8 Ally

The prolonged absence of a child weighs heavy on a mother's heart.

Maria opens her eyes, watching the ceiling fan in Adam's room spin. Already forgotten the dream she had, where she saw herself still pregnant with Adam. She gets up and starts getting ready for work. She enters her room to find that Kiyana isn't in there. She takes a shower, gets dressed and walks to the living room where she finds Kiyana sitting on the living room floor, similar to how she would find Adam some times.

"Good morning." Says Kiyana.

"Good morning, Kiyana, I have to head off to work." She says, putting on her earrings.

Kiyana gets up to her feet. "I'm going to look for the other two Eternals. I'll keep the link between us open at all times."

"Sounds like a plan. Do what you have to do."

"If you need anything let me know."

Maria walks out the door and heads for work. The morning radio is full of talk about the destruction in Mexico yesterday, where Kiyana and Lucas fought.

"Do you think it's the same guy that helped those people at the hospital?" Says one of the jocks.

"Regardless of who it is, the one thing I'm sure about is that this is a threat to National security."

"What makes you say that?"

"Did you not see the destruction that was left? And there were people who claimed to have been mind controlled. This all seems to be coming out of a comic book."

Maria turns the radio off.

Upon arriving at the hospital's third floor, she is greeted by Sheryl.

"Hey, Maria. Did you hear about the party they want to throw for us?"

"What party?"

"The guy that made that donation for the relief fund wants to throw us a party at some fancy hotel. You going?"

"I don't think I'll be able to make it." Replies Maria, smiling as she turns to walk towards her office.

"Hold on, Olivia said she wanted to see you."

Happy to hear this, Maria makes her way to Olivia's office, knocking on the door.

"Come in." Says Olivia.

Maria walks in, surprised to see two cushions on the floor, Olivia already seated on top of one.

"What's this?"

"I thought we would do something similar to what we did yesterday." Suggests Olivia.

Maria takes a seat on the floor in front of Olivia. "Share thoughts?" She asks.

"Yeah, if you're comfortable with the idea, of course, if not we could just sit here and talk."

Maria thinks about it for a second, something on her mind. "I want to try something out." She says. "Adam is supposed to be in the sun. I want to see if I can reach him, and I hope that you can help."

"The sun? Like THE sun?" She asks, pointing upward.

"Does that sound silly to you?" Asks Maria.

Olivia reevaluates her perception of impossibilities. She nods her head affirmatively to Maria, allowing her to take the lead. They hold hands, close their eyes, and Maria begins to focus, aiming her thoughts to reach as far as she possibly can.

Maria can feel her mind leave the earth's surface, but without any point of reference in the vast openness of space, she struggles to orient her thoughts, finding nothing in the cold void.

Beads of sweat start dripping from Maria's forehead. In a gasp, Maria let's go of Olivia's hands. Her face pale, and out of breath, she wasn't able to make contact with Adam.

"Are you okay, Maria?"

Maria catches her breath, shaking her head. "I just want to talk to Adam again."

Maria leans back, resting her weight on her hands behind her, pushing her chest upward.

"Do you know anything about what happened yesterday?" Asks Olivia.

"The destruction in Mexico? Yeah, a fight between super powered cops and robbers."

"What role does Adam take in all this?"

Maria thinks about how to respond for a moment, hunching over, hugging her knees across her chest. "Adam is a good boy. He wouldn't do the things that the other guy is doing. Adam had a fight with this other Eternal, that's what they call themselves, the people with this power."

Olivia takes a mental note of the information, nodding, and listening.

"He managed to fight him off but it took a toll on him. I got worried, I asked him if he would let go of the power, he got mad and left." Maria stares off into the distance.

Olivia listens intently. Not wanting Maria to stop talking, she thinks of a follow up question to keep her going. Maria breaks the silence.

"Olivia, there's something I want to try with you." She says.

Olivia nods at her request, and they retake their seated positions in front of one another.

Maria, rather than expand outward, looks inward.

Maria and Olivia's consciousness collide with each other, Maria, attempting to keep everything under control, spins and weaves within, the thread of her consciousness spiraling into the infinite, spinning fast enough to make Olivia's thread spin along with her, like two strands of DNA, expanding eternally from one end to another. In the space between them, as they spin, their thoughts interact in a heterogeneous whirlpool.

