Pendant of the Spirit – Episode 121
"...Quinn, what are you talking about all of a sudden? How could my mother possibly have anything to do with the Spirit King...?"
"It wasn't just anyone. It had to be you. That's exactly why."
Because it was me?
"That pendant — your mother had it before she ever met your father, just like the Eye of the Ocean. Am I right?"
"That's true, but... what does this pendant have to do with...?"
Bayul had a habit of touching his pendant whenever he felt anxious or troubled. It always soothed him, little by little. As he clasped the pendant hanging around his neck out of old habit, Quinn began to unburden the story she had been carrying all this time.
"You asked me before, remember? Why I was so startled when I first saw your pendant."
"...Weren't you only allowed to tell me that if I showed you the ring, because of the Mark of the Oath?"
"It's all right — I'm not breaking my promise."
Had Quinn failed to honor the bargain even after seeing the ring, there would have been consequences. In this case, the Mark of the Oath would simply dissolve on its own, with no real harm done.
"Bayul, I sense the energy of water in you. You're the first human I've ever felt it from."
"I know — that's because of Innocent, isn't it?"
"Actually... there's one more reason."
"There's another reason?"
At Quinn's puzzling words, not only Bayul but all of his friends wore puzzled expressions.
"The truth is, I haven't mentioned this until now, but I've also sensed the energy of water from that pendant. And an enormously powerful one at that."
"F-from the pendant?"
Bayul stammered, too stunned to speak smoothly. His pendant was something he'd worn since so early in childhood that he couldn't even remember receiving it. He had never once taken it off his body — it was practically a part of him. It had never crossed his wildest dreams that it might hold the energy of water.
"When all I knew about was the Eye of the Ocean, I simply assumed your mother had come across it by chance. Your pendant did occasionally radiate an immense power, but I brushed it off as an effect of you being a Spirit User. And yet..."
"So the fact that both gems belonged to Bayul's mother is what strikes you as strange?"
"Exactly. Isn't it far too contrived to write off as coincidence?"
"You're right — this doesn't seem like something we can just let slide."
Aidan nodded along, then fixed his gaze squarely on Bayul's pendant.
"Come to think of it, the teardrop shape is unusual too. I've never seen a pendant shaped like that in my life. Could it be connected to the water spirits somehow?"
Aidan hadn't seen every necklace in the world, but anyone could tell that Bayul's pendant was special and singular.
"Bayul, could you tell me what kind of person your late mother was?"
Quinn asked carefully. It would have been wonderful if she were still alive, but since she had already passed, he worried whether he was prying open an old wound of Bayul's.
"...The truth is, I don't know much about her either. Only that she gave birth to us and passed away from the ordeal of it..."
It had been his mother's life traded for his brother's and his own entry into the world. As a young child he'd been too naive to understand, but whenever he thought of how much pain his father must have endured looking at the sons who cost her her life, an endless wave of guilt washed over him. Now that his brother was gone, all the more so.
"Still, you must have heard stories from your father or the household staff. Was there ever anything among them that connected to water?"
"Duke Randert despised any talk about the late Duchess. The servants kept their silence at all times because of it. We were curious ourselves and looked into it separately once, but there was nothing. Just the same old anecdotes recorded in the Duke's official biography — the ones everyone already knows."
It was Logan who answered Quinn's question. He spoke of the past on behalf of Bayul, who was struggling.
"Could it be... that I've been influenced by this pendant?"
"What do you mean, Bayul?"
"I was wondering if the pendant's energy might be what gave me an affinity for water too..."
"Hmm... I can't say there's no influence, but the energy of water in you is unmistakable. Right now, I feel nothing coming from the pendant at all."
"Huh?"
That was a complete reversal of what he'd just said. As the friends all furrowed their brows at once, Quinn hurried to elaborate.
"Ah — I didn't explain properly. The pendant doesn't radiate the energy of water all the time. It suddenly bursts forth, like it's about to explode, at certain moments."
"Like it's about to explode?"
"And not on any regular cycle, either. It lies quiet, then every once in a while it flares up out of nowhere. It caught me off guard at first. One night it woke me straight out of my sleep. For a second, I thought someone was speaking to me."
"Speaking to you...?"
"That was just the impression it gave."
At Eli's remark, Quinn waved it off as if it were nothing.
"Bayul, have you ever sensed it?"
Bayul was the pendant's owner. Perhaps, the way he could sense spirits, he might have felt something too.
"Not even once..."
But Bayul shook his head. He could admit that Quinn's senses, sharpened by the innate nature of the merfolk race, were bound to be more sensitive to the energy of water than a human's.
And yet — this was no ordinary thing. It was his mother's keepsake. It galled him that he couldn't properly recognize such a precious relic. It left a bitter taste, as if he'd been reduced to a useless existence all over again.
"Don't be discouraged, Bayul. Didn't I tell you? It wasn't just anyone — it had to be you."
"...?"
"Setting aside the fact that you were born with the ability to commune with the four great spirits, all of this is unquestionably tied to the Water Spirit King. And the person connected to that Spirit King is your mother."
Quinn fixed Bayul with a steady gaze.
"Listen carefully, Bayul. You are that woman's son. There is certain to be some great secret hidden here. We have to dig it out."
A hidden secret...?
Bayul's hand drifted once more toward the pendant at his throat.
His mother — the person he had wondered about ever since he was small. A mother he could meet only through a portrait; her existence had always left him aching with longing, tenderness, and guilt. If only he could, he would return to the past just once to see her face.
