A New Normal
Disclaimer: Characters and premise are the property of Kazue Kato. I'm just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
Chapter Three: Oracle in Business
Renzo unplugged his cell phone from a modified car battery and scanned through his email. He quickly zeroed in on one address and hit respond.
"Alice-san, Thanks for the instructions on rigging the car battery," Renzo wrote. "We all appreciate not having to get into town to keep our cellphones running. Your Engineers without Borders group has been a life-saver. Do you have any additional thoughts on using geothermal power to run the generators we bought? The cost of diesel is becoming an issue and the generators the only source of power for our hospital.
"We've managed to place a number of the infants for adoption but over the next 8 months we are expecting a hundred and ten more births. Making sure we've got electricity when we need it is really important. I know you guys are just students but all the official channels are more interested in setting conditions than in helping us.
"I realize it sounds a little strange, but really, don't worry about what sort of geothermal activity we have. Tell us what we need and we'll adapt." As he typed, Renzo thought, 'As long as Neuhaus or I can explain what we need to Amaimon, he can move magma flows or create hot springs to order.' "The geothermal heating system you designed for our main building is working great and we've got hot water. I cannot express how grateful we are for the hot water (I'm taking daily baths again, if for no other reason than than certain people are expressing their gratitude… just joking).
Thanks again for all your help, things would be pretty rough here without you guys."
He hit send and scanned through his email again.
Renzo grimaced as he opened a letter from one of the official aid organizations they'd approached. Then he pocketed his phone and wandered out into the main room of the former Temple of Apollo, currently converted to a dormitory. The space had been divided up using shoji screens. A mixture of cots, futons and bed rolls were arranged in the rooms defined by the screens. They'd tried to find bright colors, to make things cheerful, to create children's room, but at the end of the day what they ended up with was a mishmash of whatever they could get and very few of the kids talked so it was hard to tell if they cared one way or another.
Renzo found Michelle, several of the former La Llorona and some of the colony's assorted additions in the nursery area feeding and cuddling the remaining infants. They'd scrounged up several rocking chairs and Shiemi had talked a large tree in the compound into growing cradles like fruits. As he walked in Renzo scooped up the first child he saw with open eyes and grinned, ruffling the thin hair between tiny horn buds on the infant's head.
"We've got another bunch of 'Not Exorcists, really, truly', coming," he told Michelle, keeping his tone light.
"You're sure?" she asked.
"Yep, they aren't even trying to be convincing," Renzo said. "One of them is one of the same jerks who was supposed to proctor the Exorcist Exam last January."
Michelle sighed. "So, no help, just lookie-loos."
"At best," Renzo replied.
"Is the news all bad?" Michelle asked. "Did you hear from any of your other contacts?"
Renzo grinned, "Not all bad. I'm the king of getting other people to do things for me. I gotta thank Bon for being such a hardass about doing my homework for me someday. We're doing okay, I think we'll have a way of powering the generators before September's done. I should warn Shiemi too, do you know where she's at today?"
Michelle sighed. "She's probably in the beans, trying to hurry them along and hoping her more adherent admirers didn't notice her leaving the Sanctuary."
Renzo nodded. He gave the infant he'd picked up one last cuddle then headed out the back of the converted temple.
One of Ukobach's friends or relations was supervising a small group of hobgoblins as they set up long picnic tables on one side of the courtyard. Nearby Mamushi and several former La Llorona were supervising a group of three and four year olds who were playing in the sun. Mamushi glanced up when Renzo came outside. For a moment their eyes met then Renzo very deliberately turned and walked away from her.
As he left the courtyard area Renzo spotted Maria superstitiously watching a young couple talk with another of the former La Llorona. The La Llorona looked ready to go into labor at any moment. Renzo walked over to Maria, "So, are they going to adopt her baby once it's born?" he asked, nodding to the trio across the way.
"I think so," Maria replied, her eyes never leaving the group. "Natalie likes them. She was only 17 when she became a La Llorona and in her merger she's younger still. She doesn't want to be a mother yet." Maria bit her lip then added. "I should give up my baby too, once he's born. I was a terrible mother."
