The story beneath the yew tree had been a
short chapter of the Long Story, yet it had been long enough. Broken hearted,
Zara couldn’t shake the feeling that deep down she had known there was
something wrong all along. She knew something was wrong after the Pageant. The
moment she was flogged for the wardrobe fiasco, she knew something was wrong.
The moment she only got ten gold beads for her Product, she knew something was
wrong. The moment she saw Orien's face she knew, deep down, there was something
seriously wrong. There was something
so wrong that no one dared speak about it. Nevertheless, she had Hope now. Since she was in fact still alive then there was still a chance she could
reach the Promised Land.
Every day since arriving in Lemuria there had
been belief shattering surprises. Today's belief-shattering surprise were strikingly handsome, they arrived
loaded with boxes and bags, one of them looked just like
Mina, only much younger. They seemed to be Jasun's friends, however everyone adored them, everyone got up to hug them. Trust
shattered in so many ways, Zara studied the new arrivals with much reservation,
everything was so twisted and dramatized she couldn’t help but wonder if it had
all been staged. On the surface everything seemed lovely, the people seemed to
genuinely care yet at the same time they admitted in broad daylight that they
didn't worship Medel. Why? Because Medel was a lie? She couldn't believe it. It
couldn't be possible, yet at the same time, could
it be true?
Deep
down she felt like He was watching her still, that she was betraying Him by simply
listening to them, for even being in Lemuria, was that why it was called Hellias? It made her evil? Surely Medel looked down
upon them with great anger, Medel's cataclysms of rage were historical! Now she
realized the truth! Now she
understood the rift and why Atalon hated them. The truth was, the Lemurians
were putting the entire Atlan Empire
in grave danger with their blasphemous beliefs!
From the other end of the table, Mira once known as Mata could see Zara was feeling shattered, sitting alone, staring at the new arrivals with such fear in her eyes. She wondered about the latest refugee, about her stories of Atlan, her belief that they knew each other once, long ago. Could it be true? Zara's stories had a familiar air to them but she really didn't recognize Zara, she wondered about her sanity, her bald head… What really happened to her? Sensing an opportunity to be of help, she got up to join her side, offering a plate of honey glazed nuts.
"Thank
you" Zara replied, surprised at her friendly gesture. Unsure of her
estranged friend she felt awkward around Mira, troubled that her name had changed, that she didn't even remember being Mata anymore. She didn't know
what to say or what to call her... They had grown so far apart. The girls sat
silently together sipping on tea and nibbling on honey nuts, watching Jasun and
his flashy new friends from Mu unpack their boxes on the stage in the corner of
the hall. It wasn't long before Zara forgot her woes and became captive to the
scene, who were they? The group had some attractive charm, an exciting energy had
filled the temple since their arrival. She watched with growing curiosity as Jasun
pulled a beautiful golden ornament out of one of the boxes, something she had
never seen before. "Wow,
that's beautiful! What is that?"
"It's
a Harp" Mira replied. "Jasun's a musician. They all are."
Zara
had never heard of it. "You mean a magician?"
"Haha,
sort of I guess" Mira chuckled.
Zara
felt embarrassed all of a sudden, afraid to ask any more, magic was one of
those things that was considered to be mythological and only asked for ridicule
if taken seriously. Mina and her friends were now clearing furniture away. One
of the friends brought out a series of golden tubes, fashioned together in a
beautiful fan, decorated with colourful feathers and crystal beads....
"What
are those long things?"
"Those
are pipes" Mira replied. "You'll like
them!"
When another musician pulled out a drum,
Zara had an idea what to expect next, she knew what drums were, they were for
dances, for ceremonies… For sacrificial ceremonies… Fear
returned like a herd of horses galloping inside. "What are they doing?"
"They're setting up their
band."
"A
band?"
"Yes.
They are Firelight, one of the most popular bands in Lemuria."
