Of Gaea (8 page)

Ari had been there of course – the hospital in Darentown -
but she didn’t remember any of it.
She had been unconscious when she was
airlifted in and heavily drugged when she was taken home; which was
probably for the best considering her current reaction to the
city.

They sat
in silence but for the city noise when Ghita shut off the car. Ari
listened for a moment before it all melded together and sounded
like crazy white noise.

“
Well,” Ghita began nerves evident in her
voice.
“I’ll get your chair.”

Ari only
nodded as Ghita climbed out of the car.

They were greeted at the door.
Or to put it more accurately, Ghita
was greeted.

“
Ghi, you came!”
A woman practically attacked Ghita
with her hug.

Ari only watched bemused, then melded into shock when the
woman pulled away to look at her.
There was no mistaking the woman for
anyone other than Lyris. She was an identical twin... to
Ghita.

“
This must be Ariadne.”
She glanced quickly over the
wheelchair and then at Ari. “I’m so glad you came.”

Ari
looked to her mother for help but Ghita was shaking hands and
speaking to two people nearby. Ari looked back at Lyris. “Yes, I’m
Ariadne. Please call me Ari.”

“
Wonderful,” Lyris beamed at her.
“Would you like to
go for a walk? I would like a walk.”

“
I…” Ari
glanced over at her mother again who was still preoccupied. She
wasn’t entirely certain it was a good idea being so far away from
the responsible adults. Lyris’s face, however, didn’t leave any
room for a gentle let down. “Sure, um, where do you
walk?”

“
Oh,”
Lyris giggled childishly. “I’ll take you to my favorite place.”
Before Ari could stop her Lyris was behind the wheelchair pushing.
“Tell me all about you, Ariadne. I want to know
everything.”

“
But
shouldn’t we tell Mom?” Ari began to swivel around when something
sharp was press against the back of her neck.

“
No, I don’t think so.”
Lyris’s voice never lost its
cheerful tone.

Ari swallowed nervously.
Two thoughts swirled through her mind. The
first: she was being held hostage by a crazy person. The second:
she had broken her promise to Sasha. She doubted anyone would have
foreseen her current situation though. Who could have predicted a
crazy person smart enough to conceal a sharp object and hold a
person in a wheelchair hostage?

“
We’re
going to play a game of hide and seek. If we’re crafty about it,
they won’t find us for a good bit.” Lyris was still cheerful and
the sharp object still pressed dangerously to the back of Ari’s
neck. “Did you know there are a set of nerves back here that if I
slice through all of them will render you dead? Interesting fact
isn’t it?”

“
Mom
will worry about us. She loves us both very much.” Ari protested
gently. Lyris was scarily cheerful, and Ari preferred that than
whatever angry might look like. She definitely didn’t want to risk
seeing firsthand what happened if Lyris’s composure was broken. If
her aunt held a knife while smiling cheerfully, who’s to say she
wouldn’t slit Ari’s throat in anger?

“
Do me a favor
darling
; don’t call that woman “Mom” in my
presence.” Lyris’s voice sharpened. “She has no right to the title.
She hasn’t given birth to anyone to be a mother. She has taken
everything from me; I won’t allow her that, too. You’re my child
not hers. Is it really too much to ask for that
respect?”

Ari stiffened in her seat. Lyris’s was crazy; there was no
way what she said was true. That wasn’t something that would have
been kept from her. Ghita wouldn’t have kept
that
a secret, would she?

“
Your
birthday is soon, isn’t it? You’ll be eighteen.” Lyris stroked the
top of Ari’s head and turned another corner and out a set of doors.
Greenery and trees spread out in front of them as far as the eye
could see.

“
The park is walled,” Lyris informed her
conversationally as she walked briskly in a predetermined
direction.
“But it’s a decent size with some excellent tree groves for
taking a moment away. I miss Sparta. This city is so polluted. I
miss the olive trees and the grape vines. I miss home.” She sounded
so normal in that moment. If Lyris hadn’t been holding a sharp
instrument Ari would have thought they were having a normal
conversation.

“
Sparta doesn’t exist anymore.
It’s a thing of
myths.”

“
Oh,
Sparta is still there. The culture, the people, our way of living
is just hidden from the views of the populace. You were born there
you know, in Sparta.” She sounded reminiscent almost. “You were a
perfect baby. Any less and you would have been euthanized and
reported as stillborn.”

“
I’m
American. We are American. We live in America.” Ari remembered what
Ghita had said about delusions and thought Lyris was probably in
one of them now.

Lyris laughed but it was a sharp, dangerous sound.
“Hardly, you’re
Greek. I’m Greek. You are of an old, old bloodline. On your
birthday you’ll have a choice to make, a choice to stand by for the
rest of your life.”

“
Mo…
Ghita said we weren’t going to participate in the old traditions.”
Ari informed.

Lyris laughed heartily as she maneuvered the wheelchair off
the path and into a stand of trees.
“It’s not something that can be revoked
like that. It runs through your blood. You’ll have to make the
choice whether you want to or not. Though, I can say the bindings
on you are quite interesting. Someone wants you dead and someone
was so desperate to keep you alive they tied their lifeline to
yours.”

“
Sasha
saved my life last year,” Ari was confused at Lyris’s reference to
bindings. What were bindings? “I was hit by a car.”

