Pantheon (The Tamar Black Saga)

by Nicola Rhodes

  Djinn Tamar had created some sort of shelter by the simple expedient of boring a small cave in the side of the mountain – she was not too concerned with the intricate nuances of blasphemy, nor did she much care if the entire mountain came down. Fortunately it did not – it was only a small cave. Then she obliged them with a fire.

  ‘I remember when I could do that,’ said Tamar wistfully.

  ‘Yes,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘But then again, you don’t live in a bottle. We all have our problems.’

  ‘I suppose,’ said Tamar, too tired to start an argument about it. Denny looked at her in concern. Mortality was really taking a toll on her. He wondered just how much longer she could stand it.

  ‘So,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘Just how did you get Nemesis to agree to help you anyway – you never said.’

  Denny’s face turned a bright red and Djinn Tamar was alert at once. ‘Ah,’ she said. ‘So that’s it. That’s some nice work,’ she added, but she was looking at Tamar as she said it.

  ‘Er … I didn’t do anything,’ said Tamar.

  Djinn Tamar raised her eyebrows. ‘You didn’t?’ she said. ‘Then … oh I see. I thought that you … that Nemesis … Oh by Allah, you have no idea that you’re doing it, do you?’

  ‘Doing what?’

  But Denny got it immediately.

  It’s not me,’ he said. ‘It was never me. It’s you!’ And he glared accusingly at her, to her utter mystification.

  ‘You must be doing it subconsciously,’ said Djinn Tamar thoughtfully. ‘That explains why I felt you trying to do it to me. I mean it didn’t work obviously. It didn’t need to anyway. I am you. I was bound to feel the same way as you do in any case. I did wonder why you bothered trying it on me.’

  ‘What the hell are you two waffling about?’ shouted Tamar.

  ‘You make them see him through your eyes,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘But I didn’t realise that you aren’t doing it on purpose. You can’t seem to help it.’

  ‘I-I – am not!’ Tamar stammeringly protested.

  ‘Oh yes you are,’ said Denny. ‘I see it all now. I thought there was something funny going on … and it only ever happens with those women who have met us both. It’s obvious when you think about it.’

  ‘But … but … I would never …’

  ‘Think about it,’ said Denny. ‘The way you always get so het up when people look right through me or call me ugly to my face. It really bothers you for some reason. You just wanted people to … to …’

  ‘Appreciate you, the way I do,’ she finished in a resigned tone.’ I guess I took it too far.’

  ‘You didn’t know you were doing it,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘I don’t even know how you do it. I’ve never come across anything quite like it.’

  ‘A powerful mind,’ said Denny. ‘Apparently, even as a mortal, you aren’t quite like other people are you?’

  ‘You aren’t, strictly speaking, a mortal,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘I don’t know what you are really. But just because you don’t have any powers, doesn’t mean that you’re normal.’

  ‘And it only seems to work on other magical women – not on ordinary women,’ said Denny. ‘There’s some kind of … link there?’ he asked.

  Djinn Tamar shrugged. ‘Maybe,’ she said. ‘Or maybe she just doesn’t have the same impetus to convert an ordinary woman. I mean, on a subconscious level anyway, who cares what they think?’

  ‘But magical people are more susceptible to that sort of thing, aren’t they?’ Denny persisted. ‘Because they can already see things that normal people can’t.’

  ‘We may never understand it really,’ said Djinn Tamar. ‘But it’s as good an explanation as any. A goddess or a witch or someone like that is in touch with the unseen world on a psychic level.’

  ‘I can see that you’re finding all this fascinating,’ said Tamar snippily.

  ‘How do we stop it from happening?’ said Denny to Djinn Tamar, ignoring this.

  ‘I don’t think you can really,’ she said. ‘Sorry. She isn’t conscious of what she’s doing you see, so … how can she control it? It’s basically an emotional response. Involuntary. And of course, even if there was a way to stop it from happening in the future, it’s too late for Nemesis.’ she added. ‘She’s hooked now. And that is because of you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ said Denny.

  ‘Don’t kid yourself,’ she said. ‘You are special. All by yourself. It’s just that it can be hard to spot, unless you get a helping hand.’ And she looked at Tamar. ‘It seems that what she’s doing is accelerating the “getting to know you” part. Showing them everything that she sees in you, because she already knows you. The rest is up to them. It’s not mind control. It’s … a quick glimpse inside her head. I guess she thinks so highly of you that that’s all it takes. She’s showing them who you really are, you see, as opposed to just what you look like.’

  ‘Stop talking about me as if I’m not here,’ snapped Tamar, now thoroughly sick and tired of this.

  ‘But most, no all, of them wouldn’t look twice at me if she didn’t do this?’ persisted Denny in spite of Tamar’s rising temper.

