Reunion

Eioldth is reunited with some loved ones after her death

38.

Reunion

 

“Hello, Eioldth.”  A somehow familiar male voice said from somewhere in the light.   It wasn’t Haroldris, nor her father, or even her dead son, though she didn’t suspect that she’d hear his voice ever again.  But it was familiar to her… somehow.

“Where am I?”  She asked, sensing in the whiteness that he was still there.

“You are one of the few who get to experience this place.   I call it the ‘Hall of Decision.’  You have died, my dear child, and it grieves me that it happened like it did.”

The recent memory suddenly popped into her head and though it was painful, in this place she could only give a sad sigh, as if it no longer mattered.

“You are The Lord, aren’t you?”  She asked, already knowing without a doubt.

“Yes, child.   You remember the vision that you shared with those who are ageless, many years ago?   I told you then that there would be a time for each of you to pass from this world, if you didn’t die from injury.   You were going to be the first one of your friends in the world to be taken by this manner, in a few months.   But now that is a moot point.   I just need to ask you a question.   I have a job for you to do in Flux.   It is rather important, but if you agree to it, you will be delayed from joining me in paradise for some time.”

“I had planned for you to take this job after I took you up in a few months, as that was part of the agreement between the immortal ones and me.   But now that you have died, you have every right to join me in paradise for eternity.   If you choose to go to Flux instead, you will be alive again, but you will not be able to go back to Synomenia, even in Westmark as Sophia and Khord do now, as you are dead, unless you are specifically sent there by my hand.”

“But in Flux you will be very much alive and will live there until you decide you tire of it and wish to join me in paradise.   What is your choice, Eioldth?”

The Elven lady only paused for a moment, reflecting on both options, “Well, there are many in paradise I would love to see again, of course, but I don’t want to let you down, Lord, so I choose Flux.”

“Good, I am very glad.   I will see you soon.” 

 

As she wondered what he meant, suddenly she was standing in the middle of a huge open plaza, beside the largest fountain she had ever seen.   It was a sunny, cool day and people were milling all around her, but didn’t seem to notice her much. 

Looking down at herself, she was surprised to find that she wore some very strange clothes.   The shirt was soft and finely made, of a bright pink color.   She wore pants that almost felt like canvas to the touch, but were of a blue color and conformed perfectly to her legs.  On her feet were some very strange shoes of some odd material with laces, yet they felt extremely comfortable.  

 

She was still looking at her clothing when the shadow of someone coming up to her got her attention.

“Well hello!” A friendly male voice said to her and her head snapped up in recognition.  

Eioldth let out a loud scream of delight upon seeing him.   He wore clothing somewhat similar to hers, but had some sort of dark jacket on as well.   Through his neatly trimmed red beard, she could see him smiling excitedly and his blue eyes sparkled with the fire of youth.  He was exactly as he had been when she’d first met him as a young man.    It was Haroldris.

Forgetting all dignity, she literally jumped into his arms like a love-sick girl, hugging him tightly and not allowing him any chance to speak as she passionately kissed him.   She had watched him age slowly and then finally forget who she was and most everything else, as his body shriveled up and then died.  

 

But the man she embraced now seemed young and strong.   She felt his powerful arms supporting both of them as she wrapped herself around him, crying with unbelievable joy at the reunion of the only man she had ever loved.

 

For a long time she wept happily and kissed him, and he seemed as thrilled to see her as well.   Finally they sat down on the edge of the fountain.   She touched his cheek, “My love, is it really you?  Are you really here right now or is this some sort of dream?”

 

Haroldris smiled, “Oh, I’m quite real and I’m very much here, my love.   I’ve been here for 2 years, in fact.”

 

“In Flux?   But how?   I thought only those Yesh spoke to in the dream would come here.”  She had never told him about the dream that she and her immortal friends had all shared, so she prepared to explain this to him, but to her surprise, he nodded, indicating that he knew all about it.

 

“Well, there were some changes made, many years ago, to that agreement.   You see, Sophia and Khord both felt that it would be hard for those of our friends who did not age, to some day be brought to Flux to work for Yesh, but be separated from those they loved back in Synomenia.   So they lobbied to Yesh to allow any of the family members of your group of immortals, to be given the option to come to Flux and live until you all decide to go on to paradise.”

“So you came here instead of going into paradise?”  Haroldris smiled, “I wanted to see you again.   I knew I could wait, and I have, for 2 years now.”

 

Eioldth shook her head, in disbelief, “I never knew about this new arrangement!  You’ve been here since you died?”

“Yes; I was given an option by Yesh, and I choose to come here.   Of course I can’t leave here and go back to Synomenia like Sophia and Khord does, and we are not allowed to work as watchers, but we can hold down jobs in the city.”

Eioldth smiled, “So what are you doing?   Are you the King?”

Haroldris laughed, “My dear, Flux is a democracy, they vote for leaders here.   Believe it or not, I am actually the Mayor of Flux - I’ve held that position for a year now.”

“You’re kidding!”  The Elven lady laughed.

“No; I guess I make a good mayor, everyone seems to like me.”

“How amazing!”  

Haroldris grinned, “Oh, there are some other amazing things I want to show you.   In fact, here they come now.”

He gestured across the plaza, and she was puzzled for a moment, as there were all sorts of people going too and fro.    But then she saw them.   Two young women, both dressed in strange clothes, were hurriedly walking toward them.   One was jet black in color with long white hair pinned up and bright red eyes.   She smiled happily upon seeing Eioldth.  

It was Aurei and Eleazar’s oldest daughter, Leah, now a beautiful young lady.

