Chapter fourteen

Homeland

The journey to Lyra was a spellbinding experience for Zeke. He and Zoom flew through the stars and past galaxies, traveling from Earth to the enchanting Lyran Kingdom. Sitting inside a flying saucer that looked like a beautiful oyster shell, he felt like a bird in space. He had been freed from the cage of his physical body. Zoom held his hands, and he kept looking into her eyes as she shared with him all the wisdom and knowledge his soul was desperately seeking.

Even though he knew she was telling him the truth, the idea of his true identity felt strange to him. In fact, it made him anxious. “Did you ever really notice how different your life has been from that of everyone around you?” she questioned.

He smiled and silently nodded his head in agreement, thinking about his dreams, visions, signs, and above all else, Zig and Zag. He always knew the answer. He was very different from others.

“Have you ever felt like an alien walking on Planet Earth with a different identity? Have you ever felt ubiquitous and omnipotent just gazing at the stars? Have you ever longed to go back to your true home?”

“Why, yes. Only I never knew where that true home is — or was.”

“You do realize, Ezekiel, we have met before in several previous lifetimes. We have taken many forms but have always known each other. We have been family, we have been friends, and we have been lovers. We have been a male-female couple, we have been a male-male couple, and we have been a female-female couple.”

“Well, why not double or even triple the fun?” He was becoming more comfortable around her now, so a little joke here or there seemed fitting.

He thought her explanations were mindboggling, but he believed them. He also realized his attraction for Nora must be a manifestation of his connection to Zoom. He recognized her, not because she looked like Nora; it was the other way around. He had felt connected to Nora because she reminded him of some past version of Zoom.

“Who exactly are you, Zoom, and who am I, for that matter?” he suddenly asked, looking deep into her hypnotic eyes.

“Like I said, you are a starseed and…” She was going about her pithy statements, but he raised his hand, abruptly stopping her.

“Look, Zoom. I need to know the truth and nothing but the truth.”

“That you will know soon enough. Voilà! We are home,” she announced as the tornado of colors appeared around the ship again as the shell slowly descended and docked. They were in Lyra.

• • •

They had finally reached the gateway to the great Lyran Kingdom. The lion-headed guards bowed in reverence and opened the gates to the same crystalline palace Zeke had seen in his dreams. Many lion-headed people came running towards them with unparalleled enthusiasm. They were crystal blue beings who hugged and embraced him warmly, as if he were one of them, like a long-lost friend or family member. A lion woman came ahead and kissed his forehead.

“It’s so good to see you back home, Ezekiel.” She hugged him tightly, and he instantly recognized her as his own mother of all people!

“How could this be?” he wondered. “My mother is still alive on Earth!” He was beyond perplexed. “I’m going to need some answers pretty soon, y’all.”

Nonetheless, he felt a deep connection with this community and had a strong inner understanding that he belonged to the people Zoom fondly introduced to him as the Lyrans or “the Lion People.” It wasn’t an unknown place for him anymore; it was his homeland, and these lion people were all his friends and family. Yet, he still felt he needed to know more. Everything was happening exactly the way it had before. He experienced all this in his vivid dream just a few months earlier on August 8th. The only thing he didn’t know was the significance of the date.

After his homecoming and the warmest reception imaginable, Zoom took him into the palace. She played the perfect hostess taking him around every corner of the vast Lyran estate. She took special care to share with him all the intricate details of the hallways, the chambers, and the gardens they visited. It really was a place beyond time and space. It existed neither in the day nor the night. It was neither on land nor in the air. Perhaps somewhere in the ether, he thought.

Zeke noticed something peculiar and unearthly about the architecture. There were no windows, doors or ceilings — just transparent, crystalline walls. There was no gravity, either. These beings could just glide and didn’t have to float like spacemen in those old movies. The flowers in the gardens were the kind he had never seen before. Moreover, they possessed specific and hypnotic fragrances that gave him a sense of euphoria each time he smelled them.

“My God, this is like catnip!” he exclaimed. “This is just too good to be true.”

All his senses were heightened. Streams, lakes, ponds, and rivers all around provided a musical tinkling. Tiny celestial melodies came out of every flower, every leaf, and every blade of grass. There was no bark on the trees, no dirt, mud, or cement, although the roads were paved with gold. Everything he saw reminded him of the description of Heaven and the Garden of Eden he had read about, yet it was nothing like the traditional imagery imprinted on his mind.

