Seasons Within Box Set

by Lele Iturrioz

  Chapter 25

  Decisions and Doubts

  IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, when the hotel was quiet for the night, key team members made their way through the hallway up to the room where the weapons were stored. Hunter knocked on the door.

  Donovan opened the door, slowly, checking to make sure Hunter and Veter were the only ones around. Satisfied, he opened the door wider making room for them to pass.

  “Is everything in order?” Edan asked with his arms crossed.

  “Gaia and Priyam are watching a movie, Synthia is sleeping and Icarus and Pink are making sure they stay that way.” With one swing, Hunter sat on top of the wooden counter.

  Veter took a seat next to Shui on the bed. “What is going on, Kapetan?” He held Shui’s hand and placed it on his knee.

  “In a few hours we leave for the bus station and we need to be extra prepared. I don’t know for sure, but something is definitely not right,” said Edan. “For starters, we haven’t had any sightings of Darklings or beasts.”

  “I don’t see the problem in that,” said Willow. “Didn’t we plan this trip as a diversion for exactly that reason?”

  “We sure did.” Floyd double checked the door was locked. “We traveled to a sketchy place to avoid detection. This should be good, Boss.”

  “If we were alone that would be the case. However, we are traveling with The Marked One.” Edan leaned forward supporting himself by placing both hands on top of the desk. “Azazel can feel the mark. That alone should have a few of them scouting the area.”

  “They should, but I’m not sensing anything of danger near us,” Hunter signaled.

  “What if the mark stopped working?” asked Veter.

  Shui shook her head. “Impossible, we tried everything before. Even Mor did her best to help. The mark’s forever.”

  Willow scratched her freckled nose, something she did when she was fearful. “You think Azazel is planning something by holding off his attack?”

  “I do. Terrians tend to see Azazel as an irrational source of anger and evil. They can only conceive the idea of destruction when it comes to Him. They forget who he is, who he was.” Edan paced around the room. “Azazel is the youngest Terrian to ever get into parliament. He was the one who discovered Le Gardien de la Vie, and he single-handedly created the dark beast and an entire city. He always has a plan. He is always prepared.”

  “What are we going to do then?” Shui patted Veter’s knee.

  “Keep an eye open at all times. We will never be truly safe until Gaia’s Resurgence.” Edan twitched at a sharp sting on his hurt shoulder. The memory of Gaia trapped by his arms gasping against his chest crept inside his mind. His face blushed.

  “Is the tonic still working?” Donovan had a massive grin on his face.

  “Not the same way. I’m mostly nauseous. Which brings me to our other problem: Synthia.”

  “She’s always been a problem,” Floyd laughed.

  “She was merely irritating,” said Edan. “Now, she’s turning into a major problem. Donovan and I have tried to follow her trail but somehow we can’t get it.”

  “You think she’ll try the tonic once again?” Hunter signaled.

  “No. This is more than the tonic.” Edan sat on the desk. “I think Synthia restarted Gaia’s fire back at the camp.” He took a deep breath before what came next. “Veter, I’m sure she left Shui to die.”

  “What?” Veter stood up. His expression hardened, his hand curled into a fist and the wind around the hotel became wild.

  “No. Not possible. Baby relax. It’s fine now,” Shui tried to calm Veter down. She failed. His fingers curled into two strong fists and his childish smile vanished into a hard, deadly expression.

  “I’m going to kill her,” he hissed and a tornado began to form near the hotel.

  “Baby, stop this!” Shui begged. The windows shook so hard they almost shattered into pieces. “Edan.” Her black eyes stared at Edan with fear.

  “Veter, stop it.” Edan walked closer to his friend but Veter didn’t stop. “Shui, move.” She did and the tornado grew stronger. “Veter! That’s enough.” Edan punched Veter on his chest so hard, the Viking man fell backwards until his back hit the wall. Within seconds, Edan was pressing him to the wall with his palm. “Calm the fuck down.”

  On that command, Veter’s hard expression softened back to normal. The tornado dissolved and the sun came back. “Apologies, Kapetan.”

  Edan nodded. He would’ve done worse if this was about Gaia. He moved away from Veter and let Shui get back to calming her match.

