Wysteria, page 36
Though Will’s mind was swimming with questions, he decided to set them aside until he’d had time to digest all that Jeremy had told him. He’d learned much and had gotten answers – important ones.
. . . But before the girls returned and put a hold on their conversation (if not an end to it), there was another issue, another ongoing mystery, that Will wanted Jeremy to address.
“You mentioned that you ‘had some thoughts’ about Lilly,” he said, hoping Jeremy would take it from there.
“Ah yes . . . ,” Jeremy responded.
“She came to our aid again – attacking that beast in the square,” Will noted. “. . . Is she another Guardian Angel in disguise?”
“No,” he replied, “. . . she wears no disguise. She is the woman you see.”
“Not an other-Worldly being, then?”
Jeremy then turned and faced him. “. . . How do you feel about her?” he asked.
“Well, she seems at home here,” said Will, “but —”
“How do you feel toward her?” he interrupted, rephrasing his question.
Jeremy waited a moment for Will to answer, then (getting no response but a bewildered look) he tried again: “What do you feel for her?”
Will now understood. He thought about the day he met her – their embrace, their kiss, the longing in her eyes. “It’s . . . hard to describe,” he said, blushing, as he cast his eyes downward.
“. . . Yes,” Jeremy said, knowingly. “. . . It is clear she loves you. . . . Passionately.”
Will started to protest, but Jeremy quickly silenced him with a wave of his hand. “It is clear,” he said, with authority.
“. . . Lilly told me that she was with me . . . ‘before I could remember’,” said Will.
Jeremy smiled and nodded. “. . . Yes, I believe that is true.”
“So, like Iris, she was with me in the Waking World?” he asked.
“No, Will,” he said. “Quite unlike Iris, this is the only World in which she resides.”
Which meant she could not be a Goddess of any sort. Nor could she be a Dreamer, if this were her only home. But if she somehow pre-dated Wysteria . . .
“. . . Then what is she?” Will asked. “Where did she come from?”
“She came . . . with you,” said Jeremy. “Not from the Waking World, though . . . , but from your earlier, transitory dreams.
“The realms formed in ‘ordinary’ dreams have no stability, no constancy, and tend to evaporate as soon as we leave those worlds. They fade, as does our memory of them. But, though fleeting, they are Creations, and sometimes . . . fragments linger.”
“When I first saw Lilly, she did seem familiar – as if I knew her from somewhere,” Will told him. “. . . And then, when I held her, it felt . . .”
“As if you had held her before.”
“. . . Yes.”
“But not in the Waking World,” Jeremy proffered.
Will shook his head. “No,” he said. “. . . I would have remembered.”
“And you have,” said Jeremy. “She was lost to your conscious mind, but a part of you has not forgotten. Though the realms in which you were together dissolved, she remained.”
“How is that possible?” he asked. “. . . Where would she go?”
“I can only guess that she drifted in the World between Worlds,” Jeremy replied, “dormant, a disembodied spirit, reemerging and returning to you in your dreams. But for this to happen, for her existence to continue, your emotional attachment to her must have been strong. She left your mind, but never your heart. It was your love for her that kept her from passing away. The energy was strong enough to give her an independent existence. You gave her . . . the breath of life.”
Will now understood – in his mind and in his heart. “. . . And once I Created Wysteria?” he asked.
Jeremy smiled. “. . . You gave her a home,” he answered.
CHAPTER XXXIV
“Lilly’s love for you goes beyond passion,” said Jeremy. “Her devotion to you is selfless. She is loyal to you, for you have given her everything. This is why, without hesitation, she will come to your defense.
“Unlike benevolent Angels, whose interest in us, no matter how heart-felt, can never be more than a hobby, Lilly will never know another World but yours.”
“So . . . , using your rainbow analogy,” said Will, trying to tie together the various threads of information Jeremy had given him today, “Lilly’s ‘spectrum’ is limited to one color, while Iris has access to many?”
