If power is all you need, It is all you desire.
If you are right, that power is all you need, indeed,
There is no world where you will succeed.
Because it is a world ruled by the liar,
For power is not your reward, it is your greed.
"What are you now, a poet?" Pablo took a bite out of his bread, facing Nasaki across the campfire. Nasaki laughed it off. "It's not mine. Just something that was on my mind lately. I read it years ago, and I think it was written centuries ago."
Nasaki raised his finger, and his eyes glowed under the blindfold. The trees in front of him moved to block the wild winds. Pablo was used to Nasaki pulling off things like this, so he wasn't surprised.
"What do you think it means?" he asked. Pablo shrugged in response. "Truly I say to you, I didn't pay attention."
Nasaki was distasteful of his mockery and scoffed. "I was asking something serious for once."
"Why now?" Pablo raised an eyebrow. Nasaki didn't seem like the type to care about these sorts of things. "The poem was written in Old-Terran. A language forgotten by the world, only I remember it. And a random 14-year-old girl, but forget that for now."
Pablo placed a hand on his chin and began thinking about it. "It's like… a critique of power, maybe? It says power isn't a reward, only greed."
His response hung in the air. Nasaki didn't respond. Pablo expected something, but decided to ignore it. "You know a lot, don't you? Why are you not telling me?"
"If I told you all I knew, you'd be hunted." Nasaki laid down to rest on the grass. All the bugs on the ground avoided him elegantly. "I'm already hunted." Pablo took another bite.
"There is being hunted, and then there is being hunted." Nasaki groaned, making himself comfortable. "Well, I'm a good liar." Pablo got closer to the campfire for warmth.
"Nobody is a good liar when they are about to die." He rolled himself closer to the campfire as well. "How would you know?" he quickly responded.
To answer his question, Nasaki looked at him. Even if he couldn't see Nasaki's eyes… he got the message. "Right." He nervously took another bite. "The poem, what do you think about it?" Pablo tried to change the subject.
"Given that it's written by someone who presumably witnessed the split, I think it's a warning. It feels like they are trying to say something, but what they are trying to say is dangerous." He raised his voice and shifted himself up slightly, as if trying to emphasize that he was speaking to Pablo, for some reason.
Pablo stared at him, the food left in his mouth. Confused, he tried to make sense of it. "Is… Is that a metaphor? Are you like, trying to metaphorically tell me something? Are you doing a metaphor?"
Nasaki scoffed and lay back down again. "There is a reason public knowledge about The Split only comes from the United Government. What do you even know about it?"
"Hm." He tried to remember everything he knew about it. "My mother told me about it, I barely remember it. She said that around 500 years ago, the five heroes with their S-Grade Treasures fought the demon king."
Pablo swallowed the food in his mouth. "And that demon king was destroying Terra, so the heroes sacrificed themselves to form Sub-Terra. And the prophecy says 500 years after their defeat, their reincarnation will battle the demon king and save the world once and for all." He added.
Silence was the only thing that came from Nasaki in response. The wind howled, getting through the trees. He just rolled over and turned his back on him. "You shouldn't trust everything you hear. Maybe the world is truly ruled by a liar."
Pablo finished his food and stared at his unresponding mentor in silence. "Okay, turn back. Let's talk mana or something. Don't do that." He yawned.
Nasaki rolled back in frustration. "What about it? That you still shoot out mana like a preadolescent boy—" Before he could say anything else, Pablo cut him off. "Gross, gross! You know, instead of insulting me, maybe you can teach me. Because you know, that's what mentors do?" He furrowed his brows.
"I am! I told you how I use mana, you just didn't understand it." Nasaki got up.
"What part of 'You just… you know, let it flow. Like… you know.' is supposed to be understood?" As Pablo was talking, Nasaki approached him and raised his hand. Pablo flinched.
Nasaki then held himself back and clenched his fist. "Tsk." He sat down beside Pablo, patted his back roughly, and put his arm around him. "What are you—" Pablo got weirded out.
"You know, I know a guy. He was a bit of a pussy though. So—" He burped. "You're just going to—" Pablo cut him off again. "You're drunk?! What happened to no drinking before sleep?!" He pushed his arm away.
