Dioha woke up and placed his right hand on his neck. No blood,no bone or meat sticking out. Nothing,except pain. Pain like he had never felt before. He groaned as he sat up. He was back to where he always woke whenever the saberwolves kill him;atop the mountain,at the entrance of the cave.
"Oh,i see you're awake" a voice said close to him startling him. He quickly regained composure,remembering the consciousness of his host. Dioha looked down into the forest.
"Those wolves are very tough to kill. Are you sure you wanna go down there immediately?" The boy asked. He was terrified about facing those wolves again so soon.
"We will go down there. Those two are our only way out of here. In the meantime,lets search the cave again. Ogalé said something about it." Dioha answered.
"Who? The old man? That's his name? Funny name" the boy laughed a bit.
"What is your name?" Dioha asked.
"My name is Lanre" the boy answered.
"Lanre. Sounds like you are from the tribe of Physio" Dioha said,moving deeper into the cave.
"Yes" the boy answered. There was a hint of disappointment in his voice.
Dioha noticed it and wanted to know more,but he remembered he was a Watcher,the avatar for the God of War.
'He wasn't supposed to mingle with mortals. Just cos he shared a body with this kid didn't make it alright to be concerned about him. The other Watchers always acted right,knowing their status,and putting mortals in their place. But he was always different. He cared too much,socialised too much with them. Heck,he had even fallen in love with one. While his counterparts were busy taking whoever they fancied to bed and severing links whenever they felt like it,he had gone and fallen in love. God of war had fallen in love.'
A weird smile was plastered on Dioha's face. Turns out while Dioha was in his thoughts,the boy was talking about something.
"Why are you smiling? Did i say something funny?" the boy asked confused. Dioha looked serious immediately and replied, "You talk a lot".
Dioha was in one of the small rooms. There,in the middle,was the strange box. Dioha walked towards it,hefted it on his shoulder and slammed it with force into the hard ground. Startled,the boy let out a funny sound.
"Come on man! You tried this the other time and it didn't work. You're only going to exhaust me" the boy complained.
"You?" Dioha raised an eyebrow.
"Yea. My body" the boy answered.
"Your body?" Dioha asked,slamming the box into the ground again. The boy winced at the loud sound. "It's still my body,though you're in control of it." the boy let out. Ignoring him,Dioha focused on smashing,throwing,and hitting the box into the walls and floor of the cave.
After a while,Dioha stopped. He was sweating but not out of breath. The boy on the other hand was panting like he just ran a long distance. "All...Al...Allow me...to.....catch my breath" the boy gasped. Dioha looked thoughtful for a moment,then asked, "You are a Physio."
"Yes" the boy answered in between pants.
"Your tribe are famed healers and scholars" Dioha said.
"Right." There it was again. The disappointment in his voice. Dioha decided he couldn't pretend not to have heard it.
"What happened? You seem sad to be known as a Physio."
"Hmmmmm. I am not sad" the boy answered. "Yes,you are"
A little pause.
"I come from the tribe of healers,but i am no healer. I have no powers."
"Why is that?" Dioha asked frowning.
"I had no one to teach me. No one to help me discover it and nurture it"
"What about your parents?" Dioha asked.
"They are both dead. They died when i was still very small. A car accident."
It seemed all the sadness in the world was poured into that last statement. Dioha heard a quiet sob coming from the boy. He was genuinely moved for the boy. He felt pity for him,which made him frown even more.
'When would he stop caring for these mortals? I am a watcher', he reminded himself. But,he couldn't stop caring. It just wasn't his nature to act so aloof and insensitive to people's feelings,especially those beneath him in status and power. Dioha had always been like this. It set him apart from the other Watchers,made him some friends and a whole lot of enemies. His love affair with a mortal,a Seer,had been the height of it. He had made enemies,Watchers and mortals alike.
Rousing himself from his thoughts,Dioha decided if he couldn't stop caring for mortals,he would instead influence them.
"Who did you live with? After the accident" Dioha asked.
"I was 3. I knew nothing then. A family of Physios adopted me with a promise to the authorities that they'd train me and put me through school. They seemed nice at first,but after a while it all changed. I became a slave in their house. The couple had three kids aged 10,6 and 2. I became the last one's nanny. It was terrible. I mean,i was still a kid myself. How do you ask a 4 year old to look after a 2 year old? I received lashes and punishments whenever i did something wrong. I was starved frequently. I ran away when i was 7.I had to. It was either that or die miserably. I began living on the streets from that point on" the boy answered.
Dioha was silent for a moment. The boy had been through a whole lot from a tender age. He had no formal education or training in his tribe's ways. He was more or less just a human rather than a Ngamé. But something kept bothering Dioha at the back of his mind.
