Chapter Three. Since Max has returned from her vacation, my brain has been filling up with ideas. Seriously, I was up until about 1 am typing this out. Well, this and another story. Did I mention I'm also working on a Legend of Korra fanfict? It's called Twisted Destinies. Go check it out.
Also, I have a fanpage on Facebook now. Tari J Deiter. You'll get updates on chapters like exerpts, quotes, and the whole shebang. Also, you'll have the insider scoop on some future stories I'm brewing up. hehe. go ahead and like me.
I don't own Cyberchase or Huntik. Max is mine. Echo belongs exclusively to Kawaii Stella and her story Picking up the Broken Glass.
Chapter Three
Awakening
Max awoke slightly disoriented. She remembered going to sleep leaning against her father's chest. But now that she was fully awake, she couldn't see Marbles anywhere.
Where did he go? she wondered, sitting up, slowly.
Everything about her was sore as though she had held one position for too long. Then again, leaning against Marbles' hard chest – comforting as it was – wasn't comfortable. Max smiled as she remembered him awkwardly humming "Ever Storm Runs (Runs Out of Rain)" to her so she could sleep. But, when she remembered why marbles had felt the need to hum the song, she curled up into a tight, little ball and began to cry again.
Her tears came quickly as memories of Mattimeo – falsified as they were – flashed through her head; playing like a video as she "remembered" meeting him for the first time. How ironic that it was Memoryville. A glitch in their system required the attention of a mechanic, and because of the severe importance of Memoryville's vault, a warrior had come along. Mattimeo, he called himself when Max pressed him for his name so she wouldn't be calling him "silent warrior". He didn't talk much. In all actuality, he didn't talk at all. He stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, the right one terribly close to the broadsword hanging over his left shoulder and down his back.
The silence made Max curious about Mattimeo, though it tended to make others distance themselves from the foreboding warriors. She asked him if it would be possible fore him them to meet again. Mattimeo asked for her Sqwakpad and she gave it to him; watching him as he punched in a date, a time, and a set of coordinates into the drawing board before handing it back to her.
Since then, they met on Cybersite Mobeous and just talked. Max was greatly surprised to learn that he knew English because she was absolutely positive the warriors spoke a different language entirely.
They used to sit at a comfortable, friendly distance while they talked. With each meeting, they sat closer and closer until Max was leaning in the safety and security of his arm. During their last meeting, Mattimeo had even tripped off his armor, telling her with a wink: "I feel safe with you. And nothing will hurt us while we're here."
Max watched him untie the knots under his arms and pop the snaps open down his sides and hips. After he lifted the heavy breastplate up over his head and removed the protective helmet, he pulled Max into him; quietly singing a song in his strange, native tongue. Now that she thought about it, Max realized the song had the same tune as the lullaby Ada used to sing to her as a kid.
"Natsuhiboshi, why are you so red?
Because I had a sad dream last night.
My eyes are red from the tears I shed
Swollen as I cried."
Max shook the last of the lyrics from her mind. She didn't want to cry for Mattimeo anymore. She knew doing so would only make her even more upset. She wiped her eyes on the edge of the white blanket, then got out of bed. She opened the drawer to her selection of tops and blinked questioningly at her choices.
She had short-sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts, tank tops, sweatshirts, button-up polos, and a few others in a variety of different colors. She wasn't blinking in confusion because she had no idea what ot wear. She was blinking in confusion because she thought her selection was somewhat diminished. Max could have sworn she had four, long-sleeve shirts made of a heavy-weave and was died blood-red. She was sure the shirts came with pants of the same kind of material and, upon opening her pants drawer, she noticed those were gone, too.
Weren't they some kind of work uniform or something of the like? She thought.
She shook the thought from her mind and grabbed a brown tank top and a pair of denim shorts; tossing them on the bed. As she started to dress, she realized she didn't recognize the nightshirt she was wearing. I was white, paper-thin, and felt strange to her skin. Looking at herself in the mirror only worsened her opinion of the nightie – it looked like she had come out of the hospital.
