Of Gaea (34 page)

A
ri had briefly dived into
the world of meditation sometime during physical therapy. Briefly,
because when Ghita found out the physical therapist was using a
“less than conventional” method, as well as the muscle stretches
Ari couldn’t feel, she had put a stop to it.

Ari didn’t bothered referencing the book Leonidas had given
her.
She
wanted to see if she could do this on her own without help from
anyone. She needed to prove that she could be independent. Even so
she had vaguely remembered a page of the book, key term being
vague, there had been a circle and four points marked out along it.
Ari had roughly, very, very roughly recreated it with the stuff she
pilfered from the kitchen.

Ari sat in the center of the rough circle, legs crossed,
and hands on her knees with her eyes closed, breathing evenly and
slowly.
This
was as far as she had gotten with the physical
therapist.

She felt Sasha sit at her back on the porch with
Kleisthenes.
She felt Nasya nearby. Surprisingly she felt Leonidas close
too. Close enough to interfere if he wanted. None of them bothered
her, or changed her awareness. If anything, it made her slightly
more comfortable that they were so close. She wasn’t sure what was
supposed to happen, but it happened automatically.

Ari still sat in her yard with eyes closed but all the
little things; the nuisances of life faded away.
They faded away
until nothing was left but herself. There was nothing but silence
and her.

“They’re just
trappings you know.”

She wasn’t startled to come face to face with Gaea. She was
trying to look within herself and Gaea and all her splendor was a
part of her. Ari was relieved that it actually worked.

Gaea mimicked her like a mirror, right down to the clothes
she was wearing. It was a reminder that they were essentially one
in the same.

“What is?”
Ari asked her.

Gaea gestured to the circle.
“You don’t need it, but it’s good that you
have it. You’re not as safe as you should be.” Her eyes clouded
with her words.

“There’s something you’re not telling me.
Something everyone
isn’t telling me.” Ari didn’t bother beating around the bush.
“Madame Erelah said I can’t make the claim I want without my
guardian, but that doesn’t make sense; I have Sasha. And what
claim? I claim at nothing, what I am doesn’t change regardless of
words.”

She looked away for a moment. Sorrow clouded her face and
she sighed, a sad and pained sound. “I wish he understood it in
that way as well.” Her eyes came back to Ari’s. “Sasha has no touch
of Gaea.”

Ari nodded slowly. “I know that.”

“The Claim as you so put it is done between you and the one
touched by Gaea to protect you. Or so that is how it is written.
It’s been so long since anyone has made it to the point you are at
now.”

“So all this is futile. I was never assigned a
guardian.”

“You would have been assigned one at birth.” She touched
the tattoo on Ari’s hand. “He’s already helped you.”

Ari nearly lost the peace necessary to maintain the
meditative state. “Leonidas?” It was said in a horrid whisper. “He
doesn’t even like me. He said he was going to let me die. I thought
he wasn’t being serious…”

“There’s a rule you know, to being a guardian. He must be
born with skills of Gaea and on the same day you are. When was
Sasha born?”

Ari sighed; it relieved some of the tension that had built
up and had balanced her meditative state. “You know.”

Gaea smiled. “I do. What you do is not futile. I believe
you have what it takes or I would not be here. Or you would not
have that.” She touched Ari’s forehead.

“Leonidas doesn’t believe.
He… he thinks I need watching every time I
try something. Some faith.” Ari muttered.

“Usually it is an Envoy attached to a Child of Gaea.
So they can learn
together and he can balance as well as guard her. He says it, I
think, because he waits for you to ask him for help.”

“He’s a rude, surly man. Why would I voluntarily ask him
for help?”

“In the end, without him, we will not exist.”
Gaea touched both
Ari’s hands. “It doesn’t matter that he does not love you or what
he allegedly gave up. You have Sasha for that and I fully support
him. There are places in this world even I cannot go and an Envoy
would be at his weakest. Leonidas isn’t ideal, and really, I could
care less what his end results are. What matters is you need him.
If for no other reason, he is the means to an end. You don’t have
to like him; you don’t have to be nice to him. Just ask him to help
you and tell him what you’re trying to do. He will be able to help
with the rest. Pride, my child, is not just man’s greatest sin.”
She kissed Ari’s forehead. “I am with you. Always.”

Ari sighed, but this time it was from fatigue and worry.
When she opened her eyes she was surprised to see another day had
gone. The stars shone brightly in the sky and the moon announced
her birthday was only one short phase away.

Her arms cracked and her shoulders popped when she
stretched.
Before she could push herself off the ground a hand filled
her vision. Ari followed the open palm up the arm to Sasha’s
neutral face.

“Let me help
you up.”

She put her hand in his and let him pull her to her feet.
Her hip joints, knees, and ankles all cracked on the way up.
Painfully. Ari would have fallen if Sasha hadn’t picked that moment
to hold her tightly.

