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The Miracle of the Divine Twins
- The Miracle of the Divine Twins -
Within the many columned halls of the great palace of Qalkiri, beautiful and splendorous as it was in those days with alabaster pillars and ornate carvings upon the walls... no match for the grand tapestries and murals that likewise decorated that great structure... the noblewoman Dal'pachta looked out from a balcony within one of the high minarets overlooking the Eden-like gardens that encircled the palace and she in the face of all this beauty and grandeur sighed. She could not decide if she felt amazed anew by all of this splendor, or if she was merely just so accustomed to it now that it bored her. She felt of two minds about it, as she looked up at the azure sky, cloudless on this warm early summer day, and spied in the distance a solitary vulture descending over the far off desert. She sat upon a marble bench on the balcony, and as she rose from it she smoothed the elegantly draped fabric of the baggy and voluminous pantaloons that she wore. They were of delicate silk, as was the soft, sleeveless blouse that was tucked into them, buttoned in the front up to her neck with small white pearl-like buttons. Both her pants and blouse were a mustard yellow in color and around the woman's waist was tied a sky blue sash belt. The slippers upon her feet with slightly upturned at the toes, as was the fashion, and around her head was a scarf of the same color as the sash. Her face was unveiled and lovely... veils were optional and a matter of choice, or not, in this kingdom, unlike in a few of the neighboring kingdoms where such accessories were mandatory and an expression of faith. She was dusky of skin, with the shade thereof bordering on a rich brown... and her eyes were a rich brown as well. Her hair beneath her headscarf was black, curly, and shoulder length with pretty curled bangs above her handsome eyebrows. She had an aquiline nose, full lips, and almond shaped eyes that were a bit smaller than many of the big-eyed noblewomen whom men considered beautiful. Her face was round, she was a tiny bit on the chubby side but not unhealthy, and most certainly not overweight. Her proportions were voluptuous with large breasts, wide hips and a plump buttocks. She was large of bone, strong, and sturdy. Her father had been a worker in the mines in his youth, ere he was chosen by a tribal matriarch of the desert peoples who had ties to the nobility that reigned in the kingdom of Maladaqin. He became the matriarch's husband, perhaps unwillingly as far as the story goes, and when she also became the wife of a nobleman of Maladaqin, for polygamy was ever the fashion of the peoples of these lands, it made the matriarch a noblewoman of the kingdom. And thus did it make her husbands, and she had many of those, also noblemen. Thus was Dal'pachta born into the nobility due to this set of circumstances. When her father joined the army and was called to right for his country in a disastrous campaign in the far south, she inherited his title and standing in the royal court. Thus did her esteem rise, and ever since then she knew a life of luxury, comfort and ease. At times, like today, it was boring for her she believed in part... not because she craved excitement as such but rather because she did not like stagnation or complacency. She enjoyed things that stimulated her, new things, and unusual things. She was a hedonist, a tad on the lusty side, and when provoked to anger she had a hellish temper to be reckoned with. Another noblewoman who was among her peers at court once did foolishly mock her because Dal'pachta... unlike most women... happened to have been born with fully functioning male genitalia and she did not have a woman's genitalia at all either internally or externally. Such conditions were far from unheard of... and the physicians of Maladaqin documented a great many such cases of children born thus. She had a voice that sounded like a teenage boy, rather than one that sounded high and lilting like so many women's voices tended to. And this too that noblewoman dared to mock, cruelly, within sight of many witnesses. Thus moved to anger, Dal'pachta clawed the side of that woman's face with her fingernails and cut her so deeply in her fury that the woman was scarred for life from it. That cruel, mocking woman never showed her now ugly face in the royal court ever again. The prince and the king and queen, who were all present on that occasion, chuckled and actually applauded what Dal'pachta had done. It was time for that bigoted woman to be taught a lesson anyway, and so why should it no have been so, given how many times in the past she had given Dal'pachta no end of grief!
Sometimes, such mockery ingrained itself in Dal'pachta's mind, and it was difficult for her when that happened to see herself fully as a woman. She hated that cruel people made her feel lesser as a woman, and it was unlawful in this kingdom for people do be bigoted like that, especially in public and right in sight of the rulers themselves. The offending woman had been fined for her mocking remarks, and that punishment was decreed by the prince himself. It was good to have friends in high places when trouble was visited upon her, and Dal'pachta was happy at least for that. Sometimes, she felt however as if she was actually two people... one male and one female... and this disturbed her for she only wished to be a complete person. But what did that mean, being a complete person? People said that so often, but what it means always varies from person to person. For her, it meant being at peace with herself and having no cause to feel like a lesser individual compared to others. That her father had begun as a miner, also, was fertile ground for certain people to make slights about... and given that she had loved her father, it had been oft that she reacted no less violently to mockery made of him. She was proud of herself, and proud of her roots... the workers of this land toil even still to help in the building such works of art and architecture as this very palace she lived in. They should never be mocked, she decided. And any who dared to do so deserved to be put in their place and made to realize the error of their self-righteous and narrow-minded thinking. To say that Lady Dal'pachta was a liberal, progressive, even sometimes radical minded woman was perhaps an understatement. Naturally that put her at odds were certain conservative sorts within the royal court, but she did not care what they thought of her. They were fools, she oft said, and fools will speak their foolishness until it is known as such by all. She turned around and began to walk down the spiral stairs that descended the minaret. In the distance, one of the temples rang the bells that called the faithful to prayer. She never attended the religious ceremonies, preferring to hold to her own sets of beliefs. It was not that her beliefs were at odds with the kingdom's religious practices, but it was more accurate to say that they were greatly divergent from them in enough ways to warrant wisely her need to distance herself from them. She was a loner, something of a rebel, and what few friends and loved ones... mostly lovers... that she had, she was grateful for. They were her rock, her strength when it was that she felt most in need of strength. This, then, is an accurate picture of this woman. She did next walk across the great hall from where the minaret stairs ended, and she made her way quickly across the hall towards the garden arch on the other side. Beyond that, she entered the gardens and basked in their glory for a good while. Every tree, planet, and flower known to Maladaqin could be found within those gardens, and there were fountains, statues, and sculptures as well as hedges cut in the shapes of animals and fantastic beasts. The children of the nobility oft played in the gardens, and in the capital city was a similarly fabulous garden for the common folk to enjoy. Whilst a class system very much existed, great strides were being taken to bridge the gap between the nobility and the common folk. This always did please Dal'pachta greatly, for even though she very much considered herself a noble, she respected the common folk greatly, and many of them loved her tremendously for this. Upon this day, the fourth day of the first week in the month of the Camel... all the months were named after animals... a man did thus meet with the noblewoman Dal'pachta in the royal gardens. She was sitting upon a bench near one of the fountains, when the cloaked and hooded man walked up to her and said unto her: “If the sun does rise early on the morrow, what will be the sign that dawn comes so early?” And she replied using their agreed upon answer: “It means that a new day has dawned, and nothing more.” He nodded his head, did draw back his hood, and sit down on the bench next to her. He had a shaved head, was lean and only a bit haggard looking, weathered was perhaps a better word for it, with eyes as dark as hers. He was not an old man by any means, but the years he had lived were hard and evident upon his lined features. For her part, Dal'pachta was hardly a giddy youth... she would be fifty years old in another month, but even so her breasts were those of a young woman still and likely somehow this was due to her mix of sexes. The court physician... had told her, she could expect to remain young looking well into her senior years.
Thus was her intersex nature a blessing of sorts in disguise! Though it did not feel like a blessing, at least during those times when she had to shave all of her body and facial hair off in order to be smooth and feminine completely in her appearance. She had a servant to assist her with that in recent years. Her humor was evident in her voice as she said unto the previously hooded man: “That was a ridiculous and silly idea you know, coming up with a password phrase of sorts so that I would know it was you. Hardly it is that you could not know you were speaking with me!” He chuckled a bit, put a hand on her meaty thigh, and said to her jovially in answer to her remark: “I know, but I did not forget how nervous you do typically get around strangers or people you do not know, and that I had to appear this day in secret and this hooded until I was within your presence... I did not want you to become alarmed or distressed. You know I love you, Dal! And I mean only to put your mind and heart at ease as much and as oft as I can.” His hand went between her legs and he gave her a bit of a playful molestation... she enjoyed how that made her feel, smiled after gasping a bit out of surprise, and waited for him to lean in and kiss her with the passion he always kissed her with. “I love you also, Nalek. You are... I cannot begin to express what you mean to me!” and the pair embraced and held each other for a span. After that, they withdrew from the embrace and Nalek took a small scroll out from a pouch on his belt. He was robed like a scholar, in desert folk robes, and it was only natural for him given he was actually a scholar as well as a nobleman of no small standing. The scroll contained instructions... very specific ones... and were for no eyes other than Dal'pachta's and Nalek's. “This will change your life going forward, my lady. Once you go to that place, once you do this thing you are set upon doing... there will be no turning back from it. I am not at all adverse to what you are intending, but I must know one thing! What will you do once this is done?” She smiled serenely, knowingly, and explained to her on again off again paramour: “I will have need of a guardian... and you will need to take on that role for me.” He smiled contentedly, and told her of this: “I am at peace with this. If it brings you happiness, it shall be as well with me.” She would set out upon the setting of the sun, travel by night to her destination, and do what the scroll instructed her to. Surly, it would be dangerous and mad but it was also the only way to escape the torment that was within her and had been for many years. They kissed again, and Nalek put his hand down her pants after undoing that garment's drawstrings. He reached under her undergarments and began to pleasure her. She laid back on the bench and closed her eyes, savoring the experience of his hand's expert ministrations. If he kept up like this, it was a certainty she would orgasm soon... and she awaited her climax eagerly. She had not so expected this, but she was glad for it! A gift of pleasure was never something she did not receive with satisfaction. Ere long, she felt herself experiencing ecstasy and was very satisfied indeed! They kissed one last time ere she ran off towards her chambers to clean herself up and change her now wet clothes. She needed to prepare proper traveling attire anyway, and following that she would eat an early supper and get some sleep so that she would be able to journey through the night and not be too tired to do so. She awoke two hours prior to midnight after sleeping through the afternoon, and despite her age she did feel as energetic as a child might. She had slept naked, as was her want, and slipped on a fresh pair of undergarments before putting on a pair of cotton Salwar style pantaloons. Tucked into those was a bit of a similar sort of sleeveless blouse to what she has worn earlier, only this too was of cotton. The blouse was a dark purple, almost plum in color, and the pantaloons were a deep shade of scarlet. She put on a gold sash belt, a pair of sandals, and picked out a traveling cloak for when it got cold at night. She did intend to bring her maidservant along with her after swearing the girl to secrecy so that she could keep up being shaved and looking perfect during the days ahead. And this journey would take days, likely an entire week almost, before Dal'pachta would reach the place that was to change her life forever. Enough food for the journey would be brought along in a sack that the maidservant would carry, and she would not need to bring much for money upon this trek. There was likely nothing at all to be encountered on the chosen route, and it was in an area that even bandits never frequented. She expected no difficulties.
