Kia laughed, and Ir just stared at her, brown eyes past wide. “A galaxy. An entire galaxy of Pinda people!” He got this dreamy smile. “And, an entire galaxy of Imwa! But that means—” He paled.
Ryonne~ startled. “Ir, what is?”
“If the Laruu and the Imwa have galaxies on our level, it can only mean one thing. Wally lost his place on the 5th! Oh, such a sacrifice! Wally did this for us. For you, Kia, for your people, he did this!”
Wally waddled in. “Suma did it. I met her and saw her love for Ni’olmai, an Elshar! I thought they were all selfish fools, like Heden, Girfir, Dirin, and all of their sons.
“It wasn’t until I saw Suma’s devotion to this Elshar, this alien, and a malformed one at that, I decided to stop helping Rentappenen.
“But you Earthans have a saying. Give a fool enough rope and he’ll hang himself. Rentappenen created a Cube that could change timelines. Well, he wasn’t satisfied. He kept changing them. I just waited for the right one and saw what Pirad was doing.
Wally wasn't his cheery self. "This is our punishment, to repair the damage we helped Rentappenen cause. But, when we all came together and decided the only way to defeat him was to go back to the levels we came from in the past, we discovered Pirad and Kirnonos' plans.
"Things will never be as they were, orderly and planned. The unpredictability of a world full of Earthans with Gifts is what defeated him, more than Kirnonos and Pirad's extra Cubes. For the first time in known history, people with Gifts grew Collectives and Cubes!
"The 6th Council expelled all the members of every Council below it, because yes, we broke their rules, but they blamed us for giving a primitive world, Earth, tech it was never to have. Pinda, it's your fault that all of us are now in Alb to stay. You gave them all those Gifts!"
Pinda laughed. "Do you think I didn't know this would happen? Yes, I broke the rule upon which all the others are based. But, didn't you say people rose too fast for healthy Councils? I say to you, this created the weakness that allowed a monster like Rentappenen to try to conquer Levels. All the Councils will learn from this and prevent anyone from doing this again. It may be my fault for giving Earthans Gifts, but it's your fault for convincing the 5th to secretly follow Rentappenen in the first place."
Wslarc sighed, and it rumbled on us. "No Council is perfect, and no member of it is. We form collective minds from vast groups of species and try to get all of them to agree. But, with every disagreement, we learn after it is resolved. Friends, it is not helpful to blame one another. What is done is there for us to learn. Every rise and every fall is valid, because all the levels study what happened, and improve methods.
"We are here, and what an opportunity, to prepare so many races to rise, to fill the empty Councils and levels! We have time, now that the Cube Of Many Colors is destroyed. I think all the levels learned, there are some Cubes that should never be created. Perhaps we will never see another mistake like Rentappenen. Where did he get the ability to see other timelines?"
Pirad, Kirnonos and Taredias appeared in a flash of light. Kirnonos stepped forward, and his angular features set him apart. "Brother, the Lerk had contamination from the 23rd, from when their Erkanen rose. Eriganh's grandfather married Erkanen's daughter. I gave T'blere a Cube that every time he used it, a generation vanished. He prevented Erkanen's birth, and all the mess between the Lerk and the Jain."
Wally gasped. "You brought the Jain back?"
"I am not stupid! There is one group of scientists there who felt the Lerk weapons were too dangerous for anyone. They destroyed all of them, the plans for them, and even the history mentioning them!
“Lerk is back, but without the people who started the contamination there! The peaceful factions remain, and they are here in Alb. Jain is here and all of their contamination is cleansed. Elshar is also here. The remaining provs want to live peacefully." Kirnonos nodded. He didn’t get smugface like Pirad.
Pinda frowned. “Did you forget the Councillor who now calls himself Dromie? He did more damage with his people than all the Padrisa’s other civilizations! When he brought them back, he didn’t choose. We are fortunate most of them fought Rentappenen! Wslarc exiled him so he can’t bring his people back. That would undo all our work!
“And, I convinced Jarfus to sacrifice himself. He was tired of watching his people die because Mairans wanted more furs and got better at killing us. We were at risk of losing our eyes on the Thordes! But, I told jarfus, he needed to pick a Thordes Elder. He died to give his Gift to Mike. Now, look at all the Thordes Elders! Every jeia has one. I think that was worth dying for, wasn’t it, Jarfus?” Wally looked towards the wallportal.
He waddled in. Mike and Mica rode on his back. “I like your idea, Wally. Now I have all the Thordes as my friends, they have Elders, and they helped us defeat Rentappenen today!”
Mike startled. “But, my people didn’t know—he’s defeated?”
“Yes! You got Elders! The strain of creating Elders pushed Rentappenen’s Cube to its limits! You did what Bisillipia did on the 3rd! They created Elders, then they cloned Elders, then they made a new species and moved Elders to Biehshah! The Council can’t take Elders back. Once a title, always a title!”
I smiled and took Mike’s hand. Petted Jarfus. “I didn’t know that was the plan, I just wanted—felt like that was the right thing to do, name Elders.”
“You created our army! I’m so proud of you, Molly! Now you will heal our army!”
Lost my smile. “We need an army? But, the War’s over!”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Why do you think we need the New Healing? We must keep our army healed to protect what we have! There has always been peace, and there has always been war. There must be balance in the force!” He changed into Obi-Wan Kenobi and brandished a blue light saber. Then went back to his walrus form.
I frowned. “Star Wars is true?”
