19
Cole sneezed three times before he fully woke up. As he blinked watery eyes and tried to figure out where he was and why his sinuses were burning.
"You alive, then?"
He looked over and realized that Keyda was kneeling next to him, holding his arm and studying it. He frowned as he noticed that his sleeve was rolled up. He managed to sit up from his slouched position, trying to ease his arm out of her grasp.
"What are you doing?" he asked, but she didn't answer or release his arm and his eyes flicked across her stony expression. He suddenly recalled what had been happening before he had been knocked out and looked around for the healer.
"Are you ok? Where's Phos?"
"He left." Her brow furrowed as she traced the nearly faded outline of his burn. Cole was grateful that it didn't look like a handprint anymore, but it still worried him that she suddenly seemed so curious about it. She didn't look at him as she continued. "I failed…I think. But, I'm fine."
"Failed?" Cole looked her over. "Did he hurt you?"
"I'm fine Cole…the Healer was just being an idiot and he finally took the spell off after knocking you out." She chewed her bottom lip. "There used to be a burn here, on your arm…"
"Yeah, well, it's basically healed now," Cole said, trying to sound nonchalant while also resisting the urge to yank his sleeve back down to cover it. She finally looked up at him.
"You told me it was dragons…but then I assumed that someone had done it to you to harass you, like when you had been attacked…"
Cole tried not to squirm under her sudden intense gaze.
"Cole…have I ever hurt you?"
He felt goosebumps rise up his spine and tried to think of how to best answer her.
"Well…it certainly didn't feel great when you left me alone in Ninjago for three months and then…"
"No." Her grip tightened slightly on his arm. "Physically hurt you…have I ever used my powers and attacked you, or harmed you?!" She swallowed and looked down at his arm. "Tell me the truth….was the burn on your arm from me?"
He blinked, his mouth dry. He hadn't ever wanted her to know…he knew how she would react if she knew…
"Did I do this to you, Cole!?"
He broke eye contact as she yelled and she sank back in horror. She released his arm and he tugged his sleeve back down and looked back at her.
"Keyds…"
"Why did you lie?" Her voice had gone quiet and he could tell she was shaken up, no doubt from both the 'procedure' Phos had just put her through and this new revelation. He leaned forward.
"I didn't want you to worry…"
"Worry?!" she got to her feet, hugging her arms. "You want to know what makes me worry?! The fact that you can't stay away from dangerous situations! The fact that I now know more than ever that you are incapable of keeping yourself safe…and that I'm just as likely to harm you as I am protect you…"
"How did you know about it? The burn?" Cole interrupted, and Keyda's expression hardened even more as she stared at the collection of junk on a nearby table.
"Phos told me….I didn't want to believe him!"
Cole glowered at the thought of Phos ousting him; with what he did to Keyda and now this, the old Healer had gone too far.
"It was during one of my nightmare storms….wasn't it?" Keyda asked bitterly, and he looked up in surprise.
"You know about those?" he asked, and she glowered.
"You know about them?" she asked. "That's the real question….how on earth did you find out…"
"It doesn't matter," he cut in. "The thing is, I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth…I guess I was just hoping there would be a way to…to fix it, I guess. But then they kept going…."
Keyda's eyes widened and he kicked himself mentally.
"How many times have you seen it? Did I hurt you all the other times too?!"
"No, it was just the one time…I was more careful after that." He looked at her and shook his head as he switched directions. "I really am sorry that it didn't work out with Phos today….I was hoping that he'd be able to help; I hate seeing you like…"
"Like what?! Out of control?!" she snapped angrily. "Well…you may as well get used to it! Phos made it quite clear I'm never going to be able to control my powers!"
He blinked, his expression changing.
"He…said that?"
She looked away, glaring at the floor.
"Not in so many words, but I got the gist. Apparently I'm too reactionary…"
Cole nodded absently and she gave him a murderous look. He held up his hands in defense.
"Hey…I'm sorry, but you do tend to react before you notice…"
"Like when?!" she demanded, angrily. He sighed.
"How about when my friends surprised you with a birthday party? Your immediate reaction was to try and blow everyone up!"
"There was something off about all that! I was already suspicious and they sprung a surprise on me…what would you expect me to…why are you taking Phos's side in this?!"
"Keyda, calm down." Cole said, as he noticed her fists started glowing. She glanced down at them and her shoulders sagged as her power fizzed out. Swallowing hard, she looked back up at him.
"I think you should leave…"
He shook his head, angry.
"How many times do we have to have this conversation, Keyda? I'm not going anywhere! Just the other day it was you who said that even though we're scared of losing each other…"
"This is different!" she argued. "This is you getting hurt by me! And sure, maybe the first time it was just a burn on your arm…but what happens if it gets worse? What happens if I wake up one day and I've…Ive…"
He grabbed her shoulders, also standing now.
"Stop. You've got to stop thinking that way…it's no wonder you have nightmares, Keyds. We will figure this out, just like we figured everything else out up to this point. And if Phos isn't the way you'll learn to control it, then we will just try something else…"
"Like venegestone?" She asked, and his frown deepened.
"No…Keyds, I don't want you to just…"
"I need to know that I won't hurt you again; whether that's from you being back home safe in Ninjago or me wearing vengestone…"
"You're both being fools."
They turned to see that Phos had come back into the tent. Keyda stiffened and Cole's jaw clenched as he stared at the Ancient Healer.
"You may be in the beginning stages of control…but to just give up…to rely on venestone….would be the stupidest thing that you could do."
She grit her teeth and didn't look at him. He turned his beady gaze to Cole, who was opening his mouth to tell the healer off.
"All things considered, perhaps it is best for you to return to Ninjago…"
The Master of Earth bristled immediately. "What?!"
"I've told you time and time again to quit your yelling! There are forces at work you cannot even begin to comprehend…and it grows less safe for you in this realm…"
"Less safe? So…less safe than the time we battled the Baron? Or the Dragon Elder? Or…"
"Fine. You want to stay and tempt fate, go ahead." Phos snapped, relenting. He narrowed his eyes. "But don't forget you owe me three hours of labor…"
"Three hours!?" Cole was incredulous. "For you strapping Keyda to a table and knocking me out?"
The Healer shrugged. "I delivered on what we agreed on…it's not my fault that she has the emotional control of a rabid night-sniffer…"
Keyda's eyes flashed as she turned to go storm over to him, but Cole grabbed her arm and stopped her.
"No…I don't think I ever want to see you again, Phos….let alone spend three hours…"
"A deal is a deal, Idiot." Phos snapped. Cole bristled and the Healer's eyes glittered darkly as he looked at them. "And you do not want to carry debt with an Oni Healer, boy."
Something glimmered in Phos's expression…something that seemed deeper and wiser than the crazy senile healer he had always come across as. Cole maintained eye contact for half a minute or so, but he finally sighed and looked away.
"Fine. I'll be back tomorrow, then. But don't expect me to ever show up after that…."
"What you do with your life is no concern to me, boy…as long as you pay up what you owe me." He turned back to Keyda as he continued. "You may feel like I'm not helping….but if you want to ever control your powers then you will keep coming back, and you will actually listen to me…"
"I'd rather just wear the vengestone," Keyda said bitterly, and Phos's eyes flashed as he shook his head.
"As a society, we have fallen far," he mused aloud before waving them out of his tent.
