Saphora vol.1 Retention

by Jaz Johnson

  It was now late in the evening, and Maverick was driving Saphora home after a long day of traumatic, confusing, and enlightening events. Maverick was more or less in a state of indifferent shock, while Saphora was suffering from a migraine large enough to take down a fully grown elephant. She had just been fed enough information to overload every government database in the United States. Hydra had given her a brief rundown of who she was, and why she had shown up to help her.

  She had found out that she was the daughter of a very powerful, and very worried queen. Queen of the Kiran kingdom – making her a princess. She had been sent away during a war, landing her on Earth for her survival. Tebias, who she had already grown to know in one way, had been sent from the enemy to kill her, thereby getting rid of the heir to the throne, and their possible victory of the war. Though the learning of the war and her assassin’s motives were capturing, Saphora’s attention was engulfed in the discovery of her mother. She searched, and searched for some trace of memory, but her brain was bent on keeping her memories from her. Kiran … she thought to herself. Her last name sounded so foreign to her. She had gone her entire known life without a last name, having refused to take Fran’s.

  Hydra had also informed Saphora that she was sent by her mother to protect and train Saphora. To prepare her for the trip back home. Saphora, at first, out of an instinct not to leave Fran, refused to leave. But she immediately rethought her answer. She wanted more than anything to see her mother. Her father. Any family that she’d be able to see. Hydra had told her that she did not know exactly the powers Saphora had, nor the ones she would be able to possess in the future, but that she was there to do her best to help her learn to control and develop them. Saphora was understandably hesitant about showing her powers to anyone. She had almost hurt a few people, and she was a little more reluctant to do anything with them that didn’t involve protecting herself or someone else. But seeing as though Hydra knew her mother, it made her a little more willing to at least consider her help.

  And at the same time, her mind was in turmoil. She concluded that the point of this training was not only to defend against Tebias or anyone and anything else for that matter, but also to fight in a war on Athena. Saphora may have had some gifts uncommon to humans, but she was by no means war-savvy. She didn’t know the first thing about it. And she sure as hell wasn’t fit to go into battle. Especially not with people that could share, or even surpass her own “powers”. She didn’t want to fight in a war she knew nothing about. But she also didn’t want to abandon her mother like she had thought she had begun to think she had done her. Knowing that her mother was still out there, worried for her, enough to send someone to be with her, made her scold her insecurities. She couldn’t just leave her mother to face hell on her own. But what help could she be? A chunk of nerves were knotting up in her stomach as her thoughts went back and forth.

  She was more or less silent during the car ride, aside from a groan here and there. But after a while, Maverick’s hesitance gave way, and he finally spoke up as they pulled up to a red light in town.

  “So uh … Is she really going to be staying with me?” Maverick asked, referring to the silent Hydra that was sitting in the back seat of the Camaro. Saphora’s thoughts were interrupted, and she glanced back at Hydra, who was watching the road in slight fascination. Before Saphora could speak, Hydra answered.

  “You have to be watched.” Maverick scoffed.

  “Right, because I’m the alien race that has super powers. Yeah, me, the human with no powers. I’m the one that needs to be watched.” Maverick shook his head, his thumb thumping on the steering wheel. Hydra leaned forward, directing her attention to Maverick.

  “Are you saying I am not trustworthy?”

  “No, I’m saying I don’t understand why you need to be watching me so closely. I mean, what could I possibly-“

  “You could expose Saphora,” Hydra accused. The car grew silent, and Saphora’s attention was drawn back in. Her eyes somewhat fearful, and very skeptical. And now again, since meeting him, she was questioning whether or not she could trust him.

  “How do I know you won’t go to your people’s authorities? I am staying with you for Saphora’s protection until I am sure you can be trusted. But also for yours.”

  “My protection?”

  “Yes. I am not sure if Tebias will be back. But if he attempts to contact us again, I have a feeling he will be coming for you.”

  Saphora looked towards Hydra with a grimace.

  “For him?”

  “Yes. Because he is human, the task of killing him would be relatively easy,” Hydra started. Maverick scoffed.

