Wishes and Lost Hope

Chapter Seven
Beginnings Again

Athena slipped, down towards the small pond. A small stumble, but she never reached the water. A sudden, strange pulling sensation struck and she was lying on her back. Strange that she did not remember falling in such a way….

A spark of light, enough to burn her strangely sensitive eyes, broke her thought. Blinking, she sat up slowly and watched the room transform from different intensities of shadow to one of dimness and pale colors. The darker, more prevalent shadows that remained, cast by candlelight, flickered ominously on the walls.

One shadow in particular loomed over the recovering girl. She vacantly traced the silhouette on the floor to stare up at its owner. She could have laughed, but settled for a dangerous half a smile instead. The indecisiveness that marked Escad's features was strangely out of place, and it made Athena feel almost victorious.

"So you're going to kill me or you're going to give me my sword back?" the spear, her so cherished primary weapon, was gone. He either wanted me awake to die or he hasn't got it in him, she reasoned, watching the knight's reaction.

"Escad, tell me that you haven't been brooding away, wishing for revenge only to stand there gawking?" oh, she knew it was dangerous ground. However, if she were going to move, she wanted him to move first. For an effect, maybe, or to be sure. Yes, she had to be sure.

When Escad still did not move, Athena's impatience got the best of her. She stood slowly, cautiously watching the other warrior. Paralyzed…? She stepped back, out of reach and turned her head this way and that, seeking her lance.

She noticed Larc, who she found hunched over slightly, but, like Escad, was not moving. The frozen expression he wore was one of rage, and Athena fell to praying that, with any god of luck watching, he would never be so angry with her as he seemed in this motionless state.

The spear rested on the floor near the wall opposite the door. It took little time for Athena to spot it and she absentmindedly moved so to retrieve the weapon. As she stood from her quick swoop, she was startled by the presence of a child; a stranger that had somehow gotten between her and the wall.

The verdant little boy held up his hand to the woman. An ornament rested in his palm, and Athena delicately picked it up by its coppery chain. No sooner had the item been lifted did the child disappear, and the thundering roar of stone on stone resounded in her ears.

"-ena?"

oOo

"Athena?" Elazul watched in awe as she slowly turned towards him. She only looked through him as though he was not even there.

"Don't move," he heard Daena growl, and tightened his grip on the one between them. He could only assume this was the man she had spoken of earlier, since the stranger had yet to speak a word to them. The fellow had tried to turn his head to see behind him, but seemed intimidated by the feline-woman.

"Hey! Athena?" Elazul tried again, and this time the woman met his eyes with a curious smile.

"Hello," she replied, flicking her gaze from one companion to another, "What's so strange? What are you looking at me like that for?"

"You," Elazul loosened his hold ever so slightly as the man spoke, "You… blinked."

"Be quiet," Daena hissed, her eyes burning with hatred. Whatever reason Athena had to… do whatever it was she had for Escad, was the only reason she had not tried to kill him the moment she saw him. Even then it was difficult, and being only inches away from the man had no good effect on her mood.

"Blinked?" Athena asked, ignoring Daena's outburst.

"You were over here," Elazul supplemented, "and then, just suddenly, you were over there."

"Oh," the woman shrugged, "It… happens."

"Really?" Elazul asked, somewhat skeptical. Of course, this was the person that, among other things, split dimensions; Wisdoms know what else she's capable of, "How often?"

"Well, never before," Athena cracked a smiled as the Jumi snorted, and insisted "but I'm sure it happens sometimes!"

"You can let him go," she continued, noticing Escad pressed, probably quite uncomfortably, between Elazul, a stone slab, and a very upset Daena.

Elazul released his grip, and Escad shrugged away from Daena. He jumped for the sword he dropped when they had jumped him, and whirred to face them, as though he were to fight them all. Daena may have leaped for the opportunity, had Athena not spoken up first.

