Alex pulled away. “I’ve done nothing.”
“No, no, no,” she said, horror splashed over her face. “This is not nothing. This is serious.”
“Stop—”
Aphrodite put a soothing hand on his shoulder. “This is needless, Alex.”
“This is failure!” he yelled. Alex dropped to his knees and buried his face in his hands. “I tried to get what was needed, but I couldn’t. I’m not strong enough.”
“Get what?” she asked, kneeling beside him.
Alex looked around, but what he sought was nowhere to be seen. “The chain,” he replied. “I was trying to capture perseverance like I was supposed to.”
Aphrodite put her arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “What are you talking about, Alex?”
Alex shut his eyes and allowed himself to be drawn into the goddess’s embrace. Even with the smell of burnt flesh saturating Alex’s nasal cavity, the aroma that came from her was strong enough and heavenly enough that for a moment, Alex forgot his worries, his pain, and his failure. A small squeeze from Aphrodite’s arm prompted him to answer her question. “Odysseus said he could make me a love potion,” he said. “I’ve been getting the ingredients he needs together.”
“A love potion?” she said, sounding strangely amused.
Alex shook his head as he attempted to clarify. “Not a love potion,” he replied. “Potion of Agape, I think he called it.”
“And what, pray tell, does this potion do?”
Alex shrugged, knowing he wasn’t entirely clear on its use. “Helps search the soul. Nothing fancy.”
“Maybe I can help,” she said. “What answers are you looking for?”
The question pierced his heart like a well-thrown spear. “Euryale,” he managed to spit out. “I have to know whether or not this marriage was a mistake. I have to know if my heart is with her.”
Aphrodite gently lifted his chin. She kept his eyes locked on hers, and if she found his appearance repulsive in any way, she didn’t show it. “Alex,” she whispered. “There is no such potion. Only you will ever know who you love.”
“I know that,” he snapped.
The Goddess of Love sighed. “You’re not hearing me,” she said. “This agape potion doesn’t exist.”
Alex looked at her dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”
“Odysseus lied,” she said. “Or perhaps he’s simply mistaken.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Tears welled in his eyes, but they never fell. Alex grew numb, but anger quickly surfaced as he refused to believe any such thing. “No,” he said, pushing away her words. “You’re trying to trick me.”
Aphrodite took his hand, placed it on her chest, and covered it with one of hers. “I’m not lying, Alex,” she said. “I swear by the River Styx that this Potion of Agape you speak of is not real.”
Alex couldn’t argue, though he wanted to. The seriousness of her oath made him confront reality. “Why would Odysseus do such a thing?”
“I don’t know, Alex,” she whispered. “I don’t know.”
Alex’s head spun, a whirlwind of thought and emotion. “What will I do?”
“Alex, if I may,” Aphrodite said after a few moments. “If you’re still struggling with your feelings for you wife, maybe that means you two truly aren’t meant for each other.”
“Maybe,” Alex said, hating himself for speaking those words, but he couldn’t argue against the possibility anymore.
“It’s okay, Alex,” she went on. “Not every couple is the right match.” She then laughed at her next thought. “If they were, I’d be out of a job.”
“I had hoped otherwise,” Alex said as he sank into her again.
“We all do,” she said. “But it’s not too late.”
Alex looked up. “Not too late for what?”
“To make things right.”
Alex sighed heavily. “I don’t even know what that means anymore.”
“I do,” she said. “Euryale has a specialness to her. I can see why you liked her, but honestly, Alex, the last week aside, who has always consumed your thoughts?”
“Jessica.”
“And who’s been at your side through all of this?”
“Jessica, but only because Euryale’s been locked up.”
Aphrodite nodded. “Fair enough, but Jessica’s risked life and limb to help you. Could Euryale, an immortal, ever do the same? Jessica still loves you, even if she won’t say it.”
“Like you made her?” Alex said with a snort.
