Eve Sky
Chapter 19 - "I will always love you."
by StarCross
The trunks were loaded, and the orders doled out. Jerda and Evelyn, each dressed in their regal hunting uniforms despite the fact they were not hunting, marched out of their room carrying on their person, besides their weapons, a pair of miniature suitcases that contained the letters and the photos. Head matron Agnes and her regiment of maids bowed as they passed by, but somewhat rudely Lien and Tuyet ran up the stairs to meet up with the departing lovers.
"What in Goddess's name are you doing?" demanded Lien. "You were recently crowned, and you're leaving to visit the savage lands again?"
"I..." Jerda stuttered.
"Jerda and I are getting married," said Evelyn. "But we need approval from my parents."
"Why should we worry of them?" asked Tuyet. "Surely you can get married anyway under Hoa's discretion."
"Later. Jerda and I have things to do at my land. And by the way, we are already considered married since we already have sex. So there."
They all exited and boarded the royal carriage waiting for them. Their waterfoxes would not be joining them this time, as Gertrude was pregnant with Nandi's cubs.
"You can't do this!" Lien cried. "You're spitting on our Founder's beloved name!"
"You guys seem to be running things quite well without a queen," said Evelyn. "Was she a figurehead?"
"You ungrateful..."
"Evelyn, please stop," said Jerda. "And Lien, I apologize for my actions."
"I will only accept your apologize if you get out this instant!"
"You're not my mother Lien. You should know well I could banish you as the new queen."
"Ha! With your standing? As the granddaughter of a consort?"
"It takes one to know one," said Evelyn.
"What is that?"
"Let's go. We don't have time for this. Let the queendom fall apart under their command."
"You still can't leave," said Tuyet. "You still have to install temporary leadership to one of us."
"Way ahead of you. Jerda put Kitty in charge."
Lien and her younger sister's jaws dropped.
"Again, I apologize," said Jerda.
"There's no need," said Evelyn. "Have fun you guys!"
At the crack of a whip, the four horses pulled the royal carriage. Kitty finally appeared and wrapped her arms around the shoulders of her two older sisters. With a crafty and earnest smile, she waved goodbye to Jerda and Evelyn, and they waved back to her as well.
Outside the royal grounds, Jerda gave a quick parting kiss to her parents and her two younger sisters, and formally introduced them to Evelyn as best as she could. In their own language, they thanked Evelyn for choosing to become Jerda's wife. They gave them parting gifts that were perfumes, and hand-woven muffler hats and lounge sandals. The whip cracked again, and the carriage sped off with children following from behind to wave goodbye and the adults bowing in line.
It stopped again before the main gate, and when it opened a small cavalry force led by Arzu was waiting for them outside. Accompanied by two young and pretty riders, one of them blonde the other brunette, Arzu galloped her horse to the side of the carriage.
"I Arzu Adams and my two granddaughters shall accompany you to this foreign civilization you speak of," said Arzu.
"No, it's fine," said Jerda. "I made it there alone and back."
"This time as different. As our new queen, it is my duty to protect you."
On Arzu's command, the convoy moved to surround the carriage and the journey began.
It took weeks to traverse the barren mountains, the badlands of Mesopotamia, and crossed through the marshes to reach the beach. The weather change was welcoming for Evelyn, but she still could not take off her garments to expose her skin to the warm air. The convoy had been reduced at every stop, with riders staying behind or returning to their homes to give reports of the journey to their comrades and to the queendom. Only the essential personnel, such as the escort riders and shipwrights remained at the final stop before the trip to Africa.
A sturdy sailing ship was readily made a few days later. It was well large enough to fit a little more than five people and a couple of pets. Supplies and gifts, the latter of which Arzu did not skimp on, were loaded on as well as the passengers.
The same path was taken when Jerda sailed almost a month or so before. Seas and wind were calm, but Arzu, not suited to water voyages was visibly seasick but did not once throw her head out over the side to throw up. It was most likely done when the majority of the crew was sleeping.
Evelyn eventually learned the names of Arzu's granddaughters; both of who spoke no English except for a few common words and phrases that would have been common anyway in the languages before the Great Fall. The brunette, almost the same height and same age as Jerda, was named Banu, and she was the amam of her relation with her wife and children. The shorter blonde, Pari at age eighteen, was recently engage to another girl at home that she did not have time or the patience to spend with. Both were born cousins who were the best markswoman and the best swordswoman, but only in training. They had yet to face off against another person.
