Cause to Live
Chapter One: Who Shall Be Taken
His people's only chance for survival was to find others capable of fighting without magic but he knew none in his time who were capable of such things. Suddenly grateful of his power to travel and manipulate time, which would finally become helpful to his people's cause he knew his only option was to look for those necessary outside the time he lived within.
So he had.
With a little help from a dear family friend he found Spartacus, a man trained as a gladiator who took a small clutch of gladiators and slaves and turned then into soldiers. They beat back the might of Rome, those such as Marcus Crassus and Gaius Julius Caesar.
Greer might have been taught to never undo history, never change what is but all of the men from Spartacus' team of fighters ended up dead on the cross or the battlefield. He would bring them to his time and they would teach the Vannas, his people, how to fight without the benefit of magical powers.
When he found the moment of the gladiator's death, utilizing a tall copper disc that showed his reflection when not imbued with his power to show past times. The magic had always come as second nature, something that every one of his people understood; to use magic was like breathing to Greer. He easily slipped fingers across the surface of the mirror and there was the man he sought. Spartacus was surrounded by his remaining friends, saying their tear filled farewells and Greer recalled the short farewell he recently had with his beloved mother and knew this was the only way to save what was left of his people, despite the moral ambiguity of stealing the gladiators from their timeline for his selfish need to protect those of his people who still lived. With moment in time clear in Greer's thoughts he teleported himself, shielded from sight as final words were spoken around Spartacus' body.
He slipped up close to Spartacus shoulder, kneeling next to Nasir who was not so crowded by Laeta, Spartacus' lover and the slave girl Sibyl. Greer leaned forward and touched the fallen man's shoulder and as he slipped himself from this world of death and sadness, he froze the moment so no one would wonder at the disappearance of their leader. He slipped them both into the in-between world of limbo where wounds stopped bleeding and pain slipped from body, giving them a chance to speak.
"What is this?" Spartacus wheezed, and then took a deep painless breath as he sat up, frown evident on his face.
"I have a need for warriors and I have the ability to heal your wounds if you will come and help my people survive the complete destruction from our enemies whose only reason for seeking our death is because we are different. I will pull you from moment of death, so your companions will not miss you in end of life but you and several other gladiators will be given second chance at living in exchange for assistance."
"What would you require of me?" Spartacus questioned, not agreeing with anything but asking for more information. Spartacus was a military man, a tactician and would require everything before he answered, that much Greer already understood after speaking to Danny about the warrior.
"My people do not know how to fight without powers, special abilities, and because of this fact we have lost many people. We need to be ready for the next battle, we need warriors who only fight with weapons and physical strength."
Spartacus leaned back against the ground, "I desire rest for I have been absent my wife's embrace for too long"
Greer growled low in his throat, "You do not understand, I can bring you to full health once more. I could find your wife and bring her to you as well, full of life."
Spartacus looked thoughtful, "Back to conflict? Another cause?"
"One worth fighting," Greer said adamantly, desperate to convince the man.
"A way of life I no longer desire," Spartacus responded, "Take my brothers, they would give life to cause and with gratitude as long as those who hold heart are among the taken."
"Then you choose death?" Greer asked to be certain.
"Yes, peace after long battle."
Greer nodded, reaching down to place his hand on the man's shoulder, even as he transported them across worlds and back into the moments of his death, surrounded by his men and those who survived the final conflict with Marcus Crassus. Even as Greer pulled his hand away, he saw those, from the memories of Spartacus, he would save.
When he released Spartacus to his fate, he returned to limbo which was his base of operations because then his team would do nothing to change the time they were in. Limbo always reflected the lives it held so for now Greer saw the Valley, small houses dotting the nearby landscape and always beautiful and magical as it was the only place after years of battle with their enemy ZarCorp that remained untouched by the war because of the magical shield that protected the island home. This is where he would bring the gladiators, heal them and ask them the same thing he'd asked Spartacus.
With a sigh, Greer turned and walked back to the open field where his mirror resided. There was another in his small home but this one allowed him space to work and freedom to breath. He snapped his finger and tapped the mirror in quick succession, changing the flat surface to shimmer and change to the moment that set him on this path.
The battlefield was awash with the blood of his friends and enemies alike. They had never allowed the conflict with Zarcorp to get to the point of open warfare but it finally had, with devastating results.
Greer turned at the cry that he knew could only be his mother, Akina Sky. She was the queen but had not allowed her position to keep her from the battle and as far as Greer had known, his father had been next to her. With that thought he stabbed another of the enemy in the chest and turned to run towards the cry. The scene he found was one that he still could not believe had happened and it kept Greer from sleep as he relived it in his dreams again and again.
Akina, with her beautiful black and silver streaked hair matted with blood from her enemies and a head wound both. Her fighting leathers were cut and filthy but the sword sticking through her chest stopped Greer's heart within his chest. He ran and fall to his knees next to her.
"Mama," he cried out, trying to touch her without jarring anything that would hurt.
"Greer," she gasped, "My sweet son!"
"Mama, I'll find a healer for you!" Greer responded even as she grabbed hold of his hand.
"No Greer, this is my end. I need you to find your sisters and brother and sound the retreat. Find a way to fight them without magic, do what you have to do. I love you, I love all of you so much and I need you to live to keep fighting!"
"Mama no!" Greer whispered to her, his heart breaking even as he looked around to see if he could find his father.
"Greer, remember what I always told you. You can't change this but you can find a way to survive Zarcorp, I believe you and your siblings will bring an end to the conflict finally for our people."
