Heavenly Fan Fiction: The Kingdom Romance Part 1

by MichaelBasham

Annette's spiritual exploration, starting from her days in school and ending in a fantastic trip through the Heavens. This exploration is ongoing, and perhaps challenging to the normal Earthling's paradigm! Reader Beware. . .

The Kingdom Romance Part 1: USA Version

***WARNING: sporadically, perhaps borderlinely heretically written– work in progress. . . kind of a Heaven's Fanfic! Written for the sake of exploration!***

**update note: I recieved a message from someone who ALSO think the C.S. Lewis "Silent Planet" book may be a true account AFTER I started writing this! The timing was perfect!**

To accept everything is an exercise, to understand everything a strain. The poet only desires exaltation and expansion, a world to stretch himself in. The poet only asks to get his head into the heavens. It is the logician who seeks to get the heavens into his head. And it is his head that splits.

–G.K. Chesterton

PART 1: ELENETH

Closing a thick leather bound book with a sigh, Annette looked up for the first time in hours and glanced around her to see if anyone else was in the library. The sun was shining brightly through the stained glass windows making reading there a sheer delight. She tried guessing the time judging from the sunlight's reflection through the stained glass, which always deposited a lovely barrage of color littered all around the library. As it was it was her custom to sit in that exact spot of cushioned seats underneath some beautiful Elizabethan paintings, she had learned where certain colors shone where and at at what time. She was almost to the point of naming certain hours and times after their appropriate colors based on the refractions of the stained glass on certain locations of the oak desks and cherry wood book cases, 'but now that would be a little too nerdy' she thought. If she started saying "I'll be needing to get out of here by Turquise O'Clock and not a minute before Violet!" — that just would not lend a helping hand to her recent resolve to become more sociable.

Confident that there was nobody around, she stood up, stretching her back and neck, reaching her slender arms up towards the ceiling and then down to her feet, shaking some of the gold dust off her dark red dress (not that these two colors didn't go well together) as the dust from many gold-leafed classic and ancient bound literature tended to find its way into every corner of the library. As she gathered her things, she reminisced on the events that had led to her moving to this town. They all seemed far too dramatic to be real.

All she had wanted was a quiet life: to simply learn a variety of things, have a simple love of life maybe find a nice boyfriend and eventually settle down, perhaps find a nice job teaching literature somewhere. Or, rather, at the very least this is what she thought she had wanted as it was seemingly the most natural course of action for someone in her position– a daughter of two professors from Cambridge University whose parents were also teachers, also teaching the same sort of subjects (mostly Math and the Sciences), and their parents also, and on it went down the family tree… actually it was downright uncanny! To think that for nearly 6 generations her ancestors had all been teachers, and almost all the subjects were related in some way. Honestly though, during her 18 years of existence, despite this legacy running through her blood she really didn't feel any smarter for it. She had for some reason developed a deep thirst for researching and enjoying the Classics and so had somewhat rebelled from her family's tradition.

For the first time in her life, she was away from all the people she knew –and this was by her own choice. 'I will now carve my own path!' She thought. Annette had chosen to break the vicious cycle of endless education and teaching and studying. . . and look where she had ended up! The past 6 months had been spent with every free moment hardly anywhere else but inside of this beautiful library, and yet– considering the exceptionally rare collection here, it was understandable. The biggest shame of this whole town was seeing how little the rest of the townsfolk seemed to appreciate their wealth of knowledge stored up here, which could hardly be found anywhere else. She had taken upon herself to love up these unloved works of art and beauty which had obviously been sitting here for years and years untouched. At least it seemed like the rest of the townsfolk rarely read anything along these lines, considering the absolute riveting nature of the contents of most of the books– whereas most of the townsfolk seemed more often than not preoccupied with the enjoyment of 'relationship-related revelries (the three R's, Annette had personally dubbed this silly past time)'. In other words, the majority of the people who could have otherwise been spending glorious hours, like Annette, reading in this beautiful library were all out busy socializing and focusing mostly on relationship type stuff. . . not Annette's biggest focus at this moment. Ah, well, not physically, anyway. . .

Walking up and down the aisles, lightly, almost dancingly, she enjoyed the sound of her shoes on the deep wooden floors echoing around everywhere. Her mind was hardly able to breathe a thought outside the story she had been presently so engrossed in: A great catastrophe had been averted by a simple song of a woman, singing longingly for her distant lover. The titanic struggle and massiveness of the armies striving against each other were at a climax when one lone voice, it is said, brought them to peace. Annette knew she must have been more than a little bit weird for researching all these stories, but "at least they all have to do with love," she reminded herself reassuringly.

Finally she stepped outside to the gentle air of an approaching Malacandrian evening. Far away mountains that were impossibly high stretched up, up, up and disappeared behind clouds. Birds sang songs she had not heard back home. The tunes and melodies these birds sang almost carried with them actual themes, which, of course, was impossible– but if you spent enough time listening, you'd swear they were not only singing actual self-created songs, but they were also composing new ones and learning even how to harmonize when one bird's voice sang over another's. This added a lot to the effect the actual scenery had on your eyes to begin with: Everything about this place just made you want to stop and paint pictures, even if you weren't an artist. This is one reason Annette enjoyed these solitary moments: the beauty encompassing one everywhere around here made her feel so warm, and so loved, as though the world itself embraced you wherever you went.

She stopped for a few minutes and it was just the birds, the wind passing through the mountains, and her own breathing, ultra relaxed and refreshed ("reading just oxygenates the soul! " –went her old silly family slogan). She wasn't hungry, but she had an appointment for dinner and was already running late if she didn't hurry, she realised. The Librarian greeted her, coming up the stairs from the market place at the foot of this steep hill. The look in his eyes seemed to manifest the fact that he had obviously been a little bit forgetful in his duties that day, while getting lunch. Crime was nonexistent here, so why bother with security in a place like a library? They were good friends, of course, and Annette so Annette jokingly told Mr. Faulkner, "Don't worry! Your secret is safe with me! Hope you enjoyed lunch. . . and dinner!" and Mr. Faulkner, always full of wit and entertaining retorts complimented Annette on her lovely clothes but with a twinge of an implied comeback "Ah you had better not! And my goodness, Miss Annette, you've been going non-stop today, haven't you? Your rose colored dress goes majestically with the gold-leaf dust! I am sure no one will guess where that's from. Ah– look, it's getting to be orange-blossom-thirty, which is the time I usually write a poem about a beautiful girl. You're my victim this evening, I'm afraid.I really had better get back to the library now, and write that poem!" And before Annette could answer, Mr. Faulkner hurried off, but after he was some distance away, as Annette checked and was correct in predicting, he pulled out his pipe and veeeery leisurely strolled around the gardens surrounding the hill the library was built on. She felt warmed even by the actions of the townspeople here, who seemed both industrious and able to relax and enjoy themselves. She was learning– but it would take her some time, she felt, to acheive THAT level of lazy productivity!

Eleneth was a relatively small town, built artistically into a valley with a large river separating it. The deepness of the valley made you feel as if you were in a self-contained bubbled reality. You just felt miles away from the hustling bustling big crazy world with so much insanity all pressed in upon itself. Such was life in London, where she had spent the last few years. Even a quiet moment was usually spent checking your iPhone's Facebook updates or listening to some new Lady Gaga song. Here though, Annette had strangely lost all taste in what used to occupy most of her life.

Just what exactly was it about Eleneth? The architecture was a mix of high-tech Modern buildings and 18th Century European styled inns and homes. These were built beside closely fitted roads and alleyways laid in lovely stone brick patterns, weaving in and out of lovely buildings underneath bridges and into tunnels passing through hills. These comfortably wound in and out and overlapped, but almost never dead ended. You had the feeling that Eleneth was extremely over developed, in its own quaint and humble way. The architects of this city had planned it almost too well, too, as though they expected modernization to take place many generations after they had made the layout– and indeed it felt thousands of years old. It was a place full of contradictions and oddities which Annette had resolved to discover "when she got around to it" — and this was always a mission being put off.

Annette was constantly getting involved with the curiously shy families of Eleneth, who would go to great lengths trying to get their sons to court with her. This is was something that Annette decided was quite 'amusing. . . but distracting!'

The issue of having incessent attention from the opposite sex was almost becoming routine at this point, and took a lot of her time, but she didn't mind. It helped keep her thoughts off of being away from home, which was nice. She truly did want to go out and see for herself the vast and incredible landscapes that surrounded the town, however, and especially after a full day's reading at the Library– like today. Since she had recently flung herself into the engrossing and dramatic world of war and love in her latest reading endeavor, she had a particular whetted appetite tonight for something new. She now particularly lusted after those impossibly high mountains (not that she would ever be able to climb them) and longed and yearned for the mysterious looking forests beyond (not that forests were safe for pretty girls to go walking in alone), which seemed composed of unearthly shaped trees– but she couldn't tell from this distance.

Tonight Annette was yet again going to another family's humorous and silly, somewhat forcefully arranged courtship with their son, and so was most likely going to be thwarted for the thousandth time in her plans of adventure. But something about tonight was different There was an electric feeling in the air, though she couldn't put her finger exactly on what it was. Her most recent stalker was a man named Richard Donner, and she had obligingly agreed to a meal with his family on the opposite side of the river. This was most likely set up by her benefactors in the city, who were none other than the Mayor (who went by the name of Ransom) and his wife. Annette had had enough of political niceties and having to be proper in these fancy dinners they were constantly arranging for her, even if this one was meant to lead to something other than just a new friendship (as some of her friends had mentioned to her earlier about tonight's prospect).

Usually these lavish dinners and the stalkers they seemed to breed into Annette's life shortly afterwards served to accomplish little more than just distract her from her love of just living her life and quietly minding her own business . . . which was her usual course of action. Annette realised she was a little bit like a Hobbit in this sense, and this conflicted with the fact that she was also a very beautiful woman, "alarmingly so," as her aunts and uncles had put it, when she came of age –with no small amount of charm that came naturally. This could have been used for self-popularization should she have so desired, but she had not taken any steps in this direction. She liked dressing well and took good care of herself. She had an abililty to make herself look attractive without looking like she was making a lot of effort to do so, and carried herself with confidence. Her posture, manners, and a high adorableness-level were in-bred, and said "I'm a professional lady" in a very non-priggish way. This also, by the way, gave her a lot of favor with people who had lots of money or influence.

She was still a human being though, and as a girl she couldn't help but be flattered by all the attention given to her in Eleneth. Perhaps she did stand out a little bit from all the other girls, not being plagued by all the formalities that most of daughters of Eleneth's families had (despite their being also equally charming and beautiful in Annette's eyes). Sometimes Annette felt as though she had stepped into a romance novel enthusiast's dream– a beautiful place with very little standing in the way of allowing young men and young ladies from getting to engage in many fun and enjoyable and lavish activities that usually led to actual traditional courtship. Unrestrained lovings and the enjoyment of. . . love and love and more love. It actually made her blush whenever she gave it any serious amount of thought: 'Yes, indeed the plus side of the rather conservative nature of the people of Eleneth was that this whole society really truly seemed to promote and enhance the whole experience of building a relationship from square one. But it certainly is extremely odd for this modern day and age! Wasn't it the year 2010 ?'

