Angels and Magic

by E. J. Bennett

  Praise. Chants of joy with one name front and center in the midst of the cries. She could just imagine it. Her mother always said that she didn't do it because of the praise, but deep down, Ariel did not believe her. What other rewards was there? The puny offering the humans gave in gratitude were created by the gods in the first place, so it wasn't like it was theirs to give in the first place. Rather, it was more like she was returning it to the rightful owners. Not that they had much use for it though. She pictured it and it brought a smile to her face, chants of 'Ariel' coming from a large crowd of people as she performed some godly nature feats that wowed their puny human minds. She smiled to herself, unable to contain the joy her fantasies inspired in her.

  She moved to the nether side of the tapestry. The darker side. It was the side that people hardly talked about. The divine civil war. Her mother had refrained from talking about it as it was a part of their history that they were not very proud of. The things she knew about it had been gotten from whispers among the other younger gods, but none of it was readily verifiable and was mostly hearsay. She shook her head as she gazed at the depictions of the carnage. Why so much secrecy though? So a bunch of gods fought each other, so what? Was it so bad that they couldn't laugh about it, eons later? Her mother seemed especially affected by the war and Ariel usually marveled at the way her expression and mood could be affected by the mere mention of the topic. Her curiosity had pushed her to make various enquiries of her own but she had only encountered more bogus accounts and eventually she had given up, deciding that someday, she would still find out. She just had to be patient.

  It was not the only topic her mother refused to talk about.

  She looked up from the tapestry as she heard a sound coming down the hallway. She turned and saw that it was one of the boys who had passed earlier and she frowned, remembering what they'd done earlier. He caught sight of her and the smile he'd had on his face faltered. His eyes quickly fell to the floor as he hurried past her, muttering something she took to be a greeting. She didn't bother responding. What was the essence? As he passed, she watched him feeling the anger she'd felt when he'd passed with his friends resurface and threaten to overtake her. She shook her head, taking several calming breaths. There was no need getting angry, not now. Her mother would be entirely too disappointed and her opinion was the only one which still held some water as far as she was concerned.

  She looked down the path the boy had taken and wondered where he had been off to. Maybe he had some training to do, just like she did. She groaned inwardly as she thought of the training she had waiting for her once she left the hallway and got to her mother's private gardens. She sighed. The gardens were a marvel to behold, one of her mother's finest work since the garden that the humans referred to as Eden. The high goddess could usually be found there, relaxing and meditating, something she had tried to get Ariel to do as well. But the latter just wasn't down for the hassle of sitting still for a long period of time not doing anything but 'meditating'. She'd always been a hot head and many of the other gods didn't like her for it. She seemed to remind them of someone, but she couldn't be sure who, so she just ignored them. Not that she cared much for their opinions though.

  She passed beside a room where a young god practiced his levitation spells. His tutor was an older man with a flowing white beard. He was quiet and she often saw him around, but she didn't really know who he was. His face seemed to shimmer out of focus anytime she tried to look at his face and she could not really tell what he looked like. Looking too hard always made her eyes hurt and for some reason, she always forgot to ask her mother about him. She reminded herself to ask about him when she got the chance. All she knew was that the other gods revered him, including her mother.

  She looked on as the boy's concentration faltered and the thing he had been trying to lift, crashed to the floor, shattering as it did. The boy couldn't raise his head and just looked to the ground, ashamed of himself.

  He reminded her of herself. For close to a century now, her mother had been trying to teach her the ways of nature. She had taught her the rules nature followed, taught her how to control it and then proceeded to teach her not to control it but rather, simply guide it. Despite the attention and detail she put in their sessions, Ariel had never been able to bring herself to perform as well as her mother expected. Her mother always told her that it was because she did not let it flow from inside and she'd always listened and nodded, promising to try and allow it 'flow from inside' next time.

  The truth, however, was that she just couldn't feel it inside.

  For as long as she could remember, she had always been conscious of an ever growing anger inside her. As a child, she had ignored it...or tried to at least. The other kids had managed to detect it and had stayed away from her, afraid of her frequent outbursts and violent tendencies. She seemed a far cry from the benevolent all-loving woman that Gaia was and most whispered that she must have gotten it from her father's side.

  Her father. That was the second topic that her mother absolutely refused to discuss with her. She always tried to cover it up by saying that she was just looking out for her and that the less she knew, the better for her. The ancient deity with the long white beard tapped the boy on his shoulder and the lad looked up smiling gratefully that he wasn't getting the telling off he had been expecting.

  The man lifted his hand and white light covered the room, but it was gone in a blink. The boy looked in delight as the broken object stood in front of him, good as new.

  Ariel arched an eyebrow, slightly impressed, and walked away. As she walked, she could feel slight anger as her mind went back to her mother's words. For her own good, pfft, why did she always say that? She rolled her eyes and rounded a bend, running into more gods on the way. They passed by her without saying a word. Of course they knew who she was, but they also knew that it was best to stay out of her way. She didn't fraternize very well.

