Nobody attempted to go after Nathan and Phoebe. To be fair, Benjamin did at least think about it. But even if he’d decided it was the right thing to do, he felt like he’d have trouble levitating a feather.
“Are you okay?” Cory helped Benjamin sit up.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Benjamin lied. The throbbing in his head matched the sounds of the earth above. “You guys made it here just in time. Nathan was just about to kill me.”
“Kill you!” Heidi came closer.
Benjamin noticed she didn’t squat down next to him. She actually didn’t even get within touching range, which was probably a good thing because Benjamin was so happy to see her, he felt like grabbing her and hugging her—at the very least.
“What about that girl?” Joey said. It was serious Joey talking, not fun, mischievous Joey. “Is she in danger? Should we worry about her?”
Benjamin shook his head. “No. Nathan’s planning to marry her, not kill her.”
Cory’s eyes bore into Benjamin. “Was that who I think it was, little brother?”
Benjamin nodded.
“She’s a member of the ruling family,” Joey said. “I’ve seen her in the last few months of surveillance.”
Benjamin nodded. “She is a member of the ruling family. And she’s also our sister.”
“The third of the triplets,” Cory finished. “And on the wrong side just like the oracle said.”
“And now the shields are down,” Heidi said.
Joey crossed his arms over his chest. “The shields couldn’t stay up forever. We knew that. Now we just deal with it.”
“Which leads us to our whole reason for being in Atlantis in the first place,” Cory said.
“Which is what?” Benjamin asked. He still had no clue what Joey and Cory were doing there.
“To take over the government, of course,” Joey said.
Heidi raised an eyebrow. “You took over Atlantis? Just you two?”
Joey brushed back his hair behind his ears. “Caelus and Gaea never planned to stay there for long. We only sped up the process. They’ve been moving stuff out for the last couple months.”
Benjamin studied them. “Let me get this straight. If you two took over Atlantis, then who’s there right now?”
Joey looked at Benjamin like he’d just fallen out of an alien space ship. “Helios and Selene, of course,” he said. “Who do you think masterminded the whole thing?”
“They did?” Benjamin said.
Cory shrugged. “Sure. Do you think the two of us planned to take over an entire continent for ourselves?”
“It would be pretty cool,” Joey said. “It could be like our own little amusement park.”
They laughed, and Heidi sighed deeply for effect.
“What?” Cory said.
“Aren’t you making sort of light of it?” Heidi asked. “I mean isn’t government upheaval a pretty big thing?”
“Well, of course,” Joey said. “And we’ve been working and planning for months now.”
The ceiling above them shuddered again, which silenced their conversation immediately. It sounded like the entire earth was going to fall down on top of them.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” Heidi said when the grumbling sounds took a break.
Benjamin stood up, and even though he figured his legs would collapse under him, they managed to hold him.
“Probably a good idea,” Joey said. “Lord Commander Helios did tell us to get back.”
Cory laughed. “He’s not that bad.”
Joey gave a huge eye roll. “Yes, he is. Even Selene agrees.”
“He just follows the rules,” Cory said.
“Which need to be broken from time to time,” Joey said.
“The earth is going to be in utter chaos,” Cory said.
“Not surprising since they now have two new continents to deal with,” Joey said.
“Two new continents filled with super-humans,” Cory added, and then sighed. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Maybe the truth hadn’t hit Benjamin yet, but he found that he just couldn’t believe the shields had really come down. How would he have felt if he’d still been living back in Virginia, never aware of a place called Lemuria? And then, in just a few minutes time, to have history rewritten? Okay, essentially, that is what had happened to him two years ago when he’d found out about Atlantis and Lemuria in the first place. But he’d been one of the superhuman people. Not one of the normal ones.
“You guys go ahead,” Benjamin said. “I’ll meet you there.”
“Why?” Joey said.
“I just want a couple more minutes,” Benjamin said. The chamber seemed to be holding him. But then again, he was born here, right?
“I’ll stay, too,” Heidi said.
