“Since the moment I found out I was Zeus, I’ve had nothing but questions and every time I get an answer there’s four more questions that need asking. It’s exhausting, more because I must pretend I’m fine everyone else feels fine. It’s okay now to tell you this because it’s us and you’re not relying on me the way the others do. I don’t want to be relied on; I’m not strong enough to be that kind of pillar of strength for someone. I need more people like you to stand at my side as my equal and take some of the pressure off.
“Maybe Zeus had selfish reasons for putting us all to sleep but I think too a lot of us had lost sight of why we took Olympus in the first place. We vowed to do it better than our parents and yet we were as corrupted in the end as they were, as separated and individually defined as them. Atlas said it himself, we need to start learning to work together because therein lies our strength, but it’s not that... Being together makes me a little bit weaker and a little bit less of a target. Why would someone come for me alone if not all the power is held in my hands?”
“From the sounds of it, you want democracy.” I said with a small smile, “and that’s possible, but you need to tell Zeus to put aside his ego and his former feelings for people like Griffin and Hades. I understand his reservations about Hades; I truly do, first hand... But he’s also changed. Zeus needs to understand that we’ve all changed. That’s the whole point of this experiment, we’re supposed to work together immortals and mortals in order to find the harmony that was originally lacking.”
“It’s harder than you think Val.” He said softly, repeating himself.
“Harder than I think to put Zeus aside?” I arched an eyebrow at him and grinned slightly. I understood now what the Erinyes meant about the Olympians not being fully united yet. As much as Zeus was resisting the change, was Aidan.
“You need to stop thinking about Zeus as “him” and start realizing you and Zeus are one in the same. His thoughts are your thoughts, as your thoughts are his thoughts. You might have united enough to control his power, but you haven’t united enough to become one. I don’t hear Persephone’s voice anymore because I know that my thoughts are as much hers as they are mine. In the last few hours, I’ve overcome things that had it been me I would’ve never been able to figure out alone. It’s because we’re properly united that when I don’t know what to do anymore she guides me and gives me the answer naturally. I’m sure Zeus is scared because he’s never given up power to someone before but he can’t look at it like that, he needs to see that your power is his power.”
“You’re pretty smart, did you know that?”
I smiled sadly and shrugged, “growing up I had a lot of time for reflection and study. I spent a lot of time thinking about a lot of things, now I tell people what I think.”
“You’re not a mortal anymore though Valentina.” Aidan stopped walking and I came up short behind him, he turned to face me, hugging me in an uncharacteristic fashion. “And you don’t have to make excuses for who you are. You’re intelligent. You’re an intelligent Goddess.”
Overcoming my initial surprise, I hugged him back and smiled slightly into his chest.
“Thanks, Aidan.”
“I’m sorry I took my anger out on you.”
“Don’t worry, I stopped taking your temper tantrums personally.”
“That bad huh?”
“Well, I know I’m not the only one.” He laughed and pulled away, suddenly feeling awkward before turning and starting to walk again.
“Well, as a King I’m entitled to temper tantrums.”
“Said every three-year old ever.” I laughed at him, pausing as we both stopped to look at the expanse of grass in front of us.
“Now where?”
“Now we need to find a door, any door and get to Savannah. If she’s mortal, she won’t be able to travel without us, the others though...”
“I have an idea.” The sky overhead rumbled once more and a harsh wind shook the trees. I pulled my jacket tight around me and looked over at Aidan, who was concentrating profoundly on something I couldn’t see.
“Stonehenge, you said?” He muttered to me.
I nodded, “Yeah.”
Despite the cold winds that wrapped around us, lifting my hair into the air I suddenly felt warmth pulling at my stomach and curling tightly into a ball in the pit.
A crack of lightning struck down in front of us, splitting a tree in two. The half fell to the ground at our feet and the other, still barely standing, smoked.
All at once I felt fine again and turned to look up at Aidan, “that’s your idea?” I said, sounding more judgmental than I meant. Aidan laughed and opened his eyes, pointing to the smoking tree. Approaching it slowly I saw a message written in on the tree, telling whoever found it to go to Stonehenge and to use the doors like we do in Olympus.
“But-“ I started to protest that anyone who stumbled on the tree could see the message when I blinked and saw that what I thought I was seeing was a lightning bolt symbol.
“How did you do that?”
“Sorry, I channeled some of your powers and used your ability to make things grow while combining it with my ability to create the symbol. Any mortal who sees it will find it strange, any immortal who finds it will see the message.”
“Clever. Your idea or Zeus’?”
He looked down at me for a moment before smiling, “both of us.”
Chapter 24
We walked for longer than I liked through the woods at the edge of the mountain, turning every often to check to make sure no Titans or creatures were following us. We seemed lucky as we finally reached a small village on the outskirts of the forest. Hurrying to the first door we saw we pushed through, thinking hard about Savannah alone in the Amazon. We came out through the roots of a tree, both of us getting stuck and having to pull our way through.
