Muse Unexpected

by V. C. Birlidis

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Callie said.

  Georgia took a step closer to Callie, and Callie diverted her eyes.

  “You wear your guilt wonderfully, my deceitful child.”

  “It was nothing.”

  “Who’s the liar now, Callista?” Georgia remarked. “You at least have to lay claim to Ingrid Malworth. You picked a woman as distant as your own mother to thumb your nose in my face.”

  Callie turned away from Georgia.

  “Well my dear, if I noticed, I can assure you they noticed and they took action to try to ensure Sophia’s destiny was not realized. We wouldn’t be having this conversation at all had you decided to meet Angelo at the airport.”

  “Angelo. They killed Angelo and I’m to blame.” Callie whispered the words, as she covered her mouth. Fresh tears slid down her face.

  “And they would have killed both of you had they had the chance. That’s all it takes to undo everything—a chance."

  “This is too much,” Callie said to herself. “Too much to digest.”

  “So what would you have me do? Sit back and watch them kill my daughter and granddaughter? There was one way to protect you. I had to have you and Sophia here and I had to have Sophia come into her birthright. It was the only way. If she didn’t, she would have been branded a Nothos and slaughtered. We had to fulfill what the Fates predicted. We all have roles to play in this war, Callista, and I won’t deny it gives me great satisfaction to know both of you are back where I’ve always thought you belonged. I won’t even attempt to hide my jubilation in knowing my granddaughter will raise our family to new heights of power because I can no longer deny the obvious. We are destined for greatness.”

  “She’s a run-of-the-mill Muse. What greatness are you talking about?”

  “Sophia will lead the Vasilikós and usher in a new renaissance, another Golden Era. She is the final defense from the rise of the Fallen Ones. She is our only hope of defeating the utter evil and darkness the Fallen Ones represent. That is her true destiny. She is our warrior.”

  Callie turned into the direction of the Oracle.

  Aletheria lowered her head. “What she has told you is the truth. Your daughter carries a heavy burden.”

  “So, Georgia,” Callie began, “I’m sure you’ve got it all figured out. What do we do now?”

  “We prepare Sophia. We protect her and we all get ready for the battle to come,” Georgia said.

  Callie gathered her tissues and shoved them into the right pocket of her jeans.

  “One thing, Georgia, while I will never understand why you did the things you did, and as hard as it is for me to get beyond our past, I assume I still have to thank you. However, let me give you one small warning. If you ever attempt to hide anything from me, attempt to cast or have any spells put on Sophie or me in order to fulfill your ambitions, I will make it my own personal crusade to make sure you never have anything to do with Sophie ever again. Do you understand me?”

  Georgia knew she was surrounded on all sides. Her hand had been forced and she'd been forced to tell things she wasn’t ready to tell. Every secret revealed meant the potential for failure and failure wasn’t something she could accept. Not to mention the very idea of her daughter thinking it was appropriate to speak to her mother in such a threatening tone didn’t sit well with her. She didn’t like it.

  Not at all. So, do I put my daughter in her proper place? Tell her to keep her opinions and empty threats to herself? Show her what I am truly capable of? She swallowed down her anger.

  “Finally, the backbone I always knew you had,” Georgia said.

  “In the mean time, how do you plan to protect Sophie?” Callie said.

  Georgia stood up. “I’ve already put things in motion about that.”

  Chapter 17

  Clink…clink…clink.

  Sophie clenched her eyes tighter in an attempt to ignore the annoying sound, wondering what was making it.

  Clink…clank…clank.

  She assumed it must be a strange Greek alarm clock and threw her arm towards her nightstand, knocking several items onto the floor.

  “You know, Sophie, I’m sure I can think of at least a million things I could be doing, but nothing would be as fulfilling as watching you sleep. I’m having a wicked time.”

  Sophie’s opened her eyes and winced at the morning sunlight streaming into the bedroom. She heard the owner of the voice take a sip of something and then set an object down with another clank.

  Who the hell is in my room?

