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"Are you sure they will be released today?" Hayato asked for the third time, worried.
"Yes," Keiko answered, absently. It had cost her some cajoling of one of the guards, well, actually a lot more than cajoling to learn their friends were bound to be released after their one year stay. She was worried, though, worried for them. Well, mostly for one of them who never complained, but took everything on his shoulders.
"When will they come out, then?"
"I don't know."
"What if they're not released today?"
Hayato continued his questions, as worried as she was, but she couldn't be more precise. And she wouldn't tell him how she got the information either. They were twins, but still she refused to discuss certain matters with him.
"We come back tomorrow."
"But..."
"Hayato, enough!" she snapped. "Do we have anything better to do than wait out here?"
"Uh... no," Hayato lowered his head, beaten. "But if they don't come out today..."
The door of the Correction House opened and Keiko brightened. "They're here."
Hayato looked up and smiled, relieved, seeing his friends exiting the ugly building that had no outside windows.
"Kumar, Shafiq, we're here!" he called cheerfully, waving his hand to attract their attention in the traffic of the cobbled street. Keiko was happy his voice had come out, because hers was choked in her throat as she stared at the one she cared for: he had lost weight, and color. And his rare smile.
The three teenagers that had just come out of the Correction House joined them with puzzled expressions. The youngest, Jayanta, brightened up, but the other two looked wary.
"What are you doing here?" the leader asked bluntly.
"I thought your parents had taken you away," Shafiq added, staring at Keiko adoringly, which she barely noticed because he was standing next to the leader, fifteen-year-old Kumar. And she couldn't take her eyes off of the latter, trying to read him. The blunt manners didn't mean he was mad at them, she knew that, so maybe he was surprised.
"They had taken us to Agharek, but we came back," she said defiantly. "Took us some time to get back here." The good thing about still having parents was she and Hayato had been bailed out. But their parents had decided to move back to the capital of Akkora, which neither she nor her twin had liked.
"But we arrived almost two months ago, and we were wondering if they'd ever release you," Hayato added. They had spent one painful month in the correction house before their parents picked them up – painful for Keiko because she was in the girls section, separated from them. But Hayato had obviously bonded with their friends, so he had immediately accepted to go back to Leland when she suggested it, after almost six months in Agharek with their family. One month to go south with their father's cart, two to come back on foot, hiding from highway patrols and stealing food on the way.
"Well, we're out," Kumar said. "Have you been to the shelter?"
"It had been usurped by another gang, but we got it back," Keiko answered.
"They thought that the Orphans were history, but we proved them wrong," Hayato added proudly. Keiko scoffed at the memory of the scrawny children three or four years younger than them they had found in their shelter when they had reached Leland. Even if their new leader was almost fourteen, it had been easy for her and her twin to get rid of them.
"Let's go, then," Kumar concluded, leading the way towards their shelter, an abandoned house in the outskirts of Leland. Not much of a place, she had to admit. No furniture and it was crumbling. It rained inside when the monsoon came. But it was the best a street gang like them could afford.
Keiko was happy that they were together again. She had missed Kumar, and she found him even more attractive than when he had been arrested. Being away from him had made her realize her feelings and she had looked forward to seeing him again. She had dreamed for days of finding the right moment and telling him her feelings. Not now, though, she better wait another day or two. The others were present and he was still frowning after the detention. The Correction House couldn't have been that bad.
But as the hours passed, she noticed he was even less talkative than usual. He had been hurt, but he said nothing about the correction house – she could only imagine what had happened. Again she could only try to read him, imagine what he thought or how he felt because he wouldn't talk about it.
"Is there something I can do for you?" she asked while they prepared for bed after a meager dinner.
"No," he said sharply. "Just leave me alone."
She sighed, but obeyed. She had some idea what might have happened to him in the past year. She wished she could have spared him that time in prison. He had probably spent that year defending Shafiq and Jayanta, and taking everything on himself, as usual.
She watched him sleep restlessly, wishing she had the courage to touch him. But he looked more unreachable than ever.
