by Lizzy Ford
My chest was tight, and my heart pounded so hard, the sound filled my ears. “I don’t understand.”
“You will.” Sadness was in the first Oracle’s gaze. “I can give you two pieces of advice. The first, you possess everything you need to overcome and to win. The second, what is part of you, you cannot harm. The answers you seek, and the danger, will not be outside you, anymore than your power is.”
Mnemosyne had told me the same about not being able to hurt Adonis, the day I faced off with him during the first of my trials. He and I were connected, because I brought him to life when he was a statue.
But the danger? She made it sound as if I were the real threat to the world, not Cleon or the gods or anyone else. Or did she mean Cleon would possess me and turn me into a weapon?
I had more questions to ask her, but my worried eyes returned to my body. Cleon was bending over me, and I started forward, alarmed by the first Oracle’s warning.
“I’ll come back. Don’t go back to Hades!” I shouted over my shoulder. Without waiting for her response, I vaulted back towards my body with the ground eating strides that allowed me to pass distances ten time faster in this plane than in my own.
Reaching Cleon, I glanced in the direction of the bulldozer ripping down the trees.
“I would appreciate these odd excursions more, if they didn’t occur during meetings,” Cleon said, facing me.
I searched his features. If he heard or saw or otherwise knew the content of the discussion I’d had with the first Oracle, he showed no sign of it. I didn’t let myself relax, not when he was standing between my body and me. Could two spirits fight in this plane? Or would it be like walking through walls and trees, and our blows would pass through one another?
“Send us back, Alessandra. I have business to conduct.”
“Okay. Get away from my body,” I said as calmly as I could.
A flicker of something went through his gaze and vanished just as quickly. Cleon stepped aside, and I closed the distance to stand beside my body. As I stood, looking down at my physical self, I began to wish I had asked the first Oracle how to return to my world. Leandra had been the one to pull me back before, and I had no idea how she did it.
Aware of Cleon’s intent gaze, I waded into the middle of my body and stood there stupidly.
One of the trees – as ghostly as the other physical entities in my world – crashed down beside my body.
“Holy Zeus!” I exclaimed. “They’re going to kill us both!”
“This is why Niko handles you, not the rest of these fools,” Cleon growled.
“Where is he?” I demanded. “Tell him to stop this!”
“He’s on an important mission.”
The bulldozer rammed another tree. It began to fall. If the first one was close, this one was going to be dead on.
“C’mon, c’mon, c’mon!” I shouted and stretched out to try to force my spirit back into my physical body. “Let me in, gods dammit!”
The sense of the earth shifting was followed by the very physical sense of air reaching my lungs. I opened my eyes as the tree began to fall.
I was stuck between worlds, able to view what was happening from the outside while also living through it. My surroundings seemed more faded than usual, and I could also feel the solid ground beneath me and the scrape down one arm caused by the first tree that grazed me as it toppled to the ground.
I gasped. Hearing my breath catch grounded me fully into my world, and I lifted my hands to snatch the tree’s ribbons.
Green ribbons swarmed and engulfed the tree, responding to my panic. The tree paused mid-fall. I pushed it over with one hand, and the tree settled gently to the ground beside me. The ribbons snaked back to my body.
I didn’t have time to be relieved or to release the tension causing me to grind my teeth hard. The oblivious soldiers on the other side were busy ramming the next tree. I guided it out of the way with a single thought then bounced to my feet. Creating a secondary exit with magic by moving two trees beside me, I left the safety of the fortress and stood outside, trembling from effort and the nearly being being crushed to death.
As much as I despised Niko, I had a feeling Cleon was right. The mercenary-turned-army-commander was never this clumsy. He might tranq me first and ask questions later – or never – but he would never risk dropping a tree on me.
Because he’s disciplined and loyal.
I straightened. The thought wasn’t mine – of this I was certain. But if Cleon had responded, he was reading my mind now, and no longer limited to the images I saw.
Another tree smashed to the ground, no farther than twenty centimeters from my leg.
“Holy … just stop!” I cried at the men and women about to bring the forest down in their ill-planned attempt to reach me.
Abruptly the bulldozing ceased, along with the movement of Cleon’s soldiers. No sound but the summer breeze and rustling trees remained. Oh – and my heavy breathing. I didn’t know which part of my evening was the worst, but nearly being crushed by a tree ranked pretty high.
When the bulldozer didn’t start up again, and no soldiers rushed me with tranq guns, I cautiously emerged from around the fortress.
“I’m cooperating!” I called and raised my hands.
No one shouted for me to drop to my belly with my hands above my head. No one spoke at all. I eased around the final trees standing between Cleon’s men and myself, and my arms lowered of their own accord.
The bulldozer and soldiers were frozen in place. Humans normally had three ribbons above their heads. These still did – but the ribbons were wrapped in green sheaths. I had never lashed out at anyone before. I was careful not to, because I didn’t want anyone hurt. These people were alive still, but completely immobilized. I approached the nearest one.
He was frozen mid-shout, a radio in one hand and his eyes on the driver of the bulldozer, as if he had been trying to flag down the driver. I reached out to touch his skin and withdrew with a scowl.
