Chapter Nine: Mysteries of the Mind

Voices again. Some sounded scared while others sounded angry. They rang throughout Smoke's head, tormenting him. He was sure that he was going insane. Who are they? What was wrong with them? Out of all the voices, a particular one started getting louder than the rest. Soon it had overwhelmed the others and it was all Tomas could hear. It sounded like it was saying...

The gray ninja gasped as his eyes flew open. His body felt hot and weak, but fortunately, the pain was not as unbearable as it was before. Tomas did feel bad about making Kuai worry so much. After passing out, the cryomancer was probably going mad. As he looked around, Smoke could not find his comrade. Although, his current location definitely looked... familiar.

The cavern walls, the stone table... and the fire. Now Smoke was beginning to remember. This was his dream, his nightmare. For a while now, the silver-haired man has lost sleep due to his dreams, and it did not help that he could not remember what they were about once he woke up. All he could recall was an unforgettable sense of fear. Not his fear, but someone else's.

As Tomas stood up, he heard someone sniffing from outside of the cave. He started walking towards the entrance but was stopped just before he stepped outside. A hand had grabbed Smoke's arm and turned the ninja around to face its owner. The sudden action surprised Tomas, however, his shock soon faded as he recognized the newcomer.

"Pyros... do not tell me you will be in my dreams for now on."

"Ha, ha, I do apologize for invading your privacy, my boy."

"Now you are apologizing. You have been sneaking inside my head for gods-know-how-long and now you talk about my privacy."

"I know, I know, but when I realized the reason you did not tell Tundra about your dreams, I had to intervene. These are more than just dreams and you must remember them."

"Why? I told you before, they are nothing worth worrying about. They are DREAMS. Everyone has them."

"Indeed, but they are not as complex as yours. See for yourself."

Pyros gestured with his hand to the cave entrance and let go of Tomas' arm. The gray ninja turned away from the cloaked man and again started to walk outside. Now that he was away from the heat of the fire, Smoke shivered as the cool night air hit him. A full moon shined brightly in the sky and radiated the forest in its light. Even though this was a dream, Tomas savored the sight. It was nice, especially now that he was not being chased by the Lin Kuei. Hopefully, in the real world, it was just as safe for him and Kuai.

More sniffing interrupted Smoke's thoughts. He looked to his left and saw someone sitting on the ground. A boy. He had his knees drawn up to his chest and his head resting on them. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he continued to cry, unaware of Tomas' presence. The silver-haired man took a small step towards the child. When the kid did not look up, Smoke took another step and again, there was no response from them. Eventually, he had made his way to the boy.

"Hey..."

Tomas slowly knelt next to the child as he spoke. The kid did not look up.

"Are you alright, little one? Are you lost?"

Still nothing. Upon closer inspection, Smoke realized that the child had nothing on his body except for bandages, which hardly did anything to the cover the boy. He was practically naked, and Tomas could see the poor kid shaking from the cold.

"Well, maybe we should go somewhere warm at least. Here, let me help you."

Smoke then tried to place his hand on the boy's shoulder reassuringly, but instead, his hand went through the kid. Literally. It was as though the child was a ghost. Or was it the other way around? The gray ninja jerked his hand back and looked at it in disbelief. Then he remembered that this was all a dream. Crazy stuff like that happens in dreams, right?

Before he could think about the incident any further, Smoke heard shouting in the distance. The boy must have heard them too because he suddenly jerked his head up and quickly scrambled to his feet. Tomas looked back at the child, but once he saw the boy's face, he took a step back in shock. Pyros finally stepped out of the cave and took in the sight of Tomas and the child. He saw how the boy's hair was changing from black to silver along with his eyes. There were still patches of black in his hair, but it would not be long before they too changed color.

"It is almost like looking into a mirror, don't you think?"

I really am dreaming, Smoke kept telling himself. The kid looked exactly like him, except for his hair was short and it seemed that it was originally black. The same was with his eyes, which still had a bit of green left in them. The boy stared in the direction of the shouting that was gradually getting louder. His eyes widen and his breathing quickened when he spotted someone coming out of the woods. The stranger wore a red cloak and he was carrying a torch.

Without hesitating, the child turned and ran the opposite way of the cloaked man. Smoke tried to tell him to stop, but soon remembered that he could not be seen or heard.

"You could feel it, could you not? His fear? His sadness?"

Pyros walked up beside Tomas, who continued to look in the direction the boy had ran. The telepath looked as well.

"There is nothing you could have done. This is a memory after all."

Frowning, Smoke finally turned his attention to Pyros.

"A memory?"

"Yes. Everything that you just witnessed has already happened. That boy... well, by now you should have figured out who he was."

"I... but... I do not recall any of this. I thought that it was just a simple dream."

"A "simple" dream? My boy, is this not the source of your sleepless nights? I must say that this is anything but simple."

