Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set

by Amy Proebstel

  His sight started swimming even more, and he closed his eyes to help reduce the vertigo he was experiencing. Hopefully, the man would be returning soon with something for him to eat. Food was the only thing he could think of which might dull the effects of whatever had been injected into him. He tried to bring up some elemy to assist in clearing his system, but the moment he closed his eyes to focus, he fell fast asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  WILLIAN WAS WAITING on the sidewalk when Behn pulled his car to a stop at his house. He hurriedly opened the door and entered the back seat of the vehicle. When he shut the door, he realized Valentina had chosen to sit in the back alongside him, which was much of a relief. The trip was nerve-racking enough without having to worry about sitting next to Jon. Certainly, they were on much better terms, yet Valentina’s presence was a welcome surprise.

  “So we’re going to go see your mom?” Willian asked to end the silence in the car.

  “Yes,” Valentina answered and nodded. She really wanted to reach over and touch Willian, but she did not dare with both her brothers only a foot away.

  “You didn’t really go into much detail on the phone yesterday. Is there a problem with your mom that you need to go there today, or is this just a visit?”

  “We’re not exactly sure,” Behn said from the driver’s seat.

  Valentina nodded agreement to her brother’s statement. “Mr. Stel received a message from her yesterday saying she wanted to see us. He thought it seemed odd, but there was nothing specific indicating there was anything exactly wrong.”

  “I see.” Willian wondered what would cause her to reach out to her kids in such a manner. He was looking forward to meeting her, so he was not going to complain. The moment Willian stopped trying to make conversation, the silence resumed for the remainder of the drive over to the Stel’s house.

  He patted his pants pocket to make sure once again that the remote for the telepod was still with him. His palms were sweating as he visualized their landing coordinates over and over while his face was turned toward the window, even though he saw nothing outside. Never before had a flight meant so much to him.

  While he wanted to impress Valentina with his skill, he also had to keep them all alive. Thinking about their safety made him remember the systems in place already, and he felt encouraged. None of his passengers had much to compare against, so he felt a small measure of confidence on the outset.

  Before he knew it, they had arrived at their destination. Willian happened to be looking to the side as they pulled into the driveway and was surprised when the man he had seen hastily ducked out of his line of sight. It seemed rather odd behavior for a neighbor or even for someone passing by. He did not have time to ponder it further as they moved along the driveway and pulled up behind the garage.

  Behn parked the car and shut off the engine. He turned around in his seat and asked, “Are you sure you know what you’re doing? It’s not absolutely necessary for us to go if you are feeling at all uncertain of your ability to get us there and back safely.”

  “No, I’m good. I’ve been reviewing the landing coordinates last night and this morning. Even if something were to happen to the main controls, I’d still be able to navigate mentally.”

  “What do you mean by mentally?” Jon asked as he also turned in his seat to stare at Willian.

  “What do I mean? Oh, I keep forgetting, this is all new to you. In Tuala, all flights are managed with mental control rather than having a computerized system like Riccan’s. Of course, his method would be the only example you’d ever seen. Riccan’s is far from normal in Tualan standards.”

  Jon’s expression had turned from anger at being called out for his lack of knowledge to an understanding of Willian’s explanation. He realized Willian had not been criticizing them; rather he had given them vital knowledge of what Tualan people should all know without having to ask. He would have to try to work on his skepticism when it came to Willian.

  “Let’s get going,” Valentina said as she grabbed the door handle and rapidly let herself out. She was the first to the garage door and impatiently waited for the boys to catch up with her. “Hurry up; I want to find out what made Mom reach out to Mr. Stel.”

  Obviously, she had picked the right thing to say since the boys lengthened their stride and soon they were leading the way to the telepod, and she had to jog to keep up. Behn and Jon had no idea how to get into the craft, so they stood to the side and waited for Willian to take charge. Willian reached up and palmed the panel on the side of the telepod and stepped beside the other boys as the door opened downward until it made a ramp for them to use.

