Royal Hearts (10 page)

“It almost sounds like one of those names you
could use in one of your fantasy stories, Ann. Ann likes to write
fantasy.”

Kent came up to them. “Stacey, I just had a
thought. Before you commit yourself to Toledo, why don’t you let us
give you a tour of our campus? Then you can decide whether or not
you want to go there. It’s not fair to turn down a college before
you give it a chance.”

Ann raised an eyebrow in surprise. It
appeared that Stacey had caught his attention.

“You want us to give the tour?” Hathor asked
Kent.

“Sure. It would be the four of us,” Kent
said. “You, me, Stacey and…. I’m sorry. What’s your name?”

“Ann.”

Stacey looked at Ann. “What do you think?
Even though you won’t be going there, would you like to see
it?”

“Why aren’t you going there?” Kent asked.

“I’m moving to Florida,” Ann said.

“But seeing the campus could still prepare
you for what college is like,” Hathor was quick to suggest.

Ann couldn’t argue that logic.

“Okay. Why not?” Stacey agreed. “I don’t
think you’ll change my mind though.”

“I’ll let the campus speak for itself.” Kent
handed her a campus map and pointed to a spot on it. “This is the
Student Union. I think that would be a good place to meet. It’s
where most of the activities happen.”

Ann leaned forward and studied the map. “I
know where that street is. I drive by it on my way to her
house.”

“That’s because you’re lucky enough to have
parents who lend you their car,” Stacey said with a wistful
sigh.

“I can probably take my mom’s car to school
this Wednesday. She’s not doing anything on that day, and since
she’s not busy, she’ll probably let me borrow it.”

“Wednesday after school. That would be about
3:30 for us. What do you guys think?” Stacey asked.

Hathor indicated his agreement.

Kent nodded. “That’s a good time. You will
have to park in the Visitor’s Lot, over here.” He circled the
parking lot on the map. “Here’s my number in case you need to reach
me.”

“Okay. Well, we better head on over to the
other booths so I can collect more pens,” Stacey said. “Bye.”

Amused, Ann added her good-bye to Hathor and
Kent before she followed her friend. “Kent likes you,” she told
Stacey in a singsong voice.

Stacey grinned. “Do you think so? I was
hoping he might. He just turned nineteen, so I think my dad will
let me date him.”

“You have all the luck,” Ann mused. “I have
to be fixed up to get a guy, and all you have to do is rob a table
of pens and brochures and some guy ends up drooling all over
you.”

“Hold on. I think Hathor may be interested in
you.”

“Really?”

“He didn’t take his eyes off of you the whole
time we were talking.” They stopped at another table, and she
added, “Unfortunately, he has blond hair. If I remember correctly,
blonds aren’t your type.”

Ann glanced back and saw that Hathor was
still watching her. She quickly looked away, feeling the heat rise
in her cheeks. “Even if he is a blond, he’s good looking.”

Stacey smirked. “Looks like William better
watch out.”

Ann shook her head in wonder, sure her friend
was reading more into the thing with Hathor than what was actually
there.

Chapter Nine

Present day

Ivory steps on Mount Olympus

Planet: Olympia

Second Commander Jaz wiped the sweat off her
forehead as she trudged up another step to get to the ivory palace
where the gods and goddesses dwelt. She was beginning to understand
why they had put so many steps in the side of the mountain. They
didn’t like to be disturbed unless it was important, so they
purposely made the journey to their home long and physically
exhausting.

“Now I know why Leader Paff didn’t send out a
search party until forty-eight hours passed,” Guard Lino muttered.
“Queen Ann would have to go through all this just to get to the
gods.”

“Maybe we should take a break when we get to
the next cave,” Guard Falon said.

“Good idea,” Jaz replied.

The three found one in short time and sat
down to rest. Jaz stretched her weary legs. It felt good to relax.
They were only halfway to the palace, and that was while walking as
fast as they could up the mountain. She didn’t relish the idea of
completing their trek. But even with all they were going through,
they were probably better off than Queen Ann.

