Legend of the Jumi Part II, Chapter 4
Heart of Darkness
By The Mana Priestess
| They love me like I was a brother They protect me Listen to me They dug me my very own garden Gave me sunshine Made me happy
Nice Dream |
I called up my friend the good angel But she's out with Her ansaphone She says she would love to come help but The sea would Electrocute us all
Nice Dream (If you think that you're strong enough) Nice Dream (Radiohead) |
That night, the night after his conference with Black Pearl, Elazul patrolled the narrow streets of the city. It was a crisp, bitter night, and Elazul tasted it on his tongue, savored its pungent flavor. He felt tired, exhausted, emotionally worn; the harsh light of the jewels seemed to pursue his every step, like many-colored eyes, and their sleepless gaze was ominous, hostile. Elazul was all too glad to see the livid dawn break the black horizon
That night, Elazul sunk into a listless recollection of scenes of his past. His mind, lacking a sense of joy in the present, drifted aimlessly towards memories that, to him, became as faint as an amorphous dream, a story once told which the teller forgot.
Happiness, for Elazul, had always been a fleeting thing, like the snatches of bright sunbursts gleaming fitfully amid cloud-torn skies on a wind-swept winter day. He had always held to those rare flashes of luminance, not fiercely, but with a vague sense of futility. Those rays of light warmed his soul, yet remained so elusive that he knew it was useless to grasp at them, make them hold; he was almost half-afraid that if he did so they would melt and vanish through his fingers, like that molten, golden sunlight.
For no particular reason, the memory towards which he glided gently was of a summer day.
It was a day that burned with blue fire, hot but clear and beautiful. At noontime Elazul, taking a short rest from the morning’s lengthy walk, was leaning against a lone tree that fringed a bright, wide meadow. The meadow was clustered with thick blades of grass that had grown to a remarkable height after a winter of plentiful rain.
A voice had spoken to him from within the meadow. The memory of the voice was, at first, vague and strange in Elazul’s mind. It was almost like the voice of a meadow spirit; one of those fey, malicious creatures that lead people away from their path and lure them into the wilderness, until they forget who they are and wander endessly under the bright sun, without mind, without memories.
He gradually recalled that the speaker had been Alex.
It had indeed been Alex, for it had been the early days of their summer travels. Alex had worn green during the day, as he habitually did in order to conceal himself more adequately, and he had walked into the meadow and sunk into the tall grass, lying with his face to the sun, enjoying the comfortable heat. His slender form was completely disguised by the high, waving grass. Elazul had refrained from following Alex, and remained sitting by the tree, his eyes on the luminous blue skies.
Elazul’s memory became clearer, as if a haze had been lifted, and he gradually recalled bits and pieces of the conversation in that meadow.
It had begun by Elazul saying, “Alex, did you like your father?”
Alex had always been reluctant to speak of his past, and Elazul did not know why he chose to revert to this particular subject. But Alex answered him promptly.
“Not very much. How about you?”
“Not at all,” answered Elazul.
After a pause, Alex asked, his voice flowing gently in the warm air, “Elazul, what was your family like?”
Elazul deliberated over his answer, silent for a while, his mind drifting dreamily inside the hot, beautiful day. Then he begun to speak. He told Alex of his mother, whose silken hair framed her lovely, gentle face in dark waves, whose green-blue eyes were always clear and full of light. She had been of a renowned aristocratic family, her jewel a rare and precious one. His father had been a half-Lucidia, a fine-looking, fervent young knight, one of Black Pearl’s best students at the time. Though his stone was fairly common and his family had been poor, his rare skills allowed him to become the knight of this high-value guardian.
Elazul was born shortly before the war. A great and terrible sorcerer led an onslaught on the city with a purpose to gather all the Jumi cores to himself, in a siege that lasted for several decades. Black Pearl's magic shell kept the women and children safe; but the sorcerer harbored his time, reasoning that, lacking the resources of the outside world, the Jumi would surrender; and meanwhile he devised plans to break the magic shell, which, at some point, he had almost managed to. Only Black Pearl's runic magic managed to hold him off and mend the damage; and after this occurred the Jumi gathered their knights and left the city to wage the war on the sorcerer and his minions.
