Simply the Quest

by Maz Evans

  ‘Thanks,’ said Elliot weakly as Aphrodite took his other hand.

  ‘And we will do anything we can to support you,’ said the Goddess of Love. ‘Absolutely anything.’

  ‘All we’re trying to say,’ said Zeus, ‘is that perhaps it’s time your mum had some . . . other help. To make life easier for you both.’

  ‘OK,’ said Elliot eagerly. ‘Who do you know? Do immortals have a medicine or something?’

  ‘We don’t,’ said Zeus quietly. ‘But mortal doctors might.’

  The sentence hung in the air like a smouldering gunshot.

  ‘Mortal doctors?’ said Elliot finally. ‘You want me to take her to the doctor?’

  ‘We’re just asking you to think about it, that’s all,’ said Aphrodite. ‘They might be able to help you.’

  ‘Help us?’ said Elliot, standing up and shaking his hands free of the Goddesses. ‘By taking her away? By taking me away? You think that’s going to help us?’

  ‘Boom! My point entirely,’ huffed Hermes. ‘J-Hoops belongs here with us. We can care for her better than total strangers.’

  ‘That’s not the only alternative,’ snapped Athene.

  ‘And we would never let that happen,’ said Aphrodite. ‘We’re your family . . .’

  ‘YOU AREN’T ANYTHING TO ME!’ shouted Elliot. ‘I DON’T HAVE A FAMILY. I DON’T HAVE ANYONE!’

  ‘That’s just not true, Elliot,’ said Zeus, coming over to him. ‘You have us. You’ll always have us.’

  ‘Until you get your hands on the Chaos Stones!’ said Elliot, yanking open his father’s watch, revealing the Earth and Air Stones inside. ‘You’re just using me to get to these! Well, go on then! Take them! I don’t even care any more!’

  ‘Listen, mate,’ said Hermes, flying over to him, ‘you are way off-base. That’s not it at all. Seriously.’

  ‘It’s you we want to help,’ said Athene. ‘We swear it.’

  ‘You’re so angry, Elly,’ said Aphrodite. ‘Please tell us what’s wrong.’

  ‘Everything!’ shouted Elliot. ‘Everything is wrong! I just want it to stop!’

  ‘No one can do that,’ said Zeus. ‘The best we can do is help you to make the right choices for you. And for your mother.’

  ‘So that’s it, is it?’ said Elliot. ‘That’s your “help”?’

  ‘It’s all we have,’ said Zeus softly.

  ‘Fine,’ said Elliot, storming up the stairs. It was crystal clear to him now. If the Gods couldn’t help him, he needed the one person who could.

  In his room he rummaged through his satchel until he found the piece of parchment Thanatos had given him in Tartarus. He grabbed a pen and scrawled all over it. He folded the parchment and threw his words out of the window. Elliot watched with ragged breaths as they twisted and turned up into the night sky.

  Meet me at 4 a.m. at Stonehenge.

  We have a deal.

  29. The Mother of All Dilemmas

  It had become normal for Virgo to get hungry in the middle of the night. This made perfect sense to her – in order for her to sleep for as long as she required, she needed fuel. Her research had told her that many of Earth’s animals and all of its teenagers behaved in a similar fashion.

  So in the depths of the night she was in the kitchen preparing a light snack of ham, cheese, lettuce, pickles and mayonnaise between two slices of bread – twice – when something caught her eye out of the window.

  It was Elliot, fully dressed, heading out of the farm. Where was he going at this hour?

  The Gods had stressed the importance of Elliot having time to himself to process a difficult few days. So she pulled on a coat and wellies and decided to follow him, in order to ensure he was quite alone.

  With nothing to guide her but the light from Elliot’s torch, Virgo struggled to keep sufficient distance to avoid discovery, while keeping close enough to see where he was going. At one point, Elliot appeared to sense he was being followed and turned around. Virgo ducked into the long grass to avoid detection. For the first time, she was grateful that her silver hair hadn’t yet returned.

  They came to the river and progressed silently along its bank. After a short distance, a familiar set of shapes loomed out of the gloom. They were at the stone circle – Stonehenge, the mortals called it. Why on Earth—?

  ‘What are you doing here?’ hissed Elliot, turning suddenly and shining the torch straight in her face. ‘It’s nearly four in the morning – go back to the farm!’

  ‘Where are you going?’

  ‘Nowhere – it’s none of your business.’

  Ah. The code.