“Yes,” Jeremy replied. “That is an apt description.”
“. . . And our Guardian Angels just ‘pop in’ every once in a while to see how we’re doing?”
At this, Jeremy chuckled. “Not quite,” he answered. “In the case of true Gods and Goddesses, even when they are within their primary Worlds, they are not blind to ours. . . . This is an important difference between the Gods and lesser beings (such as us): besides having access to more Worlds, their consciousness is not limited, as ours is, to a single one. They seem able to observe (if not exist within) many Worlds at once.”
“. . . What would happen to Lilly if Wysteria suddenly disappeared – if I . . . died?” Will asked.
“That depends,” said Jeremy.
“. . . On . . . ?”
“On many things,” he said.
It didn’t appear that Jeremy planned to enumerate them, however. And Will didn’t press the issue, for he had another concern.
“Having such a ‘singularly faithful devotee’ – particularly one as beautiful and desirable as Lilly – is certainly . . . flattering,” Will conceded, blushing again, “but it’s also troubling.”
“In what way?” Jeremy asked.
“ . . . I’m in love with Emily,” he answered.
“Ah,” said Jeremy. “You see this as a conflict – within your heart. . . . But you needn’t. Lilly is a woman, but not simply ‘another woman’. She is an embodiment of your love and passion. The bond between you and these two women is quite different. You needn’t feel you are being ‘unfaithful’ to either of them.”
“I don’t,” said Will, “. . . but what about them? What about their feelings?”
“I think they both understand,” he replied. “Emily knows she has your love. And Lilly appears to accept this. Though, as a woman, Lilly may want your attention, she knows she’ll always have a place in your heart. There is bound to be some instinctive jealousy, but I sense no real animosity between them.”
It was true. Even though Emily liked to tease him about Lilly, she didn’t seem to feel threatened by her. And though Lilly was definitely cool toward Emily when they met, she had warmed a bit.
“I’m sure you’re right – about all of it,” said Will. “Now that I understand who Lilly is, everything makes sense . . . , except . . . .
“Where are the girls?” he murmured, turning his head toward the doorway. “I just want to make sure . . . .” He could feel their presence, not too far away, probably in the castle, perhaps on one of the upper floors . . . , but not within earshot.
“There’s something funny going on between Lilly and Charlotte,” he said, speaking quietly.
“Funny? How so?” Jeremy asked.
“Not funny as in ‘comical’ – something strange, odd.”
Will then told him what had happened the night of the festival – the disdainful look Lilly had given Charlotte when they saw her in the crowd, and what Lilly had said to him later while the girls were dancing together: that he should “watch out” for Charlotte.
“I see . . . ,” said Jeremy. “And how did Charlotte react toward her?”
“When I first pointed Lilly out to her (before Lilly noticed us sitting together), Charlotte said that she looked familiar. . . . She later explained that she might have seen her somewhere in town earlier that day, but . . . .”
“You don’t believe her?” Jeremy asked.
“I have no reason not to,” Will answered, “. . . but both of them, Lilly and Charlotte, seem suspicious of each other – as if they’ve met before, somewhere. . . . Which would be impossible, given what you’ve told me about Lilly’s identity.
“Emily and I have talked about it, and we both get the same feeling. She suggested it might be nothing more than a ‘girl thing’ (as she puts it) – some kind of gut-level, female rivalry.”
“Yes,” said Jeremy. “. . . Charlotte fancies you.”
“But she’s Emily’s good friend. I don’t think she’d —”
“I did not say she had ‘designs’ on you,” he countered, before Will could finish. “But there is a ‘romantic’ attraction.”
Will could not deny this. He’d seen it clearly in her eyes.
“. . . Emily may be right,” Jeremy continued. “Perhaps Lilly is just being cautious, protective. She senses that Charlotte desires you and sees her as a potential threat – to her relationship with you, or to yours with Emily.”
“Maybe so . . . ,” said Will.
