The Special People

Chapter 19

“You might want to sit down,” he said.

“What’s this about?” said Kyle.

“First off, in the heat of it all, I never got any of your names,” said Dutch.

“I’m Kristen White. This is Wilson Cale and Kyle and Kora Ludwig,” said Kristen.

“Well, I wish it was under better circumstances, but it is nice to meet you all. My name is Dutch Goodman, in case you didn’t get it already. I wanted to talk about something that happened to the four of you in the temple,” said Dutch

“Yeah, I was struck by lightning. What was that?” said Kyle.

“You were marked. All of you were,” said Dutch

“Marked?” asked Kyle.

“By the oracle stone,” said Dutch

“But I didn’t touch it,” said Kristen.

“Neither did I,” said Kyle.

They looked at Kora and Wilson.

“I did. I fell against it,” said Wilson. “I felt a jolt of electricity shoot through me. I didn’t know anyone else got hit with it.”

“What I saw—and I am sure Isaac saw it too, judging by the way he reacted,” said Dutch, “—is it went through you, Wilson, then jumped to Kora, then Kristen, then you, Kyle. The oracle stone is only supposed to react when it comes into contact with a member of the Teteo Analoya.”

“You think we are the Teteo Analoya?” Kristen asked, looking incredulous.

“Do you have a better explanation?” Dutch countered calmly.

She stared at Dutch, at a complete loss for words at the absurdity of such a suggestion. She glanced at Wilson, who looked just as confused as she did.

“Right,” Kyle scoffed, shaking his head. “We are the special task force of superheroes that was foretold of five hundred years ago by some nutjob witch doctor and are destined to fight the reincarnated demon king.”

“Yes,” said Dutch without missing a beat.

“Wait, how do you even know about the Teteo Analoya to begin with?” asked Kristen.

“I work for a special branch of the government that specializes in top-secret weapon design,” said Dutch. “But more than that, I have reason to believe that I am a descendant of the Momaquixtia.”

“You’re a little big for a Nahua,” said Kristen.

“I’m a bit of a mutt,” he said with a half-smile. “Because so much of what I do is classified, obtaining my position required me to submit to a DNA test to trace my lineage. The government wanted to make sure I wasn’t a recent descendant from any enemy nations. Within the last decade, we’ve discovered long-term terrorist sleeper cells with no traceable connection to any known terrorist organizations. These people have children in America and raise them as good American citizens without a flaw in their past, making it possible for these kids, once they grew up, to pass any standard background check system and infiltrate top government agencies.

“Once we discovered this happening, many top-secret agencies, including the one I work for, began tracing DNA heritage instead of just standard background checks. When I got my results back, I passed, of course, but I discovered that a small line is from Nahua or Aztec descent. This I found to be really curious as I had no knowledge of any relatives from that part of the world. So I did some digging, and the more I found out, the more intrigued I was. That particular ancestral line came from a small native tribe in Arizona that was absorbed into the Navajo nation. There was very little information on that tribe other than that they came from the Grand Canyon, and there was a terrible war that nearly caused their extinction.

“That’s when I found out about your dig. Thanks to my curiosity about my mysterious genealogy, I kept an eye on your progress, and when three archaeologists were discovered dead in the treasury room of the temple shortly afterward, it seemed like fate that their deaths would be caused by the very thing I specialize in—unique and powerful weapons. I immediately alerted my superiors, and we were able to confiscate the two swords for research purposes. We established a headquarters here in this building, and ever since then, we have tried to learn all we can about these weapons—where they come from, how they were made, what they do. You get the idea.”

“If your organization is so secretive, why are you telling us?” asked Kyle.

“I contacted my superiors while you were in the break room and explained what was going on, who you were, and what I wanted to communicate to you. They’re skeptical, but they didn’t specifically forbid me from divulging this to you,” answered Dutch.

“I knew the government was more involved than you made yourselves out to be,” said Kristen.

“The point is I know about the oracle stone, and I know what it does. It reveals the Teteo Analoya upon their touch. You four also fit the physical description—two men and two women, all tall with light skin and hair, not to mention the obvious similarities between Wilson and Isaac . How else would you explain it?” said Dutch.

