5 The Guardian

Being a mother means confronting personal limits, not out of self-gain, but to ensure the safety of her child.

Unfortunately, Maria and her personal limits have found themselves in a stalemate, having reached her peak already. Unlike Adam, who is barely scratching the surface.

Maria exits Joy's desert landscape and finds herself once again in her office. With no sight of Joy around, or the suited men she had escorted her, Maria resumes the day like any other.

Many praised her throughout the day, recalling the bravery she showed on the day of the shooting. Maria politely thanks them, but is internally annoyed at all the attention she's getting.

"Just doing what's right." The answer she gave almost everyone that mentioned the event.

Only when she arrives home, at her apartment, does a sensation of tranquil serenity wash over her.

"Hey, baby, I'm home." She says, entering through the door, taking off her shoes first, then the rest of her clothes.

Adam is seated in the center of the living room floor, cross legged. He turns to greet his mom.

"Hey, mom. Glad you made it back safe." He says.

As Maria drops on the couch, letting out a weary sigh, Adam takes the opportunity to practice his ability to slow everything around him down, watching her breasts slowly jiggle and jumble about as she lands on the couch. His face turns red.

Wanting to distract himself from his mother's amazing physique, Adam brings up the events that transpired that morning.

"Do you want to look for this Guardian?" Asks Maria.

"I think it would be a good idea. There's still a lot of questions I still have, and I want to learn more about this power, I think a little guidance could help."

Understanding, Maria remains quiet, watching the determined look on Adam's face. "Could I come with you?" She asks.

"Yeah, mom, absolutely."

Adam closes his eyes, ready to teleport them out of there, when Maria interrupts.

"Wait, let's drive there." Proposes Maria.

"We could cover more ground faster if I teleported us."

"Come on, it'll be fun." Maria pleads.

Adam usually has a tough time saying no to his mom, seeing her naked on the sofa, her pleading with him, it's too much.

"Yeah, mom. Let's go."

Adam and Maria get dressed. Both in fitness gear, Maria with a pink tank top and navy blue yoga pants, Adam in the usual black shorts he uses and a dirty t-shirt he found on his bedroom floor.

They hop on Maria's car, take the highway, and after a few minutes, exit the city limits.

"What do you think the Guardian will teach you?" Asks Maria.

"I don't know. Hopefully as much as he knows."

Adam looks out the window, up at the sky. He closes his eyes, a feeling of peace overcoming him. He opens his eyes and glimpses over at his mom in skin tight form fitting clothes, looking as captivating as always. He concentrates, focusing on his surroundings, taking in as much sensory information as possible, searching for something.

Adam sifts through the smells in the vehicle, identifying all of them when he finally catches a whiff of what he was searching for.

Maria had taken off her underwear when she arrived at the apartment due to the no-clothes rule she and Adam agreed upon, when she got dressed in her sportswear on her way out, she put on the same purple lace thong she wore to work. Adam took note of this and wanted to test his abilities to identify specific smells around him, using the familiar intoxicating smell of his mother's sweaty crotch to practice.

"God, mom, you smell amazing."

"Thanks." She says, blushing.

In the distance, as the setting sun begins to paint the sky pink and blue, the trees begin to stretch further into the sky as they enter the forest. A few miles in, Maria pulls over at a pit stop, unsure of where to go next. They exit the vehicle, look around, and wander into the forest, losing themselves among the trees.

"Any clue on where exactly to look?" Asks Maria.

"No, all I was told was to go to the forest, west of where we live." Replies Adam. "I could go fly over the trees and look around."

Maria lets the cool forest breeze hit her, the smell of humid soil in the air, the sound of tree branches brushing against each other.

"Can you speak to the trees? Maybe they know." Says Maria.

Adam is perplexed by his mother's suggestion, having never come close to a thought like that about his powers.

Unwilling to dismiss his mom's excellent suggestion, he picks her up by the waist and spins her in the air.

"That's brilliant, mom, thanks."

Happy to help, Maria puts on a bright smile. Adam kisses her on the cheek then makes his way to a boulder where he jumps on to take a seat.

