“What do you think you’re doin’, Ray?” clamored Manny as Rayshell punched out for the day. “You still have almost ten minutes left.”
Rayshell turned to him with a playfully contorted face. “For your information, I’m actually late clocking out. I started fifteen minutes early to help patch a gap in coverage in the kids’ department. You would have known that if you got here more than thirty seconds before your shift.”
With his phone in sight, Manny followed her to her locker and muttered, “See, that’s why I don’t come through those doors until there’s just enough time for me to walk up and clock in. Ten minutes in that department, and I’d quit.”
“Saturdays are worse than Sundays,” Rayshell claimed as she pulled out her armored riding jacket.
Manny shivered. “It’s shitty no matter what day it is. Most parents are too glued to their damn phone that they miss the ridiculous mess their kids make, let alone their own.”
After slipping her jacket on, Rayshell rested her index and middle finger on the top of Manny’s cell and slowly pushed down. Once his curious eyes met hers, she said, “Well, let’s hope you don’t go havin’ kids anytime soon.”
“Excellent job, roast-master Ray,” chimed Tanya as she rounded the corner.
Rayshell giggled with her hand over her mouth as Manny admitted, “That was a good one,” then went back to scrolling through his phone. “See you both later.”
After he walked away, Tanya smiled at Rayshell and said, “Look at you. That jacket is awesome.”
Rayshell reached for her helmet atop the span of lockers with a smile. Side-by-side, the pair turned the corner and walked back into the stark white breakroom. A handful of people sat amongst each other, eating their respective lunches, with the television tuned to a repeat of an old 70’s game show that no one was watching.
“Are you off, too?” asked Rayshell.
Shaking her head, Tanya replied, “Last break.”
After a goodbye hug, Rayshell left the employee lounge and immediately spotted Tobias waiting just outside the hall next to an end cap of fluffy designer towels. Smiling, she gripped her helmet’s face guard and scampered to his side.
“Today took forever,” Rayshell whined playfully, then kissed Tobias, but his reciprocation was stiff and rushed. “What’s wrong?”
He looked at her with worried eyes that she neglected to notice when she first greeted him. “He’s here.”
His ominous reveal stole Rayshell’s breath. “Jack? Where?”
“I don’t know, but his car is parked outside.”
“Fuck,” Rayshell muttered. “I can’t face him. I’ll buckle.”
“Is there a back door?”
Rayshell shook her head. “The back is only open if there is receiving. And that’s on Mondays and Wednesdays. Any other day it’s locked. I’ll set off the alarm.”
Tobias adjusted his jacket and peeked around them to ensure Jack wasn’t approaching. “Okay. I’m parked close to the front. I’m sure we can sneak by if we’re careful enough. Let’s stay out of the main aisles just in case, alright?”
They took their time weaving through the racks and table displays along the perimeter wall. Tobias stood beside the glass doors and surveyed the passersby while Rayshell remained tucked discreetly behind a tiered arrangement of sporty mannequins. After a few more moments, Tobias gestured for her hand, and together they shadowed a family of six through the automatic doors.
The late autumn sky was glowing in sultry hues of orange and pink as the sun continued to recede behind the distant rolling hills. Once they stepped off the curb and into the parking lot, Rayshell spotted Jack’s tan station wagon two rows over from the motorcycle. Tobias could feel her pace begin to seize, so he gently pulled her along, but Rayshell dropped her helmet between two vehicles traveling in opposing directions. Once she picked it up, her eyes trailed to the small bakery shop nestled among potted cypress. Jack emerged carrying a bright pink box brimming with donuts in one hand while he fed himself with the other. His jubilance altogether disintegrated when his eyes fell upon Rayshell while she nervously stood in the parking lot.
“Rayshell!”
The car Rayshell stood in front of honked to trigger her gait, but she didn’t move.
“Let’s go,” Tobias ordered, taking her by the arm.
Through Jack’s eyes, Nathaniel watched a vibrant violet shimmer quickly cascade over Tobias’ earnest eyes. “Impossible,” he muttered as the box of donuts slipped from his hands.
Tobias and Rayshell quickly affixed their helmets, then readied themselves atop the motorcycle as Jack breathlessly lumbered after them.
“Rayshell! Wait!”
Jack hopped off the curb and ran into the middle of the parking lot, cutting off a white minivan. In an uncoordinated reflex, the driver shrieked and stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brakes. The corner of the minivan careened into Jack’s hip and toppled him instantly. Fueled by adrenaline, he immediately rose to his feet and called after Rayshell as she and Tobias took off down the other end of the parking lot.
“I am so sorry, sir,” the nervous woman declared after exiting her vehicle. “I didn’t see you. Are you hurt? Should I call an amb—”
Interrupting the woman with a guttural roar, Jack beat the hood of her minivan.
