by Marc Watson
“He did it fer selfish and personal reasons, ones tha’, in my mind, did'na necessitate the cullin' of so many lives. He was forced into a corner, and he reacted with a level of force he believed was necessary to get wha’ he wanted while hammerin’ the point 'ome t’ all parties involved. But he failed. He didn't purge everyone with control of the Power. He missed quite a few who had found shelter in wha' are called Havens, which were beyond 'is reach. Crystal was one such person. I fear tha’ despite his love fer her, she still would'a been lost if he could get her.
“There were those he killed and those he spared unknowingly, but the voices I hear are of those somewhere in between.
“Napponia was once tha central location for all who wished t’ learn of the Power. Crystal was the daughter of a very powerful and beloved mortal Embracer, who hadn't let the Power lake 'is life yet. At 'is school, many people came to learn these mysterious ways. He believed tha’ use of mankind’s untapped potential was tha key to savin’ tha world he lived in, one which was destroyed some years earlier by war. A war tha’ caused wha’ I believe ye would know as the Second Fall of Man.
“Many Havens sprang up 'ere. For years this was the 'ome of peace and a leader in the restructuring of the world into a new and enviable place. Sadly, before he 'ad enough students t’ carry on properly, he died savin’ Crystal’s life, an act tha’ was so powerful and pure of 'eart tha’ the Power he 'ad built up was released into the world, triggerin' the planet’s healin’ process. This was an unimaginable feat fer a mortal, never havin’ succumb t’ the Power’s ability t’ slow or halt time and agin’. A truly astonishin’ person, he was. I've ne'er seen any others like him in all my years.
“'Is work was unfinished, though, and the direction of many he taught didn'a become noble. As they spread into the world, the age of the Power began, with many wars being fought between different Embracers. In time this would lead to the Third Fall of Man, at the hands of Tokugawa Ryu. There was so much innate power 'ere, both in mankind and the surroundin’ lands tha’ all of Ryu's considerable powers couldn'a completely penetrate it. The result was any exposed Embracer, noble or not, being stripped of all but their base consciousness and essence. The result was the voices I 'ear now.
“When last I passed through, the moment of their disembodiment was fresh and they were fallin’ over one another tryin’ t’ understand wha’ 'ad 'appened. Now they’re more organized, but not at peace. In fact, quite tha opposite. It seems tha’ now they know their plight and are desperate to escape it. At least with bodies, it was a possibility. Now they’re trapped.”
Aryu listened intensely, lost in the story and the victims it produced. A part of him was revolted to be surrounded by these people, despite his inability to see or hear them. “I think I need to ask a question I don't want the answer to, Nixon. But if I’m to understand all that has happened, and may happen again, I need to know.” Nixon nodded, unsure of the conversation’s direction. “What exactly is the Power? I know it's born inside us, and can manifest itself in ways once thought to be magic, mind-reading, astonishing strength and whatnot, but what is the Power?”
Nixon smirked. “Aryu, if ye 'ad any idea tha vastness of tha Power and the things it could do, I doubt ya would be able to answer tha’ question if asked. Basically, the Power begins with eliminatin' the restrictions of yer mind. For years people believed the mind was more powerful than we were shown t’ believe but didn't know how t’ progress towards finding its true depths.
“The ones who tapped it first were deeply religious people. People who dedicated their lives to explorin’ themselves and the abilities tha’ lay dormant. Soon they realized tha’ life and death, power and weakness, all basic living standards were not fixed in stone but were arbitrary. Death is only inevitable if ya believe it t’ be; 'owever, since everyone seemed to die, it seemed as unstoppable as the wind. Jus’ because one couldn't conjure fire from 'is 'ands, or make it rain with a thought didnn'a mean it couldn't be done. Soon, these honorable figures around tha world found new, astonishin’ and sometimes terrible ways t’ use their mind’s 'idden secrets. The practice was widely 'idden until shortly before tha Second Fall of Man, when those with an ear t’ the spiritual winds caught the image of wha' was about t’ befall mankind.