The Jumi nobility had to send most of their young knights to the war, and after it was over the youthful generation to which Elazul's mother belonged was almost decimated. Many of the dead knights had been long-time acquaintances of her family, people she had known personally. Elazul's mother had suffered a shock once this became known, and was thrown into a lengthy period of silent grief.
“When my father came back from the war, I barely recalled him,” said Elazul. “He had grown morbid by his terrible experiences, and became hard and stern. I looked very much like my mother; and the first thing that my father told her when he laid eyes on me again was that I’m as pretty as a girl, and that he hoped that I won’t grow up to be one.”
Alex’s laugh tinkled between the grass blades. “I can imagine that little scene!”
Elazul smiled mirthlessly. “He determined, in his own words, to ‘make a soldier out of me’. So he took me out of school and personally undertook to oversee my training. Whenever I showed a sign of weakness he would strike me across the face and tell me that softness makes a dead soldier. ‘See all those noble-born boys that died in the war?’ he would say to me. ‘Their comfortable life made them soft, their titles were empty, glittering trinkets adorning their uniform. And this is why they could not survive for long, why the sorcerer’s army swept them down like so many blades of grass before a scythe. This is why I was one of the few to make it back alive.’
“Don’t tell me you took this treatment quietly, Elazul,” Alex observed. “I am sure that your father suffered a little surprise on that account.”
“I didn’t care very much when he beat me,” answered Elazul indifferently. “It was when he lost his temper with my mother that I got mad. She… she altered after the war, and fell into a depression because of all the dead knights. The only times when I openly rebelled against him was when my father would be unkind to her. He simply refused to accept her altered personality.”
“And what did your father do?” asked Alex, after a short silence.
“He would slap me harder and tell me not to interfere, of course,” answered Elazul. “The sour old bastard.”
Alex uttered another laugh, though not a very merry one. “Well, I didn’t hate my father that much. He was never precisely unkind to my mother and myself. He just didn’t pay much attention to us. He was always leaving us on his journeys and I think that he went through a lot of women. My mother was very unhappy sometimes because of him. He was hunted down by bandits who discovered he was a Jumi when I was thirteen years old and never came home. My mother was afraid that the same would happen to me, and so we came to live in the vicinity of the mountains."
"And what about your mother, Alex?" Elazul asked, after a short pause. "Who was she? And what was she like?"
There was silence. Elazul repeated his question, a little louder. Alex, finally paying attention, seemed to mutter something. "Sorry, Elazul," he finally said, in a sleepy voice. "The sun is just too nice, and I wasn't paying attention."
Elazul said nothing to this. He understood that the conversation was at end. After all, Alex never spoke of his mother. He therefore remained sitting in the hot sunshine, the world a bright and golden vista before his vision.
The memory drifted away gently, its warmth stealing away into the cold dawn, and Elazul thought wearily, it’s strange that I would recall this; but perhaps it’s because I think that I was never truly happy since my mother died. The years in the outside world was hard in some ways, eye-opening in others, but they did not contain joy for me. I don’t think I ever felt exactly happy until I met Alex and Florina, and even that happiness had an uncertain quality to it, because of Alex. But I was still happy, because Alex and Florina were the first people who sincerely cared about me, and returned my caring.
And then he realized, as the night’s blackness seeped away before the morning, I shall support Alex, yes, even against Black Pearl’s wrath.
He was walking towards his flat, in a narrow side-street, when a heavy hand landed on his shoulder .
"Elazul of the royal guard," a grave voice said, "you are to come with us at the order of the high council."
Elazul turned at once. He found himself facing a squad of the royal guard; some of them stern and formal, others looking down as if seeking to avoid his eye.
"What is this about?" he demanded in amazement, and some anger.
"The Lady Florina had been kidnapped by the knight Alex last night," was the reply. "The Lady Black Pearl ordered your arrest. You must tell us all that you know, or else you may face charges of conspiracy and treason."
Too crestfallen to form a coherent reply, Elazul's only words were, "I refute the charges. I knew nothing about this."
"This," answered the guard, "is for Black Pearl and the council to decide. Please don't resist," he added, in a milder tone, for he knew the Lapis Lazuli knight, and liked him. "I believe in your innocence. Put your trust in the council to judge you justly."
But Elazul was too preoccupied with the news to respond. So this is what you meant to do, Alex, he thought, and he cursed his own stupidity for not foreseeing such a rash, reckless, defiant action on Alex's part. But if you put your life on the line to defy the city and rescue Florina, then why, damn it, why did you not ask me to help you?