  “We’ve got a busy day ahead of us and it doesn’t include you sleeping in and a late wake-up call.”

  A throb to the center of her forehead made her cringe.

  I am going to kill whoever is the owner of that crisp and tight New England accent. The room temperature is dropping five degrees with each syllable coming from it.

  She sat up and yelled out in pain as her sore body asked her to stop moving.

  “As you will learn, Muses tend to be on the emotional side. Emotions can be a trigger for your powers, but if you’re not careful they can overwhelm you, leaving you helpless.”

  Seated at Sophie’s desk was a beautiful girl in cut-off shorts, white shirt and well-worn leather sandals. She guessed she must be around her own age. Her skin was dark brown and her hair was a mass of arranged dreadlocks, each strand thick with golden threads weaved in.

  The girl sat with her legs crossed and reached over to the mug sitting on the desk next to her, briskly stirred the drink and dropped the spoon onto the saucer with a loud clank.

  “Who the heck are you? What are you doing in my room? And for the love of God, stop banging.” Sophie groaned as she scratched the side of her head and scooted to the edge of her bed. “I’d say I’m surprised to find a complete stranger in my bedroom, but I’m sure this is all part of the wonderful world of Muse.”

  “Well, that is a step in the right direction. My name is Angela,” the girl said, uncrossing her legs to face Sophie. “You know, I’m quite excited to have the opportunity to help a Muse develop her sea legs. You see, I’ve always found Muses to be curious creatures."

  Angela stood up and approached Sophie, holding up her hand in front of her palm faced out. “You haven’t been a Muse for very long. I can tell because newer Muses tend to radiate the energy they attract. It’s one of the reasons why younger Muses are isolated from the general public. I can feel the energy radiating off of you. Can you feel the energy in the room being drawn to you?”

  Sophie shrugged. “I don’t know if I do or don’t? I’ve felt different since I first woke up in Greece.”

  “The reason why you radiate energy is because you have the ability to attract and harness the energy around you. Originally, it was an escape trigger. Muses can harness the energy around them to dissipate into the air and reappear at a safe location. This power has evolved into a powerful defense mechanism through which they can concentrate gathered energy into a single compact mass and fling it at an enemy. Some of the more powerful Muses have the ability to throw bolts of energy, although I’ve never seen it done. They also have developed the ability to use the same energy to move and manipulate items.”

  “Wonderful. Thanks for Muse 101. I now have a long list of things I either don’t know how to do or have no control of and won’t remember. Because in a period of a few days, I’ve had the kitchen sink thrown at me.” Her neck was stiff and the last thing she wanted was a lecture from someone she didn’t know.

  “Things could always be worse, although looking the way you do right now, I’d be hard-pressed to think of a way they could.” Angela sniffed. “You are about as far from being yawl as a person could get.”

  “Okay, maybe I’m not at my yawl best, whatever yawl means, but your ‘tude’ is a bit much for me to take right at this moment. I’d be a bit more spoon full of sugar if you could dial it back.”

  There was a recognizable knock at the door and Sophie called for her mother to c
ome in.

  Callie walked in carrying a tray with several covered dishes, two glasses of orange juice and a carafe of what smelled like coffee. “Good morning, honey. I see you’ve met Angela.” Callie set the tray on Sophie’s bed.

  “Yes,” Angela said dryly. “Sophia was finally waking up.”

  Callie gave Sophie an all too familiar “is that so” look. She removed the covers to the plate to reveal an overflowing pile of eggs, French toast, sausage, bacon and buttered toast. “I wasn’t sure what you would want, so I made a little bit of everything. Angela, I made enough so you two could get to know each other over breakfast. There’s an extra plate underneath this one.”

  “Thank you,” Angela said.

  Sophie groaned as she scooted closer to the plates of food to grab a piece of maple bacon, which she popped into her mouth, savoring its salty sweetness. Her head pounded a little less and the throbbing ache in her back and limbs was almost gone. Feeling better, she grabbed another piece of bacon. In response, Callie motioned for Sophie to invite Angela to eat something.