“Crystal’s father is a prime example of it, though as I said, he was much more skilled at its mastery than many others. His teacher, an old man named Owata-san, who is let's jus' say an old acquaintance o' mine, was determined t’ pass on the teachings and saw in 'er father the person to do so. Owata-san chose, some say foolishly, not to limit wha’ her father could do or teach t’ others. Owata allowed him t’ enter the world with a mind full of Power and possibilities, hoping tha’ 'is lack of restraint would cause a ripple effect, givin' all men the tools required t’ thrive in this new land the closed-minded 'ad created.
“W'ether tha’ decision ultimately led to the rise of the Power and tha Third Fall of Man is a debate left t’ 'istorians, should there be any left.”
Aryu, lost in the story, was still confused.
“Think of it this way, Aryu,” Nixon continued, racking his brain for an explanation Aryu could understand. The story of Crystal’s father, a story she had told him during their first meeting, came to mind. Nixon used his powers to create a small flame no bigger than a candle, at the tip of his finger. “Ya see this fire?”
“Yeah, of course.”
“Can ya put it out?”
“Sure.”
“From across a room? With no aid from water or anythin' else? Jus’ by thinkin’ about it?”
“No. That can't happen.”
“Why?”
“Because I'd need to use some kind of tool.”
“There ya go. Think of it this way. It exists. You exist. Ya have tha’ in common. Yer both real. The Power is a means of tappin’ tha’ common bond, connectin’ the two of ya and allowin’ ya t’ do as ya wish without liftin’ a finger.”
“So you're saying that just because it and I are real, I can put it out? Just by thinking it?”
“Put it out! Make it bigger! Turn it into a flamin’ pony! The possibilities are limitless, if ye release the limits of yer mind and allow yerself t’ be lost in the unimaginable sea of everythin’.”
“And the objects you say are used to focus, like the sword?”
“Ah, well, most people in history enjoy takin’ the easy way to anywhere. Ryu originally needed the Shi Kaze to focus 'is powers. 'Is use left its mark on tha blade, as did each subsequent use fer the same purpose. In the end, it became as it is now.”
“And why the need to focus with an object?”
“The same reason the Power became so widely used after Crystal’s father began teachin’! Because people need to see it to believe it! Let me jus’ say this. Do ya’ believe tha’ ya could make tha’ flame dance and grow? Honestly?”
“Well it seems unbelievable that it's that easy. Just believing we both exist doesn't seem like enough.”
“But ya believe tha Power is out there?”
“Ryu didn’t leave much doubt.”
“Right. So yer belief isn’t an outright no?”
“Not a total no.”
Nixon smiled. “Why is tha’?” The truth began to dawn on Aryu’s face.
“It’s because the history of the world proved that people with these amazing abilities exist.”
“And if there 'adn't been, 'ow easy would it be t’ believe?”
Aryu finally saw where Nixon was going, though it still seemed far-fetched. “It would have been impossible.”
Nixon clapped his big hands, a deafening sound in the quiet air, his sorrow at the plight of the voices momentarily lost. “Exactly! Ya know it can be done, history teaches ya tha’. People are a fantastically skeptical species. ‘Seein’ is believin’’ may as well have been yer motto from the dawn of Genesis!”
Now Nixon started to calm himself, having found himself so wrapped up in the story, while Aryu's green eyes h
ad grown wide. Nixon started again, looking to help the young man's dawning epiphany properly. “So, finally, we come to the objects of Power. Simple as this: people knew the Power was possible. They knew wha' it could do to objects, givin’ ‘em great strength and significance. Everyone believed it was just easier to begin with an object of focus and go from there. So 'ere we are, with a world full of nearly indestructible weapons, necklaces, rings, whatever some damned fool used t’ get t’ tha’ point. These objects exist only because one person started a trend tha’ grew. Believability came from tha action. Nothin’ more. That’s what Allan, Crystal’s father, did. He broke down the barrier of disbelief. He let the secret out.”
Aryu was flabbergasted at the thought that it was just that easy. Aryu had originally hoped the answer was a little more feasible, perhaps something he could use to his advantage later down the road. This one was just too simple.
