by Leo Ndelle
To make matters worse, Fazim had been chosen to become guardian. What an injustice! How did he know, when no one in Zodica but Fazim knew about this? The Scribe had told him. This news had been the biggest blow to his perfect plan and catalyst of the instability of his essence. Keerim suspected The Scribe had something to do with Fazim’s nomination as guardian, as impossible and absurd as it sounded. Fazim! It was all her fault! She had become an obstacle to his perfect plan. There could be only one guardian and, therefore, Fazim had to go! He had seen to her fall and now, Fazim had returned to finish what she started: bringing about his ultimate demise.
Keerim turned and faced Fazim. He met her eyes in defiance and without a hint of remorse. The tension between the former lovers was electric. He held her angry glare for a few moments before addressing the Council.
“I would like to identify the seraph known as Fazim to my right,” Keerim said. “Yes, I do recognize this seraph and she is the one we are referring to thus far, Council Mother,” Keerim said.
“What do you know about her,” a councilman to Nakim’s right asked.
Keerim turned to face the Council.
“I have worked with her before, Council Father,” Keerim replied. “And there was a moment when Fazim and I were intimate.”
“Guardian Fazim,” a council father corrected Keerim. “You will address her as Guardian Fazim, unless she grants you the permission to address her otherwise. Is that understood?”
Keerim knew better than to be sarcastic.
“Yes, Council Father,” Keerim said and turned to face Fazim as his ego took another beating. “I apologize, Guardian Fazim, I meant no disrespect. I still have to adjust to your new status. I assure you this will never repeat itself again.”
“I accept your apology, Keerim,” Fazim replied flatly.
“Thank you, Guardian,” Keerim replied politely and faced the council.
He was grateful for the Zarark. It really was keeping him sane.
“Guardian Fazim has made some allegations against you, which include you tricking her into ‘falling’ to a lower realm,” the council father said. “Is this true?”
“It is true, Council Father,” Keerim replied flatly.
“And why did you do this?” the Council Father asked.
“Because I had to,” Keerim replied unremorsefully.
Murmurs of shock and surprise spread across the hall. Council Mother raised her right hand and silence smothered the hall.
“Explain yourself!” Nakim ordered.
“What would you like for me to explain, Council Mother,” Keerim asked.
“Why you believed you ‘had to’ trick Guardian Fazim into falling,” she replied as she leaned forward. “And while we are on this topic, I want you to also explain how you learned about falling, given that falling is an alien concept to us.”
“I had to make Fa-,” Keerim caught himself before he sounded disrespectful. “Guardian Fazim… I had to make Guardian Fazim fall because I learned that she had just been chosen as guardian. I wanted to be guardian. I believed that, with her gone, there would be a sense of urgency and I would be next in line, given my outstanding record of service to the realm. Regarding how I learned about falling, it was with the help of a being from a dimension much higher than ours. He was also the one who informed me about Guardian Fazim’s endorsement, much earlier than the rest of the realm was aware of.”
Even the council elders could not believe what they were hearing. The gasps and murmurs from all around the council hall grew louder by the moment. Keerim had not only just confessed to treason against a guardian, which was one of the gravest offenses, but he had also confessed to treason against Zodica, by conspiring with a being from another dimension against Zodica. Nothing could justify such insanity and … darkness? Nakim gasped when she noticed Keerim’s eyes. It was there; a darkness which seemed to have consumed Keerim’s essence.
Fazim’s anger and lust for justice and vengeance paled in comparison to her shock at Keerim’s words. How could she have missed the fact that something was very off with him, with her lover? How could she not have felt something, anything? Fazim shook her head slowly in shame and anger at herself and at Keerim. She had been too in love, too naïve and too trusting to the point of losing her objectivity. But now was not the time for self-chastising. If there was anyone who needed chastising, it was that son-of-a-gun, Keerim.
Council Mother raised her right hand and silence swept across the hall again. She stared down at Keerim as if deciding her next move. Then, she nodded and leaned back in her seat. She summoned an auric field around Keerim, locking down his form within the field. The auric field negated any paradins’ abilities within its containment, except for telepathy. She was pleased to notice Keerim not resisting. He knew better.
“If you do not want your perfect plan to go in shambles, I would suggest you come and get me out of here immediately, creature!” Keerim said telepathically.
“Just teleport away, Keerim!” The Scribe replied in like manner. “I am in the middle of something right now.”
“You think I would not have done that if I could, wise one?” Keerim spat sarcastically.
The Scribe said something in a language that Keerim did not understand, but Keerim could tell The Scribe was cursing.
“Better hurry up, creature,” Keerim pressured. “I am about to be sentenced for more than just one major offense!”
“What do you mean?” The Scribe asked.
“Fazim is back!” Keerim replied.
Keerim waited for a response from The Scribe.
“I will be there soon,” The Scribe said finally.