"Hey now!" the peculiar volume of the exclamation echoed within the chamber, and brought all eyes to her attention, particularly those she sought, "Your life for your life, there's no debt here."

Although he looked none the more pleased, Escad seemed to relent, "I don't owe you a damn thing." Athena only shook her head.

"Ah… never mind," she mumbled as he rushed out the door with her sword, "Keep it."

After a few minutes of oppressive silence Daena sharply asked, "You… just let him go? Him of all people!"

"He'll be fine," Athena replied sincerely. She moved to leave, but the catlike creature cut her off at the door.

"I'm not worried about him," Daena spat, "I'm worried about what he's gonna do out there. What if he…" she trailed off, only the more angry with the other woman's amused expression.

"Ask yourself if he's really interested in wreaking havoc," Athena said, "You know him better than I, has he ever done something he considers bad just because?" Daena grimaced, and Athena continued, her voice cracking slightly, "Besides, now you can think of him having to wander into a village and asking for help like that."

"Like what?" Athena raised an eyebrow. She looked at Elazul, who had removed himself from what he considered, 'not his business,' and back at Daena.

"You didn't notice…" the woman trailed off, but picked up again as the vacant expression worked its way onto her friend's face, "That he wasn't wearing any clothes?"

oOo

The stars and moons could be seen through the thin, yet jungle-like foliage that encircled the Mindas Ruins. Athena consciously sought out the few constellations she knew, and put names to a few groupings that might not have had any.

"Go on ahead, I'll catch up," the woman instructed. As she turned away, she heard Daena mumble something incoherent, but ignored it. They would talk again later, if need be. Such bloodlust was unhealthy.

She walked along the side of the old temple and stopped to listen. Satisfied, she swiftly pulled herself up and over the edge of the first rise, and then over the second. She greeted the dragoons she found there with a smile, and turned to sit and hang her legs over the ledge.

"I would have sworn I made a mistake tonight," Larc's tone seemed one of wonderment, but Athena knew better.

"How so?"

"That friend…" the lupine waited until Athena had settled down and turned her full attention to him before continuing, "Of yours; he was a bit more aggressive than I thought he would be."

"Oh, I suppose," the younger woman tapped the stone with a heel, "I should have warned you that he doesn't like me," she bit her lip, lost in a memory, "And that was, well, I think that behavior was predictable for him."

"I see," the warrior-under-scrutiny flinched, and hoped it invisible in the moon and starlit sky, but the wolf-man took little notice. "Suppose," he emphasized the word and mimicked her tone, "you give me fair warning next time, so I don't 'accidentally' injure the person we're supposed to be helping." Those wolfish eyes narrowed visibly, despite the lack of light, and Athena smiled with him.

"And bring me with you, too," Sierra added, "Or tell me in advance you don't want me to come, and I'll…"

"Follow along anyway," Larc snorted; and Sierra hmphed, but did not argue.

"I will and I will; although I hope there isn't a next time," at least not like this one.

Verbal silence fell, and the click of Athena's boots became the dominant sound, complimented by the scuffling and scraping of nocturnal creatures below.

"I gotta go home," the woman sighed, as a reluctant but obedient child might, "You're both welcome to stop by; on the way back and all."

"Where are they going?" Larc asked, growling reluctantly. A noise that was abruptly cut off as his sister's elbow came into contact with his chest.

"I never said you had to socialize," Athena remarked as she slid down and off the wall.

oOo

"Athena," Elazul glanced up at Daena, before turning his head to watch the called a few moments before turning his eyes back to the road, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," the Jumi mouthed the words in synchronicity with the voice. It was her catch-all phrase. All around sore day, 'don't worry about it.' Lost in the forest, 'don't worry about it.' Locked in a chamber filling with sand, and probably going to be suffocated to death…. 'Don't worry about it.' He shook his head absently as he fell in line behind the women.

"What the hell happened to your arm?"

