The Plan: Part 1

by J. A. James

  He called to her again, louder. "Halva," he said more urgently. He needed her to come back.

  The rumblings meant that they were getting closer; searching the recesses of her memories. They were getting closer to finding them. It was fine. There was only one thing left to do.

  The next rumble was not so much a tremor but a heady, elongated sound of a giant approaching.

  Too close, Griesen thought grimly. They had to move.

  "Halva," he whispered, louder. She blinked, this time a little quicker in response. But it wasn't enough. Her absorption of the energy was a heady dose that few subjects could just snap out of. The epiphanies people experienced were very much like opiates in the system that stayed for a significant amount of time in the body.

  Ithes was approaching the deeper recesses of her memories. They had to leave.

  He lifted Halva and hoisted her on his shoulders. She was still sedated and heavy with sleep.

  He opened the door which beckoned into the enveloping dark night, filled with a multitude of stars. Only now, the stars were all travelling rapidly.

  She was changing. This epiphany she had completely changed her subconscious.

  A jarring reverberation nearly made him fall over; he realized how close they were getting.

  They were so close to completing the bridging process - he couldn’t let Ithes find them. Not now, he thought grimly.

  Griesen took a deep breath as he scanned the night sky in front of him. He had to take a deeper dive into her mind.

  He had his bearings. Enough of them, anyways. He took a few steps back, and then took a running leap through the doorframe with Halva behind him, as they fell amongst the stars.

  They sailed through the nighttime sky, soundless, until he spotted what he was looking for. Another door; another opening. He landed in front of the set of stairs leading up to the doorstep, feet first.

  He glanced over at Halva. She was still unconscious. He checked her breath; it was shallow. But good - she was still processing the energy.

  He took his hand and pressed it gently into her wrist, instantly transporting himself into her field of mind.

  She was processing everything in her dream-state, on a deeply subconscious level. Her father. Her childhood as she had known it to be. The guilt wrapped around her mother, which lay in wreaths around her every memory...

  But alas, he noticed that her energy was being released. Slowly, slowly... She was beginning to release the guilt, pain, shame that she had levelled herself into over the course of her life. The circumstances in which she had found herself borne into; which had drawn her deeply into a space of self-loathing, fear, and unworthiness.

  She was beginning to lift the mental weights that had sunk her for years, allowing her Soul a buoyancy she had never experienced before.

  The blue light flowing through her sparked slightly; signifying a spike in her energy levels. She even looked younger; her lips briefly curved into a smile he had never seen before.

  It was enough that she opened her eyes, rounded with awe. She glanced right at him, vibrating with a new energy, a joy that even he could feel, separated only by a foot of distance.

  "You’re doing great," he said to her softly, as he took both of her hands in his. Her release meant she was gifting herself with the precious freedom that she had long lost. The freedom that she was borne with, but forgotten in her spiritual rebirth on Gaia, in human form.

  She was reclaiming what she had forgotten from the beginning of her Soul birth... Reclaiming herself, as a whole. Her birthright.

  This gift was always yours, Halva. Your gifts, your ability to love yourself. And your capacity to love others.

  The fact she had arrived here was tremendous. She had done the work; climbed her own mountain. Ascension.

  Tears glistened on Halva's cheeks.

  She nodded slightly, as the energy within her spiked again. Her grey-blue eyes were still soft and shut, still processing the internal energy that was propagating within her.

  She wasn't yet conscious. He watched her as her eyes continued to dilate in front of him.

  The reverberations were getting closer still.

  He felt the energy within her grow stronger; the light was pulsating in waves that were increasing in intensity.

  He did a quick mental calculation. There was still enough time. He closed his eyes and decided to go deeper through the gate of her subconscious. He had to see.

  CHAPTER 10

  Halva was standing on the peak of a cliff, long blades of grass surrounding her as she stood on the narrow rock. He recognized the space; it was one of her youngest, earliest memories from when her mother took her on walks as a small child.

  Halva. He called to her as he approached her from behind.

  She was facing the sky and the water. There were cliffs surrounding the stilled peninsula; they had begun to rumble and break apart in great shards that were falling into the water.

  Deep sounds of water reverberations - explosions which resounded like dulled bombs - permeated the air around them as the rocks began to crumble. Faster. And faster.

  Boom. Boom. Boom.

