Iliona and the resumption of ties

by Ariane Souza

  Zian looked at her as not understanding why she cared so much in explaining that to Timothy. She realized his gaze, but still watching Timothy’s reaction. Then Zian said as a matter of resuming the conversation:

  “Recently, though, humans from Nagranto have been contacting ilions, the inhabitants of Iliona. The ilions of our city, to be more precise. And since the government of our town, that we call Administration, discovered it, it has been trying to stop it.”

  “That’s why we are here,” Muriel added.

  “To stop it?” Timothy repeated, clearly worried.

  “Yes. Because they fear humans can destroy Iliona City, like explore it ‘till the last drop, as you did with many cities of your world. Some of us consider you very harmful.” Zian added.

  “Do you?” Timothy asked him, but Zian just deviated the look and said nothing.

  “But, there are also ilions who think differently about humans,” Muriel spoke again. “So they decided to go against the Administration rules and make contact with you to tell you about us. There are groups doing so.”

  “Like you’re doing right now?”

  “Yes, except that in this case, we’re explaining things to you for the consideration we have for Bob.” Winda easily remarked.

  “Anyway,” Muriel continued, “It seems, though, some humans didn’t believe on it right away, like you. That’s why some ilions invented a lie to make you more willing to believe.”

  “Because disappearing into an invisible hole wasn’t enough to make us willing?” Timothy said.

  “It was enough for you?” Ed asked him.

  “Well, it kept me awake for some nights trying to figure out what I had exactly seen. But along with this entire story you’re telling me, it’s not that hard to believe in you. What else could you do to make us believe in you?”

  “To carry you to Iliona,” Muriel said more drily that time. “So, they started attracting humans, by saying that ilions could make their wishes come true by eating their fake stars.”

  There was a silence to that.

  “Because that’s what we have to do to go on living. We feed on fake stars. But the wishes that originated them do not change at all if we eat them.” She added.

  “And there’s a way to know the owner of a fake star? I mean is there a way to know which star came from a wish of mine?”

  “Still making the wrong questions,” Ed mumbled.

  “No. there’s an entire world wishing for things, this forms a multitude of stars, there’s not how to know which one is yours. However, some ilions are saying otherwise to lure humans. That’s why the number of nils has increased since they started spreading this lie. There are humans visiting Iliona City.” Muriel added.

  “Well, but people will stop believing in this as soon as they realize it’s not true,” Timothy said as this was an obvious happening.

  “Yes, they will, but we don’t know when this is going to happen,” Zian said. “These ilions contacted people from big enterprises here of Nagranto, companies with a significant influence on your lives. Now, these companies are contacting their clients through phone calls and e-mails. They are starting to sell trips to Iliona City as a travel package, where besides getting to know a new place, you can also make some wishes come true by letting an ilion eat your fake star.” He finished saying it with an apparent bitterness in his voice.

  “And how come I never heard of it, nor my family?” Timothy asked.

  “Because we’re working on it, to keep it from spreading,” Zian answered him.

  “How?”

  “The Administration increased its control over the number of nils being opened and over who passes by them as well. They declared an emergency state in Iliona City: non-authorized ilions can’t get in or get out. Besides, all the nils are watched now, which significantly reduced the number of ilions arriving in the houses of humans. And they 're also trying deals with the enterprises involved, but there’s nothing settled yet.” Zian said, sighing. And deep down he felt he just told Timothy all that because a part of him trusted in what Ed said about orders for memory changing.

  “So… who’s watching the portal in my attic?” Timothy asked, hesitating.

  “There’s no one watching it. Then, to take care of it was also part of the job Ed and I were sent to do.” Muriel answered him.

  “So, on that day we first met you already knew the portal was in my house?” He asked toward Ed.

  “No, I did not. Although I felt some particles of it in you. After a time working with nils, you can notice these particles, like seeing dust on furniture. That’s what I was checking when Zian interrupted me. We knew there was a nil in that area, but we did not know it was in your house. So we searched in all houses of that neighborhood, visiting yours last.” He answered.

  “What do you mean particles of it?”

  “Like when you touch something or stay near it, and the smell of it sticks in you.” Bob helped.

  “So you can smell it?” He turned to Ed again

  “So can you ask less? Ed said impatiently.

  “Thinking backward, why couldn’t you just realize there was a nil in that house?” Winda asked, looking at Ed.

  “I felt it later when we were searching around the house. Permanent nils are connected to its owner energy, so sometimes they are feeble, and it’s hard to notice them.” Ed said, still impatient.

  “It must have been so, then, that I did not find it when I kept looking for it in the attic right after you disappeared.” He said toward Winda.

  “Hmm, probably. Sometimes, the nils close temporarily after being used by someone, then automatically open again if no one closes it. In the case of permanent nils, they must be weakened after used, since they can not be closed by anyone.” She answered.

  “They can’t be closed?” Timothy asked, alarmed, imagining a forever-open nil in his attic.

  “In the case of permanent nils, they can only be closed by those who created them. Then, about the one in your attic, all we can do is watch it since we don’t know who opened it.” Muriel said.

