Levels of Ascension BoxSet

by Amy Proebstel

  As if on cue, Juila took a deep breath and removed her hand from the stone on the shelf. She took a step back and gazed in wonder at the leering skull looking back at her. There was so much she still needed to learn, but she had seen enough in the few minutes that she was willing to wait quite a while before trying to touch it again.

  Juila looked over at her sister and saw she was still enthralled by the magic of her own samara. That was how Juila now viewed the stones. They each owned the stone they had touched. The idea felt so right. Without even thinking, Juila’s thoughts entered Jena’s mind and asked, Can you put the samara down? I think we’ve learned enough for now.

  Jena seemed to shudder, but her arms moved jerkily upward until the stone was, once again, resting back in the niche in which it had been found. Her hand immediately rose and grasped the birth crystal around her neck. She knew her heart was racing with the exciting images she had seen. She needed to feel the calming power of her own crystal for a few moments. Jena took a deep breath and took her hand away from her necklace.

  Juila smiled at Jena’s reaction. She had felt the same way. Suddenly her happy smile turned to a look of astonishment. She pointed and said, “Jena! Look at your crystal!”

  Jena immediately pulled her crystal forward on its chain until she could easily see it in front of her. Her gasp alarmed both of her parents and they came rushing forward. She held it out for them to see how it had changed. All of her life she had been plagued with a black stone denoting a hard life full of danger. Now her fingers were cradling a deep amethyst stone instead.

  “What does that mean?” Amanda asked with alarm. From one of her deepest memories, she recalled a conversation she had had with Barla. The stones could change color with the circumstances of a person’s life. It was more typical for a stone to get darker with a person’s life choices. Jena’s stone had already been as dark as it could possibly get and the fact that it was now lighter could only mean her daughter had taken the first step in making her life better, safer even.

  “It means Jena has made the correct choice in claiming that particular samara,” Riccan declared.

  Juila rushed forward to hug her sister. She was so happy to see her sister one step away from the dangerous life promised to her. This had to be the start of a great adventure. Juila tightened her grip as she felt her sister start to slump toward the floor. “Help me, Dad! I think Jena is fainting!”

  Riccan rushed forward just in time to catch his daughter. He easily picked her up and carried her from the secret room. It was probably better to get her away from the overwhelming power of the samaras, even if it could make her safer. Jena had clearly reached her breaking point. Riccan only hoped he had not mistakenly pushed the girls too far. The last thing he wanted was to hurt their minds with the power of the samaras.

  When he had linked with Jena’s birth crystal, he had been amazed at the power coursing through his daughter. She had seemed to be reveling in the energy as it moved all around and through her. Jena was far stronger than he had ever suspected. He looked down at her serene face and realized she was still so young. He should never have asked them to test out his theory. As his father had warned, he had made mistake number two.

  He placed her on the couch in the living room. He wanted to make sure they had good lighting to see if she were going to need additional medical attention. Healing had never been his strong point, but he could easily get his father to their house if need be. Elders were taught healing skills before being elevated to the Elder status.

  Riccan wished he had actually attended any of the supplementary meetings which had been offered for the children of the Elders. He had always had something else going on in his life at the time, so he had missed them each anon. The only healing practice he had received was the training he had gleaned in high school to achieve his crystal proficiency in the subject. If he were ever to be elevated to the status of Elder after his father either stepped down from office or passed away, then he would have to get more serious about that particular training.

  He watched his daughter’s pale face to see if she were in any distress. He focused his thoughts to find Jena’s life-line to assure himself of her health. Everything appeared to be in order. Riccan believed she had just been overwhelmed by all of the sensory input from the stone and then the added shock of her birth crystal changing color. It had all been too much, and she had passed out.

  A few minutes had passed, and Riccan was starting to get worried. Just as he was about to go contact his father, Jena’s eyelids began to flicker. He leaned over her just in time to see her eyes open all of the way. She turned her head to find her sister and then started to sit up.

  “Stay down, Jena,” Riccan advised cautiously. “Let your body adjust while you are lying down. We’ll give you a couple more minutes and then you can sit up. Are you feeling strange anywhere? Dizzy? Disoriented?”

  Jena considered all of his questions and determined she felt fine. She shook her head and said, “I think I was just overwhelmed. I feel great, actually!” To appease her father, she remained on the couch in the supine position. She looked again at her sister and asked through their mental link, Did you see everything I saw?

  I think so, it was amazing, wasn’t it? Juila smiled down at her sister. She moved between her parents and sat down on the couch next to Jena’s head. She stroked Jena’s hair and enjoyed the soft feel beneath her fingers.

  Jena closed her eyes as she relaxed, I’m glad we learned all that we did. At least we know we have two more anons to go before we need to worry about what’s to come.

  True, but we have a lot to learn in that time, Juila admonished.

  I think we’ll enjoy the process, Jena smiled even with her eyes closed.

  Juila looked up from her sister’s serene expression and said to their parents, “I think she’s okay now.” At her father’s nod of approval, Juila helped her sister to sit up.