Arzu and her granddaughters were armed with the newest rifles and pistols from one of Dorothy's gunshops. The barrels and magazine cartridges were ornate decorated with silver and a few pieces of symbolic jade for their guns, and the rifle had beautiful carved and painted buttstocks. They also carried thin and pure scimitars with gold-plated handles that had a few gems on them.
Jerda had armed herself with simple rifle in comparison, as she didn't want to tarnish the regal and ornate version she was bestowed with as the new queen. Evelyn just carried her old pistol that received a fresh set of ammunition. She was surprised that there would be compatible bullets made or stored at Tehran.
Like Jerda's journey, they camped on the beaches of Egypt for the night, but this time they slept in tents, with Jerda and Evelyn in her royal one and Arzu and her granddaughters in their more utilitarian one.
By memory and by map, they trekked through the rain forests of northeast Africa, and kept relatively close to the raging Nile River. The trek would be quicker since they were well equipped and that the path was charted before. It was the supplies and gifts that were slowing them, so in essence it took the same amount of time Jerda had taken.
Evelyn had remained relatively quiet throughout their journey. Whether Jerda was used to this, or simply did not notice, Arzu and her granddaughters were revising a basic outline of the continent, taking pictures with a pair of SLR film cameras, and plotting poles with colored flags at every direction. They also talked with each other in their own language a lot often, and one of the young shooters constantly wrote notes on her journal.
She was suspicious, but Evelyn couldn't exactly tell her feelings to Jerda. Arzu had been unusually interested in journeying to New Khartoum even though she was allied with Lien. Evelyn had not seen what was in the gift boxes. Jerda hadn't either, and Arzu wouldn't be privy to tell everyone. Was there a weapon? Did Arzu want to seek to dominate a new human civilization?
Perhaps Evelyn dressing down to near-nakedness offended Arzu and her granddaughters somewhat, and thus reinforced the alienation between two cultures. Often Jerda had to serve as translator, as Arzu spoke English less often that usual.
After about a week, they reached the submerged city of Old Khartoum, and coincidentally they stayed in the abandoned hotel suite in the penthouse floor. Again, Banu and Pari ventured out moving from building tops to building tops snapping as much pictures afforded to them before calling it a day.
On the next day, however, began with exchanges of gunfire. Evelyn woke to see Jerda standing by the wall, while Arzu was running out to join her granddaughters in the fight.
"It's happening again," said Jerda.
"Shit, and there's a lot more scouts on my side," said Evelyn. "Jerda, you got to help me stop this."
"What can I do?"
"Tell your relatives to stop firing. Now come on!"
They ran up to the roof through the stairwell, and then saw Arzu and her granddaughters laying on their stomachs returning fire towards the New Khartoum snipers.
"Hey you!" Evelyn yelled. "Stop!"
"They fired first!" Arzu snapped. "My Pari's been wounded!"
"Stop now or they'll kill us!"
"I won't!"
"Do it!"
"I think it would be best to surrender," said Jerda.
Arzu grunted. "Fine then. But your Ladyship's companion must tell your people to stop."
"I'll certainly do that," said Evelyn.
Arzu and her granddaughters stopped firing, as they were told, and then Evelyn yelled out her commands in her own language. The bullets stopped moving, and minutes later, the ten New Khartoum snipers arrived via rafts, and among them was Padma, the youngest of the Six Daughters of Eve. Padma did not want to call out Jerda's name, especially when she would be using English words that may give Arzu a signal to strike back. The snipers kept their guns aimed the party, and they nearly shot when Banu held her gun out.
"Jerda!" cried Evelyn. "Tell them to put down their weapons."
Jerda told her relatives, and grudgingly they did.
Luckily, the wound on Pari was relegated to the leg, and the bullet passed through. Though she was bandaged, she was still treated as prisoners along with her relatives, including Jerda. After Evelyn explained the reason for the return to Padma, the party was allowed to enter New Khartoum with the gifts they had brought.
So they marched westward and uphill through the forest. The Tehran women were unarmed, and saw that their guns and swords were being tossed from sniper to sniper to ogle their eyes towards. Evelyn never understood why such weapons had to be so ornately decorated, but she felt that Arzu and her granddaughters wanted to show her superiority in the arts. It was a vain effort, because the Khartoum snipers just laughed and threw it in a sack they used to carry the strange gifts.
