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Paranormal fantasy set in 1930s. Elements of Reincarnation, Soulmates, Mythology & Nazis |
| Earth Date: 26th of February 1348 CE Location: The Window Room, Soul Sphere Zarad had been certain that he would be bored and lovesick from this assignment, but since entering the Soul Sphere, he’d had a euphoric feeling that never left him. He loved and missed Aloli, but it did not haunt him as it did in the Spirit Realm. Thinking back, Zarad also noticed an unusual thing about himself since accepting the halo from Freya—he now felt time in a very human way. He sensed the seconds, the minutes, and the days pass one by one. Perhaps the transformation into this angelic form was more material than ethereal… more human than spirit. As he floated through one of the empty passages, he yearned for conversation. There was no one to talk to… well, except for his halo. The halo acted like a guide, explaining things as he explored. Unfortunately, it only communicated on its terms. Even when it did speak to him, it was always instructional—not a true companion. The halo sent him through many rooms in the Soul Sphere to perform tasks. Some things he understood; others seemed to be a complete waste of time. The halo would seldom elaborate on their overall purpose. At this time, the halo sent him to his favorite room, the Window Room. From here, he could witness the progression of souls as they fulfilled their karmic contracts—living and dying through countless Cycles. In the center was a circular hallway that spiraled up through countless levels into a seemingly endless tunnel. The “windows” lined the walls of the hallways. Each one was a portal that peeked into the lives of incarnate spirits… every incarnate spirit in the entire universe. A constant hum reverberated, emanating from the windows. There were other wonders in the Soul Sphere, but the Window Room made Zarad feel less lonely. Not all of the lives were from Earth; some were nonhuman lives on alien worlds. These alien lives were radically different from those on Earth, and he did not always understand what he was seeing. Most of the time, he devoted his time to watching the human lives. Not only were they easier to follow, but there was the chance he might find Aloli’s current life. Zarad levitated, following the spiraling window walls up the tunnel. Each window had a liquid-like membrane on its surface that rippled with waves as the images of each life scene unfolded beyond it. Next to each window was a socket with a clear, elongated crystal embedded into it. The halo had told him that the crystals kept the portal a one-way view of the world on the other side—he could see the world and its inhabitants, but they could not see him. One of the crystal keys caught his attention. It was pulsating with a purple light. He went over to investigate. The portal showed an alien world. It was a rocky environment with small fissures erupting a plasma-like gas into the air. Swirls of energy traversed the sky, splashing against each other and spraying down on the landscape. The subject of this life window stood in the center of the chaos. It had a humanoid form with four limbs and a head but no discernable facial features. The creature was at least twice as tall as a human. Its skin was rough and a deep black, with barnacle-like silver growths all over its black body. It reminded Zarad of a mythical creature of legend. A golem, maybe? Despite the strangeness of this world, the golem seemed out of place to him—like it didn’t really belong there. The creature dug its hands into the ground and flung pieces into the air, which unleashed more of the gaseous energy. The golem then flailed its arms around, as if orchestrating the movement of the erupting gas in the sky. The energy rainbow arced up and traversed down the horizon. As it came down, another opposing stream of energy rose up to meet it. The two rainbows splashed against each other, their colorful energy spraying across the sky and raining down on the landscape. “You are not yet advanced enough,” his halo suddenly spoke. “Advanced enough for what?” Zarad said. “To understand the meaning of what is before you,” the halo said. “You should move on.” Something else caught his attention– a presence. A presence entered the chamber. Startled, he scanned around to locate it. The chamber was enormous, and it took him a moment to narrow down the possible location. Unfortunately, just as he began to home in on it, it vanished. “What was that?” Zarad asked the halo. Instead of giving a cryptic answer, the halo said nothing at all this time. Defying its earlier warning, Zarad decided to turn his attention back to the window to the alien world. “You should move on,” the halo suddenly said again. “Why should I move on?” Zarad said. “What’s the harm in watching?” The halo went silent again. “Fine,” Zarad said. “I’ll keep watching then.” After a moment, the halo spoke. “The life on display is that of the Reapers. Powerful but blurry beings, spawned from Chaos