  ‘It’s hard to say for sure, but no, probably not. I hate to say it, but at first glance you don’t really make a strong impression either way, not good or bad.’

  ‘He did on me,’ said Tamar.

  ‘Yes, he did, and now you’re spreading the word – everywhere you go,’ said Djinn Tamar with a laugh.

  ‘It’s not funny,’ said Denny. If you knew the trouble it’s caused …’ He broke off as Tamar finally lost control and burst into tears.

  ‘I think I’ll just …’ said Djinn Tamar and discreetly retired to her bottle.

  ‘I didn’t mean to do it,’ she wailed.

  ‘I know that,’ he said comfortingly. ‘It’s okay, really it is.’

  ‘But you were right. I mean look at all the trouble it’s caused.’

  ‘Nothing we couldn’t handle,’ he told her. ‘It’s kept life interesting, hasn’t it?’

  ‘I suppose,’ she said, sniffing.

  ‘And at least it proves you must trust me,’ he added.

  ‘Of course I do,’ she said, startled.

  ‘And if it makes you feel any better. From what she said, I would have to say that the whole Cindy fiasco was not your fault. It was definitely mine.’

  Tamar said nothing. She was not so sure. Cindy’s attitude toward Denny when they had first met had been everything that Tamar found irritating about the way people reacted to Denny when they did not know him, which was basically to ignore him. Had that been the catalyst for this extraordinary manifestation? With Cindy as the first victim? Or had Cindy’s opinions of Denny changed naturally as she got to know him better and began to see … what she saw?

  She realised that she would never know. And it did not matter now anyway. In the end, Cindy’s feelings had definitely been real – no matter how it had started. As were the feelings of Nemesis according to what her other self had told them. The point was that she had to stop doing this somehow, before it caused any more trouble.

  * * *

  ‘So,’ said Djinn Tamar brightly as the sun rose and flooded the cave. ‘Have you come up with a plan yet?’

  ‘No.’ said Denny shortly. ‘He did not feel like sharing his idea just yet. He was not even certain that he was going to go through with it.

  ‘You know I’ve been thinking about this,’ she said. ‘If you do succeed somehow, the world will go back to how it was before, won’t it?’

  ‘Hopefully, yes.’

  ‘So, none of this will have happened,’ she said. ‘I’ll never have met you and all this … you’ll just go back to your lives right. Because after you fix it, you won’t have to come back in time in the first place in order to fix it. It’s a paradox really.’

  ‘I hadn’t really thought about it,’ said Denny. ‘But I suppose you’re right.’

  ‘Will that be okay?’ she asked in concern. ‘Won’t you get stuck in
the loop?’

  Denny thought about it. ‘No,’ he said eventually. ‘Not this time. It’ll just be as if it never happened at all. You said it yourself. ‘We don’t exist at the moment.’

  ‘But it was a good thought,’ he added as her face fell. But as it turned out, that was not what was bothering her.

  ‘But I won’t remember any of this?’ she said a little sadly.

  ‘If you did,’ he said. ‘That would create a paradox. I’m afraid that as far as you are concerned, none of this will have happened at all. You will go back to your life too. I wish there was something I could do about it, but I can’t.’

  ‘Hmmm,’ she said and her face became thoughtful.

  * * *

  They were greeted by a rather flustered Nemesis at the summit. Djinn Tamar was back in her bottle under the proviso that they understood that it was her decision, and she could chose to come out whenever she wanted to. Since they could not technically be called her masters, this was really just a point of courtesy.

  ‘Well?’ said Denny ‘What happened, will Zeus see us?’

  ‘Not even after I told him how lovely your wife is,’ she apologised. ‘I think he’s finally getting old. In the old days that would have done it right away.’

  ‘Maybe you should have avoided the use of the word “wife”.’ said Denny naïvely.

  Nemesis laughed. ‘Oh, you are a treasure,’ she said. ‘Don’t be so silly, as if that matters to him.’

  ‘It matters to me,’ said Denny.

  ‘So, he won’t see us?’ interrupted Tamar. ‘You couldn’t get us in?’

  ‘I shall keep trying,’ said Nemesis.

  ‘There’s no need,’ said Denny.

  ‘What?’ said Tamar in an outraged tone.

  Denny ignored her and took Nemesis by the hand and looked steadily at her – it was, he felt, the least he could do under the circumstances. ‘I really am very sorry,’ he said and plunged the Athame into her heart.

  It worked. He had not been one hundred per cent certain that it would – but there was no doubt. He could feel the power flowing. Nemesis fell to her knees as Denny withdrew the blade. She was unhurt but powerless now. A mortal.

  Had Denny known it, this was a part of the legend. Although, according to the story, it was the gods who deprived Nemesis of her power for daring to question their “justice”. However, this was close enough. She had questioned, and now, almost as a direct result, she had lost her power.

