Protogenesis: Before the Beginning

by Alysia Helming

  “I…I don’t know,” I say, wondering what this tank – which appears to be some sort of machine – is doing to her. It looks like she’s in a coma!

  There’s a dusted-over section on the top of the machine. A panel. There are five multicolored buttons with no symbols or signs nearby to indicate what they do. The button in the middle is red. I push it.

  Instantly, the hum wavers as the machine starts to power down, the liquid in the tube drains out, and the whole top section starts to open. I’m terrified that I’ve done something wrong, that somehow, I might hurt Mom.

  “What did you do?” Ever asks, incredulous at the sight.

  Before I have the chance to answer, I see my mother’s eyes flutter and her hand twitch. “She’s waking up!” I say as I rush to the side of the machine and watch. My mother opens her eyes. She seems disoriented, but as her vision clears, her eyes come to life when she catches sight of me.

  “Mom,” I whisper. I can’t believe it. After all this time, it’s really her.

  A large smile consumes her pale face. She tries to talk. “He…Hele…Helene,” she sputters, as if trying to speak causes her a great deal of pain.

  I reach my hand out to her and help her sit up. Ever helps me lift her frail body out of the machine and down to the ground to lean up against the wall. Her body is broiling hot, yet she’s shivering, teeth chattering as if she has a serious fever. Ever runs off and comes back with a pile of blankets, which he wraps around her. I settle in next to her, trying to warm her with my body heat. Soon her body relaxes and her voice returns.

  She speaks slowly, as if still in pain. “Where are we?”

  “Under the Lone Cypress Tree,” I tell her, as if this is the most normal thing to say, “on Gaea.”

  Fierce intensity consumes her features. “But how?”

  If she doesn’t know where she is, then she must not know anything about how she got here. But I’ll bet she knows why.

  “I know how I got here but not you, Mom,” I say, my voice steady and even. But then a wave of raw emotion floods my mind, and I can’t contain myself. I need answers, and I need them now. “What…what happened to you, Mom? Why did you leave me?” I ask, anguish filling my voice.

  She looks stunned, cheeks flushed as if someone slapped her. Her voice is low and quivering, full of remorse. “Oh, honey, I would never leave you on purpose! I had no choice.” She lifts her finger slowly towards Ever, asking, “Who is…this?”

  Ever lifts his brow at me, wondering how I will answer. I weigh my words carefully as I say, “Ever Sarantos.”

  My mom’s face grows deathly pale, mouth dropping open in surprise. “No….”

  “I’m sure that you must have met Ever’s father, Georgios?” Now that I know about the crush that his father once had on my mom, I’m dying to know her response.

  She’s contemplative for a moment, then says, “I mean, of course I’ve known Georgios a very long time.” She grins at Ever. “Somehow, I doubt your dad knows that you’re here, right?

  Ever smiles sheepishly. “Well, no.”

  “Uh-huh. Don’t worry. I’m not telling him unless you do.” She smiles easily, which makes him instantly relax. I can tell that she likes him.

  She looks at me. “What were you doing in Athens, Helene?”

  Ever sits to my left, stroking my back patiently as I recount the story from the time she disappeared to the point where I met Ever’s dad…skipping over that…to Gaea and all that has happened for us to arrive here. Her expression is incredulous, stunned, but then changes as if careful to reveal too much.

  I recount how I was attacked by Ares and his thugs on Earth. Her eyes grow wide in concern. Her voice is hushed as she whispers, “Vorlage?”

  “Yes.” I nod slowly. “Now, tell me, what happened to you?”

  Mom’s voice is low and quiet. “In California, they found me at the labs and tried to kill me. There was an explosion, my body was covered in fire, and I must have passed out because I have no idea how I got here.” Her voice is raspy and urgent. “But Zeus can’t know that I have a daughter!”

  “Why not, Mom?” I ask with fierce intensity. “I know who you are!” I tell her, still crying. But suddenly, my tears dry up as I feel my own power return. I am strong, just like my mother. “Artemis,” I say, breathless.

