“I see you’ve noticed our mutual friend, Dear,” Lothar said, “he’s been such a good little boy.” Emma gasped. It was Pete, all crumpled over and head covered, looking childish. “He did just as I asked.”
“I’m so, so sorry,” Pete said so quietly she could barely hear him, “but I had no choice.” The bottom dropped out of her world. Pete had betrayed her.
Lothar walked towards her. She ignored him, her eyes transfixed on Pete’s back cowering in his cage. Her heart broke into thousands of tiny shards cutting into her soul. Lothar walked behind her and placed his hands on her shoulders. He was surprisingly warm. He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “I’m sorry too. I didn’t want to hurt you. Quite the contrary. I am in love with you, and always have been. And you’ve been tormenting me all these years.” His voice seemed tinged with pain, his whisper changed to a choked sob. “If I tell you all, will you love me then?”
“Never!” she screamed, ripping herself out of his grip. “I will never love a man that uses another man to win the heart of the one he so-called loves. I will never love you. I will never let you in again! Not you or any of them!”
No sooner had her screams left her mouth that a sword flashed in the fire light. It split the air; she heard its sound, felt its power. It moved and Lothar fell to the ground, a heap of expensive black Armani. Tiny red flames began to lick at the edges of his crumpled body, his black suit smoking. He was soon ablaze, the intense heat forcing her back to the edge of the cave where the door had been.
“You don’t know what you’ve done!” shrieked Lothar aflame, “I alone know your truth. The dark parts of you that you keep hidden from the world. The part you’ve always denied. You manifest yourself in to these twisted aberrations, but never embrace what you truly are.” His sentence ended with loud guttural screams that echoed like thunder in the cavern hollows. Then there was quiet. Lothar was gone. Dead? She did not know. But his body was not there. Though smoke tendrilled up from the pile of clothing.
Emma was shuddering. She looked around for her heroic knife wielder, for Amadeus, but he was not there. Pete was not there. The cage was not there. The desk was not there. Thoughts raged through her mind like fire.
“Emma?” It was Kyle. He shone the flashlight under his chin and made monster faces, complete with sounds.
“Mature,” Emma mumbled.
He shrugged. "Where’d you go? We were all together, and then suddenly, you weren’t with us. I came back for you. The others are still exploring. C’mon.”
He felt like her knight in shining armour. He was her lone protector in this dark, scary cave inhabited by bats and strays and possibly a few homeless men. He took her hand. It was cold to the touch. He had to pull her up; she didn’t seem to be fully with it. Did she smoke something while she was alone? Is that why she’s so quiet?
Emma felt altered in someway. Lothar was gone, but she felt he had left something with her: something she was not sure she wanted.
“Come on, Em,” Kyle said walking backwards and leading her by the hand, “I’ve got something really cool to show you.”
She allowed herself to be lead, enticed. He turned his flashlight off. They stood quietly in the dark, she could hear water in the background, and laughter from the others. They sounded far away. He pulled her close to him and breathed heavy in her ear, “I like you.” He pulled her closer and she felt his lips on hers.
She melted into his. She didn’t struggle, didn’t try to pull away. She felt herself kissing him back.
Light exploded all around them. Firework colours of red, blue and yellow detonated on the jagged walls, on the damp earthen ground, on the moist ceiling. A strange hissing sound came from the direction of the trickling water somewhere further back in the cave, growing louder as it came upon them, washed over them. She felt Kyle’s body stiffen, felt him push her behind him. She braced for impact.
She felt herself enveloped in what she knew not. She felt Kyle’s warm body slip from hers. She tried to grasp him but it was useless. She heard him call her name, but he sounded so distant, like sound traveling through a storm. And then she was falling, falling, into a never ending abyss. But it did end, and she collapsed onto a ground of soft earth. Above her was a hole so deep she could not see the top. She could still hear growling, but could not see the source.
“Emma,” came a voice to her side. She looked up to see Pete’s innocent face, “come on. We need to go now. Quickly.”
She got up staring into Pete’s face. Did he not remember that whole betrayal thing? “Where are we going?”
“I’ll explain everything I promise. Just come.” He pulled on her arm strongly until she had no choice but to follow.
He let go of her hand in a clearing. It was an underground meadow. She could see the roots of trees on the earth above poking through the blue sky. They were surrounded by a grove of willows, their long viney branches stretching down to an underground river, which she could hear, but not see. Bluebells blossomed at her feet. The green grass was a thick, plush carpet, giving her step a spring.
She swung to face him. “Just what do you think you’re –“
A sweet woman-song floated towards her, mesmerizing her with the idyllic voice. And that’s when she noticed it. She could see the black musical notes floating toward her, not just hear them. She could see the trees on earth growing, watch their roots growing down into her sky. The bluebells were giggling, a child-like infectious giggle.
