“To confirm a suspicion on how Jupiter died. Now all I have to find out is the ‘why’ and the ‘who’… and the ‘where’ is the ‘what’ because leaving this weapon floating around is not at all safe.” I reply.
“Rei? Why were you screaming?” Sara asks as she walks in the room.
“Never mind, I don’t really want to know.” Sara says while shutting the door behind her as she leaves after seeing Cheza straddling me and Tia topless.
“Well I’m tired so I think that sleep would be a good thing.” I say and Cheza gets off of me.
“Alright, see you both tomorrow!” Tia says while heading for the door.
“Goodnight Tia. Sorry about your tank top and the whole stabbing you thing.” I reply.
“Don’t worry about it; now we’re even. I’ll just go see Jason and have him snap me up a fresh set of clothing. Later!” Tia exclaims and walks out of the door.
Cheza and I get ready for bed and go to sleep.
****
Chapter 20: Number Seven
“DADDY!” Addie screams while running towards me, her tail wagging with excitement through her skirt. She jumps towards me and I hold my arms out to catch her, noticing too late the wicked looking black dagger in my hand; the dagger sinks hilt-deep into her chest.
“Daddy?” Addie struggles to ask as she coughs up some blood, confusion plastered across her features.
I collapse to my knees in horror at what I’ve done while cradling her body and unable to decide if I need to pull the knife out or leave it in when her body turns into black smoke. The smoke is sucked into the dagger like it’s a vacuum before the dagger drops to the tile floor without a sound. I grasp the dagger with my left hand and stare at it.
“Give her back… giver her back…” I say as I beat the dagger against the floor.
“GIVE HER BACK TO ME!” I scream and my arm flushes black as I slam the dagger with enough force to crack the flooring and create a small crater. The dagger shatters and the shards get absorbed into my arm, causing ripples in the surface of my arm as though it were made of liquid.
“AHHHH!” I scream as my arm feels like it’s on fire.
****
[November 16th]
“Cole!” Cheza shakes me awake; my arm fades back to silver as I open my eyes.
“I’m okay… let’s go back to bed.” I tell her while beating down my panic as I see that it’s only 4am.
Cheza gives me a concerned look for a moment before snuggling into my right side. I spend the next forty-five minutes trying to sleep while Cheza quietly snores. Finally having had enough, I gently lift Cheza’s arm off of my chest and scoot out of bed without waking her. I slip out of the room and head into the kitchen.
I’ll have breakfast, maybe read for a few hours, and then continue my investigation on Mount Olympus. I think my next step is talking to Neptune to get his take on things; I should ask what the situation was like when they first arrived at the scene of the crime. Actually, I probably should have asked Juno that question before making her cry… Apologizing is most likely a good thing in this situation, but how…?
Chocolate cake.
It’s the answer to all of life’s problems, so why not this one too?
I head to the pantry to see what they have by way of cake mix, only to find that there isn’t anything resembling it. I touch my Haglaz rune and port to the house in Arizona where I wait for a minute before touching my triskele. After appearing at the gate in Tir na nOg, I touch my triskele while thinking of Betty Crocker chocolate cake mix and the accompanying frosting.
(Wouldn’t it be easier to just port a complete cake here?)
“Yes, but it’s 5am and I have fuck else to do so we’re baking a cake.”
I touch my triskele, port to the house, wait a minute, and port to Jason’s kitchen. I wonder why I can port to anywhere in the Underworld without stopping at a gate… the time consistency must mean that I am passing through a gate, but I’ve never even been to it. I guess I’ll ask Hel the next time I see her. Once in the kitchen, I search around for a cake pan, mixing bowl, eggs, canola oil, and a measuring cup. After preheating the oven to 350, I start mixing the ingredients. The oven beeps as I finish mixing. I pour the batter into the non-stick cake pan, slide it into the oven, and set the timer for forty minutes.
“Why are you baking a cake at five in the morning?” Hel asks while walking into the kitchen wearing a black silk robe.
“I’m making a ‘sorry for making you cry and accusing you of murdering your husband/ brother’ cake.” I reply.
