by Lyra Shanti
“Oh, she sees you,” said Lod Enra with a deathly stare, “and she knows what you did to her offspring. You made them destroy the world around them as you sought to conquer the ocean, as well as the entire universe. You, more than I, or any leader before us, have depleted and twisted plasma to your own end. For that, you must be given justice. Goodbye, Kurin Vax. May your soul never find its rest.”
Reaching out, Lod Enra gripped Vax’s throat and held it firmly. He then lifted the prime minister high into the air and squeezed hard.
“Father!” yelled Miara as she witnessed Vax's face turn pale-green.
“Your father will soon feel all the sickness he has given others,” replied Lod Enra as he continued to squeeze. “Then, he will either become one of Osha’s children, or he will die, being found unworthy.”
Vax’s eyes bulged as pus began pouring from his ears, nose, and lips. He then went completely limp and gave his last exhale. Lod Enra let go, dropping Vax to the floor of the roof.
“He was found unworthy,” said the once great Ohrian king as he turned to face Fola and Miara. “Now, I must return to my queen.”
He then stood on top of the ledge of the roof, looked at Miara, and said, “This universe is fated to die, but perhaps we shall see each other again in the spirit world. If you see my son, please look after him. He will need guidance. Farewell.”
With that last word, he fell backwards off the roof. Miara and Fola stood, shocked and horrified at what had just happened.
“Fola?!” said Zin through her com-link. “What’s going on? Is Vax gone? Raven is dying! I need you to get help!”
Fola remained silent. Not only had she just witnessed the unfathomable, but she felt something was very wrong. She didn’t fear Osha’s supposed wrath, nor the end of the world, but she did fear a life without her brother, and somehow, she just couldn’t sense him any longer. Unable to respond, she took off her com-link, sat on the floor, and cried.
--
“It’s not the end,” Axis told himself. “It can’t be. I will find you, Father! I know you’re there!”
Axis felt so close. He felt the bright warmth in his soul-father’s heart, and he could even sense the timing was right.
“You’re on a beach!” he happily guessed. “And on Ohr! I can almost see you!”
About to break through the barrier of time and space, Axis began clearing away the protective shield around him. Entering the Ohrian atmosphere, he saw the battle taking place, and immediately took shelter on top of a mountain. What in the world is happening? he asked himself.
As he squinted, looking down at the shore, he saw Ayn and Zasaban hiding behind a big, jagged rock. “Father!” he yelled as he extended his wings wide. Soaring above, he aimed for Ayn with all his might.
However, just as Axis approached where Ayn rested, he was suddenly stopped by a huge tidal wave, which threw him into the ocean.
He gasped for air and flew back out of the water. Coughing, he looked to see what had made the huge wave and couldn’t believe what he saw. It was biggest Sarax he’d ever seen. It wasn’t typically Sarax looking, but he felt it had a Sarax’s soul, and as he watched it rising out of the ocean, Axis was overwhelmed by its terrifying nature. The creature was deep blue and had eight enormous tentacles coming out of its outstretched wings. Even more unimaginable, the monster’s mouth had sharp, razor-like teeth with a long, horned snout for a nose. It looked like a nightmare from his childhood, and it was heading for the shore of the beach.
Axis could sense its intention and became horrified. It’s Osha! he panicked. And she is going to destroy all life!
Flying as fast as he could toward the beach, he yelled, “Ayn! Father! Don’t give up! I’m here!”
Chapter 21: The Queen of the Deep
“Axis?” said Ayn, groggily. After shaking off his disbelief, he found his strength again and stood up. “Oh, my Gods!” he exclaimed. “It’s Axis! Look, Zas! He’s come back!”
Zasaban smiled knowingly as they watched Axis swoop down from the sky. Landing on the rock where they had been resting, Axis said, “Ayn! Get on my back! We need to stop this monster!”
Nodding quickly, Ayn jumped up on his beloved friend’s back. “Zas, we’ll do what we can to stop her. Is there anything I can say that will make her withdraw from this battle?”
“No, Ayn,” he sadly replied. “I never could get through to her myself. If you can’t find the words, then we are all doomed.”
It wasn’t exactly the advice Ayn was looking for.
