Zoe Thanatos(44)

“You were able to transport with Evan,” Eva whispered. It was as if the conclusions were dawning on her one at a time.

“That was Evan!” All she had done was pass out.

“I couldn’t figure out why your name was so familiar to me. Thanatos. That’s the name of the original family.”

“The original what?” She didn’t like the sound of that, nor the tone in her voice.

Eva placed the glass box next to her and turned to face Zoe. “The first ruling monarchy of Terra. Of course! That’s why the book was stolen!”

“What does that have to do with me?”

“The woman who stole it claimed it told a different version of how the Stratons came into the Crown.”

Zoe felt the hysteria rising in her veins. “Who are the Stratons?”

“She claimed her name was Thea. Look!” Eva cried, pointing to the name near the bottom of the tree. “This has to be you!” Her finger moved to Zoe’s name. “This is your family. Thea is your mother.”

“No. I can’t be from another universe!” Zoe scoffed incredulously. There had to be some enormous misunderstanding.

“Why not? Because it isn’t possible?” Eva asked incredulously.

“No! Because I think I would know if was from another planet!” she laughed. “Just because you are doesn’t mean that am too.”

Eva looked at her pointedly. “Then where’s your family?” Zoe’s mouth opened and shut. “You do have one?”

“Of course I do!”

“Where are they? Tell me about them!” she demanded.

Zoe stood and walked away from the couch, stopping in the middle of the expansive living room. Of course she had a family. She had to have come from somewhere and that somewhere was Santa Barbara, the very place she’d lived her entire life. She tried to picture the faces of her family but could remember none. Places and events were accounted for, but the people were missing.

“You don’t have any family, do you? At least not here.”

Zoe turned and looked back at Eva. She tried to find something, anything to say but could do nothing more than stare with her mouth open. Eva picked up the box and scrolls of paper and handed them back to her.

“These are pages from a book belonging in the Royal Anthology. How could you have possibly come upon these by accident?”

“I don’t know!”

“Think about it, Zoe! A woman claiming to be Thea from the original family - the Thanatos family - risked her life to steal a historical book from the Queen, a book that chronicles the founding monarchy of Terra. These scrolls are from Terra and they happen to be hiding in your house here in Gaia? How many people do you think have the name Zoe Thanatos?”

“Eva, I…”

“Zoe,” Eva whispered. She took the glass box and papers from her again and set them down on a chair. She took Zoe’s hands in her own and squeezed them gently. “How many coincidences is it going to take for you to realize that you are from Terra? What other explanation could there be?”

Zoe shook her head. “If any of it is true then I’m not the person I thought I was. How does someone live for 25 years without knowing their true identity?”

“I don’t know, but you can find out. I’ll help you.”

Zoe looked up into Eva’s blue eyes and saw a little bit of Evan in her face. She trusted him once, hadn’t she? Who was to say she couldn’t also trust his sister? How could she not draw the lines between coincidences? Her name was written on a piece of ancient-looking paper that supposedly came from a book in another universe. The glass container she found the paper in was identical to the Communicator both Eva and Evan had used. On top of it all, she had no recollection of any Earth family. Surely there must have been someone? Who had raised her? Who had bought the house she lived in; earned the money she lived off of?

What were the odds that she had lived a lifetime in one universe and then randomly met someone from the universe she came from? Was everything, even sitting next to Evan on the boat to Santa Cruz Island, nothing more than a string of coincidences?

This was her fresh start, wasn’t it? She hadn’t ended her life like planned and was trying to fill it with something meaningful. Perhaps Terra would reveal all the answers to her. If it truly was her home, didn’t she owe it to herself to know for sure? And to the woman who was possibly her mother?

“Okay,” she sighed. “I’ll go.”





Chapter 13: Two Sets of Gates



“So how exactly is this going to work?” Zoe placed the glass box in a small carrier with the rest of her belongings and tightened the strap around her shoulder. Initially Eva protested, saying she wouldn’t need to bring anything from Earth, but Zoe insisted. If she came back and needed to get home by herself, she would need money and identification to do so. Eva may have thought it was unnecessary, but it made Zoe feel safe.