Blinded

Accepting my role had a major impact on things. Once I knew what I was, and what I could do, things came to me quickly. Years of knowledge at a time flooded my mind. From the beginning until that moment and a short time in the future. Things were not in chronological order at times. The gods didn’t have the same sense of time. Particularly the creator. That was my job. I would keep them straight; help the balance on this side. When needed I would be a messenger and I had a message for the doctor.

“Don’t interfere,” I stated.

“Now listen here...” Fringe began, only Ike raised his hand and dipped his head in a bow. “Father,” Fringe pleaded.

“We shall do this your way oracle,” Ike replied, peering at my eyes. Fringe looked at me and was silent and I knew what they were seeing. The green had faded to white; they would remain that way until I pulled myself out of my visions. I was there and I could respond to them. At the same time a piece of me was walking along my second sight. “Is there anything we can assist with?”

“Not right now,” I replied as I tossed the stone to the grass at my feet.

I had to gather a few things. It could take a bit seeing as I was going to have to walk to each of the places. I turned and looked at each of the brothers and then Ike. I didn’t have to prove myself to Ike. I would have to show the brothers I was beyond what they believed me to be. If all went well they would see I too could be a force to be reckoned with. While exiting the park I saw the man I had noticed earlier. He was uncannily similar to Lucas. His hair a little longer and a paler white and his eyes a pale yellow gold. He said not a word as I passed and gestured to the three dogs to hold their position. They were equal distances apart holding a semi-circle around the park. I didn’t bother to look over my shoulder. I was no threat to him and he no threat to me. When all this was over I would ask Lucas to let me help him for his years of loyalty.

As I walked down familiar streets it had an odd and creepy feeling to it. The motionless of the Earth’s rotation had stopped people midway from typical daily behavior. A foot in the air as it had been about to take the next step, a hand mid wave to a person half smiling across the street, and young boys a few feet in the air as they jumped from the top of the stairs to the sidewalk. I pushed myself to quickly get over it. This wouldn’t be the first odd thing I would see in the life I had chosen.

The bakery was my first stop. I found a wooden bowl in minutes, along with mint and vanilla extract. A few doors down I grabbed a bag of branches. I picked the liveliest of the bunch. Most of them were just leaves and ferns but I selected a few colorful bouquets of flowers too. I started to hunt down the next shop. I had heard of it and knew it was in the area. I passed it twice before realizing it was the one I was looking for. Inside I searched for the largest of the pieces of quartz. With everything gathered I headed back to the park. The man guarding the rear didn’t even flinch as I passed by. One of the three dogs turned to look at me, he was the smallest and clearly still young. He didn’t move and sat with attention as the other two were.

No one had bothered to move. Lucas was still locked in battle and the brothers along with Ike were standing so still I was certain they weren’t even breathing. I dropped my bundles and grabbed up the wooden bowl. Kneeling by the lake I filled it halfway and returned to my bags. I placed drops of mint and vanilla in the water. It caught Ike’s attention. It would, I was polluting the water enough so it wouldn’t be as recognizable. Next I placed the ‘blessed’ stone in the water and the quartz atop it. I grabbed my bundle of flowers and fresh lively plants and walked towards Shazi and Lucas. I could feel the brothers stare at me. I ignored them and continued until I knew I was still a safe distance away but my offering would be in range of Shazi’s pull.

My vision had everything to do with energy. Where it was drawn to, pulled from, to how it was attracted to other things. Shazi was running out of local plant life. Everything around us was shriveling up. It’d be only a matter of time that she’d seek out my offering. However, Shazi would sense the water and so I had used plant extract to camouflage the source. The water was containing the curse, which was attracted to Shazi since she created it. The quartz could contain and hold energy. I needed this to work. All I required was Shazi to reach out to my offering in her time of need. I placed my bowl on the ground and stood by waiting. I could not sit as still as the others. I shifted from foot to foot as I grew tired standing. At one point I looked over my shoulder to see Anile not even blinking. Turning back I felt Ike move to my side, he had moved a boulder and it had a flattened surface.

“Sit,” he said and gestured to the chair.

I didn’t ask questions and took a seat. It didn’t solve my fidgeting. I sat as still as I could muster. Every so often I would have to shift as a cramp developed or a piece of me became sore. There was a chuckle from behind and a voice responded to it.

