Thus Speak Prodigal
Part II : The Search For True Love
Disclaimer : As usual
Dedicated to Rinoa Heartily for her beautiful and inspiring email that drive my immediate spur of this new episode. Also to all those who are still searching for true love in their lives.
Episode 7 : How can I not love you?
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(a)Prelude
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"I'm not really sure of the words to say,
if only you knew that I feel this way.
I wanna give my heart to you.
Show me the way that you want me to...
I know for sure that there's a place for us
I'm counting the days till I feel your touch
you come to me when I dream at night
When I'm with you it will be so right
If you could see the love in my eyes
You should know that I'm on your side
Ohh, ohh, ohh, I'd be yours, you'd be mine
Ohh, What will I do..."
- Natalie Burks & Cagnet, "What Will I do?"
Love theme from Long Vacation
Imagine that the above song is playing in the story now. It was a day in the midst of the cold winter at the end of January. The streets of London were littered with people moving across the pavements, and it was difficult to tell who was doing what in the picture. The cold chilly winds passed into the quiet alleys and soared across the long road along the colourful Oxford Street, the central shopping area where most people would go to in London. The weather was freezing and tiny fluffy hails of snow were find their way on the ground.
A man in a fully black suit and black trenchcoat was walking across the traffic lights in the busy Oxford Street. He wore a golden pair of spectacles as he was in his deep thoughts presently. He was moving along the flow of people in the street but was not in the mood to care about the people around him. The affairs of the heart had torn him apart. He was presently caught in a dilemma. If love was ever a choice, who would choose exquisite pain. He was none other than the Prodigal, the mysterious Endless who had abandoned his realm and wandered across the cosmos, searching for a new meaning in life. However, there was the shattering past, which he refused to face and to yield as well. As he passed into the path which is the intersection between Regent Street and Oxford Street, he walked past without realizing a powerful force was around. "Runoa, if I will see you now, I will not care about what is the eternal sorrow which we have to bear, and love you the way you are. If you can ever find me here.." Those were his thoughts at that instant, as he moved in the forward direction in a mortal fashion.
At the instant, where he passed thru the intersection point of the street, a beautiful young lady dressed in a dark petticoat, moved towards Regent street and just whisked past the man in black trenchcoat as if it was a passing instant. She had the face of an angel, with her oriental looks being so distinct and clear. There was that blue crystal eyes of her, which made her so alluring that no one could resist her love. She was the Endless who was holding the profile of the goddess of love, Runoa. She was also in deep thought and did not care about the people who are moving past her. In her mind, there was the man whom she longed to love, but circumstances had forbidden them to love each other. It is in their destiny that they would love, but it is in their destiny, that they might face eternal sorrow. "Prodigal, if I see you now here, I would not care about the obstacles ahead which we have to face our eventual destiny." Yet, she left her fate to Providence now that she would find him here in this large city.
So, it started nearly at the end of this story and the first question which everyone would ask is that why both of them ended up in London, searching for one another. To answer that, here is where we really begin our flashback to where we stopped in the last episode.
(b)Fate, Prodigal and Runoa
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It was a bonfire before a small cottage located in the south of Eropangis. Here was a small barbaque, and a chef who was cooking in the midst of the bonfire. He was roasting a big fat boar, preparing for a feast to celebrate the return of his friends. He was the best of all hosts, the observer of all shows, and he is Dakar, the Lord of all parties. On the banquet table, which was situated across about 5 metres away from the bonfire, delicate cuisines like Peking Duck, Sharks Fin soup and other famous delicacies were featured, not to forget the two bottles of hundred years old white and red wine. One cannot undermine the power of Dakar for being such a good host.
Sitting alone on the table was Clone, the servant of Runoa, the Goddess of Love. He was quietly eating the food prepared by the Lord of Parties, while he peered at his mistress and the Prodigal who were walking away from the cottage. Torrants and Bish were trying to busy themselves with the food as well, while grabbing as much of the food on the table like typical "kiasu" (scare of losing mentality, never know that even gods possess that kind of mentality as well) Eropagins citizens. Meanwhile, the cottage was visited by Ack, who just brought in new tidings in Sgforumsia.
"What tidings do you bring, my friend?" Bish asked.
"Karhole is back from New Yoke with his new concubine, Mandy found from Studio 54, and as his highpriest, I am once again busy again," he replied, "It would seem that chaos was to begin again soon. I can feel it coming."
"Unfortunately, I can't join you all," said Torrants,"I am leaving for Faerie Land tomorrow to search for my beloved bride." He was eager to leave as soon as he could to Faerie Land to see his beloved Mayar. Love is such a powerful force which could make anyone bowed to her feet.
"Well, I guess, I can't go with you, Torrants, since I have to keep tabs of the war matters here in Sgforumsia." Bish said, as he yearned for adventure with the god of Time.
