Heart of Poseidon: The Siren's Call

bookstores and dead people

Trevor led us through the streets, almost expertly, looking at nothing but the map. We turned and turned and made loop after loop, and then arrived at a bookshop.

"We're here," Trevor says.

"Um... a bookshop?"

"Yep."

"The Oracle is here? In an old, falling apart bookshop?"

"Yep."

"Ok...."

Trevor headed in as we followed hesitantly.

"Hello?" Trevor's yell echoed through the aisles, dust shaking off the rickety shelves. We waited for a long time, such a long time, in fact, that I was starting to get suspicious that Trevor was wrong about the oracle. All at once, a noise called our attention to the shadows, and a figure stepped out from behind a rather large stack of books.

"You in need of an oracle?"

A young boy, maybe twelve or thirteen, with ghastly white hair, pale white skin and pitch black eyes stood before our little group. He wore a tattered, black collared shirt that had a tiny skull pattern on the chest, like a knock-off Polo shirt. He looked up at us with a cold stare like he was bored of us already. He held three books; the first about ocean life, the second about sirens, the third about Greek gods. I kneel down to meet his eyes.

"Yeah, we are. Do you know where they might be?"

"Don't coddle me like I'm just a little kid," he said, crossing his arms. "Besides, you're looking at him, princess."

''Oh! Sassy.." Trevor teased from behind me.

"Whatever. You need me to tell you where the thief is, right?"

"Yeah... do you have any clue where she's hiding?"

"Mm.. no, not really."

"What? You're an oracle! Aren't you supposed to know?"

The boy gave another annoyed face and pointed to one of his books.

"Listen, lady, being an oracle does not mean being able to see all. Apollo himself controls what the oracles see, and even that can't help you find the direct place where that stupid thief is. The most I can tell you is that the thief is where no mortal can go and no god can see. That's all I can get for now. Now, if you're not here to read or buy my books, then leave."

Trevor, Nim and I all glanced at each other in concern. Nim and I started to head off to the exit, but Trevor stopped.

"Sure. We'll read. How else are we going to figure out what you meant?''

Nim and I paused. We gave each other an I mean, he's not wrong, look. I shrugged and started jogging back over to Trevor. Nim, however, stood completely still, a look of embarrassment across her round face.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"I-I can't read En-English. I can-can only speak it." Nim whispered, her stutter not helping the embarrassment.

The pale boy spoke up again from behind his pile of books. "That's okay, you can help me with the books while your friends do some research."

I nodded to Nim as Trevor and I trudged over to the Greek mythology aisle. I picked up a random book and turned it over. It was small, not much bigger than a children's book. The title read; The Mortals Guide to Summoning a God. No, go. I grabbed another. Greek Myths of Magical Creatures. Hm. Maybe? I stuffed it under my arm. Then another. Basically, the Olympian equivalent of a gossip magazine. Hot or Not? Big Three Edition. Ew, gross, one of those idiots are my dad. Nope. I dropped it back on the shelf. I skimmed through a few more, leaving more behind than I decided to keep. Trevor piped up from the other side of the bookcase.

"I found something! Liz, come and look at this."

He handed me a thick book titled The World of an Olympian. He held up a page that had a small pocket. On the front of the pocket read Map. I reached in, expecting a tiny map, but there was nothing inside. I rolled my eyes at Trevor for not saying anything and read beside the small pocket.

Nymphs love quiet and calm places where they can keep to themselves, so the gods of Olympus ensured that all nymphs always have a comfortable place to live, for they need the nymphs to serve their needs. Because the gods ruled all the land that the nymphs lived on, they claimed the nymphs as their own, usually as butlers or maids. They raised an island that was far away from Greece and was not touched by the earth goddess Gaea. They live on the island in peace, apart from all that could ruin it.

I looked up at Trevor. "That's great, but what about the map? It's missing."

A soft voice from behind whispered, "N-no it's not."

I turned around to see Nim holding all the books that I left behind.

"Sorry about the books."

"It-it-it's okay, Alex said that they ne-needed to be refurbished any-anyw-anyways"

"Who's Alex?"

"The Oracle. Sorry, I sh-should've speci-specified. Anyways, the map is in the p-p-pocket. You guys just can't see it."

"How come?"

"It's made out of a special leaf from a tr-tr-tree that only nymphs can grow. I can counte-counte-counteract this if you wan-want."

I nodded.

"Would you? Trevor thinks it'll help in the search."

Nim smiled, reached into the pocket and pulled out the map, which was now visible. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Wind swirled around the map, ruffling Nim's white bobbed hair.

"Open your p-p-palm, Liz."

She placed the tiny map in my open palm and let go. It didn't disappear. My eyes widened.

I honestly expected it to take longer than that. Oh well. I'm not complaining.

I opened the map to find that it was, in fact, much bigger than it looked. Figures, I mean, it was a magic map. The map was long, from the floor to my shoulders, and the writing on it seemed to flow through the pages in a language that seemed to sweep through my mind like nothing I've ever seen before. It was oddly shaped, angular. I could completely understand it, even though I'd never need it before.

"It's Greek." Alex's young voice snapped me out of my amazed stupor. I jumped at his sudden appearance behind me.

"Dear gods! You need a bell around your neck or something. It's like you just appear out of thin air."

Ignoring my comment, Alex said, "You found your map, now you must go. Mortals are starting to think this place is actually open, and I don't want any trouble."

Nim trotted over to my side as Trevor replaced the map in the old book. Before we could walk out the door, however, Alex called, "Wait, Nim."

She turned around to face the young Oracle. He handed her a leather pouch smaller than her hand. "Give this to Ashlyn once you find her. You will need it when you leave the island. When the time comes, you will know what to do."

Nim frowned and put the pouch in her bag. She quickly said her goodbyes to Alex and caught up with us outside. I walked over to the adjacent street with the rest of the gang in tow. When I turned back to wave goodbye to Alex one last time, I stopped. In the lot where the old, tattered bookshop stood, was a rickety old graveyard.

...Was Alex the ghost of the Oracle that took care of the bookstore before?

He did look ghastly with his pasty white complexion, dark eyes, nearly white hair, and torn clothes. In this world, it's entirely possible. I shook my head and kept walking.