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 Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 1:25 pm
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Posted: Sat May 07, 2016 2:25 pm
   ✤ ▪ Late Night Surprises ▪ ✤It was late, so very late. Much later than Phoenix cared to return home at. But the holiday season was rough to begin with, and he had been delayed further by unexpected guests in the form of Zeke and Anya, delivering the most wonderful news he'd been given a very long time.
Any other night, had he returned this late, his feet might have drug across the floor on the way to his apartment door. Tonight was different. There was a leap in his step and he made it up the stairs in record time, all the while holding to his chest a case that, given his actions, appeared to hold something as valuable as diamonds in it, maybe more. He held it close, as if worried someone would snatch it or that he'd drop it. In his hurry he almost did twice, stumbling over his feet and scrambling to catch himself before he dropped the precious cargo.
Only when he reached the front door did Phoenix reluctantly release the case with one hand to fish for his keys in his pocket. It took a considerable amount more time than it should have to get the key into the lock and unlock it. He muttered to himself as he did so. Was he being ridiculous?
Certainly not.
The spacious apartment was mostly dark when he entered. The flickering glow of the television set, sound muted, illuminated a form stretched out on the sofa. Not wanting anyone to hear the news before his daughter, Phoenix softly closed the door and slipped quietly into the kitchen to drop off the case. As soon as he did so the click clack of claws on the tile alerted him to the presence of the dog. He felt a nudge on the back of his knee. Chuckling softly, he turned around to pat Dio on the head and give the pit bull a quick scratch before returning to the living room.
Phoenix switched on a lamp on one of the tables beside the sofa, which was enough to wake the sitter from her slumber. She rose immediately, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and giving her employer a smile. Before he could speak the young woman informed Phoenix that all was well. "She's not happy you had to stay late, but she understands," she said in a low tone as she stood up, slipping on her shoes. "Tomorrow, then?"
Phoenix shook his head. "I'm taking the day off, so don't worry about it. But your weekly pay will be the same." He'd decided on his way home that, holidays or not, he was going to spend the day with his family. He was going to spend the day with Zoe, talking about plans for their new arrival. And of course they would have to see the rest of the family to bring them the good news. He would call in the morning to let the restaurant know only to call if it was an emergency. Tomorrow would be the family day.
The sitter nodded gratefully, picking up her purse from the side table and waving a silent goodbye. The door clicked quietly behind her.
As late as it was, Phoenix knew he couldn't wait until morning. Zoe would be furious with him if he waited that long. As it was, he knew she would already be cranky that she hadn't been with him at the time the news was delivered.
Switching off the TV before he left the room, Phoenix was followed by Dio the entire way to Zoe's bedroom. The door swung silently open to what was quite possibly the cleanest room ever seen belonging to a child Zoe's age. Zoe was meticulous. There was not a single toy out of place. Instead, cloth baskets were placed in cubbies filled with her belongings. A surprising amount of children's books lined several bookshelves. The room was as dainty a room as there ever was, with lace lining everything that could house it. The drapes, blankets, even the lamp shade.
Zoe was tucked neatly into bed, her signature pigtails released and her curls cascading over her pillow. Immediately upon entering the room, Dio gently climbed into the bed and curled up directly beside her, laying his head next to hers and exhaling loudly.
Phoenix sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the small girl for a moment with a curious expression on his face. For what seemed like the hundredth time that night he felt his eyes well up slightly. He knew Zoe wouldn't be able to see, nor would she care, but he quickly wiped them dry before he extended a hand to rouse her by gently shaking her shoulder.
It took a few seconds, but eventually Zoe stirred. Her small hands came up to her eyes to furiously rub at them, blinking in the near dark. A faint night light barely illuminated her dad's silhouette from behind. She sat up, and Dio scooted forward to lick lovingly at her hand. "Hi, dad," she said weakly, obviously exhausted.
"Hey, baby." Phoenix reached forward to brush some loose strands from Zoe's face. "I know it's late." That was an understatement. It would be close to midnight by now. "But I didn't think you'd want me to wait until morning." Zoe didn't respond. She continued to blink in the dark, not even registering the pooch still licking at her hand.
He took a deep breath. "I had a couple of visitors at work tonight," he began, feeling the excitement bubbling over to the brim. "Remember when I sent in that application, the one you told me about?" Those seemed to be the magic words. He could see her eyes grow wide. "A man came in today, and he brought me something. Brought us something." There was a moment of silence between the three of them. Even Dio stopped kissing, resting his head in Zoe's lap and looking up back and forth between the two, oblivious to the significance of the exchange between the two people.
"They said yes, Honey Bear," Phoenix said finally. "You're going to have a brother or sister!"
The result of the announcement was chaos. Zoe let out a small shriek of excitement, her small hands snapping to her face and her golden eyes going wider than they'd ever been. This set off the dog, who immediately jumped into action, leaping and running in circles around them, jumping from the bed to the floor and back again and barking loudly. A few seconds later Phoenix and Zoe were both laughing to the point of tears, while Dio stopped and stood in front of them with a confused expression. He whined, and eventually the laughter subsided.
"When? What did he bring you?" Zoe immediately dove into the questions, reaching over to her beside table to switch on the lamp. The room lit up, revealing three smiling faces.
"It's a lot to explain right now," Phoenix started, knowing there was more than even he understood yet. At the very least it was too much to explain at this hour. "I don't know when exactly. I'll tell you all about that tomorrow. Daddy's taking the day off work so we can talk and figure things out, and tell your yaya and pappous and everyone else all about it too." He knew inside that approaching the family was going to be a considerably different experience than telling Zoe, but Phoenix set aside that thought for the next day. Tonight was all about good things.
"He brought me the first thing we're going to need to get your new sibling." Zoe looked confused, to which Phoenix smiled and tousled her hair. "I'll show you in the morning, but you're going to love it."
Zoe sighed, but she didn't argue. However, her expression turned serious. "Who was the other person? You said there were two people."
Phoenix laughed, but it was a nervous laughter. He knew Zoe wouldn't be happy about what he was about to tell her. "She was a Raevan. She looked like a spider."
Zoe gasped, and as expected she immediately pouted and crossed her arms, staring him down sternly. "You saw one! Without me?" There was a slight amount of hurt in her voice, but Phoenix knew the disappointment would subside. After all, the news was far greater than this.
"But hey, no big deal, right? This is what you wanted!"
Zoe immediately perked up, her grin mirroring her dad's. She jumped forward out of her blankets into Phoenix's lap, wrapping her arms around him and snuggling into his chest. As if feeling left out of the tender moment, Dio shoved his face between the two, giving them both a dose of cold wet nose. They sat there for a long time, Phoenix rocking slowly back and forth while Zoe began to droop in his arms.
"Merry Christmas, my little love," Phoenix whispered, but Zoe had already fallen fast asleep.
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Posted: Tue May 17, 2016 10:22 pm
✤ ▪ Childlike Wonder ▪ ✤ On a typical morning, Zoe woke either to the sound of her dad calling her for breakfast before school, or to the sloppy kisses of her beloved dog. But the small child was the first to wake up that morning, after colorful dreams entertained her for the entirety of the night. After Phoenix's announcement, Zoe had quickly crashed and dreamed of all the wonderful things the whole family would do once it was complete.
Before even Dionysus had begun to stir in his spot next to her on the bed, Zoe rolled out from under her covers, fully awake, her feet slapping on the floor as she ran. She didn't stop to pull the covers back up over her mattress. She didn't stop to fix her hair. She just ran, alarming the pit bull, who stared after her in surprise for a moment before following his big sister to the kitchen.
Zoe skipped straight past her dad's bedroom, her goal being to find something...whatever it was...that was out of place. She didn't know where it was for certain, but she knew her dad, and he typically left things in the kitchen when he got off work. If it wasn't there she was sure she would find it in his room. Their apartment was always in order, so finding something new wouldn't be that hard.
It didn't take long for her observant gold eyes found the case on the kitchen counter, right where she had suspected she'd find something. It was pressed back against the wall, and she wasn't sure how heavy it would be, so rather than trying to drag it down and risk breaking whatever was inside she hurried to fetch a chair from the dining area.
