Ambrosia: Altered Memories

Chapter Three

Altair let Lilith out of the cage. Karyin ran over to to Altair's side. Altair sat on the ground and Karyin laid in front of him. Lilith was drenched in blood. Her white dress had been splattered with blood. She had the look of someone who had just killed someone. No, that can't be. It's Lilith, a cute seven year old girl. Right?

"Now tell me what happened here," ordered Altair.

"I didn't mean to kill them. They took me into the tent and began to undress me. I didn't know what to do. So I closed my eyes and waited. Pain never came. I opened my eyes slowly and there was blood everywhere, most of the men had been killed. Body parts were everywhere. The last three bandits put me in the cage, so they wouldn't die." explained Lilith.

Altair was shocked. Lilith had used magic. That was the only logical explanation. That also explained why there was blood everywhere. Altair grabbed Lilith and hugged her tightly. She would never recover from this.

"It's ok Lilith. I don't blame you. You did the right thing." Altair said, trying to calm down Lilith.

"I'll just take a nap, I'm tired." Lilith said groggily.

Karyin ran up to Lilith and wrapped his body around her. They both fell asleep like that. Altair knew Lilith must have been tired, she had used a lot of energy. Altair had to train. He was not fast enough to protect Lilith. He was not strong enough to tank blows. Altair needed to get stronger.

Being the smart person he is, Altair called Izzy, telepathically.

"What do you need, Altair," asked Izzy.

Altair quickly replied, "I need to get stronger fast. Do you have a way?"

Izzy smirked, "I may have technique."

"What is it? I'll do it, whatever it takes," Altair said as he looked at Lilith.

Izzy explained, "It's a technique that gives some of my energy to the person. The process is long and painful. Only one other person has survived this, and that was Samuel Marshmallow, aka the Dark King," explained Izzy in a dangerous voice.

"Count me in," Altair responded without hesitation.

The painful process began early in the morning. Izzy had made everything in a fifty mile radius inside a protective bubble and into deep sleep. The spell make the person that it was casted onto go into a rampage. If the person calmed down quickly they would survive. If not, they will die. And it was not easy, as the person's body was being ripped apart and being rebuilt again.

It had been two normal days since the spell was casted. There was no problem except that Altair's power was still growing. Izzy was shocked. Samuel's power stopped rising after only one day. When looking at Altair closely, Izzy could see an orange aura around him. And if you looked even closer, you see the a curved golden band around him.

This was an example of "strings". When every person has their own special special power. These powers were passed down from the gods. And Altair had just unlocked his string. Sun WuKong, The Handsome Monkey King.

After the third day, the meadow was ravaged and Altair had calmed own. Altair now was sleeping next to Lilith and Karyin. Izzy was shocked at the power Altair held. Yes, she had seen Samuel's pact with the Jade Emperor, but his power was low compared to Altair. Izzy decided to seal part of his power. Her plan would not work if he beat Samuel to early.

Altair's power was sealed. He can access some of the power, like transformation and his staff. The Monkey King was notorious for causing trouble for Jade Emperor. Izzy had faith that this was going to be true. It's ironic, a shadow cannot exist without it's light.

Altair woke up to the smell of food. He ose up and looked around. By his side there was Lilith and Karyin roasting some bunnies over a fire.

"Karyin caught us a bunny, Altair," yelled out Lilith.

"Smells delicious," Altair replied with a smile.

Lilith seems way happier than yesterday. Memories came back, he had asked Izzy to make him stronger. He got up and he felt stronger and faster. Altair immediately knew that he had unlocked his string. He concentrated on his magic and a staff appeared in his hands.

"Ohhhh, A TAIL," squealed Lilith.

Altair looked behind and there was a tail. Altair gave the staff a few swings. It was well balanced. The staff was red with gold markings surrounding the top and bottom parts of the staff. Altair wondered if the staff had any magical effects. He concentrated on the staff, and it let out a huge fireball. Altair tried again this for many times, while Lilith stared in awe. After firing the fifth shot, Altair felt pain around his head. He grabbed his head in pain. That was when he realized that he a had a gold band around his head.

It was just like in the myths. The Monkey King was tricked into wearing the restraints. Altair concentrated again and the staff disappeared along with the gold headband.

"How'd you do that?" asked Lilith.

"Oh, that was my string, The Monkey King," explained Altair

"My mom had one, too. She called it Gaea. She could move really heavy stuff and make me a hut made out of earth to play in. Sometimes she would mix it with fire and show me a mini-volcano." ranted Lilith in a harmless way.

Altair dared to ask, "What about your dad? What was his string?"

Lilith looked at the ground, "He could fly, but didn't have any wings. His eyes were always so sparkly like stars. He would make pictures out of the stars, somehow he could control them. He called himself, Uranus. He would bring down a star every night so I could play with it. And then one day, he suddenly left. Mom never told me why."

Altair knew. It all fit together. The child of light, Uranus, and dark, Gaea. Lilith was.....