‘Dea, your palace is beautiful. I love it here’ Sarah said as she munched on scrambled eggs and took rye bread and dipped it in mushroom soup. ‘Thank you dearest, here have some more’ Dea said as she handed Sarah a basket of bread. Mother and Nara were at the table and Nara said, ‘Sarah, let’s bring Iris out. We are all eager beavers here’
‘Sure will, mother. I am as curious to know how she looks and feels like, just like all of you and after what happened yesterday …’ Sarah said.
‘What happened yesterday was a warm-up, the show is today. By the way, Kelly will be there too’ I said as I cut Sarah mid-sentence.
We ate quietly after that. Once breakfast was complete, we assembled at the Eastern Fieldss. Kelly was already there, waiting for us. Mother and Nara were duly introduced to Kelly and although there was initial skepticism, Kelly soon won over everyone. I sensed Kelly was a good man at heart, just born from the wrong circumstances and his race was unique, one of a kind.
Sarah instinctively knew what to do as she released her fingers from mine. She walked a short distance and turned to face us. Kelly had come forward and stood next to me, which was a relief. Suddenly, Sarah raised her arms and behind the raised arms were her light, transparent wings on her shoulders. Her eyes flamed amber and she was in the lace white flowing gown, looking just as radiant as the first time she transformed.
The next thing I knew, Kelly was jumping up and down beside me and when I looked at him, I knew why and couldn’t help laughing, ‘this is what you get for possessing me all this while!’ Iris said as she flamed silver arrows towards Kelly’s legs, making him jump in fright in all directions, ‘ok, ok, I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, believe me!’ Kelly said as he looked at me and said, ‘stop her will ya!’
Iris then turned towards me and for a brief moment, our eyes locked her flaming amber and my flaming blue. As I walked towards her, looking into her eyes and transforming into Taran at every step, a pale golden light emits from our combined aura which causes Mother, Nara and Dea to cover their eyes. When I reach Iris, I asked her, ‘show me what you have’
With that, she held my hand and we flew, at the speed of the winds, stepping onto the three realms and into the depths of the sea and the underworld, causing minor tremors at the point of surface contact. When we returned to Eastern Fields, Iris asked me to create a gentle rain and from that rain, Iris created the most beautiful rainbow the Realm of the Gods had seen. ‘Individually, we are strong but combined, we are powerful’ Iris said as I nodded in agreement as she held her palms to my cheeks and kissed my cheeks.
Dea, who froze at the energy that was around, said quietly, ‘do not let the power go to your heads, remain humble and strong. Both of you have my blessings’ she said as we bowed down and she touched our heads. Mother, Nara and Kelly remained awed and were speechless at the events that had taken place.
~~
When we had landed, Mother and Nara gasped and said, ‘amazing! You two are amazing!’ to which Iris smiled and hugged them both. Dea gave Iris a hug and said, ‘you will be blessed, just take care of each other’ she said as looked at me with wide grin. All of us made our way back to Dea’s palace.
Iris then tugged my arm and asked if we could for a walk in the Northern Gardens. The Northern Gardens was a well manicured garden fronting the palace. It was filled with all sorts of flowers such as roses, daisies, lilies, petunias, chrysanthemum, and green, purple, blue and gold hues.
We sat down by the brick layered wall; Iris was comfortable sitting on the wall instead of the garden chair not far away. Iris then turned towards me and said, ‘let’s try again!’
I looked at her and said, ‘try what?’
‘Try reading each other’s minds!’ Iris said as she laughed, ‘I’ll go first’ Iris said as she held my face in her cup-shaped palms. She brought her forehead to mine and said, ‘let’s close our eyes’ she said as we closed our eyes.
With our eyes closed, I thought to myself, ‘wouldn’t it much better if we transformed to our human selves, it’s definitely more relaxing than this God form’ Iris then said, ‘you want to see me as Sarah, don’t you? You are more relaxed as Taran, just as how I am as Sarah, correct?’
