by S. E. Babin
Neither seemed wise or viable, but I didn't see any other alternatives. Telling him about Gaia was one of the more foolish things I'd ever done. He loved her. He didn't know me and harbored no tender feelings. When faced with a betrayal of that magnitude, especially with the person who held him as a slave, his rage had overrun his good sense.
I sucked in a breath, difficult through the pouring rain, and put my hands on the ground, releasing all of the magic I held inside me.
It hissed through the water, through the puddles and hail, and snaked up my father's legs.
He shook it away like an annoying gnat.
I sank further down onto the ground, my fingertips digging deep into the dirt, praying for anything to help me make it through the next few minutes.
I didn't look at Zeus even though I could hear him screaming. My mother's anguish poured into me, boosting my magic, helping my strength.
Uranus loosed the brunt of his magic upon me.
Hell on Earth broke out.
A roar of ancient rage shattered through the stadium as the first lightning bolt struck home. It slammed into me, shattering my bones, arching my back into a bend I could never have made naturally. And when it gently died away, another took its place and another and another until I felt hands around me gently picking me up, stroking my hair and whispering that it was going to be okay.
But it wasn't.
I was dying.
Through my hazy vision, a man in black and gray, with hair of inky night and eyes of icy silver stepped into the ring. His magic was raw and powerful and he was very, very angry. He stepped up to meet Uranus and with one hand raised in the air halted the storm of the century.
"You dare destroy what I've wrought?" His voice whispered through the faltering rain. "I gave you the chance to live again and, instead, you take a life I love?"
Uranus stood there, massive and powerful. "I had no choice."
"There is always a choice." The voice lashed through the air, laced with magic, floating around the stadium. Everyone would hear the voice today. And those who heard it and did not obey would perish.
"Stand down or face me in battle."
Uranus sighed. "I am enslaved by dark magic, son of Life and Death. I am bound to finish."
The man stepped forward. "Very well."
Uranus rubbed his chin. "Perhaps there is another way." His gaze slid to Zeus who was steadily making his way through the stunned crowd and over to the two men.
With one slight flick of his finger, the dark man sent Zeus sprawling back to his seat. With the other, he made a veil of privacy. He and Uranus moved closer together to speak.
The gentle arms placed me against the wall by the seating section.
Ichor poured from everywhere. I choked trying to speak.
A tanned hand stroked my hair. "Speak not, darling. You are not looking so well."
"Dying," I croaked.
"Perhaps." He sighed.
"Typhon?" I whispered, clearing my throat. I shifted a little, wincing in pain, and he put his arm around me and let me rest his head on my chest.
"Yes?"
"Did I win?"
His chest rumbled with laughter. "Not quite, darling. But I expect lots of people are about to die. You have one angry man over there. I don't hold out a lot of hope for our immortality."
"He wouldn't kill you," I whispered.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I'm the one who got you into this mess."
I shook my head and sobbed with the pain of it. Typhon held me tighter. "No. Zeus did."
"Well," he agreed. "Yes, but I was not entirely opposed to it."
"I'm a catch."
His chuckle was pained. "Stop making me laugh, Abby. Please, for the love of the gods. Tell me the words you wish me to say to Hades, and I will say them for you. Trust me to relay your message. I fear you do not have the time to keep jesting." Typhon's voice was weary.
"Tell him I'm sorry."
A hot splash of water landed on top of my head. Typhon shook beside me. "Do not." He held me tighter. "Never apologize," he said fiercely. "You did what you had to do to make it back to him."
"I broke his heart."
"Darling, you break everyone's heart."
The veil fell. Uranus and Hades stepped away from each other. My mother finally made it to me and fell at my feet. She pulled me away from Typhon and touched me everywhere, her hands cool and her breathing frantic.
"Typhon," she snapped. "Get back."
He did as she bade and my mother began to pour her soothing silver magic into me. As she did, her faces changed. From Maiden, to Mother, to Crone and back again, even as she faded while pouring her power into me, she never stopped. Even as her magic began to dwindle and spark, she never stopped.
