SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Eternal Darkness: Origins
Part 1
Resurrection of the Mad Goddess
Disclaimers: Okay. You know what? That's it. I quit. I refuse to write any more disclaimers. Why? Simple. Anyone with an ounce of sense in their person ought to know that this is a *fan* *fiction*. Meaning that all characters, settings, and other various copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Since everyone ought to know that, I refuse to waste anymore time writing disclaimers. There. It is done.
"And lo, the almighty copyright gods did descend upon the hapless author, and behold, they did proceed to beat her over the head with many pointy sticks. And when they were done, they did say unto the author, 'Thou shalt write disclaimers whether thou likest it or not.' And there was much rejoicing.'
Well, there goes that plan...so, onto the fic.
Chapter 6 A Reunion of Strangers_They know_
Who?
_They have discovered my efforts__I must retreat__For the time being_
Retreat? Why? Where would you go?
_Nowhere__I will merely move more slowly_
That won't stop them, will it?
_No, it will not_
Then why bother?
_If I move too quickly, they will try to cut me off__They will kill both you and me_
They can kill you?
_Possibly_
Don't leave me alone. Please don't leave me all alone here. I don't know what to do.
_Do whatever you feel like_
But I don't feel anything...
A sudden impulse had led Alex to the art museum, just a short ride away from her hotel. She hadn't been able to figure out why; she should have been doing something more productive. Still, the paintings and statues were oddly soothing. These works of art had meanings and messages, but they would willingly divulge them if one was willing to stop and think about it for a while. It was a refreshing break from all the guesswork she'd been doing lately.
It was sobering, however, knowing that even these works of art were not pure from the poisons of the Ancients. She examined a painting where Death was depicted as a cloaked skeleton wielding a scythe and smiled humorlessly to herself. Some poor soul back in the Renaissance had caught sight of a Gatekeeper and thought that it was Death itself.
Unseen by the other patrons, her double–she was still unsure of what else to call her–was having the time of her life. She struck a pose next to a statue of Calliope. She climbed on top of Andy Warhol's Brillo boxes and declared that she was queen of the world. She reached a hand to touch the giant Calder mobile hanging from the ceiling.
How very odd, Alex thought to herself. When she had first met her double, she had been cold, mocking, cruel. Then, as time went on, she had become silent, barely saying a word. Now, she was acting like a kid in a toy store. She was having fun; what's more, she was acting decidedly more human, and less like some otherworldly being.
"It is strange, isn't it?"
Alex jumped. She hadn't noticed someone standing next to her. But when she caught sight of the speaker, she wasn't surprised.
"What are you doing *here*?"
The specter of Pious–the human Pious, before he became the Liche–just shrugged. "Should I be somewhere else?"
"Why are you in your human form?"
The centurion didn't look Alex in the eye. "Given a choice, would you rather have a human body or a skeleton? It's a matter of preference, that is all."
"What are you doing in an art gallery?"
He completely ignored her question. "I find it fascinating, how deeply woven the Ancients are into human lives." He waved a hand at a nightmarish painting; a chaotic vision of twisted forms and impossible creatures. "Remind you of anything, Alex?"
Before she could reply, he turned to look at the other Alex, who was sliding down a staircase. "She's having a good time, isn't she?"
"I don't understand it." Alex mused aloud, forgetting for a moment who she was speaking to. "Before now she didn't act anything like this. She was cold, and she didn't talk much. Now she's–well, now she's acting like a little kid. It doesn't make sense."
"No, it certainly doesn't."
And while I'm on that train of thought, Alex wondered, Pious isn't exactly himself either. My nemesis is standing right here next to me, having a civilized conversation with me, and he's not mocking me or anything. He's acting almost *friendly*.
As though he could read her thoughts–and he probably could–Pious gave her a sideways glance, or what would have been a sideways glance if there hadn't been the small problem of his not having eyes. "By the way, have you figured it out yet?"
"No." She had come here to forget about that; his reminder annoyed her.
"Hmm. I didn't think you would."
