ATN 3: THE JAR IN THE MAZE

WE INTRODUCE OURSELVES

Right before dinner, I found Tina having a conversation with Queen Delilah. Her girls had been really nice to show us the place we were going to stay in. There was a cabin: a six storied house that hosted guests. They provided a whole floor for Iris, who seemed overwhelmed (yes, gods do get overwhelmed). The werewolves got a separate floor. We got four more floors. One of the rooms in the ground floor hosted the guy. I found out that his name was Gerard Fritz. But I had no idea who he was, or how he was here.

So, I decided to focus on the matter at hands. Best way to know stuff about the people here is getting to know the Queen herself. And with her being my girlfriend's sister, it becomes slightly easy. So, I walked up to Tina.

"Yo, where were you?" She asked.

"I was there, with the werewolves." I said, and then I turned to the Queen, bowed slightly, and said in Spanish, "La reina!" (The Queen) I was showing off. Get over it.

She looked surprised. She asked, "Tu hablas Español?" (You speak Spanish?)

"Si. Un poco. Estudio en escola." (Yes. A little. Studied in school.)

"Bueno." (Well.)

"I don't remember much after that." I said, "I am out of practice. Your Highness. I'm curious. Your name suggests that you are Catalan. But your accent is..."

"Bolivian." She said, "My Mom was from Girona. She got an NGO related job in La Paz, where she met Dad. I have grown up in the Andes, until I came here eight years ago."

"She likes football." Tina said, "Like you."

"Do you?" I asked.

"A Barcelona fan. Its close to my origins of course. Leo Messi is the man."

"Again." Tina said, "Like you."

"Your Highness, your country beat Leo 6-1 once. I am not a big fan of Bolivia."

"Believe me, I was spectator in the game. I felt like every part of my heart flinched that day. Anyway, please call me Delilah, or Roca. Anything, except for all the old fashioned names. Amazons call me by my name. Atlanteans should, too."

After dinner, which contained steak again, I, Dadai and Abhro decided to go for a walk. I asked Delilah if there is any rule for people to stay inside after dinner, to which she said no. Tina was right beside her, when I caught Delilah checking Dadai out. Finally, someone checking him out. Dadai is seriously more deserving of a girlfriend than me. How I managed someone as awesome as Tina, I would never know. Apparently, SRK was right: if she can't be your best friend, you can't fall for her. Tina was, and I did.

We were walking near the field, the Amazon training ground, and were discussing how Delilah was checking Dadai out, when we found the other girl from the early night, the one with the Islamic locket, practicing sword. She was about my age. She saw us, put down a sword, and nervously said, "Hi!"

"Hello." Dadai said, "I am Avik. This is Jay. That's Abhro."

"Oh!" She said, "I am Urwa. Urwa Farooqi. I am advisor to the Queen."

"Cool. Where are you from?" Abhro asked.

"Lets just say that I was born in Rawalpindi."

"You are a neighbor?" I asked.

"Yeah. Apparently, my Ammi was there when there was some war between our countries. You know, she loves war. My Abbu was in military."

"Was?" Dadai asked.

"He died before I was born." Urwa said.

"That's terrible. I am so sorry."

"Its alright."

"And your mother? Who is she?"

"Enyo, goddess of violent war."

"Oh! Cool. How is she?"

"You tell me. You have met many gods, right?"

"The whole Council. But seriously, you never met her?"

"No. I was born of an affair that ended before starting. My grandparents never accepted me. I was in orphanage most of the times. Then, one day, when I was ten, Chiron found me."

"Chiron?"

"Yeah, he is the trainer in Themiscyra. He is on a break, but will be back soon enough."

I kinda like these war kids. They do open up pretty easily. Like, at the first meeting. Remember Tina? Yeah, same. I guess, its the constant need of opening up. The stereotype around the war kids is pretty high: don't cry, be tough, stay quiet, etc. There was no room for being emotional, sadly. But their instincts were superb. They opened up only to people who gave them trusting vibes.

Urwa and we three talked for about half hour, sitting on the field. She told us about her locket. She kneeled and bowed five times a week, and prayed to the gods up in Olympus as well. I loved how she was holding on to both sides of her culture. Not gonna lie, Pakistanis are great at holding their roots.

The Amazons lived in the other cabin, which was next to the biggest monument on the island: the Temple of Ares. We hadn't visited it yet, but next morning, surely.

Later, we got information from her that we needed: the entrance to the Labyrinth that had moved from Crete to here, and Gerard Fritz. Urwa said that there was one entrance to the Labyrinth behind the temple of Ares. But it was difficult to navigate inside it, because of the veil magic of Hecate. It changed appearances, and confused the ones inside. In short, the Labyrinth was alive.

Gerard Fritz was an interesting thing to listen to, and his existence solved the Prophecy's riddle. Gerard Fritz was a son of Thetis, the river goddess. 'When hope spreads out, Achilles's brother shall raise'. The guy has a role to play in this. So, if he was the person in the Prophecy, I had to get close to him. Athena wanted me and Tina to lead the mission. We had to get to know him. Urwa said that Gerard was born in Hamburg, Low Saxon, but brought up in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in Hamburg for vacation, after he was attacked by monsters one day, he and his father ran. They somehow got on a ship to Greece. When they landed in Pireas, monsters attacked again. His father died trying to save him. Chiron found Gerard in an injured condition, and since Themiscyra was closer, he brought him here to recover. He has been here for four months. He was still grieving, but he was getting there. He had become an important part of Themiscyra.

Overall, I liked it here. People here were vicious and short tempered, but very open and helpful. But tomorrow was a big day. We had to visit the Temple, see the entrance, and devise a plan. So, we wished Urwa goodnight, and went to sleep.