Of Gaea (31 page)

Ari could visibly see him considering all the consequences.
Something had him rattled. Something, that made him perspire in the
air conditioned office.

“You have a deal. Leave, don’t come back, your diploma will
be mailed within the week with last year as your graduation
date.”

Ari stood and held out her hand. “Thank you.”

He hesitantly shook her hand and the moment their palms
touched Ari felt instantly suffocated. She forced herself to
breathe slowly. His nervousness was suddenly painfully clear. He
was one of the Pure.

Principal Rattray didn’t hold on to her hand, rather he
jerked back as if she had burned him. His hands shook violently
before he clamped them together. His eyes were wide and he stank of
fear.

“I see.”
Ari murmured. “I’ll show myself out.” She stopped at the
door and turned to face him. “I suggest you take a leave of absence
next week if you don’t want to get caught in this ridiculous power
struggle.”

He nodded
mutely and she left.

A
ri
was barely off school
property when she was pushed from behind into the
empty field next to the school. She caught her step and whirled. A
fist connected with her face. She stumbled backwards into the
dirt.

She didn’t lay there in shock, Kleisthenes taught her
better than that.
Ari was almost instantly back in motion, rolling to a
crouch. From there she studied her opponent.

At first Ari didn’t recognize the woman.
Her black curls
were greasy and limp. Her eyes were blood shot and wild. Skin that
had been healthier at one point was yellow and sallow. A sharp
knife was fisted in her left hand. She meant business. She looked
crazed. More so than Lyris ever did.

“Do you know what you’ve done?”
she hissed and her body jerked like
it was on puppet strings. “Do you know the agony you have
caused?”

Damia. That was Damia. Ari tried placing this wild eyed
creature with the pristine queen bitch and she couldn’t. It was
unbelievable the girl had fallen so low.

Ari wiped the wet off her face.
She wasn’t surprised to see blood.
She felt like a mallet had hit her face.

Damia lunged
at her again.

Ari tried blocking, but Damia was stronger and faster than
she should have been.
Ari did manage to continually avoid the knife. She
would take a fist over the knife.

Damia’s fist sneaked into Ari’s guard repeatedly because of
Ari’s determination not to be stabbed.
Damia pummeled her to the ground. She
was merciless.

Ari didn’t have time to think about blocking the
foot.
Her
ribs screamed in agony and protest. Ari tried to roll away but was
caught by her hair.

“You’re not
going anywhere!”

Ari was swung in an arc by her hair and tossed. Landing was
miserable. Every fiber of her being hurt. She couldn’t get up if
she wanted to.

“
You’re not Gaea!
You’re too weak to
be anything of a Goddess! I should be the Goddess!” Her foot
launched Ari across the field. The sudden landing was stole her
breath and left her wheezing.

Goddess? Gaea… It almost sounded like jealously.

Ari pushed herself slowly up, sliding off her shoes with
the motion.
She could have wept when her bare feet made contact with
the soil. She felt instantly rejuvenated. Ari slowly inhaled and
exhaled and watched Damia watching her.

The body was earth; blood was water. Ari didn’t have to
ask. She was of Gaea. Gaea protected the Faithful. Ari felt the
bruises fade and the ache in her ribs vanish with each steady
breath.

Damia twitched and flinched.
“You should be dead!” She launched. “I
WILL kill you!”

This time, Ari
showed her the strength of Gaea.

Damia’s fist and knife met empty air.
Her feet sank dangerously into
the soil. She screamed in fury.

The grass died around her and she was on her feet and back
at Ari in seconds.
She sneered. “How long do you think you can maintain the
link? It’s too late now. You’ll never be anything more than a dog
for the Pure.”

Damia jumped
again.

Ari didn’t defend. Instead she thrust forward with the
strength of the earth in her fist. She didn’t feel Damia connect.
She saw it.

It was similar to something out of a comic book.
Damia’s eyes bugged
out of her head and she flew back rolling a few feet before coming
to a stop.

This time when she tried to push off the ground her hands
sunk into the soil like it was quicksand.
She shrieked and continued to
struggle against the pull of the earth.

Ari hadn’t expected it to happen.
She had thought about doing it, but
the thought had been fleeting. It was something to think on
later.

Ari crouched down in front of Damia’s spitting, screaming
face.
“Be
quiet. I’m not going to kill you; it’s not my way, though the
balance wouldn’t be affected much by your death.”

Damia stopped
shrieking and looked at Ari carefully.

Ari saw the Taint in her eyes.
The same thing that lived within
Lyris floated within Damia’s soul. “I want you to give a message to
your master for me. I am no longer an ignorant, mewling
child.”

“So you believe.” She hissed.

“Look at me, Damia.”
Ari reached out and held her chin to force her to
look. “What do you see?”

They stared for several heartbeats before her eyes slowly
widened and she tried to pull away. “No, no. It’s not possible.
They said it would never happen! Let me go! You’re hurting
me!”

Ari sighed and stood wiping her hand on her pants as she
did.
Damia’s
face felt oily and vile. Ari walked back to her shoes.

