Five Hundred And Twenty-Six

Five Hundred And Twenty-Six

“Well said, Nkosi, you’re not as barbaric as you seem.” The newcomer, a tall, dark-skinned man with a shaven head and piercing eyes, who was thin and wiry, dressed in a neat yet casual outfit, continued his clapping, though by the angry set of Mr Nkosi’s features, it seemed to be sarcastic. The men behind him, either Chosen or spiritual beings, it seemed, also were smirking, and I could feel the tension between the two groups.

As if to underscore my point, the man addressed the woman in red. “Beautiful Zozibini, why not listen to me and abandon dull old Nkosi? You’d have a far better time with us. I’d hate to see such a woman as you squander her life. These tired ideas of tribe and clan are so last century. We’re all proud Africans, isn’t that enough?”

Hang on, this one was on the Vermillion List data Christina brought me. He wasn’t Vermillion, so Adam didn’t attach incredible importance to him, but... His name was Dino Moloi, apparently, and while the Vermillion List didn’t have a great deal of data on him, he apparently was some sort of element user, though the details were sketchy.

“I’ll decline, as I have before, Dino.” Miss Zozibini replied mildly. “Besides, isn’t it rather rude to ignore our international visitors?”

Bedside us, Miss Lindiwe was looking terribly nervous, beads of sweat forming on her brow. She was glancing at us, her expression apologetic, but it seemed it was out of her control, so I didn’t hold her responsible.

“Rha! Nobody asked them to come.” Mr Nkosi snapped. They were still speaking largely in English though, perhaps for our benefit. “Nobody asked you to come either, sorcerer.”

Sorcerer?

“I’m sure nobody invited you either, chief.” Mr Dino scoffed back, and I realised then it seemed they were making fun of each other’s names. “At least we came properly dressed. Look around, barbarian. Who comes in tribal dress to a meeting of politicians and business leaders? At least beautiful Zozibini is wearing a suit as well as her beads.”

“Please, I would very much like it if you don’t fight.” Miss Lindiwe tried to intercede. Several of the armed security around us looked nervous, hands on their automatic rifles, but the Chosen here ignored them. “I... these are guests I invited, who I owe a great deal to.”

“It is true.” Miss Zozibini agreed. “You are looking well, Miss. It was a shame we couldn’t help...”

“We are those chosen for battle.” Mr Nkosi agreed. “War is a noble calling.”

“War is a sad waste of lives and resources.” Mr Dino disagreed. “But I would expect no less from someone who clings to the old ways.” He taunted Mr Nkosi, whose face screwed up into an expression of rage. Before it could escalate, and with urging looks from Ichijou-san, I broke in.

“Excuse me, but can you take your arguments elsewhere? Firstly, I don’t think you were invited, were you?”

“We go where we please, none can bar our paths.” Mr Nkosi said, which made Hinata chuckle. The man glared at her, but Hinata, proving her bravery, or perhaps her confidence in me, merely met his furious stare.

“Sorry, you just said what Shaeula did. She’s cuter and stronger than you, though.”

Miss Zozibini laughed at that, and before he could reply, one of the Chosen accompanying Mr Dino stirred the argument. “Oh yes, I saw that. You would bar-bar my way? She certainly looked stronger than you, Xhosa.”

“Look, enough, all right?” I wasn’t going to let the argument escalate. “I have great confidence in Shaeula, but she’s not here. We are though. And I am going to have to insist you all play nice. This is a big day for Hinata, and I won’t let you spoil it. If you try... I might just stop being polite.”

Miss Zozibini seemed to understand more than then men did. “You look very beautiful, young one.” Her words were kind. “Please tell me, what brings you here today?”

“Simple. I am here for my engagement debut. In our circles, the first major event where a woman is with her fiancé holds special meaning and importance. It should be flattering I’m holding it in your country.”

“I take it so. And I am more grateful that my saviors are attending this gala.” Miss Lindiwe agreed, hoping the angry mood would diminish, but it seemed her hopes were in vain.

“Honoured? Typical hubris from foreign exploiters.” Mr Nkosi growled, his ornate bead necklaces swaying and clinking as he gestured violently. “I know you are here to pillage our wealth, as has been done for centuries. But that time is over.” He turned to Miss Lindiwe then. “Your father still isn’t listening. He is a fucking fool. If he is not more careful, he will endure what Hili of the Amambalu experienced.”

Everyone’s faces hardened at that, and Miss Lindiwe looked shaken. It must have been some sort of proverb, idiom or threat. Beside me, Mayumi-san was watching on, seemingly unconcerned about the tense air in our corner of the room, but Katana-san and Kazumi-san were professionals, and were on edge, ready for a fight to break out at any moment. With my vision expanded by aether, I could see that the other guests were split into two camps, one trying to steer well clear of us, the others looking as if they were eager to make either our or the African Chosen’s acquaintance.

