"Wow! I’ve never seen so many trees
before Dad," Kenji exclaimed, pressing his hands against the
left-side window of their helicopter. "And all of them are so
big!"
"Yes, they are," Imakarum said, watching
indulgently as Kenji looked back and forth, seeming to be trying
to take in the entire vista at once. "We’re currently flying
over the Amazon rainforest, one of the largest in the world.
We’ll also be arriving at Chronos Brazil soon, so I want you to
be on your best behavior."
"I will, Dad. Don’t worry," Kenji said,
turning to look over his shoulder as he spoke.
"That’s my boy," Imakarum said proudly,
leaning forward to stroke Kenji’s tied-back hair.
"Um, Dad?"
"Yes, Kenji-chan?"
"Who’s Waferdanos? I don’t think I’ve
ever met him before."
"It’s true you haven’t really met
him," Imakarum said. "However, you might remember that he
was
there on the day that I presented you to the Council. He was the
one sitting next to Lord Hamilcal. You remember Lord Hamilcal,
don’t you?"
"Uhm…" Kenji paused to think for a
moment. "Oh! I remember him; I still think he looks like Santa
Claus."
"You’re never going to let that go, are
you Kenji-chan?" Imakarum chuckled, leaning back against his
well-padded seat.
"Nope," Kenji chirped, smiling over his
shoulder.
Imakarum chuckled deep in his throat,
leaning closer to Kenji so that he could play with his son’s
hair. Kenji had decided to start wearing his hair in a ponytail
a week-and-a-half ago, claiming that his long hair made the back
of his neck itch. At first, Imakarum had been leery of the idea,
which was presumably why Kenji hadn’t expressed the desire to do
that kind of thing much earlier and had just resorted to
scratching the back of his neck at odd times.
Miaka had always worn her hair that way,
and with Kenji’s already uncanny resemblance to her, Imakarum
wasn’t particularly eager to have his son doing something that
would make him look even more like his long-dead mother. But all
of that had been before he’d seen how cute Kenji looked with his
hair tied back. The look really did suit him, even as much as it
sometimes threatened to distract Imakarum from his assigned
duties.
But right at the moment there was no one
to see them, no one to see that he was not acting as an Overlord
of Chronos was expected to, and so Imakarum continued to play
with Kenji’s hair. Kenji’s obvious pleasure in such a simple act
made Imakarum very reluctant to stop, but when the pilot
announced that they had arrived at Chronos Brazil and would
hence be landing soon, Imakarum knew that he would have to do so
soon. Once the transport had landed, Imakarum gently helped
Kenji to stand and took his hand.
He knew that the physical contact would
help Kenji to not feel so bereft after losing his father’s
ministrations on his hair, and so Imakarum gently tugged on
Kenji’s hand to get him to follow along.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Kenji?" Imakarum turned to look at
his son over his left shoulder.
"What’s Chronos Brazil like, anyway?"
"I don’t know," Imakarum admitted,
making his way out of the main heliport and down from the roof
of Chronos’ Brazilian installation. "I’ve never been to this
Section before."
"Why not?"
"I just never saw any particular reason
to come here; I wasn’t particularly curious, and there were no
major problems reported in the area."
"What made you want to come here now,
Dad?"
"I finally decided that I was, in fact,
curious about this Section of Chronos," Imakarum stated, knowing
even as he spoke that his words were only half true. "I’ve never
been to a rainforest either—at least not one of such an immense
size."
Masaki Murakami had been to a
rainforest, but Masaki Murakami was dead, and Imakarum was not
about to rely on the memories of a dead man to tell him anything
about the place that he was now going to. Kenji seemed to
realize that the conversation was ended, since he said nothing
more on the matter of what they were doing or where they were
going. That was good, since it let Imakarum consider just what
he was going to say to Lord Waferdanos when they met.
He knew that the Third Zoalord, who held
dominion over this Section of Chronos, was very loyal to Lord
Alkanphel’s cause. So there was no reason to discuss things of
that nature with him. Perhaps he could take in the scenery at
the spa when he wasn’t looking after Kenji. It really was a
pleasant place, this Paradise Valley Health Spa that Lord
Waferdanos had created as the focal point of the South America
Section.
It was certainly an interesting way to
get the humans to respond positively to Chronos, at least in
this area of the world.
"Dad?"
"Yes, Kenji?" Imakarum said as he turned
to look over his right shoulder.
"Can we have something to eat before we
go look around at Chronos Brazil? I’m hungry."
"I think we could manage to do that,"
Imakarum said, chuckling. "We don’t have any real schedule to
keep, after all."
Turning slightly as Kenji touched his
left arm, Imakarum smiled as his son slipped his hand into his.
Imakarum gently squeezed his fingers before he started down the
stairway that would lead them into Chronos Brazil. He had to let
go for a few minutes while they descended the staircase, since
it wasn’t wide enough for the two of them to walk abreast, but
when they reached the main floor Imakarum took Kenji’s hand
again and stroked the back of it.
Kenji turned his sun-bright smile on
Imakarum, and they continued on their way into the main area of
Chronos Brazil. They would have to avoid the humans in this
place, since he wasn’t dressed for dealing with them and Kenji
was still so obviously a child – in mind if not in body – but
that would be very easy for someone like him.
He’d managed to find a janitor’s supply
closet and a uniform that fit him without looking too baggy, and
now Ryan was trying to find a way to get out of… of wherever it
was that he was being held. He’d long since made up his mind
that this place couldn’t possibly be any kind of hospital, no
matter how they tried to dress the place up—there were too many
big, armed guards, for one thing, and for another the place was
entirely too empty.
Not empty of people, of course, what
with the massive amount of guards and… other types of people
they had running around in the place.