He closes his eyes, expanding his mind, making contact with the trees. Unlike when he makes contact with the minds and thoughts of other people, the trees do not overload him with a stream of consciousness he has to rummage through to make sense of things, instead they give off this sensation of tranquility, a release of anxiety, especially anxiety towards time. The only thing Adam can compare these feelings to is how he felt when he visited the center of the sun, when he just got his powers.

The trees rock back and forth, despite the lack of wind strong enough to shake them; unlike movements caused by the wind, they almost seem to be dancing.

Maria looks up at the trees when she notices something slowly fall from the sky in front of her. Maria reaches for it, realizing it's a snowflake as it melts on her hand. Looking back up, she sees more and more flakes fall as snow starts gathering rather quickly.

Something strikes hard at Maria's mental barrier. The practice she's had with Adam pays off as she's able to ward off the fierce attacks.

Still seated in his meditative state on the boulder, and aware of the attack on Maria, Adam expands his mind to reinforce her. buffering the strikes at her mind.

The attack on Maria subsides, instead, Adam's mind is attacked, with the intent of breaking through his barrier and getting access to his mind and body's information.

Adam had been practicing to defend his mind while still maintaining an explorative reach. He scans the area, his eyes still closed, making contact with the forest's consciousness. Asking them for help.

Adam feels the tranquil aura of the forest aid him, dissipating the impact of the strikes on his mental barrier, similar to what he did with his mom.

"Impressive." Says a voice in the distance.

Maria looks around, no longer under that mental assault, looking around to find who spoke to them.

Adam opens his eyes. Right in front of him, leaning against a tree stands a beautiful young woman, about Adam's age. Full lips under brilliant, dark eyes, tame frizzy hair, and a fit, pear shaped body. She's dressed casually, sneakers, jeans and a flannel.

"Are you Earth's new Guardian?" He asks.

Instead of answering, the woman responds by charging at Adam. It takes all his concerted effort to dodge the fist flying at him at great speed. He veers away from her when he feels another strike on his mental shield.

"Ugh." Maria holds her head in her hands; both their mind being attacked simultaneously.

Feeling his mental barrier struggle against the attack, and seeing his mom drop to the floor in pain, Adam is unable to do anything to help her as he jumps out of the way of another attack.

"Mom!" Yells Adam as he is struck with fist to his face, hitting him hard enough to send him stumbling back.

"We're gonna have to work on that, Eternal." Says the woman, offering Adam a hand to help him to his feet. "Joy said you would be looking for me. My name is Kiyana."

"So then you are Earth's new Guardian?" He asks.

"I am, yes. And you must be the newest Eternal in this realm. Welcome."

"That's one hell of a welcome." Says Maria.

"Sorry about that, Joy filled me in a little bit on your situation. I thought that this would be a great opportunity for you to practice your mental and physical defense and offense. A trial by fire if you will." She says.

Kiyana turns to Maria, "You alright there, miss?" she asks.

Relieved to have the attack on her dismissed, Maria nods, beads of sweat streaming down her brow.

"Kiyana, did Joy tell you about her theory on why my mother and I were invited to an audience with the Pantheon?" Ask Adam.

"She did," Affirms Kiyana. "We spent a lot of time looking into the situation going on in Olympus together, I was actually hoping the Pantheon would ask me to intervene for them. When I was offered this post, after Joy was promoted, I couldn't refuse, I knew the Pantheon were moving the chess pieces at their own disposal. I trust their judgement."

"If it comes down to that, and I have to go to another universe or whatever, could I trust you to keep my mom safe?" Asks Adam.

"I thought we would go together." Interjects Maria.

Adam hasn't broken eye contact with Kiyana since he first laid eyes on her, still wary of another possible attack. Kiyana doesn't need to look into Adam's mind to know what's going on in there.

"Taking your mother to Olympus would be insane. But yes, if it comes to that," Kiyana raises her hand. "As Guardian, I promise to protect your mother while you are not near to protect her yourself."

