by Kate O'Hearn
Jupiter approached. “What is this?”
“Mother,” Emily said respectfully, “this is Jupiter, leader of Olympus.” She turned to Jupiter. “This is the Mother of the Jungle. I still can’t remember her real name or how to understand her, but she is one of the oldest living creatures in this world. I don’t know how I know this, but she is very special. We must always protect her.”
The newcomers greeted the Mother of the Jungle and each took their turn stroking the smooth purple fur of the creature’s heads.
“Of course,” Jupiter agreed. “We will do everything we can to ensure her safety.” He turned on Paelen and pointed a threatening finger. “You will be nice to the Mother of the Jungle or you will answer to me!”
“I did not do anything!” Paelen cried. “It was she who attacked me.”
Paelen climbed to his feet shakily. As he did, the Mother of the Jungle took a step closer and gave him another long, wet lick.
“She really likes you!” Emily laughed.
As a second large, wet tongue swept up his chest and face, Paelen scrunched his eyes shut and mumbled miserably, “Why is it always me?”
6
STELLA WATCHED HER PARENTS HELP set up the small camp at the tourist booth. There was a lovely resort hotel not far away, and Stella had suggested they stay there. But her parents had said no. With the precious silver dagger that had already been found and the golden box in the pit, they couldn’t risk leaving the area unprotected.
There was also a spacious restaurant and tourist shop at the base of the temple, which also had been suggested for use as a camp, but it was considered too far from the find.
Stella busied herself working in her tent. This was one request her parents had granted: that she was allowed her own tent instead of sharing with them. When she finished making up her bed, she returned to the site and was surprised by how far the dig had progressed. The golden box was now almost a quarter of the way out of the rock wall, and one whole side of it was on display.
“Stella, come and look. I think you’ll like this,” her mother called.
Her father helped her down into the pit while her mother pointed at the exposed box. “See someone you know?”
There were carvings in the smooth gold surface. Stella’s eyes flew wide when she recognized three large figures standing together. “Zeus!” she cried. “That’s Zeus, and there’s Poseidon and even Hades!”
Her father nodded. “Now is archaeology still boring?”
Stella knew better than to touch the side of the ancient box, but her fingers ached to trace the outline of the three Olympians. “Not now,” she agreed. “I want to see more.”
“Soon,” her mother promised as she worked to free more of the box. “With luck we should have it out of here in the next few days.”
The rainy weather was quickly forgotten as Stella watched her parents and the other archaeologists at work. They had all agreed to keep things quiet until they better understood what they had found.
But by the third day word had leaked out that “Zeus’s Treasure Chest” had been discovered at the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio. Crowds gathered, and the press waited for news and to photograph the ancient golden box.
Eventually, the police had to be called in to help secure the dig. Tourists were trying to get onto the site to see what had been found. There was even fear that someone might try to steal the treasure.
Waiting above the pit with her mother, Stella watched her father working with George and another archaeologist to free the last corner of the gold box. The harder they worked to free it, the more questions arose. The box hadn’t been buried. Somehow it had been sealed in a solid sheet of rock. Yet despite the best testing tools and equipment, no one had any idea how it had been done.
“Once more,” her father grunted. “Nice and gentle—we don’t want to damage it.”
Stella held her breath as the three strong men struggled to free the heavy box from its rock prison. But when the final edge came away from the rock base, with the blowing rain making everything slippery, it fell out of the men’s grip. The box slid along the receiving table until it flew off the edge and hit the stone floor with an explosive crash. As it landed on its side, the lid of the box sprang open. There was a brilliant, pulsing flash, and for an instant everyone was blinded.
When Stella could see again, she looked down into the pit. The golden box was open, but there was nothing inside except a very large, round rock.
7
EMILY COULDN'T GET THE GLASS lake out of her mind. She recalled the sick feeling of sadness that had overwhelmed her and wondered if the others would feel the same.
After breakfast, while Chiron led the others into the temple to start their research, Emily and Pegasus took Joel, Paelen, and Chrysaor to the glass lake.
Despite Paelen’s protests, the Mother of the Jungle stayed close behind him, making soft mewing sounds. “Can you please tell her to leave me alone?” he asked Emily.
The huge beast was looming above him as her two wet tongues licked him.
“I don’t think I can, Paelen,” Emily said, fighting back laughter. “She seems pretty devoted to you.”
“Ah, how sweet,” Joel teased. “Paelen has a pet.”
“It is not funny!” Paelen protested. “She is large enough to squash me if I make her mad. But if I do not say something, she is going to drown me with her tongues.”
“But, Paelen, you need a special friend,” Joel continued, laughing. “Emily has Pegasus. I have Chrysaor . . .” He looked at the winged boar, and Chrysaor nodded. “And now you have the Mother of the Jungle!”
“But—” Paelen started.
Emily patted the Mother of the Jungle. “You could not ask for a better friend, young Paelen. Brue will never let you down.”
“Brue?” Joel asked.
