Legends of Amacia The Awakening

Freeing Hanna’s male half

Almost as soon as Hanna fell back to sleep, another bizarre dream oozed out of the darkness. She found herself walking down a corridor in her black nightgown. Hannibal’s voice called to her softly, his voice echoing off the stone walls, ceiling, and floor of the hallway. “This way, Hanna,” his voice beckoned. “That’s it, keep going.”

“Where are you?” Hanna called out, feeling an icy chill racing down her spine as her fear rose.

“Don’t be afraid, Hanna,” Hannibal’s disembodied voice cooed to her. “You’re safe, just come to me. You’re getting close.”

The smooth, almost hypnotic tone of Hannibal’s voice pulled Hanna along. Soon, she was trotting along at a brisk pace. She came to a T-intersection in the corridor. “Which way, Hannibal?” she called out urgently, feeling something wasn’t right.

“To your right,” Hannibal ordered. “Come to me.”

Turning right, Hanna saw a door one hundred yards away at the end of the corridor. “This way?” she asked, unsure of whether she was going the right way.

“Yes,” Hannibal answered softly. “Come. I’m behind the door and cannot get out.”

“I’m coming,” Hanna cried, breaking into a run. As she ran, the hallway seemed to grow, becoming longer and longer the farther she ran. The door seemed to be just out of reach. “No,” she moaned racing down the corridor trying to reach the door that kept fleeing from her. “What’s going on here? Why can’t I reach you? The hall keeps getting longer and longer.” After five minutes of hard running, she staggered to a stop, leaning over, panting heavily. Sweat drenched her nightgown and dripped off her brow. “This is nuts,” she panted. “The hall keeps growing, and yet the door is right there. Why can’t I reach the door?”

“Don’t give up,” Hannibal insisted. “You can do it. I have faith in you.”

“Okay,” Hanna panted. “I’m not giving up, but what can I do? Your door keeps retreating from me. Is this some kind of test?”

“Yes,” Hannibal replied, his voice echoing clearly from behind the door one hundred yards away. “Remember, you put me here and set traps to keep me from escaping and being lost. Remember what you did when you put me here. Use your mind to find the way around the obstacles. Don’t believe everything you see, hear, or feel. The world about you is but an illusion. Remember where we found the map in Peru.”

Hanna straightened up and took a deep breath. The door seemed so far away. Yet something didn’t set right with her. She started to step forward when the floor of the corridor vanished with a rumble, becoming a bottomless pit. With a shriek, she lurched back, falling on her butt. “What happened to the floor?” she asked, fear rising in her. Looking around back the way she came, Hanna suddenly noticed a blank wall barring her way. Her eyes grew wide as a fear clawed at her heart and mind. Jumping to her feet, she touched the wall, finding it very solid. “Oh, no,” she moaned. “I’m trapped. There’s no way out of here.”

“Yes, there is,” Hannibal called from behind the door. “You’re not trapped. It’s all in your mind. Clear your mind. What you see isn’t real. It’s meant to test your mind. Do not be afraid and have faith. You can reach me if you close your eyes and just believe. The corridor you’re in is no different from the Painted Cave I thought I was trapped in. The way out is right in front of you.”

“But there’s a bottomless pit between me and you,” Hanna insisted. “It reminds me of when we looked into the Abyss in our younger days. I’m scared to death of it.”

“I know you’re afraid,” Hannibal cooed. “I can feel your fear from here. It’s hindering you. You must master it as I have. You must conquer your fear and step out into the unknown. Please, the longer I remain here, the weaker I become. I need you to release me; otherwise, all of this is in vain and the Emperor will cover the world and galaxy in gross darkness. Release me while there’s still time. Have faith and step out into the darkness. The Lord will light your way to me, and not let you fall. Please, help me.”

Hannibal’s pleas reached Hanna, consolidating her resolve. “What do I do?” she asked. “I cannot jump that distance.”

“You don’t need to jump, just have faith,” Hannibal replied. “Close your eyes and clear your mind. What you see isn’t real. Close your eyes and follow my voice.”

