by PJ Hoover
“We are not going to let anything happen to you,” Cory said with a certainty in his voice that matched how Benjamin felt.
“I know,” Heidi said, wiping her tears. “But I just can’t help myself. Do you know how many dead, tortured souls I can sense?”
“Block them out, Heidi,” Ananya said. “Or they will drive you mad. You must turn off your mind to all emotions around you.”
Cory cleared his throat. “And I don’t mean to hurry you, but can you do it soon? We should get moving. Lulu said the de-phasing wouldn’t last forever.”
Heidi regained her composure, and they set out along a back hallway. There was no reason to sneak around; they did have a valid reason for being in the Necropolis. And if someone found them somewhere they shouldn’t be, Benjamin figured they could just lie and say they got lost.
Heidi picked the location of a hidden room that overlooked the ruling chamber from a guard’s mind. From it, they could see everything, but it still hid them from view.
Benjamin moved over to the wall and peered through slats between the stones. “I see Caelus,” he said. “And Gaea.” And then his heart started pounding.
“What’s wrong, little brother?” Cory said.
But Benjamin couldn’t reply. He tried but found his mouth wouldn’t work.
“Benjamin,” Ananya said.
He sank to the ground and put his back to the wall.
Cory rushed over to the wall and looked through a different crack. “Nathan!” he said.
“And Phoebe,” Benjamin managed to say. “She’s older, but it’s definitely her.”
Benjamin turned back to the wall, and they all pressed their eyes to the slats, watching the room below.
The rulers sat facing them, and Benjamin could see Phoebe’s face perfectly. She’d been beautiful, but now she only looked defeated. Her eyes sank low into their sockets, and her blond hair, once stunning and silky, hung like limp yarn. The dress she wore was exquisite, and her jewelry alone would have fed a starving continent for years. She sat next to Nathan, but he took no notice of her. Instead, he had his attention focused on the speakers in the room.
“But why must it always be bad news?” Caelus slammed his fist down on the side of his throne. “I do not want any more bad news. If I get any more bad news out of New Delphi, I will personally have every oracle brought here and sacrificed.”
“But my Lord Caelus, she is my finest oracle,” the speaker said. “We must take her foretelling and plan our future based on it.”
Benjamin recognized the speaker after the first word. The golden god they’d met last summer. Apollo. He didn’t seem to glow quite so much now.
“That oracle has been trouble since she was first placed in New Delphi,” Nathan said. “She should have been executed ten years ago.”
“The oracle is merely incorrect,” Kronos said. But it was a different Kronos, not the one they’d traveled here with. Who knew where he even was? “There will be death and destruction by the thousands, but it will not fall on us.”
“I’m happy to see someone looks for the positive angle,” Caelus said. He glared back at Apollo. “I want the oracle brought before me. I would have her dare to speak her prophecies to my face.”
“The oracles must not leave New Delphi,” Apollo said. “They draw their power from the Omphalos and the surrounding rocks.”
“Then you yourself admit they are worthless,” Caelus said.
“Father,” Nathan said. “Why don’t I accompany Apollo back to New Delphi and execute this oracle myself? I would be more than happy to be away from my wife for such an important task.”
Caelus looked at Phoebe and laughed. “Your wife. Worthless girl.”
Phoebe cast her eyes downward, and Benjamin immediately felt her shame deep in his chest. Next to him, Cory tensed. Before giving any thought to it, he dared to send out a little comfort to her. He wanted to help this Phoebe, but they were ten years in the future, and Benjamin had no intention of staying. He had to return. But as soon as he sent the feelings to her, something inside him shifted. Like a mind block slipping away. He ignored it and sent a little bit more.
Phoebe’s eyes widened, and she lifted her head. But then she must have realized what she was doing because she again cast her eyes down. But as Caelus, Nathan, Apollo, and Kronos continued to speak, Phoebe ever so slowly raised her head until she could just see to the cracks in the wall. Her eyes met Benjamin’s and pleaded to him. Leave now, they said. Leave while you still can.
