Chapter 12
Tuesday May 8th : Morning
England
Davis Manor
"Oooh shiiiit!" Monk said under his breath "This is getting good" he chuckled, huffing Ayako and Yasu together slapped him,
"Idiot!" Ayako hissed "Don't you know how to read the mood"
"Don't be so rude" Yasu added, sitting back down in his chair, Mai not paying attention to her co-workers stood silently on shaking legs. Eyes wide with sadness, hurt, anger, and confusion. She neared the trio standing by the open dining hall doors
"Mom..." she gazed at the older woman, held in sobs broke out behind the brunette. She could only guess it was Luella, the sight of seeing her deceased son before she broke her heart all over again. Gene looked to his mother, mournful at her curtain state
"Mom, please don't cry" he walked over to his mother who was being held by his twin, "I'm right here"
"M-my baby" her lips quivered, reaching up she placed her dainty hand on his cheek, barely passing through his apparition. Fatter tears came forth as it dawned on her that she could no longer touch her son. Martin walked over to his wife and sons, collecting her in his embrace. He too shed tears over his son's appearance.
"Gene" Naru looked at his twin. Remembering the last time he spoke to him was a few days ago and only for a few short seconds
"Oliver" Gene replied with a smile on his face. Even in death, Gene could light up a room with his infamous grin. Before Naru could ask the question on everyone's minds,
"What are you doing here?" Mai's question was coated in a rigid icy tone. Her eyes darted between her lying mother and her eighteenth-century doppelganger.
"I've been looking over on you" Mira came closer to her daughter, Mai took a few steps back "Do not act like this to your mother Briar" rage swept through Mai
"Don't. Ever. Call. Me. That" The air in the room came heavy, a few maids and butlers who were tending the breakfast took their leave in fright. The curtains of the ceiling high windows fluttered in the movement as the swirl of air gathered at the base of Mai. Mire looked at her daughter in amazement
"It's only been a few days. You'll learn how separate your emotions from your gift" She turned to Kat "Katerlina is your teacher. She has been training the past generations of the last Carpe's –
"Do you think this is a joke?!" Mai yelled "Because it isn't. What did you do to me? Who the hell am I really!?"
"You are a descendant from Nature herself; a Carpe," Kat answered. With the look of confusion on Mai's face, she went on "A witch for another word. But I honestly think that's a downgrade." she shrugged her shoulders
"What?" Mai rolled her eyes. Kat puffed her cheeks, Mira decided to answer her daughter
"A Carpe is a direct line from Nature or mother Nature some call her. We are her children, she gave us her power so we can help and serve the earth. You can control the air, make fire, create a storm…." she reached out her palm and a single rose appeared – a real rose. It fell through her hand and landed in Mai's "Produce life through the earth" Mai looked at the rose in her hand, a single tear rolled down her already puffy cheeks, a memory flashed through her mind. She remembered her mother always doing this for her to cheer her up. Mai's face bunched up and she crushed the red sickly bud in her hand, letting petals fall to the floor. Like droplets of blood.
"Well that was rude...it was a peace offering," Kat said looking at Mai with crossed arms
"I don't want peace, nor does she deserve it" Rain patted the glass windows as a few light booms where heard across the sky
"Mai, I need you to take calm breaths." Mira pleaded "Your power isn't fully rested. You are out of control without proper training" she added
"And to whom is that to blame!" a crack of thunder erupted, followed by a few flashes of light.
"Mai, darling please I'm sorry. I had to do it" Trying to calm her explosive daughter.
"Tell me why. Why can't I remember anything!" another crack. The rain slammed the windows with the force of the wind.
"I erased any memories you had before we moved to Japan. And every week while you slept I cast the nullification spell on you to repress your powers coming through. It became harder and harder as you grew older. Your powers would seep through, I was lucky you never noticed."
