Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe)

by Jaz Johnson

  “You … You came to find me to stalk your daughter’s love life?” Vida scoffed.

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Artemis.”

  “I’m being ridiculous,” she mocked.

  “I’m merely here for information.”

  “And what kind of information would that be? If they’ve embraced each other yet?” Vida’s face paled.

  “Yet?” she uttered just above a whisper. Artemis hesitated to answer and Vida turned her body towards her. “Artemis!”

  “What are you so worried about, Vida? From what I’ve been able to see, he is a kind boy. He wants nothing but to keep Saphora safe. Even after the event with Tebias he encountered. Isn’t that something a mother should smile upon?”

  “That isn’t the point, Artemis,” she said, standing up with a shake of her head. She paced the floor worriedly.

  “What is the point?”

  “She cannot bare the child of a human.” Artemis tiled her head back at the assumption.

  “And why not? How could you possibly know that?” Vida sighed a grimace.

  “I’m not certain, but I cannot just let her –“

  “Let her what? Choose her partner? Is it because you would not want a human ruling beside her?” Vida stopped pacing, her gaze set towards the wall before her.

  “Where would that leave this kingdom, Artemis? With a human as king?”

  “You seemed to rule perfectly fine with a guardian as ours.”

  “A guardian is not the same as a human. How would he possibly contribute to defending this kingdom? Its people?”

  “That is something they could work out together.”

  “Would you feel safe under the protection of a human?”

  “It is not the king alone that defends the kingdom, Vida,” Artemis argued. Vida sighed, shaking her head and continuing to pace.

  “What of the offspring? What would become of them? If any were to survive? What of Saphora? Would she survive the pregnancy? We have no idea what that could do to her!”

  Artemis stood, catching Vida’s attention and getting her to stop pacing once again.

  “With all due respect, Vida, we asked the same of you when you chose Dolphus.” Vida raised her chin in silence as her life choices were brought to her attention, along with the late king. “And yet your parents allowed you your love.” Vida’s eyes lowered, slowly meeting the critical gaze of Artemis. Artemis shook her head, reproach in her eyes. “Who are you to deny your daughter hers?”

  ********

  Blue flames. Blue flames lined the bottom of her vision as she dreamt. The dream swiftly morphing into that of a nightmare. There she was, in the shadows of her mind, standing in the mists of that blazing fire. Fire that seemed to do no damage to her. Confused, she stood there, watching her limbs in the fire, as the flames licked up her legs. They seemed to curve and dance in slow motion, as were her own movements. She curled her toes in the flames.

  Why doesn’t this burn? she thought as she reached her foot out to the side, letting it slither through the calm flames.

  The sudden sound of a bellowing screech made her duck down and cover her ears. It was the noise from that day. The day she fell. She pressed the palms of her hands against her ears in a desperate attempt to silence the anguish. But it was to no avail. Blocking her ears did nothing to sooth them. It only confused her more. To be able to clearly hear the cries of this beast, and yet feel nothing of the flames beneath her. What madness was this?

  Looking up through her squinted eyes, she was startled when seeing a pair of giant sapphire eyes. She stumbled back away from the eyes, fumbling onto the ground. The bellowing continued as she pushed away. She whimpered, shaking her head as she saw a toothy snout start to open, revealing the claw-like teeth of the beast. Raising her arm up to protect her face, she screamed in terror, thrusting herself into consciousness.

  She sat up in her bed, hand clenching the clothing above her heart. A cold sweat clung to her skin as she fought to catch the breath she felt she had lost. Coming from across her room, she heard a soft, yet firm voice.

  “Bad dream?” came the voice of Hydra, who was sitting in Saphora’s desk chair. Flinching at the sudden intrusion, Saphora’s head shot up to stare wide-eyed at Hydra. A mixture of rage and confusion bubbled up inside her as she decided on which emotion to act upon. Not having the energy to produce either, she sighed, slumping her tense body.

  “How did you get in my house?”

  “Your window was open. What did you dream about?”

  “Why are you in my house?”

