3.85 The Truth

         Nolan shuddered at the sight of the Barren Wasteland before him. The chance to escape the tower in Ebar and the fantasy of a Lemurian Hero Quest had lost it's glossy appeal as the reality of Hellias presented itself. Unarmed, packed with barely enough to survive, the incinerated coastline promised of hardship.

         "This is good! Don’t go any closer, we have no idea how deep this water is now." Orius made the command to drop anchor a short distance from the tattered remains of the docks, poking out of the water; Nolan would have to row to shore.

         White knuckled and hair whipping his face, Nolan braved his fate and climbed down the side of the ship.

         "We'll pick you up tomorrow, once you have all the gold" Seton assured with a smile, leaning over the ship railing.

         Nolan glanced down at the dinghy, tossing below him in the maddened waters... It didn't look too safe... Having to row to shore did little to help prepare him for the challenge he faced.

         "Be careful over there... Watch out for the dogons!"

        

         The window inside the Crystal Temple was narrow and the sunlight only cast it’s magical spell upon the Golden Egg for a few minutes. Once the light slipped away, the wind died down and the survivors were left in silent reflection, watching the dust settle around them in peaceful hush.

         "Are you okay?" Neter put his arm on Zara’s shoulder.

         "I know I will be now... " she replied, feeling herself like she had just hatched out of her own Gold Hard Shell. "Why did we survive inside the Crystal Temple? Why has this pyramid survived all the cataclysms and wars? Was it because of that egg?"

         He took a seat beside her. "Not exactly…The pyramid has it's own protective forces around it, it was these energy fields which protected us."

         "There's three ‘indestructible’ pyramids below the sea" Zara reminded.

         "Those weren't real pyramids" he explained, "they just looked like pyramids."

         "How can you say that! Their pyramid shape made them pyramids!"

         "Their shape is only a mortal manifestation" he explained. "It takes more than a mortal manifestation for a pyramid to have an energy field strong enough to protect us. Those pyramids weren't built on the Ley Lines... They weren't made of quartz crystal or aligned to the stars, they weren't channeling any energy from above or below... They were made of lousy mortar and sandstone, they weren't even built on solid rock! They're just cheap replicas, nothing more than control monuments!"

         "Control monuments?"

         "Sure" he replied. "What did Atalon call them? War Bunkers? Ha! He built them to control you, not to protect you."

         "Control us?" Zara was shocked by the suggestion. "How?"

         "How did it make you feel when Atalon told you he wanted to build those great war bunkers?"

         "I dunno…" Zara pondered the moment she first saw the plans. "Protected?"

         "Protected from who or what?"

         Now she caught drift of where he was heading. "Aquilla… The Coming War..."

         "That's right. The Coming War against Aquilla! Atalon wanted everyone to know that he loved them so much he would protect you all from her 'fiery wrath' like no one else could. He made sure everyone perceived his love by making the war bunkers really, really big, that way everyone had to see them every time they stepped outside, then they had to work really, really hard to build them... Everyone had to sacrifice for them, Everyone's terrified... Everyone wants to work hard... Do you see the Great Machine working?" Zara's mind was suddenly spinning and freezing like it used to do. "For god's sake!" He hadn't even realized how angry it made him until now. "He had you begging for mercy, he made you all so afraid you sacrificed your own children to his ridiculous clay statue!!"

         Like a barbed spear stabbing her heart in slow motion, the truth hurt so bad. The moment Zara felt the urge to run across the celebration grounds to rescue Orien returned instantly, in high resolution images. Why hadn't she? 

         With a heavy sigh, she pondered her career, her devotion to the Great Machine, how hard she had tried to be that Great Cog! Neter was right. She could see it all so clearly now. She could see it then, too, she had just refused to acknowledge it. She had been constantly accusing herself of malfunctioning! She wasn't malfunctioning at all! She was trying to acknowledge the Truth!!! Nothing made any sense, so many of the things she never believed, so many things she was told weren’t true, were true after all.

         "The dogons turned out to be real!"

         "Real fake, and you all believed the tabloid stories because there was enough coincidental evidence to sell the lie. That's how they controlled you, by controlling your beliefs. Would you have stayed in Atlan if you had known the truth about Lemuria?"

         "No…" Zara chuckled at the thought as thoughts returned to the day she dared to look over the wall.

         "Exactly. You were so afraid you didn't even dare climb over the wall to go see!"

         "It's a miracle that I came to Lemuria at all!"

         "Had the sign read 'Lemuria' instead of 'Hellias' would it have made the decision any easier?"

         She pondered the moment of decision, feeling so foolish now.

         "I really don’t know…"
         Jasun picked up his harp and sat down on the edge of the stage. He plucked a few random notes, strummed a few chords... As if the music had been recorded, the harmonies and vocals of the Love Song still resonated inside Zara's mind, harmonizing with him, just like it had sounded that night, before so much was lost.

         "It's simple science, really" Neter continued. "As Above, So Below."

         "Other way around" Zara corrected. "As Below, So Above!"

         "Whatever!" He chuckled. "Atalon's sign is like the pyramids, a cheap replica of the real thing, meanwhile, he has absolutely no interest in understanding the concept any farther. It doesn't matter if it's one way or the other, what counts is what Above and Below are. To Atalon, Above and Below was about power and control, about taking control of Gaia so that he could control the Universe... Rule some planet."

         "Elon."

         "Gaia, actually. The truth is, I don't think Atalon was in charge at all, he just thought he was."

         "Who was?" Zara knew it wasn't Medel, but she had wondered about one of the characters in their story. "Vina?"

         "No…" Neter chuckled. Theories of whether Vina was still alive or not were ancient folklore, they had never been proven. "To this day there hasn't been any signs she survived, but who knows? Maybe she did? To be honest, I don't know who was pulling the strings over there" he admitted. "But I can guess." He gestured to the crime scene. "Think about it. What did they take? The one in charge takes what they need."