“You had better, creature!” Keerim spat. I’m about to be locked away.”
“Keerim!” Council Mother’s voice tore through Keerim’s mind.
Keerim snapped back to reality. He had been so involved in his conversation with The Scribe that he had not heard Council Mother call his name several times.
“Is everything alright?” the Council Mother asked.
The auric barrier she had summoned around him transduced their telepathic voices into their non-telepathic voices as they spoke.
“Apart from my incarceration? Yes, Council Mother,” Keerim assured the council. “Everything is alright. I apologize. I was having a… uh… a moment!”
“Welcome back, then,” a council father to Nakim’s left said with sarcasm.
“Keerim, you have just confessed to treason against a guardian and against the Realm of Zodica. How do you plead?”
“Guilty!” Keerim replied with defiance.
“Are you aware of the sentence for treason against a guardian of the Realm of Zodica, Keerim?” the Council Mother asked once more.
“Yes, I am,” Keerim replied.
“Does Guardian Fazim have anything to say?” Nakim asked.
Fazim felt every pair of eyes in Zodica zoom in on her.
“Council Mother, I will support whatever the council decides,” Fazim replied.
“As you wish, Guardian Fazim,” Nakim affirmed and returned her attention towards Keerim.
“Before we proceed to sentencing, what is the name of the entity you have been conspiring with,” Nakim demanded.
“You will meet him very, very shortly,” Keerim replied and grinned.
Suddenly, Nakim felt a surge of energy, that was far more powerful than hers was, shatter the auric barrier she had placed around Keerim.
“SEIZE HIM!” she commanded.
A powerful, invisible force crashed the guards against the walls of the building. The alarms went off, there was chaos in the hall and, worst of all, Keerim was nowhere to be found. Fazim saw her opportunity.
“Requesting the council’s permission to bring Keerim in!” she said.
“You have our blessing,” Nakim replied without any hesitation.
“And if he resists?” Fazim asked.
“Do what you must, Guardian Fazim,” Nakim replied. “Your decision shall be that of Zod
ica’s.”
“Thank you, council elders,” Fazim bowed her head and teleported away.
“I need your help, old friend,” Fazim called out telepathically.
“Of course, old friend,” Ashram replied telepathically. “Anything for you!”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS
THE CLOCK! A most primitive device; one of the many ways these lower realms used to monitor the concept of time they so believe they are dependent on. Their existences revolved around it. Time was the alpha and omega of their identities, from the TIME they are born to the TIME they die! It was all about TIME. Life started with time and ended with time. And from that concept of time, other notions such as age, speed, distance and all the like sprang forth. These creatures ate, slept, drank, killed, grew, lived and died around this concept. But the concept of time, no matter how real it may feel, is a concept born out of illusion and can, therefore, only be an illusion.
The Scribe shook his head again for the nth time. Try explaining the fact that ‘time’ was just an illusion to these creatures. He watched the bluish-green humanoid creatures, with very long legs and stubby arms buzz up and down, left and right, in and out a huge building in the center of what he assumed was a metropolitan city. This realm was only of a slightly lower vibrational frequency than that of Earth’s. The Scribe hated how limited base languages were. They used words like galaxies, solar systems, parallel universes and so on and so forth, as if all these were different from one another.
But try explaining that to a base mind! Try telling a lowly creature that his or her realm was just a part of a unified and inseparable Creation. Try bringing the brightest minds of the dumbest creatures in a cosmic cluster down from their high horses by telling them that they are not the center of the ‘universe’. Try telling them that they are not the only sentient creatures even within their neighboring collection of realms. Try telling them that there is more to their perception of Creation than they are willing to admit or even try to learn. Try telling them that they do not even possess the intellectual integrity to comprehend ever-current concepts.
The Scribe teleported to another realm in another dimension. He observed the creatures and almost smiled at the cuteness of how seemingly evolved they were in every sense of the word. They should enjoy their era of unprecedented prosperity because as soon as they start migrating away from their sister realm again… Yeah! They would not want to know what was going to hit them and hit them really hard. But not to worry; it would not come to that because very soon, everything was going to become nothing and nothing was going to become….
The Scribe paused and tried to shut everything out. He was spending more moments in random thought than ever before. The pressures were starting to get to him and as the cosmic countdown grew closer towards the Cosmic Spark, his birthday, the pressures were getting more intense. He only needed to hang in there for a few more moments and everything was going to be okay. He would have accomplished his mission and his purpose would have come to fruition. But there was one question that bothered him. When it was all over, what next?
That was the only question The Scribe could not answer for two main reasons. Firstly, he could not ‘see’ anything beyond the scripts he had written for every section he had carved out in Creation, scripts like The Soulless Ones. Secondly, he was afraid. Afraid of being alone, without his one and only true love, Akasha. He would love to see her once more before everything was… gone. It was rather unfortunate that she was not going to be a part of his plan. So be it! The Scribe shrugged. He was also afraid of not knowing… of ignorance, though he had access to the Dimensions of Space, Time, Energy and Ether.
