Alma 25 Farewell, Paradise...

Reed felt as if a burden had been cast off of him as a result of last night's reflection and was satisfied with what he'd decided upon. The temptation of escaping to an unknown land of serenity had almost won over his heart. His cowardliness and spurned on an evil, detestable part of himself that was anathema to all of his dreams and hopes.

It was the unambitious devil in his soul that always sprung up when he was at his weakest and most vulnerable. There was no greater villain than he who whispered forbidden words in his ear; Reed knew all too well how incredibly persuasive he was. How many times had he fallen for his false promises over the years? He'd lost count long ago.

Were it not for her words of advice that cleared his mind, he would have fallen into the accursed fiend's grasp once again, he admitted. This was the truth and he knew it. He owed Lu'um a debt he would have to repay at some point -- his pride would never let him rest until he had done so.

He could not even imagine living a life without meaning, and yet, he had almost fallen into such a nightmare. What would have happened to him had he not been fortunate enough to listen to the sound counsel of the girl? A nasty shiver ran up his spine when he the thought about it.

But he was intensely curious about one thing particular; she'd never tried pushing him towards one decision or the other. She was prepared to walk beside him even if he'd chosen the path of cowardice.

The only conclusion was it'd been a test for him; that was why she'd said that before she gave him the advice he needed. To eliminate herself as a potential influence that could interfere with his final choice. That was what he thought. But why do that? That was the real question.

Of course, if he asked the girl, she'd probably tell him that he was overthinking the entire thing. That she was only acting out of pure, selfless interest for his sake. He just couldn't come to grips with the idea that someone would willingly devote themselves for another's sake. The world didn't work like that; it was a preposterous idea that ran contrary to what he'd seen and experienced...

Especially for someone such as he, who was nothing more than a single, insignificant speck on this world. What had he done to deserve her if what she said was really the truth?

It seemed like a fanciful joke to him -- his homegrown cynicism wouldn't permit to entertain the idea. Still, she'd proven herself worth as an ally yesterday. Reed couldn't deny that it wouldn't hurt keeping her around...

He'd have to continue observing her from now on to see if whether or not she was telling the truth. Even the best con men are bound to slip up now and then. All he had to do was wait until she messed up.

A soft voice broke Reed out his downward mental spiral.

"Are you well, Ka'an? Your heart is discordant and muddy; you harbor dark thoughts in the depths of your mind, do you not?" Lu'um asked. She brushed her hair out of her face and looked at Reed with a puzzled face.

"Your heart is still too weak and your soul too brittle. Bouts of joy and misery wash over you, all the same, like the waves at the shore. You lack the courage to seek happiness and the conviction to own it. Am I wrong?" she asked.

Reed felt naked under her piercing gaze; he wondered if he could even hide anything from her.

"You even doubt my intentions, do you not?"

"...."

Lu'um let out a bored sigh and said, "Fine, then. I will settle the matter once and for all. It is best that we get over this here and now than let it grow into something worse." She suddenly grabbed Reed's hands and put them on her neck.

"If you believe that I will hurt you or that I'm plotting some nefarious scheme, you should get rid of me before that happens. Go ahead, Ka'an, I will not resist. A mere thought and I will never be able to trouble you ever again."

She whispered in a hushed tone, "No will ever know what happened here. It will be as if I never existed in the first place. Do as you thou wilt, Ka'an."

He looked into her amber eyes saw that boundless confidence laid within them; she was serious about this. She'd fearlessly thrown her life into his hands and it left him paralyzed to the core. He felt the slow, rhythmic beat of her heart through and felt the mortality of the girl.

They both continued to gaze upon one another as the seconds turned minutes. Time passed.

And then...

And then...

And then...

She removed his hands from her neck and put them on her chest. He felt the thrum of her life and his face turned a pale shade of white.
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"You made your choice even if you did not act. That is in itself a choice, nonetheless. I gave you an opportunity and you ran away from it. It is valid proof of my innocence and your weakness. You cannot deny it any more than you can deny your nature," she said.

Reed could not so much as utter a single word; his entire being would not allow him to do so. He understood that he no longer had the right to doubt the girl anymore. There was nothing left for him to say.