  “Edan,” Willow called. “She’s dim but not evil.”

  “She is,” Edan responded. “I confirmed it with Mor. The mark is enhancing Synthia’s twisted personality. Before the mark she was an entitled bully. Priyam talked about how in high school everything had to be about her; she didn’t care who she hurt, betrayed or stepped on as long as she got what she wanted. She’s the same now, only exponentially worse.” His jaw clenched. “I can’t help but think she’s planning something mental.”

  Shui pulled Veter closer to her. She caressed his arm calming him down. “What are your orders concerning Synthia?”

  “Keep an eye on everything she does,” he said. “Never let her be alone. I thought we had enough security with Donovan and me, but somehow, she keeps getting ahead. I think the mark or something could be hiding her from us.”

  Willow noticed Edan seemed to be holding back. “What would you really want us to do?”

  Edan looked at Willow. “You know the answer to that question,” he said with no trace of remorse in his voice.

  “Why don’t we?” Floyd stopped sharpening a thin blade. “What happens the next time she lights a room or something else on fire to get male attention? What happens if I’m not there to protect Priyam? Or Edan to save Shui? Or any one of us when she puts Gaia in danger?”

  “I think about that every day,” Edan confessed. He was composed yet it was visible his body was as tense as his thoughts were stuck in that moment.

  “Stop.” Hunter jumped from the dresser. “We don’t murder humans, Edan.”

  “I agree with Hunter,” said Shui.

  Veter lost it. “She left you to die alone, Blueberry!”

  “She was scared.”

  “She’s malicious!”

  “Hey,” Willow called, to get everyone’s attention. “We don’t have to do anything to her,” she added. “We can simply leave her behind. Nature will take care of her fate.”

  Edan thought about that possibility for a few seconds. He sighed while scratching the back of his neck. “Gaia would never let it.”

  “Then tell her all of this.” Donovan shrugged his shoulders. “Tell her everything that Synthia has done.”

  “Yeah, good luck with that.” Willow’s mouth curved into a smile. “That girl sees goodness in Draaks.”

  “Until they took Edan.” Floyd laughed out loud.

  Awe transformed Donovan’s face. “That’s—”

  “Inappropriate?” asked Shui.

  “I was actually going to say that Floyd’s comment might be a great idea.”

  Floyd’s mouth fell open. “Have Edan taken by a Draak?”

  “No, idiot.” Donovan laughed. “To have Synthia attack Edan. Gaia sees good in everyone but she would never risk our safety.”

  “We can’t do that. Gaia’s pure. Her humanity is one of her greatest qualities.” Edan clenched his fist. “You all know what can happen if we take that away and corrupt her essence.”

  They all knew. And by the looks on their faces, it was far from something good.

  Edan checked the time. It was getting late. “Get ready for departure. We’ll meet in the lobby in an hour.”

  As the rest left to get ready, Donovan stayed behind with Edan. “This is bad,” Donovan broke the silence.

  “If we don’t figure it out in time, it will be.” Edan passed his palm over his hurt shoulder. He could still see the red shape of her finge
rs against his skin. Gaia…

  * * *

  Gaia took a deep breath, holding it for a brief moment before releasing it. Her eyes were closed, still she could sense, smell, and hear everything. She could feel the warm thick breeze hitting her bare arms and legs. She could feel the soft sand shifting underneath her feet and toes. She could smell the salt on the sea, the sweetness on the flowers, the dinner buffet the hotel was serving a few yards away. Above all, she could hear it, a heartbeat.

  Gaia focused her attention on the heartbeat. She searched for the mineral ions in it. She switched to the proteins of the muscles. Come here, she curled her fingers wielding them.

  “I can still feel it,” said Pratt, forcing Gaia to open her big gray eyes.

  “This is impossible.” Gaia sat on the sand. It was her tenth attempt and there was no improvement whatsoever. “How can I wield someone without them feeling it? I can’t do that.”

  “You have to.” Pratt lay down alongside her. “What do you think is going to happen if He realizes you are wielding him?”

  “Murder me and the entire human race?” she goofed around, tired of concentrating so hard for so long.