“It’s true!” Anile said, a little more loudly than necessary, seeing as Fringe was standing beside him. I knew my movement was distracting to them. “Lucas is the same way.”

“Lucas moves on purpose to annoy you. She’s human she can’t help it. You should have considered that in their development.”

I sighed and looked at Ike. He seemed to be amused. I tried to start up a conversation only I wasn’t sure what to say. Perhaps it was best to clear the air. “I hope you realize I intend to stay.”

Ike smiled, his eyes remained on Lucas. I saw a flash of concern as Lucas took a hit to the chest. He fled backwards and jumped to the side before leaping over Shazi to come behind her. “I figured as much,” he finally said.

“I saw your future. You’re pushing him will separate your family. That will leave a hole in the balance. I want to correct that.”

“The balance is always in danger. It should not be the reason you stay with Lucas.”

I bit my lip as I thought about my next words. “I want to stay by his side. For however long he will have me. I tend to hide behind logic for my sanity, but the truth is I can’t live in my world any longer unless Lucas is with me. I will prove myself and show them I can be useful.”

“Anile and Fringe don’t mean anything by it. They hardly interact with their own world. Don’t take it personally. I believe I told you Anile is very introverted. He doesn’t speak to women, not to mention humans, much.”

“Their own world?”

“Ah, that’s another lesson; I will explain it in time. I will give you a warning. The road you have chosen is not a straight and effortless one.”

“I know, I can tell. I can’t really see a clear future. There are too many paths and choices to lead to a specific future. In all honesty I can’t say for sure what that means for me. I don’t know what affect I will have on your son. Whatever we face in the future, I will not regret it.”

“When I chose you to take my son in I knew there was something special about you. Your aura was different from the others who had looked after him. I hadn’t thought it would lead to this series of events.”

Ike faded out. As we continued to watch Lucas I would speak with Ike and at times it was like he forgot he was having a conversation and just stopped talking. I didn’t grow tired or hungry. Ike’s doing I guessed. I managed to get Ike talking again and he explain briefly that he halted the workings of my system so I wouldn’t need to eat or sleep. When the earth began to turn again my body would return to its normal state.

I had started to pull at some of the dead grass. I had placed my bowl on the area that Ike’s water barrier hadn’t reached before Shazi’s insect attack. Here the grass was dried and dead. I was so bored I had begun to braid it after soaking it in the water at my feet. A couple dozen were sitting in a pile off to the side. I had begun another one when I felt the tug I had been waiting for. Shazi was desperate and had accepted my offering. I watched as a glow consumed the bowl. It grew a little bright, predominantly around the edges. I plopped down on my knees beside the bowl and watched. The stone was glowing and attaching itself to its maker. As it pulled at Shazi she tried to pull away, disconnecting from the offering and the stone altogether. Only the water, something she had no power over, was holding her. The quartz, a kindred spirit to the stone, would bond to the stone and seeing as it could act like a container I hoped it would seal Shazi. The bowl was concaved and would bounce everything back to the center of itself.

I was assured the process was working when I heard Shazi shriek. Lucas was having trouble keeping her focused on him as he blocked the path leading to me. However, things were not as swift as I saw in my vision. I put my hands out, one on each side of the bowl to feel how the energy was flowing. The quartz wasn’t as strong as it could be. I focused on it, breathing in and out and offered it my own power, purifying it. This resulted in another scream, close, too close. I looked up and saw a form looming overhead. I didn’t move, I couldn’t if I wanted to see this through, and there was no time. I let her hit me. The orb she held in her hand grazed my cheek and ran down my neck to my shoulder. It burnt the skin and I screamed. I didn’t stop focusing on the quartz. Just as Shazi raised her hand again she vanished. I watched her form shrink as it was pulled away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

I should be dead. My mortal body should not be able to handle the damage done from a goddess. I should have died. Only Ike had halted my body. There was no blood flowing to be lost. It also meant I couldn’t heal. I did feel pain and it hurt as I was lifted off the ground and into strong arms. I hadn’t even had a chance to mentally celebrate my victory. Lucas had me off my feet and whirled me around before kissing me quite suddenly.

