Chapter 25

'How far ahead of us could they possibly have gotten in that storm?' Mokuba groaned after they'd been walking for about an hour.

'Well, with the way Mai was acting last night, it wouldn't surprise me if they were miles ahead of us by now.'

'But I don't want to walk for miles again today,' he shook his head, 'I'm pretty sure I did that yesterday.'

'It can't be helped Mokuba,' Covo shot him a sympathetic look, 'and, to be honest, I more concerned with whether or not we're on the right path.'

'Oh you're on the right path alright,' a gentle voice sounded from behind them.

Turning round, they saw a beautiful green eyed brunette on the path a few feet away from them.

'Mov,' automatically Covo made the sign of respect for the Fay.

'Please don't stand on ceremony,' she held up a hand towards him, 'not when I am about to be so cruel.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean I'm about to issue you with a challenge,' she sighed, 'and if my uncle's predictions are correct it's a challenge neither one of you will be able to succeed with. I understand his motives and I agree this is the best way of testing you all, but that doesn't make me feel any more comfortable with this situation. I have no head for cruelty.'

'Uh... okay,' Covo wasn't sure what to make of her words.

'I'm glad you understand,' she lowered her head slightly. 'Now let us begin,' she waved a hand in front of herself, causing a glass case to rise up out of the ground. 'The cards inside the case are the Lioness Knightess and Jack of Dice; soul cards, obviously.'

'Ahna,' Covo's insides turned cold, 'but…?'

'I told you I was about to be cruel, but don't worry the souls these cards are attached to are perfectly safe and no matter what happens here they will remain safe, my uncle has assured me of that.'

'What do you want from us?'

'I told you, I'm here to issue you with a challenge,' she folded her arms, 'and it is a challenge you must accept if you have any hopes of proving your village's ability to raise children.'

'What? Mokuba frowned. 'Since when were we a village?'

'I think I understand what she means,' Covo met and held Mov's gaze. 'This is all about that saying, isn't it? It takes a village to raise a child. This is all about us proving we have what it takes to take care of Jo and Crovell.'

'Exceptional children need exceptional villages to raise them,' Mov's choice of words were almost covert, as if she wasn't quite answering his question. 'My uncle wants to prove your village is exceptional.'

'Okay, I've no problem with accepting your challenge then.'

'Even though you've been predicted to lose?'

'Will me losing here affect whether or not our village is considered worthy?' Covo studied her for a moment.

'No,' she shook her head, 'it simply means your inner turmoil is not something you need to overcome right now.'

'What?'

'Every member of your village is suffering from inner turmoil. For some of you its having a large impact on your lives, for others the impact is so minimal they may not even realise it exists at all. The challenge each of you are faced with at this stage reflects your own personal turmoil, but not all of you need to overcome this turmoil right now in order to prove your village can cope with children of great power.'

'So only those who need to overcome their inner turmoil sooner rather than later will be able to succeed in their challenge?' Covo tilted his head in thought.

'Yes,' she nodded, 'and those of you unable to overcome your turmoil now will have the opportunity to face it again later, either through later stages of the game or once the game is over. Do you understand?'

'Yeah, I think so.'

'What about you?' Mov glanced towards Mokuba.

'Yeah,' he gave a numb little nod, 'I think I understand.'

'Good,' a small smile pulled at her lips, 'as soon as you accept, the challenge shall begin.'

Almost as soon as Joey had accepted Sta's challenge, he found himself stood on a cliff in the middle of nowhere. The skies above him were dark and threatening, reminding him almost of the Shadow Realm. From his cliff top vantage point he felt like he was staring out across a desert and even the ground below him was covered in a heavy kind of dry sand. As he continued to stand there, trying to figure out what the hell was going on, a strong wind whipped sand around him, forcing him to move back from the edge of the cliff.

The first strong wind was followed by a second, then a third, eventually turning into one hell of a sandstorm. With little else Joey could do he ran for shelter, pulling himself into small cliff top cave. Once inside he found himself staring out at the sandstorm, trying to figure out why the sight of it made him feel so uncomfortable. That's when it happened; a sharp ripple of pain moved through his stomach causing him to cry out. Before he even had the chance to figure out what the hell the feeling might be a second, then a third ripple of pain moved through him.