And he realized, morbidly, I am an accomplice by thought if not by action; and Black Pearl will see through this quickly enough. Whatever I have or have not done matters not. I shall be found guilty for sure.
His arms bound behind his back, Elazul was dragged into the Throne of the Clarius. The whole Jumi council was standing on the raised platform, and Black Pearl was sitting on the vacated Seat of the Clarius, her expression grim. Elazul looked up and beheld Rubens standing among the councilors, a little to the side. For a moment, their eyes met. Rubens was grave, but something in his countenance assured Elazul that whatever happens, Rubens would do all in his power to ensure a fair trial, or otherwise aid him.
Black Pearl commenced almost at once. "I shall come to the heart of the matter directly, as to not waste time. Bring the prisoner forward."
Elazul was thrown down on his knees before the royal platform, head bowed before the dark gaze of Black Pearl. He could feel the eyes of the whole Jumi council on him, and the momentary silence that ensued weighed on his nerves. Then Black Pearl's clear voice rang out.
"Lapis Lazuli. You have been informed of what had occurred, you know of the kidnapping of the Clarius Florina. Tell me: have you aided the Alexandrite in any way to execute this deed?"
Elazul, struggling to his feet with some difficulty because of his bound hands, looked up into Black Pearl's face. "No, Lady," he answered, his voice equally dour, but calm.
"Assuming that you are telling the truth," Black Pearl continued in her implacable accents, "can you tell us of anything that would aid us to trace his footsteps and retrieve the Clarius as quickly as possible?"
Again, Elazul answered, "No, I can not. I knew nothing of this matter until my arrest."
He returned Black Pearl’s searching gaze with a direct, tenacious look. After a short silence, Black Pearl asked: "And that is all that you have to say?"
"Yes, Lady," answered Elazul, very steadily.
Black Pearl's eyes narrowed. "I need not remind you, Lapis Lazuli, of what I know of your past actions,” she said coolly. “All evidence is against you; therefore, if you have anything to confess— anything at all— it would be better if you do so now."
"I have none, my Lady," answered Elazul.
"Then you deny that you knew of the Alexandrite's intent, and offered no warning to caution us of it?"
"I have already told you, madam, that I knew nothing of this matter," answered Elazul, his tones growing incensed. Think of me what you like, he reflected bitterly; I shall not say anything dishonest, I shall not betray my own feelings, for good or for ill.
"And," asked Black Pearl, very quietly, "IF you knew of this matter, WOULD you have warned us?"
Elazul was silent. He knew that Black Pearl was testing him. Answer in the positive, and she would decry him for a liar, as he indeed would be; answer in the negative, and she would weigh it against him. Whatever he answered, he would lose something, for she had already read the answer in his mind. He therefore hung his head and said nothing, his expression stubborn.
"As I thought," Black Pearl stated coldly. "Perhaps, as you say, you did not aid the Alexandrite in this venture; but you see what your rebellious behavior has led to. You see how your past actions put Florina at the mercy of the Alexandrite."
But Elazul could be silent not longer, and he looked up. "Alex cares about Florina," he said, quickly and vehemently, knowing that his words aggravated his sentence, but no longer caring. "Florina is in no danger in his hands. Alex wished to save her, to take her away from this city, where her life's blood was being drained bit by bit, day by day."
"I do not care what his wishes were," Black Pearl answered, in a tone of icy contempt. "Or under what misguided idea the Alexandrite worked. These actions have put this city in jeopardy, and for this, he shall not be forgiven."
"This," Elazul retorted, "is because you, Lady Black Pearl, have no grasp, no concept, of what it means to care in this way. This is why you cannot forgive actions that are the results of such feelings."
There was a stir among the council, but they remained silent, and Elazul knew that he had exposed himself by this retort. They regard me as a fool, he reflected resentfully, because of this speech on my part; and then he thought with indifference, what does it signify after all, when my pathetic infatuation with Black Pearl had been the talk of the city for months now?
The murmurs of the councilors died away. Black Pearl remained in her seat on the great throne, quite still for one moment. Her fingers drummed on the arm of the chair, a thin line marred her brow. Then she uncrossed her legs and rose to her feet, leaving the seat.
