I mean, no, but she is responsible for your creation.
“I perform many things for Mother, but I will not falsify her intentions or actions, at least not with you. Please permit me that.”
Sure thing Hobb. You are right though, this is getting me nowhere closer to this girl and back home. I can probably pull off being a relative of hers, even if we do not look alike. That will at least give me access to see her so I can talk to her. From there it is just a matter of trying to relate to her.
“Because Air Affinities have never been known to manifest a Demolitionist ability, it is still being called into question whether she is truly responsible. She may not be what everyone makes her out to be. Because of the potential danger however, she is not being held with a family and is instead in state housing with other children. No other incidents have been reported.”
I would rather not deal with child services directly, but I think this alias will hold up well enough so there is no suspicion. It would be so much easier if I could just shift my face to its aqueous form to hide my identity, but that would be even more of a red flag.
“Alas, it seems this type of infiltration is not suited to your skill set.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence Hobb.
“I am always happy to assist.”
Ass…
Flipping the light switch, another luxury of Sophangence he failed to realize he had, he climbs into the bed for a night of sleep. In the morning he sets out with the intention of buying new clothes for himself. Keeping true to his word, he allowed Hobb to make most of the decisions about his future clothes purchases. He also appreciated Hobb checking specifically for French and German fashion trends so he could blend in more.
Once his shopping trip was done, he grabbed a quick breakfast and returned to the hotel to drop off his new packages. At first he felt a little guilty to have gone on a small shopping spree with Ixnes’ money, even if much of it was at the behest of Hobb. When he thought about it more though, he could not see Ixnes being upset with him obtaining new clothing, and also it was not his fault she sent him in woefully unprepared.
When he found his way to the center that was holding the girl, he let them know he was a relative that had a change of heart about leaving her alone without anyone. To his surprise the man he was speaking to seemed to be surprised and overjoyed at the same time.
“This is absolutely fantastic. Seles is a sweet girl, but we have been worried about her… situation. It seems you all had a big family meeting and you are now coming to show support. This is wonderful. Because you are speaking German, I guess you live on the other side of the border. If you plan on taking Seles to Germany, there will be many more forms and processes to go through. How are you related to the woman she is with now?”
This immediately caused Anaar panic, his face wanting to betray the sense of dread he was feeling. “I’m sorry, she is with someone now?”
“Oh yes! I thought you knew! Her aunt has been coming every day for about a week. I was worried when the girl did not seem the most receptive to her, but with you here, this will no doubt give her some comfort in knowing she has not been abandoned.”
Smiling a heart melting toothy smile at the man, “We really have been trying our best to come to terms with everything. Slowly but surely, we have been making progress. Can you please take me to where they are? No need to introduce me, I want to surprise her.”
“Absolutely! I can already tell you will be able to make a much better impression on her. Her aunt seemed quite frigid, but forgive me! I do not mean to speak ill of your family!”
Shaking his head and giving him a dismissive hand wave, “Think nothing of it. That tells me all I need to know, I am sure I know who it is you are talking about.”
When brought to the area outside where the two were sitting, Anaar gives the man a nod, letting him know things were fine and he would take it from there. Creeping closer but not revealing himself he makes sure he is in earshot to hear the conversation.
Hobb, it seems like it is time to put your theory to work about translation. I need to have this not only translated, but recorded. I’d like to know who I am up against.
“Affirmative.”
Continuing to surveil the two, he listens in to their conversation intently. The girl, no doubt Seles, was of a medium-dark complexion, thin, with a number of barrettes in her short curly hair in an attempt at a style. Anaar could tell by her expression she was not particularly pleased with the woman’s presence, and her body language was very closed off.
From the looks of it, the woman could easily pass for the girl’s mother. She was smiling profusely and did her best to make physical contact with the girl, every time Seles shying away. With how closely resembling the girl the woman was, Anaar could not help but get the feeling he was faced with an impossible task. If she was so resistant to someone who looked like her, and had spent days visiting, how was he supposed to gain the small girl’s trust?
“Now sweetheart that is not nice, Auntie Helen just wants to make sure you are doing ok. Every time I come here you get colder and colder. That’s not the way good little girls behave now is it? Don’t you want to come live with me? It is so much better than being here right?”
“I don’t know you. I don’t have an Auntie Helen. I keep telling you that.”
“Honey we have been through this many times, your mommy and I did not talk much because I was very busy with work. I am sorry I have not been there, but I have to make it up to you and honor my sister’s wishes. I may be your auntie, but I am also your godmother. Do you know what that is?”
The girl shakes her head indicating she did not understand what the woman was saying.
“That means I made a promise to your mommy and daddy, that if anything ever happened to them, I would always take care of you. The nice people here say that I cannot simply take you right now because you have been through some bad things. They want to keep working with you to help you through them. They said you can come live with me much sooner though if you agree to come along. We will have so much fun!”
