Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe) (30 page)

“… I am not what I wa
s when arriving to this planet … Time has taken my strength. Hydra now guards the girl. My fire cannot match her water,” he admitted, biting down on his pride. Ares laughed mockingly. The melodic ring echoed through his ears.

“Yes,
time
. Time is to blame?” Ares scoffed, shaking her head. Her blood red hair shifting against her shoulders as she did. “You are not to make another
movement
until Vasuki arrives.” she instructed, ending the transmission and thrusting her communicator from her desk onto the floor in rage. She groaned flinging her arms for a moment before attempting to settle down. From the doorway, Ulric’s voice could be heard.

“The girl lives, then?” he asked from his leaning position against the doorframe. His arms crossed, as well as his legs.

“She not only lives, but she grows stronger! Because of this cursed boy.” Ulric chuckled and stepped into the room.

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit harsh on the boy? She
is
an ekechi, after all,” he pointed out, coming around the desk Ares sat at and leaning against the windowsill behind her. Ares scowled.

“Am I to hear excuses from you as well? She was helpless when landing on that planet. Not a clue as to who, or
what
she was. He is useless,” she insisted, pushing her chair back and standing up to walk around the front of the desk. “And what’s worse, he’s becoming even more so. He’s only going to get weaker until Vasuki joins him. Now I’ve got to go through the trouble of sending her to that worthless planet.”

“You should be happy, dearest. The two of them will rid you of that girl,” Ulric offered, as he pushed her chair back in under the desk.

“It should have been done years ago.”

“Mm, but if he had, you wouldn’t have given birth to our secret weapon,” argued Ulric. And Ares smiled, slowly turning to face him.

“Ah, yes. My pride and joy.”

“I wonder how she w
ould fair, going up against the girl.”

“I do too. But I have no problem never finding out. I would rather her dead,” Ares said with a light shrug, turning back around. “Guard!” she shouted. Almost instantly one of the guards from outside the room came rushing around and through the doorway, bowing to Ares.

“Yes, my mistress,” he answered gruffly.

“Bring me Vasuki,” she ordered. The guard nodded.

“Yes, my mistress,” he succumbed, before rushing off to find the wicked snake. Ares turned back to look at her lover, her shoulders slumping.

“Why must everything require so much effort?” she asked him with a bit of a whine. He chuckled, stepping forward to lay comforting hands on her bare shoulders.

“Because it wouldn’t be worth it if not.”

“I shouldn’t even have to go through this,” she sneered. “The throne should be
mine
.” Ulric nodded, placing a kiss upon her forehead.

“And it will be, dearest. I’ll see to it that it is.”

Ares smiled, tilting her head back to hover her lips just a breath away from his.

“Mm, with you by my side, yes?”

“Of course.” Ulric briefly placed his lips against hers. She sighed.

“How I wish I had found you before the first. Then I would have been spared the birthing of such a useless boy. Perhaps even have had another with you,” Ares moped. Ulric chuckled, shaking his head.

“Hades was a handful as it were. And don’t even get me started on the girl. We’re still rebuilding the left wing.” Ares giggled, breaking from his embrace.

“
You’re jealous that you couldn’t partake in her making.” Ulric scoffed.

“Jealous isn’t exactly the word.” Ares smiled.

“Oh, but just think of the service she will provide for our goal.” Ulric shook his head, smirking questionably at the purely professional tone in which she spoke of her children.

“
A woman of business,” he commented. Ares smirked, gazing at Ulric sensually.

“And a woman of pleasure.” Ulric laughed.

“Ha, and which child was which, I wonder?” Ares smiled, shaking her head and coming closer to Ulric.

“I never think of business when laying with you,” she reassured, trailing her hands up the sleek black material of his leather shirt. The
smirk faded from his lips as Vasuki cleared her throat, standing in the doorway with a smirk of her own.

“Interrupting something, am I? If I’m not mistaken, I was summoned,” she reminded, one hand on her nearly bare hip. Ulric took the step to the side, setting Vasuki in Ares sights.

“Ah, Vasuki. There you are.”

“Here I am, mistress. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“It is time for you to reunite with your lesser half,” answered Ares, as she slowly stepped away from Ulric and moved towards her. Vasuki’s brows rose, as she glanced from Ulric to Ares.

“Tebias,” she stated, almost unsure.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of Hydra’s arrival on Earth,” said Ulric. Vasuki nodded.

“Yes. I figured it was only
a matter of time before I was sent after him,” she said with a sigh. Ares grumbled. “Well, perhaps he can be a little more useful once his guardian is with him.”

“I should hope so,” Ares said with a narrowing o
f her eyes. “If the both of you prove to be useless, the outcome will not be pleasant.” Vasuki nodded in silence, keeping her lead lowered. “Prepare yourself for travel. You leave tomorrow. You will help him recuperate for one day, and then take care of this problem that has festered.” Vasuki nodded again.

“Yes, my mistress,” she complied before turning around to leave the room.

“And Vasuki?” Ares called out. Vasuki turned around, waiting for Ares’ next request. “Bring me Enya.” Vasuki nodded, turning back around and leaving the room in search of the phoenix. Ulric’s brow arched curiously as he turned to his wife.

“Enya? You’re sending Enya as well?”
asked Ulric. Ares shook her head.

“Enya is not for Saphora,”
Ares clarified. “There is another problem to be taken care of.”

Once Saphora had calmed down, Hydra allowed her to regain another memory. Saphora had sat down against the side of the marble counter. Maverick was seated beside her, and Hydra was casting what dialog she knew by heart. And it was working. Saphora’s eyes slowly picked up their glow as her head dipped forward.

