A Division of Souls - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (57 page)

Denysia…
the unified voices said. She
could not guess how many were talking in unison, each voice and
tone blending into one another, creating a surreal echo within her
spirit.
Denysia…
it called again.
You are the One of All
Sacred…the Shé nyhndah eilee…you enter the Rain of Light of your
own free will. The Rain of Light welcomes you.

Despite the utter seriousness of the
situation, Denni found herself smiling at the invitation.

You bring a brother,
it/they said.
We sense the Watcher Nehalé Usarai Né Mendaihu Gharra. The one
who awakened us. He is close.

Had Nehalé made it this far? She had not
sensed him at all since her arrival here, yet she knew him to be
here…somewhere. She called his name but recieved no answer.

It seems he finally sleeps,
the voice
said eventually.
He has done his part. It is now our duty to
disperse…to Truly Awaken the city.

Denni drew an uneven breath. She had to ask
now, before it was too late.
What is happening? Why has Nehalé
Awakened you all? I was…
She paused, measuring her words before
she spoke them. She may be the One, but she was also just a fifteen
year-old kid dropped into the middle of this insanity, and she was
certainly far from perfect. She concealed her own embarrassment and
continued.
I was under the impression that you were already
sentient to the level of Gharné. I was led to believe that you
could become
cho-nyhndah
with anyone whenever you
chose.

The silence that followed was unnerving. She
felt a dread of having asked the wrong question of these bodiless
souls, and pleaded silently to herself that they answer with words
and not destructive action. She was the hope of millions of
civilians in Bridgetown.

Finally, they gave their answer. It was not
spoken in anger, nor did they reply with another violent storm
surge, but it was not what Denni wanted to hear.

We do not know, Dearest One. Only the eicho
Nehalé can answer that question.

…
and he’s ‘asleep,’
she thought
miserably.
What happens next?

The voices once again erupted in a cacophony
of excitement. So many different explanations and hopes and fears
poured forth at the same time, inundating her mind and heart with
more than she could possibly handle. She squirmed in this
Lightspace, arms flailing at bodies and energy that were not truly
there in physical form. She barely found her voice within it all.
Please,
she cried.
Please! Give me order!

The voices faded to a low rumble just as
quickly as they’d risen, and the change made her feel strangely off
balance. She staggered forward, then backward until her legs
finally gave out from under her. The sensation of falling, however,
did not come. She was being cradled by the souls themselves. She
was hovering above nothingness, and still they caught her, easing
her fears.

Thank you,
she mumbled.
I have
recently Awakened myself…and I’m still not completely comfortable
with everything here. Please grant me patience, if you
will.

It is granted,
the voices responded
softly, to her relief.
We understand.

I must explain my presence,
she said.
We here on Gharra…we are fearful of your anger. If unattended,
it can do us harm. I am here to guide you the rest of the way. This
is part of my duties as the One of All Sacred.
The voices
agreed quietly amongst themselves and let her continue.
I admit
I am following instinct here
, she said.
All I can say is
that I can feel — no, I can sense all of you here, both
individually and as a whole. I can sense you are equally as lost.
Can you tell me…what it is that you seek?

We seek Light
, they said.

Light? She blinked, noting the irony. Here
she was, in this formless reality of brilliant whiteness, unable to
see anything except her own shimmering form, itself a shade of
white ever so slightly brighter.

What is this Light,
she asked. She
had to ask, even though she knew the answer to some extent.
Peace, Love and Light…
the creed of the Mendaihu. It was the
simple yet unending search for the completeness of being physically
and spiritually. Light could only mean one thing to her, and
ultimately to these souls.

It is knowledge, Dearest One. We all search
for the Universal constants, for the concrete and scientific. But
that is all easy to come by, given the supplies, the dedication,
and the time. That is not the Light we seek. We are looking for the
Light that feeds us, Denysia, and that which keeps our souls
forever alive, even past mortal death. It is hard to describe in
such words…it is something we can only experience individually.

