The Many Faces of Tully

Damon and Edmund march me down a wide, long hallway. Damon points to a hallway on the left.

“That’s the dining area. Don’t worry, it’s not all Chinese food. We have all sorts of food in there, so I’m sure there will be something you like. If not, you’re going to have to put it on the list,” he tells me. I nod at him.

“Here’s the garden,” Edmund says, pointing to a room on our right. I look in there and freeze. Inside this lush, green garden, with everything from trees to flowers to a pond, there are two men, sitting, facing each other, but not looking at one another. One looks Egyptian, and the other one is African American. They both look around thirty years old.

What made me freeze were the objects flying around the room. I watch as the Egyptian man raises up his arms and the water in the little pond rises up too. All of the water lifted out of the pond and forms into a ball in the air. He stretches his arms out wide and the water stretches with him. Is he controlling the water?!

Then the African American man raises up his hand, and a metal stake rises up with it. He flings his arm forward and the stake flies through the water above the other mans’ head and sticks into a tree that is behind him. I gasp.

Apparently they hear me because the Egyptian man’s eyes snap to mine, and then the water falls out of the air and onto his head. Edmund and Damon start laughing.

“What are you two doing bringing a woman down here?” the Egyptian man demands.

“Calm down Hutsi,” says Edmund. “This is Tully.” He points to me.

“A woman? Huh. Guess none of us saw that coming,” says the African American man in a deep voice. He walks towards me and holds out his hand. “Zazu, movement.” I grab his hand and shake it. He is at least 6’6”.

The Egyptian man puts his hands on his chest and then pulls them outwards slowly. I watch with wide eyes as all of the water pulls out of his shirt and floats into the air again. He makes the water fall back into the pond and walks up to me then and shakes my hand. He overwhelms me. He seems sturdy but wispy. Tame but wild. Strong but easily broke. He makes me uneasy.

“Tehuti-Usi. Tehuti, God of earth, sky, air, and sea. Usi means smoke. I control the elements. Everyone calls me Hutsi for short though.” He pronounced it like hut-see.

“Tully,” I say.

“We’ve been waiting for a long time for you. Better learn how to introduce yourself though,” Zazu says to me.

“I just did introduce myself?” I raise my eyebrows at him.

“You need to say your name, and then the meaning of it afterwards. The meaning of your name is what everyone cares about. The meaning is your power. Your power is who you really are. You do know the meaning of your name, right?” Zazu asks me.

“Tully, powerful people?” I say it like a question. It sounds weird.

“Better, though I don’t know what kind of power that is. I guess we will see,” Zazu says, sitting down again. Hutsi sits down with him and they begin moving things around again. Zazu lifts up an end table with his mind, and Hutsi makes a flower catch on fire. I want to stay and watch them, but the twins start dragging me forwards.

The next room we come to looks like a grocery store. There are cameras everywhere in it, but I don’t see anyone in there. Then I notice a man, roughly my age, facing the room, but he has his eyes closed. He has two fingers pressed to his temple and seems to be concentrating really hard on something.

“Mirage!” Damon shouts at him. The man jumps and the grocery store in front of us changes into a blank white room. One part of the grocery store remains though, and it’s in the shape of a man. Then all of a sudden it does turn into a man, and he is looking at us angrily.

“Don’t scare him like that when we are practicing!” he shouts at Damon. He looks like a surfer guy from California, all the way from the blonde hair to the golden tan. My chest squeezes painfully when I see a shark tooth hanging from his neck too.

“I didn’t even see you in there!” Edmund laughs.

“That’s the point. Why do you guys have a woman with you?” he asks, walking out of the room.

Edmund nudges me forward. Apparently I need to introduce myself from now on. “Uh, Tully. Powerful people.” I stick out my hand. He looks at me skeptically for a moment. “I know I’m a woman,” I tell him, anticipating what he was going to say.

He grabs my hand finally. “Haides, the unseen.”

The other man walks up then. “Mirage, illusion or fantasy,” he says in a French accent. “It’s a pleasure to meet you finally.” I smile and nod at him

“You can go back to practicing now. She has to meet the other guys and get her room,” Edmund says. Mirage nods and faces the room again. This time when he put his finger to his temple the room changes to a crowded restaurant. I watch Haides slip into the room and disappear completely.

I once again want to stay and watch, but I’m dragged forwards. I try to run through the people I’ve met, but I’m already forgetting stuff. I’m going to need to make a list when I get a chance.

The next room we encounter is different from the rest. There is a thick glass separating us from the two guys in the room, and there is a huge metal door sealed tightly shut. There is a counter sticking out beneath the window and it has a lot of machinery on it. Only one thing looks familiar and it’s a microphone, so you could talk to the people inside the room.

“You’re going to like this one.” Damon looks at me over his shoulder. I walk up next to him to get a better look.

A man’s back is turned to us and he is facing an Indian boy who looks around fifteen or sixteen years old. There is a table next to the man with guns, knives, spears, any weapon imaginable, on it. The boy has his hands in his pockets and he looks completely at ease, almost bored.

I watch in astonishment as the man reaches over to the table and picks up a large gun and points it at the boy. He’s not going to shoot him is he? Why are the twins smiling? They honestly don’t enjoy watching a boy get shot do they? I feel my heart starting to beat faster in my chest. Oh no.

And then the gun goes off. I can hear a faint popping noise and I see the empty shells fall to the floor. The boy is somehow, miraculously, still standing, but I can barely focus on that now. My heart is pounding and my breathing is picking up.

“Move out of the way!” I hear someone shout. I look to the noise and I’m barely shocked to see a Native American man flying towards us, carrying Calchas. I see the four other men look down the hallway after him as he flies towards us.

“Calchas,” Damon tries to say, but he blows past him. As soon as Calchas’ feet hit the ground he runs to the speaker box on the counter.

He presses the button and shouts into the speaker. “Gunther, get out here now!” The man firing the gun stops and looks towards the door, confused. “Get your ass out here now! It’s a matter of life and death! Don’t ask!” Calchas screams.

My ears are starting to ring. I’m trying my hardest to stay on my feet. My chest hurts so badly. The man finally starts walking towards the door.

“Run damn it!” Calchas yells. The man jogs to the door and I hear it hiss as it opens. Calchas grabs me by the scruff of my shirt and thrusts me into the room. I barely hear the door seal shut behind me.

I try to walk as far away from the door as possible, but I don’t make it far. I fall to my knees and hug my chest. I can feel them staring at me through the window. They should back up or the shattered glass is going to shred them. I wonder if the boy got out. I don’t know, I don’t care. The world is crashing in on me.

Everything goes silent again, and I don’t try to fight it. Whatever happens, happens, and I breathe out. It feels like every other time, and I’m suddenly terrified that the boy didn’t get out. I surely killed him if he didn’t.

I open my eyes and I see wavy black hair curling onto the floor. I hear the door open with a hiss and running feet. I look up and see Calchas running towards the Indian boy, who is lying on the floor with his eyes closed. He reaches forward and touches his neck to check for a pulse. He looks up at the men crowded in the doorway.

“Get Jace,” is all he says.