***
"Where is Kumar?" Keiko asked, seeing Hayato, Shafiq and Jayanta seated in their corner without the leader.
"He went out," Hayato answered, looking unhappy.
"Alone?" she insisted, even if it was obvious. They usually went out in couples in order to protect each other. Usually Hayato went with him and played the bait while Kumar did the robbery.
"I think he went to talk to Maya," Shafiq said, sarcastic.
Keiko frowned. "The fortune teller?" she asked, incredulous.
"I don't think he goes to her because he wants to know his future," Shafiq kept the same tone. "He doesn't give a shit about his future."
She knew that, hence the question. What was he doing with a fortune teller? That woman had her own house and even looked rich, but he couldn't be planning to steal her jewels, could he? He would have told them, and besides they weren't burglars yet.
"Maybe he likes her," Hayato suggested, uncomfortable.
"Of course he likes her, she's beautiful," Shafiq replied. "I think Keiko is better, but I can see what he sees in Maya."
"She's old," fourteen-year-old Jayanta quipped in. "She's like twenty-five!"
"And I don't think he needs to know women more deeply, does he?" Keiko glared at all of them, knowing they kept her out of some 'boy things'.
"We know everything about women bodies," Shafiq assured with a smile. No thanks to her, of course, but she had had enough of unwanted attentions. And she knew how to keep her friends away. Not that any of them had ever tried something...
"Then what does he want with her?" she insisted.
"You'll have to ask him," Hayato shrugged. She knew Kumar wouldn't answer, so she spared herself the humiliation. Besides, she wasn't sure she wanted to hear him say "I love her and want to spend my life with her" when she wanted to tell him those exacts words.
He came back frowning and of course didn't bother discuss with the others where he had been and with whom.
"Everything fine?" Hayato asked, worried.
"Yes," was the quick answer, as Kumar averted his eyes to hide whatever was passing through his head. Keiko sighed. Eventually he'd tell them, she knew.
She felt relieved when Kumar said they were leaving town on their own. No more dirty streets of Leland – no more Maya the fortune teller. And his decision came the day after he had supposedly talked to her.
"Where shall we go?" Shafiq asked, worried.
"Anywhere is better than this shitty town," Kumar grumbled. "I'm sick of the perverts around here, let's find ourselves a better life."
"Where?" Hayato insisted. "North, south?"
"Let's follow the road out here."
They packed their few belongings and walked out of the shelter, following the unpaved road passing nearby towards the unknown.
***
Keiko was a lot less happy when they entered the jungle. She didn't like the dense tropical forest, nor the swamps. The tangled undergrowth was hard to get through, so they learned to climb trees and use lianas to move faster, like human monkeys finding their way in the tallest trees.
They found a nice spot with a little waterfall and a small fresh pond, good for both drinking and bathing. Nearby there was a huge tree, and in its branches they made a sort of hut, a covered shelter to sleep above the ground.
That was a little better, but Keiko still didn't much like being a woman in the jungle. She often wondered if she should go back to town, mostly when she had her period, but a simple look at Kumar, and she changed her mind.
He looked wilder than ever, and was a ruthless hunter. He provided food for everybody, leaving in the morning and coming back after a couple of hours with his prey.
Shafiq was very good at preparing those animals, and Hayato and Jayanta usually found the best fruits. Keiko felt useless, so she practiced archery, hoping Kumar would take her with him when he went hunting.
They kept snake skins and sometimes they went to a village to sell them. Once or twice a tiger passed by their shelter, but decided they were too much trouble to attack.
One day they were waiting for Kumar to come back from the hunt when they heard an elephant approach. Shafiq and Hayato took their lances, Keiko and Jayanta their bows, only to discover Kumar had found a new four-legged friend.
"This is Maya," he announced proudly, hopping off the back of the elephant. "She lost her family, so I thought we could adopt her."
"Great!" Hayato enthused. "She can take us further away!"
"I like it here," Keiko said, wary of the big animal.
"I wouldn't mind some female company every now and then," Shafiq mocked her.
She ignored him, staring at Kumar who had named an elephant for the woman he loved. Then she looked at the pachyderm, and smiled against her will: this Maya looked much nicer than the woman she was named after.
