Barcode: Legend of Apollo (12 page)

“No.” I say, “no.” I repeat the word, but it’s too late. He’s holding Shiva.

I watch my dreams fade as he pulls it from the web.

Suddenly, an electric current flows from Shiva to Kode. He is shocked, repeatedly, as if the weapon had encountered an enemy.

Laughingly I banter, “You must have a pure heart and mind. You can’t contain her.”

Words echo in my head,
And you can?

Before I know it, Kode is throwing the blade towards me.

I hold Shiva proudly in my right hand. With confidence, I look toward Angie to boast. Her spiritual men were wrong, and Talib was right. That’s what I want Angie to admit, but she doesn’t. Instead, there’s a fearful expression in her eyes. Hannah’s crying. What’s their problem?

There’s something wrong.

Shiva’s on the ground and my shoulder’s been dislocated. Somehow I’ve been electrocuted without noticing. The sharp sparks she spat cut through my armor. I’m bleeding.

Dropping to my knees, not in pain, but from pure shock, I watch as Kode slowly approaches. Behind me, I feel something move. Looking over my shoulders, I see what caused me to trip seconds before I initially noticed Shiva.

There are two women stacked on each other. Their clothes are beaten and torn. I’m unable to see their faces through the dense white fog, but I believe they’re classmates.

Turning to Kode, I notice something strange about his mask; it’s chipped and appears to be healing itself. Did Kode kill our classmates for trying to take Shiva?

As Kode reaches towards me, I see blood dangling from his fingers. I shuffle back towards the girls, at once wishing I could shield them, while also hoping they’ll protect me. I’m pitiful.

My dislocated shoulder aches more with every movement. I gaze toward the threat, knowing I don’t have the luxury to dwell on the pain.

To my dismay, he doesn’t pursue me. Instead, Kode reaches for the blade again.

I’m beginning to wonder if his obsession with Shiva stems from a psychopathic addiction to pain, or if he’s simply a moth drawn to the light. One excruciating rejection from the trishula and I’ve already lost all hope for my destiny. Kode doesn’t seem to understand that when a woman says no, she means it.

The tuning intensifies.

Hearing the fearsome sound of lighting outside a window scares me enough. Yet, watching the destructive bolts omitting from Shiva rip past my boots and crush the ground under my feet makes me lose my cool enough to scream. The blade is creating electricity and thunderous sounds that can’t be explained by science.

The current becomes lifelike, with a murderous intent. Kode barely manages to hold the trishula by its blades as lightning parades across his body.

The blades slice his palm and blood oozes down the weapon, contaminating its sanctity. The fluid mutates into a thick black substance before it has the chance to touch the floor and the trishula changes hues, matching the demonic color. Kode’s blood hovers over the ground before Shiva withdraws and absorbs it.

As the thunderous sound and electrical discharge reach a level of insanity, I close my eyes and prepare for the worst. Yet, a silence steals the melody in the air. I’m dead. I know it.

I feel Hannah kick me. We couldn’t have entered Hades all at once.

Opening my eyes, I confirm my miserable existence and watch Kode fight to catch his breath. He stands, staring at his hands.

Where did Shiva go?

Rising, my eyes search the entire area uncontrollably. Kode’s hands are covered by gloves that weren’t there before. Once he turns his hands around, I see a green symbol of the trishula imprinted on the back of his palm.

A pressure weighs heavily on my heart. Within minutes, I lost the only thing ever promised to me. I’m a failure.

The women are still huddled together, shivering. Angie’s covering Hannah’s mouth, trying to stop her from squealing. Calmly, she says, “Do not speak directly to Tartarus. It’s a curse.”

My world suddenly turns black, or one of them does. As my data enters a spiritual zone, my body continues watching the remainder of my life unfolding.  A part of me observes Kode as he drags two students’ limp bodies away from us. The other half sees the moment Shiva consumes his hands. I’ve never witnessed something so chilling or evil.

The air surrounding me thickens and the voice echoing in my head returns.

It looks like she chose me.
My vision turns hazy.
Now, it’s your turn.

