her vest pocket, she lit it with a match, puffing in the twilight.
“Also…I don’t think I’ve told anyone this before, but the whole reason I came here to Vision in the first place was thanks to my friend—the other Traveler, Mitsuru. That’s not all. If he hadn’t come to save me, I would’ve died. Twice—once in the real world and once in Vision. He saved my life.”
When Mom turned the gas on in the apartment and when I was being dragged to the guillotine at Triankha Hospital. “I owe him a debt. Maybe this is how I can repay that debt.”
Kutz took a drag on her cigarette and blew out a long plume of smoke. Then she stabbed it out on the railing, twirling the butt between her fingers. “You know,” she said, her tone suddenly changing. She was staring out over the grasslands. “I don’t care to hear your excuses.”
It’s not excuses, that’s how I really feel. Wataru was going to protest, but something in Kutz’s voice made him hold back.
“I won’t ask if you’re scared of being sacrificed. I don’t care if you’re fine leaving Kee Keema and Meena to mourn, or if you’re happy not meeting the Goddess. You came here to Vision to change your fate. If you become the sacrifice, you won’t be able to do that. I won’t stand here and ask you if you’re okay with that.”