"But you have money, Carlos," Pearl said, sounding much improved. "Didn't Father Pat come to you, yet? You've been so angry that maybe his spirit couldn't get through?"
Carlos came closer and squatted down: He motioned to Damali to allow him to hold her necklace. "Talk to me, baby."
Pearl giggled and released a bubbly, underwater sigh as the necklace slid from Damali's hands to Carlos's.
"Oh, brother," Damali muttered under her breath. "You might as well put her in a ring or a damned--"
"Hey, hey, hey," Carlos said, laughing softly. "You'll hurt her feelings and will have to apologize."
The glare Damali gave him made him swallow a smile and return his attention to the oracle.
"Pearl, baby, you know she doesn't mean any harm . . . but I really need to know what you're talking about."
"The Templar treasures. Those are human-gathered, but the whereabouts are not known of by common man--only other Templars--so the riches of the vaults cannot be confiscated by the human authorities. They were consecrated by Templar priests and hidden on hallowed ground to be used in the mission of protecting the innocent and for the service of the Most High, so the darkside has no access and cannot make it disappear, either. I'm also sure that they would have collected a considerable stash of weaponry to be used against the darkside throughout the ages, as they were warrior-priests."
"Yes!" Carlos leapt up and kissed the necklace, making it laugh out loud before returning it to the water. "I love you, Pearl!"
Damali stood, hands on hips, thoroughly annoyed. "I told you the Light provides. How many times have we had this conversation, Carlos?"
"Okay," Carlos admitted with a wide smile, briefly looking up at Damali before studying the necklace again. "You're right, I'm wrong, Mrs. Rivera. But, Pearl, how do I find the Templar vaults?"
"The Templars were once the strongest banking network in the world and only those sworn by their oath know where their vaults are," Pearl added proudly. "But I hear their resources are far vaster than the little bit of money, comparatively, that you and Yonnie had. Don't worry, Carlos. It's going to be all right."
"But that's the problem--we've gotta drop some cash on the hotel pronto ... so, c'mon, Pearl. If you have the smallest clue . . ."
"You have to wait for Father Pat to show you," Pearl murmured. "I'm sorry, Carlos, even I can't see that. Their vaults are Light-shielded so that only those given direct permission can access them. They did that after that evil French king burned so many of them at the stake and took their treasury the last time. Now that they've reclaimed it and rebuilt it to hefty reserves over the years, not even oracles can see their hidden resources. All I know is that Father Pat will come to you to reveal resources to you. I wish I knew more."
"It's cool," Carlos said, trying to remain calm.
"If they're not showing us resources right away, there's a reason," Damali interjected.
"That is true, Damali," Pearl said brightly.
Damali stooped down staring into the warm, clear blue water. "You said something about Atlantis . . . and before when we were in Washington, D.C., you said something about something being brought out of Ethiopia. What's up with all that?"
"You will soon be told about what came out of Ethiopia. Right now it's important for you to remember that they found a pyramid off the coast of Bermuda that was twelve hundred feet down below the surface of the sea."
Damali glanced at Carlos. "That reduces to three, in numerology."
"Yes," Pearl murmured in contentment. "It is also three hundred feet higher than the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt. The Bermuda Triangle stretches from here to Florida to Puerto Rico, three . . . also a pyramid--but it also encases the Bimini Islands. Bimini is Taino for 'mother of many waters.' Your team is that now. Many mothers, many waters . . . water is your safe haven, water can be blessed as you travel across it, and in northern Bimini there is a saltwater mangrove forest that has a healing cove. Go there for a while and await word."
"That's our way back into the States," Carlos said, now looking at Damali. "From here to Puerto Rico by small charter boat, skirting the Triangle so the darkside can't detect us, through the Bimini Islands, and back in through the Florida Keys. From there, sheeit. If me and Yonnie get back on Miami soil, we definitely know how to navigate that terrain. We go from there, recon with our Atlanta team, and go get Ayana and Mom Delores, as well as get Dan's parents, out of harm's way . . . but we've gotta circumnavigate the Triangle as our cloak against the darkside while on the open seas. . . also probably the huge destroyer that's stalking the Atlantic, you feel me? We could get blown out of the water by a nervous U.S. military move, too. This shit ain't no joke."
"Stay as close to the edge of the vortex as you can," Pearl murmured in delight. "That's what Uriel wants."
"With the pyramid they found underwater here as our touchstone?" Damali said, glancing from the oracle to Carlos and back. "I still don't understand the whole Atlantean energy thing, but when you said pyramid, I'm on it."
"The energy will be good for the babies." Pearl giggled. "Atlantis is where Tehuti hid the knowledge of the Kemetian empire before it sank . . . your Kings' and Queens' ancestors all hail from there, just as the Kemetian, Mayan, Aztec, and Incan empires were vast, then disappeared without a trace or reason, so went Atlantis before them . . . where positive soul spirits came forward to dry land to rebuild what had sunk, bringing advanced knowledge forward through the seven rays of consciousness."
Damali and Carlos stared at each other and then down at the oracle as it prattled on in a cheerful voice.
"Every continent that owns pyramids or mounds, superstructures, and standing stones has an Atlantis vortex off its coasts-- that's why no one can find it ... Atlantis isn't in just one place or associated with just one race, it was a vast, advanced network of diverse races all called Atlanteans, just as before them were Lemurians and the Mu. Therefore, you must have your female seers lock into that to guide you past the dangerous fluxes in the Triangle. All seven pregnant female Guardians need to hold the energy. Each new child being formed must gain strength in one of the seven rays, in addition to the extrasensory gifts genetically passed by their parents."
Only four of our Guardians are pregnant, Damali shot to Carlos in a private, telepathic barb. She said seven!
I know, I know, but be cool, Carlos shot back, wiping his brow. Be cool? Be cool! Damali's eyes were wild. The only other possibilities are Tara and Val ... or Inez . . . which means half oj the team is down, literally!
"Are you two listening to me anymore?" Pearl said in a sweetly sarcastic voice.