Day Three

Da'an's condition had spring-boarded from stiff and deathly to limp and feverish. When Liam touched him, he could feel the energy rushing through him, and then his own blood began to pick up the pace. The Taelon's rapid eye movement and jerking head could only mean than he was in the middle of an endless nightmare. Liam wanted to wake him up and tell him none of it was real. This was all just some drug-induced hallucination. Or was it? Liam had no way to be sure. No one did, except for Da'an, and Liam had a strong suspicion that Da'an was not in any position to contemplate what was happening to him and why. Occasionally, Da'an's entire body would squirm as if he was scrambling to get away from something or someone. Other times, he would shudder in what Liam knew was terror. Liam wanted Da'an to hear him. He wanted to know that Da'an could feel him gripping his hand as if Da'an was on the edge of a cliff about to jump with Liam begging him to stay. However, as the day grew longer with absolutely no change in Da'an's appearance, it became clearer and clearer to Liam that there was absolutely nothing he could do for his friend, and realizing just how useless he was made Liam storm out of that room in despair and run to a place where the light was brighter and more welcoming.

Renee stayed with Da'an longer. She had never felt a stronger connection to Da'an than she did during these days. She could not describe the connection, and she could not even begin to think about why. However, unlike Liam, she knew that no matter where Da'an was right now, eventually he would hear her. Eventually he would feel her cheering him on and telling him not to give up. She stayed and helped them monitor Da'an's vitals and regulate the energy shower. She had to make the best of this and hope for Da'an. As morning turned to noon, Renee finally realized why she felt so strongly connected to Da'an. Never in the few years she had known Da'an had he ever been so determined to do whatever it took to gain his freedom. Even though their paths were miles different and apart, both Da'an and Renee had the same goal. They wanted freedom.

"Don't you give up," Renee whispered. "Don't you let anyone tell you to give up."

Mem'na, Renee and Liam had learned, was the primary nurse in charge of Da'an's care, and Alo'in, the minister who had preached such grievous words the day before, was the prime minister. The other four were their protégés.

By the time Liam had left, Da'an's temperature was so high that it was not safe for Renee to directly touch him. He burned whatever clothes with which they tried to cool him.

"How are his vitals?" Renee asked Mem'na ignoring the fist that smashed into the wall outside.

"Not critical, but not normal either," Mem'na replied. "I would not worry too much. This is to be expected."

"Is it the drugs?" Renee asked bluntly.

"Is that what you believe it is?" Mem'na asked back. "You believe this has nothing to do with spiritual renewal? That Da'an is not actually on another spiritual level fighting for his freedom?"

"All I truly know of is what I see," Renee said. "Alo'in may not admit it, but the drugs he and the rest of you are using on Da'an are hallucinogens. They make him high, and then he starts to see these wild fantasies. This doesn't depend on Da'an's mind. It depends on his immune system. All you people are doing is drugging him away from the Commonality."

"If you have truly dealt with the Taelons and the Synod as you say you have, then you should know by now that nothing is ever truly as it seems," Mem'na said calmly. "Taelons are not like humans. Taelons can control every voluntary and involuntary function of their bodies with a single thought. Da'an's immune system is his mind."

"His mind is under the influence of alien narcotics," Renee argued. "These aren't chemicals preserving Da'an's body until his soul returns. They're narcotics producing the images that you call near death experiences. What's happening to him now is a bad reaction to the drugs."

"If the experiences Da'an undergoes are hallucination, then the images that every being experiences only seconds before they die are also hallucinations wrought on by the very sedatives doctors use to attempt to revive them. Dreams are nothing more than illusions wrought on by chemicals in the air that normally would not affect the body due to an immune system that is more active in the daytime when the individual is awake. The Commonality is nothing more than a huge delusion caused by a mass hysteria the priests induce upon the Taelons via a drug whose existence has not yet been confirmed. God is a delusion of grandeur wrought on by bad church wine and a series of schizophrenic prophets capable of producing mass hysteria that they laughingly call 'miracles.' Drugs cannot explain everything beyond this world, Ms. Palmer. Not all visions are merely mirages. There is not always an explanation for everything. Only Priestess Nye knows exactly why this procedure is so effective in freeing Taelons from the Commonality. Only she truly knows whether the drugs put the subject in a position to see what he normally would not see or whether the drugs merely create what he would normally not see."

