A/C - As always, thank you for the love! Don't forget to R/F/F!

Chapter 21 - Quiet Heartbeats

^.^

We didn't say anything else until we reached the restaurant and were directed to the table where Luella, Martin, Lin and Madoka were waiting.

Madoka waved to us and I felt the nerves rise, my heart started pounding in my head. This was...really happening. It didn't help that Naru seemed to be anxious about this dinner - now I started to feel uneasy too.

A steady hand on my waist brought me back, though. Gingerly, I looked up at Naru who just nodded.

It'll be okay.

"Mai," Luella greeted me in Japanese when we approached the table. "How wonderful to see you again, dear."

Naru's mom was regal in a simple dark blue gown. She left her silver hair styled in a bun atop her head. Martin was next to her, ever the gentlemen, in a grey suit and bowed to me.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner," I said as I returned the bow.

"The pleasure is ours. Please, sit." Luella gestured for me to sit in the seat next to her.

Luella sat at at the head of the table, with Martin to her left and me on her right. Beside Martin was Lin, then Madoka. I was surprised Naru insisted to sit beside me.

Martin spoke in a rough voice, his Japanese not as fluent as Luella's. "I've waited for weeks to hear from you. How did the Kamikawa District case go?"

Naru answered smoothly. "It went well, I left reports on the case."

"Yes, we read them."

"If you've read the report you must have known everything that we experienced." Naru questioned.

"Noll!" Madoka snapped at him. "That is incredibly rude."

Naru gave her an blank stare, then set his eyes back down on the menu. "Forgive me, Father."

"Oliver, darling, your father and I miss you dearly." Luella gazed at her son.

Naru was still eyeing the menu. "I have business here, mother."

"If it's parapsychology, you know your father would be interested to know." She chided him.

"It's personal," Naru dodged. "I don't ask questions about your personal research. You shouldn't find the need to question mine."

"What your mother is trying to say: when are you going to come home?" Madoka interjected. "You've been away for nearly a month. You barely gave us any notice before you up and left on a plane, taking one of the most unusual cases in Japan -"

"Madoka," there was a warning in Naru's voice. "Can we please find a dinner appropriate conversation so we don't bore Mai to death."

There was an awkward tension at the table, and thankfully the server arrived to take our orders.

Madoka was the first to break the awkward silence when the server left. "Oh, of course. I'm sorry Mai, please tell us how you've been all this time. Have you finished school?"

"This is my last year," I fiddled with my fingers on the table, not sure what to do with my hands. "I'm in the teaching curriculum, I would love to be an elementary school teacher. We have a practical next term."

"That sounds wonderful," Luella said. "Do you like children?"

"Yes," I smiled a little thinking about all of the kids at the Orphanage. I loved all of those crazy, silly children. "I work part time at an orphanage and I adore teaching the kids. It's one of my favourite things to do."

"Oliver hates children," Luella looked lovingly at her son when she said this. "It's because he has no patience. I think you would be a wonderful school teacher, Mai."

I don't know why that simple statement made me blush, but it did. It made me feel good about a decision, for once in my life. "Thank you, Mrs. Davis."

"Please," She reached across the small distance to touch my hand. "Call me Luella, dear."

Her warm smile filled me with so much joy, I couldn't help but smile back. "Thank you, Luella."

"Mai, when you are graduated you must come to London," Madoka grinned eagerly. "For the wedding of course."

"I-I don't know English very well," I stammered, still blushing. "And, I wouldn't want to impose -"

"You won't be imposing, silly," Madoka waved her finger at me. "It's an invitation!"

I chuckled softly, it sounded exactly what Naru had told me about dinner, although he didn't sound nearly as cheerful as she did.

"And, of course you can bring your friends from the SPR. How are those guys?" She asked Naru, directly.

"SPR in Tokyo isn't fully reinstated," Naru said. "I'm borrowing the office but the lease is up in a couple of days."

"That's another reason we're here," said Martin. "Do you intend on taking any clients while you are in Japan?"

"No, I'm not ghost hunting while I'm here. As I've said, I'm looking into a personal matter."

Luella pressed her lips in a tight line. "We read the report you sent to the SPR and it concerns us that you were involved in such a dark case."

"The SPR in London gave me the case."

"Yes, we are aware of that. However, that case you took has interesting evidence that some of the board members are now questioning," said Martin.

