by Mindy Majors
“The fates are not to be trifled with, nor am I, in case you had forgotten, so I suggest you lighten your tone and remember who you are talking to, Atlantean,” Athena warned.
“I'm sorry goddess,” Daire apologized.
“I understand your frustration Daire, but angering the fates is not wise.”
“I know, you're right, but it's just so damn frustrating. I finally find her and now she is destined to die again. How is that a gift?”
“I think it wise for you to stay away from the girl, allow Jareth to protect her, and once Vaiden is gone, if you care for her, I think it best for you to leave and let her live her life,” Athena advised.
Daire knew she was right, if he stayed Symarah was destined to die, but if he left her alone she could live her life in peace.
“I must go, but please consider my advice, it will be easier on the both of you in the long run.” Athena smiled sympathetically and then disappeared.
Daire was devastated; he finally had Meissen back, and the only way to keep her safe was to never see her again. With a heavy heart, he headed toward the guest rooms in the lower level to get some much needed sleep.
“Ouch,” Symarah groused, as she landed on her ass in the middle of the training room floor.
“You have to learn to anticipate your opponent's next move, try it again,” Jareth said.
“Not again, we've been training for three hours and I'm starving,” she whined.
“The pizza will be here any minute, we can stop then,” Jareth told her.
“Fine,” she said, getting up and preparing herself for his next attack. She hadn't been at all surprised to find out that he already had a full gym in the lower level of his house. She had been concerned about pulling this off without Daire being suspicious, but since he was still avoiding her, it was surprisingly easy. In fact, he had actually seemed relieved when she suggested that Jareth go with her to the gym. She had told him that she was very stressed out, never knowing when Vaiden would attack next and that she thought spending some time at the gym would help her blow off some steam and ease her anxiety. It wasn't that far from the truth.
“Have I mentioned OUCH!?” Symarah said, looking up at Jareth from the floor for the hundredth time tonight.
“You have to pay attention, watch me closely and you can predict my next move.”
“I am, I've been watching your eyes all night.”
“Eyes can deceive, you need to watch my body. Every man has certain tells that give him away, you just need to learn what they are.” After a few more attacks, she was starting to be able to dodge his blows.
“See, now that you're not watching my eyes, you're a natural at this,” Jareth encouraged. “Now I want you to concentrate on my thoughts instead of my actions.”
“How can I concentrate on thoughts, I'm not a mind reader.”
“I beg to differ, you have called to Daire many times with your mind.”
“He's a god, that's the only reason he heard me,” Symarah argued.
“Only a god can enter the mind of another god, no human has that ability. Clearly you have the ability to communicate with your mind, which means you should be able to sense what other people are thinking as well. If you can hone this skill, you have a good chance at defending yourself against an unden and you might even be able to fight off a demmic long enough to call for Daire or myself.”
“Why can't I just watch for their next move, you said I'm a natural,” Symarah complained.
“As I said before, every man has a tell; the unden have a tell because they are human, but demmic do not because they are gods. Without being able to sense a demmic's next move you haven’t got a chance in hell of keeping yourself alive until help arrives; now concentrate.”
She tried concentrating, but just barely missed being hit by Jareth's right hook.
“You're not concentrating hard enough, close your eyes, and really concentrate on my thoughts.”
“How the hell am I gonna dodge your blows if my eyes are closed?”
“Simply dodging the attack is not good enough, I want you to be able to stop me in mid strike and implement a counter attack. Close your eyes, clear your mind and concentrate all your energy on my thoughts.”
Symarah reluctantly closed her eyes and focused all her concentration on Jareth. She felt ridiculous and was one hundred percent sure that she was about to end up on her ass again, but then she saw in her mind’s eye an image of Jareth's foot coming right at her head. Instinctively she reached out and grabbed his ankle a split second before his foot made contact. She opened her eyes and was shocked to see that she had indeed stopped him in mid attack.
“Good, now I want you to not only stop my attack but counter with your own attack.” He had just barely finished his sentence when the doorbell rang.
“Pizza, I'll get it!” Symarah exclaimed.
“It could be a trap, I'll get it; you wait in the dining area,” Jareth said as he walked off in the direction of the front door.
“Fine,” Symarah huffed, heading toward the dining room.
“What was Atlantis like?” Symarah asked, after scarfing down about three or four slices of pizza.
“It's a magical place, absolutely beautiful. The structures are made of pure white marble and the landscape is quite colorful, with the most beautiful flowers I've ever known. There are many bodies of water within the barrier walls. Some are lakes, surrounded by weeping willow trees and some are beaches with the whitest sand you can imagine.”
“And the water, what was it like?”
“You have it, around your neck,” Jareth pointed to the necklace she had gotten from Noumeina. Daire had given it back to her after he returned from speaking with the shauri.
“What do you mean?” she asked, lifting the pendant from where it rested on her chest and looking at it intently.
“Daire gave that necklace to Meissen the day she turned twenty-three. She loved the ocean so much that he fashioned a four-point star out of clear crystal and filled it with ocean water from her favorite beach at the far eastern side of the island. She cried when he gave it to her, it was her most prized possession.”
