Forty-Nine ◑ The Temple

The lake turned into an endless pit, a yawning abyss wherein time and matter didn’t exist. There was only gravity.

Lucille couldn’t see Dimitri and Keiran, couldn’t feel them or hear them even though they scrambled to stick together just as they’d gotten pulled into the portal. Hell, she couldn't even feel herself. All she knew was that she was there in that empty space. Falling, falling, falling. . . .

Until she felt her feet land on something smooth, flat, and cold.

The impact made her collapse on her knees. For a brief moment of panic, she thought she'd broken her ankles because of her landing, but there was no pain. There was only brightness, the sound of Keiran and Dimitri falling forward beside her, and some voices.

Voices. Male voices. About a dozen, in varying quality and levels of surprise.

Slowly, her eyes began to adjust to the brightness of the place and register some elements. Standing in front of them were the men, all wearing white togas and shocked expressions. They were in a vast rectangular room with towering columns. Colorful tile mosaics on the floor decorated the marble floor. Behind them was a fireplace of some sort. Or an altar. Same mosaic pattern on marble and gold. The ceiling was painted with scenes of the gods and goddesses purple wearing togas and capes.

Roman. The place and the people were unmistakably Roman. The togas and the mosaics were a dead giveaway.

As though to prove that, the men began to yap rapidly in Latin, none of which Lucille caught clearly.

Keiran got up before the other two could, and immediately he stood protectively in front of them. "Back off!"

The men looked impressed. They started to consult each other, pointing at the three of them.

"Uh, what are they saying?" Dimitri hazarded, hugging the box closer to himself while guarding Lucille from the other side. "I understand a bit, but not enough to interpret."

"Me neither," Keiran mumbled.

He was clearly confused, but not lowering his guard. He remained in his defensive stance the men began to walk closer to them.

"Not one more step," he warned them. "Stay where you are."

To everyone's surprise, the men obeyed. They stayed in their spots, standing straight like soldiers awaiting orders.

"Okay, this is weird," Dimitri concluded, helping Lucille to her feet.

Keiran nodded. "But at least they're not attacking us." When the men drew closer, he advanced menacingly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there, buckaroo. I told you to stay where you are, remember?"

Again, the men heeded his words. It was almost as though they could understand Keiran. All of them were smiling now, some of them even going as far as kicking around in what Lucille hoped was excitement.

Then the men sank to their knees and bowed. The one in the front and center spoke in a booming, jovial voice like he was heralding great news.

"*Deus,*" Keiran repeated from the man's words. "They called us *deus*."

"That means 'god', right?" Lucille stuck close to Dimitri, eyeing the people warily. "They think we're gods? All of us?"

"I think they're priests," Dimitri said."For Mars Ultor, it seems."

She followed his line of sight and found a whole wall with a mural of a tall, dark, and beefy man towering over everyone. She assumed this was Mars, and judging by weapons that littered the altar behind them, it would be safe to assume that this indeed was him.

"I hope they don't think one of you is Mars," she said.

Dimitri grimaced. "I hope not. To be fair, we look nothing like the painting."

He pressed a hand on his wound, and Lucille was shocked to see that a gold spot of blood began to appear in the fabric.

"Dimitri," she began to say, but he stopped her with a raised palm.

Then, he collapsed promptly on the floor.

"Dimitri!" Lucille rushed towards him and cradled his head. "Keiran, come here!"

"Ah, just go with it." Keiran straightened up, beamed the men with a toothy smile, and declared. "Yes, we are *deus*. Now rise, serve us, and please don't chase us with swords!"

The men rose and clapped heartily, smiling at each other like all their dreams had just come true. But then their faces fell when they saw Dimitri bleeding on the floor.

Keiran finally turned around, his shoulders sagging in worry. The priests scrambled to take Dimitri from Lucille, assuring her in words she didn't understand. They heaved up Dimitri and carried him towards a hallway. Frustrated, she tried to follow, but the other priests remained behind and stopped her.

"No!" she yelled, even though she knew they didn't understand her. "I have to see him! I have to—"

"We should stay," Keiran said, all energy drained from his voice. He put a hand on her shoulder and held her back, watching the priests disappear into the hallway with Dimitri. "They'll fix him up."

****

Lucill didn't trust the priests, but as it turned out, were really nice people who genuinely wanted to help.

They didn't question where they'd come from, why they were grimy and wet, nor how they'd gotten there. Granted, no one could understand what they were saying, but the fact that they got them everything they needed was proof enough that ignorance was bliss.

