CHAPTER 8
I Need To Know
Maija awoke, sucking air into her lungs. She had slept so heavily it felt almost as if she had been dead. Clambering to her feet, her head felt light from the sudden influx of air she had brought in. She tripped over a box on the ground and fell forwards, catching herself against the opposite wall so suddenly her back cracked, relieving tension that had been building up for who knows how long.
Gasping in as she slowly picked herself back up, Maija gently rubbed her lower back, rolling her shoulders. She couldn't remember the last time she had gotten so good a sleep, feeling rejuvenated and awake. Ready to take on anything. Rays of morning sunlight cut through the cracks in the ship's metal plating, casting golden slits of warmth across her toned skin, pink with sunburns.
But everything came crashing back in like a tsunami ready to wreck a building standing as strong as stone (not that Maija should know what a tsunami really is, her mind being too tired to question it…) She grabbed onto it, those memories, locked them up, put them up on a shelf hidden deep within her mind, higher than what even she could reach. It was no longer a battle for vengeance. It was one for survival. Maija had no friends. No family. No father. She never had. And she was going to kill Kaius and every one of his men and lay their carcasses out for the mantas. No one was going to stand in her way. No one was going to stop her.
She would make sure of it.
Slowly, carefully stepping out from the bottom of deck of her ship, Maija peeked up at the island at which it had been docked at. Trees of mostly green blocked out the sky, trunks of brown and white, some tree's dotting the forest canopy with orange or red blooms of color. The ship sat in a clearing; some leaves knocked free by the breeze came to rest along its deck.
The amount of color that filled Maija's eyes would have surprised her. Her entire life had been clouded by a brownness that dulled every color behind a tint of yellow. Greens and blues of all shades were foreign to her, known only to her by the color of the pigments she bought and sold.
She would have been surprised by them, overwhelmed almost, by the color, the coolness of the breeze and its wetness, how it almost soothed the sunburns across her arms and shoulders, the morning sunshine warming her all up again. Maija would have allowed herself to rest again, sit along the front edge of the ship, letting her legs dangle off the side. Feeling the weight of gravity pull her feet down, curling her toes, rubbing them into the grass. Grass so soft unlike the dead brown grass she had always known. She would have let herself do those things if it weren't so calm.
Too calm. Everything seemed to have exploded around Maija in the past few days. The calmness felt real, tangible. As if it were as forceful as the wind blowing through Maija's hair- which she had worked out of a ponytail in her sleep. It rang in her ears, skittered across her skin. The calm made her anything but calm.
She jumped down from the ship, landing hard. Wind rustled leaves. Crickets and bugs fluttered somewhere in the grass. Maija watched flocks of mantas floating overhead. Everything was surreal and completely unbelievable. Maija reached for her back, realized her bow had long been taken before grabbed at her hip for a pistol. But nothing was there. No gun, no holster, no defense.
Maija stepped forwards, taking long and silent steps, coming towards the edge of the island. Except it wasn't the only island nearby. The island Maija was standing on was a collection of three, oblong masses of stone hanging miles above the void and strung together by thick green vines and roots. Built into the island's side and hanging off its edges were stone buildings clearly constructed after Foundation's time.
People. People everywhere walked along bridges linking every island together. Some ran along pathways, others talking with friends in front of doorways and aboard small wooden ships. Maija was taken aback. No people were dressed the same. No race of people was excluded.
"This is what you call unity," Luke said. Maija yelped, ducking and twisting around. "This is unity. Not what New Unity is looking for."
"What is this place?" Maija asked, her heart racing from Luke's scare, whether he had done it on purpose or not. "Why did you take my gun?"
Luke smiled, looking past Maija. "This is Cliffside. This is our place."
Maija turned to the left, hearing footsteps from that direction. A woman was walking towards them, her hair a fiery orange, tied into two braids down her back. She wore a green poncho. Maija backed away, clenching her hands into fists.
The woman stopped, looking up at Luke. "This is her I'm guessing."
Luke nodded once, "Yeah. She's a little more… difficult than we had first expected."
"That's not going to be a problem, is it?"