Unbeknownst to the little girl, Phoenix had heard the scrambling about, mostly due to Dio's loud feet. He should have expected it. Silently he rose from his own bed, noting how early it was, and crept into the kitchen to spy on what his daughter was doing. He didn't interrupt as he spotted her pushing the chair to the counter, nor when she climbed it to stand tall enough to open the case and see what was inside. Fishing around for the phone he'd stuck in his pajama pants pocket, he watched her fumble with the case to get it open.
Zoe's reaction was nothing less than expected. When she popped open the case, her golden eyes grew to what was surely twice their normal size. Her mouth dropped open in a silent O, unable to even make a sound as she watched the sands dancing in the bottle before her.
Phoenix's timing was spot on. The flash of his camera phone alerted Zoe to his presence, and as her gaze shot from the Essence to her father, she blinked in surprise. "Dad," she whispered, awe sparkling in her eyes. "What is this?"
The proud father joined his little girl beside her, and the two of them paused in silence to watch as the sand took the form of a snake that slithered up the side of the glass, reaching near the top before diving off the side and exploding into a magnificent display of sandy fireworks. Feeling left out and wondering what could possibly have stolen his family's attention, Dio jumped up to rest his front paws on the counter, resting his chin between them to watch as well. "That's going to be your new brother or sister, some day."
Zoe looked back at her father with a stern expression. "Sand?"
Phoenix laughed loudly. "It's like I said last night sweets. There's more to it than that. They'll have to have a soul, first." Admittedly Phoenix himself was still foggy on all of the details, given how little information he was able to stick around for before having to take off the night before. But he had the paperwork to read, and as he pieced together everything involved he was going to make sure Zoe understood everything fully along the way.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Another silence fell over them, watching the sand take up a new shape every few moments, an endless display of art dancing inside its glass entrapment.
Zoe's expression remained serious as she watched a magnificent bird leap forth from what had just moments ago been a briefly motionless pile, spreading its wings and soaring in circles about the small bottle. "I just hope it's a girl," she stated bluntly with a sigh, resting her elbows on the counter and her chin in her hands. "I'm already outnumbered here."
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2016 4:04 pm
✤ ▪ Expectations... Fulfilled ▪ ✤ Phoenix and Zoe had spent the entire morning doing two things: pouring over the papers that Zeke had left Phoenix with the previous evening, and watching with a never fading fascination the constantly changing (and always unique) figures that the Perpetual Sandstorm created. Phoenix having taken the day off of work and with Zoe out of school for the holiday season, the two of them had all the time in the world to spend together making plans before going to deliver the news to Andreas and Iliana Argyris.
By noon they had already decided on a new layout for Zoe’s bedroom. At least until more space became a necessity, Zoe would share her room. Her current bed would need to be replaced with twin bunks, which they would go to pick out together when it was closer to the right time. They'd also have to buy additional pieces of furniture, so they made a list of what they could think of right off the bat.
After going out for lunch at a local sandwich shop, the two hopped in the car to drive the short distance to see the family. Phoenix had called his brother, Katsaros, earlier that morning to ask if he had time to stop by for something important. Unfortunately Kat was tied up at work, so Phoenix had to settle for explaining another time.
Phoenix’s parents lived in a comfortable house in Durem, with enough room not just for the two of them, but extra rooms for when family came to stay. The Argyris family was about as tight knit as they came, and it was quite frequent that Yaya and Pappous filled one of the rooms with someone or another who had come for a visit.
The four were seated in the living room in something of a tense silence. Phoenix was anxious about the news, as wonderful as it was to him personally, and his mom and dad were picking up heavily on those vibes. Zoe seemed to be the only one in completely positive spirits. She was too young to understand why anyone could possibly be less than thrilled over this. It was Zoe who held the case in her lap, kicking her feet idly in her chair, and both of her grandparents had their eyes locked on it suspiciously.
”Is anyone going to say something?” Zoe eventually interrupted the silence, thoroughly done with waiting. ”Why is everyone being so quiet?”
Phoenix chuckled anxiously, scratching the back of his head and directing his gaze at a spot of peeling paint on the wall near the ceiling. It was like telling them Adriana was pregnant all over again. Equal parts joyous and difficult for his parents to understand. Then it had been a matter of the fact that he and Adriana weren’t married. They were already living together against the family’s wishes, and an unexpected child added to the mix had worried them. Andreas had already been wary of Adriana to begin with.
”We’ve got some news,” Phoenix said slowly, looking between his parents as their gazes shifted to him wordlessly. He couldn’t remember the last time they’d been this quiet. He knew he was only making it worse by hesitating, but he really wasn’t sure how to go about telling them everything.
”We’ve been thinking for a while now, it’s really time that we had a new addition to the family.” This seemed to spark an initial joy in Iliana’s eyes. Was her son seeing someone, finally? Better yet, was he speaking to Adriana again?
”There’s really no easy way to try and explain all of this,” Phoenix sighed, then turned to Zoe. ”You wanna show them? Maybe it’ll make more sense to start there.”
Ecstatic, Zoe flipped open the case to pull out the precious bottle that was inside. When she lifted it up, the Essence was slowly growing into a patch of flowers. One at a time each unique fleur grew as if an actual plant were growing, only made of sand. All eyes were on the magnificent display as Zoe held it carefully before her, grinning from ear to ear. At seeing it again, Phoenix’s expression warmed and his smile grew to match hers. It didn’t matter if they couldn’t understand it yet, and maybe he was being too hard on them for assuming in the first place what their reaction would be.
”Dad, mom, this is what’s called a Fel Essence. This is only a piece of the big picture, but...there’s this place, Zoe found out about it at school.” He smiled at his daughter, who beamed with pride at being the one to have set things in motion. ”It’s like an adoption agency, but not for humans.”
Andreas remained silent, but Iliana looked skeptical, and she looked from the bottle to her son with a raised eyebrow. “What do you mean, not for humans?” Her words were hesitant, not understanding. Her husband seemed to be waiting for more information before passing judgement on the situation.
”They’re called Raevans. This here,” he gestured to the bottle, where the petals of each flower were crashing to the floor of sand one by one. ”This is where it all starts.” He debated going into an explanation about souls but, deciding it was too much for them to grasp for the time (for more reasons than one), he decided to summarize in a different way. ”They have two parts, you see, and that’s one of them. The other part comes from a living creature,” Of course that wasn’t the full truth, but that was another part he didn’t particularly want to explain right off the bat. ”They look human, mostly, but there are some differences…”
The explanation thus far had left Iliana with an ever more confused expression. Andreas still held a neutral look on his face, but he was the one to speak up first. “So you’re adopting, then?” Bless his father for seeing past the confusing details and going straight to the important part.
“So you’re not seeing anyone? We’re not having any more grandchildren?” And leave it to Iliana to find a reason to be disappointed.
Phoenix sighed, running a hand through his hair. ”No mom, I’m not seeing anyone. But technically yes, you are going to have a grandchild. That’s the point.” He looked at Zoe, who gave him a reassuring smile. ”There’s still a lot to be done, and it’ll take some time. But yes, we’re adopting.” He smiled at Andreas, silently thanking him for being the easier of the two.
“But why this, Alexis?” Phoenix’s eye visibly twitched once at the use of his first name. “If you aren’t going to have another baby of your own,” she gave him a harsh stare, making her feelings on the matter quite clear. “Why this, and not a real baby?”
This was what Phoenix had figured was coming. His parents were lovely people, but they were old-fashioned and very stuck in their ways. While they accepted the existence of magic and other things -- it hadn’t always been that way, but living in Gaia it was hard to ignore the truth -- it was another thing entirely for them to openly welcome something so…different into their lives.
”Does it matter?” The question from Zoe surprised all three of the others, and they all looked at her in mild shock. She had a stern look on her face, one that would make one forget that she was such a small child. She had rested the bottle in her lap, her arms around it in a protective stance. ”I don’t have a mom,” she said quietly, surprising them even further. Zoe rarely mentioned her absent mother, and when she did it was always in response to someone else bringing it up. ”So I can’t have a little brother or sister that way.”
