by A.J. Aaron
“The garden of the world has no limits, except in your mind.”
Rumi
21
I sat beside Leyna in her room, and watched her wither away—her muscles deteriorated; her face became sullen and hollow. For two weeks, I read books to her, talked at her, watched movies with her, but there was no change. Then, I had a visitor.
“C’mon, Sevilen. Time is running out. Heal this girl and be done with it.”
I looked into his beautiful eyes. “I can’t do it.”
Gabriel looked at me pleadingly; his chestnut hair and creamy skin shined with the light of the divine. He became angry. “Can’t or won’t, dipshit! I know it’s not can’t, you’ve had your download. All you need to do is do it. As Yoda said to Luke Skywalker in your movie, ‘No try, Luke, do!’ So do it!”
Gabriel softened and smiled warmly. “Did that sound threatening? Michael always says I can’t scare a mouse. Anyway, when her birthday comes, although to me it looks like it might be sooner, she will pass from that body and you will lose her once again. You said you loved her and she said she loved you, so get on with it.”
Aysel materialized on my lap. “Sevi, dear. Listen to Gabby. Fix this mess.”
She hopped off my lap and walked around the room, inspecting the changes Alexander had made to Emily’s room. “I’m glad he arranged it so this medical stuff can leave and the room will look nice again. The refurbishment of this house is something to speak of. It’s better than my magic.”
“That’s because it wasn’t done with any magic other than money and labor. That’s why it’s better. My powers got Leyna into that bed.”
“Sevi, the reason she is in the bed isn’t because of you. Everything happens for a reason. Now you love each other and can move forward. If you were a man then, do you think she would have fallen in love? With her issues, she would have run off again. What you did was brilliant.”
“She loves Sahasha, not me. So what good is that? If she sees me, she won’t know I was Sahasha.”
“You will need to convince her, that’s all. She will love you because you were inside of Sahasha. You can deal with it when it arises. Fix her.”
“I don’t know how. This doesn’t exist. You’re not here. Gabriel isn’t here sitting patiently while we fight.” I looked at Gabriel and he just rolled those green eyes as I tried to convince myself he wasn’t another of my demented mind’s fabrications.
Aysel came over, grabbed my neck, and pulled my face close to hers. “What does it take to convince you? The mere action of you thinking, desiring, intending something, can start the process. First. you need to know that it will work. When you changed into Sahasha you were looking for a solution to your situation and willed to find one. Sahasha was the solution—a very logical one. You intended it and it worked. Let me show you.”
“Okay, show me.”
I turned to Gabby. “Gabby. As one of my mind’s fabrications, what do you think about this?” Gabby lounged on the couch at the side of the room, gazing at his fingernails. Gabby’s lime green bell-bottom pants and sky blue silk shirt contrasted with the blood red velvet of the sofa and created a picture to remember.
“I love this color combination, don’t you? If you had fabricated me, do you think you would have come up with what I’m wearing? Come now. I’m with Aysel. She knows what she’s doing. She’s a god like you, except an experienced one. Just go along with her.”
Aysel nodded to Gabby and turned back to Sevilen. “Remember the tea set I always used when we’d have tea? Remember the way it smelled and tasted? I want you to concentrate on that and want it. Want it to be here on the table beside you and know it will be.”
“Okay.”
“Close your eyes and remember it.”
I closed my eyes and remembered Aysel and I in the parlor when I saw her, the day before her body died. I smelled what I thought was her perfume and imagined her standing in that dress and heels looking about fortysomething. I imagined the tea set on the table and smelled the steaming tea. I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be nice to be enjoying tea like that with Aysel again?” I opened my eyes.
“Sevi. I don’t want to be forty again, but for you I will be. And this dress is much too old-fashioned for me now.”
I had transported us downstairs to the parlor, which looked like it did when I’d had tea with Aysel before she died. I sat in the clothes I had worn that day.
