Of Gaea Page 25

  “Neither should you.” Ari swung with all her strength at the chains that held him up and they shattered like glass.

  Leonidas tumbled to the ground.

  Ari crouched at his side. “Gaea told me I needed you. She didn’t say for what, only that if I asked you for help, you would know why.”

  “Took your sweet time, didn’t you.” He pushed himself upright.

  Screaming, a high pitched banshee wail of a sound filled the air. A pit of dread filled her stomach. Ari knew that sound. It haunted her every nightmare.

  The Tainted horse galloped into the clearing and killed everything it touched. It didn’t take heed to Tainted, Pure, or Spartan. It just killed.

  Over his head the Pure bird dipped and swooped at it. The bird was just as careless with who it touched and affected.

  “This has to stop.” Ari murmured. “This can’t go on.”

  “Only Gaea can stop it.” Leonidas retorted.

  “I am Gaea.”

  “Are you? Do you believe that? How many times do you say it to yourself to make it true?”

  “It’s in my blood!” Ari shouted at him and then froze.

  Leonidas smiled and nodded. “That’s right. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why? You said once that you shared her face. But why, Ari?”

  Ari stared at the two powers fighting and killing. Sasha was in there somewhere and she was here with a cryptic Guardian, soul searching. She needed the answer, not mind games; she had known the answer all along if she had only paid attention to the words that had been given to her.

  Gaea had said once that Ari didn’t need the trappings of the Faithful and she hadn’t thought to ask why. Ari realized she didn’t need them because she wasn’t Faithful. She could become the elements not just manipulate them, but it hadn’t occurred to her to question it. The answer was simple: she wasn’t human.

  Ari had thought about the entire thing all wrong. She had thought Gaea and she were two separate beings, connected in some unknown way and she had to find a way to make that connection permanent. They weren’t. That’s not what it was at all.

  The Spartans had it wrong. The Tainted. There was no vessel. Ari wasn’t a vessel. She was literally the Goddess. She was the new form separated from her spirit.

  A gentle light and a warm pulse drew her attention away from the carnage. Gaea stood waiting. Ari stood and held out her hand. “I finally get it. I am you, literally. You are what I was at one time. I am still Ariadne but before her, I was you. I still am you.”

  Gaea smiled and reached for her outstretched hand. “We are Ariadne from now until the end of time. I am but the memory of what came before.”

  When their hands connected it was like nothing Ari had ever felt before. The pieces that had been missing were now in place. The muffled voices were now clear. She could feel every living thing that shared her root. She could hear every single prayer made in her name. It was all crystal clear for a heartbeat of time. Then it faded.

  Ari no longer doubted. She had no reason to. She knew. Gaea had given her the complete knowledge.

  She felt. Gaea had given her the complete strength. She was finally whole and unbroken. Ari was the Goddess reincarnated after several millennia of defeat.

  Ari drew her last arrow. Using her fingernails she wrote a single line of words in Gaea’s script next to what already existed. She pulled off her bow and knocked the arrow to her bow. She glanced down at a puzzled Leonidas. “I. AM. GAEA.”

  Ari looked down the slender rod and the cloud of noise transformed into the whirl of the discus machine. “Pull.” She murmured and let the arrow fly.

  The scream of the dying was more ear splitting and tragic than the wail of the living. The arrow passed through the back of the Pure and through the heart of the Tainted. They both screamed and writhed in agony.

  Ari watched sadly as they crumpled to the ground. Their forms twisted and faded. A tear ran unnoticed down her cheek. Ari closed her eyes and let the pain of their passing wash over her. Her mother and her aunt need not fight their fate any longer. Ari had ended it.

  “In Erebos’s name!” A man shouted from behind her.

  Everything occurred in slow motion. Even as Ari flinched, ducked, and turned Leonidas pushed himself off the ground and into the path of the blade. He crumpled on the blade; Ari caught him as he fell back.

  “For Gaea.” He whispered.

  Ari looked up fully expecting to see the attacker prepare for another launch but he laid face down in the dirt with Sasha standing over him.

  “I’m sorry it took so long.” Sasha nodded to Leonidas.

