by M. Arcturus
A blank, almost-calm look washed over his face. It was as if he had awakened from a nightmare by being slapped across the face. “Y-y-yes, yes, you’re absolutely right.” He looked nervously at the guards. “Let’s sit,” replied the man shakily. The dark-haired man let go of his wrist. Looking nervously around the room, the man in the lab coat clumsily made his way to his seat. In the meantime, the Council members had grown restless and noisy with confusion, so Oberon took the floor one more time.
“It appears that a continuance is in order. As you can see, we need to send a few to the medical room and take some time to collect ourselves to minimize distraction,” he stated as he gestured to the cells, “and remove certain objects from the floor,” looking at the frosty machine off to his left. “Since we are connected to land, we will use Earth time. This meeting will adjourn for two hours. If this poses a problem, please contact me immediately. It seems this hearing will absorb more time than anticipated. Please rest and collect yourselves. We have a long journey ahead of us. The meeting is adjourned!” A two-hour countdown was lit up in red on the wall like a digital clock. On its digital track, it raced along the wall not far from the ceiling.
The palace medics entered, taking Pandora and Icarus to the infirmary as the Council room was emptied with great commotion. Selené glanced over at the human representatives. They had obviously lived during different eras, for they looked just as alien to themselves as to the actual aliens that were sitting around them. She eyed the one that seemed the least interested in the Council meeting. He was the traveling companion of her new dark-haired wonder. His blonde hair was ruffled, and his brownish-gold garments hung on his body as if he had been wearing them for quite some time. She watched all four of them leave with the help of a palace guard. The dark-haired one helped both the blonde and the one in the lab coat up onto their feet and out the nearest door.
Oberon walked over to Juron’s cell. “I never knew that it would come to this, brother.” He stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity.
“You know, Juron is not perfect and probably had no intention of letting things get this far. He is your human half after all. We all have our weaknesses.” Oberon turned and faced his eavesdropper with great shock and astonishment. His wife had attended the Council meeting and was standing behind him in all of her brilliance and grandeur. After the first initial shock, he grew angry.
“I did not leave our kingdom unattended,” she said before he could accuse her. When her words reached his ears, he let out a soft sigh of relief. “I left Queen Mab in charge.”
At that statement, his anger came back, provoked by panic. “You left our kingdom in the hands of my sister?” When he spoke, there was a quiver in his voice.
“Patience, dear husband. I’ll be leaving for home in the morning. I realize how impish and unpredictable she is. I just needed to be next to you for a moment and see our daughter again.” She placed her hand on his chest and lightly fell into him, which made him soften and embrace her once again.
They walked over to Selené’s cell with arms around each other. Selené stood up on her feet.
“I do believe that you are the strongest individual I’ve ever known,” Oberon told Selené. She smiled at his words. “From what I’ve seen in Kajaka’s feather, you’re very dedicated and compassionate, and I do believe that you deserve temporary freedom from your cage as well.” He graciously placed his hand in the light.
“Will the Council be alright with this?”
“Look at it as island arrest. As long as you stay on Atlantis and come back for the trial’s continuance, I don’t think they will even notice.”
“I would not feel right leaving Giséi behind in her chains.”
Oberon smiled at Selené’s words.
“I had no intention leaving her here on her own. She’s a guest, as well as family,” he added as his eyes peered through the cell to the other side.
Selené followed his eyes and saw Shadow and Kajaka standing just outside the ring of light. They smiled back at her as Shadow entered the ring and started unraveling the chains that still held its victim. Moving very slowly, he untangled Giséi and set her on the floor. Selené crouched down and took off Giséi’s blindfold. Giséi looked up at her with violet cat-like eyes. Their eyes matched almost identically in color.
“Welcome to Atlantis,” said Selené as she gave Giséi a hug. “You are not alone.” At that, she stood up again and took Oberon’s hand, and for once, she felt that her freedom was definite, and her imprisonment was just for show.
