We followed the monk that had let us in to the Air Nation. He led us to a small log cabin, similar to the one that we had stepped inside when we stopped by the human community on the mountain below. The cabin was minimalist, with a soft rug by the entrance, a small kitchen to one side, a cot to the other, and a lone cushion by the far wall, which was made entirely of glass. On this cushion was a man who was faced with his back towards us.
He sat stiffly, his back as straight as a rod. His legs were crossed, with one on top of the other, and his hands were placed on his abdomen, his fingers cross-linking with one another. As we walked up to him, we saw that his eyes were closed and it appeared almost as if he wasn't breathing. His head was bald, but there were intricate patterns and designs tattooed all over it. I wasn't completely certain if they were tattoos or spiritual markings because as we stood and watched the man meditate, the markings began glowing a dull blue-ish white color.
I glanced at the man that had led us in to see if the markings were unique to the meditating man alone. But upon looking more closely at the monk, I saw the same types of markings along one side of his neck and down his bare arm. While the meditating monk's markings were glowing, this man's were dark grey in color; probably dormant. I pursed my lips, intrigued, and tucked my question as to what the markings were in the back of my mind.
After a few moments, it began to rain outside. The sky turned dark, the clouds became thick, and water droplets splattered onto the wall window. The window overlooked one side of the mountain. The cabin was nestled a couple yards from the very edge of flat surface area of the mountain we were on. The view from the window was spectacular. All we could see for miles were snow capped mountains. While the sight had appeared spectacular just moments before, now--with the rain pouring down in sheets--it simply left a feeling of melancholy inside of me.
The monk that had brought us inside gestured for us to sit down on the cot to give the meditating monk some peace. He left us and then went to the kitchen to make some food. He was so silent the entire time that I thought he had placed a silencing spell on the entire cabin.
I wanted to talk to Gerrard and ask him what was going on, but I was afraid of disturbing the silence. I glanced at Gerrard, whose focus was on the meditating man. He was scrutinizing him, watching him as he meditated. As the moments ticked by in an agonizingly slow pace, I saw the markings of the meditating man begin to glow brighter. It seemed as if the markings glowed brighter the deeper the man's meditation was. The other man brought us food and drink and we ate silently while we waited for the man to finish his meditation.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, the rain stopped and the man ended his meditation. His back relaxed and he began moving, albeit very slowly. As he stirred back to life, the brightness of his markings returned to their dormant grey-black color. He stood, getting up off his cushion. He adjusted his robe on his shoulder. I waited for him to turn around, but he didn't. Instead, he stood facing the window for a few moments. The rain had stopped and evening had fallen. There was a thin layer of fog outside now, making the view a little distorted. After a few moments, the monk finally turned to face us.
He didn't seem surprised to see us. In fact, his face was void of any emotion at all as he hobbled over to us. The other man rushed over, handing a walking stick to the man. The meditating man smiled slightly and nodded at the man. The other man tilted his head and glanced at us. The monk looked at us, too, and the two seemed to communicate silently to each other. The meditating man placed a hand on the other man's shoulder and nodded one last time. The man bowed and then, keeping his gaze down, he left the cabin.
Now, Gerrard and I were left alone with the elderly monk.
The man hobbled over to us. He conjured up a chair to sit on and sat himself down right in front of us. He placed his hands on top of his walking stick and peered at us through his thinly slanted almond shaped eyes.
"What are your names?" the man asked, in perfect English. He had a slight accent, but it was barely noticeable.
"I'm Gerrard. This is Caley," Gerrard replied, pointing to each of us in turn.
"You can call me Master Yoqi," the man told us. We nodded. "Why have you come here?" he asked.
"We are looking for someone," I said.
"Mikael Gemeni," Gerrard clarified. The man, Master Yoqi, raised his eyebrows at us, immediately interested after hearing the name of the legendary wizard.
"And who are you that you should be seeking such a celebrated wizard?" Master Yoqi asked.
"We're looking for answers," Gerrard said.
"Most of the people in this world--Magi or not--are seeking answers. What makes you so unique?" he asked.
"I'm a Lucia," I said bluntly. The man turned to face me, scrutinizing my face. His grey eyes met mine and held my gaze.
"So you are. The supposed "Chosen One", I presume?" Yoqi asked. I nodded stiffly, still not enjoying being known by the overly presumptious title.
"That's why we're looking for answers," I said.
"I though you were looking for the Gemeni Twin?" he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.
"Well...we are. But--" I began.
"Are you looking for answers or for Mikael Gemeni?" the man asked.
"Both," I responded. The man clicked his tongue, shaking his head. I frowned and looked at Gerrard, who shrugged.
"You cannot be seeking both. You are seeking one or the other," Yoqi said.
"Well, one leads to the other so...yes, we are seeking both," I argued.