Joey shook his head. “Can’t do that. King Helios will be ticked. We’ve already wasted too much time saving you from sure death.”
“I’ll stay with Benjamin and Heidi,” Cory said. He looked around the chamber. “Just tell Helios we wanted to clean up a little.”
Joey glanced around. “Helios might actually believe that. The place is trashed.”
Did Cory feel the need to stay for a couple minutes, also? Or was he just trying to be nice?
After Joey teleported away, Benjamin got up and attempted to walk across the room.
“I don’t think I could have teleported to Atlantis even if I’d wanted to.” Benjamin leaned on a column for support. “I might have to walk back.”
“I’m sure it won’t be long before somebody builds a bridge connecting Atlantis and Europe,” Cory said. “They’re only a couple miles apart.”
Benjamin circled the chamber and then walked to the center. To the pedestal. The three keys of Shambhala sat in the top, still glowing with power. Cory and Heidi walked over to join him.
“So what about these?” Cory said.
Benjamin shrugged. “They did what they were meant to do. They brought down the shields.”
“But still, do you feel the power coming off them?” Heidi said.
“We should take them with us,” Cory said.
“Won’t they be safer here?” Benjamin asked. He wasn’t sure he wanted to carry that much power around. They’d brought down the shields. And sure, even though Nathan and Caelus had controlled him while it happened, he knew deep in his heart that if he hadn’t at least kind of wanted the shields to come down, they wouldn’t have. Whatever they found above, Benjamin was responsible. He’d reshaped the earth.
“No.” Heidi shook her head. “They need to come.”
“Heidi’s right,” Cory said. He reached in and placed his hand on the first key, the one from Bangkok. “This is my key,” he said. “It feels…familiar…to me.” He tried to pry the key up, but it didn’t budge.
“We both need to get the keys out,” Benjamin said. “That’s what Helios told me last year.” He reached in and grabbed both the center key and the second key—the one from Xanadu. Phoebe’s key. As smooth as they’d gone in, all three keys slid from the pedestal.
Benjamin stared down at his hands. He took a deep breath. And then another. He could feel their strength. Their power flowed into him, restoring every bit of his energy which had been drained earlier.
He looked over at Cory and felt the power in him, too. But even with Heidi here, the triangle wasn’t complete. The Xanadu key needed its owner—Phoebe. And she needed her key.
Maybe postponing facing reality seemed like a good idea in the short term, but they needed to get back to Atlantis. They all grabbed hands and teleported together.
Except they didn’t end up back in Atlantis.
They arrived in a stone room that looked really similar to the one Nathan had teleported Benjamin to on his way to Lemuria.
“Crap!” Benjamin said.
“Your doing?” Cory said.
“Hardly,” Benjamin snapped. “This is the same place Nathan brought me.”
“But it isn’t Nathan this time. I simply borrowed the room from him.”
Benjamin scowled even before he turned to see the speaker.
“Kronos,” he said. The god of time. It was a young Kronos. Not as young as Benjamin had ever seen him, but keeping track of his age was a full time job. “What is it with you guys stealing people when they teleport?”
“Lord Shaneeswara,” Heidi said.
“How nice,” Kronos said. “Some Hindu respect.” He snapped his fingers and changed her into a traditional Indian sari.
Benjamin glared at Kronos. “Change her clothes back.”
“What?” Kronos feigned shock. “You don’t like to see your girlfriend dressed up in beautiful clothes?”
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Benjamin said before he could give it any thought.
Heidi looked at him, and he could see the hurt in her eyes. But he’d only said the truth. He may want Heidi to be his girlfriend. Okay, he really did want Heidi to be his girlfriend. But technically, she wasn’t.
“You’re still going out with Josh, aren’t you?” he asked, trying to claw his way up out of the hole he’d dug for himself. “Well, aren’t you?”
“Technically,” Heidi said. “But as soon as I get back to Lemuria, I’m going to break up with him.”
“Get back to Lemuria,” Kronos said, and chucked to himself. “You think you’re getting back to Lemuria?”
