(Chapter - 13)

  [Light of A Believing Heart]

  Mrs. Nishuki and Mehaki sit on the sofa, Mrs. Onuki sits opposite of them. The atmosphere itself seems to stir curiosity within Mehaki, a quiet urge to know herself better.

  Mrs. Nishuki : Your granny might have already told you how to call upon the Ariya flower. Keep practicing and focus. It might take time at first, but once you master it, it will answer you easily. Believe in yourself, that you can. And you eventually will.

  Mehaki : …I will try my best.

  Mrs. Nishuki : Yes. That's our girl, Anami. I think it's already late for you to know about all this. Since you’ll turn 18 in two years. Our 1st ancestor had her powers awakened from a very young age and it was the strongest.

  Mehaki : Do you all… Still have the powers?

  Mrs. Nishuki : Why, of course! We’ll carry it to our graves. Every generation carried the powers, though it was less strong than Miraki's. She foretold that after her, only the 6th and 12th generations would possess power equal to hers. So, you're probably the last one to have this power.

  Mehaki thinks and writes the words in her mind carefully. Then she remembers, she has wanted to ask something for a long time. The name ‘Aria Inufa Zaman Miraki, Inami’ pops up in her head.

  Mehaki : Great-granny, I had something to ask. That… Why is my name so similar to hers?

  Mrs. Nishuki : She told her daughter and the next descendants to name you like this. Your name was decided nearly two centuries ago. It was her command for the 12th girl's naming.

  Mehaki : …What!?

  Mehaki is stunned. If it was decided two centuries ago, that’s not something simple, nor something to be taken lightly. She knows that much. Though curiosity floods her mind.

  Mehaki : B-But… Why is that? What was so special about me when I was yet to be born? 2 centuries later over that!

  Mrs. Nishuki : Your granny already told you… That you're the one who can end the enmity of the 3 families forever. The one with the strongest powers in the whole bloodline. Because, you’ll have the blessings of us and all our previous ancestors as well.

  Mehaki : How did she know that I'll be even born?

  Mrs. Nishuki : Haha, silly… She knew everything she needed to about her future bloodline. Maybe it was another blessing for her. Since you are very precious, we've been hiding your existence and even the signs of our bloodline. You must prepare yourself well before facing the 3 families… Before your identity is revealed to them.

  Mehaki falls silent. Worries spread over her face. She fidgets with her hands on her lap.

  Mehaki : *I… I made a big mistake. My identity’s been already found out by one of them!* W-What happens if they know now?

  Mrs. Nishuki : They're dangerous, Anami… They’ll strike when you’re least prepared. If you're weak and without any control over your powers, they’ll try to take your life… And steal the power our bloodline has guarded for generations.

  She pauses for a bit, looking aside, like she's reminiscing some old tales from her life.

  Mrs. Nishuki : The Zaheer and the Alam family, they've always been greedy. The most dangerous and strongest enemy is the Zaheer family. And also very cunning.

  Mehaki thinks for a moment, her eyes blink.

  Mehaki : What about the Newaz family…?

  Mrs. Nishuki : Oh, that family… Not all from the family are evil. Some of them are exceptions. They play a neutral role. So, they’re less dangerous than the other 2 families.

  Mehaki : I see… *If that's true then, maybe Asroy is not the evil one from the Newaz family. Then who might it be? His brother that I met? Shomoy? I have to find out somehow…*

  Mehaki is in deep thoughts, matching equations in her head. Mrs. Nishuki puts her hand on Mehaki's to soothe her tensed mind.

  Mrs. Nishuki : Anami…

  Mehaki looks at her, cutting away from thoughts.

  Mehaki : Yes.

  Mrs. Nishuki : Practice to polish your powers. You should not be any more late. It's the only way to get control of your own powers.

  Mehaki : Ok…

  The afternoon falls into evening, the sun sets. A trace of daylight still lingers in the sky. In the backyard, Mehaki takes steps closer to the Ariya flower. The flowers glow in response to her presence. She looks up at the flowers and takes a deep breath.

  Mehaki : Let's do this…

  She steels her resolve. With a tense body and a trembling voice, she calls to the Ariya flowers.

  Mehaki : Ariya flowers!... Assemble!

  A moment of silence… Like that would even work! Nothing happens and she flushes in embarrassment, realizing how silly she must look.

  Mehaki : Okay, of course that's not gonna work. What am I even doing? Ah…

  She takes a deep breath and looks at the flowers with fierce eyes again. “Focus, focus, focus!” words run in her mind. “Ariya flower… Float your powers around me.” Mehaki's inner voice calls the flowers again, but fails this time as well.

