by Kate O'Hearn
They clung to each other as they grieved over the losses they’d suffered and the impending loss of those they loved most. “Paelen is like my brother,” Joel whispered. “I lost my family in that car crash years ago; I can’t lose him, too.”
“There has to be a way,” Emily said. “It can’t end like this; it just can’t.”
“But what can we do?”
“I don’t know. But we have to try.” She pulled away from Joel and looked around. “The Xan were the most powerful beings in the universe. Surely there is something they can show us.”
There is nothing to find here, Riza said.
“That’s not good enough, Riza!” Emily climbed to her feet and reached for Joel’s hand. “If they have to die, it won’t be without a fight. Help me, Joel. We’ll tear this place apart if we have to. We must find a way to save them.”
Every day brought with it another loss. Emily, Pegasus, Joel, and Paelen stood together at Chiron’s funeral pyre. The ancient centaur had died peacefully in the night. No one said a word. There was nothing to be said. Each Olympian knew a pyre waited for them. It was only a matter of time.
Venus and Mars had died two days before. At the loss of his mother, Cupid was inconsolable. The following day the winged Olympian had slipped silently into the dense jungle and hadn’t been seen since.
After Chiron’s funeral Emily and Pegasus walked away from the camp. The stallion’s head hung low, and he moved more slowly. Emily had discovered that when she touched him, the pain was eased—even though the aging process would not stop.
“I miss flying with you, Pegs,” she said sadly as she stroked his warm neck. “Xanadu is so beautiful, and yet we’ve seen nothing.”
Pegasus dropped a wing to invite Emily onto his back.
“No, I’m too heavy for you now.”
Sadness filled the stallion’s eyes as he accepted that he was now too old and weak to carry her.
“Wait, Pegs, I’ve got an idea. Let me carry you for once.”
Emily put her arms around his neck and focused her powers. She and Pegasus lifted off the ground and rose higher in the brilliant blue sky. “I’ve been way too scared to try this,” she admitted. “But Joel always said I could do it. Fly with me, Pegasus!”
Pegasus opened his wings and let the gentle winds of Xanadu blow through his remaining feathers. Emily supported him and moved them over the lush green jungle.
“It’s just us, Pegs, forever,” she said, trying to keep the tremble out of her voice.
Beside her, Pegasus whinnied in joy and raised his head proudly in the air. He flapped his wings, knowing they weren’t what was keeping him up. To Emily he had never looked more beautiful.
Later that day they returned to camp to hear that Diana had fallen down the temple stairs and broken several bones.
“Em, please help her,” her father said desperately. He was kneeling beside Diana’s cot and holding her hand.
Emily saw his fear—the same she’d seen when her mother had become seriously ill. She suddenly realized just how much her father cared for the Olympian. It was much more than friendship.
“Please,” Apollo begged from the other side of his sister.
Diana’s eyes were clenched shut in pain. Her face was pale and drawn, and for the first time since they’d met, she looked helpless.
“I’m here,” Emily said. She touched Diana, and her powers began to work immediately as they knitted the broken bones back together and healed the internal injuries. After a few minutes Diana sighed peacefully and fell into a deep, restful sleep.
“Thanks, Em,” her father said in relief.
“Yes, thank you,” Apollo added. “I do not know what I would do without my sister.”
Apollo looked frail and delicate compared to the strong, powerful Olympian he had been just a few days ago. Emily’s eyes returned to his twin sister. She realized neither of them had much time left.
“I’ve got to do something, Pegs,” Emily said as they walked away from the painful sight. “I can’t just stand by watching you all fade away.”
“There is nothing to be done,” Riza called.
“I don’t believe you!” Emily shouted angrily to the empty air. “You were the Xan! There has to be something.”
Come, Riza offered. It is time I showed you who we were. Learn, child. Learn the powers of the Xan and our limits.
Emily insisted on finding Joel first. “Riza wants to show us something. Would you come with Pegs and me?” she asked when she found him.
“Sure,” Joel said. “Do you think it will help Paelen and the others?”
Emily shook her head. “Riza says there is nothing to be done. She’s going to show us why.”
They walked together into the large temple. Emily spotted Agent B and two of his men in the entrance area and shot a black look in their direction. “I really should have killed them at the museum.”
Pegasus nickered softly and nudged her.
“You don’t mean that,” Joel agreed. “Besides, we need their help with the others.”
“CRU agents helping Olympians? I would laugh if it wasn’t so sad.”
Joel paused. “Em, don’t let anger change you. We’re all going to be stuck here for a very long time. You’re going to have to learn to get along with them.”
“Maybe,” Emily said bitterly. She looked up at Pegasus and stroked his face. “But not until all the Olympians are gone. I just can’t forgive what they did, Joel. Even if the weapon was going to kill everyone eventually, the CRU sped it up by sending it to Olympus.”
“You sound like me,” Joel said, “before you and Pegasus came into my life. I was angry all the time too.”
“That was different.”
“Was it?” Joel asked.
They walked the rest of the way in silence as Riza directed them deeper into the temple. Emily’s powers carried Pegasus down the steep steps and farther along the twisting corridors than they had ever been before.