itself. Only recently has their essence been detected by the Sacred Tree. They are blessed with the power of creation, but also cursed with–” The voice in his mind went silent and a white noise replaced it. From the noise, another voice pierced through. “Zarad… ignore the halo. Continue observing,” came the familiar voice. “Vero!” Zarad said. “What do you mean? Why? Where are you?” “Observe the creature,” Vero said, his voice broken. “Lure it through… part of the plan …” Zarad tried to get him to explain, but his voice seemed to fade, overpowered by another voice. “Caretaker,” the halo’s voice commanded. “Interrupted… You must leave… attracting danger to the Soul Sphere… Rotate the… to divert …” The halo’s voice faded again, and this time there was nothing but silence in its wake. Vero mentioned the plan, but what did this have to do with the plan? How could this “Reaper” help their cause? Unsure what to do next, Zarad continued to stare at the alien’s life window. As he watched, the Reaper stopped what it was doing and turned around to face him. It just stood there, seemingly staring back at him through the window. Zarad shuddered. Surely it could not see him… or could it? “Vero, what is going on?” Zarad said. “Tell me what I’m supposed to do!” No response. Movement in the life window caught his attention. It was the Reaper—it moved up close to the barrier. The creature reached its arm out, pressing it against the window. The semi-transparent membrane stretched outward like rubber. Zarad looked up at the face of the creature. Although it had no eyes, he could sense an intelligence in them. There was no doubt now: It really can see me! The halo came alive, but this time it was Vero’s voice: “Zarad… remove the crystal.” Zarad looked down to see the crystal glowing and wobbling in its socket. On the other side, the Reaper crouched over, its form pressing against the window’s membrane. The barrier stretched outward again, but it still kept the creature inside. The Reaper shifted its gaze to the crystal. A mouth opened on its face, and it roared. The barnacles covering its body began to glow purple. The alien world itself went dark, and the only light was that which emanated from the Reaper. Zarad looked around startled. The entire Window Room began to shudder. There was something very human about what he felt—fear. He looked at the crystal, pondering what to do. If he removed the key, it would release the creature… why would Vero want that? “Must release…” Vero’s voice came through again. “Or plan is… all lost …” The Reaper continued pushing against the membrane, clawing at it with its hands and stabbing it with sickles that protruded from its wrists. The barrier appeared strong enough to take it… for now. Zarad put his hand on the crystal. The key seemed to respond to his touch, lighting up with a pink illumination. “Caretaker.” It was the halo’s voice this time. “Must stop… You will destroy… Cycle …” The words broke up and then went silent. Around him, Zarad could feel the entire chamber quake and the spiraling halls began to teeter. All the images on the windows began to flutter like wind on a candle. Only the Reaper’s window remained lit, and the creature itself appeared to become larger. Its featureless face seemed to look down at Zarad’s hand and at the crystal key expectantly. Zarad withdrew his hand. There was no way he was going to let this thing free. “Sorry, Vero,” he said. “I can’t do it …” Zarad felt something down the hall. It was that presence again, but this time it fully materialized and he could now see it. A physical being—a short, hairy humanoid with pointy ears and green skin. “Ninian!” Zarad said. The pooka walked up the spiral hallway toward him. He wore a thick black robe with heavy stitching, embroidered with brown leaves and twigs. From his neck hung a medallion. In his claw-like hand, it held a small pearl-white globe. “What are you doing here?” Zarad said. Ninian’s sapphire-stone eyes studied him for a moment, then he pointed a clawed finger toward the alien window. “Vero be worried about Zarad,” he said. “Vero be worrying that Vero’s message not be getting to Zarad.” “Message?” Zarad said. “Through the halo?” Ninian shook his head—meaning yes. “Vero be using the halo to talk to Zarad. But the halo be overpowering. So Ninian here to make sure Zarad knows that freeing the Reaper be the plan. Zarad understand?” Ninian pointed toward the window again. Zarad looked over at it. The Reaper stood beyond the barrier. It waited silently. Waiting for what? Does it know? Does it speak with Vero? “Oh, I heard Vero’s message,” Zarad said. “But there is no way I am releasing that thing. I’m sorry. I am not going to go against the entire Elder Quorum and everything I know for some… some crusade!” Ninian nodded. “That be a bad thing, then.” The pooka rose its pearl globe in the air with one hand and touched his medallion with the other. “Crrr-eeo-stayle,” he said. “Du-dubha-meh shash!” As if he had recited a magical incantation, a beam of energy shot out from the