As the noblewoman and her girl servant slipped away in the night and made their way across the sand of the desert and the dried ground of the wastelands, the cool of the night became much colder once the wind began to pick it. Even in the summer, these barren lands at night could be chilling even as they did scorch during the day due to the arid environment. Dal'pachta had her scimitar sheathed on her back for she was most proficient with that weapon... and the maidservant carried a saber that she had equal skill with. The pair would have been a match for any trained soldiers in combat, for it was such who had so trained them and taught them the arts of martial discipline and the use of such deadly weapons as these. For the first several days, the trek was simply long and exacting, but hardly a great effort. However, at the midpoint of the week it became arduous as the heat of the day combined with the cold of the night made things more torturous than expected. Water was not an issue, since the scroll had mentioned not simply travel directions but also where to find water along the way. Certain natural landmarks to look out for, as well, so that one might not become lost in the desert and wasteland and not be able to find a right way to go. The dried food, dehydrated fruits, nuts and berries that the pair carried with them, along with travel bread that would not spoil for a good month, made it certain they would not starve even if it was a far cry from the filling meals they were used to. But as prepared as they were, by this point they were beginning to miss the tranquility of the palace. The girl servant's name was Ophelia, and she was from a foreign nation that existed across the sea from this part of the world. Ophelia wore a loose dress made of cotton that was belted at the waist with a wide cloth belt that was embroidered and which had delicate beaded fringe. For her part, Dal'pachta had oft come to rely upon the girl not simply as a maid, but as a companion and paramour when no other was at hand. She loved the girl... she loved so many of the people she was fond of... and for added warmth at night during this journey she did call the girl to come and lay in her arms. And, she held the young teenager close to her... savoring her body's warmth, smelling the scent of her perfumed hair, and being lulled to sleep by the girl's soft singing. She had got used to falling asleep to the sound of Ophelia's singing, back at the palace, and save for the night when she embarked upon this trek with Ophelia at her side, there was rarely a night when the two did not thus share a bed and often far more than just each other's bodily warmth. Ophelia was bright and blonde, she was slender and sweet, with blue eyes and a cheerful smile never far from her tender lips. There had, at least three years previous, been a child born from their intimate couplings... a testament to the fact that Dal'pachta's manhood was quite fully functional indeed. Ophelia was thirteen years old back then, and she was sixteen years old now. Their first night together had been difficult, since the young girl had not been totally willing and compliant with Dal'pachta's lusty designs... and after a bit of 'sensual wrestling' as the noblewoman had called it, Ophelia had been fully broken in as more than simply a maidservant. The noblewoman had a taste for young girls, and young boys as well, that could only be sated by such diversions. As with Ophelia, not all had been willing paramours at first, until they came to realize that Dal'pachta was able to do with them whatsoever she pleased... and that they might as well enjoy it since there was no stopping it from happening. Ophelia had called this practice “barbaric” at first, but soon it became evident that it was simply the status quo for slaves in this part of the world. For although these servants were not called slaves... they were very much slaves in every sense of the world, no matter that those who owned them saw them as members of their family, thus rationalizing things thereby. But it is like when someone buys a pet, brings it home, and says it is a member of the family. The pet has not a thing to say about it! It is simply how things are. That Ophelia came to love Dal'pachta back was good for both of them, since some of the noblewoman's previous slaves... had not reciprocated her affections and amorous inclinations towards them. They did as they were told and accepted their lot in life, but it was no more than that... acceptance. Ophelia woke her mistress up early each morning during the trip... and had food ready for the two of them and water poured into their cups to drink. The sack the girl had brought was not overly heavy, but it did have within it all the essentials. Like those two drinking cups.
Near the end of the week, they reached a place where a ridge of cliffs and rugged mountains could be seen near a remarkably beautiful oasis where there could be seen tall green grass and tall palm trees. In the oasis too were flowers and plants of exotic varieties that neither of them had ever seen the likes of before. Ophelia rushed over to the water to drink of it, and finding it sweet and clean she beckoned for her mistress to drink of it as well. “This was a happy finding!” Dal'pachta remarked, for it had been the very same oasis of which the scroll spoke that marked the nearness of their ultimate destination. Then, of a sudden, Ophelia stepped back for a moment towards the grass and nearly tripped over something. She thought it was a rock, only to notice it was a human skull... near some other bones of human sort. The sight of these remains made the girl scream, and her mistress rushed over to see. “It seems that we were not the first to make this pilgrimage, although we seem to have fared better than this person had.” The remains wore the tattered remnants of noble attire, though of no sort that Dal'pachta recognized. It had to have been a traveler from another kingdom or land. “I wonder what killed him... or her.” said the girl servant after calming herself down. There were no other remains around, so the noblewoman did so reason aloud: “They seem to have traveled alone, and likely unprepared for the desert and the wastes. It is an unforgiving journey as it is! Not for the foolish, or the faint of heart.” Ophelia nodded her head in earnest agreement, and then tugged on her mistress's arm, saying to her: “Come, Dal! Let us be on our way... this oasis may appear beautiful, but something make me feel like this is no paradise.” A tall lady then approached them from a path up into the cliffs nearby.... a lady who was eight feet tall, exceedingly pale, and with long straight blonde hair parted on both sides of her high forehead. The woman was very much an albino with chalk white skin, reddish colored eyes, and light pink lips. Her hair was so light in color that it would have been as white as her skin... if it was any lighter. As if her appearance was not a bit uncanny in such an environment as this as it was, she appeared to be very slender and willowy, and it gave the appearance of an ethereal spirit of some kind. The woman wore a loose fitting jumpsuit with baggy, puffy legs and long wide sleeves, with a low cut neckline. It was buttoned in the front, and all of this outfit was white in color. The woman was sharp featured, severe looking, and was attempting some kind of a friendly smile, which was somehow not working for her at all. She spoke in a tongue that the two women understood, and said to them: “Greetings, travelers! I see you have survived the journey to these mountains. Few do, as you have noticed! That man there... he fared from a nation on a peninsula far to the southeast, a place unfamiliar to my knowledge. He was greedy, foolish, and unprepared. Thus did he come to meet his end here. I must ask you both now... what brings you to this place?” Ophelia so glanced over to her mistress, and the noblewoman explained to the albino: “I was given a scroll that did provide detailed instructions for not simply reaching this place but what to do once we got here. From all I have surmised, and come to understand, these scrolls are some sort of invitation... and if one does not follow their instructions to the letter, it can be dangerous.” The albino stepped over to Dal'pachta in order to better see her, and she traced a finger across the noblewoman's face as if reading her features by touch in addition to beholding them with her red eyes. “Do you have the scroll with you now?” she asked, and Dal'pachta had Ophelia take it out from her sack and unroll it so that the tall albino was able to read it easily. “I trust this satisfies?” asked the noblewoman, and the albino answered by saying: “It is satisfactory that you have this in your possession. That other fellow did not, unfortunately for him. If I were to ask you whether you desire the satiation of the flesh or the satiation of your heart's desiring... if you could please do so, would you tell me which would matter the most to you?” And the noble did say in reply to this: “I have always tried to seek a balance between both types of desires. It is unhealthy for a person to seek always only after the one at the expense and cost of the other.” The albino smiled in a gentle manner, or a close approximation of such a manner, and she said in a gravely serious tone: “That is wise of you, stranger. Very wise indeed! For to seek after worldly desires alone is as foolhardy as one who divorces themselves from such things entirely. The dead man was religious... it did him no good.”
