by Jaz Johnson
“A woman of business,” he commented. Ares smirked, gazing at Ulric sensually.
“And a woman of pleasure.” Ulric laughed.
“Ha, and which child was which, I wonder?” Ares smiled, shaking her head and coming closer to Ulric.
“I never think of business when laying with you,” she reassured, trailing her hands up the sleek black material of his leather shirt. The smirk faded from his lips as Vasuki cleared her throat, standing in the doorway with a smirk of her own.
“Interrupting something, am I? If I’m not mistaken, I was summoned,” she reminded, one hand on her nearly bare hip. Ulric took the step to the side, setting Vasuki in Ares sights.
“Ah, Vasuki. There you are.”
“Here I am, mistress. To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“It is time for you to reunite with your lesser half,” answered Ares, as she slowly stepped away from Ulric and moved towards her. Vasuki’s brows rose, as she glanced from Ulric to Ares.
“Tebias,” she stated, almost unsure.
“I’m sure you’ve heard of Hydra’s arrival on Earth,” said Ulric. Vasuki nodded.
“Yes. I figured it was only a matter of time before I was sent after him,” she said with a sigh. Ares grumbled. “Well, perhaps he can be a little more useful once his guardian is with him.”
“I should hope so,” Ares said with a narrowing of her eyes. “If the both of you prove to be useless, the outcome will not be pleasant.” Vasuki nodded in silence, keeping her lead lowered. “Prepare yourself for travel. You leave tomorrow. You will help him recuperate for one day, and then take care of this problem that has festered.” Vasuki nodded again.
“Yes, my mistress,” she complied before turning around to leave the room.
“And Vasuki?” Ares called out. Vasuki turned around, waiting for Ares’ next request. “Bring me Enya.” Vasuki nodded, turning back around and leaving the room in search of the phoenix. Ulric’s brow arched curiously as he turned to his wife.
“Enya? You’re sending Enya as well?” asked Ulric. Ares shook her head.
“Enya is not for Saphora,” Ares clarified. “There is another problem to be taken care of.”
Once Saphora had calmed down, Hydra allowed her to regain another memory. Saphora had sat down against the side of the marble counter. Maverick was seated beside her, and Hydra was casting what dialog she knew by heart. And it was working. Saphora’s eyes slowly picked up their glow as her head dipped forward.
She was now standing in the middle of a hallway. A hallway covered in growing flames. They danced and whipped around the shining floors. She stumbled back away from the flames, whimpering and gasping.
“Hurry! We must get her to the pod!” someone screamed, rushing through the hallway.
And then she saw it. Herself. She was looking in on herself. She was but a little girl, clinging to the woman that was carrying her. She had her face buried in the woman’s shoulder, and her arms wrapped around her neck. The woman panted as she ran through the hallway. And Saphora looked on in bewilderment. There was another woman behind her, who was heavily armed with various weaponry. There were two swords strapped to her back, two daggers on either of her thighs, and a belt containing several more weapons of her choice.
Behind those three, there was a figure that had just come around the corner at the end of the hallway. They went into a powered sprint, working to catch up with the women and child. And when Saphora was able to see who the figure was, her understanding of the situation took a turn for the worst. It was Tebias, gaining on the fleeing women. Saphora nearly choked on her own breath as they all came running towards her. She tried to scream, but she couldn’t. Her voice had left her. So she backed away slowly, shaking her head. What was happening?
As the woman with her younger self rushed past her, she turned to the side, so that the woman could rush past without delay, and she looked into her younger self’s eyes. They peered up from the woman’s shoulder, wide, frightened, and red with tears. Tears that streamed down her pink cheeks, and stained her bare neck. There were scratches about her face. Some were bleeding, some weren’t. Her mouth was open, strings of saliva between her parted lips as she sobbed, looking back at the scene in front her, behind the woman carrying her.
