Chapter Twenty-Six

Mother Lives...

Vakiyv had retrieved the tracking chip between her breasts. It was a sensitive task watching the beauty and curves of her body. She was magnificent. He still couldn't get the image out of his mind. She was flawless and he had promised he wouldn't hurt her.

Vermeen had introduced the female pleasure at a rather early age and he had starved himself from such tradition since his first time. Ever since he laid eyes on Shyva, she had opened that door to his desires. A door he had locked a very long time when he thought himself a monster. Afterall, he was human.

"These flowers are beautiful. I'm not certain Master Chi has these species. Is this how beautiful outside the Dome can be?" Shyva asked looking behind but she hissed when she wasn't replied. "Did you know there were people like us all these times and there was a world better than the dry lands I was familiar with. Why did Nyla keep this away from us."

Recently, while watching her maneuver her steps against the crooked path over the hills, he couldn't hide the smile that crept upon his lips. For years Shyva lived as a robot, commanded, instructed and was fed an illusion of the perfect world. His smile stretched at how vulnerable she was to the real world. Simulations of replicated worlds and a few assignments could never be enough. Learning and discovery was unending. Soon she would realize that.

"I found us a home." Shyva halted in her tracks, looking behind her to watching him studying her. "Are you going to stand there all day until we're discovered."

He didn't reply her but walked forward to find a cave hidden behind numerous hills. It would be difficult to find them with the canopying hills. This was remarkable for the mean time. They had also walked all day in the opposite direction from their previous shelter should their chip lead their pursuers to the previous location.

"I shall scout the area first…"

"I am a warrior too." Shyva protested leaping to find encroachers. Vakiyv hissed watching her perform her role perfectly. He decided to have a look at the cave for predators and any surprise.

"Be safe. Call for me if you're in danger." He called out. "I can handle myself," she screamed before leaving his sight. This had gone for vura until they finally met in the cave and had found little food from gathering nuts and plants. The provisions would do to rejuvenate their strength. "I shall take promenade around this place, I cherish my alone times."

"I shall not allow you go. It's almost dusk and it can be dangerous out there."

"You don't know that."

"All my life, I've not been confined to the luxury of a fake world. I have seen things you couldn't fathom." Vakiyv spat, he detested her obstinacy especially when her safety was concerned.

"You don't use that tone with me. What have I done to deserve such insult from you. I didn't wish for your permission. I would leave anyway." Shyva squared her shoulders, tilted her chin upward and slid past him.

"Like mother like daughter."

"What did you say?" Shyva paled at the comparison. Did he know mother?

"What do you know about mother?" she demanded, walking up to him, "You seek pleasure watching me confused. Do you love to hear yourself talk? Your air of mystery sickens me, Vakiyv. It does every damn time. If you have something to say to me, say it."

Vakiyv stiffened. The words shouldn't have slipped from his lips. He was mad at her obstinacy and was frustrated she didn't appreciate his care. He respected her independence, but it brought chaos when they weren't working as a team to ensure their survival. "Your mother is damn stubborn, damn entitled, pretty difficult to convince and can be persuasive to achieve her goal just like you. Without caring who gets hurt in the process."

"Do not talk of my mother in such a demeaning way. Even if I never met her, she doesn't deserve your harshness."

"Oh! You've met her, Shyva. She's just like you and very much alive."

"Do not play with my emotions." Shyva backed away, not believing Vakiyv's aim to punish her. "I warn you." She screamed, "I won't be merciful."

"I do not lie, Shyva."

"That's enough." She pounced on Vakiyv and sent them falling to the ground while she straddled Vakiyv, wrapping her hands around his neck and fighting against his flaying hand. "Your mother…" Vakiyv croaked, wrapping his arms around her hand to free himself, but there was so much anger burning in her eyes that she had made up her mind to hurt him.

"Shyva… listen."

"Don't say any more about my mother. She's dead."

"No, she isn't. You've met… her a… couple of times." He struggled to breathe and released her hands. He rolled over her and pinned her hands above her head, breathing heavily.

"If this is true, where have I met her?" Shyva whispered, trapped under his hard body and his burning eyes. "You prefer to fight me because I tell you the truth. After all I have done for you. You would attack me for telling the truth. I have promised never to hurt you. Answer me this question: have I told you a lie?"

Shyva was mute.

"Answer me this moment." He roared, and his voice reverberated through the cave, startling her.

"No," Shyva gasped. "All your life," his warm breath slammed her face, and the dry smell of dried berries tingled her nostrils. You've been surrounded by lies; I have answers to them. I thought to tell you who your mother was because I couldn't watch you suffer. You had to know, and this is what I get."

"Who's my mother?" Shyva matched his anger, demanding an answer. "Nyla."

He released Shyva to suffer in shock. Shyva, however, had backed to a corner, shivering violently. Her eyes riveted back and forth in trepidation. She mouthed incoherently, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.

Vakiyv worried greatly, but anyone would survive the news of an estranged mother in this way. Shocked and betrayed. "And there is more." Shyva hadn't stopped chatting with shivering teeth. "Do you know why you're special?"

Shyva was quiet. Vakiyv was hurt for putting her through this much mystery. But, the earlier he revealed the truth, the better they were free from his mind. He cared for her greatly to keep all these from her. One way or the other, she would find out when Nyla gained her back.

"I do not know Nyla's unique heritage, but due to some findings led by Vermeen. There were a few hypotheses about her heritage. A family discovered an abandoned baby. Nyla was this baby. We can't say Nyla's origin is from the Sivien Empire, though she claims to be. But she possesses great powers Vermeen wished to covet himself."

Vakiyv watched Shyva listen while she shuddered, wrapped by her arms into the corner. "That makes you as powerful. Since Nyla is your mother, you bear great gifts. I know you must have thought about how you could see me when I used my cloaking powers and hear my thoughts, how we speak through our minds and have imaginations. Your power goes beyond that. You cannot begin to fathom."

However, Shyva began to slip away from her environment. Vakiyv's voice was became incoherent words. His lips moved but she couldn't hear him eventually.

"Mother…" Shyva whispered, "Mother."

"Shyva, it's me. Can you hear me?" The loud voice in Shyva's head caused a loud ringing, and she was forced to hold her head, losing coordination.

"Is it mother?"

"It's not mother. It's me, Shyva. Don't you remember my voice? Don't you remember me at all? Think deep and follow my voice; it'll lead you."

Shyva followed this desperate voice into a memory. In this memory, she had a companion whose face glitched. They were teenagers.

"I see visions, Shyva, of a different world." This companion with flowing hair said. "You sound crazy. Listen to yourself." Shyva chuckled, "I love your imaginations, but we're told there's never a world outside the Dome."

"What if that's what they want us to believe."

"I… I don't know how to respond to that."

The voice came again, intruding into her memories and dissolving them, so she returned to reality. "Do you remember me now?"

"Shyva, Shyva, concentrate." The voice screamed.

Shyva had felt warmth and happiness in the company of the speaker. For so long, that part of her had stayed buried. Since she wasn't taking the Dome's medication, so many memories were glitches and blurs. This voice had belonged to a friend. They had shared secrets and memories. Shyva's eyes brightened, and her mouth opened in awe. The memories were all too familiar.

Shyva bled through her nose, and her head rang so loud that she slowly slipped into unconsciousness. "I have missed you, Oto--" were her last words before she went into a comatose.