Asylum
By Katsuya Kaiba
AN: I really like this. I can't say why. I'm not even sure. Look out for romance. It begins here.
Zahra walked closely behind Sethe as they crossed the darkened hallway, and the closed door came into view and Zahra paused before entering the working room, staring thoughtfully at the shrine. Sethe stopped in the doorway as he saw what Zahra was staring at, and he watched him for any sort of reaction, seeing only confusion on Zahra's face.
"You still don't remember?"
Zahra shook his head. "No…I remember knowing that you were right, and I remember learning something…about who was inside of me. But I can't remember who."
"Who? There was someone else?"
"I think so…it's just in the way that I remember. I remember finding someone else inside, but it wasn't anyone that I'd ever known." Sethe frowned, but he reached out and pulled on Zahra's sleeve, and Zahra followed him inside the room.
"Just don't think about it right now. You have to concentrate on what we're going to be doing." Sethe left Zahra at the empty table and crossed the room, pulling a few things off the shelves and carrying them over. He placed them on the table and then paused, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at Zahra thoughtfully. "I think that we should begin with something small…something that you can mess up at and still not destroy anything." Zahra's shoulders slumped and he pouted, whishing that Sethe would let him live that down.
"I really didn't mean to do that…"
"No, I know…but you wouldn't mean to do it at any point. It could still feasibly happen, though…but even if it does, don't worry. No one's here to see it now." He glanced down at the table and surveyed what he'd grabbed. "Here…take this. Before you can use Heka, you need to learn how to draw it out." The dagger was pressed into Zahra's hand, and Sethe guided his arm until Zahra was holding the blade pointing upward within inches of his face, the metal so close to his nose that he had to cross his eyes in order to see it clearly.
"Alright…are you ready?" Zahra nodded, not taking his eyes off the dagger. "Close your eyes…" Zahra did as he was told, but then reopened them as he felt Sethe moving away. "I'm not going anywhere, I'm just going to stand behind you." Zahra nodded his head and relaxed, closing his lids once more and waiting for Sethe's direction. "Now…this might take awhile, so don't worry if it feels like it's taking too long. Remember when you cast your first spell?"
Zahra did remember, and he nodded his head again, trying to conjure up that feeling of what it was like. "I drew the Heka for you then, but now you're going to draw your own. All you need to do is pull it out of everything around you. There's Heka in everything…even in this room, and the Heka that is aligned with you will be drawn out as you call it."
Zahra spoke, quietly but Sethe was so close that he heard him clearly. "Yours is red."
"Yours will be, too."
"How can you know?"
"Because you were able to use mine, and you can't use a color that isn't aligned with you. I could never use Mahado's, because his is gold. Although he can't see that…but you and I both can. You and I can share Heka whenever we want, and it wouldn't make any difference, because we draw the same color. There's a certain amount of each color in everything, but you and I will only ever be able to draw out the red. No other color will react to us."
"Does it change anything?"
Sethe's voice was close, on his ear almost, and Zahra felt it more than before. "Sometimes. Certain spells require certain sorts of Heka, and so we'll never be able to cast those spells. But you can usually just write around that. It's all in how you write the spell. But we won't cast one today."
Zahra took a deep breath, understanding what Sethe was explaining and feeling ready to give it a shot. "Okay…what should I do?"
"Close you eyes. And keep them closed, because it's so much easier to see Heka with your eyes closed. Now, remember the way that it looked before?" Zahra nodded, remembering both the look and the feel of those crimson shades and shadows, wire thin and nearly transparent. "With your eyes closed you can see all around you. Relax…" Zahra let his muscles unclench, not ever realizing that he'd held them so tightly. "…And look without your eyes. You'll see them, in a moment. Just be patient, and don't force it."
Zahra kept his eyes shut lightly and let his shoulders fall, knowing that if he fell because of anything, Sethe was right behind him and would catch him like last time. He thought as quietly as he could, thinking about the way that those pieces of Heka had looked, but not trying to look directly for them. He got the impression that they would come on their own, if he called them right, and after what felt like only seconds, the first of the ruby threads appeared in the far right corner of his mind, and he pulled it to himself slowly.
