Ashes

Twenty: Athena

"Titus, I'm so, so sorry," I tell him, hoping to bring some kind of comfort. It doesn't work, but he shrugs me off a few seconds later.

"We can talk about this later, Ari, but right now, we need to go," he says, and I nod quickly with a sniffle as we all climb onto the train that zooms us off to Ezekiel Thorne's office.

My father doesn't say a word as he merely instructs us to sit down. Callista's face is paused on the screen before us, and Ezekiel merely clicks on something that makes the video start.

"My name is Callista Reissman, and I have a message for Ariadne Thorne," she starts, and my father nervously covers his mouth with his hands.

"Ariadne, your mother is alive. Johann and I stopped at our old dome on the way home. She's alive, Ari. I promise I'll explain more, but call me, okay? Here," Callie says to the camera, and reaches over to scrawl out a phone number on a piece of notebook paper. She holds it up to the screen, and with a tired smile, the video freezes.

I don't react immediately. How can I?!

I've been blaming myself for her death for nearly a year, mourning and cursing the stars for my fate, and now, it's been flipped on its head. Athena Simo-Athena Thorne is alive. I don't know what to feel.

Suddenly, reality hits me like a slap in the face and I lunge for the phone in my brother's pocket.

The phone rings once, twice, and Callista picks up with an uncertain "Hello?"

"Callie!" I blurt, and there's silence for a few seconds on her end of the line.

"You got my message?" she questions, and I quickly agree.

"Yes?! Will we be able to get it?!"

"There was a revolution after we left. They overthrew Lockman. Matthias and Athena are in charge now. I think you'll be fine," she says, and my head spins with all of this information.

"Will you be there?" I ask, and again, there's silence.

"No? Maybe," she hesitates, and I suck in a sharp breath at her words.

"Yes. I'll have Johann send me over. When are you all going to come?"

"Tomorrow?!" Ezekiel splutters, and Echo and Titus rush to agree.

"Tomorrow it is. I'll see you then," she says, her voice taut and curt as she hangs up quickly.

"Pack your things. We leave first thing in the morning," Ezekiel says, a mixture of fear and joy somehow blending on his face.

"How are we getting there so fast?" I ask, and Ezekiel grins.

"Canaan's teleporter. It's how we drop field agents off at wherever they need to be,"

Suddenly, images of those people we'd seen in Seattle make a lot more sense. It had been Canaanite agents that we'd see there. Small world.

All three of us are silent on the way back to the training center, different emotions swirling through our heads. There's a mixture of bliss and terror in my veins. There's so many things I promised myself that I would say, that I would apologize for. What if she's changed and doesn't want us around her anymore? The whole guilt and mourning thing is a weird sort of hollowness of its own.

You're never taught what to do when you're given a second chance with someone you were sure you'd lost. Reality is composed of heartbreak and loss and only one chance to get things right. No one gets lucky enough to try again. No one deserves to try again. Especially not us.

"We don't deserve this," I tell them, and Titus agrees with a grunt. Echo hesitates.

"Nobody deserves anything. People fickle creatures with brittle bones and changing hearts. But we are owed better. We are owed," she suddenly says, her voice confident and determined. There's something fiery in her eyes, which cautions both Titus and I not to challenge her.