Chapter Eleven: Memories Of a Lost Life
Images and thoughts that were completely foreign and yet so terribly familiar flashed through her mind. Only her curiosity kept her asleep, for she wanted to learn more. She was frightened by all that Dharketh had told her, and was glad he had put the sleep spell on her, for she had felt as though she was going to fall into an abyss of confusion if she had stayed awake.
Not that this wasn't a mass of chaos, for it was, but it was at least helpful chaos.
So much had she learned just from the snatches of conversations she heard. She had learned enough to know that Dharketh's story--while not entirely accurate--was overall true. The prophecy was the same.
When the flood of memories started repeating itself, she gently untangled the lines that held her in sleep and slowly brought herself into wakefulness. What she saw astounded her.
The cave no longer looked like simple stone, the bed not simply a wooden frame with a feather-filled mattress, and Jack...Jack no longer looked like a simple human. Everything pulsed with different colors, the stone glowed with life. Jack's skin seemed to pulse with the vibrant life that flowed through him, and there was something else about him that was so familiar and yet she could not name it. When she looked at her hands, they no longer appeared to be covered with the normal skin she had lived in her entire life--they glowed golden to her sight. She felt lighter than air, and it seemed as if a constant breeze was gently blowing about her, teasing her hair, caressing her skin.
In that first moment, with everything so different than she had ever seen it, she was filled with wonder and contentment. This was the way things were supposed to look. Thinking back on her life before setting out on this strange mission, she realized that she had never truly seen anything. The most beautiful places she had been to now seemed dreadfully bland in comparison to the life she saw now.
Slowly, however, her mind turned to more serious things. She sifted through her memories, back through the millennia, to the war of the gods. She wished she hadn't the moment she got there, though, for a flood of dreadful images threatened to overwhelm her. She had abhorred the way the gods were behaving towards one another, their bloodthirstiness. She had always been a gentle goddess, and had imbued her people with that same quality. She disliked blood being shed, and had avoided the skirmishes as much as possible. Reason had been tried, and reason had failed. It had been thrown by the wayside when the one that called himself Allah had killed the Nameless One.
The war had been long and bloody, and a once well-populated world had become nearly desolate. There were only a few left, Allah among them. He was tired of the world they ruled over being run by peace-loving individuals, and desired to bring chaos and destruction into it. If he had simply stopped with bringing chaos to the world, it might have prospered, but he desired even more to kill the beings that she had so lovingly tended for all their lives.
She had indeed retreated to the cosmos, the strange and mysterious place that had created the gods and given them the power to create their chosen people. There she had stayed for several days, drifting about in dismay and despair.
What the elves had not known they had made up, and though it worked with the history, it was not what had truly happened.
While she drifted aimlessly through the cosmos, a Being had come to her, His body made of sacred ether, the stuff of stars. She had known Him to be a representation of what she had needed at the time, a superior being that could comfort her in her time of need. She had not asked anything of him, had not even thought of it, for she had given up all hope of saving her people.
So what He said had come as a complete shock to her.
"Aryana," He had said, "there is yet hope for your people, if you are willing to be patient. We are not pleased with Allah, but there is little that can be done. Chaos does indeed need to be brought into that world, but his plans are not kind. He will create his own people, and they will be abomination through no fault of their own.
"If you wish to salvage the people you have so lovingly tended, you must give a gift to the creatures Allah shall create. You will give them the same gift of gentility that you gave to your people."
There she had stared at Him with disbelief. Give the abominations gentility? She had so very little left!
"Yes, you must. Not to the same extent that you so generously bestowed upon the faeriefolk, of course, for you must keep some of your gentleness through the time of trials that awaits you. No, a spark is all that you need give to these new creations. It will be the only thing that will carry the faeries through the many centuries before you can return to them."
She had begun to weep, then, and mourn for her poor people that trusted her, that needed her to help them through, and He had held her, whispering to her.
"You will return, fear not, and you will have help, but you must make this sacrifice in order for your people to survive and for Allah to be defeated. I am sorry, Aryana, I am so sorry."
She had returned to the land of gods, and had bestowed a spark of gentility. She had allowed herself and the rest of the gods to be brutally murdered by Allah, but not before giving the prophecy to the elves. Her soul had retreated to the comforting arms of the One that had comforted her, and there she had waited for her time to return.
When she came back to herself, she found tears streaming down her face and wasn't sure whether they were tears of sorrow or joy. She looked down at Jack again and studied him closely. That oddly familiar something about him tried to elude her grasp, and succeeded for a while, but she finally pinned it down. It was a part of Him. The One that had held her in His arms for so long, the One who had helped her through the pain of being separated from her people for so long.
He had come to help her. She felt truly honored, and finally understood why it was that when Jack embraced her it felt so familiar and comforting. Even when she had thought she was in love with Will.
She thought about the past two decades of her life and realized how full they had been. She had had a loving mother, a father that varied between love and iron will, a wicked brother that could only have been the work of Allah (and she shuddered now as she thought of how she had brought about his death...had she been sleeping so long?). She was two different people, she realized. Silently, she thanked Him for such a gift as He had given her. This strange life had shown her many things, and perhaps it would help her through what she had to do now.
Smiling, she leaned down and whispered into Jack's ear.
"Wake up, Beloved."
*********************************************************************** Alright, I have no idea where this is going--honestly. I know that what few PotC characters are IN this story have gotten pushed into the background, and I'm not totally sure how that happened, but I hope you all like how this is going! It's strange, I know...but try not to be too harsh with me! I love you all!
