Ascension Watchers

by Amy Proebstel

  Jon continued to stare at her, hardly hearing her words past the point where she said her dad had been teaching her. He shook his head in confusion, “How does your dad know? I thought he was from Colombia.”

  She pulled Jon over to the bed and had him sit next to her. “I guess you’re not the only one with a complicated past. I didn’t want to say anything to you about it until I knew I was able to access the elemy myself. I guess a part of me still didn’t believe that this necklace was meant for me. After everything I’ve learned, I have no doubt about it anymore.”

  “Don’t keep me in suspense. Tell me everything!”

  “Let’s bring in Val, so I won’t have to repeat it,” she decided swiftly.

  “Fine. VAL!” he yelled in the direction of his closed bedroom door. They could hear heavy footsteps as his sister apparently thought something bad was happening and had come running to the rescue. His door flew open and Valentina stood as if prepared for battle.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked, rapidly scanning the room for any dangers.

  Sofia and Jon could not contain their laughter.

  “I don’t see what’s so funny. If there’s nothing wrong, then why did you yell for me?”

  “Close the door, Sofia has some amazing news she wanted to share with both of us. Come and sit, so she’ll start spilling it.”

  Sofia grinned, ready to really astonish them with her accomplishments. She told them everything her father had revealed and then gave them a demonstration of the first four levels of crystal skills. “So, this makes me just like you guys! Can you believe it?”

  “Have you told Jena or Juila about it yet?”

  “Nope, you two are the first.” She grinned, looking from one to the other, wondering why they did not seem as pleased as she thought they should be. “What’s wrong, Val? How come you look concerned?”

  “It’s just something I heard in passing while I was at the Stel house. I don’t know if it means anything, but I don’t want to say anything until I know all of the details.” She got up from the bed and left the room without looking back.

  “That was weird, even for her,” Sofia said, looking over to Jon. “Do you know what that was about?”

  He shrugged his shoulders, still looking in the direction his sister had gone, wondering what she could possibly be thinking. “Things just keep getting better and better for us,” he murmured as he leaned over to nibble on her neck, causing her to giggle and squirm away from him until they were both lying on the bed. Time slipped away from them as they became so absorbed in finally being together, knowing they had a similar heritage of sorts.

  “Jon! What do you think you’re doing? Get off that bed at once!” Zoey shouted, advancing angrily across the room to glare disapprovingly at her son and his girlfriend. She shook her head, eyes narrowed, and accused, “I expected better from you, Sofia. Both of you really! Dinner’s ready.” She turned and stomped out of the room, not bothering to shut the door behind her.

  “Oops,” Sofia giggled, slightly mortified at being caught, yet not minding how her boyfriend had made her body tingle inside.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Valentina left her brother’s room, barely noticing her surroundings as she tried to imagine what she would say to Jena or Juila. Surely, Sofia’s mom had been one of Elder Vargen’s victims, and she needed to report it somehow, although she realized the timing was terrible. Willian had called to tell her all about Vargen’s trial being completed and how his forced abdication had been a blow to the Apio District, causing all sorts of troubles for all of the other Elders.

  Thinking of Willian gave her an idea. She dashed into her room, slamming the door behind her, and rushing over to her desk to pull out the patil. Touching the screen to activate it, she tapped the programmed button giving her a direct link to her soul-mate. She waited impatiently while the screen kept flashing the words ‘connecting’ incessantly. At the point where she almost gave up, the word switched to ‘connected,’ and Willian’s flushed face showed on the screen.

  “Were you running?” Valentina asked.

  “Yes, I heard the patil chiming with your code while I was still in the hallway. What’s going on?” He ran his hands through his disheveled hair and pulled the chair out at his desk to be more comfortable.

  “Sofia just told me the most astounding news.” She recited all of the details and watched as Willian’s mind went exactly where hers had. “What should we do about it? I mean, the trial is over, but what about Yoshida? Doesn’t she need to get answers or a resolution?”

  “Yes, I agree with you, but I’m not sure what can be done at this point.” He leaned back in his chair, tapping his chin with his index finger as he stared up at the ceiling as if it would give him some inspiration. “Have you talked to Riccan about it?”

  “No, you’re the first person I’ve told. Sofia literally just told Jon and me the story. Besides, I’m kind of reluctant to bring it up with Mr. Stel because it seems like everyone in their house is pretty distracted lately, for obvious reasons.”

  “Yeah, I hear you. How is your brother doing anyway?”

  Valentina raised one eyebrow at his unsubtle segue. “He spent all day at school following Juila around, begging her to listen to him. Right now, he’s in his room, plotting ways to get her to take him back after his despicable behavior. I still can’t believe he got Fraya pregnant. What’s he going to do with a baby?”

  “I’d be more concerned about what Fraya will do because of that baby. For all we know, she could force Behn to marry her to prevent her from charging him with rape. I don’t envy his situation, that’s for sure.”

  “Willian, are you serious? Could Fraya really do that?”

  “Technically, yes. However, you’re lucky the girl’s from such an isolated place, she probably doesn’t know it’s her right to make the charge.”