The albino woman then explained further: “How can one who has their eye only on the next world be inclined to understand either the satiation of the flesh or that of the heart? His heart was cold, dead, and given to his god. Now, he is far from that god's grace, lost in death as he was in life. A cold spirituality is no replacement for worldly wisdom... but your wisdom is not entirely worldly and neither is it fully divorced from the world. Your answer to my question is the correct one. Thus may you come with me, safe from the perils of this oasis that lurk here unseen by physical, mortal eyes.” A slithering sound did then meet everyone's ears, and the flapping of leathery wings, although no source for either sound could be seen. There was a terrible, monstrous, inhuman presence in that oasis, and it was that, surely, which claimed the life of the man who had died there. “Of old, flying serpents once existed in these lands but they were hunted near to extinction by wanderers who crossed these regions in ancient times. Those so remaining have learned ways to become unseen and thus unable to be hunted. They are the hunters now and the foolhardy are their prey.” said the albino woman as she led Dal'pachta and Ophelia up the path that wound along the edges of the cliff and on higher into the mountains that towered above. It was not an easy path, especially for the chubby noblewoman who was unused to such exertions as one might be given to when making such a treacherous climb. Yet, despite this, she did well and her girl servant who was more used to such activities made no complaint, nor did her mistress regardless of how it made the much older woman get slightly out of breath as they ascended the narrow path. “A life of ease does not always do us favors.” said the albino, adding to that: “I mean no offense, but I sense you are struggling in this climb. You are too big for me to carry, so you will have to accept the difficulty. I can see you are doing exactly that, so I shall speak no more of this.” Dal'pachta said unto her in reply: “A life of ease in some ways, is a life of turmoil in other ways. We all bear our difficulties, lady. Each in our own ways.” And the albino thus nodded her head as if in agreement although when she turned about for a moment as they walked along to see how the two strangers were doing when it came to keeping up, her severe facial expression changed a bit to show that she was trying to understand something. She said nothing, turned back about, and the three continued onward and upward. The path eventually lead to a very high clifftop near to the summit of the mountain they were climbing. On this summit was a very large square temple made of black marble, with marble columns supporting its' domed roof. The roof was painted a midnight blue color with white stars painted upon it to resemble the night sky, with gold trim along the base of the dome. Many steps led up to the doors of the temple, and the doors were made of gold and covered with strange engravings and etchings depicting a heavenly looking garden of endless delights. Two massive winged sphinx-like statues stood watch upon both sides of the doors, to the left and to the right of that portal. The stone beasts were bearded, with ferocious looking human faces that were very beast-like even though they were the faces of men. Their beards were curled and ornamented, and upon the heads of the sphinxes were tall crowns with twin horns upon the crowns. Four wings rose from the backs of the beasts, and the bodies of the beasts appeared to be covered in eyes. “Those beasts you see there are the guardians of this place.” explained the tall albino, who further stated: “Their gaze is much like an iron will, under which the unworthy will be withered by fear. They were celestial beings once... bound into stone, to watch over this place until the ending of all time. After which, their vigil over, the pair of them shall return whence they came... to the heavens, then at the last being of stone no longer.” Ophelia covered her eyes and fell to her knees at the sight of them, exclaiming aloud: “I know of such beings as these! Cherubim, creatures of God almighty. It is not right to look upon them.” But, in spite of this revelation on Ophelia's part, Dal'pachta was totally and obviously quite unmoved by the sight of the colossal stone creatures. In sight of them, the noblewoman merely said: “If they were not of stone, then perhaps I might too be moved to fear them! But I have read about guardian beasts such as these before, in texts left to us by ancient peoples of the desert. If you show them fear, they will be ferocious to you... but if you are steadfast in your heart and strong in your mind, then you can withstand their gaze fairly.”
The noblewoman walked up the doors, between the two stone guardians, and she dared to touch the stone of the twin colossi with her hands, running her hands across the bases of the statues, reaching up to touch the paws of them as well. “Do you see, Ophelia? I have touched them! There is nothing to truly be afraid of.” But Ophelia was praying and singing to herself, trying to master her fear of these beasts. The albino woman laid a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder, and she said to her: “Child, you need not fear them if your heart is pure, and yours is! More so by far that the heart of your mistress. It is wrong that she should stand there so impiously and that you should remain cowering here in your zeal. Rise, look upon the celestial beasts in gladness, for they mean you no harm! And go to the side of she whom you serve so loyally.” Thus was the teenager's heart strengthened. She stood up, walked timidly towards the temple's doors and there was she welcomed by her mistress's strong, reassuring arms. That was the moment when the eyes of the statues began to glue with a bright blue light. The designs upon the door were lit up by an identical colored light and when the light faded from both statues and doors, the portal opened, the doors cast backward of their own accord with a loud clang. “Enter the temple, in gladness. I will follow.” instructed the albino woman. The scroll had not mentioned the cherubim, and there was likely to be many more things the scroll had not spoken of. Inside the temple, three rows of columns lined the walls and above the domed ceiling looked as much inside like the night sky as it did on the outside. Upon the floor in the center of the temple was a triangular shaped raised dais on which there was a set of circular golden doors in the middle of a circle at the triangle's precise center. All of the lanterns that hung within the temple were lit by blue flames within them, and this was something neither of the two strangers had ever witnessed the like of before. The walls of the temple beneath the dome were covered in murals depicting beings descending to the earth from the stars and the beings, who looked somewhat similar to the albino woman herself, were instructing primitive looking people and more decidedly ape-like looking people along with them. One mural showed them constructing a walled garden wherein the non ape-like primitive humans toiled whilst the ape-like people worked in diamond mines and gave the diamonds to the beings from the stars. Further murals showed people in the act of being expelled from the garden after having broken some sort of commandment, and by this point it became evident to Ophelia and Dal'pachta that this temple's murals were showing the earliest history of the human race on Earth. The more human-like people took to fighting the ape-like people, and there were scenes of both species intermixing with the beings from the stars until a great flood and some sort of genocidal war brought an end to that era of human history. “These are scenes from some of my peoples' religious texts!” Ophelia shouted excitedly. But she then noticed something that perplexed her, and exclaimed: “But... where is God? I do not see God in any of these depictions! Only what seem to be many gods, or angels of some sort. And they all look kind of like that tall, pale lady. This... this is in contradiction to a lot of the things that are written in holy scriptures! This must be an evil place.” At that precise moment, the tall albino entered the temple and the doors closed behind her. She approached the two strangers, her sandals clapping upon the black marble floor. Then, she said unto Ophelia: “I had heard what you said as I was entering the temple, and you are wrong girl! There is no evil here, and if you do not see God in these murals it is only because you do not see God's hand in these events as that being is working through its' physical agents. That we did not depict such a being herein, is not a sign of impiety but rather a sign of the utmost piety! For how can we depict the life-force of all that is, that which dwells in everything in existence, and everyone as well? God is not as simply defined as it is in your human scriptures, which have deviated far from the truth so as to become heresies themselves. I mean no disrespect to your beliefs, Ophelia! But they are in error, in a great many ways. And yes, I do know who you both are... your thoughts are easy for me to know, although my people do not oft employ such methods without goodly reason. I know what is in your minds and hearts, and that is why I have allowed you to enter into this sacred place. This is not a place of rewards, you see, but a place of truth!”
The tall woman then beckoned Dal'pachta towards the middle of the temple, where the doors within the great triangular dais were. She then said unto her: “Take your place there... that is right! Stand upon the doors, and look at my face as I speak unto you. Lay down your weapon, for you shall not have need of it after this!” and, the noblewoman did as instructed, laying her scimitar upon the floor outside of the circle so that it was not touching the doors that were there. “Do you wish for me to dance for you next, my lady?” asked Dal'pachta somewhat impatiently, and the tall albino woman said unto her in answer to that: “Actually, that comes next! You are to spin about, dancing in a spinning fashion and moving from right to left in a circle but without leaving the circle in which you stand. As your feet dance thus upon the gold beneath you, you are shedding what is leaden within you in favor of the gold that shall be the new. You are to dance with all your heart, all your zeal, and imagine that you are dancing before God as you do so... imagine that God is all about you, and within you. Imagine that God is within me, and that my voice as I instruct you is the voice of God. Do this, and do not leave the circle!” But, the noble was reluctant to comply at first, saying: “I will do this, lady, but without music it will be difficult!” and then there was the sound of flute and harp coming seemingly from the walls of the temple itself, filling the chamber with the sound of it. A beating drum pounded out a rhythm, and as if enchanted by some kind of spell, Dal'pachta began to dance in a spiral, circular pattern without leaving the circle in which she stood, moving right to left in a circle within that greater circle, her arms flailing about so wildly as her hands worked arcane patterns in the air that she did not even realize she knew how to enact. She cast off her headscarf and let her hair fly about her head as she danced... and she danced as if she was doing so for God, dancing with all her heart, mind, body, soul and spirit. All of her zeal, she poured into this performance, and as she danced the tall albino clapped her hands in time to the beat of the drums, and Ophelia began to clap her hands and sing to the music even though she did not realize at first that there were words to this song. Her cloak, she cast off next and threw it outside the circle, and her dance was so carefree and powerful that she was caught up into a kind of ecstatic state by it. She began to sing as she danced, in a language that was alien to hear but which somehow she knew how to speak. And the words to her song were in harmony with the singing of Ophelia despite that both were singing in very different languages. At the height of her dance, she was becoming dizzy and feared stumbling, and at that point the albino woman told her to stop and sit upon the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. She practically collapsed into that position, and when she hit the floor she saw many colors of all sorts behind her closed eyes, and beheld visions of things that defy description. “What do you most want for yourself, with all your heart, Dal'pachta?” asked the albino, and she urged the noblewoman not to answer her but to keep the answer in her mind and in her heart, and that she was to contemplate it in silence. The music was finished, the singing done, and there was total silence in that ancient temple in the mountains. The flapping of wings could be heard and inhuman voices were speaking in alien tongue and strange intonations. Within her mind, Dal'pachta could see strange living creatures covered in eyes, and with many wings, with wings covering their bodies at times. The exact shapes of their bodies were impossible to discern, as if they had no single shape that could be determined. Yet, they did have some sort of shape! Only, it was beyond the mind's ability to grasp. “I must not open my eyes. I must not look upon them directly!” the noblewoman cautioned herself within her mind. It was terrible enough to have to see them this much, and had she been of a weaker nature this vision might have driven her to insanity by the sheer alien strangeness of it. They wanted to know what was in her heart, what she desired most for herself in all the world right now, at this point in her life, at this crossroads she was at. She could be granted anything she longed for... she could have her youth back, or live forever without aging a day. Or she could bring her father back from death, and thus ease her mother's troubled heart as the woman was getting older and facing that old age without her beloved husband at her side. But her mother still had at her side other men who adored her, and she did not want eternal life since that would only be sorrowful.
