Second Age, Echo Realm
Somewhere in the backyard of Venus, in a post-city of Adequate Nutrients spectators gathered to see what the echoians intended to disclose to them. Sol was safe for the moment, prompting the Couple to visit. They were seated on the stands where there was a good view of the field.
“For your partnership in the face of staggering odds in the defense of our shared territory, we would like to gift you with this symbol of our appreciation” Meza Buyer announced and pointed to a table from which stacked photo albums of old earth and other artifacts were handed out.
The real compensation was below in the substructure, where mechanics were installing the containment cells and energy extraction mechanisms for a shipment of Idea-Stars. “Can you believe this!” Buyer blurted flippantly, waving around a how-to book on the art of magic, back when it was only a pastime, making the crowd burst with laughter. Meza retired to the standsafter warming up the crowd. The system colonists reacted more favorably to the normal humans than the altered ones, old prejudices being alive and well. Umlave took to the field, waiting for a time until out of the corner a cargo truck rolled onto the green. The driver popped open the door and jumped to the ground, then unlatched the back, laying down the ramp. A truck full of dairy cows stumbled down the ramp onto the green, filling up the air with deep clamoring. Umlave took the microphone and waited for silence, “Welcome everyone to this sad but joyous day. Say hello to our earthy friends here. As those who know me most will appreciate, there is now something I must do. In just a moment, I will say goodbye to the old me and hello to the new. Please tell your neighbor to stay calm and watch very carefully. This may shock you at first, but by the time I’m done you will be very pleased, I promise. It has fallen upon me to enact fragmentary regeneration”. With a snap of her fingers, the gravity on the field drained away, and the cows drifted into the air, tumbling in confusion. The crowd all began
“moo-ing” in parody of the panicked animals. Like a symphony conductor, the patron waved her hands back and forth, and from the udders of the cows came streams of milk that collected together, forming a wide mandala above the field. Adding layers upon layer of intricacy, the mandala became more beautiful until she was satisfied, and she left the ground rising up towards the hole in the center of the disk. Sitting in the stands, Uffhill watched the face of Oasis as it crossed the threshold of the mandala, and became that of Onsuru, followed by her body.
Another victory in the fight against death, as the fragment that was the avatar regenerated the individual. The patron pointed to the mandala and it fell down to the green, soaking into it.
Awakening from the grass below, and brushing the dirt off of her body, a replica of the original performer appeared, somewhat befuddled, and then bowed to the crowd, “You may call me Oasis 2”. Uffhil smiled as she waved to him. “This one is slightly less pretty” he thought to himself, examining her face, and noticing the annoying freckles and other defects. “My family is just one big inbred jumble, isn’t it?” his heart sinking in disappointed realization. Afterwards, as everyone was stewing about the field, a system colonist with a hat and smoking a cigar approached Onsuru and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, “have you ever thought of a life in show-business, kid? I can make you a star”. (no cows were harmed in the making of this novel).
First Age, Ninth Eon - Island
Below her feet Echo could see the fast approaching ground. The wind rushed upwards, channeling them swiftly towards their destination. At long last they alighted on island earth.
Echo looked to Sam as the wetness of grass tingled the soles of her feet. He was hers again, the one who witnessed her in the stillness of night, who held her hand when she was but unformed echoes. And the pillar strengthening the center of her world. Sam reached to her and brought her into an unexpected kiss. It was powerful and magnetic. A hard press against the ruggedness of her lips. Skies welcomed their love with exotic clouds and flavors of blue. The land all around whirled like a fermentation. Aether in her blood turned to vapor, and it heated the chamber containing her pumping heart. Sam felt it too as a line of spit between the two of them fell from his lips. The black hair whistled as it endeavored against the wind. Intricate medieval
armor partially covering her body clinked in unison. The silver glow of her eyes felt like bliss as it washed over him. The limitless universe that was her skin blinked with its treasured stars and darkness. And the echo seal of ES upon her chest glowed like a soft white lamp. Sam took a moment to think about it, then came to a conclusion. This was his woman.
Far away on the barren wastes of some terrible planet Visioness was in unendurable pain. Dust of his footsteps, tracing away, still lingered on the path. The one that had forsaken her had gone too soon. She skid her back against the ground and let out a vociferous cry. It was overbearing.