Renzo noted Maria's emphasis on 'should'. "You know you've got help this time if you do decide to keep the kid?" he reminded her. "None of us are going anywhere."
Maria smoothed a hand over her swollen belly, her eyes sad. "We've also got several hundred children who have already been born to take care of. And hardly anyone is willing to adopt the older children… Not that the children are willing to trust anyone other than Lady Gaia and Lord Amaimon anyway."
"Just don't do anything you're going to regret," Renzo said. Then he straightened and stepped away from the wall where Maria had been sitting. "We've got more True Cross Exorcists sneaking in for a closer look with the next delegation from the Peace Corp," he warned her. "Spread the word."
Renzo continued north. He made his way between the bathhouse they'd constructed over the Kassotis Springs and the Amphitheater. Just past the Amphitheater a thick, impenetrable rose bramble rose in a wall 3 meters tall and a meter thick marking the perimeter of the ancient city. Renzo reached out and pricked his finger on one of the thorns then waited for it to recognize him. After a moment the brambles pulled back to create an arched passage to the outside.
A wary platoon of border guards watched as Renzo emerged from the bramble. The True Cross and the Hellenic Army had formed an uneasy alliance in order to create an armed perimeter around the Delphi sanctuary. They'd only tried to interfere with the comings and goings for the refugees once, the loss of a variety of military equipment due to sudden eruptions of plant growth had led to an impasse. The perimeter stayed; on the other side of Gaia's rose wall; the refugees came and went unmolested but not unobserved. Renzo gave them an aggravating grin as an Exorcist and several armed soldiers fell in behind him.
Outside of the armed perimeter Renzo saw a group in leafy crowns and brightly colored tunics in the style of the ancient Greeks holding up signs reading "Gaia is the Goddess not a Demon!". One of the men had forgone the tunic and stood proudly in the altogether. 'We need more girls who want to go around skyclad,' Renzo thought to himself.
Several meters to the west of the group of Goddess devotees a more conservatively dressed group was protesting the modifications to the Delphi ruins. As word of Gaia's return to Assiah spread it had drawn an eclectic group to gather at Delphi. Some came to help, some came out of fear, others came to worship Gaia and quite a few simply came to gawk.
Those who had been reached through Nishiki's connections had all been vouched for and the Myodha were carefully vetting anyone offering to adopt the children, but checking the references of the very random people who show up at the door and wanted to be a part of whatever they thought Gaia's return represented was beyond the little group's resources. With hundreds of young and abused children in their care, the rescuers had decided that it was best to be cautious about what help they accepted.
On their way to the Sanctuary's fields Renzo and his escort passed through the growing tent city springing up around Dephi. The campsites were as varied as people created them. There was the military and exorcist's orderly rows of drab, identical tents regularly broken by more substantial structures. There were people camping in their cars or RVs, others came with nylon or canvas tents and other came with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. A hundred different crests and symbols adorned the make-shift structures.
After fifteen minutes of hiking Renzo reached the first of Shiemi's fields and orchards. Tended by Greenmen, guarded by Hobgoblins and urged into fruit by the power of Gaia flowing through Shiemi acres of crops, some never seen in the region before had sprung into being overnight. There were several dozen people in a wild assortment of costumes standing just outside of the trellised bean fields loudly praising Gaia. A group of hobgoblins scowled at the crowd and pushed anyone who actually tried to enter the gardens back. Renzo could easily pick out the ones without mashos from the confused looks on their faces as invisible hands shoved them out of the garden.
Then someone in the crowd took note of the pink-haired boy approaching them. "Gaia's knight!" Heads turned and in a few moments Renzo found himself surrounded. He gave them a genial grin and kept moving forward, ignoring the hands grabbing at him. "I need Gaia's blessing!" "Tell Gaia we love her." "We just want to talk to her" "Tell Gaia-" "Ask Gaia-" "Knight, ask Gaia-"
"Come on guys," Renzo rebuffed them. "Gaia's not in right now, you know that. Now why don't you stop pestering SHIEMI?" Once he'd made to past the first row of trellis and the yellowing leaves hid him from the crowd he grimaced and dusted himself off as if to rid himself of the memory of the crowd's grasping hands.
