CHAPTER 12
Centuries ago:
“The gods have chosen our boys, Georgius!” squealed a woman in excitement. She gasped her husband’s weathered hands in joy, but the man was to tired for such enthusiasm. Still, he rejoiced in his own way, privately.
“Yes my dear, they shall finally be able to escape these modest means.” He crumpled into the hard rocking chair that stood as the only thing of worth in the tiny hut. He started creaking back in forth in the chair, the creaking unable to echo in the small space.
“They will have meat every day and never have to labour in the sun or starve in the winter.” She went on praising the gods who would take her boys from misery.
“And they’ll leave us here to rot.” interjected Georgius grudgingly.
Suddenly the woman’s tone turned to worry and she glanced around the room, her eyes flitting out the small open door. “Please be quiet, my dear. Please do not say things like that.”
“I’ll say what I want. Those boys should be thankful for what they have, not be dreaming of impossibilities.”
The house went silent until little Caius an dLucius barged in, their giggles loud and their hair caked with mud. “We found a frog!” the smaller one, Caius, squealed.
“And we fed it flies!” said Lucius.
“And you rolled around in the mud afterward, I see.” said the mother, with a smile so warm it made the boys giggle even louder.
Georgius furrowed his bra and said, a little too harshly, “Please clean them up, Phillipa.”
Attributing his irritability to the long day of labour, Phillipa herded her sons out the door without anything more than a kind smile. She ushered the two young souls to the nearby stream and helped them out of their clothes. This spot was her chosen bathing location because she could let her boys play and splash away their filth while she washed out their clothes.
Another smile crept onto her face as she watched little Lucius and Caius giggle amongst themselves in the clean water. Still, she had to call over when Caius threatened to throw another clump of stream mud into Lucius hair. “Clean yourselves, boys.” She reminded and with a quick flash of disappointment, the boys began dipping their dark hair into the clean water.
Once finished kneading the mud out of the small garments, Philipa wrung out the fabric and hung them from a low branch to keep the dust from muddying them up again. She took he few steps over to where Lucius stood in the stream and knelt on the dry ground. She shrugged out of the worn shawl draped over her shoulders. “Come here, Lucius.” He came over, but stayed focused on Cauis as he stomped around in the chilly water. Phillipa ran the dry shawl over Lucius cold skin. “Stay out of the water, now.” she instructed, letting the boy remain naked until his clothes dried.
“Now you, Caius. Come here.” Phillipa knelt on the closest dry piece of shore nearest her second, younger, boy while he slowly walked to her. “Come, now.” She said, His paced increased, but only when he saw his brother picking apart leaves without him.
“When will our clothes by dry, mother?” he asked in his tiny voice as she toweled him dry with her shawl.
“In a little while.” she responded before releasing Cauis to play with his brother.
She was about to call the boys back to her, to tell them to play under the nearest tree where she could watch them and that they most certainly were to resist climbing the tree, but as soon as she stood, her body went rigid. She froze as her bosom filled with a mix of panic and elation at the sight of the pitch black portal in front of her. Phillipa dropped her shawl and it landed with a silent poof of bust. She’d glimpsed the god’s portal once before, but it was in the corner of her eye and only for the briefest of moments.
An old man stepped through the blackness, a scowl plastered onto his face.
Phillipa dropped to her knees and cast her eyes to the ground. “Lord Apollo.”
The bearded man’s voice boomed among the trees. “It is time.”
Panic rose to the forefront of Phillipa’s mind as her boys ran to her for shelter from the harsh-sounding man. She nodded profusely, her eyes still downcast. “Yes, sir. Would you allow me to fetch my husband?” When the old man nodded his consent, Phillipa whispered to her young boys to stay put while she made the quick trip to their hovel.
Phillipa quickly disappeared among the trees and the boys clung to each other as they watched her go. Once it was clear he and the boys were alone, the man softened his eyes and smiled kindly at the boys. He swept his long cloak out behind him and knelt to speak at the boys’ level.
“Hello again Caius, Lucius. Why don’t you come with me while we wait for your mother?” He waved at the black oval still floating a few feet behind him.
Caius looked to Lucius, his older brother, but Lucius stayed quiet.
You can call me Apollo.” said the man. He stood then extended both hands toward the boys, one to each. “Come, “ he said kindly enough to convince Lucius to take Apollo’s left hand. Caius followed suit and the man started to quid them to the obsidian portal.
In the distance, foliage rustled as Phillipa and Georgius hurried to join their boys.
Before pulling the boys into the blackness, Apollo looked to each. “You will have a new life where we are going. You will need new names.” Each boy nodded tentatively. “Lucius, your name is now Eric.” He turned to the other boy. “Caius, your name is now Brett.”
They stepped through the portal, Phillipa and Georgius strides away. A moment before they reached it, though, the portal disappeared into nothingness.
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Something Bigger Part 1
Teen Fiction"We could run away." He'd suggested. But that was before the offer came. The offer that changed Iris's life and sealed the fate of more than a few. Aden should have pulled her away, he should have broken free of the hold. But maybe this was fate.