  “To get you for training. What did you dream about?”

  A twinge of annoyance ran through Saphora as she looked up to meet Hydra’s calm eyes.

  “Why do you care? It has nothing to do with you.”

  “You’re right,” Hydra nodded. “But it has everything to do with you.”

  “It was just a dream,” she insisted, pushing her blanket from her, suddenly feeling the need for a cool breeze. Hydra frowned at Saphora’s difficult behavior and shook her head in disapproval.

  “You’re guarded,” she accused. Saphora paused, her eyes narrowing at what, to her, sounded like an insult more than an observation. “You want to remember your past? Your family? Your existence?” Saphora merely stared, and Hydra spoke up again. “Do you?” she asked again more firmly. Saphora, with some guilt, nodded her head.

  “Yes.”

  “Then how can you ever expect to do that when you dismiss everything that presents itself to you? Living a mortal’s life up until now, the life you’ve forgotten may seem overwhelming. But it is yours. And whether you like it or not, the fate of the Kiran Kingdom – your home, depends on what you do with that knowledge. So you can either deny your existence like a coward, or start living up to your history.”

  Saphora was silent, having the harsh awakening thrust upon her. Her jaw clenched and she replayed the words in her head.

  “So I will ask again. What was your dream about? It could very well be a fragment of a memory.” Saphora sighed, giving in.

  “Fire.”

  “Fire?”

  “Blue fire. I was surrounded by blue fire. And … being yelled at by this thing.”

  “A thing? What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know. It had blue eyes, and … sharp teeth. I didn’t see its face. That’s all I saw.”

  “Arol,” Hydra mumbled with a smile. Saphora’s brows pinched together.

  “What?”

  “What you saw was Arol. He’s your guardian.”

  “No, what I saw was some kind of creature. Not one of you.” Hydra blinked, realizing she had lost her understand of guardians as well.

  “Guardians … Once we have joined our companion, we have the ability to alter our natural forms into one that resembles them.” Saphora scoffed.

  “So, what, you’re saying that you can turn into some giant monster?”

  “Water drakon,” Hydra corrected, somewhat up tightly. Saphora’s face flattened like she was being made a part of some really bad joke.

  “A water drakon,” she repeated mockingly.

  “Yes.”

  “Do it,” ordered Saphora. Hydra’s brows raised.

  “Do what?”

  “Turn into a water drakon.”

  Hydra let out a bubbling laugh as she shook her head at the understated request.

  “My god. I would tear your home apart if I were to do that here.”

  “So do it outside.”

  “Saphora, trust me. I assure you that you will see my natural state in due time. But now is neither the time, nor the place for such a thing.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Because there are more important things to do. Like your training. And locating Arol.”

  “And what is Arol, huh? Another water drakon? Oh, or better yet, a fire dragon.”

  “Yes.”

  “What?”

  “He is a fire dragon. Capable of breathing the blue flames that appeared
in your dream. I think he was trying to call out to you.”

  Could that have been what she was hearing all those times? That horrid noise? Could it have been the sound of her guardian? Her logic wanted to deny it, but what she was hearing registered all too well.

  “It’s happened before, hasn’t it?” Hydra asked, having been watching Saphora’s shift in body language. “That dream?” Saphora shook her head.

  “No, but … I’ve heard it before. Him – his screaming.” Hydra’s eyes widened.

  “While you were awake?” Saphora nodded and Hydra stood up, walking towards the window to peer out of it. “That means he’s close by. Why does he not show himself?” she asked more to herself than to Saphora. Hydra turned to Saphora, who was now watching her. “Have you noticed a man following you?”

  “A man?”

  “Or maybe a boy. A child. Arol is quite young, if I remember correctly. His hair would be platinum, probably. Have you noticed anyone like that?”

  “Sorry. Until you and Tebias came along, I was the only one I noticed with weird hair.” Hydra blinked, her hand slowly raising to touch the ends of her hair.

  “What’s wrong with my hair?”

  “It’s blue.”

  “Yes?”

