Chapter 245 - The Messenger

On the northern side of the continent, in the midst of a lush and vibrant jungle that was once the Chenmai Forest.

The giant black tree towered over the jungle canopy, with the appearance of a hand grasping the sky. The demonic energies of life imbued within it had largely dissipated within the two weeks since it had sprouted. The tips of each finger were now lush with billowing green branches full of leaves, the gnarled trunk had been overtaken by vines and plants.

The once frightening silhouette on the southwest horizon of Noga City had bloomed into a magnificent embodiment of abundance and life.

High above the ground, a pair of travelers in brown robes and straw hats finished their climb up the trunk and found themselves in the palm of the giant hand.

The first traveler was an athletic woman with short red hair. A buzzing oversized gourd hung from her waist. The second was a thin bald man with a pointed chin.

They took a moment to carefully observe their surroundings, before their eyes landed on a single tree that grew in the center of the ‘palm’. This gnarled and twisted tree appeared to be dead, with no leaves on its branches which had the appearance of hands grasping in various directions. Its blackened trunk had been split open, with a woody mass bulging out from the split like an overly large tumour.

The woman pulled a necklace of polished wooden beads out of her robes, holding it between her palms which she pressed together in a short whispered prayer, evoking her exalted powers.

An aura of calmness surrounded the clearing as the woman returned the beads to her robes. Nodding to her partner, they quietly approached the hand tree.

A soft gasp left the woman’s lips, her eyes landing on a wooden sheath that protruded from the trunk. After this realization, the pair quickly noticed that the bulging mass took the form of a twisted and beheaded man with flowing robes.

Asuna placed her hand on the man’s ‘chest’, closing her eyes to read the energies within the mass.

“So this is where you ended up, Hakuya.” She muttered.

Fumu pulled out a small scroll from his pocket and unrolled it, revealing a complicated rune drawn in black ink. The rune ignited into flame as he recited a prayer under his breath, letting go of the scroll to let the ashes float away on the wind. His eyes glowed silver as the spell heightened his spiritual awareness, and he cast a long gaze across their surroundings.

“His sword is missing.” Fumu said after a moment, “No sign of it, either.”

The item that he referred to was one that highly concerned the two of them - the ornate chest that Hakuya had been secretly entrusted with. The chest was one of Yuima’s most treasured relics, one that Her clerics had protected for a thousand years. While their initial purpose was to find Hakuya and provide assistance, now that they’d confirmed he was dead their top priority was the chest.

“We’ll have to perform a proper divination, then.” Asuna said solemnly, noting to herself that the chest’s anti-divination properties would make it difficult to locate. Still, they needed to try. 

Both exalted had already long suspected that their colleague was dead, thus they were not shocked, but rather relieved to find his final resting place. They mourned him silently for a moment, saying a goodbye to their elder brother.

“May your soul find peace.” Asuna said. 

Fumu pulled out a number of candles from his robe, setting them in a circle around Hakuya’s petrified body. He was nearly ready to start when both exalteds’ spiritual intuitions triggered.

They looked over to the space between the ‘thumb’ and ‘forefinger’ of the giant hand, where a fair skinned girl with long black hair stepped into view. 

She had a large, clear forehead and round cheeks, plump lips and bright chestnut brown eyes. She wore a simple blouse and skirt under a tailored brown cloak. She wore several delicate golden chains that draped from her neck and behind her ears.

The girl bowed gently even as Fumu and Asuna tensed and lowered their stances defensively. 

“The divination will fail, unfortunately.” She said in a soft, friendly tone. “You might as well save yourselves the trouble and materials.”

“And you are?” Asuna’s eyes narrowed as she didn’t recognize the stranger immediately. The girl’s garb was highly typical of Kumin middle class fashion, and there was nothing otherwise special about her appearance - she would blend in quite well in the city and be hard to remember.

“A friend.” The girl replied, an enigmatic smile on her face. She paced casually around the perimeter of the clearing, running her hand along the bark of the huge trunks that formed the hand’s fingers, “I come with a message - the cleric’s sword is on the way to Huan by way of carriage. With it lies clues to the whereabouts of that other thing that you seek.”