I was stunned, ‘that’s correct … you can hear me’ I said as we slowly opened our eyes and transform back to Aidan and Sarah. ‘Wow! That’s just wow! Finally!’ I tell her as I rose and lift her up. Sarah holds on to my shoulders as she looks down on me and asks, ‘are you happy?’
I laughed, spin around and replied, ‘isn’t it obvious? In a world of 7 billion people, your mind and thoughts were blocked; I don’t know why, of course, I’m happy!’
I become excited and exclaimed, ‘let me read your thoughts now, as Sarah, fingers and toes crossed, that it’ll work!’ I tell her as I gently place her down on the ground.
While seated, we close our eyes and gently touch our foreheads together, I cup her face in my palms, but this time, I couldn’t read anything and Sarah looked puzzled. We decided to relax and try again but the results were no different. We look at each other and held hands, in silence, I told her, ‘We can only read our minds once we are in our true forms. As Aidan, your mind appears blank to me’ I say dejectedly. Sarah then leans on my chest and locks her arms around mine and says, ‘at least we are together now and we have made progress as we can read minds in our true form, it would really be useful, never know’
‘That’s true’ I say as I hug her closer to me. ‘And, I’ll shield our thoughts in our true forms, we wouldn’t want the neighbor’s to know what we are thinking, wouldn’t we?’ I continue as I kissed her forehead.
Chapter 22 - Moving on
We returned to Earth the next day, bright and refreshed. Jake and Savannah had missed us and gave us tight hugs just as soon as we came into the living room. ‘Oh God Lord! It’s great to have you guys back’ Jake said as he hugged Mother, Nara, Sarah and I. Savannah did the same. ‘So, how was Iris?’ Jake asked as he looked at Sarah, who was a now standing confidently by my side, her arms in mine.
‘Iris was good’ Sarah said as she looked at me, ‘I wish you two were there. Oh! We met a new friend, where is Kelly?’ Sarah asked.
‘Who is Kelly? Is it a he or a she?’ Jake asked.
‘It’s a HE, Jake and he is nice’ Sarah said as we all turned around, noticing that Kelly was nowhere in sight.
Just then I receive a message from Kelly. I laugh and I tell Jake Savannah and Sarah, ‘come, he is waiting for us outside. Mother, Nara … we’ll be right back’
‘Wait, are you introducing us to a demon?’ Savannah asks Sarah as she stops Sarah in her path. ‘Yes, we are here, how did you know?’ Sarah replied.
‘Well, he can’t come in and we have to go out and I’m not getting good vibes’ Savannah said hesitantly.
‘Savannah, we were like that when we met him for the first time but he is a gem of a person. You have our assurance. And dear, you in the presence of a God, there is nothing to fear’ Nara said as she hugged Savannah, immediately calming her down.
Once outside, I introduced Jake and Savannah to Kelly. Their initial response is one of caution and wary. ‘Hey, no worries, you two, I’m not going to harm you guys’ Kelly assured them. ‘You are a demon and we are wandering souls, how can we not be worried?’ Jake asked as he faced Kelly.
‘That’s true, but God-man here is your good friend, not mine, yet … isn’t that enough for you?’ Kelly shot back.
‘Yeah!’ Savannah said happily as Jake and her hugged and chimed, ‘thank GOD!’ with his hands up the in the air.
‘I got your message Kelly, in future, we would have to meet outside’ I said as Sarah said, ‘he has protected this place and it’s amazing, although you are a demon, you have not experienced burning sensation although you are a few feet away from the border’
‘Sarah, my dear, keyword here is few feet away. Your man has protected this place to be twice as strong as usual, I would still burn upon entry because of my lineage
, but I value my life as a mortal, not many have that experience’ Kelly said pensively. ‘That’s true’ I acknowledged.
~~
The next few days were spent lazily. Mother, Nara and Sarah would occasionally practice their powers in secluded spot and over time Sarah was able to control her powers. She learnt fast, although there were some occasions where I had rein her powers in so as to not cause damage to camping mortals.
Kelly suggested we have a male bonding session. It was the first time, after a very long time, I had a day out with the men and the women were out too. We met at The Art Café for lunch. Then, we went to Holywell Beach and spent the afternoon there.