"Or are you seeking neither?" Yoqi asked, a slight glimmer in his eyes. I was growing frustrated quickly. This man was speaking in riddles and I didn't have time to figure out what he was trying to say. I needed answers so that I could break the curse on my family line before it was too late. I relayed this to Yoqi, who simply chuckled.
"So are you saying that you are looking for a countercurse?" Yoqi asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Then why are you looking for Mikael Gemeni? Why are you looking for answers?" Yoqi asked.
"Because he's going to help us get the answers to help us find the countercurse!" I exclaimed, annoyed.
"It sounds to me like you have a dilemma of desires, Caley Lucia," Yoqi said.
"A what?" I asked, furrowing my brow.
"A dilemma of desires. You have many secondary desires which are clouding your one true desire. This one true desire is what you really seek. However, with so many secondary desires that you are trying to reach, you are being prevented from finding that one true desire," he explained. "So Caley...what is your one true desire?" Master Yoqi asked me.
I was silenced, unsure of how to respond to what the odd monk had just asked of me.
"We as humans tend to be blinded by an infinite chain of secondary desires. We chase after them one at a time, thinking that each will lead to what we truly desire. However, in the process, we fail to reflect on what that true desire is. And although our secondary and tertiary desires seem infinite, they do lead to one true desire. They stem from one beginning. As the old saying goes, 'A flower cannot grow without its seed.' You cannot have something from nothing. It has to begin somewhere. So where do your lower desires stem from, Caley Lucia? What is your ultimate desire?" Master Yoqi asked.
His argument was one of means and ends. It seemed that he was holding the ends above the means and that the means to which a person attains an end were of unimportance. He was speaking in terms of goals, not in terms of a process. When I voiced this to him, he laughed at me.
"Have I said anything about the importance of lower desires? Of the so-called means that you speak of?" he asked me. I frowned, chewing my lip. He hadn't.
"No..." I mumbled.
"I am simply saying that you must know what it is that you truly desire so that you are not aimlessly searching, going through your infinite list of desires and never being able to reach that one true desire. Because I think that that one true desire is what you are looking for. Not Mikael. Not answers. Not the countercurse," Master Yoqi said.
"How do I figure that out?" I asked. The monk smiled at me.
"Meditation," he replied simply.
At that moment, we heard a knock at the door. Master Yoqi unlocke it magically and it swung open. A young girl, about my age, with shaved hair on her head and a dull orange robe walked inside. She had a marking that started from her right eye and proceeded to curl around her right ear. Master Yoqi gestured for her to come inside. She walked in and bowed her head. He said something to her in a language we couldn't understand. She nodded and then turned to us.
"My daughter Kiya will escort you to your living quarters. Do well to dwell on what I have told you Caley Lucia. We will speak again when the sun has relieved the moon of its duty," Master Yoqi said.
And with that, we were dismissed. Gerrard and I stood up. I was still reeling from what Master Yoqi had told me, but Gerrard remembered his manners and thanked the old monk. Then, we followed Kiya outside, closing the cabin door behind us.
The night air was thick with moisture from the rain, but also chilly from the altitude of the peak we were on.
"Your cabin is on the other side of the mountain's peak. Please follow me," Kiya said. I frowned. The peak, although small, was still a hundred dozen miles in diameter. I wasn't ready to walk that much again. But we didn't have a choice, so we followed behind Kiya silently.
I sighed heavily as we walked and Gerrard nudged my shoulder. I had a headache.
"At least they didn't try to kill us," he whispered to me, a small smirk on his lips. I rolled my eyes at him.
Always a silver lining.
~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, we awoke to the sound of someone stirring in the kitchen. I sat up in the small cot that I had been given, while Gerrard mumbled from the one he was sleeping in. I stifled a chuckle at the sight of Gerrard. His cot was much too small for him; his legs dangled awkwardly over the end. He had the itchy blanket we were given pulled over his face to block out the streaming sunlight from the window wall. In short, he was a sight to see.
The noise, it turned out, was coming from Kiya, who was making breakfast for us. I yawned and stretched, rubbing my sore back. The cot was incredibly uncomfortable, but I had been so exhausted the night before that I had fallen asleep right away anyway. I got up of the bed and then went into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Caley Lucia. Did you sleep well?" Kiya asked, looking up from the vegetable omelet she was making.
"Just Caley, please," I said, "And yes, I did sleep well. Thank you."
Kiya smiled at me.
"Your partner is not awake?" she asked, tilting her head towards Gerrard's sleeping figure. I shook my head.
"He's not my...partner, by the way. Just a friend," I clarified. Kiya shot me a half smile and then scooped the vegetable omelet she was making out onto a plate.
"Bread?" she asked me. I nodded. She retrieved some from a small metal bread box next to the antique gas burner stove. She warmed it up and then handed it to me. "I will make more when he awakes," she said.
