Shared Admissions

Part Six

Darkness, cold and wavering. Where am I? Oh God! I'm not breathing!! I'm dead!!! So cold, so very cold and dark. She forced her mouth to open and her lungs to draw in breath, only there was no air for her to breathe. There was only exceedingly cold water.

Maeve burst through the surface of the waterfall pond, choking violently on the liquid she had just inhaled. Breathing deeply, Maeve began to tread water.

The pool had a layer of ice covering it, ice that seemed to crumble under the very touch of Maeve's numbing fingers. What happened? All she could remember was the blast and being knocked over the edge. She thought hard.... when she had landed in the pool she had crashed through the ice into the freezing waters below. She had to get out of the pond, and fast! Her arms and legs were already beginning to go numb in the cold, if she waited much longer, she would drown.

Gathering her fading strength, Maeve reached for the edge of the ice. Finding that it appeared to be fairly thick, Maeve painfully began to haul herself up out of the water. Laying on the ice, Maeve fougth the urge to black out and slowly crawled away from the hole towards shore.

Each step for her was agony, her every movement was loudly complained of by her battered body. She could hardly see as a thin sheet of ice was forming over her body, including over her eyes. Even if she could see, it would have mattered not, for the cavern was pitch black as no light from any source reached into it. She was in hell.

Just when she thought she was going to make it, her hand reached out and met only air. Her body lurched forward and she fell back into the freezing water. All the ice had been broken by the cave in, leaving Maeve no where to turn. She lost all sense of direction as she bobbed helplessly up and down in the water.

This is it, her mind whispered, you are going to die. You were weak and you were worthless, and now you are going to die!

NO! Maeve tried to scream, but only a whimper emerged from her throat. Her jaw was frozen shut, her joints would no longer bend, and she had no strength left to climb back onto the ice. Slowly her body began to disapear below the surface.

For Maeve, it was finally over.

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Sinbad cursed the darkness as his foot slipped, he cursed nature for making cliffs so damn hard to decine in a hurry, and he cursed himself for causing this whole disaster.

If he had just kept his mouth shut, if he hadn't decided to spy on the woman he loved, if he had only trusted in her heart to remain true, none of this would have happened. Maeve wouldn't have been in the cavern or near the falls, and the cave in would have been harmless. But, no, he had to go off and destroy everything, he and his stupid inflated male ego, and now Maeve was quite likely dead.

Sinbad shook his head, talking to himself. "No!" he grunted as he lowered himself foot after foot. "She is not dead! Not until you find her body! Only then may you believe!"

He peered down into the seemingly endless darkness below him. "Maeve! I'm coming! Hang on!"

Sinbad ripped his hands and knees open on the rocks as he forced his body to move faster. The lower portion of his pants, from the knees down mostly, were shredded through and blood soaked. His blood slickened his grip on the rocks, but he refused to give up until he felt solid ground beneath his feet.

Sinbad had decended that rockface in record time, and turned to face the icey pond. Lighting the torch that remained in his belt, Sinbad reached out into the darkness.

As the light penetrated the gloom, Sinbad's eyes were met by a terrifying sight. His heart stopped beating, his mind stopped thinking, and his entire body shut itself down.

Directly in front of him, not more than ten feet from the shore, Maeve's body floated face down, motionless.

Sinbad's suddenly numb fingers dropped the torch, and his world decended into darkness once more.

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The echoes of the explosion reached the camp at the entrance of the cavern. Doubar looked up in horror, "Little brother! Maeve!" he bellowed as he charged down the corridor after the missing crew. He was followed closely by Firouz, overwhelmed with concern.

Rounding the final corner of the tunnel, Doubar nearly fell over Xaldar who was frantically trying to dig through a pile of rocks. He looked up at the big man. "Doubar! Thank Allah you've come! Sinbad, Maeve, they're trapped behind the rock slide!"

Without a word, Doubar lunged at the rocks and began hauling them away. Only Firouz paused to question Xaldar. "What happened, your highness?"

Xaldar grunted as he pulled free another rock. "I don't know! One minute I was leaving Sinbad and Maeve to give them some privacy, and then next all hell was breaking loose! It was as if the cavern just imploded in upon itself."

"Were you hurt?" Firouz asked, curiously.

Xaldar shook his head. "I have a small cut on my leg where I was hit by a chunk of the tunnel, but it doesn't matter right now. What's important is getting to Sinbad and Maeve!"

Xaldar redoubled his efforts at clearing the tunnel, and Firouz nodded. "I whole heartedly agree."

Doubar scowled as he pitched a rock clear across the tunnel. "Then stop wasting time and start digging! By Allah we will find you, little brother, alive!"

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Once his initial shock and grief at seeing Maeve wore off, Sinbad wasted no time before stripping off his clothing and diving into the icey waters after her. It took only seconds to reach her and pull her to shore, but the sorceress never moved. Sinbad quickly donned his pants, and relit his torch. He peered at his beloved companion. Her lips and skin had had gone almost blue with the cold, a think layer of ice covering her body. Leaning closely into her, Sinbad could tell she was not breathing. Trying to steady his shaking hand, he pressed it to her throat, lowering his ear to her chest. Her heart was not beating either. For all intents and purposes, Maeve was dead.

Fear was invading Sinbad's heart and mind, as a sailor he knew the method used to revive a drowning victim, but he had to concentrate.

