Chapther 34

New families

X

"You know what really bothers me? That after one week of waiting we are finally granted permission to neter by the 'grand old master'…" Ren said suspicious, after lady Sati announces them that their leader had changed this mind.

"Something is fishy around here. " Horohoro added. "Perhaps some of us should go and investigate the surroundings while you go to the meeting."

"As far as Lady Sati told, only one person is needed to activate the key. And that person has to have the blessing of the master in order to pass through the Gate." Yoh said.

"And what is this Gate, more exactly?"

"Material manifestation of consciousness. All your deepest fears, your deepest desires and everything will come up to make you stay in there. Only one thing is common and happens the same as in reality: death." Anna explained.

"It's natural. When your mind gives up, your body follows." Yoh added. All things said, I think I should go and try- "

"I'll go." Ren interrupted Yoh. "You should go with the others and investigate the terrain for any potential enemies. I am sure they are threatened by something, or else they wouldn't have given us any access in. Plus, you're a better leader than I am." He also added with a slight smile.

"But Ren, what if-"

"Then somebody else comes and tries. Come on, we don't have much time. "

X

"Be careful, Hao, there are rocket missiles in the back!" said Riliry, while they were flying on the great spirit, being chased by the military aircraft. In the north were a lot of military bases, and they came up on the radar straight away. But no matter the trouble cause, they couldn't afford losing more time.

"I'm on it." Hao sent huge fire blasts, destroying the two planes.

"Wasn't that a bit too harsh? What about the pilots?" Rilury said feeling guilty.

"We have more things to worry about now. We have to get to the temple before the Erraths do."

Three huge supersonic planes appeared right in front of them, firing at will. Hao told Rilury to hold on, as the Spirit of Fire planed like an arrow right through them, with an incredible speed.

"At this rate, we'll reach the destination in a matter of seconds!" Rilury said, while holding still. It was a good thing that the protective shield protected them from the air resistance at such a high speed, not mentioning the metal debris…

" Indeed." approved Hao. "But the landing won't be so smooth."

They crashed right in the middle of an iceberg. Both Hao and Rilury tried to make together a protective shield, which was luckily effective. He was holding her tight while the smoke was clearing itself.

"Well, that was a little bit shaky." Rilury cracked a smile.

After some exploring the vast landscape full of blizzards and snow, Hao suddenly stopped at a luminescent globe, which was floating and shining in the middle of nowhere.

"What is this? Some sort of light bulb?" she asked confused.

"It is something only shamans can see, and only you can touch it." He answered, lightly holding her hand. She activated the huge entrance, which revealed itself under the ground.

The temple resembled something like the one from Antarctica, only it was…populated. People were wandering around, obviously being preoccupied with chores. The huge room, instead of being covered in pitch darkness, it was well lit up, with all the livable square houses carved on the walls. The material was not only cold metal, but also colorfully painted stones. A huge fountain was in the middle of everything, representing the center of this community living in the outskirts of the temple.

"Hello there, "a cheerful cloaked man with striking green eyes greeted them, "I haven't seen you in these parts…You must be Runners. I am glad to welcome you back to your path."

"Runners? What is that supposed to mean?" Rilury asked confused.

"We are here to talk with the grand master. In front of your eyes you have Rilury Takahashi, with the Travellers' and Erraths' blood flowing through her veins." Hao told the young man.

"Oh my!..." said the mysterious man, surprisingly not baffled at all. " I insist then, follow me! "

X

"Only you came on my call?" the Tibetan Master scoffed in front of Ren. "This is a matter of life and death! How can I trust that you will accomplish this successfully? Time is running!"

"Just try me." Ren smirked.

"Fine then." He bit his finger and put a drop of his blood on Ren's forehead. "You are now granted access to the Gate. Take him to the room!"

The guardians showed Ren a big, empty room, at the end of which was the Gate, full of light and mischief. However, the room wasn't empty. Despite of its entrance through some massive iron doors, in a dim lit corner, some sort of weird massive machine seemed to be…slumbering…

"What is that for?" Ren asked suspiciously.