  Ever’s mouth drops open. “Whoa! What?” He’s been so quiet, I almost forgot that he can hear everything. He grasps my shoulder.

  Mom’s eyes are wide. We both ignore Ever. So many unanswered questions fill my mind. I want to know it all.

  At the very least, though, it’s about time that Mom tells me about the Prophecy. I deserve to know. It’s time. “And Mom, I keep hearing about some sort of prophecy. What is it? No one will tell me. Only you can tell me!”

  Mom looks down at her hands. “Okay.” Her voice is quiet as she gathers her thoughts, then starts. “Of course, you’ve heard of the Oracle at Delphi?”

  Ever and I exchange glances, nodding in agreement.

  “Well, after the Gaean plague – the Scourge – ravaged our planet and killed most of the population, times were dire, grave here. There wasn’t a lot of hope. Zeus inflicted enormous pressure on the Oracle to tell him how to solve his problems, but instead she delivered a grim warning. The Prophecy foretold of a child who would be born from a virgin goddess with the blood of the Elixir, who would one day rise up out of the dust, rally the people, and overthrow Zeus to bring peace and harmony to all worlds.”

  Her voice is breathy, mysterious. “We call this prodigy the Protogena.”

  “Since the Oracle was under so much pressure at the time, we couldn’t be sure if the Prophecy was true or not, but Zeus took it seriously. Immediately, he had all three virgin goddesses – Hestia, me, and even his beloved Athena – arrested and sentenced to death. Of course, as we were taking the Elixir, it was impossible to immediately execute us, so we were sentenced to the prison at Tartarus while the Elixir was drained from our bodies. But that gave us the chance to escape.”

  I feel a chill and shiver, totally overwhelmed to finally hear the truth. Ever wraps his arm tighter around my shoulders as we both continue to listen.

  Mom’s eyes are animated as if on fire. “While we were incarcerated, the Rebellion went to work to fulfill this Prophecy, to utilize advanced bioengineering and genetic manipulation to ‘create’ the Protogena. This meant that a virgin goddess needed to give birth to a child with the blood of the Elixir, which to us literally meant inserting the Elixir directly into the child’s DNA inside of a test tube. Once on Earth, we utilized an archaic technology called in vitro fertilization along with a surrogate, and nine months later, you were born.”

  As the last piece of the puzzle falls into place, I can’t even find the words to describe how I feel. It’s overwhelming. My whole existence flashes before my mind’s eye in an instant, and I know that it’s all true.

  “I’m the Protogena.” I can barely say it. It’s so outrageous, even more so than anything else I’ve heard or seen, that it’s like I’m not hearing it.

  Mom nods enthusiastically, as if I should be excited about this. “Yes!”

  Ever, who has been listening quietly this whole time, cuts in. “So, if Helene is the Protogena, how is she supposed to defeat Zeus?”

  “The gods don’t have real magical powers, but the Protogena, with the Elixir directly in her bloodstream, can harness the power of the Aether to manipulate space with her mind and body.”

  This is all so crazy! I can barely think straight. My backpack vibrates. Oh, crap. I forgot that I had it. The Catalyst. When I pull it out, the light on the top starts flashing and beeping loudly. What is it doing this time? />
  When she sees the Catalyst, Mom is furious. “No!” She swiftly snatches it out of my hand.

  “What is it?” Ever asks.

  “A tracking device.” Mom’s voice is tight. “A beacon!”

  35 – Believe

  My mother’s face is a stern mask of concentration as she swipes across the Catalyst several times. The beeping sound stops, but the light still flashes. Then finally, after more effort, the light ceases, and the screen goes blank.

  Mom turns to us, anxious. “It may be too late. He may already know where we are.” She tries to stand. “Help me!” Ever hoists my mother up to stand, then I guide her painstakingly to a nearby console. “Athena…I have to call Athena…now!”

  Athena’s holographic image pops up in the middle of the room. When she sees Ever and me standing in the same room as my mother, her whole face falls in anger. “How…is this possible? Janus had explicit instructions to keep you away from the Gate.”

  No one says anything. My mother holds up the Catalyst. “We have other, much more pressing matters to handle, I’m afraid.”

