28th Star: Going Underground
"So Hao showed up in your dream to persuade you to join his side, but after refusing his offer a weird dog attacked you before you woke up," Lou recapped after we had arrived at the entrance to Mesa Verde.
"That's what I think happened, but I'm not sure if it was real or not," I said nervously.
"It could have just been a dream, though," Annabelle shrugged.
"What did the dog look like?" Lou asked.
"Well, it was…tan-colored, with patches of white, and a flat tail," I recalled.
"Sounds like a coyote," Lou remarked. "Maybe it's another Oversoul Hao has that allows him to enter people's dreams."
"Or it was just a dream," Annabelle repeated. "Anyway, we should catch to the tour group before they leave us behind."
As Annabelle walked ahead of us in her worn-out dress shoes, Lou and I followed her. We soon found ourselves walking alongside ancient ruins that were indeed built into the cliffs we were standing along the edges of. While the female park ranger was talking about the cliff dwellings, I tried to look for anything out of the ordinary that would clue me in on whether the Patch did live here or not.
"Excuse me, Ma'am?" Lou said, raising his hand.
"Yes?" The park ranger responded.
"Did a group called the Patch occupy this place at one point?" As the other tourists stared at Lou, he gave them an embarrassed smile.
"I'm not sure what you're talking about, kid, because to my knowledge no group by that name occupied this place," answered the park ranger. "Now where are your parents?"
We in turn gave her the same explanation to everyone else who we encountered, but she didn't seem to buy it and offered to help us find our parents after she was done with the tour. We eventually came to a round structure that was sticking out of the ground which the park ranger referred to as a Kiva where underground ceremonies were apparently held. As she took half the group into the Kiva, I was tempted to follow but Annabelle held me back.
"We should probably get going, before she does try to call our parents," Annabelle insisted.
I hesitated. "But—
"If she's an expert on this place as she claims, and the Patch didn't live here, then I guess we were wrong," Lou concurred.
Just as I was about to argue with them, I saw a familiar figure standing near an entrance to a cave that was blocked off by a rope. He was tall with short black hair and had leather braces which had bear claws stitched into them.
"Uran?" I recognized.
To my surprise, he merely smiled and walked back into the cave.
"Wait!" I cried, heading towards the cave while Lou and Annabelle were right on my heels. We stepped over the rope and ran further into the cave where it grew darker and darker. I couldn't see Uran anywhere, but the light from the entrance seemed to disappear until the three of us were standing in total darkness. Then strange faces appeared, with some being human while others weren't. Among these, I recognized the same creature that was with Hao which opened its mouth revealing a fiery abyss with long teeth resembling dripping lava. Jolting up suddenly, I found myself lying on a mat with a woven blanket over me while Lou and Annabelle were lying next to me looking confused as they sat up.
"Where are we?" I asked out loud, touching my bandaged arm to make sure it was real.
"You're safe in the Patch Village," replied a familiar voice.
Looking past Lou and Annabelle, I saw Uran standing in the doorway of the room we were in.
"The Patch Village?" I blinked. "So it was at Mesa Verde?"
"Only the entrance, but not the village itself," Uran corrected. "Still, you three passed the First-Half of the Second Round of the Shaman King Tournament and made it here in less than two weeks which is quite impressive given you didn't know where the village was to begin with."
"We had help along the way, though, Uran," Lou insisted, getting up.
"You two know each other?" I said, looking between Lou and Uran.
"Yeah, I met him at the meeting in Tokyo before we left for America," Lou explained. "He told me he was your Shamanic mentor, and I told him what happened in relation to our battle and apologized for accidentally hurting you."
Then as I looked at my bandaged arm again, which still hurt after all the time that had passed due to the amount of physical strain I put it through.
"So what's the deal then?" Annabelle asked. "Why did we have to come here?"
"To see the Great Spirit for yourselves," Uran answered.
Surprised, the three of us got up and followed him out of the room where we found ourselves in an underground settlement surrounded by dwellings similar to the ones at Mesa Verde. But what drew our attention more was the big glowing object that was situated at the center and towered above us all the way up to the rocky ceiling.
"That's the Great Spirit?" I murmured, awestruck.
"Yep," Uran nodded. "It appears somewhere on Earth during the tournament, and this year it chose the Patch Village so we had all the candidates journey here to see it."
"But why do that when you could have taken us directly here?" Annabelle demanded.
"Then you wouldn't have gained anything," Uran responded. "Obviously, this journey has changed you all. You may not see it yet, but you'll notice it in the tournament during the Second-Half."
"Tournament?" I exclaimed. "What do you mean?"
"Maybe I said too much, but it'll be explained soon enough," Uran assured, trying to hide his guilty smile by looking away. "In the meantime, feel free to rest and explore the village while the other candidates catch up."
As Uran walked away, me and the others were left puzzled as we continued to stare at the enormous being that was the Great Spirit.
To be continued…
