The Martial Unity

Amare slowly opened her eyes.

She felt like she had slept for a long, long time.

She blinked as her blurry vision grew clear by the second.

For a moment, she had no idea what was happening.

She had no idea where she was. Or why she was here. Or what had happened.

And then it came to her in a rapid flood.

She got up with a jerk, panting heavily as her expression grew uncertain.

A single question escaped her. “Who am I?”

It was not a question she was unfamiliar with. As a Martial Master, she had been informed about the condition to break through to a higher Realm. Nirvana.

And yet, this was the first time in her entire life that she had actually asked herself that question with a sense of uncertainty. This was the first time she had asked herself that question with absolutely no certainty of its answer.

“That is the question you must answer, my child.”

Bodhisattva Maitrey’s voice startled Amare.

The elder monk walked into the room, closing the door behind her as she sat on Amare’s bed.

“Grandma…” A warm smile of love and affection emerged on her face as she buried herself in a hug. “How are you feeling, Amare?” Bodhisattva Maitreyi gently patted her head, stroking her long, brown hair.

“Physically, I feel fresh,” the Martial Master murmured. “I feel like I was asleep for a long time. But…”

She placed a hand on her heart. “I feel… afraid.”

Her expression grew uncomfortable as her gaze returned to her grandmother. “In the middle of the fight… I remembered.”

“And what did you remember?” Bodhisattva Maitreyi smiled warmly as she continued doting on her wonderful granddaughter.

“I…” she hesitated.

She wasn’t sure if she could even say it out loud.

It was such an absurd story.

She had memories that weren’t hers.

She had memories of a life that wasn’t hers?

“It’s okay, my child,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi nodded encouragingly. “You do not have to say if you don’t wish to. But know that I will always be there to help you.”

Relief and affection emerged in Amare’s eyes as she nodded. “I just remember things that I never experienced. Half-memories of a life of violence and Martial Art as I traveled across the continent. Ngh…”

She flinched with pain as she massaged her head.

“Don’t strain yourself, Amare,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi continued to comfort her. “I don’t remember…” she murmured. “I had so many memories flooding through me. But now most of them are gone…”

“No.” Bodhisattva Maitreyi shook her head. “They are not gone. They are merely sealed deep inside you.”

“…Sealed?” Amare’s eyes widened. “But how?”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi’s expression grew wistful. “I do not know. All I know is that you are a miracle, Amare. A sacred miracle. Within you lies extraordinary power. Power, unlike anything the world has ever seen. If you wish to attain this power, then…”

She smiled. “You will have to answer the question.”

Amare understood what she was referring to. “Who am I?”

“Who are you, indeed.” Bodhisattva Maitreyi nodded. “It won’t be easy. You must know who you are. And for that, you will need to know where you came from.”

Amare frowned. “…Where I came from? I am from the Gen Temple. I have lived my entire life here. I was born here.”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi gazed into Amare’s eyes with warmth and affection.

And a hint of melancholy.

“Amare, you weren’t born here,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi told her with a profound tone. “We found you.”

Amare’s eyes widened. “What…?”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi’s eyes grew hazy as she recalled that day from a century ago.

“We found you in placed in front of the gates of the Gen Temple as a newborn infant.”

Amare grew shocked at the words of her grandmother.

“None of the surveillance corpse or anybody else had noticed anybody, and yet, there you were, magically in front of the gates of the Gen Temple,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi explained. “There was no note. There weren’t even traces. There nothing. And so…”

A warm smile emerged on Bodhisattva Maitreyi amidst the melancholic retelling. “…We accepted you as our own.”

She stared at her grandmother with a stunned expression, entirely speechless.

“I’m sorry that I never told you,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi heaved a sigh. “I didn’t think it mattered where you came from. You are a monk of the Gen Temple, after all. And we love you like you love us. That is the most important part.”

Amare stared at her grandmother with a deep gaze.

“Then why are you telling me now…?”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi heaved a sigh. “Because I suspect that your origin is connected to the memories sealed within you. And now, something that hadn’t mattered for an entire century may have been the most significant part of your story. Amare, it may very well be if you wish to understand who you are; you will need to understand where you came from.”

Amare stared at her grandmother with uncertainty and discomfort. “What do I do…?”

“You have two choices,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi continued with a wise tone. “You may continue to live here in the Gen Temple with us and abandon your pursuit of Nirvana. You will never know who you are and will live with a gnawing uncertainty that will eat at you for the rest of your life, but you will have us. You will have me by your side.”

Amare stirred at her words with a mixed expression. “I love being with everybody, but…”

But not knowing the truth and having it eat at her sounded like a nightmare.

Bodhisattva Maitreyi regarded her with a knowing expression. “Your second choice is to leave the Gen Temple and join the Dawnbringer in his voyage through all of humankind.”

Her eyes widened with a hint of surprise. “But why…?”

“Your travels through human civilizations will help you unearth your sealed memories,” Bodhisattva Maitreyi’s tone grew wise and profound. “Visiting places that you visited in your sealed memories will help you remember. It will help you understand everything. It will help you gain enlightenment. And so…”

Bodhisattva Maitreyi’s gaze bore deep into Amare’s hazel eyes. “What will be your choice?”

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