by PJ Hoover
Phoebe smiled and stepped back, and even before she said anything, Benjamin knew this was goodbye. She reached into her robe and pulled out a small disk.
“Here, take this,” she said, pressing it into his palm and closing his fingers over it.
Benjamin’s breath caught and he dropped the disk. It landed with a metallic sound and rolled a couple feet away. “I can’t touch it,” he said.
Phoebe nodded. “Yeah, you can. Just not for a long time.” She reached down and picked it back up, handing it back to Benjamin.
He looked down at it in his hand and then stuffed it in his pocket like it might contaminate him. “Why?”
“There’s no time to explain,” she said. “Just take it and keep it with you.”
He looked at her again. “Please come with us.”
Phoebe shook her head. “No, that would only make things worse. If I stay here, I can hold off Nathan for a while. Maybe divert his attention. I’m hoping they won’t find out about your escape for at least a few hours.”
Benjamin’s stomach tightened. What would happen then once Nathan found out they’d escaped? “He might kill you,” he said to Phoebe.
Phoebe bit her lip. “I know. But I’m willing to take that chance. Every day for the last ten years I would have welcomed death. If my time has come now, then it would best be served helping you escape.”
Benjamin looked at her, and beneath the sadness he felt immense pride. This was his sister. He looked over at Cory, and soundlessly, they all three embraced again.
“Thank you for everything, little sister,” Cory said. “You will be remembered forever in our hearts.”
“Please just be careful,” she said, pulling away from the embrace. “And forgive me for all I have done.” Before Benjamin or Cory could say another word, Phoebe turned and walked away, down the long, dark hallway.
“There is nothing to forgive,” Benjamin said, hoping she heard him in her mind.
Benjamin felt Iva’s presence as soon as they arrived in New Delphi—wherever New Delphi was. With his heads-up display on the fritz, he had no clue.
“Iva’s up the hill,” Heidi said. She began running, not waiting for any sort of confirmation.
But Heidi was right. Benjamin felt it too. They rushed up the hill, pushing past anyone who happened to get in their way.
Iva was inside a temple. Alone. She turned as soon as they walked in the door.
“Heidi!” Iva rushed over to her. They hugged and both began to cry. Unlike Phoebe, Iva didn’t look like she’d aged a day.
Ananya turned to Apollo and raised her eyebrow.
Apollo shrugged. “I’ll give you five minutes, but not a second longer,” he said before turning to leave the room.
“Iva,” Heidi said once Apollo had gone. “You’re in danger here. You need to leave.”
Iva shook her head. “But how can you be here? How can any of you be here?”
“We just came from the Necropolis,” Benjamin said. “Nathan is coming to kill you.”
“I don’t understand,” Iva said. “You’re dead. How can you be here?”
“We came from the past,” Cory said. “Due to a trick of Kronos’, we traveled forward ten years in time.”
“When did we die?” Benjamin asked. He figured if there was only time to ask one question, this would be the one. His other option was asking whether he saved the world, but given the current circumstances, he’d figured out the answer to that.
“At the start of the purges,” Iva said. “They executed you as an example of what was to come.” She reached out to touch Benjamin’s face, running her hands along his cheeks and forehead.
“When, Iva?” Benjamin asked. He didn’t push her hands away, though he wished she’d just answer the question. “When did the purges start?”
Iva shook her head, pulling her hands away. “It was a long time ago. Not too long after the shields came down. Once Caelus and Gaea came back to Atlantis they tortured and killed you in a public execution.”
“What about Andy and Gary?” Benjamin asked.
Iva bit her lip, and a single tear slid down her face. “Andy, too.”
“And Gary?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, they didn’t kill Gary. Like me. They determined we were too useful to be executed. But I live every day knowing that it could be my last. My time may come.”
“Iva,” Benjamin said. “What went wrong? What could we have done differently?”
“I don’t know, Benjamin,” Iva said. “The shields came down and Caelus and Gaea escaped and went into hiding.”
“In Xanadu,” Ananya said.
