Metanoia

by Angela Schiavone

  “Yeah, I just bought them before class,” Gina responded. “So, uh, what’s up? How’s the day been?”

  “Better than yesterday. Everything went wrong yesterday it seemed. One more bomb and I was going to crack,” she joked. Gina smiled nervously. “So, hey. Where do you go to school?”

  Gina shrugged. “I don’t go to school anymore. I’m out already.”

  “Really?” Athena asked, eyes wide. “How old are you?”

  It took Gina awhile to answer. So much had happened over the past two years that she hardly felt her age. “I’m twenty.”

  “Cool. I’m eighteen,” she stated. We’re only two years apart. She’s exactly the same age I was when I learned the truth. “So did you just want to take extra classes or what?”

  “Well, I’ve always been really into mythology.”

  “Me too! My school doesn’t offer any classes in it and besides I get extra credits for this. What kind of mythology do you like the most?”

  “Greek mythology,” Gina responded.

  “Love that stuff. Persephone is my favorite goddess.”

  “And Athena I’m guessing too,” Gina suggested.

  “Well, of course, but that goes without saying. So any special story behind your name?” she asked.

  Where do I begin? Gina thought. “Well, it’s short for Regina which means ‘queen.’”

  “Coolness! So you’re a queen, and I’m a goddess. It just proves that we’re awesome,” she exclaimed, passing through the classroom doors and sliding into her seat. They talked for a little bit but soon the teacher’s booming voice echoed through the classroom.

  “Continuing from where we left off…” Mr. Jettson started discussing how mythology even related to the seasons. “Because Persephone had been tricked into eating four pomegranate seeds, which was known to be the food of the dead, she was forced to return as Hades’ bride for one month per seed. This, as can be expected, deeply grieved Demeter, and she refused to let anything grow while she was separated from her daughter. Thus, we receive the winter. When Persephone and Demeter are reunited, we receive the summer…” Gina glanced over at Athena who slouched in her chair and had slid a book inside her text. Gina giggled.

  “Man, you seem to retain so much of what he is saying,” she whispered jokingly. Athena smiled.

  “Hades was lonely in the underworld and so Zeus told him he could take Persephone as his bride. Well, Demeter had a hissy-fit when she heard of that and stopped anything from growing. Sure enough Zeus was forced to send Apollo down to retrieve her. The rest I’m sure he’s telling.” She giggled. “Like I said, she’s my favorite goddess. I know all of this already.”

  “So what are you reading then?” Gina whispered. Athena held up the book so she could read the very familiar cover.

  “You’re going to go nuts when you reach chapter 17.” Athena’s head popped up.

  “You’ve read it?” she asked in disbelief. “No one’s ever even heard of this book.”

  “Well, I have. It’s one of my favorites. I used to read it everyday during lunch at school. My friends hated me for it.”

  “Whoa, we are really alike,” Athena whispered. “Sweet.”

  “You have no idea.”

  They sat in silence for awhile. Gina’s attention turned towards the teacher, and Athena’s back to her book. Yet, even though Gina loved mythology, the teacher’s boring lectures were beginning to be too much.

  “Is he always this bad?” Gina whispered.

  “Hell yeah” was the response. Athena looked up and smiled. Slowly her eyes made their way to Gina’s hand. “Whoa, that is a beautiful ring!” Gina followed her gaze to her wedding ring.

  “Thanks. It’s gorgeous isn’t it?” she replied, fingering it lovingly.

  “Wait a second. Are you married?” Athena asked in shock. She couldn’t believe that she had never seen it before.

  “Yeah, I am. My husband’s name is Leyance.”

  “But I thought you were only twenty…”

  Gina chuckled. “We do things a lot differently where I’m from. Plus, my husband and I were together a very long time before we got married. It was almost like we were together in another life…” Gina studied Athena’s face for any reaction, but all she saw was a smile.

  “Are you Mormon?”

  Gina couldn’t help but giggle. “No, I’m not.”

  “Well, that’s cool. I don’t even have a boyfriend yet, let alone am I thinking of getting married in two years.”