  “Can you tell us what happened when you held the crystal?” Riccan asked as he sat down on Jena’s other side.

  Amanda settled onto the arm of the couch to hear what her daughters would say about their experience.

  “It was really strange,” Jena began as she tried to put into words the ideas and pictures she had seen so swiftly. “It was almost as if I were watching a movie, except faster than anyone could keep up with it. As soon as I picked up the samara, I knew it was made for me to have.”

  Riccan nodded his head in agreement. He had wondered if the stones were actually keyed to an individual and his daughter’s statement seemed to confirm his initial belief. Now he just had to figure out who the owners would be of the other samaras. More to the point, he had to locate the other stones before the owners could be identified. There were eleven more of them out there. Eleven more people who would be instrumental in changing history.

  Juila spoke up to give her sister a chance to form her thoughts. “I felt the same draw to the samara I held. Was that the theory you had in mind, Dad?”

  “Sort of,” Riccan answered. “I had seen the colors of the auras of the two skulls. I don’t know why it took me so long to put it together, but their auras matched your own two birth crystals.” Riccan pointed to his children’s necklaces and then reconsidered as he saw Jena’s was now amethyst instead of black. “At least they used to,” he said gently.

  They had been so concerned with Jena they had not thought to check the samara to see if it had changed. Amanda stood up from the couch arm and said, “I’ll go check it out and see if the samara changed also.” She was thankful for something constructive to do. She had felt so helpless seeing her daughter so pale and still. Amanda had never even learned the rudimentary skills in healing.

  Amanda rushed down the hall and into the library. The door had been left open in their rush to help Jena, so she simply walked into the hidden chamber. She did not make the mistake of getting too close to the powerful stones. She stood at the entrance and focused the energy from her own birth crystal toward the sa
mara in question. Instantly, she felt a pull toward the skulls, but she resisted the temptation to step forward.

  She held out her hand to keep herself next to the bookshelf door. As she continued to focus, the aura began to form around the skull. The rainbow of colors shifted and shimmered until they settled into the traditional rainbow. Where the black had been obvious before, it had now turned into the purple amethyst matching her daughter’s new stone color. Relief coursed through her to know they matched. For some reason, the idea of them being different from one another seemed to upset her sensibilities.

  To satisfy her curiosity, Amanda moved her focus to the samara Juila had chosen. The aura came into focus easier than Jena’s had. It had remained unchanged despite the encounter. She sighed in relief and pulled the elemy back into her birth crystal. She turned and left the secret chamber. This time Amanda was careful to pull the wall closed behind her to disguise the room from any unknowledgeable person. Secrecy was the key to their continued peaceful existence on Earth.

  She returned to the living room and shared her observations with her family. Riccan simply nodded as though he had expected as much. The girls looked at one another but said nothing. Amanda kept feeling as though her daughters were speaking with one another with their thoughts, but it was only an intuition rather than a known fact. She smiled inwardly at her choice of words. Jehoban had told her to trust her intuition so then she must be right about the twins.

  “So what was it like? You said it was like a movie. Did you see specific images?” Riccan pressed to get answers.

  Jena shook her head and said, “I don’t think it’s something that can be explained. It has to be experienced in order to understand. I did feel as though my powers were being augmented. That’s something you could understand. It felt as though I were standing in the center of all the lei lines which ever existed. The power shifted and refocused when Juila touched her own stone. It was better when Juila was involved. Alone, it was quite overpowering.”

  Riccan continued to nod approvingly as Jena kept speaking. He wished he could have felt the same sensations. His observations of Jena through her birth crystal must have paled in comparison to what she had personally felt. Maybe, he thought, I’ll find a stone of my own. Then I’ll know the personal connections Jena and Juila had felt.

  Riccan also felt a small sense of betrayal. The samara had been in his family line so long; he had begun to believe it had been meant for himself. Now that his daughter had laid claim to it, he wanted to find another one. Could there be more than one samara for a family? Of course, there could, he admonished himself, both of your daughters have one! Now I just have to find one keyed to myself!

  Driving lessons were canceled for that evening. After dinner was over, the girls were positively drooping over their plates. Amanda suggested they go up to their rooms and go straight to bed. They had school early the next morning, and it would not do for them to fall asleep on their desks.

  The girls were unresisting of the suggestion and trudged up the stairs as though their legs were weighted down with concrete. They had never known the exhaustion they were currently experiencing. Juila was thankful her bedroom was closest to the stairs. Her mind stayed linked with her sister’s to make sure Jena reached her bed safely.

  Juila was unsure if her tiredness were because of her experience with the samara or if she were feeling Jena’s exhaustion through their twin link. In either event, sleep would be the best cure. As she stretched out on her bed, she rested her head on the pillow and immediately began to dream. The dreams were a slower replay of the scenes she had seen before.

  This time she recognized some of the people. She felt relief when Captain Ahn and Barla appeared in front of her and hugged her. She had not known she had missed the couple so much until that very moment. Captain Ahn moved behind Barla and placed his hands on her shoulders. Her foster parents disappeared and were replaced with Elder Debbon and his wife, Chelesa. She did not feel as comfortable with Jena’s future family.

