by Ema Alves
He reached his village at dawn. Everyone was looking forward to his return. Elektra and Lotus, as they heard the gallop of Meridian’s horse, rushed to meet him, and he exhaustedly stepped down from his mount and the two women almost dragged him with their arms.
His eagerness to arrive delayed his mission to announce the news. Tired as he was, he fell asleep.
*
The morning had born cold and yet the sun announced a fine day. The council of Heidegger had met in the center of the village. People were continually waiting for the important news that Meridian would tell them.
In the temple’s colossal hall, the tasty mildew of aged paper blended itself with the strong odor of the heavy leathered bindings. The massive grimoires contained millennial teachings in their texts and engravings. Dusty jugs, barely illuminated by narrow sun rays, revealed their contents. Hermetically sealed in the vitreous containers, tiny portions of basically everything encompassed the vegetable, mineral and animal kingdoms in one place. It appeared that all the science of the world was at Meridian’s disposal.
Lotus, followed by Elektra, entered the magnificent room. Meridian impatiently waited for their arrival, staring at a secular herbarium. Telling the old woman to sit on the armchair in the corner of the room, he walked to those who, minding the news, deserved to know in private the content of what he had learned in Safed.
He did not know how to start... certainly, all the philosophical treatises he had read failed to teach him how to translate dismal news into graceful and resplendent declarations. To offer pain without harm.
“Turning lead into gold would have been a simpler process” - he thought.
Grabbing the sorceress’ hand, he said:
- This news I’m about to give you will bring you some sadness but, if you think about it, perhaps it was for the better – he began by saying, looking into the woman's eyes.
- Say it, Meridian. I’m ready – Lotus declared, not particularly sure of the walloping news he was about to utter. She was an experienced woman, who had been quite scathed by life. She had always been a sufferer. She had lost the only man she had ever loved and was aware that they would never become one. Therefore, there was nothing else in this life that could make her even more wounded. But she was wrong.
- Tiaggus... - Meridian proceeded, staring at Lotus.
- What about him? What...?
- He was coming... He wanted to unite himself with you. He had decided to stay here in Heidegger to train men who could help him in the strenuous battle of ridding mankind of its evilness. This was the place he had chosen to live his final days. Together with you and with the purest people he had known during his pilgrimage around the earth. In Heidegger, he had found a home. But…
- …what happened?
- During his return trip, he was stopped by a Muslim horde and was killed... Tiaggus has died – Meridian said, looking down. – I’m deeply sorry. – he added.
The old woman covered her face with her hand and began to cry:
- How did he die, if he was immortal? – she asked between dismayed moans.
- He was not immortal, and you know it. He relied on the elixir that kept him young. He died, for he was killed. His head was severed from the body and not even the elixir’s power could save him.
Elektra hugged her. Lotus’ heart was throbbing after such a fierce emotional whiplash. The painful sadness fought with the macabre joy of finally being able to join her lover. All those centuries of death and reincarnation, all of them experienced in solitude, eternally seeking her better-half, were finally over.
- How would Tiaggus manage to return and love this old woman again? - Lotus asked, looking at the aged skin that covered her hands. – it was better this way. He did not see what I have become. He will always remember me as I was. Beautiful and young like Elektra. Sooner or later, my torment will come to an end and I finally will join my Tiaggus, my beautiful Tiaggus!
With a smile showing on her lips, Lotus passed out. The news had been too strong for such a feeble heart. But something in her eyes appeared to have the willingness to fight against fate. Her gaze was fixated on Meridian and the latter beckoned Elektra to leave the room. After ensuring the needed isolation, Lotus spoke:
- What will happen to Elektra? She longs for a man’s love. She said it herself. As if the repercussions of her secret coming to light were not enough, now imagine having one of her most beautiful dreams destroyed. I thought I would die happy, but I suddenly feel she is more important to me than my own happiness.
Meridian caressed the old sorceress’ scruffy hair. He kissed her on the forehead and whispered in her ear:
- There’s still hope. There is a man who has a secret like hers. Stay calm... She will find happiness.
When he moved away from Lotus’ ear, her soul had already separated from her body to join Tiaggus’, but Meridian knew that his words had been heard, her rigid face still showed a peaceful smile that continued to soften her features.
Meridian embraced her and mourned her loss. He laid her down on the bed and placidly left the room. Elektra was waiting for him outside. In that sweet and young face, the wide green eyes stood out, carrying so much sorrow. She only needed to look at her father to discover the fate of her nanny. The green tone sparkled. Inside, a bubbling tide increased its flow until it started to pour, flowing freely down Elektra’s face. The eye and the tear were like the forest and the river.
Meridian and Elektra hugged each other and walked outside together.
Standing in front of the stone temple, the people of Heidegger was eagerly waiting. It was something odd, after all, such a call could be justified by bad news. An overwhelming atmosphere hung over everyone, who pointlessly were questioning themselves.