Wilson, Kristen, Kyle, and Kora exchanged glances, all clearly hoping someone would come up with some sort of logical explanation that didn’t involve putting their future on the line over an ancient legend.

“Okay, let’s suspend reality for a minute and pretend that this is actually possible,” said Kristen, “because, well, Wilson and Isaac do look freakishly alike—sorry, Wilson, but you do—and obviously Isaac is real. So assuming the rest of the story is real—” She paused, shaking her head. “Geez, I can’t believe I’m actually going along with this. That would make Wilson Huitecoya since he’s the doppelganger. Kyle is Tlepitzalo. Kora is taller than me, so she’s Yeyecame Atl. And that would make me Chimalli.”

Kora’s head snapped up at the mention of her name, and for the first time since entering the room, her attention was riveted on the conversation. Kristen met Wilson’s eyes; instead of disagreeing with her, he was actually nodding his head.

“This is crazy, but I think you’re right,” responded Wilson.

“What?” Kristen spluttered.

Kyle looked like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out but a strangled cough.

“Something definitely happened when I touched that stone,” Wilson explained. “I mean more than being inexplicably struck by lightning inside a stone building. It felt—I don’t know how to describe it. I . . . changed, became something . . . more. And when I looked into Isaac ’s eyes, it confirmed it. He looked at me differently than he looked at the other people he’d attacked. I mean I know we have the same face, and that’s weird enough on its own, but he really recognized me, if that makes sense.”

“Think about it,” Dutch said. “I did a little digging. It would be a gross understatement to say you are all unusually talented and have above-average intelligence. The three of you”—he gestured to Wilson, Kyle, and Kristen, “—are unusually young for college professors.

“You’re all very accomplished in your respective fields, including Kora—outstanding in the performing arts, dozens of awards and commendations, guest performer since you could walk, and are currently attending the college on a full-ride scholarship. Kristen, you graduated high school at age fourteen with the highest marks in the school’s history, finished your PhD in archaeology a year ahead of schedule, and you were the valedictorian—twice. Kyle has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, finished his PhD in physics with a 4.0 GPA, and has had several papers published in notable journals. Wilson has a master’s degree in secondary education, a master’s in botany, a master’s in mammalogy, and finished his PhD in evolutionary biology with 120 percent of the required credits without even breaking a sweat, according to his professors.”

“A little digging?” asked Kyle.

“I dig fast,” explained Dutch.

“Is this really happening?” Kristen asked quietly. “I mean, is it possible that the legend is actually real?”

Kyle snorted. “You can’t be serious. This is nuts.”

“I know, but do you have a better explanation?” asked Kristen.

“So we are the Teo-ana-liona-yoyo—”

“Teteo Analoya,” she corrected automatically.

“Yeah, that. And his name is Wheaties?”

Wilson tried to stifle a laugh. “Something like that.”

“Huitecoya, the leader of the Analoya,” said Kristen.

“And I’m Tele-pet-zal-what?”

“Tlepitzalo. Kora is Yeyecame Atl, and I’m Chimalli.”

Kora spoke up for the first time, fresh tears welling up in her eyes. “That name, Yeye . . . ?”

“Yeyecame Atl,” said Kristen.

“Yeah . . . that’s what he called me . . . before—” Her voice broke, and she covered her face with her hands.

“So why is he our leader?” asked Kyle, gesturing toward Wilson with a hint of resentment in his voice.

“That’s what the prophecy says,” said Dutch. “He’s the doppelganger.”

“Wow, you guys are really buying all this? Listen to yourselves! The prophecy? What makes him qualified to lead us? If there even is an us.” He turned to Wilson. “No offense.”

“None taken. You know, he’s got a point.” said Wilson. “Besides, I thought it said that we would have powers to match Isaac ’s. If I am Huitecoya, shouldn’t I have power over lightning?” He froze in thought for a moment. “I guess there was the mark. Still, that was one time, and it wasn’t even me, it was the stone. I don’t have lightning powers.”