"Shoo, get out then. I haven't got the time today to deal with you at any rate…."
Keyda and Cole shared an expression and they exited the tent and boarded the elemental Guardian waiting outside.
Neither said anything the whole way home.
Keyda didn't even dare try to sleep without the tea that night. Her long day had continued after getting back from the healers because she still had to go to the meeting she had with the other leaders. It had been just as irritating as ever, and she had counted the minutes till it had ended.
She made sure she was actually in bed when she drank the tea. After downing the warm drink she quickly put the cup on the side table near her bed. Then she laid down, the worries and stresses lessening as the warm grogginess took over.
She opened her eyes to sunshine and a light breeze and sat up. She was in a field of poppies, and she looked around.
"Had a bad day?"
She caught sight of Echo leaning against a nearby formation, carving a hunk of wood with a small knife.
"How could you tell?"
Echo just smiled.
"Because you're back…and it's only been a few days."
Keyda stood so she could walk over to the horned Oni. She paused in surprise as a small red butterfly with golden accents fluttered past her face.
"What is this place?"
She watched the butterfly head over to the poppies' waving heads and shook her head in wonder.
Echo shrugged, not looking up from her carving.
"I don't really know how it works…I suppose it's built from your memories and mine." She finally looked up at the younger Oni and smiled. "So what's been going on?"
The Oni listened and carved as Keyda sat nearby and relayed the events of the day.
"It's not even just that he didn't tell me that it had happened… he lied about it!" she said, exasperated. "I can't even trust him to tell me the truth…how am I supposed to believe anything he says if it's in relation to me and my powers?"
"It sounds like he was trying to protect you," Echo mused, using the knife tip to bore holes into the carving.
Keyda scoffed in annoyance. "Well….I wish he would spend more time protecting himself." She shook her head, annoyed. "To think that this whole time I was trying to make it so he didn't find out about my stupid nightmares…and it turns out he knew about them the whole time! I still don't even know how he…"
"So you were hiding stuff from him too, then?"
Keyda bristled, glaring at the calm Oni.
"Well, it's not like I was keeping a secret he didn't already know…" she rationalized. Echo shrugged and the younger girl finally sighed. "I didn't want to admit that I had less control…I didn't want him to know that this was happening because I knew he would do stupid things to…"
"I guess you both just have to talk more," Echo said almost playfully as she smirked. "If you both keep tip-toeing around the hard topics, you're gonna keep butting heads…"
"But I don't want to talk about the hard topics." Keyda wrapped her arms around her knees, almost pouting. "When I'm with him…I just want things to be ok. I just want to…to not be broken."
Echo put her carving down for the first time and gave Keyda a warm smile. She reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey."
Keyda sighed and looked over at her, and Echo cocked her head slightly.
"I get it…I get that sometimes you just want everything to be ok…to be happy with the ones you love…" she paused as if remembering some hard memory. "But bad things always happen; there's no way of stopping it. And it's either going to bring you closer together or drive you apart…"
Keyda picked at a string on one of her arm coverings. "And….if we aren't honest with each other…"
"It's going to drive you apart." Echo finished, turning back to her carving. After a few moments in silence she changed the subject.
"So are you going to go back to the Healer?"
Keyda frowned.
"No…that experience was awful…" she suddenly looked up as an idea hit. "Did you have powers?"
Echo smirked again and looked up, her eyes giving a flash to answer her question. Keyda blinked in surprise, but then she remembered the time she had first met her, after she and Wu had formed the union. Echo had talked about Oni powers then…so she guessed it made sense that the horned Oni had access to them.
"How did you learn to control them?"
Echo looked thoughtful.
"It…wasn't really that big of a shock, having powers back then. Many Oni had them. I had my powers from a young age, and the village Healers were in charge of teaching us children how to control them." She shrugged. "Most children were really volatile at first, but we learned different tricks to keep our emotions under control." She gestured with her chin at the wood she was carving. "I always preferred wood carving."
"Village Healers…" Keyda said, frowning. "Phos is the only Healer I know about, to be honest, and he seems pretty insane. The Baron got rid of most of them…but he knew about Phos and didn't ever get rid of him…"
"The Healer's name is Phos?" Echo asked, eyebrow raised.
"That's what he told Cole…why?"
Echo shrugged.
"I don't know much about Healers and powers and all that, to be honest; I spent most of my young life learning to control my powers and coming up with crazy ways to defend our village and destroy the dragon nation. So…I was more in the warrior mindset, I suppose; I never really cared to learn much about the side of Oni power that the Healers delved into." She whittled a long strip off the side of the small wooden form. "But the names of the Healers back then were a lot more formal….I've never heard of any of them with a name like 'Phos.' Just seems kind of…silly." She finished with a soft smile and Keyda rolled her eyes.
"Well, let me tell you the man is a more than just 'kind of' silly."
The world around them started to fade and Keyda sighed, not wanting to wake up yet. Echo smiled.
"I think you should go back to see the Healer…control isn't easy, but I think he can teach you more than you think he can." She handed Keyda the finished carved form. Keyda traced a finger along the small figure's face; it was her, complete with a small braid. She was dressed simply without scarves or circlet.
"Thank you…" she said as the world around them faded away. The last thought she had was that Echo had carved a smile on her.
"It feels like we've been visiting here a lot…" Dorhn grumbled as they dismounted. Cole sighed.
"My job is to visit people who need help…and trust me, this guy needs a lot of help."
Phos was ready and waiting when they entered. He held out a cup of tea to Dorhn, but the bodyguard declined. Cole sighed internally; these three hours were going to be bad enough without his bodyguard making snarky comments the whole time.
The table was laid out with a few old scrolls and a few blank ones, as well as quills and brushes. Cole sighed internally; when he had first found the scrolls this had all felt interesting…now it just felt like homework. He sat heavily, not even waiting for Phos to give him instructions. He had started one translation that time he had visited with the vengestone ring. Phos had insisted that he leave both his translation key and the start of the new writing with him rather than taking them back to the fortress.
Dorhn frowned as Cole got started.
"What the heck is all of this?"
"Just some dusty records…" Cole muttered, and Dorhn scratched his head.
"You can read this junk?"
Cole rolled his eyes. "Not…yet…"
Dorhn shook his head and began drifting through the tent, poking at various bits and pieces. Phos slapped his hand away from a strange spiny object and Dorhn finally rolled his eyes and sat down in his usual seat, arms crossed.
Cole worked in silence for a while, his annoyance with the chore and his bodyguard fading as he got pulled into the history that he was writing. The names in the scroll were strange and he didn't really understand some of the things that the scrolls talked about; there were many terms that were new to him but the text didn't explain any of them, as if the reader was just expected to know.
"What are Varghall?" he asked as he came across one such term.
"Another name for night-sniffers." Phos called out from the back. Cole never knew what the Healer was always busying himself with, but he never really seemed to be doing normal everyday things like eating and sleeping.
"I…don't really know what those are either, except lots of villages have a problem with them," Cole admitted. Dorhn scoffed from his place on the armchair.
"Sneaky, furry beasts with yellow eyes and sharp teeth. Hunt at night, in packs…like to eat livestock." He paused, eyes glittering. "Probably would enjoy the taste of outsider…"
Cole rolled his eyes. "Gee…thanks for that…" he muttered. He reread his last translated paragraph. Zane was right; the translations didn't make total sense grammatically, but he could get the gist of what it was talking about.
