Insight

by Tina Engel

Chapter 9

  Believe,

  Go forward,

  Don’t let the

  Fear

  Stop you.

  Standing outside on deck, the sky was clear, so blue, with the sun shining down on us as if it was a part of our team, helping us to complete this part of our journey.

  I looked up at the sun, the same sun that Lily and Eagle had disappeared into just hours ago and I suddenly could see, I was in the room with Lily and Rose.

  The room was filled with glowing light, like the sun. Lily put her hands on the glass of the case, which Rose was resting in, and then her hand went through the glass as she retrieved my cameo and ring. When Lily removed her hand from inside the box, the room became the way it had been, no sunny glow.

  Lily looked right at me, she knew I was with her, and she smiled a very proud smile, she knew that I was almost there, almost complete.

  Then as quickly as I saw this, a cloud covered the sun and my vision was gone. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turning to look, it was Lily, beaming as she pinned the cameo on my dress.

  She took my hand then and placed the ring back on my finger and bent down and kissed it. As she stood, I saw the stone glowing brightly and I felt a warmth on my finger beneath the band. It was one with me, even more so than it had been before.

  I asked Lily, “I know I need these to close the doorway forever, but will Rose be safe without them? Or does it even matter? If the doorway isn’t destroyed, everything will be in vain anyway.”

  “Rose is in a safe and stable place, for now. She needed those gifts to get there but now, with Kimberlite and the lava pebbles with her, and a little help from up above, she is still with us.” Lily said, with a curious smile on her face.

  Just then I saw something out of the corner of my eye. Out in the waters, so deep and dark, there came a light rising from the depths. The closer to the surface it came, it looked like a sheet, a bed sheet drifting up to the surface as if dancing to music only it could hear.

  I realized as it reached the surface of the ocean, that it was a jelly fish, an enormous jelly fish. Then there were two. They were beautiful, clear on the outside like a window, so I could see everything inside. The colors were pulsating with reds and oranges that moved, so graceful, as they held their place in the water against the waves that tried to push them against the ship. Their glow was like a large flash light shining up to the heavens.

  These creatures were here for a reason, to help or hurt, that was the question. As soon as this thought came to my mind, I knew they were here to help.

  Brett came to my side and started to pull his knife out from his pocket. I put my hand on his shoulder and looking into his eyes, I smiled and shook my head.

  “They’re here to help.” I said calmly.

  It was Adam who spoke next, “So what do we do now? How can they help?”

  Angelina came over to me and gave me a folded piece of paper. When I opened it, I saw a map of the City and surrounding area.

  Brett came over to us and Angelina showed us the safest way to get to the doorway. She explained that this part of the city was full of dangers. There were creatures from the other side, small but vicious, that were able to enter, from a very small hole in the door, which the Dark One had created somehow. It was too small however for his army or himself to enter through.

  I wondered then, if the Dark One couldn’t enter, then how was he able to communicate with Proteus and Stephan, and how was I going to destroy this doorway before he could open it?

  Lily came over and held out her hand to me with something in it. She placed it in my hand and as I looked down, I saw a small bug-like creature, the size of a dime. It was quite spectacular in looks, a beetle of sorts. Its color was a deep purple with emerald green horns on its head and a tail that looked like a scorpion’s, with a very sharp point at the end, which was the same green color.

  “This is a creature from the other side of the doorway.” Lily said. “You must find the small opening, so this creature can go through. It will then destroy the doorway, from the other side.” Lily said.

  I looked from the creature in my hand back to Lily and said, “How do you know it will do this and how do I find the hole? And what is the place that is on the other side of the door? ”

  The creature in my hand then, made a strange screeching noise and as I looked down at it, it stabbed the palm of my hand with its tail. The pointed end of the tail went completely through my hand, and as it did this, the beetle flattened across my palm, wrapped around the back of my hand and attached itself to the tip of the tail.

  I swayed, as the pain was excruciating, but I never made a sound. Brett caught me as he let out a shriek of pain, for he was there with me in my mind and he felt it also.

  The pain left within seconds and I stood up on my own and knew then, that this creature was on the side of good, and it would show me how to get it through the doorway, to the place it belongs.

  I looked at Lily, and asked again, “What’s on the other side?”

  Lily had a look of sorrow as she said, “It is the place where the dark fey go, their spirits go, when they leave their bodies. Instead of Nirvana, as I said, they go elsewhere to spend all of eternity.

  “This place is called Hades and deep within Hades lies Gehenna. The doorway that must be closed, is an entrance to Gehenna. If this door is opened fully, humans’ earth will be destroyed and the evil will then enter Terrafirma and dark will rule over light.”

  “You said that Poseidon was not supposed to be influencing me, but he is, why? What does he have to do with this place, Gehenna? You said that the city of Bermuda was built where it is, to guard the doorway, but is Poseidon good or evil like his son?” I said, in frustration.

  “Poseidon is good as I am but he is a bit impatient, not a good characteristic for one with such power.” Lily said, with a slight smile, as she shook her head.