“You made Juno cry?” Hel inquires and I nod.
“By the way, why is it that I can port into the Underworld without first passing through a gate?” I ask.
“You can’t. Each district in the Underworld is a gate. You can port into Niflheim from anywhere with your Haglaz rune, but you wouldn’t be able to port directly to Mictlan from earth.” Hel replies.
“Right… thanks for clearing that up.” I say, still confused by the whole thing.
“So how go the wedding plans?” I ask.
“They’re going well. I heard you and Jason had a rough time while dress shopping a few days ago.” Hel says.
“Yeah, something like that…” I reply, followed by an awkward silence.
“Well good luck with the investigation.” Hel responds and walks away.
I take a seat at the bar to wait for the cake to finish baking. The bullet in my stomach protests when I bend the wrong way and reminds me of its presence; I should probably have Sara cut that out if it’s going to keep hurting every time I bend a certain way. My right leg starts feeling stiff so I massage my thigh just above where the silver meets my flesh, which is about three inches above where my kneecap used to be.
“New leg giving you some problems?” Sara asks as she sits down next to me.
“Yeah, a few, but the bullet in my stomach is bothering me more.” I reply.
“Do you want me to take it out?” Sara inquires.
“Yeah, when I have some time.” I say while rubbing my thigh.
“Here,” Sara says while pushing my hands away and grabbing my thigh.
“Thanks Sara, that feels great.” I tell her as she continues to massage my leg.
“You have to stop losing limbs, Cuz.” Sara says with concern.
“Yeah, no kidding… A little harder.” I reply and Sara leans in a bit to dig into the muscle.
“Ah! Not so rough!” I exclaim when she hits a tender spot.
“So… do you want to talk about your dream last night?” Sara asks.
“How did you know about that?” I question.
“You’re baking a cake at five in the morning for no apparent reason; but more importantly, you’re awake at five in the morning.” Sara replies.
“I had a dream about Addie in which she jumped into my arms and I ended up stabbing her with a dagger that I hadn’t noticed in my hand. It was most likely influenced by what happened yesterday…” I say.
“What happened yesterday?” Sara asks while still massaging my leg.
“I figured out how Jupiter was killed after stabbing Tia…” I tell her.
“Is that all? It seems like there’s something else on your mind.” Sara suggests.
“*Sigh*… I saw Addie again yesterday. I confused her for a little harpy girl… last time it happened with a kitsune girl, which I can understand because they both have ears and a tail, but a harpy? They’re more than half bird…” I explain.
“Cole… you have to forgive yourself; this isn’t going to end until you do.” Sara says with a pitiful look.
“I know that… I do… I just can’t… I can’t let her go…” I quietly reply.
The oven’s timer goes off and I take the cake out before returning to the bar chair to wait for it to cool. Upon sitting back down, Sara resumes working on my leg.
“Thanks, Sara.” I say.
“Of course. I want to help you any way I can.” Sara replies.
“Cole? Sara? What are you two doing!?” Cheza exclaims as she starts freaking out.
I can’t figure out why she’s freaking out until I suddenly get an image of what she’s seeing: Sara sitting and facing towards me with her arms angled towards my crotch, the position of her hands being blocked by the counter, as she moves both of her arms back and forth while I emanate ‘feel good’ vibes.
“Oh my gods Oh my gods Oh my gods!” Cheza rapidly says while grasping the sides of her head like she’s ripping her hair out.
“YOU’RE COUSINS FOR GODS’ SAKES!” Cheza screams as she throws her arms down dramatically.
“Cheza, relax; this isn’t what it looks like.” I calmly tell her.
(For those of you keeping track at home, this is number seven)
“THEN WHAT IS IT COLE!? BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE SARA IS JERKING YOU OFF UNDER THE TABLE!” Cheza hysterically screams.
“Just come here and see for yourself.” I calmly say. Cheza walks around the table and sees Sara’s hands on my thigh.
“This still isn’t good! Sara’s been like a sister to you for such a long—” Cheza cuts herself off.
“Realizing how hypocritical that statement is?” I guess.
