Liz awoke with a groan. Her head ached and she found her hair matted with a splotch of blood. She looked around her immediate surroundings. She was surrounded by tall granite and stone walls that reached high above her. She could barely make out the lights from the sun above. She removed herself from the rubble which entangled her and stood up. She gazed upwards toward the top of the chasm high above her.
"Hello?! Kid! Patti!" She called out. But she received only her echo in return. She looked around her once more. Reaching out she touched the surface of the stone walls around her. They were smooth and well hewn, almost flawless. They were too steep to try and climb, not to mention with how smooth they were there would be no handholds for her to grab onto. Liz sighed and sat back down on the cold floor. She figured that the best she could do would be to wait for rescue.
As time passed and her eyes adjusted to the dim light, she began to make out something in the distance. Across the canyon laid several boulders and plant like materials. Liz stood up to go investigate, using the wall for support. As she drew closer, she realized she was staring at the remains of their enemy G. Liz hopped backwards before realizing the golem appeared lifeless. She grabbed one of the nearby sticks that made up its body and began poking at the pile of rubble. When she safely assumed she would get no response she drew closer again. It was then that she spied a curious sight. A frail human hand was sticking out from beneath the rubble.
"Hey!" Liz called. In a panic she began to remove the rubble from around the trapped figure. Minutes passed by as she struggled to remove the large boulders and wood that surrounded the human limb. Eventually she cleared the debris and revealed the figure of an elderly woman with silver gray hair. Extricating her from her face down position, Liz propped the older woman into a sitting position. She examined her closely, the woman didn't appear to have any injuries. But being Liz the thing that stuck out the most was her fashion statement. The woman had dark skin and appeared to be wearing a tanned leather top and skirt with long flowing strips cut into it. Her skin was covered in intricate tribal tattoos. On her wrists she wore a multitude of bangles and woven bracelets. Around her neck were numerous necklaces constructed out of gems, bones, and flowers. She was certainly the strangest old woman that Liz had ever set eyes on.
"Wait a sec." Liz mused aloud. "If you were in that pile of rubble where G was… does that mean you're actually G?" Liz realized. Suddenly no longer sure she should be helping her enemy, she jumped backwards when she realized the woman began to stir. Liz took several steps away as the elderly woman roused from unconsciousness.
The woman opened her eyes and peered around. She spotted Liz who held her arms up defensively. G looked down at the ground and tried to stand up but felt a wince of pain shoot up her leg.
"You're hurt." Liz said in sudden concern. "Wait that doesn't matter. Answer me, are you the thing we've been fighting? Are you G?" Liz asked and pointed behind her towards the remains of the stone golem. The woman peered back behind her and sighed. She nodded her head in confirmation.
"Ha I knew it. But, you're just an old lady why would you fight us? Why join up with Pantheon?" Liz asked. She was taken by surprise when G actually spoke.
It was a strange language that came out of her mouth. Certainly none that Liz knew, not that Liz knew many other languages. Liz looked at G in confusion. The elderly woman spoke again slower and louder. Still though, Liz could not comprehend her language or make out any of what she was trying to say. With a sigh G beckoned Liz over with a wave of her hand.
"You're not trying to trick me are you?" Liz asked cautiously. G shook her head no and gestured to her busted leg. That message was clear, the woman was hurt and posed no threat. Reluctantly Liz inched closer to the older woman until she was within arm's distance. G held her hand out to her side and as if by magic a long wooden cane sprouted from the ground. G held the wooden stick aloft and gestured Liz forward once again. While still reluctant to trust the old woman, Liz's curiosity got the better of her. She stepped forward and G touched the wooden handle to her forehead. A single word popped into Liz's mind.
'Gaia'.
"Gaia? Wait, is that your name? Gaia?" Liz asked. The sagely woman smiled and nodded. "Okay so I know your name now. But you still haven't answered my question. You seem so, sweet and innocent. Why are you fighting with us?" Liz asked. Gaia frowned and tapped the wooden pole against Liz's head a little harder.
