Joy

A mother provides for her child, the child grows up to protect its mother. Despite their personal eccentricities, the relationship between Adam and Maria is no different. With time, Adam hopes, it can become so much more.

After the shooting at the hospital, a good samaritan donated millions of dollars into a relief fund for the staff. This allowed Maria to take three fully paid personal weeks of work off.

The hospital continued running, volunteer nurses, doctors, technicians and others picked up shifts for the regular staff.

In the meantime, Maria took advantage of the free time to spend it with her son. Mostly at the beach she loved going to, and practicing how to shield her mind and body from intruders.

Adam genuinely spent a good time with his mom. His connection with her grew greatly by the day. Not only in their practice, but personally as well. They haven't had another encounter like the one with the bathroom since. Agreeing to take it slow.

"Are you going back to work tomorrow?" He asks.

"Yeah. Why? Are you going to miss me?"

Maria lies on a towel near the sandy shore, Adam seated next to her, watching the waves come and go under the bright blue sky. The air with that smell characteristic to the central pacific.

"Yeah." He responds.

Maria doesn't have to have access to Adam's stream of consciousness to tell that he's uneasy about her leaving his side.

"Hey," She says, holding his cheek in her hand. "Nothing bad is going to happen."

"No," He replies. "I'll make sure of that."

The next day Maria gets up early, readies herself for work, and grabs the cream cheese and bagels Adam brought from Turkey. That night, Adam did not sleep and spent the night meditating in the living room.

"Did you get any sleep?" She asks.

"Kind of," He begins to explain. "I'm trying to practice expanding my mind while also shielding it at the same time. A lot harder than it sounds."

Maria is intrigued by the theory, but is too busy looking for her keys.

"Where are my-"

Adam reaches into the side of one of the sofa seats, withdrawing a set of car keys.

"There they are." Maria grabs them and is ready to head out the door.

"Promise me you'll do your best today." She says to Adam lovingly.

"Always." He responds as she walks out the door.

Maria arrives at Saint Michael Hospital for the first time in almost a month. She receives friendly greetings by staff and volunteers as well as patients recognizing her from the news.

Maria doesn't appreciate the attention; picking up the pace to avoid as many people as possible.

Maria exits the elevator on the third floor, looking to her left, she notices the door to the stairwell has been replaced, the plaster around the new door still not painted over. She walks towards the reception desk where Sheryl usually takes her place, currently being occupied by a cute young blonde Maria doesn't recognize.

"Hi, wow. You must be Maria. I have heard so much about you." Says the young lady.

Maria dismisses her second statement. "Hi, yes. Do you know when Sheryl will be back?"

"Oh, yeah, she used up her saved vacation days, she should be back in two more weeks."

The elevator door rings again, opening and letting Dr. Oliva out, who immediately catches a glimpse of Maria.

"Maria! Oh my God, how have you been?" She asks, approaching Maria and embracing her in a hug.

"Hey, Olivia, glad you're okay." Maria turns to see that the young lady is staring at them both attentively. "Can we talk in your office?" She asks.

"Absolutely. Come on." Oliva leads her to her office. Olivia walks down the hall like she's working the runway, her tall slender length helps add to the illusion that she's a fashion model.

They both enter Olivia's office, Olivia hangs her bag and coat and seats herself behind her desk.

"You know they're offering counseling and support groups for anyone interested. Sheryl went to a few until she had to leave for her vacation with her family."

"Good for her, I actually spent a lot of time recovering on the beach too."

"That sounds nice, and it's well deserved, Maria. What you did was insanely brave. And that guy that showed up out of nowhere at the last minute, do you know that guy?"

Olivia takes a sip from a juicer she brought from home, waiting for Maria's response.

"I actually wanted to talk to you about something else." Replies Maria.

"Definately."

"Do you remember what we talked about the day of the shooting?" Asks Maria.

Oliva recalls the day, her eyes bulge as she remembers. "Oh yeah, you were going through some things with your son." Olivia takes a more comfortable position in her chair. "Did you guys talk it over?"

"Yeah, we did, actually. I feel it helped a lot."

"That's great. Is it alright if I ask what you guys talked about?" Asks Olivia.

"Well, my son let me know about his feelings for me. The reason I came to you that day was because he had already told me and I didn't like the way I responded. We talked it over since, and-" Maria pauses, thinking of how much to reveal to Olivia. "Olivia, can I trust you with this? No judgement?"

"This is your safe space, Maria. No judgements, no ridiculing, nothing. Just honesty." Assures Olivia.

Maria, trusting Olivia, opens up. "Adam, my son, revealed he had sexual feelings for me."

"How old is Adam?" Asks Olivia.

"21." Replies Maria.

