Chapter 7- The Isle of the Winds
It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often 'tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from where it sometime fell,
When last the winds of Heaven were unbound.
Oh ye! who have your eyeballs vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody-
Sit ye near some old Cavern's Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea nymphs quired!
-John Keats
"On the Sea"
"This sucks," Lita announced to no one in particular as she snapped her
finger out of the tightening grip of the knot. They had left Ithaka that
morning, their destination set for Aegae...or whatever island was close to
it. The sea again was silent, placid and utterly windless. They were tacking
slowly back and forth, making excruciatingly slow progress. It was evening
now, the hour when the sky shaded itself imperial purple.
Lita tossed her curl of hair over her shoulder as she finished fastening
the sailor's knot in place, the heavy looping holding the mast tightly. Her
job finished, she joined Amy at the prow. Amy was not looking to the
brightened area of the sky, but to the waters below, watching the darkening
blueness gain wings of white foam, fanning out to the sides of the ship. The
hull sliced through the water with soft swishing sounds, unaccompanied by
the cries of gulls or men.
Peering down into the depths as well, Lita asked, "Do you know how long it
will take to get to this Aegae place?"
Amy sighed, eyes still downcast as she leaned over the rail. "With the wind
as it is, there's no telling. It's not that far, really. Through the strait,
then around the land. Then...we just keep our eyes open for an island, I
suppose."
"Ames?" Hermes called from his usual place at the tiller. "You want to make
dinner or are we just having cheese and stuff?"
"What?" Lita asked.
"He wants me to get something for dinner. Come to mention it, we didn't eat
anything for lunch, did we?"
"Too busy tacking," Lita glowered darkly at the mast. Then she perked up.
"But I can cook dinner if you want! You had clams in the stores, wine,
olives, bread...I ought to be able to whip something good up."
"Ames, what is she doing?" Hermes asked as he watched Lita begin to haul
out the long disused frying pan that had somehow remained onboard through
Chardbyis' attempt to swallow them.
"She's going to make dinner."
Hermes suddenly frowned, and his voice took on a petulant edge as he
stated, "I thought we were having sushi sandwiches again."
Puzzled at Hermes' tone, Amy defended Lita, who was now occupied by placing
clams in the pan, by saying, "Lita's a great cook, Hermes. She'll make us
something lots better than sandwiches."
"I like the sandwiches."
"Hermes, is there something wrong?"
"Forget it. Let her cook. Whatever."
*Great. Now he's back to the way we were at the beginning of this trip.
What is it with him sometimes?*
As the dusk settled on the sea around them, Lita produced a concoction of
clams cooked in wine, mixed with crumbled feta cheese and olive oil. Hermes
took a mouthful after Amy glared at him to do so. The food almost fell from
his mouth as he realized it was actually quite good.
"Ames, this is great!" he exclaimed after swallowing.
"Tell Lita that."
Hermes glanced at the brunette, who was watching him after hearing Amy use
her name. "It's good," he admitted after a minute.
Amy translated it, but Lita already seemed to understand. "He doesn't like
me very much, does he?"
Trying not to shy away, Amy looked down as she thought the best way to
explain Hermes' odd behavior. "He didn't like me very much at first either,
Lita-chan. Don't worry. He kind of grows on you."
"What are you two saying?" Hermes demanded as he began to suspect the girls
were talking about something other than the food.
Switching back to Hellenic, Amy answered, "Oh, we were just discussing
stopping at Myrsinus before we really get through the strait."
"We've got supplies. We don't really need to stop."
"We agree. Same reasons. Lita told me things are getting bad back home. The
sooner we retrieve my Crystal, the better."
"How are you going to get back? Getting the Crystal may be one thing, but I
doubt Poseidon is going to be happy to give the timekey back too."
"Lita has her own. Pluto gave it to her. We'll use that. Don't worry."
"Do I look worried?"
Amy laughed lightly. "You never look worried!"
"Never?"
"No. Stubborn, self-centered and full of hubris, yes. Worried, never!"
