Otherland (25 page)

“Whoops, still gettin’ used to bein’ dead.”

“Cherise!” Aliyah cried out.

“Light guardian, did the High master send you? If not, we are holding a meeting of the utmost importance to our worlds.”

“Girl, I’m so glad you here. These Lights drivin’ me crazy. They so passive. Jus’ sit there meditatin’ like monks, waitin’ on the High master’s orders. I be like, ‘Let’s go kick some ass,’ and they goin’ look at me like I done kilt someone or somethin’ just cuz I says the a-word. They world fallin’ apart and they judge me for sayin’ a word they don’t approve of. Ain’t that stupid? I was ready to go black again. All you white people always judgin’ like yo’ shit don’t stink. Yeah, you heard it, elders. I done swore again. Whatchya gonna do? Huh? See, they even scared of little old me. Be scared of they own shadow if they had one, just cuz it be black.”

“You can’t be here,” the pink-eyed Elder raised its voice.

“Fool, you know what I am?”

“A – a Light guardian?”

“So why you think I be here if I ain’t doin’ my job. I’m Aliyah’s guardian, stupid.”

“We apologize. We were not aware,” the elder with the glittering topaz eyes said.

“I know you ain’t know. I just got the orders. What kinda elders are you, bossin’ me around like I work fo’ you, like I here to serve you? You ain’t the High master. You ain’t know what it like. Now ya’ll goin’ listen to my girl, Aliyah, cuz she be the greatest thing there ever was. ‘Stead of bein’ with her baby, she be here tryin’ to pick up all y’alls messes.”

“We’re creating a New World here where Darks and Lights mix, and there’s no separation between the realms,” Aliyah blurted out.

The pink-eyed Light elder gasped, “Everyone knows that the Dark and the Light don’t mix, human. We protect innocents. They destroy them. We have honorable intentions. They don’t. We’re good, and they’re … they’re just evil and will never be anything more than that. It has been written for all of time since peace was made in Otherland and the Bylaws written that the Dark would be eternally banished to Darkness, and the Lights would enjoy their eternity serving the High master in the safe haven of the Lightness.”

“Peace is no longer,” Aliyah said sharply. “I’ve been in the Darkness. It is destitute and cold, silent and black as blindness. There is neither happiness nor hope there. Darkness feeds darkness. Hopelessness feeds helplessness. You cannot leave a soul or a person eternally engulfed in helplessness and expect them to accept their fate. Like I told the Dark elders, a person can be good, and then mess up and do something we call bad. Does that make them eternally bad? Is it possible that, given the right environment, they might choose to save a life instead of destroy one?”

“My girl got a point. I done some bad shit when I was younger, growin’ up where I did. If you wanted to survive, it had to be that way, ‘till those of us that wanted somethin’ better got outta there. Most never had a way out. I had my Mama. That woman be workin’ three jobs for fifteen years jus’ to get me out. Not everyone’s got that. Look at me. Did my soul go bad? Well look fo’ yo’self. I got more white cushion than all y’all got.”

“We will not,
can
not agree with your proposition. We cannot risk our Lightness to the Dark.”

“Then the Lost souls won’t stop until they’ve destroyed all of Otherland,” Aliyah whispered, “As they are both Light and Dark, as am I, without a place to belong.”

“The Lost souls are lost. That is their nature. They cannot change. They will not stop until they’ve consumed all they can consume and are then left with nothing, like you humans do in your world.”

“
I am Aliyah! The Prophecy. I stopped them! They are now willing to rebuild everything destroyed. Heed my words and accept what is being offered or let Otherland fall.”

“Should Otherland fall, then it is as it was meant. The High master knows all. He sees all. If Otherland falls, then it is his will.”

“See, I told you they passive. Can’t get nothin’ done ‘round here,” Cherise said.

“If you cannot let go of your old ways of thinking, then new souls will replace you as elders, and you will be stripped of your titles.”

“We have been the Light elders for -.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. For eternity. Save it. You really don’t have any concept of eternity, do you? It’s forever. It goes on and on, which means you can be elders for eternity, and then younger souls can replace you and be elders for eternity, and so on and so forth,” Aliyah said impatiently.

They peered at one another in confusion. “Threaten us all you want, Dark soul. It will not work for us. We will never stop serving the High master.”

“Yes, I know. I’m really appreciating you right now. I thought you were bad with your whole duty-bound crap, but these souls are ridiculous.”

“Who you talkin’ to?”

“Jacob,” Aliyah said.

“Where he at?” Cherise looked around.

“I’ll explain later. In the absence of being in the High master’s court, and none of the Darks or the Dark elders being allowed there at this time, if you don’t agree with these conditions, then I’m going to banish Cherise to the Nothingness,” Aliyah threatened in a bored voice.

“Yeah, you heard her, she goin’ to – Wait, whatchyou say? Girl, that ain’t right. That just ain’t -.”

“Give us a moment to convene,” the Light elder said.

