CHAPTER 1
After finishing Suki’s sushi rolls, we weren’t hungry, so Aiko and I stopped at a little tea house as we entered Kyoto. Sitting on the floor mats, at the foot high table, once we had our tea, she wanted to hear all about the five goddesses. I told her that Mei Lin was the Goddess of Compassion, which she now could see was true. Mei Lin was the one who had saved us from being locked in the Royal Twin’s crypt and answered my ten years of wonder of who those twins were, and what I had to do with them. I told her more about Hina, the Goddess of Understanding. I had told her the stories of Deva, the Goddess of Love and Azula, the Goddess of Wisdom after I had returned from those meetings.
Aiko was intrigued with Gaia when I said she was both Mother Earth and the Goddess of Life. Like me, she had heard many stories about Mother Earth, who we should honor, but always as a concept, and never as a living person. Her being the Goddess of Life added another level of confusion, especially after I told Aiko she displayed earthly emotions. “Even though I wanted to believe she had everything figured out, it was hard for me to actually think so,” I began. “I could see she was more about authentic life, which she represents, which isn’t all goody, goody, and lovey-dovey. In life there’s the good, bad and ugly, supernatural wonder, ignorance and all that, all bundled up in a confusing hodgepodge, which I began to see she represents. Where Hina had clear understanding, Gaia had misunderstandings. Where Deva represented love and acceptance, Gaia made Basho prove he was worth liking. Mei Lin shows compassion towards everyone, whereas Gaia challenged everyone’s authenticity, as in her forcing the twins to go through their Mexican Rites of Passage, before meeting her. Azula, the Goddess of Wisdom, was more like Gaia, allowing us to leave with false judgments, instead of pushing her wisdom on us.”
Aiko, who had a very short father, was intrigued with Basho being a dwarf, who was about a foot shorter than her father. Nevertheless, she understood a short man’s handicap of always being looked down on from those of normal height, and for that alone judging from their perceived superiority. She also endured that superior prejudice being employed by Satori. She was a grown woman who was running his company, but after three years he still treated her as his little girl who brings him coffee. And for my part, I had spent most of my life not being seen or heard; a quiet single man who hangs around cemeteries. But that all changed when Aiko confessed her love for me. This beautiful woman loved everything about the man I now am. Her only disappointment was that she couldn’t go everywhere with me.
We shared our looks of love, and then Aiko voiced her reflection. “I can’t help thinking about all these colors and numbers. Five Goddesses and their five colors. And then the twins and their two colors and them being the wings. Are they six and seven? What do you think about this Tashi?”
“I’ve thought a lot about it since leaving the pyramid. But in an odd way. I started thinking of all my years visiting cemeteries. The one thing tombstones have in common is dates and numbers. I may sound crazy, but in the numbers and symbols I was seeing astrological, numerological, and even Tarot patterns. Number one is the beginning and nine is the ending. In astrology Aries is number one and red. This was Mei Lin, the Red Crystal Goddess of Compassion, which is all about lovingly birthing life. I could go through the five goddesses, like Gaia in the middle, being the Green Goddess of Life. Life is the middle because there’s nothing without life.”
Aiko’s mind was engaged with so many thoughts but made it personal. “What color do you think I am?”
“Who was the first goddess you met and related to?” I answered my question. “Mei Lin, the Red Goddess. Red connects to compassion through deep emotions, intense love, and heart-centered empathy. That’s you.”
“That makes sense. What about the twins? Are they six and seven? Why are they white and silver?”
“I think the twins were simply being placeholders, the wings for the takeoff from the pyramid. I see Daioji as number seven, the Chariot. The silver winged one. The knight in shining silver armor who goes out on adventures and returns to the castle, the hero. My birth number is seven, a different sort of knight, the storyteller of this Living Story.”
“You’re also my knight in shiny armor,” Aiko offered, leaning over for a hug and kiss.
With a warmer heart I continued, “Leilani is number eight, which is Strength. The pure white sphere. In the Tarot number eight Strength is a woman dressed in White, who represents purity, calmness and clarity. That’s Leilani. I could go on.”
“But then, who is number six?” She asked, totally intrigued.