"Apparently there was a shortage of…scalah…and it made it so they had a hard time banishing the Varghall." He looked up at Phos, who had entered the room. "That make any sense to you?"
"Scalah is a type of plant; people used to stick it in the ground around their livestock pens because night-sniffers won't go near the stuff."
Cole stared at him blankly. "You mean, this whole time we've been building walls and stuff to keep those vermin out, and we could have just been planting flowers?!" he shook his head. "Where can I find some of this Scalah?"
Phos scratched his chin. "I think I have some seeds tucked away somewhere…and I think the plant still grows wild in some places." He snapped out of his thoughts, rapping his knuckles on the scroll in front of Cole. "Remember, boy…you owe me three hours of work. Any time you spend gawking and asking stupid questions doesn't count…"
Cole gave him a withering look and made a show of picking up his brush and dipping it back into the inkpot. Phos watched him get back to work, looking down at what he was writing.
"Got good handwriting for someone who doesn't read very well…"
Cole paused his writing to look up and glare at him. Phos wandered away, grabbing a fan out of Dorhn's hand and then using it to smack the bodyguard over the head. Dorhn rubbed his head and basically growled at the Healer as he disappeared back into the back of his home.
The next few hours were tedious, though the reading made it enjoyable. He still didn't understand a lot of terms, but he figured he would just ask about them later, if he cared enough to. He didn't really feel like coming here anymore; for one thing, it was annoying being here with Dorhn, and for another he was still pretty mad at Phos for what went down the day before.
The past Oni civilization seemed to be a lot more…well, civilized. There were plenty of descriptions of bloody battles with the dragons, but they seemed to have used their power a lot more productively back in the day; the scroll described an increase in protective magic walls and barriers as well as items that could be used in battle. Cole mused that with how things were now they didn't really need magic weapons…but he couldn't help but wonder at the potential of this "soul energy" Phos had described.
Cole finally got to the bottom of the scroll and put his brush down, stretching out the cramps in his hands and wrist. He glanced over to see Dorhn snoring; this time the bodyguard really had fallen asleep out of boredom.
"Look at that, you finished it."
Cole jumped as Phos seemed to materialize next to him, and he nearly fell out of his chair.
"Seriously Phos….you've got to stop doing that…"
The Healer wasn't listening as he picked up Cole's translation.
"So can you read it now, kid?" he asked, and surprisingly there was a trace of actual curiosity in his tone.
"Yeah," Cole said, putting the stopper back into the vial. He stood and stretched his back, which had become really stiff from sitting in the same hunched position for hours on end.
Phos squinted at the writing, and then squinted at the writing on the ancient scroll on the table.
"Well…don't feel too proud of yourself…there's still a whole shelf of em, and this one is by far one of the smallest…"
Cole sighed and slung his bag over one shoulder.
"I don't know if I'll be back, Phos…" he muttered. "You're all paid up now, yeah? So, I guess this is the part where I go on with my life, like you said…"
"Huh," Phos said, snapping the scroll closed as he looked over at the Master of Earth. "And here I thought you wanted some Scalah plant…"
Cole pressed his fingers to his temples as the Healer continued.
"By my reckoning…that plant aint so common anymore…like I said, I might have some seeds, but it's gonna cost you…"
"You're a tyrant, you know that right?" Cole said, looking up at him. "I swear you're worse than Ronin…"
"I have no idea what that means, but the way I see it you're gonna have a lot of time to do these scrolls…what with the number of villages needing protection, and for future lessons for your emotionally unstable friend…"
"Keyda is not coming back to you for help." Cole snapped angrily. "After how your last "lesson" went I'd be surprised if she ever came back here again."
He was waiting for Phos to say something snarky, but the Healer just shrugged.
"She doesn't want to, that's for sure. But she'll be back."
"What makes you so sure?"
Phos shrugged again as he put the inkpots and writing brushes away. "Because she's broken, and I'm really the only person that can teach her how to fix herself."
Cole opened his mouth angrily, but Phos waved him off.
"No need to get so defensive…the girl's been through a lot of abuse. She's got some cracks, some warped views, and an emotional wall." He chuckled to himself as he tied up Cole's translation with a red ribbon. "And through it all, you still love her." He glanced up at Cole's angry expression and cocked an eyebrow. "Guess that's why she calls you Idiot, huh?"
"How dare…"
"Eh, come on, kid." Phos interrupted as he tied up the first record with a blue ribbon. "What do I always tell ya? Names got meaning."
20
"Meetings go ok?"
Keyda didn't answer right away; she was still a little frustrated with Cole. He came and sat next to her.
"Did they not, then?" he asked, reaching over to take her hand. She sighed, turning to look at him without pulling her hand away.
"They were alright. There's a whole list of villages that want you to come by now…who'd of thought you'd become so popular?"
Cole wiggled his eyebrows. "See? Told you I'd win them over." He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and she finally moved closer and leaned on his shoulder.
"They just like the free labor," she pointed out. "You really need to be careful that you don't just let people use you."
He chuckled a bit. "Speaking of being used…Phos has been working me into the ground lately. After finishing that first scroll he had me start clear at the beginning—Kahzym the first. Though apparently there's a lot of history before that point that just wasn't recorded. The older stuff is harder to translate though…it's kinda slow going…"
"I thought you weren't going back to Phos? Didn't you already do those three hours a few days ago?"
He sighed. "I did…until I found out how badly I need scalah plant…which of course can only be found by Phos, apparently." He turned to look at her, hopeful. "I don't suppose you know what that plant is?"
She shook her head. "Never heard of it…"
"Did you ever plant stuff to keep the night-sniffers away?"
She looked at him like he was crazy and he laughed.
"Well…the records said it worked, at any rate. I've got enough now for a few villages, but I'm going to have to do a lot more translating to get enough for all the villages that need it. Apparently it's a hearty plant, so hopefully it grows after all that effort…"
"Why is Phos so adamant that those records get translated, anyways?" Keyda asked, voice suddenly irritated. Cole shrugged slightly.
"No idea. Sometimes I think he just likes bossing me around."
They sat awhile in silence, lost in their own thoughts. One of her hands was absently playing with his hair and she stopped and took a deep breath.
"I…was thinking of going back."
"Hmm?" Cole looked over at her. "Back where?"
"Back to Phos….to…. maybe try again…"
His expression hardened. "No…I don't think that's a good idea, Keyds."
She shrugged slightly.
"I can't hurt you again, Idiot…and I don't have many options for making sure that doesn't happen. If you aren't going back to Ninjago and I can't wear vengestone, then Phos is really the only…"
He interrupted with an angry and resigned sigh. She bit her lip and then continued.
"And I don't think you should come with me…"
His grip on her hand tightened.
"Of course I'm coming with you…" he said. "I mean…I practically live there these days anyways."
"We'll have to take turns, then." she murmured, and he scowled at her while pushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.
"I don't like it," he argued. "I don't see why…"
"I'm too scared he'll target you…I don't know. He called you my 'trigger' and I think it's true. Anything happens to you and I just…" she shrugged again. "I snap. Maybe if it was just me, I could make some headway?"
He sort of stewed for a bit and finally exhaled, leaning in close.
