“So, it sounds like our cave is not one of a kind after all,” said Ksenia, mystified.
“Yes. They all speak of the same things, you see. Crystals seem to play an important part,” said Manos.
“Oh, we can see the similarities, of course!” Ksenia patted her brother’s hand, careful of her words as not to hurt his feelings. He seemed to think this was very important. “Have you read anything else to share with us, anything that could give us any clues?”
“But I’ve already told you! Have you missed it?” asked Manos looking across the table to the others. All three of them responded to him with a blank stare. They had no idea what he was talking about.
“Phevos, what is it that you’re holding?” asked Manos.
“It’s a wand. It looks just like the one in my dream.” Phevos humored him, still unable to understand.
“But would you say that this is a crystal too?” asked Manos.
“I think it is, yes,” said Phevos, raising the wand in his hand for everyone to see. “Although this one is hollow inside. It contains this transparent liquid that could be water. It also has sand and shards of shells floating in it.”
“Well, let’s assume it’s a crystal then,” said Manos.
The other three nodded in unison. By now, they were all leaning forward in their seats, their drinks getting cold by the minute. Even Daphne had lost her appetite for her toast with honey.
“Well, imagine there’s metal in there mixed with the sand or even shards of tiny crystals perhaps. Who knows? Maybe this liquid or water or whatever you want to call it, acts like a conductor of some produced energy that, through the surrounding crystal, could react on another of the same kind. Have you thought of that?”
The other three stared back at him so Manos exhaled and carried on. “What other objects in the cave do we know have crystals on them?” he asked looking at the others. All at once, there was animation in their eyes instead of that silent, blank stare.
“There are crystal torches on the walls!” offered Daphne first.
“The necklace I left there also has crystals on it. When I placed it on the altar, I was able to take the wand,” said Phevos.
“And what's more, when the necklace was placed on the altar, the torches on the walls lit up. They reacted to it, like you said crystals react to each other!” piped up Ksenia.
Phevos shook his head. “You know, it’s so strange that the tiny crystals on the necklace could light up the torches on the walls. Those crystals are massive! I still wonder how it is even possible.”
“Exactly!” answered Manos. “You see, this is not about size! As we’ve seen, it’s possible for a tiny quartz crystal to cause a reaction on another one of the same kind that is much bigger. So this is about the type of crystal, not its size. It has to be the same kind for them to react to each other. For a light to come on or even for time travel to be made possible, they have to be the same. That is the key! As for that wand in your hand, you said that in your dream it was illuminated, right?”
“Yes, it was. But in reality it does not light up.” Phevos gave a frown.
“Can you think why that is so?” asked Manos.
“Because there’s no other of its own kind to react to it?” said Phevos without even thinking.
“Another just like it?” interrupted Daphne. She turned a glazed look at Phevos, her mouth gaping open. “Phevos, your dream!”
“What dream?” asked Manos.
“This is what I was going to say earlier, and you said you wanted to go first. But I’m glad you did, Manos! This is amazing!” said Phevos.
“You had a dream about the wand?” asked Ksenia, her blue eyes huge.
“Yes I have, Ksenia! But please let me think this over for a minute . . .” Thinking aloud, Phevos turned to Manos again. “My father spoke of three candleholders that used to be on the altar. They had crystal candles on them. To create the Passage through time, he had to place the necklace in the center of the altar. The light on the crystal candles would come on and then he’d be transported through time at the will of Athena. He could always remove the necklace afterwards, and he would go about his business wearing it until his work was done. He’d place the necklace back on the altar. Then, through the same process, he’d go back in time again. Yet today, it’s all different! The three candleholders with the crystal candles are gone, and there was only this single wand on the altar. Plus, I had to leave the necklace there in order to get it. There has to be a reason for all this! Perhaps, a divine intervention has made all this possible, and my father, for his own reasons, never said. But why?”
“Do you want to know what I think?” asked Manos.
