Chapter 9: Visions
Chihiro sat by the fire at Zeniba's house. She put her arms around her feet and ducked her head on them. She couldn't stop crying.
"Shhh.. Calm yourself, my Dear," Zeniba patted her shoulders and hugged her. "We'll find a way to save Haku,"
She wiped her tears. "Yes, Granny. I do worry about him. But there's also something wrong with me," she said. "Something is raging inside me, but I don't know what it is. It felt so strange, I cannot describe. I've never felt something like this before,"
Zeniba cupped her face. "I see. How do you feel?"
She shook her head. "There're pain, fear, and anger. But there're also happiness, relief, and longing...? I'm confused,"
Zeniba's expression became serious. "Chihiro, those feelings are not entirely yours,"
Chihiro wrinkled her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Zeniba cleared her throat. "There is something you need to know," she stood up. "But first, I have to take the book,"
"What book?" Chihiro asked.
"You'll see. Wait here," Zeniba said before she disappeared into the other side of the curtain.
Haku opened his eyes and found himself lying on a bed. He remembered what happened before, he jerked and immediately sat up.
"Haku, you're awake," said a girl.
He startled. Since when he becoming unaware of someone's presence around him? He turned to his right, there was a barricade made of black plants. Black leaves, black flowers, and full of thorns. He was locked up like a prisoner. Could be seen from between the leaves, Kayo sat on the floor with her back against the wall, she was hugging her knees.
His expression turned serious. His first thought was to be more beware of the girl. "Kayo,"
The girl didn't move, only stared at him. Her dark purple eyes looked wistful. But he could tell at the time she wasn't that dangerous as when her eyes were black, back at the bathhouse.
He stood up and took a step forward. They were in a circular room. The wall was only made of bricks but covered in white paint. On the other side of the barricade, there were a small desk and the reading lamp, a bookshelf with some books, some decorative flower plants, and a mirror. The room was very tidy with a purple rug covered the floor. The barricade was so odd, like it wasn't belonged there. And he could tell it wasn't her doing, there was something or someone with her. And again, he didn't see any door. Probably it's their trick. He heard sounds of sea waves, his eyes went to the window. Could be seen there's a view of coral beach with white sands.
"Where are we?" he asked. "Why are we here?" he said again firmly.
Kayo turned to the window. "My private place," she answered only part of his questions. "A place where I used to aloof and calm down myself," she said instead.
His expression didn't change. "What do you want from me?"
She turned back to him but said nothing. He tried to use his powers to break the barricade. She shook her head. "It's useless, Haku. Inside that barricade you are powerless," she said.
"Then what are you doing? Let me go!" he said getting angry.
Kayo stood up and walked towards him. Her eyes straight to his emerald ones. "Haku, do you love her?" she asked. "That girl, the puny human," she added and looked away.
Haku balled his hands. "Her name is Chihiro," he said cautiously. "And yes, I do love her,"
Now she was right in front of him. "Then you must think that I'm stupid because I love you," she said. The distance between their faces was only the barricade. He looked at her coldly. "But, did you ever have feelings for me?" her hand breached the barricade and cupped his cheek.
Still, the river spirit didn't want to be rough to any woman. He didn't withstand or fend her hand. "Get your hand off my face," he said instead.
She pulled her hand back. Her eyes looked empty. "But we'll see, you will love me," she made a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"Never," he said coldly.
She turned away and shook her head. The black power was raging, it's going to take over her again. "Haku, I'm scared. Please help me," she said quietly.
Haku wrinkled his eyebrows. "Stop playing with me, Kayo. Let me go!" he yelled.
Kayo balled her hands. "My name is Mikayo," she turned back to him. Her eyes were black.
His expression changed. This wasn't good. She knew her real name, probably someone told her. In return, this someone controlled her and tried to take over. The black powers started to flare all over her body. He changed his mind.
"Alright, Mikayo. This is not yourself. Please get me out of this barricade and I can help you," he said carefully.
She walked towards him. "No, Haku. Sure you will love me," she said.
She couldn't listen to him; her consciousness had fully taken over. Haku had no other choice. He shifted to his dragon form and banged through the barricade. He banged, and banged, several times until it broke open. He flew breached out the barricade, straight to her and crashed her to the wall. He roared on her face. He wasn't meant to hurt her, only trying to bring her back. Kayo pushed him so hard that he banged to the wall. He shifted back to his human form.
"Kayo, snap out of it!" he shouted.
She walked to him and strangled his neck. "Trust me, you will," she said. She flicked her index and middle fingers together then touched his forehead.
