I was not prepared to live another day after the Halloween I just experienced. That was the scariest Halloween of my life. It wasn't the fact that got sucked into a mirror, nor the fact that I met four ghosts, nor was it the fact that everyone had forgotten about me. Nope, what scared me the most was what happened between Zahur and me. I mean, it haunted my every dream - it was just disturbing. I was so scared to face him the next day, but I was able to. It started off awkward at first, but then it got better when I realized he didn't remember it. Thank goodness he didn't remember it! That would've been hell! Anyway, everyday I passed by the house I couldn't help but remember what they had said to me. "This is not the first and the last time you will come here...You will learn the arts of the world that we have gathered here, to defeat an evil we could not defeat...combine the strength your magick with the wisdom of ours...to defeat an evil we could not defeat..." I can't imagine what greater power lies beyond the spirits. Would I be able to defeat it? Those same words stuck with me night and day and I couldn't help but worry that with each passing tide, that evil came closer to me.
"How do I know that that evil hasn't already presented itself to me?" Medea asked Kero, who was drinking hot tea.
Kero took a spoon and sipped slightly as if though some great thought had come to him that he was prolonging. "You're really worried about this, aren't you?"
"Geez Kero, don't kill yourself with worry now." Medea replied sarcastically.
"Well, I figure that we have more important matters to deal with at this time-" Kero paused for a moment and then continued, "Like collecting the spirits. If this evil is to come, then we will deal with it when it gets here."
"What if it's already here?" Medea asked.
Kero stopped sipping and stared at Medea. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"
Medea thought about the visitor she had last week. The same visitor that appeared at her volleyball practice. She remembered the conversation they had:
...You have been watching me all night...
...I have been watching you ever since the seal on The Sakura broke...
...What do you want from me?...
...Nothing. It is what I was sent to do that you should be worried about...
"Medea?" Kero called, breaking Medea's thought. "Is there something that you're not telling me?"
Medea explained to Kero everything. How often he has been watching here and the words that they exchanged in their conversation. But she decided to leave out the dream. "He's probably watching us right now. He's waiting for me to finish collecting the spirits."
It can't be Yue, Kero thought, he would not show himself until it is time. Who could it be? "Why haven't you told me this before!"
"It kinda slipped my mind," Medea answered, "To be honest, it doesn't seem like he wants to hurt me."
"Yet!" Kero voiced changed from calm to booming, "Who knows what this guy was sent for! He might try to kill you! Especially if he knows about the Spirits! You have to be careful from now on!" Kero took a couple of deep breaths before returning to his normal tone, "I guess he won't try anything until you finish collecting the Spirits. So right now our main focus will be that, but keep him in the back of your mind, and watch out. He may be more powerful than all of us."
Medea was passing by the neighborhood at her school to run a few errands. On her way back home, she passed by the house she visited on Halloween. Medea stopped to stare at the house, and couldn't help but think of all that she had dealt with those two nights. Everyone's words echoed through her head. You will find that this is not the first and the last time you will come here...I figure that we have more important matters to deal with...I have been watching you ever since the seal on The Sakura broke...He might try to kill you...to defeat an evil we could not defeat...what I was sent to do that you should be worried about...He may be more powerful than all of us...I'm looking forward to seeing the full extent of your powers...
"Medea?" The soft tone and gentle touch of Taran pulled Medea away from her worries. He put his hand gently on Medea's shoulder, causing her to brush slightly. "Are you all right?"
Medea and Taran sat on a bench in the park and watched a couple of small children play soccer. Medea's face was redder than an apple, but Taran didn't seem to notice. He just sat next to her and took in the fresh air. "How are you?" He asked after taking in a deep breath.
"I've had better days." Medea decided to answer truthfully, since it might do her good to talk to someone else other than Kero.
Taran turned his head to look into Medea's eyes, "What's the matter?" Although seeing this side of Taran was something that Medea wasn't used to, she welcomed his sympathy and care whenever he showed it. It gave her the feeling of a thousand butterflies fluttering vigorously in her stomach.
"Have you ever felt overwhelmed by a task given to you?" Medea asked, "Up to the point where you didn't want to do it anymore?"
Taran looked at her warmly, sending her temperature to the moon. "Did you want to do it to begin with?"
Medea thought about it for a while. "In a way. I kinda did, and I kinda didn't. It was just something I had to do and although it seemed like it would be fun, there was just a lot of sacrifice involved in it."