“I don’t know, but I keep getting this inner message that there’s a Sixth Element. Six is the Lovers in the Tarot. I’m guessing, just thinking, that the Sixth Element is the glue that holds everything together. In Tarot, the number six represents harmony, balance, and recovery after a period of struggle. The Lover comes after the struggle, standing between Gaia five and Daioji seven, on the way to nine, the completion. The sixth element connect two paths, or the two worlds . . . Ku Earth evolving into Ki Earth. It must be a greater meaning of love, not just the Love Goddess Deva, that makes up the Sixth Element”
“And number nine?”
“It’s the number of completions. The Hermit in the Tarot who uses his or her gathered wisdom to light the path forward. I think between compassion red and purple understanding that sphere color is probably Lavender Rose. But I have no idea who the Ninth Sphere could be.”
After two hours in the tea house, I took Aiko home, was back at my place, fed my bird, and went to bed. Anxious to see what the next day would bring.
After we left, Daioji, Leilani and Temu went to their rooms to rest. At seven, Rin called and said dinner was ready. Kozo and a tall strange looking woman rose to greet them. They were introduced to Chikara, who Kozo said was one of his executive secretaries, who he invited to stay until she found her own place, which sounded awfully odd to the three of them. Hadn’t she considered a hotel?
Chikara was at least six feet tall. Maybe in her mid-thirties. She was slim and looked like a masculine woman, more handsome than pretty. Her eyes were bright green, accentuated with dark eyeliner. Her silver earrings were two-inch dragons. She was oriental, but to Leilani she looked more Mongolian than Japanese. Daioji later remarked that he didn’t think she was even human. From the moment they entered the dining room, seeing her, Temu wanted to turn around and leave. He obviously didn’t like her vibes, and after his first glance wouldn’t look at her. And to her it seemed their standoffish welcome was normal, and didn’t matter
She looked the twins over and then spoke. “You’re two good looking kids. It’s too bad your father doesn’t dress you properly.” She looked at him with a disapproving glance. “Today is Sunday. How about this. I hardly fit my overnight bag in your father’s silly little auto plane. I’m sure he has a proper car in his garage, and a chauffeur. I need to pick up the rest of my things. Why not, after breakfast, we have his man drive us into Kyoto, I’ll get my things and then we can go to the mall. I’ll buy you proper clothes. On me.”
She had no idea how condescending her offer was. Kozo then said, “Today is Monday, Chikara. Don’t you remember being at work today and that we have another busy day ahead tomorrow. The kids are fine. I have plenty of money to pay for whatever they want. They’re Hawaiian surfer kids. What they choose to wear on their vacation is their business, not mine. You can go shopping for yourself on your day off.” He looked a bit annoyed with her opening assumptions.
“Don’t be silly,” Chikara didn’t hesitate to snap back, almost as if she considered herself superior to her billionaire boss. “You can be the busy businessman, but obviously these children need a mother figure. Since I’m moving in here, I’ll be that figure. You don’t need me tomorrow. My assistant knows what to do. Tell your chauffeur to meet us in front. Nine will work for me.”
Daioji had heard enough. “Look lady, not going to happen. I don’t know who you think you are. There’s no limousine or chauffeur for you. We have a mother, thank you very much, and we don’t need you to fill in just because of your ignorance. We have our own lives to live and important things to do tomorrow. Our business certainly doesn’t include you.” Both Leilani and Temu grinned. They knew he was being the man he had become.
She looked at Kozo. “This is what happens when you neglect your children. They fill their lives with things that replace their absent parents. I know how packed your schedule is.” She then paused and looked at Daioji. “What was your name? Dai something . . . look kid. . . you’re a classic case of a neglected child who fills your parent’s absence with what? Video games and mindless things like that. Relax. I’ll buy you high quality clothes and we’ll have an expensive lunch. Get to know each other. Your life can’t get any better than that.”
The twins and Temu couldn’t take anymore of her. They stood up and excused themselves to Kozo. Daioji faced his father and simply said. “Good luck with her.” They hadn’t said one polite word to her. They just turned and walked away.
Aiko and I arrived at Kozo’s estate on time the next morning. Once in the door, we joined Heijo, Suki, Koichi, Izami, Kinju, Basho, Temu and the twins. Everyone was standing, which meant Suki had yet to invite them to sit. We were surprised to see Grandmother Puna. “She really wanted to come,” Koichi said. “We just arrived too.”
