In the Nyx of Time

by Amy Sumida

  Big on the dramatics; that one.

  Greeks, I said by way of explanation.

  “Anyone else find it weird when Hades uses his name to describe his territory?” Toby asked.

  “That's its name,” Nayenezgani said.

  “But it's strange when he says it,” Toby insisted.

  “I'm with you on that,” I said. “Totally strange.”

  “Thank you,” Toby said with an annoyed look at his brother.

  “I'm wondering if we should warn Hades about Aion,” Odin mused.

  “I think we should just let him focus on Nyx, and then we can take on Aion,” I said.

  “Aion?” Thor asked. “Who's that?”

  “He's a Greek god of time,” Odin explained. “We believe he's conspiring with Nyx.”

  “I don't know what's happening here”—Thor looked from Odin to me—“but it's giving me an odd feeling.”

  “You and me both,” Azrael said.

  I looked at the angel and then realized where we were taking him. “Are you going to be okay with going to Hell?”

  Azrael laughed.

  “What's so funny?” Thor asked.

  “I'm the Angel of Death,” Azrael said. “I was born in Hell; my father is Lucifer Morningstar.”

  “In that case, we should follow you.” Odin waved his hand toward the tracing chamber. “Lead the way, Son of Satan.”

  Azrael strode forward with a smile and traced away; no further theatrics needed. I took Odin's hand, and we traced together; heading to Hades' palace in the Greek Underworld. We stepped out of the tracing room and waited for the others to arrive. Hades was already gone; no doubt on his way to rally his army. But Azrael was waiting for us.

  “This may be a good time to try out your new wings,” Azrael said to me.

  “You think I should use my angel wings to fly through Hell?” I countered.

  “Hell again.” Az shook his head. “It must be the human in you. Gods know that this is just another territory, and it isn't technically Hell. Tartarus is where the souls are tortured; this is just the Underworld.”

  “Au contraire, mon angel.” I waved a finger at him. “One of the worst beaches in the realms is here; a super depressing place along the Acheron, where souls who can't pay the Ferryman's toll must wait forever. Then there's the Vale of Mourning, where souls carry on eternally about people they loved who didn't love them back; talk about not letting it go. All that sounds like torture to me.”

  “I have just been schooled,” Azrael said as he bowed.

  “You're rather modern with your speech for an angel,” I noted.

  “I spend a lot of time around humans,” he said softly, and then transferred his gaze to Odin. “Ask your husband; he knows.”

  I looked at Odin in surprise; he was grimacing at Azrael.

  “Do you two know each other?” I asked Odin.

  Odin sighed deeply. “You had to bring that up now?” He huffed at Az.

  Azrael just shrugged.

  “We're all here,” Toby came up to us to say. “Shall we find Hades?”

  “Yes; we shall,” Odin started off in the direction Hades had went.

  “Odin?” I hurried after him. “You didn't answer me.”

  “We'll talk once this is over, Vervain,” Odin said. “It's too long to get into right now.”

  “I will tell her, if you don't,” Azrael threatened.

  “Damn you, Azrael!” Odin roared as he spun around to face Az. “You did me a favor, and I repaid it; she has nothing to do with you.”

  “I couldn't put her into Hvergelmir with the scythe, Odin,” Azrael said softly. “I had to extract her by hand.”

  “What?” Odin went still.

  “The Hvergelmir?” I asked in shock. “Are you the angel Odin got to put me into the Well?”

  “I am.” Azrael turned to me with a gentle smile. “Don't you remember me, Vervain?”

  I tried to; but all I came up with were visions of Azrael and me together intimately. Then there were the ones of him vowing to love me forever. Neither was appropriate to share. I blushed and shook my head.

  “I'm sorry,” I murmured. “I don't remember the Well.”

  “But you remember other things.” Azrael grinned sensually.

  “Not now,” Odin growled at Az. “This isn't the time.”

  “No; time is evidently not on our side at the moment,” Azrael murmured.

  “We'll tell Hades you're on your way,” Horus said as he ushered the rest of our group past us.

  “You go ahead, Naye,” Toby said. “I'll meet up with you in a few.”

