Creation's Fallen Gods

I hadn't realized that I was completely starving until they offered me food. Apparently Henry Siever had as much prestige in this place as the scary lilac-eyed guy who intimidated all the guards. As soon as he had finished taking care of me, Siever had me transferred from that place to one of the suites on the grounds of the palace.

He even gave me a good medicine to relieve the muscle strain caused by torture and a brand new personal Link so I could use the simultaneous translator by my own if I had to ask for some help.

Now I was sitting at an overly luxurious table, tasting a very rich dish of roast beef. Wooden furniture and meat were not really for anyone. Most planets did not had environmental conditions or available land to produce wood or animals to human use. It was a waste of resources. Back to my house, or in the house of anyone I knew, I only ate meat once a year, at most. So I could not tell if my opinion was motivated by hunger and fear, but this was certainly one of the best meals of my life!

They gave me new clothes and I was now allowed to walk freely through the palace and the gardens, as long as I was always accompanied, and Siever came to see me personally very often. He said he was arranging transportation to send me home as soon as possible, and that he would probably be ready by the morning of the next day at the latest.

When the night finally arrived, which took a long, long time, I realized that this really was not my planet. The lilac sky became violet with stupendous orange and gray bursts until it finally darkened. The biggest surprise was that, while in Sattie a star was not seen with a n.a.k.e.d eye for many centuries, here I could see so many... including the galaxy way, and even a glittering nebula full of bright spots.

"Light pollution on other planets usually does not allow us to admire this view …" I was startled. When I turned, Henry Siever was standing right behind me, looking up at the sky too. "Do you like stars?" he asked, apparently without realizing that I had been scared to death right now. His constant presence was making me nervous.

I muttered in agreement. It was really magnificent to see it in person at least once in my live. I was worshiping this fake freedom here in spending my time doing several different "nothings", than waiting for the time to pass by looking at a fake window in an hospital room. And despite the regrets, I felt much better treated here than anywhere else. Really... it's a palace! And it's "The" Palace!!

"Talk about you!" he insisted on the conversation. He sat down beside me still staring up at the heavens. I really did not get it.

"Like what? What else do you want to know?"

"Well, you do not look as nervous as someone who crossed half of a galaxy should be ... How did you get here in the first place?"

"I have no idea. Only what I remember, as I said earlier ... was that I was in trouble in the hospital because everything had exploded and then I just woke up here. I even imagined it was all a hallucination!"

"What exactly happened?" he insisted.

I tried to remember right ... apparently he wanted details.

"I was in my room in the hospital when Mom arrived to receive the results of the exams with the doctor. Today he would confirm whether or not I actually had schizophrenia ...." now that I remembered it, I was thrilled with the idea of returning home with the negative result. I would be slaughtered for the rest of my life because they would think I was a liar and delinquent "So when Mom left, things started to explode. The window smashed, the monitors next to the bed caught fire... the camera... every electronic device there…"

"Simple like that?" he asked curious. He seemed genuinely interested in this history.

"Simple like that. Then they put me in the infirmary as they sorted out the mess, and when I was alone things exploded again... and then I was here!"

"Didn't you notice anything strange? Didn't you see or hear anything?" He insisted. Of course he wanted to understand. I wanted to, too. It's not because I was not seeming be in despair that I was not completely freaking out.

"No, nothing specific… ah, of course, there was a damn cold right before I faint."

It seems that I had told the right thing, because he reacted very seriously to that. He immediately stood up and looked at me with disbelief and uncontained surprise.

"What did you tell me earlier ... about your dreams and false memories ... about what they were?"

I found it very strange. He was no longer asking curiously. Now he was really serious, which scared me a little.

"I do not know for sure, they were always very vague. Most about places I've never been ... Galac 6, Métis... now, I can't really remember…"

"What about Nefrandir?" he asked hoping for something.

"What about it?" But I understood his point immediately. I could picture it perfectly, as if it had been there. In Nefrandir! I saw perfectly the immense oceans and the beautiful tree-lined beaches of the planet. It was an amazing place "What... What that means?" I asked.