Saphora’s heart rate picked up as she realized that she was looking at herself. With new eyes, she looked around the hallway with new understanding. She understood. She felt what the little girl was feeling. The fear, the anguish, and the overwhelming knowledge of what was coming next. This was her departure. Saphora grimaced in agony as she watched the woman run off with her.
She turned around to look back at the woman that had stayed behind to face the approaching Tebias. Her long raven braid whipping about as she pivoted her body whilst drawing the two swords from her back. With a battle-ready scream, she started running at Tebias, doing all that she could to defend them, and give them enough time to get to the escape pods. Pillars in the hallway began to crack as the two ran at each other, debris from the stone ceilings above falling down onto them. Tebias sent fire blazing from his hands at the woman. The woman spun around for momentum as she sliced through the fire with one blade, and reached to her side, to throw three more at him. He dodged them with ease, leaping over them and blowing more fire down onto the woman, spinning into a flaming twister.
Saphora turned back around, watching as her younger self was taken away, and found herself following them. She wanted to know where she was going. Who that was carrying her. Even though her heart already had a clear idea of who it could have been.
And then the scene changed.
Saphora spun on her heel when she noticed the change that seemed to happen within the timespan of a blink. Panicked that she had lost her younger self, she looked around in all directions. She was now in some sort of vehicle – a pod. Eventually hearing the sound of crying, she turned her head in that direction, and saw herself and the woman. The woman was setting the little girl inside the pod, and whispering to her soothingly.
“Shh, little one. It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” the woman said while fighting back tears of her own. She stroked the child’s face, and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Mommy loves you. Mommy loves you so much.”
Saphora’s eyes went wide in both surprise and horror. She immediately recognized the voice. And tears immediately began to flow down her face as her chest heaved.
“Mom?” Saphora croaked, staring at the pale sage-haired woman.
“Mommy has to go for a little while, okay?” she said, giving the child another kiss. “But you’ll be back. You’ll be back soon.”
“Mommy,” her younger self cried.
“Mom,” Saphora sobbed with her.
There was an ear-shattering roar that erupted in the skies. Saphora covered her ears and fell to the floor of the pod. Her eyes squinted open in pain, wanting to keep her eyes on her mother. Her pale grey eyes welled up, threatening to spill over as she continued to caress the little girl’s face.
“Arol’s coming with you, okay? I want you two to wait for me, alright? We’re going to come back for you,” she said, giving the child another kiss. This one lingered for a few moments as the woman’s tears finally spilled over down her cheeks. “Mommy loves you so much, Saphora. Stay safe. Stay alive,” she croaked just above a whisper before letting go of the child and closing the door to the pod. Her younger self pressed the palms of her hands against the glass of the pod, looking up at her crying mother. The woman turned away and slammed her hand against a keypad beside the pod, and noises of detachment could be heard as it prepared for launch. The little girl screamed, and so did Saphora as she rushed up to the glass beside her and beat her hands against it.
“Mom!” she yelled in unison with her younger self.
They both beat against the glass until they were thrust back against the seat as the pod took off into the sky, her younger self hitting her head during the tumble. Saphora struggled to sit up in the pod, straining to look
out the glass. And when she did, she saw a castle under attack. There were what looked to be demons, and mutated creatures storming the grounds of the castle, with more entering the lands of the kingdom. She didn’t know what it all meant. All she knew was that she had just met and lost her mother. She sobbed as she beat against the glass repeatedly, calling out for her. Only to get further away with each call. It wasn’t long before Saphora and her younger self were surrounded by the silent scare of infinite space. The stableness of the vision began to glitch as her younger self began to lose consciousness from the impact to her skull. Saphora looked around nervously, as the glass to the pod disappeared and reappeared. She looked down to herself, shaking her head.
“No, no, wake up. Wake up! We’ve got to go back …” she urged, reaching over to shake herself. But her hands went right through. She brought her hands back up in despair as she realized she could do nothing to help herself, or return to the memory she desperately wanted more of. Saphora looked up at the fading vision of her planet – of her mother. She whined, looking down at the disintegrating image of herself. “I’ve got to go back.”