“Very well,” Hanna said hesitantly, closing her eyes while touching the wall next to her. “I’ll trust you, but if I fall, I’m going to haunt you forever.”

“You’re not going to fall,” Hannibal insisted. “Just close your eyes and start walking. I believe in you.”

“Okay,” Hanna said softly, slowly edging forward with her eyes shut while feeling the wall beside her. “I can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“Believe it,” Hannibal replied. “You’ve only acted with your natural senses. You have far more available to you than you realize. All you need is to have faith and you’ll see things you never thought possible.”

“Oh, get real,” Hanna chided, edging forward down the corridor with her eyes closed, feeling the wall as she moved. “You’re pulling my chain.”

“Not so,” Hannibal answered, not put off by her unbelief. “I’m not pulling your chain. Your telepathic and telekinetic power lies unharnessed because of your unbelief. I should know because I was the same way until you locked me behind this door. Being locked in here has allowed me to explore and connect in a way I never thought possible. It allowed the Lord to show me who and what I am, and why I’m this way. You must trust me on this. Our telepathic and telekinetic power, not to mention our elemental abilities are just awakening. But in order to fully comprehend and exploit them, we must be one. And that cannot occur until you let me out. I’ve been able to give you some limited help, but not to the level I’ve wanted or you’ve needed. Only when you release me can we become the completed soul and unlock our power and destiny.”

Hanna suddenly bumped into something solid as Hannibal finished speaking. Refusing to open her eyes, she felt with her hands, feeling a corner and something akin to a door. “Am I to the door yet?” she asked intently, suddenly feeling the fear in her draining out of her feet. “Something has barred my way.”

“Open your eyes and find out,” Hannibal replied, his voice right in front of her.

For a moment, Hanna hesitated. When her courage rose, she cracked her eyes open slowly, seeing the door right in front of her. A sigh of relief escaped her lips as she felt it with both hands. Looking around, she discovered the passage’s missing floor had returned as if it never vanished. A gasp escaped her lips. “Whoa,” she breathed. “What happened to the bottomless pit?”

“It was never there,” Hannibal answered from behind the door. “The passage and world you see around you is nothing but an illusion. By closing your eyes and having faith, you dispelled the illusion, as I knew you would. You have such incredible strength, strength you’re not aware of. But it’s a strength I can clearly see. Image what we can do together when we merge and combine our assets. Now, what do you see in front of you?”

“I see a door with no obvious way to open it,” Hanna stated, searching the door for a handle or button with which to open it. “Is this another test?”

“It is,” Hannibal answered. “But I cannot tell you how to open it because I don’t know. You’re the one who knows how to open it. Examine it closely and try to remember what happened when you closed this door.”

“Right,” Hanna murmured, scanning every inch of the non-descript door. She tried to remember what happened when she secured Hannibal in the room, but she couldn’t. “I can’t remember how I closed the door,” she declared with growing fear. “When I try to remember it, I come up blank. Why would I use such a door?”

“You were desperate to secure me so I wouldn’t be lost,” Hannibal replied. “I don’t blame you for locking me in here to keep me safe. But now, you must open the door. Surely, you can find some clue that will reveal how you open it.”

“I don’t see anything,” Hanna answered, her tone betraying her rising panic. “I have to get you out of there, but I don’t know how. It’s the very thing I most feared: not being able to free you because I couldn’t remember how to do it. What do I do?”

“Calm down,” Hannibal cooed. “You’ll figure it out. You’re a very smart, clever girl, Hanna. I have faith in you. Have you tried just pushing the door open?”

“It couldn’t be that simple,” Hanna answered, shocked by the question. “Could it?”

“I don’t know,” Hannibal stated. “But it’s worth a try. I do remember you saying the door would only open for you when you closed it. Give it a try.”

“Okay,” Hanna replied softly. “But I still say it can’t be that easy.”

“Maybe it is,” Hannibal insisted. “Simplicity is a mark of genius. Touch the door.”