From baths to robes and now to a banquet, the Romans made sure that the three received the most special treatment in the history of special treatments.

Lucille sat at that banquet table now, staring at the sheer number of dishes in front of her. She was hungry, but she couldn’t bring herself to eat. Some of the priests were still in their quarters upstairs, tending to Dimitri.

She doubted she’d be able to do anything until she saw him.

Keiran, on the other hand, was doing his best to act normal. He smiled at the priests as they filled up his plate, but as soon as they were gone, he withered against his chair.

Then, in an uncharacteristically soft voice, he told Lucille, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” she asked. Not because she wanted to milk it, but because she genuinely didn’t know. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I did.” He sighed. “The things I said were horrible. I meant it when I said we care about you a lot. But I didn’t mean it when I said I regret ever saving you.”

“It’s alright, Keiran,” she began to say, bowing her head, but he cut her off.

“It’s not alright.” He reached over the table and placed a hand under her chin to make her face him. “I don’t regret saving you. It’s one of the best decisions I’ve made, and I would do it again and again.”

Lucille smiled. It was rare to see Keiran being soft like this, so she decided to make the most of it by taking his hand. She was about to stand and pull him for a hug, but then she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.

It was Dimitri, standing by the dining hall entrance, wearing a purple robe like theirs. He slowly made his way to the table, his eyes narrowed on their joined hands.

“Brother!” Keiran raised their joined hands for him to see. “Look, we made up! And I’m the one who apologized.”

“Good,” Dimitri said, his lips curling into smile as Keiran released Lucille. He took a seat at the head of the table, gesturing at the food. “Why haven’t you eaten yet?”

Lucille couldn’t answer. She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He looked almost like his normal self. Not pale or clammy, but lively and regal. She wanted to latch onto him and never let go.

“We were waiting for you,” Keiran said. “Now let’s eat. I’m starving.”

“Wait.” Dimitri raised a hand. “We have to clarify a few things first. How did we get here? How did that portal appear? What happened in that lake that made us jump years into the future?”

The two gods turned to Lucille. Her stomach dropped, but she faced them nonetheless. “Where do I start?”

“The lake,” Dimitri decided.

“I went for a swim.” She stood by her lie. “But while I was there, I started to have a vision. Not a flashback, but a vision. I saw Agnes and Cade, but they couldn’t stand near each other. It hurts her.”

Silence. The twins hesitated.

It was Keiran who spoke first. “That’s their curse. It’s what I’ve been saying before. They’re together, but not truly. After all, it’s a forbidden love that they have, a love outside of marriage. The agony of being close but not close enough is their torture. This began when Agnes started to remember her past.”

“But Cade never forgot?”

“Never. That’s his curse too.”

A lot of questions popped in her head, but Keiran’s expression told her it wouldn’t be smart to ask. “And what’s the reason why Agnes looked different?”

“That’s on me.” Dimitri cleared his throat. “I was aiming for Cade. She took the blow.”

“Cade said something about it being the Mark of Death. Does that mean she’ll die?”

“No. It only means she’s touched by my power, and whatever pain she already has would increase tenfold.”

“So that’s why she’s in pain when Cade got too close,” she murmured. “He knew I was there. He could feel me, and when he tried to get to me, I got thrown into a flashback. In the same forest in Crete. He had a knife.”

Dimitri and Keiran exchanged knowing looks. She didn’t need to elaborate on that. For a while, the three of them were quiet.

Keiran picked at his food. “So a flashback and a vision underwater, huh? You wouldn’t wake. We thought you were. . . .”

He trailed off. Dimitri took it from there.  “I think the memories triggered something in you and allowed you to create that portal. Is the bracelet no longer attached to you?”

The bracelet. She’s almost forgotten. She looked at it now, and well, it was still there. Perfectly intact.

“I don’t understand.,” Lucille muttered. “But I did use my power in the marketplace.” She tugged at the clasp, but it didn’t budge. Next, she tried to summon fire. To no avail. “It’s still working. I can’t use magic now. What the hell does this mean?”

“It means it works with some sort of a loophole,” Keiran said thoughtfully. “It seems that you can bypass it when you’re feeling a strong emotion, or when you’re in danger. The first portal appeared when you were about to fall off a building, the second one when you were nearly drowning.”

“So that’s how we’ll return?” Lucille asked. “I just have to put myself in danger?”

He shrugged. “Could be. Could be not. I don’t think it’s as simple as that.”

Dimitri arched an eyebrow. “So what is it then?”

“I don’t know.” The God of Fate smiled. “We have all day tomorrow to find out.”