Strength (13 page)

“I’ll try crawling.” She rolled onto her hands and knees.

Aerigo made fists and forced his arms to spread. The railing squeaked and groaned as it bent like clay. He heaved the railing over his head and tossed the thing off the ship.

Daio landed between Roxie and Aerigo.

Aerigo grabbed Daio by the shoulders and brought his spine down on a knee. Daio let out a sharp cry and fell onto the patio floor.

Aerigo circled Daio’s writhing form like a tiger waiting for the opportunity to make the kill, eyes blazing red, and muscles bulging with rage. He jerked his dagger free of the table and stood between Daio and Roxie. “Rox, get inside now.”

One had clamped to her throbbing skull, Roxie accepted Aerigo’s hand and got to her feet. It felt like her forehead was going to split. She winced, but pushed through the pain as she made for the door slowly enough so she wouldn’t lose her balance.

“I knew I shouldn’t have put my back to you, Aerigo,” Daio said and let out a laugh.

Roxie paused in the doorway, feeling pity for Daio, and he spun in place like a top. Next thing Roxie knew she was on her back, staring skyward with the wind knocked out of her, and her head throbbing with renewed vigor and tears blurring her vision. Trying to ignore the pain, she pushed to her feet, Daio raise his hands, his fingers curled like claws at Aerigo. What looked like black transparent ropes shot out of his palms and the ends wrapped themselves around Aerigo’s wrists and ankles. He struggled against his new bonds and discovered he could move in any direction but closer to Daio, who rapidly chanted under his breath.

Aerigo forced his arms forward and leaned in with all his weight. The transparent ropes writhed like snakes.

Daio chanted his archaic words louder, forcing the big man back.

Aerigo tried maneuvering around Daio, but Daio used his heels to twist his body to keep himself facing him. Aerigo stopped when Daio had his back to Roxie.

“Argûs mero fer’anzha!”

“Shevisz!” Aerigo spat back. It sounded like a command.

“Nhah!”

“
Shevisz!”

“
Nhah!”
Daio yelled. “Dji sho mi ghuz den!”

Aerigo went red in the face and let out a guttural roar.

“Just stay captured you stupid, stubborn Aigis!” Daio let out a shaky breath and sucked in more air. “Provelin!”

Roxie flinched from the thunderous explosion and found herself on the ground for the umpteenth time. Rising to her feet, she discovered Aerigo was missing. But a sprawled-out and conscious Daio wasn’t.

She started backing into the suite when he rose, dusting off his pants.

“What’s going on?” Luis said. “Who’s that?”

That halted Roxie’s retreat. While she knew she was the primary target, she feared Daio might go for anyone else out of necessity. Kill all the witnesses. Roxie stood her ground and hoped to whatever was out there that Daio would present her with another opportunity like kicking him below the belt.

“I admire your bravery,” Daio said, trudging closer. “But—ah, I knew you’d try that again.” He donned a wicked grin, yet it looked empty.

Roxie had her foot caught in his grasp and her balance wavered before she drove all her weight onto her seized foot and was back on both feet.

Now that they were face-to-face, Daio grabbed her by the throat.

Roxie pried at the crushing grip. She tried to cry out for help but couldn’t get any air in or out. Her skin grew clammy and she began to feel lightheaded.

“It really is a shame,” Daio said sincerely. “You are rather good looking, and I like your spirit. But to be honest, you wouldn’t stand a chance against my master. Baku’s decision to create you was a desperate, last-ditch effort. You can’t even beat me.”

Her legs gave out and Daio let go and gasped. Roxie sat on her heels as she clamped her neck. Her head still felt no better, but the crushing attack on her larynx hurt more than her pounding head. One of Aerigo’s strong arms was coiled around Daio’s neck, Daio limply clinging to it and blood trickling from both corners of his mouth.

Jake started crying and ran out of Roxie’s peripheral vision.

Aerigo’s eyes lost their red glow and his expression shifted to grim resolve as he dragged the other Aigis back to the patio and out of sight.

Luis rushed to her side. “Rox, where did he hurt you?”

