AMANI: Reveal

by Marie, Lydhia

  Julian departed for the kitchen, leaving me alone with the Guardian of Chupa, who seemed to be avoiding any eye contact with me. A wave of questions grew within me and I wished I’d asked for a breakfast that took longer to prepare.

  “Do you speak English?” I whispered. Without a tongue, he would only be able to answer yes or no questions.

  To my great surprise, he nodded, but kept his eyes on his porridge.

  “Good. Do you know where the door is?”

  As he frowned slightly, I noticed he had no eyebrows. He was deprived of any hair, for that matter.

  After a few seconds, he nodded again, glancing quickly in my direction with a doubtful expression.

  “I don’t really want to help the Rascals, believe me. If I had any other choice… But they have my sister and they’ll keep hurting her until I tell them where the door is. Will you tell me? Maybe I could guess?”

  He took a sip into his porridge but did not answer.

  “Please… I don’t know what they’ll do to her if I don’t come up with an answer,” I said as an idea struck me.

  What if I lied? I could say the door was anywhere in the world!

  But then they would probably keep me and my sister here—hence the clothes in my bedroom—until they found it. And when they realized I’d been lying, what would they do to Deli?

  No. That was a very, very bad idea.

  I looked intently at the Guardian’s face while he took another sip at his porridge. “Did they hurt you?” I asked.

  He nodded, moving his stump to the collar of his shirt before pulling it down, revealing his black-and-gold chest. There were three burn marks shaped like a skeletal hand in a circle, one half-healed and two tainted with dried blood.

  I winced. “Do you have more of those?”

  He nodded quietly, returning his attention to his breakfast.

  I kept staring at him, unable to say anything, though I wanted to tell him how sorry I was. I wanted to let him know how much I hated those Rascals. Had they burned my sister too? Had this been the reason why she’d screamed so loud, for what had seemed to me like hours?

  As though sensing my growing panic, the Guardian tilted his head toward me, his golden-brown eyes sympathetic. Then he looked around and unexpectedly lay his stump on the table next to my hand. My first reaction would have been to flinch away, but I fought against it. The Guardian was responsive at last and I didn’t want to scare him away.

  “What is it?” I asked, looking at his upper arm. “Did they burn—”

  He shook his head immediately, then jerked his nose toward his arm expectantly. I frowned, confused. He pointed his nose toward me, then touched his arm.

  “I’m not sure I underst—”

  He didn’t let me finish. Before I could say more, he lifted his stump and pointed directly at my hand.

  “You want me to touch you?” He nodded vigorously. “But I can’t Sojourn. I tried last night and it didn’t work.” He kept pointing at my hand, wide-eyed and nodding. “All right…”

  Resigned, I lifted my shaking hand to his bare elbow—his skin was glacial—and closed my eyes.

  The purple spot came instantly, and a split second later my soul had left my body.

  ***

  “From what I heard about you and how you stood up to them last night, I trust you will understand why the Rascals cannot know what I am about to show you…”

  Darkness transforms into a forest with giant trees. I look around, expecting to see the Guardian of Chupa, but instead, a woman with long, braided black hair, dressed in a transparent white robe, emerges from behind the largest tree I’ve ever seen, closely followed by a man who bears the same beautiful features as the woman, but who is much taller.

  They exchange words in a foreign language, then the woman raises her hand in the air and, just like I’ve seen Samera do countless times, she draws open curtains to a parallel Dimension.

  Smoke is coming out from the other side, but, fearless, the woman steps into it, leaving the man behind.

  Everything goes black, then I am in the forest again. The day is slowly coming to an end; rays of gold and orange peek through the trees. The tall man has fallen asleep on a branch ten feet above the ground, still waiting for the woman to come back.

  The curtains suddenly open, smoke spreading once more out of the Dimension, and I see the beautiful woman place one foot in the man’s direction, saying a one-syllable word. The man wakes up and looks down, gleeful…

  Before all goes wrong.

  The woman is yanked backward, as though pulled by the navel, I hear a snap, and before the curtains close shut, a tall shadowy figure walks out of the parallel realm.

