108 - Man in the Mirror

Orpheus shrunk back from the star map, a complicated look on his face. Another Celestial? Not one of the two that I saw in the Ether? According to Borges the two Celestials on Aquilonem were still present . . they couldn't have left the world and made it to . . to . .

Orpheus mouth suddenly went dry - his eyes narrowing.

To Earth!

Earth!

All thoughts of Magnus and Kujata fled from his mind - all thoughts and schemes evaporated like morning mist. Before him, spinning slowly in the discs projection was a sight he'd never thought to see again, a world he believed lost forever . .

Earth . .

The blue sphere with its single moon . . Orpheus couldn't help but be drawn in - examining every line of the planet, looking at every curve of every continent as it was projected before him - perfect! In every detail, perfect.

El said nothing during all this - she watched him silently, her attention drawn to the flickering red speck upon the planet's surface.

"How long? How long have you had this, El?" Orpheus leaned in, peering closer at the Earth. "Is that . . is that a city? Oh hells . . is that? That is Rome, isn't it? And Carthage . . all the ancient cities, all the ancient civilizations!"

"Don't look at me like that! I have not done anything wrong! Don't look at me like that, Poet!" El gritted her teeth. "Yes - there are people on Earth, of course there are! It is a perfect recreation . . identical in every way - from the core right to every detail of the surface, every form of life, every plant, creature - all taken from the d.n.a. banks aboard the Apollo . . and beyond that . ." El sighed. "Beyond that . . our history. The Lord of Embers promise . . his guiding hand . . he has been leading the whole world, shaping the course . . making it as close as possible to our own from the history books, only . . only . . I never expected . . I never expected a . . a . . "

"Only you did not expect a Celestial to arise on Earth, correct?"

El shut her eyes, sighing deeply. Her voice a low husky whisper tinged with immense longing.

"This Celestial . . and the other before it. You know something about them, don't you? It doesn't matter . . hells . . six thousand years - that's how long it's been. Only a bit more . . only a couple of thousand years more until it would be just as it was. It has been six thousand years, you know that, Orpheus? I have been watching over it for so long . . and now . .for this . . What am I to do? What am I to do? I can't go there . . no one can - the Lord of Embers made that clear. How can I fix this Orpheus?"

". . ."

El waved her sleeve, the projection of the Earth vanished and the mechanical spire retreated into the ceiling.

For a time there was silence between the two, the only sound in the room a faint mechanical whirr.

Orpheus, the Poet, for the first time in his life found himself without words - only able to stare dumbly back at the frowning woman before him.

Finally, after what seemed to both an agonizing eternity, he spoke;

"What are you trying to accomplish, El?" Is this . . is this maddness something born from nostalgia? Can't you let go of the past? The Earth, the real Earth - it is long gone! This thing . . this abomination that you have created - it can only ever be a pale reflection!"

El's face darkened with anger.

"Shut up!"

"What do you hope to achieve? You can never bring it back, El, not really. Holding onto the past like this . . oh El . ."

"Shut up! If have nothing helpful to say, shut up!"

"You cannot continue down this path, El. This is madness. The Celestials cannot be imprisoned like this, cannot be tortured like this forever - they will be free! Your Lord of Embers cannot stand in the way of the other divines."

"Enough!"

"We have all drawn our lines in the sand, El. I came here to . . I see now I came here in vain."

With a flourish of her sleeve several mechanical arms shot out from the wall, their whirring blades and buzzing arms quickly closing in on Orpheus, but before they could so much as snatch at the surface of his silver robe they froze in place - a single melodious chord ringing out through the room.

Triiinnnnng . .

The sound of a harp being strummed . . El snarled, but it was too late - before her mechanical arms could move to strike he - The Poet - was gone.

***

"Hob!" Magnus' voice croaked hoarsely. He had been yelling non stop - calling out aloud and in his mind. He had called out every obscenity he knew - every curse, every foul thing a man could call out had been called out into the night - to no avail.

No matter what he said, no matter what he thought - and soon Magnus stopped, a vicious glint in his eye.

Hob . . Hob . . bloody Hob. I knew it! I knew it! There was something strange about that bastard . .

How could you fall for it again, hey? Again, again, again I am made a fool!

I am a fool!

I thought . . ahahah! I thought I'd never let anyone trick me ever again - hells! What an idiot! What a bloody idiot . .

Hob said we were the same - he is me and I am him, didn't you think that was odd, didn't you question that, hey Magnus? Nope. You just accepted it .. with all the other bloody strange shite I've had to be dealing with that seemed . . that seemed sorta alright, like I had a new friend, someone to talk to . . . ah hells.

Magnus trembled, his muscles bulging and fighting back against the strange invisible bonds, barely able to so much as breath. The more he struggled, the more he fought, the tighter the bonds became.

Eventually, Magnus gave up - stopped struggling. He let himself fall limp, laying on the ground like a dried up shrimp.

Ah hells . . what can I do now?

I can't feel my core . . I can’t move any sort of energy around my body . . wait a tick - the Ether! Where else would that bastard run to? Ah! Of course!

Magnus didn't have to move or manipulate his Logos - all it took was intent and in an instant he left his body, his spirit entering into the sleeping forest, appearing next to the black water stream.

"I can move! Ahaha! Why didn't I think of this earlier? Ah hells . . Hob! Hob you bastard, where are you?"