The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (29 page)

I say we agree for now,
Kryss
said.

Saone reluctantly nodded.
Until we are
certain of our fate.

Agreed,
she finished.

“We accept,” Saone said aloud.

Both Nandahya and Matthew visibly dropped
their shoulders in relief. Saone gave them half an attempt at a
smile in response, but inside she knew she had no choice other than
follow their lead.
If only you were here, Dearest One,
she
thought.
If only you could understand what we're doing
here!

Matthew broke the uncomfortable silence by
clearing his throat. “I promise that Vigil will do all it can to
protect you from any potential threats. We may not be able to
physically be there for you but we may be able to stop certain
events before they unfold. Your new job is but one precaution.
Nandahya will give you the address and key codes before you leave.
Is there anything else you'd like to ask?”

Saone turned to Kryss again. She had nothing
to add, but she was certainly taking this situation with a calm
disengagement. She shrugged and gave her a grin, touching her on
the hand again. Kryss had more faith in Councillor Mirades and
Vigil, that was for certain. She had more faith in a lot of things.
A lot more.

Trust and faith,
she reminded herself,
and turned back to the Councillor and the man on the monitor.

“I believe that's it,” she said as honestly
as she could at that moment. “Sa’im taftika, emha si edha. We both
appreciate your assistance.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Fesh crahné

Caren sent out a quick thread of sensing and
found Denni up on the roof deck again. She’d been spending a lot of
time up there ever since her return. Too much, to be honest, even
after Amna had persuaded her to return to school. Her life had
returned to normal as much as it possibly could have at this point.
Those who knew her identity respected her privacy and left her
alone. She had not been forced into any situation beyond her means.
But Caren could see past her calm demeanor; it was all surface
emotion, forced into place by necessity. She was still the One of
All Sacred, and she held the worlds in her hands. This was too much
stress on a kid her age.

At that very moment she was at the south
corner of the deck, the farthest spot from the access door, leaning
against the ledge with her mind elsewhere. Her signature was calm
and serene; she wasn’t worrying but merely thinking things over.
Her repeated visits to Trisanda had been a concern, but in
retrospect it had done wonders for her spirit. She was no longer
hiding from the world, retreating to her bedroom or to that
elsewhere.

The sunset gave the Bridgetown skyline a
comforting glow against the darkening eastern sky. She stood
silently in the access doorway, taking it all in. Her apartment
building nestled itself near two slightly taller complexes and a
few commercial buildings, but her view to the west and south
remained unobstructed. The northeastern section of McCleever Sector
was mostly residential, with smaller apartments and houses, giving
her a straight-on view of the major hub of Bridgetown — Main Street
Sector, with the Mirades Tower dead center.

Hra khera, hra mehra. All was calm. For the
moment.

“Hey,” she called out from the door. Her
voice sounded small.

She felt Denni's acknowledgement in the form
of a tiny wave of love and appreciation. She didn't expect her to
answer back, but from the reaction, she deemed it safe to approach.
Caren saw her face this time, and it was a curious mixture, one she
hadn't seen on her before. She was grinning as if she was eagerly
and impatiently anticipating an event that would change her whole
life, while fidgeting nervously about it at the same time.

“What's up, kiddo?” Caren said. She touched
Denni’s shoulder, caressing it. “The look on your face can only
mean one of two things, and I hope it's not the second, or I'll
have to kick your ass.”

Denni giggled. “Still a virgin. Sorry to let
your hopes up.”

“Little shit!” she laughed, and slapped her
arm. “I'm serious! You look like you’ve had a revelation. Anything
you want to talk about?”

“Well...” Denni sighed, and looked back out
on the city. “It's hard to say. My trip this time
was...interesting, to say the least. Not at all what I
expected.”

“Care to elaborate?”

Denni turned, leaned up against the ledge
with her elbow and faced Caren. “My sehna lumia. I was expecting
something less mundane.”

“It's supposed to be mundane,” Caren said.
“It's a sanctuary from all your distractions.”

“I know…” she smiled. “And it was exactly
what I needed. Even though I must have been there for just under a
half hour, it was just enough. Do you remember — oh, who was it?
One of Mum's friends, what's her name. Emha Kinsale! That sweet
lady up in North End? Remember what her place looked like?”

