“Look, I understand if you don’t want to continue on with me,” I say, giving him another out. “This is my journey, and it’s likely to be even more dangerous than what we’ve just been through. You can still head back through the tunnel and the Gate.”
Ever shakes his head in exasperation. “I told you, I’m not leaving! Now that I’m here, I want to help you. It makes me happy to be here for you.” His eyes glisten, growing wistful. “You know how much I love my mama, so I can relate to your need to find yours.”
“We should reach the end of the tunnel soon,” I hear Bastet say.
I answer her out loud. “Oh, good, because I’ve had enough of this claustrophobic place!”
“Uh, Helene?” Ever asks. “Who are you talking to?”
Bastet and I exchange glances. “You may as well tell him,” she says.
“Okay, fine,” I say.
Ever moves between me and Bastet. “You…you can hear her?”
I look away for a minute, thinking but not answering.
“You think I didn’t know?” he says, exasperated. “I figured it out a while ago!”
“Really? How?”
“Ummm, I kind of guessed it when we were dealing with the Drakon, and you miraculously found this tunnel,” he says, grinning.
“Yes, I can hear animals talk inside my head!” I exclaim in frustration. “I’m a freak. Isn’t that what Samantha and everyone else thinks?”
Ever’s voice is quiet as he gently places his hand on my arm. “You’re not a freak. You’re extraordinary.”
A few minutes later, we pop out into the open desert. We must have walked quite a distance. From here, we can see the giant red sun slowly starting to set over drifting sand dunes that stretch almost as far as the eye can see. At the horizon, we can see the smoldering volcano, and next to it, smoke rises out of deep, jagged crevasses in the ground. We’ve reached the mines and prison called Tartarus, just like the 3-D image I saw down in the Stronghold and in my dreams.
On the other side of the mines, there’s a vast red sea with an enormous power plant sitting on its shores alongside a magnificent, shimmery gray pyramid, which reaches up so high up into the sky that it appears from here to be almost the same height as the massive volcano.
“The pyramid city, New Olympus,” I whisper.
“Is that the fully enclosed, sustainable city you told me about?” Ever asks.
“Yes,” I explain. “The home of the gods.”
We sit down on the hot sand, watching the giant red sun set in the distance. Glorious rays of blue, gold, and violet radiate from it like a fiery inferno.
“What’s next?” Ever asks quietly.
“We wait until the stars come out and then look for the Huntsman’s constellation. Your sign – Sagittarius.” Ever smiles, but then a faraway look comes over him. “Wait, what did you just say?” he asks.
“We need to find Sagittarius…the constellation.”
His eyes glow an eerie shade of sky blue against the backsplash of billowing clouds floating behind him. “But how can that be? If we’re on Gaea, which is another planet in a different universe, then how is it that we can see the exact same constellations here that we can see on Earth?”
That’s a good point. “You’re right! It wouldn’t be possible, unless…” I feel like a brick just hit me as it dawns on me what this could mean. “Wait, for that to be the case, Gaea would need to be located exactly where Earth is in proportion to an exact copy of our universe, right?”
Ever’s face lights up with excitement. “Yes! But if that’s true, then Gaea must be an exact copy of Earth but in a different universe.”
“But that can’t be because in that case, Gaea should be identical to Earth, which it isn’t,” I say, frowning.
“Okay, yeah,” he says, thinking.
I think of the subway tunnel under the ruins of Old Olympus where Bastet told me that the Gaeans were like us but from the future. “I’ve got it! Gaea could exist in a different point in time, several thousand years in the future.”
“Which means that the ‘gods’ would be advanced copies of us,” Ever proclaims.
Our eyes light up as I finish his thought. “From the future in an alternate reality.”
Ever shakes his head. It’s incredible to see all the pieces finally come together.
He catches my gaze. For a moment, I’m transported back to his singing to me so sweetly at the dance, and then to the image of our bodies entangled on the sand in my dream. I’m lost in the depths of his intense blue eyes as my gaze slowly falls to his full lips. No, no, no. I turn my head away. This can’t happen now.
We’re both quiet. I turn back to Ever. We stare into each other’s eyes. Slowly, he moves in, this time reaching over to hold my hand. I draw in my breath as he moves his hand to my chin, cupping my face, still looking deeply into my eyes.
Before I can say anything else, his lips graze my mouth, softly at first, but then he shifts to fully embrace me, his lips taking mine. Overwhelmed by his scent, the passion, and his desire, I remind myself that this is not a dream. This is real.
As we pull apart, both of us breathing hard, he rests his forehead on mine. “I wanted to do that for a very long time.”
In this moment of pure bliss, I try to remember all the reasons before that I didn’t want this to happen, but nothing comes to mind.
Just then, Bastet raises her voice inside my head. “If he tries anything you don’t like, I will knock him on his ass!”
The thought of Ever being knocked out by a cat makes me laugh out loud.
We look out over the desert. Darkness has overtaken the lands. I feel my breath catch as I stare upward. Above us is a vast darkened sky lit up with millions and millions of stars. In the middle, we can even see the semitransparent white, shimmering outline of what would be this universe’s version of the Milky Way. Towards the coast of the red sea sits the moon, with its soft light dancing like magic across the surface of the lapping waves.