“There has to be an easier way,” Aidan groaned as he fought the roots and pulled himself through a hole smaller than his tall form should’ve fit through.
“I wish I knew...” I said apologetically, but my attention wasn’t completely on him. Wherever we had been brought to, Savannah didn’t appear to be anywhere. There were, however, more animals than I was comfortable with staring at us like we were invading their personal space.
“How many mythological creatures do you think might be in the Amazon?”
“Honestly?” Aidan said coming to my side, “I don’t know that many mythological creatures.”
“Griffins, minotaur, Cyclopes, centaurs, dryads, sprites, nymphs, mermaids, sphinxes...” I listed a few to prompt his memory.
“Oh, do elves count? I read Lord of the Rings once.” “I don’t think they’re the same thing.”
“C’mon, let’s not wait around to find out, Jailbait.” He took my hand and led me away from a group of monkeys staring at us with far more interest than I liked.
“Savannah?” I shouted her name, knowing she couldn’t be that far from where the portal had pulled us through, “let me check the map.” I freed my hand once more and pulled it out, flipping it open and letting the image of her spread on the page. She looked to be in the exact same place as us considering all the trees looked identical.
“Call her name again, I’ll watch to see if she reacts.” “Queenie!” Aidan shouted at the top of his lungs,
“Queenie, where are you?” Sure enough, Savannah looked up from what she was doing and glanced around, her mouth moved but I couldn’t hear anything she said.
“She’s nearby but not nearly enough that we can hear her. You go that way and keep shouting.” I pointed ahead while I turned around, navigating myself with the map as Aidan continued to call out her name. Each time he did
I watched her answer him through the map before finally standing up and moving toward where she thought the sound was coming from. I had the terrible thought that forests could carry sound for some while and she might even be misled to going the wrong way.
“Savannah!” I shouted her name and sure e
nough she turned around, looking in what I hoped was my direction. In the distance, I could hear Aidan calling her still. “Savannah!” I followed her motions on the map, not watching where I was going when my foot hit a sinkhole and I fell right through, landing in a heap at the bottom.
I groaned, running my hand along my leg to where my foot was aching. We were far out from human population, did that mean without mortal belief I wouldn’t heal fast enough?
“Aidan! Savannah!” I called out; hoping one of them would hear me as I massaged my tender ankle. It was twisted for the time being and I wasn’t going to try and get out of here, risking injuring it further.
I watched on the map as Savannah continued to wander toward a voice, hopefully Aidan’s. I rubbed at my ankle as it continued to throb and burn. Savannah continued to walk through the woods, shouting something back in response to Aidan when I finally saw him come through a clearing and find her. I sighed in happy relief to see them reunited. I cast my eyes away from the map, feeling invasive in their tender moment. When I thought enough time had passed, I looked back down and saw now that they were walking, calling out for me.
“Aidan! Savannah!” I tilted my chin upwards and shouted out as loud as I could, hoping they would hear me. My ankle was still aching, but I didn’t want to risk them moving further away from me I pushed myself up, struggling to reach the top of the hole and pull myself out.
I skirted my hand along the edge, looking for something to grab hold of and pull myself up with when a hand enclosed around mine and someone lifted my entire weight out of the hole.
“Thanks...” I said with a sigh, looking up and expecting to see Aidan only to shrink back when instead I was met with a somewhat grotesque looking human. If he was a human.
“What are you?” I stepped back; remembering at the last moment there was a hole behind me still. I caught myself midair like on the mountain and hung there for a moment before swinging myself forward. I landed back on the ground, trying to place distance between me and this creature.
“I can almost taste your powers little Goddess...” He smirked at me, smacking his lips together in excitement. He reached out a hand to grab me and I ducked, noting the claws at the end of his fingertips. How had I missed that when he first grabbed me?
“You won’t get them!” I said defiantly, dancing to the side to avoid another swing. This is what the Erinyes were trying to warn me against in the Underworld, creatures like this one would come out and try to kill us for our power. But what good could that do for them? They had to needed something more for their existence... But what did I know about this thing.
“Oh, come now, I promise it won’t hurt. I’ll snatch you up in one bite, one single crunch and it’ll be over.”
“That’s not comforting,” I said as I sidestepped once more, his claw catching my arm and tearing into my flesh. I winced, looking down as blood began to flow down my arm before looking up a moment too late as he leaped onto me pushing me down into the ground.
He smiled hungrily, his fangs glinting mere centimeters from my face before snapping them at me teasingly. I twisted and turned, trying to pull myself from his grip and reached out, looking for anything on the forest floor that might help me.
“AIDAN! SAVANNAH!” I screamed desperately, hearing my voice echo this time. The birds responded, echoing my cries in their chirps as my fingers curled around a rock on the forest bed. It was my only hope. I gripped it tightly and swung my arm upwards, colliding its edge against the skull of the creature. Dazed and surprised he was pushed off me as I turned the tables, with momentum in my favor I jumped on top of him and started hitting him again and again.
