The Broken Destiny

by Carlyle Labuschagne

  “You stupid, stupid girl! Get a hold of yourself! No one’s going to, or has kidnapped you,” Enoch spat as he came into focus. His eyes cutting through me like a sheet of ice, pushing my fury back.

  His eyes held me while he shook me vigorously. I heard Maya scream out his name and remember feeling entrapped. I closed my eyes and the longer I stayed within the darkness of my mind, I felt the storm inside me calm down. Was I going to burst from embarrassment, or explode from rage?

  “Put her down, son,” Arriana said sternly from somewhere behind me. When I opened my eyes it was too late, he had lost his cool and had thrown me to the floor. I kept my focus on his face, holding him with my eyes – letting him know that what he had done was wrong. All I could hear was the pounding of my heart against my ribs; almost sure that everyone in the entire room could hear it too. He stood over me, his hands stiff at his sides. I swallowed carefully and looked away, cowering. When one of his warrior buddies grabbed him furiously and pushed him against the wall, I realized that Minoans had human traits too; they did get mad when they needed to. As if in slow motion, a wooden ornament fell from the shelf above and shattered to the ground beside them.

  “That was Dad’s!” Maya yelled.

  All I could do was stare at the family as they fell apart and I wondered if they had been this way before I had arrived? Maya hurried over and tried to pick up what remained of the object.

  “Tatos!” Anaya shouted, outraged. “Get him out of here! Now!”

  Tatos and Anaya shared a look and he nodded. She in turn gave him a smile. A door slammed and the windows rattled in their frames. I stood up abruptly and retreated to Maya’s room with haste. I wanted to make it all go away. I wanted to lie on the bed, close my eyes, dismiss the pain and wake up in my room. As I lay there undisturbed – no one sought me out. I guess I must have said some horrible things to them. What had I been thinking? Where did it all come from? I had never been that angry before, ever. I had never allowed myself to get angry, but I hadn’t been able to control my feelings of helplessness any longer. I had lost control of myself and the situation. I should have stayed with Sam, I thought once more. I cried uncontrollably and stared out the window, watching the gray clouds as they circled above, until my eyes stung and no more tears would come. When I closed my eyes and let my face fall into the pillow, all I could see were Enoch’s blistering blue eyes staring back at me with fury. I hate all of this. I tried to blink it away. I hate this forsaken planet. I swallowed against the pain. The hole inside me seemed even bigger and emptier than before.

  I didn’t hear Maya come in to check on me. When I finally looked up and saw her, I confessed the conflict inside me. Maya confirmed that I had started ‘the Change’, and we both sat crying in each other’s arms because ‘the Change’ had never, in three generations, been a good thing. Soon after, Anaya and Arriana arrived handing each of us a glass of hot milk and a warm chamomile soaked towel to dry our tears. I realized how kind they had been to me and despite the fact that I had accused them of kidnapping, they never once treated me any different than before the incident. I felt horrible. Anaya tried to explain why I couldn’t return home, that the Zulus were still on the hunt for me. Furrowing my brows in confusion, one last ripple of hurt ran through me; why, why me?

  “Someone who fits the description of the prophecy,” she clarified.

  “Prophecy?” I asked, dazed, remembering that Maya had mentioned something about a prophecy before the attack.

  Anaya took a deep breath clearly unsure how to explain it, so Arriana took over. Her glazed-over eyes fell on the wall behind me.

  “Minoans naturally possess powers that others want to take advantage of.” She smiled at me. She drew in a breath and continued. “The Minoans are one of the ancient cultures, like the Egyptians were, except the Egyptians didn’t survive. We had a weapon that protected us for years. We fled when the weapon was lost during our last war on Earth, before modern civilization took over. We destroyed the city so that no one would ever know of our existence.”

  I watched her carefully, hanging on her every word.

  “According to the prophecy, the weapon will be returned to us. We don’t know how, but we do know that the fulfillment of this prophecy will be carried out by someone with a unique soul.” She smiled. “That someone is you, Ava.”

