THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: ME

”If I could not hear your breath all the way here, I could have thought you were dead, and that is the sound of you decomposing,” a voice said, jolting Sagiri out of his meditative slumber.

”Don’t come any closer,” Sagiri said, his back turned. His voice sounded shrill in the underground stone walls.

”Did I ever tell you sometimes you sound like a general? As odd as if your orders must be followed,” Lotaga said, approaching anyway. ”What is that smell of rotting? Are you dying, boy?” he said, sniffing the air like a hound.

”That is why I asked you not to approach. I need water to clean my vomit.” Sagiri said in an almost displeased tone. After healing his wounds, he rather loved being in a secluded, cool place. It was maybe him or the power stirring inside of him. It loved seclusion. N’varu might have been right about something happening when he turned sixteen. As the days trickled by to his birthday, he kept growing more on edge.

”Don’t worry about it. The prisoners will clean it.” Lotaga said, acting as if it was not smelling like death itself inside the cafe.

”Prisoners?” Sagiri asked, finally standing from the pool and turning around. The water had remained warm even long after he came out of his conscious slumber, and it was just starting to freeze again. The water stirred and spattered on the sides.

”Yes, of course. Where do you think we take those who try to sneak into the Galka War Academy and try to undermine Tagayia by nipping its youngsters in the bud?” Lotaga started. ”It is not like it is a secret. Sometimes, some northern tribes try to show that they are better in war than the youngins in here who are the future warriors, and so they try to break in to prove they are better.” Lotaga continued, and Sagiri remembered Salka’s words when they had first arrived at Galka War Academy. The evil glint appeared when he asked whether there had ever been intruders.

”Does Captain Salka capture them?” Sagiri asked, and Lotaga smiled even wider.

”It is not only the captain, but the principal senraki loves it too,” Lotaga whispered the last part as if speaking louder could suddenly summon Senraki. ”All the wardens and warriors within Galka War Academy love it. we call it a party,” Lotaga said, eyes twinkling with excitement, and Sagiri almost felt bad for whoever saw it fit to break into Senraki, Salka, and their hounds’ turf. It seemed that they craved a fight, and when an intruder broke in, it was a well-awaited appearance. That was a scary thought. like breaking into someone’s house and finding out they eat humans for breakfast.

”Do you kill them?” Sagiri asked, and he could not for himself tell where the question had come from.

”It depends on Salka’s mood,” Lotaga said in a serious tone, and Sagiri caught it. ”It seems this time you managed to anger the captain. He doesn’t easily punish,” Lotaga finished as if waiting for Sagiri to explain himself, but Sagiri was starting to think it had been a bad idea to like Captain Salka. The guy had not done anything to harm him so far, and he had kept his secret.

”I was the weak one. It is no one’s fault that I failed to defend myself,” Sagiri answered coolly, and Lotaga cheered.

”I already told you. Sometimes you speak as if you are old and have lived many lives. You should not let Senraki hear you say that, however.” Lotaga continued, and Sagiri could not debate him on the first part. Sometimes, he surprised himself. He knew things that were beyond his age and had seen into the past that no one alive had seen. The second part however he was not willing to find out so he nodded obediently

”Why have you come?” Sagiri asked, feeling oddly calm and in control. Every time he could vomit, he felt light, like he had been renewed. Between the cold pool and the conscious slumber his mind was clear, and he knew what had to be done.

”You are no fun,” Lotaga pouted. ”Your punishment has been lifted. Go clean up, change, and go to Zazami’s office,” he said in a bored tone.

”Will you still teach me at night?” Sagiri asked before he lifted himself out of the temple. Now that he had stopped the meditative slumber that slowed his heart to keep him from freezing, he actually felt how cold it was.

”I’m glad you think of me as a good trainer. I will, of course, keep training you since you begged me.” Lotaga said, almost too excited. Sagiri had never been able to understand Lotaga. He was a curious character who did not listen to orders, yet he was still stuck to Captain Salka’s hip, which could only mean he was dependable. Captain Salka did not seem like someone who kept incompetent people around him.

”I will see you in the combat arena tonight,” Sagiri said, saluting the senior instructor before heading for the freezing pool cafe opening.

”I don’t think that is possible for tonight. It is almost midnight. the pool must have done a number on you if you don’t remember the time,” Lotaga snickered. Of course, Sagiri did not know what time it was. It was completely dark under the central pentagon healing pool cafe, except for the thin light coming from the artificial flaming wall on the walls.

it was a long way to get outside, and he heard Lotaga follow him silently from a distance. The journey to the dormitory wing was long, and with every step, Sagiri felt like falling asleep. His eyes kept getting heavier and heavier as he walked. His steps were almost blurry by the time he got to his room 246. His dirty clothes were cleaned and neatly laid out on his bed. N’varu was really dependable, and he was starting to feel indebted. He felt like he had to be the actual keeper N’varu sought, and he had to live up to the boy’s expectation.