She descended the stairs silently until she was standing less than two feet away from Elazul and her black eyes gazed straight into his. And now, for the first time since he met Black Pearl, Elazul was suddenly afraid. He raised his chin a little higher, met her gaze evenly to mask this feeling.
A chilled smile laced Black Pearl's mouth at this defiant motion, and she finally spoke. "Don't act like a fool," she said— Elazul winced at her lashing tone, and a hostile look stole into his blue eyes— "don't speak to me of noble causes when we both know that the Alexandrite's action guaranteed Florina's death, and quite possibly the untimely death of many Jumi besides."
"For Florina, at least, this would make no difference," Elazul murmured.
Black Pearl's face became harsh at this indictment, the smile vanished. Elazul was glad of it, for he did not like that smile on her. She took another step towards him, her face expressionless now. Elazul, unsure of what she meant to do, instinctively retreated; but a rough shove at his back reminded him of the guards behind him and forced him to stand up straight. He clenched his teeth and squared his shoulders disdainfully, determined not to display any anxiety.
"Young knight," Black Pearl said with her low, melodious voice. "Perhaps you know the full story of the Alexandrite; perhaps not. How much you have been caught believing his web of concealment and lies, I know not. Let me, then, tell you the Alexandrite’s story.
"There was once a Jumi who had never been happy in our city, had criticized its way of life, until finally he chose to become dissenter, and never returned to it again. And when he left he took several books from the great library with him. As it turns out, this was no ordinary theft, but was done for a very specific reason; for this Jumi was looking for clues about the location of the tower called Leires."
Elazul made no reply. He recalled Alex speaking of the tower of Leires and knew, with a chilled sinking of his heart, that he was finally going to discover Alex's true purpose.
"Certain rumors regarding Alex have reached my ears," Black Pearl continued. "I had thought it prudent to investigate them at the source. During my travels I stopped by the mountain grotto and put some questions to the nuns of the great shrine regarding the famous thief known as 'The Fox'. I discovered that ten years ago one of their nuns, a girl called Sandra, rescued him from certain death."
Elazul started involuntarily at this and his eyes darted to Black Pearl's face. She smiled grimly at his reaction. "I can see that you know something about this Sandra, Lapis Lazuli knight."
Elazul remained stubbornly silent and lowered his eyes.
"As it happens Sandra, unknown to the shrine's nuns, had kept contact with the Fox after her rescue of him; and she also healed a young knight some years ago, whose description was familiar to me." Elazul reddened guiltily, and Black Pearl, her dark smile re-appearing at this confirmation, continued lucidly:
"The Fox followed upon Sandra's information and apparently sent spies to trace the young knight's footsteps as he returned to the Jumi city. It was about a year ago when Alex— child of the Jumi dissenter— decided to infiltrate the city, with a very definite purpose."
Black Pearl lifted her hand, reaching towards Elazul. He raised his chin higher, his eyes avoiding hers; but he felt himself flinching with an instinctive reaction as her fingers touched his jaw. She did not look into his face and lowered her eyes, seemingly preoccupied with gazing at the string that closed Elazul's shirt up to his neck. She continued steadily:
"Alex wished to become a knight of the Clarius in order to gain access to the great library and find the information that will serve to complete his father's original goal."
Black Pearl's fingers now moved deliberately, tracing a path from Elazul's jaw down to his throat. Elazul, his hands clenching, flushed with embarrassment and chagrin. She completed her speech softly:
"Alex was looking for clues about finding the Sword of Fate."
With two deft, consecutive movements Black Pearl tore the string of Elazul's shirt open. The blue jewel was exposed, shining faintly. Elazul, his face flooding hotly, made an involuntary movement with his arms, but they were tied behind his back, and his body swayed forward as a result. Black Pearl placed the palm of her hand against his chest, aiding him to regain his balance. He remained standing with his face down, his eyes fixed on a point on the floor, to avoid looking into her face. She leant forwards and said quietly:
"Did you ever wonder, Elazul, why your friend immersed himself into Florina's research so ardently? Alex was fulfilling his father's original mission, looking for the Sword of Fate, which he believed to be located in the tower of Leires."
Black Pearl placed her fingers upon the blue jewel embedded into Elazul's chest, and their tips caressed it lightly, tracing the strange shape of an ancient letter. Her cool voice sounded near his ear as her fingers continued to move across the jewel's surface with gentle, circular motions.