His skin was cool and malleable, like rubber. Definitely not human. I had somehow de-animated all of these people with a simple command.
Incredible.
“A little freaky, I think,” I said and stepped away.
We can use this.
“Not if I don’t know how I did it in the first place.”
Realizing I was talking to Cleon – whose words had seemed like my own thoughts – I clamped my mouth closed. I purposely did not think about the first Oracle, afraid of revealing what she had shared with the one person capable of using it against me. Instead, I crossed my arms and turned all the way around to observe the statue farm I’d created.
The Silent Queen will soon be captured. Cleon said.
“What?”
That’s where Niko is tonight. Leading the attack. We were tipped off about her location.
I tried not to think about Theodocia, Leandra and the Silent Queen, who I’d met only once.
It’s only a matter of time before we finish off the rebellion, Cleon added. He was pleased. And then she’ll be more willing to negotiate.
I didn’t know what to think. To say I didn’t believe most of what that man told me was an understatement. The amount of misinformation circulated within this compound alone kept me from putting my faith in anyone but Leandra. Without her present, I wouldn’t be able to confirm or refute the information, either. Would Niko tell me the truth, if I confronted him during our next sparring session?
No.
Was that Cleon or my mind that answered my question? I was having a harder time distinguishing his voice from mine.
I began walking back towards my villa. “I’ll release your soldiers when I’m home,” I told Cleon. “I don’t feel like being tranq’d tonight.”
I blinked. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my room. Disoriented, I bent to touch the floor and ensure I hadn’t been yanked into some other dimension. The marble was cool beneath my fingertips. The servants had left the door to the balcony o
pen, as I requested. Even knowing my Mismatch was gone, I couldn’t help hoping he would magically appear on my balcony.
“Release the soldiers from whatever I did to them,” I directed my magic aloud. “I’m sure you’ll tell me if it worked.” This sentence was directed at the ever-present Cleon. He didn’t respond, but he seemed unusually cheerful this evening, even for him.
The more I dealt with him, the more desperate I was to dislodge him from my mind.
I placed the newest Mismatch statues with the others on the mantle above my hearth. My collection was over two-dozen strong. Each time I used my power, I inadvertently created a new grotesque statue.
I rearranged them restlessly, my mind on Theodocia. I had admired her since the first time our paths crossed. She was strong, an incredible warrior and sure of herself, and I wanted to be like her. I tried hard not to think about what happened if Cleon were telling the truth, and the Silent Queen was dead with her rebellion soon to follow. They controlled the only entity capable of standing up to Cleon’s army and, down the road, the gods when Cleon was handled.
Movement came from the corner of my eye, and I twisted away from the mantle. A sense of not being connected to my world crossed through me as I studied the form lingering in the shadows of one wall.
“Lights,” I said and moved towards it.
The chandelier overhead burst into brilliant light, and the image across the room remained.
I walked towards the mirror that hadn’t been present at any other point in my life. At least, not while I was in my world. The black and white reflection was a remnant of the other world, not mine, and yet, I saw my reflection in the gray world, along with the reflections of everything else in my room.
My image faded suddenly, replaced by a gaping hole leading deeper into Hades’ domain. Cerberus emerged, towering high enough for his heads to reach the top of the cathedral ceilings of my bedroom.
I stopped in place, waiting to see what he did. The beast sat on its haunches, remaining on his side of the curtain, protecting the gateway to Hades. He wasn’t looking at me, and I followed his gaze with my own.
My heart sank. All six of Cerberus eyes were staring at the memorial wall of my room.
“No offense, but if you’re going to be there all night, its going to be harder for me to sleep,” I said.
The creature ignored me.
Crossing my arms, I reassured myself with the ability to feel my body as normal. I was in my world, and I could now see into another world. I wished with all my heart it wasn’t Hades. As if my memorial wall, and the heavy weight of those I’d murdered, didn’t already haunt me.
A tingling at the base of my skull gave me no uncertainty about who had just entered my villa. Seconds later, my door opened, and one of the servants walked in.
“Excuse me,” she said.
“Leave me alone,” I replied.
Silence.
When she didn’t speak or close the door, I turned to find her gone. Realizing what I’d said, and how my words gained more power with the passing of each day, I cursed under my breath.
“Wherever you went, you can come back!” I called.
The servant materialized. She was pale and trembling. With a long look at me, she backed away slowly, until she was out of my room completely.
“Sorry, not-sorry,” I mumbled, well aware of who she was loyal to.
My room, as much as it tormented me, was also my sanctuary. Rather than allow Cleon to enter my private space, I left and went to the foyer, where the man I wanted to see least waited for me.
“What do you want?” I asked bluntly.
“A demonstration.”
“No.” Pain shot through me, fast and sharp enough to cause me to stagger into the wall.
Except this time, I wasn’t the only one hurt. Cleon dropped to one knee.
The pain stopped, and we stared at one another. Neither of us expecting for him to be affected. He tapped the pain mechanism again, and we both flinched.