         Exhausted from the hike up the hill, Nolan couldn't imagine anyone having carried all the gold up to Kergal. The plateau was deserted, odors of death and the stench of charred wilderness still lingered inside the cave. Unable to light a fire without his lighter, unable to see any signs or clues as to the whereabouts of the gold, things looked fairly bleak. Regardless, there were clear signs that Kergal had hosted the gods on their way to Fomora... They left the vats of wine behind… "Three MoonWine and one BloodWine…"

         He studied the scene, there were skeletal remains…. They did drink the wine? What had become of all that gold? Of the gods? Was he in fact alone here? Were they just hiding deeper inside the cave? Paranoia was setting in as quickly as the questions arose. He peered into the depths of the cave, into the black. Once upon a time, Nolan could see very well in the dark, but those days had long gone. Now he was blinded by it, how would he ever find the gold if he didn't have a light to see?

         The Quest for the Lost Gold was off to a dismal start. Lost for answers and agonized by inevitable defeat, he sat down in front of the fire pit, pondering his fate. How would he ever face the gods if he couldn't find the gold? Centuries and centuries of Solarian magic rocks and golden artifacts gone, just like that? All because he didn't check the fucking cargo? Deliberately?

         He couldn't even think about the bomb or Orius's work, washed down the drain. It was an unbearable embarrassment, the whole thing, the shame was too unreal, his name would be famed for all the wrong reasons, for ever. The tap and bolts on the keg of BloodWine made it look like it was staring at him from across the cave, as if mocking him.

         "Fuck you!" He threw a handful of dirt at the vat. Seton knew him way too well. Inconsolable and burdened with shame he began to realize that drinking the wine wouldn't be such a bad way to go, he would spend his last moments drunk, too high to care anymore or even know what was going on...

         The idea grew quickly, this way the truth could die with him, in secret. Perhaps Seton had done him a favor? He stared at the keg, contemplating the grave debate. Was he really ready to give up?

         Envy wasn't something Dena expected to feel in Lemuria. Like an old forgotten sidekick it tormented her once again as she watched the slaves being led down the cliff towards the row boat. Why did Bella get to go to Ebar? Bella wasn't so beautiful, her hair wasn't even a real blonde! She would never be a redhead or a blonde! It wasn't fair, but at the same time, she didn't want to be a breeder anyway, and that was the trade-off she had to remind herself of.

         Nevertheless, it was agony to watch the lucky few, chosen to live a lifestyle they once all took for granted, head off to Paradise without her. She knew what it was. It was all about the hair... All of the red heads were heading to the ship… As were the Dogons… And the Platinum blondes.

         "Torus cut us loose. For now." Bell broke the news as he joined her at the lookout, handing her a scroll.

         "What's this?" Dena took the scroll and tugged at the red ribbon.

         "Your First Assignment. You're moving too. Go pack up, we're out of here."

         "We're leaving?" Dena unfurled the scroll, it was good news?

         "We're going to Kergal, at least for now" Bell informed. "Torus is going to employ us to rebuild the harbor. Once we rebuild the harbor we can build some ships, once we build some ships we can…"

         "…go to Fina…" Dena scanned the document, wide eyed. "…build a Tribe?" Never mind the multiple pregnancies required, taking care of things like food, making clothing, cooking and child care were things that hadn't been discussed, she couldn't do these things! "I can't do these things!"

         "You don't have to do it all by yourself" he winked.

         Dena scanned the scroll a little farther. "Why do we have to go to Kergal?" She protested. "It's so far away!"

         "It's got plumbing. Torus doesn't want us around, he only wants the Nefilim."

         Dena glanced back inside the cave, Malodon hadn't taken all the slaves, there were still over a dozen panthers and Dogons left behind. "What about the rest of them?"

         "Read the scroll." Dena unfurled the scroll farther…

         "Oh…" The news wasn't so bad, after all.

         "Congratulations" Bell grinned. "I can see the tabloids already... Dena, Queen of the New Panthers!"

         "What?" She read farther, now white as a ghost.

         "Yep! We get to keep all the rejects, Malodon's Quality Seconds are ours, baby! Torus seems to think you can turn them into gold!"

         "They’re all mine?" Dena went into shock.

         "Ours." Bell corrected. "Think of it as... Your Initiation Challenge."

         "Initiation Challenge…" The idea was sprouting roots quickly.

         "Don't you worry, we can make Kergal work for us, it's just going to be a bit tough until we get onto our feet."

         "Well… We can't keep calling it Kergal, that's for sure!"

         Overwhelmed by hopelessness and shame Nolan stumbled over to the keg of BloodWine, he could see it had been opened. Who drank it? Thoughts returned to the exodus, to Josh, to all the aribu that fled the Farewell Celebration.... Where did they go? He glanced around the cave, in the dim light, from what he could see, it didn't seem like they were here long... Did they even survive? Would he really find his friends here or were they all dead? Neither scenario gave any real hope at all. Freezing and sweating at the same time, he stumbled out to the plateau and scanned the foggy coastline. Nothing but a charred and barren wasteland spanned before him for as far as he could see. Lemuria had become the very Hellias it had always been described to be, any kind of promising future was hardly imaginable. The Lunies would blame him… The Aribu would blame him... Even Josh would... How could any of them forgive him for this? Perhaps they had decided to drink the wine to save themselves from this misery he had caused them all… They were already in Hellias anyway... The truth was, he didn’t deserve to survive.

         With a heavy heart, he returned to the keg, filled up his flask and raised it to his lips, pausing for a moment to reconsider his decision one last time...

         There was no other way. With a deep breath, he raised the flask for a toast.

         "Hail Medel!"