Chapter 4
The
Journey Begins
Beep, beep, beep, beep! Beep, beep, beep,
beep! Beep, beep- "Ugh!" I awoke
halfway off my bed
that morning and feeling weak. I brushed my weakness away
and
turned my attention to the alarm clock. "At least it's
Saturday," I
thought to myself as I turned off the annoying
alarm clock. Then I
remembered what had happened the night
before. "Was that real? Am I truly a
shaman or was it all a
dream?" I sat in bed for a while thinking about it.
"Nah.
It couldn't have been true. Could it?" I said to myself as I
stretched. My stomach growled in response making me realize how
hungry I
was. "I guess its time for breakfast." I
jumped off my bed and ran to my
closet to pick out something to
wear. "This should do." I said as I pulled
out a black
long-sleeved shirt with red-orange flames coming up from the
bottom
to about the middle of the shirt and dark navy blue jeans.
I got
changed quickly and walked to the top of the staircase when, all of a
sudden, I heard voices coming from the kitchen. At first I
thought it was
just mom and dad's voices, but, as I listened, I
heard another strong male
voice. I slowly crept down the stairs
and to the doorway to the kitchen. I
quietly eavesdropped on
their conversation still thinking that all of this
shaman
business was just a dream. I was wrong. "Shiva, what are you
doing
here?" I heard my dad say. "I have come to inform
you that you must tell
Zeke about his powers. The shaman
tournament will be starting soon, and it
could be a good thing
for the world if he entered into it." "Why's that?" my
mom asked. "Because he was born unusually strong. If you
train him
correctly, he has an excellent chance of becoming the
next Shaman King. Of
course, this is just a theory. However, if
we train him to fight for the
right reasons, and he wins, our
world will be saved." "I see," my dad said
quietly.
"There's only one problem." "What's that?" the
man called Shiva
said. I think he might already have found out.
All I know is that if he
finds out that he truly is a shaman, he
will become upset" my mom said.
"How did he find out?"
My parents looked down sadly. Only my mom had the
courage to
speak. "You see, he.he caused a fire in the school down the
street, but when we came to look for him, he was gone. I think
someone
might have told him the truth." My eyes widened. I
couldn't believe it!
It was all true! I couldn't take anymore.
The room started spinning and I
collapsed. My parents and guest
heard a thud from outside and found me.
"Oh no" my mom
said under her breath. "He heard us." Shiva walked over to
me and checked my pulse. "That's not all. He seems
exhausted. Both his
shamanistic and humanistic strength are weak.
I think the smart thing to do
is let him rest." He lifted me
and brought me to my bed. He laid me gently
on my bed and turned
to my parents. My mother had a worried expression.
"He'll be
okay, Mrs. Asakura." My mother sighed in relief.
A few days
later I woke up feeling unusually weak. I tried getting up but I
found it particularly difficult. My mom walked over to me gently
putting
her hand on my shoulder. "You should stay in bed.
You're still a little
weak." "Mom?" I said as she
gently laid me down again. "Yes, honey?" "All
that
stuff Shiva said was wrong right? I mean, I'm not really a shaman
with
a special gift am I?" My mother sighed. "Zeke,
please understand this. We
never meant to hurt you when we
refused to tell you about it. We were just
trying to protect you.
But, yes, it's all true." I stared at her both
horrified and
angered. "Why," I said under my breath. "What, Zeke?"
"Why!" I said louder. "Why would you keep
something like this from me!
All these years I never knew who I
really was, and it turns out I didn't
know because you never told
me!" My mom looked a little frightened. "Zeke,
we were
trying to protect you!" she yelled. "From what! Myself!"
She
looked down, tears in her eyes. "No.We.we didn't want
you to get hurt."
"Oh so you wait 10 years before you
tell me and then expect everything to be
fine and dandy!" I
said angrily. My mother was in tears. "I'm sorry," she
sobbed, "We didn't mean for you to get upset. We're sorry."
"Well I think
it's a little too late for apologies," I
said as I began getting up. I
turned and began walking to the
door. My mother ran over to me and put her
hands around my
shoulders. I stopped. "Please, Zeke, don't leave," she
said, tears streaming down her face. I turned to face her, gently
taking
her hands off my shoulders. "I'm sorry," I said
softly. "No," my mother
sank to her knees. I turned
once again to the door and left.
"Well, well, well," a
figure in a tree said quietly. Unknowingly to me, he
was a shaman
who had heard all that Shiva had said and now knew that I was
by
myself. "We can't let all that power go to waste, can we?"
he said to
himself. He evilly chuckled under his breath. "Zeke,
your journey has only
just begun." And he was right.