“How crude. Threatening a poor young woman who has just recovered with the Tokoloshes. For shame. After all, you don’t command them, do you, chief?” Mr Dino said pointedly. “For once though, I agree.” He was outwardly kinder than Mr Nkosi, but he was no less angry, it seemed. “Kumba-Stillwater has exploited Africa for far too long. And worse, the precious heart of our land is dug out and sent far away, to serve the forges and factories of foreign lands. Why, if Africa had a soul, it would surely be weeping, raped and pillaged by the greedy, who give nothing back.”

“Our land does have a soul, sorcerer.” Mr Nkosi barked his retort. “It is our mother, who births and shelters us, and our father, which protects and tests us. But for once I agree with you. No more digging and mining. It is an affront to Qamata. Why else would the Gods return, other than to correct these wrongs, since we proved too greedy and feeble? Rha, fuck all the greedy!”

“We... it’s unreasonable. Father is prepared to offer concessions, money to help restore the land, provide for the less fortunate...” Miss Lindiwe promised, before looking at me, worried. “I... we made promises, to Mr Akio, for his aid. I...”

“It is important to keep promises.” Miss Zozibini agreed. “With both hands, one must take, and one must also give. However... the times have changed.”

“Yes, they have.” Mr Nkosi agreed.

“But that’s not how the world works. Without mines and raw materials, without industry, how can we progress?” Mayumi-san began. Her grandfather tried to stop her, worried, but Mayumi-san was enjoying herself, and liked to argue. “Do you have a car? A computer at home? A mobile phone? Would you give it all up and live in a cave?”

I don’t disagree, but... this is not the place for that. I wasn’t the only one to think so, as one of the spiritual beings behind Mr Nkosi was incensed. He reached out a hand faster than any of our guards such as Katana-san could react, ready to slap the woman who had annoyed him, while he spat out some harsh words. “Little bitch. Go and fuck a dog...” Before he had finished I was gripping his wrist, none-to-gently, and his last words were etched with strain as he tried to shake free. Mayumi-san blinked, face suddenly pale as she realised she was almost struck, and Katana-san moved in front of her, urging her to retreat.

Miss Lindiwe was crying out that violence was prohibited, that this was an event full of dignitaries, but Mr Nkosi and Mr Dino and the rest of their groups were watching. Perhaps this was just an excuse to see what we would and could do?

“Let me go, fucking pussy!” the spiritual being snapped, but then he suddenly fell silent, as I raised my League to its maximum, holding the focus so that it only affected the bastard in my grasp. He paled, shivering, clearly outclassed, and fell silent.

“Don’t be so crude in front of the ladies.” I said, deathly quiet. “And everyone here, including Miss Lindiwe and her father, is under my protection. Cross me if you dare, this is your first and only warning.” I squeezed his wrist hard enough to leave already forming bruises before releasing him. He staggered back, and I expanded on Mayumi-san’s point, which I agreed with, if not her unwise delivery.

“Besides...” I continued. “Mayumi-san wasn’t wrong. We can’t stop progress, and now... well, there’s the Boundary, isn’t there? We can make progress in a better, safer way...”

“The Ancestral World? I should expect no less from foreigners.” Mr Nkosi scoffed, glaring at his beaten companion, perhaps contemptuous that I outclassed him so much. “Not content to destroy our Earth, you wish to ruin that too. Well, lions may fight each other for the pride, but when the hunter comes, they will band together and fight tooth and claw, even unto death, to protect the pride.”

“He speaks the truth. One thing we are united on is that Africa is ours. No foreigner will be permitted to enter the Ancestral World, and any who is found there, no matter who and why, will be the enemies of all. Competition, survival of the fittest, is our way, but we will not be overshadowed and exploited anymore. The time of our ascension is now!” Mr Dino agreed, to nodding of heads and affirmative cries from his followers.

That’s... a pain. Hinata knew our purpose here, so tried to offer a rebuttal. “You think Akio wants to exploit the Boundary? You don’t know him, or what he’s achieved. One of his other fiancées, Asha, is a Dryad. A spirit of nature. Would she love a destructive, exploitative man? In fact, we plan to make Japan a beautiful place of clean technology and nature in harmony. Recycling, clean power... less pollution, more wealth to go around.”

“Words. Talk is cheap, especially from one who has come to claim their blood money from African soil.” Mr Nkosi scoffed.

“I...” Miss Lindiwe began, but I stopped her. There’s no point to this. It was then that the Chosen with Mr Dino smirked. He was light-skinned, with blonde hair, perhaps of some Caucasian descent, and his accent was perhaps Dutch, or some similar European language.

“How about this?” He smirked, clearly having a plan. “Let judgement be dictated by the truth.”

“I think that sounds interesting.” Miss Zozibini giggled charmingly. “But in the interests of fairness, let the threads of Anansi prevent any untoward tricks.”

