Chapter 49------Mystery at the Ruins
-Teet-tet teet-tet teet-tet- Rei awoke to the sound of his digital watch. His heavy eyes focused on the digital screen, '6.00 am…' He plopped his head back down on the pillow and closed his eyes, 'Ok, got to wake up at 0. 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…0!' The boy jumped out of bed.
'Huh?' His yellow orbs caught sight of something out of the ordinary. Kenny's laptop was still on and next to it, laid a sleeping Mai with her head lying on the table. 'That girl…' He carefully removed the girl's arm off the keyboard, 'So she was researching on them huh.' His eyes looked at the webpage on Team Freedom and then to Mai, 'She must miss them…' "Sorry, Dizzi." Rei whispered and quietly closed the laptop.
"Mai. Maaaiii." Rei tapped the girl's shoulder.
"Hnnn…" Mai felt another nudge, "Whaaat?" She slowly opened her eyes and stifled a yawn.
"We're going to train remember? Get up, it's already 6.20."
"Haaaaah." Mai whined, "Demo…" But the girl got up anyway. After all, she was the one who said training at 5 am.
"Oh yeah, you got a bit of umm –points to the corner of his lip-"
"Huh?" Mai wiped off the bit of drool with the back of her hand. "Sorry."
"Ii yo. (It's okay) Go get ready, I'll wake the rest." Rei left the room to pound on Tyson's door…
-Fast forward-
"C'mon Tyson! Just two more laps!" Mai patted the boy's back as she passed him.
"Muri da yo! Mou tsukaretta yo! (I can't take it anymore, I'm tired.)" The boy squeezed his side to get id of the stitch that had formed.
"Ganbatte! (Do your best.)" Mai cheered before turning her head in front. This was her last lap and she too was squeezing her sides to get rid of the stitch. She passed Rei and Kai who were sprawled on the grassy slope, panting; they had finished their 5 laps.
"Don't stop, Tyson." Max grabbed his friend's arm and pulled him along. The two pushed on.
Mai was almost reaching her end point: the sloping branch of a willow tree. 'Just a little further!' She mustered all her energy and dashed the last 200 metres. She reached the finishing point and bent over, clutching her sides and panting hard. She was breathing in hot air; it felt as though she was sucking all the carbon dioxide she had just exhaled and her chest felt like it could burst. She squinted to see Tyson and Max on the other side of the lake; they were pulling each other along.
The girl dragged herself to where Rei and Kai were seated. She sat down next to Rei and retied her messy hair. "Pass –huh- me my water bottle, -huh- it's the yellow one." Rei placed the bottle beside her and she gave quick thanks before quenching her thirst. She drank nearly half the bottle before she finally stopped, "Aah-huh."
Max and Tyson passed the foursome (includes Kenny). "Go Max! Go Tyson!" Mai shouted. "I DIDN'T HAVE BREAKFAST! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO HAVE THE ENERGY TO RUN?" Tyson complained but Max kept pushing him along.
"He doesn't look too good." Kenny looked on worriedly.
"Nah, he'll make it. HEY TYSON!"
"WHAT?"
"I'LL TREAT YOU TO WAFFLES IF YOU COMPLETE YOUR LAP!" Mai shouted.
"REALLY?"
"YEAH!"
"OKAY!" Tyson's speed increased slightly.
Mai turned to Kenny and grinned, "See?"
-Fast forward-
Mai came out of the bathroom wearing a red short-sleeved turtle neck which had white wing-shaped buttons to hold the collar together and her favourite ¾ black cargo pants. The towel was draped over her head as she ruffled her hair dry, "Eh? Why are you still here? I thought everyone left for the cafeteria?"
Kai looked at her and then turned back to the TV. 'What is he? Mute or something?' But Mai let it slide. She hurriedly combed her hair and tugged a red bandanna from the bottom of her luggage. She folded the bandanna in half, then half again and wrapped it around her wrist. "Help me a second?" She held out her wrist at Kai. "A knot will do. Yeah, thanks." She tucked the loose ends of the cloth and checked it everything was neat. "Okay, let's go."
-At the Cafeteria-
"Here you go, as promised." Mai placed a plate stacked high with waffles in front of Tyson. There was a scoop of ice cream on top and maple syrup oozing down the sides, which was enough to make anyone's mouth water. Max looked yearningly at the plate and swallowed his saliva.
"Umasou! (Looks delicious)" Tyson dug in. "Amerihan fuffules are duh besh." He gave her a thumbs up and continued stuffing himself.
"So, how's everyone feeling? Muscles aching? Arms heavy?" She scanned the whole group for their response.
Rei rotated his shoulder, "I think Hilary's training regime is worse."
"Sou ka. Then I'll kill you guys tomorrow!" She said in a determined tone and plopped her empty strawberry milk carton on the table.