  “Oh, goodness, I hope nobody enlightens her. This is such a mess. Behn’s too young to be a father, and I’m definitely too young to be an aunt!”

  Willian looked down at his time piece and sighed. “I’m sorry, Vala, but I have another arbitration scheduled in five minutes. Can I call you later?”

  “Sure. Thanks for listening.”

  “Any time, my love. Take care.”

  “You too.”

  Valentina put the patil away, feeling more confused than ever. She had no idea Behn could get into such trouble from the mess he had created by sleeping with Fraya, but she realized she should have. Their lives had been riddled with one problem after another as of late. She was more than ready to have her simple life returned to her.

  Sighing with frustration, Valentina decided nothing needed to be decided right away. After all, Mrs. Castillo had already waited sixteen years, what was another few days?

  A tap on her door interrupted her thoughts, followed immediately by her adoptive mother letting herself into the room. “I just wanted to let you know dinner’s almost ready. What are you working on?” She stepped further into the room and peered down onto the desk. “I didn’t know you were taking Chemistry this term.” She looked up to Valentina’s face questioningly.

  “What?” She looked down on the desk, thankful she had closed the patil to leave it appearing as a Chemistry book. “Yeah, I borrowed it from a friend to see if it’d be something I want to take next term.” She kept her eyes down, knowing how terrible of a liar she had always been, especially to her mother.

  “You should take it, I thought it was really fascinating.” She patted Valentina’s shoulder, feeling her jump under her touch. “Like I was saying, dinner’s ready.”

  “I’ll be right out.”

  The sound of the door clicking shut finally allowed Valentina to release the breath she had been holding. Feeling like an idiot for being so distracted that she forgot to put the ward on her door, she vowed to never be so careless again. She angrily shoved the patil in with her books and left her room.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~

  After the trial had conclud
ed and the Convocation had been excused, Daven’s mind reeled with the new information he had received regarding his son. Learning about Amanda’s story at the hands of being held by Elder Vargen and knowing Riccan’s sperm had been implanted in her, he thought nothing more could catch him by surprise. Knowing Amanda remained alive, unlike Vargen’s testimony of her demise, he wondered if the second recipient of Riccan’s sperm also lived and if another grandchild or grandchildren were out in the world somewhere.

  With Vargen’s testimony of wise-woman Copa’s involvement, he decided to interview her himself to find his answers. Pinning her down had become another challenge as their schedules always seemed to be in conflict with one another. Finally, the day arrived where Copa met him at his Residence.

  “Thank you for agreeing to meet with me, Copa. I know how busy you are, but this matter is very delicate and needs to be handled privately; otherwise, I would have simply come to your house.”

  “I understand. You seemed quite cryptic in your message. What is this about?”

  “I’m sure you’ve heard that Vargen has been convicted of his crimes against the old souls and has been removed from his office.”

  A shiver of fear rolled over Copa at the mention of Vargen’s name. “What will happen to him now?”

  “His mind will be swiped, and he’ll be taken to another world to live out his life.”

  “That doesn’t sound like much of a punishment for everything he’s done to those people.” She shook her head in disapproval. “It almost seems like special treatment for him because he was an Elder.”

  “On the contrary, Copa. I have it on good authority that the world where he’ll be delivered is known for the taking of slaves. He’ll be one of them; he’ll know first-hand what it feels like to be powerless.”

  “Don’t mind-swipe him then. That way he’ll know why it’s being done to him. Otherwise, it just seems cruel.”

  “Elder Debbon’s the one in charge. I imagine he’ll remove all of Vargen’s memories of how to access the elemy and the fact that he was an Elder. Everything else should remain untouched. He’ll know why he’s being punished, believe me. He’s scheduled to leave today.”

  “Well, that’s good. What is it you needed to know about my time with the people in his care?” Copa leaned forward, eagerly wanting to help since discovering Vargen would no longer be able to hurt her.

  “During the trial, Vargen admitted to impregnating two women with my son’s sperm. He also said you told him both of the women had died. Do you remember their names or anything else which might be useful?”

  “Oh, those two beautiful women. Yes, I remember them quite clearly. Neither of them actually died, you know. I just told Vargen that so he wouldn’t pursue looking for them after I helped them escape.”

  “And their names? Where did they go? Did they have the children?”

  “The first one called herself Jesisca, but you and I both know her as Amanda. You’re quite familiar with what happened to her and her twins.” Copa grinned at the memory of how well that situation had turned out.

  “And the other one?”

  “I think her name was Yosha or something like that. I made arrangements for her to be sent back home to Gamb, where she had a husband and a son there who was missing her. I don’t think she even knew she was pregnant at the time, but I felt the baby’s life-line and I tagged it. I went to Gamb many anons ago to see if I could find her, but she and her family had left almost immediately after her return. Nobody seemed to know where they went.”

  “Please share that tag with me, so I might recognize it if I come across it,” Daven requested.

  “Sure,” Copa answered, immediately tapping into her life-line and linking together with the Elder’s. It was a simple matter of transferring the identifying features of the marker, completing the request in mere milliseconds.