  ‘I will not,’ huffed Virgo. ‘And unless you tell me where you’re going, I’ll go and inform the Gods that you—’

  ‘Don’t you dare,’ seethed Elliot, lifting his fist sharply behind him.

  Virgo felt a most unpleasant sensation, as if her heart were about to explode. She shielded her face with her arms as a strange squeal escaped her throat.

  For a moment, nothing happened. She dared to peek out from her hands. Elliot had apparently seen a ghost.

  ‘Virgo,’ said Elliot shakily. ‘I’m sorry – I would never . . .’

  ‘Now, now, children – play nicely,’ said a horribly familiar voice.

  The Daemon of Death emerged from the shadows.

  ‘Thanatos!’ cried Virgo, grabbing Elliot’s arm. ‘Come on, Elliot – run!’

  But Elliot stayed rooted to the spot.

  ‘I told you,’ he said quietly. ‘Go home, this isn’t your problem.’

  ‘You heard the gentleman,’ said Thanatos. ‘Go.’

  Virgo considered her options. If she remained, she would almost certainly be eliminated. She was unarmed, mortal and wearing pink pyjamas.

  ‘Discretion is the better part of valour,’ Sagittarius had once told her. Broadly, she understood this to mean, ‘Think before you do something sub-optimal’. She couldn’t assist Elliot here. But she could help in another way.

  ‘All right,’ she said, withdrawing slowly from the stone circle. ‘As you wish.’

  She walked slowly across the field until she was out of sight, then ran as fast as she could back towards Home Farm.

  ‘So here we are again,’ said Thanatos. ‘I can’t say I care for your choice of venue.’

  Elliot pulled his coat closer against the cold, dark air. He couldn’t stop shivering. And not just because of the cold.

  ‘Last time I came to your place, you tried to kill me with Lethe water,’ he said. ‘It didn’t work out so well for me.’

  ‘Fair point. But you trapped me beneath several tonnes of stalactites,’ sighed Thanatos. ‘So me neither.’ The Daemon began to walk slowly around the stone circle.

  ‘So you’ve decided to accept my offer?’ he said. ‘I’m delighted, of course.’

  ‘First you heal Mum,’ said Elliot. ‘I want to see her, healthy and well. Then you get your stones.’

  ‘I like to think I’m an efficient man,’ said Thanatos, continuing his slow circuit. ‘So I predicted you would say that. In order to hasten our arrangement, I took the liberty of delivering my side of the bargain.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ said Elliot. ‘How could you—?’

  ‘Elliot?’

  Elliot’s breath caught in his throat. That sounded exactly like . . .

  Josie stepped into the circle. She was smiling, alert, wearing fresh clothes . . . she looked as good as new.

  ‘Mum?’ gasped Elliot. ‘How did you get here?’

  ‘He did it, Elliot,’ said Josie, smiling at Thanatos. ‘He did it. He cured me.’

  ‘What?’ said Elliot, looking at his mother’s untroubled face.

  ‘I thought we had an arrangement,’ said Thanatos. ‘So when I found your mother wandering out of the gate – some care your friends take of her – I took her to my Daemons. She’s as good as new.’

  ‘It’s done. Give him what he wants, Elliot,’ beamed Josie, beckoning to him. ‘Give him the stones, tell him where
the others are and let’s go home.’

  Elliot ran towards his mother’s outstretched arms. It was true. Thanatos had given her back. She was—

  ‘Stay right where you are, E,’ said a voice above his head.

  Elliot looked up into the dark night sky. Floating down to Earth was Hermes, with Elliot’s satchel slung over his shoulder. And he was pointing Hercules’s Hydra bow straight at Josie.

  ‘I knew it!’ Elliot shouted at Hermes. ‘I knew I couldn’t trust you!’

  ‘Come, Elliot,’ urged Josie. ‘Please?’

  ‘I’m telling you, E, stay put,’ said Hermes, his eyes not moving from Josie’s. ‘That ain’t your mum.’

  A breathless Virgo panted up the hill.

  ‘I might have known you’d betray me,’ Elliot spat at her.

  ‘You’re not optimal, Elliot,’ said Virgo quietly. ‘You need help.’

  Help. He hated that word.

  ‘Come over here, Elliot,’ said Josie. ‘I can keep you safe.’

  Elliot took a faltering step towards his mother.

  ‘Just a few steps,’ said Josie. ‘Just a few steps and we’ll have you safe.’

  Elliot took another trance-like step. It was Mum. She was well again. They could have their life back. They could have each other back. They’d finally have all those ‘one days’ . . .