Saphora’s eyes shot open in her despair, her heart racing and her breath short. Her vision fluttered about the room, and she realized that she was projecting her emotion into the atmosphere. Debris was whipping around the room. Hydra had covered herself and Maverick behind a shield of ice. She was watching calmly, while Maverick looked on in concern. His body language showed that he was very reluctant to stay behind the ice. But that wasn’t what caused Saphora to calm down. It was the beginnings of the lifting of the marble counter behind her that startled her enough to calm the raging winds. She scrambled to her feet, reaching around and gripping onto the counter, trying to keep it secured onto the ground. The winds reduced at a somewhat rapid pace, before coming to a stop, and giving Hydra the sign that it was okay to rid them of the wall of ice.
Saphora’s eyes fluttered as they closed tightly and opened repeatedly. Her breathing strained as she was overwhelmed with flashes. Even though the session had stopped, she was still getting fragments of memories. Images of her and her father. Of her and Dizabethere. Of her being scolded for using her power – being taught to control them. Of whispering conversations between her mother and father. Of the starting of the war.
Saphora sucked in a sharp breath, her frame shaking as she gripped the counter, now trying to keep herself standing. Her eyes stayed shut as she fought to regain her breath. She shook her head, tears forming in her eyes.
“Make it stop!” Saphora cried out in desperation, her fingertips pressing into the counter top and actually beginning to crack into it. The winds that had died down began to pick up again, as the fractions of memory continued to flood Saphora’s vision.
Visions of her mother holding her flooded in. Of her teaching her how to walk. Hydra raised her hands with a groan at the winds that were picking back up, while Maverick tried moving forward towards Saphora. He struggled against the winds, dodging small planks of wood that came drifting up.
“Please!” Saphora pleaded, the tears starting to spill over. She wanted her memory back, but not like this. There were too many things. Images of her crying. Of her mother crying. Having to part with her. Tebias. Hades. Names to faces she suddenly knew, but not why. Not why they were there. Her body began to tremble from the stress of the images. Maverick finally reached her, gripping onto the counter for support. He looked back to Hydra, who was starting to express some concern for the situation.
“Hydra! Stop it!” Maverick shouted, looking back and forth from her to the pained Saphora. Hydra exhaled, shaking her head as she slowly began to move closer to them.
“I can’t. I need the books! This was not supposed to happen. Her subconscious is trying to merge with her conscious,” Hydra explained. Maverick groaned, moving closer to Saphora. As he placed his hand on her arm, Hydra screamed out a moment too late,
“Don’t!”
The moment Maverick’s hand made contact with Saphora’s skin, he was thrust into the world of her unstable subconscious. Within the instant, Saphora was gone. But her sobs could still be heard in the hallway he was now in. To his left, there was a wooden door. A white wooden door. As he moved to open the door, the scene changed, startling him. He was in the mists of a courtyard. A burning courtyard. Pieces of pillars, fragments of fences, and sections of sculptures were scattered about the area. The ground had been disturbed in several areas, and there were copious amounts of people running in all directions. Some fighting with weapons, some fighting with their bodies, and some just fighting any way they knew how. But again, Maverick heard the whimpering of Saphora. He spun around, more concerned with where it was coming from than the war that was waging around him. And then the scene changed again, and Saphora was sitting right before him. A mere child. She was pressed up against the wall of what looked like a closet, with her knees up against her chest, and her face buried in her arms. Her mint hair was set aflame – blue flames, dancing around her head, but not seeming to bother her. Slowly, he fell to his knees, inching closer to the frightened Saphora.
“Saphora …?” Maverick called softly to her. Saphora’s head slowly rose, revealing her glowing, tearing eyes. They peered out at Maverick, drops of flames spilling from Saphora’s hair onto the carpeted floor and spreading across towards Maverick. But he kept his pace towards her steady, determined to get to her.