  They mirrored the sounds that were coming from farther away, those outside the recesses of her mind.

  Halva.

  Did she hear him? He wasn't sure.

  She was gazing into the prism of her life. It was her entire world she had ever known; that was departing. What would be on the other side?

  Halva. The new possibilities are waiting for you… you are creating new roads for yourself. They are better than what you have known.

  Tears shone on her face. The light from the pink-blue hues of the skies reflected on her as they slid down her face.

  How do you know? She asked, trembling.

  You’re removing what no longer works. These mountains, everything you used to know, are crumbling. You are re-creating your world, making space for the new.

  Despite her fear, she was letting go. He knew as he saw the mountainous lairs of rock continued to slowly crumble. She was dismantling her very own perception; her way of being; her entire outlook on life and how she had lived it. Her ego was falling away.

  You’re shedding what no longer works for you. You’re allowing yourself to see beyond your own horizon. Your world extends further than you previously imagined. Your sightline is growing. Just trust it.

  She drew in a breath - the sound of a long inhale, followed by a long exhale. Almost immediately, the sun began to lower rapidly in descent, transforming the skies around them into a deep shades of violet and orange.

  The silvery skies reflected by the moon emerged, bouncing light off the water beneath them, whose tides had risen more than halfway from the sea level.

  A silence, the depth of which was startling, surrounded them in a resounding embrace.

  Halva spoke in a hushed voice. "I feel... so... so light."

  You lifted yourself from your old self, Halva. A way of life which no longer worked for you emotionally or spiritually. A spiritual rebirth is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself. The shedding of the old self; an old layer. It is your ultimate gift to yourself - the gift of forgiveness. You have eclipsed your own ego and you have set your Spirit free to receive freely. And receive in the universal abundance of the Source.

  His words reverberated through Halva's mind. A wave of emotion suddenly came up through her; rising as a tidal wave.

  The still waters beneath them suddenly began moving.

  In the new energy of Source, and Love, there is movement. New life emerges.

  Suddenly, there was a moment of silence. Griesen noticed it immediately. The mountainous rocks and scallopened rock formations had stopped breaking apart into the sea. What was it...?

  There was an energetic blockage.

  He felt it before he spotted it - a black dot in the sky that grew exponentially larger by the second. A soot began to rain down on them; first in a light dusty wave; and then a deep charge of dust and wind
as it began to circle them.

  The sky transformed into a blackened plane of roiling clouds. A dark ship emerged from the epicentre, coming straight towards them.

  Ithes. Griesen felt it, before even knowing. He had found them, buried even in the deepest recesses of Halva's mind. There was no escape…

  The point at which the ocean and the water meet. He had found them.

  Indeed, my friend. Ithes’ voice found itself in Griesen's mind.

  Griesen stood stock still, as the words seared through him.

  Ithes’ gritty voice continued. I have to commend you for everything you've done... I thought this little game of cat and mouse would have ended far earlier than it has. But. You've given me such inspired entertainment.

  Griesen said nothing in response, as he watched the ship hover, levitating only a few feet away from where Halva and him were standing on the cliff.

  And woe to the man who thinks he shall be strong... Where his feet stand on no firm ground. Ithes’ words ended in a mocking tone.

  The ship's doors lifted and Ithes emerged, levitating downwards, slowly. His coal-black eyes burned into Griesen's for a short moment, before he shifted his gaze towards Halva.

  Ithes emitted a blast of fire at them. Griesen reacted, cresting a wall of ice that blocked his deadly heat from reaching her. The fuel from the fire ignited an instantaneous firewall around them both as Griesen fought to keep flames at bay.

  CHAPTER 11

  Then Halva recognized Him – Ithes. The devil delivered from her dreams - and understood that it was He who had arrived, to take her. His glittering eyes held a mad thirst. There was no Love; only consummation of something dark and soulless.

  No.

  Griesen was behind her, providing the single wall of protection that stood between them and their imminent death. The devil was in front of them; her only protector stood behind her.

  No. This is not how I will die, she thought, suddenly alert.

  The roar of flames burned, surrounding them.

  She realized that she had opened her heart, for the first time in years, and suddenly she was filled with a new sense of hope. Her old walls had come down, now.... She had to believe in herself; and trust that she had everything she needed to move forward.

