Chapter 514

514 Unexpected Complications

“Why do we need ta eat first?” Skye asked with suspicion in her voice.

Having known Genie since she was a child, Skye could tell when he was trying to be sneaky. He had done it to her many times over the years; wait until she was eating and half-distracted before telling her something unpleasant. It was always either that tactic, or bribery to cushion the initial blow of bad news.

Irritated that he was still treating her like a child, Skye spoke curtly; “Ima not hungry yet. Tell me what yer ninja said.”

Genie understood why she was being disrespectful towards him, but Hana did not. She glared at Skye as she straightened up, and said; “This ninja has a name, and it’s Hana. Princess or not, you will show my Master proper respect..”

Skye glared at Hana for her hostile response as she said; “Or what?”

Tidas and Genie were dumbstruck for a moment by the sudden turn of events, but they both quickly swooped in to calm the situation. Tidas asked Skye not to be confrontational, considering their titles were supposed to be ‘diplomats’ while there. Genie told Hana to basically stow it, which irked her further..

It wasn’t unusual for him to be short with her in front of most people, but the way that Genie and Mei had always talked about the two royals made her believe that they could talk freely around and to them.. ‘Apparently that isn’t the case..’

As the thought crossed Hana’s mind, she glanced at Skye again. She was extremely beautiful, and even Hana could feel the power rolling off of her. While she sized up Mei’s supposed best friend, Skye stared right back at her.

“Why’s she lookin’ at me like that? What the hell is her problem?” Skye asked out loud in frustration.

.....

Tidas shrugged as he rubbed her shoulders; “I don’t know, love. Maybe she’s intimidated by you? And you were rude to Genie before.”

“I was gonna apologize fer that, but she pissed me off. And what did she mean when she called Genie ‘Master’? Sai doesna have slaves. At least they didn’t the last time I was here.”

Genie chuckled lightly from hearing Skye’s question, then answered; “Calling a person master here means something different from Alcon’s definition. A master is someone who has pupils, or has been deemed a master of their profession by the Senate. A few of my titles are ‘Master of the Four Winds’, and ‘Commander of the Shadow Corp’. As well as a few more...colorful ones.”

Skye nodded her understanding as her old teacher added; “Hana has a title, but she is not yet a master. But she is very close to being deemed one..”

“What’s her title?” Tidas inquired, curious as to the odd jealousy vibe he was getting from her.

“She’s called ‘The Attacking Flower’. Her title comes from her name until her skills reach their pinnacle. In all honesty, Hana doesn’t have much more to learn. Mostly just...human interaction.”

Hana huffed at her Master; “I’m a ninja! Why would I need to be good at talking with people? My job is the complete opposite of that!”

“You are still my pupil, and you do not yet understand that a ninja’s job occasionally requires having decent people skills,” Genie replied.

Right as Hana opened her mouth to argue, Skye’s stomach gurgled loud enough for them to hear. All three looked directly at her, which made her feel slightly embarrassed. Not because Tidas and Genie had heard it, but because Hana had.

A cocky grin stretched across her face as she stared at Skye, and said; “It appears that my Master was correct after all.”

Skye wanted to slap the woman, but knew that would cause a whole list of issues. If Hana was Genie’s Second in Command, then that meant that she was a part of Sai’s military. Any physical altercation could cause an international incident, and spark a conflict between Alcon and Sai..

‘Maggie would string me up by me toes if we got sent back ta Alcon early fer startin’ a fight wit a high-ranking military official.. And Tidas doesna need anymore grief from his father over me. Not with what happened in Marco’s office right before we left..’

As the thought passed, Skye took a deep breath, then looked at Hana as she said; “Aye, Genie be right. We didna eat before we left. And Ima sorry fer referrin’ to ya as ‘Genie’s ninja’ earlier, too. But just so we’re clear: I’ve known Genie since I was a wee brat, and Ima not about ta sugarcoat me words fer him if we’re not in public..”

Skye turned her attention towards Genie; “And I expect he ken that long before he brought me here.. Now that we’re in Sai, I believe ya got quite a bit ta tell us.”

Genie sighed and nodded; “Yes I do, although I was hoping that we’d be a bit closer to the capital before you remembered.”

Hana looked squarely at her master with darkening features as she asked; “Did you not inform them of the situation?”

“...Kind of.. Just not certain parts yet,” Genie replied in an almost cowering manner.

Hana’s eyes bulged with shock; “Are you kidding?! What parts?!”

“Okay so I may have held back a lot-”

“Did you tell them about the death threats against Mei?” she practically yelled.

“Yes. That was one of the first things that I mentioned when they returned from the Highlands,” Genie replied cautiously.

“Shoulda told me Before we went,” Skye muttered, but only Tidas had heard her.

