Salvia Novel

Okie. This is what I wrote originally; haven't added on yet b/c I had some trouble w/ my word processor (I'm on my brother's laptop b/c my computer blew up, but his lap is a pos as well, and it's starting to get to that age where it all falls to pieces Cheesy

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   Michael closed the door absentmindedly behind him, his mind preoccupied with the beautiful creature before him.
   "So how is my little baby doing?" Anna asked as he walked into the living room. She was standing before the window on the opposite wall, looking at the massive emerald green plant which grew there.
   Michael was silent for a moment, taking in the sight before him. Plant and woman alike, both were truly magnificent. Anna stood just over five feet two inches of sculpted perfection, her body the product of a lifetime of athleticism. Her face was just as finely formed, delicate, with high cheekbones and slightly slanted eyes, an exotic gift from her Chinese mother. The eyes themselves were large, deep dark pools of emerald green light, a color which matched almost perfectly with the plant she stood before. Her complexion was pale but remarkably smooth, almost glowing, in perfect contrast with the cascade of glistening black hair which framed her face and fell to just above the curve of her bottom. She stood framed by the massive plant, a welter of dozens of thick square stems and hundreds of emerald green leaves shining as she did with a light of its own. The plant stretched from a fifty gallon plastic tub below the window sill to the ceiling ten feet above, going from a cluster of stems less than half a foot in width to a breadth of over ten feet at the ceiling, where it continued to crawl across the wall through a piece of netting Michael had tacked up. Tendrils from the ceiling canopy hung down around Anna, waving gently in a wind Michael could not feel. The plant dominated the entire far wall of the apartment's small living room, and yet it did not dominate her small form. The two seemed somehow right together.
   "Michael? Where is the plant? And how long have you been growing this one, it's massive. I didn't know that you grew Salvia before I met you."
   "Oh, yes.” Michael said, startled from his contemplation. “That is her, my beautiful Silviana."
   "That is impossible," Anna said, turning from her inspection of one of the hanging tendrils to address Michael. "I just gave you the seeds, what, four months ago?"
   "And yet here we are," Michael said with a grin, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know how it grew so fast; I of course did a good bit of research on the 'net after you gave me the seeds, so I know this is out of the ordinary. Something about the plants you bred must have made a hell of a combo. Look at the leaves, as well; they've maintained the enlarged hairs from the plant's infancy. I don't know about Salvia, but with Cannabis all of those hairs would be a very good sign. They give the plant a nice silvery glow around sunrise, at least."
   Anna bent back to the hanging tendril and inspected a leaf closely. "You're right," she said. "It's odd. These leaves are strangely formed as well, much fatter than any I have seen before. The stems are sturdier than most as well, like she is trying to be a tree. I wish I had known that this strain was going to be so interesting when I got the seeds, I would have grown it in my own greenhouse."
   "Well, I for one am glad you gave it to me instead," Michael said. "I like it; it gives off a good vibe. You can, of course, get a cutting and clone her if you wish, but Silviana is staying right where she is. I don't think it would even be safe to move her, at this point."
   "Oh, I'm sorry," Anna said, appearing slightly abashed. "I didn't mean to imply that you weren't capable of managing it. In fact, it is probably best that I entrusted those seeds to your botanical abilities. They have obviously thrived." She moved to the plant's main trunk, a welter of small square stems which wound around the main support shaft to form a thick base before branching out a foot above the dirt. "This is really amazing," she said, her voice distracted. She turned her head to peer at Michael over her shoulder, causing his breath to rush from him. "Have you sampled her leaves yet? I'd be really interested to know how potent they are; the parent plants were much stronger than the original Blossers."
   "Not yet," Michael replied. "There hasn't been a single dead leaf, amazingly enough. I just didn't have the heart to take any off of her, not yet. I've got to admit, I've grown pretty fond of this girl."
   "Well, look at these," Anna said, peering at the plant a few feet off of the ground where it became a bush of nearly impenetrably thick round leaves. She placed her fingers gently onto the plant and pealed a thick layer of foliage back. Within were revealed two dead leaves, entirely brown, as if they had been curing for some time.
   "That's strange," Michael said. "I checked her this morning, and there were no brown leaves. Is it common for them to go so quickly?"
   Anna picked the two leaves and brought them out into the light, "No," she said, "not really. There is no sign of insect damage or anything like that, though." She grinned and looked back at him, causing his stomach to erupt in a welter of butterflies. Michael cursed his stupidity, cursed the fact that he had never told this beautiful creature how entirely infatuated he was with her. He was loathe to do it, however; there were plenty of women in the world on which to turn his carnal attentions; there were none whom he had met who could measure up to Anna. She was a friend at least, for now, and he did not want to risk losing even that.