“You know they don’t like me, Aliyah. Bad move. Now they see you bluffin’.”

“Very well, we cannot risk an innocent, especially a Spiritual Guardian, becoming lost. Temporarily, we will agree with your terms until we reconvene in the High master’s court.”

“Huh.” Cherise grunted. “Didn’t think it be that easy.”

“I should have just threatened to throw you in the pit to begin with. Would have saved us some time,” Aliyah said.

“I ain’t worried ‘bout that. I got all the time in the world.”

“Unveil the Lightness, Light elders,” Aliyah demanded.

They did so grudgingly.

She stepped in to the Darkness. “Unveil the Darkness, Dark elders.”

“It is done?”

“Yes, for now, it is done. You are free to come and go as you please. All I ask is that you remember this for eternity, have a new book rewritten with new Bylaws. Remember the High master’s mercy. Should you continue your ways … Should you continue to seek to destroy, to hurt, to cause pain … Should you destroy the peace, then another Prophecy will come to pass, one in which the Light will rival against the Dark, and an eternity will come to pass where you will feel no peace as you will be imprisoned in inescapable helplessness,” Aliyah warned, raising her voice for all to hear.

“We only want peace,” the Dark elder said. “That’s all we’ve ever wanted. There was peace between the worlds of the Lightness and Darkness, but for us, there was no peace to be felt here. It only made our hate grow stronger, and our vengeance necessary. Aliyah, we are short a Dark elder. It would be an honor and certainly a New World if you were to become the first Human elder Otherland has ever known.”

Aliyah bowed respectfully, “I appreciate your offer, Dark elder, but it is not my time, yet. For now, I belong in the human world.”

“I understand. Then it is a good thing that I ordered your son be left alive and unharmed.” His eyes seemed to smile, and there was a lightness in them that hadn’t been there previously when he was fueled by such anger and vengeance.

The Light elders could see into the Darkness, and vice versa. The pink-eyed Light elder caught the Dark elders’ stare before he noticed his other two elders inching toward the Darkness.

“What are you doing, Light elders? We agreed to temporarily let them pass into the Lightness, which means we need to harbor the humans and Light souls in a safe place away from them. We made no such agreement that we Lights would freely roam the darkness.”

“I’m pretty sure our unanimous agreement was for Light and Dark souls alike to roam freely, Light elder. Are you now going back on your word?”

“Why would you want to go over there?” The Light elder yelled in frustration.

“Um, because we’re Light and it’s dark over there, but by the sounds of it, it sounds like they’re celebrating and – and having fun. We thought we could maybe light up the place a little bit and – and celebrate the new peace.”

“If you make one step into the Darkness, I will have you suspended from your duties, as I’m sure the High master would agree, based on your negligence to provide safety to the innocents that will become victims to those detestable Dark souls if we don’t do something about it.”

“Well, actually, Light elder. The other Light elder and I voted that you are no longer right for the position. You have served too long, and are too stuck in Old World beliefs.”

He huffed, “You can’t do that.”

“Bylaws say that if the elders make a unanimous vote against another elder, then he will be stripped of his title and reassigned.”

“But it was only two of you that voted. There are three others that would have to vote.”

“So then you’re willing to come into the Darkness and convene with the Dark elders? I’m not the all-knowing High master, but I’m pretty sure -.”

“After an eternity serving, I will not have the degradation of being stripped of my title before the High master. I’m retiring my title. This whole world has gone completely insane and I care not to be responsible for it any longer. I will live out the rest of eternity in peace and solitude. I wish to no longer be bothered,” the pink-eyed Light elder said huffily, and then he floated off.

“I don’t think his being bothered is going to be a problem,” the two remaining Light elders snickered before entering the Darkness, which effectively eliminated the dark like a light bulb, wherever they walked.

Curious Light souls, witnessing the lit Darkness, began navigating there, as well. Eternal serenity had just become a big party. Separated Light and Dark souls reunited, families found one another again, and the dark was lit up, like strobe lights, of Lights and Darks finally coming together, redemption and forgiveness foreshadowed in their circular synchronized dance.

Peace had returned to Otherland, so peace was returned to Otherworld with the evacuation of the Dark souls. Aliyah felt content and at peace with all things, but most especially, with herself.

“So, were you just my Spiritual Guardian for the night, or do I get to look forward to you hanging around me, messing with my aura field?” she teased Cherise.

“Girl, I lied about that. I jus’ wanted to see what was up with my home girl when I heard the rumors floatin’ in.”

“Cherise!” Aliyah chastised with a smile.

EPILOGUE

Aliyah returned home – God, how good it felt to say that, having accepted the title of Dark Light human knight, the first to ever be, under the condition that she would mainly do her work in the human world, and only return to Otherland if it was absolutely necessary.

She’d given up thoughts of ever having a completely normal existence, and had compromised with
almost
normal. The job didn’t come with a paycheck, though, which was a bummer, so she decided that above all, she wanted to work with struggling children and adults. Had anyone ever told her she was special before, and that amidst her tragedies, she would develop gifts that would help her change the worlds, perhaps she could have appreciated her circumstances a tad bit better and not risked going completely dark.

