Kiyoko watched with a blank expression as Joyce frowned at the jade seal. There were only two more weeks before the Northern Expedition began, and Kiyoko still had not signed on to go. When Kiyoko mentioned it, Joyce didn't seem bothered at all.
"Take your time and do what's best for you. Self-care, sis," Joyce had said, flashing a peace sign before turning back to her work.
Spade had been a little more annoyed, telling Kiyoko in no uncertain terms that she should either sign on or resign as the Chairman's bodyguard when he'd caught her at the door. Kiyoko knew the deadline was approaching in eight hours, but she still held onto her application form hesitantly.
"Just how the hell do I use this?" Joyce complained, turning the seal over in her hands.
Kiyoko didn't know how Joyce thought they would win this. Seal or no seal, Joyce had problems with a lot of the suggestions she'd received.
One of the best plans someone had suggested was using the Azure Dragon to flood the major rivers and then take out all the warlords along the rivers. Not only would it cripple the warlords near the water, it would cripple the morale of the other warlords too. Joyce had shot it down for endangering civilians.
The Shaman Council had proposed a strategy to funnel all the warlords together before using the Vermillion Bird to recreate Guanyang Pass on a larger scale, but Joyce had refused that as an excessive use of force.
Joyce had also refused to summon an army of plague spirits to wreak havoc inside the warlords' cities, refused to bombard cities with fire, and refused a host of other plans that she deemed excessive, disproportionate, or inhumane.
At this point, people were starting to wonder if Joyce even wanted to end the Northern Expedition, given her constant refusal of plans that woud speed up the reunification.
"What use is a spirit-sent if she won't use her powers?"
Kiyoko had heard that comment from members of all three factions at this point. Kiyoko sighed. It wasn't as though they were wrong, but it also wasn't as though Joyce was wrong either.
The final strategy they'd agreed on was to push through the areas close to Canton first. Those warlords would fold easily enough. Before a force of almost 40,000 shamans, a small warlord didn't stand a chance. All it would take was for a few hundred shamans contracted with metal-spirits to disable the warlord's weapons, and a bit of threatening to force them to surrender.
The problem was when they got further from Canton, where it was actually possible for warlords to grow more powerful. Unless Joyce managed to do something about it, it was impossible to take a swift and painless victory.
That was why Kiyoko was still hesitating. She'd signed up for a job, not a goddamn one-way ticket to hell. And it's not as though Joyce hid the military expedition part in recruiting, but Kiyoko had expected to have a wider range of options as to her role in it rather than the whole protect-Chairman-with-your-life-on-front-lines-or-resign-immediately situation going on. Kiyoko already knew Joyce was a good person, she didn't need to go on a military expedition to confirm it.
For the last eight hours, Kiyoko wanted to decide for once and for all if she would ride-or-die or ride-away. Kiyoko had been hoping that the jade seal in Joyce's hands would clarify that.
After all, Joyce had left Kiyoko behind to go with Spade and Mohan last week, only for Kajio and Selva to drop everything and sprint over like Olympic contestants. Then Joyce had gotten a jade seal and everyone had kept their silence, without any regard to the confusion Kiyoko felt.
Joyce gave up on the seal and promptly grabbed over the closest wind spirits, toying them into a mini hurricane before letting them go with a satisfied expression. Kiyoko frowned at the quizzical behavior.
"Are you alright, Chairman?" Kiyoko asked politely.
"Fine," Joyce said cheerfully. "My chances just went up by a lot." Kiyoko stared blankly at the useless response.
"Would you care to elaborate, Chairman?" Kiyoko asked, a little less politely this time.
"Spade can use my powers at the same time as me," Joyce said cheerfully. "Now I just need Kajio to confirm the limitations of biological weapons and for Mohan to figure the seal out for me. Basically, I've pushed all the work to other people. I feel like that shitty person in a group project."
Joyce did not actually sound repentant in the slightest. But Kiyoko chose to ignore that for the probably-confidential-and-very-significant information Joyce had just dropped.
"Chairman," Kiyoko began. She paused for a moment, trying to sort out the questions popping into her head. "I have many questions."
Joyce turned towards her, leaning back into the bench as she nodded for Kiyoko to speak.
"When don't you? Go ahead, I'm all ears," Joyce said.
Kiyoko's questions suddenly lodged themselves firmly in her throat and refused to move. All that came out was the one question Kiyoko hadn't wanted to ask.
"Should I go with you?" Kiyoko asked before she could stop herself.
Joyce smiled slowly. "Yes," Joyce said firmly. "Come along and I'll definitely give you a show."
Kiyoko nodded mechanically and reached for her phone. Before she even fully comprehended what she was doing, Kiyoko sent in the application form.