At the same time, Evelyn and Jerda saw a similar situation that happened to them before. Pari, who was unable to walk properly on her own, was visibly smitten by a female sniper of similar age who volunteered to help her.
The gates of New Khartoum were open once more, and Evelyn rushed to embrace her parents and her little sister, three persons that Jerda never got a chance to meet. Not much had changed, except for the fact the village or cityfolk gathered around to stare at their new visitors. They considered Jerda a stranger one more time, for he clothes were much more regal and refined.
Evelyn had to part from her family after such a short reunion, as she had to accompany Jerda, Arzu, Pari, and Banu to the mansion, and they were implicitly compelled to be seated on the floor the gathering room. Padma sat opposite across the room, and soon the rest of her older sisters, Teila, Suzette, Odilia, Nikhila, and Evie joined her in rank.
"It seems that you did not heed my command of not returning to this place," said Evie in English. "And now you brought more trouble?"
"It is very rude to refuse the grace of our newly crowned Queen of the Tehran," said Arzu.
The six sisters gasped. There was another speaker of one of the deprecated languages. Thus, they ordered their guards and servants to leave the mansion.
"Newly crowned?" asked Evie.
"Indeed," smiled Arzu. "I apologize for my granddaughters behavior, and I will not dwell into the discussion on who shot first."
"Auntie," said Jerda, "what are you..."
"So our Ladyship Jerda Evaz returned here under my protection as a sign of goodwill between our two nations. And to extend that goodwill, we offer you gifts."
"Those things?" asked Padma. She then commanded the maidservants to return with the sacks of gifts her forces carried in. Banu and Pari laid them out, for they were in neat round cardboard boxes.
"I am Arzu, General of the Tehran Queendom, and these are my granddaughters and my finest soldiers, Banu and Pari. Our land have been blessed with great mines rich with gems, sliver, and gold," continued Arzu. "This is but a sample of our wares."
Banu and Pari opened the boxes, and the six sisters leaned over to see with interested eyes--apparently.
"Wow, so they have those out there," said Nikhila.
"They are pretty," said Odilia, "but I am sorry to say that we might not be able to find any use for them."
"They could prop up that chair for Suzette."
"Ooh! It could also plug up the hole in that sink."
"Truth is," Evie said, "we have tons of these stored in the mines. We don't like to be showy."
"Um, perhaps you could be interested in our camera technology," said Arzu, who motioned her granddaughters to show their SLR cameras. "With these things, we can store memories on something called photographs."
"Whoa, you still use film?" said Odilia.
"We already have our cameras," said Nikhila. "Digital by the way."
Odilia pulled out a silver camera a snapped a flashing picture. She turned it around to display on its LCD screen of the very snapshot.
"Not everyone has it," said Nikhila, "so we keep a small set for special occasions."
"Charging and not to mention making those batteries have become a bitch," added Odilia.
"Let's not forget the printing costs."
"Although if we revert back to film, we might be able to offload the burden at the print shop."
"We would sacrifice some ease of use."
"Um, okay," said Arzu. "Perhaps optical technology is not our nation's strong suit."
Arzu commanded her granddaughters to show them a couple of working electronic toys, such as a portable video game system and something called an MP3 player.
"I can't believe you have those!" Odilia cried.
Arzu finally smiled.
"But we have the more recent ones," said Nikhila. "Such as this one, where you can play games using a stylus. A lot of children like that."
"And that MP3 player," said Odilia, "we got a bunch that uses no moving parts. I can't believe you have the first generation model."
"Perhaps you need a computer, a notebook if you may, to upload the data," said Arzu.
"Ah, we got those palm computers that stores one terabyte of information.
"A rudimentary network system?"
"We got a wireless test set-up at the other side," said Nikhila.
"A working airship?"
"Just a small fleet, but where the hell do we want to go?"
"Cars?"
"Saving them for a rainy day," said Odilia. "We need the oil for the cranes and diggers."
"How well are you armed?"
"We do have a connection to one of the few working Geomancer Cannons," said Padma. "It took a while to get connected, but there is nothing my girls can't hack."
"What about the EMP Cannon?" asked Evie.
"That's about to be tested later, although I worry it might knock out our systems.
Arzu blushed in her embarrassment. "Jerda," said she in Sino-Persian. "Why didn't you tell me they were well-equipped?"
"I only stayed here for one whole day," replied Jerda in the same language."
"Darn. I should have brought Dorothy along. She knows our capabilities."
