Chapter 4: PSI
The area around me was in flames. I had created another explosion, and this time I set the Sunshine Forest on fire, causing me look at it in shock. Well, great. I heard Lucas and Boney cautiously coming back to me, which caused me to look over and watch their expressions. Brace yourself, Jen. The hate and anger is about to come.
I think normally a human being would still be in shock of the fire, but I'm the kind who recovers from shock quickly and acts. It was a necessary adaptation in the possible scenario that I get suddenly attacked by one of the more dangerous predators out in the wilderness. Because if I were to freeze up when I see a bear, I would be dead the next instant if it decides to attack me. But I really can't say the same when it comes to snakes. As a matter of fact, I once got bitten by one when it snuck up behind me. It blended with the foliage, which is why I never detected it. I remember feeling the piercing pain, and I looked to see its sharp fangs sinking into my ankle. When I got my foot free by stabbing the snake to death, I wasn't sure if I was dead meat by then, but since my body didn't feel different for about three days, and still hasn't now, I thought it was safe to assume that the snake wasn't venomous. If it was, I should've been dead already, because it's been years since I was bitten in the ankle, and it's not like I can casually walk to a hospital and say, "Hey, I got bitten by a snake and I dunno if it's poisonous, so can you check on my snakebite?", because that would be suicide. Anyway, the experience left me with a fear of snakes. I dunno the word for it, but I guess you can say I developed some sort of snake-o-phobia. So now I avoid walking in areas with tall grass, because that's the best place for a snake to go unnoticed.
"You're a PSI user," Lucas said in surprise. "Why didn't you say anything?"
I think I was more surprised than Lucas. I was expecting him to get angry or scared of me and maybe even yell at me, but I was not expecting him to be surprised at me like this.
"A what…?" I asked numbly, now in shock of Lucas' reaction rather than me causing a forest fire.
"You don't know…?" Lucas looked just as confused as me for a moment before shaking his head. "Never mind, we've got to get out of here."
Lucas and Boney ran off as I followed them without hesitation. We went up the mountains and stopped at the top where a log cabin was.
"We'll be safe here…" Lucas said as he looked back at the smoke in the sky cautiously. "But that looks bad."
I still couldn't wrap my head around Lucas' words from earlier. "What did you just call me just earlier?"
"A PSI user. That's what you are. Why didn't you tell me?"
"That's what it was? And I didn't tell you because I was scared that you'd hate me."
"I'd hate you…?" Lucas seemed surprised that… no, make that shocked. He seemed genuinely shocked that I would say such a thing, which scared me. It was almost like as if I just told him that he was the most vile thing to ever exist on the planet.
"Y-yeah… because that's not normal for a human being to have."
Lucas suddenly looked serious. "It's not… but… I'm a PSI user too."
I wasn't sure whether I should believe what I'm hearing. "What did you just say?"
"I'm also a PSI user. See? PK Love!"
Lucas then shot out a bunch of magical hexagon-shaped energy. It just seemed so unreal that I could only gape in shock at it. A lot of things were going through my head. What…? How…? He just… He can use the same power as me…? Then…
"So this power I have…" I said nervously in disbelief. "I'm… not the only one with it? I'm not all alone in this…? You… too…?"
"Me too," Lucas replied.
I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or not, but… there are others like me?! That explains why Lucas was shocked when I admitted that I thought he'd hate me, since he has the same power. I needed to know about this weird power we have… now!
"So, um… what's this power about?" I asked.
"It's a psychic power," Lucas explained. "You can use it to attack, defend, or heal wounds. From the looks of it, you don't know how to control yours."
I guess it's time to come clean now since there's no point in hiding it. "You're right… That's the reason why I'm all alone. I keep accidentally destroying things, and people get scared and hate me. Even my own family abandoned me. So for a very long time, I've been trying to find a place to stay where I won't hurt anyone. I was mostly lying about my past and problems, so I'm sorry."
Lucas was giving me a sympathetic look as I explained my problem. "That's why you didn't like to be around people… I'll help you out. You need to go see Kumatora. She's a better PSI user than me, and she can help you control yours."