“Tell me about her, what was she like?”
“Meissen was his first and only love. She was kind and generous, filled with passion and joy. She was also very independent and stubborn, much like you.” Jareth smiled. “They were to be married on the winter solstice, December 21st. It would have been her 25th birthday.”
“You speak of her with such fondness.”
“We were all very close, she and Illiana were inseparable.”
“Illiana?” Symarah questioned.
“Illiana was my wife,” Jareth answered. “I was able to save her before Atlantis sank but she was devastated by the loss of Meissen.”
“So how's your pizza?” Symarah said, sensing that Jareth needed a change of subject.
“So let me get this straight, you and I know that Symarah is training with Jareth to fight the unden and demmic, but Daire and Conner don't. You and I know that when the work crew isn’t here, you are using your magic shop to practice magic because you are a witch, but Jareth, Daire, Conner and Symarah don't, and you overheard Daire and Jareth telling Athena that Symarah is Daire's dead fiancée reincarnated, but Conner and Symarah don't know that either; is that about right?” Duncan asked.
“You got it babe,” Kassie replied.
“My brother really is out of the loop.”
“Yeah, poor Conner has no clue what's going on.”
“Are you going to tell Symarah about the whole dead fiancée, soul mate thing?”
“I don't think so, losing him is going to be hard enough on her, it would only make it worse if she knew.”
“That's understandable but what I don't get is why you haven't told her that you are a witch. She is your best friend, you tell her everything.”
“I'm not sure she can handle much more. I guess I'm just scared, I don't want to ruin our friendship.”
“I will, I promise. I'd just like to wait till things settle down a little.”
“What happens when Vaiden attacks and you have to use your magic to protect her? I think she may notice.” Duncan smiled.
“I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, but if it does, hopefully she'll be so grateful that I saved her she will overlook the rest. And on that note, we should get back to work. I've got a lot of training to do if I'm going to be ready by the wedding, it's my sister’s special day, and I won't have it ruined.”
“When exactly is the wedding? Duncan asked.
“It's in one month and time is short, so let's get back to work,” she replied as she whipped a pillow at his head with just the wave of her hand. She had been practicing her magic at the new shop every day for about two weeks now. The apartment portion was finished, so the work crew stayed downstairs, while she practiced upstairs in private. Duncan was amazed at how quickly she was learning her craft and how powerful she was.
“Okay, I'm going to try putting up a protective shield around you and then I'll throw this tennis ball at you and see if it gets through or not.” Kassie pointed her first two fingers on each hand at Duncan and made a circular motion, as she chanted the spell:
“Once inside these circles three, none shall pass, no harm befalls thee.” She picked up the ball and tossed it at Duncan, hoping for the best. The ball hit an invisible wall about three feet in front of him and bounced off in the opposite direction. “Yes, I did it!” Kassie squealed in delight.
“I knew you could do it,” Duncan told her.
“Really?”
“There was never a doubt in my mind,” he winked at her.
“All is well, the danger has passed. Reverse this spell that I have cast,” Kassie chanted the reversal spell, as she walked toward him. “It means the world to me that you believe in me,” she said, as she placed her hand on his cheek. She leaned in and pressed her lips gently against his.
CHAPTER 11
“Are you sure you don't want to join us, Daire?” Duncan asked, as he and Kassie sat on the couch playing video games. They had taken turns playing The Legend of Zelda earlier and now they were playing Call of Duty.
“No, I'm not into video games; I'll be on the patio if you need me,” Daire said, as he headed out of the room.
“There goes Mr. Moody.” Duncan shook his head.
“Symarah hasn't been much better,” Kassie replied. “I don't know why they both have to be so bull-headed and stubborn.”
“Maybe you should use your magic on them, make them get back together.”
“I don't think that's a good idea, they need to work through this on their own. Don't worry, it'll all work itself out in the end, you'll see.”
“How can you be so sure?” Duncan asked.
“Love always finds a way.” She winked at him and turned her attention back to the screen, just in time to execute an enemy player who was trying to kill her while repeatedly hitting the jump button to avoid her bullets.
“Ha, I can jump shot too, ya bastard!” she yelled at the player as she ran off toward the enemy objective.
As Daire stood on the patio, looking out into the darkness, he couldn't help but worry. His thoughts were racing and he couldn't seem to quiet his mind. It had been a month since he and Athena had visited the fates, and he had done his best to stay away from Symarah, but tomorrow was the wedding that he and Jareth had to attend. Conner and Duncan would be there as well; they needed as much back up as possible in case Vaiden decided to attack. He knew it was necessary for him to attend the wedding, but he was not looking forward to it. It was torture being so close to her and having to keep his distance. The worst part was seeing the hurt in her eyes. It killed him to know that she was in pain and that he was the cause of it, but he knew he was making the right decision, knew that if he stayed with Symarah she was destined to die and she would not be reincarnated; the fates had made that very clear. What they hadn't been clear about is how long it would be before she would die. Jareth's argument was that it was possible that she wouldn't die right away and that she could live to be a hundred and die of old age, but even if that were true she still wouldn't be reincarnated again, so while he may not be making this life any shorter for her he would still be taking away the rest of her lives. Besides, the thought of watching her grow old and slowly die was more than he could bear.
