Zoe Thanatos (29 page)

The word ‘
ghost’
sent
another tingling shiver down her spine. Though, she much preferred ‘ghost’ to
‘zombie’ or ‘undead.’ She took a deep breath of air and expelled, shaking the
thoughts away. “Okay, so you’ve been waiting for me and I’ve been sent here.
What now?”

“Now you have a choice to make. Had
you grown up in the life intended for you, you would have been a different
person. Alas, you’ve grown up outside of Terra and you are understandably
unfamiliar with our customs, our way of life, and your role as part of the
royal Thanatos family. There is much to teach you if you are willing to learn.”

“Learn what I was meant to grow up
with, you mean?”

“Yes. Your mother has been
preparing for your return since the moment you left her arms, and has gone to
great lengths to assure that your identity can be restored to what it once was.
Doing so would mean sacrificing the life you have lived so far outside this
world and restoring your birth right as Queen.”

Zoe looked from her father to Eva
and then to the ground, her eyes fixating absentmindedly on a blade of grass.
They too remained quiet as she contemplated his words, trying to weigh the pros
and cons as best as she could manage. She started the journey to the Forgotten
Gardens to help Eva, Evan, and everyone else whose lives had been forever
changed because of the Stratons. What Zopyros was offering was unexpected, and
she wasn’t sure she was prepared to stay in Terra indefinitely, let alone take
on the responsibility of Queen.

“You said I had a choice to make. I
can stay here and you do your magic and make me into the version of myself I
was apparently born to live. What is the other option?”

Zopyros’ smile faded a touch as his
dropped to the ground momentarily. “I can send you back to where you came from,
back to the life you have been living. If you wish, I can even make it so that
you retain no memory of your time here or of the people you’ve met.”

Just like that? She could go home
to Earth, back home to Santa Barbara where everything was familiar? Back to a
life she had come so close to ending? Was there no middle-ground?

“Couldn’t I just help bring down
the Stratons and then decide what I want to do with my life? I’m not sure I
could really make the right choice if forced to decide right now.”

The corners of his mouth turned
into a contemplative purse. “I understand this will be difficult for you, Zoe.
What you must appreciate is that we have long been planning for this and have
had the time to consider all possible avenues. This may be a quick decision for
you, but for us this has been half a generation of waiting, planning, and
anticipating. The Thanatos family created everything you see here in Terra and
it is paramount that the Thanatos family alone be the one to wear the crown.”

“What about the others? Zara and
Zarek?” she asked.

Eva’s face screwed into a puzzling stare.
“Who is Zarek?” she asked.

“My brother,” Zoe explained. “You
said they were never found alive or dead, so chances are they could still be
alive, right?”

Eva looked at her, utterly confused.
“How did you find out his name was Zarek?”

“I don’t know,” Zoe shrugged. The
name had come to her so naturally she just assumed someone had told her.
“Didn’t you know?”

“No,” Eva replied. She looked to
Zopyros for confirmation. “Is Zarek his name?”

“Yes, it is,” he answered, his eyes
on Zoe. “Zarek has not been seen or heard from since the overtaking. Your
sister, on the other hand, is a different story.”

“Zara?” Zoe asked. She felt a
sudden pull from her chest, a familial tug of her heart that she had not felt
before. Could it be? Her sister was alive and accounted for?

Zopyros frowned, looking
apologetically at her. “Telling you requires a decision to reclaim your
birthright, Zoe. There are things you can only know if it is your desire to
return to your rightful place. Otherwise the knowledge may linger like regret
should you decide to return to your home. I’m afraid I can’t tell you any more
than that.”

Zoe felt deflated. The choice she
was being forced to make was unfair and she didn’t like it. How could she be
expected to make a decision that would set the course for the rest of her life?
If she left it would be with the knowledge that she could never return, or
possibly even without any of the memories she had made since meeting Evan and
Eva. What would her life be then?

“I don’t know how to be a leader,
let alone a Queen. How do you know I’ll be any good at it?”

