Imagine (15 page)

             
Riley points me in the direction of some nearby caves and I head off, without so much as even looking at Keagan. I am extremely excited that I am about to take my first hot bath in what feels like weeks.

The shower area is located in one of the caves
, I have wanted to explore one of the caverns since I arrived here, but have never had a chance. I’ve just been too busy.

W
alking inside I am amazed, it’s breathtaking. The stone on the inside of the cavern is incredible, huge white stalagmites rise from the floor and looking up; enormous stalactites dangle precariously like icicles from the top of the cave. The small amount of light from the candles and lamps in the cave make it feel very mystical indeed. Definitely one of the most impressive places I have taken a bath, that’s for sure.

Towards the back of the cavern is a natural pool
, the water looks crystal clear, three stone steps lead into it. But I have my eyes on the large clay tub that is off to the side. I head over and add some bubble bath that was left on the edge of the tub, along with some soap and shampoo. I strip and jump into the bathtub.

It’s wonderful
, all of my muscles seem to unbunch and I can finally relax. I close my eyes and just let the water and vanilla bubbles. While lying in the warm water my mind starts going bonkers, running through everything that I have learned. I cannot believe that they expect me, little Trish McKay, to save humanity. 

The last thing I think before my eyes begin to feel heavy is about
Humankind, it doesn’t deserve to just be wiped of the face of the earth, but there are a lot of things wrong with the way we live today. I am about to doze off when I hear footsteps in the cave.

I instantly tense
, only to discover that it is Helen. I smile at her. “Sorry, this tub’s already taken, but I shouldn’t be too long.”

“I’
m actually here for the natural spring over here” she says pointing to the pool with the steps. “As long as you don’t mind the company.”

“Not at all Helen.
I am so glad that you’re here with us, I bet you were excited to see Riley again.”

Helen has a huge smile on her face that rea
ches from ear-to-ear and all the way into her eyes. She heads over to the pool and sheds her towel revealing a bathing suit underneath. She gets in and a huge sigh leaves her body. “It is really nice to have both of my children here, on the same side for the first time in a long time; they actually agree with each other, Marcus and I are so happy.”

“
Helen can I ask you something in complete confidentiality?”

“Anything dear
, what is on your mind?”

I look around the cavern for a minute just collecting my thoughts and trying to find the right words but come to the conclusion that I might as well just throw it out there.
 

“Do
you think that humanity should be saved?”

Helen who was lounging in the pool with eyes
closed opens her eyes and sits up swimming towards the edge of the pool so that she can look at me.  “What’s making you ask me this question dear? Is something troubling you?”

“The worl
d has a lot of hardship, war, famine, selfish people and I wonder if humanity deserves to be saved, I know it’s the
right
thing to do but … Are we actually doing the world an injustice?”

“What makes you think that?”

“Well on one hand, it just seems like everybody is just out for number one, they seem to rule over peoples actions. When I was in Haven it seemed that having a more simple life made people much less selfish, working together and everyone cared for each other. Maybe wiping today’s society off the face of the earth and starting over isn’t such a horrible idea after all. A fresh start, learning from our mistakes. On the other hand, I simply just cannot justify killing all of those people.”

“Trish
dear, I know that it may seem that humanity has a lot of flaws such as the ones you outlined, but think of all the good things that are out there too. You know one of the greatest things about being human, our ability to love. I have to tell you that when first Keagan and then Riley where born that my heart swelled with love, unconditional love. These two little people completely depended upon me and I knew I would do everything I could to give them the best life I could. 

Everyone is
different; life would sure be boring if everyone was the same, wouldn’t it? There has to be a balance. We humans are not perfect, with our free will and desire to be an individual comes both good and bad.” She says before ducking her head under the water.

Helen
has a point, as the Beastie Boys said “We gotta fight … For our right … To party”

XX

imagine life

How did this happen? How did I come to be standing here about to learn how to use my ‘Powers’ in order to save the whole
entire
world? I am not the person that they say I am, how can all of this responsibility fall on
my
shoulders? Why
me
? Mom told me that I was going to have to learn how to control these ‘powers’ in order to stop my birth mother, Allecto, who wants to drain them from me to make them her own and then, with the help of my twin Sister, drown the world we live in, just like Atlantis.

             
Riley, Keagan, Sam, and I are all waiting in a meadow, just a few minutes from camp, waiting for the person that is going to be teaching me how to do all of this. The others are here to watch and support me and I really appreciate it, I guess that none of them have ever really seen any of the Young Creators in action before. 

I am surprised that Keagan
 is here, we really have not gotten over our differences and I have no idea where we stand with each other. I don't know what I want when it comes to him. The butterflies still make an appearance whenever I am around him. Did Keagan ever really care for me at all? Did he know what I was for all this time? Being in such close proximity with him out of the hostile environment of Haven is making it all really hard. My head and heart are at odds with each other. 

