Part 20 (1/2)
Fuyuko sat in the seat next to Jason.
”That was pretty impressive,” she said.
”It'll only be impressive if we get out of here alive. Which way should I go?”
She pulled the phone from her pocket and tried the extraction team one more time. Again, it rang numerous times without an answer. Did they risk going to the airport? She'd already lost twenty-six people. She looked to the remnants of her team, all focused on drawing slow amounts of power from the Veil to heal different numbers of injuries.
”Head north-east,” she said. ”Cypress' historical roots with Greece put them under Zeus' influence. If we get to Cypress, he'll get us the rest of the way home.”
”Zeus?” Jason's mouth scrunched in a frown. ”He never struck me as the helpful type-unless it benefitted him in some way.”
”He's not-helpful, that is. But he owes me a favor, so it should be fine.”
Jason pulled the helicopter up above the roof line and eased the stick forward.
Once they'd cleared the city and were over the waters of the Mediterranean, Jason brought the chopper low, hoping to keep off radar.
”I hope we have enough fuel for this,” he said.
12.
History of the Soul
”Really?” Gwynn asked. ”Die? Is that all?” He looked to Adrastia. ”What are you playing at? Are you trying to give me the power to defeat Cain, or make me some kind of sacrifice?”
”Anything worth doing comes with risk,” Marduk said. ”Especially when it involves power. Kingu, who you call Cain, has achieved a level which cannot be given-it must be earned.”
”What about you?” Gwynn asked Adrastia. ”Are you staying for this?”
”I can't come with you, that's the whole point of asking Marduk. But I will wait here in the shop.”
”You're sure about this?” Gwynn asked.
”I wouldn't have brought you if I wasn't. Too many variables have changed, and I won't take any unnecessary risks with you. I can't afford to take anything for granted-the world I knew will never exist again.”
Adrastia turned her attention to Marduk.
”I give you my most precious friend-don't make me regret it. In the meantime, I'll get some food and tea.” She shot a glance at Marduk. ”You never had the best of tastes.”
She turned and walked out of the shop without glancing once more at Gwynn.
Almost a full minute pa.s.sed after the door slammed when Marduk let out a huge sigh.
He shook his head but wore a smile.
”She can be terribly frightening when she wants to be,” he said. ”I'm sorry if my bluntness frightened you. But you must know the Veil is a treacherous place and needs to be treated with great care.”
”I'll do my best to trust you. But I sort of have issues after dealing with my grandfather,”
”Yes, I suppose you are justified feeling that way. But then, if you know anything about mythology, you should know most Ageless Ones have issues with family.”
”You?” Gwynn asked.
Marduk laughed.
”Well, I suppose you could say that. My story tells of my going to war against the primordial mother of the G.o.ds, Tiamat-”
”But that's what you called Adrastia. Does that mean she's...”
”My mother or grandmother?” Marduk said. ”No, not in any genetic sense. Myths were born based on observations. Tiamat certainly seemed to be the oldest and most powerful of the G.o.ds. She held a mother-like sway over the true progenitor of our kind.”
”Mother-like sway...?” Gwynn's eyes widened. ”Cain? Or...Kingu, you called him? He's your father?”
”Great-grandfather, actually. He sired Zeus when he went by the name Kronos. Even Woten could find your Cain in his bloodline if he bothered to look. Woten thought Anunnaki began due to the Veil suffering damage from the ones he called ”The Catalysts.” You and Cain, apparently. But he was wrong. Anunnaki exist because of a bloodline that predates recorded history. The closer each bloodline was to the source, the more likely they were a Script or an Ageless One, or both. The ability thins over generations.”
”But then there should be thousands, maybe even millions, of people with our abilities.”
”Many have the latent gene. Mister Takeda discovered this in his experiments. His formula forces the gene into remission. And the antidote awakens it, even in people who otherwise would never become Anunnaki. Truthfully, there were more of us through the years. Wars claimed some, treachery others, and not a small number chose to end their lives. Sometimes, eternity can prove to be too long.”
Gwynn traced a line along the counter's dusty surface-imagining millions of dots connected to it, branching away from it, but all eventually returning to one source.
”So in a way, that would mean every Anunnaki is related to me, wouldn't it?” he asked.
Marduk's eyebrow raised.
”What should really confuse you is it means you are your own great-great-grandfather-give or take a couple of greats.”
”I feel sick.”
Marduk patted Gwynn's back.
”That's fine, but please find an appropriate place. Many of these books are irreplaceable.”
He moved behind the counter and lifted the watering can, resuming watering the plants where he'd left off.
Gwynn's hand began to ached where he gripped the counter-as if it was the only solid object left in the world preventing him from falling into oblivion. He forced himself to breathe in a normal rhythm and slowly lifted his fingers from the surface. He didn't pull his hand away at first, just left it hovering above the counter in case he needed its solidity once more.
When he'd finally risked putting his arm at his side, Marduk lowered his watering can.
”So, are we ready to begin?” Marduk asked.
”I'm just...still processing it. Woten was so sure. He told Sophia and I the story of how me awakening here, and Cain fully awakening as he crashed through time within the Veil, caused everything. I mean, it injured the Veil in such a way it birthed Anunnaki to heal it and maintain balance. It led to the Tears that allowed monsters into the world. Every dark thing was our fault. Even the worlds dividing, people being made...incomplete...was our fault. That's why he used me to try and undo it all-to unite the worlds into a single whole. He's supposed to be so wise, how could he get it so wrong?”
”He did not get it entirely wrong,” Marduk said. ”The Veil is the center of everything-all the worlds, even time. The conversation Adrastia and I just had in the Veil, it now lives there forever. If someone knew where to find it, they could watch that conversation a thousand years ago or a thousand years from now. If any person were able to investigate the entirety of the Veil, they could observe the comings and goings of Anunnaki over millennia. But it's too big a place. So Woten saw some things, observed further, investigated more, and then put together a hypothesis to explain what he had discovered. The problem is, he based it on the smallest fraction of possible information and then added a healthy dose of personal bias. We, the Anunnaki, are the chosen ones. We are not the result of lineage, we are granted a destiny by the power of the true G.o.d. If you start with that as your one unshakeable truth, it is not difficult to reach the same conclusions Woten did.”