Alex in Vulcan Land

Posted on Friday, 22 January 2021 - 1:38pm by Commander Soral & Lieutenant Alex Kingsley

Mission: Operation: Trail of Tears
Location: Unknown
Timeline: 2394 MD 02

ON:

Their quarters were filled with spicy incense. Candles burning bright in the dark room. Smoke swirled around the room shifting from dense and white to gold and silver. Despite the regulated temperature the room felt cold. In the center of the candles Soral lay unmoving his breath barely audible but visible in white wisps.

Bones stood guard over his prone body growling low.

Entering their quarters Alex froze mid stride as her eyes widened at the sight which welcomed her. She scrunched up her nose against the smell of strong incense as her breath escaped in a small cloud. What the - a low bark drew her attention to where Soral lay in the middle of the room. “Soral!”

She hurried across the room and dropped to her knees at his side. He was so still, only the tiny wisps of breath assured her that he was actually still alive. “Soral?” she repeated, taking hold of his hand.

Soral didn't respond. Another voice caught her attention. "A death sleep." The man's voice echoed. The room was no longer their quarters but a sand stone floor with deep tan coloured walls lined with gold freezes. In the middle of the vast ivory columned room a fire pit of gold stood and fire bellowed from it. Torches lit the room as well casting eerie shadows. By the fire stood a man wearing deep black robes with gold Vulcan writing. He turned and studied her with familiar eyes.

Bones growled and lunged. The man raised his hand and the dog fell to the floor asleep, like Soral. "I will never understand his fascination with that beast."

Bones!

Never releasing her grip on Soral’s hand, Alex studied the stranger for a long moment and then the wider room. It reminded her of tours she had taken with her mother years ago, some of which took them into the heart of ancient castles. Grand rooms like this one, with towering ceilings and minimalist design. Yet went she looked up there was no end, it seemed to stretch on for an eternity. Her gaze came back to the figure, an inner voice warning her to be cautious. To be careful.

“Bones is a loyal friend to him. And I am his wife. Who are you? And what is this place?” She tried to inject as much confidence as she could, releasing her hold on Soral she stood. Stepping over him she moved no further, “what is wrong with Soral?”

"So many questions Alexandra." He left the fire, his heels clicking on the stone floor. "I am very acquainted with who you are." He waved his hand and her uniform turned into a long emerald dress with a high collar covering her ears and connecting to a head piece. Her hair was lifted up and spilled from the headpiece like a red, fiery waterfall. The dress had light transparent green fabric hooked to her middle fingers like wings. "Better," he said.

"I am Shariel Lord of the Dead, Lord of Vulcan." He looked over at Soral tapping him with his toes "He will live."

“Don’t touch him,” Alex said fiercely. “And how can you be a Lord of Vulcan? Or the dead?”

He raised an eyebrow. "I am that indeed. Your husband bares my name. I will not harm him. I am...what you humans call his patron." He held out his hand to her. "Come, sit with me. It is you I wished to meet."

Patron?

Alex glanced down at her husband, clearly reluctant. Yet equally curious. Who was this, really? A figment of Soral’s imagination? A dream of sorts? One she had managed to be dragged into just like with Haru? It was, frankly, the most logical explanation. He knew her name, how he had stopped Bones, her new clothes.

“You promise he will be alright?”

"Indeed."

At his assurance she frowned, hesitating before she placed her hand in his. In comparison her own seemed so small and fragile and she was reminded of old Earth myths and legends. No lord of the underworld was someone to trust. Where was T’Lanna? She would understand what this manifestation meant.

“Why did you want to meet me?”

"He is different since meeting you." He said leading her forward. The sleeve of his robe rolled up slightly revealing the same black vine and rose tattoo as Soral but more ornate, more intricate.

"He is?" she said absently as she stared at his arm and then glanced back at Soral. Which was not easy in this dress. As she looked around she noted the single black rose resting on the edge of the fire pit, remembering how Soral had told her of his own tattoo. How it seemed to grow each year, of it's accord. She had not seen it happen but she had no doubt he was being truthful.

He led her to what looked like a comfortable chair. Before it rose a table laid out with food and drink. "Please help yourself." He said leaning back.

A female voice called. "I wouldn't do that."

At the sound of the voice Alex spun around, yet she couldn’t immediately see anyone else. She did realise, however, that she already had an apple in her hand. She stared down at it, frowning before remembering what it was that had caused her to turn around in the first place. “Who is that?”

The air shimmered and sparkled and a form began to form from golden smoke. A tall Vulcan woman with flame red hair that reached the ground, wearing a warrior's outfit appeared. "I am T'Vet, Vulcan warrior Goddess, mother of all." The apple flew out of her hand. "Keep in mind your own myth of Persephone and Hades. Three pomegranate seeds."

Alex had watched as the apple hit the wall with an audible thud before dropping to the stone floor. She looked at the woman, recalling how Soral had spoken of her. "I never paid much attention to myths and legends, it confuses the science," Alex said simply. "Now what is going on?"

"A most logical question." The woman moved, almost floated and sat down by her husband. "A red head? Flame in her soul. I see that your chosen son has the same tastes." She turned her attention to Alex. "He is not a good patron is he." She waved her hand and half of he temple turned into Alex and Soral's quarters. Soral seemed to lift and float into the their bed. "There better." The quarters disappeared. "I assume my husband," She looked at Shariel . "Was fascinated by you but there is a reason to your being called here."

