Chapter 50------Reliving the Past
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…
Mai took a step closer to the girl but she moved away. "It's okay, I won't hurt you. I just want to know about Eden?"
"What do you think you're doing—who's that?" Judy emerged into the empty courtyard.
The stranger looked anxious at the number of people gathering around her. She moved a little closer to the shadows, ready to escape if any danger was to come upon her.
"They won't hurt you. I promise." Mai made a quick head gesture to her friends to stay back. She pulled off her bandana, "See? I'm a Zeelan." She showed the girl her wrist and saw her head jerk as if something had clicked in her mind.
"You…Zeelan?"
"Yeah," Mai nodded and slowly moved nearer to the girl, she didn't want to scare her. "Are you a Norwing? I'm looking for this." She took out the jewel.
The girl seemed to step back in fright. Mai knew she had made a bad move when the girl turned to run. 'Dammit!' "Wait!" Mai chased after her.
"MAI!"
"Jamada! (Stay out of this)" She yelled.
'Stay out of this? She's asking us to stay out of this?' A vein in Kai's temple twitched. "YOU IDIOT! COME BACK HERE! REI!" The neko-jin nodded and both boys chased after the mulish girl.
'I can't let her get away! She knows something!' Mai was determined to catch the girl no matter how far she ran.
"AHULI!" Mai heard the girl shout as though she was calling someone.
It was then that Mai knew she wasn't alone; there were more people in the ruins. As she ran, out of the corner of her eye she could see figures moving about. She grew nervous, she was on her own, and if they attacked, she'd be a goner.
Suddenly, something stabbed at the ground, almost missing her feet. 'Ack!' Mai saw a small spear sticking out of the ground. 'Okay, this is bad!' Another spear landed behind her. 'Eek!' She picked up her pace, the girl ran ahead but she couldn't have gone far. It was tricky, having to avoid things thrown at you while running after someone; you had to have a lot of agility and alertness. Mai missed another weapon, "HEY! I'M NOT GONNA HURT HER! I JUST WANT TO KNOW ABOUT EDEN!" She shouted in indignation. Why on earth were they attacking her? She said she wasn't gonna hurt anyone!
Suddenly, a huge man riding a horse appeared and blocked her path. 'NANI?' Mai screeched to a halt and turned back to run. So they were chasing her now? She heard the hooves of the horse gallop on the ground, 'Bad! Bad! Bad! How am I supposed to outrun a horse for crying out loud?' She turned as many corners as she could, running through small backstreets she knew the horse couldn't pass through. But that wasn't the only danger, there were other people popping up here and there and she found herself having to run away from them as well.
'Eek!' Mai turned back but another man blocked her path, she was trapped! She searched in desperation for a way out. 'Up? No, they're too tall! Side? Too wide!' "Okay! Okay! I surrender, just please don't hurt me!" Mai raised her hands. She saw one of them grin and say something to his friend. The exchanged words in a language she didn't understand and took her by the arms; she was surprised it wasn't forcefully considering how big the men were.
"Ahuli!"
The sound of hooves again, Mai saw someone coming towards them. The man pulled the reins of the horse and the creature came to a stop. His long hair was up in a ponytail and he was wearing a red band around his forehead with a lock of his hair beaded with a feather at the end. Like the girl, he too had on buffalo-skinned clothes.
The man stared down at the girl, Mai looked up at him.
"Let go!"
Mai heard Rei's familiar voice. "Rei! Kai!" She saw the two boys struggling under the grasp of their captors.
"They your companions?"
Mai looked up at the man who had spoken, "Yeah, you…speak English?"
But the man let out a laugh and instructed the others to do something. Again Mai couldn't understand but she soon found out what he said, they were tying her wrists together; the same was done for Rei and Kai. The ropes were then attached to the saddle of the horse. Mai watched in horror, 'You can't be serious! He's gonna drag us along as the horse runs?'
"Tsk tsk." The man commanded and the horse moved along in a relaxed pace. It pulled the ropes and Mai and the rest found no choice but to follow. She felt like a slave, but was grateful he didn't make the horse to run.
"Sorry guys…" Rei and Kai avoided her gaze. 'They're mad at me…why wouldn't they be? I got them into this mess…' She sighed and focused on where she was stepping on. 'I guess they won't be talking to me for a long time…'
-Fast forward-
"So you can't find them?" Judy was fretful. "My goodness! They can't be found! How am I going to explain this to their parents?" She paced back and forth, rubbing her brows.
