Ascent of the Aliomenti (10 page)

Will was bored.

“We need to leave,” he told the women as they gathered for a meal. “I think we’ve learned what we’ll learn from them. It’s unfortunate that we learned nothing about reversing the effects of the fruit, though.”

Eva looked puzzled. “Reversed? Why would you want to reverse it? We’ve been granted an incredible gift. Why would you wish to reverse it?”

“I’m still young, Eva,” Hope replied. “The concept of living forever is difficult for me to grasp, but what I’ve learned in living here these past several months is that life for these people has lost meaning. If the gift of immortality means I’ll lose interest in being alive, then I’d prefer to reverse it and live, age, and die as I was born to do. Perhaps we’ll learn that it’s not so much the gift of immortality that has led this group of people to behave as they do. It’s the fact that they’ve chosen to isolate themselves away from the rest of humanity, with only the rare new candidate to add variety.” Her face fell. “But that’s not the real reason I want to know how to reverse the effects of the ambrosia fruit. I’m only twenty years old, Eva, and my life has been lived in nearly as much isolation as these people. I don’t know much about the world. What I’ve learned, though, is that there are experiences I’ve yet to have that I’m certain I
want
to have. And one of those experiences, one that is critically important to me, is denied to me by the fruit that grants me immortality.”

Eva looked surprised at this. “After what you’ve lived through, after the way you were treated... you want to be a parent? You want to bring a child into this world?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand that, Hope.”

“Perhaps you don’t,” Hope conceded. “But the reality is that I think I’m well-suited to be a parent after my experiences, because I’ll be motivated to treat my children as the treasures they are. They’ll never feel neglected, or like a piece of property to be bartered, or wonder what it means to be loved. For that? I’ll give up immortality, even if it means I have to spend the next thousand years trying to figure out how to do it.”

Will nodded. “It’s the lack of choice, Eva, at least in Hope’s case, and in my case as well. It’s true that I was told of the consequences before I chose to eat the fruit, but I will not let Hope work through this challenge alone. It’s one of the reasons I think we need to leave here.”

Eva hesitated. “It’s not the only reason. Something has bothered me since I arrived, and I’ve followed that hunch. It suggests this place is more dangerous than we think, but...” She hesitated.

“What is it?” Hope asked.

“The stories about this place don’t make sense, and haven’t since we arrived. They all agree: Ambrose was here first. Others arrived, by his invitation, roughly two per century. He’s been alive for a long time.”

“Right,” Will said. “So what of it?”

“Don’t you think it’s rather odd that only Ambrose is allowed to leave? And how he always finds a new candidate worthy of admission?”

Will shrugged. “We don’t know how long he’s gone each time. If he’s gone for a year and tours several towns, he’s bound to find someone he thinks is worthy.”

Eva shook her head. “I’ve asked leading questions about that, and people have volunteered that he’s gone maybe two weeks.”

Hope frowned. “That’s.... suspicious.”

“It’s more than suspicious,” Eva said. “He
knows
who he’s looking for. And how does he know that?”

Will and Hope exchanged glances, and then shrugged.

“He knows... because he planted the person there on his previous trip.”

She let the statement hang in the air, watched as Will and Hope tried to work out the truth, and finally made the revelation. “Every person here is Ambrose’s child. He leaves this place, he finds and impregnates a woman in one town, and then goes to the village he visited during his last excursion. They come because they recognize him as their father. He considers them worthy because he knows them to be his children. The others living here know that he’s
their
father, but don’t know the others are. But they trust him. That’s why Aina got scolded that first day for calling him Ambrose. It was disrespectful to him. The whole ‘Father Ambrose’ bit isn’t really a title of honor... it’s a literal fact.”

Hope stared at Eva. “But that means... he knows...”

Eva nodded. “It was pretty obvious he was lying about the effects not being reversible. He knows they are, and he knows
how
to make it happen. Perhaps the effects wear off after fifty years. I’ve tried to watch him to see if he avoids the fruit, but he’s never in the area, like he’s trying to avoid me.”

“We have two choices, then,” Will said. “We can try to extract the information out of Ambrose now, then leave. Or we can leave now, try to figure it out on our own, and then come back, if needed, to learn what Ambrose knows. But when we leave, I need to go back to the Aliomenti. I know that’s where I’m supposed to be.”

Eva looked at him. “You’re actually going back?”

Will sighed. “I always knew that I would, because I believe in what the supposed goals of the Aliomenti village were. What can we achieve as individuals if we focus our efforts on it? I’ve learned I can fly and teleport and heal people of seemingly fatal injuries. I can’t help advance that cause in any other way.” He dropped his eyes to the ground. “But there’s a major problem with that.”

“We’d need to split up,” Eva said. “We’d need to find somewhere else to travel and live, while you’re there contending with Arthur and my brother. And others.” She shook her head. “You do realize that you’ll need to share this fruit with them, don’t you?”

Will made a face showing his displeasure. “I can’t think of two people right now who I’d less want to see live forever, but I fear that you’re correct, Eva. In the interest of meeting the goals of the group... I have to tell them. But there’s a larger reason to take the fruit back with me, and it’s not to give it to those two, or even any innocents who might join once I return. It’s that a group like that, so motivated to pursue money and, yes, power... they’ll eventually have a core of people who will study that fruit, understand how it does what it does. When they do that, they’ll be able to develop the cure, if we’re not able to get it from Ambrose. And I can’t think that Ambrose will tell us willingly.”

Eva shook her head. “It’s hard to believe that anyone would view immortality as something requiring a cure.”