  The man perched on the tree branch lets out a small gasp, but quickly claps his hand to his mouth.

  Then he braces himself as though he is about to jump onto the shadowy figure, but is immediately stopped when an earthquake starts. The man has to grip at the large branch to prevent himself from falling off the tree, while the dark figure remains firmly in place.

  When the earthquake has finished, the black shadow bear human features that resembles Daniel’s, though older. He has the same dark brown eyes and hair, the same vicious smile and sharp features…

  Realization hits me. I have just witnessed the Canaan priestess, Anath, get killed by Reeshon… Three thousand years ago!

  Darkness engulfs me again.

  The next scenery depicts a small Victorian office with brown wooden furniture, and two men sitting in front of one another. One is white and very old. Actually, he seems to be dying right in front of my eyes, whispering something I cannot hear. The other, a black man, is listening carefully, nodding every now and then.

  The two men are now in a hospital room, the youngest holding the elder’s hand, a tear escaping his golden-brown eyes.

  “He trusted me, his servant”—I hear the Guardian say—“with his gold and his family’s secret…”

  Then the black man is back in the same office, looking grim. He opens the top drawer of his massive desk and draws a small knife out. Then he sits down on his chair, pulls out his tongue…

  I close my eyes before I can see anything. The mere idea of what I almost witnessed makes me want to throw up.

  When I open my eyes again, the man is covered in golden tattoos, the remains of his elbows bleeding profusely. He looks down at his body, now overflowing with bright gold patterns and blood, and though he is crying with pain, there is a hint of satisfaction twitching the corner of his lips.

  Darkness transports me a little further in time, to where the Guardian wears a red-and-gold hood over his balding head, with a matching robe. He sits in a small church where a long hall separates inward-facing pews. The only light comes from candles, which burn slowly while the man prays.

  Time moves forward again, and I watch the man pray for what seems like years and decades. Decades of prayers and hiding. Of thoughtful silence and loneliness… Until the time stops again.

  The Guardian of Chupa is kneeling on a pew kneeler, his hood down on his neck, revealing a bald black head brimming with golden patterns, when his head lurches sideways. Three men are advancing on him. I recognize Wyatt among them. Instead of running away, the Guardian closes his eyes and bends his head forward until Wyatt and another Rascal touch him.

  Then the scene changes again.

  A new, blurry image has started to materialize, before I feel my soul come back to my body.

  ***

  The Guardian had removed his stump from my hand, and moments later, Julian opened the door, carrying my breakfast.

  I tried to act as though I hadn’t just seen three thousand years of secrets and thanked Julian for the food. He looked at me with a weird expression and I remembered I was angry at him for saying Delilah was recovering from her injuries.

  Having no choice but to eat, I started on my eggs, thinking about everything the Guardian had just shown me.

  When Julian went back into the kitchen, I asked,
“How was I able to Sojourn?”

  He shrugged and shook his head.

  “Will you tell me how to get to the door?”

  He shook once more.

  “Anything that will help my sister?”

  “Amya!” I heard from behind me.

  Delilah had just arrived at the top of the stairs. She threw herself at me, holding me tight.

  “Deli…” I said, pushing her slightly away so I could have a good look at her face and examine any damage. First thing I noticed was her black eye. “What happened to you?”

  “Amya, you have to help them,” she replied, shaking her head frantically. She pulled her sleeve up her arm, exhibiting two blotchy red burns the same shape as the Guardian’s: a skeletal hand in a circle. “I have two more on each leg, but it’s too painful to remove the bandages.”

  Rage boiled inside me. Taking Delilah by the wrist, I brought her over to where the Guardian of Chupa was still sipping on porridge.

  “Look at this,” I snapped. “Look!” I repeated a little louder when he did nothing. Finally, his gaze slowly moved up to my sister’s arm, and he stared at the two marks. “Don’t go thinking I’ll let this happen to her again. You will tell me where to find this freaking door or I’ll—I’ll…”

  I couldn’t finish my sentence and he knew it. A small smile appeared for the first time across his face, so small I thought I might have imagined it. He had suffered through enough already; I couldn’t make myself wish bad things to him.