'No, no, no, no, no,' he pressed his back against the cave wall and sunk to the ground, 'please don't say there's something wrong, please.'

Several more ripples of pain moved through him. There was something strangely regular about the timing, but either his brain couldn't comprehend what was happening or it simply didn't want to.

'Please don't let there be something wrong,' he wrapped his arms around his bump feeling more than a little distressed now, 'please.'

'Why would there be anything wrong,' a voice sounded to the far right of him, 'you're daughter is just telling you she's ready to be born now.'

Joey turned towards the speaker and spotted a striking looking girl with long red hair. The expression on her face was as calm as her speaking voice had been and clearly she didn't see anything wrong with this situation.

'No,' he shook his head, 'she's not ready to be born yet, it's too soon.'

'A child will be born when it needs to be born,' the girl wagged a figure at him, 'didn't you learn anything from Mov? You can't change the date of a child's birth; they will always be born when they're meant to be born.'

'But... but she can't come now,' he swallowed hard as another ripple of pain moved through him. 'I can't be the one giving birth to her.'

'Why not?'

'Because I'm not a woman, I don't have the… the... err... I... I just can't, okay.'

'You're afraid, aren't you,' the girl was suddenly knelt in front of him. 'I hear it's natural to be afraid when you're about to give birth. It's okay; it will all be over soon enough.'

'No... no it won't, because she can't come out. Don't you get it? There's nowhere for her to come out. I can't give birth to her.'

'We could always cut her out,' the redhead shifted her gaze to one side. 'Of course, I'm not doctor so you'll probably die, but surely that's a risk worth taking in order for your daughter to live, right?'

'I...' Joey found himself staring at the redhead, not totally sure how he felt about what she was suggesting.

'Your partner will be more than capable of taking care of your daughter, right?' The redhead's face filled with a strange smile. 'She doesn't need both of her parents and it would be a noble sacrifice.'

'But... but it's not what I want for my children,' he shook his head, 'I don't want them to grow up without me.'

'Not what you want for your children or not what you want for yourself,' she challenged him. 'Not wanting them to grow up without you sounds pretty selfish to me.'

'I...'

'You know if you delay this much longer your daughter will probably die.'

'What?'

'Children are born when they need to be born because sometimes staying inside is more dangerous than coming out. Just think about it, your body is trying to expel her for a reason.'

'But its too early for her to be born, she might die even if she did come out now.'

'But if she's born, she'll at least have a fighting chance,' the redhead folded her arms, 'and at least then you won't be responsible for killing her.'

'Jo…' Joey found himself staring down at his swollen stomach as another ripple of pain hit. 'I don't want her to die, believe me I don't, but I physically can't do this. I can't give birth.'

'Then let me cut her out,' she placed her hands on Joey's arms. 'Okay, so you'll probably die if I do, but at least she'd have more of a fighting chance and at the end of the day isn't that all that matters? Isn't she the most important person in all this? What does it matter if she has one parent or two parents or a million people to take care of her if she's dead? It's a parent's job to put the life of their child before their own.'

'I... I know it is... but I... I want...'

'You want to have your cake and eat it too,' the redhead smirked at him, 'I understand, but you have a choice here. Her future or yours, what's it going to be?'

'Why... why is this happening? Why are you making me go through this?' Joey stared at the redhead. 'This isn't how things are supposed to be.'

'They haven't been since the past was altered,' her voice was calm and level. 'You can change the date of a person's death, but that doesn't mean a death won't occur anyway; you should understand that much by now, right?'

'Of course I do,' he glared at her, 'don't you think I've been able to think of anything else since my life was saved? I constantly feel like I'm on borrowed time and at any moment...' he hesitated as he stared down at the bump again, 'that at any moment I'll be asked to give my life up. That's what's happening now, isn't it? I'm being asked to give my life up because my borrowed time is at an end. My daughter is not supposed to have both of her parents, is she?'

'Does that mean you're going to let me cut her out?'

'Yes,' he met and held her gaze, 'please, do whatever it takes, just save my daughter.'