The girl shuts down on the woman, refusing to say anything else. Seeing she will be getting no further, she returns to the administration to tell them she will return, asking to let the girl continue to get some air since she is upset. When it seems the coast is clear, Anaar very calmly walks up to the girl and sits next to her on the bench. He does not look at her and simply stares ahead without saying anything. For a while the girl does the same, but after a time she cannot help but look at the large newcomer with curiosity.
Somewhat shy, she taps Anaar on the arm to get his attention. “What’s your name mister?”
Faced with the girl speaking French, Anaar at first feels he would try to respond in turn with Hobb’s help, but instead he tries something different. Speaking in German he responds to the girl.
“Do you speak German?”
She gives him a small nod, then responds in turn with an accent but clear intelligible German. “Yes.”
Wondering if the next would be true, he tries again, “What about English?”
This time the girl seemed much more hesitant, as if she was trying to formulate the words properly, but finally she nods slightly. “A little.”
Returning to German, “Good my name is Fran… My name is Anaar. What is your name?”
“My name is Seles. Why are you here?”
Giving her a small chuckle, “Is that how you start talking to everyone Seles? By asking who they are and why they are here?”
“Lots of people have come to see me lately. They say they know my mom and dad.”
“Is that what you are expecting me to say?”
“I don’t know. You seem different from them.”
“That might not be exactly true Seles. Honestly, I don’t know what I am. I also don’t know what these people who have come to visit you are. I am just somebody sitting on a bench.”
“It’s ok if you sit here.”
“W
ell I appreciate it Seles, but since I was already sitting here, there was not much you could do to make me leave.”
“I could scream.”
“True. Do I scare you?”
“No. Not like the other people.”
“Have you screamed when the other people came to see you?”
“Only once. There was another man. He wanted to know about what happened to my parents.”
“What did happen to your parents? Are they ok? I don’t think you would be here if they were.”
“They got hurt real bad. The people here say they are not coming back. I know sick people need time to get better, but why wouldn’t they come back to get me?”
Feeling the weight of the conversation, Anaar had not expected the girl to be so forthcoming with him. He had run through many scenarios how it would play out, but none of them included explaining to the girl within minutes of meeting that her parents were dead, and she was responsible. He did not know exactly how to respond to the girl, so he simply sat in silence for a few moments.
“Thank you.”
When he heard the girl’s words, he was surprised. “For what?”
“For not telling me the same thing the other people told me.”
“What did they tell you?”
“They said mommy and daddy needed to go away so they left me with them. But they would never leave me, I know it!”
“I don’t think they would leave you either, but sometimes things happen and we don’t have a choice in what we do. Do you understand?”
“So you are saying they left me, but they didn’t want to?”
“I think they loved you, but I don’t think they left you. You want to know why?”
They girl nods quietly.
Pointing to her chest, “Because even if you can’t see them, they will always be right here. So you don’t have to worry about them ever leaving you.”
“But if I can’t see them anymore what is the point?”
Shrugging, “I don’t know, but at least for me, it would help remind me I am not alone.”
“It’s scary being alone.”
Turning to face forward, his mind drifting to other thoughts, he solemnly nods, “It sure is.”
Soon a woman appeared letting Seles know it was time to go back inside. As she got up to leave, she turned back to Anaar for a moment. “Are you going to come back?”
“Do you want me to?”
Thinking for a moment, she gives a slight smile and then nods.
“Ok then Seles, I’ll come back to see you, only if it is okay with you.”
With a wave of her hand she runs to the woman who had been beckoning her and disappears inside. With the girl gone, he lets out a heavy sigh, not sure if this would take days or months, but definitely feeling sorry for the little girl. It seemed she did not fully comprehend her situation, and it felt staggering to be tasked with helping her come to terms with it.
Leaving the facility, Anaar found he had nothing else better to do other than check out the city. He checked in with Maggie, just to let her know he was not in danger, and he wondered how Phavian was doing. Finding a nice looking bakery on his travels, he stopped in to get a few items, just in case he was successful in getting Seles to come with him. Returning to the hotel, he worked on his studies as he contemplated his next move.
When it seemed he had completed all his work, and even that which he anticipated would be upcoming in the next weeks, he found himself wishing he had his violin to practice. Not only that, but with their first concert just around the corner, he was positive Stefani was somewhere looking at him with disgust for slacking off rather than practicing. He also wondered how Peter was faring, though his brief conversation with him the day prior indicated his first combat class did not go the same as he experienced. In the end he knew it was all just a distraction to keep his mind off Phavian.
Since he seemed to have time to contemplate the wellbeing of various people, Hobb felt it was a good time to engage him in conversation.
“I would like to applaud you on an awkward success with the young girl.”
Was it really that bad?
“My experience with children is limited to my interactions with those of the faculty and staff, however I am positive your approach will not garner you any awards.”
