《Wilberforce》Chapter 56: Abul Babara
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Armad stared at the gorge in the rocky valley in front of him. Everything was as it was in the past. He remembered when he picked up his mother and came out looking for Babara. Two years had passed since then and many things had happened.
He got off Ubbaru and sent it back to the ring and headed into the rocks, approaching where he thought he would find Babara. The last time he was there he found the man near a floating hut but years had passed, he wasn't sure if he would find Babara again in the same place.
Not long after he started walking, he heard movements, footsteps, behind him. Quickly hiding behind a rock, he put his hand on his sword. A young woman dressed in a white hospital gown that only extended up to her knees appeared. In her hand was a small jar of water, her steps were hurried. Armad raised an eyebrow in surprise. He never thought of seeing a woman like her there. Even Babara found himself there when he was expelled from the city.
The woman left and Armad followed her behind. He didn't know where she was going but she might know where Babara was or at least have some information, so he followed her. They soon reached a huge tent that Armad didn't know of when he visited Babara the other time. He hid behind a builder so he could see what was happening around the tent.
A minute later, another young woman also dressed in the same hospital gown together with the one he just saw collecting water came out of the tent. They carried a portable bed with a woman wearing a long white dress on it. They put the bed down in front of the tent, treating the woman on it carefully and with respect.
The woman lying there looked to be in good health. There was nothing to show she wasn't just sleeping. Her skin shone with health and there was no sign of any injury, aging, or malnutrition.
Armad wept when he saw the woman. She was his mother. Without a second thought, he came out from behind the rock and headed toward her. When the two women saw him, they took several steps away. He didn't pay attention to them and just knelt in front of his mother, weeping and wishing she could look at him and talk to him even once.
She was still in a coma. And all he had to do was force Babara to give her the necessary treatment. So he turned to the two women.
One of them trembled, saying, "w... we... didn't hurt her. Babara... it was Babara who hired us."
The name Babara jolted him and his hand subconsciously fell on his sword. "Where is he?"
But neither of them could answer him. They were just shaking, so scared to talk. Then Armad heard Babara. The same rough voice he had heard two years ago.
"Armad Wilberforce! Welcome back, I hope you bring me back what we promised."
Armad looked to the entrance of the tent where a white-haired dwarf came out. A man who promised to keep his mother safe and heal her once he found Triple Factor. Armad was back after a long time but without Triple Factor. Babara didn't treat his mother and was probably waiting wickedly with the cure in his pocket until Armad brought Triple Factor, but he also hired healers to look after her which was a plus to him and would ease some of the blame on him. Even though, that didn't stop Armad from drawing his sword and confronting him.
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"I'll give you one last chance to cure my mother or I will make you bleed."
Babara sighed with a shrug. "If you kill me then who will tell you about your mother's illness and your sister Hidaya. Sit, let's talk."
Babara clapped his hands, causing a few chairs to appear. He sat in one but Armad held his sword in his hand and remained standing.
"Hidaya?" Armad raised an eyebrow in surprise. None had spoken her name ever since she disappeared. His grandfather and mother had refused to tell him anything about it. How did the healer even know about her? Of course, the man was quick to call Armad by his real name when they first met which could mean that he already knew him. But it could mean many other things and there wasn't any indication that Babara had known him.
Babara raised his voice and began to speak, "over a thousand years ago, the International Association of Fortune Tellers had conflicts with djinns. The djinns accused the fortune-tellers of cheating them while the fortune-tellers accused the djinns of lying to them. It was a controversy that started small but later became a full-blown war that killed thousands of tellers and djinns. Sixty-four years ago, Hidaya intervened and settled down the controversy. As a fortune-teller myself, I promise to reward her for all that she has done for us and our families.
"At that time I will never forget Hidaya beating her chest saying she didn't need anything from me. But then a few years later a battle ensued between the djinns loyal to Ururu and the other djinns. A battle that is so severe that there was no way she could leave the field even though her mother was ill and her younger brother needed help.
"The disease affecting your mother is called pol fever. It is a disease that occurs when a Bender exhaust their pol and their core-collapse on them. Any Bend can cause this disease and I don't know what forces your mother to go to that length. The fever is fatal, a terminal disease. Anyone who contracts it will die slowly and in agony. Another way to get it is to try and increase your pol beyond what your awakening allows. That's why over ninety-nine percent of people prefer to be patient with what they have. The only thing that can cure it is taking the longevity of another person. That is, for example, her taking some of your pol, or you giving her some willingly. But that's not possible for everyone.
