by Hayley Todd
The building before us was much like those around it. It had a sturdy skeleton of some sort of metal piping. It held canvas, stretched taught to create a solid surface.
Eolis grabbed the curtain and pulled it aside. Inside the hut was shrouded in dark shadow, dark enough that even my eyes couldn’t pierce the veil. He turned to us, looking carefully before eliciting a piercing whistle.
A woman appeared in the doorway as though she had always been there. She looked Eolis up and down, then darted a gaze to us. Eolis looked us over again, before nodding to the woman.
She waved a hand in the air against the threshold, her eyes locked on Carson and I. She chanted behind the veil. And little by little the darkness faded. The grey peeled away from the entry like a mist, fading into the dirt below.
The woman stared at us a moment longer, then stepped aside. Eolis dove through the doorway stiffly, passing within inches of the woman.
Carson and I traded a glance. He looked as bothered as I felt. This was all far too strange. I knew that witches existed, but to see them in their full glory, spells and cloak and daggers was something different altogether.
We entered quietly, Carson wrapping his fingers in mine. I took them gratefully, squeezing gently with an anxiety filled panic. He peered down at me and forced a microscopic grin. I sagged in minute relief. Carson may not be an empath like Anton, but his moods were entangled with mine as well. I appreciated his effort, however small an effect it may have.
The inside of the hut looked like a rustic hospital. It held more modern looking appliances than anything near what Babui Aka had. There was medical equipment hanging or sitting on every surface though it looked like something from the early nineties, usable but just a touch too old.
Curtains divided the room into sections, several of them swept closed. Eolis hesitated just within the door, stock still. We sidled alongside him, waiting and investigating the room. Two metal tables lay in front of me, coppery scented liquid down either sides of the stainless steel plate.
My eyes shot back up to Eolis. He was watching me carefully, something sour dancing behind his gaze. He nodded his head past me, towards a closed section of curtain. I stepped forward and realized my hands were shaking as I extended one toward the fabric.
I pulled the curtain back, peering inside the darker area behind it.
And came eye to eye with a set of violet irises. I fell into them, my world swirling into a purple mass. I felt as though I were falling, grabbing out towards the sky though it were only another wash of lavender. There was no ground to be seen.
Which was what made it especially surprising when I slammed into an incredibly solid surface as though I’d fallen a dozen stories.
Zeus ripped free from his throne, glaring at the doorway I’d entered through. He lifted his scepter, watching the entry carefully. Hera stared too, her eyes wide though she remained still in her seat. Athena looked to be half enjoying the tension in the room and half unbothered by the scenario set forth.
Others had joined them in my absence and lined the other thrones along the outer wall. They held a variety of responses to the events unfolding, most filled with disdain.
The doors swung open, rattling heavily in their frames from the force. In strode Ares and Aphrodite, barely sparing me a glance as they made their way forward to their thrones. Aphrodite lounged into her chair as though we were partaking in brunch, not having a meeting regarding a bitter war between the Greeks and the Trojans. She held her staff to the side, letting its metal click onto the marble floor.
Poseidon dwelt in next, trading a hateful gaze with Zeus before taking his own seat, his trident leaned against the chair’s arm. He watched the room with a disinterested glare. A servant from the side door leapt forward to him at a carefully flicked finger from Poseidon. He whispered quietly to the man who nodded, his eyes wide with fear as he departed, only to re-emerge a moment later with a golden goblet and a pitcher of red liquid.
Eris entered last, stopping in front of me on her way past. “Harmonia,” she greeted me. Coming from her, I could only expect the formal usage of my name. She wasn’t one that I expected to greet me as I wished to be called.
“Eris,” I replied through gritted teeth. She beamed up at me, her lips painted red tonight, drastically contrasting her pale hair and violet eyes. She danced over to me, her feet fluttering along the ground. Then, she clasped my hands in hers.
