I had the coin clenched in my fist and a thousand questions trapped in my head as I walked. But I did not know what to wish for. My boot kicked something, and the sound distracted me for a moment. I bent and picked it up. It was a cigarette lighter, probably an expensive one, with an ornate silver casing. There was not a soul in the street. Whoever lost it was long gone. I did not smoke, I was going to leave it behind, but my hand slipped it into my satchel as my conscience whispered ‘take what the world gives you, don’t turn anything away.’
And at last I stood at the fountain.
I walked all the way around, admiring it from all sides.
I wanted quite badly to stick my hands into the water, just to feel the water. But I stood back, facing east and watching as the first spark of light lit the sky.
Without a thought or a word, without even a will of my own, I tossed the coin into the fountain. And when I realized what I’d done, I hung my head. Then I turned away, my chance was gone.
“You didn’t make a wish,” said a soft voice behind me.
I spun. There upon the ledge of the fountain sat a woman, delicate and beautiful, a Nymph as surely as my eyes saw her. She had long golden hair and wore a sparkling jewel upon her finger.
“Have you a voice? I can do many things, but read the minds of men is not one,” she teased.
“I don’t know what to wish for. I am seeking the one who saved me, but I don’t know how to find her. I wish I could see her. I wish she would come back to me.”
She looked down at the coin in her hand. “I am Kira. I have seen this coin before. I know who gave it to you, Sebastien Parodi,” she said as she slid from the wall and stood before me. She placed her hand on my chest and pressed the coin back into my own hand.
“Can you tell me how to find her?”
“What gift will you give me?”
“Tell me what I can offer that you would accept.”
“Would you give me your heart?” she asked with a tilt of her head and a sly smile.
“I’m sorry, I don’t have that to offer.”
She laughed a sound like falling water.
My heart raced.
“You carry a jewel like a star from the heavens captured on a chain. Will you offer it to me?”
I slipped the coin into my pocket and took the necklace from my neck. She held up her golden hair as I fastened it around her slender neck, then she took the jewel between her long fingers and danced about.
“Call her, Sebastien.”
“How? I don’t even know her name.”
Kira stopped in her tracks. “But she chose you. And the song said... You do know the song, your father sang it every time he set sail.”
“I know the song, but I don’t know what it means.”
She looked at me for a long moment. “The sons of Mars spoke truth. You must seek Oren Gale. It was his promise that laid this path before you. He will be able to teach you what you must know, what she thought you already knew. But to fulfill the promise, you must light the fire on the Kalends of the New Year, you must open the gate between the worlds on that day in the place where the seas meet.”
“But the New Year has already passed. I don’t...”
“Has it? Did your guides celebrate with you?” she teased.
Okay, so I was obviously ignorant when it came to all elements of my Italian heritage. She was clearly telling me that I needed to look at a different calendar, but another question just snuck out. “She chose me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I think she would have to tell you that. I must go now, Sebastien, the gate is nearly closed. For my part, I think she chose well.”
Before I could say a word, she was gone.
UNDICI:
I walked.
And I walked.
Six hours passed me by as I walked along the river, making my way to Ostia, and still it was only half past one in the afternoon.
I stopped to eat and firm up my will to continue.
The house was not hard to find, but it seemed ridiculous to walk up to this man’s door, tell him I was seeking a nymph and ask if he could he please explain this song he recorded thirty years ago that everyone seemed to expect me to know.
It was definitely ridiculous.
But I’d come this far and I still didn’t even know her name.
~ ~
I rang the bell and waited nervously. Oren Gale was going to think I was certifiably insane standing at his door with a story about Gods and Nymphs and the strange fate that was calling me to return to the sea. The only things the clues had in common were this singer and a song that I didn’t understand any of the words it was made of, but clearly was supposed to know. And instead of just trying to contact him online like a normal psychopath that he could ignore, I was standing at his front door.
