Hao holds his hand out for Ryo to grab and leads him around the deck, up the wooden stairs. The crew swerve around them, manning the sails to maintain speed and direction with the wind. Birds fly above and Ryo reaches his other hand out as if to grasp them, wondering what it’d be like to see the world from above. Turning around, he sees the helmsman steering with a smoke pipe in his mouth.

“Would you consider joining our crew one day?”

A slight blush overcomes Ryo’s cheeks. “I don’t know. But I’d like to sail.”

Hao chuckles. “I was kidding. But you might just end up as a sailor yet.”

“I’ll be a captain!”

“Ambitious, are we?”

“N-no… I just thought it’d be fun.”

“There’s nothing wrong with a little ambition, kid.”

“I’m not ambitious though. I’m just, um, weird.”

Hao raises an eyebrow. “Nobody was criticizing you. If you’re weird, then I am too.” The man grins, goofy and wide. “I believe you’ll go very far, discerning little kid you are.”

Ryo tugs Hao’s hand forward, too flustered to respond. Sometimes he says things without understanding what or why he says them. It is like he loses control of his lips and the impartial gazes of everyone around him makes him even more timid, makes him feel even more like the disappointment he knows he is to his family. But Hao is the first to affirm him, the first to show any sign of emotion — positive emotion — at his occasional word barfs. It warms him inside and fills the dark pit that grows in his chest, dispelling it with light. 

“Thank you,” he quietly responds. The man only chuckles, happy to follow him around.

Ryo wishes more people would show some emotion on their face like Hao. He hates it when he can’t tell what people are thinking or feeling because it makes him anxious. Anger, sadness, disappointment, disgust — these expressions don’t scare him. He expects to see that more often than not. And the rare occasions somebody’s facial expressions display something positive? Well, that’s just a bonus.

“Hao, how come I’ve never seen you before?”

Hao hums. “It’s probably because I was assigned a different position during your first trip. All the retainers in the Liu family rotate positions every few months. Only the highest ranked, most trusted ones remain in any one position long-term.”

“That sounds confusing. How many retainers are there?”

“In the lower ranks like mine, there are ninety-nine other retainers. We—”

“Ninety-nine?” Ryo shouts. A crewmate nearby startles and almost drops a barrel. Ryo sheepishly apologizes.

“That’s right,” Hao trills, gloating with amusement. “The Liu family is not a noble court family for no reason. For generations, it has produced China’s brightest scholars and artisans, military captains of great foresight and might, and the nation’s most accomplished traders and merchants. Many of the main family become ministers who serve the Emperor directly! And even becoming the imperial chancellor is not out of the question…” At this, Hao’s eyes glaze over, swooning in lost daydreams.

“Wow… That’s a lot of children.” Ryo’s mind reels with the unfamiliar terms, each sounding more impressive than the last. No wonder Dad keeps calling the Liu family the Liu clan.

Hao snorts. “I like you, kid.” He helps lift Ryo up a final set of steps. They’re in a less busier area of the deck, perfect for gazing out towards the ocean. “But no, we aren’t all related by blood. Any and all positions in the Liu family are determined by one’s capabilities. Many of us are adopted into the family.”

Ryo leans over the railing, eyes alight with the sparkle of the sea. Droplets of sea spray upon his face, making him giggle. His hand reaches out towards the depths below as they seem to rise up and swallow him whole.

“Is Mingyue adopted?” Ryo wonders if his question is rude, but Hao doesn’t hesitate.

“Yes, she’s also adopted.”

“How did a kid like her end up as the Liu family’s…heir?”

At this, Hao bursts into laughter— again. “Heir? Oh, heavens, no. She is not the heir, only a daughter of the main family.”

“Because she’s a girl?” Ryo asks, thinking of Satori, who often hid her talents from their mother and father.

Hao quiets, eyeing him shrewdly. “Not in the Liu family, no. That is not a limitation. Anybody is able to become anything so long as they prove themselves worthy.”

“Huh…” That’s new.

“Mingyue has five brothers, only two of which are the current Master and Missus’ blood, all vying for the spot of being the heir to the family. Much like how I compete with ninety-nine others to move up the ranks into becoming a trusted retainer.”

“That sounds…like a very hard thing to do,” Ryo starts, “Becoming a trusted, uh, retainer.”

“Because it is very, very, difficult!” the man huffs with a shred of indignance in his voice. He launches into a lament of all the things he’s had to do to get to where he is and the impossibly tall mountain that stands before his path…or something.

“Ryo! Hey! When’d you stop listening, kid?”

“Uhhh… How is Mingyue?”

Hao purses his lips before formally responding with a bow, “The young Miss is well and thanks you for asking. I suppose the jade hairpin your father gave to me for safekeeping is a gift for the young Miss?”

“Yes.”

Ryo had picked out a jade hairpin for her alongside the bow he got for Edward while he and his father were making their way to Nagasaki. Liu Mingyue is a few years older than him, and from what he’d seen on his last trip, quite icy and distant. Honestly, he has no idea if she’d like that kind of thing, but she was always dressed up so pretty and proper every time he’d seen her. Hopefully, she’ll like it, because if she doesn’t and he’s offended the Liu family…

“Don’t worry,” Hao says, winking at him. “The young Miss is not so petty as to be offended by a gift of courtesy.”

Ryo slaps a hand over his mouth, cheeks heating up in embarrassment. “…I know,” he mumbles.

Together, they listen to the waves parting beneath the ship for a while. Icy droplets of water nip at Ryo’s fingertips. He only retracts his hand once it’s freezing. Above them, the shrill cry of seagulls pass by. Ryo watches the birds circle the mast overhead with great interest.

“Um, Hao?”

“Oh no, I sense a big question. Spit it out, kid.”

