Chapter 76 WISE OBASAN

Chapter 76 WISE OBASAN
Mei POV

Practically seeing red, I tear down the nearly empty halls toward my room. Throwing my door open and then slamming it closed, I fall across my bed with a huff. Staring hard at my sheets I notice something sparkle faintly in the sunlight. Blinking, I run my finger lightly over it, examining the glittering dust.

What?

My gaze moves to the floor just below where the kimono Xiao Shen lent me last night lies in a heap.

The festival.

The lily.

Between my dream and the chaos of the morning I had all but forgotten the mysterious gift left for me. Sitting up, I look to my nightstand and sure enough there it is, no longer glowing as it was in the moonlight, but just as real as the photograph next to it. Carefully I take it in my hands, staring down at the pale petals uncertainly.

Who would give me this?

I close my eyes in thought and the first face that comes to mind is Jasper. It seems the most obvious that he would secretly give me such a token, but hadn't he told me that night that he wanted to be friends? And what about choosing Naomi that morning? I open my eyes.

No, not Jasper.

But who?

Just then there is a knock at my door.

"Mei, you in there?" comes Declan's voice from the hall.

"Uh—" I answer, looking to the moon lily in my hands.

Quickly I hide it under my pillow, just as the monk walks in.

"Hey, you okay?" he asks, observing me closely.

I offer him a smile, stuffing my pillow back innocently.

"Yeah. I just needed a moment."

His eyes move to the pillow crammed behind me.

"Well, if you're done punching your pillow, we should probably get going."

I give him a look and get up carefully from my bed. "I wasn't punching my pillow."

"No, I'm sure you were imagining Cal," he grins, opening the door for me.

I sigh and shake my head.

Sometimes, Declan.

The two of us emerge into the empty hall and walk in comfortable silence, that is, until the monk's stomach growls.

"I know you didn't want to marry the guy, but couldn't you have played along a little while?" he complains as another rumble issues from him.

I give him a firm look despite being starved myself.

"I'm sorry your stomach was a casualty of the dislike I've seemed to garner from this inn. I'll be sure to let you enjoy your breakfast in peace tomorrow," I recite back at him.

He smiles knowingly down at me. "Mei, do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

I send him a narrow-eyed look. "All you detect right now is hunger."

"Maybe, but I'm pretty sure I'm picking up a side of jealousy."

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answer, ignoring his smirk as we pass the dining room. "Where is everyone anyway?"

"They should be outside," he replies as we move through the foyer.

I keep my head down and take his arm, just in case.

"Coast is clear," Declan murmurs as we step out into the sunlight.

I lift my gaze and then wince at the sudden brightness. It is a clear morning with an endless blue sky and a large burning sun. Where the inn had finally thinned out its crowds, the grounds have filled. Scattered all around are pairs of people, most smiling and talking, some holding hands, all living out Mrs. Koku's first come first serve reality.

"Wow, it got busy out here," Declan comments, staring around at the clusters of people. "Oh look, there's Cal."

I blink and hold up a hand to shield my eyes. Sure enough, some yards away, is the rest of TFP and Toki Miyuki.

"I wonder why they're stopped?" he says, squinting at the group standing around.

"Maybe they're waiting for us?"

"Who's that old woman with them?"

"An old woman? Like the ones interested in Emeka?" I ask, staring harder through the blinding sunlight.

"I'm not sure, let's go see," Declan answers, pulling me along.

"Well, it's about time," Sonja greets us as we approach, clutching Ren's arm. "If I have to be assaulted by this old loon so do you."

I narrow my eyes at her but feel growing confusion.

What old loon?

"What are we doing here?" Declan protests, looking to Sonja.

She merely points. Across from them are Emeka and a tiny old woman.

"Yes, I approve very much, now let me see your hand, boy," her old voice croaks.

Emeka complies, looking a bit bewildered.

What in the world?

I glance up at Declan, who shrugs down at me.

"Ahh, you have given out a moon lily, my boy," the woman announces with a yellow-toothed smile.

My eyebrows raise.

Emeka?

He attempts to pull his hand back. "You must be mistaken," he suggests.

The old woman smiles wider and clucks her tongue. "I see the dust on your hand, it remains for days. Anyways, I am the Wise Obasan. I mistake nothing."

