The next morning, Iliya moves fast. She remembers every detail of the house which trapped and locked the little girl inside. The colors of dull bricks, the broken windows, the messy bush behind the fence and she reports it to the nearest police station. She also told them about her look. Her sad eyes, her yellowish hair, her pale face, and how thin she is. The police record all her testifies and act fast to the crime location. Not long after, the parents were caught and handcuffed before they got forced into the police car while Iliya observed it from a safe distance. Her well-being as a living witness must stay hidden under the shadow. It's for her own safety. Her own goodness.
The little girl finally was found out inside the attic. She was so skinny and there are huge bags under her eyes. She also severely malnourished and was beaten in black blue miserably. The medical team brought by the police immediately gave her first prior rescue. Her tiny body was carried and put gently on a stretcher that has been prepared before. An oxygen mask is worn on her face. Then, she pushed into the ambulance. Things turned out, the parents of that girl were alcoholic drunker and have been in and out of the prison before. The little girl that Iliya was saved is an adoptive kid that they have adopted a month ago. Now, the girl will be in the custody of Social Service.
"Thanks a lot for your report, young lady.."
The officer tapped her shoulder gently and smiled with a soft expression. Iliya smiled back at him and nodded slightly.
"Your welcome, Officer Erik. I'm glad that I could do some help…"
"By the way, how did you know about all these? What kind of relationship that you have with that girl?"
The officer started to question her suspiciously with narrow eyes while at the same time, Iliya also trying to hinder it.
"Let's say that she's the daughter of a friend's friend. Well, it doesn't matter anymore. At least, she's safe now…"
"I'll take my leave, Officer Erik. See you.."
Iliya turned away and walked fast. Hiding her nervousness inside her pounding heart. It was her first time helping someone with her newfound ability and she was quite excited about it.
.....................…
After a while…
PLOP!!!
"Oh, for my goodness heavenly lord…. AZALEL!!!" Iliya jolted up in great shock spontaneously when Azalel suddenly popped out next to her.
"Are you happy?"
Iliya doesn't answer him right away but takes a deep breath as much as she can. Calmed her thumping heart after this "crazy" incident. One thing that she hates the most about him was his habit of surprisingly popped in and out all of a sudden like he just did. He has always done it and she was never getting used to it either.
"How did it go?" He asked her in a casual tone as usual.
"It went well…"
"The police caught the parents and the girl has been rescued immediately then she would be taken care of under our country's custody…"
"That's great…" He acclaimed the news with an enthusiasm in his voice.
"Yeah, thanks to you. If you didn't teach me yesterday, I wouldn't be able to save her life today. It was you who saved him, Mr Angel…."
Iliya smiled genuinely while Azalel was taken aback by her sincere words. He never realizes that there are still some people who truly kind from deep within. The young lady who is walking next to him was one of them. A type of kind that he has rarely seen lately.
Slowly, Azalel cleared his throat.
"Sure… no problem.."
"By the way, we are going to practice again today. At the same place. Are you ready?"
Iliya nodded her head without any hesitation.
.......................
"Have you ever had a lucid dream?"
Azalel asked her directly once they both arrived on the hill.
"Lucid dreams?"
"What is that?"
"It was a circumstance when you fell asleep and dreamt of something but at the same time, you realized that you're dreaming and somehow, you can control your dream. What you become. How to manage it and arranged the environments inside your dream…"
"Usually, for people who had this kind of dream, they would feel fatigued without having loss memories of what they have been through before…"
"They would remember where they were, what they did, whom they met and other else…"
"For some people who didn't remember anything about their dream, they would immediately forget it once they awake. But then, sometimes, along their way, they will find some similarities of their doings and somehow, they felt have done it or been there before…"
"In your terminology, you called it as de Ja Vu…"
"Does it sound familiar to you?"
"Have you experienced it before?" Azalel explained all of these with a smirk on his face.
Iliya blinked her eyes several times in disbelief. Yes, she had experienced those things before. Gezz… she never thought that it would lead her to this kind of conversation now.
"To be honest, I never expect that…"
She murmuring those words honestly with a deep furrow between her eyebrows which made Azalel laughed amusedly because of her innocent expression.