Benjamin spun on her. How had she known that? But she held up her hand.
Iva nodded. “In Xanadu. But we found out too late, and even then, they’d gained too much power. Helios couldn’t save everyone.”
“We need more to go on, Iva,” Benjamin said. “Tell us how we can change things. How can we make this reality never happen?”
Iva looked Benjamin straight in the eye. “By killing Caelus and Gaea. If they gain control over the humans, then they gain control over everything. Go to Xanadu and kill them. No race should be enslaved. It only leads to this.”
Benjamin saw the intensity in her eyes. Iva hadn’t given up on him which was some consolation. There had to be a way to defeat Caelus and Gaea before the world came to this. He couldn’t let Iva live with these memories. He couldn’t let Phoebe live her life wishing she were dead. Nathan must die. And Caelus must die. And Gaea must die.
And then Benjamin remembered the disk Phoebe had given him. He stood up and pulled it from his pocket. “Do you have any idea why Phoebe gave me this?” he asked.
Iva took it and studied it for a while before shaking her head. “No, I don’t even know what it is.”
“I’ll tell you what it is,” Apollo said, walking into the temple. “It’s Phoebe’s death sentence. Personally, I can’t even imagine how she got it in the first place.”
“Her death sentence?” Cory took the disk from Iva.
Apollo nodded. “If they don’t kill her when they find out she helped you escape, they’ll surely kill her once they discover she stole that.”
“Why?” Cory asked. “What’s so special about it?”
“Let’s just say Caelus is quite fond of it,” Apollo said. “It never leaves the chain around his neck.”
“Are you kidding?” Heidi asked. “Won’t he miss it?”
“That’s putting it mildly,” Apollo said. “Like I said, I have no idea how she got it.”
“Maybe he won’t know Phoebe took it,” Benjamin said, taking the disk from Cory’s outstretched hand. “Maybe he’ll think Nathan took it.”
Apollo put his hand to his chin. “Hmmm. That’s not a bad thought. And just the kind of rumor I wouldn’t mind starting if it would get rid of Nathan.”
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Apollo and Nathan were not the best of friends. Was it all because of Iva? And then Benjamin remembered the first oracle Nathan had killed.
“It’s because he murdered one of your oracles,” Benjamin said. “That’s why you can’t stand him. Right?”
Apollo laughed. “That’s only one grain of sand in the desert,” he said. “But I don’t think we should spend the minute we have left discussing the deep rooted hatred between Nathan Nyx and myself.”
Benjamin sensed a weakening in the shield surrounding them and felt a familiar if unwelcome presence.
“Looks like I may have been generous in my time estimate,” Apollo said. “Nathan has decided to pay us a visit.”
“We need to hide Iva,” Benjamin said, grabbing her before she could protest.
“My thoughts exactly,” Apollo said. “Though I believe it’s time for the rest of you to be going. This battle won’t be the end of either Nathan or Iva.”
“And what about you?” Ananya asked, even as Apollo hurried them toward the center altar. Benjamin was sure he detected genuine concern
in her voice. He really must have missed something.
Apollo put his arm around Ananya and smiled. “No, not the end of me either.”
He only looked at the altar, and the massive stone slab drew back, revealing a staircase leading down. “Now, hurry,” he said. “All of you. Head down until you’ve passed the third landing. To the Omphalos. Iva knows where to go from there, but that’s where the rest of you should leave.”
Cory led the way, and Benjamin hurried after Iva and Heidi, turning one last time to see Ananya squeeze Apollo’s hand before entering the altar herself. Apollo turned and headed out of the temple, and the slab slid back into place.
They reached the third landing and stopped. If Benjamin knew Nathan was here, then Nathan knew Benjamin was here. And Iva, too, no doubt.
“Come back with us, Iva,” Benjamin said. “You’d be free of this place.”
“No.” Iva smiled. “My place is here. In this horrible world, New Delphi has actually provided me with a sense of comfort.”
Benjamin felt her sorrow through the Alliance bond as if it were his own.