Hanna reached out and touched the center of the door in front of her by instinct with the flat of her hand. The door rumbled and a strange mechanical voice called out, “Handprint and DNA identification confirmed; welcome, Hanna Smith.” Hanna jumped back in surprise as the door moved, opening in an iris fashion, revealing a small room twenty-foot square by twelve feet tall on the other side. Her eyes grew wide as she saw Hannibal standing there in knee-length shorts and T-shirt with a broad smile on his face.

“You did it!” Hannibal crowed in delight, darting out of his cell sweeping Hanna up in a passionate, grateful embrace. “You got me out of that solitary confinement! Thank you so much. I’m free! Now, we can finish what we started.” He kissed her passionately on the lips before letting her go.

A dazed Hanna stared in wonder at Hannibal. “You’re welcome,” she murmured dreamily. “I don’t understand how I could’ve locked you in such a place in the first place.”

“Like I said,” Hannibal chimed. “You were desperate to keep me safe. When you put me in there, we were still prisoners of the Emperor. Maybe you did it because you feared the demons coming in and spiriting me away. But whatever the case was, you made good on your promise to let me out. I am so delighted that you overcame your fears and doubts to release me. It shows how much you’ve grown. Now, we can move into the final stage and merge as we should, becoming the completed soul Caverias told us about.”

Hanna looked into Hannibal’s eyes with a broad smile. She embraced him fondly, suddenly breaking into sobs of relief and joy. He wrapped his arms around her again, returning the hug, cooing, “It’s okay, Hanna. You did extraordinarily well. We’re going to be okay.”

“I didn’t think I could do it,” Hanna sobbed. “After the raid, I started forgetting you and what you looked like. How could I have done that?”

“It’s quite all right,” Hannibal replied softly, looking her in the eye. “It’s understandable. Much has happened to us since Josephine mutated us. I did what I could from within my cell to help you deal with the trials you’ve faced by sharing my strength and knowledge with you. But I wasn’t able to give you my full power. Now that you’ve freed me, I can do it.”

His words consoled Hanna and gave her strength. “Have I done okay?” she asked.

“You have done more than okay, Hanna,” Hannibal stated. “You’ve taught me the most important lesson I’ve ever had to learn.”

“What’s that?” Hanna asked.

“You taught me how to release my emotions and to be myself,” Hannibal stated. “For all my life, I’ve suppressed my emotions, but now, I know how to safely release them. Thank you, my lovely angel of mercy.” He then touched his forehead to hers. “I’m forever in your debt.”

“Can I ask you something?” Hanna asked.

“Sure,” Hannibal replied. “Anything your heart desires.”

“Do you...,” Hanna began, suddenly choking on the thought.

“Look at me, Hanna,” Hannibal said soberly, putting both hands on her shoulders. “I don’t hate you. You’re such a wonderful, beautiful girl. I did resent being mutated into your form, but I don’t hate you. You’re the part of me that I’d long forgotten. Furthermore, you saved me from myself and got me to see there’s more to life than work and duty. You showed me how to have fun and be myself, so how could I hate you? I could hate you no more than I could hate breathing. You’re always a part of me.”

“Thank you,” Hanna replied gratefully. “It really helps to hear that from you. But I fear what’s going to happen when Josephine reverses our mutation. What will become of me? Am I going to be locked away like I did to you?”

“Perish the thought,” Hannibal replied. “No way am I locking you away. I need you free to help balance me and keep me from being such a stick in the mud.”

Hannibal’s statement made Hanna break out laughing. “You were never a stick in the mud,” she declared, “A bit subdued and difficult at times, but never a stick in the mud. Besides, Selina’s here to keep us from becoming that. God, I love that cat. She’s in my soul like you are.”

“Amen to that,” Hannibal agreed wholeheartedly. “She literally is our salvation. You love her the way I do because we’re one, Hanna. I cannot fathom a life without her, or you now for that matter.”

“Do you mean that?” Hanna asked bluntly.

