The Wind Rose (7 page)

Standing majestically on the highest hill of the Island, is the Prism Palace, the shimmering vision he remembers. It appears to be a crystal of monolithic proportions, deceptively transparent, with near-blinding refractions of light that obscure its interior from view. Angular and defined, a geometric puzzle with smooth and seamless interlocking pieces, the palace is comprised of a tetragon on the left, a trigonal on the right, and a hexagonal center that towers over all.

He is compelled to run to its threshold, just as he did that first time, to let the Celestial rainbows of color wash over him, embrace him, consume him. But David also recalls that the Palace interior was a labyrinth of peril from which he had to rescue Saliana who was cruelly imprisoned in the Tower, and escape the clutches of the evil Jaycina.

Jaycina, David learns, no longer inhabits the Prism Palace as High Priestess. With her metamorphosis from malevolent temptress into a benevolent matriarch, Jaycina's mission was finished and she moved on to another time and place. David believes that Jaycina's spirit embodies Janice Cole who, herself, had a transformation from being an accommodating subordinate to that rat Nathan Fischbacher, to the courageous and astute woman who beat Nathan at his own game and saved Cole Shipping.

Ishtar and David tour the miraculous new city, one that Ishtar had envisioned, and then finally manifested. The architecture of every structure that Ishtar designed and built is spectacular, and David marvels at the temples of Science and Nature, Medicine and Healing, and Humanistic Understanding. But his favorite is the Temple of Music and Miracles, once the ominous Prism Palace. It is where Saliana studies with the Temple's music master, Rami.

“This is amazing,” David remarks. “Here you have an entire temple devoted to music and yet in Coronadus where Rami lived there was no music at all let alone a Temple for it.”

“You are correct,” Ishtar concurs. “I'm sure if you think about it for a moment, you can figure out why.”

“Me? Figure it out? Uh - well, can you give me a hint?”

“All right,” Ishtar agrees. “You remember how enthralled you were with Saliana's song -”

“Yes, that beautiful song about the Moon Singer. It was the first sound I had heard since before I went deaf. It was as though an angel was calling me and I followed it to the Island.”

“Well, it was Rami who programmed Saliana's song with secret musical codes that correlate to the codes in the Rose Crystal Pendant. This is why her music has miraculous healing power and why your sister was able to rise out of her wheelchair and walk.”

“Because Saliana gave me the Rose Crystal to bring home for Sally,” David concludes. “And…oh, no…because I had the Rose Crystal, there could be no Temple of Music here.”

David is distraught, to think that, again, he was the cause of Ishtar's loss. First his experiments with crystals caused an earthquake that separated Ishtar and his wife, and then his taking the Rose Crystal home with him also meant he was taking away all music from Coronadus.

“But now we have it back again,” Ishtar tells him soothingly.

“But how?” David asks, confused. “The Rose Crystal is missing. My father accidentally gave it away.”

“Your father didn't really give it away, David. I took it back.” Again, Saliana appears as if from nowhere.

David turns sharply at the sound of her voice. “You did? Why, Saliana? Why would you do that to Sally?”

“The Rose Crystal was created to heal and to sustain life through its music, but right now it is troubled,” Saliana explains, now joining David and Ishtar on their walkabout. “It is picking up damaging vibrations in the atmosphere of your Port Avalon, and that's what interfered with Sally's recovery. I couldn't take the chance that the codes would be broken or discovered by someone who had ill motives.”

“What do you mean?”

“There are things happening in your home town that are disruptive - the fighting, the prejudice, the environmental problems, the erratic weather changes, the fear of an Apocalypse. They all point to a breakdown in Universal Law, especially the laws of music.”

“Amazing! That's just what Dr. Ramirez says,” David tells her.

“He's right,” Saliana agrees. “But he is not being completely truthful with you.”

“Why? Why would he lie to me?”

Rami, also appearing from no discernible place interjects, “I suspect that your Dr. Ramirez is creating the destructive musical vibrations.”

David refuses to believe it. The professor has been acting strange lately, and that new composition that David downloaded from Dr. Ramirez's keyboard is wildly out of control. But his idol and mentor could not possibly create havoc in the world with the music he so loves. It must be a mistake.

“Maybe he is doing it accidentally,” David suggests, “I mean there are only so many combinations of notes.”