"You better fill me in then," he said, and she relaxed, relieved that he didn't put up more of a fight.
"Fine…but you're going to be honest with me from here on out…got that?" she said, and he finally gave her a little smile.
"K Keyds…I got it."
She closed her eyes; troubles always seemed further away when they kissed.
"Plants?"
The village leader folded her arms, looking more than a little doubtful, but Cole nodded.
"I know it sounds strange…but apparently ancient Oni used to use Scalah to keep the night-sniffers out…"
"And how would an outsider know that?"
Cole sighed. "I've been doing some research…come on, Veiri, just let me plant some along the wall around the livestock, just to see. I mean, they can't hurt anything, can they?"
Veiri rolled her eyes, but she wasn't shutting him down. She inadvertently glanced over at the wall Cole had created weeks earlier with his dragon…it had seemed to make a difference….
"Fine, you can plant em…"
Cole smiled, though his expression became a little apologetic.
"Thanks…the only thing is, there's no way I'll be able to water them every day…"
"Oi, you just trying to give us useless work?" the Leader asked angrily, and Cole shook his head.
"When the root system grows in, the plant should be able to sustain itself by reaching the underground water sources….but until then they do need to be watered. C'mon…it's just a water bucket or two once a day…"
Veiri pressed a hand to her eyes. "You got a lot a nerve, outsider…but I suppose a few extra chores'll keep the little ones out of mischief."
Just then, as if beckoned, Cole felt a tug on his belt. He looked down at a small Oni child. It was obvious she wanted to say something but looked nervous to do it around the Village Leader. He knelt down so he could hear what she was trying to say.
"Can we ride the Dragon today?" she asked, voice barely audible.
Cole glanced up and caught sight of a group of scruffy, dusty children a little ways off, seemingly watching for his reply. He couldn't help but smile.
"We'll have to see….it depends on how fast I can plant these…" he pulled out the small sack of seeds. "And…it depends on how grumpy the Guardian is today...not to mention Dorhn…" He made a face and the little Oni giggled before running off to spread the message. Cole stood and dusted himself off. Veiri raised a judgmental eyebrow, but Cole just grinned.
"Where were we?"
She rolled her eyes again and began walking towards the livestock pens. Cole was amazed at how similar and yet different the animals in this realm were to the ones back home. They had cow-like animals…but their legs were longer and they were a little sturdier. They were munching on mop plant, which seemed to be the only plant that grew in abundance in this realm.
He grinned at the animals. "Afternoon, Hoofers."
The Leader scoffed. "You gonna plant or not?"
Cole turned to Dorhn, who was following him around with the same bored expression he always had.
"I'm going to need two buckets of water…" he said, but the bodyguard didn't act like he had heard. Cole resisted the urge to be patronizing and raised his voice.
"Dorhn. Two buckets of water. Now." He paused a moment. "Please."
The dragon master rolled his eyes and headed over to the village well while Cole tried to remember Phos's instructions. Half an hour or so later he had buried all the seeds at what he hoped was the right depth. Using Dorhn's freshly fetched buckets, they watered the seeds. Cole stared at the muddy patch a moment more and finally shrugged.
"Guess now we just got to wait and see." He looked up back at the animals, and had a sudden thought.
"Hey Veiri…you ever try riding the Hoofers?"
The Leader shook her head like she thought he was crazy. "What, these beasts? They're as stubborn and temperamental as anything…"
"More so than a Dragon?" Cole asked, eyebrows raised. "I mean, you guys are pretty stuck for transport now, right? Surely if you could ride a giant fire-breathing reptile, you could ride one of these…"
"You're welcome to try, Outsider…" Veira said, though her tone was one part curiousity at this point; it sounded like she almost hoped he would just for the entertainment value.
Cole grinned. "Let's do it."
Phos wasn't anywhere to be found when Keyda showed up at the tent. She frowned; as far as she knew, the old Healer was always here…where could he have gone?
"Hello? Phos?"
"He's a few villages over…outbreak of fever."
Keyda turned to see Hershel behind her, carrying a bunch of large leaves. She had no idea what plant he had gotten them off of.
"Oh." She swallowed, not really sure what she should do at this point. "Do you…know when he'll be back?"
Hershel shrugged. "He's gotta come back to get some salve from these leaves…. but I gotta have them prepared before he gets here." He walked away, going into the back of the tent. Keyda bit her lip before following him.
"Can I talk to you for a bit, Hershel?"
The skinny slave looked over, a little confused.
"Why?"
She shrugged. "Um…I…just have some questions,"
He blinked and seemed to remember his place. "Well…of course. You are the ruler, after all. It's just I gotta finish these…"
"Maybe I can help?"
He winced and shook his head. "No…I got it."
He pulled out a small knife and began cutting the large leaves down the middle. She watched in fascination as he began pressing some kind of gel out of the leaf, catching it in a small bowl.
"What questions do you have?" he asked, and she remembered to get back to the point.
"Well, Phos mentioned that you've been learning how to control your emotions." she trailed off, feeling foolish. Hershel no doubt was aware of her own inability, and it pricked her pride.
"Yeah…" Hershel pulled a strange flat stick off the counter to press the leaf harder. "When I first got here, I wasn't really sure what was going on….I was pretty out of it, and scared out of my mind. But Syn was here…and she was ok…and that helped." He hung up the flat, gel-less leaf to dry. "I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't been here, but Master Healer had saved her, and that made me want to trust him more."
Keyda raised her eyebrow. "You call him Master Healer?"
"Sure." Hershel got started on the next leaf. "That's what he is, isn't it?"
She decided not to comment further on that, going back to her questions instead.
"So….that whole…frozen thing with the crystals…"
Hershel smiled a little. "Freaked me out pretty bad the first time too, but he explained that he was just making it so that I could really feel what was going on inside of me without worrying about what was happening on the outside…"
She frowned. "And that worked?"
"After I stopped freaking out about being frozen, I could feel the feelings inside." He finished the second leaf and glanced over at her. "It felt like they were all jumbled together…and I didn't know how I was going to keep them inside of me. It was like they just wanted to come out."
Keyda nodded absently; she knew that feeling well. Hershel continued as he worked.
"Master Healer taught me how to think about what I was feeling, and to think about why I was feeling that way."
The Oni ruler picked up a small vial of some dark liquid sitting on a desk and studied it.
"So…that's all he did for you, then?"
"Oh no, that's just the one he starts out with. We do different exercises to train my senses."
"Your senses?" Keyda asked, and Hershel nodded. He turned towards her and took a deep sniff.
"You had eggs for breakfast." he said confidently, and she took a few steps away.
"Alright…so you can smell stuff…but how exactly…"
"The more you understand about the world around you, about people around you, the better judgements you can make and the better you can control your feelings without just reacting." he explained. She bristled a little, thinking the kid was calling her out and he looked over apologetically.
"I…didn't mean you…I meant anyone who is trying to control their emotions…you know?"
"Yeah…" she said a little guardedly and he winced as he scraped out the gel in the last leaf.
"Look, I still am not very good at controlling myself. I get mad, or scared…" he trailed off and looked over at her. "And…there's nightmares…"
"You get the storms too?"
"Master Healer generally wakes me up in the beginning stages of them, so they never get too out of control…"
Something suddenly clicked in Keyda's mind.
