The Story of Paul Cooper: Book Two

A Memory or a Dream?

I was flipping my sun-emblem dog tag as I walked down a busy street, with buildings on either side. It was nighttime, and I was walking with another person. People were running out of stores and restaurants, and bars, too. I turned to the girl, the person who was walking next to me. I immediately knew that the two of us were only appearing to be about seventeen.

                The girl, Alex, smiled at me, and shrugged, continuing to walk. I noticed that she had dark brown- almost black, like Artemis’ hair- hair, and brown eyes that could be black if you didn’t notice. She was a little shorter than me, and had on a faded green dress with flowers, and a white sweater. She also had a headband in her hair, one with silver leaves, and a necklace with a bird on it- a tiny sparrow.

                I looked around, and pointed to a small  building close by, one that seemed to be crowded with people; we’d do fine there. There would be so many people that most of them wouldn’t notice us.

                We walked in, and I was surprised at the number of people. Although we may have appeared as seventeen, none of the people working there had a problem with us being there. Maybe it was because we didn’t look too young, or maybe it was because we were gods, but I’ll never know.

                A tall man, not much taller than my seventeen-year-old self, walked over to us, and said something in Latin. Hey, I took Latin as a little baby god, along with Ancient Greek, and a ton of other languages.

                “An vos filii caelum?” he asked. I knew this meant, ‘Who are you, children of the sky?’, and so did Alex.

                “Ut sunt qui speculum teneant praeterita et qui aperit ostium postero,” said Alex. She said, ‘We are the ones who hold the mirror to the past, and who open the doorway to the future.’

                The man nodded, and realizing that we were gods, he introduced himself in English. I noticed he had a British accent, since we were in London. Did I mention that?

                “Good. Well, it’s good you two could come. It’s been a while since we’ve had a couple from Olympus here,” he said. “I’m David, by the way. I’m a son of Dionysus.”

                “Alright. Listen, we just came for the concert,” I said, knowing that my cheeks were red.

                “Fine. You can have seats over there, son of Apollo. The others want to meet you and your…friend, after the concert, too.” With this, David left, and Alex and I were free to find a seat.

                We found an empty table in the back corner of the large, brick room, and ordered two sodas; soda was something we never got on Olympus.

                We talked, and listened to the band, but didn’t dance; neither of us are big dancers. Soon, some people started dancing really enthusiastically, and alex and I just shook our heads. We were in the middle of getting ready to order another round of Coca Colas when someone sat down at our table.

                “David told me you were here,” the man said. He didn’t look much older than us. I looked at him, on guard.

                “And you are…?” Alex asked, her hand flying to her necklace.

                “Oh, erm, sorry. You two can call me Paul,” said Paul. I was annoyed that this guy had my name, too. My nickname, nevertheless.

                “Alright. I’m Alex,” Alex smiled, but her eyes showed that she was still wary, even though she let go of her sparrow necklace.

                “I’m Paul, too,” I said, and Other Paul smiled; Alex blushed.

                “I know you two are gods,” Other Paul sighed, leaning back in his chair. “It’s alright, pretty gear, too.” Gear?

                “You mean great,” I said. Other Paul nodded. I guess it was an English term.

                “Anyway, I’m a demigod, as you know. We have to same father, too,” Other Paul said, looking at me. “Son of Apollo. Moving on, I’ve been told that if I came here tonight with three of my friends, I’d find my answers. That means you two.”

                “Okay, well what do you need?” I replied.

                Other Paul sighed.

                “I’m supposed to find you two, and you’re to tell me my future- it’s some sort of test, on all three of us.”

                “I don’t know your future,” I sighed, probably sounding more tired than I really was.

                “I do,” Alex said suddenly. “Do you want to know?” She said, looking at Other Paul.

                Other Paul was silent, and I couldn’t help but hear a clock ticking in my head.

                “Tell me some of it,” Other Paul sighed, preparing himself for the worst. Alex sighed, and I sat up straighter.

                “Okay…um, you’re going to be successful….you’ll have issues with your love life…someone you care about deeply will leave you in future years…should I go on?” Alex said, her eyes closed shut.

                Other Paul shook his head.

                “That’s all I need to know. I don’t want to know every detail, or else I’ll want to change it.”

                You might or might not already know this, and if you don’t, I’ll tell you now. But Alex can make prophecies and stuff, but differently from an oracle.

                “Wait,” Alex said suddenly, as Other Paul got up to leave. “Oh…never mind. You’ll find out in a few years.”

                And then, I woke up from my dream.