"Labyrinth?"
"Yep, the concept is very simple. we keep our dominant hand in the center of our swirl and place the thumb at the starting point of the swirl," she said, placing her left hand that way while moving her right to give expressions.
Snap! Snap!
"Hey, do it with me. I am not explaining for you to stare."
"Uhm, sorry."
I lift my T-shirt and slowly did as she instructed.
"Good. Now the reason we are doing this is when we close our eyes, we should manifest the swirl. Imagine yourself in the center of it, and it will feel like you are at the starting point of a maze. If you manage to focus well, then you have to slowly make your way out of the swirl from the center to the exit, and once you do it, you will be able to control your ability."
"That's it?"
"Nope, when you do that, you are only able to control it, not be efficient with it. Each and every time you try to activate it, you have to go through the same process again to manifest exiting the swirl labyrinth. The more times you exit the manifested labyrinth, the easier it is for the next time. so much so that we don't need to keep our hands in our stomach and just focus for a moment to cross the labyrinth. Of course, the more times we clear it, the more familiar we get with the path, and the easier the maze-like structure becomes, it would become a short, straight passage."
"This is pretty different compared to what I know."
"What method do they usually teach there?"
"I don't know exact details, but it's about focusing on the stomach and then slowly expanding the range to our whole body."
"Sounds like someone needs an insane amount of focus for it. It couldn't be me. Anyways, why don't you begin, and don't transmigrate, okay? When you reach the last section, come back, don't step out."
"Uhm, okay, Sis, and why?"
"Well...uhm, I will tell you later," she said, looking away, her eyes downcast.
"Okay, I am starting."
Okay, Alyss, just calm down, You can do it, do just like what Sis said, and it's easy. Don't exit the maze, I shouldn't exit it. You can do it, Alyss, you can do it.
I closed my eyes and placed my right hand at my navel in the same manner she mentioned, then proceeded to manifest it by imagining myself in the center of a swirl, which I had no idea how it looked like.
A few seconds later I felt a cool breeze and an ominous presence around me, and I slowly opened my eyes to be welcomed by the labyrinth in front of me.
"Ugh? This is way different from than what she explained." I said I looked over there. I stood in the middle surrounded by walls higher than me, and it had Five entry points carved into the white space
"Why are there five entry points when there is supposed to be one? How am I going to find out the exit at this rate? Okay, I shouldn't panic. I can do it. Let's just go one by one."
Woosh!
I felt my feet falter as the surroundings started to dissolve, and instantly I was back to the room where the sis was and gasped for air.
"So how was the trip? Huh? You did it?"
I panted for a moment, my hands on my knees, as I tried to make sense of what happened.
Why were there five entry points? Does that mean there are five exits? Why did I start to dissolve and vanish when I tried to go through it? Is it because I panicked and lost focus?
"Drink some water and tell me what happened."
gulp! gulp!
"Hm, I did as you said and saw the labyrinth, but before I took a step, my focus failed, and I came back…it was scary."
I shouldn't tell her what I saw since she said there will be one exit, not five; this might put her at risk.
"Why don't you try again, Alice? This time you might do better."
"Okay, I will do it again."
"Take your time."
"I am ready, let me do it."
"Okay then, good luck."
I once again repeated the same process and felt the same presence, but its effect was way lower than the previous one, and I slowly opened my eyes, bracing myself.
"What? Why is there only one entrance? This is different."
The space had just one entrance this time instead of five, and it seemed like there wasn't a labyrinth in it.
"Huh? It's just a single line between entrance and exit. If I cross this, will I be able to control it? But why is it different? Last time it was five, and now it's one. Also, the scary aura isn't here."
"Nope, don't think about it; don't let your focus down."
"Now should I cross it? Sis said not to, but didn't answer if I did. I would know how to control my ability, but that would mean I would leave Sis too without partings, and I don't know where I would go."
"I should do it…worth a shot, I guess," I said and crossed the border between entrance and exit.
Schink!
