GARO Fanfic – Garo’s Secret (Chap. 3)

When Jabi came back into her patient’s room, he was already awake, and Kaoru was beside him, grinning. The couple turned their head to the door.

“Now, I can go” Kaoru said “you‘re between good hands”. She tilted on him for a farewell kiss. “See you”.

She also greeted Jabi, and left. The priestess looked at her as leaving, while that bit of envy tormenting her these days appeared again. Enough, she scolded herself, it isn’t your destiny, And turned to the lying Kouga.

“Did you intend to kick the bucket without even saying goodbye? Who is ill-breed, now?”

Jabi showed him a warm smile, warmer than expected. She could not hide her joy to see him recovered, which was beyond the satisfaction of knowing she was a good healer.

“So, you made me to return to scold me? You always were an impertinent one.”

Kouga was not a good actor, so he could not appear some discomfort. If Kaoru had seen him now, trying to do a bit of humor, she would have believed to have a reason to feel a little jealous.

He rewarded her with a half smile as he used lately, and she broadened hers in genuine joy. Soon, however, she turned serious.

“Zaruba said me what happened. How did you allow to be cornered? You'd have felt that more horrors were coming, and you, Zaruba, shou...”

“There weren’t anymore” the young man cut into. “But there was an unusual concentration of objects with a dark side: because of that we were there. Four horrors appeared almost simultaneously, and later four else”.

“A trap”.

Jabi was visibly worried, but Kouga turned his head to the opposite direction, to the window; he did not need to be said what he already knew. She realised and changed the subject.

“How do you feel? It must hurt all over your body, I asume”.

“You asume right”. He still looked at the window brighting with the light of the day.

“And your mood?”

“A bit tired”.

While he said it, Jabi saw his face change as if, indeed, exhaustion had fallen upon him. She felt stunned, but she said nothing. He had to take strength from this exhaustion. Garo in his completness must be able to do it.

Suddenly she remembered this particular Garo had not could receive the guidance of his predecessor, he has spent much of his life away from the Makai settlements: sure, the fate is overwhelming him, and he can not do otherwise as taking it. He still looked at the window, discouraged, but whithin his eyes the ousider light was reflecting intensely. What a symbol! Such a thirst for light! What a hard fate the Garos have! Finally, Jabi intended to say what needed to be said.

“When it was?”

He did not react. She insisted.

“When your walk through the darkness was?”

The brighting eyes of Kouga opened up a bit. Then he swallowed, but he did not looked at her.

“Yes, I know. You can not hide it from a Makai priestess trained to recognize it”.

“They train you to find some deviations?” Excepting those ones used to say it, he did not move a single muscle.

“It's only taught to the few ones being depositories of Garo’s secret”.

Kouga’s head turned at last.

“May I know what are you talking about?”

“So, it's true, no one has said anything to you”.

“About?”

Why fate did go astray for Kouga so hardly? She went to sit at his bed, where Kaoru had been before, his eyes following her.

“Kouga, haven’t you wondered why Garo has been rewarded with the highest status among Makai Knights?”

“I've always assumed it was a matter of a hard work”.

“This's the general opinion,” Jabi admitted, “but I know how you all are trained; I know there’re no substantial differences. Only individual skills could make a difference, but this’s not only Garo’s heritage”.

She had his whole attention. Under a lesser serious circumstance, she would have challenged his look.

“Kouga, what happened to you was a part of Garo’s destiny”.

She understood his uneasiness, and approached her body to his a little, relying her elbows on her knees.

“When you passed the initiation which made you a Makai Knight you had to accept some commitments, which only would been some simple words if, as you repeated them inside of the armor, a Makai Priest didn’t tie your energy to the one of the armor. So, you made Garo’s destiny yours, among other things”.

Kouga remembered it well, but the implications it had now was bewildering, and overwhelming.

“You joke, right?”

Jabi denied with her head. He took away his look to focus on the window again.

“So absurd!”

She sighed, and put her back right. The revelation was being more difficult than expected.

“It wasn’t my work to tell it to you, but your father's. He had to prepare you for this, but it couldn’t be. In his default, the other only one who knew it, my master Amon, had to”.

The boy looked back at her, surprised that it could be true. The priestess saw his struggle between his trust upon her and the normal excepticism to news like this.