I began to cough and retch. "Stop."
Hecate closed her eyes, began to chant, and still poured more power into me.
"Hecate." Typhon's voice was urgent. He tried to pull her from me, but she blasted him away.
"Mom," I was too weak to get away from her. I couldn't move, but still she poured it into me. I could feel her love, her doubts, her hopes, her dreams. I knew where her magic came from, her lovers, her enemies.
"Mom," I sobbed again. "I cannot bear it if you leave me." It was the truth. She might have been a little crazy and more than a little violent, but she’d managed to get under my skin and wiggle her way into my heart.
And still she did not answer. Silver magic surrounded us as her life force left her and poured into me.
An enormous boom shook the entire stadium, and I was still too weak to do anything other than stare.
There was no more dark magic surrounding Uranus. His powers were his again and he was focused on one single thing.
As was Hades. My dark lover. My soul mate. My friend and my hope for the future.
Zeus rattled but uninjured stood again.
"Aphrodite has lost," he said.
I shut my eyes unable to bear it any longer.
"Abby lives, and I have stepped in as her champion. You have broken the rules of the tournament by enslaving a Titan using dark magic."
My mother slumped against me, and I gathered her in my arms. Her hair had turned completely silver, and her heartbeat slowly ebbed away as I held her.
I opened my eyes against the tears that fell.
"A new spark of life lies inside of you. A child," my mother whispered so softly I could barely hear her. A smile crossed her aged mouth as she slipped away. "You are carrying a child. My grandchild."
I placed my hands over my face and screamed with all the agony I'd been holding inside.
My mother, Hecate, the Goddess of the Crossroads was dead.
Hades turned at the sound of my voice, his attention rapt and hungry like a wolf. I don't know if he could tell what just happened, but he turned away from me, his shoulders set as he continued to address Zeus. "Drop this madness, and I will allow you to live."
Zeus laughed, long and loud. "What power do you hold over me, Brother?" He sneered the word as if it were dirty.
"You have no idea the power I hold. I say to you one more time, relinquish this quest of madness and your immortality will hold."
"And if I do not?" Zeus asked, his tone casual.
"Then you give me no choice."
The sound of gasps and shuffling feet caught my attention, and I stared dumbly as Artie, Hera, Hermes and Atlas came and sat beside me. Once Hecate’s immortality flowed away from her, the magic broke and woke my friends up. With one look, Artie knew my mother had perished. I had no idea how she’d managed to escape God, but I was glad to see her by my side.
"Oh, Abby," she whispered and sought my fingers with her own. She held them tightly and cried with me. Hermes sat beside me, his arm slung around my shoulder.
Hera dropped to her knees in front of me. "Oh child. May your prayers be answered for always and may your dreams be filled with the memory of your mother's love."
"I was dying," I said num
bly. "She gave her life for me."
"As most mothers would," Hera said sternly. "Children are our greatest strength and one of our only weaknesses."
I shifted my mother's body gently to the ground and stood on shaky legs.
Artie helped me up. "Abby, I think you should sit for awhile."
"No. I must go to him."
She sighed but took my arm and helped me over to where they were standing. Hades didn't acknowledge me, but I knew he knew I was there just by the slight release of his shoulders and the softening of his jaw.
'This is over, Zeus," I said. Speaking was difficult. I felt strange. Undone somehow.
His eyes raked me from head to toe. "You seem well enough to marry my son, don't you? You have lost this challenge."
"You cheated," I accused. "Not only was it cheating, it was low down and dirty of you."
"You never really knew me," Zeus said with a sigh. "Of course it was a dirty thing to do. How else would I have won?"
"You enslaved him," I accused.
Zeus shrugged and began to walk away.
"Stand and fight," Hades said, "Or perish with your back to me."
"You wouldn't dare," Zeus said without turning around.
