The Argonauts - On hold

Prologue

"I hope the act of love never goes out of style."

The Argo leaves at three. I look up to the massive ship that I will be journeying on for the next bulk of my life. I am about to be an Argonaut. I grip my mother's hand tighter, scared of the massive ship before me. My mother's clammy hand grips my hand harder too. The Argo towers over the small loading dock and information center. My suitcase handle slips, so I adjust my grip on it. This makes me pause for a second, but my mom tugs me along and we begin to move. The crowd flows around me like a sea. Fear begins to kick in. "Mom I need to stop," I say, tugging on her hand. We move over to the side of the street and into an alleyway and stand there for a second, tension surging through my body.

"What's wrong, baby?" She asks, grabbing the hands that holds my peach-orange suitcase, squatting while bringing it with her. "We need to move. I know your scared, I was too, and it's natural. Before you know it, you'll have a lot of new friends."

I want to say something else, but she lets go of my hand and begins walking out and with the crowd again. My mom isn't a hero like most of the parents here. She was released after becoming pregnant with me on the Argo. Her destiny was to slay the dragon Astamatiti, an unstoppable man-made metallic dragon that terrorizes the Plain. As we approach the open area where the docks are, my hands become sweaty. The crowd is huge now that we come into the large clearing. My mom's grip becomes tighter and she looks over to me.

"If my mom told me to slay a dragon, I think you can complete your destiny," she says, and that was the last thing she said to me. The crowd moves around, attempting to reach the table. Most mothers that walked away from the counter were crying. I have never seen my mom cry before. Seeing the other moms cry is strange. They don't cry like I cry. A mother's cry is a full-out ugly cry like the one that I don't let my former classmates see. I know why, they have to say goodbye to their children forever. The Argo's captain, Jase Hunt, stands by the table, welcoming each new child as an Argonaut. The moment I see him, I immediately hate him.

His forced smile welcoming people on to his ship makes me cringe. I already know that every time I see him I will be moving the other way. My thoughts are interrupted by the sound of my mom's voice saying my name. "Devon Marie Coldan?" An inquisitive voice says, and I look up. I didn't even notice we had reached the desk. My mom looks at me, and for the first time, I see her eyes fog up. I'm never going to see her again. The realization hits me and I go numb. The pain hits me like a bus. I look back at my mom.

"It's okay mom, I'll find you," I say, in between rubbing my nose so I'm not crying. "And you'll be there." And, just like that, I will never see my mom again, and that I know for sure.