Chapter Twenty-one
Peter
At first I feel like my eyes are fooling me. The words labelling this building couldn't have been clearer.
A shining diamond with hints of lavender is carved on the glass far up top. The symbol for To Sotos. And a gun, a silver-gray pistol, is placed on one side of the diamond pointing towards it. The symbol for Oi Alloi. They are enclosed in a circle around which it was written: "Ti Sosti Allo". My knowledge in Greek is terrible, but I can make some correct guesses. But this term, this term could only be one thing. Oi Alloi and To Sotos are together. Ti Sosti Allo means the Right Others. I have never understood why our two societies were named this way, but now, Harry's conspiracy theory barges into my mind.
All this while I had thought this would just be a theory that would soon be proved wrong. It made no sense to me, ever, this entire concept of Igetis and Countess Margarita, but I flew along with the conversation, knowing I would prove them wrong.
I look at the faces around me. Catherine's back is all I can see of her. Max looks as shocked as me, perhaps he too had thought the same. Harry, Oliver, and William, the people who proposed this entire concept look surprised but satisfied- perhaps even smug. Lucas, Arthur, and Kabir mirrored my expression.
Wait till Ester and Arthur hear about this.
Richard simply stares at the grass. I get back to my senses as Catherine nears the armed men. The rest of them follow me.
I can hear her laughing with one of the men on patrol and I wonder how much I really know about her- and how much she knows about me, and for how long. By the time all of us caught up to her, the men have shifted into two lines, facing inward, and raised their guns above their heads, for a second I think they are saluting us. Yeah right.
Catherine walks into the cave they created, her head held high, her chin firm, smiling graciously at them. My idea was very close.
They weren't saluting us, they are saluting her. What the hell? Who is she?
-
The cold air blasts onto my body as I walk in, the hair on my bare arms standing straight up. I ignore it and pull my shoulders back.
In front of me, stands Igetis and, from what I recall, Countess Margarita. Igetis is wearing his customary black cloak, but his hood is off. His head displays no hair and his eyes are slanting inwards. He looks young; the only thing giving away his age are the white on his eyebrows.
His nose isn't crooked, his lips are peach, flaunted by his fair skin. On the right side of his neck, a dark tattoo of a gun, the symbol of Oi Alloi, covers up the space. He wears black studs on one of his ears, they start from the top and go on till the end of the flaky skin.
He smiles warmly to us all.
Beside him, Countess Margarita wears a navy blue dress- a gown, rather, reaching till the floor and some space beside her feet. Her hair, as always, is piled on top of her head and her hands are placed in front of her chest, as if she were giving a speech. She wears a truck full of make-up, but they don't cover the dark circles under her green eyes. She wears an emerald around her neck, the shape of a rectangle and they match with the huge earrings on her ears.
She looks at Catherine and opens up her arms, as if gesturing for a hug. I step out to stop her, but to my surprise, Catherine goes happily into her arms, squeezing her as if they were family. As if they were family. I blink. That can't be possible. I contradict myself constantly, but then give up, following the three of them into the insides of the diamond.
"Follow us." Countess Margarita says. And we do.
-
The first room we pass is practically a glass chamber. Men dressed in white robes and glasses and gloves using tiny silver surgical tools and play around with a maroon coloured liquid. Igetis falls back to walk with me.
"You have a name." I say immediately. "What is it?"
"I suspected you would want to know."
"Tell me then."
"My name is Andrew Bosa."
"Andrew? You don't look anything like a Andrew."
He ignores my reply. "Your father was a great friend of mine. I moan his death even today."
"How old are you really?"
"Sixty-four." I take this in. Any unusual information seems welcome and honest after the last few minutes.
"They say the Igetis is more than a hundred years old."
"They lie a lot." He pauses. "Everyone does." He points his finger to the liquid one of the scientists was examining. "That's your blood."
"Why do you need it?"
"You are the tetrakinita and have powers and genes we can only dream of. I have convinced Marge to-"
"Marge?" I yelp in astonishment. This is a new development. It explains the hugging at the front door.
"Yes, Catherine's Aunt Marge. Don't blame her, Peter. She knew how important this secret is- all of these secrets. She often came to us, crying, begging us to allow her to tell you. But we couldn't till you were ready."
Many times.
"Did she feed you information about us?"
"Never. And we didn't pursue her. We are not against you Peter, we need your help."
I hear the silent tapping of feet corridors away from me. I realise, all of a sudden, that it is just the two of us here.
"Why?"
"I will explain to you all together."
"Do any of the other members of Oi Alloi know about this?" I shoot.
"No."
"So they believe we are completely against To Sotos? When clearly we aren't."
"Yes. But I have paused all their assignments for the time being." He turns around to start walking.
"Andrew," I say, "About Catherine, who did that to her parents? Obviously it wasn't you or Countess Margarita- Aunt Marge, whatever her name is."
"They are the reason you are here Peter. You and your team. Come along, there is not enough time to explain it twice." I nod and we walk forward, faster, to catch up with the group. The blue lights are soft and they hummed silently. I still have a dozen unanswered questions, and apparently 'not enough time.' He seems to guess that and looks at me, waiting for my queries.
"What are your two powers?"
"My element is the sky and invisibility." So that's how he managed to hide himself behind the cloak.
"What do you give us to drink during the ceremony."
"Highly confidential."
"Andrew."
"Pomegranate, orange, and mustard, all mixed up together." I frown in disgust.
"Then how do we get our powers?"
He sighs. "It is said humans use about only 10% of their-our- brains. By making you believe in yourself to such an extent, I help you open up about 74% of your brain- at least for normal members. For the tetrakinita, you can open up to 80% of your brain."