“Sir, I-I-I’m sorry,” she yelped timidly. “Please stop. I have children inside.”
Jack banged until his muscles burned and his breath left him.
The terrified woman screamed, “You maniac!” before locking herself inside her vehicle.
Jack pounded on the passenger window and bellowed with a disturbingly ferocious countenance. The sounds of the wailing children did nothing to settle his fit. Shaking in panic, the woman fumbled to put the van into drive and then zipped carelessly out of the plaza parking lot.
Like a delirious headcase, Jack squirmed, groaned, and muttered while he walked back to the box of donuts he dropped. Not only did Rayshell’s actions confirm she was avoiding him, but seeing the otherworldly violet shimmer in Tobias’ eyes proved the interference of a Celestine. Fearing the impending punishment for his negligence, Jack knelt to the ground, stacked the scattered donuts back into his box, and did his best to disregard the wide-eyed, transfixed passersby.
Tobias followed the direction of his reticent guest and took Rayshell to his house to ensure the Daeva-ensnared human couldn’t find them. When they pulled into the driveway, Tobias didn’t see his father’s truck and figured he wasn’t home from work yet. Rayshell hopped off the motorcycle before he finished parking and nearly ripped her helmet off. She paced frantically with teary eyes, oblivious to the border of marigolds she was trampling.
“What am I gonna do? Huh, Toby?” Rayshell whimpered. “I can’t keep avoiding him forever.”
Tobias flipped through his keys as he led the way to the front door. “Just stay with me. I’ll keep you safe until we figure out what to do.”
Rayshell frowned at his reply. “How are you so calm right now?”
“One of us has to be,” he answered with a gentle smile, then held the door open for her entry. He drew the curtains as she double-checked each of the locks. “They’re fine, Nav. Just relax.”
In the middle of slipping off her armored jacket, Rayshell slowly turned to Tobias. “What? What did you call me?!”
When his pilot recalled the error, Tobias’ eyes widened. “Um, Ray,” he uttered nervously.
She threw her jacket to the far end of the couch, then barked, “Who the fuck are you? And don’t you lie to me.”
Tobias took a breath to calm his nerves as she picked up an abstract table decoration from the coffee table. “No one you would bludgeon over the head, that’s for sure.”
With squinty eyes, Rayshell answered, “Why don’t I believe you?”
His eyes hardened as she cornered him against the dusty mantel. The more his pilot deliberated, he realized the proclamation cusped a fib. After a heavy sigh, he dropped his defensive posture. “Alright, I’ll tell you. But please just calm down. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”
Rayshell retraced a few steps but kept a firm grip on the pointy object in case she needed to swing.
“My name’s Kumiko.”
“K-Kumiko?” Rayshell repeated his name, feeling a bridged connection to the Celestine within her. “What did you do to Toby?”
“I took his body. He’s here still, though our minds are intertwined.” With a gentle sigh, Kumiko looked into her distant eyes in hopes that Navaryn would recognize him, as if his undying revere had the power to set her free.
“So,” Rayshell called as she began to glare, “was it you all along?”
“It was the both of us,” Kumiko confessed. “Tobias cares deeply for you. And while we are both protective of you, I’m here to find a way to free Navaryn.”
The distinctive name of the Celestine that stood before Rayshell filled her with skepticism. Having delved into enough of Navaryn’s memories to glean Kumiko’s reputation and character, the determination in his intentions felt laced with doubt.
“What about Von? Where is he?”
“The Daeva?” he uttered as he furrowed his brows. “Don’t be concerned with him. Just leave this to me.”
“Don’t be concerned? Look, he’s one of the only people that this Navaryn person trusts,” Rayshell fired back. “And he’s the only one who’s been upfront with me since this all started. I wanna talk to him.”
Kumiko shook his head. “There’s no time for that. Right now, I need you to cooperate.”
With an eyebrow arched toward the ceiling, Rayshell looked at him with rousing suspicion. “Cooperate?” she inflected. “You hijack my boyfriend’s body, you follow me around like a stalker, and now you expect me to just go along with whatever you say?!”
“I’m trying to help you!”
Suddenly, Rayshell dropped the abstract sculpture onto the table and then stormed over to the couch.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m out of here. I refuse to be a part of this anymore.” Rayshell slipped on her jacket and bounded for the door, but Kumiko stepped in and blocked her path before she could reach for the locks.
“I’m not letting you out of my sight. Not as long as you still carry Navaryn within you.”
The subtle shimmer of violet in Kumiko’s stern eyes set Rayshell’s heart ablaze. Her hands began to tremble as fury sparked her core, then swiftly, vibrant green energy encapsulated them.
