Between Darkness and Light Trilogy (35 page)

“But hasn't that line's blood diffused as
well?”

“Not much, for you see they don't procreate
often. It takes a very special mate indeed to join successfully
with one of you. In a way, I'm surprised Novanus ever managed to
have a child, his son was thought to be quite the miracle.
Apparently he worked very hard to find a woman who could properly
take to his seed, and legend says the mother soon died, and Coronus
was transferred to an artificial womb. The difficulty of the
'birth' was believed to be the reason the two became so close; he
likely knew that he would never manage another.”

Once again my heart fills with regret for
Novanus – was it that experience that made him the bastard he is
today? “And Nebulaea has borne no more sons?”

“I do not believe so, although that isn't to
say that a daughter couldn't take on male form.”

“What? Are you saying my ancestors can
change forms?”

“Of course - how do you think Nebulaea
herself took human form? The skill isn't confined to that line, of
course, though for my line it is far more difficult to learn.

“You mean, everyone here can change their
forms just like the Chaosians?”

“No, very few can – it is against the nature
of our realm, after all. Only those of us who have worked very hard
to master the skill are capable of it.”

“And you?”

He pauses in contemplation, then smiles
dangerously. “I am a spy, Shi'ahn.”

“Ah yes, I suppose that skill would be
invaluable to you.” He merely smiles and nods. I continue, smiling
playfully “So, spy, I'm Nebulaean because I'm pale?”

He matches my smile, “Well, you're also
extremely dense.”

An insult? “Excuse me?”

He laughs, “Not mentally – physically.
Trapped within you, within your cells and within the dimensions of
which you are composed, is a tremendous amount of matter and
energy. Enough, I believe, for you take on celestial form if you
should learn to harness them.”

Suddenly this is no longer enjoyable. “All
right, now you are taking advantage of my inexperience, perhaps you
should return to your investigations.”

He looks unpleasantly surprised, “No,
Shi'ahn, I'm quite serious. Here, let me show you.” He seems to
concentrate for a moment, and a large device appears in the middle
of the room, looking somewhat like a dark mirror with a dial on one
side. A knock on the door surprises me, and he tells the visitor to
enter. “I have asked one of the Bodhicitta, a priest, to join us,
so that I may demonstrate. Mikail, please step behind the scanner.
The man complies without question, and I see the scanner is similar
to a technologist's x-ray machine, and yet quite different. “This
is his physical makeup, as you can see, his vital organs appear as
light shadows, his bones somewhat darker.” He twists a dial and the
priest appears as slight swirls of light. “This is a visualization
of the dimensions within him. Thank you, Mikail, you may go now.”
As Mikail walks toward the door, I
listen
to him, trying to
discern through Harmony what the scanner just showed me. As soon as
the door closes, Lucian explains, “The priests, due to the nature
of their duties, are among the most powerful of the city's
populace, and so the results of his scans were more pronounced than
those of an average citizen.” Then he twists the knob back to its
original position and steps behind the scanner himself. His image
is far, far darker than the priest's. The knob twists, and bright
swirls of color replace his body image, there is obviously far more
power within him than the priest possessed, which is entirely
logical. I
listen
to him, and search for the differences; he
is obviously more vibrant than the priest, and the most prevalent
color is the exact violet of the Spire. He steps out and gestures
toward the scanner, “If you would?”

I step behind it and he holds up a mirror so
that I may see my image. No internal details are discernible. “I'm
black!”

“No, you're dense, even more so than Aurora,
who, by the way, can take celestial form. And now…” He twists the
dial and I become a pillar of nearly blinding light.

“What?”

“Wait.” He twists the dial further, and I
appear brilliant red. He continues moving the dial, and my image
turns many colors, one for each click of the dial. On the last,
violet, my image is far weaker. I
listen
to both the image
and myself throughout, and think I can discern the
harmonies
of each scan, though I do not know what they represent. They are
much
louder
in me than in others, which I had always
believed was because it's me and not someone else – I hadn't ever
though it was because these things are stronger in me than in
others of Lumina. I'm still not sure I believe it.

