Coming to this world might not be another setback. Jenuy points to the green sash that is hanging off some sort of chair. "Wear it," he says while giving me his back. I obey, easily putting the sash over my shoulder and face Jenuy who is relaxing in his humongous bathtub. "Please sit in the bathtub, I'm sure you're weary of traveling with Erick. Leave your clothes on or take them off."
"I am not tired but I will leave my clothes on," I reply, climbing down into the deep bathtub. Two naked woman burst from the bubbly tub by Jenuy's sides. When they see me they giggle like two uncontrollable children until finally whispering something to Jenuy. He weakly pushes both of them and they climb out of the bathtub as I look away to avoid seeing the parts I do not wish to see. Jenuy is not a handsome adult, why are there pretty women fawning over him? He is missing a tooth, has chipped a couple of his teeth, his face is starting to look-
"We are prudish still Daughter?" asks Jenuy teasingly, interrupting his thoughts. "At some point in your life you must be able to stare at supple breasts unflinchingly. That is maturity. But I suppose you do not want to hear any of this yet-I have to explain to you what I explained to your sister."
"My sister?" I do not recall Father telling me of any other relatives I had besides my aunt and few second and third cousins in other villages.
"You met her the other day but not the right way. I told that foolish, impatient girl that she needed to bring you here so that we can prepare you for what's to come but her jealousy got in the way and her bloodlust took over. I had to remove her from your world before she almost ended your life. The time for questions will come later for now you just need to listen to me. Mother Nature, the goddess of the oceans, the skies, and the land has been reborn into you. She has chosen you to be the next ruler of the earth. By now you should have noticed that you and nature go hand in hand, when your hands move, the leaves tend to swirl around yes? And the Keyblade? Let me see it."
I summon it under the water, causing the water the glow white and more bubbles to rise. When I raise it over my head it is covered with bubbles, but not even bubbles can take away the splendor of the broken periwinkle blade I found months ago. Finally, the answers that I seek are on the tip of his tongue. "Do you know what kind weapon you are holding in your hand?" he asks passionately. "It looks like an odd blade to you but it is known as a Keyblade, a blade shaped like a key that can open the doors to anything. Judging by the looks of it, it doesn't look like it can open anything right now-but the heart of the wielder should be able to fix that."
"Jenuy!" the familiar stressed voice reverberates harshly off the walls. Jenuy also seems to know the voice very well as his expression shifts from zealousness to nonchalance. He puts on a different face for everyone I surmise, which means that he can easily deceive me if he wanted to. He could have easily misled me a moment ago but he did seem credulous. I face the obnoxious intruder, shocked to see who it is. But she is speaking the language Erick and Jenuy were speaking in before and the only times I can understand her is when she says "Jenuy" furiously. I pull myself out of the tub, completely soaked with bubbles all on me. In both her hands are hot orange flames licking up to the ceiling. She sees me and raises her fire-engulfed hand as if about to throw it at me. Jenuy slowly gestures for her to lower her hands, speaking more gibberish; I am only able to make out my name a couple of times. As if uttering my name is a curse her flames augment as she shouts my name. I hear footsteps behind her and before anyone can see who it is, she sends a blast of fire to the staircase. The man coming down the stairs yells and curses, it sounds a lot like Erick. I cannot let her hurt anyone else, her rage will kill everyone in here.
"You, from the other day," I yank her attention away from the staircase by pointing the Keyblade at her. "We have not finished our fight." The broken key glints in the presence of the huge columns of fire in her palms. She understands, shouting something and sends both columns to me. I leap out of way, landing at the edge lukewarm bathtub and then swiftly jump over her head. She sends swift flame discs at me but I can aerially move out of the way well enough to fall on top of the parading teenager. I have to hold her down and stop her somehow. Abruptly, I am drenched with soap water from the tub-without me being aware she must of used her powers to distract me-and double kicks me off her. Calmly, Jenuy is still uttering the same word, I think might be her name, along with other stuff. "Sia. Sia-Sia."
"Can you hear me Risa?" cries out Erick from behind the wall of fire blocking the exit. Finally a language I can comprehend intelligibly. I get as close to the raging flames as I can, not even able to see Erick behind them.
"Yes Erick."
"She's quite upset with you."
"I am aware of that."
"She says you are taking away her future from her and that her mother doesn't love her anymore because of you."