"It is one of our biggest, most efficient sentinel. It will protect you from every intruder which would want to disturb you. We have a constant video monitor of this room, so we know when an unwelcomed presence breaks in. As an extra safety measurement, we will entrance close the doors, so no one will be enter to disrupt you. "

The doors were close right afterwards, and in the uncomfortable silence stood Ren, trying to reassure himself on his victory.

He took a deep breath, and with slow footsteps he entered the Gate, being absorbed by its light.

X

"I never thought I would meet Akira's daughter in my life! So fascinating, the first time one of the Runners was born as the chosen one!" the mysterious man said while he was leading Hao and Rilury towards the path to the main core of the Temple.

"I don't understand half of the words you're saying." Rillury said a bit annoyed.

"Ah, the imprudent way of talking. Most surely you take after your mother." The man said laughing.

"You talk as if you knew her!" Rilury was indeed, more agitated than usual. A strange sensation of this place made her feel very nervous, therefore she was impatient to get out of the temple as soon as possible.

"Of course I know her, dear. I am her brother." He took of his cloak and revealed his dense, blonde hair. A striking similarity with Akira, only more masculine features. "My name is Arik. It is finally a pleasure to meet my own niece."

Rilury stared at him surprised, not even know how to react. She would have never guessed she had connections with such a strange place.

"So you are the grand master now." Hao concluded promptly.

"Ah, I see someone knows some things about us." Arik replied smiling.

"I was the Shaman King for a short period, but I managed to grasp the knowledge I needed."

"So you are the infamous Asakura Hao? What are your intentions?" Arik suddenly stopped on the path, giving him a suspicious look.

"Nothing to worry about right now. We have the same objective now, and that is defeating the Erraths. They have already taken the first key, as you probably know."

"Indeed…we've all felt it. You saw the people in the citadel square, they were a bit agitated. I was there just about to make sure they were alright. You see, they are very confused about what to do, because their spirit power is so little…" Arik began to slowly explain them the history of their species, or as one could say, the history of Rilury's family.

"The Traveler temples were made in order to keep the sacred key to Antlantis. Although they have a common purpose, each temple has its own way of protecting it. Here, in the North Pole, we have kept contact with humans, so that our species doesn't perish, as it did in Antarctica…But as a result, travelers are also beginning to lose their spirituality.

We do not put any portal sigils on our disciples, so a lot of them decide to leave the Temple forever. They are called the Runners. The runners created their own community, called Takahashi. This name translates to "bridge" and symbolizes the bond between two worlds: the strict, traditional underground temple and the vicious, free, outside human world. Taking into account their rebellious attitude, they are making us quite infamous. Your mother, surprisingly, joined their way!" Arik said with a laugh.

But, I'm most honored to greet my sister's child back to her family's home. " Arik opened a portal. "Come on, let's go in the Council room. The walk was mostly to get to know each other better" he admitted with an innocent smile.

They were all in the council room, which consisted only of a huge metal desktop with a controlling panel with a lot of buttons, which were probably keeping the temple in one piece. The room was distinguishable itself by having through the windows an overview of the Temple. It resembled some sort of command room.

Come to think of it, Rilury hasn't seen her mother in ages. Last time they've saw each other, was at the brink between two different planets. Could it be, that she might have chosen the other portal, to the Erraths' world?

"Arik, have you heard anything about my mom? Is she here?"

"Listen, Rilury…I don't know how, but the Erraths gained access to Earth. And the only way for them to reach this far away planet is through a portal…created by our own kind."

"You mean, she opened the portal for them?"

"Not benevolently, of course. My sister is probably being held captive on the Erraths' planet."

"We have to go there!" Rilury shouted worried, shaking Arik's arms. "We have to rescue her!"

