‘I cannot withstand a person who keeps on murdering others. I should bring her to justice!’ Leon says angrily. ‘Wait, Leon!’ Nakashi tries to hold Leon. But Leon has already jumped out from the bushes and pulls his sword out.
Catala notices Leon. She turns her fierce eyes towards him and shouts, ‘Where is the Sou-gen? Tell me!’ Leon ignores her question and holds his sword tightly. ‘You are going to pay for all the people that you have killed!’ Leon roars and rushes to attack.
‘Well then,’ Catala immediately uses her knife to block Leon’s attack. Their weapons clash rapidly. Leon is surprised by the girl’s skills but he continues to attack violently. Seeing a vicious duel between them, Nakashi and Panzhi are shocked. Panzhi wants to shoot Catala to end this once and for all but Nakashi pulls down his gun. The fighting continues and becomes more and more violent.
Finally, Nakashi rushes out, pulls out her pistol and shouts ‘Stop! Both of you! Stop immediately!’ Both Leon and Catala are astounded by Nakashi’s movement. Both of them retreat one step backward but stare at each other fiercely. Catala notices Nakashi. Then, Catala’s fierce expression slowly changes to a gentler one. ‘Catala, the Sou-gen is not here. They are my friends. Stop your attack immediately.’ Nakashi says clearly.
Catala slowly puts back her knife but remains in her battle mode. She walks towards Nakashi and says in a much gentler voice ‘Sorry, Nakashi. My target is only the Sou-gen. Sorry for all the men that I have killed today. ’ Leon and Panzhi are confused about that why Nakashi and Catala seem to know each other.
‘That’s it? You have killed four men!’ Panzhi shouts angrily. Catala pulls out her knife again and stares at Panzhi. Nakashi holds Catala’s arm tightly and says ‘Catala, just end the revenge.’
Catala lowers her head. ‘It is not just about revenge. They are all lying! Everyone is blind from the truth!’ Catala says firmly. ‘Nakashi, I know you still have a clear mind. I am going to take you to that ridiculous cave to show you the truth. Come with me.’ Panzhi draws out his sowrd and shouts furiously ‘Demon! You dare to trespass the place of the Sou!’ Catala snickers and says calmly ‘So, the hypocrites set these rules to keep you guys ignorant.’
‘Come Nakashi, and I will show you the truth. I have been wanting to do that for a long period of time,’ Catala starts walking. Nakashi follows her and says ‘Wait, I also want to know about the truth. But what if we are caught? I do not want to put my friends in another great risk. I do not want to ruin their future.’
Catala says sarcastically ‘No one force them to do so. If they want to be blindfolded for rest of their lives, I am sure they will have a brilliant future.’ She continues to walk.
‘Wait, I want to go too. I will prove to you that the Sou is there and you will never question our faith again,’ Leon rushes forward and says confidently. Catala snickers again and continues to match. Panzhi is shocked and shouts immediately ‘Leon! Nakashi! Don’t be lured by her. She is just trying to tempt you away from the Sou.’
‘Can’t imagine the eldest one is also the most coward one,’ Catala laughs coldly once again. Leon says ‘Don’t worried, Panzhi. We will find a safe way in doing so. Besides, we are just trying to know the truth, not doing anything disrespect to the Sou.’
Panzhi is still having a worried and confused face. He whispers to himself, ‘My dear Sou, please forgive us. We are doing this in our greatest respect.’ Then, he also follows, but reluctantly.
They decide to rest first and start their journey on the next day. Catala walks away to find her own resting place whereas the three others get back to their little camp site.