  Lily continued then, “Poseidon has eyes everywhere, it seems, wanting to keep an eye on things, me, I guess. He sometimes doesn’t think I am doing things in the correct time frame.

  I was so confused then, and said, “But you are interfering, aren’t you, by helping me? You are telling me what to do and what to think and I just want to go home, to Emilee’s home in Pineville and let this all be just a dream.”

  “Emilee,” Lily said, “these fey around you are here to help and give you tools to assist you, but you are the one leading them all, this is your story. You could have chosen at any time to take a different path, but you have trusted them and yourself as you have journeyed to this point. You are in control, not them.

  “As for me, I am not allowed to interfere either.” Lily said, as she winked at me and said with a little chuckle in her voice, “but I do bend things just a bit. He and I…well let’s just say that we have different ideas as to how we get to the end, or beginning, whichever way you look at it.

  “As for the fey on board, the deck hand, some are calling him a spy, he isn’t bad either, just doing what Poseidon wants, keeping an eye on you when he can, getting information about your abilities and getting the information back to Poseidon.

  “I want Poseidon to come to me when he wants information. I don’t need others snooping and putting their spin on things, getting Poseidon all riled up. He jumps then, as he did with the creature, rushing things.”

  I saw movement behind Lily and saw Rose, standing at the side of the ship where the jellyfish were, down below, waiting. She was smiling and I walked over to her. I knew that no one else could see her, but I did.

  When I got to her, she reached out and took my hand. I felt it, she was real. She placed her forehead to the back of my hand in the gesture of greeting and said, “I will be with you always,” but only I could hear, and then she was gone.

  I looked back at everyone, staring at me, and realized that right now, it didn’t matter what I had just learned or that I still didn’t understand much of what Lily had just told me. The only way this was going to be o
ver was if I continued forward, and that meant taking a leap of faith.

  At that, I stood up on the side of the ship, and stepping off, I fell as if in slow motion, landing in the water next to one of the beautiful beasts. As I went under the water, I could see just how large they were and even more beautiful now that I could see them in their entirety.

  As I emerged on the surface, Brett was in my thoughts, freaking out a bit, asking me what the heck I was doing.

  “They’re here to take us to the palace safely. You and me.” I said.

  And at that I went under the water, just under one of the jellyfish. It opened its body and lowered itself, covering me completely as if swallowing me whole.

  I looked up at the ship, the body of this creature being transparent, and saw all the horrified faces of the crew. I communicated to Brett that this was safe, and the fact that they would be able to get us down to the palace without any harm; no other creature would dare challenge these two.

  I was in his mind and knew that he was sharing this with the others on the ship, but I was more interested in what these two jellyfish had to say.

  “Princess Emilee, we are here to take you to the forest, just outside the palace. There you will have to find a way in on your own. Poseidon sent us and we will stay until you return, so we can get you back to the ship safely.”

  As I listened to the creature that surrounded me, I was looking out into the depth of the waters and could see more jelly fish coming from the darkness. There were so many that I couldn’t count, and didn’t need to. They were here to protect my friends.

  The great creature continued, “Proteus is putting together a small army to come and destroy the ship and all your friends. We are here to stop that. You don’t have to worry, they will all be safe, but you and your companion need to hurry so we can get you down to the forest and back again, before the army is gathered and ready.”

  Brett was in my mind and heard every word. He was explaining it to the others as he was hearing it. When Brett was done, there was a splash in the water, and I watched Brett being swallowed up by the second Jelly fish.

  I looked back up at the ship one more time, and as my eyes fell on Lily, she winked and nodded, as if knowing that this was to happen, that Poseidon was helping.

  As we descended, the beauty all around was breathtaking. The underwater world of Terrafirma was so vivid with color, the creatures, so many, all different sizes, colors, shapes and the sounds they all made, so strange and beautiful, as if a song with hundreds of voices, all different but saying the same thing. It was all about life, living, sharing the waters, being respectful, but survival was there, at the front of it all.

  It wasn’t a greed for survival but a love that filled the waters. A love for each other, every life form loved each other and even though, some were predators and some were prey, the deep respect and love for each other was overwhelming.

  The jellyfish kept us safe, hidden in their centers, but we were not harmed by their poisonous tendrils. They were cautious with us.

  As we got closer to the ocean floor, I could see the great City of Bermuda and the great kelp forests surrounding it. We were in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle, as humans called it, the great City was in the center and no humans had any idea what was really down here.

  My feet hit the sandy bottom and the jellyfish lifted themselves gracefully over us and went just inside the kelp forest, and stopped. They told us that they would be hiding there until we returned.

  I looked over at Brett and saw that he was having no problems in the water, he was able to let the water fill his lungs, as I could, we still had legs, no fish tails, and I giggled at this thought. Brett gave me a strange look and then laughed too as he pointed towards the forest and we both entered.

  The forest was magnificent, the kelp, tall with thick bases. It reminded me of the old growth forests in the humans’ dimension. They were massive and home to so many creatures great and small. The colors around me were different shades of yellows and pinks, purples and blues, greens and oranges, so vivid, and I was in awe.

