Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Rabbit’s Moon
Nine days since Jax’s return.
Jax POV
The Moon shines fully down upon the tall castle. Illuminating the courtyards in a silvery glow, and enshrouding the dark hidden corners elsewhere. Perfect for infiltration. I followed behind two other figures clad in dark clothes meant to conceal our presence. Muffled footsteps pattered rapidly against the clay tiles that roofed the surrounding walls.
The three of us came to a stop on a ledge overlooking the main courtyard. The place was well defended. Several NPCs dressed in armor carrying lanterns and spears were on patrol. I could see what I could only assume was a guardhouse across the way. “Alright, ladies. How do we wanna play this? I propose that we just set fire to everything and be done with it.” I smiled mischievously, tossing a small firebomb in my hand.
Pomni immediately swiped the instrument of arson out of the air when I tossed it up. “Come on, Jax. Where's the fun in that? Besides, if we just light the place up, there's a chance the target could escape.” I rolled my eyes and groaned. She never let me have any fun.
This adventure at least had a lot of promise for me to mess around. Or at least, I thought it did. Ragatha, Pomni, and I were a trio of ninjas tasked with kidnapping the Shogun of the castle or whatever. Personally, I would've gone with assassination. Higher stakes, and there were so many options.
Pomni was dressed in a dark blue ninja suit. Her face was pretty well covered, aside from her eyes. Though the hood she was wearing resembled her usual jester hat, minus the bells at the end for stealth purposes. She had some kind of long knife hidden in a sheath going sideways across her lower back.
Ragatha had opted for a more anime style ninja suit. N-not that I would know anything about that. I'm not a nerd or anything! She had a headband with a metal plate on the front of it wrapped around her forehead. The dark red outfit she wore was more akin to a skinsuit than a ninja uniform. At the very least, she had a bunch of throwing stars attached by a belt she was wearing.
Meanwhile, I clearly had the coolest outfit. Dark Purple, the stealthiest color. Sick-ass metal bracers with sharp blades attached on my arms. A classic ninja face mask, and to top it all off, two badass ninja swords crossed in a X affixed to my back. My lower face was covered by a scarf that flowed a little longer than necessary.
“Ah c’moooon, Pom-Pom. Are we really gonna try to be covert about this? Look at us! Rag’s has a reflective piece of metal on her head. That's basically a big old ‘shoot me’ sign.” Ragatha brought a hand up to cover her headband. Pomni elbowed me in the ribs. “You're one to talk, Jax. You're kitted out for battle. As if your swords weren't enough, your ears are out. Now those are ‘shoot me’ signs.” She shot back.
I looked away with a frown and brought my hood up, tucking my ears under it. “Ugh. Fine. We'll do it your way. So what's your plan, Miss Grandmaster?” She rolled her eyes at my teasing nickname and looked down over the courtyard. “Well, I count at least five guards between us and the entrance. So long as we stay out of the lantern light, they shouldn't see us.”
“Pom-Pom, I got a serious question for ya. Since when did Ninjas use the front door?”
Pomni paused. “...Fair point. Ok, well, does anyone else see another way in?”
I quietly took my firebomb back from Pomni while she was thinking. Ragatha looked around and pointed towards the castle. “I think I see an open window about two floors up. The Shogun should be on the top floor. If we can make some headway outside of the castle before going inside, that'll cut our mission time in half.” She pointed up at the castle, sure enough, there was a small window that seemed to be open. A small red curtain was fluttering out of it.
“Well that's convenient. So how do we get up there? I can't jump that high.” I looked down at Pomni. “Want me to throw ya up there?” She glared at me. “Don't even think about it, Jax. Ragatha, do you have anything we can use to get up there?”
“I have some rope, but no grappling hook. Unless one of us can parkour our way up there, we may need another way in. Sorry guys.” Rags held some rope that she pulled out of a small satchel attached to her leg in her hands.
Hmm… A way up to the second floor… “I got an idea. You two stay here.” I dropped down into a bush in the courtyard and began sneaking my way through. Keeping low and quiet. I could've just started ripping my way through the place, but… not yet. I waited for one of the guards to pass me and swiftly ran into another bush.
I kept low and out of sight as I made my way to the guardhouse. As I passed through the courtyard, I was able to get a better look at the guards. From the top of the wall, they looked like they were just wearing some weird armor, but now I saw that they were some kind of humanoid beetle NPCs whose shells just looked like armor. I shuddered. I made my way to the guardhouse and snuck inside.