Chapter Five
Too Many Triangles Not Enough Love
The thick black robe weighed heavily on her malnourished frame. Even the hood bore down oppressively on her head, forcing her to look down into the shadows of the outside world, which nearly blinded her as much as the sun. It had been many months since she had been without a blindfold, and it was pathetic that she found herself straining to see. Her frail form was so slender that she looked like she was about to topple over. Because she did not have the energy to stand, Shadow and Kajaka ended up carrying her to their destination. A few stopped to stare at the hooded stranger, but they dared not speak in her presence. The noise of the fountains and murmurs from the crowd in the marketplace were overwhelming to her sensitive ears. It had been too long since she was out in the open.
They covered her with their feathered cloaks and diverted their path away from the marketplace and into the gardens. Kajaka laid the blanket down on the grass and helped her sit as Shadow brought forth the picnic basket and took out some sandwiches, which had been cut diagonally in two with perfection. After taking a few bites of the sandwich, she investigated the contents with her index finger. As she dug between the two pieces of bread, Kajaka and Shadow stared at her in confusion.
“You don’t like it?” Shadow asked, longing to please her.
“I like it, but it’s not like the human food I ate on the Kinnowwa. What is this?”
“It’s ham salad,” replied Shadow, watching her expression fade from contentment to puzzlement. “Would you much rather have us talk to the cook from the Kinnowwa to fix you something?”
Her thoughts reflected back to her stay aboard the Chinese junk. The crew received food from the Emperor himself, and all they fed her were the scraps—eel heads, dog paws, fish heads, and chicken claws. Even the scraps had been gnawed on. There was nothing left but bones, which she had no choice but to suck on, trying to appease her stomach. The only substance she ever had was the food the old man gave her. She took a moment before reeling herself back into the present to give an answer, “No. Oh, God, no! Ham salad is fine; I just thought humans only ate one kind of food.” She retreated into her silence, which bothered both Kajaka and Shadow.
Grasping for straws, Kajaka brought up the morning he shared with her black firebird self in the garden when the first sign of trouble on Atlantis appeared. “I like the host you have chosen for yourself. She seems strong and determined, even in the face of death.”
Giséi looked down at her frail arms and allowed herself to feel the prison of a dying body.
“I seriously don’t know how you two do it. I feel trapped. Not being able to fly or feel the power of the universe in my body and on my feathers. The only time I feel alive is when I leave the girl’s body to fly around on my own, but those times are becoming fewer and fewer.”
Shadow felt he had to chime in.
“Astral projection is not an escape pod; it’s a tool. No wonder you are losing that ability. You’re using it for the wrong purpose. You were reborn inside of that body. She is you. She literally can’t live without you. You are all she knows. To leave her would bring upon the body an early demise, jeopardizing your mission.”
“How do humans live with their bodies?”
“Very few do. There are many who feel the way you feel. There are other aliens out there that chose to live a
human life for the greater good of the universe to bring about balance and knowledge to the human race. So, some humans are more like you in your current situation than you probably care to admit.”
Though the comment was directed at Giséi, Shadow grimaced at the thought of being compared to a human, but Kajaka was right.
Trying to comfort himself, Shadow verbally re-established the division between their kind and the humans, “They will never be as magical, but they chose a body, and that body is a separate life of its own. Why do you think so many have crossed over, and yet the loved ones who can’t part with them try their hardest to keep the body alive, hoping that they will come back? The body may continue to live, but the spirit has moved on, and the humans don’t seem to understand that. They don’t grasp the idea that they are three separate entities: the body, the spirit, and the soul. That’s how they do it, and that’s how they are truly different than us. That’s what makes human life so difficult: the ignorance, the loneliness, and freewill. Isn’t that why you chose to live in a humanoid body, to force yourself to evolve quicker? You knew your mission was a difficult one, but flying in your firebird form was not enough for you. You wanted your human form to have wings so badly you accepted it.”
