Guardians of the Watchtower: North

Chapter 4

Taking in huge gulps of air, Ivy let it fill her up, like a cup. The thick smell of autumn leaves and wet earth was intoxicating. Pulling her earbuds out, the sounds of the world returned. Smiling to herself, Ivy tightened her grip on the black sketch book and little bag of pencils in her hand. She looked around seeing the tall wrought iron fence, in the far distance, showing the cut off of the front of her property. Spotting a small trail that led around the house to the left, she headed in the direction she thought the lake was located. The gentle tapping of her shoes on the stone pathway gave away the only sign of her presence, she passed under an arch of vine wrapped columns that framed the path like something out of a fairytale. She followed as it snaked around the house snugly. It kicked out abruptly towards what looked like a very old glass solarium, Huge, it stood like a separate house, the panes of glass were tall and dingy, cracked and caked with years of no upkeep, unloved by time and nature. Continuing on the trail, her finger traced gently along the glass, a thin distinction left in the place where the grime had once been trailed behind her, quickly dirtying finger tip.
"Don't tell Ivy anything till it gets closer to her birthday"
Ivy stopped walking, she looked around trying to find where the voice had come from.
"She needs to know. She's gonna find out sooner or later and we have to protect her."
Ivy noticed a pane of glass missing then, she leaned in trying to see around all the dead plants that were thick and blocked most of her view. She leaned her head further into the hole, the sudden darkness compared to the bright sunlight around her made it hard for eyes to adjust to the drastic change.
"No, she'll find out when I think she's ready to find out."
Two dark figures were moving around inside the room. Ivy strained to get a better look, trying to make out anything, to see who was talking about her.
"When she ascends she's going to be the most powerful...."
"What are you doing?" A deep voice caught her off guard. Ivy jerked her head back out of the window. She spun around trying to not look guilty, but she was caught, like a kid with her hand in the cookie jar.
"I wasn't doing anything," was the first thing she could think of to say, which was hard enough to get out without being tongue-tied.
"It didn't look like nothing...." he raised an eyebrow, kinda smirking, knowing he just caught her red handed doing something. Feeling like a cornered animal, Ivy did the only sensible thing she could think of, she took off running down the trail.
"Hey where are you going?" he was on her tail, trying to catch up.
"Away!" was the only reply he got as she picked up her pace and found she was beginning to run out of trail. Ivy suddenly came to a complete stop trying to think of which way to run next when it dawned on her, "Why am I running, this is my house," but before she could turn fully around her world was impacted, knocking her clean off her feet. When she was able to lift her arm to block out the blinding light she found she was seeing stars and a pair of sky blue hazel eyes, spiked with gold highlights flaring through them, they were perfect. Breathless she pushed him from on top of her and crawled backward, pulling herself into a sitting position and got to her feet. She pulled the leaves from her hair, dusted herself off and began looking around for her fallen drawing book.
"What is your problem? Do you always just tackle girls that don't answer your questions?" Ivy grabbed her drawing book from where it had landed on the ground along with her pencil bag.
"You just stopped in the middle of the lane. I couldn't stop. I'm sorry."
"Who the hell are you anyway?!"
"Sylar, Sylar Morgan," he stood up then, dusting himself off still smirking.
"Why are you smiling? You could have really hurt me!" Ivy was standing with one hand on her hip, not realizing that at that moment she was really looking like her mother.
"But I didn't."
"But you could have!"
"But I didn't. So do you work here?" he said with a laugh.
Ivy was so frustrated at this point.
"No! I own this house! " she retorted
"You own this house? Wait are you...Hedera?"
"IVY, I PREFER IVY!"
"Okay, okay calm down, Ivy. I've heard a lot about you. My family and your family have been friends for a long time. We were actually friends when we kids, before your family left when you were like six."
"We were friends? What have you heard about me?"
"Yeah, my mom told me we would be going to school together, nothing bad, just that you'd be coming back for school and your birthday."
"You go to Lynn Prep?" Ivy was trying not to stare at him.
"Yeah, I'm a senior there., I knew you were coming back but I didn't know what you'd look like, you've changed since the days when you were beating me up with your bucket and shovel.Again, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."
"Oh"
"Yeah, so what are you doing out here?"
"Well before I was tackled, I was looking for this lake I saw from my balcony. Wait why are you here?"
"John lets me run around your lake when I'm training."
"So you know where it is then?"
"Yeah, but it's a bit cold to go to the lake, why don't I show you around the grounds? I mean you've only been here a day or two and this way you won't get lost."
"That would be great actually, I mean if you don't mind?" Ivy was trying to not act too eager, all the while thinking about how unbelievably attractive he was, his short black hair, chiseled jawline and the way his throat flexed slightly when he talked. And that smile, oh boy that smile was definitely the downfall of a lot of girls, she was betting.
"Great!" he flashed his perfect white-toothed smile, fully this time, his slight dimples made Ivy melt.
"So where are all the statues located at?" she asked pulling herself back together.
"They're by the gardens, this way," he side stepped between the vines and disappeared from view completely. Ivy stood there for a second trying to let the butterflies settle when he popped his head back out.
"Coming?"
"Yep, I'm coming" Ivy's couldn't help but smile as she followed where he had slipped through.
Ivy covered her eyes, the vine trail had been dim compared to the stone porch she was now standing on. Ivy followed Sylar across the mosaic patterns the sunlight made, down little stone stairs to the second level of the porch and then down to the grass, where a few of the statues were standing, aged and weathered by time.
"Come on slowpoke!" Sylar yelled as he started to jog.
"Where are you going?" Ivy was trying to keep up with his pace.
"To the labyrinth!"
"What labyrinth?"
Ivy didn't need an answer, it was staring her in the face. Before her stood walls of hedges twenty feet high, thick and well groomed. Several statues, aged and glistening in the morning sunlight reflecting off of the dew were lined up along the border framing an opening, beyond it, Ivy could see the lake she had been searching for. Sylar stood at the opening smiling again
"Come find me!" he took off inside the labyrinth before Ivy could make it to the entry. She stood looking around, trying to find which way he could have gone, but he was nowhere in sight.
"Marco!!!" Ivy hollered
She started moving through passages that the shrubs made, making turns left, right, straight, right again then left. Ivy heard a faint reply to her "Marco" and went the direction she thought it had come from. She yelled again.
"Marco!"
"Polo!" Move the line below up here!!!
came from close behind, making her scream and jump, she turned quickly, only to find she was completely alone in the lane. Ivy began to run in the opposite direction yelling "Marco!" as she went.

