by A Y Venona
“It would start at the Common Garden, and then it would end here where the crowd would be waiting just like this. I would be leading the procession of the fravati.” Fravati were people who stood as witnesses in the mating ceremony. They too bonded themselves with whoever was the mating couple. Sobs that ranged from restrained to wailing served as the background noises. “And at the field, there would be flowers adorning the interconnecting circles where we would be standing. And at the middle circle is where…” The speaker broke into a sob. “The middle circle right there where their coffin is now…should have been them, Adrian and Elian, standing happily…on their wedding day…and not like this…lying though side by side in the coffin on their funeral.”
Not a single eye was left dry upon hearing the beautiful Alexander break down.
Angus came to stand beside him and hugged him.
“At least they are together,” he said to Xander. “Wherever they are now.”
The king came to join them, and then the queen. A few more sobs later, the king wiped his tears and faced the crowd.
“To your loving hands, Lord Were, I commend the spirits of my son, Adrian Larsa, Prince of Lowescir and the captain of the guardians, and his mate, Elian Gustan.”
At the sound of the gong, one guardian who was holding a torch approached the large coffin where two bodies were laid and lit its inside. The fire would only consume the bodies but would keep the coffin intact.
And as the fire raged on, the crowd led by the king threw the flowers to the ground. It did not take long regardless of the size for the entire field to be transformed into a sea of flowers.
Such was the funeral of Elian Gustan and Adrian Larsa.
Outside of Lowescir, the media was busy speculating why there was no god present despite the fact that Adrian Larsa was the captain of the guardians and beloved by the gods.
They did not know that on that same day the gods were also burying their own.
* * *
Jordan Wayne gripped the wheel a little tighter than he should have. His jaws were clenched a little tighter too. He tilted his neck to the side to crack his neck joints. This was his first major assignment of this kind. He sneaked a glance to the passenger side. Tela was still sobbing.
“He was a genius in making all magic-related stuff, but he couldn’t cast a spell to save his life! And I wasn’t there. I wasn’t there for him.”
“We weren’t there for him.” Jordan’s voice cracked a little, and he cleared his throat to get the strength of his voice back. “I wasn’t there for the captain…to save him and his mate. We all failed them.”
They were driving over the bridge, moving farther and farther from the island. He was supposed to take her to the funeral. He thought that was what gave him this uneasy feeling. This was not part of his plan, but an idea was forged when Tela begged him to take her to Lowescir to attend the funeral. His acquiescence was highly motivated by the nature of his intention. Tela, of course, had no knowledge of what was about to happen. She did not know what she was to him. His assignment. His mission. The last one that the captain had ordered. There was no room for error.
They reached the end of the bridge. He glanced at the mile counter on the vehicle’s dashboard. Two miles were already covered, with another mile to go. This was a theory he was certain to be proven true. He softly tapped the brake with his foot to decelerate the vehicle.
He was not in a hurry.
“Why did you slow down? What if we miss it? I wanted to see him one more time,” Tela said. More like screamed—her voice was laden with desperation.
“How long had you been friends?” he asked instead.
Silence. And then: “Too long.”
“Where did you meet him?” He glanced at her profile.
She appeared pensive like she was seriously adding all the numbers in her head.
“Ten years. In the classroom. He was sad and alone. So I approached him.”
“You approached him first.”
She smiled like she was reliving that same moment.
“No one wanted to befriend him. And they were mean to him. So I scared them away.”
“You scared them away.”
“Yep. I was good with fire. I wonder why he could no longer do the trick.”
“A trick? What was that trick?”
“Fire trick. He was good before, but it was after the incident when he lost the skill.”
Jordan’s forehead furrowed. “What incident?”
“Their teacher was teaching them how to create a flame with spells and potions. It was just a simple spell. But he couldn’t make a simple one, and in the process accidentally burned down the entire classroom. Surprisingly no one died. But it was a traumatic experience for him, so that’s probably why he couldn’t make one anymore.”
But Jordan caught the part where Tela said “their teacher,” excluding herself from the class. This was another piece of information he needed to include in his report. He gazed at the road ahead. They were close now, edging toward the boundary of which he called the one-mile radius. His heartbeat started racing at a pace similar to when he was on the battlefield. He sneaked another glance at his subject. Tela’s eyes were on the road ahead, tears still dripping down her cheeks. He took his cloak off his shoulder and tossed it to her. She received it with confusion.
“Use that to wipe your face,” he said, smiling.
“Your cloak?”
“I have nothing else to give you.”
She shook her head in amusement, probably thinking he was crazy, and then she wiped her tears with it. She uttered a soft thanks while staring at the red cloak in her hands.
The vehicle flashed red, indicating that they had reached the spot—two feet outside of the one-mile radius. He stopped the car. He turned his head to the passenger side. It was now empty except for his cloak now lying on the seat.
He took a deep breath and then fished the voice recorder from the center console. He brought it close to his mouth and began talking:
“Subject disappeared at exactly one mile and two feet away from the bridge. I am going to turn the car around.”