He shut his eyes crinkled. He pushed her away and then held his head. It was hurt. "Damn it, Kayo! What are you doing to me!?" he yelled.
"I am making you to love me," she said.
He dropped to the floor. The black power was trying to get into his head. "No!" he shook and thwacked his head. "Get out!" he cried.
Kayo bent down to him. "Don't fight it, Haku," she cupped his face and forced him to look at her.
He gritted his teeth, he couldn't move. She brought herself closer and kissed him. With the rest of his consciousness, he called his mate. Chihiro, help me! he cried mentally. Also with that, his emerald eyes were turned into black.
Zeniba popped out from the curtain. She brought a big dark blue covered book. "This is the book called The Chronicles of Dragon Beings. This is very old," she said.
Chihiro was about to take it when suddenly something stung her head. "Argh!" She shut her eyes crinkled and held her head. "Oh, God! What is this?" she cried.
"What's wrong, Chihiro?" Zeniba asked. She held her back.
"It hurts, Granny!" she wobbled and dropped to the floor.
"Chihiro, open your eyes! Look at me!" Zeniba cried and cupped her face.
Chihiro opened her eyes but everything was blurred. She could only see lights and Zeniba's shadows. "Granny… I can't see,"
"No, Chihiro!" Zeniba cried.
Everything was getting darker and darker. She could only hear her granny's voice keep calling her name, until it was a total black and a total silence.
She was walking on a beach. A beautiful coral beach with white sands. She saw a tower, a white tower on a cliff. Her instinct told her to go there. And so suddenly she was inside the tower. She was in a room, an empty circular room. The wall was only made of bricks but it was covered in white paint. She was there but she didn't see any door, only a window. A purple rag popped out on the floor beneath her feet. One by one, things started to pop out and filled the room. There were a small desk and the reading lamp, a bookshelf with some books, some decorative flower plants, and a mirror. Then there was a bed and two peoples on it. A man and a woman. She rubbed her eyes and tried to see clearly. Her eyes widened. They were Haku and Kayo! She took a step towards them. Her expression changed and she covered her mouth with her hand. Her tears slowly flowed down to her face. They were making love to each other. Haku was kissing Kayo, and now they rolled. Kayo was now on top of him, she kissed him hotly. Haku's eyes was fluttered open, and Chihiro couldn't believe what she was seeing. Haku's eyes were black. He turned to Chihiro. With an empty look, he starred her.
"Chihiro, help me,"
She felt someone shook her body.
"Ah! Ah ah! Ahh!" said a voice.
She opened her eyes and a faceless shadow figure welcomed her. "Kaonashi?"
"AH!" he cried happily.
She sat up. "You're here. Where were you?" she asked.
"Ah….." he said.
She shook her head didn't understand. "Ah, ah," he said again before left to call Zeniba. She was on the bed in the room where she slept together with Haku few days ago. She rubbed her eyes and pondered. What kind of dream was that? Am I jealous with Kayo? But it felt so real…
Zeniba came. "Chihiro! I'm glad you're okay!"
"Granny!" she hugged her. "Granny, I got bad dreams,"
"What kind of bad dreams?" she asked.
"I was somewhere I've never been before, and I saw Haku and Kayo. They were… uhh, making love?" her expression became weird when she said that. "Ugh, never mind it. Only the next thing I saw was Haku's eyes were black. And he asked for help," she said again.
Zeniba thought for a second. "Anything else?"
Chihiro shrugged. "I don't know… it felt so real,"
Zeniba looked at her. "You didn't get bad dreams. You got visions,"
"Visions?" she repeated.
"Yeah, from Haku," Zeniba said. "It could be a sign that he needs your help,"
"How could it be possible?" she asked confused.
Zeniba stood up and walked to the door. "Come," she gestured her granddaughter to follow her. Chihiro followed her. Now they sat in front of the fire place. Zeniba shoved The Chronicles of Dragon Beings to her. "Do you have any idea why do I show you this book?" she asked.
Chihiro looked at the book carefully. The cover was dark blue with a silver dragon and silver simple ornaments painted on it. "Umm… I'm not sure," she said.
Zeniba cleared her throat. "You were crying when you caught several different feelings at once. You were confused, you don't understand what's happening. I told you those feelings are not entirely yours. It's because you're no longer yourself,"
"What do you mean, I'm no longer myself?" she asked.
"I'm sorry, I mean, you've changed,"
"I've changed?" she repeated.
"You are not who you were. You're different now. My granddaughter was a human, but you are not," Zeniba said.