Now *that* was more like Pious. "You never answered me." She returned his sideways glance. "What are you doing here? Are you following me?"
He shook his head. "I'm not following you, Alex." He pointed to her double, who was now preoccupied with precisely mimicking the distant, removed expression of a painted figure. "I'm following her."
"Her?" Alex turned to him in surprise. "Why?"
"When you find the answer, Alex," He responded, still refusing to look her in the eye. "You will know why."
Jenny sat down on the floor. The fireplace was firmly shut–the tiny crack was all that remained. No matter how hard she pushed and pulled, the marble slab wouldn't budge.
She twisted a strand of hair around one finger. Great. This was just great. She was stuck in an abandoned house in a secret room behind a fireplace with no door and no windows where noone would ever think to look for her.
Jen shivered. The room had, without any warning, turned icy cold, making her tank top and jeans suddenly seem woefully inadequate. She heard a ringing sound in her ears that seemed to have no source. Confused, she stood up, clutching at herself for warmth, but as soon as she got to her feet, she began to feel dizzy and sick to her stomach. The ringing in her ears grew louder, and soon the vertigo became more than she could take. She dropped to her knees and the world around her faded to black.
Colin hung up the phone and sighed. "I tried calling Jen three times now. She won't pick up." He leaned back in his chair. "Do you think something happened to her?"
"It's much more likely that she just left her cell phone in the car." Edward suggested. Most of the ghosts, save him and Minerva, had disappeared from view, simply from a lack of anything better to do. Minerva was sitting on Alex's bed–how she did this while she was incorporeal was quite beyond Colin's imagination–thinking very hard about something.
"What are you thinking of, Minerva?" Colin turned to the Roman woman, who was now tugging on her palla.
"I am trying to think of a plan."
"Plan?" Edward seemed equally as curious as Colin.
"You remember what I told you about my vision?"
The two nodded.
"What the Keeper did last time...it will not be enough now."
"What do you mean, it will not be enough? But didn't Alex destroy the--"
"Destroy the Ancients?" Minerva chuckled. "Oh, I can only wish." She shook her head in emphasis. "The Ancients bodies were destroyed, yes, but their Essences remained."
"No, they didn't." Edward protested. "The Essences shattered when Alex fought with Pious. Weren't they?" There was an edge of doubt in his voice now.
Minerva shot them both a cynical look. "Do either of you really believe that was enough to destroy them?"
The spirit and the boy were instantly silenced.
"The Essences were physically shattered, but their remains are intact." She continued. "And so long as the Essences still exist, the Ancients are not gone."
"Do you mean the Ancients are still here? Now?"
"Not really. You see, they destroyed one another's bodies in their last fight. But the Essence–the very core of their being–their soul, if you will–is enough. So long as the Essence survives, they can reconstruct their bodies, beyond the Veil where no one can detect them."
"But can't you see them?" Edward inquired. "You told us that you could see Beyond."
She sighed. "It is one of the disadvantages of being dead, I am afraid. The ability has diminished somewhat. I can see Beyond occasionally, but most often I can only see the Veil itself."
Colin sat back. "Bummer."
"Exactly."
"But if physically destroying the Essences is not enough, than what can we do?" Edward seemed anxious to return to the previous discussion.
"I am trying to think of something." Minerva looked up at the ceiling. "To my knowledge, no one can destroy an Ancient's Essence except another Ancient, and recruiting an Ancient that hates every single one of us does not seem like a good idea."
There was silence in the room for an instant, as everyone pondered the quandary.
"But if no one could destroy an Essence but another Ancient..." Colin mused aloud.
"And trying to get the Ancients to destroy one another's Essences," Edward pondered. "That would just start another cycle..."
Then, the two of them came to a realization at the exact same moment, and turned to Minerva, saying simultaneously.
"Mantorok..."
Minerva started, then smiled. "Of course..." Her palm noiselessly slapped her forehead. "Of course, why did I not think of it? Mantorok, the Keeper himself! Of course! Only another Ancient can destroy the Essences, and Mantorok, the Great Ancient himself, he would know how to do it!" She laughed.