"I'm not stubborn!"
To respond to that, Amy laughed again, and only harder when Hermes
defiantly tried to protest that he was not.
Lita watched the exchange in Hellenic Greek with mild interest. The
language itself didn't concern her much. But the way Amy was laughing and
chatting so casually with a man...a very good looking man, at that, and a
god, no less...made her wonder what exactly she had interrupted.
It was Amy who spotted the haze of land on the horizon. She had awoke
early, long before dawn, finding Hermes keeled over the rudder, sleeping
like a little boy, a faint smile on his face as he dreamed. Lita was curled
up at the brazier, one arm tucked under her head, the other extended as
though reaching for some unknown goal. Amy stepped over her slumbering
friend after she had checked on Hermes. Untying the rope, she adjusted it to
a new direction, following a peculiar instinct that commanded her. *The
water. Always the water. The sound of it is growing stronger now....*
Afraid to wake Hermes, she lifted his hands from the steering shaft of
wood, turning it herself to aim them along course. The dim, nebulous form of
land emerged along the edge of her vision some time later, as the sky was
tinged pink by the awakening goddess of the dawn.
Sleepily, Hermes opened an eye to see Amy sitting closely opposite him.
"Ames? Wha-?" he yawned mightily.
"There is an island. I am taking us to it."
At that, Hermes awoke more clearly. "I thought we decided we wouldn't
stop."
Amy half closed her eyes. *No...we should stop here. The water. It's the
water. I don't understand....*
Softly, words came to her, and she recited them, saying phrases that would
not be written for many hundreds of years yet.
"We reached the Aeolian island next, the home of Aeolus,
Hippotas' son, beloved by the gods who never die-
a great floating island it was, and round it all
huge ramparts rise of indestructible bronze
and sheer rock cliffs shoot up into the sky."
"Ames?"
Amy opened her eyes fully, meeting Hermes concerned gaze. *The 'Odyssey.'
It seems to follow me everywhere now. Scylla and Charbydis. Ithaka. Now
Aeolia, where the king of the winds lives.*
"Hermes, Aeolus wouldn't happen to be a friend of yours, would he?"
Hermes leapt up, running up to the prow of the ship. "Ames, that's
brilliant!" he shouted back at her.
At the noise, Lita awoke to see a very excited Hermes. "Huh?" Bewildered,
she turned to Amy for an explanation. "Amy-chan?"
But Amy had picked up on Hermes' enthusiasm. "Hermes, will it work? Would
he help us?" *He helped Odysseus in the future! Or what will be the future,
anyway.*
"We can talk to him at least," Hermes was saying. "Aeolus never liked
Poseidon much. Said he was always acting as though the water was the only
thing needed for a good sail."
"And every ship needs the wind!"
"Which is exactly what we need!"
"Amy-chan!"
Hermes and Amy turned to look at Lita, who was shifting uncomfortably on
the deck. "What is going on? Are we landing?"
"Lita, I think we might have a way to get moving again!"
It was nearing mid-morning when they managed to get Seastrider into a
naturally forming bay. There was little on the island that they could see.
Hermes assured them this was natural, that Aeolus was a very private sort of
god. That was the reason that the island floated, never passing the same
expanse of water twice, ever changing, blowing with the wind that the
island's lord provided. Sharp rocks surrounded the shores, to which Hermes
steered them expertly though, dropping anchor in the little bay.
Hermes led them on their way, heading over the beach and into the island's
rocky interior. Amy marveled at the amazing number of birds that flew
overhead, dipping and soaring around them in the steady breeze. The wind
here was steady if not strong, enough to set their hair and the fabric of
their clothing rippling. As they passed through a particular grove of trees,
they set off a flight of blue butterflies, that lit the air around them in
faerie fire. But for the singing of the birds and the flapping of their
wings, the island of the winds was abnormally quiet. A well cleared, if
relatively unused, path led them deeper in, until they came to a clearing.
