They say a Tokken can never be truly free. But today is the day.
Duaka Tsumetai rushed down the alleyways of the refugee district, making his way to the temple to visit his sick mother.
He brushed past the beggars, war veterans and orphaned children that dotted the bustling sandy road.
As he quickened his pace to arrive before sunset, Duaka almost tripped over a blind veteran's walking stick, barely jumping over it.
"Sorry!" he shouted, already moving again.
I can't be late.
She said we'd leave today.
Duaka reached the temple steps and bent forward, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath.
He looked up at the massive doors, framed by towering stone pillars carved in spiraling patterns.
Falkor...
We're finally going.
He raised his hand and knocked.
After a few minutes, the familiar Pythian monk opened the door, his dark skin almost blending with the wooden tones.
"Duaka, what can I help you with?"
"I've come to see my mom! She should be ready to leave by now," Duaka said enthusiastically.
The monk stood in the doorway, blocking the entrance, "I can't allow you inside, only Tokken are permitted."
"Huh? What the hell, Gosphin?!" Duaka shouted, "You know I haven't finished my training. I was always allowed in."
"Change of rules."
"Change of rules? My mom is the master of this temple, you can't just lock me out!"
"Keep your voice down, you are disturbing the sick," Gosphin sighed, "I'm really sorry, Duaka, but you will just have to return when you are summoned."
Gosphin turned his back to Duaka and walked back into the temple.
Duaka flipped his middle finger as the door was shut in his face.
Great, now what?
He paced around the corner, kicking the sand beneath his feet.
His shoulders slumped as he walked, his hands in his pockets.
Duaka turned the corner and something caught his eye.
He looked at the dumpsters behind the temple and above them he saw a window, barely open.
His eyes glimmered as he climbed the dumpster stealthily.
"Change of rules, my ass." He whispered under his breath, opening the window and climbing down into the temple halls.
Duaka tiptoed across the twists and turns of the hallway, finding his way to his mother's room.
Oddly, the corridors were dimly lit, the curtains were closed all around the temple.
All except room 22. Where his mother was staying.
Duaka walked into the light, turning into the room.
Mom?
His eyes adjusted to the blinding light as they made out the shapes of the room. His mom was lying in the hospital bed.
She was frail, more so than before. Connected to machines he had never seen and to tubes that would never end.
His heart broke a little with each beep. He heard the water bubbling and her breath rasping through the machinery.
It was helping her breathe. That much he gathered.
Duaka approached the bed in uneven steps and with bated breath.
He placed his hands on the bed's railing.
"Why are you still in bed? We're supposed to go to Falkor." Duaka said, his voice quieter with each word, "I've been waiting for you all day..."
His mother slowly turned her head to look at him, bobbing weakly.
She focused her vacant eyes on her son, with a faint smile, "... My little magician..."
She raised her trembling hand slowly toward Duaka and held out her necklace to him, a shield with an eye in its center.
The Eye of Treydathor, a trinket made to ward off evil.
Her hand faltered and the necklace slipped through her fingers, falling to the ground and breaking into pieces.
Duaka took a step back. His mother struggled to breathe.
Her eyes slowly lost their light.
He froze in place.
"Help!" Duaka's cries echoed across the dark hallways of the temple, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Gosphin rushed into the room and towards the bed, hovered his hands over her chest and performed some sort of healing waza.
"Master Rosemary," Gosphin shouted, his voice cracking as he switched to doing chest compressions, "Can you hear me?"
Three robed monks rushed into the room, pushing Duaka aside. They circled Gosphin and Rosemary and raised their hands performing mysterious signs.
A sealing ritual?
Duaka watched in shock from the corner of the room. Horrified.
He couldn't move, it felt like his body had turned to stone.
Gosphin locked eyes with him and shoved past the monks, rushing toward Duaka.
Duaka broke out of his trance and ran away into the dark hallways, bursting the temple doors open and running up the road.
"Duaka, wait!" Gosphin shouted as he chased Duaka, losing sight of him among the crowds of people.
Duaka entered the forest at the top of the street, where he lost Gosphin amidst the dense vegetation.
He could still hear Gosphin calling out to him, but he kept on running until he made it home.
He locked the door behind him, with three turns of the key.
And bade his mom goodnight.
He had come to learn.
No one is ever free in this world.