“I guess the picture in my head had too many details?”
“I should say so, but you did it!”
Alexander walked into the parlor, smiling. “Aysel, so good to see you. I see you’ve prevailed upon Lord Sevilen to do a little trick.”
“Sevi did a trick for me so he could see how easy it would be to heal Leyna.”
“This is just a dream, Alexander, don’t worry.”
“No dream, sir.”
Gabriel sauntered down the stairs. If it weren’t for his glow, I’d say he was just a nutcase and not an archangel.
“Nutcase! Thanks a lot! You’re the two who so rudely left me alone up there with poor, decrepit Leyna.” Gabriel took a cup, filled it with tea, and sat on the couch next to us. “Good tea, Sevi, just like Aysel’s.”
“Thanks.”
Alexander prompted me. “What more would it take to prove this is real and you aren’t dreaming? Help me here.”
Aysel pinched me hard.
“Ouch!”
Alexander clapped his hands once. “Thank you, Lady Aysel. See, Lord Sevilen, not dreaming. Good, done, go fix Leyna.”
“Dreams can seem so real.”
“Remember the bookstore trip you made and how I remembered you looking silly—dancing and singing? You were just about convinced then. How about what happened in Prague? That was real; Leyna is here to prove it. You learned things about her and fell in love. Now the only choice you have is to believe it is real, or believe that life is assuredly no more than a dream. Because, sir, you are in it and it has happened. Be it a dream, fabrication of a demented mind, or whatever you would like to call it. What would be going on now if you…” Alexander raised his hands to make two quotation marks as he said, “…woke up? Your love would still be upstairs dying.”
I was stumped. Gabby reclined on the couch looking at me over the cup of tea he sniffed. Aysel was bouncing her leg and wanting to get out of that dress and forty-year-old body. I pictured her how she was when she arrived and she changed back.
“Thank you. You’re lucky my free will allows you such liberties, young man.”
“Sorry, Aysel. So, are you guys gonna help me do it?”
Gabby spoke for all of them. “We can be there to support you, but you have to be the one to do it. It’s your two’s doing to get done. I can call Raphael if you want an expert healer with you. He can help you form the image of health. That’s what he does best.”
Raphael appeared and looked around the room at each of us. “I was wondering when I might be back. How ya doin’, Sevi, Aysel, Gabby, Al? Excuse the fancy clothes, but I had a more conservative customer I was working with.”
Raphael brushed off his expensive wool blend, charcoal and blue pinstripe suit. He adjusted the cuffs, ran his hand through his short, light blond hair, went straight to the tea, poured a cup and tasted it. “As good as Aysel’s, Sevi. See? You can do it. Healing is a cup of tea.” His light gray eyes looked at me over the cup. His pale, smooth skin announced his divinity.
“I guess this is it.” My palms got sweaty, my heart started to race.
Raphael nearly choked on his tea. “Excuse me. Sevi, it won’t work that way. Fear negates everything. No fear. Calm yourself and like Aysel said to you earlier, ‘No try, do!’”
“That was me, not Aysel,” Gabby said. “I was talking about the Star Wars movie.”
“Whatever. You watch too much television. You need a job that keeps you busier, Gabby.”
“No, you need to become more efficient and then you could experience some culture as well.”
“Huh, culture? Star Wars?”
“Yeah, the force be with you and all that. It’s a lot like what we do.”
“Never mind.” Raphael rolled his eyes, slugged down his tea, and put the cup on the tea service. “Let’s do this.” He strolled confidently up the stairs with all of us in tow. We surrounded Leyna’s bed.
Raphael took a close look at her. “Man, she looks bad. She’ll die soon if we don’t do something. You ready, Sevi?”
My palms were still sweating and my heart raced even faster as I looked down at her. “How do I calm down?”