Benjamin saw it in her eyes; Phoebe had given up on life. He felt the anguish she’d experienced on a daily basis for the last ten years. She was a shell of the person she’d once been.
“I will not submit,” Apollo said. “Iva will stay in New Delphi until the day she dies.”
Iva! Benjamin’s head snapped away from Phoebe and back to the speakers. Of course it was Iva. The best oracle in the world. Who else would it have been?
“Then you leave me no choice,” Caelus said. He turned his head. “Nathan, you have my permission to go to New Delphi and execute this oracle unless she decides to change her prophecy.”
Nathan smiled like he’d been waiting for this permission his whole life. “It will be my pleasure.”
“We need to get to New Delphi!” Benjamin said. “They’re going to kill Iva.” He jumped to his feet and started for the door.
“Wait, little brother,” Cory said. “We can’t run off with our pants down. We need a plan.”
“We don’t have time for a plan,” Benjamin said. “We need to go now.”
Heidi got up and stood next to Benjamin. “He’s right. We need to go now. There’s no time to waste. Nathan intends to kill Iva whether she changes her prophecy or not.”
Ananya shook her head. “I can sense Apollo is against Caelus. It may come down to a battle between Apollo and Nathan. He won’t give up Iva without a fight.”
“But where’s New Delphi?” Heidi asked.
“Lulu would probably know,” Benjamin said. “Too bad she—”
The door opened, and three guards walked in.
“These must be the ones,” the first guard said, and grabbed Benjamin before he had a chance to react.
The second guard grabbed Heidi and Ananya. “And these must be our priestesses,” the guard said. “We’ve been waiting for you down the hall.”
Benjamin struggled, but the guard held him fast. He scanned his mind around the room and found whatever de-phasing had been done to their DNA was gone. Had he messed it up when he’d sent his thoughts to Phoebe?
“Take your hands off them,” Cory said, rushing the third and final guard, sending him crashing into the wall. The guard’s neck cracked in a sickening way Benjamin felt pretty sure meant he’d broken it. Good thing at least one of them had battle experience.
Benjamin heard the alarm sounding even as five more guards rushed up. So much for maintaining a low profile. The last thing he remembered before slumping to the ground was seeing Heidi and Ananya. Heidi looked pretty much like a cornered bug about to be smashed, but Ananya remained calm. Calm in a way that didn’t seem to fit in with their current predicament. Benjamin could only hope that was a good thing.
CHAPTER 23
Benjamin Thinks About His Death
Benjamin woke up and saw Cory pacing. It only took a moment for Benjamin’s eyes to adjust to the dark. It took a couple more seconds for his nose to adjust to the stench. Why did dark places always have to smell so bad?
“Where are we?” he asked, sitting up.
“Some kind of cell,” Cory said. “I’ve tried telekinesis, and teleportation, but nothing’s worked.”
“How long have we been here?” Benjamin asked. Panic flooded through him as he remembered the conversation from the Necropolis ruling hall. They needed to get to New Delphi. Iva would die if they didn’t.
“I woke up about an hour ago,” Cory said. “My heads-up display seems to be jammed.”
“Mine, too,” Benjamin said, trying to adj
ust the device with no luck.
“Where are Heidi and Ananya?” Benjamin asked.
Cory shook his head. “I haven’t had any contact with them.”
Benjamin’s chest tightened. “They’ll get killed.”
“They’ll be okay,” Cory said. “Ananya is resourceful. She may have a plan.”
“So what do we do?” Benjamin asked. “Just sit here and wait?”
“I was hoping you’d have a couple ideas once you woke up,” Cory said. “I can’t even find a door to this cell.”
Cory was right; there was no door. Only four smooth walls. They’d probably been teleported inside.
Benjamin reached out with his mind and looked for Heidi and Ananya. Nothing. He couldn’t even sense if they were still alive.
“I’ve been trying the same thing every five minutes since we got here,” Cory said. “They’ve got this cell telejammed pretty good.”
“Have you tried anyone else?” Benjamin asked.
Cory shrugged. “Like who?”
“Like Phoebe,” Benjamin said.