Renzo continued deeper into the field, peering down the rows, between the trellises until he spotted Shiemi. "How's it going?" he asked.
Shiemi heaved a huge sigh. "I just can't make them dry any faster," she said. "With Gaia's power, I can grow a crop overnight, but whatever I do they dry in their own time. We're short on protein again."
"I heard some of the girls talking about getting chickens," Renzo mentioned. "If they can pull it off then we'd have eggs."
"Oh I hope so!" Sheimi worried at her lower lip, "We have to be able to give the children a well-balanced diet."
"We're making progress on getting power without buying diesel," Renzo told her cheerfully. Then he snuck in, "And one of the jerks from the Exorcist Exam is trying to pass himself off as a Peace Corp guy."
"You don't think they know we were responsible for the escape from Rio?" Shiemi asked.
Renzo shook his head. "I don't think there's anyone left, except maybe Okumura Yukio and Shura, who knows what was going on at the Facility in Rio… And they won't talk, they were in as deep as us. I don't think the Grigori knows anything. That's why they keep sending people to bug us, because they don't know where all these part-demons came from."
Together they walked deeper into the gardens. Shiemi stopped every now and then to check on how a plant was doing or to pull a weed. Renzo laughed to himself about how all the plants turned toward Shiemi as she passed as if she were sun. "Make sure I stick to the weeds," Renzo warned as he started to help. Shiemi smiled and nodded.
The shadows began to lengthen, in the distance they heard a bell chiming. "2:30," Renzo commented.
"I'd better go," Shiemi said. "I think it's better if there's ceremony to mark my turning control over to Gaia."
"Let me walk you there," Renzo replied.
At the edge of the gardens they found that the crowd of Gaia's worshippers had grown to over fifty while they had been tending the crops. Neuhaus was waiting for them. "I saw this mob forming and thought you might need an escort," he said. The hobgoblins scowled at him fiercely. "As escort that everyone can see," he amended.
Shiemi smiled gratefully.
Renzo walked out in front of them and flicked his hands playfully at the crowd. "Shoo, back to the Tholos," he tsked. "You know that's where Gaia has her audiences. You don't want her thinking you're thick right? Everyday we go through this: Not Gaia, Shiemi. You won't get Gaia until Shiemi's ready so let her get ready okay?" A significant fraction of the crowd dispersed, heading up the road to the circular temple that hid the entrance to Gaia's cavern. Neuhaus and Renzo walked on either side of Shiemi, along with several hobgoblins they kept the remain crowd at bay as they also made their way to the Tholos.
While the two men waited in the upper room Shiemi walked back down the long, narrow flight of stairs to the cavern beneath where the Omphalos stood. Michelle was waiting below, with water for bathing and a change of clothing. Shiemi cleansed herself then changed into the red hakama and white haori of a Miko Priestess. It wasn't Gaia's culture but it was Shiemi's, a way of readying herself to be possessed. Once she was done she knelt in front of the Omphalos and waited.
The bell's chimes rang across the city as the hour fell. Shiemi's eyes closed. When the bells stopped Gaia rose, her eyes glowing. She walked back up the stairs. Amaimon and Maria had joined those upstairs. "The supplicants await you," Maria said, her head bowed. Amaimon and Renzo fell in step slightly behind Gaia. As they walked through the door Renzo called on Yamantaka to cloak him in flames and Amaimon unsealed his heart, assuming his full demonic form. They should have overshadowed Gaia, who's only physical sign that she had possessed Shiemi was the girl's glowing green eyes, but in truth it was Renzo and Amaimon who were all but forgotten by the crowd as they stepped out of the Tholos.
"Supplicants, I am here," Gaia announced. As one the crowd dropped to their knees, even the skeptics among them overcome by Gaia's presence.
Shima Juuzo stepped forward from the crowd, at his gesture two couples stood up along with him. "Lady Gaia, these families are of good reputation and would promise to care for your rescued children as their own," he declared.
