Geo glared at her. She smirked before going into the shaman's room. He closed the door behind her as Ollie approached the woman, who was sitting in her cushy recliner, watching her wide-screen TV in the sitting area.
"Reality TV. Have I ever told you how I find it demeaning?" she mentioned as Ollie went to a loveseat that sat near the recliner.
"Only when you watch it." Which wasn't often. She didn't watch much TV. The visions in her head probably provided her with all the entertainment she'd ever need.
"Yes, well, it is far more real than that animation you and O-no seem to delight in. But what can be said about real anyway?" She shook her head before turning her eyes to Ollie's face. Her long silver hair covered her shoulders, making her look royal. Her brown eyes were slightly lighter than normal, which meant she was currently using her power. Sometimes it was the seal that stirred and moved when the powers were being used, but in the most enlightened, the eyes would react as well. She thought of the silver of Granger's eyes.
"He is fascinating, isn't he? I have found myself wondering why he does not compete for Oracle, when clearly he would be the optimal choice. I think I will ask him when I'm finished with you." Mama smiled. "Beautiful Ollie, you hold back for their sake. It is not your nature. It goes against you and causes you pain, but still you want to ease them. My dearest child of the Order, don't you realize you will only cause more pain?"
Ollie's heart skipped. The woman never spoke openly of such things, but she always knew… everything. "Mama, I'm not sure what I should do." Ollie began to tremble.
"You have a knack for knowing, when it is not your ability. And yet you know. But I will warn you and give you some advice. First, don't cling to warnings. It will only hold you back." She smiled, and Ollie laughed. "And for some advice--do what you do best. Though they may frown, the truth will make them smile." A riddle. Oh, joy.
"Yes, ma'am."
"You will not ask what it means?"
Like you'll tell me, Ollie thought.
"Good girl." The shaman held out her arms. "Now, give me some sugar." Ollie grinned as she went to the woman, hugging her and kissing her on the cheek. "And send in that handsome possessor, please," she said, turning back to the TV.
Mama's words flowed into Ollie's head before she left. The hand left un-bruised and unused is the hand that knows no pain. But when pain comes, the hand will be useless. Always move forward. Leave lingerers behind.
()()()
Ellis's eyes were a spotlight on Granger as he waited for Ollie to leave the room. Geo had told him that Ellis was protective, and he had seen it firsthand in Ollie's memories, but this was damned annoying. Ellis had nothing to fear from him as long as he kept himself together.
Granger's focus stayed on the chess game in front of him. Miko and Bones like pros; it was almost as good as Geo and Ellis's game. But it was clear that the seven-year-old girl was going to take this game. Her movements were too cutthroat and methodical. She even used her telekinetic powers to knock the boy's captured pieces off the board, like they were meaningless. Despite the fact that she had grown up under a house full of Sun, she was truly a Heart kind of girl. Or maybe it was Ollie's influence. The kid had as few inhibitions as Ollie.
After having read the girl, he noticed how much pain she had gone through in her young life. Her mother and her mother's boyfriend had been shot down in front of her eyes when she was four. And though Miko was spared, she was scarred with those memories.
He could see her staring off into space in the orphanage, playing the events over and over in her head, until a wild-haired woman came to visit. Do you know what the hardest part is, kid? Ollie had asked the girl after adopting her from a Brazilian orphanage. The hardest part is seeing it over and over and not being able to do a damn thing about it. This came after another nightmare, one of many. There's nothing you can do about it now. It is out of your hands. Done and over. Be damned if you let it control you. You control it. How? Live, laugh, cry, yell, scream, fight with a passion for the things that are important to you, and tell those memories to stay in check or kiss your ass.
Granger laughed, and Ollie approached him with wonder in her eyes. Of course she wanted to know what he was laughing about. Then again, so did Ellis.
Mama said get your sexy ass in there. He picked up her thoughts before narrowing his eyes.
"She didn't say that," Granger said.
"Close enough." Ollie giggled, smacking him on his ass. Granger shook off the humiliation as the room began to chuckle. Joc didn't laugh, though, nor did Ellis. Ollie really needed to learn some restraint.
Granger walked across the room, feeling eyes on him. They weren't exactly sure that they wanted a soul possessor in their mother's room. All except Ollie, who had no worry at all.
"Would y'all cut it out?" she shouted. "I swear, the man ain't a leper. Ma is more than capable of handling herself, and if not, I'll put a bullet in his head, okay?"
She really needs to learn restraint, Granger thought, walking into the room. Geo shut the door behind him.
"She is delightful, isn't she?" The Oracle laughed from her recliner.
Delightful? It depended on what the woman considered delightful.
"You are correct. It is all in the eye of the beholder."
Granger chuckled. The woman was powerful; it was just hard to really imagine being in her presence.
Studying at the Temple of Enlightenment several years ago, gave him insight on how her powers worked. Yet experiencing it firsthand was completely different.
The Oracle was the strongest person in the Structure because she had abilities that connected her to every individual in the Structure. Most people didn't know it but her abilities were much like Granger's soul possession, without the possession. Before the internet, the Oracle communicated Structure events and business telepathically on a periodic basis. Each report only came in dream form during natural sleep. But after the development of the internet was created, the telepathic feeds slowed to an annual report. The Oracle then only communicated to those without access, monthly.