“I know because it is what you are
destined for, Zoe,” he affirmed. “Your path has always been to the crown and
once you are restored to your rightful identity you more than anyone will know
that. You will not be going into the position blind.”

Zoe was still confused. “Are you
saying that once you magic my memories I’ll be a different person?”

“No, who you are now is the
different person. Should you decide to embrace your true self you will be
equipped with all of the knowledge and insight you would have gained had you
grown up into your true life. You will inherently know what to do.” He sighed
and looked upon her with regretful resignation. “Unfortunately, you must decide
now. The longer we digress the more fragile our plan becomes.”

Eva suddenly turned to Zoe and took
her hands in hers. “You can do this, Zoe. You know you can. You already made
the choice once; it won’t be hard to make it again.”

Zoe nodded. “You’re right.” In her
heart she had already made the decision. It was her brain that needed to catch
up. She had a mother who had sacrificed her entire life for her, a brother who
needed to be found, and a sister whose whereabouts were known. It was every
reason she needed to stay, to turn her back on Earth and embrace the life she
was meant to have, however difficult it may be. She turned back to her father
and smiled kindly at him.

“That which seems lost in Terra
rarely ever is. You’ll soon know what matters.” He turned towards Eva and
nodded at her. “She’ll be right behind you.”

A momentary look of fear and
confusion washed across Eva’s face before Zopyros placed a hand on her
shoulder. In a blink she was gone and Zoe’s hand fell to her side, empty
without Eva’s fingers entwined around them.

“What the hell?” Zoe cried. Her
feet carried her forwards into the space Eva had just occupied, her mind empty
of comprehension.

“Don’t worry, Zoe. Evadine is
safe.”

“She just
disappeared
!” she
exclaimed, though even her own words left her disbelieving.

“I’ve sent her back to Royal City
where she belongs. You’ll see her soon.”

“How did you do that? How did you
just make her disappear into thin air?”

“I’m afraid the answer isn’t nearly
as mystical as you may be expecting. I told you to think of me as a program,
right?” Zoe nodded. “I effectively acted as a gate and sent her back to where
she came from. I promise you she’s perfectly fine.”

She felt her heart beat slowing,
the breath in her airways flowing with increased ease. A tender vibrating
sensation on her shoulder caught her attention and she looked up to find her
father’s hand placed on it like he had before, the tingling electricity growing
at his prolonged touch. After witnessing what had happened to Eva she expected
to disappear herself and reappear someplace else entirely. To her great
surprise she remained still

Zopyros looked like a man who had
suffered deep loss, his mouth downcast into a frown and his too-big brown eyes
misty with tears. “Your birth was one of the happiest moments of my life, and
sending you away was one of the worst. However, I’m pleased to see you now, the
spitting image of your mother, no less.”

The electric sensation moved across
her neck to her shoulder, then down her arms and torso, filling her chest with
the current. She had the distinct sense that her father was saying goodbye
after only just making his presence known.

“I thought there was more to tell
me?”

“This is how I tell you, Zoe. My
purpose here is finished.”

“I don’t understand.” What about
her sister and brother? There was a world of information she was meant to learn
from him, but it seemed as though their time was up.

“You will.”

Her legs began to vibrate beneath
her and she found it increasingly difficult to maintain her balance. Muscles
convulsed beneath her skin, the tingling electrifying nerve endings until her
entire body was shaking violently. Her vision blurred the world around her
becoming unfocused and bleary. Her legs buckled beneath her and she fell to the
ground, the soft meadow of grass padding her knees and arms as they moved to
support her. Her mind exploded as she crashed onto her back, limbs still
convulsing around her. Her mouth opened to call for Zopyros but the sound was
silent as it escaped.

As she lay on the ground, her body
convulsing uncontrollably against the crisp blades of grass, only one coherent
thought could register in the scalding pain of her mind:
I am dying
. It
didn’t feel anything like the liberating sensation she felt at Potato Harbor.
This was unplanned, unintentional, and not at all what she expected.

