Chapter 14: Unexpected Company — Part 4

Once Nikkei was awake, she began moving immediately. Perhaps, given the extent of her injuries, this wasn’t the smartest choice, but she had worries beyond her own health. Children had been stolen, the mansion ransacked, and since Yoshi was privy to many of its secrets, the extent of his abuse of those secrets would have to be determined. Her bandages still oozing with blood, her bender suit still mending and recharging, Nikkei went through the kitchen, to the garden, ignoring Orchid and Yap’s insistence that she lay down. The two were pestering her about stitches and lung damage and a number of minor distractions, but Nikkei could not rest until she saw for herself the security of one of Amber’s darkest secrets. In the garden lay an opening to what appeared to be a storm cellar. The doors to that cellar had been blown completely open.

Orchid followed Nikkei as she stumbled down the stairs to a set of double doors that had also been blasted to pieces. Smoke lingered and charred remains smoldered, but the support struts and brick walls were still sound, and the air within breathable. As Nikkei passed the rooms into a massive hallway, her mouth fell open and she simply stared. Six rows of shelves stacked twelve high and twenty deep were all but empty of their occupants. Nikkei picked up a sphere, its cold, scratched, dull surface broken by an impact crack that worked its way down the centermost portion of its core.

“What is that?” Orchid asked.

“A Watcher — one of thousands of Amber’s personal immortal soldiers. This one was damaged — probably during the blast. It had been resting since the Spanish Inquisition, which was the last time Orchid chose to call her troops to war. This one will never wake again. It looks like Master Yoshi got the lot of them, but we’ll have to make certain.”

As they wandered through the massive chambers, looking for more of the cyst-like spheres, finding only broken remains and empty shelves, it became apparent that Yoshi had successfully captured the entire army. Nikkei tried not to sob as she approached the back wall, where a blast shield had at one time concealed another set of double doors. The blast shield was now a pile of rubble and the doors were nowhere to be found, Nikkei worked her way into the final chamber, and when she got there, she collapsed to her knees, her head hanging. Orchid crouched down next to her, pulling her knees to her chest, Yap sitting exactly as Nikkei had. The two put their heads on Nikkei’s shoulders. Around them, a dozen boxes lay open, their contents shattered, their remains splintered across the ground.

“It hurts to cry.” Nikkei said, wishing she could stop the tears.

“What was here?”

“Amber’s closest friends. Yoshi crushed them all. I don’t know how he could do it to her, I thought he loved her.”

“Some people are incapable of love.” Orchid said quietly.

Yap was quick to concern.”Come Nikkei, let’s get you back to bed, so you can heal.”

“Without an army, how can we hope to get our children back?”

“I don’t know.” Orchid admitted. “But I’ll try to think of something while you rest.”

Sitting on her shins, Nikkei closed her eyes and lost consciousness, her injuries and the new emotional stress overwhelming her. Yap and Orchid lifted her gently, carrying her back to her bed. Yap and Orchid, who had not had time to speak since the battle, stared at each other cautiously from chairs set at opposite ends of the door into Nikkei’s room, each acting as guards. In this case they were guards bent on keeping well-intentioned, meddlesome people out, while ensuring that Nikkei stayed in. Orchid spoke first, and quietly, so as not to draw attention to their conversation. In truth, there were few around who had time to worry over Nikkei, so the temporary guard duty, however necessary, gave both of them time to talk and think. Orchid’s mind, needing a rest, moved off center.

“Did Nikkei father your child?” Orchid asked quietly.

“How would that be accomplished?” Yap said, suddenly uncomfortable.