by Mario Routi
Leylah lay there as the world became silent and she felt Nemesis pull Larisa off of her. She saw Alexander yelling at Larisa and then running towards her fallen body. The last thing she sensed before she blacked out was that she was being carried away in someone’s strong arms.
***
“I think she’s coming around,” a sweet voice said. As Leylah opened her eyes, she saw her mother’s worried face smiling down at her. Rebecca kissed her tenderly on the forehead.
Looking around the room she could see that she was in the hospital. Her entire body was sore and her eyelids felt like they had been glued shut. She couldn’t yet move a muscle in her body but for some reason she felt the pain slowly start to ebb. Focusing on what was happening around the bed, she realised the Flame was being poured into her. Leylah glanced around to see Felicia and Rebecca standing on one side of her bed and Turgoth on the other.
“It’s inexcusable,” Felicia was saying, “for a candidate for the position of instructor to lose control of herself like that.”
“Nemesis is handling Larisa,” Turgoth interjected. “We should not interfere. Besides, she too suffered a broken jaw and several injuries. Our little girl gave her a real fight, didn’t she?”
“I don’t intend to comment on that,” Rebecca replied, “but I do agree that we shouldn’t interfere. Leylah is our daughter and we don’t want anyone to think that Larisa will be penalized because of that. If it were any other trainee, things might be different. We must allow Nemesis to deal with Larisa according to their Amazon ways. As far as I’m concerned, she should still become an instructor if Nemesis thinks she should.” She turned back to her daughter. “How do you feel, baby?”
“I feel like a line of Cyclopes just took turns sitting on my head,” Leylah said with a weak smile. “I did learn a lot during that combat though and I’m actually quite glad that she lost her temper.”
“Why is that?” Felicia asked.
“If she hadn’t, then I might never have learned how to gauge an opponent’s strength and I would always have been left wondering if she was holding something back. Now I know that she held nothing back. Sure, it hurt really badly but it showed me that I need to learn how to stand my ground and ignore pain. I let the pain get to me and it made me vulnerable. I failed to use the pain as a source of strength and instead it ended up making me useless in the fight. If that had been a real battle then I would have ended up dead.”
Turgoth patted Leylah’s leg. “That’s my girl, making the most out of something that looked horrifically bad to the rest of us. We had to escort your grandparents out of here because they were dead set on taking care of Larisa themselves after seeing what she did to you.”
Leylah lifted her arm but it was still sore so she set it back down. She took the time to look down at the rest of her body and, once she had confirmed that everything seemed to be where it was supposed to be, she let her head drop back down onto the pillow.
“Honey, I need to go meet Lord Leiko at Headquarters,” Turgoth said, kissing her on the cheek, “but you’ll be home in a few hours anyway, so I’ll see you there.”
“I’m coming with you, Turgoth,” said Felicia. “Take care now, Leylah, will you?”
Leylah smiled at her mother, who was now the only one left in the room. She was disappointed that Alexander wasn’t there but she assumed he probably had something more interesting to do, like hanging out with Larisa, maybe, and taking care of her wounds. She felt a stab of jealousy at the thought.
A few minutes later there was a knock at the door and a tall, beautiful woman walked in.
“Julia?” Rebecca greeted her. “Come on in. Leylah, this is Julia Feredini.”
“Princess Rebecca, I’m glad I found you here. I wanted to speak with you. Hello, Princess Leylah. I’m sorry to hear about your fight but you are in good hands here. I had Doctor Afterland tend to my own injuries after a confrontation I had with a Sartani leader.” She turned back to Rebecca. “The Sartani are becoming bolder in their attacks.”
“Yes, I know. So, what do you think is going on?”
“Shortly after the incident on the boat, there was another attack on one of the largest oil companies in China. People reported seeing weird cloud formations above the building. I think the Sartani are planning something big, but I don’t know what yet.”
“Actually, your timing is impeccable, Julia. The Gods also believe there is something significant in the works and they think it might be the resurrection of the Persian Immortals.”
“Oh no, not those horrible creatures! I remember them from my time in ancient Greece when they laid siege to our cities. It was horrible and we all thought our world was going to end. They destroyed everything in their path until King Leonidas stood up to them.”
“It may prove useful that you are familiar with this enemy. And King Leonidas is consulting with us from the Elysian Fields.”
“That’s good. Everything has gone quiet on Earth except for their usual Earth wars and the Sartani have been silent apart from those two events, but we know that they have spread out around the world. It’s like they’re setting the stage for something else and I’m guessing that the Persian Immortals are just one cog in their plan.”
“That’s why we want you back down on Earth, Julia, as soon as you are feeling strong enough. Leylah is going to go to Earth for a vacation soon, by the way.”
“Really? How nice!” she said, looking at Leylah, who seemed surprised by the news. “Well, it was good to see you again, Princess. I will leave you with your daughter now,” Julia made a slight bow and left the room.
“I’m going on vacation to Earth?” Leylah asked.
“We’re discussing it. We’ll fill you in once we get home. Don’t worry.” She changed the subject. “Alexander was furious, by the way.”
“What?”