They eventually stopped at a solid wall. “We hid our own origins in here,” Riza said aloud. “This was our knowledge, not meant for others to see or learn.”
Emily reached out her hand and touched a raised stone on the wall. “Open.”
Dust and small pebbles rained down as a very tall, very thick door that hadn’t been touched in thousands of years groaned and slowly slid open.
“Wow!” Joel said as he walked into the room.
It looked nothing like the rest of the old stone temple. This room was massive, with shiny, silver metal walls. Bright lights shone from above, and what looked like a huge computer console sat in the center of the room.
“This is Arious.”
“Arious is a computer?” Joel asked.
“She is more than a simple computer,” Riza said. “We gathered our collective knowledge here. This was our living archive. When we returned from a journey, we would insert ourselves into Arious and deposit what we learned. Then all the Xan would come and share the experience.”
“So it became a single collective knowledge?” Joel asked.
“That is correct.”
“Were the Xan a tall people?” Joel asked as he looked up at the high ceiling and large deposit area. “Everything here is so big and high.”
“We were,” Riza answered. “We were mostly human in appearance, but much larger than you or the Olympians.”
“Even larger than the giants?” Emily asked.
“Not quite as large as the giants,” Riza answered. “Are you ready to learn?”
“I am,” Emily agreed.
Emily moved forward into the receiver area. She looked back at Joel as Riza spoke. “You and Pegasus must stay back. Emily will tell you what she learns, but you must not receive the knowledge directly.”
Joel did as he was told and took several steps back
to wait with Pegasus.
“Emily, step forward and place your two hands on those raised platforms. The knowledge transfer will begin immediately.”
Emily felt Riza retreat into her mind. She knew it would have to be her choice to receive the knowledge of the Xan. What was she about to learn? This moment would answer all the questions she had about herself. But now, as she stood on the threshold, she wasn’t sure she really wanted to know.
Emily looked back at Pegasus. The aging stallion was leaning heavily against the wall. “For you, Pegs.”
She reached up and placed her hands on the two receivers. At first nothing happened. Then her eyes opened wider, and Emily finally saw the Xan.
Their beauty stole her breath away. They were very tall and elegantly thin with extra-long, fine arms. They wore light, silken tunics that clung loosely to their tall frames. Though they were bald, their smooth faces were almost too lovely to behold and were filled with a kind of peaceful tranquility that Emily had never known before, yet somehow yearned to possess.
Their almond-shaped eyes held no color and were like brightly shining pearls that contained the knowledge of the ages. In fact everything about the Xan reminded Emily of living pearls. Their skin was smooth and held the iridescence of mother-of-pearl that changed color as it caught the light.
The Xan didn’t so much walk as appear to float in a kind of calm slow motion. As they moved before her eyes, it was difficult to tell the men from the women. They were all magnificent.
The image changed, and it was as though Emily was a Xan. Standing among them, she could feel how they felt. Experience the love and peace they held for all life. How the powers coursed through their fine bodies, enabling them to do anything. Manipulating all matter was easy. Time became inconsequential. Travel between worlds simple. Enlarging Xanadu to make room for more species? It was a piece of cake!
Emily finally understood what it meant to be Xan. But as the moments passed, things sped up. A sudden and sharp pain shot through Emily’s head. The information was coming too quickly for her to understand. Images of the past fired at her like rockets. Millions of worlds flashed before her eyes as she watched countless millennia pass by. It was like the most intense 3-D movie being shown in super fast-forward. The visions burned her eyes and cut through her like a knife. She thought her head was going to explode.
Emily started to scream.
“Em!” Joel cried.
“No, Joel!” Riza shouted as he ran to Emily. “Do not touch us. . . .”
It was too late. Joel reached out to Emily. The sudden connection disrupted the flow as the information was now being shared between the two. Their joint cries of agony echoed throughout the temple as they both received the full, collective knowledge of the Xan.
21
THREE DAYS PASSED AND JOEL remained in a coma. When Emily had woken, she had found Joel unconscious beside her. Pegasus had tried to wake him, but without success.
“Riza, what happened?” Emily had called. But there was no answer. If Riza was still with her, she would not speak or let her presence be known.
Paelen hadn’t left Joel’s side since Emily had used her powers to carry Joel and Pegasus out of the temple. Brue was behind him, whining softly, and Stella would sit with them, watching Joel closely. Fear never left her eyes.
Emily made every attempt to use her healing powers to reach him. But nothing worked. He wouldn’t wake up.
In her fear for Joel, Emily had been careless and left the door to Arious open. It hadn’t taken long for Agent B and his men to find it. But when one of the CRU agents had tried to acquire the knowledge, his mind had been shattered by the computer and he had died shortly after.
The agent’s death terrified Emily. Was the same thing going to happen to Joel? He too had received the knowledge of the ancients.
The Olympians continued to age and die around them. Emily no longer attended the pyre ceremonies. She felt too helpless. Since acquiring the knowledge of the Xan, she had learned that Riza was correct. For all their great powers, there was nothing the Xan could have done to halt the aging process in the Olympians.
