CHAPTER 24

Iva Gets in a Cat Fight

Just when Benjamin was convinced time really was moving backwards, Saturday finally rolled around. It had been settled with pretty much no debate. Benjamin would travel with Andy, Heidi, and Iva.

The Deimos Diner wasn’t crowded, and Aurora met them early for breakfast sporting bright yellow hair. “How soon until you leave?” she asked, tapping her matching yellow fingernails on the table.

“Half an hour,” Benjamin said, but he found he couldn’t eat—his jittery nerves kept stomping on his empty stomach.

“So what are you planning on doing?” Aurora asked Gary.

Gary didn’t hesitate. “I’m heading to one of the Ruling Hall libraries.”

“Which one?”

“The science library. I hear they have some great information on genetic engineering locked away.”

“Do you want some company?” she asked.

Gary’s eyes opened wide, and he dropped his menu. Not that Benjamin could blame him. No one ever volunteered to go to the library with Gary.

Aurora continued. “It’s just that I don’t have any plans for today, so we might as well wait around together.”

“I’ll be busy doing research,” Gary said.

Was he seriously trying to talk her out of it?

Aurora took a long sip of her Amoeba juice before answering. “No problem. I have some of my own research I can do on genetic engineering.”

Benjamin had never seen Gary look at anyone like he looked at Aurora at that moment. He figured Gary might buy her a box of chocolates next.

“So what are we going to do with your brother Cory when we get back?” Heidi had ordered her own Amoeba juice but hadn’t taken a sip—either because she was also nervous or because of the awful taste. Or both. “Do we just sign him up for summer school?”

“I’m not sure,” Benjamin said. “I guess he can live with me back in Virginia during the school year.”

“Maybe he’ll have to stay in Lemuria,” Andy said. “I can’t imagine an ancient Greek warrior going to high school with us.”

“Let’s just get him and get back,” Iva said. “We already have enough to worry about with our ability tests next week.”

Heidi shook her head. “And I haven’t had any time to practice. I think I’m a little better in telekinesis than I was at the start of the summer.”

“You’re a lot better,” Benjamin said. “I hate to say it, but Andy really has helped.” And truly, he did hate to say it.

Heidi smiled and her hair curled up at the ends. “You think so?”

Benjamin nodded. “And probably it won’t be long before you can teleport.”

“What about me?” Gary asked. “You think I’ll be able to teleport? And what about Iva?”

Iva smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes. “I already know I’ll be able to.”

“How?” Gary asked.

“I’ve seen it in the future.”

“Have you seen me teleport in the future?” Gary asked.

Iva shook her head. “No. But that doesn’t mean you can’t,” she quickly added.

“We probably need to get going.” Benjamin paid using his credit account, and they left, heading for the park off Mu Way.

“Are we ready?” Iva asked.

Benjamin noticed she was chewing on her hair. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Why do you ask?”

“You look a little preoccupied,” he said.

Iva took the hair out of her mouth. “I’m just excited. That’s all.”

“Let’s go then,” Andy said. “We’ll be back in no time. Get it—no time.”

Gary laughed. “Yeah, I get it. See you guys in no time.”

The first thing Benjamin noticed when he arrived in India was the heat. With the three silky layers of Indian clothes on that Aurora had insisted he wear, it was unbearable. He put his hand to his collar, unsuccessfully trying to loosen it, and felt sweat springing up everywhere.

“Ugh, how does anyone stand this?” Andy asked once he and Iva arrived.

Iva settled herself. “Try to control the heat, Andy. Decide how much you want to get through your skin. Don’t you remember Mr. Hermes going over that in science?”

“Vaguely,” Andy said.

They walked toward the main road. Well, not actually a road. It was like a hard packed dirt pathway. And it was mobbed with people.

After the heat, the next thing Benjamin noticed was that this temple thing was more of a social event than a religious gathering. Nobody was worshiping; nobody was praying; they were just standing around flashing gold jewelry and gossiping.

Iva stopped walking and looked around. “I don’t sense the TPT.”

“Maybe it’s not here yet.” Andy groaned. “Could be that Kronos wants to play some sort of game again. Like making me lift another heavy door.”

Iva shook her head. “I don’t think so. A telekinetic challenge here in the middle of all these people?”

“You haven’t met Kronos,” Andy said. “He’s a bit extreme.”

“Or maybe he’ll make me watch time in the Temporal Orb.” Benjamin remembered the images that had flashed by. Even though two weeks had passed, they still haunted him. He saw them even when he closed his eyes at night. And the worst thing was he had no idea which ones would be true and which wouldn’t be.

They walked toward the temple, following the massive flow of people. Once they reached the buildings, Heidi led them to the back of a line of worshippers waiting to offer their goods and pay their respects to Shaneeswara. Benjamin had never seen so many nails or so much oil in his life. Not even in Leena Teasag’s hair.

“Hey, isn’t that Suneeta and Julie?” Benjamin pointed toward a temple.

“It most certainly is.” Heidi put her hands on her hips. “They aren’t supposed to be outside of Lemuria.”

“Duh. Neither are we,” Benjamin said.

“Try not to let them see us,” Iva said.

But it was too late. Suneeta and Julie had spotted them in line and were weaving their way over.

“Ah, so I see we are not the only ones sneaking out of Lemuria,” Suneeta said. “Though I would not have thought you all were capable of actually getting out of the capital city.”