  Juila rolled over onto her other side, and the dream shifted yet again. This time Rasa appeared for an instant before she turned and blew away like dust. Out of the dust appeared two strangers, a man, and a woman. They were nice-looking people who smiled in Juila’s direction but did not say anything. They turned and walked away. From behind Juila, she could feel movement. She whipped around and discovered Elder Daven and Nena approaching her with their arms outstretched to support her.

  She found herself falling; she could not control the movement. In another moment, Juila bounced on the mattress, and her eyes popped open. Juila looked around her room to make sure she was truly alone. The dream had seemed as though it was trying to tell her something, but she was too tired to try to figure it out. She closed her eyes again and tried to fall back to sleep. Unfortunately, sleep alluded her, so she fell back onto a childhood habit; Juila linked her mind to her sister’s, took a deep breath, and relaxed back into a peaceful sleep.

  Chapter Nineteen

  RICCAN RETURNED TO work a week after the girls started school. Amanda had pressed for him to try to get her a job in Durseni with him. He originally had thought it was a good idea until the incident with the samaras had let him know they had more important things to do than work. He had his obligation to his job, but Amanda was free to continue to research the locations of the remaining samaras without the encumbrance of a job.

  When he returned home after his first day of work, Riccan pulled Amanda aside and finally confided his thoughts. “I thought it would be better for everyone if you didn’t get a job.”

  “What? I loved working with you, Riccan.” Amanda looked up at her husband with a hurt expression. She saw the look on his face and inquired, “What’s really going on?”

  “I argued with my boss, Ela Nena, today. I told her I had gotten married,” he said and then stopped talking to look away in embarrassment.

  “Why would she be mad at you for that?” Amanda could not fathom what could possibly be wrong with getting married.

  “I think she’s jealous of my being happy. I don’t know. She’s a hard one to read. Sometimes I don’t really like her very well.” Riccan sat down on their bed as though he were too exhausted to remain standing.

  Amanda sat down next to him and put her hand on his knee to comfort him. “What else happened today?”

  “I suggested to Ela Nena that you could come and work for me and she about took my head off. She became so unreasonable and irrational, almost as though she were another person entirely. Needless to say, I think it wouldn’t be a very good idea to bring you into the mess at my work.”

  “I see,” Amanda said quietly as she continued to go over what she remembered from her dream about the office politics. She had to believe everything happened for a reason. She was going to focus on what this turn of events could mean for their future.

  “I hope you’re not too upset,” Riccan said as he took his wife’s hand from his knee and held it in his own large hand. He would like nothing better than to spend every waking moment with this woman, but she had better things to do than placate a jealous boss in Durseni. “I was thinking maybe you could use your free time in researching the missing samaras.”

  “That’s a good idea. I just have no idea where to start looking.” She squeezed his hand and glanced up at his eyes.

  “Jehoban had said you should use your intuition for the fulfillment of this prophecy. Why don’t you let the idea simmer in your brain for a while? I’m sure something will come to you.”

  “Okay, I’ll give it a try,” Amanda said. It was then that she realized she would be spending quite a bit of time alone while the girls were in school and Riccan was at work. She would have nothing but time on her hands. She had really set her heart on working with Riccan, but she had to admit he had a point about keeping her time free to focus on the prophecy. Jehoban had said she was the key to the whole thing; it was time to put some effort into finding answers.

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  School continued to be a marvel of new ideas for the girls. They excelled in their classes, and they grew in popularity. They had a new group of friends which they hung around with every day. Behn Wilson was the first new friend they had made. He was the oldest one of a set of triplets, which immediately created a bond with the girls. He had been in their Biology class and had sat at the next desk over.

  Juila had been confused by an assignment and Behn had offered to help them with the steps needed to complete the work. Since that day, Juila had searched for excuses to speak with the tall, handsome boy. She liked his dark, soulful eyes and his expressive eyebrows. Jena often poked her in the ribs to get her attention back on their school work rather than on Behn’s appearance.

  Behn had begun to walk the two girls to their classes. Eventually, they were having lunch together, and that was when the girls were introduced to the other two in the set of triplets, Valentina and Jon. Valentina was almost as tall as her brother, Behn, but she had blonde hair with brown eyes. She often teased Behn for his nerdish ways even though she was just as smart as he. Jon was leaner than Behn, slightly shorter, and considerably quieter than his siblings. Jena wondered if it were because he was not as smart or if he were just more reserved in his conversational skills. She tended to believe it was the latter.

  There seemed to be some sort of relationship budding between Jon and Sofia. Neither of them talked about it at all, but the chemistry between the two was very entertaining. Sofia was outgoing and outspoken, and she tended to tease Jon into talking or joking around. Eventually, Sofia admitted she had a crush on Jon and asked Juila’s advice on whether she should ask him, or wait to see if he would ask her, to the homecoming dance which was being held in a few weeks.

  Juila had not been much help on the subject since they did not have dances on Tuala. She had been unaware of the upcoming event and did not have any advice to offer. Sofia’s question had started her thinking about Behn asking her to the dance.