“Fheyrhil knows everything, Gina,” Leyance exclaimed. “Especially you. He senses everything and always has.”
“Always? That must be so amazing to know everything,” Gina stated.
“I think we would be surprised.”
Later that day, Gina walked down the hall toward the council room. She again found Fheyrhil in his usual spot, staring out the window.
“Hello, Regina,” he said before turning to see her.
“Hi,” she responded. “How are you?”
“Just fine. Now, exactly what can I do for you on this lovely day?” he asked with a knowing smile.
“Oh, nothing.” She could tell that he knew her true reasoning. “Fine. It’s just that I’ve realized I don’t know much about you.” He smiled hearing this.
“You know me, Gina. More than you know.”
“How is it that you know so much though? How is it that you sense those things?” Gina asked.
“My senses are no different than any other could experience. I am just more in tune to my higher senses. People claim that they do not understand the sixth sense, but really they fear it. They fear that having the Sight will unlock their secrets. This is not so. I cannot read their deepest thoughts, only what is in the top of their thoughts. People think that those like me know everything. I only have flashes of what is going to occur, and I do just naturally know things that others would not. I certainly do not know everything. Nor is my knowledge always pleasant. Though I see good events to come, I also see the bad.”
“And that can definitely mess a person up, can’t it?” Gina asked. He smiled.
“Yes, that is one way to put it. You need to have control and peace of mind to handle it. Many cannot and so they become fearful of this idea. People fear the unknown. It is our nature.”
“How long have you had this power?” Gina inquired.
He paused as his eyes drifted back to the outside. “Since my daughter was born,” he whispered. Gina snapped to attention.
“You have a daughter?” she asked shocked.
“I did,” he said quietly. “She died when she was very young.” His confidence seemed to evaporate, and sadness filled Gina’s heart as he turned to look at her.
“I’m so sorry, Fheyrhil,” Gina assured him. “I had no idea.”
“It is fine. It happened a long time ago.” He turned to the window again. “A very long time ago.”
“Fheyrhil had a daughter? How come you never told me?” Gina interrogated Leyance one day while walking through the city.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that it was that important to you. I only remember being told once anyway. Not many know,” he assured her.
“He said he’s had his abilities since his daughter was born.”
“Maybe. I don’t know that much about it.”
“That must be so hard to lose a daughter. What ever happened to the girl’s mother?”
“He kept it secret, whoever she was. I suppose he wanted to keep his daughter safe.”
“From what?”
“I think she was supposed to possess a great power should she live. The way I’ve heard it, she had to pass a test when she was very young. She was only about a year when she failed that test and paid for it with her life.”
“They put a baby through a test? But Fheyrhil’s gone through so much,” Gina said as her head hung low.
“As have you, Darling,” Leyance whispered, wrapping his arm around her. “You’ve been through more than he has. You have even had similar losses. Do you even remember your parents from your first life here?”
Gina tried to remember their faces, but the relatively new vision was blurry. “No,” she stated at last. “At least not really. My father died in battle when I was just a kid, and my mom raised me until I was five. Then she left. I never knew why or where. That’s why I was adopted in the other world. My parents couldn’t follow me. I always just assumed I had done something wrong to make my mom leave me like that.”
“It wasn’t your fault that she left. There is no way that she didn’t love you. She just had to leave for some reason.” He paused. “I wish I had met your parents.”
“Me too,” Gina said with a smile. “What about your parents?”
“Do you remember them? You’ve met them before, the last time. We should pay them another visit. They live about five miles from Kulinai.”
“You know, maybe Fheyrhil knows about them more than I do. He might even know where my mom is.”
“Don’t ask,” Leyance warned. “He was the one who found your father had been killed. He was there when it happened. We shouldn’t make him go through that memory again.”
“You’re right. Forget it.”
That night, Gina and Leyance lay asleep next to each other. Dreams flowed freely through her mind. She skipped through the streets of Nythagié happily. Ahead of her, a little cottage appeared in the street. As she approached it, the city seemed to fall away until she and the cottage were in the woods, far away. A woman’s voice called out to Gina from the house, telling her to come in. Gleefully, Gina opened the door and ran in. A man stood there smiling warmly at her. Though she knew in her heart who these two were, Gina could not clearly see their faces. The man swept her up in his arms and started to dance with her. He hummed a made-up tuned as he swung her around the house.
“And how is my little queen, today?” he asked her. She just smiled and hugged him. “Come now,” he continued. “Show me your royal subjects.” At this, Gina’s happiness increased, and she pulled the man towards a room. She opened it and walked into a room filled with toys, mostly stuffed animals. She picked up animal after animal and showed them to the man.
“These are them,” she told him happily. “And they love me!”
“Not as much as I love you!” the man replied, scooping her up in his arms and holding her close. Then the man, cottage, and toys all vanished.
“What did he look like?” Leyance was asking Gina. They sat by their beloved pond, feet in the cool water.
“I told you, his face was blurry. I don’t know who it was,” she responded.
“Well, it was only a dream. It doesn’t mean it actually happened.”