She started laughing like a school girl as she tried to grab the musical notes which popped in her hand like a bubble. She felt lighter than she had in a long time. Pete slipped his arms around her waist, and started to move her into a little dance. She welcomed it. They smiled sweetly at each other.
“Why did you betray me?”
“It wasn’t me. It was a trap,” he said as he swirled her around and then pulled her in closer, their hips bumping into each other.
“Buy why?”
He swirled her around again. “Because he wants you. I want you. We all want you,” he said, “you do know why, don’t you?”
“Of course,” she said. Now it was her turn to smile coyly. She allowed herself to be swung out and pulled back in. As he dipped her, their lips brushed lightly.
She pulled away. She had to pull away. Although she was attracted, she did not love him. Although she wanted to be loved, she ran away from it. She had to run away. The diamond on the white gold chain around her neck sparkled brightly.
“Why do you pull away from me?” he asked, puppy dog eyes looking hurt and rejected. Tears welling.
She lifted her hand to his face and gently stroked it, “don’t cry, butterfly,” she found herself saying to him.
He froze and looked up at her. He said, “it’s happening…at last.” She felt an amazing feeling overwhelm her body from her toes to her head. Years of defenses were unraveling from her mind, and it gave her a welcoming feeling of lightness as if a gigantic invisible yoke had been finally removed from her shoulders. She did not need to ask Pete what was happening; she knew. She knew everything now: knowledge flowed through her like a river. All questions and answers became irrelevant. She gripped Pete’s hand tightly, and he bowed his head to her.
She stood tall – all five feet, nine-inches of her. Her thoughts were clear. Her voice strong and confident, soft as a flower petal, but icy as if the petals froze on the thorny stem. “I am the one that walks at night in dreams. I am the one that haunts your thoughts. I am the one with whom all fall in love. I am ... She-Ra.”
Her long, brown hair billowed out from behind her. A silver sword appeared in her hand and she held it up to the light, the light that shone from the diamond on the gold chain around her neck.She knew now what she was. Her mind clarified in an instant. She felt confident and ready. She knew her purpose. She was in her world, a world that she commanded.
"Are you mad at me?" he quietly asked.
"No," she answered.
“Erase,” she shouted and outstretched her arm. The world was suddenly ensconced in black, an abyss. She looked at Pete who was trembling. She moved her hand down his face tracing his perfect cheekbones. “Don’t be frightened. There is much work to do.”
She-Ra gently lifted Pete’s head with the tip of her sword. He stood, all 6-feet of him. His confidence regaining, because he felt safe with her. She smiled.
“Snow covered mountains! Turquoise ocean! Hot white sand!” She was creating her world. Creating her land. The mountains rose, the sea waved and lapped at the sandy beach. “Stars!” she screamed. “Sun!” Dazzling stars appeared twinkling high in the sky. A ball of fire flew into place, shining brighter than the stars, but visible in the same sky.
She smiled again. She was in her element. Rubbing her hands together, she began to point the sword and whatever she was thinking appeared. She was so powerful she did not even have to speak the words. Flowers of every colour – daffodils, daisies, blue bells, sunflowers, baby’s breath, fields of tulips of every colour, and near to her body where she stood, feet firmly planted on a dark granite boulder on the beach, gerbera daisies.
“Do you hear the pleas, Pete? They’re calling for me. Asking for me in their dreams.”
“I hear them. Are we going to answer them?”
“Yes, it is my duty. But first, I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
She shook her head and was back in the arms of Kyle. He had the sweetest look of bewilderment on his face. “Emma? What happened? I… I….”
She smiled lovingly at him, the way a mother smiles at her young child, the way a teacher smiles at a pupil who does not fully grasp the meaning, but is close to understanding.
“Kyle,” she said tenderly caressing his face, “I have to say goodbye.” A shard of light was illuminating them. The dawn in the sky was getting close.
Kyle scrunched his face up in confusion, “do you want to leave? Because I’ll go with you.”
She laughed softly, “I’m not leaving. I’m staying. This is my home.”
He looked at her like she was from another planet. “This
cave is your home?” He now looked annoyed.
“Not exactly. But I
am from another place. I will see you in your dreams.” With that the light became so intense that Kyle shielded his eyes with his right hand and bent back. In that moment Emma disappeared. Emma, the crazy girl who heard voices and took anti-depressants and anti-hallucinogens, was no more.
Her story became legend in the leagues of the dream world. She had become trapped as a child in the outer realm. The experience gave her gravity, command. She was both feared and loved equally.
She-Ra embraced her world, which could change as quickly as she batted her eyelash. There were deserts, then oceans, ice capped peaks, field of marigold, cold wastelands, hot fiery hellholes. She could summon at will any minion of her choosing: Pete, the heart, Amadeus, the spirit, and Lothar, the body. They served her, and she served all.
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