This time a rush of images, sounds, and smells filled Liz's head. She saw verdant green jungles alive with the sounds and smells of nature. She could feel leaves and wood brush against her fingers, and loamy soft dirt beneath her feet. She saw a myriad of animals swinging through the trees and flying all around her. Birds, monkeys, leopards, all manners of creatures living in balance with each other. She could smell the scent of a fresh river and the sweet nectar dripping from nearby flowers. It was all so beautiful and it filled Liz with a profound sense of peace. But suddenly the vision changed. Instead of tall trees and vibrant flowers she began to see cold hard machines. She heard the revving of buzz saws and the cracking of age old timber. She felt the earth shake beneath her feet as explosions rocked out around her. Gasoline and smoke filled her nostrils and she coughed involuntarily on the smog filling the once bright blue sky. She could taste the poison of chemicals in the water, feel the smoke and sludge piling around her. Then in an instant, it was all gone.
Liz stared ahead blankly as she tried to process all that she had seen. It was almost like she had a vivid dream, and the more she tried to remember details, the faster it all slipped away from her. She did remember feeling a profound sense of hopelessness and longing for a place she had never been. Liz looked back down at Gaia. The elderly woman spoke again, this time making hand gestures as well. Although Liz still couldn't understand her words, she understood her meaning.
"That was your home wasn't it?" Liz asked. "And it's being destroyed?" Gaia nodded solemnly. "So that's why you teamed up with Deva and his group? To save your home?"
Gaia nodded with a disgusted look on her face. Clearly she didn't like the idea much either. Liz began to sympathize with her. She had only been shown bits and pieces of this woman's life. She couldn't imagine living in a paradise like that and then losing it for real. Gaia picked her staff up once more and pointed at Liz's chest. Liz looked down to see the Medallion of Faith hanging inside her shirt. Gaia spoke a few more cryptic words while pointing at the medallion. Liz brought the piece of amber colored metal out into the open and studied it carefully.
"Let me guess. Deva said if you got this medallion, he would help save your jungle home?" Liz asked aloud. Gaia shrugged in a gesture that said more or less. Liz sighed and gripped the medallion tight.
"Look, I don't know you really well, but I know enough to understand what you're going through." Liz began. "I can't say if Deva really was going to fulfill his promise or not but it doesn't matter. Without someone to use the eighth medallion he's going to destroy the world. I know you don't care about anything but saving your home. Well, I promise you that if you help us, I can get Kid to call off those industry tycoons and save your forest. What do you say?" Liz reached out a hand.
Gaia looked at her skeptically. The old woman crossed her arms and grumbled something out in that mystery language of hers. Clearly, Liz's speech did not seem to get through to her. Liz sighed in frustration. She clutched the medallion tighter, wishing for it to grant her some bit of madness that would magically solve the situation. Suddenly a small spark of the medallion's madness took root in Liz's chest. She felt a fire well up in her chest and bring strength she didn't know she had. Liz looked at Gaia again with determination in her eyes.
"All right, listen here sister!" Liz spoke with authority. She stood up and Gaia stared at her with confusion. "I'm pretty sure you're the only one that can get us out of this mess. It could take hours for Kid and the others to reach us. And I'm pretty sure no one on your side is coming to help. So before the world ends I'd like to get out of this stinking hole in the ground." Liz held up the medallion in front of her. "I'm not sure how to even use this thing but I know that sitting around doing nothing isn't going to solve either of our problems. You want to save your rainforest from destruction, I get that. But all I can offer you is my promise that Kid will do something about it. I know that's not much to go off of, but you have to believe me. Besides do you really want to shack up with those other maniacs in Pantheon that don't care about human life? Yeah I didn't think so. Now are you gonna sit there and do nothing or are you going to help me get out of here so we can both help each other?" Liz finally said whilst holding her hand out again.
Suddenly the medallion around Liz's neck began to glow bright. It shined with a brilliant golden light that illuminated the entire canyon. It was so bright that both of them had to shield their eyes. But in another few moments the bright shine dimmed down to a glowing hum. Liz gripped the medallion and examined it once more. Her dumbstruck expression soon turned to one of understanding. She smiled softly and lifted her head to regard Gaia.
"I think I finally get it now." Liz spoke to the older woman. Gaia regarded her curiously. "This madness of faith or whatever. It's all about trust. Trusting in yourself, having faith in your own ability to overcome the situation. And when you can do that, you can inspire that same faith in others. At least, I think that's what it's trying to tell me." Liz laughed a little. She was out of her depth for sure. But she did know she was entrusted with this medallion for a reason. And she damn sure had enough confidence to pull it off. Liz turned to look back at Gaia once more, the medallion still glowing faintly on her chest.
