by P. J. Hoover
“But I was just getting comfortable,” Andy said, sitting down on one of the thrones.
“I can see that,” a voice said.
Five heads turned to look in the direction the voice came from. Two figures stood, side by side, and very nearly identical in appearance except one was a man and the other was a woman.
“We were just going,” Benjamin said, hurrying toward the door. A sick feeling in his gut told him who these two people were.
“Without introducing yourselves?” the female asked. “Isn’t that a bit rude?”
Benjamin froze, unsure what to do. Did he dare just walk over and say hello? He looked at Andy who was still sitting on the throne, a horrified look upon his face.
Thankfully it was Gary who took control of the awkward moment. “My name’s Gary Goodweather,” Gary said, walking over and extending his hand for the couple to shake.
“Gary Goodweather,” the man repeated. “It is a pleasure to meet you.” They shook his hand in return. “My name is Helios Deimos, and this is my sister, Selene.”
“So you two rule this whole world?” Heidi asked, walking over also.
“I thought so,” Selene Deimos replied, “until I saw your friend over there on my throne.”
Andy bolted upright off of the throne. “Yeah, I’m really sorry about that.” He walked over and introduced himself. “We kind of ended up in this room somehow, and I was just taking a break.”
“I didn’t want to come in here in the first place,” Iva announced as she walked over. “But Benjamin’s friend Jack made us come in.”
Helios and Selene turned and focused their attention on Benjamin. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Benjamin replied. “But he’s a Nogical.” Now why had he gone and said that? What did it matter whether a Nogical led them into the ruling chamber or not?
“So you have a friend who’s a Nogical?” Helios asked. “Quite unusual. But as coincidences go, I know Jack the Nogical also. So any friend of Jack’s is a friend of mine.”
Benjamin felt relief wash through him. So it had paid off to mention the Nogical connection. He’d have to remember that in the future. “I’m Benjamin Holt by the way.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Benjamin Holt,” Selene Deimos replied. “Now please, continue your visit of the Ruling Hall. But in the future you may want to avoid areas not on the main tour.”
CHAPTER 8
Once Again, They Leave the Tour
The official tour guide wasn’t half as good as Jack; before long, all of them were bored stiff.
“Who’s ready to head down to i4 to look for the hidden passageway Mr. Burton told us about?” Andy asked with a devilish grin. Benjamin looked at Andy and grinned back.
“You heard what Selene Deimos just said,” Gary said. “Avoid areas not on the main tour. Those levels are off limits.”
“Let’s just try,” Heidi said, moving over to join Andy and Benjamin.
“I think Gary’s right,” Iva said. “The sign said the lower levels are closed to the public.”
“Well, then maybe we won’t be able to get down there,” Andy said. “And if not, we can just turn around and leave.” Andy smiled again, and when Benjamin looked, he was sure the smile was directed toward Iva. Was it his imagination, or was Andy acting a bit odd? Heidi glanced at Benjamin and smiled knowingly, like she’d just read his thoughts. Which she probably had.
Still, Iva and Gary didn’t budge.
“Do you always break the rules?” Iva asked Andy.
“Do you always stick to them?” Andy asked. “Come on. Have a little fun, will you?”
Iva glared at him, but she and Gary joined them.
When they reached floor i3, the main staircase they’d been on ended. “See. We can’t go any farther,” Iva said. She glanced around, looking to see if anyone was watching. “Let’s go back.”
But already Heidi was looking around for another set of stairs and coming up empty. The level was vacant, just a big, empty circle with nowhere to go but back up. In the center of the floor, a fancy mosaic decorated the white marble tile. It caught Benjamin’s eye, so he walked over to it. It was a large circle, about ten feet in diameter, with a smaller concentric circle inside it. Connecting the large and small circles were a series of lines spaced about ten inches apart. Benjamin stared at it. Gary, Andy, Heidi, and Iva walked over to join him.
“What are you looking at?” Andy asked.
“I don’t know. There’s something strange about this mosaic, like the light isn’t reflecting off it right,” Benjamin said.
Gary looked at it. “I see what you mean.” He squatted down, looking at it from a different angle. “It looks flat to me,” he said. He placed his foot on the design, and then walked straight across it. “I think it’s just for decoration.”
“I’m not so sure,” Benjamin said. He stared at it a while longer, then decided to try something. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Like he was stepping on thin ice, Benjamin placed his right foot on one of the line divisions. Without a word, he placed his left foot on the next division. His left foot disappeared. After a few more steps, he vanished from his thighs down.
“It’s a staircase,” he said to his friends.
“But how could that be?” Gary asked. “I just walked across it, and I didn’t fall in.”
Benjamin shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. He took a few more steps, now up to his chest in the floor. With five more steps, he was gone. Heidi was next, and Andy, Iva, and Gary quickly followed.
“Wow, where are we?” Heidi asked once they all reached the bottom. Unlike the rest of the ornate Ruling Hall, floor i4 reminded Benjamin of a hospital—utilitarian and white.
“Somewhere we’re not supposed to be,” Gary said. He looked up the staircase like he wished they were still back on i3.
“So, which way do we go?” Benjamin asked.
