Chapter 124

Chapter 124

The walk across the sand was short, but in that time Sonya had a lot to think about. She thought about the aspirants, about how far they’d all come in such a short time. The kind of effect this place had on people. The hard work they’d put in. She thought about the people she knew, she’d affected, and the people she’d killed. She thought about the past and the future, where she came from and where she was going. She thought about Carla who fell into step next to her as she walked. She thought about Chunhua who walked over towards the fire pit from the far side, sending her an easy smile.

I’ve come a long way too, she thought before glancing at her watch, seeing her reflection in the surface. But I still have more to overcome. She exhaled and relaxed her shoulders as Carla hurried to set down a towel for the two of them to sit on. She glanced at the woman and reached out to touch the pink diamond hanging from her choker-collar. She smiled at it and then flicked her eyes up at Carla’s face, winking once before sitting down and leaning back a bit on her hands to relax. Carla sat next to her and leaned in close, her arm pressed against Sonya’s.

Chunhua sat a respectful distance away, not wanting to interfere in the moment. A few of her students sat down near her and she turned to talk with them. Sonya looked past her to the coast where Greg, Alex, Lily, and Snow were running around picking up the last of the trash. Snow snatched up a can from the ground and jumped up and down, Alex spun and opened his bag and the girl tossed it in. Lily threw up her arms and all four let out a howl. Sonya giggled, she would have done the same, honestly.

The quartet of troublemakers walked back over, setting the bag of garbage filled with what they’d found near a small station that had been set out to provide refreshments throughout the day. Sonya watched them talk with Axel who was standing behind the counter before she turned her head the opposite direction. Rows of tents stretched out facing the sea. Some were coming out of their tents, probably having enjoyed a nap in the beautiful weather. She tilted her head and kissed Carla’s temple as Lily walked over before sitting forward a little bit, “Lily!” She called.

The girl turned and Sonya smirked at her before gesturing to the fire pit filled with wood. It was dug deep to create a large flame while still not obscuring the eyes of everyone present. A pair of holes were dug on each side to provide the flame oxygen. “Can you do the honors?” She asked as more and more aspirants came over and started sitting down in a ring around the pit. The sun was nearly set at this point and several of them were watching the colors on the horizon. Lily pointed to herself, surprised, and Sonya nodded. Lily brightened and looked at Chunhua excitedly who gave her a thumbs up.

More aspirants noisily sat down as Lily rubbed her hands together and took in a deep breath. Sonya spotted Greg and Jessica sit down together, Greg looking a little tired. They were talking when both froze and looked at Lily. Everyone went silent as darkness washed over the beach. Gold flames appeared in the air and rushed into Lilys mouth and nose with each breath as the young hero drew in power for a moment. The glimmering flames were hypnotic. Lily held her breath and then with a grin she leaned forward and exhaled. Gold flames billowing from her mouth and onto the pile of wood.

The wood immediately caught and the moment it did a wash of warmth and comfort washed over Sonya and everyone else present. Little aches and pains from throughout the day vanished in moments, tired eyes were invigorated, smiles spread on faces, and even hearts were eased. Everyone clapped as the young woman who had come in afraid of what others would think of her ability turned in a circle, startled. Sonya and Carla clapped as well until Lily managed to pull herself together enough to hurry over to where Snow had set down a towel and they sat together. The other instructors arrived before finally another group showed up from behind Sonya. John and the cooking team walked in and brought with them delights.

Sweet drinks, cocoa, marshmallows for those who wanted them, ingredients for smores, little sausages, chili, nachos, grilled fruits and baked potatoes, all sorts of things were distributed amongst the campers. People laughed and talked, they ate, some snatched up little poles that had been set aside for roasting the marshmallows. They extended and retracted quickly, another toy of Amos’ that he’d made for them as a gift. Laughter rose and fell, and for a little while these young men and women who Sonya knew would endure so much in the future as heroes, had real peace.

Carla rest her head on Sonya’s shoulder, “You should say a few words,” She said.

Sonya raised an eyebrow, “Me? You’re the Pandora lady.”

Carla snorted, “Pandora lady, come on, you’re the Voice.”

Sonya huffed and shook her head, smiling, “Alright, alright,” She chuckled and kissed the woman’s head again before getting to her feet. A few looked her way and she raised her soda can, the little straw in it shaking a bit. Some whispers followed her gesture and everyone around the fire fell silent, “I want to raise a toast with this soda can of all things,” She laughed and was joined by most of those present. She scanned the faces of the young men and women, even Marc was there which surprised her a little. “To you,” She said to them, “To all of you.”

