Metanoia

by Angela Schiavone

  “It was enough though. The potion only needed to be mixed with your blood. But now I’m stronger,” the Vice stated. “You will die, but first you will watch the one you love die first. Sad, isn’t it? He’ll die thinking you didn’t love him…should have told him when you had the chance…” Somehow, his words made all the pain go away. She grabbed her sword, stood, and ran towards the Vice. A fight once again broke out, but Gina found a new strength in her and new moves to accompany it. She knew who she had been, and she would not lose now.

  “You will never beat me!” he yelled, but Gina just glared at him.

  She coolly replied, “Oh, yeah? Then too bad you can only win this game once.” She spun and leapt towards him from a new direction, driving her sword into him. The second the sword was taken out of him, he shockingly burst into flames as if the pureness of a sword wielded by her was too good for his body to survive. The sudden explosion of heat knocked Gina to the ground. She grabbed Leyance, who lay not moving, and dragged him out the door. A huge explosion pushed fire through to the hall and Gina was just in time to get out of the way. Just then three arrows flew through the fire. They would have hit where she stood with Leyance’s limp body in her arms. Gina did not wait. She picked up Leyance and dragged him into another hall just as screams came from the Übels, now trapped in the flames. Gina lay Leyance down and guarded him as more explosions were heard.

  “Leyance,” she whispered. Then she saw his cuts from the sparks. “Oh, God this looks bad.” She took out a leaf, crushed it and, as he had done to her, and cured his pain. Yet she feared that it was too late. “Leyance, please wake up. Come on, you have to wake up now.” But Leyance showed no signs of getting up. She felt for his pulse, but there was none. He didn’t breathe either. “No, Leyance!” she cried and started to try CPR on him. It did no good. “No! Oh, God, please!!! Leyance, I love you. I do. I remember now. I’ve always loved you, I just couldn’t admit it to myself. I tried to stay away just so I could save you pain. I didn’t want your fiancé to come back and find you in love with another woman. But don’t you see? I am that other woman and I am your old fiancé. I remember who I was and I was who you knew me to me. I can tell you now – I love you. But now it’s too late – please, come back! Leyance!” She buried her head in his chest as tears began to creep down her face. He never knew how she truly felt. It was now too late. The man she loved was dead.

  She was interrupted by the sounds of battle cries not too far away. Knowing she had to go but unwilling to leave her love’s body behind, Gina dragged Leyance to a protected doorway close to the fighting and jumped out and into the battle. Kien, Elenzel, and Deseré all had three Übels each to fight and were cut up badly. With Gina’s help, however, they were able to defeat their enemies. That’s when the fireball came. A huge ball of fire rolled down the hallway towards them as explosions could be heard all around.

  “Get out! Hurry!” Gina yelled.

  “Where’s Leyance?” Deseré yelled.

  “I need you to help me get him.” They ran to his spot, and Deseré saw the cause of Gina’s tears, still on her face. Silently but swiftly, they lifted him and ran out together. Kien and Elenzel met them around the corner. They ran through the corridors, past the dark rooms, through the stone doors and into the light of day. Just as they made their way out of the gates, the huge fireball flew out of the open doors, smothering everything in its path.

  “It’s all over,” Kien said. “We did what we came to do. Didn’t we?” He turned to Gina. She nodded and quietly sat down next to Leyance, his cold hand in hers. Elenzel walked over to Kien as Deseré walked over to comfort her.

  “I told him not to come,” Gina whispered, staring at him.

  “We better make a stretcher,” Elenzel told Kien. “She won’t leave without him.” Together they left the girls and constructed a stretcher out of branches and laid Leyance across it just as the sun went behind the horizon. The day had ended.

  Chapter 6

  “Familiar Faces”

  The journey back was a silent one. Gina never left Leyance’s side even for a moment. She did not speak, nor eat, nor sleep. At last, they returned to Nythagié. Fheyrhil was awaiting their arrival. Gina was the first to emerge into his view, head hung and staring at the ground. Elenzel led her, one arm keeping her upright. Deseré and Kien came after, carrying the body up the stairs and into the great hall. This sight did not surprise Fheyrhil. He had already felt the sadness in Gina’s heart. Softly, he approached her and wrapped his arms around her. Gina clung onto him, crying into his shoulder.

