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
---------------------------
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
--------------
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).]
