Soulmates

by Mindy Kincade

Chapter Nine

  Samson led them up a long and narrow passage. The stairs were beautifully illuminated with large candles burning in gold sconces on each side of the hall. Etched depictions of the winged horses decorated the walls. The stairs were cracked and aged, and each step they took echoed through the foyer. They continued down the hallway until they came to the third door on the right. Samson gently knocked then slowly opened the door. He entered the room first, as Jesse and Presley waited anxiously in the hallway. Presley glanced inside the room and heard Samson as he began to speak a foreign language to someone sitting behind a large weathered desk. Their conversation was brief, as Samson pivoted to leave the room, he gestured for them to enter. Timidly, Jesse poked his head inside the door.

  “Please, come in,” the man said in a deep resonant voice.

  A large, circular crystal lay on the desk balancing on a base. A compass floated in the air beside the desk. A large mirror stood in the middle of the room. Behind the desk was an adjacent room with countless tiny small lights and spherical balls, which were all spinning at different speeds, and moving in different directions. Although this should have appeared chaotic, it didn’t. The lights were magnificent and seemed to move with a purpose.

  Manna noticed them observing the lights, “That is your galaxy . . . we have been studying your galaxy for many years,” his lips turned downward.

  Like Samson, Manna’s hair was long and white. He, too, had thin lips. Presley noticed sadness in Manna’s eyes. He looked as if he had carried with him a great deal of pain and grief. His body was covered in a long, light blue robe held together with a white braided belt. His wide, icy blue eyes matched the robe precisely. He had many wrinkles, which made him appear quite old.

  “Allow me to introduce myself,” said Jesse, holding out his trembling hand.

  “I know who you are,” Manna took Jesse’s hand and held it as he talked. “I’ve been watching you, studying you. I’m glad that you are safe. I’ve been waiting for you to find us. I know that you come to me with many questions,” said Manna

  “Questions?” Jesse said in a perplexed voice. “I don’t even know where to begin. Where do I start? Where are we? What is this Book of Codes? How do we get our friend, Paulette, back? Why are we here? How do we get back to our world? How did we get here? Who are you?”

  Gently Manna interrupted, “Okay. Okay. Slow down. I will answer all of your questions. Let’s start with who I am. Before humans were here, there was once a great civilization. Within this civilization I was part of a special group called The Panacea of Gnostic. The Panacea of Gnostic was made up of women and men of our species who all possessed special gifts. On Earth I believe you refer to them as psychics or mediums,” he said slowly.

  “And, let me guess. You could talk to spirits?” Presley asked skeptically.

  “Yes, we all had the gift to speak to spirits,” said Manna.

  “Seriously?” asked Jesse intrigued.

  “Making contact with the spirit world has never been questioned on this planet. I know that on Earth you have many different views about the spirit world, and most of your people are highly skeptical of those who have the gift to speak to the dead. But, we were embraced by our people. And we did more than just speak to the dead. Some of us could also envision the future and others could see events from the past. Our techniques and our gifts were all different. Long ago, the ruler of our planet, Pax, built this castle for the members of The Panacea of Gnostic so that we could work together as a society to help him and the other leaders in making decisions.

  “Pax was the ruler? Like a president?” Presley asked.

  “Exactly,” replied Manna. “When our government officials or any of the porits, for that matter, needed answers to their questions they would come here to the castle for a reading.”

  “Porit? What’s a porit?” Presley interrupted.

  “I am a porit, as you are a person,” he replied. Porha is the name of this world. Some porits traveled for days to come to the castle for a reading." Manna put his finger up, quickly explaining, “A reading was with the psychic, of their choice, whomever they felt could provide the best answers to their questions. If someone wanted contact with the spirit world and matters of the past, then often the reading would be requested with Samson. He has connected with the spirit realm longer than I, or anyone else has.

  “So, all of you who live in the castle can speak to the dead?” asked Presley.

  “Yes. The deceased are on a slightly higher realm than us, but we all are able to make contact. Our gifts go beyond just speaking to the spirits, though,” added Manna.

  “You still haven’t explained how we got here or how we get back,” said Presley.

  Manna continued, “Porha is a much smaller planet than Earth. For centuries our civilization prospered and flourished. We were a highly intelligent and advanced society compared to the others in the cosmos. There was only one government with one ruler on our planet.”