Cory gave him a pitying look. “Benjamin, you saw her. She’s beyond help. She’s been tortured and beaten down for ten years. Her mind is probably so closed up, nothing could reach it.”
“I reached her earlier,” Benjamin said. “Back in the throne room. I sent her some thoughts. And she got them. It’s why she looked up at us in the first place.”
“She never looked up,” Cory said.
“She did,” Benjamin replied. “She did it so nobody else would notice, but she did. She looked right at us.”
Hope sprang into Cory’s eyes. “Do you think you could reach her now?”
“I’m sure going to try,” Benjamin said. He sat back down on the bench and closed his eyes. Phoebe had to be out there somewhere, and maybe, just maybe, the triplet link would be enough to break through the telejamming signals around the cell.
He made sure to send out thoughts only for her. He didn’t want the whole Necropolis alerted to his efforts. “Phoebe,” he said.
Nothing.
“Phoebe.”
Still nothing. Maybe Cory was right. Maybe there was no point. Phoebe probably didn’t have any idea they’d even been captured. But he decided to try every five minutes, if for no other reason than to give him something to do.
Five minutes later gave the same response. Ten minutes also. After a half hour, a tray of food that looked like it had been stepped on was teleported into the room. Still, they sat down and devoured it.
“Split the last slice of bread with you?” Cory asked, picking up the knife to cut it.
Benjamin nodded as he thought about the irony of giving prisoners a knife. In a world of telekinesis and teleportation, knives weren’t much of a threat. He was about to tell Cory the whole irony of the situation when his eye caught on a green piece of paper which had been tucked under the knife. He literally felt his heart speed up when he saw the three golden hearts etched on the paper. The same symbol which had been on the clues leading him on this whole adventure in the first place.
“Look,” he said, reaching over to pick up the piece of paper.
“What is it?” Cory asked.
Benjamin explained about the three hearts symbol as he unwrapped the paper. The writing was microscopic, but Benjamin managed to read it anyway.
His breath caught. “She heard us.”
“What does it say?” Cory asked.
“‘As soon as the tray disappears, teleport directly below your cell. We will meet you there,’” Benjamin read. “This must be from Phoebe. She’s must’ve been the one who left me all the messages in the first place. She heard us!”
“But who’s ‘we’?” Cory asked. “Phoebe and who?”
Benjamin shook his head. “I don’t know.”
“Then we shouldn’t do it,” Cory said. “I may be a trap. This could be a plan of Nathan’s doing.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Benjamin said. “We need to take our chances. It’s this or nothing. And I’d rather face Nathan out there then be stuck in here like I’m part of a zoo.”
Cory paused, thinking over the situation. Finally, he sighed. “Fine. We’ll do it. But we stick together and we need to be prepared for anything.” He reached back down and picked up the knife, tucking it into his belt. “And no more telepathy. We can’t risk it.”
Benjamin nodded, looking down on the tray for a weapon of his own. Aside from the empty plate, there was nothing. And then the tray disappeared.
With like minds, Benjamin and Cory grabbed hands and teleported down under the cell, and it worked. The telejamming signal must have been lifted for just long enough to get the tray out. And Cory and Benjamin.
They arrived in a hallway, and a hooded figure moved toward them. Cory pulled the knife, ready for anything, but Benjamin felt the familiar presence.
“No, Cory,” he said. “It’s her.”
Cory stopped but didn’t put down the knife. Phoebe pulled back the hood on her cloak, and without even giving it a second thought, Benjamin rushed over and hugged her. He’d only met her a handful of times, but this was his sister. And Cory’s too, because Cory finally put the knife down and joined in the hug.
As they embraced, Benjamin felt the triplet bond running through each and every part of his body. It strengthened him and restored his energy. And in his pocket, he felt the two keys he carried—the Shambhala key and the Xanadu key. They grew hot and began to pulsate.
“What is it?” Phoebe asked as he pulled away and reached into his pocket for the keys.
“The keys of Shambhala,” Benjamin said, holding them out.
Cory joined his with Benjamin’s, and together, they watched the glowing gems.
