The Last Timekeepers and the Arch of Atlantis

by Sharon Ledwith

  Silence echoed throughout the Temple of Poseidon. It didn’t last long though, as Drake snorted. “Yeah right, and I’m one of the Knights of the Round Table.”

  Treena giggled. “Yeah, he’s the one called Sir Douche-a-lot!”

  Drake glared at Treena and then crossed his arms over his chest. Amanda guessed that if Bailey had a tail, he’d be tucking it up his butt.

  A shrill whistle sounded from behind Amanda. It was Professor Lucas. “Is that who I think it is?” he asked, pointing past the long, purple curtains.

  Amanda searched for what the professor was talking about. When she saw it, her mouth fell open, and a deep breath followed. A gigantic golden statue—about half the size of the Statue of Liberty—was set in the middle of an opulent room. It was a bearded man wrapped in a bed sheet and standing in a chariot pulled by six winged horses. The twinkling chariot was circled by hundreds of small freaky-looking mermaids riding on dolphins. Ivory walls decorated with gold, silver, and another metal that sparkled like fire glittered back at Amanda. She blinked at the brilliance.

  “Yes, Professor Lucas, it is Poseidon, the father of Atlantis.”

  Professor Lucas strode past Ravi and Jordan, tousling the boy’s hair in excitement. “Yes! My research wasn’t bunk after all! It was fact!”

  “What research, Uncle John?” Jordan asked.

  “The research I’ve been working on most of my life—to prove Atlantis did exist,” Professor Lucas replied. “That this ancient civilization wasn’t a legend or myth, but an actual place.” He removed his silly-looking fishing hat, reached in, pulled out a small photograph, and passed it around. Amanda’s eyes bugged. It was a picture of the same arch in Melody’s garden.

  “You see—” the professor continued, shoving his hat back on “—during a recent dig in Guatemala with some co-workers I found this arch, which looks exactly like the one we were transported through. As I started to interpret the engraved hieroglyphics and alchemical symbols on it, I knew it had to have come from Atlantis, but had a hard time convincing anyone. It was only when I translated the words, Time flows through us, engraved in the keystone, that I realized that this was the secret code of nature. So I started paying close attention to the repeating patterns inscribed on the arch. The Atlanteans knew that if they paid attention to the subtle patterns in nature they could learn to harness this energy and flow with it. And since time is a form of energy, I deduced that what we unearthed was a type of teleportation portal—a device that would allow us to flow with time.”

  “Yes,” Lilith said. “Professor Lucas broke the code.”

  Amanda noticed a change in Lilith’s voice—it had gotten lower—and her face had turned sad. Lilith bent her head like a branch about to break.

  “What code, Lilith?” Melody asked as she handed the professor back his photo.

  Lilith forced a half-smile. “The code of time, Melody Spencer.”

  “Wait, I don’t get it, Lilith,” Amanda said. “If this is Atlantis—or what’s left of it—how come you’re still alive? I mean, that would make you around twelve thousand years old.”

  Treena scratched her nose with her thumb. “I dunno, Amanda, Lilith doesn’t look a day over six thousand years to me.”

  Lilith smiled fully. “I exist in the element of time, Amanda Sault. My consciousness, my memory, is locked into the Arch of Atlantis where I survive through the energy of the spirals.”

  “What do spirals have to do with time?” Ravi asked.

  “Plenty, Ravi,” Professor Lucas said excitedly. “Spirals are cyclic in nature. The Mayans knew this, and because they were such great astronomers, they understood that the cycles and rhythms in the sky correlated with everything here—”

  Sharma’s eyes glazed over. His cheek twitched twice before he held up his hand. “What was that middle thing again?”

  Amanda rolled her eyes. “Allow me to translate, Sharma. My grandmother told me that spirals exist in everything. In nature. In the sky. In the water. Even in our bodies. So in a way, we’re all programmed by nature, and we’re all connected. Spirals help us understand movement through the cycles of nature and passage of time. You know, like day changes into night, new moon into full moon, spring into summer, stuff like that.”

  “Amanda’s got a point,” Drake added. “Spirals exist in our DNA and fingerprints—our whole genetic makeup is based on spirals.”