Though Blade was responsible for keeping the Code of Silence enforced, it was believed that the Oracle was the reason no seal-less ever found out about the Structure. One myth claims that an Oracle's power can keep the seal-less' minds clouded from the truth. Another myth tells that if any knowledge is leaked to the seal-less, the Oracle would know and wipe any knowledge from the seal-less' minds without ever having to come face to face with them. No one knew the complete truth and no Oracle ever spoke of such things.
But as the saying goes, all myths are based on some truth.
Granger glanced around the huge room. A king-size bed was the centerpiece of one side of the room. A large quilt with intricate designs was displayed across the bed. The room was earthy with reds, browns, and golds, making it feel warm and tribal in nature--a reminder of her Choctaw ancestry. Each piece of furniture in her sitting area--her leather recliner, the two leather loveseats facing each other, and the TV--sat around a large hand-woven rug with images of nature, tribal folk, and animals. There was a story in the rug.
On the huge TV screen on the other side of the room was a reality television show, the last thing he expected someone of her age to be watching. Then again, she wasn't really watching it. Halfway around the world, she was checking on her son in Germany.
It is not wise to spy on someone who is more powerful than you are. The woman waved her hand for him to come closer. He walked to the sitting area. But then you already knew I would know you were prying. Her thoughts were so clear in his head that he half-believed he were not merely hearing them, but that she was feeding them to him instead. Please have a seat. She motioned to the floor before him. As he approached, he looked down at the rug. You have seen that before, haven't you?
Her question was knowing, so he didn't need to answer. The rug was an exact copy of the mosaic tile mural displayed in the Temple of Enlightenment. The temple was the main construct of the Stru
cture, shrouded in the one of the oldest energy fields. It sat on an island in the Indian Ocean; most of the Structure knew about it, but only a few had ever seen it. As a House prodigy, Granger had gotten a rare glimpse of the spectacular feat of architecture that had been standing long before the Tower of Babel was ever envisioned.
The mural was the story of the origin and foundation of the Structure itself.
Very good. What is the story, Augustus?
"The first tribe to awaken, a large tribal nation that sought higher spirituality, learned the ways of energy and of the universe. They saw the workings of energy and of self. They began a journey toward becoming one with one another and the energy that sustains all that exists. Seeking enlightenment, they began forsaking environmental energy manipulation as they realized that the potential for greatness came by unifying self-energy with the surrounding eternal energy. Learning at levels like a staircase, the Structure was born. Originally there were seven Houses, focusing on the seven fundamentals of self-energy--mind, body, emotion, spirit, harmony, life, and nature. The founders found that with great power comes great corruption, so they developed an anomaly in the gene sequence to safeguard against the abuse of power, naming it the seal. For the seal to grow and enlightenment to take place, those recognized by the Structure must adhere to the understanding of themselves and consider all things around them."
The Oracle cut him off. "Don't you find that fascinating? We, as a civilization, are more evolved than the seal-less, yet we have not truly reached enlightenment. We are no better than the seal-less. We were more enlightened then than we are now. If we cannot have power without the responsibility, we would rather not." She smiled at him.
She had brought up a very good point that he had wondered about many times before. How come few in their history ever went forward toward enlightenment? The price of enlightenment was patience, self-realization, understanding connectivity, and responsibility. But no matter how different those in the Structure might be from other humans, they themselves were still human. Many settled for mediocrity, others feared their own potential, and several feared failure. And as a whole, they were still caught up in negative elements such as hate, power, and war.
"Right. You truly have earned the enlightenment you have achieved." She grinned as he finally sat down on the rug. She took a cigarette from the table next to her and lit it. She began to smoke it quietly as she watched the TV. Granger didn't want to interrupt her, because of her position and power, but he wondered if she was done with him. No, not yet. Wait. He felt her thoughts as she smoked.
Though the woman wasn't guarded in the least, making it easy to read her, he found that Ollie was the only one he was interested in reading. There he was with the most important human on the planet, yet as he waited, his thoughts kept drifting to Ollie. He couldn't satisfy his curiosity about her. The more he went through her memories and learned about her, the more he appreciated her impulsiveness. It was her darker side that kept him curious, the side that was totally forbidden in the Structure. Such connections were considered treasonous and punishable by death in many instances. These were some of the same connections Granger shared, for which many people came to him. How was it that she was connected to them? Better yet, how was it that she knew George personally?
"Good question." The shaman put her cigarette in the ashtray on the table. "You have started something you cannot stop, Augustus. You have sought after a future that will create a struggle--and yet a future I have only dreamt of. But as the great Ollie once said, 'Possibilities. Endless.'" The woman had seen their conversation from earlier. He shouldn't be surprised, but then he wondered how much else she saw. She chuckled as she reached into a big pocket on her rose-covered housedress. She pulled out a round metal figure. It looked like several different symbols, each of a different type of metal, shaped individually and melded to make one round metal amulet. The blank areas in the amulet seemed to form another symbol altogether. "This is for you." She offered it to him.
