Old Wounds

We missed all the signs,” Azu uttered, his voice as ghastly as the look on his face. Akari let his words drift passed her, instead staring up at the sky in search of comfort in its tranquil blue. But the gathering clouds smeared he canvas above, leaving her mind just as overcast.

“The boy wasn’t the one suffering from shock… It was the mother.” Azu then crouched beside Akari perched quietly at the stone wall’s edge; her eyes lost in the sky above. He let out a breath, brushing the dirt from his pants, kicked up the sprint to catch up with her. “She was fine when we met her,” he piteously stated.

Akari found herself thinking back to her time at the pasture. Azu had only just departed, and Steia had wondered her way over to her bedside. “He has a soothing aura doesn’t he?” she murmured in the soft, airy voice. Rather than a question, it was more like a thought spoken aloud. It was a habit of hers, turning stray musings into words.

“It’s kind of weird in a way,” Akari replied to the air of surprise on Steia’s face. Given how quiet Akari had been until then, Steia’s off-kilter look came as no surprise. A chuckle escaped Steia’s mouth, and with a lightened expression she rejoined, “Yeah. Some people see it that way.”

“In fact, it’s a unique trait of the Ayurs. Their voice vibrates at a frequency that apparently calms the mind.”

With a squint and a sly curl of her lips, Akari muttered, “So I’m being seduced, then...?” Her words drawing another round of giggles from Steia.

“I wouldn’t say it’s that strong of an effect, but I guess it depends on who you ask. Some people love them for it; others are terrified of them.”

Steadying herself, she paused to catch her breath before continuing, “I do have to admit that it does make your skin crawl when you think about it too much.”

Akari wasn’t sure why that conversation had suddenly found its way tumbling back to her. Despite all the time she’d spent with Azu, the question had never once crossed her mind. But as the two of them sat in silence, Stei’s words began to echo in her thoughts.

“Yes.” He answered casually, his response somehow startling.

“The effects are only possible when I first meet a person. It fades off by the second meeting after the body adapts to the frequency.”

Azu went on to explain the nature of the phenomenon as a defense mechanism. One to avoid getting attacked by aggressors long enough to make an escape.

“It’s not classified as a script. It’s more of a natural evolution within the Ayur race. You see we’re not a strong group of people, and we aren’t known to use offensive scripts. This was simply a means of protection that we developed over time.”

“Do you think that could’ve been the reason?”

Azu shook his head, fervently rejecting Akari’s theory. “What plagued that family is more complicated than that. When and how it shows itself can be hard to grasp sometimes. I wouldn’t bet on me being able to sweet talk anyone into hiding something they already can’t control.”

Akari stared off ahead, her eyes drifting off like the flowing sea. The air between them was glum, but the quietness helped everything settle in. “How old are you exactly?” Azu asked to Akari. “I just turned 18.”

Her answer struck him… how could someone so young appear so mature? “You know, people that age are usually this tall,” he said fervently, holding his hand no higher than his chest.

Akari, noting the confusion etched into his marble-like eyes, replied almost combatively, “I’m nearly an adult where I come from.”

“And where exactly is it that you’re from? You never really talk about it.”

“There’s not much to talk about, that’s why.”

Akari suddenly jumped to her feet with her arms stretched out on either side; her energy flipping like a tossed coin. “One more patient, right?”

Azu peered upon Akari, her ability to readjust at will was nothing short of impressive, but something about felt troubling. He began to worry if he would let the signs slip by him yet again…

“Yeah… one more.”

After a half day of winding travel around the mountainside, they came upon a view that stole Akari’s breath. Just below the cliff a dark expanse stretched across the land, an entire village swallowed by its eerie veil. Azu and Akari stood before the inexplicable phenomenon, captivated by its mind-bending allure, but equally terrified of it. She stepped forward, a shiver rifling her skin with every inch she took.

“And who is your last patient?” she asked. “You,” Azu replied.

“Norin made the request. This is where they found you.”

Akari knelt down, getting a closer look at the conscious gripping blackness that engulfed the ground. “The trip from here to the pasture would take a whole day. Why would the old man go through all of that trouble?”

“Norin was a Scytale many years ago, a spy for the regime. Many of his talents still serve him well till this day. That pasture should be suffering from its lack of natural resources, yet the place we departed from was abundant with food. The old man’s skill at crafting ways to move from place to place quickly and undetected had now become an intricate logistics system for moving resources around. One that has yet to be fully understood. It’s likely a system of underground pathways and tunnels though mountains, but the where and how is largely up for debate.”

Akari’s face was lathered with concern. She couldn’t wrap her head around the plausibility that she was somehow found down in that abyss. “With everything I’ve seen these past few weeks, this somehow feels… wrong.”

Akari moved to descend the cliff, the fear, intrigue, and perplexity all dragging her closer to the looming anomaly below. Azu clasped his hand over her shoulder, holding her steady in place. “We’re undetected here, but just a few meters over and the investigative team seems to have a checkpoint monitoring movement.”

Akari shook her head, “I don’t get it… Why’d you bring me here?”

“Because I can’t help a person who is unaware of what it is that they’re struggling with. This past month has been you diving headfirst into a world that you know nothing about. And everything you talk about seems like a world I know nothing about. I have never dealt with a case like that in all my years of travel. So, we start connecting the dots from here.”

Akari shook her head as she took another look over at the scene below. She’d been slowly pushing her own concerns aside, simply going through the motions of living day to day. The world she found herself in was like an anime come true. A trove of the unknown and mystical. But while ignorance may be bliss, she knew that the reality behind it all was always a look over her shoulder away. And she couldn’t ignore facing it any longer.

“And what kind of a reaction were you hoping to get?”

“I try not to anticipate those.”

“Well, you must’ve wanted something.”

“This really is your first time seeing all of this, isn’t it?”

“You thought I was lying?”

“I wouldn’t bring you all the way here to debunk a lie. But I am curious to know what your version of the truth is.”

As their words danced around each other, the floor beneath Akari suddenly slipped from her feet. And in a blink, she was miles away from where she once stood. Her body moved so fast her voice hadn’t the time to leave her mouth.

Clasp!

“I wouldn’t mind hearing about that myself.”

A weighted voice reverberated from above. Akari had yet grasped what had happened, her thoughts spinning in frantic circles. Did I fall?

It was only then did she notice the pressure of being held down. The cliff she once stood on barely visible, now swallowed by the distance.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” the voice rained down upon her, Akari too frightened to look above. “Criminals tend to become very destructive when they know someone is on to them, so I’ve built a habit of being extra careful. Not that we consider you a criminal, but I’m sure you understand.”

When she finally lifted her gaze, the glare staring back down was stifling. His eyes were like daggers through her heart, burning with judgement. The sound of her body shivering was louder than the words that she never spoke. Fear had gripped her entire body.

“You don’t seem like a tribe member.”

Akari’s lips quivered, her body resisting her every command. “The what?” she managed to say, the feeble words barely rolling off her tongue.

“Don’t talk, the scrawl will hear you.”

He clenched his grip onto Akari’s face, his fingers pressed violently into the side of ger head. It’s easier when I do things myself.”

As his clasp tightened, Akari’s body surrendered to gravity. The heat burning across her face the only remaining sense of feeling she had. Even her mind began to unravel, control dissolving with each breath.

A scream. The glare of the dead. A memory long forgotten. A memory long in the making. A closed wound opening for the first time.

Is it all happening again…?