Oliva thinks about Maria's response. "He's not as young as I imagined he would be. These feelings are normal at a younger age, but at this point I don't know. What was your reaction to his revelation?"

"Honestly," Maria begins, "I promised him I would keep an open mind about this."

"Okay. Can you go into a little more detail. Open minded how?"

Maria sighs. "I know I can trust you Olivia, so I'll be honest. Adam isn't like other boys his age. I mean that in a very general sense. He will always be my son to me, but with everything that has happened recently, Adam has been there for me in a way I would have never expected. He has his feelings, and I told him I would respect them."

"You did the right thing, I'm sure he feels a lot better, not just for getting something like that off his chest, but for your understanding."

"That's not all. I also told him I am open to us having a closer relationship. Close the way he wants to be close."

"Oh, wow." Responds Olivia, unsure of what to say next.

Olivia and Maria remain silent for a moment. Maria starts having inklings of regret having opened up so much.

Olivia finally breaks the silence. "I think it's very brave of you to share something like this, Maria." "The biggest obstacle I see for you is public perception. The taboo nature of the affair."

"That's what holds me back the most. Because besides the way other people will look at me, I don't see anything wrong with these feelings."

Olivia remains silent, giving room for Maria to open up further.

"Adam knows me better than literally anybody else. Not just because he's my son, these past few days, with everything that happened, he's genuinely been there for me. You know?"

"Excuse the invasive question, but is Adam's father still in the picture?" Inquires Olivia.

"No. He left almost as quickly as he came." Maria laughs, aware of the innuendo.

"So it's been only you two his whole life."

"Yeah. I don't know how much I should go into detail." Maria hesitates, "But I trust you-"

Maria is interrupted as the door is barged open and the young lady taking Sheryl's shifts pops her head into the room. "Hi, ladies. Mrs. Maria, there's a lady in your office. She said she'd like to speak to you about something very important."

"Thanks, honey. Do me a favor, close the door behind you and never barge into my office like that again, please." Olivia's tone is strict.

"Sorry." Says the girl, leaving them in Olivia's office alone again.

Oliva turns her attention back to Maria. "Looks like you got to get out of here. Let's pause our conversation, we can continue another day."

"When's good for you?" Asks Maria.

"I'm actually following Sheryl's suit. I'm going out on vacation with my husband, but I should be back in two weeks."

"Sounds good, Olivia. Thanks again, and excuse me." Maria kisses Olivia on the cheek before heading out of her office into the hall.

As Maria makes her way to her office, she notices two suited men try to inconspicuously blend in with everyone else. One of them follows her, Maria doesn't protest or interact with the man, rather, lets him open her office door for her.

Inside waits a smartly dressed woman, seated in front of Maria's desk.

She stands, greeting Maria. "Hi, I'm Joy."

Maria feels something make contact with her mind. Startled, Maria raises her defenses, unsure if it was Joy that made contact.

"Oh, sorry about that, don't think I'm a threat. I actually came to talk to both of you." Says Joy, retaking her seat in front of Maria's desk.

Maria, still not comfortable with this Joy person, remains apprehensive.

"What do you mean 'both' of us?" Asks Maria.

"You and your son." She says, assuredly.

Maria thinks for a moment, worried this is a trap to draw out Adam.

Adam feels his mom contact him. He can feel her anxiety, and caution.

"Mom, is everything alright?" Adam speaks to Maria through their connection.

"There he is!" In a swift movement, Joy gets up from her seat, and pushes Maria on the chest, making her fall to the ground.

Maria falls on the dusty ground, no longer in her office, instead, a vast open desert. The scorching sun above her warms her skin, the incense, dry, heat evaporating her sweat before it condensates. Very unlike the pleasant humid heat of the beach.

Maria looks around and sees Adam lying next to her, both completely naked. Joy appears before them both, still dressed as she was in Maria's office. Adam, not taking any chances, charges at her.

Joy sidesteps, as Adam charges past her, missing his target.

"Hold on there, let me explain, please." Pleads Joy.

Adam relaxes. Maria gets up to her feet, covering her exposed breast and groin with her arm and hand.

"Who the hell are you?" Asks Adam.

"Hi, Adam. I'm Joy. I was told a lot about you."

Adam recalls the words of the purple robed lady. "I was told by the lady who gave me these powers to go find you. I thought you were supposed to be made of stars."

Joy lets out a hearty laugh. "Not exactly, but yeah. Back then I was this planet's Guardian, now my top student has taken my former post and I have been promoted."

Adam and Maria exchange confused looks.

"What are you talking about? What is going on?" Demands Maria.

Joy lets out a sigh. "Let me start with what I was sent here to do."

Adam anticipates hostile action, but Joy just makes three seats under a canopy appear out of nowhere.

"You're an Eternal too?" Asks Adam.