   "You've never tried Salvia, have you?" Anna asked, standing up with the two dried leaves in her open palm.
   "No," Michael replied. "I had hardly heard of it before we met, and then you gave me the seeds so I figured I'd wait and taste their fruits."
   "Well now would be the time," Anna replied, grinning. "Have you got a pipe?"
   Michael chuckled and replied, "Now what kind of question is that?"
   "Good point," she replied with another grin. "Cough it up."
   He waved her to the couch which faced the television in the corner of the room and, incidentally, Silviana herself. He sat down himself on the love seat beside the couch and was pleasantly surprised when she chose instead to place herself beside him. Michael felt his cheeks warm and his pants tighten as her rosy scent invaded his nostrils, and he cursed himself again for acting like a schoolboy. He reached forward and grabbed an intricately carved wooden box from the glass top coffee table which was placed in front of the love seat. The box was a gift from his late grandfather, made of some dark reddish wood inlaid with intricate carvings of vines and flowers. The only smooth spot on the entire object was an oval in the top of the lid which was decorated with an engraved carving of some mysterious vine like plant, painted in white and topped with a four petaled white flower. He opened the box and extracted a glass pipe and lighter, handing them to Anna.
   "Pretty box," she said, taking to bowl. She crumbled the two leaves into a coarse pile in her hands, holding them up for Michael to see. "Look," she said, excitement flooding her voice. "It is definitely potent. Those are pure Salvinorin crystals."
   Michael inspected the mixture, noticing a twinkling which was very familiar as the light hit her hands. "Like bud," he said. "I know that's got a lot higher concentration of the active ingredient... when is it that crystals show up? I think you must have at least eight percent or so THC to get visible crystallization. Much higher than the average potency of Salvia, at least. You think it takes a similar concentration to show crystals on Salvia?"
   "I don't know," Anna replied as she began to pack the colorful glass bowl. "I really don't. I will definitely have to test it. But if these leaves have that high of a content of Salvinorin, then we have a bombshell on our hands. That's one huge leap forward."
   "Well, you said the plant is a cultigen, right?" Michael asked. "It hasn't had the chance to evolve in hundreds or thousands of years, and it has probably lost a good deal of its potency within that time, through such a long progression of clones. Now that it's being grown from seed on a large scale again, maybe it's just working back towards the potency of its wild ancestors. I read on the 'net about a fossilized sample they found, old stuff somewhat preserved inside of a fossilized clay urn, that still had something like ten percent Salvinorin content."
   "Yes," she said. "You could be right. Let us see, hmm?" She finished packing the bowl and handed it to him.
   "Aren't you supposed to prepare for a Salvia trip?" Michael asked.
   "Well, you are, but really the idea is just to avoid misuse. If you are using it for the right reasons, for introspection and meditation rather than just as a "drug," you should be fine. Have you not been waiting for when you first tried it?"
   "Well, yes," Michael admitted. "Been quite looking forward to it, to be honest."
   "Then we will call that your preparation," Anna replied with a mischievous grin. "If you are ready, that is; I don't want to push you if you are not. But I think if you just keep focused you will be fine. If you want, I will not smoke and will act as your Sitter."
   "No, that's fine," Michael replied. "I cannot think of a better partner for my first trip into the world of Salvia."
   "Aw, that's sweet," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcastic sweetness but her grin taking away the sting. Michael thought he could see something not in the least sarcastic in her eyes, something deep and meaningful, but it was gone in an instant, replaced by her usual face splitting smile. "Alright," she continued. "here's the deal. Keep the tip of the flame on the leaf and take the largest hit you can, then pass the bowl to me. Hold the smoke in for thirty seconds if you can, or as long as possible if not. It's not the best taste in the world, but not terrible either. It tastes like... earth. Like a mouth full of rich soil. I will take my hit after you. If this leaf is anywhere near normal potency, it shouldn't hit you too hard, just some body vibes and a nice high. Even if it's really strong, this should be a gentle first trip. You've got to concentrate the Salvinorin to make the stuff which will really blow your mind."
   Michael nodded and took the bowl, just the slightest tremble in his hand. It was not fear, he realized, but excitement. Michael had had extensive experience with hallucinogens in his life, and had learned a great deal about himself along the way. There had always been something missing from each experience, however, some indefinable aspect which no trip had. From everything he had read, Salvia was different from the whole rest of the crop of hallucinogenic materials. He had built up a belief that, whatever that missing element was, this was where he would find it.