“Get out of my way!” she shouted, shoving Kumiko into the door. “I don’t need your help!”
Kumiko fumbled to regain his stance. “Nav—R-Rayshell,” he stammered as she shook away the last of the tingly energy. “You need to calm down! You can trust me!”
“You lost my trust long ago, Kumiko. You should have never come here.”
The sound of Rayshell’s voice phasing between tones immediately beckoned Kumiko’s attention to a white flicker in her eyes. As a trickle of blood ran down her nose, she slowly approached him with fervent anger.
“I’ll tell you one last time, you cowering fool,” she uttered. “Leave me alone!”
Rayshell grabbed a handful of Kumiko’s shirt. Before she could hurl him away from the door, her feet gave out, and she collapsed to the floor in a fit of labored breaths and groans. Her body flared with a gamut of fiery emotions alongside a flood of visions of Navaryn’s would-be ally. Love, joy, but more intensely, frustration, pain, and fury revolved within her core.
Clutching her face within a cocoon of hair and tears, Rayshell struggled to gather her wits amidst a burning sensation that shot through her limbs. She glared at her clenched fists that jittered with the phantasm of a second set tearing away in both directions at her wrists. As she clamored in pain, Kumiko seized an opportunity to brace her unsteady body.
Clinging onto his arm, Rayshell cried, “What’s happening?!”
Before Kumiko could give a predictably palliative proclamation, he spotted a pair of lumps writhing beneath Rayshell’s heavy armored jacket. He gingerly helped remove it and found fresh blood seeping through her light blue work shirt.
The protrusions continued to split gruesomely through her delicate skin. “I can’t—I can’t breathe,” she uttered and dug her nails into his forearm.
Consumed by each one of Navaryn’s restless passions, Rayshell’s body severed from her mind just as a swift procession of silvery feathered wings ripped from her back. Kumiko held her tightly as she screamed, wishing that his touch could not only temper her pain but also liberate Navaryn from within her body. Through distending and blurry shifts, Rayshell’s body augmented and matured into Navaryn’s thick, sculpted form. Shaking violently, she tore away at the taut, splitting seams of the confining garments until only a few thin textile shreds remained. Kumiko looked at her in disbelief through Tobias’ wide eyes. The blazing aura surrounding her was unmistakable.
“Navaryn,” he whispered as he looked up to her, “are you … back?”
Standing in a daze, Navaryn cleared her long stringy hair from her eyes and surveyed the strange surroundings she found herself amidst. Instead of separating from the host that harbored her for months, she morphed within her. Slowly, she moved her muscular arms in front of her eyes and studied her body, which she had only experienced in her mind until now. She quickly looked toward Kumiko, still posed as Tobias, as he slowly rose to his feet.
“Where’s Von?” she sternly inquired.
“Nav, just wait a moment, okay? Let’s just get you—” called Kumiko before her furious approach cut him off.
Her long, blood-soaked wings knocked over the free-standing decorations within range as she bounded toward him. “You tell me where he is, right now!”
Riled by the repeated utterance of Von’s name, Kumiko belted, “Damn it, Nav. Will you just calm down and focus?! I’m here with you, and I’m trying to bring you home!”
Following his opportunistic declaration, Kumiko went on to delineate the risks associated with his seemingly selfless efforts in evoking Kaimaharaa.
Stopping him mid-sentence, Navaryn shouted, “Would you just shut up?! I’ve had enough of this. I need to find Von before it’s too late.”
“Too late? For what?”
“You won’t understand, and you’ll only get in my way,” Navaryn uttered, then locked her eyes on the living room window across the room. Without a second’s thought, she defenestrated herself, heedless of any witnesses.
Frantically, Kumiko yelled after her while she bolted down the street until she reached the momentum her wings needed to lift herself into the hazy sunset sky. He belted a slew of profanity and tossed every piece of furniture in his path. Navaryn’s frantic jaunt into the open had the potential to send the realm of Human into a superstitious uproar.
Beads of sweat dripped down his forehead, and his heart pounded relentlessly. Moments away from departing his host, Kumiko began breaking the plane barrier between Celestine and Human, a feat in Kaimaharaa that existed as a mere legend in his father’s books. Tobias crashed to his knees amidst a strange crushing gravity. Flickers of green opalescent lights danced over his skin, stinging like pinpricks. Clenching his jaw as the weight continued to suffocate him, Tobias watched with teary eyes as a shadowy vapor spewed off his skin. Underneath the haze, Kumiko’s physical body pulled away in an excruciating sensation. The haunting flickers of light bloated and shattered as Kumiko planted his feet. Tobias barely caught a glance of his bare, chiseled form before he collapsed to the floor, exhausted from the stress wreaked on both his mind and body.
