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Chapter Three: Reflections
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"Should we open them now?" I asked, shaking from the cold or nerves I didn't know.
He swallowed then nodded slowly. Picking up the first envelope off the top, I inspected it carefully under my light. The paper was once an ivory marble, but time had aged it to a wise yellow. Turning it over I saw a silver wax seal. The crest was slightly worn making it difficult to tell whom the author of the letters were; I would have to make prints later then graph them. The apparition who had hid the box and letters looked like who pictures showed us to be Neo-Queen Serenity, but it was too good to be true, letters from the Queen herself....
Placing a well-calloused finger under the lid, I carefully pulled it open. My breath caught as I began to take the heavy paper letter out. Unfolding it, I smelt a faint perfume that I couldn't identify with a mixture of musky, old smell-- you know, how things like worn out books smell.
On the paper was a neat handwriting in almost luminous blue ink. My eyes fell quickly across the lines in hunger but I was not fed, "I--I can't read it!"
"What?!" Darren took the letter from me, and with the same feverous need he looked it over, "I--I can't read it ether!"
"What?!" I echoed him.
"It's in some obsolete language," he breathed, placing the object in question on the box.
"But, you're a linguist right?" He nodded. "Well, so am I but.... Arg! This doesn't make sense!"
We sat in silence as he inspected the seal and I the writing thinking that maybe if I looked at it long enough, I would break the code. Looking closely, I could see the pressure changes, looping of the letters, and repetitive styles in certain characters. It was handwritten, I knew that for a fact, but what language was it in?! The more I looked at it, the more I became obsessed with figuring it out, but just as I figured to give up and try with one of the hard core linguists in my crew or Darren's a searing, throbbing headache hit me. So hard and so suddenly in fact, I had to catch myself.
"Are you alright?" Darren asked, steadying me.
"Yeah--" another wave of nauseating pain hit, "No, no I'm not."
Placing the letter and envelope back into the box, my partner sat me down on the bed. He instructed me to keep my head down and take a few deep breaths, but nothing elevated so he packed our things and we headed back to the main entrance. Having to lean up against him most of the way, I noticed how built he was.... Ack! Where in the world did that come from?! The headache must have been distorting my thoughts as well, yes, that's it.
Darren set me down on a piece of broken marble in front of the massive doors, "Your face is flushed...."
My eyes widened. Was it that obvious as to what I was thinking about...?! Oh wait. I realized that he was referring to my headache as he pressed his hand against my forehead and murmured, "No fever."
We waited for I don't know how long, but the pain kept me from any sleep. Finally, amber rays of light sifted through crystal windows and Darren nudged me softly, "Rena...."
Morning was peaking, but the storm still hadn't calmed down enough for us to leave. Ten minutes passed and no change in the deadly winds. It seemed that this storm was going to take a little longer than usual to calm down. Why of all times?
Waiting, I drifted somewhere between reality and the dream realm, not quite awake but not quite asleep. It was something strange with mists rolling in over my conciseness where I could hear everything from Darren's steady heartbeat, the wailing of the storm, and a soft voice in the distance. A voice...? Indeed there was a soft voice singing in a language I could not understand, but it was beautiful. Tears threatened to pour down my face I was moved so. Was it really someone singing, or was it caused by the crushing headache?
I wouldn't know just then for Darren's voice was calling me back to reality. Blinking, I looked up at him, "What?"
"I said 'let's go,' " he repeated softly.
He helped me up but still had to prop me up against his chest due to my head swimming in agony. Everything was a blur but before I knew it, we were outside. The morning air was refreshing and something I could enjoy even in my present state. A soft wind blew which meant Darren decided to wait until the storm had died completely due to my condition. Normally I would have felt moved, but instead, I felt like I was going to vomit. In fact, I did-- all over Darren Conway too.
"Feel better?" He said looking at his pants and shoes now covered in whatever I ate in the past twelve hours, which, fortunately, wasn't much.
"I'm sorry," I moaned and once again fell against his chest.
"It's okay, Rena.... Geez. It'll be sundown by the time we reach camp like this. Brace yourself...." I could have done it again when everything rushed upwards (or no wait, downwards...?) but was comforted by a dreamy, rocking motion.
It later occurred to me that Dr. Conway had picked me up and carried me to my quarters. Of course, this was hours later, after a cold shower, when I decided I was well enough to join the day, which was quickly turning into dusk again. I was sure that my rock-like state called sleep was plagued by dreams but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I saw. One thing that remained in memory was someone in the distance singing an almost mournful song....
My door slid open and Darren walked in, followed by someone from his team. Good thing I had just pulled my shirt over my head! Geez, that guy has no regard for privacy.
"Rena, this is Dr. Wo."
