Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Gifted Moon Academy ❯ Gates of Heaven ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Rinsi had long since finished practicing with her violin, and was now holding a telephone to her ear, waiting for her auntie to pick up the phone. She tapped her foot impatiently, and for once her face did not hold a smile. She had a notepad and pen next to her so she could take notes on the ensuing conversation.
"Hello?" came a familiar voice on the other end.
"Auntie, it's me."
"Rinsi! How are you dear?"
"I'm fine, but I need some information."
"You sound serious....You performed the dance all the way, didn't you? I told you not to!"
"You know me too well, auntie. I couldn't help it! I was having so much fun that I couldn't stop. I didn't know it was a spell. Why didn't you tell me it was such a powerful spell?"
"We didn't want to risk you performing it to see what you could do."
"And you think withholding such vital information would mean I wouldn't perform it at all?!"
"I'm sorry dear. We should have known you would have anyway."
"What other spells did you teach me without me knowing it?"
"I can't tell you dear."
"Why not?"
"I don't want you performing them."
"Why not? I might do it anyway without knowing again. And what was that spell for?"
"Rinsi," her aunt continued, "don't ever perform that spell again!"
"Why not? What does it do?"
"...Rin, darling, you have a special power...."
"Yeah, that's why I'm here."
"...You have in you the power to bring this world into a utopia. You've inherited it from your parents. That spell is what will do it, but it comes with a price. It's a soul sucker, a spell that will literally suck the power and energy from your soul, and if you complete it to full power, it will kill you. No, it will do worse than that. Completing it to full power means your soul will be gone, so you won't have an afterlife. Besides, Rin, the world isn't ready for a utopia. As long as there is war, hatred, greed, or evil in man's heart, the world will never be ready."
"What about the other spells?" Rinsi said, furiously scribbling all this down on her note pad.
"I can't..."
"Then put uncle on the phone." Rinsi said, almost demanding. She didn't like to be so rude, but she knew that would be the only way to get her uncle on the phone, who she knew would tell her everything.
"Hi, Rin." her uncle's voice came over the receiver.
"Uncle, what were the other spells you guys taught me and didn't tell me?"
"Knowing you, you're already writing all this down."
"You know me too well. It's kind of creepy."
"Your aunt tells me you performed the forbidden dance all the way through. That means you already know it's called 'Starlight'."
"Yeah."
"It's a spell to bring supreme happiness to an area. Full strength will spread it throughout the world. It's temporary, but in that time that everyone is so happy, it could start a chain of events that will completely end all wars for good and cause changes that will bring the world into a utopia. But it's a soul sucker --"
"Yeah," Rinsi said, cutting him off as she scribbled all of this down, "auntie told me that part."
"There are other spells we taught you. All but one of them are in the form of a dance, as is the family style. The one that isn't a dance is a lullaby on the violin we taught you. Oddly enough, it's your favorite song."
"You mean...that song is a spell?!"
"Yes. It's called 'Celestial Wind'. It's a summoning song."
"And the other dance spells?"
"'Moonlight' is a spell that will heal a group of people. 'Moon Halo' is a spell that casts a barrier. 'Asteroid Belt' will create a wall of energy, and there is another called 'Gates of Heaven' but you'll have to find out what that does on your own. Anything else? Do you know other spells?"
"Yeah, 'Star Children' and 'Sunlight', but those are kind of difficult."
"Well, keep up the practice, Rin. Sorry for hiding all of this from you. We just wanted you to live a normal life."
"I understand. I have to go now, uncle. I love you and auntie, and thank you."
"All right. Keep in touch, Hon."
"'Bye."
Rinsi hung up the phone and sat on her bed, completely forgetting the notepad that was by the phone. She covered her hand with her mouth, deep in thought. The spell she had performed the night before, the one bearing her last name, could kill her if she tried to bring the world into a utopia? This was a very heavy thought for her.
Rinsi stood and went into the bathroom. She hadn't showered for 36 hours at least, and she felt gross. Being clean might help her a bit, and the hot water would feel good on her body and allow her to think a bit more.
The hot water had been very relaxing, and Rinsi had done a lot of thinking. A lot of serious thinking, which was rare for her. She wanted so badly to bring this world to a utopia. She was so tired of all the sadness and the anger and hatred. She hated it. She felt it much of the time herself, but covered it with a smile to bring other people joy. She wanted all that sadness to go away. But was she ready to do so at the cost of not just her life, but her soul? It was a heavy burden to carry.
