The Sapphiri

by R Gene Curtis

  Lydia shrugs and climbs into bed. “She’s a cute ball of cells, nonetheless.”

  “And you think only girls can be cute?”

  “I know you’re cute.”

  I kiss her lightly. Then, I blow out the candle and leave the room to pace the dimly lit corridors. Lydia and I never finished testing what powers she has with my blood. Maybe there’s something she can still do to get us out of here. Blood and saliva allowed me to read her thoughts. That was something.

  But in this situation, it’s worthless. We don’t need to read anyone’s thoughts to know what is going on. They hate Lydia, and they hate me by association. They’re trying to kill us. Knowing their life histories isn’t going to change that.

  My blood with her saliva. That may give us some kind of weapon. Maybe heat?

  But, really? Is that the solution? To melt all the people out there away?

  I hear another pair of footsteps crunch in the snow and turn around.

  Pearl.

  “Hey brother.”

  “What’s up sis?”

  We’re trying to be casual and fun, but the greeting comes across as awkward. I guess that’s what happens when you’re in a hopeless situation.

  Pearl smiles, though. Maybe she’s not as awkward as I am. “Fancy seeing you awake so late.”

  “Ha ha.”

  Pearl laughs and gives me a hug. “It’s been a depressing day, hasn’t it? And I thought things were finally going to turn up.”

  She starts to pull away, but I hold on to her a little longer. “At least you’ll survive, if you follow the plan. And you can tell Dad how sorry I am for what a jerk I was. I’ll never see him again, but at least you might be able to tell him.”

  “I don’t like your plan, Karl.” Pearl stiffens and pulls away from me. It isn’t a surprise; she hasn’t liked the plan since I came up with it. It makes her hide and try to survive while the rest of us are slaughtered.

  “I really don’t think hiding in a fuma skin while the war happens makes it any less likely I’m going to die. Dad will be okay. He’s lonely without Mom, but he’s at peace. He started dating another woman his age. Life will go on, whether we die fighting tomorrow or not. But, I’m going to fight.”

  I groan and shake my head. “Pearl! You can’t be seen with us. You heard what Bob said. They trust Sapphiri. If they find you, away from us…”

  Pearl shakes her head and grabs a handful of snow from the wall. She squeezes it until it’s a solid ball of ice and then she chucks it down the hall. “It won’t work. I don’t speak the language, and Bob said Cassi is in charge now. No way Cassi lets me live.”

  “Unless we get Cassi first.”

  “Nope. I’m not going to sleep in one of those skins and hope that you might maybe, just maybe, get to Cassi before she finds me.”

  It’s a desperate plan, and we both know it. I look down at my feet in the snow.

  “Besides, you think we’re all going to die tomorrow, don’t you? Even if I try your silly plan.”

  She’s right. That’s exactly what I think.

  I grab a handful of snow from the wall and throw it after Pearl’s snowball. It doesn’t quite make it to where Pearl’s landed.

  “I told you about that night we escaped from the castle. I saw it. I saw them. They were angry. They would have killed all of us. Somehow Lydia managed to keep them at bay, and we escaped, but I don’t think it can happen again. When they look at Lydia, they see Wynn. Unless we can get back to our world, there isn’t any hope for us. You are the only one who has a chance.”

  Pearl looks at me, and a few tears threaten in her eyes before she looks away. There isn’t a secret way out of here. We can’t make it back to the portal that brought me and Lydia here; it’s impassable in the snow. And the portal from Tara’s apartment seems to be one-way—we can’t find it anywhere in these caves.

  Pearl sighs. “I want to help you, Karl. I want to be there for you.”

  I study her face. She looks so much like Mom! But with Dad’s eyes, even though they glow slightly blue in this world. She passes for Sapphiri here. If Cassi wasn’t around, the people would like her. Even Arujan wouldn’t be able to convince them otherwise.

  “Quint and I have been talking.”

  I appreciate the change in subject, and resume my pacing down the corridor. Pearl joins me.

  “How?” I ask.