Edward and Colin stood there awkwardly, not really knowing what to do during Minerva's celebration. Colin, very tentatively, raised his hand as though in class.
Still laughing, Minerva nodded at him. "Yes, Colin, what is it?"
"Um, I just remembered something. Isn't Mantorok dead?"
"Not yet. He has been dying for centuries, but he is not dead quite yet. He is hanging on to life by a thread." Her face fell. "Even so, he is not strong enough even to summon his Guardians. I doubt he would have the power to destroy the Ancient's Essences."
Colin looked away. He felt his stomach sink. He had completely ruined what seemed to be their only chance, and he had no suggestions to make up for it.
"There may be one way..."
Edward and Colin looked up at Minerva, who had rested her head in her hands and was looking at the ceiling.
"What way?" Edward asked.
"Perhaps, even though the Great Ancient has not the power to destroy the Essences himself, he could reveal a way that we could destroy them."
Colin looked up. "I thought you just said that no one but another Ancient can destroy an Essence."
"I know that." Minerva folded her hands. "But...perhaps...perhaps it is not the fact that the Ancient itself destroys the Essence. Perhaps the Ancients merely possess Magickal knowledge that we humans do not. And, should we be able to hold an audience with Mantorok himself, he could pass on to us this knowledge."
"Do you seriously believe that an Ancient would lower itself to pass on knowledge to a human?" Edward asked.
"Perhaps he will not. But, if I remember correctly, Mantorok saw fit to pass on one of it's hearts to a human, under most unusual circumstances. I believe this is an unusual circumstance."
Colin sat back. "But what if he doesn't tell us?"
Minerva remained stone-faced. "Well, then, we well find that out when we speak to him, will we not?"
Edward sighed, looking around the room. "I really don't think this is a good idea." He concluded. "Mantorok has weakened. He must feed on flesh and bone. Who's to say that he will not feed on whomever we send to speak to him? Furthermore," He paced the floor, "how could we get there? Who could we send who knows the way?"
"I believe that Mantorok knows his Chosen." Minerva smiled mirthlessly. "We are quite safe. And as for who knows the way, I seem to remember one Chosen who is still living, aside from the Keeper of the Light."
"Edwin Lindsey?" Colin asked.
"Exactly. He knows where Mantorok's temple lies. He has been there before. And, just to make sure, we can send the temple's other resident."
"Ellia." Colin finished. "But still, only two people? Only Ellia knows about the threat; nobody ever told Lindsey. Even so..." he paused, "It doesn't really seem fair, to just tell him 'You have to go marching back to Cambodia all over again.'"
"And would you suggest something else?" Minerva asked quizzically.
"I'll go with him." Colin suggested. "At least then there's more of us there who knows what they're doing."
Minerva raised an eyebrow, not moving from her spot on the bed. "Are you sure that is safe? You wandering about the jungle with someone you barely know? The servants of the Ancients are not the only dangers in the jungle. There are wild animals, insects–at least half of which are poisonous–to say nothing of the heat, the humidity, the various diseases floating around..."
Colin sighed. "You both sound like parents. Honestly. I think I'll be fine. Besides, it'll help if we have someone there who knows what they're doing."
"What about Ellia? She knows about this."
"If you go, there will be no one here if Alex comes back." Dr. Roivas added.
Colin sighed. He had forgotten that the whole reason he was still here instead of at Roivas Manor was so that he could look for Alex. "Fine. But, seeing as I'm the only living person here, I think I should be the one to talk to him. I don't think he'll take very well to a ghost showing up at his door–no offense to anyone here. In fact, if we're going to go through with this, I should probably at least get in touch with him before I show up on his doorstep. I'll go look up his number."
Jenny got up perhaps a half hour later, feeling very peculiar. She couldn't describe the sensation exactly. She felt numb, as though her whole body had 'fallen asleep' and she still felt cold. But for some reason the whole world looked colorless and bland. And she felt rather unaware, almost as though she was dreaming...
