By Michelle Harris aka
Lady M. Harris
Still Point - The Fourth Door"Take the boy to the crystal castle," the coarse voice whispered.
Raye came forward, her ruby gaze blinking in confusion. Her breath drew inwards.
The gunslinger leaned down toward the dark head barely discernable underneath the covers. He gently kissed the black, silk wavy curls of the boy before straightening to face her.
Raye grew still her, heart hammering. His eyes, her mind whispered. How she remembered them! So blue like the depths of an immense and ancient ocean, she remembered in her dream.
He reached for her hand that lay useless beside her thigh and pulled her toward him as he stood.
And then he was in her, moving soundlessly, his breath sweet and silent on her arched neck. She was the opposite. Short, tiny heated breaths tempered her breathing, which only tended to excite and arouse the gunslinger as he moved steadily within her depths. She matched the rhythm and song of his body with the sensuous play of her own hips. Clinging to him, holding onto him as her anchor…
Raye's eyes snapped open, her breathing shallow and fluttery. Her body was on fire. She tried vainly to ignore the hot pulse that throbbed between her thighs. A nightingale chirped lonely into the dark night, in hopes of hearing another answer it's call. The grasshoppers and night crawlers sang to the stars that winked in and out of the moonless night.
She reached over with trembling fingers to graze Stephen's forehead in a soft caress. Immediately, she calmed. The boy slept the sleep of young boys at the age of five where play, learning and imagination abounded during the wakeful days.
Raye turned over, her body hot and sweaty. She flipped the heavy length of her tangled hair over her shoulders to try and cool her body with the tiny breeze that shifted through their open window. Lately, every night the dreams had haunted her sleep. Before the dreams had come only once in awhile, then every month, and then they came once a week. But in the last couple of weeks they came with frightening, regularity every night.
Raye sighed. In the morning, she would bring Stephen to Crystal Tokyo as the dream demanded. Stephen would not be bothered by the change in their regular routine of things. He was a frequent visitor to the castle, anyway. Rini looked forward to playing with him as did, Melanie, Mina's daughter every time Stephen and her came to the castle to visit.
Then she thought of Chad and Raye's heart constricted, painfully. He's not going to be thrilled, her mind whispered and her heart died a little death at the thought. He had not forgiven her for the birth of her child or of the fact that she had refused to the give name of the child's father. She had not owed anyone an explanation, and certainly not Chad. She was not married to him, she had stated in one of their heated arguments. They had only dated a couple of times and their time together had not been serious. Or so, Raye had thought at the time. However, it had been serious with Chad, she thought, sadly. More than a couple of times during the past years Raye had nearly given in to Chad's demands for a more serious relationship. How could she not somehow be emotionally tied to him some way or another? But her heart now firmly belonged to another and she had promised, had promised to wait for his calling, damnit. And the time was fast approaching, she wondered, deliriously with mounting anticipation.
But amazingly, Chad had stayed on at the temple, even after her grandfather had passed away four years ago. Even after the shock of learning that his granddaughter carried an illegitimate child which no one know who the father was; her grandfather still decided to pass half of the ownership of the temple on to Chad in hopes of him and Raye eventually tying the knot.
Raye however, knew that she was not the only one on Chad's mind lately. He was not in his room now as liked for her and Stephen to believe. When he thought everyone was asleep, he would slip, quietly away, twice a week, from the temple to spend time in town with a certain, young sales lady named Claire. She lived in a small one-bedroom apartment near the boutique that she worked. Raye had learned of this affair recently and at the time had felt a certain degree of jealousness. She had no right to feel the way she did, especially when at night, and most recently, every night, she betrayed those feelings of Chad with the gunslinger with utter abandonment and joyful glee.
As her eyes grew heavy with sleep, Raye thought about the dream again. Thoughts of their reunion remained a mystery to Raye, but she knew that very soon and maybe in a day or two that the reunion might become reality. How or why, did not matter to her anymore, only that she didn't think that she could wait any longer for the event to happen.
Taking Stephen to Crystal Tokyo was easier than Raye thought it would be. Chad, for the first time since he came to the temple had not returned to the temple until the sun had begun its laboriously crawl over the towering buildings of the city. He was quiet as usual, but later than she expected. He didn't hear Raye or Stephen leave the temple.
Stephen had packed for a week. Raye had to carefully explain to him that she might be away for longer. Solemnly, he understood as if sensing the seriousness of her tone.
"I may be gone longer, darling," she had kissed his sweet cheeks. They stood outside the temple boundaries, but not quite at the bus top.
