Chapter 17

He didn't know where he was or who he was or how he'd gotten there or why he was there or… Well, he didn't really know anything. It was like he'd woken up to a complete and utter mental blank. Well, maybe not a complete mental blank; there was one thing he did know. One single piece of information he could remember and cling to with all his might. In a world which was strange and fearful to him, it was his salvation. Something nobody could take away, no matter how hard they tried. This information was important, because it was the name and the face of the most important person in the world to him and he would never let that information go.

But now the question became, did he go looking for his important person or did he wait for them to come to him? The space outside of the little sheltered area he was in was large and daunting. A part of him feared the thought of getting lost within it and if he was lost then he would never find his important person. No, better to wait until they came to him. Because they had to be out there searching for him, right? Right, he had no reason to doubt it. Why would he? If they meant everything to him then the reverse had to be true as well. It just had to be.

'I think someone's trying to be funny,' Catilin laughed as she held up her arm towards them. 'Does this mean I'm in the club now too? But I haven't done anything bad, bad, so it's not really, really fair you know.'

'Didn't you pretty much kidnap a girl today?' Jay cocked an eyebrow at her as his tongue skated across his lips. 'Kidnapping still counts as an illegal offence you know, so bad doesn't even begin to cover it.'

'I didn't kidnap her, kidnap her, I just took her somewhere we could talk, that's all. You're as bad as Duke,' Catilin shook her head. 'So is there anyone else here?'

'I guess Covo has to be out there somewhere,' Ahna bit her lip, 'but other than that...'

'Hmm,' Catilin folded her arms and pulled a face, 'this place is weird.'

'Tell me something I don't already know,' she gave a nervous laugh.

'No, you don't understand, the air is really still here. It's not telling me anything. It doesn't buzz. It doesn't hum. It doesn't do anything. It's just so still and that's really, really weird.'

'Maybe it's something to do with the henge,' Ahna tilted her head to one side. 'I read somewhere that old, mystical structures can disrupt a Calicaccu's senses.'

'Maybe, I was pretty nearby when I woke up,' despite the calmness of her words her face revealed she didn't quite buy into that theory.

'There is something strange about these stones, I'm sure of it,' Ahna did her best to be as convincing as possible. 'I ended up spending the night here because constant torrential rain showers prevented me from moving more than half a meter in any direction. There are these inscriptions on the stone over there,' she pointed, 'and the longer I was here the more I found myself going over and over what they said in my mind, trying to figure out as much about them as I could. But the way I was thinking... it didn't feel like me, if that makes sense. That's why I'm sure there's something weird about this henge.'

'Okay,' Catilin sounded a little more convinced, 'were the words in English or in Ode?'

'English.'

'What did they say?'

'I am. Reflection. I reflect. You are. Reflection. You reflect.'

'So, what, we're all mirrors then,' Jay licked his lips and laughed, 'cuz I don't feel particularly glass like.'

'That's an SK thing,' Catilin tilted her head as she studied him carefully, 'you're doing an SK thing.'

'What?' Jay frowned as he licked his lips again.

'Your tongue's doing an SK thing,' Catilin clapped her hands together, 'imitation means you like someone, doesn't it?'

'Oh yeah, me and SK are best friends, couldn't you figure that out on your own,' Jay rolled his eyes as his voice dripped with sarcasm.

'See, even you think you like him.'

'That's not what I meant.'

'But it's what you said,' Catilin poked her tongue out at him.

'Yes, but I...' Jay licked his lips once more as he shook his head. 'You're just trying to wind me up now, aren't you?'

'Maybe...'

'You maturity in situations like this never ceases to amaze me,' he rolled his eyes again, before turning his attention towards Ahna. 'So where exactly are these inscriptions of yours? I'd like to check them out for myself.'

'Why?' Ahna smirked at him. 'Not starting to feel like a mirror, are we?'

SK didn't know if it was because of her inexperience or because her powers were down too, but nothing Mai tried seemed to work either. When he could see her becoming visibly distressed again, he'd stopped her and told her if they walked around for long enough, they would probably come across the others anyway. The only problem was, without knowing exactly how big this place was, there was no telling if and when they actually would bump into anyone else. Not that SK could tell Mai that, he was having a hard enough time keeping her calm as it was.

For the last ten minutes or so all conversation between them had dropped. The silence which replaced it wasn't uncomfortable exactly, but it was filled with a lot of unspoken words. SK wanted to tell Mai everything was alright, that they would get her baby back and find Joey and Crovell and the others and that it would all turn out okay. But something in the pit of his stomach made him hold back; because the truth was, at that point in time, he couldn't see how everything could possibly turn out okay. Mai losing Jo wasn't like Ahna losing Crovell. He didn't know how she could possible get her baby back and it killed him.

'Hey what's that?' Mai interrupted his train of thoughts.

For a while now they'd been walking in the direction of a large forest, but just as the entrance to it was coming into view, so did a small structure made entirely of green stones.

'A henge, I think.'

'What do you mean, you think?' Mai frowned. 'I thought you were an archaeologist.'

'I'm more of a genealogist with an interest in Egyptology and it's not like there are many henges in Egypt.'

'I see.'

'Hey, do you think we should check it out?'

'Aren't we supposed to be looking for Joey?' Mai's voice was as tense as her body.

'Well that henge is a pretty noticeable structure, for all we know he might be heading towards it anyway.'

'Maybe,' she couldn't have sounded less convinced if she tried.

'Look, we might as well check it out now; after all, it might hold some clues to what's going on.'

'This is the scientist in you, isn't it?'

'What do you think?'

'Fine,' Mai gave an impatient sigh, 'I suppose a break wouldn't hurt.'

'Great,' he grinned.

By this time they'd arrived at the entrance to the henge. Instantly his eyes were drawn towards a carved, circular, stone table in the centre. Without hesitation, he made his way towards it and was filled with an almost horrified disappointment when he discovered that some careless vandal had scratched a nonsensical phrase into it.

'The sleeper dreams. The dreamer sleeps,' Mai read over his shoulder. 'What once was sees what now is,' she frowned. 'What's that supposed to mean? What once was sees what now is. That doesn't make any sense.'

'Who cares?' Now it was SK's turn to sigh impatiently. 'I just can't believe anyone could be so insensitive as to deface it like that. I mean, look how beautifully carved this table is otherwise.'

'Thank god, I thought I was never going to make it out of there.'

The sudden sound of his voice made both of them half jump out of their skins. Looking up, they saw Covo and Mokuba emerging from the forest.

'SK,' his cousin grinned happily, 'you're here too?'

'And Mai as well by the look of it,' Covo's eyes scanned them over for a few seconds before his eyes bulged with horror. 'Wait, what's going on? Why isn't Mai pregnant?'