As they walked around holding hands, he was told that the Lyran capital wasn’t simply a palace or a kingdom. It was the legacy of a vast and expansive empire. There were tales of love and loss, war and victory. Sexuality was forever fluid here, and all Lyrans took pride in their androgynous nature. They could morph their sexuality at will, much like humans change outfits to suit their moods. They understood the balance between their masculine and feminine energies, and that their true strength and wisdom stemmed from putting those energies to the right use as needed. Zeke wanted to discover everything about them. He was told about the Galactic Wars and was particularly interested in the Lyran warriors, a sect of the otherwise peace-loving race. He was eager to hear about the role of heroes and heroines in the shaping of galactic history.

They reached a massive chamber inside one of the many palaces. The huge hall looked more like the throne room of some ancient emperor. A white and golden throne sat on a raised platform at the far end of the hall. Two separate rows of smaller thrones lined both sides of the hall with a long, lush carpet and table-like structures. As they reached the chamber, Zoom whispered, “This is where it all began. The mission… do you remember?”

The room looked familiar as if he had been there many times before. Still, he couldn’t fully recollect. The empty thrones on either side of the main throne were slowly being filled by royal lion people taking their respective seats as each one of them walked into the hall. Finally, a very old lion-headed man entered and walked up to the dais. His face was one of kindness and wisdom. He had a white mane, and his skin was milky white. His jeweled headpiece of pure gold shined like the sun and sported an interesting harp-shaped emblem.

All the members present in the chamber stood up and bowed their heads before him. He sat on his throne and began presiding over the meeting of his council members. Zoom motioned to Zeke, “This is the Lyran High Council, our eternal guides who constantly think about and work towards the betterment of the entire galaxy. They consider the evolution of all galactic beings in every star system, planet, and universe. Do you remember them? Do you remember the mission they chose for you for when you volunteered to incarnate on Earth as a human being? Do you remember your mission now, Ezekiel?” she whispered again, desperately trying to help him remember and wanting the veil to fall so he could remember his true identity.

He felt utterly lost. There were flashes of recollection going off in his mind like fireworks, but the only thing they brought was confusion. He could not recognize the old lions, and trying to do so only made his head hurt. She took his hand and led him to Izar, the council head, to inform him of Zeke’s arrival. The kind, old Lyran smiled at him and welcomed him home.

“Ezekiel, my boy, how I have missed you and that brilliant mind of yours, but I suppose the weight of my words is lost on you. You don’t even remember who you really are yet. Well, I’ll let you deal with that.” He turned to Zoom and said, “Make it so that he remembers himself, Ezra. We are all counting on you.”

“Did he just say Ezra? I thought her name was Zoom!”

Izar blessed Zeke and Zoom and embraced them like a loving grandfather, bestowing them with honor, calling them his cherished warriors, and wishing them success.

• • •

Once their meeting with the High Council was over, Zoom brought him to a private chamber — a room where they were supposed to spend some time together. Before he could say anything, a group of young male attendants carried him off. They took him to a bathing chamber, spoiled him rotten, then dressed him like a prince before bringing him back to her who had been dressed similarly like a princess.

Zeke felt terribly uncomfortable, but Zoom saw through that. “Worry not, Ezekiel,” she pronounced. “I know you have questions. Ask, and I shall answer.”

“You still didn’t answer my question. You still didn’t tell me the whole truth. Who am I right now, and who are you, Zoom?” He was restless again, desperate to get to the bottom of everything.

“Well, I wanted you to experience the truth rather than for me to simply explain it to you,” she replied and then sat with him to share her many stories.

“You are and always have been ‘Ezekiel,’ the handsome and charming Prince of the Lyran Empire, and among the few great warriors we have ever had.” She fervently tried to help him remember who he was. His memories did return slowly, but they gave him more pain than comfort — the pain of a past life, of a past love.

Then, in an instant, it clicked. He had been a warrior, a leader, and a lover. With Zoom’s help, he finally knew who he was, and he knew who she was. “You, you are Ezra, Princess of the Highest Order, the Lady of Light, and Keeper of the Legions of Vega. And I… I know you.”

“Yes, my love. Now let me show you.” Saying that, she connected her mind with his and showed him the story of the eternal love between the timeless lovers, the Warrior Prince Ezekiel and Ezra, the Princess of Light.