  My stomach dropped as her eyes met mine. Somehow, she could still see me through her blindness. Her hands reached for mine.

  “I can sense that your energy has begun to clear and it will continue to do so as long as you stay here. You are feeling things you never felt before and they are more intense.” She confirmed what I had been feeling – overwhelmed like I had never been before. Feeling rage I had never felt before. The numbness would not come, no matter how hard I beckoned for it. I was totally open to my feelings – I hated it.

  “But, there must be other girls just like me on Poseidon,” I protested.

  “No, Ava,” Anaya said, as she made her way toward the window. “There are none like you.” Her voice had an edge to it.

  “Why now?” I asked. “How can you be so sure?”

  I stood up, leaving Arriana to stare at the spot where I had been sitting. It felt like I wasn’t getting enough air. The intense, overwhelming feeling had returned.

  “Trust me,” Arriana said.

  Her statement echoed through my mind. I didn’t know who I could trust. I didn’t even trust my own feelings just then.

  “I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but there is no way that I am this ‘unique soul’. I’m just a shy girl who isn’t capable of anything other than being unhappy with everything around her. I don’t have any powers. I am genetically enhanced to survive famine and disease, that’s all.” But deep down, I knew it wasn’t true. What made me different from my kind, why had the Council been keeping such a close eye on me?

  “Exactly my point,” Anaya replied as she stood staring out the window.

  I knew precisely what she was talking about. That was the exact thought that flickered in the back of my mind half a dozen times a day – there is something more to my kind – to me. Anaya talked on, giving me all the details. She speculated that the Zulus were responsible for Sage’s disappearance and revealed that the Zulu witchdoctor knew about the prophecy; he wanted to harness my powers in some way. What she didn’t know, was the extent of his plan. She further explained that Arriana had tried to use her abilities to locate him but had been unable to, leading them to assume that a warding spell blocked all remote viewing. As for the school, it had gone into lockdown, preventing me from returning home until its security had been properly coordinated. She also added that Arriana had made arrangements for me to meet with someone called Kronan, who could teach me more about the requirements of witchcraft and tell me more about the prophecy; information that had to be kept secret from Kim. She concluded by informing me that I was going to have to stand up to this witchdoctor at some point as he now knew who I was, and that this was the beginning of my destiny. I had survived the first attack and their poison. This in itself was a dead giveaway, but there would be more attacks. Perhaps our kind had been created – I had been created – because of the prophecy. I felt my world suddenly slip away, dizziness attacking me. I never wanted any of it.

  Maya and I sat slumped on her bed in silence for a long time, my mind going back and forth about me being whoever they thought I was. The sun had begun to fall behind the ocean. The three moons no longer shone as brightly as they had in the past. I lay there staring up at the roof, stunned into silence.

  “I can’t believe my brother! Disrespecting you like that,” Maya said finally. “Enoch has always been a hot head, but I have never seen him act like that before.”

  Of all things, that is what bothered her?

  “I am very disappointed in him,” Arriana said from her position near the small fireplace, gently rocking in her chair while she knitted. “He is acting very strange these days.”

  My eyes stu
died every inch of the room, trying to shift my focus. I loved everything about Maya’s room. It was big and each corner and little space had its own purpose, either for reading, dressing or studying. In addition, she had her own bathroom hidden behind a narrow wall that also acted as a bedpost. I considered Arriana’s beautiful nature. I hadn’t known her for long but for a second we had loved each other. I instantly ignored the feeling, wanting to distance myself before any more overwhelming feelings returned. I felt like I owed them something for taking care of me. I hated owing people anything.

  “Your gratitude is all we need, my dear,” Arriana said.

  “What?” I said softly, suddenly remembering her telepathic abilities and not liking it one bit. Her ability made the facts of my destiny seem almost plausible.