"So… nobody hates you for being a… PSI user?"
"No, I use it to help them out."
The village has already accepted PSI users. Maybe I've finally found a place to stay at last. And on top of that, it can be with humans.
"By the way, where is this Kumatora person that you speak of?" I asked.
"I don't know," Lucas replied. "The last time I saw her was a year ago. She goes places and I have no clue where she goes."
"Well either way, I don't think we can start finding her anytime soon."
"Why?"
I pointed at the smoke. "We can't go back unless we wanna get our lungs turned black or possibly get burned to death."
Lucas seemed slightly disturbed by how detailed I was, but it was only for an instant. "Actually, we can try now. Most of the time she's up in these mountains."
I've been wrecked. "Oh. Is there a reason as to why she chooses to stay in these mountains most of the time?"
"That's where her late guardian lived."
Guardian? Does that mean she doesn't have any parents or lost them?
"I guess I can write her a letter and leave it where she could find it, if we can't find her," Lucas said. "She'll come down once she sees it."
"Cool, then we can get my psychic powers or whatever it is under control," I said. Finally, I'll be free from this heavy burden!
"Hmm, but the problem is that I don't have any paper, and there aren't any up here."
Dammit. "So, uh… what're we gonna do now?"
"Go find Kumatora."
Oh, right, duh. "So where do we go?"
"I know my way around the mountains, so you can follow me."
Lucas and Boney went back towards the flaming forest, but they stopped at a river halfway there. We crossed it by jumping on top of frogs, and up ahead I saw a pink shell house.
"What the heck is that?" I asked.
"That's a Magypsy house," Lucas replied. "Magypsies are strange people who helped me awaken my PSI powers. They're all gone now, though."
Lucas went up to the door and opened it. He looked inside for a few seconds before closing it.
"She's not in this one," he said.
"Does she stay in these shell houses?" I asked.
"Every once in a while. Because the Magypsies were her guardians."
Oh. I guess I can see why this Kumatora goes inside of the shell houses sometimes. Lucas did say that the residents of the shell houses were her late guardians, so I'm sure she misses them.
I was pulled out of my thoughts when I saw Lucas and Boney going on ahead to a tunnel in the back of the area. I ran to catch up to them. Before I can say a word about it being dark, Lucas suddenly started emitting sparks from his finger to use as a light source. We jumped down holes and climbed many vines until we found ourselves up a cliff with a crumbled path. We then go into a cave and wind around to another area outside. In front of us was a river, which split the entire area in half.
"This is the Drago Plateau," Lucas said as we stepped out into the sunlight. "We had to use that tunnel behind the Magypsy house after the Drago that killed Mom destroyed the path up on the cliff."
We walked around the rocky wall and along the river. As we go further into the plateau, I noticed a bunch of claw marks on the ground. We eventually reached a cliff that stopped us from going any further.
"It looks like there was once a struggle here," I remarked. The area at the cliff seems to be damaged the most by said struggle.
Lucas looked at one of the bigger claw marks for a while. "That must've been when my brother fought that Drago."
"Your brother fought that Drago?"
"He wanted to avenge Mom. That was four years ago. But after he left to kill it, he never came back. Dad tried to go after him, and he fought the Drago too. He ended up killing it, even though he didn't deal the finishing blow like he wanted to. But he couldn't find my brother. He would spend the next three years finding him and leaving me alone. But come to think of it, some of those claw marks could've come from the Drago's battle with Dad."
"Since he disappeared, is that how he died?"
"No… he died a different way." Lucas looked at the ground with a depressed expression.
A different way? I can't guess what that would be. I mean, if a kid were to go up against a crazy, murderous tyrannosaurus rex, he won't survive. And if he did, he would've came back to the village. But Lucas said he disappeared, which could only mean he was killed. The part that I don't get is what Lucas meant by his brother dying a different way. Maybe I can ask about it later, because now's a bad time.
Lucas snapped out of his depressed mood the next instant and looked around the plateau some more. "I don't see Kumatora here, so we'll have to turn back. Our last stop is Chupichupyoi Temple."
The name of the temple sounds like a tongue-twister. "The what temple?"