"Hello, Maya." She offered her hand to the elephant's trunk and laughed at the strange handshake. But the best feeling came from Kumar's smiling approval while Hayato, Shafiq and Jayanta decided to imitate her.
"Five boys and an elephant could do wonders!" Shafiq exclaimed.
"Four boys and two girls," Keiko corrected, checking Kumar's reaction to her words.
"Keiko is right," he said. "But so are you, Shafiq. This new team will do wonders."
Keiko was so happy to see him smile again, she found herself privately thanking the elephant for coming their way. Maya's answer sounded like a "my pleasure, Keiko", and she wondered if the elephant could actually be more human than the woman Maya.
No, that was because she never liked the woman. Because Maya, the woman, never respected Kumar like everybody else did. She teased him, used him, did everything she wanted to him, and he never reacted like he did with everybody else. He must be very much in love with that damn woman. Keiko often wondered what he found in Maya. But she was overcome with shyness whenever she wanted to become more personal with Kumar. Maybe because she knew well, after eight years, how good he was at keeping people at a distance, friends included.
***
"Keiko, when will you stop dreaming of Kumar?"
Shafiq was serious, not mocking as usual.
"Never, Shafiq."
"Our Little Prince considers you a sister..."
"I know, but I'll show him I'm not his sister nor a child anymore soon."
"No, you're definitely a young woman. And if he turns you down, you know who to call."
He turned his back on her and never brought up that topic again. Either he thought Kumar was more worthy than him or he didn't want to hear another "no thanks", which suited Keiko. She was becoming way too obsessed with conquering Kumar's heart to bother with somebody else.
Still, she was restless. When they rode Maya, Kumar up front, she was squeezed between him and Hayato, and all she wanted to do was caress and kiss him. She didn't dare without his permission or in front of everybody, but she really must tell him how she felt.
They were moving in the jungle and eventually reached the base of a mountain they couldn't really climb because Maya wouldn't have enough food. They knew nothing of geography and were by now completely lost, with no idea of how to go back to Leland, but they didn't care. They didn't want to go back, but sometimes knowing they were lost in the jungle wasn't a good feeling.
By the mountain they found a small cavern that looked like an excellent shelter for the upcoming rain season. So they stopped, and again Kumar was the hunter, and Hayato and Jayanta the fruit gatherers.
"May I come with you?" Keiko asked him. "You've seen how my arrows never miss their target..."
"Sure," he shrugged.
At last now she had a chance to be alone with him. He wasn't very talkative, but when they went back to the cave with their prey, he didn't mind exchanging a few words. Small talk, mostly, as her voice refused to express her feelings while marching in the jungle. If only she could grab his wrist and stop him and... All she could do was stare at his back.
Until they met the tiger. They were alone and the wild beast must have considered them easy prey. They shot their arrows, but it jumped on Kumar, unscathed. Keiko screamed and drew her knife while he struggled against claws and fangs, trying to keep the tiger's head away from him.
She stabbed the animal, but it only made it more furious. Maya saved the day, attacking the tiger and tossing it away with her trunk.
Upset and sobbing, Keiko hugged Kumar.
"I'm fine, let me go," he said weakly.
"Oh, Kumar, you could have died!" she cried.
"It wouldn't have been the first time."
"I don't want to lose you! I love you, Kumar!"
"I know, but my heart is already taken. I'm sorry."
She calmed down and pulled back, her pride wounded. "Maya, the woman!"
He nodded, averting his eyes.
"Why didn't you bring her, then?"
"She didn't want to come."
"She refused you?"
Keiko couldn't believe her ears, but from his face it was obvious that her rival had dared the unthinkable.
She pulled him closer. "Why don't you let me ease your pain?"
He pulled back, annoyed. "It would be just sex, and I've had enough of it."
"Just because adults abused you..."
"Exactly. My love for Maya was something different. It could never happen with you."
"Why not?"
"Because you're like a sister to me."
"I'm not your sister!" she exploded. "I'm sixteen and I want to make love with someone that I love and trust for once in my life!"