“Actually, musical variety is virtually infinite,” Rami corrects him. “There are strings, winds and percussion instruments all making their own unique sounds with the same notes. A middle C on a piano sounds very different from middle C on a violin. Then you have the unique tenor of an electronic synthesizer. Add to this the fact that more than one note and more than one instrument can be played at the same time, and qualities like pitch, timbre, loudness and duration all enter into the equation.”

“I know it's a real long shot, but considering the law of averages, mathematically speaking, after all these years of creating music, couldn't someone just stumble upon the combination and not know it?”

“It's possible. Remotely possible,” Rami concedes. “But if they did it unconsciously they would also unconsciously reject the patterns.”

“I don't understand.”

“It all comes down to intent,” Saliana explains. “When people create music, they have the intention of evoking a response, usually a pleasant or favorable one.”

“Like romance or happy memories,” David submits. “But what about anger or power or control?”

“People
use
music to do this, but they don't usually
create
it with this intention.”

“But Hitler used the music Wagner created to stir up the German masses to Nazism,” David corrects Saliana.

“Yes, but Wagner didn't create his music for this perverted purpose,” Rami corrects David. “His intention was to shock and provoke, yes, but to lift people up to a different way of thinking, to self-empowerment not self-destruction. I think whoever is writing the dissonant music in Port Avalon knows it can destroy, because that is his conscious intent.”

“But why do you think it's Dr. Ramirez? What's his motive?”

“Well, that's the question, isn't it?” Rami suggests. “What
is
his motive?”

“Whatever it is, we've got to stop him,” David says, emphatically. “I'll just go tell him he has to stop, that he's hurting people and could destroy the entire town.”

“I doubt he will be stopped that easily. We need to find out why he has turned his passion into a malevolent obsession. And when we do, his impulses will have to be reversed.”

“Well, if we tell the authorities and he goes to jail, that will stop him!”

“No, no. We can't make it public,” Rami warns. “If we do, there are others who would go to any lengths to have these codes, to hold the entire world hostage. No. No one must know what is happening.”

“Rami, you went to extraordinary lengths to protect the Singer,” Ishtar says later, when the two of them meet alone, “nearly drowning to keep it safe. But now it must be returned to David. He needs it. Why are you so hesitant?”

When Coronadus was destroyed by Bianca, in an effort to save the people she loved, Rami was washed out to sea in the tidal wave. Although David tried to rescue him, he couldn't, and Rami and the Singer disappeared beneath the turbulent water. Before he sank to the depths of the ocean, Rami promised David he would protect the sacred crystal just as David had to protect the Wind Rose.

But when David asked Rami where the Singer was and if he could have it back, Rami was evasive and told David that he will give it to him when the time is right.

“I want him to use it right this time, when he returns home with it,” Rami insists to Ishtar. “He must realize the importance and the ramifications of his ownership of all three artifacts, especially the Singer.”

“I believe David knows fully its importance,” Ishtar defends David.

“But he must understand why he was given the power to sail the Moon Singer. He can't just continue to play around with crystals and grid patterns and accidentally fall into a solution,” Rami protests.

“Well, it was no accident this time. He deliberately set out to conjure up the Moon Singer and come back here, not even knowing what his mission is.”

“Yes, he had the intent,” Rami counters, “but it was still just luck that he entered the proper codes into his computer, even if they were in random sequence.”

“On a subconscious level he knows them, or else how could he come up with them?” Ishtar is getting a bit perturbed at Rami's intransigence.

“He must
consciously
know,” Rami says, more emphatic than ever. “Until he comes to a full realization, it's all luck and his karmic lessons will not come full circle.” “Then, show him his soul code,” Ishtar demands. “Part of his not knowing is your insistence he discover all for himself. It wouldn't hurt you to nudge things in his direction a bit. There is a lot at stake here.”

“I don't know,” Rami hedges. “He may not be ready. He's just a boy.”

“He is an extraordinary boy. He is ready,” Ishtar insists. “And he
will
get it.”

“But will the people of Port Avalon get it?”

As David and Saliana walk alone together in the magnificent gardens, catching up on old times and new, he talks about his hearing.

“There is an operation that can make me hear again back home. It's called a cochlear implant.”

“Is this what you want?” Saliana asks.

“I don't know. I love being here where I can hear everything. I still don't understand it. When I was here before, I needed the Singer to help me hear, but now I don't have it and I can hear perfectly.”