Clone kept his silence while listening to the three friends talking about the present situation. His eyes never left the couple who could be seen from a horizon. He was worried about his mistress, as she is hurt by the same man whom she cared so much about. It appeared strange to him why she could forgive him after all that he did. This cannot be explained, as Clone has come to terms with the cynicism that when a woman loves somebody, she would not care how bad the guy would treat her.
The prodigal and the goddess of love were strolling along the path of the country road away to the cottage till they reached upon a cliff area where they could see a vast area of icy alps ahead of time. The mountains were arranged in a zigzag fashion and with her peaks shrouded by the thick white clouds. It was a majestic sight from the cliff, as they also see the long river flowing into the city of Eropagnis, and there was the beauty of nature which appealed to them. Till all these time, they had not spoken to each other. The only time which they had spoken to each other was when the Prodgial asked Runoa for a walk.
"Runoa, how are you doing?" the Prodigal finally broke the silence.
"I am fine, performing my duty as an Endless, unlike you who had abandoned them," she said as she looked at him sternly, and found him so changed that he was no longer the haughty and proud Endless he once was.
"Well, I made many mistakes in the past, with my horrible egotistic, anthromorphic nature, Ruona," said the Prodigal. "I have made grave mistakes which are unforgivable on my part. I have also hurted you in the process."
"That does not mean you have to resort to abandoning your responsibilities of an Endless. Love is something that when you take away everything good and bad thing the other person does to you, and you still find that you care for him. I care for you and that is why I am here to find you. Look at how the world changed in the face because of your actions. You have disappointed me a lot but I am sure that is a good side of you. You are not like this, you were once a person filled with confidence. Just because of your mistakes, you have became like this."
"I have to, and I have no choice but to be exiled. The other Endless might not have made any noise about this. I cannot forgive myself for the mistakes which I have made. I am sorry that I have to leave you, otherwise we would both face eternal sorrow." he said.
"But you know that I do not mind what happens in the end, even if till death do we part." Runoa looked at him. She did not understand why the Prodigal was so afraid to face their eventual destiny.
"Well, both my fellow Endless, it is written in the book," a voice came behind them. It was Fate, in his dark grey robes, the oldest Endless of them all.
"Hello, my fellow Endless Fate," the Prodigal spoke,"It has been a long time."
"Yes," he said.
"How did you know that I am here? My powers were undetectable at all by the other Endless, even my closest friend of the Endless, Death had no way of finding or contacting me." the prodigal was impressed by Fate's feat.
"Because I am Fate, because I know the destiny of everyone, because I am the beginning and the end." Fate said with a strong conviction that there are not many things which he did not know.
"But there are things that are not written in the book, like me, abandoning my responsibility. It only shows that the world we live in is not a one-sided coin. There are always two sides of the world. I am just changing my fate."
"And Runoa's as well," Fate muttered. "You have affected her destiny as well by your actions. I am here to warn you that your duel with the Devil had created an anomaly in our Universe. It had tore open a rift which something would change the order of this Universe."
"And that is why you led me to find him," Runoa realized that there is a bigger cosmic picture to what is happening.
"Yes, Ruona," said Fate,"but I can't tell you what would happen? The prodigal has changed his fate and it affected yours in a non-local fashion. Our Universe is something that is very strange, highly non-linear and asymmetrical. In this world, everything affects everything. There is no absolute spacetime and there is no control to our Universe. But I am not here to tell you what is going to happen. I am here to offer you a way out. Only that, it would ensure Runoa's survival."
"Surely, you can tell us what is going to happen, since you are kind enough to warn the both of us?" the Prodigal asked, and he was anxious because it concerned the life of his loved one.
"Unfortunately, my brother Prodigal, I am binded by my responsiblity as Fate, and I can only know and record what happened in past, present and future, but cannot intervene. Otherwise, I would cause a even major disorder which could destroy the fabric of out spacetime."
"But you have already intervened by warning us," the Prodigal refuted Fate.
"No, Prodigal, because this is written in the Book. Before I was to bring Runoa to see you, I was told by the 3 Sisters of Destiny to look into my book, and the book wrote that I must send Runoa to look for you which will subsequently lead to this meeting. I have to offer you one more advice to continue the story by the reading of my Book. And it would be entirely up to both of you now."
"What is your advice for us, Brother Fate?" Runoa asked.
"Find True-Love," Fate said as he materialized into nothingness. "I wish you luck in your search. Remember, both your destinies are interwined as the threads were already sew together in the first place, no matter you try to hide from it, it would come back to you both."
"True Love?" the Prodigal wondered what Fate was trying to tell them. He looked at Runoa and could not help but move forward and kissed her on her cheek, telling her that he could find no reason for not loving her.
"How are we going to find True Love?" Runoa asked, as she looked at Prodigal. Prodigal hugged her with her head laid on his shoulders. He stroke her hair and told himself that he would let any harm caused by his misdeeds affected the life of a woman he loved so dearly.
"We will find it," he comforted the goddess of Love,"if it means that I have to sacrifice my life." Even though there is no clue to what is happening, the Prodigal knew that he had a destiny to fulfil.