“With every ounce of my being,” Hannibal stated. “And you know it.” He sighed and looked at Hanna with a warm smile. “You’re so beautiful, Hanna. I’m going to miss seeing you in those hot outfits when Josephine reverses our mutation.”

“Not really,” Hanna replied warmly. “Remember, we had that fashion photo shoot after Josephine removed those blasted shebats from us. You’ll have both pictures and memories of me, so I’ll always be with you dressed in any manner you want.”

“I’d like that,” Hannibal said warmly, wrapping his arms around Hanna’s waist, pulling her close. “Just don’t let me forget what life is really about.”

“Not a chance,” Hanna chimed, embracing Hannibal fondly again. “I love you too much to allow that to happen. Just don’t push me away and forget about me. I never wanted to take over from you. I just want to walk with you on the path the Lord has set before you.”

“You already walk the path with me,” Hannibal declared. “We shall walk the path of life together until the Lord sees fit to take us home. I welcome your company with all my heart and soul. With you here and Selina at my side, I’ll never be alone again. Thank you, Hanna.” He kissed Hanna gently on the lips with great passion and love.

A blazing light swallowed the pair; a light so bright Hanna could not see Hannibal or herself. “Very well done,” a familiar voice called from the light. “You’re now ready to become the completed soul; very well done indeed. My Father is very pleased.”

When the light vanished, Hanna gasped, abruptly waking from a dead sleep. Upon catching her breath and focusing, she notice Selina no longer lay beside her in the bed. Light shined in the outside window, showing daylight had arrived. Sitting up with a groan, Hanna searched the room, seeing the bathroom door open. Selina’s melodious voice echoed through the door as she sang a Kaitian lullaby. Hanna relaxed tremendously upon hearing Selina’s voice. A strange feeling of wholeness filled Hanna. She felt Hannibal free in her mind, wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace. Memories of Hannibal flooded her consciousness freely, allowing her complete access to who Hannibal was and is. A warm smile crossed Hanna’s lips. “I did it,” she whispered. “I freed myself. I know who and what I am now.”

Selina rolled out of the bathroom in her wheelchair, dressed in a tan tank top and thigh-length tan shorts. She saw Hanna sitting up on the bed with great peace on her face. “Oh, you’re awake, sis,” she chimed, guiding her wheelchair to the bed.

“Yeah,” Hanna replied warmly. “I just woke up and I must say I feel great. I don’t feel so fractured and disjointed anymore.”

Selina gazed into Hanna’s eyes, sensing the transformation. “You did it,” she breathed. “You broke Hannibal out of the prison we put him, didn’t you? You’re finally at peace with yourself and very focused. I can sense it.”

Hanna nodded, smiling broadly. “Yeah,” she answered. “At least I think I did. I remember dreaming about it.”

“Tell me,” Selina insisted.

“Okay, but it’s right out of the Twilight Zone,” Hanna warned.

“And what you’ve already experienced isn’t?” Selina retorted. “Tell me. It can’t be any stranger than the dream you told me about earlier with the saber cat Serge.”

Hanna chuckled. “Touché,” she cackled, at which time she shared the dream both verbally and telepathically with Selina. After she finished sharing the dream, Hanna added, “Hannibal may be free, but we haven’t merged yet. He made no move to merge when I let him out of the cell. I don’t think the time is right.”

“I’m so proud of you, Hanna,” Selina purred. “You broke through the security measures we put in place to secure Hannibal that night in the Harem. You did it by yourself without any help from me. It shows how much you have grown and matured since then. You’ve also faced your deepest fear yet and conquered it. I’m so proud of you, sis. Not just anyone can do that.”

“I know,” Hanna answered soberly, crawling to the edge of the bed and sitting down. “I didn’t think I had it in me to do that. Hannibal was so happy to be let out of there. I should’ve never put him in that place.”

“It was necessary,” Selina declared, “...and you know it. We were in the heart of the Emperor’s domain and we had to use every precaution to make sure you didn’t lose him. He doesn’t blame you. You were good to your word and let him out when the time was right, when you’d matured enough to see that you truly needed him. Now you and he can become the completed soul and I can get my husband back.”

