Zara stirred from sleep as a ray of morning light danced across her face, and for a moment she felt relaxed, happy, comfortable and
cozy under the soft down quilt...
Then
it all came back. She sat up with a jolt, sending her head into a dizzy spin
followed by a wave of pain, she had such a huge headache. Steadying herself on
the edge of the bed, she rubbed her eyes in hopes her memories of the last few days were also just a nightmare,
then collapsed in a heap of defeat. She didn't even have to open her eyes, she could smell it, she just knew. This Lemurian nightmare was real!
Curled
in a fetal position, she pondered whether some of the preceding events had
been a nightmare. Feelings of disbelief, anger and
wonder collided inside, was this some
joke?
As amazing aromas of real coffee filtered into the room, she pulled herself out of bed and lifted
back the curtain to look out the window... It was a sunny paradise outside, the
crystals hanging in the trees sparkled in the light, it was as if she was in
some fairyland from some textbook they forgot to give her. How could reality be
so twisted? How could this place be
Hellias?
More beautiful
clothes had been placed neatly on a chair beside the bed. She picked them up
with great caution. They were of a rustic weave but silky to the touch, the
fabric was heavy, warm, they smelled sweet, fresh and clean… These so-called Savages offered nothing but comfort and warmth, they had done nothing but help her feel
better.
Aromas
of delicious food soon harmonized with the coffee, the ancient goddess had been
up for a while. Moments later she appeared, opened the curtains and invited Zara into the kitchen,
where tea and freshly baked muffins awaited her on the table, another beautifully ornate hand carved antique that looked like no table she had ever seen before.
"You
look much better already" Nulu's eyes sparkled when she spoke. "How does your head feel?"
Zara
sat down at the table, easily tempted by the comforting aromas. "It's
a bit better" she replied. "But not really... I'm sorry... My confusion is getting worse. I keep
seeing images of home, but they make me feel sick. Everything here seems to be
making me better but it’s supposed to be bad. Everything’s backwards, nothing
makes sense… In fact, sometimes it’s so bad, I wonder if I might have died in
the tunnel!"
Nulu
listened with great concern, she could see the fear and confusion tormenting
Zara's mind, she had witnessed her disturbed sleep, that she even knew where she
came from was unusual. "You're
the first one to escape that actually has memories of home" she disclosed. "None
of the others can remember anything. We've had quite a few refugees emerge from
that passage over time."
As
Zara reflected upon the worn path through Aquila’s lair, chills ran down her
spine. "Really?"
"Yes"
Nulu smiled kindly. "Whatever happened to them left them so fragmented,
many of them died because they believed they were already dead."
Zara
felt light headed again, the wondering whether or not she had in fact already
died was still very active in her mind. She reached for a muffin, broke off a
corner and sampled the warm bread. It tasted so good, like everything here it
was sweet and warm. There was only one conclusion to be had; Serpent Sorcery was
some kind of Ultimate Evil so as to hide behind this paradisiacal façade. It
was just so confusing.
Images
of Orien's head on the golden platter flashed by out of nowhere, choking her, a
chunk of muffin flew out of her mouth. Embarrassed, she lurched for the napkin
and cleaned it up.
"I’m
so sorry, Your Honor!"
"It’s
alright" Nulu reached for her hand, noticing the sweat beading in her palm. "You can call
me Nulu."
Thoughts
jumped from the sacrificial boy to the children in the street. "Do
you sacrifice your Products?"
Nulu
found the Gen language very disturbing, too, it wasn't something that a bath
could fix. "No, we don't do any sacrificing of children in Lemuria."
"You
don't sacrifice them?" Was it another shocking lie or was it the truth? "But
doesn't Medel punish you?"
"We
don't believe in Medel."
"WHAT?" Zara gasped, horrified. It was the cruelest, most
heinous thing she had ever heard in her life, now the picture was becoming clear, rage blazed hot inside. "Is that why Atalon says
you're evil?"
Nulu
smiled, reminded of the childish feud. "It's a long story." She
noticed Zara’s wide eyes, her trembling hands, that she even remembered who Atalon
was offered hope of some disclosures. "I assure you, you will be safe here.
After your breakfast, I'll take you back up to the Crystal Temple. There you
will learn why we don't sacrifice our young or believe in Medel."
Even
though she had hardly eaten anything, Zara couldn't finish the muffin. It was
true, this was a huge evil trick, if these people didn't believe in Medel, they
were absolute evil, there was nothing that could forgive them. NO truth could
forgive them. She knew the truth. This was why they called it Hellias, it
wasn't a lie, she just had to learn this
new concept of evil. She scanned the room again in growing disbelief, the
façade was crumbling... This was why
the houses had been destroyed at one time,
this was why they never studied their architecture in school… This place
was Hellias disguised as the Promised Land... This was the Unicorn sorcery
applied on a massive scale…
But
the truth at the same time, was that this was the first time she had ever felt
loved or cared for and she was a complete stranger to them! These people just
took her in and made her feel so welcome and well again, they gave her this
warm bath, this comfortable bed, these beautiful clothes and kind, sweet
words... It just made no sense at all. "Can I take the muffin with me?"
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