“What can I do, Iva?” he asked. “Please just tell me what to do.” He’d do anything to save Iva from that much sorrow. And to save Phoebe from her fate. If he only knew what.
Iva’s smile vanished. “I don’t know. I don’t even know what you did wrong—if you even did anything wrong. But do something. Anything. Do what you normally wouldn’t do; maybe that’s it. Make a difference and change the world. If anyone can do it, it’s you, Benjamin. I’ve seen different futures. I know it’s possible. It’s why Caelus and Gaea want me dead.” Her eyes glanced back up the stairs. “Go now. Don’t waste any more time.”
Heidi grabbed for Iva and hugged her, crying all the while. Ananya gently pulled Heidi from Iva, letting Iva slip away into the dark.
Heidi sobbed as Benjamin put his arm around her. He knew there was nothing he could say to comfort her, so he didn’t even try. He only held her close and let her cry.
The Omphalos—the Navel of the World—sprang to life on the ground in front of them. They walked over and surrounded it.
“In case anyone had any different ideas,” Ananya said, “we are not waiting for Kronos.”
“No arguments here,” Benjamin said, still holding Heidi. He let go of her and placed his hands on the Omphalos, and the world crunched and changed around them.
They ended up in the middle of a desert. Not the best place to come back to. And seeing as how their heads-up displays still weren’t working, they had zero clue where they were. Benjamin reached out with his thoughts and scanned for Phoebe, part of him hoping he’d find a sign of her and part of him hoping he wouldn’t. The latter part won.
“I looked for her, too,” Cory said. “Nothing.”
“So what do we do?” Heidi asked.
Ananya stood up. “I know what I must do.”
Benjamin wondered if she was going to stay and help them. But Heidi must’ve read her thoughts.
“You’re leaving,” Heidi said.
Ananya nodded. “My place is in Xanadu. Now that I know what the future may hold, my only choice is to head there and see what I can do.”
“I can’t go with you yet,” Benjamin said. He knew he wasn’t ready to confront Caelus and Gaea. And if he’d learned one thing from his visit to the future, it was that he couldn’t afford to make mistakes. Too many lives depended on him.
Ananya smiled. “I know. Only you will know when it is time. But until then, this is goodbye.” She embraced Cory and Benjamin first, before turning to Heidi. Minutes passed while the two of them held a private telepathic conversation, but Benjamin didn’t dare interrupt. He sat silently until he knew the conversation was over. And then she teleported away.
Benjamin stared at the spot where she’d been with his mouth open.
“You’ll swallow sand that way,” Jack said.
Benjamin shut his mouth and turned to the Nogical. “Where have you been?”
“Where have you been?” Jack asked.
“We saw Lulu,” Benjamin said. “Forward in time.”
Jack shook his head. “Yeah, I know. You’d have thought I’d asked her to write a dissertation. Who knew one Nogical could complain so much?”
“She already told you?” Benjamin asked.
“Does that surprise you?” Jack said. “She specifically stopped back in this time to file her grievances.”
Knowing Lulu, it didn’t surprise Benjamin.
“So where to now?” Heidi asked.
“I need to head back to Atlantis,” Cory said. “And we should stick together from now on, Benjamin.”
Benjamin nodded. “You won’t get any argument from me.” He turned to Heidi. “Can you sense Gary, Andy, and Iva?”
She scanned the earth as he’d seen her do many times before, and then she nodded. “They’re in Atlantis with Aurora.”
“And Helios and Selene, too,” Jack said. “Not to mention Lulu—unfortunately.”
“She’s not all that bad,” Heidi said.
Jack frowned. “Yeah, she is.”
Well, that settled that. “Atlantis it is,” Benjamin said. He pulled the teleportation surger from his pocket. “I guess we won’t be needing this with the shields down.”
“Don’t throw it away just yet, little brother,” Cory said. “A device like that could come in handy.”
So Benjamin stuffed it back in his pocket along with the two keys of Shambhala, and they teleported back to Atlantis.
