Chapter Seven:

Jinjus retire!

 

          As the morning light filtered through the window, Marium stood up. She was completely dressed and ready for the day... but this wasn't just any day. Today she was going to sneak out.. back to her temple.. alone.

          "I have to do this.. by myself. I have to cleanse my sacred castle." she murmured, not completely sure of her actions. Silently, she slipped out of the room and out the front door.

          No one was awake yet, and the forest was unusually cold. The only sounds were her footsteps on the forest floor and the beat of her heart within her chest. She had no armor, no weapon, beside the anger that burned at the thought of her temple being defiled. That mixed with the agony at the death of her friends, and her new found magical abilities, made her a worthy opponent for the time being.

          Marium jogged through the forest at a steady pace, and within an hour, she was at the edge of the woods. She knew that Cadillac, Jonah, and Altaire would find her missing any moment now, and they'd be after her in no time. She just hoped that she reached the Temple of the Six Elemental Dragons Yin before they reached her. And she prayed that her plan would work once she got there, or she wouldn't stand a chance.

 

          KNOCKKNOCK! "Marium, I hope I don't have to come in there this time." Cadillac growled as he tapped on her bedroom door. There was no answer. "That's it, I'm not gonna be nice today!"

          As he burst into the room, he gasped. She wasn't there! Her bed was made up all nice. She wasn't in the kitchen cooking, either.

          "Jonah!" Cadillac cried, just as he bumped into the tall weaponsmith. "J-Jonah, she's gone!"

          "What? Who's gone?" Jonah asked, trying to understand the stuttering squirrel midget.

          "Marium! She's left, back to the temple!"

          Jonah's eyes widened. "But, she doesn't have armor or her weapon!"

          "Shh!" Cadillac put a finger over his mouth. "If you don't quiet down, we'll wake up Altaire! He'll get reckless if he finds out what happened."

          "Right." Jonah nodded. They turned to leave, and saw Altaire in a cloak, blocking the door. He had a stern look on his face. "W-we were gonna tell you sooner or later, honest!"

          He just gave them a quick glare, then opened the door and left, with them following.

 

          Marium stood, huddled in the cloak Altaire had covered her with the night before. The wind whipped through her hair, numbing her fingers and nose. She was gazing at her temple, just outside it. She couldn't see the evilness that now lurked inside her divine palace, but she could definitely feel it.

          Taking a deep breath, she waited for the evil to sense her approach, then she calmly took a step inside.

          It was dark in the temple, and smelt like decay. The scent alone made Marium want to leave. But she knew that she had to do this. It was the first step to reviving the goddess, Yin.

          She quickly made her way to the heart of the temple, where she'd arrived from the sky days before. The altar stood, black and foreboding and she knelt before it. It was a stupid thing to do, especially in enemy territory, but she had to. The urge was too strong.

          "Goddess give me magic... strength, skill, and stamina to purge your revered castle. Protect me..." then she heard the first Jinju approach from the shadows. Marium stood quickly, and turned to face it. Hundreds were appearing where the darkness had once been. Soon the room was saturated with the vile abominations. "Please let this work."

          Altaire could tell that she was right inside the prayer room. He stepped through the temple doors, and continued down the hall toward the main altar praying room. Cadillac and Jonah followed him, cautiously. Jonah was clutching an axe in his hands, and had another weapon strapped to his back. Cadillac had his magic beads ready for an all out elemental assault.

 

          Inside the prayer room, Marium was in a spellcasting position, and inventing another spell. "Dark magic, heed my discord, halt the evil creatures that my summons create, force them back to the colorless depths from whence they came. Turn evil against evil in ultimate strife, purify and restore this palace! Revered spirits of the Goddess Yin, lend me your hearts and souls, Maiden's Prayer!"

          Altaire and the others stepped into the room just as Marium finished her chant, and stuck her hand into the air. The air in the room grew heavy and swarmed with the thick aroma of death. Then, the Jinjus collapsed to the ground, their bodies turning to ashes as they hit the floor. She opened her eyes and glanced around. It was peaceful in the main altar room, and not even Cadillac broke the serenity to reprimand Marium.

          "That..." she whispered, with an animated smile, "was totally awesome." Her eyes glazed over and she stumbled, but she regained herself before she could fall. "I-I'm okay. Whew, I didn't know if that would work or not.. I stayed up trying to figure that spell out perfectly.."

          Altaire was staring at her in amazement behind his bangs. Didn't she know how much trouble she put him and the others through?

          She was a little flustered as she looked through the room for anymore Jinjus. "Gee.. I guess I got them all.. but I don't like that spell. It was really rancid in here for a second."

          'MARIUM! NEVER, EVER, GO OFF WITHOUT TELLING US!!' Altaire finally exploded, face red. She turned, surprised at the scolding. 'Don't you know how worried I was? Without you.. I- and you didn't even know if this would work.. You should be grateful that you didn't just die here!! That was one of the stupidest things you could have done!'

          Marium was red with embarrassment. "It was my choice!"

          'You have a responsiblity to ALL the people here, on Pallas, and if you go off and do something rash like this, you could get yourself killed! Then you'd be letting everyone down!'

          "I would not have gotten myself killed." she said, simply. A faint wind whistled through the hushed room, and calmed Altaire and everyone.

          "Well..." Cadillac was hesitant, still expecting a Jinju to jump out at any moment. "Let's scout the area, and see if there are any more creatures lurking around. And.."

          "Here, Priestess." Jonah knelt humbly before Marium, drawing the weapon from the holster on his back. He held it out to her.

          Marium's eyes shone at the sight of the giant sword that was offered to her. It was long.. the blade alone was almost taller than she was, and together with the cool, metallic black hilt, it was longer than she was tall. Embedded in the handle was a jewel, which swirled with purplish, dark energy. "It's... beautiful, Jonah!"