“You still have them?” Phoebe asked as her eyes grew wide.
Benjamin nodded. “I took them after the shields came down. You left them there.”
Phoebe cast her eyes down. “I can’t begin to tell you how ashamed I am.”
Benjamin put the keys away and grabbed her hands. “It doesn’t matter now, Phoebe. It’s over and done.” As he looked at her, he noticed how much better she already looked. Her eyes no longer sunk in her face, and compared to the woman he’d seen hours before in the ruling hall, this Phoebe looked like she might have some fight left in her.
Benjamin and Cory turned as someone else in the hallway cleared his throat.
“I don’t mean to be rushing this wonderful reunion here, but we really must be getting on with our plan.”
Benjamin recognized the speaker’s voice even before he saw the man’s golden hair. “Apollo,” he said.
“The one and only.” Apollo stepped out of the shadows. “And now, as I was saying, I must insist we get going.”
“We need to get to Heidi and Ananya,” Cory said.
“Yes, that is the plan,” Apollo said.
“Are they okay?” Benjamin asked. “Have they been hurt?”
Apollo shook his head. “They are being saved and kept special. Caelus, Gaea, and Nathan themselves plan to publicly torture and execute all four of you tomorrow at noon.”
“Wonderful,” Benjamin said. “Sounds like a show I’ll be sorry to miss.”
“Well you won’t miss it unless we get moving,” Apollo said.
“What’s your part in this?” Benjamin asked. He’d met Apollo before, but couldn’t figure out exactly whose side the false god was really on.
Apollo laughed as he led the way down the hallway. “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in the matter. Not to mention how many favors I actually do owe my darling Ananya.”
“Iva!” Benjamin said. “You don’t want Nathan to kill Iva.”
“Of course I don’t,” Apollo said. “Have you any idea how powerful of an oracle she really is?”
Benjamin opened his mouth to reply but didn’t get the chance.
“No, you don’t,” Apollo said. “So let me tell you. The world has never—and I repeat never—seen an oracle like Iva Marini
na. Ever. She is worth more than all the oracles I have ever had put together.”
Benjamin knew Iva was good at telegnosis and all, but the best in the world? Ever? Even he found that hard to believe. “If she’s that good, then I’m surprised you let her go after that year in Delphi.”
“I never intended to let her return,” Apollo said. “But again, we come back to Ananya. She showed up at just the wrong time to remind me of my promise.” He sighed. “But now I have Iva permanently, and I’m not about to let that emperor-wanna-be Nathan Nyx take her away from me.” He turned to Phoebe. “No offense to your dear husband.”
Phoebe shuddered. “You’d be doing the world a favor if you would actually just kill Nathan when he makes it to New Delphi,” she said. “Because he will make it to New Delphi. He always does what he threatens. Believe me, I know.”
Benjamin put his arm on Phoebe’s and noticed Cory, on the other side of her, did the same. They’d returned the keys to their pockets, but again Benjamin felt their warmth.
“Phoebe,” he said. “You could leave with us.”
Phoebe shook her head. “No, I can’t. My place is here. The time for me to leave is gone.”
Benjamin didn’t know how to respond. He wasn’t ready to give up on her yet.
“This is it,” Apollo said, stopping at a thick door.
“Heidi and Ananya?” Cory asked.
Apollo nodded.
“So how do we get them out?” Cory asked.
“Leave that to me,” Phoebe said, stepping ahead. She placed her palm on a pad by the door, and it slid open.
Ananya and Heidi jumped up from the bench they sat on and rushed to the door. Benjamin grabbed Heidi and kissed her before he even knew what he was doing. And he kept on kissing her even after he thought about it. And the best thing about it was that Heidi kissed him back. And it felt good. It took Cory clearing his throat to remind Benjamin that maybe the time for kissing had come to an end. If there even was a time for kissing to come to an end.
“Are you okay?” he asked, once they’d separated.
Heidi smiled. “Yeah, we’re fine.”
Benjamin looked over to Ananya who stood next to Apollo. Awfully close to Apollo by the looks of things. Had Benjamin missed something?
