Before I know it, I’m sitting in mythology class, doodling on a notepad, when Ms. Petraki calls on me.
“What?” I ask, startled.
“Your ring…it’s interesting,” she says as she stands over me. She reaches down to my hand. “Do you mind if I take a closer look?”
“I…I don’t know.” This takes me off guard with no time to think as she brings the ring on my hand up closer to her face.
“Interesting indeed. Thank you,” she says with a smile, then turns to face the class. “In 1943, at an excavation site here in Greece, archaeologist Dr. Spiros Rigatos came across an interesting finding. Instead of the usual sixteen-point star associated with the Vergina Sun or the Macedonian Star that appeared on Greek relics from the sixth to second centuries B.C., he found some ancient objects with a twelve-point star engraved on them. It was never substantiated and hasn’t been backed up by any other findings so far but is quite relevant in this case. Helene, how many points do you count on the star on the face of your ring?”
I look down and count. “Uh, twelve,” I say hesitantly. I’m a little freaked out to be so openly discussing my mother’s ring, the ring of Artemis.
“Right!” Ms. Petraki says. Her face is filled with passion, as if this is of great personal interest to her. “According to a lesser known theory inspired by Dr. Rigatos’s findings, the twelve points on this particular star represent the twelve gods and goddesses of Olympus. Allegedly, the symbol served as their emblem, like a personal seal signifying their divine status within the hierarchy of society. Legend has it that there were only twelve such rings in existence.”
My breath catches in my chest when I realize just how accurate Dr. Rigatos was with this discovery.
The teacher continues, “Each god or goddess was given a ring forged from a magical silver metal. The ring served as their key to the city of Olympus. To enter the front gates, they had to insert their ring into the proper place and tap it three times.”
The bell rings, leaving my mind in a daze as class abruptly ends. I make my way out into the hallway and down to my locker. It’s time for siesta, so the crowds clear out quickly, leaving me alone. This is my chance to get into my mother’s secret room so I can finally figure out how to use the Catalyst!
When I open my locker, though, there’s no sign anywhere of the twelve-point star that was my entry into the secret room earlier. I slam my hand into the locker, totally forgetting my otherworldly strength, causing a huge dent in the metal door. Agh! I sink to the ground and bury my head in my hands. That’s when I see it. Hidden in the side wall of the locker is a tiny imprint of a twelve-point star the size of my ring.
Elated, I insert my ring into the imprint. Nothing. Panic starts to consume me, but then I remember what I just learned in mythology class. The gods tapped their ring three times when it served as a key to the city. Of course, that’s got to be it!
I hold my breath as I tap my ring. One, two…three. Nothing.
In sheer frustration, I slam my ring into the indentation. What if I can’t get in there?
I do it again. Slam! What will I do?
And one more time. Click. The back of the locker opens.
I make my way down to the secret room and start my search for anything that can help me figure out how to use the Catalyst to locate the Lone Cypress Tree. There must be something here. My eyes travel up to the photos on the wall and to the ancient books on the shelves. As I scan the titles, pull out a few, and leaf through them, I start to feel frustrated as nothing seems to relate to the Catalyst. What a waste of time.
Suddenly, I feel a vibrating sensation emanating from my backpack. I yank it off and swiftly unzip it, but of course, I already know what it is – the Catalyst. It feels hot, alive. A bright red light flashes on the top of the device.
The screen remains blank, but the red light transforms to bright white as it triangulates with two other crystal prisms in the ceiling of the room. A three-dimensional holographic image in vivid color fills the room while a cacophony of sound permeates the space around me, fully immersing me in this lifelike artificial reality.
The image before my eyes is Gaea, out in the far reaches of the desert, somewhere between the crumbling ruins of old Olympus and the menacing volcano where I saw the Drakons. I see an enormous mazelike structure that juts up from the massive sand dunes. Deep crevasses fill the surrounding land with acrid smoke rising forth from within. This must be Tartarus, the deep abyss that was said to exist in the Underworld, the prison for the wicked.
I’ve seen this place so many times before in my dreams.
Three icons suddenly appear on the small screen of the Catalyst…first the sun, then the moon, and then the clouds. A cursor blinks in wait. I need to make a selection. But which to choose?
Since this is Mom’s secret room, what I need to ask is, what would she choose? Umm…my mother is Artemis. I scan my thoughts to recall which symbol is associated with her in mythology. Another name for Artemis is Selene, which means “the moon.” Artemis would choose the moon.
The next screen displays twelve icons, each representing one of the twelve astrological signs. My heart rate quickens as the pressure builds. Which one do I choose? Again, I consider my mother. She’s a Sagittarius. I press that icon.
Immediately, the screen goes blank, and the holographic image surrounding me shuts down, completely dark. I must have made the wrong choice.
But then a new holographic image lights up the room around me. This time, it is Gaea, but in the deep of night. The blackened sky above me is filled with millions of glistening stars. The most prominent constellation looks like a huntsman or an archer. On Earth, this would be the constellation of Sagittarius!
