After a long while he let go of Aki. Aki then sat down on the sofa.
It took Rei a few moments to recover, 'I'm sorry ! I just got emotional.'
'It's ok!' Aki noticed Rei has lost weight as well.
'Why didn't you tell me,the ring was making you weak?' Aki asked.
Reiji brushed off his worries, ''Oh! It's not because of that.'
'But your assistant told me you have been sick for the past few days.' Aki didn't want to be interpreted wrongly.
Reiji smiles, 'She must have thought that because they think you are a shaman. I haven't told anyone about you yet.' Reiji seemed serious.
'My presence is more dangerous to you all than a shaman.' Aki was feeling guilty.
Reiji rubs between his eyebrows, 'That's just a type of communication ring with my blood on it. You don't possess me with it. You can just call me anywhere but that has to be on my will too. And I'm definitely a righteous person so that won't work on me if I don't possess any ill intention.'
'If you don't want to meet me, then it's useless?' Aki looked at the ring.
'No! It's not,you will still be able to enter inside my territory even if I don't communicate.' Reiji explains the use of that ring.
They talked about why they need Aki to go into their world.
Reiji didn't want to brief him about it, 'You will know when we get there. Have you cleared your schedule?'
'I need three more days.' Aki didn't seem delighted.
Reiji holding Aki's hand leaves the office to have lunch. Reiji dropped Aki at his office after lunch. Aki felt relieved as the heavy weight from his chest was lifted.
At 9:30 pm, Aki got out of the office.
As he was walking with the intention to take the train and see Joshua,he took a cake from the bakery on the way. He gets on the platform. He saw Joshua standing.
A train arrived at the station at 09:09 pm and left as it hit 09:10. Joshua checked something and let that go. It vanished after a few minutes.
Aki asked, 'Where does this portal take you?'
Joshua was surprised to see Aki, 'Oh! How do you do?'
Aki greets him as well, 'I'm well, Thanks...What about you?'
Joshua sighs, 'Just so so...This portal,at this time connects them to Burmarsh road station,England.'
Aki found out that it was not a prison. Ruan's clan resides there. The time slot of the train has different destinations.
'They can't teleport by themselves there?' Aki wanted to know.
Joshua shakes his head, 'No. They are stuck in a human's dead body and they are not able to go back…'
'…to their own body.' As Aki had thought.
'Yes.' Joshua nodded.
Without Jinn's blood, a portal never opens. Even though they have their body,all the portal here has a spell to reject jinns with deals. A High rank, permitted Jinn need to open a portal for them to cross to the other side.
'What about the body's family? Won't they look for him?' Aki thinks about the corpse of that possessed human.
'They won't know na! When the body is actually dead...You will know everything slowly.' Joshua stops telling everything to him as a caution.
Realising that Joshua didn't want to talk about it anymore, Aki offers the cake to him. Joshua didn't expect Aki to be sweet toothed. Joshua seemed to like the vanilla flavoured cake.
Aki felt a touch of the wind. Someone had appeared behind him. Joshua looked at Aki and Aki to Joshua.
Joshua says to Aki, 'Why don't you take a cab today. I think the train will…'
That presence directly approaches them. But Joshua shields Aki with his body,hiding him behind. It happened so fast,Aki was momentarily confused. Joshua's eyes were sparkling beautifully. His pet shielded him as well. Aki couldn't comprehend why someone would want to approach here and Joshua would be so concerned. It was talking with Joshua. Aki could see it clearly without any spell as this Jinn is not in his invisible form.
The sounds were the same as before Aki used to hear, "Is this how they sound while they are talking?"
Joshua was not talking to it but it was answering.
"How is Joshua speaking without uttering a word? Should I listen? It's definitely about me." Aki focuses.
'I'm telling you we mean no harm to him. Why won't you let us talk with him?' That Jinn said to Joshua.
A pause was in their conversation. Joshua was saying something which Aki couldn't hear.
'Why won't you believe us? I really am...his disciple and it's time to awaken him but you won't let us.' Jinn said.
Again a pause.
"That means Joshua is talking inside their mind." Aki finally understood.
'He is not. Lin-Xen Joshua...you tried to erase him...but no matter what you do you cannot suppress him anymore. Master will eventually break out of that.' Jinn warns him.
Aki coming forward stands beside Joshua, 'Who are you talking about?'
Both Jinn, and Joshua were surprised to see Aki understanding their language. The figure became a human form. Along with him more smokey figures turned into their human-like form.
'Cleric Rigil!' They bowed to him.
As far as Aki could see he can only see them increasing one by one.
'I have...no idea what are you…talking about.' Aki didn't understand what was happening.
'See! I told you.He doesn't remember it...yet.' Joshua said to them. This time, through his vocal sound.