A rich sweat of fresh agony welled up in her body. Threads of her muscles pulled in all directions, snapping. She let out another one, long and thundering to the featureless sky. Yet it was like a mute, knowing nothing of her petitions, and its atmosphere churned with callous, uncaring mechanics. In her mind Visioness could still see him, sitting on a throne in the cloud of her breath that she had made for him. The soft touch of his hair. The way his body rose and fell to her own exertions. Now he was gone, and what was there left of the world? The bitter bite of destiny hurt her chest. Tears retreated back to the recess of her eyes, where they would shrink until no more. And in her chest her heart crumbled. It was mere chunks of dust that collapsed in upon itself. Leaving nothing but void. Dark void. Enigma of magic fired up on her body. An unspeakable color with multiple hues. From it radiated out a single rainbow. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. It propelled until it found the horizon, cleaving it in two. The object was fast as it raced through the map of space. The tip of it was shaped like a ribbon, arcing towards the place of its landing. At island earth the populace looked up at the clouds and saw them blush in many colors. The bridge descended towards the soft hills of the planet. Echo lifted her head and saw it leagues away. A force of magnificence and violence, on a scale she had rarely witnessed. When that single rainbow touched the earth, the ground crumbled. It fell apart and the earth was soon to be destroyed. It happened suddenly. Boulders of earth thrust up through the ground, more powerful than explosions. Echo was able to retrieve the Moon-Soul and then lead the population into the cave of silence. The rest she sent in by trans-manifestation.
Second Age
As she sprung up from the bed, Falzar breathed a sigh of relief. It was another perilous dream.
Folds of the bedsheet poked out between her fingers. The day was still far away, as revealed by the world's blank expression of immaterial darkness coming in from the window. Falzar shook her purple hair and got to the floor. The patron was neck to toe in golden armor that had spikes protruding from the back at great length. They could … of course retract to defend the nature of her bed. “Yawn .. it’s so early” she observed dispassionately. The way to the bathroom was easily navigated, and so she opened the door and looked into the mirror, foggy from yesterday’s shower. It had a sinister metallic sheen staring back at her. Falzar was too cowardly to admit it to herself. She brushed a portion off with her right hand, uncovering the lens. “Huh? Is that real y me?” she thought in sheer wonder. The portion was wide enough to see dark eyes and a face of a woman that was like a mystery. Energy festered around her, dark in the extreme. As soon as she looked again, Visioness was gone, and the mirror had returned with her own aspect. The meaning of it all fell silently from her lips. Falzar was lost for words but with all that had happened recently, she just needed more rest.
CHAPTER 8 - OASIS 2 TRIES A NEW MOVE
Second Age, Echo Realm
Oasis 2 made a circuit around the periphery of her garden. A few more seeds went into the ground, causing her to smile in the usual unfettered way. A girl who loves the company of green. Sweet mirth, with a clumsy heart going bump bump bump. But in the truest sense Oasis was not at all happy. Even though the wind that day smelled of lilac dipped in honey. Whispers of her intimate life crept into her consciousness. Uffhill and his antics. The way he looked away from her. Like a shadow receding through her house. It was of little consequence to the seeds and their new adventure. Oasis 2 continued on her march towards inventing the one thing that mattered … scenery. As she did the oversized lava lamps around her unscrewed their tops and let out those misshapen balls. Like a magician she ordered them into their places, and waited a few until a tree sprung up, impregnated with the color of wax. “Ahh … this one is purple,” she remarked, with both hands clasped behind her back. Yesterday a new sheath of grass had grown from the walking trail up to where she stood, and it danced up to the level of her white socks. In these parts, grass certainty enveloped the land in the most delicate of ways. Oasis 2
leant over a little more, and looked with all her might at the tree and its luster of purple. With all her freckles, it may have been a hundred eyes. The white dress she wore was of paper cut with patterns. It emasculated the world with its beauty, until she was subtle and the rest was not. Her hair was moist brown, and felt the wild abandon of every coursing breeze. Now her knees were a little jittery. The white mandalas upon her person were anything but fickle. Even with so much pause in the nature of things. In the heights of spring. She had chosen them herself. Tailored them like a good girl. And She was like that and her heart was aloft most of the time. But this was different. Ever since she had arrived… her companion was so … disdainful. It was mentioned to her of course that Umlave had enacted fragmentary regeneration to become Onsuru, and that she was the new avatar of Onsuru, thus granting her the station of Umlave, and Umlave was his last wife and … blah blah blah. It all made little sense in the long run.
Creatures enrobed in lilac crawled up the trees behind her. “Why does this have to be so hard?”
she thought aloud. Uffhill and his daring but wicked ways. The man was fighting a war … or was he? Oasis 2 shuddered as she acquired the truth. Drops met little resistance on the way down.
