The library
The next morning, I managed to pull myself out of bed around noon. I was ravenously hungry, so I headed for the kitchen to make myself a late breakfast. When I got there, I saw that Nasuti and the other four were sitting around the kitchen table. I wondered what they were still doing here.
“Hey, you slept later then Touma!” called a cheerful Shu as I entered the room. I sat down at the table as Nasuti set a cup of tea in front of me.
“What are you all doing here?” I asked, “I thought you'd all be at school.”
“None of us could bring ourselves to leave until we were sure you were all right,” Ryo answered.
“You guys,” I protested, “you didn’t have to miss school because of me.”
“Yeah, but you’d do the same for any of us,” replied Shu.
“You’re right,” I sighed. “Anything interesting happen when I was asleep?”
“We had a little chat this morning and decided that we need to seriously consider a few things.” Began Touma solemnly, “I mean, with your powers going off the way they did, I think we all need to be extra careful when we’re around other people.”
What do you suggest we do?” I asked him.
“We need to be on our guard at all times,” he replied, “That means excusing yourself from your classes if your powers act up.” Touma shot a glance in my direction, “We can't risk anyone suspecting that we're different from anyone else.”
“You're right.” I murmured sadly, “We have to keep up the clever facade that we hide behind, so people think we're just like them.” I stood up and began nervously pacing the room, “I mean, why, out of all the people in the world, did the five of us get stuck with the job of defending the mortal world? I don't know if I can handle it. It's such a burden... I, I just can't handle it anymore...” My voice trailed off. I no longer had the strength to continue. As I was about to fall to my knees, I felt several pairs of strong hands take a hold of me.
“Careful Shin,” said Shu as he took a hold of my arm.
“You're losing control Shin, you must take control!” Seiji demanded.
“I don't know how.” I whispered in a barely audible voice.
My friends helped me into the living room and I was told to sit on the floor. Seiji sat down next to me and opened a telepathic link.
All right, first, clear your mind of all thought. He began.
How? I asked, even my mind-voice was shaky.
Breathe deeply and concentrate on that sound. I did as he told me and my body relaxed. I felt an odd sense of silence that was almost overwhelming.
Good, Seiji continued, you're ready for the next step. Imagine that you are some place calm and peaceful. It should be a place where you feel totally safe.
I imagined that I was underwater, lying on the bottom of the lake. I felt a delicious wave of calm rush over me.
OK Shin, I want you to come here whenever you feel that you are losing control of your powers. In this place, you are the master. You control whatever happens here.
I think I understand.
Good, he replied, I am going to leave you alone now. When you are ready to leave, you will know the way out. That is all I can tell you. With that, I felt his presence leave my mind.
So, this is what Seiji does when he’s by himself in the forest. I can see why he likes meditating so much, It’s almost as if I’m swimming and flying all at once. I searched the surroundings of my underwater dreamscape. The water was glistening and perfectly clear. Shafts of light shone all around me as they danced with every movement in the water. I could feel the soft sand that lined the bottom of the lake below me. Everything I saw was as I remembered it and just as real.
As I let my thoughts drift, I began to feel a faint sensation. It was so familiar, but quite far away. I then saw a point of blue light in the distance. Out of curiosity, I swam towards the light. I swam as hard and as fast as I could, but the light did not seem to get any closer.
Seiji told me that I am the master in this place, I thought. All right, then I’ll command the light to come to me.
“I command you to come to me,” I spoke in a firm, authoritative tone. I barely had the time to finish what I was saying when the light completely surrounded me. I felt that it contained the essence of my powers. I could feel it merge with me, fully becoming a part of me. The sensation was exquisite, like the feeling you get when taking a steamy bubble bath.
My spirit radiated confidence and strength. I knew that at that moment I had achieved something I had never experienced before: unity of mind, body, and spirit. With every fiber of my being united as one, I felt as if I could accomplish anything. I just had to trust in myself and in my friends whom I held dear.
Knowing that my purpose in this dream world was fulfilled, I began to swim for the surface. I gently stoked my way for the top…
I opened my eyes. My face lit up with a bright smile, expressing the happiness welling up inside of me. I laughed out loud. I felt wonderful! I was elated with joy and confidence. I was so excited that I jumped to my feet and performed a perfect backwards handspring right there in Nasuti’s living room.
“I guess he’s feeling better.” I heard Touma say as I regained my sense of where I was.
“Better is hardly the word.” I replied joyfully, “I feel absolutely perfect!”
As I scanned the room, I saw the smiling faces of all my friends. My joy was made even more perfect knowing that they were there to share it with me.
“Come on Shin,” grinned Shu, “If you want, there’s a bowl of chili in the kitchen with your name on it.”
“And I don’t have to fight you for it?” I asked him teasingly.
“Nope, Touma made enough to feed himself and me, but we decided that it would be nice to let everyone else have a little.”
“How thoughtful,” I laughed, accepting the bowl that Shu handed to me. “This is really good,” I commented through a mouthful of chili, “My compliments to the chief.”
“Thanks, but it was your recipe,” replied Touma.
“Hey you guys!” came the excited voice of Nasuti from the direction of her study, “Come take a look at this!”
I shoveled the remains of my lunch into my mouth and followed the other guys into the study.
“I’ll tell you guys what I’ve found so far,” began Nasuti as she turned her computer monitor so we could see it. “My grandfather had quite a few ancient texts stored in his files. Some of them are nearly six hundred years old.” She scrolled through a list of files and selected one. The screen was filled with ancient characters that were completely unreadable to all of us except Nasuti. She continued, “This text is a four hundred year old account of a village that was plundered, them burned. It says that the villagers were rescued by five youths in colored armor.”
Ryo raised his eyebrows, “Sounds like us, that is except for the four hundred year old part.”
“I believe that this account is describing the former bearers of your yoroi. It’s quite possible that the youths described were your ancestors.”
“Well, lets hear it,” requested and increasingly impatient Shu.
“I am going to paraphrase this excerpt because I haven’t been able to translate very much of the text.” She began to read:
The one attired in pale blue assisted the one in
emerald green with the wounded. He moved
among all those who were lying before him. He
laid a hand on each of them, speaking soft words
of encouragement. As he did, the victims seemed
to forget their agony, silencing their piteous
screams.
“It sounds so right,” I pondered vocally. “My powers allow people to forget their pain and let the healing begin.”
“He is right,” spoke Seiji, who had been quiet the whole time, “My powers of healing work best on the body; though they do not work well on the mind. For Shin, it is the other way around.”
“Well, that’s all I have for you now,” Nasuti informed us. “The translation process is painstakingly slow, so it will be quite a while before I can tell you more.”
“Thank you for your efforts, Nasuti,” I said, giving her a friendly pat on the shoulder, “I know how busy you are.”
“You’re welcome, of course,” she replied, going back to her work. I hoped that Nasuti would take a break fairly soon. It looked as if she had spent the better part of the last twenty-four hours working in the study.
“Try not to work too hard,” I told her as I walked out of the room. I decided to go up to my room. Since I was missing school that day, I felt as if I needed to do something productive anyway. I went over to my keyboard and took out my music.
“My song is too melancholy,” I said to myself as I rehearsed. The song was about a man longing for his sweetheart. It was rather depressing because it was never made clear if the man ever got his girl. “It needs a happy ending,” I said finally. I set to work on the task of revising my song.