Maria feels Olivia as if they were one, yet separate. Together, they create a space for each other, so they may interact within.

Maria opens her eyes to find Olivia and herself in an infinite white void.

"Wow." Says Olivia, opening her eyes. "Where are we?"

"I think inside my mind."

Maria's response sparks something inside Olivia.

"Your mind?"

"I think so."

"Can you do what you want here?"

"Let me see." Maria closes her eyes, focusing.

She opens her eyes to the loud sound of stone colliding with stone. Wooden doors on a stone brick wall begin to appear, spreading and enwrapping Maria and Olivia around them. A giant spiral maze appears in the void.

Olivia looks around in wonder. "Oh my God, Maria. I think this is your mind." She turns to her. "I shouldn't have this type of access, Maria. It's not ethical."

Maria looks at her with reassuring eyes, still holding on to each other's hands. "I trust you, Olivia. Please help me find that courage everyone says I have."

Understanding, Olivia nods. "On one condition."

"Absolutely." States Maria.

"I know exactly where to find my courage." Olivia bites her lip. "Please, Maria. There's something inside of me that I have to confront."

Maria, feeling her desperation, begins to subside control of the space they created between them, the link weakening.

"Make your consciousness continue spiraling." Instructs Maria, sharing the meaning behind her words.

Quite adaptive, Olivia takes over the space. Maria's maze is replaced by a tall minimalist office, a few rolling coat hangers with designer clothes dispersed throughout the office. At the center, a small wooden block where a young Olivia stands, naked, as a woman dressed in black with a bowl haircut observes Olivia's stomach, a cigarette in her left hand.

The small woman runs her hand over a horizontal scar under Olivia's naval.

"Is that a cesarean scar?" Asks Maria, unnoticed by the character's of Olivia's memory.

Olivia had taken them directly to a memory she frequents on her own.

The woman puffs a cloud of smoke towards Olivia's stomach. "It's hideous. You're fired. Out of my sight." Says the small woman, making her way back to her seat behind her desk.

Still in the memory, standing on the wooden block in the middle of the office, but addressing Maria, Olivia recounts the events that led to this moment.

"I used to be a model. Back then I thought I was living my dream. Everything I always wanted was given to me. All I had to do was look good in dresses made by pieces of shit, like this woman, smile, fuck the right men, and I could have anything I wanted." Olivia runs her hand across her stomach. "I got careless and got pregnant. The asshole then tells me that he had a wife and kids already, and said he wanted nothing to do with me and my child. I tried to hide the pregnancy for as long as possible without being noticed."

Maria is enveloped by an immense feeling of grief.

"There were complications during the birth." Olivia bows her head, her hair covers her face, tears drip down to the wooden block she stands on.

Maria stands in front of her and wraps her arms around Olivia's hips, resting her head against her abdomen. "I am so sorry, Olivia."

Olivia steps down from the block, picking it up and carrying it with her as she walks around the frail woman's desk and begins to bash her skull with the block. The woman's head is pounded between the heavy wooden block and her desk. Blood drips from her ears and mouth as she coughs up blood. Maria rushes to Olivia, stopping her assault on the woman.

They fall to the floor, Maria's arms wrapped around Olivia. The space between their thoughts disappears.

Maria opens her eyes to see that they occupy the same position as in Olivia's memory; her arms are around Olivia as she weeps into her shoulder.

Maria sits there with Olivia for as long as she needs. After a few minutes, Oliva looks up and kisses Maria on the lips.

In the fraction of an instant, Maria feels a warmth within her abdomen, and a rush of consciousness similar to the ones she shared with Adam.

Seperating from the kiss, but still close enough to feel each other's breath, Olivia keeps her eyes closed. "Sorry about that. It's a bad habit I have." She opens her eyes to see Maria giving her an understanding look.

Maria holds her hands over her stomach. The sensation is strange, it feels like a raging fire within her, not hot, burning, or too warm. A feeling that is just right. In that instant, Maria thinks this feeling has always been there, and that she just had not noticed. Still curious, she decides to investigate this on her own.

