Chapter 30: The Unspoken Mystery
The sun was beginning to dip behind the hills, casting long shadows across the village. Li Yue, now a bit older and with a newfound maturity, stood in the center of the village square. She had gathered her gang, the group of kids she had spent countless hours with over the past few years, and now they were all gathered for a serious discussion. Around them, the other children of the village, ranging in age from 9 to 11, gathered quietly, their faces a mix of curiosity and unease.
Yue could tell there was a certain unspoken tension in the air. The village had changed over the past year. Li Wei and Zhao Xun, her younger siblings, had become symbols of awe, possessing multiple abilities right from birth. But the rest of the kids in the village, including Yue herself, were... still waiting. Waiting for their powers to awaken.
"Alright," Yue began, her voice calm yet assertive, drawing everyone's attention. "We've all noticed it. Every single child born since last year is awakening abilities. But us... We haven't." She paused, scanning the faces of the kids gathered around her. Some of them looked uncomfortable, others nervous. A few avoided eye contact altogether.
"I think it's time we talk about it. Why haven't we awakened?" Yue continued, her voice softening slightly as she spoke, but the question was heavy. "What's the deal with us? What's going on?"
The silence that followed was thick. The kids exchanged uncertain glances, as if none of them really wanted to be the first to speak. Finally, one of the older boys, Jian, raised his hand, his face flushed with frustration.
"I don't know," he said, his voice tight. "I've been waiting for ages now. And nothing. Not even a hint of anything. I see the babies floating around or zapping lightning like it's no big deal, but us? Nothing." He clenched his fists, his jealousy barely contained.
Yue sighed, her gaze drifting to the horizon, where the last light of day was fading. She could feel the same frustration burning inside her, but she couldn't let it show. They needed answers, and she had to be the one to lead the charge.
"Yeah," another girl, Mei, spoke up, her tone almost bitter. "It's not fair. Even the kids who were born before the prophecy started, like us, haven't awakened. Not one of us has done anything... except get taller and stronger." She crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing. "And... well, something else."
The group fell silent as Mei's words hung in the air. Yue noticed the way the boys shifted uncomfortably, their faces reddening slightly.
"Wait," one of the boys, Lin, spoke up. "You mean the ghost dance...?"
The words echoed in the space between them like a dark, unsaid secret. Everyone knew about the "ghost dance," the strange and mysterious ritual that had started happening with increasing regularity. The men in the village, who typically didn't have much stamina in the past, had suddenly begun enduring much longer during the dance. There were rumors that it was because the women had started training their husbands in some way, but no one had ever confirmed it outright.
"Yeah," Mei continued, "I heard from my sister that the men scream longer than they used to. And the weird thing is, they're not fainting or crying like they usually do. I heard it from the adults too... It's strange."
Yue felt a strange sense of unease. She had heard whispers, of course, but hearing it all laid out like this, with the others sharing the same suspicions, made it feel more real.
"So, what does it mean?" Jian asked. "Are we missing something? Maybe there's a trick to this whole awakening thing. Maybe we're supposed to be doing something different?"
The air was thick with the unspoken question that none of them dared to voice aloud: Why hadn't they awakened? Were they not chosen? Or was there something more going on that they didn't understand yet?
Yue glanced over at her gang. They were all shifting nervously, but they trusted her. They had to.
"I don't know," Yue admitted, a bit of frustration seeping into her voice. "But... we can't let it stop us. If something's wrong, we'll figure it out. We've always figured it out."
Her words were meant to be reassuring, but even she didn't fully believe them. What if there was no answer? What if they just weren't special enough to have the power that everyone else seemed to get so easily?
"Maybe we should talk to the elders," Mei suggested, her voice uncertain. "They must know something. They were around when all of this started, right?"
"Maybe..." Yue trailed off, her mind racing. It was clear the elders knew something they weren't sharing, but Yue wasn't sure how far she could push them.
"I don't think it's about talking to the elders," Jian said, his voice sharp. "I think it's about us. Maybe we're supposed to do something different to awaken. Maybe we just have to try harder..."
Yue turned to him, a slight frown on her face. "Try harder? We've been training for years! What else is there to do?"
Jian didn't have an answer. No one did. But there was an unspoken agreement among them all now: something was happening, something bigger than any of them could understand. The village was changing. The world was changing. And they had to be ready for whatever came next.
"Whatever happens," Yue said, her voice growing more determined, "we stick together. We don't let the frustration or jealousy tear us apart. We'll find our answers. We'll find our strength."
Her words seemed to settle over the group, and the air lightened slightly, but Yue could feel the weight of the unknown still pressing down on them all. No one knew the answer. Not yet.
The conversation drifted toward other topics after that, but the tension remained. Yue could feel the restlessness, the unspoken question that was lingering in the air. And in her heart, she knew that the answers were out there. They just had to find them before it was too late.
As the last of the light faded from the sky, Yue glanced at her gang once more. The day was ending, but this conversation was only the beginning of something much bigger.
She just hoped they were ready.