  Saphora groaned.

  “Forget it. Look, I haven’t been followed by some weird kid with silver hair, okay? It could have been an airplane, for all I know.” Hydra sighed in annoyance.

  “Saphora. From this point on, you need to understand that nothing is out of the ordinary. You need to stop thinking of things like a human, and start understanding them like an Athenian.”

  “And what does that even mean?”

  “That means taking everything and anything into consideration until it has been disproved.”

  A sudden scraping noise on the side of the house caught their attention. Hydra spun around to face the window with palms of water, while Saphora leaned towards the edge of her bed in anxiety. Her heart raced as the scraping grew louder. It wasn’t long before a hand reached into the window, gripping at the frame. Grunting was heard as Hydra readied herself, taking a step forward. And then Maverick’s head popped up into the window frame, his other hand shooting forward to cling onto the wall in the room. Sweat beading his forehead, he smiled, looking around at the two women as he worked to pull himself into the bedroom.

  “Hey guys,” he grunted, before fumbling torso first onto the floor with a long exhaled breath. Saphora stared on in disbelief as Hydra lowered her hands, watching with raised brows.

  “Well,” Saphora groaned. “We’ve proven that my secret lays in the hands of an idiot.”

  ********

  “Where are we going, anyway?” Saphora spoke up from the passenger seat.

  Once she’d come to terms with accepting the training, if not for returning home, then for merely being able to defend herself, she left with Hydra and Maverick, who was serving as the current mode of transportation. He didn’t go back to work until Monday, so he had offered to help out. Saphora was still a little skeptical that he was willingly putting himself in harm’s way, but at the same time, she couldn’t help, no matter how she tried, but to be a little flattered by it.

  “Back to my place,” answered Maverick. Saphora shook her head, mentally picturing Maverick’s apartment in shambles by the time they were through with the training session.

  “I don’t think that’s very smart. We should go to an open field or something.”

  “I’m sorry if you misunderstood. We’re not doing any physical training. Not yet,” Hydra explained. Saphora’s brows pinched together.

  “So what, mental training? I’m going to fight Tebias by wishing he’d go away?” she asked with some annoyance.

  “You need to remember before you can fully grasp the understanding of your power.”

  “Remember?”

  “Your life. Before this one. You need to remember that before we can start any physical training.” Maverick nodded, catching Saphora’s attention. Her brow arched, as if mocking that fact that he could possibly be understanding any of what Hydra was saying.

  “And why are you nodding?” she asked him. “You understand what she’s saying? How do you even believe any of this?”

  “Well, you already told me that you were going to therapy for amnesia. So it makes sense that she wants to try to get you to remember.”

  “And you’re okay with this going on in your house?” Maverick shrugged.

  “What’s the worst that could happen during a therapy session? That’s basically what this is, right?” Hydra nodded.

  “By your world’s definitions, yes.” Saphora scoffed.

  “In case you haven’t noticed, therapy hasn’t worked.”

  “It’ll be different this time,” Hydra insisted.

  “And why is that?”

  “Our methods of retention are different. More intense. Plus, with them, your mind was instinctively holding back. Untrusting.”

  “And what makes you think I trust you?”

  “Because I saved your lives. And,” she said, pausing. “Because I am a part of the life you’ve forgotten.”

  Chapter 10

  “What is all this stuff?” Saphora asked, sitting on Maverick’ sofa.

  There was a pile of books to her left, piled up against the end table that was beside the arm rest. Most were thick, but some were thin. There were various objects spread about the floor across the room. Things from scrolls to vials, jugs of water to what looked like weapons. There were candles, bags, tubes, and things that couldn’t even be described by Saphora’s vocabulary.

  “Would you believe I didn’t hear her moving any of this last night?” Maverick chuckled, sitting on a stool that was beside a bar in the kitchen. His elbow was propped up on the bar and his palm was leaning against the side of his face, watching the women in content. Saphora looked over at him with slight bewilderment at his carefree behavior.

