Friday, September 29, 2017

Meet the Cast: Guardian Ana

“Hello, and welcome to Meet the Cast, the first in the series of interviews with the cast of Harmonic Wars. I'm your host, D.B. Stearns, Author of Harmonic Wars. Our guest today is the last of the original Guardians of the Crystal Skulls. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Abuela Ana Acevedo de Garcia - formerly known as Ana’ka Tua’agar de Took, the last Queen of the Maya.”

Ana walked out from behind the curtain and crossed the stage. Her tall warrior frame silhouetted under a modest, pale-blue, knee-length dress. Ana’s almond-shaped green eyes sparkled radiantly against her fair skin. Her hair changed to silvery-white and flowed down the length of her back. Large dimples and a cleft chin showed prominently on her beautiful face. Long, strong legs supported her six-foot-tall warrior’s frame. She was perfectly proportioned and the embodiment of beauty in every sense of the word. Ana and D.B. exchanged greetings and they both sat down.

D.B.: “Hi, and welcome to our show. What should I call you?”

Ana: “Most of my students call me Abuela but you can call me Ana.”

D.B.: “Thanks, Ana. For our audience, what does Abuela mean?”

Ana: “It really means Grandmother though it rarely applies to all of my students.”

D.B.: “And why is that?”

Ana picked up her coffee and took a sip: “Well, I am the last of the original Guardians, and I have to keep track of the descendants of all 13 of us.”

D.B.: “Can you explain that a little for those just coming into the story?”

Ana smiled: “Certainly! All of the Mayan Grand Council, thirteen couples, had latent empathic abilities. We could project our emotions to others and overwhelm them if we wished. The Balsarius based Science Guild developed the Anti-Grav Suit technology to be linked to our genetic code to prevent our enemies from stealing it and using against us. So that is why I keep track of the abilities of all our descendants.”

D.B.: “Wow, there's a lot in that answer! First, how long ago was the Mayan Grand Council even in existence, and are you the last Guardian?”

Ana laughs musically: “The short answer is yes, I’m the last Guardian, but in Children of the Guardians, I am tasked to rebuild the Guardians. In your calendar, the last Mayan Grand Council would have been around the 1420’s or so.”

D.B.: “That was over 600 years ago! It doesn’t seem that you’ve even aged at all...how is that possible?”

Ana sighs: “Well, that is a long story. In Book One, Guardians of the Crystal Skulls, we show how the Guardians came into existence from the Mayan Grand Council. The Forces of the Light gave us the gift of the Crystal Skulls. The Skulls gave us longevity and expanded our ESP talents. The Science Guild also injected us with nanobots that dramatically slowed the aging process and allows us to heal very quickly.”

D.B.: “Seems lonely. How long have you been doing this alone?”

Ana: ‘Well, I do miss my Guardian Sisters, but with all the children and those in the Science Guild I am hardly alone very often. I’ve been doing this close to 600 years now, but the last 300 were alone.”

D.B.: “I’m still freaking out about you being 600 years old! Is anybody else as old as you?”

Ana: "Actually there are a few, and one is much older. Pressler Anias was the scientist who developed the nanobots that helped to prolong our lives. He is now the Science Guild Elder. The Religious Guild Elder Eric Danshe is also around 600, but we don't see him away from the Sanctuary very often. But the oldest is the Warrior Guild Elder, the Shihan Marcus Kahn.”

D.B.: “How old is he?"

Ana: "Nobody knows for sure. Shihan, as he prefers to be called, spends much of his time sleeping in a stasis pod. I know that he was one of the top generals in the original Warrior Guild when Admiral Ares betrayed the other guilds and tried to overthrow the government and make himself the dictator. Shihan is the only reason Ares was defeated, and that was over 10,000 years.”

D.B.: “WOW. 10,000 years old? Shihan is on my list to interview if he will answer my calls, as is Admiral Ares. Those should be fun interviews!”

Ana: “Yes, just be careful with Ares. Evil is seldom contained.”

D.B.: “Thanks for the warning. Can you explain a little about the guilds? How many guilds are there?”

Ana: “Our society itself into divided into five guilds: Artisan, Religious, Science, Warrior, and Worker Guilds. Excuse me; they recently renamed the Worker Guild as the Craftsman Guild. Political Correctness has no limits.”

D.B. laughs: “I guess so.”

Ana: “Anyway, each guild elects an Elder to lead them and represent them at the Elder’s Council. The Council governs the general population and makes decisions as needed for our society's best interests. Each Guild has an equal vote.”

