The sun’s final breath pours through occasional windows, setting the inside of the abandoned building alight with red and orange. As we progress down three flights, then finally a fourth, we pass into the basement and out of the light entirely. In the dark, I’m forced to rely on Olin’s sixth sense to guide our progress.
I say, “Enough with the games. Where are we going?”
Centavo ignores me. At the base of the stairs, he slaps his bare foot on the stone floor. The faintest flicker of green flame ripples outward. Suddenly the stones beneath him fall away. Olin and I freeze, still a few steps shy of the basement floor.
Centavo floats in the air long enough to answer my earlier question. “We’re going down.” Then he drops out of sight.
I descend to the last step and peer over the edge. “There’s no bottom.”
Olin joins me. “He wants us to follow.”
“Xoxochueyi, did you hear what I said? This thing could be a hundred meters deep.” As soon as I finish, the sound of stones striking the bottom echoes upward. I step away, shaking my head. “No way I’m going down there.”
“I can do this, trust me.” Olin reaches for my hands.
“Do what? Fly?”
“More like slow falling.”
“And you’ve been practicing this when?”
“Stop thinking so much.” He stomps his foot. “I want to see what’s down there. Don’t you?”
The floor trembles beneath me. “Olin, you’re acting as if you’ve nothing left to live for. I won’t let you throw everything away just because of me.”
He takes my hands. “I could say the same for you.”
“It’s not the same, and you know it.” I pull him away from the gaping hole. “There’s nothing you can say that will—”
“He knew our parents,” Olin interrupts.
“Xoxochueyi.” I swear and close my eyes. Sensing my hesitation, Olin swoops the two of us through the opening. My stomach rises into my throat. I try to scream. Nothing escapes except a shrill squeak. For an impossibly long second I’m limp with terror. Then a blue light fills the darkness. Olin’s skin warms to the touch, and I strengthen my grip. Our descent slows. “It’s working.”
Olin trembles in response.
With a stomach-lurching reverse in momentum, we stop centimeters from the bottom. I pull away from my brother and drop onto contact with the cave floor. “You did it.”
Olin shakes his head, breathing heavy. “No, not me. I couldn’t—”
“It was a noble first try.” Centavo steps out of shadow and illuminates the space around us with a green light. “The best I’ve seen.”
“Wait, this was some sort of test?” My wobbly legs strengthen with anger.
Centavo nods. “In the academy no one will bother catching you. Fly or die they call it.”
“You’re saying this is an academy test?” I step forward. “So as a consolation we’ve been enrolled into Centavo’s school of the underground?”
“I wanna know how he did it.” Olin pulls me back. “I saw the air just before…like it came alive.”
“Indeed, you’re ahead of the curve.” Centavo grins. “This way.”
Olin takes my hand. I shrug. The only other option is to stand at the bottom of a pit doing nothing. As annoyed as I am with the old man, I’m still hopeful he can do something to ensure Olin’s future.
We progress slowly through a living cavern deep beneath the surface of New Teo. In places, the ceiling rises beyond the reach of Centavo’s green glow. The only manmade additions are a series of support columns every fifty meters.
After passing the first few stone columns, I’m impressed with their construction—precision mitered joints without mortar of any sort. We continue past a dozen before stopping next to one. It looks like all the rest until the old man points out a design carved into the rock.
Ancient and worn, I don’t recognize it.
Olin gazes toward the ceiling. “You mean, these are the supports for the wall surrounding the Shadows?”
I stare back and forth between my brother and the old man.
Even Centavo seems slightly surprised. “How did you—”
Olin says, “The insignia. It’s the same as the one marking the queen’s realm.”
The green light emanating from Centavo intensifies. “How have you come to know this?”
Olin and I exchange glances. I’m sure my brother recognizes my mischievous smile. I’ve been curious to find out more about Centavo’s connection to the queen. There’s no way I’m letting the opportunity pass. “Yetic gave us a tour this morning. It turns out there’s a backdoor to the Shadows. But I suppose you already knew that.”
Centavo uncharacteristically swears. “That impertinent little weasel.”
I attack the fissure in the old man’s typically cool demeanor. “Hey, I’ve been called lots of things—”
“Not you. Yetic.”
“Oh, him. Yeah, he mentioned a tiff between the two of you.”
Centavo straightens. “Yes, well we both know how to play games, don’t we, Calli Bluehair.” A heaviness settles in my soul with the mention of my stolen identity—the blue-black braid Huatiani took as his dying act. “But we have much to do before my departure, and this,” Centavo points at the insignia, “is only the beginning. Look closely.”
I catch the mention of Centavo’s leaving but find myself indifferent to the matter. While I hope to learn more about my parents, I don’t trust the old man. I trace the carving with my fingers, relying on my sense of touch as much as sight.
Its lines are organic, curvilinear, like leaves and branches. Slowly I construct the finer details into a mental image. “I have seen this, or a version of it, in my mother’s notes.” I focus on Centavo’s glowing face. “What does it mean?”
“Your parents were explorers. That was the reason they waited so long to have children, and why they only had the two of you. Restricted by the daily ID burn, they scoured every nook and cranny within a day’s round trip of New Teo. They found this place before I knew them. After I gained their trust, they showed it to me. I had hoped to gain yours before showing it to you.”
I snort at the thought, then wish I hadn’t.
“Yes, well it may be a long night.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”
“Indeed?” Centavo raises a brow.
“Fine, we both know I don’t trust you.” I breathe deeply, taking Olin’s hand. “But my brother and I are alive in part due to you. And you knew my parents. I would very much like to hear more about them.”
Centavo nods. “As I was saying, your parents showed me this place years before you were born. Its discovery changed my path.”
“Why? I still don’t understand what it means.”
“Dissension. Dichotomy. Human existence has depended on these things since the beginning. New Teo is no exception. This is proof.” He points at the carving.
I look at Olin. He grimaces and shakes his head. Neither of us have a clue.
Centavo intensifies his gaze. “The word ometeotl, do you know what it means?”
“Lord of duality?” I say.
“Yes, but duality of what?”
“Heaven and earth?” Olin offers.
Centavo waits for more.
I say, “Bone and spirit, flesh and mind.” All my life I’ve dreamt of what it must be like to bridge the gap between the two. “Ometeotl live in the space between.”
“Indeed they do.” Centavo jabs at the carving. “This duality is universal, existing since the beginning of time. Certainly since the beginning of New Teotihuacan. But its control has become one-sided.”
“You lost me at…” I struggle to understand anything the old man has just said and come up empty, “…at the beginning.”
Centavo chuckles, lightening his mood for the first time since appearing on the roof. “As it should be.” He pauses, his palm on the stone column and his head bowed. Finally, he returns in the direction we came. “All you need to remember at this point is that your parents rediscovered the counter balance.”
Olin and I rush to keep up.
“As I said, there is much to be done before my departure. If you are willing, we will start with replacing your official records in preparation for registration to Masa Academy.”
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