Waking Other Lives

“What the hell, no! There is no way,” Seth yelled. “She’s not dying, do you hear me, and she certainly is not leaving me!”

I was silent, not because I was happy but because I was barely holding the tears of frustration. I had gotten used to the idea living here with Seth, despite all the problems we were likely to confront. But, this was too much, asking me to die, asking me to leave Seth. What if things did not go the way she was saying, what would happen then, how would I ever find Seth? What if they did, did I have the energy to start all over, from scratch? What if Seth there wanted nothing to do with me, how would I make him fall in love with me again? How could I leave him, even if for the purpose of finding him in another universe? What if I didn’t wake up? It was too risky; it was a suicide mission.

“There is no other choice Seth, I’m sorry,” the heart replied.

“We could live here, we have a life here,” he said.

“No, you don’t. This is just an illusion, child. You are just playacting a scene of the real battle on earth in here. And, once the lights explode on earth, nothing will remain behind, all life form will end. This is all temporary, Seth. You are deceiving yourself if you believe you have a life here.”

“I don’t believe you,” Seth said, his voice tense, angry, hateful. “I have my mate, my family, my brothers. You are telling me this is all a joke?”

Wow, this protest was huge coming from him despite Rawonia’s heart being sacred for him.

“As you wish, child. That is your choice. But, I’m telling you the truth. You will unite with your mate, once we restore the harmony on earth, I promise you that. You have to believe me. But, for that, sacrifices have to be made.”

“I cannot let her die,” he said. “You are asking too much from us. Let some other couple finish the second challenge.”

“There is no other couple like you. The burden is huge on your shoulders, I know. But, you two have a life on earth, a real one, and though you do not remember it now, I assure you it is out there waiting for you to seize it. Sierra, remembers it, don’t you child?”

“Yes,” I said. “I do.” She was right, I remembered it, I could not deny that. I’d been wanting to get back to it for a very long time, too. Here was my chance to do it, yet I was letting selfishness, and fear weld themselves together, planting seeds of doubt in my head. I had to be strong for the both of us. Poor Seth, how could he understand, how could he be expected to sacrifice us for the world he did not even remember?

“What kind of a world will I be going to?” I asked. “Will you guide me there?”

“I can guide you on where my heart lies. It rests in a nest of the dragon. Once you complete the mission, Seth can easily take you there. The rest should be easy.”

“You are not considering this, are you? This is madness,” cried out Seth.

“Why don’t I let you two discuss this in isolation, I’m sure you have things to talk about. When you are ready, I will know,” she said. And, that is how we found ourselves in the arms of the whirlwind again, traveling through the walls, to end up in the cave room at the entrance, alone.

“Sierra, you can’t do this, let’s stay right here,” he said, taking me in his arms, holding me tightly.

“Seth, my love, I thought Rawonia’s heart was necessary for the Drakons.”

“Yes, she is,” Seth acknowledged.

" Then, you know she’s telling the truth. Why do you doubt her?”

“I know no such thing,” he said in exasperation. “Perhaps that is Hayley or Abby, whatever her name is, who seized Rawonia’s heart and is trying to destroy us. And, we are walking right into her trap. Did you think about that?”

“Might be, I’ll give you that. But, what if she is indeed the heart of Rawonia? I know the world she is referring to, Seth. I lived there, you lived there, it is not bullshit, you know. I’ve babbled about it too many times; I’m sure you remember.”

“That does not prove a thing,” he said.

“I know, but my grandma led me to her, I feel like we have to try it.”

“Try it, are you mad, Sierra? She wants you dead, and there is no return from that!”

“I know, but it will be all right, Seth. I love you, and I would never leave you if I didn’t believe I’d find you again. Believe in me, I will not let go until I find you, and convince you in the other universe. I want to wake in your arms on earth, I can’t wait till that happens, and for that, I need to do this.”

“I can’t, I love you too much,” Seth said, and he suddenly pressed his lips to mine, kissing me so hard as though he couldn’t get enough of me. I ran my hands up and down his back, touching his body, memorizing the shape of it, carving it all into my brain in case I never got to feel it again. He never broke the kiss, scared of facing reality, the whirlwind, the heart of Rawonia. I was on fire, throbbing with need, and passion, and I sensed his equivalent need, feeling the hard length of him as his hands held me firmly by the hip, and pulled me to him. He lifted me up, and I wrapped my legs around him, our lips entwined in a long, hard kiss. I wanted to stay here in his arms forever, tears started slipping down my face, my heart rebelling against the injustice of it all. He brushed the tears away, licking them slowly and tenderly. “We don’t have to do this, you know,” he whispered.

“We do,” I said. “And, you know it, too. No matter how hard it is, we do.”