"Never mind. Let's just go and look."
Lucas led me back to the area outside of Sunshine Forest and we headed back to the top of the mountain. This time, however, we took a path to the left, away from the top. When we stepped foot into a large area, we suddenly fell down. And I didn't even trip or lose balance or anything. I get up, irritated, while Lucas and Boney casually got up as though they already accepted falling down.
"What the hell?!" I shouted.
"This is Argilla Pass, also known as the Stumble Pass," Lucas explained. "Just be careful not to have anything on you that's easy-to-drop and easy-to-roll."
That is a weird way of wording your possessions. And this place seems like it trolls whoever steps foot into it. Anyway, we went further down until we reached a cave. After going through a tunnel, we eventually came to a clearing and reached a ladder leading to a higher area. Lucas climbed up the ladder, and I climbed up after him. When I reached the top, it turned out to be a large pond with another pink shell house. Lucas opened the door, looked inside for a second, and then closed it.
"She's not here," he said. "I'm not sure when she'll come back."
"So what're we gonna do now?" I asked.
Lucas went into a deep thought for a moment. "I don't have any abilities to put out that fire, and the Osohe Castle is destroyed, so that means the secret passage won't work… I guess we'll have to stay over at my grandfather's place until the fire dies down."
Come to think of it, he did say something about his grandfather living in the mountains. "Where on the mountains would that be?"
"That cabin we saw at the top of the mountain."
Oh, that cabin. We left and headed back to the top of the mountain where the said cabin was. Lucas went up to front door and knocked on it. An old man wearing a brown hat answered.
"Oh, Lucas," he said. "How've you been?"
"Good," Lucas replied. "Can we stay here for a while?"
"Sure. But why?"
I pointed at the smoke in the sky. "That's why. We'd rather take shelter than to get barbecued."
"Oh? Who's the girl?" the old man asked.
"Her name's Jenny," Lucas replied. "Jenny, meet my grandfather, Alec."
"Yo," I greeted. "Sorry, but we're gonna have to crash here for a little while. I hope you don't mind."
"I don't mind," Alec said. "I still have two beds upstairs. Lucas, how did you meet Jenny?"
"I found her unconscious at the beach," Lucas said. "She was looking for a place to stay after being feared for being a PSI user. So I helped her around."
"Yeah… You may as well say I got exiled," I said. "Just hope that I don't blow your house or anything."
"Well, let's not go there," Alec said. "So you got rejected for having abilities just like my grandson?"
"Yeah…" I muttered. "Once my first burst of uncontrolled power came loose, a bunch of crazy ideas popped into people's minds. Now they were expecting me to do things like, I dunno, scaring a football field into puking up a volcano, launching a house five thousand feet into the air, turn people into frogs, hypnotizing them into becoming my underlings, or make a refrigerator stranded up on a tree. But I can't even do any of that stuff at all, all I can do is destroy things with an explosion that I can't control."
"What's a football field?" Lucas asked.
"Don't worry about it," I replied rather quickly. I forget that there are some things Lucas knows and doesn't know.
"So how did you get here, Jenny?" Alec asked.
"Jenny was out on the sea and a storm swept her to the beach," Lucas said.
"I thought I was gonna die," I said. "The last thing I remember is seeing this huge wave coming straight at the boat, and knowing that the boat won't be able to take it. And then I thought, okay, if the boat doesn't make it, neither will I. I'm just gonna die by drowning. But I didn't wanna see how the world would look like as you're dying, so I closed my eyes. I heard the wave hit the boat, and then I felt like I was underwater, and then the next instant… Lucas was waking me up on the beach."
"I was passing by the beach when I saw you lying in the sand," Lucas said. "You looked like you were hurt, so I wanted to see if you were okay."
I'm pretty sure if he was able to read minds, he would think there's something wrong with me at that time. I mean, I don't think it's normal for someone to think that they died and went to heaven just because they landed in the kind of area they like. If it turns out Lucas can read minds, then he probably wouldn't be able to handle looking into mine because of how nonsensical my thoughts can be. But I doubt that he could read minds to begin with, given that he believed my half-assed lies from earlier.