“But adoption, Alexis! There are other adoption agencies, ones with normal babies. Why not one of those?” Iliana smiled, but it was a frustrated sort of smile, and her eyes reflected something like hurt.
Phoenix hesitated again. ”It’s not that easy, mother…” He didn’t mention, for Zoe’s sake, that he had been trying to work with ordinary adoption agencies almost since the beginning. He didn’t want her to know how long of a process that sort of thing could be, and that he had been trying and failing. He wanted her memories of the process to be only good things, and no disappointments.
”Well, I’m happy about it.” Zoe said bluntly, as she placed the bottle back in the case, shut it securely and slid off her chair. ”I don’t see what the big deal is.” She left the room then, carrying the case with her, looking thoroughly frustrated at how complicated adults were.
As his daughter left the room, Phoenix felt he’d never been more proud of her. This gave him a new resolve. For such a young thing, Zoe sure had a smart head on her shoulders. ”There’ll be plenty of time for you to get accustomed to the idea. Nothing is happening tomorrow or anything,” he said firmly, giving his parents a defiant smile. ”You weren’t so enthusiastic before Zoe was born, either, but you love her now. You can’t imagine not having her in your lives, right?” He stood up, brushing the wrinkles from his slacks. ”I’m going to be a proud papa -- again.” His smile turned brighter. It didn’t matter what they said.
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 3:53 pm
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Posted: Sat May 21, 2016 3:54 pm
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 12:55 am
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 7:33 pm
✤ ▪ Impatience ▪ ✤ Zoe was impatient. And impatient for Zoe meant that she was being extremely passive aggressive towards her dad, as if blaming him for an issue he had little control over would change things. Generally she was exceptionally mature and understanding for her young age, but even Zoe could be unreasonable at time. This was one of those times.
The reason for her impatience? They still hadn't captured a Soul. It wasn't for lack of trying, either. Or at least discussing. Mainly it came down to the fact that they were both painfully aware that whatever they took the soul from would die. There were of course, non-sentient beings, but they always talked themselves into circles, and nothing had come of it yet.
So while Zoe was impatient, Phoenix was being impossible. As guilty as he felt about the situation, every time Zoe would stare at him grumpily over her cereal or from her place on the couch he would sweetly ask her what was wrong, all the while knowing exactly what it was. This, of course, infuriated Zoe even further, and she'd silently storm off to her room to be impatient and unreasonable, leaving Phoenix to bask in his guilt a while longer.
It was while the two were seated on the couch together watching TV that Zoe spoke up in a way she hadn't recently. For days she had mostly been silent and grumpy and a bit rude, but when she spoke this time there was a sadness in her voice. “Dad?” She was sitting on his lap while he lounged laying on the couch lazilly.
His attention shifted from The Goonies to his daughter, a small smile spreading over his previously vacant expression. ”Hm?” Phoenix brushed Zoe's bangs away from her forehead, and for once she didn't shake them back into place.
”I'm gonna have a brother or sister soon, right? It's still gonna happen?” Zoe looked a bit pained, as if she honestly thought her dad was going to give up. It had been several months, and those months were, to Zoe, almost a lifetime. Things were getting worse at school, and there had been a tension between Phoenix and his parents since he'd given them the news that was painfully obvious to Zoe. She just knew that things would get better if she had a brother or sister...
Phoenix's expression softened. ”Hey, you really think I'm gonna let you down?” The guilt rushed through him in hyper mode now. After all this time promising he still hadn't come through for her.
Zoe didn't answer. She just turned her attention back to the movie, though she didn't register anything that was happening. Her eyes were dull and lifeless. Phoenix stared at her for a few moments, considering things very carefully.
”Hey, booger.” Phoenix sat up abruptly with Zoe still in his lap, and while he stood up grabbed her around the waist and flung the child over his shoulder.
”Dad!” Zoe yelled, one tiny fist smacking him in the back a single time. She didn't fight beyond that, knowing it was pointless. ”What are you doing?”
Phoenix didn't respond. Without bothering to pause the film he left the living room. Dio jumped up from his spot in front of the TV and curiously followed the two to the bedrooms in the back. With Zoe over one shoulder, Phoenix used his other hand to open the door to his own room. Once inside he gently tossed her onto the bed, smiling as she let out a squeak of surprise. He went then to his dresser to grab the case with the two bottles, then sat down on the bed next to Zoe. He'd been keeping them in his room where they'd be safe.
”I'm going to make you a deal. I would still prefer it if we talked about it first... I know you, and I know you won't leave me out of the decision and do something rash. But if the time comes and you feel it's right, it's your choice now. This is all because of you to begin with. If you hadn't asked for a sibling, we never would have started this whole thing. And if you hadn't told me about Lab, I'd still be scratching my head wondering how I was ever going to do what you wanted.” He smiled warmly at his daughter. ”It's only fair that you get the final say in things. Just remember, this is not a game, okay? This is quite literally life and death. It's not a decision to be taken lightly.”
The look on Zoe's face had gone from confused to delighted over the course of his small speech. She felt like she had been bestowed this great honor, and really she had. It was her decision. ”Really?”
”But!” Zoe's face fell. ”I still have the power of veto if, and only if, I feel you're making a truly bad mistake. But I will only step in if I think you're making a dangerous decision, or something you will regret later.” She perked up again.
Phoenix knew he could trust his daughter to make the right decision. She was a smart kid, and it wasn't as if he was leaving the bottle with her to do as she pleased. He was simply allowing her the final say in things, so long as she was responsible with the decision. He had a good feeling that he was making the right decision.
And to boot, maybe it would help her to feel more important and less impatient.
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Posted: Tue May 24, 2016 10:01 pm
✤ ▪ Brothers ▪ ✤ The phone was ringing, and Phoenix was very heavily considering not answering it.
He was at work, and for the time being there was no paperwork, and no problems for him to deal with. Not that problems arose often -- he ran a tight ship and everything was usually quite in order. So instead of working in the office, Phoenix was exactly where he liked to be the most: the kitchen.
Dicing and slicing with immaculate precision and impressive speed, the look on his face was satisfied and focused. At least until he felt the buzzing in his pocket. His brow furrowed, and continued to slice for a moment more before it occurred to him that it actually could be something quite important if they were ringing him on his cell phone during business hours.
So with a sigh he set down the knife, slipped off his gloves and tossed them into a trash bin in the corner of the room. A nod to one of the cooks directed him to take over, which he immediately did, leaving Phoenix to take the call. Checking the caller ID before he answered revealed it was Katsaros.
"My brother, my man. What could possibly be so important that you're calling me at work?" Despite being interrupted, his tone suggested he really wasn't upset at all. He stepped out of the kitchen and made his way through the restaurant. Rather than head to the office, he decided to take the call outside.
"A-lex-is!" The loud voice came through the speaker, and Phoenix cringed. "Got a minute?"
"Mhm..." As he stepped into the sunlight, Phoenix wondered again what it could be that was so important. "I suppose. What's up?" He sat himself on the bench outside the door, the sun warming him immediately.
"Just got off the phone with mom and dad."
"Aren't you at work?" Phoned quirked an eyebrow.
"Yea, but you know them. They don't care about that." That was true. They usually did the same thing to Phoenix, but had called much less in recent months. "How does next month sound to head to Oia for a couple of weeks?"
Phoenix had almost forgotten about the summer trip. Almost without fail the entire family went every summer to visit the extended family in Greece. The rest of the family couldn't afford the airfare, nor did most of them particularly care to leave the comforts of home. So Phoenix and his brother and their respective families as well as their parents made the trip every year.
"I gotta get everything sorted here, but I don't see why not." He didn't appreciate the last minute planning that would be involved, but he could handle it.
"Great! So you think maybe you can work out the arrangements for everyone? Get the tickets sorted, coordinate with mom and dad and all that?" Kat spoke quickly, leaving Phoenix sputtering.
"And why can't you help?" Phoenix's tone quickly snapped to accusing, his good mood shot. He would have enough to do as it stood, making sure the restaurant wouldn't fall to ruins in his absence as well as figuring out who would watch Dio.
"Ah man, you know bro. There's a lot going on, you get it, right?" He didn't sound apologetic in the slightest. In fact, he sounded a bit distracted.