"We've searched the whole area ma'am. We couldn't find anything. But it's strange that the natives would take away tourists. They usually don't bother us." The sergeant said.
"It's okay, mom. I'm sure they're fine." Max patted his mother's back.
"Are they really?" She looked at her son with woeful eyes, "What if something happens to them?"
"Mai is…special. She can take care of herself." Max recalled the time when Mai had changed into Eden and fought off the men back in her village. "Yeah…she can take care of herself."
"Tyson, can you try their phones again?"
Tyson did as he was told, he tapped his phone on his hand, "I can't get a signal. They must be out of range." He tried again.
"Officer, please. Please find them, search every Indian settlement if you have to." Judy pleaded.
"We'll do our best ma'am. It's getting late, I suggest you board the helicopter and we'll take you back to town. We can return in the morning to continue the search."
"Okay…that's okay." Judy was trying to reassure herself, "Tomorrow then." She forced a smile. "Boys, let's go."
-Wherever Mai is being held captive…-
Mai and the boys were led into a cave and made to sit in a corner by the fire, they were still tied up. Mai spotted the girl from earlier on; she was bringing in the horse. Their eyes locked for a second before she turned away. "Ahuli." She came up beside the man who had brought them here. 'So he's called Ahuli.' Mai thought.
Ahuli sat crossed-legged across from them and placed his hands on his thighs. He looked at the three of them, they looked back at him. Finally, he spoke, "My sister says you claim to know of Eden."
Mai nodded her head. The girl whispered something in her brother's ear, he nodded. The girl approached Mai and reached for her ropes, she began untying them. Mai looked at her with a shocked expression, but the girl's face told her it was all right. She lifted Mai's right wrist and showed it to her brother. "Namito (See), Zeelan."
"So you are not ancestors of white people. Where you come from?" Ahuli spoke.
"China."
"They are also Zeelan?" He pointed to Rei and Kai.
"No, they are Humans."
"I see. Secrets of our tribe are not for their ears. We must keep the mystery of the Sacred Four. Wohali, take them away and give them food and drink."
He let out a laugh at Mai's reaction. "We are not selfish people, we welcome anyone in peace. Don't worry, you will see them again."
Mai watched as Rei and Kai were taken away.
"Mai!"
"Gomenasai, Kai, Rei. Honto ni gomenasai." She bowed her head; she didn't deserve to be called their friend…What kind of friend always gets her friends in danger?
A plate was placed before her, it made her look up. "Come, eat. We will not have energy to talk if we are hungry." Ahuli gestured to the plate and Mai timidly picked up a cob of corn.
Everyone ate in silence, but once in a while small chatter was passed between each other. They had given Mai corn, barbequed fish and some flat bread. It was simple, but it was enough to fill her stomach. 'These people live such simple lives,' Mai thought as she nibbled the piece of flat bread.
"Tell me," Ahuli placed his cup down, "what do you know about Eden?"
Mai waited for his sister to clear her plate and muttered her thanks. The girl was about to follow the other women when Ahuli called her back, "Chewett, you stay and listen."
The girl reluctantly gave up her plates and sat down next to her brother. "Tell us about Eden." He asked again.
"I don't know much… My elders didn't tell us about Eden. I found out about the legend myself. They say in the past, there were four tribes: Norwings, Dreads, Saint Shields and Zeelans. They lived in peace because Eden looked after them. Then the Dread high priest wanted to capture Eden to gain power over the others. This caused a war and made Eden angry. He sent seven disasters down to Earth and the people suffered terribly. The high priests from the four tribes couldn't control Eden, he was too powerful and so they decided to seal him in a rock. But Eden vowed that his two souls will reincarnate in one of the four tribes in a 50 year generation cycle. The priests were afraid of this, so they scattered his powers in four jewels and hid them in the four corners of the Earth." Mai finished.
Chewett spoke to her brother again. He turned back to Mai, "She says you have the jewel. Can I see it?"
Mai hesitated.
"I will not take it from you. You can hold it in your hand."
Feeling a little more secure, she took out the jewel from her pocket and held it near the fire so that Ahuli could see it.