"You erased my memories! The only ones I had with dad!" Mai erupted. The house shook slightly, chandeliers swayed in the movement
"Mai!" Gene raced to me, took hold of my chin and looked me in the eyes "Calm down. Focus on me" He can touch me? How is that possible? His hands feel like ice to the touch, but completely solid.
"I can feel you. You're solid" Mai whispered. The winds calmed in her moment of confusion
"That's because Carpe's are the portal to the other side. One of our duties is to make sure the spirit passes through to the spirit realm. Now that your power has unlocked, you will be able to see spirits without them showing to you. It will take some time to differ the living from the dead, but eventually, it will become a second thought." Kat explained.
"Masako looks like your job has been taken" Monk snickered, the young doll shot deadly glares at his way
"Your mother has files and research that you can –" Mai swatted Gene away from her
"Wait – How do you know that?" she looked at Gene and her mother "Do you know her?" she pointed to Mira
"In a way… yeah" he answered her question "I knew who you were before you knew my brother and me" the wind on the outside picked up, sparks appeared and disappeared around the room
"This isn't good," Kat said to Mira "her powers are feeding off her emotions" Mira walked to Mai
"Mai, honey. Listen to me – "
"And why would I honestly do that?" she glared "Don't you think you've done enough damage to me!" looking back at her spirit guide
"Tell me everything you know. Right now" she demanded. Gene visibly nervous "NOW."
"Mai" Naru placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, "I think we've had enough for one morning"
"No. Your life wasn't a lie"
"Look at me." he turned her body towards him "look at what you are doing. You are out of control. This needs to stop before someone gets hurt" Mai looked around the room, wind rustling the glass wear on the formal set dining table. Everyone had eyes on her, surprised, captivated,….scared. Outside the wind howled, rain pouring from the skies as thunder and lighting bounced off each other. She looked down at her shaking hands, covered in those beautiful knots. Peering up at her boss through wet eyes
"I – I'm sorry" she cried. Naru took hold of her hands, surprisingly warm into his.
"Focus on me." he met Mai's eyes. "Don't look at anyone. Don't think of anything." she nodded. Looking into her boss's eyes, a blush crept up. Not the friggen time Mai! She scolded herself.
"Mai, don't think about me," Naru said cheekily. Deepening her redden face "Close your eyes and breathe. Slowly..." Mai did as told, she could start to feel the air calming around them. The rain slowed to a drizzle, lighting stopped flashing and thundered turned to a low rumble "Good"
Mai opened her eyes, looked at her held hands, "The markings, they are almost gone!" she cheered, looked up at Naru and smiled wide "Thank you" she mumbled for him to hear
"Looks like Oliver is her grounder" Mira lightly said "That's amazing! You have to have a deep connection and trust between the two for it to fully work!" Mai broke her gaze with Naru, who dropped her hand
"A grounder?"
"Your father was mine. Not all Carpes needs them, so Katerlina told me. But ones with the built up energy needed to have one. In your case, at the moment you haven't trained or learned how to separate your emotions from the energy itself. Your body is mixing the two. Which is potentially dangerous" Mira started
"Grounders help balance the energy within the Carpe. They are usually close friends, family… lovers" Kat twitched a sly grin. Mai blushed hard as her heart thumped in her chest. "They need to have a lot of respect for one another, and trust"
"Like how Eugene was Oliver's amplifier" Martin chimed in, walking closer to the group. "I did a lot of studies on your mother and James when it came to grounding. It takes a lot of practice to reach the level the both of you showed."
"Ah thanks, but he just calmed me down. I don't think that qualifies him to be like a life partner or something" Mai nervously laughed
"I think you two would make the perfect couple" Kat came and wrapped her arm around her younger self "The both of you are already bound by past fate" and an awkward silence filled the room. And a frustrated huff came from Masako, who stood at her place at the table
"If you don't mind me asking, Eugene. How is it that you knew Mai's mother before Mai knew you?" She glared at her former lover. Luella looked at her and back at Gene
"How did you know love? Martin and I never mentioned Mira and Bri – Mai" she asked, curious to know the answer.