"Rilury, I am as concerned of her as you are right now, but we have to defend the Earth first! Plus, only she had those coordinates to that planet, because it was an ultimate precaution to save you, in case…" he looked at Hao "…living on this Planet would have been unsafe for you."

Riliry froze and stared blankly at Hao as well. If it weren't for his threat, Akira would have never considered this alternate option.

"Hao, why don't you say anything?" she asked displeased.

"Rilury, I believe your mother wasn't naïve to go through the portal by her own will. " Hao replied, considering that he shouldn't be held responsible for it. "Someone, from the Errath side, must have discovered the portal and pulled her in. Someone who had a very detailed plan and knew exactly the hidden time and place of when the portal from Earth will appear. "

Rilury stared down, a tear sliding on her pale face...

"I'm not going through the Gate… I can't!"

"Why not Rilury?" Hao stared at her with a slight concern.

"You've told me what the Gate is shifting consciousness, right? Your deepest concerns will trap you in there….With my current mental state, I'll surely fail!" She answered in defeat.

"I understand perfectly, my dear It is a wise decision." Arik pat her shoulder as a sign of compassion.

"Alright then, no problem. I will go" Hao added promptly, having serious intentions.

X

The Gate in Tibet was silently fluctuating with light in the silent room. The video monitoring was available for the Ren's friends to see, but also for the grand master and his guards.

"You think he'll be alright?" Horohoro asked Yoh.

"Hmm…Ren has something, some sort of stubbornness which won't allow any discouraging illusion to break him down." Yoh smiled.

Suddenly, a weird light crack was appearing on the video screen and disturbing its transmission. On the blurry screen, some sort of a female figure with silver hair seemed to have made her entrance through the light crack.

"That girl, I think I've seen her somewhere.." Yoh commented on the strange apparition.

The girl sat in a lotus position, and after a dark aura surrounded her, the transmission stopped.

"An intruder! Ren is not safe, we must go there!" Horohoro shouted.

"Not so fast." Grand master spoke.

Suddenly, Yoh and his group was surrounded by a wall made out of portals.

"The interdimensional prison. Watch out your step, or you might end up at another part of this Planet."

"Hey, we are not the enemies!" Horohoro raged.

"Neither my allies. If the boy comes out of the Gate, he and that girl will be instantly pulverized by our sentinel.

"Why not only her?!"

"Because, if the boy comes, he will bring the materialized form of the saucer claustra (key to Atlantis). And this form can be finally destroyed once for all, by our sentinel."

"You are going to take two lives to destroy your history forever? We can fight the Erraths!" Yoh shouted.

"Have you ever met an Errath? Their power level is so much higher than ours, even without their Mother Spirit. Imagine the destruction they could bring if they ever got contact with it!"

"Being so powerful, why do you think they'll be defeated by your sentinels?" Anna asked skeptically.

"Hah! That girl...she's not one of them. I don't know how she got there, but she will instantly perish."

In the silent room surrounded by darkness, Myako was in a trance, entering her spirit medium. In the corner, a blinking red light showed that the sentinel was active, ready to shoot when time comes.

X

"Here is the way towards the saucer claustra." Arik showed Hao a dim lit room. They've left Rilury behind because she should rest, as Arik suggested.

"I'm surprised you agreed so easily for me to put my mischievous hands on your precious key." Hao said suspiciously. "What is the catch?"

"Time is running for all of us, we are too pressured to think about old conflicts." Arik said with a wise voice.

"Where are the other council members? Shouldn't they also agree?"

"Hm, I thought you were already introduced to the power of telepathy. That's how we communicate. Also, if you read my mind, I am sure you already know what my true intentions are."

Arik put on Hao's forehead a red drop.

"This doesn't look like blood." Hao remarked.

Arik laughed. "Not human blood, at least. Tell me, have you ever tried to cut a Traveller in half?"

They were in an empty underground room, with cold wall stones warmed by a bright light. At the end of the room there was a massive sphere of light resembling a portal.

