“Just like my family,” she added in a small voice. “For the people living in the Northern Empire life was hard, even for those who were lucky enough to be in the rich capital. The only people living any kind of good life were the royal family and those surrounding them. Everyone else struggled to make it through every day. And now that the seal on the mirror has been broken, not only the North but all of Vision is in danger. What good did the emperor ever do? None! I bet even now he’s run off somewhere, worried more about saving his own hide than helping his country.”
This was more than Zophie could stand. She whirled around to face Meena. “My father is dead!”
“Father?” Kee Keema’s eyes opened wide. “Then you’re…”
“Zophie, the daughter of Gama Agrilius VII,” she said, standing tall and looking straight into their eyes. “I am the successor to the throne. Now that my father is gone, it falls to me to defend the country and move our armies.”
Meena stood dumbfounded. But she quickly recovered, a belligerent gleam in her eyes. “Then what in the Goddess’s name are you doing here?! Shouldn’t you be off somewhere leading?”
Wataru stepped between the two. “Stop this.”
“Stop what?!”
“It’s not like you, Meena, to talk this way.”
The fire went out of Meena’s eyes as though doused with water.
“She might be the empress-in-waiting,” said Kee Keema, “but how is she supposed to do anything all alone like this, huh?” Meena turned her back to him, whipping her tail around so fast it slapped into Wataru’s side.
Kee Keema looked up at the wavy top of the wall. “How far do we plan to walk tonight? I still think it’s too dangerous to go inside.”
“It would be nice if we could climb up somewhere—get a view of the city.”
“We won’t be getting up the wall here. Too high. There must be a place where it’s fallen down a bit.”
They began walking along the wall again. After a while, they heard a faint noise, like a person weeping. They all stopped and perked up their ears. After a moment they realized it was only the whistling of the wind.
“Still, that’s an odd sound. I wonder what it’s blowing through. Maybe something up there?” Kee Keema pointed up ahead to a place where rubble had spilled out through the city wall. Burned beams jutted out of the wreckage like leftover fish bones after a meal. “Maybe we can climb up on those?” Kee Keema walked over and tested one with his foot, but it crumbled almost immediately. Though it looked solid, it was like trying to climb a hill of sand.
“That’s funny…” If these were the remains of a house or some building, they should be a bit more solid, Wataru thought. And what’s with all the sand and rock?
Then it hit him. It’s a golem. This mountain of rubble was the remains of a giant golem.
Mitsuru’s words rose fresh in his mind. Each golem required materials: sand, rock, and a person. The stone giants that wreaked havoc in the city were themselves more sacrifices to Mitsuru’s cause.
“Wataru,” Meena said, grabbing his sleeve. “Do you see something glimmering in there?”
Wataru looked in the direction she was pointing, and there, in between the lumps of sand and earth, he could see a tiny shining light.
Could it be? But how…
Still uncertain, Wataru put a hand on the hilt of his sword. The light flared brighter, shining on his face.
There was no mistaking it. Wataru calmly drew his Brave’s Sword and held it up before his eyes.
The spirit in the gemstone spoke to him.
—Alone I waited a long time in my prison for you to come, Traveler.
A pure curtain of light began to spread before Wataru’s eyes. The curtain opened, and the figure of a tall man stepped through, wearing long-sleeved robes of platinum, and a veil of the same color over his hair.
The fourth gemstone. Even now, when all seemed lost, and Wataru himself was nearing the depths of despair, the gemstones still hadn’t given up hope on him.
—I am the one who honors what is true in people, the spirit of mutual grace and friendship. Though many of flesh and blood lived here in this northern land, they had long forgotten to honor life. They had long forgotten the true path. I was buried in the frozen earth, embraced by stone, and made to sleep.
Wataru knelt on one knee before the spirit and lifted his eyes.
—Do not waste your life in vain, or take life in vain. Where there is faith, there is also kindness and forgiveness, and where there is forgiveness, there will you find true balance—the most coveted prize of all. It is easy to stray, misled by one’s own greed, or by easy pleasure. Men are weak, and many step off the path never knowing it. It is nothing but a gentle lie to say that most will find heaven when they die. Traveler, by your faith, forgive those who stand in your way. Yet, if they should seek to betray truth, then wield justice to bring their journey to its rightful end.
The fourth gemstone came down, like an angel descending from on high, and found its place in the hilt of Wataru’s sword. The Brave’s Sword glimmered once, sending a wave of energy coursing through Wataru’s body.
“D-did you see that, Wataru?!” Kee Keema gasped, then quickly knelt on the ground and bowed his head low. “It’s a sign, a sign from the gemstones!”
Then he leaped to his feet, picking up Wataru in his arms and lifting him high over his head. “Did you see it? Did you see it? The Goddess is still waiting for you! Your journey isn’t over yet, not by a long shot!”
Wataru’s eyes swirled with the sudden motion. How can he have so much strength after today? “Okay, okay! I saw it, Kee Keema! I saw it! Now let me down!”
Kee Keema didn’t cry when he heard about the death of Kutz. But now tears streamed down his face.
“You’re a Traveler too?” Lady Zophie said, almost staggering in surprise.
“Yes. Mitsuru and I—we come from the same place in the real world. We were friends.”
“Then you, too, will follow Mitsuru to the Tower of Destiny?”
Wataru’s momentary elation quickly cooled. He still lacked the final gemstone. His Brave’s Sword was not yet complete. Mitsuru had already found his—the Gem of Darkness—in the mirror room of the Crystal Palace. If his was there, then where could Wataru’s be hiding? Did he even have enough time left to find it?
The wind whistled through the wreckage once again.
Meena’s ears shot up. “What’s that sound?
Fweeew…
“That’s not the wind! That’s something calling…”