Chapter 13
"Crap in a hat on a fat cat," I exclaim, no longer caring we are trying to stay hidden. "Now we have no choice but to go down there."
"But what if it's a trap?" mocks Rebecca, doing a spot on impression of me. Do I really sound like that? Rebecca pushes me aside and starts walking down the steps. I've seen this movie before. Any second now, the tunnel will close shut like a giant mouth and Rebecca and Olivia will be trapped forever in a prison of gold and sand like Aladdin and that greedy monkey. What? I have a little kid sister at home. Disney movies are all that I watch now-a-days.
I glance back, looking for the impossible: Kento. I would I thought I would look for Rowen, but I want my older brother to be here. I am disappointed I cannot find him in this dark and possibly deadly room. I need him here. I need that false sense of security that only an older, stupid brother can give a smart, younger sister. And I need—
"Hey! Fat girl! You coming or what?" asks Rebecca at the bottom of the stairs. I hate her more than ill-fitting skinny jeans. That's a lot of hate right there.
"I'd tell you to keep your pants on but from what I've heard around school, I'm a little too late," I reply, bravely walking down the stairs. Rebecca laughs and I smile. I hate her and she hates me. Hence, we are sure to become the best of friends in this story. We silently agree to kill Olivia after we find her and escape this nightmare.
We are in a long and winding tunnel made of stone. There are no torches or lights but somehow, we can see the path ahead of us. Rebecca and I do not speak. We can only hear the soft thuds of our feet and our own breathing. The tunnel turns to the right. We can see a light coming from around the corner. Rebecca and I both slowly turn the corner, not sure what we are expecting. I clinch my fists, ready for a fight. Rebecca holds her breath.
No enemies or monsters are around the corner. I release my fists and rub my sore knuckles. Rebecca takes a deep breath in and sighs. We are standing in a very plain and simple room. The room is modeled after the room of the temple we descended from. Olivia is standing in front of a pool of water. A waterfall falls from the ceiling and pours into the small pool but the water in the pool doesn't look like it is affected by the waterfall. The water does not reflect anything in the room and glows with an eerie light like something sinister is behind it and playing with a flashlight. And there is no opening in the ceiling for the waterfall to fall from. Other than that, the room is normal looking.
I tap Olivia on the shoulder and immediately jump back in case her head spins around or something. Rebecca must watch the same horror movies as me because she jumps back too. We both punch each other on the arms for stepping on each other's feet.
"This is it, you guys," Olivia says. "This is where it all happened." Olivia still has not turned around to speak to us. I'll be damned if I'm the one suckered in to go and face a potential monster or demon or possessed skinny chick.
"Where what happened? What are you talking about Olivia?" I ask.
"You can't just run off like that. We have to stay together, even if it sucks," adds Rebecca.
"This is where the two worlds connect," Olivia replies. "This is where Oura and Becka died. Well, they didn't die. They just stopped existing in our world. This is the evil of Myra and the creation of Kindra. This is where our former selves went to die. Oura and Becka just got there a little faster than their younger sister."
"We need to get out of here," I mouth to Rebecca. Rebecca nods in agreement. Olivia is freaking us out.
"We need to get out of here, Olivia," Rebecca calmly says, tapping Olivia on the shoulder. "We should come back with the others. If this place really is that evil, we'll need some backup, right Rinfi?"
"Yeah. Umm…we should go," I agree. Olivia slowly turns around. I get the heavy, uncomfortable feeling I felt when I first met Olivia. There is something unnatural coming from her. Rebecca takes a step back. She can feel it too.
"Olivia, we need to get out of here," I say again, mustering some courage and slowly becoming ready for a fight with whatever or whoever is affecting the skinny, really-pale-now girl. Olivia's head leans back a bit and then we can feel the weight being lifted from her shoulders. Rebecca and I both grab her to keep Olivia on her feet.
"You know what I just realized?" I ask.
"I bet it has something to do with us seeing Kindra walk down here and we haven't seen her yet and this is a dead end room," Rebecca replies.
A loud scream echoes through the room. The wall explodes with water. We cannot run fast enough while carrying Olivia which is kinda sad since the girl is a twig. We are swept off our feet and pulled into the pool of water of the room which now acts like a giant black vortex, pulling us out of this world and hopefully, into a safer another.
You see, I sort of know where we are going as we slowly fall like string-less puppets into the vortex. We cannot speak. We cannot move. Our bodies are pretty much lifeless. Rebecca and Olivia look like they are asleep. The darkness is not as terrifying as I thought it would be. It's rather comforting. I can't see my end, my doom, or the monster on the other side waiting to eat us.
Olivia is right. This place is not death but another realm of existence. I have already visited parts of this realm in my dreams. I feel the soft blanket of sleep cover my body. I can't hold on much longer. I close my eyes.
