06

AJATAR'S STORY

Chapter Five: Ajatar's Story

Kitee, North Karelia, Finland

Tarja grabbed onto Sebastiaan as the chest starting shaking. "Look, it's trying to do something." A million different colours appeared in front of them, like they were indeed trying to form something.

Sebastiaan looked at her, then back at the chest. "Maybe this is what it's supposed to do."

I was so prefect. He was so angelic. We belonged together in an eternal unity of light. No darkness surrounded us; blackness never entered their souls. Both souls were pure.

Tests have proven that we were meant to be together. The stars all lined up for us. There was no death star in the sky. Therefore, nothing can rip us apart.

We unite against the forces of darkness. Light outshines darkness. It is through lightness that causes the forces to disappear. It is the power of the angels that cause the devils to run.

Never get jealous or mad at others. We were so good, so gentle. No matter how the ones close hurt us, we forgive and forget. This includes those who don't deserve it.

We stare into each other's eyes. We don't look at anyone else expect for each other.

"My kind, gentle Lady," he whispers, "may I have this dance?"

The Light Princess smiles. "Good sir, there's no music."

The Light Prince placed his forehead against mine. "You are the music. I can feel it in my soul."

The Light Princess and Light Prince joined hand.

As we joined hands, the forces of good united.

As we joined hands, all the darkness was gone from our kingdom.

As we danced, the fire shone on the faces of the other lords and ladies. All the evil was gone from their souls. Goodness was all that existed.

Together, our hearts beat as one.

Together, everything was all right, even if we were no longer in charge of the kingdom. It was still theirs, it always would be.

Together, the possibilities were endless.

Or so I thought.

The next day, he entered my life. The next day was my last day. For little I did I know that night was going to be my last night. I didn't know. How was I supposed to know that I was going to end up like this?

If I could I would have gone back in time and changed it all. Life's funny like that. Once something is done, you can't go back and undo it all.

If I could have done that I would have.

Don't dwell on the past. Just get over it and move on. Life doesn't hurt as much that way.

Needless to say, I haven't seen my sire since that night. I don't even know his name. All I know for sure is that he was male, young, and hot. That's all I remember.

Until, my man came into my life. He wasn't my prince, but he was much better.

Of course, when I found him, he had to be dying.

Tarja eyed Sebastiaan, her own frown deepening. "I think it's going to tell us her story." The words felt really stupid as they came out of her mouth. "Why would she put everything into a chest?"

Sebastiaan shrugged. "I really have no idea. It just seems like something people do." He ran his hand through his hair. "I can't believe I've been carrying this around all this time. It could have everything that we need."

Tarja gave him a weak smile. "Don't be so hard on yourself. We really have no idea what our gifts are."

Sebastiaan smiled. "That was pretty bad, you know that right?"

She shrugged. "What can I say? I tried."

He started turning the chest around. "Maybe it has more than one memory in it. What I have read about these it is pretty uncommon, but not impossible. I don't really remember how to trigger the other memories or even how to find out."

"Sounds like more research is needed."

Sebastiaan nodded. "Yeah, and we lost Raakel's library, which is going to make it even more difficult." He paused. "I have a few books, but they probably will not have a lot on this. It's pretty Dark Magic."

"Okay, then, I guess it's a start." She stood up. "I probably should go see Aleksander before we get started and you look like you need some rest." It was the first time in a long time that she noticed just how pale Sebastiaan was. Did the more you had drain you all that much more faster?

Sebastiaan shook his head. "I'm fine, but I guess a little break would not be the end of the world."

Tarja turned away from him, heading down to where Aleksander. Hopefully, he was awake by now.

She stood inside the doorway, watching him sleep. She knew that he needed his rest, but she wished he would at least make an effort to be awake when she came in. It was almost like he was avoiding her, even though she knew that he wasn't.

She lowered herself down into the chair next to his bed. He snorted, but didn't wake up. Would it really be all that low to shake him? He did know Sebastiaan the best and would know what to do to get his strength back. Of course, Aleksander would probably try to take Sebastiaan away if he thought they were abusing his power. It really was just not a good situation.

"Aleksander," Tarja whispered. "Aleksander, can you hear me?"

Nothing...She really hoped that it was not going to have to come down to her actually touching him in order to wake him up.

"Aleksander."

Swearing, she bent closer to him. His breathing wasn't as deep. That low life.

"I know you can hear me, so I suggest you open your eyes before I shove snow under your sheets." She got to her feet and walked over to the closest window. "I really don't want to have to do this, but I will if I have too."

"You wouldn't dare." Aleksander slowly opened an eye. "I am on my death bed and that is what you try and do to me."

Tarja shrugged. "Listen, a lot has happened." She paused. "He's weak."

Aleksander sat up quickly, wincing. "What the hell did you do to Sebastiaan?"

"Nothing...Well, he had this chest and we couldn't get it up." She looked away from him. "It's kind of a complicated story."

Aleksander narrowed his eyes. "You have just best start talking before I decide to make it worse on you."