"I know, mommy," he nodded his head, hugging her tightly about her neck.
"You do?" Raye had voiced, slightly surprised by his words.
"The gunslinger," he stated gazing back into her eyes, steadily with those intense, royal blue eyes of his. Everyday, since the day he was born, her son vividly reminded her of the man who had fathered him.
"How do you know?" Stunned, Raye stared back at her son, rocking back on her hunches like a drunk. They had never spoken of his father; it was a silent agreement they both maintained.
Stephen shrugged his shoulders, then smiled up into her face, not wanting to frighten her. His father was coming to take his mom away for a while, to make sure that he was safe. That was all Stephen needed to know, since he loved his mother with every fiber of his being. He reserved judgment on his father, however.
"I don't know, just dreams, I guess," Stephen stated. They weren't really dreams, he didn't think. More like premonitions than dreams. But he couldn't tell his mom that.
"Dreams?" Raye stayed still, watching her son, intently. "Me too, sweetheart," she admitted. "Me too." She got up from her bent position and placed his small hand into her own.
He squeezed back, looking up into her face and smiled, brightly. "Everything is going to be alright, mom. Don't worry."
"I won't, I promise," she stated, smiling back down into his face. For you, I'll do anything. And somehow, she understood the gunslinger's message in her dreams. Stephen needed to be protected. From what, she didn't know.
"I don't understand this, Raye," Serena asked, apparently shocked by her friend's request. She glanced briefly out of the French doors and into the gardens. A couple of boys near Stephen's age played in the gardens with Stephen. They were houseguests from the two visiting ambassadors. Rini and Melanie were in the kitchens with the cook, Henrietta, baking cookies for the upcoming day.
"Then that makes the two of us," Raye stated, flatly. She followed Serena's gaze into the gardens. Her sharp eyes traveled the length of the towering, crystal walls of the lush background. The walls would protect Stephen from the unforeseeable, she thought, approvingly.
"Come again? Raye, you must explain yourself," Serena urged, she leaned against the huge, deep mahogany desk of the small library. It was one of the more, private rooms of the castle. "I can't help you, if you don't let me in and tell me what's happening," she pleaded.
Raye sighed in admitted defeat. Serena had been the only one to not question her countless times during the last five years regarding the origin of Stephen. Only at first, like the rest of their group she had questioned, but had tactfully withdrawn, waiting for Raye to open up to her. Serena, her queen and sworn allegiance, Raye owed her at least that much, she conceded.
"I've been receiving disturbing readings from the fire," Raye began looking away from Serena's surprised, wide-eye gaze. She couldn't tell Serena about the dreams; they were too private to share. But the fire readings were real.
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Serena cried out, her heart in a little flutter of panic. After so long of peacefulness, now this happens, she nearly moaned in dismay.
"Because, at first, it was not clear," Raye continued. When Serena said nothing to the comment, she continued, "But now, I understand them and they do not threaten our world or our city." At least, not yet, she thought. "This reading only threatens my existence and those whom I love," she finished. Her heart ached, oh how it ached.
"My God, Raye! Why have you kept this so long to yourself?" Serena gasped out, troubled.
"It is not your path to tread upon, Serena!" Raye answered forcefully, that Serena stopped in herself in her tracks toward her friend. "I need to you to continue to trust me, please?" Raye begged, her gaze entreating on other woman, her friend and her powerful queen. "In time, I will explain, but for now, it must be as it is."
"You speak in so many riddles, Raye, that my head spins!" Serena said, her hand reaching forward to touch Raye's arm. "This is not like you!"
The gesture was must to comfort and Raye smiled, slowly, softly. "I know, I don't understand it yet myself, ka has forced me."
"Ka?" Serena asked, her head cocking delicately, puzzled by the unfamiliar word.
"Ka – destiny. My destiny is waiting for me to begin, it seems," Raye somehow answered. She had never heard of the word before either. Where had it come from?
"If that is so, my dear and precious friend, then you have my blessing, Raye Hino and Sailor Mars," Serena answered, formally, her head reclining majestically as she gazed steadily into her friend's ruby eyes. She hoped that Raye knew what she was doing and the chances she was taking. "I will guard your son's life with own, this I solemnly swear as Neo-Queen of Crystal Tokyo. And should your death occur in the event of your destiny, he shall become a part of my own family, as he is yours."
Raye knelt at her queen's feet, her head bowing low, respectfully. Midnight-violet hair spilled over her shoulders and onto the floor as she grasped and kissed her Serena's hand. "I accept your proclamation, my queen. Thank you for your generosity."
