Chapter 10

         When we landed in Dhaka, we found ourselves waste deep in rain water. Jessica shrieked and tried to climb higher on my back, which resulted in her falling off my back into the water. I had forgotten it was rainy season here. There were people walking along the streets pushing carts with whatever food they could find. I bent down and pulled Jessica to her feet; though she was still waste deep in water.

         "Sheesh," I said. "The water's not that bad. It's not like I asked you to bathe in the filthy and polluted Ganges River."

         "Sorry," Jessica said, "but now my dress is ruined. More polluted than this? Everything is floating by. Anyway, you're not Hindu are you?"

         "No, I'm not Hindu, but yes, the Ganges is extremely polluted. I'll get you a new dress if we survive this," I replied.

         "Jeez, it's roasting," Cari said.

         "We're in Bangladesh. You learned about it in geography class," Hearst said.

         "Can't we go somewhere else?" Portia asked. "Our clothes are ruined, I have a wedgy from the water, and I'm sweating like a pig."

         "What's a 'wedgy'?" I asked.

         "Never mind," Portia said.

         We scouted around the area to make sure it was free of Heinous Knights. The girls kept complaining throughout our journey in Bangladesh until we finally agreed to go somewhere else. I caught a glimpse of Demetrio's thoughts when the girls were complaining. It looked as if he thought about teleporting them across the Indian Ocean to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro to be rid of them.

         This was turning into a routine. We'd teleport to a new country in the early morning, scout the area, and find a hotel that hardly anyone came to, or one that was so popular that you couldn't go down a hall without seeing at least five people. We'd either mingle or stay distant. My brothers and I would rest up, while the girls would read or watch the foreign television channels even though they were in a language they didn't understand. We'd summon whatever food the girls wanted for meals and go to bed early so we could rise early and teleport to a new country.

         The girls weren't too scared; though it was obviously stressful for them. They wanted to take a tour around the countries we stayed in, but we couldn't. We hopped around to many different places, none of which bordered each other, and once we went there, we never came back to the same country. We knew we were going to run out of countries, but for the most part, we hoped to lose the Heinous Knights completely.

         We stayed in all of the European countries, most of the countries in the Middle East and those in Central America. We stayed in Asian countries, African countries and occasionally stopped in different parts of Oceania. Our adventures in the other countries weren't very interesting; though some were more fun than others. After so many countries, we were all feeling pretty exhausted. One day, while we were in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jessica asked me a question that I had asked myself throughout our journey.

         "Aden, you told me that the Elders remembered your father, Sergius. They said he was a good servant right? One of the best?" Jessica asked.

         "Yes, I quoted our conversation for you exactly."

         "Then why haven't they paid attention to you? Surely they realize that we're being pursued by Heinous Knights who want to kill us. Why won't they help us?"

         "Jessica, I really don't know the answer to that. I wish that I did know the answer, but I have nothing more than a hunch."

         "Well, what's that hunch."

         "Okay, I think that the Elders are too busy preparing for the next battle. We lost the last one and because we stood our ground and nearly died in the process, Vadrak sent his Heinous Knights out to kill us. He clearly believes that we are dangerous. The Elders have too much to think about. They can't concentrate on any particular group of us."

         "One more question. Do your kind have a name? You always say 'us' or 'our kind' but you never say what you are."

         "We don't really have a name."

         "Then you and I should come up with a name. I know. You remember that the hecatoncheires were the Hundred-handed ones from the Greek myths, right? So we can call you guys the Hundred-minded ones. You can be the hecapsycheires or something like that. Psyche is the mind part, heck the hundred part, and the heires is just part of the hecatoncheires."

         "Very funny, Jessica."

         "No, I mean it. It could be great, you guys can be the Hecapsycheires - the new generation."

         "Except for the part where we've been around for a lot longer than you have."

         "Okay then, you can be the Hecapsycheires - the hundred minded ones since that's what it means. Let's go tell your brothers, see what they think. Come on."

