Pegasus and the Origins of Olympus (13 page)

The marble buildings of Olympus were still intact, beautiful and untouched. As were the tall statues lining the roads and all the other art around them. But there was not a single living thing left alive. The trees were all dead. The grass beneath them was gone. Only dust remained.

‘It’s all gone,’ she said softly. ‘The CRU really did it. They destroyed what was left of Olympus.’

‘Please, those men have taken my family. I must go back.’ It was Stella, now fully awake, looking shell-shocked.

Emily felt the weight of responsibility resting heavily on her shoulders. She knew how Stella felt. Emily’s own father had been a prisoner of the CRU not so very long ago. She nodded. ‘We will, I promise. They won’t have your parents for long.’

Joel nodded. ‘But we need to look for survivors first.’

Mike came up to Emily, wagging his tail. ‘Don’t worry, you’re coming too,’ she said softly, patting his head.

They made their way to Jupiter’s palace. Suddenly the dog cocked his head to the side and the hackles on his back rose. He started to growl.

Emily knelt down beside him. ‘What is it, boy?’

The low rumbling growl continued as Joel stopped to listen. ‘Wait, I think I hear something too. It’s coming from inside the palace.’

They headed towards the back entrance of Jupiter’s palace. ‘Wait here,’ Emily said to Stella, handing her the dog’s lead. ‘We’ll be right back.’

They climbed the stairs and cautiously approached the open doors. Inside was a large group of men pulling off what looked like bulky white spacesuits. Others, still in their white suits, were descending the marble stairs into the grand foyer. They removed their helmets. ‘All clear on the upper levels,’ one man reported. ‘We found where the Jacobs family and DeSilva live, but there is no sign of the father or aunt. They’re not here. Is it possible they died with the others?’

‘I don’t think so,’ the commander on the main floor said. ‘They’re human and the weapon is harmless to us. It’s more likely they’re in hiding. Take a team and tear this place apart. We need them as hostages to control the girl.’ He turned to another of his men. ‘Agent S, call all the units. Let them know the air is breathable. Have them meet us back here at base. We need to coordinate the search for Emily’s family.’

Turning to another he said, ‘Agent T, get back to Earth and start sending the development teams, trucks and equipment. Tell command Olympus is ours. The CRU can start setting up operations from here.’

Inside the large foyer, another man emerged from the council chamber. ‘Hey Captain, in here! You aren’t going to believe this. There’s another room filled with strange stuff and there’s an arch that opens the space tunnel.’

Emily and Joel looked at each other. ‘Xanadu!’ Joel gasped.

‘No,’ Emily whispered. ‘We can’t let them use the portal to find Xanadu. We’ve got to destroy it.’

‘How?’ Joel asked. ‘Look at all the men in there. I bet there are even more scattered around here. What are we going to do? Kill them all?’

Emily shook her head and walked down the stairs to Stella. ‘No way! I won’t use my powers against them. Not after what happened at the museum!’

‘Then we are going to need a distraction,’ Stella offered calmly. ‘Emily, you must use your powers, but not directed at them. Destroy something big that will call them out of there. Then we can capture them.’

Both Emily and Joel looked at Stella in shock.

Stella frowned. ‘What? Just because I’m in this wheelchair doesn’t mean I’m stupid. You promised to save my family and you are going to keep that promise. Even if it means you use your powers again.’

‘She’s right,’ Joel agreed. ‘We only need a few seconds to get in there. Then we can destroy the portal to Xanadu and use our jewels to get away.’

They crept further away from the palace and peered up to the highest level of the left wing. ‘Up there.’ Emily pointed. ‘Our apartment, it’s on the other side of the palace. If I destroy it, we should have time to get into the artifact chamber before they find us.’

‘Do it,’ Joel said.

Emily raised her hands and pointed at the beautiful structure that had once been the home she shared with her father, Joel, Paelen and Pegasus. All her favourite things were in there, all her best memories born there.

‘Forgive me, Jupiter,’ Emily said sadly as she released a powerful stream of Flame. It shot up into the same bedroom window she and Pegasus always used during their night flights.

Commanding her powers, she imagined them swirling around her bedroom like a tornado. Letting the Flame build and build, it turned into a ferocious, self-contained fire storm. When the swirling flames overflowed out of the window, Emily let go. ‘Now!’

A massive explosion tore the roof off and blew out the entire side of the elegant building. Tall, sparkling while marble columns crashed to the ground and the whole palace shuddered.

