by Lucia Ashta
Dismayed at the reality Victor was unveiling, Elena didn’t know where to start with the many questions she had; she asked the most immediate one.
“Who does plan all of this then? Who is the mastermind of all this destruction and chaos in the world? And why? Why would anyone want to do all of this? Why cause everyone on the planet harm?”
“The easiest way to answer your question is by telling you that it’s not a who but a what. Darkness is behind it all. Almost every conspiracy that you have ever heard has at least some elements of truth to it,” Victor said.
“Really?” Elena asked, eyebrows scrunched in doubt as her brain rifled through some of the outlandish conspiracy theories she had heard over the years.
“Oh, yes. It goes to a level that you can’t even begin to fathom yet. Question everything that you have ever heard.”
Elena didn’t know what to think. Victor responded to her disconcerted expression. He softened.
“The one thing that is always constant and true is what lies within our hearts. That is truth. The connection you feel to Creator is true. The darkness cannot touch that. If you begin to feel lost and upside down with all of these changes, know that you can always find your center. You can always know what the right step is, when you go in here.”
Victor placed his hand over his heart center and closed his eyes. He looked peaceful. Even knowing that the planet was suffering from a web of deception and destruction, he was at peace. Elena realized that she could be too.
Elena knew she was on earth to accomplish a purpose. If everything Victor had told her was true, then the forces of darkness were already aware that she was being activated to step into her role. She would learn everything she could about what she was supposed to do, because if the planet was as oppressed as Victor said it was, then she had a great responsibility. If humanity and the planet were to survive, every one of them had to answer the call to service and do her part.
The time is now. The war between light and darkness is being waged now. The time is now, whispered through Elena’s mind in a soft, still unfamiliar voice.
“Teach me, Victor. Please teach me so that I can do my part to help the world,” Elena said.
Without a word, Victor stood and disappeared into another room. When he came back, Elena was surprised. She hadn’t thought the day could get any more bizarre, but it just had. Victor carried a double-edged sword of beautiful artisanship, and he presented the sword to her.
“This is for you,” he told Elena.
She looked up at him from where she sat on the couch, her eyebrows high. What on earth was she supposed to do with a battle sword? After Victor’s stories of deep-seated conspiracy in the world, she really hoped no one expected her to kill anyone. She couldn’t kill anything.
Still, she reached out her arms, and Victor laid the sword across them. “What am I supposed to do with it?” she asked.
“Practice with it. It will help you remember who you are,” Victor told her. “The sword that Archangel Michael gave you the other day is your angel sword. This sword will remind you of what it feels like when you hold a sword. You are more powerful than you have let yourself imagine, Elena.”
“Oh my God!” Elena said. “Marco is calling me right now. I can feel him!”
“Then it is important that you go to him right away, Elena. Do you know where he is?” Victor asked.
Elena closed her eyes and narrowed in on Marco’s voice. Her eyes fluttered open. “This is incredible. I do know. He is at the inn looking for me.
“But wait, maybe I’m wrong,” Elena said. “He is supposed to be in Rome. He just left yesterday; he can’t be back already. I might be making it all up.”
“Some advice, Elena: when you start saying, ‘maybe I’m making it all up,’ that’s usually a pretty sure sign that you’re not and that you’ve tapped into something otherworldly that allows you to know things you didn’t think you could know. But you can. And each time it will get easier for you to hear the messages sent across time and space. Time and space don’t mean anything anyway. They are an illusion, just like everything else.
“Go to him. If Marco is calling you, you must go right away. Tell him you are coming.”
“I left my phone at the inn. I can’t call him.”
“No, Elena. Tell him. Just like he is telling you. You don’t need phones. You have something much better,” Victor said.
Elena closed her eyes and called out to him. Amor, ahora vengo. Love, I am coming now.
Elena stood to leave. “Victor, how can I repay you for your guidance?” Elena asked, feeling indebted to this wise man that had helped her so much.
“For starters,” he said, “you can do what you came to this planet to do. You are important. It is time for you to remember who you are.”
He looked down at Elena holding the sword, and a slight smile crossed his face. Elena knew what he was smiling about. She had also noticed that she knew how to handle the sword. When she moved it from where Victor had placed it in her arms, she had done so deftly as if she had been handling a sword every day of her life.
“Make sure that you practice,” Victor said. “You don’t help anyone by ignoring your purpose. Your humility does not serve humanity. You are here to do something that will help change the world. All those stories that I told you today could make you feel desperate and insignificant. You may ask yourself what you could possibly do to change any of it. But I can tell you, by the time you are ready to step into the role you have come to this planet to fulfill, you will have the power to change it all.
“That is why you and Marco are under attack. Because you are soul twins. And if you are here to do something great, then he is too. If you are both independently powerful, imagine what you can be together. Now do you understand why some invisible force that you have not yet identified is trying to keep you two apart? Because that force knows what you are capable of becoming, it will do everything it can to keep you from stepping into who you are meant to be.