“I’m so happy to see you, Nani,” Daioji said as he walked over and hugged her, followed by his sister. “Did grandpa tell you what happened to us at that underwater pyramid?” After she said yes, he added, “We were crystal balls, the wings. I wish we were airplanes. Then we could fly to you whenever we wanted.” Daioji had yet to realize the power he’d obtained while being the Silver Sphere.
“Be aware of what you wish for,” Heijo responded. “Please sit everyone. Leilani, will you help Suki with the tea?” There was a pause for small talk and after the tea was served Heijo continued. “Now that we’re all safely here, I guess we need to talk about what to do next. It’s good to see you Puna. It’s been a while. I guess you’ve gotten used to riding the wave with Koichi. Why are you here?”
“I don’t want to be left out. I wanted to see you and Suki again, and my precious grandchildren. Is that your girlfriend Tashi?” I introduced Aiko and Puna continued, “Koichi’s team spent the night. When the four were leaving to come here, I couldn’t help but say I’m coming too. I won’t go to underwater pyramids or wherever there’s bad guys. This is family and I always want to be with family. I probably should go say hello to Kozo.”
“Not a good idea,” Koichi answered. “He’s at work and we really don’t want to confuse him with how you got here from Hawaii. It’s why I hang low. And these guys too.”
“Before we get into our what’s next talks, I want to reintroduce myself,” Heijo said. Everyone looked a bit puzzled, and he explained. “Throughout my 14,000-year history, my name was Kizar. Not Heijo. I’ll speak as Kizar.” He waited for everyone’s nod of attention. “I’m aware that all great stories have a Departure, an Initiation and a Return. When Tashi brought The Living Story out of the crypt, that was the Departure from where this great story had been stuck for 13,000 years. The Initiation was when the twins were in Mexico going through their Rites of Passage. That was the Initiation from how the Twins of Kashal have always been, with very limited powers . . . to who they are today.” He paused and nodded to the twins. “We have entered the Return. All five Goddesses are now engaged, we are all on board, and our collective focus is to finally actually return Ku to Ki.” He paused. “It may be hard at first to not call me Heijo, but I’m changing my name back to my true Kashalian name. I am now Kizar.”
Koichi said, “That’s okay with me. I still like my name. Koichi. It has worked both in Hawaii and Japan. And anyway, there is no way Puna would call me anything else. I don’t mind ‘hey old man,’ but that’s just love talking.
As the discussions continued, it was more of a reminder of who was in the room. Kizar, Koichi, Izami, Kinju, Basho, and Temu all had supernatural powers. When we talked about Inner Earth, they knew they could bilocate there at any time. And at the same time, they knew they couldn’t show up without a solid plan or a place to go. In the end they turned to Basho.
“Yes,” he said. “I know the castle in Inner Earth better than anyone., even anyone there now. But I also know that Kudram and his top people have supernatural powers that match ours. As far as I know they could be listening to this conversation. Whatever we intend to do there, we will somehow need to be stealthier than them, if that’s possible. I think that even before we even think of going there, we need to come up with a foolproof plan.”
“What do you think?” Kizar asked and Basho answered, “I have absolutely no idea.”
CHAPTER 2
For the next hour, the immortals threw out intelligent ideas, all of which were rejected by Basho, who was the authority in the room when it came to the Middle Earth power structure. The five of us sat and listened, until finally the one they probably considered the least qualified to speak, spoke. “May I?” Aiko asked. Surprised, they all nodded.
“What’s it been now? Maybe ten days since Tashi found the book, and eight days since he and I were locked in the crypt? Tashi and I started this new story when we met Mei Lin there, and she told us all about the Royal Twins of Kashal. The Tengu Shaman joined us and even you Kizar.” He perked up when she remembered to call him by his real name. “Last night, Tashi was telling me that all good stories, and to me this Living Story is truly a great story, have a Departure, an Initiation and a Return.” She paused for them to consider those words and then continued, “Tashi told me that the Departure started when you two, Kizar and Koichi, and Kudram, left Kashal, and commanded the Mothership to the Ki Earth. When the Goddesses duplicated it, the Ku Earth part of the on-going Departure story began. It was then on pause until 500 years ago. Mei Lin told us that story. What Tashi concluded is that everything that has happened since 13,000 years ago, was all included in the Departure story. That ended when the twins went through their Rites of Passage, which started the Initiation.”
