by P. J. Hoover
Like the world is coming alive, sunshine moves across the sky outside and light moves through the windows, creating beams of color that bounce around and light up the crystals that hang from the pedestals.
“Where’s the control room?” I ask. We’ve done everything we were supposed to do. I’m ready for this to be over.
Zachary walks over with Raven limping at his side. Following them is Elise. She’s holding a giant mug of something. Eggnog I’m willing to bet. She takes a long sip and then grins, a mustache of the stuff on her upper lip.
“This is the control room,” Raven says.
I shake my head and motion around at everything, which is nothing. “This isn’t a control room,” I say.
“Are you sure?” Raven says. “What does your logic say about it?”
Logic. I piece through what I have. We are here, in what I thought was Main Control Room Alpha. We’ve defeated the final old god and trapped him. He was in control before. He was here. And now we are here. We are all here.
But there isn’t a control room. And there is supposed to be.
But there’s not.
No control room.
That’s the only answer.
“There is no control room,” I say.
Iva and Elise both burst out into a stream of giggles. Then Elise says, “You’re thinking too logically.”
I’ve never thought there could be too much logic. Logic answers everything. But I’m also missing something.
Maybe she’s right. Maybe I am thinking too logically. Everything is being controlled . . . just not in the way I thought.
“Oh, I get it,” Hudson says. “This is the control room. Right here. We’re in it.”
He’s wrong . . . I think.
“Good,” Raven says. “And . . . ?”
“And . . . we’re all here. We’re all in control,” Abigail says. She tosses her hair around, instantly making it fall into place in perfect waves despite everything we’ve been through, like she has some magical control of it.
Like she can manipulate it the same way I use the power to manipulate bits and pieces of the virtual world. Like she has control.
“Man, you guys are smart,” Zachary says. “No one of you is in control. All of you are. You each have different abilities. Different ways to shape reality. That’s what the world needs. Lots of gods, not just one or two. And not some ancient relics that can’t even remember what day of the week it is. Fresh. New. And plural.”
“Like a council,” I say. Not one person in control, but people who can work together to make sure the world thrives.
Work together or fight each other, I think. Because no matter what has just happened, I will never be on the same side as Owen. Or Simone. Damien. And yet they’re here. Part of the future.
“It’s like a pantheon,” Thomas says, grabbing my hand. “Remember Mom talking about a pantheon, Edie?”
The word floats out there, just beyond my memory. But Hudson immediately understands.
“A pantheon is a group of gods,” Hudson says. “And we’re the new gods.”
The new gods. Just like the old gods had been. A new generation to replace the ones that were no longer worthy.
Raven beams at Hudson, a little too much. Kind of like she wants to spend time with him now that this is all over. “Exactly. The world had old gods, but they’d run it into ruin. Now it has you. And it’s time to make things right.”
Make things right. But where to begin?
XLIV
I walk a slow circle around the room, acting like I’m studying every detail. Really, I’m trying to get my thoughts in order. Halfway across the room, I spin to face Iva, Elise, Raven, and Zachary.
“Where do you guys fit into this?” I ask. Zachary always referred to himself as a minor god.
He takes a step toward me, causing a frown to form instantly on Cole’s face. Zachary places a hand on his chest. “We’re minor gods. You guys are the major gods. Minor. Major.”
Taylor’s frown matches Cole’s though for a different reason. “And that means what? You listen to us? You do what we say?”
Iva giggles. “Of course not. Where would the fun in that be?” And without another word, she and Elise join hands and vanish.
The current game of the gods may be over, but I have no doubt there will be more in the future, especially with those two around.
“So,” Taylor says to Zachary. “You promised me—”
Zachary holds up a hand. “I did. And I am good for my word.” Then he disappears and five long seconds go by. Taylor looks like she’s ready to strangle someone. But when he reappears with Adam at his side, everything changes.
Taylor’s face is unlike I’ve ever seen it before. Her eyes are wide as she rushes over to her twin and grabs him so tightly I worry she’ll cut off his circulation. I can’t help the tears that well up in my eyes. They speak in low tones that I don’t try to listen in on. Then Zachary walks over to me and grabs both of my hands. Behind him, Cole clears his throat loudly.
“Don’t worry,” Zachary says. “We’re on the same side.”
“What side is that?” Cole asks.
Zachary doesn’t bother looking at Cole. He only keeps his eyes on me. “The side that’s going to get the world back in order.” Then he leans forward and plants a kiss on my cheek.
This is about as much as Cole can take. “Are we done here yet?” he asks.
Zachary lets go of my hands and steps back. “Done? You haven’t even started. And I haven’t either. Before I got here, I’d almost found the warehouse with the destroyers. And once I do . . . Well, I’ll fill you guys in on that when it happens.”
Then he, too, disappears right in front of my eyes.
Raven limps up to Hudson and presses a hand on his chest. “I like you,” she says. “You were immune to my powers.”