  I would have to find another way to save my sister.

  Conceding, I dropped onto the nearest chair and let go of my Deli’s wrist.

  “Amya… he might not even speak English,” she said, sitting next to me in front of the Guardian. Then she paused, frowning at me, as though I had hurt her somehow. “Why did you refuse to Sojourn yesterday?”

  Abashed, I gaped at her. “I couldn’t. How can you possibly think I would not do everything in my power to get you out of here? I told Wyatt I would do anything and I meant it, Deli. I just… I don’t know what happened.” I thought of how it had been so easy for me to Sojourn ten minutes ago. “I just couldn’t. But I was tired. It’ll work today, okay? I swear it.”

  Julian was back to take Deli’s meal order. She averted her eyes the whole time, wincing at his every movement. Seeing my sister so scared and vulnerable made me feel so helpless and frustrated, I couldn’t think straight.

  We remained in silence, Delilah eating her cereal, and I finishing my eggs, until Wyatt and Daniel arrived by the little tunnel leading outside the mountain.

  “Morning to you all!” Daniel exclaimed, a bright smile on his face. “Did everyone except the youngest Miss Priam sleep well?” he added.

  Had he just winked at me?

  “Sick bastard,” I muttered, my fists and jaw clenched.

  He ignored me completely, making his way to the kitchen, his grin widening. He came back holding two chairs on which he and Wyatt sat. The latter hadn’t even looked in my direction yet.

  “Is everyone done with their breakfast?” Daniel said. “Good. Good.” He got up again, walked to the Guardian, gripped his torn shirt and said, “Now let’s try this again,” before he threw him to the floor in one strong movement.

  Delilah yelped, and I had to mentally restrain myself not to get up and help the Guardian. Daniel and Wyatt couldn’t know we’d spoken.

  “Now, let the fun begin,” Daniel continued, like a child begging to open Christmas presents. “Amya, my dear Amya, you know what to do.”

  In fact, I didn’t. I sat there, unable to think of a solution. My head was spinning, images of burn marks on both my sister and the Guardian blocking any useful thought…

  After a minute or two, Daniel said, “Perhaps you need more convincing—Julian!” Ponytail emerged from the kitchen. “Take our delightful Delilah downstairs—”

  “NO!” I heard myself and my sister cry at the same time.

  Think… think of something. Quick.

  Even if I were now able to Sojourn, the Guardian would not tell me the location of the door. He was too stubborn to help us. Yet he looked so vulnerable… He hadn’t moved since he’d fallen onto the dusty floor, his head bent forward the same way it had been in the church before the Rascals came to take him away.

  But then I could also see Delilah looking fearful and expectant. And it was my duty as her big sister to keep her safe… no matter what the consequences. She wasn’t going to get hurt because of me again. I couldn’t let her.

  In two swift movements, I got up and kneeled beside the golden man. I heard Wyatt say something to Daniel, though I couldn’t make out any precise word. I leveled my head with the Guardian’s and whispered so that only he could hear, “Give me something, anything…”

  In an unexpected gesture, he brought his stump to my hand and I Sojourned.

  ***

  “You need to know what you’re so desperately trying to give them…” the man’s voice says before darkness morphs into an odd scenery.

  I seem to be standing at the bottom of the ocean, gazing at an underwater city. Tall Greek columns stand half eaten by time among glowing fish. A little farther away, encircled by statues holding spears and shields, stand… a temple? The architecture reminds me of the Roman Pantheon, though there is something particularly unfamiliar about it.

  I suddenly find myself zooming in on it, through a school of fish which have transparent, glowing blue skin.

  Tall green, red, and brown algae litters the bottom of the sea, moving in slow motion. I zoom past them and enter the temple, where more pillars stand against the walls and what seems to have once been a beautiful carved ceiling is now covered in some sort of moss that lingers on every possible surface.

