Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [291]
Wataru was speechless.
Wataru remembered being scolded by his father once. He hadn’t agreed with something he said, and his father took the time to methodically destroy each of his arguments. You’re wrong, Wataru. You’re so wrong, you can’t even see it. You’ll just have to accept it.
“I haven’t forgotten what I’m here for,” he finally managed to say in a quiet voice. Mitsuru heard him. Or rather, he knew that was what Wataru was going to say.
“No, you have forgotten. You need to clear your head and give this some thought,” Mitsuru said with a sigh. Then he picked up his staff in his left hand. “Sorry, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. I can’t sit here waiting for you. Once the designs are delivered to the North, it will only be a matter of time before the invasion begins. Things are bad here now, but they’re going to get much worse before this is all over. Say, how many gemstones do you have? If riots—or war—come to the south, finding them won’t be so easy. You might want to get going.”
“It doesn’t matter. If you get to the Tower of Destiny before I do, it won’t matter if I’ve found the gemstones or not. The one left behind becomes the Half.”
Mitsuru had begun to walk away from the stern, but now he turned back, surprised. “The Half? What’s that?”
So there were some things Mitsuru didn’t know. Wataru was surprised, and at the same time pleased. “A sacrifice from the real world is required to remake the Great Barrier of Light,” Wataru said simply. He hadn’t bothered to go into all the detail, but it seemed that Mitsuru understood.
“I see,” he said curtly, nodding. His eyes were wide open.
For the space of a breath, there was silence. Seabirds cried in the distance.
Then Mitsuru continued, as calmly as before, “Then I must hurry all the more. It’s apparent that our best interests lie contrary to each other. Now it seems that there will be a winner and a loser in our little contest. We can’t both win, Wataru. That’s a stroke of bad luck, eh?”
Wataru wasn’t sure what reaction he had expected. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t picture Mitsuru looking alarmed, let alone frightened. In the end, his reaction was quintessentially Mitsuru. Mitsuru had come to Vision and become stronger.
Wataru blinked back tears. He told himself he wasn’t sad. It’s the sea breeze. It’s the dust stirred up by the twisters.
“Wataru.”
Meena stood standing by his side. Kee Keema was there too.
“What you just said…is it true?” Meena asked, her voice trembling. Wataru nodded quietly.
“That’s ridiculous,” Kee Keema growled. His voice seemed tiny in comparison to his giant frame. “I don’t believe it. Not a word. I don’t believe the Goddess would ever choose you as a sacrifice!”
Wataru looked up into Kee Keema’s big face. He found comfort in those round, kind eyes.
“But you believe that someone from Vision must be sacrificed, don’t you? It’s the same thing.”
“It’s not the same!”
“It is. The only difference is that, in Vision, one is chosen from many, and from the real world, well, it’s just me and Mitsuru to choose from.”
Wataru grabbed Kee Keema’s arm. “The Elder in Sakawa, he knew this. He told me I shouldn’t stray from my course.”
Suddenly, it seemed like Kee Keema had shrunk a full size. “The Elder…” the big waterkin fell silent.
I’m sorry, Kee Keema.
“When did you know this? Why didn’t you tell us sooner? We’re your friends!”
“I know.”
“If we knew earlier, then me and Meena, well, we would have moved quicker, so you could meet the Goddess sooner…we want to help you.”
Kee Keema’s eyes were watering. Wataru felt his own eyes begin to tear up. He jerked his head back toward the sailship. “Mitsuru!”
“What is it now?”
“What would you do if I…” Even as he asked the question, Wataru knew the answer. Why do I do this to myself? “What if I said that I don’t care about peace in the south? What if I told you that I came here to get those blueprints just to stop you from getting your final gemstone? What then?”
“What then?”
“What would you do?”
Mitsuru replied without a