Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (32 page)

Dreams are not without meaning
wherever they may come from- from fantasy, from the

elements, or from other inspiration….
Dreams must be heeded and accepted.  For a great

many of
them come true.

Paracelsus-
‘Spagyrical Writings’

What…
the… hell…?

Gion
was not a man easily shocked, but his mind just went utterly blank as he looked
around.

He
was looking at a scene from the Fall.  It was like time travel, every detail of
the scene perfect and complete.  A virtual instant replay of that summer night,
two years before.  The darkened clouds overhead still had their imagined
shapes.  Gion hadn’t seen pictures in them since the Cloud House fell and he’d
forgotten how magical they were.  The courtyard of the Water House was
illuminated by the twisting of flames.  He could smell the smoke in the air.

The
semi-insane idea that he’d been swept into some kind of memory sharing with Ty
popped into his head.  That was impossible, but it was the only thing Gion
could think of.  What the hell was going on?

First
of all, only Matches engaged in a memory sharings.  And secondly, memory
sharings only had
one
person reliving the memories of another.  Right
now, Gion was standing with his feet planted on the cobblestones holding Ty in
his arms.

The
real Ty.

They
were both in this memory.  Somehow, during her panic attack, Ty’s energy had
dragged him into this with her.

So,
what the hell was happening?

Gion
was so completely baffled that he didn’t protest when Ty struggled free of his
hold.  He hadn’t even processing what was happening in the actual memory until
he saw the fountain.

They
were standing right in the middle of the night that Ty almost died.

Witnessing
that mob attack her all over, again.

No.

Gion’s
heart started pounding.  He didn’t want to see this.  He didn’t want Ty to see
it.

The
mob screamed and coughed.  Moving in waves of hate, they charged across the
courtyard towards the small figure running from them.

Ty.

No
.

This
was obviously
some
kind of memory.  Gion couldn’t do anything to change
what had already happened.  He couldn’t interact with the people here or
actually touch anything.  But, he still raced for the helpless, past version of
Ty as the crowd pulled her down, slamming her into the pavement.

“Shit! 
Ty!”  They had weapons and torches and he couldn’t do a damn thing.  Gion’s
powers couldn’t help her.  He tried to get between Ty and the mob, but it
wasn’t doing any good.  Gion felt like he was losing his mind.  He dropped to
his knees next to her, on autopilot, trying to get to her.  “Ty!”  One of the
rioters raised a broadsword, aiming it as Ty’s bleeding face.

“
NO!
” 
Gion couldn’t watch.  He should’ve been strong enough to stop the attack.  Or,
at least, strong enough endure this with her.  But, he couldn’t.  Rage and
horror had him turning away.  He couldn’t bear to see what he knew would
happen.

Arms
came around him.

Ty.

The
real-Ty held him and Gion turned into her grasp.  Oh God.  The noises were
killing him.  The soft, wet sounds of the blade hitting the memory-Ty’s body. 
Oh
God
.  He gripped real-Ty desperately, breathing in the scent of her
hair.

She
was okay.  She was okay.  She was okay.

Ty
watched the attack on her past self with unreadable turquoise eyes.  He felt
the tension in her body and not just from witnessing her own near-death.  Ty
was waiting for something…

Gion
lifted his head from her hair and looked at her.

She
knew.

“Ty…” 
His voice was hoarse.  “Please.”

Wham!

The
explosion of
Air energy shook the ground like a sonic boom.

Against
his better judgment, Gion turned to see his own arrival.  He hadn’t wanted Ty
to remember this.  He didn’t remember all of it himself, just his frantic
prayers and his determination not to lose the only vision he’d ever had.

Cyclones
sent the mob flying.  Gion’s eyebrows soared.  Even he was startled by the
amount of energy that had slammed out.  He’d lost control.  Gion could read the
panic on his own face as he dashed for Ty.  Dead Phases fell like stones all
around them and he didn’t even notice.

Gion
warily glanced at Ty, again.

