Sonya ran around the corner, her hands on my cheeks the moment I was within reach. “Thank the spirits you’re safe.”
Spirits? And why wouldn’t I be safe? I pushed her away. “What about Dad?”
“Your father is…”
The back door opened and slammed. Heavy footsteps hurried towards us and Alex appeared in the hallway, drenched. “She’s not…” His voice trailed off as his eyes settled on me. I noticed the concern on his face just before it dissolved back into something hard and unreadable. He turned around and disappeared down the hall.
“What’s going on?”
“Daria.” Cicero’s voice was careful. “Something happened and Alaric wanted us to come and get you.”
My heart lurched. “What do you mean…something happened?” My eyes jumped from Cicero to Sonya.
“Don’t worry about your father. You’ll have to trust us until we can explain. At our home.” The intensity in Cicero’s gaze was strong, like he was trying to hypnotize me into following them.
“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on.”
Alex appeared again, this time carrying a burlap bag. He didn’t even glance at me as he tossed it to his father and opened the front door.
“Someone please tell me what happened!”
Alex halted. All three of them stood still, staring at me. They were in my house. Why did I feel like the intruder?
“Daria.” Sonya pleaded with outstretched hands. “Calm down. Your father is perfectly fine. We saw him ourselves. He was worried about your safety, and wanted us to take you to our home for the evening. You’ll see him first thing in the morning.”
Were they serious? My dad would leave me notes just to say he walked to the mailbox. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe that my dad would just…leave without telling me first.”
“Of course he wouldn’t.” Cicero took a step towards me. “That’s why he had us come and get you. So we can explain at our home.”
“Right here seems like a perfectly good spot.”
“It’s not safe here.” Cicero leaned close; his eyes held a ferocity I’d never seen before. “And you wouldn’t believe us.”
Without giving me the chance to argue, he turned and followed his son through the front door.
With each passing moment my hope sank further and further. This was so out of character for Dad, and in fact I couldn’t remember the Andersons ever coming to our house. I didn’t think they knew where we lived.
“Come.” Sonya grabbed my arm.
But I didn’t budge, staring at the charred, black lines streaking the walls. They were strangely narrow and laser-focused, making the walls look like they had a web of black veins. What had made them?
“Daria?” Sonya tugged on my arm again.
I followed her out the door and we ran through the rain towards the Subaru. Our Subaru. “We’re taking our car? But what about…”
My words were cut short as Sonya all but shoved me in the back seat; Alex already had the engine running, his eyes narrowed as they surveyed our surroundings. Despite his new talent at hiding behind an enigmatic mask, he seemed a little tense, almost predatory. And I didn’t see the Andersons’ Mercedes anywhere.
“Where’s your car? Wait—” I was confused “—how did you even get here?”
I caught Alex’s sharp gaze in the rearview mirror before his eyes flickered back to the dash.
Sonya grabbed my hand as she sat beside me. “Please believe us. Your father is fine. You know how he is about your safety. This will all be sorted in the morning, and he’ll explain everything to you then.”
I stared into those eyes: eyes that never lied. Cicero sat in the passenger seat, slammed the door, and we were soon backing out of our driveway. Fast. In fact, I didn’t know our Subaru could go that fast, and I had no idea where Alex learned to drive like that. The road seemed to move for him.
The drive back to the Anderson home was the longest hour in my life. Once we arrived, my anxiety increased tenfold. I didn’t realize I’d held out hope that my dad would be waiting for me until I felt the sting of disappointment when he wasn’t. Where could he have gone? What was he doing? And why send the Andersons after me? If I didn’t get some answers soon, I’d search for him myself.
The Andersons escorted me straight to their library without any explanation. Cicero walked over to the desk and retrieved the key.
My impatience became unbearable. “Don’t tell me my dad is hiding down there.” I pointed to the painting.
Sonya and Cicero both stared at me, startled. And then, their eyes darted to their son.
“Alexander?” It was obvious Cicero was very, very irritated.
“I never told her.” Alex’s eyes narrowed at his father. Alex sounded almost bitter.
“Now’s not the time,” Sonya said, taking the key from her husband. She grabbed the flashlight, walked over to the portrait, and opened it. “Daria?” She peered back at me.
If I hadn’t grown up with the Andersons, I might have used the opportunity to run and call the police. I was wasting time being here, having fled the scene of the crime. But I trusted this family—at least two-thirds of them. I knew they loved my dad. If they wanted me to follow them to a strange room in the belly of their home, I should at least give them the benefit of the doubt. To me, that translated to approximately ten minutes.
Taking a deep breath, I followed Sonya.
Cicero and Alex were right behind me; their whispers sounded harsh in the empty stairwell. I couldn’t tell what they were saying, but I was almost positive it had something to do with Alex defending his honor, while simultaneously ruining mine. Sonya pushed open the door and went around the room lighting candles. Ribbons of smoke floated through the air as the library flickered with a warm glow, the candlelight hiding the shadows that seemed frightening hours ago. The globe stood in its corner, still spinning around its axis.