Caren arched a brow. “Yeah, I remember
Dianne’s house. We used to go over there for Landing Day
celebrations. Why?”

“Do you remember the back yard?”

“Vaguely. Long and narrow, bordered by
bushes. The far end went into the woods at the foot of Breed’s
Hill, didn't it?” Caren nodded. “Yeah, it did. It also had a
greenhouse or a...”

“A gazebo,” Denni said. “But not your
conventional one. Looked like a gutted out summer cottage. That’s
where I ended up.”

Caren cocked her head. “Figuratively, you
mean?”

“Yes, and you were right. It conforms to the
most peaceful moment in our lives and builds a construct around it,
based on memories. I used to love the Landing Day celebration
parties, especially when you and I used to play in that back yard.
I felt so happy, so safe there.”

“Yeah, I remember that,” Caren said with a
wistful smile. “I miss that. Going to those parties with Mum and
Dad, I mean.”

“So do I. And I think that's what my
subconscious came up with. That field was like another world, back
then, that patch of woods reaching out for miles. I don't think I'd
ever seen suburbia before then.” She turned away, facing the city
again, the lingering sunlight illuminating her face. There was a
hint of sadness there. No, not sadness — a longing to return to
that sehna lumia of hers as soon as possible. “So anyway...” she
said, almost distractedly. “I started talking to myself up there.
Both literally and symbolically, I suppose.”

Caren frowned. “I don't get you.”

Denni pointed at herself, then waved her
hands in the air. “Me. And the spiritual embodiment of the One of
All Sacred. We briefly talked. Then a Mendaihu came by and visited
me, talked with me about aligning with the previous Ones to see if
they can help me in any way. Just like Ampryss suggested.”

“And?”

“Well, I didn't stay long enough to be able
to figure out the outcome, had I been able to go through with it. I
think I may need help on this one. I'm not sure
how
to
contact the previous Dearest...and I'm not sure if any of them will
even respond.”

Caren jumped at the opening. “I’m going to be
training again soon. This time for Mendaihu Level One placement.
Sometime tonight the sehndayen-ne will be calling me. It’s Elder
Nayélha. I thought…”

Denni stared at her. “Crittiqila Nayélha?”
she gushed. “Pashyo! You’re going all out, then.”

“You know her?” Caren said in surprise.

“The One recognizes her name and signature.
She's an extremely powerful Mendaihu Elder. There's a rumor that
she may be kiralla, but no one knows for sure. She's never revealed
herself to be one here on Gharra.”

Caren arched her brow. “Not many do. I’ve
never seen one.”

“They’re secretive about their True Selves,”
she said. “They don't advertise who they are at all, as it
interferes with their duties as Watchers of the Mendaihu.” She
smirked as she looked at her. “She won't be calling by vid or comm,
will she?”

“Probably not.” The way Jenn and Matthew had
described it, emha Nayélha would be contacting her from within.
That had kept her on edge for most of the day, expecting some
otherworldly voice to be invading her head at an inopportune time,
or when she had forgotten about it.

“Do you know when you'd be starting your
training?” Denni asked.

Caught in an awkward moment, she looked away.
“You can come too,” she said. “You know, if you want.”

Denni was silent for a moment. “I'm not sure
if I should.”

“Why not?”

“First off, this is
your
training, not
mine. I have to do this on my own. I would only be in your way. And
besides, I still need to figure out how to contact the previous
Ones. Second of all, if I’ve learned anything so far, being the One
is not something you can train for. I hold most of the burden
because of the failed Ascension, or else I'd know everything
already. This is something I have to deal with on my own. No
sehndayen-ne can help me with this, unless they were a previous One
of All Sacred in another life.”

As much as it hurt to hear those words, she
was right. They were already on separate spiritual paths. She laid
a hand on her shoulder. “You sure you're going to be okay with
going it alone?”

That wonderful young smile of hers, a smile
of hope and optimism, flashed across her face as she reached out
and touched her hand. “I'll be fine.”

