Fallen Gods II

by Nick S. Thomas

  Maybe we can just move on with our lives. I’m beginning to wonder if Hades is as terrible as he’s been made out to be. We’ve lived in blissful ignorance of the gods for all these years, so why should it matter now? But at the back of my mind there’s a niggling feeling. Hades is bad news, and he has to have another angle.

  The doorbell rang, and he didn’t leap out of his skin as he had so many times of late. He’d so often expected Hades’ goons to arrive at his door. But that fear was lifted now. He wondered if he should trust Hades’ word, and yet his life was in his hands. He could have ended him any time he wanted. He let him live, and that had to mean something. It had to be worth something. He didn’t even reach for a weapon as he headed for the door. The constant threat and danger he’d lived with had for the moment passed. He swung the door wide without checking who was on the other side. After all the things he had seen and faced, it didn’t scare him now. The door flew open to reveal the doctor standing before him.

  “My god, are you okay?” She saw his battered state. There were specs of blood on his forehead and bruises, too.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” He ushered her in, but she still looked concerned.

  “What happened to you?”

  “You really want to know?”

  “Yes, of course, Aaron.”

  “Hades, he’s back.”

  Color faded from her face, and she was silenced.

  “It’s okay.”

  “Okay? What do you mean? Is he dead?”

  He was already shaking his head.

  “We fought, and he let us live, or most of us anyway.”

  “What do you mean, let you live? You’re not making any sense.”

  “He’s done with us. We stay out of his way, and he’ll not bother us.”

  “But why? Why now?”

  Aaron shrugged.

  “The crown? Has he finally reforged the crown?”

  “No.” Aaron knew that could not be true.

  “But how can you be so sure?”

  He casually went back to the counter top to pour another drink.

  “You want one?”

  But her attention was elsewhere as she stepped up to the counter where he’d left his weapons. He’d not thought anything of it, expecting her to be studying his Olympian blade. But when he followed her gaze, he realized what she was really looking at, and kicked himself for being so careless.

  “Is that…?”

  “Yes,” he groaned.

  “How? How have you got a shard of Zeus’ crown?” She knelt down beside the table to study it more carefully, not daring to touch it with her hands.

  “When the crown was broken, I found it.”

  “And you kept it?”

  “What else was I supposed to do? Leave it there?”

  “Does Theodosia know you have this?”

  “No, and I intend to keep it that way. The less people who know where this shard is the safer it will be. Until now nobody knew but me.”

  “It’s okay, who am I going to tell?”

  “You don’t understand. I’m not worried about trusting you. I’m worried about putting you at risk. You may not willingly reveal anything, but the sort of people I’ve had to deal with, they would do anything to find something like this. Anything, I really mean that, do you understand?”

  “Torture, yes, it’s nothing new.”

  “But knowing what you know now puts us both in danger, and puts this shard at risk.”

  “Not if nobody knows to even look for it.”

  “If I were looking for the shards of this crown, the first place I would look is the last people who saw it. That’s all of us. I shouldn’t even have it here. It needs to be put somewhere safe. Ideally somewhere I don’t even know where to look. It’s too big a risk.”

  “But you said Hades is done with the crown?”

  “And you believe that? After all we went through, you think you can trust him? You think his desire for this crown has diminished?”

  She shrugged.

  “That’s what I thought,” he replied cynically, poured her a drink, and slid it across the counter.

  “So, what are you going to do?”

  “As far as I’m concerned, all this has done is buy us some time. Hades can destroy us any time he likes, and I won’t wait around for that moment to come.”

  “You don’t believe there’s any chance he’s telling the truth?”

  “Maybe he is. Maybe he really believes that right now. But what if he changes his mind? What if something we do pisses him off? What if he starts to do unspeakable things, and we can’t stand by and do nothing?”

  “You think that is likely?”

  “Hades is hungry for power, so yes. He’s capable of anything.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I have no idea. What can I do? We are battling gods.”

  “I wish I had some answers. I know the history and the myths. I know the past, not how to deal with the future.”

  They both sipped at their drinks as neither could find any useful answer.

  “Let me take the shard. I will ensure it goes somewhere safe that neither of us could ever reveal.”

  He looked suspicious.

  “Seriously, you cannot just keep it here in your apartment, can you?”

  He knew she was right, but it was hard to part with it, and he shook his head.

  “Sorry, I can’t let it go. That shard is one of the few things stopping Hades from putting the crown back together, and whatever untold evil that would bring.”

  “But you said yourself, Hades doesn’t even want it,” she said, marveling at the glowing artifact.

  “He didn’t mention it, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want it. Given the chance, why wouldn’t he?”

  “It should be somewhere safe, Aaron.”

  “No!”

  She looked put out, and he was already regretting his reaction.

  “I’m sorry, you know it’s just been a hell of a day. I’m tired, and I need to get some sleep,” he replied as he got up, “Sorry to be kicking you out, but I’m in no place to be conversing and making polite conversation right now. About five minutes time, and I’m gonna be out cold.”

