Curse of the Zodiac Serpent

Ekans had taken Ayako deeper into the temple. They were now several stories up when she was shoved into an empty bare room, aside from a small table with what appeared to be clothing folded atop it. It didn’t seem like he often had visitors.

“You’ll find some clothing prepared for you. Get dressed. I’ll come for you when the time is upon us.” He ordered.

“So I just sit here and wait for the hour of my death?” She protested.

He rolled his golden-slitted eyes at her. “Humans, so dramatic!”

“You can fool the pirates but you can’t fool me. You’re in this for the fun of it. You can lift the curse on them at any time.” She blurted out.

His eyes narrowed on her. “And what gave you that impression?”

“I already know that you have power that I can’t explain. Why would you need human blood to lift a curse when we normal people don’t hold such powers? You placed the curse on them for stealing from you and now you’re toying with them. You removed it or changed it for the captain so you can continue to string them along.”

He advanced on you, grabbing her by the throat and slamming her against the wall. Her breath left her lungs as the impact winded her. His grip around her throat was so tight that she couldn’t suck any more air in an attempt to gasp.

“You need to shut your mouth before I cut your tongue out.” He hissed into her ear. “Human meat is such a delicacy, I would hate to have to quicken your demise before I’ve had a chance to season it.”

He released her, leaving her gasping for air on the floor of the small room. Glaring at him she continued to push him. “You can’t leave this island, can you? You need the filthy pirates to do your dirty work, is that it? What happens when they defy you and say they won’t bring you any more sacrifices?”

Ekans started laughing. “You think this is the first group that has gone through this? Sure they don’t do it for very long, their morals getting in the way. But there’s always the next batch of greedy unfortunate souls to fall for the trap. You’re not lucky or special for figuring this much out.”

He stormed out of the room, shutting the door heavily behind him and locking it, leaving her alone in the room. She grinned to herself, that was his first mistake. The second was that he hadn’t searched her person. The third was that she wasn’t restrained and bound beside the flimsy rope from earlier.

She lingered by the doorway until she heard his footsteps trailing off in the distance. She glanced down at the tattered and torn white dress she was wearing and then over to the pile of clothing that was folded neatly on a table. The colours were much darker, blues and purples. It would help her disappear more easily in the forest and shadows if she had darker clothing on.

Stripping off she grabbed the new clothing, much to her surprise it wasn’t a typical dress. It was a two-piece with interesting embroidery work. She’d seen this style before, Chinese merchants often sold clothing of this style. The top was short-sleeved but very long, having high slits up the sides to allow the wearer to move one’s legs. This was paired with a pair of high-waisted minimalistic pants. They were quite comfortable and very moveable compared to the gown she had been in up till now.

As easy as it would be to pick the lock, that wasn’t her target. She’d noticed the small sliding windows earlier, they were perfect for her next move. She coiled her hair into a bun and staked it in place using the hairpins that were still hidden in her undergarments, this time at least she wouldn’t be using them as a weapon but that didn’t mean they weren’t useful. She had thought about attacking the snake, but given that his abilities were a huge unknown to her it was too risky. He’d stopped her before with only a look, her only choice, get as far away from him as possible.

Tearing up her old clothing she began braid strands of the torn material together to increase their strength. Then knotted the ends together of the various braided pieces to make a longer rope. She would be able to traverse the side of the building with this and make her escape into the trees surrounding the shrine.

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been working on her escape rope when she heard footsteps approaching. Touching the makeshift rope behind the door was her only option. There was no furniture aside from the small table that had held the change of clothes. The footsteps were lighter than that of the snake, moving faster too, were they running?

The door handle was rattled, they must have realised it was locked. She frowned, what was going on? She could hear whispering, but couldn’t make out the words. Now knowing it wasn’t the snake she retrieved the rope and darted for the window, it was now or never. Too many people were poking around, she needed to leave, now.

She slid the paper-thin window open to be greeted with an unexpected sight. She blinked up at the appearance of the man she had just parted ways with.

“Kenji?” She asked confused.

He dangled from the floor above with a smirk on his face. With a swift movement, he swung his body forward and leapt through the narrow opening into the room.

“What are you doing!?” She hissed in a whisper.

“I’ve come to rescue you!” He announced proud of himself.

She clamped her hand over his mouth as she was sure there were still people outside the locked door. She eyed him aggressively as if to say, be quiet!

He made no protest to push her away, instead, he lifted the makeshift rope up to eye level with his free hand and raised an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t need rescuing.” She muttered softly.

“Clearly.” Came a muffled whisper in response.

She retrieved her hand shaking her head at him. Two people were easier to spot them one, he’d just made her plans that much harder.

Her eyes opened wide at her own thoughts, she had just believed him, no questions asked. Even played with the idea of leaving with him just now, but who was to say that he wasn’t on the snake’s side and keeping her here, or keeping an eye on her? She was growing soft.