Chapter 3

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
- Martin Luther King

"Hello, Kai."

Kai squinted his eyes and moved closer to the entrance of the tomb.

"It… it can't be!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "I thought you died that night…. the night that Saya killed Diva."

Haji smiled so faintly that, for a minute, Kai thought he had imagined it. "I was able to extract myself from Amshel and it seems that I fled from the Metropolitan Opera House in just enough time." Haji looked over at the cocoon that encased Saya. "I had to survive, Kai. I made a promise to Saya. I told her that whenever she woke, I would be waiting for her. I promised her that I would always be by her side."

Kai smiled sadly, as he looked over at Saya's cocoon. "She was heartbroken, you know. She thought that you had died that night as well." He looked back at Haji. "She'll be so happy when she wakes up to find out that she was wrong."

Haji's face remained expressionless as he continued to stare at Saya's cocoon.

"So, you really meant what you said that night, didn't you?" Kai asked.

Haji's eyes slowly slid over to meet Kai's.

"When you told her that you loved her. Somehow, I think that I always knew." Kai looked away. Almost as if he was talking to himself, Kai said softly, "I guess I just had some trouble admitting it."

"You love Saya, too," said Haji.

Kai looked back over at Haji. "Yes. I always have. But to love someone truly is to wish for their happiness, even above your own. I know you know all about that. To know that she will live on and that she won't be alone…. she'll have you. That is enough for me. While I may wish that things could be different, I can accept them knowing that she will be happy."

There was a minute of silence.

"That night at the Metropolitan Opera House… you were right, Kai. I ignored my own wishes for far too long, only acting as a faithful servant to Saya. I, too, wanted Saya to live on. I wanted her to be happy, and to see her smile. That promise I made to Saya long ago, to kill her when it was all over, was very difficult. As her chevalier, I have a strong desire to fulfill her wishes. But, also, as her chevalier, I have a strong desire to protect her. So it was conflicting as I could not take care of one without completely going against the other." Haji paused. "She has suffered so much. It has been immensely difficult to watch, knowing that there was nothing I could do to ease her pain except to stay by her side. Seeing her for the first time in Okinawa without the past haunting her….. seeing the smile that your family put on her face… I'll never be able to thank you enough for that, Kai. Back then, I had hated knowing that she was going to have to remember it all again. That she still had to fight. It was very painful knowing that she had forgotten me. But seeing her truly happy, was more than enough to make up for that."

Kai nodded. "I understand all of that, Haji. I really do. Maybe I was too harsh when I said those things to you. I suppose I also panicked a little bit at the thought of losing Saya."

"Do not apologize. Everything you said that night was true, was it not? I am glad that you said those things to me. It helped push me to say things to Saya that I had always wanted to say to her."

Kai nodded thoughtfully. He opened his mouth to respond, but then he suddenly stiffened. "Did you hear that?"

Haji looked out the entrance of the tomb. "Someone's coming."

Kai slowly walked out of the entrance of the tomb. A look of surprise washed over his face. Once again, it was one of the last people he had expected to see. God knows who else was going to show up at this rate. "Lewis! What in the world are you doing here?"

Lewis looked somber. "Kai. I have come to fetch you," he said as he took out his cell phone and dialed. "David. I am on my way over." After a short pause, he said, "Yes, he is with me. I'll see you shortly." He hung up the phone.

Kai shook his head in confusion. "David? Why are we going to see David? What is going on, Lewis? Is everything alright?"

Lewis opened his mouth to reply, when Haji walked out of the tomb. Lewis raised his brow so high that it probably would have disappeared into his hairline, if he had had one. "Haji!"

Haji looked over at Lewis.

"What… I…. everyone thought you had died! I can't believe it!"

Kai cleared his throat loudly, and Lewis looked back over at him. "Lewis. You didn't answer my question. What is going on? Why did you just call David and tell him that we were coming over?" A worried expression washed over his face. "Is something wrong with Julia? Is Sean alright?"

"I'll explain on the way over. We're picking up David and a few other things as well."

"But, my bike-"

"Leave it. We'll be coming back. Haji, you need to come as well. Come, we're wasting time."

Kai raised his left brow and Haji narrowed his eyes as they followed Lewis to the car. As they were getting in, Kai said irritably, "I think you're acting a little dramatic, Lewis. Now what's the big emergency?"