“Oh, Harmonia! It’s such a pleasure to see you again. I do hope you’ll consider my offer,” she said, squeezing my hands just a bit harder than necessary. Her touch sent a familiar shiver rolling down mine spine.
Eris and I had known each other for a long time. A long, long time. We were different, opposites. As close to polar opposites as we could be. As such, we didn’t precisely get along. We didn’t typically bicker like children like some residents of Mount Olympus but we wished for opposing things, by nature alone. It had brought us to blows on more than one occasion.
But we had been friends at one time, long ago, in our infancy. We had grown close under our like natures. That was, until our abilities developed and we began to make world changing decisions without realizing. Our views clashed, as did our choices, leaving us bitter enemies, time and time again.
“We shall see,” I replied, tightening my own grip back. She winced, nearly imperceptible and released me. Stepping away and finding a seat at the table. A few others filtered in, many of lesser importance to our task and Zeus seated himself, eyes darting to the thrones around him.
“Hello, and welcome again to Mount Olympus,” he decreed with a chivalrous poker face. “As you all know, we have influenced Greece and Troy to take their troubles to war,” he called. Influenced, ha, funny. More like Eris pulling a prank on the vainest of them all, entrapping entire civilizations to retaliate upon one another, creating an all out war. But yes, Zeus, you “influenced” them.
I stayed silent, not voicing my complaints at his storytelling, gritting my teeth, and entirely unable to stop a room spinning eye roll. Zeus caught my eye, just for a moment, sparing me a disapproving glare.
Then, he continued. “As this has created some...discord,” he darted his eyes toward Eris, “amongst our number, we agreed to periodically allow a...soap box to our more opinionated members.” He made clear that he didn’t support this meetings so much as some others. In fact, I was surprised that he even showed up. He wasn’t known for his tolerance of differing opinions.
He gave long, knowing gazes to each person in attendance before continuing. “This is your time.” His eyes darted toward the entrance, still closed before flouncing back into his seat. I knew what his concern was because it was mine too. Where had all of those wolf people gone?
Zeus opened the floor, lounging back in his seat. A few of the lesser...beings rose minor complaints. This one’s temple had been trampled in the fighting, including a suspicious amount of sea life. He and Poseidon shared a string of explicit insults before Zeus took a vote if the council, Poseidon stabbed his hand into the air as though that would make him counted twice.
The council made clear that Poseidon was expected to replace the temple or provide the labor and funds. Poseidon crossed his arms over his chest, grumbling to himself.
Another woman aligned herself with Tera’s thoughts and demanded penance for the destruction reaped upon Mother Earth. She was berated relentlessly until she finally slammed her foot down and retreated from the room, near to tears.
It was a pity that all this power had gone to their heads. We had been kind before we considered ourselves to be above the humans. Things had most definitely changed since then.
Some of the complaints were valid, others were more petty. It was obvious that Zeus fought hard on some because they favored him. The others, he at least put forth a face. Yes, yes, I’m listening. I support your plight. They seemed to say. But he, like many of us, was anxious to move past this baseless collection of woes.
After most of the following had quie
ted, their concerns voiced, Zeus stood, asking for last statements. For a long moment, the room remained silent, watching him carefully. Then, a shared look dashed between Ares and Aphrodite, and they both leapt to their feet in unison.
“Zeus,” Ares rumbled, the growl rolling from his chest in a way that didn’t sound human anymore. “I think I speak for many of our following when I say that you have abused your power for the final time. Aphrodite and I have come across some of your...less appreciated creations, and I know that they would quite like to elicit their complaints.”
He waved a thick, meaty arm toward the double door entrance and they swung wide. In strode a dark-haired woman with raised hands, chanting. The creatures from before came swirling into the room around her, filling every blank space. There were snapping, drooling jaws lunging out at us, though the creatures maintained restraint. Some bore human appearances, their eyes glinting yellow. They restrained many of the four legged beings, keeping them from reaching any of our number. The taller, bulkier, upright fur covered beings shared the same yellow eyes and watched us warily from their positions along the outer walls.