“Ok. Weapons. Weapons. Who's got the weapons? Ah, bingo!” I whispered to myself. Inside was a stash of weapons. Swords, spears, axes, and most importantly… “Ah, here we go.” Nice! There was an array of Bows here, as well as a supply of arrows. I grabbed the sturdiest looking one and several arrows just in case. Now I just had to get back to Rags and Pom-Pom. I turned and started making my way out of the guardhouse when something caught my eye. A grin creeped across my face. “Oh, that's just too perfect.”
I made my way back to Pomni and Ragatha with more haste than I'd used to creep into the guardhouse. Still making sure to avoid the guards' lights. My two fellow ninjas in crime helped me back onto the wall by forming a human chain to help me climb up. Or a… Ragdoll/Jester Chain. Whatever.
“What was that all about, Jax?” Pomni questioned. I smiled and pulled out the bow and arrows, handing them to Rags. “Is that any way to thank a dashing rogue who just got you the keys to the castle?” I was wearing my trademark smartass grin. Ragatha either didn't notice or didn't care, as her face lit up upon seeing what I'd procured.
“Oh! Jax, this is perfect! Nice work!” I shushed her. “Yeah, yeah. You're welcome. Whatever. Just get us up into that window already.” I looked back at the guardhouse. We didn't have time to talk. Ragatha looked confused as I gently shoved her along to tie the rope to an arrow and fire it into the window so we could climb up. Pomni squinted at me.
“What's the rush? Did you get spotted?” She asked. I scoffed and waved a hand dismissively at her. “Pfft. No! I am a ninja master. Just because I'm more excited and geared up to kick some butt doesn't mean I can't be stealthy. I just wanna get into the castle so we can get to the fighting stuff faster.” Pomni didn't seem convinced. She raised an eyebrow. “You know we're still gonna try to stealth for as long as we can once we're inside, right?”
“Ugh. Fine. When the shit hits the fan though, I'm not gonna hold back.” I crossed my arms, trying to seem more annoyed than I actually was. Ragatha fired the bow into the window. We couldn't see where it hit, but a quick tug on the rope from Rags revealed that whatever she hit acted as a suitable anchor point. “Alright. Let's go, guys.” She said as she started climbing up the rope.
I turned to Pomni and dramatically flourished with invitation towards the rope. “Ladies first.” I said confidently. Pomni shook her head and chuckled. “So what's stopping you, then?” My eyes shot open and I righted my posture, looking around at nothing in particular. “I… you… you can't j- Pomni!” She patted my side and smiled at me, or at least, I assume she was smiling behind that mask. “Relax, Jax. I'm just teasing you. I know you're working on it.”
My ears flattened a bit as Pomni started climbing. “You and Daisy are gonna be the death of me.” I sighed and started climbing up after her. “I think Daisy at this point qualifies as the Un-death of you.” She retorted. I rolled my eyes. “Hey, I got MYSELF out of that. She just… helped… a little.”
“Heh heh. Yeah. I know. I'm glad she did what she did. Even though it scared the hell out of us. I don't know what would've happened if I lost you twice.” I blushed a little at her admission. I looked down so that nobody could see. “Awww. You really do love me, don't ya, Pom-Pom?” I said. I meant it purely teasingly.
“Yeah, I do.” Pomni said with the bluntness of a brick as she helped me up into the higher ledge just outside of the window. “Got a problem with that?” I huffed under my breath and rolled my eyes. Trying to seem unbothered by her comment. “Jeez, when did you become so much harder to tease?” I didn't… mind what she said… or how she felt. It was just… weird to me. I'm not used to people actually caring about me. Much less… having… feelings about me.
Part of me still felt like I didn't deserve her attention. That nagging little voice of The Hate in the recesses of my mind. Every time I felt it roaring louder, she… I was there to remind myself to focus on what I want. Unfortunately, I kept getting lost in a circle of wanting to deserve nice things. It wasn't the worst goal to strive for, but it also seemed antithetical at times.
BOOM!!!
Pomni and Ragatha both flinched as the sound erupted from the courtyard below us. They both rushed over to the edge of the ledge to see what had happened. I already knew. I smiled with pride at my antics. I'd noticed a barrel of gunpowder inside the guardhouse on my way out and set my firebomb on top of it with a long fuse. Both it, the section of courtyard around it, and the section of wall next to it were currently engulfed in flames. “Heh. Nice.”