"How is that any different from now?"
"The stakes have rose, so to speak," Medea replied, "There might be more sacrifices that I have to make that may not be worth it."
"Well, why do you have to do it?"
"It's like a responsibility," Medea explained, "I have to do this to make up for a mistake that I made. But I also have to do it for other people, to help them and save them."
"And you think that whatever sacrifices you have to make aren't worth that?"
"No," Medea said quickly, "It's not that, it's just that...that-"
"You're scared." Medea looked at Taran who came in closer to her knowing that he hit it right on the button. She could feel the warm vibrations from his body just as strongly as her heartbeat. Taran took her hand and held it, and Medea began to sweat. "It's O.K. to be scared, Medea. But you have to understand that fear only stops progress and prevents happiness. The enjoyment that you originally sought in your task is there, you just have to learn to look past your fears and find it. But if you chose to stop whatever it was that was given to you to do, be sure that you truly want to, and that you're stopping, not quitting. Because the Medea I know would never quit, nor would she let fear get the best of her. Do you understand?"
Medea nodded her head too lost in admiration to say a word. She just stared at him with affection and he reached in to hug her. His embrace was strong yet gentle, and she felt safe within his arms, so safe that she didn't want to leave. Medea absorbed the moment and wondered if this was the perfect time to tell him how she felt about him. Fear could prevent happiness, Medea thought and when Taran released her, she called his name, "Taran?"
"What is it?" he asked, his eyes glimmering as he stared into hers.
"There's something I need to tell you-" Medea looked at him once more before looking down, "Um...O.K...I...uh...I...um...I have-"
"Are we interrupting anything?" Zahur announced as loud as possible with Arlen by his side. Medea's expression turned cold as Taran stood up to greet his friends.
"Are you sure he's not gay Medea?" Medea mumbled to herself before greeting Arlen, and Arlen alone.
"What? Can't say hi?" Zahur asked sitting next to her.
"No." Medea replied monotonously.
"And here I was thinking that we were friends!"
"Who gave you that false impression?" Medea asked rhetorically.
Zahur just smiled devilishly at her and Medea ignored it. "Hmph. Not like you could be of any use to me anyway."
Medea shivered remembered what happened on Halloween, "Just because I choose not to help you doesn't mean that I'm not of good use to you. I can be very useful, you'll just never know, now will you?"
"Hmm. You're right, I probably will never know, but that's mostly because I don't want you."
Medea laughed, "Yeah right, like I-"
"I need to take her for a couple of minutes." Suraiya appeared out of nowhere, and pulled Medea off the bench, dragging her into the forest.
"What happened?" Medea asked once Suraiya let go. Kero was floating left and right, looking in all directions.
"A Sakura Spirit," Suraiya replied, "Don't you sense it?"
Medea closed her eyes and concentrated within her. She felt the feeling of magick near her and distinguished that it was coming from the East. "This way!" she cried out and Suraiya and Kero followed her.
The ran through the forest to another open area of the park, which was completely deserted except for some people who seemed to be trapped in a circle with terrified looks are their face.
"What's going on here?" Medea asked the people, who were too frightened to speak. Suddenly large exploding noises were heard from behind Medea. She turned around and saw huge footprints in the grass and knew one exploding and forming with every step. "What the hell is that?" Medea ran away from the people and back towards the forest. As the spirit followed her, the other people escaped, leaving the area completely deserted.
The spirit continued to follow Medea, Kero and Suraiya who were now running in circles across the clearing. "I think it's only after me," Medea replied before steering off in another direction. Medea pulled out the key from her pocket and called out to transform the star key into the wand. Medea then called upon THE FLYand zoomed off into the sky.
The spirit stopped in its tracks and Kero flew up to meet her. "Which card is it Kero?" Medea asked staring down at the empty field.
"It's the Power Card!" Kero announced, "In order to defeat it, you have to challenge it to a test of strength!"
"WHAT!" Medea shrieked, almost falling off of her wand. "I can't defeat that in any test of strength!"
"Yes you can!" Kero scolded, "All you have to do is think! Just try to trick it and that will be fine!"
Medea flew down towards Suraiya, who was standing alone in the field. THE POWER already began to move toward them. "I have to challenge it," Medea explained. "Got any ideas?"
Suraiya thought for a moment, "How about volleyball?"