"Be careful not to pull it into yourself. Pull it into the blade." Zahra focused his mind directly on the blade, and the Heka followed his line of thought just as they had the last time, imitating his intention and disappearing into his mental image of the gold dagger, and he knew that it was happening before him as well. He wanted to open his eyes and look, but he realized that he couldn't, because instead of the one red string there were now hundreds of them, and Zahra nearly panicked before he realized that perhaps he was pulling in a little too hard. But Sethe had never made any mention of that. He quickly redirected his thoughts on the blade, and they all swarmed towards it and inside, but instead of clearing his mind it only made way for more, and he could feel his muscles tightening in fear.
"Zahra, that's…that's too much. Send the rest back." Sethe sounded calm and patient, and Zahra immediately relaxed and let the thought of the dagger go, and without a direction the remaining Heka scattered and slowly disappeared, and Zahra opened his eyes and took a deep breath, recognizing the room that he was in. He'd almost forgotten that he was there. He turned around and faced Sethe, who wore an empty expression but smiled when Zahra smiled at him.
"Look, I did it!" Sethe looked at the blade, and he could see the shade in it as well as Zahra could.
"You did. And you did it quickly, too, although you'll never have a use for that much Heka." Zahra glanced down at the dagger in his hands and frowned.
"Why not? Is it a lot?"
Sethe took the dagger from Zahra and held it in his hands lightly, looking it over. "This is too much, Zahra. But it's not your fault…do you feel alright?"
Zahra blinked and knitted his brows, confused. "I feel fine."
Sethe shrugged, and then handed the dagger back to him. "Here…take this."
"What did I do? Did I mess up?"
"No...but you know…" Sethe looked at Zahra levelly and grinned, "If I ever drew out that much Heka I'd probably collapse, if I was able to do it at all. But you feel fine?"
"Just the same as before."
"Good…now, you aren't going to use that Heka, but you can't just keep it in the blade, or it will die. And that's not good. If you mistreat Heka, it will eventually stop responding to you, and then you'll have nothing to cast spells with. So, now do the exact opposite of everything you just did. Send it back where it came from." Zahra lifted the blade to his face once again and closed his eyes. Sethe was right, and as he let it all go, each and every strand worked itself out of the blade and fell back into the shadow of his mind, and as soon as the last red shade had disappeared, he let his eyes flutter open and he turned around, smiling at Sethe.
"That's easy…let's do something else."
Sethe shook his head. "We shouldn't…we'll wait until tomorrow. It's only the first day, and if you overdo it now, you won't be able to practice tomorrow. Trust me…I know." Sethe's voice turned sour towards the end of his sentence, and he and Zahra both put everything away and left the room. "It's late, anyway…the shrine has to be sealed." Zahra groaned and followed Sethe, not wanting to go back in that room but knowing that it had to be done. The discomfort never got any better than it had when he had first gone inside wearing that necklace, and while it was infinitely easier than before, going inside that shrine was Zahra's least favorite part of each day.
Sethe was already changed into his bedclothes when he caught up with Zahra in his bedroom. "Are you tired?" Zahra sat up on the bed and watched Sethe inquiringly. Sethe paused, shifting his weight from one foot to the other and he thought out his sentence before he asked, leaving a long minute of silence that had Zahra wondering what he was thinking about. "If you want, I'd like to show you something."
"In the temple?"
"No…it's in the palace, but I'm sure that no one will mind if I take you there. Do you want to go?"
Zahra jumped up off the bed and smiled at Sethe as he walked towards him. "Of course. Let's go."
The walk through the temple at night was longer than usual and filled with shadows, at least in Zahra's mind, but he walked closely to Sethe and followed him through the back of the temple and into the palace from the side. They walked along the end of the throne room, never coming close to the actual throne and therefore not drawing any attention to themselves, and in the very back of the room there was a wide stone staircase that led upwards, and as Zahra walked alongside Sethe he could see that the staircase led up through the roof, and seconds later they were outdoors and still climbing higher. Zahra looked back and saw the roof of the temple just behind him, and then looked ahead of him and saw that they still had much higher to climb, and Zahra was glad that he wasn't afraid of heights. The staircase came to an end and it leveled off on the roof of the palace, and Zahra could see a doorway surrounded by firelight not too far off, but he turned his head and looked behind him instead and his eyes widened and he held his breath for a moment.