“What does it take to get into the main family? What’s it like there?” Does Mingyue’s father hit her too? Would Satori be happier if she was a Liu?

“Mighty curious child, aren’t you? Do you have a candidate in mind?”

Overhead, some seagulls approach the mast again and Ryo finds his gaze following them as they duck and dive by each other. “…No, nobody.”

Hao smiles and closes his eyes as if recalling something particularly amusing. “Nobody knows what the requirements are, but everyone in the main family has a legend of sorts attached to their name. To be part of the main family is to be guaranteed a life and honor of the highest class, second only to the Emperor and His royal family!”

“So, in other words, you don’t really know.”

Hao sputters, a faint blush on his face as he sighs. “This kid,” the man mutters. “Fine! I’ll tell you something about the young Miss: Liu Mingyue’s nickname is The Miracle Child.”

“What? Pfft,” Ryo laughs. “I’ve never heard her called that, you liar.”

“Of course you wouldn’t know! She only got that nickname a short while after your last visit.”

“Oh yeah? What’s it mean?”

Smug, Hao clears his throat. “Mingyue has never lost at anything, has never been wrong about anything, and, certainly, has never been bad at anything— a true talent amongst talents, a genius amongst geniuses, standing a full head and shoulders above her peers at the peak of the Liu clan’s fierce competition. Anything she does, she gets it right on the first try. Hers is a golden hand blessed by the Buddha: embroidery, swordplay, chess, calligraphy, horse-riding, dress-making, astronomy, poetry… 

“Some say she has the power to see into the future. Some believe she has a piece of the Buddha’s soul in her. But everyone agrees that The Miracle Child is precisely that: a miracle from the Heavens. The young Miss is the favorite in the running for becoming the heir to the Liu family. It is almost certain that she will be serving the Emperor as the next imperial chancellor.”

“Even though she’s a girl?”

Hao blinks. “Yes, even though she’s a girl. Well,” he pauses, scratching his chin, “it won’t be her name or face making public appearances. One of the brothers will probably be the proxy. I can’t imagine the Emperor would take kindly to traditions being broken… Ironic, how it’s all set up. But still, the Liu family is the best place in this era for women of skill and ambition.”

A gust of ocean wind blows Ryo’s hair into his eyes and he tries to rub it out. I think Satori would like it there.

“Hey, why so down, big guy?” Hao nudges him.

“I’m fine.”

Hao merely raises an eyebrow. The man leans over the railing and makes a flourish with his hand.

The churning waves nearby stretch and mold, breaking away from the ocean to form a little goldfish made of water.

“Woah!” Ryo exclaims. He pulls the man’s arm closer toward him, watching as the little liquid goldfish swims in the air. Hao brings his hand down so Ryo can get a better look. It follows, bobbing up and down. Now mere inches from his face, Ryo asks, “How’d you do that? Are you using musubi?”

“Yes. You’ll learn to use musubi when you go to Astrum Academy too.”

“But Dad said that humans can’t use musubi.”

“He’s right. It’s divine energy, the realm of the gods. You and I are mere mortals unable to comprehend it in its purest form. But even something unfathomable contains tangible parts. I’m what you would call a Naturalis user of the Esse Arts — that’s what they call—”

“Musubi in some of the Western cultures, I know,” Ryo interrupts.

“I see your father has told you the basics.” Hao chuckles. “Well, Esse can be broken into some fundamental parts. These parts can be understood by humans and are what we call the Esse Arts. Each person has the potential to learn one of the Esse Arts. No more, no less.”

Ryo’s own father never spoke about Astrum Academy other than that it is his alma mater and its mission: to help protect the Artifacts by educating young minds. Those who qualify can learn how to use Esse against the Fallen, the akuma that bring harm to humanity. To hear Hao speak of it is a rare chance to further his understanding of the situation he finds himself in.

“You with me, Ryo?” Hao asks, nudging him again.

“Y-yeah. What are the Esse Arts?”

“There’s three of them. Naturalis users can influence the existing world, everything that is not man-made, like the ocean water or the air around us. Goetia users can influence the man-made parts of the world, everything that is not naturally found in nature, like this ship we’re on or the buildings in a village. And Theurgia users can influence the bodies and minds of both themselves and others.”

“That sounds dangerous…”

“Mm, indeed,” Hao agrees. “Power, when used incorrectly, is dangerous both to the individual and to others around them. But used correctly, it lifts people up towards a better future.” Hao scratches his head. “I thought you’d be begging to ask which Esse Art you’ll be learning by now. Like all the other kids.”

A strange sense of pride swells in Ryo. “I’m not like all the other kids.”

“Careful with the ego, kid.”

Ryo pokes the floating watery goldfish gently with his finger. “What’s your point?”

“Point…” Hao scratches his chin. “Ah yes, I almost forgot.” He clears his throat and points to the watery figure floating above his hand. “See the goldfish?”

“Yeah.”

“Be like the goldfish, son. Its memory is complete shit but it’s happy. Sometimes you just need to be a goldfish and don’t let life weigh you down.”

Ryo stares at the goldfish and then up at Hao’s expectant waiting grin. Back at the goldfish. And then at Hao again. “You’re lame.”

Unamused, Hao’s nostrils flare. “And you’re ungrateful.” He snaps his fingers and the goldfish loses its form. It falls back into the ocean as water, becoming one again with the sea.

“Rude old man.”

“I’m twenty-five, kid, and bursting with the passion of a young man.” Hao pinches his cheek.

“So, you’re telling me you’re canon fodder.”

“Children!” Hao tugs harder on his pinched cheek.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Ryo whines. He pulls back, sticks his tongue out, and runs away, yelling, “Hao is a big meanie!”

Hao chases after him. “That’s right, run! If I catch you, I’ll feed you to the sharks!”