They were all doomed.
But Emily had gained something. The knowledge of how to control her powers. Those few moments within Arious had imparted to her a sudden understanding of how powerful she now was. Still, she would gladly have traded all her powers to save Joel and the Olympians.
Each day that passed saw Pegasus grow weaker. Chrysaor was now too old to walk more than a few meters. He settled at Joel’s feet and had no intention of moving again.
By the start of the second week, Emily was dozing beside Joel when Mike jumped to his feet and barked excitedly. He leaped up onto Joel’s chest and started to lick his face.
Startled awake, Emily shooed the dog away. It was then that she noticed Joel’s breathing had changed. As she watched, his eyelids started to flutter.
“Joel!” Emily’s cries reached her father and the CRU agents. “He’s waking up! Dad, Paelen, look, Joel is waking!”
Agent B knelt down beside him.
“Get away from him!” Emily snapped.
“Like it or not, Emily, I have medical training. We need every able-bodied human here if we are all to survive this. If I can help Joel, you won’t stop me.”
“Let him check Joel over,” her father said, pulling Emily back.
Emily’s heart pounded as Joel struggled back to consciousness.
“That’s it,” Agent B said. “Nice and easy, Joel; don’t try too much at once.”
Joel’s eyes fluttered open. “Emily” was his first, mumbled word.
“I’m here!” Emily cried. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “Right here!”
He frowned and looked around. “What—what happened? My head is killing me. . . .”
Emily didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. With so much sadness in the camp, so much loss, this was the first bit of joy in ages. “You nuked yourself, you idiot!” She laughed. “You touched me while I was in Arious. It zapped both of us.”
“Yes, you silly fool!” Paelen yelled. “What were you trying to do? Kill yourself so you would not have to care for me? That is a poor way to get out of a bit of work.”
Joel suddenly sat up. “The Xan!” he cried. “I saw the Xan!”
“Calm down,” Agent B ordered. “Lie back and rest. You’ve been in a deep coma, and we don’t know what damage has been done to you.”
“But I saw the Xan.” His eyes passed over everyone in the group. “It was amazing. I saw everything. . . .” Joel paused and frowned. “But wait, I can’t remember it all.”
Agent B said, “We think the knowledge was too much for a human mind to take in. It’s likely you’ve forgotten what you saw to protect yourself. You were fortunate to survive. One of my men wasn’t so lucky.”
Joel frowned at the agent. “That information wasn’t meant for the CRU.”
“It wasn’t meant for any human,” Agent B corrected.
“I can’t remember it all either,” Emily said. “It’s been coming back to me in bits and pieces. I guess when you touched me, some information went to me and some went to you. All I do know is that Riza is gone.”
“Gone? Where?”
Emily shrugged. “I don’t know. But when I woke up, she wasn’t there. I’ve tried calling to her, but she won’t answer. I had hoped to recover her memories as well, but they weren’t there. Arious just collects the big stuff, not details of personal life.”
Joel looked hopeful. “Well, did we at least find a way to help everyone?”
Emily’s eyes trailed over to Pegasus. Her voice became a whisper. “No, Joel, there’s nothing we can do.”
Joel closed his eyes. “So we just sit here and wait for everyone to die?”
No one answered. There was no need to.
“I just
wish we had never found that stupid box,” Stella said. “None of this would have happened. You would have all been on Olympus and I would be back with my parents.” Her angry eyes landed on Agent B. “I don’t care where you would have been!”
“It wasn’t you,” Emily’s father told her, “or even the CRU who caused this. It was the Titans. If they hadn’t created that weapon in the first place, there would have been no way it could have been found and used against the Olympians.”
Paelen shook his head. “It is sad that we cannot go back and stop them.”
Everyone fell silent.
“Wait!” Emily rose and wandered away from the group, muttering softly. “It will work! I can do it, I know I can. It will be dangerous. But I have the power. . . .”
“Do what?” her father asked.
Emily’s eyes flashed with excitement. She dashed back to Joel’s side. “Joel, we can do it!” she cried. “I know how to stop the weapon! Why didn’t I think of this before?”
Joel sat up. “Em, what are you talking about?”
Emily started to jump up and down. “I know how to save Pegasus and Paelen. We can save them all!”
“How?” her father demanded.
Emily ran to her father, bursting with excitement. “Arious showed me what to do. I have the power to send us back in time. We’ll go to ancient Greece and destroy that weapon before it can do any harm!”
22
“WHAT?” HER FATHER CRIED.
“Yes!” Emily turned to Joel. “The moment you’re feeling better, I’ll send us back to Cape Sounio. We’ll destroy the weapon before it can be found. Then none of this will happen and everyone will live!”
Agent B shook his head. “Time travel isn’t possible. If it were, the CRU would have discovered it by now.”
Emily faced the CRU agent. “No matter how big and powerful you think the CRU are, they could never be as powerful as the Xan. You can’t do it, Agent B. But I can. And I’ve got proof.”
“What proof?” he demanded.
Emily looked at Stella. “Tell them about the pots in the museum, the ones with Joel and me on them. You said they were from the past.”
