11 Enough Part 1

Deep in the Dec, a melody lullabys. Bodhi nudges the bridge of his looking glasses up his nose. With his other hand, he carefully closes the circuit of a digital weapon he has modified.

Across the room, James is seated in his stagnant rocking chair, knitting fiercely as a puffy-eyed Jinn awaits. Terry descends onto a stool and captivates James within his stare.

He interrogates, "Where is Noe?"

Lancaster's guitar strikes a minor chord.

James' flitting fingers flex. "Nehruma."

Noe pries his eyes open to uncover a deep blue sky. He tries to see beyond the blue but is captivated by its allure. He feels as if he shall float away and enter its limerence.

A cloud disrupts his thoughts. Slowly sitting up, his mind is prodded by a silent voice, "Hello, Brother Noeremous."

Something rubs Noe's cheek.

Looking around, Noe renders, with fascination, the huge, grass-green tail of a dragon planing the blue. It steers him up and up, through the clouds, past the highest-flying birds.

"Do not fear," the voice enters his head again. Noe turns around and rays of sun assault his eyes. An exquisite man is figured within the rays and creates the image of a god claiming the sun. "We are almost there," he soothes.

Instantly, the sky envelopes them in a whirlpool of swirling white, yellow, and blue. Streaks of black embellish his vision.

They explode through the chamber and settle into a steady glide on the other side. Much clearer now, the dragon is dressed in silver armor with a gorgeous straddle large enough to comfortably carry ten men situated on its back. Noe is lying on its exterior while the man confidently stands at the forefront.

The godly man, dressed in bounding black clothing, kneels at the edge of the dragon's armor. Reaching his arm down, he closes his eyes and rests his hand upon the dragon's exposed face. "Thank you for your energy, Copernicus."

Copernicus lets loose a happy chuckle from within his throat. They come to a rest upon endless green fields. The man in black turns around, robes flying around him, and faces Noe. "We have arrived."

Noe sees the land as mountains upon mountains of meadow, sunshine, and flourishing flowers of pink, yellow, purple.

"Who are you?" Noe asks the man.

"I am Adelaide," as he says this, a smile graces his face. He extends a hand towards Noe, eyes squinting, and bends toward him. Adelaide's black hair, as full of depth as Noe's, strands over his shoulder and nearly touches the silver beneath them.

Noe feels the kindness Adelaide exudes and takes his hand.

Standing, Noe asks, "Am I dead?"

Adelaide's laugh jingles like wedding bells, "No. Brother, I believe you have just come alive. Look around you once more."

Taking another look at his surroundings, Noe's heart double-takes. Dragons of all shapes and sizes soar in the clouds.

All around them are women and men dressed similarly to Adelaide's billowing black robes. Some have their hoods up to cover their faces while others laugh and converse as if strolling with friends at Westville central park.

However, what takes his breath away is the seamlessly glowing disposition they all possess. Every one of them is gorgeous, unrestrained in their happiness and joy, positively real.

Most remarkably, diamond palaces are constructed across the mountains, sparkling and refracting light as if made of water. Their peaks reach up to touch the sky. Although the world is pockmarked with infrastructure, nature has been left unharmed. Fresh air fills Noe's lungs, zephyrs caress his skin, and energy saturates his bones.

"Brother Adelaide!" a woman whoops from the other end of the bumbling heads. Moving towards them, she smoothly crosses thirty meters of the field in a single leap. "Is this him?"

Noe cranes his head to look up at her face. Her blond hair smells like flowers and her muscles intertwine as roots that plant an old oak do. She radiates power and protection.

"Indeed, this is him," Adelaide confirms.

Her brown eyes smile. "We are so glad to finally meet you, Brother Noeremous," she leans down to engulf him in a warm hug. Releasing her small substrate, Noe feels as if he could be up against an army of millions and she would be there to save him.

"I must take my leave, Sister Fadziso. Father gave me a mission to complete after collecting Brother Noeremous," Adelaide confesses.

"Goodbye, Brother Adelaide," Fadziso reaches her arm toward him and he takes it into both of his hands, gently leans forward, and taps his forehead against the back of her hand. She does the same to his hand ad her forehead. Adelaide rides Copernicus off into the clouds.

"Brother Adelaide has been Father's messenger for millennia. I came here only a century ago. If you need anything, voyce either one of us and we will be sure to assist you," she places a hand on his shoulder. "Any questions?"

Noe's lean figure seems as if it shall shatter beneath the strength of her hand.

"Where are we?" he glances around the brilliant crystal atmosphere.

"Oh! I almost forgot to give you a tour," she guides him through the fields of people who speak a language foreign to Noe. Soon, they break out onto the edge of a cliff.

A waterfall of silver metal gallops over the highest ground overlooking the fields of diamond and glass. Its silver streams across the land, between castles and glittering flowers. A dragon bellows over the recesses, a sonorous sound that induces courage.

"Where heroes were sent to live eternally; Ancient Greeks called this place the Elysian Fields. Christians may say it is their Heaven, a Kingdom Come. In Sanskrit, Nirvana.

"They all had varying ideas for the same place whose one true name is 'the Fields of Ziraeth'. Nothing bad can happen to your physical body within this realm. If I told you to jump off of this cliff, and that you would land safely within the castle below, would you?"

Without second thought, Noe propels himself over the edge. His long hair swims around his head as if gravity is keeping him in its arms. Within a moment, Noe is swallowed by the descent.

Landing softly on his feet, Noe finds that he is within an enormous library. Bookshelves rise so high that their end is not visible to him. Fadziso joins his side.

"Why am I here?" he asks her.

"Why do you think you are here?" she counters.

"Strange things have been happening lately," he begins. "I think I'm here because of those things. Am I here to be punished?"

"We are in a library in the middle of an oasis. Why would I be punishing you here?"

"This is the land of heroes-"

"Not exactly."

"- and I've been told I'm the child of the Devil. Heroes hurt bad guys like me."

"They were wrong, Noe," Fadziso tells him. "You were never a devil child and can never be one."

"Then, what am I?"

"Noe, listen to me carefully. You are an Angel of the Omniscient, the Child of my Father."

Fadziso jumps up and disappears into the endless space above Noe's head. On descent, a gargantuan book made of silver pages rests in her hands.

The buds of her feet touch the library's soft floor of grass first. With light filtering through the walls, she resembles a black dove glimmering upon a clear lake.

'A Guide to Ziraethean Myths, Legends, and Tongue' is engraved on the cover of the book. It must explain everything and everyone within the Fields of Ziraeth as well as all that is to come. She opens it and gives it to Noe.

Analyzing the opened page, a long list of words beginning with 'N' are listed before him in tiny font. A particular name catches his eye.

'Noeremous: Angel of Forgiveness.'

He stares at the letters and wonders if he truly grasps their meaning. Is he dreaming?

"I know there is much to ponder. I will leave you here to think. Clap your hands once if you would like me to return." With that, Fadziso pushes off the ground and disappears within the ceiling. This time, she does not return.

Suddenly, a thought slips through Noe's processing. When he first listened to Ziraethean being spoken by the beings on the cliffside, he remembers hearing a certain word that has haunted his heart and mind. Scrolling through the many parts of speech that begin with 'N' in Zirathean, he uncovers the word he had been looking for.

Noe is paralyzed. All the muscles in his body go lax as he loses control.

His mind spirals. His body falls onto the floor.

Written on the page, in tiny font, 'Nehruma: Forgive me.'

--

Noeremous:

Ziraethean for Angel of Forgiveness.

Voyce:

A Zirathean form of communication by means of speaking telepathically.