The fireplace was still firmly shut, but that didn't matter anymore. She merely opened her hands and a shimmering portal, it's color brilliant against the monotonous room, opened up before her. She stepped in, taking it in stride as though she had done this all her life, and the portal disappeared.
The next instant she found herself standing in the main entryway to Roivas Manor, which looked as gray as the hidden room. Now which door was it?, she thought dully to herself, feeling thoroughly uninterested. Ah yes, the basement. The basement that led into Ehn'gah.
But then again, why bother? Another thought crossed her mind. She opened her hands again and stepped through a second portal, disappearing from view.
"Here it is. Lindsey, Edwin." Colin clicked on the number on the internet listing site. He reached for the phone, dialing the number in front of him. "I hope he's home."
The phone rang four times before anyone picked up, and when it did, the voice was that of a young woman.
"Hello, this is the Lindsey residence."
Was this his wife? Colin thought to himself. She seemed very young. "Hello, may I speak with Doctor Edwin Lindsey, please?"
"I'm afraid Dr. Lindsey isn't home right now. Would you like me to take a message for you?"
"Um, that's alright. Do you think I could call him back later?"
The voice on the other line hesitated, suddenly sounding unsure. "I'm afraid he'll be gone quite a while, sir. He's in Guatemala for the next three weeks at an excavation."
Colin suddenly stopped. "You say he's where?"
The female voice sounded very apologetic. "In Guatemala, sir, I'm very sorry."
"Does he have his cell phone with him?"
"No, sir."
He sighed. "That's all right. I'll just call back later." He hung up without waiting for her to reply.
"He's not there?" Edward asked him once he hung up.
"He's in Guatemala, of all places. Guatemala! What's he doing in Guatemala? How am I supposed to reach him if he's in Guatemala without his cell phone?" He sank back into his seat. "Can't you ghosts reach the Chosen instantly?"
"In a sense." Minerva conceded. "It is more the doing of the Tome than us. You see, I designed transportation Spell and bound it to the Tome, similar to the Spells that the Trappers use. It links the Tome to any Chosen who are not in the Chamber." Noticing the impatient look on Colin's face, she concluded. "So any of us ghosts except me could find him.
"Can't one of you go to him and let him know what he has to do? Someone he knows, maybe, someone he's seen before?" He sat down again and spun to face the computer. "He's met Ellia before, hasn't he? In Mantorok's temple? And he met you too," He turned to Edward. "He met you when he gave you Mantorok's heart."
Edward did the closest thing he could to rolling his eyes. "He knows her rotted corpse, Colin, I'm not entirely sure he knows her. And he met me for about a half-hour. I doubt he'll remember me."
"But still, if Ellia meets him and tells him about all this, it'll make things that much easier for all of us." Colin thought aloud.
"I suppose there is no harm in trying." Minerva looked skeptical, or as much as a ghost could be skeptical. "Ellia. Ellia, where are you?" She called out to the nothingness.
Without any fanfare of any sort, Ellia appeared beside Minerva. "Yes?"
"Do you remember the man Edwin Lindsey?" Minerva questioned.
"The one who took the heart of Mantorok? Yes, I do." She nodded.
"Edwin Lindsey is currently somewhere in–where was it you said?" She turned to Colin.
"Guatemala."
"Yes. We need you to find him and tell him that he must return home, and that something desperate has happened. Hurry, Ellia."
Without another word, Ellia vanished.
The gates of Ehn'gah were tightly shut, but not locked. They were never locked.
Jenny stood silently, surveying the emptiness of the dead city. Not a sound came to her ears; the Guardians that had made this place their home were long gone.
She could not help smiling to herself. Twice this city had risen and fallen; the first time, when the civilization of Ehn'gah was wiped out by the Guardians, and the second, when the Guardian population had been destroyed at the hands of a human.
The Second Fall of Ehn'gah. It seemed almost poetic.
She opened her mouth to break the silence, but no words came, at least not any that she recognized. In some foreign tongue, perhaps, they might have formed words, but the seemed no more than sounds. Although, in the back of her mind, it barely registered that they sounded something like Runes...
