Road to Ruisea

❆ ❆ XXXIII. CHIRO ❆ ❆

When Chiro steps into the throne room of the Axerian Empress, he feels just as unprepared as he always does.

A person might think that after meeting with Kumari's parents so many times, it'd get easier. Not for Chiro, it doesn't... He always shows up dressed in what he feels are rags, and expected to speak up directly to royals — people who could end his life with a snap of their finger — without stuttering.

It's just too much pressure!

To top it off, he probably smells like smoke (from the burning book) and shadow (whatever that smells like). So much for the morning shower he took... Morning sure seems a long time ago now, after all he's been through today. He's an absolute mess from running around and trying to save Kumari and Jae from the Guelimja...

But there's no time to think about that now. They're here, in the presence of Empress Kimiko of Axeria.

Kimiko sits on her throne, dressed in silk robes with swirling gold patterns. Her face is done in full makeup, but if you look closely, you can see she's quite a bit older than how she appears. There are just the softest wrinkles around her mouth and under her eyes. She wears a traditional royal headdress, with all sorts of beads and baubles hanging in front of her face, pins in the visible part of her hair... Her hands are together, enclosed by her large sleeves.

Chiro, Jae, and Kumari, all bow in perfect unison. Only lightly, and Kumari does not switch to a curtsy, as per Axerian tradition.

She raises a single perfect eyebrow to gaze at the disheveled teenagers, and then laughs. To Chiro's surprise, in perfect Cevalonian, she says, "Well, when the news came that Tadao had been defeated by three travelers, I certainly didn't expect the travelers to be children."

"I am not just a child!" Kumari squeaks, but Chiro clamps his hand over her mouth.

But the Empress agrees. "Indeed, you are not. You defeated the monster plaguing my kingdom, which not even my most well trained guards could do."

Kumari rubs her arm up and down, "That wasn't me, actually. I got tricked by him... It was Chiro who did the defeating."

The Empress turns her thin dark eyes to Chiro, who gulps nervously. "Oh, u-um. My spell didn't work, actually, because I didn't know the name of the book. Jae did the saving."

Jae snorts, not seeming to care much for politeness at all. "Are you kidding me? I got possessed by Tadao, of all things. If Kumari hadn't told me the name of the book, we'd all have been screwed."

"I don't think you realize," Chiro explains. "That it takes an absurd amount of mental prowess and focal energy to break the hold of a Guelimja like that!"

"I don't think you realize," Kumari shoves him. "How hard it is to memorize and perform a spell! How cool it is to be a magician!"

"Neither of you get the fact that if Kumari hadn't read an insane amount of books, that we never would've found the true title! That could've been any other book, you know. But since Kumari's read so many..."

The Empress laughs again and the trio turns to her, red-faced and embarrassed that they started squabbling in her presence.

"You are all children," she repeats, but then smiles fondly. "Brave children. And I like children. So I have invited you all to thank you... These creatures have been a plague on my kingdom for far too long."

"Why didn't you tell anyone else?" And Chiro has to glare at Kumari for asking a question like that, but he can't seem to hold his angry gaze. He's not good at being angry, not at her.