"Hahahahaha.. okay…"
"That's a new lesson for you today…"
"Human brain… as well as the universe, they memorized and records everything inside their memories. Imagine your brain as 2 persons. The daytime worker and a nightwalker. Your consciousness works well when you're awake, eat, study, or while you hang out with your family or friends. The daytime worker-managed everything. The way you walked and talked. How it arranged the schedules so you might able to do it properly on track. But, what you did not realize was…"
"When the daytime worker was there, the nightwalker was there too. He has been there all the time…."
"He observed and watched all your activities and routines every day quietly in silence. Then, when you sleep, he rolled back the memories as your dreams…"
"Is this quite clear for you?"
Iliya listened to all of his explanations with great amusement on her face. Like a small girl who was telling a bedtime story by her mom.
"The universe also works in the same way. The land that you are standing now has a million years history and if you can listen to them well…"
"You can find their deepest secret. What was hidden beneath their silence? The story behind the rocks, mud, lands, winds, water, all of them…"
"And it probably would reveal something…"
Iliya gasped in shock and covered her mouth with both hands.
"Do you think I can do that too?"
Another mischievous curve slowly formed on Azalel's face.
"We don't know if you never try it. So, why don't we try it now?"
Without her knowledge, Azalel has activated the force field around them both so they both are invisible from sight.
"We'll do something different today. You'll learn to focus but not to yourself. But everything all around you…"
Iliya started to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Calming and relaxing.
"Feel the breeze, feel the warmth of sunbeam, feel the rustling leaves. Listen to their noises. Feel the ground beneath your feet. You are no longer you. No more Iliya Nara…"
"You're a part of something bigger. You're part of this earth…."
I feel an urge coming through from deep within. A rushing stream of energy flowing out all over my body. It's like I had just unleashed some kind of wave. A resonance. It was vibrated and linked with the other sources of elements with me as their core. I didn't realize that my body started to glow dimly while I'm doing all these.
The noises that I'm hearing now was no longer exist. I feel so peaceful and serene. Tranquility surrounds me as I started to see things in their real forms.
"You are a part of the universe…"
"With negating yourself, you will see clearly of your surroundings. They will speak to you. Telling you the truth about what had happened, what will happen in the future…"
"Even something that would come in a millisecond…"
There they are….
As he finished his last words, I'm no longer exist. My body feels so light than air while I'm floating in the sky while at the same time, I'm also able to see the earth as a whole. Watching over all elements in their real forms. Winds are fairies with their wings. While water forms into a transparent fluid that flows freely wherever they go. I can see the veins of earth underground and all of them linked to all the trees all over the world. Feeding them. Nurturing their lifespan. I can touch the sky and dance with clouds. I even can fly in between the thunders and lighting. Then, when my feet return on the hill and put my hand on it. I saw flashes of pictures of humans' history.
Azalel was right. The universe and earth record everything what we had done so far through time. The wars, their screams, their painful howling when life was grabbed forcibly from their breath. The joy and sorrow of mothers when they deliver the new life onto this earth. The laugh of young kids. The fear of villagers when a catastrophe falls upon them unexpectedly. These are the million years memoir of mankind.
While Iliya put her hands-on earth and Azalel watched her thoroughly, he unconsciously loses his defense. He didn't realize that from a far distance, there are a pair of icy eyes were watching them while her left-hand forms an arrow from the black mist. Her lips curl cunningly in a smile. After a minute, she was ready to shoot the arrow and pierced the force field in one strike!
SHOOOOOO….
The sound of wind whistling sharply right into its direction. But, before it hit the target, a spectrum of light failed its mission.
Her cat eyes spontaneously widened in disbelief and she flabbergasted of her avail attack. She hasn't recovered from her shock when suddenly another man in a black cloak popped out right in front of her. His eyes narrowed in suspicious.
"Who are you?"
"And what are you doing here?"
Caught red-handed, the lady tried to escape but Reuben won't let her go so easily. He formed his light spectrums into several pieces and attacked her fiercely. But, the lady also does the same. Moreover, she was able to counter each attack that Reuben throws at her perfectly. As if she was able to read his next movement. At the moment, after several strikes, she finally able to repulse Reuben's attack then she saw a chance to shoot another arrow. She won't miss it this time.
Soon, another arrow was formed and floated in the air when it suddenly flew to its target. Ten times faster than the first one.
Reuben who saw it shouted.
"AZALEL!!!!"
"WATCH OUT!!!"
But, it was too late…
..................….