Protogenesis: Before the Beginning

by Alysia Helming

  He nods slowly, his eyes wide and rimmed with melancholy. I decide to take a leap of faith and trust him with a tiny shred of hope.

  “I need that stone on your belt for something important, something that might help me…” – my voice is urgent as I plead with him – “…find my mom.”

  Ever’s demeanor shifts as he fully takes in what I just said. “You know where she is?”

  “Maybe,” I whisper.

  He thinks for a moment, but then his eyes light up. “Okay, yes.”

  Relief fills me. I might just pull this off.

  His smile is warm and sweet as he turns to leave. “See you later, American Girl.”

  I watch him as he walks down the hall and almost smacks into Vani, who is rushing towards me, just as he disappears around the corner.

  Seconds later, Vani grabs my elbow. “Sorry I’m late, but…” – her eyes grow wide with concern as she points back to where Ever just was – “what was that all about? Didn’t you get enough of him at the dance?”

  I try to act as if I don’t know or care. I shrug, saying, “Who knows?”

  Vani seems satisfied. “Good, because Nick was pretty upset. I had to have a talk with him.”

  “Oh?” I say. It’s nice to hear that Vani has my back with Nick, that there’s hope of salvaging things with him. She doesn’t offer any more details though, so I let it lie.

  As she shifts to other topics, I tune Vani out. My mind drifts back to my earlier plan to get back to Gaea. I think of Ever and I lying on the hot sand. It will take unbelievable willpower for me to not move too fast with him.

  But Mom’s words of wisdom echo through my mind: Sometimes you can’t have what you want right now. It’s better to wait.

  I must be strong and do the right thing for her…

  and for me.

  33 – Lone Cypress Tree

  I consider the possible repercussions if Janus or Athena were to find out that I am going through the Gate again. Not good. But it’s a chance I must take. Elation fills me as I realize just how close I am to finally finding my mom.

  Bastet rubs her long body against my leg and meows. As I reach down to stroke her back, I am startled by the sudden sound of a knock on the grimy window next to my bed-that-is-a-couch. Ever. My heart rate quickens. He can’t know that I feel this way about him. I need to keep the upper hand here.

  I need to make sure that the coast is clear before I open the window. Gingerly, I place my ear to Janus’s door to listen. I hear a sound…snort! A good sign that he’s deep in sleep. I walk back over to the window and slowly lift the glass pane upward, trying not to make any noise.

  There is Ever, beautiful as usual, but with a crease between his brows. He’s clearly annoyed as he asks in a clipped tone, “What took you so long?”

  His voice is so loud that I’m scared he will wake Janus, and then my whole plan will be blown. “Shhhh…you’re going to wake up the whole neighborhood. We have to whisper!”

  He has the nerve to laugh.

  I sock his arm. “It’s not funny!”

  “Okay, okay!” He lowers his tone to the softest whisper that he can muster, which is still too loud by my standards.

  I motion to him with a finger to my lips for him to lower his voice even more.

  “I can’t!” he whispers more quietly, now totally frustrated.

  A sound in the other room causes both of us to jump, then freeze. Janus grunts loudly as he turns over in bed before the slow, steady snoring resumes once again.

  “Now, that is loud!” Ever says, smirking.

  I shake my head, then take his hand. He gives me a sly grin as I slowly, very quietly lead him away from the window, out and down the stairs, then into Janus’s shop below.

  “Okay,” he whispers, his look uncertain but curious. “Now what?”

  My plan is simple. Ever needs to give me the belt and wait here. I’ll go down to the basement by myself to see if the cat’s-eye stone in the belt will open the Gate. If yes, then I need to get rid of Ever since there’s no way that he’s going with me to Gaea. I wouldn’t want to put him in any unnecessary danger. Besides, he would slow me down too much.

  First, though, I need him to somehow give me the belt.

  At the top of the basement stairs, I use my finger to open the hidden bookcase with a zap! Click. The door opens.

  Ever’s eyes widen “A secret entrance.”