She releases his hand and he pulls it back to himself, rubbing his palm uneasily.

"Now, let me see if your partner received a moon lily, a very telling point in my decision," she goes on, hobbling toward Xiao Shen, who stands some feet back with a mask firmly in place.

"No reason to be nervous, my dear, let Obasan see your hand," she coaxes as she reaches the medium.

Xiao Shen clasps her hands tightly inside the sleeves of her kimono and turns her nose up.

"I will not. This is completely unnecessary."

"Don't be difficult, deary. I am old but not stupid. If you do not show me your hand I will assume you have received one."

Xiao Shen parts her lips in shock, her cheeks tinting pink.

"That's a dear," the old woman murmurs, taking the medium's resistant hand.

"Ah-ha!" she suddenly shouts. "You have received one!"

Xiao Shen snatches her hand away, her pale cheeks flushing crimson. My eyes widen.

Xiao Shen received a moon lily too?

"Yes, yes, I declare you both to be a good pair indeed!" the old woman cackles.

Emeka looks distinctly pale, unable to look at his partner. Xiao Shen recovers from her shock.

"I do not see how that makes us anything. You have no idea who gave that moon lily to me," she protests, her eyes landing briefly on Cal.

Obasan merely shrugs.

"I see what I see. Who's next? Ah, yes, the one with the red lips."

Suddenly I wish to be anywhere else.

That crazy old woman is going to make me show my hand and then everyone will know I've received a moon lily.

Carefully I begin backing up, but am stopped by Declan catching my arm.

"Where are you going? Don't you want to see who else makes a good pair?"

"Uh, I just remembered, I forgot to get something from my room—"

He raises an eyebrow. "Wait, you didn't receive a moon lily, did you, Mei?"

"I'll be right back I promise—" I persist, attempting to break free of his grasp.

"You did. Mei! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Declan, let me go," I hiss, struggling against him.

"Oh my, what nails," the old woman's voice declares, tutting at Sonja's polish.

"Excuse me, I thought you were supposed to be studying my palm," she grumbles.

"Patience," Obasan orders, turning over her hand rather roughly.

"Ow!" Sonja objects, but a stern look from the old woman silences her.

"Hmm, yet another moon lily exchange," she goes on after a moment of staring closely at Sonja's hand.

I pause my struggle with Declan and he suddenly releases me.

Sonja too?

Slowly my eyes slide over to the monk, who now looks a bit self-conscious.

"Actually, I'll go with you. I think I forgot my coat," he begins, stepping back.

"Declan, it's nearly thirty degrees out here," I remark with an eyebrow raised.

He glances down at me with narrowed eyes. "I'm cold."

"You're a coward."

"No, but some actual food would have been something I would have liked for breakfast, thank you very much—"

"Food breakfasts are for people with normal enemies and I'm not going to play nice with the Kokus just so you can have one."

"And what is this? No moon lily dust?" Obasan speaks loudly, looking over Ren's hand closely. "You did not give one to your partner, hm? Very interesting."

"What are you getting at?" Sonja protests, grabbing Ren's arm and pulling him close.

The old woman narrows her eyes at her.

"I mean I'm marking you two as an unapproved couple."

Sonja opens her mouth in offense. "You're what—?"

But Wise Obasan isn't listening anymore; instead she turns on the squabbling pair a few feet away.

"Well, and who do we have here?"

Declan and I stop mid-sentence to stare at the old woman grinning at us.

"My dear girl, what energy I sense about you. A good match for you would be someone with a steady, sensible rhythm," she murmurs, eyeballing Declan thoughtfully.

He shifts uncomfortably. I feel my stomach flop.

"Let's see the rest of the story, shall we?" the old woman urges, reaching out her bony hand for my reluctant one.

"I'm going to grab my coat—" Declan announces, looking to dart away while I'm tied up, but out of nowhere Wise Obasan brandishes a thick paper fan and swats him across the knuckles.

"Ow!" he cries, rubbing his injured hand.

"Stay put, young man. You're next."

I send the monk a satisfied smile which he does not return.

"Oh, yes, as I suspected," the old woman continues, looking up into my eyes. "You've received a moon lily."

