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Kassidy
There is no way I could have known what was about to happen next.
I blink my eyes. My vision is blurry, but I’m suddenly able to see the world around me. The real world. Argus is lying defeated on the floor. My skin was red, but it’s slowly turning back to normal. One of my fists is pounded into the ground next to Serana’s head. It left a small crater. The red orb has left my body and is on the ground next to my hand.
Serana’s eyes are filled with terror, “Yo-you’re a mo-monster.”
Her eyes close, and her body grows limp. She is breathing. I guess we made it just in time. What happened while I was out? How could that thing cause so much damage with my body?
“Woah, Kassidy! We heard all of the noise and got here as fast as we could. Did you do all of this by yourself?” I look up to see Justin running to me. Kale is leaning against one of the walls.
I have to play this right for Luke’s sake. I tell them, “I got lucky. Argus was knocked out from the fall. Serana wasn’t easy to beat, but I managed.” I hate to lie, but they can’t know the truth.
Kale’s eyes are looking closely at the small crater by Serana’s head. I’m not sure he really bought that. He doesn’t say anything though.
Justin helps me to my feet and says, “Still, good job! You even got the orb, so I’d call this a double win. Hmm. Wasn’t it blue before?” Then he looks around frantically, “Wait...where’s Brittney?”
“She’s fine, Justin. Don’t worry. She protected us on the way down. I think she only tired herself out. She’s in a tank over there by the rubble. As for the orb, I’m not sure what happened, but I think Luke is okay.” I grab the cloth from my bag and reach for the orb.
Justin looks relieved, “Oh, okay. I’m glad everything worked out.” Then he says surprised, “A tank!? Wo-”
He stops talking. The red orb rolls away just as I was about to pick it up with the cloth. I look around. Justin is frozen mid-sentence. Kale is staring without blinking. They are both completely motionless.
The red orb stops rolling at a random door. It’s standing in the middle of the room. When did that even get there? What is going on? The words, “Would the one closest to Luke step through, please.” are engraved on the door.
“Do you honestly expect me to fall for such an obvious trap?” I say out loud.
The door flies open. The inside of the doorway looks dark. The red orb rolls right in.
Just take it. That’s what I would like to say. Dang it. What kind of mess am I about to get myself into? I ready my pink blade and step through the doorway. Kale, Justin, and Brittney, wait for me, okay? I will be back. I promise.
The door behind me closes and disappears as I step through. Wherever I am is pitch black. A spotlight shines on an odd-looking man not too far in front of me. Then, a spotlight shines over me and to my right and left. Peter and Kaleb are standing next to me in the other spotlights. What is going on?
The man in front of us is rather tall. About thirteen feet if I had to guess. He is wearing bright colorful carnival clothes with a top hat about the length of my arm. He is standing with his legs crossed. He pulls his hat off and takes a bow. Three orbs are floating in the air right behind him. He is holding a red cane with a happy face for the handle.
He taps his cane twice on the ground. He smiles brilliantly, “Welcome. Welcome to my little world. Wait a moment. Something is odd.”
A tiny door appears in the air in front of his hand. He pulls a scroll from it. He unravels it and looks intently.
“It says here that I was supposed to have two girls and one boy.” He points his cane at Peter, “You sir! What is your name?”
Peter, who is unfazed by all of this, says happily, “Peter Williams!”
“Correct! Madame, what is your name perchance?” The mysterious man points his cane at me.
“It’s Kassidy Ann. Now tell m-” I try.
“Correct! Questions and other comments will be allowed during the commercial break. Hold until then please. Now then.” He leans close to Kaleb. He raises his eyebrow, “What is your name?”
“Kaleb Iscariot.” Kaleb says in his quiet tone, but he does sound more confident than in the past. I feel like all of this has made him grow a lot.
The mysterious figure makes a buzzer noise, “Wrong! You were supposed to be Audrey Davis Olhausen. My doors were only supposed to allow the ones closest to Luke in the vicinity to travel through. How could this awful mix-up have happened?”
“Olhausen?” I ask him.
He raises his arms exuberantly, “I said questions later. Did she not tell you that her middle name is Davis? Olhausen is a little complicated, I suppose. Regardless, explain yourself, Mister Kaleb.”
“Well, Audrey’s reflection in a mirror began to talk to her and apparently told her something that made her leave the rest of the mission to us. She gave me the piece to Luke’s soul, entered a mirror, and we couldn’t follow.” Kaleb explains.
“That doesn’t sound like Audrey!” Peter says surprised.
“It sounded pretty important.” Kaleb says.
The odd man spins his cane in his hand, “Hmm. She must have left the vicinity right after I checked. I guess you were the next in line with the closest tie. In that case, I will need some time to confer with the interested parties. A moment if you please.”