  “Yeah, well you’d be surprised how quick things can change.”

  “Yeah, I guess that must be!” Athena remarked. “Hey, it goes with your necklace great though. The ring that is.” Gina nodded as she stroked her necklace. She still had not taken it off since Leyance had given it to her those many nights ago.

  Suddenly, a fellow whisper distracted them, and they both turned to see where it had come from.

  “Over here!” the whisper said. They turned to see a boy diagonal and back from Gina’s desk. “Hey, you guys. I’m having a party on Saturday. Come for a good time.” He handed Gina a flyer, and Athena immediately grabbed it.

  “Cool! Hey, Gina, let’s go!” she exclaimed, trying to keep her voice in a whisper so as not to be heard by the teacher. Gina wasn’t as thrilled though.

  “I don’t know if we should.” She took back the flyer and scanned it thoroughly. Something just didn’t seem right about it. Gina couldn’t explain, but she knew she had to convince her not to go. Turning back to Athena, she pointed at something on the page. On the side was written “It’s time for a Debauchery Party! Waste the night away with rockin’ music, beer, cool people, and who knows what else! What happens is up to you!”

  “So?” Athena asked.

  “So? It says it’s a debauchery party. You are too young to drink and be exposed to what goes on at those parties,” Gina pointed out. “Tell me you don’t party like this a lot.”

  “Dude, stop the over-protective parental act. And no, I don’t usually. My friends and I hardly party. I won’t drink or do anything to help the ‘debauchery nature.’ I wouldn’t want to.”

  “But you’ll be surrounded by people who are. That alone could be bad.”

  “Dude, chill,” Athena said. “Do you not want to go just because you’re married?”

  “I don’t want to go because I shouldn’t be around that kind of stuff and neither should you.”

  “Fine, fine, you win. We won’t go.” She slumped in her chair and actually stared straight ahead at the teacher, attempting to listen to him. Gina followed suit, but found herself stealing glances at her sister.

  Thursday and Friday came and went. Soon enough it was Saturday and Gina found herself relaxing on the balcony of her room. She could see Leyance out stretching in the evening light. The soft glow shone on his bare chest as he moved slowly and weightlessly. He advanced on to yoga, and Gina continued her watch with a smile. Even though she had spent so much time with Athena, she still could not keep focus away from Leyance for too long. He suddenly broke his concentration and looked up to her, feeling her eyes on him. He smiled warmly at her and blew her a kiss, which she happily received and sent one back. Because of him, she had so much love in her heart and that warmth was shared by anyone who came in contact with her. Even Athena seemed to be happier when Gina spoke lovingly of her husband. So, once again, Gina’s thoughts drifted back to her sister. Soon enough, she found herself going inside and calling her sister. Gina took out her cell phone (which had been magically enhanced to be able to reach the other world) and dialed the now-familiar number. After about five rings, Athena finally answered.

  “Hello?” she screamed into the receiver causing Gina to jump back.

  “Hey, it’s Gina.”

  “What?”

  “It’s Gina!” she yelled. She could hear loud music in the background. “Turn down the music, will you?”

  “Umm, I can’t really! I think they would get mad!”

  “What? Wher
e are you?” Gina asked. She could hear Athena turn to someone else and start talking with them. “Athena!”

  “Yeah?”

  “Please tell me you aren’t where I think you are!”

  “I’m fine! I haven’t had a single drink! Stop acting like my mom!” she yelled over the noise.

  “Well, someone has to!”

  “I live with foster parents! Do you really think they care about me?” she answered. Athena had now moved away from the music a bit. “They don’t care where I go.”

  “I can’t believe he would put you through that!” Gina stated. How could Fheyrhil let her go to foster parents? How could he let me?

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Athena asked. “Look, it doesn’t matter. I got to go!”

  “That’s right, you leave that party right now!” Gina demanded.

  “Shut up already! You are not in control of me!” and with a click the line went dead. Gina wasted no time. Quickly she pulled on her other-worldly clothes and hurried out. She knew she might be overreacting – okay, she knew she was. Yet, something still did not seem right. She’d learned all too well in the past to listen to her intuition. She conveyed her plans to Leyance as she passed him, not even missing a step.