  Her footsteps echoed in the currently empty hallway and the immaculate walls seemed to suck her in. She hated the color white. It was so....white, and pure. She found it almost pretentious. Everything had a dark side, they had to right?

  The anger within her scared her sometimes and she was scared to ask her mother incase she'd be told something she wasn't sure she was entirely ready to hear. It seemed rather odd that she seemed to be the only one battling with such issues and it disturbed her greatly. It also annoyed her, but then, that was pretty much her m.o already. She was the angry daughter of Gaia, the one who was supposed to take over from Mother Nature herself, one of the higher gods/goddesses.

  She scoffed as she wondered how it would sound out loud. 'Ariel, Mother Nature'. But then again, one had to admit, it surely did have a nice ring to it. But then again, it was just a name. It had nothing to do with the person she actually was. She wasn't even sure she knew who she was sometimes and that scared her most. Every other young god or goddess her age was already on their way to perfecting their respective areas of expertise and they were all convinced that was what they were here for. To create fire, to cause the winds and tides, they all had a gimmick, a function. Her mother was responsible for the green and everything which occurred naturally and sometimes that overlapped with some of the other gods' function, but they had all found a way to work around it eons ago.

  On the other hand, with her, it was different. Everyone seemed to expect that as the child of the most nature loving being in all of creation she would have inherited her love for the greenery and feel that same way about the 'sanctity of life'. She didn't feel at all passionate about nature. The only passion she felt was anger based. The anger was ever present and she did not understand just how exactly she could deal with it considering all that was expected of her. As her mother had stated multiple times, she had to feel it for it to work, but she didn't feel it, not primarily.

  She caught sight of the garden and her shoulders slumped. Some birds, specially made by the goddess, her mother, flew round the divine garden. They were s
pecial song birds Gaia said helped her concentrate when she meditated or came up with some new resource to place somewhere on earth to be discovered whenever man grew smart enough to. Sometimes Ariel felt like it was just a big game of pirate treasure for her mother, even though everything suggested otherwise. The cynicism came with her sour personality.

  One of the birds looked lazily over at Ariel as she strolled unto the gardens kicking some shrubbery as she walked past. The tiny bush quickly fixed itself and she rolled her eyes, shaking her head as she did. Her mother had made the garden so it always took care of itself. If anyone accidentally, or purposely, stomped on a part of it, it quickly rearranged itself. The garden groomed itself and was completely self-sustaining.

  She looked around wondering how ever she was expected to compete with something like this. Her mother was different from her, nobody else seemed ready to accept it. She stared at a particularly lovely looking collection of flowers and slowly, as she enjoyed every second of it, the flowers began to wither. The petals began to shrink growing smaller and less healthy as she stared at it.

  "That's exactly what you need to be doing my dear, except, in reverse" the familiar melodious voice of her mother rang out from behind her. There was humor hidden beneath it even though she tried to sound slightly stern.

  Ariel turned, feeling slightly guilty now that she had been caught. She looked up and her mother was smiling down at her.

  She walked past Ariel and touched the flower gently. Instantly, the color returned to the dead petals and the flower grew longer and looked healthier than it had before Ariel's attack.

  "There, that's better. Isn't that better?" Gaia said turning and Ariel rolled her eyes once more.

  "Do I really have to wear this ugly dress mother? Or do you just really like seeing me look stupid?" She asked gesturing towards her dress. Her mother laughed, looking her over and nodding slightly.

  "I think it looks good on you. Makes you look noble, as you should. At all times. You are my daughter after all" Gaia said.

  The dress hung just above her knee and was an intricately woven vine dress the goddess made especially for her daughter. The latter sighed again and turned, walking towards the middle of the garden.

  "Meditations right?" she asked, flopping down on her backside and sighing, "Not that the one I just finished mere minutes ago matters in any way"

  Gaia didn't say anything. The high goddess just walked towards her daughter, smiling down at the girl as she sat, cross legged on the greenery. Her gait was easy and her steps were light. She seemed to be walking on air. She looked totally at peace. As she moved, her waist length air swooshed behind her, adding character to her movements.

  "We're not meditating today" she said simply and Ariel's head whipped up. She looked surprised.

  "What? You couldn't have told me that since? I was already feeling the weight of the boredom that was to come. No fair mother"

  "Meditation is good for you honey. It's rather odd that you're this pouty after I just told you there'd be no meditation today. There's no winning with you is there?

  Ariel stood arms akimbo, glaring at her mother. Not that she wanted to, but she couldn't seem to be able to stop herself. The scowl deepened as she asked,

  "So. What's for today? Let's get this over with so I can leave"

  Gaia ignored her tone and began to walk forward slowly. Ariel followed her wondering just what exactly she had in mind. It was unlike her mother to be keeping her in suspense.

  "Mother?"

  The latter didn't reply. Ariel rolled her eyes again, noting somberly how that seemed to be a bit of a habit these days. She'd been quietly inspecting her garden for too long now and Ariel hated being kept waiting. Gradually she felt herself close to snapping, but she bit back her words, unwilling to incur her mother's wrath.

