Malkus woke up in an unfamiliar place. He looked up at the darkened ceiling. It was night, he realized. Looking to his left and right, he saw that Tower and Paneneko were still asleep. Looking around the room he saw that he was in some kind of medical office. In the right-hand corner of the room, a young woman in a medical uniform sat quietly next to the door. She was reading something with a low burning light.
Malkus had trouble remembering what happened. He finally started to remember the vision he had, but the more he thought about it the more tired he became until he finally fell asleep again. Tower and Paneneko went through the same process as Malkus. Waking up briefly, confused and then remembering before finally falling asleep. This same process happened several times through the night.
Morning came and the three young men finally woke up. All three began to sit up, groggy and confused. The night attendant already left for the day and a new young woman was present. Seeing the three struggling to get up, the young woman ran to the door and called to someone. She then ran to the young men and helped them sit up.
B'wiri ran in with reddened and puffy eyes. She was as stoic as the next Amazon, except for when it came to Tower. She couldn't help getting emotional anytime something happened with the young man. It used to be because of her guilt for killing his father. She saw herself as little more than his slave. When he confessed he loved her she was happy. Mainly because she felt her actions earned some measure of forgiveness.
It wasn't until recently that she really began to feel a deeply emotional love for Tower. It's a feeling that started building within her not long after she, Tower and his two brothers left for the sect. She truly loved Tower now! She still had pangs of guilt, but those were buried under her intense feelings of love for Tower. In the past, she didn't care if getting married took hundreds of years, now she could barely contain her anticipation and longing.
Running to Tower, B'wiri, in a very unbecoming way for an immortal, hugged tower refusing to release him for a long time. Some tears sprang from her eyes before she hastily wiped them away. Tower saw this and felt warm in his heart. Tower's emotional spectrum was extremely limited. All these to brothers and his woman and his Mother and Grandmother had the benefit of his tender feelings.
"There, there, I'm alright B'wiri, don't cry, you're a mighty Amazon Warrior don't forget!" said Tower as he smiled warmly toward her.
"Haha, you're so troublesome you overgrown man, scaring me like that. You and your brothers scared everyone! You've been out for nearly three days." B'wiri said trying to sound stern.
"Three days?" Malkus asked. He was really shocked, it felt like one night.
"What happened to us?" Paneneko asked worriedly.
"You tell me, what were those images that shot from your eyes? It was all three of you shooting out overlapping and similar images of a big battle against Fiends with strange weapons and vehicles." B'wiri said.
"Fiends?!" The three shouted in surprise.
After recounting the accounts of the vision the three sat quietly in contemplation. They all had vague recollections of the vision, but to them, it seemed more like a dream. Where did this come from?
"Did the Sect Master suggest anything?" asked Tower.
"No, but he also didn't seem too concerned," answered B'wiri.
"I just don't understand the whole thing, but it seems like we're fine, when can we leave?" asked Malkus.
"Now, if you would like. You still need to choose Masters," said B'wiri.
Just as she said this the three young men's stomachs began to growl. B'wiri lightly laughed.
"I'm sure it can wait until after breakfast," said B'wiri.
After breakfast, the three were lead back to the Sect Master's office. The Sect Master was busy as always and after several minutes of waiting, they were lead to his office. When they entered they found that Aerun and Karretun were quietly waiting. The two smiled.
"How did you two do? asked the Gun brothers.
"We both passed!" said Aerun.
"They decided to wait to put us with our masters until you three came and chose yours," Karretun said.
"You three lads gave us a scare!" said the Sect Master.
"I've been consulting with some colleagues on the cause and nature of your show yesterday. They believe it has something to do with your soul or your memories, or both," said Master Que.
"Our souls?!" Tower exclaimed. Anything having to do with souls was serious business. If your soul were damaged not only could it affect your future as a martial artist, it could even lead to derangement. Cultivators were always careful when it came to their souls.
I checked your souls and there doesn't seem to be any damage to them, it's just odd." said Master Que.
"Odd, in what way?" asked Markus.
