28 ~ March, Epilogue

Something was growing steadily.

A flower was blooming normally, and a new morning came as slowly and naturally as it should ever be.

The sunrise appeared at its normal pace, illuminating gradually the quiet scenery.

Isha was waking up from her night in her darker room, also feeling as if she had felt the sunshine reaching her, banishing what was left of her dream.

The memories grew faint by the second, but she recalled playing a role in that dream, while also remaining true to herself.

It felt a little sad this time however.

It had been the dream where she had met her...

And as one went into slumber, the other one woke up, with some memories from the other side instead. This time, they were unexpectedly heavier to bear.

Isha brushed a tear away, just as she recalled seeing someone else do on another time, another night.

That time it was her own turn to wake up with the feeling that she had lost someone dear to her this night.

A pain made her twitch, as her left arm felt like it had been hurt and the muscles sore.

As she stood up, she faced a mirror to look at herself.

This time, she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary. She let her hand relax despite the tingling sensations she could still feel within. Her blood circulation had been poor in that hand for some reason.

Another odd sensation was swelling inside her chest now. She closed her eyes for the time of a great sigh.

After some intense dreams, reality could feel mortifying and bleak for a while.

On the night stand beside her, she now looked at what remained of the small fateful ribbon. It had been there with her, and it had worked. Isha brought her hand closer to it, reaching it gently.

It shattered into dust and vanished, as her fingers passed through it like warmer air silently.

She watched the little dust flying around silently.

Meanwhile, a kind of rash was now appearing over her left hand and wrist, but she didn’t notice it immediately.

Isha left her room thinking back over these recent memories.

She felt bad about lying to her.

She was the one who had pushed back Esther to meet that fate.

Isha then noticed the reddish to purple stains marking her left hand, covering the places she still felt as if a ghost was holding onto her hand.

She shivered slightly.

~

Isha went down the quiet stairs slowly. She still had that soft sadness holding her heart. She still had a vivid picture of Esther in her mind. The face of a being struggling with all its might in order to become something more than mere memories fading at dawn.

What she had done seemed unfair, and she had to believe it was still the best course of actions.

Even for Esther, it was unfortunately the best course of actions.

Isha clenched her marked hand, as if holding onto another one she would not let go now.

The next part of her role would be another challenge to her life, to bring that dream to another destination...

Isha would someday bring her to its true conclusion.

She reached a door. She knew what lied behind, what to expect and what there would be to do.

She knew it might take the rest of her life...

But at some point along the way, she had found her call, and had promised herself and even them, she would carry out that duty to its completion.

Long before she had truly met Esther... Isha had promised to follow the ruling of Rosemary. An ambition for further days and times, to inherit their legacy as dreamers, and Esther’s will as a flower.

For that current morning however, even though one chapter of her life being closed, there was still some pretty menial magic to bring into that small world, completing the usual chores.

~

Isha opened the door with a soft smile, entering Rose’s room.

The sun rays were peeking through the curtains cracks, bringing enough light to make every shape clearly visible.

She naturally looked a little around, before checking the bed. A human shape was loosely there, hidden in shadows, hair loose as well around her.

Isha greeted Rose as she always had, with a soft cheer and the opening of the curtains to the morning light.

Rose woke up and looked toward her, greeting her similarly.

Rose sat, looking a little unsteady. Something unexpected had happened to her. She was feeling weird. As they would soon find out, the same weird sensation had also reached Blue.

Isha was discussing it soon after over breakfast with her ladies.

She had been the first to hear it that night, however it seemed that Rose and Blue also had both been witnesses to their encounter. They had seen Gülnihal’s end, and the last heated exchange of words just before.

They had heard the lie they had planned to trick Esther’s fate, and saw it succeed...

But they also had heard something they didn’t expect.

B - Did Elise... Truly had a child?

Rose looked dumbfounded, uncertain even herself. She might have suspected her sister to have a semblance of relationship or budding courtship outside, but never knew how far this went.

R - I’ve never been sure about it... She was... Well, she was Elise. I had some doubts, but she brushed my concerns off and I’ve never been introduced to any lover, husband nor father to be... She never showed much... And when we came back, no one ever came to us to enquire about her...

Elise had kept her at arm’s length, and this remained uncertain even now. Rose herself couldn’t ascertain the truth, and felt rather guilty about it now.

R - If Elise had a child we never heard from for all these years... I think now we might never hear about it again.

~

The summer was warming the air outside, making the evening spent on the terrace rather enjoyable. Everything slowly painted in pretty hues and softly darker tones, while the breeze could be felt.