Aphrodite let a short growl slip. “I erred forcing it, I admit,” she said, recomposing herself. “But what I did wasn’t a lie. I can’t make anyone say anything that they don’t already believe is true. I freed her heart and yours. I didn’t enslave it.”
Alex looked away as he wrestled with her words. He couldn’t deny that he had loved hearing Jessica’s confession for him, but he hated himself for it at the same time. A man cannot serve two masters. Or dedicate himself fully to two lovers. To that end, all he could do was shrug in reply.
“Come, Alex, think this over,” she said. “Despite what I may have said or done, who’s the one really enslaving you? I’m offering you a choice. Can you really say that about what others have offered?”
“Things are such a mess,” he said. “All I want is for both of them to be happy and for this to be over.”
“Then divorce yourself from this relationship and let me work,” she said. “I can see to it that you and Jessica have a relationship that lasts beyond the ages, the envy of all, and at the same time, you have my word I’ll see to it that Euryale finds the love she’s searching for. Everyone can have their happy ending.”
Alex buried his face in his hands. “This feels too easy. Too easy and too wrong.”
“Torturing yourself in a vain search for some non-existent feeling is wrong, Alex,” she said. “Athena falsely promising you hope and bliss is wrong. All your needless suffering is wrong. Even if she did set the two of you up, Love is my domain. I’m still obligated to fix her mistakes.”
Her words trailed off and Alex mulled them over in silence. Maybe she was right. Maybe he couldn’t find this elusive feeling of love because it didn’t exist in him for Euryale in the first place. Maybe all he felt was a momentary infatuation. A crush. A lust. A substitute for Jessica. God, if that were true, his marriage to the gorgon would never stand eternity.
“What about Ares?” Alex asked. “He still wants to crush me.”
“I’ll make him release Euryale and bother you no more,” she replied. “He does what I tell him, like a good boy.”
“And the scepter? I need it back. I can’t trade a war with Ares for a war with Hades.”
Aphrodite smiled, and Alex felt his worries vanish. “You’ll have the scepter back. I wouldn’t want anyone turning you to a mortal again, now would I? That would completely muck up my plans for your eternal bliss.”
Alex knew he had to decide. On the one hand, the path he was on now promised nothing and was filled with pain, uncertainty, and lies. The other would see Hades’ scepter returned, the war put to an end, Euryale freed, and love found for both him and her. Maybe the goddess was right. Maybe a happy ending could be had by all. Not that he wanted to give Euryale up, or that he liked the idea of her being distraught—no crushed—by his surrender, but in the end, wouldn’t she be better off?
“Okay, we’ll do it your way” he said, taking a deep breath and gathering his resolve. “What do I have to do?”
Aphrodite smiled. “I need you to divorce your wife and pray for my aid and favor. I will take care of the rest.”
“Do I need a lawyer?” Alex said with a brief smile.
Aphrodite shook her head. “No. Being in the presence of Zeus will be enough. I will fetch him, and he will annul your vows with myself, Ares, and Athena present as witnesses tomorrow morning.”
Alex popped his knuckl
es as he tried to convince himself this was the right thing to do. “Will this be at Termessos? I want to make sure Ares releases Euryale right after.”
“Of course,” she said, grabbing his hand and laughing. “You worry too much. It’s all under control.”
“Promise?”
“Most definitely,” she said. “You’ve made the right choice, my dear. This will be over before you know it.”
Chapter Thirty
Alex, with a mostly rejuvenated body, raced back to the Elysium fields. He figured since he had some time before his marriage was dissolved, he should pick up Jessica and rip Odysseus a new one.
Alex found the ancient hero at the tip of a long, wooden jetty. There Odysseus sat with his bare feet dangling in the water and his eyes looking out to the western horizon. The sun had begun to set and cast a warm glow over the ocean. Aside from the brief neighing of Alex’s ponies, which Odysseus apparently either ignored or did not hear, the only sounds about were the lapping of the tide and the occasional cry of a seagull overhead. The air smelled of its usual salt, but had a crispness to it as well. Altogether, Alex knew he would have found it a relaxing scene, had he not been so utterly pissed off.
