Fairfax

by Jared Ravens

  "You do have choices."

  "I do," Fairfax affirmed, not sure that he did.

  "You might feel otherwise, but you did chose this, long before."

  "Seems different now."

  "Keep going, Fairfax,” said the shorter one. "It will be worth it."

  "Seems everyone wants something from me, " Fairfax said, resigned.

  "They made this decision before, as well. You are something different to all of them. Do you know who we are?"

  "You're symbols too, right?" guessed Fairfax.

  "Correct."

  "Cause you only come to me in my dreams."

  "You're very good at this," said the tall one.

  "Well," said Fairfax. "It seems like you’re talking to me all the time. It’s not really got anything to do with my intelligence."

  "You shut off a lot of that talk out of necessity. It’s difficult to get through. That's why we talk to you here."

  "Also," continued Fairfax. "You don't have bodies.”

  The tall one smiled broadly. The short one frowned.

  "I could have a body if I wanted to," he retorted.

  "Why doesn't he hear you?" Fairfax asked the tall one, nodding to the short one.

  "Because he shut off the voices too, just like you."

  "I can understand why."

  "I can hear just fine," said the short one. Fairfax didn't know which statement he was referencing.

  "So," Fairfax continued. “In my head I keep hearing 'the furthest point'."

  “Yes."

  "That's me."

  "Correct," said the tall one, smiling again.

  "No," said the short one. "That is being created."

  "By me."

  "By everyone,” the short one replied.

  "I see. And if I go backwards..."

  "There another, and another, and another…,” the tall one said.

  "And they all used to be the furthest point."

  "From your perspective, that could be true," said the tall one.

  "Yes," said the short one. But he had not heard what the tall one had said.

  "I keep hearing what you say," Fairfax said. "'Handbag'."

  "That is your interpretation of what I said," replied the tall one. "But, yes, you are, what they call 'The Handbag' or The Handbag of the Gods'."

  "That doesn't sound like what I am."

  "That's what they think you are. Something to be carried around and used. What you are is up to you."

  The short one smiled.

  "Keep going, Fairfax."

  Fairfax looked closely at the short man and spoke to the tall man. “Goetz came up with that phrase."

  "Goetz thinks it invented you,” the tall man said

  "Its not true."

  The tall one shrugged.

  "We all have the right to think what we want."

  The short one wasn't actually looking at him, nor actually hearing him. It was a symbol as much as Fairfax was a symbol. Goetz was here, somewhere, knowing of him and monitoring him. But Goetz wasn't here. He wasn't in a suit, staring at him and smiling.

  "How," Fairfax asked, "will I do this?"

  The tall one bent down, coming between Fairfax's eyes and the short one's face. The thin, lined face became all that Fairfax could see.

  "You will see," it said. "Goetz will learn as well."

  The face became dark, a vortex of emotions pulling themselves up through the center of the man's face and into Fairfax's forehead. The blackness and panic became dominant, and the pain returned.

  The Warrior

  He couldn't see but he could feel and it was brutally painful. He was being pulled along the ground, pressure cutting into him from the top and the bottom. His arm was being pulled so hard it felt like it was being yanked from the socket. He saw the glimmer of light and it became larger with each pull. Rock dug into his chest and back, and he yelled for it to stop.

  It did not. He felt the hand, small and light, in his hand. Another grasped his wrist. It pulled him, harder than ever, the stabbing rock cutting across hsi body as he was drug in the light of day.

  There was nothing but crumbled rock and boulders around him. The voices of people calling out echoed across the piles of granite. Other than that, there was a haunting, muted silence around him. It was light out but he was in shadows. When he looked up there was enormous rock above him leaning into the mountain across from it. Celia had picked up the mountain and pushed it over, leaning it against its sibling and creating a celiling above him.

  Sophi stood in front of him, blood on her face and chest, her body heaving over from exhaustion. She still gripped his arm, pulling on him despite her tiredness, fighting to pull up his trapped waist.

