She had rented the apartment and, in time, when the owner of the restaurant put the whole property up for sale, it felt right to buy it. Now, as she looked at her son behind her closed door, Anna knew she’d been right all along. The same restaurant that had brought her here had just reunited her with her son, under Poseidon’s all-seeing, protective gaze.
The interior was dark. Anna had left the shutters closed in order to shield her home from the fierce heat of the day. She turned on the light and prompted Phevos to sit on the couch. She then excused herself and went to her bedroom promising to come back in a minute.
During her short absence, Phevos had a look around. The sitting area contained only a few pieces of furniture of basic practicality. A low TV table was nestled in a corner next to a bookshelf full of dog-eared paperbacks and large, hardcover volumes.
Other than the couch, there was also an armchair across from the TV. Its old fabric was covered with a throw. A paperback lay on the coffee table before it. Phevos guessed the armchair was his mother’s favorite seat during solitary evenings, and the thought formed a huge lump in his throat.
Next, he turned his gaze toward the kitchenette where a small round table with two chairs confirmed the maximum size of his mother’s culinary parties these days. Phevos shook his head, a shadow across his face, as he recalled the happy dinners he’d had with Ksenia and the others in the past months while his mother lived here all alone. Sadness overcame him, but when he heard footsteps echoing from the corridor, he hurried to turn around, forcing a smile.
What he saw then made him freeze to the spot, his jaw dropping. His mother was walking toward him, along the twilit corridor, holding a wand that looked similar to his own, but that one gave off a faint glow. Phevos still held his wand and didn’t need to look at it again to know the one in his mother’s hand was identical. The more she advanced forward, the glow from her wand intensified.
When Anna stopped before her son, she grinned from ear to ear. Phevos remained silent even then, just staring at the dazzling glow coming from the wand in his mother’s hands. Why hadn't his wand ever done that? As if guessing his thoughts, Anna motioned to him to look at the wand he was holding. Phevos looked down and gasped. The magical object in his hand was now glowing just as radiantly.
“Unbelievable . . .” he whispered.
“Son, these wands belong to each other. Their glow is their bliss for being together. Just like you and me.”
“Oh, Mother! How right you are!” he said, choking at his last words. He’d just realized that for the very first time, as far as he could remember, he’d uttered the word ‘mother’ and that shook his world. He had prayed a million times for the day when he would finally be able to do that.
“My son, if only you knew how I’d been aching to hear that word from your lips again!” said Anna with the dignified smile that had served her so well for the past eleven years. Only now, her joy was sincere. She no longer had to pretend she could still smile. She hugged Phevos, then pulled him gently to sit with her on the couch.
“Where did you find this wand, Mother? I found mine in the cave, but I had to unearth it first. Was the cave buried when we lived together in Ksenia’s house?” he asked, still mesmerized at the sight of the wands. Their glow hadn’t faded in the least yet, as they rested on their laps.
“Patience, Phevos. I will tell you everything about that wretched cave!” she promised, placing a hand on his shoulder as she held him. “But first, I want to make sure you understand the origin and the purpose of these wands. They are tied to us, Son. But they have no value, no effect, and no relation to each other without us!”
“What do you mean, Mother?”
“Here! Take my wand and hold them together in your hands.” As soon as she let go of hers, they both turned dark in his hands.
Phevos gasped. “What? How is this possible?” He darted his eyes at his mother, his brow deeply furrowed. “If they belong to each other like you said, then what’s changed? They are still together! Why did they go dark?”
“Give me one back, Phevos. Better yet, give me yours! Just to show you it doesn’t matter which one I’m holding.” As soon as he handed her his wand, they both glowed again. Phevos gasped and Anna gave a chuckle. “My son, these wands are the answers to our prayers. It doesn’t matter which one we each hold. They’re all the same like we are all the same. There are three of these, my son! One for you, one for me and—”
“One for Father!”