  “With Lydia as an interpreter. We think there may be an option that would keep some of us alive. Though Quint is obsessed with keeping Lydia alive.”

  I know all about that, and I’m grateful for his efforts to help Lydia. We wouldn’t be here without him.

  Pearl shrugs and smiles. “Quint knows a lot about people and armies.”

  I nod. “Quint is really smart. I really trust him.” And then I realize something in Pearl’s expression and a grin creeps onto my face. “Do you think he’s cute?”

  “That’s not fair!” Pearl slaps my arm.

  “I’m just asking.” I try to return her smile, but my teasing feels forced. It felt good to laugh, for a moment. I give her an innocent shrug.

  “No way. Not fair.” Pearl steps in front of me and puts her hands on her hips. “Think about it for just a minute. I don’t see you for a few months, and you’ve gone and married a stranger. You’ve lost all rights to say anything.”

  I open my mouth to retort, but I don’t know what to say. All that’s happened. It doesn’t seem like just a few months, but perhaps it was.

  Pearl laughs again, but the playful moment is gone. She moves out of my way and we start walking again. “It’s okay. I like Lydia. You did yourself well.”

  I run my finger along the snowy wall. “If only I could have longer with her.”

  “Yeah. How’s that for fair?”

  We walk side by side for a while. With every second that ticks by, the inevitable comes closer. It’s going to happen tomorrow. Knives will fly around us. I’ll run into the crowd, yelling and then falling. I try to imagine what it will be like to have a knife slice through my flesh and not be healed. To feel myself lose strength and not be able to move. To watch my wife and unborn child fall next to me. What will she say in those final moments? What will I say?

  Where will Pearl be? Will she be safe in a fuma skin? Will she be killed by Cassi? Will Quint die trying to keep Cassi away from her?

  Pearl hugs me. “You better get some sleep, Karl. I can see the panic and the fear in your eyes. You’ve always run from what you were afraid of. You can’t run this time. You need to stay with those you love.”

  I look at Pearl. Her gaze holds steady.

  “You’re right about me. But, I’m not running this time.”

  “Of course I’m right, I’m your sister.”

  “Yeah.”

  She laughs. She starts to turn to go, and I realize there is something about her I need to know before I never see her again.

  “How did you get involved with the FBI?”

  “In college.” She smiles. “I hated my major. It was too dull for me, and so I visited a recruiter station one evening. They told me about this entire undercover program they had, and I liked it, so I joined. They made me finish my major, of course, but after that I spent most of my time training with their secret boot camp in Arizona. I ended up with two degrees at the end.”

  “You wanted excitement?” I ask.

  “I did. And to help people.”

  “You’re amazing.”

  Pearl laughs. “I’m also tired. Good night.”

  I give her another hug.

  “Isn’t it strange that your baby brought us here only to end in this way?” Pearl pulls away. “I’m glad it happened, of course. But, it just seems a little strange.”

  She walks down the tunnel to the house where she sleeps. I stare after her, words forming in my mind, but not making it to my mouth. When I see her again, it will be morning. She won’t follow my plan. She’ll be next to us.

  “Pearl!”

  Off in the d
im light, I see her stop. I can barely make her out.

  “I love you!”

  She waves. And then she’s gone.

  Brought here, just to die. Is this what the book meant to happen? Lydia and I were reconciled, and the worlds collided. But not enough. Enough to bring Cassi and Bob and Pearl here, but not enough to unite the worlds and take Lydia home. Is that what was supposed to happen in Legends of Sapphriana? Did we get it wrong somehow? Maybe I’m not enough of a Sapphiri because my blood has been so diluted since Kinni. Maybe when the baby was conceived, the wrong people were brought here. Maybe if I had been a different Sapphiri, it wouldn’t have been Pearl who showed up.

  The story seemed like a fable when I read it, but the presence of the Sapphiri here now suggests there is more to the story than just fiction. But, what more reconciliation between Sapphiri and Azureans could there be? Lydia conceived and hemazury brought a bunch of Sapphiri here. But the portal didn’t reopen. How can Lydia get home now?