She opened her telecommunicator and called
Paff. After she gave him the update on the search party, she asked,
“Have any new developments occurred since we last talked?”

“No. Things are the same here,” he replied.
“I don’t know if that’s good or not.”

“As long as Pale is in one piece, I’ll take
it as good news. I’ll report to you later.” Putting the
telecommunicator away, she turned to the guards who were busy
preparing their meal. “Nothing’s changed on Pale,” she told
them.

“The waiting is almost unbearable,” Lino
commented. “I can’t believe Omin made a clone. It makes me wonder
what else he was up to.”

“I don’t know if anything can be worse than
the Great Prison where massive brainwashing and torture took
place,” Falon said. “But let’s hope we can end his plans before he
can cause any more harm.”

They nodded their agreement then turned their
attention to the food.

After they ate, Falon rose to his feet. “I’ll
be right back.”

Jaz watched him go deeper into the cave for a
private spot, most likely to relieve his bladder. With a sigh, she
joined Lino and went outside the cave to get a good look at the sky
which was slowly growing dark. Soon it would be night. She took out
her flashlight and made sure it was fully charged and ready to go
for an entire night’s walk. She checked her bag to make sure she
had enough supplies to take care of their needs. Everything looked
good. She sealed her bag and waited for Falon to return.

After several minutes passed, Lino turned his
attention to her. “I think I’ll see what’s taking Falon so
long.”

“I was just beginning to worry about him.
Here’s my flashlight. That cave is getting darker inside.”

Lino went into the cave, and when he returned
a couple minutes later, he was alone. “I can’t find him anywhere,”
he told her. “I have no idea where he might have gone. It’s not a
big cave.”

Frowning, she followed him back into the cave
and examined their surroundings. The cool amber walls of the cave
were moist with a substance she didn’t recognize. She also saw a
trickle of water flowing from the ceiling on one of the walls. The
water formed a small pool that seemed to stay at the same level
even though she didn’t see anywhere for the water in the pool to
drain out.

Lino took out his locator. “This device
should pick up Falon’s identification badge.”

Jaz waited as he turned it on and used it to
scan the cave. But it soon became apparent this didn’t do any good.
Wherever Falon was, there was no way to trace his path.

“It’s like he vanished,” Lino whispered,
still moving his locator to try to pick up any faint traces of
their traveling companion.

“What is your usual action in a situation
like this?”

“Find help from a local in the area. There
must be something peculiar about this cave. Perhaps one of the gods
or goddesses can enlighten us about this.”

As much as she hated the idea of leaving
Falon behind, she didn’t see any other option at this point. They
had already wasted twenty minutes searching the cave.

“Alright. I’ll follow you,” she said.

Lino nodded and led the way out of the cave
and back up the side of the mountain.

***

Six years in the past

Hathor’s dorm room

Dayton, Ohio

Planet: Earth

On Monday night, Hathor was taking a long hot
shower. His mind was preoccupied with seeing Ann again on
Wednesday. If it was up to him, he would have taken her to Raz as
soon as he saw her, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He was not to
disturb the delicate balance of time. Ann would come to Raz four
years from now. He couldn’t take her before then.

Once again, he secretly thanked Kent for
coming up with the idea of a campus tour. He knew Kent wanted to
see Stacey again, and Kent had confessed to him later that
afternoon he was too nervous to be with Stacey by himself. He
thought if her friend and Hathor were there, it would make the
situation less awkward. Hathor was more than happy to help Kent
out, especially since Kent had figured out an inconspicuous way for
Hathor to see Ann again. So Kent was really doing him a favor
without realizing it.

Hathor’s thoughts drifted back to Ann. And
unfortunately, it also went to William. She loved William in this
part of her past, and from the conversation he overheard in the
food court at the mall, it was apparent that William wanted to be
with her as well. But there was something about William that
bothered him.