"You have no healing powers because you weren't taught to use it" Dioha said.
"I just said that. Yes" the boy answered.
"Doesn't mean it's not there" Dioha continued.
"Of what use is it if i can't use it? By the way,what do you want to heal in this place? You need healing?" the boy asked.
"No. I do not want your healing power. I want your brain. You are a Physio,therefore you have a critical brain,a powerful brain." Dioha said.
"What would you need that for?" the boy asked confused.
"You have to read the inscription on the box and decipher it. I believe the key to unlocking it,is understanding it." Dioha replied.
"Are you sure?" the boy asked.
"Just give it a try".
A few seconds later and Dioha could tell the boy wasn't near him any longer as he heard the boy from a distance repeating the words on the box. "Hey! What is it you want?" the boy's voice flew to Dioha from across.
"To get out of here" Dioha answered.
"And what do you think you need?" the boy asked again.
"To get out of here! Why are you repeating the question?" Dioha asked with a frown. "No,no,no...Need and want are different things. I am asking two different questions." the boy said.
"They are all the same to me" Dioha replied with a shrug.
"No way. What you want is different from what you need. For example,you want to go out and play but you're tired. You need rest at that point. But you don't want it. So you choose to go out and play. At that point you've done what you want,not what you need" the boy explained.
"I see" Dioha replied,thinking.
"You do?"
"I think."
"So what do you need?" the boy asked.
"I need to see someone. She once died because of me. I think she might be in grave danger." Fear crept into Dioha's voice.
"The reincarnated Seer? Jemaima?" the boy asked. Startled,Dioha answered,
"Yes. Did you know her?"
"No. The old man mentioned it before he walked out the door" the boy answered.
"The old man mentioned a Seer,but you mentioned her name" Dioha frowned.
"Dude,you're in my body. I get these flashes of your life,before you died" the boy explained.
"Before i was murdered" Dioha corrected.
"Right. Before you were murdered. Note taken." Dioha fell silent. He was deep in thoughts. A shout from the boy brought him out.
"What?" Dioha asked.
"Isn't she,like,in the real world?" the boy enquired. "Yes,she is"
"Then i don't think that's a need. That's still a want. Needs are more important than wants. Needs are like things you are forced to want in other to survive." the boy tried to explain.
"Are you saying she is not important?!" Dioha asked loudly,his brows furiously knit together. Scared,the boy tried to diffuse the tension.
"No! Far from it. I know what she means to you. I'm just.....okay,take this example..."
"Enough with the examples. I understand what wants and needs are. And i have told you what i want to do is get out of here cos i need to see her" Dioha ended.
"Wait! What if your want is actually your need,and your need is your want?" the boy said.
"That doesn't make sense" Dioha growled getting frustrated.
"What if the actual thing is,you need to leave this place cos you want to go see her and not,you want to leave this place cos you need to go see her?" the boy asked.
The two of them fell silent instantly,each one pondering the last statement. After a while,Dioha spoke up.
"How does that help?"
"I dunno. Maybe you're supposed to whisper it to the box?" the boy said.
"That is such a stupid idea. Did you think that up? Dioha asked.
"Hey! Don't blame me. You're the one who came up with the idea of understanding the words on the box. How were you gonna use it after understanding it?" the boy defended himself.
Dioha kept quiet. The boy had a point. How did he plan on using the knowledge of the inscription once deciphered? Well,he didn't expect it to be mere words. He thought it would tell him what to do. Could they have deciphered it wrong? Or was this just all there was to it? Dioha shook his head as he thought of whispering to the box. Of all the stupid things he had done in his life,this was going to top it. Picture the God of war whispering to a box in hopes that it would open. Very silly picture.
Dioha walked to the box and knelt down. He shook his head slightly.
"Go on" the boy encouraged him. Dioha glared in the direction of the voice. He took a deep breath and let it out,returning his focus to the box in front of him.
"I WANT to get out of here because i NEED to see someone."
Nothing happened. They waited,still nothing happened.
"Now say it the other way round" the boy chimed in. The frown never left Dioha's face for once but he proceeded.
"I NEED to get out of this place cos i WANT to see someone."
Nothing happened still. Exasperated,Dioha got up and made his way out of the cave.
Outside the cave,he tried summoning his lightning bolts,all to no avail. All he got were electrical sparks in his eyes that increased his strength a little bit. Nothing more. Dioha marched down the mountain into the forest to confront the Saberwolves. Basically to see what the increase in strength would do for him in the fight against the wolves. Moments later,the outcome was pretty much the same.