Forgotten Memories
By Elle Pellano
Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman King.
Manta gaped at the large ancient structure which reminded him so much of a haunted house. The Asakura inn which was a home to the young itako trainees of the clan blended perfectly to the eerie atmosphere in Osorezan. A number of boiling sulfur pits containing yellow and sometimes blood red liquid dotted the surroundings. The creepiness of the place was further heightened by the presence of ravens and crows perched on top of leafless trees. The black birds stared with a hungry look in their eyes as if waiting for them to die and rot on the spot.
"Welcome to Hell," Horo Horo was the first to comment.
Manta was beginning to feel nauseated by the sulfuric stench of the air which smelled heavily of rotten eggs. He quickly clung onto Ryuu's leg when a white clad figure which looked like a girl in her early teens appeared by the inn's entrance.
"Welcome visitors to the Asakura Itako Training Center," the young trainee greeted them with a solemn voice.
"So the purpose of this place is to build a pool of potential shaman queens?" Ren scoffed.
"You're quite right about that young man," a hoarse voice answered him, "in some aspects... This was also established to give hope and home to young girls who are visually-impaired, abandoned and/or left to die by their family."
"Hello grandmother. It was nice to see you again", Yoh smiled sheepishly after seeing Kino's silhouette form behind the young itako.
"Come inside. There are some matters we need to discuss," old Kino beckoned the group.
The gang found themselves huddled in a small room for receiving visitors. Kino was at the far end of the table while Yoh sat on the other end.
It looked like an interrogation. Manta observed. Yet nobody would like to start the conversation.
What are we waiting for? Ren was becoming impatient.
Spill out the beans, grandma. Horo Horo was feeling the same thing.
The silence was stirred by the sliding of the door to reveal Tamao carrying a steaming pot of morning tea and behind her, Iron Maiden Jeanne was holding a tray of tea cups.
"Tamao, I'm glad to see you again. Iron Maiden, what a surprise to see you out of that metal casket," Yoh greeted them.
"I'm sorry for what happened to Mistress Anna, Master Yoh," Tamao bowed shyly. She and Iron Maiden Jeanne sat beside Manta across Ryuu, Horo Horo and Ren after passing out the cups of tea.
Yoh's heart began to beat fast. What did Tamao exactly mean?
"It's unusual that you went here without your X-Laws bodyguards," Ren said to Jeanne, trying to break the silence brought about by everyone's anxiety.
"On the contrary my friend, I went here with her," Lyserg appeared by the door then sat next to the Iron Maiden.
"Everybody, please welcome back the amazing Chocolove!" said the black American as he entered the room with his arms wide open. He sat between Horo Horo and Ren to the two shaman's dismay.
"We were invited over by Master Kino," Lyserg explained.
"I see that we're almost complete," old Kino began to speak.
"Almost? Do you mean there are more people coming? Oh boy, this room is getting crowded," said Horo Horo.
"We're not exactly people Master Horo Horo," a familiar voice answered him.
The gang were all smiles when their spirits finally materialized by their side.
"Welcome back Amidamaru. How was your short vacation in the afterlife?" Yoh grinned.
Anna woke up in a dark room with a life size mirror in the center. She walked closer until she was a foot away from the large mirror but to her astonishment, it did not show her own reflection. She examined herself and noticed that she was still wearing her black dress and bandanna but her reflection was wearing something tribal. When she pinched her left arm, the woman in the mirror was also pinching hers. When she touched her face, the woman was also touching her own face. She closed her eyes and tried to shake away the image in front of her. She must be seeing things again. When she opened them, the Patch woman who looked like her if she were ten years older was still there.
"She hasn't woken up since one of my apprentices found her," old Kino said in a grave tone while looking straight at Yoh's eyes. She noticed the sudden change of her grandson's expression from worry to fear.
"You mean she's in a coma?" Manta inquired.
"No, she's in a deep sleep. I asked Dr. Faust VIII to come here to examine her. He's currently in her room now. He's trying to figure out how to wake her up."