He turns around, but his back is an almost identical version of his front. Except his face is sad, and his clothes are a dark blue and black square pattern. His cane has changed to black and now has a sad face handle. He won’t look us in the eyes.
“Awe. I didn’t want to come out during this. I suppose it can’t be helped. Hello, young demigods. I suppose I can answer any questions for you while we wait for a decision...if I must.” The even odder than before being says sadly.
“Are you in two places at once?” Kaleb asks curiously. Not the question I would have started with but whatever.
He sulks, “Yes, you could say that. My spin is like a rotating door. I enter when my other half leaves and vice versa.”
“Who are you, and are you here to fight us?” I demand.
He continues to avoid my gaze, “I don’t know yet. As for my name, it is...oh thank goodness.” The sad man spins around to reveal his happy self again.
He extends his arms like he just made a grand entrance, “Bum bi de bum, JANUS!”
Peter has a confused look on his face for some reason and is scratching his head. Janus does a little tap dance. He then points his cane at us.
“Everything has been A-OK’d by my employers. You see there are a lot of third parties interested in this Luke fellow. Some want his story to end where it did. Others are interested to see what his life means. I couldn’t care either way. Whichever path runs its course is fine with me. I am the god of duality after all.” He winks and turns revealing his opposite form, “Along with doors...of course.” The sad face says before continuing the spin back to his happier side.
“Where exactly have you brought us to?” Kaleb asks.
Before he can answer, Peter, who has been thinking really hard this whole time, has a look of realization, “Wait... you aren’t a Gree-”
Janus taps his cane, and an open door appears under Peter’s feet. He was caught off guard and falls in. Another door appears above Janus, and Peter falls through.
Janus catches him. A tiny doorway appears next to Janus’s head. Jazz music is playing loudly through it.
Janus begins to sing to the tune, “Well, well, well. No need for that. I’ll tell you exactly where we’re at.” Peter struggles in his arms, but Janus basically cradles him, “Don’t worry my child. Just try to be mild.”
Peter points two fingers at Janus right as he drops him. Wind bursts out of some device Peter has attached to his wrist. He lost the trajectory when he was dropped, so the wind missed Janus. It did hit the door where the music was coming from. The doorway disappears.
Janus taps his cane, and a door appears beneath Peter before he hits the ground. Another door appears in the air at Janus’s right side. Peter flies through faster than he was falling before. A door appears on Janus’s left, and Peter flies straight into it. Now, Peter is just continuously exiting the door on Janus’s right while entering the left and gaining more speed every second.
“He’s constantly falling. It’s as if the space between the doors have their own separate gravity.” Kaleb says out loud.
“Well, whatever this is, it’s making me sick.” Peter groans.
A door appears above me on my left, and Peter falls right where he originally was. He looks dizzy. Janus taps his cane and laughs. Thousands of doors appear all around this space.
“Now that the unpleasantries are out of the way, you all probably understand, correct? I am of a power you cannot defeat. My strict nature of duality has put me well above most demons, angels, and gods. That is why they all accept the verdict I give. None would dare challenge it. I simply wanted to demonstrate that for you.” He says happily.
He spins to reveal his sad self, “I’m sorry for interrupting you though. You are correct. I am not one of the Greek gods as you call them. My technical classification by human standards would be Roman.”
Janus spins again to his happy side, “Although human classifications don’t even scratch the surface of course. Also, as I said I would, welcome to my pocket dimension. To be completely accurate, you are where my other half or currently me rests.”
He’s right. I can sense the difference in power between us. It’s an odd feeling. Like he is towering much higher over us than he already appears to be.
“How can we get Luke’s souls back?” I ask him.
Janus shrugs flamboyantly, “I’m still thinking on that. Have any ideas?”
Peter stands up, “Haven’t you done this before?”
Janus taps his cane twice, and all the doors disappear, “Obviously, but it can’t be the same for every person. That wouldn’t be fun at all. I’m also usually given much more prep time. This is pretty stir of the moment. What? Ah, hold on a second.”
Janus rotates to his sad side. He says depressingly, “I suppose I’ll start...if I must. Why don’t you all tell me why you want to revive this Luke? You can start, Peter. Know if you hide your true intentions, I will know, and you will be killed.”
Peter tilts his head, “Why? Isn’t it obvious? Because he’s my best friend.”
Janus taps his cane hard into the ground. The impact hurts our ears. A tear drops from Janus’s eye.
“That is only seventy percent of the truth. I won’t warn again.” Janus says sadly.
“Only seventy percent? Huh, well let me think. Oh, I know! I also want to have a lot more adventures with him and everyone else too! We have tons more to discover. I realize that even more after meeting you.” Peter smiles.
Janus rotates into his happy form, “Oh, how moving! That would be correct! What about you, Miss Ann?”
