Where Do We Go From Here?
Pandora stood at the edge of the deck watching the dawn as Luna came up the steps. She went over to Pandora, and Pandora smiled as Luna took her hand.
“So, where do we go from here?” Luna asked, “We didn’t really get many leads in Windia.”
“That’s a good question,” Pandora said, “My mother said all that she could, which makes me wonder what Sanctuary truly is, and why Illuminus seeks it. I think somehow, if we are meant to find it, the path forward will appear to us.”
“I’m glad that you were able to see your mother,” Luna said, “Even if it was only in a message.”
“I don’t know how to feel,” Pandora said, “I was so glad that she had forgiven me, that she held me as her hope in her last days instead of her curse, but it reminds me that I should have gone back much sooner to try and resolve things. I keep thinking - what if I could have stopped Illuminus from destroying the village?”
“You can’t think that way,” Luna said, “You are alive for a reason. You can’t go back and change things, you have to carry on and try to stop Illuminus now.”
“True,” Pandora mused, looking up at the seagulls, “But that only brings us back to your initial question - where is he?”
“We’ll find him,” Elisha said, coming up on deck, “I’m certain of it. Lady Thea won’t give up until we find Sanctuary, and when we find it, we’ll find him.”
“Hopefully it won’t be too late by then,” Pandora said, “He wants that city for a reason, and I’m sure it’s not to live there alone, watching the world go by. There’s something there that he seeks - I’m just not sure what.”
“Who knows?” Elisha said, shrugging, “All I know is that for now, we keep going.”
Arietta and Sashiko came up on deck, followed by Lady Thea. Arietta stretched and yawned, looking exhausted.
“Arietta, did you sleep last night?” Elisha said, “You look exhausted.”
“I don’t feel too well,” Arietta sighed, “Maybe I’m getting a cold, I don’t know.”
“You should rest,” Thea said, “You’ll have plenty of time to relax before we see land again, I’m sure.”
“Where are we heading, Lady Thea?” Luna asked, “We didn’t really pick up any clues yesterday.”
“We’re going to head back to Haven’s End,” Thea announced, “We need to reach civilization, to see if Illuminus has been sighted. I also want news on the situation in San Ria.”
“The Moral Revolution...” Arietta sighed, “I wonder if they embraced it.” She thought of Garania, and Selesti, and it seemed almost like another life to her now, though she feared for Selesti’s safety, even after everything that had happened.
They sailed for Haven’s End, and the crew seemed disappointed to be heading back in the same direction they had come. It seemed like progress had been replaced by retreading the same steps, and frustration seemed to boil amongst the crew.
“Everybody needs a rest, some time off the ship,” Elisha said, in Thea’s office. They were alone, as seemed to be the way of things since Elisha’s promotion. Where once Arietta, Luna and Pandora would have been present, now it was just them. Elisha wondered if Thea feared that the truth about Sanctuary would slip if they got into a heated discussion, and so locked the others out of their plans.
“I know,” Thea said, “I’ve had to break up more arguments then I care for the last week. It’s never popular, going back the way we came, eternally going in circles. I hate it just as much as they do. Illuminus could be finding Sanctuary as we speak.”
“The world hasn’t ended, so I’m going to assume not,” Elisha said. She had become somewhat bitter with Thea since their discussion about Sanctuary, and quiet and withdrawn about the ship.
“Well, we’re going to arrange crew leave in Haven’s End,” Thea said, ignoring Elisha’s comment, “It’s not what I had hoped for, Haven’s End is boring for everybody, but it’s not like we can return to San Ria.”
“The world is closing in on us,” Elisha said, “It feels like a prison sometimes. I’d rather just sail away into uncharted waters.”
“Get lost in the uncharted sea, and we’ll never come out,” Thea said, “Do you want us all to starve? One can go thousands of miles without seeing so much as an island.”
“I’m just saying, it’s how a lot of us feel,” Elisha said, “We hate treading over the same old ground. We know Sanctuary is not here, so why do we persist?”