  “How…how could you bring the Catalyst here?” Athena seethes, her eyes boring into me like daggers.

  “There isn’t much time for explanations,” my mother says. “The beacon was activated. Zeus will know how to get here now. The safe house has been compromised.” My mother has transformed right before my eyes into the consummate professional. I can’t help but feel proud.

  She turns to Ever and me. “You need to leave here now.” Her face is lined with worry, yet her voice is steady, strong, and commanding. “Go back to Earth and home to Georgios.”

  “No way, Mom. You have to come too,” I tell her.

  Athena cuts in, her voice harsh. “Your mother is too sick and weak to trek across the desert with you. She’ll never make it.”

  “Bastet brought us here. She can take us back too,” I plead.

  Mom shakes her head. “Bastet can carry only you and Ever, not all three of us.”

  “I can walk back by myself,” Ever offers, holding his hands out.

  My mom shrugs. “No, Ever, you can’t make it that far on foot without water. And if you don’t die of thirst, then the Cyclops will get you.”

  We argue back and forth, with Athena chiming in. I can’t take much more of this.

  “But Mom, I need you! You can’t leave me again. I just found you!” I plead with her, my face growing red with angst.

  Athena intervenes. “Enough! The greater good is at stake here. Sometimes sacrifices must be made. Helene and Ever, time to go! I have already sent people to your location to retrieve Artemis. She’ll be home as soon as possible.”

  Just then, a loud crashing sound interrupts us. The noise is from above ground, outside of the cypress tree in the desert. Someone is here!

  My mother screams as she flicks on a screen. “They’re already here!” Bastet has pinned a Vorlage soldier to the side of the tree. Behind her sits an empty land cruiser. No doubt more Vorlage are nearby, but no others are in sight yet. “You need to leave now!”

  “There’s no way I’m going anywhere without you!” I raise my voice in defiance. Ever stands in silence next to me but in clear support of what I want.

  Athena turns to my Mom. “You know what you have to do.”

  My mother stands with her mouth slightly open as she thinks about this for a moment but then disagrees with Athena. “No, I can’t. I can’t do it. What if something happens to her? She’s not ready…my little girl! I can’t!”

  Athena’s blue-green and golden eyes are mesmerizing as she grows more persuasive. “Artemis, you have to let her spread her wings and fly. It’s time for her to fulfill her true destiny. My son too! I did what was necessary so many years ago for him! Now it’s your turn.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Mom!”

  Athena nods to my mother, who nods back in agreement. Athena is talking to my mom in her head! Suddenly, my mother grabs a dagger from the table and aims it at her side. “Helene, don’t make me do this. I will if you won’t leave.”

  Ever tries to grab the knife from my mom, but Athena yells at him to stop.

  Somehow, this makes Ever cower, and I can see from his confused look that he’s not sure why. My mother makes me promise not to come back through the portal again unless they ask me to. The portal is too unstable for travel. There’s a real risk that it could just shut down and collapse from overuse, just like the Olympic Gate thousands of years ago. She commands us, “You have to go now!”

  An explosion booms above us. Artemis and Athena exchange devastated looks as Athena says somberly, “It’s too late. They’re here.”

  Ever isn’t giving up so easily. He grabs my backpack and takes my arm. His ever-changing eyes assume his mood like a chameleon…my chameleon. Right now, his irises appear an intense steel blue that reflects the backbreaking stress we both face. “It’s never too late to try! Come on! We’re leaving!”

  Athena’s hologram fizzles out with the rest of the electronic equipment in the room. Only the dim red emergency lights remain.

  Ever rushes over to where my mother is sitting when four gold-plated robot men rush at us from above. The Vorlage. Just before they reach us, Ever shoves me aside with him under a table and holds his hand tightly over my mouth, restraining me. I try to thrash around to break free of him so I can help my mom.

  He whispers urgently in my ear, “I need to look out for you first, Helene! If you go out there, they will capture all of us. Is that what you want?”