             
"Why do you have to be here?" I ask Keagan. My tone very unambiguously harsh.  Now that everything has somewhat calmed down and we are not running for our life, I cannot help but be bitter towards him.

             
Riley and Sam look at each other, I can tell that they are wondering what is going on. But I don’t care. I am dealing with enough already; I don’t want to be constantly reminded of what we had, or what I thought we had, together.

             
“I didn’t realize that my being here was going to be a problem, Trish?" I think I see a flash of hurt on his face, but it’s gone all too quickly for me to be sure. "Do you want me to leave?"

             
"Yes, I do. I really do Keagan. I don’t want to be around you at the moment." I keep eye contact with him to make sure that he knows that I am being serious.

             
"Fine!" he says, and with a roll of his eyes he jumps down from his perch on the log and heads back towards the camp, kicking dirt as he goes.

             
Riley gets down from the log also and turns to me. "I’m going to go talk to my brother, Trish.  Good luck girl, I know you can do this!" With this she runs after Keagan.

             
Now it’s just Sam and I, waiting for my elusive instructor.  "How are you holding up?" he asks me with a supportive smile.

             
"I don’t know to be honest; there has been so much going on lately. Now this whole thing. I’m trying to keep my head above water, only just managing not to drown. Do you know what I mean?" I scoot closer to him and turn my body so that I am sitting across from him. Sam is a cute guy, the All-American boy, with sandy blond hair and a quick, mischievous smile. He is lean, but muscular. Definitely an attractive guy. 

             
"I definitely get it Trish, Kia and I are kinda in the same boat. There were moments when we were in Haven when I wanted to give up, but had to stay strong for my Sister. You know? All the stuff that we have learned here is running around in my head all the time, I’m trying to make sense of it." Sam tells me.

             
"That’s true, I didn’t even think about how all of this affected you and Kia. How is she holding up?" His eyes move from looking at me to his hands, folded in his lap, and I can see worry all across his face.  I have never seen Sam like this.

             
"I am really worried about her; she isn’t anywhere near as strong as you are. She cries non-stop. I hope that time will eventually heal her wounds." 

 
              "I am really sorry Sam; everything is going to be alright for you guys. You’re a great big brother. If I can help with anything please don’t hesitate to let me know." I put my hand on top of his and squeeze it to show my sincerity. He looks up from his lap and gives me an easy smile.

             
"You know, we really need to talk Trish! I don’t think you’re being completely fair here.” I look behind and see Keagan storming towards us.  He has a look of determination on his face. But when he sees my hand on top of Sam’s he stops. "Seriously Trish? And you’re giving me a hard time?" He shakes his head and turns on his heels to leave.

             
"First of all Keagan, whatever this may seem to be is none of your business. It’s not like you’re my boyfriend. You were my Guardian, the guy that put soap in my mouth and a whip across my back. That’s who you are and that’s all that we need to say to each other." Another 180 turn on his heels has Keagan glaring at me now.

             
I am pissed, who does he think he is? He has no right to judge me; he’s supposed to be engaged to Porsche! To demonstrate my point I lean across and kiss Sam. It’s a simple kiss, it’s even comforting. At first I can tell that Sam is taken by surprise, but he quickly gets into it. Sam is a great kisser. He leaves me breathless and when we part Sam has a huge smile on his face.

             
"That was unexpected." he tells me. Keagan is now nowhere to be seen. Good, I am glad to have him out of my hair. Maybe a little bit wrong on my part but I just need to get Keagan out of my hair so that I can think clearly and kissing Sam was the easiest way to do that.

             
"Sorry, I know that that was wrong but I was trying to make a point. I do have to admit though Sam, I liked it too." I take my hand of off Sam’s and sit back putting a little bit of distance between us.

             
Maximus and the most beautiful woman I have ever seen step into the clearing together. It seems like she is almost floating by his side, she is moving so gracefully. She has porcelain skin and long black hair with blue highlights. She has impossibly high cheekbones and ... Oh my ... Her eyes, they are completely white. She is wearing a long flowing white dress made of a shimmering material; it reflects the sunlight and appears to be sparkling, like it is covered in a thousand little diamonds.

             
She doesn’t stop until she is a little too close to me for comfort. She leans down, placing her elbows onto her knees to look directly into my eyes. This time when I look, to my surprise, her eyes are a deep chocolate brown; wait … Now they are blue? Her eye color keeps changing; probably the coolest thing I have ever seen. 

             
"Trish" she lets out in a whispery voice, its quiet and haunting making me shiver with a sense of foreboding.

“I am
 Tisiphone; I know that you have already met my dear husband, Maximus here."

             
My mouth has got to be hanging open; this is one of The Furies, and basically my Aunt. She is married to Mr. Monous. My American History teacher. Holy moly!

