Chapter 4
A little while later, after her parents went to bed, Stephanie snuck downstairs. She heard Bessie and Milford watching the television in the living room and decided to go back upstairs. Quietly she opened her window and climbed out. Once down the trellis she made her way to the airship.
Sportacus told the wall to show him his bookcase. Pulling out the dictionary, the wall opened up again. No one, except for Sportacus, knew about this extra room. When the engineers build the airship it was going to be a part of his living space. Instead he had installed the revolving wall and filled it with all the books that the library had given him since his own had been destroyed.
Luckily, he had been cleaning and had decided to take his most prized possession out of the airship. The Mayor had told him that he could lock the book in his desk at Town Hall. Otherwise it would have been blown up with the rest of his things. His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knocking on the airship.
Quickly he helped Stephanie up. Then he pulled her close and kissed her. When the two separated Stephanie asked,
"Well what's going on?"
"Come here I have to show you something." Sportacus said. The two sat down on his bed and he pulled out a medium sized book. The brown leather cover looked worn as if someone had held it often. On the cover, there were some words that Stephanie couldn't decipher. Sportacus saw the wonder and confusion on her face.
"What does it say?" Stephanie said as she traced the blue raised letters.
"It says 'Okkar Fjölskylda Albúm'. It means 'Our Family Album'." Sportacus smiled as he translated. Then he opened the book and showed her the first page. There were pictures of nine men all numbered one through nine. Sportacus told her that from this long line of heroes he was in fact the first above average hero. His father, Number Nine, had been a super hero but he married a beautiful woman, who was just your everyday person. On the following pages there were pictures of his mother and father and soon baby Sportacus.
"So what is your mother and father's names?" Stephanie asked.
"Well I'll get to that but first there is something else you need to see." Sportacus' demeanor changed. On the next page there was more Icelandic and Stephanie tried to read it. It said, 'Mega the efstu svalir guð almáttugur vernda þú eins og þú halda áfram þinn ferð til örlög'. Underneath that saying was a picture of Sportacus' mother. She had very delicate features and beautiful long blonde hair that hung down to her waist. Stephanie noticed that she had the same piercing Icelandic baby blues as Sportacus did.
"What does that mean?" Stephanie asked pointing at the long sentence.
" 'May the Gods protect you as you continue your journey towards destiny.' " Sportacus answered as tears began to well up in his eyes.
"Sportacus, what's wrong?" Stephanie asked concerned.
"My mother is gone and I have never forgiven myself for it." He explained. At this point Stephanie wanted to ask more questions but instead she wrapped her arms around him.
"I'm sorry, Sportacus." He only nodded.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Stephanie asked.
"My father had taken us on a vacation. He wanted to get away from everything for a little while and spend some time with my mother and me. Unfortunately, work found him anyway. A very evil man by the name of Friđrik Snorri kidnapped my mother and me. He gave my father a choice. His choice was to either save my mother or me. He chose to save me. My father kept telling me that he had to choose me. There was no way to save both of us. It is my fault that my mother is gone and my father and I haven't spoken since then." Sportacus explained.
"How old were you?" Stephanie asked.
"I was fifteen. If I had been strong enough I could've saved her and myself. But I wasn't, so I promised myself that in the memory of my mother I would never be weak. I would have to be strong." Sportacus told her.
"Well I think that you and your father have to reconcile. It's been a long time but you have to fix it. You were nineteen when you came to LazyTown. What happened for those four years?" Stephanie asked.
"I went to Hero College and from there I came here. I don't think I could even know where to start with my father. I mean for a while he would sent me letters at college but when I wouldn't answer, he stopped sending them." Sportacus sighed.
"Well then I suggest we take a little trip." Stephanie said.
"Where?" Sportacus asked.
"Home." Was all Stephanie said.
To Be Continued…