All
her attention was on memory-Gion as he collapsed to knees next to her.  His
cape floated out, covering memory-Ty’s body as he leaned over her.  “Oh Gaia,
please.”  Gion heard his voice break on the prayer.  “Ty!  Angel, open your
eyes.  Ty!  Stay with me.  Open your eyes and stay with me.”

Turquoise
eyes fluttered open and dazedly focused on him.

Memory-Gion
was babbling, crying.  Real-Gion certainly didn’t blame him.  “Ty, stay with
me.  Don’t you leave me here alone.”  He folded one of his palms around hers. 
“Angel, I’m serious.  You’d better hang on or…  Hang on or I’m just gonna follow
you wherever the hell you go.  Think about that.  Is that what you want, Ty?  Me,
stalking you into eternity?”

Real-Ty
started sobbing.  Her shoulders shook with the force of her quiet weeping.

Tessie
once claimed that Gion had been born with a heart two sizes too small.  He knew
now that that was impossible.  Gion felt it rip apart in his chest and it left
a huge, gaping hole.  “Ty?”  He held her closer, rocking her.  “Don’t cry,
angel.”

Memory-Ty’s
hand tightened around memory-Gion’s fingers.

Water
energy stirred, reaching for him, and Memory-Gion’s powers seized hers like a
falling man who’d been handed a parachute.  “You’re strong, Ty.  Just hang on
and prove it.”  He whispered and then surrendered everything he had into his
powers.

Real-Ty
slowly nodded as she felt the Air energy sustaining her past self, stopping the
flow of blood.  “I knew this.”  She said quietly.  “I knew you were here.  I
remember this, now.”  She looked up at him, her eyes moist.  “You saved me.”

“You
saved me.”  Gion whispered back.  “Every day for eleven years.  Maybe even
before that.”

She
leaned up to kiss him and he could taste the tears.  “I’m sorry.”  She
whispered.

“You
didn’t do anything to be sorry
for
.”

“I
did.  I was so scared of you, for so long.  And you saved me.”

“I
made
you scared of me.”  Memory-Gion looked pale and strained.  Gion
could feel the drain of energy as he used microscopic jets of Air to stop the
bleeding.  He dreaded her seeing even one more second of this.  “Ty, your
energy somehow triggered a memory-sharing or something.  The panic attack and
our connection, I don’t know… You just need to get us out of here.”

“I
didn’t do this.”  Ty let go of him and moved closer to the memory-Gion. 
“You’re pushing too hard.”  She shook her head and Gion wasn’t sure which
“Gion” she was talking to.  “Not even your energy can keep this up.  Connecting
with me like that could kill you.  If I died, I’d pull you under, too.”

Gion
shrugged.  “I know.”  He just didn’t care.  Without Ty, there was nothing for
him in this world, anyway.

The
Water Phases were regrouping.

Memory-Gion
didn’t notice, but Real-Gion did.  “Ty.”  He reached for her, pulling her away
from her furious subjects.  “Angel, come here.”  She willingly sat in his lap
and Gion brushed his palms over her damp cheeks.  “Don’t watch this.”

“What…?” 
She trailed off with a scream as the Water Phases attacked.

Men
and women, sick with the Fall and running on helpless anger, rushed at his
former self.  Grabbing at him with their fevered hands, they tried to wrench
him away from Ty.  Memory-Gion fought back, his sword flashing out and cutting
them down.

But
it wasn’t enough.  There were just too many of them and his energy was entirely
focused on Ty’s welfare.

His
distraction cost him and Memory-Gion fell.

Ty
gasped.  “Stop!”  She tried to stand up, but Gion held her still.  It was
stupid, since the crowd couldn’t hurt her, anymore.  They weren’t real.  But,
he didn’t want her near the mob.  “Gion, fight back!”

“I
can’t.”  He remembered the sudden realization that had come over him.  Knowing
that, if he took his attention off of Ty, she could bleed out.  Knowing that he
had to survive long enough for her to get help.  Knowing that he’d die in the
process, unable to fight back.

