Maddie licked her smiling teeth and avoided eye contact. A lifetime of hiding, revealed. I know how that feels. Her smile vanished quickly enough.
“Aye. It is my duty. Though I don’t know why. And when I’m with you, I suspect that it shouldn’t be.” She looked him up and down again, though he felt it was in an entirely different context than before. Jules shifted uneasily. “No one has ever suspected a thing, not even my crew, until you. Our Familiars gain all aspects of their animal hosts, so yes, mine can talk. But no, I cannot Regenerate.”
“I told you last week, didn’t I? That I’d love to learn your name some time.” Lay it on thick.
“Dream on, lover-boy.”
Jules chuckled. “So, you obviously came to feel me out. But that was only the first objective. Why’d you really come here?”
She watched the clouds roll in. “Zeke is up to something besides capturing you. It’s only a hunch. I have no evidence. But when I’m near him, I’m filled with dread.”
“So, you want us to help you?” Will you join our Party after all?
“I fear many great threats, Jules. One stands before me now, someone who I have only seen fight when he’s lost control… On top of that, one of the greatest threats a Captain faces is a mutinous crew mate who can’t keep in line and follow orders.”
Which one of her crew is she—Oh. Right.
“I’m definitely more of a leader than a follower, Maddie. And I’m not your crew mate.”
“It’s an analogy, you idiot. I love being rich and wealthy, and I need to know, should we share a battlefield—Are you an asset, or a liability?”
“Liability,” Jules said without hesitation. “I have a proven track record at this point.”
Maddie ripped her cutlass from its scabbard. “Then survive my attack while maintaining control, and I’ll fight Zeke with you.”
“What? I’m not prepared—”
An aura exploded around Maddie. Salty Pete flew even higher.
“I’ve put my heart and soul into this sword. I’ll not hold back—This is a single attack, Jules.”
Jules braced himself. I’m not ready, I won’t die, but will this fight accelerate Wrath's return?
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, time seemed to slow down. The patterns of both the Sound and Kaizen appeared in his mind. He pressed them together and panicked again. Wrath will come—
No, I can do this. I can gain another ally, another friend to walk this road with.
Jules slotted Kaizen’s soul into his Vessel. Maddie lunged at him with supersonic speed. She thrust once for his throat.
Jules deflected her cutlass upwards and to the left with just the bottom of the Sound’s wooden hilt. They locked eyes in that moment, hers, wide, and his, narrowed and focused. She cracked a smile just as her cutlass shattered. She stood before him, and the clap of the sound barrier finally caught up to Jules’ ears.
Maddie’s eyes shifted into a different shape, a look Jules was unfamiliar with. She looks…hungry?
“It seems you've shattered my soul…and my heart. Let’s make a deal, Jules Tideshaper.”
“Let’s come together, Maddie, and fight Zeke as one.”
“Careful, Jules, or I’ll hold you to your words.”
[Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective COMPLETED: Master Object Integration.]
[Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective ADDED: Master Body Integration.]
[Shrine Hunting — Quest Objective ADDED: Capture the Shrine in Lighthouse Point.]
Jules gripped the wooden hilt of the Sound until his knuckles cracked. The white hot tint of its wooden edge warmed him in spite of the cool evening breeze. His opponent sheathed their sword and rested a hand on its hilt. With both hands, Jules raised his Vessel high over his head.
Jules' opponent lunged and ripped their sword, their new Vessel, from its sheath and sliced up, diagonally. Jules slammed his own sword straight down onto the metal edge. Bright lights sparked on contact, which pushed them away from each other.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Jules’ sandals dug a trail in the dirt. Cyrus flew backward and landed on his ass. Jules smirked; Cyrus kicked the nearest tree with a curse, then slashed straight through the tree with his Vessel. Nothing happened.
“Alright, Kaizen, you can come back out.” The Sound turned back to a dull, wooden sword, and Kaizen’s ghastly body appeared before Jules and the others. He studied his Vessel. Rough and plain, kind of like my Skills right now. No one would ever pick this stick up from a pile. Still, it’s been effective against Cy and his Vessel so far.
“This birthday party is horseshit.” Cy fell back onto a stump with a plate of pink food. He glared at Katarina. “And I said I didn’t want salmon. I said it five times!”
In less than a second, she traversed the dozen yards between them and towered over Cyrus. Jules thought clouds formed around her head. “You’ll be thankful for what you get,” Katarina said slowly. Cyrus blew her a kiss back.
“Relax, it, uh, looks great.” She didn’t budge. Without blinking, Cyrus shoved the entire salmon in his mouth. The tailbone bobbed up and down while he chewed. He mumbled something and gave a thumbs up. Katarina backed off.
By the time they finished dinner, Whiskers and Cyrus were drunk on mead. Again. Jules had to avert his gaze from them, because every time he’d look at them, his mouth watered. He wanted to join in like he and Rukia had the last few nights. Even Katarina had joined in once.
But tonight is a special occasion. Cy can Class up drunk if he wants.
Jules removed the strawberry birthday cake he’d gotten Katarina in Siren's Cove from his Inventory and placed it on the ground. He broke into a sudden sweat.
“Jules, it’s…” Katarina tried not to smile. Jules' cheeks flushed with heat. “My favorite flavor.”