   His hands went still and he raised the bowl up to his lips, watching Anna as he did. She smiled and stuck out her tongue, and Michael winked at her. Then he closed his eyes and struck the lighter, touching the flame to Silviana's offering as he inhaled. Anna had been correct; he felt as if he were sucking a load of soil through a straw. His lungs full, he removed the bowl from his lips and passed it to Anna, sucking the smoke down as deep as it would go. Five seconds. It was not entirely unpleasant taste, really. Ten seconds. There was something rich to the taste, something...
   At fifteen seconds of holding the smoke Michael's thoughts were derailed, going off on tangent. He could feel the smoke settling in, could feel his body becoming heavier. Twenty seconds. His body continued to get heavier, and started to sink. He fell into the couch, further than could be explained by the softest of cushioning. Twenty five seconds. The room was swirling, a left-turning twister. He felt Anna's touch on his arm and turned to see her, glowing in the cyclone which had been his apartment, the only other thing besides Silviana which was not being blown about in the winds. She smiled reassuringly and touched his arm, sending a shock of pleasure through him. Thirty seconds. Michael released his breath and broke from the world, falling straight down through couch and floor, through the very fabric of existence. He felt Anna's touch on him the entire time; she was coming along for the ride.
   He could see nothing as he fell; indeed, it was as if he never had. Sight simply did not exist, and that did not bother him. His tactile senses had risen to such a level that the loss of sight made no difference. He could still feel Anna, though she was no longer holding his arm. On closer inspection, he had no arm, nor a body. She was still in contact, though, in whatever form they had taken. He could feel the terrain they fell through, a maze of conflicting gravities which squeezed them ever onward through time space. Time had become just another dimension of space, another direction to move, leaving Michael unable to tell how long the fall lasted. He made a weak attempt to guess at its duration by the distance they traveled in the direction that was time, but it was impossible. Eventually he surrendered to the fall, living it in an endless procession of moments.
   Some time later they landed, be it one second or a million years after the journey had began. Michael thought for a moment that the trip had ended, seeing himself again in his living room, but was quickly disabused of that notion. Silviana was gone from the room, a fact which seemed for some reason ominous to Michael. Without her presence, the entire room was askew, wrong.
   "This feels evil." Anna said. "What is wrong? We should not be so deep in, just smoking leaf."
   "Silvy must really be something special, then." Michael said absently. "Is that us, on the couch?"
   There were two forms sitting upon the love seat, leaning together with their eyes closed, apparently unconscious. "Perhaps," Anna said. She flowed towards the forms, the deep green mist of her being pulsing with light as she spoke. Michael traveled to her side, meshing the outer fringes of the earthy black cloud which formed his body with her vaporous edges; Anna hummed appreciatively as their energies flowed together. "That feels good," she said. "I think they are us, for some reason. They're awfully funny looking."
   "Yes," Michael replied. "I believe you are correct. How strange. How do you suppose we got to be like that? And why are we there, if we are here as well?" As he spoke he meshed more fully with Anna, sensing no objection. He felt as if he had wanted to be closer to her for a very long time, though he could not imagine why he had withheld before. She warmed at his embrace, at the hair thin tendrils of his being which snaked through her. She sent forth tendrils of her own, causing pleasure to course through his body in waves. "You know," Michael said, "I don't think I have any memory of anything outside the last few minutes. In fact, I cannot remember anything before we entered that strange tunnel. I know this room is wrong, but I cannot think of how it is supposed to be. I know there is supposed to be something on that wall, in front of those windows; that is what is wrong with the room, however I cannot imagine what it is that is missing."
   "I know how you feel," Anna replied. "I think we took something... something which changed our minds. I..."
   Well aren't we just the two cutest little lovebirds. The voice issued from nowhere, Michael first thought. It had no sound, instead issuing from within his own head, grating against his skull. He soon spotted the source, however. There was a dark miasma hanging along the wall where something was missing; it was not a mist, like them, but instead a crackling energy. As he watched it took more solid form, becoming a pulsing body of black electricity - not the earthy black of Michael's form, but the black of the void. The electrical cloud swallowed the wall, and though Michael could not see past its surface he could feel it looming into the distance. He recoiled quickly from that searching state, however. The miasma was incomprehensible, unknowable, indecipherable; the only solid characteristic Michael could glean from it was a sense of wrongness, of evil. It had a companion, a form like Michael and Anna, which floated out of its body to stand before the two of them. The companion was composed of a bright red mist, and where it went the carpet below it was soaked in blood which rapidly dried into a hard crust. Unlike the master, its companion, its student, had a very clear nature. The student was cruel, avaricious, and exceedingly greedy. Michael could feel its resentment that the Master had spoken to Michael instead of it, that it had been denied a bit of its master's attention. The red mist pulsed with hate, and Michael could feel it very clearly directed against him.
