Flesh Wounds

Part Nine

Sara shook some slime off her shoe as Athena stopped in front of a particularly slimy section of wall. "What are these Roses?"

"Blooms infused with the magic of knowledge," the girl replied. "They're very rarely visited."

"Why?"

"Their price," was the cryptic answer. "Hush. I need to remember the combination."

"What comb---" Sara cut herself off as the slime twisted, leaving a simple circle of stone.

Athena whispered something, and the stone melted away to reveal a solid gold sundial. "Open to the East," she muttered, turning the dial to the Roman numeral III with her mind. "Open to the South." It went to the VI. "Open to the West." It turned to the IX. "And open to the North." With a final twist, the dial rested on the XII, and the girl stepped back, eyes narrowed. "I, the Princess Athena, do command, open and grant me entry."

With an echoing shriek, the stone ground apart, and Sara blinked, rubbed her eyes, and blinked again. Instead of sewer muck, or even bare stone, a soft, lush moss stretched as far as she could see. "What?"

"The Garden of the Roses. Do you dare to step in?"

Jaw set, Pezzini's green eyes squarely met Athena's blue ones, and the two women stepped through the portal.

-------------------------

Gabriel jogged up to the manhole guarding the entry to the Garden to see another dark-haired man crouched next to the yawning mouth. "Xander?" He called out.

"You must be Gabriel," Xander replied, straightening. "Nice to meet you."

"Sara and Athena---"

"Are down there. I know. I was following her when she suddenly…cut off." He began to crawl down the ladder, then glanced up at Bowman. "Well? Are you coming?"

"The things I do for that girl," Gabriel muttered, following Xander down.

"Tell me about it," Harris agreed. "What's that noise?"

"The entry to the Garden is closing. Come on!"

They began to run through the muck, turning a corner to see the stone grinding closed. Xander shoved Gabriel through and threw himself in just before the rock shut. "Whew," he breathed, then turned his head and saw his surroundings. "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

"Okay…Dorothy," Gabriel cracked. "Can you sense Athena?"

The Immortal teen concentrated. "There's something here messing me up. I can't sense her. Hang on…" The next thing Gabriel knew, Xander was on his feet, pointing a sword at the antiques dealer. "How did you know…"

Gabriel held up his hands in placation. "I know you're Immortal because that's what I do. Also, Athena told me a long time ago. I kind of noticed that she never changed from looking like she was nineteen, and knew my grandfather in the Depression. I'm young, not stupid."

"Not much older than me," the boy muttered, putting up his blade. "Athena trusts you, and that's rare, so you have a chance. Screw it up, and there'll be hell to pay."

"I understand."

"Now, why aren't there any defenses? Most places I go to, there would be all sorts of things attacking us by now."

"Uh…as far as I can remember reading about them, the Roses can protect themselves from any enemy. We'll be to them soon, I think."

"That's great. Which direction?"

"Doesn't matter. The Roses are everywhere."

-------------------------

Athena stopped, tilting her head to the side. "Xander and Gabe are here."

"What the hell are they doing?"

"Probably trying to stop up. The Roses don't have an exactly…spotless reputation."

"Athena, are you trying to kill me?"

"Good lord, no. I'm the one asking the questions, I'm the one who has to pay the price. You just insisted to come along."

The detective caught Athena's shoulder, pulling her to a halt. "What price? What are you talking about?"

The blonde sighed, pressing her forefinger to her lips in thought. "Okay, the Roses demand a price for every answer they provide. The more powerful the asker, the more…'expensive' the price."

"How can this all grow?"

"They feed off the sewer."

"Don't they need rain or water of some kind?"

Athena smiled. "Their water…they feed on blood for their water. That can be one of the prices."

A suspicion grew in the brunette's mind. "What price did you have to pay?"

"Don't worry about it, and come on. We need to be out of here by morning."

"Why?" Sara asked as they walked.

"Time passes differently here in the daylight. Why not at night, I don't know, but it does. We could leave here at noon, and it would be twenty years in the past or future. I think some spells went wrong. That's why it does so."

Sara glanced at her watch. "We have five hours until dawn."

Athena merely nodded, and they hurried on.

-------------------------

Danny popped his head into Athena's office, where Giles was still researching. "Where's Athena and Pez?"

"Uh, searching for information, I understand," the Brit replied, thumbing through an Egyptian book of prophesy.

"What are you researching?"

"Um, prophecies. I've noticed they can…give us a heads up, you could say."

"Okay, I'm going to go on home."

"I'll stay here and keep researching."

"Call me if Athena or Pez checks in?"

"Oh, yes, of course, if you'll leave your number."

Hastily scribbling it on a scrap of paper, the Asian handed it to the ex-Watcher. "I hope they're okay," he muttered, almost to himself, as he left.

"So do I," Giles replied, too low to hear.

-------------------------

Athena and Sara thoughtfully gazed at the tangled mass of thorns and closed buds. "So…" Sara mused. "What now?"

"I've got to make them bloom," Athena replied.

"Will that drive the price up?"

"Probably."

"I take it you've been here before?"

"A few times."

"What was the price then?"

"High," was the cryptic answer. "Very, very high."

EAN: Will the Princess receive her answer? Come back next week!