Beyond the Stars- Awakened

by Angela Morales

  I na could hear Meretseger singing on the outside, while she and Zech remained trapped inside the sphere of Ina’s memories and emotions.

  “I think we’re in my memories; maybe my conscious mind. I can feel and revisit everything I’ve ever experienced.” Inanna was just as mesmerized by the fact that she was stuck in her mind, just as much as Zech was.

  “I’m tempted to see what I’ve missed,” Zech said, wondering about the possibility of reading Ina’s memories.

  Ina would have loved for Zech to go through her memories, if she could hand pick them. Ina remembered how many memories she’d made with Keith. It hurt her to know she’d been living so happily, while Zech sat tortured in a dungeon for so long, and it was all because of her. All because he wanted to protect her. He had abandoned his mission to bring her to Cova, leaving her in Clearwater where he had built a force field to protect her. He had done all of this in order to save her from being tortured or killed by Kah. She was torn between her previous ignorance and all that she knew now. How much her life had changed since she met Zech. How much had been revealed about her true self; yet, she still felt there was so much she needed to learn and know.

  Inanna thought about the possibility of Zech reading her mind again. He was able to see that she dreamt of him. Could he actually read her mind if she let him? He would see things she would be ashamed of. She had built a relationship with Keith and planned their future together. Her times with Keith were special for sure, but they were certainly different than the times she’d shared with Zech. Nonetheless, her memories with Keith were still special, and that’s not something she would want to share with Zech. In some weird way, Ina still loved Keith. She didn’t love Keith the way she loved Zech, but there was still history there.

  Again, it was different though.

  She wondered where Keith might be. She wondered if her mom and Keith were looking for her. She wished she could explain where she was and why she had to leave the way she did.

  Ina regretted going to California for a moment, but then again, she may not have ever seen Zech if she hadn’t left. Ina felt torn between wanting to be on Earth with her mom and Keith, to not wanting to leave Zech’s side ever again.

  “You’re worried about them, I know,” Zech comforted.

  Ina wondered if he was reading her thoughts at that moment, or if it was just his intuition. And there they were, gleaming an odd color of grayish-purple. The memories of Keith, just waiting to be revisited.

  “Your mom and Keith – I know you’re worried – but they will be okay,” he said reassuringly.

  “I wouldn’t have – you know – if I’d remembered you – things would have been very different,” she said regretfully.

  Zech knew exactly what she was talking about, and he knew that she was right. It made him angrier with Ria for getting so deeply involved; going against his plan of protecting Inanna. Ria had betrayed him! It had been because of her manipulation that Inanna and Keith built a full relationship together. Worse, because of Ria they were all in danger now. If he had ran away with Ina and made a new life, eventually he would have found a way to bring her back to Cova safely, he thought. But he went back to Cova instead, because he thought he could trust Ria with the information. Clearly, he was mistaken.

  Ina knew she couldn’t feel guilty for living her life while she was oblivious to Zech’s existence. What she did know was that her heart truly belonged to Zech, and that was something nothing in the universe could change. Even if Ria had tried to ruin Zech and Ina, and no matter how many years Ina spent with Keith, Zech was her true love. The love she felt for Zech transcended all. A love that connected them at a level she herself couldn’t even explain. Her dreams became her guilty pleasure on Earth, dreaming of Zech while she was still with Keith, not remembering who he was as she slept. Inanna remembered her fantasies, where she made passionate love to Zech, only to wake up next to Keith. She remembered the real times, like horseback rides, the talks that felt like they lasted days, and the moments they’d spent together before she lost her memory. All things she thought were just a figment of her imagination.

  She thought of writing them down, but feared Keith would find them. There were nights she’d wake up sweating and moaning, to only open her eyes and see a man she could never love the way she loved the man in her dreams. She quickly removed the thought, as her emotions heightened and the memory sphere began changing into an array of shimmering colors.

  Zech smiled, catching a glimpse of the memories. He could tell she had visited a forbidden memory; one she’d kept secret for some time. He felt her emotions in his bones, making him yearn for her.

