Legends of Amacia The Caverias Rebellion

Sixteen hours later, Hanna awoke feeling someone gently shaking her. A sweet melodious voice whispered in her ear as she was roused, “Hanna, Hanna wake up.”

Hanna stretched and yawned, opening her bleary eyes to find that Selina lying almost on top of her. Her head was lying on her left shoulder and she was pushed up as close as she could get to Hanna, lying on her side facing her. She was gently shaking her with her right hand. Flopping her head to the left, Hanna looked Selina in the face. Her face was angelic. Her eyes were clear and sparkling. A soft, sweet smile decorated on her face as she laid her head on Hanna’s shoulder. “Hello there, sis,” Hanna said sweetly.

Selina squeezed Hanna with her right arm and said with the utmost love and gratitude, “Thank you for coming for me.”

“What else could I do?” Hanna replied, brushing her hair out of her face. “I love you more than life itself. I have wandered the fires of hell in search of you. I have seen the pits and they are nothing in comparison to being separated from you.”

Selina gripped Hanna as tight as her weakened arm would let her, saying, “The same here, my love. Oh, the hell that it was without you. Please don’t let that happen to us again. I don’t think I could bear it.”

Hanna embraced her tightly, saying, “I don’t plan on letting it happen ever again. That is a promise. By the way, how are you feeling?”

“A little better, but I am still terribly weak,” Selina said. “But my mind is finally clear and crisp. Just having you at my side while I slept seems to have rejuvenated our link. I seemed to have soaked up some of your strength in the night.”

Hanna smiled, saying, “Good. Good! I’m glad to hear it. Can I ask you something?” She nodded and Hanna asked, “What do you remember of Ahriaman’s torment of you?” Selina’s face fell some as she remembered everything he had done to her.

Tears welled up in her eyes and Hanna immediately said apologetically, “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked you that, not so close to the event. By your reaction, I can see that you remember it.” Selina nodded as Hanna pulled her close and cooed in her ear, “Shhh. It is all right. You were not alone that day. I was there with you. I felt every hit and experienced every feeling of violation and pain.”

Selina looked up at Hanna with amazement. “You saw?” she whimpered.

Hanna stroked her hair, saying, “Yes, I did. In fact, I did more than you could ever know. I put my head on the block for you that day.”

Selina gripped Hanna as tight as she could in her weakened condition, whimpering, “I know. Nemesis told me that you took the electrocution. How can I ever thank you? You saved my life.”

Hanna looked Selina in the eye and kissed her on the forehead, saying, “You’re most welcome. However, it wasn’t I, but the Lord that spared both of us. Yes, I took the hit and it killed me. But the Lord was merciful and sent me back. Obviously, my job wasn’t finished.”

Selina was so happy that it was contagious. She nuzzled Hanna as she said, “Surely, He is a merciful God. I am so happy and eternally grateful that He did not take you from me forever.”

“Me too,” Hanna replied happily. “I only wish I could be the man I used to be for you. But I’m trapped in this female form thanks to the Emperor.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Selina cooed. “We’re together again. That’s all that matters. Besides, I vaguely remember you saying that you rescued Josephine from her prison. Surely, she can reverse this mutation.”

“That’s my only hope,” Hanna admitted softly. “But we still don’t know if she’s compatible with the machinery here. If she can’t access the machinery here, I’m going to stay like this until I die. I don’t want to die a woman.”

Selina looked Hanna in the eye. “You’re not going to die in this form, Hanna. Our Hannibal will live again,” she declared. “You were promised a reversal of the mutation once you became a completed soul. I can’t really tell if you’ve completely integrated your male and female parts because you’re blocking me. But from what I can observe now, you’re extremely close to having done it if you haven’t already done it. It shows in your attitude, demeanor, and love for others. You’ve never been this confident and at ease with yourself. Please, let me in like you did on our wedding night. You have to let me see.”

Hanna smiled sweetly, touching her forehead to Selina’s forehead. “I love you, Selina,” she said softly. “You’ve always known how to disarm me and get me to lower my screens. Maybe you’re right. I do need to have faith that the promise. Moreover, I do need to let you see what’s happened to me.”