  “That’s okay. I understand.” She smiled as she got up, the shard still in her hands. She looked unwilling to part with it, but he waited and watched until she finally put it down. They headed for the door.

  “Can I call around again tomorrow?”

  “Maybe. Let me get through the night. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring.”

  He showed her out and shut the door. He backed up against it now he finally had some peace. He really liked the doctor, but he was not in the mood to talk with another human being right now. He sighed, went back to his drink, and slumped down beside the shard. His eyes were locked on it as he took several sips. He knew she was right. It was too much of a risk to keep it, but he didn’t know what else to do with it. He wanted to go to Theo with it, but he wasn’t sure that was the best move. He downed another glass before moving to the sofa, but he soon tilted back and was asleep in seconds.

  * * *

  Theodosia stepped up to the entrance of Thanatos’ bar. Two men were already at work fixing the damage, with others piling inside and vans lined up to get to work. She shook her head, as if furious at his priorities. She stormed inside to find Thanatos looking bright and cheerful as he guided the workmen in rebuilding his establishment.

  “Really? After everything, this is what is important to you?”

  “If not this, Theo, then what?”

  “Hades came into your home and destroyed everything.”

  “No, he destroyed walls and glass, nothing that cannot be replaced.”

  “And Arius? Can he be replaced?”

  “I’m sorry for that, but he needn’t have died if we didn’t go looking for a fight. Nobody forced anyone to fight Hades. Each one of us made that call. We took the chance and knew what we were getting into. I didn’t want to s
ee Arius die any more than you, but life goes on.”

  “Life goes on? Listen to yourself, Thanatos!”

  “Yes. You can wallow in defeat, or we can get on with our lives. Don’t you get it? We have a second chance. No more hiding in the shadows trying to defeat an enemy and an army we never had a chance at defeating. We can move on.”

  “How can you say that? After all we’ve been through, you’re going to accept defeat?”

  “Yes. Because I thought it was a choice between victory and death. But it doesn’t have to be. So long as we don’t go looking for trouble, we can move forward. This is not defeat. This is a truce.”

  “And when Hades goes looking for the shards once more?”

  “You think he’d stand a chance of finding them a second time? We’ve not heard of a single piece being found since you shattered the crown.”

  She looked uneasy, and he couldn’t understand why.

  “You still haven’t seen any, right?”

  “No,” she replied, but she looked sheepish, and he immediately became suspicious.

  “You have, haven’t you?”

  “No, of course not,” she replied more confidently.

  He smiled and suspected she was hiding something, but he didn’t care to push any further.

  “Theo, we have to accept that the war is over. Things must go on. Hades could have ended us all, but he didn’t. We have a chance to continue our lives. Not in the way we once did, but have you looked around at this place? There’s so much beauty in this world, even in the worst, seediest parts of it. We can’t go back to the way things were, and you know that. But we can go on living. Make the best of what we have here.”

  “So that’s it? Give up?”

  “Give what up, a war that no longer exists? Hades could have killed us for what we did to him, and yet he’s moved on, and so should you.”

  “Move on?” She was furious, “This is it? You’re going to leave us to run this?”

  “I’m not leaving anyone. You’re welcome here anytime, as are all of our friends. But it’s time to stop fighting. There’s been enough death. We have a chance to move forward, a new life. Let’s take it!”

  She was boiling over with anger the more he spoke.

  “You disgust me. I thought I could trust you. I thought you had really changed. But you were never in this to do the right thing. You only ever thought of yourself, like you always have. I won’t stop fighting this war because it isn’t over, and I have a duty to keep fighting. We all do. When you come to realize that, you come back to us. I only hope it’s not too late.”

  She turned to leave, but he grabbed hold of her arm.

  “Don’t waste this opportunity, Theo. Don’t mess this up for all of us. We have a chance of peace and prosperity. Don’t be so selfish as to throw that away for some ridiculous sense of loyalty to a father who is no longer here.”

  “Selfish?” She angrily wrenched her arm away, “This isn’t over, and you know it. Enjoy your parties while you watch the world burn,” she snarled as she stormed away.

  “Theo!” Thanatos yelled, hoping she would stop and see reason, but she didn’t hesitate as she strode angrily away.

  He was disappointed she could not let it go, but not surprised. He lay back against the smashed up bar and just sighed. But he soon turned his attention to the work ongoing to restore his treasured club and smiled.

  “This is gonna be great.”

  * * *

  Aaron awoke to a thunderous banging on his door. It wasn’t the buzzer that was ringing, but someone’s fist hammering on the door, as if it were the police impatiently trying to gain entry. He’d been on the other side of that many times to know it well, but never this side. He panicked as he leapt to his feet and reached for a weapon, as so many had done when he’d been in this position.

  “Who is it? Who’s there?”