  Standing in the middle of the temple, however, is the only object that is devoid of any moss or algae: a piece of pottery with engraved drawings…

  “Pandora’s Jar,” the Guardian’s voice echoes. “That is precisely what they are looking for. Not a door, but a jar which, if ever opened, will unleash evil on all four Dimensions. Once the jar has been opened, there will be no border between Amani, Blue, Red, Yellow, Heaven, and Hell. They will make one single realm… And it is very unlikely that the people living in our Dimension will survive.”

  Chapter XXXV

  Amya Priam

  Petrified, I did not move when the Guardian removed his stump from my hand. I did not dare open my eyes. I simply had no idea what to make of his revelation.

  A jar. Pandora’s Jar. I had heard of the myth, but never in my life had I believed it was true. Pandora’s Jar was supposed to be a bedtime story or something you saw in movies about ancient worlds. Not a real jar dropped to the bottom of the ocean. Not a means to destroy our Dimension.

  But it was, and the Rascals wanted it.

  Wyatt hadn’t been entirely truthful. Daniel did not wish to find a door back to Hell, he planned on bringing Hell into Amani.

  “So?” I heard Daniel say impatiently.

  “It worked,” Wyatt confirmed. “I know that face. She just Sojourned.”

  “What did you see, Amya dear?”

  I could no longer fake it; I opened my eyes and stared at my sister. “I—I…”

  “You can tell them,” she said hopefully. “Tell the truth and we’ll be rid of them forever.”

  My mouth remained closed. There was one last problem; even if I had wanted to tell the Rascals, I had no idea where the jar was. There were five oceans in Amani, which did not include seas and other deep streams of water. The jar could be anywhere. Though there had been some sort of lost civilization at the bottom…

  Oh God—wait—could it be?

  No, I thought. Impossible.

  “Shaking your head, are you?” Daniel sneered. “All right. Julian!”

  “No, wait!” I cried as Julian walked directly at my sister. “I want to tell you! I swear I do, but I don’t know where it is! I really don’t!”

  Neither Daniel nor Julian seemed to b
e listening. Daniel got up and pulled me away from my sister, whom I hadn’t realized I’d been holding onto. Moments later, I was watching Julian take Delilah down the stairs, her eyes pouring tears.

  “Deli… No… I’m sorry…”

  Frustrated and ashamed, I sank to the ground, away from Daniel’s arms, and put my head between my knees.

  I couldn’t believe I was letting my sister get hurt again. What was wrong with me?

  Samera’s speech about not being able to take care of her many responsibilities came back to me. My sister was my responsibility and I was failing at protecting her.

  For good reasons, a voice inside my head replied.

  I was reticent to tell the Rascals the truth because it could endanger our Dimension. Was that a good enough reason to have my own sister tortured over and over again? Some part of me believed it was, while the other disagreed.

  Loud screams echoed from downstairs, and I tightened my hands over my ears, making me even more remorseful. I couldn’t bear my sister’s cries… I couldn’t bear to listen to the result of my own decision.

  Hours seemed to pass before the house fell silent again. It was only when the stairs creaked from the weight of Julian and Delilah coming back that I dared raise my head.

  The Guardian had moved closer to me and was silently praying in the same position I was. Daniel and Wyatt were sitting on their chairs, each wearing a twisted smirk on their face.

  Ignoring them, I got up and ran to my sister.

  “So, so, so, so, very sorry,” I repeated. “I don’t know where it is, Deli. You have to believe me.”

  Her face was wet and there was a new bruise on her cheek. She wouldn’t look at me.

  “Deli, come on. Deli, you believe me, don’t you? I would never hurt you on purpose… You know that right?”

  Still not looking at me, she finally replied, “If you don’t tell them what you know, they’ll continue…”

  What I knew? What I thought I knew, more like. But it wasn’t possible. Gareth had mentioned the Lost City of Atlantis to calm Samera on the convy. Nothing more. It did not really exist. Though the way he had described it, with Greek pillars and ancient-looking statues, resembled the place the Guardian had shown me during the Sojourn.