The Life of Gaia

CHAPTER 5: Hold On

Gaia helped Aries to her feet and, holding her arm to keep her from falling again, carried her staggering out of the building. Her bare feet were full of cuts and bleeding, but she didn't stop even when she found herself facing the avalanche of glass shards that had fallen at the beginning of the fight. Seeing her stumble, Zantas (who had been waiting for her outside) mentally pushed the shards out of the way, clearing a path for her. As Gaia walked past him, he expected a thank you, which was not forthcoming and was replaced by another dirty look. When the crowd that had gathered in front of the building saw them pass, she followed them with her eyes without saying a word. It was only when the two had rounded the corner that the first whispered comments could be heard.

Once out of sight, the girls leaned against the wall of a pharmacy, leaving red bloodstains and gray dust wherever they went. Zantas joined them while Gaia was fixing the tangled hair of the other: she was still in shock.

Have you killed them all? Are there any left?° he asked in a tone that tried to hide his agitation.

"There's no one left. How about asking how we are, more than anything else? If you haven't noticed, we're not having a great time," Gaia replied. She hadn't even looked at him as she spoke.

°Right. Red girl, did a doctor fix your wound?°

At this point, Aries opened her eyes and regained consciousness. She looked once more at her rescuer (who was now looking at her mate) and then at the flying white shield whose voice she had recognized. She took one last look at the wound and noticed that it was healing: the cut was twice as small as before.

"I think so" she replied, then she tried to get to her feet and fell back to the ground.

"Zantas, we have to get out of here before more of those reach us. Can you take us away?" Gaia asked.

°All right. Where do you want to go?°

"Anywhere, but away from these planets."

°Okay°.

Under Aries' still confused gaze, the white mark began to swirl in the air. Around it, a red rotating wall slowly enveloped them completely, and all the sounds of the fourth planet were replaced by those of the wind rising from the ground. When the red vortex dissipated, the two girls found themselves back on the ground.

The sun of that other world was rising at that moment, and the white sky of the night was slowly disappearing to give way to the pink and orange sky of the day. Looking up Aries realized that there were no clouds in that place.

The place Zantas had taken them to was a kind of small village in the middle of a dense vegetation that looked very much like a huge forest. Beneath the dark trees hung strange circular lanterns that were completely flat, casting a dim candlelight from the center of the glass disk they were made of. The houses that made up the village were low and characterized by a pointed roof, completely red and concave on both sides, that hung forward. A small wooden bridge allowed the passage from one side to the other of a stream that flowed there. The roads that connected the houses were made of simple dirt, and the whole place gave the impression of being quite poor, though well maintained. A fountain leaning against the bridge collected the water from the stream and made it available to the inhabitants, and the whole area was hidden from the outside by thick vegetation. The rays of the sun, once it had risen above the trees of this forest, illuminated the face of Aries, and for a second Gaia thought she saw in its place a face much like her own. The effect lasted only a few moments, but it was enough to confirm what Zantas had suspected: she was the right person. An old woman who had left her house with a canister in hand to fill it with water saw two figures slumped on the ground, and when she realized that they were girls, she approached them.