Once while visiting one of the homes of the families here, she entered into a long conversation with the lady of the house on the whole subject and the peculiarity of the dating arrangements here as compared to the rest of the world. She was given a book that had been written hundreds of years before, but which was apparently still taught in their local middle school on the details and manners which young gentlemen and ladies should interact, and how they could better understand each other in order to better enjoy the whole process of love and courtship… Annette was astounded. She hadn't been very big on clubbing back at home in the U.K., but she had accepted the world as being a place that generally didn't have this sort of thing anymore, except perhaps in some forgotten culture in the jungle somewhere where lack of hygene would make it a low priority for a romance seeker to go and visit. Annette wasn't particularly thirsty for this kind of experience, as she was bred in a very professional and intellectual environment that put money and learning above such silly things as dating. . . but even if it was only on an intellectually stimulating level, she was definitely. . . intrigued would be the right word. Or maybe just amused.

Click on either the gentleman or lady above for tips on courtship.

Annette had been attending some classes on classical arts in the small college at the edge of town, and these were on some very girly subjects– flower arrangement, embroidery and caligraphy among other things. She hadn't particularly wanted to learn these things so much (it was at the Mayor's wife's recommendation), but they turned out to be very enjoyable, much to Annette's surprise. Her class scheduling was very light and so she found herself with much time to spare afterwards and go out to eat with her classmates. Those whose families lived in Eleneth often invited her over to eat at their homes, and so Annette would often spend many hours socializing and interacting with the townsfolk, getting to freely go wherever she pleased nearly all the time. The tuition and dining and living quarters at the school had all been paid for beforehand, by her parents. Whenever she went out it was almost always to enjoy the fellowship of her friends at their houses, and since they were so generous (and obviously well off. . . their houses were often times immense mansions!) She couldn't remember the last time she had taken out cash to pay for anything.

Annette began the long but pleasant walk from the height of this hill down, towards the bridge. She tried to focus on what the evening held, but something deep inside of her was distracting her. She felt every step she took through Eleneth was filled with the memory of the time she had spent there, which was relatively short but felt like long ages. There was no reason for her to feel any different right then, but her heart filled with joy at the happy memories that seemed to pack themselves in to every single day spent there, like pure Heaven. However there was something underneath that wasn't complete, and she had an even deeper sense of yearning for whatever it was. The words of a U2 song started making their way into her mind "And I still haven't found what I'm lookin' for!"

She stopped by her living quarters at the school to drop off some "priceless treasures" she'd found at the Library and then to double check her appearance before finally leaving for the Donner's. She didn't want to make too much of an impression, so decided against any flashy hair styles or fancy makeup. Her dress was sexy, she felt, and her hair felt beautiful naturally. however, Marie (one of her classmates and dearest friends) happened to walk by her room while she was checking herself in the mirror and gave her a golden necklace, adding with a knowing smile, "Please, I know you don't like this guy but just wear it for me, my Annie Wannie! You look irresistable like this! I would marry you if could!" and skipped off. Marie was rather eccentric, but upon second glance of the necklace she realised it was a fantastic piece of jewlery, with diamonds suspended somehow between fine helixes of gold. Marie had left before explaining any details concerning this piece of art, which was obviously made by an expert crafstman with a skill yet unseen by Annette, who at the very least had a decent enough understanding of physics to know that this kind of thing is probobly impossible to make under normal circumstances. Anyway it was too late to ask Marie, since she would already be late! She checked herself in the mirror once again with the necklace. Marie had been right- she looked otherworldly with it on. The necklace refracted golden light in a gentle glow across her dress, somewhat exposed chest, neck and chin from the sunlight coming through the window of her bedroom. There was definately something wonderful about this evening, she decided. But why did it have to be with Richy Rich of all people?

Their evening would be surrounded by guests noble guests from many different cities, and countries. Annette didn't want to think about the expense for such a lovely party. The Donner Family was exceptionally generous when it came to hosting parties. Richard was an artist and a wild man, and his parents were desperate to get him married to a nice girl before he reached the age of 30. It sounded suspiciously like this was all a setup. Just another attempt by his parents to find their poor boy an appropriate lady. Annette would have none of this silly outdated arranging. Once the meal was finished, she was bent on checking out some of the flower groves behind his family's estate. And before embarking on her adventure, she might have to do something inappropriate just to make Richard wake up from his prolonged childhood ways! He was too dependant on his parents! Living at home at such a late age disturbed Annette, and she actually pitied him. She felt a new idea emerge. A blossoming of a mission, or side quest to her original plan. She had to find a way to crack this ultra conservative shell that was around dear Richard thanks to his family, and implant an idea in his mind of leaving home, pursuing grander goals, and then perhaps she might take interest. However this may take some planning, and right now she had very little time. And she couldn't really picture Richard apart from his family.

"Ahh, I'm just imagining silliness!" she thought, and set out on her way. She would need to hurry a bit. She liked to amuse herself with these kinds of fantasies, even if she didn't have the power to carry them out. As she walked she began to think of ways she might tease Richard that evening, especially in front of his cool friends he always surrounded himself with.

Hoping she wasn't over dressing with this rather attractive and revealing dark red satin dress, Annette made it to the bridge which crossed Eleneth's beautiful sparkling river seperating it into two. She greeted some other very dear, dear sweet neighbors (whose names she had yet to recall) who were out for a stroll in this lovely weather. Certainly one of the most remarkable points of an Autumn night in Malacandria was the fact that even after the sun had set, it never really got dark. It was like a Summer's night in the Far North, where it stays light out for months at a time.

She passed a few carriages being pulled by the natives (they count it as an honor, so they say) and they bowed and greeted her in their strange harsh-sounding language, yet very kindly. The natives were aboriginals of this little-known country called Malacandria, and they didn't seem to know much English, but they were very kind, and … well, they were also very fat. But all were quite jolly, so this was a big plus! They had an odd practice of wearing lots of baggy clothes, with hoods disguising their odd features, and were quite hairy folk. After you got over the idea that you were interacting with a person that resembled a bear more than a regular human being, they were really quite fun and mirthful, and added to the wild feeling of this place.

The pace of life here was so slow that people didn't even use cars! It was like living in another era. You always had time enough to reflect on things as you walked through this nearly impossibly beautiful view. It seemed like a Disney cartoon, or like being at Disney World itself, except nothing was fake. Every detail of this place just emanated depth, mystery and life. There seemed to be secret stories nearly everywhere, and sometimes Annette would find herself enthralled by the folk tales and "gossip" of the town which was always about something involving Lore (that old forgotten word) –rather than silly shallow talk about other people's recent business. Oddly enough there was hardly any of that here. Hardly anyone used Facebook, either, come to think of it.

The "Lore," was actually what led her to want to try to use this evening as an opportunity to explore and seek out some of the mysteries of this place. She had overheard some talk of an old secret abandoned prison whose entrance was located in the famous Flower Groves behind the Donner's house. This place contained numerous amazingly tall and wondrous flowers, most likely related to gigantic dandelions, but much much bigger, unlike anything Annette had ever seen before. Anyway, apparently this dungeon had on its lowest level a doorway which led to an underground science and research lab, supposedly connected by a vast underground train to an even larger area. The strange thing about the stories Annette gathered about this place was their connections, even in olden times, to some very curious scientific practices. There was often talk of those who worked in this sector of the populace. All this sounded like science fiction, but since science ran in her blood she thought she might have a look and see if there were any clues to an entrance or whatnot. She wasn't afraid of some old abandoned dungeon. Even if there were merely tons of overgrown flowers there (perhaps the result of genetic engineering?) and nothing else, she would still enjoy herself.

Just as she was about to step down the spiral staircase at the end of the bridge, she realised she had left her gift at the library, which she had meant to give to the Donners. "Oh, Charles Spurgeon Church-Muffins!" she grumbled, and hurriedly began to turn back when she bumped smack-dab right into an unknown stranger who had been rather silently coming down the stairs behind her. There is, of course, hardly a stranger that isn't unknown, but this man was exceptionally strange for a stranger in Eleneth which indeed had its share of strangers! He was dressed in a dark brown robe, carefully meant to conceal some kind of flashy metal clothing underneath. Was this man wearing — armor? It had a lovely goldish, silverish glow and was dazzling to the eye, since it was unexpected here in such a peaceful place. His outer garments were actually rather drab looking. There was also a clanging sound when he stepped back suddenly (could it be a sword? This guy walks around with a sword?) and this alone was enough to arouse curiosity in Annette's mind, but she quickly composed herself and in a very ladylike fashion didn't hang around to find out any more details.

"Excuse me!" she said, politely and briskly and was going to continue on her way. The man, however, stopped her, putting his hand gently on her shoulder to keep her from running away, so he could properly apologize. He bowed and begged her pardon. Even bowing, however, he was at least a couple of inches over Annette's height, who stood just under 5 feet tall. The bowing stranger had the beginnings of a beard and seemed in his early twenties (although you can never tell with people around here) and short brown hair about the same color as the robe he wore. He already had a mystic presence about him, but she thought she could see something in his eyes as they pointed down low reverently, that reminded her of the stories she had been reading in the library –that of a battle hardened strength and a sense of honor. She tried not to get caught staring and darted her eyes to the passing pink and purple clouds over the riverside as he regained his composure.

"My lady, do be careful! These stairs are quite steep! Ah– I believe this parcel belongs to you? A friend of yours named 'Marie' asked me to catch up and pass it to you, as she had business of her own to tend to at that moment. " and he produced the exact present Annette was about to go dashing across the river and up the hill and back down and across the bridge again to retrieve. Her already reddened face blushed a little bit more.

"Yes! Oh my goodness, thank you so much! I am in your debt." and took the present clutching it joyfully, not taking her gaze from the mysterious stranger's eyes. He seemed to look back at her with eyes that spoke different words than merely what he was speaking. . . if that makes any sense.

"My name is Annette. Are you visiting here?" The man introduced himself as "Khanokh", which took quite some time to get across, but once she repeated it a few times "Ka- Cannock- Khanock. . . " she was somewhat able to pronounce it. 'definitely not from around here,' she mused. Suddenly she had the most desperate and odd urge to go to wherever it was he was from and know everything about that place. She suppressed these emotions from flickering across her face, and instead curtsied (hopefully just a little bit cuter than usual) and began to turn and head to the Donner's house for a dinner, which now seemed even more a dull evening's prospect than ever. Once again, though, Khanokh, at the risk of maybe looking a little bit rude, stopped her and laughed:

"Are you in such a rush? I thought I just saved you a long and arduous journey! At least allow me to escort you to wherever you were headed-" and before he could finish Annette rather awkwardly exclaimed in a slightly perhaps rather overly too delighted voice,

"Yes, please would you be so kind! Thank you very much." and then in a more composedly, "I just was on my way to the mansion a few blocks down the road, it won't take but a few minutes, kind sir, er, Mr. Knokckok. . ." and her face flushed but she managed to begin walking so that perhaps he did not see.

"Of course, you must be in a hurry so let's be off!"

They walked under a strikingly gorgeous sunset which caused the river's hues to twinkle shades of bright green, blue, purple, and some colors which we don't have words for yet (but we're working on it). Their conversation revealed to Annette that this man was definitely one to look into. He spoke and acted strangely, but in a way that caused Annette to somehow feel. . . nostalgic. What could this be? Was he some sort of spy or hypnotist? Perhaps the town's security guard was alerted to his presence? She would inquire the details later, she decided.