She knew that if not for the light in her life, the small cherished gifts she’d been given, her Light biological family, her Light knight, and that sweet green-eyed child she’d fallen in love with while imprisoned in the Darkness that just so happened to be her son, she could have gone dark. With his memory, all her other memories had returned to her, and this time, she’d kept them, and learned to live alongside them – not as painful reminders as to her tragedies, losses, and all that she’d been deprived of and missed out on during those times, but as prideful reminders of everything she’d overcome and everything she now was.

And who could forget Cherise? Aliyah felt deeply her loss, though Cherise had taught her that it was more a loss to those left behind, as she’d moved on and was happy in Otherland. She’d gotten a whole new purpose, a whole new mission, which didn’t involve working lousy jobs, trying to pay the bills, cleaning and cooking, and having little time in the end for that which meant the most to her – her family.

As a Spiritual guardian, she could watch over them and be more a part of their life than they would ever quite know, until their time came as well, especially keeping Jerome in check. He’d called Aliyah, only once, to ask her if Cherise ever visited her or if she ever heard Cherise talking to her.

She’d told him, “I hear her all the time. But they’re remnants of memories from the past when I come across a situation, and I just know what she’d say about it.”

“I don’t know. Maybe I’m goin’ crazy. I hear her all the time. Try to go out with the boys and I hear her, ‘Boy, you ain’t leavin’ my kids with yo’ motha.’ When I’m tired and I just want the kids to go to bed, I hear her say, ‘Get yo’ lazy ass up offa that couch and tuck them kids in.’ How am I s’pposed to move on when she be watchin’ me all the time and everythin’ I do?” he’d complained.

“Her memory is still alive in you, Jerome. You were her husband and had 13 years with her. It’s only natural that her memory will keep you doing what she would have wanted, and keep you away from going a bad way,” Aliyah had explained.

As the memory of her Light knight also remained inside of her, keeping her feeling a peace she’d never known before, providing her a faith and belief she’d refused previously, allowing her to feel the greatest love a person could know, while focusing her attention less on her emotions-of-the-day and more on the many things she had to fulfill and the meaningful purposes she was responsible for.

She may have been part of a Prophecy, whether true or not, as she’d been pretty good at creating her own Prophecy to go down in Otherland history to keep the Dark souls lighter, but she had many, many more years to fulfill her destiny.

The human world was already writing down in the history books, and making movies, out of their perspective of what happened those few apocalyptic days.

Whereas the Otherland Prophecy maintained Aliyah as being the warrior savior with abilities possessed by no other human in all of eternity, the human world maintained her as being the one to blame, as Dwayne’s media attention doing just that had spread far and wide. Could she ever truly be free from all the damages he had caused? No, but she could let go of it and no longer allow it to have power over her or to hurt her anymore.

Scientists became famous with their sound theories explaining how people could be manipulated into seeing things that weren’t really there. Eventually, someone talking about being possessed was reacted to as similarly as someone talking about being abducted by aliens.

It even became a new disorder listed in the DSM – Psychological Possession Syndrome.

Aliyah was okay with that. Humans needed to feel secure and grounded. They needed to feel safe, other than the statistics of car accidents, late-night muggings, assaults, burglaries, heart disease, obesity, cancer – basically, they had enough to fear as it was.

It was only natural for some to believe in an eternally blissful heaven if they remained a version of good, and some to fear eternal hell if they were tempted by a version of bad, but anything more than that, like being aware of Otherland, where both Lights and Darks walked freely, and how even souls were fallible, made mistakes, and had their own free will - Well, that’d be too difficult for a human mind to comprehend, especially those out of touch with their true spirituality.

That’s why Aliyah had accepted
almost
normal. She wasn’t willing to let go of her gifts completely. Jasper loved it when she levitated him and swirled him slowly around in circles in the air. She loved the simple luxury of closing doors, opening windows, and getting something she wanted without having to get out of bed. The kids loved the magic shows she put on once a week.

And let’s face it – there’s a reason she’d been titled Dark Light knight. She loved the freedom of leaving her body, flying around, and playing little tricks on people. Just to keep them holding on to a little bit of awareness that there was more to this human world than the eye could see, even if she had to be the one maintaining the image of the ghost in the haunted house. It was her way of bringing Otherland into the human world, and connecting people with their spiritual origins.

It was as simple as turning a human into the belief of ghosts or spirits. Like a seed, they would feed it, and it would grow into them wondering if their truly was something more, something bigger going on than merely human existence.

This could eventually develop into a type of spiritual enlightenment, an internal ‘knowing’, that for those lost, could provide understanding that one’s purpose, one’s mission, is so much bigger than any one person can imagine, and for those grieving loss and/or suffering, could provide a type of peaceful restfulness and contentment that, even if it doesn’t feel it at that moment, everything is going to be all right.