“You’ll feel better now,” Mazu observed. “My life-water will keep you going for a little while, but regular food and drink is what you really need.”
Aavi thanked the goddess as they stood up and faced the last part of the climb. She felt much stronger, and the dark shadows of the trees and the strange sounds of the forest didn’t bother her as much with Mazu’s elixir inside her. She even wished she could see the creatures that were hidden by the darkness, wondering if they had wings like the birds she had seen, or legs like the horses. As they reached the end of the steps, the trees thinned out to reveal the clearing where the retreat stood. Aavi was immediately struck by the beauty and peacefulness of the place. Unlike the crowded and busy structures of the City, this building seemed to belong in its environment, as if it was rooted and connected to the ground as much as the trees that grew around it. The many eaves of its layered roofs seemed to curve in welcoming smiles and a central bright passageway stood open and inviting, not locked like the door to Kafele’s workshop. A boy and girl, both clothed in yellow sleeveless tunics and baggy trousers, scampered out to meet them. Both bowed to Mazu. The young boy’s bald head reminded her of Kafele’s; the girl’s long braids were similar to Mazu’s. Aavi had yet to see another being with hair quite like her own.
“This visitor has a pass to see the Oracle,” Mazu told the children. Aavi quickly held out the parchment she’d been carrying so carefully for the boy and girl to inspect. The pair broke into wide grins. Instead of looking at her papers, they took Aavi by her sleeves to lead her into the retreat. Unsure, she looked back over her shoulder at Mazu.
“Goodbye, Aavi. Trust in what the Oracle tells you. I will return when you are ready to leave. I do not have an invitation to pass this gate, as you do.” In the muted light, Aavi watched in wonder as Mazu turned to water and flowed quickly back down the steps.
Chapter 5 - A Night in Buddha’s Retreat
“Come on,” the boy said as he and the girl tugged on Aavi’s sleeves. Aavi let them guide her, the beauty of the Oracle’s domain distracting her from Mazu’s spectacular exit. Many rooms and corridors branched off from the central passage down which they walked. Aavi could see people at work in many chambers. Some were writing with sticks. Others were exercising with fluid motions, while even more were sitting perfectly still. At the end of the passage was an ornate archway decorated with strange carvings, but before they reached it, Aavi was steered into a side room. A man about D’Molay’s age wearing a plain blue robe sat at a table, a great book open before him. The girl, who stood at Aavi’s right side, lifted Aavi’s arm up so that the man could see that she held a pass.
“She thought she was supposed to show this to us,” the girl said incredulously, as the boy made a funny face mocking Aavi’s ignorance.
“I see,” the man said a bit coldly. “Go back to your studies, and pay particular attention to the sage’s writings on politeness and respect.”
The chastised children were quick to run out of the room, and Aavi was left holding the pass in the air. The man stared at her for a moment, eventually leaning forward and plucking it from her fingers. As he broke the seal and read the contents, Aavi took in his long, straight black hair and bright brown eyes. When he finished reading the note, he set it aside and consulted one of the pages in his great book, running a slender, ink-stained finger down a column. As that digit stopped to mark a place, he reached into a box with his free hand and tossed a handful of rods onto the table.
“Hmm,” he breathed as he studied them. “It appears I should give you priority.”
“Priority?” Aavi wondered if that was a food or drink, like Mazu had been talking about.
“I am Nianzu, the Oracle’s chief scribe and scheduler,” he told Aavi with great pride in his voice. “You will not have to wait until morning with the other pilgrims. The Oracle will see you right away.”
He stepped out from behind the table, picking up a strange tall hat and setting it on his head as he ushered Aavi back out into the passage. He led her directly through the ornamental archway and Aavi found herself in a room ringed with strange statues that faced a large central fountain alight with floating candles shaped like flowers. Burning sticks were inserted close by many of the statues, infusing the air with a fragrant haze. Behind the stone figures were screens festooned with garlands of flowers or colorful streamers of cloth. Others were decorated with banners that displayed odd lettering. Aavi thought she might be able to read them if the light was better, and if it hadn’t been so smoky.