Phoenix grunted. "So how ever are you going to pull yourself away from it all for two weeks?" He challenged, gripping the phone a bit tighter.
Kat laughed. "Aw, I'm sure it'll all sort itself out by then." His lack of details suggested to Phoenix that he really wasn't all that busy. It wasn't unlike Kat to try and dump something he didn't want to do on Phoenix, then laugh it all off like it was no big deal.
"You're a d**k." Phoenix sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Yeah, I'll get it all taken care of. I'll let you know when I've sorted it out with everyone."
He hung up the phone without another one, then promptly returned inside so that he could take out his frustrations on a leg of lamb.
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Posted: Fri May 27, 2016 2:03 pm
✤ ▪ The Plan ▪ ✤ “Dad.” A finger held up and a small smile silenced her. Zoe’s shoulders slumped, but she waited patiently. For a minute, anyway. Not speaking, she held up two dresses and shook them in front of Phoenix. He seemed to get the idea, and pointed to a pale green and white one. Satisfied, the young girl skipped off to her bedroom to continue packing.
Phoenix was completely absorbed in his laptop, booking tickets for the entire family's trip. Simultaneously he was on the phone with Zoe’s sitter, asking if she would be able to come see Dio while they were gone to feed and play with him. The pooch couldn't come with them, much as he would have loved it, so Phoenix had to see to it that he was taken care of.
“Yeah, just food and water and playing with him. Nothing you don't already do while you're here.” Zoe could hear her dad talking into the phone over the series of clicks as he fought to find the perfect deal online.
It was early -- they wouldn’t be leaving for a few days yet, but Zoe was excited about the trip and wanted to make sure she had everything in order. All morning she’d been going through her things, trying to decide on the best outfits and bows for her hair, and deciding what all else was necessary. Her suitcase was nearly full, with cute little outfits and a swimsuit all folded and packed neatly. She smoothed the latest addition, the green dress, to the best of her ability.
”Oh man, would you really? He’d love that!”
Zoe sat on the edge of the bed and kicked her feet, thinking. Even after the conversation she’d had a few days ago with her dad, she was still a bit impatient. She felt better about things, sure, but it had occurred to her that while they were off spending time with family, that was going to be two weeks during which they still wouldn’t make any progress. Unless…
Zoe listened intently to the conversation Phoenix was having still. He wasn’t paying any attention. She hopped off the bed, quietly tip toeing across the hall to her dad’s room. Quietly she opened the door, peering inside, and her eyes fell to the case on his dresser.
What if she took the bottle with them?
”I’ll call you to confirm everything right before we leave, okay?”
She closed the door with a quiet click and hurried back to her own room, throwing herself on the bed just as she heard her dad hang up the phone. She reached for a sketchbook and a box of crayons sitting on the table by the bed, and had barely started drawing when Phoenix walked into the room.
”Got everything together? You really didn’t have to pack so soon.” Phoenix smiled at his little girl, completely oblivious to the thoughts running rampant in her head.
Zoe nodded, not looking up from her drawing. ”I think so. And I wanted to,” she said simply, shrugging. She waited until her dad left the room before relaxing, falling back onto her pillow.
It would be too risky to grab the bottle until right before they left. Phoenix would surely check the case before that point, and if she hid it in her bag he’d find it. So she would have to wait until after he’d inspected her things to make sure she’d packed properly. But it was settled in the little girl’s mind.
She was going to sneak the bottle on the plane.
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Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 10:14 pm
✤ ▪ Busted! ▪ ✤ No one was especially happy to be at the airport.
It was early morning, and the entirety of the Argyris family (the Gaia residents, at least) were standing in line to go through security, a mess of bags and suitcases scattered around them. The children were tired, hanging on their parents with drooping eyes and endless yawning. The adults were doing considerably better, but there was very little real conversation going on amongst the family. Everyone just wanted to get it all done and over with, hop on the plane and get some additional sleep. They had a very long flight ahead of them, after all. They were going to need it.
Andreas and Iliana headed the line, easily the most alert of the entire group. Iliana, however, kept wandering back through the line to the rest of the family, fixing her sons’ hair and conversing with the ever patient Nadie. Andreas stayed planted at the head of the line, in a fairly pleasant mood compared to the rest of the party. Katsaros, Nadie and their two children sat in the middle of the line, Kat in particular looking grumpier than anyone there. He kept mumbling just loud enough for Phoenix to hear how displeased he was that they had to catch such an early flight.
Phoenix and Zoe took up the rear of the group, Phoenix with as pleasant a smile as ever despite being as impatient and sore about the situation as the rest of them. Zoe was dragging, and she had a bit of an anxious look on her face. Phoenix had asked more than once if she was alright, but the little girl repeated each time the same answer. ”I’m fine, dad.” With no explanation, Phoenix was left to assume that his daughter was just as tired as the rest of them, and maybe just nervous about the flight. She never had been before, but kids were fickle, right?
As the first of them reached the front of the line, Zoe looked down at her dad’s feet. ”Dad. Why aren’t you wearing sandals? You said to wear sandals.” Zoe herself had begrudgingly traded in her mary janes for some sandals with large fabric flowers.
Phoenix smiled, giving one of Zoe’s pigtails a swish. ”I don’t have sandals,” he said simply.
Zoe gave Phoenix a stern frown, stepping out of his reach. She’d very much inherited her dad’s finickiness over hair. ”That’s not true. You have the ones you wear when we go swimming.”
He grinned sheepishly. ”Okay, so maybe I have some. But no one here wants to see my ugly feet.” That wasn’t quite the reason, either. True it was a bit more of a hassle, but Phoenix wouldn’t have been caught dead in an airport full of thousands of people without his dress shoes.
Zoe rolled her eyes, then grabbed her dad’s hand as the line moved forward. She watched as each of her family members in turn deposited all of their belongings in the little bins to go through the machine, placing their luggage on the conveyor belt and looking relieved when they came through the other side and were that much closer to being done with the long process.
Finally it was down to Phoenix and Zoe. While Phoenix began patiently untying his shoes, Zoe started hoisting her bags up to go through the machine. Distracted, watching as each went through and an x-ray of what was inside passed before them on the monitor, Zoe didn’t immediately register when she was told to step forward. She was too busy focusing on one particular bag, and hoping her dad didn’t look up until it was through.
She had no such luck.
”That doesn’t look like a shampoo bottle.” A hand closed around Zoe’s shoulder, and Phoenix’s still smiling face lowered to her level from behind. Both of their eyes were fixated on a very specific shape amidst the clothes packed inside Zoe’s bag.
Her dad didn’t sound angry, but his tone was slightly more stern than usual, and Zoe didn’t respond to his accusation. ”You can get your shoes now, dad.”
Phoenix chuckled, and the two of them set about grabbing their things as they passed successfully through security with no problem. When they were clear of that particular procedure, Phoenix pulled his daughter to the side, kneeled on the floor so he was more or less at her height, and crossed his arms over his knee.
”So, wanna tell me what this is about? Why you didn’t talk to me first?” He raised an eyebrow.
Zoe uncomfortably shifted around, looking past her dad at the rest of the family. They were completely unaware of the discussion, and were currently discussing amongst themselves what they should have to eat while they were waiting.
”I thought you’d say no,” she said quietly, looking down at her feet. ”I didn’t want to wait two weeks to have another chance. What if something happens while we’re there?” A childish whine slipped into her tone, and she looked back up at her dad desperately. ”Are you mad?”
Mad? No, Phoenix was far from mad. More than anything he was confused at Zoe’s behaviour. It wasn’t like her to keep something from him. He was also feeling another wave of guilt.
”Not a bit.” He grabbed Zoe by the arms and pulled her forward to give her a sloppy kiss on the forehead. ”And I guess there’s no taking it back now, yeah?” Not that he would have, even if he had found out about it before that point.
This seemed to cheer up Zoe considerably. For the first time all morning, she smiled at her dad.
”You two coming or what?” Katsaros pulled them out of their conversation with an annoyed sounding shout. The rest of the family had realized they were short two, and were watching them now with a mix of curiosity and impatience -- mostly the latter.