When I awake, I am lying on my back in a field. The sky above my head is blue and white with clouds. There is a slight breeze. Rebecca and Olivia are gone. I lift myself to my feet. My body is sore. No duh, being pulled into vortex will do that to you.
"I imagined you would be taller," she says. Her voice is cute, but there is a hint of something dark and sinister under it. Kindra stands in front of me. The bottoms of her formal robes pool on the ground. She is close enough to speak and far enough to run away.
"I imagined a smoother landing," I reply. I'm not sure what I am to do. Can she be trusted? My gut is telling me no and my heart is yelling no.
"Where are the others?" I ask. "What have you done with them?" Kindra appears to be taken back by the question. She pauses and thinks how to respond. I take a step forward.
"Your friends are in their own realms with their own guardians. I'm stuck with you." I take another step forward. Kindra takes another step back.
"Do not try to threaten me. You can't call on my armor and my power here."
"You mean my armor?" I snap back. "You had your chance with it. Oura was a bitch but she was a bitch trying to protect me from you and from your mother. You think I will just allow you to be a threat to my friends and to my family? Not happening, sister." I clinch my fist, trying to find the strength to summon my armor. I can feel the surge of energy in my body rising but it stops, unable to fully bring out the armor. I look up again at the sky. I cannot find the sun.
Kindra raises her hand and flings me back with the snap of her wrist. I land hard on my side.
"Like I said. No armor. No power," she says, standing over me. "It seems my dear oldest sister has portrayed me as a villain. You would take the words of her over mine? I am your ancestor. I am the reason you can toss power around at whomever you choose. I—"
"—You set up your sisters for a trip to the afterlife," I interrupt. "You played their insecurities and jealousy against each other. What happened, huh? You bit off more than you could chew? Your Momma's power was too much for you?"
Kindra's nostrils widen and her eyes sharpen like a snake. She turns around and slowly begins to walk away from me. I feel a monologue coming on. I sit myself up and stay on the ground with my hands on my lap, ready for story time.
"Mother was going to let those two bickering idiots have claim over all that power, all of Mother's legacy. I couldn't let that happen. You've seen them. All they do is fight and argue. Mother loved it. She fed off of it. Don't you see, Rinfi? I am the product of my mother. Oura and Becka too. That's all we were to her, puppets, toys to be used in her plans for domination.
I am not the villain, Rinfi. I spared my sisters' from my Mother's curse. They destroyed each other. I lived with the curse of being the only one left. I took on that responsibility. I died a human. I died weak and alone and with that terrible man writing everything down."
"You expect me to feel sorry for you?" I demand. "You could have gone to your older sisters for help. That's what older siblings are for. They're supposed to help clean up the messes of younger siblings. They may be jerks but they would have had to help you. You instead took on something bigger than you and allowed it to consume everything you loved. Myra's evil split you apart. Split your sisters apart. No wonder you all are so messed up. There's hardly enough of you to make one sane person, let alone three of you."
I can see Kindra slowly regress back to a child. She hunches over, hugging herself, growing smaller and smaller. The child reminds me of Chun Fa. My anger is no longer at Kindra or even Oura at this moment. My anger is at Myra for abandoning her children and for generally being evil. Maybe that's why Rebecca, Olivia, and me are here. We have to end this ancient family dysfunctional nonsense. And the only way of doing that is taking on the source of everything: Myra. And I can't do that while being stuck in another realm's daycare.
A blasting ray of sun beams down from the sky over me. Child Kindra hides in the cloth of her oversized robes. The Armor of Sun appears on me, warm and glowing. I hear and feel another blast of light besides me. Rebecca stands beside me, shining in the cool glow of her Moon Armor. Olivia face plants gracefully in front of us. She struggles with her helmet which is way too large for her head.
"Oura kicked you out," Rebecca laughs. Olivia dusts herself off. Her face is beet red.
"You beat up Becca?" I ask Rebecca. Rebecca nods.
"Child Kindra" I reply, before Rebecca can ask me. I point to the little girl now peering at us from under her robes.
"Awesome. How are we going to get out of here? We need a child sacrifice?" Rebecca says, glaring at Kindra.
"Hands," I say. Olivia takes my hand. Rebecca raises an eyebrow.
"I read it in a manga. Give me your damn hand and take Olivia's hand too."
Rebecca takes my hand, squeezing as hard as she can. We are standing in small circle holding hands. Our eyes are closed, focusing all of our power in the center of the circle.
"This is stupid," hisses Rebecca.
"You're stupid. You're not trying hard enough," I snap back.
"I can't believe you two are older than me," Olivia scuffs. A rush of energy explodes under our feet. We are flying in the air, through the sky, through the stars, and through galaxies. We arrive back on earth, in our normal clothes, in the middle of the street, and during rush hour.
"Bus!" I shout. We scream and wrap our arms around each other. The bus swerves out of the way. Don't worry humanity, you're in good hands.