“I was told about that. It’s what actually made me say I’d go.”
“How many sessions have you had with her?”
“Today was my fifth one. I’ve seen her every weekday. She asked me to write all of my memories and dreams in a journal in between sessions.”
“She had me do the same thing. At first, I didn’t think it was helping because everything was so confusing. Over time, it has been invaluable to look back in it and review what was important.”
“I think I’m still at the confusing stage,” Neal admitted. He reached behind him to pull his small journal out of his back pocket. He handed it over to Amanda and said, “I’d like you to read it and tell me what you think.”
Amanda hesitantly took the book but did not open it. “Are you sure? These are your memories.”
“I’m sure. I need someone to tell me I’m not going crazy. Dr. Medin speaks highly of you, and I already trusted you, so it seemed pretty obvious to me that you were the only one for this task.”
“Thanks, I think,” Amanda said with a grin. She set the book on her knees and opened it up to the first page. Immediately she could tell Neal had regained more than she had imagined.
He had written everything as if it were a dream, but she knew all of the details were actual memories of his time while he was being addicted to the resh. She was surprised to see he recalled having an engineering job for Elder Vargen—he had even called him by name—which told her it had been real.
She turned the page and saw the entries where Neal recounted meeting Vinia. She did not know the real story, but it was easy to imagine it had taken place much as he had written it. There was a small pang of jealousy which she immediately tamped down because it was not her place anymore.
Because he remembered Vinia, it gave her hope that their relationship could be rekindled. The problem now was where they would live. Vinia had a new start for herself in her home town so it would be unlikely that she would want to relocate to Earth. If Neal decided to go back to Tuala, he would lose his memory again and have to work hard to regain it. He might not think it was worth the risk or the trouble.
When Amanda reached the last page, she shut the book and handed it back to Neal. She could see he was anxious for her honest opinion. It was hard to know whether the truth or a lie would better serve this situation, but she opted for the truth since it felt like a better option.
“Well?” he asked when she remained silent. “Am I going crazy? Is any part of this true?”
“It’s all true, Neal. Your memories are definitely coming back. Keep working with Dr. Medin, and we can set up a regular time to go over any details which you have trouble understanding.”
“Are you kidding? I’m having trouble with all of the details. None of it makes any sense. Why would someone want to enslave me and force me to work on engineering projects? Doesn’t that seem a bit far-fetched to you?”
“Not where Elder Vargen is concerned. Nothing he does surprises me.”
“You say that as if you know the man. Do you?”
“Yes. I know of him, but I’ve never met him.”
“So he’s real?”
“Yes, as real as you and me.”
“Then I want to talk to him. He needs to answer to me for what he’s done!”
“Don’t focus on him right now. Keep working with Dr. Medin and writing in your journal. Soon enough you will realize why your proposition to confront him is a bad idea.” Amanda held up her hand to keep him from arguing. “No, I’m not going to tell you more than you already know. When you are satisfied that your memories are complete, then I’ll let you read my own journal. I think that is when you will finally understand.”
“I still don’t understand why you won’t tell me what you know.”
“I won’t because I want this to be all you. I don’t want anyone to say I planted ideas in your head. Everything you write will be one hundred percent authentic to your own experiences.”
“I guess I’ll have to trust you on this,” Neal capitulated. He could see he was getting nowhere and he did not want to push her away from him again. He would have to be content with what he had gotten already. One thing he had gained from this visit was the assurance that he was not experiencing strange delusions. He trusted Amanda to tell him the truth no matter what.
Amanda patted Neal’s knee when she could see his expression change to acceptance. “I’m glad you asked me to come over. I’ve been worried about you.”
“I’ve been worried about me, too. It’s getting better every day, thanks to you and Dr. Medin.”
“The best advice I ever got was ‘believe everything even when it seems unbelievable’. Once you decide to go with that option, everything will fall into line really fast.”
“Who told you that? It sounds slightly crazy.”
Amanda grinned wickedly, “I wrote it to myself in a note which I found after I lost my memory.”
“That makes even less sense.” Neal shook his head at Amanda’s explanation.
“It’s probably more than I should have shared. That’s all you’re going to get out of me today. I’m going to head home now. I’ll talk to you again soon.”
Neal stood up and wished he could think of more to talk about to keep her longer. Finally, he gave up and asked, “Can I give you a hug?”
“Sure,” Amanda said with a small chuckle. She thought it would bring back memories of a time long-past, but all it did was reaffirm they were merely old friends and nothing more. Amanda left the house feeling satisfied that she had helped her friend move forward.
Chapter Forty-Five
THE SHORT RIDE home was rather quiet for Ahn and Barla. She was thinking about how wonderful her first real experience with her samara had been. He was thinking about Barla keeping her samara a secret from him and what it would be like to have his own. He had to suspend his ruminations long enough to mentally navigate home to Cresdon and then set the telepod down in their private landing space near their home.