"Don't speak to me, Elazul, of noble causes from this Alex, whose very purpose in coming here was a secret scheme, a perusal of individual goals.”
A strange feeling stole over Elazul. His head felt light, a choking sensation gripped his throat, and he begun to breath heavily, gasping for air. The blue core seemed to grow dimmer, its light fainter under Black Pearl's touch. Her head was lowered, almost touching Elazul's shoulder, and she gazed at the blue jewel speculatively as her fingers continued their gentle movements. She said softly:
"You, Elazul, knew of the Alexandrite Jumi's true identity. And yet in defiant disregard to all rules and regulations, and over all prohibitions and rules of this society..."
His perspiration quick and low, blood drumming in his ears, Elazul swayed unsteadily on his feet. Black Pearl's voice bit on her words as she finished:
"You aided this Alex to become the Knight of the Clarius."
"Lady!" Rubens' voice suddenly rang behind Black Pearl. "This is enough. I beg you to stop!"
The next moment Elazul sunk to his knees, his head lowered, his whole body shaking as he struggled for breath. Black Pearl, ignoring Rubens, immediately knelt down along with Elazul, until her eyes were level with his lowered face.
"For your previous actions, I could have forgiven you, Elazul," she said softly. "But they led to Florina's kidnapping, and this had sealed your fate. I shall not rest until I ensure—"
The world blurred in front of Elazul's eyes; Black Pearl's voice hissed in his ear:
"— that this insolent rebellious spirit had been disciplined out of you."
Her fingers suddenly shot out and gripped Elazul's jaw, forcing him to lift his head until his eyes were level with her own. Her cold voice rent the silence:
"Take pride, Lapis Lazuli, for aiding this Alex in his venture; take pride in betraying your city."
Elazul, breathing heavily, sweat running down his face, stared into Black Pearl's opaque eyes. He recognized this sensation of weakness, for it was exactly the same feeling he had experienced on that night when he rescued her from falling off the edge of the balcony. As in a dream, he could now see her black core glowing, pulsing brightly with dark energy.
"Spare me..." he gasped, "your brand... of fidelity... to this city." His voice sunk into a hoarse whisper. "You... who sacrifice... Florina... for the city... you are no... better than... Alex!"
A terrible light entered Black Pearl's eyes at these words, but she said nothing; her hand moved abruptly, releasing its grip on Elazul's jaw, and she rose to her feet with a quick motion. Elazul sunk forwards, unconscious.
"Take him away to the northern tower," Black Pearl told the guards. "I will decide upon his fate when I return."
Elazul was swimming in a dark pool, drowning in a vast, lightness cosmos; a feeling of numbness and emptiness chilled him, a feeling of being completely alone in the world, giving rise to a welling despair that made him wish that he could sink into an eternal sleep.
He closed his eyes, and felt himself beginning to drift away into nothingness, when a soft, distant sound awakened him. He looked around and spied a small white light shining in the distance. Moving towards the light through the black emptiness he could perceive that it was a small figure of a girl, crouching and weeping quietly.
He was moved by her distress, and leant towards her. The small figure was wispy and ethereal, and completely white, like a ghost; but Elazul was not deterred by this strange fact. "Please stop crying," he said quietly, touching the girl's shoulder.
The girl halted in her crying and turned her face towards him. Her features were strangely indistinct, but Elazul could feel her woe. "I am lost," she said.
"It's all right," he said gently. "Please tell me how I can help you."
But the girl only repeated in her soft, sorrowful tones: "I am lost, I can not find my way to the light in this darkness." Then she rose to her feet and wandered off, seeming to no longer see Elazul or remember that he was near. Elazul attempted to stop her, ask her what he can do; but her white, glowing form gradually receded into the blackness. Elazul followed it.
He now found himself walking in a grey world, through dark, indistinct corridors of a great city, twining and twisting in a seemingly endless labyrinth. The corridors were empty, there was no sign of either life or movement within them; everything was deathly quiet.
Elazul followed the corridors, entering room after empty room, opening door after empty door. Gradually, he acquired the feeling that he had been walking in this dead, silent city for many years now, perhaps for an eternity. He begun to ask himself whether it would ever end— whether it had ever even begun, or whether he had inhibited this dim, empty greyness for the entire duration of his existence. And then he saw it again; the white light of the strange child, just a short distance ahead. He hurried towards it, trying to call her; but his voice seemed silent and lost, and he could not cry out.
