The Caelus Vance Chronicles: Ancient Souls (#1)

₪₪₪₪ Chapter 3 - Plan and prepare ₪₪₪₪

Caelus Vance

We were sitting on our thrones. Me in the one with the thunderbolt at the top, Julia with the crown, Mary on the throne with the trident, and lastly, Aaron sat on the arm of Mary's throne. "Aaron, do you not have a throne?" He rolled his eyes and ignored my question. I looked around at the remaining thrones, then realised that none had a symbol for Hades. I knew he wasn't among the 12 Olympians, but I assumed he would still have his own throne, especially as the Lord of the Underworld.

"Okay, so as far as we know, the initial for Athena's pair is S.H. We will go to Athens and try to find them." Mary seemed pretty confident. Is this how they planned my kidnapping?

"Wait, wait. How do you know they're S.H.?" It seemed like a strange bit of information to just have at hand.

"Poseidon left a bit of a clue for me. They speak to us through some kind of psychic link, and he complains about the Athena sponsor almost daily, so... I now know their initials. Zeus will speak to you when he needs to." Speak to me? Like voices in my head? It seemed very strange to me, but I didn't have time to question it, so we just continued planning the search for 'S.H.'.

After we finished planning, Julia gave me a more detailed tour. "This archway leads to all our bedrooms; you're the first one on the left."

"Bedrooms? I'm never going back to my family... am I?" She sighed, and we both walked into 'my' room. We sat on the bed, and she took my hands in hers.

"Caelus... I know it may be hard for you to understand, but we can't go back to our families. The last time I saw my family was 3 years ago. When you're linked to a god, something triggers; I'm not sure how. You practically disappear. They wouldn't remember you even if they wanted to. There are some grey areas, but for the most part, you'd be gone." I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I would never see my family again? To them, I never even existed? "But... but my little sister. Annie needs me. She... the last thing we did was argue. I never got to say goodbye..." I could feel tears filling my eyes, and I think Julia noticed that because she hugged me tightly. I knew she understood how I felt. It made me wonder if she had any siblings.

She finally pulled away from the hug. "If you need me, I'm in the room across from you. Your belongings are already here, and your room will cater to your abilities."

"Abilities?" I didn't remember hearing anything about abilities.

"Oh, right. Forgot to mention that part. You will have some abilities relating to Zeus, but every sponsor has a different skill set, so your abilities won't be identical to past pairs of Zeus." I nodded because I had no idea what to say. "We'll start your training tomorrow. You need to be prepared for anything." She smiled at me and then left. I sat there for a minute, processing my thoughts. I decided that sleeping on all this information was probably my best bet.

I got changed and got into bed. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't sleep. All of my thoughts were running so fast I couldn't keep up. All I could picture was my family returning to Philadelphia without me; my school friends wouldn't remember me, my sister, my parents... my mum. I just didn't exist. I pictured my sister's face when we had our last conversation, how mad she looked that we were at a temple instead of a national park or something we'd all enjoy. I just wish I had told her how much I cared for and loved her instead of having stupid arguments.

As hours passed, I still couldn't sleep, so I got up and began walking around. It was empty and dark in every hallway I walked down. I made it to the kitchen that Julia showed me. Then I walked in. Sitting in the corner was Aaron. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here." He looked up at me and sighed.