“No, it did. It was a dream, I know, but something about that dream made me remember. It made me remember that event.” She stared into the crystal water to the sandy bottom. “I think it was my dad.”
“But why would you remember him all the sudden?” Leyance inquired softly. Gina shrugged.
“I don’t really know, but I think it had to do with talking to Fheyrhil yesterday. When he told me he had a daughter, I started thinking about my own family. I started thinking about my dad before he died, just trying to remember his face, but it’s like the dream. His face is blurry. Still, I think that dream was a memory. I specifically remember being called ‘little queen’. Maybe he knew I’d be next in line after him.”
“It doesn’t work that way. You know that. You were elected, not seated after him. Anyone could call you that, though,” Leyance pointed out. “Your name means ‘queen’ as it is.”
“True, but still.” She knew it was a poor excuse to assume it was her father, but a sudden deep yearning to know him and her mother swept through her. She groaned.
Leyance chuckled. “What?”
“I just wish I could remember. I don’t know what happened to my mom even. I can’t believe I never had a yearning to find her until now. When I was in the other world, I always wanted to know them, but I see now that I had already lost them in this world in my first life. As much as I love you, Leyance, and as much as you are my family, you weren’t the original ones. You can’t fill the gap left by them.”
“And I don’t want to. I’d rather not be compared to your dad. There is just something a little disturbing about that…” Leyance laughed. Gina shot him a glance but then started to giggle as well.
“Oh shut up,” she said smiling and gave him a playful punch.
“Anyway, if it means so
much to you,” he stated, “why don’t you try to find out about them? I still don’t advise going to Fheyrhil, though knowing him he probably already knows your intentions.”
“Yeah, he probably does.”
“But maybe you could talk to the girls or someone to find out. You know I’ll help in anyway I can.”
“Really?”
“Of course,” he stated. Slowly, he leaned in and gave her a sweet kiss.
Only twenty minutes later, Gina and Leyance sat in Calypso’s cottage. The subject of Gina’s parents had already been brought up and now Gina’s friend sat, trying hard to recall what information she knew.
“Your dad’s name was John, and your mother was Jasmine. I remember because J+J was always carved into trees around the city. You can still find some.” She paused, trying to remember more. “Your father was a Nythagién warrior and good friends with Fheyrhil. Maybe you should talk to him?”
“We don’t want to bring up bad memories since it was he who was with John when he died,” Leyance explained.
“Oh, right. Good idea. Well, he was in battle with him, like you said, and only Fheyrhil was with him when he died. He stayed locked up in his room for days after that I’ve been told. He had been through so much at that time.”
“Why, what happened then besides my dad…?” Gina inquired.
“Well, I’m pretty sure his daughter died around then.” Gina shot Leyance a look.
“Oh, ‘no one knows’ do they?” she asked sarcastically.
“I said not many know. Calypso just happens to be one of the few who do,” he replied.
“Yeah, he’s right. Not many know.”
“How did you know about my parents and everything?” Gina asked her friend.
“I was told by my parents awhile ago.”
“How are your parents?” Leyance asked.
“They’re good. They’re still living in the other world though. They find that place more enjoyable apparently. Of course having a big house over there doesn’t bring them back any faster.”
“Yeah, I loved your house!” Gina exclaimed remembering her old life.
“Who did your parents hear it from?” Leyance questioned, ignoring the trip down memory lane.
“Don’t know,” Calypso shrugged. “I never asked.”
“Someone must know more than this though,” Gina pointed out.
“Doubt it. I’ve never heard anyone speak of it minus my parents and now you.”
Gina paused as realization came to her. Though I see good events to come, I also see the bad. “Oh my God, he knew about my father. Fheyrhil did. He knew what would happen to him! He knew he couldn’t stop it. No wonder he broke down after that.”
“I feel so bad for him. That must have been so hard,” Calypso imputed.
“I’m sure he wished that his powers weren’t working then,” Leyance stated.
“True, but you can’t switch those kinds of powers on and off,” Gina pointed out.
“Well, he does. There are some times when he can’t sense anything and sometimes when he can. I mean, when you were all ‘bad guy’ he couldn’t sense anything at all.”
“He couldn’t?” Gina questioned.
“No.”
“Oh, and when Gina died the first time he couldn’t sense anything until we found out she had been reborn,” Calypso added.
“Right.”
“Wait a second,” Gina stated. Is there a connection? she thought. “Both those times I was technically ‘dead.’” This information stunned the other two who fell silent. Slowly, Calypso began to nod.
“You’re right,” she began. “Maybe there is some sort of link between you two.”
“But why would there be?” Leyance asked. “I mean, sure, he loves you, but so do I and I don’t have powers when you are ‘alive.’” But Gina wasn’t listening.
“My dad died around the same time as his daughter right?” Gina asked. They nodded. “And he was the one to announce what happened to my dad right?” Again the nods came. Suddenly, the image of the stranger who’d been so kind in giving her that pink lace necklace came to her mind. “Then it must be…”
Gina found Fheyrhil in his council room, but this time the so familiar silhouette was not by the window. He was scurrying around the room. He seemed quite busy and yet not busy at all. It seemed as though he feigned his business.
