Sword and Bored (Monologue, meet fist)

Bao’s word was his bond – at least that was how he pitched it to the owner of the restaurant that was down the street from the Tangled Weed, and also in possession of a pleasant second-floor balcony that gave a generous view of the inn.

Really, Bao just didn’t have that much money on him, and promised that the temple would cover his orders, even if he rather guiltily had dinner and dessert, along with generous helpings of tea to keep looking like a patron that was just sitting around. For hours.

Afternoon turned to evening, then night, and then the dead of it, and Bao had to resort to begging and promises that his loitering was Important Temple Business that needed him at the balcony even after the restaurant closed, and it was only through his association with Humei, who was a Pretty Big Deal, that the staff chose to give him a pass.

Maybe they’d like pastries or something as a thank you?

Nonetheless, Seaknot’s streets were near pitch black, with only a few lanterns hung at a few corners, though the air of unease about the recent murder saw more than a few troopers and even well-meaning vigilantes wander the roads in hopes of warding off any never-do-wells.

And yet, Bao kept sitting in the dark, waiting. Because when pitch-black morning had arrived, and most everyone had cleared out save the most unlucky officers chosen to patrol, he caught a flicker of movement.

A figure in dark clothes and a hood over their head was near imperceptible in the shadows, but the redhead had been waiting, and perhaps his eyes had been changed by Malevolence enough that fabric black just was no longer sufficient to merge with a true absence of light.

So the figure stalked away, and Bao silently heaved himself over the balcony railing and landed heavily, knees bending so that his palms hit the ground.

“Ah, old man hips…” He bemoaned at the rattling even as he stood up and began to quietly stalk the shadowy figure.

It seemed the target wasn’t expecting any tail at all, and didn’t bother taking a circuitous route or even look behind at the bulky man who, on occasion, hid around a corner or behind a crate that had been left out.

Eventually, the duo emerged on a dock network clear on the other side of Seaknot’s core, and while Bao crept from the shadow of one boat to the next, he found the hidden figure arrive at the side of a large berthed ship. While Bao’s quarry waited, a new arrival emerged at the top of the ramp, and Bao recognized the immaculately robed man. After all, Culture Minister Miegale never had trouble drawing attention to his eminent position.

As the two came face to face, it didn’t take long for Bao to start picking fragments of a hushed but fierce conversation.

“...what you were paid to do…” Miegale’s firm tones cut through the night, fragmented..

“...now have their eyes on me, you said I wouldn’t be found…”

Bao considered his next move, at least until he heard someone softly settle in the hiding place behind him.

“It’s as I thought. Both motives were right.”

Bao looked back to see Humei sternly watching the proceedings, humor from her eyes long gone. His voice dropped low, barely a whisper.

“Did you get the detectives to talk?”

“Not directly, but I started putting things together once the two gave away that they were ordered to look at everyone besides their own.”

Bao looked at the suspects by the boat, as he reported on his end. “I got some reactions out of Liria, but it’s not really a confession. Even if we walked up to the two now, they’d just clam up, right?”

“Not unless I bait them,” Humei declared. “Miegale can’t help himself; get ready to swoop in.”

“Humei, don’t get cocky-”

Bao hissed, but his charge had already swept around the boat with a loud and haughty scoff that got the Miegale and the other turn twist their heads sharply in her direction.

“It’s kind of sad that the bureaucracy can’t fight Seaknot fair, so their best idea is to kill one of their own to pin it on us! Culture Minister, why don’t you introduce me to your friend!”

The two choked up at the sight of an eyewitness, Miegale’s mouth opening and shutting soundlessly, before he offered an excuse.

“Wild and baseless accusations are quite unbecoming of someone of your station, deputy priestess. I haven’t done anything.”

“I don’t know, clandestine meetings are pretty suspicious,” Humei countered. “Besides, it falls to me to find out who spoiled this fair city with Pana’s death. I have to go snapping at every little lead! I think I might have to ask my garrison to lock down your boat before you do something like leave in the middle of the night.”

Miegale glared at the priestess, head dropping and shoulders tensing in growing frustration. “You wouldn’t…”

“Never underestimate pettiness, Culture Minister,” Humei growled, face contorted with a gleeful sort of anger. “You’ve had your fun at my expense, so perhaps it’s time for my revenge?”

Humei played her part well, being the obnoxious sort of nastiness that Miegale had perhaps imagined after years of only knowing about Seaknot’s priesthood distantly.

He glanced over to his hooded accomplice. “Liria, she’s alone. I’ll double the pay. Just disappear her, don’t make a mess.”

“Oh ho, Liria, are you going to kill a defenseless woman?” The priestess challenged, though she began taking a few steps backwards defensively as the Dancer began locking her gaze on her, like a predator gauging its target. “Or do you think that it’s going to make Bao come out and give you a fight, too?”

“What does it matter?” Liria answered, ripping the hood from her head so she could lock haggard eyes on Humei. “Double is double.”

“So this is what someone from Idoy Heart is like, huh?” Humei sneered, but stood her ground as Liria’s arms pushed through the sleeves of her clothes, with each hand holding tight onto a dagger. “Ah, well, two can play that game. Bao!”

Miegale and Liria visibly jerked at the name, while Humei continued.

“I’ll double your pay if you win!”

Liria surged forward, unwilling to bet the priestess was bluffing, and her two blades closed in on Humei’s neck.