  “Please, help yourself.” Sophie grumbled. But in response the girl fixed her dark brown eyes on Sophie. A slight movement below Angela’s ear caught Sophie’s attention and for a split second she could have sworn she saw a lock of the girl’s hair move. Angela reached over and plucked a single piece of sausage from a serving plate while her other hand pushed the loose dread back into place.

  Callie got up to leave.

  “Mom, where are you going? I have a million”

  “Sweetie, I know you have a million questions, but I don’t have time to answer them right now. Georgia expects me to resume my work and I already have several assignments I have to begin working on.”

  “Well, what a surprise. Who knew there was a huge backlog in the inspiration business. So, just like that? You go back to work, doing whatever a Muse does and I’m expected to sit here and wait until someone decides to give me the whole story? Why do I have the feeling I’m being kept in the dark? It’s driving me crazy.” Sophie whined.

  “Honey, look, I know you are struggling with all of this.” Callie sat down on the edge of the bed. She placed her hand on her daughter’s and gave it a squeeze. “That’s why Angela is here. She’ll begin your education. It’s summer and we’ll begin your real education in the fall, but for now, you’re going to have to let Angela help bring you up to speed. We have an endless list of preparations to work on.”

  “Preparations, for what?” Sophie asked.

  “At the end of the season, there is going to be a gathering of the Vasilikós. Angela will go over this with you. I swear I will spend some time and answer all the questions Angela hasn’t covered. I’m sorry, sweetie, but I have to dash.”

  With her last word, the air around Callie began to spark, and with a large crack she was gone.

  Sophie sat staring at the empty space.

  “You’ll get used to people Shimmering in and out of here, especially when you start doing it yourself.”

  “Shimmering?” Sophie said, glancing over at Angela. “Is that what they call it?”

  “There are several names for it, including a difficult Greek word, but I prefer Shimmering. Let’s move our breakfast to the Morning Room and I can take you on a short tour of some of the more significant sections of the Vasilikós.”

  Angela recovered the plates and reached over to pick up the cordless phone beside Sophie’s bed. A voice immediately responded.

  “Anna? Could you please have our breakfast moved into the East Wing’s Morning Room? Yes, that’s right. You might want to reheat the items. Yes, fresh coffee please. Thank you.” Angela reached over and uncovered the plate of breakfast meats and both girls took one last slice of bacon before venturing into the hallway. The door to Sophie’s bedroom hadn’t even closed shut before a young girl appeared with a trolley.

  “Thank you, Anna,” Angela said, walking past the girl and down the hallway.

  “How is it my bedroom now looks like my old one?” Sophie asked.

  “It’s Eupheme.”

  Sophie gave a puzzled look. “Who?”

  “Eupheme is our resident Passiosensi Water Nymph.”

  “Yeah, wow,” Sophie said. “You need to take it a bit slower.”

  “Sorry about that. Like many who live and work in this Vasilikós, Eupheme is a bit of a rare creature. She is a Water Nymph Empath who can draw her powers from water and from raw emotions. She also fancies herself a bit of an interior designer and don’t bother asking why. I believe that was a bit of misplaced inspiration after a group of Muses had a few too many glasses of wine. Knowing she can learn a lot about a person from a single touch makes her a bit touchy-feely for my taste. But you can never change a Salem girl. We are frightfully private.”

  “But I’ve never met her.”

  “Well, I’m guessing you, being a new Muse, can create an emotional imprint everywhere you go. Your emotions are so strong right now even I could read them and I’m not gifted or sensitive in that way.”

  “So, the room isn’t real?”

  “It’s not an illusion. Water Nymphs are well known for their ability to mesmerize, so I’m sure Glamour has something to do with it. I, for one, don’t find the room attractive, but then it wasn’t meant for me. However, what makes Euphe special is her ability to alter inanimate objects on the molecular level. So, what appears to be your room is in fact a duplicate based on your memories and emotions.”