Ahn waited until after Corva had gone to bed before asking what was really on his mind. “Can you explain to me what it feels like to be connected to your samara?”
Barla clearly did not expect the question. She was thinking it would be more along the lines of accusing her of keeping secrets. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she tried to give him as accurate of an account as possible.
“You know when you go to access the elemy, and you can see all of the colors of energy flowing by. You pick the colors out which match your birth crystal because it comes easier to you than any other color, or at least that’s how it works for me. Is it the same for you?” Barla’s curiosity began to sidetrack her explanation.
“I’ve never thought of it quite that way, but I guess I could agree with you. Keep going.”
“When I’m linked with the crystal, it’s like the entire flow of energy is already the right color and it practically jumps through me to be used. There is absolutely no effort and no need to contain it because it’s only for my use. But that’s just one aspect of it.”
“What else is there?”
“The samara has a memory of its own. When I’m linked with it, I could see all of the past owners and everything which they used it for, both good and bad. It all goes by so fast it’s hard to make any sense of it. I’m sure if I had more time, I could investigate it and know all of its history.”
“What good would that do you?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe it’s there to teach us how to be responsible with it. If you knew someone was going to review your whole life, don’t you think you might make some different decisions? Better decisions, maybe?”
“I suppose. What else is there?”
“Let’s see, there’s a sense of completeness now that I’ve touched it. I know I can access its power no matter how far away it is because it knows me and I know it. When I first received my birth crystal, I felt a difference in my core, and I thought that was magnificent. This experience ju
st blew that feeling out of the water in how much more powerful it is.
“I don’t think I’m explaining this right. You’ve grown up with your birth crystal so you can’t remember a time when you didn’t have it. Before I got mine, it was as if I were half of a person, unable to utilize Jehoban’s gift of the elemy. Now I think maybe I was only a third of a person. The birth crystal gave me the second third, and then the samara completed me.”
“How could you tell which samara was yours when Amanda put them all on the table? They all looked the same to me, and yet your eyes lit up when yours was brought out.”
“Mine was the only one shimmering with a cloud of bright blue around it. I know what you mean though because all of the others looked like crystal skulls to me. They aren’t linked to me, so they had no pull on my life-line. That’s it! The samara is directly linked to my life-line, so it is almost the same as the way the blood pumps through my veins. It’s a vital part of who I am.”
Ahn was starting to get the idea of how important these samaras were to the owners. He had originally believed they were a fancy bauble, but now he could see they had an elemental tie to the proper owner. He began to think about how his life would be changed when he finally found his own.
Seeing the look on his wife’s face even as she described the sensation, made him slightly jealous of its power over her mind. He had seen the same look overcome Alena’s face when she fixed her samara. It had been almost embarrassing to witness the look which had passed between Bryon and Alena once they both had their samaras. He imagined the same thing would happen between himself and Barla as soon as he had his. It made him want to get his even faster.
He got up and went to the front entry. He rummaged through the pocket of his coat and grabbed the stack of papers he had folded when they had left the meeting. The sooner he discovered where his was, the better he would feel. He wanted to have the same connection with the elemy as his wife was now enjoying. There was so much he had to accomplish, and it would be easier with the help of a supercharged crystal.
“What are you doing?” Barla asked in confusion as he returned to the room and settled back into his chair.
“I’m going to read these stories from Amanda and see if I can find my own samara!” he answered with determination.
Barla smiled at his new attitude. She remained silent as she watched him read. She would read through them after he had finished to see if there were any details with which she could speed up the process. Her mind had wandered until she no longer saw the room around her. She was startled back into the present when Ahn loudly tapped the papers back into a neat stack. “Well?” she asked.
“I’ve read through it all. There were only the tiniest things different, and I can’t see where any of it would lead to a clue, let alone to my samara.” He tipped his head back and closed his eyes. He had been so hopeful for an obvious clue, and now he just hoped to find his samara sometime before he died. It seemed a rather dismal prospect without much direction from the stories.
“It’s too bad you couldn’t just create your crystal like we create our dinner,” she joked. “Let me read those pages, and I’ll see what I can discover.” She held out her hand until Ahn passed them over to her. She tipped the pages to the fire so the light would make them easier to see. All too soon she lost herself in the stories of their past.
Ahn sat mutely as he pondered Barla’s offhanded comment. Was there a way to think his own crystal into existence? Could he possibly visualize it well enough to make it appear? Barla had been more specific in description than she could possibly realize, or else he knew her so well that it made it easier to understand. In either event, Ahn was willing to try anything at this point.
While Barla was distracted by the journal entries, Ahn closed his eyes and focused his attention within himself. He imagined the elemy flowing beneath him in an abundance of dark, storm cloud grey colors. Feeling the call of the energy, he drew it up closer to him until it coursed through his body and tingled in his fingers. He had never attempted anything like this before, and he hoped it was not going to hurt him.
