Excerpt: The Shadows We Bear / The Crosses We Carry

It was a bit unrealistic to be honest, to suddenly be in such a place that would otherwise have not existed in Reial at all. But still, here he was despite the fact that he had been warned countless times by the Seta and Hanamura kid that it was better for him to stay out of this. He couldn’t just allow Edgeworth to be in danger like this while he was made to stay in the sidelines; he just couldn’t. He would not allow himself to go through that state of helplessness again—this time when there was a chance to save him, he would damned well take it.

So he was here, in this strange ship that had appeared from almost nowhere with the two teenagers. The boatswain gulped quietly as he tightened the hold on his sword, trying his best to look through the fog that was enshrouding the area. He didn’t have those glasses that the other two had, but he could make do without them—despite the time that had already passed, he wasn’t called the Demon of Solare for nothing. If his sight was gone, then he’d just make it up with his other senses.

The Seta kid in front of him took a moment to glance back at him, the glasses glinting oddly as he did so. Hijikata only steeled himself and nodded—this was it, now or never. No matter what, he had to rescue Edgeworth from this place. He had to do it, or he would never be able to live with himself.

Around them, the disported, warped version of his voice only mocked them and chided them for wasting their time on such a useless endeavour (So you’ve come? I suppose I must applaud you, but all you’re doing is simply wasting your time. There’s no use in trying to save someone who pathetic and useless). Biting down on his tongue to stop himself for snapping back at it, the boatswain only raised his sword and readied himself for what was to come. By hook or by crook, the silver-haired man was going to come back with them, with him. And there was going to be no other way around it.

There was a pause as the two teenagers in front of him turned to look at each other and nodded before the silver-haired kid turned back to look at him once more.“Ready?”

“More than I’ll ever be,” the samurai muttered back in return, eyeing the fog swirling around them and tensing up at the oppressing feeling that was constantly pushing him within. What was up with this strange weather, anyway? The fact that he was on a floating boat was already strange enough—the fog was making everything so much more complicated and messed up.

Then again, everything about this whole situation was complicated and messed up.