In the center of the small plateau, two men were locked in combat. The
ringing of blade against blade sang through the air musically as the larger
man beat down the smaller he faced. The smaller of the two was thrown to the
ground as the larger laughed loudly, bringing up his sword to finish the
battle.
"No!" Lita cried as she charged forward, wildly running the distance, hair
flying out behind her as she brought up her fists, ready to fight.
"Ames! Wait!" Hermes grabbed Amy's wrist as she began to take off after her
fellow senshi.
"Hermes, let me go! What are you doing? She'll need help!"
Laughing, Hermes shook his head. "Don't worry, he won't hurt her."
"It's not her I'm worried about!"
Amy broke Hermes' hold on her and tore off after Lita. Hermes, still
chuckling, trotted casually behind.
Lita had reached the first man, pummeling him over as his sword embedded
itself into the other man's stomach. "What the-?" the larger man began to
shout, his laughter abruptly cut off as his chin became the receiving end of
Lita's fist.
"Pick on someone your own size!" she shouted, tackling the man down,
pinning him, arm behind his back. She smashed his face into the dirt. "How
dare you try to kill people! I will punish you, in the name of-!"
"LITA!" Amy shouted over Lita's furious dialogue. "He's not dead!"
"What?"
The smaller of the men was laughing hysterically on the ground, somehow
managing to get himself into a sitting position, arms wrapped around his
stomach, not in pain from the sword that was sticking out of his middle, but
from cramping over the incredible gale of laughter that he was howling. In a
futile attempt, the man tried to dry laughter tears from his eyes, which
were streaming down his face. "Bor-Boreas...she...your...face...!" Even
these few words were enough to set the man to cracking up again, the sword
still in his stomach.
"Would you MIND?" the man Lita was pinning grunted, trying to dislodge the
young woman on his back. She dug her knee into the small of his spine,
glancing sharply at Amy.
"What did he say?"
Amy looked between the man who appeared to be dying more from laughter than
the sword, then at Hermes, who was making a very weak attempt to smother his
own laughter. *Great. More gods. Just great.*
"Lita, I think it's okay. I think we just broke up sword practice for a
couple gods. Look," she pointed at the sword in the man's belly. Lita looked
disbelieving for a moment, then blushed crimson, hurriedly clambering off
the god she had just clobbered's back.
Amy gave Hermes a sour glance as he greeted the two men. "Hermes!"
"Boreas! Notus!"
"Hermes!"
"Ames?"
"Lita!"
"Lita?"
"Amy-chan?"
"Boreas? Notus?"
"Who?"
Then, everyone turned to Hermes and shouted, "HERMES!"
"What?" he demanded back.
Amy placed her fingers to her temple in an attempt to absorb all this.
Lita's hands went into fists again, and she was doing an admirable job of
restraining herself from attacking Hermes this time. Boreas and Notus were
chuckling at this particularly bizarre joke. Hermes shook his head a couple
times, then sighed. "Boreas, Notus, this is Amy," he pointed, "and Lita. She
doesn't speak our language."
"Doesn't huh?" Notus said on the sly, eyes gleaming suggestively at the two
young women before him. "Nymphs? I know a couple of great private spots on
the mainland you could take them, Hermes." Then, looking at Lita, "That one
is feisty...."
He was silenced as Amy grabbed, then shoved, the sword in his belly deeper.
His eyes bulged as she pulled it roughly out. "She can't. I can."
"Amy-chan?" Lita asked, looking shocked at her quiet friend's sudden
decision to twist metal in a man's stomach.
Amy relayed what Notus had said.
Lita went ashen, then leapt forward, fists ready to pummel him into the
dirt she had vacated a moment ago. Amy, ready, grabbed her arm, whispering
hoarsely, "We might need their help. To get home, remember?"
Glaring at Notus, Lita relaxed a bit. "He says anything again...." she
cracked her knuckles. Notus got the hint and backed up a bit.
Hermes shook his head. "Sorry about that, Ames. Notus has a big mouth."
Hermes shoved the man aside. "This is Boreas, and, well, Notus."