“It’s okay. You’re okay,” he cooed, inching closer with each word. She continued to stare, her chest heaving in her silent sobs. “You’re okay. Don’t cry,” he continued, finally close enough to get a hold of her. As his hands found her arms, the scenery around them morphed into that of the abandoned house. Saphora’s features remained the same as she stared into Maverick’s eyes. All but her age. Her hair was still a swaying flame, and her eyes were a glowing chaos. But slowly, they began to fade. And her flames began to die, as she found a peace to calm her. Her eyes fluttered, letting the last of her tears stain her cheeks as Maverick looked around the kitchen, somewhat grateful to be back in what was a little closer to reality. Hydra watched in astonishment as Saphora was brought back to the present. She was silent in her amazement as her eyes drifted to Maverick.
He had become a new priority.
Maverick smiled.
“There you go,” he cheered, shaking her arms ever so slightly. Looking around, her eyes found Hydra, and she wobbled a step forward – Maverick ready to hold her up.
“I remember,” she croaked. Hydra’s eyes snapped to Saphora. Saphora nodded. “Enough. I remember enough.” Hydra was hesitant.
“Arol?”
“What?”
“Do you remember Arol?” Saphora took a moment to recall, but grimaced when she couldn’t. She shook her head, and Hydra sighed.
“Arol’s role in your conscious is crucial for returning home.”
“But there was so much else that I saw – that I know.”
“What do you know?”
“That there was a war … That … that I have powers. That –“ That caught Hydra’s attention. Her head tilted forward in response.
“Powers. You remember what you’re able to do?”
“Well, I … I remembered fire. Blue fire. I have a feeling that I can use it – like, like Tebias,”
“What else do you remember?”
“Why do I have to remember every little thing? People don’t remember their entire childhood anyway! What do you want me to do, remember being born?”, Saphora stressed, pushing off of Maverick to stand up straight. “I remember the war – my power. Or what I know of it. I’m sure there were things I could do that I didn’t know as a child. But I was a child. You can’t hold that against me.” Saphora raised her arm and pointed her index finger towards the hole in the kitchen’s wall. “Look, it’s clear that Tebias and whoever is leading him isn’t going to stop. I almost died today – again. My mom sent you to help me, right? How do you know his leader won’t send someone to help him? What then
? You can’t be everywhere I am.” Hydra paused at that possibility. She had been foolish not to consider that. Saphora was right. They couldn’t afford to wait any longer to start her training. It could very well mean the death of her – of them all.
“So are you going to train me, or not?” Saphora groaned. Hydra pressed her lips together in a hard line, exhaling her answer.
Saphora and Hydra had begun the physical training after Saphora had taken an hour or so to rest after the ordeal with her subconscious. Hydra explained to her that that could happen multiple times until she has remembered all there is to remember. The training was difficult and sketchy at first, but with every attempt her control grew stronger. It only took about three hours for Saphora to wield a palm of blue fire on command, without much strain at all. It wasn’t a very large amount, but it was still on her command. And that was progress.
They had decided to work on the fire first, seeing as though it proved to be very useful when faced with Tebias and his own. It was also the most destructive, second only to the extreme winds that Saphora was not yet able to produce on her own, or control. Having brought up Dr. Lupin as a concern during the training, Hydra had decided that it was in Saphora’s best interest to get rid of the files that he had collected. As many as she was able to. Maverick had agreed to be involved in the plan, doing whatever he could to be of some assistance. And together, they devised a way, using Saphora’s newly discovered power, to do it. She knew that with what was going on with the police, and Lupin’s shifty attitude, precautions had to be taken.
And she didn’t have the time to put them off.
“You don’t have to do this, you know,” Saphora said to Maverick, who was on the other end of her phone. Maverick scoffed, shaking his head as he put one arm through his leather jacket, holding the phone to his ear by pressing it between his cheek and shoulder.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m pretty sure this is going to go down as the coolest thing I’ve ever done,” he reassured. Saphora shook her head, unable to help grinning at the light hearted attitude to what was probably a crime.