Caren covered Denni's hand with hers and
squeezed. “I hope so, kid.” She pulled her into a tight hug and
kissed her on the forehead. “I still worry about you,” she
whispered.

“So do I,” Denni answered, clutching at her
shoulders.

Karinna Shalei.

Caren woke up out of a sound sleep with her
heart racing fast and her eyes desperately trying to focus. Where
was she? She couldn’t see anything. Was she in her room? Yes? Yes,
she was in her bedroom. Who had—? Oh Goddess, not another Awakening
ritual! Wait, no — she would have sensed that coming. Her head spun
madly, creating the sensation of the world being pulled out from
under her. This wasn’t normal, not at all.

Denni! Denni was…she was okay? She was in the
next room, fast asleep. She could sense her clearly, she was calm
and safe. She had to calm herself fast.
Hra khera, hra
mehra
. No, that wasn’t going to work. What was she feeling?
This spinning. Someone was inside. Someone had taken a hold of her
spirit and twisted it in a direction it shouldn’t have gone in.
Saisshalé! Damn him, what’s he done? Was this how it felt? Oh
Goddess, he was finally back for revenge! It was — no, that wasn’t
him. Couldn’t be him. She could sense a presence. Someone was here.
Someone.

Calm down!

She tried to catch her breath, inhaling in
quick bursts, but she could not get it under control. Her heart was
beating hard in her ribcage, hard enough to hurt. Her vision began
to fail. The room grew darker. She found herself strangely calmed
by this new breathing method, and eventually her heartbeat slowed
until it was in sync with it. Short, choppy breaths, enough to
starve her brain and her blood of oxygen. Someone —

Karinna Shalei,
the voice
repeated.

“Hu— ” she coughed.

Come with me, Karinna. Open your eyes and
follow.

“Hu— ”

Let it go, Karinna.

“...h— ”

That's it.

“hh.......hhhaaaaaah.”

Step forth, Karinna. I am here.

“hhaaaaaaaah.....who....”

I am Crittiqila Nayélha. I am your
sehndayen-ne.

Her chest burned and she had lost
consciousness. She was not there, no longer in the cluttered
bedroom of her apartment. She was no longer alive. No: she was
more
than alive. She was keenly connected to the entire
universe. Like stepping through fire, sensing every nerve ending,
every cell of her skin burning off her bones until nothing remained
and left her completely bare. The pain in her heart and in her
lungs and in her head slowly receded back into a weak tug at what
she could only describe as her soul's roots held tightly around her
physical body, afraid to let go, while the spirit body surged
forth. Moving faster now...out of darkness...

...and into Light.

She opened her eyes again.

She stood atop a high promontory overlooking
a wide valley. A few small hills rose here and there. Off in the
distance a river cut through, opening up wider as it spilled into
the bay and further to the ocean. A high island rose out of the
water at its mouth, refusing to budge. The whole area looked so
familiar to her...familiar and safe. Had she been here before? Was
this the Trisanda she'd visited long ago when she'd made contact
with Anando? No, this wasn’t Trisanda at all. This was Gharra.

“Where am I?” she said, finally finding her
voice.

Crittiqila’s voice rose behind her. “This is
a version of the Bridgetown that you know, Karinna,” she said. She
turned and saw a young and extremely fit woman in her early
twenties, wearing the same black, form-fitting body suit all the
Mendaihu Elders wore. Over it she wore a long brown leather duster,
and her long silky black hair was draped over her shoulders,
unbound. She strolled up to Caren with a friendly smile.

“It's the Bridgetown you wish you knew.” She
gestured out over the valley, pointing in different directions. “No
Nullport, no highways. No skyscrapers. No Tower! Can you believe
there was a time here where the Mirades Tower didn't exist?”

Caren started to speak, but Crittiqila lifted
up her hand to stop her. “You see this vision as one of two things:
either an alternate reality where Bridgetown doesn't exist, or
we've traveled in time to a point where the province doesn’t exist.
Well, I say it's neither, Karinna. This is your personal lumisha
dea. I'd say you have one wicked sense of humor.”

Caren blushed, and she wasn’t sure why. “I
always thought it was my parents’ house.”