by S. E. Babin
"And you are better?" I questioned.
He grinned then, his teeth a bright flash of white against the darkness of his skin. "You left yourself wide open there, but I'll answer fair. I am no king. I have no throne, no true power over people, no real domain. I am a god of strategy and strife. I merely navigate people to ensure victory. Typhon and Hermes both are Zeus' sons and he means for one of them to win. He would prefer Typhon as a way to get closer to the Titans, but Hermes would suffice as well. He means war and ultimate power and he does not care how he does it." He took his plate back to the table and sat. "I have to admit I didn't see the Titan parentage coming, nor the Hecate though." He chuckled. "That's a doozy right there. But everything makes more sense now. He means to have you one way or the other."
I had to agree with him. "But what if I win?"
"Oh, Abby," he chuckled. "Do you really thing that's going to happen?"
His laughter made me bristle. "When have I lost?" I asked him.
At that, the amusement fell away from him. "Every. Single. Time."
I started to argue but frowned instead and really thought about his words. I realized he was right. In the beginning, I'd lost my freedom. Later I'd lost friends. Lovers. Homes. Possessions. Powers. Relationships.
My lower lip wobbled.
"Do not cry, Aphrodite," Ares advised. "Is it so hard to yield just this once to avoid losing everything again?"
Hermes' voice was a sharp crack. "Do not yield. All of those losses will end in something better. Even though it might feel like your heart breaks and your spirit weeps, do not allow the serpent to whisper suggestions in your ears when you feel weak."
Ares bristled a little at being called a serpent, but he knew he had me thinking. Would it be so terrible to yield to this if it meant that no one I loved had to suffer anymore? Would marrying Typhon or Hermes be so terrible?
"Abby." Artemis pulled me over and made room for me to sit beside her. "We are here because we want to be here. Not because you are forcing us to be. We will fight because that's what we do for the people we love."
"I'm tired of fighting," I whispered, feeling more defeated than I ever had before.
She reached over and squeezed my hand. "There is an end to everything. This too shall pass."
Clotho sighed. "I know what you want to do and what your heart is pulling you to do. No great battles have been won by giving up, Aphrodite. No wars have resulted in victory by sitting idly by and allowing someone else to pull the strings." Her eyes swirled with silver prophecy. "If you do not fight now, everyone you love will lose later."
I pushed my plate away, made some quiet excuses, and blinked out of my kitchen.
I stood in front of Hades with my heart on my sleeve. Not literally, because that would be weird and not to mention super gross, but I was there with all the love I held for him shining in my eyes.
"I have no idea what to do," I whispered to him.
I knew he was still angry at me. I couldn't blame him for it. But I knew he loved me, maybe more than I'd ever had the right to be loved. He took the few steps over to me, gathered me into his arms and held me while I cried.
He stroked my hair, whispered words of encouragement and kissed my tears away. "I cannot offer you the advice you wish to hear, Aphrodite. This is no easy situation. If you lose, you lose everything."
The unspoken words remained. Even me.
I would lose Hades. I would lose everyone. I would once again place myself under Zeus' power.
Could I do that to save everyone? Or did it even matter? Zeus was planning a war. Even if I yielded, would it save anyone anyway? War was never an easy thing.
But if I was destined to bring everyone together, how would I do it? How would I bring peace to people who didn't want peace? People who were so dependent upon their egos and thirst for power they never looked to see how everyone else felt?
It was extraordinarily unfair, yet so common.
Zeus wasn't even back in power yet, but he still pulled all of our strings like a master. He was not yet the king, but he was the father of the king, and those who wanted to see Hermes fall still listened to Zeus' whispers and worked to destroy Hermes through lies.
If I yielded, I would be setting a precedent for all the goddesses in Olympus. When our backs were pressed against the wall and we were faced with two shitty decisions, we gave up.
With fear in my heart, I tilted my face up to look at Hades. To show him everything I felt for him.
"I will fight," I whispered. "And if the gods are willing, I will come back to you."
Hades swept me into his arms.
"You will come back to me," he whispered fiercely as he carried me down the hall.
No more words were needed for awhile after that.
Chapter 17
I was back home deliciously sore and ravenous. I never touched my dinner the night before and I made up for it the next morning by making an enormous bowl of pancake batter and defrosting two packs of the sacred pig of North Carolina.
The first shouts of "Bacon!" came to my ears mere moments after I put the meat in the pan and it began to sizzle
Thundering footsteps came down the stairs and Atlas was first in the kitchen. His enormous body was clad in a white t-shirt and navy blue sweatpants and he looked just about as delicious as the bacon sizzling right next to me.
However, as everyone else came downstairs, I was surprised to see Ares and Typhon both still here. I frowned at them, but they both just grinned at me like this was a totally normal occurrence.
I guess it was a good thing I'd made so much food then. We were going to need it.
Hermes took over the bacon allowing me to flip what felt like 5,000 pancakes. Clotho got down the maple syrup and butter, and Artie set the table. It felt like the gang was all back together again. Sort of. In 24 hours some of us would be trying to kill each other, but in our world, that was just par for the course.
We sat down and ate a civilized breakfast, and at the end of it, I cleared my throat.