  She looked right at Ithes, right at the Devil who seemed hell-bent on her destruction. She was no longer afraid.

  A thunderous crack sounded behind her. The last rock quarry, a behemoth, began ripping apart. A thunderous vibration reverberated through the ground as the giant slab of rock sluiced deep into the waters beneath them.

  She closed her eyes. This is my world. She felt strong, and surer than she had felt in many years. This man had come to rob her from her strength. No. Nobody will rob me of my life. Not today.

  There was a bolt of lightning, and then a rapid vortex enclosed both of them.

  CHAPTER 12

  GRIESEN

  In a nanosecond, he found himself standing – wobbling – on the groundless platform that was the sixth dimension. He was disoriented. What was happening? Where were they?

  Then, he saw her – Halva – as her dark eyes focused on Ithes, who was also here, looking momentarily shocked at the surroundings.

  “This is my world,” Halva said to Ithes. Her voice was calm and deep. “You don’t belong here.”

  With those words, she seemed to lift him up into the air by an invisible force. She closed her eyes, and as if summoning a dream or a wish, she hurled him into the darkness, where he disappeared in a searing implosion.

  Ithes’ scream resonated only a short second before he disappeared completely into the void.

  Griesen looked at her, stunned. “Where – where did you put him?”

  She looked at him. “I guess…my version of a black hole. You said this place was the originator of all my thoughts. So… I figured it would be the easiest thing to do. Get rid of him.”

  He looked at her, dumbstruck. A quickstudy. And then he started laughing, and couldn’t stop for a long minute.

  CHAPTER 13

  “You gave us hope.” It was Ana, over the transmission line. “You did it, Griesen. What few Seekers have managed to do. You bridged her.”

  Griesen felt little elation at her words. It was strange. In his prior life, he had lived for the praise from a job well done. “You know why that was.” His tone was hardly accusing, but he wanted her to know. “I only did my job.”

  "Ithes is in custody. He is awaiting his court date with the security council." Ana went on, seemingly undeterred by his words. “The Institute has been able to thrive once again through your achievement.”

  Griesen let out a breath. Somewhat good news, at least. Ithes wasn't going to get away with what he had done. It had been a few days, but Griesen had chosen to stay on Gaia. He had refused to speak with anyone except Gretchen, until now. Through Gretchen he learned that the Acruvae had harnessed enough energy through Halva’s bridging to repair the Chrysalis in its entirety. It had been significant.

  The magnitude of Halva’s subconscious ascension had surprised everyone, including him. She had directed her energy and managed to eject Ithes not only from the sixth dimension, but through puncturing the physical realm as well. Back at the Safe House, an explosive fight had ensued between Ithes and Matthias, who had traced unusual amounts of energy leaking from the building and found them.

  It was a mess beyond simple repair. The Acruvae were immersed in damage control, which could take weeks. Months even, Gretchen had predicted. But good things had come out of this, too.

  “Did you know?” he demanded. “About Ithes.”

  Ana’s face remained unchanged. “We had our disagreements, but I never thought he would go so far as to betray us. Griesen. I want you to come back. Help me rebuild the Institute to what it was originally meant to be.”

  Go back? The idea felt foreign to him.

  “My entire life… was dedicated to the cause,” he said slowly. “I was committed to doing this work, following an ideology that was undermined by a web of lies. We have been sacrificing our lives. My parents sacrificed theirs.” His words were laced with regret and sadness. He remembered what Ithes had said, about his parents making some kind of commitment.

  He had gone back to Matthias and begun digging through their archives. He had spent countless hours poring over identification papers, speaking with anyone who might have known them… yet he had come up empty-handed. He still didn’t have a clue as to what had happened to his parents. But there was still so much ground to cover. He wasn’t done yet.

  “Yes. You’re right. I knew he’d been searching for another species. Another Source,” Ana said, finally. He could see the remorse in her eyes. “I allowed it.”

  Her confession to him, so long coming, strangely did not give him any satisfaction.

  “But I never anticipated that he would go so far as he did. I had to explore all options for our survival. It was a necessity. I had to choose what was best for our survival. You understand?”

  Her words rang in his ears. “Have you given up on Humans too?” he asked her. “After everything we’ve been taught?”

  Everything they’d learned about hope, love, and giving humanity a chance. Everything they were taught was predicated on the possibility of their Soul transcendence.