"Enough of the formality," Serena replied gruffly, softly, touched by her friend's loyal and grave words. Raye had always been this way, her last warrior, and her most fierce fighter. "Please rise."
When she did, rising gracefully, delicately like a wildflower opening its fragrant petals, there were tears in Raye's large, expressive eyes. And Serena wiped the ones away on her own cheeks. "Your ka awaits you, Raye."
"Yes, ka."
After a haring, painful parting, Raye left Stephen in the care of Serena. He had balked slightly by the fierce hug she had given him in front of his new friends but he returned her embrace with a small, wet kiss on her cheek. She almost broke down in front in him, but didn't want to embarrass him. The two other boys had watched the scene with impatience, boredom and reluctance exasperation as if to say that they knew exactly what Stephen was going through. They reassured Stephen after he returned to their circle, that all moms were supposed to cry and weep that way since they were girls. Through her tears, a small, tired smile appeared on Raye's lips at the young boys reasoning. She had looked back only once; her gaze centered on her son, her heart in throat as the love for him overwhelmed her. I'll be back, I promise, her mind whispered.
When Raye returned to the temple, it already felt somehow different. It felt alive, even the deserted hallway, seem to pulse with life. She checked in Chad's room and saw him sprawled on top of the covers still sound asleep even though it was nearing noon. She then returned back to her rooms and changed into her temple robes of red and white.
She grabbed her broom, intending to sweep some of the debris away from the outside hallway, when she glanced at one of the small shrines. Particularly, the farthest one that most of the visitors rarely visited attracted her attention. It didn't look any different than the day before but it felt somehow different than the day before.
Setting aside the broom, she walked cautiously toward the shrine. Sure enough, at closer inspection, it looked the same to her. She let out a nervous sigh and giggled out loud. The sound echoed eerily in the enclosed off area. A quick glance into the surrounding treetops and clear sky released the suspicious feeling that someone or rather something was watching her.
When her gaze returned to the shrine, her eyes grew wide with amazement. Before her stood a small, black swirl of nothingness. Raye had seen similar ones before in the past when her and Sailor Scouts had battled formidable foes. This time however, there was no threat. It stood there gaping open like a door standing ajar, the tendrils of curling, gray smoke growing wider with each passing breath she took.
Go through, it is safe enough, the voice said.
Raye's stifled a gasp, her head whirling around as if looking for the origination of the voice.
There was an internment length of silence, as if the voice was talking to child with the utmost patience. Must we merge, Raye Hino of Neo-Tokyo?
"R-Roland?" Raye uttered with stunned reverence and surprise. The moment was finally upon her and she could do nothing but stutter like a bumbling idiot, her mind screamed.
She shook her head, negatively, and then remembered to speak out instead. "No, no," she whispered, her legs suddenly jelly, her body trembling with excitement.
Then step true and keep your chin forward, Warrior Girl.
Even as his voice faded from her mind, the black swirl continued to grow until it stood the size of her own body. Raye glanced one last time over her shoulders and noted the clear sun, shining brightly. In the vast distance of the city, the gleaming, crystal towers of the Crystal Tokyo stood imperiously against blue skies and the clouds that dotted the horizon in the background. She briefly sent a prayer and her love to Stephen before facing forward and stepping into the swirling smoke of the black hole.
"Good Lord, Jesus bejesus, would you look at that!" A young, blond man with hazel, green eyes and sardonic curl about his lips announced.
It was the first sight that would greet Raye.
A lovely, brown-skinned woman with her half her legs gone, poked the man in the ribs. He grinned back at dark lady, winking in the process. The lady smiled softly, her chocolate, brown gaze alive with intelligence and gentle humor. Off to the side, a young, dark-hair boy watched them with curiosity while petting something that looked like a cross between a raccoon and a small, dark, fluffy dog. A painful twist in Raye's gut lurched at the site of the boy. He could have been the identical twin to Stephen, except for their age differences.
"Oy!" The raccoon-dog thing barked.
"Warrior Girl," the coarse sound scrapped against Raye's ears like a long-forgotten caress where the world seemed to have moved on.
Her head whipped around at the sound and there he stood, as still as a tree watching her with those azure eyes of lost worlds.
"Gunslinger," she replied, steadily despite the flutter in her stomach. Just that one word, said so simply, caused the irises in his gaze to flare like rapid fire.