For of what use is life without end, if you have to watch those you love age and die whilst you stay as young and healthy as ever? That would be a torment worse than any hell for a person who was afraid of loneliness more than any fear of death itself. No, these things were not for Dal'pachta! All she truly did want, was one thing and one thing only... and her heart called it out, to the celestial beings that came to hear her silent plea. An unfathomable force was gathering in the dome above, like a mass of lightning it was but it was somehow alive and many colored. It was the manifest embodiment of all that is, and that was when Dal'pachta realized she was truly in the presence of God. “I am not worthy of this!” she thus thought, and a gentle voice that was a perfect harmonious blend of male and female said unto her from the lightning above: “As I am within all, I am within you as well. All are worthy, for all are! And since all are, I am.” She understood its' meaning, as she felt its' light descending upon her, enveloping her in its' electric-like currents of spiritual power. There was fire burning, blazing within the lightning, and it was all around her even as she was within it. A blue fire, a blue flame hotter than anything on this world and yet it did not burn her and she was unharmed by its' embrace. God was embracing her, and all she knew was divine love and a oneness with every living thing in existence... in every reality, and upon all worlds that contained life in whatever form life might be embodied as upon those worlds. It was pure, it was maddening, and it was terrible! And yet, it was comfortable as well. “Speak your desire unto me for it is already known to me through my existence within you already. Speak it, and we shall together thus make it manifest in the world!” God spoke thus unto Dal'pachta, and she spoke aloud for all to hear, for God to hear, what it was that this divine force already knew. It was the power of that speaking that had the means to bring it about! For in every word, there is unimaginable power. Ophelia could only stare, near to madness as her eyes saw the angels descending in their inhuman forms and when she saw God manifesting itself and enveloping her mistress she knelt and closed her eyes and began to sing hymns of the utmost praise of glory. The albino woman told her this was not necessary and that God did not wish for this from her or even want it from anyone. “It does not even like to be called God!” she explained to the teenager, but the girl's young mind could not fathom these truths and these alien sights. It was all far too much for her to be able to comprehend. Nothing at all of the noblewoman could be seen within the mass of many colored lightnings and blue flame in the center of the triangular dais. The Divine Force in all of its' revealed glory was there, and in the air around it were glimpses of every reality and visions of worlds and universes beyond counting, solitary and parallel worlds alike, and snippets and flashes of all the lives in those worlds and universes. Time had no meaning in these visions, and history was a cycle that repeated itself at times. There was no genesis nor ending of the world, only beginnings and various endings so that new beginnings could take place and life could continue. Cycles of time into infinity, all unfolding simultaneously across every conceivable reality and every reality beyond the knowing of any mortal or immortal mind. The albino woman was used to these sights, for she and her kindred had ever and always been the keepers of this ultimate forbidden knowledge. She placed her hands over the eyes of Ophelia and told her to keep singing, and she closed her eyes also... for now there were sights far too much even for her to be able to comfortably bear, even she was was as stated used to such things. This was a powerful manifestation of the Divine Force, the most powerful that had been called to this place in many thousands of years. Dal'pachta would have her heart's desire at last, and the person who would emerge from that circle in the center of the triangular dais would be changed forever. “Is she going to be alright?” asked Ophelia, and the albino told her: “Far more than she has ever been in her entire life, my child! In whatever form she emerges from this, she will know true serenity henceforth.” Was it day any longer? Or was it night! Time was meaningless now, and the flow of it was halted briefly, so that some sort of miracle could be enacted. This was not a place for human eyes to ever behold, nor human feet to ever walk within... and none who did ever were the same again. The doors in the circle opened, and the shaft below was underneath Dal'pachta... yet she did not fall down into it. It was filled with green light.
The light then exploded upward from out the shaft, reaching the heights of the very top of the domed ceiling itself, and as it did so the Divine Force vanished from sight and the winged beings also vanished as they phased into other realities beyond human understanding. The emerald light remained for a span of time that was indeterminable, and when it went back down into the shaft and the doors closed when that was over with... what had been Dal'pachta regarded Ophelia lovingly. And the teenage servant thus looked, and she saw that two children... a boy and a girl, both of them twins, sat within the circle where before the noblewoman had been. One look at their faces, and one could see that they were both at the same time Dal'pachta, and yet at the same time they were Dal'pachta no longer. The clothing that had so been worn by the hermaphrodite noblewoman lay upon the ground, unable to fit either of the children's bodies. The two children were eight years of age... the girl called herself Dalia, and the boy was called Pachtas. They introduced themselves to Ophelia, who looked upon the twins uncomprehendingly... her mind finally coming to grasp with the reality of the true reason for this journey. Her mistress, finally at long last, would never again feel like two people trapped inside of a single body. For the two people she always felt she was torn between being, were now two people in fact. Two people who had within them the shared memory of all of Dal'pachta's life experiences. As was arranged prior to the onset of this odd adventure, Nalek would henceforth serve as the twins' guardian so that their mother need not have to be burdened with this task in her ever increasingly old age. Nalek was young enough to be a father without being too young and inexperienced for such a responsibility. Ophelia would remain their personal maid and servant, although it was certain that their relationship with her would lack certain intimate aspects for some time to come... and by the time those aspects could be possible once more, Ophelia would be the older and more experienced woman. The albino woman walked towards an alcove on the far side of the temple and fetched some child-sized gowns that were present in a wardrobe there. Where gowns of every size... whether adult, teen, or child sizes were needed... could be found therein. The children put the gowns on and tied the sash belts they were given about their waists. They were given undergarments to go with those gowns, which they put on as well, and sandals for their feet. The gowns were emerald green in color. And the belts were golden, whilst the undergarments were a pure white. Their nakedness thus covered, the children were ready to depart back to the kingdom of Maladaqin once again in the fair company of their still ever loyal maidservant Ophelia. Both children's hair was in the style in which the noblewoman had worn hers, which looked just as good on the little boy as it did on the little girl. They had to leave Dal'pachta's clothes, cloak and scimitar behind for they were of no use to the twins now. As the trio left the temple, they bid farewell to the albino woman who sealed the doors of the temple shut once everyone was outside of it again. She remained behind at the temple as the outsiders left and she stayed there as they did begin the long trek back down the rugged mountain once more. They had more than enough supplies to make it back to the capital city, which would likely take another week more or less. Plus, the albino woman had given them a bit of surplus extra food and other essentials for the trip. They never did learn her name, and they simply accepted this was part of her enigma. The woman very clearly was not of this world originally, and so perhaps it was best they never did learn her name. As it is, all names hold power, and certain beings are not likely to wish to bestow such power to just anyone. The journey home was uneventful, if as arduous and trying as it had been to go that way to start with... and the twins were brought before the royal family so that the rulers of Maladaqin might know of what fate had befallen Dal'pachta. The scroll was given into the king's hand so that he might see proof of the things that the maidservant faithfully related unto him. And, on the spot, the king declared this to be a miracle and because of the miraculous nature of these twins' creation he insisted that they be raised by him and the queen henceforth and made a prince and princess of the kingdom. But so great was the love that the twins bore for Nalek... that they insisted they would never be happy if he was not allowed to at the very least be their tutor. Thus was this agreed upon, and to the satisfaction of both the twins and all.
In the years to come, neither Nalek nor Ophelia appeared to have aged a day... much to their mutual surprise... for the miracle of the Divine Twins, as they so came to be called, was such that because they feared to lose those two people whom they loved the most in all the world, it was thus arranged by the Divine Force that the lives of Ophelia and Nalek would be extended far beyond their natural span, and their aging processes slowed so much that they appeared not to age at all. In time, they would go on and live to see the rise and fall of many kingdoms... and the rise to power of the Divine Twins, who came to be revered even above the king and queen of the grand kingdom of Maladaqin. The prince, became one of those first to bend the knee and show them obeisance, although for their part the twins never once so asked for such obeisance from anyone. It was expected that the twins would age like normal children... but they too seemed to have become just as eternal as Ophelia and Nalek evidently had. They would of course age faster than the two whom they loved, so that they would never need to endure living pas the deaths of them when finally they did inevitably come... but even so, the four of them together would be living for countless centuries of time and human history. The era in which these events took place was during that age of the world which followed the destruction of Atlantis and the great deluge that was a cover for a terrible genocidal purge enacted by the beings whom mankind had at the time called gods. It was a savage and wild time for many, but in certain places ancient and powerful kingdoms still held a measure of sway and new beliefs began to take the place of older ones whilst the earliest recorded days of history were starting to take shape. No history would record kingdoms such as Maladaqin, and only in the most esoteric of texts regarding spiritual alchemy would there come to be even the most passing of references to the Divine Twins and that mostly only in a symbolic manner. As for the temple where it was the miracle of the twins took place, the king and queen of Maladaqin sent forth explorers in the pay of the royal family to try and discover it and they found the oasis wherein more dead men lay. They did also find the mountains and the path leading up to the summit of the highest mountain of that region. It seemed as if they should have beheld the temple upon that summit but when they reached it there was no temple there to be seen, nor any evidence that such a structure had ever been built there at all. A tall albino woman met them, who seemed not to be wholly human... and she bade them depart that place in all haste and to never return to seek the temple of the Divine Force again. Thus did they learn that some power had made it impossible to reach that temple at all unless she who seemed to be its' caretaker did will it to be so. So was it established that the temple did indeed exist, and that it was beyond the reach of mortals not in the good graces of the temple's caretaker. The king and queen sought for it no longer... and declared the site of it sacred and holy ground. Life continued, even if some things were forgotten!
The four immortals, as they had come to be called by the peoples of the desert, walked along the arid wastelands and sands as they made their way to the secret, fortified, oasis that had become their home. They needed neither food to eat or water to drink, nor had they ever since that miracle in the temple did take place many thousands of years previous. The world had changed, and they had changed along with it, reinventing themselves many times over. They still had no signs of aging, and still they held within their bodies all the vitality of their youth. A certain tree grew in their oasis home, a tree that bore a fruit that seemed to extend their eternal life even beyond its' originally enhanced span. They would likely be able now to exist for as long as the world did, and the Divine Twins and their two companions felt not a small amount of delight in regard to this blessing... for death was something they had always deeply did fear, deep within their hearts of hearts. The fortress that now guarded the secret oasis was avoided by all travelers, for it was far from the main routes of travel and had an evil reputation that only seemed to be growing as the centuries passed. But it was the most holy of places, touched by hands divine and long, long after the caretaker of the temple ceased to be seen by living eyes again, the oasis was guarded and kept safe by the four immortals and their chosen acolytes. Their sect was small, but zealously dedicated.
