3.81 Sentimental Paranoia

         Neter dropped what he was doing and hurried over to Josh.

         "Where?" He demanded. "Where was she?"

         Josh was so shook up, the story came out in pieces. Still flapping his arms he could barely utter coherent sentences.

         "He... He... I…"

         Zara watched him fall apart with complete understanding and compassion. Her own encounter with Aquilla was still very fresh in her mind, she really thought she would die too!

         "I... I SAW him... Oh my god, he's HUGE!"

         "Where?" Neter gripped Josh's shoulders, trying to calm him down. "Where was she?"

         "I... I saw... He... He was down by the Vineyard!" His voice was almost squeaking. "Oh my god! He's really, really MAD!!! Didn't you hear him HOWLING?"

         "No…" Neter glanced at Mina for support but she just shrugged, she hadn't heard anything. "Which way did he go?"

         "I... I don't know" he stammered. "He… He… I think he was heading towards Kergal! Oh my god! He's... He's like, SCARY MAD, he's totally wounded, there's BLOOD ALL over the road!!! Oh my god!!! Do you think he'll ATTACK us now?"

         Neter was already heading out the door, Shadow leading the way. Unprepared to let his friend leave without him a second time, Jasun hopped down from the stage, kissed his family, grabbed his cloak and followed Neter out into the night.

         "Neter! NO!" Mina ran to the doorway, upset by the sudden undiscussed pursuit.

         Dena couldn't believe what she was witnessing, the magical spell of the Love Trance had been COMPLETELY broken in an instant.

         "NETER, JASUN... WAIT!"

         Already stressed and tweaking on adrenaline Neter's heart broke when he heard Mina calling him back, fear so apparent in her voice. He checked what he was doing and hurried back to reassure her. She was clearly upset.

         "Don't go... It's the Solstice!"

         He gathered her tight in his arms... She was trembling inside... Was she really genuinely afraid or was it just a sentimental paranoia thing? He didn't know a fearful Mina. Mina was fearless, Mina was the ever brave goddess of Anur, for the first time ever he questioned that now. Had this last trauma in fact damaged her so badly? He kissed her crown and hugged her tighter, it tore him apart to leave her like this but there was little choice. Fear, deceit and hate were once anomalies in Lemuria, yet now they were spreading like a rabid virus. It only confirmed the urgency of his mission.

         "I have to go" he replied, gently letting her down. "We won't be gone long, she can't have gone very far. Aquilla came into Anur for a reason, it was probably a cry for help. We can't ignore the threat of losing her, we can't let her go unattended if she's wounded... You know we need her, we need her now more than ever."

         He was right, Mina knew that in the bottom of her heart; they had all seen the Black Panther lately, even Gens had seen it, the warnings had been raised to many. Perhaps Aquilla's demise was the tragedy that was being foreshadowed? She knew the threat of danger on the eve of the Solstice was most likely paranoia, too, but could it really be a coincidence? The anniversary of the terrible trauma had poisoned their minds, triggering unfounded fears. She could only pray that they could help Aquilla.

         "Be careful" she begged as his hand slipped away.

         Troubled by the unnatural coincidence, Akku laid his drum sticks down. A stage without music on the Solstice was a tragedy, two years in a row was damnation, discovering Aquila was alive, exhilarating, learning she was so badly wounded, devastating. What were the chances? How, why and why now?

All this time there had been no sign of the ancient Fire goddess, now she was here in Anur? Injured and angry? It reeked, but deception usually did, he was convinced the Nefilim were nearby and they weren't trustworthy.

         "I think the Nefilim probably got her." He finally disclosed the theories that he and the other night watchers had come up with, that they were catching wafts of barbecue smoke at night, that they had sensed some undefined activities for some time.

         "The Nefilim need her as much as we do" Mina reminded.

         "They're divided" Akku countered.

         "Why didn't you say anything?"

         "Because they were keeping their distance" he reasoned. "We didn't want to appear paranoid or raise false alarms." But now they were all very alarmed and he felt terrible, they could only pray that Neter and Jasun were tracking her down, that she would be okay.

         "I'm sure she'll recover from whatever it was that injured her."

         "What if the dogons survived?" Bria's thoughts were on the loose now. "What if the gods brought them here too?"

         Akku reminded himself to remain open minded, he had seen the evidence of gods in Lemuria himself, it kept him awake at night. That was why he was so bothered now, now was a time to face the truth, even if it was scary.

         "I thought no one could get near her!" Bell reasoned.

         "They have the sword…"

         The moment those words left Akku's lips, Mina realized how serious a problem that was. She knew that's what was bothering Neter, too. Whenever he kept things from her it was because he didn't want to scare her, he meant well, but it didn't help them now.

         "Do you think they are all together?"

         The fears accumulating inside the Temple were growing exponentially, the survivors listened to the discussion with heavy hearts, all of them had been secretly worrying the same sorts of things, by now everyone knew enough about something or another to realize there had been two worlds in play, all along, maybe even three.

         Dena studied the drama unfolding from her seat by the fire, astounded. Like magic, the spell of the Love Trance had been replaced by fear... Now everyone was afraid... Just like the Farewell Celebration. She couldn't believe the phenomenon she had just witnessed... The instruments laying abandoned on stage... The spell had completely changed channels!

         Curious about the coincidences, her attention naturally returned to Josh, he was slowly recovering, surrounded by doting goddesses… Was fear the counter spell to love and vice versa? Her gaze drifted towards Mina, she was lighting the torches around the altar in preparation for a meditation prayer... Zara was helping her... She jabbed Bell with her elbow.

         "Come, it's prayer time!"

         "Here's your goblet, I was using it as a mirror" Dena handed the goblet to Mina.

         "Thank you" Mina smiled, taking the sacred vessel in her hands.

         "I'm so sorry, some of the sacred water was lost. Zara spilled it."

         Out of nowhere, Zara felt like she was barreling over a cliff like old times, unable to defend herself, she could only stammer, speechless.

         "Oh, that's okay!" Mina smiled, taking the goblet. "Thank you Dena!"

         "Didn't the goblet lose some of it's wisdom when Zara spilled the water?" Dena asked, unwilling to let her off so easily. Zara felt her pulse race, her cheeks heat up, there was even sweat breaking out in her palms... It felt like she was back in Atlan!!! 

         "No, not at all" Mina smiled, kindly. "You don't need to worry about the goblet losing any wisdom. The wisdom is inside all water, all water remembers it, water is an endless, indestructible library."

         Dena felt defeated, she didn't like it, but defeat aside, she was quickly learning there was still so much to be learned from the Lemurians, she knew that now, they weren't simply to be dismissed as crazies.

         "Can I do your hair?" She asked, picking up a long red lock, irresistible in the torch light.

         "No thank you" Mina smiled, taking her hand, gently pushing her away, hoping not to offend. Dena wasn't offended. She tried a different approach. She noticed the sadness in her eyes... Mina was no longer the confident and radiant goddess that greeted them at the Farewell Celebration that day. Hollow and thin, she was much weaker than the rebellious Mina that ruled so boldly over Anur once before.

         "I'm sure Neter will be okay" she assured, doing her best to act sincere. "And I'm sure Aquilla's okay too!" She picked up another lock and pulled it up away from her face. "I think you'd look really pretty with a loose bun, can I do your hair?"