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 Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:42 pm
THE OCEANS ARE
CALLING US HOME
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Posted: Thu May 21, 2015 6:46 pm
The guide in the senshi-cellphone, the one that talking cat Ash had given her, had mentioned something about homeworlds. At first, Liena thought it odd. Home was here, in Destiny City. How could she have another home? How could her home be somewhere so far as to be beyond the bounds of the solar system? Another star? A comet or planet as of yet undiscovered? Not a house, but an entire world?
But such things were easier to believe now that she'd seen the youma prowling the streets, when she'd seen magic flying around, and people with holes in their chest. (She still remembered Kerberos, that blue haired monster, still remembered how he seemed so human but so not.) She henshined up and readied herself. Iphigenia sat on the floor next to her bed. The weird senshi-cellphone pressed in her palm and she closed her eyes and listened.
Nothing. Nothing for a while. Quietness stretched around her and she heard nothing. She closed her eyes tighter and still heard nothing. No siren call of home, no quiet tugging at her soul. Hours seemed to slip by, and still, she had no results. Iphigenia opened her eyes and stared up at the blankness of her ceiling. It was getting late and the only light in the room was the light from the moon and stars outside her window. She might have given up, but she was not the kind of person who gave up.
Iphigenia stood up and closed her curtains. Now the room was dark in its entirety. She sat down and closed her eyes again. The slow in and out of her breath echoed through the room. She focused her attention, first on her breathing, and then on her surroundings. She heard the thump thump of her heart in her chest.
(It sounded like the oceans.)
Like a wave lapping at a unfamiliar shore, she felt the call of her star as it tugged at the edges of her soul's memory. Familiar yet foreign. Foreign yet familiar. So close to the heart that it felt like her heartbeat.
(And maybe it was.)
She closed her eyes and she felt the waves echo in her heart. Iphigenia did not remember clicking the button on her cell-phone, but she must have.
When she woke, she was lying face up staring into a bright sky. It wasn't until Iphigenia tried to rise that she realized she had been resting in a pool of shallow water. The water rippled around her, spreading out as far as the eye could see. She stood up and felt the water drip down her calves. Above her, the dark sky showed only stars. Around her, a shallow sea stretched until the horizon. Iphigenia walked towards the horizon.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2015 8:08 pm
Iphigenia's calves were wet. She stood ankle deep in the shallow water that seemed to spread forever and stared, not for the first time, up at the stars. As a child she had loved searching the night sky for constellations. She could find no familiar ones here. Her star, planet, asteroid - whatever it was - must be very very far from Earth. It felt like she had been walking for hours. Yet still, the scenery didn't change.
Every now and then, there would be a rocky outcrop rising from the water. To the west, the water deepened. And though Iphigenia was a strong swimmer, she had no intention of drowning here. The ocean could stretch on for eternity, for all she knew.
Is there nothing here? Is this all that remains?
But just as that thought crossed her mind, she saw something white on the horizon. Without really knowing why, Iphigenia knew it must be white marble - the slanting roof of a pavilion, or a temple. She ran towards it. Clear water splashed around her leaving splotches on her white uniform. She ran, and ran, and ran until broken pillars rose around her. Iphigenia was winded, but when she looked up it was not exertion that took her breath, but awe.
The building rose from the shallow sea, a set of stairs raised it slightly. Rows and rows of pillars. It looked like the Parthenon, but smaller. The Parthenon had been a building of worship, of political value - this was different. It felt holy, sacred, hallowed. Iphigenia's breath caught in her chest and she let it out slowly. On closer inspection, the building was less intricate than the Parthenon. It's metopes were simply carved, many left blank. Others featured scenes of war. Iphigenia could have stared at them for an eon, but she felt a calling. Part of her felt that she had no right to enter the building, but another felt that she had the only right.
She stepped up. Water dripped from her feet onto the cold stone floor and pooled there. Iphigenia did not notice. She stepped forward and past the columns. There were empty braziers and statues with bronze bowls that must have once held fire. Empty lanterns and lamps dotted the pathway. Further in, streams of starlight flowed in from the openings in the roof. In the center of the temple (building, palace, sanctuary?) was an empty pool of water. She followed a pathway lined with pillars and found herself in a smaller pavilion. It too featured columns, but in the center was a large table of marble and a chair. Iphigenia placed her hand on the table and traced the embellishment on the sides.
She spent the rest of the night (or was it a day, it was hard to tell) exploring the building. This place did not feel destroyed. It had felt no touch of war. All it held was an overwhelming feeling of emptiness. Iphigenia did no know why, but as she sat there, she felt an overwhelming feeling of sadness.
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