"Yeah, just make sure I get to eat breakfast first." Tyson said and ate another piece of waffle.
The next few days were the preliminary rounds. The boys passed it with ease and advanced on to the finals. While they trained, Mai and Judy researched on the Norwings and arranged for transport to get to Hovenweep. The daily routine was pretty tiring: training in the morning, matches in the afternoon (research and planning for Mai) and then dinner followed by collapse-on-the-bed-and-fall-asleep-instantly. Mai and the boys only got to see each other in the morning and at night. Moreover, the hardly had time to just sit and talk, so when the American tournament was over, everyone was relieved. Tyson and Max clenched the top spot, followed by the pair from the All Starz Michael and Eddy while Kai and Rei got the third placing.
Mai got to sleep in that day. Although she had to get up at 8 in the morning, it still beat having to get up at 6 am for training. But today was going to be easy as pie; all they were going to do was travel to Hovenweep and spend a few nights there. Judy decided to come along with them so that settled the welfare part of the whole trip.
"Need help?" Tyson pushed the baggage into the baggage compartment overhead and closed the lid.
"Thanks." Mai replied.
"No prob. So which seat are ya taking?"
Mai looked at the row. '4 seats…Um, Kai's sure to take the aisle seat, then there's Kenny and Rei…' Mai chose the middle seats. "Max's is sitting with his mom in row J so you can take the aisle seat. I'll sit over here with the rest." Mai thought that Tyson would like to be with his best buddy during the trip.
"Thanks." The boy settled down next to Max. Kenny took the aisle seat, so that left Rei and Mai in the middle and Kai at the other aisle.
'Tsk, there isn't much space to move.' Mai shifted in her seat as she adjusted the small cushion behind her back.
"Feeling uncomfortable?"
"I'm not used to middle seats." She answered Kenny. "But I thought you'd like to sit next to Tyson, and Kai always takes the aisle seat so… what the heck." She pulled the seat belt over her.
"Good morning ladies and gentleman and welcome aboard flight AM907 bound for Colorado. The plane will be taking off shortly so please ensure that your seat belts are safely fastened. Meanwhile, please pay attention to the safety video playing on your TV monitors. We wish you a pleasant flight and thank you for flying with American Airlines."
Mai played with the pull-out table. She had watched the video so many times that it bored her to death. She let out a heavy sigh as she sunk into her seat. "Ne Rei, how long is it to Colorado?"
"3 hours, I think?"
"Sou." Mai folded back the pull-out table. Her gaze landed on Kai's jeans, then went up to his face: cream-coloured skin framed with slate fringe and navy-blue hair, a sharp nose and indifferent crimson eyes that looked bored most of the time. She wondered which part of him was Russian.
"Nani?" He gave her a sideward glance.
"Kai Hiwatari… 'Hiwatari' is a Japanese name right? So which part of you is Russian?"
"That's none of your business." The boy closed his eyes as though he was getting ready to sleep.
The girl frowned. She had asked him in a nice way and this was the tone she got? "Nande tsumetai no kotoba? (What's with that cold tone?) I was only asking." Mai crossed her arms. 'This guy is sooooooo incorrigible!'
"Bie guan ta. Ta jiu shi ze yang zhi, bu ai shuo hua. (Don't mind him. He always doesn't like to talk much)" Rei conversed in Chinese.
Mai nodded slightly, 'Not talking…doesn't that make you lonely?' Mai plugged in the headphones and turned her head to the side, away from Kai. 'Hmph. What a stupid mentality…'
-Colorado…-
"Hai. Hai. Eh, Mai wa daijoubu desu. Hm. Hai, wakarimashita. Ja ne." Tyson hung up the phone.
"So how is he?"
"He's fine. He told us to keep an eye on you."
Mai frowned. There they go again, talking about protection and whatnot.
"Ok guys, the bus is here. Quickly get your things." Judy led the way to the bus bay.
The handed their baggage over to the bus attendant and boarded the bus one by one. The boys occupied the back row of the bus while Judy and Mai took the two seats on their left.
"So, are you excited?"
"Huh? Uh yeah." Mai enthused, but her smile faded as soon as Judy looked away.
"It's a 7 hour drive to Blanding but we're stopping on the way for dinner which will be a bit late so if you're feeling hungry, I've got some biscuits in the blue bag." Judy pointed to the bag at Max's feet.
"Okay, thanks." Mai stared at the tarred road below, the murmuring of the engine reached her ears. The other people were taking their time to board the bus; they were mostly Caucasians probably in their late thirties of forties? She figured they were the only Asians on board. The bus started to pull out of the car park and they were off.
Mai spent most of the ride looking out the window, staring at the buildings, traveling along dusty roads… Sometimes she would lean her head against the window and doze off, only to be woken up by the boys' loud chatter behind her.