But that thought was pushed hurriedly back as a few scattered Guardians crawled like insects over the gates of Ehn'gah. She smiled calmly. Yes, the stragglers. The few who had not been in Ehn'gah when the Binding Spell was cast. They were few, but they would have to be enough. At least for now.
At that moment the vague, sleepy feeling that had come over her suddenly subsided, and she looked around in confusion. Why was she at the gates to Ehn'gah? How had she got out of the fireplace? And why were all these Guardians standing here and not attacking her?
Indeed, even though they were eyeless, they seemed to be staring at her, waiting for her to...well, to do something. She just wasn't sure what yet.
She waved an hand at them and said "Go away..." in a rather shakier voice than she would have liked. To her great surprise, the Guardians obediently slunk away, disappearing from the gate.
Jen stood there blankly for a minute, utterly dumbfounded. The Guardians had obeyed her. She had told them to leave, and they had left. There was no way that she could think of to explain that. Thoroughly puzzled and with her stomach still aching, Jenny headed back to the staircase.
Ellia stood in the center of the Chamber of Eternal Darkness, trying to think of what to do. Going all the way to Guatemala was not an option; it would take weeks to reach it, even for a ghost. There had to be an easier way to reach Lindsey.
Shutting out the frantic screams of the faces on the floor, she pondered her options. Since Lindsey had once possessed the Tome, perhaps she would be able to instantly reach him as she had been able to do to Alex during her fight against Pious. But still, as far as she could tell, the phantasmal Tome that rested in the Chamber would only connect her to the current owner of the Tome, and going right back to the dormitory with Colin would be very counterproductive.
Perhaps, if she opened the Tome to the right page, it would take her to that Chosen's location. It seemed unlikely, but, as the only consequences of a wrong decision was ending up back in the dormitory, it seemed worth a try.
She opened the spectral Tome to the chapter, 'A Journey into the Darkness', looking at the still, black-and-white picture at the top of the page. She touched the page, stating simply "Take me to Edwin Lindsey."
She was about to elaborate when the Chamber around her faded, replaced by a dismal, crumbling temple, completely unlit except for the steadily dimming light of three flashlights.
Ellia inched closer. One of those flashlights had to belong to Lindsey; she sank halfway into the wall and followed the three flashlights, listening for any familiar voices.
"Can't see a damn thing in here..."
"Do you have the extra batteries, Dunn?"
"Thought you had 'em..."
Ellia smiled to herself. The second voice most definitely belonged to Lindsey; she had heard it only once, when he was in Mantorok's hall, but the voice was his–and he didn't sound very happy when he next spoke.
"What do you mean, you thought I had them? Dunn, why don't you check these things?"
Ellia floated uncertainly among the three men, trying to find a way to attract Lindsey's attention without alarming the two other men.
"Relax, relax, I got 'em." The first voice spoke again, beginning to fumble through his pack so suddenly that Ellia almost walked through him.
"You're an angel from God, Cooper." Dunn said, stuffing a few batteries in his pack. Cooper just grunted in response.
Good. Now was her chance. Lindsey was the only one not facing his comrades. Ellia slipped though a wall and reappeared in front of Lindsey, who, preoccupied with his expiring flashlight, did not seem to notice her. She tapped him, very lightly, on the shoulder.
Lindsey looked up, the appearance of Ellia's ghost taking him completely by surprise. His eyes widened, and he took a few hesitant steps backward.
"Who are you?"
She looked him in the eye. "You know who I am. We've met one another before, Edwin Lindsey."
"How do you know my name?"
This was going to be a bit more difficult than she had anticipated. "Do you remember, Lindsey, some twenty years ago, when you explored a temple in Cambodia?"
Lindsey winced, as though remembering something he would rather have forgotten. "How could I forget it?"
"Then you must surely remember me. Do you remember the one who gave you the Heart of Mantorok? The skeleton you found in the last room in the temple?"
He stared at her incredulously. "That was you?"
She nodded.
"Er." He looked very uneasy. "You look...somewhat...different..."
"I know. This is how I looked when I was still alive."