"So what do you say?" Liz asked again. Gaia looked between her and the medallion several times before she unexpectedly began to laugh. Liz looked at her with a bewildered and insulted expression. "Hey what's so funny? I'm over here bearing my emotions you know!" Liz shouted indignantly. Gaia's giggling finally calmed down before she said something proudly in her mystery language.
In the next moment she tapped the bottom of her staff into the dirt. A second later Liz felt an enormous rumbling from around her. She fell to the ground and not a moment later the earth beneath them both began to rise in a single pillar. The walls around them widening to make space for the column of earth and stone. In a few moments they emerged from the narrow chasm. Liz looked over to see her meister and sister staring at them with incredulous expressions. She jumped off the stone pillar and made her way over to them.
"Liz what, where have you?" Kid began to ask. Liz however cut him off swiftly. She grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him over to where Gaia still sat perched on the column of rock.
"No time to explain. Kid this is Gaia, she's gonna help us but first we need someone to heal her broken leg." Liz said hurriedly. Kid stammered before nodding and calling for Kim on his communicator. Patti meanwhile had joined them and hugged her sister tightly. Liz returned the gesture with an exasperated sigh and pat on the head.
Kim landed soon after. She glanced around at the gaping maw separating the ground and looked between the mysterious old woman and Kid. The lord of death nodded his assent. Despite her confusion, Kim set to work healing the old woman's leg. Kid pulled Liz aside and cast sideways glances at the old woman while Kim healed her leg.
"I'm sure you know what I'm about to say?" Kid addressed her.
"Yeah okay look." Liz began.
"I can only assume that the old woman you came back up with is in fact G?" Kid asked with a quirked eyebrow. Liz nodded sheepishly. "What happened down there? More importantly why the sudden change in heart? She was trying to destroy us only an hour ago." Kid said.
"Gaia said she only joined up with Deva because her jungle home was being destroyed by corporations for profit, and that Deva said he would help save it. She didn't really want to work with him, but she had no choice." Liz explained
"And she told you all of this?" Kid replied back disbelieving.
"Well it's more like she showed me? I couldn't really understand what she was saying." Liz said with a shrug. Kid quirked an incredulous eyebrow at her.
"Look, I know you have a hard time trusting all this. But I think I managed to convince her with this." Liz said holding up her medallion. "I'm still not sure how it works but I think with the madness of faith I can get people to believe in me. Which means you too. So just, trust me okay?" Liz said placing a hand on her meister's shoulder. Kid remained quiet and stared at her hand for a minute. Finally he sighed and nodded. Liz threw a sloppy hug around him and they returned back to their group.
Surprisingly they found more people waiting there than they had left. The rest of Spartoi had assembled. Shibusen's main forces had also apparently fought past the remainders of Red Fist's troops and Stein now stood at the fore front of the group with Marie and Spirit on either side. Kim had just finished up healing Gaia's wounds and helped the old woman to her feet. The rest of Spartoi regarded her suspiciously. However it was Killik that first spoke up.
"Hey you're a shaman! Just like Fire and Thunder!" Killik accused pointing his finger at her. The rest of those assembled turned to look at them. However it was Fire and Thunder who ran up to Gaia. Killik reached out to stop them but the twins were too quick. The twins stared up at the taller woman in curiousity. Suddenly Fire spoke, in a tongue that none assembled had ever heard before. Surprise showed on Gaia's face, before it was quickly replaced by a gentle smile. She responded in the same tongue. Fire and Thunder smiled brightly and began firing off rapid questions one after the other. Gaia responded to each of them in turn. The onlookers watched baffled and confused. Even Killik, who had grown accustomed to the twins' silence was slack jawed. Soon the twins, seemingly satisfied, turned back and ran to their meister. They both whispered into Killik's ear, gesturing and nodding excitedly. Gaia simply smiled at them, cane still clutched in one hand.
"The twins say they trust her." Killik said aloud, but directed his gaze towards Kid. The shinigami nodded in approval.
"Good enough for me. Now, we have Pantheon on the run. Let's move further inland and defeat them once and for all!" Kid said with a raised fist. The troops around them let out shouts of agreement.