Notus was a small, wiry man, with dark olive skin and a shock of pitch
black hair that breezed around his head, floating instead of settling on his
shoulders. A broad nose was set slightly askew on his face, and rather than
detracting from his looks, gave him a quirkiness.
Boreas was nearly the polar opposite. He was broad shouldered, narrow
hipped and pale. A small, strait nose slanted over broad lips. Long white
hair that was tinged with ice blue had been braided around his head,
swirling over his shoulders. The only commonality between them was their eye
color, a bright, sparkling blue.
Each was dressed for their practice, with a light set of armor on, which,
in Notus' case, had not given him much protection. "Lita...."
"What?"
"Boreas and Notus. The names. Boreas is the god of the North wind, and
Notus is the South."
Lita looked over the two men again. She folded her arms expectantly. "Not
much for gods."
"Lita-chan! Be nice."
"Why?"
"Well, ah...."
Boreas interrupted their discussion in a booming voice. "Amy and Lita? May
I ask what you are doing with this guy?" he jerked a thumb at Hermes, who
rolled his eyes and ran a hand though his hair.
"That is a long story," Amy replied. *I'm kind of glad this one was able to
cream Notus. Much more polite, even after Lita attacked him.* "I'd be happy
to tell it, Boreas."
"Ah, Ames, he doesn't need to know about...." Hermes tried to interrupt.
Notus snorted in disgust, his black hair roiling around his head. "You got
caught, didn't you?"
Hermes gave him a look full of daggers.
Boreas set a heavy hand on Hermes shoulder. "You need our help?"
"Aeolus', if possible."
Boreas nodded grimly. "His family has gone for the time being. The
Nightingale has remained with him."
"How is she?"
"Still growing. Adorable as always."
"Hermes?" Amy asked, placing a hand on his arm to catch his attention. "Who
is the Nightingale?"
Hermes shook his head. "You'll meet her soon, along with Aeolus, if these
clowns would be so kind to show us to the palace."
"Of course," Boreas agreed, turning to gather up their things at the edge
of the clearing.
"Amy, where are we going?"
"I think we're finally going to see the king of the wind."
"Amy-chan?"
"Yes?" as Amy turned, she got a bad feeling. Lita was doing the look again.
"You know, Boreas looks just like my old boyfriend...."
*Oh, no. Not again. Not NOW.* "Lita-chan?"
"Mmmm?" Boreas was in the middle of removing his armor and placing a tunic
on.
"Did you ever beat your old boyfriend into the dirt?"
"No...." Lita replied dreamily.
"Did he have long white hair with braids and fight with swords?"
"No...." Lita replied, still dreamily.
"Okay. Just so long as he looks somewhat remotely similar."
"Yeah...." Lita began to float forward to follow Boreas, who was beginning
to head towards another pathway.
"Ames? What's with your friend?"
Amy tried very hard not to bury her face in her hands. She failed. "Don't
worry. She'll snap out of it. Hopefully," with a martyred sigh, Amy began to
trudge after Lita, who had now caught up to a startled Boreas, and was
attempting to apologize for beating him up.
Boreas and Notus led them across the plateau. The expanse here was bare of
trees. It was too rocky, with only shrubs clinging precariously to their
anchors of thin soil. Mosses made the rocks slick, but provided a cool green
carpet over the rocks, creating the deception of a lush field. Aeolus'
palace was placed high and lofty on a ridge overlooking the corner of the
island, offering a panoramic vista to any who stood on its walls.
Columns like rays of the sun held a lofty ceiling high overhead, that
whorled and swirled in the way of clouds. They moved through an atrium,
golden sunshine striking against the golden flecks of mica caught in the
tile. Their footfalls rang hollowly through these halls, filled with the
sighing of breezes.
Then Amy noticed the odd thing. Birds. They were perched on tabletops, on
archways, on statues. And they watched them approach eerily, silently. One,
a swallow, suddenly dislodged herself from her perch, swooping down the
hallway. They followed.