"If the images aren't created by drugs, then why does Da'an need them?" Renee asked. "He can connect to the Commonality anytime he wishes, and he doesn't need drugs to leave it. Why does he need it now?"

"Why is it that the drugs enable us to leave the Commonality without regression and without the drugs, leaving the Commonality causes regression?" Mem'na asked back.

Renee could give no answer.

"Young human, the mysteries of life leave room for imagination and creativity," Mem'na explained. "Without creativity, there is no art, no music, no poetry and no stories. Without stories, there is nothing to learn. And when there is nothing more to learn, there is nothing more to enjoy. When there is nothing more to enjoy, would you not prefer death and extinction? Your method of thinking is exactly the kind of thinking that is leading the Taelons on a path to extinction. If you cannot even subtly acknowledge the mysteries of the afterlife and the fantasies that dreams produce, how can you expect to have any faith whatsoever? How can you believe in yourself and Da'an? How can you help him if you will not acknowledge what he fights for?"

Renee sighed. "I do believe in the supernatural. I do believe in God and religion. I just don't believe that Da'an needs your drugs to get through this. He can do it on his own."

"He is doing it on his own, Ms. Palmer. He volunteered to undergo the ritual, he allowed us to sedate him, and he truly believes that this ritual can give him the freedom he longs for. Is that not enough?"

"It should be, but a part of me can't just accept that. I need more."

"Then, try to have a little faith in us, and in him." Mem'na motioned her head towards Da'an. "He does."

"I do have faith in him, and I want to believe. That's why I'm here."

"If you truly have faith, then why did you bother to ask the question?"

"Because religion and spirituality aren't just springboards for creativity. So is science."

"Then, why can there not exist a universe where science and religion may reside together in a symbiotic relationship for us all to acknowledge and embrace?"

Renee smiled. It was difficult to do, but she managed to smile. "Mem'na, if more people like you existed in this universe, then that would be the case already."

Mem'na nodded in acceptance of the compliment. "For what it is worth, your friend is much stronger than he looks."

"Does he know that?" Renee asked.

"I do not know. Perhaps you should tell him."

Renee shook her head not knowing how to feel. So she took a piece of cold cloth and took Da'an's hand. It was the closest she could ever come.


Huddled against the wall, Da'an did everything he could to avoid the judges in their black ghastly robes. He could feel their angry souls latching on to him.

"Please just go away," Da'an whispered with his head buried in his hands. "This is not real. You are not real. This is all just a dream."

The floor reverted back to its clear liquid composure, but seconds before those dark figures could grab him and cast him into whatever hell they had planned for him, Da'an fell through the floor as if he had just fallen into a lake.

The stonewall image where he had once stood to face the priests melted away, and Da'an suddenly found himself in the middle of a lake buried under water. Disoriented by the sudden change, Da'an could not tell which direction led to freedom. The water began to seep into his body, clogging the few organs he had of the air they needed to function. He knew that if he did not find some kind of air soon, his energy would breakdown causing an osmosis that would reduce his body to liquid and his soul into nothing. He would drown as he once did before.

The fear of the water settled itself. The panic only made it worse. The pressure to find some air quickly took its toll, and soon Da'an began to recall the fear and pain he had felt when his own parent held him under the cold stream of water drowning him. He recalled the look his parent gave him. It was a look of disgust—disgust of what he believed was a demonic child. It was a look of terror—terror that his actions would wreak a terrible havoc by this abomination. To be clear, it was a look of pure insanity, a look that raped into the drowning child's very soul. Never had he felt so violated as he did when he realized that his parent no longer loved him.

A pair of hands grabbed Da'an and forced him down. He tried to fight their powerful grip, but his mind was already weakening from lack of oxidation. It was happening all over again. When he looked up, he could see him. He could see Bel'lie with that look of hatred. Da'an's eyes rolled back into his head as he realized that there was nothing he could do to fight him. But then, he had survived before somehow. Or had he? He could not remember. If he could somehow remember how he survived—if he survived—he could do it again. He simply had to think. His eyelids shut and his façade melted away.