  “Are you – are you reading my mind?” Ina asked a bit embarrassed.

  Inanna instantly knew that Zech had certainly been able to see her memories, and he definitely knew the forbidden dream she had been reminiscing upon. He couldn’t hide his amusement.

  “Is that what you dreamt of every night?” he said as he got closer.

  Ina blushed and pretended to not be embarrassed by his rhetorical question. She could feel his warm breath on her cheek, making her want him.

  “Well, since you think it’s okay to read my thoughts, I should peruse through yours.” She defended, although it didn’t quite come out as snarky as she had intended.

  “Maybe you should; although I’d rather revisit yours for a while…” he jested.

  “I’d rather you not,” she said coyly, trying to put distance between them, teasing him a bit.

  Zech grabbed her by the arm and brought her close.

  “You have no idea how much I’ve missed you, and how much I’d love to make your dreams come true,” he said and kissed her.

  “Then do it,” she said nervously and confidently all at the same time.

  He kissed her again. This time harder, making her squirm with desire.

  “One day…very soon,” he whispered in her ear.

  “Why not right now?” she begged with her eyes closed, kissing him more passionately.

  Zech slowed down, seeing that things were getting too heavy. He didn’t even know if this was possible. They weren’t even in the physical realm, how would it work, was it even real? Either way it didn’t matter. Zech wanted to marry Inanna. He wanted to have a proper ceremony, and then, and only then, he would make her his the way he truly wanted.

  “Ina…please,” he whispered, trying to control his desire for her.

  Ina was fully indulged. She didn’t care that they were in a sphere of emotions, or memories, or wherever they were. She was ready.

  “Ina,” he tried slowing down and pulling her away.

  “Why?” her body begged for more.

  “Just not yet,” he smiled. “Not here…”

  Ina followed Zech’s lead and controlled her craving. Sporadically finding his mouth to steal a few more kisses before they settled down and finally sat down on what looked like slimy silver nubs that were protruding from the ground. He pulled her onto his lap, and she stole another kiss. It suddenly hit her – maybe she wasn’t the only one who had wanted Zech for so long. Maybe she wouldn’t be his first. She wondered if Ria had ever been with Zech, and moreover, had she been with Zech in that way. She couldn’t feel jealous; that would’ve been before she was in the picture. It wouldn’t be fair to feel that way, but it certainly would explain Ria’s behavior. Now she was cautious to control her thoughts, so that Zech wouldn’t know what she was thinking. She pulled away and stopped kissing him. Ina became very pensive, and a flurry of thoughts and possibilities raced through her mind.

  “What? Have I upset you?” he said apologetically.

  “No,” she reassured him. “It’s just…like I told you before, I wish there were things I knew.”

  Zech watched her intently, ready to appease her.

  “About you and Ria,” she blurted out.

  “That’s what you’re thinking about?” he asked.

  “Well, there must be more to how you know each other – she se
emed quite jealous when she met me. I just wish I knew more, and you said you’d tell me everything, right?”

  “It’s probably not what you have in mind, Ina,” he said.

  “What do you think I have in mind?”

  “Well…” remembering again Ina’s fantasies with him, he smiled.

  “Oh geeze. Okay, you know what I mean, I’m talking about you and Ria.”

  Zech stood up and gently touched Inanna’s face. He hesitated for a moment and bit his lip.

  “Whatever you want to know I will share; I just don’t think it will make a difference in what you’re trying to figure out. Ria is Ria, and that’s not going to change, Ina.”

  “Well, at least I can try to understand why she is the way she is,” Ina said.

  “I don’t know if this will work,” he said pulling Ina closer.

  Taking a deep breath, Zech closed his eyes and brought Ina’s hands to his face. Suddenly, Ina was transported to Zech’s childhood memories, and the colors were hypnotizing.

  Zech and Salixz ran through the forest, swinging their imaginary swords and chasing each other through the trees. They were young boys; Zech only nine, and Salixz, eleven years old.