That Jinn smiles, 'He can understand us. For now,that is enough. He was not being astrayed from his path or should I say you could...not make him go astray.'
Joshua became polite, 'We..never had that intention.'
'I'm not following any of these.' Aki interrupted their conversation.
'We are all,your disciples,Master.' That Jinn said to Aki.
'Joshua! What are you all hiding from me?' Aki asked
Joshua tried to stay calm for some reason, 'My mother...will tell you everything. You just have to wait for a while. Don't tell...any of these to Reiji. Ok? You can trust me.'
Joshua pleaded with his eyes
"A-How can I? All of these puzzles!" Aki's train had arrived so he couldn't question.
'Don't ask me anything now. Please.' Joshua seemed down so Aki gave up.
Aki leaves while he keeps thinking, "My disciples! Seriously! How can I have disciples when I'm the one who has been learning."
When he got home Juko and Ginger stopped fighting.
'What were you guys fighting about? You made a mess.' Aki sighs
After getting fresh, Aki starts cleaning the room. He enters the dark room. He stops in front of the freezer. For a while, he silently keeps looking at it. He brings out something from it with a gesture and a rune circle becomes visible. Aki was shocked to see the mandala, "This was not the spell. Who could have changed it? Oh no! Azusa-san won't be able to know if anyone tried to breach."
Aki checked the CCTV footage. He saw Ginger getting in the dark room. The freezer gets open by itself and after a while it sparks an electric wave.
"Somebody had touched her. The figure is not visible. So that means a Jinn or something else tried to steal…'
Aki's eye grew bigger seeing Ginger change himself to his leopard form than licked on Mei's invisible cheek.
'Why would you do that?' He suddenly realised he can understand Juko but he never understood what Ginger thinks or does.
'Are you...someone else's bond? But you always tried to protect me.' Ginger just kept looking at him.
He again went to the dark room. He tried to read the rune circle.
Aki relaxes after understanding, "So Azusa-san came here and set a new spell...but the content surely has changed. This...is a symbol of Aries and it's the symbol of my name...does this mean…'
Aki opens the lid.
'I'm sorry...I will properly give you a funeral after I get back.' He caressed the cold pale cheek of her lightly with the back of his hand, 'For the first time in my life I was happy that I could see dead people. I thought it was a sign you gave me when that whisper told me to save your body and I learnt everything with greed in mind. To call you back. There are many reasons for you not being here, aren't there?
Tears keep falling down, 'I have been thinking for a long time, maybe you didn't die with any regrets…does this mean you had a proper timing? Or does your body and soul match the expiration date like Azusa-san said? What is it that is keeping you away from coming back, Mei?
Wiping away the tears he closed the lid and put down the circle inside and called Ginger. He asked Ginger to touch it but he didn't. So he called Juko.
'Juko, don't be afraid.I can heal you if something happens.' Aki stepped out of the room.
Juko tried to touch the freezer with his tail. The circle appeared on Aki's hand and Aki could feel someone touching it. Aki closed his palm with another palm of his and he teleported to the dark room.
'I was right. Azusa-san changed the ownership to me.'He touched the lid. Another person who was close to me has disappeared,Mei.
Silence of the sea shore was making the heart feel calm. Aki purposely was waiting here before the given time. Reiji came and saw Aki standing leaning forward on the railing.
Reiji closed his eyes and took a deep breath, 'Are you liking it here?'
'You came…this early?' Reiji was supposed to come later.
Reiji smiles, 'I could ask you the same.'
'Why here in Rumoi?' Aki thought Reiji would say to meet somewhere else.
'I wanted to show you my territory.' Reiji said.
'Your territory??' Aki never thought to see Reiji's territory.
'Yeah! The mountains here are my territory. My clan is here.' Aki was baffled to hear Reiji.
'Your clan was always so near to me?' Aki asked with confused face that made Reiji smiles
'Let's go to the Lin Clan for now.' Reiji suggested.
'Why not in the Ruan Clan?' Aki became curious.
'Mom is currently staying in the Lin. But there is also a huge part of the Ruan's clan staying in Lin's territory.' Reiji said.
'Where is that?' Aki thought only people from the same clan could stay in its own territory.
'Here.' Reiji calls out a portal and steps in it with Aki.
'You can call them anywhere?' Aki saw the portal getting close.
'Anywhere,but only for a few seconds that will stay open.' Reiji takes Aki's hand.
Aki found himself on a mountain the next moment.
The sun is a few hours away to set down. The color of the sky seemed really ethereal.
'Where is this?' Aki inhales the air around him.
'Taiwan.' Reiji smiles.
'I should stop getting surprised now.' Aki didn't expect to travel this far in another country.
'Were you really? Your face doesn't say that though.' Reiji jokes made Aki scoff, 'I guess I have a deceiving face.'