  “What? Why?” Nayenezgani asked as he gave his brother a baffled look.

  “I need to speak to Vervain,” Toby said. “I'll explain it to you later.”

  Nayenezgani frowned but finally gave in and followed their parents toward a gate in the garden wall.

  “All right; it's just us now,” Toby said. “Can we get this out in the open? It seems that Azrael and I have a connection to your wife, Odin.”

  “I know,” Odin said; surprising the men. “We think our past has been changed; the two of you have ties to Vervain that were altered. I can accept that, but in order to fix this, we must kill Aion. Now, are we going to stand around and talk about our feelings, or are we going to put time into correct alignment again?”

  “In light of that, there's just one thing I need to do before we head into Tartarus,” Azrael said.

  Odin cocked his head at Az, and the angel pulled me into an embrace and kissed me. My arms slid around his shoulders automatically, and I latched onto the muscles of his wings; using them to pull Azrael closer. My own wings unfurled and curled forward. The scent of vanilla orchids filled the air as Azrael's black wings intertwined with my white ones, and we blocked the world out as we sank into our kiss.

  There goes your vow not to kiss any more men, Alaric said. No; wait. That was the last time. Dang it; I'm getting confused, and that can't be good.

  I ignored Alaric's ramblings as I continued to kiss Azrael. I felt as if I were a puzzle with pieces set incorrectly, and Azrael had just snapped a piece into its proper position. Then Az eased away and stared down at me.

  Az rubbed his thumb across my lips and said, “Now, I can face all the demons of Tartarus.”

  “I don't believe they call them demons here,” Odin said dryly. “Although, there is a giant, three-headed dog that smells a little like sulfur.”

  “Odin,” I whispered in horror as I pushed Azrael away.

  Feathers rustled as Azrael's and my wings folded back and Odin was revealed. Amazingly enough, my husband didn't look furious. I would have been pissed if he'd kissed another woman in front of me. But Odin had always been a pragmatic man; a man of knowledge and reason. He hadn't lied when he said that he could accept this. But that didn't make him patient about it.

  “If you're done making out with my wife, maybe we could save our futures with her?” Odin asked Azrael.

  Azrael had the grace to look ashamed. “I'm sorry, Odin,” he said. “That was selfish of me.”

  “Can you just tell me if we're supposed to be together too?” Toby asked me. “I feel as if we are.”

  “According to my visions, you are,” Odin answered for me.

  “I don't fully understand this, but at the same time, it's as if my life has just started to make sense,” Toby said softly as he took my hand.

  “You've met me at a very strange time in my life,” I said with a smile.

  “Okay, Tyler Durden, are we good now?” Odin asked dryly.

  “I'm sorry.” I went to Odin and took his hand. “We're good.”

  “And it's also good that I took this hourglass from you,” Odin huffed as he hefted the hourglass aloft. “Your angel kiss may have broken it.”

  “It won't happen again,” I vowed.

  “I don't think you can make me that promise, Vervain,” Odin said gently. “But it's okay; I love you more than my pride.”

  We both blinke
d as those words seemed to resonate with us. I knew that they were true for Odin, but it had been harder for someone else to embrace. I just couldn't hold onto the memory long enough to remember who had been so furious when he was in Odin's position... and Odin had been the interloper.

  “Why do I suddenly have the image of a snarling wolf in my head?” Odin asked.

  “It doesn't matter,” I said hurriedly. “Let's focus on this task, and hopefully everything else will fall into place.”

  We hurried outside to find thousands of Greek gods gathered in the flower-speckled field in front of the palace. Hades waited before the army with Thor, his rebel gods, and Naye.

  “Dear Gods,” I whispered.

  “Indeed,” Odin said.

  “I see what you mean about the dog,” Azrael noted as he wrinkled his nose in the direction of Cerberus; the three-headed, canine Guardian of the Underworld.

  “Cerberus isn't that bad,” I said as I went forward. “It's the Centaurs who you have to watch out for; they're skittish and if you get too close to their hind ends, they'll kick you.”

  The men followed me through the grass, and all of us gave the herd of horse-men a wide berth.

