by M. Street
“Hey,” I lifted Charlie up on his feet with light, “we have to go now.”
Charlie’s mood downshifted.
“Sam is going to take you to the Italian countryside. Lots of cool things to see, maybe even the ocean. It’s very different than the lake.” I tried to keep our parting on the upside. “We’ll be back as soon as we can.”
Charlie moaned, rubbing his eyes. His aura brightened now that the time for leaving him with a virtual stranger had arrived.
“When?” Charlie spiked in apprehension.
“Tomorrow afternoon at the latest,” I answered, hoping I could keep my promise. “Listen to Sam, ok?”
“Little man,” Sam addressed Charlie with a friendly face. “They’ll be back before you know it. Meanwhile, we’ll have a good time. My lady,” Sam addressed me formally. “If I may, can I see your light?” he asked frankly. “From what I’ve heard, it’s indescribable.”
“I’m sorry, Sam, it’s too risky,” Dev answered for me. “We have to go now.” Besides keeping my pregnancy disclosed, Dev sensed my escalating turmoil over leaving Charlie.
“Love you and see you soon.” I kissed Charlie on his pouty cheeks.
“Thank you so much, Sam,” I said humbly, acknowledging the high risk he was taking for us. Dev whisked me away using a secure grip in response to my insuppressible reluctance to go.
As planned, Dev and I left first. The cat sanctuary was active in the late hour under a quarter-lit full moon. The nocturnal felines were energized by the nightfall. Tears fell as I silently lifted Dev into the navy-blue night adorned with haloed stars. I watched Charlie become smaller and smaller, even under my telescoping eyes.
“He’ll be fine,” Dev reassured me. I held my love close to me, jetting southeast over the Tyrrhenian Sea.
“I hope you’re right,” I said, leaning heavily on his faith.
33
Future, Present, and Past
L
eaving Charlie with Sam in the cat sanctuary left my guts in Palomar knots. My mind knew he would be in danger tagging along with us, but my heart still ached. As soon as we got far out to sea, I set us down on the surface of a swell. Finding the Cetacite queen was our only chance to keep everyone I loved alive. “I have to take my mask off to feel for Ahnah.” I said to Dev.
“Be ready to leap. We are still very close to Rome and the Arbitri,” Dev warned.
I unchained my necklace, briefly relishing in the freedom. My aura took in the enormous life-giving energy of the ocean. My green and violet pearl protruded into the dark sea below, despite my mindful effort to keep myself on the down low. The concentrations of light in my belly were more pronounced and defined, verging on conception.
“We don’t have much time,” Dev voiced the obvious.
I knelt on the wavy water, lowering my lids. Consciously penetrating my hands into the sea, my senses conducted in the high density of the water molecules. Holding all the races in my light, specifically the Cetacite nickel, gave me a home advantage over any Arbitri. Exponential rushes flooded through my being, sensing the enormous network of life. From micro to macro, the borderless ocean and seas of the globe teamed with wonders. Gasping to take it all in, I skimmed across tiny plankton to massive blue whales before grasping a pod of orcas swimming up the Alaskan coastline. Like learning a new chord, I inscribed the orca vibrations into my memory, refining my search.
“Be careful,” Dev said, putting his hands on me, trying to ground my growing charge. The surface around us began to vibrate, wildly dripping upward in my surging search. Knowing that Ahnah would be masked and hiding, I shifted through the briny depths with a delicate touch. I fervently searched for any indication of her presence, relying on my intuition. My eyes sprang open, stopping at the tip of South America by Antarctica.
“What is it?” Dev asked, noting my spike. I glowed hot, melding with the underwater universe. My pearl spoked far below, piercing the depths with nickel strands.
“All the orcas I’m coming across are in families, except one. A solo female, much bigger than the rest, is off the southern tip of Chile and Argentina,” I said excitedly, knowing our chances were taking flight. Before I could espouse more, my intuition slammed me like a speeding cement trunk. I instinctually primed my jets and cocked my triggers.
