Chapter 5 Arileot 14 (DG 5)

The sunset is bright, and the rays of light shine on Dotristiar’s face. He is so cute. Permanently scared, but handsome in his vulnerability. I think I can use him to watch out for snooping Letaluan, while I search for mom’s stuff in the basement.

“No… Please no…” He begs me, as I drag him downstairs. “Not another affair we’re going to get punished for!”

“Do not be afraid!” I whisper in his ear. “Fear is distrust for your Higher Self. It will always help, but when you release a cloud of fear, it can’t see you clearly, and it is hard to help you this way. Keep your channel clear of fear at all times!”

We creep in the basement, unnoticed by the servants. My dad is too busy scrambling for papers that will save his butt, if at all possible after he and Taonur embezzled more than three hundred thousand. And I don’t care about Letaluan. He is in pain, that’s why he wants others to be in pain, too.

I’m not repelled by pain. I’m used to it. I was born with an addiction to the drug that cannot be found anywhere here. The drug is a neurotoxin produced by the intelligent invertebrate that had created me. It’s the connection, the interface between us.

In my restless dreams I feel his tentacles embrace me, and inject the neurotoxin through my skin. It feels tremendously good. Then I wake up, tormented and unsatisfied. Every single day. I would end this suffering by committing suicide, but for Dotristiar. I think I love him. He’s worth sticking around for.

We come down the stairs. Essentially it’s just a cellar full of racks with wine. And mice. But I must look everywhere. Dot complains of darkness and cold. I put him on watch at the door, and walk inside. I can see in the dark and cold does not bother me. My body is unable to maintain a stable temperature.

There is nothing in this dirty, forsaken basement… It’s big, though. I walk along the wall, entangled in spider webs. The only hard working creatures in this house are spiders! Say, can we interest you guys in a business venture? These are some solid, strong threads! We could open a fabric store…

What can I find here? Maybe a couple of bodies, considering the squabbles and feuds in my family and among servants. Everyone hates everyone, and occasionally hits someone with a hammer a bit too hard… Nobody likes to see their unsavory reflections in others. But breaking a mirror has never changed the way the face looks!

Wait, what’s this? I see an outline of something relatively big and square. The biological generator of ultrasound in my brain does not always give a recognizable picture. I come closer and try to open it. If the lid gives in, it’s a chest.

“Domiarn!” I hear from all the way on the other side of the cellar. “Someone is coming here!!”

This is where I black out again. For sure not the right place and time to lose consciousness. If they find us here, they will tell my father…

I’m back in the woods by the crashed spaceship. Being in a different body does not feel all that different. It feels like I always was that way. I also seem to possess all the knowledge Ari does… I climb back into the ship through a door that is not damaged, and walk down the round corridor along many doors.

I open one of them, and there they are. Six members of my crew, who died of an unknown decease. We crashed, because they were no longer with us, as the ship was driven by psychic energy of all 80 crew members. They were not there anymore, and we fatally lacked their support.

They are on the floor in a row, covered by some transparent fabric, cold to the touch. A woman with a sweet, nice face and long hair is right in the middle. Her eyes are closed tightly, and the skin still bears dark bluish color all the sick members got right before they died. Her name was Eva, and she was the closest it comes to a wife, when I really did not have one.

“Ari, we must go!” I hear someone scream outside.

Choking back tears, I remove a badge from my suit, and put it on her chest. The symbols on the badge only look unfamiliar for a second. Then it reads: “Arileot 14. Scientific and Medical Research.”

I get out of the ship and we head into the thick deciduous forest.

I wake up in the cellar, and someone is holding me.

“Dotristiar?” I ask, half scared at the thought it could be anyone, who found me here unresponsive.

“Sh-h-h! They are still here.” Answers the familiar, dear voice. “Natakruna came in for something. I saw her, and ran to get you. Right in time! Did you pass out because of this nasty smell?”

We’re behind that very chest I found before I had another vision. I guess he dragged me here to hide when the servant came.

“She is gone.” I say, and get up. “Help me open this chest.”

There is no lock on the chest, but the edges are made of iron, and got rusty. Eventually we are able to open it.

“It’s too dark. How are you going to find anything here?” Dot wonders, frowning, touching clothes inside.

“I can see the objects. The color gets blurry, but it does not matter.”

Yes, it is what I was looking for – my mother’s belongings that Mevild threw here to forget about. Out of sight, out of mind. Her dresses still smell like her, and I want to cry, but I’m not here for that, and we do not have much time. I dig through her stuff, including purses, scarfs, some jewelry.

The door at the end of the hall makes a squeaky noise.

Dot freezes in fear. No, this guy literally freezes like a groundhog. He sure knows how to worship fear! He gives in totally. When all you need to do not to be fearful is to find a connection with your Higher Self. It always helps.

“Cool it. It’s just a draft!” I continue going through Leozarit’s things.

“You mother is dead. Why are you ripping your heart apart here?”

“She is not dead. And I’m after something I saw in a vision.”

And there it is. A thick leather book with a dried up flower glued to the cover. I run my hand across the wrinkled leather with a feeling of deep satisfaction, and walk out of the basement, smiling ear to ear.

“What’s this?” Asks Dot with a grin, when we run upstairs and get back to my room safely.

“ It’s the diary, my friend.” I wipe the dust and spider web off of the cover, and open it.

“Your mother’s diary?”

“ No… That’s another mystery. I saw a young girl, writing this. But it was not my mother. She and that girl are somehow connected, but I do not know how. This is what I need to find out.” I mumble under my breath, consumed by making out some goofy, childish handwriting.

“Read it!” My teacher says impatiently.

I nod and know that someone is just outside the door, listening to us. I can feel him.

“Quick, get the Math book!” – I whisper, and push Dotristiar to the table.

And not a minute too soon. The door swings open and Mevild walks in. He never knocks. Apparently, there is no one here to respect.

“If twenty workers can each put in thirty stones into the wall in one hour, how long will it take them to build a wall three hundred stones high?” Dot reads aloud, looking at me sternly, playing a strict teacher with all his might. The soft-hearted man is not doing a very good job, but my father does not care for our dog and pony show today.

“ That depends on their lord, and if he is going to force them to work through the night. Obviously he is going to cheat them out of their salaries, so I suggest we stage a riot somewhere after two hundred stones are in place.” I answer straight faced.

“I need you to go with me!” Mevild orders.

“Not now… We’re doing political math… I’ll fix your embezzlement later. The inspectors will not be here until the end of the week.”

“Now, Domiarn!” My father grabs me by the hand and leads out of the room.

Dot, pale with fear, watches us leave. Why is he like that? Because he never expects anything good to happen to me, only bad, that is. Complete lack of trust in any Higher Power, kind to us in any slightest way…