Ari held him back and inhaled his scent.
No matter how she
said what needed to be said, it was going to hurt him. She drew
back slowly and waited for his eyes to meet hers.

“I spoke to
Gaea.”

He nodded. “Da said not to disturb you. That you were
probably in a conversation that shouldn’t be
interrupted.”

“I need
Leonidas.”

He flinched as if she had hit him. His arms dropped from
around her.

“Not like that.” Ari grabbed his hands. “Definitely not
like that. You know don’t you? You know that…”

“He’s the one that was chosen to guard you. Yes, I know.”
Sasha said quietly. “It’s the real bone of distrust between us. I
protect you willingly and he has no choice. It’s like a reflex or a
compulsion. The power of Gaea in him propels him to act when he’d
rather not.”

“That’s why he’s always so angry.” Ari murmured. “He has no
free will and you,” she studied him carefully, “you chose to be
what he is trying hard — and failing might I add — not to be. That
probably angers him further.”

Sasha sighed, “That’s not all of it of course. He has this
ability… to know where you’re at all times. He ignores it, of
course, or blocks it out, but if he wanted to, he could pinpoint
your exact location no matter where you are.”

“Annoying.”

“Useful, if
you were to go missing,” Sasha corrected.

“I need him, not for who he is, because that’s obviously
lacking, but for what he can do. Madame Erelah circled around, a
ritual, or something that requires him. And just now with Gaea, she
did the same thing. Neither of them said what exactly. But Gaea
hinted Leonidas knew.”

“He probably does. We can go see him in the morning. You’ve
been meditating for the larger part of the day. You need food and
sleep.”

“Sasha, Leonidas hates you.” Ari pulled away slightly. “You
can’t go. He probably wouldn’t even admit me if you came. I, at
least, have a chance of getting in if I’m alone.”

“You also have a chance of getting killed if you’re alone.”
Sasha let go of her hands. “I’m not letting that
happen.”

“I’ll take a cane, and Nasya. I’ll be fine.” Ari turned and
walked towards his house knowing he would follow.

“That’s not good enough.
At least let me walk you there.” He fell
in step beside her after picking up her bag that still sat on the
back porch undisturbed. Ari had nearly forgotten Ghita had set it
there.

“I can’t Sasha.
You know I can’t. I would love to have you walk me
there. I would, but I have to try and get this information out of
him, without him sulking about you.”

He kicked at a rock. “I hate it that you’re
right.”

“Trust me, I hate it too. He’s so damned insufferable. Why
was he chosen?”

Sasha offered his hand to help her up the stairs, and held
the door open.
“He wasn’t always like that. When we were younger he was…
different. Still a prick, of course, but more like — I am what no
one else is — type prick. When Thalia died… well, she was his
light.”

“Who’s
Thalia?”

“Leonidas’s sister.” Kleisthenes answered from the doorway
of the kitchen. “Go clean up. I’m about to start
cooking.”

Ari gave Sasha a look as she passed him for the hallway. He
shook his head and moved into the kitchen. It left Ari dying of
curiosity as she showered and changed.

Sasha moved
into the kitchen to take the plates down as Ari walked away.

“It’s best for now, if she only has one problem to worry
about.”
Kleisthenes commented after he heard the water kick on for
the shower. “Sparta can survive a bit longer without
her.”

“I think it’s important she knows why Leonidas is so
distant.” Sasha replied as he gathered together the
silverware.

“His heart is broken, Sasha.
He still mourns and he has every right to.
For now, I think it’s best to let him fumble through it himself and
let her worry about her.”

“As you say. But if she should need the
information…”

“Agreed. Let it go for now.”

They enjoyed a quiet and tensionless dinner, because they
didn’t talk of anything Gaea related.
Rather to her, it seemed like they
were all avoiding it as they talked about everything else. It
wasn’t uncomfortable; it left her able to pretend even for a few
hours that everything was normal.

She slept in
fits, anxious for the sun to rise and wash the blood red sky of her
dreams away.

A
ri greeted the sunrise
with
a cup of tea. She had
given up on sleep around four A.M. There was no point in
pretending. She probably would not get a full night of sleep until
after her birthday, if she was lucky. If she wasn’t, well, the
alternative was death. She’d get all the sleep she needed
then.

Ari finished her tea before preparing for the day.
She braided her
hair first, tightly, to keep it out of the way, and off her face.
She didn’t have much in clothes at Sasha’s house but she had enough
to be comfortable. Black tights tucked into calf high dark
chocolate, heelless Timberlands. A smocked tunic dress, the same
color as her boots completed the outfit.

Not completed, per say, as Ari added a wide black belt that
doubled as a small corset with the optional boning.
The belt wasn’t a
fashion statement as the pieces that looked like boning were
actually pencil sized stabbing instruments. They could be slid out
in seconds, if needed.

When she opened the bedroom door, Sasha stood on the other
side poised to knock.
He smiled and held up a cane.