The Necropolis

by PJ Hoover

  There was a reason they were using the keys now. And it wasn’t to rule the world. It was to save the world and the humans living there. And it was up to Phoebe, Cory, and himself to do it.

  Benjamin tore his eyes off the Petri dishes and looked over to Phoebe. Her eyes had glazed over, and he pushed his thoughts to the forefront of her mind. Her head snapped over to him and she glared, narrowing her eyes. But then her face softened, and together they looked to Cory.

  Cory who always seemed to be the sensible one.

  Cory who always seemed to be the rational one.

  The mature one.

  The grown-up one.

  Cory was in a different world. Benjamin felt into Cory’s mind and saw the battle against Achilles, the mightiest warrior of all time. It didn’t take Benjamin long to realize that the competition between Andy and himself was nothing compared to the competition Cory had apparently felt with Achilles. Even as Benjamin thought this, he felt Cory flinch and look over.

  “I am the greatest warrior of all time,” Cory said. “I have always been and will be in the future. No one will ever stand in my way.” But as he spoke, he didn’t meet Benjamin’s gaze. Cory’s glassy eyes focused beyond Benjamin. Beyond Phoebe.

  Panic rose inside Benjamin. The telenergy within him from the keys was building, and Benjamin knew they’d need to use the keys soon to change the DNA.

  “The time for battle is over, Cory,” he said. “We have work to do.”

  Cory laughed. “Don’t you see it’s not important? Don’t you see what we can really do with our power? We can rule the world.”

  Benjamin held his key firmly, willing it to help him. “No, we need to save the world. Not rule it.”

  “We can save it by ruling it,” Cory said. “Don’t you see?”

  Benjamin opened his mouth to reply, but it was Phoebe who spoke. “No, Cory. I know how you feel. Look into my thoughts. You can see it. You know that even more than you, I want to rule the world. It’s what I was raised for my whole life. It’s what I would do best. But it’s wrong.”

  “No,” Cory said. “It’s not wrong. It can’t be wrong.”

  “Look into yourself,” Phoebe said. “Look deep. Deeper than Achilles. Deeper than the Trojan War. Deeper than all the battle training you had. You are destined for more than that. Those things mean nothing. And you know it.”

  Benjamin felt Cory’s mind as it churned. The battle raging within him caused Benjamin to pull back—just a little. He knew keeping the connection between the three of them and the keys was the only hope for their success. And so he watched. And waited as Cory struggled.

  The battle in Cory’s mind ebbed and flowed. And finally relented. Relief flooded through Benjamin as Cory’s face smoothed over. Relief combined with a fair amount of disappointment. His own dreams of ruling the world were vanishing along with Cory’s. He’d known it was wrong, but he couldn’t help how he’d felt. If Cory hadn’t been able to pull himself back, Benjamin knew he and Phoebe would have eventually succumbed.

  But they hadn’t, and Cory had recovered. And the three of them focused all their energy on the DNA samples on the floor.

  Genetic engineering knowledge obviously wasn’t a requirement, because as soon as the power of the keys focused on the DNA samples, telenergy sprang from the three keys of Shambhala and exploded all over the earth. It left the small cave in Xanadu, shooting out from their hands where they held the keys. And Benjamin felt it doing its work. He felt the humans changing. He felt them all in his mind.

  Benjamin had no idea how long it took, but when the light vanished from the cave, he looked down at his hands.

  “My key is gone,” he said, quickly looking over at Phoebe and Cory.

  “So is mine,” Phoebe said. “Used as it was meant to be used and now gone.”

  “Where did they go?” Benjamin asked, but knew, even as he asked it, that she wouldn’t have an answer. They might never know the answer.

  Benjamin looked to Cory, watching his brother sink to the ground and put his head in his hands.

  “I almost ruined everything,” Cory moaned.

  “No, little brother,” Benjamin said. “We almost ruined everything.”

  Phoebe nodded and sat down beside Cory. “Benjamin’s right. It was all of our minds working together. I wanted it every bit as much as you. It manifested itself in you, but it was all of us as sure as it was one of us.”

