Chapter 2: Flowers on the Grave

Hidekay walked down the main street in the town of Henesys, the land of the bowmen. He looked around. The prosperity and beauty of Henesys had seemed to multiply since Hidekay had grown up here.

Inside the village, as he stepped on the lush green grass, he had a flashback. He used to play the war game of Commander with other boys in this exact spot near the scientist’s house. Ah, the daily life of bossing people around.

A lazy bee flew around in circles, and then landed on the bandit’s arm. The bee stung; he felt a sudden pang. Hidekay cursed and brushed it off. He pulled out the stinger and poured some antidote on the small wound.

“Waste of antidote,” Spatrix commented.

Hidekay ignored him, pocketing the particularly large stinger.

A voice called from behind. “Is that you, Hidekay?”

Hidekay turned and saw his childhood friend, Denkera, looking at him from a nearby ledge. A dark red staff with a yellow orb between two split tips hung on his back. White and gold flowing silk garments hung around his body.

“Yes. I guess you finally became a priest, eh?” Hidekay replied.

“Yep. I set up a business as a cleric for hire, and then I got hired by your family. I’ve been working for them ever since.”

Spatrix turned to Hidekay and said, “He’s right, you know. If you hadn’t spent so long without contacting us, you would’ve known,” Spatrix said. “The only reason I found you is because we got a government issue tracking device. Special delivery to Jensahra Ganashi, arrived on the day before he died.”

“C’mon, let’s get Hidekay to his mother. I’m sure she has plenty to say, and so does Hidekay.” Denkera teleported in front of them and waved his staff in the air. A door with a golden frame appeared and opened up.

“It’d be easier to walk, you know,” Hidekay paced toward the door.

“Not where we’re going.” Denkera waved his staff again and the door closed. Hidekay felt a wavy motion and then saw a light. He floated to it, and the door re-opened, throwing him out in the front lawn of Ganashi Estates. The others were already waiting for him outside the big house.

“You’re out of practice, Hidekay,” said Spatrix, looking at a stopwatch hanging around his neck.

“I just don’t see the point in summoning a door every time you want to get somewhere.”

“Imagine what Hidekay would be like as a taxi driver,” Denkera joked. “Okay, 1,200 mesos accepted. Now get out and walk, there’s no point in taking the taxi everywhere and waste energy.”

Nobody laughed, as a woman in purple and blue garments carrying an expensive hardwood crossbow ran towards them. Her golden hair glimmering, the tall woman stepped in front of Hidekay.

“Mom,” Hidekay said casually, almost bored. He said nothing else.

“Normally, I’d punish you for going out of contact for so long, but we’re late for the funeral.”

“Oh yeah. Death of Dad,” Hidekay refrained from saying.

They walked in utter silence. Hidekay looked around, and noticed something. “Hey, you moved the estates.”

“Yep. That was one hell of a spell,” said Denkera. “We’re technically still in Henesys, but impossible to reach by any other means than flying or teleportation.”

“Gee, did ya think?” Hidekay pointed at the open sky all around them. It was hard to tell, but Ganashi Estates was resting on top of a very solid cloud. The cloud was made solid by a secret liquid spray made by the fairies of Orbis, the city in the sky, used

Hidekay looked at a gigantic purple flower that was standing inside a ring of trees. He smelled the deep fragrance of the flower, and remembered planting that a long time ago.

“So many memories waiting to be uncovered again,” Hidekay thought.

As they stepped down the stone path, Hidekay looked around, remembering how he used to carve symbols on the ground, pretending they were his “sign”.

Then, a small, Rabid Jackrabbit scurried across the path. Hidekay smiled, he had trained back then by hunting the Rabid Jackrabbit infestation in their backyard. Back then, they seemed like ravenous monsters to him.

They finally got to an orange orb with ornate patterns resting on an upright ring of twisted wood.

“Touch this. It’ll take you to the graveyard in Mushroom Park,” Levay said.

“Em, guys?” Hidekay inquired. “Why didn’t you just get me to the funeral? Why drop me off at Ganashi Estates?” He stared at Denkera, waiting for an answer.

“Eh,” Denkera shrugged his shoulders. “Wanted you to talk with your mom after, what, 10 years?”

Hidekay ground his teeth. They walked in silence one more time.

“Hidekay. Are you even sad that your father died?” Levay gazed at Hidekay.

“Yes. But after he shunned me from the family-.” Hidekay began but Levay cut him off, raising her voice.

“He did NOT shun you from the family!”

“It seemed like it. The fact that I was born to be a bandit. It isn’t like I chose to be a bandit. Or that I chose to be born to a family of bowmen!” Hidekay clenched his fist, then un-curled it to point at a jagged scar on his neck. “See that?”

“I’m not blind, Hidekay,”

“Dad’s enemies did that to me. All because I was Jensahra Ganashi’s son. When I was 9, they attacked me. And Dad did NOTHING to stop it!”

“Maybe he didn’t KNOW until later?”

“Where was he when I was attacked three years later? You’d think he would KNOW then!”

Spatrix put a hand on Levay’s shoulder and cut her off before she could reply. “Enough! This is supposed to be a SAD day, not a day of fighting and family war. The graveyard’s up ahead.”

Hidekay stopped by a flower vendor to purchase a bundle of roses.

The sermon passed quickly, and Hidekay gave his speech, along with everyone else who knew him.

“I knew Jensahra Ganashi as a good man, one that never put his work before his life, even as the master of bowmen,” one tidbit of a speech said.

“He was my idol, the very symbol of greatness in my mind,” another said.

Everyone stood in line to drop some flowers on the freshly made grave. Levay spoke again.

“Hidekay. Before your father went on his last mission, he wrote a will. We read it, and it said you shall inherit all of his belongings, save a few that he gave to others. You are the new successor of the bowmen, but since you don’t use a bow, your cousin Tekemaru will fill in for you. Tekemaru will still answer to you. Your father also ordered that the utmost protection should be given to you, so what happened to you when you were nine years old would never happen again.”

At this last part, Hidekay was stunned. He turned to face the pile of flowers on the grave, lost deep in thought. The flowers looked so peaceful. They were the last thing that Hidekay could ever give to the man who had held Hidekay in his arms when he was born.

He went back to the grave, kneeled down, and spoke. “Rest in peace, Dad.”

The bandit turned around, vengeance in his eyes. Denkera and Spatrix looked, half expectant of what was coming next.

“I will avenge Jensahra Ganashi, even if I must die for it.”