With those final gasping words, Greer pressed his head against Akina's neck and cried out, the death reverberating through his heart and out through his mouth.
"Greer!" someone shouted and he turned just to watch his father take a blow for him and the bloodlust took Greer, watching the ever burning embers of life fade from his father's grey eyes and he met the enemy in the field once more, killing anyone he could place steel and hands on before he found his sisters and brother to call the retreat.
"Please stop watching that," his uncle Adrian demanded from behind Greer. He snapped his fingers and the mirror went solid once more, showing nothing but his distorted and angry reflection. Those same green eyes he received from his mother were dull from the death of his parents and his black hair pulled back from his face in a queue at the base of his neck were greasy from constant forgetfulness to personal care. There were no scars to be seen from the years of battle the Vannas had been through. It stood another difference between Greer's people and those like Spartacus and his men because the Vannas had healers. Even then death is always inevitable.
"You gave me the knowledge to jump from limbo to the real world, what are you doing here?" Greer asked the man. Adrian, thank the gods, had survived the battle because of his abilities to jump through different dimensions. His wife and their children were safe as well. They were probably all residing in the castle with Greer's siblings, the cousins pulling each other close for comfort.
Though he was much older than Greer at twenty, Adrian didn't really look it, though neither had Greer's parents: Vannas aged slower than humans did. Though Adrian was in his fifties, he could easily still pass for thirty and instead of grey hair he had streaks of blue through his black hair which was loose around his face, ending at the nape of his neck.
"Greer, you have brought several of my beloved charges into this crazy plan and I promised their parents I would protect them as my own. That includes you!" Greer should have known this was going to happen; Zale, Zada and Claire Jackson were picked to travel with Greer to implement this plan and as they were close friends of Greer's there had never been a doubt they would come to help but Adrian helped to raise them from infancy and the parent of the Jackson teens was incapable of following so Adrian had.
"Then don't get in my way," Greer snapped and headed back to the central house where the rest of his team was resting while he went to speak with Spartacus. Adrian shrugged, saying nothing as he fell into step behind him.
Greer slipped through the door and looked at the friends he brought here with him, those who demanded to come and see the end to the struggle against the Vannas archenemy: Zarcorp.
Zale and Zada were standing close together, sister and brother with matching caramel skin and black hair. They were both slender and strong, built like the warriors they were and Zale had blue eyes and his sister had brown. Zada and Zale were both incredibly powerful and so they were important to the cause despite the fact that their fathers would have never wanted them to be here with Greer. Their years of friendship and shared stories made it impossible for Greer to keep the request to join his cause in limbo from his tongue and their assents from his ears.
Zale and Zada's sister Claire was also there. She had the dark blonde hair of her father as well as light blue eyes, a willowy figure shared by her sister. She and the equally blue eyed-blonde haired Ella Trinity were with Greer to deliver healing abilities for his need to grab the gladiators' from the clutches of injury and devastation of battle.
"Spartacus has denied request, wishing to follow his wife into the grave but he has given me list of men and women who would be pleased with another chance at life, even one of conflict and cause."
"Why would you not just take him anyway?" Zale asked darkly. Zada nudged him and gave him a glare to which he shrugged in response. Zale had a special challenge, same one that Greer and Zada had, something that was hard for others to understand. Zale's father had always referred to it like a 'split personality' or to have two minds living in the same body, it gave them much greater magical skill but came with the price of aberrant behavior. Zale would never demand such a thing but his alter ego, called Xylander, was known for his cruel and honest assessment of any given situation.
"My mother taught me to offer choice, not take away. He would understand what was done to him and then punish us. We would turn a dangerous man into an enemy instead of ally."
Zale shrugged again, "We must do what is necessary to make sure the senseless death that took those we love from us can never happen again Greer. Your parents and our father is dead because Zarcorp found a way to take our powers from us in battle! Sometimes that means removing choice from others!"
"No!" Greer shouted, making the girls jump. "I will not become like them!"
Zada reached out to settle a gentle hand on her brother's arm, "What are we going to do without Spartacus?"
"We will find the warriors he recommends and take them after death, we will honor time and history but take what we need for the next conflict. And I would see it done through chronological order of the fallen until the very end. I have made promise to Spartacus that were I to take his warriors then I would take those who they share love and life with."
"You would tire yourself with those incapable of helping in the fight!" Zale hissed as he stepped towards Greer. He did not fear Zale, did not fear the power within his friend. He would not back down, did not flinch under an anger he'd seen more than once in the years of their long friendship. The voice within is strong and the anger tends to flow over constantly.
"I would ask that they have a reason to keep living, not just to fight and die among us. If we bring them to our world, it would be to offer them a life after predestined death. Life for some means love shared between two individuals. Many of us left behind our loves to come here, I just ask that we give more than just cause to live for."
Zale reached back and took Zada's hand, breathing in with her a few times to calm himself then he nodded, "Shall we take those who are loved and gentle or make promises after warriors are saved?" he questioned.
As Greer had already answered the question, he gave voice to next action he would need to take. "We shall first create all the clay golems that will be necessary for the quest we are set on."
"Golems, what magic do you speak of?" Claire questioned.
"They are statues that with the correct words spoken into form will look, feel and die like a human being. Some of the deaths we are preparing to see undone will take perfect timing and well developed spells to assure that no one can see that we have removed true warrior from destined fate."
"Then let's see it done," Adrian stated as he walked over to the others, to instruct them on the creation of the golems while Greer walked into another small building, where he settled in front of his second mirror, ready to learn all there was to know about the deaths of each person he was about to remove from his or her time.