Chapter Nine

Mai’s Dreams

When Mai woke up, all she could see were blurry shapes moving around her. She was confused about where she was, what had happened to her, and what was happening at the moment. She could hardly remember what had happened. They were at the park, and someone had come, someone….Fudo! It was Fudo who had come, and Mai, even though she was hardly aware of any of her senses, felt unusually warm, as hot anger coursed through her veins. But then what? Fudo and Dakota had gotten into a fight, and she had come to help, but had fallen. That was all she could remember.She didn’t remember getting back to her feet, or leaving the park, or even what had happened to her natural enemy. She felt some of her senses coming back to her; she heard voices.

“Are you sure she’s going to be okay?” said a very familiar voice.

“I’m sure,” said a voice Mai had never heard before.

“Hey, look, I think she’s waking up!” said another familiar voice. By now Mai’s vision was coming back to her. She could now tell that there were three people standing around her. She was no longer outside, she was in a small room with lavender walls. Now she could tell who two of the people were. One was Wyatt, who had bandages wrapped around his arms and small burn marks here and there. He had changed his clothes so he was now wearing a sleeveless top and shorts. The other was Dakota, who had one arm in a splint and much more serious looking burns. He was wearing clothes to match Wyatt’s. But the third person was a girl Mai had never seen before. She had black, chest length hair, which she had in a high ponytail, like Sam’s.She also had long, messy bangs that covered parts of her face. She had pale blue eyes and was wearing purple robes. Mai noticed that Tito and Amo were in the room too.

“Hey, are you okay?” asked Dakota, sitting down on Mai’s bed. Mai sat up and realized that the back of her head was sore. She reached up to rub it and felt that there were bandages wrapped around it.

“What happened, where am I?” she asked.

“When that boy threw you down, your head hit a rock and it knocked you out,” the girl said.

“How long have I been unconscious?” Mai asked.

“Only a few hours,” said Wyatt, a relieved look on his face, though he looked like he was trying to hide it.

“The boy looked almost worried about you,” the girl said. This confused Mai very much. Fudo look worried about her?Why would he care—he was trying to kill them all! The girl continued. “But while he was looking down at you, your brother tackled him.” She laughed. “My name’s Celie by the way.”

Mai laid back down. So that was why Fudo had fallen.Now she remembered briefly seeing a blur of red and blue.That must have been Fudo and her brother fighting. She was just glad that they were all okay, Fudo was not a very skilled fighter, Mai had learned that by now, but he still proved to be a match for them. “But then what happened?” she asked.

“Well, then I came and split up the two boys, not with words though. I had to use my powers to separate them.Even then they struggled to get back at one another, and it was hard for me to hold them back, my Black Light was starting to fade. But you should have seen them! They were rolling around like two little kids fighting!” she laughed, pointing at Wyatt. “Anyway, after that, the old man came running up and he ran off with the other boy. Then I helped your friend up,” she gestured to Dakota, “and your brother helped me carry you. I led them both back to my house; we should be safe here.”

Mai tried to sit up again, about to ask Celie exactly what she meant by ‘Black Light,’ but Dakota held her down. “You need your rest,” he said.

“But what was that light? And who was that other person? Was that you?” Mai asked Celie, deciding not to worry herself about what Black Light was, she would find out in good time.

“Yeah, that was me, and that light you saw was my power. I’m from the Light Tribe,” Celie explained.

“And that’s not all,” said Dakota excitedly. “She’s also a Chosen One!” Mai attempted to sit up again, but once again, Dakota prevented it.

“Really? You’re the Chosen One from the Light Tribe?” Mai asked, excitement running through her like it hadn’t in a long time.Maybe all of this had happened for a reason; maybe that fight was worthwhile, even if Mai had been knocked out. It would be worth it if Celie was a Chosen One.

“Yep,your friends have told me all about the Fire Tribe, Romokka, and your plans. I guess I’ll come along with you.”

