The Persistence of Memories - A Novel of the Mendaihu Universe (33 page)

“Spiritual things,” he said finally, and
lifted his eyes to his parents.

Daniel froze for a brief moment, then resumed
fidgeting with the pen in his hand. His eyes wavered, unsure where
to look, until he finally turned to face Angela. They stared at
each other for another moment before facing him again, measuring
their own words as well. “Mendaihu,” he said. “Or in your case,
cho-nyhndah.”

He shuddered. “You knew?”

“Only your mother and I,” he said. “And I'm
assuming you told David earlier.”

“What's ch-chuninndah?” Aileen, the younger
child, asked in that semi-distracted, unfiltered five-year-old way
as she poked at the hem of her dress.

“Means he's double strong,” Will
stage-whispered to his sister.

That answer seemed to appease her, as she now
beamed at her uncle with a newfound awe and respect. Relieved and
saddened at the same time, he flashed a smile at his niece. “He's
right, in a way,” he told her.

“That mean you can get that Sheesh guy?”

Sheesh-guy...?
It took him a moment to
realize what he'd said, and it hit him like a kick to the stomach
when it did. She was referring to Saisshalé. How had she heard
about him? She was only five years old, far too young to know about
the evil that the man could do. “I can sure try, Aileen,” he said
with the lightest voice he could muster. “I can't promise anything,
but I will try.”

“Good,” she smiled, and turned back to
playing with the ruffles of the armrest doily.

He looked to his right. David was quivering,
and so was Gina.

“Let's continue this in the kitchen,” Daniel
said, abruptly getting to his feet. “Father and son talk, okay?” He
coughed a little too loudly as he left the room.

“Sure thing, Dad,” he nodded. He turned again
to David, gripped him on the shoulder, and nodded. “It's all good,”
he said to him. “Strength, David. Remember that.”

“Strength,” David repeated, barely getting
the word out.

Alec moved across the room and sat next to
his mother. “Thanks, Mom,” he said, and kissed her. “For
everything.”

Angela grabbed at his hands, holding them
tightly. She held them in both hands and pulled them up to her
tear-stained cheek. “Strength, Alix,” she whispered. “You certainly
have it.”

“So do you,” he whispered, covering his own
hands with hers. He did not make the gesture in a plea for trust;
this time he grasped her hands as a pure gesture of Peace, Love and
Light, and a plea for her to remember how it felt. He exhaled as he
felt a tiny drain of energy leave his fingertips, spreading almost
unnoticed into her hands. She was completely unaware of what he was
doing, and for now he wanted it to stay that way. She would
remember this sensing, this little bit of energy when she most
needed it.

He followed his father into the kitchen.
Daniel had taken a seat at the small dining table, and gestured at
the opposite one. He looked a bit concerned but otherwise
completely calm, wearing the same laid-back expression he'd showed
in every situation all his life. His shoulders drooped slightly and
he looked thinner, now that he had taken a good look at him. A knot
found its way into Alec’s stomach and he fought to chase it away.
He shuddered, knowing it would have eventually come to this, where
he'd have to explain to his father what he had to do back in
Bridgetown. It was obvious that neither Dave nor his parents were
eager to see him go. They knew what he was about to face. They'd
expected him to be a part of this Embodiment...and not just a small
part, either. As if they'd known this his entire life.

As if his birth parents had told Daniel and
Angela Poe what they were getting into, adopting little Alix
Eiyashné. Daniel told him now.

A little kid, finally described to him as
being of Meraladian origin with a Mendaihu father and a Shenaihu
mother, in desperate need of a non-spiritual family. For
protection, they'd been told. Protection from whom? They never
fully explained. The Poes were lifelong members of academia,
dabbling in spirituality, learning from it and appreciating it, but
never taking it all that seriously. They may not have been
practitioners or followers, but they respected the beliefs and
understood their importance and what they meant. They'd make sure
Alec would receive a great education and make something of his
life, far away from the spiritual warfare that would eventually
arise when he was grown.