“Come on!” Shouted Axis as he lifted up into the sky. “Osha is moving toward the shore now! If she doesn’t stop, she’ll crush everything in her way!”
“How do you know about her, Axis? Where have you been?”
“I’ll explain everything later, Ayn. For now, we need to bond like we did before so we can stop her with our combined power!”
Ayn nodded, though he wasn’t sure how they were going to do that. Osha was extraordinarily large, and her enraged plasma radiated all over her body. “She probably has the same vortex suction tentacles as the drones,” said Ayn.
“Yeah… or worse,” Axis replied, flying as fast as he could.
Ayn looked back and noticed the drones were still standing motionless amidst the waves Osha had brought, as if waiting for her command. Ayn didn’t understand what they were waiting for, but there was no time to ponder the matter.
Axis swooped directly in front of what he hoped was her head.
“Now what?!” Ayn shouted.
“I don’t know!” replied Axis. “Just do something!”
Ayn wanted to laugh. His urge to laugh, however, quickly changed to the need to panic when the giant creature opened its dark purple mouth. It was shaped like one of the drones with sharp razor-like teeth inside of an enormous suction cup, but it was twenty times larger.
“I can’t do this!” yelled Ayn.
“You’ve got to try!” Axis shouted in return.
Osha’s mouth then spewed out a fierce spray of water and spit, landing all over Ayn. He gripped Axis’ fur and held his breath. It was disgusting, but also emotionally upsetting. It felt to him like she had just screamed at them with all her pain. His ears hurt and his brain throbbed.
“Move out of my way!” he thought he heard her say in his mind.
Wiping his mouth of her spit, Ayn shook his head and mentally replied, “No, Osha. I can’t let you destroy us. There is still hope!”
Even more enraged, the monster lifted her magnificent tentacles and swatted at Axis and Ayn. Swerving around them as best he could, Axis yelled, “She’s not listening!”
To make matters worse, they heard plasma-bombs fired in their direction. “They’re trying to take her down with plasma!” shouted Axis. “But she feeds off plasma! How stupid!”
Ayn looked back to see where the bombs were coming from and almost fell. Gathering his balance, he saw them being fired by Ohrian soldiers. He knew he’d not be able to stop them.
Seeming to grow stronger from the hits of plasma, Osha opened her mouth and screamed again, though this time, it wasn’t just a spray of water and spit. Ayn could see the plasma inside her mouth. It was hideously black and purple with crackling static surrounding the infinite worlds inside. As Ayn looked closer, he knew with his entire gut that she was about to shoot the beach with the most negatively charged plasma he’d ever seen or felt.
“We’ve got to stop her, and fast!” yelled Ayn.
“How?!” shouted Axis.
Instinctively, Ayn grabbed onto his medallion and thought about Adin. He thought about how strong he once was, and how connected he and his Sarax used to be. Then, as he felt the plasma coursing through his body, he realized he didn’t need Adin or his past; he had his own Sarax now, and they were together again. Grabbing onto Axis’ fur, he leaned down and said, “Freeze time.”
“Huh?” Replied Axis.
“Freeze time,” repeated Ayn, “and we’ll show her the beauty of this world.”
Axis still didn’t quite understand, but he knew that if he didn’t do as Ayn said, Osha was going to destroy, not just Ohr, but the entire galaxy.
Nodding, Axis closed his eyes and thought hard about time. He raised his plasmic shield and imagined it growing to cover him and Ayn, and Osha too. He then uttered the word, “Stop.”
Opening his eyes, he looked around and saw nothing but the gold-peach color of his and Ayn’s plasma mixed together. It had worked. He had stopped time.
“Where are we?” asked Ayn as he slid off Axis’ back and stood onto a soft, invisible surface.
“Nowhere, really,” replied Axis as he changed into his Sirini form. “This is a time lapse. It’s where I go when I need to calm down and think. It helped when I couldn’t find you at first. I guess it’s like my way of meditating.”
Looking around, Ayn tried to see if Osha was there, but all he could see was a plasmic cloud of sparkling gold.
“Axis… this is your soul’s energy, isn’t it?”
Axis smiled and said, “Yeah… I guess it is.”