Some rain began to pour over a different section of the city (this was another amazing aspect of Eleneth in Malacandria– often it would rain over a certain part of the city, and no other– as though a waterfall just came out of nowhere and would leisurely move around, watering different parts of the vegetation and leaving other areas completely dry!) Watching this waterfall and talking with Khanokh, Annette felt a profound sweeping sense of the suppressed loneliness she had endured during this time being away from her family arise. These strong and mixed emotions Annette had suddenly violently grabbed her, and she found herself clutching his arm, just as he was about to explain where he had come from and the details of why he was here (which should have been at the highest priority of her informational gathering overly intellectually trained mind). Horrified, she cried out awkwardly:

"What! Oh, Um… Sorry! Why?" and she tried letting go, but was unable to do anything. Khanokh stopped talking. Finally she let go!

"Ah! got it! No problem!" and felt embarrassed once again, for just latching on to a complete stranger like some kind of weirdo. However, there are some things you might not yet understand about the culture of where Annette was living at the time– and the mannerisms were quite different than you may be used to so that behavior like this was not entirely unacceptable. However this man was not from this area and might not understand such free affection. The fact that Eleneth felt so secluded allowed for more open loving affection compared to other places. . . but we will approach these subjects in due time.

Khanokh laughed loudly, helping Annette to be more at ease. "I'm here to tell you something Annette. I suppose you've been here for a long time! Well come and see me after your dinner and I'll tell you why you came here. I bet you don't even remember, do you? Your time is up here, and I have been sent to bring you home. Go and enjoy yourself, and meet me at half past midnight in the flower grove gardens behind the Donner Residence, and I promise I will explain everything. I have some urgent business to attend to, which affects all the people living here. They are due for something very momentous and challenging and which I think they do not expect. have you heard of a certain lady Sapphire? She will be arriving to Eleneth shortly and a certain prophecy says her presence will cause this land to lift up from its very foundations and up, off of Malacandria! You knew that is what this city is designed to do, right? Ah, I have already said too much. Go and eat as much as you can! You will need strength for the things which I am about to disclose to you, my dear Lady Annette. You have not been informed in the least of your importance and role here, and this was purposeful. Your days of reading and blithely relaxing are coming to a close, I'm afraid. . . " and suddenly he was off, walking into the shimmering fog that had started to rise from the nearby rain's plummeting waterfall upon the river's edge.

Annette's strength returned to her after hearing these words, and after thoughtfully standing there taking it all in for a few moments, a rush of adrenaline made her walk straight down the road immediately right up the steps to the all-too-gigantic mansion which was awaiting her arrival.

There was some nice music coming from inside, and all the windows were lit up. There was the feeling of a warm and loving household full of guests enjoying themselves and talking cheerfully inside. Mr. Donner, the head of the house himself opened the door, holding a martini in one hand, and pausing in mid sentence about some political matter with a friend in a loud jolly voice, and welcomed Annette in "Well look who is here! My you look lovely!" and he managed to not glance for too long at Annette's strikingly beautiful womanly features. This was one thing that always made her feel silly about this town– the overly conservative nature of its folk and suppressive nature when it came to anything having to do with sex or sexiness… but by this time she hardly noticed it anymore. It did however passively cause her already floating mind to wander back to whether or not perhaps the hooded knight, Khanokh may have stolen any glances himself, and what he might have thought when he did. The nobleness of their chance meeting caused her to forget anything in the realms of sexuality momentarily, but truth be told she was a bit bashful to realise she was feeling very aroused even at the mere thought of this mysterious guy, Khanokh!

"I take it you must be hungry!" Said Mr. Donner, catching Annette in her musing thoughtful spaciness.

"Ah! ha - yes, I mean, I'm ok! I, are you guys having dinner now? I'm very honored to join you guys!" She stammered.

For the next few hours, Annette went into automatic-socializing mode, although she really did genuinely enjoy herself at what was perhaps the nicest night of fellowship with the people of Eleneth since her arrival. She just couldn't take her thoughts away from this feeling that something was different, and very signifigant. While chatting around the fireplace (and with their son, Richard, incessantly flirting with her to no end, which was what she sort of expected to begin with) she managed to still detach enough from the situation to ponder her being here and what it all meant. Her parents had asked her to come, right? It was a kind of exchange trip. . . no, that couldn't be it. . . suddenly she realised she was not at all entirely aware of the reason of her being in Eleneth, and not only that– she couldn't remember actually arriving, nor the events leading up to her coming here. This was such a wonderous place, and certainly she must have had made plans for a long time before her arrival to settle all the visa work (although with a British passport it is quite easy to go to any country you wish within reason) and-

"Would you like something else to drink? I'd be so happy to get you more of whatever it is you've got there!" said Donner, trying not to stare at Annette's somewhat exposed chest and only at her drink which she was holding purposefully just underneath her full breasts, just to play with him a little, knowing it would make him act like an even greater fool than he already was, but figuring that it was probably good for him. It was somewhat unusual for women to dress very flashy around here, so Annette was naturally getting lots of looks.

She gave Richard hardly any help in starting conversation, knowing that the whole night was supposed to be a sort of setup for them. . . then again everyone else seemed very happy and enjoying themselves in the multitudes of halls and socializing rooms the Donner Mansion had. Richard was very sweetly stammering over even the most simplest of words to Annette, offering her no small amount of amusement. He was a very nice young man, of course, which is what you'd expect from someone having the proper rearing and training he'd received from his parents. However, if you think about it, they had taken great length to educate him in some of the most useless fields of art and theological training during this very important time in the worlds history, with a large war (so they say) looming on the horizon. The need of the youth in their town and the neighboring cities for soldiering was growing every day. Come to think of it, everywhere you saw there was a unifying "call to arms" more or less, these past few months.

Hardly any of these political topics interested Annette, however. She every day consuming voraciously the vast amounts of rare literature and lore which the township library held, and had spent comparitavely very little time with any of the young men. This indeed caused caused even the best of the nobility and otherwise very composed fellows (who were and self-confident in their charms) to go to great lengths to court Annette. None of this held her fancy for long, although she had some secret flings here and there for a little while. That didn't las. None of this captured her heart, though, and she knew she was indeed not ready for any sort of serious long term interloping with anyone she had met thus far.

After commissioning Richard to go on a quest to assemble the perfect cocktail (which he would most likely never be able to do) and feeling only a little guilty about it, she took the chance to wander around the Donner estate and admire the various works of art and beautiful ornate architecture of this mansion… no, it was more like a palace! Who on earth could live like this? There was even a fantastic ballroom which they would be using soon, once the rest of the guests arrived. There was a gigantic dining hall and way way way too many bedrooms all furnished up to the standards of the finest royalty. However it seemed somehow that these riches were not being put to proper use. Some of the guests there were apparently going to be staying for quite some time, but the majority of the bedrooms were empty. She noticed too, a large area for classes and private tutoring in various arts and other skills, such as fencing and a whole area for target practice. There was even a large racetrack for horse back riding. "How mysterious all of this is~! I have hardly given it a second glance in all my time here! " she thought.

Gazing out of a window overlooking a large terrace with an ornate garden and ivory water fountains that were beyond description— so beautiful that if you looked at the sparkling water coming out of the carved statues long enough you felt emotion swell up inside of you, just because they were so unearthly! And despite all the "decadence," the people who came were all very notably humble and sweet, and there was none of the kind of pomp and circumstance you'd expect from a typical gathering of such obviously influential guests.

Annette decided she'd been mean enough to dear Richard and decided to go and grace him once more with her presence (she thought sarcastically) when a certain painting caught her eye. First of all, the frame itself almost seemed to be alive. There were swirling waves and diamonds scintillating throughout the frame, almost as if they were moving on their own accord. The painting seemed to fit with all the other famous and notable works in the large collection, but on second glance, the content was absolutely mysterious. Annette struggled within her mind to place exactly who the painter was and what the date was, but simply couldn't. It was a simple depiction of the Nativity Scene, but around the whole scene was a dark presence, which you would not expect from typical Christmas paintings. This was odd enough in itself, as you could see devils and demons and Hell itself seemingly opened in the far corner of the landscape behind the cave where Mary was holding The Child. But when you looked at it for more than a few moments, the scene itself seemed to draw you in and envelop you. She felt such a peace when looking at the picture, knowing that warm feeling from Christmas and having fond childhood memories of that festive time, but when seeing the demons surrounding (yet not being able to penetrate) the inner scene, she felt a deep meaningfulness and purposefulness which she had not ever attached to such religious media. In this picture, why did it seem like Christmas itself was more of a declaration of war than a simple happy holiday of the so-called Son of God being born? She hadn't really thought about any of this, and her family hadn't really taken the time to explain it to her before, not being a religious family.

Finally she pulled herself back to the fireplace, and just in time to see Richard gingerly balancing a pretty decent looking drink which he had over-carefully prepared for her. She suppressed a laugh when she realised that it had at least 9 different kinds of fruit sliced in and around the glass, and the cocktail was obviously prepared very well. It had that lovely sparkle in the middle of the glass. The sparkle was trademark of the glowing mixture the people of this town called "love fluid" in jest, which was a kind of sweet nectar derived from a rare fruit that only grew in this province. It actually really does make one feel loved, remarkably, when drunk. Not the same as alcohol, but it almost tastes like pure nostalgia and longing fulfilled at last. . . that was Annette's personal poetic interpretation, at least!

She sat down with the utmost ladylike graces and charm, and just bathed in the attention of Richard (and his friends, too, but they were not so accepted as usual, at this time when his full focus was on Annette). She eventually grew bored again, however, and found herself stealing glances at the clock every so often.

She excused herself momentarily once more after a few hours, this time escaping to the gardens. She wanted to see which was the quickest way to make it to the very unique "Flower Groves" which were just over the hill you could see behind their backyard. It would take her roughly 20 minutes of walking, and she would have to be covert, she decided, if she was to make it in time to have her mysterious meeting! She noticed as she thought through her plan that her heart started to beat a little bit quicker. "what is wrong with me!" she wondered, a little happily! She hadn't felt like this in quite some time. . .

A few hours later, once the formalities had been dispensed with and the guests had quieted down and the clock was nearing her set limit point of escape, she managed to break free of any more of her obligations and duties to show her face there. She set out, gazing at the beautiful mountain range that stretched up into the sky, beyond any she'd previously seen. The trees were practically blue, although this was just a trick of the light, she decided. She made her way through the wooded area behind the Donner's house, and just at the perfect time arrived at the Flower Groves, which were obviously some sort of genetic engineering feat, since unbelievably huge flowers of all shapes towered over you here, creating a nearly overpowering fragrance especially at night. The evening dew created a sort of humidity that made you feel as though you were walking into a terrarium and the gigantic stems and leaved forests made you half expect to see a gigantic turtle or frog to come jumping out at any moment. She was nearly used to unifying in her mind the strangeness of this land, with the things she'd learned growing up about the world that were "normal." These days anything was possible, she thought. So much had changed since she had left home.

She guessed it was about time for the mysterious man to arrive, although by now she was a little bit tired from the evening's battles to keep mr. incessant Richard from annoying her too much. She was sure he had gotten the hint that she was not interested in him, but the ways his family and hers were setting them up seemed to cause her wishes to matter less than they should. Why had the Mayor and his wife taken such an interest in Annette's future and personal life? She felt she was only a simple girl, and was positive this wasn't anything her parents had asked them to do. They had always kept a little bit too much out of her personal life, even, and for this reason she had never successfully ever found a suitable companion. The fact they were both always involved in their careers also gave her more of a pride in their family's professionalism than the close bonds a family should have shared. So from a young age she had taken to study and learning whatever suited her fancy at the time. "Now. . . this, however, is a time of changes!" she decided.