From this height, he could see almost every piece of Heliopolis, and he hadn't realized just how high they had climbed until that moment, and he stared out over the city silently, the sky behind it night blue and ever darkening. All of the stars were so much more visible from this height, and he let his gaze trail upwards and saw the same stars that he had always seen ever since he could remember, only now that he was here they were so much brighter than they ever had been. It could have been the height, but Zahra thought that perhaps it was more than just that, and he turned and found Sethe waiting for him to look.
"It's beautiful from up here…" Sethe blinked and then looked over at the city, then looked back at Zahra.
"What…that? I suppose…but we're not here for that. Look…" Sethe pointed at the doorway Zahra had spotted earlier, and Zahra's face fell as he realized that they weren't here to relax. Zahra walked behind Sethe towards the room, amazed at his ability to think of nothing but what had to be done. He never just wanted to take a break and talk for awhile, there was always something that he had to do.
"…What's in there?" Zahra and Sethe came up on the doorway and Zahra peeked inside, seeing that it was rather small. Sethe moved through the doorway and pulled Zahra inside with him and pointed to the walls, and Zahra looked at them closely and then stepped closer to them. "What…what are all these?"
Every inch of each wall was covered with odd pictures, and they were all lined up and arranged in rows that spanned from one end of the wall to the other, repeating endlessly over each of the four walls. They were pictures of animals and creatures that Zahra had never seen before, and each one was carved into the stone wall deeply, surrounded by four lines that created an even border around each picture, separating each one squarely. They covered the walls from the ceiling to the floor, and Zahra moved sideways, trying to get a good look at them all.
"This is a record of every Ba that exists in this world. Your Ba…is one of these. Although I don't know which one yet."
Zahra looked at Sethe, and then turned his eyes back to the walls. "I don't understand. What's Ba?"
Sethe looked up at the wall, scanning the pictures slowly. "Your Ba is…well, everyone has one. It's what keeps you alive, and what makes you who you are, inside. Whichever god you belong to chooses your Ba, and the instant that you're born it's inside of you, and the moment that you die, it leaves. You can't see it…but it can be drawn out."
Zahra watched Sethe speak with wide eyes, and he felt his heart jump up to his chest for an unknown reason. "You…you can? But how…won't the person die?"
Sethe shook his head. "Not if it's done correctly…I've done it before, to myself and others. And it leaves sometimes on it's own, in your sleep, if it's called away by it's creator. Your Ba is your connection with the god who chose you…so in your case, your Ba would be a creature aligned with Suti." Zahra only stared at Sethe, imagining what it must have been like for Sethe to draw his out. Zahra's first thought was that it must have been terrifying. "But you're right…it is dangerous, and a person can't live long without it…not more than a few hours. I did it to learn who I was inside…and soon, I want you to do it as well."
Zahra froze, but Sethe looked at him calmly, and Zahra knew that Sethe wouldn't ask him to do something that could possibly hurt him. "…Okay. Will you be there?" Sethe nodded, and Zahra smiled. "Then it's fine." He looked up the walls surrounding him and realized that there were hundreds of possibilities, and he stepped back towards the doorway and looked at Sethe. "Which one do you think I am?"
"I couldn't say…but I know that it won't be one that I've ever seen before. I've drawn Ba out of countless people, but none of them ever felt the way that you do. Yours will be…" Sethe stared at Zahra as he spoke, and whatever he meant to say was lost as he looked deeply into Zahra's eyes.
"Will be what?" Zahra tilted his head to one side and stared back at Sethe, honestly wanting to know how his Ba would be. Sethe smiled dismally at the ground and spoke quietly.
"It will be perfect." Sethe didn't look up for the longest time, and when he finally did Zahra had already looked away, unsure of what to make of Sethe's admission, but knowing that it hadn't been easy for him to say. He decided against looking in his mind and instead looked at his face, not wanting steal things from him that weren't his to have.