  It had been a long, emotional and drawn-out evening. After a late dinner, Maya and I lay curled up on the sofa beside the large fireplace in the sitting room. We listened attentively to Arriana who was telling us about old Minoan legends. I wanted to learn all about the prophecy and how it tied in to what lay ahead for me – if in fact it was all true. I had already asked what seemed like a million questions.

  “In the time of the Ancients,” Arriana imparted. “Before pollution and when technology was clean and pure, Minoans inhabited Earth for a little while. Their technology was extremely advanced and was there to teach future generations the purity of it all. But it wasn’t long before the Gods took it away when the Minoan race become greedy, lustful and power hungry. They had begun misusing their gifts to gain riches and power outside of the city walls as there was no need for such things within.”

  Arriana wore a look that I knew only too well. A look of homesickness for a home she didn’t know, of losing something you never had. I sat up as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.

  “Atlantis,” I said unwaveringly.

  “Some say it was,” Arriana confirmed with a wide, graceful smile upon her face.

  I listened, wide-eyed and full of curiosity, to tales of a race that had been experimented on during the 1930s and 1940s on Earth – our first generation. The weapon had something to do with a perfect genetic recipe. The Nazi’s had discovered pieces of Atlantis, including a small amount of details of this gene recipe. They had then sought out the descendants of the Minoans for more knowledge – a map to where the secret was stored, but the recipe had been hidden in more than one place. The remaining descendants fled with the last piece of the puzzle to the only place left to them, their home planet, their dying planet – Poseidon.

  “To escape, they used something called a traveling mirror, which enabled them to relocate people of Minoan descent to Poseidon – our long forgotten home planet. I am the last pure descendant of the Ancients,” Arriana said proudly. “Our Council members were as powerful as the Gods themselves. They had the power to manipulate the elements. It is said that our technological gifts would have been very dangerous if their power was abused, so the Gods sacrificed and destroyed themselves along with the city. If anyone other than ‘The Soul” entered the city, the spirits of the Gods would be set free to destroy the entire planet. A volcanic eruption sealed Atlantis in a time capsule, burying the city underneath hardened lava.

  “So that would explain Earth’s Destruction – someone found Atlantis.” I said in disbelief.

  Anaya twitched. “Why would you say that?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “Because Earth was destroyed.”

  “A lie,” Arriana said, confirming all of my suspicions.

  My mind was on a train ride toward all the possible answers, to all my impossible questions. I was instantly plotting how I would go back to Earth, find out all I could about Atlantis and what tied me to it, as well as why it was my destiny to find the weapon and keep it safe from our enemies.

  “But how is it that you have powers?” I asked politely.

  “The Gods knew the time would come when we would need those abilities to survive and to recover that which belongs to our people. Our powers have slowly returned as the time of the prophecy draws near.” She smiled. “I knew the prophecy would come to pass in my lifetime. I have seen our people changing rapidly.”

  “So, I have powers?” I asked, tentatively.

  Arriana nodded. “Somewhere in that mind of yours, yes.” She tapped her temple.

  “They will come when the time is right and when you are able to block out the threats,” she replied, her expression riddled with sorrow. I got the distinct feeling she had an idea of what was coming my way. She inhaled deeply, ready to tell me something very important.

  “You see, Ava…” she began.

  The door suddenly swung open. Tatos entered first, a gust of wind coming in behind him causing dust to rise at his feet. Next, Enoch stepped inside and the peaceful feeling I had acquired, left me at once. He looked down when our eyes met and I quickly looked away, shifting my focus to the fire hoping the heat would melt away Enoch’s power over me.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, looking at me for a few seconds before quickly returning his gaze to the floor.

  I turned to look at him. Does he mean it? I wondered. When he looked up again, our eyes met and my insides froze. He was almost invading my soul with the blue burn behind his gaze. Everyone kept staring at me, expecting me to accept his apology – I didn’t. I hated him for making me feel so pathetic. I got up and made my way back to Maya’s room. I could feel their eyes on me as I exited the room. It felt like I was walking in slow motion. Maya closed her bedroom door when Enoch started to follow me in, and as I collapsed onto the bed she let out a soft groan of disapproval. I stared up at the sky through the big, round window above the bed, and for the first time noticed the bars across its foggy surface. I swallowed hard against the pain of everything that had happened and was yet to come. Standing up against evil was beyond my understanding.

