I stand alongside Athena and Himora, watching...waiting.
I guess for some magical mist to come and bring him to life, but that mist never came, and alone we stood, feeling self-pity and anger as if we all had something to do with his fall.
"I...I can't believe this...It's impossible."
Himora thinks aloud the single thought that I can guarantee was running through all of our heads.
"It's not your fault...it is mine alone."
Athena steps forward and kneels next to her dead love.
"Why did you do that?...how could you love me, and you didn't even know me?..."
The air around us was just as still as the body before us was.
I speak first, breaking the ever-expanding silence.
"We have to take him to the ship or the wolves will have him by sunlight."
I speak gravely to the others.
"I'll go summon some men to carry him aboard while the two of you stand guard."
I turn to leave the group when I feel a small hand grasp my shoulder.
"No...I'll do it... It is by my name that he is gone, so it is up to me to be his caretaker."
Athena turns to the moon and chants a spell that is of the likes I have never heard. Then, by the light of the moon, Moshido's body starts to vibrate, then all of a sudden, a flash of light blinds all of us, and we shake our heads to clear our vision.
Himora and I notice that Moshido is gone, and Athena is standing with her head low and a single shimmering tear in her eye.
"Where is he!?"
I demand, my spear raised to her throat.
"I don't know you...or your abilities! You come from this castle and cause all this trouble, then you zap our friend to nowhere! Who are you, and where is Moshido!?"
She recoils a bit, taking a step back.
Her eyes fall to my spear's blade.
"I'm sorry that I haven't fully introduced myself, but there is no time for that. Your friend is on board your ship, and he is as safe as he'll ever be...let's move. Also, we have to have his ceremony tomorrow. I don't want this to last too long."
I avert my gaze, my sudden anger starting to fade. I felt a fool.
"I'm sorry,"
I say to Athena.
"For what?"
She asked, her face a mask of something I couldn't read.
"For yelling at you...But you have to understand that this is a very hard time for Himora and me, and we can't take any chances with new people."
She nodded, her right hand slowly pushing aside my still-extended weapon.
"I understand. We can work on that later, but for now, let us take care of Moshido and the Shicato."
We step aboard the ship and find that our entire crew is dead.
"W-what the hell is this!?"
Himora leaps from behind me and runs towards the cockpit where our captain is, or was...
"No one is alive."
He returns in a massive outrage.
"This is crazy! What the hell is going on!?"
His anger was palpable.
"Isn't it obvious?"
I say a little above a whisper.
"This is the doing of the Shicato...They ambushed us to distract us from defending our ship."
Himora is listening to me, his face a mask of stone, but I can tell that he is fighting back tears.
"Those cowards! These men were unarmed! I'm going to personally gut every Shicato soldier I see until we reach that madman..."
With that deceleration, Himora leaps overboard and disappears into the water.
"Where is he going? This is no time for a swim."
Athena says as she walks to the edge of the deck and glances over the railing.
"Don't mind him, he is going to meditate."
I say, crossing my arms and leaning against the rail beside her.
"Under water?"
She asks, leaning over further to get a better look.
"Yep...Oh! I forgot to tell you, he is amphibious."
Her eyes widen. She looks at me and says a single word.
"Gills?"
She asks with a look on her face that was a mixture of hope and confusion.
"Nah, is body just produces air naturally, so he can breathe underwater."
She counters with another singular word.
"Interesting..."
We continue on through the entire ship, gathering bodies.
With each one, our tempers grow, yet we suppress them until the right time.
"How can he be so heartless?"
A rhetorical question coming from Athena.
I answer anyway.
"Yatsimoto is not human; he is a Rigori Ogre, a rare species of Ogre that is relentlessly violent and quite literally...heartless. They live and breed in the southern mountains of eastern Solithia."
I am pretty well-versed when it comes to this...thing. He took everything from me.
Well...not THIS Yatsimoto...
But were they all not one and the same?
Athena's next question was not rhetorical.
"How did he come to have so much power and wealth?"
She asked, crossing her arms and turning to face me.
I kept the answer as short as I could.
"The Rigori are fierce in battle, and don't mind taking down their own kind to get what they want...He has taken down all of his elders and -in his people's eyes- has risen as the most superior of them all. Every 100 years or so, one of the firstborn batch proves to be rather smart, unlike its siblings. This one will grow to power and become its group's 'Alpha'. I have taken out four of these 'Alpha Rigori', and that was not easy. Himora and Moshido had been there to assist me with all of those battles...but now it will be that much harder for this reincarnation of Yatsimoto is much larger, stronger, and tougher than the last four. This is one job that is not likely to be easy..."
Athena stood and processed what she had just heard. After a few minutes, she spoke in hushed tones.
"Don't worry, I will be there this time. I may not be able to replace Moshido, or even do any of the things that he could, but with my power, I will aid you as long as you keep your promise to set my island free."
I am a man of my word, and I had indeed said just that.
"I promise...Well, that's all of them."
I say as I gently lay the last crewman on the deck.
She places her hand on my shoulder.
"This voyage is going to be really hard without a good crew. As soon as this is all done, I'll see to it that you have a new one."
I step up to her and give her a hug.
"Thanks, but you don't have to go through all of that for us. I'm sure Himora knows the sea like the back of his sword, and we should be able to handle whatever comes to us...but for now, let's get some sleep. We have more work we have to do tomorrow...Goodnight."
I turn to walk away, but before I grasp my door handle, Athena taps me on the shoulder.
"Thank you...I know you didn't have to do any of this, but you are anyway. I insist that you take my crew as a gift...Goodnight."