Alec Poe was indeed cho-nyhndah, and Daniel
and Angela had known all this time, keeping it to themselves. He
was something more, something stronger than a cho-nyhndah, yet they
had never found out what that was. Daniel explained to him that his
mood swings were an affectation brought on by spiritual agitation.
It wasn't one spirit pressing at another, though. There was
something within that was so immense, threatening to get out, and
when provoked it would push harder and harder until he reacted
physically. Again, Daniel had no explanation for it, as he had
none.

When his father stopped talking, he saw no
reason to add to it other than to thank him for this information.
Then he explained why he had to get back to Bridgetown as soon as
possible. He told him everything that had happened back in
September, starting with Nehalé Usarai's Awakening ritual. He told
him about the effect it had on everyone, especially those closest
to the Mirades Tower. With some detailed explanation, he told him
about the hrrah-sehdhyn attacks and the true reason behind them,
and how he and Christine had used the Benjamin Key to keep the Rain
of Light from obliterating the city. He described what had happened
at the warehouse before and after the Cleansing ritual, and the
failed attempt at the Ascension.

It was then that he explained to his father
who the One of All Sacred was, and how he was destined to be a
Protector of the One. How he had
always
been a Protector of
the One, one way or another. How he had promised Denni that he'd
always be there for her as a friend first and Protector second. He
was not about to become a fanatic. First and foremost, he was Alec
Poe, partner to Caren Johnson and big brother to Denni Johnson. He
would keep their relationship as it had always been.

And when
he
had stopped talking, he
finally looked up and faced his adoptive father, looking him in the
eyes. Daniel was crying openly, sobbing and wiping tears from
behind his glasses. He was smiling and wringing his hands at the
same time. Without having to send out a sensing thread, he could
feel the emotional energies swirling madly within. It was relief,
it was fear, it was awe, pride, happiness…love. Most of all, it was
love.

“Peace, Love and Light to you, Alec Poe,” he
said finally. “And to
you
, Alix Eiyashné.” He reached out
and took Poe's hands in his own, grasping them as tightly as
possible. “I am so damned proud of you right now. May your strength
never waver, my son. We believe in you.”

Alix bowed his head deep, until his forehead
touched his father's hands.

“Peace, Love and Light, father,” he said, his
own voice wavering. “Thank you.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Vigil

Matthew Davison pulled his head up and
blinked himself back into consciousness. He stared at the monitor
in front of him for a few seconds, trying to remember what it was
he was working on, but it was slow in coming. How long had he been
up for, anyway? He glanced at another monitor’s timestamp…two in
the morning. What the hell day was it…? Thursday? He’d been up and
running for the last thirty-seven hours working in this damn cage
when he wasn’t contacting the other core members of Vigil for one
thing or another. He could have easily handed this work off to Jenn
or Colin, but he couldn’t will himself to do so just yet. There
were too many important things still left undone.

Goddess…what was he doing? He pulled off his
glasses and rubbed at his dry and burning eyes, frustrated and
angry with not just himself but with his lack of progress. The
weeks following the One’s failed Ascension had been chaotic, much
more so than the ARU agents or even the Governor was led to
believe. He wasn’t quite sure about those two Mendaihu agents
hanging around with Poe and Johnson, but they were the least of his
worries at the moment. Thankfully there had not been any further
uprisings or incidents of the magnitude of the hrrah-sehdhyn or the
Rain of Light, and there had been no assaults leading to
fatalities. But in their place, he’d witnessed the uptick of
awakened Bridgetowners attempting to take matters into their own
hands, and that shouldn’t be happening. He obviously couldn’t stop
each and everyone one of them, but he could at least keep the
larger events from getting out of hand. With a little help from
Shirai and Governor Rieflin, he was able to keep things relatively
under control.

What he hadn’t counted on was Saisshalé.

The vengeance deity had been awakened by the
Dahné Natianos Lehanna himself. How and where didn’t matter, and
chances were high that he’d been brought forth around the same time
as the One’s Ascension. He’d expected the Dahné to do something
like this to keep the balance in his own way…with the One of All
Sacred in her current form, it stood to reason that the Shenaihu
nuhm’ndah had to bring their own deity forward. But why Saisshalé?
Why not one of the others, one less violent and chaotic? What was
the Dahné up to?

