Disarm Evil

Chapter 30: Matuha

All enemy mages are placed in a single cell and are to remain sedated throughout the duration of the voyage. Only one is permitted to be awake at a time so they can eat and take care of needs under intense supervision. Enemy notu have been restrained in the small wooden boxes built for that purpose, and every other enemy has been given their own cell.

With the sanctuary's occupancy now fully awake, the ship has become crowded. We have to work hard to ensure everyone gets a chance to come above deck for fresh air, and we must ration food carefully.

I feel bad for Sho. Ve hasn't had a solid chance to grieve the loss of ver mentor, as ve has been busy directing inexperienced sanctuary members on how to fly the ship.

Everyone involved in the rescue effort now rests atop the ship helping one another process and recover from what just happened. I have been set atop a barrel so that I can be at eye level with everyone.

Suddenly Makali's voice starts to ring out from below deck, "You are a bunch of vemo! You think you know better than Ritu? How foolish. You were never truly loyal to Ver. If you were, you would know better than to question Ver judgment. Those who question Ritu's judgment will suffer by it! You hear me? You are all destined for Hase! Repent of your ways! Maybe if you turn back and submit yourselves to Ritu, Ve will honor your act of humility and exalt you!"

"I am willing to volunteer my body to shut ver up," Buso offers.

"No, I'll do it," Miya insists. "I have been in a bitu body recently. Dima was able to get the hang of a bitu body pretty easily coming from an atu one. So I think I may be able to actually use the body, whereas it would leave you incapacitated."

"That sounds lovely," Suki says. "Hey everyone! Attention, please! I am going to put Miya here into Makali's body. So when you see Makali walking around, don't panic."

Suki works ver way around to a number of individuals to explain the details of what ve meant and informs everyone who is below deck as well.

Finally, Makali's preaching is replaced with a bunch of nonsensical sounds.

The two atu to emerge from below deck don't look like Makali and Suki, but they do resemble them. Kize, with ver bandaged wing nub, is riding the back of the one I presume is Miya.

"I figured it would be easier for everyone if Miya was not easily recognizable as Makali, so I scrambled us," Suki explains from ver partially familiar body. "I also explained that anyone else caught preaching would be met with the same punishment. So hopefully, the rest of the voyage will be a peaceful one."

"How do you feel, Miya?" I ask.

"Odd. Atu sight is cool but weird. If I had gone from a bitu body to this one, I would say it's like my nose and eyes switched roles slightly."

"Yeah, sounds about right," I affirm.

As much as I don't want to, I am too unsure of my life choices to not reflect on Makali's preaching.

Do I think I know better than Ritu?

No, it's more that I don't trust myself to know what is from Ritu and what is not. I humbly recognize my fallibility, and so I have opened myself up to question anything and everything that warrants it. Though I will say that includes questioning if Ritu really is a being of perfect judgment. Perhaps ve is, perhaps ve isn't. My judgment is not perfect enough to determine one way or the other. So no, I am not founding my new beliefs in pride. In fact, I am founding them in humble recognition of my limits and faults.

Was I ever truly loyal to Ritu? Yes, at least, I think I was as loyal as anyone could be. I was loyal to the understanding of Ritu I had been given. Now I recognize that I would have to ignore the fallibility of myself and other vetu in order to conclude that any vetu understanding of Ritu is absolutely correct.