“You said it yourself, Emok,” Lunok continued. “A darkness is taking over you. Your words, not mine. Imagine what could happen to those two. Imagine what could happen to the angel species. Look at what you’ve done! Your actions were unwise and careless. If the angels end up self-destructing because one or both of your ‘special’ test subjects gets absorbed by the darkness, then it will be on you. For your sake, I pray this will not be the case.”
“I,” Emok stammered. “I shouldn’t have done that. I should’ve been wiser.”
Lunok observed his friend. He was surprised at Emok’s sudden change of tone. Gone was the firm conviction that he was on to something phenomenal. There was only regret and sadness in Emok’s voice as he spoke. Emok’s actions were very careless. Emok’s actions were unwise. But Emok was still his friend, and there could be a way to salvage this situation. The Council would be better suited to handle this. Perhaps, at some point during their current existence, they may have encountered a similar situation. If they had, then they never kept any records. If they never kept any records, then that would be odd, and he, Lunok, would have to start questioning The Council’s integrity. Anyway, he would worry about all that later.
“What if I can be… helped,” Emok hesitated at the word ‘helped’.
“What about if you can?” Lunok asked.
“Well, if I can be helped and my situation can be reversed or stabilized,” Emok explained, “then maybe Michael and Luciel could be helped as well. This darkness is strong, Lunok and it gets stronger by the moment!”
“I follow your logic,” Lunok agreed. “For you, it would be curative and for those two, it would be preventative, hopefully. We don’t want you going full Shemsu in this dimension now, do we?”
Lunok tried to lighten the situation with a smile. But the two Shemsus knew exactly what would happen to Celestia and the entire dimension if Emok went ‘full Shemsu’.
“I agree,” Emok said and paused for a few moments.
His eyes were trained to the ground during his pause. Slowly, he raised his eyes and looked directly into Lunok’s eyes.
“You don’t know how it feels, brother,” Emok said, and Lunok understood Emok was referring to the darkness. “It beckons to you. It knows you inside and out. It seduces you and with every moment, that seduction intensifies. It is an entity that is growing more and more irresistible by the moment… and it doesn’t like to be caged. It wants to be free, no matter the cost! It is the ultimate pleasure and the ultimate pain; the perfect oxymoron to the essence. I pray you never have to feel what I feel now.”
Lunok watched Emok stand up and stare blankly ahead. Emok’s eyes were glazed over in a violet hue and he seemed to be in a trance-like state. Suddenly, Lunok felt Emok’s Shemsu energy start to build up and knew he had to act immediately before the Shemsu let loose. Lunok encased Emok and himself in an esoteric energy shield. He then grabbed Emok by the shoulders and shook his friend hard, as if that would snap Emok back to reality. He gazed into Emok’s eyes as he repeatedly called Emok by name. He saw nothing beyond the pair of violet-glazed orbs that stared back at him. It was like his friend was gone. As Emok’s Shemsu energy continued to build up within the esoteric energy shield Lunok had created around them, Lunok decided to try one drastic measure and hopefully bring his friend back to reality: to infiltrate Emok’s psyche.
Lunok did just that as Emok’s energy grew stronger. The esoteric pressure was becoming unbearable but Lunok held fast. He was caught between finding his friend and containing the enormous amount of energy that threatened to wipe out Celestia and Lemuria at the speed of thought. Emok’s Shemsu energy buildup seemed to have been magnified by the darkness that had seemed to be in control of Emok’s essence and Lunok could not contain it anymore. Lunok was left with just one option: to end his friend and save an entire dimension.
But just when Lunok was about to end Emok, he found a sliver of Emok’s lost entity, seized it esoterically and yanked it back to reality. Emok snapped out of his state of trance, and the energy buildup quickly died away. Emok stared into Lunok’s eyes and Lunok saw a mixture of helplessness, apologies and despair. He patted Emok on the shoulder and gave Emok’s shoulder a gentle squeeze of assurance. He would not abandon his friend; not right now, not ever. Emok received the silent message and managed a weak nod of gratitude.