She let out a breath and looked down at herself, “You know, doing a speech like this doesn’t have the same impact when I’m in a bikini,” She said sarcastically, getting some more laughter. She shrugged, “Free eye candy I guess,” She said and smiled at them all, her eyes going soft as she dimmed the lights on them a little, the laughter subsided as her jovial expression eased a little more to something close to motherly warmth, “All of you, in a time like this, when everything seems so scary and uncertain. When taking a job as a soldier would frankly be safer,” She looked at the can for a moment and then at the fire.

“You chose to do the hard thing. You chose to take the tough path. You chose to be the people standing between the weak and the monsters of the world,” She said looking at everyone there, “You decided to become heroes,” She said, “Sure, the money’s pretty good,” She chuckled softly, “A little bit of fame might be nice,” She added, “But... It is not an easy job. You are putting your lives on the line for others every day when you’re out there. It can be thankless, hard, scary. You’ll face dangers no one could even imagine,” She looked at the can again, “And you chose that, to do that, for other people. So that they don’t have to,” She smiled at them all, “That is incredible,” She said breathlessly.

“Firestorm once told me that a hero is the one who moves first, no matter the danger,” She said with a bit of a tremble, “He was a knucklehead you know, goofed off all the time in the office. I had to yell at him a couple times,” She said sadly, “I know what he would say about you all,” She looked them all over as their eyes were fixed on her, “You moved first.”

“...and he is finally reunited with Penelope,” Otis finished his rambling, his hand over his heart as he sat back down. There was some scattered clapping as Sonya shifted in her seat.

“What does the story mean to you?” She asked.

“It’s the story about an incredible hero, what more is there to tell?” He responded with his own question.

She leaned back, “The heroic stories were parables, their purpose was to teach something and explain something through stories,” Sonya said, “Some of them were a bit harder to understand than others. Take Gilgamesh for example, ultimately his story was about the futility of seeking eternal life and how one man with too much power can bring woe to those around him.”

Otis frowned and looked distant for a moment before glancing at her again, “Then what do you think the Odyssey is about?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“There’s a lot of messages in it,” Sonya said thoughtfully, “First and foremost, it’s about a man struggling to live in a world of gods,” She let out a breath, “The greek gods were always given human-like traits but they always seemed to be the worst of us for some reason. Violent, arbitrary, unforgiving,” She said, “Prone to disturbing but often poetic punishments,” She chuckled, “Poseidon seems to completely lack the capacity to forgive, no matter how much Odysseus suffers throughout the story. No matter how much his men suffer.”

She glanced at Chunhua and their eyes met, “Humans have the capacity to forgive, to reconcile, and to start anew,” She said with a small smile, drawing a bit of a flush from the woman who smiled back. She looked back at Otis, “Humans are capable of incredible good and are wonderfully resilient,” She said, “Sure, we mess up, a lot. Humans can be terrible too, but we stick with it don’t we?”

She exhaled, “Despite Poseidon's cruelty, Odysseus proves that a human with a little help, can survive a sea turned against him. It’s about perseverance. I like to think that means that together, humans don’t need the gods, that we’re capable of standing on our own,” She looked down at her hands and looked up at him again, meeting his eyes, “That humans are amazing.”

There was more she could have said, about hospitality, about loyalty, about growing as a person and being changed by one’s experiences, but based on his shocked expression, she’d said enough. She wasn’t sure about the effect she’d had but it felt really good to put him in his place.

Silence fell over the gathered campers for a few moments as everyone reflected. It was finally broken by Lillian who let out a breath, “Wow, I need to read that at some point,” She said before grinning, “Anybody else? This is kinda cool. Talking about the old legends in a new age of heroes. Right?”

Some scattered voices of agreement joined her, “We’re the next Odysseuses!” Alex barked out a laugh, “Hot damn, gotta find me a Penelope,” He added, getting a rolling wave of laughter as his reward.

Chunhua raised her hand, “I have one,” She said, “I heard it recently,” Everyone went silent again and Sonya looked at Chunhua with a raised eyebrow. Chunhua swept her gaze over the crowd for a moment. “Now, I’m not very good at telling stories, not like Mister Mallory or Miss Chernovna,” She said and rubbed her neck grinning a little awkwardly. She let out a breath and squared her shoulders, “I heard it from a friend, I’m a little hazy on all the names so I’ll make them up if you don’t mind,” She scratched her nose and got some chuckles from the crowd.

Sonya tensed, What are you doing?

Chunhua let out a breath, “This is a story about a girl who had an amazing teacher,” Chunhua began, and Sonya relaxed a little bit. Don’t scare me like that! She gave Chunhua a petulant look. The woman smirked at her, Oh you did that on purpose!

Chunhua grinned, “Let’s call her Penny,” She said and took another deep breath before focusing on the story, “Her teacher, Iris, was very special. Powerful. And had many students just like Penny, and those students had a very important job...”