  With a gesture of Manna’s hand the large mirror began to light up. As Manna spoke, the mirror revealed images from the past.

  Pax, our ruler, had multiple leaders under him from each region around our world. Pax had a charismatic personality and he sincerely cared for the people of Porha. One of the leaders under his command was Delcon. He ultimately wanted to take over Porha, and take Pax’s place as ruler. The porits supported Pax and chose him to be the ruler over Delcon time and time again. After years of defeat, Delcon took a drastic step that would forever affect Porha.

  Delcon came to our castle, late one night, for a reading, he requested me. All of the members had various ways to tap into the beyond. Some could hear spirits and others could feel them.” Manna shut his eyes and chose his words carefully.

  “For me, my mind taps into a place, somewhere in the universes, that I believe is the key to unlocking our world’s mysteries. A place that holds all answers to our questions and possesses the secrets of the universes. I have a much wider range of aptitude than the others in The Panacea Gnostic. I can see the past, future, and present. Because of this, I was the most sought after psychic for the politicians.

  “However, there is one problem with how I conduct my readings. I don’t know what I’m saying during the reading, and I can’t remember the reading after I finish. You see, in order for me to perform a reading for someone, I begin by putting myself into a sleep like trance. Once I am under, the person I’m reading will ask me their questions. I have a very short window of time for each reading, and when I come out of the trance the reading is over.

  “But, just like the thousands of readings that came before that one, I didn’t remember any of it afterward. It wasn’t until later that I learned how devastating that one reading would be. Delcon wanted to be the leader of Porha. He wanted power, you see. He was naturally greedy.” Manna took a deep breath.

  “During the reading, without my knowledge, he asked me how he could become the most powerful leader of Porha. Delcon was inherently evil, and by asking such a selfish, greedy question he evoked the evil spirit, Fiend. Fiend realized that in order to become strong enough to rule over our world he must first take over a porit’s body. Fiend had unsuccessfully tried, since the beginning of time, to tempt the porits and persuade them to join him by offering bribes. His main goal was collecting souls, which gave him power. Enough power to eventually take over Porha. Fiend took full advantage of Delcon.” Sorrowfully, Manna held his face in trembling hands.

  “Through me, Fiend convinced Delcon that if he would agree to give him his soul after death, then during his life he would make him the most powerful leader of Porha. Delcon agreed,” Manna continued. “He signed a binding contract that his soul would go to Fiend after he died. After signing the contract, Fiend killed him. He literally sucked Delcon’s last breath away from him. Fiend captured Delcon’s soul then entered Delcon’s
lifeless body. It all took place right here, right where we are standing - in this very room,” Manna said, as he pointed around the room his hands still trembling.

  “After the reading, I awoke and I noticed that Delcon’s appearance had changed. He looked evil, stronger, and more powerful. His lips had turned pale white as did his skin. His eyes were black as night and rapidly began to change into a deep red. He looked wicked. I became very scared. Without a word, he fled the castle. I stayed in my room, fearing that something horrific had just occurred,” Manna’s voice cracked.

  “Minutes later, a spine-chilling animalistic scream came from outside the castle.” He went over to the window and pointed outside as he continued the story. “Instinctively, I knew that something was terribly wrong, so I immediately ran down the hallway to Samson’s chamber. Samson, panic stricken, yelled, ‘What have you done?’ I can still remember how frightened I was looking at the horror in his eyes.

  Samson ran down the hallway to this room and I ran after him. Now remember Samson’s gift is seeing the past. Samson spun around in a circle with his arms out, picking up the energy that had been in the room. Samson quickly fell to his knees and screamed, ‘Fiend was here! Delcon promised his soul to Fiend. Fiend killed him and took over Delcon’s body.’”

  Presley and Jesse sat in silence, staring in disbelief.

  Finally, Jesse broke the silence, “So, this spirit, Fiend, is a demon?”

  “Yes,” answered Manna.

  “What happened to all of the porits?” asked Presley.

  “Well, the collapse of our civilization took many years. Fiend, who was now in Delcon’s body, went back to work as one of Porha’s leaders under Pax. Neither the porits nor Delcon’s friends and family knew he was dead and that Fiend had taken over his life and his body.