His sister said something that made his eyes narrow. "Why have you come here?" His friendly demeanor was gone and the others around them started whispering, this made Mai very nervous.
"I-I'm looking for this."
"There is no jewel here! You bring destruction to our land if you have jewel!" Ahuli bellowed.
'What?' Mai didn't understand.
"Legend says two souls will resurrect in offspring of Sacred Four; one good and the other bad. Jewels have great powers, if given to wrong soul, will cause destruction like in the past!"
"I know that, that's why I want to stop it from happening. Because…Because I have Eden's soul!" Mai reasoned.
"You lie!" Mohali yelled. "Our ancestors suffered in the war, so many in ourkind were killed! We will not let same thing happen again!"
"Please! I'm telling the truth. I need the jewels to stop my friend, he has the other soul. He wants to free Eden and use his power against Humans."
"How we know you speak the truth?" Ahuli leaned back, scrutinizing the girl's face for sincerity.
"I don't know how to show you…But I really have Eden's soul. Please believe me!" Mai begged.
"Maybe we consult the Spirits, see if girl speaks the truth." One of them said.
Ahuli paused, as if considering the suggestion. "Chewett, tell Chief to prepare for Whakan ritual."
The girl bowed her head and left the area, calling two women along with her.
'Whakan ritual? What're they going to do?' Mai grew worried. 'It's not those sacrificial rituals, is it?' "Where are you taking me?" She got pulled up by the arms, "let me go!"
"Quiet! We take you to see our Chief. Then we will know if you speak the truth." Ahuli hushed her.
'Chief? Why? What are they going to do with me?' She panicked; so many questions raced in her mind.
The men brought her to another part on the cave. Cave drawings dotted the walls and in the middle of the space, sat an old figure with greying hair. Beside him, Chewett seemed to be preparing something. Mohali placed some firewood in the holes dug in the walls and lit a fire, illuminating the area with a dusty glow. Mai was made to sit in front of the old man. She studied his face, it was wrinkled, like that of creased plastic, and his eyes were narrowed down to slits. She wondered if he could see under such dim light.
He spoke to Ahuli, who translated his words to Mai, "He asks your name."
"Mai."
The Chief nodded, "Ahh, Mai. Behanem ye amanosa."
"He says you are young."
'Huh? Young?' "Uhh, thank you." Mai bowed her head. It was a universal language for respect right?
"He says to lie down. Chewett, you lie next to her."
The girls did as they were told. Mai had no idea what was going on, but it was not like she could get herself out of the situation.
The old man spoke again. "He asks if you want to do ritual. Ritual will show you past, but you must never let go of Chewett's hand no matter what, otherwise you may not wake up again."
Mai turned to look at Chewett; the girl smiled and took her hand. She smiled nervously, 'If I let go of her hand…I may not wake up…But…'
Her grip on Chewett's hand tightened, "I will do the ritual."
"You very sure?"
Mai nodded her head, "Yeah." She spoke to Chewett, "Don't let go, okay?"
The Chief lit some incense and began chanting some funny words. He took out an object that looked like a funnel that was cut in half and placed some red sand in it. Mai started to feel sleepy as she breathed in the heavy smell of incense. The chanting and the soft shaking of instruments were lulling her to sleep. She looked at Chewett's face one last time before closing her eyes…
-Rei and Kai…-
"Mai isn't back yet," Rei leant his head against the hard wall. "I hope she's okay." He looked across at Kai; the boy was facing the entrance of their room, as if waiting for someone to show up. Rei knew he shouldn't have said that, it would only make Kai worry more.
Kai let out a sigh of frustration, "Argh! If she had just stayed still none of this would've happened!"
"But they said we would see her again. I'm sure they'll keep their word." The neko-jin said.
"Hmph." Kai turned away. 'If anything happens to her…'
-Back to Mai, Mai's POV in Dream-
Doko da? (Where am I) This place looks so familiar…I'm in the forest near my village?
"Come." I took Chewett by the hand and led her through the forest to where my village was. I froze, I had returned to the time when my village was being burnt.
"Oka-san." I could save my mother, I could do something! I was about to run but Chewett held me back. She shook her head.
"But I have to save my mother!" I argued.
Chewett struggled to say something, as if in desperate attempt to tell me not to do something, but was finding it hard to tell me. "Past…no change!"
"You mean I can't change the past?"