It’s a little embarrassing with Kaleb and Peter here but oh well. He’ll know if I don’t say everything on my heart. That much is certain.
My voice shakes at first, “T-there a-are so many things I still have to ask him. How long was he suffering without us knowing? How much did he hide from us? It’s selfish, but I also want to know what he was hiding from me when I broke it off with him the first time. Most importantly though, I want to see him again. I love him. I always have. I always will, and from now on, I will be the one to protect him. No matter what.”
Peter slides behind me and has a stupid grin on his face, “Oooooooooo I’m definitely telling Luke about this one.” I punch him, but he laughs, “Don’t steal Audrey’s shtick. Seriously though, it’s about time the two of you had your happy ending anyways.”
Janus taps his cane loudly, “WRO- Just kidding. That was correct. Now Mr. um Iscariot.”
“To repay my debt to a friend.” Kaleb says simply.
“That was also correct! Well, none of you have malicious intent. That much is certain. I’ll give this orb back to Ms. Ann since she answered fully and correctly first.” The red orb floats back to me. I put it back in my bag while making sure it is heavily wrapped again.
Janus leans in close to me, “Would you like to return to whence you came since you have your prize?”
The door that brought me here reappears behind me and opens. As if he doesn’t already know the answer to that. It should be obvious.
I stare directly into his eyes, “No, I’m not leaving until we all can.”
He straightens his body up. For a moment he looks menacing, but he smiles widely again, “That was...correct. For your answer, I’ll give you three options for a challenge, and you can pick which one of your friends will take it. Death combat against me, the challenge of a thousand doors, or a trivia challenge.”
I look over at Kaleb. He nods his head. He may be here by accident, but it probably worked out for us.
“I choose trivia, and I give it to Kaleb.” I say to Janus.
Janus claps his hands, “Perfect!” He spins to his sad form. He sighs, “You’ll have five questions, thirty seconds, and one phone a friend. Well, friend in the room that is.”
All Kaleb says is, “Got it.”
“Who were the three beings that kidnapped you in the lunchroom.” Janus asks depressingly. That’s not good. Kaleb was knocked out the entire time.
“Judas and Croatoan were two of them and hmm. I phone a friend. Kassidy.” He says.
Janus looks at me expectantly. I do know the answer. This isn’t a good start for Kaleb though.
“Baal was the other one.” I say.
“Hey! Why didn’t you ask me?” Peter asks annoyed.
“Sorry, Peter. You aren’t exactly known for your memory. That’s all.” Kaleb turns to Janus, “That’s my answer.”
Janus spins to his happy form, does a dance, and says smugly, “Who are the seven demon commanders?”
“Hmm... Lilith, Shax, Gluation, Astaroth, Syphos, Legion, and...Luke’s demon. I believe his name is Beelzebub.” Kaleb says unsure.
Janus taps his cane. “Correct. Very...good.”
Peter says surprised, “Woah, Kaleb. You knew all that?”
“Katie told Audrey and I the names of most of them. I heard the name Beelzebub tossed around enough in Hell that I made an educated guess on the last one.” He says.
Janus says quickly, “Who are the four archangels?”
Kaleb answers in seconds, “Raphael, Uriel, Michael, and Samson. Gabriel and Lucifer used to be archangels, and at one point there were seven in total before the great angel war.”
“What are the names of the four beasts?” Janus fires back as fast. I don’t even know what he means by that.
“Behemoth, Leviathan, Typhon, and Ifrit.” Kaleb says simply.
Janus spins to his sad self, “Luke fights with a certain weapon. What is it, and where did it come from?”
“It’s called Pandora’s box. Hephaestus actually made it by tinkering with the original Pandora’s box with pieces from Moses’s staff. It was locked in Hephaestus’s vault during the ninth century and stayed there until it was stolen. If you knew how much reading I did when I came to Olympus, you would have stepped up your game.” Kaleb says.
Peter looks confused, “I only knew that it was stolen and called Pandora’s box. Good job, Kaleb! That’s another soul piece for us!”
Janus tosses the black orb floating around him to Kaleb and says sadly, “It would appear so. My other self is conversing with the interested parties. I don’t like to speak in such large crowds.”
“Large crowds? So, this is some kind of show for all of you? Just how many beings are there right now, and who are they?” I demand.
Janus looks at the ground, “Ohhh. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you that. I will tell you that there is only one representative from Olympus there.”
Kaleb’s mind looks like it is going a mile a minute, “Representative from Olympus? That means there must be various groups that have a stake in this for some reason. How is Luke’s life any of their business?”
Janus shrugs, not moving his gaze, “Take what you will from the information I gave you. That is all I am allowed to say...Oh, thank goodness.”