“That’s nice,” Heidi said. “What are you two doing here?”

“I came to pray to his holiness, the Lord Shaneeswara, to have the evil eye removed from me. And you?” Suneeta asked. “What are you doing here?”

“We came for the same reason,” Andy said. “Removal of the evil eye.”

“Really?” Julie asked.

And then she did something Benjamin would have never thought possible. Julie was just always so…nice. She lunged forward, grabbed Iva’s hair, and started pulling.

“You’re trying to steal Ryan from me, aren’t you?” Julie snarled at Iva.

Benjamin stepped back involuntarily; Julie had gone crazy.

Iva winced and grabbed her hair, trying to get it out of Julie’s hands. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t act like you don’t know!” Julie shouted. “I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”

This was going downhill fast. People all around were backing up and staring. And Benjamin had no idea what to say. He’d honestly never in his life been in this type of situation—thank God—and couldn’t even imagine what he should do. He looked to Andy who shrugged and stepped backwards.

“Stop it!” Heidi said.

“This is most disrespectful,” Suneeta said. “The Lord Shaneeswara will be most unhappy to have such behavior at his temple.”

“Julie, stop it,” Iva said. “I don’t have the least bit of interest in Ryan.”

Julie hesitated. Iva took the opportunity and pried Julie’s hands off her hair. Julie sunk to the ground. “I just want so badly for Ryan and me to be happy forever. I’m so in love with him.”

Benjamin stared. Had Julie really just said what he’d thought she said? She must’ve. Andy’s mouth hung open with disbelief. Girls were nuts.

“Julie thought the Lord Krishna could help her, so I allowed her to come along with me.” Suneeta nodded her head to the temple from where they’d come. “Lord Krishna has the larger temple just over there.”

Julie glared at Iva as Iva rubbed her head and tried to ignore her. Iva took two steps back. She was now almost right behind Andy.

“So you come here often?” Heidi asked.

“No,” Suneeta said. “But this year is special. There is much preparation for the major event next year.”

“What major event?” Andy asked.

“You remember, Andy.” Iva nudged him. “The one we were talking about earlier. The reason we decided to come pay our respects this year.”

“Oh, that event,” Andy said. “Maybe you should tell Suneeta what event it is so we can see if it’s the same one.”

“You know,” Iva said. “Next year is when the planet of Saturn transitions into the zodiac sign of Taurus.”

“Right,” Andy said. “And that’s why we’re here.”

“So who knows you left Lemuria?” Iva asked.

“Only Magic Pan,” Suneeta said. “He was able to get us a teleporter ticket out.”

“Did he ask for anything in return?” Heidi asked.

“No, nothing at all. Only wanted us to tell him about our trip when we were done,” Suneeta said. “Now if there is nothing else, we had better get in line.”

“Why don’t we cut ahead of you guys?” Julie stepped directly in front of Iva.

“That would be inappropriate and rude,” Suneeta said. “The Lord Shaneeswara would not look favorably on that. The Lord Shaneeswara will show his wrath on those who are rude at his temple. The evil eye would descend upon them. And the Lord Krishna will torment them with constant mischief.”

Julie jumped out of line and plastered the fakest smile Benjamin had ever seen in his life on her face. Iva raised an eyebrow in reply.

“Oh, we don’t want any wrath or evil eyes.” Julie whipped around. “It was nice seeing you guys. See you back at school.”

“Right. See ya,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin waited until they’d left and established themselves far back in line. “Does anyone else think it’s odd they showed up here the same day we did?”

“And that Magic Pan helped them?” Heidi added.

“I’m sure it’s just a coincidence,” Andy said.

“I don’t believe in coincidence,” Iva said.

“You’re just upset because she pulled your hair and accused you of stealing her boyfriend,” Andy said. “So do you want to steal him?”

Iva didn’t reply.

“Maybe the Lord Shaneeswara somehow arranged it,” Benjamin said. “He’s sneaky enough to do something like that.”

“Are you suggesting that Kronos managed to get Julie and Suneeta to come visit the same time as us, and that Magic Pan was also involved?” Andy asked.

“I’m not sure what I’m suggesting,” Benjamin said. “All I know is that the odds are pretty small that we’d run into them in India today.”

They’d almost reached the temple; only about five people were in line ahead of them. Benjamin scanned the crowd, looking for his holiness, the Lord Shaneeswara, a.k.a. Kronos. He knew Kronos would make an appearance; he just didn’t know when.

“So here’s the plan,” Iva said. “We walk into the temple, walk up to the altar, and place the offerings there. Then we step back and pray for a little bit. If nothing happens, we leave the temple and start looking around outside.”

“Can you sense anything yet?” Heidi asked.

Iva shook her head. “No, nothing.”

“You didn’t ask me if I could sense anything,” Benjamin said. “Last time I found the telemagnifier, and Iva wasn’t even around.”

“Oh,” Heidi said in her best patronizing voice. “Well, do you sense anything?”

“No,” Benjamin said. “But I’ll let you know if I do.”

Whomp. Benjamin felt it like a weight being dropped on top of him. He staggered before regaining his composure.

“I felt it, too,” Iva said before he spoke. “The TPT is in the house.”

Benjamin could sense the familiar presence. “And with it is the Lord Shaneeswara.”