The Necklace of Goddess Athena

by Effrosyni Moschoudi

  He became rigid, or rather frozen, unable to move, even to think any more. He stared back at her, hypnotized by those eyes. He tried to think again but there was nothing in his mind now; it felt empty like an abandoned house that had been robbed even of its echoes.

  Trying to think, Phevos felt as if he was trying to talk to himself through a thick glass. He could no longer get any answers in his mind or hear the sound of his own reasoning. All he could do is stare at the thick glass. That’s how her eyes felt on him, weighing him down heavily, numbing his mind all the more by the second.

  “Shush now and do not worry!” she commanded with authority. “I have a treat for you! And all you need to do, is accompany me to my house in the back of the orchard.”

  “The orchard? But no one lives there . . .” whispered Phevos through the thick fog of his stupor.

  “Ah, little one! Your father never told you about me, but not to worry, there is still time,” she replied in a croaky voice, caressing the top of his head with a gnarled hand. Her touch made him numb all over filling his head with a sense of warmth that stunned him. It felt welcoming, yet he knew deep down he had to resist it, except he couldn’t.

  With half-closed eyes, he tried to look at the woman, but his vision was blurred and in his head he couldn’t even feel the thick glass any longer. All there was now, was the warmth from her touch. It filled his head with swirling, psychedelic colors. His body fell numb in her embrace as she held him against her with incredible ease. His head was leaning limply against her chest.

  The old woman felt contented. He was hers at last. Her lips pulled back to reveal rotten teeth in a smile of pure arrogance, but at that very moment, the voice of a little girl made her face contort again with malice.

  “Phevos, are you here?” asked Ksenia peering into the darkness. She tried flicking the light switch a few times but to no avail. She stood at the kitchen entrance holding the doll in her arms. She’d come in from her brightly lit room, so she couldn’t make out the crouched shape that stood before the door across from her.

  Hidden in the darkness, the elderly woman became vexed by the intrusion in her moment of triumph. With incredible strength, she shifted the weight of the boy onto one arm and stretched out the other toward Ksenia, palm down. Although her words echoed loudly in the room, she never allowed Ksenia to listen. Her curse fell heavily upon the little girl, without her ever hearing as much as a whisper.

  “I command you to go now!” the old woman spat out with fury. “You have enjoyed long enough what is mine. It is mine because I allowed you to have it! But no more! Tonight I am taking your little friend away and if his father wants him, he will have to follow too. As for you, you will now forget everything you ever knew about this boy! I know you are very fond of him but fear not, it will be like he never existed. Likewise, this boy will soon not remember you or anyone else in this place! He and his father do not belong with you. I gave them to you and they are mine to take away!”

  Ksenia, blissful in her ignorance, never saw or heard anything. As if led by an invisible hand, she turned and went back to her room with a blank expression on her face and her mind muddled, in a state of semi-consciousness.

  With a cackle of satisfaction, the old woman opened the door and stole Phevos away. The only sound that could be heard was his soft breath as she went out to the orchard under the silver moonlight, holding him tight against her chest.

  ***

  “Mom? Where’s Phevos?” asked Ksenia placing her little hands on Eleni’s lap. Her mother was still watching the movie with the others. It had only been five minutes since Phevos was taken. The little girl, hypnotized by the old woman, had suddenly realized he was missing as she combed her doll’s hair.

  The last thing she remembered was Phevos going to the kitchen to investigate that strange sound. She still remembered him because it was recent, but the old woman’s curse would take effect on her in time, causing her to forget he’d ever existed.

  “What do you mean, my darling? Haven’t you been together in your room all this time?” asked Eleni.

  “Yes, mom, we were together . . . but then he left and now I can’t find him.”

  Hearing that, Anna sprang to her feet and stormed out of the room, calling her son and searching for him around the house. Efimios, equally alarmed, hurried upstairs to check their apartment while Kimon and Eleni asked Ksenia more questions as calmly as they could.

