Chapter 38:
The midday sun brought an intense heat across the city of Rio de Janeiro and throughout most of the Blue Bird Sanctuary. Jewel peered out at the clear cloudless blue sky, admiring the light that drifted into the small opening, filling the hollowed tree with light. She laid back within her nest consisting of twisted sticks, mud, and leaves. She panted, wiping a wing through her feathery crown. Despite knowing that she could not sweat in the same way humans could, she remained certain that she could feel the perspiration dripping from her forehead. Without a word, she fasted a small pink wildflower to the side of her head.
She shifted her attention out at the treetops which led deeper into the Amazon Rainforest.
"You had better be taking good care of our daughter, Pet," she sighed, her wings drew instinctively to her stomach. The firmness of her belly shifted under the added weight. She forced a smile and shook her head. "Of course you are. You've never put any of our children in danger before. You're the best father, Rose could ask for."
Jewel sighed again, lowering her head into her wings. Her eyelids grew heavy. With the kids off playing somewhere, she let herself drift off into a peaceful slumber… a slumber she deeply needed more than anything else.
In her dreams, Jewel stood over top of Blu. At least she thought it was Blu. He smiled, covering his eyes behind a protective Carnival mask.
"Blu?" She queried, a little weary of his new outfit. "Is that you?"
The bird did not answer. He began to flutter around the room, growing more buff and masculine. He stopped in front of three stone slabs, lighting torches in front of each, he mumbled something under his breath.
"Blu…?" she asked again, "Are you okay?"
The macaw stopped, his eyes began to glow as he studied her. Almost as if he was looking at her for the very first time.
"Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu, Blu," the macaw clicked his beak, repeating the name. "No, no, no, no, no, Blu, Blu, Blu,"
Jewel backed away as the macaw sniffed her, cackling as he continued on his work. He fluttered over to the furthest stone, and spread his wings wide.
"Bubba! Bubba! Bubba!"
Jewel could feel a powerful energy source draw from her body as the strange blue macaw began to chant. She lowered herself to the ground, her energy rapidly draining from her body.
"Blu?" She questioned, "Why are you trying to hurt me? What are you doing to me?"
The strange macaw cackled again, shifting his mask to one side. He hopped on one foot, continuing his chant.
"Bubba! Bubba! Bubba! BUBBA!
Jewel could feel the energy continuously being drawn from her body. She could see it taking solid form. The form of a baby macaw wrapped within a protective bubble.
"Bubba! Bubba! Bubba! Hera! Hera! Hera!"
Jewel watched helplessly as the strange macaw rushed to the baby. He studied it for a moment and picked it up. He carried it across the room and placed it on the first stone slab.
"Babby, Babby!" The macaw chanted, "Babby, Babby!"
Something was horribly wrong, Jewel held up a wing, watching in horror as the stone entity continued to draw in her strength.
"Please," she begged helplessly, "Don't hurt my baby."
As Jewel's voice rang out, the world around her faded into darkness, the baby, the strange macaw, everything around her shifted into an endless black void.
Jewel laid struggling to move and to breathe. She cried as she tried to find her way back onto her stone talons or at the very least so she could crawl. Anything so that she could find her lost baby macaw.
"Jewel," a voice called out to her. "You have nothing to fear."
"How would you know?" She called out weakly, through threatening tears. "You haven't seen your own baby ripped away from you."
"Relax child," the voice soothed, "You are safe. Your baby is exactly where you left it. What you saw was… the past… and the future."
"I-I-I don't understand…" she replied, "How could it be both?"
As Jewel asked her question, seven robed figures emerged from the darkness. Each one holding a different glowing mark upon their right covered limb.
"I know those," she gasped, eyeing the mark of the roaring fire. "That mark is the same one my sister had."
She peered to each of the figures. At least three of the marks she recognized. The mark of vengeance which had once belonged to her sister, the mark of duality which once belonged to the scarlet macaw named Roger, the mark of the monkey head which belonged to the monkey who had saved Blu's life from Nigel. Then there was the fourth mark, the drop of blood, which Blu had mentioned belonged to Nigel. Her eyes widened as she peered at the rest, the mark of an inverted pentagram, the mark of a hawk, then the final one, the mark resembling an orchid.
"These are the marks of everyone that is going to come after us isn't it?" Jewel asked.
"Correct," the voice confirmed, "These marks tie directly into the fate of your baby… for it is she and she alone that will put an end to their evil and usher in a new age… the age of the spix macaw. But first you must control your fear."
"My fear?" Jewel echoed," I don't understand."
"You fear raising a child alone," The voice hissed, "You fear you can't protect it on your own. You fear to lose it."
The world re-awakened. Jewel found herself within the clutches of an ancient temple. Macaws were painted across the walls.
"You are standing in an ancient South American village. It is here that humans once worshipped your kind. It is the resting place of the blood orchid."
Jewel rose to her feet.
"Beware the orchid child." The voice hissed, "It is an evil flower. It may be used in medicine but the flower brings a terrifying fate to those who use its power."
"Terrifying fate?" Jewel asked, "What kind of fate?"
"Death!" the voice hissed, "the orchid is poisonous to birds. Whoever uses it will surely die."
Jewel fell to the ground, she stared at her wings.
"Tell me, will Blu die?" She asked, "Is that why I'm having this insane vision. Is that why I had to face my fear?"
The voice shifted directions, echoing from behind her.
"Beware the deceiver," the voice cautioned, "The pale bird seeks to harm him. He sent him on a certain doom mission... So he could isolate you."
"Will Blu die?" Jewel asked, "Please, I need to know!"
"That can not be seen." The voice hissed, "We can not interfere in the life of the living. We can not see the fate of the living."
"Who are you?" Jewel asked, "What are you?"
The voice echoed a reply but only within her mind. "Protective god's..."
A shaft of light erupted from the roof space. Jewel stared as a beautiful female macaw stood before her. She was a spix macaw, easily as old as Jewel was... but somehow Jewel got the impression she was far older that what she appeared. The voice echoed through her mind as the bird pointed her wing towards her.
"We are the protective gods... the ancient and sacred species of the spix macaw!"
"OK, I get it!" Jewel growled, "Please tell me what I can do to save Blu! If you are sent to protect, help me protect my husband."
The voice whispered one final command. Jewel watched everything dissolve back into blackness as she listened to the dire warning.
"Do not play the deceiver's game. He knows more than what you think. Find the truth, and confront him. Only then can you save Blu... but only if found in time."
"What, what am I looking for?" Jewel asked.
"The connection between you and the deceiver... the reason he would do this... those are the tasks you must acquire."
Jewel lurched forward. Her eyes filled the anger and fury. She shouted out at the darkness, her voice hardening.
"Quit speaking your riddles and tell me what I need to do!"
The voice echoed back briefly. "Find the connection between you and the deceiver... the reason he would do this... those are the tasks you must acquire."
Jewel came awake with a start. She gasped as she peered around the inner sanctum of her nest. She struggled to catch her breath. Her eyes darted from one side of the room to the other. She held up her wings, horrified.
"What was that?" She asked aloud, "Have I completely gone nuts? Or was that just some stupid nightmare?"
Jewel felt her body tremble. There was little doubt in her mind that she was scared. Scared of the future, and the dire warning her dream foretold.
"I must find, Blu." She admitted, "If that vision was real, I can at least protect him."