  Willian stepped up first and walked through the craft and sat down in the left-hand pilot’s seat. He automatically fastened his seat belt and began looking over the control panel, familiarizing himself with the different setup before he needed to activate the system. Not paying attention to anything going on around him, he was surprised into jumping when Valentina spoke to him from the other front seat.

  She leaned toward him so only he could hear, “Are you sure you’ll be able to fly this safely?”

  “Yeah, I was just going over everything again before I start it up.” He looked over his shoulder and asked, “Is everyone buckled in?” He both heard and saw their affirmative nods, and he turned back to the front. Without any other excuse to stall, he pressed the button on the panel in front of him to bring the door closed.

  He began the startup procedures and was thrilled when the glass panel displayed only green lights indicating all systems were running correctly. After scrolling through several screens, he found the one where their destination was already programmed from a past trip, and he selected it. The telepod was floating several inches above the ground and holding steady when he shifted his hand to the manual control for the transfer.

  It was always wise to be ready for anything when they popped back into existence at their destination. With their landing planned for the beach, he was extra nervous about rogue winds or even high surf. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and then hit the activation button to begin the transfer. Everything went black, silent, and still, as the seconds ticked slowly by. Normally he would have been back in the daylight by now, but this transfer was going to another realm so he knew it would take several seconds longer. Still, it was rather unnerving to remain in limbo for so long.

  He let out his breath in a sudden rush when daylight poured through the windows, and he looked out to see the beach directly ahead of them. Immediately, he felt the wind pushing the craft toward the beach, and he steadied the telepod until he felt they were close enough to the ground to begin the landing procedure. There was only a slight thump as the craft touched down and he promptly turned off the processor to complete the flight.

  With a huge grin on his face, he turned to Valentina and said, “I did it!”

  She raised her eyebrows at his apparent surprise in their success and then had to laugh at his enthusiasm. Hurriedly stripping off her seat harness, she stood up and walked into the main cabin, more than ready to see her mother. From the speed with which her brothers joined her, they were just as anxious to get going. The door began to open as she realized Willian had pressed the release while he remained behind in the cockpit. She let her brothers leave the craft first, and she waited to walk with Willian. This would be the first time she would be able to be alone with Willian, and she found herself unaccountably nervous.

  “How many times have you been here?” Willian asked as they walked away from the shielded telepod.

  “Only twice this year. I was born and raised here you know.” She did not know why she felt the need to remind him of where she had been brought up.

  “Yeah.” Willian tried to find the right way to ask what he was really thinking. Finally, he just came right out and asked, “Will you tell your mom about me? I mean, about what our plans are?”

  “What are our plans, Willian? After all, we’re only kids, and I think it’s a b
it early to be making any other declarations for a future at this time.”

  “Oh.” Feeling stupid for having pushed the point, Willian wished he had remained quiet. He kicked his toe into the sand harder than necessary as they climbed the slight incline to get to the grassy landing before the tree line began. Trying one more time to say what he was thinking he asked, “Are you going to tell her about the feeling we get when we’re near each other or touching one another?”

  Valentina blushed. She realized the relationship she had with her birth-mother was quite different than what Willian had with his. She hardly knew the woman they were going to meet, and she could scarcely be expected to talk about the bizarre experience with her adoptive mother who would never understand what was happening. “I don’t know,” she admitted finally.

  Having to be content with her non-answer, Willian suddenly took her hand in his. The electrical current from the physical contact caused Valentina to cry out involuntarily. She tried to jerk her hand out of his, but he only tightened his grip. “This isn’t some sort of infatuation, Val; you have to admit to that at least.” Willian had stopped walking and had forced her to turn to face him.

  “I know,” she said weakly and then suddenly pulled her hand from his. She turned and almost ran to catch up with her brothers. She hated seeing the pain in Willian’s eyes at what she had said to him, but she felt she was too young to make any decisions based on chemistry alone. Valentina wanted to make sure the man she fell in love with was someone she could trust implicitly. She had no idea about Willian’s past other than he was not a free man to be talking to her the way he just had.