The knowing look in Asuna’s eyes sparked an epiphany in her mind. She frowned, standing straight as she exchanged a look of recognition with the girl. The ornate chest was a secret privy to only Yuima’s high ranked clerics. It was protected by numerous secrecy and anti-divination runes as well. Unless Hakuya had broken his oath and specifically divulged the information to outsiders, it was highly unlikely for anyone to have discovered the chest. Meaning, the girl was someone who already knew of its existence. 

The casual yet mysterious manner in which the girl conducted herself felt extremely familiar as well. The shared glance only solidified Asuna’s conclusion in her mind as she ventured the name.

“Soryana.”

The long hair girl curtsied, “It’s been a while, Asuna.”

“You know her?” Fumu asked under his breath, not privy to the wordless conversation between the two women.

“We’ve spoken, once or twice. But we’ve never met.” Asuna answered Fumu’s question with a frown. She then rose her voice, loud enough for Soryana to hear, “The Kismet Order’s messenger rarely conducts her business in person.”

At the mention of the title, Fumu’s eyes widened in understanding.

As two of Yuima’s high-ranking priests, Fumu and Asuna were aware of numerous secret organizations that existed in the world. Some existed to serve gods or their angels, some existed to protect the interests of monarchs or countries, some existed to subvert others. Knowing this information was critical in anticipating and reacting to dangerous situations.

The Kismet Order of Fate was an elusive organization that rarely revealed itself to the world. Its activities, members and even its greater purpose were shrouded in mystery that not even the gods were privy to. They existed between the planes, in the empty spaces between the factions of the world and the other secret societies, pulling strings and manipulating the outcome of major events.

The Kismet Order only had one confirmed member, known as the Messenger. She served as the spokesperson of the order, an Exalted who communicated directly into the minds of the recipient, sending visions and portents of fortune or doom. The Messenger never lied, and when she made predictions they always came true. 

This was the extent of the knowledge that most organizations had about the Kismet Order, however the high ranked priests serving under the Nature Goddess Yuima held one additional piece of knowledge. They were after the fate-attuned ornate chest, which Yuima so preciously guarded. 

The Kismet Order’s patient, perpetual hunt for the chest was the reason why it had to be relocated every year.

For the Messenger to appear in person at this time, mentioning the chest which both parties coveted, Asuna and Fumu could only assume that they had walked into a trap.

“Don’t worry, I come in the spirit of cooperation.” Soryana addressed them calmly, as if reading their minds, “If we had already obtained that, there would be no reason for me to confront you.”

She reached into her cloak and pulled out a crisp wax sealed letter, “The contents of this envelope will help you.”

She rested the envelope in the crook of a low set of branches, then bowed once more with a smile, “Take care… and enjoy.”

She then walked around the back of the tree trunk and disappeared from sight. The two Yuima priests frowned as their spiritual intuition triggered and then calmed. Fumu walked forward quickly, checking the back of the trunk, which was at the very edge of the ‘hand’. There wasn’t anywhere to go, meaning the girl had used some method to disappear or leave, or she had jumped out into the sky. 

He stood on the edge of the giant hand, looking down at the canopy of the forest far below with a frown. 

When he returned, Asuna was gently retrieving the envelope from the branch. She frowned, looking at the envelope without making a move to open it, “This was how it happened years ago… Soryana spoke to me, telling me where to find what I was looking for.”

“She said Hakuya’s sword was heading to Huan…” Fumu didn’t add that Soryana had also implied that the chest was heading there too.

“It’s obvious we won’t listen to her at face value. We’ll do what we can to uncover the information ourselves. But if we investigate and can’t find a better lead, they know that we can’t resist following up on this information.” Asuna said.

“And if we follow what’s in that envelope, we’ll find it?” 

“It’s what happened the last time. We’ll find the sword, just like she said.” Asuna frowned, thinking then of their main objective - the chest. “But we can’t forget that it’s exactly what they want, too. If we find what we’re looking for, we have to be careful that we’re not leading them right to it as well.”

After a moment of contemplation she opened up the envelope.

Two bamboo cards, inscribed with brush script fell into her hand.

She frowned, reading the words twice over as she muttered, “…Tickets?”