  “There you are,” Hades declared as we walked up. “Are you ready?”

  “We're ready,” Odin answered for all of us.

  “It's time to march!” Hades shouted, and the Army of Gods came to attention.

  We began to march down the Dividing Road; straight toward the mouth of Hell.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  We made it down the Dividing Road and through the cave that held the entrance to Tartarus without incident. Nothing jumped out at us; it was a rather uneventful hike. We came to a cavern and at its far end was a portal set between two pillars. Somehow, I knew that the pillars were made of solid adamant—a substance that even gods couldn't break. There was an iron tower set beside the massive door, and a blood-soaked woman stood upon it; holding three snakes in one hand. She had really big hands; these were not small snakes.

  “Welcome to Hell!” She proclaimed.

  “I feel as if I've heard that before,” I muttered.

  “Um, my dad's the Devil,” Azrael said as he lifted his hand. “So, thanks for the show, but it's kind of an old one for me.”

  “What do you people want?” The woman huffed.

  “We march on Nyx,” Hades declared. “Open the portal, Tisiphone.”

  “Oh! Lord Hades; I didn't see you there!” Tisiphone jumped off her perch and opened the double doors with her free hand and bowed to Hades as he passed by. “Is there any help that I may offer?”

  “We go to avenge the death of your queen,” Hades said. “You may join us if you wish.”

  “Nyx killed Persephone?” Tisiphone hissed along with her three snakes. “You're damn straight I'm going!” She released the snakes, and they slid up her arms to curl about her neck. “Come on, my babies,” she said to them, “let's get us a bite of murderess flesh.”

  “Graphic,” I murmured.

  Tisiphone joined the army; finding a place among the throngs of gods who wanted justice for Persephone. I wished Sephy could have seen this; it was a violent, yet touching, testament to how deeply she'd been loved. Persephone would have been proud and most likely moved to tears.

  “You have the power of speech now,” Azrael said to me as we began our trek through Tartarus.

  I glanced around me at the vast landscape and the varied punishments being carried out within it. There was a red cast to everything; possibly due to the flaming river of blood flowing through the center of Tartarus. Yes; blood that was burning. It was hot, humid, and just plain horrible. I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to live there.

  “I've always had the power of speech,” I said to Az.

  “You know what I mean.” Azrael chuckled. “You should try it out before we reach your enemies.”

  “Our enemies,” I reminded him, “and what's with all the practice; first you want me to fly and now you want me to talk. I feel like a toddler.”

  “You have new magic and you're marching to war,” Azrael pointed out. “Being prepared is not childish.”

  “He has a point, Vervain,” Odin said.

  “Okay; what do you suggest?” I asked Azrael.

  “Try speaking a word with intent,” he said.

  “Like; water?” I drew the word out and thought about a geyser as I said it.

  To the left of us, water spurted out of the ground, and I gaped at it as Odin made a surprised sound. Before I could say anything, a man came running out of the darkness; shrieking with happiness. He stuck his face directly into the geyser as he opened his mouth.

  “Tantalus, you idiot, that's not going to work,” a Greek goddess who was dressed like a Goth teenager shouted at the man.

  I scowled at her lack of sympathy, but it looked as if she were right. The man—Tantalus, evidently—fell back onto the ground and started weeping with despair.

  “Told you,” the Goth said as she shook her head. She caught me looking at her and added, “His punishment is eternal thirst and hunger; he can drink the water, but it will never satisfy him.”

  “I'm having the oddest feeling of deja vu,” I murmured.

  “You know what? Me too,” the goddess said as she scowled at the crying Tantalus.

  “Perhaps you can try the word 'dry' now,” Azrael suggested.

  “Oh! Yeah; okay.” I focused on the geyser going away and said, “Dry.”

  The water disappeared.

  “That's an impressive talent,” Odin noted. “We may not even need the hourglass.”

  “You think I could just tell Aion to freeze?” I asked.

  “Unfortunately, you can't control anything with free will,” Azrael said. “And you can't create life, either. Still, the magic is powerful. This god may control time, but it sounds as if he's otherwise defenseless. You could freeze him in a literal way; by manifesting ice around him.”