"Hershel…you were in my room every night…so you were there when Cole got hurt. Do you know how he knew about my dreams?"
The small slave froze, stick on the leaf. He wasn't meeting her eye and she came closer, brow furrowing.
"Hershel…"
He finally sighed and cast a fearful glance over at her.
"They…they didn't start out too bad. Your dreams, I mean. But then they started getting more destructive; Syn and I were getting really scared…"
"You never talked to me about it." Keyda pointed out a little angrily and he winced.
"I thought you'd be so mad. Then one night one of the blasts almost hit Syn." He was pressing the leaf with added vigor, his hands trembling slightly. "I couldn't go to Heavy Metal…surely he wouldn't listen to the fears of a little slave kid; more than likely he'd think we couldn't handle it and replace us with someone else." He paused again. "I didn't want us to get replaced…being your personals was the best thing that had happened to us in a really long time."
She folded her arms; she was pretty sure he knew where he was going with this, but she wanted him to come out and say it.
The last of the gel fell into the bowl as he confessed.
"I went and got Cole. I…I was just out of options. It was clear he cared about you, and he had a reputation for being nice to slaves…" his hands were shaking a little harder as he hung the last leaf. He continued to avoid looking at her as he spoke. "I didn't know he'd get hurt…I really didn't…"
"He knew about the storms because you told him..." Keyda repeated quietly and he grimaced. He leaned on his hands on the now empty counter and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. After a few moments he opened them and finally turned and faced her, and she was surprised to see how calm and unafraid he suddenly looked.
"Yes. I told him and he came with me and woke you up from your storm. At one point you grabbed his arm…your hands were flaming…" he trailed off and sighed. "He made us promise we wouldn't ever tell you; I think he was scared of how you would react."
Keyda's eyes flashed, but she was able to restrain her instinct to react at the small Oni.
"Was there any other time he got hurt?"
Hershel seemed relieved that she didn't seem on the verge of destroying him. He thought about her question as he moved over to the washing basin to clean the board, stick, and knife.
"There was that time my leg was hurt…Syn dragged me out into the hall and then ran to find Cole. I was out in the hall, so I didn't actually witness anything…but…."
"But?"
Hershel bit his lip, making sure that he was getting his facts right before continuing.
"If I remember right, he came out with his arms all bandaged up…and later Syn said you had attacked him in your sleep."
Keyda leaned back against a table as a wave a nausea hit. Cole had said that it was only that one time! He had lied again!
"Any other times?" she asked angrily, and he hesitated.
"I don't think so…I mean, I was confined to my room after that, so I don't know…but Syn probably would have told me and she never mentioned anything."
Keyda exhaled, still angry but relieved that there only seemed to be two incidents.
"Thank you for talking to me, Hershel," she said, and he sort of nodded and shrugged in reply. The flap suddenly burst open and Syn ran in.
"Hershel, we need that salve now…"
She stopped dead when she saw Keyda and swallowed hard. It didn't help that the Oni ruler had a furious look on her face.
"Oh…um, I'm sorry…"
Keyda tried to have a less threatening expression as she looked over at the small child, but she was still pretty angry at Cole.
"It's ok Syn…"
"Here, you can take it now; it's done." Hershel interrupted, handing Syn the bowl. He had covered the top with some kind of animal skin, tying it on so that the gel wouldn't spill as Syn ran the bowl back to Phos. She grabbed the bowl, looked at Keyda and gave a kinda bow-nod, and raced back out of the door.
Keyda frowned, turning back to Hershel.
"I….I didn't know there was a fever in any of the villages, to be honest…"
"Generally one of the last things village leaders will mention," Hershel said as he slung a bag over his shoulder. "Guess they're just used to the Baron; if he found out about sickness in the realm he'd go burn the whole village down, or he'd quarantine it so it would just wipe everyone out." He turned back to Keyda. "Anyways, do you have any more questions? I really ought to go gather a few more things…"
Keyda hesitated, but she realized there really wasn't much else she needed to know from Hershel. She finally shook her head. And he gave her a nod-bow of his own.
"Well…I guess I'll see you around?" he said awkwardly before ducking out the same door as his sister. Keyda stood in the empty tent a few minutes longer, trying to process everything he had said. She realized suddenly that she kinda wanted to talk to Wu…but it was so hard to track that man down. Even if she did know where he was, it would undoubtedly take such a long time to walk there. She figured she might as well head back to the fortress…
She went to walk out of the tent, when she glanced over at the table. There was a scroll unrolled on it, with a blue ribbon lying next to it. She looked around to make sure that Hershel hadn't returned and walked over to the table.
The markings were all there, though they were as opaque to her as ever. Every symbol in shorthand was accomplished in a few short strokes and it could only ever communicate very choppy thoughts and ideas. The writing on this ancient scroll was elaborate and flowing; she had no idea how Cole picked it all apart. She glanced over at a melted candle sitting nearby; Phos had been reading then; it looked like he had been up all night.
"What's in you that's so important?" she murmured. She heard a sudden banging and nearly leapt out of her skin, but she realized it was just someone outside banging the dents out of a pot.
She shook away the anxiety and headed for the exit. Though Phos hadn't been home, she couldn't help but feel like she had learned something from this trip regardless.
Cole could tell Dorhn thought he was being stupid…but he didn't say anything. The Master of Earth wasn't sure if it was because his bodyguard just didn't bother anymore, or if it was because he really wanted to see Cole fall on his face. Probably a bit of both, if he was being honest.
"Ok…" he said, as he finally was able to situate himself on the back of the hoofer. The animal was covered in rough hair, which Cole hoped would make it harder for him to slip right off. There was some kind of mane that stuck up like a donkey's and he grabbed two fistfuls to anchor himself. He glanced over at the gathering crowd; Veiri and Dorhn stood with matching looks of judgement, and the group of dusty children were sitting a few yards away. Villagers were wandering nearer to see what the commotion was.
"Time to see if this works!" he said, grinning at the group. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting...but he was met by silence. He faced forward and took a deep breath. He had ridden dragons and yaks…how hard could this be? He gave the animal a firm kick, expecting it to go forward, and nothing happened. He looked down at the rigid animal and glanced over at the group and back. He gave a second kick, but once again, nothing happened. He heard a small snicker and a cough and sighed. He should have known this…
His train of thought was shattered as the animal suddenly and unexpectedly began running forward. Cole had been expecting a slower, lumbering gait, like a yak's. Instead, the hoofer was galloping quicker than he thought was possible.
"WOAHHHH!" Cole yelled; it was all he could do to stay on. He tried to pull back on the hair, but nothing seemed to work. He was bouncing up and down so much he couldn't even coordinate any more kicks to the beast's side. "STOOOOOOOP."
Suddenly, the Guardian of Earth dropped out of the sky, landing in the path of the beast and letting out a roar. The stop was instantaneous, and Cole was shot off the animal's back. He bounced a couple times in the dust and groaned.
You're welcome.
He sat up coughing, and grimaced in the Dragon's direction. He slowly stood, taking a mental inventory of his condition. His wrist hurt a lot, and his shoulder and hip would undoubtedly be bruised tomorrow…but other than that he was alright. He looked up and glared at the hoofer, which was slowly picking its way back to the livestock pen. Cole sighed and followed suit.
Vieri was shaking her head in wonder at his stupidity, and Cole shrugged sheepishly.