  “I’m not so sure about the murdering you part.” He opened his arms wide, stretching his recently wielded muscles. “But you can definitely count on the killing of the humans.”

  “I’ll miss your sarcastic jokes in Terra.” Exhausted, she closed her eyes again.

  “I’ll miss that goodie two-shoes side of you.”

  Gaia laughed. “How do you know what that means?”

  “Not all of us lived under a rock.” He crossed his arms over his head. “Are you leaving tonight?”

  “Yes.” She opened her eyes, staring straight at him. “Pratt… what am I going to do? If you can feel it, he will definitely feel it.”

  “Like with all things in both worlds,” he stood up, “no one’s born an expert. Practice is what turns you into one.”

  “Practice how?” Her high level of impatience caused her voice to rise. “I don’t know if I can escape to Terra to practice with you.”

  “Practice with them,” Pratt suggested. “Start with the dim one, she would feel it but never make the connection.”

  “Practice on my friends?” Gaia remembered her dream. She hated it, every second of it. “I can’t do that. Not to them.”

  “Low blow, Princess.” He turned and walked away from the hotel.

  “That’s not what I meant,” she followed. “You’re also my friend, the difference is that you know I’m wielding you. They wouldn’t, I would be doing it behind their backs and I don’t want that.” She thought back and remembered how much she hated the feeling of wielding Synthia. The face she made after feeling her muscles bending to a different side. She couldn’t do that to her friends, not unwillingly. Willingly… the idea of them knowing and helping her was so much different.

  Just like she was practicing Nature’s Communion with Pratt, wielding him never felt bad because she had his consent. “Unless I tell them I’m training. If I tell them, it wouldn’t be taking their free will. It will turn into this, just training.”

  “Don’t!” Pratt twitched, and his eyes flashed with anxiety. “They’ll know you’re with me.”

  There it goes, the same excuse he gives. Every single time. “They probably won’t care by now, after the Draak and helping me save Edan? I don’t see why they wouldn’t be okay with this.”

  “You know what? You’re right,” he said, putting his hands in his pockets. “You should go tell your match how you’ve been lying to him for months.”

  “He’ll understand,” she said, not knowing if she was trying to convince him or herself.

  “For sure,” Pratt laughed. “I’m sure he’s one of those Terrians who understands what it is to be protecting someone while that someone escapes every few days to train in something he thinks that someone’s not ready to know yet.” He stopped walking. He had gone as far as he could go without being detected by Edan or the rest. “I’m completely sure he’ll keep trusting you after this.”

  Remorse. That was the word that described everything that Gaia was feeling at that moment. Her decision of meeting with Pratt started out of pure curiosity about her past, only it evolved into her needing to learn how to protect the ones she loved. Defeating Azazel was not going to be an easy task. She knew she needed to start making hard decisions, to start acting as Mother Nature would.

  “I’ll do it.”

  Chapter 26

  Bad Company

  AT NIGHT, the group left the hotel. They walked their way to the bus station through the town until they reached a mob, dancing on the beach. The music was loud, hundreds of people danced and jumped to the beat.

  Edan glared at the rave. “That’s the way to the bus station?” he asked. Hunter nodded. “You’ve got to be kidding.” Edan hated every second of it.

  “We can go around it,” proposed the wild teen.

  “No can do,” Priyam joined the talk. She was already wearing a yellow neon necklace. “Friendly guy over there said this rave takes the whole street. We’d have to return to the hotel and go the long way.”

  “We don’t have time for the long way.” Edan drew out a breath.

  “We can just go through.” Hunter signaled.

  “Stay close.” Edan took a sparkling drink from Synthia’s hands. “No one drinks.”

  “It reminds me of Emberdale.” Donovan patted his best friend’s back. “I’m sure you won’t fit in,” he laughed.

  “I’m sure you are right.”

  Synthia gasped with excitement. “OMG! Maybe not you, but I love this place.” She ran into the crowd.

  “Go that direction.” Edan pointed north. “I’ll get Synthia. Red, you are coming with me.”

