Achilles felt lost in her eyes, like he was in a forest. He'd been to many parks over the years, and he'd gone camping a few times to know what they looked like. However, the woman's eyes were unlike anything he'd ever seen. The forest of her eyes was vibrant, full of life and splendor. Not a single plant struggled to grow, and they were all as healthy as can be.
It looked like a paradise to him. He wasn't a fan of the outdoors, especially in the wild, for simple reasons such as bugs, but if such factors were removed, he'd love to go on a walk in the forest.
He blinked twice, snapping out of whatever trance he felt he was in, and rose to his feet, stepping back cautiously. Just because she was a beautiful, kind-looking woman did not mean she was one. After all, looks can deceive.
The woman was made of many plants and parts of the earth. Her skin looked like planetree wood, her eyes were as green as bright emeralds, much brighter than his own, from what he'd seen in the mirror.
She had a soft smile on her face, completely relaxed, as if his agitated state wasn't something to be concerned about. She wore a beautiful dress made of what looked like silk, genuine silk, of course, and the land around the two of them felt lively. He was silent for a while, looking around. His heartbeat was fast; he knew whatever was in front of him was of inconceivable power at his current rank.
He tried to relax, and the tune that had forcibly relaxed his mind faded; the air became silent again. He was able to think clearly again, and his mana, strangely enough, stabilized. Achilles did not know what had happened, but he knew that tune was dangerous to him.
"You're… I feel like I know you…" He spoke slowly, dusting off his coat from any dust or sand on it.
The woman smiled. She had expected this kind of reaction from her own son, after all.
"Take your time. You already know my name, after all, so it should be obvious, right?" She spoke in a clear voice, her tone quiet, yet he could hear it as if she were right in front of him, even though there had to be a couple of meters between them.
His eyes widened slightly. He had a bit of a guess, but he didn't like mixing up a person's name out of courtesy.
"You're Gaia, right?" He asked as he sat down on a rock slowly, taking out his shades. It was quite bright, now that he thought about it. Brighter than normal. Plus, the wind was picking up, creating a cool breeze. The darkness of the lake felt close, closer than it should've been, because he was right in the sun, and he swore he felt a hand on his shoulder. The only reason he hadn't turned was that he knew better.
The woman nodded and stood up, walking to him and sitting down. She was actually quite tall, taller than most women he'd seen in his life, aside from that one female basketball player he'd heard of. She had to be around 190 centimeters, and he certainly didn't need 'Construct Scanning' to tell.
On a regular day, in Freedom Units, he was about 6 '0", but she must be 6' 3", which he considered fine, not that he felt it intimidating. She had quite an impressive bone structure, from what he could see on her face, and she wore a white dress, similar to ancient Greek clothing.
"I've noticed you've had difficulties with your second ability, yes?" She asks, bringing a hand to his face, extending two fingers, one to each of his eyes.
"Allow me to tweak it a little bit. All I'm going to do is seal it just a teeny bit so it's just what you're directly looking at, ok?" She explained, and he decided to go along with it. After all, it wasn't like he could say no, should she insist upon it.
He closed his eyelids, and she placed her fingers on them, infusing her own energy to help limit his ability.
He felt a strange energy flowing into his eyes, slowly changing into his own. He didn't know how he could differentiate between his own energy and Gaia's, but he just could. It took a few moments, but the energy soon settled down, and she removed her fingers from his eyelids.
He opened his eyes slowly and tested it, activating his skill.
The pain from before didn't come, and he could only scan a tree behind Gaia, across the lake. It was one of the trees he'd seen before, just as detailed as before.
Achilles felt like he could also see right through it, as if it were nothing but a window in front of him.
He felt happy. The pain from using his skill before, all the details that once flooded his brain, the two times he'd used 'Construct Scanning' were only a fraction of it now.
Gaia could tell her son was using his skill; she could already sense his mana moving about his body.
She knew she felt like a stranger to him, as well as the rest of his siblings, but Gaia wasn't legally allowed to speak to them before, so now was the time for her to connect with those she's blessed and claimed as her own.
Before this little apocalypse started, all she was allowed to do, according to the assholes outside, was monitor humanity. Of course, Gaia, being a direct child of Khaos, could defy anyone she pleased, but she was a mother before anything else.
After a few minutes, Achilles deactivated his skill and looked at her again. He'd always held her in a good regard, and this was even more proof of that, but he was a bit curious as to why she directly helped him.