'4 more hours till we reach…' Mai looked around for something to do. Mrs. Tate was asleep and the boys were keeping quiet now. She knocked her head against the window, 'There's nothing to do……'
Levian: Have you forgotten about me?
'I just trained with you yesterday.'
Levian: So I'm just a bit-beast then? An object…
'No, don't say that. Don't bring me down and DON'T bring yourself down. Sometimes I just forget that I can talk to you since you can hear everything inside my head. And when you do talk, it's usually to give me advice.'
Levian: But you don't seem to need it anymore these days. You can think for yourself and make your own judgments. You're not the girl I found in the alley anymore.
'Maybe… but I still need your guidance. The guys are great and all but…sometimes I just can't tell them everything. They're so over-protective that I don't wanna worry them so much.'
'They've done a lot for me, even Judy had to pull a few strings here and there just to get us here. So if I don't find anything at Hovenweep, I'll feel really bad.'
Levian: Relax. I'm sure you'll find something. Maybe Eden will guide you…
Mai sighed, 'Eden…what am I going to do about you?'
-Hotel-
"Haaaahh," Mai yawned as she stepped in the room, "what time is it?"
"9.45 pm." Max replied, checking his watch.
The girl collapsed face-down on the bed. Although she had done nothing strenuous today, all she wanted to do now was sleep.
"C'mon, get up, unless you want to stay with Rei and the rest." Mai felt the bed sink next to her. She mumbled something inaudible and finally rolled over, closing her eyes to block out the ceiling lights.
"Mai, you're staying with us, honey." Judy popped her head through the door.
"Okay." The girl opened her eyes and dragged herself next door with her duffel bag slung over her shoulder. Judy had requested for adjoining rooms to make it easier for them to contact each other.
"Mai, you don't mind sharing, do you? Because there are only two beds."
"No, I'm okay with it." She placed her bag in an empty chair.
"There's one more bed over here, Max!" She called through the adjoining door.
"I get the bed all to myself? Sweet!" The boy sprawled himself on the bed and sighed contently.
-Fast forward-
Max and Mai entered the boys' room while Judy was in the shower. Everyone was in their pyjamas, all ready to sleep, but neither seemed more exhausted than Mai. She immediately fell onto the first bed she saw and closed her eyes.
"You should go to sleep now." Mai heard Rei's voice. She nodded her head against the flower-imprinted bed sheet.
"You know, if you're going to fall asleep there then you'll be sharing it with Kenny and Tyson." Max chuckled.
Mai's eyes shot open and she slowly sat up. "Tomorrow…-yawn- tomorrow we'll be leaving at 10 am. Ja oyasuminasai… (Good night)" She trudged over to the door and shut it gently.
"She looks dead." Kenny commented.
"Yup," was Tyson's reply.
All of them went back to watching TV…
-Morning-
"What do you want? I'll get it for you." Mai offered. Everyone was seated around a long table at the café.
"Scrambled eggs, bacon and some tarts if they have any."
"Right, be back in a sec." With that, Mai hurried off to the buffet table.
She took a plate and dumped a huge scoop of scrambled eggs for Tyson and 2 strips of bacon on it. 'Tarts…where are the tarts? Asoko da! (over there)' Mai pondered over which to choose: strawberry, peach or kiwi? She decided to take all of them. 'Now for mine.'
She carefully manoeuvred herself through the tables, balancing the two plates on each hand. "Here." She placed the plate down in front of Tyson, and what a relief too! He's plate was heavy! She sat down next to Max and went for the delicious-looking strawberry tart on her plate.
"Thanks."
Mai didn't bother, she was too busy eating. She noticed Americans liked eating cereal in the morning; Max and Judy were having it. She looked at Rei's plate and found there was little variety. Like her, he had taken the 'safe' food, also known as I've-seen-it-before-and-know-it's-okay-to-eat food. Asians were used to rice in the morning and apparently, they didn't serve it here.
"So what're you looking for at Hovenweep?" Judy started a conversation.
"I don't really know…But I'm sure I'll find some clues there." Mai nibbled the end of her chocolate éclair.
"Oh, by the way, the road leading to Hovenweep is a dirt road so I advise you guys to wear your hiking shoes. And wear socks! We don't want anyone getting any blisters now, do we?" The lady smiled and continued with her breakfast.
"Hey Mai, can I borrow a pair if you have any extras?" Kenny asked.
"Yeah…"
-Fast forward-
The dust swirled behind them as the four-wheeler travelled down the dirt road. Judy sat in the front with the guide while Mai, Tyson and Kenny crammed in the seat behind them with the rest in the last row. What was worse, the weather was so hot that even the air-conditioning wasn't enough to cool off the heat. Mai wiped the bandana around her wrist over her forehead, "Atsui na… (it's so warm)"
"Can you take us to this place when we get there?" Judy showed the guide the picture. "I went there on an excavation project a few years back so I know the place is off the tourist route."