They were spending the evenings together, as some things were being slowly settled. Rose had signed, sealed and sent the last formal letters to organise it.

They were planning their next journeys.

All three of them were going to leave England soon, with different objectives in mind.

Blue and Rose would head to Gibraltar, and then to Basra. They were beginning a long journey together.

Isha meanwhile, would return to her transformed homeland.

Thanks to some of their lingering connections in London, Rose had managed to obtain all the papers they all needed onward. They were waiting for a few of the last documents to arrive.

That day was worthy of a celebration, as Isha received her British passport. It harboured a new name, of Blue’s choosing again.

It possibly sounded Russian for a person not versed with this language, and odd for everyone else. But it mostly carried her feelings for Isha, along with a meaning related to the sun.

Her second given name was also Herson just like theirs from now on.

Just like that, with that paper shared, with a few other envelopes and documents scattered on the table outside, she had officially become a member of their family.

Rose was reading another letter. Blue was smiling with amusement as Isha was discovering her new identity. They remained quiet for a moment, enjoying that kind time together.

Rose had procured Isha with all the renewed diplomatic documents she had been able to provide, some of which were larger than life. But some were more interesting than others. One stood above, clearly worth a lot more than most others.

It was a chance to meet a soviet diplomat who was to come in Britain shortly.

Isha would go meet that sir Litvinov on their behalf, and surely she would be able to convince him they could be partners. He would surely help her return to now Leningrad, hearing what she had to offer.

She had in her hands most of the Herson’s fortune to offer, in exchange of being allowed to invest it herself freely, somewhere in the Karelian republic.

Rose had signed it without hesitating, much to Isha’s bewilderment.

Most of the scattered assets from the Herson family inheritance were now bequeathed to her.

Isha had become the owner of the manor and most of their wealth she never had asked for.

Rose only had her forceful and hypnotic smile to calm Isha’s nervousness facing this shift in reality.

R - You’re the lady now.

I - But...

R - I know you will do well, for yourself and for her.

Isha would find the agreements, carry the documents, carry their will and her own promise made to her.

She would search for the place from the document of transmigration. Where Daiûa had wandered, and where Isha herself had come to be.

She would find the rightful place where someday Gülnihal could also come to be, in a different way and with a different name. Isha was to find the place where the legends vanished, and some dreams could come true.

She would set and build a sanctuary for her there.

They had agreed before they brought Esther’s attempt to come to life to a stop, that she deserved another more rightful chance.

A chance for gains of life and real breath that Isha would guide, from the beginning this time and until their rightful end. She would help her succeed in a proper way that wouldn’t harm anyone.

Isha had been smitten to wish for it herself over the years she had learnt to know her and them.

However she had never expected the granted means for that end to be so materialistic and consequential. Blue had agreed and Rose had signed, that she know owned nearly everything they used to have.

So she could funnel it all toward this destiny.

Isha looked back at her left hand now deeply scarred, and still wondering. Goodness knew what would have happened to her, had Esther managed to make it just a notch further...

That was why she needed a guiding light from above for her.

Now, it would be Isha. And she would dig the right place to make their chances of success higher.

For now, Mary-Esther was at rest. And as she slept, Isha would build for her the sanctuary that she would need someday, to come to life properly.

That was her promise to her.

Rose and Blue were offering the means to make it true to them.

~

The idle chat lasted long into the twilight.

Since they were nearing their departure and might not see each other again for a long while, they made the most of it. Parting ways was uneasy and a little painful for Blue and Isha.

They had to share everything that was left to say. So they spent their evenings together until they couldn’t quite see each other anymore under the starlit sky.

Then they would go to sleep, to each their room but sharing some sorrow from this upcoming next separation.

Sleeping held more bittersweet feelings since Esther had disappeared. They dreamt less, and waking up was now feeling a little harsher and colder. It always carried a little unclear faceless sadness.

In that place, there was a hole in the night. It was mostly invisible to everyone, as it was quite dark and without anything noticeable inside anymore.

And if they could guess or wish that somehow Esther still existed somewhere below, they kept spending nights as if they were attending the nameless grave of someone gone or lost.

Isha had become invested in Esther’s story, and now had become the legitimate owner of Gülnihal’s dream. Even though nothing physical was left to carry its soul, she had inherited its wishes in both worlds where she had currently vanished...

Even if there was no soul left to speak to during the nights, nor any memento to put faith in during the days.

Isha was still carrying everything with her own memories, her own dream and ambition, and all the emotions and sensations Esther had left her with over time.