‘Why do you know her?’ Leon asks Nakashi curiously. ‘I have saved her once,’ Nakashi says softly. ‘She is not as cruel as others think. Once she is trying to assassinate the Sou-gen in the temple. She is chased by the guards and she is hurt. She escapes from the temple and rushes to a hangar near the palace where I was washing my plane alone. She was bleeding and lying down. I help her to stop the bleeding and I secretly assist her escape by driving the plane to the forest. So, we get to know each other’
‘Nakashi, you are just too kind-hearted,’ Leon says. ‘Well. It is just that I know that she is really not a bad person. She has her reasons. She told me that her parents were killed because of their lack of faith towards the Sou. But when I tried to ask more about her, she just remained silence’
It was a peaceful evening. Little Catala was staying at home and felt bored. ‘Mum, why are we not going to the gathering in every evening? The priests and the people in there are really kind.’ Catala asked her mother, who was reading her old books again. ‘Catala, always learn to think independently. Only dead fishes follow the flow.’ ‘But I don’t understand. But the people there love us so much.’ Her mother put down her books, combs Catala’s hair and says gently, ‘You will know some day in the future.’
The door opened, it was Catala’s father. ‘How are you? My little pretty girl,’ he asked Catala happily. ‘Father, I want to go to the gathering. All my friends go there.’ ‘Well, I’m sure you can find other interesting things to do,’ her father said lovingly.
Her father walks in the study and her mother follows him. He got out the newspaper from his bag. ‘Sofie, the situation is getting worse. They are saying that President Gunosrose has been killed. I’m afraid believing the Sou will soon become compulsory,’ he said. ‘Roger, why not just stop writing those articles?’ Sofie asked, ‘I have just read a news that a journalist’s house in Wartse was burnt down and he was later killed by the crowd, just because he has written articles like what you have written.’
‘If every one of us stops writing, I’m sure all people will be the slave of the Sou-gen soon. No one wants to see that.’ Roger says firmly, ‘Besides, I do not want Catala to have a coward as her father.’ They hugged and Sofie said slowly ‘Anyway, I will always be with you.’
The scene changes. It was a usual morning. Catala was alone at home, her mother and father had gone to work in their newspaper company. Catala went to Mrs. Rentelos house and played with Mrs. Rentelos’s kids. It was already five o’clock but her parents had still not come home. She asked Mrs. Rentelos ‘Where are Mum and Dad?’ ‘They must be working busily.’ Mrs. Rentelos says calmly, but the sharp Catala somehow understood Mrs. Rentelos was hiding something. Catala remained silent and patient. Her parents did not return even at night.
The next morning, her parents still had not come home and she went to Mrs. Rentelos’s house again. Mrs. Rentelos’s nice and kind welcoming cannot soothe her worry. At about ten o’clock, a priest suddenly visited Mrs. Rentelos’s house. The priest invited Mrs. Rentelos to talk outside the house. Catala was not invited but she peeked from the window secretly. She could see Mrs. Rentelos and the priest were talking seriously with a concerned face.
Finally, Mrs. Rentelos came in a very sad face and walked towards Catala. Catala knew something bad had happened. ‘Catala, your parents…your parents had a tragic traffic accident…they have…have left us. Catala, I am really sorry.’ Catala could somehow predict this on the day before, but she was still shocked. ‘I know I should tell you earlier. They were hit… hit by a truck yesterday and was sent to the hospital. I hope the Sou could lead them from the danger so I did not tell you yesterday, but in the end, the doctors had failed. Really sorry, Catala.’
Mrs. Rentelos was crying but Catala remained silent. She knew that something had obviously gone wrong and that was not the truth. ‘Catala, always learn to think independently.’ Her mother’s voice was speaking in her head. She had decided she would go to seek the truth by herself. Mrs. Rentelos and her family members were all accompanying her. She had to find a way out. She excused that she wanted to be alone and rushed to the toilet. Then, she secretly climbed out through the windows and tiptoed away from the house. She got a big hat from her own house so that no one on the streets could recognize her. She could trust no one now and she must do everything by herself.
&nbs
p; She decided to go to the newspaper company to start her investigation. She walked past the town centre. There was a large crowd there. People were shouting, ‘Stop all the hatred and criticism! Let’s all embrace the Sou! Only the Sou can save us!’
