Architects_Sons of Olympus

by Helen J Perry

  "Here do you want to use my T-shirt as a towel?" Naked Nic offered held his cotton top at the end of his outstretched arm.

  There was no way to dry herself, but she refused Nic's offer of his T-shirt with a shake of her head. At least the season was warm. It seemed hotter in that other dimension, wherever they were, compared to Beaumont.

  Nic used the T-shirt to mop down himself. "It's no big mystery. We're both into girls much more than we're into guys. We just have fun together when there aren't women about."

  That made little sense to Jade, seeing as she'd just watched Karl give Nic a BJ when she was about. But she wasn't about to argue over semantics. After all, she'd found it incredibly erotic.

  From somewhere up above was a single trill of laughter.

  Jade looked up but saw nothing. "Did you hear that?"

  Karl frowned. "I did. I had the distinct feeling we were being watched from the moment we woke up."

  Nic looked around. "I hope you enjoyed that as much as we did," he said to whoever was out there. And although he spoke with confidence, he didn’t say it too loudly. "How are your hands, Jade?"

  Only then did Jade remember her injuries from the day before. She held up her hands. There was nothing untoward. Her hands looked perfect and all evidence of yesterday’s fall had completely disappeared.

  "You must be a quick healer," Karl noted, and he rubbed his hand over Jade’s knee. "No scratches here either. How’s your chest?"

  "It looked great from where I was sitting," Nic smirked. "Coated with a potent medicine."

  Perhaps it was the result of amazing sex, apart from blushing, Jade felt completely fine and not in the slightest bit bruised. "I’m fine."

  "How about we prioritize getting out of here?" asked Karl.

  "Good plan," Nic agreed.

  Jade wondered what had happened to Philip. They might have to see him if they were ever to get home. But the guys were right. They couldn't sit and wait indefinitely.

  When they were all dressed, both men moved closer to Jade, on either side. Without any words spoken there was a gravitational pull drawing them into a tight huddle, arms around each other’s waists.

  Jade kissed one man and then the other.

  What had begun as a group hug and quick, shared kisses took on a much longer life of its own. When she kissed one man, the other buried his face in her hair or nuzzled against her cheek or nibbled her ear.

  Passionate kisses with two men made her knees week. To stay standing, she drew strength from their tall, strong stature.

  She switched between the two guys until one time when she came up for air, breaking her kiss with Karl he turned and kissed Nic.

  For the briefest moment, Jade detected Nic tense with surprise, but it lasted a fraction of a second until he submitted to Karl’s mouth. Jade felt the men purr as they kissed with apparently as much passionate desire for each other as they had shown her.

  Jade wasn’t sure how she felt about that.

  Jealous? She thought she should feel jealous, but she didn’t.

  Aroused? She thought she shouldn’t find it erotic, but she did.

  Jade only hoped it was a kiss to usher in more times together—the three of them, not a kiss to say goodbye.

  Chapter Twelve

  When the men's kiss ended, Karl sprang back. Jade hoped he didn’t regret what had just happened. Before she could find out, she heard coughing behind her. She spun around to investigate.

  "Good morning Jade, and gentlemen." The man wore low slung blue jeans, sandals, and a brilliant white T-shirt. It had a small Greek temple depicted on it and it bore a slogan. Marble is a valuable building material and should not be taken for granite.

  Jade blushed.

  More composed than Jade, Karl and Nic both stepped forward.

  Karl held out a hand, "I’m Karl Smyth, and this is Nic Mason."

  Recovering from the shock, Jade blurted out, "This is Philip."

  Months earlier, or even the day before, Jade would have rushed to Philip and greeted him with a familiar hug. Now, however, she was wearing clothes she’d slept in, and she didn’t know how much he’d seen. Moreover, she hadn't cleaned her teeth, and even though she'd splashed herself with lake water, she didn't feel clean.

  Philip took Karl’s hand. "I’m pleased to meet any friend of Jade’s." He turned to Nic and shook his hand too. "I'm sorry I didn't make it here much sooner, I was far away. I'm delighted you two gentlemen were here to look after Jade."

