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located in Earth, a part of One More Chance, one of the many universes on RPG.

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~ Prologue ~

It was the autumn of 1895, a time of golden and amber leaves, of green vineyards and fruitful orchards. The well-tended gardens of Magnolia Manor were peaceful and soothing, filled with African lilies, windflowers in pale and vibrant colors and the exotic waxy looking “painter’s palette”. Just above the scorpion orchid’s upright stems a colibri was fluttering its wings.

A tall red haired woman wearing a pale white dress with plain and tight sleeves was watching the creature’s green plumage.

“What a strange little bird!” she said in a melodious voice, her green eyes widened in awe. And it was strange indeed, for the little bird known as the Green Violetear could only be found in South America, sometimes wandered up north but never as far as to reach British shores.

The woman -Genevieve Mayfair by name, Lady of the Manor by title – was waiting patiently in front of the estate for her personal carriage. The usual coachman, having a bit too much to drink the day before was laid off on the lord’s dispositions and a replacement wasn’t easy to find especially on this day. The Earl of Cranbrook was celebrating his daughter’s marriage with the Marquess of Zetland’s son and anyone worthy of his attention received an invitation.
Because Lord Byron, her husband, had a sudden attack of laziness, none of the Mayfairs would attend to the party that night. Sick of her husband’s inclination for sloth and indifference towards social etiquette, she decided to pay her old friend a visit and have an enjoyable night by herself.

It was late in the afternoon when she arrived on Wisteria Lane and the old house with seven gables came into sight gloomy and mysterious. Emma Chambers, widowed at the age of 29, welcomed her in person not bothering to send any of her servants to receive Genevieve.

“How you are making my heart tremble with excitement!” she said as she embraced her friend kissing both her cheeks and leaving a trail of rosy pink rouge behind.

“It has been long indeed” Genevieve answered brightly and held her friend’s soft hands for a moment.

“Come inside, you mustn’t catch a cold on your visit, we have so little chances of seeing each other after all. How did you manage to get away from the wolf? Won’t he be furious when he finds out about your absence?” Emma straightened the pleats on her dress and lead Genevieve inside holding her by the hand.

“Lord Byron has been so busy lately I’m surprised he even takes time to breath” Genevieve replied ironically and the young women burst into laughter. They both knew exactly how busy the master was since his marriage three years ago. Emma had her doubts about his past as well, but she did not ask anything of the sort. Her friend’s private life and choices weren’t her playground although she knew more about their past lives as a couple than anyone else.

“But it’s alright..” Genevieve continued as they passed the darkened hallway and went upstairs. “I was so sick of staying home that it doesn’t matter how upset he’ll be when I return and I missed you so much that any minute spent here is worth being reprimanded for.”

Emma giggled and showed her inside the Italian –style guest room. It had a colorful wall-to-wall carpet and large windows, the walls being ornamented in deep red and olive green. The light was dim making Genevieve feel at home. Emma invited her on the wide and high backed couch near the fireplace and took herself a chair by the window near the little round table. The moon was shining on her dress making its vibrant colors almost sparkle. She wasn’t called “Madam Fuchsia” for nothing; being a widow she afforded a little eccentricity both in behavior and choice of clothing.

Tea was brought in delicate china cups depicting everyday life events and Genevieve complimented its flavor after taking a sip. Along with the hot drink snacks were also served. In that time there were two kinds of tea services, namely, high tea and low tea. The upper echelons of the British society took Low tea. This meant that the tea was accompanied by small snacks and not proper food. Low tea meant more conversation and less food. In contrast to this, the high tea was partaken by the lower classes of the British society, which was accompanied by a proper lunch.

“My dear Gennie, I hope you remember our last meeting when I explained your strange dream.”

“Remember? How could I forget? Me and Byron slaves in Ancient Egypt! I couldn’t imagine myself being so
unwashed.” , Genevieve replied gleefully.

“Well, it seems there is more than that. Some of your other dreams brought a little more light on your past and that comb of yours was most useful. That night I could only see one façade of your common history but it seems there were others.”

“Other lives? I could have imagined as much
”

“Other people involved.” Emma stood up and went near the fireplace taking a book from the wood shelf on the right. She drew near Genevieve and opened the book in front of her eyes. It was a dark leathered tome with yellow pages that almost crumbled in her fingers.