Suddenly, people were shouting furiously, ‘Demon! Evil spirit!’ Catala wanted to push through the crowd to see what happen, but she was too small. A calm and gentle voice broke and end all those furious shouting, ‘Roger Freenight and Sofie Canbato. The Sou-gen will pardon you if you abandon your evil thoughts and truly embrace the love of the Sou.’ There was then a short silence.
‘Never! You are all blind,’ a firm voice replied. ‘Demon!’ people shouted again and some of them even threw stones towards the front.
Catala had finally made her way towards the front of the crowd. There were dozens of tall guards stationing at the front and blocking her way. It was really her parents. She could not believe her own eyes. Her parents were kneeling down in front of the crowd and a priest dressed in white robe was standing beside them. Another two priests came out and pulled up her parents. The people were shouting again. ‘Hang them! They deserve it!’ The priests were trying to pacify the crowd and told them to calm down.
Suddenly, a woman pulled Catala’s hand and said, ‘little girl, you shouldn’t be here. Where are your parents?’ Catala did not know how to answer and did not want to answer. She was pulled away from the crowd by that woman. She heard a calm and experienced voice speaking with sadness from the front of the crowd, ‘may the Sou forgive all your sins,’ Catala turned around and saw the priest with white robe was touching the heads of her parents and talking to them with a sincere and pitiful expression. Then, a thick robe loop was placed round the necks of her parents. ‘Your sins will be forgiven,’ the priest said again.
Catala felt disgusted. The woman pulled her away again and Catala gave one last look towards her parents and the priest. Catala still remained silent. Normally, a girl at her age would try her best to rush out of the crowd and scream. But Catala knew that this cannot save her parents. ‘Kill them! Kill them!’ the people were yelling. Catala used her sharp eyes to look at the priest intensively; his face will be kept in her mind. She then turned her focus to every angry faces in the crowd, men and women, young and old. She would not forget any one of them. Finally, the crowd cheered, the five-year-old girl did not turn her face to watch but she knew what had happened. She did not feel sad, she did not feel lonely, she was focusing on recognizing every faces.
No sooner had she gone out from the crowd than she ran. Despite that woman was trying to hold her, she just ran and ran, ran to the unfamiliar places of the town. Finally, she slowed down.
She did not shed any tears. She just felt lost. She sat outside of an old bakery where people were mingling to each other happily.
‘In a tree by the brook, there's a songbird who sings,
Sometimes all of our thoughts are misgiving.
……
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it makes me wonder.’
It was some kind of very old folk music. An old man was singing in a gloomy tone with his guitar and the other old man was playing a flute with sentimental melody.
The scene changes once again. It was a dark night. Hymns from the town temple started to fade out. Catala was spying outside from the temple. Kids and adults were walking out from the temple. Catala recognized the same face that she saw ten years ago. He wore the same white robe, carried the same calm expression. He was chatting with others at the entrance of the temple. Finally, all of them have left and the priest was standing there alone and started his meditation.
Catala would not miss this opportunity. Yet, she thought that a single bullet ending his life is too lenient for him. She must find a better way to carry out her revenge. The priest started walking alone in the dark street. She jumped down from the rooftop of the house where she was hiding and hasted towards the priest crazily. She used her hand to cover his mouth and pulled him towards a quiet dark alley. ‘Why killed my parents?’ she asked aggressively. The priest was shocked. He tried to struggle but Catala’s hatred had totally overrun him. ‘Why killed my parents?’ Catala, who did not expect an answer, asked again.
Catala pulled out her sharpened knife and stabbed him as hard as she could. Blood was flowing along the silvery knife. She then pulled out the knife and stabbed him again. ‘You fraud!’ she shouted. The gentle middle-aged man was dying, he whispered ‘Dear Sou, forgive her, she must have gone through so many suffering. Help her to get away from fear and hatred…Love…’
Catala was shocked. She pulled out her knife and used her hand to cover the large wound. She must have killed the wrong person. How would such a sympathetic and peaceful person kill her parents brutally? But it was the same face that she forced herself to remember for years.