“Go on!” answered Ksenia.
“I think someone has left the wand on the altar and has taken the three candleholders away as a clue! Just as there used to be three candleholders on the altar, there are three wands, not just one! There are two more out there, Phevos, both looking like the one in your hands. And what's more, I do believe that like those three candleholders, the three wands are just as capable to create the Passage!” said Manos, raising both arms in a triumphant gesture when he was done.
“Two more wands just like this one . . . reacting to each other to illuminate . . . all three together creating a Passage through time?” mumbled Phevos.
“I think you should tell them about your dream now. It makes so much sense now!” prompted Daphne.
“Ok! So, about my dream,” said Phevos, and everyone leaned forward, falling silent at once. “This time, I didn’t see Athena or the tall stranger,” he continued, “I was alone, standing in front of a tall mirror holding the wand. Each time I looked at it through the mirror it would illuminate, but if I looked at it directly it would go dark again. I did it in my dream over and over, and it was always the same. Only through the mirror would it light up. It had the same brilliant light just like in the earlier dream with the stranger.”
“Amazing! It’s a clue, right? This is what Manos has just suggested, isn’t it? It needs its equal to light up!” said Ksenia while Daphne nodded in silence, her eyes ablaze with excitement.
“When I woke up and told Daphne, we didn’t know what to think. Believe me, I even went to the mirror to try it. I was that desperate for a clue, but of course, the wand didn’t light up in reality when I looked at it through the mirror. I knew the answer wouldn’t be something so obvious and pointless. I knew the mirror was a symbol of some sort and thanks to our brilliant Manos here, it now makes perfect sense!” Everyone joined Phevos then, congratulating Manos for working all this out on his own.
No one was more proud of him than Ksenia, though. She’d always known he had it in him to excel. Her prayers that one day he’d find the confidence to do so had finally been answered. Gone was the introvert boy who shied away from conversation. Far from it, he was now amazing them all with his contribution to it.
They continued talking about their theory while sipping their drinks that had gone cold. Mystified anew, they questioned how they could find the other two wands to bring their loved ones back into their lives. Phevos’s mind wandered to the amazing way in which he and his sister had been transported here in the first place. Instead of using a cave, their father had made them stand in a fountain of water where he’d tossed a handful of salt. Phevos made the connections with the contents of the wand and with his dream on the shore. He came to the same conclusion again but still felt he shouldn’t yet share his thoughts with the others about the identity of the stranger in the dream. The answer seemed so evident, it was staring him right in the face. It seemed too simple to be true. But if he was right, then what would Athena’s involvement be in this case? Regardless of the answer, Phevos chose to speculate in silence.
Suddenly, he snapped out of this state of deep thinking and became aware of the conversation that took place around him. The others were saying something about his mother. Ksenia had mentioned Anavyssos, the place that Anna had once moved to according to the address b
ook that Mrs. Sofia kept in Pallada. And what was that sudden glint before his eyes? Was it his imagination or had the wand just illuminated for a split second?
“What did you just say, Ksenia?” he asked.
“What did I say?” she responded, taken aback.
“Please sweetheart, can you repeat what you just said, word for word?”
“Word for word?” she asked, wondering why he had turned so pale.
“Please humor me!” Phevos insisted, never leaving his eyes from the wand.
“Ugh, I don’t remember exactly. What was it now?” said Ksenia, trying to think while Daphne and Manos attempted to assist her.
“Try to repeat it verbatim please!” urged Phevos, his eyes still glued to the wand.
“Right, I think I said, ‘Who knows if she’s still in Anavyssos? We’ll end up looking in Sounio too, no doubt!’”
And there it was again, that sudden flash of light inside the wand. And this time, everyone saw it because they were all looking. They’d noticed how Phevos had hunched over the wand in his hands, staring at it as he waited for Ksenia to repeat her sentence.
