Heaven Saga 2: Sands of Aquarius (7 page)

“I
think we’ll have to do this tomorrow,” Seles said to the other three.

“Well,
the
Char Dom
is a two night tradition,” Mira said.

“We’ll
just have to tell twice as many stories tomorrow evening,” Jesela added.

“Or
we could just start when he wakes up,” Baed suggested.

“Let’s
get some sleep,” Seles said. “We can discuss what we’re going to do tomorrow.”

Man,
I don’t feel sick at all. Technology is great.
Brian thought
to himself. He wore the brown pants from the day before, but his shirt and
other clothes were gone. He opened his eyes and found himself on top of the
bed, covered with black sheets and matching pillows. The bedroom had white
walls and a white ceiling. To his left was a wall of windows. The morning sun
shined through brightly. He sat up cross-legged and noticed he wasn’t alone. Starting
from the right to left at the foot of his bed stood Seles, Baed, Jesela, and
Mira. Each wore a translucent dress matching their respective hair colors.

“Good
morning,” the four said in unison with smiles.

He
ran his hand through his hair. “Good morning to all of you.”

They
moved around the bed. Seles stood to his right with Mira to his left. Baed and
Jesela stood at the corners. After a moment each took a deep breath and
chanted: “
Char Dom, se jent ko.”

“Alright,
not that it’s not a bad thing to see all of you first thing in the morning like
this, but what are you doing?” he asked.

Mira
stepped forward. “This ritual is called the
Char Dom
. Since you’ve only
had a room on the Avoni up until now we haven’t been able to hold a proper
ritual.”

“How
does this ritual work?” he asked.

“Basically,
when a
Rakna Maigar
is newly anointed the
Char Dom
takes place,”
Seles explained. “Traditionally it begins on the first evening the
Maigar
returns home. Unfortunately you were too drunk last night.”

“Sorry
about that,” he said.

Baed
and Jesela bowed. “We’re going to start breakfast,” Jesela said as the pair
left.

Brian
ran his hand through his hair again before standing up. “Could either of you
tell me more about this?”

“To
put it simply, the
Char Dom
is a greeting ceremony consisting of
storytelling. Each guest tells a story, including the
Maigar
,” Mira
explained.

“What
kind of stories?” he asked.

Seles
tapped his shoulder. “Any kind of story is usable. To tell you the truth, I
haven’t heard much of your homeworld since you came to us.”

“She’s
right Brian,” Mira added. “Despite being in close contact with a Terran we
haven’t learned much about your history or myths. As Kalaidians, many of our
myths and stories tell of songs and performances that changed history. That’s
what we seek from you.”

He
sighed before closing his eyes. “The reason I haven’t said much about human
history is because of the wars we’ve fought.” He looked at them. “Terran
history is filled with more bloodshed and despair than the Shandi, or even the
Ick-Tckt. In the twenty years I lived on Earth there wasn’t one day of true
peace.”

Mira
turned to Seles. “Is he telling the truth?”

Seles
nodded. “When I first met Brian he told me so. Our own history pales in
comparison when it comes to warfare.”

* * *

After
a feast for breakfast the girls all sat on the couches in the apartment’s front
room. He sat in the chair wearing the brown pants and white shirt he usually
wore.

“So
how does this work?” Brian asked.

“We
start with the first guest and move in order around the table. You tell your
stories last in the order Brian, so think up a good one,” Mira explained. “The
first one to tell her story is Seles.”

“I
don’t know which one to tell,” Seles said.

“Why
not your time with Brian on the frozen moon,” Baed suggested.

“Yeah,
we haven’t heard what happened at all,” Jesela added.

She
looked to Brian. “Is it alright?”

“Sure.”

Seles
composed herself. “I was guarding Brian before we even knew his name or
anything,” she said. “The look on his face when he couldn’t understand our
language was priceless. At first, I didn’t know what to think about him. Then I
learned he was a Terran shortly before the Avoni was attacked by the Greys. Everything
was a new experience when I first worked with him. When we crashed he said that
the cold and snow were normal for his homeland.”

“Is
it really?” Mira asked.

“It’s
true,” Brian answered. “In the part of the world I come from it snows for about
a third of the year.”

“That’s
cold,” Baed said.

“Not
my kind of place to live,” Jesela added.

The
others turned to Seles when she was ready to continue. “On the way to the cave
where we took up shelter for the twelve day ordeal, I succumbed to the cold.
When I woke I was being embraced rather warmly by Brian, who was sleeping
soundly.”

“What?”
the other three asked.

Seles
smiled. “He used his own body heat to help me warm up.”

Mira
closed her eyes. “It’s a known fact embracing helps against the cold.” She
opened her eyes and glared at Brian. “You weren’t naked, were you?”

He
waved her off. “No, I didn’t do that.”

“Well
anyway, when I woke up, all I remember was how warm he was.” Seles smiled again.
“No matter how scared I was he always calmed me down. He said that no matter
what, he was going to get me off that icy rock. His strength gave me strength.
I don’t know what I would have done if I was alone.”

Brian
leaned forward. “Remember Seles, it was the same for me. Without what you
taught me I wouldn’t have been able to do anything.”

“So
what happened in the cave?” Jesela asked.

“There
were a lot of strange questions,” Seles looked at Brian again, “I was quite
scared at first, to be all alone with a Terran. But as the days passed I saw he
wasn’t much different than us.” She motioned to her left. “It’s your turn
Baed.”

Baed
thought for a moment. “When Seles and I lived in the royal palace, we had a lot
of fun annoying the adults. Especially our instructors, but I think we also had
a knack for annoying Celestia.”