Hana had slightly relaxed upon hearing Genie’s answer, then asked; “What about the temple?”

Genie kept his face straight as Skye exclaimed; “What temple? Ya said somethin’ about a vault.”

Hana glared at Genie, who averted his eyes to the ground as she spoke; “The temple is connected to the vault.. It’s more like a maze, though. With the vault at the end. Countless people have tried to enter it over the years, and no one has ever come out alive.”

“If no one’s ever made it out alive, then how do you know that the vault’s there?” Tidas asked with skepticism in his voice.

Genie spoke up; “The Tokuga have a map that leads one through the maze safely, but as I told you before: they no longer have any dragon’s blood to open the vault. The tomes and artifacts locked away could revolutionize Sai even further than it already is. And...there’s one other thing..”

As Skye and Tidas stared at Genie with irate expressions, he continued; “The ones who built the temple and the vault.. It was the Winchesters.”

Tidas perked up; “What does my Mother’s family have to do with anything?”

Genie shrugged; “I don’t know. All I know is that the door to the vault had your mother’s family crest on it. The only reason I know that is because I saw it in the palace when I was walking with King Magnus. The painting of her inside the public parlor? It’s on the handkerchief she’s holding. I almost didn’t see it, but your father specifically stopped me to show me the three paintings of the former Queens.”

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“Do the Tokuga know that the crest belongs to me husband’s mother’s family?” Skye asked.

Genie shook his head; “I don’t think so. Otherwise I’m sure that they would’ve tried to contact Tidas before. Are there many Winchesters left?”

“Not in Alcon, but apparently I have cousins in the Highlands. The only family from my Mother’s side I knew of back home was an older cousin that passed away years ago.”

As Genie nodded his understanding, Skye asked; “Is there anythin’ else yer keepin’ from us?”

After taking a deep breath, Genie replied; “Yes.. First off: I’ll be requiring Tidas’ help with something. We talked about it a little, but I just wanted to remind you.”

“Secondly: we may have to fight our way into the capital..”

“What?! Why?!” they exclaimed together.

“Because Senator Tokuga and his supporters have the capital completely surrounded. They want to intercept you and Zazzy before the people have a chance to see her,” Hana replied quickly.

“So what do we do?” Tidas inquired with a worried, but also contemplative expression.

“Fightin’ our way in is a terrible idea,” Skye cut in; “Ya told me before that if we can get the people on our side, then the Senators lose their power over us, correct?”

“Ah, more or less,” Genie replied with uncertainty.

“Then all we need is fer them ta see Zazzy wit us. Once they see that she’s a perfectly happy and healthy dragon, the Senators willna be able ta do shite,” Skye finished with a cocky grin.

“That’s a lot easier said than done, Skye. They have every entrance into the city blocked off. The river doesn’t go through the capital, so it’s not like we can just ride the ship inside,” Genie stated out of both concern and contemplation.

Tidas rubbed at his chin; “What about your people? Can they get us in?”

“I got an idea-”

“Our people are spread too thin right now. The Senators have us rotating boarder patrols, like the rest of the soldiers. Even if we figured out which entrance a few of them might be at, they’re still mixed in with the regular soldiers. We can’t put their loyalty into question,” Hana added, cutting off Skye.

She tried to speak again, but Tidas interrupted her this time; “What about smuggling us in? Are there any merchants that owe you a favor?”

“Hey! I ken somethin’ we can-”

“It’s the same problem as with our people: we can’t put them in harm’s way for our own purposes,” Genie replied.

Frustrated that she kept getting cut off, Skye used her Earth magic to raise herself higher than the other three, then yelled; “I got an idea!”

Shocked at her outburst, the three stood staring at Skye as she smirked; “You guys are overthinkin’ this. Zazzy’s a bloody dragon! We dinna have ta enter the city by road!”

Seeing confused expressions from everyone, Skye face fell as she said; “Flyin! We’ll just fly in!”

Like a light had clicked on; Genie, Hana, and Tidas all smiled and commented on their overly-complicated thinking. Skye sighed with a weary grin right as a large shadow flashed across them. Looking up, everyone but Hana smiled and greeted the dragon.

Zazzy waved back as she hovered before landing, then touched down on the ground hard enough to shake it. Everyone looked at her with a gentle smile, but Hana’s face was frozen in awe. She had seen Zazzy earlier, and was able to contain herself, but she couldn’t hold back her joyous enthusiasm any longer.

Hana had immediately launched into a rant about how big and beautiful Zazzy was as she walked towards her. Soaking up the flattery, Zazzy bent down, and allowed the over-excited human to pet her as she continued her barrage of compliments. When Zazzy started to respond to her with trills and arm movements, she actually squeaked with delight.

As Hana got to know Zazzy a bit, Skye turned towards Genie, and said; “Now, about that lunch?”