"Well, Olivia, I think we made great progress today."

They both laugh. Olivia snivels as she wipes tears away with her wrist.

Maria and Olivia bid farewell, a feeling of accomplishment in the air. Maria struts back to her office, locks the door behind her, shuts the blinds, and sits on her chair as she focuses on the new sensation she recently discovered.

She senses a thread of consciousness connected from her navel and reaching outward towards the infinite. Maria follows the thread, a light at the end of it, growing bigger and bigger until eventually overwhelming her with light, intense heat and an unstoppable explosion at the center of it all.

Maria severs the link. Opening her eyes and noticing smoke pouring from her skin into the air.

"Adam."

She finally did it, she found a link to her son. Ecstatic, Maria communicates with Kiyana, sharing with her the news. Kiyana shares her happiness with Maria, and shares her own frustration at being unable to find the other Eternals. Through their link, Maria comes to understand the nature of most Eternals. Most wanting to be left alone, and not wishing any involvement with the Pantheon. Maria empathizes with her.

During her lunch that day, Maria chats with Sheryl as they eat. Sheryl brings up the party held by the philanthropist again, Maria tries her best to politely decline.

After work, on her way home, Maria receives a notification from Kiyana.

"I found one of the Eternal, he asked to meet you. Would that be alright?"

Maria puts her hand on her stomach, the fire still burning inside her. "Yes, it's alright." She confirms.

Maria arrives home, keeps her clothes on and notices that outside of the wormhole in her living room, in the snowy forest Kiyana made appear, two hooded figures appear seated in the middle of the snow.

Maria's ability to communicate through the threads of consciousness has improved to the point she can identify people at a distance, able to interact with them without having to extend her own consciousness. Maria identifies Kiyana, but is unaware of the other hooded figure in the snow.

"Maria, please join us."

Maria does not walk out of her living room, instead, practices her ability to create a mental space. Kiyana and the stranger notice this and join her.

Maria opens her eyes, recreating the beach Adam and her frequent in her mind.

Kiyana appears, still hooded, behind her a tall, muscular man reveals himself to Maria. Pale skin, piercing blue eyes, and a short blonde buzz cut. The man stands with a conscientious demeanor, Maria concludes that he must be military.

"Pleasure to meet you, Maria." He says with a thick eastern-European accent. "My name is Boris. I am an Eternal, also I am part of an agency dedicated to investigating paranormal activity on a global scale."

Maria turns to Kiyana. "You found him!"

"Actually, he found me. Maria, this is Boris. He has agreed to help us fight Lucas."

"A pleasure to meet you, Boris." Says Maria.

"Maria, Boris works for an independent research agency. They de-"

"Please, allow me." Interrupts Boris. "Miss Maria, may I please show you who and what I am?"

Maria nods, subsiding control of the mental space. With great efficacy, Boris takes control and begins to weave his thoughts, manifesting around the three of them the gated entrance to what appears to be an abandoned fortress.

"This is my place of work. One of many locations, we dedicate ourselves to the research of that which is out of scientific understanding."

The scene shifts, a young boris sits on the edge of a bed in a dark room, holding a gun to his temple.

"I had encountered an Eternal that wiped out my platoon. I did not take well to the feeling of utter powerlessness."

The gun goes off but nothing happens to the young Boris, instead, confused he turns to see the bullet spinning in mid air. Joy appears with a flash and a crack, a smile on her face.

"I received gift of the Eternal. I understood the magnitude of power, instead of using it for personal gain, I have dedicated my life to ensure the safety of earth."

"Like a Guardian?" Asks Maria.

Boris smirks, turning to Kiyana to chuckle in her face, then turns his attention back to Maria.

"For the last thirty years I have come to understand that the best interest of the Pantheon does not usually coincide with the best interest of humanity." He replies.

"What do you mean?"

"What Boris is trying to s-"

"That is not important, please." Interrupts Boris, again. "We have in our hands a man who is driven by his ambition, and his greed. Maria, Kiyana tells me your son is Eternal. I was told I may not speak to him, so I ask you. For the sake of earth, allow your son to ally himself with me and my allies to bring down this Eternal."