“Just a bit… you two are still blood related though!” Cheza exclaims.
“There was no sexual connotation in this act, Cheza. My leg was hurting so Sara was helping me by massaging it.” I explain.
“Why is your leg hurting?” Cheza asks with concern.
“It’s most likely from the limb dismemberment and subsequent replacement.” I reply.
“But you didn’t seem to have any problems with your arm.” Cheza points out.
“True, I didn’t, but my arm also isn’t a weight-bearing limb; my leg is under a constant strain that wasn’t present with my arm.” I explain.
“Oh… sorry for jumping to conclusions… you know, again.” Cheza replies.
“Yeah, you tend to misunderstand relatively innocent things for sexual acts quite a bit, don’t you?” I rhetorically ask as I see Tia slip out of Jason’s room with a sheet wrapped around her.
“Tia… what are you doing?” I loudly ask.
“Oh, Cole! Hey… this isn’t what it looks like?” Tia suggests.
“Really? Because it looks like you had sex with Jason last night, despite the fact that he has a fiancée.” I say.
“Oh… then it’s exactly what it looks like.” Tia replies.
“TIA! How could you!? Fuck! What do we do about Reyna!?” I exclaim.
“Relax, she was there too; she seemed into it and I discovered that Jason has gotten much better in the last seven years.” Tia comments.
“Okay… problem solved, I guess.” I reply.
“Cole, the cake should be cool enough to frost now.” Sara tells me.
“Thanks.” I say and get to work on frosting the cake.
Since it’s still only 6am, we have breakfast before Cheza and I scamper off to take a shower. At about 8am, I go to Reyna’s room to wake up him and Reyna, only to overhear an interesting conversation.
“Jason! You’ve gone soft again! It’s like a wet noodle!” Reyna whines while muffled.
“Sorry, but it’s a bit hard to keep it up when you have been drinking so much lately!” Jason retorts.
“What do you expect? I’m drinking for two.” Reyna replies, still muffled; most likely by Jason’s neck. I probably shouldn’t interrupt…
I return to Jason’s room, and pull out my phone to check up on Lord Byron.
“Hello?” Lord Byron answers with his Oxford English accent.
“Hello Lord Byron, this is Cole.” I say.
“Ah, Mr. Treyfair! I was actually planning on calling you later today. I was able to set up a venue in Hades and I have finished planning the young prince’s bachelor party. It will be held in five days.” Byron informs me.
“Great! On Friday, then?” I reply.
“Correct. Shall I meet you at the venue?” Byron asks.
“Sure, where is it?” I inquire.
“At Acheron, in the Hades district.” Byron replies.
“Acheron? The river of pain, Acheron?” I ask.
“In the original mythologies, yes; however, it’s now the Underworld’s premier location for a multitude of entertainment.” Byron answers.
“If that’s the case then I’m sure Jason knows where it is. I’ll see you on Friday with the other two guests at… what time?” I inquire.
“Seven. See you then.” Byron replies and ends the call.
I send a text to Ryuji to let him know of the plan for Friday; I’ll have to go see Jericho later. Alright, now that that’s settled, I suppose it’s time to restart the investigation. I grab the cake and Cheza grabs my arm as I touch my Haglaz rune, port to Arizona, wait a minute, and touch my triskele to port us to Mount Olympus. Cheza and I walk along the cloud path leading into town, which already has people up and about at nine in the morning. We reach the fountain and I dig in my pocket for the golden coin Juno gave me.
“Trofi?” the harpy girl from yesterday asks.
“I’m sorry, but this cake is for Juno.” I reply.
“Trofi?” another harpy girl asks.
“Trofi?” and another.
“Trofi?” and another.
“Trofi?” and another. I start to back away slowly.
“Trofi!” a harpy girl exclaims and they all take off after me.
“IRIS OPEN THE GATE! OPEN THE GATE! OW! WATCH THE TALONS! THIS IS LIKE SOME HORRIFYING MIX BETWEEN THE BIRDS AND THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN!” I scream while running around the fountain, getting swiped at by a score of flying harpy girls.