Maskless, I felt Eli tip to my presence, like a hook in the mouth. He heard my loud search for the Cetacite queen. Before I could case through my ringing alarms, my thoughtless curiosity connected to Eli’s presence. His absolute zero coldness screamed out, plunging me into panic. Our positions locked in less than a blink. Eli was at the Louvre in Paris. He ramped sharply in light-thirsty aggression, ringing the bell for a fight we could not win. Dev jerked, feeling my fright rupture inside me. Before my shouts could move the air, platinum explosions went off all around us. Bolts flew at us with intent to kill, coming from the surface and sky. Natural instincts overruled all my responses, actions, and directions, automatically slamming me into a grizzly fight for life.
My fear evaporated amidst the intense protection fueling me blisteringly bright, slowing down time. Like the embers of a barn burner, the twins were concealed underneath the corona of my accelerated aura. I spun a thick defensive sphere around Dev and me at the same time a slaying bolt from Eli hit. The force jarred us underwater, boiling the ocean around us. We bobbed back up and into the air, kicking off a massive wave of blue water and orange spirit. More bolts fired from multiple directions by Guardians leaping into the area. My aura feathered everywhere, multiplying my eyes. Twisting and turning, I redirected the incoming shots toward Eli and the threats zeroing in on us.
The rechanneled bolts sizzled off Eli like a squirt on a hot grill, but three attacking Guardians were vaporized by their own unfriendly fire. Dev unmasked, flashing into the black-and-white sabertooth, launching out of my protection. His normally calm and together demeanor flipped into a rabid, unrestrained fight.
Multiple domes shot into the sky and the sea below. I had to act fast before we were fatally encased. I grabbed Dev with tanker-sized ropes of light, bringing the beast next to me. My aim was amplified with so much life at stake. Eli flew toward us, screaming with hurricanes of nebulas concentrating around both hands. Wrinkles aged his contorted face and his hair was gray and thin, making him look his real, decrepit age. Taking what I learned from the Congo, I kicked up. Pulling the pin, I sparked a bronze Equuian blast.
Second time around was much easier, having a point of relativity. I held the direction and magnitude at the moment of creation, semi-shaping the dimensional space-time explosion. The distortion blasted outward faster than light, generating a vacuum of time around Dev and me. The ocean parted around us, sending exaggerated tidal waves in every direction in fast-forward motion. The disturbance smacked Eli face-first, flipping and flinging him back before he could brace for impact. The other Guardians could not withstand the blast. They were microwaved into platinum vapor and dust, bursting the cages of light surrounding us.
I slit a leap point, slipping behind reality and into a clean getaway. Traveling around time without Charlie was amazingly easy. In comparison, Dev was as light as a feather, feeling like a natural part of me. My internal guidance extruded us out of the fourth dimension to where I felt the large, single female orca. We rejoined time, gingerly setting down on a smooth, short grassy conglomeration of islands in the southern ocean off the remote tip of Chile. I flicked away the leap mists as Dev formulated human, breathing harder than I was. The land was naked, looking like a green dessert. The time difference backed up the setting sun, heavily drenching us in the evening orange-red showers.
Masked, we mechanically surveyed for any signs of the Arbitri. “We’ll have to come up with another way to find Ahnah.” Dev slowly came down from the frightening high.
“Yes. Eli can feel me too easily without the necklace,” I said, putting my hand over the gems. They were the only things keeping Dev, me, and the lives I harbored from annihilation. Feeling our s
weet isolation, I floated up to kiss his concern away. Our love kept the bombarding struggles from washing us away. Although he was mine forever, I kissed him with sand-through-the-hourglass passion. The future was something without a horizon, filled with unknowns and unseen dangers. I was totally present, living in the now.
“Oh wow,” I blurted out, startled by the seismic twittering rippling through my body. New connections inside me spawned, igniting never-before-traveled paths. “Our babies have attached.” Inception had become conception. The profusion of joy coming from Dev whisked me into his happy land, scattering my initial trepidation.
“Thank you.” Dev kissed me softly with his full lips. His mood suddenly downshifted, vibrating into a stony concern. “Eli will begin to feel your pregnancy now. We must hide. Forsake all others, even if it is unbearable,” he pleaded.
