by Indie Gantz
Oleander continues to be enchanted by the dirt flowing between his fingers, but I find myself more enchanted with him. Maybe it’s Lady Macbeth’s voice in my head, which is a stark difference from Lord Macbeth’s (Tirigan has begun performing the play rather enthusiastically), but watching Oleander love something so completely makes me wish I had something positive to capture my attention so intensely.
“It’s all connected,” Oleander finally says, sometime after Macbeth stabs King Duncan.
The voices in my head stutter and eventually stop. Tirigan sits up a moment later and looks between Oleander and I like he didn’t even realize we were sitting beside him.
“The Earth?” I ask, mimicking Oleander’s ministrations in the dirt.
“Everything. The elements. Us. The universe. Everything is connected through the Divine Spirit.”
Tirigan gives an exaggerated nod and speaks somewhat louder than necessary. “Yes. I have yet to read about the dogma many Téssera seem to subscribe to, but it seems to be a very important aspect of connecting to the power within you. Speculatively speaking, of course.”
“Absolutely, although I wouldn’t say the Divine Spirit’s a God, as your comment implies. The Divine, the Earth, it’s more than that. This dirt, it’s filled with a lot of the same organic matter and gasses that are found within us. Look.” Oleander waves his hand over the pile of dirt he’d collected in front of him.
“Phosphorus.” A reddish brown looking powder begins to lift from the dirt and spin under Oleander’s hand.
“Iron.” The red powder falls and the swirling mixture above the pile is now a silvery shimmer, catching light off of the sun.
“Nitrogen.” A puff of smoke wafts up from the pile of dirt as the iron falls back into the dirt.
“Potassium, calcium, sulfur.” This time three different materials float upwards from the pile. Two more silvery substances, a yellow powder, and a rather unpleasant smell.
“All of this and more dwells within us, keeps us alive, just as it does the Earth,” Oleander says. “What do you think that means?”
I don’t know how to answer him. My mind is still stuck around the smell emanating from the yellow powder and what function it has inside my body.
“We originate from the same place. Creation, whatever it means, involved using the same materials for everything on Earth,” Tirigan says factually, his voice still not quite his own.
“Yes,” Oleander replies, nodding. “What feeds an oak tree, feeds us. What harms us, harms the oak tree. You understand?”
“Our defenses are more advanced than that of a tree, Oleander,” Tirigan argues, one eyebrow raised.
“Yes, but it’s all relative. Being what we are, having the power we do, it gives us an advantage for sure, but we’re easily foiled. Just like the tree. For example…” Oleander looks at me sheepishly. “Charlie, do you mind if I alter your chemistry a little to help better explain this idea?”
“Um,” I furrow my brow at him and try to shake away the last of the tea’s effects. My mind feels sharper now, but it still lags slightly. “Will it hurt?”
“A little, yes,” Oleander nods. “But not excessively so, and it’ll only be for a moment.”
His honesty comforts me more than his words concern me. “All right.” I shrug. “Go for it.”
Oleander lifts the corner of his mouth into a half smile that does something interesting to my body. It’s a good look on him.
“Our bodies are composed of the same things that are found in almost every living creature on earth.” He points down at the piles of various minerals he’d pulled from the soil a moment earlier. “Sulfur, for example, is important in the formation of amino acids, proteins, and chlorophyll in soil. In our bodies, however...”
Oleander shifts slightly so that he’s facing me completely and lifts his hand in front of my chest. Slowly, I begin to feel my muscles ache, my joints throb, and my mind dull again. I can’t remember what we are doing, or why we are doing it. I feel... empty. It’s different than the nothingness from before.
A yellow powder shimmers in front my chest.
Oleander continues, “A sulfur deficiency leads to muscle and joint pain, memory loss, acne, depression, and a host of other issues.”
I wince as the pain in my body continues. Oleander immediately pushes his hand towards my chest, and the thin yellow powder disappears. My body almost instantly returns to normal.