  I whisper into his ear, “I need that belt now.”

  He steps back in surprise but then seems amused.

  Oh, no. What is he thinking now?

  He grins, swiftly moving in close to my ear. “You want it?” His eyes light up mischievously as he moves my hand down to cover the top of his belt buckle. “Come and get it.”

  He brushes his lips softly across mine, causing raw energy to pulsate through me.

  My eyes widen as I suck in my breath and tremble. I can’t breathe. God! I must keep my focus. Remember Mom. Focus. I draw in a slow, steady breath, in and out.

  I push Ever away, but he thinks I’m playing some sort of game.

  “This is not a romantic venture,” I declare.

  “It’s not?” he says, his voice small and disappointed.

  “No!” I say. “Remember? I told you this was an important mission to find my mom.”

  “Yeah, but I thought…” His voice is tight, exasperated.

  “Just give me the damn belt.”

  “Okay, fine.” He pulls off the belt and hands it to me, glancing over at my laptop, as if he expects me to take the belt somewhere near the computer. “You know I would have given it to you no matter what. I told you that I will always understand when it comes to family…especially your mom.”

  “Really?” I whisper.

  “Of course,” he says softly. He moves in close, kissing me gently above my ear. It’s an incredibly sweet gesture, like he genuinely cares.

  “Oh,” I say, sighing as I try not to let his actions distract me from what I need to do. So much of me longs to stay here, to experience more with him, but I have no choice. I have to go, and I need to do it alone.

  “Wait here.” I pick up my backpack off the floor, slip the straps through my arms, and start to head towards the basement stairs.

  Ever falls in step behind me and grabs the belt out of my hand. “No way! You can’t just leave me here by myself. What if Janus wakes up? What will I say?”

  I spin around to face him, totally annoyed. I sigh but then try to defer to his ego. “Are you really afraid of him? Technically, he works for your dad! You can order him to go back to bed.”

  “Ha-ha. I’m not giving you the belt unless you take me with you. I want to help you find your mom,” he says.

  “But this is dangerous!” I exclaim in frustration. Good God, he makes me crazy. Can’t he just do what I ask just once?

  “I’m not afraid of danger. I can handle it, whatever it is.”

  “Fine!” I hiss in his face.

  “Good,” he says tersely, then moves in close to me again. His deep blue eyes are locked on mine as he puts the belt back on, buckling it firmly in place. I sidestep him to avoid crushing into him as I start to head down the stairs. He grabs my hand, but I yank it swiftly out of his grip, shaking my head no. He sighs loudly, swearing under his breath as he follows close behind me down the flight of stairs.

  I turn the corner into the basement and my pulse quickens with giddy hope at what I see. At the top of the mirror, the cat’s-eye stone glows brightly, just like the stone on Ever’s belt. He looks down at it in shock.

 
; “It’s working,” I call. The mirror comes to life as the brilliant blue water-like sheen slowly consumes its face. A few seconds later, I hear the pitter-patter of Bastet scurrying down the wooden stairs. She races past us and leaps through the Gate.

  Stunned, Ever says, “What the…?”

  In the excitement of the moment, I completely forget everything. Without any further thought, I step through the shimmery, glowing mirror. The world swirls into the blur of colors and lights, all racing forward to merge dynamically into the epicenter of the now-familiar vortex.

  I land effortlessly on Gaea’s soft, silky sand and throw down my pack onto the ground next to me. A few seconds later, I turn to see Ever jump through the Gate and hit the ground hard with a loud thud. He passes out cold on the sand.

  The land beneath my feet trembles in fury, shaking and shuddering, as the face of the watery substance that is the portal flickers and dims, but after a moment, it reemerges in all its glory. Janus was right! The Gate must be growing unstable.

  Bastet, as my giant mountain lioness, sidles up to me, nuzzling her large head against my hand, the whole time glaring anxiously at Ever’s splayed-out body on the sand.

  “I know, I know!” I try to explain to the large cat. “But I had no choice!”