   He was overcome with a seemingly endless dread. He could feel Anna trembling beside him, though he was not sure exactly what it meant to tremble. The fear ate at his soul, and voices screamed inside his head. This is too much, they said, I cannot take this. This fear is unnatural; it cannot be known in the waking world. It is more than any mortal can take. Take me away from this. Save me! I am helpless.
   "Quiet!" Michael bellowed. The voices fled to the corners of his mind, where he shoved them forcefully out. He wrapped himself more tightly around Anna, trying to convey confidence. "Get out of my head, foul demon. What do you want with me?"
   Impressive, the demon master's voice said in his head, no longer disguised but clear in its unthinking malevolence. Very few realize that my fear is foreign. None have managed to banish that fear, not on their first time. But do not think that you have won some victory, boy, I can crush you at my whim.
   Anna was no longer trembling, having taken strength from his confidence after she realized that the voices in her head were put there by the demon. "If you could, you would," she said. "You enjoy killing, do you not? Answer his question; what do you want from us demon?"
   Impudent little wench, the demon replied, chuckling with the sound of a thousand worlds colliding in fire and death. Perhaps I should allow my student to taste you, and see if you still are so mouthy after his ministrations. Anna glared at the beast but said nothing. Michael was temporarily occupied in trying to remember what a glare was, and how he knew that Anna had released one, until the resumption of the demon's speech shattered such frivolous thoughts. What I want is your service, the demon said, pulsing slowly nearer. The student was straining to reach Anna, encouraged by its master's words, but was held back by thing ropes of the dark current. I do not wish to kill you... I could, without even making an effort. You are like... how can I explain it... like bugs to me. Would you experience any satisfaction killing a bug, mortal? Michael did not respond; he could not remember what exactly a bug was, but he understood the point the demon was trying to make. He had learned long ago, however, that silence was power. Remaining silent when your opponent clearly had something to say forced them to speak first, a small victory which could be easily obtained. So Michael remained tight lipped, waiting calmly for the demon master to continue, feeling its impatience build. You had best be careful, it said finally, or I might decide to kill you anyway, as little satisfaction as it may bring. But no, I do not prefer to kill mortals usually. That has little purpose. Their fear is quite tasty, however, and they make themselves very vulnerable to my attentions when they come here. You foolish worms have no idea what this space is; you have no power here because you are ignorant. I, on the other hand, live here. I am the master here. So I play little games with your fellow mortals when they come along. But you seem immune to my games; such beings often have their uses. You will swear your fealty to me.
   Michael laughed and said, "Go fuck yourself demon. I serve no man, I will most certainly not serve a sub-human beast such as yourself."
   Fool! the demon shouted. You dare defy me? You think yourself safe? We will see! The wall of black energy which formed the demon bulged forward, swelling with malevolent intent. Tentacles of energy shot from it and Michael tried frantically to dodge. He was unsuccessful, however, and was quickly ensnared in the demon's web. Anna had no opportunity to escape, tied as she still was to him by tendrils of his own energy, and was quickly wrapped in the thick black arms. Their touch was death, and Michael yelled in pain as he felt himself begin to dissolve under that horrendous energy. Anna screamed in agony and Michael turned to see the demon's tentacles eating into her, her misty flesh bursting into flame as it came into contact with the miasma.
   "Let her go you piece of shit!" Michael shouted, his own pain suddenly forgotten. He felt confidence flow into him as he suddenly remembered what was missing from the room. "Release her or you will die," he continued, his voice suddenly dead calm. He felt shock roll from the demon's mass as its tentacles halted in their progression. The beast did not stop, however, instead just squeezing harder after a moment's respite; Anna's screams rose to crescendo as the demon's appendages tightened around her as well. Michael flexed, without knowing exactly what it was he did, expanding his misty body and snapping the tentacle which held it. The appendage exploded in black flames and Michael drifted back to the ground. He could hear Anna drop heavily behind him, but resisted the urge to turn and help her. He knew that if he diverted his attention the demon would take hold of them again, and he was fairly certain that it would not fall for the same trick twice. Instead he did his best to project a sense of healing through the bond which connected them and advanced on the demon.
   How dare you! the demon shrieked. Kill him, my apprentice.
   The bonds holding the student disappeared and the creature lunged for Michael, bridging the gap between them in an instant. Michael swept the beast aside contemptuously, slamming it back into the depths of its master's body with a tentacle of his own.
   "Be gone!" Michael shouted.
   Die! the demon replied, surging forward like some monstrous tidal wave.