He slowly let me slip down, just hugging me, holding me, his hands pulling me to him so tightly in defiance of the fate who would wrench us apart.

We felt the wind surround us, turning around us first slowly, but then with increasing speed, its breath blowing around our faces, freezing our hearts with the terror of what was to come. The time was up, the decision was made, and now it had to be carried out.

“Have you decided, children?” the heart asked when we found ourselves facing her, yet again.

Words were stuck in our throats, Seth was planting kisses all over my face, and my heart was breaking. I was not ready to go, and leave him, but what other choice did I have?

“How will this happen?” I asked, tears blocking my throat.

“Seth, my child you will have to kill her.”

“What the fuck? You can’t ask me to kill her, my mate, my heart, the woman I love,” he raged, his eyes turning red, his body slowly heating up. “This is too much!”

“Ssh, you can do it. I’d rather have you do it. It’s okay,” I said, raising myself on tiptoes, bracketing his face with my palms while I gazed into his eyes.

“You can’t ask me to do this,” he said, his eyes moist with silent tears. “Please don’t ask me,” he said.

“How will I carry you to the other universe?” I asked the heart, without breaking eye contact with Seth. He was barely holding on.

“Touch me, and you’ll see.”

“Okay, in a minute,” I said. ” I want you to promise me you’ll be fine, when I’m gone,” I begged Seth. “I need to know that, please. You can even be with Nicole if that will make you happy, I’ll be okay with it,” I assured him, swallowing hard to let the words out. Seth’s face didn’t give anything away, but he nodded.

“Child, there will be no Rawonia once I’m gone,” the heart professed.

I turned sharply to her, “What do you mean?”

“What I mean is Rawonia will disappear, I’m the only thing holding this place. Once my heart is gone, it will vanish, just as it was always supposed to be.”

“What the hell? Are you telling me I’ll be killing Seth, Elvan, Mina, Dante, everyone in this universe by taking you with me? Heck, you are crazy if you think I’m doing this.”

“Sierra...” Seth said, but his face held no reaction at the news.

“You don’t act surprised. Did you know about this? Did you?” I asked him.

“Yes, every Drakon knows this. That’s why the heart is vital to us. It’s okay; I don’t want to live once you are gone anyway. I want it all to end. What is living when you are dead? Nothing, an absolute nothing.”

“No, no... I can’t take away everything from you, from the people I love,” I said. “You said, I didn’t have to kill Seth, you lied,” I stated in a whisper.

“I didn’t, you are not killing him. I am. And, he will not die anyway, neither will you. Look, you are not taking anything from them, they will all be there on earth. Children, do not forget I am not doing this to hurt you, I’m doing this to save you. You will all unite, I promise.”

Tears were coming up in a torrent now, I was killing Seth and Seth was killing me, this was probably the worse tragedy any couple had to go through, even usurping that of Romeo and Juliet’s. It felt like I had a rock heavy on my heart, it weighed me down, and I was torn apart with it all.

“C’mon child, we are losing time, let’s do this.”

I dragged my feet, each one weighing like a ton at every step I took as I approached the suspended heart.

“Touch me,” she urged me and I did. I didn’t feel or see anything weird at first, but then the heart began to shrink right before my eyes, and I felt it seeping through my skin in liquid form as though I was being injected with it through a needle. It seemed to take for hours as I felt a continuously burning sensation in my palm. When the heart shrank to a size of a billiard, then a marble, and then to nothing, I opened my palm to see it bloody red, and I felt the pulse of a rhythmic beat coming right from its center. I opened and closed my palm a few times, but nothing changed. It seemed I would have to get used to the sensation of carrying a heart within the center of my palm. This was, of course, the least of my worries.

“Do it,” I said to Seth who was standing right behind me. His eyes held mine, the grief in his eyes said more and better than words ever could. I saw his silent farewell, and I nodded mine. He started kissing me, our tears ran together, mixing into a potion of pure, selfless love, and his fingers caressed my neck, his palms opening up, his hands clutching me at the two sides of my neck. He never stopped kissing me, his tongue dancing with mine, his hot moist breath washing over my face. I felt the pressure of his hands slowly dig deeper into my skin; I heard his whisper of love, and I felt the move of the muscles on his forearm as he made his move.

It was only a few seconds that the expression of horror, grief, and shock remained on Seth’s face, his hands still holding the broken neck of his lover tenderly. The explosion happened fast, tearing everything and everyone into little pieces. Dante was singing at the time, Elvan was staring into space and thinking of Dante, Travis was yet sleeping, Mina was reading her book, and Nicole was leaving the Palace with a vengeful expression while her family was making plans of joining the Drakon rebellion.

And then, there was no trace that once upon a time Rawonia ever existed.