Chapter Forty-Four: Kaiva

I hope I'm doing this right. I really, really hope so. I have no way of knowing if she'll actually come, of course. I can declare her innocent without her here, but I highly suspect it'll be much more effective if she's here.

Raph hesitated a heartbeat. Then he bowed and began marching forward. The astonished crowd parted for him, watching his every move. At the far side of the square, he disappeared around a house. Don could just barely see the top of Casey's head, and he could only imagine the coercing he and Raph were doing. C'mon. You can do it, Saja.

Nothing happened for a long moment.

Well, I can just say she's innocent and tell them to accept her back if she comes…

Finally, Raph reappeared with Saja, as pale as death, at his side. Don released the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Yes! Yes! C'mon, Saja!

The crowd gasped in waves as more people saw the exile. "Saeyaja!" They cried softly. "Saja!"

The crowd made way as Raph, his hand firmly on Saja's arm, led the way straight back to The Technology. His lips were pressed together. Hoo boy, Raph is not happy with me right now. Or maybe with the Jior. Or both.

After what seemed a long walk, the pair paused before Don. Be brave, Saja. Just a little longer.

"WHAT IS THY NAME, CHILD?"

Saja opened her mouth, but no noise came out. Raph whispered something in her ear, and she shook herself. "Saeya-" It came out as a whisper. She tried again. "Saeyaja K'el, O Great Parvoss." She bowed, and Raph dropped his hand. He stayed by her side, watching her closely. I think her legs are trembling. I'm so sorry, Saja.

"GREETINGS, SAEYAJA K'EL. PLEASE BE SEATED. I PROMISE NO HARM WILL COME TO THEE," Don added, when her face lost a shade of color again. He raised his voice again. "PEOPLE OF JIOR, WHAT WAS HER SUPPOSED CRIME? WHEREFORE DIDST THOU PUNISH SO HARSHLY A CHILD, AND EXILE HER TO ROAM DANGEROUS LANDS ALONE?"

Eyebrows lowered, Elder Nafti stepped forward. "She broke a High Law, Great Parvoss. She failed to only observe. She intervened in a situation she should have only watched."

"SAEYAJA K'EL, IN WHAT SITUATION DIDST THEE INTERVENE? WHAT MIGHT HAVE OCCURRED HAD THOU HADST NOT INTERVENED?"

Saja swallowed. "A… a man was striking several small children. He might have… If I had not stepped in, a child might have died right before my eyes." Her cheeks flushed, and she lifted her chin. "A worm of a man," she added softly.

Whoa. I didn't realize it was that bad. "A WRETCH OF A MAN MIGHT HAVE STRUCK DOWN A CHILD RIGHT BEFORE THE EYES OF SOMEONE WHO COULD SAVE HIM OR HER," Don repeated, for the benefit of those beyond the reach of Saja's quiet voice, which was most of the crowd. "TELL ME, O PEOPLE OF JIOR: WOULD IT BE BRAVE FOR ME TO STAND AND MERELY OBSERVE A ROBBER STRIKE MINE OWN WIFE AND ROB HER? WOULD STANDING AND WATCHING BE BRAVERY… OR WOULD IT BE COWARDICE?"

The Jior shifted and whispered to each other for a long moment after Leo translated this. Let's let that sink in a minute.

"THOU CALLEST ME THE GREAT PARVOSS," Don said, slowly and as quietly as the 'big voice' effect allowed, "BUT HOW GREAT WOULDST I BE IF I MERELY STOOD BY WHEN A CHILD OR LOVED ONE NEEDED HELP?"

Another pause. Don watched the reactions of the people: many couples whispered to each other. The elders' heads had come together, and Elder Nafti still looked angry. Saja's brown eyes—conspicuous in a sea of gold ones—held a glimmer of hope.

"PERHAPS THOU OUGHT TO PONDER WHETHER CERTAIN SITUATIONS REQUIRE AN EXCEPTION OF THE RULE THOU HAST CREATED."

