The Sinsinati's

Day 8

*muffled singing*

I awoke to the sound of singing, coming from the lake. It sounded like a young girl. Her voice was beautiful. It was pure and soothing. She seemed to be singing some sort of Japanese lullaby.

"Anata wa nakanaide kudasai. Watashi wa koko ni irudarou. Watashitachi ga asa no taiyo o miru made wa, watashi wa yoru o kayotte koko ni irudeshou..." She sang

I knew what she was singing in English, and somehow I knew the song. I didn't know how, I just... did. So I started to sing along. But in English.

"If you are scared, take my hand.

­---moshi anata ga kowainara, watashi no tewotoru---

all of your fears go to distant lands.

---anata no subete no osore wa toku no tochi ni ikimasu---

make a wish on the stars up above,

---ue no hoshiniegaiwo suru---

wish for hope, and wish for love..."

---kibo o negau, ai o negau...---

Then the singing stopped. I waited, Half expecting the singing to start again but it didn't. It upset me because that voice made me feel strong, and powerful. It gave me hope and courage, almost like your loved one cheering you on does, but even more powerful than that. So I waited, but before I knew it, I was asleep again.

*Maria humming"

I awoke to the sound of Maria humming ,some random tune that she was making up as she went, and the heels of her boots hitting off the wooden seats of the carriage as she kicked her legs back and forth. She looked down at me and stopped humming.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" she asked with a slightly worried look in her eyes.

"not at all" I said "what time is it?"

"8:30" said Shino "you looked tired so we went for a swim in the lake while you slept"

"how was the water?" I asked

"it was a little cold but it was ok" Said Maria

"we better get back on the road" Said Shino

So we started moving. We still had a two day journey left to go so it was a good idea. A few minutes later Maria started humming again. I didn't stop her because I found it cute.

"you have a beautiful voice, Maria" I said

She giggled and continued humming. Then all of a sudden I remembered the singing from that morning, and how strong and powerful it made me feel. It was like magic, a feeling that nobody could explain. When I heard her, I felt like a could take out an entire army. I just kept thinking that when we had to fight the guardian of the flower, we would be able to defeat it without breaking a sweat, if she was singing in the back ground. But then it occurred to me that it may have been a dream, or just a girl passing by. It occurred to me that I may never hear that voice again. I didn't know if I could accept that, but I did know that I may have to. It didn't matter now though, I had to focus on Maria and Yui. Then I heard a shuffle from beside me. I turned round and saw Maria, standing at the carriage door.

"Maria?" I said

She then slowly lifted her hand and reached for the latch on the door. I was more confused than ever, and scared. We were going full speed, what was she doing?

"Maria, what are you doing?" I asked, raising my voice slightly.

Her fingers wrapped themselves round the latch and she started pulling it up, then the door swung open and Maria started falling forward. I panicked, I jumped up and wrapped my arms around Maria and pulled her back. Then Shino quickly shut the door and latched the latch.

"Maria?" Shouted Shino "what are you doing?"

She lay on top of me, unconscious.

"Shino, She's asleep" I said

I could feel her breathing.

"Uki, she could have killed herself there" said Shino as I sat up.

I lifted Maria onto a seat and woke her up.

"Maria, are you ok" I asked

She smacked her long eyelashes together quickly. She sat up and looked into my eyes. I looked back at hers and my heart sunk. Her eyes were lifeless, like her soul had left her body and just walked away. Then her eyes fixated on the wooden beam behind me. I put my hands on the side of her arms and started shaking her.

"snap out of it, Maria" I said

"Maria" said Yui from behind me.

"mummy" said Maria, her eyes still lifeless.

Yui walked over to Maria. I took my arms down as hers replaced mine. She leaned forward and kissed Maria's forehead then hugged her. I watched as Maria's eyes filled back up with life. She looked at me as she tried to make sense of what was happening. Yui pulled Herself off of Maria and asked what had happened.

"what Happ-end?" said Maria

"You don't remember?" I asked

"no" she said

"are you feeling ok?" asked Yui

"I feel fine" said Maria

Yui stood up. She said goodbye and disappeared.

"Don't worry" said Shino "there is nothing wrong with Maria. It turns out, the town we are headed for isn't a town at all. It is where the flower is, and the guardian. You see, when the guardian senses danger, even from this far away, he uses an attack called 'suicide'. What it does is it will pick out the weakest person In a group and mind control them to try and commit suicide. It will do the same to a person who is travelling on their own."

"Shino, can you protect her until we get the flower?" I asked

"yes" he said "can you steer for a while, this could take a while"

"sure" I said

So I climbed into the front while Shino cast a spell on Maria. Around 2 hours later he climbed into the front and told me she was sleeping.

"hey, its getting late. What do you say we call it a night?" I asked

"yeah" said Shino.

So we travelled for another hour or so until we reached a smaller yet just as beautiful lake as before. I climbed into the back to go to sleep. I looked over at Maria. She was laying on the seat, sleeping. She was snoring quietly and shivering. So I took off my jacket and put it over her. She stopped shivering. Then I noticed that her hair was covering one of her eyes, so I went to push it behind her ear but when I did I was blocked by an invisible force field.

"huh, well done Shino" I whispered to myself before laying down across the seat and dozing off, to what I didn't realize at the time was the voice, singing a lullaby, sending me off to sleep.

"Ue no hoshininegaiwo suru, kibo o negau, ai o negau" she sang, in her soothing, calming, strengthening voice