the museum, which was very convenient, as tourists would often go to the park after visiting the museum to avoid going back right away. Alcmena walked out onto the central street and headed for the park, the book about the City of the Gods in his hands. He couldn’t wait to read it. He opened the book and read: «In this glorious city, long ago, the Gods lived. Therefore, the book talks about the life of the Gods…»
«Ha!» exclaimed the boy, immediately remembering his father’s words about the distinction between legends and myths. «Gods, so dad was wrong, it’s not a legend, it’s definitely a myth. How can this be! It turns out that dad just doesn’t know about it. When he comes back, I’ll have to tell him right away,» Alcmena thought, happy to have discovered the truth. Now he definitely wanted to tell his father about it, but his father was very far away and he had no way of communicating with him.
The boy quickened his pace, now he couldn’t be stopped. His curiosity was so strong that no obstacle was frightening him. He circled around the museum building and walked into the park. At the entrance there was a statue of the ancient Greek goddess of history, Clio. She towered over the trees and seemed to invite him into the park. In the park, mostly chestnut, hazelnut, and oak trees grew. Here and there between the trees there were flower beds. But most of all, Alcmena liked the place where there was a labyrinth made of trimmed bushes. There were benches in the most secluded places of the maze, and he could be alone and immerse himself in his illusionary world while being completely sure that no one would disturb him.
Alcmena walked into the labyrinth and immediately headed for his bench. There was no one around. He sat on the bench and opened the book.
«Our city is in danger again,» the elder said. «Kras, you need to step up to defend the city again.»
«I will save our city. There is no force that can overcome me,» Kras said.
«Take me with you,» the young girl begged. No one knew her name. She was so young that she had probably only just turned sixteen. All the city dwellers paid attention to her. They understood perfectly well that Kras wouldn’t be able to take her with him.
«You are still very young. We’ll manage. Be on guard for an hour. I’ll be back soon», Kras said, and stroked the girl’s head.
«I understand you. I won’t move from here,» the girl said.
«It’s time for me to go!» Kras said, and took off. As soon as he ascended into the air, fiery arrows rained down from the sky. The city was left in smoke.»
«What a book!» the boy exclaimed, hugging it to his chest. He didn’t even suspect what he would face next. Now he felt like an event participant and a full-fledged citizen of the City of the Gods.
After the smoke scattered, there was not a single resident nor a single intact building in the city. The Temple of Time was destroyed. No one knew what had happened to Kras and the young girl. No one knew where the inhabitants of the glorious City of the Gods had gone.
Author’s note.
To future researchers, this is dedicated. Someday, in the distant future, we’ll solve this puzzle. See you, friends!»»
The boy closed the book; he read it in one go.
«What an incredible discovery my father made. Not so long ago, I knew nothing about the City of the Gods’ existence, and now I’m discovering a world of complete unknowns. Our flat representation of the modern world and its past seem dim when compared to what I’m learning now. The history of our world was completely different and has nothing to do with what’s in textbooks.»»
«The boy turned the book over in his hands and headed home. Now all his ideas about the past of his native planet had changed. There was no longer primitive communal order, no more Stone Age. But there was a huge interest in figuring everything out.
«Thanks, Dad!» he said aloud, as if knowing that even though he was far away, he could still hear him. He now had full confidence that he had found the key to the secret knowledge that had been lost for some unknown reason. And all of human’s superpowers were not fiction, but a hidden truth.
«I feel like I can fly, as if I don’t know one important word or have forgotten the instructions, but as soon as I remember it, I’ll be able to soar. He looked up at the sky and saw birds freely soaring in it. It was getting dark and where the day had gone was unknown, it disappeared unnoticed, but it left a huge trace in the boy’s life, and all his ideas about the world were turned upside down. Alcmen closed his eyes and in his imagination he saw flying machines that showered the earth with fiery arrows. «Odd, if Kras had such power and was unbeatable. He had a spear of strength. Who could have destroyed the city?» The question kept spinning in his head, it was driving him crazy. It always happens that as soon as you find the answer to one question, another question immediately appears that you need to find the answer to.
Alcmen came home and collapsed onto the bed, he was really tired. As soon as he closed his eyes, his imagination took over, and he was already in the City of the Gods: «Kras flew past the enemy aircraft and collided with the enemy along with the aircraft. His enemy flew down, quickly burning in the layers of the atmosphere. Kras turned around and began knocking down enemies one by one with his spear. Soon there was no one left in the sky. Kras emerged as the winner again and saved the City of the Gods from destruction.»
The boy didn’t notice anything, the City of the Gods had engulfed him completely. It replaced all of his interests and became his biggest interest. So the month flew by unnoticed, and finally, his father came back.»
Chapter 3. Artifacts
Alcmen attacked his father right in the doorway, not letting him in. «You just can’t imagine. Our history, or rather the history of humanity, could have been completely different,» shouted the boy. «Where does such confidence come from?» said his dad, not expecting to hear something like this from his son. For him, all historical facts were true and indisputable. He was completely sure that his son would know the same history that he knew himself. «It’s all because of your destroyed City of the Gods. I read about it while you were away. The book doesn’t mention primitive people, no one rubs sticks together to make fire, no one hunts mammoths. Everyone there flies on flying machines, or they can just fly like that. They are advanced!» exclaimed Alcmen. Dad looked at his son and smiled. He didn’t want to argue about anything, because it was he who told his son about the destroyed City of the Gods, where, according to legends, more intelligent people lived than is described in other written sources.
«I have good news,» said the father.
«What is it?» asked Alcmen with genuine interest.
«We found the destroyed City of the Gods,» replied the father.
«How did you find it? It’s just a myth!» exclaimed the boy.
«No, remember we talked about the difference between a myth and a legend?» asked the father with a wise look.
«I remember perfectly, that’s why I’m saying,» said Alcmen confidently. He knew the difference perfectly, and that made him even more eager to understand everything. The boy handed the book to his father.
«It talks about gods.»
«Oh, I see what you mean.» The father quickly scanned through the book.
«This is really a myth that was created based on the same legend I told you about. The author deified the inhabitants of the destroyed city, probably trying to justify their level of development. It’s more of a fairy tale than an oral tradition. The author took the legend as a basis and invented everything else.»
«Why were they considered gods then? Was it only because of their technology? But now we know so much more, and no one calls us gods,» said the boy.
«Everything was interpreted afterwards. We don’t know what the inhabitants of this city really called themselves. The inhabitants of the City of the Gods couldn’t fly. Although there could be even