“Oh Alex,” she called out, stopping him dead in his tracks. “How do you plan on doing that? Ares isn’t going to hand her to you.”
“I’ll reason with him.” Alex said. “If that doesn’t work, I guess I’ll have to beat him in a duel somehow.”
Athena laughed and doubled over as she did. “That’s rich, Alex,” she said, trying to recompose herself. “You are in no way, shape, or form ready to do that. If you’re going to challenge him in combat, you’ll need lots of practice. Or an army. Or both.”
“I was a good fencer in college. I even competed in the nationals,” Alex said. “I’m not that helpless. I could win.”
Athena raised an eyebrow. “Oh, is that so? Perhaps a little demonstration of your abilities is in order. Maybe I’ve underestimated you.”
Athena snapped her fingers and in an instant, two spears, six feet in length with iron heads, ash wood shafts and bronzed ends, materialized in her hands. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed one to Alex. “If you can run me through, I’ll concede your point and send you on your way with blessings. If you fail, however, you’ll shut up and listen to me.”
“I said I was a fencer, not a Spartan. Give me a saber.”
“You’ll still lose,” Athena said with a shrug. “But suit yourself, if that’s what you want.”
A second snap of the fingers later and Alex’s six-foot spear was replaced by an M1860 cavalry saber. The sword itself was a little heavier than the sabers for sport he had once used, but the weapon was still light and easy to handle. “Ready when you are,” Alex said, giving the saber a few turns in his hands and then taking a half step back with his left leg.
Alex’s saber thumped to the floor before he realized what had happened. He was fuzzy on the details, but he felt as if Athena had knocked it there since the inside of his forearm was bruised and she had the point of her spear resting against his neck.
“You were saying?” she said, smiling.
Alex gently pushed the spear tip away and grabbed his weapon from the floor. He flinched as he picked it up, noting a terrible gash in a piano leg it must have caused on its way down. “I could always sneak up on him.”
Athena rolled her eyes and partially suppressed a laugh. “Well make this one count,” she said, turning around and leaning on her spear.
Alex lunged, intent on driving the tip of his saber clear through her spine, but Athena stepped backward and turned so his blade slipped harmlessly by. As momentum kept him moving forward, Athena wrapped her left arm around Alex’s right and pinned his weapon hand against her side. She then drove the butt of her spear into his solar plexus. Alex doubled over. She swept his left leg, twisted his saber from his grasp, and threw him into the side of an upright Everett.
“Do you yield?” she asked.
Alex stumbled over his reply, and Athena drove the head of her spear deep into the Everett’s side, less than an inch from Alex’s head. “Do you yield?” she said again, more forcefully than the last.
“I yield! I yield!” Alex spit out. “Christ, you didn’t have to destroy the place.”
“The place is hardly destroyed,” she said, looking around. “You’ve got some inborn talent, I’ll grant you that, but you’re far from the perfect swordsman and not at all ready to face my brother.”
“Well I don’t exactly have the time or desire to perfect the craft, especially while my wife wastes away in some dungeon.”
“Tower,” Athena corrected.
“Close enough,” said Alex as he went for the door again. “I still have to get her back.”
Athena grabbed him by the shoulder. “Listen to me, Alex. I only get to say this once. If you want to be reunited with your wife and avoid being Ares’ punching bag, you’ll need to get help. Who, what, when, or where you find said help is up to you.”
Alex turned her words over in his head. He did need help. He knew that, and he hated how rash he’d been only moments ago. Who was he to think he could defeat The God of War? His fencing skills—as demonstrated by Athena—wouldn’t be near enough. “If you’re offering to help, I wouldn’t turn it down.”
Athena shook her head. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Her eyes darted to the sides before she answered. “There are…events…that go beyond you and Ares, events that prohibit certain deities from doing certain things.”
“And you’re one of them.”
She didn’t reply.
“Is anyone else not allowed to do anything?”
She didn’t reply again, and Alex was certain at this point that any other questions would be met with the same answer.
“That figures,” he said with a huff. “Well, at least I know someone who will be eager to help free Euryale.”
Alex broke from the conversation when he realized that people were fleeing out of the store. The only person not fleeing was the salesman that had attended to Alex when he had first arrived. That man was currently clutching a phone and peering around the doorway to a corner office.
“Don’t worry, we’re leaving,” Alex called out. As he made for the exit, Alex tossed the pouch of coins Euryale had given him to the salesman inside. “Sorry about the mess.”
Chapter Eighteen
On the southern edge of Greece, Alex stood along a powdery white shore, ankle deep in the rising tide. There he watched Phorcys, novice of architects, help Jessica build a sand castle.
“I can see why the humans enjoy this,” The Old Man said as he filled a plastic bucket. “Though it doesn’t hold together as well as coral, it’s fun nonetheless. I have yet to discover, however, the secret to the larger structures. I either add too much water or too little, and my work collapses. You mortals have the advantage on me in that regard.”
“Takes practice,” Jessica said, straightening the top to her green bikini. “Do you want to stay for a bit and build the barbican, Alex?”
