Theta

by Lizzy Ford

  “Among the questions I posed, I asked her how to become the most powerful person ever to exist,” he continued. “She led me to Niko, who is the sole reason I survived the gods’ wrath and elevated myself to this position. And then she told me something I didn’t understand at the time, or for several years afterward. She said I was asking the wrong question, that it wasn’t about becoming the most powerful person to exist. She said only one person could ever wield such power – the Oracle – and one day, I would understand what that meant. The question I should have been asking was how to control the most powerful person on the Earth. Then she gave me a number. Four twenty-five.”

  I was waiting for him to say something horrible – that he had done something to cause the Oracle to sink into her coma. When his story stopped, I leaned forward, able to experience the racing of his blood as anticipation set in.

  “Okay. What does it mean?” I asked.

  “Five years ago, everyone of significance in the world was gathered in one place, for a ceremony that occurs only once a generation, during the coronation of the ruler of Greece. It was the Silent Queen’s fourteenth birthday, the day she claimed her rightful title, the day everyone of importance in the world was gathered in one place, to include Zeus and almost all – if not all – of the gods and goddesses, who were certain to be in our world for the event.”

  I listened, unable to help my fascination. His emotion was high as well, and I shifted in my seat, hating the sensation of two people in my mind.

  “Four twenty five. Fourth month, twenty fifth day,” Cleon explained. “The day of the coronation. The day the gods purportedly attacked the earth. Over the course of twenty four hours, eighty percent of the human population was destroyed, and the gateway to the gods’ world was closed.”

  “Cecelia foresaw it,” I guessed. “She warned you, but you didn’t know that’s what it was.”

  “I thought the same. I wasn’t present in New York, because the former Supreme Magistrate and I didn’t see eye to eye. He considered me to be competition, and he banished me to an unimportant political position in northern Maryland. I was within reach, but far enough not to challenge him. In any case, I wasn’t in New York when the political elite and the wealthiest people in the world were murdered,” Cleon said. “I came here, to this compound, with the help of Niko, a semi-loyal mercenary on my payroll. I did what anyone would do when faced with what we thought was the end of the world. I went to the Oracle, and I asked her what was happening. Her response: four twenty five. Now you know what power is.”

  I frowned. Was he saying what I thought he was? That the gods weren’t behind the Holy Wars? “I don’t understand,” I said.

  “I think you do.”

  “Um, Cecelia warned you what the gods would do. She wouldn’t do this.”

  “How certain are you?”

  I laughed. “I would trust her over you any day!” I exclaimed. Yet the image in my head was of Lantos when he, too, warned me I didn’t know Cecelia as well as I thought I did. Why would I ever entertain anything spoken by either of the lying politicians?

  “If the gods were cut off from their power source, how could they have done this?” Cleon asked.

  “They were cut off after she closed the gate! She closed the gate to protect us from them.”

  “Think about this, Alessandra,” he said with tried patience. “Who had the better reason to attack humanity? The gods, who were venerated and worshipped, and who have suffered alongside humans since that day? Or the Oracle who was a slave to man and god?”

  “Whatever lie you’ve created … I can’t even … no!” I managed. “Humans have been preparing to rebel against the gods and return us to the Old Ways for years! They found out, retaliated and before they could cross back to their world, the Oracle trapped them here.”

  “But why trap them here? Why not let them return and close the gate then?”

  “Maybe because she was pissed about what they did? She’s still human.”

  He sat forward, irritated. “Are you capable of seeing this perspective at all? On four twenty five, I realized there was one person who could have launched such an attack, and it wasn’t the gods. On four twenty five, I also came to understand that if I wanted her power, I had to control her. From the day I reached this compound five years ago, I began researching how it was possible to control someone with absolute power, and I came to the conclusion that I had to be able to control that person before she reached the height of her power.” He studied me. “Did you believe the chip in your head was developed on a whim overnight? That level of technology took years to create and close to a billion drachma in research, custom technology and favors to gods.”

  “You could’ve been developing it to put in her head,” I reasoned staunchly. “It’s not like she’s able to defend herself where she is now!”

  “You really believe she’s defenseless? Helpless? You and I both know where your power comes from, and how you can slide into the other dimensions or planes or worlds or whatever these alternate realities, without your body.”

  I wanted to think it was his thoughts polluting my mind, but some part of his wild claims – however tiny – struck a chord within me. He really was making sense. Cecelia didn’t need her body in alternate planes, and she could still affect our world from those places. But everything else he said was ridiculous! “I’m not about to buy into your insanity, Cleon!” I said.

  He winced and touched his head. His dull headache was at the back of my mind, but whatever other pain he felt, it wasn’t conveyed to me.

  “It would not have had any use to me in her head,” he said with a controlled sigh. “My goal in binding your mind with mine has not been solely about power. It’s been about preserving the desirable elements of our society from what she started. Zeus stepped in before she could finish. He’s siphoning the power from every other god trapped here to give you the chance to stop the Oracle from destroying everything that remains. But we’re running out of time, and he’s running out of power.”