I don’t think I even had an approach. I just talked to her. I purposely did everything in my power to not analyze her like I do everyone else, because I didn’t think it would have done me much good.
“In this I will agree. You have the tendency to talk far above the heads of others, leaving them feeling extremely inferior and in human terms stupid. If you would have done that with her, not only would it have confused her, but likely also frightened her as well.”
I do not talk over people’s heads!
“I do believe you quite frequently become upset when others do not share your own powers of reasoning and deduction. This alone can be frustrating. When you speak in a manner that presumes something is common knowledge it only makes things worse.”
Lots of things are common knowledge though.
“To you perhaps. Common knowledge is quite subjective in reality, and for someone like you, much of your common knowledge is at best uncommon.”
Whatever…
“In other news I would like to inform you Mr. Ingraham’s condition is steadily improving at a remarkable rate.”
Really?!
“Yes. The medical staff were extremely surprised to see such a drastic change in his condition. He is easily within their means to care for now.”
Sighing a heavy breath of relief, a few joyous tears running down his face, Thanks for the update Hobb. It makes being away from him a lot easier knowing you are keeping an eye on him for me.
“It is my pleasure. I fear for your emotional state should you lose Mr. Ingraham. It is in the best interest of not only you, but those around you to keep you from experiencing unnecessary trauma.”
Wow, am I really that fragile? You make it seem like I am some delicate fossil.
“Absolutely. The only difference between you and the fossil is if the it became damaged, at worst there could be some loss of remnants of the past and history. If you become damaged, there is a much greater chance there will not be a future.”
Can you please stop making it seem like if I have an emotional breakdown, I’m going to destroy the universe?
“I am simply making an observation based on the vast amounts of data I have on you.”
You know that in no way made it better right?
“That was not my intention to begin with.”
I’m done with you. I’m going to bed. I need to go see Seles again tomorrow. I did promise her after all. Good night Hobb.
The next morning Anaar found himself torn about how to proceed with his mission. On one hand, he had always been able to execute missions very tactically, logically and methodically, all which resulted in his success. This made him immediately want to go about this mission in the same manner, as it had never failed him before. On the other hand, when he had simply sat down, fumbling his way through conversation with the young girl, it seemed to have a much better outcome than anything he had planned beforehand. If he was going to stick with what historically was shown to work, it only made sense to use the historical data from this instance.
Making his way to the group home where Seles was, he decided to not ask for her, but instead roam about, hoping to catch her in her natural element. When he thought of it though, he could not reasonably call this natural for her since everything she had known had been stripped away from her in the blink of an eye. Whilst wondering about, he finally managed to find her in a room with a man he had not seen before.
Though he could not hear what was being said, he could tell Seles was extremely uncomfortable, as she was practically cowering in fear. Everything in him wanted to spring forth and save the girl from the situation, but he realized how delicate it was. If this was actually an administrator of the
state, he could end up making things much worse with his sudden and brash intervention. Pushing his feelings down, he continued to watch what was happening in the large room until the man reached out to touch Seles, causing her to dodge him and run away screaming.
As she ran screaming toward the door, the man who had lost his balance whilst reaching for her, had recovered and begun chasing her down. Still screaming, some distance between the man and herself now, something triggered Anaar to cover Seles in a protective dome. In just that moment, the room became a brilliant fiery explosion, enough to blind Anaar momentarily as he was flung backwards into the wall from the explosion and the upper floors of the building came crumbling down in the area.
Shaking his head in a quick recovery, he surveyed his surroundings and the subsequent destruction. The room and everything around him were nothing but rubble. Quickly he caused another explosion around where Seles was trapped, since he could feel her easily thanks to his barrier he had placed around her. With the path cleared, he could see the frightened girl curled into a ball crying profusely. He knew there was not much time, but he did not want to do anything more to upset the already terrified child, so he approached her quickly but calmly. Kneeling down, he called to her softly, removing the barrier to lightly stroke her head.
“Seles. It is me, Anaar. I know you are scared. Are you hurt?”
Still crying, she looks up, her huge teary eyes peering into his. She sprang up immediately, throwing her arms around him, which took him by surprise. Not sure what to do, he did the first thing he thought would be right, and wrapped his arms back around the small girl, which only caused her to cry more. With alarms now going off in the building, the sky visible from their position, Anaar swept the girl into his arms, rushing away from the scene.
Taking care to avoid anyone he saw, he carried the girl as fast as he could to the nearest exit, finally finding one that lead to some sort of courtyard. In his mind he was worried about who else might have been caught in the blast, but in his heart, he could only focus on the whimpering child clutched to his chest. Never more excited to have Hobb’s fashion advice turn out to be useful for a mission, the unzipped hoodie allowed him to cover his face partially as they made their escape.
Apotheosis (Song of Sophangence Book 3) Page 6