"And why didn't you ever tell me?" Naru looked to his brother. Gene rubbed the back of his head
"Well you see – I broke into dads office in the middle of the night. We weren't allowed in there. You guys always kept it locked. So one night I was eager to know what you had been hiding. So I broke in. and on one of the shelves of the bookcase was a photo of a family I had never seen. And mom always documents photo's so I took it from its frame and read the back"
"The photo that I found" Mai stated to no one but herself. Gene nodded
"I noticed that we had a connection. The photo read, James and Mira Richardson, two months pregnant and daughter Briar Rose. Then in blue pen, which I assumed was added later was the name Oliver Eugene."
"I added his name once we found out what you wanted to name him," Luella said, glancing at her former friend, who smiled sadly back at her.
"After that, I knew I had to get answers. At first, I thought you might have been our birth mother" he looked to Mira. "But with more digging I found the letter you sent to my parents, asking for us to be adopted."
"That doesn't explain how you knew her" Masako voiced up
"Well, I technically didn't. I knew of her. Each night I kept coming back to the office. Looking for more info on this mysterious family. Then I found stacks of letters. The majority were sent with no return address. But then there was only two that had a P.O. Box. At that moment I knew it was a sign to find you. With little information, I planned my trip to Japan"
"What?!" Martin howled
"I thought you were going to Japan to find our birth parents" Naru looked broken
"You told us you wanted to learn and observe Shinto-style exorcisms!" Luella cried
"None of them were lies...in a way. I did plan the trip around the idea of seeing Shinto-style. But my main focus was to find Mira. She wasn't our birth mother, but she was the woman who helped us get the life we were given."
"You came to Japan to find us" Mai muttered. They all looked to her "We were your main objective"
"Yes. Honestly, if I never found the photo, I don't think I would have come to Japan" Gene trailed off. Rumbling shook the skies once again. The air thickened faster than last time. Crack after crack sounded through the room. The table shook, glasses fill spilling their liquid inside, silverware falling to the wooden floor, clinking, and clanging, the lights flashed on and off.
"Because of us" she moaned out. Rivers of tears spilled out unto her red cheeks, falling rapidly to the ground. A twister of air formed at Mai's feet. "Oh my God" she cried, Naru tried to reach her, the swirl of air kept him at a distance. Finally, he broke through. Grabbed her shoulders.
"Mai!" she couldn't look at him
"It's my fault" she tried to break free of his grasp "Oh my god! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" she kept crying. Naru locked on her, trying to keep her still
"Mai, nothing is your fault" he tried "look at me!"
"I killed him" she wailed. Yells and screams sounded off all around her. As her cries grew louder and louder so did the force of air
"You didn't kill him!" he yelled over the howling twister. Mai felt it build up in her, it felt like she was going to throw up. "This isn't your fault Mai." trying to reason with her. His hair whipped all around his face, his black classic blazer smack against them both
"I took your brother...their son..." It was coming, she felt it erupt in her "It was my fault!" she screamed.
It happened in mere seconds. Quickly the air froze and swallowed back into Mai than in a blink of an eye exploded out of her. A brilliant white light filled the room blinding everyone's
"Get down!" was all Naru could muster. He tackled Mai to the ground, shielding her from the broken and flying glass from the shattering windows, drinkware, and plates.
Moments later, a dull ringing rang in Mai's ears. Not knowing what had just happened. She felt a heavy weight on her backside, peering over she saw it was Naru
"N-Naru?" he lifted his head and looked at her
"Are you alright?" he questioned
"My head. I feel light-headed" Naru pushed himself up, helping her with her balance, leaning her against him. They looked around. Tattered fabric, broke chairs and glass littered the floor. A warm spring breeze came through the broken windows behind them. The rest of the member's where starting to stand. Looking at the damage. Fear in their eyes when they looked at Mai
"I-I did this?" Mai cried again "What have I done"