The girl shook her head vigorously. "People…-points to eyes then points to Mai-"
I understood what she meant; people could see me in this world. If I was seen, I'd be changing the past and that meant changing the future…
Suddenly, there was rustling in the bushes. I forced Chewett's head down and the both of us hid behind a bush.
"Mai! Don't look back!"
Huh? Oto-san? I saw myself and my father break into the forest, running. I remember this part! Wait, this means my Grandfather is close by! I pulled Chewett along; I knew exactly where I was headed.
I peered through the bushes. I saw myself arguing with my Grandfather. My father pushed me off the cliff.
"Henry! You fool!"
-BANG-
Have you ever seen your loved one get killed right in front of your eyes? Do you know how much it hurts? Knowing that you couldn't doanything to save him? I found myself crying as my father fell to the ground, a pool of blood slowly forming at his side.
"Oto-sama…Oto-sama." I covered my mouth as I cried, I couldn't shout. I felt Chewett pat my back. I waited for my Grandfather and his men to leave before running to my father's side. I placed my hand over his eyes and closed them, "Rest well, Oto-sama…"
I walked back to the village to find everything burnt nicely, no smoke, even the sky had changed…What happened?
"Dragoon!"
That sounds like Tyson! But what is he— "We travelled in time again?" I looked at Chewett. The girl shrugged. I made my way to the road leading up to the shrine and sure enough, I found the guys fighting off Mike.
"No...Get away from them … GET AWAY FROM THEM!"
I saw a huge aura explode around me. That was me? So this is what happened the last time. I watched myself fight off the bad guys, I was out of control.
"Stop it, Mai!" Rei tugged at my shirt.
"Stay out of this Human!"
"That's not my voice," I muttered under my breath. Chewett seemed to be in shock too, she pointed to the other Mai and then to me. "Yes, that's me when I turn into Eden."
I watched the part where I collided into Kai. You mean it really happened? I blushed and turned to Chewett, she didn't have much of a reaction, phew…
I passed scenes where I had met the Saint Shields, the time when Levian had run away, the part where I saw Riya and the others again…
"Riya? What's going on?" I watched the conversation between Riya and myself.
"Just now, when we touched, did you feel it? That pang in your head?"
"You felt it too? But how can—?"
"That's what I'm going to explain now. Do you know about the legend of Eden?"
"Yeah! He got sealed in the rock for causing destruction. Archaeologists found the rock, it was on the news."
"Yes, that one. Before he was sealed, he promised something, that his two souls would reincarnate every 50 generations. Do you know about that?"
"Yes but what has this have to –You mean! You have Eden's soul too?"
On the night of the opening ceremony, Riya said something that placed a barrier between us…
"I hate them! They treat us like dirt! Beat us up, make fun of us, kill us off like ants! I've had enough!"
"I know they've gone overboard and deserved to be punished but we're just teenagers! How do you expect us to get revenge?"
"With Eden." Riya replied.
Then there was the memory of the beybattle against Riya. I'd never forget his eyes, they were so cold, and he acted as if he didn't care. Was this what Eden's soul had done to him? Blinded his ability to differentiate between right and wrong?
Chewett watched as both forms of Eden battled it out. Every time I looked at her, she would nod her head, as though telling me she understood what was going on.
I watched the time when I bid farewell to Riya and the rest…the times when I had fun with the Bladebreakers and Hilary… But one scene fired up my emotions once more…
"THE HELL I DO! KONNO BAKEMONO! KAA-SAN TO OTOU-SAN WA KOROSHITA! (YOU MONSTER! YOU KILLED MY PARENTS!)"
"Yes, it's true I killed Serena and Henry but I did it so I could save you. They were going to kill you in the end! I wanted to rescue my only Granddaughter."
"What do you want with Eden?"
"Well, I plan on making the DAICHI Empire a legacy, and you my dear, are going to help me."
Grandfather…Oh how I hate you so much for what you did! One day, just wait, one day you'll get your retribution!
"She's all yours men!"
I wanted to burst through the door and help myself but Chewett held me back.
"Let go! You don't know him! He's going to kill me!" I tugged my arm.
"You no wake up!"
"I don't care!" I had to save myself! This was the chance I had to get back at my Grandfather!
"We go back now!"