Everyone’s eyes stayed on the wand for a few seconds more. One could hear the soft sound of their breathing as they stared incredulous. The heavy silence that fell in the room made the ticking of the clock on the wall echo like the thud of heavy footsteps. When they finally took their eyes from the wondrous object, they looked at each other seeking confirmation that what they’d just witnessed was true. A moment later, their joy erupted with cheers.
“Whoaaa!” went Manos.
“I can't believe it!” said Daphne. “What made it do that?”
“How is it even possible?” asked Ksenia.
“Why not? It is possible if we believe this wand is not of this world!” said Phevos.
“Did it react to a certain word?” asked Manos.
Phevos shrugged. “This is what I believe.”
“Which word did it react to then?” said Daphne.
“Anavyssos!” tried Ksenia, leaning toward the wand in case distance mattered in order to get its reaction. Yet, the wand didn’t respond.
“Sounio!” piped up Phevos, and a brilliant, momentary glow from the wand confirmed his gut feeling. The two girls goggled their eyes in astonishment but, somehow, Manos didn’t look surprised in the least when he locked eyes with Phevos. On the contrary, his wicked smirk suggested he’d worked out more than he’d let on.
“Tell me, Manos, did your Internet search refer to the Temple of Poseidon in Sounio at all?” asked Phevos, not expecting a positive answer. However, he could see Manos was dying to reveal his thoughts so he threw the bait.
“Not really,” answered Manos. “But I do believe Poseidon couldn’t resist getting even with a certain, naughty godmother!” He gave a triumphant smile.
“A godmother, you said?” asked Phevos, grinning with amusement as the girls stared, puzzled.
“Yep!” replied Manos. “And it looks like he’ll finally get his chance to give her a taste of her own medicine!”
It didn’t take long for Ksenia and Daphne to realize who they were talking about. Manos had referred to Poseidon’s legendary defeat during the contest for patronship of Athens. Athena had prevailed and thus won the honor to name the city after her. But, Poseidon believed she had beaten him with deceit and perhaps had waited for millennia for a chance to get back at her for the sake of divine justice.
The girls were now joking with Manos, impressed by his witty humor while Phevos looked at him from across the table with new eyes. It seemed the boy had matured quickly, driven by his yearning for his missing parents. This was the time for him too to claim his loved ones.
Chapter 18
It was the last Sunday of June, two weeks after the wand had responded to the word ‘Sounio’.
Everyone except Phevos had suggested visiting the Temple of Poseidon, but Phevos said it made sense to try to find his mother first. In the old address book that Ksenia had found in Pallada, the word ‘Sounio’ was scribbled out and replaced by ‘Anavyssos’ to indicate she had moved there at some point.
It had proved difficult for Phevos to convince the others to plan a visit to Anavyssos instead, but his arguments won them over in the end. If Poseidon was their God-Protector, then his temple in Sounio should be their last point of visit, with his mother present as well. Furthermore, Phevos believed they should only go there after a sign that would suggest the right time had come. To him, the glow in the wand in response to the word ‘Sounio’ was not a sign from Poseidon they should go there, but simply a confirmation of his identity.
By now, everyone trusted Phevos’s instinct and unwavering faith. He was the one who had worn the necklace of Goddess Athena and was now the keeper of Poseidon’s sacred wand. He had powers of prophecy through dreams and incredible insight. No one could have picked a better leader for any given quest.
And so, they were all now headed to Anavyssos, standing in a crammed bus they’d taken from Syntagma Square. Their trip had been delayed for a week due to a large number of guests in Pallada the Sunday before. It happened sometimes in high season. Both the girls had spent the day helping out Mrs. Sofia, cleaning rooms and checking-in new arrivals.
This delay meant they were now even more excited, despite being squashed against strangers, feeling hotter by the minute in the simmering heat. None of them had ever been to Anavyssos before. Ksenia had studied a map and calculated it would take at least an hour for them to get anywhere near their destination. They were still in the eastern suburbs of Athens, on the coast.
