9. Nirvana

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ARK Bearer Of Curse

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***

"AAAAHHHH!!" I screamed, struggling to stay alive. Files from the cabinet flew all around when my body slammed to it.

Psshw!! Pssshw!!!

Flurries of arrows went straight to my direction. With that short of a distance, it was nigh impossible to dodge all of it. Not to mention my head was breaking in two.

"Wow! To dodge even after those injuries, this kid is really good, Captain", the archer said. His compliments would have pleased me if he wasn't shooting at me.

The Captain threw the archer a chastising look as if the latter was playing. Playing it cool and innocent, the archer just shrugged. He shot another arrow at me without even looking. I dodged it with a hair's breadth.

Maybe it was because of my awakened powers, I knew just how ridiculously strong these two were and to think they were still toying with me while I already struggled for my life, it kind of terrified me.

"Who are you? How did you know about the spirit powered weapons?"

That Captain guy's voice continued to ring inside my head.

"I don't know what you're talking about!!" I shouted, leaping to avoid the next barrage of arrows. It hit my ankle. Oddly enough, it didn't bleed. But the pain it delivered hurt me to the bones! The arrow also disappeared as soon as it hit me. Only then did I realize the arrows he shot earlier, were not on the spots they hit!

"Magic arrows. Neat, right? I'm an archer and a mage", he describe himself while raising his bow to show me. "This is my Spirit Artifact. But the arrows that I shoot.."

He paused and showed of. If it was confidence or arrogance that made him reveal his tricks, I wasn't sure, but he had the rights to brag with his skills.

I could see the spirit energy forming in his palm. It reminded me of that priest who made an arrow using his lightning. A couple of seconds later, the energy took the form of an arrow.

"I shoot my magic with the bow that enhances its strength, speed, and accuracy", he bragged, releasing the arrow. It grazed my face. I didn't have time to react but he purposely avoided killing that earned him the chastising look of his captain again.

These people had complete disregard of the public. They were using their powers nonstop, not worrying about regular people witnessing it, and to attack children as young as Ali and me, it wasn't their first time killing people.. regardless of age.

"The weapons. Who told you to steal these weapons?"

The voice rang again. Every time it did, my eyesight shook to the point of almost bleeding.

"I said I don't know any thing about your weapons!" I screamed in a measly attempt to show defiance.

"No need to shout, boy. Just think. Who do you work for?"

His freaking voice was figuratively and literally cracking my skull. If this continued, dodging the arrows would not matter at all. I would be lucky to escape with a brain damage.

"I told you!" I continued to struggle. "I don't know what the hell you are talking about!"

At this point, I almost wished they would just kill me painlessly. In fact, I wouldn't mind a dozen wounds, but I wished my mind didn't have to suffer that kind of beating.

"Ali.." I just mindlessly thought. Crawling on all fours, I was able to run at the backdoor. The interrogation room was the only place I could hid and try to recover. At least the arrows would be one less thing to worry.

"That's right. I can't give up just yet!" My mind screamed.

Dying here and leaving Ali alone to these mad men, I could only imagine how worse of a fate would await her. Just when I thought I could have the time to recover and think of a plan to fight or at least grab Ali and escape, that disturbing voice rang in my head again.

I looked at the two way mirror. It reflected the pitiful state of my face. My eyes were bloodshot, a sign that my brain was starting to fall. I reached for the grenade in my pocket.

"If I'm going to die here then I will take these bastards with me!" I thought with complete determination. It was already too late that I realized it was a mistake. The more I put strength in my thoughts, the louder my mind was. And the more vulnerable it became to his mind attacks.

The next accounts were the literal things I saw which would describe what happened. A massive curtain fell on me. It swallowed by whole body, and by the time it got off me, I was already standing in an open field with seemingly countless treasure boxes.

"A treasure hill?" I wondered, remembering a fictional story that mother read to me once.

The child in me came alive. I was elated and couldn't control myself from opening the treasure boxes. Most of it were boxes of silver and gold, while there were some brown. At the top of the hill, there stood six black boxes.

"They're not locked!" I exclaimed when I got close to one of the silver boxed. Beside it was a golden box. "It's not locked, too!"

I let my curiosity won. One minute I was dying, the next I was in a treasure hunt. Thinking about it now, when I was in that superficial dream, I had no idea of the battle that just concluded. If this hill was the afterlife, I was completely unaware.

I put my hand on the top of the silver box. The anticipation of what's inside was killing me. I gripped the handle firmly, and slowly opened it, as the shining thing inside illuminated my innocent face, waiting to see the treasure coins that was inside.

To my surprise, it wasn't a coin of any kind. But I would argue that what I saw was a treasure. It was a memory of me and mother, when I started to learn how to run and I slipped many times. I literally felt, no, experienced the memory again, as if running through a simulation.

Mother's eyes, hair, voice, and touch. Everything was real. If a single silver box could do that, then what would a gold box do? Without a second thought, I opened the gold box beside me.

The revelation exceeded my expectation. It was another memory with mother. A happier memory when we went to the zoo and ate ice cream. Even with just the two of us, we were endlessly happy. By then, I came to realize that the boxes contained memories that I could experience all over again.

Every box I opened contained a joyful memory. Each one happier than the last. In my greed, I ran. I wanted to experience every happy memory at once. It was Nirvana on its own. Before I knew it, I opened almost half of it already, when a man's voice rang from behind.

"It's wonderful, isn't it", the man said, smiling at me. He oddly looked familiar but no matter how much I looked at him, I couldn't recognize him nor recall where I met him.

"Listen here, kid. Have you heard of the expression: The life flashed before ones eyes?" He asked. I shook my head, not because I didn't know it but because I didn't know the man.

"This..", the man said pointing his finger to the horizon as he spun until he was back to where he first pointed. "Is your life flashing before your eyes."

My head hurt. Comprehending what he just said was difficult enough but a surge of negative emotion climbed to my head, electrifying me.

"You don't remember what happened. That's normal. All dead men don't remember their last moments. Ironically, memories from a distant past can be as clear as the present", he stated, opening one of the gold box and the memory played again. Only this time, he was there, just silently watching until the memory faded.

"You're lucky, kid. Having these many memories at such a young age, you've had quite the childhood. Too bad your life was cut short. You have to thank me for experiencing these memories once more while I search for answers, before your soul completely fades from this world", he concluded as he rushed to open the remaining boxes, frantically searching for something.

"Y-You! I remember you!" I shouted, recognizing that this was the Captain that attacked Ali and me. "That's right! I was fighting you in the station. You and your mind attacks. This is just an illusion!" I declared.

"Fighting me? You're way over your head if you call that one-sided beating a fight. But to call my sorcery an illusion, that's arrogantly preposterous!" The man angrily exclaimed but he continued to opened the boxes, and I continued to experience the memory.

Until only the black boxes remained.

"Well, look at that! You're extremely fortunate", the man laughed ominously. "But I have a feeling what I seek is in these boxes."

As the man opened the box, once again, the scenery changed, simulating the memory. It slowly crept on me which gave me terror. A familiar terror.

"Happy birthday, Lucian", it was mother's voice in the memory.

"Lucian", the man repeated, nodding his head. He had a satisfied look on his face, as if he found what he had sought. "All right. I'll give you my name as a final gift before you die. Captain of the Skull Rangers, I am Buchanan Bones-"

Bones. His last word was interrupted but I was able to make out the name.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!"

And the rest of Nirvana was filled with screaming.