Metanoia (18 page)

“
I thought I told you to
shut up! Oh yeah, that’s right, you’re slow like that. Maybe it’s
time for a little lesson, don’t you think?” She moved away and
stretched her fingers to the sky. “Kreefra tu larness arghra nem!”
At this, a bolt of lightning exited from the sky, straight for
Leyance. He began to run, the lightning following close behind.
Gina watched him go.

“
Next time, the fun really
begins.”

“
Enlighten me. What exactly
did you accomplish by going to her against my wishes?” Fheyrhil
interrogated Leyance, but he sat staring straight ahead. A look of
shock and confusion resided on Leyance’s face.

“
It would have been better
if she just plain didn’t know who I was – but she did,” he stated
softly. “She stared at me with full knowledge of who I was and what
I used to mean to her – but that look in her eyes… it was a look of
pure hatred. Gina has never looked at anything that way – not even
her worst enemy, but she looked at me that way, the man she vowed
to love forever.”

“
There was nothing you
could have done…”

“
You know that’s not true!”
Leyance screamed. “If I had stayed with Gina during that fight, she
wouldn’t have been kidnapped by Noquef and wouldn’t have been
poisoned. Or even if I had gotten there five minutes earlier, I
could have saved her. I killed her. I did it! And I killed her in
the worst way possible, failing to protect. I killed the one I
love!” Fheyrhil let his head hang.

I feel that you speak the
truth,
Fheyrhil thought to himself,
more than you can know.

“
I will look at all
possible solutions to this new development,” Fheyrhil went on. “I
am sure it is only a matter of time before she comes after
Nythagié.” Leyance looked up at him, alarmed.

“
Do you really think she
would?”

“
I think it is something
Gina would never have done before, so, yes, I believe it is
something she will do now.”

Gina rested on a dark, garish throne, her
legs swung over the arm rest. Once again, she was dressed in black.
She stared off into space but was snapped back to attention as an
Übel came in.

“
Leyance returned to his
city, my Dark Lady,” he reported.

“
It does not matter,” she
replied nonchalantly. “I wanted him to.”

“
You wanted him to escape?”
the creature demanded. At this she swung her legs to the ground and
leaned forward, mischievousness in her glare.

“
Not escape, idiot. Believe
me, he did not escape. He did just what I wanted. He felt. He felt
pain, anger, sadness, confusion. He got a sample. That was only the
appetizer. I want him to live with the knowledge that he now has.
When I feel it is time, then I’ll serve him the main course.” The
fiend chuckled to himself.

“
That is very clever. A
drawn out torture. I like it.”

“
I don’t remember asking
your opinion, now did I? But I do remember asking you to find out
more information about the going-ons at Nythagié, and I’ve heard
nothing yet of it!” she yelled.

“
They are distraught. They
do not know what action they will yet take. The city has already
felt the blow,” he reported.

“
That is nothing compared
to the blow they are going to feel. Inform the others – Nythagié
will soon be under attack – and we will win. After all, I’m the
only one who can destroy Nythagié, and they know it.”

Gina walked the landscape in the black of
night. She wore a long, sheer robe over tight pants and a small
top. She was like an evil ghost wandering the night. Wandering the
familiar battlefields, Gina found what she was looking for: the
wooded area next to the cliff. She was on her way to the river
where she had almost met her end. Carefully, she climbed down to
the banks of the unrelenting river. Gina knelt down at the very
edge of the water and closed her eyes. Slowly, she lifted her hands
and rested her palms on the river. Light radiated from her
fingertips and swept through the water. The light started to gather
at the middle and swept down into the depths of the dark water.
Gradually, a shadow was seen in the middle of the light. The shadow
grew darker and darker, bigger and bigger, until a faint yet
familiar shape could be seen. A body. It rose higher in the water
until it suddenly sprang with life, up and out of the water gasping
for air, his body being chilled by the wind. It was as if he was
being reborn again. Gina knew this man well. It was Noquef. He
looked at her with questioning eyes.

“
Gina?” he questioned. “But
you killed me.”

“
You fell,” she replied
matter-of-factly. “I had nothing to do with it –
unfortunately.”

“
You’re
different…”

“
Of course! You think I’d
raise you from the dead if I was still Little Miss Goody-Two-Shoes?
You are thick.”

“
But how…?”

Gina smiled and waded out to him. Once there,
she wrapped her arms around him. “Why, you of course. The fire,
remember? Well,” she said letting him look at her, “it worked.”
Then, she kissed him. It was not a passionate kiss. Not filled with
love or admiration, caring or affection, but with roughness. It
almost startled Noquef, but he soon eased into it. Just as quickly
as she had kissed him, she pulled away. Both walked to the shore
slowly.

“
Now,” she said acquiring a
superior tone, “I will adopt you as what you always wanted to
be.”

“
Your husband, you
mean?”

“
Yes,” she said uncaringly.
“However, I am in charge now. Not you. You now have what you asked
for. You get nothing more.”

“
Like I’m going to…” he
began but wasn’t given a change to finish. Gina had him pinned down
to the ground as he screamed in pain.

“
Who’s in
charge?”

“
You,” he whispered in
pain.

“
Who calls the
shots?’

“
You, Gina.”

“
Will you ever get in the
way?”

“
No, I want nothing more
than what you’ve given me.”

“
Good. You’re on the
winning side once again.” She released him and began to walk off.
Noquef followed, smiling.

Leyance stood on a cliff overlooking the city
of Nythagié. Beautiful flowers grew all around him, but the beauty
did not ease his pain. He glanced down at the city and the
beautiful river running through it. In his outstretched hand, he
held Gina’s lace necklace. It had once been ripped from her neck;
now she had taken it off voluntarily. The weakness and pain in his
heart was too much, and he sunk to his knees. He knew what he could
not accept.