If it were possible, her jaw would have hit the floor. She closed her eyes, shaking her head. Just a dream. Regaining her calm she faced them both, "and what reason is that?"

"Your husband is about to confront a darkness like no other. His... inner struggle could see him lost and you are his only grounding."

"Darkness? What darkness?" she demanded, eyes widening. Dream or no dream, she wanted to know.

A mirror darkness. We all have a light and a darkness to our soul. Soral is good at maintaining his darker side but now he will have to confront it. Perhaps in double. Where you fly now is where he will face this challenge. He will otherwise win over it or it will consume him and he will be lost to it."

"The old neutral zone," Alex said quietly. That would make sense, everything about the Romulans, and the decisions the Federation made to abandon the rescue efforts weighed so heavily on him.

"Indeed." T'Vet stood. She walked over to Alex and sat down. "You have become his light Alexandra. He is what he is because of you. His fight to stay in the light, to stay in Starfleet it is all due to you."

"Hardly," she countered. "Soral is a good person. A good soul. He just doesn't see that sometimes."

T'Vet placed a motherly hand on her chin and lifted her face. "You give yourself too little credit." She turned her face to her husband. "I will patron this one. She is not to be interfered with."

Shariel sighed. "Must you?"

"I must." She turned back to Alex. "You will soon bare my mark."

"Come again?" Alex repeated, shifting a step back.

She smiled. "Back you go Alexandra of T'Vet." The scene vanished and she was sent back but this time to the quarters she shared with Soral. He lay sleeping on the bed. Bones by his side.

Gone was the coldness, even the candles... Alex stared around the room as she stood, hurrying to where Soral seemed to be peacefully sleeping. "Soral? Wake up..." she urged, shaking his arm.

Soral roused slowly. "Alexandra?"

She sighed in relief, "are you okay?"

He looked around. "I was...meditating. How did I get here." He looked around.

"I'm not sure," she admitted, "and I wouldn't even know how to start explaining..."

Soral moaned, pain crossed his face.

"Soral? What's wrong?"

He pulled up a sleeve and a new thorn was added to his tattoo. It seemed as if it was burned into his skin.

Alex cradled his arm, staring at it. "How is that even possible?"

"My birthday...is coming up." he said through clenched teeth. The outline solidified but would not fill in until the event that was days away.

"Soral, you should let Doctor Rose check this out," she urged, before admitting, "and I get the irony."

"Irony?"

"Doctor Rose," she pointed to his arm, "your tattoo? Are you sure you are alright?"

He sat up and cupped he face. "I am." He kissed her deeply. "My Alexandra." He rested his forehead on hers. Suddenly he was overwhelmed by how much he loved her.

"My Soral," she replied with a mischievous grin.

He stood lifting her into his arms and kissed her turning her in a circle. "Now I shall distract us both and then you will tell me what is on your mind."

Alex laughed as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, "distraction, huh?"

"Indeed."


=/\= Several hours later =/\=

Soral lay with his arms around his wife. He planted gentle kisses on the side of her neck. "A most effective distraction." He didn't understand the lust that had consumed him. Almost as if his feelings were intensified. "Now.. tell me what troubles you my wife."

She was silent for a long moment, considering where to begin as her fingertips traced the black rose. After a second she flashed him a mischievous grin, "keep kissing my neck and you are going to distract me again, husband..." Here in their bed, together, the whole thing seemed even more surreal, and was perhaps a sure sign she was descending into some kind of madness. Maybe it was genetic, she had no way to know. Still, she took a deep breath and recounted it all, word for word, up to the point where she had woke him.

"I assumed you were meditating and somehow I was pulled in to whatever your subconscious was creating," she told him, "like what happened with Haru."

She instantly regretted making that comparison, saw his expression shift before he recovered. "You know what I mean," she added hastily. "Yet, two things. One, you moved. You absolutely were on the floor when I came home, then you were in the bed. While I've been able to move small things before, you are a grown man. And I can't do that anymore. Not that I've tried, I swear.

Secondly, every time there has been any kind of contact with you or Haru, my head felt like it was ready to explode. There was none of that. So while I can't explain it, it couldn't have been something as simple as that."

He was silent for a long moment. "No, it is not." He thought things out a little. "You know of the Bajoran Prophets, right?"

"Yes, it was required reading when Commander LeGuen covered the history of Bajor."

"I have...had a similar experience with the Gods of Vulcan, particularly Shriel...it is why my family was chased from my village, why they letter abandoned me. I was patroned by him." He held up his arm. "I was claimed, for lack of a better word, by him."

"Soral, my love," she cupped the side of his face, "you have to realise it seems... odd. Right? Earth has myths and legends about different gods and demi gods, but they are stories."

She frowned and kissed him, "I'm sorry. I'm just having a really hard time. The scientist in me doesn't really understand. At all. But if you are right, what do we do? Other than get locked up in an insane asylum."

"There is nothing to do." His arms tightened around her. "You are what keeps me going my wife. T'Vet was right about that."

She rested her forehead on his chest, "I think it is the other way around."

"We will figure everything out together," He said. "I promise you that."

Alex closed her eyes, knowing sleep was not far away. “Together,” she agreed.

OFF: