Aeon Legion: Labyrinth (5 page)

“Sorry, Mom. I have no
interest in finance, accounting, business, nursing, law, or
medicine,” Terra said, counting each with her fingers.

“Well you should. Those are
all good, high paying fields. Geology is just a hobby. I want you to
be successful.”

“I know,” Terra said,
turning to escape while praying this conversation finished.

“Young lady,” Beth said as
she stood with hands on her hips. She was taller than Terra by a
foot. “I did not say we were finished.”

Terra slouched, stopped, and
sighed before turning around again.

Beth shook her head. “Terra,
would it kill you to do something difficult every once in a while? I
mean you drifted through school without ever pushing yourself. You
have done nothing all summer long but read World War II history books
and dig up rocks in that pit behind the house. Now it's fall semester
and soon it will be too late to enroll in a good college.”

Terra crossed her arms and
glared at Beth.

Beth frowned before pointing
at Terra. “When your father and I still struggled–”

“Yes I know,” Terra said,
trying not to roll her eyes at hearing the same story for the
thousandth time. “Our family went through hard times before you
were promoted. Dad had to work double shifts. You don't want me to
have to go through the same thing.”

Terra hoped that would end it.
She turned to leave again only to find her father, Fredrick Mason,
blocking her escape.

“Good
news!” Fred said. He was a head shorter than Terra and as poorly
dressed. He wore a stained T-shirt over his sizable gut which spilled
over his belt and worn bluejeans. Terra inherited his dark brown
hair, but not his blue eyes. She often wondered what her mother saw
in him until Fred smiled which was always difficult
to not return. “I talked to my old friend Jeff today. He says he
could use a part timer for his garage. Basic stuff; answering the
phone, a bit of cleaning. That sort of thing. Interested?”

Terra shook her head. “No,
not really, Dad.”

Fred winked as he nudged
Terra. “Come on. It will get your mother off your back.”

Beth glared at him.

Fred shrugged. “Look I know
you want her to go to college, but she hasn't even decided on a major
yet. Maybe she just needs to work a little to find her calling?”

“Look,” Terra said, trying
to hide the irritation in her tone. “I just want to take it easy
for a while.”

“Easy?” Beth said as she
crossed her arms, a habit she often criticized Terra for. “Very
little of anything easy is worthwhile. This family prospered because
of my determination and your father's self sacrifice. Besides, I know
you are capable of working hard. There isn't much that can stop you
once you make up your mind. God knows we could never do anything with
that bullheadedness of yours.”

Terra clenched her jaw as she
glared at Beth, unblinking.

Fred sighed. “Oh great. She
just went into stubborn mode.”

Beth's eyes narrowed. “Oh I
know that look. Now you will just stand there until we give up. Fine!
I didn't want to do this, but here is your ultimatum. You have until
the end of this week to enroll in a college.”

Terra wanted to say “Or
what?” but decided against it since it would prolong the fight.

Fred put a hand on both
Terra's and Beth's shoulders. “Okay. Why don't you both stop trying
to out stubborn one another. Families fight, but families love too.”

Beth scowled at Fred who
simply smiled back. After a moment, Beth's scowl faded. “Oh all
right, but the ultimatum still stands. If she can find a job, then
that is acceptable as well,” she said before leaving the room.

Terra let out a long sigh.

Fred turned to Terra. “I
know she's pestering you, but it's only because she lo–”

“I know. Because she loves
me,” Terra said as she returned Fred's warm smile. “But I need
time to figure things out.”

Fred
nodded. “You just need to do
something
.
Sometimes we have to follow the wind.”

∞

After dinner, Terra went
upstairs to her room. The floor remained clear of any clothes or
other items. A dusty television and old game system sat on the
dresser in the corner. Her open closet contained untouched dresses,
worn jeans, and stained tee-shirts.

A sizable overcrowded book
shelf took up much of the room. The top of the book shelf, dresser,
and window seal hosted an impressive collection of rocks, minerals,
ores, and geodes. Diorite, gabbro, basalt, pumice, marble, quartzite,
and obsidian all decorated the room. Many of these she had found
herself while most others she bought. Terra had arranged them in
groups according to the layers in which they are naturally found.

Vestiges
remained of Terra's younger teenage years. A dusty make up kit lay on
the dresser though a large lump of rock crystal rested on top of it.
One could just make out the edges of a boy band poster under another
poster of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The poster read
Men
are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds
.

Terra gathered her worn rock
hammer, chisel, and a small spade, placing them in her tool bag
before leaving. “I'm going to the quarry again. Be back in a bit,”
Terra said before she left the house, not waiting for a response.

The colors of fall painted the
trees as Terra walked through the backyard. Patches of yellow dotted
the mountains in the distance while red leaves floated in the creek
she crossed. Knee high golden grass swayed in the fall winds as Terra
passed through the fields.

The quarry lay near her house
a short walk away. The couple who had lived here before considered
the pit an eyesore so they had planted a row of trees to block the
view. In fact, her family had gotten a good deal for the property
because of it. Although it devalued the property, for Terra it was a
boon. She had often played there during her childhood. As she grew
older, she used it to find a few of the ores and minerals for her
rock collection.

The terraced pit descended
five tiers, each six paces deep. A small dark pool was at the bottom.
Moss grew in patches on the flats while tree roots grew into top
tier. Dark veins of ores marbled the walls. Over the years, Terra had
chipped away at the walls, sometimes finding new pockets of ore like
a gardener cultivating crops. After all, this place was like her
garden. A place of sanctuary for her.

She climbed carefully onto the
first tier. Terra took each step with care which she had learned
years ago when she still rock climbed. When she reached the bottom of
the first tier, her heart was racing from exertion while she wheezed.
After resting for a moment, she stared working.

Taking out her small, worn
rock chisel, Terra chipped away at a patch of dolomite. Last week,
she had found traces of magnetite ore and now hoped to hit a larger
vein. She dug around a large chunk of rock before trying to pull it
out with her bare hands.

Terra grunted and strained as
she pulled at the loosened chunk of dolomite stone. “Stubborn
stone!” she said through gritted teeth as she pulled harder. The
stone did not give and Terra slipped, falling down to the ground in a
hard thump.

She lay on the ground, gasping
at the exertion. Terra's mind wandered to the future as she gazed at
the sky. The clouds moved at a steady pace, swept along by the wind.
She closed her eyes as a gentle breeze washed over her.

Terra sighed. “Do something.
Follow the wind. Yeah right. That's not how it works. The future
never comes to the present.”

When she opened her eyes to
the sky, they seemed to be playing tricks on her. It looked as though
someone stood in the tree above her, balancing on a large branch.
After a moment, her eyes focused. She then realized someone really
was in the tree, watching her. A woman with silver hair.

The Squire System, while
antiquated, works well for Aeon Legion recruitment. Given stagnant
Saturn City demographics, recruits must be drawn from various
historical periods instead. Naturally those with military backgrounds
are preferable, but talent comes in many forms and the Aeon Legion's
mission encompasses so much more than warfare. However, it is highly
advised that all legionaries vet their potential squires before
enrolling them into the Academy's training program. If a legionnaire
does not put the effort into recruiting a squire, then why would the
recruit put effort into the training? Choosing a potential squire has
nothing to do with luck.

-Introduction
to the Aeon Legion's
Squire Recruitment Manual
by Praetor Lycus Cerberus

T
erra
gasped
as she searched for her rock hammer. She grabbed it and held
it close to her chest. The stranger jumped from the tree before
landing next to Terra with the grace of a falling feather.

“Good ages Terra,” the
silver haired woman said with a voice that carried on wind. Her wavy
silver hair reached down her back and curled at the tips. Sky blue
eyes contrasted with the tanned tone of her skin. Her slender,
athletic build and youthful narrow face made Terra guess the woman's
age in her late twenties. The woman smiled, grabbing Terra's arm and
pulling her up without even a grunt. “Infinite apologies about my
sudden appearance. I didn't mean to frighten you.”

Terra steadied herself before
stepping away from the intruder. “Who are you?”

The silver haired woman stared
at Terra as though expecting to be recognized.

Terra looked at the woman's
uniform, feeling a strange sense of deja-vu. The woman's sleek, pearl
white armor was segmented with metal seams and decorated with glass
orbs. A thin stripe of blue decorated the edges of each plate.
Underneath her armor, she wore a form fitting white suit. Her armor,
along with the sheathed sword she carried at her belt, made the
woman's overall appearance look like a futuristic rendering of an
ancient knight.

“Crash.
I keep forgetting that,” she said after a moment. She looked down
to a long and narrow device worn on her right forearm that covered
from
her wrist to nearly her elbow. The complex device had a convex,
glowing glass orb above her wrist, like the face of a wristwatch.
When her left hand drew near the device, a series of holographic
translucent blue buttons appeared over and around the edge of the
device's glass face. She touch a button. “Minerva, Restore Terra
Mason's memories.”

Terra raised an eyebrow when a
glowing blue ring formed around her center. It moved counterclockwise
around her. She tried to escape it, but it encircled her within
seconds before vanishing.

The moment the ring
dissipated, Terra's missing memories flooded back into her mind. She
remembered Hanns, the soldiers, the battle at the library, and the
silver haired woman who fought them by herself. Finally, Terra
remembered her own struggle with Hanns over a history book. She
remembered everything.

Forcing herself calm, Terra
turned to the woman. “Who are you? What did you do to me?”

The woman assumed a military
posture before putting her right fist over her heart while snapping
her feet together in a strange salute. “Centurion Alya Silverwind
of the Aeon Legion. I am the wielder of the aeon edge Silverwind
which is also my alias. I am a citizen of Saturn City and twelfth
member of the Legendary Blades.”

Terra
gazed at the woman with a blank expression. She looked over Alya's
strange uniform again and noticed the word
Invictum
which was displayed below a golden infinity emblem on her upper arm.
Below the infinity emblem was a patch that depicted twelve swords
arranged in a circle and pointed inwards. Terra did not recognize any
of the other insignias.

“Oh. And I'm also a time
traveler,” Alya added, as though it were a minor detail.