  Jade blushed at the thought of Philip arriving a little sooner and how exactly those men had looked after her.

  Philip continued. "I’m sure Jade is perfectly capable of looking after herself, of course, nevertheless it's always better to have company. And I should know."

  "It’s good to see you, Philip." Finally, Jade stepped forward and embraced Philip hoping she didn’t smell too bad and wondering how much he saw. "I can't believe you've ever been alone."

  "Why can’t you believe it?"

  "Because you have one of those personalities that attracts people."

  "Thank you for saying so. And when I’m at leisure, that may be true, but since I last saw you I have been at work. Come with me. I’ll show you and feed you." He waved a hand to beckon them to follow and set off in the direction from which they’d come the previous day. "You can bathe too if you like. Come this way."

  Jade recalled the last time she'd walked anywhere with Philip. She had her arm linked through his. This time they walked closely, side by side.

  Nic stuck close to Jade, walking on one side of her, and Karl the other side of Philip.

  "Where are we?" Nic asked.

  Philip raised his hands in front of him. "Behold the Folly of King Minos."

  The four emerged from the cover of the trees on the opposite end of a grassy plain leading to the great hall of doors, which they had landed in the day before. It appeared from the outside as a complete and un-ruined ancient Greek temple.

  Dandelions with bright yellow heads dotted the field and swayed in the wind as if they were dancing. Jade didn’t doubt that they were.

  "King Minos? Not the guy with the minotaur?" asked Karl.

  "Yes, one and the same. But of more relevance to you and I, this folly is at the center of the Labyrinth built by Daedalus and renovated and maintained by yours truly."

  "Really?" Karl said.

  Philip raised one eyebrow as her looked at Karl. "Yes, really."

  "Do you think we can get back home if we go back through one of the corridors there?" Nic pointed to the distant hall.

  "I know you can," Philip replied. "But I hope you'll have time to stay with me awhile. I couldn’t get to you sooner as I was far from this place when you arrived yesterday."

  "We got here through the Labyrinth? It really exists?" It was more thinking aloud than an actual question. Since her best friend went to live with Spartans, Jade had read up on many of the ancient Greek myths. She couldn't remember the who or why relevant to the mythical construction, but she knew its story as the home of the minotaur and a maze where people would be lost forever.

  "Yes, it exists. Parts had fallen into disrepair, so I've been working on it of late to make it fit for the twenty-first century. I’ve strengthened tunnels, filled in old ones, and construct new passages. The entrances should correspond with all the interfaces between dimensions. People with permission can traverse through the Labyrinth and get where they want to go. One minute you are in America, a few minutes later you'll have traveled to Greece, or Sparta, or Olympus."

  "Is that something to do with the hyperloop?" Nic asked.

  Philip looked blank.

  "I didn't think they'd actually built any hyperloop just yet, Nic. The Labyrinth was an underground maze built by an ancient Greek King, people would get lost in there. And he owned a monster minotaur, half man half bull I seem to recall," Karl explained.

  Even though it must have still been early, the sun was high and strong. It was hot. As they drew nearer
to the building, Jade was relieved to see a picnic set out on a table shaded by olive trees.

  "Come, sit and eat." He waved them to the table. "There are still problems with the Labyrinth even though I’ve upgraded it with help from Hephaestus and using some of Archimedes ingenuity."

  "Why? What's wrong?" Jade took a seat next to Nic and opposite Philip.

  Karl sat opposite Nic.

  "I don’t see it Jade, but you have the brooch with you?" Philip picked up a stone pitcher as he spoke and filled four glasses with a cloudy liquid.

  "Yes." From her pocket, Jade pulled out the small intricate brooch that Philip had given her many months earlier and laid it down on the wooden table. For some reason, the whole time she'd been back in Beaumont she'd carried it with her. She couldn’t explain why, it didn’t appear to be of great value, but she felt it was important.

  "You must keep it safe. When you enter the Labyrinth, it will bring you straight here. All paths pass through here."