"I'm sorry, I can't."
He rose, picked up his weapons, and walked to Maya. "Are you coming or not?" he asked without turning to look at her.
Frustrated, Keiko followed him.
***
One day they weren't alone anymore. At the back of the small cave they had found a tunnel that seemed to go deep into the bowels of the earth, but they decided to stay by the opening, both to keep an eye on Maya and to avoid getting lost in an underground tunnel. They were street children, even if they had learned to survive in the jungle, so they were too afraid to explore the dark tunnel.
But somebody else hadn't been that picky and well armed men with dark tattoos and blood-red turbans fell on them, coming from inside the tunnel. The dozen men easily captured the five teenagers in spite of their desperate resistance. They found themselves locked up in a subterranean cell, in the dreaded darkness they had tried so hard to avoid. Keiko tried to reach for Kumar, but he pushed her in Hayato's welcoming arms.
"Quiet," her twin whispered. "Don't do anything stupid."
"Like what?" she protested.
"They think you're a boy," he answered.
Hayato was right, she better keep her real nature from their captors. She was glad she had started dressing like a boy as soon as they had left Agharek and the safety of their family house – she had never liked wearing saris anyway. Her breasts were still easily hidden under a loose shirt, and she and Hayato looked identical, except she wore her hair long and he shoulder-length. As hair length wasn't a way to determine the sex of the person – Jayanta's were was almost as long as hers – she was probably safe.
Soon enough they came for them. They were taken to a temple, where hundreds of torches burned and a black statue of an unknown goddess stood near a black altar.
The High Priest was a bald man in his thirties, his naked chest and arms covered with dark tattoos of dragons and snakes. As soon as he lay his eyes on her, she knew he could see through her disguise. He scoffed, said nothing and continued his inspection. She noticed he licked his lips when he stared at Kumar, who sustained his eyes with a frown.
"Welcome to the Temple of Darkness," the High Priest said at last. A slightly different accent told Keiko they weren't in Akkora anymore. "You took shelter in one of our tunnels, we thought to invite you in."
"I thought we were prisoners," Kumar snapped.
"I'm sorry, I was in Zarquon when they found you, or I'd have welcomed you differently," the High Priest replied pleasantly. "My guards did their duty by capturing intruders. I don't think you've been ill-treated, though, your youth spared you lots of unpleasant questions."
"So this is not Akkora," Kumar deducted too. He looked fearless and Keiko wished she could hold his hand.
"No, this is Arquon," the High Priest answered. "Well, it is outside of these tunnels. This underground city is the sole property of the Sect and I answer only to our Goddess." He pointed at the big black statue behind him.
"And what has the king of Arquon to say about this?" Kumar asked.
The High Priest scoffed. "Nothing, trust me. King Neeraj loves me very much."
What did that mean? Puzzled, Keiko glanced at Kumar and saw him tighten his lips and lower his eyes. Hayato seemed to be holding his breath.
"On account of your youth, I give you two choices," the High Priest continued. "Join us or die. You join us, you have food and shelter, learn our ways and our skills, and if you're smart enough you might one day live in a palace. Not interested? You die painfully, and it's all over."
"Not much of a choice," Kumar said, sarcastic.
"You're young, I'm certain you prefer life."
"I'm not sure about this."
"Kumar!" Shafiq protested. "Do you want us all dead?"
"I believe he's asking us to make personal choices, Shafiq. You don't have to keep following me."
"I certainly want to live!"
Jayanta looked terrified but nodded repeatedly at Shafiq's words. Hayato whispered "Life" and she nodded, turning to look at Kumar, worried.
"It can't be worse than it already is, I guess," he said with a shrug.
"Welcome to the Sect!" the High Priest exclaimed, opening his arms. "You will be trained in our customs and rites to worship the Bloodthirsty Goddess!"
Keiko wasn't sure the open arms were as welcoming as they looked.
