Moksha stared, mesmerized by the being before her, undistracted by the giant rainbow that soared beneath her, nor its master. Not even the her illusions, now outlandish but somehow pleasant compared to the flurry of death at the gas station.
He is there, and yet, he is not. Translucent… no… but still… his body is elusive to reality. And therefore he also evades my power.
She closed her eyes, and try as she might, she could not focus on his body. It faded in and out of her vision like a moving hologram.
And he is so calm. Calming. I am in envy. No! I must not envy. But still… what is he… his he a god?
Moksha considered asking the meditating man but her shyness got the best of her. Suddenly her concentration was broken by a voice.
“Miss, I... we need to speak.”
“Hmm?”
“I was watching you earlier, when you healed Chaos. Do you think, I mean can you, can you heal me? Can you close the whole in my mind?”
“I’m not sure I understand.” She giggled slightly at the bizarre request.
“These creatures, they come from another… reality. They live inside my head, and they escape to the real world on occasion. I want to be rid of them. I want you to take them out of my head. Destroy them.”
Moksha considered this proposition. She did not want to destroy living things, especially ones as beautiful as her carrier.
“My philosophy forbids me to harm innocent creatures.”
“I assure you, miss…”
“Moksha.”
“Moksha… I’m Guy. I assure you, Moksha, these creatures are not innocent. Most of them are much more vile and fiendish than this one.”
There was a pause as Moksha digested this new information.
“Do they cause you to suffer?”
“Yes.”
“Suffering comes from the illusion of reality. As humans we accept the things around us as real, but they are not. Only when we deny this acceptance will the truth be revealed to us, and only then can we cease to suffer.”
“I see… So no.” Guy sighed in disappointment. The two were silent for the remainder of the trip.
* * *
When they arrived at the safe house, Guy staggered over to leader-man. Moksha dismounted the winged rainbow and followed a few steps behind, surveying the house. Already the people around her had induced some small rodents and scorpions.
“Mr Chaos sir, I don't have much time. Please answer me this question quickly, Can you close the hole in my mind?”
Poor man. He didn’t listen to me. Still he searches where the answer can’t be found.
“Yes.”
Now the leader I did not see as a fool. Does he misconceive his power, or relish in distributing false hope? We will talk later…
Guy entered the house. Moksha moved to follow, but leader-man stuck out his arm, blocking her entry. “You don’t want to go in there just yet. Trust me…”
Moksha backed up and sat behind the hummer while the others entered the house. She heard the screams of death and ecstasy from within the house, and the accompanying illusions as three of their party indulged in their dispositions. When the screams had stopped, she entered the house and walked to the living room where the group had congregated.
Leader-man spoke, “Ok, guys. I'm tired as hell right now. If you got beefs, spill them. If you got wants or need that I don't know about, spill those too. Then I will see about giving you those wants and needs.”
Being introverted and unobtrusive as usual, Moksha listened to the —mostly insane—wants, needs and plans of the others in silence. The surroundings were fairly distracting with the high density of people in one space. Moksha closed her eyes.
They may be troubled, but it is still my task to help them.
Moksha “saw” one of her companions approach her. His voice was startled her, it was so close. “Would you mind doing a bit of healing for me later? I could use a bit of help.” Moksha considered acting on it right now.
No. Too many distractions. Remember for later.
When the meeting was informally adjourned, most went to find food before going to sleep. Moksha waited for everyone to leave the living room. She shut off the light and curled up on the couch.
What a da--
Despite that it was still early evening, she was asleep before she could finish the sentence. Not even the sounds of fire and destruction woke her.
* * *
OOC: I may insert another dream about the Hindu trinity here. Too tired tonight -_-
* * *
Moksha woke with a start. She squinted at the digital clock on the VCR: 3:00AM.
Okay, back to sleep.
If only it were that easy. Moksha’s exhaustion had made sleeping easy before, but she had gone to sleep very early, and she now had to ignore her hallucinations from which she had peace in the Sanitarium. After about a half hour she gave up. She padded into the kitchen and found some rice to cook. When her breakfast was served she began wandering about the house, looking for the leader of the group. She was now regretting not having voiced her needs at their little social the night before. Finally she came to a door with a faint stream of light leaking form the crack beneath the door. She felt his gaze from within the room, so she opened the door and stepped inside.
Leader-man, leader-man… what’s his name?
“Chaos.”
Moksha practically spilled her breakfast. She turned toward the noise and there was the prize of her quest sitting in a reclining chair. Mind reader.
“What else have you got in your bag of tricks?”
“A little of this, a little of that. I must applaud you though, you are the first to learn the greatest of my talents.”
“Your vision. Your prodding vision.”
“What can I say. I’m a divergent thinker. It portrays curiosity.”
“To put it lightly.”
There was a brief pause.
“I would like to help you.”
“I’d say I’m hardly one who needs it around here.”
“Not true. I’ve read your file. I’ve seen what your curse does to you.”
A small swarm of spiders crawled up Chaos’s torso. Eight eyes and eight legs for the curious omniscient one. The gods have a wicked sense of humor. Her eyes followed one up his arm toward his shoulder. Chaos swatted at it. *splat*
“Did I get him?”
“How did you…? Can you see—“
“No, your eyes choreograph the most distracting of your hallucinations.”
Moksha blushed.
“With my help, you will be rid of, not your delusions, but your fear.”
“Impossible. I’ve heard all the wisdom of the highest Brahmins and I know what I must do.”
“Perhaps, but I know that it’s not working.”
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
“What are you going to do?”
“You will become jaded. I will show you the true horrors of this earth, and your phobia for bugs and rodents will become petty.”
Moksha didn’t like this. “No. It is against everything which I have learned,” she rejected. “It is through our belief in Maya that it becomes real, and so we suffer. Adding more suffering will not destroy the suffering I face now.”
“You’ll never know if you don’t try. Come on, you spent, what? 15, 16 years trying the advice of the Brahmins. Don’t you think it’s time to try something else?”
Moksha said nothing, understanding his logic, but refusing to surrender to it.
“Anyway, you think about it. If you like, we can start today.”
Moksha opened her mouth to protest, but her heart was too divided on the issue to voice a rebuttal.
What if he’s right? No, he cannot be. It is wrong. But what if…
Moksha turned to continue their conversation but Chaos had already left. Looking down the hall, she could see him in the kitchen cracking eggs for breakfast.
_________________ ~WhitE-RaveN~
Did you know that when you get laser eye surgery, you do not get laser vision? I felt so stupid! Here I am trying to do toast.
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