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The harsh sunlight that pulsed down to the earth was unrelenting for most people. The desert was not kind to most. But for her it was home. A home she hadn’t seen since she was a young girl. If she closed her eyes and listened, she could hear music coming from her village. Even from the small hill she was standing on, Angel could hear it so clearly. Along with the sound of the ocean in the far, far distance. The brilliant light shining from the clear blue skies above had swapped to darkness not long ago along with Hana’s shift to sleep. The coolness of the desert another reminder of what she left behind.
Bathed in the darkness of night time, Angel could feel the speck of hope settle in her chest. It was in these moments of overwhelming gratitude that Angel felt compelled to do what she was doing now. The simple prayer rug laid out before her had no fancy embroidery on it and the sutrah she’d manifested, an oddly shaped stone, was in place not a hands length away in front of said rug. It was as she was finishing up her first raka’ah that she felt the small change in her soul. The new presence having made itself known to her, having manifested on the small hill somewhere nearby, but still she continued with her prayers uninterrupted. She stood up from her kneeling position after finishing her fourth and final unit of Isha’a. Taking a moment to bask in the spiritual connection and giving one final thanks before looking over her shoulder.
Hana was hesitantly peering at Angel from behind one of the only trees nearby. The girl was wearing her pajamas. Fuzzy blue pants with white polka dots and a baggy worn out purple t-shirt. The wings and halo still present even in her domain. Though, Angel noted she did not carry the same un-earthly glow along the ring of color to her eyes as she knew hers did. She was grateful that her vessel had avoided inheriting that trait from her.
“Angel…?”
“Who else would it be?” Angel’s tone came out completely neutral.
Hana stepped out from behind her leafy coverage and glanced around with a pinch of worry to her brow. “Where are we?”
Angel knelt down to roll up the prayer rug. “My innate domain.” The older sorceress didn’t have to turn around to pick up on the girl’s confusion. “It is a manifestation of my soul.” She willed the rolled-up rug away and it vanished altogether.
The worry in her vessel’s voice faded away, “Oh, we’re in your soul.” Angel began the descent down the hill as she heard her again. “Wait, we’re in your soul?” Grass shifted behind her as Hana followed after her. “Then why do you look like me? Shouldn’t you look like you?”
“We may be in my soul, but this is your body.” They’d reached the bottom of the hill with Hana finally having caught up to walk beside her. The lush green fading to sandy dirt. Angel couldn’t lie to herself. When she had looked upon her reflection in her domain for the first time, it was odd to see a completely different face staring back at her. She would grow used to it with time. This was not her body after all. Nor would it ever be. She led the way through the compacted dirt and stray sand towards the tall, mudbrick homes of her village.
“Are those your clothes then? Or, I guess your old ones?” Hana chattered away. “I’ve never seen anything like them before. They’re super fashionable.” Angel wouldn’t exactly call her outfit fashionable. The beige colored thobe with its tapered sleeves that went to her wrists and her shoes, along with the same-colored undershirt that covered part of her neck were more practical than they were a fashion statement. The stitching wasn’t even anything that stood out. She could maybe see her shoes fitting the category. The beaded patterns on them di- “Were you praying to that rock earlier?”
Angel fully stopped at the entrance to the village to stare directly at her vessel. The girl’s eager look gaining a twinge of regret at the elder’s prolonged blank expression. “Was that rude?”
“You thought I was praying to a rock?” Again her flat response carrying that tinge of a rhetorical.
Hana fidgeted with the hem of her t-shirt, “It looked like you were praying to it…” The fidgeting continued as her vessel looked away with an air of embarrassment. “Who were you praying to then?”
Angel let her squirm just a second longer before leading the way once more. “God.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you were religious.” Hana following behind her with all prior embarrassment gone.
“I’m not.”
“Really? It seemed like you knew exactly what you were doing to me.”
Not an untrue statement. That is what happens when you grow up practicing these prayers after all. No matter how long it’s been the words come to her like second nature. Lost in her own thoughts, Angel noticed a distinct lack of any footsteps behind her.