"Before you even say anything Oliver, I want you to hear us out." Luella declared when, indeed, Naru had already opened his mouth to argue with them.

I heard Naru take a deep, unsteady breath out as he waited.

"What you found, this mark that Mai has, the SPR wants to look into it. They want to learn more about the kind of rituals done at the site. Perhaps make a publication out of it." Martin said.

I suddenly felt a chill run down my spine. What they were implying...was it true that the SPR back in London wanted to learn more about this mark? To, perhaps, replicate it?

Martin continued, "I realize that's probably why you've stayed in Tokyo. But, if the SPR back in London agrees to have you research the matter from our base, it means you can utilize the facilities. It means that they can control what you find regarding this case."

Naru was quiet for a very long time, giving the servers time to hand out each of our dinners and refill our glasses. When they left, Naru spoke and it wasn't what I expected him to say. "I've requested that the SPR in London not be involved in this case."

For the first time it sounded as if Naru was...unsure. As if his trust, alone, in the SPR was enough to believe them. It was naive thinking coming from Naru.

It was Madoka who clarified. "This is still, technically, an SPR case. You can't, simply, continue to investigate it on your own without approval of the Board of Directors."

Slowly, I was beginning to realize why Naru was anxious about this dinner. Maybe Naru knew the evidence we found would lead the SPR to us. Especially when the SPR was now set on making me a test subject. Or, if they had something else planned with what we found.

"Then I'll abandon the case," Naru said. "Is that what you want?"

Luella sighed, "Oliver, we just want you to be careful. The SPR has been suggesting that this case could be that start of some very interesting parapsychology research. Especially if what you stated in the report about the mark on Mai's arm is true. They are mostly interested in the that mark and what it means."

"In other words, the SPR wants Mai to go to London so they can investigate her." Naru said, plainly.

The table, once again, went quiet. I felt out of place to say anything, even though they were discussing my fate, so instead I reached for my water to cool my dry throat.

Madoka, for once, was not smiling. She looked directly at me. "I'm sorry, this must sound very insensitive to you Mai. The SPR is in a tough position because they have the chance to collect hard evidence of some very unusual psychokinesis. At the same time, it means that they could use you for...their own purposes."

"This is ridiculous," Lin, for the first time tonight, said. "Luella, Martin - you can't be serious in suggesting that Mai leave her home to become a test subject."

"We're not," Luella corrected in a hard tone. "We just want Oliver to be aware that there are dangers to him continuing this investigation while it not officially being an SPR case."

"Please," Madoka said. "You must understand that we would never allow this. The SPR back in London approached us about the theory, with an interest in your case. We had no idea if they intended to send other board members out here to find you."

"You think they would come here?" I asked, stunned.

"It's possible," Luella confirmed. "As a mother, I worry. I don't like to think that Oliver is being used by the SPR. Or you for that matter, Mai"

"So, you don't want to investigate me?" I looked at Martin and Luella, uncertainly.

The pair shook their heads, it was Martin who said, "No, we do not. But, we've heard that there is a particular board member who is intent on bringing you back to London to...further understand you."

Beside me, I could feel pricks of electricity nipping at my arms through the gossamer sleeves. The air turned cold and I could practically feel the weight of power pressing firmly on my back.

It was the wrong thing to say around Naru.

From beside me, Naru sat perfectly still, and this time nobody breathed.

The control that had slipped took seconds longer to be put firmly in place - Naru was leashing that mighty control over his, equally, mighty power.

My glass cup of water slowly began to frost over.

I was pulled into the dark aura that was emitting out of Naru and I reached under the table to find his fingers were fisted, hard, into his palm. His skin was clammy and cold to the touch. When he felt my hand, which was shaking, he flinched outwardly as if I had struck him.

"Naru," Lin warned.

Never had I seen Naru so out sorts. His eyes snapped to Lin and he gave the Chinese man a feral look.

"We don't mean any harm, Oliver," Luella said in a sweet voice. It was so sweet I could almost imagine her using the lull of this tone to sing to the twins to sleep. To comfort them.

Naru seemed to have responded to it, his clenched hand turning softer, accepting my hand to hold and I threaded my fingers into his until our palms pressed together.

"You father and I are only concerned about you two."

In a tight voice, Naru finally spoke. "I understand. Do they know I'm, currently, in Japan?"