“My head and neck more than anything,” Roxie said, forcing the words out in a hoarse voice. “But I’ll live.” It hurt to talk but she didn’t care. “So long as nobody else tries to strangle me. Heh.” She then realized she was sitting on a soaked carpet that smelled of ocean water. “Where’d all this water come from?”

Luis looked at the ruined patio. “It came in with Aerigo. I’m not sure what happened, and I don’t think you should talk until your throat gets better.” To his wife he said, “Anna, could you grab a pen and a notebook?” Then to Roxie, “Can you st—I guess you can. Would you rather lie on one of the beds instead?”

Roxie headed for the love seat. “No, the love seat’s comfortable.”

“Don’t talk, remember?”

“Sorry!” Roxie ducked her aching head and clenched her eyes shut. She wanted to smack her forehead, but her throbbing skull reminded her to be gentle with herself. The quick jerk of her head had sent a fire of pain through her neck. Luis guided her to the love seat and she sat down.

“Here you go, Roxie,” Anna said, handing over a yellow notepad and a mechanical pencil. Jake stood next to her, clutching his mother’s other arm. He’d stopped crying, yet tears moistened his face and he regarded Roxie with fear.

Roxie let go of her neck and accepted her new communication tools.

“Anna, would you mind calling maintenance and getting Jake out of here for a little while? Take your cell. I’ll call you when it’s safer.” His wife nodded, grabbed her son’s hand and disappeared beyond Roxie’s line of vision. The suite’s door shut, and then there was silence, except for the ocean breeze.

Luis sat Indian-style by Roxie’s feet. “What was that fight all about?”

Roxie wrote, Not sure. Just got dragged into things the other day. She handed him the notepad.

He read her reply, then asked, “Do you think we’re still in immediate danger?”

No idea. I hope not.

“Did you know that man?”

Just met him yesterday.

“Why was he trying to... to kill you?”

At that moment, the truth that someone had just tried to kill her began to sink in. Unable to write anything, she stared at her handwriting.

Aerigo’s cautious boot-steps reentered the suite and paused just inside the doorway when Luis and Roxie snapped their attention toward him. Mr. Herschel let out a sigh of relief. Aerigo headed over and crouched in front of Roxie, analyzing her with his blue eyes, which were full of disappointment.

“How’s your head?”

Sore, she wrote back.

“Are you unable to speak?”

Luis told me not to. I’m all hoarse.
Roxie surged from the love seat. “I’m gonna be sick.” The mere act of standing doubled her nausea. The bathroom seemed too far for her to make it but she fought to hold it down a little longer. Aerigo’s strong grip on her upper arms helped hurry her over. As soon as she saw her reflection in the toilet, she doubled over and let herself throw up. She heaved several times until nothing more came up, then she coughed and spit out as much acidic and vile-tasting saliva as she could, and Aerigo rubbed her back.

Once she caught her breath she said, “Can you please leave? I hate throwing up in front of people.” She kept her face hidden in the toilet.

“You have a concussion. I don’t want to leave you unsupervised.”

Groaning, Roxie sat on her heels and rested her chin and forearms on the toilet seat, indifferent to how unsanitary it might be. She flushed the toilet.

“Feel any better?” Luis asked.

“A little,” Roxie said hoarsely. Aerigo’s clothes were soaked and dripping water. “Did you fall in the ocean or something?”

“Yes.”

Roxie stood in front of the sink. She felt like it’d take forever to recover from the pain in her head and neck, but she had to admit the nausea had already passed. She still felt rather dizzy, though, and drowsy. Roxie slurped water from her cupped hands and spit, then repeated the process several times for good measure, and used some mouthwash from a travel-size bottle to get rid of the lingering taste. She’d brush her teeth later. She splashed water on her face to get rid the sweat, then leaned against the wall by the bathroom door, slid to the ground, and closed her eyes.

“Do you still feel sick?” Aerigo asked.

“No. Just very tired and sore.”

“Let’s get you back to the love seat then.”

Roxie forced her eyes open and took Aerigo’s hand. She tried walking and found it no longer caused her nausea. She teetered he way to the love seat, with Aerigo holding her up, and gingerly set herself down to not aggravate her neck and head injuries. Aerigo supplied a pillow from one of the beds and helped her find a bearable way to lie down.