Seles
laughed. “Oh, my mother would get so mad at us. So which story have you chosen
my dear cousin?”

“When
you were twelve and I was eleven we were the same height and weight. Seles had
a fun idea: let’s change our hair colors and switch places. Because we’re
practically identical the plan worked.”

Brian
looked at Baed, causing her to blush. “You know, your hair color makes you look
different.” He looked at Seles and then back at Baed. “But to be honest you
look just like Seles in every other way.”

“Including
my radiant beauty?” Seles asked sarcastically.

He
sat back. “That’s what makes you look alike.”

Seles
elbowed Baed. “Get back to the story.”

“Well,
I was to take Seles’s place for a day. At mealtime her mother kept staring at
me, saying: What’s wrong my daughter? What got me caught was when it was time
to recite the religious prayers to Kali. The princess is trained for the role
of high priestess. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so studied and her mother figured it
out after half a day.”

“What
about you Seles?’ Mira asked. “Surely something came up that hindered your
guise.”

“I
thought posing as Baed would be easy,” Seles said. “After all, she’s only a duchess,
not a princess.” She looked at her cousin. “Despite our similarities, I have to
give the superior brain to Baed. Her instructors were shocked at how unlearned
I was and insisted that I must be ill. What got me caught though was when the
language teacher came.”

“That
doesn’t sound hard Seles,” Mira said.

“Oh
yes it is Mira,” Baed said. “One of the reasons I fled Kalaidia is because I
was being groomed as the ambassador to Ick-Tckt Prime.”

“Yes,
and I didn’t know anything about the language,” Seles said. “How a mammal like
us can speak it is beyond me.”

“That
explains why you were my sniper last night,” Brian said. “Thank you Baed.”

“I
did what I was supposed to,” Baed said. “Besides, I have to use the ability to
understand their language for something.”

“So
what happened after both of you was found out?” Mira asked.

“I
remember we got yelled at, a lot. First our instructors did it, and later
Celestia took her turn. She forced us to change our hair back to the right
color and made both of us to clean the roof of the palace.”

“That’s
pretty harsh,” Brian said. “I’ve seen how much roof that place has.”

“It
took us two weeks,” Seles said.

Baed
motioned to Jesela. “Now it’s your turn.”

Jesela
looked to Mira. “Do you mind if I tell them how we met?”

Mira
sat back. “Only Baed doesn’t know the truth about me. It’s about time someone
lets her in on it.”

“Know
what?” Baed asked.

Seles
put her hand on Baed’s. “Mira’s real name is Mira Kein, the famous musical
prodigy and only daughter of Gaelic Kein.”

Looking
rather confused, Baed turned to Mira. “How is that possible?”

Mira
turned to Jesela. “Let me explain and then you can tell the story.” Jesela
nodded. Mira took a deep breath. “I guess this will be my story then. A hundred
and fifty five years ago I was in between Kalaidia Prime and the Rigas system,
one of our people’s largest colony systems. I was to perform for the first time
off the homeworld. As we approached Rigas Four, the main inhabited planet, the
ship I was on collided with a wrecked ship. I was severely injured, and my
father had me put into a regeneration machine.”

“How
long were you supposed to stay in there?” Baed asked.

“Like
I said, I was severely injured, so it required that I stay in for at least
seven years. Unfortunately, the Grey Plague killed my father and all the other
males our people had, so I was left in hiding, sleeping calmly. By chance a
Reiki research vessel found the asteroid I was sleeping on. They had no idea
who I was and woke me little over four years ago. I escaped from their facility
here on Dega Jul.”

“How
famous were you?” Baed asked.

“If
you research her you’ll see how much your people adored Mira back then,” Brian
said.

“Well,
now that my story is out, I think Jesela should tell hers.” Mira said, turning
to her friend.

Jesela
took a sip from a glass of wine. “It was four years ago when I first met Mira.
I was attending science courses at the Kein Academy. I was shopping alone near
Mya’s place when I saw a very confused girl walking the streets. Her clothes
looked ancient, like something out of history rather than reality. I could tell
she was scared by how many aliens walked the streets, so I went to talk to her.
Seeing another Kalaidian, she ran over to me.”

Mira
shook her head. “I must have looked like an insane person.”

Jesela
laughed. “You did! I introduced myself to her and she did likewise back to me.
That was when she peppered me with questions. Where am I? What year is it? Why
am I here? Questions like that. I took her aside and told her everything I
could. The look on your face was priceless Mira. I’ve never seen someone so
shocked at her surroundings. So I bought her a few pairs of clothes and asked
her where she was staying.”

“As
you can imagine I had nowhere to go. I wasn’t going to go back to the Reiki. So
I asked if I could stay with her,” Mira explained. “Also, from the looks I was getting
from Jesela at the time I figured it would be best if I tried to blend in.”

“I
was staying at the academy’s dorm at the time. Since I didn’t have a roommate,
it wasn’t a problem taking her in. She started classes the next term to learn
medicine. After three years the two of us hooked on with the Avoni.”

“I
have one question. Do you still have those clothes Mira?” Brian asked.

Mira
laughed before looking around the table. “You’ve seen me in them a number of
times. It’s the white dress I wear when for performances.”

“That
explains why it looks so different than the clothes I see you wearing today,”
Brian said.

“Those
were normal clothes when you went to sleep?” Seles asked.

Mira
nodded. “Remember, in those days males existed. I broke it out when I first saw
Brian. I figured he’d rather see a dress like that then what most
Reiniere
wear today.”

“What
do they wear?” Brian looked puzzled.

“Usually
they wear a very conservative covering dress.” Mira winked at him. “Like I
said, I figured a man would rather see skin than dress.”