The Plane’s Children – Chapter Five – Emersli1

Reading Time:
10 Minutes

Alone had become aware of themself in a place not too dissimilar from the forest that surrounded the settlement.

Looking around, they wondered how they were supposed to find their spiritmate.

“What are you doing here?”  Whirling they saw Steadfast standing behind them, clad in their otherself.

“The Plane has sent me here.  They say my spiritmate is here and will need my help to find the answers to this terrible thing.”  Alone understood why Steadfast was angry, but they couldn’t help but think that the younger soul needed their help too.  “Can I help you in any way?  I could try to draw more psionic energy for you …”

“No.  I can do it myself.  You can go be happy with your spiritmate.  Just forget about us.”  Steadfast swayed where they stood.  “I have things to do.”

Not knowing what else to do, Alone followed them at a respectful distance.  An overgrown round building seemed to be their target, so they looked around curiously.  They had never been on the lower plane before, though they had spent many, many hours watching the life there.

Suddenly a commotion occurred at the edge of the trees surrounding the building.  A party of eleven pushed their way through the undergrowth, calling in relief to see Steadfast standing in front of the door to the building.

Alone recognized their kin among the party, although all of them were of course clothed in their otherselves.  Eager bounded ahead with determined energy, while Quirky and Grumpy kept a careful eye on them.  Busy and Calm followed with their spiritmates, talking quietly to each other.  All of them came hurrying over to their hurting sibling.

“Steadfast, it will be alright now.”  Quirky tried to reassure the tired spirit, even as their spiritmate did the same.

Steadfast didn’t listen to either of them, just stood swaying with exhaustion and pain, pulling so much energy they were obviously visible to all the spiritmates present.  They weren’t going to be able to keep that up much longer.  Deciding they could be as angry as they pleased later, Alone reached up for the Plane, and drew down a steady stream of psionic force … directing it to the stubborn youngster.

Quirky’s spiritmate suddenly looked around, apparently sensing the manipulation of psionics.

Interesting.  

Only one person in the group did not have a mate present.  The focused, quiet man in the center moved through the group as though he were well accustomed to being alone in a crowd.  Well, and why shouldn’t their spiritmate be as solitary at heart as they themself had been?

The spiritmates moved swiftly past the staggering young soul, who then determinedly followed them in.  As Alone moved to follow, someone held them back.

“What has brought you here to the lower plane without an otherself, Sibling?”  Grumpy had remained a bit behind the group, evidently wanting information.

Alone smiled at the younger one.  Although Grumpy was not much younger.  Really of those left, Grumpy and Quirky … Sage and Intuition … Playful and Patient … they were the eldest who remained.  Of course they were still much, much younger than Alone.

“I was sent by the Plane to find answers to how this terrible thing has happened.”  They gave Grumpy the answer they had asked for, only to have Quirky stop and turn back.

“What terrible thing?  We felt something happen.  It was like the entire upper Plane screamed at once.  But we couldn’t figure out where the tragedy had occurred.  Is it really just the death of a spiritmate?  I mean, that’s terrible of course, but our mates live in a cycle of death and rebirth.  Why would one death lead to such a reaction?”

Hearing their elder’s question, Busy and Calm came hurrying back, hopeful of an answer they might find some way of communicating to their spiritmates.

Alone felt it again, Flicker’s essence seeping out around their fingers as they tried desperately to stem the flow.  Shaking their head, they considered whether or not to share the true cause of the Plane’s sorrow with the younger souls.

“Alone, if you know something … please?”

Well, they were all mature, with many cycles of lives with their spiritmates behind them.  Looking towards the building, Alone made their decision.

“I don’t know if Eager should hear this.  It is hard knowledge to bear and they are very young …”  Alone trailed off, even as the golden canine came walking intently out the door of the round building.

“I am a child of the Plane too.  If something has hurt my people, I need to know.”  Alone could have resisted begging or teasing.  But they could not resist the simple, direct claim.

“Flicker unbecame.  Right in my arms.  I was in the schoolroom at the end of the day and heard a terrible screaming cry from the commons.  I ran out and saw Flicker.  They were almost torn to pieces.  I couldn’t hold them together.  I tried … we all tried … but this has never happened before.  We didn’t know what to do.  All I could do was hold them … try to hold them together.”

Alone hung their head.  “I failed.”

Grumpy bumped his large, heavy head into their stomach.  “You did not.  Flicker knew you were there.  They knew they were loved.  They left your embrace for the embrace of our parent.  You did all you could do.”

“Steadfast would not agree.”  While Alone understood the younger soul’s attitude, they couldn’t deny that it was painful to bear.

“Steadfast is grieving and in shock.   As any of us would be.  But how did this happen?  I did not think anything on this lower plane could hurt us like that.  Hurt our feelings … grieve us deeply even, but tear us apart physically?”  Quirky was clearly shocked and sorrowful themself.  As indeed they all were.

“Why did the Plane not heal them when they returned?  Many times I skinned my knees or broke a bone, playing in the quarries behind the settlement.  And the Plane always healed me quickly.  I didn’t realize how long healing could take until I met Mick.”  Eager asked the same question Alone had.