  ‘I’m sorry, mate,’ said Hermes, drawing the bow. ‘But I can’t let you do this.’

  ‘Elliot?’ pleaded Virgo, running to his side. ‘Come away. We’re trying to help you.’

  ‘I said LEAVE ME ALONE!’ shouted Elliot, giving Virgo an almighty shove. The force of his anger sent her flying across the grass, straight into a nearby stone.

  ‘Ow!’ Virgo put a hand to her head. When she brought it back down, Elliot saw it was covered in blood.

  ‘What . . .?’ she whispered.

  ‘Virgo – I . . .’ Elliot stammered.

  ‘Who are you?’ said Hermes to Josie. ‘Babe. Tell me now, or – not being funny – I’m gonna fill your veins with Hydra blood.’

  ‘What . . . I don’t . . . Elliot?’ said Josie.

  ‘Drop the act,’ said Hermes coldly.

  ‘Stop it,’ said Elliot. ‘You’re scaring her.’

  ‘You can trust me, bruv,’ said Hermes. ‘I promise.’

  ‘How touching,’ said Thanatos. ‘So you’ve told him about the prophecy? The Daemon you place in the shackles of iron needs a young mortal child with the heart of a lion . . .’

  ‘What’s he talking about?’ said Elliot.

  ‘The child can’t die from a terrible deed by the hands of the Daemon he generously freed . . .’

  ‘Oh, shuuut up,’ scowled Hermes.

  ‘But now he could claim the power Death owns and conquer the world with the help of four stones . . .’

  ‘Conquer the world? What?’ Elliot demanded.

  ‘Nothing,’ said Hermes, not taking his hate-filled eyes off Thanatos. ‘Ignore him, mate.’

  ‘Then ignore the truth!’ said Thanatos. ‘Ignore your destiny! They know, Elliot – they know how powerful you are! They know that with the stones you will be more powerful than them!’

  ‘Elliot, he’s trying to corrupt you – this is what Daemons do,’ said Virgo groggily. ‘Don’t listen to him . . .’

  ‘Corrupt him!’ laughed Thanatos. ‘I’m trying to enlighten him. After all, if it were my destiny to rule the world, I think I’d want to know.’

  ‘Hermes?!’ Elliot cried.

  ‘It’s complicated, mate . . .’ said Hermes. ‘Is it true?’ Elliot asked the Messenger God. ‘About the prophecy?’

  Hermes looked desperately at his friend. ‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry, mate. It is.’

  ‘Why does everybody keep LYING TO ME!’ raged Elliot, pulling out his watch and holding it over his head. The Earth and Air Stones stored in the watch started to glow, before shooting out their incandescent beams, twisting together to form a ray of sparkling green light.

  ‘Yes, Elliot – yes!’ said Thanatos. ‘Use your powers! Use them to free yourself!’

  ‘Elliot,’ said Virgo nervously. ‘You need to proceed with extreme caution . . .’

  Elliot looked from Thanatos to his friends. Even he didn’t know what he was going to do. This was an impossible choice. Just like his dad’s.

  No one moved an inch.

  ‘Elliot. Mate. Listen to me,’ said Hermes quietly. ‘I get it, truly I do. You have every right to be mad. But this is not the way—’

  ‘More lies!’ roared Thanatos. ‘Listen to me, Elliot. I speak the truth!’

  ‘Here is the truth,’ said Hermes. ‘You belong at home with us and your mum. We’ll take care of you, Elliot. I swear it on the Styx.’

  ‘How can I trust you?’ said Elliot. ‘How can I trust a word anyone says?’

  ‘Because we love you, mate,’ said Hermes. ‘We can protect you. You and J-Hoops. You need us.’

  ‘You won’t need them,’ laughed Thanatos. ‘You’ll rule the world! You’ll have power! You’ll have control! You’ll have . . .’

  ‘You’ll have me, Elliot,’ said Josie.

  ‘You’ll have to the count of three,’ said Hermes, turning his bow back on Josie. ‘One . . .’

  ‘No, please!’ screamed Josie, running towards the Heel Stone. Hermes advanced with the weapon. ‘Elliot!’

  ‘Hermes!’ shouted Elliot. ‘You can’t do this—’

  ‘Two . . .’ said Hermes, squinting down the arrow to take aim.

  ‘Please, help me!’ shouted Josie as Hermes drew back the bow.

  ‘Three.’

  Hermes loosed the arrow from the bow.

  ‘NOOOOOOOO!’ shouted Elliot, pointing the beam of light at the arrow. The Air Stone filled the night with a green blaze. ‘BLOW!’

