Just as Juila opened her mouth to reply, Jena answered, “There was always the possibility this would come sooner. We just hoped it would be in a couple more anons.”
Daven was thoroughly confused at the girls’ cryptic conversation. “Will somebody please let me in on what’s going on? Clearly, you two know something, and it seems to involve me somehow.”
Jena sighed and then answered, “When I was a little girl, I began having nightmares about being lost in darkness. The older I got, I started paying more attention to the details and realized it was not some random dream; it was more like a promise of future events. I also began to understand that I was not alone in the darkness; there was someone with me. At the time, I didn’t know who the other person was because I hadn’t met him yet.”
“Do you know now who it is?”
“Yes, it’s you.”
“Me? Maybe you should tell me everything.”
“The details have always been hazy because not all of the pieces had come into place yet. Ever since we’ve been reunited with our parents, we’ve started to put together the puzzle. Now that we each have our own samaras, and know that everybody who was in that meeting still needs to get theirs before the prophecy can be fulfilled, it all makes sense.”
“I’m glad you think so! I still have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“The darkness I was always afraid of was the space in between the realms. The pull you felt was of the samara which belongs to you. Somehow your samara has been lost in the darkness between locations.”
A terrible sense of dread overcame Daven as Jena’s words sank into his understanding. If his samara truly were in the emptiness between, then the prophecy would forever remain unfulfilled. It was common knowledge that anybody or anything which became lost in that realm would remain there for all eternity; there was no coming back from that darkness. “So you’re saying the prophecy will remain unfulfilled? My samara is lost to me?”
“Yes!” Juila cried out at the same time her sister shook her head.
“No,” Jena said simultaneously. Jena’s hand rose, and her fingertips touched her birth crystal. She looked down at the dark amethyst stones and knew she was going to make the journey. “I believe it’s my destiny to help you retrieve your samara so the prophecy can be fulfilled.”
“But that’s impossible, Jena. Nothing has ever been retrieved from between the realms.”
“That’s exactly what I told her.” Juila turned to her sister and practically begged, “Let this go, Jena. You heard Grandpa. This is an impossible task, and I won’t risk you! I can’t live without you!”
Jena shook her head as her mind raced through the possibilities. Suddenly her mind fixated on one simple solution, and her eyes grew wide with wonder. “It’s going to work, Juila, I know it will!”
“What?” Juila cried.
“How?” Daven asked at the same time.
“Through our twin link. When you were lost in space, we were still able to speak to one another through our special link. That is what is going to make the difference! That is what will lead me home!”
“You can’t know that the link will work between the realms. I’m not about to let you through yourself between the realms on the idea of something working.”
“I have to agree with Juila on this one, Jena. It’s too risky.”
“No, what’s too risky is leaving the prophecy unfulfilled. It would mean we are letting Lucinden win. It says we are unwilling to put our faith in Jehoban and trust that He has given us the proper skills and training to achieve anything with which we set our minds. I, for one, refuse to give in so easily and, frankly, I’m surprised to hear you do likewise, Grandpa.” Jena folded her arms defiantly and stared challengingly down at him.
“I don’t want to put you in danger, Jena. It’s not my place.” Daven felt torn between the two options.
“I have an idea to make this safer,” Juila suddenly snapped her fingers. As soon as both sets of eyes turned to her, she said, “When I was lost in space, you had Rasa and Sofia here to help strengthen the link. What if I were to have Behn, Jon, Val, and Sofia come over and join with me, don’t you think that would be better than just me?”
“If you’re going to do that, then you should invite Willian over as well. His link with Val would probably be enough to bring anyone back from between.” Jena could hardly keep the tone of bitterness from her voice even as she realized it was probably the best plan of all.
“Are you sure about that? I don’t want to do anything which would distract you during this.”
“I’m sure. Let’s call them and get going. The longer we wait, the more we risk losing everything.”
Daven opened the telepod door yet remained behind as the girls rushed into the house.
Jena grabbed the home phone and called Sofia. “Hey, Sofia. This is Jena. Hi! I don’t have time to explain, but I need you to come over immediately to my father’s house. Please tell me you can leave right now!”
“Sure, I’m already heading out the door as we speak!”
“Great!” Jena hung up and turned to see how Juila was faring.
“Behn, this is Juila. We have a situation with requires your skill as well as your brother’s and sister’s. Can you come over right now?”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, but this is to keep Jena alive. Oh, and can you stop by and pick up Willian? I think his bond with Val will be vital to our success.”
“This is serious isn’t it?”
“Very! Are you on your way yet?”
“Yes! Val! Jon! We need to go right now!” he yelled, barely moving his mouth away from the receiver.
Juila pulled the cell phone away from her ear in pain before cautiously returning to the call. “I’ll see you in five minutes! Bye.” She had to smile when all she heard was more yelling, and the phone being slammed down onto the receiver. Turning to find her sister right next to her, they both spoke at the same time, “They’re on their way.”
They broke out in laughter even though the situation warranted a more serious response. If they could not find a way to laugh, then they were apt to begin crying and that would not help the situation and could actually interfere with their success.