  The Vorlage surround my mom with large gold-plated weapons, then push her up the stairs and out of the room under the cypress tree into the desert above. After a moment, Ever and I tiptoe up the stairs, following behind them.

  As we reach the desert, the door to the tree slams shut. There’s no going back now. I hear Bastet roar in warning when three more Vorlage suddenly pass by us from behind the tree. We shrug back and away from them just in time to avoid alerting them to our presence. I look up and am relieved to see Bastet sitting tall at the top of the sand dune overlooking the plateau where we stand. For the time being, we hide out in safety behind the tree.

  My mother, her body frail, is on her knees, surrounded by Vorlage, when I hear a familiar laugh. Ares…he’s here, this time in the flesh. His black trench coat floats out behind him in the slight desert breeze. “Artemis! Nice to see you again!” His face is twisted into a cruel sneer. “Zeus will be so happy to see you, too.”

  Raw adrenaline pulses through my veins in panic as I struggle against Ever’s firm grip on me. Suddenly, the scene in front of us takes shape. I notice that the entire procession of red-eyed men we saw earlier is once again marching in our direction. After several minutes of their synchronized chanting, they halt in front of three men, each impeccably dressed in business suits.

  I recognize two of the men as Poseidon and Hades, but there is something different about the man in the middle. With his imposing stature and stern demeanor, he is clearly their leader. Zeus. His face, though, is all wrong. It’s blurred as if someone has applied an eraser to it, and it’s shadowy, so what remains seems the emanation of pure evil. I can barely make out his shifting features, but the combined effect of it all…is totally creepy.

  Ever whispers, “Wow, that golden monocle is cool. Looks like Google Glass…totally high-tech.”

  “I don’t see anyone with a monocle.”

  “The ugly guy with the massive scar on his face who just shot the lightning bolts? Pretty sure he’s Zeus.”

  I strain my eyes, blinking twice more. Still, Zeus’s face is completely blurred, but it seems alive with a menacing fury. For some reason, Ever can se
e Zeus, but I can’t. From the look of all the people here, I’m guessing that they can all see him too. Why not me?!

  As Zeus addresses the army before him, my eyes fall to his hand, where he wears a ring made of solid gold. The twelve-point star is engraved on its surface. It’s an exact copy of my ring, only larger. He lifts his left hand up to the sky. The quick flash of static lightning shoots out of his hand, up into the heavens. The sound of thunder vibrates in the ground. The procession of men bow down onto their knees with their eyes aimed at the ground.

  They chant, “Zeus!”

  36 – Smoke and Mirrors

  But not everything is as it seems. As the lightning streams from Zeus’s hand into the sky, part of the current of electricity accidentally flows downward, zapping him in the middle of his foot. “Argh!” He curses, hopping around in pain.

  He tries again, lifting his hand upward. But this time, the bolt zaps him in the head. A tuft of his perfectly manicured jet-black hair falls out onto the ground. “Aaaggghh!” he screams, heaving what looks like a flesh-colored metal mechanical device from his hand onto the ground. “All of our equipment is dying, just like this forsaken planet!”

  I stand in silence, piecing it all together in my mind. It’s like The Wizard of Oz, where the gods use technology and gadgets to deceive the masses. Like Clarke’s Third Law. It’s not magic, it’s advanced technology.

  Ever whispers, “It’s just a bunch of smoke and mirrors!!”

  I place my finger over his lips. “Shhhh.”

  Hades, who stands to the left of Zeus, begins to laugh, his red-purple eyes dancing with bizarre mania. A three-headed Chihuahua lies on the ground near his feet, all three heads resting on the ground, eyes closed, as if sleeping. Hades is preoccupied as he studies what looks like a helmet that he holds in his hands.

  The man on Zeus’s right is Poseidon, which I know from when I saw his “ghost” at the Temple of Poseidon. With his tailored suit and salt-and-pepper cropped hair, he looks like he could be anyone on Wall Street, except for the violet eyes. There’s an air of boredom about him. Or maybe it’s apathy. Not sure. He coughs into a rag he holds. “We’d better get our masks on soon or go inside. Well, except for you, Hay.”