Now he begun to see other things. And he suddenly realized that he had been seeing them for a while without paying attention to them, as if his mind refused to register them— grey, wispy figures moving through the corridors, just barely visible. The figures appeared to be human, and they moved slowly. Some of them were more distinct, human cantours visible, and sometimes Elazul could almost fancy he could make out a face through the marred, ghostly features; others were mere moving wisps, almost formless in the darkness. But there was one feature of them that was distinctly visible, a light that shone on their breasts clearly, the light of shimmering jewels.
All these people, Elazul realized, were Jumi.
I am in the Jumi city, he suddenly understood; but he did not know whether this was a dream, or a vision that he had always been able to access but never recall. What is this nightmare world? he thought dazedly. What could it mean?
He continued to move through the corridors. One of them led to a great room; a figure was sitting at something that looked like a table, and it seemed a little stronger in outline than most of the others. Elazul paused for a moment; he thought that he could almost recognize its identity through the marred features, could put a name to the face, could recognize the pale shade of the hair and skin, the empty, dark eyes.
He had no time to deliberate upon this thought, however, because he suddenly caught another white glimmer; the figure of the girl who, alone, shone white among the grey phantoms. He hurried after her, and, opening a door, found himself in a large outdoor court, that led to the endless maze of the garden labyrinth.
The cold wind blew at him, stirring dark, diaphanous shapes of trees. The girl was on the border of his vision, and Elazul meant to follow her; but then he suddenly paused in astonishment.
Sapphire was standing just a short distance away, her back to a leafy wall. Elazul could not mistake her, nor hesitate about her identity; it was Sapphire, her features distinct, shining palely in the darkness, almost as bright as the ghostly girl. She was standing still and motionless, looking downwards, silent like the rest of the city.
Elazul, forgetting the girl, hurried towards her and spoke her name. Sapphire did not stir; she remained standing still and quiet, even when he paused before her and addressed her again.
"She can neither see nor hear you, Lapis Lazuli," a voice said.
The cold feeling of shock froze Elazul. He looked around, attempting to see who addressed him in this city of death; but he could see nothing. The voice, a melodious, beautiful sound, like the lucid sound of running waters, presently addressed him again.
"I am at the center of the labyrinth. Please come to me, Lapis Lazuli."
Elazul knew that he would be unable to disobey the summons even if he so wished; but he had no such will to resist them. He therefore hurried towards the voice, towards the center of the dark labyrinth.
When he arrived to it, he paused in amazement; and then he slowly sunk to his knees, bowing his head before the majestic, shining beauty of the figure that stood in the middle of the round courtyard, great white wings like streaming light spread on either side of its body.
Because he realized at once what he was facing. He knew at once that he was beholding the Jumi Angel.
"Rise to your feet, Lapis Lazuli," the angel said. "It is not usual for someone to be conscious enough of the grey dimension to be able to speak with me. It had only happened with one other person before. Of course, once you awaken, you will recall nothing; but I wish to use the time nevertheless."
"Jumi Angel," Elazul whispered in an awed voice, rising and looking up at the glowing, ethereal figure. "Then you are in the Jumi city? Then you have been with us all the time?"
"Yes," answered the angel. "I have been here for over a thousand years."
"But why did you not help us?" Elazul asked, quickly, breathlessly. "Our people are slowly dying. The legend said that once you taught us to weep healing tears. Why can you not come among us as you once did?"
The glowing features of the angel regarded Elazul in momentary silence. Then the angel said:
"This happened, Lapis Lazuli, because I have been sealed into this dimension by the Mana Goddess."
"When I came among the Jumi thousands of years ago, Lapis Lazuli, and taught them to heal with their tears, the Jumi loved me more than anything on earth. And the Mana Goddess, growing jealous of this love, sealed me into the earth with her powers, and closed off the heavens from me. The other six angels that descended with me went back to the heavens after the war has ended; but I have been wandering in this earth for thousands of years, unable to return."
Elazul lowered his head. "And is there a way to free you?" he asked, quietly. "You must help us, Jumi Angel. You must come back and heal our people, before we all die."
The angel's voice sounded sad. "I know this. And there is a away to free me, Lapis Lazuli. But it matters not whether I shall tell you, for you shall not be able to recall it once you awaken."