As the scissored weapons lunged, something came whorling from the darkness, and Liria found herself cutting into a long, talisman-covered rod instead of a neck. Then came Bao, charging from the darkness, forcing her to back away.

“That was way too risky!”

Faced with an astute observation, Humei just patted his back.

“I’ll apologize later. Take her down, and I’ll deal with Miegale and everyone else on the boat.”

Bao and Liria couldn’t afford to take their eyes off each other, and so they only faintly registered the priestess backing away from her bodyguard to detour around the occupied pier.

Combined with the white brilliance of the full moon above, Bao found himself realizing how picturesque the impending duel was about to be.

“Liria, I got nothing personal against you, you know. Just, why kill Pana?”

“I’m going to be the best, end of story,” Liria spat. “When the time comes, Idoy Heart is going to sing my praises. All that’s in my way is you, the one person near Pana’s level.”

“I really wish I could ask you to surrender,” Bao muttered ruefully, though his solid grip on his weapon showed no wavering spirit on his part. “But you just seem a tad too bloodthirsty to quit, so...”

With a smirk and a flourish, Liria’s chest glowed, ribs showing like x-rayed bones against a violet light, and suddenly her presence began to grow heavy on the swordsman.

Bao hissed, raising his sheathed sword. “Crap, so you’re using Malevolence-”

All the figurative stops were out, and Liria went from standing in place to colliding with Bao in the blink of an eye, blades scraping against paper as she tried to puncture him before he used his own physical strength to throw her off and reset.

That certainly explained how someone so slight was able to gore a chunky man like Pana with his own spear.

The challenge was enough to make the Oar in Bao's hands crow in indignation and elation.

Kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her kill her-

The necessity to survive leaked into Bao's mind, and he could feel his cursed sword's bloodlust trying to grab hold. If he agreed, he wasn't certain he'd find it so easy to shake loose.

“To think someone like you, an exhibition boy from nowhere, made a better showing than me!” Liria shrieked as she approached again, swirling and twisting so that the two blades in her hands feinted and teased at where they'd strike.

Bao retreated, keeping the sheathed Oar between the two, occasionally jabbing back at her to keep her on guard. His instincts were telling him that one wrong riposte would allow Liria to sneak in past, and make his longer weapon a cumbersome drawback.

“Come on! Fight me! One of us is gonna be the best after this!”

It would be easy to draw the sword and give her a crimson retort. But somehow, Bao knew that Liria had given away her weakness in her last line, one that opposed what he really cared about.

“Why?”

“Why?” Liria repeated, wild-eyed and contemptuous. “Why did you get that body of yours? Learn to use that weapon? It's for fighting! Idoy folk fight! And the one who wins the most is the best! That's what we do!”

“If it were a tournament I cared about, sure, but here, I think I'll have to disagree. I don't have to fight you, or beat you.”

Liria’s eyes narrowed, showing only venom. “Then I’ll kill you, weakling that you are.”

At once, she charged.

There was her mistake, all the same. There were many definitions of strength and weakness, and while his mental aptitude wasn't necessarily there, he was still a man who looked like he ate a fridge.

Bringing one foot up, Bao cried out with all his strength and slammed it into the pier. His own Malevolence-attuned bone and flesh snapped the framework and made the entire walkway in front of him collapse. In an instant, Liria found her sprint suddenly angled downwards, and she ran headlong into the water.

Spluttering and thrashing, Liria tried to swim, to reach for the unbroken pier, but a long rod caught her in the chest and pushed her way, and dunked her under the water, making her rise more disoriented than before.

“I guess that's why it's called an Oar,” Bao muttered, maintaining his handiwork.

“Impressive, bodyguard!”

Bao looked up to see Humei saunter up to the opposite end of the broken path. Behind her, Miegale's ship seemed to be having aquatic issues, as it now rose up on a platform of water – likely the result of a Spirit's help at the deputy priestess's behest. Sailing right off the edge looked unwise.

“Thanks, I guess?”

In the distance, he saw lantern lights on either side of the pier, indicating that people were coming to finally coming to investigate.

Once more, the performative smugness dropped as the priestess regarded her companion seriously. “Bao, I don't want to be judgmental, but with how you've fought here, and in the tournament, I'm more convinced than ever about something.”

Bao looked down for a second and saw that Liria was too busy thrashing in the water to pay attention.

“What do you mean?”

“When we traveled through Forness, you admitted to waking up in your body. It's tainted with Malevolence, and you're beefy as all heck, but here's the thing: I recognize your face. It's someone else's.”

The swordsman stilled, trying to digest the revelation. “Maybe I just resemble...?”

“He was another priest from Idoy. During the war, he took responsibility for the Oar. It was too dangerous to leave it unattended, and he always seemed able to avoid using it. Not like you – you seem to just wave it around as you please.”

Bao was utterly silent, color fading from his features as the

“...Are you saying I'm possessing someone?”

Humei shook her head. “I don't know. Here's the kicker. He's dead. He died five years ago.”

Bao stared, dumbfounded. “Who – who was he? How did he die?” Bao asked urgently. The memories of his awakening seemed so long ago, but now, curiosity about the circumstances of finding himself in some cold castle in the North emerged renewed.

“His name was Yulien. He was part of a special squad comprising the Kingdoms' best fighters, who supported Harow, the Beacon – the man who fought the Menace from the Stars and won. But at the cost of Yulien and the rest.”

Bao looked down at the foaming water and the dark shadow of himself looming over it.

“So... he died, and I came back... but why?”