"Can we please stop this," Maija said, holding her hands out. "Stop talking to me like I'm not here. I agreed to come with you so tell me what's going on."
Luke laughed, something Maija did not expect. "You got it. Maija, Kyra. Kyra Maija. Let's continue."
"Why are we here?" Maija asked, putting as much force into her words as she could. "We need to go after Kaius."
Luke rubbed his face with both his hands, then pushed them through his hair. "We do but not yet. You need to meet Nadia. Everything will be explained then. Kaius's plan is extensive. Now that you're here, we can start to develop one of our own."
"We can't, there's not enough time," Maija shouted, stretching her fingers out and clenching them back again. "We need to go now. I need to go."
Luke stepped towards her, whispering. "Listen Maija, we know Kaius can track with impeccable skill. We don't know how he does it. But for now, you are safe with us. And we can't go in running and gunning or it will only end badly. Please…" He looked down at her, brows risen. "Trust me."
Maija slouched, letting the tension from her arms. She sighed. "Where is she? Nadia?"
Kyra smiled, "Follow us."
Luke and Kyra led Maija along the side of the island and to a set of stone stairs, walking side by side, Maija trailing behind them. They stepped down to a bridge that connected to another island and along a platform, running below the island they had just been standing on.
Maija watched them. Luke nudged Kyra's arm with his elbow, stooping down and whispering something in her ears. A smile formed on his face as her face flushed red, Kyra fighting hard to hide a smile. He whispered something again, inaudible to Miaja. Kyra failed at stifling a laugh, then jabbed her elbow to his side, scolding him, telling him to stop. Playfully.
Maija ignored them. They were now heading towards a building centered in the middle of the three islands. Because each island was off center, the build ended up lying along the edge of the largest island. It was the largest and made from the whitest stone. It was the most well put together and shaped most "house-like" of the structures around it. Others being boxes and other shapes- their only connecting feature to a house being four walls, a floor and a ceiling.
It had taken Maija this long to notice that Luke and Kyra both had grappling hooks attached to their arms. They used it to cross the gap between the ledge they were walking along and the front of the center building. Maija followed cautiously, getting more and more used to the grappling hook every time she used it.
They stopped at the entrance.
"Ready?" Luke asked. Maija nodded. "Before you go in, just know… you aren't going to like a lot of what you're going to hear. Please, just work with us. We have your best interests at heart. And the interests of the entire world."
Maija rolled her eyes and pushed past them, "Just let me in."
She stepped into a cold room all made from texture-less, white stone. It was all lit by a blue light attached to the ceiling. The room was empty beside a round table sitting in its center. Several people were crowding around a woman sitting at the far end of the table. She was dark skinned with black hair to match. Everyone in the room were speaking in whispers, too distracted to notice Maija.
She cleared her throat.
Everyone went quiet, the men and women facing the door looking up at her. The woman at the table smiled. "Maija."
The room erupted into chatter. Everyone looking at Maija, whispering amongst themselves. Some asking whether this was really Maija. Some confirmed, others didn't believe. Someone smirked at her, others glared at her in disbelief.
Maija scowled. Her face turning red. "Stop it. Stop this! Tell me what's going on."
The woman stood as Luke and Kyra stopped behind Maija. Nadia. Maija knew it. "I hate to welcome you like this Maija, but we are all happy you're here. You have been found to be somewhat of a… myth in our group, I apologize."
"What do you mean a myth?"
Nadia stopped, glanced at the others in the room. They all met her gaze one by one before turning and leaving the room. Luke and Kyra were the last there before they left as well, the door closing behind them.
She sighed quickly, smiling at Maija. "I'm sorry about them. This is not how you would ideally be welcomed to Cliffside. Like anything about this situation is ideal."
"Skip this."
Nadia frowned, her face looking sad. "You appeared into the world nineteen years ago. We don't know how, and we don't know from where. Kaius has been conflicting with Cliffside for long before this. Luke was the first to notice you while on a scouting mission- you likely wouldn't remember him. Kaius quickly followed. That's when relations with him became more violent as he pushed harder and harder to have you. We still do not know why. We've infiltrated his men and sent spies into his army, but he refuses to tell even the closest to him why he wants you and only you. Despite this, they still follow him with the upmost loyalty. We cannot let you fall into his hands. Which is why we are urging you to join us so furiously."
