Chapter 25
Day 55
"Here's your score Blue, a B" Searcher Red gave a piece of paper that has a red alphabet.
"What?" Maya took the paper. "I swear that I could at least get a flat A on the quiz."
"Well apparently you didn't." Red put his hands on his waist. "You glanced over a few questions, getting a bit cocky eh?"
"Ughh, I hate the small mistakes." She put down the paper. "Alright Maya, you'll get the A next time."
"Now that's the right mentality." Red pointed at her.
Searcher Red moved away from Maya's desk and went to the blackboard. He took the chalk and started writing on the empty board. "Alright Blue, summarise the previous lesson that we discussed."
The Blue Siren went to her notebook and skimmed a few pages. She found the page that she desired and read it quickly. "Last time we learned that most of the teaching that we are referring to is from The Siren Society. The Siren Society is the main capital of Terra Hewina, the planet where most Siren came, the home of Hewina and Sirenos themselves. That is the place where most Siren lived and flourished."
"Good." Red continued writing a blackboard. "Any questions on that?"
"What happened to the planet? I mean, shouldn't Siren and Searcher take base there."
"Well if we could, we would." Red put the last dot on the blackboard, he glanced over Maya and lectured. "The only problem, the planet is no longer there."
"What happened?!?" Shocked Maya.
"I coined it as The Stoppage." Red crossed his arms. "At one point in time, everything about Terra Hewina just vanished. I don't know how long it has been, when it happened, how it happened, but what I do know it happened. The records suddenly vanished, everything about The Siren Society suddenly gone, the things that you and I read Maya, most of them are 3rd party accounts. Even Sirens like you, don't know that Terra Hewina even existed."
"So how do you know so much about Sirens Red?" Maya asked.
"Well I was paid to do so at first, I worked for Maliwan Corporation at the age of eighteen in the Intelligence Department." Red told. "Since I liked to read about Sirens, the corporation gave me all the resources I needed to research them. And trust me, even as big as Maliwan is, my sources were not much. After Kharkov and I met and became Searchers, my second source was Host Akari. Then came The Academia, the library really helped fleshing things out."
"What does Host Akari say about The Stoppage?"
"Nothing. She refused to talk to me about it. I asked her once about it but she just dodge the question."
"Maybe it was too much for her to handle?"
"Maybe." Red nodded. "But who knows, why don't you ask her personally, since you're a Siren, maybe she opens up to you. Alright, time to talk about Siren Hierarchy."
Searcher Red moved towards the blackboard and wrote on it. Maya, an avid student, quickly took her book and held her pen. Teacher and student; ready to begin their session for the day.
"So there's four ranks of the Siren Hierarchy, you could call it a Siren Pyramid if you like." Red draws a triangle and divides into floors. "Each Siren has their own respective responsibility and such and such. We talked about Majoris and Minoris which is?"
Searcher Red stopped writing and looked at Maya. The student answered. "Sirens who have more power in them and definitely a Siren. And lesser Sirens who are more human but have the potential to become a Siren Majoris."
"Well put." Red continued to write. "The Siren Society is just like any civilization, it has its own tax system, culture and beliefs. They put ranks on a Siren so that a Siren has more administrative power in the society. You can be a minoris but most of the time, Majoris held these power positions. How can you get these positions? Be more knowledgeable. The more knowledgeable you are, the higher the position.
"The first rank is a Learned Siren. A Learned Siren is like you Maya, committed her life for the Siren race. To learn, to live and to die for your race. A Learned Siren has two subranks, a Senior Learned and a Junior Learned."
"So I'm a Learned Siren?" Maya asked.
"You are. I think Junior Learned would be proper for you." Red pointed out. "If you pass Learned, you would be a scholar or Scholari based on the offical name. To be Scholari, a Siren must achieve at least one mastery of the basic subjects. Which is?"
"Nomine', Nonua and Naraane." Maya answered. "The mind, the heart and the body."
"Correct." Red nodded. "If a Scholari can master all three subjects, not a simple feat might I add, she can achieve the rank of Aldari or elder in the english tongue. Now, a Sholari needs to master one subject. An Aldari needs total mastery of all three, meaning without a shadow of doubt, she knows what she knows and then some. Mastery and total mastery are two different things. Master is to know the subject completely. Total Mastery is to know it fully and capable of expanding the subject."
"Woahh." Maya was amazed.
"The fourth and final rank." Searcher Red highlighted the top floor of the pyramid. "Nia Hewina. To translate from the Siren Language of Old, Hewina's Incarnate or Host of Hewina. This is more complicated and somewhat politically malleable. It is the matriarch of The Siren Society, meaning the head of the whole Siren race so to be Nia Hewina is difficult. One, the Aldari must elect among themselves who is fit for the said position. Two, the husband of Nia Hewina must be stronger in a way like Sirenos himself. Three, the people must be confident of the newly elected Nia Hewina."
"If the conditions are not met?" Maya asked.
"Then they have to go through the same process over and over. Until one is elected." Red looked at Maya. "Four positions, all have conditions. Learned, Scholari, Aldari, Nia Hewina."
Maya had no words to speak of. She was like a lowly servant who'd received revelation. In awe.
Day 59
The waterfalls of Tretho were breathtaking. Searcher Kharkov had meant it literally as he instructed Maya to climb the cliffs beside the waterfalls. Maya was clinched to any cranny that she could grasp on. Kharkov was under her, following behind while looking after her. With great challenge, she moved one hand and leg synchronously, raising a few inches at a time. She was tempted to look down, to see how far she had climbed. Maya moved her head just slightly so she could see down at the edge of her vision, yet every time, Searcher Kharkov warned very clearly.