The forest danced. Leaves flew by like little paper airplanes. The essential greenness of the world clung to her but it was not enough. “I want to be his wife!” she cried, “why won’t he notice me?” As one tear fell to the ground in front of Oasis, a tree rose behind, decked in pink like the wax it was born with. Just to the side, the lamps continued their unerring motions, enforcing the circulation of their orbs. The woman placed her head against the trunk of the tree, letting brown hair droop over all those precious freckles. It was at this moment that she was spotted by three of her friends who had come to spend time with her - Galatea of the Ten Velvet Roses, Lilly Llamas and Clovera. The maiden Galatea took her hand and brought them all to a circular stone table not far from the walking path. Having completed the first release of emotion, the woman looked up, and saw her friend’s face. It was like a beautiful beast, surrounded by bright red hair.
And on her body were roses. Plenty of them. “Ahh! Why can’t I be like you girls” Oasis bayed, returning to the comfort of her palms. Clovera massaged her back until the little one could manage, and she raised her head again and looked, comparing herself with the dominance of Galatea, the gorgeous feral-ness of Clovera, and the bright colors of Lil y Llamas. “It's just that
… i’m not like her” Oasis mouthed.
Galatea: Let me just say … you’re perfect just the way you are. Don’t give in to him.
Lil y Llamas: I remember when you were happier, Oasis. I couldn’t be happy either if i knew Clovera: That’s easy for you to say, Lil y. You and Zemmy are fellow soldiers and family.
Lilly more than anyone understood what was going on. Zemmy had her fling with Teddy, then had her fling with Tipsy, and she had stolen Uffhill a long time ago. But In their family, she would go to the ends of the earth for her.
Lil y Llamas: I’m here to settle this, Clovera, not to take her side Oasis: Why doesn’t he look at me like other girls? … Waaaaaaa Galatea (whispering to Lilly): Uffhill is a dog
Galatea: Darling, listen to us. It’s not like you asked for this. He went his own way … and it’s not your fault
Clovera: I would have suspected something earlier. Like … how is he like when he’s at home?
Is he taking care of you or minding his own business?
Oasis: I guess … he’s just so rigid, you know. Like it’s his duty to be my husband. And then he’s always trying to be in a different room from me. Like we’re playing a game. And when I do get him to myself, he can be so condescending, like … anytime i ask him anything about the patrons. I'm not freaking Etheria okay. I’m not a force of nature like that. He hasn’t taught me anything. I had to go to academy to learn spells.
Clovera: Alright but … what’s it like when … you know
Oasis: Oh that … I guess it's normal. He says he likes it.
Lilly: Does he ever say he loves you?
Oasis: Yeah but, only during the day, never when we’re alone Galatea: Maybe he just needs some encouragement?
Oasis: Waaaa!
Lilly: What was the last thing that you remember about Zemmy?
Oasis: Like … hopscotch … I mean she’s always like … visited the house for some reason. And she he said that she was his lieutenant under his command, but I knew that isn’t true. You can see she’s from Suburbia, and weren’t like … we at war with them? I mean, I was there in the house by the table. Cutting out a new paper dress with my scissors. I had done that all day waiting for him to come home to show him. Then Zemmy barges in to the room and she takes one look at me and leaves. Not even saying anything. And she’s like this shadow that’s everywhere.
Lil y: I didn’t know you were going through so much, Oasis. I’m sorry Oasis: Waaaaa! LIke how am I supposed to compete with that! Have you seen her body! It’s so mature. And she’s always wearing leather. And she’s this fierce warrior chick. And those eyes
are like clocks that tick time. She’s got these weird robot spider legs but even they’re attractive.
What am I going to do?
Clovera: Oasis … Um … this might be cruel to say, and I know it’s not fair but … have you thought of maybe trying to maybe do some work on your looks? To make yourself look more womanly I mean.
Galatea: (slapping Clovera on the shoulder). Clovera!
Clovera: I mean yes, it’s unfair. I get that. But boys like their woman to be you know …
Oasis: He hates my freckles !!!
Lil y: I knew it would come to this. Why couldn’t you keep your hands to yourself Zemmy Galatea: Maybe if someone had warned us earlier, then we wouldn’t be having this discussion Lil y: I didn’t have anything to do with this Galatea. Zemmy always gets what she wants. It’s like boys are toys to her and she steals them
Oasis: There has to be an answer! Like I can change my hair, or put on cream for my skin.
Galatea: You have so many freckles. Like I can't even count them.
Oasis: (in despair) I know !!! Waaaa!
Lilly: How about you do something about the nails, you know boys like that Clovera: Haha. That’s not going to work on him, Lil y. They don’t even care about that Galatea: You could try a red dress. I have plenty of them
Oasis: Maybe that would work?