Pomni and Ragatha turned to look at me in shock. I poked my cheek with a finger and smiled innocently. “Oh wow. That's crazy. I guess someone mismanaged the gunpowder there. How irresponsible.” Ragatha walked over to me, I couldn't tell if she was panicked, or mad. “Jax! What is the matter with you?! We said not to set the place on fire!”
I raised my hands. “Calm down, Rags. Pomni said not to light THE CASTLE on fire. Nobody said anything about blasting any other structures.” If my smugness was visible, I'm sure it could be seen for miles. Pomni approached, she seemed annoyed at the very least. “Don't get technical on us Jax! We were trying to stay under the radar! Now the whole castle is-”
“Thoroughly distracted.” I interrupted, leaning down to Pomni's level and poking her forehead. “Use your head, Pom-Pom. Nobody saw me go to or come from the guardhouse. They probably all think it was an accident and are gonna spend lots of time and attention putting the fire out. Sooooo…” I straightened up and began entering the window. “You're welcome.” I took a moment to revel in their dumbfounded expression. I wish I had a camera on me. This was priceless.
I entered the castle through the window. Inside was an elegant room. The floor was made of lightly colored wood. There was a table with several levels of shelves on it with an array of dolls displayed. In the corner was a very low set writing table with a pillow in front of it for someone to sit on. The air held a flowery fragrance, though I didn't see any source. Maybe it was the wood, or it was drifting in from another room. A sliding door separated the room from the hall outside.
I looked back to see Pomni and Ragatha entering the window behind me. Ragatha just looked at me. “Wait… I'm confused. Did you just… help?” I chuckled in response to her question. “Uh, yeah. Duh, Dollface. You wanna succeed at this Adventure, don't you?” I mentally slapped myself. Quit being a jerk about it. Yeah, I did it for mischief, but to be fair, I could've just tossed my firebomb at the castle and made things way harder for us anyway.
Rags rubbed her arm. “O-oh. Well… Thanks, Jax. That was clever of you.” Just take the compliment, dummy! “Yeah, well. Ya know. I AM a ninja master. Pretty basic distraction maneuver, honestly.” Ugh! Why do I keep doing this!? I felt a hand on my arm. It was Pomni's. She smiled at me. I felt a sense of understanding from her. I was like a window to her. See through.
“He means he appreciates the compliment, Ragatha.” Pomni clarified. I closed my eyes and looked down and away from both of them. She was right. Why couldn't I just say that instead? She made it seem so easy. Everyone did. What was so wrong with me, then?
Ragatha put her hand on my shoulder and smiled at me. Pomni walked over to the sliding door and opened it a bit, peering through the narrow crack. “Alright. I'm gonna scout ahead for a moment. See if Jax’s distraction cleared the way.” Ragatha nodded and gave her a thumbs up. “Ok. Stay safe, Pomni.” Pomni nodded and exited the room. I could hear her muffled footsteps moving away from us.
Ragatha took a seat on the cushion in front of the writing desk. I leaned against the wall near the window. I could hear shouting as the guards tried to organize to put the fire out. This was… awkward. Rags and I haven't had any time alone since I un-abstracted. I was hesitant to have any one-on-one time with her. How could I not be? I still remember that stupid, selfish promise I forced her to keep. Not to mention, she and Pomni are girlfriends. I know they said I wasn't in the way, but…
“Hey Jax.” I froze the moment I heard Rags' voice. I looked over at her. “Sup, Rags?”
“I just wanted to say… it's nice having you back.” She was smiling. She looked so honest. So genuine. I found myself frowning and looking down at the floor. “Yeah… it's uh… nice to be back…”
“Well. I DO mean in the sense of having you back from abstraction, but…”
My ears perked up a bit, cautiously. “But…?”
She stood up and walked a bit closer, but still kept a respectful distance. “I mainly meant that it's nice to have you back… as a friend. Like before. Back when… they were still around.”
My grip on my arm tightened. I know who she meant. Ribbit… Kaufmo. She'd said something similar the day I un-abstracted. I gulped, hoping she didn't hear it. “I uh… I don't know if I'm exactly the same person you remember from those days, Raggy. I'm still a jerk, ya know.”