“I think we should go this way,” Iva said, pointing to the third hallway on the left.
“Why?” Benjamin asked. “They all look the same.”
Iva shrugged. “It just feels right.”
“Well, I guess it’s as good as any of them,” Andy said. He began walking in the direction Iva had suggested. With a shrug, Benjamin and Heidi followed, Gary trailing behind.
The farther they walked, the more sub-hallways sprouted off the main one. At Iva’s suggestions, they chose a path, first turning left, then right, then right again. Pretty soon, the turns and whiteness made Benjamin’s head spin.
“These all look alike,” Gary said.
“And isn’t it kind of weird that there’s no one else around?” Heidi said.
“Well, it is off limits,” Iva said.
“Did you guys just hear that?” Gary asked.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Andy replied.
“Me neither,” Heidi agreed.
“Sure you did. It sounded like someone slamming a door,” Gary said. His friends just stared at him. “What, you really didn’t hear anything?” He listened. “See, there it is again, except it was a different door, closer this time.”
“I think you’re hearing things,” Andy said. “We’re the only ones making noise down here.”
“No, I think I heard something that time.” Benjamin nodded at Gary.
“How good is your hearing, Gary?” Andy asked.
“I can hear a pin drop at the distance of a football field,” Gary replied. “I tried some experiments to test it one time.”
“Crazy,” Andy thought to Benjamin. “He’s tested his hearing?”
Benjamin laughed out loud in response.
“What’s so funny?” Gary asked.
Years of telepathic conversations prepared Benjamin for his answer. “Just nervous I guess,” he replied.
“You know, as weak as your mind blocks are, he’ll probably be able to read your thoughts soon.”
Benjamin felt the blood drain out of his face when Heidi’s mind sounded in his head. He looked at
her, and she scowled back.
At Iva’s bidding, they turned right and ran straight into a wall.
“I think you need to work on your woman’s intuition a little bit, Iva,” Andy said. “This is a dead end.”
“Yes, I can see that,” Iva said, biting her lip. “But I really had the feeling this was the way to go. I would have sworn to it.”
“But there’s nowhere to go,” Andy said. “Maybe the right way was really the left way,” he laughed.
“There has to be a secret passageway or something,” Iva said, ignoring him.
“Well, technically, there doesn’t have to be,” Gary said.
But then Benjamin began to walk forward, toward the wall.
“Hey, what are you doing, Benjamin?” Andy asked.
Benjamin didn’t answer because he didn’t know. He stopped in front of the wall and, without saying a word, placed both palms flat on the surface in front of him. From the white wall sprang green light, emanating from under his palms. Brighter and brighter the light glowed, until suddenly, the white wall vanished. Benjamin lowered his arms back to his sides.
“Whoa, what just happened?” Gary asked.
“Yeah, what just happened?” Andy echoed.
Benjamin turned to them. “I don’t know. I just knew the wall was a door, and I’d be able to open it.”
“How in the world would you know that?” Andy asked.
Benjamin looked down at his palms. “No idea. It just came to me.” He turned back to look at the double doors in front of him.
“So, do we knock?” Andy asked.
“Well, I don’t think we should just walk right in,” Gary said.
“I can read some thoughts behind the doors,” Heidi said. “Whoever’s in there knows we’re out here.”
On cue, the doors began to swing outward. Benjamin jumped back to move out of their way. When they finished opening, he peeked inside, and then started to walk forward.
“Oh, come in, come in,” a voice said. “I’ve been expecting you. It’s a pleasure to see you again after all this time.” The students looked in the direction of the voice. There was a low table with some sort of strange chess game sitting on it. Two chairs were placed on opposite sides of the table. The two figures in the chairs looked up at exactly the same moment. They were identical. Each was an old man, with long gray hair and an unkempt beard, dressed in matching white pants and shirts.
“How could you have been expecting us?” Benjamin asked both men.
“Well, you’ve been making plenty of noise for one thing,” the man on the left replied, standing up. He looked around at each of them, and Benjamin noticed his face fell. “You didn’t bring him with you.”
“Who?” Benjamin asked.
“Nobody,” the man on the right said, standing up. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Who are you?” Gary asked neither man in particular.
They both stood a little taller. “I am Hexer, the keeper of the Tablet,” the man on the right replied. “The companion of the One Mind.”
“What does that mean?” Andy asked.
“I guard the most sacred of relics. In me is entrusted the secrets of all that is possible,” the man on the left replied.
“Is that supposed to be a riddle or something?” Andy asked.
“I am the watcher of riddles, the master of the truth,” the old man on the right said.
“And what is your name?” Gary asked the other man.
“I am Hexer,” the man on the left said.
“But I thought he said he was Hexer,” Heidi said.
“Well, I did,” the Hexer on the right said.
“She was asking me,” the Hexer on the left said.
“No, she was asking me,” the Hexer on the right said. “Weren’t you?”
“No, actually, I was asking him,” Heidi said, motioning to the Hexer on the left.
“So, which one of you is really Hexer?” Andy asked.
“I am,” the two Hexers said in unison.
Gary narrowed his eyes and looked at them. “I don’t get it. How can you both be the same person?”