globe. Zarad felt himself knocked back, and he fell to the ground. Dizzy, Zarad reached up to touch his head. The halo was gone. He slowly looked around. The chamber was spinning, and everything was blurry. He saw Ninian holding the halo, trying to put it on. The moment it touched his head, a flash of light burst from it, and he yelped. The halo floated away, returning to Zarad on its own. Zarad forced himself up and grabbed it. Immediately he heard the halo speak: “Caretaker, you must defend the Tree from this creature. It cannot be allowed to release the Reaper. Use your sword.” Zarad felt a sudden force hit him, sending him flying off the spiral hall and landing several levels down. His spirit energy fluttered and became incoherent. Everything went blurry again, and he stumbled. Trying to keep calm, he pulled his scattered energy inward, gathering himself. Recovering, he looked up to see Ninian standing above him. The pooka pointed the globe down at Zarad. A crackle of energy spun out of it toward him. Zarad put his hands up to try to block it. The attack rattled him, but this time he did not fall. He realized that by concentrating on his form, he was able to keep his energy from scattering. “Stop this!” Zarad yelled at Ninian. The pooka jumped off the edge of the hallway and landed down at the same level. Ninian raised the globe up. “Zarad opens the portal up there,” he said. “Or shattering Zarad’s life force Ninian be doing next.” Zarad growled. He felt something he had not felt in a long time. Anger! He put his hand on the hilt of his sword and drew the weapon high into the air. The blade was a burning branch, emitting a crackling white fire swirling up its length like a tornado. His arm shimmered as he felt the almighty energy travel down his body. There was no mistaking it; this sword must have been a branch from the Sacred Tree itself. Zarad leveled it down at his nemesis. “No!” Zarad’s voice boomed as he sent a deluge of fire and wind at the pooka. Ninian raised his orb up. The sword’s flames bounced off an invisible shield that seemed to absorb most of the fire, but it was still enough for the pooka to lose his balance and fall to the ground. Zarad rushed forward, sword ready to strike. Ninian recovered and quickly got to his feet. Zarad saw burned fur on the small creature’s face. The shield did not absorb all of it. The pooka pointed a blackened, claw-like finger at him. “If Zarad not be releasing the portal,” he rasped, “then Ninian be doing it instead.” The pooka launched himself up into the air, grabbing onto the edge of the next spiral hallway, kicking his legs and clawing his way up to the next level. Zarad could see he was heading to the Reaper’s portal. He could not let him reach it. Zarad unfurled his wings and flapped them out, launching himself into the air. A boom sounded as energy from his wings impacted against the floor. He almost got to the portal at the same time as the pooka, but the small creature was deceptively quick. Ninian stood in front of the portal with his back to it. Behind him, the Reaper’s ominous dark figure towered behind the window, seemingly waiting to be released. The pooka’s scorched hand held his orb up defensively toward Zarad. “Step away from there, Ninian,” Zarad said, leveling his sword at him. “Please don’t force me to use this on you again.” The pooka lowered the orb slightly before speaking. “Ninian must do what Ninian do,” he said. “For it is the duty of the pookas to maintain balance in all things.” Zarad heard a distracting hum penetrate his mind as the pooka spoke. “Zarad not understand the greater plan,” Ninian continued. “And for that, the bond between two soul mates will remain severed for all time.” The hum became louder and seemed to come from the halo. It grew from a minor irritation into something that began to enrage him. “Be silent!” Zarad growled. Ninian ignored him and kept talking. “Zarad’s love for Aloli,” Ninian said. “A false love. A lie. How can there be love when two are not equals?” Zarad stabbed the sword in the pooka’s direction. “I said quiet, you!” The hum from the halo vibrated throughout his body. He hunched over, cupping the side of his head. Make it stop! “Aloli does not truly love Zarad,” Ninian said. “A new soul mate Aloli will find, one closer to color of her core.” Images of Aloli with another soul filled his mind—their tentacles interlocked, sharing their energy with each other… an intimacy he could no longer share with her. “No!” Zarad roared. He pulled the sword back and whipped it down, unleashing a blanket of white fire in front of him. The energy sprayed out, covering everything in front of him. He tried to pull the sword back to stop the eruption of energy, but it was too late. The entire portal was ablaze. Zarad stepped away, watching the white fire snake up the walls and spread to other life windows. The entire chamber began to shudder and the floors began to crumble away, collapsing into tiny brown leaves. What have I done? |
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