Inquisitor's Promise (Act Two, Chapter Twenty-One)
Aeneas has to keep his promises. His father's mission will be completed. And while he's at it, he will become Galatea's lord and Inquisitor. But love and politics are an explosive combination.
Chapter Twenty-One: Fall of the Zaibatsu
While Aeneas and his group was recovering Kunoichi, Nikolai’s group was able to defeat the Golem and secure the Yokohama’s front yard.
“The Golem might be strong, but so is Imperial firepower.”
Those were the words of Princess Omaha as she recounted how the Imperial troops were able to pepper the creature with firearms and explosives before Nikolai landed the finishing blow with the giant fist of his mechanicon.
As for Pep and Giulia, they gratefully reunited with one another. Though the Lektros was overjoyed to see his beloved, the Venetian girl was not pleased.
“Look at your wounds, Pep,” Giulia said sharply. “How many times do I have to tell you to be careful!”
“It was nothing, we had to make of a quick breakthrough to the lab,” Pep explained nonchalantly. “So, I put myself on the frontline.”
“You’re a careless fool, my love!” Giulia responded.
Pep was not sure if he should be insulted or flattered, but he chose not to take it to heart. After all, this was the same girl who risked enemy fire just so she could save the wounded. Pep knew that deep down she appreciated his courage.
But despite their best efforts to quickly capture the place, Bashan Voronin had escaped. Aeneas was not happy when he had discovered this. When it was clear that Kunoichi would be defeated, he made his escape. Or perhaps that was the Dark Lord’s plan from the very beginning. In any case, there was a secret passage which allowed Bashan to elude Aeneas’ soldiers who had surrounded the laboratory.
Thankfully, Bashan had left his followers in the dust. The remaining scientists were brought into the Lepanto as prisoners for questioning.
Upon returning to the Central Office of the Zaibatsu, Aeneas had requested permission to recuperate for the night in the Lepanto as it had been late when they returned with Kunoichi. This was a good thing too, since he had some important work to do.
But Shaka did not feel the same way. When he heard that they were to return to the Lepanto for the night, he was very frustrated. At the moment, the pathfinder found himself in the Lepanto’s main lounge as he absent-mindedly swung his katana around.
“What are you doing here, Shaka?”
It was Lavinia who greeted the pathfinder, much to his surprise.
“Nothing, ma’am,” Shaka said quickly.
“It’s probably not my business,” Lavinia began. “But I noticed that you were really upset when Aeneas told us to return back to the Lepanto. You looked ready to let him have it.”
Alarmed, Shaka grew defensive. “I assure you, ma’am. I have nothing but respect for Sir Aeneas.”
Lavinia chuckled. “I know that. I’m not policing you or anything. I just can’t help but see that you’re somewhat taken in with Kunoichi.”
“I’m not. She was a target. One that we’ve dealt with.”
Lavinia rolled her eyes. “I thought your father was an Inquisitor. What would he think if he saw you made such an obvious lie.”
Shaka inwardly shook at the mention of his father. He knew from Aeneas that Lavinia was not the most sensitive to other people’s feelings. With great difficulty, the pathfinder suppressed his feelings of guilt.
“And besides,” Lavinia continued. “I don’t think we’ve seen the last of these assassins. Remember what Bashan called her?”
“Yeah.” Shaka nodded. “Kunoichi III. You’re saying there’ll be more.”
“What I’m trying to say is, you should take good care of her,” Lavinia said.
Shaka raised his eye inquisitively. “Are you saying that she’s joining the Lepanto?”
“I don’t know for sure. But I know Aeneas, and I know how our journey had been going so far,” Lavinia said. “Aeneas wouldn’t be able to resist recruiting a skilled ninja to our side, especially one that will strengthen his alliance with the Corporatists.”
“I think I understand,” Shaka said tentatively.
“That’s great.” Lavinia smiled. The deep one girl then turned to leave the lounge. But she was stopped by Shaka who called her by name.
“It’s not my business, ma’am,” the pathfinder said. “But you should give up your chase for Sir Aeneas. It won’t happen.”
“What do you know?” Lavinia snapped defensively.
“I know enough,” Shaka answered. “I know that Sir Aeneas is utterly devoted to Lady Galatea. I fear of what’ll happen if you don’t give this up.”
And so, the crew of the Lepanto slept for the night. It was a much-needed refreshment for Aeneas and his army. In the morning, they prepared themselves to meet CEO Honda once more. Everyone was accounted for, except for Princess Omaha. When told by Captain Paxton that she had some Imperial business to take care of, Aeneas was somewhat concerned but decided that the issue could wait.
With that, Aeneas and his party sans Princess Omaha made their way to the Main Office of the Zaibatsu.
“Mr. Inquisitor,” the CEO greeted. “I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me and the Zaibatsu.”
Aeneas gritted his teeth. He knew that he had to bide his time before revealing what he knew.
“I hope your daughter is all right,” Aeneas said cordially.
As if on cue, Kunoichi entered the office. She gave her father a respectful bow and did the same to everyone else in the room.
“Sir Aeneas,” the felinid girl said. “Thanks for saving me.”
“You’re welcome, Kunoichi,” Aeneas said with a smile. The Inquisitor noticed how his interlocutor had responded with a smile of her own, albeit an awkward one. He knew that the felinid girl held feelings for him. But one problem at a time.