“Hello, Gina,” he greeted her. “Nice day outside, is it not?”
“Yes,” she said quietly, starring at him. “Yes it is… Fheyrhil?” He looked down and acknowledged the paperwork he held.
“These are the reports about how Noquef is doing. He is still safely in custody I am pleased to announce,” he said in one breath without so much as glancing at her. He knows I know, Gina thought. “Our team was very successful in quickly capturing him. He came quietly which was a great relief to us. He has not caused us any trouble at all. It seems that since his return, he has wanted a leader to follow rather than being one himself. Without his evil counterpart, he felt lost and confused it seems…”
“Why didn’t you tell me, Dad?” Gina stated. She stared straight at him, not daring to look away and lose her confidence. Fheyrhil stopped and slowly put his papers down. Slowly, his grayish-hazel eyes glanced up at hers. She continued. “You are who I think you are, aren’t you? Now that I look at the facts, it fits. You were there when my dad supposedly died. You were the only one with him. But that never happened because you made it up didn’t you? You gained your psychic abilities when I was born, and you lost them when I ‘died.’ You are my father, Fheyrhil.” She was breathing heavily. A lump in her throat grew larger and larger as she fought to keep the tears back. An awkward silence filled the room, but finally even Fheyrhil couldn’t keep the silence.
“I did it to protect you.”
“So you admit it? You are my father?” Gina questioned. The tears of confusion, hurt, and joy were beginning to flow.
“Yes, Gina, I am your father. Yes, I kept that information hidden, but I never meant to hurt you.”
“That’s a smart plan. Don’t tell the orphan that she really has a family? No, that doesn’t hurt at all. Being lied to for your whole life doesn’t hurt!” The tears now streamed down her face and blurred her vision as she starred angrily at Fheyrhil who still remained calm and composed though his eyes did not meet hers.
“I did it to protect you.”
“And how in the world does not knowing who my father is protect me?” she questioned.
“Because, my little queen,” he began, the sound of her old nickname made Gina jump, “you possess a great gift that, if fallen into the wrong hands, could turn out to be very bad indeed.”
“But I was in your hands, not anybody else’s. What are you talking about? What great gift do I possess?”
“You know. What can you do that no one else can?” He now studied her face as she searched for the answer. It soon came.
“I can kill,” Gina whispered. Her heart sunk.
“Yes, but that is only part of this gift.”
“I can kill easily!” Gina corrected. “What kind of gift is that?! That’s a curse!”
“That is in the eye of the beholder,” Fheyrhil stated. How could he be so blind about this? Gina thought. I killed! There is nothing good about that! Yet, as usual, Fheyrhil seemed to read her very thoughts. “More importantly than your ability to kill is your ability to cure. No one else on this earth can bring people back from the dead. Only you.”
“Through killing.”
“Gina, you experience the ultimate forms of love and hate. Through your hate you can kill and through your love you can cure. These two go hand in hand. You cannot show your love by curing without showing your hate and killing first. To have one without the other is to disturb the natural equilibrium of the Earth. That is your gift, or curse, however you choose to take it. If you would have got in the hands of the enemy, it would most certainly have been a curse.”
“Did I really have a test whe
n I was young to see if I would obtain this gift?” Gina asked, thinking back to her conversation with Leyance and Calypso.
“Yes, you did. Unlike the lie I told, however, you passed and were deemed worthy to carry this gift. You lived.”
“Then how come you lied and said I died?”
“Because the Vice knew you were to take the test. I knew from the very beginning that he planned to kidnap you, to use you at his bidding. I also knew that the only way I could thoroughly protect you was to separate myself from you. If I announced, however small the announcement was, that my daughter had died, then you would be safe. The Vice would believe you failed the test and never come after you. Then, you could slowly adopt a new identity that the Vice did not know. I made sure when you were born that no one knew your name, especially him.”
“What about my mother?” Gina asked. “Where is she?” Fheyrhil smiled at this mention.
“Jasmine was a lovely woman. That was for sure. I always loved her and still do. She knew that we had to protect you. Luckily, our relationship had been a secret along with your birth. When I learned the Vice’s plans, I shared them with Jasmine. She suggested that I separate myself from you. She would take you and raise you. We agreed to meet in a small cabin in the woods so I could visit. But as you grew older, I had to stop coming. I could not risk having you grow up knowing me as your father when the Vice monitored my every move.”
“I remember the cabin. I dreamed about it,” Gina stated.
“Yes, I stopped coming too late. You were old enough to remember my visits. The Vice was already suspicious that you lived, so I had to watch my actions very carefully.”
Gina took in this information, but something still did not fit.
“Why did Mom leave then?” Fheyrhil’s head hung, and he chuckled painfully to himself.
“This does not get any easier. Your mother loved you very much and always wanted to stay with you. But, as you know, when you were conceived, I began to develop senses. The Vice also could sense as I could, though his powers never equaled half of mine. Yet, he still got some vital information. He knew that you would not be the only one of my blood-line.” Gina’s head, which had faced the clutter on the desk, now jerked up to look at him.
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