  “It would have been the end,” Cory said. “The end of everything we’ve worked so hard for.”

  “But it wasn’t,” Phoebe said, putting her hand on Cory’s arm. “The keys tested us and we passed. That’s all that matters.”

  “And now they’re gone,” Benjamin said. “And we need to go.” Now that the initial task at hand was complete, thoughts of Derrick, Douglas, and Becca flooded Benjamin’s mind. He knew Caelus and Gaea would find out what they had done with the keys. Find out that their hopes of ruling humans as before would be gone. And once they found out, there would be no telling what they would do. And Benjamin didn’t want his little brothers and sister to suffer their wrath. He only hoped he wasn’t too late.

  CHAPTER 34

  Trouble in Paradise

  They tried not to move as the boat floated down the river. The darkness smothered them the closer they got to the city walls. The boat floated until they’d reached the gate, and then, as they’d hoped, automatic systems unlocked the barriers, the gates opened, and their Trojan boat floated inside the city of Xanadu.

  As soon as the gates slid closed behind them, Cory levitated off the boat onto the bank and telekinetically pulled it to shore. Benjamin waited until everyone else had gotten off safely before levitating off himself.

  As the boat slipped away, back into the darkness, Ananya rushed up to join them.

  “The world shook,” she said.

  Benjamin reached out and felt the strength of the telejamming gene increasing with each passing minute. Humans were going to be all right.

  “We altered humans so they could telejam,” Benjamin said.

  “Extremely strong telejamming,” Aurora added.

  Ananya nodded. “I felt as much. The gods are not going to be happy. I’m afraid with that single move, you’ve made yourselves some pretty serious enemies.”

  Benjamin shrugged. “It had to be done. It’s what the Emerald Tablet had in mind all along.”

  Ananya eyed him. “Can you be sure, Benjamin Holt?”

  He opened his mouth to reply, surprised that of all people, Ananya would question him on this, but she held up her hand.

  “I’m not saying I disagree with what you have done,” she said. “I only want you to know the consequences of your actions.”

  “All we care about now is getting rid of Caelus and Gaea,” Cory said.

  “And saving my brothers and sister,” Benjamin added.

  “I know,” Ananya said. “Just know that even after Caelus and Gaea are gone, there will be others. Many others.”

  But Benjamin didn’t care, and he knew Ananya could tell. And he didn’t care about that either. He didn’t have time to waste thinking about his growing list of enemies.

  “Where are they?” he asked.

  “Under the fountain,” Ananya said. “Where you found them last time.”

  Benjamin didn’t stop to think. He started moving and then ran toward the fountain where he’d found the second key of Shambhala before. Where he’d had his test. Where he’d saved Derrick and Douglas before. But them he remembered his mom. He hadn’t saved her in the test. She’d drowned—or would have if it hadn’t been a test—during the search for the second key.

  “Wait, Benjamin,” Heidi called, but Benjamin didn’t slow, and even when he reached the cascading fountain, that didn’t stop him either. He moved his hand in front of it the way he’d seen Ananya do a year and a half before, and the water stopped.

  Benjamin started down the wet, circular staircase. He knew he had to be careful of his footing; it wouldn’t
help anyone if he fell to his own death. But the slowness drove him crazy, so he counted the steps down to keep himself from going nuts.

  At five hundred, he’d reached the bottom and found the path marked by the flowing water. And as before, the water already pooled around his ankles.

  Relief washed through Benjamin when he came to the cavern wall and there wasn’t a cell carved into it. But the shelves set high on the wall were the same, and on each one stood a twin. They had telekinetic restraints surrounding them; Benjamin felt the energy. And this was no test. Benjamin knew it as sure as he knew he would destroy Caelus and Gaea.

  “We’ve been expecting you, Benjamin Holt.”

  Benjamin turned to see Gaea standing up on a ledge holding Becca in her arms. Becca—who was only two and a half years old.

  “Let her go,” Benjamin called above the sound of the blood pounding in his ears. He lashed his telenergy out as forcefully as he could in an attempt to teleport Becca out of Gaea’s arms. But the room had been telejammed. Sealed off completely.