‘So, how long have you known Sarah?’ Kelly asked Jake to which Jake replied, ‘forever’
‘Ooh, she is a lovely lady and a lucky one too, having you as a friend and Aidan as a boyfriend’ Kelly said as he looked down at the sand. ‘It’s be nice to have some friends, I don’t know what it’s like having friends, honestly, you guys are a first for me’ Kelly said as he looked at Jake and me.
‘But we are your friends!’ Jake said as he side hugged Kelly and then immediately moved back and Kelly senses it and says, ‘everyone does that, it’s my aura, I tell you!’ Kelly said sadly.
‘Kelly, your aura is just fine. It’s better to have honest friends then fake friends, isn’t it?’ I asked Kelly as I placed my arm around his shoulder. ‘So, other than your demon form, is there anything else you can do?’ I asked curiously.
‘Well, I love my demon form, yet crave human companionship. There is something about mortal woman which I don’t understand. Oh! yeah, I can read a person’s deepest darkest secrets, like that Dea woman. I have fire arrows and fire balls, speaking of which, your woman has the power of ice!’
‘That’s good already, always look highly upon yourself and believe in yourself and I’m sure your woman would come one day, mine came after 21,000 years’ I said and we all laughed. ‘Hey, this is just a random idea, why not we go to Darkness Club tonight? I feel braver with both of you around me’ Jake said happily.
‘Yeah, good idea’ I acknowledge to which Kelly looked puzzled and said, ‘Darkness Club?’
‘That’s a club where the demons hang out. It’s known as the lair of the demons as there is a secret passageway which links the Darkness Club to the Realm of the Underworld. It should be up and running. I destroyed it the last time’ I told Kelly.
‘You destroyed it! I’m not surprised, what did the demons there do to you?’ Kelly asked curiously. ‘Yeah, I remember that day clearly’ Jake said as he closed his eyes and lay down the sand. ‘It’s a long story, Kelly, one long story’ I answered as I lay down and waved my hands to block the sun out of my eyes.
Jake then leaned towards Kelly and whispered, ‘don’t ever harm Sarah and Iris and don’t ever make him mad, either in sequence or in random order’ as Jake pointed towards me while I glared at Jake and turned my head and closed my eyes. ‘Been there, done that and grateful to be alive’ Kelly said as he whispered to Jake and lay down.
It was close to sunset when we woke up. As I rose from the sand, I looked up to the sky. The sky was now a palette of orange, red, pink and magenta. The colors spread across the sky as if a rainbow had melted. The setting sun was mirrored in the blue seas of the ocean. The waves were approaching us at every hit against the shoreline as the tides were rising. The beach was now devoid of crowd.
After stretching and washing our faces in the waves that came to shore, we made our way to Darkness Club. When we were ready to go to Darkness Club, I held their hands and brought them to the club. We appeared in a cloud of mist, not far from the club. Outside, there was a crowd queuing to enter. There were two burly bouncers standing guard outside the door, checking identification and allowing the crowd to enter. Some were turned away. I knew that the two bouncers were demons in human forms, but they were obviously new recruits. The club had also been renovated. There was a purple colored neon light blinking above the two bouncers. I sensed that the club was full of mortals today. Kelly, who was seeing the club for the first time, looked curious. Jake, who didn’t like the club at all, was cowering behind me. ‘Aidan, I’ve got something to tell you, but later’ Jake said as he whispered to me. ‘What is it?’ I asked him as I take Jake aside. ‘We’ll be right back, Kelly!’ I shout at Kelly as he orders another beer. Jake immediately relaxes and says, ‘Savannah and I have decided to move on. We want to be reincarnated’ Jake said happily as he hugged me. ‘That’s great! Does Sarah know about this?’ I asked curiously. ‘No, she doesn’t and neither does Mother and Nara, unless they have read our minds’ Jake said he released came out of my grip.
‘There are a lot of mortals tonight, so let’s not create a scene’ I tell the other two. Jake nods in agreement while Kelly nods and says, ‘none of my kind are around, I’m sure they have no idea this place existed!’