Elazul then asked: "And what is this city? Why did I recognize some people, while other people are ghostly wisps?"
"This city," answered the angel, "is the death-city. The closer you are to death, the stronger your form appears in this dimension."
The white figure of the sobbing girl suddenly emerged. It passed near Elazul, seeming completely oblivious to the presence of the angel.
"Leave her be," said the angel, noticing that Elazul made a motion, as if to call her; "she can neither see nor hear me. She is a lost soul."
"A lost soul?" Elazul repeated. "What do you mean?"
"She," answered the angel, "had given up her soul for a price, until she can no longer find her true self. She exists in her own darkness."
Elazul did attempt any further remarks, not understanding the meaning of these words; but then he said, slowly:
"Jumi Angel, if this is the city of the dead, then does this mean that I am on the point of death?"
The Jumi angel was silent for a moment before answering. "Yes. This is one of the reasons that you are able to be fully conscious of me; you are presently hanging on a tight thread, in the twilight between life and death."
"Then..." Elazul spoke with difficulty, bowing his head, "I shall soon die and vanish."
But the angel said:
"Lapis Lazuli; the reason I called you is that you were the only one that had been able to be conscious of me, to see me, for almost a thousand years. But if you let me merge some of my soul with yours, I believe that I may be able to do something to cause the memories to grow inside you after awaking; and one day you shall recall this dream-vision, and will be able to supply the final answer to provide for my release. I charge you with this mission; and in return, I shall give you your life back."
Elazul did not have to say anything. His answer was clear. The figure of the angel approached Elazul, and extended its arms towards him.
“Once I charged another with this mission,” said the majestic, silvery voice of the angel softly. “But the messenger failed me. Do not fail me, Lapis Lazuli.”
The ethereal fingers touched Elazul's dim core, and it immediately begun to shine in response; and Elazul felt a warm glow of healing spread inside him. The angel's form came closer and closer, until it almost seemed to merge with his own body; his hands begun to glow with white light. A fading voice spoke inside his mind.
"Seek the Angel Sword, Lapis Lazuli; only the power of the Angel Sword will break the temple's seal."
In a dark quarter in the Jumi city, Black Pearl was lying on her back in a small room, staring into the ceiling with a vacant expression, seemingly bereft of the power to move. Her face was livid, and though sometimes she moved her hands a little, it seemed involuntary, because she appeared unconscious of her surrounding.
Then, suddenly, her body jerked. Her eyes grew wide with horror, her lips white; her breathing became labored, constricted, choked, her hands flew to her core, as if seeking to protect it, contain its power.
"No!" she whispered hoarsely. "No! Why, why are you doing this to me, why! Stop doing this to me, or I shall die!"
Elazul opened his eyes and sat up with a jerk. He was perspiring heavily, and he moved his fingers across his cold brow, trembling with agitation. It took him some time to realize where he was.
He slowly rose on the narrow, hard bed of the dungeon cell in which he was placed. His last memory was of his trial, and of passing out; but he dimly sensed that he had been dreaming a strange, horrifying, yet beautiful dream; for a moment he could fancy he could hear a whisper, a glowing light; but then it melted away, like the wind through the trees, like a dying star.
His body felt weak, and though he knew that he may spend a long time in this cell, he was apathetic, uncaring about his condition, and he lay listlessly in the darkness, his mind devoid of thoughts. Guards passed in and out, giving him food every few hours, which he barely tasted. He eventually sunk into a deep, dreamless sleep.
He awoke by the sound of a spear knocking against the door. "Awaken, prisoner," the guard on the other side said sternly. "There is a visitor here to see you."
Elazul rose groggily as the door opened and a tall figure came through.
It was Rubens.
"Leave us alone," Rubens told the guard. "I wish to speak to the prisoner for a few minutes."
The guard bowed his head respectfully and withdrew. Elazul regarded Rubens silently; he did not know why the high councilor had come, but he guessed that Rubens may try and convince him to do— what? Give up, perhaps, humble himself before the will of the city, do his best to escape the worst punishment.
But Rubens only said: "Rise to your feet, Elazul, and face me."
Elazul slowly obeyed. Rubens looked at him with eyes full of pity. "You look extremely ill," he said quietly.
Elazul looked down, made no response. Suddenly Rubens took a step towards him and put something in his hand.