"Your souls seem to be sleeping. Right now, each of your souls is working with minimum function. Your bodies, however, seem to function normally. You even seem to cultivate, fight and do all of your other activities without a problem. It's strange because typically when a soul sleeps, it typically causes the body to go into a catatonic state. However, with all three of you, it's entirely different.
If I were to give an analogy, it would be like having a coach driver and a rider. Normally, the one driving the coach is also the rider. If the rider isn't controlling the coach then the coach stops moving eventually or moves much slower. Right now, it seems like you have both a choach driver and your souls are sleepy passengers on the coach. This should be impossible. Even stranger, the vision seemed to be a simultaneous command from each of your souls to do something, like sleep talking.
Frankly, everyone I've talked with is completely baffled." said the Sect Master.
"What does it matter then? Let's just keep moving forward and let things run their course," said Paneneko.
"What do you mean, let things run their course?" asked Malkus. "Our collective vision showed battles with Fiends using strange weapons. What if this is a prophecy about things about to happen. Maybe, we were blessed with a forewarning and now we need to prepare! We could waste an opportunity to get ready to face a major threat. We should definitely pursue this until we figure it out!" Malkus passionately said.
"Paneneko is right if the experts don't understand what's going on then throwing out blind theories won't do anyone any good," said Tower.
"I agree, let's just get you boys into a regular routine. If you have any more episodes it might help us understand what's going on," confirmed Master Que.
Malkus sighed and just nodded his head. On the inside, he was extremely upset. He knew this vision was important. He needed to understand it. He was desperate to understand it. The other two young men felt the same as Malkus, but they were much calmer.
"Let's move on to something a little more important. Let's get you paired with a master. In the old days the master and student would agree with each other then the world changed. Now, I confer with the elders and we determined the best masters for each of you.
Tower, you will be under Master Preachia, our top blacksmith.
Malkus, You'll learn with Master Bilvo, the head of the formations department.
Panenko, you'll learn with Master Macey gifted the Head of the Pill Refiners. He is also extremely proficient in forging so he'll teach you that as well.
Aerun, you'll learn under Master Neshami in soul techniques, and Karretun, you'll learn Under master Sheriff. He's extremely gifted in engineering. You will each appear before your teachers on Monday. I'm willing to give you some extra time off given the events that occurred yesterday. Take these few days to recover and then begin your studies in earnest on Monday. I'll send a student to guide each of you to your teacher's on Monday. Until then, enjoy your time off and feel free to tour around the Sect." Master Que dismissed everyone except for B'wiri.
"What are your plans my dear," asked the old man to the Amazon.
"I shall be near Tower except for when I have missions from the Amazon Sect. When I have those I'll have to leave, but for the most part, I need to find someplace nearby," said B'wiri.
"What if you were to become a guest elder here?" asked Master Que.
"Guest elder, am I qualified?" scoffed B'wiri.
"If it came to a supporting career I doubt it. However, when it comes to body training and building foundations, I don't think there is anyone in the sect who could match you." the old man said.
"Listen, B'wiri, everyone knows the progress all five of those men made under your direction. They believe that with you as a guest elder in charge of building and refining foundations for our students, the overall strength of our sects could increase our strength many times over. It would make it more convenient to keep an eye on Tower, and we won't interfere with your business with the Amazons." said Master Que.
"This doesn't have anything to do with the vision?" asked B'wiri suspiciously.
"It certainly would be more convenient to have you here in case something happens. The event that took place, look, my guess is that their souls were somehow damaged. You told us that the three met in a medical tent in a little podunk country. Maybe they sustained some injury that entwined them together." the old man said.
"What do you think happened?" asked B'wiri.
"Maybe it damaged their soul and one or all of them awakened memories from a past life. Right now, their souls are trying to recover. We can't speculate more than that. I really don't understand this situation. I've sent this question to my master, who sent it to his master, who sent it to the Great Ancestor. Do you understand?" asked the old man.
"You don't mean, THE GREAT Ancestor, do you?" B'wiri asked solemnly.
"Master Que merely nodded his head. "When I hear something I'll let you know. Now as for my proposal..."
"I accept Master Que, thank you for your consideration," B'wiri said.