"You don't have to. I can make him food when gets up," I told her. "If you have other things to do, you can go do them," I said, taking my plate to a small table by the kitchen. This cabin wasn't as barren as Master Yoqi's was. It still featured a completely open floor plan with no walls dividing the rooms, but tt had some furniture, too: tables, a couch, a few oil lamps, and some chairs. Although it wasn't very homey, it was sufficient.
"My orders are to tend to the guests. Which are you and your friend," Kiya said to me. I shrugged and then dug into the omelet that she made. Suddenly, I was ravenous. After a few bites of the bland breakfast she made for me, I slowed down.
"Have you eaten?" I asked, swallowing and remembering my manners. She nodded, watching me tentatively. Once I realized that she was watching me eat, I was a bit more self-conscious. I slowed my eating and chewed properly, taking care not to let anything fall onto my face.
"Can I ask you a question?" I asked Kiya.
"I find it funny that you must ask a question about asking a question," Kiya remarked. I bit my lip and fought back the urge to roll my eyes. She definitely was Master Yoqi's daughter.
"Ok...so my question is, what are those markings that you and your people have on your skin?" I asked. Kiya's hand went up to her face and she traced the intricate swirling geometric designs with her thin fingers.
"They are the markings of a homo aura. An Air Being," she replied.
"Do all Air masters have them?" I asked. She nodded.
"In some form or another," she replied. I glanced at Gerrard's sleeping figure, wondering if he had a marking somewhere on his body, too.
"Is it only the pure blood Air masters that have them?" I asked.
"If you are an Air Master, then blood does not matter," she replied.
"Wait...what?" I asked. "So if I were to become a master of the element of air, would I get a marking, too?" I questioned. I had completely abandoned my food now; I was too intrigued by the conversation at hand.
"If you were to completely master air, then yes, you, too, would get a marking," she replied.
"Does it just form?" I asked.
"Much like a skin condition," she replied, nodding.
"Why do they glow?" I asked.
"They only glow when one is in a state of meditation. Not all air masters meditate, though. They simply have benign markings," she replied. I sat back in the uncomfortable straight-backed wooden chair, my mouth slightly open.
"Do the number of markings have any significance?" I asked.
"The further you have mastered your skills, the more markings you have," she replied.
"But if you're a master, haven't you already mastered the element? What's left?" I asked.
"You can become a master of an element, but that does not necessarily mean that you have mastered it," she answered. I frowned at the vagueness of her answer.
At that moment, Gerrard stirred from his sleep. Kiya and I looked over at him. He got up groggily, sitting up in his tiny cot. The blanket he had fell into his lap, revealing his bare torso. Kiya immediately looked away, a pink blush creeping onto her otherwise pale cheeks. I stifled a smirk and got up, going over to him. I tossed him a shirt, which hit him in the face. He glared at me and I gave him a look, pointing at Kiya, who was still looking away. Realization flooded his face and he moved quickly to cover himself up.
"Shit...could have given me some warning, Lucia," he hissed at me.
"How was I supposed to know that you'd be so dense?" I asked. He sent another glare my way before getting out of bed. He apologized to Kiya right away and she nodded before turning away and making him breakfast.
"When did you get up?" Gerrard asked me, running a hand over his face.
"About thirty minutes ago," I answered.
"Why didn't you wake me?" he asked, sitting down at the table.
"You were tired. I figured I'd let you sleep in a bit," I said, sitting down beside him and pulling over my plate of unfinished food before Gerrard could dig in.
"When will we be able to meet Master Yoqi?" I asked Kiya.
"My father likes to meditate at dawn's early light until mid-morning. He should be finishing up his meditation soon. You may see him after that," she replied.
"Any chance of a shower before that?" Gerrard asked, quirking an eyebrow at me, suggesting I smelled bad. I frowned at him.
"A...shower..." Kiya said slowly, taking his question as being suggestive.
"For me! A shower for me...not...us..." Gerrard covered, realizing what he had said and what Kiya had taken it to mean. I covered my mouth to hide my laughter as a blush arose on both Kiya's and Gerrard's faces.
This was just too much fun.
________________________________________________
A/N: Sorry for taking ages to update. I graduated from college about two weeks ago (yay!) and then my summer classes started and those have been driving me insane. It sucks because my summer vacation hasn't really started yet :(
I'll try to update a little more often. My goal is to finish this story before going to pharmacy school in August. Because chances are that I won't have much time to write when I start my pharmacy courses. This story is almost finished, anyway. We're in the last third of the book now. I don't know how many chapters exactly are left still, but there's not many.
Air Nation chapters will be short. Next chapter will be the last of the Air Nation. Sorry this one was a bit lacking in intense action, but it made up for that in the information aspect.
I will try REALLY hard to update again in the next two weeks, but please don't hold me to that.
As always, leave me a comment with your thoughts and don't forget to vote!
XOXO