Lewis looked grim as he turned the key in the car's ignition. "You won't think so, once I tell you what's going on. The Red Shield had a meeting earlier today. We received devastating news from Collins that needs to be addressed immediately."

Kai let out a short, loud laugh. "Are you serious? Well, you always did have a rather interesting sense of humor. Diva and the chiropterans are dead. The Red Shield has been dismantled for years. And even if those things weren't true, Collins betrayed us a long time ago. What makes you think we would ever be able to trust him again?"

"I hate to break it to you, Kai, but the Red Shield was never dismantled. And while most of the chiropterans were killed, there are still some left. As for Collins, let's just say that we 'persuaded' him to come back to our side. That is all you need to know for now. Trust me. We do not need to worry about betrayal from Collins."

Kai looked at him as if he had lost his mind. "What do you mean, the Red Shield was never dismantled? And there are no chiropterans left. If there were, I'm sure I would have heard something about them by now. David and Julia told me-"

"David and Julia lied to you, Kai. We don't have time to go into all that, but they thought it would be best. They knew that you would want to help if you knew that the Red Shield was active. They both thought that you had enough to deal with already."

Kai opened his mouth to say something, but Lewis cut him off before he could get out the first word. "Look, Kai. It's done. The past is the past, there's nothing we can do about it now. We need to get back to the present. There are more important matters that we need to be discussing."

Kai raised his brow. "Like what?"

"Like our plans for waking Saya."

That certainly got his attention. But before Kai could say anything, Haji angrily interjected. "You cannot wake Saya. Do I have to remind you what happened the last time the Red Shield took it up on themselves to wake her?"

"Certainly not," said Lewis. "I know that is why you once severed your ties with the Red Shield. But I urge you to at least hear me out. This is nothing like the last time. We also know a lot more now then we did back then. We are much better prepared. We are not waking her so that she can take care of the rest of the chiropterans. We are waking her because we have no other choice."

"No other choice? What do you mean you have no other choice?!" asked Kai angrily. "Here I was thinking that the Red Shield had been dismantled, the chiropterans eliminated. Then you suddenly show up one day, after six years, and tell me that everything I knew was a lie! Not only that, but we now have to artificially wake Saya! You're out of your fucking mind! So if you lied to me once, maybe you're lying to me again." Kai rubbed his face with his hands. "God, I don't know what to believe anymore!"

"Kai. Look I understand your frustration. I am very sorry about all of this, but I need you to calm down. I will tell you everything if you promise not to interrupt me anymore." Before Kai could say anything back, Lewis added gravely, "We're wasting time, Kai."

"Fine," Kai glowered at him. "But this had better be damn good."

Lewis then told them all about Van Argeno and his plans for Saya.

When Lewis was finished, Kai looked shocked.

"I… I just can't believe it. I don't even know what to think…. or what to say."

"For once in your life," grumbled Lewis, under his breath.

Haji furrowed his brow thoughtfully. "I don't want to do this." He closed his eyes. "I remember that last night in New York. After Saya killed Diva, I held her in my arms and told her that she didn't have to fight anymore. I told her that she could now live the way she wished. I could practically feel the tension and grief wash out of her body. Her body relaxed as she looked up into my eyes. I could see hope. A hope for the future that she had never before possessed. It was such a beautiful thing, and I will always remember it. Her eyes were brimming with her wishes. Her wishes that had nothing to do with ridding the world of chiropterans."

Haji opened his eyes to meet Lewis' in the rearview mirror. "I had always hated telling her to fight," he said as he looked away again. "But she needed me to. She needed me to be strong for her and so I was. How can I tell her that she has to fight again?"

"Haji, no one wanted for this to happen. No one wants to tell Saya that she has to fight again, either. Which is why no one is going to. Saya has done enough and we can ask no more of her."

Kai looked over at Lewis in confusion. "But I thought-"

Lewis cut him off, "Kai, were you listening when I told you what our reasons for waking Saya are? If we had planned on waking Saya in order to kill the rest of the chiropterans, we would have done so years ago. We plan on protecting her, the best we can."

Kai looked out the window. "But," he said sadly, "I know she will choose to fight anyway, whether you ask it of her or not."

They continued the rest of the drive in silence, all of them lost in their own thoughts.