  Having searched all the rooms downstairs, Anna returned to the sitting room in a state of panic. When she heard from Ksenia that Phevos had gone to the kitchen to investigate a strange metallic sound, her worst fears became fully validated and she started to wail. Efimios rushed back down the stairs and Anna told him what Ksenia had said.

  An icy dread washed over Efimios. When he was nine, the same age as his son, it was a strange metallic sound that had preceded his first encounter with Athena. When he shared his thought, a pandemonium ensued. Everyone shouted in distress at the same time. Ksenia broke out crying and Eleni swept her up in her arms following everyone else who rushed to the kitchen door. There, they ascertained that no human could have taken Phevos away. The door was still locked with the key on the inside. The front door was locked, too. They all bolted out into the orchard except for Eleni, who cried out behind them that she was coming in a minute. She took Ksenia in her arms, who was still crying having witnessed Anna’s wailing and everyone’s panic. She thought it was all her fault and was inconsolable.

  Eleni rushed to her bedroom with Ksenia and placed her on the bed next to Manos’s cot. Thankfully, the door was closed before, and his sleep had not been disturbed. Eleni hushed her little girl and told her not to cry because it wasn’t her fault. She promised her it was all going to be all right and showed her the phone on the nightstand, reminding her to call Pallada, if needed. Ksenia knew the number well because her mother had made her memorize it in case of an emergency.

  Eleni wished Mrs. Sofia was there, but she was in Corfu looking after her sister. Yet she knew Olga would help her children, if needed. She bent over the cot to caress Manos’s head as he slept soundly and tucked Ksenia in the bed next to him, asking her to take care of him until she returned. Eleni kissed Ksenia on the forehead and left the room, then rushed outside through the kitchen door. She locked it to keep her children safe and put the key in her pocket. She started to run, knowing well where to go. No one amongst the adults had mentioned it, but they all knew where Phevos had been taken to, and they had to get there fast. Efimios had searched upstairs, and his necklace was missing.

  Chapter 22

  Athena hurried down the marble steps to the entrance of the cave. She’d run all the way there, carrying Phevos in her arms with the vigor of an athlete despite the fact she was still in the form of a frail, old woman. With a confident move, she shifted the boy’s weight and held him with one hand against the rock face by the metallic door.

  Chuckling with satisfaction, she waved her hand before his closed eyes, and they opened obediently.

  Phevos regained his consciousness, but his mind remained numb, and his body felt limp. With great difficulty, he turned to look at the old woman to find she’d taken the little key out of her pocket again. It was studded with gems and sparkled eerily in the moonlight.

  Slowly, he started to take in his surroundings. He was able to think again now through the thinning fog in his head. He realized he was at the back of the orchard, in front of the entrance to the gardener’s storeroom, as his parents called it. He recognized the metallic door, but he’d never been inside. How had he got here? Had he fainted? Had the old woman carried him here? Where had she found the strength? Was he standing, or was she holding him up? His legs were too weak and he couldn’t tell.

  He turned to her to voice his anguish, but a sudden glow from the key in her hand caught him by surprise. When the radiance subsided, what he saw in her hand astonished him. He’d seen it only once or twice before in his life. He didn’t know anything about it, except
that it was priceless and unique in the world.

  “Where did you get that? This necklace belongs to my father!” he shouted as she pinned him against the rock face.

  “You are wrong!” she replied hoarsely, bursting into a wicked laugh.

  “No! It is my father’s, I tell you! Let me go! Dad! Dad!” he shouted as he fought to break free from her grasp of steel.

  “You will do well not to antagonize me, boy! This necklace is mine! It is mine and always will be!”

  “You’re a liar! A liar and a thief! Let me go, I tell you!”

  “Enough!” she shrieked, her anger growing like thundering clouds gathering for the storm. “Not another word from you! We have no time!” She placed the necklace on the door, and it swung open as if by magic. She shoved Phevos inside and he stumbled, falling on his knees.

  With one hand, she picked him like a toy by his shirt collar, dragging him all the way to the altar. He remained on his knees, his features pinched with despair. He looked around him, aided by the ample light coming from strange-looking torches on the walls. What is this place? It can’t be a gardener’s storeroom!