It was odd, but they all believed in her ability to make it come true. Isha would carry over that odd legacy now becoming her own life’s story, to make it real where it had higher chances to succeed.

Isha was feeling whole, even though it was with a bittersweet smile. It was sincere. She clenched her hands together akin to a prayer over it.

One day the blue rose would bloom. And until then, she would attend to it.

And seldom, sometimes at night, in her deepest dreams, she could see seeds sprouting.

Roses seedlings were still trying to exist somewhere.

And even rarer but sometimes, she could hear a faint and distant whisper, calling out her name.

It was as if a growing flower, or a buried brick of stone was trying to speak, ever so faint.

Somewhere down there, a seed or a spore of her, was still vibrating its existence toward her. It was without consciousness or awareness, only lost in the remnants of a dream, but it was there, waiting.

Something remained currently as dead, but would try to grow again whenever she could reach some food and help, reaching out to her.

Isha’s hands and heart eventually would.

And from their researches, the most fertile soil for that odd flower was far, far away from this house.

Toward a place beyond the nordern see. The blue rose was hinting faintly toward the land where other dreams could somehow come true.

Isha would go out there, for them all.

~

Because of her meeting scheduled with the soviet diplomat, Isha was first to leave the house.

One day she had to go, knowing this was goodbye with them and the house, for now.

In her heart, it felt as painful as if it should be forever.

She was saying goodbye to the happiest years of her life. Their story to the hour of them together was ending. Isha was finding herself about to leave and struggling to, in pain.

She had to carry all that mattered to her in a few suitcases.

I - These past years have been my happiness for decades.

The sisters smiled, helping her carry her luggage on their way to the train station.

Isha paused for a moment before they left the property, to have a last look behind at the haunted house.

It seemed at peace now, settled above unfathomable void.

Isha had had many pleasant memories there, and feeling nostalgia made it difficult to leave for good. She knew that if she happened to someday be able to come back, they would likely be gone too.

She likely would never come back, making the weight of her love and good memories held dear a little heavier.

Isha gathered her courage and left, walking with her two dear friendly ladies along the path.

They headed rather quietly to town and then the station, where they would really say goodbye to each other for good, and maybe ever.

Isha held them dear and managed to part ways, as a longer journey would now begin for her. One that likely wouldn’t be as happy as this life had been along with them.

Only eight years had passed, but it had lasted for a lifetime for her, feeling like it could never end.

And suddenly the lull was lifted, and she found herself alone in a train.

Realising with melancholia that she would never live through the exact same days again. All she had with her were in her luggage and memories.

Isha forced herself to smile, feeling nervous already. She had no regrets.

She touched the marks on her left hand, hidden by her sleeve. Her one meeting with the daiûa Esther, which had sealed this turn of events, had comforted Isha in the choices she had begun to make.

She had nothing more physical to hold on as a charm, but she held the words close to her heart.

She smiled a little more earnestly, at the prospect of what would come to be.

Outside the day was bright, and the evening would be nice. She closed her eyes to rest for a while. Some kids were playing next to her in the train.

~

In September 1929, Isha met the soviet diplomat visiting the country.

A bizarre opportunity had made it possible for the two to meet in a less formal venue, and for Isha to bring him an interesting story.

Even though he didn’t know of her then, her proposal of business and ambitions were interesting to him. He was eager for helping a chance to strengthen the relations between the United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Isha was offering to invest the Herson’s fortune in order to help the country’s prosperity, albeit in one specific republic mainly.

As this daughter of whites wanted to return, bearing gifts and trust, she was welcomed. The sir Litvinov eventually agreed to help her return to that rural homeland she was looking for, in any sorts of ways.

Both of them found with each other’s offers far more than they would have hoped for.

A new trust was tied and born, and Isha had found her first comrade in what would be anew her motherland. As they shook hands, he jokingly welcomed her home already.

Isha laughed with him.

I - Building the home of my dreams is quite my intent.

With her new name and new friend, Isha would help a rural area to prosper over the next decades, probably beyond expectations.

She would do wonders for years, in a land filled with opportunities and dreams.

Dreams Isha would one day be said to be able to grant, making them come true.

~

When Isha was leaving the country, the two remaining Herson ladies were packing as well. They would leave as well shortly for a new beginning.

They had considered leaving for a few years travelling around the world, and also leaving for good to settle elsewhere entirely. If they wanted to travel abroad first of all, their choice of never returning in the end was a decision they ended up taking for a few different reasons.

Esther had been one of them. They wouldn’t lie to themselves about that, but it was not the only reason.