“Well, according to Nemesis, when you passed out, Alexander was the first to get to you since she was struggling to keep Larisa off you. He called out your name in an effort to revive you and then he turned to Larisa. Apparently it was almost funny to watch her shrink before him. He was absolutely livid and he just yelled at her at the top of his lungs. It seems Alex can say some pretty hurtful things when he gets angry.”
“Why are you telling me this, Mum?” Leylah asked, already knowing the answer. Rebecca ignored her and changed the subject again.
“Anyway, Larisa was lucky that Bull wasn’t around. I have a feeling that if he had seen this, he probably would have done something unforgivable.”
Leylah nodded and nearly laughed at the thought of how battered Larisa would be right now if Bull had been around.
“Mum, I think there’s something wrong with Larisa.”
“Oh, honey, she just lost her temper, that’s all. Don’t read anything more sinister into it. You’ll feel better soon.”
“But, Mum...”
“But nothing... I know you like Alexander and that you don’t appreciate Larisa flirting with him, but that doesn’t mean there has to be something wrong with her. She is an Amazon, after all.”
“Yeah, and according to the Chronicles of Utopia, it was a treacherous Amazon who nearly killed Lady Felicia a few years ago,” Leylah reminded her.
“Don’t compare Larisa to that demon, Claudia, Leylah. You don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
“Okay, Mum. I’m sorry,” Leylah said and struggled to sit up as Doctor Afterland entered the room.
“Thank you for making sure that I returned to the land of the living, Doctor Afterland. For a moment, when I was on the ground not able to do anything - not even move - I was frightened that I would be paralyzed forever.”
“My dear, that’s called shock,” the doctor explained. “It’s rare here, but it’s common on Earth. A person loses the ability to assess reality because there’s not eno
ugh blood flowing to the brain. For normal people, shock can actually kill them if it’s not handled correctly.”
“Regardless, thank you,” she said again.
“It was no trouble at all, young Princess,” he said with a bow. “I think it is safe for you to leave now.”
As Doctor Afterland left the room, Rebecca wrapped her arm around Leylah. “Let’s get you home,” she said. “Your grandparents must have bitten their nails down to the quick out of worry by now.”
They both laughed and Leylah limped out of the room with her mother supporting her.
30
Leylah’s diary
Dear Diary,
Today was full of confusion and pain but, as always, there was also a silver lining. Mum and Dad sat me down once I returned from the hospital and told me that I will be going on a vacation to Earth. They said they feel that a trip there would put me on solid ground again after everything that’s been happening to me lately. I don’t know if venturing to a new place will actually do what they’re hoping it will, but at this point I’m just excited to visit the planet, especially after all I’ve heard lately from my friends.
To actually see what I’ve read about thousands of times in novels and seen in movies will be more than exciting!
But now, dear diary, I have to tell you about Larisa. I mean, she’s just - wow! I had to spar with her today during training and it was really hard. She more or less wiped the floor with me and it was like nothing I had experienced before. She may look pretty, but that woman can dish out a lot of pain and I have a feeling that it’s because of something deep in her own personality, not just because she’s an Amazon. I know Amazons are tough, but she is also cruel, which is a very different thing.
And if you could see the way she looked at Alexander - gosh; I don’t think I even have a chance with him. Okay, I mean, nearly every girl I know is in love with Alex but I’m worried that, even though I really like him, he just sees me as a little sister. I don’t know if I should step in and try to do something because I don’t want to lose him as a friend, but there’s nobody else that I like the way I like him. When I look at him, my heart literally jumps into my throat and it becomes hard to breathe. There’s simply no other man who does that to me and I don’t want to do anything that might screw up a possible future for the two of us, but seeing him flirting with other girls, and especially with that vicious Amazon - ugh! I just don’t know what to do!
Larisa’s incredibly beautiful, I know, and she’s also smart - a real Amazon - and it doesn’t help my pride that she destroyed me in front of him during sparring today. When I looked at her this morning, it sent chills down my spine and not the usual kind you would expect to get before a battle - something deeper and more sinister. For some odd reason, I just don’t feel right around her. There’s something off with her but I have nothing to prove that, other than my jealousy and dislike for her. However, I do honestly feel that she would be the perfect person to be able to use deception undetected, because Amazons don’t need the Flame. Sure, the Flame comes in handy when they are injured - I mean, it cured her today as well - but they’re immortal even without the Flame and I’ve never seen them get sick, either. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because of the way she treated me today during training that I don’t trust her, but the brutality she used was something else. If Nemesis hadn’t been there to step in, how far would she have gone? I’ve just never seen anything like it before. Accidents and injuries do happen occasionally during training, but never on such a scale.
Anyway, I’ll enjoy flying in the spaceship to go to Earth. I’ve never been inside one before, even though I’ve seen tons of people arrive in them. Oh, and that reminds me, Anna and Gregory are actually coming with me to show me around on Earth, which is cool. Speaking of spaceships, one of our agents on Earth, Julia, spoke with my mum today at the hospital and they both seemed quite worried. I don’t know why, but whenever my mum is worried, things tend to get more hectic and difficult for a couple of weeks. It’s kind of like the Groundhog Day euphemism, but with my mum and Utopia’s safety.