  “You see? Your father is the liar after all!” Athena cackled with glee, then raised her arms in a triumphant stance that didn’t befit the weak, hunched figure that she’d chosen as her disguise.

  Phevos’s jaw dropped, realizing her voice had changed. Now, she sounded much younger. How could it be? He raised his head to look at her, and she relished the bewilderment in his eyes. This was her moment to show him where he truly belonged. She placed the necklace on her heart and struck her cane on the ground repeatedly, producing a deafening metallic sound that filled Phevos’s heart with panic. He started to feel numb and dizzy once more as she stared at him. He was going to faint again, and this time he was terrified.

  As his mind sank into the thickening fog, he thought he’d started to hallucinate. The old woman before him had disappeared and now a young woman, unrealistically tall, stood in her place. She had an astonishing beauty and looked resplendent in a white robe, a shiny suit of armor on top of it, and a radiant battle helmet. Its metal strip that ran the length of her nose, made her eyes look even more fearsome, and he shivered under her stare.

  From what he could see, she was holding a long spear that glowed with a blinding light. He couldn’t look at it any more than he could face the sun on a summer’s day. All of a sudden, she smiled at him as he cowered before her, but there was no kindness in her eyes, only contentment. Phevos managed to whisper a single call for help, and then his mind sank deeper into the cloud that was to steal away all his memories up to that moment. He spared his very last thought for his mother. At the core of his fading memories, he saw her precious face one last time as he sank away, and then he was gone, his mind lost in the cloud.

  As soon as Phevos fainted, Athena heard commotion outside, and she swept him up with one arm as if he weighed no more than a feather. She was so tall that the top of her helmet barely missed the roof of the cave despite the fact that it was around seven feet high.

  One by one, Efimios, Kimon, and then Anna came into view. Unlike the men, Anna never halted when she saw Athena. Instead, she rushed forward to redeem her child with a blind yearning that left no place in her heart for fear. Efimios grabbed Anna and held her back, causing her to wail and to scream hateful words at the goddess.

  Athena still held the boy. Being unconscious, he was unable to fight for himself. Efimios continued to restrain Anna in order to protect her, for he knew she would stand no chance if she were to approach Athena. He tried to remain as calm as possible so he could maintain his ability to think. If emotion overtook him as in Anna’s case, the result could be catastrophic for them all. He was the only one who stood a chance to turn this around. He needed to distract Athena. Perhaps if he tried to talk her out of whatever plan she had . . . He could imagine what that was. It would satisfy her hurt pride for sure. It would serve her arrogance but not his family’s survival.

  “How pitiful are you, common mortals!” shrieked Athena. Her voice echoed like the sound of battle that carries the striking of swords and the screaming of men. She stood before them, lifting Phevos high with one arm, as if he were a rag doll. She was mocking them now, finding the sight of Anna, who kept trying to break free, quite ridiculous. What was she hoping for if Efimios were to let her go? “Do you really believe you stand a chance against me you pathetic human?” she said, laughing. The thundering noise filled the cave like the sound of a thousand spears in the air about to hit their target.

  Anna still seemed undeterred. She kept on wailing and begging her husband to let go.

  “I am Athena! The daughter of Zeus, born from his wisdom! No one can stand before me and hope to win!” The goddess took a single step forward. As soon as her sandal hit the ground, it raised a cloud of dirt, and the earth started to shake.

  The three mortals stumbled uncontrollably as the ground continued to shake for a few more seconds. When the earthquake was over, Anna spat on the ground and turned a fiery stare at Athena. “You may command the earth, but you don’t command me! Give me back my son! ” she shouted, wriggling to free herself from her husband’s grasp in order to reach her.

  “I am begging you, Athena . . .” pleaded Efimios. He could understand his wife, but what she was doing was suicide. They needed to appease her, not to aggravate her further. “Please forgive me! I am ready to come with you and serve you once more. But please, have mercy! Let my son stay here with his mother, I beg of you!”