“Gion,
stop them!”  She shouted.  “You could stop them.  I know you could.  Send them
flying up into the air and…”

“I
can’t.”  He interrupted, keeping her from watching.  “I wouldn’t, even if I
could.”

“It’s
me.”  She ran a hand under her nose.  “You’re keeping me alive and it’s going
to kill you.  How can you be such an idiot?!”

“I’m
not going to die.  You see me sitting right here.”

“That’s
not excuse!”  She struggled against his hold and tried to wade into the mob. 
“That one’s Alastair.  He ran the bakery.  He’s hitting you.  Make him stop! 
Please!
”

“I
can’t.”  When she cried, he felt like a monster.  “Listen to me, I can’t do
anything.  This has already happened.”

Ty
buried her face against his shoulder and sobbed.

“Gaia,
please.”  Gion closed his eyes and prayed for strength.  His former self was on
the ground, bleeding and beaten.   And at that moment Gion would have switched
places with the guy in a second.  Anything would have been preferable to Ty’s
tears.  “Angel…”

“I’m
sorry.”  She repeated.  “I’m so sorry.”

His
jaw tightened.  “Ty, I’m
fine
.  Look at me.”  Gion pried her head up so
he could meet her dazed eyes.  “I knew exactly what I was doing.  I knew
exactly
what the risks were.  This was my choice and I don’t regret it.  Don’t
apologize to me.  Not for anything.”

Ty
hand came up to touch the side of his face.  “Gion.”  She swallowed, her voice
firm and her damp eyes level.  “Do not ever –
Ever!-
- tell me that you’re
a murderer, again.  That man,” she pointed at his former self, “is a hero. 
That
is the man who should have been my Match.”

Gion’s
mouth parted.

He’d
never expected Ty to say that to him.  Truthfully, he’d never even dreamed
she’d look at him that way.  As a hero.  As a
Match
.  It was the most
beautiful thing that Gion had ever heard.

“In
my heart, you’ve been my Match since the first second I saw you.”  He finally
murmured.  “For me, there is only you.”

She
smiled at him through her tears.

In
the background, he saw memory-Gion pulled away from memory-Ty.  Saw his own
body tossed by the crowd.  In retrospect, he wondered how he’d survived this. 
Just pure determination to keep Ty alive.

Across
the courtyard, Tharsis leapt over the edge of the patio and sprinted towards
the fountain.  “Ty!”  He bellowed.  “Damn it, Ty!”

“Poor
Thar.”  Ty whispered.  “His father just died.  I should have stayed in the
palace and they never would have got me.  I wasn’t thinking.  When my uncle
died, I just…”  She trailed off with a sigh.  “It was my fault.”

“No,
it’s
not
your fault.”

Tharsis
didn’t even notice Gion’s prone form amid all the other bodies.  He ignored
everything but Ty.  Most of the mob was working to kill Gion, now, but a few
had made their way back to Ty.  Shoving his way through the crowd with his
Water powers, Tharsis dove for her.

Gion
had no idea the guy had so much power.  Thar’s energy rolled out like a bowling
ball, knocking the other Phases down in a perfect strike.  Who could have
predicted that Tharsis had such remarkable control?

Swearing
and panting for breath, Tharsis grabbed Ty up and ran for the palace.

That
made Gion’s job harder.  He’d had to keep Ty alive from a distance, which was
incredibly difficult.  Gion had actually blacked out for a bit, almost losing
her.  Ty stopped breathing.  He’d felt it and it jarred him back to
consciousness.  Somehow, he’d kept her alive until her cousins got her to
Freya.

When
Ty was finally safe, he’d used what little energy he could muster and jumped to
the Air House library.  Then, he’d passed out on the floor for the next thirty-nine
hours.

“This
is why I would have panic attacks around you.”  Ty held onto his shirtfront. 
“You were such a big trigger for me, and I thought it was just because…”

“Because,
I was a frightening, condescending jackass?”  Gion suggested when she stopped.

“Sort
of.  Yeah.”  Ty admitted.  “But, I was trying to remember you being here.  My
mind was trying to remind me and I didn’t understand.  I’m sorry.”