Images and thoughts that were completely foreign and yet so terribly familiar flashed through her mind. Only her curiosity kept her asleep, for she wanted to learn more. She was frightened by all that Dharketh had told her, and was glad he had put the sleep spell on her, for she had felt as though she was going to fall into an abyss of confusion if she had stayed awake.
Not that this wasn't a mass of chaos, for it was, but it was at least helpful chaos.
So much had she learned just from the snatches of conversations she heard. She had learned enough to know that Dharketh's story--while not entirely accurate--was overall true. The prophecy was the same.
When the flood of memories started repeating itself, she gently untangled the lines that held her in sleep and slowly brought herself into wakefulness. What she saw astounded her.
The cave no longer looked like simple stone, the bed not simply a wooden frame with a feather-filled mattress, and Jack...Jack no longer looked like a simple human. Everything pulsed with different colors, the stone glowed with life. Jack's skin seemed to pulse with the vibrant life that flowed through him, and there was something else about him that was so familiar and yet she could not name it. When she looked at her hands, they no longer appeared to be covered with the normal skin she had lived in her entire life--they glowed golden to her sight. She felt lighter than air, and it seemed as if a constant breeze was gently blowing about her, teasing her hair, caressing her skin.
In that first moment, with everything so different than she had ever seen it, she was filled with wonder and contentment. This was the way things were supposed to look. Thinking back on her life before setting out on this strange mission, she realized that she had never truly seen anything. The most beautiful places she had been to now seemed dreadfully bland in comparison to the life she saw now.
Slowly, however, her mind turned to more serious things. She sifted through her memories, back through the millennia, to the war of the gods. She wished she hadn't the moment she got there, though, for a flood of dreadful images threatened to overwhelm her. She had abhorred the way the gods were behaving towards one another, their bloodthirstiness. She had always been a gentle goddess, and had imbued her people with that same quality. She disliked blood being shed, and had avoided the skirmishes as much as possible. Reason had been tried, and reason had failed. It had been thrown by the wayside when the one that called himself Allah had killed the Nameless One.
The war had been long and bloody, and a once well-populated world had become nearly desolate. There were only a few left, Allah among them. He was tired of the world they ruled over being run by peace-loving individuals, and desired to bring chaos and destruction into it. If he had simply stopped with bringing chaos to the world, it might have prospered, but he desired even more to kill the beings that she had so lovingly tended for all their lives.
She had indeed retreated to the cosmos, the strange and mysterious place that had created the gods and given them the power to create their chosen people. There she had stayed for several days, drifting about in dismay and despair.
What the elves had not known they had made up, and though it worked with the history, it was not what had truly happened.
While she drifted aimlessly through the cosmos, a Being had come to her, His body made of sacred ether, the stuff of stars. She had known Him to be a representation of what she had needed at the time, a superior being that could comfort her in her time of need. She had not asked anything of him, had not even thought of it, for she had given up all hope of saving her people.
So what He said had come as a complete shock to her.
"Aryana," He had said, "there is yet hope for your people, if you are willing to be patient. We are not pleased with Allah, but there is little that can be done. Chaos does indeed need to be brought into that world, but his plans are not kind. He will create his own people, and they will be abomination through no fault of their own.
"If you wish to salvage the people you have so lovingly tended, you must give a gift to the creatures Allah shall create. You will give them the same gift of gentility that you gave to your people."
There she had stared at Him with disbelief. Give the abominations gentility? She had so very little left!
"Yes, you must. Not to the same extent that you so generously bestowed upon the faeriefolk, of course, for you must keep some of your gentleness through the time of trials that awaits you. No, a spark is all that you need give to these new creations. It will be the only thing that will carry the faeries through the many centuries before you can return to them."
She had begun to weep, then, and mourn for her poor people that trusted her, that needed her to help them through, and He had held her, whispering to her.
"You will return, fear not, and you will have help, but you must make this sacrifice in order for your people to survive and for Allah to be defeated. I am sorry, Aryana, I am so sorry."
She had returned to the land of gods, and had bestowed a spark of gentility. She had allowed herself and the rest of the gods to be brutally murdered by Allah, but not before giving the prophecy to the elves. Her soul had retreated to the comforting arms of the One that had comforted her, and there she had waited for her time to return.
When she came back to herself, she found tears streaming down her face and wasn't sure whether they were tears of sorrow or joy. She looked down at Jack again and studied him closely. That oddly familiar something about him tried to elude her grasp, and succeeded for a while, but she finally pinned it down. It was a part of Him. The One that had held her in His arms for so long, the One who had helped her through the pain of being separated from her people for so long.
He had come to help her. She felt truly honored, and finally understood why it was that when Jack embraced her it felt so familiar and comforting. Even when she had thought she was in love with Will.
She thought about the past two decades of her life and realized how full they had been. She had had a loving mother, a father that varied between love and iron will, a wicked brother that could only have been the work of Allah (and she shuddered now as she thought of how she had brought about his death...had she been sleeping so long?). She was two different people, she realized. Silently, she thanked Him for such a gift as He had given her. This strange life had shown her many things, and perhaps it would help her through what she had to do now.
Smiling, she leaned down and whispered into Jack's ear.
"Wake up, Beloved."
*********************************************************************** Alright, I have no idea where this is going--honestly. I know that what few PotC characters are IN this story have gotten pushed into the background, and I'm not totally sure how that happened, but I hope you all like how this is going! It's strange, I know...but try not to be too harsh with me! I love you all!