  From nowhere, an almighty gust of wind blew through Stonehenge, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Elliot watched the magical arrow slice through the air towards his mother, determined to find its mark despite the gale.

  ‘BLOW!’ he commanded, struggling to stand against the wind as the empowering force of the Chaos Stone surged through his body from the soles of his feet to the tips of his fingers. ‘BLOW!’

  The arrow started to slow and waver.

  ‘BLOW!’ said Elliot maniacally.

  Inches from Josie’s heart, the arrow stopped in mid-air. The enchanted wind was too strong for it. At the last instant, it was blown off course, flying straight up into the air before looping back and seeking out a new target.

  Hermes.

  Overcome with rage, Elliot pointed the Air Stone at Hermes, directing the deadly arrow towards the Messenger God, who dropped the bow and held his hands up in surrender.

  ‘You could have killed her!’ shouted Elliot.

  ‘Mate – if I’m wrong, you have every right,’ yelled Hermes quickly, watching the arrow quiver at his chest. ‘But before you do, ask her something. Something that no one else could possibly know.’

  Elliot stared into Hermes’s sincere face. He felt his anger begin to subside.

  ‘Please, bruv,’ said Hermes. ‘Just ask.’

  Elliot looked from Hermes to his mother. He needed to prove him wrong.

  ‘Sing them our song,’ he said at last.

  ‘Which song, baby?’ smiled Josie.

  ‘You know the one,’ he said.

  ‘Elliot – I’m so confused,’ said Josie pulling her hair. ‘Who are these people?’

  ‘You just said you were cured,’ said Elliot, turning to face her. ‘Mum? Just sing the song.’

  ‘It’s all such a blur, Elliot,’ said Josie. ‘I just don’t . . .’

  ‘Why do you keep calling me Elliot? You call me Elly . . . Mum?’ said Elliot, staring more intently at the figure shuddering against the Heel Stone. He lowered the Air Stone. The Hydra arrow dropped to the grass. Hermes breathed a slow sigh of relief.

  ‘Busted,’ said Thanatos, and Josie’s face immediately darkened with an evil grimace. She
stood upright and stared defiantly at Elliot.

  ‘You’re not my mum,’ he said.

  ‘True,’ said Thanatos as a dark cloud encircled Josie’s body. ‘But she is mine.’

  When the dark cloud cleared, it revealed the fearsome figure of Nyx.

  ‘Hello again,’ she smiled. ‘Elly.’

  ‘You disgusting, filthy—’ Elliot charged at Thanatos, but was repelled by the force that always prevented their touch. He scrambled to his feet, ready for another attack, but was quickly scooped up by Hermes.

  ‘Don’t play into their hands, mate,’ said the Messenger God, grabbing Virgo and taking flight. ‘Let’s just get you home. They’ll keep.’

  ‘Put them down,’ said Nyx behind them.

  ‘Yeah, babe, whatevs,’ said Hermes. ‘See ya.’

  ‘Hermes,’ said Virgo, tugging on his sleeve. ‘You might want to pay attention . . .’

  ‘Elly?’

  The cry fast-tracked to the part of Elliot’s brain that told him his mum needed help. He turned back. There, shivering in the stone circle, was Mum. This time his heart knew it was her. His whole body froze.

  ‘Given the nature of our negotiations thus far, you’ll forgive me for taking out a small insurance policy this time,’ said Thanatos.

  ‘Elly?’ said Josie. ‘Elly, what’s going on?’

  ‘How did you . . . It’s OK, Mum, everything’s OK,’ Elliot said as Hermes touched lightly back down.

  ‘Your mother really will do anything for you,’ said Thanatos, as a new plume of smoke surrounded Nyx. When it cleared, she was the exact replica of Elliot.

  ‘Elly!’ said Josie with a smile.

  ‘Let’s go to Stonehenge, Mum!’ said Nyx with Elliot’s voice. ‘Let’s go on a night-time adventure! Just come with me, Mum!’

  Elliot felt as if he were going to faint. They’d got Mum. They’d won.

  ‘Now,’ said Nyx, reforming as herself and looking up into the sky as the darkness started to lift. ‘I’m tired of this. Let’s move it along.’

  She picked up the bow and Hydra arrow and aimed it at Josie.

  ‘You will hand over the stones. You will tell us where the other two are. Or you can kiss your mummy goodbye.’

  Elliot held out the watch. ‘Take them,’ he said ‘I’ll tell you anything you want. Just, please, don’t hurt her . . .’