I’m still shocked that I may have the same visions as the ancient Greek Oracle of Delphi, Pythia, who was a High Priestess in God Apollo’s Temple, because I’ve never really paid attention to my dreams before. In fact, if it weren’t for that specific terrifying and very vivid dream, I would have never known that I had this gift. Speaking of which, why do they call it a gift? It sounds more like a curse than a gift. I mean, I could just keel over in the middle of whatever I’m doing and see something from the future that I can’t even interpret until certain conditions come to pass! What if I fall off a cliff? It actually sounds more dangerous than a fight with a bad tempered Amazon, doesn’t it? And what about the fact that, according to God Morpheus, my vision concerns the Persian Immortals?
In my opinion, the Persian Immortals sound like a problem that I won’t even encounter, because there are so many advanced Orizon warriors here that I doubt I would come close to fighting them anyway. They do sound like they could wipe out all life on Earth if left unchecked though, but the odds of that happening seem extremely slim. They’re like an army of a few hundred and there are over seven billion people on Earth - the numbers simply don’t match up. Then again, if the Titans combine the power of the Sartani with the force of the Persian Immortals, their demons and whatever else they might have in mind, then they might gather enough force to threaten the world. Otherwise, I presume that even a small human army equipped with the weapons they have today could wipe them out before anything truly bad happens.
I also wonder about the Devil. Do the Gods really feel threatened by his actions? If he’s such a destructive creature, how has he remained on Earth all this time? He can’t be that bad if the Gods haven’t simply done something to remove him.
There’s just so much that has happened in such a short time that it has thrown us all for a loop. Even though there’s so much going on, though, I still don’t see anybody doing anything about it.
While I’m on Earth I would like to track some Sartani down but I doubt Mum would let me do that when I’m supposed to be on vacation.
Going by the stories I’ve read, the people of Earth seem like a completely different species altogether. I’ve heard about money but I really don’t see the use of it because everyone could simply trade each other what they have for what they need. What’s the point of making everything worth a rock that’s got a shiny tint of yellow to it, or paper? According to the newest books, their world suffers from wars over resources in the midst of global warming. What’s the point of fighting over resources if you can simply use a rock to get them and, even at that, is a rock really worth as much as a life? The people of Earth simply don’t make sense to me and I’m supposed to go to Earth to have a vacation? I always trust Mum’s decisions but this one makes me wonder. There seem to be so many problems on Earth that it’s amazing that any place there would be considered a vacation spot, although I must admit I’d like to go and see the place where my mum and grandparents used to live years ago and visit their house.
Alexander says that the Earth can be awesome sometimes, although it’s not quite like the beauty we have here in Utopia. I’ve heard some really nasty stories from the Wise Tree but I can’t believe that it could be that horrible. If it’s so bad, then why does it still exist? Is it like a giant ball of chaos that won’t stop living?
Then again, maybe it’s the fact that I haven’t seen what’s on Earth that’s causing my doubts and confusion. I just don’t know anymore. Maybe that’s why I’m going down there - because I need a different perspective on life in order to get my bearings. That would make the most sense if it came from my entire family. My grandparents don’t talk about the Earth that much but, then again, I’ve also heard stories from them that have never made any sense to me. There are so many questions I have about Earth that I could probably fill an entire book wi
th them. For instance, does God Hermes find human communication devices more advanced than the powers he possesses? Is the entire Earth so well connected through technology that over seven billion people could be monitored at the same time?
There’s just so much that I don’t know and my entire body hurts - from my mind to my limbs. It’s been a long and extremely tough day that simply went by too slowly. I wonder if my dreams will be different as time goes on. My vision of the Titans planning something after years of peace is kind of scary. If it wasn’t for them, then there would be no daily struggle and everyone would be living happily. Larisa, the Titans, and my random apprehensions... it feels like a one-sided fight that’s testing who I am and maybe even a little bit more. I suppose my family is right about taking a vacation down on Earth because it doesn’t look like things are going to get any easier from here on out...
***
Leylah closed the leather binding of her diary and turned on her back. The feeling of the cold sheet against her felt good. Bebi jumped up to lick her face and lay beside her as she looked out the window. The stars were burning bright as always and the feel of Bebi’s fur on her body seemed to banish her troubles. As her mind drifted off into the world of dreams, Leylah thought of yet another question.
Will the stars on Earth look the same as they do in the Land of the White Sun? She wondered.
31
Leylah looked up at a grey ceiling while the blaring foreign sounds rattled the insides of her head. She watched as the gravel falling around her crumbled into dust and the explosions continued to shake everything. Staring at the scene, nothing looked familiar and everything filled her with terror. She realised that she was having another vision and tried to get her thoughts in order.
She pulled herself upright, coughing and wiping the grit from her eyes. Her back screamed with pain as she limped forward through thick clouds of noxious gas which made it almost impossible for her to breathe. In the dense fog, all sense of direction had deserted her and she wandered as the body-wracking waves continued to cut through her.