It wasn’t just the fact that Hathor didn’t
care for the guy. He never did think much of William since he
didn’t care enough for Ann to go to Florida to be with her when he
had the chance. There was something else, something that lingered
on the edge of his mind. It was like a faint tickle that he
couldn’t scratch.

He got out of the shower and absentmindedly
dried his body. Afterwards, he threw on a pair of comfortable
shorts and a green t-shirt, settled on his bed, and closed his
eyes.

He replayed the conversation he overheard
between William and his friend. It was that strange comment William
made about déjà vu. How did William word it?

Maybe I should just say that meeting her
yesterday was like déjà vu.

Yes, that’s what he said, and there was
something suspicious in the way he said it. And there was more to
it than that. William’s friend had remarked that he missed the “old
William.” Why would he make such a comment?

Déjà vu. Déjà vu…

Hathor had heard that expression before. But
where? And when? It wasn’t a term used on Raz. Palers didn’t use
it. He never heard an Olympian say it. In fact, he couldn’t think
of a single planet where anyone on the world said it…except…

He sat up, his eyes wide open. Ann said it.
It was after she became the queen of Raz. She’d told him about the
Palers sending her back to Earth at the time when she was
seventeen. She’d told him she wasn’t the same person she’d been
when she and William dated the first time. She had retained her
memories of the future but it was as if William was experiencing
everything for the first time.

“At first, it was like I was going through
everything for the first time,” she’d explained to Hathor, “but
slowly I noticed that my memories started coming back. It was as if
I was living in a state of déjà vu. Déjà vu is when you feel like
you’ve been through something before.”

And that’s how William felt now. Could it be
possible that he was the one who had the memories this time, but
she didn’t? Maybe William remembered everything, like Hathor
did.

Hathor decided it was time to pay William
Nichols a visit. He had to find out what was going on. He didn’t
know where William lived, but he was sure he could get Kent to help
him find out where he was. People on Earth must know how to find
each other. Yes, he’d ask Kent for help. And then, he would pay
William a visit.

***

Present day

Inside the Lower Depths of Mount Olympus

Planet: Olympia

Guard Falon slowly regained consciousness. He
winced in pain as he struggled to wake up. His left shoulder hurt,
and by the way things felt, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn it
was out of joint.

He groaned, a slight echo bouncing off the
walls around him. What happened to him? He struggled to recall the
events leading up to his current predicament. The last thing he
remembered was that he had just finished eating his meal and had
gone deeper into the cave to find a private spot to go to the
bathroom.

After he finished, he noticed a tiny crack in
one of the walls. Deciding to investigate, he walked over to it and
noticed that a sliver of light was coming through it. It was odd to
see a light radiating from behind the cave’s wall considering this
cave was carved into the side of a mountain. He reached up to touch
the crack. The crack widened and began to morph into a big, gaping
hole. He took a step back but tripped and fell toward it. The last
thing he remembered was the hole closing behind him. From there,
the impact from the fall knocked him unconscious.

With a groan, he made himself sit up and
searched his pockets until he found the device he needed. He pulled
it out with his good arm. His enthusiasm quickly turned to dismay
when he saw that the telecommunicator had broken in the fall.

This was bad. He didn’t have many supplies on
him. He had a small flashlight and a compass. Resigning himself to
the difficult task ahead of him, he got to his feet. His legs
seemed to be alright, so he should be able to walk without any
trouble. Glad for some good news, he took out his flashlight.
Everything around him was so dark. Just where did the light come
from?

“Whatever it was that I saw, it’s gone now,”
he mumbled.

He turned the flashlight on and examined his
surroundings. The walls around him were as moist as the cave’s
walls up above had been. He noticed that the walls ascended upward,
without seeming to have an end in sight. How far had he fallen?

Turning his attention to the ground, he
realized it was soft dirt. He put the flashlight in his mouth so he
could take out his compass and read it. He, Jaz and Lino had been
going northwest up the mountain. He found the direction they had
been going and headed in that direction. With any luck, it would
lead him to his way out of here and back to where he needed to
be.