Eyes of the Eternal (Realms of Rebirth Book 1)

by G. E. White

  Jared awoke to the sizzle of liquid hitting a hot pan and the smell of freshly buttered toast. He rolled from his position lying on the floor, his back protesting the quick movement, to turn to the kitchen.

  Quinn stood in front of the stove whisking something in the frying pan with a fork. Cerberus sat at the teen’s feet eyeing the two plates of toast on the counter. The dog whined and Quinn absently reached down to pet the three heads. “Sorry buddy these aren’t for you. Go eat what’s in your bowl.”

  Cerberus hung his heads, but did as instructed, munching half-heartedly at the dog kibble.

  “You two seem to be getting along,” Jared commented, moving to peer over Quinn’s shoulder.

  “It’s just scrambled eggs. I hope that’s okay, it’s really the only thing I know how to make.”

  “It’s great,” he replied, clapping the teen on the shoulder. He turned to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of ketchup and placed it on the counter. Quinn served the eggs onto the two plates.

  The two ate in companionable silence, Jared practically drowning his eggs in the ketchup. Once finished, Jared took both his and Quinn’s plates and dropped them into the dishwasher.

  Quinn had moved to the living room and was currently playing tug-o-war with Cerberus, though it didn’t appear he was having much success winning.

  “You know, last night I would have figured that he scared you,” Jared said.

  The youth shrugged, almost being pulled from his seated position by the dog. “I was shocked, though I guess I probably should have expected as much after everything that happened yesterday. But once you get past the whole oh-my-God-it’s-a-three-headed-dog, he’s really just like any other pet.”

  “True, though most pets aren’t capable of ripping a man in half if need be.”

  Quinn let go of the toy, allowing Cerberus to whip it around triumphantly. “I’ll, uh, keep that in mind… So, are there many of gods out there? Surina mentioned that a lot of the gods are unaccounted for, is that true?” he asked.

  Jared dropped down onto the couch and rested his hands behind his head. “Unfortunately, yeah, though that doesn’t mean that they’re not out there. We just don’t know who or where they are. Three main ones have been missing for almost thirty years now. To say that their absence is making some of the elder gods nervous is an understatement.”

  Quinn furrowed his brow in confusion. “I don’t really understand. I know that probably whatever happened when I was a kid made me forget my past, but what about the others, why haven’t they come forward?”

  “It’s not like that,” Jared said. “To be honest when we’re reborn we have next to no memories of our past lives. If we’re never approached we probably would just go on living our lives, having no idea of the responsibility that we carry. Luckily, because our ages are staggered, one generation can raise and inform the younger, so when the older die and are reborn those they’ve taught become their teachers.”

  “And the elder gods are worried because they can’t find the younger to teach them about their heritage?” Quinn guessed.

  “Exactly. If they die without having told the other gods and goddess who they are and what they’re supposed to do when they die they’ll forget and everything will eventually fall into chaos.”

  Quinn mulled over Jared’s words feeling exhausted by the whole thing. In a way, they were lucky they didn’t remember much of their past lives, as it must be annoying to be carrying around emotional baggage from a person you used to be.

  “So who else is there?” he asked.

  The dark-haired young man thought for a moment, before reaching under the sofa and pulling out a laptop case, removing the portable computer from it.

  “Luckily there are still quite a few of us,” he said, powering up the laptop. “From what I remember, Anna and Tyrell, or Aphrodite and Hephaestus, are in Jamaica, while Mina and Edward – Zeus and Hera – are traveling through the southern provinces of China. Last I heard Calisto – Hecate – still lives in South Africa and Daniel – Poseidon – is on yet another cruise. There are still a few others, but the only ones I know personally other than my family are Sebastien, who you’ve probably heard about, Yuriko – the Lady Gaia, and Lana – Eris the Goddess of Discord who’s currently working out of north India.”