He hit the accelerator, and by the time the vehicle entered the one-mile radius, Tela reappeared like nothing had happened.
“Why are we coming back? We are going to miss the funeral!” she screamed at him. “You need to go back.”
Jordan turned around as requested, but he stopped the car two feet away from the boundary.
“Why did you stop the vehicle?”
“Get out. I’ll show you something.”
“You’re wasting our time!” Tela said, but she opened her door and got out.
“Don’t be scared,” Jordan said. “Follow me and follow what I’m doing.”
Jordan walked toward the spot he had marked in his head as the borderline and then stretched his arm forward. Amused, Tela copied his action. But right where Tela’s arm should be was empty air. She appeared like she’d lost a limb.
Recovering from a shock, she asked, “What’s happening? Is there a portal?”
“Not a portal if only yours disappeared. Put your leg forward.”
And she did. And her leg too disappeared.
“You will completely disappear if you walk farther than a mile from the bridge.”
Tela stared at him, dumbfounded.
“Sit down,” he said. But she did not move, so he was forced to guide her to sit on the ground. “Take a deep breath.”
But Tela remained unfocused like her hearing and eyesight had ceased to function.
“Tela, you have lived like a fae for such a long time you have forgotten who you are.”
“I am a fae.” Tela’s voice now sounded different. It echoed.
“You exist within three miles’ radius of Pershiane Island.”
Her eyes met his. Hers were blazing in anger. In fury. “You’re lying!”
He took a cautionary step back. No. He could do this without a weapon. “Tell me if you ever come h
ome. Tell me if you can remember your parents, your siblings.”
Tela rose to her feet. “I know them. I have a brother, I have a sister. They all live in Droom.”
“So you drove from the island to Droom every day?”
“No.” She paused, thinking. “I rode on a train. Like Eli. I once rode with him.”
“You did?” He took another step backward.
“Yes. And then I went home.” Tela took a few steps toward him.
“What does your home look like?” A few more steps back to where the car was.
“My house?” She tilted her head in contemplation. “I have a bed. One bed. I have a closet for my clothes.”
“Do you ever wash your clothes?” His back hit the front bumper of the vehicle.
“My mother does.” She took a couple more steps in his direction.
“But you never saw her wash them.” He stood his ground. “Tell me what your everyday life is when you’re outside of the island.”
A frown appeared on her forehead.
“You can’t remember it?”
She shook her head. She swiveled around, retraced her footsteps, and stood right at the boundary. Slowly, the other half of her body that was outside the one-mile radius disappeared.
“Can I come back if I completely disappear?”
“It happened in the car and you came back.”
She looked ahead of her but hesitated. Instead, she walked back to Jordan’s side.
“So what am I?”
“You’re a jinn.”
Silence. Then she laughed. “Are you serious? I told Eli jinns were real. So I’m right after all.” Silence again. She looked at him. Her face was all stern and serious. “So what’s your theory? How come I look like fae?”
“Jinns don’t have a material body.”
“I know. I studied that. So skip the basics.”
“There were stories about powerful sorcerers who were able to conjure jinns and provided them temporary flesh. But these were temporary. We believe—”
“We?”
“The agency that investigated this matter.”
“I’m one of your subjects?”
“The captain—”
“Eli’s mate?” She smiled like saying the name itself provided her joy.
“Yes, the captain gave me a task to figure out your identity after you failed to register as fae in the scanner they used to investigate the An-Kian Forest incident. He was just worried about Eli. My working theory is that Eli was so powerful that he was able to conjure you and give you permanent flesh. But your existence is only within the three-mile radius from the island.”
“So I only exist in the island.”
“You’re created in the island.”
“Eli created me.”
“He did, theoretically. That needs more research.”
“So we can’t go to his funeral because I couldn’t go that far?”
“Yes.”
She glared at the long road ahead. After sighing, she said, “Now that he is not around, will I return to my former form?”
“To be honest? I don’t know much about jinns. But if you want, we can work together to figure this out.” Then in a quiet tone, he continued. “Our society believes in reincarnation though there is no evidence that suggests it’s true. No one comes back to tell us they are alive somewhere. But I have faith that they are together alive and well.”
Her gaze on his skin was unnerving.
“All right, I think I’ll work with you. Huh, Eli thought I couldn’t follow him? Oh, well, he can try…because I’ll follow his ass even in the next life. I know for a fact that jinns will follow their master. And he is my master. And my best friend. So, alpha, what shall we do now?”
Jordan met her gaze and was relieved to see the grin on her face though grief still lingered in her eyes. He was not expecting the revelation to be accepted this easily. He was expecting a fight. And not like this.
Like…
Like he’d just met a new friend.
Before this assignment, he did not even believe they existed. But here he was standing in front of a jinn in the flesh of a fae.
“Okay,” Jordan said. “I have a theory that you can attach yourself to us…though not in material form.”
“What do you mean?”
“You reappeared when I drove back. It can mean that your presence did not leave the car but returned to your jinn form. So what if I drive you to the funeral and you can see him for the last time in your real form, a jinn.”
