Metanoia (25 page)

“
What do you
mean?”

But Fheyrhil continued as if he had not heard
her. “I sensed right away what the Vice knew. I shared the
information with Jasmine right away, but it was too late. You
cannot change destiny. I already knew she would become
pregnant.”

“
Pregnant? With me you
mean?”

“
No. With your sister.”
Silence swept over the room. Gina stared at Fheyrhil with
disbelief. Fheyrhil continued. “He knew that the one with the gift
was supposed to have a sister, two years her junior. It was already
years past that deadline when I began to sense the pregnancy, but I
knew that destinies could not be changed. Everything is
predestined. Somehow, it would be explained and I knew that the
Vice would not give up. After you became queen, I began to sense
his plan to destroy you. I had been too careless and he was
beginning to understand your importance, even if he did not know
fully who you were. I had to take a different course of action.
Thus, we decided that Jasmine would separate herself from me and
move to the other world. There she would be safe from him and
another daughter could not be born. I was foolish. The Vice quickly
discovered that the queen was my long lost daughter. He destroyed
you, but brought you back, forcing you to be reborn from Jasmine in
the other world. The potion would kill you, but have you be reborn
from your mother wherever she was. The Vice did not know where
Jasmine was though. She and I both knew we could not be with you
through your life. It would be too easy for the Vice to track you
down and attack when you were defenseless. We put you in foster
care and tried to disappear as well as we could. We did visit by
disguising ourselves as this and that so we could see you. Jasmine
and I hardly saw each other though. We still attempted to escape
fate. But two years after your birth in the other world, Jasmine
became pregnant with my second child.”

“
I have a sister?” Gina
asked shaking. She still could not believe it.

“
Yes. Her name is Athena,”
Fheyrhil offered.

Athena
, Gina thought.
I have a sister
named Athena.
Still, the reality did not
sink in. “Does she know? Does she know about you, about me, about
Nythagié?”

“
No, Gina. She knows
nothing of our world. Her mother took her away when she was only
first born, but she too was given to foster care for her own
protect and for yours.”

“
But where’s our mother?”
Gina asked, trembling.

Fheyrhil took a deep breath. “She’s dead. She
died in a car crash 11 years ago. Your sister doesn’t know anything
about her.”

“
So, Athena doesn’t know
anything? She’s grown up thinking she belongs there when really she
belongs here…” Gina’s temper began to get the best of her. “Athena
thinks she has no father or siblings when really she does! You let
me believe a lie my whole life, and I thought that was awful. That
doesn’t even compare to the injustice you’ve put upon my sister!
You lied to both of us.”

“
Gina, I was forced to lie
out of love for the both of you!”

“
You made her suffer
because of me. And now she doesn’t know anything! You can’t do that
to her. You did it to me, and I had to live through it. I refuse to
allow you to do that to her,” she stated. By this time, the sound
of raised voices had led Leyance to rush into the room at full
speed only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight of Gina and
Fheyrhil glaring at each other, anger boiling inside
both.

“
And what exactly do you
plan to do? It is over; it is done with!” Fheyrhil
roared.

“
What do
I plan to do about it? Well, I’ll tell you,
Dad
.” This last word came out as
sarcastically as possible, causing Leyance to ask loudly over the
shouting.

“
He’s your what?!” Yet,
neither Fheyrhil nor Gina heard him. Gina continued to shout at
Fheyrhil.

“
I’m
going to make things right. I’m going to fix what
you
destroyed! I’m going
to the other world, tonight. I’m finding her, and I’m telling her
the whole truth!” she yelled. Fheyrhli stopped in his
tracks.

“
You cannot.”

“
Yes,
sorry,
Father
,
but I’m exposing your lies…”

Leyance screamed over them again. “Fheyrhil
is your father?!”

“
You cannot do that!”
Fheyrhil roared. “Just use your senses! Can you not see? You have
my powers too! You too can sense the future, sense the present.
Feel it, use it now!”

Gina paused, taken aback. “I have it?”

Fheyrhil nodded. “Yes. The Power of Knowledge
is in you too. Can you not sense it?”

Gina turned her eyes away
and glanced at Leyance. What her eyes rested upon shocked her.
Standing next to Leyance was a little boy with her hair and
Leyance’s eyes. Yet, with a blink, he was gone. Fheyrhil glanced at
the same spot next to Leyance and continued calmly.

“
It was so hard for you
when you first got here, when you first learned the truth. It drove
you mad. Your sister will be no different. You will drive her mad
too. Do you really want to put her through that pain to get back at
me? If so, then you are no better than me.”

“
Don’t even make me out to
be the coward you are,” she countered, spinning around to face him,
but instantly regretted it. Fheyrhil only stood silently, eyes
filled with hurt. Though this deeply moved Gina, she dared not show
it. She continued to speak, now calmly, but her voice shook
slightly. “Write down her information now.”

Leyance had finally caught on to what was
going on. “Gina, think about this first. Maybe, Fheyrhil…”

“
Don’t,” she warned and
turned back to Fheyrhil. “I order you to give me her information.”
Silently, he reached for a blank sheet of paper, a quill, and wrote
down what information he knew. He slowly folded the paper and
handed it to her.

“
Here it is, Your
Highness,” he said bitterly. The title cut through Gina’s heart,
but again, she struggled to keep the hurt hidden. She grabbed the
paper and marched out of the door. Leyance watched her go and
looked from Fheyrhil to the door Gina had disappeared behind. “Go
ahead and follow her, Leyance,” Fheyrhil stated, seeing Leyance’s
internal debate. “Perhaps you can talk more sense into her than I
did. One thing is for sure. She is as stubborn as her mother. Try
to talk some sense into her.”

