Goddess of the Moon (Young Ancients: Tiera) (49 page)

Her
curly haired friend stood and stretched, her breasts pushing against the brown
tunic she wore.

"Ah,
hence the nice dress. It's so different that I kind of wondered if we were
being invaded by Princesses suddenly. Ridley will love it. We should go with
short hair again. Shorter I mean. Doing Tor's sister will be almost as good for
him, I'm sure. He never managed to get Tor into bed though, I hear. From
Ridley. He asked me for tips, but growing lady parts wasn't all that helpful to
him."

Ali
giggled, which was unprofessional of her. It got Trice and Tiera to both smile
anyway.

"Yeah,
me too. I mean that he asked me for tips. My best one was to ask Tor to join
the two of us, but he kind of put Ridley off. He really just isn't into men
that way. It's a shame. That would be interesting to watch."

Alphonse
made a slightly disgruntled noise, one that she understood now, she thought. It
was a deflection. A way to separate himself from all that he could never have
with Tor.

"Hey,
stop talking about my grandfather that way. He's right
here
you know."
It wasn't really funny or anything, but they all laughed. They pretty much had
to, because after all these months, there was nothing left to do, otherwise.

Trice
and Alphonse had taken to handing them both activated healing amulets for a few
minutes each day, just hoping that it wouldn't harm the work, if that was
possible. Timon was still doing it and Tor was too. She could tell that much.
What she couldn't figure out was if it was working at all or not.

She
stopped and smiled at the tall red headed man, whose clean face was charmingly
happy at the moment. Not perfectly so, which showed around the eyes, when she
searched for it.

"You're
correct of course. Of course it would be good if he'd wake up and say that
himself..."

She
felt bad about saying it, but that was just true. They were both failing, Timon
and Tor, and if something didn't change soon, they'd die. Right in front of her
eyes. While she stood by, helpless, and weak.

Walking
over to them, Tiera laid her right palm on Tim's cheek.

The
sense of focus was total. So much so that he almost wasn't anything else now.
Not inside at least. There was only the single thought, and lines of intent
going out from him, passing through space without doing that in any real way.
If she stood between the two, nothing would happen at all. They wouldn't even
notice her.

Then
she spun and looked at Tor, who was just as serene and unmoving. It was
horrifying, after all this time. Too much for her to bear at all.

It
was all overwhelming for a moment, so she leaned in, and yelled at her brother,
knowing that it wouldn't do anything. It wouldn't have done much if it had just
been her sitting there working, and he was so much deeper than she'd ever been
it wasn't even the same thing.

"Wake
up you idiot! Wake up now or you're both going to die!" Then she slapped him.
It did nothing, but the Prince moved on her, holding his arms out, for a hug.

She
buried her face in his chest and started to sob. "I just can't do this
anymore. Watching them like this, day after day... I think it's too late."

There
was a silence to the room and a hand on her sleeve. It was barely a tug, but
when she turned she saw that Timon had it.

"Ack."
It wasn't articulate, but she held him anyway. He tried again. Saying about the
same thing. Trice got him some water, which meant that only a minute later he
could speak. After a fashion.

"Healing
amulet?" That was what Trice thought he said anyway.

They
got him one, and he held it for a long time before doing anything else. Then,
not able to stand, he gestured at Tor again.

"Slap
him again. I felt that. It means he can too."

So
she did.

To
be exact, Tiera lightly hit her brother's cheeks for a while, and shook him.
Not all that hard. It didn't do much, she realized, as she made a solid effort
to focus and touch his field. It was all just so... Unified. Locked into being
a single thing. Perfect in a way that human beings simply were never meant to
be. Searching out that part of himself which didn't belong inside and removing
it, except that it was done now. It had been, most likely, for some time.

That
meant Tor's mind was deeply, and purely, searching for any hint of things that
weren't there anymore.

It
was still impressive, though, naturally, also just like a stupid head. Who kept
on working like that when the job was over?

Only
a moron.

That's
who.

The
thought surprised her, because, while it was hers, it was also
his
. The
strength of his field was influencing her. Making her respond and react like he
would.

Only,
Tiera wasn't that silly.

Standing
back she thought for a few moments, and realized what was most important to her
brother, in the whole world. What was behind everything he did. It was
insightful, but also surprised her, because it came with a whole lot of other
things. Deep ones that poured from the very heart of the people around her. She
felt... connected to them all. Like they were a part of her, nearly. It was an
illusion, being from Tor, but she still knew them all, in ways she hadn't even
a moment before.

For
instance, Timon was driven by a fear that he wasn't as good as Tor. Or, she
realized, even
her
. As if
that
made any sense. Everything he did
was still an attempt to show everyone that he wasn't some little shadow of his
brother, but his own person. It wasn't needed, she knew, or even good. It got
things done, but it also left Tim in pain far too often.