CHAPTER 24
Natural Disasters and Gilgamesh
Once they teleported to Atlantis, the first thing that occurred to Benjamin was that the sun overhead was the actual real sun not a simulated sun inside a dome under the ocean. Atlantis, and Lemuria for that matter, no longer sat at the bottom of the ocean.
Was it weird for the humans? Had they even realized anything was different?
“We should go to the ruling hall,” Cory said. “We’re bound to get some sort of update on the state of the world.”
Benjamin didn’t remember the ruling hall in Atlantis, though he felt pretty sure that’s where he’d spent the bulk of his captivity stuffed in the room with the chair. The door to the throne room was ajar when they reached it, and so they walked right in.
Benjamin almost laughed when he saw Joey Duncan sitting in one of the thrones on the raised dais.
“Are you the new king of Atlantis?” Benjamin asked.
Joey smiled and bowed, even while he stayed sitting. “That’s right,” he said. “I think it does me justice. And where in the name of the false gods have you been?”
“Just getting back,” Benjamin said.
Joey gave him a looked like he’d forgot to teleport half his brain. “Apparently.”
Cory walked over and punched Joey in greeting. “Are you getting any work done or just goofing off?”
“I’ve been swamped,” Joey said. “Without you here, there’s three times as much stuff to do. Lord Helios keeps giving me new commands. And then Selene keeps jumping in adding her opinion on everything. And don’t even get me started on that Nogical.”
Selene walked into the room. “I heard that. And I’m not sure it shows the proper respect.” She smiled at Benjamin. “It’s about time you showed up.”
Benjamin started to ask what she meant, but someone interrupted him before he got started.
“I heard it, too.”
Benjamin hadn’t even noticed Lulu sitting on Selene’s shoulder. She teleported away and ended up inches from Benjamin’s shoulder, right in Jack’s face. “Miss me, Jack?
Jack pointed his finger at her, and her hair disappeared.
Her hands flew to her head, and she twisted up her face in a scowl so deep Benjamin figured it would become a permanent fixture. “Don’t touch the hair.” She grew it back bright orange. “One more time and I’ll teleport your head into the nearest sewer.”
Benjamin tried to divert the conversation. “So I guess you kno
w the shields went down.”
Selene raised an eyebrow, and Joey looked at Benjamin like he’d just told him the ocean was made of water.
“What?” Benjamin said.
“That was like two weeks ago,” Joey said.
“Two weeks! You’ve got to be kidding me,” Benjamin said. Okay, getting his heads-up display fixed was a top priority.
Joey and Selene both shook their heads.
“Nope, not kidding,” Joey said.
Benjamin let the reality of the situation sink in. They’d been gone for two weeks. Caelus and Gaea had been out free in the world for two weeks. Nathan had been with Phoebe for two weeks. Cory looked at Benjamin, and Benjamin saw his own concern mirrored there. Two weeks had been way too long.
“So seriously, what gives?” Joey said. “Did you forget you were supposed to follow me right back?”
Cory shook his head. “Curse Kronos and his tricks.”
“Kronos?” Helios said, walking through the far door into the throne room.
Joey jumped up from the thrones and headed down the steps. If Benjamin hadn’t been so concerned at the loss of time, he would have laughed.
“Kronos,” Cory repeated.
“What does he have to do with this?” Helios walked over and sat down on the steps.
“He fooled us into temporally phasing,” Cory said.
“Ten years in the future,” Heidi added.
Any humor which had been present in the room evaporated. Joey sat down a couple steps from Helios, and Selene joined him.
“What was the future like?” Joey asked.
Benjamin didn’t know how to respond. He shook his head and tears sprang to the corners of his eyes. He managed to hold them back and looked to Cory, hoping his brother would take the lead on this answer.
Cory sighed. “I’m afraid we have only bad news to report, Helios. The world is in trouble. Serious trouble. And if we can’t figure out a way to stop it, then I’m afraid we will all be doomed.”
They spent the better part of the next hour filling Helios, Joey, Selene, and the Nogicals in on all that had happened in the future. Benjamin and Heidi kept interrupting Cory, adding bits and pieces as he missed stuff.