"I guess you never really knew me," Hades said and sent Zeus reeling to the ground by pulling the dirt up underneath his feet.
Zeus stood, brushed himself off, and grinned. "You have no idea who you're taking on."
Hades stood casually, his hands loose by his side. "Oh, I do. I really, really do."
Hermes, Hera, Typhon, and Atlas stepped up behind Hades and Uranus. "We stand with Aphrodite and Hades."
Zeus' eyes widened. "Then you'll all die as traitors."
"No," Hermes said. "We'll die trying to right a wrong and make a greater good."
Zeus scoffed and threw his hands out, sending all of us but Hades sprawling to the ground. I was still too weak to do much of anything, even though I didn't think I was dying anymore.
I crawled away from him, but Zeus wasn't having any of it.
"Oh no you don't," he said. "You're the reason all of this is happening." He started to pull me to him with magic, and I was almost too weak to withstand it. There was nothing that I could do, but at that moment, I remembered what I had tucked into my pocket. As he dragged me toward him, slowly, because even weak as I was, I was still fighting, I pulled the stone out of my pocket and gripped it tightly in my hand. Just as he was about to yank me, I tossed the mortality spell at him and whispered the written words he'd given me.
And then I watched in horror as Artemis unwittingly stepped in front of it in her attempt to get Zeus to release me.
The spell hit her straight in the back and recoiled magic so furiously, it stung against my skin.
I screamed as I watched in horror as the threads of her immortality unwound themselves from her heart and raced away from the stadium.
She slumped to the ground.
Zeus, eyes wide with shock, stood gaping at her for a moment before he saw his opportunity to escape. Hades was heading right toward him.
I stumbled to my feet, my hands shaking in shock, and grabbed Artemis' lifeless body. I pulled her as far as I could out of the ring and dragged her back down into the audience area.
The crowd, rightly sensing there was some serious shit about to go down, had mostly vacated the premises. Good on them. Hades had his no-nonsense business face on.
Someone was going to die today and I didn't think he was being too discriminate about who. Of course, there were several hundred left who wanted to be nosy. They had no idea it was likely to be their last day on Olympus.
I held my hand under my best friend’s neckline and got a faint, erratic pulse.
I had just killed my best friend. Oh, she might be alive, but as a mortal she wouldn't be alive for long.
How in the hell was I going to explain this to her?
I dropped a kiss on her forehead and went back out into the fray, but before I could step back out, a cool hand gripped my arm.
I spun, ready to fight, but it was Clotho. Her eyes were in full on spaced out silver Fate mode.
"A child is here, Aphrodite. Guard it well. Guard it with love and hope and give it everything we could not. You are destined to be Queen. Destined to unite us." Her voice trailed off. "Soon. Very soon."
I gently removed her hand and patted it. "I love you, Clotho, but no shit."
I stepped back out onto the field. My magic was replenishing itself slowly but surely. There would be time to grieve later.
Right now I had some serious ass kicking to do.
As it turned out, I didn't actually need to do much ass kicking at all. Mostly I got to sit back and watch Hades just absolutely decimate Zeus. He stopped talking, stopped negotiating and stopped doing anything but single-handedly beating the poor former king to a bloody pulp. Hermes and Typhon acknowledged his power with a shared glance and both of them walked off the field together, Hermes' arm slung across Typhon's shoulders. Both of them looked exhausted.
They no longer cared what happened to their Father. They just wanted to live.
Uranus stood by, his face implacable, ready to step in if needed.
But there was no need.
I thought the end had come when Zeus cradled himself into a ball and begged Hades to stop.
"You yield?" Hades asked as he loomed over the man I once thought of like a father.
"I do," Zeus said, but I could tell he resented it.
Hades stepped closer to him and leaned over.
Zeus shot him full in the face with a massive blast of dark inky evil magic. Hades roared with anger and reared back, grasping ineffectually at the magic choking off his air supply.
Horrified, I rushed over to him, but Hades pushed me away.