“Because Sanctuary is here!” Thea said, “I’ve seen it repeated in old texts, over and over again, that Sanctuary is somewhere between what is now San Ria and Haven’s End. We’ve tried and tried and still we can’t find it. I didn’t know what I was doing wrong until we climbed that tower. Apparently we need that knowledge to find it. I’m hoping that Iluminus will open the way for us unintentionally, and then we’ll take it from him.”
“We can’t defeat Illuminus,” Elisha said, “Even with Pandora... You saw what he did to her.”
“I’m still working on that part of the plan,” Thea said, “I’ll come up with something. But for now, we sail to Haven’s End. I don’t know why, but I have a feeling in my gut...”
~
Arietta looked up at her ceiling, following the patterns in the wood grain with her eyes, unable to sleep. Finally, she threw the covers off in frustration and sat up, putting her head in her hands. Elisha had been so distant since they had been to Windia. They had spent no time alone together, had barely even talked...
Leaving her room, she saw the door to Thea’s office open, and Elisha came out. She ducked around a corner, and saw Elisha go to her room. She waited a few minutes, and headed for Elisha’s room, knocking on the door.
“Come in,” Elisha said tiredly, “Oh, Arietta. What’s the matter. Do you still feel unwell?”
“I don’t know what it is,” Arietta said, “I just can’t sleep.”
“Is something troubling you?” Elisha asked, “Usually that keeps me awake.”
“Actually, I’ve been worried about you,” Arietta said, “You’ve been so quiet since we went to Windia, and you haven’t spent any time with me in days. Is something the matter?”
“It’s nothing,” Elisha lied, “I’m just frustrated and bored, going back over the same old ground. I thought we were making some headway with finding Sanctuary, but now we’re lost again, the path has dried up. At this rate, Illuminus will be there before we are.”
Arietta detected a lie, but said nothing. Yet somewhere deep inside her, she felt doubt growing like a cancer, fear rising in her gut. Why was Elisha, of all people, lying to her? The one that she thought she could trust was hiding things from her, and that only made her more afraid. Whereas fear of the known had been a problem before, now fear of the unknown was growing. Fear that whatever it was that Elisha was hiding, it was big.
“We’ll find Sanctuary eventually, I’m sure of it,” Arietta said, but she felt no certainty of anything as she said it.
“Yeah,” Elisha said, “Arietta, I... No. It’s nothing...”
“I’ll let you sleep then,” Arietta said. She gave Elisha a kiss on the cheek and departed, closing the door quietly behind her.
~
“Stop it!” Sashiko cried, as Arietta came up on deck. She held two ensigns apart, both flailing against her, trying to land blows on each other. Finally Elisha hurried up on deck, pushed past Arietta, and dragged one of the girls away.
“What’s going on here?” Arietta said, “It’s like nobody’s themselves.”
“They’ve just been confined too long on the ship,” Sashiko said, “Don’t worry, Arietta. Once we get to Haven’s End, things will improve again. Don’t look so worried. You always seem to be wearing a frown these days.”
“It’s nothing,” Arietta said, “I’ll feel better once I get off this ship.”
She descended below decks again and returned to her room. Sitting on her bed, she looked out at the ocean. She wondered how Selesti was doing, what had become of her in San Ria. Had she been consumed by the Moral Revolution again, once more forced to live in secret, selling out the people she slept with for her own safety? She felt sadness, and missed the old Selesti, the woman she had been able to share all her hopes and fears with before the Revolution had taken everything away from them. Now she felt isolated, locked out of everybody’s lives. Pandora and Luna were consumed with each other, and the other crew members kept to themselves. She had thought she and Elisha were close, but Elisha seemed to spend more time with Thea than anybody else, and now she was keeping secrets...
Before long, she was asleep, curled up on her bed. The dreams that came to her were dark, yet she did not wake, and so she slept on, trapped in a world of darkness and doubt. When she woke, fear lingered in her heart. She looked out of the window to see nighttime was upon them. Getting up, she dressed, wanting some fresh air, and left her room.
Across the hall, she saw that the light was still coming from Thea’s office. Heading to the stairs, she heard Thea and Elisha’s voices coming from the room.