Almost out of context Kajaka added, “Wasn’t there a group of humans that understood they were three separate entities?”
“Yes, the Egyptians knew. They called the three entities the Ka, Ba, and Akh. The Ka, or life force, united with the Ba, also known as the soul, to create the Akh, the spirit, after death. They also believe the human soul was made up of five parts. If I remember correctly, they were the Ib, which is the heart, the shadow or Sheut, Ren, better known as the name, then, of course, the Ba and Ka. There was also the Ha, which represented the body, which I think is rather appropriate. Humans are kind of funny looking,” he finished with a smile too big for him to cover up.
Giséi looked at them a little disgusted, and then went back to her dispute with Shadow. “But I don’t have a human body. Have you not looked at my eyes and my hair? I’m a freak to them!”
“The Universe granted you the choice to have a few unique characteristics to help you remember that you were different. Like a human before birth, you got to choose your gender, your body, time of entry and were born without your memory. Everything you know now, you either had to reawaken or relearn. You’ve come a long way.”
“Do most human children get put up for adoption because they look different? My eyes scared them. My birth parents thought I was a monster!”
“You’d be surprised,” Shadow said, his voice reflecting his disappointment in the human race.
Shadow’s response lacked the compassion she was looking for. Tears welled up in Giséi’s eyes as she continued.
“What about being abducted by aliens to be transported around the cosmos like a member of a freak show? Or possessing a real nasty streak of bad luck so that wherever you go, you cause change which ultimately triggers destruction?”
“We could not control any of that. You were not born at the World Tree this time. We didn’t know where you were, or how to find you. It wasn’t until you were old enough, strong enough, for us to sense you and be able to find you. Please understand that you were reincarnated into this life to do miraculous things, which meant that you had to face a lot of trials and obstacles on your own to build strength and determination. You are no longer on your own. It’s been five or six years now that we have been monitoring you, and keeping in touch, waiting for the day we can be reunited on a more permanent basis. We are no longer going to say goodbye. We are not letting you go this time.”
Before continuing, Shadow searched her face for traces of comprehension, just hoping that she would start to understand why things happened the way they did. For the moment, she seemed too focused on her pain from her childhood than on her true purpose in life. He tried to redirect her thoughts.
“You know you bring about change, but do you remember why or how?”
Her eyes fell on her plate, once again bringing a moment of silence. “I’m not sure I’m ready to know, and I think I am done with this conversation. I’ll be deeper in the gardens if you need me. I want to be on my own for a bit. I’ll be back when it is time for the Council to reconvene.”
They watched her leave with exhaustion on their faces. “What bothers me the most is that she is so close to figuring everything out, but seems too frustrated to continue. I think she bit off more than she could chew with this lifetime.” Shadow placed a wing around Kajaka. “Should we go after her?”
“Let’s give her a moment first,” replied Kajaka, trying to remind himself that she wasn’t a child anymore.
More enchanting than a scene from a fairytale, the sun shone down through the trees, highlighting the mist rolling in from the waterfall. Deep in the heart of the gardens, Pandora strolled, trying to put her emotions to rest. The medics were able to heal her wounds, but now it was up to her to heal her mind and her heart. Her heart swelled with excitement when she thought about waking up in Seth’s arms. Then again, he had just recently displayed his anger with Selené right in front of her, which still made her wonder if he really was the one for her. On the other hand, it was hard to ignore the fact that he had come to her aid, and had stayed with her, watched over her as she slept all for the sake of protecting her. Though his anger was hard to ignore, her love for him was much harder to dismiss.
Her emotions dove deeper into her heart as she no longer wanted to wait around for him to make another move. Pandora was determined to express her thoughts and feelings. Her heart wanted more than it was ready for, and she embraced the challenge with every ounce of her being. Even the thought of learning swordplay from him excited her. For once, she could become more of an active role in his life, no longer sitting on the sidelines, looking in from the outside. Like a fish flopping around on dry land, her eagerness made her nervous and jumpy. Yet trying to remain cautious, stilling her emotions would take more effort than she thought.