The man glared, but his smile soon resumed. “Of course, I trust you, beauty. And Anansi’s powers are not for evil use.”

Hinata and I exchanged glances, a little confused, but Mr Dino spoke up.

“Enough talk!” Mr Dino called out. “Let the show begin!”

Aether surged, and I felt a pulling within me. I actually felt I could resist, my League outclassing Mr Janco by a significant margin. Feeling that, I realised that the power could be used as a weapon quite easily. Just summon the scales against a mob of enemies, then forcibly weigh their sins, with a death penalty. Risky, but if his own karma isn’t too sinful, and their League doesn’t surpass his too greatly, it’d be rather effective. Ugh, I hate cheat powers like that. It’s flawed, but situationally lethal. It’s why I have to be careful.

Despite my high League, great stats and an array of powerful Skills, I never took that for granted. After all, there were many Favours still out there, and it just took one with the right ability to render my advantages moot. Not this one, though... I let the spiritual heart be pulled from my chest, and it appeared, a brilliant, glowing orb of white, fringed with orange and indigo. The crowd gasped, and moments later Miss Zozibini’s was pulled free, this one a black orb trailing numerous fine strands. Finally, a small, pure white heart left Mr Janco. All three settled on their respective scales, and then three further balances appeared, now they were at sixty degree angles. These empty scales were suddenly glowing, and three feathers appeared above them, small and white.

“Let the Scales judge fairly!” Mr Janco declared, and as they descended to the empty balances, he was pouring out aether. He was grinning at me, as if sure he had won, but I merely stared back, confident in myself.

“I doubt wanting the treasures of the earth, dug from our mother’s soil, makes you a benefactor of Africa.” Mr Dino whispered to me. “I daresay Nkosi there respects your bravery, though. Me... I hate your foolishness.”

“Shut up.” Mr Nkosi whispered back, as my feather hit the empty balance first. “I do respect it. I am the spear of Qamata, the Xhosa and Africa. You... you are a spear of selfishness and greed. One day soon I’ll force you to kneel.”

“But not today. Now watch as we humble the famous... huh?” He faltered, and I smirked inwardly at the look of shock on his face as the feather sank, pushing up my heart.

“I guess I do mean well after all. And it’s true.” I declared to the crowd. “My new industry does indeed require a lot of material. But... honestly, mining the Earth dry isn’t something we need to do. In fact... soon, we’ll be launching our new recycling technology. It can reclaim all of the materials from anything. Trash to treasure. With that, we can keep the Earth clean and satisfy our needs for decades, just off what we already have!”

Hinata agreed, seizing the moment, while I could see the strain on Mr Janco’s face, and the sheer perplexity at why the Feather outweighed my heart so massively. “That’s right.” Hinata shouted, proud, before tapping Mayumi-san on the shoulder. “My friend and I, we have an agreement with Kumba-Stillwater. And honestly, even with Akiko’s recycling, it will take time to reach enough scale to fill our needs, so on the short term we’ll need ores and metals. But... trust me. One day soon... Akio will transform this land, just as he will Japan, and it will be a magnificent sight to see!”

“Arrogance!” Mr Nkosi declared. “What need have we of outsiders?”

“There can only be one Astral Emperor.” Hinata lowered her voice, letting Mayumi-san speak to the crowd. “And sorry, but it won’t be you!”

“This... cheating!” Mr Janco complained, but Miss Zozibini sniffed, amused.

“A cheater always accuses others. Now... the game isn’t over, is it? I warned you, Anansi’s threads would choke you if you tried tricking me.”

“I wasn’t... I was after... you should want him removed as well!” It didn’t matter to Mr Janco that I could hear him, since he could no longer harm me.

“Oh? What do you say, great Nkosi?” She turned to her leader, who shrugged, his beads clinking.

“I do want him gone, but as of yet, he hasn’t crossed me. Rha, you rhino fucker, you wouldn’t know honour if it rammed a horn up your ass.”

“Honour doesn’t protect you!” Mr Dino complained. “Just as it didn’t our ancestors. Even now, those who have power still treat us as fools. How many of those like us you killed did you do with honour?”

“Fine. You made a mistake.” Mr Janco scowled at Miss Zozibini. “It seems you lose.”

“That is yet to be seen.” Her feather landed next, and with a trembling, her heart began to sink slowly. At the same moment, his feather found its place, but instead of the heart sinking, the feather did, and he looked up triumphantly. At that moment, I muttered a few words, shrouded in wind energy, so only the recipient could hear.

“See? Poor Zozibini. You grasped your defeat with both hands. Now... your time is over. Anansi chose poorly.” Mr Janco gloated, before he suddenly screamed in outrage. His heart dropped so suddenly the golden chains shattered, and in the same moment, Miss Zozibini’s feather began to sink, until her heart was above the feather, safe.