She was staring at a glowing blue worm making its way up a stalk, trying to figure out if that was supposed to exist or not when a voice interrupted her:

"Hello! You came!" It was Khanokh, emerging from the misty fog surrounding the massive flowerbed they were standing in, similar to the way he had disappeared earlier.

"Yes Sir! Mr. Khanokh, it is I… Lady Annette Valeria Simonette Esquire the 3rd at your service and reporting for duty!" For some reason she felt more able to act her wild and silly self when around this person. Definately not from around here her thoughts echoed again. She had asked some of the richer folks of influence at the dinner earlier that evening if there was any knowledge of a Mr. Khanokh's arrival, but was met only with quizzical looks and denials and so she decided this must either be a hallucination or perhaps… was he a spy?

"Dear Lady . . . Esquire the 3rd?" Responded Khanokh with a mocking tone. "Well I shall at once assign you to a cultural re-education center to teach you some proper announcement of noble titles! You couldnt' fool me for one second. Do you know who I am? Or rather do you know who you are? I am here to take you down the rabbit hole, dear girl." and he set off walking as he talked, motioning her to join him. "You are rather an adventurous type, I see, but you haven't yet set foot out of this county, have you?" He spoke with a light air, but there was definitely an authority underneath his mirth.

"No, I can't say I've made it that far yet," Annette answered. "I've been somewhat engrossed this past few months in, ah, I know this will sound silly but I really have an enthusiasm for reading, well you know, books."

"Well, I say! That's better than watching TV! Have you figured out that this place isn't normal yet? You are quite talented in your ways of perception. In fact that's one reason we chose you."

"Really?" Annette felt a sudden joy at any kind of compliment from this man. Normally she would just feel proud as she did take pride in herself for paying attention to finer artistic detail in life, but she was presently losing all interest in herself the more she listened to the hooded traveler speak.

"Yup! Actually there is a position available for you. But we'll get to that in a little while. It's time to explain what is going on here a little more to you. Because we usually don't force anything on anybody before they are ready. But I think you are ready," he said mysteriously.

Annette was suddenly a bit offended, mainly at being treated as someone who was in the dark (even if she was still a little bit, at least). "What do you mean 'we'? And why do you still wear this ridiculous robe? I don't think there's anything to hide out here! Except you might offend the glow worms!"

"Ah! A bit sensitive now, poor girl!" and he stripped of his outer garments. What ensued was a burst of light, brighter than lightning and causing all the leaves and flowers to turn to face the source– this man's armor was so bright you could not look at it directly. "Offend the glow worms indeed we may!" he said, with a laugh that seemed to shake the whole forest. His voice also was full of power that reverberated in Annette's soul. Then he replaced the drab robe and the light dissipated immediately. He just left the hood down, allowing a small amount of light to come and lighten the grove only gently now. It seemed as if the mist and dew itself retained and held on to some of the light, still, almost as if they were drinking it in and treasuring it even after it had gone. Annette, once she was able to recollect herself, finally got back to her feet (she had fallen back in surprise).

"Who are you!" she cried, suddenly her eyes filling with tears not of fear or anything but of pure joy, and why she couldn't say. There was a warmth in Khanokh's face that shone quite clearly and reached out to her, conquering her. She dropped to her knees and was speechless, trembling. The man was regal, resplendant, radiating with beauty, she could continue to write words of worship for the rest of the night just using the letter "R" if he hadn't finally answered her question

"So many questions! This robe is somewhat ugly on purpose. It's the only one that will completely cover the light of my armor. I have many names, and I just told you my real name, but it isn't the name I am most known by. In English you guys most likely know me by the name of Enoch! Does that ring a bell?"

Annette stood up once again. "yeah, I suppose… Sorry religion really isn't my forte. You're a Bible character, right? I mean, how else can you explain that? Or did you just survive some kind of nuclear radiation experiment?"

"Heh! You might say so! And True Religion is about to become your forte. Do you know where we are standing right now? This isn't the Earth. Let's just start right there. You've left home far, far behind. Far far behinder than you ever thought. Actually, you sort of, well you were in an accident and you died. your spirit wasn't ready to accept that fact yet and you were wandering your parents' university in an alternate dimension thinking you were still alive. In fact you were in great danger of being even more lost than you already were if it weren't for your emergency rescue pickup. The Mayor of Eleneth, Ransom, was sent by none other than God Himself to give you some very special mercy and offer you salvation after you died. That's an offer most people don't get! I'll tell you honestly." Enock sighed and walked up to a pond a little ways deeper into the Grove, and began tossing pebbles inside.

"So. . . " Annette began, "I'm a ghost now? Somehow I already knew this, I just was afraid to actually seriously give it any thought, you know? But I can't be dead! This place is too real, too beautiful! Are we in Heaven now?" Strangely she felt little emotion despite the weight of the information just laid upon her. It maybe hadn't quite sunk in yet. But asking practical questions like this enabled her to not go into shock, or at least (she felt) stave off the act of going into shock until she was not in front of this gentleman to whom she felt deep down an attraction and a longing for, and thus desired not to appear TOO weak and emotional in front of. At least not on their first date. Was she still thinking of this time they had together as thus? Even despite the emotional nature of their conversation? Although the things he was explaining to her were indeed crazy, she felt challenged to face death, 0r the realization of death with courage. She didn't want to take this very important news with cowardice. Perhaps it was a pride thing, but she resolved not to lose it emotionally at that point.

Enoch picked up another pebble and sniffed it, then tossed it into the pond. "You have crossed over, that's all! It's a part of nature as things are now in their fallen and imperfect state! Nothing to be afraid of. Your parents were quite sad, though. They realised they hadn't spend much time investing in you as a person as much as they had in your career status, or future career status. I'd say they did a great job though! You have gone through your training on Earth which you were meant to partake of, and done very well. We were going to get you saved while on earth, but the messenger we sent was thwarted and the church undermined and so the Lord Sabaoth in His Mercy sent an entire battle station to your aid. That's what you're standing on right now. And no, this isn't Heaven. Not at the moment, anyway." He resumed with the thoughtful pebble tossing.

"Thanks for telling me," Annette sat down next to the pond, dipping her feet inside, feeling the coolness of the water bring her back to the present surroundings. Everything was coming together now, although the questions were piling on top of each other. She felt no fear, but only a passing whimper of regret at the realisation of her life being over. I say it was a passing whimper because this emotion was immediately enveloped in the exuding kindness and severe amounts of joy emanating from Mr. Enoch here. Strange. He was at last laying down the hard-to-take-truth as a Father might to his child in a loving manner. He appeared young but he had real and true wisdom, Annette deduced, and the ability to understand her in a way that nobody else ever had. And the Eleneth Townsfolk had done a great deal to show her kindness already. How had she never figured out her present state? Had her denial really been that thick?

"You aren't living in denial, my dear—" Enoch had read her mind. "It's more like you are just so preoccupied with the mission you were originally sent on, you didn't take the proper reflective moments to take it all in yet. And besides, actually this place is full of wonders. It's easy to forget you're on a ship when in this place. Especially for someone like you who likes the quiet studious kind of life! The edges of the county are where the higher-tech stuff begins, which you haven't seen yet. You are in the strip of real estate area, which stretches for miles and miles and gives you the feeling you are on Earth. The river is a nice effect, I must say! Straight from the New Jerusalem's River of Life, I might add! We're watering this section of Malacandria which was preserved from the Enemy's onslaughts long ago, and still retains some of the original beauty. Water from the River of Life is quite potent stuff, you know!" Enoch paused again and was focusing on the pond intently, allowing Annette to gather these wild facts together. So what exactly was this place? She still didn't understand.

"So I'm not in Heaven, but I died. . . and you guys or Ransom or someone, I don't know who, scooped me up after I died? Are we in Purgatory then? Because obviously this isn't Hell and I haven't been punished for anything yet. I didn't do anything particularly bad to anybody I don't think, but I certainly don't feel I deserve this kind of treatment! You guys have me here groomed for queenship or something! And everyone I have met this entire time is either trying to date me or trying to set me up with people– and just won't leave me alone! All I wanted to do was study all the strange and wonderful books you had here. . . . I know it was rather selfish of me." As she rambled out she felt the need for comfort and came closer to Enoch, who put his arm around her to comfort her, but still didn't take his gaze away from staring intently at the pond.

"Look at this!" he said, and all at once the water started to ripple, then rise up into the air, as if a movie of a gigantic water drop that had hit the ground filmed at slow speed was played in reverse. The blob of water formed into a definite shape, with a hollowed out center and various protrusions, seemingly random yet definitely artistically placed there, in aerodynamic fashion. On the top was a flattened bubble, covering an area that looked like a map of the county which Annette had been quietly and obliviously spending her past 6 months. This day marked exactly the end of that period, did it not? She had a blank spot in her memory of arriving here. What kind of a map was this? Amazing! the 3D model of their "town" complete with the detailed roads and forests encased inside the gigantic globe attatched to the ship was something straight out of a space movie. She was dumbfounded. The model was perfect, and even had changed the light to refract the colors accurately. However, there was still a faint ripple from the wind blowing on it that reminded you it was made from water.

"This is the Starlion Craft. It's a small village and the surrounding area cut directly out of the Heavenly City of God and fused with a battle cruiser."

Annette blinked a couple of times. "What cut out of the what fused with.. a what?" she asked.

Enoch continued as though he hadn't heard her last question. "This ship is designed for battle, but the inhabitants are more of the church-type of folk (during their Earth life stage), and were more prone to enjoying their lovely lives. However there came a day in Heaven when a girl by the name of Sapphire stirred things up there a bit and got them raring to get up off their clouds and lay aside their harps (as we often say of people who aren't doing anything with their reward yet in Heaven) . . . that's another long story, but anyway, she's returned tonight after a long journey in Heaven, and is going to get this bus back on the move once again. There is no more time for such a useful part of the Lord's Armada to just be parked out here like it's on vacation, fulfilling a duty which could easily be carried out anywhere else, you see! I mean, Malacandria does need to be watered and healed regularly, but it could also be accomplished by a number of other ships that also possess direct portal access to the Heavenly City. There are so many other things this battle station is capable of and that the water could be used for, like on Earth for example (spiritually). Malacandria had a war a long time ago where the Enemy tried to wipe out all life on the planet. Now all that remains is orange desert, save for a hidden sliver of land, between some incredibly steep mountains. These contain atmosphere to protect life– sort of like an alien Noah's Ark preserving all the seeds of life this planet once held. Dr. Ransom, came here a long time ago and began to reestablish relations between their leaders and the Son. They weren't created in the image of God so they didn't know about the Cross, etc. That's why they are here now, because he was already good friends with them and since passing on to his Heavenly Reward was given authority over the Eleneth Township. Am I speaking too fast? Sorry. Anyway the Malacandrians are very thankful for Starlion's presence here, and it will be needed undoubtedly again in the future. It's just that . . . it is definately TIME TO GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF THEIR RUT! That's why I'm very thankful for Sapphire's return here to rally the troop. "

"huh- wait, what? This is a lot to take in you know! So basically you're saying the afterlife is like a badly written sci-fi novel, I get that so far. . . Ahh, ok I'll figure out the details later, go on." Annette was used to reading quality literature, and Enoch's prose and method for describing to her these details which were otherwise very poetic, fairy-legend material in such a blunt, Old Testament fashion were simply not her cup of tea.