"Which one is yours?" Sethe snapped back into action happily and led Zahra to another wall, getting down on his knees to see it since it was so close to the ground.
"This one…right here." Sethe touched one of the squares and Zahra leaned over and peered down, trying to see in the dim firelight. It was a dragon, and Zahra looked at it and wondered how something that looked so terrible could be inside of Sethe.
"That couldn't be inside you…you're nothing like that." Zahra looked at Sethe and smiled, and Sethe stood up from the ground and walked towards the doorway.
"Oh, no? Don't you remember the day that we met? I'll bet that you wouldn't have disagreed then." He grinned at Zahra as they walked out of the room, and Zahra paused at the edge of the roof, sitting down on the edge and swinging his legs over the side.
"Oh…you're right. You were terrible…but you're not anymore. Or maybe you are, and I just can't see it." He turned back to see where Sethe was and found him standing only a foot or so away and watching him from above. "Sit down."
"But we're done here." Sethe seemed confused, and Zahra decided it was time for Sethe to take a few minutes off.
"So? We never just relax…come on, Sethe, there's nothing to do in the temple…let's just sit here for awhile. It's nice out, now that the sun is gone." Sethe took a step forward, paused, and then sat down cautiously, keeping his legs on solid ground.
"Don't sit so close to the edge." Sethe crossed his legs and sat, glaring at Zahra until he scooted back from the edge a bit, and Zahra moved until he was sitting alongside Sethe. The sky was even darker than it had been when they first arrived, and all of the stars were even brighter now and Zahra looked up at them for the longest time, wishing that Makiah could have seen the way that they looked from up here. Zahra's chest tightened just for a second, but then he relaxed, thinking of Sethe and glad that he was able to look at them with him, just the same. Makiah was gone, but Zahra wasn't, and it was enough to remember him when it really mattered.
I wonder what might have happened to me if Makiah had never died. I would never wish him gone, and I'll always want him back…but if he had never died, would I have met Sethe? Probably not. Its because of Makiah, that I was able to come here and live with him. I just wish that things could have worked out easier…its still so hard, every single day. But Sethe…
Zahra glanced over at Sethe, expecting to find him looking up at the sky and finding him staring directly at Zahra instead, and as soon as he was caught he blinked but he didn't look away.
"Bored?" Perhaps Sethe wasn't interested in relaxing. "If you really want to leave, we can. I just like it up here."
"It's fine…I don't mind." Zahra gave Sethe a smile from the corner of his lips and then let his head fall back until he was lying on the stone, looking up at the sky and Sethe at the same time. Sethe looked at Zahra for a few seconds, then looked up at the sky, then all around him, and Zahra giggled at his obvious lack of interest in the situation.
"You look like you're dying to get out of here." Zahra spoke between his laughing, and Sethe looked down and frowned at him.
"I'm not…I'm just not sure what you find so interesting out here."
"It's the night…I always liked it better in the night…and yet I'm afraid of the dark. Isn't that strange?" Zahra laughed quietly and waited for Sethe to respond. Sethe looked at Zahra pensively and thought quietly, and Zahra sighed exaggeratedly and pushed on Sethe' shoulder lightly.
"You're not supposed to try and figure it out. You're supposed to laugh, or something."
"Oh…sorry." Zahra laughed ever louder at Sethe, and then quieted down a bit and looked at him seriously.
"Hey…let's not be Shemsu-Suti right now. Alright?"
"Why not?"
"Because…it's night now, and the sun is gone. There's nothing to hide from. So let's not hide anymore."
"What shall we be, then?"
Zahra thought for a moment. "You can be Sethe, and I'll be Zahra."
Sethe grinned. "Just Sethe?"
"Of course…it's Sethe that I like so much." Zahra watched Sethe's face in the starlight and although it was dark and so was Sethe, the skin on his face paled slightly, and his eyes widened just a bit. "I mean…the Kher Heb is nice, and I like the cousin of the Pharaoh. But…the one that I like the most is Just Sethe. Because I don't think that anyone but me gets to see him."