"Sia, Sia…" says Jenuy peacefully while regressing away from her with his arms raised. No, she cannot ruin this for me, sister or not. I turn around and charge, driving the edge of the Keyblade into her back. Her violent gasp shakes her body and drops her to the floor with a loud thum. I use the Keyblade to pin her on the floor, rendering her struggles useless. She responds to his foreign statement angrily and then huffs, letting out small flames from her nostrils. It would be a shame for her long hair to catch on fire; it feels dry and coarse like my own hair always tucked away in my kimono. Looking out the huge windows, I did not realize until now that outside, the storm clouds returned and lightning is devastating the alien sky. "Please Sia, I need to speak you without having to fight you," I plead. Jenuy translates my sentence, which causes the female brute to slam her fist in the floor and causes a light earthquake in the room, leaving a crater where her fist was. The two talk some more until Jenuy starts speaking to me in the language I know perfectly.
"Remove yourself from her. She's not going to attack anyone." I let her get up and she stretches her back out until it cracks four times. "I am a messenger of the Mother and I can connect the two of you to her for a short while. The decision is up to you Risa, would you like to see your mother?" I never had a memory of my mother, it was as if she vanished from my world the moment I was born. If what these people are saying is true then how would I feel about seeing my mother after all these years of not even being able to put a picture to the name? Father never had any picture of Mother our home and when I asked about her he would never answer. His face would become solemn and he would simply leave me in mystery. Would it make a difference to see her? Would it change anything? Maybe for Sia but not for me.
"Yes. Connect me with her," I finally reply, forcing the Keyblade to disappear. Sia stares at my hand in contempt and angrily scrunches her face when she meets my eyes. She and I are easily recognizable as sisters, although she is darker than my shade of mahogany. Her bright hazel eyes are slightly smaller than mine and her face, only burdened with dirt smudges, is almost radiant if she would not glower at me in contempt. Her long, thick braid is longer than my hair, reaching her calves, and has the same fair brown color as mine. Unlike me she has no problem with revealing her broad shoulders and muscular legs.
"Both of you take my hands and whatever you do, do not move," commands Jenuy sternly. Gingerly, I pass Sia and tightly grip his hand. Roughly, Sia squeezes his other hand, closes her eyes, and for a minute she looks serene and focused like I do when I meditate. "Think of nothing at all." My mind is wiped clean as I close my eyes and listen to the fire still burning and crackling in the room. Soon I no longer feel Jenuy's grip on my hand nor my pounding heart and aching arms from fighting with Sia. The process of transcending from Jotoni is subtle but when I dig my bare feet into the warm, moist dirt, I know that I am no longer in the real world. Sia is there too, standing in the middle of the ocean gazing towards the pale, colorless skies as if Mother would be arriving in the form of a bird. The breeze is not too rough, the waves not too violent, and the earth quiet enough for all of nature to be in equilibrium. Behind me is a strong willow tree that makes me feel nostalgic just by sight. I climb up the tree using the drooping leaves as extra support and get a good view of whatever else is here; the more I stare off past the ocean, the more the blue begins to fade away into a corner of whiteness. "My daughters," says a tender voice from high above. The goddess' feet appear from the sky first and then the rest of her follows. Her hair is waterfalls endlessly crashing into the ocean, her face gracefully old but exquisite like an antique made of dark copper, her deep amber eyes staring straight into my soul, her smooth body covered in a silk dress that looks like a cream-colored coiling tree wrapping around her body-a goddess in human form. From up here, Sia is also in awe, bowing on her knees to our mother, a goddess-the goddess of nature, like the statues I saw in the temple. "The beautiful girls that I birthed into the mortal world. My sweet children." Her voice is similar to mine but much more delicate, like a musician playing a heavenly harp. "My children have come for answers have they?"
"Yes," Sia says humbly, suppressing the undertone of resentment I can hear.
"Yes," I answer as I sit on the thin branch, defying the law of the world by being able to support my weight. I must no longer be in the real world. From her sleeves, vines dangle off when she lifts her god-sized arms to the clouds joyously. She is so much bigger than both of us, like a graceful giant, if I had a face like hers I would not have to keep this hood over me. As if listening to my thoughts, she turns to me and stares tenderly.
