Chapter 20: The Hidden Path
Frank couldn't forget Athena.
Even after the strange events at her house, the pyramid, the crystal crown, and the way she fought like someone out of a legend—especially after that—he tried to move on. But the memories clung to him like perfume on an old shirt. Her laugh, her touch, the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't paying attention.
He avoided her at first. Blocked her number. Deleted her photos. Ghosted her across every platform. But it didn't work.
Some people you don't just forget.
After a few months of silence, he cracked. He answered her call.
The conversation was short, emotional, and strange. Athena sounded different—calmer, colder, like she wasn't just talking to an ex. She didn't ask why he left. Didn't demand an apology. She simply said:
"Come back, Frank. I can train you. You don't have to be lost. You don't have to be scared of who you're becoming."
He knew what she meant.
The dreams had started again. Dreams of vanishing and reappearing miles away. Dreams of people speaking without mouths, of thoughts screaming louder than voices. The world felt louder now—minds felt louder. Sometimes he'd say things people hadn't said yet. Sometimes he'd disappear during arguments, only to reappear in another room entirely, disoriented and sweating.
Frank agreed to meet her.
But the moment he did, he made a choice—one that hurt, but felt necessary.
He wouldn't tell Philip. Not now. Not ever.
They had made a pact to stick together, to train in secret, to stay off the radar. But this… this was something else. This was Athena offering answers. Control. Power. And Frank, for all his charm and sarcasm, was tired of being afraid of himself.
Athena picked him up late at night in a sleek black car she looked as good as he remembered, Her face had that rare symmetry that made people stare too long without realizing it. Her high cheekbones, full lips, and almond-shaped eyes gave her the appearance of a goddess in disguise—and in many ways, she was. Those eyes, usually a deep forest brown. No music, no words. Just the humming silence of purpose.
They drove out of Abuja, toward a fenced property on the outskirts—one of those government-looking compounds no one asked questions about. The guards barely looked at them before waving them through.
What lay beneath was something out of a science fiction movie.
A massive underground facility, cold and metallic, humming with energy. People in white coats and armored suits. Floating drones. Surveillance screens. Training arenas. It looked like a secret military base from a different world—and maybe it was.
"This is the Haven," Athena told him. "Where people like us learn who we really are."
Frank wasn't sure what he expected. But it wasn't this.
The first week was full of tests—mental, physical, elemental. They strapped him to machines, made him meditate under stress, fight in simulations, focus through blaring alarms.
And then the results came back.
Frank had awakened two gifts.
Telepathy and Teleportation.
Both rare. Together? Practically unheard of.
The trainers were stunned. Athena just smiled like she already knew.
The telepathy wasn't just surface-level either. Frank could read thoughts, yes—but he could push too. Suggest ideas. Plant doubts. Communicate silently over long distances. He wasn't just hearing minds—he could manipulate them.
Teleportation, though... that was trickier. It started with short hops. A few meters at a time, triggered by emotion. But with training, he began to control it. Visualize locations. Measure distances. Blend it with combat.
By the end of his second month, he could teleport across entire rooms with ease. A few weeks later, across entire buildings.
And he was still getting better.
He trained alongside others—new recruits, born with gifts or awakened by exposure to relics and ancient bloodlines. They learned about the twelve connected worlds, the Emperor's relics, and the prophecy of the one who would bridge realms.
Frank listened. Absorbed. Said nothing about what he'd seen with Philip. Said nothing about the crown. Nothing about the pyramid.
He didn't even know why he was keeping it secret anymore.
Maybe part of him still didn't trust Athena's family. Maybe part of him did.