Gaia walked down the steps of the Tholos so that she could peer into the faces of the couples. After several long moments that left the couples sweating, Gaia stepped back. "I am satisfied," she said. "They may meet the children. Renzo kept his face impassive, he knew it was all just for show. Gaia could examine a person's memories as she had done when she and Shiemi judged the Facility personnel in Rio but it was a harsh process that left the victim's mind badly disordered; hardly something they wanted to do to the prospective parents. For a moment, Juuzo's gaze shifted to his younger brother, Renzo refused to allow him eye contact. Instead he stared out into the crowd.
As he pointedly did not look at Juuzo, Renzo's eyes picked out a young man with tufts of white hair on the sides of his head and small, wing-like growths in the place of his ears. 'Saburota?' Renzo thought in alarm. The man was clearly much younger than Saburota Todo, but at the same time unmistakably he. /He reeks of Karura's stolen power,/ Yamantaka whispered in Renzo's mind.
/Of all the people I didn't want to see,/ Renzo sent back with a sigh.
When Gaia finished with Juuzo's group an older man stepped forward from the crowd. "Goddess, my valley is facing our sixth year of drought. Our farmers won't survive another bad harvest, our aquifers are going dry."
"I have no control over the rain," Gaia admitted frankly. She laid a hand on the crown of the man's head. "But take a portion of my power home with you, let it spread through the land, your crops will require less water to flourish."
"Thank you, Goddess," the man said.
The next to come forward was a man in his early twenties. "Goddess, my parents want me to join the family business should I?"
"You know the answer in your heart," Gaia dismissed him.
The next three simply asked Gaia's blessing. After that a small group came forward, a woman in a long flowing skirt and a loose shirt, with a small knife on her belt spoke on their behalf. "Goddess, the Coven of the Three Leaves asks your permission to join your Colony."
Renzo shifted back slightly, indicating that they hadn't come through Nishiki's network of contacts. 'Too bad,' he thought. 'They don't look as flakey as most.'
"Ask again once your dedication has been demonstrated," Gaia told the group. They looked disappointed but their leader nodded her acceptance of Gaia's decision.
Renzo's gaze drifted back to where Saburota was pretending to be just another part of the crowd.
The next group to come forward looked completely out of place in business suits and ties. "Ms. Gaia," their spokesman began as he took a legal document out of his briefcase and presented it to Gaia. "We represent the Town Council of Delphi. We have passed a measure requiring you to cease and desist all activities resulting in the unnatural plant growth within the municipality of Delphi."
Gaia gave the man a disdainful look. "The Earth rejoices at my return, I have no interest in curbing that joy. What is unnatural are the bands of restraint you surround your cities with."
Renzo stepped closer to Gaia and put a hand on her shoulder. "We've noticed that there's less leakage of Gaia's power when we've direct it someplace useful. Maybe there's someplace you'd like a new park, garden or vineyard?" he suggested.
"The whole country's going to be a garden soon," one councilmember mutter as they left.
Before the next person could step forward for their audience there was a stir from the back of the crowd. Gradually more and more people turned to stare. After a moment Renzo saw the source of the commotion: A tall woman with deep bluish-green skin and stark white hair strode up the road, a massive ball of water was slung over her shoulder as if it were contained in something. The crowd parted to let her through.
Once she stood before Gaia, the strange woman bowed respectfully. "Lady Gaia, I am Obizu, a Duchess of the Kingdom of Water. My Lord Egyn bids me extend his apologies to both you and the priestess Shiemi for his uncouth behavior when you previously encountered him. He offers this token and his sincere regrets." Obizu swung the ball of water to the ground in front of her, the water inside the sphere teamed with fish. Then in a much less formal tone she added, "We thought your kids might appreciate it. Humans these days say sea food's good for developing brains. And don't think too unkindly of Egyn. Just between us girls, he's like an overgrown puppydog sometimes."
"Although it appears that he is capable of learning," Gaia remarked. "The gift is appreciated. If he can remember his manners he has my leave to approach me."
Amaimon grimaced at that, /But, Mom-/ he protested silently and was hushed with a glance.
After Obizu, Gaia ended the audience and spent the rest of her allotted time visiting the children.