I step quickly out, “What does it mean?”

He gestures, and the scanner disappears.
“I'm not entirely sure, aside from the obvious fact that, as shown
in the last image, you have not yet ascended The Path.”

“Is William like this?”

He shakes his head, “Similar, yes, but not
to this extent. Even Aurora is not so excessively filled with
latent power as you are.”

“So, everyone knows this about William and
I?”

He stifles a laugh, “No. This technology is
not currently in favor. The Emperor isn't fond of anything implies
that others may be superior to him, in any way.”

“Then how do you know about this
device?”

He smiles playfully, “I'm a spy – remember?
I'm not the only one who knows of it, of course. All the previously
known Nebulaeans predate Emperor Augustus, and so remember the use
of many devices now nearly forgotten. A few of those who appeared
at your first family dinner may know of your potential, but they do
not tend to interact with the Emperor. No, only the Nebulaeans, the
Cailliach, some of the ancients and I, of course, know of your…
unusual nature. I highly recommend you keep it that way.

“Will you not have to report it to the
Emperor?”

“If he happens to word his demand for
information in such a way that I cannot withhold any information,
then yes. However I have become quite adept at directing our
conversations so as to avoid subjects that I do not wish to
discuss. I do not plan to mention this tidbit of information, it
does not directly affect the current investigation, and I am
certain it would only make him dislike you even further.” His voice
turns contemplative, “I do wonder, though, perhaps this is why
Novanus hates you so – for most of his extensive existence, only
Aurora and the Cailliach have outshone him in these respects; he
may merely be jealous.” Suddenly he returns to our previous topic,
“Tell me, Shi'ahn, do you have any reason for believing that it was
your father who is your Lumina ancestor?”

“Not directly. It's just that… I remember my
mother quite well, and I've found no records of anyone here who
resembles her in the slightest.”

“She could have been in an altered
form.”

“True, I suppose, but there was a feel about
her – she did not seem like anyone here.”

“Shi'ahn, would you be willing to share your
memories of her with me? I would be able to discern whether or not
she was someone I had met before.”

He has been quite nice lately; I guess it
couldn't hurt. Besides, he is a spy, maybe he can help me find her?
I let one of my favorite memories of her fill my mind, her creamy
skin, light and yet still slightly darker than mine, hair so black
it seemed almost blue, falling in curls down to her knees. Her
indigo eyes seemed as though they were fashioned for the nearly
exclusive purpose of expressing love, and her voice: glorious
perfection. Her soul tender and caring, the ultimate expression of
loving beauty. I reach out for Lucian and he takes my hand, then
inhales quick and deeply.

“Exquisite; I can see how she could
captivate any man, in any form.”

“Do you recognize her? Could she be my
Lumina parent?”

“No, I do not. Yet it is hard to believe
that she is not of Lumina – she, at least in your memory, has a
special feel to her. She appears to be a being far superior to
most, even to the more powerful Chaosians. Perhaps your Mother was
a thus far unknown Nebulaean?” He looks down into my confused
expression, then continues, “Nebulaea has kept to herself for a
very long time now, and so no one really knows if she has had more
children. There are, of course, Solaria and Cassiopeia, but nothing
has been heard of them for a very, very long time. I personally
suspect that they are no longer among us, although they are not
among those in stasis either. To the best of my knowledge, neither
of them ever bore children. I do suspect, though, that you should
no longer concern yourself with searching for a father that may
well not have survived long, and concentrate on searching for
unknown Nebulaean daughters, for I cannot fathom the woman who
could have carried a child such as yourself, unless she was one of
us.”

It isn't fair – if anyone could help me in
this it would be Lucian, and he clearly is little closer to
discovering my origins. I had so hoped.

Lucian looks kindly down at me, “Come,
Shi'ahn, I think you could do with a walk before I must leave you
again.”

