Chapter 12:
The Tides of Space-Time
ON ONE SIDE OF THE TEMPLE, bright, warm sunlight scattered down, coating the earth below, its rays giving the humans who soaked it up a sense of languid comfort. Upon seeing Uncle Moran, A-Ka remembered that stretch of time when they had first left the City of Steel and spent their days together, all of them in the same boat. In his surprise and delight, he let out an exclamation and rushed forward to hug Moran.
Angus and Huixiong were standing behind Moran on either side. They seemed to have been in a disagreement, which was interrupted by A-Ka’s arrival. A-Ka, pressing his hands against his knees, bent over to look at Percy’s eyes, then looked back to Moran.
“Can you cure him?” A-Ka asked.
“I will do my best,” Moran answered after some thought. “Percy was born blind, so my plan is to initially help him recover a little bit of his sight. The first step to success would be restoring his ability to sense light and dark.”
Percy closed his eyes and smiled gently. “Actually, I have no urgent desire to be able to see. As long as everyone is well, then it’s all right.”
Moran smiled back. “Yes, but if we don’t treat your eyes, you’re likely to have more trouble in the future… However, this is good enough for now.”
A disciple carried a tray over, and A-Ka helped Moran tie bandages over Percy’s eyes.
“Will this alone allow him to see?” A-Ka asked curiously.
“No,” Moran said. “It’s just a preliminary preparation. If I could treat his blindness with herbal salves alone, I wouldn’t need to be the pontiff. I could just change professions and go cure people of their illnesses.”
“You’re the pontiff?!” A-Ka and Percy simultaneously shouted in surprise.
Moran shushed them.
“You are too humble, Your Excellency,” Archbishop Igor said. “His medical skills are renowned through this entire mainland. I believe that curing this boy will not be difficult.”
No matter what, A-Ka would never have imagined that the wandering bard he’d met on the ship was actually the pontiff of the entire continent. Moran took on a significant glow in A-Ka’s eyes.
As he thought about it, the corners of his mouth twitched; this was the first time in his life that he had met such an important figure! Vertigo hit him all at once.
“Y-y-you… Uncle Moran, you’re actually, really…?” A-Ka had yet to recover from shock.
“I’m just the caretaker of a small city,” Moran said warmly. “How many people do you think still believe in the Star faith right now?”
Moran ruffled A-Ka’s hair before leading him and Percy to a long table and indicating that they should sit down. When Heishi walked toward them, Moran pressed his hand to his left breast in salute, but Heishi only responded with a single nod.
“Everyone, please partake of the midday meal,” Moran said. “No need to stand on ceremony, my honored guests.”
The guests took their seats and began to enjoy a sumptuous meal.
To Angus and Huixiong, Heishi said, “You two keep talking. Don’t mind me.”
“I believe their rage has died down completely,” Moran said.
Huixiong lowered his knife and fork, but just as he was about to speak, Angus said, “Your Excellency, Phoenix City is not as peaceful as you imagine it to be. The humans and our brothers have already reached…”
“I assure you that, after this matter is settled,” Moran said patiently, “the conflict in Phoenix City will no longer cause problems for you all. If everything goes smoothly, the situation which is causing such despair for all of the inhabitants of the mainland will be changed for the better.”
Huixiong broke in. “Place that hope on their shoulders. I, myself, am more than willing to do battle with Father.”
A-Ka glanced up at him.
“You will get that chance,” Moran said, sounding unruffled. “The humans and the clones must be united. After this long, difficult battle, that will be our only chance to bring about the final outcome.”
“Uncle Moran—no, Your Excellency the Pontiff,” A-Ka corrected, then continued, “I would like to ask about Father…”
With a glance, Moran indicated that A-Ka should not say any more. A-Ka put on an expression of intense focus, but Moran began to chuckle and said, “I would rather you still called me Uncle.”
A-Ka smiled. “All right.”
At this point, Feiluo came over and took his seat. He nodded at Moran. “Thank you for watching over them on the ship, Your Excellency the Pontiff. It was a temporary oversight on my part. I hope you do not mind.”
“Hello,” Moran replied politely. “I’m only a traveler who wanders the edges of the world. I was honored to offer my services to Percy, Lieutenant Colonel Feiluo.”
A-Ka felt like there was some kind of tacit agreement between Moran and Feiluo, which he connected back to that day when they were first on the ship, drifting over the ocean toward the Western Mainland. What Moran had done in the ship’s cabin indicated that they might have met before.
Heishi seemed to be able to guess A-Ka’s suspicion. “What were you at the City of Steel to do, Moran?”
“Just taking a look,” Moran replied as he took a piece of bread he’d been handed. “I happened to enter the city and witness your revolution.”
A-Ka was surprised. “You’ve really been there?”
Moran nodded. “Originally, my goal was to rescue Professor Callan. Unfortunately, I was one step too late, and something else changed in my travel plans, which upended everything.”
“No matter what, I should still thank you for saving Percy,” Feiluo said.
“It was as simple as lifting my hand,” Moran said. “Percy’s power surprised me greatly. His dreams often foretell the future. Percy, have you been having that one dream lately?”
“Not anymore,” Percy answered neutrally.
A-Ka gave an involuntary full-body shiver.
Even Heishi seemed taken aback. “You can see the future?”
Percy nodded, and Feiluo’s gaze held a slight bit of accusation as he looked toward Moran.
A-Ka thought of the days when he and Percy had been traveling companions on their journey away from the Country of Machines. Indeed, Percy had told him many things about the future—unwittingly, A-Ka had thought. Most clearly, he remembered the incident when they were sheltering for the night in the tunnel and Percy had known the identity of Shahuang, who had come to search for them.
“No need to worry while you are with the Curia,” Moran said.
But Commander Angus interjected, “Feiluo, this adopted child of yours can actually see the future?”
“Only sometimes. It’s not a boon,” Moran said, his voice taking on an edge. “Commanders, everyone, I would rather Percy not need to say anything.”
“In this war, is there a chance of us attaining the final victory?” Huixiong asked Percy.
Percy didn’t speak, and Moran replied instead. “That’s enough.” He nodded politely, but he was clearly unwilling to let Huixiong ask any more questions. After he rose, he added, “I believe that once Percy’s eyes are healed, he will no longer be visited by these kinds of prophetic dreams.”
“This isn’t fair!” Angus protested. “Why aren’t you letting him tell us the final outcome? If he really can see, and his dreamscape can predict a destined future…”
A-Ka suddenly interjected. “If his prediction told you that you would lose, would you no longer fight?”