Chapter 36 – Descent – Part 3
"This is it. Door number three," Luke said exhaustedly. They had been walking forever. Luke was glad that they had finally reached the door. Luke pulled the handle down and pushed the door open. They all hurried inside. There was something different about this chamber.
A large statue of a young girl was in the centre of the room with a plaque on the bottom of it, which had an Azran inscription engraved on it. Aurora gasped as she read it.
"What does it say, Aurora?" Flora asked, taking Aurora's hand.
"It's... It's Jai. That statue is of the form Jai took when she helped the Azran."
Everyone stared at the plaque.
"It says Jai. Jai of birth and rebirth."
The professor studied the statue very carefully. The statue was slightly larger than standard human proportion. It depicted a young girl of about ten or eleven years old, by Layton's judgement, who held the same expressionless face as Jai did. The girl did not hold the same physical features as Jai, but it had the same expression as Jai. Seemingly expressionless, but with a hint of despair. The girl had one hand wielded up behind her head and the other was pointing to an inscription on the wall.
Aurora walked over and touched the inscription, and as before, it lit up at her very touch. Aurora read it, but silently this time, mouthing the Azran pronunciation of the words as she read.
Everyone else watched Aurora as she read, all apart from Emmy, who was still studying the statue. She stared at the girl's face, which was tinged with sadness. The statue made Emmy think about Jai. What she had said after they had found out that Antonio had been spying on the resistance. "They attacked us while we were moving on one day. We... we were on our raft... they fired at us... my parents... my mate... my ch-children... They were killed by the Hilden as to torture me into handing over the idol." Emmy felt saddened. "Jai's life was ruined by all of this as well as mine and Carla's..." she thought.
"What does the inscription say, Aurora?" Desmond asked.
Aurora said nothing, her face turned away from everyone else. Emmy turned back to them.
"Aurora?" Emmy approached her and placed an arm around her shoulders.
Aurora sniffed, tears pouring down her face.
The others noticed this and gathered around her.
"Aurora?" the professor asked gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"It... it says... awful..." Aurora started to sob. Emmy put her arms around Aurora. Aurora buried her face into Emmy's yellow trench coat as she cried.
"Let me try," Desmond said gently, stepping out in front of Aurora and studying the text carefully. He frowned. "This... is very complex..."
"I'll do it," Bronev said. He began to read the text, as if it were fluent English.
"if you have come this far, you are fully aware of the consequences that come with the use of the Grounds of Rebirth and are perfectly willing to sacrifice the innocence and even lives of many people for the sake of a legend which tells of the opportunity of raising the dead, which has been proven by previous generations to be wrong. Allow me, Jai of birth and rebirth, to share my experiences of this myth."
"Jai?" Luke frowned. "She experienced the grounds herself?"
"Yes. She started telling us last night, but she got really upset and ran off," Flora explained.
"I have been there since the very beginning, as I am from the very first civilisation ever in existence. The idol of rebirth was considered by my people to be a great treasure. This great treasure was, however, a catalyst of many wars and fights over who had the right to possess it. It also aided in the discovery of the Grounds of Rebirth themselves.
I was the leader of my tribe, the Khan. Our tribe was divided into smaller groups. Our people always travelled in packs to protect each other from the enemy tribe, the Hilden. But this plan eventually failed.
My pack and I were moving on to a new location in order to protect the idol from falling into the hands of the Hilden. We were on the river, sailing to our new location, but the Hilden caught on to our plan. They fired arrows at us. We were no match for their weaponry and every other member of my pack was killed. Except for me.
I had possession of the sword, and I eventually had to flee the scene. But the Hilden didn't stop there. They proceeded to hunt down and kill every Khan around, until only I remained. They wiped out my entire race.
I was the holder of the powers of the Grounds of Rebirth, and I decided to be the first to use it, to resurrect a number of unrelated Khan along with my family and attempt to repopulate the Khan and get revenge for the brutal murder of my people. I used the sword to defeat the four idols, the gods of the elements of the world. After completing this objective, I was awarded passage into the Grounds of Rebirth themselves.
