Iridescence

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

JENNA

I was very surprised when I arrived at training with Vanessa, who had just been getting out of drama club as I left the school. In addition to the usual deities, several more were present. My eyes immediately fell on Gaia.

She'd donned a more human appearance than she had in my vision, but her hair was still decorated with branches and flowers. "Mom..." I whispered.

Gaia wrapped me in an embrace of flowers and vines. It reminded me of how tight my Ma hugged me, and I was immediately comforted.

Nike ran toward us and joined the hug. "When Alexia died, I vowed to avenge her," Nike informed me.

"It was Theos," I informed her. "He murdered her."

"That devious little..." Nike began rambling in Ancient Greek. To my surprise, I understood her words. None of them were polite.

"My sentiments exactly, Nike," Gaia said. "May I have a moment with my daughter?"

"Of course," Nike replied, quickly walking toward a God I recognized as Pallas.

"He's Alexia's father, right?" I asked softly.

"He is," Gaia replied fondly. "He was quite pleased to learn of your existence, Jenna."

It was strange, because I recognized Mami and Pa as my parents, but I also felt like Gaia and Pallas were. It was beginning to sink in that, while I was Jenna Ramos, I was also Alexia, and she'd woken up inside of me. There was no going back to the way things had been before. I could only move forward, existing as both parts of myself.

I watched as Hermes and a Goddess who seemed to be made of Water fussed over Krissy. That's Tethys, I realized. Morpheus stood very close to Emily and Vanessa. A God who glowed with sunlight even more than Apollo did stood with Faith and Artemis. And there's Helios, I thought.

Eliza stood awkwardly with a subtly beautiful Goddess and a God who radiated light. She seemed very uncomfortable as they spoke to her. Both deities seemed happy, although the Goddess was quiet, reserved, and very grounded. There was an innate sadness about her, while the God seemed full of joy and pure happiness. There was an interesting balance between them.

"Go on, rescue poor Kleia," Gaia said knowingly.

"I... Shouldn't I stay with you?" I asked.

"We can catch up later. I'm afraid Aether and Polyhymnia are a bit much for your friend to handle now. Kleia may adore her parents, but Eliza just lost hers. It's understandable she's overwhelmed. You're an Earth deity, Alexia, and as Jenna, you are naturally grounded. You can help keep Eliza from becoming too overwhelmed. Go ahead. I'll be here when you return."

I hugged Gaia gratefully before making my way over to Eliza. "Excuse me," I said politely, "but I promised Eliza I'd help her work on her defensive moves."

"Oh, of course," Aether said awkwardly. He still had a look of awe and adoration on his face as he looked at Eliza. He stroked her hair gently before saying, "Be careful, my sweet Kleia."

Polyhymnia seemed to understand my motives. She nodded at me before saying, "Yes, training is important. We are here if you need us, Kl... Eliza."

It was clear Polyhymnia was trying to respect the fact that Eliza was her own person. It was also clear it was difficult for her not to cling to her lost daughter. I respected the fact that she was attempting to accept the situation for what it was.

As we moved to a training area, Eliza offered me a grateful smile. "Thanks," she said softly.

"No problem," I replied.

"They're great, really, but..." She hesitated.

"But your dad killed your mom, and it's hard to embrace a new set of parents," I finished for her gently.

"Exactly. I'm grieving, Jenna. I think Polyhymnia understands that, but Aether is just so relieved that part of his daughter survived... He can't see anything else. He just sees Kleia, not Eliza, and I don't blame him... But it's hard for me."

"He'll get there, Eliza," I replied soothingly. "Just give him some time. He's probably still in shock."

She took a deep breath and nodded. She seemed calmer as she asked, "So, what can you teach me to do?"

I was surprised. "That was just my excuse to get you away... You want to learn to fight?"

"I'm not one for violence, but it couldn't hurt to know a few defensive moves, right?" She sighed. "When my father attacked, I couldn't do anything to protect my mom. I don't want to end up in that situation ever again."