         I thought that Jessica's enthusiasm was a little over the top, but I didn't try to argue. It was late evening, and the girls were going to want dinner. We were in the lobby, and I called to my brothers and their girls. There was a room full of tables and chairs, so my brothers and I summoned dinner for the girls while we sat with them and talked about Jessica's idea for our new name. Terra, Cari, Rhonda, and Portia all loved the idea, but my brothers weren't as enthusiastic.

         "The hundred-minded ones? Why do you say we have a hundred minds?" Demetrio asked.

         "Because you're all very smart, and you know, it's kind of cute," Jessica replied.

         "Cute? That was not really our intent," Hearst said.

         "Oh, come on," Portia complained. "It's not that bad. In fact, it's not bad at all, it's great, and you should be glad that Jessica came up with it."

         Eventually the argument ended amicably and we agreed to tell a servant of the Elders about it.

         As the girls were finishing dinner, someone teleported to the head of our table. As soon as my brothers and I saw him, we shot to our feet and immediately dropped to our knees, and bowed respectfully. The Elders had told all of our kind, or the Hecapsycheires as Jessica would call us, that we were to respect the messenger as if he were the Elders themselves. If anyone didn't respect him as they were supposed to, the messenger had the power to banish them.

         The messenger's name was Panton which meant "everything". The Elders had given him that name because he was truly unique. He could bend all of the elements to his will.

         I had seen Panton practice this, and to be frank, he wasn't very good. However, when he wasn't on errands for the Elders he was ardent in his practice.

         There he was, standing in front of us, and that meant that the Elders had sent him to us. He only listens to the Elders orders, but he memorizes conversations that he has with those he is sent to meet.

         "Rise to your feet," Panton said in a low voice. "You are the five sons of Sergius, correct?"

         "Yes, my lord," we answered.

         "I am to inform you that the Heinous Knights who were pursuing you have been disposed of and have now returned to their mortal life in the mortal world. I am also supposed to report your response to the Elders. What say you?"

         "My lord, please tell the Elders that we are truly grateful for their sacrifice of time to dispose of our pursuers," Hearst said.

         Jessica nudged me, and I knew what she wanted me to say. I waited until Irvin finished expressing his gratefulness until I spoke.

         "My lord, I too am truly thankful for the kindness of the Elders. My friend here wishes to tell you something that she would like the Elders to know."

         "What is it?" Panton asked.

         "I have thought of another title for your kind and would hope that the Elders take it into consideration," Jessica started. "The name is Hecapsycheires based off of the hecatoncheires. The hecatoncheires were the hundred-handed ones in Greek Mythology, and you would be the Hecapsycheires, the hundred-minded ones."

         "I shall relay your messages," Panton said.

         With that, he disappeared and we were left alone.

         "Who was that?" the other girls asked.

         "That was the messenger of the Elders, Panton," I answered.

         "Now that the Heinous Knights are taken care of, we can actually take a real tour of Argentina, right?" Jessica asked.

         "Wouldn't you rather go home?" I asked.

         "No!" all the girls shouted.

         "Yeah," Portia started, "give us a tour. We already know that you guys have been to every country in the world."

         Eventually, my brothers and I gave in and agreed to give the girls a small tour of Buenos Aires. We visited the old Cabildo which was the first government building when Buenos Aires was founded. We also saw La Casa Rosada, the government house. We continued the tour and ended in the Plaza de Mayo.

         The girls ate lunch and the ten of us left the crowd and ducked into an alley so that we could teleport back to our house in Massachusetts.

         I teleported to the sitting room and let Jessica off my back. Instead of walking across the hall to her room, she hugged me around the waist and wouldn't let go.

         "Jessica, what are you doing?" I asked.

         "I'm savoring a moment."

         "What? Why?"

         "Because I'm just glad to be with you. I love you, Aden; nothing will ever change that even if you do have to leave me to go save the world."

         "I really thought I had begun to understand the average human, but I guess I was mistaken."

