VII

Sad Goodbye and Tearful Hello

"Kunta, since we have very little time on our hands, I must be brief. You realize, of course, that our only chance of survival against Cain lies with Sembri?"

"Yes."

"And you also know that you promised me you would do anything to protect her?"

He nodded his head in agreement while a puzzled look spread over his face.

"Cain placed a tracer on you. One that I cannot remove with anything short of killing you. That said, you now have two choices. The first is for you to leave this place as quickly as you can. The shield I put here makes it seem as if we are simply animals running around in a forest. Your tracer, however, allows Cain to realize that something is out of place here. If you leave, Sembri is safe and we can remain here for a while longer, protected, while she trains.

"The second choice, if you should choose for me to do so, would be to kill you. If you feel that running from Cain would be too difficult and you would rather me put you out of your misery, I would do so with a heavy heart. It is, of course, completely up to you. But I must have your answer now. Cain is on his way to make a sweep of this land looking for me. If you go now, Sembri will be safe. You must be completely clear of these woods in no less than an hour. I will help you with whatever you choose."

"You mean, I must choose now what I must do? How to carry out my life from here?"

"Unfortunately, that is our only option. I must not take Sembri away from this place, for her protection, and that of the world,"

Kunta stared at the wizard in disbelief. How could he even hope to make the right decision? He still wanted revenge more than anything, though. After ten minutes, with a shaking voice, he gave his answer.

"I will leave. Sembri deserves it. Will you help me get my things from the cabin?"

His eyes were too distant to see the wizard nod. He did, however, notice when a yellow beam shot out from his forefinger towards the cabin. It attached itself to Kunta's bad, and carried it to where the two of them stood.

"Come, my friend. I will walk you to the edge of the forest."

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When Sai returned, Toren was washing up the dishes from breakfast and putting them away in the cabinets. He seemed distant, and he wasn't his usual up-beat self. Sai looked around the cabin, noticing that Sembri wasn't there.

"Toren, what's happened?"

The boy slowly turned around. Tears were dancing in his eyes.

"I told Sembri the truth. She took it… kinda hard. She said she needed to think about what I'd told her, and that she'd be close if you needed her."

"Very we, I'll leave her alone for now. What all did you tell her."

"Everything about me. About where I came from, and how I got here. About how I already knew her. Sai, I did everything short of telling her how I feel about her. I wanted to tell her the truth. I felt like she knew I was hiding something from her and couldn't completely trust me. What if… What if she hates me?"

"She won't hate you. She will come to her senses and realize that you did what you must. Don't worry about it. She'll be back before nightfall, so keep an eye out."

"Sure." Toren went back to washing the dishes, lost in his thoughts and still uncertain about Sai's words.

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"How am I supposed to trust him? He lied to me from the very beginning!"

The squirrel Sembri was talking to chattered back at her while looking at the nut she was rolling around in her fingers.

"Sorry, here you go."

It took it, ran up the tree to put it safely away, then back down to sit next to Sembri again.

"Friendly little guy, aren't you? I just wish I didn't feel so bad. I mean, it's not like I haven't been keeping a secret from him as well. But, why do I feel so betrayed? I've had a friend watching over me my entire life, and he couldn't even tell me about it! But… What if he had told me the truth from the start? I wouldn't have trusted him even then." A wild cat curled itself up at her feet, and she had it purring in no time.

"I guess I should forgive him. He's been with me all this time, and I'm sure it took a lot to tell me, knowing what I might do." She sighed and looked up into the trees.

"And I lied to him too. I guess everyone has their secrets. Too bad everyone knows about mine." She got up and began her way back to the cabin. Along the trail she found a blueberry hush and picked enough for their supper. When she got back, Toren had brought one of the chairs outside and was waiting for her. As soon as he saw her, he jumped out of the chair and ran towards her.

"Sem, I'm so sorry, I…"

She held her hand out to stop him.

"It's okay. I know why you did it, and it's okay."

"Really? No joke?"

She smiled. "No joke."

His shoulders slumped in relief. "I thought you would hate me after that."

"No, I don't think I could ever hate you. I don't think I could even stay mad at you for very long. Plus, I thought you would be mad at me, since I didn't tell you about the stone."

"I already knew about that. I knew around the same time as Sai. I'm connected to it, so that I know where it is at all times. And anyway, you didn't know I had anything to do with it, so of course I couldn't be mad at you."

She smiled at him and led the way inside.

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The next two days were uneventful, but everyone in the house was anxious about the origin of the strange letter left for Sembri. Around eleven o'clock, Sai suggested they head to the lake. They got there in no time and they all hid behind some trees, still within sight of the letter. At the base of the tree sat the cat that had comforted Sembri the day before.

At noon, a bright light surrounded the sapling and a glowing figure of a Priestess appeared beside it. Sembri recognized her and slowly left the protection of the trees. Her mouth was open, trying to form words, and her eyes filled with tears as she walked up to her best friend.

"Sembri, it's been such a long time."

"Catherine, how…? You, you died. I saw it."

"Shh, it's okay," she said, pulling her crying friend into an embrace. "I'm one of the immortals now. I've been living with them since I died when I was six. They've been very good to me, Sem. But they have also given me a very limited time here. I have two people here who can help you on your journey. They will stay with you until you and Toren come home. Oh, and Toren, you and Sai can come out now."

Toren stepped out tentatively. "Catherine, I can go home? They'll let me back in?'

"Yes, but you must stay here until Sembri is ready to come home as well."

"Fair enough! Thank you, Caedee."

Sembri turned around, giving Toren an accusing look.

"So, you also know my friend. We have a lot to talk about later, Toren. Caedee, where is the ones who are supposed to help me?"

