Tsuki ✔️COMPLETE

Chapter 8: The Throne

"I hear a lot of things on the grapevine, so to speak." Amakaya said. "I understand that this is the first time you've left your home country and the first time you've been surrounded by people with magic. Every man in Nisshoku is different, but the impression I get of you is that you don't have much in common with any of them. Those are hard things to feel."

"Are you a Collector too?" Takumi asked.

A little twitch ran over her perfect features so fast Takumi barely caught any change at all. Her lips pursed ever so slightly. The tension in the hand on his back changed. But he caught it.

"Yes, I am." she said. "I can control the weather. Though a secondary power I have is the gift of prophecy. My mother had it too, though mine is not so well refined."

"You can see the future?" Takumi asked, his eyes widening.

She shook her head gently.

"Not clearly. I can see people and places in the future, but the context is often hazy. When I get a vision, it often needs deciphering. That's the tricky part."

"I understand." he replied. "That's still pretty amazing. I didn't know it was possible to inherit some gifts."

"It is uncommon to inherit a power exactly." Amakaya continued. "I've seen that some children have powers very similar to their mothers or grandmothers. Some have powers completely unique with no obvious inherited features. I am quite an unusual case."

Takumi thought about his own powers. He remembered what he did to the old warlord's head just by feeling angry at him.

"I didn't think I'd kill that man today." he said quietly. "I thought I'd freeze up when I was called over, and someone else would have to do it. But then I remembered what Taisho said about his mother and how frightened she was of him. He executed her when he found out she was different. She sounded like a good person."

Amakaya's lashes drooped sadly and she looked at the door cautiously.

"The older you get, Takumi, you will see that all people are treated differently based on the values around them. It is up to you to decide if you want to behave the same as those who came before you, or if you want to dare break the cycle. When we are faced with deciding what is fair and what is right, that is what will prove your character."

"Do you think it's wrong to use violence against violent people?" Takumi asked.

"That is up to you to decide. But you here now, like this, shows me you're still deciding. In my opinion, violence is the last resort, even when defending others. Sometimes violence cannot be undone."

Takumi nodded. Life was showing him that things often needed to be approached on a case by case basis. He just needed to be smart in the moment to be his best.

Amakaya rubbed his back again gently.

"If you need to step back and retreat to a calm place, please don't hesitate to come and join me and Chikuroshi in the library or the gardens. I need to rest a lot, so I'm usually in one of those two places."

A library. An open invitation to a library. A place like this must have a huge one.

"Thank you, I'd like that."

"Are you feeling better?" she asked.

"Mostly." he said. His mind backtracked abruptly. "What was it you were saying about Collector's mothers and grandmothers?"

"Ah. I have noticed that Collector mothers tend to have Collector children or grandchildren. I've never known of a Collector father having magical children unless the mother was too. The Lord Taisho has studied this extensively. The gift of prophecy has been considered matrilineal in many cultures for centuries, and I believe that magic in human beings is matrilineal too."