Splitting a Soul~Chapter 20

“Listen kids, there is no such thing as the Gateway Arch Publishing Company,” an old guy behind a desk said. He was only half paying attention to us as he read his book. I didn’t know what book it was, but it had some kid climbing out of some arctic water with a golden eagle.

We arrived at St. Louis with plenty of time, so we started looking around. Getting Aisling out of the car has really hard on the other hand. I ended up going to a gift shop and buying a big floppy hat and a pair of sunglasses with what was left of my money. Kimi had also given Aisling her coat to block out any other sunlight.

The first thing we did when we got to the city was start asking about the Gateway Arch Publishing Company and where it was located. The most common answer we got was that it didn’t exist or someone would think they know where it was, but ended up just getting us lost. All out of options, we decided to try are luck at the actual Gateway Arch. This was when we met possibly the most lazy guard in history.

“It has to be here,” Kimi pleaded. “Is there like some basement level we can see?”

“The basement level is for the historic tour, now please just go to your parents or whatever,” he complained. This guy was almost as unhelpful as the guard for Olympus.

“Athena wouldn’t be happy if you held up our quest,” I said without really thinking. However this did manage to at least get his attention as one of his eyes slipped out from behind the book and look us over.

“Don’t know any Athena,” he shot back. “Now go home.”

“I think you do,” Jack said, quickly catching on. “Goddess of wisdom and I think she is a war goddess as well.”

“Plus we’re trying to save her grand-daughter here,” Kimi said, reaching her arm around Aisling and pulling her close. Aisling on the other hand was half asleep. She looked up at the guard and his eyes almost fell out of his head. He then looked around before turning back to us.

“Alright, so let’s say there is a certain something in the basement. Do you all have the proper identification?” he asked.

“I’ve got a driver’s license,” Jack said as he pulled out his wallet. The guard examined it before turning it away.

“Easily faked,” he said.

“I’ve got my Camp Half-Blood rewards card,” I Kimi said, pulling it out of her pocket.

“There isn’t even a picture of you on it,” the guard explained.

“Do you have anything Ash,” Kimi asked. I reached into my pocket and pulled out anything I could find. My wallet was pretty much empty and my pockets were as well. The only thing I found was a library card.

“Wait, let me see that,” the guard said, pointing to my hand. I handed him the card and he looked over it carefully. “Fine, you may pass. Take this card over to the elevators and swipe it in the open slot. Have a good day.”

“That was easy,” Jack commented as we walked to the elevator. There was a long line of tourists and Jack became impatient almost instantly. He started tapping his foot or playing with the rope that marked the walkway. At one point he made a shooting motion with his finger and I watched as a tourist’s water bottle froze instantly.

“Dude, cut that out,” I whispered to him. He just kind of rolled his eyes and started cracking his knuckles.

“Next,” a man at the elevator said.

“That’s us,” Kimi rejoiced and we all climbed into the small elevator.

It wasn’t a normal elevator; it seemed more like the kind you would see in an amusement park. Because the arch was curved, the elevators didn’t go up or down so they had to be small so they could turn. The elevator looked more like an egg or something, with seats going around the shape of the walls.

“Do you have the card?” Kimi asked and I scrambled to pull it from my pocket. I slipped it into a slot right under the controls and the lights in the elevator began to turn gold. I felt the elevator move slowly and it felt like we were going down in a curved direction, as if there was another arch underground. Being trapped in an elevator with teenagers that all have ADHD wasn’t fun either. Five minutes felt like an hour as the elevator slowly rocked its way to the bottom of the arch. Just when I thought it would never end, there was a loud Ding and the doors slid open.

“Finally!” Aisling called, slipping out of her coat, hat, and sunglasses and rushed out into the darkness of what looked like a cave. She seemed to come to life in the darkness, as outside it was hard enough just to get her to stand. We all followed her out until we found our way to a guard rail that overlooked a large room.

“Would you look at that,” Aisling said, looking down over the rail. We all looked over and words couldn’t begin to describe it.

>Below us was thousands and thousands of books being printed page by page. They seemed to be on large conveyer belts that seems to go underground forever. Also unlike the owls that had aided in the library, foxes could be seen running along the floor with books in their mouths packing up boxes. Larger foxes the size of bears would then pick up the boxes and carry them out of the room to who knows where. The elevator door closed behind us and I turned around. I looked up and did see part of an upside-down arch going up into the ceiling of the cave.

“What are you children doing here?” came the shaky voice of an old man. I turned and watched him struggle as he climbed up the stairs with his cane. Once he reached the top, I could see that he really was old, maybe even ancient. His had was completely bald unless you count the strands of hair coming out of his ears and nose. He also had on a pair of glasses that made his eyes look ten-times bigger than they probably were. His clothes looked like the stereotypical old-person wardrobe, with a button down shirt and a plaid sweater vest overtop. The guy honestly looked like he had escaped from a retirement home. “Children aren’t allowed down here.”