‘Amazing!’ Stella cried.

The sound of loud voices seemed to come from everywhere as soldiers and CRU agents ran to investigate the explosion. They came from the dead gardens, from the buildings around the palace and all over the area. The scientists within the palace itself ran out and followed the others.

‘Look how many there are!’ Emily cried. ‘It’s too many to capture!’

‘Forget them,’ Joel called. ‘Let’s move!’

Keeping hidden behind a long row of statues, they carried Stella’s wheelchair up the stairs and entered the evacuated palace. Making it to the artifact chamber, they saw scientific equipment had been set up before the arch.

‘They weren’t wasting any time!’ Joel said. ‘Destroy it now, before they come back.’

Joel pushed Stella to the back of the room as Emily faced the arch. It had only been built a few days ago, but already, it seemed like an eternity. She raised both her hands and released her powers directly at the portal.

The moment her powers touched the arch, the Solar Stream opened. In that same instant, the marble stones exploded and flew into the open stream of light. Without the arch to contain its power, the Solar Stream started to pulse and swell. It expanded to fill the room.

Suddenly the tables of artifacts from Xanadu flew across the chamber and were sucked into the Solar Stream. The slate board with the writing of the ancients followed.

Mike’s lead was wrenched from Joel’s hand and he flew, howling, into the heart of the Solar Stream. Stella’s screams followed as she was sucked in. Joel reached for Emily as she tried to use her powers as protection, but the force of the Solar Stream was greater.

‘No!’ Emily cried as she and Joel were lifted off the floor and pulled into the powerful blazing light.

Every other time they had travelled within the Solar Stream, it had been a contained and managed flight. This time, Emily, Joel and what appeared to be the whole of Jupiter’s palace, was tumbling madly through it without any control.

As the moments ticked by, the palace structure began to come apart. Huge chunks of wall, roof and column spun madly around them. Emily used her powers to deflect most of the fragments, but they were still being struck by large pieces of marble, statues and furniture.

‘Emily,’ Joel shouted, still clinging to her, ‘do something before it kills us.’

‘What?’

‘Use your powers, stop us—’ Joel had not even finished speaking when a large chunk of wall struck him in the head. Knocked unconscious, he became limp in Emily’s arms.

‘Joel!’ Emily cried as she felt him slipping away from her grasp. She closed her eyes and concentrated harder than she ever had in her life. ‘Xanadu!’ she shouted. ‘Get us to Xanadu!’

Emily and Joel were suddenly slammed against a stone floor.

Emily rolled over, panting heavily. ‘Thank you.’

She sat up. They were in a dark and cool place. The smell of damp moss filled the air and reminded her of the Temple of Arious. Lighting one hand, Emily saw the familiar stone walls of the temple. She reached for Joel with the other. ‘Joel, talk to me. Are you OK?’

Joel moaned. He had a deep, bleeding gash on his forehead and his nose was broken. Emily reached out and touched his face to heal his wounds.

He sat up slowly and gazed around. ‘Where are we?’

Emily said, ‘I think we’re back in the temple on Xanadu. I didn’t have much time to concentrate.’

‘That was insane,’ Joel said, rubbing his head. ‘It felt like half of Olympus came through with us. I never realized the Solar Stream was so powerful.’

‘Me neither,’ Emily agreed. Suddenly she remembered. ‘Stella and Mike are still in there! They’ll be crushed. I’ve got to go back and get them!’

Joel pulled her back down. ‘Emily, calm down. They went through before the Solar Stream sucked in the palace. They’re ahead of it. If they keep moving, they’ll be fine.’

‘And what about when they arrive?’

After a moment, Joel understood. ‘It’s all coming right behind them. The palace and all that debris are coming here!’ He rose quickly and reached for Emily’s hand. ‘C’mon, we’ve got to get to the arch before it kills everyone!’

When Emily and Joel emerged from the temple, they stopped short. Her father and aunt stood with the CRU agents from the museum. Further back, the Olympians were eyeing the agents as if they were ready to pounce on the men at any moment.

‘Dad!’ Emily and Joel ran up to him. Her eyes landed on Agent B and her temper flared. ‘What are you doing here?’

The agent’s dark curly hair was a mess and his face looked dirty and singed from the fire. He smelled of smoke. ‘I’m wondering the same thing,’ he said shakily. ‘I don’t know whether to thank you for saving us from the fire, or to shoot you for trying to kill us.’

Emily raised her flaming hand. ‘Just try it!’

