Lesson 5 Part 1

Theme and symbolism story

Jonas channeled his chi through his hands, and into that space where he held them out in front of him, a spark flashed. It flashed again, and on the third flash it ignited into a fireball. In the deepening twilight he fed that fireball and it continued to grow, lighting up his gaunt features. The light reflected in his eyes like tiny coins, of which it seemed he could never get enough.

"Are you sure about this Jonas? Every time we do this, they respond a little bit faster, get to the vaults a little bit sooner. Maybe we should back off this one, just this once. Don't you think it'd be nice to take a break, then find a new city to start hitting?"

"Baby, quit being such a worrywart. We had this conversation last night. If the score is big enough, it'll be the last." He gave me that smile of his that always melts my heart, but tonight it seemed different. Illuminated only by the fireball in his hands, the smile lent his face the look of a cadaver fresh from the grave. It wasn't cold yet, but I still suppressed a shudder.

"You said that we'd quit last time. And the time before that. And the time-"

"Baby, all right! I get it. It's just that these recent scores haven't been big enough. After this job here we'll be done, I promise. We'll take ourselves a nice little boat and jet off to Mexico for some fun in the sun. Sound good baby?"

"You mean it Jonas? After this we'll be done?"

"Whether or not we get enough tonight, we'll at least take a break. You and me baby doll. By this time next week, we'll be relaxing on a beach with Mojitos. OK, I've almost got this hot enough. Are you ready?"

I focused my chi, and after a moment a series of sparks danced between across my left hand from fingertip to finger tip, and I held it there on the edge of my thumb. He thought I was dumb enough to believe he'd ever be done. He had that hunger in him, always for another score. Something more, something bigger was always on the horizon. But he loved me, and that was enough for me. Think about those Mojitos we'll have together. Do this job for Jonas and those Mojitos. I gave him a nod.

With a wink he turned away from me, time to get down to business. With a flourish he didn't need to do, he flung his fireball into the lock of the door in front of us, and superheated the metal. The cold steel turned white and little rivulets flowed down like a torrent. The lock on the door was no more, and we were inside.

The alarm panel on the wall began to beep, my turn to act. It was a simple matter to pry the casing off with a screwdriver. I went to the next tool in my vest and stripped a wire, then tapped my sparking thumb to it. The red diode flashed once more, then winked out into darkness. The green light of the alarm system stared at me, and all was well. Or was it? It seemed a little darker than the green diodes of Plouton Security Systems usually were.

"Baby, c'mon! Let's get this job done with!"

No, I must have just stared into Jonas's fireball too long. I hurried to catch up. I turned the corner of the hall and there he was, already plunging a pair of fireballs into the great vault door.

"Jonas, wasn't the vault supposed to be farther in?" I couldn't shake a bad feeling that something was wrong.

"The plans the city has on file have been wrong before. Don't worry about it babe. Means we're just that much closer to our treasure." A pair of clicks echoed from within the giant circular door. "See baby? Nothing to it. Let's get the booty and be out of here!"

The inside of the vault was darker than night itself. "Jonas, shouldn't there be lights in the vault?"

"There should, but that doesn't mean there always will. Make some sparks to light the way baby, I don't want to catch any of the money on fire."

Electricity sprang to life on the ends of each of my hands, dancing across my palms and knuckles. It didn't penetrate far into the vault, but for Jonas I went in and illuminated the treasure. Safe deposit boxes lined the left wall, and he began melting the locks on the bottom row. There was a dais in the center of the room, and something glittered from atop it. A coin? And not a particularly valuable looking coin either. Inspecting it in my hand it seemed like one of those fun-house arcade tokens.

"Ugh, this can't be!"

"What's wrong?" Jonas had half a dozen boxes on the ground, and each of them was empty.

"There's nothing here!"

"But there is now." boomed a voice from outside the door of the vault. Floodlights clicked on, blinding me with the suddenness of their intensity. Something heavy clanged, and when I had blinked the spots out of my vision there was a gate barring the vault door we had entered by. Two men and a woman stood on the other side of it.

"Do you think that bars can hold us in?" Jonas asked, grabbing hold of two of them. The black metal around his hands instantly turned orange.

"No." replied the broad shouldered man in the middle. "But they don't need to hold you long Jonas. Just long enough."

His female companion lifted a voluminous violet sleeve and pointed at Jonas. He let out a grunt, and his hands fell from the bars. After a moment more he fell back onto the tile with a thump, a dart protruding from his chest.

"Wha- What are you going to do with us?" I couldn't keep the quiver from my voice.

"Well now, that depends on you Amy."

"How do you know our names?"

"We've been watching you both for some time now. You've pulled the rug out from under a few too many titans, and that brought my team here. By the way, we could have captured you more than a week ago, except for one thing."

"Whats that?"

"You... have some unique talents. We could have a place for you Amy."

"What do you mean?"

"Electricity is a rare element to control. Sure, technology can do some great things. But to be able to control power without fancy wiring? That's something. If you're willing to learn, become a part of my team, we can prevent the authorities from knowing about your involvement in the thefts of this past month."

"What about Jonas?"

"Someone has to be held up as an example for the fat cats that hired me. According to our surveillance, he isn't someone that could join my team. Too much risk from someone like him for too little gain. You- you're different though. You have potential to be great. This life of thievery isn't for you. So what do you say? Join Jonas in prison, or join me, and make something of yourself?"

"I-I don't know, this is a lot to take in."

"You can go with the big guy next to me and he'll take you and Jonas to Rhadamanthus, or you can pay the first toll and give me that coin. Either way, there's no Mexico in your future. Though there's still the possibility of Mojitos. We're not cruel, and we do like to cut loose once in a while."

The funny looking coin. I gazed at the shiny metal in my hand, and there was the big guy's face inscribed on one side. He looked bored standing there beside his leader, though his face on the coin was etched in an angry scowl. Below his face was the word Thanatos. Is that his name? The reverse of the coin had a youth with a cheeky grin and long hair holding up a goblet. The name Dios was below this figure.

I looked to the body laying on the floor. Though I love Jonas, I know he will never change. I know it in my heart, through and through. Maybe by joining these people I can atone for some of the things we've done. No, the things I've done to stay with him. "It seems I really only have one choice after all. I'll come with you. Here's your coin, um, what do I call you?"

The gate clanked and rose away from the floor, though there had been no discernible movement from any of the three that stood in front of me. "For now, call me Charon. And welcome to our merry little band, Amy."