  Brett took my hand and we started swimming deeper into the kelp forest, heading in the direction of the city, the part of the city where no one had supposedly lived for years, and Proteus had guards, keeping all away.

  We knew that this part of the city was in the back, up against a great underwater mountain. The City of Bermuda was tucked down in a great valley in the bottom of the Bermuda triangle. We would have to make our way along the edge of the city, between the city and rocky cliffs, to get to the back side of the city, unless we wanted to wander right down the middle and get noticed. Not something I really wanted to do.

  We got to the edge of the forest with very little problems. There were a few sea creatures lurking in the forest, well they did live there, but they didn’t seem too concerned about us. A few even approached us with glee, happy to see us and guided us for a short time, keeping us out of sight of those who would turn us in.

  At one point, an enormous white shark came gliding through the kelp, on guard and very menacing looking, and before we could look around to find a safe place to hide, several large tentacles wrapped themselves around us and pulled us into a shallow cave.

  Brett’s sword was out at once, and there in front of us was a creature I had never seen before. She looked like a woman, with a human body and head, but she had many tentacles instead of arms and legs. She reassured us that she was there to help and then suddenly there was movement all around as her babies came scrambling out from hiding places behind rocks.

  As she wrapped her arms around her babies, I noticed one of her arms was missing the tip. I looked up into her face and she knew that I realized who she was. The one who had filled my body with her venom.

  Brett knew instantly, when I realized, and his sword was out in front of him as he took his other arm, and wrapping it around my waist, pulled me to him and told me to surround us with my shield.

  She said then, “Princess, there is no need to fear. I am not here to hurt you and I wasn’t sent to hurt you before. It was my job to further your progress, before you entered the palace.

  “Right now was the time that it was supposed to happen, but he was in a hurry. He was afraid there wasn’t going to be enough time for my venom to mix with your blood, to make you strong enough. He wanted your body to have my liquid in you for as long as possible before you entered Proteus’s city. I do as I am told, he is the one I follow.”

  I looked at Brett and then back to this creature and felt safe in what she was saying. She came over to me then and asked if she could touch me. Brett held me tighter for a moment, but I let him know that it was okay, I felt safe here with her.

  Brett had a look of uncertainty but I moved away from him as his arm dropped from my waist. I held out my hands and she wrapped a tentacle around them and I felt her attach to my arms. It didn’t hurt, but I felt that same crawly feel, under my skin.

  “Your body has accepted my essence well, Princess. It was meant for you and you alone. My blood, my essence would kill any other. You are now a part of my world. You truly are the one. I am so honored to be able to be a part of you.” She said as she let go, and went back over to her babies.

  When she let me go, the strange crawly feeling was gone, but I could still feel that my body was different, my blood was different.

  “Rose?” Was all I could say, as I looked to Brett.

  I looked back at this creature and asked, “I wasn’t supposed to feed on Rose after your venom was placed in me, was I?”

  The creature, with sorrow in her eyes, just replied, “I am not the one to ask. They all know what my venom will do to any living being, outside of my home, my realm.”

  “Will she die then?” I asked.

  “It is all written in the stars, I am told.” The creature said as she looked at her babies. “We all have a part to play on the journey that all living things call life. It is not for me to decide if your Rose will live or die, or
if you were meant to drink from her.”

  “Your realm? Where are you from, if not here in Terrafirma?” I asked feeling a bit confused.

  “I live in Terrafirma.” And she turned, pointing to the wall behind us.

  The wall started to shimmer and suddenly a doorway appeared and I could see the other side, as if it were a window. It was water, like what we were in, and creatures were swimming in the distance, creatures that were foreign to me.

  The doorway closed then as she said, “Terrafirma is much larger than you know, with many doorways that lead to other parts. Poseidon rules all the water worlds in Terrafirma but he keeps most of the doorways to each realm closed to each other, for safety reasons.

  “My world, the waters that I live in, is different from the waters of this realm. My waters would be poisonous to your water creatures here, for now.”

  She looked at Brett and continued, “There is so much more to Terrafirma than you know or have seen.”

  I looked from Brett to this creature and opened my mouth to question more, but she said before I could speak, “This was all he wanted me to share with you, I can say no more.”

  The doorway opened again and this creature and her babies entered. She turned and looking at us, smiled, and said, “Good luck Princess, we will meet again one day, I am told.” And the doorway closed.

  We waited for a while after the creature had left us, to make sure the shark had gone, before we left the cave. I wasn’t really sure though, if the shark was a menace to us or not.

  When we got to the long, narrow area between city and cliffs, we realized that we would be entering the edge of the city, the only way to get to our destination.

  I put my shield around us again, feeling that it was important to do so, and we were able to walk. The water seemed to stay out of the city, like there was an invisible barrier between the kelp forest, the ocean water and the city. The fey that lived here were not water fey that I had seen before, they were fey, similar to Brett, in looks anyway.

  We stayed hidden though, weaving around buildings, and staying as close to the rocky cliffs as possible. We hadn’t gotten far when we saw a male fey, standing and looking around, as if waiting for someone. We waited and waited for him to leave, but he wasn’t budging.