I nodded slowly to the third party in acknowledgement.
My partner continued, "He's here to examine you."
"What? I'm fine," I said a few hundred whispers from a yell. Ug. I still hadn't fully recovered from earlier.
"Please Dr. Lemuria, Dr. Conway told me of your condition last night. Do not insult our intelligence," Wo stated firmly.
My mouth opened to argue with him and inform him where exactly to stick his medical devices but I lacked the strength. Instead I plopped down on my bed defeated. Oh the shame! I promised to make up for it later though, making myself feel better.
"Be a good girl," Darren smiled when I made an attempted face at him which I'm sure was distorted considerably, then turned to Dr. Wo, "Let me know if you find anything, immediately."
I watched him leave. Why the concern?
"Well, let's get started," the short man began to unpack everything from a huge suitcase.
I hate doctors....
~~
Oooooooo! I HATE doctors! One in particular! Can you guess who? If you said DARREN CONWAY you get a cookie. Damn him a thousand times plus a thousand more!!
Dr. Wo couldn't find any reason for my headache and like a good little lackey he reported it to his boss. Now, thanks to the asinine ass (sorry Daddy), I'm under orders to stay in my quarters until tomorrow. Whose orders you might ask? If you said Darren Conway again, take another cookie. In fact, outside of my door stood another one of his lackeys working on a couple of tablets. Revenge, oh yes, it would be mine!
My door slid open. I rounded on the poor person thinking that it was the current topic at hand, but it was Adela, "I heard you were sick."
Sitting down at my desk, I motioned for her to sit as well, "Well, you were misinformed then. I'm being held captive."
My intern smiled at my antics, but I was being serious! "I came to give you a report on progress."
"Progress?" I asked, my mood improving slightly.
"Well, a few tapestries were found."
"Their condition?"
"Fairly excellent. There were only a few holes," my intern smiled again, "And of course the usual pottery."
"Of course."
"And Dr. Conway has mapped the castle and says that only a third of it we have access to."
Ug. That name....
"Oh really?" I said trying to sound unaffected.
"Well, he seemed quite concerned about you," Adela said seeing the discomfort in my smile.
"What?" I said, caught off guard, "What did he say?"
The girl's (hah, I call her girl but she's almost as old as I and nearing graduation from college) lips quirked in what I suspected to be a smirk, "Oh, I can't really remember .... Why do you want to know?"
My look of surprise was replaced by a look of loathing, "Well, not that it's important or anything...."
Laughing, she stood and bid me good health, then left. Boredom set in quickly afterwards. So, I snatched a communication-pilot from stacks of document-pilots and dialed.
"Hello--Dr. Lemuria! Why are you calling me?" The face asked, surprised.
I had called Isra Mann, one of my top-notch linguists, "I've been quarantined. Haven't you heard?"
When he shook his head, I continued, "I need you to come to my quarters. There's someone outside my door and he might ask about your visit, so please bring a tablet with you."
"Uh, all right." Isra agreed hesitantly and I hung up.
Damn, I had forgotten to tell him to avoid Darren Conway at all costs. If the two bumped into each other and Isra told him that he was visiting me with a little bit of busy work, that might be the end of that right there. But why was Dr. Conway so concerned about me? I mean it was just a headache... okay. Even I couldn't fool myself into thinking that it was something so small. It was the worst thing I had ever experienced, but still! Making me a prisioner in my own camp was still a little much!
A knock came and the door opened. Heart jumping, I saw that it was Isra; good!
"Here's the tablet you wanted," he said while I cleared room for it on my desk, knocking sever pilots into the floor.
"Thanks a ton, Isra!" I breathed, setting the tablet down.
"No problem. What's up?"
"Well, let me show you," I said and took something from one of my drawers then handed it to him.
Taking the first envelope from the top of the bundle he opened it and looked over the letter, "What is it?"
"It's a letter."
He gave me a look, "I know that. I mean WHAT is it?"
"I don't know. I was hoping that you would be able to decipher it."
After a moment or two of holding my breath, he shook his head, "I can't even begin to recognize it. I'm sorry Rena."
"No! I don't believe this!" I wailed, flopping onto my bed.
My long time friend handed me the bundle and the letter, " I really am sorry."
"It's all right.... Thanks," I said trying to smile; I'm sure the poor effort produced something garbled.
"Well, I better get back to work before I'm missed," the linguist said then left while apologizing again.
~
Frustrated sleep settled in as I looked at the letters muttering, "Why can't I figure you out...?"
Hours later I'm sure, a strange sound gave me a startled awakening. I strained my ears to try and hear it again, but nothing came. What exactly had woken me up? Did I actually hear something, or was it just a dream? No...! There it was again... a soft voice in the harsh winds outside. It sounded like they were singing, but who...?