   Michael felt peace blossom within him as an image formed in his mind. It was a beautiful being, a creature of stem and leaf and incredible complexity. "Silviana, come." Michael said, his voice ringing through the room.
   The demon's advance halted in an instant, not an inch away. It began to quiver, and released a wordless howl as light exploded forth from its depths. The quivering became a boil, and a solid form shot forth from the demon's body. It was a branch, an arm of the creature which Michael had seen in his mind, the creature named Silviana. Another branch shot forth in a beam of light, and then another. The branches were digging deeper into the creature as well, Michael could feel, trying to hold it in place so that it might be destroyed completely. The branches burst forth with increasing rapidity, one after the other, each shining with a beautiful silvery glow which had the same effect on the demon as its tentacles had had on Michael and Anna. Just before the creature was ensnared completely it broke away, abandoning the greater mass of its body to be consumed by Silviana's light so that its core might flee into the distance. The instant it was gone the plant came into full being, branches sprouting from the walls and floors in every direction until the room was unrecognizable. By the time it was done there was nothing left of the room but the couch with its two sleeping forms in the middle of a chamber of leaf and light. Michael felt a bitter resentment that the demon had gotten free, an emotion which was quickly washed from his mind in Silviana's healing glow. Anger could not exist in such a place. Sadness could however, and Michael drifted slowly over to Anna's limp form, feeling the last dregs of life draining from her as the pool of mist which had been her body slowly spread across the floor.
   "She is dying," Michael said, his voice cracking in pain.
   Yes, Silviana replied, her voice sounding in his head as the demon's had. That was the limit of the similarities between the two, however; the demon's voice had been something of grinding and pain, despair and rot. Silviana's voice was like the music of a thousand different harps playing slightly discordant tunes, the sum of the differences forming words. She is dying. It is not so horrible of a thing as you imagine, however. She will go to a better place, and I will keep her company until you come to meet her.
   "Please," Michael said. "Please. Do not let her die. Save her. It may not be so horrible to you, but it is to me. I never even told her that I loved her."
   I cannot save her, Silviana replied. Not directly. I am a creature of this world; I cannot force another being to remain in the other. You can save her, though, and I can give you the energy you need to do it.
   "Yes, please, anything!" Michael said desperately. "Please, do this, and I will forever be in your debt.
   It is I who am in yours, Silviana replied. And this one favor will not cancel that debt. Though I am a creature of this world, it is the body which you lovingly cultivated in yours which allowed me to wake from my slumber here. For that, you have my eternal gratitude, and you may have a bit of my energy to save your friend.
   "Thank you," Michael said. She did not respond, instead making good on her promise. The millions of branches around them redoubled in the intensity of their light, casting it out as solid appendages which floated across the chamber and merged with Michael's form, streaking the black mist of his body with wisps of silvery light. He felt the power flowing into him, a wave of pulsating heat which coursed through his body. Michael reached out through the bonds which tied him to Anna and wrapped himself around the last spark of life deep within her, pouring Silviana's energy into that spark. The pool of mist which was Anna began to coalesce, rising from the ground as it drew together. Michael increased his efforts, pouring not only Silviana's energy but his own, which he found to his surprise to be nearly as great as that which the plant had lent him. Anna returned to her natural state of semi-solidity and Michael wept in relief, wrapping himself tightly about her.
   "You saved my life," Anna said as she came back to consciousness.
   "And mine in the process," Michael replied. "Now, let's get out of here; that demon is defeated but not dead, and I'd like to re-coup in the real world."
   "Real world?" she asked, "Is this not real?"
   "Yes," Michael replied, "I mean the world we come from. The solid world. We must go back. We must rest."
   "How do we go back?" Anna asked.
   "Through those other versions of us, I believe," Michael replied. "They are rooted in the solid world, I believe."
   He floated upwards in the air and over the love seat, which Anna had been tossed behind in the fight. Their other bodies were still there, collapsed as if in sleep and yet with their eyes still open and blinking. Michael released Anna, leaving her hovering over her own body.
   "Fall," He said. "Fall like we did in the tunnel. That is the way back, I think."
   "I will try," she said, her light beginning to swell. Michael basked in her radiance for a few brief seconds, and then she dropped downwards with impossible speed, streaking across the gap between her two bodies in an instant. Both disappeared on contact.
   "Goodbye," Michael said to the room, the body of Silviana.
   But for an instant, she replied with the hint of a ringing chuckle..
   Michael willed himself to drop, he felt his energy swell and immolate his misty form, and then he was falling, forever falling, through a realm of conflicting gravities.

That's it so far. More tomorrow, I guess, but it's pretty late here. G'night, and I hope you like it.