Juila was the first to regain her composure as she asked, “Are you sure this is the meaning of your nightmares?”
Jena nodded solemnly. She wished she were wrong, but her senses were all screaming at her to get moving and take action immediately. Even this delay while waiting for their friends was causing her anxiety. She looked at the clock on the microwave in the kitchen where they stood. Only two minutes had passed since they had hung up the phones. “You stay here and wait for everyone. I’m going to get more information from Grandpa on what he felt. If we can pinpoint the place in the journey, we might be able to decrease our time between and increase our chances of success.”
“You have to succeed, Jena, I would die without you!”
“I know you think that right now. I’ll do my best to stay alive; I want it as much as you!” She leaned forward and grabbed her sister in a tight embrace. “We’re going to get through this, and then my nightmares will stop. I can’t tell you how happy I’ll be to finally sleep peacefully all through the night.”
“I’ll enjoy that as well so I can sleep in my own bed!” Juila teased as she wiped a tear from her cheek before they broke apart and grinned at each other.
Jena left hurriedly as she felt herself growing emotional again. It was best to leave it on a humorous note if it turned out to be the last thing they ever said.
“I heard that, and you better not mean it!” Juila yelled from the kitchen. “I’m still in your head, remember?” Juila wandered over to the foyer so she could see when the cars pulled into the driveway. Surely, they would be arriving soon. It felt like an eternity had passed, and yet she was certain it had only been another one to two minutes.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
JENA CLIMBED INTO the co-pilot’
s seat of the telepod and said, “Can you please shut the telepod door. I don’t want to have any interruptions before we leave.” She knew Juila was listening; in fact, she planned on it. Juila needed to know everything Daven told them, but Daven would be more comfortable only discussing it with Jena. She was sure he had no idea how perfect was the communication link between herself and her sister.
As the door closed, Daven asked, “What do you think are our chances of success?”
“Pretty good if we can get clear on what you felt. Tell me, at what point in our transfer did you feel the strongest pull? How many seconds in were we before it began?”
Daven closed his eyes and began to replay the journey in his mind. He expected Jena to join his thoughts and was pleased to feel her presence in his head. Jena was quite talented at mind-reading, better than himself even.
“Focus, Grandpa!”
Smiling at Jena’s chiding, he did as he was bid and replayed every piece of their journey in slow motion so he could take the time to study everything before he moved on. Jena was actually the one to notice the signal even before Daven did. She mentally tapped Daven and pointed out what she discovered. Daven agreed it was the first sign. Jena noted the time, and they finished the review without any further notations.
“That was great, Grandpa. Now, I think we should switch to Dad’s telepod since it has a more sophisticated navigation system with plenty of fail-safes built in.”
“Good thinking,” Daven agreed even as he worried about his ability to use his son’s state-of-the-art telepod.
“I’ll set it up according to your coordinates, Grandpa. Don’t worry; we’re going to succeed. I think for safety’s sake, we’ll end our trip in Tuala since we’ll be closer to there than here. We can come back to Earth after we’ve rested. How does that sound?”
“I’ll defer to your wisdom.” He pressed the door button and stood up to leave. He waited for Jena to exit first even as he wished they would not have to go at all. It would be so much easier to forget everything he had experienced. If anything happened to Jena, Riccan would never forgive him for his carelessness.
“Don’t worry, Grandpa; if anything happens to me, you won’t be around to be blamed either. We’ll sink or swim in this together.”
“Somehow that doesn’t instill any confidence in me for this trip.” Daven only whispered this to himself since he knew he was not going to change Jena’s mind now that it was made up. He spoke louder and asked, “Were your parents home yet?”
“I didn’t see anyone inside. I hope they aren’t or they would probably try to stop us from going. We both know that can’t happen or the prophecy won’t be able to be completed.” Jena realized she did not have the remote to her father’s telepod, so she concentrated on where she knew it was kept and suddenly it appeared in her hand. She dangled it from her finger after she hit the door button, and said, “After you.”
“You take the pilot’s seat since you’re more familiar with this craft than I am.”
“Okay, let’s see.” She mused over the different controls as she activated the telepod and began setting in the coordinates taken from her grandfather’s mind. The telepod did not want to accept her directions since they indicated a stop in a location where there was nothing in existence. Jena sighed as she realized she was going to have to manually control the craft while they were between, which was going to be tricky since there were absolutely no perceptions available in that space. She really had planned on using the computer system to stop for her.
Use the manual override to set the coordinates, Juila spoke into her head. If you have trouble getting it to take, I’ll come out there. Sofia just drove up and parked, and I think I can see Behn’s car at the end of the driveway. We’re almost ready to start.
Thanks, Jena thought back to her, and she smiled at how wonderful the mind link could be in stressful situations. Her fingers began to shake as her nerves kicked in. She was planning an impossible trip and hoping for a perfect outcome. If her faith in Jehoban had been any less, she would have thrown up her hands and walked out of the telepod in defeat.
