Crimson

Chapter Forty-Five

Swiftly taken into the abyss, Isabella felt peace surround her; the similar coddling akin to her father's embrace, yet so expansive. Surrounding her body, she felt the awe and connectedness to the universe and beyond. Her mind reeled at the knowledge inherent in this stream and as quickly as it came, the feeling abruptly absconded.

Replaced by the shell of gray encasing her body, she saw nothing but the mirror of herself. The creature whose existence radiated though her, channeling strength and understanding, a connection tethered by the stars, a semblance of combining what was once whole eons ago.

"Hello Pligal." Isabella announced herself to the being, which held its back to her.

Unmoving, Pligal raised his gray hands to his bulbous black eyes. Inspecting them, he took a few moments to answer, clearly disoriented.

"How did I arrive here?" He said to no one in particular. "I have not tasted the power of the Sangre to instill such travels. I have sat here for a short while attempting to understand this perplexing phenomenon."

"Your manner of speech is interesting. Your people must be so smart." Isabella mused moving closer to him.

"People?" Pligal said turning round to her. "What is this word you speak of? Do my words beguile you?"

"No, not at all. Also, sorry. People just means your kind." She said investigating his gray shell for an inkling of a response.

"Ah, you mean my clan, my kin." Pligal said. "I thank you. Your ways may be equally captivating to myself."

"Hmm, I suppose." Isabella whispered as she glanced around the abyss.

Surrounding by nothing on every side, only a soft glow radiated from the platform supporting their encased forms. Pligal followed her gaze as he started to observe their location quietly marveling at the unassuming beauty of the darkness, the endless void housing their essence, their spirits.

"What are we to do now?" Pligal said after a few moments starting into the shifting darkness.

"I thought you may answer that. I was pulled here, somehow." Isabella said staring intensely at something Pligal could not see. "Pain. All I remember was extreme pain."

"Ah, I am no stranger to pain. It melded with my own form, as of late. It came as suddenly as you have described. All I remember is..." Pligal said trailing off.

"What is it?" Isabella curiously inquired.

"It was as if; my soul was siphoned out, replaced with emptiness." Pligal said breathlessly.

Thinking to herself, Isabella's mind passed over the previous workday. The moment her strength far surpassed her limits as well as the immediate depletion of nearly every fiber of energy.

"Perhaps this is why we needed to speak." Isabella thought.

Turning her big bulbous eyes towards Pligal's gray form, she realized he stood eagerly rapt towards her introspection. Careful not to intrude upon her space and thoughts, Pligal remained reposed, awaiting her invitation for him to join her.

Smiling inwardly due to the gray form's inability to mimic more than basic facial cues, she thought, "So patient. So understanding."

Speaking aloud, she responded, "Thanks for waiting. I was just thinking of my own experience feeling that." Glancing down and then quickly back towards Pligal, Isabella animatedly asked, "Are you getting stronger at times too?"

"Stronger? Oh yes. I call it my blessing. Once thought bestowed by the ancestors, now I don't really know what it is." Pligal answered honestly.

"The light beings said we are connected. Maybe this strong connection is what gives us the ability to grow strong while the other becomes weaker." Isabella said.