Suddenly, I realized why the Davis' came. Not only to see their son but to warn him. The SPR was no longer safe right now. Not when Naru was looking further into this mystery.

Naru didn't loosen his hold on my hand, a tight but tender grip.

"Yes." Martin said, "The board has read your report and are aware that you are still here."

"So we should be expecting someone from the Board of Directors," Naru said, slowly returning to his usual tone - returning to that cool exterior.

A nod. "We'll also do our best to keep your privacy when we return."

"Thank you, I -" said Naru. "I truly appreciate it."

Martin looked at Naru, a content smile spreading on the older gentlemen's face.

Madoka simply reached across the table, grabbing the bottle of wine that had been left in the centre. With a wide grin she opened it, pouring her glass and Lin's up to the rim. Then, she leaned across the table to fill up mine and Naru's.

"If we plan on getting any kind of decent conversation tonight, I think we'll need a second bottle." She winked.

^.^

"Dinner wasn't terrible," I said when Naru and I were finally inside the apartment. Naru took off his black blazer and walked into the living room. "I really enjoyed myself."

Madoka wasn't joking on another bottle of wine for the table. But the food, and the wine...I had never tasted anything so good. I hardly realized how much I had drank until my first glass was empty.

Lin, Naru and his parents had slowly drank each of theirs. By the time dessert arrived, Madoka had filled my glass a second time.

"They certainly were talkative tonight," Naru mused. "Mai, tea please."

"Well, of course they would be," I walked into the kitchen to prepare the tea. I think I was going to need it too since my head was still spinning from the alcohol. "They're worried about you - they are your parents after all, I hate to break it to you but that's what parents do."

From the other room, Naru didn't answer. Still feeling the buzz of alcohol I couldn't keep my words in check.

"Is it true what Madoka said? That you just up and left for Japan? Because I thought you said you were looking into that Enchanted Forest theory and you were trying to link it to the prison case in Biei."

Actually, the more I thought about it, the less sense it made. His parents obviously missed him, he had left abruptly, and it seems he had just taken any case he could have that was in Japan. Even thinking back to the case, it was sloppy and not thought through very well.

It was all very unlike Naru.

And, it was actually just dawning on me that things weren't making much sense. Even in my slightly drunken state.

Naru emerged from the living room now wearing a simple black tunic and a pair of loose slacks. Bluntly, he said, "Your point is?"

I reached into the cupboard for cups. "It seems strange. You just came here, took a high profile case that you didn't have a whole lot of information on."

When I turned back around, intelligent blue eyes staring at me. From the table, Naru watched me. "And?"

I didn't want to say it. Not when I wasn't sure of what 'it' was. Naru had told me once before that he wanted to come back to Japan and maybe this was the only way he could.

When the kettle started to go off, I grabbed it from the stove. "Never mind, it's nothing."

Maybe I was thinking about it too much. Maybe, my mind was too fogged over from the wine and I wasn't thinking clearly.

Or, maybe I was thinking too clearly.

As I prepared the tea, I didn't see the figure that began to materialize in the corner of the room. It wasn't until I turned when I saw those striking blue eyes and exotic facial features.

I stopped mid motion as Sara gave me a lazy grin, "How's being the anchor holding up?"

My eyes must have been saucer wide because I heard Naru calling out my name. Sara didn't move, she just remained in the doorway smiling at me.

"By all means, continue to play house wife. Or, you can come with me and talk about the ink on your arm."

She turned, disappearing in the hallway.

"Mai."

I blinked, looking at Naru. "Sorry, I just -" What was a good lie? Something believable. "I'm going to change first. I'll - uh, be right back."

Naru gave me a strange look, but he didn't try to stop me as I walked down the hall and into my bedroom. I closed the door softly, then turned to the dark figure standing in the middle of the room.

"What do you want?" I kept my voice low as I stared at Sara, not forgetting the games she used to play.

"Gene is waiting for us," she said.

I hissed at her, "Really? You can't just tell me here?"

There was a headache forming in the front of my head that I wanted to massage out. The room started , slightly, spinning.

Sara grinned, taking in my flushed cheeks and slightly parted lips. "What? Can't the great anchor take a little walk to the Spirit Land?"

"It's not that easy," I warned her.

"Sure it is," Sara crossed her arms, challenging me.

I loosened a long sigh and closed my eyes. Concentrating past the headache I tried to reach for that feeling from within me. The veil that seemed to exist just beyond my skin. The power glittered at my touch, molding and then opening.