It wasn’t my first kiss. I had dabbled, what girl didn’t. Still, no one had warmed my heart like Lucas and I found his kiss was nothing like any other. The sheer joy and love from his touch brushed all my concerns and loneliness away. His lips lingered as my shock faded and, despite knowing we were being watched, I returned the affection. If there were any doubts of my decision they were gone now. I pulled away, fearful of how long an immortal deemed appropriate for kissing. They clearly had no concept of human time. I did keep my head turn to Lucas’s chest as I tried to suppress the blush of my cheeks.

Lucas was full of questions, he was rambling them off one after another and giving me no time to answer. Ike came to place his hand on Lucas’s shoulder and this stopped him. He looked at me and then at my shoulder. I didn’t dare look. I knew it was bad.

“So what now?” I whispered.

“I can’t keep you in this suspended form for long. We will begin clean up and have to put the earth back in rotation.” Ike said.

“Surely we could postpone...” Lucas began but Ike shook his head.

“I will patch you up as best I can before we reset everything, however, it will be a painful process for your body to heal and if Lucas hasn’t imprinted properly you could die.”

Lucas still had me in his arms, they tightened around me. I pointed to the ground and he seemed reluctant to let me go. “I don’t have much of a choice,” I said.

Anile and Fringe had begun to put things back together. Lucas had to direct them, another helpful skill Lucas had was photographic memory. The brothers hadn’t been to the park and couldn’t recall where each stone went. I suspected they were putting to much thought into it. Who would notice if a boulder or tree was off by an inch or two. I turned my attention to Ike as he began running water over my wound. I felt it move along and within the skin. It stung like peroxide on a wound. I didn’t dare cry out.

“How confident are you that Lucas did this right?” I asked.

“I can’t say for sure. Watching you I can say you show some of the characteristics. You haven’t aged lately, you are healing at a greater speed, and you don’t require as much food as before. On the other hand you still require just as much if not more sleep and typically a human bound to a god would only need a few hours a day.”

I nodded and turned to watch Lucas. He was staring at me as he gave life to a tree. I looked down, a little embarrassed I had been caught looking, and then wondered why I should feel ashamed. I did remind my dysfunctional brain there were other things to discuss. I held the urge to look up and turned my attention to Ike. “She can’t be let go. Her loyalties lie with a greater being that would see this world and many others destroyed. Keep her in a safe place and hope she never truly feels sorry for what she’s done. If I die you need to tell Lucas I said not to push you away. I don’t want to see you fall apart and I don’t want to see him lost to the other side.”

“I won’t let you die,” I heard from above. I looked up to see Lucas standing over me from behind. The angle hurt my neck and he rounded me to stand on the side Ike was not patching up.

“I didn’t say you would let it happen, but there’s that chance. Stop eavesdropping.”

“I can’t help it, I have good hearing. I heard my name and came to investigate.”

“Lucas, go help your brothers,” Ike commanded.

He did as asked, though he growled about it as he walked away. He turned and walked backwards as he mouthed something to me. I knew what it was even before I read the words off his lips. I felt the emotion swell in my chest. I smiled as I mouthed the words back and knew everything would be fine. When I turned back to Ike he had one of his looks.

“I don’t care if there’s a scar,” I explained with confidence.

“I will at least try to heal your face completely; it’d be a shame to let such beauty waste away.”

“Lucas won’t care,” I replied.

“Very well, I will try and should it become too dangerous I will let the scars remain. It is time,” Ike said.

I knew what was next. Even without my visions. The Earth had been suspended for too long. I could almost feel Ike let the spell go. The sun peeked from behind a cloud and I heard shouts and yelling in the background. The park wouldn’t look any different. To me nothing looked out of place, no one would know something so extreme had happened. I smiled as I felt the warmth of Lucas wrapping his arms around me. My eyes fluttered shut when they had no strength and my breathing became labored. Ike had healed what he could but as long as I was in a stilled state he couldn’t heal me completely.

“I promised you I would never leave you,” I heard Lucas say, “and it shall be as you wished.”

This sleep was not filled with dreams as it was the last time. I heard the occasional voice and the tickle of someone moving beside my body. Mostly I slept a deep sleep. When my eyes opened a smiling face greeted me. Lucas pounced to kiss my forehead before shouting for his father.

“You’ve joined us sooner than I expected,” Ike said. He did not seem at all surprised.