  It was the most ridiculous story … no! It was a delusion so intricately crafted, it could only come from someone who had fallen into the void of insanity long ago. He hid the signs well; I never suspected this level of madness dwelt beneath the smooth-talking, brilliant politician’s façade!

  I stood up, disgusted with his claim about Cecelia, a woman dismembered and enslaved in agony by people like the one sitting in front of me. “Enough,” I said.

  “If you’d listen to the voices, you would hear him tell you the same,” Cleon insisted.

  I froze.

  “Yes,” he said. “I can hear them, too. The whispers Lantos allowed into your mind the day our minds were linked. You’ve actively blocked them, but I’ve spent quite some time listening to what they’re trying to tell you.”

  “Do you think the gods would admit to trying to destroy the world, when they need your help to return to theirs?” I challenged. “Of course they’re going to lie about their intentions. Of the two of us, you should know a liar when you hear one.”

  “Clearly you aren’t ready for this conversation.” Cleon stood. “I am trying to save what I can of those deserving humans, through your power.”

  “Deserving? You mean those rich enough to afford whatever price you dictate! You want to rule over a handful of rich people.”

  “I want to create a colony, a utopia, to start humanity anew, with principals and wealth,” he said. “You can’t disagree that eliminating poverty would only benefit the world.”

  Was I really having a discussion about utopia with this madman? “You want to eliminate the poor. Not poverty,” I corrected him.

  “In any case, when you realize I am trying to act for the general benefit and proliferation of our species, you’ll stop fighting me and the gods, and you’ll face the real threat.”

  I stared at him and then laughed, incredulous.

  “Listen to them,” Cleon said and strode towards the door. Opening the door,
he glanced out towards the guards. “Return her to her villa. She doesn’t leave again until I allow it.”

  Of all the discussions I thought I would ever have with Cleon, this was not one. I bolted from his office with more eagerness than I’d ever left his presence with. Just when I didn’t think he could surprise me more, he came up with the most incredible delusion I had ever heard!

  That the Supreme Magistrate – who tried to murder the Silent Queen, Theodocia, and anyone else in his path, who was using my power to hurt innocent people – believed his creation of a utopia for wealthy people wasn’t as crazy as the gods destroying humanity … He was completely insane! He sincerely believed himself to be the good guy in this scenario.

  Was he trying to brainwash me? Place these thoughts into my head, so when our minds fully merged, I accepted his delusion faster and didn’t fight him? Why else would he possibly reveal something of this nature?

  I hurried back to the villa, consumed by Cleon’s bizarre theory. He did nothing without considering how his actions would better his position. What did he possibly hope to accomplish by turning me against Cecelia? By flat out lying about why the gods had lashed out at humanity and started the Holy Wars?

  Only when I was standing in my bedroom did I let out the scream of frustration bottled up inside me. My eyes went to the names on the memorial wall, and any credence I might have one day been willing to allow Cleon vanished.

  A man who murdered over three thousand people as a demonstration of his power could never be believed about his true motives!

  Unless I wanted Cecelia to see what I could do as well as Artemis and the insurgency, he said telepathically.

  “I thought you were working for the gods,” I pointed out. “Artemis is a goddess.”

  I wouldn’t say I was working FOR them. I’m working for the cause of humanity. The gods are a threat, just not the primary threat.

  Maybe it made a little sense.

  No, it didn’t! The acceptance I felt was his, wasn’t it?

  “I hate you,” I whispered and clutched my temples. Tears of anger were in my eyes. Most of the time, I could pretend I either wasn’t losing my mind to a madman, or that I still had time to find a way to stop him. “Get out of my head!”

  Was it already too late? I had already witnessed the expansion of my green ribbons to him, and physical sensations I experienced were transferred to him. Had my denial of my power and adherence to Cecelia’s guidance only enabled the merging of our minds? If I tried harder early on to dislodge him using my magic, would I be in this position?

  Cerberus was watching, which only made me angrier.

  “I’m tired of this,” I said. Swiping at my tears, I went to my nightstand and hauled open a drawer. I snatched the smallest of the knives I kept there and yanked the sheath off. “This ends now!”

  Stop! Cleon commanded.

  With a deep breath, I felt for the telltale scars at the base of my neck with the fingers of one hand then positioned the tip of the knife with the other.

  Stop! This time, there were so many voices, I jerked.

  I ignored them and plunged the knife into the base of my skull. Agony shot through me. It wasn’t just my scream I heard, but Cleon’s as well in my head. I sagged to the ground. Before I fell unconscious, a familiar sensation raced through me.

  A vision exploded into my mind, absorbing my pain and substituting my reality with another.

  I stood in the Oracle’s caverns beneath the compound. My future body was there, frozen in place. The glass of her protective bubble had been lifted, and I was touching Cecelia with one hand. Unnerved to see myself, I circled me. I didn’t appear to be a gummy statue, but I wasn’t animated, either, as if my body was here and my mind was elsewhere. The alternate plane? Another vision? I didn’t know.

  “They breached the walls,” an unfamiliar voice said quietly.

  Turning, I peered into the darkness engulfing the back part of the caverns, where I’d had my brain surgery weeks ago.

  “Do whatever you have to in order to keep everyone out of here,” Lantos said. His features were pale and for once, he wasn’t amused or smiling or pleased. He clutched his hands behind his back and stood a short distance from my inanimate body.