  He pushed her away and reached to the rocks at his waist. He pulled them up one at a time until he could move his lower half. He freed his legs next, his eyes drifting to the bloody cut up the center of his chest. He was wounded from the rocks but not broken, a benefit of his altered body. He limped up to his feet and, seeing she could not do the same, lifted her small body. They made their way, step by step, across the field of rock.

  The mountain moved above them, threatening to fall on them. The next movement showered them with rocks. Fairfax picked Sophi up, struggling to hop across the rocks with his damaged legs. The mountain moved two more times, each more alarming than the last, until Fairfax found solid ground to run on. He heard a groan and a titanic sheet of rock fell behind them.

  The dust enveloped him, and he ran ahead, coughing into the grey cloud. He soon saw the colored buildings through the dust. He stopped, hiding behind a stack of homes while he caught his breath. Setting Sophi down she immediately gripped his waist, hugging him. He put his hand on her shoulder and thanked her. She gripped him tighter. He heard a thumping from the collapsed mountains. He looked back but could not see anything in the dust. Crowds fo people gathered in the street, coughing and looking up into the polluted sky. He spotted someone he knew, looking dumbfounded into cloud.

  Fairfax ran towards Bern, lifting the girl up to his side so she could use him as a crutch. Bern's eyes were glazed, his clothes grey and black with rock soot. He blinked, dazed, as Fairfax tried to get him to move.

  "She's coming," Fairfax said. "We have to get out of here."

  "Who?" Bern asked, completely lost.

  Fairfax looked back. Out of the dust cloud a dark figure rose up. It pushed rocks off it like dandruff and kicked boulders down the street, causing people to jump out of the way of tumbling rocks. Fairfax pulled at Bern, forcing him to move. They struggled on, running at a limping pace out fo the town. Behind them an ominous being in gold and white battle armor rose from the remains of the mountain. She carried a shield and spear, both of which she used to push her way out of the rubbish in front of her. Her face was dark complected with a gold helmet and orange plumb sprouting from the top. Her face held a steely look as people ran screaming from the catastrophe of coming violence she brought with her.

  Sophi fell just around the first curve of outside of the town. Fairfax tried to pick her up but she pushed him away.

  "No!" she yelled. She pulled at Bern's leg, waving him to the side of the trail. She motioned Fairfax on as she hid on the other side of a rock with Bern. Fairfax felt his stomach drop at the thought of leaving them but he had no choice. He knew he put them in danger.

  He ran, limping, down the trail. Behind him Celia pushed aside rock formations and crated craters with her feet as she stomped forward, the target clear in her eyes. The clumsiness of her size made her slower when the path tightened, allowing him to run ahead. As the path opened up she was able to track him closer. He knew he was losing ground and was already wounded and out of breath.

  He ran through the foothills, gasping for breath as he stumbled into the desert. The world opened up for him. He hoped that she would lose sight of him in the night in the desert. He began to run directly west when he spotted pinpoints of light in the distance, bouncing in his direction. They had a bead o
n him, moving in flurries like fireflies. He heard their hushed calls and stopped, momentarily, to assess their size. It was an army, and they were headed straight for him.

  He turned to run south, away from them, when something struck the ground with the flash of a lightening bolt. He flew back, skidding into a sand dune. He rose slowly, panting with exhaustion. He could see her, shimmering with gold, a deadly, stone faced warrior emerging from the shadows and rising over the foothill. She glared at him from the distance, her slow, methodical steps bringing her closer. He stood up, looking for a way out as she approached her spear buried in the ground. The army was now near him, gathered to his left, yelling excitedly as they brandished their swords on their newly found prey. She held an arm in the air, warning them to stay clear.

  "Back!" she yelled.

  She pulleld the spear up, cleaning the dirt from its tip. She held it upright and pulled it back over her shoulder, her eyes focusing on her enemy, now surrounded. Fairfax stood, ready to jump to the side, waiting for her movement.