Kumiko inspected his form with skeptical violet eyes, then quickly found his bearings as the magnitude of the unfolding incident clenched his nerves. “Fuck,” he hissed, but his modesty stopped him from dashing out the window.
After flipping through a brief chronology of Tobias’ memories like they were his own, Kumiko dashed into the kitchen and stumbled through the laundry room door. He mindlessly fished through the dryer for anything that would fit, settling on a pair of silver workout shorts and a purple and yellow sports team jersey. Haphazardly fitted, he leapt through the broken window glass and dashed down the street in the direction he remembered Navaryn ascending.
Kumiko’s bare feet tapped hard against the cold black pavement. He kept his eyes on the sky in the direction clusters of confused bystanders pointed, some of which had their phones in the air. With no way to avoid being immortalized in pictures and videos just the same, he unleashed his immaculate Celestine wings and took to the sky. Opting for the quickest way to bridge their gap, Kumiko focused on Navaryn’s position toward the setting sun on the horizon, then Paralleled to her side. The abrupt wispy green flash made her shriek, but her countenance only took seconds to sour back over.
“Navaryn, you’ve gotta listen to me!” Kumiko shouted through the wind rushing by his face. “You can’t be out here like this! Do you even know where you are?!”
“Get out of here, Kumiko! Just go back home. I’ll figure this out on my own.” She closed her eyes and ascended into a plume of low rolling clouds.
Kumiko then cast aside his cautious efforts and reached for Navaryn’s arm. With his hand tightly clutched around her wrist, he initiated a Parallel to get her to safety but was interrupted by Navaryn’s resistance to the rift. The pair sporadically reappeared at various parts of the sky as they grappled and fought against each others’ counter-transmissions. Unbeknownst to the combating Celestines, the eyes and cameras of the spectators below captured their bombastic sequence of Parafalls. When they found themselves hovering over bustling lines of traffic along the freeway below, Navaryn expertly maneuvered out of his grasp. While he relentlessly beckoned her for cessation as she outpaced him, she flashed away from the vicinity in a bright green misty haze.
The thick plume obscured Kumiko’s vision as his flight path sent him coasting through the remnants of the Parafall. He batted away at the tingly mist and ascended to survey the plane. To his grave disappointment, Navaryn was nowhere to be seen. After several failed attempts to sense her energy, he deduced that she still had the concealment pendant around her neck. In a jarring manner, the sound of crashing metal and blaring horns below pulled him out of his bout of heated frustration. Before he shouted another string of curses, he Paralleled out of view to formulate his plan to track down Navaryn.
After a father-daughter afternoon spent shopping, snacking, and holding hands, Trish hunkered down in her bedroom for some alone time with the intent to finish the last of her studies. Their light-hearted activities did well to help bridge the gap that her father’s heavy work schedule created over the last couple of years. She tried to avoid ruining her relaxed mind by speculating how long it would take until they shared another afternoon excursion.
Trish had only gotten as far as opening her textbook to the section she needed to review before hopping on her phone to catch up on one of her favorite games. In the typical fashion of becoming thoroughly immersed in gameplay, more than an hour had gone by before she realized the time. After flicking a few notifications up and out of the way of the screen, she committed to quitting the game at the next checkpoint. Less than a few minutes later, her screen flooded with more notifications than she could ignore. In a hurry to swipe them all away, she accidentally quit her game.
“Trish,” Greg called from the living room.
Determined not to sound like a testy child, she answered, “What is it?”
“You’re gonna want to see this. Come here.”
Before trying to log back in to see if her progress was saved or not, Trish tossed her phone to the foot of her bed and opened the door to her dark bedroom. She heard the crack of a beer can and the refrigerator door fall back in place as she meandered down the hall. While she rubbed her eyes to alleviate the sensitivity caused by the bright living room lights, Greg guided her toward the sofa.
“You’re not gonna believe what’s going on. My buddy John called me just a few minutes ago and said to check the news. He’s been stuck on the freeway behind some big wreck.”
“What happened?”
“Get this,” he excitedly said as he turned up the volume to the television. “He says that angels caused the accident.”
Trish’s heart stopped. “Angels?” she uttered nervously.
“Yeah! See for yourself,” he urged while pointing at the television.
A live news broadcast fed them jittery, indistinct recordings of two angelic figures shown in mid-flight above houses, parks, and the nearby freeway amidst the cooling sunset. The male figure wore an odd pairing of casual threads for the season, while the woman was nearly naked altogether, judging from the pesky, blurry censorship blocks. Trish didn’t realize how far her jaw hung until her father patted her shoulder.
“Pretty crazy, huh?”
Trish nodded with the same shocked expression.
“John said he saw them with his own two eyes. He waited too long to get his phone out for better shots, but sent them to me anyway.”