“Approach the Oracle,” Nianzu instructed, backing out of the room.
“Where is it?” Aavi asked. She saw no other person in the place. But Nianzu said nothing more and a large door slid shut as he left her alone in the chamber.
Aavi started walking from statue to statue. Was one of them the Oracle? Or perhaps the person Kafele sent her to see was hiding behind one of the screens. She circled the room, unsure of what to do. At length, she decided to sit on the edge of the central fountain and wait, hoping that someone would come. She looked down into the water, reaching to touch one of the waxy pink-petaled candles that drifted there. As she pushed it aside, Aavi regarded her own reflection. It smiled back at her.
“You know that true wisdom lies within,” her watery double spoke. “That is promising.”
Aavi started back in surprise, then leaned in close again to verify that she’d really just seen and heard her own reflection addressing her. “Oracle?”
“Yes. What do you wish to know?” As the image spoke, the candles on either side of it floated away, as if a field of power banished them to the fringes of the fountain.
Aavi was eager now. She had so many questions. “Who am I? Where did I come from?” she asked her smiling reflection in the water.
“You are the one responsible. You came from outside this experience,” the Oracle responded without hesitation.
Aavi bit her lip, thinking. The Oracle’s pronouncement that she was ‘responsible’ made her worry that she had done something wrong. But she was more concerned that the question about whence she came had been misunderstood. She tried again. “Can you tell me why I can’t remember anything from before I woke up in the City?”
“Perhaps you were dropped on your head,” the Oracle with Aavi’s face laughed, then grew serious again. “I will tell you a secret. You don’t belong here. You were supposed to go to Earth.”
For a moment, Aavi felt relieved. If she was not meant to be among the gods, it would explain why she felt so alien and confused here. Perhaps the people on Earth would be more like her and could help her understand her place and her past. Then another thought crossed her mind. “Did I come from Earth, but just can’t remember it? How do I get to Earth?” Her words were very earnest, for hope was rising that she would regain her memory if she traveled to that place.
“Find your companion. You cannot leave here alone,” the reflection answered.
“D’Molay,” Aavi said to herself. He’d helped her through so much already and he knew everything about this world and the gods. Surely he could take her to Earth. That must be who the Oracle was referring to.
“Find your companion quickly,” urged the Oracle as its image began to waver and its voice grew fainter. “You must unite before the Queen in the night sky has blossomed again.”
A soft bell rang and at that very moment the Oracle completely disappeared. This was immediately followed by the sound of the door sliding open and Nianzu clearing his throat. Aavi turned to see the scribe waiting for her.
“Your audience is concluded. A meal awaits you in the courtyard.” Nianzu eyed the girl perceptively, seeking to determine how much of an impression the Oracle’s words had made. Aavi looked very nervous and worried. Dealing with hysterical pilgrims undone by prophetic words was a large part of Nianzu’s job, and he had perfected speeches to distract them from their fates. “Do not trouble yourself over the Oracle’s words. In time, you may find they mean less or more th
an what they seem to at the moment,” he said in an even, much-rehearsed tone.
Aavi arose from the fountain ledge and followed Nianzu out of the Oracle’s chamber. She was confused by the Oracle’s last words, but felt sure that she had to get back to D’Molay. She vowed to travel back across the water as soon as possible to ask him to take her to Earth. “I want to go back to the City now,” she said firmly. Nianzu turned and shook his head.
“You cannot. Mazu and her boat are gone. I will raise the signal for her return, but she may not see it for many hours.” Nianzu stopped before a gate that led to another part of the retreat. He reached behind his ear and withdrew a thin, long key that had been hidden by his straight hair. He used it to open a lock and swung the gate free. Just inside it sat a table and benches, where the boy who had met her earlier was pouring water into a very small cup. Aavi watched in fascination as some sort of mist rose from the top of the liquid.
