Chapter 31 Crumbling Rose

We go downstairs and I open the entrance door. My ship, Arileot 14, if at all possible to call it that without Ari in it, is right below us. Its surface looks strange in the pale light of the purple moon. But I don’t have time to admire it. I jump down and the side door slides open.

The hall is lit up with soft bluish light. Eva transpires through the wall and greets me with a smile.

“You realize I called for Ari’s ship to save my boyfriend? Since it is too outdated to be recognized as a threat, it is my only chance to get through unnoticed! Why did you betray him to Leot?” I add sternly.

I probably should not attack her like that, but my mind is heavy with all the unfinished business, plus what I saw in that stone. That was possibly the scariest vision in my whole convoluted, disturbed life. And who brought the ship here? Neither Immaul, nor Eva could do it themselves…

“I understand your frustration. But I did what I was programmed to do. So will you. I’m here to help, but I could not do it, if it was not for the stunning devotion of your husband.”

We walk along the slightly curving hall into the bridge of the ship and I’m shocked to see Iris. He turns around and I’m smitten by his alluring beauty. He walks up to me gracefully, with tears in his eyes. He smells like lily-of-the-valley, he smells like Earth and everything I have left behind to be with a winged alien.

“I could’ve considered myself abandoned. I could’ve married another man, of which are plenty. But I love you, and I hold no grudge, Domiarn. I know you had to leave in a hurry. Immaul came to me, and I knew I had to bring you the ship.”

He embraces me with his strong hands and I feel so happy and content in his embrace. I don’t know if it is love, or just deep gratitude. Probably, he is the one showing the true love. He came to help me break out my boyfriend. Only to give me to him, to lose me again.

We kiss passionately, his angelic face looking fantastic on the background of the starry skies of Ashtarma. Here he is, my darling, noble Baron Leo, half a Universe away, just as generous with his feelings, just as adoring as the day we married. My heart melts. And it is breaking. I do love both of them at the same time.

I could be standing in his embrace for eternity but Immaul is already over us urging to take course to a planet he calls “Crumbling Rose”. I don’t know if it is a translation from a language, or just his poetic imagination at work.

We fly from under the base ship and into the open space. Ashtarma is left behind, and the screens are showing a tutorial about the ruins of civilization lost in the depths of Andromeda galaxy. A featureless, metallic female voice is talking about a devastating blow, dealt to an advanced civilization of peaceful creatures, destroyed practically overnight.

Eva walks to us from the hall. She is not happy. She knows the legend. Her eyes are sad, as she gazes into the screen that shows huge slabs of black stone all around, and nothing else.

“What did you see in that stone in your vision?” Asks Immaul, appearing right by me.

“I saw…” I stumble, searching for words. It was horrific.

“ I know what he saw.” Answers Eva.

“Who did it to them?” I whisper, still watching the screen.

“Kallitris.” Ari’s girlfriend walks by the screen and static fills it with ominous hissing. “Now Leot put him there because he knows that the Crumbling Rose is craving revenge. It is better than any prison. Or, rather, worse than that.”

A draft of cold air seeps from nowhere and brushes my face. I start trembling for no reason. So, I just stand there, stunned and frightened. I have nothing to say. I’m still on my way there no matter what.

The screen now shows darkness with a sparkle of a star here and there. We go through the immeasurable distances. My ship looks like a toy in comparison with planets and stellar systems we fly by. We are essentially just stardust. Everyone beginning with Leot and finishing with the last creature he built. Eventually we all will crumble. What is going to be left in this vast space?

“Love.” Eva comes to me and takes my face into her ghostly hands. “I have shed my body, but I still love Ari. It makes me see a new path. Hate makes you run in circles. The Crumbling Rose is stuck in circles of hatred. See if you can get them to understand that.”

We’re coming closer to the destination. I can never get enough of the sight of Andromeda. This magnificent spiral galaxy is not only the home of Leot and my grandfather Ari, but it is also the new beginning for humanity.

A day will come, and the humans will figure out a way to overcome a distance of over two million light years to start a new civilization in this great and mystical place. They will invent the very type of ship I’m in now.

The idea of using psychic energy for fuel will come from a poor human scientist from Earth, who wanted to solve the problem of overpopulation, but did not have any money to relocate people. He worked until he figured out that a hundred volunteers inside of a vessel can move it by the sheer power of their desire. All they needed was the formula of how to apply it.

Eva’s eyes are fixed on the screen as we enter the first ‘sleeve” of the galaxy. She is looking for signs of trouble, the signs of us getting detected while we all know that Leot comes unnoticed if he wishes so.

I, on the other hand, enjoy the experience, taking it in as it is. Multitude of frequencies fill my head with voices of creatures unknown, broadcasting messages undecoded, a fleeting feeling of déjà-vu squeezes my heart with sweet pain of things forgotten… Flaming, wild solar winds attack the ship, suddenly bursting in an explosion of radioactive violence – all of this is part of me, my life, my heritage, my nature.

Immaul touches the screen with his wing, and a map appears. He zooms it in to one particular area. Stars and solar systems appear bigger, some bright, some enveloped in glowing soft light.

“Right here.” Eva says pointing to one particular system of planets.

I nod and order the ship to fly to the new coordinates. We start swooping down towards a pale planet that gets bigger and bigger on the map, and then – on the screen. We’re flying unrealistically fast. I forgot how fast Ari’s ship can be.

Iris is fighting the avalanche of emotions. He wants to help me, but it is too dangerous, and even the best outcome will bring him inevitable parting with me and a lot of heartache.

Eva is alarmed all of a sudden.

“We’re being followed” She says.

The descend is somewhat hectic as she asks me to zig-zag in the atmosphere to get rid of what she believes is a “tail”. To lose a “tail” for a ship as big as mine I need to zig-zag pretty far, pretty fast. Like, across a couple of continents within several seconds.

Eva is looking at the screen, but I think that she is more listening to herself. I throw the ship directly on to what looks like an ocean of water, which can be anything, for all I know. Iris is holding my hand, and the feeling between us gets very intense, as the ship glides across the surface of the ocean.

“Land over there.” Eva says finally. She thinks we’re no longer being pursued.

I see a strip of land up ahead. It looks like a sandy beach.

“So what are the inhabitants like? Are there any left after the attack?” Iris says thoughtfully as I carefully place the ship on a piece of land, surrounded by the forest.

“Yes, the remnants of the civilization are still here. They are secretive, hidden. But they are humanoid, one of Leot’s projects. He experimented with humans until he bred what he wanted.” Ari’s girlfriend is trying to be impartial, but her hatred for Leot is obvious. She is still miserable over the fact that Leot was always number one in Ari’s life.

We walk out of the ship, and it is indeed sand under our feet. The air feels fresh with a smell of honey and herbs. Strange, but it does feel like Earth.

“However the “failed strands” were housed on various Earth-like planets, where he’d just cut them loose.” Eva continues, as she comes out with us. “I have to stay with the ship, you guys. Look for the black slabs. They have all the answers.”

“Demi… Have you already landed?” I get startled to a very distinct voice in my head. “Get out of here. Now! Please. Just abandon me, and run.”

That’s it. The voice says nothing else. I’ll be darned. It was Kallitris. Where is he?!”