Within the many columned halls of the great palace of Qalkiri, beautiful and splendorous as it was in those days with alabaster pillars and ornate carvings upon the walls... no match for the grand tapestries and murals that likewise decorated that great structure... the noblewoman Dal'pachta looked out from a balcony within one of the high minarets overlooking the Eden-like gardens that encircled the palace and she in the face of all this beauty and grandeur sighed. She could not decide if she felt amazed anew by all of this splendor, or if she was merely just so accustomed to it now that it bored her. She felt of two minds about it, as she looked up at the azure sky, cloudless on this warm early summer day, and spied in the distance a solitary vulture descending over the far off desert. She sat upon a marble bench on the balcony, and as she rose from it she smoothed the elegantly draped fabric of the baggy and voluminous pantaloons that she wore. They were of delicate silk, as was the soft, sleeveless blouse that was tucked into them, buttoned in the front up to her neck with small white pearl-like buttons. Both her pants and blouse were a mustard yellow in color and around the woman's waist was tied a sky blue sash belt. The slippers upon her feet with slightly upturned at the toes, as was the fashion, and around her head was a scarf of the same color as the sash. Her face was unveiled and lovely... veils were optional and a matter of choice, or not, in this kingdom, unlike in a few of the neighboring kingdoms where such accessories were mandatory and an expression of faith. She was dusky of skin, with the shade thereof bordering on a rich brown... and her eyes were a rich brown as well. Her hair beneath her headscarf was black, curly, and shoulder length with pretty curled bangs above her handsome eyebrows. She had an aquiline nose, full lips, and almond shaped eyes that were a bit smaller than many of the big-eyed noblewomen whom men considered beautiful. Her face was round, she was a tiny bit on the chubby side but not unhealthy, and most certainly not overweight. Her proportions were voluptuous with large breasts, wide hips and a plump buttocks. She was large of bone, strong, and sturdy. Her father had been a worker in the mines in his youth, ere he was chosen by a tribal matriarch of the desert peoples who had ties to the nobility that reigned in the kingdom of Maladaqin. He became the matriarch's husband, perhaps unwillingly as far as the story goes, and when she also became the wife of a nobleman of Maladaqin, for polygamy was ever the fashion of the peoples of these lands, it made the matriarch a noblewoman of the kingdom. And thus did it make her husbands, and she had many of those, also noblemen. Thus was Dal'pachta born into the nobility due to this set of circumstances. When her father joined the army and was called to right for his country in a disastrous campaign in the far south, she inherited his title and standing in the royal court. Thus did her esteem rise, and ever since then she knew a life of luxury, comfort and ease. At times, like today, it was boring for her she believed in part... not because she craved excitement as such but rather because she did not like stagnation or complacency. She enjoyed things that stimulated her, new things, and unusual things. She was a hedonist, a tad on the lusty side, and when provoked to anger she had a hellish temper to be reckoned with. Another noblewoman who was among her peers at court once did foolishly mock her because Dal'pachta... unlike most women... happened to have been born with fully functioning male genitalia and she did not have a woman's genitalia at all either internally or externally. Such conditions were far from unheard of... and the physicians of Maladaqin documented a great many such cases of children born thus. She had a voice that sounded like a teenage boy, rather than one that sounded high and lilting like so many women's voices tended to. And this too that noblewoman dared to mock, cruelly, within sight of many witnesses. Thus moved to anger, Dal'pachta clawed the side of that woman's face with her fingernails and cut her so deeply in her fury that the woman was scarred for life from it. That cruel, mocking woman never showed her now ugly face in the royal court ever again. The prince and the king and queen, who were all present on that occasion, chuckled and actually applauded what Dal'pachta had done. It was time for that bigoted woman to be taught a lesson anyway, and so why should it no have been so, given how many times in the past she had given Dal'pachta no end of grief!
Sometimes, such mockery ingrained itself in Dal'pachta's mind, and it was difficult for her when that happened to see herself fully as a woman. She hated that cruel people made her feel lesser as a woman, and it was unlawful in this kingdom for people do be bigoted like that, especially in public and right in sight of the rulers themselves. The offending woman had been fined for her mocking remarks, and that punishment was decreed by the prince himself. It was good to have friends in high places when trouble was visited upon her, and Dal'pachta was happy at least for that. Sometimes, she felt however as if she was actually two people... one male and one female... and this disturbed her for she only wished to be a complete person. But what did that mean, being a complete person? People said that so often, but what it means always varies from person to person. For her, it meant being at peace with herself and having no cause to feel like a lesser individual compared to others. That her father had begun as a miner, also, was fertile ground for certain people to make slights about... and given that she had loved her father, it had been oft that she reacted no less violently to mockery made of him. She was proud of herself, and proud of her roots... the workers of this land toil even still to help in the building such works of art and architecture as this very palace she lived in. They should never be mocked, she decided. And any who dared to do so deserved to be put in their place and made to realize the error of their self-righteous and narrow-minded thinking. To say that Lady Dal'pachta was a liberal, progressive, even sometimes radical minded woman was perhaps an understatement. Naturally that put her at odds were certain conservative sorts within the royal court, but she did not care what they thought of her. They were fools, she oft said, and fools will speak their foolishness until it is known as such by all. She turned around and began to walk down the spiral stairs that descended the minaret. In the distance, one of the temples rang the bells that called the faithful to prayer. She never attended the religious ceremonies, preferring to hold to her own sets of beliefs. It was not that her beliefs were at odds with the kingdom's religious practices, but it was more accurate to say that they were greatly divergent from them in enough ways to warrant wisely her need to distance herself from them. She was a loner, something of a rebel, and what few friends and loved ones... mostly lovers... that she had, she was grateful for. They were her rock, her strength when it was that she felt most in need of strength. This, then, is an accurate picture of this woman. She did next walk across the great hall from where the minaret stairs ended, and she made her way quickly across the hall towards the garden arch on the other side. Beyond that, she entered the gardens and basked in their glory for a good while. Every tree, planet, and flower known to Maladaqin could be found within those gardens, and there were fountains, statues, and sculptures as well as hedges cut in the shapes of animals and fantastic beasts. The children of the nobility oft played in the gardens, and in the capital city was a similarly fabulous garden for the common folk to enjoy. Whilst a class system very much existed, great strides were being taken to bridge the gap between the nobility and the common folk. This always did please Dal'pachta greatly, for even though she very much considered herself a noble, she respected the common folk greatly, and many of them loved her tremendously for this. Upon this day, the fourth day of the first week in the month of the Camel... all the months were named after animals... a man did thus meet with the noblewoman Dal'pachta in the royal gardens. She was sitting upon a bench near one of the fountains, when the cloaked and hooded man walked up to her and said unto her: “If the sun does rise early on the morrow, what will be the sign that dawn comes so early?” And she replied using their agreed upon answer: “It means that a new day has dawned, and nothing more.” He nodded his head, did draw back his hood, and sit down on the bench next to her. He had a shaved head, was lean and only a bit haggard looking, weathered was perhaps a better word for it, with eyes as dark as hers. He was not an old man by any means, but the years he had lived were hard and evident upon his lined features. For her part, Dal'pachta was hardly a giddy youth... she would be fifty years old in another month, but even so her breasts were those of a young woman still and likely somehow this was due to her mix of sexes. The court physician... had told her, she could expect to remain young looking well into her senior years.
Thus was her intersex nature a blessing of sorts in disguise! Though it did not feel like a blessing, at least during those times when she had to shave all of her body and facial hair off in order to be smooth and feminine completely in her appearance. She had a servant to assist her with that in recent years. Her humor was evident in her voice as she said unto the previously hooded man: “That was a ridiculous and silly idea you know, coming up with a password phrase of sorts so that I would know it was you. Hardly it is that you could not know you were speaking with me!” He chuckled a bit, put a hand on her meaty thigh, and said to her jovially in answer to her remark: “I know, but I did not forget how nervous you do typically get around strangers or people you do not know, and that I had to appear this day in secret and this hooded until I was within your presence... I did not want you to become alarmed or distressed. You know I love you, Dal! And I mean only to put your mind and heart at ease as much and as oft as I can.” His hand went between her legs and he gave her a bit of a playful molestation... she enjoyed how that made her feel, smiled after gasping a bit out of surprise, and waited for him to lean in and kiss her with the passion he always kissed her with. “I love you also, Nalek. You are... I cannot begin to express what you mean to me!” and the pair embraced and held each other for a span. After that, they withdrew from the embrace and Nalek took a small scroll out from a pouch on his belt. He was robed like a scholar, in desert folk robes, and it was only natural for him given he was actually a scholar as well as a nobleman of no small standing. The scroll contained instructions... very specific ones... and were for no eyes other than Dal'pachta's and Nalek's. “This will change your life going forward, my lady. Once you go to that place, once you do this thing you are set upon doing... there will be no turning back from it. I am not at all adverse to what you are intending, but I must know one thing! What will you do once this is done?” She smiled serenely, knowingly, and explained to her on again off again paramour: “I will have need of a guardian... and you will need to take on that role for me.” He smiled contentedly, and told her of this: “I am at peace with this. If it brings you happiness, it shall be as well with me.” She would set out upon the setting of the sun, travel by night to her destination, and do what the scroll instructed her to. Surly, it would be dangerous and mad but it was also the only way to escape the torment that was within her and had been for many years. They kissed again, and Nalek put his hand down her pants after undoing that garment's drawstrings. He reached under her undergarments and began to pleasure her. She laid back on the bench and closed her eyes, savoring the experience of his hand's expert ministrations. If he kept up like this, it was a certainty she would orgasm soon... and she awaited her climax eagerly. She had not so expected this, but she was glad for it! A gift of pleasure was never something she did not receive with satisfaction. Ere long, she felt herself experiencing ecstasy and was very satisfied indeed! They kissed one last time ere she ran off towards her chambers to clean herself up and change her now wet clothes. She needed to prepare proper traveling attire anyway, and following that she would eat an early supper and get some sleep so that she would be able to journey through the night and not be too tired to do so. She awoke two hours prior to midnight after sleeping through the afternoon, and despite her age she did feel as energetic as a child might. She had slept naked, as was her want, and slipped on a fresh pair of undergarments before putting on a pair of cotton Salwar style pantaloons. Tucked into those was a bit of a similar sort of sleeveless blouse to what she has worn earlier, only this too was of cotton. The blouse was a dark purple, almost plum in color, and the pantaloons were a deep shade of scarlet. She put on a gold sash belt, a pair of sandals, and picked out a traveling cloak for when it got cold at night. She did intend to bring her maidservant along with her after swearing the girl to secrecy so that she could keep up being shaved and looking perfect during the days ahead. And this journey would take days, likely an entire week almost, before Dal'pachta would reach the place that was to change her life forever. Enough food for the journey would be brought along in a sack that the maidservant would carry, and she would not need to bring much for money upon this trek. There was likely nothing at all to be encountered on the chosen route, and it was in an area that even bandits never frequented. She expected no difficulties.
