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Chapter 7: The Meaning of Truth
Carrying a lamp, Goio led Sara and Merlock down a timber staircase and into a large living room. The chairs and the center table were all intricately carved out of wood. The wall was of a dull xanthous color. Some portions of the wall contained sepia paintings of plants and cottages, giving it an ancient aura. The floor had a carpet with a red dragon design. When Goio put out his lamp's fire, the only thing that provided the place with light was a chandelier of candles suspended in the middle of the ceiling. A closed door was there as well. No other part of the house was visible from there, for the room seemed to be a solitary island floating in a sea of darkness.
"Stay put," Goio said sternly, motioning for Sara and Merlock to sit down, then he went into the shadows.
"Like the other keepers, Goio is not human," Merlock said.
"What made you deduce that?" asked Sara.
"No sound is produced by his footsteps," replied Merlock.
"So, what type of being is he?"
Before Merlock could answer, Goio returned. The gray-eyed held nothing else but a wooden box, which he put down on the center table. He opened it and took four darts in his right hand.
"Watch me," said Goio, causing Merlock and Sara to focus their attention on him.
Goio pressed his left palm against a wall. He stepped one foot backward, then positioned his right arm as if aiming at his left hand. He stretched his left arm, then slightly bent his torso backwards. He moved the fingers of his left hand until there are little spaces between each of them. He took a deep breath then shot the darts to the direction where his left hand was. A dart landed on the area between every finger, missing his flesh by micrometers.
"If your heart is pure and your words are true, harm will not come upon you," he said, removing the darts from the wall and storing them in the box.
"Do you mean you will test our honesty by making us place a hand on the wall, then you will be throwing darts? And then if a dart hits any part of our hands, you will say that we are not telling the truth?" Sara asked.
"Yours was a good guess, but then I shall not be the one to hurl darts. You need to toss darts to your own hand. And only one of you must do so," answered Goio as he folded his arms on his chest.
"That's downright ridiculous! One's integrity is not measured by how precise his aim is," she protested.
"If one is truthful, nothing should be bothering his conscience. Nothing must get in the way of his concentration. Therefore, he would not fail the test," replied Goio.
"What you said is merely your opinion," said Merlock.
Goio laughed aloud, his entire body shaking.
"Alright. You do not want to do what I instructed you to, thus you remain here. I shall not let you have the key," said Goio.
"You can't do this," Merlock said.
"Or so you think."
"You're unreasonable. You wear clothes of a ninja yet you don't act like one," said Merlock with a smirk.
"How dare you speak to me that way!" Goio said, once again picking up the darts.
Merlock posed for a fight as he realized that he would become the target of those darts.
"Stop!" Sara shouted as she stood between the two boys. "Goio, I'm willing to undergo the test."
"You're kidding," a wide-eyed Merlock said to her as he approached her and firmly laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm serious. Don't worry," she replied, touching the hand that was on her shoulder.
"Good. Well then, here you go," Goio said, handing the darts to Sara.
She quickly got the darts and pushed a hand onto the wall.
"Sara, please. I know you haven't done this in the past," Merlock said.
Sara ignored Merlock. She imitated the movements of Goio that she saw earlier when he did what she was about to do. But then, by the time she was on the moment of flinging the pointed objects at her skin, a knock on the door was heard.
"Sara, continue that later," Goio said as he turned the doorknob.
Merlock sighed with relief. Sara sat beside him. He bit his lip and with pressure ran a hand through her hair, almost hurting her. He did not say anything and his face was expressionless. Sara did not have the courage to mention any word to him as well.
Upon opening the door, Goio discovered that his visitor was a familiar boy with dark hair. Goio gestured that the boy enter the house and sit.
"What brings you here, Quergon?" questioned Goio.
"The thief is on the prowl again. This time, my diamond phoenix figurine was stolen," replied the boy.
"Of course he is! He has not been caught yet."
"But then he has been robbing the residents of their valuable heirlooms. Tonight, I was the victim. Since you are a skilled fighter, I believe you can help us."
"He hasn't taken anything from me so far. But once he does, I assure you that I'll hunt him down."
"Do you really have to wait until he walks off with something precious which belongs to you?"
"Quergon, calm down! I am a warrior. I do not attack anybody unless they commit a grave offense against me."
The conversation between Goio and Quergon was interminable for hours. Sara and Merlock were bored with Quergon droning unstoppably about the items that were taken by the thief since time immemorial and Goio trying to persuade Quergon that it would be alright. Also, Sara and Merlock were annoyed with Goio's attitude, the fact that the ninja did not introduce Quergon to them or vice versa. If he did so, they could at least join the dialogue, even casually, and would not be yawning beyond control.
Finally, Quergon nodded and stood. Goio gave him a thumbs-up sign. Quergon then exited through the door.
"You just perform the test tomorrow, okay? Damn, it is past midnight. I want to sleep now," Goio said to Sara as he took the darts from her.
"Okay, so where do Merlock and I spend the night?" asked Sara.
"I think the wooden sofa would be enough for you. After all, whoever told me that you can be trusted?" replied Goio, and then he swiftly left the living room.
"How rude. That vampire doesn't deserve to be addressed as one," said Merlock.
"Goio is a vampire? How sure are you?" Sara asked.
"I am pretty certain that my senses are not failing me," answered Merlock.
"I've got a hypothesis of my own."
"What do you mean?"
