SKY OF PAPER: AN ASIAN STEAMPUNK FANTASY

CHAPTER 22

I turned from his beady eyes as the intimidation of his presence left me in shame.

Kassashimei, even with her dirty, tattered appearance remained confident, almost impatient. The monk, who seemed more like an ornament decorating the room, calmly acknowledged my approach. Kassashimei and I bowed, then he lead me to the summoning circle: a large, white ring, painted across the floor; a place for which the shyo mu was expected to stand.

I took my place in the middle, while another monk sat Kassashimei on the floor behind me. Afterwards, they gently placed my tamma upon a tall, metal pedestal that sat at eye-level a few paces ahead.

As was custom for some voyages, the monks rang the chimes and said a short prayer in blessing. Shortly after, a quiet stillness fell into the room.

I glanced over my shoulder to the old man, still hesitant, still uncertain.

He bade me on with a shallow nod.

Slowly, my attention turned towards the glass wall.

Outside, the clouds had mostly disappeared and all that was before me was a vast, unceasing ocean, glimmering as it reflected the sunlight overhead.

My temple teachings had taught me that once I had turned, my second sight would come simply by will alone, and that my vision would be clear and unfettered. Even though I was no longer held back by the purple in my eyes, I hardly feel any different. Doubt lingered in my mind, so I eased myself slowly into my second sight.

My breath heaved as a hand swiftly took my wrist.

It was Kassashimei. She wrapped a small string of prayer beads around my arm, then gave a determined, almost compassionate look.

"This will keep away the bad spirits," she whispered.

As grand as the moment felt, the heavy pang of judgment declared itself with Madame Quoli’s impatient humming.

"I don't have time for this," she said. "If all he's going to do is just stand there, then let's sell him off and be done with it."

Kassashimei glared in a way that forced my attention to remain on her.

"You are the moon king aren't you?" the girl uttered before stepping back to her place behind me.

With a deep breath, I readied my stance and made myself sure of the control I had over my second sight. The prayer beads made a small jangling sound as they bundled up against my forearm.

At that moment, I threw all my doubts away.

With a single blink, the Ocean of Ki washed over me and the room quickly fell away like a thin, see-through curtain. The walls faded until they were transparent, revealing the mystic currents surrounding the ship and filling the sky beyond.

All was clear.

All was perfect.

A bell rang and several brass dials at the base of the pedestal began to spin. One of them displayed the ship's current speed and the other, the desired speed. The captain wanted to go faster. Another dial also showed an order to raise the vessel higher.

Instantly I went into my Kaikua, sweeping my arms and legs about as if starting a ceremonial dance, summoning Kassashimei to bend the waves and the currents to my will. A swell came towards us, and with my palms pressing steadily towards the ground my shyo mah obediently lowered the ether ahead.

Like a glowing compass my tamma revealed the directions and the strengths of the currents and their flows. Soon the currents split into three, then four, then five directions at once. I jangled the beads on my wrist, then made the ship go just a bit higher where the currents were less numerous.

I’d never felt such harmony.

This was what it was like to have a purpose, to have a reason to exist. Kassashimei surely must have felt the same, because she followed the motions of my body with such precision, even down to the flexing of my very fingertips.

All my uncertainties, all of my doubts melted away.

Though the dials ordered the ship to remain steady, this was no simple task. The ether pitched and churned, all the while, presenting strange, turbulent masses smearing the sky ahead. While I was left to be concerned with these things, all the captain and his crew would ever see, were deceivingly clear and forgiving skies.

Even so, I knew we were accomplishing a tremendous feat, for even amidst this chaotic, invisible ocean, Kassashimei and I made sure the ship gave hardly a pitch or roll.

At the dials' request we made the bubble surrounding the vessel much larger, making it go higher still, aiming the ship towards the sun. Finally we were at a place where there was only calm, where my only concern was to keep our height while leaving the rest of the work to the noble engines and their constant, reassuring rumble.

When the time came for the next group of chienkuu ko to relieve us, Madame Quoli stood up, hardly impressed.

"That was all?" she uttered. "He and that girl made us go up and down a few times, hardly an act worth celebrating about."

Miss Nishio's expression however, was eerily indifferent. It was as if she wore a blank mask, expertly hiding her true feelings. She left the room, while Quoli continued to whisper cryptically into her ear.

"Madame Quoli was right," the Old Man said as I approached. "An average performance indeed. . . if this was your ninth or tenth voyage. This was an impressive display of skill, just as I had suspected. Perhaps now you see little trout, that a true chienkuu ko does not need years of formal training, for with your gifts, comes an inherent amount of instinct and ability." He glanced at the beads, wrapped around my forearm. "And perhaps a small amount of luck."

It wasn’t long before I realized that I was shaking, my face beaming with pride.

"The ship didn’t crash," I said sarcastically, barely able to mouth the words.

Kassashimei burst out laughing, ignoring the accusing looks from the monks in the room as she disrupted the serene atmosphere.

"What a stupid thing to say, " she chortled. "Of course we didn't crash. There's so much more to be happy about than that. Isn't that right?" She looked at the Old Man.

"Yes. There's no denying that Miss Nishio will certainly be keeping you now. And of course, I will be keeping the money she's paid me on your behalf."

He smiled triumphantly.

To my surprise, the Boar was still standing among the benches, watching me. He gave me a light nod then turned to leave.

I immediately went to him, but the old man gave me pause as he took my shoulder.

"It’s best that you do not talk to him," he said in a suddenly serious tone. "He’s on this ship for his own reasons."