When he took it, he felt as if he should be honored. He went to his knees and bowed to her.
"Stop that. It is just something to remind you of your goals and to encourage you." She grinned, but there was a glint in her eye that he couldn't get over.
"What is it?"
"I think the translation, in modern terms, is something like 'focus.' This will help you focus." She took in a slow, lulling breath. "Now I'm tired." Granger stood up to leave. "And Augustus, thank you for watching after our Moon."
He clinched his hand into a fist. Did he hear her right? Did she say …
She chuckled as smoke escaped her nostrils.
Her thoughts streamed into his mind. You deal with Moon on so many levels, earned their trust like so few have, and yet you do not truly know the House's nature. Do not worry. It will soon come to light. And she will be the torch to show you the way.
Don't let what you think you know cloud your judgment. Moon was wronged, and the House that now lies in the shadows is the one to carry the Structure.
Her eyes were bright with knowledge as smoke seeped from her lips. And her thoughts continued to play in his head.
They were once known as the House of Octarchy, did you know that? I wonder, why were they named that? Why get rid of the smallest and least powerful House in the entire system if they held no threat? Why is there fear associated with that name? So many questions.
Oh, and Granger, don't be afraid of death. With it comes balance.
()()()
12
Small village in northern Pará, Brazil
Leaning back in his chair, feet on the table, Paul twirled his pen in his fingertips as he waited for the next breeze to pass through the small pub's windows. It was hot as hell, and not the dry heat he was used to in Arizona, but the wet, sticky heat of tropical rain forests. And damn if it didn't rain, night and day. Happiness didn't begin to describe what he would feel when he finally got away from this place.
He gave up trying to concentrate on the translations sitting in a pile of papers under his boots as he waited for his appointment. A River company had contracted him to do some translations of a few artifacts in Brazil over a month ago. The work was almost finished, but he couldn't make sense of any of the information he had translated. He wondered why River wanted this information so bad.
He checked his watch again. Ameena was late. He sighed, waving to the barkeep for another beer. Paul came to this place often to get out of his hut. It had taken him three weeks to master Portuguese, and it had taken that long for the villagers to warm up to him.
Just as the beer was placed on his table, a jeep pulled up to the pub and parked. Paul's eyes followed the leggy Kenyan as she stepped out of the jeep wearing short shorts, a tank top, and boots. She was more than prepared for the weather. And he was glad that her preparations gave him a view of her nice legs.
She pulled a backpack out of the passenger-side seat before walking up to the front entrance. He hadn't seen the she-devil in almost a year, and now the record keeper was here, supposedly with big news.
She looked around the hut fashioned into a bar, scanning its ragged-looking clientele until she spotted him. She took a deep breath before strutting over to the table. The inner-locking circular pattern of her Sun seal could be seen on her left arm, looking more like a tattoo than the identifying House mark that it was suppose to be.
"Paul," she said, setting the bag on the tabletop. "How ah you?" Her eyes showed rings of sleeplessness. Her jaw was tight with distress, which was unusual for the troublemaker.
"What's going on, Ameena?" He wanted to know what had his favorite record keeper so stressed.
"Dema'io is dead. So ah Sam and Jo'ja. And dose ah just de ones in Sun."
Paul placed his feet on the floor, sat up, and leaned forward. "All of them …"
"Dead. Killed. Some say it's Demon's W'ath." Her hands began to shake. Paul slid his beer over to her. She took it and began to gulp as if it were water.
"Why?"
"We t'ought it had somet'ing to do wit' de O'acle." She paused, looking at her backpack.
"What?" The suspense was driving him crazy. He waved for another beer.
She went into her bag and took out a folder, handing it to him.
Paul took it and opened it, reading each page. Most of it was written in the old language. He was glad he'd studied the old language, or this would take an extremely long time to translate.
If what he was reading was correct, over ten thousand years ago, the Structure was not destroyed by the primitive seal-less tribes, but by a group inside the Structure--a small group of no more than ten people. That would mean the Structure had been destroyed from the inside out. And the leader of this group was named …
"Volorii." Paul started laughing. "This is a joke, right?" Volorii in the ancient language meant "void." It was believed that where there were people who embodied energy, there were people who were devoid of energy. But that was impossible; people needed energy to live. It was a zombie story used to scare kids in the Structure, just like Demon's …
He looked at Ameena, who was gripping the bottle. "If that is right, the void will come back and destroy the Structure again. Our very existence is in jeopardy."
"If dis is 'ight, de seal-less will suffah as well," she added.
It was believed long ago that the world could not exist without the Structure, and it was proven every time the Structure suffered some conflict. Mankind always advanced when the Structure experienced peace, but when the Structure struggled, so did the rest of the world. They might be a small civilization, but they were pivotal to mankind's survival.
"Dis is why dey weh being killed. All de seeahs, 'ecod keepahs, anyone who knows anyt'ing about dis is being killed. If dis is Moon behind de killings, den dey ah allowing dis to happen."
Maybe the rumors about Moon were right. Did they really want the Structure destroyed?
Children of Sun (Oracle's Legacy) Page 18