(c)Faerie Land
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In the vast Universe, we have many realms of existence, and one of the gateways opened into the home of the Faerie Elves. The Forest of the Elves were their natural homes, and wooden tree homes were carved beyond the tall, strong and old trees of at least five thousand years old. The home of the Elves were fortified by a big wooden gate, which were guarded by powerful Elvish archers, who were reputated to be the most accurate and precise shooters with the bow and arrows.
The God of Time's bride to be, Mayar was sitting by the pond. She had been hiding in the home of the Faerie elves after she was cursed by the demoness, Hallo Kathy. In order to stop the curse from bringing famine and destruction to whichever human settlement she goes, she came to Faerie Land to seek the help from the Queen of the Elves, Queen Amanda who was an expert on dealing with magical curses. She had managed to use the powers of the natural forest to purge the evil charm which was affecting Mayar's health. However, it was still far from recovery.
During this time of her stay, she was courted by the crown prince of the elves, Kallen. Kallen was of the royal blood and spent half his life in scholarly works of the human race. However, he tried too hard to impress Mayar till the latter was trying to avoid him.
While sitting by the quiet lake, Mayar stared at her reflection and see herself in the surface of the river, while playing with her two long tied plaits. She was wondering what had happened to her beloved Torrants, the poet. She had ran away from him, fearing that her curse would hurt him. Sometimes, people just leave their loved ones in order not to hurt them, but they did not realize by not talking to their loved ones about their problems, they hurt them even more. She was very sure that her beloved Torrants must have searched high and low for her.
Just at this moment, the beautiful blue sky was suddenly torn apart. The fabric of space time suffered a puncture, and a shining blaze of light hit struck right into the river. Mayar was shocked by the sudden occurrence. She dived into the lake and swam towards where the light struck the surface of the river. She found a cocoon drowning in the midst of the waters. Quickly, she caught the cocoon and brought it to the shore. Till she got on shore, she saw a five feet tall stout slender and graceful young man with pointed ears in front of her.
"Mayar, are you alright?" he spoke with grace and he was none other than Kallen, the crown prince of Elves.
"I am alright, but I found this," she said, as she dragged the cocoon onto the grassbed. Suddenly the cocoon broke and a figure emerged from the cocoon. It was a little young girl of about 12-13 years of age. She seemed mystical in her origin. She had very distinct and beautiful features, which gave her an unearthly beauty. Yet she had a pair of blue crystal eyes, which made her very distinct.
"Who are you?" asked the Kallen,"Why do you trepass into Faerie Land?" He spoke in a demanding voice.
"My name is Valentine," she replied with a confident smile,"and I am an Endless. I hold the profile of Love for my mother. I am here to search for my parents. I am referred by the other Endless as True Love, since I restore the balance of the Universe, as it was the destiny of my parents to produce my existence to safeguard the cosmos."
"Who are your parents?" Mayar asked, as she saw a resemblance to an Endless she knew. It reminded her of her friend, the goddess of Love, Runoa.
"My mother is the former Goddess of Love, known by the name of Runoa, and my father bears a former representation in the order of the Endless, and he is known now to the mortals and the manifestations as the Prodigal." The girl replied.
"You mean you are Runoa's daughter," Mayar asked.
"Yes, I am," Valentine smiled,"I am from the future many millenia from now. My father made a mistake in the past by entering a duel with the Devil in order to save the God of War, Bish and the God of Time, Torrants, in the past, which happened during this time. This led to my existence beginning to be eradicated by an anomaly caused by their duel. If I can't change the reality by restoring the anomaly to proper order, my mother would die soon and I would cease to exist. I have came here to bring the past to its proper path. As a matter of fact, I was brought back here, by a future Torrants."
"You mean, Torrants is now the God of Time," Mayar heard the name of her lover mentioned by Valentine.
"He was lured to hell because of you. The evil demoness, Hallo Kathy, had lured him into Hell by telling him that the Devil had captured you to be his bride."
Mayar was touched in her heart, and realized how sweet was her boyfriend. Kallen saw her look and a feeling of jealously entered his mind. He could not do anything, but to sigh to himself.
"So, what is this anomaly caused by your father and the Devil?" Mayar asked, as she was concerned for the life of her best friend, Runoa.
"Well, it's ..," Valentine was suddenly interrupted by a sinister laughter. Mayar, Kallen and Valentine suddenly realized that they were surrounded by the Ah Bengs and Ah Lians soldiers with their guns pointing at them. The laughter belonged to a woman who was the concubine of the Devil, Hallo Kathy, who was also the adversary of Mayar. The demoness wanted Mayar dead because she had taken her ex-boyfriend from her, who was of course, Torrants the poet.
"Well, well, well, you are not going anywhere," Hallo Kathy said with her evil laughter,"Because we would have to capture you and bring you to our master." The heat had just begun, and it was inevitable for the three of them to fight the demons.
[to be continued]
[This message has been edited by prodigal (edited 10 February 2000).]
[This message has been edited by prodigal (edited 10 February 2000).]