The bottom-most star of the constellation almost touches the horizon. As I reach my index finger out to swipe at this star, the hologram zooms in to better view of the desert, and as I trace my finger along the trajectory of the Huntsman’s arrow and out past the volcano, I see a tree standing all alone, surrounded by the vast sands of Gaea.
The Lone Cypress Tree.
Elation surges through my veins at this revelation. This is it. I know where Mom is hiding!
Urgency surges through me. There is no time to spare. I need to get back to Gaea now. Unfortunately, though, Janus has Bastet’s collar, so there’s no way for me to get back through the Gate.
What will I do now?
32 – Another Way
I hit the button on the top of the Catalyst, and immediately, both the device and the hologram power down. The light on the top flashes twice, then stops. I should return the Catalyst to the safety of the glass box here, but now that I know how to use it, I can’t just leave it behind. I’m sure I’ll need it once I get to Gaea. So, I throw it into the back of my pack and head up and out of the secret room.
I have no idea how much time has passed. I exit the locker with extra care, slowly creaking open the metal door to peek outside. Kids fill the hallway. Not good. How long will I have to wait here until the halls are empty again?
I peek out into the hall two more times until finally all seems completely silent. I slowly start to inch my way out when I hear a noise behind me. Someone is there. Of course, Samantha.
“Did you just get locked inside your locker?” she asks in shock, flipping her perfectly coifed hair over her shoulder.
“Uh, no,” I say, brushing off my clothes. “I thought the lock was broken, and the only way to fix it is to tackle it from the inside. I wasn’t locked in there.”
Samantha sneers but then tries to cover it with her usual contrived smile. I can tell that she’s not sure what to do with my explanation; it’s obvious to me that she’s never fixed anything in her ridiculous fairy-tal
e life.
“Right…whatever,” she says. She then lowers her voice as her expression shifts. “Look, you should know that Ever and I are back together now. I know you were spending time with him, but that’s all over now.”
She flips her long, silky blond hair off to the side again, smirking. “See, the thing is, Ever would never go out long term with a freak like you. He never commits to anyone, and he always comes back to me. At the end of the day, I’m the only one who really matters to him.”
Considering how upset Ever was with me after the dance, they cut deep. It’s true that he was hanging out with Samantha after I left him at the dance. I cross my arms. If he’s back together with her, then fine!
Samantha stalks off down the hallway, so I head towards the gymnasium to meet Vani before econ class. As I turn the corner, I stop dead in my tracks, my heart racing at the sight of him. Ever.
At the far end of the hallway, he stands surrounded by his friends, lounging casually together on the lockers, laughing and carrying on. With his dark tousled hair and tattered black jeans, Ever is quite the rebellious bad boy today. Not that I mind. Not at all.
Staring at him like this, I lose control of my thoughts and allow my eyes to travel down his torso and…oh! My face flushes bright red. Enough! The dream is still so alive in my mind that I can’t seem to help myself.
But then, suddenly, everything changes. Nestled in the center of Ever’s belt buckle is an amber-colored cat’s-eye stone. How this can be?
When we were at Agora, Ever made the book of Theogonia light up and I wondered if there was something special about him, if he knew about Gaea. He acted so nonchalant about it that I totally dismissed it. But now I’m not sure. Maybe I’m not alone in this. Whenever we touch, I feel such an intense surge of electricity. It seems entirely plausible that this cat’s-eye stone on his belt is special, just like the one on Bastet’s collar, that it will open the Gate.
All I need to do is get that belt from Ever. But how? First and foremost, I know I’m going to feel weird with him after that dream. Second, he’s probably still mad at me from the dance. He might not talk to me. Third, if I can get him to talk to me again, I need to ask him to borrow his belt. But if I ask, I know what he’s going to think…that I want something else from him.
Now that I know where to find Mom on Gaea, I’m not going to give up easily. There’s got to be a way. My mind spins through various scenarios, all ending badly. But wait: What if I let Ever think I want “something else,” just enough for him to give me the belt? It’s not like I have a boyfriend. Nick isn’t returning my calls. Besides, the truth is, after that dream, I wouldn’t mind if something more should happen with Ever.
First things first. I’ll need to get him to talk to me. I have no choice but to apologize about what happened at the dance, even if I don’t feel it was my fault. If, as Ever said in the dream, he thinks that I stood him up on purpose, then it’s time to clear the air. Somehow, I need to get him away from his friends so I can talk to him alone.
I fight to steady my pulse as I saunter over to Ever and his friends. I’m having trouble looking directly at him, so I try staring at his eyebrows.
“Hey,” I say, smiling as nicely as possible. I’m not nervous. No way. Not me.
“Hey,” Ever says, his expression reserved and cool.
We all stand there in awkward silence until finally he rolls his eyes at his friends. “Uh, Phil, Theo? Why don’t you guys go run some drills out in the gym or something?”
They exchange strained glances. Finally, Phil slugs Theo on the arm. “Uh, yeah. Great idea.” They walk away, leaving Ever here with me all alone. Perfect.
“I…uh…” I start, twisting my hair around my finger.
Ever cuts me off, forcing my gaze up to meet his. “I finally heard your voicemail.” His eyes are pensive but light up when they meet mine. A good sign. “Look, I had no idea that Nick was in the picture. Had I known, well….”