  “Are you joking about this?”

  “I come from Massachusetts. Our winters are about as bitter as we are. We don’t joke.”

  Chapter 18

  This place is nuts.

  Hallways seemed to go in all directions, attaching one large room to another. Numerous staircases made of different materials, styles, and varying sizes went up and down to different floors in the Vasilikós with no apparent direction or pattern. Every inch of the stone walls lining the many hallways were covered with paintings of gods, goddesses, mythical creatures, battle scenes and the occasional landscapes or freshly polished pieces of armor, swords, and other items of war. Certain precious pieces were in display cases and Sophie stopped to read the small brass plaque on the glass case to the right of her.

  SWORD OF PERSEUS

  Underneath the plaque was a warning about handling the sword.

  “Danger! Gorgon Blood! POISON! Do not handle sword. Side effects can include dry mouth, constipation, blindness, shortness of breath, turning into stone and death."

  “Gorgon’s blood,” Angela said. “The sword itself was a gift from Zeus to Perseus, and it was the actual sword Perseus used to slay the Gorgon Medusa. She was the mortal among the three sisters. They say she was an incredible beauty until Aphrodite changed her,” Angela said with apparent sadness in her voice as she touched a marble bust of Medusa next to the display case. After removing a thin layer of dust from its pedestal, Angela continued the tour.

  “This room, English and French in style, is the main Entry Hall and also serves as an Evanescia room,” Angela explained.

  “Evanes…what?” Sophie asked.

  “Evanescia room. The mirrors found throughout the room serve as a form of transportation. While Muses can Shimmer here and there, most Demigods cannot. In certain cases, Shimmering is not permitted and protected against. I’ll show you how the mirrors work later. The staircase in the entry hall is one of the largest ever created. I’m told it was chiseled from ten large pieces of marble, hence the lack of visible seams. These stairs are not original to this Vasilikós but were a gift from the Roman Vasilikós, which is now known as the Italy Vasilikós. Now, the next room is famous for its tall hand-carved oak paneling.”

  Angela’s voice seemed to drift away as Sophie’s attention was taken by an unusual mirror at the opposite end of the hall. It ran floor to ceiling along a stone wall, its frame gilded and embedded with semi-precious stones. The frame seemed to expand back into the stone behind it, like a vine gripping the wall itself. The su
rface of the mirror glowed a bit, and Sophie couldn’t take her eyes away from it. The mirror was calling to her.

  “What’s up with the mirror?” Sophie said, over her shoulder.

  “Nothing. It’s nothing more than a mirror,” Angela said.

  “You’re not telling me the truth,” Sophie said, staring intently and walking towards it. She would have reached it had it not been for Angela, who rushed to Sophie’s side and pulled her away.

  “Okay. It goes somewhere, but it’s not for me to take you on that journey,” Angela replied, leading her away, letting Sophie know the mirror conversation was over. They walked into a large room off the entry hall and then into another long corridor leading to a hexagon room that had several other corridors connected to it, forming a starburst pattern.

  “How big is this place?” Sophie asked as she stopped by yet another staircase and walked around it into a vast ballroom. The room’s expansive wood floors gleamed as if it were recently polished. Several crystal chandeliers were wrapped in gauzy drop cloths and their heavy-lead crystal prisms twinkled and made a soft tinkling sound. Angela walked past Sophie to open up a few of the French doors, letting in a fresh breeze. Outside Sophie could see a large stone veranda with an impressive stone railing covered with crape myrtle blossoms. Intricate benches with overstuffed pale blue-seated cushions lined the walls and a balcony, hidden behind some wooden scrollwork, was where Sophie assumed the orchestra would play.

  “This is the imperial ballroom,” Angela stated. “It is used for formal balls, royal events of state, which is why it’s normally closed up with the windows shuttered.”

  “But the floors are polished,” Sophie said, recalling what her mother had told her. “What happens when they gather all of the Vasilikós? Does this happen every time a new Muse is born?”