The Sun Sets Part 1

The three soulmates return to Jinn's oak tree field entangled within each other's limbs in the grass.

No one knows what to say and that is alright; sometimes silence tells more than words.

A breeze passes by and Rosalind inhales the fresh air it brings. 

"You can let go," she smiles at Jinn. "I'm fine."

Jinn immediately complies.

Jabbing Feng Mian's arms away and jetting out from between her legs, Rosalind begins, "We need to find a way out of here."

"There's no way out," Jinn says as Feng Mian joins their side. "Even if you keep walking, the field stretches on and the trees remain just as far away. Even the sun doesn't set here. At first it was so cool but now it's kinda boring; an orange blob in the sky," he pinches his fingers in front of his eyes to frame the forever setting sun with his flesh.

Abruptly, Jinn drops his hand and looks at the two Ephrenes. "Why am I here? I know this place can't be real or there would be an end to this field and there wouldn't be the two most beautiful women I've ever seen standing beside me and calling me their soulmate. This must be a dream."

Feng Mian envelopes his hands in hers. Jinn's time stopped at fifteen so he must slightly look up to reach her gaze. "We'll explain everything to you once you wake up. I promise. The more time we spend in here, the less likely it is that your soul can return to Earth."

"What we've been through in this realm seems to revolve around our memories," Rosalind tries to piece together the puzzle. "Jinn, is this place similar to somewhere you've been before? Maybe we could break the ties you have to this field and leave that way?"

Jinn exhales gruffly. 

"I've thought about that for a long time but never had the guts to explore further. If you two are in my dream, it could be a sign that I now have the confidence I need to face myself."

"We're right here beside you," back to her old self, Feng Mian calms him down.

Rosalind sends him a lippy smile and Jin returns it. 

"Follow me," he releases one of his hands from Feng Mian's hold and takes Rosalind's own.

Turning them around, he walks them towards the winding oak tree in the distance. The further they go, the closer the tree appears. 

Laughter of boys bundles through the air and swims around the field. Jinn stiffens as they reach the base of the oak tree. 

In front of them, with his deep chocolate skin swirling as his arm muscles clank, a younger Lancaster attempts to climb the tall oak tree. Lancaster was just as towering then.

Shielded by the tree's green canopy, the ghost James, who was still alive then, lies across a boy. James' back brushes against the grass that tickles him and the boy both.

Giggling at the way the cheeks of the boy he lies upon bounce when he smiles, James can barely control the glee in his eyes. 

The boy beneath him shines like golden pearls, crooked teeth shielded by the thickness of his lips. 

"Let's promise each other something," the boy begins. 

At hearing his voice, Rosalind and Feng Mian realize with a clarity that the chubby boy is Jinn.

"What is it?" James giggles again.

"We're being sent to Sympathy because our stupid parents want to show us what happens when we refuse to leave each other. They're trying to make us separate. Let's be together forever," Jinn says in all seriousness.

Lancaster reaches the top branch of the oak tree and slits his head between the dark leaves. His kinky hair waves in the breeze.

"I'll promise as long as you promise too," James responds.

Jinn smiles again and a rose tints his cheeks.

"I promise."

Rosalind and Feng Mian cast their eyes on Jinn's now hollow and pale cheeks. His lips are pinched in a thin line; they tremble in resentment.

"When James... died, all I could ever see when I looked in the mirror was myself with him," the image of his once bright self relishing in Jame's presence is reflected in Jinn's eyes. "My plump cheeks which he kissed, the softness of my stomach that he lay upon and the thick trunk of my neck he caressed so softly. I said I'd be with him forever but I couldn't do it. That version of myself was a walking paradox, a worthless being that in the end had no meaning to its word. Now, I can be someone else."

Broken promises, broken dreams, broken Jinn.

~

"Something's coming," Noe tells Daniel as he looks outside the hospital window. The antiseptic in the room wafts out as he opens the window to listen closer.

THUMP.

"I can hear it too," Daniel says. "Those monsters at Sympathy, they made that sound when they came."

"We have about five minutes before they reach here," Noe calculates from prior experience. 