As the noblewoman and her girl servant slipped away in the night and made their way across the sand of the desert and the dried ground of the wastelands, the cool of the night became much colder once the wind began to pick it. Even in the summer, these barren lands at night could be chilling even as they did scorch during the day due to the arid environment. Dal'pachta had her scimitar sheathed on her back for she was most proficient with that weapon... and the maidservant carried a saber that she had equal skill with. The pair would have been a match for any trained soldiers in combat, for it was such who had so trained them and taught them the arts of martial discipline and the use of such deadly weapons as these. For the first several days, the trek was simply long and exacting, but hardly a great effort. However, at the midpoint of the week it became arduous as the heat of the day combined with the cold of the night made things more torturous than expected. Water was not an issue, since the scroll had mentioned not simply travel directions but also where to find water along the way. Certain natural landmarks to look out for, as well, so that one might not become lost in the desert and wasteland and not be able to find a right way to go. The dried food, dehydrated fruits, nuts and berries that the pair carried with them, along with travel bread that would not spoil for a good month, made it certain they would not starve even if it was a far cry from the filling meals they were used to. But as prepared as they were, by this point they were beginning to miss the tranquility of the palace. The girl servant's name was Ophelia, and she was from a foreign nation that existed across the sea from this part of the world. Ophelia wore a loose dress made of cotton that was belted at the waist with a wide cloth belt that was embroidered and which had delicate beaded fringe. For her part, Dal'pachta had oft come to rely upon the girl not simply as a maid, but as a companion and paramour when no other was at hand. She loved the girl... she loved so many of the people she was fond of... and for added warmth at night during this journey she did call the girl to come and lay in her arms. And, she held the young teenager close to her... savoring her body's warmth, smelling the scent of her perfumed hair, and being lulled to sleep by the girl's soft singing. She had got used to falling asleep to the sound of Ophelia's singing, back at the palace, and save for the night when she embarked upon this trek with Ophelia at her side, there was rarely a night when the two did not thus share a bed and often far more than just each other's bodily warmth. Ophelia was bright and blonde, she was slender and sweet, with blue eyes and a cheerful smile never far from her tender lips. There had, at least three years previous, been a child born from their intimate couplings... a testament to the fact that Dal'pachta's manhood was quite fully functional indeed. Ophelia was thirteen years old back then, and she was sixteen years old now. Their first night together had been difficult, since the young girl had not been totally willing and compliant with Dal'pachta's lusty designs... and after a bit of 'sensual wrestling' as the noblewoman had called it, Ophelia had been fully broken in as more than simply a maidservant. The noblewoman had a taste for young girls, and young boys as well, that could only be sated by such diversions. As with Ophelia, not all had been willing paramours at first, until they came to realize that Dal'pachta was able to do with them whatsoever she pleased... and that they might as well enjoy it since there was no stopping it from happening. Ophelia had called this practice “barbaric” at first, but soon it became evident that it was simply the status quo for slaves in this part of the world. For although these servants were not called slaves... they were very much slaves in every sense of the world, no matter that those who owned them saw them as members of their family, thus rationalizing things thereby. But it is like when someone buys a pet, brings it home, and says it is a member of the family. The pet has not a thing to say about it! It is simply how things are. That Ophelia came to love Dal'pachta back was good for both of them, since some of the noblewoman's previous slaves... had not reciprocated her affections and amorous inclinations towards them. They did as they were told and accepted their lot in life, but it was no more than that... acceptance. Ophelia woke her mistress up early each morning during the trip... and had food ready for the two of them and water poured into their cups to drink. The sack the girl had brought was not overly heavy, but it did have within it all the essentials. Like those two drinking cups.
Near the end of the week, they reached a place where a ridge of cliffs and rugged mountains could be seen near a remarkably beautiful oasis where there could be seen tall green grass and tall palm trees. In the oasis too were flowers and plants of exotic varieties that neither of them had ever seen the likes of before. Ophelia rushed over to the water to drink of it, and finding it sweet and clean she beckoned for her mistress to drink of it as well. “This was a happy finding!” Dal'pachta remarked, for it had been the very same oasis of which the scroll spoke that marked the nearness of their ultimate destination. Then, of a sudden, Ophelia stepped back for a moment towards the grass and nearly tripped over something. She thought it was a rock, only to notice it was a human skull... near some other bones of human sort. The sight of these remains made the girl scream, and her mistress rushed over to see. “It seems that we were not the first to make this pilgrimage, although we seem to have fared better than this person had.” The remains wore the tattered remnants of noble attire, though of no sort that Dal'pachta recognized. It had to have been a traveler from another kingdom or land. “I wonder what killed him... or her.” said the girl servant after calming herself down. There were no other remains around, so the noblewoman did so reason aloud: “They seem to have traveled alone, and likely unprepared for the desert and the wastes. It is an unforgiving journey as it is! Not for the foolish, or the faint of heart.” Ophelia nodded her head in earnest agreement, and then tugged on her mistress's arm, saying to her: “Come, Dal! Let us be on our way... this oasis may appear beautiful, but something make me feel like this is no paradise.” A tall lady then approached them from a path up into the cliffs nearby.... a lady who was eight feet tall, exceedingly pale, and with long straight blonde hair parted on both sides of her high forehead. The woman was very much an albino with chalk white skin, reddish colored eyes, and light pink lips. Her hair was so light in color that it would have been as white as her skin... if it was any lighter. As if her appearance was not a bit uncanny in such an environment as this as it was, she appeared to be very slender and willowy, and it gave the appearance of an ethereal spirit of some kind. The woman wore a loose fitting jumpsuit with baggy, puffy legs and long wide sleeves, with a low cut neckline. It was buttoned in the front, and all of this outfit was white in color. The woman was sharp featured, severe looking, and was attempting some kind of a friendly smile, which was somehow not working for her at all. She spoke in a tongue that the two women understood, and said to them: “Greetings, travelers! I see you have survived the journey to these mountains. Few do, as you have noticed! That man there... he fared from a nation on a peninsula far to the southeast, a place unfamiliar to my knowledge. He was greedy, foolish, and unprepared. Thus did he come to meet his end here. I must ask you both now... what brings you to this place?” Ophelia so glanced over to her mistress, and the noblewoman explained to the albino: “I was given a scroll that did provide detailed instructions for not simply reaching this place but what to do once we got here. From all I have surmised, and come to understand, these scrolls are some sort of invitation... and if one does not follow their instructions to the letter, it can be dangerous.” The albino stepped over to Dal'pachta in order to better see her, and she traced a finger across the noblewoman's face as if reading her features by touch in addition to beholding them with her red eyes. “Do you have the scroll with you now?” she asked, and Dal'pachta had Ophelia take it out from her sack and unroll it so that the tall albino was able to read it easily. “I trust this satisfies?” asked the noblewoman, and the albino answered by saying: “It is satisfactory that you have this in your possession. That other fellow did not, unfortunately for him. If I were to ask you whether you desire the satiation of the flesh or the satiation of your heart's desiring... if you could please do so, would you tell me which would matter the most to you?” And the noble did say in reply to this: “I have always tried to seek a balance between both types of desires. It is unhealthy for a person to seek always only after the one at the expense and cost of the other.” The albino smiled in a gentle manner, or a close approximation of such a manner, and she said in a gravely serious tone: “That is wise of you, stranger. Very wise indeed! For to seek after worldly desires alone is as foolhardy as one who divorces themselves from such things entirely. The dead man was religious... it did him no good.”