***
There were women in the Sect. Keiko was divided from her friends – she could see each of them was marched off to a different room carved in stone – and found herself among them. They laughed at her almond eyes, but thought she was pretty. They bathed her and dressed her in a blood-red dress with black embroideries looking like an oversized tunic reaching her feet. The wide sleeves were unusual and it looked like something that could be easily discarded or ripped off.
The women left, leaving her alone in a windowless bedroom, nervously seated on a bed with black bed-sheets and canopies.
Then the High Priest came. "What's your name?"
"Keiko."
"Where do you come from?"
"I was born in Sutra, but my parents come from the Islands Empire."
"This explains your beautiful eyes. Is the boy your brother?"
"Hayato is my twin."
"Twin! And what about the other three?"
"They're orphans from Leland."
"I recognized the Akkora accent." He caressed her cheek, thoughtful. "I'm trying to convince Neeraj to marry, and we're meeting ambassadors from all the southern kingdoms. So, you're orphans, uh? I thought one of them might be royalty."
She smiled. "Maybe he is. We call Kumar our Little Prince."
"He certainly has a fast tongue," he scoffed. "But he will learn."
"And will you tame me as well?" she challenged.
"You are more manly than your brother," he teased. "But I will tame you all."
"You won't be the first, you know?"
"Yes, street gang members are rarely virgins. But trust me, I can teach you things you never dreamed of. It is our power, the power of the Sect."
"What is?"
"Sex and blood," he whispered before kissing her.
***
She could feel Hayato's pain as much as he could feel hers. His training was different from hers, but both were falling into the pit of desperation. Sometimes she wondered about the others, or better, she worried for Kumar. If he was going through the same things Hayato was suffering... but what could she do? She was raped on a regular basis, and she wasn't being trained for combat, where she was sure Kumar could give vent to his anger and frustration. Not Hayato, always the quiet one.
They were prisoners in a dark underground city that received very little daylight. Keiko longed for the sun, and even the hated jungle seemed better than the High Priest's bedroom. As a woman, she rarely met her friends except during the orgies in the temple, when they were all very busy not looking at each other, too ashamed of what was happening to them.
Her sexual education didn't bring her anywhere close to Kumar, though, and she started wondering if she could actually ask for him. Although he probably didn't want her now, less than ever, but maybe she could cuddle him and make him forget the others' touch. She saw steady couples among the Sect members (even if they swapped partners during the orgies with disgusting ease), so maybe...
"Your friends ran away," the High Priest announced the day she had finally made up her mind to ask him if she could have Kumar. She gaped at him, incredulous. She hadn't had the time to express her request and Kumar was... gone? Where? The High Priest looked only mildly annoyed, though. How could they find their way out in the labyrinth of tunnels? It had been a foolish move on their part... and they had left her behind!
"But don't worry, they won't go very far," the High Priest continued with a sneer.
"They will end up sacrificed?" she asked, panic rising in her throat. She gulped it down before adding, "Is there anything I can do to save at least one?"
"And who would that be?" he smirked. "Your twin or Kumar?"
They brought back only Kumar, deadly wounded for the resistance he had put up to cover everybody else's escape. They had opened his belly like animals, but also cured him, stopping the bleeding so that he could be conscious when they put him in the sacrifice cage.
Keiko stared with horror as they lowered her love inside the Goddess Pit. She screamed, but the High Priest held her tight and forced her to watch, laughing, as they sacrificed her love. She prayed he died before the fire touched him; he was probably too weak to scream, because unlike the other victims, his voice didn't come out of the pit.
Nor did his body. When the cage came back up, still white-hot, it was empty. Keiko stared at it in disbelief: usually there were carbonized remnants of the victim, but Kumar had vanished.
"The Goddess really wanted that one," the High Priest sneered. She turned to look at him.
"I will kill you," she promised, feeling hatred mounting inside her.
He scoffed. He knew he was more powerful.
For now.
***
The runaways were all captured and brought back. Jayanta and Hayato had given up the fight, but Shafiq tried desperately to get rid of some Sect members. Until a magic lighting struck him down.
Keiko observed admiringly Ramesh's sneer. He had so much power... She must learn how to use it too! She wanted to be as powerful as him to avenge Kumar's death. But to learn everything about his power she must pretend – pretend to enjoy the orgies, feel the other people's light or darkness.