Ever takes my hand and holds it up, studying my ring in the moonlight. Suddenly, he turns his arm over. Holding his wrist out next to my ring, he slowly traces his finger over the star on the surface of my ring. The ring of Artemis. On his wrist is the golden tattoo. A perfect match for my star – the twelve-point star, the symbol of the gods.
I suck in my breath. “Ever, is it possible that…” – my voice breaks – “…that you’re from Gaea?”
“No.” He sighs loudly. “This has to be a coincidence. I don’t see how it could be.” He is quiet, contemplative, while he considers this further. “I don’t remember anything about my life before I was eight. It’s all so vague. I just feel emptiness from that time.” Some deep-seated understanding seems to hit him. “I guess it’s possible.”
My mind is reeling as I consider what this could mean. If Ever is from Gaea and my mom is Artemis, also from Gaea, then who else is involved? How far does the rabbit hole go?
“Ahem. Sorry to break this up between you two, but look up.” Bastet’s amber eyes glow.
I follow her gaze up and to the left. High in the sky is the constellation of Sagittarius.
“Look!” I point it out to Ever.
His eyes light up. “The Huntsman!”
“Yes! We need to find the stars that make up the arrow, which will point our way to the cypress tree,” I say.
As we scan the sky, I hear Ever’s sharp intake of breath. “There!” He points to near the bottom of the cluster of stars.
My eyes follow the stars that make up the Huntsman’s arrow down to the horizon, past the mouth of the smoldering volcano, but there’s n
othing there. How can this be? All the clues have led me to this point. We can’t have come all this way for nothing!
“I don’t see anything,” Ever says quietly. He must be coming to the same conclusion that I am. We sit in silence, muted frustration passing between us as I search the horizon one more time. The moon suddenly starts to be obscured by a dark shadow.
“Is that an eclipse?” I gasp.
“It can’t be! Total lunar eclipses are extremely rare,” Ever exclaims. The shadow grows until I see what it is: an enormous golden eagle. Could it be? No way. But why not? If Greek mythology is real, then so could be Aetos Dios, the giant golden eagle, Zeus’s magical messenger. His magnificent wings shimmer in the moonlight.
In the partially obstructed moonlight, I see it. Off in the distance about halfway between the volcano and the pyramid city, I spot a jet-black silhouette that stands out in stark contrast to the soft light of the moon. As my eyes adjust further, I finally see the faint outline of a tree standing alone in the desert.
The Lone Cypress Tree.
34 – Revelation
“Helene…your necklace!” Ever points at my chest. Searing heat burns my skin. Startled, I reach down and touch the rose-gold edge of my mother’s cypress tree necklace. I jerk my hand back in scorching pain. The skin on my chest is raw and blazing hot where the cypress tree charm comes to life, casting an eerie green glow. A few seconds pass before it cools enough to touch it.
“Oh!” I say breathlessly. “It belongs to my mother. This must be a sign that we’re close.” I’m filled with excitement, anticipation, and fear. What if, after all of this, she isn’t there? What if I’m too late or I never find her? What then? I can’t think like this now.
Ever snaps me out of my funk. “So, what now?” His expression is alive and vibrant. Tiny flecks of sand glitter in his hair under the moonlight.
“We need to figure out how to use these.” I plop the sand board down on the dune next to him.
“Awesome!” His expression is one of pure joy. Of course, he thinks it’s awesome. Mr. Super-Athlete is probably an expert surfer. I follow him as he rushes up to the top of a gigantic dune, maybe as high as a hundred meters.
He gingerly steps onto the board. He tumbles down, landing flat on his back, his body covered head to toe in sand. “Oh God. I love it!” His blue eyes twinkle when he smiles, almost giddy. We both laugh as he comes back up the dune to try again.
“I guess you aren’t perfect at everything you try.”
“Sand boarding, cleaning…and girls are my challenges.” He grins. “It’s having the courage to get right back up and try again that makes one truly great.”
“Aren’t you full of wise words?” I tease. He nods, winks at me, then takes off down the vast dune, leaving me all alone. This time, his form is perfect as he takes on so much momentum that he boards down one dune, then most of the way over to the next dune on the other side, then shows off with a full flip, landing flat on his butt at the top. A triumphant smile covers his face as he yells to me, “Your turn!”
The slope drops below me at such an extreme pitch that I feel dizzy. I’m totally freaked. But here I am, in a different world. I’ve been through so much and come so far to find my mother, I’m not going to let a little fear stop me. Besides, I have super-strength. This should be easy.
I close my eyes, step on the board, and go.
Oh God. My heart surges with adrenaline. I feel so free, so alive as my board surges down the sand at an insane velocity. And as my board travels up the other side of the hill, I take a nosedive directly into the sand, filling my nostrils with minute crystals, which makes me snort….hard. Still sprawled out on the sand about ten feet away from me, Ever bursts into laughter, and of course, I can’t help but join him.