“All right?” Oleander asks, placing his hand on my knee and squeezing gently.
“Yeah,” I answer somewhat breathlessly. “That was... wow. That’s crazy.”
Oleander’s concerned look morphs into a wolfish grin. “Pretty cool, though, right?”
“Incredible,” Tirigan replies, eyes wide. “Can you isolate all minerals like that, Oleander?”
Oleander nods. “In theory, yes, although I personally can’t pin-point each one yet. To isolate a mineral or compound, you have to understand it. You have to be able to recognize it within its source.” He smirks again. “That’s where the books come in.”
Oleander brings himself up to stand, and Tirigan and I follow him quickly. With the tea finally gone and the sulfur extraction from Oleander’s demonstration having no lasting effects, I have no problem getting to my feet.
“I’ve got a stack of books for each of you. Some are rather thin, others more ambitious,” Oleander tells us. “As long as you understand the basic idea of what it is we do as Gyans and where our power comes from, the rest will come with careful study.”
Tirigan is already moving toward the house when he turns back to ask where he can find the books.
“I put them in your room already,” Oleander answers. “I knew you’d be enthusiastic about studying.”
Tirigan gives him a short nod in response then disappears inside the house. Now that his tea-induced mania has worn off, I find myself already missing that side of him.
“Thanks for this,” I say, placing my hands in my pockets as we stroll toward the house slowly. “The tea was... interesting.”
“I told you it wasn’t required,” Oleander laughs. “I can definitely understand not liking it.”
“I don’t know if I’d say that. I’ve just never felt like that before,” I reply. “I’m used to being in control of myself. It made me feel freer, though. That was nice.”
Oleander stops and turns towards me right before we reach the porch steps. “Yeah, it’ll do that.” His expression turns somber. “But it isn’t real. That feeling… that freeness you felt? It’s just a side-effect. It doesn’t really exist.”
At my dejected grimace, Oleander continues.
“That doesn’t mean you can’t find the same feeling without the tea. You just have to know where to look.” I don’t say anything to that, and instead focus on the way Oleander’s upper lip bows downward slightly when it looks like he’s trying to concentrate. “I drink the tea when I need to reconnect with the Earth, because it helps me release everything that would keep me from giving her all of myself.”
“So you’re saying you never drink it just for fun?” I tease, one eyebrow quirked high in an attempt to look playfully judgmental. Oleander laughs.
“Well, I didn’t say that.” He begins to walk up the steps, his face a lot lighter than it was moments before. I follow closely behind him. “I try to live by the philosophy of consuming all things in moderation.”
“All things?”
Oleander smirks wickedly as he holds open the back door for me. “Nothing wrong with a bit of fun now and then, is there?”
I stop and stand over the threshold of the house, looking up at Oleander as he smiles down at me.
I want to tell him that he’s wrong, that I don’t have time for fun. I don’t have the luxury of enhanced entertainment whenever I feel like it. I have a job to do, a mission to accomplish.
But I don’t. Instead, I just smile and nod, silently leading us into the house.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Secr
ets & Guys
Itake my morning coffee sitting on the cushion under the bay window in the living room. The sunlight warms my face just as the steam from my coffee wafts up and does the same.
From where I’m sitting, I can see Tirigan in the back yard going through the motions of his typical Tai Chi routine. There are a bunch of funny names for each movement, usually involving an animal and what it would look like if its body were contorted in the same position Tirigan moves his in. Names like, Part the Wild Horses Mane and Golden Bird Standing Alone. It all sounds very silly when you hear Tirigan saying the names in his head as he moves through them. It’s lovely to watch him, though.
Avias witnessed him practicing earlier and expressed an interest in learning, but I can’t decide if it’s a good idea. On the one hand, it would only be fair for us to teach our new friends something besides injury-inducing knife throwing, since they are spending so much of their own time educating us on our elements. However, the closer we get to these people, the harder it will be for us to leave them, or even to lie to them again if necessary. I don’t want anything getting in the way of what we have to do to find Calla, including our new friendships.