“That would be really helpful,” said Dakota.

“Well, it depends. I mean, if my Dad will let me,” said Celie. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and it swung open. A tall man stepped into the room; he looked very much like Celie. He had black hair and very pale blue eyes, he was wearing purple robes and was carrying a bowl of water.

When he saw Mai he smiled. “I’m glad to see that you’re alright.” He walked over to her and put the bowl down on the floor next to the bed. He took a cloth from his pocket, dipped it into the water, wrung it out and laid it on Mai’s forehead. “There you go. Well, Celie if you could keep an eye on her, make sure she’s doing okay.” Celie nodded and the man left, closing the door behind him.

“Who was that?” Mai asked, guessing that she already knew the answer, and she was completely right.

“That was my dad, Non Gi” Celie answered.

“Celie, how do you know you’re the Chosen One? I mean, have you ever used your defensive power, or something like that?” Mai said as she adjusted the damp cloth.She wanted to be sure that this girl really was a Chosen One, that they weren’t getting their hopes up for nothing. Maybe she was just saying she was a Chosen One to get attention or something. Mai doubted it, but still, she wanted to be absolutely sure, for all she knew, Celie could be a spy for Romokka.

“Well actually, I’ve never used my Defensive Power before. But I can use two powers. And actually, I’ve pretty much mastered both of them.”

“What other power do you have?” Mai asked, just relieved that Celie knew what she was talking about, proving that she really was a Chosen One.At least Mai hoped, but the younger girl didn’t look much like the type to lie about something like that.She looked friendly enough.

“Earth,” Celie said with a simple shrug.

“Hmm, that’s an odd match,” Wyatt said thoughtfully, which he didn’t do very often, he was pretty shallow at times.

“Hey, Dakota,” Mai asked. “What if , say….three Chosen Ones pick the same thing for their second power?” Dakota took the cloth off Mai’s forehead, dipped it into the bowl of water, and placed it back on Mai’s head.

“They can’t really, they have only two flows of power in them, one for each of their powers. They sort of have a sense of which one to pick, so in the end, there is always two of each power. I still haven’t got my sense yet. They can’t decide until they get this sense. It’s kind of frustrating.”

“So, how old are you guys anyway?” asked Celie, leaning against the wall, making herself comfortable.

“Well, I’m twelve, Wyatt’s thirteen, and Dakota’s ten,” Mai said, pointing to each of them in turn.

“Oh, I’m ten also,” said Celie.

“I think you should get your sleep, Mai,” said Dakota as he stood up, casting a concerned look down at Mai.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” said Wyatt, patting Tito, whose purr filled the room.

“We’ll come by later. See ya!” said Celie, walking over to the door and opening it, she gave Mai a gentle smile.

“Come on Amo, Tito, let’s go,” said Dakota, gesturing for the animals to follow him. Then he walked over to the door too. Wyatt stood up and Tito jumped onto his shoulder. The three of them, and Tito walked out the door. Amo trotted out of the room after them. Mai rolled over onto her side.She didn’t want them to leave, but she was very tired and knew she needed rest. It took her a long time to fall asleep.

Mai woke with a start. She was covered in cold sweat and breathing very hard. Wyatt, Dakota and Celie were all standing around her bed, looking terrified.

“What’s wrong?” Dakota asked in a shaky voice.

“Just a bad dream,” Mai said as she sat up. “I’m fine, really,” she reassured them. She didn’t want them to worry, but she couldn’t help feeling afraid of what she had seen, what she had heard.

“Okay, do you want anything?” Dakota asked her.

