2.13 Family Values

        Zara tried to think positive and present herself well like she had learned to do for the Pageant as Mina led her down the street to the spa, but it wasn't so easy. The streets of Anur were bustling with strange activity, it was like a cross between Culloom, Fina and Lochia in that there were no storefronts, there was a street market, however it was like a farmer's market, unlike the street markets in Fina. Here the stalls were shadowed beneath colorful little tents, the tables loaded with strange things she had never seen before, exotic pots and fabrics, clothing and jewelry, there was even food vendors, cooking their goods, it smelled so good, in spite of the mayhem. Goats, dogs and chickens ran wild, it was like a street carnival, everyone seemed happy, nothing like the Hellias she expected to see, it had to be some sort of trap.

         Suddenly a large metal ring rattled out of the bushes ahead followed by a pack of squealing products, followed by a dog, barking loudly. Zara froze as images of dogons with gnashing teeth and terrifying scenes from the Culloom Disaster flashed through her mind.

         "What's wrong?" Mina queried in search of insight.

         Zara pointed at the children, the dog barking at them. "The Products!" she stammered. "The DOG!"

         Mina glanced at the children, now stopped at the side of the road with their ring, they had noticed Zara too. The dog had stopped barking and was now passively sniffing something on the ground. "They seem fine to me" she assured, curious about Zara's language, it was apparently an Atlan thing. "They're just playing with the ring."

         "I’m sorry…" Zara felt foolish now. "I thought the dog was going to attack them…" The dog was obviously a pet, but only now she could see that. "Where’s their Prefect?" She asked, unable to understand how the children could be left in such danger. "Don't they belong in a school?"

         "They go to school, but they don't belong in one" Mina replied, gesturing towards the village. "We call them children here, not products. This is their school" She pointed to a building close by, surrounded by an amazing garden. "That is their school." She pointed to the Crystal Temple behind them. "This market is their school, too. We all teach the children, we teach them everything we know."

         Zara didn't understand, it wasn't just about being taught. "Who feeds them? Where is their institution? Who will protect them if they're just running free?"

         "They're learning to protect themselves" Mina replied. "Right now they're learning how to communicate with animals" she explained. "They're learning physics, and getting exercise too. I understand that's three separate course modules in Atlan, is that true?"

         Zara didn't understand at all, her head was throbbing again.

         Mina did her best to ease her concerns. "We share our food, no one has to go hungry, we grow, gather, cook and eat our food together, in a communal way" Mina explained, troubled that she had to explain this to every refugee that arrived. "Sometimes people eat at the temple, sometimes they gather at each other's houses, sometimes they go for picnics in the woods. Eating is a celebration around here!"

         Picnics in the woods? Images of the bloody white rabbit flashed by, followed by images of the Culloom Disaster. Struggling with waves of nausea and sweating profusely, Zara walked forward again, quietly with Mina to the spa, trying not to look at anything but the ground. The lies were making her feel like she was going insane, panicky palpitations made her feel light headed. Now she wanted to know why Orien had to go away. "Whose children are they?"

         "They’re ours, of course" Mina replied.

         Of course? "Where did they come from?" Zara demanded, getting angry now. "Where are they produced?"

         "They live with their parents..." Mina replied, struggling now herself with Zara's lack of family values. Had it become that bad in Atlan? Were families completely obsolete? Had Orius failed so terribly to protect the children from Atalon's dividing ways? Was that the real reason he left?

         "You mean Prefects?"

         "No, I mean parents."

         "What are parents?"
         Mina placed her hand on Zara's shoulder, sensing her rising anxiety, it wasn't going to be easy to explain without making her upset. She tried to describe the concept of family life, gently, just lightly touching on how they raised their children in Lemuria.

         Zara couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You get to raise your own Products?" Waves of anger shook her to the core. "You raise your Products as your own?" She couldn't believe it, she couldn't even imagine such a thing. "A family?" That they didn't get to do that in Atlan by choice, was heartbreaking!

         Unwanted images of blood from Orien's severed head filling the Golden Goblet wouldn’t go away now, nor would the flashbacks of Medena wielding her bloody sword beneath the approving face of the great Medel watching down from above with blazing red eyes. As if a blow winded her out of nowhere, she doubled over, clutching her stomach and hurled her guts violently all over the street.

         Mina stroked her back gently as she spat the vomit from her mouth, gasping for breath, gravely concerned. She knew now what this mental illness business was about. Atalon was out of control, Zara wasn't the first to demonstrate that, why hadn't Vikkar sounded the alarm? "Come" she coaxed Zara to her feet, "we need to get you to the spa, it's not much farther, we're almost there."

         The children watched with growing concern as Zara pulled herself together and continued down the street to Nulu's Spa; this one had it bad. They knew who Zara was. She was another refugee from Hellias.

2.12 The Stone Egg

        As the forest cleared and the majestic peak of Crystal Mountain soared into view the road from Kergal to Anur met up the river An, the sparkling river that Zara had seen from the tunnel opening. As the road neared the banks it intersected a second road. 