  “I wish I could go home.” I said miserably, tearing up, trying to force the words through the hard lump in my throat. I let another salty drop flow down my face and into my hairline but no relief came with those tears. I had to accept that I was stuck in limbo until someone figured out what to do with me. I had never before felt so alone. Anaya came in silently and handed me my device.

  “I thought you might want to call Sam,” she said.

  “Thank you,” I replied, trying hard to digest my self pity.

  The smell of fresh bread woke me the next morning, filling me with a new found hope. I have played the victim for far too long, I thought to myself as I opened my eyes. I lay blinking at the grass roof, thinking that I had to somehow make things work out for myself. “Suck it up,” Sam had said to me the night before. “This is your chance to rid yourself of playing the victim card.” I realized that she was right; I had to suck it up and make him feel disgusted with himself for treating me like that. Better yet, I shouldn’t give a damn. When Maya lifted her head from under the covers she was already smiling.

  “Is it morning already?” she said through a long yawn, all puffy-eyed and rosy-cheeked.

  “Oh, yes.”

  She climbed over me, elbowing me in the hip as she lifted herself up, and dashed across the room, white cotton shirt all crinkled, and left the door swinging behind her silently. Subconsciously, I rubbed at my thigh where the dart had struck me the day of the attack, but I refused to dwell on it any longer. I was growing tired of playing the victim. Laying my head back down on the pillow, I inhaled cold air into my lungs while summoning the courage to get out of bed and acknowledge everyone. I knew they would all be keeping an eye on me, watching my every move as they waited for the Change. Was it any better than being watched by our keepers? Shivering at the sight of the gray sky, I closed my eyes and tried to imagine tiny drops hitting against the window, tried to remember the scent of rain. Water always calmed me, whether it was in my mind or all around me.

  “Get up, you lazy bum!” Maya shouted from the bathroom.

  I had not noticed that she had returned. Startled, I dropped my device o
n the floor. I must have fallen asleep while talking to Sam. I jumped out of bed and made my way toward the bathroom, taking another look at the bed on the way there. Everything about the house suggested that the Minoans were a tall race, which was evident considering the size of Enoch and every other Minoan I had met so far. The bed was so high off the ground that I almost had to jump to get onto it, and when sitting on any chair in the cottage my feet would never touch the floor. I walked over to the basin standing on the tips of my toes to wet my face and peered into a piece of glass that was supposed to act like a mirror. My reflection was slight, but from all the tossing and turning the night before, it hadn’t done my hair any favors. As I wet my hair and combed it flat with my fingers, Maya turned to me. “We’re going to see Kronan today,” she said, her toothbrush dangling from her mouth. “You’ll need to borrow some of my riding gear.”

  She spat the white paste into the tiny basin. A dim light illuminated the tiny bathroom, which seemed to be inside the hollow of a tree trunk.

  “I love it,” I said cheerfully.

  “Huh?” she replied as she vigorously washed her face.

  Her eyes widened when she realized what I had meant. She threw a wet cloth at me.

  “The bathroom. It’s magical,” I said, wide-eyed in amazement.

  “Cool, isn’t it? My dad and I thought…” she paused.

  Her eyes darkened in sorrow.

  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t…” I tried to say. I felt the lump in my throat swell up again and bit down on my lip.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said, smiling faintly. “It just takes time, that’s all.” She hung her head. “Sometimes, I think I’ll never get over his death.”

  “How long has it been?”

  “It will be a year next week,” she said, her voice quivering.

  I pulled her closer and hugged her tightly.

  There was a gentle knock on the door, before it was opened. “Maya?” It was Enoch. His voice burrowed into my chest, my heart rate suddenly increasing. “We’re all packed and ready to go. We’re just waiting for…” he started.