“
I’ll try,” he said and
turned to leave but stopped. Carefully, he rotated to look back at
Fheryhil who stood motionless in the middle of the room looking
lost and confused. “You’re my father-in-law?” Leyance asked.
Fheyrhil smiled weakly.

“
Yes, my boy. So I am,” he
replied. “Now, go. Your wife needs you, though I daresay she does
not know it.” Leyance nodded and hurried off.

Chapter 15

“Athena”

Gina sat in a taxi watching trees and houses
pass by. She had completely ignored Leyance’s pleas to stay and had
left for the other world that night as she had threatened. Now she
clutched the paper with her sister’s information as if it was the
most precious gift in the world. Glancing down, she began to read
it again as she had been doing all evening.

Athena Johnson

1532 Olympus Road

San Jose, California 95128, USA

Suddenly, realization
swept over her.
1532 Olympus Road? I lived
there!
She recalled a time long forgotten
when she had traveled from one foster home to the next. This was
one of her homes. She remembered because she loved the fact that
she’d be living on Olympus like one of the Greek goddesses. If only
she had known about that horrid dog. It would bark and bark for no
apparent reason into all hours of the night. It would also grip its
teeth on anything that moved – including jeans. Gina held the paper
close to her heart and once more stared out the window. Burke Road
past, Hillside Road past, and finally Gina caught a glimpse of the
next street sign. Olympus Road. Her heart gave a little jump. Ahead
of the car, Gina saw a young woman walking out of her house.
Barking incessantly at the window was a little brown
dog.

“
Stop the car, please!”
Gina ordered.

“
You want me to drop you
off over here?” the driver asked.

“
I just want to sit here
for awhile. What house is 1532?” she asked, shaking, still watching
the girl who was fumbling through her bags. She looked too
familiar.

The cab driver paused studying the houses
then pointed to the girl. “The house that girl just came out of.”
So that was her. That girl, so innocently looking for her car keys,
was Gina’s sister. It seemed surreal as Gina watched the girl she
should have known her whole life. She watched the teenager wearing
jeans (with ripped bottoms – no doubt caused by the dog),
flip-flops, and a T-Shirt which Athena had creatively painted on
the words “Rock On.” Gina watched this seemingly normal girl
knowing from the minute that girl had been born, she had never been
meant to be normal. It was Athena. Gina’s head screamed at her to
get out of the car, run over and tell her everything. Yet, her
heart restrained her. Athena’s face looked tired and stressed as
she continued the search for her keys. Her reddish-brown loose
curls fell in her face as she did so. A sudden smile displayed that
her hand had finally rested upon the keys. Sure enough, she soon
pulled them out of her bag. Gina still could not move. She did not
have the heart to make this girl’s world come crashing down upon
her has Gina’s own life had when her school was attacked two years
earlier. Suddenly, Athena dropped her keys causing her to throw her
head backwards in a stressed tone and lean over to pick them up. A
piece of paper fell out of her purse and though she saw it, Athena
seemed to feel too stressed to pick it up. The dog was still
barking, and Gina could see how annoyed the girl was getting with
it. Finally, she turned to the window and yelled.

“
Shut up, Sparky! That damn
dog…” With that, she opened the door, got in the car, started the
engine, and drove off.

“
Hey, Lady, are you going
to get out or what?” the taxi driver asked irritably. Gina snapped
to attention.

“
Oh! Yes, yes, sorry.” She
pulled money out of her purse, handed it to the driver, and got
out. He quickly sped away as Gina walked over to the piece of
paper. She leaned over, picked it up and saw it was a business
card.

Sterling Night School

(Earn more credits in your spare time!)

For more information call

1-800-415-6287

She pocketed the card and headed out. She
might not have been in the other world much these days, but luckily
she always made sure to have the necessities on her during visits.
She quickly took out a cell phone and dialed the number.

“
Hello, thank you for
calling Sterling Night School, this is Sheila, how may I help you?”
the operator answered.

“
Umm,
hello. I was wondering. My friend signed up for your classes and
was telling me about them and I wanted to join but I can’t remember
what the name of the class is…?”
I sound
so stupid! This isn’t going to work.

“
Not a problem. What is
your friend’s name?”

“
Athena Johnson” was the
quick reply.

“
Alrighty, hold one
second.” There was a click and then a recorded message with music
that made Gina suddenly think of elevator music. Soon enough,
though, there was another click, and the operator spoke again.
“Alrighty, it looks like Athena Johnson is taking the class
Mythology and Culture. Would you like to enroll as well? You’ve
only missed two classes. I’m sure you could make up the work.” Gina
hesitated. She’d get to be close to her sister this way, it was the
perfect opportunity.

“
Yes, I do.”

“
Alrighty. What is your
name?”

“
Gina Cassidy.” Gina gave
her information and spoke with the operator for awhile before she
hung up and called another taxi. She was going to see her
sister.

Sure enough, Gina arrived in the classroom
twenty minutes later. She was ten minutes late. Cautiously, she
opened the door and froze as she saw that she had interrupted the
teacher. It had been two years since she had been at school and
though she could stare down the enemy with the greatest of ease,
the sight of teachers still terrified her.

“
May I help you?” the
teacher asked. Gina tried to collect herself. She glanced at Athena
who had lifted her head out of her text to see the new
student.

“
Uh, yes. My name is Gina
Cassidy. I just enrolled.”

“
Oh of course,” the teacher
said. “I just got the note that you joined right before I stepped
in.” He extended his hand. “My name is Mr. Jettson. Welcome to
Mythology and Culture.”

“
Thank you,” she said and
shook his hand. Mr. Jettson now turned to look at the
class.

“
We have plenty of empty
desks. Feel free to pick whichever one you’d like.” Luckily, Gina
saw an empty desk next to Athena and slid down in it.

“
Alright. Continuing on
page 42…” Mr. Jettson was saying.