  Ari pressed her hand to Leonidas’s chest. “Let me see. I can fix it. I think.”

  “Leave it.” Leonidas looked at Sasha. “I need two witnesses.”

  Sasha frowned but nodded and ran off.

  “Ari,” Leonidas turned his head to look up at her. “Do you have the ink I gave you? And can you help me sit up. Kneeling?”

  “Yes, to both.” She helped him up first.

  He groaned but didn’t complain. Ari held him with one hand as she rifled through the bag still slung against her hip with the other.

  “Here.” She handed it to him.

  He nodded. “Many thanks.”

  Sasha came back with two soldiers in tow. A man and surprisingly, a woman. Neither looked happy.

  Leonidas looked them over. “Thank you. I ask you witness my final rites. I am Leonidas, only son of the late Lord Nikkos of House Androcles of the Androcles Pantheon.”

  The woman spoke first. “I am Psyche of House Metaxas; the Merchant’s Guild.”

  “I am Jarius of House Pavli; Envoy of the Katsaros Pantheon.”

  Ari held her tongue at the pomp and ceremony. There had to be a reason Leonidas was doing this. A very good reason with as fast as he was bleeding out.

  Leonidas looked at Sasha. “I need to see your tattoo and I need you down on my level.”

  Ari was about to interject with Sasha didn’t have a tattoo when he kneeled, pulled his shirt up over his head and held his arms outstretched to the sides.

  A snicker escaped from somewhere and Ari glanced sharply at the two standing soldiers but their faces didn’t give away who had laughed. She studied the black lines on Sasha’s left pectoral and thought she understood the reason.

  They were very basic and stark lines. A circle’s outline made the barest of a shield like the ones that littered the clearing and a feather marked the shield. A quill.

  It was, she realized, Sasha’s rank in Spartan society. It made her sad and angry at the same time. He was worth so much more than that.

  “I am the last living heir of House Androcles. As such it is my duty to make sure my house is secure before passing.” He fell forward against Sasha.

  Sasha didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch.

  “I give this burden to you, Alissandre of House Horiatis.” Leonidas’s hand moved across Sasha’s chest quickly but from where she knelt Ari couldn’t see what he was doing.

  The two standing soldiers frowned. The man visibly grimaced, but they held their tongues.

  “I give to you my house, my name, and my honor.” Leonidas leaned back and would have fallen if Ari hadn’t caught him. “Everything I was, you now are. This is my final testament.”

  The soldiers saluted. “We acknowledge the passing of house and honor.”

  “Rise as Alissandre Androcles; Envoy Patriarch of the Androcles Pantheon.” Leonidas looked at Ari. “You will need to teach him, of course. I can’t do everything.” His grin was more a grimace. “Go to Miera when you need help. She will know what to do.”

  He exhaled and coughed blood. “I am sorry. For everything.” His hand rose and touched her cheek. “I never thought I would be at peace again. But you,” he looked at the standing Sasha, “you gave me reason to believe that everything would be okay. Against all odds, against the negativity and the brainwashing, you never gave up. You remained true, to a path you didn’t even know ex
isted. You followed your heart and stayed true to yourself. Remember that when you’re trapped in darkness. You are the people’s hope. You are mine.”

  Ari smiled, even as a tear escaped and ran over his fingers. “If I am, it’s because you made me stronger. I should thank you.”

  “No, I did not give you that strength.” His hand dropped away to the tattoo over her collarbone. “I only opened the doors. You had the courage to step through them. I must ask a favor.” His eyes were clouded in pain when they met hers. “Will you send me off to my sister? She does not like to be kept waiting.” He looked at Sasha but Ari couldn’t take her eyes from his graying face. “Your life for hers?”

  Sasha nodded solemnly. “Always.”

  His eyes turned back to Ari. “It’s up to you fair Goddess. May I have peace from the pain? Will you grant me that?”

  Ari gently pressed her lips to Leonidas’s forehead. “Be at peace fair warrior. Gaea loves her Faithful, unconditionally.”

  He smiled and closed his eyes. His chest did not rise again.