Now, beyond getting the beast-man off his tail and returning to his friend, he wanted to find Crystal just as badly as Nixon did for the same reason as the phoenix. He wanted answers. If he could master the Power, but limit it, not allow it to get to the levels that had crippled the world, he may have found a weapon powerful enough to use on the mechanical army.
He knew immediately he had to tread carefully from here out. How many had fallen to the Power thinking just what he did right at this moment? Well, he thought to himself as he settled into sleep, at least I'd have one hell of a reason not to go too far. How many of the people Nixon had destroyed would have changed their tune after meeting him? He was a smart young man. He knew the fine line he'd have to walk to make this idea come true. Nixon seemed intent on teaching him enough to survive, but perhaps Crystal could go that one step further.
“Wake up lad...” streamed through his dream state as he was slowly rocked awake. The terrifying visage of the phoenix glared at him through the darkness, the soft glow of his hair and eyes all that could be seen in the shadows of the night beneath the trees.
As he began extending his wings to stretch the muscles he'd been sleeping on, Nixon quickly reached out and grabbed the leathery appendages before he had a chance to do so.
“What’s going…” He was quickly shushed, so he asked in whisper, “What's going on? Is there someone here?”
No answer.
Aryu was about to ask again when Nixon put his large, warm finger to Aryu’s mouth to keep him quiet. Aryu listened, straining to get past the rustle of leaves by the wind, but could hear nothing more than the sounds of the night.
The air here was moist and Aryu had taken to sleeping without a shirt, using only the warmth of his wings at night. His shirt, the last of the special woven canvas shirts his mother had made him before he had left a year ago, was currently his pillow. The dark brown (and now very tattered) top had two long slits cut down from the back of the neck to accommodate his wings and buttons at the top of the slits to make it wearable. Aryu had thought often over the past few days about where to get another when this one gave up the ghost. His mother wasn't around to make him a new one. The thought flashed sadness past his mind, but he quickly dismissed It.
”Get yer sword,” the big man said. Aryu still wasn't terribly confident with the blade, having only the most rudimentary skills to begin with, but if some kind of threat was out there, better to have it than not. He pulled the ancient weapon from its sheath and waited by Nixon’s side.
“I believe we're bein’ watched,” Nixon said eventually. “And watched by somethin’ very strong.”
“Strong how? Animal, person, what? I don't have your ears.”
Nixon shook his head. “It's not ears I'm usin’. This thing, whatever it is, 'as command of tha Power.”
Nixon motioned him to stay where he was as he slowly made his way into the darkness beyond the trees surrounding them. From time-to-time Aryu saw what he believed to be the glow from the beast’s hair float through the underbrush.
A sudden gust of wind came from behind him, quick and unnatural like something had moved past him and disappeared into the trees on the other side. Shi Kaze up and in the ready position, Aryu turned only to encounter the same sensation behind him once more. A crack of a branch snapping came out of the dark from the direction Nixon had gone. In an instant Aryu saw the muted blur of something go after it.
Not hesitating, Aryu charged after the shadow. Ahead of him arose a plume of fire from the trees. It bathed enough light on the area for Aryu to see the soft, flickering sign of something to his left. His adrenalin pumping faster than rational thought, Aryu ran at the tree and brought the sword about as quickly as his arms could do so. The tree he suspected had hidden this secret assailant was cleaved in two with the effort and came crashing down in a thunder that shattered the silent night.
The flame pillar died down, and Aryu heard heavy feet and armor coming towards him. Stealth was unnecessary after his felling of the tree, so Aryu called out to Nixon at the top of his voice. “Nixon! Over here!”
Nixon, eyes wild and darting about, crashed through a series of bushes to his location, the massive sword swinging back and forth just as quickly.
“I saw it, behind the tree, but it escaped before I could get it.”
“No problem, lad. Keep tha’ sword up! Follow yer instincts.”
Without warning, Nixon locked onto an empty space in the trees above Aryu. His arm extended and a shot of white fire blasted over his head. The wave of heat hit the ground a few paces away, lighting the grasses and bushes that were there. With the wave of his hand, Nixon extinguished the flames and continued the search.