Cheza is cracking up and most of the people in the square are laughing as well. I look at the top of the fountain and see a shimmering rainbow with the form of a naked woman that is laughing and pointing at me.
“IRIS! PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF THE GODS, OPEN THE DAMN GATE!” I plead, still getting attacked.
A rainbow beams down and I run through it, only to have the harpy girls follow me. I start running around the compound of the palace to evade the harpy girls. After five minutes, a group of them appears in front of me; I didn’t think they were smart enough to split up. After five more minutes of evading them, my right leg suddenly gives out from underneath me and I trip, falling onto my cake as the harpy girls dog pile on top of me.
“AH! I AM NOT TROFI!” I scream from within the flurry of feathers.
“Girls.” A stern voice says and the flurry stops.
“Trofi?” I hear one of the girls ask.
“Ochi.” The voice replies as I discern that it belongs to Diana.
“Trofi…” one of the girls replies, sounding disappointed. I hear the sound of fingers snapping.
“Trofi!” one of the girls exclaims and they all flutter off of me. I sit up and see the girls swarming a pile of food.
“What are you doing, Feros?” Diana asks.
“Just playing with the harpy girls… and ruining my apology cake to Juno…” I reply as I shakily rise to my feet.
“Why didn’t you fight them off?” Diana inquires.
“I might’ve hurt them had I done that. Can you take me to Juno?” I request.
Diana gives me a bewildered look before walking towards the palace; I follow after her. She leads me through the corridors of the glittering white palace and into a private section that is roughly the size of a penthouse apartment. Diana walks into a living room with a brown leather furniture set and a flat screen before motioning for me to wait. I notice that Juno’s quarters smell like pine and cinnamon as Diana continues through a room to the left. Diana and Juno reemerge in the living room and Juno crinkles her nose in distaste at my appearance.
“What in the name of the Void happened to you and what is that on your shirt?” Juno asks.
“He baked you a cake by way of apology, but the harpies tried to get it so he ran around the palace to avoid them instead of fighting them off because he didn’t want to hur
t them.” Diana answers for me as I look down and see the remains of the cake on my jacket.
“Well, it’s the thought that counts, I suppose.” Juno says and snaps her fingers, making the cake on my chest disappear. “So, did you have more questions?”
“Yes, could you describe the scene of the crime when you arrived?” I ask.
Juno moves and takes a seat on the couch while giving me a look that seems indicates that I should join her, so I do. Juno waves Diana away and she heads out through the front door.
“Neptune and I arrived on scene shortly after Pluto. Jupiter was lying on his back in the alley with a gaping hole in his chest. We knew that we couldn’t stay there so Pluto and Neptune carried Jupiter and we all came back here.” Juno replies.
“How was he lying? Was he sprawled out?” I inquire as I get down and sprawl out on the floor.
“No, he was more uniform; his arms were at his sides and his legs weren’t that far apart.” Juno answers as something occurs to me.
“How could you see the hole in Jupiter’s chest? What was the condition of his shirt?” I question.
“Now that I think about it, his shirt was missing when we got there; perhaps Pluto saw something in the time before Neptune and I arrived.” Juno suggests.
“I think Hades might’ve done more than just that.” I reply.
“You think Pluto killed Jupiter?” Juno asks and I nod. “That’s absurd! Pluto has always been altruistic and wouldn’t have done anything to upset the balance of power!”
“Which is why no one would suspect him.” I reply.
“If Pluto killed Jupiter then why did he work to prove your innocence? What possible advantage could he have for getting people to search for a killer when everyone thought you were responsible?” Juno asks; she has a point.
“If it was any of the heads, Neptune has the most motive that I can see. I’m relatively sure that I overheard Jupiter arguing with him four nights ago.” Juno says.
“Two days before his death?” I clarify and Juno nods the affirmation.
“I think I should go speak with Neptune, then.” I add.
I suddenly feel Cheza slip into her Drive state before Diana ports into Juno’s quarters.
Cole's Haunting Melody (The Gods' Executioner Series) Page 18
