Chapter 34 - All is revealed.
Jay wondered what the lady had meant. ‘Listen to the words of others’? What was that supposed to mean?
“Where’s Mormo gone?” Hollie questioned.
“She was probably trying to take us off our track,” Jordan sighed.
“Well why are we running this way then?” Jay pondered.
“I don’t know.” Hollie stopped and turned to face everyone behind her.
“Why would Mormo take us past that weird lady anyway?” Broudie asked.
“I don’t think she was going to hurt us, or distract us from our quest either,” Claire told.
“Well she certainly radiated power,” Jordan said.
“Too right,” Jay agreed.
“Why are you not with the lady of the temple?” Mormo, the child biter, swooped from behind a massive pillar.
‘Lady of the temple? Oh great!’ Jay thought, ‘That means that we have to kill her so as we can get the jewel which is probably just a ring on her finger or something. Sounds perfect! More tiring fighting.’
“Well if it isn’t Mormo,” Hollie glared at her.
“What are you doing here?” she cried.
“Were looking for the jewel, not some crazy lady,” Jordan broke in.
“That was no crazy lady. You must go back.” Mormo shook her head.
“Like we’d listen to you,” Jay laughed.
“Listen to Mormo, please.”
“You lead us out of our way Mormo. You’re not a nice person at all,” Broudie sniggered.
“Mormo sorry, but you must go back to the lady, she is powerful.”
“You’re telling us, what did you expect us to get vaporized by her or something? Well unfortunately your plan failed,” Hollie said.
“No you do not understand,” Mormo insisted.
“No I think we understand perfectly, now it’s been nice meeting you, but we really must be going,” Claire retaliated.
“The lady, she is-” Mormo was interrupted by the others’ malicious remarks,
“A weirdo.”
“Crazy.”
“Evil.”
“HECATE!” Mormo screamed in her high pitched tone that thrashed at your ear drums.
“What?” Jay was confused. He had heard that name before back at the hideout
“The woman, the lady you met was the powerful goddess of witchcraft and magic, associated with light, the moon, dogs and crossroads. Her name, Hecate,” Mormo gasped for breath, if ghosts breathe that is?
“Heca-, the lady was a goddess?” Jay questioned, gob smacked.
“Hecate herself, in full form?” Hollie asked.
“Yes my dears.”
They turned around to meet the same white dressed woman they’d met at the fountain.
“We are so sorry, goddess Hecate.” Hollie, Jordan, Claire and Broudie bent forward in honour - Jay followed their lead.
“Arise young ring-bearers,” Hecate instructed, waving her hand elegantly in the air.
“We did not know,” Hollie told.
“Clearly.” Hecate waved Mormo to her side.
“Could I ask a question?” Hollie pondered, “What would such a powerful goddess be doing in this temple?”
“I live here, at the moment. And you, I see, are after the jewel of Barthimia?”
“Correct Madame,” Hollie replied.
“Well welcome, once again, to the temple of Barthimia.”
“Could we offer you something as a sorry for ignoring such a powerful and respected goddess?” Jordan asked.
“Why of course,” she smiled.
Jordan held out his arm and drew what looked like a dog in midair out of smoke that seemed to puff from his finger. The mouth opened and a bark sounded. Jordan bent down once again and raised his arms,
“I give this on behalf of us five ring bearers, to the mighty goddess Hecate.” When Jordan finished and arose, the dog of smoke drifted slowly towards the goddess.
Hecate breathed in and the smoke outline dissolved into air. The goddess smiled and a creepy hologram of two identical siblings flashed to life. Only to flash back out of existence when the goddess reopened her eyes.
‘Must be an offering.’ Jay thought, confused at why there was suddenly three Hecates.
“Thank you, but there was really no need. For I did not display myself in my true form. But how nice it is to feel the loving sensation of a sacrifice.” Hecate smiled again.
“We should have known that you were the great goddess Hecate. I mean, with the clues: Mormo your companion, the great sense of power that only gods do radiate, and how much our magic was strong in your company,” Hollie apologised.
“Mormo informed me of a certain five children that were trying to overcome the powers of the temple. See there has never been a break in, not since Zeus sent that test run a millennia ago.” She looked up as if over running the memory.
“I asked Mormo, as anyone would, what they were like. She described that you had powers, that you wore rings, and that you reminded her of what she had heard the Olympians describe. I knew who you were, the gods had contacted me just two years ago to inform me of what Athena had done. The oracle and the rings, everything. So I used some of my power to teleport you to me, for I knew you would not find me, for you had taken a wrong turning, so to speak.”
“We thank you again for doing such a kind thing.” Hollie nodded.
“Well, yes.”
“Why have you been stuck in this palace by yourself for so long, if you don’t mind me asking?” Claire questioned.
“Why? Well I helped the gods with their quest and now I must be hidden. Just me and Mormo.”
“Their quest?” Hollie pondered.
“They had to lock up the monsters in Tartarus didn’t they? So I helped them, I helped them seal the gates and I did something else.” Hecate’s smile faded.
“What did you do, Hecate?” Jordan asked.