When I opened my eyes, I was not standing in my room anymore. Instead, I was standing on the spirit world which seems to have been molded before me. I was standing near the cabin back in Biei.

Gene and Sara were already there too when I noticed Hana was missing.

"She moved on," Sara said, her voice sounded detached. Cold. "Hana's soul passed through me when I was still the anchor."

"What is this?" I didn't need to show her my tattoo for her to understand what I was talking about. "Why did this happen?"

"Don't you remember? I told you the curse cannot be broken."

"Why?"

"Because you didn't destroy the Xipherian Amulet." Sara said this as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You left it half done."

"Xipherian Amulet?"

Gene stepped forward, "It's an amulet that was created before the curse. It apparently had special properties for the wearer. Things that shouldn't be possible."

Sara snorted at this, "It is possible. Hana and I were used as anchors. That thing that possessed Hana came out from the otherworld, a way to keep the portal open. And, the souls we took didn't come to us. They went to the person wearing the amulet."

"What does the amulet do?" I asked.

"In exchange for souls the wearer could live indefinitely."

The world flickered from my lack of concentration. Sara snarled at this.

Gene shook his head, "It can't be true. There's no such thing as an amulet that could give someone eternal life."

"Not eternal life," Sara countered. "But long life - or, long life in mortal terms. They still die but not quickly, instead they age slowly. And it's the amulet that kept the curse active, not the anchor."

My throat felt raw. "Who is wearing this amulet, now?"

Sara shifted her weight uncomfortably, "You saw him, didn't you? It's the same man that kept Hana, my mother and I in that hell hole for fourteen years."

I knew who she meant - I could still feel his fingers touching my throat. Could hear him screaming in my face. And, I could still see that amulet hanging from his neck, hidden in a mass of shadows.

"What about Miki?" I said, because at this moment it felt important. All this time, I thought Miki had been the one who started all of this.

"No," Sara frowned. "But do not trust him. He's been one of the men in charge of dragging people to the prison so they can die. In fact most of that town was under some contract because a 'haunted' prison would attract a lot of inexperienced tourist. They didn't bother to investigate when so many people went missing. Not when it meant that people were coming back to the town again.

And now, that man is looking for you because he knows the amulet is useless if the anchor is not collecting souls. At least when Hana and I were bound to the prison land he could control the curse to an extent. He could control things like how many people would die, or when we would go and hunt. Things like that."

It sounded horrible. He had done all of these awful things just so that he could remain young.

"You have to tell Noll," There was urgency in Gene's voice. "Mai, if this man is after you, it's too dangerous for him to not be aware of it."

"That won't stop him," Sara said darkly. "He'll still find you, even if he has to kill the ones you love. It just means that he'll get all those missing souls. I bet you haven't even collected one, yet. You probably haven't been through the Gates."

Gene hissed, "Be quiet."

But, my silence gave away the truth - that I had been to those Gates. Sara's eyes lit up, knowingly. "You have crossed through them."

"It was awful," I recalled my only time through when I witnessed Adina's death from her eyes. Even though the memory of it was horrible, being beyond the Gates felt...amazing. Surreal.

"You get used to it. I didn't have a physical body when I was the anchor so I don't know what it would do a physical mind," Sara noted.

"So, to destroy the curse we need to get the amulet - this Xipherian Amulet. With whatever time we have and wherever it may be."

"I can show you," She clarified. "Well, in theory I can show you how to destroy it. But, it will be up to your abilities if you can pull it off."

"Then we'll have to just do it," I declared. "I'll tell Naru about the Amulet, maybe he can find more information on the origins of it."

Gene's mouth tightened. "There's one more thing you'll need to know about destroying it."

I waited for Gene to explain but he said nothing.

My patience was being tested and I snapped, "well?"

Sara stood very still when she finally spoke. "Do you not understand what the anchor is? To be the anchor means that your soul is now attached to the Xipherian Amulet. To destroy it mean you must destroy your soul, and since you are still alive, well - "

I stopped hearing any words and the world had slipped out from under me. Everything flickered as I stepped backwards with shaking legs and a hard weight seemed to sit on my, suddenly, hollow chest. The world stopped, a ripple and a tremor like… like some piece of the world shifted. Like some part of the world was falling apart.

If my soul was to be destroyed...

That means that I...

"I have to..to die?"

^.^