  “I don’t know about you, but I have other things for today,” Ed said to them. “It’s not like we would tell him all about us in one afternoon. Besides, like I said when the orders come it’s not like he will remember all this anyway.” He said opening the door and leaving.

  That words made Timothy remember about Ed’s crooked eye and Winda’s warning about him. Then he also remembered of what he found in his pocket some days ago, and that he had forgotten to ask Winda about when he visited her. He put one hand inside his pocket and took off a triangular pendant, which he put on the table in front of everyone’s eyes.

  “I found this in the guest’s room, the morning that you left. Is it yours?” He asked toward Muriel.

  “Yes, and I had already given up looking for it.” She said, taking the pendant and analyzing with eyes of recognition.

  “Aren’t you going to ask what this is?” Bob suggested, but after Ed’s remarking of him over questioning, he was a bit embarrassed to ask further.

  “That’s how we ‘smell’ nils,” Muriel explained it anyway. “See these tiny particles in the corners?” Timothy nodded, looking at the little white grains inside the glass triangle, leaning over the table to see better the pendant Muriel put in her palm. “So, when you’re close to a nil, these particles leave the corners and get together in the center of the triangle, that’s how you know you’re near one.”

  “And why are you all in here?” He asked, still looking at the pendant, finally expressing a thought it was crossing his mind since he woke up and saw all of them in there. “Are you looking for another nil?”

  “Not exactly. We were…” She started, but Winda finished it:

  “We were in a reunion. A meeting that ended up in here.”

  But before Timothy could say anything else, his vision got foggy, and his legs went numb once more. He fell asleep again.

  10

  Reunion


  Unless you have had an emergency or lived in a very peaceful neighborhood, or just had no problems with strangers passing by, staring and possibly entering your house, you would not let it open like Muriel and Ed did on the day Timothy decided to get in.

  On the day before that, Ed had called Winda to tell her the meeting would be that night in his new house. Then he bought five stools at Nagranto’s downtown and arranged them in the corner of his living room near the floor lamp, in a circular way to accommodate his future guests.

  They arrived close to midnight and sat in the places provided for them. The street outside was quiet and empty, with no trace of rain or passersby, just a hovering summer wind. As the ceiling of the room was full of cocoons, the only light in the place was coming from the crooked floor lamp near them, which was already in the house when Ed and Muriel moved in. It cast a yellow glow on their faces.

  “So, we’re listening,” Tevis announced crossing his legs in his dark blue pants that matched his white T-shirt.

  “Well, I just thought it would be interesting to get together to discuss our current situation. I mean, who we’re fooling if we believe we can stop what is happening?” Ed said, in a casual tone. He was wearing his usual long sleeveless shirt that looked like a dress, it was black, and it ended on his knees where we could see the dark green pants underneath it.

  “So you called us here to tell us how fool we’ve been trying to do our job?” Zian asked, placidly. He was wearing gray pants and a yellow sleeveless shirt and dark boots.

  “No, I called you here because we need a plan.” He answered, letting the rest of the explanation to Muriel:

  “Our work in here is to watch nils and to meet with the ilions that are living in this city to give them the Administration’s message for them to go back. We received a list with the addresses where we were supposed to find these ilions. But all of them are empty houses, and we’ve visited around thirty of them since we arrived in town.” She had her hair caught in a loose bun, and she was wearing brown overalls with a white shirt underneath it.

  “So you’ve been failing greatly,” Tevis commented.

  “Or the addresses that were given to you were the wrong ones,” Winda suggested, her outfit was a black dress with blue boots.

  “Exactly.” Ed agreed with her.

  “Or someone is visiting these addresses ahead of us, and telling their dwellers to go somewhere else,” Muriel suggested.

  “Go to where? Moreover, why would someone warn them about your coming?” Tevis asked.

  “I don’t know. But the number of ilions backing to Iliona City is lower than the number of empty houses we’ve been visiting. We closed all the nils we’ve found ‘till now, there’s just one we couldn’t do it because it’s a permanent one. It’s in Timothy’s house, our neighbor. They can also be moving to other places here in Nagranto.” She sighed.

  “The lie about the wishes is so ridiculous,” Tevis commented.

  “Well, but it’s pretty easy for them to believe in it after you see a person disappear right in front of your eyes, I guess. Our world, compared to theirs, can be fascinating to them. Plus, to have your wishes come to reality without actually putting some effort into it is too appealing to humans.” Zian interfered.

  “It’s true. I can’t understand the contrary, though: why an ilion would find the human world so interesting to come to live in it?” Ed said, clearly addressing it to Winda.

  “So, when it’s going to take place? I mean the singing. Wasn’t it for this you called us here?” Winda said toward him, ignoring his question.

  Nevertheless, he didn’t answer her right away; he let the silence expand as the others turned their eyes toward him. And as he said nothing, Muriel started:

  “This is not decided yet.”

  “But it’ll happen,” Ed said right after her, and she felt a bit surprised because he had not told her that yet. He continued: “I received the news yesterday, so I thought better to talk about it when we were all together, so later none of you can say I did not tell you so.”