Chihiro's expression changed. "Is this something about what Haku has done to me at his river?"
"Exactly," Zeniba nodded. "He put his soul into you, didn't he?" she reached her granddaughter's right hand and looked at the ring-like dragon tattoo.
Chihiro slightly blushed and nodded. "So, part of him is inside you. Those feelings, were his and your own mixed together. Which ones might be his or which ones might be yours, you cannot decide. Like you feel what he feels," Zeniba said. "And it might felt strange, because there are so many things happened to you and him lately,"
Chihiro nodded understood. "It makes sense. Does this happening to him too?"
"No," Zeniba shook her head. "Not yet,"
Chihiro wrinkled her eyebrows. "Why?"
"It only happens to you because there's part of him inside you. But inside him, there is no part of you. Not yet. That is also why he could give you visions but you couldn't understand it," she explained.
Chihiro looked confused. Zeniba opened the book. They watched it carefully, page by page. The book was written with unfamiliar script to Chihiro. She turned to her granny. "Granny, you can read this?"
"Well, a little," she kept turning the pages. "It took a long time to learn dragon's old language," she said again. She stopped turning the pages. "Here," she pointed the book.
Chihiro prepared herself to listen carefully. "It's written here, to be a dragon's mate, the dragon must put its soul into its chosen one. And the chosen one must accept and confirm to the dragon, so their souls will be morphed into one," Zeniba said.
"I remember. Haku said his soul wouldn't enter my body if I wasn't accepting. So, I've accepted, and what I have to do is confirm to him," Chihiro said. "How about to confirm?"
Zeniba turned the next page. "To confirm each other: the dragon and its chosen one, have to say the incantation to each other, where they have to hear lively from each other. And the incantation… it's…?" she trailed off.
"What's with the incantation, Granny?" Chihiro asked.
"I'm sorry, the incantation is written differently. It's written with an older script than the others. I cannot read this," Zeniba pointed on a sentence that was written with red ink.
Chihiro took the book. Zeniba was right, it was written in different script than the others:
ꦱꦭꦶꦫ ꦚꦲꦺꦠ ꦧꦲꦒꦶ ꦤꦸ ꦲꦧ꧀ꦢꦶ꧈ ꦲꦧ꧀ꦢꦶ ꦕꦶꦪꦺꦴꦱ꧀ ꦲꦤꦩ꧀ꦥꦶ꧉
Chihiro blinked and rubbed her eyes. She winced. "Granny, it's strange but, I can read this,"
Zeniba's expression changed. "I knew it," she mumbled. "Of course you can," she smiled.
"It's… Sal- salira… nya… et- a… bhag- no, baha- gi… nu ab- di. Abdi ci- os an- anam- pi?" Chihiro read the incantation.
Something pushed her from the inside. The dragon was getting hooked. Pictures of their first meeting at Kohaku River were going on her head.
Salira nya eta bahagi nu abdi. Abdi cios anampi.
She remembered that words. It was what the tiny dragon whispered to her ear, only at that time she couldn't comprehend it. Now that she knew it, she understood what does it means. Tears streamed down from her eyes, she would never regret that she has spoken the incantation. She smiled and wiped her tears.
"Granny, I understand it," she said.
Zeniba smiled and caressed her cheek. "But you still have to say it in front of him,"
Chihiro nodded. "Yes, I know. But, one more question, Granny,"
"What is it, my dear?"
"You said that now I'm no longer a human. And after I say the incantation in front of Haku, our soul will be morphed into one. That means, I'll become a spirit?" she asked.
"Not a human, also not a spirit," Zeniba answered.
Chihiro looked at her confused. "Then what am I? What will I become?"
Zeniba smiled at this. "A Believer."
Salira nya eta bahagi nu abdi. Abdi cios anampi.
Aww, I really need to find someone that would say those words to me. Hi again, readers! I know this chapter is short, way too short than the others, I'm sorry. How was it? How do you feel to read about Haku and Kayo making love to each other? Honestly, I kinda hate myself a little, pffft!
*dv36muskan - Well, Kayo did it to Haku, poor Chihiro. And what is this? Chihiro is now a part-dragon-spirit? Really? :D
*KawaiiAkumi - That's very kind of youuu 3 thank you so much!
*rwu - Honestly, I was stuck and slack in writing this chapter. But then I received your review, you cheered me up. And now I can update this one. I'm glad that you enjoy, thank you!
How about the others? Does anyone know about the incantation? What does it means or maybe what language it is or what kind of script it is? What's on your mind? Please let me know it from your reviews! :)