Shards of teeth stabbed the insides
of her mouth as her jaw clenched and unclenched, her teeth smashing into each
other as her head violently shook. A burning sensation radiated through bones
and muscles as she fought the shaking, using any amount of strength and
willpower she had left to fight for control over her body. The heat was
searing, ripping through her insides from shoulders to toes. She could hear the
sound of blood pumping furiously through her body, flowing fast and furiously
to her head and heart as she twisted.

Then, suddenly it stopped.

Quicker than it started her body
fell still and silent, only a sporadic tick of a firing nerve jostling a leg or
finger. Her head rolled to one side and she could taste a buildup of blood and
shards of teeth collecting in the cup of her cheek. The frenetic pumping of
blood quieted too, her heart beat echoing with slowing pace inside her chest.

Still, the only thought in her mind
was of her mortality.
I’m dying. I am dying
. There was one final twitch
in her shoulder before her body stilled completely. She counted the
lub-dub
of her heartbeat - one, two, and three - before it stopped completely. Her
tired body gave up and sank deep into the meadow. Her lungs emptied with a
final exhale before her chest fell into a concave beneath her ribs. There was
nothing then except her body, straddled lifelessly in a beautiful meadow, alone
in the Forgotten Gardens.

Terra no longer looked like a world
Evan recognized. The King and Thea Thanatos were shackled, surrounded by Crown
Soldiers while the Queen and Queen Mother presided over them like judge and
jury, the soldiers their executioners. He’d never imagined the King was capable
of betraying the Crown - his own family - and struggled to comprehend what was
happening before him. Whatever plan they were operating on appeared to have
failed. Was that it? Had everything gone horribly wrong? It was all he could do
to not let his face register his fear. What was going to happen to his sister?
To Zoe?

Just as perplexing was his seat on
the throne, specifically the King’s seat. Irrespective of the King’s
imprisonment, Evan had no business taking his place, sitting at the same level
as the royal family. It wasn’t just the Queen putting their relationship on
display, but the Queen Mother condoning it. How much did she know? Why would
she even approve of such a show? There was something more going on that he was
not privy to and it left him feeling on edge.

The Queen Mother was like a statue
in her seat; perfectly straight and unmoving as she stared down at Thea with
unrelenting eyes. Thea stood motionless in her captive state and returned the
Queen Mother’s cold stare, her eyes betraying nothing of her inner demeanor.

Historically it was an
unprecedented meeting. Two former queens, one long considered dead and the
woman who took her crown, together again in a room full of people bound by
honor to obey one family and do as commanded without question. Thea didn’t
stand a chance with those odds.

Kyra was the first to speak. “Why
don’t we give our guests some breathing room?” She motioned to the soldiers
surrounding Thea and the King and they stepped back a few feet, never breaking
formation. The two were left standing alone, their arms joined at the wrists in
front of them.

“Very good,” she said, her voice
cool and calm. “Now then, what is your name?” she asked the Elder woman.

Thea’s stance remained unchanged as
her eyes moved from the Queen Mother to Kyra. Evan noticed a touch of warmth in
her face as she looked to the Queen, her gaze softening almost imperceptibly.

“My name is Thea Thanatos.”

“Thea Thanatos is dead,” Kyra
replied, her tone matter-of-fact, even cold.

Thea kept her eyes on Kyra. “You’ve
been misinformed.”

“How do you recommend we verify the
identity of a dead woman?”

Thea’s eyes cooled as they moved to
the Queen Mother, what little softness she had shown Kyra gone. “Ask Korina.
She knows exactly who I am.”

Kyra straightened in her seat. “You
will address her as the Queen Mother and nothing else!” she commanded. The
force of her words echoed around the room until it quietly died in the walls.
The King bowed his head, his eyes cast downward in an attempt to avoid the eyes
of either Queen.

Thea was unmoved. “Every Thanatos
before me has worn the crown of Terra since the very birth of this world; killing
us in no way entitled you to our birthright.” The Queen Mother sat unchanged as
she stared down at Thea, the former queen’s words having no apparent affect on
her.