Trish strained to focus on the news broadcast while he showed her the photos on his phone.
“He said this shot is when the first one disappeared,” said Greg, swiping to a rather strange green blob of mist. “Poof! Right into thin air.”
The next photo was dark and blurry, but the undeniable features of Kumiko were visible.
“I don’t know about you, but this seems like the biggest ruse ever. Probably cooked up by some bored techies with nothing better to do. What do you think?”
“I-I,” Trish stammered when the studio cameras switched to a live feed of a father and son pair standing in front of their house.
Greg turned to the television as the reporter addressed the over-lit pair, pointing to the broken window behind them. After a hearty swig of his beer, he asked, “Wait a second, Isn’t that the boy you and Rayshell had lunch with earlier this week?”
Trish’s nerves were shot. The internal meltdown she experienced beneath her father’s nose had run its course, and the only thing on her mind was getting Lowenna to awaken so that she could help. The necklace Trish spotted in one of the photos was enough evidence for her to believe that somehow Navaryn overturned Rayshell’s presence and had come to the forefront. Suddenly, the same swelling vibration she experienced the day before had returned. Following a jitter in her right arm, Lowenna’s disembodied phantom hand reappeared.
Trish yipped and concealed her hand inside her sweatshirt to hide it from her father. “I, uh, have to go to the bathroom,” she fibbed, then walked toward the hall.
Greg turned to her with curious eyes and asked, “Is everything okay?”
“No. I mean, yeah. Yeah! Everything’s fine.”
Following her awkward, fishy smile, Trish turned around, bolted down the hall then locked herself inside the bathroom. With her back to the door, she closed her eyes and worked to calm her racing heart but struggled to catch her breath. The rickety ceiling fan in the center of the room sounded deafening. She put her shaky hands to her ears and closed her eyes.
“You’ll be fine. Just let her out,” she encouraged herself just before the fiery vibrations moved into her neck, chest, and face.
Trish groaned as she stumbled to the sink and opened her reluctant teary eyes to the toothpaste-speckled mirror. Her flushed, straining face paired beside Lowenna’s jumpy, distorted apparition tearing off to the side. Clutching the edge of the sink, she belted a delirious cackle, easily mistaken for a cry. The haunting reflection marked the first instance she had seen Lowenna’s beautiful face outside of a vision deep within her mind.
Greg stood at the other side of the bathroom door and listened to the strange commotion. “Trish?” he called, then knocked firmly with the knuckle of his index finger. “What’s going on in there? Are you okay?”
On the other side of the door, arcing light popped, hissed, and intensified the further Lowenna tore away. Trish marveled at the wondrous spectacle while enduring the excruciating pain that accompanied it. In studying the apparition’s puckered, wincing countenance, she assumed that Lowenna was experiencing the same awful sensations. A gentle stream of red trickled down both of Trish’s nostrils, and her father rapped harder at the door.
“Sweetheart, talk to me.”
Trish could not discern his words through her painful utterances and the unbearable grating sound in her ears. Her father backed away from the door to observe the odd light flashing through the cracks in the door.
“Trish, if you don’t answer, I’m coming in.”
Cord by cord, the pulling sensation deep within Trish’s core snapped, and the tall, lean body of Lowenna materialized into the room. Once her bare feet touched down onto the blue terry mat at the edge of the bathtub, a fury of silvery lights spurted from her chest. With heavy eyes, Trish watched Lowenna’s body dissolve within the arcing refulgence. Liberated from agony and her Celestine prisoner, a hot wash of relief coursed through her limbs. She inhaled peacefully with a gentle smile. Just as her father kicked open the bathroom door, her legs gave out from under her.
A fading trail of floating light caught Greg’s eye as he quickly surveyed the room, but he quickly dismissed it when he saw Trish lying on the bathroom floor. He immediately dropped to her side. “Trish,” he called as he scooped her into his arms. “Can you hear me?”
The gentle tapping against Trish’s cheeks coaxed her eyes open.
“What happened?” he asked after a tight hug.
Smiling lightly, Trish whispered indiscernibly, “Exactly what needed to … a Parallel.”
In a spastic and unrefined burst of white arcing light, Lowenna’s Parafall dropped her into a crowded outdoor marketplace in Celestine. She uncharacteristically made the classic mistake of opening her eyes before completing her transmission, just as Navaryn used to do. The vibrant late afternoon sun, coupled with the final potent flitters, left her momentarily purblind, but she still managed to land on her feet. Groaning as she furiously rubbed her sensitive eyes, Lowenna adjusted her barefooted stance and knocked into a neatly stacked tower of metal bowls. She nervously overcorrected her movements, then tripped backward over a trio of wicker baskets into a shallow shelf lined with jars of spices.