“Don’t listen to him, little brother,” Cory said. “He’s just trying to make us doubt ourselves.”
“Little brother,” Kronos said, laughing all the harder. “How endearing. Now let’s see. Who really is the younger one?”
“What do you want, Kronos?” Benjamin asked. “We don’t have all day.”
“But of course you do,” Kronos said. “With time on your side, you have all the days you want. Just like your friends Iva and Andy.” Kronos put his finger to his mouth, as if deep in thought. “Now let me see. Didn’t they have the pleasure of staying with my grandson Apollo for an entire year? I wouldn’t mind a year’s company. Think of all the games of Tic-Tac-Toe we could play.”
Benjamin gritted his teeth. “We aren’t staying here for a year.”
“I didn’t say I wanted your company, dear Benjamin,” Kronos said. “Heidi could stay with me.”
Benjamin put his arm around Heidi and pulled her close. “Heidi is not staying here with you for a year.”
“Just a second. You said she wasn’t your girlfriend,” Kronos said. “And now, just look at you two lovebirds.” He sighed. “Young love. What could be sweeter? But not to worry. I don’t want to stay here for a year either. If you haven’t heard, the shields are down. I can roam the earth as a free man. Or a free god. It’s all just a matter of time.” And then he laughed, amused at his own play on words.
“Get to the point, Kronos. Why did you divert us?” Cory asked.
Kronos grew serious. His eyes darkened, and he almost seemed to grow in size. “Because I want to know how you did it? How did you bring down the shields?”
Benjamin’s face froze. How had Kronos known? And if Kronos knew Benjamin was responsible for the shields coming down, then everyone would know. Both Atlantians and Lemurians. And humans.
“I’m not sure what you’re talking about,” Benjamin lied.
“Don’t play stupid with me, Benjamin Holt,” Kronos said. “I want to know.” He rose and moved closer to Benjamin. Benjamin shrank back, pulling Heidi with him. Without thinking, he pushed her behind him.
“Oh, leave him alone, Kronos,” a female voice said.
Kronos stopped moving and turned at the sound of the voice. “My dear, sweet Ananya. Did I invite you here today?”
“I don’t require an invitation,” Ananya said. “And why is it that every time I find you, you’re playing tricks on telegens? When will you grow up?”
Kronos laughed, but he did back off. “I hope I never grow up. I’ve seen myself old.” He shuddered. “Now, though, with the gates of Atlantis once again open to me, I’ll quickly be able to resolve that.”
“Back to the homeland?” Ananya said. “Back for immortality and the hope of no death?” She laughed. “You know the prophecy.”
“Prophecies!” Kronos said. “They’re a bunch of hogwash.”
“You think so?” Ananya asked. “It seems to me that many of them have come to pass.”
Kronos paused, and then sat back on a chair in the center of the room. “You know how Benjamin did it. Tell me, dear Ananya.”
Ananya laughed and brushed back her hair. “What is there to tell? It has been foretold since the shields went up that two would bring them down,” she said. “It’s a perfect example of a prophecy coming true.”
Benjamin relaxed, realizing Ananya had basically saved him from Kronos’ control. Whatever the relationship between Ananya and Kronos, Ananya always seemed to have the upper hand.
Ananya and Kronos proceeded to start bickering, so Benjamin edged away. He moved off to the side of the chamber, and Cory and Heidi followed. They didn’t talk, because even though they weren’t part of the conversation, Benjamin still wanted to hear as much of it as he could. Benjamin walked over to the nearby table. He hadn’t noticed it before, but in the center of the wooden table sat a green crystal ball as large as a melon. He’d seen the sphere before when he’s visited Kronos’ temple in Rome. What had Kronos called it? Oh yeah—the Temporal Orb.
“Hey,” he said reaching out for it. “I don’t think this was here a min—”
“Don’t touch it, Benjamin!” Ananya yelled across the chamber, but it was too late. Benjamin felt the Temporal Orb vibrate under his touch, and the world crunched and compressed around them.