2.23 A Long Story

        Zara's nasty outburst only assured Neter how deep the divide between Atlan and Lemuria had become. He noticed the typical palette of battle scars, a bleeding head, glazed bulging eyes, a paranoid mentality; these refugees all seemed to arrive in this sorry state, emitting this toxic frequency when they first arrived.

         "Hello, Zara" he approached with a smile, holding out his hand. But Zara coiled like a reptile.

           Tormented by her utter inability to look away, Zara was terrified of him, terrified of losing her life in the worst possible way. Where was Medel now? Had he forsaken her? Had she failed? 

        Neter stopped, realizing she was panicking, it was alarming. "Do you really believe I'm some god of Death?"

         Zara couldn't speak.

         "Why don't we have some tea" Mina interjected and began setting the kitchen table, a long and well worn old table flanked with an eclectic assortment of benches and chairs, long enough to host a small community. 

         Zara sat as far away from Neter as she could politely get away with, he didn’t take it personally, her frequency was so low it was almost flat-lining. He noticed her fondling the emerald tile, still in her hands. "Death Tablet?"  

        Heat pounding in life threatening ways, Zara snapped the tablet down on the table. What was this? Real Serpent Sorcery? Why had they even let him in to the temple? Were they witches after all? How could Mina and Nulu be trustworthy when they associated with such evil as this? This wasn't some hallucination, she even saw the Unicorn outside...

         Angry now, she was beginning to realize how badly she had been fooled, these witches were creating illusions, their generous hospitality, even this tea being offered, was it a mind altering drug? She had already told herself it had felt too good to be true all along. She was about to be sacrificed to an evil god. This was why it was called Hellias. This was how she would be sent to the Barren Wasteland, she just wasn't there yet! Deep in her gut she knew the truth: this was happening because she didn’t confess her sins!!!

         Neter could see the inner turmoil, it was written all over her face. He reached across the table offering his hand, offering her some fresh insight.

         "Orius and I are both descendants of the original Moon Goddess, Sin." he began. "We're brothers."

         Zara found herself staring at him again, she couldn't believe her ears, he looked nothing like Orius, he had blonde hair…. Like Orien…  Suddenly Zara felt sick again as she was forced to face the truth. How come Orien had such blonde hair if Orius was his donor? Was Orien related to Sin too? Were all the Origians related to Sin, the evil goddess of the Sea? Was that why Orien had to be sacrificed?

         Thoughts raced to make sense of the contradictions but nothing made sense... In spite of the warm tea and hot baths, Hellias was most certainly living up to its reputation of being the Land of Deception and Sin.

         Neter could see she was in a lot of pain, mentally. This perhaps was the so-called Mental Illness Orius was speaking of. "You do know who Orius is, don't you?"

         "I don't believe you!" She snapped, finally. "I don't believe any of you! If that was true, if Lemuria really is the paradise you make it to be, then why wouldn't he tell everyone the truth about this place? He's seen the maps on the walls!"

         "There's been a long feud that has divided us" Neter tried to explain in a nutshell.

         "Did Orius know about the Dogons?"

         "Once upon a time, things were a lot different than they are now" he expanded. "Our tribes and families lived together in harmony, it was a Golden Time. There were no wars…" He tried to make her relax but was only making her feel more lied to. 

         "Bullshit" she exclaimed, unimpressed with his feeble attempt to convince her. "Our families lived together? Well here’s some Breaking News. We don't even HAVE families!!! Orius was my Product Donor. If Orius grew up in such a Happy Family Land, then why would he have rejected it to be a Product Donor in Atlan?" Zara knew she had him cornered. "Hmmm?"

         Neter was also a little confused, confused by their language. "Why do you call him a Product Donor?"

         Zara explained the procedures at the Moha Lab, followed by a rueful account of her Lochia years. She tried to focus on the good that had come from it, still clinging to the idea that some good had come from it. "Orien was one of the best examples the Atlan Empire ever produced" she assured with pride. "He was honored with a Sacrificial Placement in the Final Graduation Ceremony!" Now she wished she still had the medal to prove it. "I lost my medal" she lamented, "so I can't prove it to you but I was honored as a Cow Goddess. I was told I would go to The Promised Land because of it!"

         "The Promised Land?" Neter didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He dropped his head into his hands, his heart aching from the ill account of the Breeding Program. This wasn't simply a refugee, this was family! Orien was his distant nephew! It wasn't a coincidence that she had arrived, she had been sent by the Phoenix, that he knew now. What was her message?

         Zara studied Neter clutching his head, slumped into his hands, he seemed so distraught for a god of Death. She didn't understand, wasn't he impressed with her success? "Did Orius know about the Dogons?" She demanded again, growing increasingly suspicious of his true identity.

         "It's a long story" Neter replied. He was beginning to feel ill as Zara disclosed the gruesome details of Orien's sacrifice and the Culloom Disaster, as if it had all been just another day. Now he was wrestling internally with his own fears and doubts about what he didn’t know. Her story touched a tender nerve, the child she had sacrificed for ten gold beads was a part of his family, Orien was a part of his flame too. Now he knew for sure, it wasn't a coincidence Zara was sitting in front of him. But what did it mean? Was he to do something about it?