  Willian kept to the path but walked slower. He had no idea what to make of Valentina’s sudden mood shifts. One moment he felt as though he were getting somewhere with her and then the next moment he felt more alone than ever. Maybe it was a mistake to break things off with Jena so hastily before he really knew what Valentina would decide. He felt so torn, yet he knew he would never be as happy with Jena and, for that reason, he was going to let her go. It was the right thing to do, of that he was certain.

  His steps lightened as he made up his mind on one matter at least. He took the last bend in the trail and found the clearing opening to the village. Behn was knocking on the door to a cabin nearest the trail so he held back to see what would happen next. A woman appeared in the doorway and immediately began hugging the trio and then pulled them inside. The door remained open, so Willian stepped forward to watch the reunion from a distance.

  Valentina looked around and discovered Willian was no longer with them. She pulled away from her mother and went back outside. She looked around and spotted him standing off to the side and yelled, “Come inside, Willian. I want to introduce you to my mom.”

  Feeling relieved that she had extended the invitation, Willian hastened to do her bidding. He stepped up beside her and went into the dimly lit cabin. Having the door open seemed to be a good idea since they would hardly be able to see one another without the light pouring in from the entrance. It was hard to imagine living in such conditions, yet Willian would endure much less if it meant he could be with Valentina. Luckily it would never have to come to such dire conditions given who his father was in Tualan society.

  “Oh,” Vinia exclaimed as she felt the energy emanating from the pair. She looked swiftly from one face to the other and narrowed her eyes slightly at Willian.

  “Mom, this is my friend, Willian. Willian, this is my mom, Vinia.”

  “It’s my pleasure to meet you,” Willian spoke formally and gave her a slight bow of respect.

  Raising her eyebrows at his polished manners, Vinia simply said, “Likewise.” With a little difficulty, she turned her gaze away from Willian to talk to her kids, “I had no idea you’d be able to make it out here so fast. Let’s sit down and chat for a bit. Tell me what’s been going on.”

  “Is everything okay, Mom? Mr. Stel seemed to think there might be something wrong with you.” Behn addressed their concerns even as they complied with their mother’s wishes and sat down on the crude benches around the wooden plank table.

  “In good time, Behn. Humor me for a bit, won’t you.” Vinia waved her hands distractingly and found herself sitting between Valentina and Jon.

  Jon spoke up first, “Willian has been teaching us to use our birth crystals while Juila and Jena are away.”

  “Oh?” she asked, hoping Jon’s voice would not carry beyond the cabin. The people of the town did not use elemy for anything, and she did not want to cause any other contention with her people. “How is school going?”

  “We’re on a break right now, but otherwise it’s pretty good. We have a lot of friends, and our classes are pretty typical,” Behn supplied. “Mom, please tell us what’s really bothering you?”

  Knowing she was not going to be able to stall any longer, she sighed and folded her hands on the table in front of her. “Something has come up, and I wanted to talk to you before I made any decisions.” She looked at each of her almost-grown children and wished they were little again. Opening her mouth to continue, she was stopped by Danika waking up from her morning nap. She went to get her but was stopped by Valentina’s hand on her arm.

  “I’ll get her, Mom. You stay put and keep talking.” Valentina got up from the table and went over to her baby sister’s crib. She held out her hands to the little girl and smiled when Danika did likewise.

  The vague memory of her mother being pregnant popped into Valentina’s mind and it still surprised her to know so much time had passed for her while so little had passed for their mother and sister, only one year to them. Half of her own life had passed since she had last lived with her mother and she had missed all of Danika’s life up to this point. Her heart hurt for the loss, and she snuggled her sister close to her chest. She nuzzled her cheek onto the fuzzy head and breathed in her baby smell as she sat back down at the table.