Maija stepped back. All the information being blurted out at her overwhelmed her, she almost missed half of it.
Nadia continued. "Now, listen closely." She paused, letting Maija absorb everything she had been told. "You want information. You want to know your own origins. You were brought into this world miraculously. Some people don't believe this. Some of the more… superstitious variety question your purpose and your motives. Kaius has the answers you seek. You must not go to him to find out. We will take him down, then you will get those answers yourself, along with our help if you so need it. Please Maija, we need to work together on this. Kaius wants you very badly. Keeping you away from him will give us just what we need to put him down."
She paused. "So, we think."
"So you think? You want me to take your word on a 'so we think?'" Maija shook her head. "Risk my life?"
Naida sighed, resting her elbows on the table, palming her head. "Yes. I'm sorry I must ask you this. But there is no out running Kaius. Not alone."
"I can try."
She looked up, meeting Maija's gaze. "But you won't last long."
No one spoke for a few minutes, the silence stretching for almost an infinity. Maija took the time to process what she had just been told. It hadn't been her imagination- a break in her memory. She had appeared, from nowhere, into the world. Why? From where? It had been just confirmed to her that only Kaius had the answers. She would gain nothing from being here. But still, Maija knew Nadia was right. Kaius would never let her go. She could run, but she could not hide.
"What do you want me to do?" Maija's voice contrasting loudly against the room's quietness. "Fight Kaius? Hang back and watch? Find out what he wants with me?"
Nadia sighed a sigh of relief. She smiled at her, warmly. "Thank you. The thing we need to watch most carefully, is your safety. You'll hang back here but don't worry Maija, you will get what you want. We will find out where you came from and destroy Kaius in the process. Only then, will you be finally free."
Maija nodded back, turning her face down to her hands. Nadia stood and moved toward the door. "I'll give you some time alone. I know you've just been told a lot."
She waited until the door closed, keeping her eyes closed until the sound reached her ears. Maija stood straight, turning around, her face hardening. For the moment, she was alone. There was no way she was going to go along with this plan. Maija was going to kill Kaius herself after she had pulled every piece of information out of him. She was going to do that. Not anyone else. Now, all she needed was a way off this island. A way to him. And a way to convince him that she was on his side, even momentarily.
Somehow, scattered in Maija's thoughts, the pieces started to drift together. He didn't want Maija for anything she could provide physically- well- she could think of a few things but didn't let that go too far. Kaius wanted her for something in her mind. He had asked her what had made her special. "My memory" was a satisfactory response. There was locked away behind the mental wall blocking away her memory that Kaius wanted. He killed hundreds from the islands Maija had been to, but never got the strike on her. She was still living. She didn't believe he was a man who just let that happen without purpose.
Maija needed to go to him. Commit herself over to him. He would finally give answers to her. Then, she would kill him.
Maija left the room, Luke immediately behind the closed door. She jumped, heartrate spiking. She really wished she hadn't been startled so easily. It was starting to become inconvenient.
"A little jumpy are we," Luke said. "Maybe the stress?"
"I'm not stressed."
"Oh please."
Maija stepped passed him, retracing her path right back to her ship, docked where she had left it. The sun had risen farther in the sky, it was almost midday now. Luke chased after her, Kyra nowhere to be seen.
"It's something that's bothered me my whole life," Maija forced herself to say to Luke who kept pace beside her, her face burning with embarrassment. She had never spoken about herself to anyone and was beyond uncomfortable with it. "I'm… easily frightened."
Luke didn't reply immediately, pondering. "Where are we headed?"
"I'm heading to my ship," Maija said, now climbing up the harsher dirt side of the island, leading up to the top where she could see the tips of her ship's masts. "You're going back to wherever you came from."
"Wow…" Luke stopped in his tracks, looking up at Maija with a clearly exaggerated look of sadness on his face. He followed after her either way.
"At least let me show you around. I know these circumstances aren't ideal, but we can at least pretend to act a little normal," Luke called up to Maija who had started boarding her ship, hoisting herself up the side, momentarily forgetting the usefulness of her grappling hook.