        "That's the road to Mu" Vikkar pointed to the west. "Moonwine country! You will have an opportunity to try some of the very best Moonwine in Anur, it isn't far from here, we are almost there." 

        The road meandered north, up a gentle slope following the green and lush banks of the river. It was only a few miles farther when Zara first noticed signs of tribal life appearing in the scenery, attractive signs. Sparkling crystals strung from trees, shimmering with reflected light of the sun as they spun in the gentle breeze, reminding her of the magical Green Serpent. The first glimpse of buildings appeared soon after, captivating Zara in breathless surprise. The architecture in Anur was as unique as Kergal, however there were no tents or impressive cave openings here. These were real buildings, built with river rocks and grassy rooftops, she had no reference to describe what she saw, this was a form of architecture they never studied in school.

         The buildings looked like cozy dwellings too, they were cute and decorative, each home was surrounded by a wild and colorful garden. And like Kergal's mysterious cave rock dwellings, Anur showed signs of a mysterious past too. Amidst the sparkling crystals and river rock bricks there were remains of a battered past, evidence of struggle and disaster from days gone by. It was apparent when studying the stonework, there was old hobbled together with new. It was the most organic and eclectic house building she had ever seen, why had they skipped this chapter in school? The history had to be incredible!

         Anur continued to steal Zara’s heart the farther they rode into the village. Tempting aromas of freshly cooked food wafted by, sweet music that soothed her soul, lulled her fears away, it gave her tingling sensations, new sensations, sensations that were so strange to feel for the very first time. Once again, she had to remind herself of the cold hard Truth. This place was nothing like the Hellias she had been told to believe it was. Why would anyone condemn all this?

         She studied the locals with strong reservation as they rode into the village. They seemed friendly enough, once again they didn't fit the description of savages or savage beasts, however. Once again there were a mix of Gen classifications; Origians, Products without Prefects, transformed Gens and Nefilim here, too. Zara tried not to stare, like the Dogons, the Origians in Anur were very attractive, there were some very exotic gens here that didn't fit any of the classifications. Some of them had brilliant red hair and some were even blonder than the blondest blondes in the Atlan Empire! Their hair was almost white! What was this place? Was it simply undiscovered wild land?

         Some of them waved, most of them stared at her as she rode behind Vikkar into the village. She smiled, nervously, feeling self conscious of how awful she had to look without her nice blonde wig. Then, just as the road turned into the heart of the village, it was as if she had landed right inside one of her mythology books. There, right before her eyes was the legendary Crystal Temple! It was the most beautiful pyramid she had ever seen, it’s brilliant white walls sparkled like a luminescent beacon in the sun, it was real! Zara stiffened as she reminded herself of the truth; they had learned these Unicorns and Crystal Pyramids were myths for a reason. If they were magical, if they were supernatural, then like everything else in Lemuria, these things were Evil in disguise.

         Vikkar rode straight to the entrance of the temple, helped her off the horse and led her inside. Terrified now, Zara was surprised to encounter a peaceful calm when they walked through the doorway. The hall inside was aromatic, warmed by a crackling fire, blazing in an oversized fireplace, lit by ambient light streaming through a tall narrow window above an enormous stone egg resting on a block!

         "Vikkar! We've been expecting you!" Once again, Zara found herself encountering stunning beauty. The red headed goddess that stood up to greet them was so beautiful, her mere presence was hypnotic. Her porcelain face had perfect features, her magnificent crown of silvery red hair was so long and flaxen it draped like a fine silk shawl, cascading over her beaded pale blue dress.

         "Zara, I'd like you to meet Mina, goddess of Anur, Mina is the great, great granddaughter of the original Moon goddess, Sin. She’s the leader of the Lunar tribe."

         "Sin?" It only confirmed what she already knew; Vikkar was leading her into a trap. She eyed Mina's outstretched hand with great skepticism, she wasn’t going to be fooled by her illusory façade, she was learning fast.

         "Hello" she replied coldly, refusing her hand. "I'm from Infrastructure."

         Vikkar put his hand on Zara’s shoulder, reassuring. "Zara arrived last night."

         Zara was feeling faint, she didn’t feel well enough to solve this riddle of reality, now she was trying to figure out how they all seemed to know each other so well. They spoke as if the ties ran deep. Vikkar? God of Lightning? With secret Lemurian friends? She was growing more and more distrustful of her TLS Program theory and leaning more towards the illusion of paradise that Lemuria was, and how it made a sane Gen go crazy, hence the 'Hellias' moniker.

         Mina knew where Zara was from already. "Welcome to Anur!"

         Zara tried to act gracious. There was nothing but kindness, generosity and good feelings pouring from Mina. If Mina was a witch, she was very good at her Serpent Sorcery, if she was genuinely kind, she didn't want to reject her kindness, either.

         Mina noticed her wounds needed urgent care. "You look like you have a headache?"

         "Oh... Yes...." Zara nodded, remembering now why she was here, relieved by some expressed concern now.

         "We specialize in fixing headaches" Mina smiled, kindly. "We have a special spa where you can take a nice warm bath and get some clean clothes, would you like to go there?"

         A warm bath and clean clothed sounded too good to be true, she wasn't going to turn it down.