“Yes! And when all three of us manage to hold one each at the same time, these three wands will be given the power to unite us again as one family.”
Phevos was lost for words. For a few moments, he tried to process what he’d just heard as his mother watched him. He thought his father must have known about all this. The reappearance of the necklace in the gut of the fish must have been a sign to him. It told him the time had come to send Phevos to this world in order to find his mother and these wands. He’d sent his two children off with a handful of salt. Phevos had long guessed that Poseidon was related to all this. The restaurant’s name had been the last sign to lead him here. It had been a homing beacon all along, first for his mother and now for him. But they couldn’t get them all home yet. There was still one thing missing.
“Mother, where is the third wand?”
“All I know is that it’s in the sea somewhere—”
“In the sea? Where?”
“I don’t know . . . But I trust that as these two wands have been given to us, so will the third one when the time comes. We need to keep our faith, Son!” Anna placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
“And to look out for the signs.”
“That’s right.”
“And Athena? How does she fit in all this?”
“Athena . . .” Anna’s eyes narrowed. “My boy, now is the time for me to tell you everything I know.” Anna was about to tell her son a very disturbing story, so she took his hand in both of hers. It was the story of a nine-year-old boy that an old woman came to claim one night, snatching him from his house and from his mother’s arms. She didn’t want to tell him this fearful story but felt obliged to. To make it up to him, she would then tell him the story of what had followed. That one would bring hope into his heart just as it had done for her.
Chapter 20
Eleven years earlier
“Eleni! Where are you off to so early?” asked Anna from her first-floor balcony. It was a lazy Sunday morning. Nine-year-old Phevos was sitting at the balcony table having a hot cocoa drink and sliced choriatiko bread with hazelnut paste. Anna was still in her long nightdress and robe. She hadn't combed her unruly long hair yet but didn’t care if anyone saw her like this. She’d never been vain, not even as a young girl. Besides, it was only eight and there was hardly anyone about. That’s why it had been so easy to spot her girlfriend as soon as she’d come out to the street from the garden below. The only other person down there was a municipal worker sweeping the pavement in the distance.
Eleni looked up and beamed at Anna. They’d been friends for a few years now. To Eleni and Kimon, the tenants who occupied the upper floor of their house had become close friends, who felt like family. The feeling was mutual for Efimios and his beloved wife, Anna.
“Where am I going? Need you ask?”
“Not Pallada! Last minute bookings again?” asked Anna with a frown. Running a guesthouse meant Eleni could never plan ahead. As hard as she tried to manage bookings efficiently, and even when she hired temporary staff to fill in so that she could take one day off per week, she still had to work on Sundays sometimes, limiting her family’s prearranged plans for the day to much narrower timeframes.
“You guessed right! One of the agencies just called and asked if I can accomodate a young couple. They rejected the hotel room they were allocated to.”
“I see . . . Do you want me to go downstairs to help with the kids? Do you need anything at all?” Anna often minded her friend’s children. It was no both
er at all and, besides, Phevos and Ksenia enjoyed each other’s company. They could play board games for hours while little Manos either slept or played in his pen.
“Thanks but there’s no need, Anna. Kimon is up and preparing Ksenia’s breakfast. The baby’s still asleep. I’ll see you soon! Is ten still all right with you and Efimios?”
“Sure, but will you be finished by then?”
“Of course! I won't be long at all. I have a room ready for them, and they’re coming soon. Olga could sign them in, but I need to see her this morning anyway. One of our customers made a lot of complaints to her yesterday. I have to talk to him. Sounds like he gave her a hard time.”
“Really?”
“Would you believe he expected a cooked breakfast? He also demanded access to a bathtub instead of a shower although no one promised him these things. He even swore at her!”
“Oh, poor thing! She’s so meek and mild! Shame Mrs. Sofia isn’t here. She’d have given him one of her infamous rants!” Anna rolled her eyes and they both laughed.