I watch Kode punch the ground. An abrupt rupture quakes our environment. My armor stabilizes me long enough to see the ceiling fall to pieces. I shout at the girls, and we retreat towards where we entered. Kode calmly walks in the opposite direction dragging the dead bodies by their wrists.

Once the dust settles, the ladies are rendered unconscious and my head leaks blood down my neck. A fog blinds me. The substance clouding my vision permeates into my data.

I don’t want my eyes to give in to the darkness, but I’m so tired. I lack the energy to argue with my desire to close my eyes. Instead of finding a valid excuse, I scream. I don’t stop until I’m finally standing on my feet.

With some of my sight restored, I detect a gold light in my peripheral vision. The glow resembles the original shine of Shiva.

My body scrambles to the gravel. Unable to move the rocks with just one arm, I strike a stone in frustration. My armor quickly shifts near my shoulder pads and I hear a snap. I grit my teeth and breathe heavily, trying to ignore the immeasurable pain. Leo’s marvelous technology has popped my dislocated arm back into place and tightened around my scars to seal the bleeding.

With both hands now functioning, I search through the rubble near the golden object. I must find something to dig us out.

Surprisingly, I uncover a bright golden chain. More rocks fall, revealing an entire arsenal of weapons that must belong to the gods. Some are golden and others are covered in a black sticky material like the goo Leo found.

Destroy the wall to save them.

I continue pulling on the links until I reach two more chains tangled with three balls. Their sizes vary, with the smallest ball being the heaviest

When I drop them, other weapons fall to my feet, but the chains begin rattling and my tattoos react on their own.

The last time I saw my barcodes in a mirror, before they were wrapped under the ceremonial bandages, they would glow a reddish-orange color. Now, I watch as my entire body shines gold and the chains crawl inside of my tattoos.

The suit’s spine protection molds around the chains as I wail in pain.

Once the process ends, I take time to catch my breath. I’m holding all three long golden chains with my back acting as a reel.

I struggle at first to swing the large ball and chain in a circle, but I sum up the strength to launch it at the cave’s wall. The rocks, unable to stand the force, turn to dust.

As the smoke clears, I fall to my knees. My grandad stares with a bewildered expression. Before my vision turns black, a single thought crosses my mind.
Why is Kode standing next to Casey?

Thirteen

I’m drifting on top of a dirty ocean. With the nasty color of the waves, I can assume I’m in Long Beach. Still, I’m lucky to rank myself amongst the living after seeing lightning bolts and ceilings crashing. I let myself drift for far too long before looking around my surroundings.

Struggling to keep my head above the surface of the water, I begin treading my arms and legs, though the waves are overpowering me. At a distance, I can see the shore. I swim with all my might, but my body is too tired and I feel myself being dragged under.

I dip below the water while trying desperately to get my friends’ attention. They’re too busy fighting Monte on the sand to notice me. I can only watch helplessly as he starts killing them, one-by-one.

Full of anger, my tattoos glow brightly. The entire sea illuminates.

My chains emerge from my back. With their weight and the heavy tides, I acknowledge the inevitable. I take a deep breath as I’m slowly pulled below the surface of the sea. When I look down, I notice that one of my chains has the heaviest ball attached.

Though I fight the resistance, I’m too fatigued and oxygen deprived to struggle any longer. I reach the bottom, fearfully awaiting my death.

My vision becomes cloudy again. Death undresses and kisses me slowly.

I see the Helm of Tartarus walking towards me. Kode’s dreadlocks madly dance in the deep blue, and an agonizing fear swims across my skin as my nightmare approaches.

In his hand, Kode holds Shiva at the end of a staff illuminating a black aura.

Tartarus falls from Kode’s face and drifts my way, tauntingly. It threatens to end my story before it even begins. 
I’m starting to care.
 I’ve yet to leave a mark on the world like my forefathers, all because of my inability to define my own destiny. 
Why am I here?

As the seconds trickle on, and I find no answers, my eyes focus less on my future and more on the present. I fight to identify the demon on the other end of Tartarus. I can only make out a green gaze like the eyes of creatures at night.

Kode ends my suffering by throwing the spear across the ocean floor. I watch as it nearly stabs my heart. The last bit of air leaves my lungs, and I accept fate.