The albino woman then explained further: “How can one who has their eye only on the next world be inclined to understand either the satiation of the flesh or that of the heart? His heart was cold, dead, and given to his god. Now, he is far from that god's grace, lost in death as he was in life. A cold spirituality is no replacement for worldly wisdom... but your wisdom is not entirely worldly and neither is it fully divorced from the world. Your answer to my question is the correct one. Thus may you come with me, safe from the perils of this oasis that lurk here unseen by physical, mortal eyes.” A slithering sound did then meet everyone's ears, and the flapping of leathery wings, although no source for either sound could be seen. There was a terrible, monstrous, inhuman presence in that oasis, and it was that, surely, which claimed the life of the man who had died there. “Of old, flying serpents once existed in these lands but they were hunted near to extinction by wanderers who crossed these regions in ancient times. Those so remaining have learned ways to become unseen and thus unable to be hunted. They are the hunters now and the foolhardy are their prey.” said the albino woman as she led Dal'pachta and Ophelia up the path that wound along the edges of the cliff and on higher into the mountains that towered above. It was not an easy path, especially for the chubby noblewoman who was unused to such exertions as one might be given to when making such a treacherous climb. Yet, despite this, she did well and her girl servant who was more used to such activities made no complaint, nor did her mistress regardless of how it made the much older woman get slightly out of breath as they ascended the narrow path. “A life of ease does not always do us favors.” said the albino, adding to that: “I mean no offense, but I sense you are struggling in this climb. You are too big for me to carry, so you will have to accept the difficulty. I can see you are doing exactly that, so I shall speak no more of this.” Dal'pachta said unto her in reply: “A life of ease in some ways, is a life of turmoil in other ways. We all bear our difficulties, lady. Each in our own ways.” And the albino thus nodded her head as if in agreement although when she turned about for a moment as they walked along to see how the two strangers were doing when it came to keeping up, her severe facial expression changed a bit to show that she was trying to understand something. She said nothing, turned back about, and the three continued onward and upward. The path eventually lead to a very high clifftop near to the summit of the mountain they were climbing. On this summit was a very large square temple made of black marble, with marble columns supporting its' domed roof. The roof was painted a midnight blue color with white stars painted upon it to resemble the night sky, with gold trim along the base of the dome. Many steps led up to the doors of the temple, and the doors were made of gold and covered with strange engravings and etchings depicting a heavenly looking garden of endless delights. Two massive winged sphinx-like statues stood watch upon both sides of the doors, to the left and to the right of that portal. The stone beasts were bearded, with ferocious looking human faces that were very beast-like even though they were the faces of men. Their beards were curled and ornamented, and upon the heads of the sphinxes were tall crowns with twin horns upon the crowns. Four wings rose from the backs of the beasts, and the bodies of the beasts appeared to be covered in eyes. “Those beasts you see there are the guardians of this place.” explained the tall albino, who further stated: “Their gaze is much like an iron will, under which the unworthy will be withered by fear. They were celestial beings once... bound into stone, to watch over this place until the ending of all time. After which, their vigil over, the pair of them shall return whence they came... to the heavens, then at the last being of stone no longer.” Ophelia covered her eyes and fell to her knees at the sight of them, exclaiming aloud: “I know of such beings as these! Cherubim, creatures of God almighty. It is not right to look upon them.” But, in spite of this revelation on Ophelia's part, Dal'pachta was totally and obviously quite unmoved by the sight of the colossal stone creatures. In sight of them, the noblewoman merely said: “If they were not of stone, then perhaps I might too be moved to fear them! But I have read about guardian beasts such as these before, in texts left to us by ancient peoples of the desert. If you show them fear, they will be ferocious to you... but if you are steadfast in your heart and strong in your mind, then you can withstand their gaze fairly.”
The noblewoman walked up the doors, between the two stone guardians, and she dared to touch the stone of the twin colossi with her hands, running her hands across the bases of the statues, reaching up to touch the paws of them as well. “Do you see, Ophelia? I have touched them! There is nothing to truly be afraid of.” But Ophelia was praying and singing to herself, trying to master her fear of these beasts. The albino woman laid a reassuring hand on the young girl's shoulder, and she said to her: “Child, you need not fear them if your heart is pure, and yours is! More so by far that the heart of your mistress. It is wrong that she should stand there so impiously and that you should remain cowering here in your zeal. Rise, look upon the celestial beasts in gladness, for they mean you no harm! And go to the side of she whom you serve so loyally.” Thus was the teenager's heart strengthened. She stood up, walked timidly towards the temple's doors and there was she welcomed by her mistress's strong, reassuring arms. That was the moment when the eyes of the statues began to glue with a bright blue light. The designs upon the door were lit up by an identical colored light and when the light faded from both statues and doors, the portal opened, the doors cast backward of their own accord with a loud clang. “Enter the temple, in gladness. I will follow.” instructed the albino woman. The scroll had not mentioned the cherubim, and there was likely to be many more things the scroll had not spoken of. Inside the temple, three rows of columns lined the walls and above the domed ceiling looked as much inside like the night sky as it did on the outside. Upon the floor in the center of the temple was a triangular shaped raised dais on which there was a set of circular golden doors in the middle of a circle at the triangle's precise center. All of the lanterns that hung within the temple were lit by blue flames within them, and this was something neither of the two strangers had ever witnessed the like of before. The walls of the temple beneath the dome were covered in murals depicting beings descending to the earth from the stars and the beings, who looked somewhat similar to the albino woman herself, were instructing primitive looking people and more decidedly ape-like looking people along with them. One mural showed them constructing a walled garden wherein the non ape-like primitive humans toiled whilst the ape-like people worked in diamond mines and gave the diamonds to the beings from the stars. Further murals showed people in the act of being expelled from the garden after having broken some sort of commandment, and by this point it became evident to Ophelia and Dal'pachta that this temple's murals were showing the earliest history of the human race on Earth. The more human-like people took to fighting the ape-like people, and there were scenes of both species intermixing with the beings from the stars until a great flood and some sort of genocidal war brought an end to that era of human history. “These are scenes from some of my peoples' religious texts!” Ophelia shouted excitedly. But she then noticed something that perplexed her, and exclaimed: “But... where is God? I do not see God in any of these depictions! Only what seem to be many gods, or angels of some sort. And they all look kind of like that tall, pale lady. This... this is in contradiction to a lot of the things that are written in holy scriptures! This must be an evil place.” At that precise moment, the tall albino entered the temple and the doors closed behind her. She approached the two strangers, her sandals clapping upon the black marble floor. Then, she said unto Ophelia: “I had heard what you said as I was entering the temple, and you are wrong girl! There is no evil here, and if you do not see God in these murals it is only because you do not see God's hand in these events as that being is working through its' physical agents. That we did not depict such a being herein, is not a sign of impiety but rather a sign of the utmost piety! For how can we depict the life-force of all that is, that which dwells in everything in existence, and everyone as well? God is not as simply defined as it is in your human scriptures, which have deviated far from the truth so as to become heresies themselves. I mean no disrespect to your beliefs, Ophelia! But they are in error, in a great many ways. And yes, I do know who you both are... your thoughts are easy for me to know, although my people do not oft employ such methods without goodly reason. I know what is in your minds and hearts, and that is why I have allowed you to enter into this sacred place. This is not a place of rewards, you see, but a place of truth!”
The tall woman then beckoned Dal'pachta towards the middle of the temple, where the doors within the great triangular dais were. She then said unto her: “Take your place there... that is right! Stand upon the doors, and look at my face as I speak unto you. Lay down your weapon, for you shall not have need of it after this!” and, the noblewoman did as instructed, laying her scimitar upon the floor outside of the circle so that it was not touching the doors that were there. “Do you wish for me to dance for you next, my lady?” asked Dal'pachta somewhat impatiently, and the tall albino woman said unto her in answer to that: “Actually, that comes next! You are to spin about, dancing in a spinning fashion and moving from right to left in a circle but without leaving the circle in which you stand. As your feet dance thus upon the gold beneath you, you are shedding what is leaden within you in favor of the gold that shall be the new. You are to dance with all your heart, all your zeal, and imagine that you are dancing before God as you do so... imagine that God is all about you, and within you. Imagine that God is within me, and that my voice as I instruct you is the voice of God. Do this, and do not leave the circle!” But, the noble was reluctant to comply at first, saying: “I will do this, lady, but without music it will be difficult!” and then there was the sound of flute and harp coming seemingly from the walls of the temple itself, filling the chamber with the sound of it. A beating drum pounded out a rhythm, and as if enchanted by some kind of spell, Dal'pachta began to dance in a spiral, circular pattern without leaving the circle in which she stood, moving right to left in a circle within that greater circle, her arms flailing about so wildly as her hands worked arcane patterns in the air that she did not even realize she knew how to enact. She cast off her headscarf and let her hair fly about her head as she danced... and she danced as if she was doing so for God, dancing with all her heart, mind, body, soul and spirit. All of her zeal, she poured into this performance, and as she danced the tall albino clapped her hands in time to the beat of the drums, and Ophelia began to clap her hands and sing to the music even though she did not realize at first that there were words to this song. Her cloak, she cast off next and threw it outside the circle, and her dance was so carefree and powerful that she was caught up into a kind of ecstatic state by it. She began to sing as she danced, in a language that was alien to hear but which somehow she knew how to speak. And the words to her song were in harmony with the singing of Ophelia despite that both were singing in very different languages. At the height of her dance, she was becoming dizzy and feared stumbling, and at that point the albino woman told her to stop and sit upon the floor with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. She practically collapsed into that position, and when she hit the floor she saw many colors of all sorts behind her closed eyes, and beheld visions of things that defy description. “What do you most want for yourself, with all your heart, Dal'pachta?” asked the albino, and she urged the noblewoman not to answer her but to keep the answer in her mind and in her heart, and that she was to contemplate it in silence. The music was finished, the singing done, and there was total silence in that ancient temple in the mountains. The flapping of wings could be heard and inhuman voices were speaking in alien tongue and strange intonations. Within her mind, Dal'pachta could see strange living creatures covered in eyes, and with many wings, with wings covering their bodies at times. The exact shapes of their bodies were impossible to discern, as if they had no single shape that could be determined. Yet, they did have some sort of shape! Only, it was beyond the mind's ability to grasp. “I must not open my eyes. I must not look upon them directly!” the noblewoman cautioned herself within her mind. It was terrible enough to have to see them this much, and had she been of a weaker nature this vision might have driven her to insanity by the sheer alien strangeness of it. They wanted to know what was in her heart, what she desired most for herself in all the world right now, at this point in her life, at this crossroads she was at. She could be granted anything she longed for... she could have her youth back, or live forever without aging a day. Or she could bring her father back from death, and thus ease her mother's troubled heart as the woman was getting older and facing that old age without her beloved husband at her side. But her mother still had at her side other men who adored her, and she did not want eternal life since that would only be sorrowful.
