Do Your Chores

Cage drops a mop into the murky red-tinted water of a bucket, releasing the wood handle and letting his black arm disappear into his shoulder. He lifts the hem of his white tunic and wipes the sweat from his face. He looks down, his bare feet are soaked with water and soap, and the bottom of his white pants are stained a faint pinkish-red.

He had already begun cleaning when Alyra brought him these clothes, apparently pulled from Aziral's room. They are light, which is a nice change from the thick robes he is used to, and the fabric rubs smoothly against his skin. This man, Aziral, must have been about the same size as Cage because the clothes almost fit almost perfectly.

Cage looks around, a satisfied smile on his face. Where there were once gallons of blood dripping from the stairs, stray limbs hanging off boxes, and organs stuck in crevices, there is now drying water and sudds. He can't hear Kyro scrubbing the floor above anymore, he must have returned to the upper deck to take back control of the ship from Ingen.

It's taken them two days to clean the ship completely. Yoru and Alyra handled the top floor of the lower deck, scrubbing, mopping, and tidying the five rooms that will be used by everyone. The middle floor, which holds even more hammocks and some of the supplies, was cleaned by Kyro. Ingen and Krash, of course, dealt with the upper deck.

Ingen made it clear that he would rather not step into the lower deck until it was time to sleep. Cage doesn't blame him, Kyro found himself bumping into just about everything that wasn't the wall, knocking glowing bug lamps and hammocks. Seeing that, Cage can only wonder what kind of destruction Ingen would leave in his wake

Cage is in the Berth at the moment, the very bottom level of the ship where most of the supplies are stored in large boxes and barrels. Food, drink, weapons, armor, and explosives. Most of the boxes are stacked together against the back wall, while the barrels of water, ale, and explosives are separated at the front, each tied together and secured with rope.

A large pile of long planks also sits to the side just before the barrels. Likely used for repairs.

Cage had suggested throwing the weapons and armor, or at least the explosives overboard, to lighten the load of the ship. However, Kyro said they should keep them in case the stores of food and drink run dry. The Rajin doesn't know what type of steel the weapons and armor are, but somehow, he could tell that it was good quality. Perks of being a soldier for half your life, Cage thought at the time.

Cage could throw all of it into the vault, but having so many things cluttering the space doesn't seem like a good idea. That is, until he figures out how to organize the items in the vault.

Cage walks to the front side of the Berth, where the curved wall opens up for the drop bridge just before the secured barrels. He stands on the edge, looking out into the massive tunnel of the branch, blue, green, red, and every other color slithering and spinning like dye in water.

No matter how many times he finds himself within the branches, Cage never gets used to the impossible beauty that exists beyond the light-weaved barrier. He isn't sure if he ever will, either. He remembers the starry nights on Earth, where a single glowing moon was accompanied by flashing pinpoints of light. Now, Cage is among those stars, and the beauty here leaves the one seen from the surface of Earth in the dust.

Cage summons his black arm and pulls the chain to the side, lifting the drop bridge until it closes. Darkness envelops him. Cage takes a deep breath and makes his way to the stairs, the planks beneath groaning with every other step. He can't keep distracting himself from what needs to be done, even if there seem to be a plethora of distractions everywhere he looks.

Cage, Yoru, and Alyra told the others about what they found in Aziral's personal documents yesterday, and Cage thought it a good idea to give them some time to think about the discovery. However, if he waits any longer, Cage fears he may lose what little confidence he has in himself.

---

Ingen looks out at the path ahead, the white, shifting barrier of the branch surrounds and warps his vision. Even while sailing on a ship meant for an entire military unit, the branch still makes him feel small. Insignificant. However, it also fills him with a strange comfort.

In the grand scheme of things—if there is one—Ingen is nothing but a man that happens to be a bit bigger than most. That thought makes him realize that what he does and thinks does not really matter. His achievements, mistakes, crimes... Not a soul will care in the end. None except for him.

Even if Ingen dies tomorrow, time will tick on. Men will grow old, creatures will eat and be eaten, and lands will fall and rise. It is an obvious thing, but this sight, the colors, the barrier, it truly lays it all bare before Ingen.

Ingen cracks a slight smile, standing on the castle with his hand on the Control Orb, wrinkles forming around his grey eyes and bushy silver brows as he looks at the deck before him. On the forecastle, Krash and Alyra sit on supply boxes, twirling and pushing sewing needles through pelts. Their voices and laughter echo into Ingen's ears, the subject of their humourous conversation lost in the air.

Ingen looks down at his free hand, flipping it slowly. A pale, violet-tinted palm, and along with the rest of his arm and most of his torse, the back of his hand is riddled with pale scars. These scars will likely come back to bite him later in life, but he enjoyed the process of obtaining them. He only knows how to fight aggressively, and to add to it, Ingen was damned if he was going to be left behind in battle by Kyro.