She shook her head. “I’m fine,” she repeated. Dakota nodded and followed the others as they walked out of the room. Mai stood up slowly, using the bedside table for support. She walked over to the window and looked out. The house was in the middle of a dense forest. It was almost dark, the moon was up and the stars were starting to appear. Mai turned around to face the bed. She moved her hand up and the water in the bowl did the same. She made patterns and shapes, absentmindedly. She was trying to remember her dream. It seemed that Fudo had captured them or something, but she hadn’t felt her normal wave of blinding fury when she was next to him, it was something else, but she could quite put her finger on it.Was it fear? She had to have been afraid of what was going on, and it looked like they were in some sort of palace, and Fudo had presented them to the Fire Chief. And someone had screamed. It hadn’t been her; it was a male voice. She figured it had probably been Wyatt. It had seemed so real, the most realistic dream she had ever had, though it was no dream, it was a nightmare, or a horrifying vision. It was so real that she was still a bit shaky, though it could just be her weak legs struggling to support her weight. She decided that she would try and go back to sleep.She was still very tired. She let the waterfall back into the bowl, walked back over to the bed and lay down. She tossed and turned but finally fell asleep.

“NO!” Mai sat bolt upright in her bed, once again covered in cold sweat. It was now dark out and she couldn’t see a thing. She reached up and fingered her locket, what had her mother said about it?

‘You will be able to use it when the time is right.’That is what she had said, but what did she mean by ‘use it?” How could Mai ‘use’ a locket, other than wear it around her neck.

It was only a dream, Mai reminded herself.It wasn’t real, only a dream.Not real. She heard footsteps running towards her room. Then the door opened and Wyatt, Celie and Dakota came running into the room and Celie hit a light switch.

“What’s wrong?” Wyatt asked.

“I-I just had another bad dream is all,” Mai said, pulling a stream of water from the bowl, splashing it on her face. She felt a strange tingling feeling on the back of her head, but ignored it.

“Why do you keep having these bad dreams?” Dakota asked, sitting down next to Mai on the bed.

“I don’t know. I guess that fight we had scared me more than I thought,” Mai said.She just noticed that her head was already dry.

“Well maybe, you should have something to eat,” suggested Celie.

“Yeah, I guess so. I am pretty hungry,” Mai said. Tito jumped onto Mai’s lap and nudged her arm. Mai started stroking him, and wondered what he was thinking at the moment.Had Dakota told him all about what had happened while the two animals where gone?

“Hold on, I’ll go get some food,” said Celie. She turned on her heel and ran out of the room. She returned a few minutes later carrying a tray with a bowl of soup and a loaf of bread. Wyatt licked his lips greedily at the sight of it. “No, this is for Mai,” said Celie. She pushed past Wyatt and set the tray on the bedside table. “Here you go.” Mai leaned over, grabbed the spoon that was sticking out of the bowl and started eating the soup hungrily. “I talked with my dad about going with you,” Celie said casually.

“What did he say?” asked Dakota eagerly.

“He didn’t like the idea at first, and I had to talk him into it. In the end, he agreed,” Celie replied.

“Great!” said Dakota excitedly.

“When are we going to start our journey?” asked Celie.

“As soon as Mai’s feeling better,” said Wyatt, eyeing the loaf of bread. “She can’t be traveling around if she’s injured.”

“That shouldn’t take too long. I’ll go get a suitcase packed. I don’t want to have to do it last minute,” said Celie. She ran back out of the room.

“So, what were your nightmares about?” asked Dakota as soon as Mai was done with her soup.

“The only thing that made them nightmares is that they seemed so real,” Mai explained, she didn’t feel like telling what had happened in her dreams, it always made her feel uncomfortable.She had never liked doing it, and wasn’t planning to now.She hoped Dakota would understand.

“Were they visions?” Mai shrugged and slapped Wyatt’s hand away from her loaf of bread. Celie returned a few minutes later.

“Well, I’m all packed up,” she said brightly, looking at Wyatt out of the corner of her eye, making sure he wouldn’t eat Mai’s food.

“Well, it’s late, and I’m tired. We should all go to sleep,” said Wyatt, yawning.He did look very tired.

“Alright. Are you sure you’re going to be okay, Mai?” Dakota asked, he looked very concerned about her.