Aeneas then fixed his gaze towards the CEO. “Let us talk business, Mr. Honda.”
“Er, yes of course,” the said nervously.
“I remember back in the lab, Bashan Voronin had told us that he was simply ‘restoring what had rightfully belonged to the Cabal’. You wouldn’t happen know anything about that, would you?” Aeneas asked accusingly.
“Of course not, Mr. Inquisitor,” the CEO answered. “Why would you think that?”
Disgusted at the blatant lie, Aeneas shook his head. “Mr. Honda, your forces had taken control of the Yokohama so I assume that you think can simply erase any evidence you come across and make yourself look good.”
Honda Nintendo said nothing, but he was sweating bullets at this point.
“However,” Aeneas continued. “I have gathered my own evidence. I have taken what Bashan had meant as the means to blackmail you. So, instead of playing dumb, how about you tell me everything you know?”
Honda looked down in defeat before he faced the Inquisitor. “Fine, you win.”
The CEO took a deep breath. He knew that everything for him was unfolding at the seams. The Fall of the Zaibatsu was at hand.
“I will first tell you about my daughter, Kunoichi. As you know, she’s not my real daughter. I adopted her,” the CEO said.
“What drove you to it?” Tsar Nikolai asked. “It was very strange when you announced her adoption. Childless and unmarried, you had planned to give your estate away to your sister and her children when you passed away.”
Honda shook his head. “I never envisioned raising a child. However, that duty was thrusted upon me.”
“How so?” Aeneas asked.
“In truth, Kunoichi was not born of a woman’s womb,” Honda answered.
“She’s a test tube baby,” Giulia spoke up.
“Yes, but not just any test tube baby. She is a clone, made by the Cabal,” the CEO said.
“How is that even possible?” Aeneas asked in shock. “We haven’t had that kind of technology since the Dark Age Civilization fell.”
“With the help of the Cabal, the Zaibatsu had discovered a lost ruins in the undercities. Imagine the excitement I had when we discovered a cloning machine,” Honda explained. “But there was one problem, for a clone to be made we need an original template.”
“Like a lock of hair?” Giulia asked.
“No.” Honda shook his head. “We need a whole person. But once you put in the template, he or she would die.”
“I wonder which poor slave was made to be template,” Pep chimed in.
“She was no slave,” Honda answered. “Bashan Voronin used his daughter as the template.”
“Bashan Voronin killed his own daughter?!” Lavinia exclaimed suddenly. “That’s awful.”
Aeneas saw Lavinia who was in tears. He too was outraged. “Why? Why would he do that?”
“To make a better version of her. You fought Kunoichi yourselves. Surely, you’ve seen her killer instinct. The girl just knew how to find the best time and place to kill something, or someone,” Honda answered.
“I can attest to that,” Shaka spoke up.
“But papa,” Kunoichi said, finally speaking up. “That means I’m Bashan’s daughter.”
“No, you’re not.” Honda took the felinid girl’s hand. “You may have Bashan’s DNA, but he cared nothing for you. He only saw you as a tool against the Church.”
Aeneas and Nikolai looked to one another as the scene was unfolding before them. Neither one of them wanted to break the two up, but they needed more information. Eventually, Nikolai agreed to be the one to speak up.
“Regarding the clones,” Nikolai said. “How many of them are there?”
“We made three clones, thus far,” Honda answered.
“Meaning there are three of them,” Aeneas said. “One was killed in Castle Aquila and then there’s our Kunoichi.”
“Which means that there’s one loose,” Nikolai finished.
Aeneas then looked at Mr. Honda once more. He knew that the CEO was hiding something.
“Please be honest with me, Mr. Honda. You didn’t adopt Kunoichi out of the goodness of your heart, did you?”
There was pained look in the CEO’s eyes. He looked at his adopted daughter who nonetheless gave him a supporting smile. It was a look that told him that she would love him, no matter what.
“I admit it, Sir Inquisitor,” Honda said ruefully. “The only reason I adopted Kunoichi was because the Cabal forced me to. It’s a way for Bashan to keep me close to them. But then as time goes, I began to care for her as if she was my own. And they used that against me.”
“Go on,” Aeneas said.
“After we learned that your father was to hold a party to celebrate our first contact with the Lektros, Bashan asked me to sneak in another clone with me,” Honda explained.
“The one who killed my father,” Aeneas said.
“But that means,” Lavinia began as she thought everything through. “You killed Uncle Anchises!”
Upon realizing that horrifying fact, Lavinia lunged towards the CEO of the Zaibatsu. She held her knife to the CEO’s neck. But Kunoichi was ready to defend her father as she parried Lavinia’s knife with her own. Soon, Lavinia and Kunoichi found themselves at a standoff.
“Vinia, stand down!” Aeneas barked.
“But Aeneas…”
Lavinia did not finish her sentence as the door to the office was broken down, revealing Princess Omaha, Captain Paxton, and a squad of Imperial soldiers.
“You immoral cretin!” Omaha cried, aggressively pointing her finger at the CEO. “I should call my father so he can send over his hosts to destroy your pathetic Zaibatsu!”
“Just what is going on here?” Pep wondered. The Archon was befuddled as he watched the scene unfolding before him.