But to us, it is Peace, and it is Love.

Denni nodded, visibly relieved. Their
motives were pure enough, in that they did not wish to utterly
destroy Bridgetown. She now understood that these souls, if they
were to fully awaken and leave the Rain of Light once and for all,
they would need to become fully conscious within a human body. It
was something about humans…humans from Gharra/Earth…that these
souls from Trisanda held so dear. This adoration went far past the
ancient familial ties, however. It was as if…

…as if a profound change were to happen
regarding the human race.

We must all be awakened,
the voices
pleaded.
Those of us here, on this spiritual plane, and on the
physical plane. We must all awaken soon.

Come, Dearest One. Let us show you what will
happen.

And inside this Light, she felt the rush of
love of these spirits surging through her, filling her with such
unspeakable bliss she could no longer speak within or without. She
was drowning in this ecstasy that went beyond anything she could
ever have conceived. She no longer felt any fear within herself, so
certain was her trust in these spirits. Inside this Light, she felt
herself disintegrating, her physical and spiritual body falling
apart and becoming one with the universe. With
all
universes. She no longer feared anything, even death.

The only thing keeping her here on this
plane was her sister.

And inside this Light, she felt herself
stepping through to a much higher level.

*

Caren gasped in a lungful of cold, bitter
air and immediately knew that she was not where she wanted or
needed to be, even before her eyes had opened. She had been lashing
out at Nehalé Usarai when she’d been struck by…lightning? Wait, no.
That wouldn’t make sense. Then she’d be dead, or at least in a lot
more pain. She was…fine? She felt dizzy, same as before, but her
eyes no longer felt the pain of the searing white Light. She was
lying down on a bed, in a darkened room that somehow felt familiar
to her. She reached out a hand tentatively in the air, touching
nothing but the cool night breeze. She drank in its iciness, her
head spinning from its purity. She recognized it as pure
oxygen…like the oxygen tanks she wore once, after she and Poe had
gotten caught in that burning apartment in Branden Hill…

“…Karinna.”

“Who —”

This is not right.
She sat up quick,
her hair a complete mess and covering most of her face. She
stubbornly pushed the strands back and tucked them behind her ears
as she looked around the darkened room —

Her room. In her apartment. A quiet night in
Berndette Corner.

This is not right.
She jumped out of
her bed and scrambled into the dimness of the hallway and over to
her sister’s room. The door was locked, but she could see light
spilling out from underneath. She immediately started pounding on
it, calling her name.

This is not right at all...
“Denni!”
she screamed. “Denni! We’ve got to get out of here! Now!”

“…Karinna.”

Caren stopped dead in her tracks. Her
voice…so calm. So frighteningly calm.

“…Den? Is that you?”

“…Karinna.”

She shivered at the sound of Denni’s voice.
She spoke in quiet, soothing voice that sounded all too unnatural.
It wavered synthetically like a voice construct, almost exact in
its replica yet never completely hiding a clipped digital
soundwave.
That isn’t her talking. Or is it…?
It sounded
like…

It sounded like many voices at once, all
imitating hers, all speaking in unison.

What the hell is going on here?
“Denni?” she called out. “Where are you?”

Silence. No…not a silence. She hadn’t heard
a thing just a moment ago. Now she could hear but not feel a
breeze, almost beyond the edge of hearing, and it came from Denni’s
room.

“Denni!” She rapped on her sister’s door
again. “Den?” She started again, quieter this time. “Den, are you
in there?”

The door opened slightly, and muted light
spilled out of the room and into the hallway. She stared inside,
which looked every bit like the bedroom she’d always known, and saw
nothing amiss except for the unseen light source. Warmth spilled
out towards her, the source of the breeze as it pushed outwards at
Caren and out into the hallway. The walls behind her and beside her
absorbed the light, absorbed the warmth, and soon the entire
apartment was awash with…

Light,
Caren thought.
Goddess…she’s —

“…Karinna, I am
everywhere.
” The
pulsating light inside the room grew in intensity, at once pulling
at her and warning her. “I am…”

The light of the room suddenly burst into
high brilliance, its energy sending a sharp wave of heat past her.
“De—
Denysia,
” she called out, waving her arms half-blindly.
“Oh Goddess, Den…What’s happening?”

