OMG! I am so sorry it took me like four months to get this out. However, here it is. I urge you to enjoy.
Chapter 4: With Life Comes Death
Previously
Down below, the people in the Temple watched. All they could see was two blurs, both
Mara and Michael moving too fast for normal eyes to track. Suddenly there was a mighty inhuman screech of pain or fury and one of the blurs began to fall.
The falling blur was Mara. As she fell she threw Eclipse, her sword and it stabbed Michael in his stomach, right where he had stabbed her with the Phoenix Spear. He joined her in falling, unable to sustain the mental note that kept him floating. But although he was clearly in pain, he pulled Eclipse out and angled his fall toward Mara.
Wielding both weapons of light and dark, he flew at his sister. She faced him and kicked her sword free of his grip. Unable to use the spear at such close quarters, Michael dropped it into the air. Then he and Mara grappled, all the while, rushing toward the ground.
Suddenly, she thrust the heel of her hand into his chest and thrust him away. He flew back into the air. Then he began to fall once more. As he did, he saw the Phoenix Spear falling near him. He leaned to the side, bringing it within grasp.
Beneath him, Mara saw Eclipse, for some reason falling faster than the spear. She grabbed it and held it in front of her as Michael was diving toward her, spear pointed at her heart. A glance over her shoulder showed her that he was too late, the ground too quickly approaching. She turned over, and held the sword point at the ground. She smashed into it, sending huge shockwaves out. Shockwaves shook the foundations of the Temple and sent many of its roofs crashing down. She created a gigantic crater and once the dust had cleared, she could be seen kneeling on one knee in the center. Her hands were gripped around Eclipse's hilt, head bowed slightly toward it, as if in prayer. Then she stood and pulled the sword out of the ground. Sheathing it, she climbed out of her crater.
As she reached the top, she saw Michael set down, soft as a feather, to her left. Both had blood dripping from their arms and stomach. On Mara's armor, the blood made little river of red. Michael's blood seeped through his clothes and made a spreading red stain on them.
In the Temple, everyone was crouched down low beneath a window frame. As if receiving a mental call, Chase stood up and walked out. The monks timidly followed. On the plain, Mara and Michael were facing off, staring into each other's eyes. Mara had removed her helmet, sweat dripping down her hatred-filled face. Her brother wasn't much better. He held the Phoenix Spear in one hand. The sweat made rivulets in the dirt that streaked his impassive face.
Without looking, Mara stepped back and Chase took the hint. They vanished. The monks looked at Michael. His black eyes were staring off into a random direction, apparently contemplating the fight. "You guys should go do something productive," he said blandly. Taking that none-too-subtle hint, the four monks hoped on Dojo's back and flew off into the distance. Only Teran remained. He looked about to say something to Michael, but a sharp look from him changed his mind.
"I'll go guard the wu," he said, edging away. After he was gone, Michael returned to the room he shared with Raimundo. As he pushed aside the curtain to enter, he changed his mind. He went instead to Kimiko's room. Mara's things still sat where she had left them, a testament to her sudden departure. He picked up her pillow. It still smelled exotic, having traveled all over the world with her. He remembered hearing a song from one of her CD's.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone [Michael threw the pillow to the ground
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
In Chase's Lair
Mara:
You used to captivate me
By your resonating life
Now I'm bound by the life you've left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the insanity in me
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When I cried you'd wipe away all of my tears
When I'd scream you'd fight away all of my fears
And you held my hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
Unison:
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you/I cried I'd/you'd wipe away all of your/my tears
When you'd/I'd scream I'd/you'd fight away all of your/my fears
And I/you held your/my hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
(Based on Evanescence "My Immortal" (some words were changed.) I strongly advise you listen to it as well. It's part of the mood.)
At the Temple
Teran had heard Michael sing and was deeply moved. He'd heard the song before, but this time, there was just more emotion put into it. It seemed to thrum deep in his bones. He watched Michael walk out of the Temple and walk around for a little while. The monks returned as well, never having strayed too far away. The sun rose, blood-red.
"How 'bout some chow, buddy?" Teran asked Michael. He nodded.
"Breakfast would be absolutely fabulous. What should we have?"
"I was thinking breakfast burritos, fresh from New Mexico."
"Need these?" Michael whipped the Golden Tiger Claws out of his pocket.