Phoenix stood up and reached for Zoe’s hand. ”Just do me a favor, okay kid? Don’t tell anyone else you pulled one over on your old man.”
Zoe giggled, grabbed her dad’s hand, and the two hurried to join the others.
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Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2016 5:20 pm
✤ ▪ A Gaggle of Greeks ▪ ✤The Argyris family tree, for better comprehension. Chaos. There wasn’t any other way to describe it.
His hand around Zoe’s tiny one, more for his own sake than for hers, Phoenix saw them come almost in slow motion. Was it too late to pick up Zoe for protection, to keep her in front to draw away their attention? He should have done, should have sacrificed the small child to the hoard to save his own skin. Oh god, there were so many of them.
“It’s about damn time!” A heavy hand thudded against Phoenix’s back, a woosh of air being knocked out of him. At the same time, the rest of them were swarmed by the loudest, most excited group of Greeks he thought he’d ever seen. Except that they really hadn’t grown in number since last year. But still, there were just so many of them.
His smile never left, filled with genuine joy at seeing his family. It was noisy and mildly terrifying, even for a grown man, but the bulk of them seemed to be drawn to the three kids anyways. Phoenix watched helplessly as his daughter was scooped up by a man with a man with a face so bushy you almost couldn’t see anything past the white -- his uncle, Markos. “Look at this one! You look more like your dad every year, god help you.” He laughed, winking at Phoenix.
Before Phoenix could crack a remark about that being a good thing, he was pulled suddenly into a one-armed hug by one of many cousins. ”Avra!” He closed in to hug her back, minding the rather alarmed looking small child in her other arm, but pulled away in surprise when he felt something block him. ”Look at you!” Avra was a young thing, with a smile to rival Phoenix’s -- and she was pregnant again, the smallest hint of a belly already showing. Phoenix planted a wet kiss on her forehead, and an even wetter one on the forehead of her daughter.
All around them there were hugs and kisses, laughter and happy tears, children being tossed into the air by uncles and aunties, and more noise than Phoenix thought he’d ever heard. But as frightening as a mob of loud and boisterous Greeks were, there were only good vibes here.
Near the back of the crowd, keeping her frail body as safe as she could, Phoenix caught sight of his maternal grandmother, Chara. He worked his way through the crowd, his back receiving a few more heavy thuds from various cousins. When he finally reached her, he gave her the warmest of smiles and gently pulled her into an embrace. ”You’re looking beautiful as ever,” he commented, giving her a wink when he pulled back to look at her.
“And you’re as much of a kiss-a** as ever,” Chara replied with a raise of her eyebrow. “Still haven’t cut that hair?” She eyed his ponytail, but after a moment she glanced about and smiled. In a loud whisper she added, “Good. I like it that way.”
Phoenix laughed, running a hand through it. ”You’d be the only one,” he pointed out. He’d tried the previous year to keep track of how many times someone had told him to cut it off, that he looked almost as absurd as his dad had at his age. He’d lost track after the second day.
Before he could ask his grandmother how she was doing, he was ambushed from behind by another uncle. One thick arm wrapped around his chest from over his shoulder, while a rough hand tousled his hair. While dismay shot through him at the destruction of his perfect hair, Phoenix spun around to face his uncle Pavlos. How did the man still have so much energy at his age?
“I see Zoe. I see your brother and his wife. The kids, your parents-- Phoenix, where is the girlfriend you’re hiding from us?” Pavlos spoke louder than the lot of them, grabbing Phoenix by the arms and giving him a bit of a shake.
Reeling a bit, Phoenix waited to be released before straightening out his shirt sleeves. He crossed his arms almost protectively over his chest. ”Not hiding anyone, uncle Pav.” His admission came out a little strained. The only part he truly disliked about visiting his family was the constant barrage of questions involving his romantic life. Most of them accepted the fact that Zoe’s mom leaving and Phoenix not having any intention of trying to get her back was the best choice for his family. But not a damn one of them would let go of the fact that he was still single, and had given up looking for the time being.
Pavlos gave Phoenix’s now messy hair a look. “Well, if you can’t even properly groom yourself, that’s not so surprising.” Phoenix couldn’t tell if his uncle was being serious and had completely forgotten that the state of his hair was his fault, or if he was joking. He looked down at his grandmother, giving her a helpless smile and a shrug. She looked back at him with an apologetic smile.
A quick scan of the room and Phoenix had found that Zoe had changed hands to a wiry teenage boy whom she seemed quite happy to see. Petros was the most soft spoken of the entire Argyris clan. It was no wonder Zoe connected with him. Phoenix watched fondly as the two walked hand and hand away from the crowd, Zoe chatting with the boy with a smug expression. Phoenix wondered what the two were discussing.
He didn’t have much time to think about it. Avra had returned, and she was shoving her daughter into Phoenix’s arms. “You mind, for a bit? I wanna go bug your kid about the secret to her glorious curls.” Before waiting for an answer she had already taken off, skipping across the room and disappearing through the mass of people.
Alone with the one-year-old girl, Phoenix stepped away from the madness. ”Just you and me, huh kid?”
“No.” Chryssa gave him the most serious of looks, reminding Phoenix immensely of Zoe at that age. Phoenix barked with laughter, startling the small child. She gave him a bewildered look.
He imagined he’d be spending a fair amount of time with the baby, which he didn’t mind in the slightest. Phoenix was good with kids, and at her age Chryssa wouldn’t be asking questions he didn’t want to answer.
They were all set to stay with various members of the family for the next two weeks. The Argyris clan -- and Chara, the last of his mother’s family -- all lived within walking distance of each other. Between them all there had been a considerable amount of arguing over who would get the pleasure of housing several of their guests. They switched it up every year. Phoenix and Zoe would stay with Avra and her parents this summer. Katsaros and his wife and kids would stay with their cousin, Gus, who was unmarried and had much room to himself to spare. Andreas and Iliana would stay with Markos.
Phoenix, holding Chryssa in one arm, took her by the hand and danced his way across the room, further away from the hoard of people. He made sure to put on his snootiest of faces, and shook his butt to and fro as he wiggled across the room, pulling a laugh from the little girl.
”Dad, what are you doing?” Zoe had escaped too, and seemingly without Avra knowing where she’d gotten to. Phoenix could see her looking through everyone as if she’d lost Zoe. He had a feeling she’d simply run when Avra had looked away.
”I’m giving the young lady some standards for what to look for in men,” he said seriously. ”If they can’t dance like her favorite cousin, they’re not good enough.” He raised an eyebrow at Zoe. ”Same goes for you. If they can’t dance as good as me, they don’t have my blessing.”
Zoe rolled her eyes. ”As long as they don’t sing like you.”
Phoenix gave her a look of faux hurt, and opened his mouth to reply. But he didn’t get the chance. The hoard had returned, a group of even more cousins hurrying to the two of them. Identical expressions of horror crossed their faces, and they looked at each other as if silently asking, should we run for it?
One of them didn’t have to. Almost like an angel, Nadie appeared from behind, scooping up her niece and carrying her off, giving her brother in law a wicked grin. “Let’s go find Mai and Silas,” she said, referring to her own two kids. “I think your dad will be okay here on his own.”
Giving them a final look of tortured betrayal, Phoenix disappeared almost completely from view amidst the Argyris clan.
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Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2016 9:56 pm
✤ ▪ Some Day Soon ▪ ✤ Warm sand, the cliffs jutting up behind them, the sun kissing their skin… Yeah, it was kind of the perfect day.
They’d headed to the beach for some much needed relaxation and fun. Most of the family had been able to steal away, but there were still a handful that had to work, and unfortunately a beach party was hardly an excuse to get out of work.
Zoe smiled as the water rushed up over her toes, cooling her skin. Her cousin Petros was doing handstands in the shallow water before her, making goofy faces in an attempt to get the small girl to laugh. He’d managed to pull a few giggles from her, but he wasn’t quite satisfied with that. Zoe watched him try and walk on his hands, but the tide receding towards him knocked him off balance, sending him splashing down into the water.
Then she laughed.
Rinsing himself off in the water, the teenage boy jogged up to Zoe, dropping down into the sand beside her and wrapping his arms around his knees. “Penny for your thoughts?” He asked sweetly, smiling up at her.