“You’ve not been yourself, Elisha,” Thea said, “You need to appear normal. What if people found out? It would damage morale on this ship more than you could believe. What if Arietta finds out? It would destroy her!”
“How can I behave normally?” Elisha said, “You have no idea how you’ve made me feel!”
Arietta gasped. Could it be true? Could Elisha be cheating on her, sleeping with Thea? She went over and over it in panic in her head, as the floodgates of fear opened in her stomach. The conversation fit, and it made sense. Elisha had been distant with her, spending so much time with Thea... The memories of what had happened with Selesti came back to her, and she ran, hurrying up the steps, needing fresh air.
The rain was falling heavily when she reached the deck, but she rushed to the side, needing to vomit, tears running down her face, mingling with the rain. She didn’t hear the sound of wings flapping in the rain, or the gentle thud as a figure landed behind her.
“Arietta.” The firm, yet gentle and intelligent voice disturbed her, and she whirled around, her sobs interrupted for a second.
“Illuminus.” It was a voice devoid of care that came from Arietta’s mouth, but she was too lost and tired to care that Illuminus had come to them, too filled with shock and grief to give a damn that their enemy was on the ship. Exactly why did they hate him, anyway?
“You are filled with pain, despair, sorrow and loneliness,” Illuminus said, “You feel as though the whole world has abandoned you.”
“How do you know?” Arietta asked.
“Your pain is easy for all to see, and that’s why they avoid you,” Illuminus said, “Just as your hope and joy is infectious, so is your pain and fear. That is why they avoid you when the darkness consumes you. They are afraid of feeling your pain.”
“I just want to know what is going on,” Arietta said, the rain beating on her brow. This whole conversation didn’t make sense, why was Illuminus here, talking to her about her personal problems? Yet nothing seemed to make sense, it was as if her dreams were continuing in real life. Her hair was becoming soaked, yet she did not seem to care.
“They hide a secret from you because they are afraid it will make you lose faith,” Illuminus said, “The nature of what the place they call ‘Sanctuary’ really is. It is no place of peace and mercy, Arietta. It is a city guarded with weapons so powerful they could destroy the world. Thea wants that city and those weapons, believing they will keep the armies of the Moral Revolution at bay. But she doesn’t know that deep down, she intends to use those weapons. She hates the Moral Revolution with all her heart, she fears it, because it will soon rule the world. She is scared she will have no place to run to.”
“We all have that fear,” Arietta said, “I’m from Garania. The Moral Revolution destroyed the woman I loved.”
“Yet still you would not destroy Garania and all the innocent people who live there,” Illuminus said, “She will, someday. She is the bringer of death, the destroyer of this world, not I. It was easy to blame me, to make me the villain of this tale, because I wielded magic for unknown purposes.”
“But you killed Maia. You rose the dead! You hurt Pandora! You destroyed Windia!” Arietta cried.
“Maia had betrayed her ideals,” Illuminus said, “She had left the ship swearing to destroy the Lost City, but wavered and deceived her crew, secretly intending to give Thea the city when she found it. She thought she could control Thea, prevent her from using the weapons, but she could not even control me. I used her ship as a weapon to try and stop Thea. Yes, I controlled the dead, but only to try and stop her! I admit I’ve done things that are cruel and wicked, like the razing of Windia... Yet they would not give me the information willingly, and I had to know to have any chance of success in my quest!”
“You still killed them all!” Arietta said.
“Thea will kill millions if she is allowed to touch those weapons!” Illuminus said. “I may be no saint, but I have to end this. For that, I need your help, Arietta.”
“My help? Why would I help you?” Arietta asked.
“Your friends have betrayed you, cast you out. They hide from your sorrow. Your love turns to Thea, looking for answers that are not there. She knew, but she never told you the truth! Yet you want to stay here? You could help me keep those weapons from Thea, save the world. Won’t you do that?”
“Why should I believe anything you’ve said?” Arietta said.
“Look, here she comes,” Illuminus said. Arietta turned around to see Elisha and Thea standing there, frozen in shock, “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”
“Thea...” Arietta said, “Is it true that Sanctuary is no Sanctuary at all, but a place filled with weapons that could destroy the world?” The rain had soaked her to the bone, but she barely felt it. All she could feel was the void where hope was slipping away and despair was filling her up.
