Athena awoke in Gina’s bedroom just as her older sister had done two years ago. Leyance was nearby and ready to give his welcome speech for the second time.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Tired and sore,” she responded. She gazed around without much expression as she was still very tired, her eyes adjusting to the morning light. “Wow, this is beautiful.”
“This is the city of Nythagié,” Leyance told her. “Your sister, my wife, is the queen here.”
“She’s the what?!”
“It’s a very long story. Best save it for another time.”
“I’m not dreaming?” Athena asked.
“No, you’re not. You seem to be taking this pretty well,” Leyance pointed out.
“See the thing about that is I’m in a surreal mode. Once the reality sinks in, be prepared for the fact that I will completely lose it.”
Leyance laughed. “Much like your sister did. She was in your same position.”
Athena’s heart sank. “Gina. How is she?” Now it was Leyance’s heart which sunk.
“She’s not doing too well. You will be filled in later, but she has died twice, well, technically three times before. She has a great power which can bring people, including herself, back to life, but her body can’t handle much more. At some point, her powers won’t matter anymore.”
“Is she going to die?” Athena asked.
Leyance stared out the window. He obviously could not bear to hear the words about to escape his lips. “She might. She’ll be very lucky if she makes it through this, but odds are not in her favor... If it happens again though…” He shuttered at the though. “If it happens again, she won’t be so lucky.”
Life crept along slowly in Nythagié after that. Athena met everyone in the city with a smile (a particularly big one to Elenzel) and seemed to be handling the news extremely well. However, just like her sister, and as she predicted, she did eventually lose it. Unfortunately, it happened the day she met her father, Fheyrhil. She got as far as shaking hands and “Nice to meet you” when she fainted. Luckily, Elenzel caught her fall.
After that, Leyance suggested that Elenzel take her up to his and Gina’s cabin for a small vacation to try to regain Athena’s contentment towards the subject of her new life. It was quickly rumored that the vacation brought more than peace of mind to Athena. These rumors were quickly confirmed by their smiles and glances towards each other.
“That cottage is a miracle-maker. I tell you that,” Leyance was saying to Elenzel one day.
“That it is,” he confirmed.
“So…” Leyance said trying to dodge the real thought on his mind. “Okay, Gina would want me to say this. Does she know how old you are?”
“Yes,” Elenzel answered. “She knows I’m close to two years your junior. This makes the age difference between us the exact same one that separates you and Gina.” His smile glimmered in the sunlight.
“You are?” Leyance asked in disbelief.
“Yes. I am two years younger than you.”
“Huh. I never even knew that.”
Leyance visited Gina everyday. She lay in the hospital wing and still had not regained consciousness. She seemed to be in a coma-like state and showed no signs of waking up. Still Leyance stayed by her side and when he left her room, it was only to check up on Athena, Elenzel, Fheyrhil, and the girls as Gina would have done herself and would have wanted him to do in her absence. He then sat by his wife’s side, and spoke to her of her friends and family, the people she held dear. Every time, he would tell her how much he loved her. Leyance did love Gina with all his heart and had hope for her full recovery, but as each day passed with not so much as a finger twitch, he began to slowly lose that hope. Each day was a reminder that he might start having to learn how to live without Gina. He had lived with this possibility before, many times, but he knew it was towards the end. If Gina would survive this one, it would be a miracle, a miracle that most definitely would not be repeated another time.
On this particular visit, Athena had come along to see Gina. She stood, unable to move, as she looked down on her sister. Even though she had been in the city for only a short while, she could see how much the inhabitants loved their queen. She had only met Gina a short while ago, but she could feel how much she, Athena, loved Gina as well. Still, many questions had not been answered.
“What happens to the people back there? In the other world?” she asked Leyance, still staring at Gina. “They saw us in the hospital, they saw me being revived by her, her saving my life…” Tears began to well up in her eyes.
“We can adjust their memories with potions, but some things, such as the computer documents of you being dead, we cannot alter. That will require us to actually go in and change them. We’ve done it before.”
“But they must know that their systems can be accessed. Maybe not now, but eventually they will and when it comes to that, we’ll need to start breaking into high security government buildings with elaborate schemes involving us dressed up like FBI agents or something…”
Leyance laughed. “I doubt it will ever come to that. We’ll manage, no matter what we have to do, Athena.”
She paused, watching her sister and the man who’s eyes never left the sleeping beauty.