She nodded her head. “Well, yeah. I suppose. You seem to be doing a little better, at least. You haven't done anything… directly malicious to anyone since you got back. No mask breakings, no centipedes, no dumping a bucket of lava on Zooble to see if their parts melted.”
I chuckled. “Hey, in my defense. I never actually did that last one. I only thought about it.”
Ragatha shrugged. “True, but I have a feeling you would have if Caine let you keep the bucket from the Pompeii Adventure.”
“Yeah… Probably.”
She stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. I flinched a bit, but I relaxed. I… didn't want to scare her. “I guess what I'm trying to say is… I missed you, Jax. Long before you abstracted.”
I was speechless. I legitimately didn't know how to respond to that. So I didn't. I just looked at her.
She backed off a bit and held her hand close to her face nervously. “I'm sorry. Was that too much? I just… I know you're trying, and-” Don't be smart. Don't be smart, Jax. Just… for once just say what's on your mind. “I… appreciate it… Ragatha.”
She looked at me like I'd just exploded or something. Honestly, part of me would've rather that happened. At least then I wouldn't have to deal with the sudden knot in my stomach. Why did that still feel so wrong to say? Had I really screwed up my own head that badly? “Look, Rags. I'm still not… good at saying what's on my mind. I know I get a little smart often, but that's just how I am. I guess that makes you lucky that you've got Pomni to translate, huh?” There I go, falling back again.
Rags nodded. “I understand, Jax.” She took a moment to twiddle her thumbs. “You know, when I tried to enter your mind after we got you in your tent, I was honestly surprised you even let me in. Even if you didn't let me get far.”
Yeah. Almost everyone had tried to talk to me after I'd abstracted. Save for Gangle. Understandable, given how I treated her. “Well, ya know. A guy has to have som-” I shook my head and slapped my hand over my mouth to stop my smartass remark. Ragatha tilted her head. “Jax…?
I gritted my teeth. “I… just… don't think I’m ready to talk about… all of that…” I let out a breath. Ragatha just held my hand. “Jax. It's ok. You don't need to force yourself to say things.” She reached over to me and put her hand on my shoulder again. I exhaled slowly.
“S…sorry…” My ears lowered. Get it together, Jax! Now you just made her feel worse! “Jax. Look at me.” She said. I looked at her as requested. She put a hand on my cheek. “Do you want to stop talking for now?” I wanted to chide her. To tell her that I'm not a child or someone who needs to be talked to so gently. Yet, I felt… calmed, somehow. I nodded. She nodded back and let go of me, taking a seat back on the cushion.
We both just waited quietly after that. Waiting for Pomni to return. Several minutes passed. My ears twitched anxiously. “Pom-Pom’s been gone a while. Think we should go check on her?” I looked over at Ragatha, she seemed worried. “You're right. It has been a good bit. Let's go look for her.” I nodded and began making my way over to the door as she stood up. I cracked the door open a bit and saw that the coast was clear.
Stepping out into the hall, I signaled for Rags to follow me. I unsheathed my swords just in case we ran into any trouble. “Doesn't that seem a little extreme?” She noted. I shook my head. “Better to have them and not need them, right?”
The two of us quickly but quietly snuck our way through the hall. I guess my distraction was working pretty well. There didn't seem to be any guards around. Nevertheless, we remained on guard. I heard something clatter in another room and raised a finger to my mouth, signaling for Rags to remain quiet. I crept up to the door of the room with the offending sound and looked at her.
“On three. One… Two… Three!” I swung open the door and brandished my swords, Ragatha was behind me, holding two throwing stars at the ready. Both of us yelled, hoping to throw off guard whoever was in here.
“Wahaaa!?!”
Crash!
Both my and Ragatha’s eyes widened when we saw it was Pomni in the room. She was carrying a vase or something and had dropped it when we barged in. “What the heck is the matter with you guys!?” She shouted at us. I sheathed my swords. “What's wrong with us?! What's wrong with you? We were waiting so long we thought you got caught or something. Instead we find you redecorating?”
Ragatha looked embarrassed. She stowed her throwing stars and put a hand on her face. “We're so sorry, Pomni. We didn't mean to scare you. We thought you were a guard.”