"Risa my daughter-it has been some time since I have seen you. My jewel of a daughter, you will soon be my size and attain the glory that I have because I birthed you out of pure love. Your father was once a benevolent heir to the chief of your village and when I shed my immortal skin to become mortal, as I do from time to time, it was he that helped me. He clothed me, bathed me and took care of me when I failed to and as the snow fell and flowers blossomed, we fell in love. On the day the first blossom bloomed in the Village of Crystal Flowers, you were born into the world. The village I speak of was the Village of Willow and has now been long gone. I poured my powers of nature into your young, new heart and promised to cherish you forever. But I could not stay in the mortal world for long and when you were barely a year ago, I stole away from the mortal world. The ripe love between your father and I fell off the tree of our love and rotted away when I had to leave. He did not want me to be with him anymore and his heart has ached for all these years like mine. And he took his heartache out on the one person close to him that reminded him of me and that is you Risa. I watched as he abused you and hated you and forever cursed you like an uncouth demon. No longer could I gaze upon his face and when you were older, I visited you as you were delivering a package to another chief. Seeing you alive and well made me happy again and it was enough to permanently leave the mortal world, but I will never be sorry enough that Will did that to you. The curse of your tattoo that makes you obedient to anyone's will, the pain you felt, it was all my fault and I am sorry that I stood by and did nothing. I almost drowned worlds in tears for you, my perfect daughter, and sometimes I do. Please do not think of me in contempt my child even though I know that I deserve your hatred. I understand if you can grow up hating me and cursing me forever but I won't be able to live with that! You are my precious daughter who I will never stop loving and no amount of hatred will ever make me not love you." Mother sighs emotionally, as if pouring her heart out has made her physically exhausted. Her breeze blows towards me and I feel her stroke my coarse face and the tattoo-branded arm.
"Am I a failure to you Mother?" asks Sia who I can suddenly understand now. Mother tenderly looks down at Sia whose fists are trembling from either awe or anger. "You love Risa more but then why did you give me your gifts?"
"Sia, my love for you never wavers, don't ever doubt that," assures Mother. "Your birth was different than Risa's, you weren't born from the same emotions that Risa was born from. Please understand that I love you and looking at you makes me think that there is still salvation in your future-you and your sister can rule over the seasons together only if you let it-"
"There's something you don't want to tell me!"
"It pains me to think about your birth but nonetheless you are my child-"
"Clearly you love Risa more than me. She hasn't even developed her gifts but look at me!" The water beneath her begins to bubble and swirls like a whirlpool. An aquatic tornado forms beneath her, swallowing her body up to her head and it shoots upward to the goddess' face. Traveling up to the huge goddess' face takes a while and when Sia reaches Mother's face, she grins like a child showing off. "She can't do this!" Although impressed with her daughter's ability, she still seems sad and disappointed.
"Yes you have been given my gifts and powers but have you been using them for the right reasons? When you were born Sia I had high hopes for you and thought that although you would not be able to join Risa in her great destiny, you would act as the spokesperson of the Goddess of Nature and use your gifts to protect the mortals while falling in love and living out a full mortal life until you were to pass away peacefully. That fate is still attainable Sia if you are willing to listen and wait. I also hoped that you would shun one of your futures and be chosen by the Keyblade to save the mortals from their own inevitable destruction-"
"And I failed you Mother? Did I let you down?"
"Of course not my sweet child," insists Mother. "But you are shunning the wrong future and going down the path of chaos but it is not too late to listen to your sister and be the bridge between the mortal world and the divine goddess that Risa will eventually become."
"Never!" she furiously cries out, stirring up waves in the tranquil ocean. "She will never be considered anything to me but she'll always be your favorite no matter what I do. Why did she get the Keyblade, why is she your chosen one? Why her?!" Mother's face does not stir at all.
"Risa is not aware of it herself but her heart is one of strength and will never falter-"
"NO!" The earth starts to tremble terribly and shakes the willow tree violently. The branch beneath me snaps and I stare up at the sky as I fall off the tilting tree and towards the ground. When I expect to hit the ground, I continue to fall until the cloudy skies begin to mesh into one grey fog. The falling willow tree becomes farther and farther away as my sight is swallowed up by infinite darkness. Abruptly my arm hurts as if the darkness is tampering with it. Falling away from the mother I have not seen since I was born, the mother who can end my suffering, I finally let myself scream in agony as the pain spreads throughout my body. The tattoo is devouring my body and mind, taking over everything-I want to die but it is not allowing me to even do that. As I look at the markings, the chains begin to overlap the drawn willow-tree and the ugly circles travel down the rest of my arm and ascend to my face. My kimono flaps wildly and noisily; when I touch my face, I can feel warm liquid drenching my face.
Please let my suffering come to an end Mother if you ever loved me. More than ever, I just want Mother to catch me and hold me the way a mother should. I have killed bad people, fought Heartless, protected my friends, do I deserve this fate Mother?
J.G.P