Was Pyros serious? Has Tomas really found one of his lost memories? And if that is true, then who were those cloaked men? What did they want with him, a child?

"Why now?"

"Hmm?"

"Why are these memories appearing now? After all these years, I finally remember something of my past, yet I... I do not feel..."

"Satisfied?"

"... Yes. I should be happy about this. The memory itself was not pleasant, but I should feel some sense of relief, yes? Instead, I am just as confused and lost as I was before this recollection."

Tomas looked that at his hands. They were shaking a little, but not out of fear. This was a lot to take in and Pyros clearly saw that in the ninja's eyes. In a way, Smoke had given up on finding out about his past and tried to move on with the life he had now. It had been twenty-three years and despite the assassination missions and rigorous training, Tomas' life as a Lin Kuei warrior had been decent. He had his friends to thank for that.

"I used to tell myself..."

Pyros was pulled from his own thoughts as Smoke spoke again. The gray ninja's hands were now clenched into fists.

"...that I would be able to face the truth. That I could deal with my past no matter how terrible it may have been."

"Are you having doubts?"

"...No."

Tomas lowered his hands and looked back at the telepath.

"In fact, I want to learn more."

"I see. Well, I am more than willing to help you with that."

Suddenly, the landscape was flooded with light and Smoke was blinded by its intensity. He shielded his eyes with his arms and waited for the light to dim down. After a moment, the silver-haired man slowly opened one of his eyes. Once his eyes adjusted, he was able to see the new environment he had been thrown into. The area was all white and had what looked like small screens that were projecting different images. Smoke walked up to one and saw himself, Kuai, and Cyrax surrounding Bi-han as he was reading aloud from a book. It was a pleasant memory of his childhood days when Sub-zero was not so cold, no pun intended.

"Are these all my memories?"

"Yes, my boy. Every one of your memories, past and present, is right here somewhere."

"If that is true, then I should be able to find memories of my past here, correct?"

"I am afraid it is not that simple. You see, your own mind has hidden your lost memories from you ever since you were a child. I believe that your subconscious was trying to protect you from something by hiding your past. But I cannot say what your mind was protecting you from."

"None of this makes sense. I unconsciously buried my own memories to the point where I forgot them?"

"Incidents like this are possible and have occurred in other people. The mind is a powerful thing."

Tomas placed his hands on his head and began pacing around the white space. He was terribly confused about what was happening, and the worst thing was that all of this was happening inside his head. The gray ninja had not been aware of these things occurring in his own mind and that seriously worried him. Speaking of worrying, Smoke barely noticed a peculiar looking screen as he walked past it. The screen had a black substance on it that completely blocked the scene that was playing.

"Pyros, do you know what that is?"

The telepath arched an eyebrow as he walked to Tomas.

"What is wh... oh my."

"What is wrong?"

"I... I am not exactly sure of what that black substance is but be wary of it. I feel a very dark aura coming from it."

"You are not the only one."

The closer Smoke was to the strange material, the more his body told him to run. He did take a few steps back, but he was also curious about what the black stuff was hiding. What memory was being played in that projection?

"Do not worry about that. I will take care of it, Tomas."

"This is my mind we are talking about. If something so dark has been residing here without my knowledge, I should be concerned about it."

"Yes, but not right now. Please, allow me to handle it and if things get out of control, then you have my permission to worry."

"You want me to put you in charge of my head?"

"Ha, ha. Well, that is a strange way to put it. Why don't you think of me as your keeper?"

"What do you mean "keeper?"

"I shall look over your current memories and help you regain the memories of your past. I will be your guide, if you will allow me."

This was strange indeed. It was like allowing someone to watch over your diary. Tomas trusted Pyros, but did he have that much trust in the telepath? Memories are important and are not things that should be tampered with. If he did give Pyros permission to look after his memories, there was no guarantee that he would not mishandle them. Then again, as much as the gray ninja hated to admit, he needed help and Pyros seemed to know more about his own mind then he did.

"I do not know..."

"I understand that this is a big decision to make, but I promise you, I will guard your memories with my life. I know how much they mean to you and I will not do anything to make you lose them again."

"... You swear to me?"

"I swear."

"... Alright. I believe you. Do not make me regret this."

"I will not."

Smoke only nodded in response and raised his hand to get a few strands of hair out of his face, but he froze when he saw his hand. It was transparent and slowly, the rest of his body became see-through. Pyros was not at all surprised by this.

"Oops. I thought we had more time."

"Am I waking up?"

"Yes, and do not worry. You and Kuai are being taken care of by good people. They may be Outworlders, but they fight for Earthrealm and are willing to help you in any way."

"Who are these Outworlders?"

"You will see soon enough. Good luck my boy, and please, take care of yourself."

And with that, Smoke's form disappeared, and he awoke.