The showers in Galka War Academy were always cold, but not freezing. He opened the central plains’ best water-holding innovation to release water into the bathing trough. He almost nodded off as he took off his clothes. His body was tired, and he was starting to think the pool had been the only thing that had kept him awake after his body healed itself. The tiredness he felt could not be fought by mere showers. He peeled the last piece of fabric and forced himself to scrub his body. he was awake just by his sheer will and nothing more. he bathed quickly than usual but made sure to peel off the wrappings on his body and scrape the dried blood from the places where his skin had been opened by the attack.

He had realized the power inside of him reacted to blood strongly, and so he paid attention to those and made sure he was completely clean. He left his dirty clothes on the floor. It was an offense that was punishable by Torena, but he was too tired to care. He then applied the muscle soothing cream that N’varu had laid on top of his uniform. His eyes were almost completely shut when he started wearing his uniform. He was almost thankful that the uniform was an overall with double layers where it mattered, and so he only had to pay attention to his mask and gloves before he pulled the combat suit on. His will must have waited for him to completely dress up because it expired immediately after the last layer of fabric was in place and the zipper was pulled to just below his chin.

Sagiri was swallowed into slumber without warning. He barely registered his head hitting the pillows, and he was out. not out in a sleep kind of way, but as if he had been called to the other side and switched off from the current world. He completely did not have a choice, and he knew it. Either he went willingly, or he was swallowed forcefully.

he did not fall into peaceful slumber, however, because the moment he departed from reality, he was thrown into another. One moment he was standing. Next, he is falling inward. There is no ground when he opens his eyes.

He floated in a vast, colorless space, neither dark nor light, like fog stretched into infinity. There is no sky. No floor. Only depth. His body felt weightless, yet restrained, as if held by invisible threads. The floating only lasted a moment before he felt it. a presence. a presence even stronger than he had ever felt before, and he turned quickly to see its source. Someone stood across from him, a him that was even more real than him. He held a presence that Sagiri had not realized he lacked before.

They are the same height. They have the same face. and even the same markings, but the eyes are wrong, they are not of different colours like his. One is not amber nor the other red. They are just dark like an abyss with no end, and yet they were too still, too deep, like something looking in rather than out. The other Sagiri does not breathe. Does not blink. He simply exists.

They circle each other without moving. The space around them tightened with something like hostility. Then just as they were about to burst from the motions, images suddenly rippled through the void, flashes of pain, freezing water, bones knitting, breath breaking. None linger. They pass between them like echoes bouncing off unseen walls.

Sagiri tried to speak but no sound came out. the other him was not him yet he was even more than he was. It was like he was a copy of himself yet he knew he was fully himself. It was a confusing dream. He had not dreamt in a while or intensively since he joined the galka war academy yet his first intense dream was confusing him.

The other him lifted a hand finally. Not in greeting or threat but in recognition.

The moment their gazes lock, pressure slammed into Sagiri from all sides. His chest tightened. His limbs strained against the pressure but he held on. He felt himself being measured, weighed, peeled open layer by layer. It was as if the other him held all the secrets he wanted to know about himself, and he was tired of carrying them by himself. How weird.

The other Sagiri steps closer. The distance between them collapsed quickly. Right when he was close enough, however, he started fading quickly, and Sagiri remained frozen in his invisible restraints and could not follow him. It was as if the other him, who was more than him, was trying to show him the way to follow, yet he could not move. He tried to force himself, but the space between them became wider, and pressure pressed harder into him as if it wanted to crush him. He couldn’t take it anymore, yet he did not want to let the new him go.

For a heartbeat, Sagiri feels everything at once. Then the other him turns away and the space fractured completely. Sagiri fell again, and this time into himself. He woke up gasping, body soaked in sweat, heart hammering, hands clenched into the bedding.

The room was real again, but the feeling was not gone. Something inside him was waking up. Something inside of him was tired of being repressed, and it scared him. For the first time in his life, he felt genuine fear. not the fear he perceived from others, but his own fear. The fear of the other him he had met. Why could the other him feel fear? What was there to fear? The tamelku twins? He asked himself but somewhere deep down he knew it was not about the twins and that made him uncomfortable. He hated mysteries and preferred knowing everything.