The Prince of Astoria-Chapter 81: LXXXI - The Guest

Etienne turned the doorknob and entered the darkened mansion cautiously. He flipped the light switch up and down a few times, to no avail.

"Gabe?" He called out into the darkness.

He walked around through the foyer into the kitchen, largely unaffected by the lack of light.

"The fuses are blown. Why hasn’t Gabe fixed it already?" Etienne thought to himself.

With a loud, grating shink, Etienne drew his katana from its scabbard and brandished it with one hand.

"I sense...something," Etienne thought to himself, "And it’s not Gabe. We have an intruder. The last time I saw darkness like this, it was Isaac’s doing..."

Etienne walked up the stairs slowly and entered his room. He scanned his room, staring into the dark corners for a few moments before locking the door. He took his scabbard and sword and placed them on the side of his bed.

"Rule number one," A voice echoed in Etienne’s room, "Never let your weapon leave your side."

Etienne’s eyes snapped to the door, yet he spotted nothing. He quickly looked back at the bed post where his sword stood, and found it missing.

He slapped his hand to his forehead and shook his head, "I cannot believe they got me with that."

The voice let out a long, taunting laugh that bounced throughout the room.

"I bet you can’t even see me, can you? You have no idea who I am, do you?" The voice’s twisted from taunting to disgusted, "Jonin of the Iga Clan ninja, what a joke."

Etienne reached into his jacket and thought to himself, "That comment solidifies it. He knows my rank, my clan...it’s not the Black Company. It’s somebody from my past. He’s either from a rival ninja village...or he’s from the Iga Clan like me."

"Why don’t you stop skulking in the shadows and show yourself?" Etienne shouted out, "I’ll show you how much of a joke I really am."

From the shadows, a figures lunges forward, swinging a katana wildly directly at Etienne’s head.

Etienne narrowly dodged and threw a hail of shurikens at the spot the swing came from. The shuriken landed in the ground, piercing the wooden floorboards.

Etienne bounced around the room, staying nimble on his feet. Another slash came from his left, cutting him shallowly on his arm

Etienne backed against a wall, putting some space between him and the attacker. He rubbed the wound vigorously and watched as it closed up and healed on its own.

As Etienne stopped to examine the room, several attackers emerged from the shadows.

"Shadow clones..." Etienne thought to himself. He reached in his jacket and accurately threw shurikens at their vital areas, causing the clones to disappear.

The figure growled from the darkness and unleashed a series of wild slashes, the sword cut through the air with a whistling sound. This time, Etienne caught the sword, letting the blade cut deep into his hand.

"You better hold on tight!" He shouted. He swung the sword, and the attacker holding it, toward the window, shattering it and flinging them both outside.

Etienne walked over to the broken window and looked out of it. The attacker landed on his feet and slid across the ground. The attacker wore an an all black gi with a black mask covering his entire face, the material of it seemed to absorb all nearby light. The attacker looked up at the window and pulled his mask down slowly.

Etienne’s eyes widened and he thought to himself, "That person...he looks familiar. No, he looks more than familiar. I know him..."

Etienne jumped out of the window and landed right in front of the attacker. The attacker was a young Asian man, with a tapestry of scars on his faces.

"You’re...you’re Masashige, aren’t you?" Etienne asked hesitantly.

A small smirk spread across the young man’s face and he responded, "So you do remember me. I guess you’re not as rusty as I thought."

Etienne pointed at Masashige’s arm, "What is that?"

"Oh this?" Masashige held his arm up. The blade of an ornate, almost ceremonial looking katana protruded from his palm, and the hilt of a katana came out of his elbow, as if someone stabbed it through his arm.

"This is the price of my escape. This is what it took for me to leave that place. After it was all burnt down, and the villagers turned on each other. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell you about that. I bet you remember it all vividly, don’t you."

Contrary to the shy and meek Masashige that Etienne once knew, the current Masashige was assertive and spoke confidently.

Etienne ran up and hugged Masashige. He murmured into his shoulders, "I’m so glad you’re here Masashige. I’m glad you survived that. I thought you were dead..."

Masashige froze at Etienne’s reaction. A look of disbelief covered his face and he struggled to form a response, "H-how could you...how could you leave without checking?"

Etienne pulled away from him, still keeping his hands on his shoulders, "Did anyone else survive?"

Masashige shook his head and took a few steps back from Etienne, "I would love to sit here and chat about the aftermath of the village, but I have to go Ikki-san."

Etienne’s shook his head, "Wait, no! You don’t have to go! We have a guest room here, you can—"

Masashige shook his head once again, "I have a few things to take care of before I’m ready to sit down and talk, Ikki-kun. I’ll be back soon, sooner than you know it."

Etienne frowned, "I don’t understand, but...okay. Can you at least tell me how you got here?"

Masashige’s voice got low, almost conspiratorial, "Your friend Shu Takino helped me. He’s a man now, with a family, so he couldn’t just come with me. But he said—"

"Etienne?" Gabe called out, walking around the side of the house.

Etienne looked back for a moment, and when he turned back around, Masashige was gone, and Etienne’s katana laid on the ground in his place. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Substitution, huh? He’s gotten really good. At least I know who gave me this sword back now."