Arthur’s Penrose Secret History and Love Affairs

The engraving was still intact. The two laughed again as they skimmed through the book filled with the author’s biography, legends gathered from natives on his trips and even indecent pictures from the “Arabian Nights” translation. Emma turned the pages over to the chapter entitled “Folk tales from the desert”.

“Supposedly”, she continued “there was a group of angels called the Grigori that came on Earth and asked the locals’ daughter’s hands in marriage. Then they had children and forgot about their home in Heaven so they were left by God to lead a human life until death.”

“Oh, how romantic” Genevieve whispered, curious to hear the end of the story.

“Yes, but they also forgot their wedding vows and got other wives, sometimes keeping both of them like Muslims do. Apparently they refused monogamy and this made God angry.”

Genevieve started laughing:

“My father would certainly approve and give one of his “that’s why God loves only the Christians” speeches.”

“Listen carefully Genevieve, because this is no laughing matter.” For the first time that night Emma became fervent and serious. “You and your husband were two of those souls destined to stay together until death. It says here that five of the angels were given another chance only because God took mercy on the first wives when he saw their unchanged love. So it came that all of them received a limited number of human lives to repent for their mistakes and gain forgiveness. Some of the angels succeeded in doing so, but their soul mates broke the vows as revenge and so the cycle never ended.”

Genevieve looked at her friend astonished.

“And you want me to believe all of this? Emma, be serious, living in Egypt is one thing and I only played along because I dreamt of the dessert and the pyramids...a vivid and wild dream it’s true, but a dream nonetheless. How can I possibly believe that Byron..my Byron.. was ever an angel?” She let out a giggle “Do you honestly think he has any kind of virtues besides his love for elegance and hygiene?”

“Yes, he does. And he used to have plenty. Gennie, I know how much you love him despite your ironies. And I know how indifferent he’s been to you for some time, you told me yourself. This might be your last chance to keep him faithful. If not for your soul, at least do this for your marriage. I thought deeply on each and every dream you ever related in the past year and everything makes sense. Let’s not also forget the fact that you had most of them while awake. I asked the cards and put the puzzle together. All you have to do is gather the remaining four and their soul mates and... ”

“Emma, this is absurd!” Genevieve stood up taking the pleats of her dress in her hands, ready to leave. “You cannot expect me to gather an array of strangers on the pretense of..on any pretense whatsoever! You have taken this joke a little too far.”

Emma took her hand and looked gravely into her eyes. Her voice was serious, but warm when she spoke.
“Genevieve, you know how deeply I care for you since we were children. You know I never joke on such matters and not when it involves you. I always considered you as my sister and I would never bother you with such things if I wasn’t convinced they were true.”

The red haired women took a deep breath and sat down quietly back on the couch.

“I’m listening..”

Emma smiled.

“It’s not as hard as it sounds. You have to bring the others together as well since it seems you're the only one who remembers and I believe fate brought the two of us to be friends for this purpose as well. ” She opened the lid of a wooden box on the table and took a handful of tiny stone tablets marked with letters, spreading them on the silk cloth.
“Runes!” Genevieve gasped.

“ The Providence smiled upon us, Gennie! All of them are related to your closest friends of the family. Indeed, they could be anyone: cousins, daughters, distant relatives, but we do know that they are unmarried and we know their initials.”

She handed Genevieve a piece of paper.

“H.J.” “C.P.” “J.F.” “D.M.” “A.C.” “A.P.” “A.R.”

She read them out loud.

“Doesn’t ring a bell..none of them!” Genevieve said disappointed.

“Not yet..but I suggest convincing your husband to pull a few strings and find out who they are. Inquire all of your acquaintances on their relatives eligible for marriage and have them together as soon as possible.”

“I’ll try..” she replied still unconvinced of the whole story.
“Until then, let’s enjoy our meeting for it might be the last one for some time.”

Emma smiled and sat down besides her friend.

“I’m sure the wolf won’t forgive you easily for this day.”

The two spent the night catching up on the latest gossip and the old house on Wisteria Lane was full of their childish laughter once again.

cron