Zoe wiggled her toes into the sand quietly before she glanced at her cousin’s messy wet hair. Noting that it was just long enough to make short, stumpy braids out of, even if she couldn’t tie them down, she walked behind Petros and started running her fingers through it. When she still didn’t answer, he tipped his head back to look at her with wide eyes. “A nickel, then?”
With a roll of her eyes Zoe pushed the boy’s head back into a position where she could continue working on his hair. Petros was, without a doubt, her favorite cousin. Every summer she latched onto him, and the two of them spent as much time together as possible. She loved all of her family, but they were a bit noisy, and she liked that Petros just talked to her or tried to make her laugh, and he was always interested in what she had to say.
”I was thinking about how next summer we’ll be bringing my new brother or sister, too.”
Petros spun around, stumpy braids flinging water as he did so. “No joke? Your dad said he didn’t have a girlfriend!” He gave a sly grin. “Your dad’s a dog, eh?” He looked back up the beach for Phoenix. He’d moved away from the rest of the family, and was up by the cliffs. He wasn’t alone. He was leaning against the rocks, deep in conversation with a young local woman. Seeing this caused Petros to break out into almost hysterical laughter, as if this confirmed his statement.
Zoe gave her cousin a questioning look, not understanding his accusations in the slightest. ”He doesn’t,” Zoe assured Petros on the girlfriend matter, once more forcing him into a position where she could work on his hair. ”We’re adopting a Raevan. From the Lab.” She said this all so matter of factly, looking proud as she continued to work on the short braids.
“Ehh?” Not surprisingly, the teenage boy had never heard of any Lab, and hadn’t a clue what a Raevan was.
Feeling a bit smug at getting to explain something to her older cousin that he didn’t know about, Zoe clarified. ”They’re like people, but they’re not made of the same things people are made of. They have an Essence, and they have a soul, and they have wings.”
While Zoe felt that this was a perfectly acceptable explanation, Petros didn’t look convinced. By the look on his face it seemed as if he’d resigned her stories to being just that -- stories. Zoe had never been one to come up with make believe friends or anything of the sort, but maybe she was going through a phase? “I see,” he said simply, relaxing into the sand.
His tone of voice wasn’t missed by Zoe. She stopped braiding his hair immediately, putting her hands on her hips and giving Petros a stern look. ”You don’t believe me?” She looked a little hurt. Zoe never lied, and Petros was about the closest thing she had to a friend.
She didn’t wait for him to respond. ”Come on!” She snapped, and began hurrying up the beach towards her dad and the mystery woman. Phoenix was leaning towards her, arms crossed with a rather flirtatious grin on his face, looking as if he was waiting for the answer to an unheard question. At the sight of the small child running towards them, Petros trailing behind her by a few feet, Phoenix started and stumbled, and the woman laughed.
Zoe had absolutely no concern for the fact that she was clearly interrupting her dad hitting on this woman. She planted herself firmly in front of Phoenix, a stern look on her face. ”Tell Petros I’m going to have a brother or sister!”
Phoenix looked from his daughter to the woman, who suddenly had a partially surprised, partially uncomfortable look on her face. “I’m gonna--”
”Ah, no! It’s--” Phoenix waved his hands frantically, trying to explain before she left, but she ran off with a small wave and an apologetic smile before he could get any more words out. Not that he could blame her. With an introduction to the situation like that it sure didn’t look good.
Looking a bit exasperated, Phoenix turned back to the two. ”What’s going on?” Despite his disappointment, his face still held a smile.
Petros had caught up by this point, the braids in his hair already shaking loose from the run. He leaned forward to put his hands on his knees, looking up at Phoenix. “Zoe was just telling me about her new sibling. Thought at first maybe you’d been having too much fun back home.” He grinned.
Phoenix laughed, scratching the back of his head. ”Don’t go spreading stories now, you know that’s not the case.” He shook his head slowly. He’d explained to a few others about the situation, but it was definitely a tricky thing to get past them all. He was surprised word hadn’t already gotten back to Petros with as big of gossips as his family had the tendency to be. ”You didn’t explain to him, honey bee?”
”I did, but he doesn’t believe me.” Zoe’s lip jutted out in a pout, and she gave her cousin a nasty look.
A look of surprise had crossed the boy’s face. “Wait, so it’s true, yeah? No joke, flying kid and all?”
Phoenix barked with laughter. ”I guess you could put it that way.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his swim trunks. ”Yeah man, everything she told you is right on.”
“No way.” The kid looked completely in awe over the idea. “That’s really for real?”
”Really for real,” Phoenix repeated with a chuckle. He looked down at Zoe, who looked satisfied and smug once more. ”You telling everyone for me, kid?”
Zoe shrugged. ”Well if you’re not gonna.” She did not understand her dad’s hesitance to broach the topic with certain members of the family. Even after seeing the way her grandparents reacted, Zoe couldn’t comprehend why it was such a big deal.
Another laugh came out on his breath. ”Well, that’s fine. But you did just ruin my chances at a date, and for that you’re gonna pay.” He lunged forward then, grabbing the little girl around the waist and swinging her up so that she was resting on his arms. Zoe shrieked, knowing full well what was coming.
Phoenix ran full tilt back to the beach, with Petros at his tail laughing. He splashed into the water, and once he’d gotten a few feet in he leapt in the air, spinning around so that when he fell back he could keep Zoe’s head above the water when they both came crashing down into the sea. He let her go only when he was sure she could stand up, and she did so with her arms outstretched, dripping water, a bewildered look on her face.
”Dad, why are you so weird?”
”Because I have you, doy.”
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Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2016 3:16 pm
✤ ▪ Trouble on the Water ▪ ✤ He’d almost forgotten how beautiful it was.
Phoenix was completely lost to the world. He stood near the bow, so unaware of his present company that it was as if he were entirely alone. Zoe, Katsaros and Nadie were behind him, his brother teaching Zoe how to reel in the boat’s small net. Had he been watching he would have seen the smile on her face. He would have seen despite the fact that she smelled of sea water and fish, she was happy to learn and help, to get her hands a little dirty.
But something about the sea, the way the wind and the water moved the boat gently, and the way the serenity of it all had captured Phoenix, and all he could do was stand there. His eyes narrowed, his nostrils flaring to breath in the smell. Small, fluffy clouds were scattered through the otherwise clear blue sky, bluer than he was used to. The sounds of other fishermen were barely audible to him.
He was alone in that moment, without a care in the world.
”You really love it here, don’t you?” Nadie’s soft voice broke the trance. Phoenix glanced over his shoulder at his brother’s wife. She always held herself in a way that made her seem more at peace with the world than anyone he’d ever met. But here even she seemed affected by it, and her eyes swam dreamily.
Phoenix smiled, returning his gaze to the water. ”For years I was so mad at my parents for not staying here. There’s something about it, I dunno.” His brow furrowed slightly, but the smile remained. ”It wasn’t until I was older that I was kind of glad for it. I think if we were always here it wouldn’t be so magical.” He paused, silent for a few moments, thinking. His expression relaxed. ”Maybe it’s more special this way. You appreciate it more.”
Nadie hummed in agreement. The statement about the grass always being greener on the other side was certainly true. It was fair to say that if they had never left Greece, both brothers likely would have been pining to get out. And, naturally, she was glad that their parents had left. She wouldn’t have met her husband otherwise, nor would she have her children.
”Dad!” Phoenix turned towards Zoe’s voice, and saw her positively beaming while standing over the small net. It was a small catch, only a couple of whitebait, but Phoenix didn’t think he’d ever seen the small child look so proud of an accomplishment. ”I did it!”
Phoenix beamed. It was so rare for Zoe to show this level of excitement over anything. She was such a reserved child. A wave of relief washed over him at the sight of her smiling and laughing. Her hair was a mess and she didn’t care. She was wet and smelly and she didn’t mind. It was perfect.
The yelling changed that quickly.
Where once there was only the distant sounds of fishermen and the gulls crying out, the splashes of water against the sides of the boat, now there was a terrible sound in the air. They all turned towards the source of the noise. Men shouting, a piercing scream. Something was very wrong. ”Oh my god.”