Hudson’s face turns about as red as the inside of a watermelon. “Yeah . . . well . . . ,” he starts.
“Come visit me anytime,” she says. “You know where to find me.”
The image of her domain with the animals around her forms in my mind. It had existed in the virtual world, in Simulation Avine, and yet I’m sure it is a reflection of her reality, too.
Hudson shrugs and tries to act like he’s all cool with it. “Maybe I will,” he says.
I’m willing to bet a week doesn’t go by before he takes her up on the offer.
Then Raven turns into her namesake bird and flies away, leaving only Gamma, tall and willowy. She steps forward.
“I’d like to offer my services,” she says, bowing to all of us.
I want to tell her not to bow to me, that I’m just some normal kid from Florida, not some god. But the words remain unspoken.
“With what?” Owen says. Of all of us, he looks the most comfortable with our newfound divine power.
Gamma smiles. “I’m an excellent chef. I love to bake, a different recipe every Friday. No one can match my abilities at making eggnog. I clean. I run errands.”
And I offer sound advice, she says directly in my mind. I look to her, wondering if I’m the only one who heard her. Her eyes are fixed only on me. She spoke to Elise telepathically back when we’d visited Elise’s cloud zone. And here . . . maybe she’s willing to do the same for me.
The image of the giant snake returns to me. Ancient gods still remain, as in plural. And I can’t help but wonder if Gamma is just like him. Maybe I’m stupid to keep one of the ancient gods near me. But I also wonder if I have much choice. At least if Gamma is nearby, I’ll know where she is, too.
I’ll take all the advice I can get, I think.
Gamma smiles, like she’s heard me. And maybe she has.
“Sure,” I say, shrugging like it’s no big deal. “I like eggnog.”
Gamma clasps her hands together and smil
es. “Good. Then it’s settled.” Then she walks away and slips around a corner of the room whose walls form as she goes.
That leaves the rest of us. The ones who have survived. At our feet lay those who fell during the battle, but some remain. Those I know are Cole, Taylor, Hudson, Abigail, Owen. Adam, newly restored from the dead. There’s Rex and Amanda though I hardly know them. Simone. Damien. There’s the red-headed girl from the labyrinth. A couple other kids I’d seen there and seen in Simulation Avine. In total, there are fourteen of us, not including Thomas.
“Fourteen,” Hudson says, breaking the silence that has filled the chamber. “You know there were fourteen Olympians back in Greek mythology.”
“Probably a coincidence,” Taylor says.
Hudson shrugs. “Probably.”
“Yeah, well what are we supposed to do now?” Taylor says.
Hudson decides we need some kind of council chamber, like a place we all meet to discuss things, so he, Rex, and Amanda start work on that.
I have a few things to do, none of which I want to do with everyone watching.
I pull materials from the surrounding area, but here, in this control room, I have at my fingertips materials from all the worlds, not just those in the immediate vicinity. I construct four walls and a roof, simple in design, hardly even noteworthy. Then I make a door and pull Thomas inside. Once we’re inside, I increase the space, not taking away from the immediate area around me but from the overall unlimited space of the world. I add more and more space until I have enough for Thomas and me to move around comfortable.
Then I find my parents.
They’re been stored away, in the banks of people. Billions of them, filed away. But everything is stored logically, and I’m able to find them easily. I pull their storage into a local area and then I reanimate it here, in this place.
I shake as they take form. What if something is wrong? What if everything has changed? But nothing has changed. The second they are complete, I am certain of this.
“Mom? Dad?” I say, and I rush over, letting them pull me into their arms. Thomas immediately runs over to us also, and we hold on like we never plan to let go again. It’s only after at least a minute that maybe they realize everything is not as it should be.
Dad pulls back from the hug. “Where are we?” he asks, shaking his head, trying to make sense of what he sees.
Mom cocks her head. “The ship . . . It was going down.”
That is their last memory. Digging too deep. Being pulled under, into the crack in the earth, the place that separated their reality from the world of the gods.
“You guys have missed a lot,” I say. And then I hug them again. We have an eternity to catch up. For now, I don’t want to ever let them out of my sight again.
There’s a knock on the door as Cole walks in, and immediately my heart sinks. I have my parents and Thomas. He has no one. Not even Pia.
I extend my hand, inviting him over to me. And when our hands meet, I interlock my fingers with his.
Dad raises an eyebrow. “Who’s this?”
“This is Cole,” I say. “We’ve been through a lot together.” And like my parents, I know I never want to let Cole out of my sight either.
“Cole?” Dad says. “Where did you guys meet?”
I can’t help but laugh. But I guess the story has to start somewhere.
Slowly, bit by bit, Cole and I fill in my parents and Thomas on everything that’s happened, from the world turning upside down to the labyrinth and Simulation Avine. As I talk, I pull on the power, adding elements to the room around me.