“I’m sure, Dakota,” she reassured him.She didn’t want the young boy to worry about her, she was just fine and she didn’t want him to get all worked up over nothing. He was just too nice.

“Okay then. Good night,” he said turning to leave.

“Good night,” said Mai. The three of them walked out of the room, Celie turned out the light and closed the door behind them, leaving Mai alone in the dark.Mai laid down and closed her eyes, hoping that she wouldn’t have another nightmare. She didn’t, but she did have a very strange dream.It was something that made her feel strange when she woke.

When Mai woke up the next morning, her head didn’t hurt anymore and she could think more clearly. She got out of bed and changed the clothes she had on under her robes, and slung the water pouch onto her back. She walked out of the room and took a first glance at the rest of the house. All the walls were the same lavender color as her room had been. There was a lot of fancy looking furniture scattered around, making it almost look like a palace.She heard Wyatt’s voice coming from behind a door to her right.

But just as she was about to reach for the doorknob, she heard Celie’s voice say, “Hold on, Mai’s at the door.” Mai hesitated then, pushed the door open and walked in. Wyatt was playing a game of cards with Dakota and Celie was watching. It looked like they were playing War, one of Wyatt’s favorite card games, which he always seemed to win. It was just his lucky game, though Mai could scarcely remember the last time Wyatt had lost.

“How’d you know I was out there and that it was me?” Mai asked in astonishment.Was this part of her Chosen One Powers she wondered.

“Well, it’s part of my Earth Powers; I have super sonic hearing.I could hear your breath and could tell it was you,” said Celie, looking up at Mai. “Say, you recovered fast. Do you have Healing Powers?”

“Wait, what?” said Mai quickly.Just another thing for her to be confused about, like everything else in the Solarian world.She was so tired of always asking questions and not knowing what people were talking about.

“Do you have Healing Powers?” repeated Celie.

“I…err… I don’t understand,” said Mai, shaking her head.Why did everyone know more than she did?That was all she ever did, ask questions, and it was getting very tiring, for once she would like to be the person giving out all the answers, instead of the one receiving them.

“There is a special power that some people have, Healing Powers; I don’t know where it came from, though.But anyone from any tribe can have this power, and it could come in handy later on.Also, something you should know, since I understand you are new to our world, each tribe has two special powers. Water Tribe can breathe underwater, make water disappear, and create water out of thin air. The Fire Tribe can create lightning, control lava, and put out fires (normally, if they catch something on fire they can’t put it out). Only the Water Tribe and the Fire Tribe have three Special Powers, the rest just have two.”

Dakota moaned. Mai thought for a second, that that was how Sam could create lightning, it was a special power. And Mai guessed that she could do the other Special Powers for Fire. She also wondered why only the Fire Tribe and the Tribe Water had three Special Powers; it didn’t make any sense at all. But then, nothing did anymore.

“Where was I?” Celie said, scratching her chin. “Oh, yeah. The Wind Tribe can fly and run super fast.I think Dakota told me he could already run really fast, but he’s only half mastered it. Once he gets up to full speed, he’ll be able to outrun a car on a highway.”

Dakota’s face brightened, and he started bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Celie continued. “The Earth Tribe has super hearing, like I just explained, and also has photographic memory, though I haven’t gotten that part down yet. The Light Tribe can send images mentally and can create illusion—I can only send images. The Mist Tribe can turn invisible and have incredible vision, sharper than an eagle! The Plant Tribe can shape-shift, and communicate with any living thing.Though when they shape-shift, they can only change into one animal, so they have to choose wisely.The Ice Tribe can read minds and paralyze things. The Metal Tribe can become invincible for a short time—like create invisible armor—five minutes out of every hour, and also have super strength. And the Sand Tribe can gain strength for a short time and turn rock to sand, so they can control it.” Celie paused, she had said most of this in just one breath, so she panted for a second before carrying on. “But not everyone can learn how to do these things. Hold on watch this, Mai.”