The cause for the commotion was no mystery. Some distance ahead of them was a much larger fishing vessel. The lot of them watched in horror as they saw what had happened. There was a second boat, quite small in comparison, likely tourists. But something wasn’t right with it.
The little boat was completely capsized.
Chaos had broken out. At first all they could see was the men on the larger ship shouting and running about, some of them making their way down to the smaller boat that had turned over entirely. There was a considerable amount of distance between their boat and the wreck, which made it hard to see much more. Phoenix squinted at what looked like movement between the two vessels. He could barely see, it was so far out…
The color drained from his face, but it was Katsaros who spoke first. ”They’re caught in the net.”
It appeared that was most certainly the case. One could barely make out movement in the water, in what was clearly the net of the fishing boat, as if someone -- or several someones -- were struggling against the net. Somehow or another the small boat had crashed into the larger one, causing it to turn over. How many people were stuck there, caught beneath the net, only making it more difficult to break free as everyone’s movements just got others further caught?
The men from the fishing vessel were trying to cut the net free. They couldn’t raise it. It was caught against the other boat, and the movements of the trapped tourists were only catching it further, making it impossible to pull from the water.
”Dad, what’s going on?” The obvious fear in Zoe’s voice tore Phoenix’s eyes from the scene, and he hurried to pick up his daughter and tuck her against his chest.
Zoe wasn’t going to have that. She broke her head free from her dad’s hold, her golden eyes going straight to the awful sight. The four of them watched in horror, knowing there was no way they could help -- if they tried to help all they would succeed in doing would be to get in the way. There was no safe way to approach the two boats without risking harming the trapped people, and it was so far away to boot.
Things weren’t getting much better. They had succeeded in cutting the net free, but the tourists were still caught.
”Dad, dad! Look!” Zoe was pointing to something else now. Something new, moving at an incredible speed towards the chaotic scene. A fin, a very large fin. A fish? There was no way, it was so big. The fin dipped into the water entirely as the creature dove, and a long, finned tail appeared briefly above the water before it too disappeared.
A lump grew in Phoenix’s throat. ”I have no idea,” he murmured. Whatever it was, he was sure it couldn’t be good. Was it some kind of a shark? It was headed straight for the wreck. He’d heard of dolphins saving people before, but this was no dolphin. Was its intention to attack the trapped tourists?
They didn’t wonder at the identity of the creature for long. It broke the surface of the water once more, but this time in full. It wasn’t a fish. It was a horse.
”What the hell is that?” Katsaros yelled as the creature surfaced. A horse by itself would have been confusing enough. What would a horse be doing in the middle of the ocean? But the long fin in place of a mane made it clear that this was no ordinary horse. And as the beast rose and tucked back into the water, its tail followed once more, the long, flowing, scaled tail of a fish.
Nadie answered the question they were all wondering, her voice quiet and full of awe. ”It’s a hippocampus.”
While Katsaros and Zoe still remained confused, Phoenix recalled his limited knowledge of mythology. He wouldn’t have remembered had Nadie not said it first, but he remembered now the stories they’d told. Both as a child and an adult he’d shrugged them off like tall tales. Stories of great creatures, half horse, half fish, who had briefly been spotted. A few had claimed more, told tales of sailors who’d been saved at sea by the beasts.
The intention of the hippocampus, between Phoenix’s jolted memories and the reappearance of the creature near the boats, was suddenly quite clear. For a moment there was nothing, only the continued yells of the fishermen as they continued to try to free the net from between the two vessels. How much time had passed? Was there even any chance at saving them anymore?
The net jerked. ”Dad!”
It jerked again. The hippocampus was nowhere in sight, but the net was being moved in a way that was clearly not the struggling of the people trapped within it. It jerked downward, away from the boats, a few more times before it disappeared entirely under the water.
A horrifying silence fell. Even the fishermen stopped shouting.
And then it reappeared. The surface of the water broke, some yards away from the wreck, and the great horse’s head appeared. The net was in its mouth, and it continued to pull the mess up as far out of the water as it could while still being able to swim. It was pulling them to shore.
Zoe’s scream alerted them all to the fact that something was wrong. ”Someone’s hurt!” A trail was being left as the creature pulled the net towards the shore. Red tainted the crystal blue. Someone was bleeding. Badly.
The hippocampus was pulling the net with urgency, slowed by the weight of the people caught. Heads and arms broke the surface, caught terribly, trying to gasp for air but continuously being pushed back under the water.
What felt like an agonizingly long amount of time passed as they watched the beast. When it reached the shore for the first time they were able to see its body in full. It pulled with its teeth, finned hooves pulling its great body forward into the sand, dragging the net and the people caught within it to safety. Its long, beautiful tail followed. It dragged itself and the net through the water and sand until the tourists were safe from the water.
They couldn’t see the state the victims were in. The net was moving, but how many were conscious? How many were there to begin with? Had everyone survived? Others who had been watching the horrible scene from the beach hurried to the mess of rope and limbs, frantically rushing to free everyone.
The hippocampus, having done its part, turned itself towards the water once more. Phoenix squinted at the blue scales and saw the source of the blood in the water. There was a long gash on its side, and the creature was bleeding terribly. ”It must have gotten hurt trying to save them,” Nadie murmured.
Zoe clutched her dad’s shirt in horror. The beast was struggling to get back into the water, slowed by its wound. It threw back its head, a cry of pain piercing the air before its body crashed down into the shallow water. Keeping near the shore it swam, visible only by the long fin still breaking the surface of the water.
”Dad, it’s hurt…” Zoe spoke quietly, her voice wavering. She pulled at Phoenix’s shirt, watching the great sea horse swim away, following the beach.
The people on shore had managed to cut the victims of the accident free. Some were kneeling in the sand, coughing up water. Others weren’t moving, while people desperately worked to get them to breathe again. A crowd had gathered, some focused on the people, others pointing at the creature that swam away.
Phoenix was stuck completely in another sort of trance. What had they all just witnessed? This beast, with no hesitation, had saved the tourists. Where had it come from? Had hippocampi been there this whole time without them knowing? And what would have been the fate of the tourists had it not come?
Zoe broke him away from his thoughts. ”Dad, no one’s going after it.” Her little hand pointed to where, in the distance, Phoenix could see the hippocampus still swimming, continuing to follow the shore. It moved slowly, blood leaving a quickly fading trail in the water.
”Kat, get this thing to shore,” Phoenix said suddenly. He put Zoe down, turning to his brother and grabbing him by the arm.
”Ehh? You want to go after that thing?” Katsaros looked bewildered.
Phoenix gave him a stern smile. ”You heard the little lady. No one’s going after that creature. It saved those people, and no one's helping it. Let’s go. Now.”
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Posted: Wed Jun 08, 2016 2:55 pm
✤ ▪ The Great Sea Horse ▪ ✤ No sooner than they’d docked did Zoe immediately climb out of the boat, her tiny legs taking her faster than she’d ever run towards the beach.
”Damn it-- Zoe!” Phoenix stumbled over the side of the boat, a jolt running up his arms when his palms caught his fall on the dock. ”Wait!”
She didn’t wait. Zoe didn’t even look back at her dad. She kept running, ducking between people going to and fro hauling fish. Fortunately there weren’t too many people, and Phoenix didn’t lose her in the crowd. He scrambled to his feet and took off after her, mumbling apologies as he nearly knocked into several fisherman in his pursuit.
It didn’t take long for him to catch her. Phoenix had considerably longer legs than his young daughter, whose short ones couldn’t take her anywhere near the same speed that her dad could run. When he caught up he grabbed her from behind, stopping her wild dash after the injured hippocampus. ”What do you think you’re doing? You don’t ever run off like that!” He didn’t think he’d ever spoken so harshly to the little girl. Zoe was not in practice of disobeying.
”Let go!” Zoe jerked away from her dad’s hold. ”We don’t have time! It’s hurt, dad. It’s hurt bad.” There were tears welling up in her eyes. Her face was red with frustration and from running. She breathed heavily.