I should have turned and run before I had to explain what the hell I was doing there.
Only, I needed to find her, the one who saved me, the one with a voice like music and eyes like the sea. The only one my heart loved.
And as I stood thinking of her, the door opened and a young woman perhaps Adrienne’s age looked at me in something like awe, with her mouth agape and eyes as wide as she could make them. She was as beautiful as a fairytale princess and just her being there made me feel like I had slipped into a dream.
Her first words were in Italian. I thought they were an invocation of some God, but though I was getting better at understanding the spoken words, I still couldn’t speak them myself.
I looked at her blankly.
“No Italian?”
I shook my head.
“English?”
“Yes, English is fine.”
And she started over with the same enthusiasm as when she’d first opened the door. “It’s you! It’s really you! They called, they told me you were coming, but I did not expect it to be so quickly!”
“What? Me? You were expecting me? How can that be? Who called? Wait. Is this the home of Mr. Oren Gale? Should I know you? I...”
“My father called. Let me look at you,” she said as she moved around me, looking at me from the back and the sides. I felt my cheeks get hot from the attention. But she was quite like Adri, she talked and talked but did not answer my questions.
“Look at you! Oh it is no wonder she is always seeking you, Sebastien!”
“How do you know my name? I’m sorry, I did not have time to get a haircut. Who is seeking me?”
“Haircut! No! No, you should not cut it. It is perfect just as it is. Dia will be so happy that you have come. I can’t wait to tell Papa.”
“So, Mr. Gale is not here? I wished to speak with him, but I can come back another...”
“No! You can’t go. You must stay. You must!” she pleaded as she took my hand and drew me into the house. “My parents will be back tomorrow, but you must stay and wait for them.”
“Whoa, um, can we start over? I think I missed something important and I am already out of sort these days. My name is Sebastien Parodi and I was hoping to speak to Mr. Oren Gale about a song he wrote.”
She stood patiently watching me, arms folded across her chest. Then she lifted her hand and tapped her chin with her pointer finger as though she were making decisions about me in her mind.
I stood there awkwardly waiting for her to say something.
“Oh! Sorry, that was my cue, was it not? I am Calandra Gale, everyone calls me Cala. Oren Gale is my father. Welcome to our home, Sebastien. You have pretty eyes. I can’t believe you are really here, this is so fantastic! My parents are going to be so happy to meet you. So you came to ask him about the song? It’s ironic, isn’t it?”
“What’s ironic?”
“Well, you’re Italian.”
“Yes...”
“And he wrote the song in Italian because you were supposed to be Italian, but you don’t speak Italian.”
??
?I’m half French. Perhaps this is all a big mistake...”
“No, no, no! This is no mistake! My father doesn’t speak any French, stick with English. He’s American you know. He can speak some German and some Japanese. He stayed in Italy because of my mother. You probably know that.”
“Know what?”
“Know about my mother.”
“Again, this is probably a big mistake. I should just go.”
“You don’t know?” she asked cautiously.
“Evidently, I don’t know anything,” I sighed. “I bought a strand of beads for my cousin for Christmas. They looked like the sea. I miss the sea. I miss my old life. I miss knowing who I am.”
“I know who you are.”
“How?”
“Look at me, Sebastien. What do you see?”
“I see a very beautiful woman. I see someone who has always been loved.”
She smiled, but tears ran down her cheeks. “That breaks my heart to hear. You have always been loved too, you just didn’t know where to look. Come sit with me, let me tell you a story because you are talking to someone who should not exist,” she said as she sat on a fine leather sofa and drew me down beside her. “My brother Evan and I, we are impossible people.”
“Why? What does that mean?”