“When it was the Island of Darkness, there was so much chaos and treachery – interference in the air waves, Father likes to say – that you needed an instrument like the Singer to help you hone in on the important sounds. But now, in the Kingdom of Light, everything is harmonious, and you can hear with clarity without the crystal.”

“If it works here, why can't it work at home?”

“That is your choice, David. So far, you have chosen to remain deaf at home.”

“Bianca once said that to me. I chose to be deaf. I questioned it then, but now I’m beginning to understand karmic choices and their consequences. My deafness was a way for me to be closer to my mother, even after her death, so I could understand why she chose to die."

“And do you understand?”

“Well, sort of. Bianca made me see that it was Mom's way of atoning for the spiritual mistake of convincing her sister to join the war protest where she was killed.”

“That's pretty heavy Karma.” Saliana touches David's arm compassionately, and he places his hand over hers.

“It sure is. You know, I try to tell my Dad about all this and he thinks I'm being irrational, and maybe a bit crazy. He even brought a shrink home to talk to me about all of it. He especially can't understand why I refuse any more treatment or surgery to help me hear again.”

“And you think he feels you are imperfect,” Saliana says, completing his thoughts.

“Yes! How did you know?”

“Perhaps it's because I sense that you yourself feel imperfect, which could be part of the reason you keep trying to escape from home, to a magical place where you can hear the things you wish to hear.”

“Bianca said pretty much the same thing.” Changing the subject, he looks into Sally's clear blue eyes. “You remind me so much of my sister,” David says, feeling tenderness in his heart for both girls, but in totally different ways. “Tell me, did Sally choose to be crippled after the car crash?”

“I don't think so, David. I think it just happened so fast she didn't have time to choose the outcome.”

“Then if the Rose Crystal didn't cure her, what will?”

Saliana opens the collar of her dress to reveal the Rose Crystal Pendant, and removes it from her neck and places it in David's hand.

“I told you why it didn't work before, but I think things will be different this time. When I took it back, I reprogrammed the crystal with your Soul Code, David. It is actually you, your heart, body and soul that will create the miracle for Sally to wake up from her coma and walk again. This time for good.”

“Me? I don't understand?”

“You will. Rami will explain it to you. He will tell you that there is one very important task you must perform before giving Sally the Rose Crystal pendant. The decision that you make will have profound implications on your own future.”

“What do I have to do?”

“As I said, Rami will explain it all. And then you will choose your destiny.”

“This is all very confusing. I know, don't say it,” he smiles and holds up his hand to stop her reply. “It will all be clear to me in time.”

“I do believe you're getting it.” Saliana nods her approval, and smiles a smile that lights up the already glowing place in David's heart.

“Tell me one thing, though, Saliana. Does my destiny – does it include you at all. I mean, if I stay here, would there be a chance for us?”

Saliana giggles. “You mean as brother and sister?”

“Oh, boy. I keep forgetting. Or just want to forget. But if it's true, then we can't be anything but friends.”

“Well, it's sort of true,” she says. “Our lives have touched – yours, mine, Ishtar's, Bianca's, Dorinda's – many times over. We have all at one time or another been brother and sister, husband and wife, father and mother and child. But you and I, now, are not related. I am but a symbol of your sister Sally, because you so desperately wanted to find her when she disappeared, and you saw in me the vehicle to save her.”

David is relieved to say the least. He will let the reincarnation stuff alone right now. In this very moment, all he wants to do is touch Saliana's face gently, and kiss her lips sweetly. “I have wanted to tell you for so long, that I love you, Saliana.”

“And I love you, David. But your destiny is not here with me. There is a great love waiting for you back home. It's right under your nose, but you don't see it.”

“Home. As much as I want to go home, I do want to stay here a while longer, with you,” David says, holding her close.

Saliana responds by placing her cheek against his. “For the moment, we can be together and create more wonderful memories. At least, until the Moon Singer beckons and you must leave.”

“Why does the Singer conjure up the Moon Singer – a clipper ship?” David asks, changing the subject. “Why not a jet plane or space capsule in this day and age?”

“It's what your family is about,” Saliana tells him, “your heritage. Sailing the Moon Singer has a tranquility about it, a peacefulness. You could not hear the things you needed to hear if jet engines were roaring all around you.”

“I never thought of it that way.”