"Nothing's normal anymore," Maija shouted back, getting increasingly more annoyed at Luke's presence. She just wanted off this island. Maija sat at the edge of her ship, Luke below her. He had now a puzzled look on his face as he looked up at Maija, as if he was trying to solve her. She sighed, rubbed her temples with her fingertips, then shrugged, "Fine. Show me around. But make it quick."
A smile lit up Luke's face as Maija hopped back off her ship. Even if she wanted to leave, it was clear that she couldn't, not yet. It would be best to familiarize herself with this island and what it had to offer. She didn't even have a weapon anymore. An armory would be an ideal place for Luke to show her. Better yet an armory with several bows to pick from.
He led her back down to the main area, crowded buildings with people everywhere. There really weren't that many people but in such a tight space, it felt like there were more. Maija didn't like it. She felt as if everyone was looking at her- which in most every other circumstance was all just her paranoid imagination- because now they were. Everywhere Maija looked, someone looked away from her, caught staring. Others whispered to themselves, casting side glances over at Maija who tried her best to ignore it. This whole island knew exactly who she was, and she did not like it. She did not like it at all.
They reached a building much like the rest, built from white stone shoved into the island's rocky side. There was a wooden sign hanging off a door with a crude drawing of what Maija could only guess was a bowl with steam rising from it. Food.
The realization sent Maija's stomach growling. They stepped in, surprisingly no aroma coming to meet her. The room was quiet and empty, but no doubt a kitchen of sorts. The back wall was lined with countertops made from stainless steel, stone ovens and wooden cutting boards, meats of all kinds hung in a room behind an open doorway. The rest of the room was filled with wooden tabletops and chairs around them, at least nine tables, eight chairs to a table. With some basic math, Maija guessed there was no more than seventy-two people on this island. Unless others opted into eating their dinner elsewhere.
"This is where we eat which I'm sure you guessed already," Luke said. "It looks big right now but believe me, the room seems to shrink once all of Cliffside is gathering, mouths drooling. Follow me."
He walked around to the backside of the room, weaving in between the tables which were randomly scattered across the floor, Maija followed. He opened a wooden cabinet in the kitchen, a dark, cold compartment lay behind it. Wooden on the outside, metal inside, this compartment was somehow cooled keeping food fresher for longer. Maija had never seen one before and already knew how helpful one might've been while traveling with Mahkai.
Shuffling through some of the contents, Luke pulled out a few ingredients and plopped them down on the countertop. A piece of dried meat, a few glass bottles of spices, and a small wooden bowl of sauce with a brush popping out underneath a clear, plastic like covering sealed over the top of the bowl.
Luke set the sauce and spices down and rested the dried meat inside an oven with several metal dials jutting from its stone front. Maija watched, skeptically confused.
"I didn't take you for much of a cook," she commented as Luke turned one of the knobs and fire lit the inside of the stove instantly, warming the meat sitting over it.
He laughed, "I'm not. Just making a snack."
Luke took the "snack" off the fire shortly after he finished speaking, setting it on a board. He reached for the sauce, taking the brush, and gently spreading it across the now warm, jerkyish, piece of meat. He seasoned it gently and ripped it in half, giving a piece to Maija.
"Eat it slow," he said as he took a nibble from his piece. "Lots of calories this thing has, enjoy it."
Maija cautiously took a bite. The meat was dry, but the sauce and spices distracted from it. Luke propped himself up atop the counter, putting the meat between his lips to let his hands grab the edge. "So, tell me. How does it feel to be the most sought-after woman in the entire world?"
She groaned. "No, I'm not doing this?"
Luke laughed again. "What do you mean? Doing what?"
"This. Small talk. You said you would show me around. No more."
He shrugged, "Fine. This is the kitchen. Moving on."
Luke got up and moved towards the door, Maija did what she felt she had been doing nothing but. She followed.
Next stop was the living area. Not too grand. Practically every building in the town was a tunnel deeper into the island, all housing areas to sleep and enjoy time together. Luke even showed Maija to a room he said she could stay in. It was small, undecorated with just a bed inside. Simple, how she liked it, but she knew already she wouldn't be spending a minute inside.