  "Like one central gateway?" Jade picked up her glass. One sip of the refreshing lemonade made her realize how thirsty she was and she gulped down more of the first drink of the day. Her companions did the same.

  "Exactly. From here you may go wherever you want. That brooch is like a ticket, allowing you to access all areas." Philip waved his hand above the food. "Please, everyone, eat."

  They all acted on the instruction and filled their empty plates with flatbreads, fruit, and jelly of various colors. For a few minutes, they ate hungrily and in silence.

  Nic held a strawberry in front of his mouth. "You said you are having problems?"

  Philip nodded and swallowed. "By connecting the Labyrinth to all the crossing places that bridge the dimensions, the gods hope to reduce the number who pass through without permission, or accidentally drop through. It hasn't been as straightforward as we'd have liked."

  "So people won't just run through a whole lot of dimensions like Brenna did when she was walking around Beaumont?" Jade asked.

  "That's right. But some months ago the minotaur escaped and almost killed the King of the Corax. Jasper led a team of Spartans who arrived just in time to recapture the creature. We're not sure if it was an accident or part of some malevolent plot. We know rebel Corax have been using it as an underground route, to avoid detection." Philip picked up his glass and took a swig.

  Karl had been listening intently. "These Corax? What are they?"

  "An ancient race blessed by the gods. They are people who have the ability to transform into ravens. And that's how they avoid detection. They fly through the tunnels. We didn't think of that when we placed weight sensors beneath the floor." Philip grinned and replaced his glass on the table. "Hephaestus thought it such a good idea, and we celebrated the plan for weeks. Dionysus turned up with his entourage, so it was quite a party."

  Philip stared at Jade as if remembering something. "Let's just say the wine flowed freely for quite a while. It only ended when Hephaestus remembered he was married, and his wife didn't have another lover at that time."

  "How do you forget your wife?" she asked.

  "That is a particularly good question, especially when she's the beautiful goddess, Aphrodite. But the gods aren't known for fidelity. It may be to do with being alive for thousands of years."

  "Is Brenna safe? My friend Brenna is a Corax princess," Jade explained for the benefit of Karl and Nic. "Tell us about these rebels."

  "I think Brenna is perfectly safe, Jade. You needn’t worry. It's just a minority of the Corax, and their real grudge is against the Olympian gods who turned some of them into ravens. The Gods aren’t always good, and sometimes we are very bad. There’s a lot of resentment harbored against us."

  Nic looked incredulous and dropped the remains of his bread back on to his plate. "Us? You're saying you're a god?"

  "In all ways, yes." Philip's eyes sparkled. He licked his lips and looked at Nic.

  The answer came as no surprise to Jade. She didn't think of Philip as a god who was thousands of years old. He appeared to be in his mid-twenties and, for the most part, he behaved and spoke like a man in his twenties too. He was a flirt, like herself, who was also partial to androgynous unisex clothing.

  "I'm a grandchild of Hephaestus and grand architect. In your language, you'd say chief builder." Philip picked up the brooch. "Among other things, the Labyrinth offers a direct route to Olympus, the home of the gods. Gods and demigods can enter and pass through the Labyrinth. Anyone else must bear a passkey like this one made by Hephaestus." He handed the brooch to Nic.

  "We're builders, too," Nic mumbled as he took the brooch.

  "There is a demand for those passes. Professional thieves are attempting to track these down and acquire them, so, Jade, it must be kept safe."

  When Philip had given her the brooch made of finely woven strands of metal, many months earlier, he'd said nothing of its importance. She'd assumed it was of no value at all.

  "Thieves like Autolycus? Is that why he's been asking after me?" Jade also remembered Autolycus had once been caught attempting to steal jewelry from Lauren's house.

  Philip smiled. "He doesn't know you have a passkey, Jade. I asked him to look for you and bring you here because I left Sparta in a hurry to attend to problems. I didn't want to leave things that way between us. I didn't want you to think I'm the sort of god who just disappears the next day."

  Jade said nothing. That comment must have made it pretty clear to Karl and Nic what happened the last time she saw Philip.