After stepping out of the shower, she toweled off and slipped into a cute, but expensive looking pair of shorts and a nice t-shirt. With her long raven locks wrapped in a green towel, she carefully slipped on her expensive running sneakers before pulling her hair back. Her mind was going two miles a minute and she needed a way to relax a bit while getting something productive done. So, she decided to practice. She hadn't done so in a couple of days and was here to get control of her powers. She jogged out to the fighting area and practiced her martial arts first just as a warm up. What she had forgotten, though, was that she left her notepad on the bed, open to the page with her notes on it.
After practicing her martial arts, Rinsi was already panting a bit, but she felt good, in spite of her stirring thoughts. The workout always made her feel good, and somehow confident. Next on her agenda was practicing her spells. She could work on the ones she knew, to control how much energy she consumed, but she wanted to figure out what dance was what spell. The one spell she wouldn't work on, though, was 'Starlight'.
Rinsi had begun spinning and dancing around with her lantern staff again, but to a different dance. The moon lantern dangled from its extension as she spun and bounced gracefully about, and as her body began to glow faintly again. However, she heard a twig snap nearby and turned to see who it was. Behind her she saw a young man, probably not far from her age. She smiled at him and waved him over.
Jason's eyes shot down as he snapped something that gained the girls attention. As part snake, he was usually stealthier than this. He rolled his eyes - eye, at himself, and moved forward when she beckoned him.
"Hey" he said, smiling to her.
"Hello!" Rinsi said cheerfully, "What's your name?"
Rinsi wasn't sure who this person was, but they looked interesting, and their little interruption did help clear her head a bit. That was exactly the thing she needed, to have her head cleared a bit.
"I'm Jason Slan" He told her happily. She was very up-beat, she was good in his book already. He asked the question back "What's your name?"
"Nice to meet you, Jason." Rinsi said cheerfully, "I'm Rinsi Starlight. Well, since you're here, I take it you have special abilities too. What are they?"
It's not that Rinsi was trying to be rude, but just that she was curious, and needed a bit of a distraction at the moment.
Rinsi was direct. Jason smiled and answered quickly.
"Well, I walk on my hands, and juggle - not at the same time, mind you, and I'm working on a trapeze act and I can do this--" Jason's torso fell backwards so he was on his hands and feet with his stomach upwards, and he went into a tumble and wound up back on his feet, "But I guess you probably mean my powers...I'm a snake demon! Snake form and poisons, you know.." He said with a grin, it faded slightly when he told her what his real powers were. He didn't intend to show her either of his powers right now - one, because it was hard to demonstrate a poison without poisoning someone and, two, he didn't want to give her a show when he came out of his animal form.
"Wow, really?!" Rinsi said excitedly, "A snake demon and a circus performer! Now THAT is talent! It must be really nifty!"
"Heh. Yeah, thanks!" Jason said, he did well to hide that he was a little bothered by being a circus performer, even though he loved what he could do and that he could entertain others.
"What about you?" Jason asked Rinsi, "I saw you dancing earlier..You're very good"
"Ah, thanks." Rinsi said, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, "I was...er...trying out a dance I was taught to see what spell it was."
"A spell, huh?" Jason asked. He was sorry to have interrupted her. "I've never heard of dancing spells!"
Between all the fortune tellers and magicians and witches he'd met in the circus, he had never known any of them to perform spells that relied on dancing.
"Um, well, it's the only way I know how to perform most of my spells. I was taught them when I was young, but I was never told the dance was a spell. I just found out recently." Rinsi said sheepishly.
Jason thought about this for a bit. To teach a kid how to do something without telling her what might happen...
"That seems a little dangerous…" He told Rinsi, a brow raised. "How are you doing with them?"
"Yeah, it is." Rinsi said, trying not to let herself get serious, "Well, so far I've figured out my favorite dance is also the most powerful and energy draining one. I was just about to figure out what my second favorite dance was. You can watch if you want. I just hope it's not 'Gates of Heaven' though."
After leaving Rinsi, Jason continued to search around the school. He hadn't gone to the cafeteria yet, like he had intended to, so he sniffed the air. He was soon headed for the cafeteria, hunger starting to rumble in his belly.
After her visitor went his own way, Rinsi went back to her dances, trying to figure out which did which spell. As she dance and twirled as gracefully as a ballerina, she also spun and waved her staff around her. She felt happy in her dance, but also oddly peaceful. This feeling began to grow the more she danced, and she soon began to glow again. As Rinsi danced more, she felt more and more peaceful. Almost heavenly. She loved this feeling, and once again wanted everyone else to know this peace and happiness. It was as strong as Starlight, but different in a way. As she dance and spun, twirling her staff in pace with her dancing, she waited for the words to come to her that she would declare, finishing up the spell.