"What are you two saying?" asked Padma.
"It's nothing!" Arzu replied in English.
A warm grin drew across Evie, and when that happened she had a definite feeling that she along with her sisters had triumphed over a common obstacle without having to resort to violence.
"Arzu of Tehran," said Evie. "I take it that you did not come here just to bring us gifts from the 'civilized' world."
"I won't deny it," said Arzu. "I needed to see for my own eyes this new nation and its capabilities."
"I understand completely. It is only natural to be cautious of the unknown, but rest assured that we harbor no severe hostilities to outsiders, save for the incident before. Of course, that is only if you harbor none for our land."
"Of course not."
"I suppose this is the end of our isolation."
"It was inevitable sister," said Teila.
"At the very least we didn't start a war," said Padma.
"It's all thanks to your rambunctious granddaughter sister Evie," smiled Nikhila.
"You know I nearly killed Jerda," said Evelyn.
Arzu's eyes widened.
"That was before though," said Evelyn. "After that... you know what happened next."
"We appreciate the gifts," said Evie, "and we shall treat them with respect since they were brought along with the new Queen of Tehran. Although, it seems that there are two more in less-than regal cases."
"Yeah, what's in those?" asked Nikhila. "It doesn't have to be anything relatively recent."
"In fact," said Odilia, "the older the better."
Jerda and Evelyn looked at one another, and they stared ahead at the six sisters.
"They are letters," said Evelyn. "From Germaine Adams to Eva 'Evangeline' Nataraja."
Five of the six sisters gasped, and Suzette finally woke up. The smile on Evie's face disappeared, and she solemnly rose.
"I would like to speak to the Queen of Tehran and my granddaughter alone," said Evie. "Come this way."
Taking the suitcases, Jerda and Evelyn followed Evie and disappeared into the hallways. Suzette got up later to head off to the kitchen for a drink and a smoke, which was unusual since she would only do this in very late at night instead of the morning.
So Nikhila, Odilia, Teila, and Padma were left alone in uncomfortable silence with Arzu and her granddaughters. Eventually, the twins' mischievous smiles returned, and slightly towards their foreign guests.
"So," began Odilia. "Which one of you is single?"
Jerda and Evelyn were sitting on guest chairs inside Evie's room, and they could not help but feel sympathy to the strong old woman, who was weeping over the few scattered letters and photographs she had looked over on top of her bed.
"Why must you always bring trouble?" Evie asked.
"I am sorry," said Jerda.
"We just thought that it would be a good idea to show them to great-grandmother," said Evelyn.
"Do you realize that you will be breaking her heart for the second time!" cried Evie.
"We do not intend to do that."
"If you don't wish to show them to Eva," said Jerda, "then that is all right."
"Jerda!"
"Banish me permanently if you wish, but I will not leave without your granddaughter Evelyn. I intend to marry her."
"That would mean she would rule Tehran with her," said Evie.
"I intend to abdicate once the ceremonies of our respective nations are complete. I only wish to have a simple life."
"Grandmother, please don't hate Jerda for all this," said Evelyn.
Evie sat and straightened herself up. "No Evelyn, I don't hate her. I was just a little angry, that's all. However, I still need time to think about all this."
"Of course," said Jerda. "A lot has happened.'
"Very well. You are excused for the day. I'll arrange for Padma and a few of her guards to give a tour of our lands for Arzu and her granddaughters."
"Thank you grandmother!" Evelyn cried.
When they exited the room, they saw the elderly and wheelchair-bound Eva poking herself past the corner with an earnest smile.
"You've returned!" she exclaimed.
"Um, I don't mean to disappoint you," said Jerda. "But I'm not who you think I am."
"Oh, I already know."
"What's going on?" Evie asked as she stepped out. "You two head off."
Jerda and Evelyn went away so that Evie could privately wheel her mother back her bedroom.
Lunch was served for Jerda, Evelyn, Arzu, Banu, and Pari before Padma and her forces escorted them for a detailed tour of the New Khartoum. As confirmed by their guests' eyes, there was indeed a small computer and network technology center run by intelligent and enthusiastic youths giggling at the appearance of their fair-skinned distant cousins. Further past the center was the assets warehouse where gold, jewels, and other luxury gems were stored for the rainy day the Six Daughters constantly talked about. Also saved for a rainy day were a fleet of polished cars and buses, but already working in operation were a few trucks, diggers, and tree cutters. Finally, the tour ended at a clearing where there was a fleet of small airships that bore the name of Nataraja in Hindi script.