The Priestess snapped her fingers and a swirl of silver sparkles came up from the ground, revealing a very small girl. She had on a dark blue skirt with an orange strip of material around the top. Her shirt was a lavender color midriff with a cuffed neckline. Her bright green eyes were accented by a purple jewel on her forehead. To top off her unique look was her dark blue hair with a white streak to one side. Her outfit was accented by moon and star earrings, and a sun on the bottom of her skirt. Her pointed ears and teeth only served to make her look even cuter than before. She looked like a little elf.

Caedee snapped her fingers again, this time over the cat. When the sparkles disappeared, a boy that looked about their age stood before them. He wore all black with a long, black trench coat. He had longish, dark brown hair, and his eyes were still the golden color only seen on a cat. He looked like a normal boy besides the cat ears still perched atop his head.

"This is Hikari and Chris. Both of them have volunteered to help you." She turned to the two. "Behave and listen to what they say. Now I must go. Goodby for now, Sembri. Come home soon, I miss you!"

"Goodbye, Caedee. I'll be there soon enough."

The silver light disappeared and Hikari turned to them with a smile. "So, where are we going now?"

"We are staying here for now, in a cabin about ten minutes away."

"Okay!"

Sembri looked the new additions to her group over. "Where did the two of you come from?"

Hikari laughed a little. "I'm a nymph. I was born from the sapling that Caedee's note was tied to. I'm still young, compared to most of my kind. After all, I'm only ninety-eight!"

Sembri shook her head and turned to the boy. "What about you, Chris?'

He shrugged his shoulders. "I've been wandering these woods for a few years now. Though, I'm not quite as old as Hikari." He gave the nymph a half-smile. "I'm only fifteen. When the Priestess came, I was sleeping in the tree. She told me what she was doing, and I asked if I could help. Oh, and call me Wasian."

Toren slapped his hand to Wasian's shoulder. "So, we've got a tree and a cat to help us?"

The boy's eyes grew dark as night, and Toren's had seemed to move of it's own accord back to Toren's side. His eyes returned to gold, and he smirked.

"I am no longer a cat. She is no longer a tree. Once we have obtained our human forms, we cannot return to what we were. Besides, you're one to talk, monkey boy."

"That's right!" piped up Hikari between her fits of giggling. "It's also why I'm glad we'll be staying here for a while. It'll give us time to get used to our new forms."

Sembri smiled. "Then let's get back to the cabin, okay?"

Hikari nodded, skipping along the trail. Wasian curled his arms around one of Sembri's, and the three of them started back. Sai and Toren followed in silence, still confused at Sembri's reaction to the whole ordeal.

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Once back at the cabin, Sembri and Toren sat at the table. Sai was sitting in a chair at the window while Hikari and Wasian slept.

"So, how do you know Caedee?"

"Like she said, she's been living with us in Nae for the past eleven years. She is now seventeen, a very young immortal, but one of us nonetheless. You will be too, as are all Priestesses before you. Caedee helped me watch over you, and helped me interpret your feelings better. She cares a lot about you, Sem. She's a really good friend."

"Yeah, she was the only real friend I had other than Cain. She was the only one who understood me. But in the wars…

"We were right beside each other in a ditch to the side of the road. They threw a fire blast at us. It killed her instantly, and I pretended to be dead right beside her. It took everything I had not to scream. Well, you know, Toren. You saw it happen."

"Yes, but I also know it helps to talk about it. If I remember right, you've never talked about it to anyone."

Hikari sat up, rubbing her eyes. "Wow, Sembri! You must be really strong to hold all those feelings inside without telling anyone for so long. You are a powerful Priestess indeed."

Wasian opened one eye, rolled over, and went back to sleep.

"Yes, she is," Sai told Hikari. "She is the most powerful ever born. She will lead us to triumph against Cain. You know who he is, right?"

"Yes," she said with a grimace. "The trees always talked to each other about what they heard from the dryads in the wind and the water. They nymphs and dryads can all talk to each other, of course. They spoke of how Cain destroyed huge cities just to kill one person. Thousands have died at his hands. He has also come across the stones of great power: Hontoo and Shoosetsu, Truth and Fiction. He must be stopped, and I am to help. I still have the power to talk to the spirits of the earth, so I can keep up with Cain's actions. I also have other powers, and I'll explain them later, when you need to know."

Sembri gave her a small smile and looked out the window. She knew she needed to learn how to fly in order to make any progress in distance. The dark shapes played at the edges of her eyes once more. He didn't give up, that's for sure.

"No, he won't."

She turned around to see Wasian's gold eyes watching her.

"How did you…?"

"That doesn't matter. But, he will not give up the control he has on you."

"Please, stop." She turned quickly to Toren. "I'm sorry, I should have told you, I…" She stared into his eyes. There was no movement in them, he wasn't blinking. Not a muscle in his body was moving, he'd even stopped breathing. She looked at Hikari and Sai. They, too, had stopped moving.

"Relax, they're fine. One of the powers I was granted for helping you was to be able to manipulate time. I can stop time altogether. They have no idea, and once I release the hold, everything will go back to normal."

"So, you won't tell them about him?"

"No, but I won't leave him alone either. He won't be content with just the power he has over you right now. He's greedy. He'll take more. But before I help you, you must tell everyone else about him. You can't be rid of him until everyone knows, that's how he hold such control. He attaches himself to the doubt in your mind, to the fear. Unless you aren't afraid of rejection because of him, we cannot rid you of him."

She sighed. "Alright. I guess my last secret will be out in the open now. After this, they'll know everything about me."

Wasian gave her a sad smile. "But you'll be free of him. After that, your mind will be yours again."

She nodded. "I know. Thanks." She gave him a hug. "Now, let's get this over with."