"The Starlion and the people who live and work upon her," Enoch continued on again, indifferently, "have been doing a service to this planet Malacandria by watering it well with the Heavenly River's waters. As you can imagine, these waters are quite "magical" in the sense that they came straight out of the Throne of God and so they have many uses. Very valuable stuff! Since entering the fiery airspace of London to retrieve your lost soul they who pilot the Starlion were a bit overwhelmed. That was, afterall, their first real mission. The battle was intense there, and they came here for some surcease. Also the Enemy is encroaching on the borders of this lovely land (the inhabitable parts of Malacandria, or Mars as you're used to calling it on Earth), and is about to mount an assault here. So now we are sending great reinforcements to the battle frontier. That's where you come in. Are you game? Or rather, are you up for a little boot camp? I've already said too much, too fast, I know. But first of all you are invited to meet the King Himself, who has called you and who has paid for you by His Blood. The choice is yours… you haven't made it yet, and it's time." Enoch said, once again picking up pebbles, this time tossing them into the floating "pond" in midair. the pebbles would go in the model, and ripple the water, then sink down to the bottom and fall to the empty pondbed below and join the rest of the pebbles he had thrown.

"This. . . this is just too much, it's . . . I think it's unfair." Annette said. "I mean, you guys have done so much for me, and I know deep in my soul that I was going nowhere in my life. I always felt a love from far away that was guiding me, although I didn't know its name. I guess you're going to say Jesus, right? He's the King. Yeah, I knew it all along. Of course my pride never allowed me to do anything so religiously low as pray a prayer to "JESUS" but now I've reached that point. . . I see the Wisdom and the profoundness of God now. . . He could hide all of His majesty in the Jesus, the one we always used to curse by, the one . . . we crossed out His Name at Christmas, his own Birthday. . . OK I am finished now. Yeah, I accept Jesus. Yes! I do! I. . . do I need to pray with you now?"

"You can if you want to! But what you just said suffices. The procedure is complete! You have accepted Him, so you're clear to enter into the city. Ahh, at last we can get this show on the road!" Enoch realised that Annette was actually quite comfortable just being held in his arms, even with the robe on. Well it is rather soft and comfortable, even with all the armor underneath, he reminded himself. Enoch stopped himself from calling down a transport ship to the City (as now they had clearance for Annette) and stayed there for a while, letting the silence do the talking. Only the sound of crickets filled in the quiet moments with a lovely chirping melody. In this twilight, you could nearly see the stars and Enoch fixed his gaze on a certain constellation which was erupting into celebratory fireworks. Got a soul!

Hearing in the distance the galloping of horses from the Donner's estate, he got an idea. But he didn't say anything. Annette let go and looked into Enoch's eyes. My, she is a total babe! He thought, but what he said was, "what's up? Ready to go?" Annette didn't feel like going anywhere. She felt herself being reborn right there, in this beautiful softly lit garden, and fixed her eyes on the golden glow softly lighting up Enoch's face. She felt intoxicated. She didn't want to let this moment pass right away, and the longer she held Enoch here the longer time seemed to extend into eternity. Each second held a lifetime's worth of time to Annette.

There was a sudden disturbance, and a rush of horse hooves combined with shouts and yells of the riders blazing into the scene that had been so quiet. "Here he is~!" cried the the nearest horse rider, and Enoch reacted immediately. He grabbed Annette around the waist and jumped up into the tree-sized flowers towering high over their heads, disappearing from the hunters amidst the giant petals. Annette felt herself wake up as if out of a trance to see the ground rush away from her feet, and the next thing she knew Enoch was kneeling slightly in front of her crouching, adjusting his robe so no more light appeared from it.

"Get down!" He whispered loudly. They were sitting amidst tons of flower pollen on top of one of the incredibly overgrown dandelions. She recognised some of the voices to be those of the boys from the party at the Donner's, shouting

"He went there— here he is!" and the ground beneath them started to shake. "Release the girl at once!"

Enoch seemed to suddenly go into another world, closing his eyes and bending to the ground. Annette was about to shake him awake when he opened his eyes and sprang to his feet. The sound of more horse hooves could be heard.

"What's going on!" Annette demanded.

"I'll explain later, first we're going to play a little game with your friends!" He said, full of excitement. He grabbed her arm and she felt a tingling sensation run through her entire body, like pure electricity. She felt tremendous energy! "Feel that? Get ready, we're going to do some more jumping!" and hand in hand the leaped to another flower, just as theirs started to topple over from the efforts of those down below. It seemed like they were all kids, but then again they really thought they had caught a thief. They jumped about 10 or so more flowers and had cleared some distance from the noise of shouts when Enoch put Annette's hands on his back, and then jumped down, carrying her to a white horse waiting down beneath, also wearing 'robes' like you'd see in a medieval sparring match. It matched Enoch's robe, and had obviously done a good job of hiding it there from anyone's sight. The horse's size was immense, and there was almost room for several more people on his back. Just as the group of young men saw them and started after them, the horse took off. Their surroundings all became a blur of colors as they shot through the thick flower groves and into a larger forest. Annette held on to Enoch for dear life, afraid to look back and now more concerned of falling off this giant beast than of the company who were doubtlessly pursuing her. She yelled to the crazy rider:

"What did you do? Why don't they like you? I demand an explanation." But at that moment the horse made an incredible leap over a rushing river, sending Annette's hind end flying into the air. Enoch caught her with one arm and said again: "HOLD ON! We're almost there!"

She managed, even in this precarious position flying like a rag doll with Enoch clutching her arm by the wrist, to see the blaze of lights behind them. The horses of her friends were stopped at the river, but they were preparing to ford it. Finally the horse slowed down enough that Annette was able to regain her position. They stopped at a cliff's edge, and Annette gasped at the sight: before them stretched the borders of the Starlion, and the beginnings of what was obviously an entirely different alien landscape. The Malacandrian mountains that stretched waaay too high really did have bright blue trees on them, and they were even stranger in shape than Annette had thought from Eleneth.

"Well let me radio in my ship and we'll be on our way. Sorry for the haste, my lady! It looks like we stirred up the nest a bit! I had clearance to come get you from On High, but was unable to reach an agreement with the local authorities for your graduation from here soon enough. Your dear helpers were going to keep you a lot longer, and I'm afraid we just didn't have time! When Sapphire arrives she'll clear up the mess we are momentarily causing, so don't worry about your folks!" Enoch spoke as he was rubbing his left wrist with his right arm, under the mantle he was wearing.

"Are you hurt?" Annette pulled back the cloth covering Enoch's arm and saw that he was pressing and tapping on some kind of light blue pad fit over his wrist. He was looking out into the sky and was somewhat perturbed. He tapped and patted the blue pad once again, like you'd do with a mouse track pad on a laptop. She noticed his eyes were lit up too, with two light blue bubbles shining over them. It looked like some kind of screen.

"ahhh, Well– praise the Lord!" Enoch said, with an obvious note of concern. "We have a problem. I thought I had the access codes to get through the barrier from the sky, but it looks like it's been changed thanks to the little surprise disturbance. I'm guessing they noticed the flash of light from before. . . yeah, that was probably it." He looked at Annette.

"Please, do take me out of here! I want to know more! I want to see whatever it was they didn't show me yet! I know we just met, but I'm ready to leave this place and I trust you!" Annette begged.

"Permission granted! But we'll have to use our minds now. Do you know anything about this area? Anything that might take us like, underground? This is your training, young cadet! Welcome to the world of battle! And your first mission takes place on your own home turf. Heaven is well armed, and this is one of the higher ranked battlecruisers. We're going to have to bypass their security to make it outside to my ship. Otherwise you'll be in their hands for a bit longer till we can work out the politics these people will undoubtedly put us through before they let me take you outta here! You pickin' up what I'm puttin' down?" Enoch said these words with electric energy, like he was going to take her to a much different kind of reality than she had thus far experienced, and this is exactly what she knew she desired more than anything else.

Annette looked out at the beautiful landscape once more. They were wild and untamed and perhaps much more dangerous lands than she had ever seen before. She was determined to see where they went— tonight! Finally a chance of embarkation was here!

The yells and shouts of their pursuers was definitely getting closer. They were most likely already crossing the river by now. 'Ha– those nobles, so "valiant" yet they have to stop and change out of their fancy clothes before jumping in the muddy water even to rescue a girl!' she thought.

"OK! Yes, Master Enoch, I know! Or at least, I've heard of a place… how well does your horse smell?" She patted the dear horse on his head. "Do you have a name?" she cooed.

"My name is Prancer!" it bellowed, much to Annette's surprise. Both at the silliness of a majestic stallion with such a name and at the first hearing of a horse's voice.

"He's a special one, Mr. Prancer. And yes, he does have a good sense of smell. What is it we'll be looking for?" Enoch asked.

"Let's go! Let me drive Prancer!" I saw a map once, but I'll have to take the reins. I know where an entrance is around here." Annette said.

"I'm trusting you! This is YOUR adventure, so it's best you realise that from the start. I can fend off our dear attackers while you focus on the position of the entrance, ok?" Enoch replied.

They set off, Annette following a vague idea based on a quick glance of a map of this area that had "the old dungeon." The dungeon's existence was thanks to a well intended but unrealised idea some of the townspeople had of keeping prisoners of war, long ago, after war had been declared. It had apparently never been used. She whispered in Prancer's ear to follow his nose for the minty herbs which grew around the entrance, as the map had pointed out.

The company of hunters was hot on their trail, and so Annette led them in a large circle around her desired location, taking them several miles north to the plains near the base of some small mountains and the waterfalls which were used to disguise the prisons (since nobody wants to see prisons in a lovely place like this). These Falls came from the river separating Eleneth and so, based on what she had heard were very pure springs from Heaven Herself. That would explain a number of wonders she had noticed from the river, but she would have time to think about this more deeply later on. For a brief moment, though, Annette felt a wonderous realization that a new worldview was seeping into her subconciousmind, already surfacing in some areas like new islands of ideas. . . the old things she had known were making more sense, and her intellectual mind was already figuring out things rapidly, sorting through her life and putting events into their proper places in light of the new information and change she had undergone. She felt a lot different now, lighter, and free!

After making considerable distance between them and their pursuers, thanks to Prancer's speed, they made it to the waterfalls. slowed down enough to allow their trusty steed to use his sense of smell, hoping they might find it sooner rather than later. His hooves clopped around as he sniffed around, but no scent of the herbs, yet. The water continuously roared and the spray caused multiple little rainbows to appear everywhere, even in the dim light.

Soon they once again heard the sound of shouting from the hills down below. Amidst the deafening roar of the beautiful waterfalls, as they stood there, Enoch also was beginning to have second thoughts. "Perhaps this was too soon? I can take you back and explain to them–" he started to say, but Annette cut him off.

"No! There is no other way for me now. I have already made my decision to go with you, though I have no idea what will happen. We're GONNA find the entrance, OKAY?!~" and as she spoke these words, they heard a hissed loud whisper:

"Hey! Annette!"

Richard Donner stepped out from beneath some ferns, holding the reins of his horse. He'd obviously been there for a while, waiting for them.

"I knew you came here to check out the dungeon, right? Well I don't know why you are leaving so suddenly, but I won't say a word. I apologize for any inappropriate behavior I may have displayed in front of you. Some day I may follow you! Go, now! I only ask one favor: don't forget me ok?" he said, very unlike his usual self, rather shyly and like a small frightened child who was trying to be brave.