"Alright," I agreed. "There are a few defensive moves in Martial Arts that can help you avoid getting hit without you having to really hurt the person attacking you... I think we should start with parrying. That will teach you to absorb and redirect blows without getting hurt. Here, imitate my stance."

I assumed a simple stance. "Now, hit me," I said.

"I can't," Eliza protested.

"It's okay. I'm going to absorb it so you understand what I mean. It won't hurt me."

Eliza barely tapped me. I put up my forearm, effectively blocking the "attack."

"See? If you put your arm up like this, you absorb the attack and can even redirect it," I explained. "Right now, we're focusing purely on absorbing it. I'm going to come at you. I want you to block my hand from its target, okay?"

"Jenna, I'm not so sure..." She replied nervously.

"Just do exactly what I did. Don't worry, Eliza. I taught a group of kindergarteners how to do this. I won't hurt you," I promised. "We'll take it nice and slow."

She could have been offended by the comparison, but thankfully, she wasn't. She took a deep breath and tried to copy what I'd demonstrated. I moved my arm slowly toward her, controlling my momentum so I wouldn't risk harming her. She met my hand with her forearm and blocked me.

"That was great, Eliza!" I said in excitement.

"Really?" She asked. "I don't feel like it was very impressive."

"We need to work on your confidence. You're stronger than you think you are." I smiled at her encouragingly. "Let's try again. This time, put a little more strength into the block. Lock your feet in like this." I adjusted her stance. "Keep tension here, and let it absorb the bulk of the impact from the hit."

I came at her again, a little faster this time. Eliza applied my correction and her block was much sturdier this time. I didn't feel like I was at risk of knocking her down if I made contact.

"That's it!" I said. "You see? You're picking it up quickly."

"Thanks, Jenna," she replied shyly. We tried again, and this time, Eliza was slightly more confident. I knew the more we practiced, the better she'd get. We kept practicing until I felt Eliza was ready to push my hand to the side instead of just absorbing my attack. This completed the parry.

Eliza caught on pretty quickly and successfully executed the parry on her second try. Slowly, I began putting up more resistance, making her work harder to complete the move. Each time, she did it a little bit better and her confidence grew as the move started to feel natural to her.

After a while, the other girls started making their way toward us. "Can you teach me to do that, too?" Vanessa asked.

"Sure," I replied.

"I think everyone can benefit from your lesson, Jenna," Artemis said. "You have shown great leadership skills today. Keep up the good work."

I smiled humbly at the compliment. "Thanks, Artemis... Okay, everyone, watch what I do with Eliza. Then, you can take turns trying to parry with me."

We demonstrated for the others. Eliza was a bit nervous to have an audience. "Just relax, Eliza," I said soothingly. "Focus on me and forget everyone else. You know what to do."

I watched Eliza close her eyes and inhale deeply. Something shifted in her. When she exhaled and opened her eyes, I knew she was ready.

I attacked. Eliza parried, forcing my arm to the right of her. I tried again. This time, I used my leg, wondering just how much she'd picked up. She used her shin to absorb the blow and forced my leg away from her.

"Amazing!" I declared.

Eliza looked stunned. "It was just a reflex," she said. "We didn't practice that..."

I hugged her. "See?" I asked. "All you needed was a little bit of confidence."

She smiled and stepped away from me. I looked to the others. "Vanessa gets to go first, since she asked," I decided.

Vanessa eagerly stepped up for her chance. Soon, I lost myself in the rhythm of teaching others. It came naturally to me. I'd helped teach Martial Arts at the community center since I was ten.

After everyone had learned to parry, Artemis took me aside. "You are a natural leader, Jenna," she said. "Alexia shared this trait. I would appreciate it very much if you helped me train the other girls every day. Your instincts are sharp, but you also have compassion and understand how to get through to each of them. That is an asset I cannot ignore."

"I'm honored," I replied. "Of course I'll help."

"Thank you."

I watched Apollo curiously as he glared at Ares. "What's going on with those two?" I asked.

"Apollo won't tell me," Artemis replied. "Ares upset him, but I have no details."

