The Goddess Within

Helden

“Duck!” Lilith yelled, as another fireball was sent my way. I dodged it and sent out a water-ball, something I was learning to control and manifest out of the moisture in the air. I glanced at my beautiful sister, and could see why she would leave Adam in the “Christian” myths. She was a warrior. She had dark brown curls, pale skin, a curved feminine warrior frame, two gray wings, and was gifted by the ancient ones with two horns protruding out of her forehead: a symbol of wisdom and strength. She tended to wear a flowing white dress, with her hair floating about her shoulders.

            Gratefully, I had been gifted with mothers frame and features. My curly hair was now back to its original brown curls, like my sisters, my blue violet eyes, pale petite frame, and curves mimicked my mother almost to a T. I was now more traditionally dressed like my mother and sister, wearing a long gown of black and violet velvet. We were all barefoot, because beings of nature were already part of the earth, so walking barefoot didn’t really affect us.

            Mikey was sitting in the shade of the old oak tree where mother use to read fairytales about fairies and faraway lands to me on our daily walks, which I now knew were to keep me away from the dangers of the male sect of my family. I had missed these old woods, and was almost speechless when Gaia suggested that this is where we would practice.

            “Ari, you ready for lunch?” Lilith said skipping over to me and hugging me tight, “You did amazing today. I figured I would get us some fresh fruit and make a salad or something. What would you like with yours? I was thinking fresh strawberries, raspberries and bananas, right?” I laughed and nodded, it was good to have a sister, even if she was older than me. Lilith was so bubbly, which was totally unexpected considering what people thought of her.

            I walked over to Gaia and rested my head on her shoulder, “What are we going to learn next? I think I’m ready to try sword fighting or something that’ll get me energized.”

            She smiled, “There are some spells and other techniques that will require more physical strength. I can teach you the psy ball next. It’s gonna to take a lot more energy, and focus, but I think your ready for it.”

            I stared at her and started jumping up and down, “Mikey! Mikey, did you hear that? I get to learn the psy ball now!” He looked up from his book and shook his head, laughing to himself.

            A few minutes later, Lilith returned with the salads and fresh spring water. We enjoyed eating fresh foods and drinking fresh water, refusing to let anything bad into our bodies. Living the way we should, like the witches before us, before all of the junk food that actually wasted more energy than it put out. I was honestly surprised at how much energy I was able to gain from cutting out all of the junk I use to eat.

            I loved eating lunch with my family, even though we were just becoming more and more acquainted with each other, telling stories and hanging out like real families did. Mikey was engrossed in his book, while chewing noisily on an apple. I smiled at my sister, “Why don’t you tell me where all of these myths about you and Adam came from? I still can’t figure out why they said those horrid things about you.”

            She smiled, “Well, I guess I can tell you. Do you want the full story, or what people think happened?”

            Mikey’s attention was now directed to Lilith. He loved to hear stories in general, but he was most fascinated about what happened between Lilith and Adam, her husband.

            She sighed then began, “Well, Adam and I never really saw eye to eye on anything. He was more of a brute then people depicted him. They say he was, ‘soft spoken’ and ‘mild mannered’ but he was far from it. He had a quick temper, and was very violent when he didn’t get his way.

            “One day, Adam and I got into a huge argument because I would not be submissive toward him. He became violent, which was a normal thing for him, and hit me. Well, I finally had enough, so I left Eden, and never looked back.” She paused and looked directly at me, “He was as violent as your father was to your earthly mother. He didn’t want you to be born, no, not at all. He was pissed about your conception in general. He wanted big, strapping boys that would do his bidding and treat him with honor. Good thing your earth mum chased him away, or he would have died a lot sooner.”

            I stared at her curiously, but she continued before I could say anything, “Considering that divorcing a man in those days was considered a sin, leaving Eden was probably worse. They spread all of these foul rumors about me... saying that I had sex with animals, and ate children. Absurd! I’m only violent because I had to learn to defend myself against Adam. I was dammed by the Christian beliefs because I believed that man and woman are equal.” She took a deep breath and shook her head, “The reason Eve was created from Adam’s rib was because by doing this, she would be obedient and submissive to his ways, the poor thing. No wonder she ate the fruit. She probably wanted wisdom to figure out how to leave that evil man.”

            I rested my hand on her shoulder. Talking about Adam had a tendency to stress her out. I couldn’t help but think about Chris while she told her story. He raped me because I wouldn’t let myself be controlled by him. I could sympathize with her on that one. People are equals, plain and simple. I glanced over at Mikey again, he seemed rather depressed, he always hated when women were treated poorly. Probably pained him that he couldn’t do to Adam what he wanted to do to Chris. Sometimes I wished he wasn’t so kindhearted. It always seemed to get him hurt. Which was probably a part of him being a guardian. I always worried about him now.

            I began to meditate subconsciously, drawing up all of my elemental power. I could feel the earth beneath me, the air within my lungs, the water in the spring, the fire of our camp used to make the fireballs. I could feel myself floating upward, becoming one with all of the elements at once. It was as if my entire body was made of the elemental forces around me. I could feel the tingling senses spreading through my chakra, throughout my entire body. Floating

            Sometimes it's good to forget, but when your meditating, it's like everything fades away. I don't know how long I meditated, or the hour when Gaia decided it was time to go home for the night. All I knew was that it was raining. I missed the rain. The feel of it on your skin after a hot day. Soaking your hair and drenching you to the core, until you decided to go in and sit by the fire, maybe drink some tea. I still missed how it felt though. I had spent too much time indoors lately. Now that we were training, I realized how much I missed nature.

            After we all showered, I checked my notebook. Nothing from "dad" lately, except a few creepy thoughts about what was to come. A possible battle, and death. But as a goddess, I needed to defend those weaker than me.

            I stopped in front of my mirror, staring at my long brown curls. I had almost forgotten my true hair color. It fitted the "goddess" description, and I truly looked like my mother now. Probably why I neglected my original features: some things are too painful to remember. Its odd how Gaia and my birth mother looked almost identical, as if they were sisters. I wish they were both here, but I still love my family.

            I looked at Gaia as I walked out of the steamy bathroom. She was wearing a pair of fuzzy orange pants and a black tee, thumbing through a book on meditation versus levitation. I sat on the floor beside her, she always preferred the floor over chairs. "Hey, whatcha reading?"

            She smiled at me, her violet eyes sparkling, "Just a foolish book written by someone who knows absolutely nothing about our religion. How was your shower, my daughter, do you feel better? You seemed stressed after training, and Lilith felt as if it were her fault."

            "It's not her fault, mother, I just have a lot on my mind right now." I put my hand on hers, "Is she okie?"

            Gaia nodded, pulling me close and kissing my head, "I spent so much time away from you, I feel horrible for that. What kind of mother stays away from her children?" She shook her head, "I'm so proud of you, Ariane. You're doing very well in your studies and in practicing the skills I taught you. I'm very proud, my beautiful daughter."

            I rested my head on her chest and closed my eyes. I was so worn out from training lately. I guess that's to be expected. Practicing magic and martial arts, making them work together, was very tiring work. It took a lot of strength, and I just needed to sleep.