“Shan will serve you and Xiu will take you to your room for the night.” Nianzu retreated back the way they had come, leaving the courtyard gate open behind him. Aavi walked over to the boy who had finished pouring the strange liquid and was now pulling lids from several shallow pots.
“What is that water doing?” Aavi asked, intrigued by the steam rising off the hot dark mug.
Shan, accustomed to philosophical questioning by his teachers, answered easily. “It is being hot. We call it tea.”
Aavi somehow understood what hot was, just as she had intuitively remembered its opposite, cold. She sat down on the bench next to the table and wrapped her hands around the small cup, feeling its warmth. She raised the cup to her lips and sipped. It had a sweet smell and a pleasant, biting flavor. Shan pushed a plate toward her. The plate held things she had never seen before. Aavi busied herself drinking several cups of tea to avoid the embarrassment of admitting to Shan that she had no idea what she was supposed to do with what he had set before her.
“Aren’t you going to eat your food?” Shan pestered.
“Do you know what food is?” Xiu challenged. She elbowed Shan again. “We could show you how to eat,” she offered sneakily.
“Please,” Aavi responded. “I want to learn.” She had an unusual feeling in her middle that felt like it still needed something, but she wasn’t sure what. Nor did she really understand what one did with all the items on the plate.
Catching on to the unexpected opportunity to gorge on the nuts and honeyed fruit reserved only for guests, Shan was the first to demonstrate. “You see this nut?” he said, racing to sit down and grabbing a fat lychee from Aavi’s plate. “You peel it, like this, and throw this part away.” Shan nimbly divested the soft flesh of the lychee of its peel and pit and popped it into his mouth.
“And these are cherries in honey syrup,” Xiu said, grabbing for her favorites. “You can eat them just as they are.”
Aavi managed to slowly peel and eat one lychee by imitating Shan. Then she reached for one of the cherries that Xiu was eating. It was slippery and sticky at the same time, and she dropped it twice before managing to get it into her mouth. By the time she did, the children had eaten most of what had been on her plate. Still, Aavi felt a great sense of accomplishment, having learned several new things from them. Pulling the plate closer to herself, she finished what was left. The wonder of eating and the tastes it provided had made her forget for a moment the ominous words of the Oracle. But after the meal, her thoughts turned back to D’Molay and the anxious feeling that she needed to get back to him.
Shan started collecting the plates and cups as Xiu pushed away from the table. “Wait here,” she said, wiping her hands on her trousers. “I will bring you a sleeping robe and then I’ll show you your room for the night.”
Deep in her worrying, Aavi paid little attention to what the children were doing. When she realized she was alone a few minutes later, she resolved to find Nianzu and ask again if she could leave the retreat. Rising, she went back through the courtyard gate and wandered through the compound.
Aavi found him lighting a great iron lantern. It was shaped like a globe, a cage of ornate metal spirals encasing a central oil reservoir. Noticing Aavi standing nearby, Nianzu suppressed a frown. Why wasn’t she in her room? Shan and Xiu were obviously being disobedient again, and he resolved to address that problem more actively. Guessing why Aavi had come, he headed off her question.
“This is Mazu’s signal. She will return when she can.”
Aavi watched as Nianzu hoisted the signal with a rope and tackle, raising it to the top of a pole almost as tall as the largest trees. Her eyes followed it upward.
“It’s . . . so big and bright.”
Nianzu’s eyes shifted to the strange innocent. The lantern wasn’t that big. Distance and perspective had actually reduced its apparent size. Shaking his head, he secured the pulley rope. As Aavi continued to stare raptly at the sky, Xiu returned with a folded bundle of cloth in her arms.
“Teacher, the room is ready.”