  “Benji,” Becca called, and stretched out her tiny little arms.

  “Let her go now and ruin all the fun we could have?” Gaea asked. She laughed and turned to her left. “I’m afraid my dear husband Caelus would be ever so angry if I did that.”

  “Benjamin, I can’t get loose,” Derrick called. “Get me down!”

  Benjamin dared to take his eyes off Gaea and Caelus and look up to the shelves. Calm. He had to remain calm. They wanted him to get angry. They wanted him to act first and think later. But he’d had enough of that. He wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction.

  Benjamin laughed at Gaea and Caelus, who’d moved next to his wife. Benjamin forced out the laughter even though on the inside all he wanted to do was lunge for them and pull their guts out through their throats. “Don’t you see you’ve already lost?” he called. “Can’t you feel it?”

  He saw the doubt flicker across Gaea’s face even as she masked it. She knew something had happened. But from her doubt, Benjamin gathered she didn’t know what.

  “Lost?” she called. “Nothing is lost. The world is ours. We shall rule it side by side, and our first act will be to execute you and your friends.”

  “And what about me?”

  Benjamin turned at the sound of Phoebe’s voice. She walked into the underground cavern with Cory at her side.

  “Would you execute me?” she asked.

  Gaea grinned in reply. “I have waited for longer than I care to think to see you dead. To see all three of you dead. All you are is a constant reminder of my husband’s continual infidelity.”

  Caelus looked out at Phoebe, and Benjamin saw their eyes lock.

  “Would you kill me, Father?” Phoebe asked.

  Caelus put up his hands palms up. “I’m afraid my hands are tied on the matter. You signed your own death sentence when you killed Nathan. He was my son, too, after all.”

  “It doesn’t change anything,” Benjamin called. “Even killing us won’t help. You’ll have no power. You can’t control the humans.”

  Gaea stopped smiling and looked Benjamin in the eye. Benjamin saw her grip on Becca tighten, though Becca squirmed and whined.

  “Be quiet, little Becca,” he willed her telepathically. “Everything will be okay.” With the telejammers in place around the cavern, he didn’t know if she heard his telepathic thoughts, but he had to say something.

  “What do you mean, we can’t control the humans?” Caelus asked.

  “He’s lying to us, dear husband,” Gaea said, turning to him. “He’s trying to deceive us.”

  “There’s nothing deceptive about it,” Cory called. “Humans are no longer within your control. In fact it’s now you who should be worrying about them.”

  “Liars!” Gaea called. “All of you.”

  “Benji,” Douglas called. “The water’s getting higher!”

  Benjamin had forgotten about the water which had been steadily rising since he’d reached the cavern. If he could just distract Gaea and Caelus for a while longer, he figured maybe there’d be some way to stop it. Maybe.

  “Stay calm,” Benjamin sent out telepathic thoughts to the twins.

  “But that’s the funniest thing,” Benjamin said. “We’re not lying. Humans can now telejam better than the strongest telegen.”

  “That’s not true,” Gaea said. “How would you know such a thing?”

  “Because we altered their DNA to give them the ability,” Benjamin said.

  “He’s not lying, Father,” Phoebe said, and inwardly, Benjamin cringed at her reversion to calling him Father. He only could hope she’d remain steadfast in her position against him.

  “You altered human DNA?” Caelus asked.

  “Not for every human,” Gaea stated. “It’s simply not possible.”

  “But it is possible,” Benjamin said. “With the three keys of Shambhala. We altered the DNA of every human on the face of the earth.”

  And with that comment, events started into motion. Gaea flew into a rage and threw Becca down from the ledge. Benjamin, having somewhat suspected this, caught her in midair, and using the power of the teleportation surger he’d slipped from his pocket into his hand, he teleported her away from the cavern.

  And while Gaea looked down to where Becca should have landed, Benjamin didn’t hesitate. The telekinetic bonds dissolved around the twins, and, again using the teleportation surger to break through the telejamming shields, he teleported both of them at the same time out of the cavern. Inside, he sagged with relief. By distracting Caelus and Gaea, and by preparing for their reaction, he’d managed to teleport all three of his siblings back to the safety of Lemuria. Far away.