She wrenched it off her body and threw it onto her bed in a crumpled up bundle, then stepped into her shorts and dragged the tank top over hear head. She decided against wearing any shoes and went barefoot out into the hall. There, she heard sining coming from the kitchen – Digit playing an off-key version of "Traveling Soldier" by the Dixie Chicks.
"Two days past eighteen.
He was waitin' for the bus in his army green.
Sat down in a booth, at the café there.
Gave his order to the girl with a bow in her hair.
He's a little shy, so she gives him a smile.
And he said 'would you mind sittin' down for a while,
and talkin' to me? I'm feeling a little low'.
She said 'I'm off in an hour and I knew where we can go'.
So they went down and they sat on the pier.
He said, 'I betcha gotta boyfriend but I don't care.
I got no one to send a letter to.
Would you mind if I sent one back here to you?'
I cried, 'Never gonna hold the hand of another guy.'
'Too young for him' they told her.
Waitin' on the love of a travelin' soldier.
'Our love will never end.
Waitin' on the soldier to come back again.
Never wanted to be alone.'
'Til the letter said the soldier's comin' home."
Max walked in just before Digit could start into the next verse. "Didge, please don't sing that one." she said. So much for not missing Mattimeo. She thought.
Digit looked at her. "Why? It's a good song!" He said.
Max sat on the stool on the other side on the industrial-sized counter. She crossed her hands on the top in front of her, not saying a word in response. Digit caught on.
"Oh. Is this because of your friend, Mattimeo?" He said.
Max nodded.
"I'm sorry." he said, realizing that it was too soon. For Max, Mattimeo was the traveling solider who wasn't coming home. He swallowed. "We could play something else for you, instead." He suggested.
"Like what?" max said.
"Well, there's a song I want to share with you."
Max jumped at the sound of Echo's voice. She had been absorbed with reprimanding Digit that she barely noticed her human friend sitting on the stool next to her. Max stared at her. Here was something different about Echo. She seemed . . . happier. Max remembered Echo hadn't been like that when she came into Control Central.
"Would that be alright?" Echo asked.
Max shook her head to clear the cobwebs. "What?"
"Would it be alright for me to share a song with you? It's not from my homeland, exactly, but ti's spoken in the same tongue; Gaelic. The song is called Dúlamán [1]." Echo said.
"Do la mon." Max said, sounding the word out, carefully. "Okay, sounds interesting."
Echo smiled. "Okay. But you're gonna have to help me. You only have four lines and you only have to do it when I tell you to."
"Okay?" Digit and Max said, skeptically.
"Dúlamán, Dúlamán, Gaelach." Echo said. The two tried out the three words and failed miserably. Echo carefully pronounced them, focusing mostly on the last word which had a rough guttural sound to it. Once they had it figured out, Echo gave them instructions on how many times to repeat it before launching into it. The were to say it seven times before the first verse was said.
"A 'níon mhín ó, Sin anall na fir shúirí
A mháithairin mhín ó, Cuir Na roithléan go dtí mé.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí in Élrinn."
A round of Dúlamán, Dúlamán, Gaelach was repeated twice by Max and Digit much to Echo's satisfaction when they got it right. Then she headed into the next verse.
"Tá ceann buí óir ar, An dúlamán gaelach
Tá dhá chluais mhaol ar, An dúlamán maorach
Bróga breaca dubha, Ar an dúlamán gaelach
Tá bearéad agus triús ar, And dúlamán maroach.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí in Élrinn."
That last bit must have been a chorus because Echo repeated it again. Max and Digit watched the young Scotch as she swayed back and forth on the linoleum. Her tongue expertly navigating the strange language with care.
"Góide a thug na tíre thú, Arsa an dúlamán gaelach
Ag súirí le do níon, Arsa an dúlamán maorach
Rachaimid chun Niúir leis, An dúlamán gaelach
Ceannóimid bróga daora, Ar an dúlamán maorach.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí in Élrinn.
"O chuir me sceala chici, Go gceannoinn cior di
'Se'n sceal a chuir si chugam, Go raibh a cean ciortha."
Again the chorus was repeated twice. By that time, Max and Digit were able to copy the words, though they were a tad difficult to pronounce. Yet, Echo had no trouble with the language.