"I thought you said you didn't have airships?" Jerda asked Evelyn.
"I misunderstood," replied Evelyn. "These are corvettes--covervette class airships I realize."
Throughout the tour, Pari had spoken to both Jerda and Evelyn on learning basic greetings, phrases, and specific words of New Khartoum's language, Hindi-Afrikaans. It seemed that the girl who helped her walk to the city village, named Nontle, was accompanying the party quite shyly. Nontle and Pari did greet each other in a few words, and that was just it.
The party returned to the mansion for dinner, but not attending was Evie and Suzette. It was then that the twin sisters Nikhila and Odilia teasingly interrogated Arzu on many romantic matters concerning the Tehran Queendom. Arzu was extremely reluctant to answer questions she felt were perverted, and Jerda wasn't much help since she didn't really live in her own city.
"I swear," Arzu spoke to Jerda in Sino-Persian, "these two remind me of a certain sister I loathe."
"They don't remind of anyone," replied Jerda.
"You can't be serious! I mean, just look at them! It's like Kitty times two!"
Jerda shrugged her shoulders. There was resemblance of the Ten Daughters of Quyen in the Six Daughters of Eve, but hardly any exactness in behavior.
They were given guest rooms for the night, and due to Jerda's upgraded status she was given a large suite close to Arzu and the others. Evelyn had convinced her parents that she would be staying at the mansion, which would be like before when she often hung out with Eva in her adolescent years.
As Jerda and Evelyn prepared for bed, Arzu came in with a serious look on her face.
"Let's speak in English," said Jerda.
"Fine," said Arzu as she sat down on the guest chair.
"So is there something wrong?"
Arzu sighed. "I guess we can't really one-up them."
"That is too bad," said Evelyn.
"Well, it's no big loss. Lien and the others will be angry though."
"So a split will happen?" asked Jerda.
"It will be all up to you. But if we bring news of this new queendom back home, it will certainly cause a commotion. The curious will want to go there and maybe exploit it on their personal time. And I know Dorothy cannot resist the technology that is here.
"I would like to also add that as your half-aunt, I express my great approval of your pending marriage to Miss Evelyn Matthews. I don't say this because I see it as a political maneuver, because even you don't we would find a way to establish contact and power exchanges with New Khartoum. I simply feel that you two are just right for one another."
"Regarding a foreign ruler," said Evelyn, "I won't mind if I am not qualified, even if I am labeled an amam by my children."
"In any case, please do what you must do here as soon as possible. Tehran too would like to have a marriage ceremony and celebration. The citizens always love those.
"One more thing though. You said you brought letters from Amam for someone named Eva. Is it for one of those women?"
"It isn't," replied Jerda. "They have a mother over one-hundred years old, who is said to be the founder of this city-village."
"So she must be like Amam then. Do they know each other?"
Jerda nodded.
"As a matter of fact," said Evelyn. "My great-grandmother was your Amam's first wife."
Arzu's jaw dropped. "Surely you are not joking?"
"Half of me wants to think so, but the truth is no doubt apparent. I am actually your distant niece, and my grandmother and grand-aunts are your half-sisters."
"Dear goddess," huffed Arzu. "No wonder they reminded me so..."
A knock on the door compelled Arzu to answer, and presenting herself was Banu. The grandmother and granddaughter started to talk to each other in their own language worriedly.
"Is there something wrong?" asked Evelyn.
"Banu says that Pari has just gone missing," said Arzu.
"I'll ask the guards to report this Padma. I am certain that she isn't in any danger, but I don't wish for an international incident."
"That is very well appreciated."
But in their minds, they knew what was really going on.
Evie volunteered often to bathe her elderly mother, and tonight was one of their nights. Once Eva was carefully dried off, she was robed and put on her wheelchair to be taken back to her bedroom where the gadgets created by the woman stood silently in the dark.
The lamp was flickered on, so that Evie, who had never faltered in her physical strength, could pick up and place Eva on the bed.
"You look sad," said Eva.
"I don't," said Evie.
"She's come back."
"No she hasn't."
Eva held her first-daughter's hands. "She has. She lives inside that girl and those visitors. She has come back."
"Mother," sighed Evie. "I have to say that I am sorry."
"Sorry for what?"
"For hating you since that day."
"Dear Evie, I am the one who should apologize. It was my decision for the future of all of us."