  “Okay, that sort of makes sense, Sault,” Jordan said, “but what doesn’t is how someone like you figured out the code of time.” He shook his head. “My uncle’s a professor, and it obviously took him years to crack it.”

  Amanda balled her fists. “Well, maybe I’m some kind of genius when it comes to cracking codes, Jockstrap.”

  Ravi stifled a laugh.

  “But, Amanda, Jordan has a point,” Treena said. “How’d you figure out the code?”

  Amanda felt her cheeks burn. She unclenched her hands and shrugged. “I dunno. The crystal trident…it did something to me. I-I guess I was just acting on a feeling.”

  Amanda fell silent. Her body hardened, and her throat tightened. She became a statue, cast her eyes down, and stared at her feet.

  “And it was a good feeling to act on, Amanda Sault,” Lilith answered, as if coming alive again. “It was your cellular frequency that caused the crystal trident to resurrect itself. You broke the code by natural means, by tuning in, by knowing that through the power of the sun, the crystal trident would draw enough energy to activate the Arch of Atlantis. Well done.”

  Drake scrunched his face. “Okay, Lilith, so what you’re saying is that because the cells in Amanda’s body are vibrating at the same speed and intensity as the crystal trident, she was able to use it to hook up to the sun’s energy, and jumpstart the arch as if she were boosting a car battery?”

  Lilith smiled. “Precisely, Drake Bailey.”

  “I…I have a frequency?” Amanda asked, breaking her vigilant stance.

  “Un-uh, you got cellular frequency. You go, girl!” Treena clapped.

  “You all have frequencies, Treena Mui, vibrating at different speeds and different levels,” Lilith explained.

  Treena beamed. “What speed am I?”

  “Slow as snot,” Ravi said.

  Jordan and Drake laughed and high-fived Ravi.

  “That’s quite enough, boys,” Melody said. “I’m sure Treena’s frequency is adequate, as are all of ours, seeing as we’re standing in the Temple of Poseidon. What I want to know is why we’ve been summoned—if that’s the correct word—here?”

  “Fair enough, Melody Spencer,” Lilith said. “I shall do my best to answer you.”

  Lilith walked closer to them, as if bridging an invisible gap. Her magnificent blue robe brushed against Ravi’s left hand, and he shuddered. He reached out to touch it again, but Lilith intercepted his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. Then, she reached for Ravi’s prosthesis, pried open the stiff fingers, and kissed his palm as if he were a long lost prince who had returned home. Ravi squeaked.

  The lines of sadness returned to Lilith’s face. “I miss children. There is something about them that is pure and good. They are always curious, always playful, and always forthright. Children are the keys to our future. And now, children are the only hope for our past.”

  “Hope for our past? What do you mean, Lilith?” Ravi asked softly.

  Lilith’s smile returned. “There has been a terrible disruption in the timeline continuum, causing the code of time to be compromised. The seal to the door where evil dwells has been broken, releasing an unpredictable dark force—the same dark force responsible for the destruction of Atlantis—into the Earth’s energy field. That is the reason why you are all here. To restore order to what has been disturbed. Or what will be. To maintain balance, and make sure changes do not occur in the past that will disrupt the future, for there is only one true history.”

  Melody pursed her lips. “Could you please be a little more specific, Lilith?”

  Lilith l
et go of Ravi’s hand and grasped Melody by the shoulders. She slid her hands down the length of Melody’s arms until their hands met. Melody shivered.

  “Then, allow me to clarify, Melody Spencer. Recently, Professor Lucas broke the code held within the fifth Arch of Atlantis he found buried in a hidden section of Mayan ruins.”

  “Fifth? You mean there are more than two stone arches?” Professor Lucas asked in astonishment. He stared at his photograph.

  Lilith nodded. “There were seven arches in total, and all are energetically connected to one another. That is why seven spirals are carved into the top of each arch. It is presumed that the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth were all destroyed with the final destruction of Atlantis, since they have never been activated. Only two arches remain: the fifth—the arch Professor Lucas discovered, and the seventh—the arch that brought you all here. The seventh was secretly moved to Egypt before Atlantis sank into the ocean, and it was eventually stored inside a secret chamber of the Great Pyramid. Originally, all the arches were created by a moral and virtuous group who called themselves the Children of the Law of One, to educate, reflect the truth, and preserve our knowledge.” Lilith closed her eyes for a meditative moment, and then opened them. “It was a way of keeping the old red land alive throughout time.”