Lu'um embraced Reed and said, "I understand why you are the way you are, Ka'an. I have seen it all. I see what you see. But please believe me when I tell you that I will never betray you. I will tell you the bitter truth because I care for you, not out of spite or malice. It is the only way you will grow into what you are meant to be," she softly murmured...

A warm breeze swept past the pair as they waited for the only working altar in the island to boot up. Reed already inputted the necessary coordinates to return home and all they had to do now was wait for the altar to finish its preparations. For every second that passed, he increasingly regretted his decision but knew it was only a fleeting emotion of frustration.

He loathed the idea of abandoning the island that he'd come to love; the beautiful beach, the idyllic scenery, and most importantly, the sun-kissed climate. Reed knew what awaited him on the other side of the altar -- the godforsaken spire in that existed in the frigid tundra.

'All good things must come to an end,' some wise fellow once said. This was what the common folk often told him in his world, back in the day. He always despised the fatalistic view contained within the proverb. It was indicative of weakness, he concluded; that one should resign themselves to the loss of their joy, their happiness to the inevitability of fate.

'A load of bullshit created so losers can lick their wounds,' is what he thought of the damned phrase, and yet here he was... about to give up his joy. He weakly chuckled at himself self-derision and shrugged the damnable thought away from his mind.

Thankfully, the altar finally started up before Reed could entertain another depressing thought; it shone brilliantly and a low, static hum echoed out as soon as it finished booting up.

The time had come for them to leave 'paradise' as Reed dejectedly described it. As soon as they stood atop the altar it came live and a blinding flash of light engulfed them whole. They were gone.

No one would ever know about the single teardrop that floated above the altar's floor when the pair had left. It lazily dropped towards the ground but was suddenly swept up by a gentle breeze and flew far, far away into the deep blue where it would never be seen again...

At the other end of the rabbit hole was exactly as Reed had expected -- no, it was even worse than he imagined. A furious blizzard raged across the outside of the spire's plaza where they arrived. It felt like hell had frozen over and spilled onto the world; the howling winds and endless snow that fell made it difficult for them to even see a couple of feet in front of where they stood. The subarctic climate made it a living hell as Reed suddenly felt his body heat dissipate into the condemned snowstorm.

'Ah... I'm back home,' Reed thought as he stood amid the merciless blizzard. It went without saying that this was how things would turn out. Expecting any more would be a fool's dream.

Reed one foot forward and marched down the plaza towards the entrance, but suddenly found himself stuck with a troubling dilemma. One that he should have thought about before he'd stepped onto the altar...

He stopped dead in front of the spire's main door.

He didn't know how the academy would react to his reappearance. How would he explain Lu'um and his 3-month disappearance? How should he act once he went inside? All of them were important questions that he had no answers to at the moment.

Common sense dictated that he couldn't just stroll in nonchalantly and brush everything off like it didn't happen, right?!

'Oh, no. I didn't think this through properly... Wait, maybe we should go back to the Reef! Give me some time to think up some answers and get prepared. Yeah, that soun-'

Creeeaaaak. The ancient door rumbled as it moved.

It'd been opened.....

It'd been...

It'd.....

Lu'um had pushed the door open. She looked back at Reed and said, "I told you already, Ka'an. Stop overthinking. Just do as you please. Also, it's cold outside," she said as she strolled into the spire.

Reed rushed inside in pursuit and quickly cast a barrier of invisibility upon himself and Lu'um. He hurriedly dragged her off towards an inconspicuous area right after that. It was all purely out of instinct in an attempt to salvage the situation.

What would happen if he just strolled into the spire with a beauty in a hand as if he'd just come home from a long night of playing hooky? How would he explain that away? He'd rather not...

Reed understood that he was going to need help. He wrangled his mind as he ran simulations in his mind. Eventually, his options ran thin; he could only think of one person who could currently save his ass right now -- Axtorius, the old goat.

As much as he disliked the geezer, Reed was confident that he was his best and only choice. He was the only one in the damned spire that could probably smooth his problems over. As long as he made it to his quarters, Reed was sure that'd help him out.

The real question was whether they'd make it there before they got spotted. The girl beside him a natural propensity to do as she wished; this was a problem. That and the fact that he'd need to remain elusive in the face of some very dangerous people...

As long as they remained quiet and made themselves scarce, they'd be able to do it, Reed optimistically thought.

What could go wrong?

Chapter end