Life - Life & Death Book 1

Chapter 24 - Part 1 - Zivena

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I rush down the stairs into the common room when I feel Mictain close by.
"Merry Christmas!" I call across the common room to Mictain. Vulcan's there too.
"Merry Christmas," Mictain smiles.
"Hey Zi," Vulcan grins. "Are your brothers coming today?"
"Yep! They should be here soon," I glance over my shoulder at the doors but no one has rocked up yet.
"Is your sister coming, Vulcan?" Mictain asks.
"No, she's too young. They wouldn't allow it. But she's spending time with my grandma this year."
It isn't often you hear of a Guardian having grandparents.
"What does your grandma do?" I ask.
Vulcan's eyes light up, "She's an intelligence analyst. I wanted to get into the Intelligence Division when I graduated but that kind of changed." Vulcan raised his hands, palms up. Vulcan gives us a guilty smile.
"Hey Zi!" I hear someone shout out. I grin to myself.
"Ulfric!" My brother runs over to us and sweeps me into a hug. I've missed him so much, I barely protest.
"How was your flight?" I ask when he finally puts me down.
"Not too bad. Ahren was flirting with all the flight attendants though," Ulfric pulls a face.
"He did that last time too!"
Ulfric rolls his eyes before settling his gaze on Mictain. "You must be Mictain! I've heard so much about you."
I rush to disagree. "What? No, you haven't!"
Mictain gasps. "He hasn't?"
I glare at him. There's no need for him to play along.
"Ulfric, this is Vulcan," I say, steering the conversation away from me and Mictain. Something I'll probably have to do a lot today.
"Hey, man. Nice to meet you," Ulfric shakes Vulcan's hand.
"Yeah, you too."
The look of those two faces makes me want to run and hope to the gods I don't get pranked along the way.
"Have you forgotten about me already?" Someone says behind me.
I turn around to see Ahren grinning.
"Well, what can you expect? I hear you've been flirting with all those pretty flight attendants. I just assumed you weren't going to show up."
Ahren glares at Ulfric. "Good one, Ulfric."
Ulfric ignores him.
I give Ahren a one armed hug and as I pull away I spot Mom and Dad walking through the doors. There's a shorter woman walking beside them.
"Hey Mom, come meet my friends!" Vulcan calls from behind me.
The woman that walked in with Mom and Dad smiles and all three of them come over.
"This is my mom, Faun." Vulcan introduces everyone.
Dad nods. "Faun and I worked on a case together in the sixties."
"Really?" Vulcan and I say at the same time.
Faun smiles. "We never did crack that one."
Everyone is silent for a moment before Ulfric mumbles about the terrible plane food and we all head over to the cafeteria for a special Christmas breakfast.
We spend the rest of Christmas day together. Mom, Dad and Faun tell us about different cases they worked on over the years and we all eat way too much food. I hold onto this day. Even though it's far from a normal Christmas, I know that next year won't be so relaxed.

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Mom and I finish up our late night training. I'm soaking with sweat and dying for a shower. It's been three days since Christmas. Three days since my dad and brothers left to go back to work even though they'll fly back again to come see the 'big show'. Thank the gods Mom has been able to stick around.
"You've improved a considerable amount in a few days, Zi," Mom says as she towel dries her barely sweaty face.
"Yeah but I'm nowhere near as good as you." I take a deep drink of water from my bottle before picking up my towel.
Mom turns and gives me a look. "I'm nearly eighty years old, Zivena. I have a lot more experience than you. It's going to take you a while to get to my level."
I sigh dramatically. "But I don't want to wait that long."
Mom laughs, "You'll just have to train harder then."
I stretch out my already sore muscles so they don't cramp and then we both head outside.
The cold air is like a slap in the face.
Artemis is a few steps away as the doors close behind us. I had asked if she'd be part of our advisory committee and she stressed me out by taking nearly a month to think about it. Artemis only agreed to join after speaking to Hod. Somehow, he had convinced her.
"I hope you gave your daughter a good thrashing," Artemis says in way of greeting. "Her head has grown far too big these last few months."
I poke my tongue out at her. "It's only because you're such a shit trainer."
"Zivena!" Mom chides me.
"What?"
"Don't speak to Artemis like that."
"Why? She speaks to me like that all the time."
"It's alright Lenia," Artemis interrupts. "I take no offense whenever Zivena opens her mouth. Which is frequently."
"Hey!"
Mom laughs. "Just as well."
"I did come to speak to you about our departure, Zivena. We'll be flying out the day after tomorrow. First thing in the morning. There's no point sticking around after your big day." I found out earlier today that she'd be staying here until Mictain and I reveal ourselves tomorrow. And by the sounds of it, she'll be with us when we leave.
I nod. "Thank you."
Artemis nods towards both of us and leaves.
"It seems you get along well with her. It's good to see you've made allies so soon. I have a feeling you'll need them."
We're both silent for a time, standing in the courtyard while others move around us. "Mom," I say, slowly. "Why didn't you tell me the truth? About Evert hitting me?"
Shock flitters across her face but she reigns it in. "Why didn't you tell me you'd remembered?"
I gaze at her, wondering what could be flying around her mind. If she was reliving that night just like I did a month ago. "Honestly? I don't know," I sigh. "Maybe I was caught up with everything happening around me. Or because I didn't want to face it. I just don't understand why he did it. Why he got so angry."
Mom gives me a pained look. "Your father and I have been trying to understand what happened that night for years." We move to sit on one of the benches that are scattered around the courtyard. "I think he's scared of being alone and overlooked. Not that that's an excuse," Mom hurries to explain. "Lyov believes it was the drawing that triggered Evert to act that way. Seeing the other drawings and he was the only one by himself."
A strange feeling sweeps through me, dragging me down. It could be sadness or it could be exasperation. Or a mixture of both.
I take a deep breath. "The drawing wasn't finished, Mom. It was suppose to be of the two of us."
"That makes sense." Mom nods and looks across the courtyard, her eyes distant. "There will never be an excuse for what he did. And even though your mind forgot what had happened, you instinctually stayed away from him. I hope that because he never showed behavior like that again that he's realized what he did was wrong and felt just a small amount of remorse."
"I don't think he ever felt remorse," I sigh, growing tired of this conversation. "All I can remember is feeling his hate for me whenever he looked at me."
Mom's arm wraps around my shoulders, pulling me closer. The smell of wild flowers makes me feel less homesick as I lean into her. We take in the night sky above us and I wonder what's going to happen from here. Where are we going to be once my training is over.
"Did I ever tell you the story behind your name?" Mom asks.
I shake my head, glad she's steering the conversation away from Evert.
"I think it was around 500 years ago, a tradition started where if you had a god or goddess for a child you would name them after one of their previous incarnations. The tradition stuck around." I can hear the smile in her voice and wonder who this other Zivena was like. "When we found out who you were going to become, I started digging through our Slavic history and read about a Goddess of Life named Zivena Lovrić. She was incredible. Her and the Goddess of Death, I think her name was Lenka, advocated for the infected humans to have their own laws within their factions. It look them sixty years to pass that law with the Council and another forty to make sure everyone on both sides were playing fair but they did it. They made an incredible difference and I believe you and Mictain will bring about great change as well."
I marvel at what this Goddess of Life I was named after achieved in sixty years. Sixty years still seems like such a long time to change effect change in our society but I quietly begin to wonder what I could achieve in an immortal lifetime.