Golden Ink

Let's Go Find a Wedding

The ladder ends in a dark room which in turn leads to a dark tunnel. Caitlin mutters a swear under her breath as she plants a foot in a puddle. "None of that," I chid, "We've got eleven more rooms. Chin up!" I do my best to sound reassuring but I don't know how well I succeed at that.

Caitlin begins to walk down the tunnel "What makes you say that?" She swears again as she lands in another puddle.

No, it isn't that. There's a thin stream trickling through the base of the tunnel, running with us as we venture further into the ground. "Well," I say as I do my best to pick my way around the water where the concrete didn't dry quite smoothly. "The rhym has thirteen lines, right?" I assume she nods but I can't quite see her in the low light. "Well we've already beat two rooms and there's no way this is a room itself so we've got eleven more."

Caitlin splashes her way ahead of me. "Caitlin, wait for me." I say as I do my best to catch up with her.

But Caitlin had spent her whole life in the water until she came here. She knows how to slip through it like a fish while I am left to awkwardly stumble my way through, eventually resorting

A dim light appears after a short while of walking and grows larger and larger as we continue on. Well, as I continue on. Caitlin is already in the room, wringing her clothes out.

I sit next to her and take in the surroundings. We're in a room that doesn't feel like a room at all. The ceiling is so high I can barely see it, but I know it's there. We're surrounded by foliage and a low trickling emits from the stream running behind us that feeds into the small pond we entered from. "What is this place?" I ask, wringing my shirt out.

She shrugs. "'Dunno," her eyes look duller.

I lay my hand over hers. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Caitlin pulls her hand away. "I know I shouldn't be complaining, your father has given me a chance to work my debt off faster, but it feels like I'm never gonna get it done. You said it yourself, we have eleven more rooms left, and we don't even know if you're right about that." A silent tear rolls down her cheek. "I came to your to get justice for my brother, maybe even for my parents too, but it feels like I'm just letting them down one last time."

I grab her hands and look her in her eyes. "You don't owe your parents anything, you don't owe your brother anything. The only person you owe is yourself." I emphasize with a gentle hand squeeze.

Caitlin sniffles but smiles a little. "And your dad, boss. I owe your dad an awful lot of money."

I shove her playfully. "You know what I mean. And stop calling me boss. Let's just figure out the room and get out of here."

Caitlin rubs her face and stands up. "Yeah. The poem says 'three for a wedding'." She offers me a hand.

"Well then," I say, rubbing my hands together, "Let's go find a wedding."

There are two cups sitting on the table, as well as two delicate knives. Caitlin gives me an uncertain look. "Is this a part of any wedding ceremonies you know of?"

I examine the cups and smell the liquid in one of them. They smell distinctly of sake. "Yeah, in Japan, you would drink sake from a special cup. I don't remember how many times, I haven't been to Japan in forever."

Caitlin picks up one of the knives and twirls it in the light. "What's Japan?"

After I overcome my initial shock I explain. "I forgot, you're from after humans abandoned the world. You know how there used to be only one planet where people lived?" She nods. "Well, it was far less homogeneous. People spread out among the stars with those they knew and the newer planets became more akin to individual countries. Japan was one of those individual countries."

Caitlin nods in understanding and puts the knife down. "Maybe we're meant to mimic a wedding. But what should we do with the knives?"

I shrug. I've heard of some places where the couple pricks their fingers and mixes their blood together. I've also heard of some people using knives to channel energy, which isn't entirely wrong in regards to the thought process. "Give me your hand." I instruct.

Caitlin slowly stretches her hand out. I place the knife in her palm and tap my thumb. "At the same time, I think we need to maybe prick each other and then press out thumbs together, than drink the sake."

Caitlin puts the knife down. "But why? Your father never does anything without a reason and the last puzzle didn't work when we followed the obvious instructions. I think we have to do more than have a mock wedding."

I snort. "No offense, but I'm not marrying you." I flash the engagement band I'm wearing on my left hand. Honestly, I think it's a little silly but it makes Tsula happy and helps remind her who she is when she's having a hard day. "Besides, I'm engaged."

Caitlin giggles. "No offense, but I'm not planning to ever marry. I've never gotten romance. I mean I think we have to promise to look out for each other, like a platonic mariage I guess."

I grab the closest knife. "Well then, Caitlin ó Murchadha," I say, using the real version of her name, not the simplified one "I promise to be by your side and protect you. I promise to stand as your sister in arms. I promise to be your friend in sickness and in health, so long as you do the same."

She grabs the other knife. "Kaori-Kyoko Inoue," She says, using my full first name which no one actually does "I promise to be by your side and protect you. I promise to stand as your sister in arms. I promise to be your friend in sickness and in health, so long as you do the same."

We prick our thumbs and smear them together and then drink the cold sake. It burns my throat but I resist the urge to cough. Caitlin giggles and a bright light flashes.

When the spots clear from my eyes I see a small black band tattooed around my left thumb. Caitlin has one too.

"So what now?" She asks as she examines the ink.

I look around. I don't see anything that could function as an exit. "I don't know." I admit.

Then a rope ladder hits me on the head. "Ouch." I grumble as I examine it.

It stretches all the way up to the almost invisible ceiling. "I guess we climb." Caitlin responds to her own question.

As we begin to stretch in preparation I discreetly touch the two largest scars on my back and, for the first time in a while, miss the weight of my beautiful wings. I shake the thought off and begin climbing, Caitlin following suit.

The rope is coarse and I can feel my hands blister but I force myself to keep climbing, rung by rung, just like I did so long ago. Gain power, dream by dream, climb the latter, rung by rung.