Chapter 9: Fear of Cars.

Dr. John Dee leaned across the backseat of the police car. "Turn here," he said to Josh. He saw the expression on the young man's face and added, "Please."

Josh hit the brakes and the car slid and screeched, the front tire now completely torn away and the wheel running on the metal rim, kicking up sparks.

"Now here." Dee pointed to a narrow alleyway lined on both sides with rows of plastic trash cans. Watching him in the rearview mirror, Josh could see that he kept twisting in the seat to look behind him.

"Is she following?" Machiavelli asked.

"I can't see her," Dee said crisply, "but I think we need to get off the streets."

Josh struggled to control the car. "We won't get much farther in this," he began, and then hit the first trash can, which toppled into a second and then a third, scattering rubbish across the alley. He turned the steering wheel sharply to avoid running over one of the fallen bins and the engine began to bang alarmingly. The car wobbled and then suddenly stopped, smoke billowing from the hood. "Out," Josh said quickly. "I think we're on fire." He scrambled out of the car Lily right next to him, Machiavelli and Dee exiting on the other side. Then they turned and ran down the alley, away from the car. They had taken perhaps half a dozen steps when there was a dull thump and the car burst into flames. Thick black smoke began spiraling upward into the sky.

"Wonderful," Dee said bitterly. "So now the Disir definitely knows where we are. And she's not going to be happy."

"Well, not with you, that's for sure," Machiavelli said with a wry smile.

"Me?" Dee looked surprised.

"I'm not the one who set fire to her," Machiavelli reminded him.

"no but your girlfriend wrapped her in a cacoon"

"Enough, already!" Josh rounded on the two men and the woman. "Who was that … that woman?"

"That," Machiavelli said with a grim smile, "was a Valkyrie."

"A Valkyrie?"

"Sometimes called a Disir."

"A Disir?"

Josh stepped back from the woman and two men. "I've got to get back," he said

Dee turned to look at him, gray eyes twinkling kindly. "Why, Josh, where are you going?"

"Back to my sister."

"And Flamel and Saint-Germain too? Tell me; what are they going to do for you?"

Josh took another step backward. "Don't try and stop me," he began, turning away.

"What did it feel like?" Dee asked suddenly.

Josh slowly turned to look at the Magician.

"What was it like holding Clarent, feeling that raw power running through you? What was it like knowing the thoughts and emotions of the creature you'd just stabbed?" Dee reached under his tattered suit coat and pulled out Clarent's twin: Excalibur. "It is an awe-inspiring feeling, is it not?" He turned the blade in his hand, a blue-black trickle of energy shivering across the stone sword. "I know you must have experienced Nidhogg's thoughts … emotions … memories?"

Josh nodded.

"For an instant you knew what it was to be godlike: to see worlds beyond imagination, to experience alien emotions. You saw the past, the very distant past … you might even have seen Nidhogg's Shadowrealm."

Josh nodded slowly,

The Magician took a step closer to the boy. "For an instant, Josh, the merest instant, it was like being Awakened—though nowhere near as intense," he added quickly. "And you do want to have your powers Awakened?"

Josh nodded. "But it can't be done," he said quickly.

Dee laughed. "Oh yes, it can. It can be done here, today," he finished triumphantly.

"But Flamel said …," Josh began, and then stopped,

"Flamel says many things. I doubt even he knows what is the truth anymore."

"Do you?" Josh snapped.

"Always." Dee jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Machiavelli and Lily who was resting her forhead on Machiavelli's shoulder and gripping her stomach. "The Italian and the witch are no friends of mine," he said quietly, staring directly into Josh's troubled eyes. "So ask them the question: ask them if your powers could be Awakened this very morning."

Josh turned to regard Niccolò Machiavelli and Lily Johnson. The tall white-haired man looked vaguely troubled, but he nodded in agreement. "The English Magician is correct: your powers could be Awakened today. I imagine we could probably find someone to do it within the hour."

Smiling triumphantly, Dee turned back to Josh. "It's your choice. So, give me your answer—do you want to go back to Flamel and his vague promises, or do you want to have your powers Awakened? I need an answer," Dee said.

Josh Newman took a deep breath. "What do I have to do?"


"Impressive" the Witch of Endor said after she saw Lily wrap a cocoon around the Disir. "She has impressive powers"

"Why have you called me here sister?" a woman asked, leaning against the wall. She was medium height, with black hair streaked with some white, all in a tight braid, her eyes were multicolored but were mostly and icy blue color.

The Witch of Endor smiled and turned to look at the mirror the woman was facing "you always were impatient Hera"

"I told you; never to call me that again!" Hera snapped

Dora smiled and said "it's your birth name and there for it is the name I shall call you"

Hera rolled her eyes "you always were stubborn Zephaniah" she whispered "now why have you called me here, we don't speak for over thousands of years and suddenly you want to see me?"

The witch pointed to the mirror that Hera stood in front of and they both saw Lily kissing Niccolò Machiavelli "you need to tell her the truth Hera, you should have told her 3 years ago, you didn't and I understand your decision not too, but its time, she needs to know now."

