Yasuke : Rise of the Black Dahlia

Yasuke, Chapter 19 : Women of Spartania

With his ability named the "Sphere of Promise", King Musa was able to reverse all of the damage done to the Kingdom of Neserus. All of the buildings were repaired, all of the people hurt were healed. However, King Musa still faced the curiosity and concern from the Knights enlisted in his Order. Therefore, King Musa scheduled a meeting that would bring the Kingdom of Neserus and the Kingdom of Spartania's leaders and warriors together. While he was preparing for this, which was only a few days away, the junior knights Gozu and Nala continued on their journey to bring Perseus back to Spartania. Once they set foot into the Spartan's native land, they were puzzled at the sight of Leonidas' Kingdom. There were no gates surrounding the Kingdom of Spartania nor were there any knights actively standing on guard. The only thing that enabled the young knights to realize they were in Spartan territory, was the Spartans signature spear and shield that was sticking out of the ground. The confusion was so much more visible on Nala's face as she momentarily froze. Once Gozu noticed, he also stopped.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asked.

Gozu stuck his hand out and delicately touched the spear and shield, which he used to indirectly establish where they were.

"I understand that we must be in the area." Nala stated. "But, we don't know where to go from here."

"You won't have to look far." They heard a voice say from behind.

They turned around to see an unfamiliar face. It was a woman they've never seen before, however she was wearing clothing very similar in design to what the Spartans usually wear. Therefore, they ultimately were too alerted.

"Is that Captain Perseus?" she asked. "What happened to him?"

"He fought the King of Babylon." Nala answered. "He's not in a very good state. So, we'd like to get him to the king as soon as possible."

"That's not going to happen." she replied. "The King is away."

"King Leonidas isn't here?" Nala asked. "Okay, well we should be able to leave Perseus with any of the Spartans. It doesn't matter if they are a Captain or not."

"That's not going to happen neither." the lady responded. "All of the Spartans are gone with Leonidas."

"What?" Nala pondered. "So he left all of you without someone to protect you? What if King Nebuchadnezzar was to come here and try to kill you all?"

"Don't insult us." The lady replied with a serious expression on her face. "We are more than capable of holding our own."

The shield and spear that was sticking out of the ground began to move towards the woman. Her chi created a current that the sword and spear floating around in.

"King Nebuchadnezzar is the one who defeated Perseus." Nala replied. "You don't think you're more capable in combat than the Spartan Captains, do you?"

"You're looking at the only woman who was selected to enlist in King Leonidas' Order." The woman explained. "A request that was made from King Leonidas himself."

"Gozu, I think it will be better for us to go to King Leonidas himself." Nala suggested as she turned to him. "We show up with a unconscious Spartan Captain and she doesn't seem to care at all."

"No." Fera replied. "You're going to leave him with me and go back to Neserus."

"I'm not sure about leaving Perseus with you, so I won't." Nala replied. "Whether it's justified or not, I hope you'll understand that this is just a precaution."

"If you don't hand him over, I'll be forced to subdue you both and take him from you." Fera replied. "I don't think you'd want to see that."

"Fera, stop acting this way in front of our guests." another woman said as she emerged from behind Fera. "Go back to your work, you haven't finished yet."

"Yes, mother." Fera replied as she began to walk away.

"Wait a second, Fera." The woman continued. "Apologize to these two first."

"I'm sorry for the way I acted." Fera stated as she momentarily turned around before walking again.

"Excuse my daughter, the child is only seven years old." The woman explained. "Don't take anything she said too seriously."

"She's only seven?" Nala questioned. "But, she looks older than us."

"She's practicing a new skill that allows her to manipulate her own biology, the Anatomy Overdrive." the woman explained. "Currently, she can do many smaller things like changing the tone of her voice or making her limbs bigger or longer."

"There is a heavenly gift that we label as youth, but I wonder if what she spoke was a lie or the truth." Gozu expressed.

"I can assure you that almost everything she said was false." The woman announced. "Once she began learning that skill, she's become quite the jokester to those who aren't aware. But more importantly, follow me. We need to make sure Perseus is okay."

Nala took the brief moment to formally introduce herself.

"I'm Nala, and this is Gozu. What's your name?"

"Alexandria." the woman replied.

Alexandria's neon green chi flowed throughout the air until it formed a doorway in front of her.

"This will take us to where we need to go directly." Alexandria explained. "Let's not waste anymore time."

Alexandria disappeared into the construct of her chi and it didn't take much longer for Gozu and Nala to follow up behind her. Once they walked through the portal, they immediately found themselves at a different location mid-step. They were inside a small room of a building that seemed to be a general workplace. Alexandria was standing in the middle of a group of women, and was explaining the situation at hand to them. As soon as they realized Gozu and Nala were there, they took Perseus from their grip and started channeling their chi into him.

"Once the Spartans go away, it's up to us to make sure Spartania is still going whenever they get back." Alexandria explained.

"Since they're gone way more often than not, truthfully we're the ones that keep Spartania like it is." another one of the woman chimed in.

Alexandria and the multiple other women currently present continued in unison and said -

"That's why we proclaim ourselves as the true warriors, the Woman of Spartania!"