They finally turned away from the view outside to notice the oversized furniture of the living room. The couches looked positively luxurious, and they faced a huge, flat-screened television hanging on the wall above a massive fireplace.
They had turned in almost a complete circle when they noticed the front entrance and the grand curving staircase leading to upstairs. With their bags still slung over their shoulders they began to race to see who would find the best bedroom first. Jena was the first to reach the stairs, but Juila was faster and reached the top before she did.
They were giggling like little girls as they opened one door after another down the long hallway. There had to be at least six guest bedrooms. Finally, after looking over their selection for the third time, they settled on two bedrooms which were side-by-side, both overlooking the backyard and pool area.
Juila’s room was decorated in pink, which happened to be her favorite color. The decorating was done tastefully in a grown-up fashion, not in a childish manner she would have done for herself. She felt very adult in this room. The en-suite bathroom was also luxurious with a huge soaking Jacuzzi tub as well as a shower with multiple shower heads. She could imagine her showers would be pretty quick with all the water available. After putting her bag down in the middle of the king-sized bed, Juila wandered over to inspect Jena’s room.
Jena, of course, had selected a room which was decorated in yellow. It also had a very elegant look to it. The furniture was similar to that of Juila’s own room. The view outside was the same. The en-suite bathroom was the mirror image of her own.
Juila came within a foot of her sister and said, “Isn’t this amazing? I’d always hoped, but never dreamed, this day would actually come!”
Jena nodded emphatically and then lunged forward and hugged her sister. She was thankful they were embarking on this new journey together. She had always hated when she had to go to Elder Debbon’s residence and leave Juila behind. Now they were together, and they could stay that way, at least until she turned eighteen. Then she would be obligated to marry Willian unless she was still in post-study.
Reminded of school, Jena asked her sister, “Do you really want to go to high school? What if we hate it?”
Juila shrugged and said, “Then we quit going. We’ve already finished the equivalent in Tuala, so this is just going to be for fun. Plus we’ll get to meet kids our own age if we attend school. How else do you propose to meet anyone?”
Jena wrinkled her nose and said, “As if that matters to me! My life has already been planned. I already know whom I’m going to marry. It’s a good thing I like him!”
Juila smiled at Jena and said, “There’s nothing in your contract which states you can’t go out with other guys until then. You should at least experience one or two boyfriends while we’re here. Willian never needs to know about it.”
Jena thought about Juila’s suggestion, but she just could not get comfortable with the idea. She would not like it if Willian ‘played the field’ while she was away. It just did not seem fair. She shrugged her shoulders non-committedly. Jena wanted to change the subject, so she suggested, “Let’s go downstairs and finish investigating the house!”
“Okay,” Juila readily agreed. She knew how Jena felt about dating, but she could not help herself from pushing Jena toward other options. She did not care for the idea of Jena getting married and leaving her all alone. One day she hoped to find a way to get Jena out of her betrothal. She just needed more time to figure it out.
They went down the stairs together, much more composed than they had been when they went up. Now they paused at the bottom to take in the view of the grand foyer with its huge, sparkling chandelier hanging from the center of the thirty-foot ceiling. The front doors were massive, carved double-doors with windows on either side. The marble floors were polished to a reflective sheen.
They walked back through to the living room and waved at their parents. They turned to the left and went down a hall they had not seen before. They found an office, laundry room, bathroom, and then a huge library. The girls both adored reading and were open-mouthed with awe as they saw the walls covered with books from floor to ceiling.
The girls were fairly certain they had read every book on Acaim. Now they had so much to read it felt as though they had found a massive treasure trove. Jena moved to one side and Juila to the other. They trailed their fingers along the shelves as they read the titles of the books on the spines.
Jena was the first to locate the book with the red spine. When she got to it she had a sudden sensation of power. Without knowing what it could mean she called out, “Juila, get over here and tell me what you feel.” She purposely tried to shield her thoughts from Juila, a hard feat in and of itself. They were usually so mentally linked with one another that it had become an unconscious thing.
Juila was intrigued when she felt Jena withdraw mentally. Something amazing must have happened for her sister to do such a thing. She hurried across the library. As she neared her sister, she, too, could feel the pull of energy. It was almost as if it were behind the books, but that did not make sense. This was a solid wall. She shook her head and said, “Let’s ask our parents about it. Maybe they know what it is.”
Their exploring was essentially over, although the library would warrant further research. They walked back to the living room and sat down on the couch next to their parents. It still felt weird to finally have parents like all of the other children with which they had grown up. Now they did not feel any different. They finally fit in somewhere.
Riccan smiled at the girls and asked, “Which bedrooms did you pick?”
Jena said, “The yellow one,” at the same time Juila said, “The pink one.”