"I sent in the form," Kiyoko said, tongue feeling stiff in her mouth. She took in Joyce's mildy surprised expression. "Chairman, I hope you take responsibility properly."
Joyce nodded. "Um, yeah, ok, sure. That kind of sounds like a marriage request but sure, I'll take it at face value."
Joyce ignored Kiyoko's sputtering to continue. "Listen, Kiyoko, I know I sound like a coward who's afraid of bloodshed with all the plans I keep rejecting. I mean, I am a coward who's afraid of bloodshed, but that's kind of beside the point." Joyce paused, seemingly haven forgotten exactly what her point was.
"My point is, I'm definitely going to minimize casualties on both sides, I've kinda said it to that man's face now, I'll do it even if I have to crawl on my knees. If I really can't, I'll protect my side first, obviously, I mean who wouldn't? But I do have plans, I'm just not telling the other guys because they can suck it," Joyce finished. She reached out and patted Kiyoko's shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't regret sending it in," Joyce urged. Staring into Joyce's earnest and slightly creepy expression, Kiyoko could only bring herself to nod.
///////
Spade let the mini-tornado dissipate from his grip, allowing the tendrils of Joyce's power to fade away. At least they knew for sure that it worked now, despite already having 15 successful trials. Some people would've thought Spade was being too cautious, but soon there would be lives on the line.
Now the only problem was probably the Conqueror's Seal. Even if Kajio managed to find some regulation against biological weapons, Spade doubted it would be significant.
After all, which nation would condemn Joyce for war crimes when they each had so many on their own slates? The last thing the other countries wanted would be to draw attention to their own misdeeds and earn the ire of their citizens.
But the Conqueror's Seal…Something like that didn't seem to suit Joyce's chaotic energy. Even worse, Mohan was digging through Flying Dragon archives to figure out the seal, probably pulling out all kinds of information along the way.
After the incident at Ms. Choo's shop, Ms. Choo had been horrified to learn that the artifact from her father had to do with the First Apostle, but Joyce hadn't so much as asked a word about the history of the Tiger Gods Division or the Flying Dragons.
"Do you never intend to tell her?" Mohan had asked Spade accusingly. But Joyce herself didn't seem to care. Unknown to either of them, Spade had already decided. He would tell Joyce everything when they reached the Yangtze River.
Spade sighed deeply, ignoring the curious and concerned looks from his newly-organized subordinates. Who would have expected this to happen back when they'd stolen a car in Hong Kong? The least he could hope for now was that the war would end smoothly and swiftly, preferably without traumatizing Joyce too much.
His phone rang.
"What do you want?" Spade snapped.
"Bring Joyce over, I figured out how to use the Conqueror's Seal," Mohan ordered. Spade griped a few sentences about being used as an errand boy before giving up and calling out to Joyce.
'Hey, get moving. Mohan's got answers,' Spade sent to her through the mental link.
'Ayyyy! That's my guy! He knows where it's at, literally in this case. Thank god, I was about to communicate properly with Kiyoko,' Joyce sent back, seeming rather relieved to have a way out.
Spade shook his head in exasperation. 'Just get over here,' he sent.
"Back to headquarters," Spade said over his shoulder as he headed towards the car. He determinedly ignored the driver tripping over a rock, launching herself five feet into the air, and doing a double-somersault to land on her feet. That was just not his job.
////////
Mohan lifted his head as Spade and Joyce walked in, waving for the two to come over and sit down.
"The Conqueror's Seal is more powerful than I expected," Mohan said without greeting them.
"Awesome, how the hell do I use it?" Joyce asked without missing a beat. She passed him the seal.
Mohan turned over the priceless jade in his hands, slowly closing his eyes for a moment. Wars had been waged over this piece of jade in the past, before the First Apostle had taken it by force and shaped it into the Conqueror's Seal, the most powerful tool for a shaman.
"It is just as he said it," Mohan said. "It allows you command any spirit in the realm." He glanced at Joyce's confused expression and smirked wryly.
"I know you can already do that, and that you can control other people's contracts too, but this is a little different," Mohan said dryly. Joyce gave a sheepish grin.
"So what exactly does it do?" Spade cut in impatiently. Mohan shook his head. The swordsman had never been one for timing.
"It allows you to command high-level spirits. Deities. To list a few, there would be what we call river gods, Earth gods, mountain gods, storm gods, the spirits that rank a dimension above the spirits we see everyday," Mohan explained. "You would also be able to command spirits sealed in artifacts, ones like Spade."
"I thought sealed spirits with over a hundred years on them were no good," Joyce said in confusion. At least the girl had remembered what Mohan told her.
"Normally, yes. Most shamans are not capable of controlling those spirits, as they tend to go berserk. Even for you, it would be a waste of time to spend effort controlling the spirit only for it to go berserk the second you turned away. But this changes things," Mohan said, lifting the Conqueror's Seal.