This time the "Polo" that came was louder than the first but was still far off, so she turned and ran down another passage. Coming to a dead end she turned around, a little freaked out now. She ran full sprint down yet another passage and turned a corner, only to be tripped up by an overgrown shrub root. Ivy landed on her hands and knees in front of a marble wading pool. An angel stood in the center of the pool, leaning over a pillar, weeping. She got back on her feet, dusted herself off -- again and picked up her drawing book -- again. Ivy flipped the book open and began sketching the angelic statue, stopping only for a moment to make her way to the little bench that stood next to the wading pool so she could sit and continue to draw.
Following the soft lines of the angel's face and the smooth marble of her arms, only the sound of lead on paper, egging her on. Lost in her own world again and lost to the angel's grace and beauty, the only thing keeping Ivy grounded was the hushed argument she had overheard in the solarium. It played over and over again, like a movie, in her head "when I ascend? what are they hiding?" Only when the first drop of rain splattered against the corner of the sketch did she stop and look to the sky. The storm had moved in so quickly, Ivy hadn't even noticed it. A loud crack of thunder shook the ground, making her jump. It was like the heavens were torn open and the rain was coming down in sheets. Ivy backed up to the wall of shrubs, trying to protect her drawing book by shoving it under her shirt. Looking around for cover and finding nothing, Ivy began running through the maze screaming Sylar's name but she got no answer. The storm was getting worse by the minute as she searched from one passage to the next, only able to see a few feet ahead through the storm. The rolling thunder muffled her screams for help. Left, right, straight, dead end, left, left, another dead end, straight, right, a dead end. If there had been a reply, it fell on deafened ears as the thunder was matched by the sharp flashes of lightning that spider-webbed across the skies in angry spikes. Screaming in frustration and anger, soaked to the bone and shivering Ivy tried to turn around and go back the way she had come, but was more lost than found. Everything looked the same in the darkness of the storm. Stopping, in what looked like a four-way split, she sat down on her knees holding her drawing book to her chest still trying to protect it. Ivy slowly rocked back and forth trying to re-think how many turns she made to get where she finally crouched now.
A silver flicker caught her eye, mid-rock, it came towards her like it was floating on a clear day. The rain did not affect its graceful flutters, taking the form of the butterfly that Ivy had seen before. She watched as it came closer, staying as still as she could, while it fluttered around her in a soft circle and back down the way it had come, stalling for a second, before fluttering off down another passage. Ivy got to her feet and ran after it, finding it floating almost at the end of another lane, it turned right and disappeared before she got a chance to catch up to it. Searching around to see where it went, Ivy raced past passages looking for the creature, t it appeared in the last passage she found. It floated at the end, she began walking towards it, it didn't move this time. Ivy was close enough to reach out and touch it and as she did the world around her rippled and she was no longer in the labyrinth, she was in an open, hilly meadow full of lush life. The colors of the flowers were so bright it was surreal; reds, pinks and blues that would make the Aurora Borealis envious. A single huge oak tree stood on a small hill, it was massive and looked like it had transcended the ages, full and swaying in the gentle breeze that played with Ivy's now, dried curls. Ivy was suddenly very scared, her heartbeat began to race, she couldn't help but go to the tree. The closer she got, she could feel a pulse around her. What is this place? Ivy placed her hand on the tree's trunk, the pulse she felt was coming from the tree itself, like it was a living, breathing person. How do I get back? Ivy tried to walk around the tree but stopped suddenly, she wasn't alone here like she'd thought. A thick pungent smell filled her nose, a mix of wet earth and cherry blossoms. The cloaked figure turned around then, Ivy held her breath, partly in fear and partly in excitement.
"I've been waiting for you to come home Hedera,"
The voice was soft and velvety, life like, filling the air surrounding Ivy and making the hairs on her arms stand up. The energy was so thick and pulsing around her now, it was almost suffocating. Ivy couldn't speak, couldn't move and instantly it was like a light in a dark room had been flicked on. Goddess.