The city was more like someone had tried to create a city just by the description. It wasn't walkable, the roads creating a complicated maze worse than the tight grid of NYC, and the place was mostly beaten roads, interstates, highways, and run down buildings. It looked familiar, until I realized that it was the city from my dream. We eventually passed a cluster of tan brick buildings- some old and some new. It was a college campus, but it wasn't too busy since it was summertime.
We drove down the avenue, before coming up to a parking lot. In front of us was the building I had seen in my dreams, but this wasn't the place we were going. We ventured off, locking the car behind us. Thankfully, this entire area seemed like the only walkable place in this city, and I just had to take it in. It wasn't the usual urban sprawl. It was levels of roads, old and new buildings all over, with nature at every turn. Trees grew along the roads, parks and grass patches grew, and there was an emphasis on everything staying green… despite it being a very car oriented place. We walked past the Sunsphere, as it was titled, and I looked up. The sun's light reflected off of it, illuminating it like a great fiery golden Death Star.
The park was nice, from what we had seen. We didn't go there, but we walked past and took some stairs up to the street level, passing a large glass building. The convention center- and next to it was a huge, tan, stone brick church with a bell tower and wooden doors. Across the street from the church was a hotel- and next to the hotel were a series of houses. Not even townhouses- just… actual houses. It was a patchwork of a city…
We eventually walked down another set of stairs, towards the river. Right along it, a highway weaved through the hillside. On the opposite side of the river, apartment buildings rose into the air, overlooking the surprisingly blue water. Trees and plants grew rampant, and hills and mountains rose in the distance. Once again- they had an emphasis on nature. We crossed the highway and found a boathouse. Expensive boats bobbed in the river, rocking gently with the current. Most were white, but there was one that was painted an obnoxious orange, with an orange and white checkered flag waving in the breeze. Jasper led us down the dock, and towards that boat.
As we approached, the sound of a sports event on TV grew closer. In the captain's cabin, I could see him- A college-aged guy with tanned skin, blue eyes, wispy blackish-brown hair, and a five-o-clock shadow- as if he had shaved four days ago. Jasper stopped us before we got closer, looking at me.
"How's your football knowledge?" Jasper whispered, and I stared at him incredulously.
"What?" I spoke a bit louder than I wanted to, but Jasper shook his head,
"All you need to know is that he's a big football fan. He's also only a fan of the Vols," Jasper warned, and Layla rose a brow.
"The… Balls? I mean, yeah, if he's a football fan-" She began, but Jasper cut her off.
"Vols. V-O-L-S. Volunteers. That's the football team here," Jasper nearly hissed, before turning to the boat, "Do not say anything bad about them near this guy."
We stepped onto the boat and the sound of the game paused.
"My dude, welcome back! What's up, bro?" The guy stood up, turning to face Jasper and offering a fist for a fist bump. He wore an oversized "Go Vols!" orange and white jersey shirt, black basketball shorts, and untied orange and white sneakers. Wow.
"Hey Callamaco," Jasper's voice changed to sound more upbeat, bumping his fist with the football guy's. "These are my friends, hope you don't mind them coming aboard. The girl's Layla, she's pretty sporty- and the guy is Ren, he's a music lover."
"Oh, a sporty one? Hah, so you must know all about football, right?" The guy, Callamaco, beamed, "Like the first ever Vols game in 1891! Do you know who they went against?"
Layla's eyes lit up- I forgot that she always had a liking for sports history. "Maryville College! Though, they were late to the professional leagues, and lost it! They beat them in 1892!"
"Bro, you're so cool!" His eyes fell on Jasper, grinning, "You always have the coolest friends! What happened to the other two? Kiara and Esra? Man, they were cool too!"
"Oh," Jasper's expression turned sour for a moment, but he quickly changed it to look a bit more cheerful, "We aren't really friends anymore. We had a falling out."
"Bummer! Kiara had that competitive spirit! Anyways, sit, have a soda! I'm rewatching the game," he sat back in the seat and three orange fold up chairs appeared.
"Actually, we're on a quest, Callamaco," Jasper sighed a bit, brushing his bangs from his face, "We need to get put on the right quest. Something about where the sun meets the river, and a river of gold or something. I thought it might be leading me to you."
"Nah, I'm the river of catfish and beer cans," he laughed. I realized now- this guy was a river god?! Layla looked just as stunned as I did, but she began beaming.
"Callamaco- the original name of the Tennessee River!" She exclaimed, and Callamaco pointed to her with two finger guns.
"Bingo! I like this girl! Yeah, my name's changed a lot over the years but I've always like Callamaco the most! Tennessee is a bit too on the nose. Besides, I can't steal the name of the best football team ever! They even made a notable offering to me! I was just sitting in the river, floating on my boat during the Alabama game. Tennessee won, and I was so ecstatic! Then all of a sudden, a crowd of people come to my river and guess what they did!" His voice was filled with adrenaline, and he pulled a phone out, "Guess!"
"They threw the winning football into the river? Or the jerseys of the winning team?" Layla guessed, and Callamaco laughed.
