Chapter 3

The streets were filled with millions of people milling around. Tons of stands lined the streets, selling everything from books to fruit to jewelry. With my new clothes, I blended in. I wore a long blue, sheer fabric, which was wrapped around my body to form a dress. Thin gold sandals we're ln my feet. I also had some golden hoop bracelets, so I wouldn't look too out of place.

People were still glancing at me more than they should have. What was it? Had a wrapped my dress the wrong way? It wasn't that though, they were staying at my head.

Then I realized that everyone here had dark hair, deeply tanned skin, and brown eyes. I, on the other hand, hand blonde hair, green eyes, and light skin. I wondered if I could pass for an albino.

I shook my head at the stupid thoughts, and tried to figure out where I should go next. All of the stands looked the same, and most of the buildings were homes. My stomach then growled, so I decided to find something to eat.

I smelled a wonderful spicy aroma, and walked towards the stand that was creating it.

All of a sudden, a strong hand gripped my arm. I spun around and saw an old man. He opened his mouth to speak, so I quickly snapped my fingers.

"Come to my stall," he said. It didn't sound menacing, it was almost pleading.

I didn't trust old Egyptian people anymore though, so I tried to just walk away.

The man pulled me back again though and repeated, "Come to my stall, please. I have something to give you."

I finally gave in, because the man seemed to have the golden glow of a god in disguise around him. A crowd was starting to form too, and it was probably best not to draw attention to myself.

The man led me over to his stall, which happened to be right next to the food stand I had been heading towards. His stall was filled with stacks of old books and manuscripts, all piled precariously on top of each other. The man didn't go towards any of the stacks though. He simply said, "I need the key."

"What? What key?" I said.

"The one to access the book," the man replied with a special emphasis on book.

"But I don't have a key!" I protested.

"Yes you do," he encouraged. "Look inside yourself, and you will know the answer."

I obeyed, and closed my eyes. A fog fell over my mind, and I began to search through my brain for anything of interest. One particular memory seemed to be sticking out, and it was a very recent one. I looked inside.

"You deserve it," the goddess was saying.

I was thanking the goddess for my leg...no wait, there was something else. She had fixed my leg, but that wasn't what she was implying. This time, in the memory, I looked down at my ankle. On it was a little golden loop, with a miniscule locket.

"But you know, this comes with a great price..." the goddess said.

She wasn't referring to my bite. She was talking about the anklet.It was a key to something, a big quest, something that would result in me losing something in the end. I couldn't refuse the challenge though. It wasn't allowed to refuse the gods, and who would refuse a quest anyways? Very few people ever even got one…

I opened my eyes, and the real sounds, sights, and smells of the world came rushing back to me.

"Did you see it?" The man asked.

"Yes," I replied.

"Ah. I knew you would!" His face lit up with a toothless smile. "Now where is it?"

I sheepishly unclasped the chain from my ankle. I noticed that on the locket part of it, there was a tiny lioness engraved on it. It looked unnatural for some reason, and I soon figured out why. The lioness didn't have whiskers.

"Hand it to me now," the man said.

I handed it to him, and he began examining it closely.

"Now, usually the gods try to trick you, so these are hard to open. They want to make sure only the Keepers, like me, can open them. We wouldn't want anyone else to use them, now would we? Now let me see here, I know this goddess's style..." the old man mumbled.

He tugged on the chain twice, and took out a knife. He carefully carved whiskers into the engraved lioness. I could've sworn it let out a tiny roar when he was finished.

"Now...for the word. What could it be?" He wondered. "Leeu?"

The locket did nothing.

"Of course not, too obvious," the man muttered.

"Snorre? Maanhare? Vlinder?" He recited.

The locket did nothing. The man rubbed his forehead in frustration.

"Any ideas?" He asked.

"I don't speak your language though," I said.

"I'll translate it for you," he suggested. "Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"Uhm, something to do with tigers?" I suggested.

"Oh! Of course!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Just a moment...what did she say a few days ago? Ah!"

The man turned and looked at the locket importantly. "Tiere suig!" He announced.

The lioness purred contentedly, and the locket sprung open. The old man chuckled to himself.

"What? What did you say?" I asked.

"I said 'tigers suck'. The old goddess still has her sense of humor I see..."

I didn't really find it that funny, so I faked a small polite laugh. "What does the key do?

"It opens this trunk, which contains the book I must give to you," said the man.

He bent over, underneath a table, and pulled out an ancient looking trunk. He took a small key out of the locket, and inserted into the keyhole. The lid of the trunk popped open, and the man reached inside and pulled out a small red book. He handed it to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Read it," he gestured me to open the book.

So I did, I opened the book and saw strange symbols I couldn't decipher. "How am I supposed to read these?" I asked.

"They're Greek," said the old man.

I groaned, "That means I have to go to Greece now, doesn't it?"

"Of course it does!" Replied the old man with another toothless smile.

He snapped his fingers, and I fell asleep…

….

Time to go to Greece!

-Kat

….