“Let us return to the others now,” Lunok said, and Emok agreed.
The pair teleported back to base and, as expected, the rest of the team was already seated and waiting for them. Lunok waited for the team to present a report on the angels’ progress with training before explaining what was going on with Emok. The team understood that Emok would no longer serve as team leader and that Lunok was to become the new team leader. Emok would still work with them, but under close and constant supervision, until their task was complete. Upon their return home, Lunok would hand Emok over to The Council for any further actions. Emergency protocols were immediately drafted in case Emok were to find himself in another situation of ‘letting loose’ or the inability to control himself.
When the meeting was over, everyone returned to their respective tasks as Lunok reviewed the uploads on Michael and Luciel. He was very surprised and pleased at the same time to find a new vibrational pattern emanating from the pair that was missing in the other angels. Emok may be right after all; these two were on a very fast path to becoming the very first of their kind, whatever that ‘first of their kind’ was. After all, who would have expected the new creatures to start showing signs of falling in love so soon?
CHAPTER FIVE
RUN LITHILIA, RUN
LITHILIA APPEARED IN the middle of a barren piece of land. There was nothing but parched earth and scattered dry shrubbery for as far as the eyes could see. Solara’s heat was merciless on her skin. Where am I? She zoomed in her vision to thirty miles and did a complete revolution. Nothing. She increased her range to fifty miles and scanned around her again. Nothing, still. Not even Aiden. And how could I even see that far? How did I get here? What’s happening to me?
Lithilia examined her hands and body as her confusion mounted. What is happening to me? Lithilia asked herself. Or so she thought. Her lips never moved and the voice in her head was not just another thought. It felt and sounded different and real, as if she spoke the words with her own lips. But her lips never uttered a single word. For a moment, she forgot about where she was and the heat of Solara scorching her body, literally. She felt nothing but confusion at the metamorphosis happening within her body at a subcellular level.
Lithilia observed the blistering of her skin as Solara’s heat baked her flesh with unapologetic abandon. It was the first time she had seen something like this and her curiosity numbed her of all pain, momentarily. She cautiously touched a blister on her left forearm that was half the size of her palm. It burst open, releasing an almost clear liquid substance contained therein. Then, as if a physiological program finally kicked in, Lithilia’s body was possessed by pain she had never felt before. She closed her eyes and she screamed.
As she screamed, she wished the pain would go away and her body would heal. She also desperately wanted to leave this… place. This very bad place that was nothing close to the paradise she called home. And as she screamed, she felt it again. Every iota of her etheric and physiological makeup disintegrated and was sucked into something that eluded Lithilia’s understanding. Lithilia’s scream died off and her eyes snapped open as the pain in her body vanished. She examined her body and noticed the blisters were gone. She looked up and Solara was hidden behind thick, white clouds. But while she was grateful she no longer had to deal with the blistering heat in that barren piece of land, Lithilia faced a new problem.
Lithilia could not stop the shivering of her body and chattering of her teeth. She enhanced her vision and scanned the area within a fifty-mile radius. The only thing she could see through the white, gusting, super-freezing winds was a white structure that was as big as one of the hills not far
from Aiden. She recalled Father telling them about structures like these: pyramids. Pyramids were used as energy focal points on the realm, as well as portals to other realms within the Dimension of Solaris and beyond. Lithilia felt her life force slipping away as the merciless cold of this white wilderness was whipping her to within inches of her life.
Lithilia sank to her knees. Her body was numb to the soft, white substance she was getting buried in. There was nothing left to do. Maybe she never should have run away from Aiden… from her lover… from her child… from her family. Maybe she should have talked to Father about what really bothered her, beyond the strange creature that was bonding with her lover in his sleep. Lithilia knew Adamou was a victim, just like she, Lithilia, was. Yet, she had transferred her aggression borne out of something else on him. And now, she was about to die, without having the chance to say she was sorry, without having the chance to make things whole again for her family and for herself. She was going to die without having the opportunity to find out what was happening to her.