  “That's brilliant.” I gaped at him.

  “I've seen Gabriel fight.” Azrael shrugged.

  “Oh, no,” I whispered. “Were you two friends?”

  Azrael made a surprised bark of laughter. “Hardly. Gabriel was a supreme asshole. Don't worry, Carus, his death didn't bother me. I would have been far more upset by yours.”

  “What does 'Carus' mean?” I asked him.

  “Beloved,” Odin said. “It's a Latin endearment.”

  “Oh,” I murmured.

  “I am a god of water,” Toby said into the silence that followed.

  We all looked at him questioningly.

  “The freezing thing,” Toby reminded us. “Instead of having to work your magic around Aion, Vervain, I could surround him in water, and then you could just focus on freezing the water.”

  “I don't know if that would make it easier on her, per se,” Azrael mused. “But it may make the barrier stronger; what with both of you contributing your magic to it. However, that's only one option; Vervain should probably practice a few things while we have the time.”

  “We don't.” Odin nodded ahead of us.

  Hades had stopped the march in front of a castle that looked as if it were made of polished jet. The outer walls were slick, high, and had an iron gate set into them, but the main body of the castle stretched up into the cavernous dark like giant spears; so tall that the tips were lost to the gloom. Two people stood atop the outer wall; a man and a woman. The woman had midnight wings like Azrael's, and Hades was shouting at her.

  “I know it was you Nyx! Just tell me why,” Hades demanded.

  “You won't be able to understand it now.” Nyx crossed her arms and stared down at him scornfully.

  “Try me,” Hades ground out.

  Odin, Azrael, Toby, and I moved forward with Thor and the rest of the rebel gods. We spread out to either side of Hades as his army pressed in behind us. Roars echoed forward from a bunch of lions some goddess had brought, and the sound shivered through my body.

  “I c
an't believe this is happening again.” The man who stood beside Nyx shook his head in disbelief. “How does she find them every time?”

  “You obviously didn't go back far enough,” Nyx snapped at him before she answered Hades. “You nearly killed Macaria, Hades.”

  “What?” Hades scoffed. “I would never hurt my daughter.”

  “You thought you had your reasons.” Nyx grimaced. “Regardless, you and your friends tried to kill Macaria and me; for that, I had to seek justice. You attack someone I love, and I kill someone you love; simple.”

  “Obviously, you've lost your mind,” Hades said sadly. “I've never attacked you or our daughter.”

  “Fool!” She hissed at him. “Aion changed your past so we could have revenge upon you and Vervain.”

  “What has Vervain to do with it?” Hades asked in bafflement.

  “She brought down my father and then dared to become an Olympian!” The man shouted.

  “They won't believe you, Aion,” Nyx said; confirming the god's identity. “Look at them? They are completely lost to this new timeline; the fools.”

  “I don't care anymore what your motives were,” Hades declared. “You killed my wife, and now, you'll pay. Attack!”

  Hades motioned the army forward, and the Gods cast their magic at Nyx, Aion, and the castle wall. But Odin, Azrael, Toby, and I concentrated on Aion. I had been a little distracted by Aion's accusation, but this wasn't the time to wonder how I could possibly have taken down Zeus and become an Olympian. This was the time to put Time back to the way it was.

  I nodded to Toby, and he summoned a column of water around Aion. The God of Time was completely encased; floating in a tube of water. Aion looked panicked, but drowning wouldn't kill him; we had to remove his head for that. I was about to say the word that would turn Toby's water into ice when a black mist surrounded me. I couldn't see through it, and so I couldn't focus on Aion. I reached out with both hands—trying to feel my way through the darkness—but it seemed endless... and hungry. I gasped as my energy was stolen; leeched out by the mist.

  But then a pair of strong hands took hold of mine. The dark disappeared, and I looked up into Toby's striking face. He had the most amazing eyes; blue like that deepest, clearest water, but with a rim of chocolate brown around them. With his deep-cedar skin and raven-black hair as a backdrop, those eyes seemed to glow. The scent of fresh water cleared my head, but then he drew closer and everything went hazy again. All I could see was Toby.