“Okay, I need a few minutes to calm down, and then you and I will talk after you’ve had some time to rest.” He straightened up. “The hole in the hull is crudely patched, but we should make it to port without any further problems. Luis, could you boil some water?”

“Sure thing.” The cruise line owner headed for the suite’s kitchen.

Aerigo entered the bathroom and softly shut the door.

PART TWO

Chapter 12

Once Aerigo and Daio were out of sight of the suite, Daio said, “You missed my vitals again.” The dagger slipped out from between his ribs, which brought relief and new pain. He was forcibly twisted around.

Aerigo hesitated.

Daio sighed. “Aerigo, just do it,” he said, clutching his chest. Warm blood dribbled down the small of his back. “I’d rather it be you than him.”

The glow in Aerigo’s eyes shifted from red to blue and the grip on his dagger tightened.

“Stop being such a softy.”

“There has to be another way.”

“There isn’t,” Daio said.
There really isn’t,
he realized with grim sobriety. He coughed, then spat out a wad of blood.

Aerigo said, “I’ll protect you from Nexus.”

“
How?
” Daio snapped and resisted the urge to punch Aerigo, who drooped his shoulders. “This is the will of a god we’re talking about. Nexus
will
get his way in the end. So get it over with already and don’t give him the satisfaction of killing me!”

Aerigo’s jaw muscles tightened and Daio waited to receive the final blow, which never came.

“Look,” Daio said sharply, then looked away, unable to keep eye contact. He studied the torn-up rim of the patio floor. “I’ve always... admired you... like an older brother.” He snuck a glimpse at Aerigo’s puzzled face and looked away again. “But we haven’t always gotten along. Maybe you could overlook that part and do one last favor...”

“And how will that bring me peace?”

“Aerigo, I’ve been commanded to kill you and the girl…”

Aerigo’s gaze looked out over the ocean and his eyes shifted to cold resolve.

This sucks.
Daio took a deep breath and let it out. Aerigo walked over and put a hand on his shoulder, and his eyes started glowing blue.

Daio put a hand on Aerigo’s shoulder and gave him a quick nod. His fingers ached to dig into Aerigo’s shoulder and draw blood, but he resisted his master’s will enough to only squeeze, as if reassuring his former friend.

Aerigo took a deep delivered the thrust. His stomach collapsed onto the dagger’s tip, and he grabbed Aerigo’s arm as all his weight fell onto the blade. Daio grunted when the dagger pierced his heart. The sharp metal flinched with each failing pulse. “Thanks,” he whispered. He closed his eyes and let his body sag against Aerigo. With the last beat of his heart, he detached his mind and spirit from their physical husk and flew into the morning sky.

***

After a long detour to the wrong realm (Nexus’s realm), Daio’s ghost finally found Nexus’s dwelling place: Kara’s realm. It had taken him a lot longer than he thought, but no matter. He had found his master. Kara’s realm was a prairie blanketed in the most beautiful range of wildflowers in the universe. A golden light caressed everything, and the air was thick enough with flower smells to make any mortal feel like they didn’t have a care in the universe.

Daio felt his spirit trying to get lost in the scents and pass on, but his master’s final command held him together. He floated up to them. The young god, who still looked tired, was lying with his head on his mother’s lap, his eyes closed. Kara stroked her son’s curly hair, her face full of sadness and love when she looked up at Daio, and his spirit quavered at the sight of her beauty.

“Oh, Daio,” she saidin a voice that initially sounded like several of her were trying to talk at once before condensing into one voice
.
“You poor thing.”

“I bring news,” he said in a humble rasp. He forced a bow, which made his ectoplasm feel like it was trying to disperse.

Nexus sat up, eyes open and alert. “What have you found?”

“Aerigo,” he said, his voice fading more with every word, “got me.” He paused to keep himself whole and catch his breath. “They are headed—” He took another deep breath. “—to Phaedra.” He sucked in more air. “To Phailon—” The strain was too much. His spirit sighed and evaporated. He was free at last.