"I know. I realized it when I got older, and so I took upon myself to protect you from come what may as my repentance."
"I am okay. You should focus more on protecting your family."
"She's becoming more like you every day."
"She is me."
"Well then..." Evie kissed her mother's forehead. "Good night."
"Good night."
Evie quietly walked away, and closed the door. As she walked down the hallway, she met up with Suzette who was blowing a puff of tobacco smoke from her mouth.
"I told you not to smoke in this place," said Evie.
Suzette defiantly put out her cigarette on the floor. "So have you given them to her?"
"I decided to save them for another day."
"I knew you'd chicken out. That's why I snuck them in when you were bathing her."
"How could you?"
"Thinking of going back to retrieve them? How will you explain that to her?"
"I..."
Suzette patted Evie's shoulder. "Let it go. She's suffered enough, and she can relieve the pain she has caused herself."
"But it is my responsibility!"
"You heard mother. Protect your family."
"How can you say this?"
"Do you think I want to do this? Sure I want to shield her forever, but we're getting old to do this anymore. Too much time has passed for us to fret over the past."
"You won't understand because you were too young."
"I remember perfectly asshole. I envy Teila and Padma for that."
Suzette brushed her older sister aside as she, in her attempt to hide her intoxication, headed back to her bedroom. Alone, Evie had the chance to retrieve the letters and the photos brought from foreign lands, but wondered if she was too late. Her mother could be reading them already, and she would immediately be placed in an awkward situation of taking away precious memories and shielding her against her will.
Evie always felt herself to be responsible, as she viewed herself as a failure in stopping mother's separation from Jerri. Her younger twin sisters hid their depression in their frivolity. Suzette just had the unfortunate chance of being old enough and awake to realize what was going on. Teila and Padma had no recollection of the woman who helped seed their birth, and the latter wasn't even held in her arms.
It was a burden she placed upon herself, and she extended that burden to her younger sisters to never remind their mother of the woman she had dearly loved above all. So many times she wanted to relieve herself and quit, but she continued on and became stronger in the process.
But now she was too tired, and too old. She went back to her own room and hoped for the best.
Eva had already noticed the piece of bright yellow cloth sticking out of her dresser drawer as a signal that something was added in her room. She slowly leaped off the bed and walked to the best of her legs towards the furniture in question. Looking down at the side, she saw two small suitcases of interest. There was enough strength for her to carry them back to her bed.
When the cases were opened, the flood of memories came back.
She looked at every photo numerous times before she intently read each letter through her reading glasses. Each letter was a snippet of Jerri's daily life and her thoughts of the society she had created with Quyen and their proud daughters from the New Era calendar years, which matched closely to that of New Khartoum's. There was one letter dated almost half a year ago that served as the "Last Letter", which was a summary of the events and her final thoughts. That was the one Eva had to be at her most comfortable in when she read it.
Dear Eva,
I did not bother recalling how many letters I wrote that will never reach in either of our lifetime, but I have convinced myself that with each one you will be in my eyes and close to my heart.
This may be the last letter I may write, or rather, dictate to my scribe due to my poor eyesight. I might have said this before, but for certain I feel that there will never be any more opportunity do this as my health deteriorates. Ah, if you can only see the pathetic state that I am in! You'd think you'd have just wedded bones and skin.
To recap that fateful day, Quyen and I searched for you and the girls when my legs healed up. It took a while since you have crippled me a bit, but we searched high and low in almost the entirety of India, which by now half should be submerged underwater. We did not find any survivors there, nor did we find Agatha.
I impregnated Quyen, just as you have expected, yet we continued to move on. Lien was born nine months later, and afterwards we arrived in the ruins of Tehran. We discovered a group of scared women, most of who were Muslim, and their daughters, who I have a feeling that they were adopted after the Great Fall as we now call it. Quyen and I made no attempt to hide the fact I can impregnate other women. What happened after that, which I could still recall clearly (and perversely I might add) was that the woman threw off their shrouds, veils, and robes as they threw themselves to me. Quyen still disputed this and said it never happened. Poor Quyen. Now only my version of the story still stands.