"Yo, monk-ies. We're going to eat now. Get ready to go."
Omi was confused. "I am not a monkey. Why did Teran call me a monkey?"
Kimiko rolled her eyes. "It was like calling a pup a puppy, or a cat a kitty. We're monks, so therefore, we're monk-ies."
"Ah! Kimiko, you are much enlightened."
"And you are an idiot," Raimundo mumbled under his breath. Kimiko glared daggers at him. He shrugged.
"Food!" Clay exclaimed happily. Michael made the portal to out front a little mom& pop burrito shop in New Mexico. They ordered their food and sat down to wait. Soon enough, their burritos arrived, smothered in green chili. Clay and Teran licked their lips and dug in. They all had one burrito, except for Teran, who ate seven. After his seventh, he just fell over into his plate, sleeping. Michael rolled his eyes and carried Teran out. Kimiko paid for their food; she didn't want a repeat of their thievery at the buffet. She had no idea what it might do to their karma.
They laid Teran Omi's room and went into the kitchen for some ice-cream. As they sat around the table, they found that suddenly the Oracle's Mouth was there.
"What the heck is this thing?" Michael asked, looking at it, puzzled.
"It's a Shen Gong Wu that prophesies," Kimiko informed him. "It told us what Mara would do, only we thought it was going to be you because we saw what you had written in your notebook."
Michael laughed. "That stuff is plans to take over the world sure enough. But if you had looked closely, some of them were for games. I read the books for ideas. And if I plan for every eventuality as far as that goes, I can stop whoever it was."
"That makes sense. Sorry dude." Raimundo shrugged remorsefully.
Kimiko was studying Michael's eyes. "You know, everything about your person seems to suggest evil. Like the dark hair, obsidian dragon, the notebook. And Mara seemed to be good because she was white haired, and had the silver dragon. It's so strange that we always associate light with good. And none of that mattered anyway. It was the eyes that reflected the true personality. The eyes really are the windows to the soul."
"That is most deep, Kimiko," Omi remarked.
"Well, you know what they say: girls are better at thinking than guys. Guys have more brain matter because they loose more of it doing boneheaded things."
The guys all scowled. She ignited her hands, warning them not to try anything. They backed off.
"Um…that thing has been sitting on the table. Maybe we should use it," Michael suggested, attempting to control the situation. They calmed instantly and gathered around the Oracle's Mouth. It began to speak.
Whence comes he,
The life bringer.
But also bears death's
Stony finger.
And so the human mind,
Like an open book
He reads the deepest soul
With one look.
All was silent but the birds outside and Teran's quiet snores from down the hall. "Well. That was informative," Michael stated.
"This is getting out of hand. Why is it all the sudden so detailed? Whenever Dashi used it, it was so dang vague!" Dojo complained.
Michael rolled his eyes. "So who's this 'Life-Bringer' anyway?"
"No idea, other than he's a guy." Raimundo restated the obvious. Michael rolled his eyes.
"Other than that, does anyone have any clues?"
Omi raised his hand. "I recall seeing Teran help that plant by the doorway. He made it more green."
"Now that you mention it, there's that one tree in the garden that's dead. I came across Teran kneeling in front of it, placing his hands on it. Come to think of it, it's been growing leaves again." Kimiko wrinkled her forehead in thought.
"Here too. When he landed after being thrown off the bull, the grass was thicker and greener." Raimundo added his input.
Clay thought for a moment. "That's why that durn boy could eat so much an' not get any bigger."
"Definitely time to go talk to him." Michael led the way into Teran's room. The found him sitting, meditating. At least that was what it looked like at first glance. Suddenly a little mouse jumped out of his hands a skittered away.
"What do you want?" he asked in a weary voice.
"Who are you really?" Michael asked, staring Teran down.
"I am who I said I was. Teran." Seeing the expression on Michael's face, he shrugged. "I know what you want to know. I'll tell you.
"I was three when they came to my house. I don't know who they were and I don't even care enough to find out. My dad owed them some money. He did it to provide a house for my family to live in. It ended up he couldn't pay them back. They killed him. My mom was devastated.