“Hey, I’m almost sixteen!” Aisling protested, pointing her finger at him.

“He didn’t mean it,” Kimi said, trying to hold Aisling back from the old guy.

“You’re only fifteen?” Jack joked, which only served to make her angrier.

“Anyway,” I said loudly, which seemed to get everyone’s attention. I then turned to the old guy. “We are looking for something called the Gate of Themis. We read a book about it that was published at this location.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but the gate isn’t here,” the old man said. Aisling and Kimi were visibly upset and Jack just let out an upset sigh. “At least not yet anyway.”

“Come again?” Aisling asked, perking up a bit.

“Well as you know, the gate only appears on a night of a full moon,” the old man explained.

“Didn’t know that, but good to know,” Jack commented. “So when is the next full moon?”

“Tonight,” I told him.

“That is correct,” the old guy said. “Just head down that hallway over there and it will be the last door on your left.”

“That sounds surprisingly easy,” Jack said before walking over to the hallway.

“Yes, getting there is quite easy,” the old man said as he started walking down the stairs again. “Just watch out for the Gate Keeper.”

“Gate Keeper?” Kimi asked and the old man turned around to look at her.

“Yes, the Gate Keeper. He guards the gate from those that would use it. Anyway, have a nice day,” the old man said as he left us. “And don’t challenge him to combat.”

“And that sounds surprisingly ominous,” Aisling said in regards to Jack’s comment.

“Better get moving,” I said. “We only have about an hour until the sun sets and the moon comes out.”

It was a good thing we got here early, as the hallway the man had pointed us down seemed almost endless. Even with Aisling’s night vision, she couldn’t even see the end of the hallway. It wasn’t even like there were a lot of turns either as it appeared to be just a straight pathway. Plus the entire time speakers were blaring the Apollo Poetry Hour, which must be a metaphor for something because it was definitely longer than an hour.

“This is taking forever!” Jack complained. “And that stupid poetry is driving me crazy!”

“Do you have a faster way?” I asked him.

“As a matter of fact…” Jack began and pulled out his staff. “You guys might want to hold on to something.”

“Jack, what are you…” I began, but was cut off when Jack hit the ground with his staff and the floor froze, causing me to slip and fall right on my butt. Jack then pointed his spear forward and it felt like a just of wind filled the hallway.

“Don’t worry, it will be fun!” he shouted over the wind that seemed to be picking up speed. I felt the wind at my back and before I knew it, I felt myself being pushed across the ice. The same thing appeared to be happening to Aisling and Kimi, who appeared to be having a hard time keeping their footing. “Hang on!”

Just then the wind intensified and I found myself sliding uncontrollably down the hallway. Jack slipped out front of us and kept his staff pointed to the ground as he created more and more ice in front of us. It was like some kind of high powered slip-and-slide, except with ice instead of water. Even at the rate we were going, there was still no end in sight. We had been going for what seemed like an hour before Aisling saw something.

“I see a light!” Aisling cheered happily. “Now stop this ice slide before I throw up!”

“I agree,” Kimi announced. The wind died down and we slowed down on the ice until the ice turned to carpet. “So how much farther?”

“It is just up ahead,” Aisling almost jumped as she made a mad dash down the hall. “Come on guys, it is right there. Just a few more steps and…you have got to be kidding me.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, but I knew as soon as I reached the end of the hall. We were right back to where he had started in that room that overlooked the publishing company.

“Back already?” the old man said. “Normally people will go insane by the time they make it back here.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us it was right there?!” Jack yelled at the old guy.

“Don’t blame us,” came another voice. Another old man walked up the stairs and stood next to the one waiting for us. They looked like identical twins as they stood right next to each other. Then there was a flash of light and I was forced to close my eyes. When the light faded, in place of the two older men stood a doorman with two heads, one looking left and the other right. “Protecting gateways is our business. That was simply a test the Gate of Themis uses to protect itself.”

“Yes, it won’t let just anyone use its power,” the right head continued.

“But maybe it will let you,” the left head said. The both eyes seemed to roll over to me, or at least as best they could.

“A touch choice will await you,” the right head of Janus said.

“I don’t think you will survive,” the left said with a smile and a laugh to go along with it.

“I’m getting tired of this two-faced annoyance!” Aisling yelled, scratching her head with her nails in frustration. “We’ve already wasted enough time. Let’s just get going.”

“Don’t say we didn’t warn you,” both heads said in unison as we walked off.

“Those idiots don’t know anything,” Aisling yelled. “All they ever do is cause problems for everyone they meet.”

Aisling walked over to the hallway and opened the last door on the left. The door opened with a creek and Aisling walked right in. We all followed behind her and into another hallway. I thought about what Janus had said and wondered what that choice would be. I didn’t have much time to think about it before we found ourselves at a rail line with several mining cars in a row.

“Cool!” Jack said excitedly. “We’re going to get to that gate Indiana Jones style.”

“You’ve been watching too many movies,” I said, but we all jumped into rail cars.