Sethe blinked rapidly and continued to stare wordlessly at Zahra, and Zahra sat up and moved himself over a bit until he sat just in front of Sethe, and he leaned back again and laid his head on Sethe's crossed ankles. He watched the stars quietly, listening to the far off sounds of the people in the city and wondered why he'd just done that, laid on Sethe like that without even thinking about it. His heart beat in an awful way, and he tried not to think about it and relaxed, feeling nothing but silent acceptance from Sethe and knowing that he'd done the exact thing he had wanted to do the moment he wanted to do it. And it was alright.
"Anyway…" Zahra continued shakily, "It's okay, you know, to only be Sethe. I'll only be Zahra."
He left it at that, and after a minute or so of curious silence Sethe spoke, and Zahra realized that it had been long since he'd last spoken. "That's perfect…because Zahra is the one that I like."
Zahra smiled and looked up at the sky. "Then it's settled. Just for this night, neither one of us is special in any way. So there isn't anything to worry about. Not until the sun comes up." Sethe said nothing, but his head was just above Zahra's and Zahra watched him as he looked up at the stars as well, and no one said or did anything for the longest time. Zahra thought of a thing, a silly thing, really, but it was worth it, just hear what Sethe might say in return, and wanting to hear his voice was a thought that rose in his mind more often these days.
"What if…what if the sun doesn't rise?" Sethe glanced down finally, and he wore a small smirk as he answered.
"Then we'll go on like this forever."
Sethe's smile looked funny upside down, and Zahra smiled back at him and felt fingers in his hair, but he didn't move or say anything and instead he watched as Sethe carefully sifted through his bangs and played idly with the streaks of henna. "I like this…what you did."
"…I know. You only told me about a thousand times." Zahra laughed under his breath, but Sethe's face never moved, and he continued to stare downwards, his eyes blurry and unfocused. "But…thanks." Sethe let his hand fall still on Zahra's forehead, and then after a few comfortable minutes he sat upright and stretched his arms above his head.
"We should go back. We have to get up early." He placed his hands under Zahra's head and slipped his legs out from underneath him, standing up on his feet. Zahra watched him, not too terribly anxious to go back to the temple, but Sethe came to stand beside him and held out his hands, and Zahra took them both and let Sethe pull him up to his feet. Sethe released his left hand but Zahra didn't try to let go of Sethe's right, and since Sethe had already begun to walk down the first step Zahra held on tight his hand, and Sethe did not let go, pulling Zahra down the staircase a bit faster so that he wouldn't be trailing behind as usual. Zahra stepped quickly and kept up with Sethe, and his hand felt strange but nice in his own, and he hoped that he wouldn't have to let go anytime soon. The two silently crept through the palace, which was now quiet and seemed to be empty, and Sethe pulled Zahra through the open doorway and into the temple.
The temple was almost always the same degree of darkness this deep inside, night or day, but it seemed somehow quieter to Zahra in the distant night, and he could hear the gold links of his anklets jangling as he walked into Sethe's bedroom. Sethe's hand suddenly slipped out of his own, and Zahra watched as Sethe immediately laid down on the side of the bed that he always laid on, and Zahra imitated him, wondering if he was finished speaking for the night. Sometimes Sethe would do that, it was rare but once in awhile he would withdraw suddenly and without warning, and while he would always answer Zahra if he spoke, he wouldn't offer up any sort of conversation and instead would either close his eyes and think or stare off at nothing silently. Sethe's eyes were closed, Zahra noticed as he laid down, and Zahra let him be, lying on his side so that he was facing Sethe and closing his eyes, finding that he was more tired than he had thought. It was late for him to be up, and the moment that his eyelids slipped shut he felt himself falling.
Fire.
He could smell it all around, and the feel of it was on his skin, and he frowned, wondering why it didn't hurt him to burn like that. His eyes were closed, but he couldn't open them, and instead he breathed in deep and felt his lungs fill with thick smoke, and he paused and thought about that and thought about why it didn't make him cough at all. The fiery heat was everywhere on his skin but it never ate away at him, and instead it was still and silent, and Zahra waited patiently for something at all to make sense, for his eyes to open, for something to pull him out, and finally something did come, although he couldn't see what it was.
