Enflame (Insight #6)(16)
“You’re here,” Phoenix said, pointing to the dimmer half of the circle. “But, we came from here,” he said, nodding to the brighter side.
“Where is there?” Landen asked curiously.
“An alternate reality.”
Phoenix spread his long fingers apart, pointing to both sides of the circle. “Two realities existing side by side. Notice the curves of the beams, how on each side they balance above each other?” he asked as his blazing eyes rose to meet mine.
Timidly, I nodded once.
“One side is set further back in time, or ahead, depending on how you look at it. It’s our mirror. Both sides have one. Time is always moving in each reality in its own little loop.” His stare moved back to the illusion my medallion was creating, and he began to trace faint lines of light that were connecting the spheres and four rings. “These are the paths between each reality’s dimension.”
“The String,” Landen acknowledged.
Phoenix nodded once to confirm, then moved his fingertips to point out a dark mass that was on one side of the wall of what looked like water that was dividing the circle and outlining the dimensions. “This is the veil. The Realm is just before it.”
“That’s it?” Landen commented dryly. “Where is the heaven and hell, the battle between darkness and light? What are you saying? That this is some Ferris wheel we are all on, fighting each other to prevent boredom? What is the point of reaching the other side?”
Phoenix smirked. It was as if Landen’s sarcasm was giving him hope that the Landen he knew was not that far away.
“Heaven is the peace you find in your soul. Hell is what you overcome to get that.” Phoenix pointed to the curves of one of the rings. “Each half circle represents over four million years of life. There is enough room there for you to find any war or heaven you seek.”
“And the other side?” Landen asked, obviously noticing that Phoenix’s attention was on the darker of the two universes.
“Balance...meant to be, anyway. From the looks of this image, they are faring well. We are the ones that are failing. If we don’t figure out how to save this side, heaven’s gate will turn into a wall and the end will be inevitable.”
“Heaven’s gate?” Landen said, cocking his head. “What happened to ‘heaven is the peace in your soul’?”
“It’s what the wall of energy is called by the majority. The other side is not like this. Its basked in light. In peace, balanced souls reside there.
Landen’s eyes were distant. I could sense memories breaking lose in his mind. They were causing a mix of emotion and confusion within him.
“I can open your eyes, if that is what you need,” Phoenix murmured.
Landen leaned forward. “I can buy this. It almost makes sense, but this,” Landen said, letting his sharp stare fall to the image, “doesn’t explain anything I’m going through. So, I don’t have time to care that some gate will turn into a wall. The dimensions on this side are enough for me to handle.”
“This is why you are going through what you are going through. It’s a curse. Eight beyond the sun and the moon. It’s a curse Dane had a part in tricking you into. We have weaved a dangerous web, and the only way out is to undo our past.”
“Explain,” Landen pushed.
Phoenix clenched his jaw before he spoke. “You were my brother. We’re only fourteen months apart. When you were ten, a fever nearly took your life. When you finally overcame it, you believed the hallucinations you saw when you were sick were real. I didn’t believe you until years later when you began to predict life moments, then weeks, before it happened. Years later, at your adamant request, we took you to The Selected.
“The Selected?”
Phoenix nodded once. “They live against The Fall, Heaven’s Gate. In the past, all souls passed through that wall, but by the time we left, only The Selected could or would. They are or were the ambassadors and warriors from our reality.”
Landen narrowed his eyes and rolled his shoulders. It was clear he was remembering something I could not perceive. From the humble tone in his emotion, I knew that whomever these selected beings were, he felt honored to have been acknowledged by them.
“I’m fighting a curse from over four million years ago. Is that when this started?”
“Brother, after all we have been through, in my opinion, I think it started with your birth. You have a fate that neither of us have found the courage to truly understand. There are too many lore’s counteracting one another.”
Landen and I both glanced at each other. I knew for a long time Landen had felt pulled between the lore of Esterious, and the heritage of Chara, and now, now apparently there was even more worlds or lore’s we had to contend with.
Landen gave his attention back to Phoenix “If I am from the bright reality, why am I here. What was the plan when we began.”
Phoenix looked away as if it was too hard for him to say.
“When you were gone, I called Nana, Draven and Aden’s grandmother. She can see like them, and she should be here soon.”
Landen’s glance questioned me. I’m sure my timid stare told him that I was terrified and had no other choice but to look for help. He reached for my hand, and a calming emotion weaved with his deep hum absorbed me.