Hera shook her head, "I don't have to tell her anything!"

"You have too tell her Juno, she needs to know, you need to tell her"

Hera, or Juno shook her head "I don't have to listen to you Zephaniah! I made my choice a long time ago!"

"And you want to drag her down with you in that choice?" the witch demanded.

Juno looked Zephaniah squarely in the eyes, "she has chosen Machiavelli, nothing I tell her will change her mind,"

Zephaniah shook her head "I wouldn't be so sure Juno"

"Why? What have you seen concerning Lily?"

"Many things, in half the strands of time, she died in the car accident 5 years ago"


Josh Newman stopped and swallowed hard. Any moment now, he was going to throw up. Although it was cool and damp underground, he was sweating, his hair plastered to his skull, his shirt lying icy and clinging along the length of his spine. He had gone beyond frightened, past terrified and straight to petrified.

Descending into the sewers had been bad enough. Dee had wrenched the manhole cover out of the ground without any effort, and they'd jerked back as a plume of filthy, foul-smelling gas vented into the street. When it had drifted away, Dee had slipped into the opening, followed a moment later by Josh, then Lily and finally Machiavelli. They'd climbed down a short metal ladder and ended up standing in a tunnel that was so narrow they had to march single file and so low that only Dee could walk upright. The tunnel dipped, and Josh gasped as ice-cold water suddenly flooded his sneakers. The smell was appalling, and he desperately tried not to think about what he might be wading through.

The rotten-egg stink of sulfur briefly masked the smells in the sewer as Dee created a globe of cold blue-white light. It hovered and danced in the air about twelve inches in front of the Magician, painting the interior of the narrow arched tunnel in stark ashen light and deep impenetrable shadows. As they sloshed forward, Josh could hear things moving and glimpsed sparkling points of red light shifting in the blackness. He hoped they were only rats.

"I don't …," Josh began, his voice echoing distortedly in the narrow tunnel. "I really don't like small spaces."

"Neither do I," Machiavelli added tightly. "I spent a little time in prison, a long time ago. I've never forgotten it."

"Was it as bad as this?" Josh asked shakily.

"Worse." Machiavelli was walking behind Josh and he leaned forward to add, "Try and stay calm. This is just a maintenance tunnel; we'll get into the proper sewers in a few moments."

Josh took a deep breath and gagged on the smell. He had to remember to breathe only through his mouth. "And how is that going to help?" he muttered through clenched teeth.

"The sewers of Paris are mirrors of the streets above," Machiavelli explained, his breath warm against Josh's ear. "The bigger sewers are fifteen feet high."

Machiavelli was correct; moments later they came out of the cramped and claustrophobic service tunnel into a tall arched sewer wide enough to drive a car through. The high brick walls were brightly lit and lined with black pipes of various thicknesses. Somewhere in the distance, water splashed and gurgled.

Josh felt the claustrophobia ease a little. Sophie sometimes got scared in wide-open spaces; he was afraid of tightly enclosed spots. Agoraphobia and claustrophobia. He took a deep breath; the air was still tainted with effluent, but at least it was breathable. He lifted the front of his black T-shirt to cover his face and breathed in: it stank. When he got out of here—if he got out of here—he'd have to burn everything, including the fancy designer jeans Saint-Germain had given him. He quickly dropped the shirt, realizing that he'd nearly exposed the bag he wore on the cord around his neck containing the pages from the Codex. No matter what happened now, he was determined that he wasn't going to give up the pages to Dee, not until he was sure—very, very, very sure—that the Magician's motives were honest.

"Where are we?" he wondered aloud, looking back at Machiavelli and Lily. Dee had walked out into the center of the sewer, the solid white ball now spinning just above the palm of his outstretched hand.

The tall Italian glanced around. "I've no idea," he admitted. "There are about twenty-one hundred kilometers of sewers—around thirteen hundred miles," he amended, seeing the blank look on Josh's face. "But don't worry, we'll not get lost. Most have their own street signs."

"Street signs in the sewers?" Lily and Josh asked in unison

"The sewers of Paris are one of the great wonders of this city." Machiavelli smiled.

"Come!" Dee's voice cracked out, echoing in the chamber.

"Do you know where we're going?" Josh asked quietly. He knew from experience that he needed to keep distracted; once he started thinking about the narrowness of the tunnels and the weight of the earth above him, his claustrophobia would reduce him to a wreck.

"We're going down, into the deepest, oldest part of the catacombs. You're going to be Awakened."

"Do you know who we're going to see?"

Machiavelli's usually impassive face twitched in a grimace. "Yes. By reputation only. I've never seen it." He lowered his voice to little more than a whisper and caught Josh's sleeve, pulling him back. "It's not too late to turn back," he said.

Josh blinked in surprise. "Dee wouldn't like that."

"Probably not," Machiavelli agreed with a wry smile.

Josh was puzzled. Dee had said Machiavelli wasn't his friend, and it had been obvious that the two men didn't agree. "But I thought you and Dee were on the same side."

"We are both in the service of the Elders, it is true … but I have never approved of the English Magician and his methods."