Half of Hana’s body was leaning into the open doorway of one of the homes. No doubt looking around. The girl leaned back out with a look of wonder as she took it in. Then she noticed she was being watched by Angel, started to come back towards her, turn back around to scurry back and close the door of the home she had left open, and then go back in her direction. Angel had resumed walking down her old village regardless. Hana joined her milli-seconds later.
“We’re in your soul, right? So these are your memories or something close to it, right?” Hana kept step with her while still peering around at the buildings around them with fascination. “Do you know this place?”
“In a way.” The older sorceress kept her gaze forward avoiding the girl’s expectant one. “I did grow up here after all.”
A twinkle shined to life in the vessel’s eyes as she swept over their surroundings once more, “This is your hometown! Was it famous for anything? Did you have a lot of friends? How many people lived here?” Those glittering eyes were almost blinding as they focused on Angel, “Can we see your old house?”
Angel did not let the blinding enthusiasm slow her down. The silence being her answer itself.
“Angelllll-“ the girl whined, “Come on, I want to know!”
“There’s no need. It’s an era long gone anyway. I doubt any of these places still exist.” Her eye caught briefly on the window of the seamstress’s home as they walked past. The sign across the street on the smith’s home. The faint ghostly sound of a bustling street. The flicker of emptiness in her chest that mirrored these furnished homes containing no occupants within them. Angel brushed the feeling to the side. There was no reason to get emotional. It would not change reality.
Hana was trailing behind her now as the older sorceress continued onward. “But they’re important to you, right? They wouldn’t show up here unless they were.” The girls’ voice took on that hesitance reserved for when she wasn’t completely convinced on what she would say next, “Because this is your soul. You wouldn’t manifest something here if it didn’t mean something to you.”
Angel hummed in agreement. “That may be true, but it does not change the fact that these are relics of the past. You don’t need to concern yourself with them.”
“Maybe I want to!” Hana had stopped walking behind her altogether and so Angel stopped where she was as well as to hear her vessel continue, “Come on Angel, I want to know more about you! Please!” The heartfelt emotions in her voice was hard to miss. There were many earnest things about Hana. But she did not need to concern herself with this. There is no need to remember something that should have been lost to time. Angel’s voice was steady as she answered, “I’ve already lived my life. There’s no need for you carve out a space for me in yours.”
“Well, what if I want you there?”
Angel wasn’t sure how to respond. It hadn’t occurred to her that it was a possibility. After a beat of silence, instead of answering she resumed walking.
Morning glories of varying colors littered the new flower field they’d come across at the end of the village path. They were a favorite bloom in Japan during her time and had quickly become one her favorites as well. A tree non-native to the desert region stood out among the blooming field. Angel walked further along into it before finding a worn spot in the field to sit in. Hana followed behind with an arm full of picked flowers she hadn’t realized the girl had been plucking on the way here. The impromptu bouquet was placed down carefully next to the older sorceress. The girl plucked one of the blue petaled morning glories from the pile and twirled it in her hand before crouching down beside Angel.
Hana delicately parted the older sorceress’ hair and slid the stem of the flower behind her ear. “We have a whole life time to get to know each other.” She arranged Angel’s short hair just right so the flora would both stay in place and be on display. Hana didn’t move away once she was done. Her smile was as warm as the sun, “And I’d like to get to know you more Angel. If you’ll let me.”
They would be together for the rest of her lifetime. The thought had been a fact before. Something true and nothing more. But now… Now Angel could feel time stretching out before her. Time she would spend with her vessel. With Hana.
Angel couldn’t stop the short huff of a laugh that left her. Hana tilted her head cutely at her reaction. The older sorceress reached out for a few of the plucked flowers. She started weaving them together. “Do you know how to make a flower crown?”
Hana glanced to Angel’s quick working hands and the flower pile with a gasp, “I don’t! Do you?”
“Perhaps.” Angel picked up a few more stems to add to the weaved flora she was currently holding. “Would you like to learn?”
“Yes! I would love to!” Her vessel settled down next to her and retrieved her own stems. Listening to the elder’s instructions as she gave a horrendous first attempt. It fell apart immediately. Her second attempt stayed together a couple seconds longer. If Hana didn’t notice that the flower pile never diminished while she worked, then that would just be Angel’s secret.