Hope looked at the ground. “There’s always a cure for immortality, Eva. It’s just not one you want to consider. I do not shy away from that part, but I’ll sacrifice immortality for the ability to bear my children.”

Will nodded. “Then we need to leave. I suppose we do owe our host, Ambrose, the courtesy of telling him that we’re leaving, don’t we? Perhaps ask some useful questions in the process?” He gave a wry smile.

The women nodded. “Once we leave, we’ll need to figure out where we need to go,” Eva said. “It needs to be far away from the village so we don’t run the risk of Arthur seeing us.”

“Perhaps someplace... warm?” Hope smiled, and Will laughed.

They gathered their few possessions, and Will gathered several pieces of fruit. He pocketed several, and then smashed several others open. “I’m collecting the seeds,” he explained. “We’ll need to grow this near the village if we’re to use and study it. It’s not practical to think I can teleport here and back each time we need more.”

They marched into the village proper, and located Ambrose, Aina, and others dispersed throughout the center of the main housing area. They approached Ambrose, the leader of the forest residents, and asked to speak with him privately. Ambrose frowned, but excused himself from the others and walked with the trio.

“What’s the purpose of this discussion?” Ambrose asked.

“We know the effects of the fruit can be reversed,” Eva said. “And we know
you
know the trick.”

Ambrose startled, then composed himself. “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

Will glared at him. “Don’t patronize us, Ambrose. There are an awful lot of noses in this village that look just like yours. Tell me, where will your next miraculous candidate be located?”

Ambrose folded his arms. “Are you threatening me? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“But we do,” Aina said, as she and a dozen others stepped into the clearing, surrounding them. “They are threatening harm against Father Ambrose. And that won’t be allowed.”

Will glanced at the women. Do we fight them, force the truth out of him?

No, Hope replied. I don’t agree with that.

Then we need to be prepared to leave. Everybody got their target in mind?

He received assents from both women, and turned to look at Ambrose. “Father Ambrose has been less than truthful with us. He refuses to correct the problem. Thus, we choose to leave.”

Ambrose shook his head. “You’re not permitted to leave. I do believe that you made a promise on that topic. And you are now guilty of a crime, one you must answer for.”

“None of us made promises of our free will. Hope ate the fruit without knowledge of what it was, I ate it to ensure she had companionship, and Eva ate it under the threat of execution. Such promises are hardly binding. And your alleged crime is more a crime
against
us than one committed
by
us.”

Villagers began circling them, and for the first time the trio noted the presence of weapons, primarily long lances that were aimed in their direction.

“Perhaps you misunderstood me,” Ambrose said, without emotion. “You will not be permitted to leave.”

Will sighed. “Again, we thank you for your hospitality, but our time here is at an end.”

Ambrose nodded, as the trio began flooding their cells with Energy.

“So it would seem,” Ambrose replied, and nodded at the circling army.

The lances were thrust at the trio.

But they met only empty air.

VIII

Separation

1022 A.D.

The trio reappeared outside the Ambrosia forest, separated from each other by a distance of thirty to forty feet. The air seemed stale by comparison, and the sweet scent of ambrosia, so prevalent over the past ten months, was gone. They walked toward each other, each glancing about to ensure that Ambrose and his immortal children had remained behind.

“I cannot
believe
they tried to kill us!” Hope snarled as they converged. “Why would they do that? Why do they
care
if we choose to leave?”

Will shrugged. “I’ve seen people behave quite irrationally when in possession of knowledge that gives them a pronounced advantage over everyone else. Withholding that knowledge isn’t uncommon, and neither is erasing any threat of exposure.” He sighed. “Do you think someone like Arthur will willingly allow the secrets of morange and zirple to reach the masses?” He gave a meaningful glance at both of them, and both looked troubled.

The exterior trees of the Ambrosia forest were regaining their green color in the early spring, as the temperatures in the northern climate reached levels required for the growth and proper pigmentation of the leaves. The sun flared high above, and it was only now, freed of the thick canopy of trees that shaded their relocated homestead, that they realized how dark it had been inside the forest. Will, who’d read numerous books and articles about the impact of environment, color, and layout of space upon mood and worker productivity, recognized that the general morose mood of the villagers might well arise from the lack of sunlight.
They’re killing themselves in the process of living forever, denying their skin the exposure to the sun required for the overall health of their bodies.
It was no wonder they’d been such gloomy people.

They realized that the vows the Ambrosians swore about remaining in the forest might be forgotten in an effort to track them down. The trio began walking south, primarily to escape possible attack, but also to give each of them the chance to recharge their Energy. They had no specific destination in mind, but all three knew that they’d separate once the women were entrenched in their new hometown. Their mood as the new journey began was somber.

Discussions focused upon the ideal living arrangements for a pair of immortal women. They would need an isolated area where they could perform and practice Energy work without fear of exposure. Such a base had an added advantage for immortals: they could go there to “die” every few decades and then emerge in a different locale to begin their lives anew. Will, familiar with the general geography of Europe, suggested that they locate a small island within the Mediterranean Sea, one too small to interest sailors looking for temporary relief from storms or treasure hunters seeking potential gold mines.

They spent several months working their way to the south. The flight to the Ambrosia forest had taken them over the North Sea into Norway, and working their way south and, periodically, east, had brought them into modern-day Sweden. They were eventually able to fly west into modern Denmark, minimizing the time they needed to spend in the air, and then resumed their way south once more.

Their first stop outside the Ambrosia forest had brought to light a challenge that Will had, to his chagrin, not considered. He’d been fortunate to travel back in time to medieval England, where the residents spoke the same language he spoke. The Ambrosians had, to his relief, spoken a modified form of English as well.