Ahead of them, Dee turned into a smaller tunnel and stopped before a narrow metal door that was secured by a thick padlock. He pinched through the hasp of the metal lock with fingernails that stank of foul yellow power and pulled open the door. "Hurry," he called back impatiently.

"This … this person we're going to see," Josh said slowly, "can they really Awaken my powers?"

"I have no doubt about it," Machiavelli said softly. "Is the Awakening so important to you?" he asked, and Josh was aware that Machiavelli was watching him closely.

"My sister was Awakened—my twin sister," he explained slowly. "I want … I need to have my powers Awakened so we're alike again." He looked at the tall white-haired man. "Does that make sense?"

Machiavelli nodded, his face an unreadable mask. "But is that the only reason, Josh?"

The boy looked at him for a long moment before he turned away. Machiavelli was right; it wasn't the only reason. When he'd held Clarent, he'd briefly experienced a hint of what it must be like to have Awakened senses. For a few moments, he'd felt truly alive, he'd felt complete … and more than anything else, he wanted to experience that feeling again.

Dee led them into another tunnel, which was, if anything, even narrower than the first. Josh felt his stomach clench and his heart start to thump. The tunnel turned and twisted downward in a series of slender stairs. The stones here were older, the steps irregularly shaped, the walls soft and crumbling as they brushed past. In some places it was so narrow that Josh had to turn sideways to slip through. He got stuck in a particularly confined corner and immediately started to feel breathless panic bubbling in his chest. Then Dee caught one arm and unceremoniously yanked him through, tearing a long strip off the back of his T-shirt. "Nearly there," the Magician muttered. He raised his arm slightly and the bobbing ball of silver light rose higher into the air, revealing the tunnel's pitted brickwork.

"Hang on a second; let me catch my breath." Josh bent over, hands on his knees, breathing deeply. He realized that as long as he concentrated on the ball of light and didn't think about the walls and ceiling closing in on him, he was OK. "How do you know where we're going?" he panted. "Have you been here before?"

"I was here once before … a long time ago," Dee said with a grin. "Right now, I'm just following the light." The harsh white light turned the Magician's smile into something terrifying.

Josh remembered a trick his football coach had taught him. He wrapped his hands around his stomach and squeezed hard as he breathed in and straightened up. The feeling of queasiness immediately eased. "Who are we going to see?" he asked.

"Patience, humani, patience." Dee looked past Josh to where Machiavelli was standing. "I'm sure our Italian friend will agree. One of the great advantages of immortality is that one learns patience. There is a saying: 'good things come to those who wait.'"

"Not always good things," Machiavelli muttered as Dee turned away.

Josh decided to take his mind off of the tunnels and turned to Lily "so, do you get car sick a lot?"

Lily looked at Josh surprised a little and then shrugged "I get car sick a lot, I have often since I was 16"

Josh looked surprised and asked "why?"

Lily looked at Josh a smiled a little "my parents, my little brother and myself were going home from an amusement park, when a car swerved into the same lane and hit us dead on, my mother and father died instantly, but my little brother died in my arms, five minutes before the paramedics arrived, the guy who hit us had been drinking and was killed instantly."

Josh winced "I'm sorry"

Lily shrugged "not your fault, but ever since that day, I've been deathly afraid of cars, if someone experienced is driving I can handle it, but if it's a maniac who learned to drive on a car that had 3 wheels or a 15 year old who doesn't even have his license, then the nausea sets in" she smiled kindly at Josh and then turned forward to the tunnel.

At the end of the narrow tunnel was a low metal door. It looked as if it hadn't been opened in decades and had rusted solid into the weeping limestone wall. In the white light, Josh saw that the rust had stained the off-white stone the color of dried blood.

The ball of light bobbed in the air while Dee ran his glowing yellow fingernail around the edge of the door, cutting it out of the frame, the stink of rotten eggs blanketing the odor of sewage.

"What's through here?" Josh asked. Now that he'd started to get his fear under control, he was beginning to feel a little excitement. Once he was Awakened, he'd slip away and get back to Sophie. He turned to look at Machiavelli, but the Italian shook his head and pointed to Dee. "Dr. Dee?" Josh asked.

Dee broke open the low door and jerked it out of its frame. Soft stone crumbled and flaked away around it. "If I am correct—and I almost always am," the Magician added, Lily rolled her eyes at that statement. "Then this will lead us into the Catacombs of Paris." Dee leaned the door against the wall and then stepped through the opening.

Josh ducked to follow him. "I've never heard of them."

"Few people outside Paris have," Machiavelli said, "and yet, along with the sewers, they are one of the marvels of this city. Over a hundred seventy miles of mysterious and labyrinthine tunnels. The catacombs were once limestone quarries. And now they are filled …"

Josh stepped through the opening, straightened up and looked around.

"… with bones."

The boy felt something twist in the pit of his stomach and he swallowed hard, a sour and bitter taste at the back of his throat. Directly ahead, as far as he could see in the gloomy tunnel, the walls, the curved ceiling and even the floor were composed of polished human bones.


alright, 3 chapters up in 1 day, review please :)