Lilly: I doubt it. Zemmy looks good in any dress. This is a fight. We need something she can’t copy
Oasis: Oh my. Hopscotch! This is so hard. Zemmy’s looks are so mature. She has that black hair and her face is made with perfect bone structure. You can’t even look away from it. She has bigger breasts, and she has a cool sword. What am I supposed to do!
Galatea: Calm down Oasis. I’ve got all my girls at home and we can make you look so beautiful.
I know a hundred ways to do that. Just let me call the girls, and in an hour you’l look better than Zemmy, believe me
Clovera: This is a tug of war, you need to go big or go home Lil y: That’s a good idea, but what can catch Uffhil ’s eye?.
Galatea: It has to be everything. Hair, lips, eyeshadow
Oasis: No Galatea … thanks for saying that. Sniff … but i think i figured it out.
Galatea: What do you mean? You’re not giving up on him?
Oasis: That’s not it. I think I need … a new move. If you know what i mean.
Clovera: Ahhh! Our girl is growing up!
Lil y: I can’t believe what i’m hearing
Oasis: I mean … I heard some gossip recently about the Divine Couple. Someone came in on them while they were together. And they were doing all these magical moves. I heard a lot of stories about it, so i don’t know what’s real or not, but … I have a few ideas.
Galatea: If you think that’s best, we’l stand by your decision Oasis: I do … thanks girls.
As Oasis walked away from the table the three of them waited until she was gone and pointed the finger at each other until they realized it was all Uffhil ’s fault.
Later that night Oasis stood by the painting in the living room waiting for her betrayer. She had trained her body to be womanly for that night alone. The lights were bright, and she had done a few things to highlight her best features. The girl stood as still as aphrodite in marble as the door opened and the key was inserted and the knob turned. “There you are my love” she spoke, humbling him with her presence. Uffhill returned after what must have been another celestial battle of epic proportions. He had stars in his eyes, and even the aura of a patron couldn’t hide such terror. The rain made his bear coat sopping wet and he removed it onto the hanger. As Uffhill looked towards her, the rough manly features of his face met their counterpart in freckles.
The white paper mandala dress was tight around the hips in just the right way as she strode over to him, “Its time for you to do your duty”. Uffhil paused for a moment. He was the man who knew everything, and so relented, “I suppose that’s acceptable, what do you have in mind”. “I’m glad you asked. I actual y have something new tonight. Please go over there and i’l be right back” she responded, and departed to the hal way as he stood in what was a medium sized space with enough light to entice the senses. He was a well built man of African-American ancestry. He ran his fingers through his hair once for the occasion. In a few Oasis was back.
Bringing articles for dinner - wine glasses, and plates, utensils. Uffhill stood there healing from wounds. He didn’t know what to make of it but he stayed silent. “I heard some gossip about the Divine Couple and their night together. My friend told me about a few magic spells they used, and I want your cooperation for one. Since your my husband, you have to agree”. Uffhil smiled for once and gave her his eyes. It was the best attack he had dealt with all night. This one was aimed directly at his soul. “I’l do what you tell me to do, so take the lead my love”. His wife smiled in reply. He took another look at her and saw what few other men have ever hoped to witness. Polished brown hair the color of acorns falling to her shoulders. The shape of her face seemed more feminine. Eyes that had a certain singular focus. Lips filled with red will power.
And a dress that was like a blank canvas for all his unspoken desires. Oasis stepped one at a time towards him, and placed a full palm upon his chest. It was … rigid to the touch. After their introduction, she explained to him the procedure, which was unusual given the Couple and their sort. Firstly, it involved him getting full dressed from head to toe. Once that was done, he had to activate a spell to transform into a dining room table. Oasis placed a long white tablecloth over the whole of it, then set the table with everything - the wine glasses, and plates and utensils.The woman closed her eyes and remembered how to do the trick. With both hands she grabbed the skirt of the tablecloth and yanked it, leaving everything as it was. The plates had not moved an
inch. Uffhill transformed back to human and was completely bare.Oasis looked at his ornament below the belt, which had so much to give it was almost a cornucopia. Steadily she made her way towards him. He knew that his time had come and so embraced the trickster and all her ravishing curves. Bulky arms threw themselves around her chest. She found herself in his safekeeping, and he brought her to the bed. Embraces began and then ... Oasis layed on her side with her head on the pillow and tried to predict the words that would depart his lips. It was going so well. Uffhill honestly looked at the other side of the room. He sat up. Oasis fluffed her pil ow once. “My love … that was kinda weird” he said. He real y didn’t know what to say. The shadows in the room drifted around him. And she was getting tired anyway, so she fluffed the pillow again and went to sleep. It was all the freckles and she knew it.