***

Laying back down, Nexus smiled and closed his eyes. Now he knew what his father was up to. There was some cause for worry, but he believed he had the upper hand. He could finish his nap. Daio’s death wasn’t a setback anyway...

“The child lives,” his mother said as she resumed stroking his hair.

Nexus opened his eyes and tilted his head back. “Yes,” he said, “of course. Why do you say that?” The memory of his orb being deflected from Baku’s flashed across his mind.

“Does she not worry you?” Kara’s voice caused the grass and flowers surrounding them to shiver. “Do not both Aerigo and the girl give you reason for concern?”

“Of course. They’re Aigis,” Nexus said, shutting his eyes again. “I already have backup plans in motion. I didn’t expect Daio to survive.”

“Won’t you mourn his loss?” she said.

“No. It was because of Father I had to create such a dangerous creature.”

“I wish you didn’t hate your father so much.”

“He won’t grant me the ability to create my own worlds. There’s no reason for it, and that’s plenty reason enough to hate him. And—” his face hardened “—I especially hate him because he saw us that one time over three thousand years ago, when I was expressing my love for you. My father doesn’t know how to mind his own business.”

Kara’s hair-stroking paused. “Phaedra’s one of Leviathan’s worlds.”

“Is it? Daio’s been there before.” Nexus bolted upright. “That gives me an idea!”

“What kind of idea?”

“More mischief, of course.” He lay back down. “But I need some time to properly think this through.”

***

It seemed like only five minutes later when Roxie felt Aerigo tap on her shoulder.
Can’t the chat wait a little?
He tapped again.
Guess not.
She yawned, which hurt, and opened her eyes. A ceramic mug hovered in front of her face. She sat up when she smelled a flowery herbal scent. “Oh, thanks!” she said in a hoarse voice. She accepted the mug from Aerigo and took a sip.

“That’ll make your throat better.” He sat next to her. “Your body will take care of your other injuries on its own.”

She looked into her mug and frowned. “Will adding sugar ruin it?” She glanced at him and he straightened up as he considered this option, then took the mug and walked off. Roxie examined the broken patio doorway as Aerigo went to administer to her tea. Luis must have persuaded the crew to lend him a broom while she was recuperating. Her host started sweeping up the glass and splinters.

Aerigo reappeared and handed Roxie her mug. He watched while she took a sip, and once she gave him the nod of approval, sat down next to Roxie on the love seat. He took a sip of tea himself. “Where do you want me to start?”

She stared into her toasty mug. There was Daio to understand, things that Baku had said to clarify, the Aigis side of herself to learn more about, the dangers that surrounded her, and this mission or task, or whatever they were doing. So many mysteries and blank spots. “What the heck did I get pulled into?” Her voice already sounded improved. “Wow, this stuff works quickly.”

“And we heal quickly, too.” Aerigo took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “I don’t have all the answers.” He sipped at his tea and stared at the wall ahead of them. “And what answers I do have, I’m reluctant to tell you just yet.”

“To be honest, I’d rather you just tell me. I’d like to understand why people like Daio would want me dead.”

Aerigo gazed at her with sympathetic eyes. “It’s not an encouraging answer.”

“Just go ahead. Be blunt.”

He lowered his mug into his lap. “Once I’ve trained you—properly—together you and I will pose quite a threat to someone else’s plans, or rather a prophecy.” He took a noisy sip and Luis ambled by with a dustpan loaded with dirt, glass, and splinters.

“Don’t mind me,” Luis said, popping a smile. “The patio’s all clear if you want to sit out there and talk more privately. We have two new patio chairs the staff kindly provided for us, but we’re still missing the railing until further notice, so tread carefully out there. You might want to grab a blanket. It’s still a bit nippy with the breeze.”

“Thank you,” Aerigo said, but made no move to stand.

Roxie forced herself to smile, even though she felt sore, tired, and depressed. “Are you training me to help you fight someone?” she asked Aerigo as Luis walked off. “I know you need to teach me stuff, but I don’t think you told me everything that day.”

“I didn’t. I’ll be training you to harness the powers you were supposed to be born with, the powers only an Aigis have—powers that will help you walk away from a fight, and whole more often than not.”

