Chapter 24: Archive (Part 2)

Ethan: "You are pretty defenseless right now, aren't you?"

-Is the first thing Barry hears when he opens his eyes.

Barry: "Defenseless, you say?"

Ethan: "Yeah, could've tortured the heck out of you."

Barry gets up to come to a sitting position as he sees Ethan and Sneha sitting on different rocks both staring at him with different expressions. Sneha seemed like she was fed up with something while Ethan was smiling.

Barry: "Then why didn't you use the opportunity?"

Ethan: "Well, fortunately or unfortunately, I don't derive any pleasure from physically torturing someone."

The key word – physically.

Barry: That's something I probably didn't need to know."

Ethan: "Really, isn't any information about your enemy helpful?"

Barry: "Not really, at least not in my opinion."

Ethan sighs as Barry gets up on his feet. He notices that the dragon and Ro are still unconscious. He sighs as well.

Ethan: "I am guessing you have already figured out what happened back there."

Barry: "Yeah, I have. The kid sure has grown up … a little."

Ethan: "Is that the face of a big brother I am seeing?"

Barry gives no answer but instead turns to look at the sky and the sun which is going to set in a couple of hours.

Ghosts have a tendency to appear blurry. This is not their natural appearance but an appearance they intentionally create whenever they meet anyone to give the false impression of it being their natural appearance. But now that someone with Eyes of Truth is seeing him, his real appearance becomes clear.

Ethan: "Hmm … not bad."

He has black hair, fair skin, blue eyes – in other words, his facial features are a lot like Kais'.

Ethan: "You two do look similar after all."

Barry: "Somehow we do, even though we aren't really related."

Ethan stands up while also looking at the sky. Seeing this,

Sneha: "Well, Barry – you have heard of Aurals, haven't you?"

Barry: "Yeah, I know who you are."

Barry skips to answering the question that Sneha would have asked after he had answered with yes.

Barry: "People who use Aura as a power source instead of psychic energy are called Aurals. You are one of them. Obviously I know at least that much."

Sneha: "Well, that's good to hear because my next question is – do you know who I am?"

This question is more specific than the previous one and Barry understands that.

Barry: "Hm."

He smirks.

Barry: "You were trained in Aural Arts ever since you were a kid. You were a genius and had surpassed many of your teachers even though as a little kid, and were about to reach the final stage of your training when one day a disaster struck 12 years ago. 'Someone' committed a massacre, and among those killed were your teachers and peers. After that, you were left all alone in the world."

-Needless to say who that 'someone' was.

Sneha: "So you have the guts to say all that right in front of me."

Barry: "It's not about guts. It's about the fact that I know that, for whatever reason, you have no hostile intent towards me."

Sneha sighs.

Sneha: "Well, I guess I can accept that answer."

Ethan: "Well then, if you are done, you might want to take a look at this."

He says as he points at the dragon. The two look at the direction he is pointing but don't see anything out of ordinary.

Barry: "What? Is there something wrong with him?"

Ethan: "Try touching him."

Barry moves closer cautiously and does as Ethan said to, only to find that –

Barry: "What the hell! This is sand."

He finds that the thing that looked like the dragon's body lying unconscious was actually a lump of sand colored into looking like his body by some unknown means and the real body was nowhere to be found.

Sneha: "Wait, sand? That means …"

Ethan: "Yeah, he is not here. But he's trying to deceive us into thinking he is."

Sneha: "Then where is he?"

Ethan: "This is a guess but probably somewhere inside the forest. And he is doing something for which he needs to deceive us."

He says as his grin grows wider.

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I find myself in the middle of the forest as I keep following the aura of the person I need to find right now.

Kais: "I am close."

I can sense the distance is much less than what it initially was. Meeting the golden fish helped me understand a few things. One of them is that I need the help of this person.

???: "Who's there?"

I hear the voice I have heard enough times to recognize it by sound. It belongs to the person I am after.

Kais: "It's me."

I come out of the thick forest into a little gap where she could see me. Seeing my face, she doesn't drop her guard though.

Sona: "You sure like to spy on people from bushes."

Kais: "Very funny. Might I ask for you to stop trying to summon a spirit right now?"

She looks me in the eye with clear suspicion and her one hand is already in a pose as if she's summoning something.

Sona: "There's not much reason for me to trust you, you know. And my energy is completely restored now so I can summon any of my spirits. Right now, you better don't make any suspicious moves."

I can tell that's a genuine threat.

Kais: "Well, as you say."

And so I raise my hands as if I am surrendering.

Sona: "Huh? What are you doing?"

Kais: "This way, you can see that I am not doing anything suspicious here."

I need her to trust me on this.

Sona: "What's your game here?"

It looks like she's ready to listen to me now, but she is still probably suspicious and would double check every word I say.

Kais: "I just want your help with something."

Sona: "Go on."

Kais: "Well, have you heard the legend of this island?"

Sona: "I have."

Kais: "If you remember, there was a pond near the tomb in the legend, but it's not present in reality."

Sona: "Yeah, I noticed that too."

Kais: "Well, I have found where that pond is."

Sona: "You have, huh?"

Kais: "And that's what I need you to look at. I think only a spirit-user like you would be able to understand what's really going on there?"

Sona looks at me silently for a while as I await the answer that is about to come. Regardless of what the nervousness of my face may look like, I already know the answer that's about to come.

Sona: "I deny. I can't trust you enough to follow you like that."

Kais: "Why not just summon a spirit to keep me in check?"

It's a valid suggestion in my opinion, but I know she won't accept.

Sona: "No, that won't work either."

Kais: "Can't trust your spirits enough either?"

Sona: "That's … not the problem."

Yeah, I know. The problem is that you think I'll be stronger than your spirits. I am sure you trust no one at this point, not even yourself.

Kais: "Well, too bad then."

Sona: "Huh!"

She gasps as the branch of a tree suddenly grabs her right arm by circling around it.

Sona: "What the …?"

Kais: "Sorry about this, but it's not me wanting your help right now, but needing it. So I can't accept a 'no'."

She tries to use her other hand to summon the spirit but another branch comes and grabs that.

Sona: "Damn! What the hell kind of psychic ability is this?"

Kais: "It's just basic Psychokinesis with the target of kinesis being the branches."

It's a simple but extremely useful ability that is one of the most basic ones any psychic possesses.

Kais: "Ha … it's just like our past selves."

Sona stops struggling and looks at me as she hears that.

Kais: "It's an ability that controls others while itself being controlled by its users. It's just like we used to control our lives with our abilities while unknowingly being controlled by someone else instead."

She glances sideways.

Sona: "I see. So you remember, huh?"

Kais: "Not completely. My memories have been locked many layers inside my own mind. Someone is trying to make me forget things that may inconvenience them. But I need to remember those things."

She doesn't say anything while I keep talking.

Kais: "And because I need to remember, I need your help. You are the only one capable of helping me in this situation. So please,"

I bow.

Kais: "help me."

For a moment, no answer comes back. I wonder if she would still say 'no'. I really can't accept that answer and will have to force her if that happens.

Sona: "Don't act like it's a request after saying you can't accept 'no' for an answer."

Well, I guess she is making a good point, but I needed to tell her honestly how things are for me to really make her consider helping me.

She sighs. I look up and find a surprising smile on her face as she says,

Sona: "Fine, I'll help you."

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