It forced his eyes open and it brought the heavy feeling of wakefulness to his mind, and as his eyelids slipped open he looked up at the ceiling and saw that it was the same one that he always saw, every morning. Blinking, he turned his head to the side and looked at Sethe, and here was the same Sethe, as well, and Zahra could tell from the feel of the night that the sun was still far from rising. It had been a dream. Zahra rubbed at his eyes and turned back over on his side and watched Sethe sleep, wondering why he hadn't been scared at such a terrible dream…what should have been a nightmare. He'd been burning…it had seemed. His eyes adjusted to the dim light and he stared, then sat up slightly and moved over on the bed until he was within a few inches of Sethe, who lay on his back and faced the ceiling, in a deep sleep.
Zahra lifted the hand that wasn't holding him up and touched Sethe's forehead, and the heavy droplets of sweat that he swore he'd seen reflecting the firelight collected around his fingers and rolled down Sethe's temples, and Zahra's eyes grew wide. Sethe's skin was flushed and darker than ever, and the temperature that Zahra felt on his fingertips was far too warm for Sethe to be alright, and just then Sethe frowned slightly under Zahra's hand and took a shaky breath, but he didn't open his eyes.
What's wrong with him…? I wonder if I should wake him up. But maybe he's sick? He wasn't acting like he was sick earlier…it might be a nightmare. Zahra blinked, thinking of what had woken him up in the night and wondered if it was possible, for him to have seen Sethe's dream. Maybe that's why I wasn't scared.
Zahra, unsure of what to do and not wanting to wake Sethe up unless he absolutely had to, decided that he could try and see what Sethe was thinking, as he knew that he could do if Sethe had been awake. Zahra wasn't sure if it would work out the same way on someone who was asleep, but Zahra felt that he had to do something, and the way that Sethe looked only made Zahra rush his decision more. He closed his eyes and remembered the way that he had caught the answers to his questions in Sethe's mind, and he tried to do the same thing, only this time searching for the thing that Sethe dreamt of. Sethe was close, and Zahra only had to try for a few moments until whatever he was searching for found him first and tore him away, and Zahra could feel himself gasping and falling forward, but it was only far off in the distance.
Fire.
He could smell it all around, and the feel of it was on his skin, and he frowned, wondering why it didn't hurt him to burn like that. His eyes were closed, but he didn't open them, and instead he breathed in deep and felt his lungs fill with thick smoke, and he paused and thought about that and thought about why it didn't make him cough at all. The fiery heat was everywhere on his skin but it never ate away at him, and he tried to open his eyelids and it worked, and he looked all around him and saw what Sethe saw, wherever he was.
He was outdoors, somewhere inside a city that must have been huge, because the streets were wide and from where he stood he could see that they stretched on for what seemed like miles, and the buildings and houses all around him were tall, and every one of them was aflame. It was that odd fire that he saw in the temples, and although it was blue in Zahra's sight, he knew that if he were not Shemsu-Suti, the fire that consumed every inch of everything around him would have been the purest gold to see. This wasn't ordinary fire.
His senses began functioning slowly, and now that he had his sight he realized that he could hear, as well, and he stepped back slowly and listened as the sound of the flames reached his insides, and Zahra trembled, not out of fear but from realization.
This is Memphis.
There were people scattering everywhere, and the sound of screaming and the smell of burning skin nearly overwhelmed the sound of the fires burning, but the flames won in the end and Zahra watched as a panic stricken girl about his age dashed recklessly out of an alleyway and ran directly through him, and Zahra didn't feel it at all as she passed. He turned around and watched silently, and she ran so quickly that Zahra felt that she might be able to make it out, but the building she was about to run by had been eaten almost entirely by the fire and the side of it fell out. The crackling and the shouts that surrounded Zahra drowned out the sound of her body being crushed, and he began walking through the city, desperately trying to keep his eyes low and his attention away from everyone. More than anything, all he wanted to do was scream himself and run, just as they were, but he felt the heat and yet he didn't and he knew that he was fine and they were not, and he wanted to find Sethe.