Pomni sighed and pulled her mask down so we could see her entire face. “It's ok, Ragatha. Sorry I made you worry.” She looked at me. “I'm not redecorating, Jax. I'm pretty sure this room leads to the upper floor, but there's a puzzle I've been trying to solve. I didn't want to burden you guys with it, so I was trying to solve it myself.”
I looked past her and saw several cases with vases inside them in a row. Above them was an elaborate painting of various mythical animals fighting each other. A dragon, some kind of big four legged lizard, a weird monkey… tiger… snake… thing, and a giant skeleton. I was immediately at a loss and suddenly realized how Pomni had gotten stuck on this.
“Ok. I totally get what was taking so long now. So, what's the puzzle?” I asked Pomni, scratching my head.
“Well, at first, I thought I just needed to put the vases in the order that they were arranged in the picture, but that didn't work.” I saw that the vases all had different designs. One had a wing motif, one looked all scaly, one had several patterns on it, and the one Pomni had dropped looked like it was disturbingly made out of bones.
“Then I found a note saying that I somehow had to figure out in which order they won the fight. Placing each vase in order from the first to lose all the way to the winner. I had no idea how to figure that out, so I was just trying every combination until I found one that works.”
I groaned and leaned back, letting my arms fall slack in disinterest. Puzzles. I swear these things were created just to waste people’s time. Mine specifically. It wouldn’t have bothered me as much if I could just destroy the room until I found what it was hiding, but I didn’t see any signs of a hidden passage or compartment. “Can’t we just call Caine and skip it?”
“Aw, c’mon, Jax. Where’s the fun in that? You might as well just ask to be teleported to the Shogun.” Ragatha chimed in, trying to be encouraging. It wasn’t like I wanted this adventure over and done with, I just wanted to get to the action already! “I’m just bored of all this sneaking around. I wanna fight someone, already!”
I leaned against the wall right next to the painting and thudded the back of my head against the wall out of boredom. All three of us looked at the painting when it tilted slightly in response. I kicked off from the wall and looked at the painting, running my hand along the edge. “Wait. Pom, does this painting come off?”
Pomni looked baffled, and then annoyed. She facepalmed. “Ugggh. I didn’t check to see if the painting could actually be moved…” In all honesty, I wouldn’t have thought to do that either. “Rags, help me out with this.” I called over to Ragatha. She nodded and grabbed the other side of the painting. Together, we removed the painting from the wall.
“Careful. Careful, Jax. Watch the vases.” Pomni said, trying to warn us.
“I know what I’m doin’ Pom-Pom. Ok. Let’s put this over here.” It was a little chaotic, but eventually Ragatha and I coordinated and put the painting down on the right side of the room. We looked at the space where the painting was, and there didn’t seem to be anything behind it. “Well crap. That’s a bust. I thought we were on to something there…”
“Actually, I think there’s something on the back of it. The painting, I mean.” Ragatha pointed out. She picked up the painting and turned it around so that the back was facing us. On the back was a separate painting. This one depicted the same creatures as the front side, but the dragon and lizard seemed to have taken each other out, and the big skeleton was holding the weird monkey thing in its hand. “Dang. Nice find, Rags.”
Pomni’s face lit up and she began rearranging the vases. It was clear that the Skeleton and monkey came last, but we had to adjust the dragon and lizard vases once. It wasn’t clear, but apparently the lizard had come in third place after taking the dragon out. We heard a click from somewhere in the room. “Alright, so what did that-?” Suddenly I felt something hit me in the head. I grabbed my head and looked up to see that I had apparently been standing under a ceiling trapdoor with a deployable ladder.
“Son of a-! Why does this kind of crap keep happening to me!?”
“You probably just have a lot of karma built up coming back to hit you now.” Pomni jested. I rolled my eyes. “Tsk. Please, Pom-Pom. I refuse to believe you’re dumb enough to believe in that kind of thing.”
“Was that a compliment? From you, Jax? I’m honored.” She said with that sly look on her face. It was that look she had when she knew she was right, and knew I wouldn’t be able to contest her on it. I just huffed and tried to seem disinterested. “If you want compliments, go chat with Daisy.”
Pomni elbowed my leg, she was too short to reach my elbow without it being awkward. “Yeah, yeah. Come on, Mr. Stoic and Distant. We got a ruler to steal.” She said as she began climbing the ladder. Once she was up in the next room, I sighed and looked over at Ragatha. “You’re real lucky to have her, Rags… Er… Ragatha.”