He nodded, his face solemn yet as beautiful as she last remembered him. The dark, ebony silken hair was overlong, yet full and thick. His face was hard, ancient yet young in it's timeless façade. The rest of him was big and broad, thick and sinew, and powerful all at the same time. His shirt was like a tanned chamois, worn blue jean, and leathery boots that had seen many trails. Those same ancient, gleaming guns sat perilously low on his hips, a sharp reminder of the monster lobsters he shot with infinite ease nearly five years ago. The rest of their group wore similar clothing, except for the boy.
"Well, it looks like our mystery lady has finally shown up. So what do you see in this guy, Roland of Gilead?" The young, blond man asked, walking over to Raye with a boisterous tone and a slight swagger in his stride.
Raye shrank back slightly from the loudmouth man, her mouth agape.
"Please ignore him," the dark-skinned lady grinned. "I'm Susannah Dean and the big mouth, is my husband, Eddie Dean," she came over walking, amazingly with grace and dexterously on her hands and her thighs somewhat supporting her.
"Pleased to meet you," Eddie reached out to grasp one of her hands and vigorously shaking it until her teeth rattled in her head.
"You too," she managed, her gaze returning toward the boy.
"Our son's Twinner," the gunslinger nodded toward the boy, reading her mind at the same time. "That is Jake and Oy," he added. "Oy is a billy-bumbler, like in your world what is called a dog.
"Oy!" The billy-bumbler piped up almost like a human being.
"Whoa! You two have a son!" Eddie exclaimed. All three pair of eyes swiveled into their direction, stunned. "And when did this blessed event happen? When you disappeared for a month, six months ago? You guys mus' ave been goin' at…" his voice trailed away.
"Six months ago? But it's been five years!" Raye gasped out in surprise, staring at the gunslinger in shock. She ignored the comment from the Eddie guy, forgetting to blush at his statements. No wonder the gunslinger looked the same to her, while she had aged five years, going from nineteen to twenty-four.
The gunslinger shook his head, ignoring Eddie's question and statement as well. "Time has no meaning here. I have waited for the right time for you to join us and for our child to be protected by your queen." For he holds a key to the Beam as does another in Raye's world. His dreams predicted.
"So are we now one more gunslinger?" Susannah stated, watching the exchange quietly, intently, between the young woman named Raye and Roland.
"It is up to her. She is the fourth door, but her destiny can be changed at her own hands, unlike yours." Roland turned to Raye and studied her, silently.
"You mean to say that if she wanted to walk on right out our lives and back through that door," Eddie gaped as the door still stood beside them, unnoticed by all until now. It was labeled, Still Point. "That all she has to do is open it?"
"Yes," the gunslinger admitted. And she could, if she wanted, his mind whispered. He wouldn't be able to stop her and she had every right to do as she pleased.
"It means that the door was meant only for you and it's not a drawing, is it?" Jake contemplated, his sharp blue gaze directed toward Raye. "Unlike us, where we were drawn by the gunslinger, that door belongs to you."
Raye looked to the gunslinger for confirmation since she had no idea. He agreed, his gaze steady on her also remembering their last time together. This was different than the last door, because then the door wouldn't open and her cheeks flamed at the thought, because she had not lain with the gunslinger then.
"You can return to your world, or you can choose to stay here. It is up to you," the gunslinger answered the questions that formed in her mind.
"I have already made up my mind. I wouldn't be here if I didn't want to be here." Nor did she add, because ever since that evening that changed her life, her destiny would be forever intertwined with the gunslinger. She did not have to ponder what her choice would be and the gunslinger knew without her even being aware of her decision.
"I still don't get it and I can't believe that our old gunslinger has a kid," Eddie muttered his eyes straining at the violet-haired woman.
But Susannah understood and she wanted to grin. She had been studying the silent gunslinger for months now and she now understood what the purpose of the "Warrior Girl's" presence meant. She was the other half of Roland, like Susannah was to Eddie.
Raye Hino of Neo-Tokyo was Roland's woman. Predestined, it seemed, Susannah thought laughing softly, inwardly. Perhaps that's what the old bugger needed, was a lady to smooth out his ruffled feathers and to take away the old pain of his last love, Susan.
Author's Notes: Not very romantic, is it? I know, I know, I have incorporated some of King's writings with my own. Things will heat up soon as you will see. Also, last posting of Dance Beneath the Moon is coming. Horizon is still a ways off, so please don't get your hopes up too high. My Written Communication class has been inspiring me, not to mention my love-affair with King's Gunslinger – sigh. Don't tell my husband, I'm sorely jealous of Raye at the moment. ^^