Ciana Pandora

THIRTEEN

                      [OHR]

“Ciana’s soul is active.” Lamia says to Dionne, throwing more dust into the flames.

“So can she be found by any means?” Dionne asks.

“Yes, my Lady, she can. I can see her in another world altogether.”

“You see, Mother, I told you.” Jedrek says proudly. Nefeli smiles at him.

“You bore Ciana Pandora, my Lady. Therefore, only you can see her crystal clear. But we both need to travel to the realm together, since you are a Gibbous and cannot withstand her darkness alone.” Lamia tells her.

“Can’t I go too? Am I not her blood brother?” Jedrek asks.

“No, my Lord. Your safety is very essential. If only she sees you, she might smite you. But she cannot hurt Lady Dionne because The Penumbras believe that women are vulnerable and should not be menaced.”

“Let’s get started, High Priestess.” Dionne says impatiently.

“Close your eyes, Lady Dionne, stretch forth your hands towards the flames and be full of concentration.” Lamia tells her. Lady Dionne obeys her instructions. Lamia opens a sacred book, recites some verses loudly and throws more dust into the flames. The flames rise wildly and gyrate in the shrine.
       After almost an hour of reciting fervent, loud and sacred verses, High Priestess Lamia and Lady Dionne diminish from the sacred precincts of The Penumbran shrine. They travel very far from Ohr with a supersonic force that pushes them.
       
     Very soon, they are in a different world where the light present there is brighter than the sapphire on the glyph. The new world is big and round. The upper part has layers of mixtures of distinct gases and water vapor. However, the new world carries no sense of belligerence like the surrounding kingdoms of Ohr. In the celestial world where Ohr was located, once strangers intruded another kingdom, they were either smitten temporarily by the kingdom’s High Priests and other principalities or confronted aggressively by the kingdom’s inhabitants.

      The lower part of this different new world is thick, hard and brown as seen by inspection. The inhabitants of this new world were moving about freely and couldn’t even see the intruders. They look really different from all the people Lamia and Dionne have ever seen their entire lives.

“Where is this place?” Lady Dionne asks.

“Earth. The land of the humans.” Lamia answers.

“Is Ciana here?”

“Yes she is. She is right here.”

“I have never heard of Earth before. This world is very idyllic. No one is fighting us.”

“They cannot see us. We can even easily harm them, for they are only made of flesh and red blood.”

“Who is the Lord of all these people? Shall we go and see him to ask for his permission to tour their world?” Dionne asks.

“The humans have many lords. But none of the humans can see us. So we can go on with our activities without being disturbed.” Lamia tells her, and they continue to move.

“This world is muscularly unprotected, Lamia. They can be touched easily and crushed like ice."

"I sense a great presence, my Lady. Ciana is here. She is on this very land.”

“Let us go and see her then.” She says with a grin.

Lamia follows the call of Pandora’s Penumbran heart and they find themselves in the city of Texas.

“Is Ciana here? Among these mere people?” Dionne asks with condescension.

“Yes. That is what the gods tell me. This way, my Lady.” Lamia says taking a left turn. Their movements however are in majestic levitation.

“This place is very luminous. They have strange lights, plenty enough to blind another. Where are we going, High Priestess?” Dionne asks.
Lamia travels with Dionne to a rather immaculate street with quite a lot of tall structures. Then she moves on to a condominium on King Street and stops there. The stone on her rod glows. She smiles at Dionne and nods. They enter the condominium; roam on almost all the floors, till Lamia stops at a condo with surprise.

“She’s right here.” Lamia announces triumphantly. They penetrate through the opaque door and look around the room.

“Are you insinuating that Ciana lives here with the humans? Can they see her?”

“I don’t know.” Lamia says honestly. “I just have a feeling that she is here. Look, Dionne, there she is.” Lamia points at a girl with long, lustrous brown hair, big brown eyes, who is sitting at the balcony with another male human, talking conversationally. Dionne looks baffled.

“But Lamia, this is not Ciana Pandora. This is a female human.”
Lamia laughs hysterically. “Indeed, Pandora has wisdom and power. She is dwelling in the human’s body so that she will be able to dwell with them.”
The girl looks around the room suspiciously with a scowl on her face.

“I think she has sensed our presence. Indeed, she is Pandora. But why has she done this? Why is she living with the humans?”

“She cannot possess a human’s body while the human is alive. The primitive human is apparently dead and Ciana has hidden herself in her body. I can see that Ciana has no interest in the throne of Ohr so she ran away and came here so that she may not be found. We could not find her initially because she was still wandering in the atmosphere in her original form. When she finally possessed this body, we could then find her, because she is now active. She does not know that we have dominion over the humans so possessing a human body was a wrong step.” Lamia explains.
Dionne smirks. “Poor Ciana. She does not know anything, for she only is a child before my eyes. She has made her denouement easier for us. I would devour her this instance.”

“No, Dionne. Not this time. You cannot smite her easily. She may only be a child in your eyes but she is till Pandora. We should take our time, gather powers, and come back prepared. But, Dionne, you must not tell Magnar about Ciana’s whereabouts.” Lamia warns.

“Do not talk nonsense, o Lamia. I want his throne for my son and I want his death quick. I would do no such thing.” Dionne smirks.

“Very well. Shall we go back now?” Lamia asks.