As the years passed, more of my new daughters were born, the nation known as the Tehran Queendom was building up in a new location east of the old one. I seeded ten of them: Lien who looks remarkably like Evie, pious Hoa, stubborn Tuyet, the pretty Xuan, the mischievous Kitty, the tough Arzu, the scary and tall Gul, the jittery Yasmin, the curious-as-a-cat Dorothy, and shy Shirin. When Lien was fifteen, she took a wife five years older than her and gave birth to my first granddaughter. Can you believe it? Me a grandmother at my thirties, and I must have cried my eyes when I cradled my own granddaughter for the first time. In no time, my other daughters took other wives, and some of them had those decades older than them. They too had their own children one after another, and at the same time newcomers were flocking to our new nation.
I was then looked upon as their messiah, and the Sword of Danya was now the weapon blessed by God--or rather, the Goddess. A universal consensus was decided that their plight was the cause of women with no breasts and a sharp and deadly horn between her legs, and my people began burning all manner of religious books and desecrating churches, mosques, and temples. Quyen and I pleaded to stop, and although a stature was enacted, the destruction of the dark histories continued without any enforcement. I gave up, but Quyen fought tirelessly to preserve the history that made us what we were today. But a severe case of pneumonia got the better of her. It was around then my children took action to prevent all possible deaths and thus they fervently researched the sciences of the world. As a reward for their diligence, infant mortality was almost nil as were the reduction of deaths from injury and disease.
I was alone once more for many years, and my eyesight had gotten so bad that I could be considered blind. I became well acquainted with a forty-something woman named Laleh Sinh, a personal maidservant Agnes (my first maidservant since Tenaya) recommended to me. I can take her as a beautiful yet sad woman through the features I touched on her face and body. Though she was destined to marry one of my granddaughters, I fell in love with her just as she fell in love with me, and together we had three daughters until she died right after giving birth to the third.
My daughters with Quyen weren't too happy of having bastard half-sisters. Ironic though because some of them remarried after their first wives died, and some of them were forced to marry one of their own nieces. It seemed that took the idea of Perfect Monogamy very sacred, and I do not blame them. The relationships my descendants had with their spouses were so strong that lovemaking behind closed doors was almost a daily affair. Many had difficulty focusing on their work, and some pairs worked together at the same jobs. I often blamed myself for not protecting the daughters of Laleh and me, for my other ten daughters had systematically expelled them from the affairs of the capital essentially making them outside laborers along with the ones did not receive the Gift of the Goddess. To my fortune, the children of my three daughters were allowed in the city gates for compulsory education.
I personally taught a few of the classes of my descendants, and even trained them in hand-to-hand combat. Amazing how the other senses pick up when you're essentially blind, although I did cheat since I could distinguish significant shapes. Of course, I still have trouble running long distances and standing for too long.
I tried not to play favorites on my descendants, as there was too much pride on all my daughters. Politics, as usual, reared its ugly head when it split into the camps of Lien and Hoa, and I did my best to refrain from their affairs and to decline their vain tributes to me. I needed someone pure and young to inherit the Sword of Danya, the symbol of the leadership of the Tehran Queendom, although I am not sure how that will turn out. There is a ritual of using the Sword of Danya to cut down the mightiest tree or rock in one swing. My daughters all know that it is just a replica or fake since I wore out and lost the first one. Goddess, I must be getting old.
Regardless, I selected the daughter of my last daughter Afray Evaz to be my heir. Jerda is her name, and she has a more practical outlook on her life. She does not hate her older half-aunts, and is not interested in ruling in general. Why did I select her, may you ask? I don't know really. She is smart, a good shooter, popular with the girls, but timid though. I guess you could say that I see myself in her, despite my bad eyesight. Either that, or I'm getting old. I have a feeling that she or at least her wife will knock some sense in my elitist daughters. The first ten I mean.
I hardly see Jerda anymore though, so I just spend my time in the palace I named in honor of our housemaid and dear friend Tenaya. I can hear the city progressing well, and new technologies being rediscovered year by year. Not a week goes by when Dorothy blows up one of her experiments. I hear she lost an arm, but I hope that is not the case.
What a strange odyssey we have been through since we met on that fateful day! I never expected that I, in fulfillment of that one deranged lesbian cult's prophecy, would end up being both the cause of the world's destruction and its salvation. But I could not have done it without my dear Eva "Evangeline" Nataraja. I suppose you can extend the thanks to my mother, despite the monster she had turned to. I do not regret being born as a created human for her experiments, and it is because of her I can consider myself human.
I will also thank Danya for helping us. I also thank our deceased friends: Farrah, Kelly, Cole, Ol' Bella, Anila and the vassals, Big Sally and her gals, Emerald Rogers, Marie, our friends in Seattle, and all those girls named Sati.