"Lindsey?" One of his teammates called out to him. "You still there?"
Lindsey took a quick glance back at his teammates, then turned again to Ellia. "Look," he whispered, "I don't know what you're doing here, but I can't stay. I'm in the middle of an expedition--"
"This is slightly more important than that." Ellia cut him off. "Do you remember the Tome of Eternal Darkness?"
Lindsey nodded.
"And you remember what you read therein?"
Another nod.
She decided to be blunt with him. "The Ancients may rise again, and we need your help. You need to get back home. It doesn't matter what story you tell them, just get back home as soon as you can."
"They--" Conscious of the fact that he was shouting, he lowered his voice. "They what?"
"I cannot tell you more, Lindsey. Just get home. This will all be explained later." She turned away and vanished.
Once again, Alex found herself bored to the point of tears. She had spent the entire day wandering around the various Smithsonian museums with no purpose in mind and no destination. She was beginning to regret running away. Pious, her one source of intelligent conversation, had vanished again. She found herself desperately needing company–even that of Pious would be more than welcome.
Alex shivered, in spite of the heat of the summer day. In spite of the sun shining she felt uncomfortably cold. She hadn't noticed that her double was staring at her straight in the eye. She no longer looked confused, or as though she was having fun. Now there was nothing in those eyes but hate.
Her vision swam, and she had to sit down on a park bench to avoid collapse. There was a pain in her head, and she as though she was suspended in midair, floating in space. Someone was laughing at her again...
"Get away from Alex!"
It stopped all of a sudden, and her vision returned to normal. However, what she saw made her doubt that everything was normal again.
Someone was standing in front of her, a rather small someone with curly hair. And, most notably, a very translucent someone, who seemed to glow as she looked at him.
Whoever it was had pushed the other her to the ground, his hands balled into fists. He was shouting, and his voice–Alex could not help but be surprised–sounded very much like her grandfather's.
"Do you understand me?" The spirit–she could only assume it was one–continued to shout. "Don't you dare take another step toward Alex!"
"I--" The hate in her double's eyes was gone, replaced by simple confusion and fear.
"Stop pretending." The spirit's voice lowered to a whisper. "I know who you are. I know what you are doing. And I won't let you--"
"You can't know who I am!" The Alex lying on the walkway shouted, her voiced laced with panic. "I don't know who I am!"
"Who are you?" Alex whispered, almost fearful of interrupting them.
The spirit turned around, and his features were ringing with familiarity. In fact, she thought, he looked remarkably like herself...
"It's been so long..." The ghost's voice became sorrowful. "I didn't think you'd remember."
"Remember who?"
The double was trying to crawl backwards on her elbows, and the ghost turned to her.
"Do you understand me?" He returned to berating her. "Come any nearer to her, and--"
But her double's voice changed suddenly. It settled to a malicious purr, and a venomous smile crossed her face.
"Do what?" Her voice echoed strangely. "What could you possibly do to me? You are no longer of this world. They made sure of that. You can do nothing. Your protection of your daughter is touching, but feeble."
Your daughter? Alex thought. That's my father?
The face suddenly resounded in her memory. She had seen him before, it what must have been a thousand photographs in an old photo album. She had seen him while he was living, a concerned face hanging over her, murmuring, "It's okay, Alex; I won't let anything get you." She had seen his face, if only for an instant, his dead, empty face lying in his foyer, streaked with blood.
"After all, you are nothing but a specter." Her double continued, standing up. "A mere shadow of who you used to be. You cannot protect Alex. Her fate has been determined."
The ghost did not respond, merely moving toward Alex, as though to guard her. The double strode toward her, smiling terribly.
"So you know who I am...or, more correctly, she is. It doesn't matter. None of it will matter, soon enough." She reached her hand straight through Alex's father's chest and grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her through the specter's body and shoving her to the ground.
Without another word, the double put a hand to Alex's forehead and pushed her back to the ground. Her head began to burn with pain, and she struggled to pull away.
And then it was over. Both of them lay on the gravel, the other Alex totally unconscious. The specter of her father looked her in the eyes for a moment, then turned hurriedly away and vanished.