“Come, Karinna,” she said. “Come and
see.”

“See?” she cried, shielding her watering
eyes and taking a tentative step into the bedroom. “See what? Where
are you?”

As if in response, the light dropped back
down to its ambient hue, a semi-dark room just before dusk. Just as
before, nothing had changed. This was Denni’s personal hiding
space, her own world away from the pain and confusion of the
Bridgetown Sprawl. Her plush animals were still piled haphazardly
on top of one another on a corner of the still-unmade bed; the
heaps of clean and dirty clothes she hadn’t yet divided were still
scattered around the floor. Her vidmat on the desk near the window
still blinked in the dark green of her screen saver.

This is where you sing me to sleep,
Caren.

“…sing,” she said, shaking herself back to
attention. She reached up and wiped away tears that had begun to
form.
Sing,
she thought.
Yes…I remember that.
That
had happened ages ago…when her mother and father had taken night
duty at ARU Headquarters. When they were still alive.

Do you remember the song?

She laughed despite herself. She could not
remember the song to save her life. It had been so many years
ago…she’d been in her third year at the ARU Training Base just over
the Sachers River. She’d chosen to live at home then, just to help
out around the house while her parents adjusted to their new
schedule. She remembered life being so much more stressful then…she
had been so short of money that she was afraid she wouldn’t be able
to afford her last year at the base. She’d refused to take her
parents’ patronage on the simple fact that everyone she had ever
known had expected her to.

Caren sniffled. “Sing it for me?” she
asked.

Denni began to sing, and each note began to
resonate within Caren’s heart.

Do you know, my dear sweet child…that the
love within your heart will keep your soul living forever?

Caren smiled as more tears came. “Yes, now I
remember…

“Do you know, my dear sweet child…” she
sang. Goddess, yes! She remembered this song now. She felt it now,
so deeply within. “…that the love within our hearts…is stronger
than anything in this world?”

Denni joined her in the chorus. “I can see
your Light, dear child, and it’s shining within mine…”

I can see your Light, dear child, and it’s
shining within mine…

“Denni…” she whispered. “Why am I
here…?”

You are my anchor, Karinna. You always will
be.

“Your…” Caren stood in the center of Denni’s
bedroom…a place that seemed so cluttered and small to her in the
past, yet so empty and fragile without her there. That was it — now
she understood why she had been brought here. She recognized
everything in the room as distinctly Denni’s; everything here was
an anchor to a reality she’d known her entire life. This included
Caren herself. This was her fate as Protector of the One: to watch
over the One of All Sacred at any cost, in any situation, no matter
how dire…or mystifying.

I am your anchor,
she said from
within.
Stay with me, Denysia. I will be here.

Denni laughed softly.
Thank you,
Karinna.

Caren suddenly felt the rush of warmth
pushing by her…and stopping. She shivered as the air displaced
itself around her. This was not only Denni’s love but her
spiritform
she felt swirling around her in a surreal dance
with her own spirit. She felt her own soul intertwining with
Denni’s, becoming one.

Come see, Karinna. Come see what I’ve
seen…

“I…can’t.” The words seeped out before she
could stop them.
Of course,
she should have said.
I’d
love to!
But she had shied away. She truly could not begin to
guess what Denni may have wanted to show her, but she knew it would
have been well beyond her understanding. She did not want to lose
hold of her own anchor…this place, this apartment. This city! She
had lived in this city for so long she could not comprehend leaving
it, especially now that her fate had been sealed along with
Denni’s. If she were to be a link to this reality for her…then it
would be wise to be the strongest damned link she could be.