D.B.: “With all this discussion of people living hundreds or even thousands of years, I have to know: Did you always looked like this?”

Ana laughed: “No, not hardly. I used to be a very short, curvy, American-Indian woman living in the mountains of Peru. But, for me to survive against Arturo and the Warrior Guild, the Light transformed me into the tall white-haired warrior you see here today.”

D.B.: “Tell us about Ana. What makes her special?”

Ana looked down and sighed: “She would say there’s nothing special about her, but that’s hardly true. In book one, I had to wrestle with my inner demons for taking revenge on a tribe of raiders who attacked my native American Indian family. It was a horrific scene as I made examples out of the attackers. It really made me question things my purpose, and how I could do something so dark.”

D.B.: “Was this a pivotal moment in your life?”

Ana: “Yes, for several reasons. This was the day that Arturo’s parents died. I saved him and his brother Roberto. Watching your mother's head roll in front of you and nearly into your laps, has a profound impact on a person. In this case, both Roberto and Arturo. I don't think Arturo ever got over that.”

D.B.: “That's horrible. How old were they?”

Ana: “Roberto was seven, and Arturo was only five. They both came to live with me and the sisters at the last Pyraportal.”

D.B.: “For our guests, the Pyraportal was a power generator, right?”

Ana: “Yes, but it is so much more. At the center of each Pyraportal is a chamber that contains a small portal that is harmonically tuned to the solar system. It is a powerful weapon as well when it channels its energy up through the sphere-like capstone at the top of its pyramid shape. Pressler Anais can explain it much better."

D.B.: “We’ll see if he can expand on that in the coming interviews. How did the transformation change you?”

Ana: “It changed me physically, as you can see. But it also changed me emotionally. I lost all doubt and indecision. Now, I am a warrior bonded to all of the Crystal Skulls.”

D.B.: “What does the Crystal Skulls do for you?”

Ana: “Well, they give me strength and longevity far above that of an ordinary human. They also expanded my ESP skills so that I could do all of the secondary skills that my sisters had.”

D.B.: “Can you give some examples?”

Ana: “Well, all of us can project our emotions. Before my transformation, my only secondary talent was Compulsion. I could make people involuntarily do things, giving me complete control over them. But now, I can also dream walk, heal others, change memories, block empathic attacks, and mind bond.”

D.B.: “Mind Bond?"

Ana: “Yes, that shares memories and life experiences between two people. It is an excellent way to teach people how to do something, like fight or fly a spacecraft. But it is very intimate.”

D.B.: “It sure sounds like it. Let’s go back to talk about the other Guardians for just a minute. You said there were 13, right?”

Ana: “Yes.”

D.B.: “I assume you were very close with all of them but were you closer to some than others?”

Ana deeply sighed: “We were like sisters, but we were just really close friends. Our husbands sacrificed themselves for us so that we could bond with the Skulls. But yes, there were some I was much closer with. MeNana and I were lifelong friends, and we were actually related when I married her brother. Then there is always Alana.”

D.B.: “Yes, Alana seems to be a favorite of the Harmonic Wars fans. Do you agree with that?”

Ana laughed again: “Yes, well she is sassy and beautiful, but the way she shamelessly acted and dressed …"

Alana walks in and says: “Don't you dare call me a hussy!”

Ana jumped up excitedly and said: “Sister!”

Ana and Alana give each other a long hug. Alana’s curvy figure is prevalent through the long-flowing, white, silk dress. Her ample cleavage is very prominent. She stood in stark contrast to the tall, white-haired figure of Ana. Alana maintained her exotic Hispanic features.

D.B. offers his hand: “Welcome Guardian Alana Akholay to the show!”

Alana shakes D.B.’s hand: “Well, hello handsome!”

D.B. smiled and gestured for her to sit: “Alana, you were very prominent in Book One, but something tragic happened at the end. Any chance of you coming back in Book Two?”

Alana: “Well, never say never. This is a Science Fiction series, so anything is possible.”

Ana: "She certainly keeps me company through the Land of Dreams. Don’t let her flamboyance and lack of modesty fool you. Alana was always the best warrior of us all.”

Alana batted her eyes: “Well, I don’t know about that. You’re damn tough yourself, Ana. She always was entirely too modest.”

D.B.: “I have a delicate question here, but the readers need to know: Book Two is largely about the descendants of the Guardians. How is that possible if your husbands sacrificed themselves for you?”