  “It will be alright, Regina,” he whispered. She looked up at him, eyes wet with salty tears. “I have a feeling this is not the end.”

  “It is the end,” she replied. “He’s gone. Nothing else matters.”

  “Hope is not all gone, my dear. Come with me.” He led her up the stairs and to the hospital wing. When she walked in, Gina saw Leyance lying on a bed. His cuts were gone, and he was now dressed in white. She walked over to him, leaned over and kissed his frosty lips. Fheyrhil walked over to the nurse.

  “Is it as I suspected?” he asked.

  “Yes, my lord, it is,” she replied.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Gina demanded. Fheyrhil smiled and walked over to her, placing his hand tenderly on her shoulder.

  “He is not dead, Regina. I suspected that he had been hit with the Vice’s ‘lightning’, which stuns a person into a death-like state. This means he looks and appears dead but is not so in actuality. In this state, life signs cannot be detected. The heart rate has been substantially lowered but still keeps the person alive. The same goes for the breathing: Leyance breathes only enough to supply him with the minimal amount of oxygen that his body so desperately needs. His body has simply been magically altered. It is a ploy to make the victim’s own people the actual murderers when they bury him alive. So, you see, he lives still. Something that evil cannot simply destroy through a kind of magic; hate is not powerful enough for that. In plain terms, when speaking of killing you and Leyance, he was bluffing.” Gina’s heart lifted and a smile escaped her lips.

  “Are you sure?” she asked, praying it was so.

  “Yes. Leyance is not dead.” She didn’t know what to say. Complete and utter joy filled her heart. She wanted to shout out in joy. Ecstatically, Gina hugged Fheyrhil and kissed him on the cheek. Next, it was the nurse’s turn to receive a hug. The poor nurse didn’t know what to do as the queen grabbed her and swung her around in the air. Finally, Gina turned back and ran to Leyance, throwing her arms around him.

  “When will he wake up?” she asked, smiling brightly.

  “That I cannot tell, Your Majesty,” the nurse responded. “It may take quite a long while. Once he does awake, though, he will need to have a long period of healing. This kind of injury cannot be cured even through our medicine. He must heal the old fashioned way. He must heal by time.”

  “Then I will never leave his side until he awakes,” she said, looking at Leyance.

  “Your training…” Fheyrhil began.

  “I will not leave him,” she stated again, turning to face him.

  “…will have to wait,” he finished, smiling. She returned the smile and turned back to Leyance.

  A bed was set up next to Leyance for Gina. She kept her vow and never left his side. Gina was there when his heart started beating normally, when his breathing continued as before, when his color returned to his face, when his skin warmed. Always. She refused to leave him. Weeks past and still he had not awakened. Every night she dreamed she was with him, that they walked together, that they laughed, that they kissed.

  When Leyance finally opened his eyes, his first sight was of Gina, asleep next to him, her arm across him.

  “Gina,” he whispered. It was a quiet whisper, but his voice alone was enough to wake her. Her eyelids flashed open, and she sat up quickly.

  “Leyance!” she cried. She hugged him and held him in her arms, and he returned the embrace. �
�I dreamed that you woke up. We had fallen asleep in each other’s arms and then you woke up.”

  “I know,” he replied. He pulled her away a little to look in her eyes. For once, she did not pull away. “I had every dream you had while I slept. We were communicating the whole time. I saw all the dreams, all the walks, all the hugs, all the kisses, everything.” He smiled, and she smiled back.

  “Then maybe you know what I’m going to do next,” she teased. She leaned against him and pulled his lips to her. They kissed as they lay in dawn’s light. When they separated briefly, Gina looked into his eyes.

