Chapter LV (55)

  This time Mitsuko used Mend to remove the security wards on the smuggling room of The Terror. Her skill with her spell had advanced to the point where even Mending enchantments was a simple task. No one would be alerted to her as a stowaway and hopefully it would result in a nice easy trip over to Verdant Island. No need to fake being an assassin and offering her services to Captain Alina to slay Sett. So long as the crew never entered the room while they traveled, she’d be safe from detection.

  “Can you tell me about the weeks I lost?” Mitsuko asked Sterling after she settled in and got comfortable. “What did I do and who captured my mind?”

  “If you want to use a question for it,” Sterling replied, knowing she wouldn’t. “Though honestly, I can’t say much even if you do expend one of your limited questions. I did not have the opportunity to witness the events play out. And, before you ask, I cannot expound upon my state of mind while not acting as your guide without also requiring another question from you. If I forfeit more information freely, I’m subject to permanent exile. And neither of us want me exiled.”

  Mitsuko found that to be the truth. Sterling could be a complete ass sometimes, but he was still always in her corner and rooting for her. And now that she understood that there were serious limitations on what he could say with serious ramifications if not strictly followed, she felt he’d done a decent job as her guide.

  It wasn’t that long ago she panicked at the sight of Sterling’s form dissolving before her eyes. And the rapid beat of her heart while she searched for him in the most recent sinking ship remained fresh in her mind.

  “I still believe you should have sought out that white-haired witch you’re familiar with,” Sterling said. “She could equip us with valuable information on how to best fight a fellow mental mage and perhaps even protect you if she joined our journey.”

  “Absolutely not,” Mitsuko replied. “I didn’t even invite Holly. There is no chance I am reaching out to Fuku. You don’t know the witches of the Hon Basin. They’re vicious and vindictive.”

  “Actually, they might be some of the only people still around in the world that I do know,” Sterling said. “I have a strong suspicion that one in particular is alive and well. I highly doubt she’d be one to let something simple like a thousand years kill her. Though, admittedly, I do not have first hand experience with this particular white-haired witch you are familiar with, so I will defer to your judgement.”

  They sat in the dark room in silence for a bit. After a while lost in thought, Mitsuko decided to continue experimenting with Retrospection. The spell let her see the recent history of the smuggled objects in the room. Most had simply been sitting in The Terror for the last few weeks and revealed little to nothing interesting. A bit of jostling. Some reorganization at one of the recent ports. But she kept at it regardless to keep exercising the spell.

  Then she attempted her spell on the heating stone she’d used to set Sett on fire. At first she felt it travel back to a few days before the Prismatic Spiral was triggered, the same as every other object had felt. But then she felt something happen. Not just the box shifting slightly over turbulent waters. She felt an actual person pick up the enchanted stone and remove it from the room. Or rather, it was actually someone putting it inside the room, backwards. The way she viewed time through this spell was all mixed up and in reverse. Mitsuko pressed her will against her spell, forcing Retrospection to slow down to a normal pace. Though it stubbornly remained in reverse.

  The sailor walked backwards and brought the stone out and set it on the wet deck, bits of snow and ice were scattered in clumps all around it. Then the snow began to expand, the water gathering up from the deck and freezing. The snow built upon itself until it formed into a man made of snow. As the snow compacted and the stone rose up on his wet chest, the man screamed in horrible pain.

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  Captain Alina stood off to the side. She pointed at the screaming man.

  “Tlem tplucs eht tel. taeh eht pu nrut. Uoy eveileb t’nod I”

  “Uoy ot gniyl lla er’yeht! Su t’nsaw ti tub. Tnadrev no snilbog eht ebyam ro. Sevlesmeht rof ti elots ylbaborp stsurc eht. Erusaert eht tuoba gnihtyna wonk t’nod I, uoy esimorp I.”

  Then the same sailor who’d brought the enchanted stone from the smuggling room reached back down and picked it up. Then stood beside Captain Alina.

  “Teef ym ta elddup a emoceb ro, won klat. Snoitpo owt,” Captain Alina announced. She raised a hand to the sailor and then the stone’s carrier reversed course and returned back to the smuggling room, Captain Alina’s words fading away.

  Then Mitsuko’s view returned to watching the stone sitting in the storage for a few more days. Breaking free of her trance, she blinked away the sudden onslaught of vertigo. Then she tried to decipher what exactly the captain had been saying. She thought she caught a mention of goblins and treasure in the backwards mix.

  “Well that was interesting,” Mitsuko mumbled to herself. This might explain why Captain Alina and the Terror were heading to this island. If she was seeking out some sort of lost treasure and suspected the goblins, then this would be an obvious destination to sail to.

  Mitsuko wondered about what other politics were at play on this ship. Like the clockwork room she’d died in during her previous loop, there seemed to be many gears moving all at once. Did Sett have anything to do with the missing treasure? Why exactly did the cook want his captain dead? He told her it was to help advance his friend, the first mate, in the ship’s hierarchy. But Mitsuko suspected more motive there than what he openly revealed.

  “Do you know anything about a race of people made out of snow?” Mitsuko asked Sterling. The cat raised an eyebrow in response, as if asking permission to speak on the topic. Mitsuko sighed. “Forget about it. I’ll figure it out on my own. I don’t suppose I can expect the sage on Verdant Island to be less tightlipped than you and Escara?”

  “I would not hold my breath if I were you,” Sterling said. He stalked over to the corner where a small fly buzzed about and started jumping up in the air, trying to swat it. Mitsuko watched him try and fail to kill the bug for ten minutes before it finally lazily flew up and perched on the doorframe. Sterling paced at the base of the door, clearly irritated.

  “Do you think I should tell Holly about the timeloops?” Mitsuko asked.

  “That’s your decision to make. Though I admit I believe a diviner of her caliber might very well prove useful in many facets, even despite some of the utility of her abilities being damped by the presence of the Prismatic Spiral.”

  “Do people usually take it well when they realize they won’t exist after a few days?”

  “Speaking purely hypothetically and not based on personal experience, I would say it varies wildly depending on the person in question. Do you believe your friend might attempt to murder you when faced with an existential crisis based upon the existence of your soul?”

  “No.” Holly was more stable than that. If anything, of the two of them, Mitsuko would be the one more likely to attempt to kill a timelooper. And even then, she would never harm Holly.

  “Then there is very little risk to you explaining the situation to her and using her skills in future loops. I believe it would have likely been a more entertaining option for the gnome than sitting at the Sailor’s Guild worrying about where you disappeared to.”

  “I left a note,” Mitsuko defended herself. “She knows I’m following a lead and need to handle this solo. I’ve split up with her in the past. Just…usually with a bit more information. But my actions aren’t completely unprecedented.”

  Ignoring her verbal defence, Sterling leaped up, trying to use the wall to propel his height. He didn’t even reach halfway to where the fly perched. His claws scratched the wall as his paws desperately attempted to propel him up the vertical wall.

  “Do you want me to throw you?” Mitsuko offered while she fixed the scratched wall with a swift Mend.

  “Absolutely not,” Sterling snapped. His unblinking eyes continued to stare intently at the insect over his head for several minutes. “Fine. Just this once I will permit you to throw me.”

  15 more chapters on my !!