That was when he felt the hands release him. He felt the sandy surface beneath his back, and he pulled himself out of the water and into the air. The air rushed through and the water squeezed out of him so quickly that he lost his balance, and his vision blurred. When he was oriented enough to move, he scrambled out of the lake and into the trees. He leaned on a stump and coughed out what was left of the water.

In the back of his mind, he could hear splashing. He could hear muffled screams and limbs flailing. It took all of his courage to turn back to the water, but when he did, he saw a Taelon hunched over in the water. He was pushing a tiny body down into it, and the splashing Da'an had heard was the child's vain struggle to save himself. Da'an knew it was Bel'lie. Then, it had been true. It was never a dream. Bel'lie had drowned him when he was young. The muffled screams stopped. Now, the child was just struggling. Da'an did not know whether to feel sympathy, sadness or anger, but he chose to feel anger. A faint memory echoed in the back of his mind as he watched the splashing cease and the bubbles stop.

There were two children sitting against the wall. One held the other's hand.

He is going to kill you. He hates you. He is not afraid of you. He is afraid of what you could turn into. He thinks you could turn into a demon, and he will try to justify your death as preserving your innocence. Always stay with me. As long as he is here, never leave my sight, and never say one word to him. Remember, sibling, I will always love you, and I will always protect you.

So that was why he never spoke. That was why he always gave Bel'lie that look. He knew it was going to happen. It had all been a matter of when. But Bel'lie did something Ma'el could not control nor predict. He took Da'an as he slumbered. When he awoke, it was too late.

All motion of the child stopped. The child was dead. He had drowned. It surprised Da'an when Bel'lie shuddered and started to whimper in sadness. It surprised him even more when Bel'lie begged for forgiveness.

Suddenly, Bel'lie froze. He winced sharply and placed his hand on his head as if someone had just clubbed him. He dropped the dead child and whirled around in severe pain to see another child.

It was Ma'el! When he awoke to find his sibling gone, he had rushed into the woods to find him. Intense rage was in those eyes of his. Bel'lie winced in awful pain. It felt as if someone was drilling into his mind, body and soul. Da'an began to wonder if this was pain, guilt, or were they one and the same?

That was when the anger resurfaced. Da'an wanted him to suffer for what he had done. And he folded his arms and watched with pleasure as Ma'el continued to punish him. But still, it did not seem like enough. No, it was not enough to suffer mental pain. He had to go through physical pain as well. Apparently his younger self had been thinking the same thing. Like a phoenix rising from its own ashes, the young Da'an rose from the water with a look ten times more vengeful than Ma'el's could ever be. Bel'lie froze in pure terror.

No. It is impossible! I destroyed you.

Bel'lie's neck began to tighten as if an invisible noose was wrapping itself around him. He choked and backed into a tree to support himself. When he somehow found enough strength to fight back, he lunged at the little Taelon, but he had forgotten about Ma'el. Ma'el stopped him with a single painful thought. Ma'el had told Bel'lie's mind that a rock had just hit him, and Bel'lie body accepted the message. Bel'lie recovered from his dizziness, but when he tried to stand, he found that his limbs had paralyzed.

Da'an and his younger self appeared to be one and the same now. Both jerked their heads to the right, and a barrage of trees cracked in two like toothpicks. Their mighty trunks appeared to be kneeling before the children. When the two jerked their heads to the left, more followed the kneeling trees' lead.

No. Please, child. You cannot do this. I am your parent! I am all you have in the world! I was only trying to help you.

Their eyes turned blood red with a look that held no emotion other than pure rage.

The cracked tree trunks snapped away from their stumps in a foreboding sound as loud as thunder. The young Da'an began to float in the air as the trunks, the dirt, and the fallen leaves circled around him like a cyclone. They spun faster and faster until they burst into flames. Bel'lie was pulled into the ring of fire, and the spinning flames grew closer and closer to him. Soon the water behind him burst into flames. Flames sprung from the ground like demonic weeds. The entire area was consumed, but all Bel'lie could do was focus on the infuriated and vengeful scowls of his two children.

Bel'lie's screams were all that could be heard throughout the Commonality as a huge chunk of the mighty forest exploded.

And through it all, not once did Da'an feel a sorry shred of shame.