I couldn’t stop myself after the first blow, or the second, I didn’t stop until sticky blue blood was coating my arms, mingling with my own blood. The rock became indistinguishable from blood and from monster flesh.
There was nothing left to beat and I pulled away feeling less frightened and more invigorated. I had defended myself; I had been my own hero instead of relying on other people to save me.
I grinned in triumph, staring down at the mangled creature.
“Val?” Savannah came into my clearing first moving over to me quickly and crouching at my side. She shrunk back as she saw what lay underneath me, her nose curling at the disgusting remains.
“What was that thing?”
“I don’t know.” I said softly, feeling Savannah take my hands and guide me to my feet.
“Well, it’s dead now.” Aidan said, making me look up at him. I felt guilty immediately as he looked down at me with disappointment. This was what he had tried to warn me about on the mountain.
“It was trying to eat me, it said it wanted my powers.” I felt defensive; whatever he thought this was, he was wrong.
“Well, good thing you got it then.” He said drily as Savannah inspected me.
“You’re covered in its blood.” She said, her nose curling again as she pulled her hands away to wipe the blood that had transferred to her onto her dress. “Are you okay?”
I nodded my head and then remembered my ankle, looking down at it in surprise. “I fell into the hole, I think I twisted my ankle.”
“Can you walk?” I started to put pressure on it and quickly shook my head.
“No, it’s not healing fast enough.”
“C’mon, get her on my back. We need to get out of the forest in case more of those things are lurking nearby. We have to get to a door and get to Stonehenge.”
“What’s at Stonehenge?” Savannah braced my weight and helped me onto Aidan’s back.
“We’re meeting Griffin there.” Savannah glanced at Aidan and was about to say something, but he shook his head.
“He’s helping us, apparently. Leave it at that.”
“My plan is to get everyone into the Underworld and then hopefully trick the Titans into coming down. They’ll get trapped there because, without Hades’ consent or mine, they’ll be stuck. We can put them back into Tartarus and hopefully put an end to this.”
“Why would you be able to say who goes and comes from the Underworld?”
“I’m Persephone.” I said, looking over at Savannah with a smile.
“You’re Hades’ wife.”
“Yes.”
“Makes much more sense now.” She muttered to herself before smiling, “that’s good. I’m glad you figured it out.”
“Me too, and I’m glad I can help out now.”
She nodded her head and led the way through the trees. “I know a way to a village, but it’s a rudimental civilization. I don’t even know if they have doors we can use.”
“Why didn’t you stay in the village?” It seemed like a safer bet than going it alone in the rainforest. Savannah turned to look at me gravely, her smile tense as she shrugged.
“I’m pretty sure they’re cannibals.”
Aidan laughed, breaking the dramatic tension the she’d built, “cannibals, huh? You saw humans on spits roasting over the fire or are you basing that on your college education?” She punched him in the arm making him laugh again.
“Seriously, they have like human bones in their hair and stuff.”
“You’re sure they were human?” I said uncertainly, making her look back over at me and nod.
“I was in medical school, I can tell the difference between animal bones and human bones.”
“Maybe it was a tribute thing.” “Or maybe they’re cannibals.”
“I hope you taste good with barbecue sauce.” Aidan looked over at Savannah again, a filthy smirk on his face and she punched him again. “Just saying.”
“What happens when we get to this village of cannibals and find out they have no doors, then what?” I asked.
“Then we find out if there’s a way to a place with doors I guess.”
“And when they don’t speak English but in clicks?” Savannah asked, raising her eyebrows with interest.
“First, they would have a dialect of their own probably stemming from Spanish or
another European background instead of clicks, which is a dialect of African. Don’t be ignorant.”
“I’m not worldly like you Mr. Big shot.” I sat on Aidan’s back watching Savannah and he bicker in a cute way that suggested they were both messing with each other, as opposed to being angry.
“The doors.” I reminded them, pulling them from their own conversation.
“Right, doors. If the doors don’t work, we make our own door.”
“How do we do that? Build a house? That could take days.”
“We need a threshold and then make a door, we can borrow one of their tents.”
“If they live in tents.”
“If they live in tents.” He repeated gravely, shifting my weight on his back for a moment before nodding at Savannah. “How much further?”
“Not far, I didn’t want to stay too far away in case.”
And she was right, not long after that we came into a small clearing packed with huts and humans, going about their day to day. It was like stepping into a portal and seeing how nomads had lived back in the day, or at least how I imagined they had.
“No doors.”
“Now what?” Savannah said, turning to look at both of us.
“Want to ask the cannibals if they have doors?” Aidan smirked, making her huff again, “let’s make our own.”
He nodded and set me down carefully, telling both of us to wait as he returned into the forest looking for a suitable piece of wood.
“Do you think this is going to work?” I looked up at Savannah from where I was sitting. She shrugged, her face a mixture of frustration and worry.
“I hope it does.”
“Do you think they’re cannibals?” I said, glancing over at the people who still, thankfully, hadn’t noticed us. “They look hungry...”
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