Leaving behind them for good the haunted house wasn’t only because of the many graves it now held. Despite every tragedy, it was still a nice place to live in.

But as even the cursed Esther deserved in their opinion another chance to gain her life, so did they.

Cutting the ties with this graveyard and them, severing Esther’s presence from them, it was another chance.

It might have almost killed Esther, but they also freed her from their existence as their blue rose doing so.

They were free from her, and she was free from them now. Her next promise would only be to herself.

If Rosemary’s understanding and ruling were correct, even though she would need to start all over again, the next time she would rise would be liberated from this family’s boundaries.

Esther would be free to grow away from them, and be able to live truly for herself.

Them too, they felt deserving another chance to live for themselves and freely, from her family’s ghosts and Gülnihal’s surprisingly strong hold as well, over that tiny place in reality...

They accepted to lose the life they knew and the Esther they were thankful for, in order to make everything else possible. No matter the pain of starting all over again.

As she was planning the leave, Rose had realised in details how Elise had planned to leave the family behind as well in her own time. Rose could now see all that Elise had eluded too and kept to herself over the years.

She had written games for Blue as a matter of love, and also unspoken goodbyes.

Elise had prepared her next home to join, and thought about leaving everything behind, to start a new life elsewhere.

But in the end, she never did.

Perhaps because fleeing and trying to forget the bad memories wasn’t all that there was.

She might have not been ready to leave the rest of her family just yet. They could guess her pain. However the truth was, they would never know for sure what Elise had planned and thought in her final moments.

Leaving everything behind, turning a former lifestyle into nothing but memories, Blue and Rose were now able to do it together. It was easier since no one else was left behind but ghosts, but also and mostly, because they were no longer trying to flee something painful and oppressive.

They would have been, had they left some years ago in a hurry, when the haunting was at its worse. But Esther would have followed them. She would have been relentlessly after Blue.

But now that everything was over and settled, they could just close the door, and simply walk away. They would leave the house from their family remain asleep along with them.

Because they had been wanting to travel, to see for themselves a little more of that world they had heard so much about. Because they wanted to try living for themselves, free from their family’s remains, they would leave them all as memories behind.

The shop in town had been sold. And the house would remain the property of the family as long as it would stand.

Rose had made sure than anyone whom would be from the family, even a century from now, could come home there at any time. It included mainly Elise’s descendants, if they were to someday look back.

It included themselves and Isha, would any of them happen to come back, for the coming century or so.

~

The door was locked. Every window had been shut, with shutters closed.

Blue checked thoroughly a last time that everything in the house was set for an undefinably long slumber.

B - Be it for a hundred years and the brambles to take everything over.

R - Dear me...

Rose had left a set of sealed envelopes on the main desk, each of which labelled for whomever might return here first. One for Isha, one for Elise’s lover and descendants.

The last of them was harbouring all the known names of Gülnihal.

In the basement, the fissures in the wall, a little deep inside onto the right hand side, they were leading to a crevice deeper into the bedrock. They could have led to a far deeper and further away gallery from a now abandoned mine.

Everything had been sealed off on both sides over time.

From this side, they had also carved some warnings along the rocks. Beware who goes there, as this fissure might be an opening toward Daiûa’s colosseo.

In the library far above, most books now lied in closed boxes, so they could last. Not that many of them were of much interest or value any longer. At least not to them.

Soon enough, the giant was fully asleep.

The door had been locked, as they stood outside. Blue looked around it for a last time.

For a few minutes, she stood there, with only the wind talking or whispering.

A few sounds in the trees, playing with the leaves or around the walls.

Mostly silence.

Rose waited for her kindly by her side.

They were making their goodbyes.

Blue then went around and behind the house, to hide the entrance key in the now dried fountain. The odd statues seemed endlessly melancholic to her now, as she turned back.

Rose had promised her they would see others, somewhere else in Europe.

Blue began stepping back toward the front yard and Rose waiting for her return. She felt blue.

They had had so many good memories there, it was painful to leave now. They were still nostalgic and somewhat sad, to leave for good their life spent overall rather happily here.

She returned to her, and Rose had this kind of bittersweet smiles. A world for Blue.

They picked up their luggage and finally left.

It was time for their own journey to begin, while their old realm slowly fell into eternal slumber behind.

The house was standing still and calm, like a forgotten landmark, soon hidden by the forest at the top of the small hillside.

~

They boarded a train. And Blue was reasonably at peace. She held the hem of her dress a little nervously, but she could sit there and still.