  The machine finally loaded up and Jared clicked open the internet browser. “Lana actually keeps a blog. You could check out, it kind of acts as our own newspaper. Just search for ‘Lana: The Chaotic Oracle.’ It should be one of the first links. I should call Surina.”

  Quinn gave Jared a skeptical look as the older man stood and picked up the phone. “The Chaotic Oracle?”

  “What can I say? The internet has given her a whole new way to rile people up. Her favourite past-time is trolling douchebags on MRA and White Nationalist forums. Likes to refer to herself as Queen of the Internet Trolls,” Jared said with a snort. “I’m just going to take this outside, but you go ahead.” He began to dial as he stepped out onto the balcony.

  Quinn shook his head at the strange behavior. Was there something he needed to talk to her about that he couldn’t hear? He supposed he was probably reading too much into the situation and turned back to the laptop.

  To be honest, Quinn had very little experience with computers. Sure, he could type and operate a mouse or touchpad but rarely had the chance to actually use one. Luckily computers these days seemed pretty straight forward.

  He shuffled over on the couch so he could better see the screen and access the keyboard. He typed in the phrase as he had been told and placed his index finger on the touchpad, maneuvering the cursor onto the search button.

  The laptop hummed almost louder than before as he laid his hands on it.

  Strange.

  Quinn ignored the odd sensation and pressed down on the key.

  Jared had just found Surina’s number in his contacts when he heard a muffled thump come from inside, followed by Cerberus’ alarmed barking. He paused and turned back to look through the glass door.

  Quinn now lay on the floor twitching and breathing sharply as if experiencing a seizure. Cerberus stood, no longer barking, but whimpering by the teen’s head, afraid to touch him.

  Jared threw the door open and rushed inside. He slid to his knees by Quinn’s side and tried to still his movements. Quinn’s grey eyes were open wide but apparently unseeing as he continued to stare at the ceiling.

  He tapped the side of the youth’s face trying to get a response, “Quinn, you okay? Come on, wake up!”

  Quinn didn’t even flinch, his head rolling to the side from where Jared had nudged him.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” the older man muttered to himself, quickly dialing Surina’s number.

  The ringing of the phone felt like it went on forever, though in reality it had only been a few moments. Jared breathed a sigh of relief when he heard the click signaling someone picking up on the other end.

  “Hello?” Surina sighed into the receiver.

  “Surina, I’ve got a situation here,” he exclaimed. “I left Quinn alone for a just a minute and now he’s in some sort of… shock. I don’t know, he’s just lying here with this glazed look in his eyes. I can’t get him to snap out of it.”

  “Whoa, slow down Jared. Okay, go back – what was he doing before you left?”

  “Nothing, just looking something up on the Internet.”

  There was an awkward moment of silence as Surina contemplated what Jared had told her.

  “Well?” he prompted. “What should I do? Should I call an ambulance – he could have epilepsy or something. Do we even know anything about his physical health?”

  “I don’t think that’s it,” she assured. “Do you remember what happened when an incarnation of Athena tried to read an encyclopedia once?”

  “She finished it in three hours.”

  “Yes, but she collapsed right after. As a God of Wisdom, incarnations of Athena are information sponges, they absorb anything they come in contact with, b
ut the human mind isn’t really built for that. When Quinn used the search engine he must have somehow tapped into all that information and it overloaded his system.”

  Jared stared blankly as he processed what she said. He was surprised at her calm demeanor. When he had originally dialed, he figured he would be chewed out for not taking care of their ‘new recruit’. “So what exactly does that mean?” he asked.

  “It means he’ll be fine. His brain just needs a bit of time to process the information. Put him somewhere comfortable and he’ll eventually come out of it once he’s sorted through all the data he just absorbed.”

  “You’re sure?” he pressed.

  “I’m sure,” she said. “Listen, I’ve still got a couple errands to do, but I’ll be by your place around one. Make sure you and Quinn are ready to go. If it looks like he won’t be up by then, give me a call.”

  Jared bobbed his head in agreement as he listened, though his mind pulled up short when she said ‘make sure you and Quinn are ready to go’.