"What happens if we can open up almost all of it?"
"Then you can reverse time and still not change anything. It will be like everything happened but no one, except a few selected, would know about it."
"I don't get it."
"You will die, but save the world of an unnecessary episode of drama and death."
"The light that comes, that allows us to hover above the ground, what about that?"
"That's part of my power. The voice, everything, becomes part of the Igetis once he takes his place as leader."
"Why the drink?"
"For my entertainment and satisfaction." He smiles smugly and I laugh. "Peter, Catherine's parents were killed when you were here. That day, there was significantly less security at the diamond because we sent guards over to your house."
I stiffened. "And they all died?"
"No, some of them did. But they left too early. There was a back up team for the bad guys heading to your house. We didn't know and to save them, I ordered them to retreat, thinking that this was it. "
"Oh." I think of something to say. "Thank you for sending them anyways." I pause. "Does Catherine know?"
"She doesn't. This way, the others should be ready." He turns and walks down the hall as I follow him.
"Peter," he says to me after some steps. "We selected you, and this gang, for a reason. You'll are the chosen ones. I only hope I can help you live up to it."
We enter a huge room with one big table, shaped like a rectangle, in the middle. The same symbol from the outside of the structure is imprinted here on the table and the wall on one end of it.
There are chairs placed all along the table, most of them already occupied. The boys seat themselves on one side of the table- exactly seven chairs on each side.
Catherine sits exactly opposite them, fidgeting nervously on her seat. It's almost scary how I don't feel anything against her right now.
Margarita sits on one head of the table, her arms leaning on it. I smile and take a seat beside Catherine, much to the astonishment of everyone in the room. Igetis takes his place on the other end of the table. He stands up after a moment and begins talking.
"I will get straight to the point. We, Oi Alloi and To Sotos, have been under threats since the last ten years. The prophecy claims that only when a four-powered man rises, can we over power this enemy. A four-powered man, or otherwise known as tetrakinita."
I cringe in my seat. "Not too many years back, another man of such sort was found. He was told of this threat against us, and he was- no doubt- at first as confused as you all are now. But, after being explained the prophecy, he agreed to help us. He returned home that night as a happy man with a heavy heart to his family. He knew he might die. However, his thoughts were appreciated much before he believed they would be. He was killed that night." He pauses, looking lost for a second. Then continues, "We know that we need your help, and we also know your life maybe in danger- no, it is in danger. But they are going to kill you anyways, knowing that you are the tetrakinita, and so you either die for the world or you die for, well-"
"Andrew." I butt in, "I will fight for us, and I know so will everyone else here. Get on with who they are please." He smiles and nods.
Then he says, "We don't know what they are called. They may be anywhere, dressed anyhow. All we know is that all of them have this tattoo on some part of their body, and no matter where it is, the tattoo, or part of it, will always be seen."
All eyes turn to the projection Andrew forms in the air in front of him. It looks like a snake coiled up into a spiral.
"It's a black mamba." Harry murmurs in awe at the vile creature.
"Indeed it is. One of the scariest possible creatures alive. We believe these 'people' are deprived from them. It's absurd- they keep hissing. They kill with their tongues, wrapping the fork end around their victims neck. And worst of all, they always come in large packs."
"Igetis, how can we recognise them from a normal crowd?" Max questions him.
"Apart from the tattoos, and the tongue, they normally wear greens or yellows, brown boots, stuff like that. Many of them have pierced their skins too." He turns his outstretched hands projecting the image, and it changes to a group of boys and girls laughing and leaning onto black bikes. "They are either exceptionally short, or so tall that you may have to lean back to get a glimpse of their faces."
Oliver asks, "Do they spit venom or something?"
"Only some. We are yet to figure out what causes the difference." A sigh follows around the room.
"Do they have a weakness?" Richard frowns as he speaks.
"Yes, they do have one too." He turns his hand once more. A new image. What? "Metal. More specifically, Iron."
Opposite me, Harry leans onto his elbows gazing at the piece of iron in front of him. "Iron. Fe. Atomic Mass: 55.845u. Atomic Number:26. Melting Point 1,538 degrees celsius. Density: 7.874 g/cm3. Group 8 of the periodic table. By mass the most common element on Earth and forms most of Earth's outer and inner cores."
"Correct, Harry."
"Andrew, if only Iron affects it, then what use are our powers?"
"I can't be sure if your powers don't harm them at all. Now that you'll are here, we can start some tests."
"How do we use it?" Max asks.
"Well for one, we cover ourselves, clothes, with a very thin layer. It may get a bit heavy at the beginning, but is necessary to your survival. If you will, do join me in taking my rounds of some of the weapons we have created using this." We stand up. I take Catherine's arm and force her to wait back.
"We'll be with you in a second." I say to Andrew.
As they leave the room one by one, I turn to Catherine. Before I even begin saying anything, she misinterprets my action and starts.
"Peter, I'm sorry. I really wanted to tell you about all of this, but I couldn't. I have come here before, quite a few times, and have constantly asked Andrew and Aunt Marge to give me permission to welcome you'll, or atleast you, here and explain everything to you but they wouldn't-" I cut her off and lean into her face, my mouth at her ears.
"It's okay." I whisper, and I can feel her muscles relax, her hand loosen, wrap itself around me. I pull my head back, resisting the constant urge to kiss her, and leave my arms around her waist.
She looks down. I remove one of my hands off her waist and lift her chin up to me and put my forehead against hers. Everything fades away.
"You guys! You need to-" Arthur barges into the room, and then seeing us, grins, "Oops. Sorry. I'll leave."
"No, no," I say regretfully and turn towards the door, "we're coming."
Catherine smiles as I take her hand.
"It's time for war."