She felt Shafiq's light fade when Ramesh ripped his heart out. She felt Hayato's terror as well. She knew he was full of light and that was one of the reasons why Ramesh enjoyed him so much. She could feel the High Priest's darkness as well.
Then she heard the source of his power. And it was calling her, tempting her. She could have her revenge if she was willing to give up something. Someone she loved.
She went to the Temple, walking in the darkness without fear. She was beyond fear. She reached the Fountain of Power and stared for a moment at the black liquid that seemed to repeat "Drink from me".
"Take my mother," she whispered.
She cupped her hands and drank.
***
"Keiko!" Maya, the woman, looked surprised, but not scared. "What have you done?"
"I have the power, and I will punish you," Keiko answered with contempt.
"Punish me? What for?"
"You refused Kumar, driving him away from Leland."
"I thought I was doing you a favor! You've wanted him since you had your first period!"
"But he was in love with you."
"And you really think the Pond has given you enough power to punish me?" Maya smirked. "You'll have to sacrifice a little more, if you really want to hurt me!"
Keiko stared at the woman, suspicious. She could feel her rival was different, but she couldn't tell how or why.
"Go back to your dark mistress, Keiko. You have no power over me," Maya said haughtily.
Keiko tried to hit her with her hatred, but found an invisible shield. Not only that, a powerful counter-spell sent her straight back to the Sect's temple.
"Why?" she asked. "Who is she?"
"She is Fajrulo," a disembodied, husky voice answered. "You will need more power to subdue her. Fajrulo are the only ones immune to my power."
"If your power isn't enough, how could I subdue her?"
"Your will and my power can conquer her."
"More power! I have already given you the life of my mother! Who else do you want, the rest of my family?"
"You're the one who wants to beat a Fajrulo. And you know the price."
Keiko grunted, going back to her room. She needed to think. Hayato was light and she needed darkness. Jayanta was weak. Should she try to tempt Ramesh? Convince him to help her? What should she tell him about Maya, though? Not the truth, at least not all of it. She could say she had discovered one woman she knew was actually a Fajrulo in disguise or...
Maya was Fajrulo, therefore she was of a Magical Race. Maybe she had the power to bring back Kumar. But to force her meant subduing her, and to do it, she needed more power. But she couldn't ask Ramesh who had killed Kumar in the first place. She knew he could read through her, she'll have to find another way.
Should she sacrifice also Yuki and Sayuri? Or little Takeshi? Poor little Junko? She didn't care for her father, who had sent her to her first rapist, but she missed her younger siblings.
"Yuki, forgive me," she whispered. It didn't hurt as much as the loss of her mother. Maybe she was already losing her feelings. The anger and pain for the loss of Kumar still hurt and the hatred for Maya still burned. But one wasn't enough, so she had to give away Sayuri's life as well.
***
The Pond had enough with those three lives. Soon Maya was trapped in Human form in the Temple of Darkness.
"You will help me to bring back Kumar," Keiko ordered Maya.
"I can't," the woman answered.
"Then you'll be a captive for the rest of your life."
"Maybe the rest of yours. My lifespan is longer than yours by hundreds of years, Keiko."
"Why don't you want to help me?"
"Because you want something impossible."
"I want to bring Kumar back from death."
"That's impossible because he's not dead."
"You liar! I saw him vanish in the Goddess Pit!"
"Vanish, not burn. I don't call that death."
"Then help me bring him back from wherever he is!"
"He has free will, but you can always try to force him like you did with me."
"Where is Kumar?"
"Why should I know?"
"Because you're Fajrulo!"
"Then free me, I'll look him up and bring him here."
"I don't think so. You will stay here as a hostage until he comes back."
"And how will he know I'm here?"
"Your problem. You're of a Magical Race. Bring him back or stay where you are."
Keiko turned her back on the cage that held the woman Maya, ignoring her snarl. She knew Maya was lying, and that Kumar was dead. But she had plenty of time to find a way to bring him back, so she could feel whole again.