"Fine, you got me," Ben said. "I'll tell you. J-just keep this between you and me, alright?"

"You have my word," Athena said.

As Athena said those words, I can't stop myself from angrily stomping towards Uncle Ben and stand in front of him.

"Really, Uncle Ben? More secrets?" I seethed. " I-I can't believe you!"

For a second, I was surprised that I could speak audibly, but that thought vanished when I stared at Ben who was looking nervously at Athena.

"I thought you said you'll tell me everything!" I continued ranting. "Well, you were going to tell me when we were at the museum but that's not the point! Even though you let me inside your head, you tried hiding your conversation with Athena to me earlier. What do have to say about it, huh?"

Ben straightened himself on his chair. He then gestured at the other chair beside him.

"Take a seat, Athena," he said, pushing the chair near her. "This may take a long while."

"Why aren't you answering me?!" I yelled. "Why are you ignoring me like. . . like I'm invisible. . ." I sighed, the realization hitting me hard. "Right. You're just a memory."

I slapped myself, mentally and physically, for my rash behavior. I walked past through them literally and stood beside my sleeping memory self while I resumed listened to Ben and Athena talk.

Athena didn't move from her position. "No, thank you. I prefer standing."

Ben cleared his throat. "Um, okay then. . . Where should I start?"

"You can start by telling me what you know about the talisman," Athena quipped. "Obviously."

"Well, the talisman was given by Amelia's fa—"

"I already know that," Athena interrupted. "Tell me something I don't know."

Man, Athena can be a bad cop if she could. A very, very mean one.

"That's just it," Ben said. "I don't know anything else."

Athena eyed Ben suspiciously. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" she asked again.

"Yes, Athena, I swear!" he said, nodding. "Dmitri couldn't tell me more because he was in a hurr—" He quickly shut his mouth.

"Why was he in a hurry?" Athena pressed. "Tell me!"

"I-I can't!"

"You can't or you won't?" Athena said. "There's a difference."

"I won't, okay?" Ben sighed. "It has nothing to do with the talisman, so why would I tell you?"

"It has something to do with it because you just mentioned it a while ago," Athena retorted. "Just tell me about it and get this over with."

Ben sighed again. "Fine. . ."

He was about to continue when I suddenly felt something strange. Something different. The ambiance of the place changed, but I don't know why. I looked around me, and the air around me felt. . . dead and cold, like a bitter winter. Shrugging off the odd feeling, I turned back to the conversation but gasped at the sight in front of me.

Ben and Athena froze from their places like statues. Ben's mouth was wide open while Athena's apathetic expression went still. Even the window curtains that were being blown by a breeze stopped midway in the air. Everything in the memory turned to black and white, just like before.

"No!" I walked towards Ben. "You were going to tell more about the necklace! Why did you stop?"

A mysterious voice whispered to my ear, its tone strangely familiar.

"What do you mea— Ahhh!"

A pair of long, black arms from outside the door held my legs and began pulling me out of the memory. I fell face first and I tried to hold onto the smooth floor but no to avail. I got near to one of the hospital bed's legs and reached for it, but my hands just passed through.

I stared at my hands in frustration. "Oh, come on!"

The shadowy arms dragged me even further, and I was now at the door. I held onto the wooden door frame with all my might. The arms got surprised from my resistance, their grips struggling. They tighten their grip on my ankles and started pulling me, this time harder. My hold on the door frame was slowly slipping.

As the arms continued tugging me like a rope, I glanced at the memory lane to see that it was gone.

The colored doors, the white-tiled floor. All gone. Only the door that I was holding to and the endless vacuum were only the things left.

What in the—

The arms, now camouflaged by the darkness, suddenly yanked me, making me lose my grip completely. I screamed as they pulled me along with them into the black nothingness.

I jerked up from my bed, panting heavily.

Ben, who was standing beside me earlier, was now on his knees on the floor, his head bent low. His body was shaking all over, and I could hear his hitched breathing.