“You bet! Ah well, better go, Olga’s waiting. She had to promise him that I, being the owner, would go and see him this morning. I intend to serve him a good piece of my mind for breakfast!” said Eleni with a grin, and both women laughed again.
“See you soon for our taverna meal by the sea then!” said Anna waving from the balcony.
“Can't wait! And look at the blue sky! Not a cloud in sight!”
“Yes! Isn’t it gorgeous? It’s March, after all. The spring is upon us! Time for sea and sun!” Anna gave a bright smile, and her friend nodded in response.
“Right, bye for now! See you soon, girlfriend!” Eleni gave a hurried wave and turned to go.
“Give him a good one!” shouted out Anna, and in response her friend giggled as she strode off along the pavement. Anna’s smile was radiant now with the happy thought of their plans for the day. She watched her friend until she strode through the entrance of Pallada, then tipped her head back with half-closed eyes and gave a smile to the heavens. As if in immediate response to her feeling of gratitude, a cool breeze picked up, caressing her face. Thankful, Anna turned her face to the sun, closing her eyes, the feeling of warmth filling her heart with bliss. How she loved her street, her home, and her life!
She’d been happily married to Efimios for the past ten years. The child had come along quickly. Despite the crammed spaces, they were comfortable in the apartment.
When Efimios was single, he used to rent the same apartment from Kimon’s family, and they had been friends from back then. Then Kimon got engaged to Eleni and shortly after, Anna had come into Efimios’s life. The friendship among the four was strong and had lasted from the carefree years of their youth through to their more mature years as married couples.
In time, they adopted Eleni’s delightful habit that involved pre-arranged plans for Sundays. They’d spend them together, sometimes with whole days out to the mountains or the seashore, and other times with a short visit to a park or a café. There were other Sundays when money was too tight or spirits too low, because life can be like that. Just as you stay home sometimes to avoid adverse weather, you stay home too in order to sit out the difficulties of life. But even then, having each other’s company made those Sundays just as special while the hail and sleet of life beat on the roof.
Anna opened her eyes again and turned around to check on Phevos. He had finished his breakfast and was now reading yet another book by Jules Vern. Since he was a toddler, he’d loved leafing through picture books. Once he started school, he’d begun to read bedtime stories and then longer children’s books with incredible avidity. The more he read, the more he asked for. The stories excited his imagination so much that sometimes his mother feared he’d confuse reality with fantasy as she watched him talk about the highly imaginative stories that he read.
His nose was forever stuck in a book for the best part of his waking hours but, unlike Anna, Efimios was not concerned. He’d try to reassure her their son knew well how to differentiate reality from fantasy. He was certain Phevos could only benefit from his love for books because only through the imagination can the mind open so knowledge can be planted like a seed in a child’s mind. Before placing a seed in the earth, you make sure to water first. Should the seed fall onto dry land, it’ll go wasted.
With these very words, Efimios had finally convinced his wife to stop worrying and, by now, she was able to watch her son read without feelings of worry churning in her gut. Anna trusted her husband blindly and was aware she had married a very special man. It was different at first, though. When they’d started to date, there were so many odd things about him. The way his obscure work as a salesman took him so often away from the city, the strange coins that she’d once noticed as he opened his wallet to pay for a meal. Instead of letting her see them as she’d asked, he’d hidden them in his pocket saying they were foreign currency.
But one incident stood out from the rest because it was then that her frustration had peaked and she’d erupted. One day, she’d visited Efimios without notice. When he opened the door, he rushed to hide away some strange-looking robes and sandals on his chair. To her insistent questions, he gave more excuses, just as he had every time she’d seen an odd item in his possession.
He claimed he was going to a fancy dress party that evening, but Anna eyed him with disbelief. She’d almost convinced herself by then that he was a member of an obscure cult, or a thief of museum artifacts. She’d have believed anything, except that he was an ordinary salesman because her instinct told her otherwise. She resorted to shouting, threatening to break up with him and, to her surprise, he’d finally offered her the truth. To prove what he was saying, he took her to the back of the orchard where he used the odd-looking necklace he always wore to open the door in the rock face. Once inside, she’d fallen silent to see the cave and believed him at last.