My heart leaps into my throat. Not quickly enough the old woman releases my hand and turns to Declan.

"Let me see your partner now, so he can be on his way."

He looks down at the little old woman shuffling toward him.

"Let me see what you've been up to, young man."

"How do you know I'm a druid?" he asks confusedly, letting the ancient woman take his hand without protest.

"Wise Obasan knows all. Now hold still," she answers, taking a better grip on his large hand.

"Ho ho, lookie here, yet another—"

"Person not to give out anything, that's me. Selfish. Well, thanks for that, Granny, I'll be going to get my coat now—"

A paper fan comes down on his shoulder.

"Not so fast there, young man—"

"Ow, that was my bad shoulder."

Obasan grins. "I know."

Declan glances at me and I smile weakly.

"Now as I was saying, you too have given out a moon lily."

"So we're approved, or a match, or whatever you call it?" he asks, tenderly massaging his arm.

The old woman swats him again.

"Oy, what—?" he protests, holding his stomach.

I come over to stand between the dangerous old woman and the monk.

"Young man, just because you gave a moon lily and she received a moon lily, that means nothing in itself. No. Your energies are too different. She must be placed with someone else, someone like—"

The old woman turns around slowly, as if sensing for something, or in some kind of trance.

"Him," she declares, pointing across our group at Cal.

I falter, my hand gripping Declan tightly as he is the only thing holding me up.

Cal?

"Yes, he is right. His energies would perfectly balance yours," Wise Obasan announces knowingly, her small old feet leading her to the head of TFP.

I feel as though I have suddenly come down with heat stroke. My skin is on fire and my mind is mush. Cal, on the other hand, looks practically arctic. Anyone not accustomed to the severe stare set upon his face would have frozen, but the ancient woman continues to shuffle toward him, smiling as though she has just solved a difficult mystery.

"Them?" Toki breathes bemusedly.

Obviously she thinks the old woman before her is exactly what Declan called her: a loon.

Through my muddled state I feel a small prickle of indignation on Wise Obasan's behalf.

Hey. There is nothing loony in suggesting us. She isn't called Wise Obasan for nothing.

The stooped old woman passes by Xiao Shen, and the medium watches her with unhappy resignation. She will say nothing since it is me being paired with Cal and not the smirking heiress. But even still, it is clear she believes she matches Cal, not me.

"Such sensibility I sense in you. Maybe too much, but that is where she—" the old woman begins, sending me a keen look, "comes in. Her energies are much more unpredictable, they would encourage you to live a little. A life spent buried in work is no—"

"You know nothing of my life," Cal interrupts, his voice so cold that I wince.

The old woman stands unblinking.

"Of course not," she says after a pause, with a slow smile. "But I do know the ways of the heart."

There is a great silence then between them, one short and one tall, just staring at each other. Xiao Shen and I share a brief look, though the medium's eyes hold a chill I find all too familiar.

That Xiao Shen.

"If I may see your hand, young man," Wise Obasan finally requests, her sharp old eyes gazing up at him challengingly.

A moment passes.

He won't do it.

But then Cal uncrosses his arms and holds out a hand. His compliance seems to even surprise Obasan, but she quickly takes it up anyway. An image of a pale flower darts through my mind. A thought suddenly strikes me, sending my heart racing.

What if he gave a moon lily? What if—

I swallow with some difficulty as it feels as if my heart has leaped up into my throat. I grab Declan's arm and give it a strong squeeze. As if reading my thoughts, he smiles slightly and mouths: moon lily?

I ignore the monk. The ancient woman is speaking again, her croaked voice difficult to hear over the blood rushing in my ears.

"Hmm. Interesting. A moon lily, definitely though."

Cal frees his hand from Wise Obasan's bony ones.

"If we're done here," he speaks simply, looking to his team and then to Toki.

Ren gives a ready nod, pulling his arm from Sonja's possessive grasp, and steps forward. But Wise Obasan is not ready.

"But I have not given my decision," she protests as Cal begins to turn away.

He glances back at the old woman over his shoulder.

"I believe you have demonstrated it clearly enough."

A stray cloud passes in front of the sun and for a moment a large shadow is cast over the flat dusty grounds of Hollow Crest. Wise Obasan regards the stubborn young man before her with a determined glint in her eyes.