“My mother is Cybilla, she’s a muse. My father called her to his dreams quite by accident with a beautiful piece of music and that music bound them because music is not confined in time. Music is eternal. But he declared his love and set out to bring her back from the immortal realm, to give her a real life with love and family. He sought out the Nymphs, they sent him to a God. That god sent him to the Oracle. She sent him to the one other man who succeeded in such a task and from there he had to meet the Mother Goddess herself. He had to give up things he treasured and he also made a promise that if he lived, he would sing a song that would find that love for another who helped him three times along his path. That is why we expected you, that is why I am so glad to see you. The song was meant for you.”
“But why me?”
“Because she loves you.”
“She has eyes like the sea. She saved my life but I don’t even know her name.”
“You don’t? But she must have told you. And it’s written in the song.”
“My memories of the day she saved me are very few. I only saw her for a moment, just her eyes really. She begged me to wake up and to forgive her,” I started.
“And you don’t speak Italian, so the song didn’t tell you what you needed to know,” she finished.
I nodded. “Are you immortal?”
“No!” Cala laughed. “But I am the granddaughter of the God Mercury and his wife, Lady Carmenta, Oracle of The Mother Goddess. Evander, founder of Pallantium before she was Rome is my uncle. I am not a descent of their line, they are my actual grandparents and my mother’s brother. I am also granddaughter to Joseph and Caroline Gale from Palo Alto, California. Do you see how it seems like madness? And yet, here I am. There are things in this world that simply can’t be explained. Don’t try. Enjoy that there is still magic and mystery.”
“But there is nothing about my life that is magical. I was orphaned as a teenager and all I knew of life ended.”
Cala sat staring at me for a long moment. “Oh,” she sighed. “Oh, that makes sense.”
“What does?”
“Well, many things, I guess. Why you left the Sea. Why she wanted you to forgive her. Why she thought you were never coming back for her.”
“I don’t understand.”
“It was a boat accident, was it not? She was obviously only able to save one person. I think she must have thought that you blamed her for what happened.”
“But I had never even seen her. I didn’t even know the nymphs really existed. I thought it was just a story, a superstition that my father believed. I was on a beach far from where the boat would have been and I had no memory of how I got there, no memory of being in the water at all. And I thought she was just a dream until twelve days ago when my cousin gave me a gift and told me I needed to remember who I was so I could be happy again.”
“Were both of your parents on the boat?”
“No, my mother died in a train wreck when I was ten.”
“Oh my goodness, Sebastien! I am so sorry.”
“How do I find her, Cala?”
She looked very sad for a moment. “You should speak to my father.”
“There is something you aren’t telling me. Please, please tell me. I already don’t know if I have abandoned my sanity. I sailed to Italy on the same boat your father took from Toulon to Civitavecchia. I walked with the twin sons of Mars. I watched them wrestle with wolves while their mother told me to unlock my heart. This morning I spoke to a Nymph named Kira, who like everyone else knows something I don’t know about this journey of mine and all I want is to look at her again. Kira said I could call out to her, but I don’t even know her name.”
“It’s Dia. Her name is Dia.”
“And what will happen if I call out to her?”
“I don’t know, Sebastien. All I know was that my father could call out to my mother and she would come to him, mainly in his dreams, but once he declared his intention to start his quest, she was lost to him until he completed his task. You have also already set out to find her. You’re already walking on the border between the two worlds. I know this is not the same as my father’s quest, but I don’t know if she can come to you.”
“But I can complete the task and call her to this world?”
“I wish I could answer that. Come now, don’t be sad. You have come very far in a very short time! You must be hungry and tired. Those things I can fix! And in the morning my father will help you. He will. I promise you.”
DODICI:
The night was temperate considering the time of year, but I lay in comfortable bed in a well appointed guest room shivering.
‘Oh, Papa, what am I doing?’ I asked the emptiness. ‘Did you ever see her? All those times you sang the song, did you ever see the Nymphs? I feel so lost, so alone. I don’t know if I am chasing a dream or if I am going to wake up still on that beach after the storm. Can you just give me sign? Something? Anything?’