"Shut up. As I was saying, I know a guy who is a bit of a pussy. He was a magiborn, and I hated his fucking guts and I wanted to pull his guts out while he was awake. Like how I feel about you right now." His voice was low enough to be considered whispering.
"You don't mean that, right?" Pablo began to grow nervous.
"Why can't you just focus on my point? You keep doing this." Nasaki facepalmed. "You threatened to pull my guts out!" Pablo yelled. "Just tell me what you want to tell me! How is that so hard to do?!"
Nasaki shook Pablo aggressively and grunted, as if letting his anger out without actually killing Pablo. "There is this guy, on this little island called Glacivulcan. Next to Glacilume. After I drop you in Thornskar, you will go to that island. Ask about a guy named Ayato and say that Nasaki Ryuko sent you, he will wipe your ass with his tongue." Pablo just stared at Nasaki in silence. "That was a metaphor. Don't worry, nobody is licking your ass." He patted his back in reassurance and got up.
"Okay. I understand, I think. But if this Ayato guy is a Magiborn, why is he not being hunted? And why him? Is he stronger than you or better at you in sorcery?" Pablo wiped the sweat on his forehead.
"Nobody is better than me in anything. It's because he is a better teacher than me, which is not a high bar. He has this school for beings that can use mana, like Magiborns and Jinns. But only for a very, very rare, selective few. The reason the government isn't after them is because they are afraid of messing with me. And messing with Ayato for whatever reason counts as messing with me." He lay back down again and closed his eyes to sleep. "We'll talk more on the way. Now, try to sleep and stop being an annoying dumbass." He turned his back towards him once more.
Currently, in Thornrest.
"So you're leaving?" Gnev asked Haisha. "Yeah. We're going to Glacivulcan." Pablo responded. Kori, Haisha, and Pablo packed their things at night, and now were leaving for the morning. After Pablo slept again, his headache eased, but he could still feel it.
"I can speak for myself, namesake." He laughed it off. "Stop being so emotionally intelligent, damn it." Pablo said to himself.
"What'll happen to us? Without the big boss…" Gnev trailed off. Haisha jumped up and patted him on the shoulder. "It's fine, you're bigger than me anyway. You're the bigger boss." He gave him a thumbs-up. "Just don't hurt any innocent people, okay? I'll be back to check on you, I promise."
"Was that a threat?" Gnev raised an eyebrow.
"…I guess?" Haisha shrugged. "Heck if I know." He started moving and headed for the door. "Come on, namesake and big sis. We're going!"
Kori looked at Gnev. "You arranged the ship, right? The map of Glacilume and Glacivulcan. Did you make sure that nobody noticed what you were doing?"
"Yeah. Everything is handled. I worked my ass off to get those maps, just so you know. The fastest ship, and the best helmsman we had. You should be there within hours." Gnev crossed his arms casually.
"Good. Just do what Haisha would do, and everything should be fine for the place." She smiled and walked away. The three exited the bar and headed for the docks. "We are going to have to pass those spikes again. I don't know how I'll manage to do it with my fatigue…" Pablo looked at Kori. "…You still have my ring, right? Give it to Haisha, will you? We may separate again and I may need it."
Haisha put his hands behind his neck and walked without a worry. "I can't carry the ring for you, but I can carry you. Through the hills, I mean." He said.
"Why not?" He caught up to Haisha. "Stop walking so fast." He added.
"I'm a clumsy kid, I'd probably lose it." He let the sun hit his face with a smile. "Big sis can keep it."
Pablo sighed in defeat. "If that's the case…"
They crossed through the spiked hills. Kori didn't seem to be bothered by them and moved elegantly. Haisha carried Pablo on his back and leapt through the hills with great strength, almost giving Pablo a heart attack.
They eventually made it to the dock and found their ship. It wasn't big, but it was enough for them and it looked capable of achieving great speeds. They simply sat and waited as the wind dragged the ship through the water, and the helmsman did the rest.
"This Ayato person, what did Nasaki tell you about him?" Kori asked. She was so close to Pablo he couldn't help but be flushed. "He said that Ayato was part of the crew, 'The Dreamers.' He also said that he was a magiborn and that he was a pussy. Whatever that means."
"That's interesting. You have great experience with Magiborns." She giggled and closed her mouth while doing so. Pablo rolled his eyes. "That's not funny." But she only giggled more.