“Bastard! They’re fast.”
Aryu began to worry again, even with the big man by his side. “Is it an Embracer? Can you feel it?”
Nixon shook his head again, his hair flipping back and forth with the jerky motion. “I feel somethin’, but it's unfamiliar t’ me. If it is tha Power, it's like nothin' I've ever felt. It's far more natural, like it's a part of tha forest.”
Another wind rushed behind them, causing Nixon to send a wave of brilliant flame off into the direction it traveled, incinerating a young cherry tree. Aryu could hardly believe the awesome display the phoenix was putting on.
The flames gave Aryu the glimpse of another brief reflection moving around to flank them.
He spun off to his right, bringing the Shi Kaze around and hitting another tree, driving the sharp edge into the trunk yet again. This time the blade hit something very hard with a loud clang and sparks flew from behind, sending the shadow backwards with a thud. Nixon was past Aryu and on the thing immediately, broadsword out and arcing down as he went.
“Wait!” said a cry from the dark. “For the love of God, Nixon.” Nixon, still fired-up, stopped the attack against the person on the ground.
Aryu ran over to see Nixon standing over a very tall and lithe man with a large silver shield raised to defend himself.
“Nixon, please, I wasn't trying to cause trouble, I was just trying to watch over you.”
Nixon took the edge of his sword and moved aside the shield to reveal their attacker.
Once clear, Nixon looked at the face of the man before him. Even in the dark, Aryu could see the expression on his face grow from relief to being horribly upset.
“Sho?” Nixon said at last. “Dear God, is it you?”
A cautious smile on the face of the man below him. “It is, my old friend, it is. Please, help me up.”
Nixon lowered the sword instantly and reached for the man’s free hand, hauling him up to his feet. The man was tall. He wasn’t as massive as Nixon, but wiry like a large cat. The shield he carried was lined with pointed spikes and looked impressive. His face was still shrouded and blurry, but Aryu could see the light hair and beard. The man’s free hand extended, which Nixon took readily, shaking it with great enthusiasm.
Something about this man had instantly put Nixon in a terrible mood, and Aryu was certain it had nothing to do with the brief skirmish they'd just had with him.
&nb
sp; “Sho. By all things good and holy I can't believe it's you.”
“Oh, it's me alright.” He released Nixon’s hand and extended it to Aryu as he stepped over to meet him. “And you are...?”
Aryu looked at Nixon first, unsure if he should trust Nixon’s face or body language more. Nixon gave the briefest of nods, followed by a deep sigh.
Aryu took his hand, shocked by the strength in a hand so thin. “Aryu O'Lung'Singh, from the village of Tan Torna Qu-ay. And you are…?”
The man looked back to Nixon. “All we've been through and he doesn't know who I am?”
Nixon, still sour, looked at the man and then at Aryu. “Aryu, this is Tokugawa Sho, a man who I wish were dead more than anyone else in the entire world.”
-----------------------
The three sat around a fire at Nixon’s insistence.
Tokugawa Sho was very quiet and reserved once he sat on a nearby log.
“Why are ya here, Sho?” Nixon asked right away. The story behind Nixon’s cryptic statement about wanting Sho dead was held off until they could get back together at the fire and be more comfortable.
“I'm here because I must be, Nixon,” he responded eventually. “I'm here because this place demands it of me.”
Nixon clearly wasn't satisfied. “Why? When last we met ya gave me yer word on wha' ya were plannin' next, and it wasn't a life in service t' this place and tha Power tha' maintains it.”
“The voices haunt me, Nix.”
“The voices? Wha' do ye have t’ do with tha voices?”
Aryu could only assume they were referring to the mystical voices Nixon had mentioned earlier. “I have everything to do with them. It's because of me that they exist.”
Nixon snorted with contempt as much as laughter. “You? Wha' do ya 'ave t’ do with it? They exist 'cause of a fool.”
“Regardless, I am in part responsible for their pain and existence. As the fool isn’t here to be held accountable, who else is left?”