  “Maybe it’s him that needs therapy,” she mumbled to herself. Hydra nodded, picking up the book she had been looking for.

  “I’ve considered the fact that perhaps the boy is in a state of carefree denial. A form of the body’s self-defense, in order to keep from losing his sanity,” she explained, glancing over at the observant Maverick. Saphora nodded slowly, taking that into consideration.

  “Yeah … What are you doing? Where did all this stuff come from?”

  “The aircraft I used to travel here. I transported the things here last night.”

  “You mean there’s a rocket parked somewhere out there?”

  “Not too far, yes,” Hydra answered, flipping through pages of the book. Saphora’s chest heaved in anxiety.

  “You – You can’t just park a rocket in the middle of town! A rocket carrying who knows what! What if someone finds it? What if someone finds you? Us?” Hydra shook her head.

  “They are not going to find it,” she reassured, looking back down at the book.

  “You don’t know that.”

  “I do.”

  “How?”

  “Because it is not on the ground.” Saphora paused, her brain thrown for a loop.

  “What do you mean it’s not on the ground? What’d you do, park it in a tree?” Hydra laughed.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” she noted, turning another page. “It’s hibernating in the sky. Naked to all eyes.”

  “Naked … Hiber- what?” Hydra sighed, her hand stopping.

  “Is how I park really important right now? We’ve all got our preferences.” Saphora couldn’t help but let out a sharp laugh at the comment.

  “I don’t care how you park. I care if someone finds an alien spaceship in the middle of a small town that already has prank crop circles and a girl with mint hair walking around suspected of murder!”

  “Prank?” Maverick uttered.

  Saphora sighed, leaning back against the sofa in exhaustion. Her head tilted back against the soft cushion as her temple pounded in the beginnings of a headache.
She breathed through her nose, trying to ease the pain, and lull it away. Maverick grimaced, seeing Saphora’s rising frustration and got up, walking over to the sofa to sit beside her.

  “Hey, try to relax … Naked to the eye just means it’s invisible. Especially if it’s in the air,” Maverick said, trying to comfort Saphora. And for good reason. Saphora’s head rocked from side to side against the sofa as Hydra continued flipping through the pages in search of something in particular.

  “This can’t be happening,” Saphora refused, with somewhat of a laugh.

  “Denial will only make this process harder,” Hydra noted aloud. Saphora jerked up, agitated with Hydra’s blunt responses.

  “And what am I supposed to do? Just sit here and accept the fact that my life is never going to be the same again? Just sit here and … and –“

  “Yes. You’re supposed to accept the fact that your life is going to change. And then you have got to decide whether you are going to let people help make it for the better, or allow your denial to make it for the worst,” Hydra said with an almost alarming volume. “I was not sent here to help you wallow in your own self-pity. So choose. Will you stay a victim? Or will you rise to the task given to you and go home to your world – your mother, and help save her?” Saphora’s heart leapt in her chest at the mention of her mother, and the matter of her being in danger.

  “Save her?”

  “If you do not come back, stronger than you are now, the Kiran kingdom will fall. And it will mean her death, as well as countless others.”

  Saphora fell silent, her eyes wide in dismay. She swallowed hard at the decision presented to her, and sighed. She felt Maverick’s hand slide onto her thigh, and her head immediately turned to him. He had a soft smile on his lips. And in the mists of all that, it was nice to see a smile. Even if it was coming from someone who had nothing to do with anything she was going through.

  “Hey … I know I probably don’t have any stand in this, but I think if you put your mind to it, you could pull this off. I mean, look at Superman, or like, the Hulk. They had to go through some tough things before being able to control anything,” he said, his smile widening. Despite her desire to write off the tales, seeing his smile eased her. “Maybe if you just … think about doing it for your mom and dad. Make seeing them your goal, you know? Your motivation. No matter what happens, if you think, if I can get through this, I’m going to see my parents,” he continued. “Then I think you’re going to be amazing. I mean, isn’t that who you were trying to remember all this time? Your parents?” Saphora nodded, almost ghostly as she stared in admiration at the speech.