I start with the walls, turning them into pink and black crystal on three sides. On the far side, I create sand and the ocean, a lot like Iva’s domain. I add space as I need to, and each time something new appears, Mom and Dad look a bit more skeptical. I still haven’t managed to get out the reality of my future. But Thomas takes care of this for me.
“Edie and Cole are gods,” Thomas says.
If I think Mom and Dad are going to be surprised, I’m completely wrong. They only nod and make suggestions about how the room around me should look.
No, not room. Domain. This is my domain, and I plan to make it exactly how I want.
Then Hudson knocks on the door. When I open it, his eyes go wide.
“I thought I’d been busy,” he says. “But I guess I’m not the only one.”
“Guess not,” I say. And I introduce him to my parents. Then he suggests a council meeting. He doesn’t tell Cole and me we have to attend. He doesn’t try to take charge. It is a suggestion, but a good one. But before I leave, I reach to my pocket. The apple seeds I acquired in Iva’s domain are still there, transcending the boundary of the simulation. I bend down, dig a small hole with my hands, and plant them. Then we leave my parents and Thomas there and head back into the main chamber.
XLV
Hudson runs ahead but Cole stops me once we’re outside my newly constructed domain. Without a word, he lowers his head and we kiss. I press him against the crystal wall and lean in close to him, needing to feel him next to me. Even if everything else is in disorder, Cole is still here. Solid. Real. And ready to face the future with me.
He runs his hands over my back and pulls me close. I reach up and run my hands through his thick dark hair, holding his face to mine. Warmth runs through me, and I let the kiss last well over a minute. Maybe two. Who’s counting anyway?
Finally I pull back because reality is tugging at me. But I lean close and place my lips against his ear.
“I’m glad you’re here with me,” I whisper, barely audible.
He puts his lips to my ear and whispers back, “Don’t leave me, okay?”
I answer with a single kiss, sweet and full of my intent. I have no plans to leave Cole. Not now. Not ever. Then I pull back from him and we continue forward until we find the newly constructed council chamber.
Owen and Abigail are the last to arrive. We sit around a round table, fourteen chairs. Hudson clears his throat and says something like, “So I guess we should figure out what—”
But the rest gets lost because Owen cuts him off. “We need a leader,” Owen says.
Unspoken, but oh so obvious, is that he thinks he should be that leader. I don’t want to work with Owen on anything, but I know deep down that I’m going to have to. We’re all going to have to work together.
“Maybe we should talk about restoring the world first,” Taylor says. “Last I saw, there weren’t any people there.”
It is a good place to start. But so is cleaning up the world. And the reality of what we face slams into me. We have so much work to do. Whatever happens, whatever we decide, it won’t happen instantly.
“Alright,” Hudson says. “Who has ideas? How about we go around the room and everyone gets five minutes?”
Owen scowls. “Nobody put you in charge.”
But Abigail places a hand on his arm, and some sort of calming seems to wash over him, like she’s using her power on him and he’s completely unaware.
I stand up, scooting my chair back. “I’ll go first,” I say. Then I lay out my plans for reshaping the world.
I start with the plan to repair the crack under the ocean floor. To reseal the barrier between the world of the gods and the human world. And after that, I continue on, refilling the ocean, repairing infrastructure, making the place livable again. I’m sure I’m overlooking obvious things, making mistakes. But I’m also not going to sit back and let everyone else decide. Every single one of us will make mistakes. I might as well be the first.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the third book in the Game of the Gods series, A Buried Spark! If you did enjoy reading A Buried Spark, I would love if you would take a few moments to review the book on Amazon.
Thank you!
Review A BURIED SPARK
Read Book 1 in the
DYING EARTH Series: SOLSTICE
Books by P. J. Hoover
Game of the Gods Series
A Broken Truce
A Ruined Land
A Buried Spark
The Dying Earth Series
Solstice
The Hidden Code
The Demigod Chronicles
Furiously Awesome
Tut: My Immortal Life Series
Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life
Tut: My Epic Battle to Save the World
The Forgotten Worlds Trilogy
The Emerald Tablet
The Navel of the World
The Necropolis
Camp Hercules Series
The Curse of Hera
A NOTE FROM P. J.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read the Game of the Gods Series. If you enjoyed reading A Buried Spark, I would love if you would take a few moments to review the book on Amazon. Reviews are so important these days, and even a one sentence review can make a huge difference in other readers discovering the series.
Thank you!
—P. J. HOOVER
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
P. J. (Tricia) Hoover wanted to be a Jedi, but when that didn’t work out, she became an electrical engineer instead. After a fifteen year bout designing computer chips for a living, P. J. started creating worlds of her own. She’s the award-winning author of The Hidden Code, a Da Vinci Code-style young adult adventure with a kick-butt heroine, and Tut: The Story of My Immortal Life, featuring a fourteen-year-old King Tut who’s stuck in middle school. When not writing, P. J. spends time practicing kung fu, solving Rubik’s cubes, and watching Star Trek. For more information about P. J. (Tricia) Hoover, please visit her website www.pjhoover.com..