             
“You look surprised to see me, you didn’t think that I was just going to have anyone train you, did you? We
have
to ensure that Allecto does not accomplish her goal. So you’ll need expert advice from someone who knows her and her powers very well indeed. By the way dear, you may call me Aunt Tisi." She smiles and she really has this unearthly beauty about her, I see kindness in her face which makes me trust her. Then I look at Maximus and a million questions jump into my head at once.

             
He seems to sense this and begins to talk. "Yes Trish, I am the Artemisian that Tisiphone fell in love with thousands of years ago. I was at Dalton Academy just living the simple life, a little vacation if you like. We have many children together, Tisi and I, but not all of them want to save the world, and some of them have even chosen to join Allecto. So I’m afraid you’re stuck with us. You have to stop Allecto with our help. Only you can."

             
I look at him like he is crazy, how did he know that was exactly what I was thinking? Can he read my mind?

             
“I cannot read your mind, Trish. But I am an expert in reading emotions." He is laughing. At the expression on my face, I am sure. "Sam, I am actually really happy that you are here to support Trish, but where are Kia, Keagan and Riley? I was very much hoping they’d be here too." Maximus looks around the clearing as if they might jump out from behind a tree at any moment. 

             
"Riley and Keagan are just catching up with each other as they have not seen each other in such a long time." I tell them.

 
              “And Kia is sleeping, she is worn out.” Adds Sam.

             
"I am surprised. You are the first that has ever been trained here by Tisi. I didn’t think they’d want to miss one second of this." he shakes his head.

             
"So what now?" I look between Maximus and Tisiphone not sure what to expect. The air seems to shimmer in front of me; out of nowhere I see a wooden deck take shape. I continue to watch in amazement as an entire lounge area simply appears out of thin air. There are two white large comfortable looking couches with lush pillows strewn across them. A glass table is set in the middle with a big wooden bowl, full to the brim with fresh tropical fruit, a big glass pitcher of juice with four tall glasses also appear. It reminds me of something you would see in a nice hotel or restaurant in a tropical vacation spot. I am speechless. She just created all of this right in front of us.               Without a word, I walk over to the table and pick up a banana. Sitting down on one of the couches I peel it and take a bite of the fruit. I am surprised at how delicious it is. 

             
Tisiphone turns to Maximus and gently kisses his cheek. “Why don’t you and Sam spend some time together dear? That way Trish and I can talk."

             
Maximus nods to Sam, as if to say let’s give these ladies some privacy, and they head off in the direction of camp. Tisiphone comes over and sits next to me. A light breeze makes me shiver, and out of nowhere a light knit blanket covers my legs.  

             
"Wow that’s really cool!" I hear Tisiphone let out a laugh, it sounds like wind chimes. Her laugh is enchanting, and spreads all the way into her eyes.

             
"Trish, it is quite amazing how language and phrases change over time. I don’t think I would ever have expected the term ‘cool’ to be used to describe the gifts bestowed on me and my Sisters by the old gods."

             
Looking at Tisiphone, remembering the stories my Mom and Maximus told us about The Furies yesterday in the tent, history makes it really hard to believe just how loving and sweet person she seems now. Her face is almost lit up by her smile; all I can see is a genuine, nice person in front of me today. How could this woman have been a part of something as destructive as the tsunami that wiped Atlantis from the face of the earth?

             
"I know that you have been going through a whirlwind and things just keep getting thrown at you. So I think we should just keep it simple today, let’s concentrate on your abilities versus the why or what. What do you think?" Tisiphone is looking at me expectantly.

             
"That sounds great; I would love to escape from my head for a little while." I smile at her in gratitude.

             
“I can tell that you have touched the magic Trish. Tell me about the times that it has happened and the circumstances that have led to you using your powers so far." 

             
"Well, they have appeared just three times now. The first time, which seems to be the beginning of all of this craziness, was at my house, in my kitchen to be exact. Mom was making pancakes, being extremely annoying, nagging away at me. I felt really frustrated with her, I imagined our broom floating in the air and hitting her in the back of the head." 

             
I look to see her reaction, but she just waves her hand to prompt me to continue. “The second time I was returning from a night out with my friends. My best friend Chelsey and I were sitting in the back seat when a car came crashing over the overpass above us. I saw my life flash in front of my eyes and all I could think of was the terrible sound that my bones would make when the glass and metal were breaking them. I was beyond scared, but thinking back, I had this overwhelming urge to live. I wanted to experience more of what life was throwing my way. The car, as if held up by invisible strings, stayed suspended in the air until we were safely out of harms reach. Then the car was gently set down, it was absolutely amazing. The guy that was driving pulled over and we all got out of the car. You have no idea the emotions that overcame me when a husband, wife and their nine year old son got out of their car. The parents were looking at the overpass and then back at their car in complete amazement, I don’t think that they could believe that they had not been hurt" I have tears of happiness in my eyes when I look back at that night.