A light shock wave eventuated by Kiyana's words swells outward towards the forest.

"Woah, that's ominous." Say Kiyana.

Adam is taken aback by her surprise. "You didn't know that would happen."

Kiyana looks at him, confused. "No."

Adam releases a sigh, remembering how Joy explained the nature of the power of the Eternal is 'unknowing', having expected the Guardian to offer more answers than questions.

"So what exactly is going on in Olympus?" Asks Maria.

Kiyana is about to speak when she stops herself, looking into the distance, not at anything in particular, but with a concentrated tension on her furrowed brow.

"The Pantheon wants me to awaken a new Eternal." She says. "I'm sorry for cutting our visit short, I promised Joy I would answer as many questions as I could but I have a duty to fulfil to the Pantheon. I'm sorry, Adam. Give me your hand, I'll try and give you as much helpful information as I can right now."

Adam, accepting, extends his hand. Kiyana takes it, flooding Adam's open mind with way more information than he was expecting. He grits his teeth, concentrating, trying to make out as much information as possible.

Kiyana lets his hand go, Adam falls to the ground.

"Adam!" Maria rushes to his side.

"Woah!" Exclaims Adam. He looks up at Kiyana from the ground. "Thanks for that. Can we meet again? Hopefully before the Pantheon calls us for an audience."

"Yeah, we can definitely work something out." She replies, looking up at the falling snow. "You know how this was done, right?" She asks, motioning around her.

Adam smiles, "Yeah, I think I understand what you did here."

Kiyana returns his smile. Maria frowns, unhappy to be left out.

"Gotta go, Eternal. We'll see each other soon."

Kiyana disappears, her teleportation absent of Adam's characteristic flash and crack.

"You two get along well?" Asks Maria.

Adam, still looking in the direction Kiyana occupied, turns to his mother, looking at her big beautiful green eyes. "Mom, are you jealous?"

"Oh please, I wish you would find a nice girl like that instead of spending your days with my underwear in your mouth." She retorts.

Adam laughs. Maria, now aware of how aggressive she came off, and how lightly Adam is taking it, laughs too.

"Come on, mom. Let's go home. I want to test something out."

Maria gladly agrees, looking up at the darkening sky.

They drive towards the city back home, both admiring the city's skyline in the distance. Upon arrival, they enter their home, take off their clothes, and Adam retakes his place, seated in the living room.

Noticing a hint of purpose in his step, Maria watches Adam sit on the living room floor, facing the window overlooking the apartment parking lot. After a brief moment of concentration, Adam raises both hands, palms open wide, pushing the wall in front of him. Maria gasps, watching the room stretch, causing her a bit of vertigo and nausea.

"Wow." She says.

Adam hasn't finished. He then raises a hand, brushing the air in front of him with one stroke. As Adam's hand moves in the air, the stretched end of the room disappears, replaced by a sandy beach, the setting sun over the horizon illuminates the room.

Incredulous, Maria peers through the front door, confirming that on the outside, her apartment is still located on the second floor of her apartment complex, and it is still dark out. She turns around, hit by the warm breeze of the ocean, the sound of seagulls can be heard out of view.

Mouth agape, Maria walks towards the shore, her feet making contact with the warm sand. She reaches the shore, stepping on the shallow water, the tide dragging the sand around her feet back into the ocean. She turns around, not finding her house, instead the open field, the sky taking a dark blue tone as stars begin to appear in the dusk sky. Adam appears out of nowhere, a satisfied grin on his face.

"Did Kiyana teach you how to do this?"

"Joy taught it to Kiyana, I picked it up from her stream of consciousness. It works the same as the forest we were just in. It's something like a wormhole, a bending of space."

"Sounds useful." Says Maria.

Adam looks away towards the distance, a dissatisfied look on his face. "There's still so much for me to learn."

Maria admires her son's naked body as it reflects the orange glow of the setting sun. She unwittingly smiles at him, noticing this he smiles back.

Maria turns her attention back to the setting sun. Adam takes his place next to her, putting his arm around her shoulder. She welcomes the affection, resting her head on his chest.