“No, I don’t have time,” Alex said, realizing he was looking at Jessica a little longer than he should. “I came here because I need help with Euryale.”
Jessica snickered. “Lover’s quarrel already?”
“No, she’s been kidnapped.”
Jessica dropped her jaw an inch. “What? Who on earth kidnaps a gorgon?”
“Ares, which is why I came here for help.”
The Old Man pushed himself up off his knees and stood tall. “I’m aware, and though I’m not fond of her imprisonment, you will not have my aide.”
“But you’re her father!” Alex protested. He ran his fingers through his hair and dug them into his scalp out of frustration. “Don’t you always have to rescue her? Isn’t that part of the job?”
“I have spoken with…others about this matter already,” he replied. “If you love my daughter and desire her at your side, then you will win this fight without me.”
“Who have you been talking to?” Alex demanded. “Athena?”
The Old Man’s face gave no indication either way. “Does it matter? A captain is responsible for his own vessel regardless of the route he must take, regardless of who sails with him and who does not. I have made up my mind. This voyage you will do without my help. But remember what I said before, I do not take kindly to those who hurt my daughters.”
“Then help me! Ares is the one hurting her, not me!”
“Not until you prove your dedication to Euryale first and your saltiness with Ares second. When you’ve shown yourself to be a true member of this family, I will lend you strength and power beyond reckoning, but until then, you’re on your own.”
“Gah!” Alex shook his head and blew out a stress-filled puff of air. “Can you at least give me some resources? Or suggestions on what I might do? Athena said I’d need an army.”
The Old Man said nothing, which only further frustrated Alex. How he hated feeling like their plaything, and how he hated the fact that he didn’t know where else to go even more. If Euryale’s own father wouldn’t help
him, who would?
“We could try Hades,” Jessica said. “Lots of dead people there that have fought in wars, right?”
Alex’s face lit up. “That’s not a bad idea at all,” he said. “That’s actually a pretty damn good idea. I’ll go to Hades and raise an army of the dead.”
“We will go to Hades and raise an army of the dead,” Jessica said. “No buts. I’m coming with.”
“It’s dangerous. You heard Apollo. The living aren’t allowed.”
“I don’t care what he said,” she replied, squaring off with him. “You think I’m passing up the chance of a lifetime and not seeing what the afterlife looks like? Not photographing the God of the Underworld? Not helping the person I care about and letting him face danger alone?”
Though Alex’s heart warmed at her determination and friendship to be at his side, he couldn’t risk her wellbeing on such a treacherous journey. As such, he looked to The Old Man. “Little help here? Tell her what’s what.”
“I’ve said already, you are on your own,” he replied. He looked to Jessica as he went on. “And you, Apollo was right in that the living are not allowed to walk freely to and from the Underworld, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done before.”
Jessica’s eyes lit up. “Orpheus!”
The Old Man nodded and left without further word.
“Who?” asked Alex.
“Orpheus went to Hades to go after his wife and got by with his buttery voice and musical talents.”
“I’m hardly epic-voice man,” Alex said. “And I can’t tote a piano around.”
Jessica shrugged and hopped into his chariot. “We’ll think of something. Important thing to take away from all of this is that Hades can be bargained with.”
“And if he can’t, what happens to you then?”
“Guess I’ll become the second person you have to save,” she said with a playful wink.
* * *
Having slipped by a sleeping Cerberus an hour prior, Alex pulled the reins, and his fiery mane ponies came to a halt outside Hades’ abode. He hopped off the chariot and helped Jessica down. Ahead of them stood the massive double doors that led to Hade’s abode.
“How does this work? Do we knock?” Jessica asked.
“Probably best,” he said. “I don’t want to be rude, since I think I might have already upset him.”
“How’s that?”
“I tricked him by not eating a pomegranate that he offered. I’m sure by now he’s figured that out.”
“Ah,” she said, stepping back. “Well, you do it then.”
“What happened to helping me through thick and thin?”
Jessica laughed and stepped back again. “I never said through thick and thin. Anyhow, you’re the immortal one now, remember? You can take whatever’s coming. I’d rather not die and be stuck here forever.”
“Glad to be your meat shield,” he said as he grabbed one of the large, iron knockers and used it to announce their presence.
Alex folded his arms and drummed his fingers on his bicep as they waited. He prayed he hadn’t made a mistake in coming here or in capitulating to Jessica’s demand to help. To top things off, he still didn’t know what he was going to say to Hades to smooth things over or how he could go about getting an army of the dead from him.
The doors swung open, and Alex blew out a puff of air when he saw that it wasn’t Hades who answered, but Persephone. She still wore her royal dress and her golden crown. Her hair was still fixed the same since they had last parted, but her eyes were different. Gone were the hints of fear and uncertainty Alex had seen before. Instead, they had a touch of life to them, almost desire.
“I need to speak to Hades,” Alex said, thinking that he might as well state his intentions upfront.
“Of course,” she said. “Who have you brought with you?”
“Jessica Turner,” she replied, practically leaping over Alex to get in front of the queen. “You have no idea how excited I am to meet you. I must have read your story a hundred times when I was a child.”
