It was vivid and yet Maki still remembered that tune. He was nothing but a mere baby and yet he remembered the lullaby that his mother used to sing to Maia.
He remembered how it calmed his sister down but most of all, he remembered how his mother used that tune as they grow older.
Maia would always exhibit tantrums, no it wasn't a tantrum given its severity, it was already violence. She would lose control and no amount of shouting or scolding would make her stop. And whenever she exhibits it, their mom would always hum that tune, and her sister would slowly come back to her senses and calm down.
He didn't know how but he trusted the voice inside his head. Not the one that belonged to the mysterious woman, but his intuition. He needed to make this work, or else Maia might actually kill both him and Damian.
"I'm leaving them to you 616, and I expect results when I return. I need to freshen up myself, all of this is making me stressed out"
Without even waiting for Maia's response, not that she would show one, Leticia left the room and the three of them were left.
"Maia please I need you to wake up"
With certain desperation and anxiety evident in his voice, Damian once again pleaded. He couldn't bear this Maia. This wasn't his Maia, and it broke his heart the more that she wasn't herself.
But so did Maia, inside she was crying at how worthless she is for not even being able to control herself. Her own body at that was ready to torture Maki and Damian.
Her arms lifted and a loud strike, a punch to the gut was given to Damian. He coughed and as he did, blood flowed through his mouth. He had fought and exchange several blows or punches, but he couldn't compare anything to what he just felt.
It was like Maia punched through a hole into his stomach. And he wasn't given any time to rest before Maia punched him again. He wondered why she wouldn't punch him in the face, just in the stomach repeatedly. But then, he felt every punch becoming stronger than the previous ones. With each blow, he felt himself getting closer to losing his consciousness.
Maki knew that, and no matter how much he shouted at his sister to stop, it wouldn't work. He then started humming the lullaby. He couldn't remember if there were lyrics but he could remember what it sounded like.
He just knew that the lullaby was made by their mother specifically for Maia and that it was and will always be her retreat.
'My child, my darling Maia, you are special. Do remember that, your anger is your power. Your memories are the catalyst and this lullaby is your safe haven.'
Maia fell to her knees as her memories started to flood in.
'I had created you, but you are neither perfect nor complete. That is why you need to be angry. Curse everyone and everybody.'
She felt all her strength flow in one direction as if something was scaring it. Or maybe sealing it.
'This power, I will need it in time. You would help your dearest mother won't you? My love. My precious…'
'sixth star'
Maia let out an agonizing scream that made the earth quake, the heavens shake, and the ocean part.
But no one else noticed, except for seven people. Maki, Luna, and five more were scattered across the world. They saw the whole world collapse in front of their eyes and yet everybody else seemed to continue on with their daily lives.
In the SDC's bunker, Luna couldn't help but plaster a maniac-like grin on her face. Her plan had started, and this time she would get what was meant for her.
Maia put her hands on her head, those memories she saw, it wasn't from when she was a child. Neither was it from when she was older. No, they were memories from her birth.
Her mother had just given birth to her, and those were her exact words. She remembered the lullaby that Maki hummed. She remembered how that melody soothed her and calmed her down.
But this wasn't her calming down. No, she thought she knew what she really was now, but it turned out that everything was a lie.
If what she saw was true then her mother…
"Maia?"
Maia looked up and saw Damian looking at her. He was still strapped up in the chair, blood dripping from his mouth and his face depicting a clear sign of agony.
He was in pain but when Maki started humming and Maia stopped throwing punches at him, he knew that something had happened. Maybe she went back to normal and he did wish she was. He wanted to get out of that facility badly. He doesn't care about his nin anymore.
Here in front of him is the reason he had joined the revolution, he could care less if he abandoned his nin. He just wants her.
'No, not right now'
Maia thought.
She knew she shouldn't think like that. Not when she so wanted to save Maki and Damian since earlier. To save them from this tortured hell hole. But that was before when she had no plan nor when she remembered about her mother.
But now, she did have a plan.
So, she stood up and muttered a low sorry which startled Damian before punching the male in the face hard.
Damian fell back and was clearly unconscious now. It was then that Maia looked at Maki. And Maki knew that it had worked. But he couldn't understand why she would deliberately make Damian unconscious.
Maia knew that her brother would ask her a question, but she couldn't risk getting caught. Not right now. She stared at him before punching him square in the face. Blood dripped down his nose, and he could at least mutter one word before he drifted to sleep.
"Ate"
They were being watched, and Maia knew that. Her plan is to get out of the front house with Maki and Damian. But she also needs to find evidence, a link.
The voice that she had been hearing.
It belongs to someone who is in here.
In this building.
And that someone is a person that is deeply connected to her mother.
One of the few persons who knew that her mother used to be a scientist for the government.
And that whatever the hell was happening to her was because she was an experiment.
An experiment meant for her mother's revenge.