"The years past. I became a thief because that was what I was good at. My mother was either too crazy or just chose not to see how I put food on the table. My chosen path allowed me access to the criminal underworld of Los Angeles. I only had the vague memories of a three-year-old to give me the descriptions of my father's killers. Over the years I learned I could bring life to the dying trees in my front yard. I found it worked with anything as long as it had a tiny spark of life left within it.
"My mother died. It was then I figured out my gift of giving life could also kill. I was angry and upset. I choked the life out of the trees I had spent so long nurturing into life again. The feds found out and dumped me into a foster home. I was thirteen at the time, old enough to know that it would be very bad to tell anyone about my gift. It wasn't long before I was arrested for pocketing a solid gold watch. My foster family refused to let me back in after my month at juvie was up. So I got put in another foster home. That didn't work out very well. Things kept disappearing from them. I'll admit it was me taking it, but with the money was able to purchase a pistol. No worries, it's gone now.
"The family figured it was me and kicked me out. Over the course of the next two years, I was bounced around to fifty-some foster homes, including a brief stay at an orphanage until I ran away. It was around this time I located my father's murderers. After moving all over the country, I had ended up back in Los Angeles. I had actually pick pocketed one of them. He turned around to see who had hit him and I saw.
"I tailed them back to their hideout. Once there, I waited for them to become complacent. I waited for them to sit down in front of the TV. You see, my father had been sitting with me on the couch watching some silly little kids' movie. They just walked in through the front door, stood in front of the TV and shot him. Eventually, they each grabbed a couple beers and settled into the ratty couch. I stepped in front of them. I told them, 'You probably don't remember me. But I remember you and in this case, that's all that matters. Are you seeing anything familiar about this situation? I know you know what it's like to be in my position. But you can only imagine what it's like to be on the other side. I know; you put me there. Now, I'm going to show you how it feels, assholes.' They understood, they remembered that particular job. And they knew they were going to die, I could see it in their minds. I shot and killed them. I cleaned the gun thoroughly and dumped into the pacific. I actually got arrested the next week when I tried to steal something from a police officer. I went to juvie for four months. I was sent to a different foster family. They beat on me and when they didn't do that, they forgot I existed. That meant no food, no money, no anything.
"I turned sixteen and ran away. Was I honestly expected to just sit there and take that kind of crap? Well, I didn't. I was careful when I stole, but I managed to gather enough cash to get a first-class plane ticket to China. I figured they would just give up on me finally. Which brings me to the point at which I met you guys. From then on, I think it's pretty clear."
Silence greeted his words. It was hard for any of them to picture Teran killing those men, although, Michael was thinking he probably would have done the same thing in that position. "Um, that makes sense. That's why you didn't want to get arrested again at the museum. You knew they would have a file on you and the feds might find you again."
"Not quite." He looked more run down than ever. "It's very tough when you have the highest IQ of anyone there. Trust me, none of you would last a week in that place." He faced Raimundo. "Not even you, Pedrosa. Regardless of what you think."
"Did I say that or just think it?"
"You thought it. But as I said, I can read minds. Most minds. Some people have good enough defenses that I can't get through. I can also see what's written on you soul. Not that I'd tell anyone, though. Adds a bit mystery to the future, eh?"
"So, why to we need you?"
"I give you the edge. You're lucky I dislike this Chase guy so much I wouldn't join his side," he said darkly.
"Is that because you think Mara likes him?" Raimundo asked slyly. The next instant he was on his back.
"Don't pretend you understand me, Pedrosa."
Raimundo sat up as Teran settle back into his meditation pose. "Come on, it was a joke! Why can't people take jokes around here?"
"How can you help us?" Kimiko asked, changing the subject.
"Well, Chase is equal to the four of you and Mara is equal to Michael. That means there is no one else on Chase's side to be equal with me. Therefore, I give you the advantage. Simple math. If you had learned to count Pedrosa, you might have figured it out."
"Enough already, dude. I get it."
"Can't you take a joke?"
"Boys. Shut. Up." Kimiko stepped between them, blazing fireballs in her hands. "We are on the same team, whether you like it or not."
"Sorry man. Reading minds sometimes makes me say things I don't really mean." Teran held out his hand.
"Sure. 'Cause I know where you got those retorts. From my mind, dude. So I forgive ya."
"I'm hungry," announced Teran.
Now tell me what you thought of it, puleeze!
Love you all,
Glow Frog Kyrna