Emily staggered and started to fall. With lightning-fast reflexes, Joel caught her before she hit the ground.
“Em, what’s wrong? Are you all right?”
His big brown eyes were full of concern as he held her. Emily shook her head. “I’m fine. I just felt a little dizzy.”
She looked at the large purple creature in surprise. “I remember! Your name is Brue, and you are the very last of your kind. Your world was destroyed when your sun went supernova. The Xan brought you and the other survivors here.”
Emily paused and looked around at the jungle as though seeing it for the very first time. “Xanadu is a sanctuary,” she repeated softly from the words on the temple wall.
She looked at Joel and Paelen and shouted, “Xanadu is a sanctuary! I do remember! The Xan used to bring species here if they were in danger or their world was dying. This entire planet is filled with survivors of disasters.”
“Like a wildlife refuge?” Joel asked.
“Exactly!” Emily cried. “The Xan brought all they could here. And when they ran out of space, they just made it bigger.”
“They could do that?” Paelen asked in wonder. “They had the power to enlarge their world?”
Emily nodded. “And if a species couldn’t survive the atmosphere or environment here, they created an enclosed continent that mimicked their world so they could. Not too far from here is one of those regions. We couldn’t survive there, but many others do!”
“How powerful were they?” Joel asked.
“Superpowerful,” Emily replied. “I think even more powerful than the Olympians.” She looked up at the Mother of the Jungle and sighed. “By the time the Xan got to her world, almost everything was dead except for Brue and a few other smaller animals. All the vegetation and water had burned up, and they were dying. The Xan saved them and brought them back here to live.”
Paelen turned back to the large creature and stroked her two heads. “I am so sorry that you are the last of your kind. You must be very lonely.”
>
Brue gave no indication that she understood Paelen’s words, but she mewed and pressed her two large heads to him.
“What else do you remember?” Joel asked.
Emily frowned and looked around. “Nothing. Things just come to me in waves. I can’t reach the memories.”
“Then don’t try,” Joel said. “Just take us to what you wanted to show us.”
They continued through the jungle along the path until they reached the glass lake. They marveled at how the bright blue sky above them was perfectly reflected on the surface.
“Cool!” Joel said as he stepped onto it. He ran for several meters, then stopped and slid even farther. “It’s like a giant skating rink, but without the cold!”
Emily and Paelen joined Joel, and soon they were laughing and tackling one another—sliding on the surface and playing like children. Pegasus, Chrysaor, and Brue remained on the shore, reluctant to step onto the slippery surface.
“It’s a lot more fun when you are here!” Emily laughed. “This place was really creepy last night. Especially that small piece of glass over there.”
Emily led her friends to the small circle of cracked glass. Even in the bright daylight, with her closest friends at her side, Emily felt a chill when she looked at it.
Pegasus was first to notice and nickered softly. He nudged her away from it.
“What’s wrong?” Joel asked. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I don’t know,” Emily replied. She was stroking Pegasus but was unable to draw her eyes away from the small patch of glass. “This means something really important. It scares me.”
Pegasus whinnied and Chrysaor joined in.
“They both believe it is best if we leave here,” Paelen said. He looked around. “I agree. This place is not good for you.”
With the mood broken, they returned to the camp, where Jupiter greeted them. “I am glad you are back; I was just coming to get you. There is a lot more writing on the walls of the temple, and we need your help to understand it.”
While they made their way to the temple, Emily told Jupiter what she remembered of the Xan and how Xanadu really was a sanctuary.
“Brue,” Jupiter repeated as he stroked the Mother of the Jungle, “you will not be alone anymore. Our own myths tell us the Xan were a great and benevolent race,” he told Emily. “With what you tell me of this place, I can see that it is true. It also explains why you sent Pegasus and Alexis here. They were in grave danger from the military at Area 51. Your instincts took over and you sent them to a place of safety, to sanctuary.”
Pegasus nickered softly and bobbed his head. He then nudged Emily gently.
“He is thanking you for protecting him at Area 51.”
Emily put her arms around the stallion’s neck. “You don’t need to thank me, Pegs. To be honest, I really thought I’d killed you. Sending you here was an accident—a good one, but still an accident.”
There was something about the temple that troubled Emily. Part of her was curious to find out what it was, but another part wanted to run as far from it as possible. Pushing her doubts aside, Emily followed Jupiter. “This is the Temple of Arious,” she explained. “I can’t remember who Arious was, but I do know she was important.”
“I wonder if we’ll ever figure it out,” Joel said. “I mean, you and all of this? What does it mean?”
Emily shrugged. “I really don’t know.”
They walked into the temple and stood in the spacious entranceway. Long corridors ran in several directions, and she saw the stairway that she and Pegasus had used the night before.
“Wow,” Joel said, “this place is massive.”
“It is also very dark,” Paelen commented. “Emily, would you turn on your Flame?”
Jupiter nodded. “That is a good idea. At least until Apollo, Diana, and Steve return. They are making torches for all of us.”