“It’s beautiful, my friend,” said Ayn with genuine, tear-filled eyes.
Axis felt his heart well up with a mix of sadness and love. “Ayn… I’m not just your friend. I mean, I am, but I’m more. I’m your son from long before. Don’t you remember, Adin? I was your Xam, and we fought together side by side, just like we do now. You and I… we’re bonded in more than friendship - more than plasma. We never need the vortex rod to be powerful, Ayn. All we need is each other. They can’t stop our family, or our spirits.”
Moved beyond words, Ayn grabbed Axis by the shoulders and held him tight. “I remember,” he said. “I never really forgot. I just… couldn’t face the-”
“You couldn’t face your death,” came a voice, familiar, yet frightening.
She walked into their plasmic cloud and immediately penetrated it with darkened purple energy.
“But that death was not the end,” said Osha as she walked to them in Ohrian form. “Death is never truly the end… if you mortals understood that fact, you wouldn’t fight in vain to stop me from what I must do.”
With her long black hair and slinky dark dress, she reminded Ayn of his sister, Emelanthia.
“You were a priestess once… a long time ago,” said Ayn. “I can feel it. You were once a part of my soul-family. What happened?”
She smiled and walked closer to him. Appearing thin, tall, and elegant, she intimidated Ayn with her powerful, aged presence. “You are remembering your true self, my descendant. Unfortunately, you are much too late. I’ve made my decision. This world is too far gone in its greed and polarity. It must be balanced, no matter the sacrifice. It is the way of the universe, and I am its physical will. I am Nature’s incarnation. Only a few of the Tirleni remember the truth of me, and I would spare them, if I could. But it is not possible. To purify the galaxy, I must destroy it.”
“What?! That’s crazy!” blurted Axis.
She turned to him and said, “Hush, my grandson. I was once fiery like you. It is a habit of the Sarax, especially from the line of Xam the First, my long ago mate. He has left this universe, but his legacy lives on inside you. Bless your strength, Axis, but you are too late. My judgment is final.”
“No offense, Grandmother,” said Axis with a sneer, “but who died and made you the Goddess who gets to decide who lives and dies?”
“Everyone died,” she said with a deadpan expression. “When the Sarax were hunted as trophies by Ohrians, Krians, and Deiusians alike, my husband left for another world, along with many of my kin. I tried to convince him that this universe was worth saving, but he had lost faith. Soon, I saw my entire kin die out as I took refuge in the great ocean. I became one with its depth and beauty, and I made a life here as a creature under the water. I changed my shape and appeared only to those who sought peace and light. I was beautiful then, seeming like a Goddess to my followers. I even protected Ohr with my plasma, hoping it would spring new wisdom inside its inhabitants.
“Unfortunately, as years passed, only the Tirleni treated the plasma in this world with care. The Ohrians have turned our life force into a massive sickness that has spread so far into the universe that the only way now to heal it is to destroy this world. Do you think I take joy from doing so? I fought with everything I had to save this planet, and this galaxy! But… after they took my children, and tortured them, brainwashing them to do evil, I now have no choice. I must end all this suffering so we can start again. It’s the only way.”
“It’s not the only way,” said Ayn as he reached for her hand.
Withdrawing, she folded her arms and looked at him with skeptical eyes. “What do know, my young descendant? You may feel old, but you have no idea what age is. I have seen the future, my boy, and it is nothing but sickness and greed.”
“I know,” said Ayn. “I may be younger than you in body, but not in soul. I know how evil people can be - how foolish. They think they can own everything nature gives them, and to feel powerful, they tear apart what they don’t understand. It’s a repeated pattern too; they pretend that conquering others makes them stronger. It’s an illusion, but they fall for it… time and time again.” Looking down at his Viha, he added, “I was even murdered in my previous life by such men. I remember the pain and confusion it gave me, and I almost took out all my rage on the world. But Osha… there’s so much more to this world than anger and pain.”
She shook her head sadly. “You’re going to tell me that love is hope, and that I should give love another chance.”
Ayn slowly shook his head. “No, not just love, but those of us who appreciate life, and are grateful for what we have. There is beauty and kindness in this world, Osha. There is a way to heal this universe of Plasma Sickness, I know it. If you help me, I’m sure I can do it.”
