THE JOURNEY HOME

RESOLVE (CONTINUED)

Pearl adjusted to face her new opponent immediately. She straightened and took a stance, but it was no use, she stumbled, her body ached and her clothes, stained with blood and sweat, clinged to her. She tried to focus on the person before her but blood blurred her vision. Before the fight against her new opponent began, she first had to win the battle raging within her for consciousness. 

'Woah' he held up his hands in mock surrender, 'I don't want to fight you'. She grunted and frowned, the piercing pain on her side from his impact said otherwise. His blow was the first and the most painful, even now, she winced from the pain. 

'No, no I mean it. There's no need. I already know everything I need to know' 

'I'm not coming with you.' Pearl spat.

'You don't have a choice' he responded smugly, Pearl could hear him smirking. 

'You are the one we are looking for.' The finality of his tone hung heavily in the air for a moment before Pearl spoke again.

'That again, I don't know what you're talking about.' Pearl said with gritted teeth. 

She would have launched an attack first but she was in a very bad state and she knew it. In this situation, she concluded that the best choice for her right now was to drag out this conversation, her male captor seemed like someone who loved to talk, who romanticised the idea that he wasn't really a bad person, that he was doing the right thing using wrong means. Whatever his personality might be, Pearl knew the only hope she had was to keep him talking until someone came. 

He laughed in response. 

'It's easy really, if you think about it. How did you know about her weakness' He pointed at his collapsed counterpart. 

'The necklace?' She asked.

'Yes, the necklace, how did you know taking it would have such an effect on her?' Pearl's brows furrowed. How did she know?

'You don't know? You should. It's because of your gift. It's you, you're the one we've been looking for. You are the oracle. Your gift is the gift of knowledge.' He chuckled lightly, a wide smile on his face.

'It was a lucky guess' She protested.

'You guessed that a concealed necklace would discomfit an opponent you have never fought before? I don't think so'. He concluded. 'And that is why you are coming with us'

'No, please, wait. You don't have to do this' Pearl was pulling at straws at this point. 'I know you are different from her' surprisingly enough he stopped for a second. Was she getting through to him? Was he really contemplating not taking her? 

'I remember when I was at your mercy in the past, you spoke to me like a person, you treated me with dignity, you showed compassion. You haven't lost yourself yet. You can stop now, it's not too late.' Pearl didn't know what she was saying, her desperation was the only thing driving her, but he had stopped and a serious look was in his eyes as he looked into the darkness.

'Oh, she's the one alright' a female voice wheezed. Premonition was on her feet again. Pearl's face fell as she watched her male captors face harden in resolution. If only she hadn't woken up just then. A loud whirring sound came from behind her, she turned her head to see that he had already opened a portal behind her. She could see within nothing but darkness and a fog. She shuddered. How long would she be in their custody? Would she ever see her family again? 

There was no hope left so she made one last desperate dash at the open portal to Legandanl, only to be stopped by a hand on her neck. 

'If you go in there, you won't be able to come back' It was the voice of Mrs. Rose, she was finally here. Pearl immediately felt the familiar warmth of her healing touch mending her broken bones and healing her wounds. She collapsed in her arms. 

Pearl felt herself being handed over to someone else, it was Mrs Harry, who had followed Mrs. Rose in.

'Pearl I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time' she quickly apologized and held Pearl in one arm, a scroll in the other, while Mrs. Rose turned to face the captors.

Premonition was fully conscious now and Pearl looked up to see her slip through the portal that her counterpart had opened immediately, not so much as putting up a fight. 

'She's smart. You can't fight me' Mrs. Rose faced the male captor squarely. 

'I don't have to. I just want the girl' he declared. 

'You think I'll just hand her over to you? I was going to just let you leave but now I think I'll have to capture you for questioning! Why do you want her?' Mrs. Rose bellowed, her voice reverberating in the large empty hall. 

'I'm sorry, that's classified' He replied gearing up to fight. 

'Have it your way' Mrs. Rose answered harshly. 

Those were the last words exchanged before they clashed. The exchange was very fast and watching them, Pearl knew she was lucky to have fought Premonition first, she didn't stand a chance with a combatant of his calliber. But there was something else that was peculiar about their exchange, he was too quick. Mrs. Rose didn't land a single attack on him, she was on the receiving end all the way and he dodged ALL her attacks, not so much as blocking a single one. It was as though he was scared of her touch and soon enough the reason became evident. 

He came close to attack, too close and she landed a single blow on him instead. Their proximity left no room for him to dodge her so he blocked instead and his left hand fell beside him, numbed. 

He smiled in pain. He had limited the damage done by sacrificing his left arm, his dominant arm was still in one piece.

'I see you've been warned about me' Mrs Rose said with a smirk, wringing the hand that had dealt the damage. 

'Yes, you're a healer, one whose ability is to alter the physiology of her...' he paused and added for lack of a better word, 'patients'. 

'You can't fight me' she stated again. 

He grimaced at his hand and back at her, the wheels in his head were working very differently now. His ego had been brutalised by the impact of a single hit. His face that once wore cocky self assurance wore a different expression, fear. Sweat trickled down between his eyes as he looked for a means of escape. He dashed into the darkness. Mrs. Rose looked back puzzled, she contemplated following him into the darkness, but it might have been a trick. 

'He's headed for the door' Pearl quickly exclaimed. That was the only other way out. 

Mrs. Rose flew with such a burst of energy that a gust of wind was left in her wake, she was at the door in no time, waiting for him but he never came because a few seconds after she left, he snuck out of the shadows and grabbed Pearl again. 

'I told you you're coming with me' He hissed into her ears. As he struggled with his dead arm, Mrs. Harry opened the scroll she held and began to read.

'The decree of the Almighty' 

The scroll glowed like fire and the whole hall began to shake and glow a bright purple colour. Life flowed into her as she spoke and her grey hair turned dark from the roots. 

A deep instinctive fear permeated through him to his very core and he ran out through the portal he had made earlier in the face of her overwhelming superiority. 

Pearl noticed a change in the colour of the walls first, they darkened once again into a dull blue hue and darkness covered most of the exposed vastness. Mrs. Harry was once again a quaint old lady and her scroll was rolled up in her hands once more. Pearl quivered, she was awed by the meekness of the being she had known most of her life as a frail old lady.