Uncomfortable silence ensues. What to say next? I don’t know, so I just say what I’m thinking. “I haven’t heard from him, so I have no idea what’s going on there.”
“Oh,” Ever says, trying not to sound too happy about it, but then his true feelings betray him when he says, “Okay, good.” He must realize that he said the wrong thing because he frowns and backpedals. “No, what I meant to say is that I’m sorry to hear that.”
I stare at him, quirking my eyebrows as if he’s making no sense at all. This seems to fluster him more. He looks down and shifts his feet. Is he actually being shy? I don’t know, but I need that belt.
“So…” he starts to say, but I swiftly cut him off.
“I just wondered, where did you get your belt?”
“You were looking at my belt? Hmmm,” he says, clearly pleased.
“Just answer the question. Where did you get it?”
“If you must know, my mom gave it to me as a Christmas gift. It’s my absolute favorite. You like it?”
“Yes, especially that stone. It’s a cat’s-eye, right?”
He beams, fully enjoying this attention. “Yeah, I guess this color is pretty rare.”
While this is all nice and fun, it’s time to cut to the chase. Before I can think too hard about it, though, the words flow out. “So, I was wondering…can I borrow it?”
A look of surprise crosses his face. “Right now?”
“Well, no. Later. After school.”
“Uh, okay, because I kind of need it right now.” He quirks his eyebrow at me, skeptical. “Why do you need it?”
I try my best to lie, which is difficult with Ever. “Uh, well, I want to buy one like it for my godfather as a gift, and I need to have it in front of me when I look it up on Amazon.”
Almost immediately, I realize how stupid that is. He sees right through me, two steps ahead. He scoffs, “You’re not going to find this belt on Amazon. It’s one-of-a-kind!” He turns his wrist over to show off his Apple watch. “But I can Google it to see if there’s a knock-off that you can buy.”
I can tell that Ever is thoroughly enjoying this. Nothing with him can ever be easy. I shake my head insistently. “No, I can’t buy it now. I need more time to compare alternatives.”
He knows I’m up to something. He gives me a frustrated, perplexed look. “Uh-huh, right. Well, then, you can do your shopping on your own time…without my belt.” He turns on his heel to leave.
That was unexpected. I grab his arm. “Wait!” Inadvertently, I pull him over to me, causing his body to crush up against me slightly. “How would you like to meet the real Hermes?” I say, batting my eyelashes at him. I’ve never tried to flirt like this before, so I’m sure I look ridiculous.
“Okay, now you’re not making any sense at all.”
I try again, but this time I push him up against the locker with a little force. His turquoise eyes lock onto mine as I hear a slight intake of his breath. A look of recognition fills his face, which makes me think he’s remembering the time I took him down during fencing in PE. Hot flush travels up to my face as I think of him lying there underneath me. This gets his attention.
He grins. “Did you sleep okay last night? Or is this all just a big…” – he winks at me, mischief in his eyes – “…misunderstanding?”
OMG! He knows about the dream! But how? Not possible! I flush about five shades of red, totally mortified. I need to regain control of this now. What to do? There’s nothing left but honesty.
“Look, I wasn’t quite telling you the truth before. I have another secret need for that belt, but I can’t tell you about it here. I’ll have to show it to you.” My voice is urgent now. “I need you to come over to my house and look at something in my b
asement, but you need to bring that belt. Do not forget the belt.”
By the look on Ever’s face, he totally thinks that I’m coming on to him now, which excites him. His expression is full of that charm and charisma that I can’t resist. “Hmmm….” He lowers his voice to a sultry whisper. “What time?”
I struggle to contain myself as I try to maintain my composure. “Tonight, after Janus is asleep, around midnight. You’ll have to sneak in through the window using the outside stairway. It’s the main window on the second floor. That’s where I sleep.”
Just then, Samantha walks by us and says, “Ever, are you coming out with us later?” She sneers at me, clearly enjoying my discomfort. God, I hate her.
Ever looks up, startled. “Huh? Oh, maybe.”
Samantha saunters off with her friends.
I forgot all about Samantha. All the progress I thought I had made with Ever disappears just like that. There’s no way I can go through with the seduction if he’s back together with her.
I whisper to him through clenched teeth, “Jesus, are you and Samantha back together…again?”
He frowns. “Uh, yeah. I mean, no, no.” He looks distracted, like his mind has been taken away to another place. I see a hint of the vulnerability that I witnessed just a week ago flash across his face, which makes me remember that his mother is sick in the hospital. This must be weighing heavily on Ever’s mind right now. Instantly, I feel awful trying to manipulate him, even if it’s for a good cause.
“How’s your mom?” I ask quietly.
“I don’t know. I want so badly to go to the hospital to see her, but my dad doesn’t want me to go. He’s afraid I’ll get sick just from visiting," Ever whispers.
Sadness overtakes me for a moment. I wish that I could do something to help. But of course I can’t. “You know how you trusted me with your secret at the ruins of Agora?” I ask.
Protogenesis: Before the Beginning Page 30