  The group followed instructions and made their way through the least crowded area. “I still have a few sleeping darts,” Pink whispered to her twin and they both laughed.

  “Pink you need to stop knocking her unconscious,” Hunter signaled.

  “It works every time.” She grinned.

  “I’m up for that,” Donovan laughed, siding with the twin. “Although we need her awake for the plan.”

  Priyam stopped walking/dancing. “What plan?”

  “Nothing.” Donovan did a poor job on covering his slip. He tried to escape but there was no place to hide from her.

  “Too late. Spill it.” Priyam cornered him.

  “Kapetan thinks the mark’s enhancing Synthia’s ‘peculiar’ personality.” Veter checked his surroundings. “He thinks the fire wasn’t Gaia’s fault.”

  “Yeah I thought so too,” Priyam added. “Is that why he’s been so nice to the she-devil?"

  “Aye.” Floyd moonwalked. “He thought she might feel relaxed and act upon her mark, only, right now… we have a bigger problem.”

  “Bigger than Synthia?” Priyam laughed at the irony.

  “Much bigger.” Floyd pointed at the far left of the rave. There where ten men in hoodies. Their faces partially covered by the hood.

  “Darklings.” Donovan grimaced. “We have to go tell Edan.”

  Veter waved towards Edan, Gaia and Synthia, who were on their way to the join the group. “Kapetan, we have a problem.” Edan turned and saw the Darklings. “Do you think this was the Azazel’s plan you talked about?” He spoke low enough to prevent Synthia from hearing. Not that she would. That girl was in her own world at the moment.

  “Wouldn’t know.” Edan calculated the outcome. “This could potentially end up with hundreds of human casualties but I don’t see the point beyond that.”

  “What do we do?” Willow asked.

  “We need to speed up,” Edan said. “They can’t take Gaia.”

  “Take me?” Gaia managed to hear. Why would they take me?

  “Kill you.” Edan changed his choice of words. “They can’t kill Gaia.”

  “We can’t leave now,” Gaia held Edan’s hand. “They’ll kill all of these people.” Sh
e couldn’t bear to leave all those humans in danger.

  Edan stared at Gaia for a moment. “Then we finish them. Fast.”

  “How?” Willow looked at the crowd. It would be impossible to save them all. “This place is filled with humans, if we start a fight in here the casualty level will be the same as if we leave.”

  “We’ll just have to do it quietly.” Floyd passed his hand over the small ponytails at the back of his blond Mohawk. “Watch and learn.”

  The DJ turned up the beat and the crowd danced and jumped, allowing Floyd to walk smoothly towards the two Darklings. He grabbed an ashtray from a table and threw it at the first Darkling’s face. The second Darkling turned and was pounded in the face by Floyd’s hand landing the beast on the floor. Floyd pinned the darkling against the floor by pressing his knee on the Darkling’s neck, took out a small dagger from his boot and threw it at the first Darklings’ heart. Pink caught the dead Darkling and sat him on the nearest chair in order to conceal him from the crowd. She took the knife back and threw it to Floyd who caught it and used it to stab the second Darkling. He sat the second darkling on a couch and placed a beer in his hand.

  Willow slapped his head. “What the hell are you doing?”

  “Props?”

  “I still can’t believe Nana called him smarty.” Pink scratched her head.

  “Eight to go,” Edan pointed at the rest. “Divide. Hunter, go with Gaia.”

  “Where are you going?” Donovan stopped him.

  “I need to make sure Synthia has nothing to do with this.” Edan turned to Synthia. Unlike the rest, her face was filled with excitement instead of alertness. She was only interested in the dancing guy with the baseball cap. “She seems awfully used to looking at a Darkling’s face.”

  Following the strategy, they all walked deeper into the crowd. Gaia snuck into the section of palm trees making sure she was seen by three Darklings. Taking the bait, one of them made a sign and they all walked towards her.

  The Darkling got close to Gaia. Hunter came around from a tree and pushed the Darkling against its trunk. He took out his knife and stabbed it. The second Darkling attacked Hunter from the behind. It grabbed him by the neck and pulled him. Hunter grabbed the Darkling’s forearm with both hands. He jumped, taking him down.