She was now standing in the middle of a hallway. A hallway covered in growing flames. They danced and whipped around the shining floors. She stumbled back away from the flames, whimpering and gasping.

“Hurry! We must get her to the pod!” someone screamed, rushing through the hallway.

And then she saw it. Herself. She was looking in on herself. She was but a little girl, clinging to the woman that was carrying her. She had her face buried in the woman’s shoulder, and her arms wrap
ped around her neck. The woman panted as she ran through the hallway. And Saphora looked on in bewilderment. There was another woman behind her, who was heavily armed with various weaponry. There were two swords strapped to her back, two daggers on either of her thighs, and a belt containing several more weapons of her choice.

Behind those three, there was a figure that had just come around the corner at the end of the hallway. They went into a powered sprint, working to catch up with the women and child. And when Saphora was able to see who the figure was, her understanding of the situation took a turn for the worst. It was Tebias, gaining on the fleeing women. Saphora nearly choked on her own breath as they all came running towards her. She tried to scream, but
she couldn’t. Her voice had left her. So she backed away slowly, shaking her head. What was happening?

As the woman with her younger self rushed past her,
she turned to the side, so that the woman could rush past without delay, and she looked into her younger self’s eyes. They peered up from the woman’s shoulder, wide, frightened, and red with tears. Tears that streamed down her pink cheeks, and stained her bare neck. There were scratches about her face. Some were bleeding, some weren’t. Her mouth was open, strings of saliva between her parted lips as she sobbed, looking back at the scene in front her, behind the woman carrying her.

Saphora’s heart rate picked up as she realized that she was looking at herself. With new eyes, she looked around the hallway with new understanding.
She understood. She felt what the little girl was feeling. The fear, the anguish, and the overwhelming knowledge of what was coming next. This was her departure. Saphora grimaced in agony as she watched the woman run off with her.

She turned around to look back at the woman that had stayed behind to face the approaching Tebias. Her long raven braid whipping about as she pivoted her body whilst drawing the two swords from her back. With a battle-ready scream, she started running at Tebias, doing all that she could to defend them, and
give them enough time to get to the escape pods. Pillars in the hallway began to crack as the two ran at each other, debris from the stone ceilings above falling down onto them. Tebias sent fire blazing from his hands at the woman. The woman spun around for momentum as she sliced through the fire with one blade, and reached to her side, to throw three more at him. He dodged them with ease, leaping over them and blowing more fire down onto the woman, spinning into a flaming twister.

Saphora turned back around, watching as her younger self was taken away, and found herself following them. She wanted to know where she was going. Who that was carrying her.
Even though her heart already had a clear idea of who it could have been.

And then the scene changed.

Saphora spun on her heel when she noticed the change that seemed to happen within the timespan of a blink. Panicked that she had lost her younger self, she looked around in all directions. She was now in some sort of vehicle – a pod. Eventually hearing the sound of crying, she turned her head in that direction, and saw herself and the woman. The woman was setting the little girl inside the pod, and whispering to her soothingly.

“Shh, little one. It’s okay. Everything’s okay,” the woman said while fighting back tears of her own. She stroked the child’s face, and placed a kiss
on her forehead. “Mommy loves you. Mommy loves you so much.”

Saphora’s eyes went wide in both surprise and horror. She immediately recognized the voice. And tears immediately began to flow down her face as her chest heaved.

“Mom?” Saphora croaked, staring at the pale sage-haired woman.

“Mommy has to go for a little while, okay?” she said, giving t
he child another kiss. “But you’ll be back. You’ll be back soon.”

“Mommy,” her younger self cried.

“Mom,” Saphora sobbed with her.

There was an ear-shattering roar that erupted in the skies. Saphora covered her ears and fell to the floor of the pod. Her eyes squinted
open in pain, wanting to keep her eyes on her mother. Her pale grey eyes welled up, threatening to spill over as she continued to caress the little girl’s face.

“Arol’s coming with you, okay? I want you two to wait for me, alright?
We’re going to come back for you,” she said, giving the child another kiss. This one lingered for a few moments as the woman’s tears finally spilled over down her cheeks. “Mommy loves you so much, Saphora. Stay safe. Stay alive,” she croaked just above a whisper before letting go of the child and closing the door to the pod. Her younger self pressed the palms of her hands against the glass of the pod, looking up at her crying mother. The woman turned away and slammed her hand against a keypad beside the pod, and noises of detachment could be heard as it prepared for launch. The little girl screamed, and so did Saphora as she rushed up to the glass beside her and beat her hands against it.

“Mom!” she yelled in unison with her younger self.

They both beat against the glass until they were thrust back against the seat as the pod took off into the sky, her younger self hitting her head during the tumble. Saphora struggled to sit up in the pod, straining to look out the glass. And when she did, she saw a castle under attack. There were what looked to be demons, and mutated creatures storming the grounds of the castle, with more entering the lands of the kingdom. She didn’t know what it all meant. All she knew was that she had just met and lost her mother. She sobbed as she beat against the glass repeatedly, calling out for her. Only to get further away with each call. It wasn’t long before Saphora and her younger self were surrounded by the silent scare of infinite space. The stableness of the vision began to glitch as her younger self began to lose consciousness from the impact to her skull. Saphora looked around nervously, as the glass to the pod disappeared and reappeared. She looked down to herself, shaking her head.

“No, no, wake up. Wake up! We’ve got to go back …” she urged, reaching over to shake herself. But her hands went right through. She brought her hands back up in despair as she realized she could do nothing to help herself, or return to the memory she desperately wanted more of. Saphora looked up at the fading vision of her planet – of her mother. She whined, looking down at the disintegrating image of herself. “I’ve got to go back.”