“I used a spell, a very powerful spell on all the monsters. I cursed them. I made sure that every single monster that was trapped in Tartarus, would always return,” she told the story with a deep threatening tone.
“So this temple hides you and the jewel from the monsters. It’s like killing two birds with one stone,” Jordan added up.
Hecate shrugged.
“Another question we do ask. Do you know the location of the jewel?” Claire asked timidly.
“Oh I do, very well actually. It changes, moves, always stays in this temple, in this palace, but in different places.”
“Do you know where it is now?” Jay asked, searching her jewellery for something which could look precious enough to be the item of their quest.
“Yes.”
“Could you tell us, Queen Hecate?” Hollie questioned.
“I could, but I’m afraid it is not my quest.” Hecate turned and walked over to one of the baskets.
“But could you give us a clue? Seems as you know,” Jordan said desperately.
“I have already.”
“A clue?” Hollie repeated.
“She hasn’t given us a clue,” Claire whispered.
“She has, what she said back at the fountain. She said we should listen to the words of others,” Jay remembered.
“That’s really a clue,” Broudie huffed.
“What would we listen to?” Jordan pondered.
“I don’t know, there isn’t anything is there?” Hollie replied.
“How about, the sirens song?” Jay suggested
“But how would that help us find the jewel?” Jordan thought.
“It’s gotta be something about the jewel,” Hollie said.
“Well that’s a start,” Hecate said sarcastically, flicking her wrist and making a beautiful flower grow out from the basket, open up, and start singing quiet hymns.
“Em, maybe it’s the location itself. Maybe it’s the way Athena only told us where Frederick might be, or something on the lines of that?” Hollie suggested, confusing herself.
“No,” Hecate called back continuing to tidy up her baskets.
“How about what it looks like!” Broudie shouted out.
Hecate turned to face them then smiled.
“So you’re saying that we don’t know what it looks like, so I expect the jewel to be…”
“Big, really strong in colour, like bright red or green,” Claire finished.
“Yeah and carved beautifully,” Jay added.
“And it would be the opposite, so it would be a tiny black stone, like the ones you find on the beach,” Hollie concluded. “But no one has told us what the jewel looks like, we know nothing about it!”
Hecate’s smile faded.
“That isn’t listening to others, that’s listening to ourselves,” Broudie sighed.
“You are close, it’s to do with what it looks like, but more like, what do you humans call it? Noun? Verb?”
Jay tried to think about what the verb was, it was one of those things he learnt in English. It was the doing word? The descriptive word…? He had no clue.
“The thing itself. We think the jewel is a jewel or a stone, but it’s not it’s something else,” Claire squealed.
“Correct Miss Hamer.” Hecate waved her hand and a flower sprung from within her hair. It had pink petals and a weird green and blue centre.
“How does that help us, Hecate?” Hollie asked.
“Well, that should hopefully help you put the pieces together. Does it?” she narrowed her eyes.
“Another clue?” Jordan smiled.
“Oh,” Hecate laughed, “you do make us laugh, obviously I would never go as far as Zeus’ dad, but you do have humour.”
“What is there to piece together?” Jay questioned.
“Frederick gave you a hint and I’ve given you loads, whether you pick up on them or not,” Hecate said.
“What did Frederick say that was a clue?” Broudie wondered.
“Wait, the gods imprisoned you here because they didn’t want you removing the monsters curses?”
“Yes.”
“So there isn’t a jewel here,” Hollie concluded.
“What?” Jay questioned, not understanding the code conversation.
“Well there is,” Hecate corrected.
“Yeah, but not a jewel jewel,” Hollie said.
“Wait, are you saying we came all this way to find a jewel, that isn’t even here?!” Broudie asked frustratingly.
“So we went to find Frederick, battled dracaenae, Panotii, amphisbaena, Cyclops, riddles, moving trees and blimming fire and water bombs, all that for nothing?” Jordan’s voice was full of anger and frustration.
“Guys, don’t you get it?” Hollie asked.
“No,” Claire replied sternly.
Then Jay had an idea. A stupid idea. No the jewel wouldn’t be, no he was probably wrong. Or was he?
“I think I get it,” Jay revealed.
“Get what? That this quest was a fake,” Broudie pondered.
“This quest was not a fake, it was a very important quest. The quest was for the jewel of Barthimia. You have found the jewel of Barthimia,” Hecate announced
“We haven’t found it! Please just someone explain what’s going on?” Claire said kindly.
“Oh you have, the jewel is here, right in front of you. She is speaking to you.” Hecate gave out another smile.
“Hecate…you’re the jewel of Barthimia?”
A/N (please read)
Hey there, long time no see. Firstly, thanks for conitnuing up to this chapter, im surprised you've made it, aha :D More importantly, I would really LOVE it if you could just post a comment below on this chapter. It's basically then end of the climax but there are plenty more mysteries to come. Just want to find out what you think? Did you suspect the jewel was something else? Did you know it was the lady Hecate before the questers found out and generally, overall, did you think it was a nice cliff hanger? Please comment what you thought, would LOVE to hear from you! THANKS!!!