  “I’m King Kah! I will kill you if you don’t fight in my army!” Salixz impersonated Kah as best he could.

  “And I’m King Heron! I will fight for what’s right!” Zech exclaimed.

  “Wait, you can’t do that.” Salixz stopped the game. “You’re supposed to be my knight.”

  “I can too! It’s a game, and I want to be King Heron,” Zech replied in his best royal voice.

  Suddenly, something hit Zech in the head.

  “Hey! Stop that!” he yelled as he chased his older brother.

  Salixz began laughing. “It wasn’t me,” he said. “Maybe it was a nut that fell out of a tree or something. A nut hitting a bigger nut!”

  Again, they were both hit in the head. “Ouch!” they both said.

  They could hear the giggles of a little girl, who began peeking her head through the bushes, only to disappear quickly again.

  “Hey! Wait! Come back!” Zech yelled.

  The girl ran off and the boys ran after her. They ran through shrubs and thorny bushes, as the girl bounced with giggles. She was fast. The boys were out of breath by the time they stopped. The girl brought them right back to where they had started their chase and she hid behind a tree.

  “It’s probably a troll,” Zech said huffing for air but still running for the tree where the girl was hiding.

  “Am not!” she said defensively as she jumped out from behind the tree and stopped the boys’ dead in their tracks.

  “Oh. Hi.” Zech was stunned when he saw the little girl who was about his same age.

  The girl was beautiful, even with her dirty face and tattered clothes. Her long, dark brown hair was like silk, but tangled in some areas.

  “Hi,” she said as she examined Zech.

  “Do you live out here?” Zech asked.

  “Ria! Riiiaaaa!” called an angry troll in the distance. The girl suddenly became scared and ran away.

  “Hey! Wait!” Zech called and ran after her.

  “You have to go! Run! You’ll get killed if they find you out here!” she whispered desperately to Zech and Salixz.

  Zech began walking backwards but hesitated. Suddenly, he saw the troll, an angry beast-like creature. The monster swooped Ria up by one arm as she kicked and pleaded for him to let go.

  “Put me down! Put me down! I hate you!” the little girl screamed.

  “I am going to lock you up again for trying to run away! Next time, I’ll chop your hair off and feed it to the wolves.”

  “Nooo!” she screamed.

  Zech and Salixz followed close in stride, being careful to not be seen. They hid in a nearby bush as they watched Ria dig her bare heels into the dirt in her last attempt to get away. She fought with all her might. Finally, the troll smacked her unconscious and dragged her lifeless body inside the cave.

  “She looks like she’s in trouble! We have to help her,” Zech whispered to his brother.

  “We can’t, Zech! We’ll get killed!” he said as if trying to talk sense into his brother. “C’mon! Let’s go!”

  Zech stayed put, refusing to move. His eyes examining every route, every entrance, every possibility. The wheels of his mind were turning; his heart pounding. In that moment, he vowed to himself that he would protect Ria.

  “Go without me,” he told Salixz.

  “I’m not leaving you alone! But you know the law if we don’t make curfew scans, they’ll send an army looking for us. They’ll find us and make us servants. Or worse, kill us,” he cautioned.

  “Then go. I can’t leave her. She needs someone to help her, Salixz.”

  Salixz hesitated, then walked back to where Zech was crouched. If Zech refused to leave, then Salixz was staying. When the sun went down, they both fell asleep, despite their attempts to keep their eyes open. It wasn’t long until something woke them up in the middle of the night.

  “Shhh!” Ria covered Zech’s mouth before he could scream, and she put him in a lock before he could fight back.

  Zech’s eyes were as wide as a deer in headlights. He was impressed with Ria’s quick reflexes and agility. Salixz was mute as he just stared in awe.

  “I laced the dinner wine with sleeping powder,” she said with a sweet smile. “The trolls will be asleep for days.”

  Zech smiled back. “How did you know we were still here?”

  “I could smell you,” she said proudly.

  Salixz became self-conscious and smelled his armpits.