Amanda laughed and wondered if the girls realized they had picked the same colors they had originally been clothed in from Amanda’s dream. She still remembered Justan’s cute little voice saying Jena’s name had an ‘e’ and so did ‘yellow’ while Juila’s name had an ‘i,’ and so did ‘pink.’ The color of their clothes was how Justan could tell the difference between the identical girls.
“Good! What do you think of the house? Will you be happy here?” Riccan continued to ask.
“Absolutely,” the girls said in unison.
“We did have a question about the library, though,” Jena began and looked toward Juila to see if they should say anything or just let it go. Juila gave her a small nod and Jena continued, “We felt something along the back wall. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
Riccan and Amanda looked at one another significantly. They had purposely not said anything to the girls about the hidden room. It was apparent they would have to tell them something. Riccan decided to let them in on the secret and said, “Let’s go back in there and you can show me what you’re talking about, okay?”
The girls eagerly led the way into the library and made a bee-line to the shelf with the red book. “Right here,” Jena said emphatically. “I can feel a massive amount of energy when I stand right here.”
Riccan smiled and reached under the shelf and pressed the release button. The entire wall moved inward to reveal the large room hidden behind the wall.
Jena and Juila both gasped. They had never heard of a secret room or a false wall. This was terribly exciting.
Riccan was the first to enter followed by Jena, Juila, and finally Amanda. Riccan turned and said, “I think it goes without saying that this room is not to be talked about with anyone except the people in this room right now. I have collected artifacts from Tuala and Earth which are exceptionally rare and must remain hidden. Do you both understand how important this is?”
The girls nodded solemnly, but could not keep their eyes from darting from one amazing artifact to another. Jena began walking toward the pull of energy and stopped when she reached the shelves containing the crystal skulls. She looked up and discovered the carved stones and gasped, “Where did you get these samaras?”
Amanda was the first to ask, “You k
now about them?”
Riccan was about to ask the same question. Jena even knew the proper term for them which meant she could have even more knowledge about their power, uses, or where the others might be located.
“Yes. I studied about them in the ancient text section of the archives. They are almost ten thousand anons old,” she breathed as she stared in awe at the two skulls resting beside one another. She had never even hoped to see one, let alone two. The draw of power was definitely emanating from the samaras. The need to touch one was almost overpowering, so she pulled her hands behind her back to resist the temptation.
Juila came up beside Jena and felt the same pull toward the other samara. She had not read the text, but she knew what it had said since Jena had read it. As she reviewed the knowledge, she was becoming increasingly interested in the whole history.
“For what are the samaras used in the ancient texts?” Riccan asked gently. He hoped they would be able to fill in some blanks from their current knowledge.
“There are thirteen samaras total. It is said they are kept by the descendants of the Watchers until the time comes to bring them back together again,” Jena spoke as though she were reading it from her memory.
“Why would they need to come back together? What would they do?” Amanda pressed.
“They will join the worlds together permanently,” Jena said matter-of-factly.
Amanda and Riccan looked at each other with frowns of concern. If Amanda were the key, then maybe the knowledge the girls brought with them would take them further toward the fulfillment of the new prophecy.
“Did you girls know there has been a new prophecy given?” Amanda asked.
The two both shook their heads in the negative, but their eyes sparkled with anticipation of learning something few others knew.
Riccan went over and pulled out the Elder’s Instructional Guide from the cupboard. He set it on the table and carefully opened the front cover to reveal the page with the recently added words:
“From a far-away land
There will come in time
Intuition is in hand
Strange details known
With ties to the people.
From one of my own
There will be a sign.
Those born to this one
Will transform all.
Lucinden will pursue
Elders will fall
Then all made new.”
“Mom, didn’t Jehoban say your intuition was the key?” Jena pointed to the section of the prophecy speaking to intuition. She continued to talk to Amanda as she said, “And you are definitely from a far-away land.”
“There will come in time…” Amanda murmured as she remembered Jehoban saying she had been transported back in time to deliver her children.
“Amanda, what are you thinking? Have you figured something out?” Riccan touched his wife’s arm and leaned toward her anticipating her answer.
“I think so,” she mused as she worked it all out in her head before speaking. “If I put myself as the person this is talking about it does make a sort of sense. Like Jena said, I come from a far-away land, and I have a powerful intuition. Jehoban said I’d been transported back in time and I definitely know strange details about people who don’t seem to even know me.”
Riccan considered Amanda’s points and thought she was probably on the right track. He encouraged her to continue by asking, “What else?”
“I don’t think I told you, but Jehoban said I was special because I was descended from His angels. I, alone, inherited the special gene from my parents. So I guess that would make me one of His own,” Amanda continued. “I’m not sure what the ‘sign’ is supposed to mean, but I can understand the part where is says my children will transform all.”
She looked at her two almost-grown girls and suddenly became scared for their futures. She hoped she had not brought them from the safety of Acaim to put them in harm’s way for the sake of this prophecy.