"I don't know how I am supposed to learn sorcery in 2 weeks, but like Haisha said, I have to try." He clenched his feet in determination. "You're pretty strong, namesake. You'll get the hang of it in no time!" Haisha cheered him on.
"Damn right. And we'll save your brother, don't you worry." Pablo got uplifted by Haisha's energy.
But unfortunately, the ship got caught in a storm. The ship was rocked left and right, sending objects inside it flying. The three entered the lower floor of the ship to seek shelter from the rain and wind. "Shit… this isn't going well!" Pablo wiped the water away from his hair. "Here." Haisha passed him a towel. "Thanks…" He said.
"You're right, this isn't good. We'll drown if it goes on like this." Kori said.
"Can't you freeze the water with your Treasure?" Pablo asked, still drying his hair. "Freezing moving water under violent waves and heavy storm, brilliant." She scoffed in frustration.
"Hey, I didn't go to school! I don't know how freezing works." He yelled so she could hear him over the wrathful weather. "I didn't go to school either." Haisha pointed out.
"I know that, Haisha. We both live in Thalorien. Kids don't have any future there." Pablo said, annoyed.
"We just have to—" Before Pablo could finish his sentence, he heard someone speak behind him. "Don't turn around. State your intentions, why must you enter Glacivulcan? Are you with the United Government?!" The voice seemed to belong to a woman. She spoke coldly, almost threateningly. "The kid can, though. I like his kind face." She added. From the wind that hit his cold neck, Pablo could tell she was a Magiborn.
"I'm not turning around if my friends aren't! Hmph!" He crossed his arms in protest. "State your intentions." The figure stomped, the sound echoing in the ship. "We… We are looking for Ayato. Well, I am." Pablo raised his hands. "This sounds interesting." Kori said to herself.
"Why?" She stepped closer and placed her hand on Pablo's back. He could see her hands glow. The light passed through his skinny torso. "I'm… Nasaki— Wait no, Nasaki Ryuko sent me!" He said.
"Nasaki Ryuko sent you?" Her voice went quieter.
"Yeah… yeah!" He exhaled in relief, but before he could say anything he was struck by her. "Then you shouldn't have come here!" All of them were, except for Haisha. They were knocked out, and Haisha was safely escorted with a blindfold. "Hey, knock it off!" But also with many seals onto his body. He couldn't move an inch, even though he kept trying to. "You're lucky you have such a lovable face. I couldn't bring myself to lay a hand on you." The woman said.
He didn't know how much time had passed, but Pablo woke up inside a room. All alone. He was sitting on a wooden chair, and even if it looked like nothing was binding him, he couldn't move. He could sense the cold wind hit his neck once more. "This must be magic. Shit…" He groaned, his already bad headache worsening.
The room looked like an empty dojo, a small one in fact, possibly a special training room. He looked up to see someone in front of him, sitting on a chair like he was, but not bound by anything and free to move. The person appeared to be a young man of above-average height with a light skin tone. His expression was almost comedic; he was pouting. He was wearing a white robe that signaled his status. He had dark wavy hair, reaching his chin.
"…Hi?" Pablo said. The man's expression almost made him laugh, but he held it in. He found it so funny that all the tension he felt was just… gone, replaced with confusion. "Who are you?" The stranger asked.
"I'm— Wait, you kidnapped me! You tell me who you are!" Pablo yelled. "And stop making that face…"
"I asked first!" The stranger objected.
"Nasaki Ryuko sent me, let me go!" Pablo struggled to break free once more. "She told me you said that, buddy. Saying it a second time won't make me do something else."
"She? Wait, are you someone in command? Are you… Ayato?" Realization hit him. "No, you're too young."
"Too young?! You imbecile, Magiborns stop aging after 2 decades—" The man's eyes widened, and he started panicking. "I'm— I'm NOT Ayato." He yelled. "…" He looked away, then looked back at Pablo again. "If I was though— Why would that matter?"
"You're Ayato." Pablo said blankly.
"I'm NOT!" The man who was definitely not Ayato got up and yelled again.
"Hear me out, please! Nasaki sent me here for a good reason. He told me…" His mind filled with Nasaki's previous words.
"Yeah, just tell him I sent you. You'll be fine. He'll go 'Nasaki? Oh, I love that guy!' Trust me."
