Chapter 16------ Meet Eden
-Somewhere in the depths of Mai…-
Mai walked along, her bare feet taking light steps on the cold floor…
She sat down in the darkness, curling up and hugging her knees as though seeking protection…warmth. She liked this feeling, it made her feel safe.
'Everything will be okay, just like this… yes, forever like this…' she thought as she cradled herself…
-The real world-
Mai's eyes started to flutter open but she winced at the morning sunshine seeping in through the windows.
"Guys! She's comin' 'round!" Hilary called, and one after another, the guys gathered around the still half-asleep Mai.
"Mai! Thank goodness you're alright!" Hilary exclaimed as she pulled the girl into a hug.
"DON'T TOUCH ME! (not Mai's voice)" Mai pulled away forcefully, gaining a shocked expression from Hilary which slowly morphed into hurt.
"She was only trying to be nice, Mai. No need to be so harsh" Max handed her a glass of water.
But she jerked the hand away "I SAID DON'T TOUCH ME!" The glass shattered on the floor and water was spilt like blood… A deafening silence spread across the room.
"Stop this, Mai!" Rei grabbed her wrist but immediately pulled away when he saw her eyes. She glared at him, they weren't a deep-blue…they were a faint purple colour. 'This— This isn't Mai!'
"You're not Mai! What have you done to her?" Rei demanded. "Who are you? Bring her back!" he shook her shoulders in anger, while Tyson tried to pull him off.
Mai managed to tug herself free, "Hmph!" a small smirk appeared on her face. "She isn't coming back"
"WHAT!"
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"YOU BASTARD! WHAT'VE YOU DONE TO HER?" Rei threw a punch at the impostor but got held back by a force that sent him crashing into a wall.
"REI!"
"Pathetic." Mai's smirk turned into a malicious smile. "You humans are all so weak."
Rei wiped a trail of blood trickling down the corner of his lip. "Why you!"
"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kai shouted, causing Rei to halt in his tracks.
He turned to face Mai "What have you done with Mai?" His voice was demanding yet controlled. He wasn't one to be messed with; HE was the one who did the messing around.
Mai glared at Kai, examining him if he was worthy enough to be answered. "Cheh" She folded her arms "It's not my fault if she doesn't want to come back"
"Whaddya mean she doesn't wanna come back! WHO ARE YOU?" Max demanded.
"I— am Eden……"
-Back to the depths of Mai-
"Levian, let's stay like this forever ok?" Mai looked at the white wolf, seeking an approval.
The great wolf sat down beside her, lowering his tail to shelter her from the surroundings. 'Are you sure this is what you want? What about your friends? The people who miss you?'
"Dooshitte? (Why not?) I have you -strokes Levian's head- I'm safe here… nothing bad happens here… No more sadness, no more Grandfather, no more fighting… Just you and me… We dun need to care about anything else…everything else is…redundant." She closed her eyes and nuzzled into his fur.
'Mai…'
-Back to reality-
"So tell us, why are you here? And what happened to Mai?" Tyson questioned. Everyone had finally calmed down, including Rei who sat a safe distance away from Eden as Hilary nursed his wounds.
Mai cocked an eyebrow in his direction. "Wouldn't you like to know?" a smug look hung on her face. "Are you gonna kill me again if you found out?"
Tyson was taken aback by her words. 'Kill her again?'
"I don't really understand what you're saying but please, Mai's our friend. We only want to know what happened to her" he pleaded.
Mai rolled over on her side, away from the many pairs of eyes that were staring at her. "I told you. She's not coming back…"
"You're lying! She promised us… she promised that she'd always stay with us!" Hilary rebuked. She was tearing up but held them back, she wasn't gonna show any weakness to Eden, she had to keep a straight face.
"Promise? Heh, humans are foolish creatures. So, I guess she lied then. She lied to everyone. She was playing you all along just like pawns. And you guys believed her! Did you think she was lil-miss-innocent all along? Ahahahaha!"
"Why?"
One word pierced through Mai's laughter and her attention focused on the person who had uttered the word.
Rei got up and started walking towards Mai. "Why are you doing this? Don't you care what happens to her?"
Mai immediately shot back at Rei "DON'T TALK TO ME ABOUT CARING WHEN YOU HUMANS CAN'T EVEN DO SUCH A THING!" hatred burned in her eyes.
Rei knew he had hit a sensitive spot.
"I cared for you, for the Earth. I granted humans everything. I trusted them but what did they do?" Mai clenched the blanket in anger. "THEY USED ME! They wanted my power. Granting them everything wasn't enough, they wanted to have me to themselves! They didn't care about me or the Earth, they only wanted my power. They didn't care how I felt! No matter how many times I reincarnated, they'd kill the one whose body I inhabited…Many died because they feared my revenge…they all died…THEY DIDN'T EVEN GET THE CHANCE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES! IS THAT WHAT YOU CALL CARE?"
Rei was speechless; he didn't know… the truth about Eden.
"I tried to make you happy…but is it still not enough?" For a moment there, Mai's eyes had a tinge of sadness.
"MAN DOESN'T CARE FOR ANYTHING BUT HIMSELF! MAYBE THAT'S WHY MAI IS SCARED! BECAUSE SHE'S GIVEN UP HOPE THAT SHE'LL BE ABLE TO PROTECT THOSE SHE CARES ABOUT WHEN SHE CAN'T EVEN TRUST HER OWN FLESH AND BLOOD 'COZ THEY'RE THE ONES WHO ARE AFTER HER!"