Please… save me! Lithilia pleaded without knowing she did so via telepathy.
It was a plea to no one in particular, borne out of her soul and infused with every fiber of her etheric constitution. It was a plea borne out of sorrow, regret, desperation and, most of all, an innate fear of death and non-existence. Lithilia pleaded with Creation, not knowing what else to do. A tear rolled out of each of her eyes and froze less than an inch after leaving her eyes. It was logic-defying how she was still alive in the face of these inhumane conditions. But Lithilia was not the average human. She closed her eyes, knowing her death had come, though the notion of death was alien to her conscience mind but a given to her innate sense of self. She was not ready to go and she wanted to fight. Alas, there was nothing she could do; not consciously, at least.
Suddenly, the same feeling of disintegration and being sucked into something took over her. Her eyelids parted slightly. Was that a light source hanging from a ceiling? Her vision was blurry but yes, that was a light source hanging from the ceiling. Was she in Father’s domicile? But why was the ceiling so much father up than that of Father’s domicile? Suddenly, she felt a surge of energy and her body was fully rejuvenated. Lithilia bolted upright and sat up.
“Easy now, little one,” a lady’s voice said to her.
A pair of very huge hands gently rested on Lithilia’s shoulders and guided her back to the bed. Lithilia’s eyes bulged at the immensity of the hands and her head snapped in the lady’s direction. Lithilia’s tiny hand pushed the lady’s huge hands away from her as she cowered away from the lady. The lady chuckled.
“You are afraid,” she said amicably. “Do not be, little one.”
“No! Please, do not hurt me!” Lithilia pleaded via telepathy.
“Oh, you can speak via telepathy,” the lady said in kind. “Good. You must be from the surface then.”
Lithilia eyed the lady with caution and fear.
“Surface?” Lithilia asked via telepathy.
She looked up, hoping to see a sky but all she saw was the roof of a-
“What in the name of Father-” Lithilia exclaimed as the lady stood up.
Lithilia had never seen anyone taller than Father, but even Father would look much shorter if he stood next to this lady. To Lithilia, this giant of a creature was scarier than anything Lithilia had ever encountered, despite the kindness in the creature’s eyes and the warmth in the creature’s smile. The creature walked to a table nearby and filled a cup with water from a pitcher. She walked back to the bed, sat on it and offered the cup of water to Lithilia. Lithilia cowered a little from the lady and did not take the cup. The lady chuckled, drank some of the water and handed the cup again to Lithilia.
“I mean you no harm, little one,” she said. “Drink. Your body needs it.”
She nodded encouragingly at Lithilia. Lithilia slowly reached for the cup. The cup looked small in the lady’s hand, but Lithilia needed both hands to hold the cup. Lithilia drank her fill and handed the cup back to the lady.
“I hope you are feeling better now, little one,” the lady said as she set the cup down on the floor. “What is your name?”
Lithilia cowered further into a corner of the bed. The bed was far larger than what she was used to sleeping in. She surveyed her chamber. Everything was far larger than what she was accustomed to. She returned her gaze to her hostess but said nothing.
“My name is Stacina,” she said with a smile. “What is yours, little one?”
“Li-” Lithilia started saying but her voice caught in her throat.
Lithilia cleared her throat, swallowed and tried again.
“My name is Lithilia,” she said timidly.
“That is a beautiful name, Lithilia,” Stacina said.
“Where am I?” Lithilia asked switching to telepathy. “How did I get here?”
For some reason, Lithilia found more courage behind telepathy when she spoke to this giant of a creature.
“I heard your cry for help,” Stacina replied out loud. “You almost died out there. How did you get there in the first place?”
“I…,” Lithilia stammered.
She cleared her throat and tried again.
“I do not know. I was home one moment and then I started running.”
Lithilia adjusted her frame on the bed and stretched out her bent knees in front of her. She noticed Stacina smile.
“And then what happened?” Stacina asked.