Sighing, Tarja told him everything. He did manage to keep his mouth shut through most of it, even though it did look like he wanted to say something more than once. The more she talked about what happened, the less she found herself believing her own words.

"And that all that happened?" Aleksander asked, getting out of bed.

"You really shouldn't-"

"Let's see if we can get that bad boy open again." He started slowly down the hall, swaying every now and then.

"Aleksander, I really don't think you should."

"Don't tell me what I should and should not do."

The chest sat in the centre of the table, untouched. Aleksander moved slowly toward his, his hand outreached. When he touched it, nothing happened. He looked back up at Tarja before touching it again. "Well?"

Tarja moved closer to the chest, her frown deepening. "It may have locked back up."

"Well, now, that is depressing. For something that is supposed to have magical powers, this is kind of lame." He smirked at the chest. "Yes, I hope you can hear me and I hope that little insult hurt your feelings. You are lame."

Tarja rolled her eyes. "And you clearly need to grow up. Insulting the chest?"

"Well, if make people angry, you do tend to get a reaction out of them, so why should this thing be any different?"

"I don't know, but it's just odd."

"Well, what can I say?"

They both looked at the chest.

"Do you think it will actually work, insulting it?" Tarja slowly asked. "I think making it angry will just cause it to shut down."

Aleksander shrugged. "I just figured it was worth a shot. You never know."

The chest stared back at them, unmoving. The runes on the side did actually look a little redder, not by much though. It would have been a lot better if it showed them another scene. Somehow Tarja thought that making it mad would not get them another scene. Maybe being nice to it would. Kindness did seem to get you a lot more out of people than anything else did.

"Please, open up," Tarja asked. "We really could use your help."

"Please? Really?" Aleksander asked. "Are you actually going to beg it to open?"

Tarja gave him a long look. "I don't see your way working, do you?"

He shrugged. "It's not going to work."

Tarja took his silence as her chance. "Being nice people does tend to go a later better than ordering them around."

Aleksander rolled her eyes. "You really do know how to push someone's buttons." He paused, a dark and rather evil looking smile formed on his face.

"Don't you dare!"

He reached out and poked the side of the chest. The chest began to shake so hard that Tarja actually feared it would fall off the table and break.

I wake up on a deserted shore unsure of where I am. The last thing I can remember is sitting down to dine with the love of my life. After that, darkness is all that there left. No matter how hard I try to remember, I cannot come up with what happened there.

The longer I sit here that more the memories keep coming back. I can remember a light and then screams. I can remember Daniel reaching for me and something wet hitting my face. After that, there is still nothing. Maybe I don't want to remember what happened after that.

Darkness still surrounds me. I know that my eyes are open, but they are unseeing. Where did my vision go?

I carefully pull myself to my feet. I don't want to move too much because I am still a bit shaky. I pull my senses out as far as I can. I can sense nothing. There is no sign of civilization. I am all that is here.

I sit down hard and buried my face into my skirts. Angry tears begin to fall. How could this have happened? Why did this have to happened to me now? I kick at the sand. This is not supposed to happen to me! I am a noble's daughter for heaven's sake!

I stand up and scream toward the sea. I say nothing that resembles any type of known language. I scream and let it out. By the time I am done, my voice is hoarse and I am numb. The nip in the air doesn't even bother me anymore.

Crossing my arms over my chest I begin to walk down the beach. There is no reason for me to stay where I am. I need to find someone to help me and give me back my vision. I walk for a few metres until I smell the blood.

Oh, yes, it is possible to smell blood. It smells raw and sticky. It's sweetness stands out over the odours of wherever it is I am. I stop and stare down at where the blood is coming from. It takes me a few minutes to remember that I can longer see.

"Are you going to stare at me or are you going to help me?" a sharp, male voice snaps from below my feet.

"If you're going to be like that, then I'm just going to leave you here," I snap back not adding that I can't see him. I am the type of girl who doesn't put up with any man's nonsense.

"Please, help me!" The voice below my feet begs. "If you don't, then I'll die."

"You really should be kinder to strangers," I say.

The voice falls silent. "Look, it's been a really rough day."

"You and me both," I mutter.

I can hear movement and groans of pain from beneath my feet. The male coughs and gasps for air. I am not sure what he is doing. For all I knew, he could be preparing to kill me. My heart picks up speed as that thought entered my mind. Yet, my feet will not move. I hate this. It is as if I am no longer in control of my body.

A few minutes later, the movement stops. Everything, even the sea behind us, falls quite. My breath catches. Is he baring a knife at me? What is he doing? I wish that I could just see what he is doing. The darkness makes me nervous. It makes me feel so weak.

The movement starts up again. This time it is closer to my face. I step back and trip over something. I prepare myself for impact as I soar toward the sand. Suddenly, I am back on my feet in the same spot that I had been just seconds before. I narrow my eyes. How had that happened?

The male snickers. "You may want to watch your step there. You are not very graceful." He is roaring with laughter now.

"Is that how it went last time?" Aleksander asked once the scene ended.

Tarja shook her head. "No, last time is was more unformed." She stared at the chest, groaning. "Why does everything seem to come back to love?"

Aleksander shrugged. "You tell me."