Mai gave herself some time to cool down. "But this time… I'm not gonna let them kill me. This time I will have my revenge."
-Silence……………………………………………………………………………-
"Um Kai, can I talk to you for a sec?" Tyson motioned for him to step outside.
Kai nodded his head and followed.
-Even more silence……………………………………………………………….-
Suddenly Max gave a chuckle which turned into a fit of laughter "Ahah…ahahaha…AHAHHAHAHA"
Everyone stared at him with a what-does-that-idiot-think-he's-doing look on their face.
"AHAHAHAHahaha— ahh" Max clutched his stomach and calmed himself down. "Isn't it pointless?"
Mai cocked her head, "Pointless?"
"Yeah, why would you want revenge when you know it'll only cause more hurt?" His wide grin eased into a smile. "Revenge isn't really what you want…What you want is for someone to just say sorry isn't it?"
-outside-
"NO!"
"Aww c'mon Kai! It's the only way to bring her back" Tyson pleaded.
"I said NO! Get Rei to do it!"
"But what if it doesn't work? So far we know it works when you do it"
"THAT! Was an accident due to YOUR clumsiness!" Kai jabbed a finger at Tyson's chest.
"Please Kai, you and I both know that we're worried about Mai…All we want is for her to come back." Tyson eyes showed that he was really sincere about this.
Kai ran a hand through his hair in frustration. 'This is crazy! No WAY am I doing such a thing!' He let out a sigh, 'But…what if it's the only way?'
-Back inside-
Mai didn't know what to say… YES she wanted someone to say sorry! YES she wanted someone to take the blame for all the suffering she'd been through! YES she wanted revenge!
"All you wanted was somebody who cared…"
-Depths of Mai-
'Mai, Mai wake up' Levian nuzzled her cheek.
"Hmm?" She lifted a droopy eye lid.
'Someone's here. She wants to talk to you…'
"Who?" Mai lifted her head to come face to face with…….herself.
She had the same face, the same hair, the same height, everything was identical except…she didn't have the same eyes; hers were purple…
"Anata wa…dare? (who… are you)"
She started walking towards Mai, inching closer and closer till their bodies were a mere centimetre away from each other. She placed a hand lovingly on Mai's cheek, as would a mother to her child.
"I'm you." Was all she said.
"But…but how? I'm me…there's only one me."
She let her hand fall to her side and let out a sigh, "You should go back… they're asking too many questions"
"What do you mean? I don't want to go back, koko wa jyubun desu yo! (being here is enough) Zettai modorenai! (I'll never go back)"
'Go back Mai, everyone misses you'
"No! I'm never going back!"
"Go back" and with that, she pushed her and Mai felt herself falling, falling away from Levian, away from herself, away from safety; back to the life she wanted so desperately to get away from…
-Real world-
Kai leaned in closer as everyoneheld their breathin anticipation. He was just about to close the distance between them when…
-SLAP-
He felt a burning sensation on his left cheek.
"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOIN? YOU PERVERT!" Mai screamed.
"HEY! She's back!" Tyson shouted. "KAI! It worked!"
Kai just stood there, his cheek burning and a really huge anime-vein popping in his temple. Boy…was he pissed alright…
Just as Tyson was about to gather around Mai like everyone else had, he felt a sharp tug on his collar which nearly choked him.
"Hey!" he looked rather irritated but his eyes widened when he saw the devilish look Kai had, "HEY! GUYS! GUYS HELP! HEEEELLLPPP!" but it was too late……Tyson was dragged outside to meet his inevitable doom…
-BANG-
-CRASH-
"AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGHHHHH!"
-WHOMP-
-CLANG-
-THUMP-
-CLICK- The door swung open and Kai came in dusting off his hands; no sign of Tyson…
"Hey Kai" Max called.
Kai proceeded to slump in a nearby chair, not making eye contact with Mai.
"You're Mai right? No more Eden?" Hilary wanted to be sure this time.
"Uh, yeah. Eden? EDEN WAS HERE?" Mai sat up.
'It is her' Hilary gave a warm smile. "Never mind that now. We're just glad that you're back." She placed a hand on Mai's shoulder.
"Hilary, did…did I do something bad? …did I…did I hurt anyone?" Mai's eyes were desperate, she had feeling something bad had happened.
"I don't remember…Why can't I remember!" She slammed her fists on the bed. "Why can't I remember…"
"Shh…it's alright." She stroked the girl's head in attempt to comfort her. "It's not your fault… We're sorry…Eden" but her last word was barely audible…
Hah! Finally! After umm...-counts fingers- ah-hah! 1 month and umm a few days! I've completed chapter 16! wooo ok, i'm dead beat tired... So SO sOSOOSOSooOSosoOooOSooSOOS SORRY for updation this late, I had a junk load of tests and homework...really stressful... so during this time tht i've not been updating, i guess i've lost some readers, which I hope wont be too many... sigh, once again, you guys have my sincere apologies! -bows for forgiveness- Oh, and like i said the last time, I'm not giving up on this fic so continue to read on! and just browse once in a while to see if I've updated alright? Thx, hope you guys understand.
PLEASE REVIEW!
blu: Next chapter: Festival! -munches on a mooncake-
See yaz!