Chapter 6

We had once again entered the ballroom. The Magus behind me steered me across the ballroom and stopped at another set of doors. I hadnt noticed those doors before. But it was impossible not to.

The doors were even taller than the one that led into the golden room. They were huge, about 30 feet tall. The doors were pure gold. It was decorated with pictures of gods, which i found quite weird because Magi hated the gods.

I could make out Calithea, holding her beloved mirror. The one that the Head told me to fetch. She was the most beautiful goddess.

Next to her was Ariston, her husband. He was skillful, he could make anything. The gods admired him for that skill. The other gods took Ariston for granted, always ordering him to make items for them. Especially Calithea. She was like a spoiled little girl.

I could also see other gods. Valdus, the most powerful god. Reine, the wife of Valdus and Queen. Persimon, the avenger. Guerrer, the general of the gods. Pelagios, who is the god of earth's oceans. Cliona, the goddess of earth's seas and lakes. There were several other gods. But I was looking for one god in particular. One goddess.

I found her; she was on the right of Valdus, the most powerful god. She was wearing a dress, made out of lion skin. Where she sat explained her position in the circle. The goddess was the right hand of Valdus. She was the 2nd most powerful of them all. They call her, Erregina Luaneshë, or Queen Lioness. She was my patron, one of the goddesses that share her power with me. The lioness represented her.

She had used to be one of the minor gods. But she slew the golden lion. The golden lion that was one of the Leviathans. The golden lion had tried to kill Valdus, but Luaneshë had saved Valdus and killed the lion. By killing the lion, the Leviathan died. No one knew that the lion was one of the Leviathans until after Luaneshë killed it. The soul of the Leviathan came out of the golden lion's mouth and said, "This is not the end. I will come back, and take back my place as the most powerful ruler." With that, the soul of the Leviathan disappeared. After that, she skinned the lion, and used its pelt for a dress.

The doors swung open, revealing a beautiful view. We were up on a hill, the view spread out before us. It looked like Athens. But I knew it wasn't Athens, because I could see the Eiffel tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa near me. Up in the North I could see Mt. Everest. Over to my right, I saw the Taj Mahal and the Roman Colosseum. These were some the buildings that I had dreamed of seeing in my life.

I looked at the Magus who had accompanied me here; he was also looking out and taking in the view with a hint of a smile on his face. I was about to ask him a question, but I didn't want to ruin the moment for him so I just gazed back at the view and kept my mouth shut.

I realized that my eyes were drying up because I hadn't blinked yet, so I did. When I opened my eyes again, the view shifted. The Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal, and the Roman Colosseum were now gone, along with the other buildings. I recognized that we were looking at the Empire State building, looking down at the tall buildings of New York. I saw it on photographs, I always had wanted to see New York.

Not believing, I blinked again. The view shifted into another one. It occurred to me that whenever I blinked, the view would change. The view would change into any place you would want to see.

We were now looking at Buckingham Palace, in London. People wearing those ridiculous-looking, long, black hats marched out of the Palace, they were holding trumpets. At the same time, a long black car drove up. The trumpeters stopped marching; they were evenly spaced out from each other. They stood still, and then they began playing. While they were playing, the Queen smoothly walked out of the Palace and climbed into the car. The car drove away, and the trumpeters marched back into the Palace.

A little wisp of air escaped my mouth. The Queen, I had dreamed of meeting her once. I hadn't exactly met her, but I saw her and it wasn't on tv.

"What do you see?" The Magus asked me.

"The Buckingham Palace," I answered.

The Magus chuckled, "Make your eyes see what this place truly is."

I did, I willed my eyes to. The view shifted again, and this place was the most beautiful than any other in the world.

I could see that it was meant to represent Zion, or paradise. Maybe it was Zion, but it wouldn't be possible because I wasn't dead. Or maybe it would, but…I don't know. I just knew that the view was unimaginable.

"Is this…Zion?" I asked breathlessly.

The Magus nodded, his electrifying-blue eyes slowly turned into a gold shade. "Beautiful isn't it?"

I nodded, it wasn't beautiful, it was unexplainable. "Why am I able to see it?"

"It's because this…palace…was built here on Zion. No one is allowed into it, unless you are a Magus," he said gesturing to himself. "A god, or…granted special permission to enter," he gestured to me. "And we see this view naturally," he continued.

I nodded, taking in the view. We were again, up on a hill. The sky was a mixture of gold hues, soft pinks, light oranges, and swirly clouds. The clouds were cool; they were like the swirls in Van Gogh's Starry Night. The dots from the same painting were also there, bright yellow mixing with the other soothing colors.

The lands were large green hills with different looking buildings on each one. They were all houses. One hill had Victorian houses. Another had Villas with vineyards on them. Another had Tuscan houses that looked like came from Switzerland. Another had Greek styled houses. Another had Roman styled ones. Another had completely modern ones that were shaped like a box. All of them were mansions.

On the hills near me, I could see people in their backyards lounging and having parties. Way out in the distance, there were snowy mountains. I could make out a couple of chair lifts that take people up the mountains.

Up in the North, off to the coast of the mountains, was the ocean. It was pure blue with mixes of dark purple and sea greens. There were islands spread out from each other. Some had towns and houses like the hills; some were bare and were filled with luscious palm trees.

I instinctively stepped out of the palace, it seemed like something was pulling me out.

The Magus behind me gripped my arm and pulled me back. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," he warned.

"Why not?" I complained.

"If you stay here in Zion, and you'll be tempted to, you will become one of the dead and stay here forever," he explained.

I suddenly felt very foolish for trusting my legs to carry me out of here. "Where am I supposed to go?" I really had no idea where I would find Calithea's mirror.

"Think about where Calithea would be right now," he suggested.

I did, I thought about where a goddess of beauty would normally spend her time. I really didn't know where she would. I didn't think she would be in a regular mall. I thought about it hard, but I came up with nothing.

Paris, a voice whispered into my ear. The voice was cold and mellow. I almost didn't hear it because I was too busy thinking. I realized that it was the same voice that told me to enter the tunnel that led to Egypt. I didn't trust this voice anymore. It just lead me to danger. But, it did help out with my quest.

"Can you teach me to summon that vortex that the other Magus summoned earlier?"

The Magus was already shaking his head, "No," he spoke with such force. "It is forbidden to teach an enchanter to summon vortexes," he answered.

I heard his thoughts; I didn't need him to tell me out loud. He just had to think of the vortex and I would get the directions on how to.

Close your eyes, and then picture the vortex forming in front of you. Imagine every detail of the vortex. The swirls, golden dust, and the silver bubbles. Will your mind to make it true and real in front of you. Imagine what the vortex feels like. The speed while you're in it, the dust that feels like fine sugar, the silver bubbles touching the cool temperature on your skin. At last, tell the vortex where you want to go.

I did everything what his thoughts told me to. I willed the vortex to appear in front of me, I told it that I wanted to go to Paris, France. It took me a minute, but when I opened my eyes, the vortex was there.

I looked at the Magus; his eyes were huge and were back to its original color, electrifying blue. "How did you…?"

"You told me," I said with a sly grin. With that, I looked back at the vortex and jumped in...

...

Le temps d'aller à Paris!
(Time to go to Paris!)

Don't forget to review and tell other people about this story

-Kat

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