“You sound unconvinced,” Jeremy observed.
“Charlotte seems uncomfortable whenever Lilly comes up in a conversation,” he said, “. . . and I can’t help feeling that she’s holding something back – not lying to us, but not telling us everything. . . . Do you think she might understand who Lilly really is?”
“. . . An interesting idea,” Jeremy responded, sounding intrigued by the question. But he offered no answer.
Will then heard faint footsteps. “I think they’ve returned,” he said. But his inner sense promptly told him he was wrong. “. . . No – not they . . . , just Emily. . . . Charlotte’s gone.”
“Perhaps her ears had become too warm,” Jeremy remarked, drolly.
“I hope not,” muttered Will.
“Are you boys still out there?” he heard his sweetheart call from within the room.
“Yes, we are,” Will answered.
He stood and moved toward the doorway, meeting her as she stepped onto the balcony.
“So Charlotte left?” he asked, seeing she was, indeed, alone.
“Yes,” said Emily. “She needed to take off and said there was no reason to interrupt your conversation again. But she told me to say goodbye to both of you.”
“So where did you two go?”
“I showed her the grounds and gave her a quick tour of the castle,” she said. “We spent most of our time up on the tower. I told her about our jump into the ravine and Elysia’s Divine display.”
“What did she think of that?” Will asked.
“She thought it was incredible,” Emily replied. “Charlotte believes in Goddesses and Faeries and the like, but she’s never seen one herself – at least not that she can be sure of. So she got very excited. It was cute.
“She was also amazed that I leapt down there and you Tunneled back up.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t try jumping from the tower together,” said Will. “It seems like something she’d want to try.”
Emily laughed. “Charlotte is pretty fearless,” she said. “But though she’s a talented Traveler, she can’t Alter her body. We did think about Skipping down – just to look around. But we figured Elysia wouldn’t come out unless you were there. And she had things to do.”
“I must say,” said Jeremy, “I’m quite impressed by your progress . . . , though not altogether surprised by it.”
“I am,” she replied, “— surprised, that is. I have to thank you for encouraging me to work on my Body Control. It’s been fun, and what I learned did come in handy during the fight.
“. . . Speaking of Talents and the fight,” she said, “I don’t know if you two discussed this, but who – or what – were those men who attacked us? I’ve never seen anyone who could move as quickly as that pair who grabbed Charlotte. And those two who changed into monsters – I didn’t think it was possible to Alter one’s body that radically.”
“They were extraordinarily Gifted men,” said Jeremy. “But I believe that is what they were – men, Travelers, and most likely, mortal.”
“But not ‘supernatural beings’?” said Emily.
“From what you described . . . , no,” he said.
“Can you Alter your body like that?” she asked.
“I have, on occasion, been able to change my exterior physical form, but never to that extent,” he said. “In order to make such drastic changes so quickly, those men would have to be well-practiced and blessed with unusually strong natural Talent.”
“Why do you believe they were mortal?” asked Will.
“Few Immortals can Travel,” Jeremy replied. “And what could Nathan offer to those who can? They have their own Worlds at their command.”
“Do all Immortals have Worlds?” he asked.
“It is nearly (though not entirely) impossible for a Traveler, a Dreamer possessing no home, to become an Immortal,” said Jeremy. “. . . For after death, there is no World to which they can retreat.”
This last statement sent a chill up Will’s spine. The thought of possibly becoming “Immortal” himself, but living on for ages without Emily, was deeply troubling.
Jeremy must have seen the angst in his eyes, for after staring into them for a moment, he smiled and said, “. . . There are always exceptions.”
Yes, he thought, feeling heartened – Lilly had survived. Emily was not his Creation; yet perhaps, if the bond were strong enough . . . .
“Whoever those men were, and however they acquired their skills, they are little threat to you here,” said Jeremy, closing the subject.
There was a brief lull, then Emily spoke up. “. . . Do you think it would be safe for us to leave Wysteria?” she asked.