“That’s impressive,” Kor says from the living room’s entrance, startling me out of my thoughts.
The coffee jostles in my cup, hot liquid toppling over the side and beginning to fall into my lap, but then the coffee rises up and slips back into the coffee cup in a swift sweeping motion.
“Thanks,” I murmur to Kor, sipping my saved coffee as I look back out towards Tirigan. “Yeah, he’s good at that. Says it helps him stay focused.”
“No fault in that,” Kor replies, moving further into the living room and closer to me. “Unless, of course, your intention is to be scattered. I do enjoy chaos.”
“Really? Chaos?” I challenge, frowning.
“Of course!” Kor smiles, hands raised in excitement. “With chaos, you get to have a secret. There’s no secrets in the orderly.”
“Secrets?” It appears I’m only capable of echoing him.
“Sure.” Kor stands close enough to touch now, seemingly towering above me as I continue to sit on the scarlet cushion. “Don’t you have any?”
“What? Secrets?” Frowning again, I shake away my repetitive streak. “Uh, well, I think you guys got the most interesting one out of me.” My eyes slip back to Tirigan as I take a longer than necessary sip of coffee.
I hope my lie isn’t written all over my face. Tirigan and I went into the jungle a few days ago and chances are Kor already knows about it, but I don’t want to tell him. Not yet.
Kor’s quiet a moment, then he lowers himself beside me so that he’s crouching next to the bay window seat. When I meet his gaze, Kor has a gentle and open expression on his face. It makes me feel bad for not enjoying his company.
“It would behoove you to acquire some more, Charlie.” Kor pauses, maybe hoping I’ll have another question to ask, but I can’t think of anything intelligent to say. “This is your life now. It’s not a holding pattern until everything goes back to normal.”
“I... okay,” I respond dumbly, not even sure I understand what he’s saying.
“I know you want to find your mother, and I’m going to do everything I can to help you, but until then, live your life. Make some memories.” He smiles up at me when I continue to frown. “Have a secret, Charlie. It’s good for you.”
I stare down at him, bewildered. This is the second time Kor’s come to me and talked me through something I hadn’t even fully realized myself.
“How do you do that?” I ask, eyes roaming over the older man’s face for any sign that could give me the answer to my question.
“Do what? Give thoughtful and receiver-specific advice?” Kor asks, smiling as he rises back up to his feet. “Years of practice.” He turns away and heads towards a bookshelf against the far wall. “I was sent down here by my eldest. He’s waiting for you two on the roof. Best not to keep him waiting.”
“Oh, skatá,” I curse, jumping up from my seat and chugging down the rest of my coffee. “I’ll grab Tirigan.”
“No need,” Kor replies with his eyes still on the row of books. The back door opens a second later and my brother steps inside. Kor murmurs something about my ‘interesting explicative’ as Tirigan approaches me.
Ready for Avias’ lesson?
“Yeah,” I reply absently, eyes still on Kor. With all this talk about secrets, I’ve never been more sure that Kor has a few of his own.
“How’s Vi doing today?” I ask the older Aérasian as I head towards the hallway leading to the stairs.
“Better. She’s gone into the shop today with Bo,” Kor replies to the spines of the books on the shelves. “We’ll be sure to spoil her well this evening.”
“Yeah, definitely,” I agree, still not taking my eyes off the back of the man’s head. He doesn’t turn around, just picks up a book and begins thumbing through it. Tirigan’s footsteps ascend the stairs, but I feel like there’s something I need to figure out, and I can’t wrap my head around what it is.
After another moment of standing in the hallway, staring at the Aérasian’s back, Kor murmurs, “Avias will have you write an essay on the inherent evil of tardiness.”
When he finally turns back around, his eyebrows are raised slightly, expectant. I try to read his body temperature, but I can’t tell if it’s elevated or not. I haven’t studied his body chemistry enough yet.