“I… I found myself in an area that was so dry and empty,” Lithilia replied.
She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to makes sense of the situation.
“I did not know where I was,” she continued. “My skin was rising because of Solara. It was very painful and then…”
Lithilia drifted as she tried to make sense of the situation.
“And then what happened, Lithilia?” Stacina prompted kindly.
“I was in another place, where you found me, I think,” Lithilia spoke as if in a daze. “Next I know, I awake here.”
Stacina nodded as she examined Lithilia with her eyes.
“I do not know what is happening to me, Stacina,” Lithilia reverted to telepathy.
Her telepathic voice was heavy with sadness and confusion.
“I do not know why this is happening to me.”
“I understand, Lithilia,” Stacina said out loud and shifted closer to Lithilia.
Stacina could sense Lithilia’s fear in confusion. She understood why Lithilia kept reverting to telepathy and hoped that, by talking out loud to Lithilia, she would help Lithilia warm up to her much more quickly. When Lithilia did not cower away from her, Stacina was happy.
“You can teleport but you do not know how you do it,” Stacina explained. “You can also speak using telepathy.”
“I am sorry, I do not understand,” Lithilia said via telepathy.
“What you just did, that is, speaking with your mind, is called telepathy,” Stacina said via telepathy, smiling at Lithilia’s innocence.
Lithilia’s eyes bulged in surprise and she gawked at Stacina.
“And when you suddenly appeared in that dry land and in Antarctica, that was teleportation,” Stacina said aloud.
“Teleporty… telepartation…” Lithilia whispered to herself.
Stacina laughed heartily.
“You are so sweet, my little friend,” Stacina said and took Lithilia’s left cheek between her huge right thumb and index finger.
“You are so… big!” Lithilia spoke with awe.
“Yes, we are,” Stacina agreed. “As a matter of fact, I am of average height.”
Stacina stood up, spread out her arms and spun around. The gesture made Lithilia smile and chuckle a little.
“There you go, my little friend,” Stacina said and stood at akimbo. “May I call you my friend, Lithilia?”
Lithilia hesitated. She was in a strange place, with a complete stranger who had been nothing but kind to her after saving her life. If this
creature meant her harm, the creature would not have even saved her life in the first place.
“I can teach you about my people, our realm and even everything you want to know about yourself, Lithilia,” Stacina offered. “You are my guest and you are free to stay as long as you please. I offer you my friendship and I hope you can do the same to me.”
It was Stacina’s hypnotic smile that broke the last wall around Lithilia. How could she resist that smile? How could she say no to Stacina? Besides, Stacina just offered to teach her many things including knowing more about herself. There were times in Aiden when Lithilia felt like she was not herself. The feeling had nothing to do with an identity crisis. Rather, it was a feeling that stemmed from a yearning so deep it seemed to stem from the very core of her etheric makeup. It was a yearning for more; more than what she was aware of, for what lay dormant within her. The variance between her status quo and her potential was so large that it took her psyche to places she never imagined.
At first, the yearnings were barely unnoticeable, until they started growing stronger. Deep down, she realized that these yearnings were the reason for her inability to conceive after she had Cahen. Innately, she knew this yearning was the reason why Cahen’s twin was a still birth. Pregnancy does so much to a woman’s body, including certain transmutations of the evolutionary kind. The more Lithilia pondered on the situation, the more she realized that these deep yearnings started the moment she realized she was pregnant. Years later, she still had no iota of understanding of what these yearnings were.
Adamou could not help her. Father could not help her and not for lack of trying. Lithilia realized that in her moment of deep thought, she was staring blankly at the mattress. She could feel Stacina’s patient stare on her and she lifted her head to meet Stacina’s gaze. Lithilia smiled as she saw the truth in Stacina’s words. Stacina was not trying to coax her into staying with sweet words of promise. Lithilia believed Stacina could indeed help her address her yearnings consciously and bring her to realize the well of potential that lay within her.
Celestial Crisis Page 4