The sticky residue of honey syrup around Xiu’s lips told Nianzu everything he needed to know. “It would have been ready sooner, if you had not wasted time stealing food from our guest.” Xiu gasped and bowed her head guiltily as she stepped forward to take Aavi’s hand. Aavi looked down at her touch, which was followed by an insistent tug. Clearly Xiu had no desire to linger in the presence of Nianzu. Nor did the scribe wish to prolong his contact with Aavi. He thanked fortune that this helpless being would soon be gone. Nianzu retreated to the sanctuary of the library.
Aavi followed as Xiu led her around the inner walls of the retreat to a cluster of small wooden buildings. She immediately noticed that the structures were quite plain compared to the inner halls. There were no statues, fountains, or carvings, but each small cottage did have a neat arrangement of small plants growing out of mismatched pots. Some of the plants had colorful flowers. Others sprouted pods or prickly thorns. Aavi remembered seeing things like them spilling from the bags and boxes in Kafele’s shop. She wanted to take a closer look, but Xiu was pushing open a sliding door and gesturing for her to go inside. She stepped in. A single lantern cast just enough light to show a row of thin mats on the floor.
“Take any one. You are the only guest in this room tonight,” Xiu said. “Someone will come get you when Mazu arrives. Here is a robe to keep you warm.”
“Thank you,” Aavi said, taking the garment from Xiu. She took a few more steps into the room and did exactly what Xiu said, picking up one of the mats. Xiu laughed at this strange behavior, but immediately covered her mouth with one hand. She was already in trouble with Nianzu, and did not want to incur even more punishment. The little girl’s smile turned to a pout. It was hardly her fault. It was hard to respect guests when they were dumb as chickens. Nonetheless, she managed to bid Aavi a polite goodnight before running back to Shan to report the latest silly thing the pilgrim had done.
Aavi stood in the room, wondering what to do next. It was so quiet. She could hear all the sounds her body made, breath pushing in and out of her chest and a strange clenching noise far back in her throat each time she swallowed. Aavi’s hands drifted down to her middle to hover over the one place where Kafele had whispered a hole was missing. She suddenly regretted not asking the Oracle about that when she had the chance.
Accepting that she was supposed to stay in the room for the night, Aavi put the mat in her hands back on the floor, sat down on it, and waited. As the moments slipped past, she grew tired of sitting and lay down. She wondered if she would find it hard to get up again, whether she would feel sick and weak as she had when she first woke up in the City. Unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she wrapped herself in the sleeping robe and finally dozed off.
At length, something made a chirping sound. Aavi’s eyes opened as the chirp repeated then continued in an uninterrupted sequence. She listened, determining the sound was coming from outside. Curious, she arose and slid open the door. Perhaps she could find the source of the noise. If not, she would take
the opportunity to look at that wonderful light in the sky once again.
As she stepped out, the bulky robe brushed one of the plant pots and the chirping stopped. Aavi shed the restricting garment and knelt to peer among the leaves and flowers. Apparently this plant was able to make sounds, but it was silent now, no longer interested in talking to her. She poked at it a few more times before giving up and walking out into the courtyard. Aavi could still see Mazu’s signal lantern glowing through the treetops. But her fascination had not been with Nianzu’s device; she had actually been captivated by the bright round circle that had hung even higher in the sky. She was disappointed to discover that the white disc was no longer above and to the right of the lantern. Aavi squinted into the darkness, trying to find it again. If Nianzu had turned it off, she might still be able to find its dark outline. Yet she saw nothing, until a cloud moved and made the patch of ground on which she stood a bit lighter. Turning, Aavi shifted her eyes to another part of the sky and found the giant white lantern. It had moved, not gone out. She found it hanging just above a great hill. It would only be a short walk into the trees behind the cottages to climb the hill and get closer to it.
Once Aavi moved into the forest, however, she found it hard to keep her bearings. The tree canopy blocked out most of the sky and little light filtered down to guide her way. She had to trust the ground. She set her feet along the upward slope to be sure she was still moving toward the top of the rise. As she traveled, she heard more mysterious noises rustling and croaking. She ignored them, coming to the conclusion that plants were just noisy things in general.
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