“Do not allow yourself to be dwarfed. Do not allow yourself to be threatened. Step into the destiny that was chosen for you even before your birth. Become who you came here to become.”
If ever there had been a speech of inspiration that would change lives, that had been it. Elena rolled out of Victor’s driveway and zipped out onto highway 89A. She pulled up to their room at the Javelina Inn in record time. Even before she opened the car door, she saw him. He seemed despondent, pacing the length of the bed. Marco sensed Elena gazing at him and looked up. Their eyes met and held.
There was a suddenness of motion and energy that could not be stopped. Marco ran to her, and she ran to him. In an instant, they were in each other’s arms, both crying, neither of them ready to speak nor needing to speak.
When they were finally able to step apart, Marco ushered Elena inside the room. “Wait, I need to get something,” Elena said. She returned to the car to retrieve her sword. She knew this was Sedona and all, but she still didn’t think it was a good idea to leave a battle-ready sword in the passenger’s seat. Marco smiled as he watched his warrior love enter the room, sword in hand. He had found the one woman meant for him in this world.
* * *
Having fully accepted the call to duty, Ashta was preparing what she would need for the journey that lay ahead. She picked up the sword that Makalah had given her. She admired the embroidery of its violet sheath, and then she pulled the sword from it. The sword glinted in the moonlight as she pulled it out in one swift motion; the sword was sharp and shiny. Ashta’s hand conformed to the sword’s hilt, and she knew she was ready. The sword of awakening would have a turn in battle.
Ashta stood in a fighting stance with the sword in front of her. She held it expertly. The light of the moon shone over her and the sword and illuminated the scene. It all made her look like a warrior priestess. The moonlight brought the evocative magnetism that was within Ashta to the surface so that it was visible to any human eye. But on that silvery nig
ht, no person saw her. Only a lone owl watched the scene from its perch.
Ashta reached her sword up high and announced to the universe that she was a spiritual warrior. She voiced aloud that she was an angel ready to answer her calling. She prayed aloud, for she knew that there was great power in the spoken word. She asked that she and Anak be kept safe so that they might return to Arnaka to continue fulfilling their purpose as light bearers in the world. She asked Archangel Michael to watch over her and Anak and to protect them.
But even after all of that, Ashta knew she had to make one last statement, one that could be a challenge for the human mind. Ashta told the universe that, despite her prayers, she ultimately surrendered to the will of Creator. She released all expectation and control over the situation. May Creator’s will, and not her will, be done. Whatever Creator’s plan was, she would learn to accept it. Only when there was complete surrender could a person wholly fulfill her life’s purpose on earth. When a person tried to assert control, inevitably, she strayed, for there was no such thing as control outside of divine will.
Ashta packed a small bag that she could tie around her shoulders. Her mother had made it for her trip to the temple when she was a girl. Ashta had believed at first that it was just a birthday present, but later realized her mother had made it for her to carry her things for her new life at the temple. Her mother’s handiwork was skilled and the fabric and stitching were intact, despite the bag’s years. Ashta had not had occasion to use it since then, but it would serve her well for the upcoming adventure. She packed only to provide for the most essential of her needs.
Ashta chose clothes that would allow her to move freely. She dismissed her usual tunic that was the temple’s basic attire as too restrictive for running. She chose pants that came to her knees and a loose shirt instead. She put one set on and stuffed a couple of spare sets into the bottom of her bag. She grabbed leather slippers to protect her feet on the long trek that would await them. The slippers were pliable and would not interfere with her agility.
She packed her knife, which she always kept sharpened, and a canteen made from animal hide that held water well. She made a mental note to ask Kaanra if she could also take his. It would be good to have two water containers for the trip. She would make a visit to the temple food storage and take the dried fruits and nuts that could be spared. She would also ask Kaanra if they could take some goat cheese with them. It would be nice to have some hearty reserves since they did not know where they were going or what would be available to them on their journey.
She looked around her little room and grabbed the blanket that covered her bed. It would not weigh her down much, and she would appreciate its warmth. She was grateful that the temperatures were mild, even at night. That would make the trip much easier on them.
There was nothing else that she needed. Her gaze traveled to the treasures on the little table next to her bed. The table still held her mother’s comb, her father’s goddess statue, and the flower her sister had given her. Ashta would not take them with her, though they were small and light enough to carry. She needed nothing sentimental. She carried her family’s love for her within her heart.
She touched the ever-present necklace that hung at her chest. It was such a familiar weight there that she mostly forgot that she wore it. She would bring the ruby red jewel from the underwater pyramid of the sweet waters of her land. Worn over her heart, it helped to remind her of her soul purpose. Ashta knew it also held other powers she had not yet discovered.
As Ashta grabbed her cloak and strapped the bag to her back, she felt herself stepping into her role as a light warrior on earth as tangibly as if she were stepping into another body. She walked quietly from her room and pulled the door closed behind her. She again reached out to touch the wood of the door. She placed the palm of her hand flat against it. She felt the softness of the old, dark wood and the memories that it held within. She felt the joy of life she had experienced over the twenty-two years of her life, fifteen of those spent in this room. She touched her forehead to the door and then spun around with wide eyes to embrace the life that stretched out before her.