  As Ever starts to awaken, the lion licks his face. “Ugh. What the…?” As his eyes adjust, they widen in terror as he realizes that he is face to face with an enormous mountain lion. “Agh!” He scrambles backward and trips back down onto the sand.

  I burst out laughing – a deep, hearty belly laugh – and it feels so good. “She’s a bit scary at first,” I explain calmly, “but she’s a friend of mine. Her name is Bastet. You’d better not get out of line, though, or she’ll let you have it.”

  Ever sits there, eyes unfocused. He’s completely disoriented. Suddenly, he bursts into hysterical laughter, like he can’t believe how absurd this is. He’s lying on the hot sand, limbs splayed out in all directions, with a gargantuan wild lioness staring him down. Not something you see every day.

  He smiles. Crinkles form adorably around his eyes. “So much for getting to second base with you tonight.”

  I chuckle softly at this as I make my way to the arched open doorway that leads out into the far reaches of the desert. Just as I step forward, my foot smacks into something solid – an invisible barrier. My shoe sizzles as smoke singes the rubber bottom. A force field. Of course! Since Minios isn’t here, this must be some sort of guard to keep Dregs like me from traversing any farther.

  Ever looks around at the crumbling ruins surrounding us and through the open window wells out to the vast dunes and the enormous red sun. “I feel like I’ve been here before,” he says pensively, “like maybe in a dream.”

  “I highly doubt that,” I say.

  He gives me a wry grin, as if it’s an inside joke. “Maybe I’m mistaken.”

  Of course, he is! How could he dream about Gaea if he’s never been here before? Unless… But it was my dream!! He can’t visit me in my dreams. No way!

  “So, what is this place?” he asks, his face alive with childlike awe.

  I’m about to tell him when the ground beneath us starts to tremble again. The intensity grows, so we grab onto each other, trying to maintain our footing on the slippery sands. Bastet lets out a loud bellowing roar! as she rams her body into both of us, sending us tumbling to the stone wall closest to the arched doorway that leads out to the desert.

  Suddenly, I hear her voice call out, clear as day inside my mind, “Watch out! Drakon!”

  The walls begin to crack as stone and rubble fall around us. The ground buckles and seizes up, sending us higher and higher on the pile of sand. The trembling intensifies until an enormous snakelike beast bursts out of the ground right in the middle of the crumbling structure where we stand, forming a gaping crevice in the land. The towering beast roars and bellows, fire blazing from its mouth. The land continues to churn and quake violently as the creature snakes in and out of the crack he just created.

  I hear Bastet in my head again. “Move away from the door! I’m going to try to lead it away from here!”

  Bastet roars again, this time nipping and biting at the Drakon as she leads it towards the doorway. Drakon surges its enormous head up and forward, headed for the open doorway, when…smack! Each time the Drakon smacks its ugly head into the invisible barrier, there’s a loud crunch, then a sizzle. A foul burning stench permeates the air. The brown-scaled beast gets angrier and angrier with each failed attempt.

  After a few more tries, the Drakon hits the arched doorway with such impact that it catapults backward, sending the creature sprawling into the far end of the structure. It smacks into the wall right next to the Gate. A chunk of stone tumbles down from the archway just above the Gate. Luckily, it was not the stone that holds the cat’s-eye, which still glows bright.

  Finally, the Drakon blows out all its fury by creating a blazing firestorm, sending its body flying into the invisible barrier. This time, though, the beast is stuck, its head trapped within the barrier. Electrical shocks zap it repeatedly, causing the Drakon to thrash its body back and forth violently, but its tail continues to lash out at the stone wall behind it. We’ll have to do something fast or it will destroy the Gate.

  “Now what do we do?” I call to Ever.

  “I don’t know, but we need to go now!” he yells to me over all the noise.

  Bastet’s voice fills my mind. “Helene, if you can hear my voice, you can communicate with any animal. Quiet your mind.”