Persephone tilted her head. “You’re not dead, are you?”
Alex butted in before she could reply. “She’s here on Aphrodite’s orders, more or less.”
“More or less?” Persephone chuckled. “I wonder if that will be enough. For your friend’s sake, I hope you have something to offer my husband that will appeal to him—he’s already cross with you. But if I were you, Jessica, I’d take those ponies and wait for Alex back in land of the living.”
“I’m staying,” Jessica said. “We can work something out.”
“If it were up to me, we could,” she said, bidding them to follow her inside with a wave of her hand. “I imagine you’re here about Euryale, then? I can’t think of any other reason why you’d risk coming back.”
Alex raised his eyebrows. “You know?”
“Everyone knows,” she said, leading him down the hall with her hands folded behind her back. “Before Ares had even finished turning the key that locks your wife away, Hermes had told everyone.”
“That fast?” Alex said, impressed.
“That fast,” she repeated. “She is the daughter of a god, after all.”
“I’m hoping Hades might help me,” Alex said.
“As do I,” she said.
“Why?” asked Alex.
“Oh, that someone would fight over me,” she replied. A smile, small but true, appeared on her face and she wiped away a tear. “Mother did, of course, when she made demands to Zeus to have me freed, but no one else.”
“I don’t follow,” said Alex.
“My mother is Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest,” she explained. “Long ago, when I was free and able to roam the Earth above, Hades swept me away to be his bride. I was innocent, a little naïve perhaps, and before my mother could find me, I ate some pomegranate seeds Hades had offered.”
“Binding you here in the Underworld,” Jessica finished.
Persephone nodded and continued. “Mother didn’t give up, to her credit. She hounded Zeus for my release, threatened the Earth with famine, and so he gave in, partially at least. To satisfy the Fates, Hades, and my mother, Zeus allowed me to roam the Earth for three seasons each year, but during the fourth, I’m to live in the Underworld. So you see, though mother fought for me, it’s not the same, is it? It’s not like a lover risking it all to be at my side.”
“I suppose not,” Alex admitted.
The conversation paused, and the three of them navigated the twists and turns of the dark halls in silence. Only a single, long red carpet and periodic braziers offered any sort of decoration. The foremost muted their footsteps as they traveled, while the latter held waning fires that could barely melt an ice cube. As the minutes ticked by, Alex wondered if Hade’s abode had always been so barren, or if it had started out as an extravagant home that had slowly eroded under an eternal depression. Either way, he could scarcely believe the contrast between this place and Mount Olympus.
Finally, they reached the throne room. Hades sat on an ebony throne, hunched forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped together. His face looked drawn, and his shoulders sagged, as if the weight of the world above pressed down upon them.
“We have company, dear,” Persephone said, walking up a few steps to be at her husband’s side. She did not sit on her throne beside him, but simply placed a hand on the god’s shoulder. “Alex, husband of Euryale, son-in-law of Phorcys, humbly requests an audience, and he has a guest with him, a woman named Jessica, who comes at the direction of Aphrodite.”
Hades shifted in his seat, and rested his chin on one hand. “I’m surprised you came back, Alex,” he said. “Everyone else just wants to run away. Not that I blame them.”
“Well, I’m not everyone else,” said Alex when he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“No, no you aren’t,” Hades replied. “But I’m still certain you want something from me.”
“I’ve come for your help,” said Alex.
“And why should I help you?” Hades quickly retorted as he straightened in his seat.
Whereas moments ago, Hades had regarded Alex with indifference, the curt reply and change in posture told Alex that at least one flame of anger burned inside the god. So instead of challenging the god on the question of why, Alex opted to take a different approach. “You have no reason to,” he said. “I tricked you into thinking I had taken some of your food for my own reasons when I should have been upfront and honest that I did not care for any.”
“Go on,” said Hades with a weary voice.
“For that offense, I can only offer my apologies,” Alex said. “But my wife has been taken from me, and I need an army to get her back. Surely you can empathize with my plight. You know what it’s like to be separated from the one you love.”
“Yes, I do,” said Hades, holding his wife’s hand. “But you’re still like the others. Always wanting. Never giving.”
“I don’t know what I have that you want,” said Alex.
“You have nothing I want.” Hades replied.
“Surely there is something I can do.”
Hades’ brow furrowed. “I said, you have nothing.”
“Yes, you did,” Alex said, feeling like what little wind was in his sails had been taken away and now he risked Hades’ wrath if he stayed. “I’m sorry for taking up your time. I’ll see my own way out.”
Alex turned and began to walk away, intent on finding a new way to raise an army, but Jessica grabbed him by the arm and was quick to speak. “If I may, your most powerfulness,” she said. “I know you’re saddened for your wife to leave the home you two have made for the next few seasons, but perhaps I can do something to help alleviate that pain of separation.”
“What can you do, a mortal?” he scoffed.
Jessica raised her camera. “I can take pictures of her and you two together, so you’ll have fond memories to look at until she returns.”
“Paintings.”
The Gorgon Bride Page 14