I had the sudden urge to walk over to it, but hesitated. Answers first. Cicero was rummaging through a small wooden box sitting on a shelf. From it, he produced a folded piece of paper and walked back to me.
Eight minutes.
“Read it.” He held the paper to me.
I eyed him, but took it. The paper was thick, stiff. The creases were perfect, folded once and never opened, and the writing was in my dad’s hand.
My lovely daughter,
I’m entrusting this letter to the Del Contes, whom you have known your entire life as the Andersons. Even as I write, I hope it never finds your hands, because that would mean your safety has been compromised. You know I’m not one to take chances with your safety—probably to a fault. But if you do find yourself reading this, I must ask you to do something for me. Listen to the Del Contes. Trust them with your life, as I’ve trusted them with mine. They will be my voice in my absence. I hope that whatever situation has caused our separation is momentary, and that I will see you again soon within Gaia’s realm. There is so much I need to explain that I should’ve done many, many years ago.
Please forgive me,
I love you,
Dad
I read the letter again. It was definitely my dad, that much I knew. But what on Earth was he talking about?
“You…are the Del Contes?” I asked.
Cicero and Sonya exchanged a nervous glance. “Yes,” she said.
Each of them stared, anxious about how I’d react. And they should have been, because I was furious.
“You mean to tell me that you drove me all the way from my home and brought me down here just to tell me you have a different last name?”
Cicero exchanged a quick glance with his wife. “Did you read the rest?”
“Twice!” I was so mad the paper shook in my hands. I couldn’t believe I followed them here for this.
“And?” Cicero asked.
I glanced back at the letter, my rage growing. Five minutes. “Fine, where is this G…how do you say it?”
“Guy-uh,” Cicer
o said. “Gaia is another world.”
My eyes snapped from the paper to Cicero, then to Sonya and Alex. Nothing in their expression even hinted at humor. These people I’d known all my life, this family I’d trusted. I may have been experiencing slight hysteria at my dad’s sudden disappearance, but it didn't mean I'd believe any explanation thrown at me.
“Just how stupid do you think I am? My dad goes missing and you tell me there’s another world. Is that really easier than telling me the truth?”
“Please, calm down.” Sonya held out her hand.
“Calm down? Didn’t you see the walls in my house?”
“Yes, and we already told you Alaric is fine,” Cicero continued. “He’s not the international businessman you think he is.”
I waited, sweating and shaking with rage. And for some reason, I was afraid of what Cicero was going to say next.
“Alaric is an ambassador from Gaia—the world he’s from. The world we’re all from. Including you.”
My breath lodged in my throat. Cicero’s words repeated over and over in my head. My heart raced as the edges of my vision started going dark and I gripped the nearest bookshelf to balance myself. My dad goes missing under very strange circumstances. People I’m supposed to trust abduct me. Although, considering I agreed to come with them, I couldn’t call it abduction. But at that time, they hadn’t said anything about another world. If they had, I never would’ve followed them. What next, magic?
“I don’t believe you.” I stared at the floor that was slowly starting to tilt. “And I don’t see how your story explains anything about where my dad is.”
“It explains everything about where Alaric is,” Cicero continued. “He’s gone to that world, and you’re coming with us to meet him there.”
Spots started floating and swirling in my eyes and the ground tilted faster and faster. I sat down in a cold sweat, focusing on keeping my consciousness close.
A square, dark object appeared before me.
Cicero was holding a large, leather-bound book. The binding was worn and dried, the stitching in the leather frayed at the edges. “This is probably the best way to show you, in a way that you will understand.”
Shaking, I took the oversized manuscript from him and set it in my lap. Right across the front, in faded bronze embossed lettering, were the words:
THE ORBIS TERRARUM
and other obscurities of Gaia’s anatomy
This wasn’t a manuscript. It was an atlas.
He was going to explain a hypothetical world with a map? Cicero waved for me to continue. I refolded my dad’s letter and shoved it in my pocket.
I lifted the large cover and stared at the large page beneath it. Strange handwriting was scrawled at the bottom.
Seekers beware.
What was there, was there before, and will not be, evermore.
I glanced up at Cicero.
“Turn the page.”
Scrolled across the top of the next page was the word Regent. Right below, filling the rest of the page, was a giant black square. “What am I looking at exactly?” My voice trembled despite my feeble attempt at strength.
“Where we’re going tomorrow. Where the Aegis Quarters is located.”
“The…what?”
Sonya laid a hand on my shoulder. “Where we’re meeting your father.”
“But I don’t see anything.”
“That’s because it’s night.”
“What does that have to do with…?” Maps weren’t influenced by time of day. I ran my finger over the page and froze. My finger sank into the page. And it felt cold. I jerked my hand back. “What just happened?”
Sonya continued, “The Orbis Terrarum is a sacred manuscript. One other exists, but it is kept in a vault. This is an atlas of the present.”
I trailed my fingers over the page again. They sank in like before, disappearing into the blackness. Like the manuscript was a living, viable object. My mind tried to refute it, but my eyes won the battle.