"So she's from somewhere else…" Alec remarked. "Where did you come from?"
"I came from Falo Island," I answered. "And speaking of island, can you please explain to me what you were going on about earlier about a Dragon and Needles?"
"Oh, sure," Lucas answered. "There used to be a Dragon sleeping under these islands, and it was sealed away by seven Needles. Only users of PK Love can pull the Needles."
"PK… Love?" Sounds kinda sappy. Come to think of it, those were the words he said when he shot those magical hexagons.
"It's a PSI ability that I can use. Not very many people can use it. The Needles were guarded by the Magypsies, and if one were to be pulled, the Magypsy who is supposed to guard said Needle will vanish. That's why they're all gone now."
So I guess the only remnant of a Magypsy would be the pink shell houses. I can see why Kumatora could be found in one of those houses half of the time.
"The heart of the Needle puller is passed on to the Dragon," Lucas continued. "It will obey the person who awakens it. Last year, I woke it up to restore peace to the islands."
Ah. That must be why Tazmily Village reversed back to being a simple village. It would require some crazy supernatural power to get rid of all the concrete in the village within a year, given the number of people living in the village.
"The Dragon probably created more islands elsewhere, if you really did come from a different island," Lucas said after going into a deep thought. "Because before the Dragon was awakened, there were no other islands aside from these."
No other islands? And… one year ago? If it was really a year ago when the Dragon was awakened… Is the Dragon the reason why I'm alive now? If it was never awakened, would I be nonexistent now?
"Why did you wake it up?" I asked.
"Because someone was going to use it to destroy the world," Lucas answered. "So I had to wake it up in order to save the world."
Oh. For a second there, I thought he was out of his mind for spawning some crazy big-ass beast for no apparent reason.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you know why another fire started in Sunshine Forest?" Alec asked.
"Another?" I asked.
"Four years ago, it was set on fire," Lucas answered. "That was the same night Mom died."
A forest was set on fire at the same time Lucas' mother died. Somehow it sounds like a signal that something bad was happening.
"Yeah, but what about now? Do you two happen to know anything about it?" Alec asked.
"Yeah, actually…" I started nervously. "I… was the one who set it in flames. By accident! I didn't do it because I held a grudge against the forest or anything!"
"You… held a grudge against the forest?" Lucas asked, confused.
"No, but I'm just saying…" I replied.
"You set it on fire?" Alec asked, confused.
"She doesn't know how to control her PSI," Lucas explained. "It was an accident. I was gonna go find Kumatora so she could teach her, but with the fire, we can't go back. We looked around the mountains and she wasn't there."
"Yeah… but um, what do you mean by there were no other islands besides these?" I asked.
"The End of the World occurred sometime in the past," Lucas replied. "These islands were the only ones to survive the disaster because of the Dragon."
My head was starting to hurt.
"Hang on a second," I started. "If you woke up the Dragon last year, then why am I older than you? Shouldn't I only be a year old if my island only existed for a year?"
"Maybe your island was a recreation of an old one?" Lucas suggested. "Maybe the Dragon restored the lives of the people living on it right before the island's destruction?"
So that would mean I actually died before? The only things I remember are my early childhood, running away after being discovered as a PSI user, a handful of things I was doing while on the run, and the storm that sent me to these islands.
"I don't remember anything about my island getting destroyed…" I said.
"It could be possible the Dragon erased everyone's memories about the End of the World, if nobody talked about it," Lucas suggested. "I don't think it's for the best that everyone forgot about the End of the World because of what happened last year on these islands…"
To be honest, it just sounds like Lucas is spouting a bunch of bullcrap, but after seeing that he recognized my power and he can use the same thing, I'm quite ready to believe what he says. He doesn't seem like the kind to lie.
"Well, whatever it is, I guess the only thing that matters for me is that I'm here now," I said. "But I can say for sure that nobody ever mentioned anything about a catastrophic destruction of the world, nor was it ever mentioned in any books I stole. So I guess we can assume that everyone's memories of the End of the World was erased."