“Get up,” Alex said, stepping off his chariot and marching up behind the man. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
“In a minute,” he said, still sitting and looking out over the waters. “Why don’t you join me for one last sunset?” he asked. “A lasting image might help you endure your journey in Tartarus.”
“I’ve been to Tartarus already,” Alex replied. He nudged the man with his foot. Sure, it was probably rude, but it wasn’t as bad as a kick to the head, and that was about to follow if Alex didn’t get what he wanted.
Odysseus glanced over his shoulder, looking ready for a fight, but the man’s anger dissolved in a flash. His eyes softened, and he jumped to his feet. “The wheel was not kind to you, I see.”
Alex looked himself over. His fingers had regrown, as had his ears and nose. Patches of charred skin remained, but most of it was a bright, rosy pink. “I’ve looked worse,” he stated, still in pain.
“I suspect you have,” Odysseus replied. “Did you find what you need?”
“Find what I need?” Alex said, twirling the chain Odysseus had given him. “Tell me, good sir, what exactly do I need?”
“Seems you need a lot more than I had originally thought,” Odysseus said. “I know I had said five days on the wheel, but I suppose what you’ve done must do. On to your next task.”
“There’s no next task!” Alex said, swinging at the man’s chin with a right hook.
Odysseus stepped into the attack. He caught Alex’s forearm with his left hand, and at the same time, he smashed his right elbow across Alex’s chin. “For twenty years I fought,” he said as Alex stumbled away. “Ten on the shores of Troy and ten more trying to come home to my dearest Penelope. You think you can beat me with such a pathetic attack? Have you gone mad?”
Alex grunted as he crouched. Odysseus’s words barely registered in his mind, and all Alex could think about was how best to take down this new enemy of his that stood tall, proud, and mocking.
Alex drove forward and caught Odysseus about the midsection. Blows rained on his head and sides, but he didn’t care. The two struggled, trading punches and kicks. Alex tried several times to take the man to the ground and finish him there, but Odysseus was too skilled to be brought off his feet.
“An angry warrior is a dead warrior,” Odysseus said, locking his arms with Alex’s and laughing. “You’re like the boars we hunt. Angry and blind to everything that matters.”
Alex broke apart from the entanglement, and when Odysseus did not follow up with an attack, he took the moment to regain his breath. “You sent me on a wild goose chase!”
“I sent you for ingredients, not a goose,” Odysseus replied.
“For something that doesn’t exist!” Alex said. “This agape potion of yours is a farce!”
“My help is no farce.”
“You promised me a potion!” Alex said, muscles tightening and ready to spring him back into the fight.
“I promised you answers!” Odysseus retorted. “Are you so dense you can’t see them?”
Alex, thrown by the man’s response, straightened. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve gotten no answers. I’ve got nothing to show. I’m exactly where I was when I first came here.”
“Not true,” Odysseus said. “You’ve done and gone through much.”
“Yeah,” Alex said, smirking. “You’re right. I’ve been beaten, broken, eaten, and burned. All for what?”
“You tell me, Alex,” the hero replied, dropping his guard. “Why did you do that?”
Alex laughed at the stupidity of such a question. “What do you mean why? You told me to. You told me to fetch you supplies for your moronic, non-existent potion.”
“Why did you want the potion, Alex?”
“Is this twenty questions now?” Alex said, shaking his head. “See? I can do it too.”
“It’s only as many questions as it takes to get through that thick skull of yours,” he said. “Humor me. Why did you want the potion?”
“To find out where my heart was!” Alex said, throwing up his hands.
“Oh,” Odysseus replied. “I was under the impression you wanted to have an adventure.”
“Adventure?” Alex yelled. He brought his face only a few inches away from the Odysseus’s. “You think I did this for fun? Because I was bored?”
“Well, you are a hero,” Odysseus replied calmly.
