Chapter 20: Warning

We barely make it two steps when I'm taken by the flames again-

-a woman bends over Gaia, the rainbow shielding around the Goddess gone, the woman's face turning toward you, smiling at you, beckoning you-

I miss a step and bang my nose on Ash's shoulder. She spins and catches me while I gasp for air.

"Gaia." Ash's eyes tighten, her lips thinning as I shudder from the power of the vision. "She's in trouble."

My aunt doesn't seem as concerned as she should be, tsking softly as she seems to weigh our options. I shove her gently, enough to get her attention.

"We have to save her." The urge to protect Piers first fades as the vision repeats itself. Whoever the woman was, I've seen her before. And the source of the vision is happening now, right now, at this moment. While Syd's fate is imminent, Piers's just as intense, I'm certain they both have more time than Gaia.

Ash shoves me back, but softly, almost kindly. "Go then," she says. "I'll take care of the boy. If you think it's necessary."

I gape at her. "She's our Goddess."

My aunt shakes her head, but doesn't respond. She simply turns and leaves me there in the dark, rapidly lost to my sight. I almost go after her, a terrible fear growing in my soul, one last blow, one final lie I don't know if I can face. But I can't let any further harm come to Gaia.

My lighter is in my pocket and I reach for it, flipping open the top, looking down into the flame I strike. It dances and sways, beckoning me inward, though I am now afraid of what it means. I close my eyes and tumble into the fire, focused on the altar and my Goddess.

I'm there before I can blink away the wisp of smoke created by the single flame, feet touching down on stone as I stare at the scene before me.

I was right-this vision wasn't so much a premonition as a warning of what is happening right now, in this moment. The woman straightens from where she leans over Gaia, a soft smile on her face. I sense no guile in her, or deceit, but I've been lied to so long, by so many people, I call the flames anyway, just in case.

It's so strange to see Gaia's face laid bare, unprotected by the rainbow shielding. Her eyes remain closed, though, her hands folded yet over her breast. I look up from careful examination to ensure my Goddess is all right and into the strange woman's face.

It takes me a moment to realize she looks familiar, and why that is. Even as my gaze flickers to Gaia and back to the woman again, I feel my jaw drop and my heart skip a beat before pounding back into painful life.

"Zoe Helios." She knows my name, her soft, kind voice carrying to me in the quiet of the chapel. The fire dies in me, goes quiet, listening to her as she speaks. "I want to thank you for helping me find my sister." She beckons to me, holding out one hand. "Come closer," she says. "I want you to see what you've done."

She doesn't seem angry or feel antagonistic, but I hesitate, awe and wonder slowing my steps though I obey her without thought. "You." I breathe in, breathe out as I approach, mind skipping. "You're Gaia's sister." How can this be? A living Goddess, standing before me, another sleeping at her feet, and I'm about to take her hand.

Her skin is smooth, soft, warm. It feels human, which makes me shudder from her touch, though she won't let me go, pulling me toward her. I stand, shaking and lost, looking down at my Goddess while her sister tucks me against her side and kisses my temple. Her long, blonde braid brushes my bare arm, hangs to my feet, the scent of her like coffee and warm cookies on a Sunday afternoon.

"My Goddess," I whisper.

The woman frowns, shakes her head. "I'm afraid not," she says. "Far from it, in fact." She sighs, releases me, and sinks to her knees beside Gaia. I almost fall as my body folds downward, joining her on the stone. "I'm just a woman," she says, touching Gaia's face with one hand. "Well, not quite." Good humor twinkles in her eyes as she meets mine. "But a Goddess? Not me."

"But..." I stammer, my brain stuttering over the truth, believing her as the last of my life's lies falls apart around me. "Gaia."

The woman nods. "She is like me," she says. "No more a Goddess than you are, Zoe." She sighs. "My name is Iepa. We are maji. And I've been looking for my sister for a very long time."

"NO!" We're not alone. I had no idea Sibyl was here, though from the disheveled look of her she's only just arrived. She stares at Iepa with huge, frightened eyes. "What have you done?"

The maji woman's kind expression turns cold. "I could ask you the same question." Her hand rises, her power pinning Sibyl, dragging her down to force her to sit on one of the benches, ropes of rainbow light holding her tight. Sibyl squirms a moment, face twisting from anger to loathing to despair.

