Ascendancy

Chapter VII

Chapter 7

T'Kia
2041

I hole myself up in my room and don't let anyone enter as I communicate with the ancestors. I turn off my Kimoyo beads. I don't allow food or messages from anyone. I need complete isolation if I want to understand what is happening.

They are not the spies. There are no spies. T'Chilla says.

What the hell? Yes there are spies in Wakanda. Those boys just aren't the spies. They honestly really care about the throne for some reason. N'Jadaka says.

Or maybe they feared the girl that turned into a gigantic panther in front of them. T'Chilla says. The other ancestors join in on the fight.

"I don't need you all fighting in my head. What I need is you all finding answers to my questions: Why did I turn into a panther? How did I turn into a panther? Who are the spies? Are they people close to the Council or the Royal Family? Is Klaue Junior even telling the truth? Should the Trials continue? Do I still need the suit? Can I turn into a panther at will? Am I indestructible? Tell me. Let me know, please." I plead, desperately needing answers.

The ancestors are quiet for a long time so I meditate until they give me answers. It takes hours before anyone answers. And when an answer comes, I am almost pushed to tears by the power of the voice.

Raise, T'Kia, daughter of Bast. Follow my instructions so that you may fully understand. It's a booming voice that is more powerful than T'Chilla's, T'Chaka's, N'Jadaka's, or any of the other ancestors. The voice is also in Wakandan unlike the others who speak mostly English.

"Who is that?" I answer back in Wakandan. It's the respectful thing to do.

It is I, Bashenga. The first Black Panther and ruler of the Kingdom of Wakanda. Now follow my voice so that you may understand.

I do as I am told and follow Bashenga's voice out of my room and far below the castle. Farther than Aunt Shuri's lab and farther than I even knew the castle went. It is nighttime so I don't encounter anyone.

Open the door. Bashenga orders me once I stand in front of a black door that glows purple. Much like the body as one consumes the juice of the Heart-Shaped Herb.

"How?" I ask, still speaking Wakandan. There is no knob on the door. Only a paw print in the middle of the door. "I have a hand not a paw."

Open the door. Bashenga orders. I clear my mind and think about my left hand becoming a panther paw. I look down and see a paw. Before I can freak out and lose my resolve, I place my paw in the middle of the door and it swings open. I shake my left paw and it is a hand again. I feel extremely tired by just making my hand a paw. The adrenaline and fear of earlier hid the fatigue I felt after turning into a panther. Enter.

I walk through the door and it closes behind me. As I walk down the incline before me, lights of purple flicker on. The ancestors in my head also start singing and getting louder the more I walk downward.

At the very bottom of the incline, is a large statue of a panther. It stands, posed like it's stalking its prey or protecting its young. As I come to stand in front of the panther statue, the ancestors' voices are now shouting— giving me a headache. It isn't until I stop walking that the voices become completely silent.

As I stand waiting for anything to indicate what I am doing here, several purple wisps of light surround me. They aren't like the lights leading to the statue. Those were more like purple tinted vibranium (which is usually an electric blue color). These wisps of light form into panthers with gold eyes. A bigger, brighter panther light forms into a man. A man taller than anyone I have ever seen. He has to be almost seven or eight feet.