The Jior blinked up at him. Don could almost read their minds: Is the Great Parvoss telling us our High Law is bad? That should be enough to generate some healthy discussion. I hope.

"BUT AS FOR THE PAST BREAKING OF THIS RULE, AS FOR THIS LASS-"

Saja sat up straighter, her hands clenched.

"I, THE GREAT PARVOSS, DECLARE SAEYAJA K'EL INNOCENT. FURTHERMORE, I REVOKE HER SENTENCE OF EXILE, ALTHOUGH WHETHER SHE REMAINS AMONGST THOSE WHO TREATED HER CRUELLY, I SHALL LEAVE TO HER DISCRETION."

The crowd gasped, shouted, and reacted. Some seemed upset. A few shouted for joy. Whoa. If I thought I was making waves before, now I'm triggering a tsunami. One couple near the front, who'd been watching everything carefully, hugged each other. The wife started crying. Is that… her parents?

Don shook himself. Focus, Donatello. No time for that right now.

"BE STILL!" He shouted.

The crowd quieted a bit, enough to hear him, but continued to buzz at this announcement.

"I WILL NOW USE THE TECHNOLOGY TO REVERSE THE PUNISHMENT OF SAEYAJA K'EL. I SHALL PROVE TO YOU THAT TECHNOLOGY CAN BE USED FOR GOOD."

Don's periphery told him that Saja, perched on the seat of The Technology, had paled yet again, but he didn't let himself look at her. Instead, he knelt, took the glowing crystal back from Mikey, and dropped it gently back inside its holder.

The machine hummed with power.

Don took off his duffel and handed it to Mikey. Grabbing the manual, Don jumped down to the fieldstone ground, using his ninjutsu training to make as little noise as possible. I am pretending to be a spirit, after all.

Even though he'd practically memorized the final diagram in the manual, Don still referred to the page as he found Panel Eight and began methodically setting the levers, switches, and dials. The page showed a humanoid with a variety of effects applied, symbolized by swirling lines, among other things, the proper setting on the panel, and then the humanoid smiling, with no effects shown at all. Don had studied the drawings carefully: the second drawing matched the first drawings of many effects; it seemed to indicate a blank canvas. A "reset" button. He'd tested it on himself yesterday, of course, with the invisibility effect, but that didn't guarantee it would work on Saja.

A tiny whimper came from directly behind Don, followed by a gruff-but-encouraging whisper from Raph.

Thanks, Raph. She'd freak out if I tried to touch her or anything.

The crowd made no noise at all.

It'll work. It has to.

Don checked the settings one last time. He took a deep breath and held it. Okay, Donatello. It's time to do what we came to do.

Don threw the activation switch.

The Technology hummed, and then royal purple and deep teal light flowed out of the front of the machine toward Saja; the girl closed her eyes tight. The energy swirled around her and seemed to increase in intensity. Is there more of it now? Is stuff coming out of her? The pulsating energy flowed back into The Technology and disappeared.

Shell!

Saja gasped, and her eyes flew open. She looks dazed. Is she okay? Did it work?

Her chest heaved, and she blinked rapidly. She rocketed to her feet and turned to Taevon, blurting a question in Jior so fast and jumbled that Don's translator didn't pick it up.

Taevon had instinctively taken her hand to steady her. He blinked once before awe spread across his face. "They're gold," he said.

Saja turned back toward Don's general direction, and now he could see that her eyes now shone gold in the sunlight.

Gold? Gold eyes! Like all Jior have! It worked! It really worked! That's amazing! I can't believe I did it!

"Thank you, Great Parvoss! Thank you! Thank you!" Tears spilled over from her now-golden eyes. It was odd to see her with them after meeting her with brown eyes, but they fit somehow. They were beautiful eyes. Whoops. I'm still on the ground.

Don clenched the manual in his teeth and climbed back atop The Technology; Mikey shifted the duffel around his shell and bent to give him a hand up. While he was climbing, he heard rapid footsteps and voices behind him. What's that?