"This is where you have to go." Indicated Akira. "May the gods be in your favor."

Hao was stepping wisely towards the bright end. Something was trying to get out of his faded memories, when he was half-conscious…when his body was lying torn apart, however caressed by strange hands. Beautiful hands, however full of the blood they were giving away to him…in order to survive.

He suddenly stopped walking.

"You know Arik, Rilury sacrificed herself enough for me to realize that I'm being taken as an idiot. I've never tried cutting an Traveller in half, but maybe you'll be the first one."

Arik smirked: "On the contrary, I have just tested whether it is true that you have lost your mind reading abilities…"

Hao reacted with an unpleased grimace.

"A simple imprecation…Fortunately, my ability to turn you into ashes remained the same."

A fire blast emerged towards Arik, who dodged quickly.

The room lit up by sudden portals which were appearing from everywhere. Suddenly cloaked men stepped out of them and together they formed an attack blast. Hao could have easily shielded himself, but that wasn't enough for him. He wanted to terminate those bastards, so he created a huge fire blast.

However, the Travellers attack was not harmful. It was a beam which transformed into two portals. One absorbed the fire blast, and one gave it back towards Hao. That was just enough to push him a little towards the bright end of the room.

X

It was a strange world the one Ren was in…Faded memories, a lot of monsters to fight and then…there it was: the Tao family. They were looking at him in silence. No words were needed, he already knew the disappointment in their hearts.

There are shamans more powerful than him. Heck, if he'd never let Yoh take the lead, they would have probably all be still dead, trapped in the Great Spirit. All of them would be. And nevertheless this case was just postponed.

Was it all worth it? That bastard Hao , he never got to know HOW could he still survive after the powerful attack Yoh made. Way back in the past, on the first shaman round…

Ren's thoughts were carrying him away, and they were not invisible. Everything, all his memory was happening before his eyes.

But there was something he didn't know. A black, familiar mist brought the answer with its sudden appearance.

It was her. That strange girl, Rilury, she brought him back to life. Of course she was one of his allies from the beginning. They were all being played.

He's gonna take that key. Suddenly, the great spirit of fire stood right in front of him. He knew it was all in his mind, he knew that after a long fight he will overcome it. And he did.

From the light portal Ren was stepping victoriously with the key materialized in his hands.

"Ren! You did it!"

They were standing in the room, waiting for him.

"Well, we've had our conflicts, but when I sensed your intentions I gave up my hostility." Said the grand master. "You also want to destroy the key, don't you?"

"Once and for all" said Ren. "I know this key not only leads to the Errath Spirit, but also to a straight access to the Great Spirit itself."

"I can see that the key taught you its wisdom. Very well then."

Ren tore the key into pieces with his spirit power, without even thinking twice.

"It's all done." Declared the master relieved. "Now, when the Erraths and all the others are finished fighting, they'll realize, there's nothing to fight for anymore."

X

"Ren my darling, did you fall asleep? She's crying again."

In front of him, busy with her work, was Jeanne. Not the young Jeanne, but the woman she became. In the background was the constant noise of a crying baby.

It was a dream of a long distance past.

The Great Spirit became inaccessible for another 500 years. The Erraths left the planet, now that there was no more hope. Everything went back to normal, before it all started.

He went home and began a normal life. The shaman powers were not needed anymore. He started studying like any other teenager. Knowledge was the only thing it still kept him going. He went to a prestigious university in London, and there he met Jeanne. A heartbroken Jeanne, who just lost her lover.

It all happened so quick. Their romance, his career, the big house they lived in, and now a child. Quite a noisy one.

He was slowly moving the baby swing, with his mind somewhere else, his eyes lost in the stormy outside image from the window. It was dark and heavily raining, and his thoughts were pouring among with the rain drops.

Suddenly, a lightning disrupted the scenery. What followed was the strange figure of a woman in black starring at him.

Before he could react, she walked away.