"Of course I won't forget you! And thank you!" Annette said, "Ah, thank the Lord!" She added– realising what a miracle this was, too. She leaped off her horse and ran up to Richard, embracing him for a moment, hopefully long enough to make it meaningful to him.
"I'll come back for you!" she said, running towards the entrance, or so she thought. She ran into the thicket of bushes Richard had been hiding in.

"Uh, it's that way!" Richard said, smiling.

Indeed it was. There was a small cave leading to the back end of one of the waterfalls. You could clearly see a small path somewhat overgrown by weeds, but definitely a path.

Enoch patted Richard on the back, then gave him something. "Thank you for your help! You are a man among the boys here." He whistled to Prancer, who came behind them, and they three entered the cave, which fortunately turned out to be big enough for Prancer. They found at the back of the waterfall a large doorway, with the label in orange and black "CAUTION" stripes, in contrast with the beauty around them: "RESTRICTED AREA! AUTHORIZED PERSONELL ONLY!" Enoch pried open the old door, which was unlocked, (obviously by some explorers a while back!) b ut very heavy, and stepped inside. Prancer was left at the entrance, told to sound a remote alarm of warning to Enoch if the entrance was discovered. Hopefully Richard would continue to help them by distracting them from the little known cave entrance. These weren't the exploring, adventurous type of young men, anyway– and many of them were from elsewhere so perhaps knew little of the secret Dungeon of Eleneth.

Far from being a dark and musty like you'd expect of a dungeon on the earth, this was a very well built, high tech facility. The only somewhat creepy thing about it was there didn't seem to be anyone there and the fact they were trying to avoid detection.

"Good work, Annette!" Enoch said. "This place is deep enough that I think it will lead to the central main network of halls and the rest of the ship. We need to move quickly though! I will ask the Lord for a miracle here, that there wont be any lingering security technology. . . you just never know!"

"Eleneth has practically zero security, you know! They don't guard or protect ANYTHING, which is one oddity here. . . but I guess that's the Heavenly Culture, though, eh?" Annette mused, as they walked down a well lit corridor, small empty rooms to either side like some kind of hospital. Most of the lighting in places like this was done with a special kind of crystal that would never stop shining, as long as it had a small vein of optical fiber running through the wall connecting it to a light source somewhere. Some crystals didn't even need that! Those were the special kind Noah used to light the Ark during the Flood– glowing gems which could be found in many of the foothills and wooded area surrounding Eleneth.

"No, they do– you just don't see it. You've been living in the protective bubbled city/nature area, which is meant to keep and nurture new souls such as yourself. Starlion is a rescue ship for souls, not only meant to destroy the Enemy's kingdom– but to help survivors who are in a particularly bad state to recover themselves so they'll be in a better position to accept the Lord. However, I have been a bit impatient with their schedule, which has led them to go almost into 'vacation' mode here on Malacandria. We need fighters NOW! The spirit of the people here was mostly that of the typical Christians you'd find in Church– and these were predominantly a bit lazy. Heaven is no classless society, and there are entire populaces within Her that are composed of Christians who did not accomplish very much for the Lord. Actually what you're seeing here is not much of an eternal reward, by Heaven's Standards. They are doing a lot better now, though, since they decided to go to the battle frontier. I guess I didn't explain this very well to you: Salvation, your eternal life, is free and you can't do anything to earn it. You just have to believe and receive the Lord, accepting Him as the Son of God! But your reward and how MUCH you get is based upon what you did for Him, and how much you forsook for the Kingdom, etc."

They passed by some areas which were quite profound- a mix of the high-tech hospital atmosphere, and natural cave formations with extremely high ceilings and stalactites which glowed from what looked like exposed veins of gold and silver plus many precious gems. Quite a dungeon! These were usually very deep chasms that were naturally formed, and so metallic stairwells had been built into them, blended artfully with the rock. The passed through several hallways filled with empty cells and down 3 of these long stairways. As their pace had slowed a little, they were able to converse during their walk. Annette learned many things from Enoch, who took her through why she had been rescued early, and some details about her past life in Heaven and mission, etc. Sometimes what Enoch told her was over her head, but she listened intently and loved the sound of his voice, which both gave her a strange nostalgic feeling, and a sense of longing for things far away. She loved the mystery of what was taking place, realising that the shallowness of her former life wasn't real.

"What do you say we stop here for a while? Prancer hasn't radioed any emergency yet, so I assume we're at least pretty far from our pursuers." Enoch said, offering to take Annette's jacket like a true gentleman. They sat at the bottom of one of the deep stairways surrounded by the glinting and shiny precious stones embedded in the stone walls– a miner's paradise.

So far from what Annette had gathered in their bit of talks, she had been picked thanks to her limited contact with Christianity in it's Churchianity format while on Earth. She didn't know much– and that's what was very useful about her.

"Contrary to popular belief, the less you know, the less we have to unteach you. The worst thing for your discipleship today would have been if you were a seminary grad, or something like that. That was the condition of many of the people of Eleneth, which is why its culture is the way it is–Eleneth is sort of a training ground for newcomers to the Heavenly City that need to adapt and get used to the limitless freedom Jesus actually wants to give His people. There are many many cities like this– the majority in fact!" Enoch said

"Enoch, you said before you were taking me to meet the King of Heaven, right? Why don't we talk to Him now? This is all His Kingdom, even if we're on Mars now. I mean, this ship is a part of Heaven, right?" Annette asked.

"I am happy you asked! It's better when you initiate something, in this case. I think enough has been forced upon you. Sorry I talk so much, I should be allowing The King to be doing most of the talking. Here." Enoch reached down into one of his pockets and pulled out a small golden key, handing it to Annette. As soon as her fingers touched it it started to glow.

"What's this? Feels cool!"

"That's the Key of Prophecy. Jesus is inside you now, and His Holy Spirit, but you are going to need this for unobstructed communication with Him during your many travels from now on. When you hold this key in your hands, focus your mind on Him and the Words will start to appear in your mind. Sometimes you will Hear Him, but take this as an opportunity to grow your faith a bit more! Soon we will be meeting Him in person, anyway. Here, let me try first and show you how easy it is." Enoch took back the key for a moment, and the aura of light around it changed to blue as he closed his eyes and began to speak.

"Annette, welcome to My Kingdom! This is the Romance of the Kingdom– that I love you and desire you! I have looked forward to this time, when you would take the step by faith to recieve Me, and am so proud of you for saying "yes" to Me. The road before you is long, and hard for you to see now, but I invite you to My Palace! There I will tell you face to face My eternal undying love for you. Thank you for your patience with some of my children here in Eleneth. They are also destined to accomplish great things in My Name, but have a lot to learn still. Now won't you let Me speak My Words through you? Take the key!"

Enoch handed it back to Annette, and she closed her eyes. at first she didn't see anything, or feel anything but the comfortable tingle in her hand that made her want to relax. She relaxed, almost automatically and heard Enoch whispering praises to Jesus as they waited (made it less awkward!) she didn't feel any magical words appear, but there was a picture in her mind of a shed in her backyard where she used to live as a small child. She used to play out there when it rained, and make little houses in the sand. She felt the feeling of being very very at home, and comfortable- – and creative! She had no idea what she was about to say but she just opened her mouth anyway and began to speak.

"You were always Mine, even before you knew it. I knew that you didn't need to know My Name right away, because it would have made little sense in the place you were in. I am sorry I did not choose to reveal Who I Was until today, but it had to do with the choices of many other people. I will keep leading you on, My Annette, and you don't have to worry. I want you to take time in My Spirit and feel My Love." She fell silent, and there was only the sound of some waterdrops pittering and pattering from above, lightly echoing around them.

Enoch smiled at Annette, who had tears in her eyes.

"You're probobly used to that, right? I mean, that's something you can do anytime you want. I just want you to know that was really really special and meant so much to me." Annette said.

Enoch patted lightly pushed back some of the strands of hair hanging down over her eyes, and was surprised to feel how much heat was coming from her head. "Your body!" And he touched her shoulders and arms, noticing they, too, were very hot. "You're so warm!"

Annette pulled him closer to her and and hugged him, and felt how cool Enoch was in comparision. Indeed either she was burning up beyond fever temperature, or he was freezing cold, but he felt cold even through his robes.

"His Words have different effects on everyone– and here it's easier to notice these effects physically. I don't even really completely understand how the weapon of Prophecy works… but it is always beneficial, and you just can't go wrong with it!" He took back the key in his hand, gazing at it like he'd never seen it before. It seemed the air around this key was rippling.

"unless I'm making it up!" Annette said. But even she knew in her soul this wasn't the case. On Earth this would be a lot harder to do, but here it felt like when you spoke the Words of God Himself through your tongue your entire body reacted, almost like touching a live electric wall socket."

They kept walking, finding their way to the lowest point in the whole cave network area. The dungeon, which now remained in Annette's mind as a nice extra emergency underground living quarter-area, instead of the dark dank prison you'd expect, was only about 15 floors deep or so. At last they reached the bottom and found themselves before a large door, with panels that were see-through and seemed to contain some kind of gel that glowed green and bright yellow. Enoch looked at Annette, and said "you may not be ready for this yet, as I realise this will officially be your first step outside of the "Matrix" of the somewhat normal reality you had lived in until today. Eleneth is learning, slowly, and yet they have also decided to take the more comfortable route for now. They have a lot to learn. Well here we go— just play it cool, and if anyone talks to you just smile and look at me, and I'll answer!"

The door opened and Annette gasped. First came a rushing of air which smelled surprisingly like honeysuckle. They were greeted by large tropical ferns and beyond that, what appeared to be a large open area stretching far into the distance, well lit from tremendously huge circular protruding glass panes on the right side and lights from above. There was a sound of waters rushing and of many birds echoing from far away. The walkway was built just above these massive tropical ferns and flowers, with small streams running was a lovely sound of water falling incredibly far down below. You could not see below the walkways very far because of the vegetation, but it seemed as though this entire area was massive. The ceiling was about 100 meters or so above them and you could see windows looking in from above, and large light blue lights and fog machines, or atmospheric generators creating a pleasantly warm climate inside. A large parrot flew up to them and landed on a branch "HELLO!" It said, and Enoch looked at Annette with an expression of caution. She didn't respond.

"Hi! We appear to be somewhat lost here. Could you show us to the exit?" He said nonchalantly.

"Sure!" replied the macaw, bowing in a parrot way, bobbing his head several times politely. "Follow me!" and he flew to a branch a little ways down the walkway. There didnt' seem to be any people around, so they were able to enjoy the scenery a bit more uninterrupted. There were many panels with flashing lights on the railings on either side, every so often that reminded you you were in an artificial environment. Otherwise it seemed more real than a real jungle. It reminded Annette of being in Disneyland, where there are often fake or controlled environments. But this was obviously not fake! Life was coming out of every inch of this place, and the air was not too humid, but also seemed full of life. Every breath made Annette feel so refreshed! Any nervousness she had before was gone. Enoch was also enjoying himself, taking in deep breathes as he walked. After a while they met some people who also seemed to be taking strolls through the walkways. The parrot was patiently waiting for them to catch up to it, and then would fly to the next area they needed to go. You could clearly see it too, thanks to the beautiful red and yellow feathers which were proudly displayed to the visitors. A couple who seemed very engrossed in their conversation greeted them with lovely cheerfulness as they passed by. They seemed to be minding their own business and didn't look at Enoch and Annette in any strange ways.