Too caught up in her pondering, she didn’t hear the soft deep footfalls of someone approaching. She didn’t take notice of her intruder until he stepped on a branch, creating a loud echoing snap, scaring the birds from the neighboring trees. As she turned in the direction of the noise, only a thick mist confronted her. Squinting to see the outline of a large dark shadow, he stepped forth from the mist. His height intimidated her, and his reddish-orange eyes burrowed deep into her soul.
In a low, rich voice, the wolf warrior spoke, “Please forgive my intrusion. I have come on your father’s behalf. He wishes that I, Sorbek, seek your hand in marriage. As a token of my faith and loyalty, I give you this—” Like a proud and noble knight he fell to one knee and brought forth a large brown soft leather bag. It was so heavy, he had to heft it from his shoulder, and it hit the ground with a thud.
As he untied the bag, she noticed that she had stopped breathing and was quite taken aback. It was unlike any other courting gift she had ever encountered. Pandora wasn’t quite sure if she was flattered or fearful, but one thing was for sure—he may have been cute for a wolf, but he didn’t mention love. That was the only angle she could think of to get herself out of this mess. As long as he didn’t love her, her father couldn’t possibly think that they could get married. The ties of the bag fell to the garden floor, and with great effort, he pulled out the head of a unicorn! Pandora screamed when she saw it.
From deep within the gardens, Giséi heard the scream and ran toward where it came from. Sticking close to the bushes for cover, she peered periodically through the leaves into the clearings, trying to catch a glimpse at what had caused such a commotion. Giséi remained hidden, approaching the area cautiously. To her surprise, she saw Pandora half frozen with disgust and fear. Pandora held her hand to her mouth and had taken a step back. Giséi readjusted her position to see what Pandora was looking at. There he was, the most magnificent creature she had eve
r laid eyes on. Though she would have loved to step forward and take part in the conversation, she stayed hidden, waiting to see what would happen next.
“Milady does not like the gift?” He asked with eyes filled with sorrow.
“What on earth have you done?” Pandora shrieked. “Those are sacred creatures!”
She had to look away once she saw the blood running freely from the unicorn’s neck.
“I don’t understand,” Sorbek said. “Your father told me that the horn of a unicorn was one of the most powerful tools in faerie magic. With this horn, you could become the strongest fae in Avalon. Even Lord Oberon does not have one of these. So, when I saw it in the marketplace after the Council meeting was dismissed, I knew it was the perfect gift for my wife to be.” He was puzzled and confused.
Giséi struggled to keep herself hidden. She knew that killing a unicorn was forbidden, but the gesture was more romantic than she could bear. She wanted to run out and throw her arms around him and tell him that Pandora was a waste of his time, but she calmed her emotions. As in all instances, her mission was more important. If the marketplace had unicorns for sale, headless ones at that, then Atlantis was in more trouble than she had originally thought.
As if she had the same train of thought as Giséi, Pandora spoke up, “Was it headless when you bought it, or did it have a body to go with it?”
“It kept disappearing on me. When it managed to break away from its leash, I hunted it down, and decided the head was the most important part of the offering.”
Tears welled up in Pandora’s eyes. “Who sold you the unicorn? Were they human?”
“I’m not quite sure, milady. They were wearing hoods.”
“Please, put the head back in the sack and give it to me. It looks like I have more business to attend to, and for future reference, to receive a unicorn’s horn, you must ask a unicorn to go to the clan leader. The leader then tests your spirit to see if you are worthy of a horn. If you are, they grant you a horn of one that died of natural causes. As for using the horn of a unicorn to become stronger, I refuse the use of tools. I will develop my abilities naturally in order to excel and succeed. You do not cheat to gain strength or victories, do you?” He shook his head ‘no’ in response. “Well, I don’t use tools to increase my power. To use other magic-kin would be cheating.”