Rinsi knew she was approaching the completion of the dance, and would have felt worried that the name had not come to her yet, but she felt so happy and at peace that it didn't matter. She spun gracefully as a ballerina, and just as lightly. As the end came, two words whispered through her mind. They were not loud or begging, like with Starlight, but more like soft and loving almost. At the end of her dance, she fell to a kneeling position, folding her hands as if in prayer around her staff. Closing her eyes and smiling peacefully, she uttered those words, thus finishing the spell.
"Gates of Heaven." she said, in a voice she almost thought was not her own.
A light seemed to beam down from the heavens themselves and strike the ground. It was not harsh or harmful, but instead was soft and warm. The area around her glowed brightly, and began to grow outward, like ripples on a pond, until nearly the whole school grounds were covered with light. This light brought a feeling of peace and comfort she had never known before, and with it came a holy blessing that she knew would hurt the shadows and demons that resided in the school. She was immediately sorry, and bolted to her feet and jogged towards the school building. The first people she would check with were Ki'iro, Jason, and Nakya.
Ki'iro smiled softly and sat down on his bed, he took the notebook from her and read. He was talking to a girl named Re, who could not speak, so instead wrote what she thought. She had a very special ability with crystals.
"No no, really. It's fine Re, no problem," he said, yawning loudly. He stretched his arms up and propped himself up with his elbows. "If you ever need me for anything, I'll be here," he smiled kindly. "What was your dream about? If you don't mind my asking."
Suddenly kneeling over, Ki'iro coughed heavily. "Wha-What the..." His mind was slowly blacking out, his energy was draining from him. "Shadow..." He called softly, trying to pull shadows up towards him to comfort him. Nothing happened. Ki'iro coughed loudly again and fell off the bed, his eyes closing.
Re couldn't help but smile until he asked about the dream. Then she had looked down slightly, gripping the ball on paper in her hand. But she looked up suddenly when he coughed and said something, wondering what was wrong. She quickly went to his side and without thinking, for some reason, went on her hands and knees to make a shadow over him. It was has if her shadow was hugging him, which was what she wanted to do, but not knowing what to do held herself from doing so.
Re starting looking through her mind for her special crystal, once finding it, used all her power to slowly remove it from her body. Breathing heavily and getting weak, Re slowly made the crystal enter Ki'iro's forehand. She lowered, almost laying on him in pain and covered in a cold sweat, her face very close to his.
Re closed her eyes and called to him.
'Ki'iro...Ki'iro it's Re, can you hear me? W-What do I do..?' She said in his mind, her voice sounding like music but with a sound of fear and pain.
Rinsi panted for air as she sprinted through the school, looking for her friends. The first one she came upon was Ki'iro, and he looked in horrible shape.
"Ki'iro!" she exclaimed as she ran up him, "Hey, are you okay? Come on, stay awake!"
Ki'iro coughed again, and felt comforted by the darkness that she provided. His eyes opened halfway and slowly.
"R-Re...your voice..." he said with a soft smile on his face. "It's beautiful..." he whispered. He opened his eyes completely to see her fatigued.
"Are you okay...?" He asked her weakly. Ki'iro's forehead was covered in sweat, and frankly, hurt quite a bit in one spot. "Why can I hear you now?" He questioned.
Ki'iro wrapped his arms around Re and embraced her softly. Being weak, he couldn't do much. He looked up at Rinsi who had just sprinted into his dorm room. Coughing again, his mouth filled with a copper taste.
"F-fine...what did you do...?"
Re rested when he embraced her, so happy he was ok, and hugged him weakily.
'This..This is one of my powers, though I can only use it on one person...' She laughed slightly at his questions. 'I'm so happy..that your ok...' She mumbled off, being very tried and weak now.
Re opened her eyes slowly, looking at Rinsi as good as she could without moving, a small smile on her face, before closing her eyes again.
"Ah, crap..." Rinsi said as Re looked at her briefly before passing out.
Not knowing if Re was his room mate or not, she carefully pulled the girl off to the side. She was heavy, and would be hard to lift without help. Since Ki'iro was still semi conscious, she carefully helped him up and sat him on his bed.
"I'm so sorry..." she said as she lifted him up, "This is my fault. I didn't know that was such a big spell."