They walked a little bit further and Annette was startled to feel her body tingling softly, starting with her feet and running all the way up through her legs, torso and shoulders, down through her arms and neck and head to discover that. . . she was changing. She couldn't see it with her eyes, but she felt from the innermost part that her body was shifting gears, and renovating. It was happening from within, but she definately felt something. She stopped walking for a few moments and looked at Enoch. He wasn't aware of this, however and just smiled blithely back at her and continued admiring the flowers. He did appear to have an interest in her, though, as Annette had suspected, and sometimes was caught staring at her a little too long, or would use excuses to hold her hand. Not that she minded this! Anyway, the tingling stopped momentarily and Annette was able to once again focus on their mission of escaping the Starlion and finding out what her new destiny was.

They walked a little bit more and Annette asked Enoch: "So tell me, Mr. Enoch, are we ghosts now? How is it everything feels so real?"

Enoch kept walking, but grabbed a tropical leaf which was hanging over the railing and plucked it off and showed it to Annette. "See this leaf?"

Annette nodded her head. It was a long green leaf that looked like it belonged to the fern family, but actually she couldn't be sure. Even though she did have some botanists in her family tree back in the day, she hadn't really studied enough to know much about that. But it had lovely glowing blue outlines which were very unearthly. And plus it smelled awesome!

"Do you think this leaf is alive?" Enoch asked, with a rhetorical tone in his voice.

"Why, yes, but it will die soon." She responded, interested.

"Yes, (except this is the Heavenly Domain where nothing can ever die)… anyway that's what you'd think, right? On earth if you pull a leaf off a tree then it's going to die. Well guess what? In many ways you are like this leaf, having lost your life back on earth. Actually everybody who is born on Earth is born under the curse of Death. The clock's a'tickin' from day one. You don't get off of that train until you crash and it's all over. Everybody dies. Right? Wrong. Jesus came, saved the planet, and anyone who is connected to Him, anyone who BELIEVES in Him will never die. It's like He's the Root, and if you get connected with Him, even if somebody plucks your life out, it can easily be reinstated to the Source of All Life. However there is a temporary shift, as you are going from one to the other. If your body dies, your spirit goes into the Spiritual Dimetion to roam free a while, and this cannot indeed interact with the physical world. yet. Actually the days are coming when all that is in the unseen realm will be manifested in the seen realm. The only thing that's going to matter is Which Side you are sworn in allegiance to. Now that you have recieved Jesus and decided to serve Him you are ok. But what can be said about all those that reject Him? Scary. So now we're in this Flux Realm, where we are still unable to really interact with the physical still, unless the Lord ordains it. Here on Malacandria though, we are in direct contact and interaction with the inhabitants, who are already used to dealing with spirits— Holy Spirits, that is. . . Those who are in league with Jesus and the New Jerusalem… So this is a good place to be for us! I hope that answers your question. It will not make sense, though, until the day when we are all reunited and all creation is completely redeemed and the Son of Perdition is completely cast out. Hold on tight!"

"ah, thanks! I sort of get it!" Annette said, taking the leaf. She felt an oil from it's surface similar to what Aloe Vera feels like— sticky but refreshing. She took some of this gel and rubbed it between her fingers.

Next thing she knew she was waking up! She felt exhausted, as though she hadn't slept in ages and yet still wanted to sleep more. The only thing that helped her to make herself get up was that she realised she was being carried. She looked up at Enoch who was walking along, as though she weighed nothing. When he saw that she was awake he set her down on some nice soft grass and offered her something to drink.

"Sorry I had to put you under back there, it was the only way we'd make the jump through the exhaust pipe back there. Practically a mile jump!" Enoch took a sip of the drink himself, as though checking for poison, then offered it to Annette. What she saw before her was incredible: It was as if the moon had landed on the Earth, or at least the top slice of it– this was so huge! Stretching over a valley was what appeared to be a floating city, that rounded off on the top into a large bubble that had mountains and clouds inside! The bottom side of this floating city had a gigantic waterfall, pouring into a long and deep chasm at the bottom of the valley before them. There was a glow coming from the water as it fell from the city down to the blue-green earth below, and it lit up the entire underside of the city and the valley, almost like it was made of shimmering liquid see-through gold. All around this floating city were large flattened buildings that protruded out in such a way that was very artistic, although you could tell it was artificial and had been developed over time to be this way.

It was actually exactly the same shape as the model Enoch had shown Annette when they had first met, only hours before, but seemingly ages ago! This was much more startling to behold, of course, than a mere model! However, that's how Annette realised what it was.

"Is this, the Star Lion ship I've been living on all this time, then?"

"It shooow Iizz!" Said Enoch, in a mock Southern Black accent.

"Simply gorgeous! I am guessing that's the water from the River of Life, then? It's beautiful!" Annette tried to see if she could hear the sound of the falling waters, but it was difficult to differentiate from the wind. Looking around, though, she realised they were on a very different kind of terrain than she had ever seen before. It had so many colors it reminded you of being in a tropical forest, but the climate was far drier and quite cool. Above could be seen an amazing sight– mountains stretched up far into the sky, and then you saw the thin blue atmosphere, after that, red, and then the black space with stars that were incredibly bright, even in all this light! All around were trees that defied gravity, yet somehow managed to maintain their lofty positions. Annette could just not get enough marveling out of this experience. It was all impossible, to her mind, yet it was more real than anything she'd ever seen before.

"We don't have much time! I do apologize, dear lady Annette, for the trouble, but finally we should be on our way now. My ship is coming in presently!" Ｔhen Enoch stooped down and took some earth into a little silver ball he produced which opened with a hiss, giving the impression it was very hightech. He put some earth inside, or some "mars" and slipped it into his coat. Annette caught a glimpse of the shining 'underarmor' he was wearing.

"Who else is coming in the ship? Any friends?"She asked.

"The ship itself is a friend! A pilot spirit, named Dallas. She will mainly remain inside the craft but sometimes manifests in a humanlike form outside. She's quite cool and I'm sure will be happy to meet you! That's what this dirt is for. The kinds of flowers and vegetation you can grow with Malacandrian soil is phenomenal, and will actually breed sentient life forms (although they are very slow moving and acting)! So I thought I'd give it to her as a present. She is risking a lot on this mission too, actually! I owe her something, afterall!" Enoch said, looking up into the stars, waiting for his beloved craft. Annette was amazed to see herself feeling anxious about his relationship to this "spirit of the craft" he'd mentioned.

"Well! Dirt is a perfect gift for a lady!" she teased.

"thanks! I thought the very same myself. Girls love gardening, afterall, don't they! My mother was a big fan of collecting all kinds of manure for our garden back when I was on the Earth. I loved that garden!" Enoch pretended to sound really emotional, but was obviously joking.

"That's fine! Don't worry about me, I don't want to interfere with your gardening plans." Annette twirled around sexily and mockingly pranced over to a nearby patch of tall blue grass and flowers in strange shapes and sizes, folded like origami paper, yet alive. "I'm going to start my own garden right here!" She began to pick one of the flowers when suddenly she heard a little sound, a very high pitched soft little yell that started out slowly and then died out, like a whistle.

"If you're going to make a Malacandrian garden, the first thing you should realise is the flowers here have emotions! You don't pick them unless you ask their permission, and then even then they may turn you down. . ." He walked gallantly over to Annette and stooped low to whisper in the flower blossom, not taking his eyes off of Annette's, until the little yell turned into a small whisper, and then actually released itself from the stem of the rest of the plant, so Enoch didn't even have to pick it. He handed it to Annette and smiled.

"Here you are, my dear!" and he bowed as though gesturing to a queen, offering her the living origami flower.

Annette was still in a playful mood though, and she took Enoch's hand holding the poor flower with both of her hands, holding his wrist with a passionate voice speaking to him through the blossom whispered "Thank you!"and then in a normal voice,

"How could you make a flower sacrifice its life like that for you!" She looked down at the blossom that had given itself up and was now slowly turning towards Annette. It's colors seemed to be brightening! Enoch reached up and placed it in Annette's hair in such a way that magically it didn't come out.

"I didn't sacrifice it. It wants to be replanted somewhere more beautiful, that's all!" and he stepped back to admire his work. "Ahh, beautiful!" and he was about to say something else awkward and silly when suddenly from behind him came a bright light in the sky, streaking blue like a bucket of glowing paint across the stars, followed by a red. These two colors were dancing with each other.

"What is that!" Annette gasped.

"Ah, Dallas is here now! This should be entertaining! She is being pursued, it seems." Enoch said, "sometimes she will do this. I think she's showing off, but the reality is that we are in a war and you have to fight the Enemy! Watch!"

The blue streak was getting close enough to Enoch and Annette to the point that they could see its shape: a large sphere with rectangle shaped objects protruding around the middle. Every once in a while the rectangles would protrude out and produce a knife shaped object that would hurl more blue lights at the pursuing red light. The red light also came closer, to the point where Annette could see it was full of strange sticks and branch-like shapes popping out, in every direction, like some kind of wad of a hairball that had collected lots of twigs from the ground, except every one of these protrusions were also glowing red and would emit powerful surges of light back at the sphere. They fought back and forth for a while, and none of the red lights would hit the sphere, until finally all the rectangles protruded at the same time and the sphere glowed yellow, then zipped impossibly quickly at its enemy, then back to its original position. Immediately the hairball craft plummeted to the ground as if it had lost its soul. It fell behind a distant hill and there was an explosion. The sphere seemed to wobble and, if it were possible, dance in triumph in its moment of victory. Then it came to Annette and Enoch, hovering above them. It was quite large! Definately bigger than Epcot center, but somewhat similiar in appearance.

"Great! So this is your ship, huh?" Annette was awestruck as she watched the bottom half split with a flash of light and stick out, revealing multiple arms and legs which helped it to stand up, sort of like a tripod, on the Malacandrian surface. One of these arms was holding a writhing dark mass of something! This it held pinned to the ground so it could not escape. In her head Annette could hear a voice whispering excitedly "I got him!"

Enoch walked over to it and called out, laughing "Hello, dear Dallas! So let's see what you got!" and the "Dallas" ship glowed a light purple and sang a few mechanical notes in response. He got near to the little prison Dallas had made and inspected this enemy.

"Dallas has the ability to use teleportation and extrapolate the pilot of any craft she gets near enough to. Usually these demons have a copilot but apparently not this time. Hehe! Poor guy! What shall we do with him?"

The demon pilot was human in shape but had extra little arms popping out of his chest. All 6 of his limbs were writhing and defying its prison bars, to no avail. His eyes glowed red with hate as he looked at Enoch, foaming black bile at the mouth.

"RELEASE ME!" He snarled.

Enoch was unmoved and replied, "why should we do that? You aren't going anywhere." He then thought for a moment, looked at Annette and thrust out his sword, stuck it through Dallas's fingers right into the demon's throat, making it's head explode in nasty white mess of puss. Bile erupted from its throat and spread all over the ground. It stank.

"I would have taken some time to ask it some questions, maybe, but since we're out of time I decided against it."

Annette was speachless, amazed at the sight of a real actual demon up close. She was glad it was dead, although the sight of its corpse was disgusting.