Instead of experiencing an excruciating death, I awake screaming inside a hospital pool. The walls threaten to squeeze me between them.

I don’t want to die.

Nurses rush into the room and silver chains shoot from my tattoos, ripping more holes in the armor. The women scream and hide in corners.

Casey storms through the door. I feel an uncontrollable fury and depression building inside, clouding my perception between reality and distressing nightmares.

My armor rages along with me. It emanates a turbulent red and I feel it transmuting to better suit my needs. The shoulder pads thicken and a reptilian spine hardens down my back. It manifests three circles that allow my chains to exit easily from my tattoo. The armor becomes more lightweight. My spinal strain has been alleviated, and though I can’t see my feet under the pool, I sense small spikes digging into the ground.

Like my old armor, my arms are more exposed and the material near my boots strengthens. Finally, my chest plate tightens and hardens right behind the Moreno emblem.

“Spencer!”

Snapping out of my trance, I look up to see my grandad wearing a more concerned expression than I’ve ever seen on his face. He sees something in or on me that I sense as well, but it seems to dishearten him.

Maybe it’s the evil grin on my face.

I feel a darkness in my heart that’s more soothing than anything I’ve ever felt before. It’s like power coursing through my veins.

As the energy leaves me, I feel an increasing amount of humiliation, anger, and sorrow. I want that darkness back. At the same time, I don’t want to see that expression on Casey again.

After retracting my chains, I do my best to walk, but I don’t yet have the strength. My grandad jumps into the pool to assist me. We walk past the trembling nurses and stand in the air dryer a moment. Then, Casey assists me to the elevator.

Once I feel strong enough, I begin staggering on my own. Without a word, he takes me to the cafeteria. Grandad piles a day’s worth of food on my tray. I devour every crumb without restraint.

“Better than you thought hospital food could be, huh?”

“Why am I so hungry?”

“You were in the hospital for over twenty-four hours. I was beginning to think it was more serious than they said.”

“Twenty-four hours?”

“Well, yesterday afternoon you were in the dungeon and today you missed your classes.”

Looking outside of the cafeteria windows, I see sunlight. It had felt as if only a few minutes had passed.

My face flushes red.

My friends must know the situation. I’ve needed assistance from battlefield nurses before, but help from the physical hospital shames a great warrior like me.

Quickly, I pull my phone from the pouch. There are over forty text messages from various friends. Half are from Hayley, but the rest are pleas from others to call as soon as possible.

I consider slamming my head on the table, ashamed of my weakness, but I simply stare at my grandad. The look on his face says he understands my grief.

Within a few days, I went from the school hero that saved everyone from Professor Gonzales’ class, to the only student that couldn’t survive in the dungeon. After finally doing something right, I’m back to being the same ole failure.

“Grand— I mean Casey, where is my weapon?”

“You mean the chains? I think they’ve already bonded with your barcode. That’s pretty impressive if you ask me.”

“No, the golden balls that were at the end.”

“Hmm. I don’t remember you having those.”

“I knocked the wall down with them!”

“Oh. That’s right. They’re in a safe place.”

“Did you leave them in the dungeon?”

“No. We tried to carry them up to the classroom, but it was a bit difficult. When Monte activated his barcodes, he was able to get the large and medium ones. He was pretty tired after that.”

“So what happened?”

“We got Arnold to carry the last one. He made us leave before even trying. I’ve been meaning to ask if he knew what weapons they were. Anyway, funny part is, I peeked on him while he carried it up the stairs. He had to use his barcodes as well.”

“Wait. You don’t know what the weapon is called?”

“No one in the school does. You found a whole heap of them, and we couldn’t move any but yours. After the earthquake, most of the dungeon was blocked off, but the area you found makes up for the other weapons we’ve lost.”

Casey seems excited about the find, and continues talking about repairing the dungeon and wondering if any new weapons will ever appear now that the roads are blocked. Then, he looks at me and says, “Do you remember what happened?”

“Why do you ask?”

“The girls were hurt, but nothing a cold slap of water to the face couldn’t handle.” Casey clears his throat and gestures at my gear. “Your right arm was pretty nasty, and your head was bleeding. It seemed as though you’d gotten into a fight.”