‘No one is going to shoot anyone here,’ her father ordered. ‘We heard cries and found these men in the temple. Did you send them here?’

‘Not by choice,’ Emily said furiously.

Diana, Apollo and Chiron were standing back. ‘Will someone please tell us what has happened?’ Diana said. ‘Emily, did you destroy the weapon?’

Emily shook her head. Then her eyes landed back on Agent B. ‘No, we didn’t because
he
already sent it to Olympus!’

Everyone turned to Agent B.

‘It wasn’t me,’ Agent B challenged. ‘I was assigned to capture Emily and Joel, that’s all. It was the others in command who did it!’

‘It does not matter who did it,’ Chiron said as his hooves pounded the ground in rage. ‘You have destroyed our people and our home. How did you do it? How did you get the weapon to Olympus?’

Agent B crossed his arms over his chest and refused to speak.

Emily glared at him. ‘The CRU found Diana’s jewel in New York and once they figured out how to use the Solar Stream, they sent the weapon to Olympus. We just came from there. It killed everything. People, animals, plants, even the insects are gone. Now the CRU are setting up bases and have claimed Olympus for themselves.’

‘No!’ Diana said. ‘It is my fault. Our world is dead because of me. If I had not lost my jewel, they could not have taken Olympus.’

‘No, Diana,’ Emily’s father said as his hard eyes fell on the CRU agents. ‘It’s their fault. Not yours.’

‘We did what we had to, to protect Earth,’ Agent B said. ‘You Olympians are a deadly infection. We had to cut deep to save our world!’

‘Don’t you start with that!’ Emily shot back. ‘I’ve heard all about the CRU’s plans from Agent P.S. back at Area 51. You are going to take over the world.’

‘Change the world,’ Agent B insisted. ‘For the better.’

‘Change it or take it over, it’s all the same!’ Emily shot back. ‘But we won’t let you do it! Do you hear me? We’re going to stop you!’

‘Emily, calm down,’ her father said. He looked at his sister. ‘Mo, would you and the others take the agents away before Emily really loses her temper?’

Maureen nodded. ‘Good idea.’ She and several ageing Olympians moved forward to collect the CRU agents. ‘I think it’s about time you saw all the damage you’ve done to these people. You are all going to help us take care of them.’

Emily noticed that, in the time they had been gone, Diana and the others had aged even more. Diana’s hair was now white and thin. Deep age lines cut across her face.

Emily’s eyes scanned the area fearfully. ‘Where’s Pegasus?’

A whinny from behind let her know that Pegasus was there. She turned and what she saw made her gasp. Pegasus’s back sloped deeply and his wings hung down at his sides as he walked slowly towards her. But he whinnied excitedly and called to her.

‘Pegs!’ Emily ran up to the stallion and embraced him tightly. ‘Olympus is gone. The CRU have taken it!’ She pressed her face into his warm thick neck and was grateful that at least he was still alive.

Paelen was being supported by Brue as he approached Joel. His hair was grey and he was even more hunched over. ‘What happened to you?’ he asked loudly. ‘You are covered in blood. I knew I should have gone with you. You cannot be trusted on your own!’

‘You couldn’t have stopped this.’ Joel spoke loudly enough for Paelen to hear. ‘I was hit by a piece of Jupiter’s palace. It’s in the Solar Stream and on its way here right now.’

‘What?’ Emily’s father cried. ‘Jupiter’s palace is coming here?’

Emily and Joel explained everything that had happened from the point when they left Xanadu and travelled to Earth to when they returned.

‘We didn’t realize how powerful the Solar Stream was,’ Emily said. ‘If we had stayed in it, we’d have been killed. I’m just glad my powers worked and got us back here.’

Chiron shook his head and muttered softly to himself. The hair on his horse’s body was now white. The top of his head was bald, his face heavily wrinkled and his upper man’s torso sunken.

‘This is bad – very, very bad indeed,’ he said. He started to pace the area. ‘I told Jupiter building a permanent portal would be disastrous. The Solar Stream is too powerful, too dangerous to be contained. But would he listen to me? No. After all, who am I? Just his half-brother – why should he listen to anything I had to say!’

‘Chiron, stop,’ Diana said. ‘What is happening?’

The centaur shook his head. ‘It is far more than just the palace coming here. In destroying the arch at the other end, Emily destroyed the containment field. There is nothing to stop the Solar Stream from sucking in the whole world. Olympus is now on a collision course with Xanadu.’