“Right, yeah. Going,” I finally respond, backing away as I speak. “See you later.”
“Ciao,” Kor calls back, his head already re-buried in his book.
◆◆◆
When I climb up onto the roof a few moments later, I find Avias floating casually above it, his legs crossed and a book in his hands. Robin balances precariously on the edge of the roof, tip-toeing his way across while his mouth moves rapidly. It isn’t until we’re at the center of the roof that I realize he’s silently singing.
“The child has a lovely voice, but there are only so many times you can listen to a song about a frog and its friends,” Avias explains when he catches us staring at his brother strangely.
“Should he be doing that?” I ask, my body on high-alert and ready to interfere if Robin slips. The young boy doesn’t even seem to notice our presence, too absorbed in his song and dangerous dance.
“I’d catch him if he fell.” Avias shrugs, his body lowering to the roof and eventually coming to stand. “It’s only happened once.”
“How will you know he has fallen if you’ve silenced the air around him?” Tirigan asks, one eyebrow raised.
“I haven’t silenced the air around him.” Avias shakes his head and gives us an indulgent smile. “I’ve lowered the amplification of the sound waves coming from his mouth. If he were to call out loudly, I’d hear him.” I take a few steps closer to Robin, who has his back to me and is wobbling on the edge of the gutter. I want to reach out and steady him, but he catches his balance easily and continues on. Following closely behind him, I hear a whisper of a song coming from the boy. It’s almost as if his voice box is on a dial, and Avias has turned it to low.
“Cool,” I whisper, marveling after Robin as he attempts a jump move and lands it perfectly. “He doesn’t fear much, does he?”
“He really doesn’t.” Avias looks at his brother fondly, as Tirigan picks up the book Avias discarded upon our arrival and examines the cover.
“So,” I start, clapping my hands together. “Are you going to teach us how to mute Bo?”
Avias laughs heartily at that, his eyes warm and bright as he places his hand to his stomach. “You mean you haven’t attempted to do it already?”
I shrug, smiling back at him as Tirigan flips through the pages of the book, disinterested in our conversation.
“I don’t know, seems kind of rude. I read the books you gave me, but I haven’t tried it yet. Tirigan’s already managed to mute me, though.”
Avias watches Tirigan flip through the p
ages of the book as he responds. “Yes, well, he and I discussed the theory the other day after your little squabble. I imagine he was feeling especially motivated.”
“Well, I can’t blame him,” I reply. “I definitely deserved to be silenced after that.”
“You are aware that I am standing mere meters away from you,” Tirigan murmurs into his book. I ignore him.
“I don’t really think it’s fair that he got a private lesson and can now render me silent whenever he wants, though,” I challenge, frowning at Avias. He smirks in response.
“All right then, while Tirigan reads about how the original surviving Aérasians stabilized the atmosphere, you and I will go over sound waves.”
“Yeah, that’s actually something I was wondering too. When we were living in the South, we had to wear protective clothing over our skin so that the sun wouldn’t cause too much damage. How’s it so much milder up here?”
“That, Charlie, is the result of a completely healed atmosphere,” Avias answers, a smug smile pulling at his lips. He lifts his arms up slightly, as if praising the air around him “I’m guessing some of us were in the South at some point if you’re not frying alive down there, but they must have been pushed out before it was completely restored.”
“It’s not so bad.” I shrug. “Our bodies regenerate so quickly it doesn’t have too much of an impact, but for every ounce of regenerative power our blood produces, it drains milliseconds from our lives. At least, that’s how my father described it.”
“So you’re saying your people can heal almost anything, but choose not to so they can live longer?”
“Essentially.” I shrug again. “I mean, there’s definitely a certain portion of the population that prefers to live on the edge. The brave and daring sort,” I explain. “There are these creatures back on Eridu that people hunt for sport. Actually, Tirigan and I just saw—”