  “It is too late now, Efimios!” came Athena’s swift answer, as she fixed him with a stony stare. “You are no longer welcome to serve under my command! I have changed my mind. All I need now is your son!” She held the boy against her chest, against the cold steel of her armor. His arms and legs were swaying limply in mid-air.

  Once again, Anna began to wail, mad with rage and longing. Eleni appeared through the entrance. As soon as she saw Athena, she froze in shock. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed in a heap next to Anna.

  “Enough! This travesty ends here!” yelled Athena with renewed fury. “You!” she shrieked pointing to Anna. “You took my servant once, and so, I will now take your child! He belongs to me because if it hadn't been for me, you would never have known his father or him!”

  Anna went berserk in response, and it took Efimios all his strength this time to keep her from rushing forward like a lioness, all teeth and claws.

  Unaffected, Athena rested Phevos on the edge of the altar holding him in place with one hand. With the other, she placed the necklace in the center of the altar. Within the few seconds that it took her to do this, all four of them rushed to her, led by Efimios, who now knew what was to come.

  In a desperate attempt, they all reached Athena in a flash, trying to grab the child before it was too late. As soon as the necklace was placed in the recess, the three crystal candles on the altar lit up. A loud murmur rose from the earth, and there was a tremendous roar as the cave started to shake. A blinding light surrounded the mortals, who froze in astonishment, except for Efimios. He had experienced the Passage through time before and knew what was coming.

  Athena held the child in her steel grasp. Anna had reached her first. She’d placed one hand on Athena’s arm and the other on Phevos, trying to pull him away. Kimon and Eleni held the boy by his back and shoulders with the same purpose and the same futile result.

  Efimios, having a single hope left, knelt before Athena placing his hands on her knees in a silent plea for mercy. The blinding light had dazed them all, and the deafening sound hindered any attempt for communication amongst them, but each one still hoped and tried to save Phevos.

  In the midst of this storm of overwhelming light and sound, Efimios turned to look at them all. They were still trying to save the boy but Athena stood before them with resolve. She didn’t seem to regard them as a threat any more than a mountain would fear a mouse to bring it down. It was almost as if she didn’t even mind them bein
g there, except perhaps for Anna, who she stared at with wild rage.

  Efimios kept his hands on the goddess’s knees, waiting for her to respond to his silent plea. He was ready to offer anything in exchange for his son, even his own life if he had to. Athena finally took her eyes from Anna and turned to him. There was only anger in her eyes, and Efimios lost all hope for her mercy.

  “Efimios, I have waited for ten years. It is too late for negotiations. Now, I will take your son and to punish you, I will also take you and your friends!” bellowed Athena as she loomed over him, and his heart sank, knowing well there was no point in trying any more.

  “You!” said Athena, her eyes narrowing as she turned to Anna. “You have no place here! I condemn you to stay behind without your family and friends! I curse you to live on your own!” Athena bent over and lifted Anna with one hand as if she weighed no more than a pebble.

  Efimios started to wail begging her to reconsider, but she wouldn’t listen. Anna was clawing at Athena’s neck, but the goddess pulled her hands away as you would remove mere pieces of fluff from your shirt. Then, she raised Anna even higher, and threw her forcefully away.

  Mere seconds later, Anna opened her eyes and tried to sit up. She was in pain after having suffered the fall, but that was nothing in comparison to the anguish of her discovery. An eerie semi-darkness surrounded her. Thanks to the moonlight that crept through the entrance, she realized she was alone. She gave a desperate cry, then collapsed onto the dirt, breaking into sobs.

  When she finally found the strength to stand, her body felt bruised all over but, slowly, she managed to stumble in the dark to the exit. When she emerged into the night, Anna filled her lungs with fresh air lifting her head up high. Spent, she stood gazing at the moon for a while. It seemed to her that it was casting its silvery light down on her with clemency and purpose, as if it were trying to speak to her. No one else was there to talk to, so Anna offered a prayer to God for the return of her loved ones. She spent the rest of the night there, outside the cave, in case they returned. At dawn, she woke with a start and fought off the sunlight behind her eyelids, finding herself unwilling to face life alone.