Raphael put his hands on my shoulders, closed his eyes and asked me to close mine. An electric-like energy coursed through me. My heart slowed. My tension was released. I saw a peaceful glade in my mind’s eye, with a waterfall pouring into a clear pool. I smelled the fresh air and felt the grass beneath my bare feet.
Raphael took his arms off me. I opened my eyes and his gray blue eyes stared back at me. “Feeling better?”
“Yes, much better. How did you do that?”
“I had a little help from Auriel for the nature part, to get it right, but basically I envisioned what I wanted you to experience and you did. The same way you’re going to heal Leyna. Stay calm. First, let me give you the vision of her in perfect health.”
He put his hands on me again and I saw Leyna, inside and out, perfectly healthy, happy, loving, no longer withered. I saw her eyes open. She smiled. I took her emotions, hang-ups, and issues, and exchanged them for normal, healthy replacements.
“Okay, now take that and intend it for her.”
“Should I touch her like you touched me?”
“It doesn’t matter. I just do it because I like to. I could have done that without you seeing me, from a million miles away, or from another dimension entirely. So can you. It’s whatever works for the situation. Go ahead.” He motioned to Leyna.
My audience was captivated. Gabby sat on the couch, sipping tea, as if watching a movie. Aysel sat alongside Gabby, elbows on her knees and hands under her chin holding her head up. Her eyes were wide with anticipation and when I looked at her, she smiled and nodded for me to continue.
I walked to the bed and held Leyna’s limp hand. A couple of deep breaths and I felt relaxed. I closed my eyes and reran the vision Raphael gave me.
A surge of energy went through me. My body stiffened. Noise rushed in my head like a tornado. Slowly, it subsided. My body relaxed. Peace, calm.
Leyna’s hand went from being limp to squeezing mine. I opened my eyes and looked upon a healthy Leyna with no sign of the deterioration there a moment before. I choked up with tears. Dream or not, it was done and I had her back.
I gave her a big hug and placed kisses all over her face while I ranted, “I did it! She’s here! She’s well!”
“Sevilen? Oh, relax. You make it seem like I was going to die or something.”
“You were going to die. Remember Prague?”
“I remember falling in love with a girl named Sahasha.”
“Well, you were shot in the head when you were with her in Prague. But, now you’re well. I healed you with the help of Raphael.”
Leyna looked at me quizzically. “If you say so.”
She looked around the room. “Gabby? Rapper? Rapper, you cut your hair. You look so handsome. And who are these nice people, Sevi?”
“This is Alexander.” Alexander came to the bed, took Leyna’s hand, and kissed it as he bowed.
“Lady Leyna, I’ve waited so long for this day.” He placed his hand on Aysel’s back as she approached the bed. Leyna sat up and reached her hand out to Aysel. Alexander presented her. “This is Lady Aysel. Sevilen’s great grandmother and the past Designated One.”
Aysel held her hand. “Hi, sweetie. I’m so happy you and Sevi were able to fall in love in Prague. I can’t wait until you go through the rest of the gates. You’ll be a wonderful god.”
“Sevi, in Prague? I fell in love with a girl named Sahasha.”
Aysel looked at Sevilen. “You need to switch for a moment to show Leyna the truth.”
In an instant, Sahasha was standing before Leyna. Fear filled Leyna’s eyes as she gasped and curled up against the headboard. Sahasha slowly took Leyna’s hand and kissed her cheek. The fear drained as she melted from the touch. I changed back to myself before I pulled away from Leyna’s face.
“Oh my God!” Leyna cried out as she looked at me with her hand over her mouth.
Aysel said, “Now don’t get nervous, Sevi had to do that in Prague so you wouldn’t run away from him again.” Aysel then turned into her favorite homeless man and stood smiling and drooling.
Leyna pointed. “You, you, you were the guy outside the jewelry store.”
Aysel changed back into her favorite body again.
Leyna screeched. “Ahh!” She covered her mouth.