Evie, I hope that you grow up strong to protect your mother. Nikhila and Odilia... I could never tell you two apart, but please go easy on your older sister. Suzette, try to stop staying up late at night. Teila, I wish you well and take care of your sisters. And to my unborn daughter I have not named yet, please grow up strong to look after your family as well.
Oh great. Now I'm crying. By now there would be tears on this paper or papers my writer is penning for me. I have the photos in my hands, but I can't see your faces any more. The memories of them are not enough. I want to see you all again, but I can't because my people need me. And I am too weak and too old to go on searching anymore.
But Eva, I want to see you, even when I cannot! I want to hold you, touch, and feel those lips against mine! I have loved Quyen and Laleh, but you earn special place in my heart because not only you are the first, you are the one who saved me.
The image of you is still so strong in my mind, and I feel as if you are getting closer and closer to me as each day passes. I can only see you as that innocent and lonely girl I saved, and that will be the last image I will have of you.
I cannot despair though. Whether what you did is right or wrong, I do not regret the separation and the children I bore with Quyen and Laleh. I am certain that we will reunite through them or in the afterlife. I know I will see you again.
No matter what, I will always love you. I will always love you as long as love exists, and I will always love you as long as our legacy exists.
Always thinking about you, forever and ever,
Always in love with you, forever and ever,
Germaine "Jerri" Adams
a.k.a. Lady Ejaculate
All Eva she could do was smile. She was sad though, yet at the same time amused that Jerri kept up her peppy attitude towards life even in her advanced years.
Eva diligently folded all the letters nearly and then cleanly placed them inside the suitcases placed on her desk. For the photos, she procured a blank photo album from the bookshelf reserved solely for such reunions, and fitted them in their sleeves in a stately pace. She left the album on the desk as well, and shuffled to her bed where she laid down and pulled the covers over her.
Then she dreamed. Once again, she was falling from the trap set against her and her family in the stratosphere at Fortress Eschaton. Death, she felt was imminent, as she knew that the monstrosity that were Mistress Aggregation Units would not fly down to rescue them as per Zoya Adamantite's orders. Yet she would wish that they had at least one gram of pity, even if they regretted saving them.
Suddenly from above, an angelic woman in a white cape and uniform caught her hand.
"Danya?" the young Eva asked.
"It's me!" smiled the young Jerri. "Hold on tight!"
"What about the children?"
"They're fine!"
"They're still falling!"
Before she knew it, she was on the ground. Looking around, she was surrounded by jungle brush and bushes. Behind her was a huge sphinx covered in vines, and not far were three worn-down pyramidal structures. Five children were walking alongside the largest of them all, and the oldest and tallest of twelve years old was carrying a rifle.
"Quit slowing us down!" Evie yelled back. "We gotta find food for mama and Padma."
"Don't look at us!" cried one of the bratty twin sisters, Nikhila. "Suzette's back there sleeping again."
"Suzette!"
"A few more hours," sighed Suzette.
The sisters ganged up to haul Suzette to her feet to continue their hut.
Then the world funneled into itself, and Eva and Jerri found themselves in pine tree forest, where Quyen and her teenage daughters were building up one of their many log cabins.
The world funneled again, and she saw the pregnant Laleh reading stories to her two existing daughters inside a log mansion.
They ascended at light speed from the surface until they were past the orbit. Earth was in full view, and after all that had happened on the surface it was still beautiful in blue, green, brown, and swirling white.
"See Eva," said Jerri. "Our children and their children and their children's children are doing fine. Look at the peaceful world they have created!"
"So many have died for us," Eva said. "I feel as though we're responsible."
"Everyone is responsible in their own way."
"Jerri... I too have been waiting for so long. I wanted to stay alive as my penance for doing what I did to you!"
"It's okay. You already know that I forgive you. Is that what love is about? And the proof of my existence has already been delivered to your doorstep."
"Then my mission is over then."
"Oh, don't give yourself so easily like that! There's still your great-granddaughter."
"But I am so tired. I need a little rest before I can do anything."
Jerri moved her legs in a position that would seem like she was sitting. Eva laid her head on top of her lap, and clasped Jerri's hand with hers. She was pure and warm, and there was a steady and comforting heartbeat.
"Then you can rest here," said Jerri.
"Yes," said Eva. "I think I'll do that."
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