"How about remember THE JUMP and how painful that was," Medea replied, "I want to win, not end up in the hospital."
"Tug of war?" Suraiya suggested. While they were thinking, THE POWER was pulling a tree from it's roots and coming towards them.
"Sakura challenged it to tug of war," Kero told the two, "But then again she had the help of an elephant."
"Well, we're not gonna find that here!" Medea replied.
Suraiya began to look around, "Wow, where is the spir-LOOK OUT!" Suraiya dived back while Medea called upon THE JUMP and her and Kero flew into the air. THE POWER card swung the tree around as if though it were a bat.
Medea came back down again and called out, "POWER CARD! I CHALLENGE YOU TO A RACE!"
Kero and Suraiya both cried out, "A race!" Suraiya ran towards Medea and whispered into her ear furiously, "Are you crazy?"
Medea spoke through her teeth, "You have any better ideas?"
With a load crashing noise, THE POWER dropped the tree and appeared before them. "COOL! IT'S PINK!" Suraiya cried out, "KICK ASS!"
Medea stepped foward, "These are the conditions: through the forest to the stream and back to the edge of the forest. Whoever makes it first wins."
Before soon, Medea and THE POWER took off into the forest. Medea, using the power of THE JUMP cleared the forest with ease. Meanwhile, THE POWER just pushed it's way through using it's strength. Both reached the stream at the same time and started to head back. As THE POWER pushed it's way through a fallen tree at the same time Medea was jumping over it, a piece of the tree hit Medea causing her to fall. THE POWER sped off as Medea quickly got up and endured the pain to try to catch up to THE POWER. It was now close to the end of the forest and Medea had no way of catching up. Without hesitation, THE POWER tripped over a log and fell to the ground. Medea jumped over the log and passed the edge of the forest before THE POWER could even get up.
"You did it!" Suraiya and Kero cheered.
Medea walked back to THE POWER who now sat on the floor and sulked with loss. Medea took her wand from Suraiya and held it above THE POWER's head. "Spirit of Sakura! Cast off the true form designated to you and yield to my control! By the sacred contract, I command you! POWER!" The spirit of THE POWER burst into a dozen ribbons and surrounded Medea before disappearing. Medea sighed with relief before falling on the floor with exhaustion.
Medea went into her backyard alone that night, knowing what she was looking for. She stood in the center and looked up at the full moon slightly hidden behind a tree. She stared up at the tree, waiting for something. Then she saw it, a shadow passed through the moon as quick as the blink of an eye. Normally no one would notice it, but she had been watching for it, waiting for it.
"You're here," she said with a confident smile on her face.
"I'm impressed," he replied, approaching her from the shadows. "Not only were you able to sense me, but you have enough courage to be in my domain." He looked down at the shadows that surrounded Medea.
"Why are you helping me?" Medea asked, getting straight to the point.
"How do you know I'm helping you?" He circled around her perpetually, examining her.
"That log wasn't there at the beginning of the race," Medea explained, "Someone put it there. You did. I sensed your magick."
"You impressed me yet again dear Medea," he said, stroking her hair. "I am indeed helping you, so that you can get this done faster, leaving more time for you and me."
"To do what?" Medea turned her head to look behind her, and he quickly moved in front of her.
The figure's arm slipped across her waste as he pulled her closer to him. His head dropped to her ear and his voice became a slight whisper, "When the time comes, you'll see." She fell back as the arm became the shadow, stealing away her support. "Just continue capturing the spirits - do what you do best and continue to impress me - I just might go easy on you."
The silhouette of his figure blended in with the shadows and a soft breeze blew. As the shadow moved across the full moon, Medea entered her house, knowing that he was gone.
There was something about him that seemed familiar to me, and something else that seemed distant. I had enough courage to face him that night and when I did, I knew for certain that he wouldn't try to hurt me anytime soon. That set a load off of my mind. After our meeting that night, he officially became tomorrow's problem. It seemed more that he was trying to seduce me, rather than kill me. But then again he's evil and evil is seductive. Besides, he could not take my interest away from Taran. I like him a lot, I really do. Talking to Taran that day changed me. Not only did I feel more connected to him than ever, but I also gained a lot of things I was missing before. That talk with Taran gave me a lot more than confidence. It gave me security within my power and a new approach towards things. I was ready to take on whatever was thrown at me, even if it would kill me. This new found courage gave me determination and purpose, and I truly know now what it is to feel powerful.