         "No you weren't, I'm just not the average human."

         "Why don't you let me go? You need your rest and I have things to do."

         "I don't need sleep and your tasks can wait. I want to spend the rest of my time with you."

         "Jessica, you're starting to scare me. This isn't you."

         "Yeah, I know, I just want to be the girl that you love. I don't know what I have to do to make you love me, but I haven't gotten it from you yet."

         "I thought I did love you. What makes you think that I don't?"

         "The fact that you're trying to pull away from me now, the fact that you haven't kissed me, well I kissed you, on the night that you told me the truth about the hecapsycheires, and even then, you scrambled away like a frightened monkey."

         "Look, Jessica, the definition of love is 'an intense feeling of deep affection'. I feel that way about you. I would protect you at any cost. I would do everything in my power to keep you with me as long as it were for the best."

         "What do you mean 'for the best'? Why would leaving me be 'for the best'?"

         "Because I'm scared of what is to come. I have a hunch and I really don't like it."

         "Why, what's going to happen?"

         "I can't tell you. You would only be upset or scared or both."

         "No I wouldn't. Not if you told me not to be."

         "No Jessica, I really don't want to think about it, much less talk about it."

         "Fine. Can I at least stay here?"

         "Why can't you? You're been holding onto me since we got back from Argentina."

         "Thank you, Aden. Listen, why don't we just stay together for the rest of our lives?"

         "Jessica, you don't understand. I'm going to live longer than you are. I can't."

         "Well, you can stay with me until I die."

         "No, I can't."

         "Why not?"

         "Because I don't think that I could sit around, looking young and healthy, as your heart and other vital organs start shutting down. I really want to be with you, but I don't have the power to keep you alive for as long as I live so that we can stay together."

         "I don't care, Aden, please, just keep me happy."

         "Jessica . . ."

         Jessica put her fingers to my lips to silence me.

         "Shh, Aden, I get it. You can't make me live forever, but can we at least spend our time together now? No distractions or anything?"

         "I don't know about the distractions part. You're pretty distracting."

         "Am I? Well, that won't be a problem, will it?"

         "I don't know, it might be."

         "Don't worry about it, Aden."

         "Jessica, stop."

         "What?"

         "I need to tell you something."

         "Can it wait?"

         "I suppose."

         "Fine, then let's do something together."

         "Okay, why don't you play some music for me?"

         "Oh, good."

         Jessica sat at the piano.

         We have many instruments in our sitting room: two pianos, several guitars, and woodwind instruments. We have two or three brass instruments and the usual complement of strings.

         Jessica asked for some music, so I gave her a couple of the songs that my brothers and I have written.

         "You wrote this?" Jessica asked.

         "Yeah, why?"

         "Because it's fancy. I've never seen anything like this. You could outstrip Mozart and Gershwin any day."

         "Jessica, it's not such a big deal, we've had instruments since we entered the human world."

         "Still, you guys are good. How about you summon me some music that I can actually play."

         "Okay, what would you like?"

         "What if you play me something instead. One of the songs you wrote."

         "Okay, what song would you like?"

         "Take your pick."

         "Okay."

         "What're you going to play?"

         "Not sure, I guess I'll just have to wing it. "

         "Fine with me. I know you're a good musician in all forms."

         "Thanks," I said and sat down to improvise.

         I played my way through a melody that come to mind as I thought about all the things that had recently come to pass. By the time I was done, my brothers had joined us with their girls. The five of us then took up instruments and started playing songs we had written as the girls danced. I learned that all five of them loved music, and I was pretty sure that I loved it too.

         I don't remember how long we played, but we finally went to bed exhausted. I didn't tell Jessica about my hunch. My brothers and I did have private meetings about our life which the girls were not part of. We all knew that it was only a matter of time until we were called to battle again. I feared we would be outnumbered and we would not be prepared for the battle in time. I knew my brothers and I all had a feeling that something very bad was going to happen at the final battle. We just didn't know what it would be.