“Don’t you have to be getting back to your…
work? You have already been here quite a while.” I hope my words
disguise just how much I want him to stay. He smiles,

“Shi'ahn, the enlightened are masters of the
dimensions; I have only been here moments as far as everyone else
is concerned. Care for a nice stroll in the gardens?”

“I would love to… but Lucian, wouldn’t that
go against your father’s wishes?”

“He has not specifically forbidden it.” His
expression turns troubled. “Shi'ahn, please understand, I would
never willingly do anything to cause you pain… but my father does
not like you, and I must obey his orders. It was his orders I was
forced to follow during Lydia's investigation, he wished you
harmed, not me. He hates you, and I do not understand why.”

“Then let us forget about him for now… I’d
like to tour whatever you wish to show me.”

The relief in his smile is substantial… even
unprecedented, but I don’t care to delve into it now, I want to
walk in the seeming outdoors again! I don’t bother putting on shoes
before we leave – nature should be experienced completely, not
confined by foot coverings. I take his outstretched arm and without
pause we appear in a beautiful garden.

“Lucian, there is something else I don’t
understand… this place is so amazingly beautiful… why don’t more
people visit here?”

“This is a family garden, Shi'ahn, and our
family is not particularly interested in surrounding themselves
with beauty. Not those who have been… engineered by our father,
that is. We have jobs that we are assigned, and we fulfill them.
During our spare time we tend to indulge more pressing needs than
the enjoyment of natural beauty.”

“Then why are we here – why are you using
your precious free time here with me?”

His expression is sad, yet earnest. “Because
you intrigue me, and the rare ambiguity of my father's orders
permit it. I suspect I will be under more direct orders when next
we meet.”

There is such regret in his voice, I reach
out again for his arm and walk through the garden with him,
enjoying the moment as much as I can.

We seem to wander randomly, guided more by
my interests than anything else, and so end up in the forest,
eventually coming upon a circle of nine great blue stones that
sing
a most welcoming
song
.

“Lucian, what is this place? It seems…
familiar.”

“You must be mistaken – this is our most
holy place; the Circle of the Nine Seraphim.”

I walk up to the stones, caressing the
nearest one, “What are Seraphim?”

His voice seems surprised, “They are the
great beings, those who exist to serve the Bodhisattva.”

“And the Bodhisattva is?”

Still touching the stone, I circle around
it, waiting for Lucian' reply, but it does not come. I look away
from the stone toward Lucian, but he is not there – nothing outside
the circle is there. Inside, however… it is as though an entire
world exists here. I still touch one stone, but the next nearest is
impossibly far away. I hear great wonders, and see a forest that
outstrips the beauty of all other sights I have seen in my life. I
want to run through this place, to surround myself with the amazing
feel of it, I begin spinning around, reveling in the beautiful
harmonies
; the air sparkles around me.

“It's not time for that, Shi'ahn, though I
am glad to see that this place pleases you so.”

“Cailli! Why are you here? I was just
looking around, I wasn't going to mess with anything.”

She laughs lightly, “Of course not, but your
escort is worried - he did not anticipate this. Come.” She leads me
back to Lucian. “No harm done, here she is, safe and sound.”
Without waiting for a reply, Cailli disappears in her
characteristic burst of sparkling crystal light.

Lucian sounds exasperated, but not angry,
“What were you doing?”

“I was just curious, the stones were
singing
. I wanted to listen more carefully. It's wondrous in
there, so beautiful – I doubt there is a more beautiful place in
all of creation!”

“I wouldn't know - we do not enter the
sacred circle.”

“Oh, I'm sorry - I didn't realize!”

“No, I suppose you couldn't have.” He looks
troubled. “Come, Shi'ahn, I think it is time for you to return to
your rooms - I have work to continue.”

~~~

Lucian does indeed have work to continue,
for interrogations do not have to occur in person, nor while the
subject is conscious.

Chapter
19

Dream Interrogation

I’m swimming in a river of memories. Feeling
somehow guided by… I can’t really tell… I search for the perfect
place to dive deeper. Parents, the beginning, always a good place
to start.