"You know nothing of my demonstrations. You are a match. The best match and everyone will know as much tonight."

I blink in the sudden gloom and feel a chill run along my back. Cal does not acknowledge that anything has been spoken; he merely walks on beside Ren, talking about something he obviously finds far more concerning than threats from ancient matchmaking women. A stiff breeze blows across the festival grounds and whips its way past the remaining TFP members. The cloud that had thrown a sinister tone on Wise Obasan's warning is now hurried away on the wind and the blinding sunlight returns.

I squint, watching Cal's dark and blurry figure move along, Toki flanking his other side. The old woman follows my gaze and shakes her head.

"Despair not, my dear. He will be seeing things differently by tonight, or my name is not Wise Obasan," she reassures, a dark smile pulling at her wrinkled features.

Somehow I cannot manage a smile in return. It does not matter though, the festival's ancient matchmaker merely nods to us all and hobbles off, chuckling to herself.

Declan's shadow comes to loom over me.

"That's one intense lady," he mutters, watching her pounce upon another unsuspecting group.

"Yeah," I say absently, my mind whirling with moon lilies and the declaration she just sent ringing across the morning air.

Just then a brightly colored kimono glides past my field of vision.

"Cal," Xiao Shen calls.

Cal pauses to look back at the medium.

"I will accompany you to Miss Miyuki's place. I can be of assistance in sensing what exactly has disturbed her." Her voice is firm. She is not going to leave Cal alone with that heiress any more than she is going to let a crazy old woman proclaim Cal and I soul mates.

I take a step forward and open my mouth, desperately searching for something to say that would secure me in coming too, but before I can speak, Cal places the words in my mouth for me.

"Very well. Xiao Shen, you will join us with Emeka. Mei, head to the theater with Declan and run the routine tests."

Xiao Shen comes to stand with Cal, her eyes briefly catching mine, a slight smile pulling at her pink lips. I clamp my mouth shut tightly, too frustrated to form any words, or at least any I would not regret later. Emeka departs with them, looking uncertain, but Declan merely waves them off, gripping my shoulder firmly with his other hand as he can see the fists I am making at my sides and the dark way I am looking at Cal.

"Have fun, we'll check in with you later," the monk calls after them as the group finally moves on.

I shrug my shoulder free of his grip and glance up sourly at him.

"How can you be okay with this? He's leaving us to do the grunt work."

Declan looks down at me wisely.

"Alone is the key word here. You're just bothered because two of your rivals are going to have Cal to fight over all day, but you've got that soul mate thing going on and neither of them can compete with that."

"That lady is not actually a wise woman, Declan."

"She knew I was a druid and that you received a moon lily. Is that crazy? But that's beside the point. What I'm trying to get at here is that we will be alone in the theater."

"Yes, Declan. I realize we will be alone and Cal on the other hand will have plenty of company—"

"No," he protests, taking my shoulders and facing me. "We will be alone. No one to see us. I don't know, maybe we could try to figure out a certain mystery?"

Suddenly it dawns on me what he is getting at.

"Oh. Alone. You're right."

He grins. "Aren't I always? Now, shall we?"

With my dream replaying itself in my head, I take Declan's arm and allow him to lead me across the scorching grounds of Hollow Crest.

My dream. The hall. The nameplate falling. Was it real?

"Hey, you alright?" the monk speaks after glancing at me and catching the distant look in my eye.

I shake my head to clear it of the many thoughts pushing their way in, then look up at him.

What can I tell him? I cannot reveal Mr. Miyuki. But I can tell him about the vision itself.

"Hello, earth to Mei," he persists, waving a hand in front of my face. "Are you with me?"

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, Declan. I was just thinking."

"If it's about Cal, I don't want to know."

I make a face and swat his arm. "Actually, it's about the dream I had last night."

He gives me a sideways look. "Again, if this is about Cal—"

I swat his arm harder and narrow my eyes up at him. "No, this dream did not include Cal. I was in the theater."

His smirk is replaced with a thoughtful look. "The theater? What kind of dream was it?"

I pause for a moment, thinking hard on just what I can tell him, and then take the plunge.

"It was one of those dreams. At least, I think so," I answer carefully.

He nods encouragingly. "And what happened?"