"This will force them to obey you from start to end of an assigned task," Mohan continued. "This, in combination to commanding a high-level spirit such as an earth god, will be very useful in subjugating an area."
Seeing their confused expressions, Mohan pulled forth spiritual energy to create a basic graphic in the air.
"See here, if you use the Conqueror's Seal to call forth a spirit who once ruled over a territory, conquered it, or made some great achievement within it, as well as the local earth god, mountain god, or river god, you can command the flow of spiritual energy within the city. Depending on your skill, you may only need one of the two to do so."
He nodded at Joyce. "That means it'll be just like how you can sense the flow of spiritual energy when you want, but a step further than that. If you could actively control the flow, imagine what you could do. Of course, everything from there depends on what kind of plan you can come up with."
Mohan nodded in satisfaction at the dawning realization on their faces. "It is the ultimate weapon for someone with unlimited spiritual power and a death sentence for someone with limited power, so we don't even need to worry about anyone trying to take it from you by force."
Joyce and Spade exchanged a high-five.
"Awesome, so what's the drawback? I really feel like you're about to tell me there's horrific side-effects now," Joyce said cheerfully. She ignored the annoyed glance from Spade.
"Yes, of course," Mohan said. "You can't use it unless you have very strong powers. Not just an unending source of energy like you currently do, but also great skill as a shaman, as well as an ability to conduit huge amounts of energy.
It seems as though you can do the latter, but you can't really control it. That's fine. After all, three of the Apostles that came before you, including the First Apostle, were already shamans before they came. Becoming an Apostle only amplified their powers. That is why the First Apostle was even able to command the Great Dragon rather than be commanded."
"So it's a cool-ass item I can't use," Joyce said. "Huh." Spade patted her shoulder as though to offer his condolences.
"You can use it," Mohan corrected. "But only when there is already a huge amount of energy that is channeling through you, and if the spirits in question are already predisposed towards helping you. All in all, using the Conqueror's Seal as a conduit to summon spirits from the Spirit Realm might be a better option for you, since it come instinctively to you."
Thankfully, Joyce accepted it without suggesting something like improving her skills. It wasn't something that could be done in a short time, not even by a genius.
Most shamans trained in the basics since early childhood, often from as early as they could walk by themselves. Even then, most shamans still would not be skilled enough. If Joyce wanted to start from zero at the current timeframe, it simply wouldn't work.
"It's fine, I have pretty good luck, I'm sure it'll work out somehow," Joyce said. She sounded surprisingly confident. "I'm so chaotic that it just might work when I mess things up beyond repair."
Spade let out a groan at that. Mohan silently offered his condolences to the swordsman. It couldn't have been easy, taking care of an Apostle like Joyce.
"It's not like we haven't prepared other options," Spade finally said. "With or without, it doesn't really matter."
He nodded at Mohan stoically, as if he didn't just look like a haggard father two minutes ago. Mohan shook his head with a smile.
"Anyways, that's all I've found for now." He handed back the seal and a wrapped item to Joyce.
"Take good care of it," Mohan instructed.
//////
Kajio watched as the sunset was reflected in the waves. He found himself uneasily standing in the spot he had first met Joyce, not even knowing what he had been called for.
"Meet me where we first spoke,�� Spade had said over the phone. "We need to talk."
Kajio let out a sigh. Maybe Spade had heard about Malik's endeavors in Persia and decided that Kajio wasn't trustworthy enough after all. Or maybe Joyce didn't want Kajio to go and needed Spade to break the news.
Somehow, Kajio didn't think it would be either.
He turned, sunlight catching in his eyes as Spade approached. The swordsman's light blonde hair reflected the light right into Kajio's eyes, forcing him to squint uncomfortably.
"Kajio," Spade greeted. Kajio smiled at him.
"What did you need to talk about that we had to come all the way here?" Kajio asked in a light voice.
Spade looked at him with a serious expression. The swordsman held out a small talisman.
"This is yours," Spade said.
Kajio looked at the small piece of metal in confusion. Was this a gift or a case of mistaken ownership?
"You're a civilian after all," Spade continued. "If things get dangerous on the battlefield, use this to call me over. I'll come save you."
Kajio's eyes shot to Spade's face in surprise.
"Thank you," Kajio said, sincerity and shock blending together in his voice. He felt rather touched by the gesture.
Spade averted his eyes to the ground. "It's nothing," he said."Just doing what I should."
"Alright then," Kajio nodded, turning the talisman over in his hands.
"Alright," Spade broke the awkward silence and nodded at him. "I'm off then."
Kajio watched the swordsman hurriedly take his leave, feeling equal parts pleased and confused. At least he had a get-out-of-stabbing-free card now.