Did Akasha reciprocate his feelings for her? If she did not, could she be convinced otherwise? It turns out that she was the most important piece of his great plan. The Scribe would have to face her at the final moment of the… He still had not come up with a term for that final moment. The Scribe felt a strange sense of sadness sleuth its way into his essence. How could the love of his life be his own archnemesis? How could the only creature who could fully understand him be the one who would make him or break him, like the creatures of Earth Realm would say? How could his maker literally be the only one who could end his existence? Because Order is the answer to Chaos, The Scribe thought and though he knew this already, a part of him was still hopeful that Akasha would change her mind if she could just listen to him.
Anyway, back to the present! Where was I? Oh yes, the fathomable limitations of the lowly creatures in lower realms. Long story short, all was one and one was all and therefore, Creation was one; one and indivisible, one and inseparable. Those who understood this had taken a giant leap towards holding the key to Creation itself. For those who could access that common string that bound all of Creation together, they had just taken another giant leap towards holding the key to Creation itself. And for those who could cause a break in that string that bound all of Creation, they had just taken the one and only step that was necessary to undo all of Creation.
I have already taken two giant steps. I do possess the knowledge and awareness about the oneness of Creation. I do possess the knowledge and awareness about the common string that binds Creation together. That ‘string’ is called Order; but some in Creation know her as Akasha. Aha! Even in the seeming madness of my random thoughts, there is still a plan and purpose! Yes! Yes! And YES! That is why Akasha is the key to all this. That is why the love of my existence is the final and most pertinent part of the plan. The other five creatures I had selected from other realms and dimensions were going to be the catalyst to the ultimate chaos.
But there would be more talks about the five later; well, four plus one actually, because the four were to serve as a boost for the one and the one would be the main catalyst in this whole conundrum of chaos bla bla bla. Let us stay on course for a few more moments and try not to digress any further. In order to get Akasha to cooperate, I would have to draw her out. I would have to lure her with the ultimate bait she cannot resist. The mere thought of it makes me feel like she really could be sharing the same feelings I have for her, after all. Why do I say that? Because I am the ultimate bait she cannot resist. Well, actually, either she shares the same feelings I have for her or she does not. If the latter is true, then it would be another story.
The Core… Yes, the Core, for lack of a better description. This would be the ‘location’ of his meeting with Akasha. The Core was neither a location nor point of existence. But Creation sprang from it. In this Core, this center, resided the proverbial keyhole that he would have to insert his key to lock order up and unlock the doors of chaos. In this Core resided the Mother of all Mothers. In this Core, lay the non-beginning of all beginnings. And in this Core, or maybe beyond, resided the one that many have given many names; the most common of which was… The Scribe ceased thinking of himself in the third person.
The Scribe teleported to another realm in another dimension. It was a realm that was covered from end to right-angled-end in desert. It was a perfectly cubed realm, unlike the many other realms he had seen that were spherical. He hovered over the desolation for many relative moments. There was no sign of life on this realm, only Mother’s consciousness beamed from it. The Scribe’s mind was racing in every direction and the internal pressures were increasing. He stopped hovering and stayed still for a few moments. He allowed Mother’s consciousness to wash through him until finally he felt his mind calm down to more manageable levels.
The five! The Scribe thought to himself. You know, when I set out on this mission, I actually did not know which creatures I would select. I just knew I would have to use five creatures at some point in the ever-present. Well, actually four and one. The number four is a very significant number in Creation, regardless of the realm or dimension. There are other numbers too that hold a strong significance but, for this purpose, I will use the number four. The four will fuel the one and the one will be the main catalyst.
So far,
I have already ascertained three of the four and the one they are supposed to be the fuel for. The last member of the four is still presenting a problem so far. Everything had been going smoothly until an unexpected turn of events had occurred. Now, she has switched sides. Damnation! Well, maybe not really. More like the other side could use all the help they could get. Subtle re-education will definitely not work with her this time. She may have to be ‘motivated’ into completing the quartet. I already have something in store for her and she will not like it at all. But please, allow me to introduce to you my (insert cheesy word here) four!
Meet Keerim, a paradin from the Realm of Zodica in the Dimension of Mueba. Keerim is a delusional, misguided and psychotic cherub, whose over-ambition led him into thinking he was so special that he was above the laws of the realm and above the laws of Creation itself. Who in the right minds, including myself, would think they could campaign for the position of guardian? Who in their right minds would think that Mother was devoid of a criterion of her own in choosing who she wants to be guardian? Who in their right mind would think that making a guardian fall would cause a vacancy in that position and force Mother to want to fill it up? Only one creature to the best of my knowledge: Keerim.
