Her father had said that if she could find the will, the first spirit, Tirawa, would enter her soul and burn the malice away. But was even the sun's power enough? It was the symbol of all life, yet...the malice contained all the hatred of those who'd gone before. It was age-old, and all-consuming. And even the sun gave way to darkness each day...
She shook her head, trying to break out of the melancholy thoughts, and took a look around the campsite. Natan sat close to her, but he was silent as always as he ate his dinner. Frank was once again serving as Mao's chair; this happened so often Shania had long ago stopped caring about what they did or how Frank managed to get on the cat's bad side so often. Ricardo was tuning his guitar and, on a fallen log, Hilda was rolling her eyes while Johnny gestured with his dagger.
"Johnny, I know what you did, we were watching you the whole time! Stop bragging, all right?"
"I'm not bragging, I'm just saying--"
Shania watched as the two teenagers squabbled with each other, focused on the boy. If it wasn't for him, she would be dead right now. The fight with Tirawa had been arduous, and she still couldn't believe that the priestesses before her had gone through the battle on their own. She knew very well that without Johnny's help, she would have been burned away by Tirawa's power.
He'd put his life on the line to help her. Because he cared for her? She snorted snoftly at the thought. It had taken her father only moments to perceive the evil within her. There was no way Johnny, having traveled with her for months, could not see how corrupt she had become. The only reason he had interfered was because she was a valuable fighter.
"After this is all over, would you like to help me? And work with me in my detective agency?"
She frowned. "Princess?" She heard Natan ask, but by this time she was already striding across the campsite. Johnny and Hilda stopped bickering as a long shadow fell upon them, and both looked up at the warrior standing over.
"Johnny. Come with me."
"What'd I do now?" he quipped as he jumped up from the log. Shania didn't respond, though she thought back, trying to remember all the times she had criticized him and finding them too many to count. She didn't think she did it that often...after all, in the beginning he'd been clueless about fighting and camping...but--frustrated once again with her line of thought, she spun around to face the blond. After looking to see they were a reasonable distance from the others, she demanded: "Why do you want me to work at the agency?"
"Why?" Johnny grinned, seeming to find the question odd, and then shrugged. "I think you'd make a good partner. You're nice to be around."
The priestess scowled. "Johnny, shut up."
"What'd I say?"
Shania folded her arms as she repeated her father's words: "'Venomous, vengeful, bitter, and angry'. Someone like that isn't pleasant company."
The boy laughed awkwardly. "He was being kind of harsh..."
"The truth may be harsh. My father was always an honest man." And that was what had made his words such bitter medicine. She knew he loved her--he had broken one of their most sacred traditions for her sake! For him to pronounce such a judgment on her character...it stung, knowing he said it out of concern.
"Okay, maybe sometimes you're like that." Despite the incredulous look she gave Johnny, he continued. "So what? He said himself that it's because of the malice kiss. As soon as the malice is gone--"
Was that it? She had told him of the malice kiss only a few moments before he had extended the invitation. Had he decided to ignore all of her flaws because of Lady's kiss?
"Shania, are you feeling all right? Are you sure you're not tired from the trial?"
The priestess could feel her hands balling into fists as her lips curled with distaste. "If I hadn't told you about the kiss, would you have still asked me to work at the agency?"
"Honestly...probably not."
At least he was being truthful, even if it wasn't the answer she'd hoped for. The malice kiss had changed everything in his mind; she was not a person he wanted to be with now, but he was so delusional as to think he knew what kind of person she would be once the malice was removed. What if the changes she had gone through were permanent? "Fine," she said, walking past him to go back to the campsite.
"Wait a second," he said, grabbing her shoulder. "Don't get mad."
"I am not mad. I just can't believe you. You're making so many assumptions, it's ridiculous."
"Like what?"
"Tirawa will burn away the malice. I'll go back to exactly how I was before. You knew me well enough from all those months ago to know I'll be a good partner." She paced as she spoke, some fallen wood cracking sharply beneath her feet, then turned on him. "If you're wrong on any one you're going to be very disappointed."
He was frowning, his arms folded over his chest. "You know, you're making a big assumption there yourself."
"What?"
"That I was lying when I said I enjoy being around you."
Shania found herself averting her eyes to look at the tree behind him. She'd like to believe him, which made her stomach clench tighter because she knew he was lying to make her feel better. "What do you find enjoyable about an angry, vengeful person?"
The set line of Johnny's mouth softened. "That really got to you, didn't it?" He ran his hands through his hair, sighing. "Look, your father knows a lot about you. Definitely more than I do. But he hasn't been with you, he hasn't seen you when you're calm or happy...you were upset the whole time we were in Garvoy. You were scared it would trigger your malice, right? And just fear itself can feed the malice, so that didn't help.
"What I'm trying to say is, you were a good person before Lady gave you the kiss, and you still are. Sure, you have your moments when you're a little, uh," he murmured, a smile twitching his lips when she glanced at him suspiciously, "off-the-wall, but in these circumstances that's not really a surprise or anything."
The priestess stood still, her head bowed as her mind churned with thought. Johnny was right about her father's words upsetting her, although even his judgment had not upset her as much as how swiftly he'd reached it, while her companions had said nothing about her behavior. It'd made her wonder if they'd been traveling with her this entire time and had never even noticed...or cared, despite the malice turning her into a monster.
But if Johnny was being truthful with her, the malice wasn't changing her, at least not as much as she had feared. The spirits were helping her keep it in check, and despite her 'off-the-wall moments', as the boy had put it, most of the time she acted like a normal person. She hoped. Shania still had a tinge of doubt that he might be lying, but she also knew that he wasn't a very good liar. Although, if he was being sincere... "Then why didn't you want me to work at the agency until you knew about the kiss?" she asked.
"I didn't say I didn't want you," Johnny answered, frowning, "I just didn't want to make an ass out of myself by asking." Seeing her eyebrows knit together in bafflement, he explained, "You've been distant ever since Chichen Itza, and I thought that meant you wouldn't be interested at all. But when you told me about the kiss, I thought--well, maybe you were just acting like that just because you were uncomfortable, so there was a chance you'd agree. And even if you say no..." he chewed his lip, mulling over his words. "I'm glad that I asked you now. Because it seems like you needed to hear it."
A wry smile quirked Shania's lips. He was probably right, too. "I haven't made a decision yet. Haven't given it much thought at all, actually. There are other things to worry about at the moment."
He nodded. "Yeah, you're right. So, um..." He looked over his shoulder at the campsite. "Anything else you wanted to ask me?"
"No. That's it." In the dim light, Shania watched as he turned and walked away. She was a bit surprised he'd let the matter go so easily, but then, he knew that her decision would be meaningless if she didn't figure out how to overcome Lady's kiss.
It was dusk now; the sun had set. But Shania could still feel Tirawa's presence, strong as ever, and a tremor ran through her body. It was the spirit's laughter. So much doubt, it said, amused. Yet the young man set your mind at ease.
And the Garvoy warrior smirked, knowing it was true. "Johnny?" she called.
"Yeah?" He stopped and looked back at her.
"Thanks for helping me."
Author's Note: Originally this was supposed to be Johnny/Shania...well, it still is I guess, but it just came out a lot lighter than I originally thought it would be. This got started when I was thinking about how Shania might have felt about what her father said.