"Cha bhfaigheann tú mo 'níon, Arsa an dúlamán gaelach
Bheul, fuadóidh mé liom í, Arsa an dúlamán maorach.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí in Élrinn.
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí, b'fhearr a bhi
Dúlamán na binne buí, Dúlamán Gaelach
Dúlamán na farraige, B'fhearr a bhí, b'fhearr a bhi
B'fhearr a bhí in Élrinn."
Max and Digit clapped and Echo blushed redder than her hair. She curtsied politely; thanking them in her native tongue, before sitting down.
"That was lovely." Max said, hugging Echo. "What was that?"
"Gaelic, as I said before I started." Echo said. "All the Celtic countries speak it on Earth. It was my first language, actually."
"And the song, what does it mean?" Digit asked.
Echo shook her head. "I wouldn't suggest looking up any translations. The English kind of ruins the song."
Digit handed Max a bagel with a cream cheese spread, muttering about wondering how English could ruin a song he didn't understand anyway.
"I'd like very much to learn it, if you don't mind teaching me." Max said, taking a bite from one half of the bagel while she eyed her friend pleadingly. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until then and took an even larger bite from her bagel.
"Sure." Echo said. "I'll try to teach you as es I can. But, you're a little old to be learning a new language. Much less fluently. I've been speaking Gaelic since infancy so it comes easily to me. But it'll probably be different for you."
"Hey, Max can learn any language she wants to. She's good at that." Digit said in Max's defense. He was thinking of the two Shangrinese dialects she had learned beforehand; forgetting she didn't remember ever speaking it until Max gave him a strange look.
"When have I ever learned another language, Didge?" she asked.
Digit was quicker than usual to formulate an answer. "You're a smart kid. I'm sure you could do it." he said.
Max stared at him; not sure whether he was trying to flatter her or if he was hiding something. She went with the former and turned her attention back to Echo.
"Yeah. And I just want to learn the one song, anyway, not the whole language itself." she said.
"I think I can do that." Echo said. "The easiest way would be for me to print out the lyrics."
"No prob. My computer can do that." Max said. "I think your user name is still on there."
"That's true." Echo said. She pushed her empty plate aside – Max hadn't realized Echo had already eaten – stood up, and went back to their room.
Digit watched Max. Her eyes had a strange, far away look in them. He didn't like that this wasn't the same cyborg who used to protect him from Hacker – thinking of Hacker made Digit wonder what his own role was in this. What sort of back story did Pi make up to explain his existence? He didn't dare ask Max for fear of raising suspicion and he decided to put the thought out of his mind. Instead, he reached across and touched Max's arm.
"I'm sorry about Mattimeo." he said.
"It's okay." Max said. "I wish I could've said goodbye to him is all." She swallowed. "Where's Dad at?"
"He went to a meeting with your mom and the other Cyber-heads. He'll be back soon." Digit said.
Max nodded, kind of wishing he had taken her with him.
0
"I'd say that went fairly well." Ada said, attempting to lighten the mood in the quiet cabin of the coop. She looked over at her beloved fiancé – the word made her squeal internally with delight – and noticed how he was sitting; face forward, hands clenched over the steering wheel in a tight vice, jaw tight. Ada knew the meeting hadn't gone quite as well as Marbles wanted. She reached across the console and took one of Marbles' hands in her own. He relinquished his hold, letting her touch in a comforting way and his face relaxed.
"It'll be okay, Matthias." Ada said.
"I know, Ada. But I can't help but feel like that isn't Max." Marbles said. "What if Pi did more than change her memories? What if he's completely reprogrammed her?"
"Now, Matthias." Ada gently chastised. "You know Erasmus wouldn't do that."
"It would be so easy for him to do it, though." Marbles reasoned. "He was in her head. If he wanted to, he could rearrange her programming to suit him."
"What makes you say that?" Ada asked, astonished. "Why are you accusing him of reprogramming her? Why are you even thinking about that?"
"He did it before." Marbles answered. "Already he's reprogrammed her memories. Especially the ones involving that warrior."
"Mattimeo?"
Marbles nodded, repeating Pi's words to him about Max's memories of Mattimeo. Then, he sighed and said, "Why did we do it, Ada?"