"Hey, I mean, if we can figure out how to train these things, we'd be able to get from place to place a lot faster than walking…I had no idea these things were so fast!"
"Yes…well, they usually aren't." The leader admitted. She stared at the approaching beast thoughtfully. "As stupid as you are, outsider…maybe you are on to something this time…"
"Yeah…a concussion." Dorhn pointed out, and Cole ignored him.
"Hoofer training…I guess that will be my next project. After all these Scalah get planted, that is." It was nice to have things to do…but sometimes Cole felt overwhelmed as he thought of all the things that needed to be done in this realm. "Well…first thing's first. Ready to go, Dorhn? We've got a few more planting visits to make."
Phos's eyes drooped closed again, and he shook himself awake. Now was not the time to be nodding off…but he couldn't help his exhaustion. It had been a busy day, what with all the fever cases. He found his mind drifting as he thought of the two slave kids. They were doing pretty good, considering how young they were. Hershel especially was picking procedure up well….
He shook his head again, trying to keep focused. There was far more to pay attention to than two little slave brats. He watched the candle flicker and sighed, turning his attention to the scroll in front of him. He rubbed his eyes, irritated. Reading in the dimming light wasn't helping, that was sure…but he needed to remember the elements of the spell…he couldn't let the past repeat itself.
21
Cole winced as he stretched out his wrist. The hand cramps mixed with the stiff wrist were really adversely affecting his writing ability.
"You've barely started," Phos snapped. "Don't be taking a break now!"
The old Healer was angrier than usual today, and Cole had been trying to stay out of his warpath all morning.
"Can't you tell? The fool hurt his wrist…" Dorhn pointed out, and Cole shot his bodyguard a dirty look. Though, he also couldn't help wonder why Phos hadn't picked up on his pain…he generally picked up on everything.
"You did, huh?" The Healer asked, grabbing his wrist and pulling it towards his eyes. Cole winced as his wrist was jarred and Dorhn chuckled from his chair.
"He was trying to ride a Hoofer. You should have seen him…"
Phos shook his head.
"Syn! Bring some bandages…"
The little Oni girl darted into the front of the tent with the bandages. She avoided looking at Dorhn as she disappeared again. Phos called on her occasionally in front of the bodyguard, but he'd never call for Hershel. Cole wouldn't be surprised if the Oni boy wasn't even in the tent during their visits.
"Riding Hoofers…you're lucky you didn't break your thick head…" Phos muttered as he wrapped Cole's wrist in the bandage.
Cole grimaced as the Healer pulled the bandages tight, though he noticed that his wrist—though more stiff and straight—hurt a lot less.
"…Thanks," he muttered as he turned back to the scrolls. "And, for the record, I was just trying to find some way Oni can move across the realm without having to walk everywhere…."
"But with no saddle, no reigns…only fools ride Hoofers bareback," Phos muttered, and Cole looked up in surprise.
"You mean…Oni have done it before?"
Phos rolled his eyes. "It's amazing the things you can learn when you look into history." At the last word, he pushed Cole's head back down close to the parchment and Cole exhaled, irritated. He worked for a few more hours, translating. After a while his wrist was complaining enough that he put the brush down, determined to be finished for the day. Phos came back into the room and Cole looked over warily, thinking the Healer was coming to deliver another head-whack and order to get back to work. Instead, he brought a few cups of tea. Cole took the cup in surprise but couldn't help sniffing it suspiciously. Phos rolled his eyes before sipping his own cup. At seeing that, Cole relaxed and began drinking. After a few minutes he looked up at the Healer.
"So…how did Keyda's training go yesterday?" he asked. It was something that he had been meaning to talk about with the Healer all day, but Phos had seemed to be in such a bad mood before. He hadn't even had the chance to ask Keyda herself about it yet; when he had returned the night before, Heavy Metal had informed him that she had turned in early. Cole wasn't sure if that was a bad sign or not…but it felt like a bad sign.
"How am I supposed to know? I wasn't here for it." Phos snapped, taking another sip of tea. Cole blinked.
"You…weren't here?"
"Outbreak of fever in a village to the east,"
"Oh." Cole frowned. "Then…she didn't get trained yesterday?"
"More than likely she did." Phos said absently, staring into the distance. "Just not by me."
Cole blinked; this guy was just as cryptic as Wu. Phos snapped out of his reverie and came over to the scroll Cole had written.
"This one's on Kahzym the first, yes?"
"Yeah." Cole said, turning his own attention back to the scroll. "So…this guy's important because he was trying to unify the nation…mentions that a few times." He scratched his head. "But the thing is, I thought that no one had attempted to…"
"Not the realm, boy, the nation. Back then, the Oni nation was a handful of tribes, so to speak. Each tribe had its own ruler and its own agenda…though for most of them it was just to keep the dragons from wiping them off the face of the earth."
"So this Kahzym guy united the Oni nation?"
"He started to…it was an ongoing practice that wasn't really accomplished till the reign of his son, Kahzym the second—"the great unifier." It was much easier to protect the realm against the Dragon attacks when they weren't all fighting each other as well."
"Makes sense…." Cole said as he scanned the rest of his translation. "It says here he "banded the Healer's forthwith", and then something about "records of unending history." He sighed. "It's not an exact translation, but something to do with the healers and history, from what I gather."
"Indeed." Phos scratched his chin. "Before Kahzym the first, most people just thought Healers were kooky, mysterious people who had some strange relationship with power…"
"Wonder how they came to that conclusion." Cole said dryly, and Phos smacked him over the head in one fluid motion before continuing his narration as if nothing had happened.
"But Kahzym recognized that we were aware….very aware of the goings-on in the realm. He trusted us with the duty of recording the history of the realm and keeping it safe. Though all those of the Healing tribe were trusted with recording history…it fell on the Master Healer to keep it all."
Cole blinked in surprise.
"Wait…you have all the records…so, that's what you are, then?"
Phos got a distant look on his face. "Out of necessity."
Cole wanted to press more, but the Healer had already shaken himself from his thoughts.
"If you're done for the day, then leave already. Get out of my hair."
Cole sighed as he stood to help Phos clean up.
"It's amazing, really," he started, and Phos looked up with a raised eyebrow as Cole continued. "All the ways it describes Oni using power…it was woven into everything they did back then. There were celebrations, tournaments, even ways they used it in their engineering."
"Indeed." Phos said quietly. Cole washed out his brushes before leaving them on a shelf with others.
"It makes you think of all the possibilities of Oni magic…or power in general. What kinds of things could be…"
"There's such thing as too much curiousity, boy!" Phos snapped suddenly. Cole blinked at the Healer's sudden severe tone.
"You know when you say things like that, you make me more curious, right?" he said after a few moments, and Phos exhaled angrily.
"You wouldn't be the first to wonder what could be accomplished…who wished to experiment." Phos shook his head as he rolled up the scrolls angrily. "And it nearly led the realm to ruin…and themselves to banishment."
"Banishment?" Cole asked, surprised. "Do Oni even banish people? I just thought everything was a death-sentence here…" he trailed off for a moment, thinking. "Where would they even get banished?"
Phos turned, his yellow eyes narrowed and glinting. "Mark my words…there are places in this realm that you should pray you never have to hear about….let alone see."
His voice had taken on a dark tone, and Cole put his hands up, as if to defend himself.