For of what use is life without end, if you have to watch those you love age and die whilst you stay as young and healthy as ever? That would be a torment worse than any hell for a person who was afraid of loneliness more than any fear of death itself. No, these things were not for Dal'pachta! All she truly did want, was one thing and one thing only... and her heart called it out, to the celestial beings that came to hear her silent plea. An unfathomable force was gathering in the dome above, like a mass of lightning it was but it was somehow alive and many colored. It was the manifest embodiment of all that is, and that was when Dal'pachta realized she was truly in the presence of God. “I am not worthy of this!” she thus thought, and a gentle voice that was a perfect harmonious blend of male and female said unto her from the lightning above: “As I am within all, I am within you as well. All are worthy, for all are! And since all are, I am.” She understood its' meaning, as she felt its' light descending upon her, enveloping her in its' electric-like currents of spiritual power. There was fire burning, blazing within the lightning, and it was all around her even as she was within it. A blue fire, a blue flame hotter than anything on this world and yet it did not burn her and she was unharmed by its' embrace. God was embracing her, and all she knew was divine love and a oneness with every living thing in existence... in every reality, and upon all worlds that contained life in whatever form life might be embodied as upon those worlds. It was pure, it was maddening, and it was terrible! And yet, it was comfortable as well. “Speak your desire unto me for it is already known to me through my existence within you already. Speak it, and we shall together thus make it manifest in the world!” God spoke thus unto Dal'pachta, and she spoke aloud for all to hear, for God to hear, what it was that this divine force already knew. It was the power of that speaking that had the means to bring it about! For in every word, there is unimaginable power. Ophelia could only stare, near to madness as her eyes saw the angels descending in their inhuman forms and when she saw God manifesting itself and enveloping her mistress she knelt and closed her eyes and began to sing hymns of the utmost praise of glory. The albino woman told her this was not necessary and that God did not wish for this from her or even want it from anyone. “It does not even like to be called God!” she explained to the teenager, but the girl's young mind could not fathom these truths and these alien sights. It was all far too much for her to be able to comprehend. Nothing at all of the noblewoman could be seen within the mass of many colored lightnings and blue flame in the center of the triangular dais. The Divine Force in all of its' revealed glory was there, and in the air around it were glimpses of every reality and visions of worlds and universes beyond counting, solitary and parallel worlds alike, and snippets and flashes of all the lives in those worlds and universes. Time had no meaning in these visions, and history was a cycle that repeated itself at times. There was no genesis nor ending of the world, only beginnings and various endings so that new beginnings could take place and life could continue. Cycles of time into infinity, all unfolding simultaneously across every conceivable reality and every reality beyond the knowing of any mortal or immortal mind. The albino woman was used to these sights, for she and her kindred had ever and always been the keepers of this ultimate forbidden knowledge. She placed her hands over the eyes of Ophelia and told her to keep singing, and she closed her eyes also... for now there were sights far too much even for her to be able to comfortably bear, even she was was as stated used to such things. This was a powerful manifestation of the Divine Force, the most powerful that had been called to this place in many thousands of years. Dal'pachta would have her heart's desire at last, and the person who would emerge from that circle in the center of the triangular dais would be changed forever. “Is she going to be alright?” asked Ophelia, and the albino told her: “Far more than she has ever been in her entire life, my child! In whatever form she emerges from this, she will know true serenity henceforth.” Was it day any longer? Or was it night! Time was meaningless now, and the flow of it was halted briefly, so that some sort of miracle could be enacted. This was not a place for human eyes to ever behold, nor human feet to ever walk within... and none who did ever were the same again. The doors in the circle opened, and the shaft below was underneath Dal'pachta... yet she did not fall down into it. It was filled with green light.
The light then exploded upward from out the shaft, reaching the heights of the very top of the domed ceiling itself, and as it did so the Divine Force vanished from sight and the winged beings also vanished as they phased into other realities beyond human understanding. The emerald light remained for a span of time that was indeterminable, and when it went back down into the shaft and the doors closed when that was over with... what had been Dal'pachta regarded Ophelia lovingly. And the teenage servant thus looked, and she saw that two children... a boy and a girl, both of them twins, sat within the circle where before the noblewoman had been. One look at their faces, and one could see that they were both at the same time Dal'pachta, and yet at the same time they were Dal'pachta no longer. The clothing that had so been worn by the hermaphrodite noblewoman lay upon the ground, unable to fit either of the children's bodies. The two children were eight years of age... the girl called herself Dalia, and the boy was called Pachtas. They introduced themselves to Ophelia, who looked upon the twins uncomprehendingly... her mind finally coming to grasp with the reality of the true reason for this journey. Her mistress, finally at long last, would never again feel like two people trapped inside of a single body. For the two people she always felt she was torn between being, were now two people in fact. Two people who had within them the shared memory of all of Dal'pachta's life experiences. As was arranged prior to the onset of this odd adventure, Nalek would henceforth serve as the twins' guardian so that their mother need not have to be burdened with this task in her ever increasingly old age. Nalek was young enough to be a father without being too young and inexperienced for such a responsibility. Ophelia would remain their personal maid and servant, although it was certain that their relationship with her would lack certain intimate aspects for some time to come... and by the time those aspects could be possible once more, Ophelia would be the older and more experienced woman. The albino woman walked towards an alcove on the far side of the temple and fetched some child-sized gowns that were present in a wardrobe there. Where gowns of every size... whether adult, teen, or child sizes were needed... could be found therein. The children put the gowns on and tied the sash belts they were given about their waists. They were given undergarments to go with those gowns, which they put on as well, and sandals for their feet. The gowns were emerald green in color. And the belts were golden, whilst the undergarments were a pure white. Their nakedness thus covered, the children were ready to depart back to the kingdom of Maladaqin once again in the fair company of their still ever loyal maidservant Ophelia. Both children's hair was in the style in which the noblewoman had worn hers, which looked just as good on the little boy as it did on the little girl. They had to leave Dal'pachta's clothes, cloak and scimitar behind for they were of no use to the twins now. As the trio left the temple, they bid farewell to the albino woman who sealed the doors of the temple shut once everyone was outside of it again. She remained behind at the temple as the outsiders left and she stayed there as they did begin the long trek back down the rugged mountain once more. They had more than enough supplies to make it back to the capital city, which would likely take another week more or less. Plus, the albino woman had given them a bit of surplus extra food and other essentials for the trip. They never did learn her name, and they simply accepted this was part of her enigma. The woman very clearly was not of this world originally, and so perhaps it was best they never did learn her name. As it is, all names hold power, and certain beings are not likely to wish to bestow such power to just anyone. The journey home was uneventful, if as arduous and trying as it had been to go that way to start with... and the twins were brought before the royal family so that the rulers of Maladaqin might know of what fate had befallen Dal'pachta. The scroll was given into the king's hand so that he might see proof of the things that the maidservant faithfully related unto him. And, on the spot, the king declared this to be a miracle and because of the miraculous nature of these twins' creation he insisted that they be raised by him and the queen henceforth and made a prince and princess of the kingdom. But so great was the love that the twins bore for Nalek... that they insisted they would never be happy if he was not allowed to at the very least be their tutor. Thus was this agreed upon, and to the satisfaction of both the twins and all.
In the years to come, neither Nalek nor Ophelia appeared to have aged a day... much to their mutual surprise... for the miracle of the Divine Twins, as they so came to be called, was such that because they feared to lose those two people whom they loved the most in all the world, it was thus arranged by the Divine Force that the lives of Ophelia and Nalek would be extended far beyond their natural span, and their aging processes slowed so much that they appeared not to age at all. In time, they would go on and live to see the rise and fall of many kingdoms... and the rise to power of the Divine Twins, who came to be revered even above the king and queen of the grand kingdom of Maladaqin. The prince, became one of those first to bend the knee and show them obeisance, although for their part the twins never once so asked for such obeisance from anyone. It was expected that the twins would age like normal children... but they too seemed to have become just as eternal as Ophelia and Nalek evidently had. They would of course age faster than the two whom they loved, so that they would never need to endure living pas the deaths of them when finally they did inevitably come... but even so, the four of them together would be living for countless centuries of time and human history. The era in which these events took place was during that age of the world which followed the destruction of Atlantis and the great deluge that was a cover for a terrible genocidal purge enacted by the beings whom mankind had at the time called gods. It was a savage and wild time for many, but in certain places ancient and powerful kingdoms still held a measure of sway and new beliefs began to take the place of older ones whilst the earliest recorded days of history were starting to take shape. No history would record kingdoms such as Maladaqin, and only in the most esoteric of texts regarding spiritual alchemy would there come to be even the most passing of references to the Divine Twins and that mostly only in a symbolic manner. As for the temple where it was the miracle of the twins took place, the king and queen of Maladaqin sent forth explorers in the pay of the royal family to try and discover it and they found the oasis wherein more dead men lay. They did also find the mountains and the path leading up to the summit of the highest mountain of that region. It seemed as if they should have beheld the temple upon that summit but when they reached it there was no temple there to be seen, nor any evidence that such a structure had ever been built there at all. A tall albino woman met them, who seemed not to be wholly human... and she bade them depart that place in all haste and to never return to seek the temple of the Divine Force again. Thus did they learn that some power had made it impossible to reach that temple at all unless she who seemed to be its' caretaker did will it to be so. So was it established that the temple did indeed exist, and that it was beyond the reach of mortals not in the good graces of the temple's caretaker. The king and queen sought for it no longer... and declared the site of it sacred and holy ground. Life continued, even if some things were forgotten!
The four immortals, as they had come to be called by the peoples of the desert, walked along the arid wastelands and sands as they made their way to the secret, fortified, oasis that had become their home. They needed neither food to eat or water to drink, nor had they ever since that miracle in the temple did take place many thousands of years previous. The world had changed, and they had changed along with it, reinventing themselves many times over. They still had no signs of aging, and still they held within their bodies all the vitality of their youth. A certain tree grew in their oasis home, a tree that bore a fruit that seemed to extend their eternal life even beyond its' originally enhanced span. They would likely be able now to exist for as long as the world did, and the Divine Twins and their two companions felt not a small amount of delight in regard to this blessing... for death was something they had always deeply did fear, deep within their hearts of hearts. The fortress that now guarded the secret oasis was avoided by all travelers, for it was far from the main routes of travel and had an evil reputation that only seemed to be growing as the centuries passed. But it was the most holy of places, touched by hands divine and long, long after the caretaker of the temple ceased to be seen by living eyes again, the oasis was guarded and kept safe by the four immortals and their chosen acolytes. Their sect was small, but zealously dedicated.
Published 7th Feb 2024
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