  “Wait, what do you mean? Go where?”

  “First Realm. Things are getting messy again between the Temples. Sebastien’s asked us to go check it out. Figures it would be a good experience for Quinn.”

  “Wait a second, what ‘us’? I know you’re a free agent, but I’ve got -”

  “Your little reapers to take care of things while you’re gone,” she interrupted. “People will keep on dying on schedule, so don’t get your panties in a bunch. Besides, Sebastien kind of out-ranks you in this situation, so it’s not like you’ve actually got a choice in all of this.”

  “Perfect,” Jared huffed. “I guess it can’t be helped.”

  “Unfortunately not. Anyway, I need to get going; I’ll see you around one. Bye.”

  Apparently, the woman couldn’t even wait to hear his reply as Jared was suddenly greeted by a dial tone.

  He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He’d been planning on getting it cut this afternoon, but supposed it would have to wait. He glanced down at Quinn, noting that the disconcerting stare was now gone – the youth appearing to have fallen asleep.

  Cerberus also seemed to sense that the danger had passed. He walked in a circle a couple of times before lying down on the plush carpet.

  Jared pulled one of Quinn’s arms over his shoulder and shifted the teen to now lie on the couch. He could have left him on the floor, but after his own night there he knew the kid’s back wouldn’t be thanking him, should he have been left that way.

  Jared shuffled over to his bedroom and threw open the door to his closet. He bemoaned his lack of clean clothes, only a couple of shirts were still on hangers. The rest he had already worn and were now shoved into a pile at the bottom of the closet.

  He hadn’t done laundry since last Wednesday, but figured he would be good for another day or two. However, this unscheduled trip had caught him off guard.

  Poking his head back into the living room, he saw Quinn sprawled comfortably on the couch. He probably wouldn’t be up for a couple more hours, more than enough time for Jared to run downstairs to the laundry room.

  With that in mind, he loaded his dirty garments into a bin and headed out the door, mindful to lock it after him.

  Quinn was aware that he was resting, yet at the same time he felt worn out. His mind felt like a large book that someone was flipping through at nauseating speeds. Each page seemed to burst with information, but each time he grasped something another page took its place.

  He wanted to tell whoever kept shoving page after page of information at him to stop. Couldn’t they see he was exhausted?

  Worse still was the fact that the information meant nothing to him. Websites, email addresses, personal blogs, papers on chaos theory, information on every girl named Lana, online psychics and oracles – it appeared to go on forever.

  Finally, it seemed to snap closed; everything was still there, but now neatly filed away. Quinn slumped into himself, relieved, it was over.

  He drifted out of his mind and back into the waking realm, becoming aware of two familiar voices.

  “I thought I told you to call me if it looked like he’d still be out of it by the time I came by,” he heard Surina grouch.

  “Sorry I forgot,” Jared apologized. “I had to go do some laundry.”

  “Did you even try to wake him up?”

  “Come on, he could use the rest. In the past two days, his world has been completely turned upside, the least you could do is cut him some slack.”

  Surina snorted. “I’d love to, but Sebastien says this can’t wait, and I agree. We need to get moving”

  “Moving where?” Quinn asked, his voice rough with sleep.

  He sat up on the couch and wiped the sleep from his eyes. Surina leaned against one of the walls, while two small duffle bags lay at her feet. Jared stood at the counter, his bag placed on the surface in front of him.

  Quinn could sense the tension building between the two young adults and wished to quickly defuse it.

  Surina was the first to speak, “I’m here to take you to meet Sebastien. He has something he wants to talk to us… well you, about. A job.”

  “And this couldn’t wait a day?” Jared challenged.

  The young woman whipped around to face him. Though Quinn couldn’t actually see her eyes behind her ever-present shades, he was certain that they were brimming with barely contained irritation.

  “No,” she grit out. “As much as you may not like it, Quinn has a responsibility to all Realms. He’s already lagging behind and needs to get back into the swing of things and that won’t happen if you keep coddling him.”