  “Oh gee, thanks.”

  “He may end up trying to use him as a way to get you to agree to offer yourself.”

  Maverick stayed quiet as he tried to contain his child-like giddiness at the mentioning that he may be important to Saphora. He looked slightly to his left, trying his best to hide the beginnings of a smile. Especially because of the fact that he had just heard his life could possibly be in danger. But somehow, the thought of dying because of Saphora’s attachment to him seemed to trump the actual feat of dying.

  “I don’t know. He seemed pretty strong to me …” Saphora denied. Hydra smiled.

  “That is only because you are inexperienced, Saphora. Sure, back home he would prove to be a challenge, but here? Once I train you, you will-“

  “Train me to do what, exactly? Just what do you think I’m capable of doing? If you have already forgotten, I wasn’t even able to protect myself, let alone Maverick. What makes you think that I’m going to be able to do anything?” Saphora lashed out, turning her body towards Hydra as the car turned left. Hydra waited a moment, waiting to be sure she was done before responding.

  “You are the daughter of a Kiran and a guardian. Your power, once honed, will be greater than any other being on Athena.”

  “What makes my parents so special? Who are they, to assume such a power from me? Just because they are royal?”

  “No, it is not –“ Saphora raised her hand, shaking her head, and Hydra obediently silenced herself. Though she may not have fully accepted the roll currently, Saphora was in fact the heir to the throne, and Hydra would not disrespect her home with disobedience.

  “It doesn’t make any sense. Why would I be so different? I understand here on Earth, but why on Athena, where almost everyone also has powers? What am I, a mutant there too?”

  “Saphora, please.”

  “Come on, Saphora. Give her a break,” Maverick cut in. Turning her attention to Maverick, Saphora protested.

  “And what about you, huh? You’re okay with possibly being hunted down because of me? Shouldn’t you hate me? Don’t you want to go to the police and tell them everything you saw? Get some cash reward or something?”

  “What, and have you hate me in return? I would never do something like that. And even if I considered it, I doubt water goddess over here would allow me to even get near a phone.”

  Saphora’s eyes squinted in confusion as she shook her head.

  “How are you so calm about this, of all people? You could die, you know. We both could, if what she’s saying is true.”

  Maverick shrugged. He was never really one to fear death. It was unavoidable. He was just wrapped around the fact that this meant that Saphora couldn’t avoid him. Not with Hydra demanding that she stay in proximity to him. And hearing that she would be around Saphora, he concluded that she was his ticket to getting closer to Saphora.

  “We all die at some point. It’s not really a big deal.”

  “Not a big deal. So you’re okay dying at the hands of some fire wielding alien man?”

  “Well no, but …” Maverick glanced up at the rearview mirror to get a glimpse of the silent Hydra. “But with my body guard over here, I figure she’s my ticket to getting to be around you.”

  Saphora mouth slowly fell agape as they pulled up in front of her house. After all that, even that near
death experience, he had the nerve to be excited about spending time with her. She couldn’t believe it. Was he completely daft? Her cheeks flushed when he finally took his eyes off the road to turn his head and look at her with a grin. She scoffed as her face burned and turned away, shoving the door open after unbuckling her seatbelt.

  “I’ve never heard something so stupid in my entire life,” Saphora scolded, turning around and closing the door. Maverick rolled down the window, leaning over to look up at her. “If you don’t stop being so stupid, you’re going to get yourself killed!” she shouted, standing straight. Looking through the window at Hydra. “If anything happens to him, I’ll never forgive you!”

  Maverick looked on, watching her open the door to her house, turn around to get a glimpse at them, then quickly turn back around and walk in, slamming the door behind her. It took a moment for her words to register in his mind before the grin started to tug at the corners of his lips. Hydra looked from the closed door of the house to the rather goofy looking Maverick with a look of slight concern.

  “She’s right, you know,” she spoke up, making Maverick come to, and sit back in his seat, rolling the window back up.

  “About what?”

  “You are a little stupid.”