"Firelight?" Images of the pyre
returned to haunt her just as another note resonated from the stage, filling
the temple with a hypnotic sound. Zara gasped, stared at the unfolding scene
with terrified curiosity, naturally attracted to the beautiful people and
exotic sound. The Dogons made sounds from ornaments, too... "Who
are they?"
"They're
gods of Music" Mira explained. "They're from Mu, most of the music
gods live there." She gestured to the red head. "The goddess with the
red hair is Mina's daughter, Min. Can you tell?"
"Daughter?"
A
chord filled the hall next, the sound resonated through the walls like a
thousand angels were singing inside. Zara’s jaw dropped with wonder, a shiver
ran down her spine, the sounds coming from Jasun's golden harp were amazing.
Then without any warning, his fingers darted across the strings, creating a
beautiful melody, then, just as suddenly he stopped, bantered around with his
friends again as if nothing had happened!!!
Speechless,
Zara stared with jaw hung open. Then the drummer rolled, and for a moment fear
struck hard once again, but when he broke into a beat, hit his golden disks, it
sounded like thunder was erupting right inside the temple!
"That's
Akku" Mira informed. "He's a Dogon but he lives in Mu, and the
musician with the pipes is Nepheus."
Zara
fell speechless as the beautiful Min took the front of the stage, captivating
the attention of everyone in the temple with her charm and smile.
"Good
evening Children of the Sun!"
Whistles
blew from the audience, she was a natural star, Zara couldn't help but smile
and forget her fears again.
"We're
excited to be here, to welcome the new comet with you!"
As
cheers and applause drowned her voice, Akku raised his sticks into the air, hit
them together four times then broke into a beat. Min joined him in song, her
voice was crisp and clear, like a magic spell she held the temple captive as
her pure and sweet sounds filled the hall. Just when it didn't seem possible to
hear anything more beautiful, Jasun joined in with his harp, creating a breath
taking harmony.
"Wow…" Zara felt a tidal wave of
emotion rising inside. Then Nepheus joined in, adding a layer of harmony with
his pipes, the sound became so beautiful Zara felt tears well up in her eyes,
as the song ascended to a harmonious climax, an explosion of magical feelings
erupted inside. Tears streaming, paralyzed with wonder, Zara had never felt
such a wonderful feeling or heard such beautiful sound in her whole life. It consumed her, it gave her endless chills, it made her body want to
bounce, her heart was leaping with joy inside. Now she saw why Mina had cleared
the furniture away. The villagers all felt the same way! They all started
dancing because they all felt like she did too! They felt like dancing,
they weren't just doing the dance because that’s what you did, as they did in
Fina. Nor were they dancing in any way like they danced in Fina. Their dance
was almost as beautiful and fascinating to watch as the musicians! These people
had something so wonderful it took her breath away!
But soon the orgasm of feeling was followed by feelings of rage. It wasn't fair that she
had never experienced this music before. This was magical music, music magic
was real, this was nothing less than being in heaven, if this wasn't the
Promised Land then it was a crime to be denied this magic. She knew at that
moment, she would never be able to get enough of this magic now that she knew
it existed. Tears of joy were followed by tears of sadness as she realized how
tragic her life had been. To have missed out on this music for all those years
was criminal, had it headlined the Green Serpent every day, she would have been
a dedicated Vine Clubber! Then she
realized how tragic it still was for
the citizens of Atlan, trapped in a world void of such magical sounds, sounds
that filled her heart with feelings of love and joy inside. Now she had
questions she wanted answers for. Why had this magical music been kept from
them? Why did they only play the drums in Atlan? Why were there no Golden Harps
in Atlan if Atlan was the greatest civilization on the earth? Why did they only
sing songs in Culloom?
Lost for
an answer to all of the above, Zara wiped her eyes and glanced towards the
stone egg for some insight, nestled in the shadows now. She pondered the
strange altar in this new light. How curious to see it
ignored at a time like this, so seemingly unimportant during this divine magical
ceremony... Why weren't they dancing around the egg if it was so sacred?
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