Kolb
was driven by rote. He'd been designed and trained to be a warrior, and
couldn't let go of that at all now. It was, in a real way, the heart of who he
was and always had been. Time had shown him how to let go of
war
,
however. That's what drove him in all things. More than she'd ever thought
about, really. Being a warrior.

Ali
lived her whole life in fear. Of everything. It wasn't that she lacked bravery,
but the horrors she'd seen left her constantly aware that they could happen
again. Her outer self was always pleasant and calm, but her inner life was
constant turmoil and pain. Even standing there, feeling hopeful that Tor was
about to wake up, the girl half expected Kolb, or even Tiera, to lock her away,
and do horrible things to her. Powerful people did things like that, and no one
could stop them.

The
Prince, Alphonse, he was led by love. Not just of Tor either, which shocked her
a bit. He loved all of them, if in different ways. If it came to it, he would
have protected any of them with his life. He felt that most strongly for Tor,
naturally, but Timon too. Tiera felt a bit of surprise again, when she realized
that.
She'd
slept with the man after all, and he felt more for her
little brother... But in the end, he knew that his responsibility to the people
of Noram was the single most important thing. That was the love that guided him
most.

She
looked around and let her eyes settle on Trice, who looked back at her, in a
very controlled fashion. There was a blank spot in her head, as she fought to
try and not be read, but in that moment it didn't matter. Her thoughts weren't
what Tiera had been paying attention to, and her inner self spilled out
instantly. Totally. As filtered through someone else. That being Tor, more or
less.

She
was...

Duty.
It wasn't a thing that Tiera had known about the woman at all. She'd always
seemed so... Mean, really. Artificially polite at times, but not
good
.
Or kind. That was because she wasn't. Her entire life had made her into a
singular thing. She was her duty. As much as Tor was his work. Or Kolb was a
warrior. She had a job to do, and she'd get it done, even if it killed her.
Even if it broke her heart.

Tiera
liked her a little bit better then. It wasn't that the woman had changed at
all, just that she was more understandable. She'd been the one that was set to
kill Tor, because others had figured out that she was the only one with a real
chance to make it happen, if it became needed. Her or Alphonse. But he was
loving, and she would do what she was told. Even if that meant cutting out her
own heart to see it accomplished. It made a very big difference, really.

That
left her, and Tor, and for half a moment she almost managed to avoid the part
about herself. That kind of introspection was always painful, wasn't it? Her
older brother was simple enough. He protected people. He
worked
.

That
was his key, and she could use it to get him to wake up, she knew. He knew that
too, but at the moment was too busy to apply it. So he needed her.

She
started to move, but his thoughts, intertwined with her own, gave her a
different perspective, even as she fought to ignore it all. She saw herself
through his eyes and...

Well,
she expected to see a monster, or a fool, but what came wasn't that at all. She
was, in a very real way, what she thought she was. Anger, and pain. Sorrow, at
least for now, and vengeance. That her brother saw that in her too was
something she would have guessed. What was unexpected was that, after a
fashion, he respected that about her. He understood that someone had to stand
up for people, even after the wrongs had been committed, or they'd just happen
again.

To
his mind, that was her job. Her place in the world.

He
stood in front of the crowd, shielding them against harm, and she stood behind
them, to make certain that, when he failed, the enemy wouldn't leave unscathed.

It
was a raw thing though. Her brother loved her, and understood her, but really,
he didn't
like
her at all. She was just too different than he was. His
heart was innocent, and while damaged by the world, it was in one piece. She
was just a mess of colors to him. Mainly rage red, and without a lot of hope.

Tor
really didn't expect her to live very long.

The
strange thing there was that Timon
did
. It wasn't a soft thing either.
Her little brother grimaced at her and managed to shake his head a little, as
they locked fields, becoming one, in a very real way.

He
saw the world differently. It was all so clear to him. So focused and plain as
to what was going on.

To
him, she was the strongest person he knew. Even more than Kolb, who was strong,
but old and tired, and so tied into being one thing that he'd long ago
exhausted the use of it. Unlike Tor, he actually liked her, as a person.

To
him though Trice wasn't just duty, but fear and pain too.

Ali
was that as well, but strength and compassion at the same time.

Alphonse
was virtue, even for all the mistakes he'd made trying to find love.

And
Tor...

Was
a god.

It
was why he envied him, and feared that he'd always live in his shadow. Which,
she knew, not being him, was silly. Tor was no better than Timon was. True, Tor
was possibly the best builder ever, but there was more to life than that. The
reason that he was as good as he was, she knew, was that he wasn't much else at
all.

Timon
was a person.