As if just in time, some clouds appeared above them and started to rain, clearing away the mess. The sphere suddenly opened one of its rectangles producing a doorway from which a long tall tube came down, sort of like one of those passenger boarding things you'd see on an airplane that are all covered over. The bottom section formed stairs and Enoch stepped in, then held out his hand to Annette, "Don't get wet! We're not in Eleneth any more, and the rain here is quite cold!" Annette took his hand and walked with him into this amazing craft. The inside was warmly lit, and oddly didn't feel much like a high-tech space craft. Perhaps it was underneath all the decorations, but the place was covered with medieval rugs hanging from the walls, and – I kid you not – torches aligning the walls, whose smoke went up into the ceiling's vents. The ground was a plush dark red carpeting, and everywhere were shields and armor from different eras and civilizations. Enoch took Annette around once, to see this main deck's decorum. In the middle rather than some kind of giant generator like in Star Trek as you'd expect at a space ship's core, there was a library with a large reading chair in the middle in front of a fireplace. More artifacts and statues and strange treasures Annette had never seen before that looked unearthly littered every nook and cranny of this place. Where was the control panels and consoles? It seemed like this was just a paradise of getting lost in thought and study!

"What do you think? I'll have Dallas bring in another chair for you should you like to spend some time reading here. I know you've been through quite a lot this past day and must be exhausted. I'm going to go see Dallas now, want to come or would you like to stay here? Enoch took out a pipe and lit it.

"I'd like to meet her! She's . . . a human, right?" Annette asked. She was doing her best to adjust to this new reality and not freak out at strange things, which she was quite sure she'd see many more of.

"She's human looking if that helps any! Usually she's quite busy with the ship's duties, but we havn't taken off yet so I'm going to bring her my present. You're welcome to meet her too!" And without waiting for Annette to answer, he turned and went out of the library, which, although it seemed to connect to all sides of the walkway in the circumference, only had one entrance (so it felt more cozy, Annette thought) and the upstairs and downstairs areas had tables littered with notes and objects that were obviously being researched or studied.

She took one more glance around, wondering at the contents of these mysterious books and then stepped back into the hall after Enoch. He was briskly walking and singing some tune until he came to a little spiral staircase that went up above. Annette went after him a bit more slowly, taking in the imagery of this medieval looking space ship.

"It's cool, huh? Enoch called back. I have come to the conclusion that the times of the knights and castles were the height of human chivalry and honor, and in Heaven we are very similiar, for this era, though it was dark, had aspired to become most like the virtuous society which existed in Heaven at the time, although Heaven does change also! I wasn't decorating this craft on purpose, it was made this way back in those days! The armor is not on display, it is all for use in battle, although I haven't had much use for it recently. This craft is also a "Home Craft" as it is a habitation of one of our "Nuns" or Spirit-Pilots–" Enoch was talking from the top stair looking down at Annette when suddenly he was interrupted.
"Enoch! You're in big trouble! I didn't know the details of your mission until HQ told me, and it was waaaay out of your jurisdiction!" said a voice that had both cuteness and authority in it. Enoch stepped fully up into this 3rd floor and in a quieter tone started to debate with the voice. Annette took the opportunity to look at some of the paintings and frescos

It was a bit confusing to look at, since they were all from different eras and countries, however you could see that they were not at all haphazardly placed, and there was meaning in every inch of this craft. Also there was a warm feeling to it, not at all like some dark dismal cathedral that made you feel far away from God. It was as though all the art was in its place and under inspection, rather than it inspecting you. There was a pervasive feeling of love and warmth which– Annette's thoughts were interrupted.

"You brought a GIRL! Enoch I thought we talked about this!" and the cute authoritative voice came down the stairs suddenly. Annette turned around to see a lovely yet professionally dressed young girl, who also seemed as though she possessed an intelligence from another age. Could she have been as old as this ship was? She paused and stared at Annette, as though she recognised her.

"Hi! I'm Annette!" For some reason she didn't feel embarassed at all, even though the situation was potentially very embarassing.

"You are welcome here, dear Annette, I apologize for the lack of hospitality in our welcome, but indeed you ARE welcome to join us as we return to the City! Oh, and my name is Dallas, I am going to be your choeffer." She took one more interesting and interested look at Annette and then smiled and curtsied again. Then she turned around again and asked "Are you hungry? I was going to make some delicious Beef Stew, Enoch's favorite!"

"Sure, that would be nice!" and after one more moment of deliberation, at last Dallas came to Annette and hugged her. "Thank you for taking care of Enoch while he was acting like a wild man again. Sometimes I think he spends too much time reading here, and gets some crazy ideas. I know you were the one he was looking for, though, and I'm happy that he found you." Dallas's hug was unending, and clinging, like you might hug a dear old friend you had lost and finally found, and now wanted to express how much you loved them. It was very heartfelt, in other words! There was certainly nothing unearthly about this girl, besides her very official looking garments which were a bit on the colorful side, but had markings that seemed to denote a high rank. She had long brown wavy hair and was quite slim, but definately very attractive and voluptuous. Annette figured she must have been Enoch's lover or something, judging from the emotional response.

Enoch came down the stairs then and interrupted their hug. "Glad to see you two getting along! We have our loving little family here, and you're welcome to join and be a part of it. Let's take off, shall we Dallas?

Dallas looked back at Enoch and her countenance changed. "You! You get right back up stairs! I'm going to deal with you later. . . let's have dinner first though." Dallas's voice still had a playful tone in it though, which was interesting.

Dinner was on the uppermost floor, and although very simple was incredibly satisfying and filling. There were no dishes to wash as there was nothing left on the plates and bowls, and there was no dirt anywhere. How was this possible! They sat and enjoyed the stew beneath an incredible sight. The entire ceiling was see-through, and not only see-through but digitally or somehow enhanced so you could see anywhere you wanted to see with it, including through mountains and past beyond the clouds above. The light seemed to bend around and through objects depending on whatever you were focusing on or thinking about, up to a certain point. Just beside them was parked the enourmous Star Lion, and if Annette focused her thoughts on it she could actually see around towards the whole craft, and zoom in to see it's details and shape, to the point of being able to count its individual windows on any side. If you thought towards the underside of the craft this also came into view, and a passing butterfly had taken refuge under there from the rainfall. Beyond the clouds above you could see many stars and the planets in the solar system including the vast Jupiter far away and Saturn, and Earth with its moon. Mars had two very interesting moons, as well.

During the meal Enoch did his best to explain all about Annette to the spunky spirited Dallas. It was obvious that the two had a history. Perhaps a very LONG history. 'So much for any chance of coupling with Enoch!' Anette thought. 'Ahh, oh well it was a nice dream while it lasted!' and she went on to eating her stew while hearing Enoch say things like "she has been chosen!" and "this fulfills the prophecy!" and so on. Annette went on looking through the gigantic window, and saw the Starlion light up like a Christmas tree, and several small lights come out.

"–and that's actually why I joined the battalion in the first place, and signed up for a millenial ship-coupling, because I had so much faith in you guys! I just want to make sure you're not going around selecting brides on a whim, without counseling with the rest of them. Bridalhood. . . it's a big deal, you know! I was not destined for so high a call. And look how many medals I already got!" Dallas pointed to her chest and the small markings written across the front of her jacket over either side of her breasts suddenly came out into midair, and a scroll with a golden glowing seal written in Hebrew appeared, then dissapeared followed by another, written in Chinese with a red stamp and ancient calligraphy, followed by another, then another, and then too fast for Annette's eyes to even distinguish, all these papers followed by medals appeared over the table

—–

FOR THE WORD OF GOD IS LIVING AND ACTIVE, SHARPER THAN ANY TWO EDGED SWORD. . .

– The Bible

SEND THE KEY CRAFT TO DEFEAT SATAN AND HIS COHORTS AND THEIR EVIL PLANS!

– GN's

—–

A boy ducked into a toilet stall pulling out a notepad and pen, also checking his watch. "10 minutes. . . that should be enough time!" and after saying a quick prayer under his breath began to scrawl out some words. Working in such an integral place and yet not knowing what was going on was an amazing feeling, but the need for using the New Weapons in such a situation was even more evident. Despite the comfort of having somewhat constant surroundings, everytime he looked out the window onto the tangled cityscape he remembered there was a war being waged, and that he should participate as much as possible. Locking the door to make sure no one barged in and would wonder what the heck is this guy doing here like a maniac on the toilet, he tried to focus on what was coming from the pen onto the paper. All the paper was was printed out scrap paper, with enough white left over to write on. One sheet could be folded in half twice, to make four seperate pages on each side. A total of 8 seperate spaces per sheet. There were ten sheets. More than enough! Numbering each corner to keep track of the order, he wrote the first thing that came to mind, or rather, pen–

"Jesus It's the position of your heart – that's MOST IMPORTANT! So always gear it all towards Me no matter what else is goin' on, and I'll help you to be a fellow 'Sky Tripper' with Enoch! Rising Above is one ability that you always have through the keys. So activate it now and as you prepare to step through the door, I will catch you and hold you up. Now the great battle for souls is ending in this era, and a totally new harvest is beggining. If you are ok with it, I'd like to use you to help gather more 'laborours for the harvest.' Look inside of yourself to see whether or not this is what you are.

me Jesus change any part of me that refuses to work for Your Kingdom and win souls/disciples. Sometimes I just have no clue. Like, where do I send them?

Jesus To Me! Your times are in My hand. The keys will be the stability of your times. If you don't know what to do or where to turn, look to My Word. Look to My Word in all things and you will find direction for your soul. You don't have to figure it out. This is heavy combat you are in, and Amora too! This office is a very signifigant extention of My Kingdom, and though it of course lacks perfection, wherever I am is perfect– I am perfect and I make all things new, so I want to send you and others who know Me intimately into the four corners of the harvest, and all I ask is that you stay in unity with Me at all times, allowing the balm of My Spirit to permeate your atmosphere. I will sort out all the complications– you just look to Me, ok?

me Sir, yes sir!"

Time to go! He went back to work, and tried to focus on the task at hand. It was a bit chilly and even endless amounts of coffee didnt' seem to have much of an effect. At last the day was done and the boy ran home through the rain, also accompanied by two friendly ladies from the office who were done for the day. After saying goodbye, on the train alone again at last, he pulled out the pile of papers trying not to look too weird, and listening to some nice songs wrote:

me I am 'in the presence of a Lord' and would like to behave myself properly. How should I act? How may I please You?

Jesus By going in love in all you do and say, and not weakening yourself to please man. I want you to be strong in your convictions! Don't worry about being some kind of orator! You can be My Heavenly Kingdom's Spokesperson! Only, do not forget you ARE continuously standing in the presence of a Lord, and I will counsel you and guide you. My Holy Spirit will guide you as to what to say. Fear not at all! Be desireious of Me in you and of My seeds permeating you. Let what I have sown inside your spiritual man be taking root and taking shape, in very tangible ways in your life! Becuase I am taking control of you and you are my representative wherever you stand (not to be a man pleaser but a God pleaser) therefore My hand will move the people around you and casue you to love and pray for them! Lift up Farla and Flora to Me!"

Writing these words down, and walking through the morass of peoples, it did occur to the boy that he would seem to this world's peoples as a crazy person. Who the heck does this kind of stuff? However, something deep inside still called him and pulled him on and he could not turn back, knowing the things he knew. These were the days of actualization of all that was once called 'fiction' and 'fantasy' and even the days of faith were coming to a close! Every spare moment that he could he tried to gather more treasures from this other realm, wondering where it might all lead.