Once Ki'iro was safe on her bed, she turned to Re, wondering how she would lift the girl up. Deciding on what she would do, she knelt next to the unconscious girl and carefully lifted her to a sitting position. Leaning the girl on her shoulder, she carefully hoisted her up while holding on to her legs. It strained her back a bit, but not too bad as she did all of the lifting with her powerful legs. She stood, but only long enough to lean forward and set the girl on the other bed. Once Re was in a sitting position, she leaned her back until she was lying down, and carefully scooted her towards the other side of the bed a bit so she wouldn't fall off. By the time she was done, she was huffing and puffing for air, and felt a little weak from the combination of the spell and all the exercise.
"Is she okay? Are you okay?" Rinsi said, panting for air.
Ki'iro sat up in the bed and looked over at Re. Moving his legs so they were off the side of the bed, he reached over to her. His hand stroked the side of her face.
"Why me?" He asked quietly. Ki'iro didn't take his eyes off of her when he answered Rinsi's questions. "I'm fine, I should be fine. She should be fine too, she's just a little tired. She needs rest. Um, she's not my roommate. I'll move her to my bed later if she doesn't wake up. What did you do?" He repeated his question. "I can't...control anything," he said as he moved his hand, attempting to lift a shadow. The shadow bulged in the middle then fell back to the ground.
Rinsi looked down, and for the first time since arriving, she looked like she was going to cry.
"I used a spell...I called my auntie and uncle 'cause the dance I performed at the dance was a spell and I didn't know it until I performed it. I wanted to know what other dances and spells I had been taught. I was training to see which dance is which spell, since I don't know until the spell is complete, and I performed a blessing spell called 'Gates of Heaven'. It's supposed to bring a heavenly blessing, but with that it means that it will bring a sense of peace, as well as healing curses and hurting shadows, dark magic, and demons." she blurted as quickly as she could while choking back tears. "I'm sorry, so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt anyone!"
All of a sudden Nakya felt a terrible pain in her chest, and saw darkness closing in on her. Shaking her head, she heard a noise. She saw Rinsi. Rinsi would help her. Standing, she fell to her knees, weak from the pain. Gasping for air, and fighting off the darkness, she used all her strength and began dragging herself towards the room she saw Rinsi going to. Growing weaker and weaker by the moment, she finally collapsed on the floor outside the door, her fingertips just inside the room, her body slipping into unconsciousness.
"Rinsi..." she said weakly, before slipping away.
Hearing a sound behind her, she turned and saw Nakya lying on the floor, close to unconsciousness.
"Nakya!"
Rinsi ran up to Nakya, and carefully lifted her up enough to bring her into the room and lean her against a wall.
"I'm sorry, Nakya..." she said, choking back more tears.
Ki'iro glared at Rinsi, he would have normally yelled at her by now, but he was far too concerned with how Re was feeling and her well-being. Sighing heavily, he closed his eyes softly and tried again to lift up a shadow.
My powers are so...weak...
Weakly Nakya opened her eyes and saw Rinsi.
"Rinsi..." she said, softly. "What happened?"
"Where's Ki'iro? I need Ki'iro." she asked, suddenly feeling frightened as she could still feel a bit of the pain.
Nakya was still out of it enough, that she didn't realize where she was. A spasm shook her body as she doubled over in pain, moaning softly.
"It's okay." Rinsi said, forcing on a smile as tears threatened to escape her eyelids. "Ki'iro is in here. But he's really tired. Just stay right here okay? It's a temporary spell. It'll wear off in a minute or two. I'm so sorry!"
Rinsi turned back to Ki'iro and Re, her eyes on the floor.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt anyone. I just wanted to know what dance was what spell. Auntie and uncle never told me those were spells, and now I have to find out on my own. I'm so sorry..."
Ki'iro just stared up at Rinsi, he was obviously upset.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't try out your little powers on other people. Training your powers is one thing, experimenting while somebody else's life could be on the line is something completely different." His voice was flat, he didn't know what else to say.
"I'm sorry..." she said again, "I wasn't meaning to. I didn't know the spell would spread like that. I even made sure no one was around when I performed the dance, just to be sure. I'm so sorry..."
"Sorry doesn't cut it Rinsi!" He stood up, staring into her face. "You hurt me, in the process, you hurt Re! And you probably hurt multiple other students..." his voice trailed off suddenly, "You probably even hurt Naky-" his voice cut off as he saw her on his floor.
"Nakya!" He yelled, hoisting her body up into his arms with a fair amount of difficulty. A moment later, his body faltered, sending both of them to the ground. He sat beside her,
"Nakya, Nakya! Are you okay? Stay awake, talk to me..." his voice became a whisper.