“You think it’s going to work?”
“I don’t know. But there’s no harm in trying. All you have to do is to be self-aware and conscious of your surroundings.”
“All right, let’s do it.”
They went back to the car. Jordan turned the engine on and drove the car outside of the three-mile radius. Tela was gone. But he hoped she was not completely gone. That somehow a part of her was still with him, like how it was in nature. Like how it was with his people. They never really left, but rather moved on. Like in death.
Death was a portal for them to reach the next chapter of life.
And Jordan knew it to be true.
No evidence needed.
His faith was enough.
CHAPTER 27
Wake up.
The voice echoed in my head. It was as though my skull felt the vibration that triggered a chain reaction throughout my body, rattling all my nerve endings, rending me utterly sensitized, then numb.
When my sensory organs reported all systems were restored and back in order, I surveyed my surroundings. I was in some kind of room with white walls and glass furniture. The bed I was lying on was white and felt like a cross between leather and plastic.
“Nih-nih-nah-rih-rah. Nih-rih-rah.”
What in the realm of Hades was that? I turned to where the noise came from, and my system short-circuited again, stunned with disbelief. There was a person standing in what appeared to be a doorway. This person had a long, thick, and puffy hair that looked like a lion’s mane. Fake? Must be. But it was not why I was in shock. And neither was it due to this stranger’s hazel-brown catlike eyes. It was due to the color of her skin. It was blue, the color of the sky.
My reaction was clearly rude, but she responded to it with a sincere smile. She held both her hands toward me, palms up.
“Buh-oh,” she said in a language that was gibberish to my ears. Realizing I wasn’t understanding her, she frowned in an adorable way, like a disgruntled kitten. “Skeh-rah. Rih-skeh-rah.”
I shook my head.
“I don’t understand you,” I replied though I already knew that she shared the same feeling of cluelessness.
She shook her head as well and dropped her hands to her sides, regarding me as though she’d just received a false alarm and was now on standby mode, patiently waiting. Waiting for what? Then I grimaced. Waiting for my skull to split open? I said this only because that was what I was feeling at the moment. Extreme pain like my skull was giving birth to a baby. And then came a sanity-cracking high-pitched shrill blowing out my eardrums from within. If my body was a place, it would be a torture chamber.
When both the pain and strange noise finally passed, I thought I went deaf.
After a few heaves and gasps, I started hearing my heartbeat. I looked up and the stranger was still there, standing at a distance.
“Hello? Can I get some help here?”
She answered with a huge smile. “Greetings. My name is skeh-rah, spelled X-E-R-A. May I approach you?”
Zeus bolts! She was speaking intelligibly. At my nod, she came toward me still grinning.
“I know you have myriads of questions, but first answer this. Do you know your name?”
I frowned. “No?”
Her face lit up like I’d just delivered great news. “Just as I expected. Don’t worry, the elucidation phase will come to you soon.”
Elucidation what? “Can’t it start now?”
“Oh, no. It
is impermissible for us to intervene in the natural process of your awakening. But what I am allowed to tell you is that you are now experiencing a Zizu or Shisu, whichever language you prefer.”
Prefer? I had no idea what they even meant. As though she could read my mind, she proceeded to explain.
“Zizu is the reawakening of the soul. Your soul is now starting to remember your most previous reincarnation. If you are fortunate, at the end of the week, you might recall as many reincarnations as you have lived in all your thousands of years of existence. Let me take you to the Diviner.”
“Diviner?” I asked, alarmed.
“Diviner is a psyche guide who helps your soul to realign to your present incarnation, or what we called your ‘scient,’ your self-identity in the here and now.”
Reincarnation was not a foreign concept to me, but the way she casually revealed it, as though it was just one of my milestones, gave me a freaky kind of feeling. What in Hades’ pit was going on? Oh, right. I was experiencing a Zizu. I pushed my legs off the bed and got up. I only made one stride before the room swayed. Whoa.
She was right beside me in a heartbeat, propping me upright. “That looks intense.”
And it was. My mind just showed me tidbits of my previous life. And it started at the very end.
My death.
* * *
The Diviner had pale skin, silver hair, and the clearest blue eyes I had ever seen. His gaze was penetrating like he was looking into what was beneath my skin, and what was beneath my skin was staring back at him. He leaned back in his seat, propping his elbows on the armrests of the chair and clasping his hands together. We were both sitting across from each other; a table was in the middle.
I appreciated his attentiveness and his patience as he watched me completely lose my composure. And when another surge of memories shook me, I clamped the table with my hands as I waited for the convulsion to pass. Mental images were popping up like my brain was a virus-infected computer.
But what got the flood of tears flowing hard was not the image of me taking my last breath flashing in my mind, but the image that came next. My mate’s face, dying.
“These were memories,” the Diviner said calmly. “To remind us of whom we were in our previous lives. But when the past started to settle down, niching itself in the recesses of our brain where it belonged, the memories of the here and now would start to reassert into your consciousness. But at the moment—”