“The Initiation? How can one event change everything that has happened for 13,000 years?” Izami questioned. “You were telling her this story, Tashi. What else can you tell us?”
“This is not a simple tale” I said and smiled at her. “Your story of your past 1000 years would get my full fascinated attention.” We smiled at each other. “First off, it was Mei Lin who told us the story of how I got involved in the Living Story. That was 500 years ago, and I’ll move on from that story. May I?” When they all said to go on, I continued. “First off, like Aiko just said, that was part of the Departure story. Once I took the A Living Story book from the crypt, it started the conclusion of the Departure story. And the prelude to the Initiation story, which was the prelude to the Return. Do you understand? Every good book has to have a beginning, a middle and an ending. Your part of this story had a very long beginning. 13,000 years. Since I found A Living Story, we’ve been leading up to the Initiation. Now that the Twins of Kashal have been initiated, allowed to have powers they had never had before, we’re beginning the Return. Right now, today, we are searching for the plot that will take us to the end. Got it?”
“You are sounding like a literary scholar,” Kizar offered. “One of the reasons I’ve hung low until the twins arrived this time, was because there was nothing I could do. Maybe I could have bi-located down to Kudram’s office and tried to convince him to give up his madness. But we know that logical counseling is a waste of time when facing a psychopath obsessed with taking over two worlds.”
“He’s your brother, one of Kashal’s Triplet Commanders. How could a mad man be allowed to be a spaceship commander?” I asked
“In highly evolved planets like Kashal there are set family hierarchies. The birth of very rare male triplets, born into our lineage of spaceship commanders, was a profound revelation. Of course we were educated, trained to be space commanders, and when we came of age we were given our first ship to command,” Koichi explained. “Kizar and I were naturals, and grew up to be excellent commanders. Kudram wasn’t. He thought the technology was so advanced that these huge ships could run themselves. That wasn’t true. Deep space is filled with anomalies. Kizar and I took turns commanding the ships. Kudram was an incompetent ship commander, always screwing things up. There was no way we would leave him on the bridge alone. In this world he would have been fired. But we were expected to be triplet commanders. Not twin commanders. Triplet commanders. And, Kudram’s ego believed his intelligence was far superior than ours. Actually over anyones. He wanted to be the only commander, lying about us in front of high counsels, plotting to get us fired. It was crazy.”
“In all my years knowing you two, I had never heard this story,” Kinju, who rarely speaks, spoke. “If he was such an incompetent spacecraft pilot, how did he get the Mothership down to Middle Earth and safely parked?”
“Good question,” Kizar answered. “This is what I found out. His plan began with bringing the Planet Nibiru into orbit around Ki Earth, using its protection and resources to make Ki Earth a galaxy dominating planet. To move Nibiru from its previous orbit, he paid two brilliant genius aeronautical engineers from Andromeda a fortune. Because of their miscalculation, the planet Nibiru nearly collided with the Ki Earth, causing a catastrophic wobble. The Goddesses remotely saw this and duplicated Ki Earth at the last second. The Andromeda engineers, who also had supernatural abilities, took control of the Mothership, scanned the upper earth, which was being destroyed, looking for the safest place to land. They scanned deeper and found an abandoned castle in Middle Earth. We think that without them, Kudram and the Mothership would have been lost in space.”
“And because of all that happened, Koichi added, “finding his Middle Earth castle 13,000 years ago, Kudram took it as a sign that he was destined to rule both the Middle and Upper Earths. No world leaders trusted him, or would align with his world dominance plan, until now, when the most evil powerful dark forces on Upper Earth decided to join with him. He thinks his time has come.”
“What do you think, Izami,” I asked.
“No way! A million years doesn’t heal foolish and evil incompetence. Now that we’ve joined with the immortal Crystal Goddess, and with the brilliance we all possess, and the fact that we’re helping the people of this earth to transition into a higher cosmic consciousness, I’m sure their evil low level vibration frequency will prove to be ineffective. Soon most of the people on earth will reject all the dark forces crap.”