“You should be more careful, especially when someone is trying to kill you,” the familiar voice came from behind.
Daire turned to face Dacian. “Please tell me you have information about where Vaiden is hiding.”
“Yes, but I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you,” Dacian answered as he handed Daire a hand-written note.
“What is this?” Daire asked, staring at the paper.
“I asked Farkas where Vaiden was hiding; apparently he thought it would be funny to answer my question with a riddle written by Vaiden,” Dacian replied. “I thought it would be even more amusing to turn him into a weasel and let Sybris eat him.”
“Sybris ate Farkas?” Daire was shocked, Dacian usually didn't kill anyone unless they were an immediate threat. Although Farkas was working for Vaiden, he was too stupid to be of any real danger.
“No, he just chased him for a few minutes and then let him go; he did take a chunk out of his right ear though,” Dacian smirked.
Daire actually let out a chuckle. “So what does this riddle mean?” he said, turning his attention to the piece of paper. The handwriting was barely legible.
“I'm not sure, I thought maybe between the two of us we could figure it out.”
Dacian read the riddle out loud.
“Beyond the sea of demons am I, below the earth and above the sky.
Heed these words if you so wish to seek me out if you dare try.
Once you see clearly what cannot be, then you will know what you once did not see.
Be one with yourself, only then are you able to save truest love from thine dread enemy.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Daire growled.
“It sounds like he's ready to make his move. I think it is imperative that you stay as close to Symarah as possible,” Dacian advised.
“She's at the gym with Jareth, she is safe.”
“The gym, at 10 o’clock at night?” Dacian said.
“She says it helps her relax,” Daire explained.
“I think you should check on them just in case. Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, I'm sure they're fine, I can handle it on my own. Thanks for the info.”
“Not a problem, call me if you need me.” Dacian flashed himself out.
Daire flashed himself to the back lot behind Symarah's gym. He walked inside and searched for her with his mind but he couldn't sense her anywhere. He tried to sense Jareth but there was no trace of him either. He walked back out to the empty back lot, he was beginning to panic now. What if Vaiden had somehow managed to get through Jareth to get to Symarah? What if he already had her, what if she was already dead? No he couldn't think that way, this was no time to give in to panic. Daire tried to sense her again, this time widening his search. After a few seconds he finally found her. It was very faint but it was definitely her. She was at Jareth's house, thank the gods she was safe. He flashed himself to Jareth's living room, which was empty. He headed toward the dining room, thinking that she had gotten hungry after her workout, but on the way he heard a loud yell coming from Jareth's training area on the lower level of the house. He flashed himself to Jareth's personal training room, expecting to see Vaiden and his minions attacking, but instead he saw Jareth laying on the floor with Symarah straddling him.
“Ha! I've got you exactly where I want you,” Symarah laughed. She was so proud of herself; she had finally been able to knock Jareth on his ass. “I've been looking forward to this for a long time, it's nice to have you flat on your back for a ch
ange.”
“And it only took you a month to get me here; I'm impressed.” Jareth smiled, pleased with how quickly she was learning. Symarah stood up and extended a hand to Jareth to help him off the floor but as he reached for her hand, his face turned pale. Symarah turned to see what Jareth was looking at. Her heart sank when she saw Daire standing behind her looking as if he had just been punched in the gut.
“Daire, I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I knew you wouldn't approve,” Symarah started to explain, but before she could finish, Daire lunged at Jareth, pinning him against the wall with one hand around his throat.
“How could you betray me like this?” Daire asked in a low deadly tone. “I should kill you where you stand.”
“I think you're overreacting just a bit don't you?” Symarah said as she tried to pull him off of Jareth.
Daire shrugged her hand off and tightened his grip on Jareth's throat. Jareth threw Daire across the room with a wave of his hand.
“It's not what you think Daire,” Jareth tried to explain.
“Wait, what do you think we were doing?” Symarah asked.
“You were on top of him, it's pretty obvious what you were doing.” Daire glared at her.
“Wow, that's what you think of me?”
“I heard you talking, saying it was nice to have him on the floor for a change. I guess this has been going on for a while.”
“Sometimes you can be a real ass, ya know that?” Symarah said as she stormed out of the room.
She was hurt that Daire would think she would ever do something like that. She walked up the stairs and right out the front door, slamming it behind her. She started to cry as she headed toward home; she was so angry at him she didn't even think about how much danger she was putting herself in.
Jareth walked over to where Daire landed and extended a hand to him.
“Don't fucking touch me,” Daire growled at him, as he got up off the floor.
“Daire, you know me better than that and what's more you know her better.”
“I know what I saw and what I heard,” Daire said.