Jules sighed. “Thanks, Kat. I guess I’ve had it in my Inventory too long and it sorta melted.” Guess it's been on fire since then. A few times.
Jules’ neck hair stood on end. He felt the ghost behind him, close. Too close. Jules turned his head to the right. He was nearly cheek-to-cheek with Kaizen, who wrapped his left hand on Jules’ left shoulder.
“Jules…" Kaizen whispered. "Is that strawberry?” He didn’t close his mouth when he finished speaking.
“Uh, yeah dude." Jules shrugged his shoulder. "Do you mind?”
Kaizen side-eyed Whiskers and Cyrus, who were busy hopping around and playing off-beat Happy Birthday song on invisible flutes like complete imbeciles.
“Rukia, six pieces please. Equal pieces.” Kaizen winked at the fox. Six?
“Order up!” Rukia carved six pieces. Five were equal slices. The sixth claimed half of the cake.
When Rukia handed over her slice, Katarina's eye twitched. Jules looked at Rukia, then down to his thin, meager slice, and back up at Rukia again. She smiled and panted back. Whiskers and Cy took their slices gleefully, without noticing anything. They sang to Jules and Katarina.
“...You look like a fuh-ox…and you smell like one, too!”
Jules and Katarina rolled their eyes at each other, but laughed. Everyone dug into their cake.
“Jules.” Everyone turned to Kaizen. His frown reached the ground. He placed a hand on his chin in deep contemplation. “You have mastered the first form of Spirit Integration, placing me into the Sound. It is high time for me to showcase another form.”
Jules lowered his plate and sighed. So much for relaxation. “OK.”
“Observe.” They observed. “I will now Spirit Integrate with Rukia—Observe.” They continued to observe. Why is he sweating?
? Integrate ? [?1,000 // ?10,000]
Hey, why'd that take my Ryoku!?
[Pang! Conjuration increased to Level 30.]
…
… …
… … … Whatever. I'll take it.
Kaizen dissipated into ash before them, and Rukia absorbed his essence with eyes closed. When all the dust settled, the fox's eyes peeled open. They were the only thing about her that changed, and red, crimson flames danced and sparkled inside her irises. The two of them spoke as one.
“This is Spirit Integration Technique #5: placing your Avatar into your Familiar."
[Seeketh Patience — Quest Objective ADDED: Master Spirit Integration Technique #5 (Avatar into Familiar).]
“Whoah,” Cyrus whispered.
Jules dropped his plate and his jaw. “You’ve been able to do this the whole time!?"
Rukia—or Kaizen, more likely—lunged at the sixth slice of cake—though it was more like an entire cake itself—and devoured it. They gnawed at it, their jaw moving straight up and down since foxes can’t chew side to side. They chomped at it with their head sideways, only able to see the cake with one enlarged eye, while the other looked straight up at the starry night.
Frosting frothed at their jowls.
Bits of cake stuck in their wet nose.
A candle lodged itself in an ear somehow.
Their attack was swift, efficient, and effective, if not a complete, slobbery mess.
The pure carnage ended in mere seconds, before anyone could even react to defend.
No one said a word.
So… Fast…
Rukia and Kaizen—or as they preferred to be called, Kraizin—sat on their hind legs, their head angled up to the sky. They licked and licked and licked their nose. Each scrape attempted to reach new heights, to eradicate every last morsel of that strawberry cake.
But they couldn’t.
They fell to their side to get a better angle.
Jules' skin crawled from the relentless slapping and slurping and gurgling sounds.
The beast rolled onto its back now and slammed its head into the ground to obtain further leverage, to capture a large piece of icing stuck between its ears.
Jules covered his ears. This had to stop. He couldn’t take it anymore, he wanted to rip off his ears.
Legs flailed about, upside down, and danced to the alternating snarls, snaps, and gnashing teeth.
“Enough!!!” Jules shouted. The writhing beast froze, then jerked itself around, clumsily, back to its belly and four paws. It tucked its tail and pinched its ears to its neck. “Bad fox! Bad!"
Jules chased them around the campfire and used the Sound as a disciplinary stick.
Katarina laughed herself out of her chair. The two drunks cheered and jeered. Finally, Jules scooped them up—the little shits—and hoisted them in the air by the nape and scolded them further. Their limbs, ears, and tail all drooped down; their narrow eyes rounded and grew, and grew, and grew into watery puppy dog eyes.
“I hope you’re happy.” Jules placed them down on the ground. Kaizen dis-Integrated from Rukia. Both belched.
Cyrus stripped down to just his underwear and boots and scooped up Whiskers. “Look! Puss ‘n’ Boots!”
Rukia chased them around in the campfire to get their final scraps of cake, which they clung onto. Katarina reached out a precisely timed leg and tripped all three to the ground.
They sang more songs and enjoyed their final night of peace for quite some time.
“So Kaizen,” Jules said. “You’ve really been able to do that this whole time?”
“Yes.” Kaizen answered from his back. Real food, especially so high in sugar, had made his stomach ceaselessly rumble. “We actually did it back at your birth site. I had Rukia Integrate with me, which was against the rules, and that’s why I was incarcerated.”
“...But that won’t happen when you Integrate with Rukia. Right? Right?”
******* ****** ***** **** *** ** * ** *** **** ***** ****** *******
84
******* ****** ***** **** *** ** * ** *** **** ***** ****** *******