Celie closed her eyes and suddenly Mai saw an image of Wyatt cheating at cards. He had three of the four Aces up his sleeve, so when Dakota wasn’t looking, he could slip them into his own deck. Then the image disappeared and Mai could see normally once again.

“That was cool,” she said, smiling. Now she knew how Wyatt always won at War, he wasn’t lucky, he was cheating!

“It’s part of my Light Powers. I saw that happen just a few minutes ago.I used my photographic memory, but I can only remember things from a short while back, no longer than an hour.Anyway, I saw that happen, so I hope you know not to play cards with your brother,” Celie said with a laugh.

“What? Saw what happen?” Wyatt asked, turning away from his game of cards. Mai saw one of the Aces falling out of his lap. He was hiding them there so Dakota couldn’t see them.

“You, cheating at cards,” Celie said, crossing her arms.

“So that’s how you beat me so fast on the first game!” Dakota chimed in, putting down his cards.

“I did not!” shouted Wyatt, outraged.

“Yes you did! I saw you,” said Celie, laughing. “Well, anyway, do you have Healing Powers, Mai?” she asked turning to Mai.

Mai had completely forgotten what had started this whole conversation in the first place, and shrugged. “I guess so, but how do I use them? How can I summon them?”

Celie frowned. “I don’t know. All I know about it is, you have to touch your element to where you are injured, then…I think you have to do the rest with your mind.”

Suddenly, Mai remembered something. “Yesterday, your dad brought me a bowl of water, and I splashed it on my face. That must be why I healed so fast!”

Wyatt gave her a hopeful look. “Could you heal us?”

Mai shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll try it.” She took a stream of water from her pouch and walked over to Wyatt. “Show me your arm, Wyatt.” Wyatt lifted his arm and removed the bandages; Mai carefully placed the water on his arm and waited, holding the water in place so it wouldn’t run off. At first, nothing happened, but then the water began to soak into Wyatt’s skin. It continued until all of the water had disappeared. Wyatt lifted his arm and stretched it.

“Wow!” he exclaimed. “It’s completely healed!” Dakota and Celie were grinning broadly. Mai pulled out another stream of water and shaped it around her left hand, like a glove.

“Here, I’ll heal your other arm, then I’ll try to heal your burns too.” Wyatt nodded eagerly and unwrapped his other arm. Mai placed her hand on Wyatt’s arm and moved it up and down, like she was scanning for something. As her hand moved, the skin underneath it healed. When Mai was done with Wyatt’s arm, she moved to his burns. He had burns on his face and up and down his arms and legs. Mai carefully moved her hand over all of them. When she was done, Wyatt decided to change back into his normal robes.

“Me and Dakota only changed into these so our long-sleeved shirts and long pants wouldn’t irritate our burns,” he said.

“Alright, your turn Dakota,” Mai said walking over to Dakota, who had already started taking his arm out of the splint. Mai pulled more water out of her pouch and made another water-glove. She placed it on Dakota’s arm and waited until some of the water soaked in. Then she ran her hand over all of his other burns, which were far worse than Wyatt’s. After she had finished, Dakota had changed back into his red robes. When he came back he said, “I need to get a pair of Air Tribe robes. I’m sick of wearing these Fire Tribe ones.”

“Well we’d better get going if we want to start our quest,” said Celie playfully.

“Alright, Mai your suitcase is over there,” said Wyatt, pointing over to where Mai’s suitcase was sitting.

“Okay, just let me say goodbye to my dad,” said Celie, picking up her own suitcase, which she had been sitting on. By the time Celie had said her goodbyes, everyone ate, and—by her dad’s orders—everyone went to the bathroom, took a shower, and brushed their teeth, it was around noon. They started off again, walking through the woods, Tito on Wyatt’s shoulder and Amo, trotting along behind them.