“I won’t do that,” I said, taken aback by the force behind his words.
“What don’t you understand?” Dev asked agitatedly, setting off my amplified state. “You are carrying the future of the mature realm and the future of us. The world has waited stunted for thousands of years for this very moment.” He backed off feeling my rising emotions.
“You are all I have and I’m forever grateful for us, but we can’t do this alone. We won’t survive.” I stopped, both of us gripped in the realization. “Besides, I don’t want my life without my friends or family, new or old.”
I paused, feeling Dev’s pain on mine. I put my hand on his beautiful face. “I love these babies because they are more than either of us. I would give my life protecting them just as much as I would for you. I feel that same way about everyone in my life.”
Dev sighed, knowing my resolve.
“I cannot live with myself giving less than my sisters or brothers, mothers or fathers. That isn’t who I am.”
We sat stalemated, tied silent in each other’s heartstrings. I knew Dev wanted to say much more, but he held back. A meteor streaked across the sky, burning brightly until it was no more. “Let’s fight back instead of running,” I suggested, knowingly naive. “It’s better than hiding in fear.”
“We’ve been extremely fortunate so far.” Dev hung his head. “We’ve only escaped because you possess amazing talents.” He cupped the back of my neck.
“Well,” I stood tall, “let’s see if I can use those very abilities to find Ahnah.”
Dev followed, standing next to me. “Without taking off your mask.”
“Yes,” I agreed, lifting us both into the air.
We glided offshore, descending to where I last felt the great orca before Eli attacked. We were several miles out to open sea. Although it did not permeate my aura, the flowing marine air was icy and damp. The singing stars twinkled on the stirring waters. The longtime traveling light reflected the plush yellow sky, turning the watery scape one solid color. I could feel the ocean floor drop deep along a ridge, like an underwater cliff.
“My range is cut short with my mask. I’ll have to rely on touch.” I descended ankle-deep into the choppy sea for a better feel. “Oh, that is cold!” I said, shocked by the temperature, scrunching then extending my toes. My feelers flew through the surrounding briny waters.
The nickel in my light turned me ninety degrees like a compass hitting a heavy magnetic field. I faced directly south toward the pole. Shivers from inside me lit my excitement. Among the plethora of life in the icy cold waters, the vibrations of a single orca stood out like a ringing bell in a pin-drop-quiet library.
“Ahnah is here.” I spoke with confidence set on fire from my intuition. Dev remained skeptical. “I don’t know how to get to her; she is several hundred feet below. It’s got to be her. She is moving incredibly fast.” I lifted out of the ocean, instantly repelling the water off my feet.
“Check it out,” Dev said pragmatically.
“How?” I asked, knowing the depth was prohibitive.
“Guardians are capable of existing underwater at any fathom. Your aura will keep you oxygenated, and your ability to control gravity counters the pressure naturally. It should be as easy as the thoughts you hold for flying,” Dev said simply.
“Should I take my mask off?” I asked, reaching.
“No,” Dev said quickly. “It’s the same as flying masked. Try it.”
I remembered flying through the pool at school when my powers first manifested. Recalling the sensation, I slowly throttled gravity, adjusting my shell for the resistance of the sea. The waters parted around my infant-colored aura, keeping an envelope of air around my body as I sank shoulder-deep. My outer membrane of light acted like gills, filtering tiny bubbles of oxygen from the sea into the space around me. I looked to Dev, excited in the realization that the oceans below were as open as the sky above.
“Come with me.” I picked him up with ribbons of light.
“Not this time,” he said, not struggling. “You’re going to have to sail fast. I would drastically slow you down. Go find Ahnah.” I put him down softly. “I’ll track you on the surface.” He removed his collar, formulating into a growling black-and-white sabertooth in a contained silver blast. The big cat kept his light low, keeping as Vampacoti stealthy as possible.
Leaving the early night, I submerged into the sea like a kid in a castle of candy. I glided through the thermoclines, getting a feel, like riding a bike for the first time. My nocturnal eyes auto-adjusted for refraction of air to water, giving me crystal clarity in the underwater world. Wonder took over, connecting to another reality. I added my own salty joy to the waters, soaring through the depths.