Wide-eyed passersby slowed to gawk at Lowenna as she took a moment to find her bearings. The light spots cleared from her vision, and she picked herself up from the mess. A cool breeze sailed between every nook of her naked flesh and sobered her senses. She quickly stood erect and shielded her body from the curious eyes in her wake. Thoroughly mortified, Lowenna snatched the very first tapestry within arm’s reach to cover herself with, then dashed down the bustling cobblestone street.
“Hey!” yelled the shop owner. “You thief! You’ll have to pay for that!”
Lowenna turned behind her and saw that the shop owner was giving chase. Rather than spend precious time explaining her situation to the infuriated vendor, she opted to flee, even if it dubbed her as a criminal. In her weakened state, Lowenna was unable to create enough distance from him, and began to panic. Mustering as much concentration as possible, she attempted to Parallel back to the realm of Human.
“Damn it!” she barked as the wispy green lights fizzled out, accepting she was far too enervated to execute it successfully.
Lowenna then opted for a second and simpler attempt to Parallel to Navaryn’s castle instead, where she remembered Von to be. Unfortunately, her limited energy only allowed her a modest forward boost. She heard the shop owner’s loud footfalls as he closed in behind her. The lackluster arcing white light cleared, and Lowenna shrieked as her rubbery legs worked to regain momentum. As she turned to survey the distance between her and the shop owner, a young man with a wooden handcart full of restock pulled into her path.
The unavoidable collision sent handcrafted silverware, earthenware, and hand-blown glasses to the ground as they sounded a disharmonious melody from the crash. Lowenna lost her grip on the thick, colorful tapestry and fell away from it as she rolled atop the cobblestone. After quickly picking himself up, the man dashed to her side.
“Are you okay?” he asked as he helped her to her feet, then wrapped her with the mangled tapestry after shaking it free of debris.
“Don’t you dare give my wares to that wench!” shouted the furious shop owner, nearly breathless as he arrived. “Just look at this thing! It’s ruined! You better have the money to pay for this, or I’ll hang you with it.”
Bewildered, the man turned to the shop owner and belted, “Excuse me?!”
“Step aside, you twit! And stay out of this,” he barked, then lunged for Lowenna.
“Absolutely not!” clamored the man as he thwarted the shop owner’s attempt to tear away the tapestry.
A growing crowd formed around the scuffle. Lowenna, still dizzy and disoriented, began to step backward, intending to sprint down the next alley.
“You oaf! Have you no idea who this woman is? You should feel honored she decided to settle for your shoddy textiles in the first place.”
After the utterance of his statement, Lowenna abandoned the idea of fleeing.
“She’s a wretch as far as I’m concerned.”
“This is no wretch!” fumed the man impassionedly. “This is one of Celestine’s most regarded elite. This is Lowenna!”
The shop owner’s bluish-brown eyes hardened under the gravity of his proclamation. “Impossible.”
“You know what,” he said while digging into the sack tied to his belt, “I don’t need to convince you of anything. I’ll buy this tapestry to get you out of my sight. Take it.”
The shop owner looked around at the crowd’s disapproving and judgemental eyes as he accepted the stack of coins. Without uttering another word, he hightailed back to his shop.
“You know, it took every ounce of my fortitude not to throw that coin down the street and make him fetch it like the dribbling mongrel he is.”
Lowenna chuckled as he looked her way.
“I’m Jayce, by the way,” he said, extending his hand with a warm smile.
“Lowenna,” she replied, forgetting he already knew who she was. “Where am I?”
“Eastern Celestine. In the small oceanside town of Zhayara.”
Lowenna recalled the quaint town as she looked at the setting sun. A small island sat just off the coast where she, Navaryn, and Kumiko used to crossover train with the rest of their clique when they were younger. Her teeth chattered as another chilly gust blew by.
“I’d love to offer you something more fitting to wear, but I have nothing,” said Jayce as he gestured to his covered stall. “Though I do have some tea and crackers if you’re interested. It’s not much, but I’m sure it will help replenish your strength.”
She exhaled and looked into his yellow-green eyes, then clutched his shoulder. “I think your kindness was all I needed. Thank you. I’ll return soon to repay you for the mess I caused. I guess running through here like a maniac wasn’t the best idea, was it?” They both shared a chuckle, then Lowenna worked to center herself. She visualized Navaryn’s castle and calibrated her position. “Goodbye, Jayce,” she said with a subtle wink.
As he bid her farewell, thick and vibrant arcing light leapt from her skin and collided in the air. The flittering channels either dissolved into shimmering flecks or absorbed back into her limbs. Jayce watched in awe at the intimate demonstration before him. Paralleling was a feat only the most skilled Celestine could accomplish, and never before had he seen it performed in such proximity.