Alex looked at her unconscious double for a moment, then, trying to ignore the stares of passerby, got up and ran back to her hotel
She stirred on the ground, narrowly avoiding being stepped on by a tourist. Looking next to her, she saw that Alex had disappeared.
Ire flared up inside her as she rolled over, unwilling to get up. How could she? She thought to herself. How could Alex abandon her here? Didn't she know? Didn't she have the slightest idea?
"Are you going to get up or not?"
She looked up, unfamiliar with the voice who was speaking to her. She was looking into the face of a ghost in centurion armor, casually offering her a hand.
"I thought you were incorporeal." She retorted, not taking his hand.
"Good point." He withdrew his hand. "So are you going to get up?"
"Why are you here?" She got up, looking him in his empty eyes. "Why have you been hanging around me and Alex?" Before he could respond, she got up on her elbows and continued to interrogate him. "And why are you so friendly with Alex? The girl killed you, Pious, and you act as though you were acquaintances."
"I'm not being friendly." He looked disgusted at the thought.
"You're sitting there, talking to her, and not trying to kill her or anything. That's close enough for me." She glared at him.
"That's far from being friendly." Pious shot back. "Besides, I couldn't kill her even if I wanted to. I'm just a ghost, remember?"
"I still don't understand." She got up. "Then why are you even speaking to her? Why are you appearing to her?"
"Because I have nothing else to do." Pious chuckled, apparently making some sort of private joke. 'Alex' raised an eyebrow, and he continued. "Simply to find out what she knows. That is all."
'Alex' didn't look convinced. "If you say so." She whirled around on her heel and headed in the direction she was sure Alex went.
Pious didn't bother to follow her, instead looking away. "You won't find her." He said to himself. "Not for a while, anyway. Not until it's too late."
"Did you find him?" Colin asked, not looking up from the search program on the computer screen.
"I did. I can only assume that he is returning home."
"Good, good." Colin's eyes still didn't leave the computer. "Now, tell me something. Was he just supervising the expedition, or was he actually down there?"
"He was in the ruins, accompanied by two men." Ellia reported. "That does not seem like 'supervising' to me. Why do you ask?"
For the first time, Colin looked up. "Because he's got to be almost fifty by this point. It seems rather odd to me that he's still going on expeditions. He should be in a lab or doing paperwork or something. You don't send fifty-year-olds out into the wilds of Guatemala."
Edward cleared his throat rather pointedly.
"Here it is." Colin finished, his attention turned back to his computer before any further comment could be made. "It says here that Edwin Lindsey lives in--" His eyes widened as he looked at the address. "In northern Florida. Perfect. Just perfect. We get him back from Guatemala, but if we want to talk to him at all we have to fly down to Jacksonville. Just damn perfect." He looked irritably up at the ceiling. "At least he lives on the same coast, I don't know what I'd do if he lived in California."
"No one said you had to go see him." Minerva looked at him.
"I know, but if we're going to send him tearing off to Cambodia again, I figure I should at least to explain to him what's going on. I at least owe him that." He started typing again. "I'll see if I can get plane tickets."
"Come back soon." Minerva reminded him. "When you are gone, there will be no one here if the Keeper returns."
"Somehow I don't think she's going to do that anytime soon." Colin got up and looked in the closet, trying to see if there were any more suitcases left. "Besides, Jenny should be coming back any minute now. She'll be here." He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair. "Speaking of Jen, she didn't leave me any suitcases. I'll have to go out and get one." Picking up his own car keys, he began to walk out the door. "I should be back in a couple of minutes. Tell Jenny where I am if she gets back before I do."
With that, he strode out the door.
I think I'm lost.
_Why do you think that?_
Because I don't know...I don't know where they've gone. I'm alone.
_You're not alone__I'm still here_
You are? Where are you?
_Where I have always been_
But I can't reach you. I'm alone here.
_You won't be for much longer__I can promise you that_
Will you come for me? Will you come where I can reach you?
_Not yet__But soon we will come face to face_
End Chapter 6