Thea was silent, staring off into space. It was Elisha that spoke up, “It’s true,” she said, quietly.
“You knew, as well, and kept it from me,” Arietta said, “You lied to me, became distant, spending more and more time together while I was alone, wondering what had changed.”
“The truth would have broken you!” Elisha said, “Just as it has now. Do you think I didn’t want to talk about what I had learned to anybody? I yearned to get it off my chest, but I didn’t want to burden you... Thea was the only one I could talk to...”
“Nobody ever wants to see me sad!” Arietta said, “Everybody is content to keep me in the dark, in a state of blissful happiness, so they can feed off my joy and hope like vampires!”
Elisha bowed her head, “Arietta, I didn’t want to see you suffer...”
“Everybody has to suffer!” Arietta said, “There are facts in life that can only bring suffering, but we can’t hide from them! We have to stand up to them! I’m not going to stand here and watch Thea destroy the world!”
“I won’t destroy the world!” Thea said, “But we have to have those weapons, or Sanctuary will never survive!”
“I respected you,” Arietta said, “I had faith in you as a leader, but that’s gone now. You lead everybody along like lambs to the slaughter. Do they even know what crimes they will be culpable for?”
“I said I’ll never use those weapons!” Thea said, “Why doesn’t anybody trust me?”
“You haven’t earned that trust,” Arietta said, “Why would you lie to us if you knew you were right? You could have argued with us, maybe even persuaded us that we needed those weapons for our defense, but by keeping them a secret, you only prove to me that you have more sinister intentions. That, when the time comes, you will take revenge on the nations of the Moral Revolution.”
Thea bowed her head. Elisha’s mouth was open, but no words came out. Arietta turned to Illuminus.
“Take me away from here,” she said, “I’ll help you destroy those weapons.”
Illuminus nodded, and with a wave of his hands, ghostly white wings appeared on Arietta’s back. Illuminus took her hand and jumped into the air, and they flew away into the distance.
“Arietta...” Elisha finally managed to say, “Arietta!!” She ran to the bow of the ship, calling Arietta’s name.
“She’s gone,” Thea said, “Don’t waste your time.”
“How can you be so cold?” Elisha said, tears running down her face, “This is all your fault! You’ve betrayed all of us!”
“I’m going to get the job done!” Thea said, “We have no time for this drama. Can’t you see it? The Moral Revolution is closing in on us with each passing day. We only have to come across a warship from San Ria or Garania and we’re done, Elisha! I don’t want to end up in a watery grave. We have to get our hands on Sanctuary before they destroy it!”
“How far would you go to get it?” Elisha said, “Would you kill Arietta?”
“I am not as cold as you make me out to be,” Thea said, “I care about Arietta, you, and everybody else on this ship.”
“But the rest of the world can go fuck itself as far as you’re concerned, and that’s the problem,” Elisha said, “I remember when I met Arietta. She wanted a world where everybody was included, not just some isolated world where we held ourselves on a pedestal above the rest of the human race. You haven’t changed, Thea. You might pretend to yourself that you don’t hate any more, but you do.”
“Then leave,” Thea said, “You can get off this ship any time you want to.”
“No,” Elisha said, “If I do that, I’ll never see Arietta again. Besides, I promised to stop you if you ever try to use those weapons, and I intend to keep my promise. You’re stuck with me, Thea, whether you like it or not.”
~
Illuminus and Arietta flew across the sea at an amazing speed, out of the rain and into the twilight. They saw a tower on the horizon and Illuminus steered Arietta towards it. Eventually they reached it, and Illuminus guided Arietta down to the ground.
Arietta looked up at the pure white tower. It was much like the others they had encountered, but the door was sealed.
“So why do you need me?” Arietta said.
“Only one who is pure of heart may open this door,” Illuminus said, “I am too tainted by past deeds, but you, Arietta, are as pure as winter snow. This tower contains the final key to rise the Lost City from its watery grave. Once we are done here, we will rush to the city and destroy the weapons. Then your group is welcome to the city. My work will be done. Defending your city from the Moral Revolution will be your problem.”