  Sasha knelt down within her vision. “He would be honored, if you laid him to rest, Ari.”

  Ari nodded without looking up and set Leonidas gently on the ground.

  “Here.” Jarius stepped forward and handed her two gold coins. “For the boatman. I give him my fare. I do not need it now.”

  “Thank you.” Ari placed one coin on each eye. Then crossed his arms over his chest.

  Sasha took her hand and they stepped back together.

  Psyche sang quietly. “When I am laid, am laid in earth; may my wrongs create no trouble, no trouble in thy breast. Remember me, remember me, but ah! Forget my fate. Remember me, but ah! Forget my fate.”

  “Goodbye Leonidas.” Ari murmured.

  His body sank into the earth as if the soil was no more than water.

  Ari stood there for a long moment staring at nothing. She didn’t listen to Pysche’s and Jarius’s words to Sasha as they took their leave.

  Leonidas had been the most complicated ass she had ever met, yet, he had been exactly what she needed. Gaea had said it; Leonidas had known what she needed. And he had been her means to an end.

  “Ari.” Sasha wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

  Ari turned and his new ink caught her eye.

  The shield was still there, but it was now worn as a chest plate for a griffin. The quill was now no more than a single feather among the great beast’s wings. Gaea’s Script ran around the inside of the chest plate and Ari saw faint ghost lettering behind and in front of the griffin. She recognized strength, courage, agility, and faith. The others she didn’t but it didn’t matter so much.

  Ari looked up at him and he smiled.

  “Do you like it?”

  She pressed a kiss to it. “Hurt like hell didn’t it?”

  “Spartans are stoic in pain, didn’t you know.” He led her off the hill and towards home.

  Halfway across the clearing Kleisthenes stood watching. He was smiling, which to her was a good thing. He gripped them both in a bear hug that brought fresh tears to her eyes.

  “You both survived. That’s a good thing.” He studied Sasha’s chest. “He wasn’t such a selfish prick after all, was he?”

  “No, he was still a prick. That will never change. He did the right thing and that’s what’s important. He did what he knew had to be done, rather than turn a blind eye to it.” Ari interjected. “He did what he knew I wanted him to do.” She added softly looking at Sasha’s ink. “For that alone, I will remember him forever.”

  She turned and began walking away. She was suddenly tired of the death, of the blood and sorrow. She could hear, not only with her ears, the keening of the dying and the grieving. She had caused it and she had ended it, but every action had a reaction. This was one, she did not want in her nightmares.

  “Oh, I almost forgot.” Kleisthenes put two fingers to his lips and whistled. Then he waved enthusiastically.

  Ari turned to see a man she had thought she would never see stroll across the clearing. She had never heard his voice, but she knew his face. His was the face in the photographs with her mother.

  He stopped in front of her and grinned broadly. “Hello sweetheart.”

  Shock and numbness coated her voice. “Hi, Da.”

  Her birthday was a grand affair. Not that she wanted it to be, but she couldn’t seem to find a way to discourage her overly enthusiastic father from his madness. He was trying to do everything possible “to make up for lost time”.

  The men, herself excluded from the plans to keep it a surprise, had determined her backyard the best for the operation. Not only was it larger than Sasha’s but she didn’t have all the training equipment cluttering up the space.

  People began arriving in flocks. Ari had been introduced to a hundred faces, but none of the ones she wanted to see. None of the people that had cared enough to write her, even though they really didn’t know her whereabouts or situation.

  Sick of the noise, the people, and the stares, Ari slipped away. She mentally tapped Sasha’s shoulder as she dipped into the woods. They were safe now, or as safe as wild forest can be.

  They would always be safe for her. She felt the hum of life and opened herself up to it. It brought her a kind of peace as she walked.

  Ari didn’t have to tell her feet where to go. She had made this trip a dozen times over the last few days. Every time she felt overwhelmed, she’d slip away and follow this very path.

  Ari knelt at Leonidas’s feet first. “Hi. Happy birthday. I didn’t forget. Sasha’s is tomorrow but you knew that already, I guess.” Ari traced patterns in the soil and smiled in delight as a tree grew from the thought.

