Awakening - The Last Science #1

Interlude III - Family - IV

  Cinza sat next to Ruby at the head of the group and looked around at those gathered on the picnic blanket. She loved each of them as true friends and comrades, as the best family she had ever known. Cinza couldn't dream of leaving them with just a note on the table and a whisper in the night. She was a different person now, as were they, and they believed in a different higher power—one that they could see and feel clearly. Their faith was in a calling, not a book of rules and revelations from ancient times that had been translated and interpreted endlessly over millenia. Perhaps it was unfair to judge the two as equals, when her new faith was so fresh and indistinct, but Cinza felt a truthfulness and confidence in it that she'd never sensed in her old life.

  As for their text, she was about to see its power and authority demonstrated first hand. After they'd been given a chance to rest from the exertion of the ritual dance, Ruby had accepted their nomination to read the new Scrap first. With a delicate, nervous grip, she took the scroll tube from Cinza and stepped into the center of the blanket. Cinza noticed she'd painted her toenails dark red, the same color as her hair, and smiled. Ruby was always so thorough with her appearance, while Cinza abused her ability to be lazy and change her appearance on a whim by manipulating the light surrounding her.

  Ruby opened the tube and pulled the Scrap forth. She unrolled it eagerly. "I thank you, Grey-eyes, for offering such knowledge to us," she intoned. Cinza looked up surprised, but with the confidence in her expression, she didn't interrupt. Ruby was apparently feeling a bit ceremonial. Cinza wasn't about to stop her, though she wondered if it would become a regular occurrence in the future. "I hope I am worthy enough to use this for the good of us all."

  "For the good of us all," Rufus echoed, and the rest of the group murmured the words.

  Ruby dropped her gaze to the tattered parchment. Her pupils dilated, and her irises were moving rapidly across the sentences contained within. A moment later, her beautiful blue eyes rolled back inside her skull, prompting an involuntary shudder from Cinza. Though she knew Ruby was in no danger, and in fact was experiencing exquisite revelatory emotions, Cinza felt a spike of panic.

  She wanted to leap in and protect her, but there was nothing to protect her from. Her instincts were born of an animalistic world she'd long since left behind. She forced herself to be calm and remain seated on the blanket while Ruby finished reading the parchment.

  Her eyes returned to her face. Her mouth burst into a smile. She handed the parchment back to Cinza, brimming with excitement. "It's exactly what you thought," she said breathlessly. "It's all about the golems."

  Cinza nodded with satisfaction. "So we may have a weapon. Or at least, a start on countering his own."

  Ruby sat down again, a bit winded from the rush of the magic pouring into her mind. "It'll take a bit while I try out a few things. I don't even know where to start. Or if I'm strong enough to handle it."

  "We'll figure it out," Cinza replied. "That's why you have all of us."

  "After that light show, dear, I'm sure you could do anything you put your mind to," Brittany said encouragingly. Ruby looked embarrassed but pleased by the compliment.

  Cinza smiled. "Now, before we continue, there is the other matter of Nicole. Since we have the Scrap in our possession, if she so chooses, she could awaken tonight."

  "Couldn't have asked before the ritual?" Nicole grumbled good-naturedly.

  Aaron laughed. "Trust me, you don't want that being the first thing you try to do after awakening. Didn't you see Nate out there? Looked like a flopping fish out of water. And the light was practically cut in half."