“Leave?” said Jeremy. “. . . Ah, yes . . . , you are anxious to try Traveling to another World together.”
“I’m not sure if that’s possible yet,” she replied, “but since we have been able to move within Wysteria . . . .”
“I think we need more practice here,” Will interjected, as Jeremy mulled over Emily’s question.
“I agree,” she said. “I just meant, when we felt ready . . . .”
“. . . I would remain cautious,” Jeremy finally answered. “Once you leave Wysteria, you are vulnerable, and Nathan has eyes and ears in many Worlds. . . . The dust will settle soon enough.”
“. . . What if we came to your World?” Emily proposed. “Wouldn’t that be safe?”
“. . . Yes . . . ,” said Jeremy, “I imagine it would. . . . A clever thought, my dear. Yes – you are welcome to try any time.”
Having received his permission to visit, along with a compliment, Emily looked pleased, smiling first at Jeremy, then at Will.
“I bet we could do it,” she said. “We’ve done it before.”
“That’s true . . . ,” Will replied. After Jeremy had pushed them into the Dark, they’d found their way to his World. “I suppose we could try.”
“Now?” she asked, eagerly.
“. . . Let’s practice here today and see how it goes,” he said. “I’d like to feel more comfortable with it.”
“Tomorrow? . . . Maybe?”
“. . . Maybe,” he answered, with a wink.
Emily responded by giving him a hug, clearly taking his “maybe” for a “yes”.
“So, what did I miss?” she asked, addressing both men. “What did you two talk about while I was showing Charlotte around?”
“. . . Your beloved can explain,” Jeremy said to her, after a quick glance at Will. “I am off now.”
“Already?” said Emily.
Jeremy adjusted the collar of his jacket and pulled on each sleeve, then turned to have a last look at the falls before leaving them. “. . . We will see each other again soon,” he said, “perhaps when you come to call.”
“I can’t thank you enough,” Will said to him.
“. . . My pleasure,” he replied in a far-away voice, gazing down at the pool where the waterfall met its end.
“. . . Perhaps I can give you a small parting gift,” said Will.
“Unnecessary,” Jeremy murmured.
Will closed his eyes and called forth an image of the Water Faerie, silently pronouncing her name. He then made a request . . . , which she granted. For now, emerging from the music of the falls, came Elysia’s song, filling the valley with its haunting melody.
For several minutes after the final notes had fallen, all three remained silent.
Then Jeremy spoke, breaking the spell. “. . . Thank you,” he said, quietly. And, without turning, he faded from Wysteria.
CHAPTER XXXV
Once alone, Will and Emily walked to the railing where Jeremy had been standing.
“. . . You called her?” she asked, looking down at the river.
“Yes,” said Will. “I wanted to show my appreciation for all his help. . . . I thought he might enjoy it.”
Emily took his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I’m sure he did,” she said. “He seemed very touched. . . . What made you think of that?”
“While you were gone, we discussed Elysia – what she was, how she differed from Iris, her relationship with Wysteria . . . and with me.”
“Did you get all of your questions about Iris answered?” she asked.
“All of my questions?” he said, with a chuckle. “Hardly. . . . But the ones I asked? Yes.”
“Good,” she replied. “Any more interesting revelations?”
“Yes . . . , many.”
“. . . I want to sit on some grass,” Emily announced. “Then we can have ‘story time’.”
Will agreed and began moving toward the doorway, but Emily grabbed his hand, stopping him.
“Why use the stairs?” she said.
“You want to jump?” he asked her. “As in, ‘fly’?”
“We could . . . , but I was thinking . . . .”
“. . . Ah – you want to try Skipping down.”
“You said you needed to practice,” she reminded him.
“. . . I did . . . ,” said Will. And since there seemed no reason not to try, he consented.
With Will a step behind, Emily walked over to the western side of the balcony and looked down over the railing. “How about that spot – on the bank, where we saw Charlotte?” she proposed.