This conversation was interrupted when the tall green eyed woman Chikara walked uninvited into Kizar’s home. “Who are you people?” She asked, looking around and giving every one of us her stink eye. “My name is Chikara. I’m Kozo’s executive assistant. I’m moving in next door and I’m here to get the kids.”
Leilani stood up. “There’s no kids here to be gotten. And we don’t care who you are. Go find somewhere else to live. You don’t belong here. This is his house,” she pointed to Kizar, “and not my father’s house. It was totally rude you didn’t even knock. I suggest you turn around and leave.”
“Yeah,” Daioji not only stood up, but walked up to her. They were the same height. He looked into her nasty eyes and said, “I don’t care who you think you are, lady. Get the hell out of here.”
“That’s cute,” she answered. “I called an Uber. It drove all the way out here to pick us up. I said I would buy you new clothes at the mall and I keep my word. So stop being teenage brats and let’s go. The driver is waiting.”
“I’ll go with you,” Temu stepped up, speaking like a warrior. “But I have to warn you. Your chances of arriving in Kyoto are slim. I can make bad things happen. Kozo will wonder why you never showed up at work again.” None of us imagined Temu threatening someone’s life. He continued, “We, and I’m speaking for everyone here, have no room in our lives for horrible people like you. I suggest you get in that Uber by yourself and never come back. If not, I’ll tell the driver to leave. There are a million places in the mountain here to bury your body. You will never be found. Is that what you want? If not, leave now and good riddance.”
“My goodness,” she answered. “You sound like a punk kid who plays too many murder mystery video games. That’s not going to happen. They won’t find your body, young man. I’m sticking around.” She paused and walked up almost nose to nose with him. “Who are you anyway? You think you’re safe here? A grown man playing with these children.” She backed off and pulled out her smartphone. “I’ll call Kozo and make up a story of your perversion with his children, which he’ll believe, and since an Uber is waiting, he’ll tell you to get in it and never come back.” She smirked. “Never underestimate the power of a sophisticated woman, who has her boss wrapped around her little finger. Now come on kids, let’s go.”
Now it was Kinju’s turn. He was six inches taller than her, a muscular black man, who looked like a warrior who wouldn’t back down to anyone. With a swift hand movement to her neck, he touched a spot which made her pass out and crumple to the floor. He didn’t need to say a word. His next move was to pick her up, throw her over his shoulder and carry her to the Uber. We all followed, in awe of his power. He took her smartphone, threw it down the hill, and somehow produced 20,000 yen, and paid the driver. He put his hand on her head. “She’ll be out for about fifteen, probably twenty, minutes. Drive her farther away from Kyoto for the next fifteen minutes, and then dump her on the side of the road. I’ll know you did it. Come back in half an hour and I’ll give you another 20,000 yen. Okay?” Izami waved her hand near his face, like a hypnotist. The driver perked up, grinned and said to her, not Kinju, “My pleasure ma’am. Be right back,” and drove off with the unconscious witch.
Back in Kizar’s house, Basho spoke up. “I’ve never seen that woman before. She seems to me like the sort of infiltrating spy that Kudram would recruit. Creatures like her come from all over. They all have extraordinary powers and their brains don’t work like yours. That woman will wake up, wipe herself off and wave a car down. She’ll charm the driver to take her to Kyoto, pick up her things and bring her back here. Or she’ll bi-locate back to Kyoto, get her things and hire another Uber.”
“That woman is a wahine ino,” Puna couldn’t help but say. “A bad woman. She didn’t notice the kupunas, the Hawaiian elders in the room. That is a big sign of disrespect. She didn’t bow to Suki, a Japanese elder woman. Also disrespectful. In our language we have a word, ho’owaiho. Means to shun or ignore this person. It’s what we did.”
“I agree. We just watched and listened. That’s normally what we’d do in Hawaii when we’re disrespected.” Koichi said. “But this is different. She ignored our presence and only, at first, addressed the twins. Not the four elders. Her mind was programmed to only charm you two,” speaking to the twins. “To take you to the mall. Buy you new clothes and win you over. She was blind to anything else. She’ll be back.”