Ragatha’s eye widened for a moment, but she quickly gave me one of those soft smiles of hers. “Jax, you know she loves you, too.” I tugged on my scarf a bit. “Yeah, that’s the problem!” I had to stop myself from shouting. Ragatha put her hand over my mouth, much to my surprise. “Jax, look. I know what you’re going to say. Don’t you think maybe that’s a conversation that deserves a bit more privacy?”
She made a good point. Besides, I didn’t even know if I wanted to talk about it. I did, but I also didn’t. It was scary. Unfamiliar. Contradictory…
“You guys coming up, or…?” Pomni called down to us. Ragatha removed her hand and shouted back up. “Yeah, we’re coming!” She patted my arm and ascended the ladder. I followed shortly after once I put my trademark smile back on.
The room above was larger than the puzzle room. It looked like some sort of ceremonial antechamber. A large door loomed up a small flight of stairs behind some sort of shrine that contained a large mirror. “Great… A mirror.” I said, annoyed. Pomni and Ragatha looked at me. I looked back at them and straightened my posture and ears. “Let’s just keep moving. I’m sure the head honcho of the place is right behind that door. We should be on the top floor by now, right?”
Before either of them could respond, the mirror shined with a bright light. My ears flopped back. I saw a hand reach towards us from inside the mirror. I shivered a bit. From out of the mirror emerged… Oh, oh thank goodness. It was just Daisy dressed in a brighter colored version of my outfit. I almost thought it was… Nevermind. She unsheathed her swords and pointed them towards us. “Intruders! You face the Shogun’s Mighty Mirrorguard!” She exclaimed. I held my hands up in a T shape.
“Woah woah. Time out. Pause. Hold on a second.” Everyone looked at me. Pomni and Ragatha also looked ready for battle, and they seemed to be confused that I wasn’t. After all, I HAD been looking forward to a fight. I signaled for Daisy to follow me over to the balcony outside of the room so we could talk privately. She didn’t put her swords away, but she followed me over.
“Uhhh. What’s up, Sis-”
“Daisy! What the heck!? A mirror? Seriously? After everything you and I went through? You scared the crap out of me!” I whisper yelled. I didn’t want Pomni or Ragatha hearing the specifics. “Jesus! I almost thought you were-!”
“Woah woah! Easy, Jax. Easy.” She suddenly looked panicked in her own right. “Shit. You’re right. That was in poor taste. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“I’m more surprised that you seem to have less of a problem with this than I do! You’re the one who got strangled by the mirror on your first day!”
“I know. I know! I just didn’t know how else to enter the scenario!”
“You seriously couldn’t come up with some rival clan BS, or something?”
“I’m sorry! Look, I didn’t mean anything by it, I promise, Jax. You know I wouldn’t do anything to actually hurt you intentionally. Like, beyond the messing with you level stuff.” She sheathed her swords.
“Does that include the cornfield revenge adventure?” I leaned on the railing of the balcony, still facing Daisy with my back to the rail. Daisy chuckled a bit. “Well, we didn’t MAKE you go on that.”
“You literally pushed me through the portal.” I rebutted. Daisy scoffed with amusement. “You agreed to the terms and services before I did that, you know.” She leaned onto the railing, smiling and looking out at the full moon in the sky. “Do you want me to apologize for that adventure?”
I took a moment to think. It had been pretty… extreme. Yeah, but I did agree to it. Zoobs and Ribbons were entirely justified. Besides, Daisy was the one to call it off once I’d had enough, so I guess I owed her for that, among other things. “Nah. It sucked, but… I think it was good for me. In a weird way.”
Daisy smiled at me for a moment. “Well… I’m only a little sorry about it then, since you’re ok with it.” I restrained a laugh. “Since when did I get so soft that you were so considerate of feelings?” I asked, referring to Lee more than I was either of us. Daisy smiled and looked up at the moon. “Probably around the time I started trusting people again. Don’t worry. You’ll get there, or maybe you won’t. Maybe you’ll wind up at your own destination that’s ultimately good for you that’s separate from mine. I’d like to see that.”
I smiled internally, keeping my face neutral on the outside. “Yeah, well. I think everybody’s looking forward to that.” I placed a hand on Daisy’s back. “Almost as much as I’m looking forward to this.” Unceremoniously, I shoved Daisy, sending her over the side of the railing. “DAMNIT JAAAAAAAaaaaaaa….” Her voice faded as she fell. I smiled and leaned over a little bit, holding my ear out with a hand next to it and waiting to hear the satisfying-
THUD!