In the
middle of the stand of trees Lyris stopped rolling the wheelchair
and moved around in front of her. Lyris’s brows were furrowed in a
slight frown. “Why does that name sound familiar; Sasha as in the
Horiatis boy? But it wasn’t supposed to be Sasha… what happened
to…” She plopped gracelessly to the ground. “It doesn’t matter.
You’re protected and that’s what counts. Even here away from home.
Tell me about Sasha.”

Ari
didn’t like the predatory gleam in Lyris’s eyes. She shrugged
nonchalantly. “He and his dad live down the street. We’re
neighbors. His sister, Nasya came to live with them at the
beginning of high school.”

“
What’s
his dad’s name?” Lyris leaned forward in anticipation.

“Kleisthenes.”

Lyris jerked back and howled with laughter.
“Ghita must HATE
that. In the name of the Goddess!” She rolled in the grass with
maniacal laughter. “To think she’s run all this way and Kleis still
found her and he’s mentor to Sasha. Wonderful. It’s no wonder why.
There is no better fighter then Kleis. Nasya is a surprise, though.
I would have thought her mother to come. Though of course, she will
be extremely dangerous when provoked.”

Ari tried to imagine Nasya dangerous and she
couldn’t.
Nasya was deeply in love with her books and her studies.
There was not a single threatening thing about her. “Ghita and
Kleisthenes don’t really get along. They fight about everything.
Why wouldn’t he mentor his son?”

“
Of
course they don’t get along!” Lyris shouted angrily and
simultaneously jumped to her feet. “What surprises me is Kleis
hasn’t told the Guild. To think that the Daughters of Gaea have
been allowed to leave Sparta without the proper protection.” Lyris
began to pace and pulled at her hair. “Sasha is not Kleis’s child.
Neither is Nasya, actually. In Sparta, children are taken from
their parents and given to foster at the age of three depending on
what skills they show an aptitude in. There are exceptions, of
course, but it’s rare among the Spartans. Sasha doesn’t know who
his real parents are thus, Kleis gets the honorary term. We must
tell Mother where we are, but how to get a message out? Ghita is
always interfering where she’s not wanted. Mother needs to be here.
You need to be taught and guided. I wish Eryx was here. None of
this would have happened if he was.”

“
Why did
you kill Eryx?” The question popped out before Ari could restrain
it.

Lyris stopped
in mid-step and turned on her.

“
What are you talking about?”
Lyris hissed. “What
has happened to Eryx?” She grabbed the front of Ari’s shirt. “Speak
child or face my anger. You’re not so big I can’t wallop
you.”

“
Ghita
says she watched him die. She said you made a choice and he bore
the cost of it.” Ari stuttered out the words under Lyris’s intense
stare. It wasn’t the exact story, but it was for the most part the
short of it.

“
Lies!”
Lyris shouted and let go. She spun back into a dizzying pace. “I
didn’t have a choice! She made the choice! That little bitch
thought she knew it all, thought that she could handle it all. She
was wrong! And look what happened! I bore the cost of her pride!
Me! What does she think will happen to you? Ignorance will not save
you. It will only cause your death faster.”

“
Eryx…
my poor silly Eryx…” She wrapped her arms around herself and moaned
softly. Pain was evident on her face though no tears fell. She
stopped suddenly and tilted her head as if listening to another
voice.

“
You cannot have her!”
she shouted. “You will not take
what’s mine again!” Lyris whirled on Ari and her eyes darken to
completely swallow all the white. The predatory gleam was
immobilizing. Lyris wrapped her arms around herself and dropped to
her knees. Her eyes closed and her breathing began to rapidly pick
up. “Listen carefully Ariadne, you will only have one chance. Trust
your Spartan.” When Lyris’s opened her eyes Ari saw something
inside that could not have possibly been her own spirit. Ghita’s
words made more sense now. Her sister wasn’t her sister anymore but
then what was she? What were they?

“
Freedom.
We must be free.
She
must be free. Not the light, not the
dark.” Lyris choked and doubled over. “You need to be free.” She
collapsed and groaned in pain. “Get away from me.” She
whispered.

Ari did the exact opposite.
She couldn’t have moved if she wanted to.
She couldn’t just leave, no matter the situation.

“
G
ET AWAY FROM ME!” Lyris screamed and a
wind rose from nothing and swept around in a violent
frenzy.

The wheelchair was flipped and Ari was thrown to the
ground.
She
tried crawling away but the wind was as wild as a tornado. It
ripped at her clothes and tore through exposed skin like knives.
The grove darkened without explanation and the roar was louder than
any thunder Ari had ever endured.

“
Mom! MOM!”
Which one Ari screamed for didn’t matter.
She wanted whichever one would listen. Whichever one would come to
her aid.

Her
scream was soundless as the wind sucked all the air out of her
lungs. Her body writhed in torment. Ari couldn’t breathe; the grove
was so dark she couldn’t see.

A sudden flash of blinding light seemed to pierce the dark
shadows.
It
wrapped around her like a bubble and Ari thought she saw Nasya
through her tear filled, blurry eyes but the image was
wrong.

Nasya’s dress was something out of fairytales.
Her hair was free
and flowed gently down her back. Why didn’t the wind touch her? Ari
wondered as the lack of breathable air finally reached her brain.
She sank into darkness even as the light faded.

S
ensations came
back slowly
. Ari could
feel smooth, cool leather beneath her bruised arms. There was a
hand holding one of hers. The pain was a dull ache all over her
body. She couldn’t quite remember what had happened
clearly.