Arietta stood on the spot that Illuminus pointed out to her, and the stone door disintegrated. They headed up into the tower, hastening up the steps. They found themselves in a room filled with ancient technology, much like the previous white tower they had been to.
“I apologize for hurting you and your friends before,” Illuminus said, “I never expected that you would chance upon me at that tower. You surprised me, and I was not ready for it. Since then, I have been more careful, watching your every move through the eyes of the birds.”
“So that’s why you knew so much,” Arietta realized.
Illuminus stepped over to one of the consoles. Arietta stepped up beside him, looking down at the ancient symbols before them.
“Why did the Ancients build all this?” Arietta asked.
“The Lost City has already destroyed the world once,” Illuminus said, “I was there when the sky turned to ashes, the volcano of San Ria exploded and the earth shook beneath Garania. That was one thousand years ago, when we Ancients ruled the world.”
“You’re an Ancient?” Arietta gasped.
“Indeed, one of the last,” Illuminus said, “Most of the others have perished over time. Their bloodlines mixed with some of the tribes that rose to take their place, though. That’s why, occasionally, a child is born with magical blood who is immortal, like Pandora.”
“You want to stop the same mistakes from being repeated again,” Arietta realized.
“Indeed,” Illuminus said, “My race is gone, dead forever and will never rise again. They had their chance, but they used their knowledge to build the Lost City, once known as Heaven’s Gate. They were at war with the tribes that became your people, and they thought they could raise the city above the land and escape the cataclysm that they wanted to unleash on those that they considered animals. I could not stop the cataclysm, but I stopped the city from floating, and it was flooded by a huge wave, sinking it below the surface. It took all my power, though, and I hid in a tomb, sleeping for hundreds of years. When I woke, I was weak for a long time, sick from sleeping, and tortured by the guilt of having killed my own people.”
“So who built these towers?” Arietta asked.
“The few of my people who survived the destruction of the world understood what they had done by building Heaven’s Gate. They built the towers with magic, using each one to place an extra seal on the city so it could never rise again. When I ventured out into the world after my long sleep, I was pleased to see the city had been sealed - that was, until I found out about the White Ship.”
“We had no idea where we were going, though,” Arietta said, “It would have taken years for us to find it.”
“That’s not true. Although she has forgotten much about it, Thea has been to Heaven’s Gate. She was born there, a child of my people who was rescued by somebody when the wave hit. She has spent hundreds of years searching for the city in her dreams, a city she barely remembers from her childhood. Yet she knows far more about it then she has revealed to anybody.”
“So she’s immortal as well?” Arietta gasped.
“Indeed,” Illuminus said, “She’s done a good job of hiding the truth of her nature from you.”
“What about Maia?” Arietta said, “Was she also one of you?”
“Yes,” Illuminus said. “Maia and Thea were the youngest of all of us, best friends in their childhood. They’ve spent the rest of their lives trying to recapture what they had. Maia died with Thea’s name on her lips. Her death was one regret that I had.”
Arietta bowed her head, “They really loved one another... why couldn’t they be happy with that?”
“You can’t blame them too much,” Illuminus said, “Though they never discovered their magical powers, they were shunned from society for their love for one another, forever running from one place to another. They never had peace, and that’s why they built the White Ship. But Thea could never let her hatred go. That caused a split down the middle, and Maia left to make her own ship. But they still loved one another, and that’s why Maia was going to find Heaven’s Gate, to give Thea another chance to redeem herself.” He pressed some symbols on the console, and everything lit up.
“This has to end,” Illuminus said, “As long as those weapons exist, Ancients and humans alike will seek them. They’re as dangerous in the hands of the Moral Revolution as they are in Thea’s hands. Both carry hatred of the unknown within them.”
A light surrounded the tower and shot off into the sky. There was a deep rumble in the distance.
“There, our work here is done,” Illuminus said, “Heaven’s Gate will rise from the ocean soon. We must get there before anybody else does.”