Phoenix’s expression softened. Zoe was right. There was no time to waste lecturing her. He’d have words with her later, when time was no longer an issue. He picked her up, swinging her behind him to grab hold of his neck. She held tight while Phoenix grabbed onto her legs.
Before they could move out, Nadie caught up with them. ”Kat is tying down the boat. He said to go, he’ll catch up.” She looked down the beach. The group of people surrounding the victims had grown, and paramedics had been called. From what they could tell, everyone at least seemed to be alive.
Nodding, Phoenix took off at a jog. He couldn’t run his full speed without jostling Zoe around too much, but it was still faster than if they’d run at her pace. Nadie kept up just behind them.
As they passed the group of people on the beach, quick glances confirmed that everyone involved in the accident were alive. Everyone was conscious now, although no one was really in good shape. But they were being seen to, and the three thanked their respective gods that everyone had survived the wreck.
Past the scene on the beach there were much fewer people. The further they went the more the numbers died down. While they ran they watched the water, looking for any sign of the wounded animal. The blood had been washed away, leaving them no trail, so all they had to go off of was the general direction it had gone.
The further they ran the more Phoenix began to question what they were doing. It had followed quite close to the beach, but who was to say it hadn’t already swum off to sea? And even if they did find it, what help could they possibly be? They weren’t doctors of any kind. They had nothing with them to help. Perhaps they could call for assistance once they found the beast, but would anyone come on time?
He was starting to slow, about to say it was no use, the creature was gone, when ahead they saw an outcrop of stone jutting out from the sand. Perhaps if they kept going just a bit, if they could see around the rocks, maybe they could see if it was anywhere in sight. They hugged the beach tightly as they approached the rocks, the water washing over their shoes.
”There!”
It wasn’t past the rocks, it was in front of them. The stone outcrop created a sort of half circle, a shield of boulders on all sides except in front, where it opened out into the sea. The hippocampus had either washed up or crawled up, no one could be sure which, and was lying in a heap in the sand.
”Is it alive?” Nadie ran up beside them while Phoenix lowered Zoe to the sand. Her question was answered by the hippocampus itself, which cried out weakly and lifted its tail. It crashed back into the sand.
Zoe immediately darted forward, but Phoenix grabbed her before she could get close. ”Stay back!” He stood in front of her. The creature moved its head and its eyes found the three humans. A snort blew the sand near its face, nostrils flaring.
At that moment Katsaros caught up to them, leaning forward on his knees to catch his breath. ”I stopped to make sure everyone was-- Oh my god.” He took a few steps back, eyes wide at the sight of the beached hippocampus.
In full view, not an inch of it obscured by the water, the creatures magnificence was clear. It was beautiful, covered head to toe in shimmering blue scales, the sun causing them to shift colors when it moved. But it was marred by a long, horrific gash, and it bled heavily into the sand.
”The rudder of the fishing boat,” Nadie murmured, aching inside at the sight of the wounded animal before her. ”It must have hurt itself on the rudder trying to pull those poor people free.” Zoe began to cry, and her aunt pulled her close against her to comfort her.
It was Phoenix that approached the beast first. He walked slowly towards it, arms outstretched in front of him, watching its face for signs of anger or fear. ”I just want to see, I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly, knowing full well the great horse probably couldn’t understand a word he was saying.
It seemed that was the case, or even if it could it was still afraid. When Phoenix got close, the hippocampus bucked in the sand, flailing its finned hooves violently towards him. One of the fins scratched roughly against his arm, leaving scrapes and causing him to hiss in pain. He back up a few steps, waiting for the hippocampus to calm.
The sudden aggressive movement had aggravated the wound, and the creature moaned and lay limply once more in the sand. Phoenix moved forward once more, slower this time, circling around in a way that he could get to the head of the animal where its hooves could not reach.
Its eyes followed Phoenix, nostrils flaring, but it did not move again. When he was close, Phoenix knelt in the sand. Cautiously he reached forward, placing a hand on the head of the beast. Its scales were smooth under his skin, its eyes swam with fear and pain. ”See?” He continued to speak softly, running his hand gently across its face. ”Are we good?”
Zoe was still crying, her tiny body heaving with quiet sobs. Katsaros and Nadie stood by silently, watching in wonder. It was safe to say none of them had ever seen a creature like this before.
Phoenix stayed on his knees to move through the sand in front of the creature, murmuring words of encouragement and continuing to watch for any signs that it may lash out again. The hippocampus didn’t move much, but it watched Phoenix just as intently. Its breath was heavy, and it seemed to be trying to conserve its strength.
When he saw the wound up close, Phoenix’s heart fell. The cut was deep, and the amount of blood lost was incredible. ”It’s not going to make it.” He was no doctor, but none was needed to see that the beast wasn’t going to survive. Too much blood had been lost.
He reached toward the hippocampus. Wrong move. It let out a fierce cry, lashing out with both tail and hooves. Zoe screamed, and Phoenix threw his arms out in front of him to guard himself against the attack. The tail hit him this time, the force behind the blow tossing him to the side. The fin cut into his shirt, slicing his side and leaving smaller scrapes along his arm and cheek. Phoenix scrambled back towards his family.
A quick look at the wound on his side revealed that it wasn’t serious. His shirt had caught most of the damage, and so the cut was quite shallow. It would need to be treated, but it wouldn’t need stitches. He stood up, going to Zoe, his eyes still trained on the great horse.
”It’s no use.” Phoenix picked up his daughter, and she buried her head into his shoulder and sobbed. ”It’s deep, it’s lost too much blood.” He looked at his brother and sister in law, his expression grave.
Nadie wrapped her arms around her body. ”It saved all those people. It sacrificed itself for them.” This only made Zoe cry harder.
They stood silently watching the hippocampus, which was once more lying calmly before them. Occasionally it groaned in pain. It was dying.
Quite suddenly Zoe stopped crying. Her head jerked up, and she looked at the dying creature, then back at her dad. ”The bottle. Dad, the bottle.”
”The bottle?” Phoenix blinked at his daughter, not understanding.
”We can’t let it die like this. You said I could choose, and I choose this.” Zoe looked desperate, her eyes pleading. Phoenix had never seen her this way before. She had never looked so passionate about anything.
Phoenix sighed. ”But it’ll still die, Zoe. You know--”
”I know, dad. I know how it works.” The little girl looked back at the hippocampus, tears rolling down her cheeks. ”But it’s not the same. It’s not the same.”
She didn’t need to explain; he knew what she meant. If they left it there it would die, forgotten. But if they used the bottle its soul would continue to live on. He didn’t know what would happen to its soul otherwise. It was a mystery he couldn’t pretend to know the answer to. But this way…
Nadie placed a hand on her brother in law’s shoulder. ”I’ll stay here with it. You need to go, quickly.” She looked at Zoe. ”Would you stay here with me, Zoe?” She asked kindly, giving her an encouraging smile. Zoe nodded quickly.
”Come on bro, I’ll go with you. She’s right, we gotta hurry.” Kat honestly didn’t understand it all. He knew, more or less, what Phoenix was going through with the Lab, but the details were foggy to him. This was his own doing, of course. Phoenix had tried to explain, but his brother wasn’t so understanding on the matter. Still, he could see the look in his nieces eye, and he knew they had to hurry.
Phoenix placed Zoe down on the ground. ”Don’t get close, okay? Do everything your auntie tells you. He held her by the shoulders while he spoke to her sternly. ”We’ll be back as quick as we can. Remember, do not get close to it.”
Arguing and disobeying were the last things on her mind. The cuts on her dad weren’t bad, but they were evidence that the creature, as well intentioned as it was, was dangerous in this state. Phoenix was much bigger. If Zoe fell victim to the hooves of the hippocampus, a lot worse than a few small scrapes could happen. She nodded.
”Come on.” Phoenix turned and headed back down the beach, his brother on his tail. Without Zoe to slow them down the two men moved much quicker back towards the city, driven by purpose.
Alone with the hippocampus, Zoe stood back and watched as Nadie lowered herself to the sand. She moved on all fours towards the great sea horse, murmuring in a language Zoe did not understand. The creature did not move, but watched Nadie as it had Phoenix.
When Nadie reached the head of the beast she touched it gently, and began to sing.
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