Without thought, I grabbed my flashlight, opened the door and instead of being thrashed around violently the storm stopped instantly, giving me chills. Again a bar of the mystery song was sung and I broke into a run towards the palace. Nearing the doors, I saw them open as if they were receiving me, expecting me. Driven by a fire that could only be extinguished by solving the mystery of the Royal Family, I plunged inside.
Panting, I halted only for a second to listen for the song. It floated to my ears and I ran down the crystal halls, up the marble stairs, and down the darkness of the corridors.
'I will solve this, I will,' a determined voice in my mind said over and over again.
The bits and pieces of the song that faded in and out led me near the room where I had seen the two ghosts, but just as I was about to enter the song came strongly, echoing from a hallway to my left. I had to gather all of my courage to move my shaking body towards the dark void while all sorts of unspeakable visions were plaguing my mind.
The song was strong now and I pinpointed its source to be behind a pair of doors. It was just like the beacon.... Shivering in the cold, I pushed the doors open and the song stopped immediately, again, like the beacon. Looking about, I saw the garden that my team had found. It was a vast room with marble walkways around large patches of now useless soil that I'm sure used to hold wondrous flowers. In fact, there were a few decayed, fragile twigs sticking out of the ground; just mere remains of what I knew to be great. Looking up I saw the night sky out of the crystal; this was the center of one of the towers.
Searching for the source of the hauntingly beautiful song, I came to the double doors and pushed. Nothing.
"Unbelievable," I groaned, rolling my eyes.
Seeing something, I stopped holding my breath. There was someone behind me; I could see their silhouette in the crystal walls. Great, I was about to be attacked and had no means of protection. Carefully, cautiously I turned but no one was there...! What the...?
I looked in the crystal and sure enough, there was the silhouette. Stepping to the side, the vision became less garbled. I soon realized that if I stood in front of a smooth part of the crystal where no corners where refracting the image, I could see clearly. Standing in front of me was Queen Serenity herself, well, in the crystal. Just to make sure, I turned again to see if it was a reflection or just some vision. To my surprise, this time there was someone behind me. In the center of the garden was the same apparition I had seen the other night, the apparition of Neo-Queen Serenity.
Shaken, I stepped forward, "Is this-are you Queen Serenity?"
She just smiled at me.
Sweat trickled down my temple, so I reached up to brush it away but stopped as the vision mimicked me exactly, smiling. Slowly, I turned my wrist in a slow fanning-like motion; she did the same. Putting my hand down (the ghost copying me of course) I inhaled and Serenity seemed to do the same with her mouth open and her chest swelling. I put a finger to my nose and stuck out my left leg while squatting slightly with my right. You guessed it she did the same.
"What's going on?" I breathed.
No sooner had I said that then a wave a pain flashed in my head, causing me to black out for a few seconds. Now I was on the floor with a small gash on my forehead. Looking around I saw that that Serenity was still mimicking me to the very last motion, but her figure was fading fast; soon after she was gone. Another wave crushed my skull making me vomit. Why was this happening to me...?!
The door to the room swung open, "Rena!"
Colors danced violently around like a ranging fire, blinding me and my ears seemed to refuse to function as any noise heard made my stomach churn. Wave after wave hit until I felt something warm surround my body and it was all over. Relief took over in a blissful instant.
Blinking several times, I looked up to see Darren Conway's angry face, "... Darren?"
"What the hell are you doing here?!" He demanded and that's when I noticed the warm sensation I had felt was Darren cradling me.
"I-there was a voice...." I said sheepishly.
His eyes were cold as ice; "I thought I told you to stay in your quarters for the day!"
Wincing, I apologized and stood as he helped while still having a tight hold. He noticed the small amount of vomit on the floor, "Did you have another headache?"
I let out a half-hearted, weak laugh at the term he had used. That was a total understatement, "Yeah.... It stopped when you got here."
A thought crossed my mind, "How did you know I was here?"
"I heard something strange and just knew where to find you."
"What sound was that?" I asked, hoping that he heard the voice too.
"The silence," Darren replied, looking up through the crystal ceiling at the clear night sky.
That's right! The storm had stopped! With that realization, I began to shake. I could have died...! The power of the winds could tear any living thing apart in a matter of moments, but it instead ceased. I had done something terribly stupid.
"Are you all right? Are you having another attack?" Darren asked with concern thickly strewn in his voice.
"No," I said, smiling weakly, "I'm just tired."
He nodded and we walked out of the garden to return to our beds. Speaking of which, in one of the desolate, useless flowerbeds a small little seedling sprouted out of the ground, but that was something I wouldn't notice until my next visit to the Crystal Palace of Tokyo.
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2-27-03
(Unedited)
First Edit 9-23-03