Chapter 107 - The Dark Prophecy

In the days I spent with Sisika, she taught me a little about how mana worked in the special eyes. She spent most of her time meditating with her eyes closed. I slept in the only available bed, but I tried to convince her to rest as well. However, Sisika insisted that the process she was performing would fail if she slept. She had to stay awake to finish passing the special eyes to me.

When I asked why she was giving me these special eyes, she replied that everything would make sense when the right time came. There was something in her gaze and in the way she behaved that made me feel a deep trust in her. It was as if I instinctively trusted her and sensed a feeling of protection and care she had for me, even though I couldn’t quite explain it.

Sisika wouldn’t let me help with the food or cleaning the place. She was always concerned about how I was feeling and made sure the food was ready. She scolded me if I didn’t eat at the right time or if I didn’t sleep well.

My exercises consisted of activating mana by positioning my palm close to a cup. It was a process similar to what I did when I was younger to determine if I would become a mage, but the difference now was that I had to direct the mana from my eyes to my hand. First, she taught me to meditate with my eyes closed, to relax my vision and calm the mana in my eyes. I had to keep my hands pointed at the cup while trying to transfer mana to it.

“You’re doing it wrong,” she said, interrupting my effort.

I opened my eyes and saw her watching me. I had probably been in the same position for hours.

“You’ve been watching me this whole time?” I asked, surprised.

“Yes,” she replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

I held back an internal laugh. I found that while Sisika could be very clever in some areas, she lacked a lot of social tact.

“What was it like growing up in this cabin?” I asked, getting out of the meditation position.

Sisika turned her face and looked at the stove, the walls, the ceiling, and finally the floor. She placed her hand on the ground and sighed.

“It wasn’t easy…” she replied in a low tone.

Sisika looked at me and said, “Come on, let’s go for a walk,” pulling me by the hand and quickly lifting me to my feet.

“You have zero social tact…” I teased her, following her outside.

We walked to a nearby tree. Sisika called me over, and I approached to see what she was showing me. The tree had several markings.

“I made these marks to track my growth. Every birthday, I would carve a new mark of my height,” she explained.

I followed the markings and was surprised to see they exceeded her current height.

“This seems a bit off, it’s getting way too tall,” I commented, observing the marks up to the top of the tree.

Sisika started walking again, and I followed her.

“This place is a little ways from a village. I lived here alone. This is where I was born, and this is where I will die. It’s a choice I made,” she said, looking toward the forest.

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Those words carried a weight that touched me. I had said something similar when I returned to the city of Cylla and decided to end my own cycle of existence.

“You’re dying?” I asked, realizing the gravity of her words. “Why? You seem fine to me.”

“I have more time than my body shows. Unfortunately, I did something dangerous and paid the price. I’ve been stretching my life beyond what’s possible, but now I can’t anymore,” she said, then stopped and looked me in the eyes.

“Nathan, some things are going to happen to me over the next few days. I know I gave you the option to leave… but when that starts happening to me… I don’t want you to leave me alone. Can you promise me you’ll stay with me?”

“What’s going to happen to you?” I asked, concerned.

She sighed.

“I’ll be taken away… bit by bit,” she replied, starting to walk back toward the cabin.

***

It was getting dark, and the weather was stormy. The wooden cabin shook with the wind, and the thunder outside made loud booms. The cabin door kept opening occasionally from the force of the wind. Sisika had to drag the small table to block it and stop it from swinging open.

“Sorry about this,” she said.

A few drops were falling from the ceiling.

“It’s fine,” I replied.

I sat on the floor and continued meditating with my hand on the cup. There was a fire burning, illuminating the room.

“The night will be cold. Do you want me to warm you up?” she asked.

“Don’t worry. The blanket will be enough,” I said.

I tried meditating again, but I couldn’t focus.

“You’re really not going to sleep?”

“No. I can’t sleep or the procedure will fail. I’m trying to do it in a way that won’t be too painful, so it’s delicate,” she replied.

I went back to meditating with my eyes closed, trying to focus on what I had learned.

“I don’t like stormy nights,” she commented.

“Neither do I…” I said, looking at the ceiling and focusing on the sound of the rain.

“They say it’s good for farmers, but… the truth is, for those of us who had no one, it wasn’t a good experience,” she continued. “They’re lonely, cold, and sad nights…”

I remembered myself as Icarus. Before meeting Helen, I would try to shelter near buildings to stay covered and protected. But worse than the rain was the lonely night it brought with it.

“I was a great warrior,” she told me. “When you have nothing to lose and a lot of hatred for the world, war seemed like salvation to me.”

She got up and sat next to me.

“I had nothing to hold on to. There was no need to worry about losing anything because I had nothing. The battlefield had become my hunting ground, but even then, I still felt empty. You understand this very well because you lived through the same thing.”

Sisika looked at me as if she were seeing something distant.

“I don’t want that to happen to you again. Know that I’ll do everything I can to prevent it. That’s why I need to give you some advice.”

The rain gave a brief pause, then came back stronger.

“During your journey, you will face situations that will force you to confront your old self. When that moment comes, you’ll have to make a choice.”

“A choice?”

“You’ll have to decide whether to act as the old Icarus or as Nathan Evenhart. Remember, not everyone who wields a sword on the battlefield wants to be there. The real enemy is the one giving the orders, not the one carrying them out. A difficult choice will come to you in the form of two people. Their fate will be in your hands, and you will have to decide whether to place a blade at their throats. When that moment comes, you’ll have to make your choice: will you be the avenger or the savior?”

She leaned closer to my face and touched my forehead as she ran her fingers through my hair.

“Not every great adversary is a true enemy. Sometimes, like you, that person was shaped by a story that forced them to become what they are. You will need to understand this, Nathan. Circumstances are more significant than outcomes; remember that well. When a great barrier falls, the bell of the end will toll. The woman of fabric will emerge to deliver her message of war. A girl will come seeking vengeance, but even she will have to make a crucial decision. When the conflicts reach their peak, five heads will appear. When those heads turn toward you, it will be the moment you realize how small you are in the face of this impending disaster. On that day, there will be the vengeful girl, the manipulative serpent, the religious man, and the young general. Each will have their role to play.”

She paused for a moment.

“As far as I can dream of the future, everything culminates in darkness. However, from that darkness, a light emerges. What it truly means still eludes me; it’s the most I could interpret. What I can assure you is that, unfortunately, dark days are coming. Yet, just like in stormy nights, only thunder can offer glimpses of light.”

Sisika stopped speaking as she gazed at something distant.

“It’s done, Nathan. I’ve passed the Celestial Eyes to you.”