         "Who are the Dogons?" Zara grilled, sensing some sort of a cover-up now. According to legends, a mere encounter with the god of Death foretold of one's imminent demise, yet he seemed to care about Orien’s demise and she was still alive.

         "The Dogons are an Origian race" Neter explained. "The New Nefilim, Star and Lunar tribes are all Origians, we were the first Prefects created for the slaves of the Atlan Empire."

         Zara objected. "You’re wrong! The Gen I’s were the first Prefects, the Origians were just Savages!"

         "The Dogons migrated to Kergal during the Great Revolt, along with the rest of us" Neter insisted calmly. Zara knew he was lying, if it was true they would have been in the History text books, but why would he lie?

         "The Dogons run the mining industry in South Lemuria along with the Nefilim, or rather should I say, the New Nefilim."

         Feeling defeated, Zara gave up the fight. "New Nefilim?"

         "They aren’t the Original Nefilim."

         Zara's mind was spinning so fast it was making her feel dizzy, which part of the story was a lie? New Nefilim? What happened to the old ones? She knew about Vikkar's business but she never knew he lived in Kergal or that he was a Dogon. Neter's story had holes. "Why does Vikkar look different than his tribe?"

         "He’s a hybrid" he replied. "An Experimental Origian."

         "An Experimental Origian?" Zara was horrified. "Why? How could you even say that? Experimental? For what?"

         Suddenly, images of the bloody white rabbit carcass returned to haunt her out of nowhere, followed by sickening flashbacks of the Culloom Disaster. Perhaps Vikkar was an Experimental Origian, but he wasn't capable of that. "There's something else over there on those islands and they're also called dogons! Some savage beasts slaughtered the whole island!" 

         "What island?"

         "Gora…" Emotions rose like a surging tide. "All the Prefects and Products were mauled to death, there were body parts everywhere!" She could feel the dam cracking. "Almost ALL of them, mauled to death, can you imagine? I SAW THE SCENE MYSELF!"

         Neter practiced deep breathing as she spewed out the horrors of the Moha Lab renovations, of the piling up of carcasses in the lab, the posh luncheon with such a heavy price tag. "See?" She pulled her sleeve down to show him her back, scarred forever.

         Neter let out a heavy sigh, it was everything they had fled from. Worse. It was so bad it sounded too bad to be true, he was struggling to believe her experiences hadn't been some wild hallucinations. Yet at the same time he knew it could be true, he could see her scars, they were horrendous. "Culloom is on Gorias?"

         "Yes."

         He glanced at Mina and Nulu, silently observing and documenting the disclosures, no words were needed. They knew of the mysterious island she spoke of, there were old Panther rumors about Gorias, they had tried to locate the access passage many times. "How did you end up going to see the Underworld?" Mina wasn't convinced her story was true either.

         "I was assigned a task there" Zara explained. "I had to measure the salvage for the renovation. I know you don't believe me, but the dogons are real! They're always attacking the farmers, everyone knows it!" She went on to explain the way it was. "Everyone's too afraid to leave the city walls they're so dangerous. That's WHY the walls are there!"

         Neter wasn’t sure what was more twisted, the truth or Zara’s perceptions? He thought again about Orius's unusual departure, Zara was right. Surely if there had been such pain and suffering behind the city walls he would have known. Her story seemed a little unbelievable… He had to remain open minded given that she had suffered a head injury... Because, what if it was true? What if this was what had happened to his nieces and nephews? "How did you get into the tunnel?"

         Zara told him about her miraculous escape and the dusty old sign on the wall. Neter knew which tunnel it was, but he hadn’t heard of a TLS Program. Her story just got worse and worse. Torn between believing her because she looked like she had been through the hell she described, and not believing her because she had a head injury and spoke of such unbelievable things, he stood up and paced the room, trying to contain the rage blazing within. He knew Atalon well, but this was unfathomable cruelty. Why had Vikkar remained silent? And why had Orius failed to mention anything if it was true? And he brought them here so they could steal their book?

         Rage was blazing inside, deep breathing was no longer effective, Neter had his own questions that needed answering now, but Zara wasn't the one to ask. Zara was still spewing toxic waste, now she was explaining how she almost died in the tunnel.

         "AQUILLA ALMOST KILLED ME!"

         "I will not listen to any more of this and simply believe or not believe it!" He finally exploded, hiding his rage as best he could. "I'm going to see what's going on over there for myself!"

         Alarmed at the suggestion, Zara objected. "Can you get there without going through the tunnel? If Aquilla decides to come after you there's NO escape!"

         Neter took a deep breath and released his clenched fists, realizing now what he ought to have done a long time ago. Her big wide eyes trembling with concern for his welfare now, her thin white face, engraved with these tales of misery and deceit, told him all he needed to know. He finished his tea, picked up his cloak and headed for the door. "Mina will tell you about Aquilla. I'll be back in a day or two."