~
“Land ahoy!” came a cry as the White Ship pulled into Haven’s End. Elisha had confined herself to her cabin for the rest of the trip, unable to stand the constant gossiping about Arietta’s disappearance. Thea had told everybody that Illuminus had kidnapped Arietta, but Elisha knew the truth; she had gone willingly, having lost faith in what they were doing. She had mulled over her actions again and again, wondering what would have happened if she had told the truth to Arietta sooner, but she could find no answers, only fear and doubt.
There was a knock on the door, “Come in,” she said tiredly.
“Elisha, come up to the deck quickly!” Pandora said, “There’s trouble!” Luna hung behind her nervously.
Elisha picked up her sword and they all hurried up the stairs to the deck. Soldiers of the Moral Revolution were searching the ship, ransacking anything they could find. Thea was being held by two guards.
“Pandora, hurry and weigh anchor,” Elisha whispered, “Luna, head to the helmsman and tell her we need to get out of here!”
“With all these soldiers on board?” Luna asked.
“I’ll create a distraction,” Elisha said, “Now go!”
Luna and Pandora headed off in their respective directions, and Elisha stepped out from her hiding place.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked, grabbing one of the soldiers and throwing him to the deck. Thea fought back against her captors and struggled free, going for her sword. The White Knights who were holding back all went for their swords, and the soldiers drew theirs. Fighting ensued. Elisha found herself fighting two soldiers at once, and deftly jumped one sword while fending off another.
Just then, the ship lurched and everybody fell back as the ship started to pull out of port. The soldiers on land raced to the ship and some jumped for it, but they landed in the water. The soldiers on board got up and ran for the side, jumping over into the water.
“You, you and you, search the ship for any remaining soldiers!” Elisha barked, “Throw them overboard.”
“Yes ma’am!” the White Knights said, and Elisha headed over to a shell-shocked looking Thea, who stood dazed and confused in the middle of the melee.
“I can’t believe it,” Thea said, “There’s nowhere to run to now. The Moral Revolution has taken everywhere from us! Even Haven’s End!”
“Lady Thea, please come to your office,” Elisha said, “Please, everyone is watching.”
Elisha escorted Thea away while the rest of the White Knights threw soldiers overboard and cleaned up the mess they had left behind.
“Thea, you need to get a grip!” Elisha said, “So what if the Moral Revolution owned the whole world? They’ll fall eventually, every political movement has its time. People will grow out of its demagoguery eventually and look for something better.”
“No, they won’t,” Thea said, “Look at the Arian Empire. Is it free yet? Look at Garania. Have they tired of it? No, it just spreads and spreads like a cancer, and while it does, we’ll be hated and reviled forever!”
“That’s not true!” Elisha said, “Just because the majority vote for an extreme party, doesn’t mean that they embrace its every tenet wholeheartedly. People voted for the Moral Revolution because it brought the nations under it financial prosperity. They don’t all hate us. Arietta told me she knew good people in Garania, who didn’t change because of the revolution. That she wanted to live beside those people.”
“Do you know how long Maia and I sought freedom? We ran for hundreds of years, Elisha. Hundreds of years! We, too, were immortal. Now Maia has her peace and I’m left here alone in this world and nothing’s changed, Elisha. In hundreds of years, nothing has improved for us!”
“Things will change!” Elisha said, “I truly believe that. Perhaps if we weren’t so eager to hide away from the rest of the world, if we tried to live with them instead of apart from them, if we showed them we are good, ordinary people instead of running away like we have something to hide, we would make more headway!”
“Sanctuary is the only place we’ll ever be safe,” Thea said, “I won’t let Illuminus take it away from us!”
“I pity you,” Elisha said, “I used to admire you. I thought you were strong, that you had overcome hatred, but that’s not true, is it?”
Thea slammed her hand down on the desk, “Get out!” she said, “Get out of my office right now!”
“You should think about it!” Elisha said, “Sooner or later, you have to let this grudge go!”
“Get out right now!” Thea said, “Or I’ll have you thrown overboard with those Haven’s End scum!”
Elisha left, slamming the door behind her, “Arietta, I wish you were here,” she whispered.
Deviant Hearts Archive | Back to main index