The lapis knight could have jumped in surprise. "I, uh…" he looked at Athena suddenly beside him, and to Daena in front of them, and shrugged, "You know. Things…" he mumbled, tugging at the poorly done, loose bandage. He never quite got the full of the intended sentence out before Athena's mind changed to a new subject.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm tired," she prattled, "Haven't been sleeping well. Who else's for stopping here?"

Her companions stared at her in amazement as, before either had answered, she was setting up a campsite of sorts in the middle of the path. With a little effort, they managed to convince her to move it off the road a ways, for safety as well as the considerate ideals of other travelers.

oOo

Home was as inviting as ever. Another dusk set in shortly after the wanderers had arrived. Athena had hastily dropped her possessions at the door. Daena had taken the road's left fork, instead of the right – intent on getting to Domina before it the inn closed its doors for the night; And before long, Elazul had usurped a chair from the small kitchen table to wait while the domicile's resident finished her settling in. The Jumi glanced around the room, and the rest of the house he could see from there, trying to find the source of his sudden unease.

When Athena made her appearance, she looked around the rooms in a similar, if more mobile fashion. Something was amiss in her quiet tree-home, though she could not quite place what it was.

She opened the front door, so as to let her rabite make its scurrying retreat outside. She stared out over the road for a while, musing over her instinct while her eyes ventured towards the overcast night sky.

Suddenly, she dashed back through the house, turning the place into a veritable shambles as she ran from room to room, looking around, under, and in every nook, crevasse, and piece of furniture she owned.

"What are you looking for?" Elazul asked, eyes wide at the devastated mess she was currently making of the kitchen, "Hey!" he yelped as his chair was nearly overturned, and ducked under the table to meet the agitated woman as she examined its underside, "What's wrong?"

"Kids," Athena snapped, removing herself from under the table and making her way towards the open door.

Once outside, she took a deep breath, carefully placed two fingers in her mouth, and let loose a shrill whistle until her breath was gone again.

She counted heartbeats; two before Elazul was beside her; seven for Sierra to come running from the surrounding forest, and eight for Larc to follow; and sixteen before the familiar little munchkins made their way around the corner and she could sigh in relief.

"Where were you?" Athena demanded, stifling the youngsters' effervescent moods. The twins looked around at the congregation of visitors before meeting their caretaker's angry glare.

"Where were you?" Bud countered, as Lisa spoke at the same time,

"In the workshops." Confused, the little sorceress blinked and pointed at the door, "We left a note."

"Oh," Athena took the paper the girl indicated; one stuck to the outside of the front door. While she read it, the blonde warrior walked back inside as though nothing had happened. Befuddled, but accustomed, the others followed, Elazul followed and almost trampled by the twins, and Sierra leading the slightly unwilling Larc by the hand.

"Whoa!" Bud's jaw dropped when he saw the mess his home was in, "What happened here?"

"I thought you could have been hiding somewhere," Athena grumbled, pulling Elazul back towards the kitchen. "Sit," she commanded, and the suddenly sore knight did no less.

"We wouldn't have been hiding in them drawers," the sorcerer stated plainly, "We aren't helping you clean up."

"You're cleaning the library," the woman replied, hauling a box from a cupboard and digging through it. She cut off the forthcoming protest, "It was messy when I got here, and it wasn't like that before I left."

"I'll help," Lisa offered, starting work on the disheveled kitchen.

"Good," Athena paid the girl little more notice as she set about to correcting the slapdash work on Elazul's wound. None too gently, she removed the torn cloth that had been used to bind together severed flesh and sinews. The Jumi squeaked softly, but the woman did not acknowledge him as she tightly bound his arm together with fresh, clean bandages.

As she was finishing, Athena heard someone, she presumed Bud, rush to the outside door, and soon after a familiar voice calling her name.

She stood and let Elazul have his arm back – much to his relief. She rounded the corner to the entrance of her home, and saw Daena. The feline-woman was slumped against the doorjamb, and breathing heavily.

"Athena," Daena huffed, "You gotta come see this. Domina… You need to check this out."