"I have details," Nike said as she joined us. "Ares started pushing Apollo to pursue Eliza inappropriately. When Apollo refused, Ares thought it would be wise to mention that Apollo waited too long to make things official with Kleia. Understandably, Apollo punched him. Ares attacked back. I tried to break them up and Ares ended up shoving me pretty hard."

Artemis looked ready to kill. "He put his hands on you?" She demanded. "And he hit Apollo? He is out of here!"

"Artemis, wait," I said quickly. "Let me talk to him."

She frowned. "Ares is a fool. There is no reasoning with him."

"Just let me try. Please?"

She sighed. "If you wish to waste your time, I will not stop you."

I walked over to Ares. I could feel Alexia taking over my mind as I said, "You're a jerk."

He studied me before replying, "Not many mortals have the nerve to say that to me."

"I don't see any mortals here, Ares."

He met my gaze for a moment before smiling. "Ah... Alexia truly has awakened."

"No kidding. Why did you start a fight with Apollo?" I demanded.

"I wasn't trying to. He got touchy."

"You were discussing Kleia. Of course he got touchy." I whacked the back of his head with my hand.

Ares stared at me, and for a second, I thought he was going to attack me. Instead, he started to laugh heartily.

"I nearly forgot what you were like," he said. "I always respected your guts."

"This was dumb even for you," I said. "Why did you push him?"

Ares considered my question carefully. "I honestly don't know, Jenna," he admitted. "At first, I thought I was looking out for him so he didn't get hurt all over again, but then I couldn't stop... I kept pushing, and after he hit me, all I could think about was hurting him."

"You hurt Nike."

"She can take it."

I whacked the back of his head again. "She's my sister," I reminded him. It was strange to say. As Jenna, I'd only ever had brothers, but Nike was Alexia's sister and I felt that connection just as much as I felt the bond I had with my brothers.

"You're right. I'm sorry." I knew Ares didn't say those words easily.

"Apologize to her, Ares. And apologize to Apollo."

"But-"

"I think Theos is manipulating your actions. It's not hard because you tend to act without thinking-"

"Hey!" He protested.

"Shut up, you know I'm right. Anyway, between that and your anger issues, it wouldn't be hard for him to push you over the edge and make you hurt someone. Chaos did it to you back in the day, and now Theos is doing the same exact thing. We can't let this happen again. So, apologize, and then talk to the other Gods about shielding your mind."

He glared at me for a moment before giving in. "Fine," he said.

"Good." I patted him on his back before marching him over to Nike.

"Nike, I'm... sorry," Ares mumbled. I cleared my throat. He growled before saying louder, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have hurt you."

"You give yourself too much credit," Nike replied. "I'm fine. Apologize to Apollo. He's the one you hurt. Oh, and touch me again and you're a dead deity. Are we clear?"

Ares glared in response. I stepped on his foot as hard as I could. "Yes!" He snapped. "We're clear."

Satisfied, Nike waved him off. I led him to Apollo, who looked less than thrilled to see us.

"Apollo... Look, I'm a jerk," Ares admitted.

Apollo studied him curiously. "Are you only realizing this now?" He asked. "We've all known for millennia."

"My point is, we're brothers, even if you rarely acknowledge that fact. I don't like seeing you fall apart... And when you lost Kleia, you fell apart. I didn't want you to make the same mistake again... But I was a real creep about it, and I'm sorry, okay?"

"Behold the apocalypse," Apollo said dryly. Still, he looked pleasantly surprised.

"I think Theos was in his head," I explained. "He's influencing him, tipping the scale to full rage."

"You mean Ares has another setting besides furious?" Apollo asked.

"Apollo, I'm serious," I said.

"I know," he reassured me. He studied Ares before saying, "I appreciate the apology... Brother. I know it was hard for you. I also know Theos can influence people to act irrationally. He exploits their personality traits and turns them against others. Your default personality is like a perfect playground for him. If he pushes the right button, he can start an all-out war. We'll get him out of your head."

"How?" Ares asked.

"I don't know yet... But we will. I promise."

"Until then, I'll keep smacking the stupidity out of you," I said with a grin.

"Oh, Jenna," Apollo said sympathetically. "Your poor hand will be so exhausted!"