Heavenly Creatures
CHAPTER 23: Merkaba

I knocked on my sister’s bedroom door before realizing that I had slept in, and my sister and mother were already at the temple.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” I asked Sun.

He shrugged. “I wanted to spend some time with you,” he said.

“What about my sister?” I asked. “Is she leaving too?”

Sun nodded. “I’m sorry Tara.”

I slammed my bedroom door and changed quickly. I rushed out of the room to replace Sun standing in the same place I had left him. “We’re going,” I said. “To my sister.”

In the snap of a finger, Sun had us at the Buddhist temple. Mother and sister were walking around. The lanterns had been taken down.

“Tara!” My sister waved. “What are you doing here?”

“When are you leaving?” I asked.

“Soon,” my sister hedged, glancing at Sun. He gave my sister a meaningful look.

I looked between them. “Have you two always known?”

“We didn’t know it would be today,” sister said. She sighed. “It was very sudden.”

I felt a sense of desperation eating away at my insides, but I took a few calming breaths. My sister came up beside me and patted my back.

“Hey. There, there. I will still be with you in spirit,” she said.

Mother came up on my other side and put a hand on my shoulder, which surprised me enough to stop panicking.

Sun’s eyes were wide and concerned. “Are you okay?”

“No,” I said. How could I be? I hadn’t had any time with them at all: Sun, my sister, or even mother. How would I let them go? “What will happen to me when you’re gone?”

“Nothing,” Sun said. “The old man will take care of you and make sure you’re back home before Monday.”

“Monday?” I remembered vaguely that we were on a quest that operated on a different timeline. “Oh.”

Sun pushed my sister and mother aside and put an arm around my shoulder. “The old man can be difficult to understand, but he’s a great teacher,” he said. “Your life won’t be dull without us.”

“And you?” I asked. “Are you happy to leave? I thought you couldn’t go until you had learned something.”

Sun cleared his throat, and my sister smirked.

“Oh, he learned his lesson,” she said.

“What was the lesson?” I asked.

Sun steered me away from sister and mother. “I’ll tell you later,” he said. “When we’re about to go.”

“Where will you depart from?” I asked.

“The tallest mountain in the area that has water,” Sun said, looking east. I could see that a mountain peak filled with trees rose up higher than the temple at the other side of town. “There,” Sun pointed.

“We need to leave soon,” sister called from behind us.

This time, Sun held my hand before snapping his fingers. We had arrived in a forest of trees, but I could see that we were at some kind of peak. There was a spring of water beside us. In the distance, I saw the roofs of the Buddhist temple.

I looked over at my sister to see her transform back into a dragon. The jewel in her forehead shone more brightly than before, and it detached itself from her head and floated in the air. The jewel became a droplet, which grew into a large glass ball. The dragon captured the glass gently between its teeth and spoke without speaking.

“This is the yeoiju, also known as the cintamini. You know that it grants all wishes, but I cannot leave it behind if I am to ascend to heaven. Dragons also need water to ascend,” the dragon said, indicating the stream beside her.

I looked up at her. “I still need you,” I said.

“You stopped needing me a while ago,” the dragon said. “I stayed until now because you wanted me around.”

“Is that so bad?” I asked. “To want to be with you?”

The dragon didn’t speak for a moment, then she dipped her head to be level with mine. “One day, Tara, you will understand why I leave you.”

“Don’t go,” I said, putting my hands on the dragon’s nose.

“Listen to what I have to say,” my sister said. “Do not give up hope and do not condemn yourself. Forgiveness is a virtue that can be learned. You are like me. Don’t insist on being smaller.” The field seemed to fill with light, and she began to climb up. The cintamini gleamed one final time, and she was gone.

Sun turned to me regretfully.

“You promised that heavenly creatures were reliable,” I said, my hands dropping to my sides.

Sun’s eyes filled with sorrow. “The laws of heaven are absolute. I don’t have the power to disobey them. I tried once, and it didn’t turn out well.” Sun paused, then he suddenly gripped my hands again. “Come with me,” he said.

His words breathed new life into me, but the thought of going with Sun didn’t seem right somehow. I opened my mouth, but the yes didn’t come.

“I can’t,” I said, and it felt like my heart was ripping out of my chest. “I have to go back.”

Sun was silent for a long moment, but then he nodded and let go of my hands regretfully. “I understand. Just remember what your sister told you, Tara. There is nothing in me that isn’t also in you. Remember that you are losing nothing.”

“It doesn’t feel like it,” I said. I began to cry.

“I’m sorry,” Sun said, squeezing my hands in his.

“What was the lesson you had to learn?” I asked.

“Love,” Sun said. “It is the only thing that removes the hierarchical distinctions between the six realms.”

I tried to smile. “So, you don’t think you’re better than me anymore?” I asked.

Sun smiled ruefully. “No. No, I don’t think I’m better than anyone anymore.”

Sun hugged me then, and it brought me enough comfort to have the strength to pull away. I smiled weakly at Sun.

“Okay,” I said.

Sun let go of me regretfully, and the field filled with light again. “Goodbye, Tara. Until we meet again.”

I was almost blinded by the brilliance, and when I could finally open my eyes again, I saw that mother, too, had gone.

She had not even said goodbye.