I pulled my knife free and made a tiny cut on my hand.
My palm bled – and so did Cleon’s.
“This might complicate matters,” he said, gazing down at his bloody hand.
The image in my head wasn’t mine but his. He had planned – at some point – to put me up on the wall where Cecelia was. My dismembered body was in his mind and projected into mine – along with his satisfaction.
“Good luck with that,” I said and straightened. “Looks like you can’t hurt me anymore.”
“Perhaps not physically,” he agreed.
Nothing ruffled his feathers, not even the realization his favorite toy could no longer be played with. It was when he started to smile that I grew concerned.
“Your show at the edge of the compound gave me an idea,” he said. “What better way to incapacitate in important pawn I may one day need?”
“I’m not doing it, whatever it is,” I said. “You’ve run out of ways to force me to obey you.”
The image of Theodocia flashed through my head. I pushed it away, not understanding why my mind chose to think of her at this moment.
“Perhaps you need a different kind of encouragement,” Cleon replied. “Bring her!”
I tensed, expecting the worst.
Two of his guards entered through the front door, dragging someone with them.
My breath caught in my throat. “Theodocia,” I said.
They dumped her on the floor. She was bloodied and motionless, unconscious.
“Turn her into a statue, as you did the soldiers in the forest,” Cleon ordered.
“Um, no.”
“I would rather not kill her, when I plan on using her against her Queen. But I will, if you won’t obey. I can’t risk her escaping.”
I shook my head. “I’ll turn all of you into statues,” I said and held my breath. I envisioned the rubbery forms of the soldiers.
The men with Cleon went completely still, frozen in place.
Cleon, however, remained fine.
“I believe this is what the first Oracle meant by indirectly warning you that you can’t affect me,” he said with a smile.
Not good. “What else did you hear?” I snapped.
“Enough.”
Was he bluffing? Had he read my mind after the fact, or had he been there, spying, when I spoke to the first Oracle? Cleon was a master politician, and I didn’t have the experience with liars required to determine if and when he was telling the truth. One thing was clear. I couldn’t risk going back to the other plane, in case he had overheard everything.
“You can turn her into a statue, or I’ll kill her right here in front of you.” Cleon reached over to one of the statues and plucked the gun free from the soldier’s hand.
I reacted instinctively and tried to push Cleon away.
Nothing happened.
I stretched for his ribbons and gripped them, then twisted, not caring what kind of pain I put myself in, if Theodocia survived.
Still nothing.
Dropping my hand, I stared at Cleon in surprise. One of my green ribbons floated above his head.
Soon after Adonis and I first met, we were forced into a duel, in which I wasn’t able to hurt him, because my magic was the source of his reanimation. He was alive because of me, and my power had somehow integrated into him and bound us together. I was warned then that I couldn’t hurt my own creation, and again by the first Oracle.
Why did Cleon also possess my green ribbon? Was it an unexpected side effect of the chip in my head, melding our minds together? Was it a protective measure my power innately executed, in case something happened to him?
Even if my magic was off the table, I could still hurt him physically with my knife and fists, enough to free Theodocia and perhaps, send her away. I started forward.
He fired the gun, and a chunk of marble beside Theodocia’s head exploded.
I stopped.
“Proceed, only if you want her dead,” Cleon said firmly. “It’s in your
best interest to turn her into a harmless statue no longer capable of threatening me. When circumstances are ideal, I’ll unfreeze her.”
I racked my mind, infuriated to realize no matter what plan I came up with – he’d know it instantly. I didn’t want Theodocia dead, and I didn’t want her interrogated and tortured. I had the potential to summon all the power in the universe – and couldn’t do anything to protect those near me.
I was left with one real option.
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Turn Theodocia into a statue.”
My green ribbons swept past her, and her body became lifeless and still.
“And free my men,” Cleon directed, lowering the weapon.
We both waited to see if his command worked.
It didn’t, which was a tiny, bittersweet victory for me.
“Free his men,” I repeated the command.
They began to move again, and I glanced towards their reflection in the mirror. Cerberus was watching us. What did that asshole want? Wasn’t it enough he smacked me around whenever I accidentally entered his territory?
If Cleon noticed, he said nothing. He returned the weapon to the soldier and motioned for the two to remove the Theodocia statue.
Without another word, he left.
My anger had nothing to do with Cerberus, who was watching me still, and everything to do with being helpless to stop Cleon. I stood in the foyer, struggling to rein in my mixed emotions and to create some semblance of a plan without tipping Cleon off. Every once in a while, the discussion I’d had with Lantos returned to me, and I couldn’t help feeling as though I should have learned more from him during our exchange, that he knew much about what was coming.
I was tempted to return to the other world and talk to the first Oracle about everything, but scared as well, in case Cleon had overheard the secret the first Oracle told me.
My situation was impossible. Unless …
Sleep. Cleon had to sleep at some point. When he did, could I plan without him being aware of my thoughts?
“Coffee. Lots of it,” I said quietly. Cerberus kept pace with me as I headed to my bedroom. “What do you want?” I growled at him. “I’m not coming over there any time soon!”
