First Opium War

Chapter 12: Fall Of A Nation

Akihiko escaped the war grounds along with Itsuya, Mengyu, and Jasper, to an old tunnel that was a hidden path that led inside the Empire. The tunnel was dark, muggy, and covered with grime. Huge spiders ran under Jasper's feet causing him to remember the horrible conditions in Fort Griffon's dungeon.

"Goodness!" Jasper gasped as quietly as possible, lifting his feet to avoid the rats that ran under him.

"Stay quiet!" They each whispered in unison.

"T-This is creepy! Bloody hell is this place?" Jasper asked, shaking from his fear of bugs and rodents.

"An old passageway." Akihiko said, running his hand across child-like artwork sketched across the hardened walls of dirt. "I use to come here when I was a child. My brother and I discovered this place on accident when were just komodos. Only my brother and myself know of this place."

"Brother?" Mengyu asked.

"Yes, I have a younger brother. His name is Kenzou."

He thought a lot about his brother since they entered the tunnel, wondering if he should let things go and offer his brother forgiveness. But that would mean he would have to forgive Fumiko too, which made it all easier said than done.

"Will your army unite with us? If we bring my father's letter?" Asked Itsuya as he broke Akihiko out of his thoughts.

"The executive order you say? The one you've been hiding with you all this time? Well, that's a question only senpai will know. I've never heard of this executive order before or maybe perhaps I wasn't born when it was written."

Akihiko paused briefly before contuining, stopping everyone from going forward as he turned to face them all. "Tell me, if you two know Fu Jow Pai does that mean there are more of you?"

Itsuya shook his head knowing the answer was more melancholic than he'd wanted. "We're the only ones who took our Shifu's teachings seriously...my father's teachings. His name was Guang and he was the last of the Fu Jow Pai masters. We never lived in the controlled lands we only lived at the Beijing River before it was captured."

"So, you're China's final hope," Akihiko closed his eyes and nodded with sympathy. "Yes, Senpai has mentioned Guang's name a few times but he also told me your father was a myth...like a tale about a legendary hero. So...Shifu Guang was really real?"

Itsuya nodded. "The most likely reason your Senpai held that secret from you was because of the upmost importance on keeping the location of my father hidden. It's possible he hasn't told anyone."

Akihiko wondered. "Hmm, yeah, that sounds like something Senpai would do."

"Up ahead!" Mengyu mentioned.

"Traces of blood..." Itsuya bent down and analyzed where the trail led to.

"Blood? But...this place is hidden!" Akihiko gasped.

Following the traces led them to a dying British soldier, wearing the uniform of Bertrand's special unit. He was covered in blood and his face was covered in dirt and sweat. The man's helmet sat near his boots as his back was slumped on a wall. The soldier's rifle looked crushed and broken as if it was done on purpose.

"A soldier?" Jasper questioned, once again flinching from a bug he saw.

          The dying soldier saw them approach him making him reach over to grab his rifle while flinching in spasms of pain, but Akihiko kicked it out of the way. 

          "No," the soldier mumbled inhaling deeply. "Please, just kill me...The pain...it hurts!"

          "How were you able to find this place?" Akihiko asked.