Chapter One (2)

CHAPTER ONE (2)

Hill of Tara, Ireland, Spring Equinox 2012

The hard surface of a rock welcomed my landing and I was jolted back from the World of Light into the material world. I looked around. The sacred spring was just a couple of steps away. I was in the right place, no doubt: the holy ground they call “Tara of the Kings”. Which to me would always be Tara of the Heart: the site of the ancient choice, and the hill that keeps the mark of our promise. 
The Tara Interdimensional Portal I had come through had been used for ages by Venusians and humans alike. The ancient people of Ireland were familiar with its true function, and it was no coincidence they had placed their tribes’ seat of power at this magical junction. And no surprise that you and I would always be drawn to this place. 

I shook the dust off my clothes and rejoiced at the found-again solidity of my limbs, jumping up and down on the spot to appreciate the power of gravity. I was grounded and unscathed. Descent from Light into matter could still be risky, even for a consumed time-traveler like myself. I wasn’t concerned for the safety of my physical vessel. The danger was that traveling back in time could have played havoc with my mind. So I closed my eyes and scanned my memory. It was all in one piece, it seemed, and responding to old triggers. Your face came back to my mind’s eye at once. And my heart expanded, or so it seemed.

“Oscar, my love.”

I was on a mission to find you. The thought of you made me smile. My human name also returned to my consciousness.

“Kassandra. I am Kassandra. I’m back.”

A buzzing sound came from the pocket of my coat. It came from my iPhone. The calendar app had just sent me a reminder:

Meet Oscar at Tara, 21 March 2012, 14:30 PM.

All those years ago, I had summoned you here on the first day of spring, to resurrect our love if needed, if the wrong turn on our paths had ever made us part. Our love must have died then, I realized. Never mind. Here I was again, to bring it back to life with all of my heart’s might, to let the Blue Flame guide us back to the Truth of our bond.

“I’m looking for you. Hello? Oscar? Can you hear me?”

My voice sounded sweet as it pleaded you to appear. I listened for your telepathic answer but no sound was forthcoming. Just whirling feelings rising inside my chest like a tornado, and the cavalcade of my blood throbbing in my veins. What was going on? It felt as though the lies that I had been fed by the Dark Forces were being whipped out of the alcoves of my recollection, to be scattered to the Irish wind. I was being freed from that mistake, and we were being given our second chance.  

The Earth was our powerful ally. It was quite different from when I had left it years before. It still looked the same, though fear had since spread everywhere, taking on a number of disguises. I understood the planet needed our love to be, as much as we needed each other. Trepidant joy returned to my perspective. No need to waste any more time. I tuned into the environment to detect your frequency; we had to meet soon. I forced myself to ignore the nagging voice of the ghost of my ego, and its pointless message. I had to trust that you would be coming to our appointment. I had to put my love for you over everything else. 

“Doubt has no reason to be here.”

The song of the stream intertwined with the sound of my whispering voice. In union with the environment, I was alone but I was connected with you again. Suddenly my cells started to reverberate to the unique signature we had created with our Alchemical Marriage. I became sure I was talking to you.

“Oscar! My love! You still understand the Secret Language!”

My eyes lingered on the place where we had sealed our pact fifteen years earlier, as if they expected to see you there. In my mind, I held the picture of your hazel eyes, the curve of the cupid bow of your upper lip, your tapered fingers moving towards my face. My blood felt the thrill of recognition, as if you were there, holding me in your arms, as if it were still happening. 

Memories flooded in. We were still young: eternity was within reach of our hands and sunshine was in our hearts. We thought we had seen the back of all our past troubles. In those carefree days, we didn’t know that the Darkness would later plague our lives again. Well, we had known shadows before, so it wasn’t in our plans to experience the tragedy that would unfold. 

I kept talking. I was certain then that my words would find you, my Twin Flame. The woman in love took over what little Venusian poise was left in me. I wanted to make love with you, become one with the land, with the air around me. Yet I felt so vulnerable and human.

“I’m back from a parallel future without you. Crumbs from that future are still stuck in my hair so I am not sure if my return is complete, or if you can hear what I’m saying now. Yet you did understand me during our glorious time together. I would speak to the clouds and you could hear me. Now I don’t even know if you remember my face anymore. The face you would gaze at in silence, for minutes, your eyes and my eyes locked into bliss time couldn’t enter... I see you’ve managed to cloud your mind without the torch I carried for you, without the Light I shared with you. Oh darling, you’re so hopeless…”

I remembered that I had also been very angry with you because you had hurt me to the bone. And that I had forgiven you anyway. 

Harmonious sounds were emerging from the landscape and from my soul. Church bells were ringing in the distance. I ran my fingers through the water of the spring, caressing it as if it were your hair. I welcomed back that divided sensation I always felt when I loved you like a woman: torn between the wholeness you brought to me and the threat of knowing you might also take it away from me, as you had done before. 