I don’t know what I expected. I don’t know what I would have considered a sign. But I slipped into sleep and found myself in what might have been a memory of that last trip.
The wind was blowing, but the afternoon was warm.
“Papa, do you think a storm is coming?”
“Yes, but the sky is clear to the north, it is a good way behind us. This wind will push us along ahead of the front,” he said as he ruffled my hair, then he leaned over the rail and took up the last mooring line. He was already humming that song as we began to make our way out of the port but as soon as we hit the open water his voice filled the day.
Why didn’t I appreciate the sound of it when it was right there with me?
I was preoccupied readying the sails. The afternoon sun felt good on my face. I was happy that day. I was truly happy. I remember standing at the rail watching the wind play with the waves and whistling the song my father was singing. My hair was whipping around my face, the sound of the whistling was nearly lost to the song of the wind, but suddenly my father stood beside me.
“Look there, Bastien. Look at them dance!
And I caught just a glimpse of them, three of them out among the waves...
~ ~
There was a knock upon the door at the exact moment that I would have liked to remain in the dream.
“Sebastien? Are you awake? They have just arrived home, I thought you might be eager to speak to them.”
I pulled open the door as I buttoned my shirt. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”
Cala tilted her head to the side and looked at me the same way she had the day before, tapping her chin with her pointer finger.
“What is it?”
/>
“You are a handsome one. So, half French you say?” she asked with a grin.
I felt my cheeks get hot. “Yes. Half French.”
“Perhaps a trip is in my future!” she laughed. “Come down to breakfast, I set a place for you,” she finished as she walked away.
She was so much like Adrienne, sweet and demanding at once, and yet they both saw different halves of me. Adri saw me as Italian, Calandra saw me as French. I wondered what Dia saw that morning, so long ago.
I walked into their kitchen and they all greeted me like I was part of their family.
And what a family it was.
Calandra was a beautiful girl of perhaps twenty.
Her mother, Cybilla, was equally beautiful and looked perhaps thirty, and in no way old enough to have grown children. And I guessed that ones who came from the immortal realm simply aged differently.
But the most shocking was Oren Gale. He had to be in his middle fifties at the very least, he’d recorded the song nearly thirty years ago. And yet he looked no older than his wife.
Impossible people.
That was what Calandra called them.
But they welcomed me with open arms and more warmth than my uncle had ever shown me. We sat around that table and they told me a love story that could never be matched and would likely never be repeated. It was because of that story that they expected me, and I began to understand the significance of some of the objects I carried. Oren Gale had to seek the only other ever to succeed, and that man expected him just as he expected me. And he admitted that he had begun to fear that I would never come.
“Daddy, he didn’t even know her name,” Cala said sadly.
Oren Gale sighed. “I should have stuck with English. I should have written the song in English.”
“No! That would have ruined everything,” I said.
They all looked at me.
“My father didn’t speak English. He spoke Italian and French. The song would have had no meaning to him. I never would have heard it at all if it had been in English.”
Cybilla began to laugh. “Oh, she is a tricky one, isn’t she?”
Oren nodded.
Cala and I looked from them to each other and back.
“The Mother has made the song as much a test as the quest itself. You see, Sebastien, I had know with all my heart what I wanted and I did know. There was nothing I would not give to reach her,” he said slipping his hand over his wife’s hand. And I did it. I found my gate, I called her to me, but that was not the end. The Mother tested Cybilla as well to be sure her commitment to me was as strong as mine to her. The Mother said that if I kept my word to Dia, my song would lead you to her. Dia chose you. But The Mother will not release one of the Eternal Daughters to just any man. Just as I could not simply throw my coin into the fountain and wish for Cybilla, you had to learn why the song was important, even thought it is in a language you don’t speak. You must be fully committed to this and know with all your heart that Dia is the one you love. You must also find the place that Dia can enter the world. It is there that you will have to play the song. You do have the flute, don’t you? She has given you the means to open the gate, hasn’t she?”