The crowd became restless, whispers darting from one person to another. It created a zig-zag through the crowd, riling more with each call.
“What are these things?”
“What has Zeus done now?”
“What is happening?”
“Perhaps we shouldn’t have come.”
Their outrage grew until they leapt to their feet, accusing fingers stabbing in the direction of Zeus, Hera, and Athena. They all remained quiet, stoically still, just watching the chaos emerge. Poseidon slammed his trident on the marble floor, standing and joining the angry shouts of dismay.
Bodies were stirring, emotions rising, magick leaking into the room, unable to be contained when they weren’t in control of themselves. I could feel the tension rising, hairs stood up on the backs of our furry guests.
Zeus stood, participating in a shouting match with Poseidon. They screamed at one another, their words drowned out in the overall fury of the room. I could feel the tension escalating, as though it moved from the steady sway of the ocean, to a tumultuous roar of waves, slamming down those in its wake. More people stood, the room filling with bodies far too close together to be riddled with so much passion and rage.
Though I had been watching the mess begin, it took time for me to realize that a battle had begun. One of the four legged animals lurched at one of the lesser beings, slinging him against on of the outer marble walls. His body made a crunch on impact. The animal, as well as a few others of his kind, leapt onto the man where he fell, blood splattering the room in waves.
A blonde haired man a few seats from my own began to shake, his body vibrating in stuttering motions. His yellow eyes went wide, their color melding into a burnt orange. Fur broke out along patches down his arms and across his cheeks. His change wasn’t graceful. It wasn’t pleasant to watch, though I couldn’t look away. Another form ripped from him, breaking bones as they twisted into a new shape, until he was yet another four legged creature, surging after our kind, now panicked and leaping from their seats.
The new animals teeth sunk easily through the skin of the nearest bright eyed person, tearing her lower arm from her elbow with a quick shake of his head. My eyes went wide, watching the carnage erupting from within our ranks. He had dismembered her so easily. One quick head shake and her body was falling apart. I hadn’t known of creatures able to so easily pierce flesh other than our own.
My eyes sought Zeus, but he was completely lost to the blood lust in the room. Hera stood between he and Poseidon now, shoving her palms against each of their chests. Athena approached Poseidon from behind, lifting a cudgel high in her clutched fists and bringing it down on the back of his head with a crack. He went limp, falling into a puddle at her feet, lost to the roar of the room. I couldn’t see him anymore but Athena and Hera exchanged a look as Hera screamed back at Zeus, trying to calm him.
Ares and Aphrodite were abnormally calm now. They had moved closer together, her sitting on his lap and receiving hateful glares from Hephaestus who sat several thrones down. They whispered quietly as though they were a pair of lovestruck teenagers in the woods alone, not “gods” who led our council in the midst of a room filled with blood and wreckage.
Artemis shot a look at me, clenching her hand around her brother’s who had returned to the room before I had. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, her other fist crushing the edge of the table so hard that much of it had started to meld to the shape of her fingers. Do something, she shot to me mentally, and it felt as though an ethereal hand were pushing at my back.
Do something? What on earth could I do? Some of these beings were older than me, and I was entirely unsure how to handle these furry creatures. I had heard rumors of such things but hadn’t experienced them up to that point. They were able to injure our kind with discomforting ease.
I stood on the chair, shouting for someone, anyone to listen to me. My voice was lost to the roar, unable to be heard even by someone right beside me. I stepped up on the table, towering over the chaos but still unable to be heard. A few of my kind nearest me, gazed up, watching me with frightened eyes.
Okay, fine. We’ll do this the hard way.
I pulled at the air around me, feeling a furious electricity build in my bones. It whirled in my chest, sending my heartrate rocketing and pounding so hard that I could hear it in my ears over the incessant ache of noise. It built, filling my veins, down each arm and all through my body until I felt that I might explode from the tension. Then, I forced the power away from me, launching it from every pore and letting it rain down on the room.