"Boris, I'm sure Adam would like to help. He's just not available right now."

"What is it you are meaning?" He asks.

Maria lets the link between her and Adam speak for itself, allowing Boris to track where Adam is located.

"The sun? Shit!" He exclaims.

"I'm sure we can convince Adam to come back and help if you explain the situation."

"Unlikely. It seems he has rejected his body and become one with the celestial titan."

Kiyana, also surprised by the revelation, turns to Maria. "This is bad. It may mean Adam is no more. No, not exactly, rather, what you once knew to be Adam is no more."

"I can still feel him inside, Kiyana. I know he's in there." Objects Maria.

"Maybe you are to take greater role in all this. Miss Maria, if ever I need to communicate with you, may I have your permission?" Says Boris.

"I'll allow this, Boris. How can I be sure that it's the real you, and that you have not been compromised?"

Boris approaches her, placing his index finger between her brows, he injects her with a memory. It is of a young man, covered in blood, holding in his arms the remains of what appears to have been another human at some point. The young man weeps before raising his head to the rainy sky to shout at the thunder.

"This is where it all change for me." Says Boris, the memory still playing out. "I promised myself I would do everything I could to prevent something like this from happening again."

Maria shares Boris's pain, wanting nothing more than to bring back to life the person in his arms.

"I must beg my leave, Miss Maria." With that, he releases the mental space.

Maria opens her eyes in her living room. Kiyana and Boris, now with their faces revealed, still out in the snowy forest, look in Maria's direction.

"Guardian, come with me. Together we make greater progress in finding Lucas."

"Sorry, Boris, I accidentally promised Adam I would look after his mom while he's away."

"Accidentally?"

"Long story. I trust you and your organization will know what to do."

Boris nods, accepting the responsibility. He turns to Maria again. "I feel your path is one of balance. I like you, Miss Maria. I hope your son shares your good intentions for our planet."

He disappears with a flash and a crack.

Maria feels reassured knowing there's such a prepared Eternal willing to face Lucas.

Kiyana teleports inside, brushing off snow from her clothes, she takes a seat on the sofa, inviting Maria to join her.

"Maria, I have some news to share with you."

Maria joins her on the sofa next to her. "Is it about Adam?"

"No. It's about Lucas." Kiyana puts a hind in her coat and reveals a folded up fan. She opens the fan, revealing an image of millions of stars.

Maria grabs the fan, noting how the image seems to be deep within the fan, as if it were a window into space. "What is this?" She asks.

"Joy gave it to me. She said it's a gift sent by the Pantheon. This is what we'll use to defeat Lucas. This fan can cut threads of consciousness linked between people."

"You are going to use this to stop Lucas from controlling other people?"

"Yup. I'll correct my mistakes. I'll show the Pantheon I am ready to take the mantle of Guardian."

Maria smiles, hiding her anxiety. She puts her hands over her stomach, feeling the infinite explosion within her burn.

The next day, Maria arrives on the hospital's third floor. She greets Sheryl as she usually does then turns to make her way to Olivia's office.

"Olivia hasn't arrived yet, honey." Says Sheryl, stopping Maria before she makes it to the psychologist's door.

Maria subsides her need to speak to Olivia and walks back to her office and begins the day's work.

Olivia did not make it to work all day, she did not notify anyone of her absence, and answered none of the calls human resources sent her way.

"That's so unlike Olivia." Says Maria to Sheryl as they eat their lunch.

"She wasn't looking too good these last couple of days. Did she mention something to you?"

Not wanting to reveal to Sheryl Olivia's suicidal attempt, she does not answer.

Maria finishes the day with a few minutes to spare before clocking out. She decides to sneak into Olivia's office, unsure what motivated her to do so.

She steps into the office she had come so familiar with these last few weeks, and takes a seat where Olivia usually sits behind her desk.

Maria grabs a framed photograph on the desk. Skeptical and needing absolute confirmation, she contacts Kiyana and Boris, sharing with them what she sees.

She holds up a picture of Olivia's wedding day. Olivia, dressed in an elegant, beautiful white dress, rests her hands on a suited man's chest.

"Lucas!"