28 Revealing Eyes
“I was so worried about you. I have been praying so hard that you are safe,” Marco murmured with the voice of a lover. Marco held Elena, not wanting to be separated from her ever again.
Now that Marco was with her, Elena knew he was incapable of lying and deceiving her. She knew that everything she had felt from him was true. They stood holding each other for the longest time. Finally, Marco reached over and closed the door to give them privacy. Time passed. Their brief time apart had confronted each of them with the thought of having to live without the other.
When Elena and Marco finally did release each other, they sat on the bed, holding hands, legs touching. Elena leaned her head on Marco’s shoulder. Though neither of them wanted to break the spell, there was much to understand between them.
Marco began. “I heard you calling me just now. I could hear you. I could not tell if you were calling me asking for help. I did not know if you were okay. I did not know what to do. I was beside myself. So I just stayed here and prayed.”
“You were worried about me?” Elena asked.
“Elena, I was out of my mind! I called you so many times. You never answered. You never called back. I thought something had happened to you.
“I arrived in Rome to find my sister well and surprised to see me. The phone message was a hoax. My family knew nothing about it. I do not know anyone who would play such a cruel joke on me,” Marco said and glanced at Elena meaningfully. Marco had told Elena how Angela’s death had affected him just before he rushed off to Rome.
“As soon as I realized it had all been a ruse, I started calling you immediately. You never answered. I was going crazy thinking something might happen to you. Someone had called me away under false pretenses, and I think it was to separate us.”
Elena nodded. She knew that was it.
“I was not even in Rome for a few hours. I took the next flight I could to return here to find you. When I finally arrived at the room, I became even more worried. You were not here, and the door was open. All of your things were strewn about. Your clothes were everywhere, and your phone was broken, thrown on the floor. The bathtub was full of water as if you had just been taken from it.”
Elena looked around the room. She had not thought about what it might look like to Marco, but she could see how he could have interpreted the mess she had left behind in her haste as evidence of struggle.
“Why did you not answer my calls or call me back? Did your phone break?” Marco asked. Elena’s phone, with its battery next to it, was still abandoned on the floor of the room.
Elena looked at Marco, feeling absurd for believing Marco was capable of the accusations in the note. But with distance between them so soon after their first meeting, she had questioned everything. Could this miracle really be happening to her? Was it possible that she could have finally found the man with whom she was meant to share her life? Could she have met the twin of her own soul? Was the world really such a wondrous place? Now she knew the answers to all of those questions. Yes, it was all real. It was all possible. It was all happening for her.
When she had seen the note, she thought Marco had betrayed her. She had feared the worst. Elena got up from the bed and retrieved the pieces of the torn note from the wastebasket. Silently, she assembled the note on the bed in between them, facing the words toward Marco so he could read them. Elena didn’t say anything as Marco read the scrawled handwriting.
Elena waited until Marco looked up. Then, she looked into his deep, sincere eyes that revealed everything to her in a single instant. She was suddenly embarrassed to admit that she had believed he was capable of such deception and glanced downward to avoid his gaze.
“Marco, I believed that you had betrayed me. I’m sorry.”
She looked up at him and saw hurt in his eyes. He was upset that she would think he wo
uld do such a thing.
“I feared that our love was too good to be true. I felt the fear that came from the hurt and betrayal of my past relationships, and I allowed myself to believe the worst with what seemed like physical proof in my hands,” Elena said.
“Elena, amore, although we have just met, we have known each other forever. Always trust me. Always know that I am your faithful twin, and I will do anything for you,” Marco said.
“I have never been married. I have not even had anyone significant in my life until you. I have been waiting for you, all of this time. I knew you were out there somewhere, and so I waited. And now that I have found you, I will hold on to you until my last breath. There is no other way for me now,” Marco told Elena.
Marco watched tears of emotion well up in Elena’s eyes. She tried to answer him and give him the assurance he had just given her, but she couldn’t speak. Instead, she nodded and held him tightly to her chest.
When she was finally able to compose herself, Elena asked the important question that was on her mind, “So, what do we do now?”
Marco’s face changed when Elena asked the question. In it, there was determination and ferocity. “We find out who is doing this to us and why and then we stop them from ever doing it to us again,” he told her. “And until we figure this out, we stay together all the time. They already separated us once in an attempt to breed confusion and force us apart. We cannot give them that opportunity again.”
Marco’s voice softened. “And you can never believe anything like that of me again. It will not be true, ever.”
Elena nodded and smiled at him. “How is it that you are so amazing?” Elena asked.
A mischievous smile spread across his face. “My Elena, I am amazing in many ways. In fact, I think I would like to show you one thing that I am particularly good at,” he murmured, his voice and eyes already smoky.