  “This is my gift to you. We’ve discussed moving to Sparta, in Greece. I’m not really fond of it, but they think I’ll be safer there. I’ve been outvoted and it seems rather childish to try to fight them. You knew my dad there I’m told. He’s full of stories. Most of them are about how you refused to help him to the point where he finally stopped asking. The property you left Sasha needs attending, too as well, I’m told. Then there’s meeting the Guild and all that rot. And… well there’s a lot of stuff, and chaos going on right now that can’t be helped but I guess you already knew that.”

  “But enough about me,” Ari touched the trunk of the flowering myrtle tree. It was full grown and beautiful. “This is how I think of you. Beautiful and exotic. The tree belongs to Aphrodite but you know that already. A sign of my love, as well. You acted without me asking even though it was outside your nature to do so. Thank you. I’ll never forget it.”

  “He was a noble man.”

  Ari turned to face her father. She glanced behind him but didn’t see Sasha.

  He must have seen it on her face. “I asked him if I could come. This once. I want to talk to you, about the past, about Sparta.”

  Ari slid her hands into her pockets and lifted her chin. “You already have my agreement to go.”

  “You haven’t asked how I survived. You haven’t asked the why of anything. Have I done something wrong? I’m… I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m trying.”

  Ari studied him. He looked on the brink of panic and sorrow. She had hurt him, through simple neglect. It hadn’t been intentional, but after so much time without him, how would she adjust to having him?

  “I am sorry.” She said finally. “I think this is very new to both of us.” Ari smiled shyly. “I’ve always had Kleisthenes, so I never really needed a father.” She watched him flinch. “I don’t say it to hurt you, it’s just fact. I really don’t know what to do with you or how to act. Neither of us, it seems has that experience.”

  “Perhaps, if you cannot accept me as a father, then we could be friends?” he said slowly as if he was thinking it out as he spoke. “We could try there first.”

  Ari nodded and her smile widened. “I think I’d like that. Kleisthenes, actually, told me it would be rude to ask, but since it’s just you and I, how did you survive?�
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  “Ghita didn’t wait to see if I was actually dead.” He jumped into the conversation wholeheartedly. “She just took off. Your great-grandmother, who is too old to travel or she would be here, found me and began the healing. It took more than one healer and several months before I could even walk again. By the time I was capable to look for you; it was already too late.”

  “So Kleisthenes knew all this time?” Ari mused. “That was unkind.”

  “No, not all this time. I believe Mother didn’t tell him until he called requesting equipment.” He looked away. “I want to apologize for not trying harder. I gave up. Thought it was hopeless. Thought I would never see you again. But I couldn’t stop myself from loving you. Even though I didn’t know your fate. I love you. Then, your grandmother received a letter.” His eyes came back to hers. “I’m sorry. For not being the father you needed me to be. I’d like a chance to get to know you better. Will you stay with me in the Douneas House rather than the Pantheon? I think you’d be more comfortable at the House then in the Temple. But it’s your decision.”

  “You’re trying too hard.” Ari murmured and stepped forward and took his hand. “Just let what comes, come.” Ari squeezed his hand. “I know you love me. That’s obvious, you’re here. Let everything else just come when it does. We’ll face the scary hurdles of awkward father daughter moments together. I promise.”

  Together they walked to the riotous array of colored foliage that marked where Ghita and Lyris had fallen. Ari had asked it to grow, and it did. She had wanted the color for both of them.

  “It’s beautiful.” Eryx commented.

  “It reminds me of their souls. While they tried to live their lives in a box that was too poorly shaped for them, the color of their souls touched everything around them. They are home now. The flowers will remain long after the memory of them is no more than a shadow.”

  “I loved her, very much. I think, she could have done it, but Ghi… she let fear kill the dream.”

  “It was necessary or I would not be here.” Ari turned away. “It’s not the past that we should be trampling through anyway.”

  “Right.” He led the way back to the extreme party. “You’ll love Sparta. It’s beautiful. We have fields and orchards a plenty and there are gardens within the temple atriums unlike any you’ve ever seen before.”