Aysel reassured her, “Don’t get so shook, sweetie. You can do this, too, or will soon. For now, just relax and let’s get comfortable and enjoy each other’s company a little. Maybe you’d like to eat something. I’ll bet you’re famished.” Aysel held Leyna’s hand while Leyna calmed down.
Leyna took her hand from Aysel and rested it over her heart. “Please, yes, and a drink. Maybe a glass of wine, or a bottle even? Sevi was Sahasha? This is too much.”
Aysel took Leyna’s hands in hers again and closed her eyes. Leyna calmed instantly. “That’s it. Relax. Everything is exactly as it should be. Now. Food and drink? I think a celebration is in order.”
Leyna nodded. “Whatever you just did, I feel better now. Thanks. I need to shower and change first, though.”
Aysel looked deeply into Leyna’s eyes. She kissed Leyna on the cheek. “If you’d allow me, I can take care of that for you.”
“No, no, you don’t need to bathe me, I feel fine and I can do it myself.”
“Not in the bathroom. Magically bathe and dress you. The way I changed and Sevi changed. Little black dress maybe, some heels, nice gold earrings and necklace, hair in a bun, eyeshadow, lipstick, mascara, perfume, and fresh-brushed teeth. What else, anything?”
“Uh,” was all Leyna could say as Aysel stood her up and said, “Aracka manda, soti manda, mendusa, mendico.” Aysel then let out a loud burp, and Leyna was transformed just as Aysel had detailed it.
I had to comment. “Wow. Nice job. Leyna you look gorgeous. Aysel, what were those words you said and why did you burp after?”
“Excuse me. Can’t I burp? I shoveled the two doughnuts down I was snacking on when Gabby showed up here,, and that’s what I got for it.” Aysel laughed and said, “Sorry.”
“But the words, is that something I need to learn?”
Aysel laughed. “No, silly. They’re not real words, just a little gobble Dee-gook.” Aysel spun on the toe of her shoe, and by the time she had spun all the way around, she wore a short white dress similar to Leyna’s black one, but with silver jewelry rather than gold. She smelled like fresh air, lavender, and frankincense.
“There, the fresh air smell is from the shower. Nice touch, don’t you think?”
Alexander said, “Isn’t this perfect? I’ll prepare drinks and dinner downstairs. Shall we meet on the patio out back before dinner? I’m proud of you, Lord Sevilen. You now have your full powers back.” He hugged me before leaving the room. Gabby and Raphael came over to congratulate and hug me as well.
Gabby said, “I feel so underdressed. I like Raphael’s suit, though.”
Gabby’s changed into a duplicate of Raphael’s clothes, but the suit had a green pinstripe instead of gray. Gabby made his chestnut hair the same way as well. Raphael was shaking his head.
“I’m telling you, Gabby, Michael was right, he is the keeper of truth, and the truth is you’re not creative at all. You just copy things.”
“Raphael! Please. Take it as a compliment.”
“Never mind, it’s okay.” Raphael put his arm around Gabby’s shoulders, and jostled him jokingly.
I looked at
this gathering and it was quite odd. Aysel came over and held me at arm’s length while she studied me.
“May I?” she asked.
“Of course, I need to look as nice as you girls do.”
Aysel blinked and in a split second my clothing changed, my body felt freshly scrubbed, and I smelled clean and fresh. I adjusted the cuff of the black tux I now wore as I admired my reflection in the wall mirror.
The tie was tied loosely and its material was just visible with the old-fashioned formal collar with stiff front points. The pants fit perfectly and fell evenly, toe to heel, on my black leather loafers.
Aysel looked at my left wrist. “Oops.” A Rolex appeared.
“Thank you, great grandmother. Do I look the way you want me to?”
“Lovely.” She took a step back and looked at Leyna and me. “This is what I’ve been waiting for.”
Aysel kissed our cheeks and took Leyna’s hand. “Ready?”
Her face showed obvious confusion and disbelief, but she wasn’t running away this time.