She felt a slight loss as she slipped back into
them.
She
wasn’t disconnected from the earth but it was like trying to listen
to music through water. It was there, but it was muffled and
distorted. Memo to self: ask Nasya why that happened and if it
always would.

Damia was free the moment Ari’s feet were back in the shoes
but she went running in the opposite direction. Just in case, Ari
watched her go and disappear into the suburbs of the rural
community.

Ari walked back out to the sidewalk, and to the point where
Sasha and she split up.
He wasn’t there yet, which was surprising. She had
only given him the task of dropping off mail. How hard could that
have been?

He rounded the corner a handful of heartbeats later holding
his hands behind his back. He smiled when he saw her but it was
short lived. As he got closer, the smile faded and he was studying
her carefully by the time he was within arm’s reach. He withdrew
one hand from behind his back and brushed its fingers over her face
where Damia had hit her.

It was obvious she had been in a fight.
The pale yellowing bruise
blended with her skin. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed but he had
made it his life noticing her. The layer of dirt and tousled hair
reaffirmed what he already suspected.

“What happened?”
His hands were soft. Not in texture, but in
touch.

Ari closed her eyes to his gentle probing and inhaled
slowly.
“Damia. It’s settled for the moment.”

“You mean on recess? She’ll be back.”

Ari opened her eyes and nodded.
“I know.” She turned her head into
his hand and inhaled his scent. Only to draw in something else. She
sniffed loudly at his hand. “Do I smell… flowers?”

He chuckled softly and the other hand came out from behind
his back. In its grasp was a full bouquet of purple and white
flowers.

“They’re
beautiful!” Ari took them from him and buried her face in their
scent.

“I’m glad you
like them.”

Ari looked
back up at him.

He smiled again but it didn’t touch his eyes.
He tucked his empty
hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels a moment.

“What’s
wrong?”

He shook his head. “Nothing, come on I’ll walk you
home.”

Puzzled, Ari
let him lead the way back to her house.

“Come on in.”
Ari offered when they reached the porch. “I’ll
cook something to eat.”

“Let’s go out.” He said hurriedly.

Ari paused and
just looked at him.

“I mean, I think we should go out.
Or rather, it’s not that your cooking
is bad. I just thought…” He rubbed his face with his hands. “Never
mind.”

“Are you
asking me out?”

His eyes snapped to hers.
Slowly, he nodded.

Ari held the flowers out to him.
“Take them.”

His face
crumpled but he accepted them back silently.

Ari pointed to the door.
“I’m going inside. I expect you to ask
correctly.” Ari walked inside and shut the door behind her and just
barely resisted from screaming in giddy delight.

A date.
A real date. Not a shared meal over a campfire or a shared
lunch at school. A real date.

She scrambled to her room, if Sasha hesitated and stalled
she would have enough time to comb her hair and change her
clothes.
The
doorbell rang when she was half in, half out of a green, empire
waist sundress.

Ari half ran, half tripped to the door, pulling up and
smoothing her dress quickly and then sent a silent prayer to
Gaea.
She
opened the door.

Sasha stood on the other side and still looked endearingly
nervous.
He
looked like he had run his hands through his hair in an attempt to
straighten up. Ari hadn’t been paying close enough attention to his
clothes before but his shirt looked neater than she remembered
seeing a few minutes ago. The bouquet of flowers rested in his
arms.

“Hello,” he said cheerfully. “These are for you.” He
offered her the flowers.

Ari took them and couldn’t contain her giddy smile.
“They’re beautiful.” She couldn’t resist burying her face in them a
second time.

“They have a
special meaning.”

Ari took her face from the flowers. “Really? What do they
mean?”

He stepped closer and took one of her hands. “The white
chrysanthemum is for truth. The lilac is for first love. The purple
tulips are for faithfulness. The white jasmine is grace and
elegance. The wisteria is steadfast. All the things you mean to
me.”

Ari’s throat went dry. She had nothing to say to that. What
did someone say to that?

“It’s also my promise to you. I will be all of those things
for you. For as long as you’ll have me.” He lifted her hand and
just barely brushed his lips over the surface.

Her knees went to jello.
Her hand holding the flowers vice gripped.
It was strange how one emotion could have two very different
reactions.

“Would you give me the pleasure of your company for the
day? Come out with me, please?”

As Ari still
hadn’t found her voice she could only nod robotically.

He kissed her fingers again before releasing her hand. “You
should put those in water.”

Ari blinked and exhaled slowly. “Yeah. Yes, you’re right.
Give me a second. Um…” She dashed into the house and shouted over
her shoulder. “Come in and make yourself comfortable. It’ll be a
moment.”

Ari dashed to the kitchen for a vase. Thankfully, Ghita had
left a few under the sink and Ari calmed herself as she filled it
or tried to.

This was only Sasha, after all.
He’d been her best friend all her
life. They knew each other very, very well. And they were going
out… holy Mother they were going out.

Suddenly she was scared.
Very scared. She could lose everything.
Not because it would be taken away, but because they may not be
compatible on this level. What would she do if that
happened?