  "No!" came the voice. It was distant, from the west, behind Fairfax. Celia blinked, her concentration halted.

  "Stop!" it yelled, again, a light male voice. Seeing Celia relax her posture, Fairfax looked quickly behind him. There was light, a torch, fluttering through the sky from the west. He didn't need to stare long to know who it was.

  Marcus flew directly for Celia, his passenger wielding a torch directly into the tip of Celia's nose. She jerked her head back.

  "What is this?" she said, angrily, brushing Marcus back. She knew perfectly well what it was. Marcus swooped back and then moved towards her again. Genesee, in Marcus's hands, thrust the torch towards her face.

  "This is an order from Goetz!" he yelled. "You are not to touch him! Doing so endangers all of us!"

  Her eyes grew in magnitude and she pulled off her helmet as she cursed.

  "What???" she screamed. "He's the danger, not me!!"

  "I am telling you," Genesee replied, hanging form Marcus's arms. "You are ordered with the strictest words that you must cease!"

  Celia let out a ground shaking scream and all around covered their ears. She glowered at her husband who floated in the air, resilient in his command. There was a deeply tense moment as they all waited for her to back down or for existence to end by one means or another. Fairfax drew in a deep breath and held it.

  She stepped back, her eyes still on Genesee, her dark face turning a paler shade and her sternness melting. She was calculating something. It wasn't time for her to act.

  Fairfax let out his breath and collapsed onto the ground. the army let down their weapons and a slowly release of tension brought the world back into order.

  The Prisoner

  A seemingly endless number of fires dotted an isolated square of the desert. Around them more than a thousand men and women and beasts roamed, cooked, and prepared for the next step in the journey. This was Theo’s army, now commandeered by Geenseee, and ordered by him to wait by the foothills with their new prisoner.

  Fairfax was shackled at the ankles and chained to a post, giving a circle he could wander. Surrounded by the army, he had no where to escape. Celia used the curves of the foothills like a lounge, leaning against the hillside and watching Fairfax as she poured grava into her mouth from an enormous bowl. All of the titans needs and wants were being transported by a long train of workers that had been set by Genesee as soon as he had left; plates, silverware, and food, all came down the hill, carried by one person to another, a long snake that moved slowly across the desert. Curson and Atrios rested nearby, their conversation with Celia hidden in whispers.

  The tension in the camp was palpable. Martel and Eryck had found the camp shortly after Celia had stumbled into it. Eryck had been wordless, expecting that with Fairfax’s capture his own neck was soon to be cut. But Genesee was practical, not vengeful, no matter what Atrios wanted to do to him and his people. He offered him one option: Pledge your people’s allegiance to me and you may be allowed to go back home. The other option watched and waited for them. Eryck took the only choice, and together they protected the new prisoner from the same enemy.

  Genesee walked the camp followed by several bulters, all considerably dressed down from their usual outfits on The Hill. They carried mounds of papers with them, each sheet vital to the process that was needed to run the organization of the army.

  Genesee made his way from point to point, instructing people in their duties whether they cared to listen or not. Of his own people he had Spaulding, who did not care for Fairfax but had pledged his willingness to support Genesee. He left Celia and Curson and Atrios to their own for now, their looming presence threatening him from the hills.

  He approached Martel as she sat with Fairfax, layering grey and yellow balms on his skin. Genesee and his assistants watched her work for a moment.

  “We need to talk,” Genesee said. Martel looked up at him.

  "To him or me?"

  "Both."

  "Start with him," Martel said, nodding at Fairfax as she continued her work. Fairfax sighed and smiled weakly.

  “Let me star by saying that you are safe as long as you don’t leave this post."

  Fairfax moved his chained foot as if emphasizing this.

  "Where would I move to?" he cracked. "If I could."

  Eryck, sitting to the side of him, grunted. Genesee looked over to him and adjusted his glasses.

  "I have the assurances of your friend, here," he said.

  "Assured, I am," Eryck replied, standing up. "Assured that these here people will eat us like wolves.” He motioned to the three giants by the foothills.