“I miss her, Leyance,” she whispered. Slowly, Leyance turned to look at her and held his arm open, signaling for her to come over to him. She did, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“I miss her too, more than you know,” he said. He turned to Gina. “Here we are, Gina. Two of the people you love most. We are both asking you now. Out of love, please, wake up. We need you here. I need you, Fheyrhil needs you, Alvina needs you, Calypso needs you, Jacinda needs you, the city needs you, but most importantly, your sister now needs you more than ever. You went through the same transition she’s now going through, and she needs your help. She’s taken the news very well, you would be proud, but inside she’s breaking and has cracked a few times. She needs you to help her through this.”
“I do, Gina. I can’t do this alone,” Athena whispered. Tears were beginning to flow. “Even when I first met you, I thought of you as a sister to me, and it has been an amazing gift to know that wish has come true. Please don’t leave me now. I need my sister. I need the only person who knows exactly how I’m feeling. Please, Gina, please wake up…”
Years passed and the Nythagiéns proved themselves to be quick healers. Every time another blow shook the city, they were quick to recover and help those in need. Much work had gone into fixing the wrong in the other world caused by that one night, but it had been done. Athena found herself helping this along and those in the city as well. She and Elenzel grew increasingly closer as each day, week, month, and even year passed. Athena had also done what many thought to be impossible: she had started a new and loving relationship with her dad. She had forgiven the unforgivable. News quickly spread about the truth regarding the two sisters and their father. They came to learn that the schemes and lies had been made up in an attempt to save both girls’ lives, though, of course, mainly Gina’s. Athena accepted the story, though it did take some time, and learned to love her father for working so hard to keep his daughters safe. Her moment of acceptance came much as Gina’s had the night of the accident. The city marveled in these new relationships that led to many reunions amongst the city. Everyday people found each other and forgave the hardships they had both caused one another.
Neither Übels nor Noquef gave the city much trouble anymore. Now the trouble came from outside, in the other world, which Athena insisted on being monitored. More than once they had found themselves in a jam where they found they needed elaborate schemes to rectify – just as Athena had predicted.
On one particular evening, Calypso, Jacinda, and Alvina were running around frantically. They carried a bundle of rose petals, a picnic blanket, pillows, plates, silverware, and glasses between them. They went back and forth between a beautiful lookout point above the city a
nd their cottages in order to create a perfect, romantic atmosphere. It was a spot fit for a proposal and hopefully, Elenzel thought, a perfect spot for him and Athena to become engaged later on that evening.
Meanwhile, five guards stood watch over a high security government building back in the other world. Three men, two women. One man wore a wise gaze that was apparent even through his sunglasses. Another man’s blond hair sparkled amongst his attire, a ring sealed safely in his pocket near his heart. The third man’s brown loose curls made his appearance in a black suit entirely appealing as he smiled at the woman on the end, next to the woman on his right. The woman on his right, a feisty girl with brownish-red curls, smiled slightly at her current thoughts. Yet, the girl on the end shone out among the rest. Her intricate necklace sparkled and reflected upon her brown curls. The handsome man who had stared at her for so long now smiled a beautiful smile at her. She smiled back, acknowledging her husband.
“Let’s go.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela Schiavone was born and raised in San Jose, California. She’s always loved writing and telling stories, but she originally discovered this through her first love - acting. She developed these loves at Santa Clara University where she studied both Theatre Arts and English. She first started writing about Gina Cassidy at age 17 after she started daydreaming one boring day in Chemistry class. Like Gina, Angela had difficulty with the subject and enjoyed imagining stories instead. She never meant for Metanoia to become an actual book, but found that once she had started writing about Gina’s story, she couldn’t stop. The story started as a screenplay and then became a manuscript shortly after, and well, here are the results. Angela hopes you have enjoyed Gina’s story and encourages each reader to keep imagining.
Enjoy the book? Buy others!
Other works by Angela Schiavone:
Who Killed Abigail Watson?
A murder-mystery novel about three teenagers who make it their summer goal to solve an old mystery.
Forever Hold Your Peace
A comedic one-act play about the eccentric group of people brought together by a wedding, all of who have something to say.
The Lost Suitcase
A children’s book about a suitcase who gets lost in the airport.
All available at http://writtenbyangela.t35.com.
Table of Contents
Need for Escape
Nythagié
Becoming the Memory
Trials of the Heart
The First Test
Familiar Faces
A Nightmare Realized
Torch-her Torture
Burning
Nythagie’s Black Rose
One Chance
Killer’s Playground
The Phoenix
Secrets Revealed
Athena
One Last Breath
-About The Author-
Metanoia Page 20