He pondered for a moment, staring at me as if I were something completely unimaginable. Then he blinked a few times as if he had sensed the strangeness of his reaction. Then he coughed lightly, and sat again looking at the stars without explaining anything. I tried to ask why such a reaction, but he did not let me. He seemed not to want to or could not explain what it was really about. So I tried to change the subject.

"So what is your story, Mr. Siever?"

He laughed. He laughed so hard, I thought the translators had made a mistake and told a joke instead of my question. When he finally recovered himself, wiping tears from his silver eyes, he replied:

"My story is a little longer. And possibly sadder... but I would be being egocentric in judging it that way…" I was surprised because of his answer "I've been exiled from the rest of the world for the last... almost eighteen of your years, give or take…"

I vaguely remembered the difference in longevity between the Brards and the Jomons. The human race was prevalent in this galaxy since millions and millions of years ago, and ever since our original planet had died and its star had faded, our race had spread through thousands of other planetary systems.

As each group of people evolved according to the conditions and influences of the planets in which they lived, they were creating differences. Some small, some bigger. In my case, as a Brards, the bigger feature was that I had a much shorter longevity than the Jomons. Probably those years were at the same time the whole of my life, as they were only a small sigh in Siever's life.

"During that time I have not spoken to anyone else... it's good talk to you, for a change" now his expression was more sad, resigned. I looked at him, feeling some of his sadness, wondering if he was actually a prisoner of this place, too.

"I'm sorry, I did not want to intrude on your business…" Suddenly that strange feeling of how his sadness was my fault hit me again and I tried to apologize.

He became annoyed, but said kidding:

"What part of "is good, for a change", did you not understand? That was something I did myself. I'm tired of having to interact with the world, with people. If I had no responsibilities, I would have given up some time ago…"

The slight suicidal intent in his words made me shiver. The taste of fear filled my mouth and I had to gulp. His words were filled with a pang of anger and resentment, so I did not want to keep asking. Despite the strangeness of the situation, we sat in silence for a long time staring at the stars. Sleepness was already wanting to knock me down, and I was already thinking vaguely about going back to my room, when a rustle of footsteps woke me from my contemplation.

It was the guy with the deep lilac eyes. He came with bored steps, hands in his pockets, and wearing black robes similar to those of earlier. He walked over to face me and Siever, just standing there watching us.

I felt uneasy and suddenly intimidated as if he was judging me. That feeling of pressure he carried, as if he could subdue anyone within that grasp of his that seemed almost palpable. The change in the feeling of warmth I felt from Henry vaguely told me somewhat that he was not pleased either by the proximity of the newcomer.

"You look like you're enjoying our hospitality, aren't you, Alesia?" he said quietly, half-drawn, still very arrogant and pompous. I felt my face reddening. I should answer? It was definitely a rhetorical question ... a provocation? "Any theory for the mystery of our little sneak surprise?" Though he was staring at myself as if consuming my soul, I realized that this time the question had been for Siever.

Siever growled grumpily, but did not answered. He stood up and stared at the newcomer, with an intimidating look. There seemed to be some kind of murderous intent in this exchange of glances. Siever pointed at the entrance of the palace to me, and I realized he was asking me out with him. For education, and because I felt completely scared too, I tried to get up and go away. I greeted the other guy quickly and began to leave. I was having a very bad impression of him. All the guards feared him openly, and there was something very wrong with his look... it was too penetrating, almost palpable, as if it would drown me only by keep staring.

It was very likely that the order to torture myself had come from him.

"Oh, wait for me" I hastened to say awkwardly, trying to follow Siever, barely able to get away from the pressure that came from the other guy.

That's when it happened. I felt myself being dredged more and more intensely into the depths of those eyes from the other guy, and even trying, I could not even retreat or divert myself.

He now sketched a slightly confused countenance as he watched me, and I, thinking of no other alternative, closed my eyes. In doing so, there was silence. Like I wasn't there anymore. There was not even the sound of the wind around me, or of my own breathing. If it had been thru a single second or several hours like this, I could not say.

It felt like I had lost my consciousness. But something else had surely happened. When I opened my eyes again, the face staring me back of the lilac-eyed man was a complete mess. Siever looked equally stunned. They were standing side by side now, though Siever had gained some distance just before I closed my eyes when he was leaving.

On their faces, just shock.