"I reckon Goio is the thief. I observed that he was not worried when his friend arrived with the bad news. A genuine warrior stands for what is just. Moreover, given the fact that his footsteps don't make a sound, add to that having vampire abilities, he will not be noticed whenever he steals. Also, his house is very dim. He must be hiding something, and that maybe is the reason why he wants us to sleep here instead of any other place. I bet he felt guilty after talking to Quergon that he suddenly wished to be alone," said Sara.
"It's rational," said Merlock, nodding.
"I wonder how we can have evidences for it."
"Search for the switches in this house?"
"What if there are none? What if all he has are candles and old lamps?"
"I'll reach for the candles of the chandelier."
Merlock mounted the center table and stretched his arms to grab a candle or so from the chandelier. As if on cue, the chandelier began to mysteriously swing from side to side, away from the extent of his fingers. He followed the movement by walking on the table, but then after a few minutes he lost balance and fell on the carpet.
"Ouch," he said.
"Merlock, are you okay?" asked Sara.
"I guess nothing is broken," he replied with a smile.
As he was getting to his feet, his elbow accidentally collided with the underside of the table. He was not hurt, but then it felt like he came in contact with a button. The darkness blessing the entirety of the house vanished and was replaced by white light from countless fluorescent bulbs.
"You did it, Merlock," Sara said, her eyes glowing.
"I am great," he said, running a hand through his lavender strands.
"Uh-huh. Now we explore this place," she said, rolling her eyes.
"Careful now, ninjas sleep with one eye open."
"Even vampire ninjas?"
"That . . . I don't know," he said, making Sara giggle.
The pair circled Goio's home and fumbled through his cabinets, finding out that they contained objects that were constructed out of rare metals and gems. They saw a diamond sculpture which looked like a bird with massive wings and a long tail.
"I think that's what Quergon spoke about earlier," said Sara.
"Behold. Goio, the ninja of truth. Or is he just a pathetic thief?" said Merlock.
"We now know that he is the thief!"
"We can't alarm the people now! It's bedtime."
Without them expecting it, Goio appeared and, for the second time, threw a net over their heads.
"Whoa, what do we have here? Ah of course, so you learned that I am the thief. You suppose that today you are winners? Well, I suggest you think again. I can wake the people of this village with a simple tug of a little lever. And because they suppose that I am a remarkable warrior, I can just tell them that you were the thieves. And when you entered my house earlier, you were bringing all of these objects with you," Goio said, pointing to the stolen items.
As he had threatened, he raised a curtain to reveal a lever. He pulled at it, and a loud noise, similar to that of the siren of a fire truck, sent the total population of the town to consciousness. They came rushing to Goio's house.
As Goio had planned, he started to narrate to the people about how he encountered and caught the two "thieves." He bragged that he must be honored as a hero, and proposed that the criminals be punished with death. The townsfolk cheered.
"Goio is lying!" exclaimed Sara at the top of her voice.
The people met her comment with insults. Hell, they really had faith in this ninja.
"I can prove my honesty!" she said, once more making an effort to get the attention of the people.
"Okay, if that is your wish before you die," Goio said with a smirk as he removed the net to release her, "Enjoy it, for it would be your last one."
Sara then ran to get the box of darts that was still on the center table in the living room. She took four darts out of the box.
"Goio says that one's honesty is tested by these darts, doesn't he?" asked Sara, glaring at the people.
She heard words of approval, which encouraged her further.
Once again, she put her hand against the wall. Hoping that she was doing it correctly, she breathed deeply as she moved slowly. The firm grasp of her right hand on the four darts loosened, and in a few seconds, the pointed things were flying their way to her left hand. Sara closed her eyes.
"She was not wounded! She is telling the truth!" cried the people.
"Huh?" thought Sara. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes and saw that the each of the four darts was positioned perfectly between each finger.
"Goio should be penalized," the people chorused.
"I have been prevaricating all these time. Since you are now informed about it, I must perish," said Goio.
Without a signal, some men approached Goio with thick ropes to tie his limbs.
"Hold your horses, first I just have to give the keys to these two," Goio said.
Goio covered his eyes. In the instant that he removed his palms from his face, he held two gray objects the same size as his pupils.
"These are your tickets to the next world," he said, handing Sara and Merlock one of each contact lens.
Merlock looked up in attempt to meet Goio's eyes. It was surprising, or even shocking, that the real color of his eyes was brown. A hauntingly familiar shade of brown.
"Magore?" thought Merlock.
Just then, the keys began to glow. The last scene that they saw was that of Goio whose limbs were being tied, and whose face guard was taken off.
"Magore!" yelled Merlock, but only Sara was able to hear it.
They were transported to another dimension, one with a violet sky with blue tinge. The environment smelled of roses. When they looked around, they saw that the place was filled with roses of various colors.
"It was him, my younger brother Magore. What bothers me is that he was willing to do this to me, to us, to himself," said Merlock, sadly.
"I'm sorry," said Sara.
"You don't have to be. It's not your fault that Magore acted so . . . stupidly."
There was silence, disturbed only by the rustling of some leaves.
"That was brave of you, my dear Sara, to handle those darts. How did you do it?" said Merlock.
"I just convinced myself that I can do it," she replied with a smile.
Merlock, all of a sudden, embraced her tightly.
"I love you," he whispered.
Their sweet moment was interrupted by laughter. The voice was feminine. When they checked where it came from, they saw a girl on a flying broom, hovering above them. The color of her half pony-tailed hair was black with green highlights. She wore a short skirt and a baby tee. Her skin was brown and her eyes were like emeralds. Dangling on her left ear was an earring with the letters "DH."
"Heya," she said as her broom landed to the ground, "I am Jinni."
Seventh chapter is over! Please review!