  It was known to a lot of people that despite her mother's love of nature and talk of the sanctity of life, she had taken more than her fair share of life over the years. It was not unlike her to 'punish' humans for various crimes they committed with the hopes that they would learn from the experience and turn a new leaf. Her anger was fiery and she had proved on more than one occasion that just as she could create life expertly, she could take it, with similar precision, if not more.

  "How long have you been training for Ariel dear?" she asked suddenly looking up from underneath a tree where she examined some fruits that hung from it.

  Ariel was taken aback by the question. She was almost five hundred years old and they had been training for most of that time. It wasn't like she'd been keeping a log or anything of the sort. Why was her mother asking such an odd question? She wracked her head, trying to come up with a number, but nothing came to mind,

  "Well, we've been training for more than half my life. I'd say more than four hundred years even" she said making sure not to phrase it like a question. That was one of the things her mother warned against, uncertainty. According to her, it was incredibly dangerous to go about doing something before you were sure just what exactly you were trying to do. Ariel always chucked it up to being just one of her nature loving mumbo jumbo, but she listened just anyways.

  "Well, that's about right I guess. And so far, you've made a lot of progress. Am I right?" Mother Nature asked, returning her attention to the tree.

  Ariel though for a while. Sure enough they'd made some breakthrough but as far as progress was concerned, she didn't think she would call it that. Of course, being the daughter of Gaia, she had powers over the forces of nature and could bend them to her will when she wished, though not as impressively as her mother, but she was considerably good. That didn't matter however did it? It didn't seem to her like having nature bending powers was all there was to being Mother Nature, and for good reason. She did not feel the same way about nature as her mother did. As far as she was concerned, mankind was an unnecessary creation and she would sooner see it burn and be destroyed than partake in anything that remotely resembled helping it prosper further.

  That was how she felt most times at least.

  "I guess" she responded, shrugging.

  "Good, so you agree that it's time right?"

  Ariel was flummoxed. What was her mother talking about? Time for what?

  Gaia noted her daughter's confusion and smiled slightly. She moved back and taped the ground with her foot, causing a tree to sprout out of the ground and stand tall among others of the same kind.

  She stood back contemplatively for a short second and then she turned to Ariel,

  "There. Looks much better don't you think?"

  Ariel blinked, not comprehending. What exactly was her mother driving at?

  "What looks better? What's about time? I am so confused"

  Gaia looked at her, a well sculpted eyebrow lifted in contemplative silence. Then she walked to her and stopped right in front of her smiling still.

  "Time for you to go on a mission Ariel my child. A mission to earth"

  Ariel's face scrunched up as she considered what had just been said for a while, then she burst out laughing. Her mother did not join her. As she stopped laughing, her mother added,

  "Alone." There was a note of finality in her tone.

  "But mother, that's not ideal. I've barely completed my training, you can't really expect me to go to earth and....and do stuff" she complained as her mother began moving again.

  She had to tell her mother just how crazy such a plan was. How did they expect her to go to earth on a solo mission? The most she'd done so far was tag along during a storm conjuring and she had helped out with the lightening. That summarized the extent of her preparation.

  "I can't do it mom" she said, copying her mother's tone.

  "You can...and you will" Gaia responded. Then she sighed and turned to her daughter. Her expression had hardened considerably but still, she smiled.

  "Ariel. My dear. I have reigned over this universe for a long time. A very, very long time. However, that time has to come to an end and I'm going to have to be s
ucceeded, by a new Mother Nature. A better Mother Nature."

  Ariel held back the urge to roll her eyes. Her mother had completely lost it. Better? Her? What did she even mean?

  "I have had a good run. Enjoyed the praise, the accolades. Seen all the statues built in my honor. Now, it's your turn. To create. To develop. To be praised and loved....cheered even. You understand me?"

  Ariel nodded. In actuality, she had not really heard past the part that mentioned how much praise she would be getting. She was well aware of just how much the people loved her mother. She was surprised to discover that she was a bit worried they would not like her as much.

  There's only one way to find out isn't there? A little voice said to her and she resolved then, to do as she was told.

  What could it hurt to water a few trees and get praised? It actually sounded like a pretty good deal.

  She nodded and her mother did the same, telling her what her mission to earth was.

  It was spring time and the amazon forest was overdue for some rain. Ariel was required to go about giving life to the densely vegetated area.

  She nodded and left the gardens, headed back into the immaculate hallway. As she moved, she imagined just how much praise she would get and temporarily, excitement replaced her ever present anger.

  That was definitely a welcome change.

  ***

  Ariel looked over the amazon and for a second she couldn't help admiring her mother's work. Say what you wanted about the woman, but she really did know how to create nature. The variety of animal noises coming from the forest echoed throughout its vast reaches, an evidence of the life that existed within the forest. She looked off to the distance and spotted small villages and cultivated farmland spread all over the area.