"No! Not until I kill him!" I finally pulled my hand free but…
-End of dream, end of Mai's POV-
Mai's eyes shot open, she was back in the cave. Chewett was awake too, she was panting. Mai sat up, "Don't move!" Ahuli said. Mai looked around her; she and Chewett were in the middle of a huge circle drawn from coloured sand. She stiffened, not daring to damage the circle in case something bad happened.
"Get up slowly, but don't touch circle."
Chewett leapt over the sand patterns with ease. 'How am I supposed to do that?' Mai nimbly tiptoed among the gaps in the patterns till she found it near enough to jump onto the clear space.
"I let go of her hand…but why am I back here?"
Chewett was happy to speak in her own familiar language to her brother, "She say she use her left hand to grab you."
Mai smiled, "Thank you." She bowed, "thank you so much."
"She also says you speak truth –turns to listen to Chewett- but you have suffered many terrible things, she feel sad for you."
"You were crying during the ritual," Ahuli said on his own accord as Chewett left them to tell of her experience to the Chief.
"Huh?" Mai touched her face, it was wet. She reallydid crying. "Sorry." She wiped them with her sleeve.
The Old Chief said something and once again, Ahuli translated, "He says a young girl like you is given great task. Many people want power of Eden, but you only person who can use it. He asks you to do what is right and use it well. Be strong and the Spirits will guide you."
"Oh…" Mai looked at her feet. "Then what about the jewel? It really isn't here?"
"We will speak of that tomorrow. Now you must sleep, your brothers are waiting for you."
'Brothers? Kai and Rei?' Mai decided not to correct him, "Yeah, I've caused them a lot of trouble."
"Tayanita, take her to her brothers."
Mai was led out of the stuffy area. Finally! Finally she'd get to see Kai and Rei!
"Mai!" Kai got up the instant Mai appeared at the doorway.
"Did they do anything to you?" Rei scanned the girl for any injury.
"I'm fine." She moved between the two boys and sat on the straw mat, the others followed.
"You were crying?" Rei looked concerned. "They did do something to you, didn't they?"
The girl looked at Rei and then at Kai. She let out a small laugh, though he didn't show it, she could tell from his eyes that Kai was as worried as Rei. She dried the last of her tears, "I saw my Father die…"
"Mai…"
"But everything's fine now," she quickly added, "it's in the past…"
"Why do you keep everything to yourself? Why can't you just tell us what happened?"
"Why don't you?" She kindly replied at the two-toned-haired boy.
"This isn't about me! Don't change the subject!"
"Kai… I've put you through a lot and… Out of all the boys, I think you suffer the most."
Her words struck him.
"So now I want to apologise," Mai didn't know what she was doing but somehow she just wanted to do it, it felt right. She bowed her head, "Gomenasai. Yurushite kudasai onegaishimasu. (Please forgive me)"
'Eh? Why is she doing this all of a sudden?' "B-baka! Why are you saying sorry?"
Mai raised her head, "I'm not doing this because I want your pity. I don't want it from you or Rei or anyone else. I'm doing it because I've done something wrong and so I must apologise and seek forgiveness or face my punishment. If you want to shout at me then go ahead, I deserve it. I don't want people to pity me just because my life is harder than others."
"We don't pity you; we're just worried about you. C'mon, let's forget about it, Kai can shout at you all he wants in the morning." Rei moved to the end of the mat and lay down.
Mai lay down at the other end, leaving a big space in the middle for Kai.
"You can apologise a thousand times, and we can forgive you a thousand times," She felt Kai next to her. "But you'll always end up doing the same thing…"
Mai didn't answer, Kai was right. But she wouldn't have gotten this far if it weren't for her recklessness. If she had led the 'safe' life like Kai wanted her to, she should have just handed over the jewel to Riya and let him destroy the world. But she couldn't do that, she couldn't! Freeing Eden was not something she could accomplish by just sitting at home!
Mai turned and grabbed Kai's hand, "Please don't worry so much about me." Realising what she had done, she let go of his hand.
Kai looked at her, she still held their gaze. "Somehow I find that hard to do…" He lay on his side and faced Rei.
Mai turned the other way and sighed, 'Kai…what do you want from me?'
Yeah, Kai, what do you want from her? He's really frustrating isn't he? Hello readers! It's my fiftieth chapter! haha! That's like...A LOT! I'm actually done with 51 but i shan't post it now :P Please review!