“May I?” Aiko asked, and Koichi nodded. “Working for Satori, a lot of bad people come wanting him to print terrible stories in praise of themselves,” she began. “He would get angry and kick them out. I personally got stronger in handling them. I could see their crazy misguided egos, even Satori’s, as a derangement yes, but entertainment for me. I stopped taking anything they said or did as personal.” She paused. “Sure that woman was extremely rude and inconsiderate, but like all those nut cases who come in trying to sell their stories, their drama was dismissed. I would politely say that you need to work on your presentation, improve your story, and come back when you know you have a best seller. They thrive on their drama, but would melt when I gave them supportive advice.”
“Thank you Aiko,” Leilani said. “You’re right. I was matching her deranged energy instead of presenting a better option. We could have gone to the mall with her, and spent a fortune of her money just for the fun of it. All the while knowing that no way could she charm us into liking her. That’s what you were saying. You wouldn’t buy into their nonsense. Maybe instead of seeing her as the enemy, we can use her to teach us how to handle the aliens Kudram hires to defeat us.”
“This is great,” Daioji jumped in. “All of you are right. Even though she was right after I said get the hell out of here. It’s what a teenage boy would say. She probably gets that level of response all the time. But Kinju did it way better. Now she sees we’re not a bunch of pushovers. That we have unexpected powers. Even you Temu, telling her you know where she belongs, not walking this earth. That was right on. After what was said here, I won’t be able to see her as anything but a conniving alien, up to no good. I agree with my sister. And Aiko. We need to be smarter than her from now on. And maybe she’s an unexpected gift, teaching us how to deal with Kudram and his people.”
“This is a great start,” Kizar concluded. “That’s all for today. Let’s wait until this Chikara woman shows up again, and be on our toes. Especially you three.” Pointing at Daioji, Leilani and Temu. “Do a version of what she does, charm her, and prompt a slip-up. Even the slightest hint she works for Kudram, and then we’ll take it from there. Great work everyone.”
CHAPTER 3
It was now Tuesday, almost two full weeks since I walked through the cemetery at Namu Ku, up the mountain. That day I was surprised to see the small yet magnificent crypt’s door slightly opened. Inside I found the perfectly preserved bodies of the early 16th century Royal Twins of Kashal, holding their severed heads in their hands. I call them royal because they were the son and daughter of the Emperor and Empress of Japan. Before the door slammed shut with me inside, I ran out with a big leather-bound book titled A Living Story, which is the writing itself story contained in these three novels. I have no idea what will happen in Book Three, because it hasn’t happened yet.
I could almost call the current Twins of Kashal royal too. In the story the Goddess of Compassion Mei Lin told Aiko and I, the Royal Twins, who died in 1523, were actually the children of Mei Lin herself, who I keep forgetting can also shape-shift, apparently for years, and their father Kozo, who was the benevolent Emperor of Japan back then. The Empress and Emperor were murdered when the twins were five. Of course not Mei Lin, since she’s immortal. But with Kozo that subconscious memory is what now makes him so protective of Daioji and Leilani. In this life he was told the story of how the then twenty-three year old Prince Ojo and Princess Oji were beheaded. Up until Mei Lin set him straight two weeks ago, he thought the Shogun Tashinami was their murderer, who is me in this lifetime. After he found out it was someone else, we’ve had a cordial relationship, him seeing me as the secondary protector of his children.
Still, he can’t help being overly protective of his current life’s children, who he only sees for two weeks a year, all because of what happened 500 years ago. It seems a bit absurd, but he can’t help himself.
Now, sitting at the dinner table with the twins waiting to be served, he looked at the calendar on his KiPhone. “My goodness. Time flies. Two weeks have flown by and you’re supposed to leave tomorrow. I’d better book your tickets.”
“That’s okay,” Daioji responded. “We’re not ready to leave. We’re having a great time with Tashi, Aiko and Temu. We talked to Grandpa and he said something about remodeling our rooms. Asked me to ask you if we could stay another week, maybe ten days.” Daioji lied but he didn’t know what else to do. Rin came in and removed one of the place settings. “Looks like your evil assistant can’t make it,” Daioji mumbled with a chuckle.
“Chikara said she’ll be a bit late,” Rin offered. “I called Temu and he said five’s a crowd and he’s not hungry.” Not hungry? the twins thought at the same time. Temu had never missed a meal.