Quickly, they shift through the pages in 'A Guide to Ziraethean Myths and Legends' to find a page detailing the maroon monsters they encountered all those years ago.

It reads:

Minions. The Borne travel with henchmen to do their bidding called Minions. Often appearing in a hoard shaped like a walking boot of miniature, maroon monsters, the Borne that controls them cannot be far away. As these Minions come from the Underworld, the wicked energy they expel can cause an Ephrene to enter hysterics. When encountering minions, running away is the best option to safeguard one's soul from being dissipated by the Borne. Proceed to locate and destroy their Master once security has been achieved.

Noe and Daniel worriedly watch Rosalind, Feng Mian, and Jinn's connected unconscious forms. If their physical contact is broken, their souls risk fragmenting into pieces and being lost to the dreamstate realm forever.

Noe cannot carry all three of them and Daniel at the same time.

"Your safety comes first. Let's go," Noe hurriedly tries to bring Daniel into his arms and make their escape but Daniel halts him with his hand.

"We can't leave them here. They'll be destroyed," he says. Fear runs across his eyes as he contemplates a solution to the problem. "We'll stay and fight them off."

THUMP.

"You don't know how to fight. You'll get hurt."

"Noe, we're not going to leave your friends here to die."

"I would kill everyone in the world if it meant you'd be okay."

"Trust me, Noe, we can fight them off together!"

THUMP!

"They're almost on us. It's now or never, Daniel," Noe pleads with him. 

"We're staying."

THUMP!!!

Looking outside the window, a red boot has landed on the ground far below, crushing pedestrians. Terror rings out from far below as civilians frantically call the police and run for their lives.

The boot falls apart.

Thousands of Minions come rushing up the hospital building.

Evoking as much courage in himself as he can, Daniel rolls up the sleeves of his white shirt. As he opens his eyes, they slowly begin to glow r-

"Step back," Noe tells him.

Pushing his hands forward, Noe draws an invisible line around the sidewall of the hospital room, joins his hands together and waits. 

Sighing in relief, Daniel takes a few steps back.

When the Minions come crashing into the wall barrier, they explode into balls of fire and are jetted into the sky. 

"Nothing will be coming through there," Noe tells Daniel. 

"I reckon we have ten minutes before those Minions find another way in here. Let's just hope those three wake up before then," Daniel and Noe turn around to stare at the soulmates, yellow explosions of heat continuously flashing behind their heads.

~

"Jinn, it's not your fault," Feng Mian steps in front of Jinn to block his line of sight.

"There are things that we cannot always control and death is one of them," Rosalind tells him.

Trembling lips and misted eyes, Jinn is in no state to respond.

Looking at him, Rosalind feels pulverized by the weight of his grief. What can she do to make him feel better?

"Do you know what happened when my mom died?" Rosalind begins and bites her lip. "My father laughed. He said she had it coming. Later that year, he got an 'Outstanding Citizen of the Year' Award for his monetary contributions to orphanages around Westville. At the time, there was always someone calling to share how inspiring he was.

"To think about it now, never once did I see my father looking down about anything. He lived his life like he was the only being of importance but kept up appearances at all costs. Seeing how sad you are right now makes me furious, Jinn. The most hateful person I'd ever met lived a life of luxury while you, an angel in your own right, are in pain because of something you couldn't even control. 

I don't know what I'm saying. I just feel like telling you that your feelings are valid and you never have to fake them around me. In my opinion, you deserve to smile even if it means I spend the rest of my life extracting the stars from the sky to give to you. Please, be happy. Please. I'm sure that's what James would've wanted too."

Slowly easing out of his stupor, Jin glances between Rosalind's curved eyes and Feng Mian's sanguine temperament. 

Suddenly, he collapses into their arms in a puddle of tears. 

Holding onto him as if their world depends on it, as it does, Rosalind and Feng Mian finally look at each other again. 

"I think I know why the three of us are fated," Feng Mian voyces into Rosalind's head, her lips slightly tugging upward. "The Omniscient knew it would take more than one Ephrene to heal Jinn's heart."

~

Ten minutes later, the ceiling and hospital halls are overflowing with Minions trying to break the walls down. The three soulmates continue to sleep.