When Meridian finally walked out the door, the turmoil was defeated by silence. Elektra grabbed his left arm and, as a way to support him to announce the news that would shake the whole community, tightly squeezed his hand. At that moment, Elektra no longer felt any sort of resentment for his father’s trip. A lot had happened in the meantime and she appeared to have matured in recent weeks. She felt like a woman and knew that she could be independent and leave whenever she felt like it. Nevertheless, she thought that her father did not deserve the grief of her anger. Anger fueled by the avidness to sense the sort of freedom she had never been entitled to. Elektra’s mind wandered, as her father announced the loss of Tiaggus and Lotus.
Although they were a people acquainted with magic, aware that death was just a transfer of vital energy to the true world of light, conscious that they lived in the world of darkness and that the light was beyond it, they could not be anything but sad with Tiaggus’ death, someone who had saved so many souls by pointing them the only way towards perfection: the way of the Good.
The people’s grief was a reality. They had lost a precious ally, a good teacher whose mission was to guide those who walked away from that cosmic journey known as evolution.
But everything in life concealed a hidden purpose, which only became visible when materialized. With his death, Tiaggus had ascended, he had joined his spiritual better-half and continued to fulfill his guiding role but, now, at a higher level, at the spiritual Universe, near the Omniscient Source which is the Creator.
After a reverential and silent moment, Meridian announced the other news he had. The invitation, the call, the invocation that he had been offered.
Suddenly, something pushed Elektra back to earth again. A word. A single word which, like lightning, made her want to hear the whole sentence again.
Was that true, or was she dreaming? She abruptly faced his father, after he had uttered such a pleasant desire.
- Yes, Elektra, we are leaving. We are heading to the kingdom of Shekhinah.
Her heart trembled. She would finally have the opportunity to know the world, other people, different cultures. The odd thing in that was Meridian’s change of opinion, the readiness he now showed to leave Heidegger and, more important than that, to
take her with him. But these issues were irrelevant now, the important thing was that she would be free at last, free to explore, free to love.
The sorcerer people found that news even odder, aware of Elektra’s disadvantage. Although they considered her normal, they knew her evilness was punishable by death in the eyes of the community beyond the great river. Was Meridian sure of his words? How would he protect her if they found out what she was? She was a woman already, she probably had her own wishes and she would seek happiness!!!
But Meridian was wise, he surely knew what he was doing! The people then rejoiced at the significant role that Meridian would have in such a vast empire as Shekhinah.
Meridian looked at it as a tremendous achievement for a wizard, the role for which he had always studied and loved: protecting nature and helping men in their process of spiritual evolution.
He would accept the invitation this time. He recalled when he had rejected good opportunities to be a wizard of very important courts. Shekhinah was a kingdom located far north of Heidegger, where the great river was born, the place where its strength augmented, becoming an imposing flow that targeted the weak and hard rocks, spending thousands of years to form the valley where the Sybil forest had flourished.
Shekhinah was a great kingdom, but it was as important as any other that also had wanted Meridian’s services. There, Elektra had a tiny opportunity to be happy. This kingdom offered hope, someone like Elektra lived there, hidden from the eyes of the world. But that person was aware of the curse, plagued by the unhappiness of being different. Someone who was blocked from knowing the love of a woman. A loner. A prince.
5
The departure
It was morning already. Through the wooden shutters of the great temple windows, where the absence of bitumen was evident in tiny points that, filtering the warm outside light, the piercing sun rays mortally wounded the room’s cold shadow. There was a human silhouette inside the room. The hurry of that creature was evident. Those rushed footsteps woke Meridian, who promptly walked to the noise-laden division.
- What are you doing so early, Elektra? - he asked, trying to follow her daughter’s movements.
- I’m getting ready for the journey - she impatiently declared.
Meridian was amused by Elektra’s frenzy, who did not even stop to address his question. She understood the girl’s elation. After all, this would be the first day of the rest of her life. The day when she would finally leave to meet and face the outside world.
- But the day has barely started! Try to rest a little longer... there’s a long journey ahead of us. We leave after lunch - he proceeded, closing the door of the little lady’s room.
Whenever he traveled, Meridian would depart at dawn, but, taking into consideration his daughter’s frailty, he thought that they would need a good night of sleep before embracing the journey.
Inside the room, after taking yet another look at the things she had to carry, Elektra laid down and closed her eyes. She tried to sleep, but her thoughts were so stubborn that they simply did not leave her mind alone.
She had wanted to experience all of this for so long and, now, she barely believed it was about to be a reality. She was going to cross the river.
There was some fear involved. She had always been told that the men who lived on the other side of the fierce current were dreadful and that, although she did not understand the reason why, they could do her harm. Would they be so radically different from her own people?
But the joy of her departure and the chance to taste freedom was more significant than all sorts of fear.
