The Prize

There’s something to be said for limited immortality. As you’ve witnessed through the accounts of other’s like myself, the only possible way for me to die is for my head to be removed from my body. This is why immortals’ weapon of choice is the sword. What better way to remove the head from the neck?

I have a most beautiful sword. It’s polished steel blade has been folded a hundred times for strength, and though its centuries old, it still holds a bright, glossy shine that only the sun can rival. I believe that the ancient Japanese made the most beautiful blades.

The blade I now brandish was made in the Early Muromachi period, around 1390 or so, and it still looks brand new, as if it just came from the forgers hand. Most katana blades were just curved, naked blades, but mine was a gift made for an Emperor and boasted elaborate engravings and etchings up and down the entire length of the blade. It was made as a showpiece for the Emperor to wear…at least, until I stole it.

Now, six hundred years after I acquired my blade, the past has come back to haunt me.

“So, what are you going by these days?” I asked, circling the man before me.

“Johnny,” he answered, thrusting at me. I danced away, jabbing my own blade back at him.

“Johnny? How original.” I couldn’t help being sarcastic, it’s in my nature.

When last I met Johnny, his name had been Yung Kim Suki. He had been head of the Emperial guard stationed to protect the palace and he had been the one on duty when I broke into the palace and stole the sword from the Emperor’s treasury. We had a brief confrontation then, but being outnumbered, I ran. I must have royally ticked him off because he had vowed vengeance against me. I see now that he never gave up on looking for me.

What’s even funnier is finding out now that he is an immortal as well. Back then, we didn’t recognize those inner feeling when another immortal was close at hand.

“That blade belongs to me,” he said, striking at me from the left as I stepped backward. His blade missed me by an inch. “It must be returned to the Empire.”

“I see you’re still living in the past, Johnny.”

“None the less, that blade belongs in Japan. It is a symbol of Japanese heritage and it should be returned.”

“Finders keepers, Johnny. But if you think you can take it from me, You’re certainly welcome to try.”

He leaped like a cat, his sword slicing through the air with tremendous speed, but once again, I danced away from his assault.

“There is more to this now than the sword,” he said. “Now, there is the Prize. There can be only one.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard that one too. Why don’t you come up with a line that I haven’t heard before. In fact, why don’t you just shut your trap and let’s get this over with.”

I wasn’t letting on, but Johnny had become quite the swordsman. He handled his blade excellently and if I were any less of a person, I would have been a little intimidated. I don’t yield to intimidation, even if my life is on the line. So no matter how hard and how fast he came at me, I had to be quicker and faster than he was.

I wasn’t much on drawing out a confrontation, but liked to get to the heart of the matter quickly. When I went on the offensive, it was everything Johnny could do to stay my sword and I could see in his eyes that I was too much for him. Of course, it wasn’t until his head separated from his shoulders that he understood that he should have never challenged me in the first place.

This sword was mine…my prize…and I intended on keeping it.

I left his headless body lying on the ground of the empty lot. Finding my trenchcoat, I donned it to hide my sword and stepped out into the street. A group of teenage boys noticed me and began whooping and whistling. I loved the attention and flung my dark tresses over my shoulder and put on a dark set of sunglasses that I kept hidden in an inside pocket. I stopped next to the boys, and using the reflection in a store window, applied a thick layer of red lipstick to my lips, allowing them the opportunity to thoroughly check me out.

“Oh, my God,” one of the boy’s shouted. “Take us home with you, please!” Several of the others laughed and added their own sly comments.

I approached the boy who had spoken and smiled at him. “You boy’s couldn’t handle me,” I said, then walked away.

I had just killed a rival immortal and made those teenagers day, I couldn’t have asked for anything more…well, maybe a man that wouldn’t die of old age, but that was part of the problems of immortality. You have to take the bad with the good.

I put a sway in my hips and disappeared around the corner. There weren’t many immortal women in the world, and I had yet to meet one, but I felt that there were others out there, somewhere…waiting.