The food was served at the same time Chikara arrived. “Sorry I’m late. I was busy unpacking. I really like my room. It’s like the executive suite in a five star hotel. A room fit for royalty, which I am, by the way. Hope you kids had a good day. My taking you to the mall offer is still open. Just give me the word and I’ll take the afternoon off.”
The twins were sure she would never tell the story, but she was acting as if nothing happened this morning. Kozo also would never know what happened in that hour while he was spending private time in his hidden secret lounge. Whether she found a ride or bi-located back, she was ready to fly back to work with him at noon. Later that afternoon, Chikara convinced the corporate day driver to take her to get her things and bring her to Kozo’s estate. Just like Kinju had no problem manifesting money for the trip and a tip, he was handsomely paid.
Over their river trout dinner, Kozo and Chikara acted like normal business associates, discussing the acquisition of a small company, which she had helped to close. If the twins didn’t know better, they saw their father as a kind boss who was helping a top employee, who was in transition. After all, he still had five more empty suites in his huge mansion. The twins, comfortably living in a fifty-year-old one story, three bedroom, ranch style home in Hawaii, never could see the point of his over indulgence. Ten bedrooms?
After they were finished, without saying a word to Chikara, the twins excused themselves and went to Temu’s room. He was back to playing his murder mystery video game. Daioji looked at it and said, “How did she know?”
“That’s the point,” Temu responded. “That woman isn’t a normal human. Remember, I’ve lived at least a thousand lives. I must have graduated to a higher level to have been placed before the Goddess Deva. And then with you in this Living Story. This afternoon I’ve been reflecting on my anger. I’ve never murdered anyone. What made me threaten her?” He took a moment to answer his own question. “Like I told you, my mission has always been to lovingly guide bad people to do good. Let me think some more about it.”
“You weren’t wrong to threaten her,” Daioji responded. “We know you’re not a murderer. You were just letting her know we won’t stand for her crap. Now she knows, no matter what she tries, she can’t easily manipulate us. She’s obviously a control freak, who for some no good reason wants to control us.”
“I agree,” Leilani said. “But she’ll keep trying. Also, she has a split personality. It’s the same thing with Paco, the surfer guy who wants to date me. Something not normal goes on inside these people’s minds. They think they know what’s best for us. You were right about Paco, brother, and we’re different now, especially after our Rites of Passage. No more buying into controllers bs.”
“Right on,” Daioji answered as the pumped fists.
She continued, “We don’t know what happened after Kinju made her unconscious, her waking up on the side of a road and getting back here. But at dinner tonight she was a different person. She said a couple words to us, reminding us of the mall offer, and then she ignored us, having a pleasant conversation with our father. It was really weird.”
“So, let’s look at this from another perspective,” Temu said, having found an answer by putting the puzzle pieces together. “After my years with Deva and being with that wonderful extended family, and then joining up with you two, and our great team, I thought my forever rebirthing cycle of saving lost souls was over. I guess my wanting to kill this Chikara woman had to do with what I couldn’t do to the hundreds of evil people I’d been stuck with. Even though I often wanted to, I never killed anyone in my past lives. Imagine this. In 1768 at age six, I was forcefully adopted by a woman who didn’t want me. I had to endure twenty years of her uncontrolled anger and psychotic fits. She had no love for anyone, especially not for her unwanted adopted son. It wasn’t until on her deathbed that she finally apologized and promised to be better in her next life. I’ll never forget that unsuccessful wasted life. My anger today came from those abusive years with her. I don’t have it in me to repeat that with this woman Chikara. I’m well aware of the rules of my mission; to turn evil into good. I think I was angry at myself for wanting, for the first time, to break my “here to help” vow. I just wanted for her to somehow go away or die. If not, we’d have to deal with her crap for who knows how long.”
“Sounds like you’re finally feeling your pent up human emotions,” Leilani commented. “Maybe it’s not like how an emissary from Mu should react, but more like an honest human would. It’s good to see you being the real you.”
“That and it looks like your work in this life isn’t over,” Daioji said with sympathy. “We don’t want to deal with her either. But there was a good reason you came into our lives. No accidents. And there must be a good reason she came into your life, our lives, especially now. We were talking about how we can infiltrate Kudram’s Middle Earth castle, and look at what she’s done. She effortlessly infiltrated our father’s castle. She can be nasty to us, loving and helpful to our father, and he’ll never know, or believe us.”
