Blade(Part 1): Dawn

Chapter 26: Kai

Kai brought his dark aura cloak down as he went away from the Celestial Sword, feeling the radiant auras of the Guardians there fade behind him. There was only one Guardian that caught his attention, though. As before, she wasn't lying. She was his sister, and he did die during the Colonial War. There were still doubts about the latter, mostly because he was alive, still. Then again, Shala couldn't have been clearer about what she said. She actually believed that Kai was killed ten years ago. The closest person Kai had to a sister his entire life was Akhtar, and he just said to his actual sister that he would kill her the next time he saw her.

"What was I thinking!?" Kai shouted to himself. It was too late. He shouldn't have said a single thing that he said to Shala. She was his sister, for the gods' sake, and he treated her like shit. It was worse than the wrong thing to do when confronted by a long-lost sister. Suddenly, he began to hear the smooth, chilling sound of running water. It was a river. What Shala said was much more than any normal person could comprehend. Kai ran towards the river as fast as he could. Kai's face had a reflection in it clear enough for him to see, and he could very clearly see that something was seriously wrong when he knelt down beside it. He quickly looked away when he saw what was on his neck, but looked again just to be sure of what he saw. They were stitches. There was a line of stitches all around his neck that was just above his chest. The stitches were sewn across a red cut that went straight through his neck. It would have taken his head off.

"No," Kai gasped, jumping to his feet and staggering backward. They weren't real. They couldn't have been real. His mind had to have been playing tricks on him, somehow. He felt his neck for the wound, and there it was. It was real. Kai felt his fingers sink into his flesh, and also felt them being poked by the strings of the stitches. Shala was right. He was killed. Kai felt like throwing up. He could only imagine how that would end. The vomit might come out through his neck instead of his mouth, and his head would fly from his shoulders.

"Kai," Xerxei suddenly called. "What's wrong?" Kai couldn't have been happier to see his friend.

"Xerxei," Kai sighed. "I, um, found my sister."

"The Guardian?" asked Xerxei. "What happened?"

"We talked," Kai enlightened. "She told me why I didn't remember her. I may have said some things I shouldn't have."

"Oh," Xerxei sighed.

"What the hell is wrong with me!?" Kai shouted, slamming his fist into a jungle tree. "She's my sister, and I told her that she was my enemy. How could I, Xerxei? How could I have said that to the one person who I share blood with? Actually, never mind. She was adopted."

"All the same, Kai," Xerxei reminded. "You've only been told some things and don't know whether to believe them or not, by someone you think you should trust."

"Then should I trust her?" Kai wondered. "She's a Guardian, I'm a Shadow." He sat down by the riverbank with his legs crossed, and Xerxei sat down next to him.

"I didn't even know about her until last night," Kai grumbled. "My sister. For ten years. She said that the Abyss erased a few of my early memories."

"Or maybe you just don't remember," Xerxei guessed. "You were five, weren't you?"

"The real problem is that there wasn't a single dishonest word she said," Kai continued. "But I still have my doubts. You're right, I just don't know whether to trust Shala or not. She's my sister, she's not lying, and I don't believe her. You know, she thinks she can save me, too. Whatever that means."

"Kai, listen," Xerxei asserted. "I understand you're conflicted. I promise you, I do." Kai listened to him, intently.

"This has to stay between us," Xerxei continued. "I completely understand your confliction, but I can't speak for Akhtar, Aziz, and especially not Azazel."