"Perhaps Iron Maiden could heal her or something," Ryuu suggested.
"I couldn't as much as I wanted to. I remain powerless up to this day because of Hao," Jeanne spoke softly.
"We're here actually to train. We presumed that Mistress Jeanne's power would come back if she would stay in a place where spirit energy is fully concentrated. We had just arrived here when they discovered Anna. I guess it was a bad timing for us," Lyserg felt sorry for the situation.
"Well, that explains why you're here. Why is HE here?" Ren pointed at Chocolove.
"We met him in the streets of London. He begged for us to bring him also," said Lyserg.
"It was not begging that I did. It was hitch hiking," Chocolove started to protest in an exaggerated manner.
"I bet you did not pay for your own plane ticket," Ren smirked.
Their momentary bickering was stopped when Yoh finally spoke in a cracked voice, "She just left a note saying that she'll be away for 3 days running errands for you, Grandma. I thought she was in Izumo. I did not know that she would come here."
"What's more important Yoh is that Anna is still alive," Manta tried to comfort his friend.
"But what just happened to her or who would do this to her?" Horo Horo thought out loud. "Anna is frighteningly a strong woman. It's not like she'll just faint and remain unconscious for days."
"Whatever happened to Anna is entirely my fault," Yoh lowered his head.
"Don't be too hard on yourself Master Yoh," it was Ryuu's turn to do the comforting.
"He's still alive. He must have hurt her to get back at me," Yoh angrily banged his fists on the wooden table.
"What are you talking about Yoh? Who is still alive?" Manta was confused.
"Hao is," Yoh whispered but everyone seemed to have heard him well since everybody in the room froze for a few minutes trying to comprehend why the evil shaman still existed.
"But you've killed him, right? How could he still be alive?" Ren asked in a serious tone.
Yoh looked at Amidamaru as if begging for his spirit to tell them what happened in his behalf.
Amidamaru did not fail his human friend, "Master Yoh and I was able to subdue the Spirit of Fire, weakened its untamed powers and sealed it away in the bowels of the earth. But…" he paused.
The memories of that fateful day flashed back in Amidamaru's head.
Hao was already down on the ground with bruises from the final blow. He was very weak but still alive when they approached him. Yoh was ready to plunge his sword into Hao's chest but stopped in mid-air as he gazed at his twin brother's defeated face. Yoh then lowered his sword, turned his back and walked away.
"Master Yoh, he…" Amidamaru was trying to look for more fitting words.
"I left Hao dying in the desert… I just couldn't completely strike him down… He is a very lonely shaman… and he is my twin brother," Yoh finished for him.
There was silence again. However, the dead air was short-lived when Dr. Faust VIII slid the door open with a sense of excitement written all over his face, "She just moved her fingers. This is good news!"
Yoh and the gang rushed into Anna's room. They found her lying on the futon, dressed in a white kimono, covered by a neat white blanket - looking as pale as ever. Yoh knelt down beside his fiancée and gently shook her, "Anna, please wake up. I'm sorry… This is all my fault… Anna, Anna, Anna… "
Anna reached out to the woman in the mirror with her right hand. As soon as their palms were touching, images of a past she could not remember as her own began flooding into her head as if somebody pushed the rewind button in her subconscious mind. It started with the scene from her recurring dream, then was eventually replaced by images of a long-haired adult shaman happily playing with their child, sitting by her bed while she was giving birth, sleeping with her, standing next to her in a tribal wedding ceremony, giving her baskets of fruits, walking hand in hand with her, gazing lovingly at her. The sudden rush of memories made her head hurt. She was about to cry from the stabbing pain when she heard a voice calling out her name repeatedly. She stumbled backward due to exhaustion and saw the large mirror fading before her. After a few seconds, there was darkness again. The next thing she saw when she opened her eyes was the face of her very worried teary-eyed fiancé and his bunch of idiot friends staring at her.
"Anna!" Yoh did not care if his friends would tease him but he was going to hug her for the first time in his life. Before he could completely enclose her in a warm embrace, there came a loud SLAP!
Thanks for reading!