Balance. Opposites. Equal response.

No, something more.

Matthew was at a loss. All his energy had
been focused on trying to keep tabs on this deity, but nearly all
his work was proving fruitless. He’d been following his actions the
best he could, which varied wildly and unexpectedly; there were
days Saisshalé would do little more than harass the newly awakened,
only to be followed by dangerous attacks on those who took him on.
Saisshalé was a reactive deity — true to his word, he would exact
the same amount of damage he’d witnessed elsewhere.

“Goddess…” he grumbled, and pulled himself
out of his work cage. He was getting nowhere, and he desperately
needed sleep. Somebody on the team would be coming in to cover him
eventually…Jenn? Colin? Hell if he knew at this point. He’d stopped
thinking straight a good few hours ago.

Go get some rest,
he heard within.
Jenn, from the back bedroom.
I’ll take an early shift.

Thanks,
he responded with relief. He
curled himself out of a slouch and stretched the kinks out of his
back and neck, and left the room without looking back. Jenn would
be in soon enough, and any emergencies would set off an alarm. He
trusted his team and his systems enough to chance them being
unmonitored for a little while. And to be honest…he need to extract
himself from the action for the time being. He was getting too
close again.

Scuffling out of the main apartment, he
closed and locked the door, and made his way down the long hallway
towards his own personal quarters. For a brief and random moment,
he thought of the mansion out on Sachers Island. He’d need to move
operations out that way soon enough. He had to time it just right,
though. Couldn’t back away from the action too soon, or he’d be
disconnected, and he couldn’t have that. There was…he…

He’d have to…?

Where was he going with this?

“Goddess, stop thinking so damn much,” he
grumbled to himself, rubbing at his eyes again.

You’re almost there.

The unexpected voice made him twitch.
Who
the hell are you?
he growled, continuing down the hallway. He’d
be damned if someone was going to mess with his head before he
could get to his own quarters.

The response was a quick laugh.
You know
me as Dolan, edha Davison. I’m sure you’ve met me before.

“Dolan…?” he mumbled aloud, grabbing the
keycard from his back pocket as he approached his apartment door.
The name and voice sounded familiar. Perhaps one of his visits up
to Trisanda? Yes, that had to be it. Dolan Usara…that was his name.
Emha Eprysia’s assistant. Always off to the side, listening and
watching, never taking part in the conversation.

Somfei, edha Usara,
he said, yawning
aloud as he entered his quarters.
You’ve caught me at a bad
time, actually. I’m dead fucking tired and too damned annoyed to be
of any use right now. Can it wait?

“I’m afraid it can’t,” Dolan said aloud from
behind him. He dropped a heavy hand on Matthew’s shoulder and
pushed
. Matthew barked out in surprise as he sailed into his
den, tripped over the rug, and went sprawling into Light…

…and never landed. Matthew wriggled and
panicked as he suddenly found himself in a dark enclosed room in
zero gravity. His stomach lurched and his head spun in an attempt
to find which way was up. The air was stale and cold, much colder
than it should have been, and it stung at his throat and lungs with
each breath.
Calm. Calm. Come on, Matt. Calm down. Center
yourself. Hra khera, hra mehra.
He slowed his breath and
untensed his arms and legs, letting them float freely. He was
alive, he was here. Wherever here was. He saw shadows and shapes
but little else.
Where the hells am I?
His feet slowly found
purchase on the floor, which triggered the lights to flicker on. He
felt a slight grind and spin, followed by microgravity pulling him
down to the floor, much to his relief. He was on a satellite
somewhere. A station that hadn’t been visited or maintained for a
long time. He was standing at one end of a small rectangular room.
Monitors and keypads lined the side walls, with stationary chairs
every few feet or so; it looked like his own cage setup at home,
only elongated and unwrapped. The far wall was empty — no, it was
laid out in white rectangular squares. An old vidmat wall? He
hadn’t seen one of those in at least a decade.