“Impossible! How? I...” He suddenly chocked, and I could see strands of spider silk around his neck.

“This time you made your own Akua doll sticky, and slapped it with both your hands.” Miss Zozibini taunted him. “Now you’re trapped by your own scheme. Such a shame...” The beautiful woman clad in her bright red suit laughed, and there was malice in it. “It’s been a good day indeed.” She nodded to me, and then to Adelheid, who grunted sourly.

“The show is over... what an... unexpected result...” Mr Dino tried to keep face, but Mr Janco collapsed, and blood ran down his face. The crowd panicked, but I used all my Charm and Majesty to calm them, saying that nobody else would be harmed. My Eye shone, and I could see that the Divine Favour within Mr Janco was collapsing. I see. Basically his plan was to have the losers Anchor’s be destroyed. Whether he planned to take down both me and Miss Zozibini or just me... in the end, he was defeated by his own trap...

It was as if he had been Conquered by himself, which had caused immense damage to his subtle body, as well as ripping free his Favour. Unfortunately I was unable to take it before it vanished, but now I could see hatred in Mr Dino’s eyes, as well as on the faces of his comrades, as they looked at us. He gathered up the fallen man, before stalking out of the hall as quickly as he had arrived.

“This isn’t the end!” one spiritual being spat, before the rest of his group also departed.

“Please, everyone, there is no need for panic.” Mr Mandla declared. “Consider it a rare chance to see how dangerous it can be to meddle with the powers of our Gods. Perhaps we should be thankful we weren’t chosen, eh?” His joke was followed by nervous laughter from the crowd. Some of the less brave guests did leave, but he continued to reassure them. “Mr Akio is not at fault, and he is the man who cured my darling Lindiwe. Nor are our... other brave guests, uninvited though they are, but far from unwelcome.” More nervous laughter, and Mr Nkosi spoke up boldly.

“That Afrikaner goat pussy is no loss. He’s not a good man.” Mr Nkosi spat. “I’ve my suspicions about just how honest the Scales are. I warned you, Zozibini. You played a reckless game.”

“Of course. Qamata is fair, and those who try and cheat Anansi seldom come to good ends.” She was unmoved, though she gave him a brilliant smile. “I’ll try not to worry you, great Nkosi.”

“Rha! Who would worry about you, woman?”

“In that case, we were talking about your presence here...” Miss Zozibini said to me, but I shook my head.

“Later. I’m not here for business, I’m here for Hinata. So... it’s time to do the rounds and introduce her to the people that matter.”

“I can’t wait!” Hinata agreed, rather excited. She believed in me before, so when I said I would win, her nerves disappeared, but she was a bit shaken up by the cheater’s fall. “Come on, let’s go.”

“Zozibini, go with her. You know everyone, don’t you?” Mr Nkosi grumbled, and I shrugged. Maybe he’s not so bad after all?

***

Hinata was chatting way happily to the Crown Prince of Lesotho, as well as the Presidents of Ghana and South Africa. I had taken some group shots with Hinata and the dignitaries, and Mayumi-san had already sent them to the leading ladies at Hanafubuki, and was already getting responses.

“This is annoying.” Adelheid grumbled beside me. “Everyone’s looking at me. I feel out of place.”

“Shouldn’t be so cute then.” I laughed, in a good mood. She grimaced, before kicking me in the ankle, only to wince and try and pretend her foot didn’t ache.

“Thanks for your help though. I don’t know if she’s a good person or not...” I nodded at Miss Zozibini, who was helping smooth Hinata’s conversations with the honoured guests here. “...but I do know that Mr Janco was a cheater.”

Adelheid shrugged, rubbing her sore foot against her other ankle surreptitiously. “The Furies hate dishonest sinners. His heart was heavy with treachery and evil. That’s all there was to it. Ugh, where’s the beer?” She picked at the plate of food in her hands idly, sipping at the glass of champagne she held with a complicated expression on her face. “This stuff just isn’t to my taste.”

“I’ll go get you something if I can find it.” I looked around, scanning the waiters, only for one to step up.

“Here you are sir.” He passed me a glass of foaming amber beer, which I handed to Adelheid, who took it eagerly, though she glanced around to see if anyone would complain. Seeing as nobody did, she took a swig, smacking her lips.

“That’s better. I don’t like wine, it’s got to be beer. Huh...” As she tilted her glass, there was a clinking noise. “Is something in here?” She reached into her glass and moments later pulled out a leaf. “Shit, even at swanky parties, there’s still... huh...” Her blue eyes narrowed as she looked at the leaf in her hand. “This feels... wait, is this... solid gold?”

Hearing her words I narrowed my own eyes. Gold, huh? Then does that mean...? I turned, but the waiter who had given me the glass of beer was nowhere to be seen, vanished into the crowds perhaps...