Joy takes one of the seats under the shade. "Please, sit."

Adam and Maria hesitantly take a seat as well.

"I was sent here by the Pantheon. Before you ask, the Pantheon are the sages that have been around longer than anyone or anything. They are the ones who dedicate their immortal lives to discover the secrets of the Eternal."

"You mean no one knows everything about this power?" Asks Adam.

"It's hard to put an objective truth to it because everyone who has the power kind of does their own thing with it. The sages dedicate themselves to unlocking as many secrets as they possibly can."

"What for?" Asks Maria.

"No clue." Joy laughs. "All I know is that in the hierarchy of power, the sages are on top."

"That's good, that must mean things are stable in the universe." Says Maria.

"Yeah, about that. Let me just finish this last part, because this is important for you two, I was still Guardian of Earth when you got your powers, Adam. The strange thing is, I am usually the one delegated to personally give people the power of the Eternal, train them to use it, then let them out in the wild. But for some reason, the Pantheon took it upon itself to give you the power themselves."

"The purple robed lady?" Asks Adam.

"Yeah, you weren't the only person visited that day. I was too. No longer am I the cosmic store manager of Earth, now I am more like the regional manager of this galactic neighborhood." Says Joy, proudly.

"Did someone take your place as Guardian?" Asks Maria.

"Yeah, absolutely. When asked if I had any recommendations by the Pantheon I suggested the best student I ever had."

"Why didn't the new Guardian help at the hospital during the shooting?" Asks Maria.

"Guardians only interfere when an Eternal has taken advantage of their powers and does something reckless. Mortal affairs do not concern the Pantheon."

"Sure, but why was I given my powers by the Pantheon and not you or your successor? I could really use that training, or at least a crash course. I still feel I don't know anything about this power."

Joy finds Adam's choice of words peculiar. "And you never will. That's the nature of the power of the Eternal." She replies.

Adam isn't satisfied with her answer and wants to inquire more. Olivia doesn't let him.

"Now to the point. I was asked by the Pantheon to give you, and get this, your mom, an invitation to an audience with a Pantheon representative."

"Audience for what?" Asks Adam.

"I honestly don't know. Everything about this is strange. Why didn't I give you your powers? Why was I promoted the same day you got them? Why does the Pantheon want to speak to some kid who just got his power? And most of all. Why the fuck would they invite your mom too?"

Adam and Maria look at each other perplexed, then back at Joy for her to continue.

"I do have a theory though."

"Please, do tell." Says Maria.

"Something huge has been brewing in Olympus. Olympus the dimensional realm, not the one from greek myth. A lot of talk of reform, revolution, even talk about a strike at the Pantheon's dimensional realm."

"What do you mean by dimensional realm?"

"It's like a separate universe. The closest human mythology has gotten was with Ygdrasil, the scandanavian tree of life."

"So these dimensional realms are held up by some type of tree of life, like fruit on a tree?" Asks Maria.

"Yeah, that's about as close as we can get to a description. That's not important, though. What's important is that if the Pantheon is looking to bring some order to Olympus they'll probably do it the same way they do almost everything."

"By sending someone else to take care of it?" Says Maria.

"Exactly."

"Now I really wish you were the one to gift me the power of the Eternal, at least then I would have gotten some type of tutorial on how this all works." Says Adam into the back of his hand.

"All I said was that it was possible. Like I said, everything about your situation is out of whack."

"Tell me about it." Adds Maria. "I'm sure Adam and I can listen to what the Pantheon guys have to say. I'm sure Adam will make the right choice."

Adam looks at her and smiles. Joy looks at them as the interact with each other, spotting something she missed earlier.

"I see. You want to bone your mom."

Maria blushes, Adam nods affirmatively.

"Huh, maybe there's a reason for you to take such a central role in all this after all." Says Joy, looking at Maria.

Joy's seat disappears the instant she stands up.

"Okay, I did what I was supposed to. The Pantheon will be in touch. Don't expect an appointment, they'll probably contact you when you least expect it." Joy closes her eyes. " I'll let you guys go back to what you were doing."

"Wait, will you teach me how to better use my powers?" Ask Adam, the chair he was sitting on disappearing as he stands as well.

"I think the Pantheon intentionally gave you the power of the Eternal without any type of guidance for a reason, Adam. With that said, if you ever want to polish your skill or test what you know, speak to Earth's new Guardian."

"In the forest west of where I live?" Ask Adam.

"Yup."

Joy, the desert, and Maria disappear as Adam once again finds himself in his bedroom, a pair of his mom's dirty underwear in his hand. He gets up from bed, walks to his mom's room, puts the dirty panties in the bin, and looks out the window in his mom's room, towards the West.

Outside the city limits, a tall dark green forest waits for Adam's arrival.