“I don’t think the Plane had time.  It all happened so fast.  Flicker was … much damaged.  I went to the Heart of the Forest and asked … Steadfast came along.  They were told to return to their spiritmate, and I was told to return to the settlement and then to come here to the lower plane to find our answers.  And that my spiritmate was here and would need every advantage.  But I haven’t othered, so I don’t know how I’m even going to make contact.”  Alone felt woefully unprepared for what should have been the culmination of many lifetimes of waiting alone.

Quirky looked at Alone consideringly.  “I’m assuming Tony is your spiritmate?  He’s the only one here who isn’t already bonded, he’s the lead investigator into this case, and he’s not online.  Maybe he needs to be.  But one interesting thing about Tony … he can see us.  Even when we’re not visible to anyone else.   He can always see us.”

“He will be able to see you, so just try talking to him.  We are limited in the ways we can communicate with our spiritmates.  Perhaps you are as you are because you need to be able to talk to him.  Person to person.”  Grumpy spoke with an abrupt reassurance.  “Now, we need to be inside.  They’re about to open the inner door and they’ll need us.”

The people collectively moved forward, into the round building, and into a nightmare.

But that was the only place to find their answers.

Tony finally reached his own apartment after midnight.

He’d met with the twin brothers that Mallie Vernon had saved all those years ago, and had no answers to give them.  All he could do was assure them that the very best people were working together to find those answers.  And that as soon as he knew anything at all, he’d let them know.

He had also checked in with the center about Sentinel Caulfield.  So far the man was holding his own against the shock of losing his partner, and  his physical injuries, while painful, would heal in time.  They were keeping him sedated for now with a Guide-Nurse keeping a close mental eye on his psyche.

Tony sighed.  He’d stayed late at the office, filling out the new whiteboard with all the details on Matthew Caulfield and adding what little information they’d gleaned from his statement.  Forensics on the silo wouldn’t be in until noon at the earliest, so when his third double espresso didn’t even make an impact he’d come home to stew in private.

Several times he’d caught the image of something, just in the corner of his eye.  There, and then gone.  Tony was beginning to wonder if ghosts were really a thing after all.  Guides had long since assured them that spirits don’t linger, but he wasn’t sure what else to think. 

Maybe that he needed to sleep?  He’d been up since four o’clock, when those damn birdwatchers stumbled across Mallie’s body while setting up a blind for a dawn viewing.  Tony went in to his bedroom, shrugging out of his suit jacket and tie as he went.  A quick shower and change into sweats had him feeling more relaxed, and he decided to eat some of the soup he’d frozen last week before calling it a night.

Moving into his kitchen, Tony was able to put his body on autopilot… getting the container out of the freezer, heating it up, getting a glass of water and spoon, and heading into the living area with vague plans of putting in a screwball comedy to let his mind drift while he ate …

All thoughts that went right out the window when he walked in and saw a stranger sitting on his couch.

Carefully putting his bowl of soup and water glass on the pass through, and wishing he hadn’t put his firearm in the safe when he got home, Tony slowly moved towards the person watching him.

They were vaguely familiar, and suddenly Tony remembered seeing them with the paramedics at the silo.  Looking towards the door, he saw it was still closed and locked, so how did they get in.  And really …

“OK, who the hell are you?”

The person tilted their head.  “I am alone.”

“Yeah, I didn’t ask if anyone else was here.  I want to know who you are and how you got in.  Oh, and why you’re here.  Is there something wrong with Sentinel Caulfield?  Something you couldn’t have told me over the phone?”  Tony sat lightly on the armchair, looking towards his unexpected guest.

Now the person just looked confused.  “I am the one they call Alone.  I am here because I need to speak with you Tony.  And I got in by walking through the door.  How else would I enter?”

Tony sighed.  “Don’t get cute with me.  The door’s locked.  I know it’s locked.  Why, you ask?  Because I locked it.  So, before I just give up and call the cops …”

Tony trailed off in silence as he really looked at his unexpected visitor.

The figure wasn’t really identifiable as male or female.  They were slender, with fine features … but the broad shoulders and strong jaw seemed more masculine.  They had silver hair worn in a side plait and glowing turquoise eyes under heavy brows …

Wait.

GLOWING eyes?

Tony took a more careful look.  The dark red tunic with the high collar fell over brown trousers, tucked into brown boots that had seen a great deal of use.  Long, narrow hands with slender fingers betrayed the nervousness he hadn’t seen before … twisting together anxiously in the person’s lap.

And yes, the eyes were glowing.  So either he had a very-far-from-home Tolkien elf sitting on his sofa … or this person was from the psionic plane.

“So, you’re telling me you’re a … spirit animal?  In human form?  Or, well, human-ish form?”  Tony was way too tired for this.

Wait.  This had possibilities.  “Are you Amalda Vernon’s spirit animal?”  He’d never heard of it happening, but maybe the being could tell him what had happened to their Guide.

Alone, for their part, had been studying their spiritmate.  Tall, but not alarmingly so.  Broad shoulders, strong hands.  Tired eyes.  A pleasant voice and agreeable features … and apparently some deeply offensive opinions.

“I suppose I am an animal, in the sense that I am animus.  As are you yourself.  Do we seriously wait our entire lives for mates that can’t see beyond our otherselves?”  Alone was more grieved now than offended.  “And no, I am not Amalda’s mate.”

“I believe I am yours, Tony.”