“We do not need them,” Emily said softly in a voice that wasn’t her own. She walked, as if in a dream, to a wall and placed her hand on a raised carved stone. “Illumination.”
Suddenly the entire temple was filled with bright light. There was no apparent source, but every wall was glowing. With the entrance brightly lit, they saw multiple carvings in the language of the Xan.
Emily shook her head and looked around in shock. She turned to Joel. “How did you turn on the lights?”
“Me?” Joel said. “I didn’t do anything. It was you.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
Pegasus pawed the floor and snorted. He nudged Emily.
Paelen said, “Emily, it was you. Do you not remember?”
She looked desperately from Paelen to Pegasus. “Was it really me? I don’t remember. What does it mean?”
Pegasus pressed his head to her and nickered. Paelen translated. “He believes the longer you are here, the more memories from your previous life as a Xan come forward. The person you were is mixing with the Emily you are. There is going to be some confusion as you two come together.”
Emily wrapped her arms around the stallion’s neck and pressed her face to him. “But what if I lose myself, Pegs? What if that other person is stronger than me and I disappear completely?”
Pegasus whinnied and pounded the ground with his hoof.
“He will not let that happen. He will protect you, even if it means protecting you from your previous self,” said Paelen.
“We all will,” Joel added, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Emily, I don’t understand any of this either. But no matter what, I promise we won’t let anything happen to you. Xan or not, you are still our Emily.”
Emily was grateful to her friends, but still scared. Something was stirring deep within her, as if waking from a long slumber. When that something woke fully, would she be strong enough to survive?
“Now,” Joel said, “how about we look around?” Emily tried to push her fears aside as she and the others explored the temple. Before long her father joined them.
“This place is amazing,” he mused. “It seems to go on forever.”
“It may well do so,” Jupiter said. “I believe for today we will just take a quick tour. Then tomorrow, Emily, I hope you will work with the scribes to start translating the writings.”
Each and every chamber they entered was filled with secrets and messages. Strange items were scattered everywhere as if the owners had just gone out for a bit and planned to return. Yet judging by the layers of dust over everything, they had lain undisturbed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
They spent most of the day in the temple and only explored the tiniest portion of it. When they returned to camp, they found that Mercury had just arrived through the portal to the Solar Stream.
The blond messenger was breathing heavily as he ran up to Jupiter. “Juno has taken very ill,” he reported, gulping air. “She has asked for me to bring you back.”
“Ill?” Jupiter repeated in alarm. “How? What is wrong?”
“I do not know,” Mercury panted. “But she is not the only one. Ceres, Venus, and Minerva are also ill. We found Vesta collapsed in the Temple of the Flame.”
“Vesta?” Emily cared deeply for her teacher. It was because of Vesta that she now had Pegasus in her life. She owed her everything.
“I came as fast as my sandals could carry me,” Mercury continued. “But the journey was long. I fear for what we will return to.”
Jupiter called his two brothers forward. “Neptune, Pluto, come. We must return to Olympus immediately.”
“I’m coming with you!” Emily insisted.
Jupiter shook his head. “No, child. We do not know what we are facing. You must remain here. Work with Chiron and his team. Try to discover what you can about your past and your powers. I am sure this is nothing.”
The centaur approached Emily and placed a hand ligh
tly on her arm. “Stay with us, Emily. There is much work to be done here. I’m sure everything is fine.”
Chiron said the words, but his eyes expressed something else. He wasn’t alone. There were looks exchanged between him, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. They were all deeply concerned.
“My brothers and I will return when the crisis has ended,” Jupiter said. “For now, please remain here and continue with your investigations.”
Emily stood back with Pegasus as Mercury and the Big Three slipped through the portal to the Solar Stream. It would be a long journey back to Olympus and an even longer wait to find out what was wrong.
Emily turned to Pegasus. “In all the time before time, have you ever known any Olympian to become sick?”
Pegasus snorted, pawed the ground, and shook his head. Emily didn’t need a translator to understand. No one on Olympus had ever been ill before. Wounded, yes, on occasion. But never ill.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Pegs,” Emily said as she leaned in closer to the stallion.
8
THE JOURNEY ALONG THE PATH WAS endless. All the animals and insects were wishing her well, but they were grieved that the Xan were leaving.
“Not much farther,” Riza cried. “Please wait for me. I’m coming.”
But even as she forced more speed, she could feel the power of the others building. They had waited as long as they could. But the stars above were aligned. They could wait no longer.
“No!” she howled as she felt their energy converging. “Wait for me! I’m coming with you!”
Riza pressed on, struggling to reach the gathering. She burst through the trees and arrived at the appointed place. Before her stood her people, arms raised, their powers merged, until they finally released themselves into the cosmos.
“No!” she cried. “Please don’t leave me. . . .” She was too late.
Her people had merged themselves into one great blinding flash and released themselves. It was as it should be. They had ruled long enough and had earned their rest. It was time to let the younger ones take over.