There were still unanswered questions. For years, Meridian had rejected every proposal that would drag him to a far country. Why had he changed his mind? Deep down, Elektra had never understood the reason for his refusals.
After all, setting sail for another kingdom, serving and protecting mankind from their own destructive behavior was the only true and prideful goal of a Wizard. For a moment, Elektra thought that “she” was the reason for those rejections but, if that were true, then why had he changed his mind now? What guarantees did this kingdom offer? What had been the conversation with Lotus at the gates of her death? Why had she left the room?
A few minutes later, she appeared to be asleep, rocked by the twisting intoxication of the labyrinthine questions that tended to populate her mind.
The middle of the morning had arrived and so did their departure.
Elektra was ready, her plump curly hair was masterfully combed, a strip of cherry cloth rested on those rebellious red strands like the most indomitable setting sun. Beneath her complexion as clear as honey, her wide eyes were surrounded by the thin black line of her long lashes. The green eyes carried their strength before their complement. The hair, the cherry strip and the lips appeared to lose the warmth of their color when put against such a greedy tone of green, which perfectly mimicked the translucid dew drops, lightly resting on the fresh leaves that reflected their morning splendor.
The velvety fabric, whose softness was disturbingly perceived by the simplest glance at it, elegantly embraced the slender shape of a prodigiously belted torso. The hem of the long dress swung at every step of the princess. When she jumped on her mare, her slender legs were exposed between two side cuts that split the skirt of the dress between the front and the back. She was a sorcerer and this was her costume. The sun’s daughter. As scarlet as this was, red like a ruby, a blood stone like the one that enlivens the divine spirit of the pigeon, she was electrically Elektra.
Meridian, on his mount, covered her with the black hooded mantled that would protect her from the strenuous weather, unavoidable in such a long journey.
They departed after being blessed by all. Heidegger was the past, the green of the forest was the present and the community the future.
The community which almost killed the little child. The Mankind that feared what was different.
The child became the woman who, unaware of her own evilness, was now walking towards death. Blinded by her own obliviousness, she was striding towards to the abyss and her fall could happen after a careless step. She would fall without knowing why, without knowing the difference between her and the common mortal beings.
Unaware that she had a secret, she would never be able to stand for herself, and death… was lurking on the other side of the river.
6
Contact with Humanity
Heidegger's magical environment had stayed behind. The enchanted forest of Sybil had been transposed. The river, this eastern frontier that bounded two worlds, seemed enraged, or was just trying to separate the sacred from the profane. It did not mean that on the other side of the river, the remaining thousands of leagues of a whole planet, were inhabited by ungodly, evil, barbaric and narrow-minded beings. They simply did not believe in magic as an integral part of Nature, as part of that divine energy emanated by the creator.
A wizard and a sorceress went after their destiny: Shekhinah, a kingdom that had been subjected to eighteen years of a sorrowful curse. The wealthy times had abandoned the dark and fertile lands. For no apparent reason, fertility had disappeared as if it were a spirit.
When one is about to lose everything in life, one believes and relies on all kinds of help. Every man believes in magic deep down, he is only afraid or ashamed to believe in something he cannot see or do not understand, sensing his own ridiculousness.
The king of Shekhinah had once been a fierce and agnostic man, but the ironic ways of fate had brought him too many unfortunate episodes, which extinguished his wealth-fed happiness. The kingdom, green and with happy people in the past, had become arid and dismayed. Regardless of how hard the work of a farmer was, the effort was pointless, since he could not reap the product of his investment. But the king’s greatest sorrow was that he had to hide his son from the eyes of the crowd: the cursed prince who secretly suffered from terrible evilness, identical to Elektra’s. Yet, and unlike her, he was aware of his limitations.
H
ow ridiculous was Humanity.
What was the reason for his suffering? Guilt had been put on his shoulders since an early age. People always pointed a finger at him. They always diverted their glances when standing before his unblemished beauty. The repulsion was impossible to conceal, the dreadful fate of being born different wounded the little one’s soul, a malaise that only kept growing. Yes, it was sad. He was seen as the demon’s offspring even by his own parents and he too was confined to the four walls of a castle. A prison. Far from the eyes of a people who ignored his existence.
People were afraid of the different. They were proud of the presumed perfection of most humans, enforced by a prejudiced culture. Or perhaps... they were afraid that being different represented the evolution, the progress and the future of all Humanity.
The prince was perfect. Nonetheless, his image of goodness was a source of mockery, hatred and fear. He had been raised knowing that he was a monster before the unfair judgment of Mankind.
Elektra, in turn, was considered perfect. The living image of goodness and sumptuous beauty. The only mistake was that they did not reveal that she was different from the people who accepted her as equal.
They did not prepare her to suffer, to experience the limits of her own body, to know loneliness and the impossibility of loving and being loved.
They did not prepare her to deal with being pointed out, judged, hated, feared. And neither to deal with the fact they vomited when they knew what she was. Different.