It was in an aviary that the peculiar bird stopped, flitting into the
trees. A high, glassy domed ceiling arched thinly above them, foreign trees
from across the world filled the vast chamber. Redwoods and maple, oak and
beech, ginko and dogwood, ebony and mahogany. Cherry blossoms flitted across
Amy's vision, reminding her of certain other senshi who liked to appear with
such a flourish. In the distance, the sound of water sprinkling into a pond
reached them, as did the sound of a child singing.
"Standing on the bridge that crosses
The river that goes out to the sea
The wind is full of a thousand voices
They pass by the bridge and me...."
The airy voice halted after a moment. *Ah, that must be the Nightingale.*
"Aeolus?" Hermes called into the following quiet. "It's Hermes."
A child's voice, a young girl's, responded, "We're at the pond! Come and
look!" The words were followed by a delighted giggle. The troop of five
broke through the rampant flora to discover an older, what could be called
stately, gentleman sitting at the edge of the pond, on a flat stone that
extended in. A young girl sat across from him, knees tucked up under her.
The gentleman was white haired, but no wrinkles showed the mark of time on
his weathered face. Lines there were drawn from centuries of working with
the wind. His clothes were rich, blue in their hue, layered over his narrow
shoulders. His hands were in the air, manipulating the space before him.
In his hands, he tied a rainbow into a knot, bending and refracting the
invisible and colored rays of light into the shape he desired. A flower was
his goal. It blossomed in red and purple and gold. A blue butterfly lit
itself onto the outermost petal as the girlchild giggled again, laughing at
the gift. "Thank you, papa!" she wrapped her thin arms around his neck.
Amy glanced at Lita to see if Lita was thinking as she was. At Lita's
glance, Amy nodded. *Lita sees it too. The resemblance to Hotaru....*
They shared the same violet eyes, the same straight black hair. The
Nightingale wore hers pulled back, plaited, adorned with adonis blossoms.
Her clothing was a gentle lavender silk. Her wide eyes looked up at the
strangers through spidery black lashes.
"Boreas!" she ran over and was scooped up by the large god of the northerly
winds.
"Being good, Aedon?"
"Yes!"
He spun her around his shoulders then set her dizzily back on her feet.
"And he's good with children too!" Lita whispered breathlessly to Amy, who
merely covered her face with a hand.
*Aedon. The word for nightingale.*
"Aedon, come here," Aeolus beckoned, and his daughter obeyed, curling up
beside her father. Aeolus looked at the newcomers. "I cannot help you."
*My, that's the direct approach.*
Hermes frowned. "And why is that, Aeolus? Poseidon scare you off?"
"Papa says that he can't, Hermes," the little girl's voice had a sound of
finality to it. If papa says, then it most certainly must be.
"I choose my battles with him," Aeolus looked up from another rainbow
flower he created. "I will not fight over this. Unless there is something
greater at stake than you having a romp around the Ionian?" Aeolus sounded
caustic, dry as old leather. He threaded a rainbow flower through a weave in
his daughter's hair.
*None of the gods, save Zeus, Athena, Chronos, Rhea, possibly Themis, since
she sentenced him, and Hermes know of our mission. Poseidon, of course, but
he is the cause. Athena said, 'Zeus has been informed, as must be, and I,
since Poseidon's action was meant against me. No other gods have been told
of your existence here.' Aeolus included it seems. We cannot involve him. Me
making veiled references to things that may happen...who knows how different
they may be from fact? They are mythos, after all...but that is one thing.
Aeolus...he would want an explanation, not some hint on the sly. Damage to
the timestream. It has to be protected.*
Hermes was readying himself to debate this particular statement, but was
silenced by Amy's hand on his arm. He looked at her openmouthed. She blinked
up at him. Silently they debated between themselves. Lita stared at this odd
exchange of argument. It seemed that Amy won when Hermes' shoulders sagged.
"Whatever," he mumbled, then turned and stalked out of the aviary.