Ah, there it is. “All’s fair in love and war, Daisy!” I called over the edge and began walking back into the antechamber. I could’ve sworn I heard a distant “Fuck you!” from somewhere. Heh. Must’ve been the wind.
“Everything ok, Jax?” Pomni said, looking behind me as I returned and not seeing Daisy with me. “Huh? Oh, yeah. Totally. Just had the most epic ninja mirror match. You should’ve seen it. Swords clashing, throwing stars, and explosion or two. You should’ve seen it.” I smiled and began walking towards the big door.
“I’m gonna say that I doubt that, considering that neither of us heard any explosions.” Pomni rolled her eyes as she followed me next to Ragatha. “What? Are you calling me a liar, Pom-Pom? I thought you trusted me.”
“Oh, shut it. Either way, the way is clear. Our mission is almost complete. Let’s get this Shogun.” Pomni said before kicking the doors open with surprising force. She and Ragatha ran in first. I took a moment to appreciate the fact that she could kick that hard. I supposed she must’ve used a bit of conjuring for that.
Inside the doors was a throne room. Inside, sitting behind a table was… Dictatorer? Oh! That’s right. Kinger didn’t join this adventure. Apparently he was working on a personal project or something. He was playing it pretty close to the chest. “Well it’s about damn time you guys got here!” He shouted, his angry eyes glaring at us as we all looked at each other in confusion.
“Uhh… You were expecting us?” Ragatha said, placing her hand on her chin quizzically.
“Of course! Who do you think ordered your mission in the first place!?”
“Wait, wait, wait. You contracted our clan… to kidnap you?” Pomni questioned. I could see the gears in her head turning as she tried to figure it all out. “Why though?”
“BECAUSE!” Dictatorer slammed his fist on his desk. “This Shogunate is full of BUGS! PESTS! INSECTS! I can’t stand them!” A lightbulb went off above my head in realization. If Dictatorer was Evil Kinger, he must’ve really, REALLY hated bugs.
“You mean… Your subjects?” I asked, remembering that the guards I saw earlier were some kind of beetle people. “OBVIOUSLY! Now are you people going to get me away from this wretched hive or not!?” Part of me still wanted to kill him, especially with how much of a dick he was being to us when we had apparently come here to help him.
“I guess a mission is a mission. So, how do we get him out of here?” Ragatha posited. Pomni looked up at her. “You still have that cloth I gave you before we set out?” Ragatha nodded and pulled a large cloth out of her ninja bag. I raised an eyebrow, and so did Dictatorer. Though his expression was more angry than curious. Maybe that was just his face. We all watched as Pomni got to work, she cut the cloth into three smaller square shapes and used several wooden rods in her own ninja pack to fashioned them into kites.
“Erm… Pomni, I don’t see how flying some kites is gonna get us out of here.” I said. Pomni just laughed in response. “Jax, I’m surprised. You’ve never seen a ninja kite before?” She led us all out to the balcony and held one of the kites behind her, hooking one of her legs around one of the wooden rods. “Pomni?” Ragatha said with concern.
Without a hint of hesitation, Pomni jumped off the balcony. My eyes shot open and I rushed to the edge to see if she was ok. To both my and Ragatha’s surprise, we didn’t see her plummeting to the ground to join Daisy as a dent in the dirt. Instead she was slowly gliding away from the castle. “C’MON, GUYS!” She called back to us.
I looked at Ragatha, and then looked at Dictatorer. “Alright. You go with Rags and I’ll follo-”
“GERONIMO!!!” Ragatha shouted as she jumped next with her own kite, gliding out into the moonlit distance, leaving me with our target. I looked back at Dictatorer. “Well, are you going to get me out of here or not? I don’t have all night!”
I took a deep breath. “Oh course, Sir. Let me just get my kite ready. Why don’t you just take in the sights while I get prepared?” I waved a hand out towards the distance. He made an indignant noise and walked over to the balcony. “Well, I must admit, it is a rather pleasant vi-” I pushed him over the edge. “WHAT THE FUUUUUUuuuuuuu-”
THUD!
“Dang. I’m gonna have to tell the others that he couldn’t hold on while we were gliding down. What a shame. We were so close, too.”