  Awkward.

  She bit into a juicy peach so she didn't have to comment. She wondered why Philip wanted her there and whether she should tell him Autolycus didn't actually bring her.

  Whatever Philip had to say, it might be best left unsaid.

  The last time she'd seen him, they'd done something very similar to what she'd just done with the guys that morning. She liked Philip, but thought it was a one off and he didn't want to see her again. Especially as he had disappeared without a word shortly afterward.

  The fact that he hadn't just run off, but had sent Autolycus to find her, changed the way she viewed their last meeting. Added to which, she found the gift Philip had given her was something far more special than she had realized.

  Nic turned the brooch over in his hand. At little more than an inch in diameter, it appeared tiny between his fingers. "So we can get back home with Jade because she has the passkey."

  Philip nodded. "You can. You can leave when you are ready, but I hope you will stay a little longer. Please eat up Karl." He pushed the platter piled high with flatbreads in Karl's direction.

  Even though they'd all tucked into the food, there was still plenty on the table.

  "What will the Spartans do if they don’t have to protect the weak spots between dimensions?" asked Jade.

  "We'll still need them to protect the entrances to the Labyrinth. The secure network should only mean less stray monsters to catch. It won’t eliminate all transgressions. And we are taking other steps, too," Philip cast a sideways glance at Nic and Karl.

  "How?" Nic asked, placing the broach on the table in front of Jade.

  "With the help of demigods working in your world."

  "I know you already said, but it's a lot to take in, what do you mean by demigods?" Karl pushed his plate away and rested his elbows on the table.

  "Demigods are mortals born from the union of a human parent with a god. On rare occasions, the grandchild of a god becomes a demigod. Occasionally a hero among men and women will be a demigod. As demigods, they may have great powerful abilities or none at all. The gods have been working with demigods throughout history."

  Jade had heard this before, but it still seemed baffling to her. How an ordinary person like herself might have a god in the family. She couldn't imagine what Nic and Karl made of the explanation.

  "I have, of course, kept an eye on the piece of land at Beaumont since my agent went to purchase it through your company. We gods thought it best, as times a
re changing, if we owned and controlled some land in your world. Unfortunately, some of the exits of the Labyrinth are in places that we can't buy. We were lucky with Beaumont."

  Karl looked shocked. "You're our client?" He shook his head in disbelief.

  "Well, not officially. It's not my name and address on the paperwork." Philip looked at Karl and then Nic. "Forgive me for not mentioning sooner, I recognized the two of you immediately."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Shortly after breakfast with Philip, the three mortals set off along one of the corridors, leaving the architect god behind in the great hall.

  The lights turned on as soon as Jade stepped into the passageway. She walked along flanked by Nic and Karl, and they stopped at the first door they came to.

  There was no door handle. She pushed, hesitantly, and it opened.

  On the other side, a forest with ancient, gnarled trees awaited them—the familiar mortal realm of Beaumont woods. Home.

  "Home!" Jade cried. She grinned. "That’s home!"

  "Then let’s go." Nic squeezed her hand. "Before this dimension changes its mind."

  On instinct, Jade leaned over and kissed his cheek and then laughed. It reverberated in her chest and rattled her ribs. She stepped forward, through the door, pulling Karl and Nic behind her.

  Once they were through the doorway, the door closed. It disappeared out of existence in a flash.

  Karl blinked rapidly several times over as he stepped into a space where a bright shaft of light slipped between the trees. "Do you know the way from here? The way back to the construction site?"

  Jade winked. "I’ll give it my best shot. C’mon. Follow me."

  Karl took hold of her hand and tugged her toward him. "Before we go, I want to talk to you about something."

  Nic also stepped closer and put a possessive arm around Jade's shoulder. She liked it.

  "Um." Jade cocked her head to the side. She looked at Karl curiously. "Okay."

  "I wanted to set the record straight before we get back to the real world. I want you to know that there's no development project. We're not going to tear down trees. You heard the client back there; my job is to do all I can to protect this area instead."