  “Later, there was another election held for the next ruler of Porha. All of the porits were confident that Pax would win the election. Once again, Delcon ran against Pax and the porits slowly began to take notice of Delcon. He was a very passionate and impressive speaker, and soon he had quite a large group of supporters.

  “In the beginning, Pax was still in the lead. Delcon wasn’t worried. He knew to win the election; he must first win over the porits. He started to get the word out that he had invented a device that would allow them access to planet Earth. They all were infatuated with the humans’ progression of life. The porits grew more and more obsessed with the different cultures. Our planet’s main ambition was to improve our technology so we could find out more information about the universe and the worlds in it. We all have had an obsession with your planet, Earth, for a very long time. I still do.

  “Delcon claimed that he had developed a device that could transport matter instantly from one location to another. This disproved everything we knew about physics. Fiend convinced the porits that time itself is only an illusion, a man-made reality. Furthermore, he said that matter was really only energy, including our bodies. He convinced them that this device was able to break down energy and move it anywhere he desired. Fiend, residing in Delcon, said this device would be able to transport the top scientist of Porha to Earth so that they could live among the humans. The scientist could study more in depth the human race and diverse cultures. The minerals of Earth would be gathered, along with samples of water and soil, different organisms, and animals and then be to transported back to Porha.

  “Over time, the word spread to more and more porits, and Delcon’s supporters soon outnumbered Pax’s. Needless to say, Delcon won the election. He earned the porits’ trust by fulfilling his promises. He completed and implemented the transportation device called Rapt Ferry.” Manna began to anxiously pace the room.

  “He then successfully sent a group of scientists to Earth and the porits were ecstatic. The scientists lived among the humans without raising any suspicion. Some are still there. The Rapt Ferry was in multiple places around Earth, including the one that sent both of you here. The scientist studied the Earth for many years, each time collecting useful data.

  “Now that Delcon had earned the porits’ trust, he moved onto the second phase of his plan. He began to use propaganda to slowly brainwash the porits. We used to pride ourselves on how peaceful our planet was in comparison to Earth anyway. We studied so many worlds that had frivolous wars and destroyed their fellow species. I remember thinking how foolish that was. Before Fiend, our society was compassionate and peaceful. We understood that we had only one planet, and even though we had different ideas and thoughts, we helped each other through the struggles and learned to compromise on issues when we disagreed. We shared riches and helped our neighbors, and there was no violence. We thought violence was senseless.

  “Our technology tripled in the first year that Delcon ruled. Slowly, the porits began taking for granted their spirituality and innate need to connect with nature and each other. They grew increasingly more materialistic and lost sight of others in need. They allowed the weak to starve. They allowed the poor to suffer. The people who had a voice never spoke up, and our once great civilization was gradually collapsing. Our world was falling apart, but everyone was so busy with trivial, self - serving, perpetual superficial matters that either they didn’t notice or they simply didn’t care. The porits became increasingly more selfish and greedy.

  “The Panacea of Gnostic tried to warn the leaders. We told them about Fiend, but they were so brainwashed by him nobody would listen. We tried to warn as many porits as we could about our doomed future, but they chose to ignore us. Fewer and fewer porits came in for readings, and all of them virtually lost the spiritual connection they once had. We had a meeting here at the castle and we used all of our powers to try to piece together the future of our civilization. The images from the mirror were graphic and dire.

  “All of us here at the castle saw the same devastating outcome. I could see the future. I could see the death. If the porits continued living for pleasures of today instead of protecting the future of our civilization, it would inevitably be destroyed.

  “It was their choice. They had been warned. After the success of the Rapt Ferry, Delcon convinced the porits that he could heal the sick and he promised them wealth and success. He lured them in with his manipulating calculating ways. He swore to them that there would no longer be any sickness or disease. He promised them wealth and mansions greater than anything they had ever seen.

  “He encouraged all of Porha to go to their region leaders and sign a contract. The contract read of all the riches that they would receive for the mere exchange of their souls after death. The first who signed the contract were the sick. Just as promised, after signing it, they were instantly healed. Next, the poor signed the contract, and they became instantly wealthy. Finally, Delcon claimed that he had found the fountain of youth. He promised to stop the aging process so that nobody would age any further. Well, the porits had become so vain and self - absorbed that they never questioned how Delcon could do any of this. It was of the supernatural. And they chose to ignore it. The rest of Porha’s society took notice of these obvious changes and soon almost everyone had signed the contract. They were given huge mansions, jewels, virtually anything they wanted. They became wealthy beyond compare but, with wealth they became increasingly greedy.