  "They won't attack," Genesee said. "It would be suicidal."

  "Then why they here?"

  "Waiting," Genesee said. "For a chance that won't come."

  "Because we are going to protect Fairfax all the way back to The Hill?" Martel asked, looking up at Genesee.

  "Exactly."

  "How?" Martel sniffed.

  "Spaulding is here as well as Eryck's extremely capable people. What's more, we will be bringing more troops down from the The Hill."

  "What troops?" Martel asked. "Theo has them all."

  Genesee glared at Martel and she looked away, knowing now was not the time. Genesee looked to Fairfax.

  "We will be able to protect you at The Hill. You'l have your own cell and private area..."

  "Cell?" said Fairfax.

  "To protect you from others and from yourself. When things are disrupted it is normal for people to act out. It's important for you to know who is on your side and who isn't."

  "And who is and who isn’t?"

  Genesee’s eyes turned sharp and leaned down towards Fairfax.

  “You are on a knife’s edge with everyone, child,” he said, as Fairfax looked away. “Everyone person you see is here because you not a single of them is happy about it. The only thing between you and everyone else is me, so you’d better hope I don’t find you displeasing, understood?”

  “Yes,” Fairfax muttered. Genesee looked to Eryck.

  “Your people are mine until further notice. When I don’t need them I will decide what to do with them.”

  “They want to go home…”

  “If they are allowed they will go home with restrictions. Until then, they walk with us and they surround and protect this one.”

  Eryck grimaced at Genesee but let his head nod once before tilting it towards Celia.

  “She’s not going to stay still.”

  Genesee glanced at Martel, who looked up at him, curious to hear what his response would be.

  “Count on that,” Genesee replied bluntly.

  "I have a request,” Fairfax said. Genesee looked down at him inquisitively.

  Sophi was brought to him quickly, escorted by a guard who led her to his area. When she heard his voice she ran immediately to him, latching on to his thick chest. He wrapped his arms around her and lay there, tears coming to his eyes. When he looked again he sa
w another tearful set of eyes staring at him from over her shoulder. Fairfax rose slowly to his feet, his manacles clanging against the ground.

  "I'm so sorry Bern."

  Fairfax held a hand out to him but Bern declined, shaking his head and walking to the side where Fairfax couldn't see his face. Sophi clutched Fairfax's waist as she listened, lightly caressing his sides.

  "I wouldn’t have asked you to come if I knew she was coming," Fairfax said, as way of explanation for his sorrow. “I shouldn’t have asked you to come.”

  "It.. wasn't your fault," Bern choked out. "She wasn't supposed to come to the town. I don't know why..."

  “I knew she was following you," Fairfax replied, “but I thought…”

  He looked down at Sophi. Her dark eyes opened slightly.

  “What did you think?” Bern said, his back still to him.

  “I should have left immediately,” he said. “I didn’t think other people would be hurt.”

  “But they were hurt…” Bern said.

  Sophi loosened her grip and relaxed into a sitting position next to Fairfax.

  “She wants to ask,” Sophi said, “why do other people apologize for what Celia does.”

  Bern turned around and looked at Sophi, then to Fairfax.

  “That’s Vivian talking through her,” Fairfax explained.

  “I see…”

  “You should have left when I told you,” she scolded Fairfax.

  “I wasn’t ready.”

  “And you led them right to him,” she said to Bern.

  “I didn’t know…

  “Now you both know, and you came out of this remarkably well.”

  “‘Well?” Repeated Bern incredulously. “What do you consider bad?”

  “How about would have been better?” The voice said through Sophi. “If you did not bring your wife with you. If Fairfax hadn’t hidden, and if he had gone out and fought Celia away from the town like I told him to.”

  Bern and Fairfax looked at each other. Fairfax looked down at Sophi. His senses were confused; he couldn’t differentiate the stern tone of the entity coming through her and the innocent face of the person looking at him.