"Don't look down Maya!" Kharkov warned. "You can stop whenever you need to but never look down!"
Maya stopped and closed her eyes, breathing through her mouth while hoping to stay still. She shook her head and looked up, the top was still far away. She swallowed her throat in hopes to wet it, commanding her body to ascend another few inches. She reached another cranny but this time, her grip was all gone. With one hand slipped, the whole body was imbalanced and Maya fell away from the cliffs. Thankfully, Searcher Kharkov was there to grab her hand. She dangled across the air and when she looked down, she peed a drop of piss, not out of consent.
"Maya." Kharkov laughed. "Look at me, not the ground."
Maya moved her eyes to Kharkov and the smile on the man's face was ever there. Despite the elevation and tiresome journey, Kharkov was still happy and ready to go. Maya moved her other hand to grab hold of Kharkov, with ease, the man lifted the Siren up and placed her into a stable place. She grabbed hold of a rock and made sure her feet were stable and stuck to the cliff. Kharkov laughed again and patted her back, she anxiously held the rock while he did it. This was not the proper time to joke around. Especially when it involves great heights.
"Take your time… take your time. We still have a lot of daylight to go through, so don't worry my friend. Hahaha."
"Why are you…." Maya gasped for air. "How can you be so positive, Searcher Kharkov?"
"Positive?" It was odd for Kharkov. "I don't know Maya, it's just who I am."
"Well I'm kinda jealous right now with your attitude, you remind me of Sal." Maya mentioned. "He's just like you in a way."
"Really? Is he the Truxican midget?" Kharkov joke. "Am I that short?"
"Yup, you're just like him. Sal would always be upbeat no matter what the situation, he's never sad and at most, angry with a tremendous amount of enthusiasm."
"Really?" Kharkov nodded with curled lips. "Maybe I should drink with him when everything settles? Having new friends doesn't hurt."
Maya giggled. "Maybe you should."
"Remember Maya, when it comes to Naraane, it's all matter of when to push and when to rest." Kharkov said. "Push too much, you will fall. Rest too long and you will stay at the same place. What you want to always do is look up. That is your objective, that is the reward, that is the top. Never ever look down, because when you do, you doubt, when you doubt, you will never give your all. When you never give your all, in the long term, you will eventually fail and fall."
Kharkov pointed down and Maya looked. She gulped and clutched the rock even stronger. She looked up and breathed in.
"What if the top is not worth the pain?" Maya wondered. "What if the bottom is better than the top?"
"We are formed by the pain we endure, not the pleasure we indulge. Growth is fulfillment. And to grow you need to endure pain." Kharkov grinned. "Maybe the top is not worth it. Maybe you are destined to fall and stay at the bottom. But you have grown better than you were before. That is all that matters!"
"Growth…" Maya looked at Kharkov. "Then I think we need to get a move on shouldn't we?"
"Haha!" Kharkov laughed. "Davai! Davai!"
Day 64
"I'm ready." Maya said.
Listening to what her student has said, Akari smiled. "Ready to move on?"
"Ready to empty my mind, as for that part, I'm gonna settle it later." Maya breathed in. "Let's do it."
Akari nodded. The two Sirens sat down at the centre temple. They both held hands then closed their eyes. Maya was confident that she could do it, she has been practicing it many times and now it was time for her to empty her mind. She memorized the chants, memorized the state of mind she needed to be in, finally mustered the patience.
"Now, empty your mind." Akari told. "We're doing the same thing just like we used to."
"Yes, just like we used to." Maya breathed out.
They began their chants and repeated it over and over. Maya emptied her thoughts completely, a titanic task before but now the hard work was paying off. The only thing that she was thinking was the present. The now. Her Siren marks glowed blue and so was Akari but gold. The chants were mostly hums yet her body started to move ever so slightly. Maya could feel her powers vibrating, she could feel the nature around her, new sensations never before felt now clearly defined and apparent.
Her heartbeat was slow. Her senses heighten. Her powers were present yet the lust to use it was no longer there. It was odd. It was peaceful. It was tranquil.
Can you hear me Maya?
Host Akari?
Yes, it is me. It seems you finally achieved stability. You have finally emptied your thoughts and acknowledged your Nonua.
I have never been in such a state, I don't know what to say! This is awesome!
Calm down Little One, too much excitement can break your focus.
Oh sorry, my bad…
Tell me Little One, what do you feel right now.
I could sense your presence Akari, I could hear you without even hearing you if that makes sense…
And, do you see the other two?
The other two? Wait… I think I do feel it, is it Kharkov and Red?
Yes it is. Can you feel their presence?
I can! But unlike you, they don't have… I don't know how to say it… their flavour I guess?
That is for another session Little One, the fact that you can communicate with me is already a big step for you. There are many things for you to learn about Nonua, in time.
Oh my God! I can't wai-
Suddenly Maya returned back, no longer achieving the tranquility before. Her eyes shot open and she was shocked and disappointed.
"Ahh fuck!" Maya covered her face. "I mean… damn it!"
"Little One…" Akari giggled. "Didn't I say that too much excitement can break your focus?"
"Sorry… ughh.." Maya shook her head. "I have to do it again!"
"Yes you have to." Akari put her hands on Maya's shoulders. "But this time would be easier than before."