And yet, out of nowhere — his mother and the Water Spirit King. It was a thread he had never once thought to connect.
Where should he begin searching for that thread's start?
The eyes of Bayul, fingers resting on the pendant, wavered in confusion.
Chapter 9 — The Wind Spirit, Tempesta
Final exams were looming right around the corner. Every night, Bayul and his friends gathered at the shack to shore up their weak subjects. Once again, Eli lent Bayul his meticulously organized notes free of charge.
"Bayul, you're thinking about the pendant again, aren't you?"
From beyond the open window came the ringing, breathless laughter of Innocent, who was in the middle of a spirited game of catch with Ingrid.
Bayul sat with his chin in his hands, staring blankly at the moonlight spilling across the clearing, until Aidan clicked his tongue and spoke up.
"Huh? What?"
"Hey. Hey! What are you going to do if you bomb your finals like this? I'm telling you, forget about the pendant for a while."
"Ah."
Only then did Bayul realize he'd drifted off into his own thoughts yet again.
"The moment exams end, vacation starts. You can do your worrying at home — it won't be too late then. Do you have any idea how important finals are?! One slip-up and you could be getting lectured by your parents all vacation long. Keep that in mind, my friend!"
"Aidan, I don't think that's something you should be saying."
Quinn gestured for him to look forward. When Aidan lowered his head, there it was — a grey kite resembling Ingrid, only dozens of times larger, wings spread wide and hogging an entire table.
"What's wrong with my kite? Find me one thing that's off about it."
"You just said yourself how important finals are."
"Er, so I did."
"Then what exactly are you doing? Did you give up the top spot for this exam?"
This was the same Aidan who'd sulked for days over failing to claim the top rank all by himself. Watching him ignore his studies and pour everything into kite-making was enough to make one sigh.
"Give up? There's no such thing as giving up in my life!"
"Then what is it?"
"Studying is something you do in the gaps, whenever you find the time. Cramming doesn't cut it."
"Right, right. Honor students like us are always prepared."
Eli, too, had handed Bayul his notes and was deep into kite-making. He smirked down with satisfaction at the long kite tail he'd stretched across the shack floor. Eli's kite was shaped like a dragon, blazing red — the very color of his hair.
"Five hundred cuna has completely ruined you people."
"Are you two really not doing it? It's an Academy tradition — come on, join us!"
"Yes, and what fun would it be if it were just the two of us? There's plenty of material left over here — we'll help, so let's make yours together!"
Aidan and Eli readily offered up the materials they'd bought with their own hard-earned money for Bayul and Quinn's sake. They'd have to buy the spools separately, but there was more than enough cloth and bamboo strip to build the pair brand-new kites.
"I'll pass."
Quinn had no interest in human customs. Honestly, he couldn't fathom the point of flying a piece of paper on a string — as a merman, kite-flying simply made no sense to him.
Anyone at Carrington Academy was welcome to enter the Kite Flying Tournament, but participation wasn't compulsory, so there was no harm in bowing out.
"I'm fine too. I've actually never made one before. If I tag along for no reason, I'll just be a burden to you all."
"What?! Bayul! So are we!"
Aidan and Eli shouted in disbelief.
"Hey, Logan. Isn't this your first time too?"
Logan, who had finished his kite long ago, was leaning against the bed studying history on his own. He nodded and added,
"Most first-years will be doing it for the first time."
"See? You heard him. The whole point of something like this is taking part. This is what memories are made of!"
"...Then I suppose we're excused from the five hundred cuna entry fee."
"Hey, Quinn! Not a chance! Do you have any idea how much money I've sunk into this?!"
"Weren't you the one saying the point is taking part? Isn't that a little contradictory?"
"Are you seriously arguing with me right now? You know, you're every bit as infuriating as your royal ancestor."
"And you're the infuriating one — why did my ancestor suddenly get dragged into this?"
"You're getting all hot under the collar too, huh? Well, that's exactly how I feel!"
Truly, there was no end to the ways people could find to compare things. Quinn was utterly dumbfounded by Aidan's shamelessness.
"Now that we're all done, shall we go out and give them a test flight?"
Logan picked up the kite he'd set at the foot of the bed and headed out of the shack first.
Aidan and Eli had only just finished theirs. Both of them were dead set on placing in this tournament. Only then would their summer vacation be that much more comfortable and carefree. Practice above all! they cried, snatching up their kites and scrambling after Logan.
"Oh, right — there's something I've been wondering about."
Before closing the door, Aidan turned back and asked Quinn,
"What ever happened to that marriage proposal?"
"Marriage proposal?"
"The one your royal ancestor made to the Spirit King. He received the ring, so did she accept the proposal?"
"...No. She turned it down."
And quite spectacularly, at that.
"What?! Turned him down? So she just took the ring and left him hanging?"
"Most likely."
"Unbelievable! That Spirit King went too far. Then she never should have accepted the ring in the first place. Talk about bad luck. Am I right?"
"Aidan! Are you coming out or not?"
Eli's voice called for Aidan from outside.
"Yeah, yeah, coming!"
He bolted out at once, leaving only Bayul and Quinn behind in the shack.
"Shall we go out and watch, too?"
It was impossible to focus on exam prep. Aidan dredging up the Spirit King again had only tangled his thoughts further.
"Yes, Quinn. That's probably for the best."
Out in the clearing, three kites drifted freely through the air, with Innocent and Ingrid chasing after them in earnest.
But Bayul couldn't laugh along with a light heart. Once again today, his hand had closed tight around the pendant without his meaning to.