“There haven’t always been two of us,” the Hexer on the left said.
“So, why are there two of you now?” Andy asked.
The Hexer on the left opened his mouth to speak, but the Hexer on the right shot him a silencing look. “We don’t talk about it,” the Hexer on the right said.
“So what is it that you guard?” Benjamin asked, changing the subject back. He wasn’t too interested in identically named twins; but they had mentioned secrets. “I mean, what’s the most sacred of relics?”
“It’s good you don’t know. We do our best to keep secret the existence and location of The Emerald Tablet,” the Hexer on the left replied.
“The Emerald Tablet?” Benjamin asked, looking to the others for some sign of recognition, but even Gary shook his head.
“A tablet which contains the sum of all knowledge. It contains the very recipe for the creation of the world and for the survival of telegens in the future,” the Hexer on the right said. “It must never fall into the wrong hands or be used for ill purposes.”
“So, can we see it?” Gary asked. His eyes had grown huge at the words ‘sum of all knowledge’.
“Of course. Any who make it this far are allowed to enter the chamber of the Tablet.” The Hexers stepped apart and extended their hands in the direction of a small door.
Benjamin didn’t wait; he started walking forward. His friends followed, close on his heels. “Okay,” he said. “I guess we’ll go check it out now.”
“Help yourself.” Both Hexers settled back in their chairs, returning to their game.
Benjamin reached the door and placed his hand on the palm pad. It lit up, and the door slid sideways. The room ahead stretched like a passageway into the underworld. The darkness enveloped them as they walked in, and the door closed behind them, sealing off every last bit of light around.
“It’s kind of dark in here,” Heidi said, and if Benjamin hadn’t known better, he would have sworn she took a step closer to him.
But soon enough his eyes adjusted. “There’s a light down there.” He pointed, but had no idea if anyone could see him. So he started walking.
The ceiling light turned out to be no bigger than a pizza. But in the center stood a pulpit with a green crystal object. It was engraved with markings that Benjamin figured were either letters or chicken scratch.
“It looks similar to the ancient Phoenician alphabet, though it’s not exact,” Gary said, squinting to get a better look.
“How could you possibly know that?” Andy asked. He stared at Gary like he’d just explained the theory of relativity.
“I studied it one summer,” Gary replied.
“You studied Ancient Phoenician?” Andy said. He looked to Benjamin who rolled his eyes in response, avoiding Heidi’s glare.
“Yeah, it’s really a quite remarkable language,” Gary said. “Many English sounds and letter combinations come from Ancient Phoenician.”
“So, what does the tablet say?” Benjamin asked.
Gary leaned over the tablet, trying to make out the strange letters. “I think it says:
Step close and you will see
The truth which all agree
Gives knowledge and sets you free
And strengthens with the power of three.
Draw near and you will find
The hidden truth told by the blind
Given out for all mankind
But use with care, I must remind.
Take always the path of love
For it is the one which is above
But not for one unworthy of
With no one left to belove.
Seize the moment and prevail
And drink from the flowing grail.
Step carefully the final trail
And balance the broken scale.”
“So how is that the sum of all knowledge?” Andy asked. “It’s
a poem.”
“Maybe we have to get one of the Hexers out there to help us,” Iva said. “Isn’t he, I mean, aren’t they, the keepers of the Tablet?”
“Maybe there’s more on the other side,” Benjamin said. He reached out and grabbed the Tablet, preparing to turn it over, but when he touched it, it sprang to life. Green light shot through the room.
“Welcome, Benjamin Holt. We have been expecting you.” The voice came from the Tablet, but reverberated throughout the entire chamber.
Benjamin let go of the Tablet and jumped back. “What was that?” he said.
“It sounded like it was greeting you,” Heidi said in a whisper, taking a step back to join him.
Benjamin took a deep breath, then stepped forward again. He knew he was crazy to do it, but he placed a hand back on the Tablet.
“I have awaited your arrival for many ages, Benjamin Holt,” the voice said again.
“How do you know who I am?” Benjamin asked.
“I am the source of all knowledge,” the Tablet replied.
“How could you have been expecting me?” Benjamin asked.
“I have chosen you as my champion, and you have chosen wisely in your companions to assist you in your task,” the Tablet said.
“What task? What champion?” Benjamin said.
“The task of restoring the balance to the world, for telegens and humans alike,” the Tablet said. “The task of allowing all of Earth to live in peace.”
“Restoring the balance? Peace on Earth?” Benjamin said. “Are you kidding? I hadn’t even heard of Lemuria until this morning. I think you made a mistake. I’m the wrong guy.”
“No, Benjamin Holt. Only you will be able to perform this task,” the Tablet replied.
“But, why?” Benjamin said.
“A formal alliance must be formed before I can speak aloud the pathway to walk. All must be bonded together, devoted to the search for the truth,” the Tablet said.
“What kind of alliance?” Heidi asked, and Benjamin was sure he saw a sparkle in her eye.
“An alliance of friendship. An alliance of trust. An alliance of minds. An alliance of power. Once formed, this alliance can never be broken. Place your right hands on the words you see before you,” the Tablet instructed.