"You are welcome," Aeolus said, "to food and drink you may need. Aedon will
show you," the girl scrambled to her feet, taking Amy and Lita's hands in
hers.
"Come! I'll show you the stores!"
Too surprised to object, the little girl dragged them away.
Notus kicked a stone into the pond. "You won't help them at all? Hermes is
a friend and relative, old man."
Aeolus appeared disinterested in Notus' arguments. He folded himself up,
watching the birds that fluttered through the trees, singing contentedly as
he gazed at them out of bleary blue eyes. "I pick my battles. My daughter
will care for them. See that you provide what she requests. Go. I am tired."
He folded his hands onto his lap, closing his eyes. To all appearance, he
was a living statue. Boreas made a motion with his head at Notus, jerking it
toward the door.
Aedon saw that Lita was very fond of food, and so had her heavily laden
with every delicacy that Aeolia possessed, even though Amy protested that
they would never eat it all. Lita was in heaven, even coming out of her daze
over Boreas and his resemblance to her old boyfriend, though she remembered
it quickly enough later. Honey cakes, nuts, sweets and spices in tiny bits
of cloth were added. Amy got an earful about what Lita would be cooking.
It was Hermes who interrupted them in the midst of putting the new supplies
into a bag. "We need to get going. If Aeolus won't help, we have to keep
moving."
"Right. Come on Lita. We have to go."
"Oh yes, you should be going," Aedon agreed. Then, winking, she added to
Amy, "Tell her that Boreas is at the dock to see her off."
Amy chuckled lightly, then repeated it to Lita, who screeched, running out
of the kitchen, nearly plowing down Hermes. She didn't forget the bag of
spices.
Boreas, much to Lita's immense delight, gave her a kiss on the cheek
good-bye. *Oh, are we going to be hearing about that for the whole of the
Silver Millennium....*
"You know, Amy-chan?"
"Yes?"
Lita slumped over the rail, watching the retreating edge of the island, a
hand pressed to her cheek where she had been kissed, green eyes full of
stars. "I think Boreas looked better than my old boyfriend...."
"He did."
"Huh?"
Amy clamped a hand over her mouth, blushing. "I didn't mean it like that!"
On the ridge that watched over the sea, three figures, two grown men, the
other a young girl, stood watching the ship leave. The winds played at their
hair and clothing, tossing it about them. "It is polite," Aedon said to the
two men, "to give visitors gifts. Is that not hospice? Gifts usually help
the traveler on their way. It would be kind if someone would give Hermes,
Amy and Lita such a present. Don't you agree?"
The two men looked at the petite girl standing beside them, who still let
her eyes linger on the bright edge of the horizon. The youthfulness in her
face had gone from a gentle spring breeze to a brisk winter chill. She
turned abruptly, her skirts swirling in a lavender cloud after her as she
descended the crest of the hill, returning to the palace and her father.
Boreas said to Notus, "He said to do what she says. I'm for it."
"Yeah, and notice that if we do, the old man gets off? And Poseidon, if he
catches us at it, would happily oversee our asses kicked to straight to
Tatarus. What makes you so eager?"
Boreas glared at him.
Notus laughed, his wild hair flying around his head. "You like the feisty
one!"
"Shut up and help me, or I'll pound you back into that pathetic little gust
of hot air you are."
Notus, still chuckling, took his place beside the god of the North Wind.
"We don't even know where they're going, you know."
"Through the strait. They'll have to manage it from there."
Notus shrugged and joined Boreas in his power.
Moments later, as Amy was about to settle herself down at the tiller with
Hermes, a galestorm of freezing wind blasted into the sail, sending
Seastrider, along with Amy, flying forward. She landed directly on top of
Hermes. Lita was desperately trying to fix the sail to catch the easterly
wind. She didn't see Amy blush and Hermes stutter as he helped to upright
the blue haired girl.
"He sent wind!" Lita shouted over the sound of air rushing rapidly around
them.
"Keep to the tiller. I'll help Lita," Amy told Hermes, then rushed away to
help tame the flying rope.
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