  I pace for a while. Time passes slowly, and then quickly when I get lost in a thought. The snow crunches under my feet as I walk past the glowing candles, turn, and then walk past them again. I think about the army. I think about Pearl. I think about the strange stories I’ve read and the helplessness of our situation. I think about Arujan and Cassi working together. I think about them taking over this world, and then returning home to my world. I think about the virus destroying everything.

  Everything is going to be destroyed. This world will be destroyed. My world will be decimated.

  And then I remember the little rod Somrusee and I found. “How to save the world,” it said.

  How to save the world.

  Fully reconciled.

  Me and Lydia. We’re not there yet.

  The Sapphiri have no magic of their own. Our eyes glow, but everything else about us is mundane, common, and the same as everyone else. Yet, when we mix our blood with the Azureans, the resulting hemazury is incredibly powerful. And we can tap into that power, or it can be transferred, like in Arujan’s case with Buen and Wynn.

  What if an Azurean had Sapphiri blood? What if a Sapphiri gave his life to give her that power? Could there be any more powerful reconciliation?

  I take the paper out of my pocket. I’ve been carrying it around this whole time. Even though the edges are singed, it is still readable. I look at the Sapphiri lying dead on the floor. Dead. Surely dead.

  My breathing speeds up. I try and take deep breaths, but my heart isn’t going to slow down now. Everything is suddenly clear. The question is not if I should do it. The question is only if I can. I look at the door Pearl just went through. She was right. It’s time for me to stop running from my fears.

  I pull the sapphire rod out of my pocket. It’s heavy in my fingers, the weight of my decision only making the rod heavier. I take a shaky breath. I glance down the corridor one more time to where I saw Pearl go into her room.

  If this works, I’m never going to see my sister again.

  * * *

  Lydia’s asleep when I slip into bed next to her. She mumbles something and rolls into me. I wrap my arms around her. Her body is warm against mine. Comfortable. Soft. Lovely.

  But not soft enough or warm enough for me to feel tired. I’m scared. I cradle Lydia in my arms, careful that my wet cheeks don’t touch her smooth skin and wake her.

  I hold her a little longer. Just a little longer with her.

  The minutes pass by. Too quickly.

  I think about meeting Lydia for the first time at the arch. I denied that this place existed for months afterward. I sent her away out of fear that first time she came to my office. I couldn’t believe she found me.

  There was the night I held her hand in the Western Hills. Our first kiss. The night of our wedding. Was that really this week? I got to see into her mind that night, and I found out just how lucky I am to have had the chance to know her. She’s so strong and she’s overcome so much.

  Lydia. Having a relationship with her. It was so much more than I ever deserved.

  I pull her closer, but the minutes keep ticking by. The rod sits in my pocket, and I feel it press against me whenever I pull Lydia closer.

  I can’t run from this. It’s time. I have a wife and a child, and I need to protect them. Dee knew it would come to this eventually. All the Azureans must have, for them to have kept and passed down the rod for all these centuries.

  Carefully, I pull my hand out from under Lydia and let her fall back onto the bed. She sighs softly and mumbles again. I’ve heard that voice tell me she loves me. I’ve heard that voice express frustration, fear, and joy. I hope someday that voice will talk to my child.

  My other hand lifts carefully off her, but this time she doesn’t move. I slip off my tunic and shiver in the cold air. I hold the rod carefully in my hand. It’s shaking. I think of Mom. I wish I had reconciled with Dad. I think of the little baby inside Lydia, and I shove the rod up against my chest.

  I gasp as it pricks my skin. The pain is as sharp as the knives that would hit me tomorrow. There’s no going back now. The rod sticks to me, and it doesn’t fall out when I let go of it. It’s stuck, like a knife gets lodged in an apple if you try to cut it one-handed. I give the rod a tug, but it only sends shocks of pain through my chest. The other end of the rod glows blue, and I realize I can see by the light of my own eyes, which are also glowing.

  How to save the world.

  Lydia.