Rose had mailed a last stack of post before boarding. It was about the same note to everyone they had been in contact with. It was goodbye.

They shared their gratitude and bid farewell to everyone. Now this was done and behind, Rose letting a short sigh.

They could look at the changing landscape, letting some ties go and fade behind.

Later on, they were boarding a ship toward France. It would be their first foreign stop, first on their way toward the southern sea. It still was only the first chapter of their intended journey.

Somewhere else in the world, somewhen, another side of Gülnihal would begin to rise.

It would be waiting, albeit softly calling, whispering in the winds. As mere feelings within dreams forgotten at dawn, or quickly hidden behind any other normal noises of bustling days.

But far behind when it’s quieter, she would be heard again, calling for someone to come closer to her, to help her make her gains, now on and forever.

And at the same time, Isha would be venturing toward her, crossing other lands to find the well she had fallen in.

She would set everything in order to someday welcome her...

It had felt as if it would never end at times.

The bliss, along sometimes with the sorrow. Things happened and choices were made in response; and without a clear care, they were now looking back at their homeland fading away over the horizon.

They were on the deck, under this odd light and cloudy yet beautiful sky. They were looking at the country fading away behind. Their hearts were a little pinched, but they were holding to a sensation of happiness and newly found liberty.

It had taken time, but everything felt now rightfully settling for all of them, even in parting ways. It seemed well, for who they cared for, the home, the distant friends and finally themselves.

Now a new chapter began for them all, and it was only for them all to know and live.

Now even Esther was in good hands, so they had all the remaining days of their life to enjoy freely.

Blue was growing her smile heartily, holding Rose’s hand now. She looked healthier than she ever did before on land.

They sat on a nearby bench, still looking at the country they were leaving behind. It was vanishing away slowly.

Blue’s head could rest against Rose’s shoulder then, who could ruffle her hair gently. Hands held appeased, they could now rest at ease.

The ship made its way slowly. That adventure with Esther and Isha was over. Now they felt how their true life began, as one only themselves would need to share. The one they would enjoy to its fullest into the wider world.

They had love and life was good.

~

Isha’s had gradually built for herself her dream while living with the Herson family. What they saw for its prospect was that it would keep its track to completion on one condition. Only one rule would keep the path right for all upcoming endeavours.

For Isha to carry her love until the sun really blesses her.

Her promise for them that would onward be for you and her.

I - Forever onward, I promise to help you Esther. This is my oath, from my love for all of you...

Isha had made her promise, and would see it true.

Forever onward, she embraced to love her.

Therefore...

As they said in this side document loosely connected to the Kalevala or Kanteletar.

As much as the translation could keep its poetry... Blue had recomposed its conclusion for Isha and Esther.

Blue had made it her last prayer for Isha to remember.

The sun was its father, the night was its mother.

The wind had carried it in its belly across history, while its nurse was the flowing grounds of Earth.

The whole world is here, and its might will be whole when finally she rises under the stars.

It will separate the promised earth from the purging fires, the souls from the dense, gently and patiently.

It will ascend from beneath earth to reach Heaven, and then it will descend again to earth, and receive the power of both the superior and the inferior sides of the world.

From this, having the red, pink, purple and violet wings of all philosophy to carry her; marvellous adaptations will arise.

Thus, she will earn the glory of the united realities, and all darkness will vanish, as she gains life with the next rising sun.

Blue roses from above and below.

Until a new kind of unlikely flower would rise.

~

Some while later, Blue was walking in a vivid street under warm sunlight bathing all of it. She turned to see Rose by her side, under the sharp contrasting light and her sunshade.

B - I wonder about the other roses... Do you think they will survive?

R - The rosebushes behind the house you mean? Oh they will. They weren’t put there by our parents. They were there long before the house was even standing I heard. These species are obstinate plants I heard, so they will always survive and thrive, even without care...

Rose leaned a little closer.

R - You should know for one, that roses will never let go nor give up.

She held Blue’s hand. Rose wanted to smirk, but only a genuine smile rose. Blue could only titter at the joke.

They continued walking along the crowd and busy street for a while.

B - What else but farewells did you write in these letters you sent in the end?

R - Well... Something many of them had been dreaming of reading someday.... We have met a true daiûa. Partially because of that encounter, we are going to leave and never return. As one promise became two, it was the best way to make these twin wishes eventually become reality.

They exchanged amused looks. That sounded good. The split blue rose was now in Isha’s caring hands. And their own, was only between theirs from now on, and forever after.

Lovingly for their remaining days and nights,

Your blue rose truly is alive.

~