  “Typical,” Tevis spoke with a tone of irritation in his voice. “How can you say that so calmly? You’re saying you and your partners are about to modify the memory of a whole town with your singing. Still, you talk about it as you’re saying the human sky is blue. You treat serious things as they were obvious.”

  “And just because they are serious can’t they be obvious?” Ed replied in his calm way. But Winda interrupted him:

  “I agree with Tevis.”

  “So stay. Do not go back to Iliona. Stay here in Nagranto, waiting for the singing day, and then you’re going to forget about us along with your parents and all the other ilions you ever met. And you will live a human life. Except that, their food won’t nourish your body still. But perhaps you can try to change that too.” Ed teased her.

  “Can we just try not to fight this time? Every time we get together, the reunion ends up in a stressful way.” Zian blurted, tired.

  “No, that’s not true. Every time we get together, it all goes fine. Every time we get together with Ed, though, we fight. Because he always says unpleasant things.” Tevis remarked.

  “Unpleasant? I’m warning you, updating you on what will happen.” He defended himself.

  “It seems to me like you gave up the work you came to do, and just chose the easiest way: to erase everybody’s memories. And so you called us here to tell us to get away from the town while we still have time.” Winda added.

  “But that’s exactly what I said I did.” Ed pronounced the words emphatically. “Nobody was paying attention to what I said? There’s no longer avail in going door-to-door trying to make us hidden from the human’s knowledge. It’s just a matter of time for this to be all over the internet, and reach distant places. The singing is just a last resource the Administration thinks it can stop it, but it can’t. They’re just too proud to admit they lost, though, so they’ll use it.”

  “Since you already know the singing will serve to nothing why are you going to make part of it anyway?” Tevis asked.

  And Ed could have answered him nicely, but before he could think about it twice, the words were already coming out of his mouth:

  “Because it’ll be the first time I’ll take part in a formal singing.” He said, indifferently, looking back at Tevis.

  No one said a word. Everybody just looked at Tevis when he stood up and walked toward Ed, that remained sat on his stool.

  “Tevis, don’t be pulled by this. We have important things to….”

  “I know we have important things to discuss,” He interrupted Zian, who also stood up trying to calm him down. “But,” Tevis continued, “He always does this. He always acts as if he were better than anybody else, just because he knows how to change memories. He keeps acting as if humans were less and plays around with other’s bitter memories. He knows how much this subject troubles me. He knows, but still he plays around with it, he brings it back every time we talk, and he laughs inside while he does it.” Tevis finished looking from Ed to Zian, who could tell his watery eyes.

  “How can you tell I’m laughing inside?”

  “Ed, enough.” Muriel interrupted him.

  “All the effort we did was for what? For what were the nights we spent awake checking nils if they’ll just erase the whole town?” Tevis asked toward Zian, who sighed deviating his eyes. “They made a fool of us, Zian, that’s how I feel. They just deceived us again, and we fell for it, again. That’s why people like him mock of us.” He said pointing to Ed. “This reunion is already over to me. I’m out.” He said heading to the door.

  “Tevis, perhaps together we can see a way through it. There isn’t just a single option.” Zian tried to convince him,

  “You’re right, Zian. There’s not just one option”, Tevis said already turning the doorknob. “And that’s why we’re here. Because we chose the other option, the one that keeps us distracted while important decisions are made.” He said, closing the door behind him
.

  The others remained in silence, ‘till Zian spoke looking at Ed:

  “You just can’t miss a chance of being an idiot, can you? You have to grab them all no matter what.”

  “Well, nobody’s perfect.” Ed said, “Tevis has a short temper, he should work on that.”

  “Short temper?” It was Winda’s turn to talk, “His family doesn’t remember him anymore…”

  “Adoptive family,” Ed remarked as if there were any difference.

  “There’s no difference,” Winda said seriously. “They were humans, they adopted him, they were their parents, and there was love between them. And you erased their memories. So definitely his problem with you goes beyond just short temper.”

  There was silence again as the others were mentally confirming what Winda just said. Even Ed.

  Then Zian sighed and stroked his forehead with his fingertips, saying:

  “So, how much time do you think we still have, before the singing?”

  “They didn’t inform a deadline, they just said to us to warn the ilions we find and to prepare ourselves for this. They stated that they would contact me again when they had a date.” Ed said, standing up and stretching himself. Then he headed to the kitchen, asking if anybody would like something to eat, but all the others said no to it.

  “I think it could be good to live with humans with them knowing about us,” Winda commented.

  “I fear they try to destroy us. Like, ruin our world trying to keep theirs. They can be too fascinated with our food, our stars. Can you imagine if they start to take them away? It already happened with the City of Dandelions, and the ilions from there would have vanished if they hadn’t received help from their neighboring towns.” Zian outflowed.

  “I think it can be different with Iliona City. Perhaps we can build alliances.” Muriel said. “Just because it didn’t work with one city, it doesn’t mean the others are doomed to the same bad experience.”

  “Maybe,” Zian mumbled, thoughtfully.