Anna smiled to herself as she remembered her sheer astonishment that day. She stood a while longer leaning on the balcony rail, showered by the morning sun, watching her son read. When Phevos looked up and met her eyes, Anna gave a titter and walked up to him. His mouth was smeared with hazelnut paste so she took his napkin and began to wipe his mouth clean, but Phevos jerked his head away, a devilish grin on his face.
“Leave it, Mom! I can do this myself, you know!” Phevos licked his lips and rubbed his tummy in mock satisfaction. “How do I look now?” He gave a smirk, and she bent over to kiss him on the top of his head.
“Come inside now and get dressed, my darling.”
“Let me stay here and read a bit more, Mommy! Please?”
“Okay. Just a bit more.” Anna patted his head and went inside.
Efimios was sitting on the bed, reading his paper. Anna walked up to him and planted a kiss on his lips. Efimios kissed her tenderly, but when they pulled apart and she saw his face more clearly, she noticed his expression wasn’t right.
Anna frowned. “What's the matter, my love? Something upsetting in the paper?”
“Um, nothing. All’s fine . . .” he replied and darted his eyes back to the paper. He pretended to read but the writing danced before his eyes and nothing made sense. He knew he should blame it on the paper, leaving it at that, but he wasn’t good at lying. Not to her, anyway.
“Tell me, Efimios. What is it?” she insisted, worried. She sat on the bed and fixed him with the look that always caused him to stop whatever he was doing and spurt it all out.
“Oh Anna . . .” he whispered with an awkward half-smile. Fully aware he was cornered, Efimios folded his paper and placed it on his lap but still refused to look at her.
“Come on now, out with it! I’m not having my husband looking glum on a fine Sunday morning!” said Anna, hoping it was nothing. Maybe it was a case of low spirits she could easily fix with humor. “I’m listening!” She gave an encouraging smile and took his hand in hers.
“It’s nothing, my Anna! Just a dream, that’s all . . .” Giving a faint smile, he
reached out and caressed her long brown hair. Anna relished the gesture, as always, but the look in her eyes darkened somewhat.
“A dream? You mean one of those dreams?”
“Yes, but not to worry. It’s only a dream, it’s nothing,” he said, still caressing her hair, but she pulled away and sprang to her feet.
“It’s nothing? Ten years we’ve been married and Athena hasn’t stopped giving you those dreams! And you tell me not to worry? What does she want from us? Can't she leave us alone?” she said as calmly as she could, trying not to shout. She didn’t want to alarm her child outside. Yet, that didn’t stop her from pacing up and down the rug, gesticulating fiercely.
“Don’t worry sweetheart . . .”
“How can you tell me not to worry? She’ll never give up! She’ll always be breathing down our necks!”
Efimios looked at her and his heart sank. He hated the way his past affected Anna, how it upset and worried her. For ten years, Athena had been haunting his dreams, sometimes mildly, other times with terrible threats and anger. Efimios had never regretted his choice to tell Anna all about her. However, he’d grown deeply concerned in the last few months. Athena’s words in the dreams had become ominous, and he’d started to fear for his family. To protect his wife’s peace of mind he’d stopped mentioning the dreams to her, but the one the night before had been particularly frightening, and he’d been unable to hide his distress.
He felt guilty now to see Anna so upset. He loved her more than anything. Meeting her had shaken his world from its foundations. Until then, it had never occurred to him to disregard Athena’s call for duty in order to lead a normal life. But Anna had taken over his heart and mind, leaving no space for Athena. And so, although he’d dated Anna while carrying on with his time travels for a while, his heart had been no longer in it. Instead, he’d yearned to settle down with Anna in this modern world and to grow old with her without cheating time any more.
The Necklace of Goddess Athena Page 21