A crackling sound rings out, like glass crumbling in Ingen's palm. Black diamond grows from thin air and covers his hand in a thick layer. The swirling colors beyond the branch reflect in the dark, slightly translucent facets of the diamond. Despite what Ingen had first assumed, the unbreakable growth does not hurt. It feels good, in a guilty indulgence kind of way.

With help from Kyro, he learned the mental queue required to summon the diamond after a few attempts. Ingen uses that queue to make the black diamond grow out in a thin line from his forefinger. It's slow, and he can only create so much of the diamond before his mind grows fatigued. He still has plenty of Vas inside him, but as Kyro had told him, Ingen will have to train his mind before he can fully access the magic.

When Ingen looks at the black diamond and studies the unblemished facets, he sees... power. It's difficult to pinpoint each one, but he can sense the Vas coming from everyone on the ship, well, except for one. Two on the upper deck, one down below, and one close to him. It's getting closer.

Ingen hears the stairs on the right side of the castle creaking softly.

"Well, you can answer your own question now," Kyro says, walking toward Ingen with a smile. He's trying to hide it, but Ingen can see the exhaustion in the man's eyes, "How does it feel, having the power of nearly an entire army inside of you?"

"It feels like I'll finally be able to keep up with you," Ingen says as the diamond falls from his hand like running water and crumbles into nothing, "You weren't lying. I can sense everyone on the ship except for Cage."

Kyro nods, "He's the only one that'll ever be able to sneak up on us," he says, wincing as a wave of pain thumps into his skull, "It's a good thing he's on our side. He said that he could only transform into that black form when he absorbs Anima magic. I'm not too keen on seeing what he would be able to do when absorbing our Vas."

"Me neither," Ingen says, silence taking over after his words dissipate into the vast space of the branch. He glances at Kyro, who now looks up at the barrier above with his arms crossed before him, "I know something's crashing around in that head of yours. You upset over Raj?"

Kyro shakes his head, "It may not have happened in the way we thought, but it was obvious that the Rajin army would eventually be defeated," he says, looking Ingen in the eye, "I'm more worried about these Splinters of Lux. You heard what Yoru read to us, those things are weapons. Dangerous weapons."

"True. But..." Ingen furrows his brows, thinking deeply as he holds Kyro's eyes, "...It's obvious why we haven't heard of them, but what about Yoru and Alyra? They spoke to foreigners on almost a daily basis, and they had the entire Yellen library at their fingertips. Yet even they seemed surprised to learn of them."

"It's clearly a closely guarded secret of the Utherians," Kyro says, "You and I both know what happens to those that are conquered by them. Even if someone learned of the Splinters somehow, they would be dead before they could even think of escaping with the information."

Ingen nods, sighing, "You're right," he says. He looks out at the surrounding branch, "You think we'll actually have to deal with these Splinters of Lux? I'm sure we'd manage somehow, but from the way Yoru, Cage, and Alyra spoke of them... I fear they may be more powerful than anything we've ever seen or heard of."

"Well, we are sailing on a Utherian ship, and that raises our chances quite a bit," Kyro says solemnly, "Plus, I could be wrong, but it seems like these Splinters are the reason why the Utherians are doing all this. And we've always known that they aren't the only conquerors in the Praesi. The others could be searching for the same thing. With all that in mind, it's more a question of when we encounter them, rather than if... We have to be realistic."

Ingen shakes his head, exhaling hard through his nose, "Realistic. Of course," he says. He stares at the floor for a moment, then he suddenly raises a brow, "It's Yoru."

Kyro looks down as the doors beneath them swing open, smirking, "Who else could it be?" he asks.

Ignoring Ingen's annoyed scoff, Kyro steps up and places a hand on the railing. He smiles down at Yoru, trying his hardest to hide the thundering pain in his head, "Finally get the rooms sorted?" he says in a teasing voice.

"I did that hours ago," Yoru responds with a raised brow. She wears a white button-up shirt, clean black pants with a belt, shiny black shoes, and her usual spearhead earring. With this being a ship for battle-hardened men, dresses are a scarce commodity.

"Did you come to give me another lecture about something or another, then?" Kyro smiles down at his sister with nostalgia welling up in his chest. Their mother tried her hardest to keep Yoru in clean dresses when they were children, but Irilae often came home to find her daughter wearing one of her brother's dirt-covered grey robes. This is the first time since then that Kyro has seen his sister in something other than an impeccably prepared dress.

Yoru pauses, lips thinned to a line, "Cage needs to speak with us," she says just loud enough for Kyro and Ingen to hear, "Just the three of us."

Kyro's smile slowly fades. For some reason, that look in Yoru's yellow eyes strikes him with a sudden wave of melancholy. Kyro nods, glancing back at Ingen, then at Krash and Alyra on the forecastle, "Krash!" He yells, earning the Tanzide's attention, "Come handle the ship for a bit!"