No one here is going to make it out…there isn't any way. But Sethe was here…I saw it on his skin. I have to find him. I have to find out what happened here. This fire is blue…and that scares me. What if that ceremony was correct…? Suti was accused of destroying Memphis…but would he? Zahra sighed and looked up at the sky and saw nothing but a sapphire blaze. I can't even tell if it's night or day. This…this can't have happened. Is this a memory, or a nightmare? But it feels so real… Zahra closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands, trying to drown out the sound of the dying all around him, and he tried to remember just what it was that Isis had recited in that ceremony. Perhaps it was the pain of hearing the words that left their scar over his mind, but he remembered clearly.
"The One who conceived the Lord of Red,
The creature of destruction and chaos,
Who destroyed the sacred city of Memphis,
He is banished to the Red Lands."
"You aren't running, either." Zahra jumped and uncovered his face, looking for the voice that had spoken to him and finding the owner before him, close enough to touch.
"Sethe…" Zahra reached out and touched his hair, he knew that it was Sethe, but he looked only as old as nine or ten. Sethe's eyes were glazed, and he watched Zahra warily as he reached out, but he didn't try to move away. He was shaking slightly, and Zahra saw that he was in a strange sort of calm shock, his eyes covered with tears of disbelief.
"Aren't you going to run? You'll die, if stay." Sethe's voice was perfectly audible, and Zahra thought that was strange but he couldn't stop to think, and instead he stepped forward and smiled grimly at Sethe.
"I don't need to run. Why aren't you running? Aren't you afraid to die?"
Sethe shook his head, and looked off into the distance. "I don't think I can die. There's something wrong with me. I won't burn like everyone else. Look…" Sethe took Zahra's hand and led him over to the closest tree, which burned from the roots all the way up to the highest branch. Sethe stared at the fire fearlessly and stuck his arm right into the blaze, and Zahra reached out to grab him and pull his arm away but stopped suddenly. The flames split and parted right where Sethe's arm was, and Zahra took a step back and watched in shock as Sethe's arm remained perfectly unscathed. Sethe glanced up at Zahra and took his arm away from the flame, letting it fall back to his side and speaking to Zahra in a level, unfeeling tone, but his eyes were torn and filled with horror.
"I tried to show my parents how, but they couldn't do it. They burned." One single tear fell from the corner of his eye, and Zahra fell to his knees and pulled Sethe against his chest, not knowing what else to do. Sethe's body stiffened slightly at first, but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around Zahra's neck. Zahra held on to him tightly and tried to stop his mind from racing as fast as it did, but he knew that this was nothing but a memory, and he couldn't change a thing.
I don't understand…why is it that Sethe was able to escape? Was he the only one?
Zahra pulled Sethe from his chest and looked into his face. "How did this happen? Why is everything burning?"
Sethe shook his head and stared at the ground. "It's too late…he's already gone."
"Who?"
Sethe tore his eyes from the ground and gazed at Zahra evenly. "The Lord of Red."
"The One who conceived the Lord of Red,
The creature of destruction and chaos,
Who destroyed the sacred city of Memphis…"
No… Zahra stood up and looked at Sethe, not really seeing him but looking right through him. He wasn't entirely sure who or what the Lord of Red truly was, but if it really was a creature of Suti's, then that would mean that…Suti was responsible for this. And he spared Sethe…
"Who is the Lord of Red?" Zahra grabbed Sethe's hand again and held onto it tightly, and Sethe gripped back.
"A dragon…I saw him in my dream tonight. I dreamt that he came and destroyed Memphis…and when I woke up, everything was on fire, and everyone was running…I don't know why I know his name…but as soon as I saw him, I knew."
Zahra looked all around him, watching as the fire burned away at the last of everything, and he wanted to get Sethe as far away from this as possible. "Let's leave the city. Which way do we go?" Sethe turned around and pointed behind him, and Zahra held on to Sethe's hand tightly and led him in that direction. Someone ran right in front of them and nearly knocked into Sethe, but Zahra pulled him over and continued to lead him quickly out of the city.