The man pouted once more, distasteful. "Nasaki? Oh, I fucking hate that guy!" He yelled. Pablo gasped in shock and fear. "Huh?!"
"Fuck him! He is too arrogant, too prideful, too annoying, and so egotistical! I have no clue what he is to you, but I know you're fed up! Ugh, always Ayato this, Ayato that, Ayato teach me this, Ayato show me this, UGH!" He kept ranting, not noticing how he'd unintentionally confirmed he was indeed Ayato.
"Yeah… Yeah!" Pablo agreed with him. "That drunk bastard. He sent me to learn mana control instead of doing it himself! He is so narcissistic!" His pent-up frustration leaked through. "He drinks every night, and when it's morning, he doesn't teach anything because of the hangover. I'm so sick of him!"
"Yeah, yeah— Wait, drunk?" Ayato raised an eyebrow. "Not that I care, and not that I'm interested in or not in any way, shape, or form curious, what do you mean drunk? He hated alcohol. He never touched a damn drop of it."
"…Really?" Pablo looked confused. "Yeah. Whenever Uso tried to drink, he just threw away the bottles. He said he hated it because it poisoned the mind or something— Wait, why am I telling you this? I'm not Ayato." He sat down and tried to look nonchalant.
"That's… sad. My first impression of him was him shitting himself while drunk." His voice went quieter.
"That sounds cathartic. But also tragic at the same time. He was actually cool and badass all those years ago. I haven't seen him since. Also, I'm not Ayato." He started rocking the chair back and forth. "Cool? That's hard to imagine. But you also said you hated him…"
"Yeah but— he is cool in the same way cockroaches are cool. Like, you know, when they are flying around, all dirty and scary? But you can't help but think, 'Wow, the way they survive impossible things is cool.' But you still hate them—" Pablo cut Ayato off before he got to finish his rant about cockroaches.
"I'm sorry, but you kidnapped me, and I don't really feel like this is the way to interrogate someone you just kidnapped. I'm Pablo, by the way."
"Alright, Pablo. I'm not Ayato, pleasure to meet you." He snapped his fingers, and Pablo could feel whatever was binding him now gone. "I guess." He stretched his arms and legs once he was free.
"What are you going to do with me and my friends?" He got up and kept stretching. "That depends. Why are you even here?" He tilted his head.
"Nasaki sent me here so I could learn to control my mana, like I said a few seconds ago. He said if I told you he sent me here, you would teach me." He sat back down after stretching his body. "I don't know why you're asking me. I'm not Ayato. Though I suppose Ayato would say 'No, get the fuck out of my school. I'm not training a dawnthinker.' But hey, that's just me. And me is definitely not Ayato."
Pablo groaned in frustration. "I'm not any ordinary Dawnthinker. Otherwise, why would he send me?" He tilted his head to mock him.
Ayato got up once more and approached Pablo. "Really? What, are you going to tell me you have mana like that bastard? Give me a break." He scoffed.
Pablo stared at him, jaw open, then sighed and got up. He softly smiled and placed a hand on Ayato's shoulder. "About that…" He said. But the sarcastic gesture was enough for Ayato to understand; he wasn't that dumb.
"Well, I'll be damned." He sat down to take in the news. "We're sitting again, got it." Pablo sat back down as well.
"Is it too late to start over?" Ayato asks. "Man, go ahead. I don't even care." Pablo shrugs.
"..." Ayato puts on a menacing face and deepens his voice. In exchange Pablo acts like he is scared. "Who are you? And why did you come here-" Ayato breaks character and facepalms. "Yeah, no." He sighs.
"I just didn't want to embarrass you." Pablo looks away to avoid the awkwardness that filled their conversation. "I'm not embarrassed. I just… you know? I really wanted to do this for once. Kidnap someone and act scary." His voice shakes slightly.
"If you want feedback, personally the deep voice just broke immersion. But that's just me." He started to talk over Ayato, and so did he. "Yeah thanks- I'll keep that in mind."
The two just sat in the silence, it was too awkward for any of them to speak. "This has gone horribly horrible." Defeated, Ayato looks down at the floor and drops his shoulders.
"The woman on the ship was scarier, to be honest." Pablo pulls back on his collar to give himself room to breathe. "Really? Normally she's the most awkward one. This was like a test for her, it's her first time doing this." Ayato raises an eyebrow.