  “I got to go. Athena’s at a…” but Fheyrhil had appeared and interrupted.

  “Gina, you are not her mother. Stop acting like it.”

  “Well, she needs some guidance,” Gina stated.

  “She is only two years younger than you. You are not and cannot be her parental figure no matter how much I failed in that position.” Fheyrhil still seemed to lack his intimidating nature. “I never really apologized for all I did to you girls, but I am sorry, Gina. I am truly sorry. I knew it would be hard, but I thought this would be the right thing to do. All I ever wanted was for both of you to be safe, and I ended up risking your happiness for your safety. Please, Gina…” His voice seemed to begin shaking as he began to beg. “Please, Gina, forgive me. I might have never been there for you, but I’ve watched you. I have made sure you were safe and happy. I was there for every major moment in your life. For recitals, I would come as a spectator in the crowd. For school, I would disguise myself as another father touring the school just to catch glimpses of you. You must know it, but I will tell you again. You deserve to hear it after all. I love you, Gina. I always have. Please give me a second chance to be the father I should have been from the beginning, please. We can bring Athena here together. We can plan something to make the transition easier than it was for you. I can be a good father if you would only let me.” Gina could not be angry. She looked at this man, her father, whom she knew no matter how angry she was with him that she truly did love him unconditionally.

  “I love you too, Dad,” she whispered. At these words, Fheyrhil’s head rose and a small smile escaped his lips. Without another word, he reached for her and wrapped her in his arms. Leyance looked on with a smile. Suddenly, Fheyrhil gave out a cry and pushed Gina back. “Dad? What the…?”

  Leyance’s smiling face turned to one of concern and he hurried over to them. Fheyrhil hunched over, holding his head in his hands.

  “Fheyrhil? Come on, Fheyrhil, what is it?” Leyance asked.

  “I think he’s having a vision. A bad one by the looks of it…” Gina stated.

  “But they haven’t been like this have they?” Leyance asked. Fheyrhil shook his head signaling that they had not.

  “Athena…” Fheyrhil gasped.

  “What?! Dad, what’s wrong with Athena? What is it?” Gina asked shaking, obviously terrified and worried.

  “She is badly hurt. I cannot see more…” Yet, this was enough for Gina who was already running full speed towards the horses tied near the front gate. She immediately hopped on one and rode off.

  Chapter 16

  “One Last Breath”

  It had already been two hours after the accident when Gina arrived panicked at the hospital. Through word of mouth, and a confirmation of the accident on the radio, Gina had heard that a car had crashed on a mountainous road causing it to overturn. The driver had been drunk at the wheel. With him were two intoxicated and two sober. Athena had been one of the sober. Gina now ran into the emergency room, screaming for her sister.

  “Excuse me, ma’am but you can’t go in there. You’ll have to wait in the waiting room…” the nurse was saying.

  “There is no way you are keeping me from my sister!” Gina screamed.

  “The poor dear is traumatized; she doesn’t know what she’s saying. Athena had no siblings…” a doctor was saying as he passed by with another doctor holding medical charts. Gina still struggled to get to her sister so much that the nurse had to physically hold her back.

  “Let go of me!” Gina screamed. “Athena!”

  “A little help over here!” the nurse screamed, struggling to hold Gina back. “It’s going to be ok. Do you need to talk to a counselor?”

  “No, now get off of me!” With that, a bright light admitted from her hand, startling the nurse who quickly released her. Gina had no idea what had caused the light, but took the opportunity to run into the individual rooms. She heard bits and pieces of what doctors were saying.

  “A great deal of internal bleeding…”

  “Head trauma…”

  “She wasn’t going to hang on for much longer…”

  “There was no way…”

  Gina couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She quickly pushed into another room only to stop dead in her tracks. Athena lay on a bed in the now deserted room. The medical equipment that the doctors had used to try to revive Athena was still lying around the room. They had tried in vain. Athena was dead. Gina could barely believe this brutally twisted and blood-stain person to be her once cute and laughing sister. Of course, Athena had never known their connection.