“I don’t understand what Lucinden will pursue or why the Elders will fall. The part about all being made new would make sense if what Jena said about bringing the samaras together is correct.” Amanda shivered at the implications of the prophecy.
Juila had been strangely silent during the exchange between her parents. She had been intensely studying the prophecy. Finally, she startled everyone by asking, “How long have you known about this prophecy?”
Riccan said, “I’ve only known about it for a little less than three weeks, but Amanda knew about it long before.”
Juila shifted her gaze to her mother to wait for her to answer.
“I first learned about it while I was still in the coma,” she answered as she tried to put together the time frame. “I guess I knew about it about eight or nine mesans before Riccan.”
Juila nodded as though the time frame meant something to her.
Jena came up beside Juila and casually touched her arm to her sister’s. Physical contact always seemed to calm them both. Neither said aloud what was going on in their thoughts. They would have to spend some more time going over everything before they would talk about it with their parents.
The girls suddenly felt the need to get away from the samaras. It was almost as if the energy produced from the crystals were making it harder for them to concentrate. Now that they knew they resided in the house, they were going to have to review their knowledge of the legends surrounding them.
Riccan asked, “Does the time mean something to you, Juila?”
She shook her head and said, “I don’t know yet. I’m going to have to think about it. I’ll let you know if I remember anything important.” She grabbed her sister’s arm and said, “Let’s get out of here!”
They marched out of the room together and left Amanda and Riccan looking after them with worried expressions. “I wonder what that was all about,” Riccan said quietly.
“I don’t know, but I’m afraid we’ll eventually find out. I’m terrified we might know most of what the prophecy is speaking about. It puts the whole mess directly on Jena and Juila’s shoulders. I hope we can keep them safe, Riccan.” Amanda stared at her husband willing him to do something.
Riccan drew Amanda into his arms and said, “We’ll do everything we can to protect our girls. We will be with them every step of the way. I love you, Amanda.”
Amanda hugged her husband tightly around his torso and replied, “I love you, too. I’m so glad we’re doing this together. I feel so much better knowing you’re with me in this.”
“Always, baby, always,” he murmured into her hair and then he kissed the top of her head. He pulled away and led her from the room.
Chapter Six
“WHAT ARE WE going to do,” Juila whispered to Jena as they rushed through the living room and outside to sit beside the pool. They wanted to have some time alone to talk about this new problem.
“I say we do nothing right now. You wanted to experience life on Earth. We should keep our mouths shut until it becomes impossible. Until that time, we will go to school, make new friends, and learn everything we can about Earth. It’s simple, really,” Jena stated.
Juila nodded, but could not keep from worrying that time was not on their side. Everything seemed to be happening so fast; she was starting to feel like she was losing control of her future much like Jena’s had been lost with the betrothal.
It was starting to get dark outside, and some clouds had begun rolling in overhead. It looked like it was going to rain. Just as they had the thought, they started seeing small raindrops fall onto the smooth surface of the pool. As soon as they acknowledged the little drops and began to get up from the lounge chairs, the clouds opened up, and the rain began to pour down from the sky.
The girls squealed as they were caught out unexpectedly. They hunched over and began to run for the side door. In the few seconds it took them to get inside, they were drenched and laughing at how fast their situation had changed.
They spilled into the living r
oom and continued to laugh as they hurriedly shut the door behind them. As they turned from the door, they saw their parents grinning at them as they reclined on the couch in each other’s arms. It was a happy scene as Amanda said, “Go upstairs and get some dry clothes on. We can visit here in the living room until it’s time for bed.”
Walking swiftly, the girls did as their mother had directed. They came back down the stairs together and sat on the couch across from their parents. It was a comfortable feeling to have the whole family together.
Amanda wanted to know everything there was to know about her girls, but she did not want to push them for information. She decided to let the knowledge come to them organically through casual conversation.
Instead of asking what she really wanted to know she asked, “What would you two like to do here?”
The girls looked at one another for a moment before Juila replied, “We’d like to go to high school. It would be really fun to meet kids our own age and see if there are any differences.”
“Okay, we can arrange that. Tomorrow is Saturday, but we can go down to the school and get you registered on Monday. Oh,” Amanda suddenly realized they would not have any prior educational history or vaccination records. She turned to her husband and asked, “What did you do for proper documentation?”
“Oh, that’s easy,” Riccan replied easily. “We make it ourselves. We use the elemy to create fake documents.”
“That seems like cheating,” Amanda scolded.
“What’s the alternative, really?” Riccan asked back.
Amanda shrugged and conceded his point. She did not like the idea of making forgeries, but there really was no alternative.
“We will say they’ve been in boarding school in South Africa. They’ll be less likely to look into it if they’re from out of the country and they won’t know if the documentation is correct or not because of it.”
Levels of Ascension BoxSet Page 6