It was not what I expected. The place was a misery-infested pit of despair, to be putting it lightly. But I did not have time to be lingering on those thoughts. I quickly buried my dead and waited for any kind of response.
After a few days, I got response. Not the kind I expected.
My people were not the same people that had left. They were happy, despite their being plagued by the Hilden. They knew what happiness and freedom was, and they felt it. But not anymore.
Their eyes turned white and they did not talk sense. They only spoke of destruction. They attacked me, their only friend in the world.
They killed several Hilden, which did not bother me at first, but I knew deep inside that it would not be right to let the ruined forms of my people make another race of people extinct. I worked tirelessly against my will to rekill my own people to save my enemies, for the good of the world in the future.
After my explanation of the true nature of the grounds, the Hilden agreed to end their reign of terror that they had placed upon me, and we all agreed to live together in peace. I was glad to finally make peace with the Hilden before I was to join my people in the afterlife."
"So... she killed herself... after everything that had happened to her... I don't blame her..." Emmy said through her tears. Aurora snuggled into her, unable to speak through her own tears. Bronev put an arm around Emmy as he continued to read.
"The afterlife was not what I expected it to be either. There was a solitary soul, which moved on the other deceased souls to their next life, wiping their memories away and allowing them to start afresh. He recommended that I do the same. But I noticed something odd about him.
He was tired. So tired. I pitied the poor man, tired of his never ending duty to prevent the darkness souls from entering the material world and from moving the good souls onto their next life.
I proposed that he move on at last, have a new life and new memories, and he eventually accepted after much persuasion. He was grateful that his painful duty was finally over, but mine was yet to begin. I changed my name to Jai of birth and rebirth, moving the good souls on to their next life and keeping the darkness souls in their place.
My experiences will have been suffered in vain if the grounds are used once more. Take heed; rebirth is nothing but a trick. There is no such thing as rebirth."
Jai walked down the underground corridor, having left her agent in his post to await further instruction. She walked down her short-cut route to the very door of the idol. She stopped as she heard voices coming from a door on her left. "They must have made it to the chamber of the third artefact," she thought. She ran down the corridor, to the door of the idol, where she would wait for the others and fight the idol for them.
Behind the door, Layton was deducing which side of the artefact to place in the door.
"... so it is obvious that this side has to go into the slot, as the other side's represent each of the artefacts and the Grounds of Rebirth themselves, whereas this side represents rebirth itself, which is what Jai's story also represents," Layton deducted, placing the said side into the slot.
And, as expected, the door opened. There were two directions that could be taken.
"Which way do we go, Hershel?" Emmy asked, placing one arm in the professor's arm and the other in Bronev's arm.
"This way," a voice called from far down the right hand corridor.
"Jai!" Aurora exclaimed.
"Come! We must hurry!" the professor exclaimed. He ran down the corridor with the others.
They reached Jai, who was standing at a large door.
"Jai! How did you get in here?" Luke asked.
"I walked," Jai said simply.
"What is behind this door?" Desmond asked.
"The fire idol," Jai replied. "The most dangerous idol out of all four of them. That is why I am here. I will defeat this one and we will finally have all four artefacts. Then we will commence with the rest of my plan."
"Which is?" Bronev asked.
"You will see when we get out of here," Jai said. "Are you all ready?"
They nodded.
Jai reached for the door handle and opened the door carefully.
No one expected what happened then. Not even Jai.
As soon as the door opened, flames erupted, sending them all flying across the corridor.
They hit the floor hard. All of them had minor burns on the front side of their bodies, apart from Luke, Flora and Aurora, who were shielded from the worst of the damage by Emmy, Bronev and Desmond.
But Jai took the worst of the damage. Her entire front side was burned to the flesh. But she didn't care. She would kill this idol, even if it were to kill her.
She got to her feet, as though nothing had happened and lunged into the chamber, slamming the door shut behind her. The professor lunged at the door, trying to get it open, but it was no use. He yelled to her.
"JAI! JAI NO!"