Wally laughed. “No! Think of war as a force. Now, think of peace as a force. War happens when people can’t talk it out. But, peace is also a force. Peace comes when people talk it out and compromise.”
“But, diplomats don’t force people into treaties!”
“No, but if rulers know what’s good for them, they think about the alternatives. Starvation is a force. When diplomats balance trade for a treaty, they try to think of things both sides need because needs are something all species have in common.
“Every civilization has needs to keep their people living. Trade is also a force. So is the fight to keep all people living at the same time without killing others. Peace is a fight, a struggle, don’t you see? Peace is a force. It is a fight of ideas, not weapons. When ideas can solve a struggle so it doesn’t evolve into a war, there is peace.
“But war always waits because there will always be selfish men, who favor one group above another. Tech is never enough. There is always higher tech, and the struggle to create more of it. The only way to create true peace, is to decide that all of your people must have choices in their destinies.
“Look at the Zheien. Everyone makes war on them, but they never made war on anyone. They agreed to live peacefully, no matter how many disagreements they have on their Councils, from a council that serves a city all the way up to the Council Of Zheiea. Even the Aryllans could not do that! Or, the Zbbat or the Esteerrians.
“They are like the Laruu and the Lerk, and before them, the Chor. They could have left a Chor civilization, but no, they created Elshars.” He shook his head.
Ryonne~ frowned. “There are many well accomplishments of Elshars—”
“Look at how the Mashai took over because they were jealous of the Artisans and how much trade they were making! They didn’t even consider, when Elshar prospered, so did they.”
“Wally, I think Elshar is more complicated than—”
“Complicated! Complicated? One Elder was an ambitious, selfish man. Heden. He corrupted their entire civilization! We were there. We watched it happen! He corrupted healing herbs to create slaver herbs.”
Ryonne~ shook all over and Laura crawled up on the bed. “Wally, I think we need to stop—”
“You think I can’t heal him? We’re healers, now!” Wally touched him with a flipper and yellow light lit up the room. He still shook. Wally looked surprised.
Pinda woke up. “Hm! You upset him. Leave.” He pointed to the portal.
“Me? I was just teaching him history—”
“History is just opinions, Wally. Didn’t you learn? Go.”
He straightened his top hat. “If you don’t learn from history, you are doomed to repeat it!” Wally waddled out.
Pinda hugged Ryonne~, who sighed. “I think I offended him.”
“No, my friend. Wally is very opinionated. I like him, but we are not doomed, if we repeat history. Everyone knows, history repeats. Worlds change, but the same sequence of events happens.
“Historians argue with their opinions, but there is a cycle to civilizations. And that is why we have a Council, my friend. Every Council has opinions, but we talk, and we usually work it out. Every level has a Council. There are rules, and order, even though at times, things will get out of hand. Don’t think too much, Ryonne~. It’s time for us to go home, like Ry’nao wants. Go talk to us.” He waved for Ryee’s formals and set him on his feet.
Laura frowned. “He needs to rest.”
I smiled. “He can rest after he speaks. That’s what kings do, right, Pinda?”
He smiled at me. Then at Miranda’s astonished parents. Miranda hugged Pinda. “I’m glad you’re staying with us!”
“Well, I gave myself to your dad! Maybe I can get one of my people to come stay with Ryee’s family. Would you like that, Ryee?”
He smiled, too. “If they are ne sad to leave Laruushan. He is far beautiful.”
“We take beauty every new place we visit. I think you might enjoy a philosopher. Kipar is lonely. He got hurt in the War and he can’t get healing. Your people are healing. He has one Gift left.”
“Dear friend, your civilization needs your Gifts! You used them all—”
Pinda rubbed his temples. “You wish to speak to your people, then you will rest. How eager they are, to hear you speak! Then you may teach your children to eat.”
“I can do that, while he speaks! C’mon, kidlets—”
“You must not, or I cannot help him!” He spoke to W~Via. “Sit with them and do not take too much energy from them.” What?
Laura paled!
He nodded, and his dark curls, so like his father’s, bounced. Gently, he took W’Vie’s hand and Vadia’s. W’Vie quit fidgeting and walked with ‘em, watching W~Via.
Laura’s mouth dropped open! She pulled at an auburn curl.
Ryee only spoke for a couple minutes, but it comforted all his diplomats.
Ryee spoke first. “I wished to speak with all of you before you left. Molly, please come.”
I went to him in the middle of the huge ship. Bowed low, and he returned it.
“I wish to thank you for our healing! Because you taught Pirad much, he could wake all our dead in Burial Chambers! All of Ye~ are grateful to you, and I wish to present you this medallion, which J~oie carved this morning. He is a miracle operative, to produce such fine work on short notice! J~oie, will you give her?”
J~oie had to bend down to give me the carved disk, like a giant coin in red-violet, their family color. I’m so short! A coin a foot across! It’s eaezhfee, the same stuff the ship’s made of, with colors they get from heating it.
Beautiful work! It had a portrait of me smiling, and color portraits in rings around me showing Ryee, Adia, J~oie and Laura, then all of their family members including Vonn, Tan and Sara’s and Derees’ kids, the Pedersens, and the Blacks and Wrights! Even Goe and his family and Kia, Suma, Deb, and Bess, the one who gave the Aryllans magnolia seeds from her yard. They saved all the Aryllan worlds. I’m glad they’re like Zheien again.
“Oh, thanks, J~oie! I will treasure this always!”