  “For the first time,” she said, “I’m not going to pull away. I never will again. I remember, Leyance, not all yet, but most. One thing I remember above all else is something I’ve felt for a long time.” She held him tighter and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Leyance. I always have and always will.” He smiled and kissed her.

  A month had past since Leyance had awoken and it had been a month of bliss. Gina had now fully adapted to her new life and enjoyed spending time with the man she loved. He still lay in the hospital wing but was awake and healing quickly. She’d rush through training and other duties so she could visit Leyance everyday. He could be wheeled around Nythagié in a wheelchair so Gina often did just that, showing him the beauty of the city. This is where they were currently, traveling down a path gazing at the setting sun. Many Nythagiéns were out enjoying the atmosphere as well. Suddenly, a girl with red hair ran up to Gina and Leyance.

  “Well, you two are looking well,” she said smiling.

  “Oh, my God! April! What are you doing here?” Gina stammered. April smiled.

  “I’m not the only one,” she said. She turned to look down the road. “Jacinda, Calypso! Over here, it’s Gina!” Sure enough, Gina’s old friends came running up.

  “Cassie! Jessica! Oh, my God! It’s so good to see you guys! Wait, I don’t get it. What are you doing here?” Gina asked confused. Cassie turned to Leyance.

  “You mean you didn’t tell her?” she asked.

  “I guess it slipped my mind,” he smiled. “I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted to see her happy face when she suddenly saw you three.”

  “Wait, back up. Tell me what?” Gina stammered.

  “We’re Nythagiéns! We always were. We were your best friends when you lived here before,” Jessica explained. “When we discovered that you had been sent to another world, we came after you. We all promised to stay there with you and keep an eye on you until you returned here. We all looked about high school age, so we had to wait until then to meet up with you. We changed our names too in order to fit in better, but we kept the first letter. April is really Alvina, Cassie is Calypso, and I’m Jacinda.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I know you were into all those mythology books, but would you really have believed us? I don’t think so!” Calypso answered. “Plus, if you did, then you would want to come here before the time was right.”

  “Well, why weren’t you three here when I first came? It would have made adjusting much easier,” Gina stated.

  “Sorry about that,” Alvina answered. “We wanted to, we really did, but we had major damage control to do back there. I mean, come on, there were Übels all over a school! No one there knew what these creatures were. We had to mix potions to make them forget what had happened so they wouldn’t all go insane!”

  “Yeah, but we came as soon as we could!” Calypso added.

  “Which didn’t end up being very soon, but we tried!” Jacinda finished.

  “Well, I’m glad you’re here now. I missed you guys so much!” Gina exclaimed. They all hugged as Leyance watched on smiling. Alvina saw this.

  “Oh, right. Sorry. We got to go,” she stated. Then she whispered into Leyance’s ear. “She’s all yours. Fheyrhil told us. Good luck, not that you need it!” With that, she turned and joined the others walking down the road.

  “I can’t believe they were Nythagiéns the whole time! They knew I’d love to be someone special like that, but they never told me! Never even hinted at it,” Gina stated.

  “Well, it’s a good thing they didn’t say anything,” Leyance countered. “If they had, things probably wouldn’t have turned out the same.”

  “I suppose so. Everything happens for a reason right?”

  “Absolutely.”

  That night eerie dreams plagued Gina’s peaceful slumber. The cold earth chilled Gina’s bare feet as she ran down the hidden path to the safety of her private hideaway. She tugged a white blanket tighter around her to keep the cold away. Run as she could, the path kept getting further and further, her destination seeming that it would never be reached. When she finally got to the clearing, an odd sight presented itself to her. A golden mirror levitated above her favorite sitting rock. Gina cautiously climbed up to it and gazed in. For awhile she could see nothing, not even her own reflection. Then the moon came out from behind a cloud and Gina could see her reflection, but it wasn’t Gina. Physically, she looked the same, but her eyes shown nothing but pure malice. Her eyes were dark and deep, and she was dressed in all black. The sight frightened Gina. She tried to look away but couldn’t. The face in the mirror still glared back at her. The longer the sight held her gaze, the more Gina yearned to be free from its power. She feared being sucked into the mirror and becoming that evil being she saw within. Then, suddenly, the mirror vanished and Gina was once again alone in the darkness.