Casting aside his momentary doubt, Ahn imagined his samara resting in his hands, feeling the weight of it, seeing the colors flowing up and around it in the color of his birth crystal. Letting the vision expand, he could feel the link beginning to form and see people he had never before met. With a final rush of energy, he used the same lessons learned in creating to apply to making his samara be right here with him. Almost effortlessly it seemed, the crystal materialized in his hands.
His eyes popped open as the link formed between him and the stone in his hands. Never in his life had he felt anything as profoundly wonderful as the energy coursing through him in that moment. All of the things he had imagined were experienced tenfold more. He understood what Barla meant now about being complete. His samara was home.
Barla noticed something was different in the room and looked up from her reading. She jumped up from her chair and gasped, “What did you do, Ahn?”
“I created it, just like you suggested!” He stood up and looked into her eyes with a look of wonder. “I know what you mean now. This absolutely cannot be described with mundane words. This bond is so much more spiritual.”
“Oh, Ahn! You’re amazing. I can’t believe you took my joke seriously, but I’m so glad you did! I wonder if the others will be able to do it for themselves now that you’ve done it. We need to go to Elder Debbon’s estate right away. I can feel the energy emanating from it from over here.”
“I wish I could have more time with it. There’s so much for me to learn!”
“You won’t need physical contact with it now that it’s linked with you. But if you really want to hold it, then I’m sure Elder Debbon will give you a room in which you can sit and explore its histories. In fact, we might do it together since I’ve never spent any quality time with mine either.”
“Okay, let’s go then. I’m sure they’ll be amazed just like I was!”
“Let me get a towel to cover it. We don’t want anyone to see what you have and start asking questions.”
“Good idea!” Ahn said even as he could feel the energy pulling him to listen and see what it knew. “Hurry up,” he called as he felt like he was losing the battle to remain in the present.
Barla returned immediately with a kitchen towel. She draped it over the top and let Ahn tuck the cloth underneath the precious new samara. Without a word to Corva who was sleeping upstairs, they left the house again and hurried to their telepod.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
The whole student body was overly exuberant because this was the last school day before Christmas break. The teachers pretty much gave up in trying to get any actual teaching done since the students were so distracted. Wandering the halls in between classes was even scary at times as people were running and yelling to one another about their plans for the break.
Willian had discovered the classes were all going to be shortened so that they would be able to only attend a half-day. He had missed three opportunities to meet with Jena between classes because of the crush of bodies. He kept looking around to see if he could spot her, but mostly he just ended up running into other students.
One student was a beautiful girl whom he had never seen before. As soon as their bodies touched, Willian felt a charge of energy course through him, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He hastily grabbed her arm to steady her as she began toppling backward from the force of their meeting. His fingers felt as though they were on fire.
He looked at her eyes to see if she felt the same thing and he saw her own eyes widen in surprise. “Who’re you?” he asked in a whisper.
“Valentina Wilson. Who’re you? I haven’t seen you around here before.”
“Willian Potts.”
She frowned slightly as she recalled hearing his name before. “Are you Jena’s betrothed?”
“Yes, how’d you know?”
“She’s one of my best friends. You
can let go of my arm now; I’m fine.” She stepped away from him, intending to leave as soon as she could. Instead, she felt another pulsing wave of energy as he touched her arm again to keep her from going.
“Do you feel what I feel when we touch?”
Frowning in confusion, she did not want to admit to anything until after she had spoken with Jena to find out what was going on with her betrothed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve got to go. I’m going to be late for class.”
She pulled her arm out of his reach and almost ran in her haste to get away from him. Her mind was racing through what had just happened. It scared her to think she could feel so intimately toward another man after what had taken place with Grobin. What especially disturbed her was that the other man would also be Jena’s betrothed. This was a problem she was going to have to avoid.
Willian watched her run away and realized his heart raced, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. He had heard of instant connections with people, but this had been ridiculous. The word connection did not seem to cover the extent of the feeling he had felt when he had touched her. He had just discovered his destined soul-mate and yet he was betrothed to another.
Between
Ascension
Book Nine
of
The Levels of Ascension
Preface
TIME IS A construct of the people, which prevents them from achieving the success I have ordained for their futures. As Elders, you have been taught the importance of using time to your advantage to be of the best service to your District. Elders should appear to always be in the best place at just the right time, reinforcing the omniscient perception to the populace.
Every instance of time manipulation creates a wrinkle in the fabric of life. Too many wrinkles will lead to a disruption in the natural course of events. Elders, be diligent in your use of travel, and you will not fall into a trap of your own making. Understanding, memorizing, and healing will be your best tools for success when you utilize time to your advantage.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 28