"Don't look around you…just keep your eyes on the road." Sethe nodded and his head fell forward, and Zahra looked far ahead and saw that the end of the city was near, but the flames were so thick in the direction that they were walking that Zahra knew that no one except Sethe and himself would be able to walk out. It was impossible for anyone to escape alive, and Zahra knew that it was no coincidence.
But for what? And why Sethe? Is it because he's Shemsu-Suti? Zahra glanced down and watched Sethe for a moment, who kept his eyes faithfully on the sand under his feet and looked up for nothing. It must be…there isn't anything else to explain it.
"Where will you go now?" Sethe looked up at Zahra and thought carefully.
"I don't know…everyone I know is dying. But…I could go and see my cousin. He doesn't live very far from here, and I know the way. He lives in Heliopolis."
"Heliopolis is far…you would have to cross the Nile. Can you make it alone?"
Sethe nodded silently and cast his eyes back to the ground. "You won't come with me?"
It broke Zahra's heart to say so, but he couldn't do it. "No…I'm sorry. I don't belong here. But you know what?" Sethe met Zahra's eyes and Zahra smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "I promise that you will make it there." Sethe smiled and tilted his head to the side.
"Promise?"
Zahra nodded. "Nothing can stop you. You're so strong inside…"
The end of the city was near, only steps away, and Zahra knew it was the end because there was no path left through the fire, and he wanted to pause but Sethe kept walking and pulled Zahra by his hand through the flames and out into the cold desert night on the other side. Sethe let go of Zahra's hand and continued to walk, and Zahra stood still and watched him go. He closed his eyes and pulled deep within himself, wanting to leave but not knowing how. Something cold against the skin of his chest made him open his eyes and reach down his collar, and he pulled out the necklace that Sethe had strung the hematite to, and he held the stone in his hand and spoke, just as he had before, in that dream of the Red Lands.
"Take me back."
Zahra's eyes opened and he felt something warm underneath him, and he raised his head slightly and looked into spanning blue, and realized that Sethe was awake and Zahra had fallen asleep on top of him. It wasn't that it was uncomfortable, but it shocked Zahra to find Sethe so close and he tried to sit up immediately but found that Sethe had his arms on his waist and he held him down. Zahra paused, unsure of what to do, but Sethe only pulled him down and whispered in his ear.
"Stop…just go back to sleep."
Zahra stopped struggling and looked at Sethe, whose face was calm and tired, and Zahra did what he asked and laid his head down on Sethe's shoulder and closed his eyes, wondering if he would be able to sleep like that. He was so tired…but that dream. He wondered if Sethe knew that he was there, but he didn't think that there was any way that Sethe couldn't have known that he was there. He'd spent nearly the entire dream with Sethe. But as Zahra laid there on him and waited for him to speak, he realized that perhaps Sethe wasn't going to say anything about what he'd done, and Zahra let his breathing slow and listened as Sethe's did the same, and wondered why it was that he could do this and not feel uncomfortable. His arms were pulled tightly to his chest, but he let one of them reach out and fall lazily over Sethe's stomach, and Sethe turned his head and pressed his forehead against Zahra's lightly.
"Why did you follow me into my dream?" Zahra could feel Sethe's breath on his face, and he had think again to understand what he was saying, feeling distracted by that realization. Then he understood, but Sethe didn't sound mad, he was whispering and only seemed to want to know.
"I was worried about you…you looked so scared, and it made me scared." It was the truth, and Zahra stared at Sethe's eyes as he spoke, unable to focus on anything else. Sethe closed his eyes and smiled, and Zahra thought that it was an odd thing to do, but he didn't say so and closed his own eyes, relaxing further against Sethe and letting the dark wash over him finally. With Sethe so close by, there wasn't much left for Zahra to fear.
AN: They fall in love awfully slowly, don't they? But...it's just...so cute! I was reading through this before I posted it and I was like, squeaking. But it's sad, too, it's many things... Well...you must like it, if you've read it this far. This story sure is long. And complicated. Review, and tell me you love me and you wish to get married. I want to get married.