“Sounds like I’m going to have to help you kill people,” Roxie said unhappily.
Eye for an eye and the whole world will be blind.
She didn’t know who originally said those words, nor who taught her the meaning of the phrase. War begat war; not peace. If she killed the people who were killing the people she was defending, then someone would try to kill her out of revenge. She didn’t want to live her life with her back to a wall.
Come to think of it, my life already feels like that.

“I know you’re not a soldier, nor do I wish to turn you into one. I want to train you to be able to defend those who can’t defend themselves against the will of a god.”

“The will of a god?” she said, taken aback. The sight of the sodden carpet brought up Roxie’s memory of her being almost strangled, along with what Daio had said to her. “Is Daio right about me being some feeble attempt to...” She searched for the right words. “Stop Nexus?” She couldn’t deny the sincerity in Daio’s tone, and started feeling sick again. When Aerigo said nothing, Roxie looked up to see him giving her a raised eyebrow. “I couldn’t even beat
him
!”

“You just need time,” he said. “Time to learn, time to get stronger, time to prepare yourself to face challenges like today. Don’t defeat yourself before you even try.”

“It’s hard not to.”

“Look,” Aerigo said firmly. “You
are
a last resort. I won’t deny it. However, since Nexus decided to throw Daio at us from the moment I started searching for you, this tells me that he’s afraid of you.”

“I think I’m more afraid of him than he is of me.”

“That’s okay. While you were sleeping, Luis told me that you tried to hold your ground against Daio after he threw me off the ship.”

“I didn’t last very long.”

“That’s beside the point,” Aerigo said. “Why did you do that?”

“I didn’t want Daio to go after Luis and his family. I figured they’d die too if I didn’t do something about it. I felt obligated to protect them. They were never supposed to be a part of this.”

“And that decision right there shows you have all the courage you need. Rox, you have what it takes to embrace your role as an Aigis. Don’t let the fight between me and Daio discourage you.”

“But what about the ‘desperate’ part he mentioned?”

“He was trying to intimidate you.”

And did a good job of it
. But Aerigo had made a good point about her reflex to protect Luis and his family, so maybe she had more to her than she realized. “So I’m not part of this prophecy, right?”

“Our purpose is to see that this prophecy is never fulfilled.”

Well, that’s a little different.
After all the books Roxie had read, the protagonists were usually included in one prophecy or another. “And who has prophesied what?”

“Baku’s son Nexus has prophesied a war, ‘a war between all creation that will change the course of the future for all worlds.’” Aerigo shook his head. “It doesn’t sound good.”

“How many worlds are there?”

“Well over two hundred. And from the sound of it, Nexus’s prophecy has managed to pull everyone into his personal agenda, and Baku suspects his son anticipates gaining something big from this madness.”

“Gain what?”

Aerigo raised a hand, palm-up, and shrugged.

Roxie felt helpless, along with queasy. “Isn’t there anyone out there who can help us?” How could just the two of them be enough?

Aerigo’s face hardened and his eyes began glowing a smoldering red. “Daio played a part in making sure there wouldn’t be anyone to go to for help. We’re the last two living Aigis.”

The last... two?
Even though she knew little about her non-human lineage, she couldn’t help but feel sad. She put down her mug by the chair, stood up and draped the blanket over her shoulders like a cape. She walked stiffly to where the railing was supposed to be, sat with her feet dangling over the edge and stared out at the sparkling ocean. Her head and neck still ached with a dull throbbing.

Gods were supposed to be invincible. If they couldn’t take care of their own problems, then how could anyone expect her to do something an immortal couldn’t? She pulled the blanket tightly around her shoulders and tried to get lost in the ocean’s beauty, instead of the despair rising within her.

Aerigo stood nearby a moment before sitting beside her. His eyes glowed a pale blue to match her sadness. He hadn’t meant to force her on such a difficult path. She knew and understood that. She leaned against him comfort and felt his muscles tense. Aerigo relaxed and began rubbing her back. Roxie rested her cheek on his solid chest as she found comfort in the much-appreciated back rub.