  Danika had been mesmerized by the new person who had come to her crib. Now she sat at the table and simply stared at all of the new faces in the room. Usually, she wanted to eat as soon as she awoke, but today, she was distracted from her routine and remained quiet.

  Without having any other way to say it, Vinia finally stated, “Ozias has asked me to marry him. I don’t want to agree to anything without talking to all of you first.”

  This was the last thing any of them expected to hear on this visit and the silence was deafening. Willian was the first to talk. At hearing the odd name, he knew there was definitely a problem. “Who’s Ozias?”

  Valentina answered softly, “He’s a man who helped us escape from being kidnapped by Viceroy Blair. What’s he doing here, Mom?”

  “Yeah, I thought he was going to be getting a job with Elder Daven,” Behn agreed.

  “Isn’t he a bit young for you?” Jon asked. He looked down in embarrassment at the scathing looks he received from both of his siblings. Belatedly, he realized it was not a very tactful question, and he mumbled, “Sorry.”

  Willian remained unclear about who this person was, but decided to keep quiet until he could ask Valentina about it privately.

  “I’ve also asked Elder Daven’s advice on the matter. I haven’t heard anything back from him yet. You know if all of you, or even one of you, said no to it, then I would just tell Ozias that it’s flattering for him to ask, but he’ll have to find someone else. There are plenty of other girls here who would gladly take him.”

  “Mom, it’s not about us anymore. We’re all almost grown up, and this is your life we’re talking about. What do you want to do?” Valentina asked.

  Vinia became flustered and tried to cover her embarrassment by offering to hold Danika. She was denied even that much when her youngest daughter stubbornly clung to Valentina and refused to be moved. Finally dropping her hands back to her lap she said, “I don’t know what I want. Only three weeks ago, I thought I was going to marry Nealan, and now everything about my life has changed.” She looked up at her kids and smiled weakly as sh
e said, “Even you three. You’re all grown up, as you’ve reminded me, Vala. I wasn’t expecting any of this, and it kind of scares me.”

  “Maybe you should take some time to decide,” Valentina suggested even as she looked pointedly over at Willian. “There’s no need to rush into anything, is there?”

  Willian took her point and desperately needed to get some fresh air. “I think I’m going to take a walk,” he said suddenly as he stood up.

  Feeling guilty for taking the cheap shot at Willian, Valentina handed her sister to her mother and announced, “I’ll go with you.” She stepped away from the table and rushed to catch up with Willian as he was already out the door.

  “Is anyone going to tell me what’s going on with those two? Who is he anyway that you would bring him here?” Vinia played with Danika’s hands as she looked at both of her sons to get her answers.

  “He is Elder Debbon’s son, and he’s betrothed to Jena. When he met Valentina at school, he said he found his soul-mate, and he wants to break it off with Jena to be with her.”

  “Oh,” Vinia said almost soundlessly. It seemed her daughter’s situation was much more complicated than her own. Now it seemed selfish of her to drag them all the way out here to discuss her problem when her daughter needed someone to confide in herself. She was sure it was a confusing time for both of them. It was almost unheard of for a betrothal to be broken and for it to involve Jena made it even worse.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  VALENTINA CAUGHT UP with Willian at the far end of the town, still within sight of her mother’s cabin. She grabbed his arm and turned him toward her. “I’m sorry, Willian. It wasn’t fair of me to say that back there. I know how you feel about me, but you aren’t the problem, I am!”

  His expression turned from hurt to confusion as he tried to understand what she was saying to him. “Can you explain that to me?”

  “Willian, I’ve been raised on Earth!” She realized her voice had been getting too loud and she modulated her tone as she continued. “I don’t know about all of the customs here, or the rules, or anything about Tuala really if you get right down to it. Where I come from, girls our age date guys, they kiss, they might even have sex, and then they break up and move on to the next guy. We don’t pick one person to stay with for life at this age. Do you know how crazy your idea sounds to me?” She searched his face to find some understanding, and then her own expression fell. “No, I can see you don’t.”