FALAHA'S JOURNEY: A Spacegirl's Account in Three Movements

Episode #63

No matter how hard Eyuran tried to bring me peace, my dreams weren't peaceful lately. My soma was restless and the more I thought about our situation, the more I realized we were heading to our deaths. No amount of resources and no strategy or tactics would give us the advantage. The forces were too uneven. Things would come to their end, and our place would remain the same. Our attempt at rescue would end like that explosion in the Boneyard—swallowed in the initial stage. This thought was a stone round my neck that dragged me down to the bottom of a cold, dark ocean. The surface was getting further and further away from me, and more and more water was separating me from the starry night above the waves.

It's been a long time since I sensed fear so strongly. But as I was analyzing its source, I came to realize not all of it was mine. The rational part belonged to me—I wanted to keep what I had found and gained and built—but the irrational fear of something unknown it was not what would affect me, to such a degree at least. So where did this unexplainable, additional weight come from? It appeared to be something I'd inherited along with soma.

So I released what was mine and grabbed tightly the thin string of that ancient feeling, buried underneath these waters. Heavy as I felt at first, I wasn't drowning. The experience soon turned into a relaxing one, once I separated myself from the suffocating feeling of despair.

If I were to describe our origins in one word, that word would be bizarre. Some would probably say troublesome or even frightening. Somewhere out there, beyond our reach, lurked danger that had triggered a single event that had resulted in the mess we were all experiencing now—the Danna, the Nua, the Baali, the Alima Eni, and any other people involved.

At the root of the enemy's conquest wasn't only ambition, but also fear. Drops of fear were condensing here and there, staining countless memories, feelings, and voices, like misplaced monochrome pieces among colorful glass fragments.

Those shadow pieces belonged to numerous Baali Sangu.

I started pulling out these pieces. They fell well together and the memory grew, expanded into something comprehensible. But it also went deep beyond anything I'd expected, for all threads led to the Ancestor and his kind.

The water was so comforting.

I was freediving, and as the depth increased, I started noticing lights. Small lights rising up from the abyss all around me. Full of grace, power, and beauty, these lights were none other than bloodlights.

The deep, dark, cold ocean was full of life.

Slender fast shadows were gliding in these dim waters and my eyes were searching for someone among them. And there it was, a speck of familiar gold rising from the abyss. A huge shadow of someone immensely powerful was approaching gracefully and fast. It pushed me up, and we both headed for the surface.

And soon I was wallowing on my back, lulled by the lavishly shining void spreading out above me. So many stars!

The one who playfully pushed me up was still here.

Who are you?

I turned onto my stomach to swim, only to find myself lying on a large ice block, head over the edge, staring into calm and unmoving black water.

I was looking at my own reflection—something that wasn't me at all. I was looking at a being that was the other form of the Baali, with a long and shiny white mane like the one I saw in the hallway of the dead ship. The person who stared back at me with large, light-purple eyes, and the other one cuddling with me while also staring into the water appeared identical. Twins?