Hey again. Wow...Akiko's the only one that reviewed...I don't know whether to be honoured or insulted. Anyways, here's the second chapter of Mind's Eye, if any of you care.
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(return to the flashback)
"Don't try to remember, my friend. Not yet. Let's find the way to your office first," said Master Hama.
"But I...I think..." the man tried to say.
"Don't think of anything but the task ahead of you. Now, left or right?" she asked.
"...Left. Why won't you let me tell you my name?" asked the man. For a short while, it was silent, as they walked down the road. They passed a fruit vendor, and Master Hama bought them both apples, which they ate wordlessly. Once she finished, she turned to him.
"Do you want to get stronger or not?" she asked.
"Well yes, of course, otherwise I wouldn't have come with you...but what purpose does keeping my identity secret from you serve?" he asked.
"Quite a big one, I'm afraid. If you can't tell me your name, then there's no way you can get any confirmation from me. Anything - a name, a person, anything could bring back memories that might stop you from becoming stronger. I have to keep you in the dark for no. That will make it exponentially easier, no, scratch that, it will make it possible to reach your dormant psynergy, if my senses are correct," she said.
"But Master Hama...what good is the strength you claim I will have if I don't even know who I am?" asked the man.
"All will be revealed to you in good time," she said. As she looked ahead, she noticed that the man had led them directly to the agency, and in record time. "Impressive. Now, you must promise me you won't ask anyone to confirm your identity, or it will be much harder to find anything within you, and that's not a good thing at all. Wait here, and if anyone approaches you, tell them not to tell you your name. Understood?"
"Yeah, sure. I can't know my own name. Got it," he said, cynically.
"Get off it, we can figure it all out later, at the temple. You just have to be patient for now," With that, she walked into the agency, and asked to see Mr. Kraden.
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Hama looked around the room. A picture of the man she had been going with and another, aging man fishing on the Karagol caught her eye. The aging man appeared to be laughing as the younger man wrestled with a Man o' War. She looked over to the desk and focused her attention entirely to the man at the desk. "Mr. Sam Kraden, I presume?" she asked.
"That would be me, miss. Anything I can help you with?" asked Kraden in reply. Master Hama noticed immediately by his accent that he must have come from around the middle Gondowan region - probably a Tolbian citizen by birth. Of course, she could've just read his mind, but she decided against it. There was really no point to doing so.
She fidgeted for a second. What's he thinking? I'd read his mind, but I don't wanna reveal myself to be an Adept right off unless I absolutely have to. He might have the dormant psynergy that would allow him to see me doing so. "Well...uh...my name is Hama, and I'm a martial arts instructor from the nearby Lama Temple. I was at the hospital when your employee was brought in, and I saw great potential in him to gain strength. You'll have to forgive me for not using his name, since he may be nearby," said Hama.
Kraden furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why would that be a problem, Miss Hama?" he asked in reply.
"One's inner strength is sometimes blocked by memories...sorrow, anger, happiness...anything can keep someone from becoming strong. If he was to hear his name, memories might return. He might not completely master his true strength. He'd be too soft to fight against Shotan. Surely you understand how imperative that is," she said, calmly.
"Yes, yes of course. We can't let him go soft on us now. Too many lives are at stake," he replied, shaken a bit.
She smiled inwardly, but kept the same calm demeanor as she began with. "So then you'll allow him leave?" she asked.
"I'm afraid I have no choice. What should I do about other raiders in the meantime though?" asked Kraden.
"There was a young man named Ivan in town looking for a detective job. I told him about this place, and he said he'd come by later. He's not from around Altin though. He comes from Bilibin, actually," she said.
"I see. Thank you, Miss Hama. Good day," said Kraden.
"Thank you, sir. We should be back in a couple of months, three at most. Take good care of Ivan - he'll be very beneficial to the detective work around here, I'm sure of it," Hama said, and left quietly.
"Very beneficial...? What do you mean, beneficial? How are you sure?" he asked, though Hama made no reply but a silent walk out the door.
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"So what'd he say?" asked the man.
"You've been granted leave. Now let's go and get some food. We'll probably not reach Xian, much less the temple, by nightfall, and we'll more than likely be hungry," she replied.
~***~
Aye...if only I could've better predicted a way to write a good long chapter...I don't wanna do the "they did this, they did that, they did this" to keep my story going longer, so I'll have to cut off here for today. Maybe I can get some more inspiration for this from playing FFTA? I already got some...for later chapters...MUCH later chapters. Um, Nagrarok!!!
Felix: Would'ja QUIT with the Nagrarok stuff? That's just a sword...an FFTA sword. Not a psynergy!!!
GACK!!! NO MUSE!!! NOT HERE!!! GO AWAY!!!
Felix: But, but...
NO!!! ...Oh yeah, and I wasn't PLANNING on making it a psynergy...but who knows now?
Felix: *facevaults* *goes over to a corner and curls up into a fetal position* *begins rocking back and forth violently* My life is over, over, over, my life is over, I am going to die… *repeats it several times*
NO!!! That's HILTZ'S phrase!!! Remember?! The Christmas fic back in the Zoids section? The one that had REVIEWS?! Aw, whatever. Later.