  Lightning flew from Gaea’s fingertips as she pointed her hands at Benjamin, Cory, and Phoebe. Together, they diverted the lightning, though Benjamin wasn’t sure if the three of them would be enough to fight the combined powers of Caelus and Gaea for long. And then Benjamin remembered his next trick.

  He pulled the life force disk from his pocket and held it out in front of him. Caelus’ life force disk.

  Gaea and Caelus both froze, and the lightning stopped.

  “Where did you get that?” Caelus spat out. He reached to his neck, to the chain which hung around it, and pulled out his own disk. The one from the present.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Benjamin said. “All that matters is that I have it. And if you destroy us, then you destroy it too.”

  “I don’t care,” Gaea said, and threw another ambush of lightning at them. Benjamin hadn’t expected that, and it caught him square in the chest. He fell backward to the floor, landing in the water, but still managed to hold onto the disk.

  “Stop!” Caelus commanded Gaea. “You’ll destroy me!”

  She whipped around to face him. “I don’t care, you fool. Don’t you see that? I don’t care. These three will ruin everything. The plans of my lifetime. And I’m not going to risk that. Not for you. Not for anyone.”

  Caelus’ mouth dropped open. “You’d kill me. Me! How dare you?”

  He reached out and placed his huge hands around her throat. Apparently, Benjamin wasn’t the only one with that sentiment.

  “Get out of my way!” Gaea tried to scream, but with her throat being crushed, it came out pretty garbled.

  “No!” Caelus said, increasing the pressure of his hands.

  Benjamin could feel the energy rising in the room. But the lightning had stopped, and with Phoebe’s help, he managed to pull himself up to his feet.

  “What do we do now?” he whispered to Cory and Phoebe.

  “I honestly don’t know,” Cory said. “If we try to destroy him now, then we’ll still have Gaea to contend with.”

  “We need to destroy Gaea,” Phoebe said. “We need to help Caelus destroy Gaea.”

  Benjamin looked back over to Caelus and Gaea. They were locked into combat, and sparks flew around them, surrounding them in a blue haze.

  “Reach your power out to Gaea,�
� Phoebe said. “I know we don’t have the keys anymore, but we’re still bonded through a triplet link.”

  Cory nodded. “Phoebe’s right. We are more powerful then I think we know.”

  Benjamin stretched out his telenergy and felt Cory and Phoebe do the same. He directed everything toward Gaea. And it hit her. She turned to look as the telenergetic pulse hit her square in the chest. And Caelus grinned.

  “You would kill me?” Caelus snarled at Gaea. “Who will die now?”

  Benjamin sent out another pulse, and Gaea, again, shook as it hit her. The sparks subsided as she seemed to consider her situation.

  “Not me,” she said, but she’d hardly gotten the words out when a storm of sparks erupted and she crumbled to the floor. Dead. Every bit of energy flowing from her departed.

  Caelus stared at Gaea curled up on her stomach on the floor. “She would have killed me,” he said, and turned to them. “But the plan must continue, and the three of you must die.”

  “Then you’ll have to find us,” Benjamin said. He reached out and grabbed a hand of each of his siblings.

  “Teleport now,” Benjamin said to Cory and Phoebe, and engaged the power of the teleportation surger.

  CHAPTER 35

  Ghost Curses from the Future

  Benjamin had to assume Cory and Phoebe knew where they were going. He’d put an image of the place in his mind. They had to get Caelus away from the protection of Xanadu. And so they teleported away from the underground cavern.

  When they arrived on the grounds of the future Necropolis, the place was empty. It didn’t take Caelus long to track them—which Benjamin had hoped he would, and when he appeared only a few yards away, Benjamin was ready. Caelus lunged at them with everything he had. And Caelus still had a death grip on his life force disk.

  Benjamin held the life force disk from the future high in the air. Needless to say, Caelus stopped immediately.

  “Don’t you wonder where I got it?” Benjamin asked.

  Caelus swallowed hard and clenched his own present day disk all the tighter.