Mai had wandered and searched almost everywhere she could walk to in the forest but whenever it seemed that she had gotten hold of the leaf, she would only be presented with a dead end.
She stopped under a tree and leaned against it, eventually sitting under it and resting under it's cool shade.
"Whatever is going on here?" she muttered exasperated.
Her eyes darted around, trying to find any trace of that annoying leaf, she was sure she had covered more than half of the vast expanse of the forest but she had nothing at the end, not even a single clue as to what she could do to find the leaf. A single drop of water fell onto her forehead just as she lifted her eyes to the skies, she blinked and frowned, craning her neck out of the tree's shade to gaze into the sky only to find it completely bright with no signs of a rain.
Mai sighed "It must be a dew drop"
Then suddenly Mai felt her body becoming weak, her power was being slowly drained and her mind was slowly becoming muffled. What is going on?, she wondered. Mai immediately went into meditation mode and closed her eyes allowing her spirit free, besides some things were best comprehended with the spirit than with the flesh. Her spirit flowed freely out of her body without hesitation. Looking through her spiritual eyes, everything was marked with a blue tinge. It was then that Mai saw that a long thin thread went from the top of her forehead where the drop of water fell, upwards, disappearing into the deep branches and leaves of the tree she was sitting under. She frowned a little, failing to understand the situation. Her spiritual body then levitated itself and went into the trees, following the thread. The thread ended in the middle of the tree but it lead to nothing in particular, just a tree bark. Mai grew more confused but then a shift in the thread caught her attention. She stood there and waited for some time to make sure that her eyes were not playing tricks on her but then, the thread shifted again and it was then that Mai knew that she had found what she was looking for.
She went closer to the thread and when she stepped into it's proximity, she felt herself going through the bark of the tree into the tree. She moved through the tree graciously till she touched the ground in the tree to find a big leaf laying down on the ground with a sparkling blue water around it and the thread she had been following all along was connected to the sparkling water around the big leaf.
Mai's spiritual essence returned back into her body and without skipping a beat she stood up and levitated into the tree, following what she saw with her spiritual eyes, she moved to the middle of the tree and truly, she started sinking into the tree. As Mai went down the tree she saw that the tree was very hollow with golden light flooding through it. She arrived at the place where the big leaf lay with the sparkling water and Mai had to admit it was one of the most spectacular scenes she had ever seen.
The leaf stirred the moment her eyes darted around and went back to it. It seemed to have engaged in a silly dance, wiggling in the water shield around it.
"And who disturbs my peace on such a tranquil day?" a small childlike voice projected from the leaf.
Mai had to hold herself from disgracing herself in laughter "And who talks to me?" Lady decided to play a little.
"Silly you, it's me, right in front of you" the voice came again.
"Oh, forgive me" Mai smiled a little "My name is Mai and I come here to seek a favor" her voice dropped to seriousness.
"And what favor might that be?" the leaf's voice slowly said.
"My brother lies in a bad state as of now and the only solution is to take a certain leaf to him and it happens that you are that leaf" Mai replied.
"Do you know what you wish for?" the leaf asked.
"I do" Mai replied firmly.
"And with the cost that comes with it?" it asked again.
"I do" Mai replied.
"Then listen, this is what you shall have to lose in order to gain what you wish for" The leaf started ascending " You will have to lose a loved one and most of your power for you to get the cure, can you do this much of a sacrifice?"
Mai was taken aback with the words of the leaf, she understood who she had to lose and she understood that she would have to lose most if not all of her powers provided the leaf was talking about what she was thinking about.
"I have question before I give my answer" Mai said.
"Go on" the leaf replied.
"Is the sacrifice perhaps about what I have swore not to do not long ago?" Mai asked silently praying that the leaf wouldn't confirm her fears.
"You are smart one and since you have guessed right, I'll proceed without talking in riddles" the leaf said and right after it said that it settled back on the ground.
The water shield that was around it slowly dissipated without a drop falling on the ground, then Mai watched as the leaf morphed into a human, a child of about six to be precise with a golden wrap around him. Everything about him was golden, from the color of his hair, his eyes, his skin to the soles of his feet, every thing was golden.
"You had swore never to fight against your brethren especially not with Aya and even when your brother was on bed your heart was wavering when you said you would want to fight Aya" the child began as he started walking towards Mai " Fighting against Aya, the most powerful goddess would drain you of your power and so your insecurities has also made you solidify your resolve to never fight against Aya"
"Wait!" Mai cut the boy off before he could continue " How do you know all this?" Mai knitted her eyebrows together.
The child laughed and sat down beckoning Mai to do the same "I'm also a god, this is also part of the god realms" he threw his arms around to lay more emphasis.
"And how come I don't know these parts if they are part of the god realms?" Mai raised an eyebrow, a scowl already forming on her face.
"I chose to hide it with permission from the Supreme One, I'm the only one who can stand against Aya and overcome her spells but I lack in strength and wits so it's only wise for me to hide if I don't want to be at the ends of Aya's blades" he said and then continued "But my cures needs to be fed with something to replenish the power I lose whenever I give it out to cure someone that's why I demand sacrifices"
"So mine is to let go of my love and my power?" Mai asked.
"Yes, your love for your sister and your power because you'll have to exhaust everything you have in order to defeat Aya, she is no longer who you know her to be" The child said and extended her hand to Mai "Are you ready to let go?"
Mai looked at the hand and smiled, giving hers to him, she already made a decision to save Erzhi come what may, now wasn't the time to chicken out.
"You won't remember anything here from now until you have made the sacrifice and after that everything that happened here would come back to you in pieces but I'll let you remember one thing though, that Aya also taps into dark and demonic energies, she is now almost as powerful as you and her combined as well as the greatest demons" The child said before a blinding light enveloped them.
When the light subsided, Mai found herself under the tree she was resting under with a leaf clutched in her hand, her head was throbbing which was weird and she couldn't remember how she got the leaf she was holding but she knew that, that was the leaf she was looking for. In much hurry, he summoned Balik's gate and left the beautiful forest behind her with one last glance and a sad sigh followed by a smile and closed the gate.
She found herself in Erzhi's room again as Balik held him down on his bed.
"Did you get the leaf, Sister?" Balik asked.
Mai nodded and run to Erzhi's side "Help me open his mouth" he said to Balik.
Balik held Erzhi's forehead back with his right palm allowing a bit of his power to flow through, Mai then pried his lips open with her power and placed the leaf on Erzhi's tongue. The moment the leaf touched Erzhi's tongue, it glowed and then turned into a sparkly blue water that flowed through his mouth then to his throat.
Erzhi released a long violent cough and then slowly his eyes opened and fell on Balik who sighed in relief and Mai who stood there with a big silly grin on her face.
"Welcome back, brother!"
But all Mai could think about now was killing Aya and she wouldn't mind if she lost all her power in the process but where she got that firm resolution was even mystery to her at that time.