She sighed and said, “You are naive, my boy. Strong of heart, but terribly naive. This universe is so infected that it would be impossible. I have tried, for I was once a great healer. All there is left inside me now is sadness.”
Sadness... thought Ayn. “Maybe that is exactly the way to heal,” he whispered, realizing the answer as he spoke. “I will heal The Un, Osha. Just watch me.”
Sitting down in a meditative position, Ayn closed his eyes. Trusting that Osha was too curious about what he was doing to go back to her plan of destroying all life, he took a deep breath and silenced his mind.
Axis watched Ayn’s plasmic aura glow around them, making the cloud of time even brighter. Is he actually using his plasma the way a Sarax does? thought Axis, excited and impressed. Father! You can do it! I’m right here with you!
Ayn couldn’t hear him, only feel his soul. He could feel Osha’s true soul as well, which was not evil, but deeply conflicted and hurt. He sensed and remembered her pain, as though it was his own. Taking on her feelings and memories, he saw her doubled over and crying about losing her child to Vax’s scientists. They had tortured it until it turned into a hideous, twisted creature. Then, they replicated it and made the drones. In her mind, they were her children, and still beautiful, but like how she saw the universe, and even herself, they had become twisted and dark. To match them, she turned herself into a creature of negative plasma, and she focused all her power on the day that the drones came back to her.
Ayn then saw her plotting revenge as she sang the plasmic vibration to the Ohrians who died. Singing them back to life, the undead now were hers to command, and she wanted them as her own army. Laughing to herself in the darkness of the ocean, she longed for the day Vax made his final move. She knew he’d lose control of his drones, and she would call her children back to her, releasing them from his sonic hypnosis. Then, they would wait for her to unleash the undead as they killed all those who destroyed her beloved oceanic world.
Ayn felt a pain deep inside his soul, as if he’d been gutted through by a poisonous hook. He then saw Pei and felt his soul-brother’s agony as if it were his own.
“Oh, Gods,
Reese,” said Pei as he lay on the Tirleni medic’s table. “I’m going to die. I know it. It stings so bad!”
“Hang on, my sweet man,” she replied, hunching over him with tears in her eyes. “I’m not letting you go! We’ve got to make babies together, remember?”
“I’m so sorry…” he softly replied. “I don’t think I’ll be able to honor our agreement.”
“You bastard!” she cried. “Pei! Stay with me!
Ayn almost broke out of his deep meditation when he saw what was happening to his beloved brother-in-soul. It wasn’t the only painful death he could sense, however.
Ayn next saw Zin wailing over Raven’s cold body. She had passed into the light, but he couldn’t let her go. Miara was trying to console her king, but couldn’t reach him.
The misery of loss was too great, and it was everywhere. Fola too felt emptiness without Sterek, her other half. She sat on the tower’s floor, staring ahead as the Ohrian guards came to arrest her.
Ayn knew their pain would only grow. He began feeling immense sickness within his plasma, as if it were eating his body from the inside.
He then flashed to a future where Ona lay sick and pale-faced on her bed, just like his own mother, unable to fight against her inevitable illness.
“NO!” yelled Ayn, though still deep in meditation.
Axis bit his lip, wanting to help. All he could do was send his love, and hope his soul’s father could feel it. “Father, I’m here,” he whispered as he bent down and placed his hand on Ayn’s shoulder. “You’re not alone.”
“So… much… pain,” said Ayn through gritted teeth.
“He sees and feels the truth of life,” said Osha. “Soon, he’ll come to realize it is the natural way of things, and that destruction is the only way to heal the pain.”
Ayn reached up to feel Axis’ warm hand. The plasma in Axis’s fingers moved through Ayn, and for a moment, he felt love again.
Opening his eyes, he saw a vision unlike anything he’d ever seen. He saw the Sarax flying in the clouds with all the souls of those who have passed, and all the souls of those who were just being born. He saw Reese and Pei, Zin and Raven, Sterek and Fola, and all the fallen soldiers of the battle. He felt their pain, but he knew it has been transformed into love, which healed them when they had passed into the light.