He showed her the top of the island, mostly covered in shipyards with ships of all kinds, shapes, and colors docked above them. Somehow, they had modified the attraction distance of the shipyards allowing the ship's above to latch on without needing to clear out an area for them, preserving hundreds of trees that dotted the island's top.
Maija found that detail a little thoughtful, she never seen trees of such color and health before. Everything she had known had been brown and dead. At least these trees had been given a chance to live and grow. Maija wondered if she would ever be given a chance to do just that. She never had.
They had stitchers and dyers used for making and cleaning up clothing items along with armors for tougher outfits. Scouts and resource collectors traveled to nearby islands and sectors, to collect goods and sell parts for a wealth the people of the island shared. The island was like its own little community, everyone had their part to keep the whole together. Maija liked the idea in concept. But the thought of her being anywhere a part of the system turned her away immediately. She had always been on her own, to fend for herself. She had done every task that each separate group of people did on this island on her own and she got by on many occasions. It hadn't seemed like the greatest life at the time, but it was free of worry. Not dependent on anyone else.
The last stop was her favorite. The armory. Just as she had hoped for. Located at the very top of the loneliest island, hidden within an old-world ruin, the armory was stocked with every kind of tool or weapon imaginable. Knifes of every size, cleavers, machetes, swords, maces, spears, javelins, bludgeons. Guns with just as many varieties, pistols, handguns, semi-automatic rifles, shotguns, hunting rifles and even harpoons and hand cannons. Maija couldn't imagine wielding one of those latter weapons while using a grappling hook.
And her favorite. It had been too long since she had held a bow of any kind even though it really had only been a few days. Maija immediately gravitated towards a series of black recurve bows all sitting in a row on a wooden rack against the back wall of the room. She picked up the first gently as if it would break with any movement although its sharp, reddish colored wooden limbs told a very different story. This bow was stronger than any she could have ever made herself. Made from cedar.
She put her hands in position, ignoring Luke's gaze, and pulled the bowstring back, feeling the tension, the power as the limbs bent back. Her arms were sore, weak from being so out of practice. Even though it had been a few days, shooting a gun or wrestling hand to hand worked different muscles than it did when using a bow.
She let her pull on the bow ease, turning towards Luke who nodded, smiling. "Help yourself- but" he rose a hand up towards her, "don't go around advertising a let you in here. I was told not to show you this place."
Maija frowned, confused, but still taking the opportunity to slip her arm between the bow and the string, letting it hug snuggly to her chest. Along with the bows, there were several different kinds of quivers made from cloth and leather, some attaching to the back, others to the hip which Maija preferred. "Why shouldn't I be told?"
Luke looked down at her, a sarcastic smile painted on his face. "Please, take a guess."
"You're afraid I might run away." Maija grabbed a quiver stuffed full of arrows and hung it to her belt before Luke had the chance to stop her.
"We all are. We tried to keep the rumors to the minimum but in nineteen years, a lot gets out. Everyone is wondering what your motives are and where you even come from. My logic is, if you're inevitably going to leave, might as well equip you beforehand, so it isn't…totally my fault."
Maija glared at him, adjusting the glove covering her right hand, "Sparing yourself from guilt?"
Luke grimaced, "More or less."
By the time they left the armory, the sun had started to fall in the sky, Maija completely unaware how much time had passed since that morning. And no sign of New Unity on the horizon. So far, Kaius had yet to find her.
"Supper's to be served soon," Luke said, watching the sun dip below the endless horizon, no landmass or water to block the view. Maija had always wondered what a sunset might have looked like on an island so large there was no end. The people of Foundation called that a planet. "You should join us."
Maija sighed, looking down at the ground. She really didn't want to. Association with anyone but herself was completely unwanted for her but at the same time… something inside told her to just go.
Get food, see what it's like, then you can leave.
Test this place out before you completely write it off.
Besides, do you really want to eat nothing but berries again tonight?
"Fine. But if anyone looks at me sideways…" Maija pulled an arrow from her quiver and pointed its sharp metal head at Luke's clearly humored face.