  “The old red land?” Melody asked. “Why does that sound so familiar?”

  “Doncha remember, Melody?” Drake said. “I translated a line of glyphs that said the old red land, but couldn’t figure out what that meant.” His shoulders drooped.

  Lilith released Melody. She reached out and smoothed her palm over Drake’s close-shaven head. “Do not be too hard on yourself, Drake Bailey. Only those who were the descendants of Atlanteans used that term.”

  “If you’re the guardian of the seventh Arch of Atlantis, then who’s in charge of the fifth?” Jordan asked.

  Lilith’s face pinched like she was in pain. “The fifth arch was stolen after the first major earthquake, one hundred years before water and fire consumed Atlantis. An evil and selfish magus named Belial rebelled against the Children of the Law of One, and took the arch to a place now known as Central America. There he used the magic through the arch to control and enslave the people who lived there at the time. He became a powerful and corrupt leader. Those who defied him were killed or sacrificed. Fear and pain became a part of their lives. The original crystal trident was replaced by a terrible dark one. This black trident became the key to a world where only the Sons of Belial dwell. A place I think of as the true hell.”

  “Does Belial exist in the element of time too?” Treena asked.

  “Belial exists in the blackest shadows of time, Treena Mui. A dark mind that lives in the past to feed off the evil energy continuing to stagnate there.”

  “Eww, it sounds like something a vampire would do,” Amanda said.

  Lilith nodded. “Yes, it does. However, the true essence of Belial—the wickedest part of him—has been dormant for centuries, imprisoned inside the fifth arch by a powerful leader named Kukulkan. Now everything has changed because this dark, evil power has been released back into the world by a corrupt man named Marcus Crowley.”

  Professor Lucas went rigid. His face turned ash white. “Crowley? That…that son-of-a-snake!”

  “Do you know this man, Professor?” Melody asked.

  “Yeah, my uncle knows him, Melody,” Jordan said. “That loser set up Uncle John good so he could skip off with the treasure they found.”

  “Treasure?” Treena said skeptically. “Come on, Jordan, it’s not like the arch is made of gold or silver. It’s just a slab of old stone.”

  “Time is the ultimate treasure, Treena Mui,” Lilith replied. “Think of what you could do if you went back into the past and changed whatever you wanted to. Certain lives could be saved and many criminals caught. You would know where treasures are buried and when disaster would strike. You could observe history firsthand, find the truth, and expel the lies. Think of what could be possible.”

  “Are you saying this douche-bag Crowley is gonna change the past, Lilith?” Amanda asked.

  “And,” Melody added quickly, “are you telling us that both the remaining arches are some sort of time portals? Do you have any idea how impossible that sounds?”

  Lilith nodded. “It does sound impossible, but I assure you it is not, Melody Spencer. Marcus Crowley will change history if given the chance, and will do whatever Belial wants.” Then as if Lilith had been magically recharged, she smiled and said, “But this will not happen because destiny has brought all seven of you here to become the one thing Belial fears the most.”

  Ravi inclined his head. “And what’s that?”

  “Timekeepers,” Lilith answered. Her smile increased. “The Last Timekeepers.”

  9. The Last Timekeepers

  Was this lady ready for the loony bin? Amanda’s heart raced, trying to keep up with everything she’d downloaded so far. Atlantis—Lilith—time portal—cellular frequency—Belial—fear—Timekeepers—correction, the Last Timekeepers. She may be vibrating at a high velocity, but her brain certainly wasn’t.

  Amanda sighed. It was time to bring things up to speed. “Okay, Lilith, suppose time travel is possible. What does a Timekeeper do and why is this Belial freak so afraid of them?”