The Andersons—Del Contes—or whoever they were, all hovered around staring, their apprehension palpable. I flipped through more pages; some of them were black, others muted in color. One was so bright it lightened the room, but I knew that was impossible. Wasn’t it?
A page entitled Sea of Despair made me stop. It was dark like the others, but I thought I heard distant whispers, almost like the crashing of waves. Something bright streaked across the page, followed by the clang of thunder.
I slammed the book shut. “What is this thing?”
Sonya leaned close to me, her eyes warm. “Relax. Cicero wanted you to see this so that you would believe.”
“Believe what?”
I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed the candles dimmed a bit.
“Gaia is a world full of magic.”
I knew it. They weren’t done dropping bombs on my sanity. My mouth opened to argue, but the words wouldn’t come.
Magic wasn’t real. I knew that.
Are you sure? You know you’ve never seen anything like this before.
So what? Technology’s incredible these days.
This isn’t technology. It’s a book.
That was it. It was bad enough having everyone I knew turn against me. My own conscience doing it was unacceptable.
I went back to the book in my hands, searching for mechanics, hardware, wires—anything. All I could find was paper, leather, and old adhesive. An unsettling truth began to wiggle its way in.
This book was supernatural.
I couldn’t deny its uniqueness, its power. Cicero had known that. They all had known that. They expected me to need some sort of hard proof, and a magical book would be the most convincing tool for someone like me. No wonder they needed to bring me here before explaining anything. If they’d said any of this back home, I would have called the police. Immediately.
“This atlas shows the present,” Cicero continued. “It isn’t so much a map as a way to see places throughout Gaia at any given time, and it is all possible through magic.”
No, I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t believe it.
“You’ve been down here before?” Sonya asked.
Even though it’d only been a few hours, it seemed like so long ago. “Yes, I…found it earlier today.”
Alex looked a little startled. He also received an apologetic look from Cicero.
Sonya glanced around the room, her hand still on my shoulder. “These shelves are filled with books from Gaia: concordances, histories, biographies, magic.” She glanced at me before walking over to the globe.
She lifted it by the supports and brought it before me. Clouds floated in their manufactured atmosphere, lingering over landmasses and hiding them from view. Here, in the ambient candlelight, it looked magical. I remembered the little flash, thinking at the time it reminded me of lightning. Maybe, just maybe, that was because it had been lightning.
“This—” Sonya stared at the globe “—is a miniature representation of Gaia.”
The object held me entranced.
“What do you notice?”
The little sphere continued to rotate on its axis. “Well, it’s moving on its own. And…does it show the weather?”
She smiled. “Yes, like everything from Gaia, it’s fueled by magic.”
If Gaia did exist, and this globe was its representation, no wonder the layout of the land looked all wrong. It wasn’t Earth. That little white smudge continued to move from water to land, as the world turned.
“It’s where we are all from—including you.”
Sonya’s gaze was tender, confident. I could almost feel the truth in her words, even though my mind—my logic—still fought against me. This couldn’t be happening.
But something deep within accepted it against my will. Some part of me already knew it existed—my backstabbing conscience—and it had waited patiently for this moment. It was prepared all along, unbeknownst to me.
“Magic runs through your veins,” Sonya whispered. “It is
as much a part of you as your own blood, just as it is a part of your father. You feel it. You know—deep down inside—that it’s true. You’ve always wanted more from your life and that’s because this world is not your true home.”
Sonya always understood me better than most. But after she said that, I was certain she’d crawled in my head and poked around when I wasn’t looking. My whole life I’d yearned for more, begged for more.
But not for this.
I felt Alex’s eyes on my back even though I couldn’t see him. He’d remained out of sight ever since we had come down here.
“The atlas.” She nodded to the book in my hands. “It focuses on different territories within our world with greater emphasis on the portals.”
I swallowed, taking a deep breath. “Portals?”
Cicero smiled. “Yes. Those bloody things are the only way between worlds. And they keep us employed.”
“You’re serious.”
“Well, about the first part.”
He waited for my response but my emotions were so overwhelmed I felt numb. My brain was supersaturated with information.
Cicero continued. “At one point, well before anyone remembers, Gaia coexisted with Earth. They were one and the same.” He paused a moment, his eyes fixed on the spinning globe. “As mankind continued turning to their own ways, they turned their backs on Gaia. They wasted her gifts and powers—disregarded them under the false notion that they didn’t need her. What they failed to realize was that the only reason they had power was because Gaia had given it to them. So, Gaia left. She took her spirit to a place where it would be safe, in balance with all other powers, becoming her own world.
“Gaia’s strongest remaining vestiges of influence are where the portals formed, linking parts of Gaia to Earth. Like everything in this world, over time they’ve been forgotten. Now, only the citizens of Gaia know of their existence, and they’re guarded.” Here, he grinned proudly. “Gaia’s magic is too dangerous in the hands of the people of Earth now. That knowledge might destroy both worlds.”
My eyes were trapped on the sphere. “These portals. Where are they?”
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