Hai Ming is on yet another of his journeys again. He seemed to be travelling a lot these days. God knows how he funded his trips, for he seemed to be unemployed ever since she met him. Maybe he took money from his very rich mother. This isn't good. I do not like a man who depends on women to feed him, even if the woman is his mommy. It shows he lacks the independence and strength I look for in a man. Besides, who knows if he will continue to take money from other women when his mother's money is gone (if that's even possible)? Then he will really become a kept man, or xiaobailian as they say in Chinese. And I really don't like xiaobailian......
Then Mikamiko held herself in check. It didn't matter where Hai Ming's money came from, and much less whether he would become a kept man! Or did it? Mikamiko shook her head vigorously, and tried to pretend that it didn't. But in fact, she wants to know every little detail about him, like why does he keep staring at her? Then, in typical Mikamiko fashion, she stopped herself from thinking about him, for the more she thought, the more she knew that she had fallen hopelessly and deeply in love with him.
It was inevitable, wasn't it? If you had a guy, an extremely handsome one, staring at you everyday and almost every minute (it seemed that way to her), and treating you like a lady with special attention, who wouldn't fall in love? She had become ensnared in his trap, and willingly. Everytime she looked into his blue-green eyes, she felt as if she was locked inside those shimmering emeralds and couldn't look away. Oh, he had her mesmerised, and she thought that he probably knew it. It was just that she had been hurt, many times and deeply in the past. She felt that she couldn't take another heartbreak anymore, especially since this time, she had fallen into depths greater than the underworld below (and not to mention her inferiority complex). All this prevented her from recognising and showing her own feelings for him. What a stupid girl, the author says.
"Damn that Hai Ming! Why did he have to treat me so well? If he treated me shabbily, as least I would not have such hopes! And hope is a frightening thing!!! It is all because of him that I can't sleep!" Mikamiko muttered, tossing about in her bed.
Hai Ming sneezed violently. Strange, he thought, I thought that Gods are supposed to be immune to colds or any human ailments for the matter, and here I am sneezing my head off! Must be the drafty weather. Without giving any more thought to it, he closed his eyes again.
He was on a flight to Canada to seek out a way to complete his mission. However hard he tried to sleep, he just couldn't quiet his mind. For his "mother's" words kept echoing in his head.
"The second thing is that you must become the Head of all Gods. Which means, yes, you will have to kill me and maybe some other opposing gods if you want to accompolish your aim. And that most certainly includes your dear brother, Arian. That is, unless we give up the position willingly, which is near impossible." She paused a while to wait for him to absorb it all in. "Besides, you can also put a stop to Operation World Domination, which you so disapproved of."
All of his life, all five million years of it, he had not one shred of ambition to take over the throne as Head of Gods. He had seen the ugliness of the people when they fought over it, and he wanted none of the ugliness to stain his pure soul and good character. Maybe it was this lack of ambition that irked Ulaine, for it was he, Mariteus, who was the most powerful among his siblings. Besides, he was the only one who was fit to be Head, the others being hopelessly flawed in character. (Not to say he was perfect, of course, but will do).
However, all Mariteus wanted to do was to live happily ever after with his mortal wife, Claudine. He was even willing to give up his position and powers as Sea God, in exchange for that kind of life, but of course, it wasn't allowed, for the blood still flowed in him. He was also sure that after that devastating announcement from Ulaine, some of the remaining gods will come and harm Claudine to make him lose his motive for becoming Head of Gods!
Ulaine had cautioned him this before he left:
"Make sure that no one takes your beloved before you do," she intoned serously, 'or she will lose her memory forever. And there will be nothing you can do to get it back."
Of course, he would never have let anything like that happen to her, even if it wasn't part of the bargain. Which is why he had already formed a shield over her house in case of surprise visits. But still he worried, and all through the flight he was fidgety, and even tried to use the cell phone to call her once, but was stopped in time by a horrified flight stewardess. A God in love can be a dangerous thing to those around him.
Finally, Hai Ming reached his destination. He had reached the office of Shiyi, who was a God who knew Everything during his glorious days in Yisheigai. It is not known whether his powers still exists now, but he had since detached himself from the world of the Gods. Maybe he too was tired of all the fighting for the throne.
In this world, at this age, Shiyi was now a best-selling author of many books. One of his stories was remarkably like what had happened in Yishegai, which got Mariteus suspicious that this was the one he was looking for. And thus, he extended a series of elaborate checks on him, and found that his character, preferences and even his appearance fit Shiyi to a T. So to be sure, Mariteus observed him for a while and found that indeed it was him. The aura around him was unmistakable. He finally got his ass into action by standing in front of his office and debating whether to go in.
Of course, Shiyi's name had changed now. He went by the name of Akira Nonomura which was the name on the office door. Just as he was about to knock, a voice sounded from the inside,
"Come in, the door's unlocked."
And it was just the voice of the Shiyi he knew. Deep, masculine and a little raspy but very sexy nonetheless. Of course it wasn't sexy to Mariteus but it made a lot of women swoon. Gods had that advantage, they always made women swoon and go weak in the knees.
"So my brother, what can I do for you? Of course, I know that, but I would like to hear it from your mouth." The masculine voice said.
" Of course you know why I'm here. I want you to tell me if there's a way I can retrieve Claudine's memory without having to take the throne." Mariteus went straight to the point.
"You know there isn't, or Mother wouldn't have told you the method. I mean, to take the throne requires you to kill her. Would anyone be so stupid as to ask someone else to kill her?" Shiyi was amused.
" You don't know Mother."Mariteus muttered.
" Oh, I would pretend that I have never heard that. But trust me, the way to retrieve Claudine's memory is same as the way to the throne, it is inevitable. It appears that someone has sealed Claudine's memory, and the only way to break the seal is to get the throne. And move her with your tender, loving care, of course." The very long-winded Shiyi used a paragraph to recite the reason when five words would suffice.
"Do you know who sealed her memory?" Mariteus could guess but still wanted confirmation.
" Don't play dumb with me. You KNOW it was Arian. The guy was always aching to fight with you, competing everything and anything with you. I remember he used to gloat that he had more pimples than you, what a loser!" Shiyi cracked up at his own joke, but stopped after he saw the serious expression on Mariteus's face.
"Lighten up will ya? It's not the end of the world yet. You can beat that Arian hands down!" Shiyi tried to cheer him up.
" I can't stand fighting, you know that? I would just as soon get rid of my powers if not for this stupid seal on her memory!!" With that, he stormed out of the office, but stopped in mid-stride and asked,
" Is there any way that I can get to the throne without killing anyone?" His eyes had a tiniest glimmer of hope.
"Sorry to disappoint you buddy. If there was, I would have taken over as Head long ago." Shiyi said regretfully.
"Then I will find a way!!" Mariteus vowed and stormed out of the room again, not stopping even to open the door this time.
Of course he had a bump on his head. Were you thinking that he could walk through doors?
Author's note: So Mariteus starts to plot a way to snatch the throne away from his mother without killing her. But how? At this point in time, the author is still thinking, so read the next chapter to find out. Sweet dreams, everyone.
The rest of it......
Back to Intro
Chapter 1 - The Beginning
Chapter 2 - The Awakening
Chapter 3 - Claudine = Mikamiko?!!
Chapter 4 - Journey to the Centre of the Jungle
Chapter 6 - Skylar
The Yisheigai Gallery