  Mehaki : Float around me…! Float me up…! Gather in my hand…! Make a circle…! Ahhh! Why isn’t it working!?

  She slumps from frustration. Feeling hopeless, she buries her face in her hands. “How can it be this hard? I’m so useless…” The thought weighs heavily in her mind. Suddenly a wind flows, all the flowers and trees in the yard sway. For a moment she suddenly gets her hopes up, only to be disappointed right after.

  Mehaki : Oh… It's just the wind…

  She walks away from the tree, towards the front yard, “I might feel better if I walk around a bit.” She walks into the front garden, stopping near the main gates of the house. The sky deepens into dusk, the last trace of sunlight fading away. She looks up at the dimming sky, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear as the wind plays with the rest. Across the street in front of their home, stands a huge wind forest that's swaying along with the wind as well. Then, her eyes catch something strange, a few small, colorful flares of light floating around close together at the forest’s edge. She freezes, eyes widening in quiet astonishment.

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  Mehaki : What are those lights…?

  Her frustration slowly melts into confusion, and then, wonder. What she sees across the street makes her heartbeat pause for a second. An invisible pull tugs at her chest, as if those lights are calling her name. She takes a hesitant step forward, unable to tell whether she’s drawn by curiosity… or something else. She crosses the streets and the light flares keep moving farther away, going deep into the forest as if leading her to somewhere. “Where are these heading to?” Mehaki keeps following.

  The forest is pitch dark—only the paths lit by the flares remain visible. Walking farther ahead, she sees another beautiful, fading light-blue beam and the flares she has been following disappear. Wondering, she keeps walking towards the blue light, to find the source of it. What she sees after, totally surprises her. She pauses to see a person in the wind forest. It’s Tori! Swirling his water powers around himself, that’s radiating the pretty, soft blue light. His blue eyes glowing, his blue hair gently fluttering.

  Mehaki : Tori??

  Tori : !

  Tori's concentration breaks. He looks around him to be sure whether what he heard was right or not. Mehaki walks into the light from the dark.

  Mehaki : It's me.

  Tori : Mehaki!?

  Startled, Tori accidentally stops using his powers and everything becomes dark like the rest of the forest.

  Mehaki : Ah-!

  Tori : Oops! Sorry! Wait…

  Tori lights up his powers again, and swirls the blue light radiating water around them in medium radius. It’s not a strong light like the LED, but good enough for them to see each other clearly. Mehaki's eyes shimmer as she looks around, the scene fascinates her.

  Mehaki : Wow… It's incredible!

  Tori : Haha…

  Mehaki's soft, amazed smile creates a warmth in Tori's mind.

  Tori : What are you doing here, Mehaki?

  Mehaki : I can ask the same.

  Tori : Well, I was just… Practicing using my powers.

  Mehaki : In this forest!?

  Tori : Yeah… This is a place where I feel calm. No noise, no artificial lights, no people… Just me. It helps me concentrate and clear my mind from any stress…

  Mehaki : *He was stressed? Why?*

  Tori : And… What makes you come here at this time?

  Mehaki : I followed some lights and found you here.

  Tori : Huh? Was my light that strong?

  Mehaki : … *Oh, we're not talking about the same light, are we? It looks like he didn’t create those floating flares… Then what were those?*

  Mehaki lost in thoughts, keeps her eyes away from Tori unintendedly, staring at swirling bright water powers around her. It does not escape from Tori's observing eyes.

  Tori : Mehaki, you look distressed… Is it because of what happened today at our place?

  Mehaki : Huh-? Oh, um…

  Tori : I'm sorry…

  Mehaki : …? Why are you saying sorry?

  Tori : Because, I told you that we'd wait for you to open up to us… But I couldn’t keep the word. It just got messed up and hurt you. I'm really sorry for that.

  Mehaki's heart warms up even in the cold breeze. Though none of it was Tori's fault, he's still gentle and courteous enough to apologise. His eyes carry sincerity, not just his words.

  Mehaki : You did nothing wrong, Tori. It's not you who should be sorry. And I'm more worried about something else right now.

  Tori : What is it? Would you share with me?

  Mehaki : Well, actually… *He knows my true identity now, so I better tell him the truth.*

  They sit on the grass. The radiating water is still surrounding them in big spirals. Mehaki tells him whatever she learned about her powers. How the Ariya flower is connected to her and her powers, how she can start using it, that her name was decided long ago and how her ancestors carried the power, everything. Tori is totally stunned. But he sure accepts her true self completely.

  Tori : Wow… You're really special!

  Mehaki : Ah haha… I don’t think so.

  Tori : No, you are!

  Mehaki : But, I can't even use the Ariya flower's power, let alone mine…

  Tori : That's no big deal. You'll learn it in no time.