"No! They threw the entire field goal into my river! It's still down there, actually! I made up some story that they fished it out and recycled it, but it's my prized possession!"
"Dude," Layla gasped, before her grin grew, "That's so cool! Man, I wish my mom was into sports like that! Ugh, I'll definitely have to come back here to hang out with you more!"
"We're getting off topic," Jasper nudged back into the conversation, and Callamaco nodded.
"Right, right," the river god spoke, straightening his back in his captain's chair. "You're looking for a river where the sun meets the river. You're probably looking for the Amber River- Eridanus. You'll likely wanna talk to the one responsible for it, the ancient tears, blah, blah, blah."
"Yes!" I blurted, and he rose a brow. Actually, all three of them did. "The prophecy stated we'd need to 'find the tears of old' and set a path towards like… the river of gold. Amber is gold in color."
Jasper contemplated for a moment, before nodding. "Callamaco, do you know of any ancient tears nearby? The Tennessee River is really ancient, right? Surely you've got some ancient tears lingering in there."
"Eh, yeah, but I doubt they'd help. They're all grody and dirty from the bed of the river," Callamaco shrugged, before balling his hand into a fist, opening it again to reveal a handful of small amber pearls. "Here's some. You can have them, but only if you answer one question."
"Is it sports related?" Layla asked, her eyes lit up with anticipation.
Callamaco shook his head, frowning a bit. "That would be too easy. Honestly, I wish I could make it easy but even us gods gotta follow the way of the world. Anyways, I'll ask each of you a question. If you all get your questions right, I'll give you this amber."
"Sounds fair," Jasper nodded. "I guess I'll go first."
Callamaco turned to Jasper, the amber vanishing from his hand. In his hands, a whiteboard and orange dry erase marker appeared, and he handed it to Jasper. "Alright, your question is… What animal is Knoxville best known for repopulating in the zoo?"
Jasper stared at him for a moment, before looking at his whiteboard. He furrowed his brows, trying to recall exactly what it was. Endangered species, surely. What was Tennessee even known for in regards to wildlife? Bears? Bears… I could see it clicking with Jasper. Bears. Pandas. Red Pandas.
He wrote down his answer, showing it to the river god. On the whiteboard, he had written Red Pandas. Callamaco clapped his hands together with a smile.
"Yeah! Those cute little guys! I'm just glad my city still enjoys nature," Callamaco took the clipboard from Jasper, handing it to Layla. "Alright girlie, your turn! Your question is: What famous movie director was born in my glorious city of Knoxville?
Sure, you'd immediately thing of Johnny Knoxville- and yes, he was born in Knoxville- but was he famous for being a movie director? No. He was known for being a professional stuntman, actor, and absolute madman.
Layla's face twisted with concentration, and I could tell she was absolutely winging her answer. Her eyes drifted to the side, looking over a poster for 'Kill Bill.' She began writing, and flipped the board around. "Quentin Tarantino, the guy who made Pulp Fiction."
Callamaco's smile grew, and he clapped his hands, "Bravo, girlie! Now, it's the sunny guy's turn!" He took the whiteboard from Layla, handing it to me. My heart began racing. I was the one that this relied on. If I got this wrong, we'd lose our chance to even get a headstart on searching. We'd lose everything we came here for.
"Your question is," Callamaco paused, thinking for a moment, "What soda was created in my beloved city?"
I felt my head twisting, I tried so hard to think. Coca Cola? No, no… That's Georgia, and it isn't Pepsi. I knit my brows with concentration, until my father's voice rang in my head. 'The light.' I looked up, and sure enough, the sunlight was illuminating the captain's cabin, highlighting things I never noticed before. Crumbled up wrappers, flags and banners with 'VOLS!' displayed on them, and a bunch of crushed soda cans. Soda… cans…
I wrote my answer down, looking over it before flipping it around. "Mountain Dew."
Callamaco cheered a bit, the amber reappearing in his hand as he held it out to me. "Awesome! Y'all really do know your stuff! Alright, take your amber and scram! I wanna get back to watching the game replay…"
He didn't have to tell us twice. It was already five in the evening, and the only thing we accomplished was playing jeopardy with a god that looked like a college dropout, and achieving a handful of amber. I mean, I wouldn't complain, but I had a feeling we had a deadline for this quest- and that it would be sooner than expected.
As we made our way to the car, I began to hear whispers again. Voices in my head kept telling me to go to the sunsphere. A woman's voice called out, 'Find us!' Another, softer male's voice whispered, 'The evening comes!'
"Guys, I'll meet you at the car," I stopped in front of the doors to the Sunsphere. It was an elevator that led straight up to the orb at the top. "I think something is trying to tell me something."
"We'll go with you," Layla argued, "We haven't been unfortunate yet, but you never know!"
"She's right," piped up Jasper, who twisted one of his black iron rings, "Your swordfighting skills kinda… suck."
"Alright," I shrugged, staring at the golden globe above, reflecting the evening light, "Hope you aren't afraid of heights.