Earlier I did say that I only have one life to spend. If what Lucas suggested is true, then that means I have a second chance at life and I definitely cannot let it go to waste. Especially not after learning that there are people like me who can help me out.
"Which reminds me, do you know how often your PSI goes off like that?" Lucas asked.
"No," I replied. "All I know that it comes at random. Which is why I hope we don't have to stay here for too long. At this point, it's a miracle that I even lasted for over a day in the village without destroying it. But I just realized something… You say that the forest was once on fire. How was the fire put out if it wasn't burned to ashes?"
"It rained."
So it was luck on the forest's end. I wonder about now, though. It doesn't seem like there are any firefighters in Tazmily Village. Would it be burned to the ground by the time the fire subsides?
Suddenly a flock of birds came flying out of the forest and circled above Lucas. They seemed to be chirping something about a human living in the forest, and Lucas suddenly had a look of concern.
"Jenny, stay here," he said in a serious tone. "I have to go into the forest."
He then started running off.
"Wait, where are you going?!" I cried.
He ignored me as he kept running, with his dog right behind him. Now, I know that he was so strong that he could probably beat the shit out of a lion that's as big as the forest, but he's up against one of the cruel forces of nature.
"Don't worry about Lucas," Alec said. "He can take care of himself, even in a forest fire."
"I… I'm gonna go wait for him…" I said.
I slowly climbed down the mountain and stopped when I reached the burning forest, keeping a safe distance away from the smoke. I sat there for who-knows-how-long, waiting to see if Lucas would come back. Eventually, I saw two black figures coming out of the forest. I look to see that it was Lucas and Boney, covered in soot. A feeling of relief washed over me.
"Why did you go in there?" I asked.
"I had to check to see if one of my friends was okay," Lucas replied. "He lives in the forest. The birds reminded me that."
"Oh. Uhhh… you're covered in soot."
This caused him to look down at himself. "Oh, I'll go wash off in the river. And maybe fix up my hair too."
Is that really something you should be worried about?! You just went into a forest fire and could've died for fuck's sake, and you worry about your hair? But then again, I might be underestimating his capability to survive and maybe a forest fire is nothing to him.
"Well, if you could easily go through a forest fire like that, couldn't we just go back to the village?" I asked.
"I wasn't sure if you could withstand one like I can," Lucas replied.
Good point, I wouldn't have. "Then why did you come back? You could get back to the village on your own, right?"
"I could, but I can't leave you behind."
I paused right there as I felt a huge conflict in my emotions. This was the first time anyone has ever cared for me after learning that I can use PSI. In my heart, I had decided that I wouldn't grow close to anyone, with the thought that I'll get rejected once the truth about my PSI comes to light. Yet, this kid right here accepted me for who I was, and he refused to leave me on the mountains. Why else would he come back up here when there's nothing left to do up here?
"Why do you insist on helping me, even though we don't know each other for long?" I asked. "I even lied to you all this time, and…"
"Because we're friends," Lucas simply replied. "I may not have known you for a long time, but I do know that you're not a bad person. I can tell these things. For the past few days, you lied to me to hide the fact you're a PSI user. That's because you didn't know that there were other PSI users out there. I can understand. I also want to learn more from you, because you know so much that I don't."
Now I really don't know how to feel. He just answered sincerely without hesitation. I often took things at a face value since people have been brutally honest with their opinions about me, and none of them were positive. But this was one thing I couldn't. A friend was one thing I really wanted, but at the same time, I couldn't believe this was happening, since there's usually never an easy way out in life. I wasn't sure whether I should cry that someone has finally accepted me or feel so moved about how one kid cares about me this much… Dammit, I think I'm losing myself over emotions. Must. Calm. Down.
"Jenny, are you alright?" Lucas asked. "You don't look well all the sudden."
"It's nothing." Lucas' voice managed to snap me out of my trance to respond. "I'm sorry, I need some time alone."
"O-okay."