  “Could you please not talk about me like I’m not here,” Quinn snapped.

  The two adults pulled back from their tensed positions to look at the person in question, having the grace to look embarrassed.

  “Surina’s right,” the teen said. “I learned a long time ago that there is no such thing as a free meal. I need to earn my keep, and I’m okay with that.”

  “Quinn that doesn’t mean-” Jared started.

  “You don’t need to baby me,” Quinn interrupted. “You’ve had most of your life to get used to your role. If I have to play a little catch-up to be where you’re at, that’s fine.”

  Jared glanced away, but said no more.

  Surina was first to break the silence. “If that’s how you feel, then I suggest we get going.”

  Quinn nodded as he stood. These two people saw him as a child in need of guidance and to a degree they were correct. He had no compass for this new reality that he had been thrown into and a guide was perhaps just what he needed.

  ~ Chapter 14 ~

  Quinn stepped out of Jared’s apartment building, his gazed turned down at the stairs as his feet guided him down the tiered decline. Reaching the bottom, the teen looked up, stopping as he was dazzled by the piece of mechanical majesty parked on the curb in front of them. Surina used an automatic key to unlock the doors and disarm the alarm.

  The design of the car was sleek, a two-door coupe, silver in color – it was a thing of beauty. Quinn had never considered himself a gear-head by any stretch, but had gone through a phase in his early teens where cars were of extreme interest.

  However, taking a moment to inspect the vehicle Quinn came to the conclusion that the car wasn’t of a model he recognized. “Is this one of those new Lexus’?” he asked.

  “Hardly, take a look,” Surina said gesturing to the grill of the machine with her chin.

  Quinn bent down to inspect the front of the car. There at the center of the grill was the letter “H”, though the image of a hammer crossed over an anvil behind it robbed Quinn of the notion that the insignia was that of Honda or Hyundai.

  “That symbol…. Its Hephaestus’ isn’t it?”

  “Got it in one,” Jared agreed. “Incarnations of Hephaestus have always been at the forefront of engineering so he’s made all of our vehicles in the past century. Tyrell, the current incarnation designed thi
s one about 2 years ago.” He opened the passenger side door and waved Quinn into the back seat.

  The teen contemplated arguing his way into the front seat, but taking in Jared’s long legs he decided he could suck it up and let the older man have the much-needed leg room. He slid into the back-bench seat noting that the interior was just as posh as the exterior; a smooth white faux-leather covered the seats, while gray paneling lined the sides.

  Jared pushed the seat back into an upright position and climbed into the passenger seat, while Surina walked around the car to take the driver’s.

  “Seatbelts,” she reminded prompting the two men to strap themselves in. She slipped the key into the ignition, giving it a turn, practically cooing with pleasure as the engine rumbled to life. “Hear that?” she said. “Listen, it’s purring – that is the sound of a happy car.”

  “You know I heard that purring can also be the sound of irritation or nervousness,” Jared commented.

  “I was under the impression that shotgun was supposed to keep his trap shut,” she shot back.

  “Only when it comes to the radio.”

  Surina gave a huff of irritation, but ignored the man as she flicked on her signal before pulling out into traffic. Quinn hoped that the use of the signal and her adherence to the speed limit indicated she was a safe driver, yet as they slowly made their way into more congested streets he could see Surina’s shoulders shift as frustration caused them to tense.

  “Oh come on! The light is green!” she stressed to the person in front of her, even though the man could not hear her. But as the car in front of them began to move forward it was only at a crawl forcing them to poke along after.

  Seeing the tension mounting into what could be full blown road rage Quinn sought to engage Surina in a conversation. “So, is this your car?” he asked.

  “Actually all the cars belong to Hephaestus, he just loans them out to whichever god or goddess needs them. Sebastien doesn’t really drive so I end up using it the most, but if someone else needs it, he’ll recall it. Still, it’s a nice car.”