The tears that threatened to escape finally rolled down her cheeks as Rinsi began to sob softly to herself. She knew he was right. Even though she hadn't meant to, she had hurt a lot of people. Even worse, she had hurt her friends, and didn't know how to fix it. She was hurt that he held no understanding or forgiveness for her, but she couldn't blame him either. She had done something terrible, and she had to make up for it somehow, but the only thing she could think of would involve using her powers, and at this point she didn't want to any more. Even if they could help a few people, it hurt far more, and she couldn't do that any more. She hated this feeling. Her whole existence was to help others. Her cheery attitude was merely there so she could help cheer people up. And yet the powers she was born with, which would seem to be there to help others, was hurting people, and she couldn't stand it.
"I'm sorry..." she repeated, through soft sobs, "I didn't mean to hurt anyone..."
Rinsi wrapped Nakya's arm around the back of her neck, and used her free hand to lift her by the waist. She was heavy, but Rinsi would manage.
"I'll leave you alone now. I'm so sorry. Please, tell me if Re is okay later so I can make amends."
Feeling pain run through her body, Nakya moaned softly before fluttering her eyes open. She saw Ki'iro beside her.
"Ki'iro.." she said, barely above a whisper. Reaching up, she touched his cheek with a trembling finger. "Are you okay..?"
Slowly, she moved over, so her head was resting against his chest. She felt so weak, and she knew she wouldn't be able to fight off the darkness much longer, unless... some water might help her.
"Rinsi.. I need water…" she said softly.
"You're the only one I want Ki'iro... the only one.." she whispered, wrapping her arm around Ki'iro's waist. Feeling her body being lifted up, she opened her eyes slightly, weakly protesting.
"I want to stay..." she said no louder than a whisper.
Ki'iro's heart sank as she told him she only wanted him.
"N-nakya...." his voice trailed off.
He didn't know what to say to her right now. He knew what she wanted to hear, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. He sat in silence and stroked her hair, attempting to comfort her.
Rinsi carefully carried Nakya to the bathroom and sat her down carefully on the toilet - after lowering the lid, of course. She looked around for a cup and turned on the faucet, hoping that she could somehow bring some water to her weakened room mate, all while trying to think of a way to fix everything.
Hearing Ki'iro faltering when she told him how she felt, she let Rinsi carry her to the bathroom.
"I was too late.. He doesn't care anymore." she told Rinsi sitting down.
A pained expression crossed her face.
"Leave me here Rinsi, I don't care what happens to me, just leave me be." Sounding weaker then ever, Nakya slid to the floor and crawled over to the shower. Crawling in, she laid in the fetal position and let herself cry to sleep.
"I won't leave you alone, Nakya." Rinsi said through tear filled eyes. "Especially not after hurting everyone, including you. There's only one way I can think of to fix this, but it means using another spell, and I can't do that again."
Ki'iro sighed heavily and looked at Nakya as she left. He moved into the bathroom with her and simply whispered into her ear.
"I want to be with you too Nakya...But...I've just started to get over you.." his voice trailed off as tears filled his eyes. "I told you I couldn't keep doing this...I need time to decide on what I need to do..."
His voice was cracking, and he walked away from Nakya, heading back into his room. Ki'iro crawled into bed next to Re, falling asleep softly.
Rinsi carefully lifted Nakya out of the bath tub and threw the girl over her shoulder. She was really heavy, and she knew it wouldn't be a fun walk back to their dorm, but it had to be done. Slowly she managed to leave Ki'iro's room and walk down the hall towards their own. Gasping for air between soft sobs to herself in deep regret, she somehow managed to get Nakya to their room and lay her on her own bed and carefully cover her with the blankets. Rinsi sat on her bed and began reviewing the notes she had taken earlier. She would need to make another phone call later, but for now she just thought about it all, reading over the neat scribbles on the page.
Starlight: spell of supreme happiness. Can bring world to utopia. Soul sucker. If used at full power, it will completely drain the soul and kill it.
Moonlight: Spell of healing. Heals a large group of people.
Gates of Heaven: Blessing spell. Brings peace and does away with curses, shadows and demons.
Moon Halo: Barrier spell.
Asteroid belt: Creates wall of energy.
Celestial Winds: Summons spell. Research 'summons'.
Rinsi mulled over these for a moment, before stepping into the shower. Her practicing earlier, plus sprinting to the school to make sure everyone was okay, plus carrying Nakya to their room, made her sweat a lot. The hot water felt good on her aching body, but did nothing to help ease her guilt ridden mind. Why did she have to be born with such powers? Why did she have to be the one to hurt everyone, instead of healing them like she was supposed to? What good was she?