"U-Uncle, are you. . . okay?" I dared to ask.

When he didn't respond but still kept trembling, I sat on the side of the bed and placed a hand on Ben's hunched back. He jerked up and he stared at me, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.

"I. . . saw y-you in my head. . ." he said, his voice raspy. I gave him a hand and he shakily stood up from the floor. I helped him sit down beside me on the bed.

"I-I'm sorry, Uncle Ben," I said. "I. . . I shouldn't have done that—"

"No, it wasn't you, Mel," he cut me off. "You were about to. . . know it, but I— don't know what I was thinking. . . I-I panicked and then, then I wanted you to get out. . ."

I gazed at him in disbelief. "You kicked me out of your mind on purpose?"

Regret was etched all across his face. "I don't know what got into me, Mel, I swear, but I was afraid that you. . . you were—"

"Going to know? Is that it?" I spat, my nostrils flaring. "I just watched you tell Athena not to tell anyone of whatever the heck my freaking necklace was, old man! I have to know why is it so important, but why are you making it so hard for me to know?"

"Because I had to!" he shouted, making me flinch back in surprise. He didn't shout at me before. "I had to protect you from the truth! You have no idea of what happened to your father when he gave that necklace to me just to give it to you!"

I got shocked at his confession for a split second, but my surprise faded when I started to feel something I've never felt for Ben before.

Anger. Hatred. Fury.

Even though he just said he was trying to protect me, I couldn't grasp the idea that he kept me in the dark, and after all these years, he was going to tell me something very important about my dad but he held back at the last second.

He. Held. Back.

I clenched my fists, my knuckles turning white.

"Fine!" I said. "If you don't tell me, I know someone who will."

I angrily stood up from the bed and stomped towards the door.

"No, Mel! Wait!" I heard Ben's shuffling footsteps behind me. "Come back!"

I ignored him and continued trudging along, exiting the room and walking across the hospital hallway. People looked at the two of us with odd looks, but I avoided their judging gazes and walked faster so Ben wouldn't catch up with me.

"Amelia Kingston! You better stop this instant or—"

"Or what?" I asked, stopping on my tracks. "What are you going to do about it? Ground me? You're not my father, and I'm not your daughter. So let's keep it that way, shall we?" I continued walking away before he got a chance to answer.

"Mel, please!" Ben pleaded, trailing a few feet behind me. "Just let me explain. . ."

"Shut up, old man! I won't listen!" I said while not looking at his face. "You had the whole 17 years of my life to explain everything to me, but you didn't utter a single word until now."

"You're right, Mel. I should have told you earlier than this." He sighed. "Let's just stop right here, right now and we'll talk something out."

"No."

"Mel, just give me a chance," Ben said, his tone tired.

"I said no!" I yelled. We were now at the hospital's parking lot, so nobody except Ben was there to hear me shout. "I've had it with you and your excuses! I already gave you a chance, a lot of chances in fact! But you wasted all of it! All of it!"

"But, Mel, I—"

"I had been patient with you, but no! You kept your mouth shut! If I only knew someone who also knew my dad well, but it's, like, he doesn't even exist and you're the only one who knows about him! And—"

"He was killed!" Ben blurted.

I froze. "What did you say?"

Ben exhaled. "He. . . he was murdered. I-I saw it in the local news, but. . . I was with him before he got. . ." His voice trailed off.

"Why? What happened before he was killed?"

"Mel. . . H-he died the day you were born. . ."

I gasped, taking a step back. "What?"

I suddenly feel lightheaded as Ben's words got registered in my mind, but I tried to compose myself, proving to Ben, but more to myself, that I can handle that terrible news. It already happened a long time ago, so why react now?

"As hard as it may sound, it's what really happened, Mel," Ben said, his tone somber. "As soon as you were born, and your mother Gabriela passed away, Dmitri and I escaped to keep you safe."

"But Why?" I asked.

Ben glanced around before he spoke. "Remember what we talked about in the museum?"