Now confident that we can do this, I take the lead as Ever follows. We surf over the towering sand dunes, adrenaline soaring, pure exhilaration surging through our veins at the joy of feeling so utterly free. The unknown danger ahead further fuels the excitement of this euphoric experience for us.
Bastet sails past us, racing to the top of the next dune, when suddenly she stops cold in her tracks. Her eyes grow wide and anxious, her plush fur standing on end as she scans the desert below her.
Her voice in my head is fierce and urgent. “Stop!”
The sound of thousands of men chanting in unison accosts our ears before we see them, but instantly, we sense the danger and freeze, quickly dropping down to the sand on our bellies. We leave the boards behind and arm-crawl up the side of the dune to peer over the side.
We’ve reached the edge of a vast plateau that overlooks a wide, desolate stretch of plains between the volcano on one side and the enigmatic shimmering pyramid city on the other. Directly in the center lies the Lone Cypress Tree. And, between us and the tree, stand a contingent of marching men.
A rush of fear surges through me at this staggering sight. Could this be Zeus’s army, the Vorlage? I remember when Athena told me that on Gaea, they are gold-plated robots, not human. But the army below does not look gold-plated from here. They look like men.
As Ever takes it all in, I’m surprised to see him so quiet. He’s deep in thought, which makes me concerned that this may be too much for him. This is his first time through the Gate, after all, which is a lot for anyone…and now to add the danger of a thousand-man army is way more than I think even I can handle.
“Are you sure you’re up for this?” I ask.
He solemnly nods. I’ve never seen him so serious before as he says firmly, “I am if you are.”
I’m still not convinced. “No, you don’t understand. I’ve been here before, but this is your first time. I totally understand if you aren’t up for this.”
“I said I’m good.”
“Okay, fine,” I say. “But how will we get past them?”
“Good question,” he says. The moonlight dances across the surface of his glistening blue eyes, making them appear mysterious and endless.
Bastet bursts into my thoughts. “You’ll have to traverse around the volcano to reach the back side of the tree. On sand board, that could take a week.”
With the cypress tree so close and in plain sight, we can’t wait an entire week.
“Can’t we just wait for them to leave? Surely they can’t stay there forever!” I cry out, forgetting for a moment that Ever is here with us.
The procession of men, their eyes the haunting red color of blood, marches together in perfect synchronization. It takes me back to when I first came to Athens, to the dream I had on the airplane. Thankfully, they shift direction at the cypress tree and march off towards the smoldering pit and blackened castle-like structure that must be Tartarus.
“The coast is clear,” Ever says, pulling away. “You ready to find your mom?”
“Yes!” I’m trying to psych myself up.
Time to shift gears and do what we came to do. Excitement builds in me as we make our way over to the cypress tree. We search up and down its rugged trunk and every space around the base for some sign of Mom. Nothing.
“I can’t believe it!” I sigh, sinking to the ground to rest under the tree.
Ever sits down next to me. “Let’s just take a break. Maybe something will turn up.”
But I’m not so hopeful. My mind spins in anxious misery. Was all this for nothing?
“Agh!” I slam my hand onto the side of the tree, totally exasperated. We’ve combed over the same areas again with absolutely no success. Now what?
Ever is still on the other side of the tree searching when a sliver of moonlight casts itself onto the side of the tree just under where my hand rests. I’m about to give up all hope when I se
e something unusual in a crevice in the tree. As I move in closer, I probe this area with my finger and feel some sort of notch hidden in the side of the tree. It’s the twelve-point star! The indented area feels about the same as what I found in my locker at school, which allowed me entry into my mother’s secret room. This is it.
“I think I found something.”
Ever joins me. The ray of direct moonlight shines down on the tiny section of the tree. I fit my ring into the groove, tap three times, and click! A large section in the trunk suddenly slides open to reveal a dimly lit winding stairway leading down into the ground.
Elation fills me. I jump up and down and shout, “Yes!”
Ever’s smile is wide, his sea-blue eyes dewy and alive at our triumph as we embrace in a victorious hug.
“I’ll go first,” he offers. “Ha ha,” I say, brushing past him to lead, “I don’t think so.”
He shakes his head. I don’t think I surprise him with this anymore. As we make our way to the bottom of the stairs, we find ourselves inside a cavernous room with a dirt floor, filled with various pieces of equipment and other stored items. At the far end of the chamber is a wall covered with sophisticated technology and data scrolling over a semi-transparent screen, which appears to offer surveillance of the entire surface of Gaea.
On our right is a metal tank. It looks like a coffin attached to a long tube filled with an iridescent purple liquid flowing through, which snakes from the surveillance wall down to the back of the tank. A low, steady hum is barely perceptible. I run my hand over what looks like a fogged-up window in the top of the tank. As the fog clears, I can’t believe my eyes. It’s Mom!
“Ever, look!” I call. “My mom! She’s in here!”
I feel him behind me as he wraps his arms around my waist and peers over my shoulder. “Is she…asleep?” he asks pensively.
Protogenesis: Before the Beginning Page 32