  Even with all the chaos that surrounds me, I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. My heart rate slows as I reach my mind out to the Drakon. I envision its thrashing body as the blood pulses through its veins. Its heart rate accelerates to a chaotic panic. Then I see the inside of its tiny brain. I hear its thoughts, but it can’t speak like Bastet. It feels only raw emotion. Pain. Anger. Fear. Terror.

  “Helene!” Ever yells. “What are you doing?”

  I ignore him. Bastet coaches me. “Focus. Feel it. Love it. Talk to it.”

  I envision a long tube connecting my soul with the Drakon’s and send it pure, unaltered love from my heart. Instantly, it stops thrashing. I send it visions from my mind of the blissful serenity of the Aegean Sea. It closes its eyes and its breathing slows. I connect with a bird flying in the sky above. I project that feeling of soaring high through the wispy clouds, of the peaceful calm of this experience. I hear a snort, a sigh, and then the Drakon’s whole body relaxes into a deep slumber.

  “You did it!” Bastet praises me.

  I open my eyes to see Ever standing there, incredulous. “What just happened?!”

  Now is not the time to explain that I can communicate with animals. Ever has had enough of a shock for one day and his first journey to Gaea. I don’t want to totally overwhelm him, so I shrug.

  When I don’t answer, he gets annoyed. “Okay, whatever.” He looks around the room. “I guess we’re not leaving that way…” He gestures to the doorway where the Drakon’s enormous body completely fills the space. “…with that thing in the way.”

  I look around. We can go back through the Gate to Earth, but otherwise, we’re stuck here.

  Bastet’s voice echoes through my mind. “You’re not stuck! You can go out through the crevice that the Drakon made. There should be a tunnel down there. Take the sand boards from behind the Gate.”

  “Sand boards?” I do remember Xonos talking about “boarding” during one of my early visits through the Gate.

  Bastet’s voice booms in my head. “Yes, the twins use them to travel over the dunes. It’s not hard. Kind of like surfing.”

  Oh, Jesus. I don’t know how to surf!


  Ever is staring at me. I must have been talking out loud to Bastet. I’d better be more careful or I’ll have to explain it to him. I’m not sure I’m ready for that yet. I take Ever’s hand to lead him over to the edge of the crater. As we peer over it, we’re accosted by a putrid stench that makes us gag. The entire interior of the Drakon tunnel is coated with a fresh coat of brownish-green slime. Ugh.

  I turn to Ever, pointing him back towards the Gate. “You should go back to Earth.”

  His face and hair are covered with glittering flecks of sand. His voice is solid, resolute, as he declares, “If you stay, then so do I!”

  I sigh. “Just remember, I gave you the choice.” I pull two sand boards from their hiding place behind the Gate, then toss one over to him. “Take this board and let’s go!”

  “Board?” he asks, intrigued.

  “Yeah, sand boarding. It’s like surfing but on the dunes,” I say, as if I know exactly what I’m talking about.

  As we slop our way through the goo in the tunnel, I notice that the sandstone has been carved with almost perfect symmetry. It reminds me of what the twins told me about how the Drakons are responsible for breaking up the land to extract the mineral lumite, which is used as a power source on Gaea. It’s also the source of the Elixir.

  Bastet trots in from behind us. Ever and I walk side by side, almost touching. I take some time to explain what I know about this incredible place. He listens intently, reacting at times with a childlike glee that I’ve never seen before in him. I’m surprised that he’s not more shocked or startled because it’s a lot to take in, but he seems to adjust to it just fine. When I finally get around to describing why I’m here…why we’re here…to locate the Lone Cypress Tree so we can find my mother, his eyes light up.

  “I knew you were searching for your mom, but this goes way beyond anything that I could have imagined!” he says, bubbling with emotion. He turns serious. “I can understand why you can’t tell anyone about this place. A normal person wouldn’t believe that any of this could be real,” he says resolutely. His blue-green eyes sparkle like the sunlight shimmering across the waves of the sea, so beautiful that I’m lost for a moment. “But I’m not just anyone…and I’m definitely not normal.”