“
I love you, Gina. I’ll
always love you,” he declared to the air. “You showed me so much,
and I don’t think I can live without you.” He sunk lower to the
ground and whispered. “You’re dead, and I can’t bring you back…
rest in peace, Gina, rest in peace.” At this he took her necklace,
wrapped it around a single white rose, and flung it into the river
below. As the rose fell, the white of the petals faded into the
white of someone passing by. It happened quickly, but Leyance swore
he saw someone dressed in white. He ran after the vision, but every
time he turned the corner, the white dressed woman had just left
sight. Finally, he turned into a small clearing with no exit but
the one he had entered from. He swung around in a circle trying to
find where the woman had gone. There was no one there.

Gina stood looking at a painting. It seemed
to display the same scene Leyance had just found himself in. Yet,
today, Gina seemed different. Her vice could still be seen in her
eyes, in the way she held herself, in the way she walked, but
something had changed. Her clothes. Indeed, instead of wearing her
normally magical style clothing, she was in normal clothing found
in the world she grew up in. She wore black patent leather pants,
matching boots, and a halter top complete with a leather jacket.
Gina walked away from the painting and out of the museum she had
found herself in and into the brilliant sunshine. A busy street lay
in front of her and a parking lot to her left that wrapped around
the side of the museum. Slowly, she made her way to the parking
lot. A black Lexus was parked nearby, and, as she saw it, her frown
turned to a grin. Just then, the owner, a man in his twenties, came
walking up to his car. He looked at her surprisingly, but with a
satisfying grin.

“
Why, hello,” he said
addressing Gina.

“
Hello,” she said, shifting
her weight. She now donned a façade of friendliness. “I was just
admiring your car. It’s a beauty, absolutely to die for.” The last
four words just escaped her mouth as it turned to a mischievous
smirk.

“
Yes, it’s a Lexus.” He
pulled the keys out of his pocket and let them dangle by his
finger. “Want to take a spin?”

Walking over to him, she smiled and slid her
hand down his arm. “You’re too kind, but I’m afraid I can’t. I’m
late for an appointment, so I best be going.”

“
Well, then I hope to see
you soon,” he said, grinning, as she walked away.

Gina whispered to herself as she went on her
way. “I highly doubt it.”

Leyance lay in a fitful sleep. Not much rest
had been given to him these past days. Too much pain was in his
heart to allow him to relax. Such was the case this night when for
some unknown reason, he opened his eyes in time to see Gina dressed
in white standing by his bed.

“
Gina…” He blinked, and she
was gone. It had seemed the same way in life. It seemed Leyance had
only blinked and then she had left; she had died. For indeed she
had. The original and true nature of Gina had died, and a new
terror had been born. Leyance could not take anymore. Pulling the
sheets off of him, Leyance managed to get out of his tangled
blankets and ran out the room.

Fheyrhil didn’t need to go to the council
room to know Leyance was already there, shifting through papers. He
was only surprised that it hadn’t happened earlier. Still, Fheyrhil
paid him a visit.

“
Nice to see you are trying
to figure out a way to save the city,” he said sarcastically. “Yet,
this is not what you are doing.”

“
In a way I am,” Leyance
replied without looking up. “Gina can save the city.”

“
Or destroy it.”

“
There has to be some kind
of spell to save her…”

“
There is none!”

“
It can’t
end like this, with her on
their
side,” he said with a hurt feeling in his
heart.

“
I thought you had come to
terms with her death.” With this comment, Leyance leaped out of his
chair causing some papers to float to the ground.

“
I’ll never come to terms
with it. I know I should give up on her. I know that she’s dead,
but part of her still lives and as long as I know that then there
is still hope in my mind…” he paused. “She’s haunting me, Fheyrhil.
I’ve seen her. I’m slowly going mad because I know that she is
still alive – I have to do something.”

“
I do not see any hope,
but, for your sake, I will look into a spell that might help save
her – and you.” Leyance glanced up at him, and Fheyrhil returned
the glance with knowledge in his eyes.

“
Thank you” was all he
could say.

The computer screen sat in
front of Gina. An alert box shown on the screen reading:
Performing this operation will terminate certain
programs and will loose data. Do you wish to continue?
Gina glowered and clicked:
Yes.

The television set next to her displayed the
evening news.

“
In other
news
,
” the anchor
was saying,
“a Lexus crashed today on the
main highway causing a 13 car pile up. Sources have said that
investigators suspect foul play and are looking into possible
suspects.” Gina laughed at this.

“
Looks
like I
won’t
be
seeing him again.” The television conversation
continued.

“
Thanks, Dan. There seems
to be a steady increase in these types of crimes lately,” a woman
next to him responded.

“
Yes, just another hateful
crime, Lisa. It is very sad, but…” Something on the monitor caught
his attention and his face showed that it was not good news. “This
has just been brought to our attention. Computers at Wall Street
have been going haywire. About an hour ago, some sort of
virus…”

“
What?!”
Gina screamed, enraged. “I hacked into
their stupid ‘fool-proof’
system
three hours ago. It takes them
this
long to report it?”

“…
all the information on
stock holders, shares, etc… is held in those computers. Experts are
trying to straighten it all out but this definitely means big
trouble for the stock market.”

Gina switched off the television. “The stock
market is not the only thing in trouble…”

Chapter 11

“One Chance”

Leyance was finally drifting off to sleep,
dreams creeping over him.

He walked through a field with tall grass
blowing in the wind. In the distance, he saw a waterfall emptying
into a small pond. Standing in the waterfall was a figure in
white.