He had seen her before, stalking him. She resembled Jeanne, but yet so different! Who was that?

X

A tall girl, better said a woman in dark elegant clothes, was walking down a lonely alley, with her long silver hair fluttering through the windstorm.

"Stop right there!" said a voice from the back. It was Ren.

"Who are you? Why were you stalking me?"

The girl smiled ironically.

"Or more exactly, who are you? You don't even remember me."

"Should I? I saw you before on the street, following me and my wife, but decided to ignore that. But this is too much."

"You're lucky that I am here. Without me, you would never make it."

"Never make it where?"

"To the real world."

A more powerful wind was blazing.

"You're a lunatic! Everything ended years ago…I have a wife and a child…this is reality and it's as boring as it should be! Even if you'd offer me a new shamanic adventure, what makes you think I'll leave my family behind?"

"Because these things never happened, Ren."

"How do you even-

"Know your name? Because you also know mine. Try to remember…" the girl walked closer and closer towards him. "Did you really think it would be that easy to escape your own mind?"

Ren was blankly staring at her. Everything became darker, the surroundings were starting to melt and coming closer…to the point where it was even harder to breathe.

"Come, we have to leave." She took his hand and they both started running, defending both of them from the dangerous mist.

His legs were moving without him thinking about it. He was just suffocated by this void, which he was trying to repress all this time. But what intrigued him most was: how come everything felt so empty all of a sudden, except for that girl?

"You haven't answered my question." He said after a while. "Why are you here, Myako?"

x

"Has he come back yet?" Rilury asked from her bed, however being sure that the answer was still no.

"I know that you're worried, but it can take weeks for someone to get out of there." Said Arik, bringing her a warm cup of tea. "If we're lucky it will last less than a year."

"I can't wait that long!" said Rilury desolated getting up from the bed. "I think I'm fully recovered now. I'll go after him."

"See, my child? Now your mind is so focused on getting him back that you'll forget the main purpose of the journey. You'll get trapped in there."

Rilury sat herself back.

"Sigh, I don't even know why I'm so physically tired. I can barely stand on my feet…" she saw her palm covered in a red substance. "What is this?"

"Usual mud from the undergrounds. Try not touching the stone walls too much." Arik smiled. "Well, there's nothing we can do now but-

"I don't want to rest anymore! The more I sleep the more dizzy I become!"

"As stubborn as your mother. Come, Rilury, I will show you around the temple. You'll see how life is around here." Arik said with a warm expression.

X

"I never imagined how people would live their life in this temple. They seem to be so at peace with themselves…"

Rilury and Arik were walking through the main square, wearing cloaks so they wouldn't be recognized by the crowd. People were taking care of their primitive and simple work, such as house chores, maintaining the temple in a good shape or training their powers, or at least the few of them which still had shamanic abilities.

"Those people with our spirit abilities will be raised as guardians of the key. But now that you're here, they'll soon have no more purpose." Explained Arik.

"Their activities are so simple..." Rilury gave Arik a serious look. "I thought you have the gates open, Arik. Those people seem like they've never seen the outside world!"

"We did and look what happened. Most of them lost their powers. They are helpless." Said Arik disappointed.

"Then why don't you just set them free?"

"For this temple to become desolated, like the one in Antarctica? "

"You have to! What would be the purpose of it anyway, once Hao brings the key back?" she asked rhetorically.

"And what if he doesn't?" Arik asked mischievously.

"He has to. That's why I'm going after him" she decided. "No matter the conditions of my emotions, I will fight til the end and I will bring the key back."

Stubborn girl, thought Arik. Thing is, Asakura Hao was not even where she though, more likely he was trapped far far away, on a prison which forever circles around the Earth.

The moon.

"Harder, faster!"

Those were the only thoughts going through his mind.

Hao was coming down with his oversoul, trying to resist the atmospheric pressure. Everything was in flames, as he was descending like a comet.