Alana: “I got this, Sister. When we originally bonded to the Skulls, we had several months before the sacrifice in the Crystal Altar that allowed us one final portal to the Balsarius homeworld. It was a miracle, but all 13 of us sisters became pregnant during those few months.”

Ana said with a wink: “For most of us, that was the only child we would ever have.”

Alana sucks her teeth: “Easy now.”

D.B. laughs: “What's that supposed to mean?”

Ana: “Most of us were celibate ... but not all. I mean 300 years is a long time …”

Alana: “And 600 years is an insanely long time, so yes, things happen. Right Sister?”

Ana sighs. “Yes, I suppose.”

Alana: “And just because we are still human, it doesn’t make anyone a hussy.”

Ana: “Says the woman with her chi-chi’s hanging out here for everyone to see!”

Alana sucks her teeth.

D.B.: “Sounds like there is a story there, but we don’t want to give away too much. Ana, what did you do for the first 300 years?”

Ana: “The majority of Book One describes the sister’s lives 300 years after we were bonded to the Skulls. We carefully tended to our descendants. We located, protected, and trained those with the genetic markers which allowed them to project emotions and operate the Anti-Grav Suits.”

D.B.: “So not all of your children could operate them?”

Ana shook her head: “At first they all did. Then as generations passed, they became fewer and fewer. This helped us to maintain control of the technology.”

Alana: “Yep. We had to keep the Anti-Grav Suits away from the Warrior Guild. It was our only advantage against their superior numbers. The Warrior Guild had almost all the MARs units, and they had all the warships. Without the suits and the last Pyraportal, we would have lost long ago. But now we have balance,” as she gestured toward Ana.

D.B.: “So, Ana you are now considered that balance?”

Ana sighed and nodded: “Yes, and the one who will provide justice is yet to come.”

D.B.: “Any clue who that may be? Who is justice?”

Ana laughed musically: “I can’t tell you that! It would spoil Book Four!”

D.B.: “Fine. Let’s talk about the Children for a minute before we wrap up. Manny Alvarez is related to you, right Ana?”

Ana: “Yes. Raven and Lynell Skyhawk are related to Marta Sparhawk through Jade. Marta was a Guardian who could heal people, and Jade was her Granddaughter in book one.”

D.B.: “Why the name changes for Raven and Lynell?”

Ana shrugs her shoulders: “A lot of things change over 300 years. Sometimes a slight name change is helpful in hiding someone, and sometimes names morph naturally. Besides, it helped to hide the descendants from Arturo. Jade became pregnant at the end of book one, so we had to hide her.”

D.B.: “Was it Arturo’s child?”

Ana smiled: “I’m not telling. You need to wait for book three on that. One thing to remember: not all of our descendants had the genetic markers. Family trees branch.”

Alana smirked: “Well, unless you live in House Lannister of Casterly Rock …”

Ana: “Ugh ... I’m glad we have none of that here!”

D.B.: “Yes, I agree! What are the names and relationships of the other Children?”

Alana: “Ricky Chambers is related to me, as are the twins April and Judd Walker.”

D.B.: “Do any of the children show secondary talents yet?”

Alana: ‘April and Judd are both Dream Walkers, and have been for many years. None of the rest has shown their secondary talents yet, but we still have two more books to go!”

Ana: “Except Kailea O'Keef who can block empathic projections. She is from a stray branch of the family related to Fabienne Pitz.”

D.B.: “What do you mean by stray branch?”

Alana: “Well, we were all over the world guiding the surviving colonists to rebuild their societies so that we could reintroduce ourselves. Fabienne was working in the United Kingdom and fell in love with an Irish man. I still think she didn’t have to be ashamed of that and hide it, but then sometimes the Light gives us a direction to go, and we must follow.”

D.B.: “There are so many questions and not enough time! We didn’t even get to the Anti-Grav Suits, but I’m sure your children can answer questions about those, right?”

Alana: “Yep, they can tell you all about them.”

D.B.: “Great! Alana, I would like to ask you back to talk about the Land of Dreams. Would that be okay?”

Alana smiles, leans forward, and bats her eyelashes: “Certainly!”

D.B. blushes at Alana before turning to Ana: “Ana, we have to wrap up for now, but we would love to have you back. Can you stop in and visit us again sometime?”

Ana smiles and nods: “It would be my pleasure.”

D.B.: “That’s all the time we have today. Join us next week as we interview Manny Alvarez and Ricky Chambers, and get the perspective from these young teens who were brutally ripped away from their families and lives to save them from Arturo. Until next time, May the Light shine through you!”