‘Sorry,’ Catala murmured. Tears dropped from her face first time in these ten years. The priest smiled gently and said softly ‘Don’t feel lonely and regretted. The Sou will always forgive anyone as long as they are willing to embrace the love from him…’ His mouth stopped moving finally. Catala crouched down in there and watched his body for the whole night. She was so confused and scared that she did not want to do anything. She hate the priests, the bishops, the Sou-gen and everyone, but if everyone is having a strong faith towards the Sou and leading a life full of love because of that, should she stop them?
‘Always think on your own. You must continue to pursue the truth,’ her parents’ firm voice was calling in her mind. She must not give up.
‘Catala, Catala,’ a girl is calling her. It is Nakashi. Catala woke up from her dream. It is not the first time that she dreams about all her memories. This kind of dreams always makes her think that, ‘what if all these things have never happened and I am now still having a peaceful life with my parents.’ She remains silent and focuses on her walking.
Chapter 5
Throughout the walking in the forest, they do not talk much. Catala takes the lead and walks independently without taking a single back turn to look at Leon, Nakashi or Panzhi. The three do not talk to her, not because of their hatred and fear towards her, but because of the fact that they are like living in a completely different world in which communication is impossible.
Even among the three of them, talking is limited. Leon and Nakashi are trying to explain and to justify to Panzhi that this journey is reasonable and safe. But even in their own hearts, they are uncertain and worried towards what will happen.
Catala stops and whistles repeatedly. A few minutes later, two large hawks fly towards them. ‘Climb up on them,’ Catala orders. Nakashi goes with Catala and climbs up first while Leon and Panzhi move up on another eagle later. Well, Leon and Panzhi are all great pilots. They use to fly in their small planes in extreme conditions. But now, these are not machines, these are animals. They are all pretty scared. But when they see that both Catala and Nakashi are very relaxed and comfortable about it, the two boys are less worried.
The eagles flip their huge wings and they slowly rise above the canopy of the forest. Leon is amazed by the speed of this kind of creatures. Within an hour, they have already left the forest and arrived back to the city. They fly up above the clouds to prevent people discovering them. Finally, they land in a less densely-populated area which is not far from the divine entrance.
Catala walks towards Leon and Panzhi, showing her willingness to talk to them for the first time, ‘now listen, here is the plan. The main security of the cave is actually the monitoring from the battleships in the sky. I will fly with the hawks towards the sky above the cave to distract all the battleships. You guys then take a short path to get inside quickly.’ She searches her bag and takes out three small golden cubes. Each of them has a few buttons on it and has some small holes on it. ‘Use them for communication. I will tell you how to take that shortest path to get inside the cave.’
‘Wait, but there are so many battleships above the
cave for you to distract. It is impossible to do so,’ says Leon. Catala just laughs and says, ‘all those battleships are too clumsy and dull to be my opponents.’ Leon is surprised by Catala’s confidence, or arrogance. But after witnessing Catala’s ability of using just a few bullets to shoot down a plane and personally dueling with her, Leon is in fact rather assured that the plan will work. ‘Good luck,’ Leon adds.
Catala ignores him and climbs on the hawk. Nakashi rushes towards her and says, ‘Catala, just try to distract the ships, do not shoot them down, I don’t want to cause any more casualties.’ She says in a concerned and sincere face. ‘Fine, I won’t,’ Catala answers briefly.
‘Don’t start your action before I have distracted them,’ Catala says. After that, the two hawks flip their wings once again and they ascend to the sky swiftly. ‘Leon, Nakashi, we still have the opportunity to abandon this plan,’ Panzhi says. ‘I mean, we can always find a better way to do this. We can ask the bishops or the Sou-gen’s permission if you guys really want to go inside the entrance.’
‘Panzhi, the Sou-gen will never allow us to do so. These rules have been set for so many years and no one ever has violated it. To get the truth, we must act on our own,’ Nakashi says. Panzhi still says, ‘No, certainly not. You guys should have the faith. If we trespass the entrance without the Sou-gen permission, it will prove our lack of faith.