XIII
Tackling a brown-haired adolescent to the ground, the tan young man with a golden mane playfully romps. My two eldest sons, Hyperion and Zeus, wrestle jauntily in a ring created by their younger siblings. Laughter and jeers carried upon the gentle breeze reach me, sitting underneath the largest, and only, tree on the summit. A shift in the wind snatches the sounds away but with my eyes I understand what has happened. Sun versus earth, the brunet teen lies pinned beneath the blond, older brother.
An amused sigh reaches my ears. I search for the source, finding myself glancing straight into the sun. Blinded for a moment, I send a boyish grin to the woman standing by my side as I recover my sight.
"My dearest one, what amuses you so?" I ask, resting my eyes upon Gaea.
"When I said to watch the children, I meant for you to make sure they finished their chores, not make a source for new ones." She stares pointedly to the now dirt-smudged clothes of Hyperion and Zeus.
A chuckle escapes me before I can properly stifle it.
"Yes, I suppose you did." I stand up then and quickly silence her next words with a light kiss. Keeping our heads close, I lean my forehead against hers, gazing deeply into her eyes, as entranced now as the first time I saw her. Sadness hides within those eyes. She knows it is time for me to return to the City and rescue those ready to accept the individualism. She also realizes that there is a great chance I will be caught and… punished.
"Must you go so soon? Clio is still young and needs her father."
"My love, you know that I must go, that I hate to leave you all. Please do not make our parting hard."
She looks away then, my love does. We had talked late into the night on this subject. Packed for the journey back to the world of Brothers and Councils, the only task I needed to finish was to speak to Hyperion.
"Come now, enough frolicking, it's time to begin lunch."
The children begin filtering inside. When Hyperion finally releases Zeus from his victory pin, I step from beneath the tree's shade and call to him.
"Hyperion, not just yet, come walk with me."
He takes large strides to meet me as I turn and head toward the far end of the summit. When we have traveled sufficiently far enough that there is no chance of little ears listening, I begin.
"You realize what I must do now that you are old enough to take on the responsibility of our family."
"Yes, father, you must rescue your friends from the city and spread knowledge of the holy words so that mankind can shed itself of this blind of ignorance it wears."
I send a maudlin smile to him then. He has grown so much, much more than I anticipated. I am so proud to have him as my son.
He hesitates then, "I also understand the chances of your mission finishing successfully."
I fix my eyes upon the blue sky above, indirectly at the sun. "Let us hope for the best."
We stand comfortably in silence for a few moments. The zephyr returns and bears the scents of delicious food. We head back toward home knowing that our lives will never be the same.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was much harder than I anticipated, bidding farewell. The gut-wrenching experience of having those young hopeful eyes begging for you to say it isn't true, that you will stay with them forever, having Clio look at me, hopeful eyes so much like her mother's it was hard to look, but even harder to look away. Betrayal shone in my children's eyes and I knew I could not lay the blame on anyone or anything else. I was the one who chose to leave for what will most likely be a suicide mission than stay with my family.
I shouldered my pack. With one look back towards the home where my family dwells, I head down, through the forest, toward the City, and to my fate.