  The soldier who warned him left, and the soft sound of the elevator door sliding closed was all I heard.

  Recalling Lantos’ assertion that there were clues and hints in my visions, I circled myself again then walked around him before striding to Cecelia.

  What was happening between Cecelia and me? Who breached the walls?

  “Is it working?” Lantos asked.

  I looked around, not spotting the small frame of Tommy until he emerged from the shadows.

  “I don’t know,” Tommy replied. “Thanatos can’t hear me right now.”

  “Then I guess we wait.”

  “For what?” he asked, looking up at Lantos.

  “Betray them all, die a hero,” Lantos said almost too quietly for me to catch. “We wait for someone to murder me.”

  “Okay.” Tommy said nothing, and his eyes returned to Cecelia. It didn’t surprise me that the son of Theodocia and Niko seemed comfortable with the concept of murder, though I did pity him for not having the innocent childhood Herakles had tried to give me.

  “You know what to do when that happens?” Lantos asked with a tight smile at Tommy.

  He nodded.

  Nothing in what they said or within the scene in front of me gave me any kind of insight into what I needed to know about this vision. Did I want this to happen, or was I supposed to work to prevent it? When was this supposed to occur? Why was I touching Cecelia? For an energy transfusion?

  How was I supposed to determine any of this?

  I began circling Lantos and Tommy, my mind full of questions. Where was Theodocia? Why was I down here? Why were they? What in Hades was a twelve year old child supposed to do, who would murder Lantos, and why were Tommy’s parents allowing him to hang out with such an untrustworthy character as Lantos?

  Before I could circle them completely, the scene changed suddenly.

  I squinted beneath the blinding midday sun. The breeze felt of fall – cool where the sun was warm. Explosions ricocheted in the distance, and the report of gunfire was close.

  “We have until dusk. No longer,” said a familiar voice behind me.

  Herakles! I whirled, thrilled by the idea of seeing him in my vision. He stood with a small group of people behind me. I approached them, orienting myself. I stood on a hill a short distance from the wall, overlooking the battle taking place between the Silent Queen’s troops in purple and the combined SISA-military forces in black. The wall around DC was breached, with the fiercest of the fighting occurring around the gaping hole. Smoke rose from several points within the city.

  Wearing her crown the Silent Queen stood with Herakles and several of her commanders, observing the battle with intense interest. My heart leapt in my chest at the sight of my scarred, red-haired protector. I yearned to throw my arms around him and feel his strength as he hugged me, to return with him to our forest in northern Maryland and never, ever leave again.

  He bore new scars, and there was a steeliness to his gaze I had never witnessed. My eyes slid from him to the petite queen beside him, and I gasped. Her belly protruded, a clear sign of the advanced stages of pregnancy.

  “We’ve made contact with our people in the city. They’re close. We’re monitoring the signs given us by the Oracle,” one of the commanders reported.

  What signs? Did he refer to Cecelia or me?

  “Heavy casualties reported already,” another said grimly.

  “I can handle that,” said the man behind the Queen. He was tall and built like a football player with dark eyes. He didn’t wear a uniform, and he appeared out of place with the others. Something about him was different. Before I could determine what, Herakles spoke again.

  “Niko hasn’t reported in,” he said.

  Niko? I opened my mout
h to speak before recalling they couldn’t see me.

  “What of the Oracles?” he asked one of the commanders.

  “We can’t get near the caverns.”

  No one can, the Silent Queen said. Tonight is the full moon. Our world ends at dusk. Either we succeed now, or everything we’ve done is in vain.

  They fell silent, and I turned my attention in the same direction as theirs. More questions pelted my thoughts. I couldn’t even determine what day this was let alone identify the signs I was supposed to see.

  My pulse raced, and I paced, circling the oblivious people to find some hint as to when this was. It wasn’t as if they carried newspapers or absently displayed their phones or tablets, where I could spot the date!

  Think, Alessandra! I yelled at myself mentally. I racked my thoughts. Full moon. Fall. These clues narrowed it down to three, maybe four months during the year. I wasn’t able to tell if this was happening this year or perhaps a year or two down the road. Everyone looked the same, but wouldn’t they, for a couple years?

  Someone groaned, and I glanced towards the group then back.

  The Silent Queen was clutching her stomach with one arm. Herakles supported her.

  “They’re due at any time,” said the man who was out of place. “You shouldn’t be here, Phoibe.”

  This is my army, my war. If this is the last day of the world, then I belong nowhere else! She retorted.

  The man didn’t respond. His eyes turned bright blue abruptly. Fascinated, I shifted closer.

  “I can’t stop the babies from coming,” he said. “And they are coming.” He and Herakles exchanged a look.

  On what was the last day of the world? I studied the Silent Queen’s strained features, equally concerned. How did she feel, knowing she would give birth today of all days? She groaned again. Her eyelids fluttered, and she sank into Herakles’ arms.

  I wanted to help, to do something. Stepping forward, the vision melted away, and I was somewhere else again.

  Everything was black, white, and gray. I stood next to a river, at the edge of a field.