“Our dance was erratic at best, traumatic as a rule. My instinct tells me you still need my help, like many times before. I am starting to believe that you are beyond repair. It’s always been like that with you. But I won’t give up. I had to come from the future to be at your side, to get you out any hole you might have dug yourself into. Will you ever learn from your mistakes? Why do you always let your mind travel back to the past? You carry that past with you and by that very past you let yourself be defined. Let’s blame it on your human ancestry, on your romantic streak...”

If you heard me, you were probably starting to be pissed off at me for being on what you would call my 'high horse'. I looked at the sky and all around me. Fluffy clouds parted over the vast, quiet backdrop. A ray of sunshine fell on the encircling pastures. Cows were grazing absent-mindedly. Everything reminded me of you. And the Earth, my powerful ally, was paying close attention to my actions again.

“I’m here to resurrect our relationship. I have to. This way we may meet again and patch up those seams in our souls we tore apart. There is another way, Oscar, and we can find it. Bear with me (despite your attention deficit, I thought). I’m not mad with you, I swear. So please don’t be angry with me. I don’t care about the Plan or the Prophecy. I just want you back. You know, a Star Woman’s words are full of Power, and they can cut like a knife. So I am choosing mine carefully.” 

Up in the sky, an airplane commenced its descent over Dublin Bay and into the city’s airport. You were on it, headphones on, gazing out of the window. The second you felt my caress, your eyes turned the color of the night. You right hand moved to your chest - your heart was racing.

Back at Tara, I continued my seeming conversation with the water.

“My heart keeps the record of the past nineteen eventful years. What they feel like from my point of view. From the comfort of my future stance, I looked back on facts and people, and us. What happened between us never fails to surprise me. The whole idea that the Darkness sold you... that the love we made was too much for you to hold on to... My heart still leaps at the memory of us together, the emotional content of our merge, the powerful union of man and woman: two bodies becoming one soul. I was born to find you, not to let you go.”

I was crying. I wasn’t sad. I was just opening up, unlocking the fortress. After all those years, that lump in my throat stirred itself awake. The emotions it held captive crept out and wanted to be heard. We had loved so well. How could we let our love die? And could we ever breathe life into it again? I felt hollow, empty, and then lighter. That was the definite sign I had landed back into your life. I knew that you could at least sense my influence there and then, in your world. 

“In those years before I met you I was driven by a relentless force, by an incredible amount of love. My life was pulled in your direction, although I didn’t know it at the time. You were my purpose. Your heart is a magnet to me. Where has it gone now? What tune is it dancing to? Is it still dancing, I wonder… Can you not see what has become of you?”

A flock of ravens cackled above the plain. A warm breeze rose and caressed my suntanned face in its trail. Back on the airplane, your iPod was playing a Doors’ song whose words held meaning to you:  

“Awake. Shake dreams from your hair my pretty child, my sweet one.” ^[[1]]

When it ended, you removed your headphones and looked at the sea below the aircraft. The water was speaking to you in the Secret Language. Delivering my message. You struggled not to listen but you couldn’t help it. When you gave in, my name became a comforting mantra in your mind.

I rose my voice. “You are thinking about me too. You long to see me. Mirror, mirror of my soul... I can cast my glance everywhere from here. The call of eternity runs in my veins. Can you feel it?”

I paused and listened for an insight both within me and without me. I scrolled the valley with my glance, dwelling on the outline of Mellifont Abbey. Memories of us were jumping out of every corner. The rolling hills reassured me with their greenest silence. The air carried traces of the scent of your skin: musky, I could almost touch your taut muscles in the heat of passion. I shivered as my second sight detected you. My spirit started to absorb your essence. It became as vast as the sky.

“You’ve kept your word. You are approaching. And I have kept mine. I’ve come from the future into your past to take you with me or say goodbye. If you trust me, I will guide you down the alcoves of our adventure. This is our final chance.”

A leaf from the fairy tree under which I was standing fell into the spring water. I watched it flow down the stream that runs alongside the road. The Earth’s watercourses are the best channel to communicate emotions from soul to soul. The spell was cast, my message had been sent and you would soon be near me. I stood up and closed the Gate of Timelessness behind me. I was going to be human for a little while longer, and maybe for good.

Light rain began to fall as I made my way to the cottages by the visitors’ entrance. Polly and Letizia would be waiting for me in the coffee shop, over tea and scones. I loved the way my two friends still found my appearances startling, although I always announced them in advance through telepathy. As I turned the doorknob, a blue and red butterfly landed on my hand. Message received. I thanked the Earth for sending me a sign pointing me in the right direction. At that moment, all my powers came back at once and my soul turned gold again. It was just a matter of minutes now, before you would turn up and we would be standing face to face again.