With that thought floating in the air, there was a knock on Temu’s door. He answered it and found himself face to face with Chikara. She was carrying a tray with a plate of food. River trout, steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes. A tall glass of iced hibiscus tea. “You missed dinner, and I knew you’d be hungry, so here it is,” she said with a sweet voice.
“Thanks,” he said, taking the tray and laying it on his desk. “Do you remember what I said to you this morning?” He had to ask.
“Oh that,” she answered with a smile. “That’s a typical human reaction when there is no other reasonable solution. Kill her. You don’t think twice coming to that conclusion in your video games, do you?” He shrugged his shoulders, as she continued, “That’s why I commented about your video game. Today young people’s smart cyber solutions are often unconsciously transferred to unreasonable human solutions. You won’t make it to Kyoto alive, you said. I simply reminded you where that threat came from. In this family, in the billionaire’s realm you’ve entered Temu, you can’t afford to have a lazy mind.” She paused to take in his non-reaction reaction. “That’s enough of my lecture. I need my beauty rest. Oh, and I also wanted to tell you Temu, that you’re invited to join us on our shopping spree. Whatever you want is on me. Goodnight.” With that said, she turned and left.
After she left the twins felt taken by her kindness and charm, but not Temu. “Let me eat some of this food and I’ll tell you what I got from all that.” After he ate half of it, he explained, “I’m not buying it. Whatever comes out of her charming sounding mouth, I know a deranged psychotic when I see one. She’s at the very least a narcissist. They all act exactly how she just acted. Overly charming, yet cunningly deceptive, while they guide their prey into their trap. Trying to buy you, and then me, was nauseating. That’s why this morning, it wasn’t the video game, I realized that my only choice to help you, my friends, was to kill this cunning monster.”
“You still want to?” Daioji asked.
“No. But she told us what we need to do next. She said that I, which means we, can’t afford to have lazy minds. Lazy minds are what falls for otherwise obvious manipulations. She’s saying if we want to keep up with her cunning, we need to wake up and not fall into her traps.”
“How can you be so confident about her, Temu,” Leilani asked.
“I’ve spent hundreds of lives with people just like Chikara. They all have the same flaw. It’s as though they have an unwritten code to give away clues to those they consider dumb, or at least intellectually inferior. Her clue that we can’t afford to have lazy minds, would pass over most people, or they would get defensive and want to argue. With that simple comment, she slipped a test in. She knew that whether I ignored it or argued with her about it, she would win. I did neither. When Chikara saw that I heard her, but refused to react, she let it go for the next time. Like I said, these are patterns I’m aware of. These people are so full of themselves and egocentric that they believe that no person can outsmart them. She was satisfied when I didn’t try to. Your father has unconsciously fallen into her trap, or she wouldn’t be living here.”
“But our father is a genius, a very intelligent man. How can he fall for her nonsense?” Leilani asked.
“Kozo’s business model is based on performance, not small talk. She won him over with her performance, and he simply doesn’t listen to her small talk, the place where her ability to control minds comes from. He heard the part where she needed a temporary place to live, and offered a suite that probably was never slept in. He is simply being a good man.”
“I see what you mean,” Daioji responded. “Over dinner they were lost in business talk. To us it didn’t sound like any sort of manipulation. They were discussing the deal they just closed and another one that’s coming up. Pretty boring stuff to us. Which is why we quickly excused ourselves and left.”
Daioji and Leilani then retreated to their rooms, thinking about what it means going forward without lazy minds.
I enjoyed another meal with Aiko, and then she went home around six. After feeding JoJo and taking a long hot shower, I did something that I had been too busy to do. I picked up A Living Story. Actually I considered reading about other people’s current events as spying and breaching personal privacy, so I just didn’t do it. Nevertheless, don’t ask me why, I guess because I’m overly concerned about Chikara’s evil actions, I read this evening’s writings. I’m glad I did. It reminded me that things aren’t always as they seem, and to discover the truth I need to pay a lot more attention from now on, and like Chikara warned us, to not have a lazy mind.
I’m anxious to see what happens next.