Zeus still lay on the ground, a smirk on his face as he watched Hades battle.
"No more," I said quietly.
'What's that?" Zeus said. "Are you tired of losing, dear Aphrodite?"
"No more!" I screamed.
Zeus stood up, dusted off his pants, and motioned for me to come to him. From the corner of my eye, I watched Uranus rush to assist Hades.
With a deep sigh, I squared my shoulders, gritted my teeth and walked over to him. Whatever the consequences, I couldn't do this anymore.
"Good girl," Zeus said and held his arm out to me.
I smiled, knowing it didn't reach my eyes, but I didn't take his arm. I stepped closer and, since he didn't expect it, wrapped my fingers around his throat.
And I squeezed.
"No more," I whispered to him as I poured the excess of my mother's magic into him, but instead of giving life, I took it. I took everything. His hopes. His dreams. His soul. The memories of his many, many lovers.
And eventually, over his raw screams and mad struggles, I took his immortality.
Zeus, King of the Gods, Slayer of Men, Dasher of Dreams was no more.
He fell gracelessly to the floor dead when I finally deigned to release him.
I glanced at Hades and Uranus. Both of them wore identical masks of horror. The dark magic surrounding him had been expelled, and he stood with magic gathered in his hands to continue the battle with Zeus. But it was no longer necessary. No one moved.
An anguished scream tore from Hera as she rushed over to her fallen husband.
I raised my voice to address the small crowd of people still watching in terrible fascination. "You have one chance to leave this place. I'm burning it to the ground."
With a snap of my fingers, the seats burst into bright silver flames, the screams of those too nosy to live meeting my ears as I blinked out from the place that had just ruined my life.
Chapter 22
I needed a moment to have a nervous breakdown. I left the stadium burning to the ground, trusting my friends if I still had any left would get themselves out before they were injured or worse. I couldn't bear to look at anyone anymore. Not today, at least. I went back to the place where no one would expe
ct to find me. A place I had left long ago.
My temple.
When I arrived, I smelled the earthy scent of incense and a wood burning fire. Weird. I knew the place was still running, but I didn't expect it to actually look this good. The floors had been swept and scrubbed and there was a seating area with a teapot and a plate full of snacks. My gaze narrowed as I looked around.
A woman's voice came from behind. "Aphrodite, welcome back."
I turned slowly, still aching from the day's events. Ivy stood there, looking none the worse for the wear. I smiled in relief. "Glad to see you're still with us."
Amusement flashed over her face. "I suspect that had little to do with me and everything to do with you." She looked me over and sadness tightened her mouth. "I know not what just happened, but I would know the look of grief anywhere for I've experienced it too many times in my own life." Ivy walked over and took me by the elbow. "Come with me. Allow me to help."
Tears choked my voice. I looked up to try to blink them away, but they fell anyway. I let Ivy lead me.
After all the years I'd spent being stuck up and pampered, you'd think I'd still be used to it, but I wasn't. I struggled a little bit when Ivy tried to undress me, but she was a lot stronger than she looked. She finally stopped struggling with me, took my face in her hands and stared at me hard with her nut brown eyes.
"I understand I should obey you, but there are sometimes when another person knows best. This is one of those times. I ask you to heed me for now and you can punish me later."
My lip wobbled, but I nodded anyway. "There won't be any punishment."
Ivy helped me out of my toga. "You would be the first goddess who didn't dole out any punishment for disobedience, my lady."
"Abby," I corrected.
Ivy paused for a moment. I sensed I must have surprised her.
"Abby," she said in a thick voice. "Get your ass into the bath."
I choked out a laugh and got my ass into the bath.
Ivy's hands were firm but gentle. She scrubbed my hair with a honey scented soap and massaged my temples. I drew the line at her washing the rest of me though. That was just...weird. I could do it myself and I did. Ivy handed over the soap begrudgingly and watched in fascination as I scrubbed out all of the grime underneath my fingernails.
