A Tear for the Prophets

Posted on Fri Jan 15th, 2021 @ 2:20pm by Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen

Mission: Healing of Minds
Location: Bajoran Village Temple
Timeline: Current

Meanwhile, Rhenora flattened herself against the wall, still secluded from anyone who may cursorily stick their head into the chamber. She crept forward, silent in her footsteps towards the arc. She had a bone to pick with the beings inside. Hands on the bottom edge of the ornately carved doors she carefully pulled them open and was enveloped in a shimmering blue glow.

The room was exactly as it was, yet still somehow different. She was looking at the orb, brilliant and shimmering before her and inviting her inside.

"Speak, why have you brought me here, why have you treated my husband and I so badly." She demanded, knowing that they were listening. She was tired, exhausted even from the last few days but now she was determined to have her answers.

There was silence for a while, she contemplated the concept that she may not have been drawn into the temple by the Prophets at all and was demanding answers from a spinning trinket.

"You required testing" was the all-encompassing voice that answered after what seemed like an age. They were silent once more, as though the answer should have been sufficient. It was not.

"So all this has been a test? A test of what, faith? You certainly don't put every Bajoran through a 'test' like this. Why me?" She threw back at them, scorn in her voice. "You seek to control me, manipulate me Why?"

The Orb chamber was replaced by a serene landscape, a meandering stream mountain ranges and a close up view of the wormhole. When had she stopped calling it the Celestial Temple and used the Federation standard ‘wormhole’ again? Was this serenity supposed to placate her?

“ We are of Bajor” a woman spoke, having seemingly appeared from nowhere. Her voice was familiar yet different at the same time. She looked distinctly familiar.

“ If you are of Bajor, why do you treat me so?” Rhenora replied, toning down the irritation as though speaking to a person and not a distant deity.

“ As we have said - you required testing. We were unsure if you were walking the path set out for you” The woman replied, her voice the essence of serenity and peace. Her hands were open in an honest gesture.

“ And if I’m not walking the path set out for me? What if I don’t want to walk on your damned path?” The Bajoran Captain shot back before reining in her temper again. Why were they so damned controlling?

The woman started to stroll along the stream, wide grassy banks almost beckoning them to walk.

“ Your path has been predetermined, whether you choose to accept it or not” She said calmly “ You can either accept what we have planned, or you will burn in the fire caves for all eternity” Nothing like a veiled threat to get you to contemplate your actions.

Rhenora remained silent for a moment, considering her reply carefully. She hated the thought that every decision had already been made for her, that every action was predetermined by something or someone other than herself. The thought of burning for eternity in the fire caves was equally as unappealing.

“I just want to be my own person and live my life in the manner of my choosing. I want to live in the stars, helping people, my husband beside me” She admitted, almost ashamed to be saying ‘ yeah no thanks’ to whatever it was the Prophets were trying to offer her. Damned things hadn’t even explained themselves properly and probably never would.

“ Your path is not of the stars - but of Bajor” The Prophet woman said as though it were the simplest thing in the universe. She continued to walk, refusing to meet Rhenora’s troubled and rapidly becoming irritated eyes.

“ And if I refuse? If I denounce you as the Prophets and head back to where I belong? My calling is to help people - the best place I can do that is on the bridge of a starship - not on Bajor” Rhenora tossed back, quickening her steps to keep up with the irritating woman.

“ Your path has been chosen” the words carried on the breeze as though whimsical and not a statement that hit Rhenora in the guts like a sucker punch.

“ My path is my own! It is NOT for you to decide as you will!” Her words were shouted, angry and passionate. The more she had to deal with these damned beings the more she wanted nothing more to do with them. She would not be a puppet for a being that wouldn’t even give her a straight answer.

The being was unphased, “This level of passion is precisely why you were chosen. The Kaylen may be angry now, but she will be of Bajor. There is no escaping one’s predetermined course once the ripples have been set in motion.” She touched the surface of the water sending ripples out in all directions. As it struck the shore line, however, the ripples noticeably stopped.

“ You are saying I have no free will, that I must yield to your ‘plans’. What of my own plans? What of Remal and Starfleet and what ‘I’ want?” Rhenora countered, quickening her steps again. The ripples stopped at her feet.

“Corporeal beings live such linear lives. We have seen all there is to see and know your path will be aligned with our own. The choice is not yours to make. The Kajun will join us soon.” The being turned and looked Rhenora dead in her eyes, “unless you need a demonstration of what will happen if your path continues to deviate.”

“ If you know me so well you know I’m not going to take your word for it. You’ve put me through hell the last few days here - for what - a test of endurance? A test of faith? A test of strength? You’ve broken and beaten me until I just about gave up all hope. Why would I serve you? Why SHOULD I serve you?” The words were out of her mouth before she had a chance to stop them. Well if they knew her they would also know she was not going to take whatever they had planned lying down.

“ You always have taken the difficult path, yet the destination remains the same.” The woman replied serenely as though she knew exactly how this would pan out. “Would you like to see a future if you choose not to follow us?”

Rhenora looked skeptical, narrowing her eyes as though she could predict what they were going to show her.

“So, you’re going to show me my homeworld in flame, my Starship in pieces and my crew dead?

"Something like that." The being reached over and touched the water turning it into a solid shining piece of mirrored glass. The ripples from her touch remained though diminished. Rhenora peered into the mirror and saw only darkness before she was suddenly thrust into the darkness in an everlasting freefall. The beings voice spoke, her voice close as if she were right next to Rhenora. "There are many forms the wraiths take. Sometimes they focus on one traumatic event and sometimes they use multiples. Your pain will feed them."

Rhenora's eyes were wide as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Her mind told her that this was all a vision, nothing was real yet her eyes told her something completely different. She wished, no she begged for Remal to come, to be the beacon of sanity and light in the hell that threatened to overwhelm her. Silently she screamed.