When the clock struck six, Gaia collapsed. Renzo went to pick her up but Amaimon got in his way. "You've been monopolizing her all day while I was busy keeping the older brats in line," he complained then carried Shiemi back to her room himself. A few minutes later Amaimon emerged looking sulky. After a bit longer of a wait Shiemi came out in her pink kimono. "I'm back."
Renzo smiled at Shiemi but after a moment he glanced away. "We should get to dinner," he said.
When they went to sit down Amaimon pointed shoved between Renzo and Shiemi. Renzo rolled his eyes and moved several places down so that he was sitting between two of the older children. The rest of the adults also dispersed around the long table where they did their best to encourage the most basic of table manners and discourage the hoarding of food.
After dinner they broke up into smaller groups, some of the children being herded into the bathhouse while the rest listened to bedtime stories.
As the evening progressed Shiemi noticed that Renzo was unusually quiet. He loitered in her vicinity despite Amaimon's attempts to discourage him. Once the last of the kids had been tucked into bed Renzo asked, "Could we talk?" Without waiting for a response he turned and walked outside.
Amaimon pouted when Shiemi got up to follow him. She squeezed the Earth King's shoulder as she passed, "Everyone was very well behaved at dinner tonight. You've been doing great with them."
Amaimon ducked his head a bit at her praise.
"I should find out why Renzo's upset," Shiemi continued.
Amaimon wrinkled up his nose at that but he said, "I'll go see if Neuhaus wants me to screw with the magma around here some more."
"Thanks for understanding," Shiemi said.
She followed Renzo up to the highest row of seats in the amphitheatre. Renzo sat down and stared out into the distance without saying anything.
"Renzo-kun," Shiemi asked, sitting down next to him. "Is something wrong?"
"You remember when you told me that you wanted to hear what I think?" Renzo asked. "Really, no one ever wanted that from me before. No one ever noticed the mask I put up, or at the least they didn't bother to try to get past it. I want you to know I really appreciate that you did." He smiled awkwardly. "And, even more amazing: after getting to know me, the real me, you still don't hate me."
Shiemi threaded her arm through Renzo's and leaned against his shoulder.
"I saw someone in with the supplicants today," he continued quietly. "Someone I was hoping wouldn't show up quite so soon. You're going to find out some stuff about me that I didn't want you to know and I don't expect you to like."
"Renzo-kun, I'm sure it's not-" Shiemi began to protest but Renzo cut her off.
"I hated everything then," he said. "You know how I feel about my family and the Myodha, but they were my whole world, everything I knew and I hated them. I hated Bon and Koneko for just going along with the program like good little drones; they're both smart, you'd think they'd know when they were being fed a load of crap but Bon pins it all on his dad and idolizes the rest of the Myodha and Koneko… Koneko, I don't why he can't see it."
Renzo trailed off, Shiemi waited patiently for him to go on.
"I told you about how Nishiki and I were going to screw with our families by me refusing to swear to Bon and letting her, a Hojo, take my place. Well, it would have ticked off my family to no end, I can tell you that. If I'd gone through with it I wouldn't have had to disown myself, but we swear fealty when we're twenty. That still feels like an eternity even now when I'm seventeen, imagine what it felt like when I was fifteen." Renzo said. "You remember Saburota Todo? The so-call guardian of the Deep-Keep? He came and talked to me right before I signed up for the Academy, about a different way of getting at my family and at everything else I hated. And I listened to him. But after I got to school, got to know you and Izumo and Rin, I started to realize that I didn't really hate everything. I didn't even hate Bon or Koneko." He sighed and shook his head, "Maybe they weren't so blind. Hell, maybe Bon can fix the Myodha. I wouldn't count on it but I wish him luck trying."
Renzo stopped again and sat silently beside Shiemi. They watched the sun set over the gulf.
"I thought I hated everything," he resumed as the lengthening shadows swallowed them. "Hate is the furthest thing from how I feel about you. But it's not so simple as just changing my mind. Because I don't hate you, I'm trying to get out of what I got myself involved with. But you're going to find out about everything before it's done." Renzo slipped his arm out of Shiemi's grasp and stepped away. "I just wanted to warn you first."
As he walked away his voice drifted back to Shiemi. "I'm sorry I'm not a better person."