  “Thank you for that and your time, Copa. I’m glad you were able to help as many of those old souls as you did. There were many accounts of your interference with the experiments, which saved the people a lot of torment. Thank you for your service.”

  “I’m just sorry I couldn’t have been stronger to stand up against Elder Vargen in the first place. He’s truly evil, you know.”

  “We do know now. You’re free of whatever threats he might have held over you. If there’s anything I can do for you, please feel free to ask.”

  Copa smiled warmly, nodding her appreciation of the offer, rising from her chair, and leaving the private office.

  Daven wasted no time turning to his patil and beginning the search for someone named Yosha. Certainly, if she had been married and already had a son, then there would be at least two records of the woman on file in the Gamb District. It should simply be a matter of tracking her identifying information to re-locate her, records to which only Elders had access.

  Soon enough, he had found her trail, discovering the family had moved to the Port of Cresdon. His elation promptly evaporated as he located the final record of her, a death notice dated one mesan later. Both she and her husband were reported lost at sea in one of that anon’s unusually harsh storms.

  The idea of having another grandchild had given him hope, but now he knew this was not to be the case. Discovering the tragic ending of this woman’s life, he decided it would be kinder not to share any of the details with Riccan. He was better off not knowing of the sad loss.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  THE AFTERMATH OF the trial had left Debbon with very little time for anything other than navigating through Apio’s District problems, including Zelden’s interference with Ian’s departure, and dealing with Vargen. The first thing to happen after the sentencing had been the hardest, removing Vargen’s birth crystal along with all of its powers in the presence of the other Elders, which effectively dismissed the convocation.

  Once everyone had left the room, Debbon had stepped behind Vargen and placed his hands on his head.

  “Before you do anything you might regret, I could teach you some very valuable things,” Vargen bargained, speaking for the first time since the Elders had passed judgment.

  “Trust me, I have no desire to learn anything from your twisted mind.”

  “Indulge me for one moment.”

  “You have about two seconds, make it count.” Debbon’s curiosity stilled his instinct to act.

  “The Gates sometimes let in the most interesting people. I had an unexpected visitor from a planet called Heliok and yet another from a planet called Nayen. What do you think would bring those people here to Tuala?”

  Feeling as though Vargen simply toyed with him for some unknown reason, Debbon declined to hear any more foolishness. He forcibly removed all of Vargen’s memory of how to access elemy but left everything else intact for the time being. Some matters needed a resolution with Vargen’s cooperation, whether forced or willing.

  As soon as he finished his dreadful task, he said, “You’ll have plenty of time to ponder those questions, Vargen. I have other matters to attend.” He left Vargen forcibly bound by elemy in the room until his guards could remove him to his holding cell.

  Several days later, Vargen remained in the holding cell while the aides, personal assistants, and many District advisors worked on undoing many of the injustices which had been perpetrated in Apio. Debbon’s first edict had been the release of every old soul. Each had been given the option to remain in Tuala, compliments of their retirement system, or they could be returned to Earth. Of the thousands in question, only two people opted to remain, which spoke volumes to Debbon regarding how the people, in general, viewed Tuala. This fact, more than most of the rest made him angry for not stepping in sooner to help.

  Four days after the trial, Debbon finally had an opportunity to retrieve the journal from the niche in his Gate room and take it back to his estate to read it in privacy. Soon he realized the trip to Flagstaff, Arizona, had been more helpful than he ever would have imagined. Not only had he been able to reunite Ian with his long-los
t family, but he had also discovered another clue to follow up on in his search for his samara. When Ian had handed him the old notebook which had been in his family for generations, he first did not understand the value of it.

  Once he began to understand the coded language which had been used, he started to get a cold feeling in his gut. Ian’s family had been caretakers of the samara for as far back as their recorded history could remember. Another understanding came to him as well, Ian’s trip to Tuala had not been an accident, he had been sent there so the samara would be left unguarded.

  He had seen first-hand that just after Ian went missing, their house had been burglarized. His theory was further corroborated by the fact that nothing except the samara had been stolen, but the entire house had been torn apart as if a hurricane had struck inside. With this thought fresh in his mind, it made sense that people responsible for the theft of the samara would have been able to locate its energy signature even though it had been carefully hidden within the wall of the house.

  Since Debbon now had a last known location, he needed to figure out who had access to Ian’s home. Surely, whoever had stolen it had also been watching Ian for quite some time. It could have been one of Ian’s friends, co-workers, neighbors, the list was actually endless. Debbon began to feel slightly overwhelmed by the possibilities.

  He sat back in his chair, sighing deeply, with his eyes shut as he tried to recall all of the lessons he had learned on seeing things objectively. His worry and stress would not help him focus or come to any conclusions, so he had to let it go. The key would probably be contained within the journal.

  He had to become methodical in his search. To begin, he sat up and closed the book, inspecting the outside for any clues. With nothing glaringly obvious there, he opened the cover, noticing several pages had been ripped out, then moving on to the first page, which he began reading again. He took notes of names and places that were referenced, all of which had no meaning to him.