  “Theo!”

  He breathed a sigh of relief as he put his pistol down and went for the door. He was still half asleep and in the clothes he’d fallen asleep in the night before. He didn’t even remember going to the sofa.

  “You look like hell,” she said as he swung the door wide, and the light in the hallway caused his tired eyes to squint.

  “You don’t,” he said as she swaggered in, clearly well recovered from her wounds and even her broken arm.

  “Yeah, well things aren’t as good as they seem.”

  “What do you mean?” He staggered over to the kitchen to make a coffee.

  “You don’t believe Hades, do you?”

  “Of course not. He’s a power hungry maniac who wanted to take over the world. He ain’t ever going to change.”

  “I’m glad someone thinks so.”

  “What’s this about?” He rubbed his eyes, trying to come to his senses.

  She sighed and looked ashamed to have to say it.

  “This is about Thanatos, isn’t it?”

  She groaned at the name. “He won’t fight for us. He believes the war is over.”

  “Of course he does.”

  She looked surprised. “What?”

  “Thanatos responded to an imminent threat, that’s what he does. Without one, he just wants to enjoy life. If only we could all be so carefree,” he smiled.

  “And you agree with him?”

  “Not entirely, no,” he yawned as he sipped his boiling hot coffee.

  “But you wish you could be him?”

  “Sure, it wouldn’t be a bad life. It sure beats this.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Really? Look at him. He lives the high life without any worries in the world. He only acts on something bigger when it’s really there. No stress, no fear, I could live with that, Theo.”

  “But you should fear what is out there.”

  “Oh, yeah, and I do. I’m just saying; it would be real nice to ride it all out the way he does.”

  “Thanatos has betrayed us,” she said sternly.

  He nearly choked on his coffee. He had no idea things were that bad between them. But she soon went on.

  “You know what threat is out there. You know Hades won’t stay quiet for long. Thanatos chooses to do nothing, but not you. You’ve been studying, practicing, and preparing in every waking moment, haven’t you?”

  “You…you’ve been watching me?”

  “Yes, of course I have.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you are special.”

  He spat his coffee out over the kitchen floor as he began to laugh uncontrollably, but she failed to see the funny side.

  “What? Why is that amusing to you?”

  “I’m a human, you’re an immortal god from Olympus, and you’re telling me I am special?”

  “Well, you are, aren’t you?”

  “No, I’m really not. Why would you even think so?”

  “Look at what you have achieved.”

  “Like getting my ass handed to me last night?”

  “Yes, you lost, but you managed to give Hades a better fight than any of us, you, a mere mortal. Your training, your dedication, your heart, it burns with a passion none of us have. When we needed you most, you came through for us.”

  “I just did what I thought was right.”

  “Yes, a righteous man, but you had no reason to be. Until we arrived you didn’t even believe in a god, not any of them.”

  “Yeah, well none of them had shown up trying to kill me before.”

  She paced back and forth, as if trying to piece together a puzzle in her mind.

  “I don’t think it was any accident.”

  “What? What wasn’t?”

  “Us meeting, at that moment in the museum. The moment that brought us together, when I was most in need, and Thanatos had just arrived. Think about it. We could never have stopped Hades getting the crown without that meeting. I would have died that night. Thanatos would never have taken up the fight against Hades, and you. You, a champion of good. Something brought us together than night. It cannot
have been an accident.”

  “Coincidences happen all the time, Theo.”

  “Yes, and so do miracles.”

  He was shaking his head as he poured another coffee, for he needed it to hear this.

  “Don’t you see? You were destined for this. I thought Thanatos was the champion of our cause, but it was you. It always was, Aaron.”

  “Come on, I’ve just been along for the ride.”

  “No, you are what has brought us together. It has always been you. You’re our champion. You’re the one that can bring Hades down. I see that now.”

  “What? How?”

  “I don’t know, but we did it once before.”

  “Yes, we did, and not just me.”

  “I didn’t say you did it singlehandedly, but you’re the foundation of everything we did and everything we achieved. I don’t know how or why, or why you were chosen, but you were.”

  “Come on, I don’t prescribe to that destiny crap.”

  “Yes, you do.”

  He looked confused.

  “You believed the doctor, and you followed the books that led you to Hades. You believed in that destiny.”

  He was starting to come around, but it was still something of a stretch.

  “Okay, I’ll admit that was a hell of a thing. But if I’m something special, where is the prophecy about me? There isn’t one, because I’m just another guy trying to do his best in this world.”

  It was clear she would not be swayed.

  “You are our champion, Aaron Miller. You’re the one who will lead us to victory.”

  “I can’t,” he said, shaking his head, “I can’t do it. I don’t have the energy, the ability. I don’t even know where to start. Hades kicked my ass, so what do I even do with that information?”

  “You have to do what you think is best. I’m not here to tell you what to do. You’re here to tell us.”

  “That’s crazy. I’m just a man, not a god.”