  I stayed in the Forgotten World after Wynn died because I wanted to save the world. It seemed like the right thing to do. I thought starting a democracy to free the people would atone for my time working for Wynn. But at this moment, I don’t want to save the world. The only thing I want right now is to save these two people that I love. My wife and my child. And Pearl. I want to save her, too.

  I don’t need to save the world. I just want my daughter to be born and to grow up with her mother. Despite the pain in my chest, I don’t move. I look at my wife; I think of my baby. I take a breath, and feel my lungs expand. Lydia slides her leg across the sheet, and I hear the rustle. I smell the mustiness of the blankets and the sweat glistening on my skin. I feel, alive for just another moment.

  Lydia stirs again. She tries to turn onto her back, but I reach out and hold her. This is for her. This is for the baby.

  I take another breath, and air fills my lungs.

  I never ate dinner tonight. My stomach rumbles.

  I kiss Lydia gently. I press every inch of my lips against the softness of her lips, and every part of me takes in her softness. This woman is strong. She will be able to do this.

  Lydia’s eyes flit open. I pull away from the kiss and push her tunic over her head. And then I lower myself so that the rod touches her bare chest.

  Blue light explodes from the rod. My chest pounds, and then I feel it rip open. I hear Lydia scream.

  And all I see is blue light.

  27 Angst

  Lydia

  Pain. In my chest. I scream, but the sound is muffled. What is over my face?

  The only thing I can see is blue light. I’m drowning in a sea of blue light and it’s so bright and so thick I can’t process anything else.

  I can feel Karl on top of me. Was he kissing me a moment ago? I can’t see him. I can’t see anything.

  My tunic is over my face. My chest feels really strange.

  The pain stops. The light disappears.

  Karl’s body slumps, and then it rolls off and tumbles onto the floor. I hear something metal clatter onto the ground.

  I yank my tunic off my eyes and sit up. The room is dark, and I can’t see or feel Karl anywhere by me.

  Something weird is going on inside my chest. I put my hand over my heart where I felt the pain, and I feel the impossible. Thump-thump. Thump-thump. My heart beats out of rhythm. I look inside myself, and I find another heart. Two hearts are beating in my chest.

  Karl!

  I jump out of bed. Karl’s warm body is on the floor. He’s not
responsive.

  With trembling fingers, I manage to light a candle. Karl’s body is in a strange position on the floor. Not natural. I can’t see him breathing.

  “No!” The scream starts deep in my chest, the cavity that now holds two beating hearts. I yell and I push his body. His strong, muscular body doesn’t offer any support, but I don’t give up. I strain until I’ve managed to roll him onto his back. And there it is. In the center of his chest where his heart should be. A hole. And his heart is gone.

  He’s dead.

  “NO!”

  My screams echo around the room.

  “No! No! NO!”

  What was he thinking? A small metal rod sits on the floor next to the bed, glowing blue at two ends with sapphires. I pick it up, but it doesn’t have any writing, no indication of what it might be. What is this thing?

  I scream again. All the tension and built up fear from the last few days escapes. The person who was going to help me get through it all lies in the center of the floor. Dead.

  The door opens and I close my mouth, though the screams echo around the room for what feels like an eternity before the world falls into silence. Someone with a candle stands behind me, but I don’t take my eyes off Karl. I can’t see anything anyway—my eyes are so full of tears.

  “Princess?”

  Somrusee. How dare she come here, at this moment?

  “Have you ever seen this before?” I jump up and spin to face her, the small rod clutched in my hand. “Do you know where Karl got this?” I shove it in her face, barely able to control the rage that threatens to tear me apart from the inside out. This is someone’s fault. Is it Somrusee’s fault?

  She nods. She knew about this. Somrusee knew about this. She could have stopped this.

  I scream again.

  Somrusee’s eyes find Karl and she gasps and sinks back against the wall. Her body trembles, as does her voice.

  “Karu and I found it the night we were attacked at the castle,” she whispers. Tears glow in her eyes. Tears for my husband.

  I scream again, and I don’t care. I scream and let it echo around the room. I scream and throw myself on the bed.