The space was expansive, devoid of any tree-like structures. Ghostly auras of marine life lit the rocky sandy bottom, making it look like an electric carpet. The underwater cliffs resonated a deep purple, glowing like a giant underwater night-light. I descended deep to intercept the single female orca, working to take in her magnitude in perspective. My shell flexed, compensating for the increased pressure from the weight of the water.
My aura jumped with goose bumps as I came across a swarming school of pinkish krill. Each one of the synchronized shrimp was surrounded by a bright indigo aura, painting the sea in living, sparkling light. The tight, whimsically choreographed blue light against the blue depths lifted me higher under the meters of glassy water. I twirled down around the blossoming krill, feeling the grand orca gliding through the waters.
I passed close enough for the black-and-white whale’s presence to pull on the inner nickel behind my mask. I accelerated downward, tracking her heading. From the moment I saw the five-ton orca, I knew it was Ahnah. The amazingly beautiful sea creature was a force of nature, a perfect specimen. Her smooth, endless black skin juxta-positioning the snow-white patches appeared artistic, reminding me of Dev’s stunning coat. Her dorsal fin looked like a piece of living metal vertically edging off her back, not like the floppy fins of the orcas kept in captivity.
I closed in from behind and below, visually confirming more. Her belly button was pierced with three nickel chains, each holding scarlet rubies. The jewels twirled in her forward motion, emitting a numbing tune. I could feel her royal light through both our masks in the heavy waters.
Like a record needle hitting grooved vinyl, the nickel in my light fell into resonance with the unsuspecting lone orca. From her motherly pain bound in unspeakable loneliness, the large black-and-white whale was for sure Ahnah. Centuries-old sadness from loss surrounded her, leaking through the rubies. Calluses upon calluses of hardened hurts raised my heart rate. I no longer cared about what she could do for us—I wanted to help her.
Moving fast from compassionate intentions, I sailed into a flanking position. I crossed under the hundred-meter separation mark when the sub-sized orca detected my position. She paused, looking at me curiously before jerking to release her mask.
Nickel explosions, glittering with royalty, erupted outward, defying the density of the depths. The queen’s weighted light was beautiful, tinted a nuclear blue from the waters. She shined with an inherent s
ass and strength. Although stunning, sirens of aggressive warnings carried loudly. Her raw, unfiltered essence passed through me, overloading my sense of self. She generated an exponential quantity of emotions and brain activity. The electricity generated in her large cranium was more powerful than any other being’s I had encountered. Clouds of light circled her head in the perplexing encounter. My brain warmed from the friction trying to absorb some of her superconducting anger and aggravation.
Dev launched toward us on the surface, feeling my excitement on our intimate connection. Being masked, Ahnah couldn’t see the real me. From the strength of her disdainful reaction, she thought I was an Arbitri. She unleashed her muscled tail, shooting a wall of racing water my way. She rocketed into a getaway, grabbing her rubies in her mouth, going dark.
“Wait!” The sound muffled into the water. I cut into the thrusting current, taking off in hot pursuit. The drain of my mask, amplified by the compressed water, slowed me way down. The magical whale rode the water fast, like a souped-up engine with soft rubber tires on grooved pavement. Dev raced above me, pacing Ahnah, putting me in last. She banked vertically down, hugging the cliff walls. We were losing her fast. I took off my masking, releasing my governor. Dev’s snarling disapproval pierced through the fathoms above. Keeping my pearl close, I sliced through sea, displacing tanks of water.
“Stop,” I reverberated in an unfiltered nickel tone. “Please.”
The queen, startled from talk in her own frequency, broke her dash. She banked, sailing up toward me. The orca unmasked, revealing her aura. We slowed, drifting forward, perfecting our channel. My pearl infused into her nickel aura, conveying my open-hearted intentions. Magnitudes of shock rang through her grand nickel aura, beautified by the centuries. Her brown eyes were backlit a cornflower yellow, beaming bright in the wonder.
I moved forward, touching the tip of her rounded snout near her bulbous melon dome. Her skin was as smooth as glass and hot to the touch.