Chapter 405: Sooner Than anticipated
“What should we do?”
“I don’t know. It’s up to you.”
“Us?’
Jasper and Janice stood there, still and overwhelmed, because this was the first time in a long, long time they had a choice that they had full control over.
No having to deal with unsympathetic people ignoring their begging, no massive dog threatening to eat them if they tried to steal and no assholes trying to shove them in sack and sell them off to be some weirdo’s plaything.
The choice now was a simple one: live a life they were familiar, albeit, a touch better, or…take a chance.
Of course, they were single digit aged and simple minded children, so them understanding the nuance of their situation was…tricky.
It would have been very easy for Zhen Liu or the kaijin to urge them to join them, but…part of growing up is being able to make one’s own choices and live with the consequences, good or bad. Which is why the both of them stood still and silent, looking solemn.
Responsibility sucks, but it’s a necessary burden to learn about.
Luckily, Zhen Liu and the kaijin didn have to wait too long for an answer.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“As long as I’m with you, big brother, I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“Okay then….let’s go!”
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=Milord, I need to ask…what were you channeling exactly when you offered thar choice to Jasper and Janice?=
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
‘…’
‘…enigmatic martial arts master.’
= Wait…which era?=
‘…70s to 80s Hong Kong wuxia films.’
=Hah! Called it exactly!=
‘Okay, putting my nerdiness aside! How are the kids holding up at the library? Everything good?’
=Yes milord, we’re just adding the finishing touches to their lesson plans and seeing where their talents lie.=
‘Thats go-wait, what?’
=Not to worry, I made sure to mix some of the good educational stuff alongside the usual “Saturday morning” fare.=
=They’re essentially moving picture books, I can appreciate that.”
‘Saturdary morning fare? Cartoons? Which Saturday morning cartoons?!’
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In a little corner of the Library of Nowhere, Logos and Pathos had designed a “kiddie corner” as it were, complete with soft plus toys, colorful creative toys and a television set that Logos and Pathos collaborated on to make look like a funny cartoon bird.
As of this moment, Jasper and Janice were rather engrossed with the television set, watching what the clown named Pathos called “cartoons”.
“Jasper…what’s a cyborg?”
“I don’t know, Janice… I’m still trying to figure out what a Thundercat is…”
“The funny clown man said we could use this remote thing to change the channel…I don’t know what that means.”
“Yeah…”
“Should we do that?”
“…maybe later.”
“Okay…”
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=It’ll be fine milord. You may doubt the educational value of cartoons, but it’s surprising how more receptive people are of taking lessons from them than from live people….hmmm, maybe I should try to figure out how to make cartoon aether scrolls…=
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‘I wonder if coffee is stronger in the Dozing Salamander continent than out here?,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself as he downed the black liquid of pure energy.
It was black, it was bitter and Zhen Liu desperately wanted a cold brew or something with chocolate…but this would do.
‘Wait, can I just teach a random coffee barista about that stuff?,’ Zhen Liu thought to himself.
Regardless of Zhen Liu’s personal thoughts and feelings however, his cousins had more important things to discuss about.
“Anyways, Zhen Li, you look like you wanted to discuss something important with us?,” Zhen Yue asked after they had all confirmed Zhen Liu’s zombie-like state was a result of poor sleeping and not questionable activities.
“Huh? Ah, yes. I came over to inform you all that the ship was repaired on schedule and we should be able to depart for Roaring Tide this afternoon.”
“As expected.”
“There’s just one thing,” Zhen Li added while trying to figure out how to next phrase his next statement, “the ship appears to have undergone some… unexpected renovations. And my master and your patriarch wanted to make sure everyone was okay with the sudden change.”
“Unexpected renovations?,” Zhen Xing repeated.
“Sudden change?,” Zhen Guo repeated as well.
“What kind of changes?,” Zhen Hai asked bluntly.
The Zhen Clan scions looked confused, all except Zhen Liu who was only half paying attention.
“It’s…hard to explain. It’ll be significantly easier to show you than tell you,” Zhen Li answered.
Curiosity now properly stirred, the Zhen Clan scions finished their breakfast and followed their counterpart towards the docks where they were supposed to get on a ship called the “Nimona”.
‘Hold up,’ Zhen Liu’s mind slowly realized, ‘why does that name sound super familiar?’
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“Cut the power to the starboard paddle!”
“Set the port paddle to twenty percent power!”
“Hoist the sails, we do not need the wind yet!”
BWOOOOOOOOOM!
“What-,” Zhen Xing started.
“-the-,” Zhen Tai continued
“-fuck?!,” Zhen Guo finished
‘Oh gods fucking dammit…,’ Zhen Liu mentally cursed.
Soon after Zhen Li informed the branch clan scions about how the ship underwent some dramatic renovations, he had led them down to the docks so that they could see the changes for themselves.
They had been informed prior to now that the ship they were going to be A few of them expected to be a bit bigger, others expected a new figurehead and flag, while some of them just thought it was going to be a new coat of paint.
They did not expect…whatever the fuck they were staring at.
It was an impressive sight to be sure, a massive ship with huge wheels that seemed to tread the water like powerful oars, smoke and steam arising from a massive black iron pillar in the middle of the ship that seemed to serve to balance the whole thing and a meticulously crafted mermaid figurehead that almost seemed alive or in control of the ship themselves…but it was also so utterly alien to their senses that they were also down right intimidated.
If they hadn’t been informed beforehand they would have been shocked even more.
“That…that’s the Nimona?!,” Zhen Hai exclaimed in shock, “it’s fucking huge!”
“Really? The size is what you notice first? Not all the other stuff?,” Zhen Yue asked with a weird look on her face.
“I mean…”
“Huh…,” Zhen Feng stated aloud, “is it just me or does it share the same kind of visual flair as the puppets of…”
Without saying anything more, Zhen Feng slowly turned his head towards his Fourth cousin.
Noticing his action, the other Zhen clan younger generation members began to turn their heads towards Zhen Liu.
Trying his best to look as shocked as the rest of them, Zhen Liu pretended to not notice their stares until after a few seconds as passed.
“Why are y’all looking at me for? Do I have something on my face?,” Zhen Liu replied while touching at his mouth in an attempt to play dumb. As he did so, he was also trying to come up with a good lie just in case, but his brain was so goddamned tired at this point, that improv was the best he could right now.
‘Come on…give me a leading question I can work with…’
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[Wait, is that you insisted on redoing all of the sails?,] Lacerage asked her archanid counterpart, [did you know this would happen?]
[Well, no,] Archanidame conceded, [I just wanted to replace their shitty sails with those of a superior material. My webbing can weather all manner of storms and I refuse shoddy materials to be the reason someone fails or dies on their occupation.]
[Ah.]
[Oh shit! I seriously didn’t expect that the ship we worked on was going to be used by our lord!,] Hurricroak commented, [if I had known, I would have put in more effort.]
[Worked on?,] Nepherage questioned, [we didn’t do anything except provide the chaos energy needed for Logos and Pathos to do everything.]
[I mean yeah,] Hurricroak conceded, [ but we were allowed to provide input…so I did.]
[That’s how I got away with including a starry night mural in the captain’s quarters,] Razorstella added.
[Nice! I added a phonograph to the galley dining room.]
[That was you?!]
[Oh… bother…]
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“Zhen Liu…did…did your master by any chance contact you recently?,” Zhen Yue asked.
Whenever weird shit happened around the Zhen Clan lately, it was usually because of Zhen Liu and his master.
As such, all eyes were on him at this moment.
‘Shit, do I stick with the master lie still or just flat deny…fuck…’