The room shook, thunder crashing overhead. Nearly invisible blue motes of electricity buzzed in the air, over skin and fur, shaking their bodies with its touch. A blue-white light exploded from me, slamming into every figure in the room. As the light faded, the noise in the room was like a vacuum, being sucked away with it.
Hundreds of heads swiveled up to me, gaping. For a long moment, I felt filled with rage and shock and embarrassment, but I forced those feelings back down in my gut and stared back at each and every one of them.
“This is a disgrace!” I shrieked, and found that my voice didn’t sound like mine. At least not alone. It rang in triple register, as though three beings spoke as one. The people around me straightened up, watching me carefully. The man who had turned into a four legged beast stood up, his body completely barren of clothing but covered in blood.
I stomped my way down the table in one direction, watching them all, daring them to speak out against me, then I trampled down the other side, making sure they all saw me. “This is pitiful,” I cried, emphasizing the word that I found to describe them right at that moment. “You claim to be gods and this is how you purport yourself?”
Dozens of blank staring eyes blinked up at me. No one spoke. Even Zeus had frozen in his arguing, watching me. Hera stared, her eyes wide and Athena glared at me, her arms crossed over her chest.
“I know we all have our differences, but this is not how we settle them on Mount Olympus!” I cried, shooting daggers with my eyes.
The blonde man I had been watching perked up at that. His yellow eyes swiveled up to me. “On Mount Olympus,” he said with a scoff, looking around to make sure he had the onlookers attention before continuing. “In Lycanae, this is exactly how we settle our disputes,” he continued.
Several of the furry companions shrieked their agreement, creating a fervor in the room once more. I slammed my foot down on the tabletop, sending a shudder through the room and allowing some magick to run over those nearest me. Some of them grimaced, some shook with it, but they all recognized my power.
“For one,” I hissed, glaring at him, “you are not in Lycanae. You are guests in Mount Olympus. For another,” I flipped my gaze back to Ares and Aphrodite, “you may be powerful, but you are different than us. This is not how to exemplify your disputes, nor is this how t
o get your way. You will treat this house with respect,” I commanded, lifting a hand to indicate the building as a whole.
Silence.
“You will appoint one champion to your cause and they may declare your concerns and deal with the result of them. If there is a battle, they will be the one to solve it. If there are negotiations, they too will handle those. Maybe if we limit both parties, we will prevent needless bloodshed.” I pulled magick into me as I spoke, allowing a shadow twice my size to lift from behind me, casting my power across all those in the room.
They watched me carefully, cowed now.
At long last, the blonde man nodded. “You are correct. And as it is blood that we are here for, I will be the one to break the skin.” He looked at me, then up to Zeus who watched him warily now.
I turned to Zeus. “And you? As the other party in this dispute, who will be your champion?” Zeus’ eyes went wide. He didn’t like being put on the spot. I knew this. He liked to put people on the spot though.
They are not like us. They cannot reside here. You saw what they do. They aren’t stable. He rambled in his mind.
I nodded, glaring at him still. Choose, I commanded, waiting impatiently as indecision flashed across his face. He glanced at me, then Hera, then Artemis, Athena, and Apollo. His gaze lingered on Eris for a long moment, sitting on the other side of the table, watching the display gleefully. This was her atmosphere. Chaos.
“Harmonia,” Zeus began. I grimaced. “Sage,” he corrected, “Will you defend the gods in this plight?” He watched me, the beginnings of a smile on his lips. Damn you, Zeus. If I could slap you right now, I would. I had shown my alpha status by intervening, I couldn’t very well back down now. I allowed Zeus to “reign supreme” as it were. He took advantage of this far too often and only perpetuated the habit now.
I nodded stiffly, looking back down at the wolf man. “Aye,” I agreed through gritted teeth, “I will champion the gods.”
Zeus raised his hands, looking over the crowd. He grinned, his lips spreading from ear to ear in a cocky smile. “And see, like divine destiny, Sage will bring us harmony herself.”