Following a few dissonant jitters, the blinding white light stole Lowenna away. Jayce winced at the single electric crack that immediately followed her departure. He took a moment to replay his interactions with the Celestine elite before kneeling to clean up the mess of broken wares. For a moment, the marketplace was quieter than it was at dawn on a frosty winter’s day, when only the most dedicated vendors came to set up shop before the sun had a chance to thaw the city. Once the familiar bustling resumed, the curious bystanders either continued about their business or walked over to offer Jayce their assistance.
Lowenna reappeared at the rear of Navaryn’s castle, then darted toward the entrance to the charmed cave. Once inside, she dashed atop the new and years-old footprints made by her and her comrades and maneuvered through sharp stones and scattered bones that lined the path.
“Onyx!” she called as a large set of sparkly blue eyes greeted her. “I’m so happy to see you!”
Navaryn’s dragon galumphed gleefully in her direction, snorting cinders and short bursts of flames. Though it had only been a half-year since she had seen him, she swore that he had since tripled in size.
“Soon, we’re gonna need to find you a bigger cave, huh, handsome?” she said as she patted his scaly head. “I’ll be back to catch up soon.”
Lowenna kissed her scaly friend goodbye, then dashed further into the cave toward Navaryn’s safe room. Halfway through the corridor, the ground transitioned from moist jagged rocks to finished stone. She quickened her pace, keeping a firm grip on the tattered tapestry.
“Von?!” she shouted in a stumble.
As Lowenna entered the dark and quiet safe room, her heart hit the floor. The fireplace she had expected to find ablaze had extinguished, and no one was present. She backtracked her steps, lit one of the wall torches down the hall, and then used it to inspect the room. Aside from a nearly empty wine rack, most everything appeared to be in place. Off in the far corner of the room beneath the failing glow of the concealment charms, a dark spot on the floor caught her eye. Upon a closer inspection, she discovered it to be a bloodstained rag. Curiously, she brought it to her nose for a whiff and detected a faint yet familiar musky odor. Puzzled that this was the only thing out of place, Lowenna continued her search in the unlikely event Von was meandering the property. She sighed, unprepared to ascend the several flights of stairs that led to the castle’s back kitchen.
Following a break for some water, Lowenna wiped her sweaty brow and glanced over the familiar items inside the dim and quiet room. A sense of nostalgia and the profound pull of homesickness found her. The only foreseeable remedy was for everyone to return to their rightful places.
After an uneventful search of Navaryn’s estate, Lowenna cut into the orchards for some fruit and crossed the barrier to initiate her next Parallel. It took a few frustrating attempts, but she managed to transmit herself to her property with the last of her strength. Her shaky legs buckled under her body weight, and she collapsed atop the dewy grass. As she picked herself up, she was met with a gentle breeze that carried the scent of a familiar bouquet of her garden blooms and the nearby forest. Though she could hardly believe it, she was finally home.
Lowenna peeked around the bend to her vegetable garden, expecting to see whatever was in view to be either bolted, dead, overgrown, or in desperate need of pruning. There was just enough sunlight left in the sky for her to make out a sector of raised beds, all of which looked freshly turned. Curious, she walked over for a closer look. From pot to bed and inground plot, everything was immaculate and in its place for the season.
With teary eyes, Lowenna ran her fingers over the span of sugar peas growing in the space before the turned beds. Overwhelmed by the kindness she assumed came from her former caretaker, Demelza, she began to sob tears of gratitude. Careful not to let herself get distracted for long, she quickly picked a variety of tender offerings and then made her way inside for a quick shower and a proper fit.
After what Lowenna considered to be the best lather of her life, she quickly rinsed, wrapped herself in her white terry robe, then grabbed a matching towel hanging just outside the glass door. A good shower never failed to rejuvenate her. Smiling, she vigorously dried her sopping wavy locks and stepped out of the spacious, steamy shower. Intending to dress quickly, she wrapped her hair in the towel and left the bathroom. Upon rounding the corner to her closet, she interrupted the timid gait of both Demelza and Aalrija. The trio stood frozen in each others’ tracks with mouths agape.
“Lowenna?!” cried Demelza. “It really is you! See? I told you I wasn’t imagining things.”
Aalrija squinted her yellow-green eyes and replied, “I never said you were wrong. I just said you might not be right.”
“I’d recognize Lowenna’s energy signal far beyond my last breath!”
Lowenna watched the two older women bicker with a grin even though she wasn’t ready for their company. She deduced that her energy suppression lacked the proper intensity on account of her weakened state. Nevertheless, tears welled behind her eyes, and she walked to the both of them for a firm embrace.
“Seeing the both of you makes this even more real,” Lowenna whispered.
The women ceased their petty squabble and returned her gesture. “Have you had a look around?” asked Demelza.