X

Somewhere, in a secret military base, the whole crew was witnessing this powerful fire blast which was destroying every military aircraft in its way. A high rank general, with years of experience, was thinking silently how to stop this calamity.

A sergeant disrupted the general's thoughts.

"General, I come with information eta 14:05: there are survivors! They say that there is a single boy doing all this! Evidence has been taken."

Indeed, some photos revealed the blurred figure of a brown haired boy, surrounded by flames.

"Find out what he wants. And keep everything top classified until further notice."

"General, it is impossible to even slow down that calamity! We lost too many airships!"

"No matter what, sergeant! This creature is not human. And whatever it's doing threatens this Planet!"

However, as a classified information, only the general knew about the existence of shamans. He knew about the existence of that boy. The boy who destroyed a whole infantry, which wanted to stop with the tournament. But now, Asakura Hao was messing around in the public sphere. He was furiously heading towards something, something which could represent a bigger threat…and could forever destroy the balance of reality.

X

"Sometimes, love is unpredictable. It makes people change their minds, it makes people go mad, even destroy everything in their way just to be with that person."

"Is that what made mom leave this place?" asked Rilury curious.

"In some way, smiled Arik It's what made both of us fall apart."

He was playing with some sand grains, his eyes following the flow of memories.

"We were the legendary twins. Inseparable. Indestructible. The Northen temple never had more of a blooming than during our administration. We were both dedicating our lives to maintain the best lifestyle for our people.

However, we had different purposes. I wanted to keep this temple sacred and less contaminated by humans, whereas she wanted to…bring its secret more to the surface. She took up travelling to seek answers about the Erraths and how we all got here...

I didn't mind. I was happy as long as she would return and continue organizing this place. She had that sort of over confidence that I lacked…that confidence which made me feel safer, more able to lead the underground. Perhaps this is one of the reasons I wanted to keep her close, constantly trying to make her establish herself here."

"As I know mom, she'd never do that."

"Well, at least she had good inteintions." He laughed. "At some points she would even have longer stays, for my sake…Until she met someone, of course. Then, our distance became wider and our argues…bigger.

Until that day... Our mother, your grandmother, of course, was our Guardian. She possessed the link to the Erraths' Great Spirit. We didn't see her that often, as she had to spend most of her time isolated in the meditation chamber, struggling with her powers…You see, it was a heavy burden to carry. She was almost always in pain, constantly wishing to be left alone…

When she died, it was a shock for all of us. Broken and alone, I needed your sister more than ever. Then I did something which I promised I'd never do…I summoned her."

"You summoned her?"

"Ah, it's another one of our abilities. If the other one agrees, we can create a spiritual link which helps us open portals exactly at the other one's location. Ha, when she saw me, she was all…petrified. She shut me off immediately and broke the link forever. My mental state was even more broken when we couldn't find in the whole temple the next Guardian, which should have been born shortly after mother's death. It's a generation cycle. We were all confused and looking for answers, but I should have known since then…

The sudden death, the way Akira reacted…it was you! Akira was pregnant with the next Guardian!"

"Why did it have to be me? I didn't wish for this…would I be like grandmother, constantly struggling?"

"Actually, so far you've been taking it very well…let's just hope it won't get worse."

"Worse? I already have troubles sleeping!"

"Rilury, I know it's hard, but believe me, you should consider yourself fortunate. Your powers might be the only bridge to the Erraths' planet, which means the only way to get Akira back."

"And how are we supposed to do that, stuck in this rat hole? As soon as we get that key…"

"We don't need any key! Do you realize that the key is the whole reason this temple is standing on?!"

Arik realized he went a bit out of his usual calmness. He regained his composure.

"I'm sorry, you don't see it as I do …When you dedicated your whole life to protect this temple, it become something even more important than home. It's almost like a huge part of my being is here…

. After all, your family is the whole council! You've never met our great uncle, our even our second cousin! Lovely people, I should introduce you to them. Perhaps you will start feeling here more like home…"

To be continued…