The Guardians of Gaia

Chapter Eighteen

A few days after the attack at the Hollis', the Guardians had to re-think all of their plans. The Hollis' moved in with the Colley's house to offer them some level of protection. They needed a place to stay after their house had been destroyed in what the media called "an intense kitchen fire that got out of control".

A crisp issue of the Northbury News laid in Faust's lap while the two of them sat in the shade of Ophelia's neat garage. Ophelia sat on a milk crate, Faust sat on an old wicker chair that used to be inside of the Colley's house. The air outside felt warm and clammy, Faust believed that accounted for Ophelia's outfit; which was a tank top and a pair of shorts. The outfit bared her arms and legs, Faust could pick out scars from previous battles on her dark skin. There were fresh burns in a few spots. They sported gauze wrapped bandages. Most of her wounds were superficial and first degree, but a few like the lesion on her leg and one on her arm were third degree.

"How did they even find us?" Faust wondered aloud. "How did they know they needed Otto? There wasn't that much information in my backpack."

Ophelia sighed and rubbed the space between her eyes. "I don't know. It doesn't matter, Faust, they've got Otto and he's got the cosmic essence. Once they take it from him, we're through. We need to get Otto back as soon as possible," Ophelia who had been sitting, stood up. She noticed a figure storming down the sidewalk across from her street. He looked like he had red hair. An ember of desire sparked through her as she appraised his sculpted figure, but she suppressed the feelings and dismissed him. "I wonder what they're doing to that poor kid."

"We won't know until we try to save him," Faust said. The Home of the Beast Squad was a well-known fortress among the heroes, simply because of the reputed difficulty heroes had trying to break in. He thought about Cryo or Marshall rather and wondered if he was alright after the fight. Faust bit his lip.

"Today's Marshall's twentieth birthday," Faust spat out. When he and Marshall had been together, Faust eagerly looked forward to this day. He planned on spoiling Marshall with a new pair of shoes – those dark blue suede oxfords he had been eyeing – along with dinner at a nice restaurant and a little dessert at home.

"Are you kidding me, Faust? It's not the end of the world. There are other guys out there," Ophelia brayed. "You're talking about him like he's the only gay guy in the world!" The red haired figure was getting closer. He looked young, wore a teal wife beater that showed off his arms and laid close to the contours of his body.

"Well he might as well be the only gay guy aside from me in Northbury. You're lucky you're straight. If you had feelings it wouldn't be hard for you to find a man." The words had finished leaving Faust's lips before he started to feel guilty. Ophelia's dark, reflective eyes looked hurt.

Ophelia stood silent for a moment. "I can't believe you're treating me like this too, Faust. Just because I'm a woman who doesn't want to be in a relationship doesn't mean the world has to stone me for it, to constantly throw it in my face." Ophelia looked away from Faust for a moment while she chose her words. The red haired man was really close to Ophelia's house now. He stood at the edge of the side walk and looked in both directions to cross the street. Ophelia wondered briefly if the house was his destination.

And then he crossed the road and stormed up the driveway. The man did indeed have a gelled crop of fiery red hair, with warm, brown eyes touched with gold. The slope of the nose and mouth were familiar to Faust, who remembered kissing a mouth that looked just like that.

"Who are you?" Ophelia bellowed.

The young man smiled, Faust's heart ached because it looked exactly like Marshall's. "I'm Marshall's brother, Theo – you look like you're ready for a fight, shorty, but I'm not here for that, I come in peace." He smiled down at Ophelia and then looked at Faust who froze on the wicker chair. "You can come with me or you can make this difficult."