"Just as the Ururu are born with the gift of the black eyes so are the Wilberforce born with the gift of brownish-gray eyes. A gift that can cure pol fever. With your eyes, you can give pol to anyone and you can receive it as well like a garment being worn and changed. This is your gift as a member of the Wilberforce tribe.
"I tried to kill two birds with one stone: sending you on an adventure into the world to get the necessary experience while I visit the realm of djinns to tell Hidaya what was going on. Hidaya was our best option because you didn't even awaken at the time and so you couldn't use your gift. But with all the war going on, I didn't know if Hidaya would be able to help. So by sending you to the world I hope you can see what the world is like, be strong, and become a true Bender. So that even if I don't get Hidaya to come, you can still help your mother. But you can't find Triple Factor. Even Ururu can't find him.
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"It took me a year to figure out how to get to Hidaya. She was on a battlefield that even the djinns were afraid to approach. They said death itself has left the battlefield. Some djinns even said that the war didn't end because there is no longer death to take those that have fallen. Well, it wasn't true and I was able to visit the battlefield. But the djinn that escorted me lost her life soon after. I was lucky to have survived but I lost five hundred years of pol before I escaped. It was impossible to get to Hidaya. She was in the front lines. Having realized that no one could save your mother except you, I came back and sent you the message to come back in seven months.
"I wanted to tell you everything in the message but I have to give you more time to see if you can awaken. I was happy the other day when I saw the brownish moon shining in the sky. It was time to repay the debt I and every fortune teller owed to Hidaya.
"But there's no rush..."
Armad interrupted Babara by shouting and placing his sword on his neck. "You mean all my efforts to find Triple factor is for nothing? I didn't have to do any of it?"
Armad didn't know when he slashed at Babara. The fortune-teller jumped to one side with a smile. "If I haven't pushed you this far, would you have awakened? You must have suffered, I know, but now you will see the benefits. And as far as suffering goes this is nothing when it comes to being a Bender. All eyes will be on you now. I'm not the only one who has realized what happened on that day. If you don't learn quickly, you'll know what suffering is."
Armad glared at him angrily but he still calmed down.
After a while, Babara continued, "It is very difficult to awaken. I can help you if you want to be a Bender. For your sister, I will teach you how to use your eyes which is the only way you can stand against Ururu and save your mother by giving her pol. Even your sister who is known for her intelligence has to spend three years learning how to use her eyes properly. You can spend ten years learning it and your mother doesn't have that time. I'm glad to see a storage ring on you. It will help us keep your mother hidden." Babara pointed to the ring that Nostalgia gave Armad.
Then he clapped his hands and the tent behind him disappeared, leaving nothing but a small bag in his hand. He reached into the bag and picked up a toy full of ayrid and threw it at the two women for their work. Then he turned to Armad. "I will teach you how to use your eyes and everything I know in the past one thousand years because of Hidaya."
Armad wanted to shout and screamed that what he had been doing for years was just a test and that Babara thought it was necessary, and the man had already decided to teach him as if nothing happened.
Armad was furious about it all. But Babara didn't have the cure. It would be for nothing even if he killed him. But there was one piece of good news in all of this and that was the fact that he could cure his mother. In other words, he didn't have to depend on anyone else. The only thing he'd to worry about was learning how to use his eyes.
He could say no to Babara but the fortune teller had claimed to know how to teach him. "I will go with you for my mother's sake," Armad said. "But if this turns out to be another test, I will cut your head off." Armad opened the door into the ring and locked his mother inside.
Babara laughed. "If I let your mother die, Hidaya will kill me even if I'm dead already."
Armad frowned at the mention of his sister.
"Are you sure she is even alive? My grandfather brought back her sword a few years ago and it was stained with blood. And the battlefield you mentioned... Can she survived it?"
Babara chuckled. "Do you know what they call your sister in the first world? Some say the name was derived from the dordor species and others say it is from the first djinns, I don't know which one is true. But your sister is a genius in the field of Bending. She will not die so easily and if she dies, the world will know."
Armad raised an eyebrow, "What name are they calling her?"
Babara smiled and shook his head. "Let her tell you when you meet. I'm but a humble human who wants to repay a kindness."
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