The guide glanced at the picture before turning back to the road, "I reckon I can get yer there. But I gotta discuss it with headquarters first. The route up there is pretty steep, could be dangerous."
"I understand. Well, if it's within your limits then."
"I'll try ma best, ma'am."
"Thanks for your help."
"We have to climb to get there?" Mai turned to Tyson.
"Saa… (Who knows)" The boy shrugged.
-Fast forward-
"Argh, mendokkuse! (This is so troublesome)" Tyson pulled himself up onto the rock. The guide was a few metres in front leading the way. Step by step, they climbed the rocky path up to Hovenweep National Monument.
"It's just a little further, just over that ledge!" Davies, the guide, pointed over head.
Mai looked up and squinted under the sweltering heat. The desert sure was hot! She wiped her forehead and trudged on. "Whoa!" But a hand had caught her just in the nick of time.
"Careful." Kai pulled her up.
She dusted her hands on her pants, "Thanks."
'Is she all right?' Kai thought.
'God, I look so stupid! He must think I'm some clumsy oaf or something.'
The two waited for each other to move.
"Hey, don't stand there all day staring at each other." Rei chuckled and moved ahead.
"Who says we're staring!" Mai snapped to hide her uneasiness. She quickly caught up with the group with Kai behind her.
"Sugoi… (awesome) " Tyson muttered under his breath as he took in the full view of Hovenweep. The place looked very dry and desolate, a crumbling city sheltered under the canyon. There were tourists, not many, but enough to arouse suspicion if Mai went about her business.
"The place you wanna go isn't here. It's waay over there." Davies pointed to a spot at the bend of the river. "The Cajon ruins."
"What! Then what's the point of making us walk so far?" Tyson complained.
"That's why I had to get here on a helicopter the last time," Judy pointed out. "I told you transportation was hard."
-Fast forward-
Tyson sat on the rock, breathless. The heat and the dry air made the Japanese boy feel like he was in a boiler. Mai went ahead with Judy and Davies to the place in the picture.
'So this is it huh?' Mai stared at the carvings on the wall. The wall looked like it was part of a bigger building that got destroyed. She didn't understand anything except for the symbol that symbolised the Norwings. 'What're all these animals suppose to mean?'
"Want me to interpret the drawings?" Judy came up beside her.
"You understand the language?" Mai was shocked. Judy knew such an ancient language?
"Haha, no. But my friend explained it to me once during the excavation trip. This area was part of the ceremonial building. If you look around, you'll see that the walls remaining actually form a dome shape." Judy mapped out the whole picture with her hands.
"The drawings represent the Spirits they pray to. See this cross within the circle? It represents the four directions, each colour represents a direction. Black for west, White for north, Red for east and Yellow for south. The Pueblo Indians followed these directions when praying. Different ceremonies where done at different directions."
Mai listened intently, Judy knew so much! The Norwings were so different from the Zeelans. But till now, nothing was mentioned about Eden. "Does it say anything about a Spirit called Eden?"
Judy looked at the drawings, "That's about all I know. Sorry."
Mai walked around the ruins a bit more. 'There's gotta be something!' She went off by herself here and there that it was hard for Judy and the rest to keep up with her. One minute she was popping in and out of crumbling buildings and the next she was studying wall paintings.
'Levian, do you feel anything? Like a source of energy?'
Levian: No. Maybe if you walk around a bit more I may pick up something.
Mai did as she was told; the others had no choice but to tail along behind her. 'So? Anything?'
Levian: Nothing.
'Nothing?' Mai looked disappointed. 'Then…how? I'll be going back empty-handed?' Mai ran around, there has to be something! She didn't come all this way to find nothing!
"Hey! Wait for us!" Rei called after her.
But the girl didn't listen. Suddenly, something caught her eye. She looked to her left to see a shadow scurry off. "Hey! Wait!" She ran after the person.
"MAI!"
The girl turned corners and ran down pathways, following the mysterious shadow. "Wait! WAIT!" She entered a huge space and scanned the many linking alleyways. 'Crap! I lost him!' "Hey!" She called out. "I don't want any trouble! I just wanted to know if you know about Eden! Great Spirit? Hello? Anyone? Please! I just need some information!"
A figure emerged from the shadows. She was young and dark-skinned, wearing a buffalo-skin vest and dusty-looking pants. By the looks of it, Mai suspected she was a Norwing.
The girl opened her mouth to speak, "You…know Eden?"
"Mai! Thank god! Don't run off by yourse—" But Max paused when he saw the girl.
No one said a word as they stared at each other…
Wah, finally! This chapter took me so long! Anyway, hope you readers enjoyed it XD! Review! Thanks!