“You’re right,” Selina chimed. “But first, I need to use the bathroom.”

Hanna smiled, kicking the blankets off. She got off the bed, went to Selina’s side and reached out to her. “Come on,” she said.

Selina took Hanna’s hand with her right hand. She pulled Selina to a sitting position, and then helped her pull her legs over the edge of the bed. “I don’t know,” Selina said hesitantly.

Hanna reached out with both hands and said, “Rise up and walk, sis. You can do it.”

Selina took Hanna’s hands with hers and said, “What if I should fall? I still don’t have any confidence in my legs to hold me up. I can hardly move them.”

Hanna looked her right in the eye, saying soundly, “You will not fall. Have faith in the Lord. He will not let you down and neither will I.” With a sudden tug, Hanna pulled Selina to her feet and her legs immediately gave away. Hanna immediately caught her, saying, “See, you didn’t fall. The Lord had me catch you. Do not let this stop you. You have great faith. Just let it work. For the moment, your faith is weaker than your legs. When your faith is stronger than your legs, you will walk again.” Selina looked at Hanna urgently and she scooped her up, taking her to the bathroom.

A few minutes later, they were back in the bed and Selina still puzzled over her useless legs. She and Hanna were sitting up against the head of the bed with the blankets covering their legs up to the waist. “I don’t understand why I cannot walk,” Selina declared. “The healing machine was supposed to heal me, but it hasn’t finished the job for some reason.”

“I am wondering about this myself,” Hanna answered in a soft tone. “This is not the first time that this has happened. I have had to use the machine several times since my escape and the thing acts like it is not going all the way with the healing process. It repairs the damage but it doesn’t seem help give your strength back like the one in Tiamat does.”

Selina looked at Hanna in a puzzled way, finally saying, “Maybe it has something to do with the makeup of the caverns, you know, the same thing that is keeping the Emperor from making use of the ancient machines.”

Hanna shrugged, saying, “Maybe. But don’t be too worried about it. It may just be the Lord doing this. For some reason He is keeping your legs from working properly. I’m sure we’ll know why shortly.”

Selina cuddled with Hanna, replying, “It’s just perplexing, that’s all. There is so much that I want to do and see. I want to see my dad. I want to see Nicodemus, Joshua, and the rest of the team. I even want to meet these new people you say you found.”

Hanna’s face fell at the mention of Nicodemus and Selina could sense her grief. “What’s wrong? Has something happened to them?” she asked.

Hanna pushed Selina back so she could look her in the eye. “Yes. Something terrible has happened. Nicodemus is dead,” Hanna said sorrowfully. “He was captured by the Dark Riders in a raid on Acheron while I was here enlisting the help of our new friends. They took him to Ahriaman and they beat and tortured him to death. He was imprisoned six levels below you in the Tower.”

“Oh, no!” Selina cried in horror. The news struck her like a bullet in the chest. Tears burst from her eyes, running down her cheeks.

“I found him just before I come to get you,” Hanna said, choking on her own emotions. “He died in my arms, holding to the faith to the very end. We brought his body back here.”

Selina looked into Hanna’s face, crying and sobbing uncontrollably. “Oh, you poor girl!” she cried, embracing Hanna gently, crying on her shoulder. “No wonder you acted the way you did when you come got me! I didn’t know!” Tears began to rise in Hanna’s eyes as a lump formed in her throat. She tried to comfort Selina, but gave up, finally letting the grief for Nicodemus out in the only proper way. They cried for him for a solid ten minutes, and then managed to calm down. “He was such a good friend to everyone,” Selina whimpered, wiping the tears from her eyes.

“That he was. He was like a father to me and I suspect to you too,” Hanna replied as she got up and went to the bathroom, coming back with a couple of washcloths. She handed one to Selina, who promptly wiped her face and blew her nose. Hanna did the same. Laying the washcloths aside, they cuddled again. “It makes me so much more appreciative of the people I still love,” Hanna said softly as Selina laid her head on Hanna’s shoulder, purring for her.