Using her sister’s instructions, she managed to set the coordinates into the system even though the light remained red. It bothered her slightly to imagine taking off knowing the telepod indicated a problem, but in this instance, it could not be helped. She buckled up her seat harness and listened in as her sister greeted their guests at the front door.
“Hi, Sofia. Please go and sit in the living room. I’ll explain in a second.” Juila pushed past her friend and waved anxiously for the four newcomers to hurry up and get inside. “We don’t have any time to waste, run, run!”
Behn was the first to arrive inside where he barely hugged Juila and said, “Just tell us what to do, and we’ll be ready!” He moved through the foyer and nodded toward Sofia. To say he was surprised to see her there would have been an understatement. It was not his place to say anything, so he kept his thoughts to himself. When this was all over, he was certain to get a more thorough explanation.
Willian was the last to enter the house. He nodded acknowledgment to Juila as he walked past her and looked around trying to find Jena. Out of courtesy for the house he was in, he sat across from Valentina rather than next to her, even though his eyes fixated on her and wondered what she thought since she had remained elusive ever since they had been confronted by Jena.
With everyone seated and looking to Juila for what to do, she remained standing. “Willian, I need you to sit next to Val and hold hands with her.” Seeing him begin to argue she held up her hands and said, “I don’t have time for niceties. Just move. Sofia, can you scoot over, so Willian has room on the couch. I know it’s tight with so many of you, but I’m also going to sit there so we can link minds to help guide Jena home.”
“Where’s Jena that she needs so much guidance?” Willian asked, suddenly scared for his ex-betrothed.
“She’s traveling with Elder Daven between the dimensions to search for something.”
“For a second there I thought you were saying she’s staying between,” Willian chuckled nervously.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying, which is why you are all needed.”
“What!” Willian exploded off of the couch and rounded on Juila, towering over her in his fear. “Staying between the dimensions is tantamount to a death sentence. It’s the first thing we all learn when we’re taught to fly telepods. How can you be so calm while you’re saying she’s planning on going where nobody can possibly survive? She’s your twin, for Jehoban’s sake, you should be talking her out of this insanity!”
Keeping her voice calm even though she was far from feeling it, she held up her hands in surrender and replied, “Don’t you think I tried that? Have you ever talked her out of something she’s set her mind on doing?” Seeing his look of defeat, she continued. “I haven’t either. This has been her destiny. This journey is the reason why her birth crystal has remained so dark. We don’t have time to argue the merits of this trip; it’s happening. Please sit down and prepare your mind for me to connect with Jena to give her the best chance of survival.”
Juila’s words haunted him, and Willian’s knees seemed to buckle as he wilted back onto the couch and automatically grabbed Valentina’s hand for the comfort he was certain to get with their tight bond. Immediately, he could feel his tension begin to dissipate even as his heart raced for Jena’s perilous journey.
Juila also sat on the couch next to Behn and took his hand. “Everyone grab one another’s hands so we can link our bodies and minds. If you love Jena, let me access everything you have and don’t hold back anything. Is everyone ready?”
There was a momentary shuffling as the participants complied with Juila’s instructions. Silence descended upon them as Juila called out in her mind, We’re ready to begin, Jena. Are you prepared?
As ready as I’ll ever be, she answered. Turning around to where Daven sat in the back seat, she said out loud, “Here we go.”
While her sister had been assembling the team, she had been making her own preparations. Daven was tethered to her with a hundred-foot rope. He was sitting in the back seat, unbuckled, next to the still-open cabin door. When they were between, he was going to move outside of the craft and attempt to grab what he had felt. Since there were no sensory perceptions, he was going to be guided purely by instinct.
She watched for Daven to nod his readiness before she hit the activation button which sent them into the darkness. “Take a deep breath and hold it. We’re only going to have less than a minute before everything will go very wrong.” Seeing the flashing red warning lights on the glass panel, she pressed the button. Even as she felt herself dissolving, the link with her sister became a massive envelope around her, making her smile at the effectiveness of love being a solid anchor.
Two and a half seconds had passed before something felt different. On the edge of her perceptions, she could feel a desperate call for help. The more she concentrated on it, the clearer it became. She had no way of knowing if Daven were reacting, but she had to assume he would since he was the first to have noticed it.
Daven felt pulled, almost as if he were magnetized, and he concentrated on moving himself toward it, which was trickier than he had anticipated since he could not use any of his senses other than his instinct to guide him. There was an unnerving sensation of floating with no way of verifying the veracity. Although time was irrelevant between the dimensions, Daven was painfully aware of the passing of time as he realized he needed to breathe. Knowing this would be his best indication of time, he focused only on that aspect as he continually searched for the distress signal.
Finally, he came into contact with whatever it was which had spoken to him. Another few seconds passed, and then he felt an explosion of feeling pouring through his body, unlike anything he had ever experienced before. Without knowing if he were succeeding and hoping he had his arms around it, Daven began praying for the best. Just when Daven thought he would pass out from the lack of oxygen, he began to notice his surroundings appearing around him.
Ascension Vision- The Levels of Ascension Box Set Page 54