He put his hands in the air, far above his head and widened his eyes, "Oh please no, I'm sorry. No threats please. I swear it will be fine."
She followed him back to the island's center.
Somehow, Luke held up on his word. He and Maija entered a crowded dining room and ate dinner with Kyra without anyone noticing them. She seemed to have blended right in. She hadn't spoken much and after a far larger meal than the snack she had been given before, Maija snuck out and made her way back to her ship which sat quiet, lonely above the treetops. She climbed aboard and sat at the bow, looking over her shoulder at the front of the cabin.
Blood stained the metal about three feet from the deck. Her blood. Maija had managed to ignore the stinging pain in her hand, but the sight of the blood brought it all back. The bleeding had stopped but there was still a hole about the size of the tip of her thumb right in the middle of her right palm, piercing through her leather glove.
That moment had been forgotten about. Most of it at least. Maija had locked it up and hid, not letting it get in the way. But a part of those few seconds only brought more questions to her mind. For only one moment, Kaius hadn't looked strong or confident. For the first time, he looked concerned, worried. Why?
What did he want with her? The question rung in her mind, but she had answered that question herself already, hadn't she? In her own words even.
"My memory," she softly said to herself while gently running her fingers across the wound she refused to let heal.
Her memory, or lack thereof, was the key to why Kaius wanted her and in turn, why Cliffside wanted to keep her away from him. She needed to know. It had already been confirmed to her by Nadia. Kaius knew. He knew where Maija had come from and what lay beyond the void and emptiness her memory had kept secret from her for so long. Kaius had the knowledge to give to her. Maija needed it. She needed to know. But there was only one way to do it.
It hadn't been hard to dye her clothes black. Luke had given her the means to do it and she stepped back out into the darkness with the same clothes she had been wearing before only the deep and vibrant red coated over by slate. She also had attached a hood to the back of her shirt which she pulled over her head, keeping her face and hair hidden in a cloak of darkness. She was practically invisible during nighttime if it weren't for the bow on her back made from a lightish red wood.
Her heart beat hard in her chest as if she was a little kid doing something wrong, fearing being caught. She had no reason to feel this way. Maija was her own woman, able to do what she pleased. These people weren't holding her back, but they also had made it clear that they wanted her to stay. Maybe that's what was getting to her. They were all friendly people, but Maija still couldn't get herself comfortable with them. Maybe when this was all over.
As she was just heading back to her ship, quiver loaded with arrows, bag hanging from her shoulder stocked with supplies, Maija heard footsteps coming from her right. Rustling of grass and leaves, someone was there. Using a swiftness she hadn't been used to in a while, Maija whipped the bow from her back, nocked an arrow and pulled the string far back, pushing the back of her wrist against her cheek. She aimed at a shadow in the darkness. A shadow of a person. Larger than her, a man, with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Don't try to stop me, Luke."
"I wasn't planning on it."
"Then why are you here?"
Luke stepped out from the darkness, his face becoming just a little bit more visible. He looked… disappointed.
"I won't try to stop you. I won't even try to convince you. I know that it is impossible. I know you don't want to hear this, but I've known you for as long as you've known yourself. This isn't going to go well for you."
Maija ignored him, letting her pull on the bowstring slack enough for her to release it without firing the arrow. She climbed aboard her ship, Luke following slowly behind until she stood far above, looking down at him.
"Think about what you're doing Maija," he said, his voice barely audible from this distance. "It's not worth changing who you are to find out who you were. You'll be chasing to understand a person that has already been long dead."
She kept ignoring him, not letting his words have any effect on her. Maija stepped up to the ship's helm and unlocked it from the shipyard, it now slowly lifting away from the island's top. Luke watched from below. Finally, she had risen high enough from the island to engage the ship's engines.
Before she did though, Maija looked down at Luke, overcome by a guilt that almost seemed wrong for her to feel. "I'm sorry. I need to know."
She didn't know if Luke had heard her or not, he didn't move, hadn't shown any sign or reaction from her words. Maija pushed the engine's throttle forwards and slowly moved away from Cliffside, gaining more speed, leaving faster. Towards Kaius.