“ I don’t know really why he didn’t do it", she went on. “I remember that some few days after he met you, not much before he died, when I came back from a trip to practice, he told me Garo’s secret, as I was his successor. My face looked like yours, I’m sure. Plus, he confessed that he’d been able to tell it to you, but hadn’t. I didn’t understand why: you had every right to know it, as all preparations would put you ready barely, but my teacher firmly believed that if fate had denied it, it was because you hadn’t to get it. He thought perhaps you had resources enough to face it or, if you passed, probably you’d be the best Garo of the history. Or both”.

She paused and closed her eyes to remember it deeply.

“How many times I insisted! Even, I offered myself to come and tell you, but I was banned”.

“So, when you and me met ... “ Kouga added.

“Although he’s already dead, I was forced to obey , as you know”. She looked at him again. “But now you’ve passed the test and does not make sense to keep it. Moreover, in the not too distant future you’re going to train the next Garo, and then you’ll need all available information”.

The young man nailed his sight at the ceiling, silently.

GARO Fanfic – El secret de Garo (Capítol 3)

Quan la Jabi va tornar a la cambra per fer-se càrrec del seu pacient, ell ja era despert, i la Kaoru li era al costat amb un obert somriure. Amdós es van girar en sentir obrir-se la porta.

- Ara sí que ja me’n puc anar –va dir la Kaoru.– Quedes en bones mans. –S’inclinà a sobre d’ell per fer-li un petó de comiat.– Fins després!

S’acomiadà també de la Jabi i sortí. La sacerdotessa la mirà marxar mentre el punt d’enveja que la turmentava aquests dies apareixia un altre cop. Ja n’hi ha prou, es renyà, no és el teu destí. Es girà cap al seu pacient.

– Tenies la intenció d’anar-te’n a l’altre barri sense ni tan sols acomiadar-te? Qui és el maleducat, ara?

La Jabi li mostrà un somriure més càlid del que s’havia esperat. No ho sabia dissimular: la seva alegria en veure’l recuperar-se per fi anava més enllà de la satisfacció de saber-se una bona sanadora.

– És per això que m’has fet tornar, per poder-me esbroncar? Sempre has estat impertinent.

En Koga no se’n sortia en aparentar malestar, mai no havia estat bon actor. Si la Kaoru l’hagués vist ara, intentant fer una mica d’humor, hauria cregut tenir raons per a sentir-se una mica gelosa.

Ell la recompensà amb un mig somriure com els que s’estava acostumant a utilitzar, i ella eixamplà el seu, de genuïna alegria. Aviat, però, es posà seriosa.

– En Zaruba ja m’ha dit què va passar. Com has permès que t’acorralessin? Hauries hagut de preveure que s’acostaven més horrors, i tu, Zaruba, ta...

– No n’hi havia –la tallà el noi..– El que sí que hi havia era una concentració inusual d’objectes amb un vessant fosc, per això érem allà. Van aparèixer quatre horrors quasi simultàniament, i després uns altres quatre.

– Una trampa.

La Jabi estava visiblement preocupada, però en Koga tombà el cap en direcció oposada, cap a la finestra, no necessitava que li diguessin el que ja sabia. Ella se n’adonà i canvià de tema.

– Com et sents? Et deu fer mal tot el cos, suposo.

– Suposes bé. –Ell encara mirava la finestra il.luminada amb la claror del dia.

– I els ànims?

– Una mica cansat.

Mentres ho deia, la Jabi va veure-li canviar la cara com si, en efecte, una llosa d’esgotament li caigués a sobre. Es va quedar estupefacta, però no digué res. Ell n’havia de treure forces, d’aquest cansament. Garo en la seva plenitut ho pot fer i cal que ho faci.

De cop i volta, recordà que aquest Garo en particular no havia pogut rebre el guiatge del seu predecessor, i que ha passat una gran part de la seva vida apartat dels assentaments Makai: segurament el destí l’està aclaparant i ell no pot fer altra cosa que empassar-se’l tal com raja. Ell encara mirava la finestra, desesmat, però amb els ulls brillants pel reflex de la llum exterior. Quin símbol! Quina ànsia per la llum! Quin destí més dur, el dels Garos! La Jabi féu el pensament, se n’havia d’assegurar.

– Quan va ser?

Ell no reaccionà. Però ella insistí.

– Quan va ser, el teu passeig per les tenebres?