The three of us walk past the bouncers, who immediately move aside. When inside, there was now grand staircase which led to the dance floor which was bereft of revelers. I scanned the place and its new layout as we walked down the staircase. I noticed Kelly walked into the club, behind us; he had an air of confidence in him, head up, chest out and scanning the place, like I did. We went to the counter and ordered our beers. Jake didn’t order anything and just sat at the vacant bar stool next to me.
‘Ah! God-man has graced our renovated premises’ a sarcastic voice said. Jake nudged at me while Kelly looked puzzled. ‘Speak of the demons! I was thinking about you two’ I answered sarcastically. I noticed that Kelly doesn’t budge from his place although Ambisagrus had tried to squeeze through. Ambisagrus then said, politely to Kelly, ‘excuse me, will ya’ to which Kelly moved his body slightly to allow Ambisagrus through.
‘Balor and Ambisagrus, meet Kelly’ I introduced them. It became obvious to me that I was not the only one who couldn’t get along with Balor and Ambisagrus. There was hostility among the three demons with Kelly showing superiority.
‘Aidan, Kelly and Jake, have a pleasant night. We mean no harm’ Ambisagrus tells us but look directly at Kelly in the eyes and both of them return to the lair of the demons after walking through the dance floor which had already filled up with mortals dancing the techno music. ‘That’s strange, were they being nice to us?’ Jake asked as he as looked at me and Kelly. ‘That’s great, isn’t it? I should have asked if beers were on the house!’ Kelly answered as he scanned the dance floor. As the music volume rises and it the club fills up, we decide to call it night and head home.
Outside the club, Kelly commented, ‘those demons are rather docile’ to which Jake laughed and said, ‘you have not seen them in action!’
‘The time will come, I’m sure but I’ll be ready for them, no doubt. I’ll call my army if I have too, with God-man’s permission, of course!’ Kelly said as he looked at me and smiled. ‘I’ll take my leave now, it was a day well spent, we should have men’s day out’ Kelly said as he patted and hugged Jake and me. ‘Yeah, we should, we’ll be in touch’ I tell him as we bid each other goodbye. I hold onto Jake’s hand and we are in the living room of my cottage.
~~
The next morning, as I walked down the staircase, I saw Mother, Nara, Sarah and Savannah in the living room. They looked sad. Jake was standing by the fire place. He looked down with his hands crossed across his chest.
‘What’s wrong? Why the sad faces?’ I asked. It had been a while since I read the minds of those closest to me. I felt it was an intrusion of their privacy and didn’t read their minds unless I was alerted of danger.
‘Jake and Savannah have decided to move on’ Sarah said sadly as she came and hugged me when I reached down the staircase. I gave her a tight hug and said, ‘I know’
‘You knew and you didn’t tell me!’ Sarah looked at me and shot back. ‘Sarah, I only told him last night’ Jake said defending me.
‘It’s been on our minds for a while, but we decided it’s time now’ Jake said as he came close
r towards Nara who sat beside Savannah. ‘And, Sarah, you have Aidan and Taran with you by your side and I know he will never allow anyone or anything to harm you. I have completed my duties to the best of my capabilities’ Jake said as tears welled in his eyes.
‘I understand Jake but we’ll always be buddies, forever!’ Sarah said as they both hugged and cried. Savannah joined them as well. ‘I’m going to miss you dearly, Jake and Savannah’ Sarah said. ‘We’ll miss you too’ Jake and Savannah chimed.
I had remained silent for some time until Mother approached me and said, ‘it’s all for the best, once they have moved on, they can be re-incarnated and their souls can move on their journey’
‘Yeah’ I look at Mother and say, ‘Jake, thank you so much for all that you have done for us’ I continue as I hugged him tightly as he releases from Sarah’s hug.
‘If it weren’t for your thoughts, we would have never met in London. Sarah is blessed to have you as a friend, who stood by her, during her good times and bad times. And, Savannah, you are a gem of a person, a good friend of Jake. You have been his pillar and companion, thank you, both of you. I’m becoming … speechless’ I say as I hug Jake and Savannah. Sarah, Mother and Nara soon join in and take them all in our final group hug.