“I have. You’ve taken such great care of everything while I’ve been gone. My garden. It’s like I never left.”
While Lowenna and Demelza shared another warm embrace, Aalrija chimed, “My dear, I hate to spoil things by asking, but did Navaryn return with you?”
Lowenna knew to keep her answer simple. She gave her damp blonde locks another pass with the towel and answered, “I’m afraid not.”
Aalrija then asked, “Have you told anyone else you’re back?”
The women followed behind Lowenna as she walked into her closet for some suitable attire. She shook her head and answered, “No. But if the two of you were able to sense me in my condition, it won’t be a secret for long,” she replied, thinking on her feet.
“We can’t know that for certain,” claimed Demelza. “We should inform Benson. Now. He’s going to want to know this.”
Aalrija rested against the corner of the wall and sighed at Demelza’s predictable reaction. To ensure a few private moments with Lowenna, she cooked up a believable excuse. “I’ll need a moment if you want me to go. Paralleling is taking a lot out of me these days.”
Demelza rolled her crystal blue eyes and laughed. “I never thought I’d see the day when you’d admit you’re getting old.”
“That is not what I—ugh. Fine. Take it as you will.”
“And so I shall,” concluded Demelza with a smirk, then turned to Lowenna as she walked out of her closet. “I’m so happy you’re back safe and sound, my child. For now, try not to worry too hard about Navaryn, okay?”
“Thank you, Demelza. I’ve missed you.”
“I’ve missed you more.”
Demelza placed her silky ebon hands upon Lowenna’s shoulders, then gave both of her cheeks a kiss before promptly leaving the room. Aalrija looked to Lowenna with a telling expression, confirming her earlier fib. To ensure Demelza was no longer in earshot of their conversation, they waited in silence until they heard her Parallel snap out past the garden.
“Look at us. Resorting to lying.”
“I know. As if I’m not exhausted enough as it is.” Lowenna tossed the outfit she held in her hands onto the bed. “How much does she know?” she asked, then dug out a matching underwear set from the bottom drawer of her nightstand.
While Lowenna dressed, Aalrija walked to the foot of her bed and replied, “Nothing. I’m sure you’re not surprised.”
“I’m not. I’m sure if she saw what Kumiko was doing right now, she and the rest of the Tiers would be losing their minds.”
“You saw him?!”
Lowenna nodded. “Right before I broke free. Leave it to him to ruin everything by intruding.”
Aalrija fiddled with the golden trim at the edge of her long sleeves as she nervously revealed, “Actually, he and Von have kind of, teamed up.”
Unable to fathom the alliance, Lowenna froze with her lightly armored undershirt in her hands.
“But there’s something else even more unprecedented. Benson. Aside from knowing both you and Fallon are in on the plan, he’s up to speed on everything. But the most concerning part of this is he’s done nothing. He didn’t react about Von, and as far as I can tell, he hasn’t said a word to the other Tiers.”
“I don’t believe for a second he’s sitting idly by. He’s plotting something.” Lowenna sat beside her with her diadem in hand, then continued, “I need to get to Von. Where is he?”
“He left once I told him about Benson. He didn’t say where he was going, but I assume he’s somewhere in Daeva with Claymar.”
Lowenna dropped her diadem to the ground and looked at Aalrija with bulging eyes. “Claymar?!”
“Yes. Von found him. He rescued him. Well, with Kumiko’s help.”
Lowenna’s eyes brimmed with joyous tears. “Oh, thank Hirunae,” she cried, then hugged Aalrija tightly.
The unexpected gesture startled Aalrija since she was more accustomed to Lowenna’s reserved nature. She continued to embrace her until her quaking breaths finally calmed.
“I’ve got to find them,” she said, then wiped away her tears and scooped her diadem off the floor. “I’ll be back soon, hopefully with Navaryn this time.”
“Wait a moment. You can’t be serious. Not only are you in no condition to assist them, but Benson will want to see you.”
“Screw Benson! I’m done with the formalities, and I don’t care if he finds out I’m involved in this. Plus, I’d just be wasting my time sticking around here.”
“Just settle down and let the others handle this.”
Frustrated that Aalrija presumed her obedience, Lowenna paused to deduce the situation. Judging from her lack of urgency, she gathered that Aalrija wasn’t privy to the present ongoings in the realm of Human, nor that she carried zero influence on Kumiko’s actions. Furthermore, his reckless behavior also suggested the possibility of ulterior motives outside his truce with Von, despite their shared common goal.
While Lowenna stood conflicted in thought, Aalrija took her by her shoulders and pleaded for her cooperation, “Please understand I aim to spare you from the repercussions that will follow your involvement. Celestine needs you. And we can’t lose you again.”