"Alright, alright…geez. It was just a question.,."
Phos's expression hardened. He grabbed another small bag of seeds and stuffed them into Cole's hands.
"Here's your due…now get out."
Cole shook his head in confusion as the Healer disappeared into the back; apparently their conversation was over.
"Keyds!"
Keyda sighed as she heard Cole's voice and hesitated before turning around. He came running up, giving her a quizzical look.
"Where've you been? I haven't seen you in two days…"
She frowned at the bandage around his wrist.
"What happened?"
He looked down at his wrist and laughed.
"I…was trying to ride a Hoofer. It didn't go quite as planned…"
She was silent, arms crossed. He noticed how distant she was being and took a step closer.
"Hey…are you ok? How did…"
"Are you sure I didn't do that?" she asked, her tone icy. Cole shook his head, irritated at her accusation.
"No…I really did fall off a Hoofer. You can even ask Dorhn, if you don't believe me," he sighed. "This is why I didn't tell you about the burn earlier…I was afraid you'd become paranoid…"
"If you had told me, I would trust that you would be honest with saying how you hurt yourself." she snapped. "But you didn't tell me about the burn…and you lied, again, about never getting hurt after that. So forgive me if I'm a little paranoid….but I guess I've just learned that I can't just take your word for…"
"What are you talking about?" Cole asked firmly, and she glared at him.
"I went to Phos's a few days ago. He wasn't around, so I talked with Hershel….he said that he was the one who told you about my dreams, and he said that you got hurt a second time…and you had to bandage your arms..."
Cole rubbed a hand through his hair while he stared angrily at the ground.
"It wasn't a big deal, Keyds…"
"I did that to you without even knowing! That makes it a big deal!"
"But it hasn't happened since!" he argued. "What's the point in making a big deal out of it…making you sick about it…if it didn't keep happening?! I just thought it was better to move on…"
"I need to know that you will be honest with me!" she yelled. "I need to know that you won't keep things from me…"
"Well…maybe if you had come out and told me that you had been having these nightmares, it would have given us the perfect opportunity to talk about it!"
"Do NOT try and make this MY FAULT!" she yelled. Her voice echoed down the stone halls as they glared at each other.
He looked like he was going to say something else, but instead he finally just deflated and shrugged.
"Fine. My fault." His tone was bitter and he turned to walk away. She watched in disbelief before becoming angrier.
"Where are you going?!"
"Bed." He replied without turning around. "S'been a long day."
"You can't just…"
"Goodnight, Keyda."
He turned around the corner and she continued to stare in disbelief at the corner. She finally exhaled angrily and stormed back to her room. And though it was childish, she couldn't help but slam the door behind her.
Phos took one look at her tired eyes and irritated expression and let out a rusty laugh.
"Well…looks like you've had quite the night."
"I don't have time for the belittling, Phos. I have to be back to the fortress before long to discuss slave trading." She rubbed her temples, a headache forming just at the thought. "I hate those meetings the most, you know…"
"Eh, meetings are meetings. Long-winded and rarely useful." Phos mused. He nodded towards the table in a "you-know-what-to-do" sort of way and she hesitated.
"Go on…you made it clear you don't got all day," he said, and Keyda sighed and drudged over to the cleared table. She hopped up onto it, her heart already pounding at the memory of what had happened the last time she had done this. The Healer wandered to his shelves, where he was able to locate the crystals a whole lot quicker. She looked away, her gaze drifting over to the bookshelves. Several more scrolls were tied with blue and red ribbon and she frowned.
"How many has he done now?" she asked, and Phos looked up to see what she was talking about. After realizing she was looking at the scrolls he shrugged.
"Two or three…still in the first era of records. It's slow going with that boy…"
"Why do you want him to translate those records so badly?" she asked, and the Healer's eyes glinted as he waggled a finger.
"You're stalling…but if you want to get back at a reasonable time you'll lay down so we can get started already."
She frowned but moved to lie down.
"I'm serious…" she muttered, and he scratched his chin.
"Well…maybe if you actually can control yourself to make it through the full procedure this time, we'll have time for me to answer you."
She wasn't sure she believed that he would actually tell her anything….more than likely it was an empty promise and he didn't expect her to make it through the whole exercise. Her brow furrowed in determination, and she missed the hint of a smile on the old Healer's face as he shook his head and pulled out the crystals.
"Why crystals?" she asked as she placed them around the outline of her body once again.
"Good at holding spells," he muttered and she raised her head a little.
"Spells? You mean power?"
He pushed her head back down against the table and put a crystal on her forehead, muttering to himself.
"Children are so much better at doing what they are told…so much better at listening and keeping quiet…"
Keyda flushed angrily.
"Well, it's not my fault it took me so long to discover my powers." she huffed. "May I remind you that most Oni don't even have powers at all…"
"May I remind you that you have no idea what you're talking about?" Phos replied testily as he took a step back from the table. Her fist clenched and the crystal on her wrist wobbled. His hand lit up and he muttered a few words, and Keyda closed her eyes as power began to dart between the crystals. She waited for the frozen feeling to set in, for the panic to start, but with her eyes closed she just felt really…relaxed? She tried to move her arm, a leg, but nothing happened, and the spark of panic appeared. Her eyes opened to the glowing, floating crystals and outline of her body hovering just above her. Her heart was beating in her throat now, and she bit her lip to keep herself from reacting. Phos chuckled.
"Well, look at you: ya already beat your old record of three seconds…"
She glared at him, though it was hard to really nail the withering scowl with her head glued to the table.
"So what….exactly…does this accomplish?!" she asked, trying to keep her tone calm.
"Nothing, if you're just gonna talk the whole time." Phos chided. "Close your eyes, and shut up."
She felt another spark of rage, but forced her eyes closed.
"Aw, look at all this progress." he said dryly, and she felt color rise in her face again as the Healer continued. "Focus on what you're feeling…."
"Stupid. I'm feeling stupid and irritated…"
" You don't have to say it out loud…just think about it," Phos said, shaking his head.
She scowled again, but tried to do what he said. At first all she really could feel was irritation…but after lying there totally still for a few minutes, she realized that there were more feelings jumbled up underneath. She was wary of Phos, angry at Cole for lying, tired of leading. She was sick and worried about the meeting later…angry at the injustice…angry at the fact that she could technically do something about it but reality made it so she couldn't do anything….
The anger seemed to build, becoming the major feeling; it was like recognizing it in those few places made other points resurface. She was angry she had to lead the Oni…angry that she ever had to be a slave in the first place, angry at the way the Baron used her, what he did to her family….
With her eyes closed, she didn't realize that there was a lot of aura pouring off of her, getting stuck in that net-outline of her body. The crystals buzzed and shook as all the extra power poured into them, turning them red. Phos raised an eyebrow as he sat back and watched. He poured himself a cup of tea as Keyda's face contorted more.
She was angry she couldn't get rid of these horrible dreams…angry she had no control over anything in her life….she just…hated it all…
The crystals changed to a deep purple and Phos stood immediately, holding up a hand to release the binding. Keyda's eyes flew open as the crystals once again tumbled to the ground. She let out a shuddery breath, wiped out. As she turned to find Phos in the room, Keyda caught sight of him studying her with an unreadable expression.
"I failed again."
It was a statement rather than a question. He didn't answer right away and she winced as she sat up.