"Woah, she is a natural then. I was like, totally creeped out. Though that may be because I'm just afraid of women in general. But yeah for a second she was scary-" Pablo is cut off by the frustrated Ayato. "Okay let's talk about something else. This has stopped being an interrogation a long time ago."
"Agreed," Pablo looks at Ayato in anticipation and fear. "So I'm just kicked out? You won't train me?"
Ayato raises his head to face Pablo. "If you think having mana makes you special here, you're on the wrong island."
"Why won't you train me?"
Ayato points at Pablo. "For starters, you look like you barely eat. Second of all, you're a Dawnthinker and I'm racist."
"Fair…" He looks away again. "Not like I'm asking for physical training, I'm asking for mana training."
"What do you think we do here, meditate?" Ayato tilts his head. "Yeah? What else do you do, push boulders?" Pablo raises an eyebrow.
"We do that! Our bodies are made of mana!" He yells. "Not mine!" Pablo yells back. "And that's the problem you stupid Treasuregulper!" His voice comes out raspy due to the sheer emotion he put into his words. "I don't know what that means but that sounded like a slur! You're lucky I don't know any Magiborn slurs."
"Don't act like you don't know how to train a Dawnthinker. You trained Nasaki, didn't you?" He furrows his brows.
Ayato doesn't respond, he grunts in disappointment and tries to find the correct words. "I… didn't. He figured it out himself."
Pablo's eyes widen in surprise, he struggles to respond. "What? What do you mean he 'figured it out.' ?"
Ayato looks at the floor again, it's obvious the surge of memories has hit him with nostalgia, fear, grief and anger all at once. "He kept asking me to teach him something. I tried to, but couldn't. At the end of the day, he always came up with something that was never done by someone else."
He rubs his hands together, almost to ease himself. "That's… why I don't like him. Because he keeps reminding me that I…"
He struggles to finish his sentence, and his eyes widen with fear and awe at the same time. "I saw God. I saw the injustice of his." He breathes out. "Wait…" Pablo puts the dots together. "You're not training me because… you think I'll just do what he did. You're doing this because of spite?" He says in disbelief.
Ayato does not respond, doesn't even pause for a second. He ignores him and heads for the door. "You can rest on this island and benefit from the training facilities and from our accommodations. But I will not be training you." He shuts the door behind him, leaving Pablo alone in there.
"Motherfucker…" Pablo mutters to himself.
Pablo waited a beat after Ayato left, then went out too.
Man. The size of the place.
It wasn't a cave, not exactly, more like somebody had gutted the inside of an entire mountain and just left the top open to sky and mist. Gold light everywhere. And across the whole cavern, this opening, sunlight just dumping through it like the mountain had split itself in half on purpose. Dust hanging in the beams, doing that slow lazy drift dust does.
The waterfall's what actually got him though. Couldn't even see it yet, just heard it, this roar that didn't stop, didn't rise or fall enough to notice, until it wasn't really a sound anymore, it was more like the silence underneath everything else. His shoulders dropped. He hadn't noticed they were up near his ears until they weren't.
Wood on wood, somewhere below. A voice barking out a correction. Somebody laughing, then somebody else.
The dojo itself sprawled out under him, courtyards worn down smooth from what must've been decades of feet, sparring going on in a few of them at once. Older folks walking between the groups, unbothered, the way you get when you've corrected the same mistake ten thousand times. Off to the side a bunch of kids were running loops around a pillar, screaming their heads off, having the time of their lives, ignoring literally everything else happening around them.
Further out, actual houses carved right into the rock walls. Cloth over the doorways. Lanterns going even though it was daytime out. Cooking smoke drifting up from somewhere, smelled like something he didn't recognize. Past all that, more sparring grounds, and past THAT, tunnels, a bunch of them, just black holes leading off into the mountain in every direction. He got the sense this was maybe a corner of the whole thing. Not even close to all of it.
Then he clocked Haisha. Not hard, the guy had a small crowd of Magiborn women around him, all angling for his attention, and he looked absolutely delighted about the whole situation.
Kori, though? Nowhere. As usual.
Pablo just stood there another second taking all of it in and felt, for once, pretty damn small.
"Oh."