  Soon the mansions weren't enough. The Porits began to turn on each other. After receiving the mansions, even the once poor wanted a bigger and better mansion. Friends competed against friends, neighbors competed against neighbors, and regions competed against regions. Greed overpowered Porha, and the porits became extremely destructive.

  A war broke out and the Porha civilization, in essence, destroyed themselves because of greed. I still can’t believe that . . . greed. We had this beautiful planet, a spiritual civilization, and it wasn’t enough for them. Fiend sat back and watched as his master plan played out. All of the porits were dead and Fiend collected sou
l after soul. He managed to take every one of the porits’ souls . . . except a few of us left here at the castle and the porits on Earth,” Manna tried to hold back his tears, but they could see his sorrow by his quivering lip.

  “I’m sorry,” said Presley.

  “I carry this with me every day. I’ve just never spoken the words of that terrible event out loud. I felt so helpless,” Manna took another deep breath and cleared his throat.

  “So this Rapt Ferry, the device that brought us here, how does it work?” asked Presley.

  Manna walked over to the corner of the room and then suddenly disappeared.

  Presley looked around the room, “Where did he go?”

  “Look out there!” Jesse pointed out the large window. Manna stood outside under a magnificent arbor with large blooms hanging from it. Surrounding him was an enormous garden. He then suddenly appeared back in the room.

  “You see?” said Manna.

  “How did you do that?” asked Jesse in amazement.

  “We were able to make a prototype of the Rapt Ferry here at the castle. We figured out how to manipulate matter, break it down into its smallest form, and transport it to a precise destination. However, we were unsuccessful at transporting matter over far distances. So, in order to go back to Earth, you’ll have to find the Rapt Ferry that sent you here.”

  “So, the Rapt Ferry is like a port hole?” questioned Presley.

  “Yes,” replied Manna.

  “I see. Hopefully we can make it there without being captured first,” Presley mumbled. “Will you do that again?” asked Presley.

  “What? Disappear?” Manna said.

  “Yes,” she answered.

  Instantly, Manna was back outside at the garden again. They watched as light blue wings protruded out from Manna’s back. He flapped his wings several times before he was lifted from the ground. He flew up to the window and unlatched the lock from the outside. Once inside, they watched in wonder as his massive wings folded into his back.

  “Porits have wings?” Jesse questioned.

  “Of course we have wings,” Manna smiled.

  “So, the winged bones that we saw on our way here, those were the porits’ bones? Fiend killed them all?” Jesse asked.

  “Yes, they essentially destroyed themselves. But, not only did the porits get greedy; the leaders of our world got greedy first. They were more worried about advancing politically than how it would affect the universe and our world.

  “The porits never questioned their leadership. They got increasingly materialistic and the leaders became careless. They were supposed to lead by example. Everyone wanted more things, and by doing so, they destroyed themselves and our planet. Greed. Power. Envy.

  “You can see our planet now. Once again it’s beautiful and balanced. It took many years to come back from the devastation that the leaders and the porits left it in. We knew that if the people and our government didn’t change, it would be the end of our civilization. We told the world leaders and we told the porits about Fiend taking over Delcon’s body, but greed is powerful and they didn’t want to hear it. They didn’t want to change. They advanced the technology under Fiend’s command despite global catastrophe.”

  “Why did Fiend have to take over Delcon’s body? Why didn’t he just destroy the porits and take their souls himself?” Jesse pressed.

  “Because Fiend is a spirit. He has to be given consent before he can take a soul. The porits agreed and they inevitably, destroyed themselves,” Manna explained.

  “Paulette must have agreed to go with him, too,” Presley said suddenly.

  “Yes,” said Manna.

  “Did she give him her soul?” asked Jesse.

  “I don’t know. I’m certain that he tried to persuade her to give up her soul since that’s what gives him power. She must have signed a contract,” Manna added.

  “Yeah, but what would he persuade her with?” asked Presley.

  “Well, what does she want more than anything?” asked Manna.

  “She wants to go home,” Jesse said sadly.