 

But it was her companion that Eioldth focused on.   She was a tall, gorgeous redhead, her hair wild and long, flowing like copper down almost to her waist.   Her eyes were a crystal blue and tears sparkled in them.   For a second Eioldth couldn’t believe it, but though she was a fully grown young woman, the Elven lady recognized the half-elf.

It was her daughter, Joila. 

 

Eioldth squealed like an overjoyed child, jumped up and ran across the plaza, embraced the girl and swung her around and around, burying her head into her beautiful red hair.

“My baby!”  Eioldth said over and over, weeping for several minutes as she clung to her child and kissed her.

 

Finally they went back to the fountain.   Haroldris sat with Leah, both wiping tears from their eyes at the reunion.

 

“Hello, child!”  Eioldth now greeted the lovely Drow girl with a warm embrace, “My goodness, look at you!  You are so lovely!   Your mother would be so amazed!”

“Welcome to Flux, Your Majesty.”  Leah said to her.

“I’m not a Queen anymore.”  She replied, looking down at Haroldris, “Just the wife of the mayor.”

 

“Oh, I think you’ll be a bit more then that.”   Joila commented, winking at her father and her best friend as they all sat down. Eioldth stroked her daughter’s hair.

 

“Joila, I can’t believe it - you are so beautiful!   You look just like I thought you would.   Your hair is wonderful!   It’s so long, and just like your father’s!   You’ve got to tell me everything!”

The redheaded half-elf just laughed, “There is plenty of time for that, mom.   Leah and I were actually the reason that Yesh changed the rule.   You see, when Sophia and Khord found out that we’d been killed by the Faesidhe, they went to Yesh and asked that since we’d died so young, perhaps he’d let us come to Flux.   We’ve lived here since then.   Sophia actually raised us for a few years until we were old enough to be out on our own.”

Leah nodded, “Yeah, but we’re still roommates; we share an apartment.”

Eioldth smiled, “I’m so glad.   So what do you both do here?”

“We both work at the museum.”  Joila answered, “Leah is the receptionist/cashier and I’m a tour guide, but we both are taking some of Sophia’s classes at the university so we can work as archivists.”

“What about boys?  Do you have suitors?”  

The two girls looked at each other, then Leah spoke, “Well, I have, but the Mayor has scared off quite a few boys from dating Joila.”

Haroldris shook his head, “I didn’t ‘scare off’ any of them.   I just let them know that she was my daughter, and was born a princess and I expected them to treat her like one.”

Joilia sighed, rolling her eyes, “Mom, can you believe that?”

“It sounds sensible to me.”

“Oh no, not you too!”  The half-elf groaned and they all laughed.

“Eioldth, there is something else I should tell you.”  Haroldris said, his smile fading, “You weren’t the first to arrive today from Synomenia.   Leah’s sisters, Aranthi and Sirya arrived several hours ago -  apparently they too died in the same blast that killed you and they also elected to come here.   They are meeting with Sophia right now.”

“Oh no, not them too!”  Eioldth felt tears welling up again.

“Your Majesty, don’t worry.”  Leah took her hand, “They are fine.   I was reunited with them before we came here.   They are more worried about how Mom and Dad will react to their deaths then anything.”

“They were so young, Leah!   They died because of me!”

 

“They died because of an evil man with an evil plan.   Sophia is going to try to get permission from Yesh to go and meet with Mom and Dad and reassure them that my sisters are in a good place and are happy.”

“Aurei and Eleazar are still going to hurt.   Leah, they never really got over your death.   Oh, how sad!   What about your other sisters?   Did they die too?”

“Not that I know of, Your Majesty.   Sophia checked and they were still alive, as is that Elven knight, though he is badly injured.   Thorm died, however.”

“Oh no!!   Can he come here too?”

“No, I’m afraid not.”  Haroldris replied, “It is only for family members of the Watchers.”

Eioldth put her head in her hands, “He was growing old, but he had two sons he loved.   He was the head of the Bitter Dregs in Northmarch!”

Haroldris and the two girls all nodded, for they knew all this information.  They comforted the Elven lady until she regained her composure.   As she was drying her eyes, Aranthi and Sirya walked up.

“Oh, girls, I am so sorry!”  Eioldth exclaimed, standing up to hug them. 

“It’s not your fault, Your Majesty.” Sirya replied, patting her on the back.

“We’ll be alright, Your Majesty.”  Aranthi added, “Sophia told us to tell you that she’s sorry that she can’t come to greet you, but she wants you to meet her in her office at the museum.”

“Oh, alright… how do I get there?”

Leah handed her what looked like a large coin, “Here, use my teleportation coin.   This is the only way you can get in there after hours  -a security measure they set up.   She won’t mind you using mine.   Just think of the museum while holding the coin and you’ll be teleported there.   It only works for the museum though.”

Eioldth took the coin but hesitated, looking at Haroldris and the girls.

“Don’t worry,” Her husband smiled, “We’re not going any place.   We’ll stay here until you finish your meeting.  The coin will take you back here.   We’ll be waiting.”

Eioldth nodded, taking the hand of her husband and daughter for a moment, “I am so glad I decided to come here.   I can’t tell you both how badly I’ve missed you.”

“We’ve missed you too, Mom.”   Joila replied, “Now go ahead and go see Sophia.   You might get a few surprises there too!”

They all laughed, knowing something that she didn’t, but she wasn’t worried.   With a last look at them all, she took the coin in her palm, thought of the museum (which she had only seen briefly, 87 years ago) and immediately vanished.

Reviews

[Elina]

"But now that it a moot point." I believe "it" should be "is."

[Eddie Davis]

Yes, you are correct. If you had a dollar for every mistake you have found in my books, you would have a pocket full of cash. Thank you as always.

[Elina]

Haha! You are most welcome.