And,
in the end, so was she. Which meant that she could shake this current envelope
of thought off and move on, if she wanted. Laughing a bit she actually smiled
and shook her head.

Then
she put her hand on her older brother's slight shoulder, and shook just a bit.

"Tor.
Tor
! Come back to the surface. People need you. There's real work to be
done, and what you were doing is done. Now you're just sitting there, being
lazy. People need you to help them..." She got ready to say it for a
while, but his eyes snapped open, and he tried to stand.

"Wha-"
It was a throaty croak, which got him handed a healing amulet, some water from
Alphonse who ran to his side, and a hug from Ali.

She
might not love Tor, but she'd been willing to die by his side. In part because
he was the only thing that left her feeling even a little safe in life.

Tiera
smiled.

"There
we go. So, you two both actually lived, and as far as I can tell, Cordes is
gone? From inside Tor at least. In time for my date, and
everything
.
Perfect. So..." She paused and tried to think about what she'd have wanted
to know, if she'd just woken up like that, after three months. More than that
really.

For
a second she wanted to freeze, but then she sighed and shook her head. Someone
had to let them know and doing it slowly, when they weren't in deep trance
states, wasn't going to help. There was no better time to pull the bandage off
than as soon as possible.

"Right.
So
... Gerent let your weapon loose Timon, which did its job, and most of
the old Ancients are dead. The good ones, the ones on our side, attacked the
Others to hold them in place, while they all died. We can't go back to the
Earth. The Moon colony is going well, and they named me Queen. That's probably
a mistake, but it works for now. We don't have half the bowing and scraping of
Noram though. I think we're up to about five thousand people already? More are
coming, but it will take time.

"The
Earth... Well, that isn't much different. We need to get aid into place, and
there have been some really big storms as the climate shifts, thanks to the
damage the Ancients did. That's about all though."

There
was a moment when the world seemed to go silent, and Timon, still vastly deep
into his own mind, turned to her. The power of his attention made her rock back
a step, as if pushed. His eyes were normal looking, and perfectly clear. It was
just that he was focusing on her so totally that she felt it.

When
he spoke his voice was still a bit rough.

"This
isn't done. Cordes... Blue put hundreds of copies into others. Regular people,
that will still be alive, all over the world. They should die, eventually, if
they don't find a way to live. He may attack through that mechanism."

It
was a point, and one that she hadn't thought of at all, even though she'd known
about it. After all, she was thinking about immortals, not regular people. They
didn't count, right? Except, naturally, they really did. They, the real people
of the world, was what all of this had been about. That they mattered was why
she and her family had been fighting.

Trice
moved in and hugged Timon, getting one back, but then stood up and looked at
Tor, who stared at her a bit.

"Also...
Timon figured out how to make some of us into Ancients. Immortal, like you
are?"

As
if she had to explain that last bit. Tiera didn't let her eyes roll though, and
just waited for Tor to react.

He
didn't really, not for a long while. She felt a wave of his attention going
around the room, and it took a bit, as he followed each field, examining it
carefully.

"Oh."
He didn't sound happy, or sad. Just like he understood.

Timon
grinned, which wasn't real, and barely made his field change at all. There was
no flare of happiness first, or joy, just a few neurons firing, making his
mouth move. His eyes too. It was a trick though, no matter what it looked like.

"There
are others. Sheri Bonner. Karina. The kids in our family. I'm planning to get
the others, Todd and Terlee, when the death field dies down. Their people too,
if they want. Taler, he said no. That one life is enough for him. I understand
that. In a way he was always the wisest of us, I think." There was a bit
of hesitation, and he went on, sounding a little dark. That part was subtle,
but more real. "William Smythe, of Westend, too. In case Cordes won, in
what we were doing, and Tiera failed to kill you. He has another device that
will kill immortals. All he had to do was get them all in one place and finish
it. I felt that it would be safer for the rest of us if he'd have to kill
himself too, in order to get that done."

Tor
stared for a very long time, and his next words seemed... Normal. As if he was
regular old Tor. It was a lie though, since his field was so tightly unified it
was scary.

"Great...
So you managed to make the person that hates me worst in all the world
immortal? Or, I guess that might be Dorgal Sorvee. Did you do him, too?"
There was a pause and a cloud passed over his eyes. "Lyn... You said she
died? How is he? They just got married."

No
one knew that, but a call came in, from Sara, wanting to dock with them.

That,
they all felt, was a great time for Tor and Timon to go and get showers and
maybe some sleep. They'd been awake, after a fashion, for
months
. It
took a bit of work, and Kolb got her to help set things up. He worked the speed
controls, while she went to the back and opened the wall so that Sara's little
ship could get in and settle. She did it perfectly this time, having had a lot
of practice over the last months.