The bus cruised along the busy Poseidon Avenue passing by residential buildings, department stores and nightclubs. When they finally left the suburbs behind, they marveled at the quaint landscapes of outer, eastern Attica along a much quieter road. As they enjoyed generous sea views of deep blue under a cloudless summer sky, the bus carried on up and down the coastal highway, its engine making grunting noises.
Since leaving the outskirts of Athens behind, the vast majority of travelers had alighted, and all four of them were now seated across one row. Phevos was sitting with Ksenia on the left side and Daphne with Manos opposite. Daphne had opened her window fully as the windy road had made her queasy. The sun warmed her face, and the sea breeze caused a long strand of her auburn hair to do a mesmerizing dance before her half-closed eyes.
A young man was standing in the aisle, his eyes glued on her as he admired her beauty, but Daphne didn’t notice. She was unaware of the effect her stunning looks had on men. On the contrary, she remained insecure where it came to them, Aris included. By now, she’d grown desperately in love with him.
Since the day they’d sat at that café in Plaka, instead of feeling happy and hopeful, she’d been tortured by jealousy and worry at the thought of Zoe’s encounter with Aris that same day. Zoe was attractive and could charm any man with her Parisian finesse and great fashion sense. Aris would have to be blind not to notice her.
However, what Daphne didn’t know was that no matter how dazzled a man may be by the beauty of a woman, a true man’s heart remains always in the hands of the woman he loves. Aris was secretly in love with Daphne too and knew he had his hands full this time because he could sense she was different from others.
Aris had spent countless hours on the deck of his ship gazing out to the ocean. He’d wished a million times in those moments that the sea would freeze over like a crystal carpet so that he could run all the way to her. Although his ship had braved the waves of all the oceans in the world, his heart and thoughts remained anchored in the waves of Daphne’s auburn hair. In the Caribbean, the women were voluptuous, seductive; in Scandinavia, Aris would see impressive women with icy blue eyes, and in the Far East, the women were delicate, mysterious. Yet, he gave none of them a second thought. When Aris looked out to sea from the deck, it would often change color to match the emerald of Daphne’s eyes.
None of these things did Daphne know about him as she sat in the bus,
the sea breeze whispering his name in her ear over and over again. If anything, she felt uneasy, fearing he’d forgotten all about her as it had been weeks since he left. She hoped he’d come back again soon and also that Zoe would not visit again while he was there.
An elderly lady with kind eyes was seated in front of Ksenia and Phevos. They’d already asked her if she could notify them to get off in Anavyssos, and she’d told them she was going there too. When a long stretch of a beautiful sandy beach came into view on their right, she urged Phevos to press the button for the stop.
On his way to the door, Phevos picked up her trolley bag from the aisle before she had the chance to do it. He got off first, offering her a hand to assist her down the steps, and she complimented him for his gallant gesture.
She made to go but Phevos insisted on carrying the trolley bag to her house for her. He deemed it improper to let her drag it along by herself, but she refused politely. Thanking him again, and waving everyone goodbye, the elderly lady went on her way.
Once the bus set off again with a sputtering sound from its exhaust pipe, they all lingered for a while at the roadside in order to take in their surroundings. The beach stretched into the far distance alongside the main road. People were lying on towels and mats or sitting under umbrellas or trees. Countless others were swimming in the water, some very far out. Children played in the shallows and on the beach, splashing around or playing with buckets and spades on the wet sand.
The sounds that were carried in the salty air was a symphony of happy squeals and splashing noises that reached their ears like a seductive, siren song calling them in. But the magic was broken when Manos brought everyone’s attention to what was happening inland, on the other side of the road. Everyone turned around to see a vast wasteland there. It seemed to be a popular meeting point for aero-modelers. An acrobatic airplane was buzzing high above people’s heads, causing them to follow it with their eyes.
The Necklace of Goddess Athena Page 18