I went back up towards the cabin, but this time I went to a cliff that I saw near the cabin. As I looked at the landscape below, I was trying to collect my thoughts. All this time, I wasn't the only PSI user in the world. I thought I would never be the same as anyone else again. But then I met Lucas… He's also a PSI user. He forgave me even after I've been lying to him and I started burning down the forest. He still accepted me for who I was. I found it difficult to believe all that because he just seemed too trusting and it was suspicious. But at the same time, he doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives. I mean, I have nothing valuable on me and it wouldn't be worth the trouble to do anything about me since I can't control my PSI yet.
Sometime had passed when I heard a voice behind me. "Are you okay?"
I knew it was Lucas. "Is something up?"
"You haven't come back to the cabin yet, so I was wondering if you were worrying about something else."
"No… that's not it. I was just… thinking about what happened so far."
"Can you tell me?"
"Well… You know how I said that I was hated for being a PSI user? All this time, I thought I wasn't ever going to be the same as anyone else again. I told myself to endure everything that came my way, because good things come to those who wait. When I stayed in the village for a little bit, I was starting to like it. But I didn't want to stay close to the village, because I might kill someone, you know? I wanted friends at the same time as finding a place to stay. I always thought that I would never have a friend again, but then earlier you just called me your friend. I want to believe it, but… I can't…"
"Why not?" Lucas sounded confused.
"It's kinda weird. I got so used to being insulted and badmouthed that I never expected to hear anything positive about me again. For it to suddenly happen… I'm… not sure how to feel… It just sounds too good to be true…"
"When I said we were friends, I meant it. You're a very nice person, and to tell you the truth, I wanted a best friend. Kumatora is always out and about, so I haven't seen her for a long time. And Duster only comes out at night to do thief training. After the village changed, I haven't been close with anyone. When I saw you on the beach, I wanted to help you, because you were hurt. After talking with you for a bit, I knew you weren't a bad person, so I wanted to be friends with you. You know a lot of things that I don't. You seemed lost, so I tried to help you in any way I could."
I went silent for a while after hearing the sincerity of his tone while an overwhelming feeling ran over me. "Lucas…"
"Huh?"
I turned around to face him, noticing that he did wash the soot off himself like he said. "Th-thank you…"
Lucas looked shocked to see tears streaming down my face. "D-don't cry! I didn't mean to offend you!"
"No… You didn't… I'm just… so happy…"
I can't control my tears or the emotion that was gripping me because I finally got what I wanted after all this time. It's not a surprise that Lucas would be shocked, because this is a stark contrast to my usual, boring stony personality. I let it all out. I cried a small waterfall as I fell to the ground. Lucas stepped away to give me some time alone. It was another minute before I finally stopped crying.
"Okay, that was embarrassing," I remarked. Yeah, now I would've given everything I own to die on the spot because just for a few minutes there, I was a bawling mess and that shattered my pride to pieces.
"It's not," Lucas said. "It seems like you were holding it in for all this time. I can understand the feeling."
"Don't tell anyone I cried like a fool. Not until I die, at least."
"I won't."
"Good, because I don't wanna end up being the one who takes my own life if anyone else were to know."
Lucas looked slightly alarmed. "Y-you don't have to do something as drastic as that!"
"Well, if you don't want me to, then okay."
"Um… Why were you considering it, though?"
"Well, when there's people trying to kill you when you were a little kid, you start hating everything. You might even start hating life because it was unfair to you, and you start getting apathetic at the idea of death. For a while, I felt that way until I realized that just sitting there and loathing life won't change anything. And since I've been in way too many situations where I would've died, I don't really care if I die or not. But I won't die without putting up a fight, because that'll just leave me with regrets."
I'm not sure how Lucas feels on how I see things. As far as I know, life hasn't been fair to him either, but he didn't have any obvious views on it. Maybe he already moved on with his life, and if that were the case, then I really envy him, because I obviously haven't moved on yet. Strength isn't something that comes naturally to everyone.
"But wouldn't killing yourself mean that you died without putting up a fight?" Lucas asked.
Damn, good point. "Uh… then I'd die protecting my pride."
"That's really not something you should die for."
For some reason, I just felt angry when I heard that. "I guess…"
"But you don't have to hate life anymore. I'm here to help you, so let's go back to the cabin and wait the fire out."
I felt a smile come upon my face for the first time in years. "Okay!"
