Chapter 20

The next day arrived, and I was in the common room of our bunker, sitting on the couch with my head resting on the cushion. I was still fatigued and weak from the Abyss spell Ichiro had me use fighting the Apostle zombies. I had my eyes closed and was just resting as I sat there waiting for Marie to finish going over the message we received from the agency. Ichiro and Tsuki were also with us, but Ichiro was scribbling away on parchment, determined to make the Abyss spell safer to use without lowering its power. Tsuki, on the other hand, was intently staring at two different chokers, trying to decide on which to wear. They both looked identical to me, so I couldn’t fathom what she was debating.

“This is quite interesting.” Marie finally spoke. I opened my eyes and brought my head up to look at her. “The agency had a lot to say and kept this message encrypted with greater security than usual.”

“Okay, before you continue, I need to know something.” Tsuki said, putting on one of the chokers. “What in the world is this ‘agency’ you keep mentioning?”

“The organization that I and Ryu work with. They hunt the Secular.” Marie said in a plain tone.

“Yeah, I got that much, but just who are they? No name or anything? Just ‘the agency’?”

“They are a group of people with influence and power across the globe that aim at one thing and one thing alone; removing the power and secrecy of the Secular. Most of them have similar stories to Ryu and me, but others were recruited based on skill, talent and information connections they have.”

“That’s still so incredibly vague.”

“As by design. There are no heads, no main leaders, just people working with one another to try to dismantle the Secular. The reason it took so long to get word back from them was because we aren’t the only two on missions. We’re just the only ones in Japan. Even when we were given the task to obtain you, they didn’t know you were, well, you. Just that a weapon was being held there.”

“So, you didn’t even know I was there and you still rescued me, how noble of you, Ryuki.” Tsuki said, placing her hands under her chin and looking at me.

“However, it seems direct communication with us is being moved up in importance as you are apparently something rather special.”

“I already knew that. I bet Ryuki did, too.” Tsuki said with glimmering eyes.

“You know you aren’t human?”

Tsuki stared at her blankly, blinking slowly before responding with just a noise. “Eh?”

“The agency went through everything they had, every contact and every piece of history. They then found out what you are.”

“I don’t understa-”

“You are a replica.” Marie stated firmly.

“Wait, Marie, what do you mean by that? She’s over 16, how can she be a replica?” I interjected.

“I can answer that.” Ichiro said, halting his scribbling. “While I didn’t know exactly what Tsuki was, I did hear mutterings and whispers of special replicas.”

“Special replicas?” I tilted my head. “What are those?”

“Replicas made from a regular mage will die after around 16 years. That is by design. But they found out a long time ago that if the replica was made of an especially powerful mage, it will surpass the designed defect.”

“So, you’re saying they can clone powerful mages without them dying, essentially creating eternal life?” I asked, my eyes wide in bewilderment.

“Correct.” Marie answered for him. “That is what the agency has discovered, too. And Tsuki here is believed to be the replica of a powerful mage from eras past.”

“Tsukumo.” I muttered out. “Tsuki is the 100th version of this replica.”

“Exactly.” Marie nodded.

“But why was I chained up then? And why don’t I remember anything from all those years?” Tsuki said, her eyes quivering. “I don’t understand what you’re saying! I-I don’t get it! I’m not- I...”

“It makes perfect sense, really. You were chained in there your entire life, yet you have memories, likes, dislikes. A distinct personality. You have control over your magic talent, yet you never left that room to train. All of those are left over memories of the previous versions of your original self.” Marie stated, emotionless.

“No!” Tsuki yelled, jumping out of her seat. “I refuse to believe that! I’m a person, I’m real... I’m not...” Tears started to roll down her face. Her fists clenched hard; her knuckles whitening. “I don’t want to believe that...”

“It also explains why you need mana.” Ichiro then chimed in. “Being a special replica, you needed a source of mana that your body doesn’t create on its own. You absorb it. That explains why you became nearly feral when we kept the chain on you and attacked Ryuki for it. I remember seeing mages enter your room with trays of bottles. Do you remember them feeding that to you? Those must have been mana supplements.”

“Stop... stop saying these things...” Tsuki continued to tremble and cry. “I’m just... I’m not real? But I feel all these things, I know all these things, how can that be fake?”

“A copy, rather than a fake.” Marie said as she sipped some tea.

Tsuki put her head down and started to sob. Her entire sense of self was crumbling down into herself. I couldn’t imagine how it would feel to be told that you weren’t real, that you were never the original version of the person you thought you were. That you were nothing more than the copy of a previous version. And despite how she may act, I knew that Tsuki also realized the same thing I did. If she was to be the eternal version of this ancient mage, why was she held captive? Why was she not in a position of higher authority within the Secular? And why were her memories all scrambled, as if someone tried to wipe them?

“I’m a defect. Something went wrong with me. I’m... wrong.” Tsuki muttered out through her sobbing. “I shouldn’t be he-”

Tsuki stopped talking. That was because I had wrapped my arms around her, embracing her tightly. I held her close without saying a word. I knew how it felt to believe there is something wrong with you, that you aren’t good enough. That you’re a failure. But for Tsuki, she was chained up, locked away, and shunned away from the world for it. No one was there to help her see the good in her like I had. I had Marie when I thought I was a failure. A defect. But Tsuki was alone.

“You’re not a defect.” I finally whispered to her. “You’re Tsuki. And that’s all we need. All I want. Nothing will change that.”

The other two no longer spoke, finally realizing they were only adding to the stress on Tsuki. Tsuki had wrapped her arms around me as she sobbed into my chest. We stood there for a few moments before she calmed down, pulled herself away from me, and wiped her eyes. She sniffled and looked up at me, a weak smile breaking on her lips. She mouthed out a silent thank you before sitting back down.

“Sorry, Marie. I lost my cool there.” She chuckled out, hiding her embarrassment.

“I should be the one apologizing. My words were meant to bring the fact of the matter, but I didn’t take in the emotional impact it may have had. Did have.” Marie said, bowing her head. “But now you have something that both Ryu and I have; a reason to take revenge on the Secular.”

“I’m sorry, too. I don’t really understand people. Or situations.” Ichiro said, putting his hands up in surrender.

“Okay, now that we’ve went through that, I should tell you the last part of the message; we need to move safe houses.” Marie said, a tinge of annoyance in her voice. “Since we are moving up in priority, the agency needs faster communication with us. Once we get that we can tell them about the mall incident. So, we’re moving out of our Kyoto location to one to the east.”

“East? Do you mean we’re going back to Tokyo?” I asked.

“We are. And we have a major task. To capture a high-ranking member of the Secular.”

“They can’t be serious...”

Marie nodded. “Yes. They mean a Bishop.”