Laying Maeve out on her back, Sinbad gently angled her head back to clear her airway. Lowering his mouth to hers, he breathed into her, watching her chest rise and fall. He repeated the life giving breath. Moving his hands to her chest, Sinbad pressed down over her heart five times rapidly. For ten minutes he continued this process, moving from her mouth to her heart, back to her mouth again. As each minute passed and her body continued to refuse to work on its own. Sinbad grew more and more desperate. His breaths became quicker and his hands became harsher and harsher until he was no longer pressing on her chest, he was pounding on it.

"Maeve!" he cried through sudden tears. "Maeve, please breath, please!" He rose his fist over his head and slammed it down onto her chest. "You have to breathe, Maeve! You have to live!" Frantic he picked up her body and began to shake her violently; her head snapped back and forth limply.

He dropped her back to the ground and paced around her body. "Listen to me, Maeve! If you do nothing else, listen to me now! I order you to listen to me!!!"

Sinbad sank to his knees and began working on her heart again. "Listen to me," he whispered, brokenly.

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"Listen to me." the whisper met Maeve's ears, bringing her out of the darkness. The sight that met her eyes was a welcome one: Sinbad kneeling beside her, touching her.... but why was he crying? and why couldn't she feel his touch?

"Sinbad! I never thought I would see you again!" Her heart should have been overcome with emotion, but she felt almost nothing.

"Maeve! I order you to breathe! As a member of my crew you are sworn to obey me!! I order you not to die! I order you!"

Maeve giggled. "Sinbad, have you had too much ale again? I am breathing, and I am perfectly fine." Sinbad continued to sob finally giving up his beatings. He sat down and pulled her body into his arms. Softly he rocked her back and forth, praying to Allah and all that is holy for a miracle.

Sinbad's prayers did not go unheard. Their soul wrenching words reached out and claimed the heart of Aphrodite, the goddess of love. She had always been petty and jealous, thinking only of herself, only recently discovering the true value of friends and helping others. Her brother, Hercules, had taught her this; love had taken on a whole new meaning for the spoiled goddesss, moving from merely the physical to something spiritual and beautiful. So when she crossed paths with Sinbad's breaking heart, Aphrodite knew that she had to help.

She slipped off momentarily to speak with her father, Zeus, the king of the gods. Soon she returned to the cavern with a slight smile crossing her face.

Remaining invisible to Sinbad, Aphrodite knelt over Maeve's head and whispered into her ear. "I know you are still here. Do you truly wish to live?"

"Yes," came Maeve's quiet response.

Aphrodite paused. "Do you understand that if I return you to your body, I will conquer only your mortal wounds, nothing else? You will merely be functional, the rest will be up to you."

Maeve's eyes widened understanding that this was the catch in the goddesses offer. She wondered what the consequences of accepting this offer would be, but knowing what not accepting would mean, Maeve nodded.

Aphrodite peered at her. "You will remember nothing of this. Your body will merely begin to work and you will once again be in control. Your life will begin as it ended; you will awake from drowning and you will live your life as well as this timeline will allow. This will be the only time I can help you. After this, you are on your own once more."

"Why?" Maeve whispered, "Why would a goddess trouble herself with me?"

Aphrodite smiled. "I do this with the blessing of all the gods and goddesses. You were not meant to die here today; a timeline has been altered and therefore so have all your lives. As it was partially the fault of the gods that you were placed in such a situation, we chose to aid you today." Aphrodite paused, then clapped her hands. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Maeve closed her eyes. "Thank you, Aphrodite." But when she looked, the goddess had vanished and there was only Sinbad.

Sinbad who had tried to wipe away his tears; Sinbad who was cut and bleeding from his efforts to save her; Sinbad who was holding her so tightly she felt (SHE FELT!) as though her bones would break under the pressure; and Sinbad who was leaning in slowly to kiss her one final kiss goodbye. Maeve closed her eyes once more and smiled.

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She was gone and he knew it; he had tried so hard to save her life. Holding her tightly, the sobs that had only just subsided welled up again. He crooned to her softly as he held her. "Sweet Maeve, beautiful Maeve, my Maeve." he choked. "My Maeve."

Looking at her peaceful face once more, he knew that he had to let her go. Slowly he lowered his mouth to hers; his warm breath moving over her slightly parted lips. Closing his eyes, he rested his forehead against hers, his sobs wracking both their bodies.

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Far above them Aphrodite stood between Zeus and Hades, all three smiled at the lovers below them.

"Now, daddy?" Aphrodite asked sweetly.

Zeus nodded. "Now."

The three gods put their hands together, and turned to face Maeve and Sinbad. Together they had the power of love, the power of life and all encompassing power to combine the two. For once the selfishness of the gods was set aside and they did something for someone other than themselves.

Their powers decended upon Sinbad and Maeve; when they had done all they possibly could, they smiled at each other in satisfaction and then dissapeared back to their own lives.

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Sinbad's body tensed in shock as the supposedly lifeless form laying in his arms shifted. Sinbad jerked his head away, and peered into Maeve's face; she began gasping wildly for breath, while shaking uncontrollably. Slowly her eyes opened.

Sinbad knew instantly something was wrong; he knew even before the look of confusion and then fear crossed her face. He knew when her eyes didn't meet his; didn't even look at him.

"Maeve?" he said, softly searching her face.

Her body jerked in surprise. "Sinbad??" her voice quavered.

"I'm here, Maeve." Sinbad's momentarily elated heart plunged into his stomach. Maeve had been in that water for too long, and she wasn't through suffering yet. As her sightless eyes stared into the distance, Sinbad was over come with a feeling of self loathing; for the second time in the same day, he was unable to help the woman he loved.

Continued in Shared Admissions: Part Seven

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