"Do what?" Ada asked.
"Max . . . the warriors. Why did we let her become one of them? We should have said no when she wanted to be like them. Why didn't we?"
"Matthias, you're blaming yourself for things that can't be changed. Max wanted to be like them and we let her because it's what she wanted. Erasmus could have easily said no as well but he didn't. Are you going to blame him for having the final say in this?"
"Maybe a little." Marbles admitted. "But, if we hadn't let her, none of this would have happened."
"What's that supposed to mean? Matthias, evil would have found some way to get to her – and you – even if she hadn't become a Page and an Apprentice!"
"But Max's pain started after I invented Hieronymus." Marbles pointed out. "If I hadn't made him, none of this would have happened."
"You needed help with Motherboard. That's all there is to it."
"But, I could have waited! Instead, I got impatient. I couldn't wait for Max to come back, so I made an assistant. In essence, I replaced Max when she couldn't be here."
Ada's mouth dropped open. She realized Marbles had been carrying this around with him for a while. Probably since the night Max was kidnapped. The night he realized Max's belief that Hacker as evil was true.
"You've been blaming yourself for this all this time, haven't you?" Ada said.
"Isn't it my fault anyway?" Marbles said.
"No! It's not!" Ada said. "Look, you may have made Hacker, but he was responsible for his own actions. Everyone knows what you did but they don't blame you for it. Max doesn't blame you for it either. Isn't that enough?"
"Of course she doesn't blame me now! She doesn't even know he existed! But she will and she'll know what I did."
"Matthias, she never blame you."
"But she will."
Ada touched his cheek with her fingertips. "What are you afraid of more – her blaming you or not?"
"Both. . . . And her hating me for it all."
"She can't hate you, Matthias. And I know she won't. She loves you too much to hate you for a mistake you hadn't meant to make. You need to stop this insanity before it gets out of hand."
"I can't, Ada. I just can't. Not until I know for sure."
"You never talked to her about it?"
"No."
"Maybe you should when she remembers."
Marbles nodded, making a silent promise to talk to Max when her memories came back.
After parking the coop in the docking bay, the two of them headed up to the housing sector on the way to the kitchen for lunch, they heard a sound coming from Max's room. Marbles paused and listened to the sound. It sounded Shangrinese, almost, but after a minute, he realized it wasn't what he thought it was.
He entered the room and saw Max and Echo sitting on Echo's bed. Max was reading something aloud from a paper and Echo corrected her where needed.
"What are you doing?" Marbles asked, gently.
Max grinned. "I'm learning a song called Dúlamán. It's written in Gaelic." She smiled, showing him the paper.
"Oh really?" Marbles said, sighing with relief. "How's she doing?" He directed that question at Echo.
"Well, she slips up here and there, but she's doing pretty well. She's a natural at this." Echo said.
Marbles nodded. Max learned things quickly and she loved learning new skills. At least that hasn't changed. He thought.
Max looked at his face. "Dad, did you want something?"
"Yeah. I'm going to catch some lunch then do some diagnostics on Motherboard. You want to help me with that?"
"Sure. Let me know when you're ready." Max said. Her brown eyes flashed with excitement at the prospect of helping her dad during a diagnostic test. The glee resembled that of one from her youth.
That hasn't changed either. Marbles thought. Maybe she's not so different after all. Maybe this isn't as bad as I thought it was.
"Okay, sweetheart. Carry on." Marbles said.
"Okay." Max said. She and Echo went back to Max's Gaelic lesson. Echo patiently correcting Max's feeble attempts at pronouncing things.
Marbles walked away, wondering if this was the same way Max attempted to learn Shangrinese. At least now she seems happy.
[1] Dúlamán- These are the Gaelic lyrics to the song Dúlamán. I would strongly suggest listening to the song on Youtube to get the full impact on the song. The one sung by Celtic Woman is the best. I'm also really proud of myself b/c I spent a good half-hour putting accent marks in the lyrics where they belong and the document manager accepted them. THANK YOU ! anyway, I would also highly suggest not looking at the english lyrics to the song b/c it kind of runs the effect. If you want to know what they're saying, more power to you.