          "You're too kind." he said, truly meaning it. Marium clutched the sword by its hilt and held it close, not far from her breast. "It should evolve as you do.."

          "Thank you, Jonah! So much!" Smiling, Marium hugged and kissed the baffled young man's cheek, and then quickly ran off to search for Jinjus.

          Cadillac and Altaire exchanged looks, and looked at Jonah. Jonah stuttered a bit, but managed to speak. "Uh, I think she likes it."

 

          The four decided to reside in the goddess's castle and to use it as their new home. They spent the remainder of the day taking the things they needed from the hut in the woods, to the Temple of the Six Elemental Dragons Yin.

          Marium found that she didn't have a spell to heal the wounds of her heart, when she discovered how many people had lost their lives in the fight against the Jinju. Then, she saw the bodies of the friends she'd lost only days ago. "Sachi. Tasae…"

          She rushed to the pale remains of her best friends and dropped to her knees in agony. The souls.. the sadness.. the loss... all too great for Marium to bear any longer. She tried to block out the cries of the disturbed spirits, but they would not be ignored. Not by the one that they sacrificed themselves to summon, not for the one they were counting on to set things right.

          "Responsibility.. the people.. all my fault... oh..." Marium swayed unstably and started to faint, but instead of collapsing, she held onto the thin strand of consciousness that connected her to the world. Her eyes blanked out, and she seemed to become possessed by another person.

          She stood up, waveringly, and raised her hand to her face. Her skin was smooth and lukewarm, and her eyebrows were slightly curved in a semicircle. Marium caught sight of a mirror, and stumbled toward it. Altaire, Jonah, and Cadillac heard the noise and peered in from behind the door. They saw Marium standing infront of the glassy mirror, her sightless eyes gazing unsurely at the image that she found there.

          "... What am I?" she mumbled, her lips tasting the words. It wasn't her voice that floated out of her throat. The voice was smooth as silk, gentle as a lamb's fur, but hard and cold at the same time. It was the voice of a goddess, and it tinkled like thousands of golden bells. "...Who is this..? Why.. am I alone..? Where is he?"

          The three that stood behind the door, looked at each other with concern in their eyes as the possessed Marium drew her new sword. "What a .. perfect arm. I will have to give my regards to Mastersmith."

          She laid the sword on the ground gently, and her image caught her eyes again. She slowly turned around and examined herself. "This girl looks exactly like my original body. I wonder, though. Can she handle my true power? Poor girl, so confused."

          Altaire drew in a quick breath as he realized what was going on. 'Alone.. without him! She's talking about my god, Yang. Marium, you're trying too hard, there's no way that you can handle her full power right now!'

          Marium's strange, dull eyes searched across the room for the owner of the voice that was ringing inside her head. Altaire and the others flattened themselves against the wall safely covered by the door. She turned back around and stared at the lifeless corpses that littered the floor. "How awful. Such needless deaths, all because of those... power-driven sorcerers...

          "If only she had acted sooner, if only she had been stronger.. a weak, powerless, pitiful girl. Only caring for her friends, only living to resurrect them. Why did I have to be reborn as such a depressingly vile creature?" the disgust in her blank eyes made Altaire turn red with anger. "To the wind!"

          Her finger pointed straight up as she started a chant. It sounded familiar to Cadillac. "To the sea!" Her other hand outstretched, pointing to the west. "To the fire!!!"

          A flame of magic and heat engulfed the bodies strewn around, turning them to ash. "RETURN TO THE EARTH WHERE FIRST YOU WERE BORN, STRAIGHT TO THE HEART, AND NEVERMORE!"

          Her hands were clamped together, as if praying. "To Yang's kind soul, I do beseech, I will not be revived until this larva of a woman learns... life's lesson... then, maybe, we will both get our wishes granted."

          Then, as if exhaling deeply, the thing that had possessed Marium left her body. She crumpled like a wilted flower before she could regain herself enough to do something. Marium weakly drew her sword and braced against it with all her weight, letting out a suppressed cry as she did. "Godammit!! ...!"

          She grasped her stomach with one hand, and leaned on the sword with her other. Sweat beaded on her face and rolled off. Altaire watched, confused, as did Jonah. But Cadillac started into the room to help Marium. "No, Cadillac! Stay back, all of you!"

          The look in Marium's eyes was serious, and Cadillac stepped back to give her room. "Marium, it's okay. You're alright now."

          She scrutinized the littler mage that stood in front of her with his hand offered. As the tears welled up in her eyes, she removed her sword from the wooden floor, and placed it back in its strap. Her voice was reluctant as she started to back away from him. "Cadillac, tell Altaire that I can't stay here anymore... I've got to think … about things. I'll be back soon, I promise. But... if.."

          Marium was surprised to see Altaire step out from behind the door, followed by Jonah. Altaire held his hand out for her as well. "It's... okay, Marium. We saw... everything."

          Jonah and Cadillac jumped at the sound of Altaire's voice. "You can talk?!!"

          But Altaire was absorbed in Marium at the moment. She was unwilling to leave, but she HAD to. Her heart was a jumble of feelings that she had to sort out, and she couldn't do it in that temple. Retiringly, she shook her head. "It's really not okay, Altaire. It's not, it won't be. I can feel it."

          He started toward her slowly. Instantly, she leapt backward and dashed through the open doors out into the night. Altaire ran after her, overwhelmed at what had just happened. Jonah and Cadillac exchange glances and sighed. "If they aren't back by tomorrow we'll go look for them."

          Cadillac nodded in agreement, and the two went to bed.

 

tifmonk@chichiri.com