I ignore her, trusting Iepa to keep her contained, as I've trusted no one else in my life. I have no idea what she's talking about, but I know in my heart she's telling me the truth. Iepa holds my hand, keeps her grip on me as she gazes with sadness down on Gaia. I reach out slowly, touch the soft, pale skin of the woman I believed to be my Goddess as her sister speaks.

"She's been missing for centuries," Iepa says. "But no one else would help me look for her, and the Universe is so vast." She squeezes my hand, sits back to wipe a tear from her cheek with her free hand. "I searched everywhere for her, feared her dead. It wasn't until I felt her through you only last night I realized she was being shielded from discovery."

I'm numb and cold, but that doesn't stop me from speaking. "Liander Belaisle," I say. "And the Brotherhood." That's what Piers called them, isn't it?

Iepa nods. "Indeed," she says.

"You've betrayed us all, Zoe!" Iepa's magic might hold Sibyl still, but she's done nothing to silence the woman.

I lick my dry lips, wishing I could just forget all of this, go back to the ignorance of two years ago. But even as I do, I shake off my apathy and the frozen state I've fallen into, letting the fire rise to cleanse me and free me from my grief. "If not a goddess," I say. "If a maji, then for what purpose?"

Iepa smiles. "Must we have a purpose?" I don't smile back and she finally shrugs. "We are hands of the Creator," she says. "But so are you, Zoe."

"But she is our Goddess." I shiver, rub my arms after releasing Iepa's hand. "The source of our foresight." That's what I was taught.

"No, child." Iepa's sad eyes tell me everything I need to know. "Gaia is nothing of the sort."

"Liar!" We both turn at the wailing sound of Sibyl's denial. She's weeping openly, her fire licking through the coils of rainbow light. "She is a Goddess!"

Iepa rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "I do believe she did nurture your talent when your family's particular power appeared on this plane." She frowns, shakes her head. "I should have thought to check here, I suppose, but she gave up on guiding you so long ago, I thought her elsewhere." She smooths her braid with one hand. "More the fool I," she says. "Doing so must have exposed her to the Brotherhood and offered them the means to capture and contain her."

"And take her power." I flinch as Iepa looks up, darkness on her beautiful face. I'm having trouble assessing her age, she feels timeless to me.

"Correct." She now sounds angry, though I know her fury isn't aimed at me. She looks over my shoulder, glaring at Sibyl who has fallen still. "Tell me, betrayer of your blood-how did they manage it, then, those most foul of sorcerers? Gaia is," her lips tighten as she corrects herself, "was one of the strongest of us. A mere human sorcerer should not have been able to contain her."

Sibyl turns her face away, jaw tight. But Iepa isn't willing to accept her silence. The maji woman leaps to her feet and sweeps toward the old Oracle who shudders from her.

"Don't touch me!" She leans away, writhing as though Iepa's skin is diseased. The maji clamps one hand over Sibyl's shoulder and squeezes enough her knuckles whiten. Her face twists as Sibyl shudders and finally sags under the pressure of a flow of rainbow magic that seems to sizzle against the old woman's fire.

"Enough!" Sibyl sobs the word and Iepa releases her. I shiver as Sibyl weeps, tears gathering under her chin. "It was me. I lured Gaia to me, fed her poisoned wine." Spite enters her tone, an old evil I've never seen before rippling across her face. "They offered me power and I took it, for all of us." She meets my eyes, desperate all over again. "For the family, Zoe. For you!"

I turn away from her as Iepa slowly makes her way back to me, sitting at her sister's side. "Treachery," she says. "She trusted you, Sibyl. Spoke highly of your family. Clearly, she was much more naïve than I thought to fall for such a trap."

"They were strong," Sibyl whispers. "And she was weak."

"More likely," Iepa says, "your betrayal broke her heart and spirit." Iepa sighs, turns away and again touches her sister's face, a tiny sparkle of rainbow light traveling between them. "And, ever since, the Brotherhood has been using her as a power source, likely all these centuries. Feeding from her." Iepa's jaw tightens. "Until there is so little left of her there is nothing remaining to save."

Tears well in my eyes at her words, my chest tight with sudden grief. My fire reaches out for Gaia and the moment my power makes contact, I feel the truth. "She's dying."

