Chapter 22 Cal

Mystery.

The void in which holds uncertainty. Who did it? Who is it. Who, When, What, Why, How? These words are at the beginning of every mystery. Answers are key to solving mysteries. For a mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain.

Upon exiting the house i come across my first bit of annoyance. That is a constant nervous itch at the back of my neck. It's like I know something is wrong but can't figure out what. My feet hurt, my head hurts, and my back is sore from the constant pacing back and forth and all-nighters I've been pulling recently. Scrounging up information isn't as fast or painless as many detective crime shows view it as. You remember those montages in movies...yeah ever wonder what they do in those montages? The actors aren't doing jack shit. That's the editors job. The actual characters on the other hand...they do what I did. A lot of work. A lot of boring, painful, mind blowing work.

he information i manage to gather as far as this town is concerned is quite disturbed. This place was once a capital in ancient America. Though unlike modern America there wasn't exactly a military system in place. It was much more simpler than that. There were hunters, caretakers, warriors, and shamans. If there was an invading force in Ancient America all who were able took arms and the rest would most likely stay to protect the weak like children, pregnant women, or the sickly. Though Ancient Seyuta was quite different. There were still the same roles but as far as Shamans were concerned they were always the chief of the village. Whoever had the most "spiritual power" and the strongest connection to a place called upper world became the shaman and chief of Seyuta. And when i say chief i mean the leader of all of Seyuta. Seyuta once upon a time was three separate cities. Each city was large in comparison. Actually its hard to believe all of it existed in Oklahoma to begin with but i guess the structure of the land changed due to floods, storms, earthquakes and whatnot.

Thats just a bit of the information I managed to get. The rest lies with my good friend Tsula. We've been friends for about a month now and it feels like we've known each other for longer.

I'm out now to meet with Tsula at the park. Its late morning and the cool brisk air tickles my necks as I sit at the public tables. I see a few others sitting as well around the park, old and young alike. Some are getting some morning exercise in. Reminds me of when i was in college a goo few months ago. Things were hectic there too but nothing like what I'm going through now. The hardest thing for me to wrap my head around there was calculus. Now its ghosts and spirits and more weirdness. There was a story mom and dad use to tell my brothers and I as kids. It was about a hero who traveled from very far away. He had just defeated he tyrannical father and left his home to make a new one. I mention this because in his story i think it mentioned something about him being a spirit warrior. Mon grew up in Seyuta so I wonder if she knew stuff like this happened here. I also wonder if this was the true reason she left or was it really for a sense of adventure. I'm pretty sure mom is where Ryan got if from. They were so much alike. But then mom....and dad...

"Hey there." Its Tusla. I look up and see the gorgeous Cherokee woman. Yeah. Everything about her just allures me. Like a trap. Tsula's attractiveness allows her to get close to people and learn things. She definitely has an affinity for Femme Fetal.

"Hi." I smile at her.

After a minute of her giving me an overly exited tale about how she screwed over some jerk in Kansas last year we got to the important topic.

"So can you tell me more about Ancient Seyuta?" I ask her knowing she'll probably be unwilling to answer. I know she accepted my offer to meet here are she knows why i asked her here but there's a look in her eye that just screams "I don't feel like it."

"Why do you want to know so badly. And did you ever apologize to Ya'no for puking at her confession of love??" She mockingly states this. So not funny. I did not puke because of that plus we already cleared that up. It wasn't a confession for her more like a hookup and for me I was reeling from that whole nightmare called a wraith. Though i didn't tell them it was a wraith. But I did say i was probably just dreaming. Anyway Tsula already knows this she's just trying to get under my skin.

"Tsula c'mon you know that was a misunderstanding." I nudge her playfully.

"Yeah well imagine how she felt before you told her that. Hookup or not. Haha" She laughs it off.

"Hey don't change the subject." my stiffen my tone to a serious stance. "Tell me what you know."

"Fine. Fine." She gets up. "Walk with me." I follow her as we begin to tour the town.

And so the story began as we pass a small café. A long time ago Seyuta use to be filled with shamans, warrior women, hunters and children learning to hone spiritual power and strengthen their connection to Upper World. They did this in attempt to lower the kill count of all three Seyuta cities that were afflicted by the devilish spirits of Under World. They also did this in attempt to bring about the ressurection of the first spirit warrior Nokwisi which translates to "Star" in Cherokee. Nokwisi was a weary traveler from long ago who landed upon the soil of the Native land. He was seen as an outcast but eventually treated as a brother to all. But then something called "Gvnage Nvda" or Black Moon dawned on the world and all were taken in by its darkness. The planets aligned and Spirits and demonic creatures crawled from the deep springs, rivers and caves of the land and feasted upon those it saw all the while drawing on this cosmic phenomenon. The local shamans and hunters and warriors were not able to fight back because they did not wield spiritual power. Spirits from Upper World descended down to force that this blight but they only met it at a stand still. This created what is known to all as Harmonic Convergence. The Spirit Realm and the mortal coil exist in one space together for a temporary period of time.

Nokwisi could not sit and watch so he battled Under World to protect his new home and just as light was ready to prevail the foul creatures injured and dragged a seraph of Upper World into Under World and what was created was an unholy union of disastrous proportions. It was named "Dark". Or "The Dark." To keep any other light from falling to the disgusting claws of Under World Nokwisi fought it himself and in the end it proved too strong so he cried for the help of the four primal spirits of the elements. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind. He used these elements to seal and reinforce the barriers that separated the three realms. But with underworld he was trapped with darkness himself.

Seyuta trained its population and practiced resurrections with the great spirits in the hope that when Black Moon dawns on the world once more he would be there to help defend them. Most have forgotten this story in Ancient Times but Seyuta did not. These days it is just a tale to scare people into behaving and giving off positive energy so under worlders don't show up. But while having hope they live in fear.

All of this was all crazy. And yet it reminded me of the story mom and dad told us as children. Though that felt more like a leading me on than actual answers. I'm left with more questions than anything. Like is this time full of it or is it just her?

"Well you wanted to know about the town's history." Tsula skipped across the street leaving me with a hundred questions. But when I tried to follow her and ask about the home for the elderly cars fly by and she's gone just like that. I turn around with a heavy sigh. Its about 12pm in the day now. I'll find her later. For now I-

My thoughts are caught of by the sight of Mr. Mime a good distance down the road. He stares at me as i do the same for him. And I figure why not ask him some questions.

I scratch the back of my neck.

The mystery continues.