Standing and turning, he saw the couple he'd wondered about had rushed forward and now hugged Saja. All three were crying joyously and talking too fast for his translator. Definitely her parents. I don't need to understand what they're saying, anyway. Don allowed himself a smile. I can't believe it.

Mikey nudged him and gave him a big grin and a double thumbs-up. Don grinned back.

When the reunion had subsided into a tight knot, Don cleared his throat. One thing left. "THOU ART WELCOME, CHILD," he boomed.

Leo, right hand behind his shell, gave him a quick thumbs up too, and then spun his finger in a tight circle. You're right, Leo. We gotta speed this up.

Saja extricated herself from her parents and bowed toward him, still smiling, then held each of their hands.

"ONLY TWO MATTERS REMAIN AT HAND BEFORE I MUST DEPART YON AND RETURN TO THE SPIRIT WORLD," Don said. "FIRST, WHITHER IS THE SCRIBE?"

A curly-haired man in the crowd jumped when Leo translated this and hesitated before hands began pushing him forward.

"COME HITHER, SCRIBE, AND FETCH THEY BOOK OF OFFICIAL TOWN RECORDS SWIFTLY."

The crowd murmured again. What now?

C'mon, hurry up, Don urged the nervous-looking official as he disappeared inside the Council Building. The Jior aren't going to believe I'm their brave hero all day.

In a moment, the scribe had set up a makeshift desk and looked up attentively toward Don.

"FROM THIS DAY ONWARD," Don said, "THIS GIRL'S NAME IS NO LONGER SAEYAJA."

Surprise bloomed on the girl's face. Her father put an arm around her protectively.

"SHE HATH EARNED A NEW NAME. SHE HATH BEEN BRAVE THROUGHOUT PUNISHMENT AND EXILE. SHE HATH SELFLESSLY HELPED OTHERS. SHE HATH VOLUNTEERED TO RESCUE A MAN TRAPPED IN AN UNSTABLE LAND."

Raph shifted his weight. He was facing the crowd, but Don knew he approved.

The girl looked up at him, earnest and utterly focused. Do I really have this power? Are they going to accept this? Is she going to accept this? Does this word make sense as a name?

"FROM THIS DAY ONWARD," Don boomed, "HER NAME IS NOW KAIVA, FOR SHE HATH BEEN BRAVE THROUGHOUT MANY AND VARIED DIFFICULTIES."

The girl's—Saja's? Kaiva's?—golden eyes overflowed with tears again, and her parents hugged her. Is that good or bad? Shell, have I just made a terrible mistake?

Don vaguely noted that the scribe dutifully scrawled something in the official tome.

The crowd stood in shocked silence.

Finally, Taevon raised himself up on his tiptoes and said loudly, "Kaiva K'el!"

After a slight hesitation, some of the crowd repeated, "Kaiva K'el!"

Then the words, the new name, gained momentum; the whole sea of Jior repeated: "Kaiva K'el!"

The girl's father put his hands on her shoulders as she peeled herself from her parents' embrace and turned to face the crowd. She squared herself. "I have… I have earned a new name," she said, starting slowly and gaining confidence as she went. "My name is now Kaiva K'el, for… bravery."

Don held his breath. He was about ready to start chewing his fingernails. Did I really just do that? Does she like it?

The girl turned back around and bowed toward Don. "Thank you for this gift also, Great Parvoss." She almost seemed to make eye contact. "I accept the name you have given me."

The scribe closed his tome with a dusty thud.

She… accepts it?

Leo cleared his throat. "O Great Parvoss, time flows on in the mortal world. We must guide you back into the spirit world imminently." He made a tiny gesture toward the cluster of elders. Don suddenly realized that most of them looked upset. In fact, Elder Nafti was doing an excellent impression of a teapot about to boil. Hoo boy. We've been here too long. I might be overreaching my faux power.