The man’s lackadaisical attitude boiled Alex’s blood. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t stand still. He wanted to drive his fist through the man’s teeth but didn’t, only because he knew he wanted to inflict more pain than that.
“You are on Elysium,” Odysseus went on. “Being a hero is the national pastime around here.”
“This is not a damn game!” Alex yelled. “You think I’d suffer through all this needless garbage for fun?”
“You wouldn’t?”
“No, I wouldn’t! I’m doing this to hopefully save my wife, my marriage. I suffered for her, damn it—” Alex cut short his frenzy-filled monologue as his last words drilled home. “I suffered for her,” he softly repeated.
Odysseus smiled knowingly. “Do you have what you need now?”
“Yeah, I think I do,” Alex said, his inner fire now extinguished. Could he not be loving someone in the face of so much self-sacrifice? Surely he must be. The only thing he wondered now is how such an obvious answer had eluded him for so long. Alex extended his hand, sheepishly. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I feel like an ass. I hope you accept my apology.”
“I do,” Odysseus said, shaking his hand.
Alex avoided the man’s gaze for the moment, still feeling a little off. “Now what?”
“You tell me,” Odysseus replied. “Love is a choice. What are you going to choose to do, Alex?”
“I’m meeting Aphrodite in the morning,” Alex said, fearful at what it would entail but elated now that his heart soared above the clouds. “Once I decline her help, Ares is going to come at me again and again and again. So I’ve got until then to figure something out.”
“I’d help in that regard if I could,” said Odysseus, rubbing his chin and looking out over the water. “But as I said when we first met, Ares is one of the most powerful Olympians. No mortal has truly defeated him in battle, only sent him running to lick his wounds.”
“Yeah,” Alex said with a smile. “I managed to do that once.”
“You did?” Odysseus said, turning toward Alex and sounding impressed. “Do tell. I was under the impression that you beat him in the Olympics, not in mortal combat. The only other man that hurt Ares was Diomedes.”
“I did beat Ares in the Olympics,” Alex said, feeling his head swell. “Granted, I had a javelin from Artemis, but I won just the same. After that,
I beat him in an arena.”
“Diomedes used a spear from Athena,” Odysseus said. “Did you use the same to beat Ares?”
“No. I had a pineapple from Hephaestus,” Alex replied with a smile. “It’s not a fruit,” he quickly added, realizing that Odysseus would be at a loss as to what he was talking about. “It’s a weapon we invented not too long ago. I knew Ares wouldn’t know what it was, at least, not until it blew up in his face. Literally.”
“Clever,” said Odysseus. “Perhaps you can use that same ingenuity again.”
Alex shook his head. “Ares will never fall for the same trick twice.”
“He might not fall for the same trick twice, but I suspect you could lure him into another ruse,” Odysseus said. “A man as creative as you should be able to come up with any number of things.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Alex admitted. At this point, he was open to a complete game plan since the number of viable ideas he’d come up with could be counted on no hands.
“What do you have to work with?”
Alex shrugged. “Wedding presents. Plenty of those. Winged sandals. Ponies with chariot. And some yarn.”
“Going to battle is as much preparation as it is determination,” Odysseus said. “If I were you, I’d do three things. First, take an exact inventory of what you have and what you may need. Second, study your opponent and study him well. Learn his habits and his weaknesses so you can exploit them. You’ll not conquer Ares otherwise. Last, I would go to Hephaestus again. If any Olympian will aid your cause one more time, it will be him.”
Alex committed Odysseus’s list to memory. Though the instructions were simple and made a lot of sense, he had reservations about the hero’s last point.
“Hephaestus might help, but even if he makes me another weapon, so what?” Alex said. “I can’t kill Ares no matter what Hephaestus gives me, and he’ll keep coming at me over and over.”
“You don’t have to kill him, just beat him.”
“Easier said than done.”
“You don’t even have to beat him,” Jessica said from behind.
The Gorgon Bride Page 25