"ALICE!! "What are you doing?" I heard Sis yell as I opened my eyes, the pristine room now covered in dust and in a mess of clothes and toys scattered on the floor.
What happened? Why did the room turn out like this? And the clothes, it looks like it's of a kid of my age, and toys too. What happened? Did I use Siku's ability?
Schank!
I instantly retracted the four fangs, the limb-like things folding back into my back. They scraped the cramped room, knocking over stuff, pulling everything with it downward before vanishing into my back.
I looked at Sis, and she was glaring at me with anger etched in her magenta iris.
Is she angry? Of course she is, I almost destroyed her room.
"Alice, would you mind explaining, please?" she said, forcing a smile on her angry face.
"Uhm, I did what you said, and Siku's ability activated instead of mine."
"Mhm, go on, go on. I know that God gave me eyes; after all, I can see that. Go on, what did you do inside the manifestation?"
"Uhm, I just did what you said."
"Oh, you did? If you did, that's amazing, Alice, because you proved to me that God created everyone with listening comprehension except you."
Oh my God, she is definitely angry.
"What did I say?"
"You were told not to exit."
"And you did right?"
"Yes"
"And why do you think I wanted you to not cross the exit?"
"Uhm, because you want me to master it?"
"Oh, you are really good at making assumptions, you should study economics in your future."
Why did she bring economics into this?
"I told you not to fu*king cross the line because I knew there would be a risk that you might use Siku's ability instead of yours, you dumbas*," she yelled as I stood there, head bowed.
"Look at me when I am speaking to you," she yelled, and I cautiously raised my eyes.
"You do have the guts to look at my eyes after making a mess."
What do you want me to do?
"I, uhm—"
"You are going to keep your mouth shut, got it?...Answer me, idiot."
"Okay."
"Gosh, what a way to ruin a weekend. Here I am, all getting myself perfected for the following week, only for you to fu*king make a mess in my room, and now I have to clean this sh*tbox."
"Sorry."
"Shove that up your as*," she said and started to collect the mess of the toys and clothes in it with an agitated look.
Should I ask her why she has kids' clothes? If I ask her later, she might yell again; better get through it.
"Uhm, Sis, why do you have kids' clothes and toys in here?"
"And why am I obliged to answer your question?" she said as her voice dropped down with a low quiver and falter.
"Nothing, I just wondered if they must be your childhood clothes."
"No, it isn't like that; it's of my little brother. He was also your age."
"Oh, I see. Did he-"
"He died five years ago...when he was nine, I was twelve. Back then, he fell from the boat we were travelling on, and then we never..." She stopped the sentence midway and closed her eyes shut.
"That's the reason I took you in, Alice...you reminded me of him so much. That's why I made you call me 'Sis' instead of my name. Sorry for forcing that on you...you reminded me of him so much, and that's also the reason why I told you not to cross the line and exit if somehow you are in your ability and you transmigrated again. I felt like I didn't want to let you go yet."
So she had two reasons
"Stupid of me, ha. You got your own parents to live. Come on, let's not talk about it, and sorry for yelling like that, okay? Let's clean this mess up, and once again try to send you home."
I stood there, my eyes cast away, with no reply.
"Let me tell you something, Alice: when someone grieves for their loss or the death of somebody, you should always say, 'I am sorry for your loss.' Remember that, okay? Now come on, push that frown aside, and let's try again after cleaning, alright? We can't make your parents worry even more…why don't we do it after lunch?" she said, smiling at me with the same expression, except her eyes were a tad dull.
"After lunch, sis...and sorry."
Thrrrmm! Thud! Thump!
Suddenly the building shook violently, knocking off the books from the shelves and other stuff, and stopped.
Clack!
"Sh*t, guess we are cleaning it later. Let's head out, Alice," she said, grabbing a nearby coat and tossing one for me.
"What's happening, sis?" I asked, clinging to the doorframe as the building began to shake slightly.
"It's just another disaster," she said, zipping it up.