“I know,” Hanna replied. “I never wanted this to be permanent. I just want to walk beside him, not take control as I have now. I want him to be happy. I want us to be happy and that’s not going to happen until he takes his proper place with you. He must become the man he once was and I must fade back into the shadows. It’s the only way.”

Selina heard and felt the fear in Hanna’s voice as she spoke of Hannibal’s return. She reached out and grabbed Hanna’s hands gently. “It’s okay, Hanna,” she purred. “I know you’re afraid of what will happen to you with the mutation reversal. You’re afraid you’ll cease to exist, don’t you?”

A tear welled up in Hanna’s eye as her lips started trembling. “Yes,” she admitted. “But I know there’s no other way. Hannibal must live again, even at the cost of my own existence.”

“Look at me,” Selina ordered as Hanna looked her in the eye hesitantly. “You will not cease to exist, Hanna. You and Hannibal are one and can never be separated. He will not let you vanish into oblivion. You’ve taught him too much. You’ve shown him that life is really worth living. Even more important, you’ve shown him how to live it. He’s going to take you into himself and together, you and he will become one being, both alive and working together for mutual benefit. He can’t forget you no more than he could forget me. Trust him. He will not leave you alone in the dark. And I might go as far as to say that he’ll let you live in a way you’ve never experienced before. Even now, I can feel him within you trying to quell your fears about this. He’ll never let you down, ever.”

Hanna’s face suddenly beamed as Selina’s words drove away the lingering doubt and fear within Hanna. “Oh, man,” she breathed. “You’re so right. How could I not see it? Even now, I feel him embracing me from within. He loves me and wants me to live without fear.”

“Indeed,” Selina chimed. “You see it now, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Hanna said softly, stunned by the epiphany. “I think I understand the concept of the completed soul now. I’m not going to be lost in the reversal, but I’m gaining my missing piece...the piece that is Hannibal. We’ll live as one, together forever helping each other to become the being the Lord wants us to be.”

Selina smiled warmly. “I’m glad you saw the truth,” she admitted. “But you’re not going to complete this process until the reversal takes place. I suspect the reason you and Hannibal haven’t merged yet is that it must take place during the reversal. Don’t fear Hannibal when the time comes for you to merge with him. He will embrace and protect you with every ounce of his being. And may I be so bold as to say you will protect him the same way. It makes me tingle all over thinking what you’ll be like when you do this.”

“I hope I don’t disappoint,” Hanna stated. “We can’t mess this up. Hannibal and I have this one chance to do this. I don’t think I could take it if I lost him.”

“You won’t lose him,” Selina insisted. “He’s not going to allow it. Now, don’t you think it’s time to get moving? You’d planned on some training in the armory arena today.”

Hanna felt Hannibal approve of Selina’s suggestion. “You’re right,” she answered, straightening up. “I need to get dressed, get something to eat, and then work out with Hannibal. He said he could show me how to access the power within me.”

“I’m sure he can,” Selina chimed, pushing back from the bed in her wheelchair. “Trust him as I trust him, and you will not go wrong. You and he are so very close to being one now. Follow your instincts as he does and you’ll be ready for the merger when the time comes.”

Hanna rose from the bed with a nod and sigh. “Yes,” Hanna stated soberly, feeling Hannibal becoming more entrenched in her consciousness. “He’s ready to teach and I’m ready to learn. I must learn from him as he learned from me.” Hanna’s belly growled loudly and she giggled. “Down boy,” she cackled at her belly, making Selina chuckle. “We’ll get food in you soon enough. We have a lot to do today.”

“I’m going on down to the kitchen,” Selina stated. “I’ll meet you there. I suggest you wear something appropriate for your practice today.”

“Don’t worry,” Hanna answered. “I already know what I want to wear today. I’ll see you in the kitchen.” Selina nodded and rolled herself out of their quarters, closing the door behind her.

“Okay, Hannibal,” Hanna whispered. “Let’s get to it.” She headed to the bathroom to get ready for the day.