Els ulls lluents d’en Koga s’obriren una mica; tot seguit les mandíbules se li apretaren, i empassà saliva, però ni tan sols la mirà.

– Sí, ho sé. No li pots amagar això a una sacerdotessa Makai entrenada per a reconèixer-ho.

– Us ensenyen a trobar les desviacions? –Llevat dels que usà per a dir això, ell no mogué ni un múscul.

– Només és ensenyat als pocs dipositaris dels secrets de Garo.

El cap d’en Koga es girà.

– Puc saber de què parles?

– O sigui que és veritat, ningú no te n’ha dit res.

– De què?

Per què el destí li havia fallat d’una manera tan estrepitosa, a en Koga? Anà a seure’s a la capçalera del llit, on abans havia estat la Kaoru, els ulls d’ell seguint-la.

– Koga, mai no t’has preguntat per què s’atribueix a Garo un estatus superior entre els Cavallers Makai?

– Sempre he suposat que era una qüestió de treball dur.

– Aquesta és l’opinió general –admeté la Jabi– però jo, que conec com sou entrenats vosaltres, sé que no hi ha diferències substancials. Només l’habilitat individual podria marcar la diferència, però això no és patrimoni exclussiu de Garo.

Ell li tenia fita la seva atenció. En altres circumstàncies, la Jabi hauria desafiat la seva mirada.

– Koga, el que et va passar forma part del destí de Garo.

Ella es féu càrrec de la seva torbació i avançà una mica el seu cos cap a el d’ell, recolzant-se en els seus propis genolls.

– Quan vas passar la iniciació que et consagrava com a Cavaller Makai vas acceptar una sèrie de compromisos, què mai no haurien passat de simples paraules si, al mateix temps que les pronunciaves a dins de l’armadura, no hi hagués hagut un sacerdot Makai allà mateix encarregat de lligar la teva energia amb la de l’armadura. Així feies teu el destí de Garo, entre altres coses.

En Koga ho recordava bé, però les implicacions que tot plegat tenia ara eren aclaparadores, desconcertants.

– Estàs de broma, oi?

La Jabi sacsejà el cap negativament. Ell n’apartà la vista per concentrar-se un altre cop en la finestra.

– És absurd!

Ella sospirà i s’incorporà fins a quedar-li l’esquena dreta. La revelació li resultava més difícil del que s’havia esperat.

– No em tocava a mi de dir-t’ho. Era al teu pare, a qui corresponia preparar-te per a aquesta crucial experiència, però no va poder ser. En el seu defecte, a l’altra única persona que ho coneixia, el meu mestre, l’Amon.

El noi tornà a mirar-la, sorprés de que pogués ser veritat. La sacerdotessa va entreveure la lluita entre la confiança que ella l’inspirava i el normal excepticisme davant d’una notícia d’aquesta mena.

– No sé realment per què no ho va fer –continuà ella–. Recordo que el cap de pocs dies d’haver-se trobat amb tu, no gaire abans de la seva mort, quan jo tornava d’un viatge de pràctiques, ell em va explicar el secret de Garo, com a successora seva que era. Jo vaig fer una cara com la teva, no ho dubtis. I ho va amanir confessant-me que havia tingut l’oportunitat de dir-t’ho a tu i no ho havia fet. Jo no entenia per què, tu tenies tot el dret a saber-ho, tota preparació era poca, Però el mestre creia fermament que si el destí t’havia negat la informació pels conductes habituals, era perquè no l’havies de tenir. Ell creia que això volia dir, o bé que tu ja tenies recursos per encarar-t’hi o bé que, de superar-ho, segurament series el millor Garo de la història. O totes dues coses.

Féu una pausa i tancà els ulls per submergir-se en els seus records.

– Quantes vegades li vaig insisitir que t’ho digués! Fins i tot em vaig oferir a venir jo a informar-te, però m’ho va prohibir.

– Llavors, quan tu i jo ens vam trobar... –intervingué en Koga.

– Tot i que ell ja era mort, estava obligada a obeir-lo, com ja saps. –El tornà a fitar– Però ara has superat la prova i no té sentit continuar guardant-ho. A més, en un futur no gaire llunyà et tocarà preparar el següent Garo, i per llavors necessitaràs tota la informació disponible.

El jove clavà l’esguard al sostre, en silenci.