Iepa nods slowly, head bobbing as tears splash on her sister's cheek. "She is."

I sit back, weeping for her loss though she remains yet, breath rhythmic, chest rising slowly and steadily. I need to leave, to escape this horror, but Iepa doesn't move and I can't bring myself to leave her there.

"Terrible things are coming." I don't know if Iepa cares or can help, but I need to tell someone. "Darkness, fire, death."

She looks up slowly, meets my eyes. "Tell me what you've seen."

I do, including my most recent vision, about Syd, the stakes, and her death. I'm certain the rise of her rainbow power means she's about to die.

"That's what he's been after." Rage flickers over Iepa's face, makes her look fierce and powerful for a moment where once grief kept her small. Her gaze returns to her silent sister, fists clenching at her sides. "Gaia is almost drained. He's known her end is coming and has been looking for a replacement, a way to fill her role. For more power to steal for his damned Brotherhood." She looks away from her sister, away from me, staring at the stone floor. "He hasn't been trying to kill Syd. He's been trying to capture her."

"Why?" I know the answer even as I speak it. Haven't I seen it enough times? The iridescence, the same as Gaia's, as Iepa's. I made the connection not too long ago Syd's magic looked like my Goddess's. Does that mean she's maji?

Iepa turns back, jaw set, eyes flashing rainbow fire. "They have to listen now," she says, though I'm certain she's not speaking to me. "The Brotherhood has crossed the line, stealing power from the maji this way." She stands and I rise with her, though she doesn't move to leave, just hovers there over her sleeping sister. "Surely they will finally act, if only out of self-preservation."

I have no idea who she's talking about, but I can't let her leave if that's her plan. "What of Gaia?" Now I know the truth, my heart breaks for the slumbering woman in the gold-gilt coffin.

Iepa bites her lower lip, shaking her head. "There is nothing to be done." She barely speaks above a whisper. "My sister is too far gone for me to reach. Only the last echo of her remains, keeping her body alive. When that is gone, all which made her who she is will be lost." She turns on me, suddenly fierce, grasping my arms in her hands, shaking me slightly. "Listen to me, Zoe Helios," she says. "Your people are on the wrong path."

I nod. I know that already.

"There is a war coming." Iepa sounds afraid, though her intensity doesn't fade, nor her feeling of rebellion. I wonder who she has need to defy and if she's much like me, in the end. "You must be on the right side." She shudders, steps away. "I have a terrible feeling we might need you before this is done."

"I won't fail you." I don't know why it's important she know I'm with her, or that she know I'm loyal to the visions her sister's power encouraged all those years ago. But it is, to me.

Iepa smiles a little, body stiff, hands clenched at her sides again as she begins to glow with rainbow light. A tear forms in the very air next to her, a gash in the fabric of the plane, gushing bright light through it as she turns and brushes her hands over it. "You owe me nothing," Iepa says. "Just promise me, when the time comes, you'll do what you can to save her."

I look down at Gaia, confused, but Iepa is shaking her head.

"Syd," she says. "No matter what it takes, Zoe. Save Syd." And then, she's gone.

The sudden dimness makes my eyes water, the quiet enveloping me as I draw a deep breath and let it out again. My grandmother doesn't move from where Iepa pinned her though the rainbow light fades and frees her. I briefly wonder if Iepa's bald speaking of truth has broken the old woman at last. Though now I hardly care.

Instead, I crouch and brace myself on the sides of Gaia's tomb before placing a kiss on her cheek. The barest sigh escapes her as my power connects with what is left of her.

"I'm so sorry." One of my tears falls to her face and I brush it away. "I wish I could have saved you."

Her lips part as I stare down at her, a sparkling trail rising from her mouth as she exhales for the last time. The shimmering breath rises to greet me, slipping into my nostrils, my own open mouth, the corners of my eyes. I shiver as the remains of Gaia's power sparks on my skin before racing through me, into me, melding firmly with my own magic.

Wonder and awe hold me still as I warm inside from the soft presence of her. And then, she's gone and the power is mine. I bend and kiss her one last time, before rising, turning, leaving the remains of whom she was behind.

And face down Sibyl as she snarls at me and throws flame in my face.

***