I nodded. "About Dad and his search for the Olympian Artifacts? Yeah, I remember. He was looking for them to donate them to museums, right?"

Ben shook his head. "No, Mel, he was searching for the Artifacts to keep them away from everyone else."

"But why?"

"Mel, people like those who attacked you and your friends in the museum would use the Artifacts for bad things," Ben replied. "That's why Dmitri made it his life's work to search and protect them, but sadly, he wasn't able to finish the job."

"Okay. . . but why would you and dad hide me away?" I asked. "And what does this have to do with my necklace?"

"Well, Dmitri knew that you were going to have abilities when you weren't even born. He also knew that his enemies would sense your power so he wanted to hide you, but like his search for the Artifacts, he failed."

"Wait! You knew about my powers before Athena even told you?"

He closed his eyes. "Well, yes and no. I didn't know how and when your powers would show. Dmitri didn't tell me how he got his in the first place, after all."

"H-He had powers too?"

He nodded. "And, unfortunately, so were his enemies. We were looking for a new place to stay at that time, but one of them saw you." Ben shuddered. "I could still remember her twisted smile when she laid her eyes on you. She. . . she was pure evil."

I tilted my head. "So this woman's name is. . ."

"Cybele," he supplied. "No one was sure who killed Dmitri, but I always knew it was her. Now I know the reason why Dmitri got separated from her." He paused. "Oh. . . you weren't supposed to know that, were you?"

My eyes bulged out of their sockets. "Dad and his worst enemy used to be married? But then. . . Just what the heck!"

"Uh. . . this is a bit awkward," Ben said, laughing nervously. "I'll explain, Mel."

"Oh, you better do, old man. I want answers!" I demanded, stomping my foot. "I deserve to know!"

"Alright, alright!" Ben raised his hands in surrender. "Before, um, Dmitri and Gabriela even met, he was married to Cybele. They were together for a couple of years until. . . something happened. Dmitri didn't tell me much, since it's, uh, too personal, but he said that he had to leave her to find the Artifacts. But I guessed it was more than that. . ."

"Did they have children?" I asked. When I heard my words, I felt my stomach hardening, a sense of dread overcoming me as I waited for Ben's answer.

Ben shook his head, much to my delight. "Their relationship together was a bit. . . forced, and they didn't have any mutual feelings for each other, so they didn't have any."

I mentally sighed in relief.

I don't know what got into me to ask Ben that question, but I felt that I had to know if I have a sibling, even if we didn't have the same mother. I don't know what to feel if I had a half-sibling somewhere in the world, but I think I would accept them even if their mother killed our dad.

I unclasped my necklace's lock and showed it to Ben. "Tell me about the necklace, or talisman, or whatever this is. What were you going to tell Athena about it?"

"Well, when Cybele saw us at the alley, Dmitri handed it over to me and told me to run. He also said to give it to you when the time is right. I never knew what he meant, but when you were about to go to Olympian High, I thought it was the right time to give it to you."

I gazed at the necklace on my hand, its oblong-shaped violet pendant filled with symbols gleaming against the sunlight. Its deep hue resonated through my soul, the purpose of its existence still a mystery to me.

I sighed, then wore back the necklace on my neck. "I have to go back to school."

"Okay, Mel, I'll take you—"

"No," I said. "I-I want to have time by myself to. . . think about everything you just said. It's difficult to process. . . the information. . ." My voice trailed off.

Ben nodded slowly, his features solemn. "I understand. Just let me take you to a bus to know that you're going away safely, okay?"

"Okay." I pulled him into an embrace, which got him by surprise. "Ben?"

"Yes?"

"I. . . I'm sorry about the bad things I said earlier," I told him. "The stuff I said weren't true, and I shouldn't have spilled them."

He patted my back. "No, Mel. You had the right to be mad at me. I should be the one apologizing for not telling you anything."

I closed my eyes to stop my tears from coming out. "I love you, Uncle Ben."

"I love you too, Amelia."