  Ria giggled, “It’s one of my powers.”

  She suddenly became serious. “When I saw you in the woods, did you read my mind?”

  “Yes,” Zech was mystified. “How did I –”

  “It’s another one of my gifts,” she stated.

  “You let me read your mind? You told me you were scared and in danger,” Zech said.

  “We have to leave now – if anyone from the outskirts of the tribe sees me, they’ll ask questions. I can’t risk anyone finding me,” Ria said.

  “Where is your family?” Salixz asked.

  “I don’t have one,” she said coldly.

  There was a short silence.

  “C’mon.” Ria led the way through the forest.

  Inanna woke up from her trance; one where she was living the memories of Zech’s past. She was still confined to her inner self, not physically able to wake up in Meretseger’s cave. Looking at Zech, she began to feel foggy.

  “T – th,” she tried to speak.

  “Ina, what’s wrong?” Zech panicked, noticing he’d gone too far with his powers of letting her into his mind.

  Every creature required time to master their powers, and many times needed years to perfect them. Powerful beings required training. Ina had neither. Using too much power could mean hurting herself or others around her.

  Even death.

  “Thank you, for showing me...” she finally managed.

  Inanna collapsed in Zech’s arms, and lost all consciousness.

  “Inanna. Inanna talk to me!” Zech demanded.

  Inanna said nothing.

  Past: The Orbs

  T he planetary squanter was in place, and the two princesses were safely paused in time, inside their boxes. Meretseger was the only being awake on Cova. The silence became torturous at times. She was the only being who had the knowledge of how to create a portal. The ones left open from generations ago were now closed due to contamination. Portals took over a thousand years to create successfully, and they needed to be protected and shut down as quickly as possible if they became contaminated. Cracks in time allowed the creation of these traveling orbs, which could be used for traveling to and from other planets.

  Based on Cova’s universal position, it could only connect to Earth at this time. In previous generations, Meretseger’s ancestors were able to go to the Crystalline planet to r
eplenish their waterways using the portal system. However, Meretseger knew the true consequences. The Crystalline planet suffered and became extinct because of the Covians. When the portals were left open too long, radiation became trapped in the Crystalline planet, killing all life.

  Cova survived the disaster.

  Those documents were sealed and passed down to Meretseger when her mother died. If someone like Kah got his hands on that kind of information, they would all be in dire trouble. She also feared that the people of Cova would not want to risk opening portals, for fear the plan could backfire and hurt either planet. Meretseger knew it was the only way. If they had a chance at beating the Core Disease, they needed to connect to Earth.

  Meretseger began whipping up her sorcery to build more orbs for portals. Her mission was to hide Inanna on planet Earth before Kah had his way with her. She knew Inanna would not be safe with Kah once the planetary squanter had been lifted. So, one night, during the time lapse, she roamed the forest alone, trying to find a way to create a portal into Earth.

  Finally, she was able to create an energy portal, from a tree root on Cova to a body of water on Earth. The energy from the root of the tree was balanced with the energy of the water, opening a self-sustaining energy portal. When Cova awoke from the planetary squanter, Meretseger sent the tip to ENSA Euron Nation’s Secret Agency, where to find Inanna. This sent the ENSA into a frenzy to capture Inanna from Kah and send her to Earth immediately. The first portal opened was on the east coast of New England, where Inanna first entered Earth as a baby. She was then taken by two members of the ENSA to the doorstep of Liam and Marjorie Preston, where she spent her life until she was captured by Ria and Salixz and brought to Cova.

  The first portal on the New England coast remained unprotected. This was Meretseger’s only condition. She didn’t want anyone in Cova becoming suspicious if too much movement was seen near it. So, she cast another spell that would shut down the orb after one week of it being opened. No one knew of the portal except the ENSA and Meretseger, and it wasn’t easy to find within the forest. But opening portals had consequences. They subsequently left radiation behind on Earth, and each time they allowed Earth particles to enter Cova’s soil. This posed danger to Cova, and slowly began to accelerate the deterioration of Cova’s core.