"You must escape as soon as you can," he said, speaking in a low, measured tone. "These provide the only chance that may be given you. One shall put the guards to sleep, and the other opens any door in the city. Do not kill anyone during your escape, because if you do, I shall never forgive you. I am following my conscience for once, Lapis Lazuli; go, save the Alexandrite Jumi, even if Florina is returned."
Elazul could not say anything for astonishment; but Rubens immediately proceeded to tell him of a secret way under the city, formed during the great war in case refugees must be stowed away, through which Elazul may escape without detection. After he did so, he stayed for a while more, his tone of conversation changed; and when the guard approached again, all he heard was the high councilor asking Elazul to repent before it's too late, and the Lapis Lazuli saying, faintly, that he may think of it.
That very night Elazul, gathering his sparse belonging, including his green cloak, and retrieving a sword from the guards' weaponry, made good his escape from the city of Jewels; and as he stole through the bitter December night, the very last day of the year, he did not look back at the glittering city.
Comments: I gave Elazul a pretty rough history, though it's probably not quite as bad as his real story in Legend of Mana, where he was so lonely and depressed, believing that he was the only Jumi left, that he was ready to commit suicide (until he met Black Pearl, and this is why he became so infatuated with her; in many ways, a deeper foundation for his feelings for her than my own version. I did not know of this story until after I wrote chapter 2 of Part I, however.)
Author picking at discontinuity: The Tower of Leires and Alex. I realized that this has not been clarified, but only Rubens, Diana, Florina and the council knew that Black Pearl had gone to the Tower of Leires; it was not a common knowledge in the city as to where exactly she had gone to, so Alex did not know about it. Florina knew, but she was strictly forbidden from revealing it to anyone by Black Pearl; and though Florina knew Alex was interested in the Tower of Leires, she obeyed Black Pearl and did not tell Alex that Black Pearl's mission had actually been to travel there (Florina even possibly guessed that Black Pearl was looking for the Sword of Fate, but, again, she was forbidden from telling about it; and as Alex never specified Sword of Fate in the inquiries, she never felt the impulse to reveal her knowledge.) Thus, Alex actually has no idea that Black Pearl had gone to the Tower of Leires, to retrieve the Sword of Fate. As for Black Pearl guessing that this was Alex's goal, she arrived at this conjecture by piecing the information she collected from the shrine about Alex, her knowledge of Alex's father and of the kind of books he stole from the library, and matching it with Alex's own interest in the research and the Tower of Leires (that Alex displayed during the few weeks of summer before Black Pearl left.) I realize that this particular aspect of the story is a kind of a tightrope series of silences and guesses, so it's does not appear quite 'natural' (especially since Black Pearl JUST happened to go on her mission of looking for the Sword of Fate the very same year that Alex, who has the same goal, arrived at the city; something that has an overt coincidence element). I had to do it this way, though, because any other construction would mean Alex would have been either too early or too late for the event of the sword's finding, both of which would have been difficult to write up, and would have led to unnecessary complications.
The history of the war with the magician (Deathbringer) is, as most things in my story, was changed. In LoM, it led the Jumi to abandon the city because of the death of the previous Clarius (apparently they returned after the death of Deathbringer and the choosing of Florina as the new Clarius?)
About the mute characters and the Jumi angel again; I must stress that the angel legend is meant to REPLACE the need for the mute character/s. The mutes will therefore NOT appear in my story. The number of deaths will consequently be significantly altered; since in this story the Jumi cannot be all resurrected by miracle, the story will feature very few deaths compared to LoM— between one and three— and these deaths will both serve a purpose in the story and be permanent.
I've been listening to The Bends by Radiohead lately; and I suddenly realized how the song "Nice Dream" coincidentally echoes or resembles this chapter in general. The first stanza seems to somehow echo Elazul's wishes in respect to the Jumi society; not exactly in content (i.e. having a garden and so forth) but in its general longing for a harmony with his society which is nonexistent, nothing but a 'nice dream'. The second stanza, speaking of the angel, is also strangely fitting; and the mention of the sea in the end follows right into chapter 5 of Part II in LoJ. The song has really pretty, dreamlike music as well. The similarities are coincidental, as I wrote the bare-bones of chapter 4 before I heard the song, but I think that the (admittedly common) metaphor of sunshine = happiness may have been influenced by the song.
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