When Loa awoke once more, she was in a dark cavern.
"No more… Not hell!" she screamed as her eyes adjusted to the light. She was past the point of insanity now. She was blabbering senselessly. She had lost her mind… Totally. She was unreachably insane.
As she wrapped her arms around herself and moaned nothings into the air, a white orb of light appeared at the other end of the darkness, a woman's figure appeared, and walked towards Loa.
"You… Came… Back…?" Loa asked Lao Ma. She smiled wildly. "Want to play some more?" she cocked her head sharply to the right, and stared at Lao Ma, giggling.
"Silence your madness for a moment, young one." Lao Ma fixed her with a look.
"I can't… It's a part of meeee." Loa giggled.
"Yes you can. And you will. That is why I am here." Lao Ma looked around the cave. "For what you have done… For trying to seal a member of the higher order… Hades was to sentence you to eternity in Tarturas. But… I talked him out of it…"
"Whhhhy?" Loa asked, jumping around the surface of the cave, she bounced around, muttering and then jumped into Lao Ma's face. "I'll kill you if you let me frreeeee."
"Oh… No you won't Loa…"
"What will stop meeee?"
"Nothing. But, I intend on giving you a second chance."
"The voices tell me you're lying… You're lyyying!"
"I am not lying. I know you can be saved…."
"Liiiar!" Loa jumped up and around again.
"Silence!" Lao Ma looked at Loa and a web of power threw her into the wall, and fixed her there.
Lao Ma came closer. "My daughters. There was a good one, and a bad one. Ying." Lao Ma swirled a bit of power in the air. "And Yang."
When the power had dissipated, the stone Loa had had before was floating before her crazed eyes. "You, Loa, are like my daughters, and you have a counter person… And if you can unite with this person… Then you will be free."
"Whaaaat?"
The "Kage" symbol glowed gold. "This is your salvation, Loa. Use it well." She let the stone shine there, and then Loa allowed herself to be covered in the glow.
"How can darkness…" she giggled fiercely. "How can it save meee? It faaaillled me in the past…" she sung.
"Listen to me carefully." Lao Ma said, retreating into the shadows. "Loa, you have a power unlike any other. You could truly destroy the world. But to every great power, there is an equal, a reciprocate. There is a 'limiter.' Yours is above. In the living world still. Listen to my words, Loa. To live, to allow your power to accomplish its true destiny… To let you follow your path. You must find this person. You must find a way." Lao Ma reappeared in front of Loa's crazed eyes, and stared deeply into them.
"Everything has been written for us already, the only problem is, unlike a book, we cannot flip to the end and read the conclusion. You must find the will, the desire, to save the world and yourself. You can do it. I know you can."
Loa looked to Lao Ma with some kind of unreadable emotion in her haunted eyes. She looked as if she was listening to some unknown voice in her head.
A few moments of heavy silence passed. "Make… The voices go… Away." She whimpered.
Lao Ma's face changed from one of lecture to one of seriousness. "The only way to destroy the voices is to find the person who can save you. There is only one. And the person lies above…"
"Where?" Loa whimpered.
Lao Ma waved her hand once more, a wisp of white hot power floated into the air and unfolded itself…
"Noooooo… Anywhere but theeeereeeee." Loa moaned, staring at the image.
"I am sorry, but fate tells me, this is the place." Lao Ma turned her eyes to the image. "The Amazon Isle of Wants and Desires." She turned back to Loa. "My dear, I know you hate me, and that you hate the people on that island. Actually, as I look at you, I realize you may hate every creature in existence. But I know that is not you. That is the Dragon… The Black Dragon speaking. Underneath, yes the Dragon may always be a part of you, but I know a kind person is underneath it all. I will do anything to help you. But I am still under the confines of this realm…"
Lao Ma stepped back and waved a hand again. Loa slumped to the cavern floor, loosed from her bonds. She looked tired, and sick.
"Why can't I just dieeeeee?" Loa asked softly.
"That is not your path…" Lao Ma said, her eyes strangely sad. She turned away for a moment. Then, she returned her pure gaze to Loa's sin-filled one. "I can do one thing for you before I send you on your journey. I can anoint you with my power. The power of The Way. This power is the strongest one, in the right hands… Unfortunately, I do not know who's hands that is. All I can do is free you from the Black Dragon's grasp for a while, until you find your savior…"
Loa moaned, clinging to the damp stone of the floor. She was curled in a tight ball. Moaning, unintelligibly.
Lao Ma came over to her, and kneeled. Soft kimono fabric brushed Loa's feverish skin, and she jumped at the sensation of touch. Lao Ma touched gentle fingers to Loa's forehead, and when she stood straight, Loa could…
Think.
She didn't know when was the last time she could do this simple task. Form thoughts in her head and actually finish them… What a wonder…
Lao Ma had sorrow in her eyes as she looked down at Loa, who was struggling to get up.
Loa sat up, and pushed back her black hair, her eyes were confused and tired.
"Are you ready to go yet, young ninja?" Lao Ma asked.
Loa opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Looking down, then around, she opened her mouth again, and somehow spoke. Her voice was not the high-pitched insane one that had been heard moments earlier, but a soft, rough one… One that came from vocal cords that seemingly had been misused.
"Just tell me one thing…" she stared up at Lao Ma. "Why…? Why did you take me and send me back…? Why condemn the whole world?" she asked.
"You know, Loa, that I had a daughter like you, and I tried my best to save her, but I realized her fate long before this day. I thought, you, like her, would be my absolution, that I could somehow right a wrong that I had not the power to when I first had her." Lao Ma looked away. Loa could notice a slight glimmer on her cheek…
Tears?
"I wanted to save… You. But I knew I was too weak to." Her tone was now scornful. "I'm sorry… Loa, if I caused you pain, but now I will try to right the wrongs I made." She looked up, chin high. "Now go! Go fix your path and soul and know that ultimately, your path has been written! It may be hard… But your soul is strong. It always has."
Lao Ma nodded, and in a flash of light, the "Kage" stone appeared around Loa's neck.
"This will help you on your journey. Hold it tightly, young one… You will understand when the time comes."
Loa, for the first time, looked at Lao Ma, with some understanding. The lines that accentuated the woman's eyes spoke volumes about her… Loa was sorry…
"Good-bye now, Black Dragon… Loa… Survive! And live to tell your tale!" then Lao Ma made a sign with her hands and suddenly, Loa's eyes were overcome with a bright light…
______________
Where am I going…?
Am I going to live…?
I'm….
Scared.
The only noise in Loa's ears was crashing waves. Dull distress clouded her mind… But she was powerless, whatever happened, was in the hands of destiny…
Destiny would have to lead her now.
Destiny would bring her…
To salvation.
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