Typhon interrupted me before I could speak, "Darling, we already know you're going to fight." He winked a gorgeous green eye at me and snagged a lonely piece of bacon from Artie's place. She tried to stab him with her fork, but he was too quick.
I nodded. "I won't be used."
Ares shook his head. "You've been used from the moment you've stepped back into Olympus," he said.
I nodded. "I have. And it stops. Now."
"Well, tomorrow," Clotho said.
I sighed. She was way too literal sometimes. "Yes," I clarified.
"And then what?" Atlas mumbled through a mouth of pancake.
I shrugged. "And then I make my own decisions. I'll be free."
"I swear. You make it sound like you're so suppressed," Ares said as he sipped his orange juice.
I was about to light him up for that comment, but he winked at me and snorted with laughter. "So touchy these days, Abby."
"Typhon?"
"Mmm?' he answered, still chewing his pig.
"What will happen if I win?"
He shrugged. "Now that I know my diabolical father's schemes, I expect I'll visit my mother."
What he didn't say was war was inevitable. Gaia was aligned with the Titans. She had numerous Titan children and wouldn't stand idly by while Zeus tried to destroy them to make his the only power base.
Well. Sort of. There was still one major power base to think of.
But I couldn't imagine Zeus would want to take the Christian god on. He'd have to be insane to try to do both things at once. Plus, he was the kind of guy who would wait for a long time to get revenge about something.
It wasn't a thing I could worry about right now.
"What's your plan, Abs?" Ares asked me.
I blinked, set my fork down, and stared at him. "Are you even serious right now?"
Ares flicked his fingers at me. "That's all in the past. This is now. What is your plan now?"
Artie casually picked up
one of the extra pancakes and flipped it at him. It struck him in the face and flopped into his lap. He picked it up, a sneer of distaste on his pretty face. "Cute," he said to her.
"Why should she tell you anything?" Artie demanded. "You've done nothing but screw her over."
Welllll....he hadn't exactly. Kind of a little, but not all the time. I realized I neglected to tell Artemis he was the one who got us out of the dungeons. Ares turned and one eyebrow went up, slow and annoying like. His expression was one of aggravation but not of surprise.
"Errrmmm," I said.
Ares sighed. "Abby has neglected to tell you some things. While I am not surprised by this news, I don't have the time to hash it all out for you. Yes, I've done some...questionable things."
Hermes chuckled in amusement as he gulped down his juice.
Ares took a moment to send him a dirty look then continued. "But I've done them all in a way that not only saved Abby's skin but my own."
Artie turned her strange new eyes to me. "Is he telling the truth?"
I nodded. "It does not mean I trust him, though."
He clapped a hand to his heart. "You wound me, Aphrodite."
"And why in the world would I tell you anything when you're scheduled to try to win my hand?" The gall of these people was serious.
His expression sobered. All of the amusement dropped off of it and he looked at me with an intensity I'd never seen before. "You are all that is standing between Olympus and war, Abby. Win or lose, we all suffer. You are not using all of your advantages. Don't you remember who I am?" His last statement wasn't one of arrogance. It was one of truth.
He was right.
"You will use this against me." It wasn't a question.
He shrugged. "I am the God of War. There is no one else more adept at strategy. No one else who could maneuver you in such a way to give you at least a little hope."
"I do have hope," I muttered. "You people are the Eeyore of the Olympians. Seriously."
Ares shook his head. "Your hope is made of fumes that will evaporate as soon as you walk in and see the scale of this. You need experience. You need skill." He leaned forward. "You need me."
Typhon had said nothing this entire time, but his face was contemplative.
"Typhon?"
One tanned shoulder shrugged. "We both know you don't want to marry me. As sad as that makes me, I am still required to put on a convincing show." He tugged at his ear. "But, I also no longer want to be a tool of my father's. Especially with this new information. I say if Ares is willing to help you, take it."
Ares pushed harder. "Do you want to be the tool of our destruction, Aphrodite? Or do you want to make your own decisions? You can turn the tide."
And here I thought these entire games were just about me. My vanity had once again overruled my good judgment.
"How do I know you won't betray me?" I asked, even though I knew it was a pointless question.
"I will do the best for the people I care about." His gaze drifted to Artemis. "Regardless of what you may think about me on a personal level, I have always done what was best to keep the peace." He spread his arms out. "And when I cannot keep the peace, I do what's best and I go to war." He grinned fiercely. "And I win."
"Crap," I muttered. He was right, and he knew it.
A wide grin spread across his face.
"I'll kill you if you betray me," I said and I was serious.
"You'll try," he said just as serious.
I told him everything I had up my sleeve, which wasn't much.
The God thing had him reeling.
At first he looked at me, amused, like I was telling a joke. When he realized I wasn't joking, he sat back with wide eyes and choked out a laugh. Then a strangled groan, and finally a face palm. He slid his hand down his face and shook his head. "My gods," he whispered. "You are truly insane."
At the news, Typhon had sat back and gaped. "Yes," he agreed. "She is."
And so that was how I ended up giving all of my plans to the people I should be working against.
But it was no longer me against them. It was us against Zeus.