  The next day Gina awoke bright and early. As was now a routine activity, she prepared for training and walked to the field, but no one was there. All that waited for her was a familiar crystal rose and a note.

  Dearest Gina,

  I thought you might need a fun break. I know you’ve been working quite hard recently, especially considering you’ve been taking care of me. So, I wanted to give you a little gift of thanks: a little game. Follow the clues to a surprise. Love you and good luck.

  Leyance

  Clue 1 – I love watching you sleep with help from “just a little trick I know.”

  Just a little trick I know? Gina thought. When did he say that? OH!! Hurriedly, she ran back to her room. Sure enough, the canopy was lit. Another note sat on the bed with another rose.

  Clue 2 – You always were the woman of my dreams and I often called out your name in my sleep. Soon, Gina was running down the path towards the cottage. She burst open the door and saw another rose and note on the bed.

  Clue 3 - I love your kisses, even if you were trying to attack me at the time. Gina giggled and hurried out the door. Before she knew it, she was hurrying down her hidden path. Rose petals sprinkled the ground. Standing by the lagoon holding a bundle of roses was Leyance.

  “Glad to see you found me,” he smiled. “Ready for your surprise?”

  “Is it what I think it is?” she asked anxiously.

  “I love you, Gina,” Leyance began.

  “I love you, too. I love you so much, Leyance.”

  “Well, then, I have something for you…” He took her hands and knelt down.

  “Oh my God, oh my God…” Gina stammered. Leyance smiled and took out a crystal from his pocket and held it up to her. It suddenly began to glow brightly and spun in his hand. In a giant flash of light, it stopped spinning and now revealed itself in a new form – a ring. “Will you marry me, Gina?”

  Gina smiled. “It’s the second time, and I still say the same. Absolutely yes.” They held each other close and kissed as the ring slipped magically onto Gina’s finger.

  The next morning, Gina awoke in bed and turned to see Leyance lying next to her.

  “How long have you been watching me sleep?” she asked smiling.

  He just grinned. “How did you sleep? It looked peaceful.”

  “I slept fine,” she laughed. “What time is it?”

  “About seven.”

  “Oh, I have to go!” she exclaimed. “Fheyrhil said I was ready to return to the other world, so I’m going today.” She rolled out o
f bed, tripping slightly as she hurried over to the closet, studied its contents, and pulled out the clothes she had worn that last day of school.

  “When will you be back?” Leyance asked still lying in bed. She turned and smiled at him. She came back to the bed, buttoning up her blouse and kissed him.

  “I should be back in a day or two,” she replied. “I just need to get things in order and explain my absence.”

  “Alright, have fun. I love you.”

  “I love you, too,” she smiled then hurried out the door.

  Later that day, Leyance walked into the council room, a huge smile on his face. Fheyrhil stood staring out the window.

  “Fheyrhil,” he began. “I wanted to talk to you. I want you to be the first to congratulate me. Gina and I are engaged – again.” Fheyrhil did not stir, but answered in a less than excited tone.

  “Congratulations. I know you will be very happy. We all know you deserve it.”

  “What is it? What’s gone wrong?” Leyance asked, sensing trouble. Slowly, Fheyrhil turned and faced him.

  “The Übels are coming.”

  “But we destroyed their leader, so who could be leading them? Why do they march against us?” Leyance asked in disbelief.

  “For the first time, I have absolutely no idea,” Fheyrhil replied shakily.

  Leyance could not believe this. There was no logic in the Übels taking such an aggressive stance. No one was leading them, and there was nothing that could cause such a war now above other times. Yet, what scared him even more was that Fheyrhil - who knew everything it seemed, even before it happened - that Fheyrhil did not know the answers. Leyance was interrupted in his thought process, for Gina, cut up and bleeding badly, ran in.

  “Leyance! Übels!” she gasped.