"Should I even bother coming back?" she asked bitterly, and he exhaled out his nose.
"I can see why Shazier picked you." he finally said, and she looked at him, confused. He poured her a cup of tea and held it out before continuing. "The Baron…his name was Shazier."
She scowled as she accepted the tea.
"Because I'm so unstable?"
"In part." The Healer mused as he sat down again. He studied her a moment longer. "What did he do, the day you broke through the apathy block?"
She nursed the tea, not looking at him.
"Stuck me in some…extraction chamber. I mean, I think that's what he called it. I had it destroyed."
Phos scratched his chin. "It sucked up your aura?"
"Yes." She took a sip, trying to focus on the comforting feeling coursing through her. "Put it in a little container. He called it concentrated Hatred."
"Very powerful stuff." Phos muttered. He studied his own tea, frowning.
Keyda sighed angrily, confused.
"The other day, you said our power wasn't Hatred…"
"Hatred is a feeling, the power we have is energy." Phos said. She shook her head, still confused. He bent and picked up one of the crystals off the floor.
"As Oni, we have the inherent ability for soul power, like I told you before."
"And dragons have physical power." Keyda added, recounting what she remembered from their last visit.
"Right. So you were wrong before, saying other Oni don't have power. We all do…it's just that Oni nowadays have strong apathetic blocks."
She took another sip of her tea, listening.
"This power inside of us, it's just energy. It's our emotions that give it form; hence why apathy poses such a problem. But with emotions…generally strong emotions…" he trailed off as he closed his eyes. The crystal in his hand suddenly moved and then began hovering. "The power can be released."
Keyda watched the crystal as it bobbed lazily above the gnarled hand.
"So…Hatred…" she asked, trying to get him back to her question.
"Different emotions can trigger different types of reactions." he explained. "Your aura in general seems the same—you can blast people with basically any emotion. But the feelings that created the release leave a kind of…aftertaste."
His face contorted as he stared intently at the small crystal, and she noticed that it glowed red.
"Anger…" he explained. "Or, grief…" the crystal bruised into a deep blue. Keyda watched wide-eyed as the crystal continued to change colors. It shifted into a green. "Fear." Phos continued, and she reached out to touch the crystal. He snapped his fingers on his other hand and the crystal fell into his hand, his fingers closing around it.
"Does it matter? What feeling it comes from?" she asked, and he scoffed like that was a stupid question.
"Of course it matters. Why do you think Shazier wanted Hatred? Power born of different emotions have different qualities…and when Oni merge them with items, it gives the items different power."
Keyda frowned. "The Baron had this staff… it could control dragons…and people." she shuddered, remembering the outsider's glowing eyes that day in the arena.
"Most likely created with power born of Anger." Phos mused. "Shazier must have either found it or stolen it; I don't think he ever made it past his apathetic block."
"Then how could he use it?" she argued, and Phos sighed.
"I thought you had somewhere to go?" he asked testily, and she scowled.
"I certainly won't have enough energy to walk back for a while…and besides, I have till high noon."
"High noon, eh?" Phos scratched his chin and finally sighed. He had stood and began to pick up crystals off the floor. "Then at least make yourself useful."
She blinked and then slid off the table. She knelt and picked up one of the small crystals. She held it for a second; it was clear, and unassuming…
Phos snatched it out of her hand and dropped it into the box, and she rolled her eyes before helping him collect the rest. The Healer continued.
"The reason he could use it was because the staff was meshed with the power; it had become the vessel for the energy in a way. It wasn't his energy, but the staff made it eligible for him to use…"
"So anyone could have used it?" she asked. Phos shrugged.
"Well…technically. Though Oni-meshed artifacts react best to Oni, I daresay."
She was silent for a few seconds, processing.
"So…what makes Hatred so powerful, then?"
Phos stood and put the box back onto the shelf.
"Pure Hatred…that absolute loathing that can only be experienced from a broken heart…"he turned to her. "It's destructive. Sure, other emotions can be used to create blasts and destructive power, but Pure Hatred is more refined, more caustic. It does more than just destroy something, it corrupts it, warps it…"
A memory flashed in Keyda's mind; a sword at her throat, a body dressed in black a few meters away, covered in a thick purple fog…
She shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself.
"It leaves no room for goodness or light," she muttered, and Phos raised an eyebrow in surprise.
"Exactly." He shook his head before looking away to pour himself another cup of tea. "There aren't many Oni who unlock that part of themselves…another reason I find it so wrong to refer to power as Hatred. But occasionally, it can happen…though it's probably the hardest emotion to control."
She sat, her arms still hugging herself.
"Is that my problem then?" she asked quietly.
Phos shrugged. "You got lots of problems, girl. But yes… that's something making control so difficult at the moment. You've got a lot of anger…and it keeps leading you back to that hate."
She swallowed, thinking about what they had talked about.
"The Baron was angry at times…and…he despised people." She shook her head. "There are plenty of Oni who have felt high levels of fear, especially at his hand. Why did none of that break through?"
"Greed is not exactly an apathy-breaking emotion." Phos said dryly. "And that is mainly what Shazier had…greed and a desire to control. He was perhaps too logical, to manipulative… he rarely experienced true, raw feelings… his mind got in his way." He took a drink. "As for the other Oni…fear is a strong emotion, but the apathy blocks have become so strong it would need a very specific balance of emotion…for instance, you also have to have some level of hope if you want to break through such a strong apathetic wall…"
"Hope?" she asked, frowning. "What does that have to do with it?"
Phos shrugged. "I don't know everything, kid…but the way I always understood it, hope stirs your feelings, and the hope is that spark that tells your soul that there's something worth having power for. You were no doubt angry at the Baron, despised him, and even feared him deeply and nothing ever happened. What changed?"
She thought about it.
"He said it's because I learned to truly care about something…and…then I lost it."
"You cared…you hoped. You wanted a better life and suddenly it actually felt like you could achieve it. Young Hershel experienced crushing grief…but the reason it was truly poignant is because after a life full of abuse, you had given him and his sister a better chance in this world and he had hope that they would be able to have a better future. To have true hope and then have it all dashed away; that's what heartbreak is, kid."
"And people used to have that all the time, back in those times?" Keyda nodded over at the scrolls, and Phos glanced over.
"Back then there wasn't such a standard of apathy; children were expected to go through strong emotions; even encouraged. Without apathetic blocks, Oni unlocked power easier. Some were even born with it unlocked. They didn't really need to be heartbroken."
They sat musing a few minutes longer and Phos finally glanced back to the window. His demeanor changed back into the gruff old man.
"If you wanna have any chance of making it back by high noon, then shut up and get out of here."
Keyda looked out and sighed.
"You still didn't tell me why you want Cole to write all those scrolls…"
"And you didn't complete the exercise." Phos reminded. "You've taken enough of my time…be sure to let the Idiot know that this one's gonna cost him longer."
She rolled her eyes and headed to the entrance of the tent, feeling a little stronger after finishing the tea. Right before she left she turned back to the Healer.
"Hey Phos?"
He looked up, irritated. She took a breath and continued.
"Do you…do you think I'll ever…"
"Depends on how willing you are to listen." Phos said, cutting her off. She bit her lip and then disappeared out of the tent.
He watched her go and then looked back over at the box of crystals, scratching his chin.
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