And by the gods, we were going to take him down. For good.
I was no stranger to weirdness, that was for sure. But this was a whole 'nother level. We hashed out idea after idea for hours before we'd finally come up with some semblance of a plan. We all realized how unpredictable Zeus was and that was our wild card. We would do our best to make this as convincing as we could. It would be difficult, especially with Zeus' whole death edict. We would need to figure out a way around that, but I thought maybe my mother could help me with it.
If she would. I never could really tell what she was thinking. If we could make it appear like the challengers were experiencing a real death, we would be able to fool Zeus. So while this had started out being a holy crap I don't want to get married sort of sport, now we all knew we were in it for our very lives.
And so far, we all kind of liked living.
If Hecate could make it look convincing as well, we had a shot at pulling this thing off. God was compelled to help me win, and I figured he would do his best anyway because he wanted to see me with his son.
But what we couldn't count on was everyone else in the realm. Some people were going to have to die. We felt terrible about that, but we couldn't let anyone else in on our plans. The more people we told, the more likely it was that it would get back to Zeus.
At the end of the discussion, Clotho stood. "We need to create a geas," she said.
Ares' dark eyes flickered at first, but he gave an abrupt nod. "That's fair."
"Of course it's fair, you freaky gladiator. You may say you have never betrayed our Abby here, but we all know you're playing fast and loose with the truth."
His lips thinned even as my heart warmed at Clotho’s words. She was right. Ares might have saved me, but he had sure done it in a roundabout and shady way. Magic fell over our shoulders as she cast a globe around us all. Ropes of gentle magic gathered around our wrists and forced us all to join hands.
Typhon, Artie, Atlas, Clotho, myself, Hermes, and Ares all held hands around the table.
"Close your eyes," Clotho whispered.
We did as she commanded and felt the magic of the spell settle around us. "May no words slip from our lips. May no truths about this day be given away. May no secrets fall from our mouths. May no clues be handed out. Together we band in silence. Together we hold this secret until the day comes when our immortality passes back into the pool. May we hold this bond of secrecy together for whoever shall break it shall suffer the end of their magic."
We all opened our eyes and blinked in surprise at that.
"Yeah," she cracked, "I'm that serious. Now keep your eyes closed."
"The bonds of secrecy are upon you and tied into your souls." Clotho's magic flowed through our veins. "Remember this. If the truth begins to slip through your lips, you shall have one warning. The second time, the spell will strip your magic from your soul."
My heart picked up at a frantic pace. No pressure. Geez.
"Repeat after me," she said. "I give this vow freely, upon the threat of the loss of my magic. I will never utter the truth of this day, and I will protect it for as long as I shall live."
We repeated the words, all of us saying them at different beats which made it sound like a mumble.
When we finished, Clotho dropped the magic and the ropes of her spell fell from our wrists. But I could still feel her magic resting in my heart.
"You'll get used to it," she said.
"That was...quite a spell," I remarked.
She gave me a droll look. "So sorry I forgot the unicorns and rainbows."
Typhon barked a laugh. "And the pink, Clotho. You forgot the pink."
Clotho stared at him with those silver swirls in her eyes. "Speak to me soon," she said to him. "I think you'll want to hear what I have to say."
Typhon's mouth opened. He nodded once to her, bowed, and then faced me. "May
the gods be ever in your favor."
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not Katniss."
"Nor am I your Peeta."
Artie groaned. "As much as I love fandom puns, Peeta was the worst."
"Peeta was the unrecognized hero," I argued.
"Peeta was lame," Hermes said.
Typhon gave me a wink and disappeared from the room.
"With the nerdometer gauge getting higher, I think that's my cue to leave." Ares placed his hand upon my shoulder, squeezed, and disappeared.
Hermes stood after him, stretched, and rubbed his hands over his face. "I need to get back to Olympus and see if Daddy Dearest has taken over the palace in my absence."
"Odds are good," I quipped.
"I know you're joking, but you shouldn't be. I'm serious."
"Me too." I grinned at him and waved goodbye. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Seven a.m. Wear white. I'm taking you straight to the chapel when I win."
I rolled my eyes, but he blinked out of the room before he could see it.
It was just Clotho, Artie, and me left.
"The last day has been exhausting," Artie said. She looked the part. Half moon purple rings of exhaustion lined her eyes and her normally pristine hair was a little whacked out.
"When do you get back to normal?" I asked her. I knew it was soon, but I couldn't exactly remember. Lots had happened since then.
"Tonight."
"Aaannnnd?" I pried.
She smiled. "Aaaand, I kind of like being Artie, I guess."
Clotho reached over and patted her hand. "Good girl. Being human looks exhausting."
"You have to eat all the time," she confessed. "To live. Not just because it tastes good."
"Bummer," I said. "Were there any parts that you liked?"
At that question her face went beet red and she cleared her throat. But she didn't say a word.
"Artie?" I tilted my head in curiosity.
Clotho laughed, a merry peal of amusement. "Did you have sex, child?"
"No!" she said with a gasp.
"Liar," I said and nudged her with an elbow.
She crossed her arms. "I didn't. I just -" she clamped her lips together.