He turns back to his happy side. Although, the happy side is even looking somber at the moment. A door appears in the air behind him, and a large chair drops through it to the ground.
Janus sits down and says, “A vast majority didn’t like how that last challenge played out. They believe the ease of things so far reflects poorly on my nature of duality. Luke and the beings inside him could prove to be incredibly dangerous to various groups depending on his circumstances. Because of this, they want to make an example of him. To show what could happen should he make choices the general public does not agree with.”
“I don’t think I like where this is going.” Peter says.
“Know that this is not a decision from me. The interested parties would like for one of you to give your life in payment for Luke’s return. Once that person is chosen, you may have your final orb and be returned to the points in which you were. Well, two of you will. I will give you a few moments to decide.” Janus lightly taps his cane. A door appears underneath him, and he falls into it.
“Surely this has to be a joke, right?” Peter asks.
“I doubt it. They never genuinely wanted us to win. They’re sitting back and hoping we just give up now.” I say.
“You’re probably right, Kassidy. If this is our only option though then the choice is clear. I’ll give my life.” Kaleb says.
Peter walks up to him, “Shut up. We wouldn’t let you do that! After all the work we put in to save you? Luke would kill us. I’ll do it. My orb is the only one left, and he’s my best friend.”
My mouth opens against my will, “You’re not going to do it either, Peter. We’ll give up. Luke wouldn’t want any of us to give our lives for his. It does seem odd that the god of duality would be such a one-sided judge though.”
“Luke? Was that you?” I think, but there isn’t a response.
“Kassidy, we can’t just give up now! We have come too far and worked too hard. I would rather take the fight to this Janus guy than let them have their way.” Peter says.
Kaleb seems to have taken the words I unwillingly said to heart. He doesn’t say anything and seems to be deep in thought. I think we’ll have to listen to Luke. It’s not that I want to give up, but what more can we do?
A door opens in the air, and the happy Janus falls through. He’s still sitting on his chair, “Have we come to a decision yet?”
Peter punches his fist in his hand, “Yeah, we’re going to kick yo-”
Kaleb holds up his arm, “Janus, you are the god of duality, correct?”
Janus stands and bows, “Yes, my boy. Among other things. We’ve been over this.”
“Ever since we’ve come here, we have had little to no say. We have not been represented in a way that meets the standards of someone with your personification. As we are also in your presence, we are technically part of the deliberating body, isn’t that right?” Kaleb says.
Janus leans in close to Kaleb and grins, “You know what? You are absolutely...correct. I’ve never had anyone on trial come to that conclusion. I applaud you, dear Kaleb. What do you think would be terms on which we could come to a settlement?”
“If they want to keep that piece of Luke’s soul, I would like them to do a challenge. A one-on-one to the death battle with you.” Kaleb says.
Janus’s eyes gleam, “I’ll be back in one moment.”
He spins to his sad self. Interestingly, the sad Janus has a small smile on his face, “Not bad. This is unheard of, you know? To use our spirit of duality against some immensely powerful forces. You three have intrigued us, but at the same time, you haven’t.” He winks and spins.
The extravagant Janus makes another grand entrance, “The other interested parties have declined to partake of a challenge. As such, the final orb is now forfeit, and yours to take.” He tosses the white orb to Peter, “A word of caution before I open your doors. You didn’t make a lot of friends today. The gods do not take kindly to being outsmarted. Be careful...or don’t. It really doesn’t matter to me.”
“Thank you, Janus. Is it alright if we talk for a minute before we go back?” I ask him.
He waves his arm, “Of course, my dear! The doors are now behind you whenever you are ready to leave. Goodbye, young demigods. It has been a pleasure or not! Hopefully, you all never see me again.” Janus bows. A door appears underneath him, and he falls through.
Peter rubs Kaleb’s head, “That was good thinking, Kaleb! You got us out of two rough spots in a row.”
Kaleb smiles slightly, “Thanks, but I only came up with that because of what Kassidy said about him being a one-sided judge.”
I want to tell them that it may have come from Luke, but I can’t. They would start asking questions about the red orb. I don’t want that for Luke. He may want to tell them about it at some point, but that is his secret to tell. Not mine.
“Still, you’re the reason we’ve made it this far. I was honestly worried about how that was going to turn out.” I say to them.
Peter clenches his fists, “Now we only have to bring the pieces back to Luke’s body. We’re so close!”
“Let’s make sure they are secured really well this time. I’m not taking another trip into any mysterious doors.” Kaleb says.
Peter laughs nervously, “Yeaaah. I would hate that.”
I nod my head, “Agreed. Good luck, guys. Let’s finish this.”
We part ways and walk to our separate doors. I don’t know what is in store for us on our journeys back. Surely it can’t be stranger than what we just went through...right?