  “Timekeepers are the legendary guardians of history, Amanda Sault,” Lilith said, smiling at her. “All Timekeepers are handpicked by destiny and sent into the past to keep time flowing naturally and on its proper course. Belial knows this and can do nothing to stop it. So he tempts those who choose to take the easier path to their deepest wants and desires. Belial truly becomes their shadow, always there, always lurking.”

  “So how come you called us the Last Timekeepers?” Amanda asked. “It sounds kind of final, like a death sentence.”

  Ravi groaned. “And what happened to the First Timekeepers?”

  “All in good time, Ravi Sharma,” Lilith replied. “And I assure you, Amanda Sault, it is anything but terminal. You are the Last Timekeepers because you are Earth’s last chance to restore the balance in the time period Belial chooses to invade. Like the spirals teach, everything is interconnected, including time. It is important to understand that you are all to be a part of the greater good in order to secure hope for a new tomorrow, a new Earth.”

  “Great. No pressure there,” Treena said.

  “Belial has an easier time seeping into the minds of adults than children.” Lilith swept her eyes over them. “He is the shadow side of humanity—the voice of knowledge, of suffering, of lies—yet it is the children who call his bluff. Although you are not completely immune to his evil whisperings, you are more aware, more awake.”

  “This Belial loser sounds an awful lot like the devil,” Drake said.

  “He is the darkest part of ourselves and knows it. Belial taps into people’s anger, hatred, and fears. This is what he did with Professor Crowley. Like Amanda, his cellular frequency was an exact match to the black crystal trident he found hidden in a secret compartment located in the top portion of the fifth arch.”

  “Damn, I shouldn’t have trusted Crowley!” Professor Lucas yelled, smacking his thighs. “I knew that snake was asking too many questions and sniffing around my research material way too much. I should have paid more attention. I’m such a jackass!”

  “You’ll get no argument from me, Professor Lucas,” Melody retorted. “And if any harm comes to the children, then so help me God, I’ll—”

  “Look, lady, I’m sorry you and the kids were dragged here too. If it makes you feel any better, then I’ll be the Timekeeper and you and the kids can take that whirling rainbow bus back home.”

  “I’m afraid that will not be possible, Professor Lucas,” Lilith replied. She swept a hand over Amanda and her classmates. “These children and Melody Spencer are as much Timekeepers as you are. Fate has brought you all here to work together as one. It was not your fault that Professor Marcus Crowley chose to explore the voic
e of evil—It was his. You can’t blame yourself for the choices other people make; it is part of their journey, not yours. You must remember to stay true to yourself, Professor Lucas, and be as authentic as possible.”

  “But these are children you’re talking about, Lilith,” Melody said. “Surely you can’t expect them to fight against the mind of the devil? That’s crazy, and I forbid it!”

  Lilith calmly met Melody’s fiery green eyes. “Trust in what has been presented to you, Melody Spencer. I know you have known pain and sadness in your life, but you must understand that it is from these trials that you have learned so much about yourself, and grown even more.”

  Melody jerked sharply. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

  “The loss of your own child has made you heartsick and over-protective.” Lilith sighed. “Yet it has also created a healer and nurturer who helps others adjust. It is a great gift.”

  Melody’s mouth fell open. So did everyone else’s. Melody had never mentioned anything about ever having kids or being married. Even in the hallways and walls of Melody’s house, there weren’t any family photographs or portraits hanging to attest to her past. Only a few simple oil paintings of landscapes and fruit graced the walls. They were colorful, yet lifeless.

  “How come you know so much about us, Lilith?” Drake asked. “Are you telepathic?”

  Lilith ran a long, slender finger down the length of his nose. “Just as Belial seeks to take energy from your darkest thoughts, I search for your brilliance. This serves me best. I look for your strengths, dreams, and talents through your memories. It is a pity that most people do not do this because the world would be a happier and more balanced place to live.”

  Amanda smiled. That was what Grandmother Sault would have said. Happiness and balance made for a better world. Her grandmother and Lilith would have been BFFs for sure. Suddenly, Amanda’s nose twitched. Crap, even in Atlantis she couldn’t escape the wrath of pollen. She sneezed, and sneezed again. The book of riddles flew out of her overalls bib and landed in front of Professor Lucas.