  Mehaki : *Sighs* You guys can do amazing things with your powers, and me? Even fail to use passive powers. Everyone in my family has high hopes for me… But I'm just useless.

  Tori : Not at all, Mehaki! Why would you think that? We can use ours properly cuz we've been doing it since we were kids. But you're totally new to this. You didn’t even know you had powers.

  Mehaki : That's true…

  Mehaki hugs her knees tight and rests her chin on them.

  Mehaki : But I couldn’t, even though I tried it just the way my great-granny told me to. It wasn't supposed to be that hard, right?

  Tori : Hey, don't feel low… How about I teach you?

  Mehaki : Huh?

  Mehaki turns her face to him. Tori tilts his head forward, the blue light perfectly reflecting on his blue hair and blue eyes.

  Tori : I mean, I can help you to get the basics.

  Mehaki : Umm…

  Tori : Here, let me show you.

  Tori turns fully to her. So does Mehaki.

  Tori : You said you failed. That means, your mind wasn't calm enough to focus. When using the powers for the first time, your mind must be calm. Here's how I did it, when I was little…

  He puts his palms together and closes his eyes. Mehaki keeps looking.

  Tori : I closed my eyes, thought of something that makes me feel happy or peaceful, and when I felt calm… I told myself that I can do it. Then I was finally able to focus. Tried making a flower of radiating water… And succeeded.

  Tori opens his eyes and palms, and there’s a beautiful blue flower made of water, and it’s glowing softly. Mehaki's eyes brighten up. Tori dissolves the flower and looks at her.

  Tori : Now you try it.

  Mehaki : Ah-um… I… I'm not confident. I'm not good at this like you.

  Tori : Haha! No one is at first. But that's what you must avoid thinking. Think the opposite.

  Mehaki : …

  Mehaki looks at her hands, feeling hesitant. Tori understands it right away. He holds both of Mehaki's hands and clasps her palms together.

  Mehaki : !

  Tori : Come on.

  Mehaki looks at Tori, who's smiling gently at her.

  Tori : Close your eyes… And take a deep breath.

  His calm and gentle demeanor allows Mehaki to trust him and ease her mind. Pushing the hesitation aside, Mehaki closes her eyes, taking a long, deep breath.

  Tori : Now, think of everything that makes you feel at peace or happy… Any good memories that you cherish… And nothing else.

  Mehaki keeps going through her cherished memories. When she was younger, her birthday, going on a trip with family, her drawing of her family, playing with siblings, when she first met the colorful brothers and saw their stunts, her moments sitting under Ariya flower tree, the times when they laughed together—each thought brings delight to her mind and forms a subtle smile on her lips. Tori can't help smiling back.

  Tori : Now… Think about the Ariya flower and your connection to it. Acknowledge it and trust it… Believe that you can do it no matter what.

  Mehaki : *Ariya flower… My companion of rosy powers… Respond to me, for I call upon you… Create a small flower in my hand, just like Tori did. Hear my command…*

  Mehaki squeezes her closed eyes. Tori is still holding her hands together, looking intently at her while his heart runs faster than Mehaki's.

  Mehaki : *I can do it! No.Matter.What!*

  Tori can feel the determination of Mehaki, her strength of mind is no less than a person's last pull of bringing something up from a deep, dark well. The Ariya flowers in Mehaki's garden glow up. Mehaki’s closed eyes ease, as she feels a warmth in her heart. A few moments later, Tori sees a twirling ray of soft-pink light coming towards them, carrying pink petals of the Ariya flower, glowing. His eyes become astonished, his heart runs even faster. The pink light curls around Mehaki once, her hair sways in the wind and her face is lit in the beam. Tori is mesmerized by the view of her magic. Then, something glows within Mehaki's closed palms. Tori sees it.

  Tori : Mehaki… Open your eyes.

  Mehaki opens her eyes and her palms as well. Her eyes widen with a faint gasp as she sees a small, pretty, softly glowing Ariya flower in her hands.

  Tori : See! I told you that you can.

  Mehaki : Whoaa!!

  Mehaki stands up, her heart flutters from joy.

  Mehaki : Oh my god! I did it! I finally did it!

  She twirls around and laughs delightfully. Tori stands up as well. His joy is no less than Mehaki's, he keeps his eyes on her with a bright smile. The place brightens up in both subtle blue and soft pink lights.

  Mehaki : I can't believe it! Wow… Haha!

  Her eyes turn to Tori. Tori's gaze softens at her.

  Tori : Congratulations, Mehaki…

  His warm smile of appreciation only encourages the joy of Mehaki, on her first successful attempt of using the power of Ariya flower.

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