  Gina stared at her sister as tears rolled down her face. She could hear footsteps approaching, and she quickly turned and locked the door just before the doctors reached it. Yelling could be heard from outside, but Gina did not let anyone in. She knew what she must do. She extended her hand over Athena’s heart and soon a white light emitted from her hand and covered her sister’s entire body. The external signs of the accident began to melt away. After a couple of seconds, Athena jerked up, gasping for air. She glanced at Gina.

  “Gina? How did you…?” she began but stopped. The bloody reminders of the accident began to show on Gina’s body as Athena watched on in horror. Gina only had time to glance at her sister once before she fell. Athena immediately leapt up and lifted Gina’s limp head onto her knees. “Gina? Please, God. What’s happening? Gina, hold on!” Tears began to sweep down her face.

  “Athena…” Gina gasped.

  “I’m here, Gina. I’m here.”

  “Listen carefully…I’m not going to retain consciousness much longer…You have to believe…I am your sister, Athena…that fantasy world you always dreamed of…it’s true…you have to take me…to the haze…it’s on the top of this building…I saw it…Fheyrhil must have moved it…it’s…” Gina began rambling off but getting quieter and quieter all the while. Soon, she fell limp in Athena’s arms. Her sister quickly checked life signs and felt a slight breeze coming from Gina’s mouth. She was still alive but barely so. Suddenly the door burst open. Athena hadn’t even heard the incessant banging on the door. Two doctors came in but closed the door behind them.

  “What happened?” asked one.

  “I don’t know. I was dead but then I came back and she seems to be dying now and I don’t know why…” Athena whimpered.

  “Calm down, Athena. It’s okay.” He turned to the other man. “We need to find someone who is near death. She needs to kill someone to cure herself.”

  “Right.”

  “What the hell are you talking about?” Athena asked horrified. Without answering, the second man lifted Gina and carried her out of the room. The first was held back by Athena. “Who are you? Where are you taking her?”

 
; “Look, I know a lot of the information you are going to be getting now is going to shock you and you most likely won’t believe it, but you must trust me.”

  “Who are you? Who was he?” Athena questioned.

  “He’s Elenzel. He is taking Gina somewhere where she can hopefully cure herself.”

  “And who are you?”

  “I’m your brother-in-law. My name is Leyance.”

  Realization rushed over her face. “Gina told me about you! I remembered because I had never heard a name like yours.”

  “Listen, we have to move now.” With that, he grabbed Athena’s wrist and hurried her out of the room. Leyance’s eyes scanned the opened doors until he finally spotted Elenzel. They ran in just in time to see Elenzel stretch out Gina’s limp arm to touch an elderly man who was already on life support and very near death. Even though she was unconscious, Gina’s fingers curled in. She would not kill anymore. Even unconscious, she still knew that vow.

  “She won’t cure herself. We need to get her out of here and soon. She isn’t going to hold on much longer,” Elenzel stated.

  “She told me there is a haze above this building. Something about Fheyrhil moving it?” Athena offered.

  “Excellent. Thank you,” Leyance said. He lifted up his wife and all of them hurried out the door, their destination: the roof. Many of the staff tried to stop them, but every time one got close, a bright light would emit from Gina, forcing them back. Soon they reached the top and just as Gina had said, there was the haze. Leyance hopped through with Gina first and then Elenzel picked up Athena and traveled through it as well.

  Luckily, Fheyrhil had found Gina’s beloved phoenix and had sent her towards them to wait by the haze along with horses to quicken their return to the city. Leyance stretched out Gina’s hand to touch the phoenix, and her fingers did not curl away. Sure enough, the phoenix burst into flames right there, and Gina’s breathing and heart rates increased. Still, she did not regain consciousness. Both girls now lay limp in the men’s arms. Athena had lost consciousness from the shock on her body caused by traveling through the haze for the first time. She now lay in Elenzel’s arms. Without a word, the two men placed each woman on a horse and mounted. They rode off into the horizon as quickly as the agility of their horses would allow them to be carried.