  She was staring at Denny, a world of pain in her eyes. ‘So,’ she said. ‘It is true. You have come to destroy us.’

  ‘Yes,’ said Denny. There was no point in denying it.

  ‘So, do it then. Finish me.’

  ‘I’m not going to kill you,’ he said. ‘You are mortal now, that’s enough.’ He bent down to her. ‘You could look at it another way,’ he said. ‘You may be mortal now, but you are also free. Think about it,’ he advised. And he turned away from her, and, taking Tamar’s hand, entered the home of the gods.

  ~ Chapter Seven ~

  It took Tamar a full five minutes to get her breath back after Denny’s stunning performance. She had thought she knew him, but never in a million years would she have imagined that he would do something like this. Her yes; she would probably not have even hesitated. She had actually thought of doing something like this, but had been certain that he would never agree to it. How wrong can you be?

  ‘I had to,’ said Denny as if reading her thoughts. ‘And after all, it’s what we came here for isn’t it? One down,’ he added tastelessly.

  ‘I agree,’ she said. ‘I really do, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I’m just a bit surprised that you did it.’

  ‘Well, I had to,’ he reiterated. ‘It was the only way to get us in.’

  ‘And what the hell have we got ourselves into anyway?’ said Tamar looking around in distaste.

  ‘It’s like cloud city,’ said Denny. ‘Not the one in Star Wars obviously,’ he added needlessly. Tamar had never seen Star Wars anyway.

  So far, all that could be seen was a misty landscape with a lot of pillars rising out of and disappearing into the clouds. There was a faint golden haze over everything like muted sunlight. Here and there shafts of bright golden light shone through thunder headed cloudbanks. Denny thought it was pretty.

  ‘Can you do that to all of them?’ asked Tamar. ‘Will it really be that easy?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ he admitted. ‘Nemesis wasn’t as powerful as most of the other gods and besides …’

  ‘It won’t be as easy to get that close to the others,’ Tamar finished for him.

  ‘They’re probably expecting us by now,’ he said.

  ‘So, where’s the reception committee?’ said Tamar.

  At that moment, a bolt of lightning shot through the clouds and landed at Denny’s feet. He never moved a muscle.

  ‘I guess that answers that question,’ he said.

  ‘Mmm,’ said Tamar. ‘Typical gods,’ she added, ‘always so showy and tasteless. I mean look at this place. It’s the divine version of a gin palace. All it needs are tasteless cherubs and maybe a few fruit machines.’

  ‘I quite like it,’ admitted Denny.

  ‘That’s the Athame talking,’ she told him. ‘The Denny I know would hate all this glitter.’

  ‘Oh, well maybe you’re right,’ he said. ‘Is that it?’ he added. ‘One lightning bolt? Somehow I was expecting worse.’

  Worse was coming. Through the clouds, a female figure appeared. She was scantily clad and had long golden hair. The lady Godiva of the ancient world. Tamar recognised her immediately. She had once taken her face – just for a few minutes – until she found a better one. Because although it was true that Aphrodite was supremely beautiful – the face was somewhat doll-like. It is possible to have features that are too perfect. Tamar had never made this mistake. Apart from this, she reminded Denny disturbingly of Cindy. Particularly the way she was looking at him, which was all too familiar.

  She smiled at them both and extended her hands in a gesture of welcome. ‘Come and play,’ she offered.

  ‘They’re afraid,’ thought Tamar. ‘They don’t know what we can do to them.’

  Denny was rapidly coming to the same conclusion. ‘They know what I did to Nemesis,’ he was thinking, ‘they must do. So they’re playing nice now, to see what happens next. They don’t know why we’ve come, but I have the power of a god and Tamar is beautiful enough to be a goddess. They don’t know who we are.’

  He put on a stern face. ‘We want to see Zeus,’ he demanded.

  ‘Oh, well,’ thought Tamar with an internal sigh. ‘In for a penny …’

  Aphrodite fluttered.

  ‘Another one,’ thought Denny with an internal sigh of his own. He had thought he recognised that look. Still, in this case, it could come in handy. Nevertheless he gave Tamar a look, and she shrugged helplessly. ‘What can I do?’ she seemed to say.

  ‘But of course,’ said Aphrodite. ‘We are having a feast. The king of the gods presides. You can ask him whatever you wish.’

  Tamar and Denny looked at each other. ‘Okay … I mean – very well,’ said Denny. ‘Take us to him.’

  * * *

  Aphrodite, clinging firmly to Denny’s arm, took them to the feast. It was being held in what they took to be the main throne room or Olympian equivalent. A large space that had clearly been modelled partly on the Elysian Fields and partly on the Parthenon. That is, it looked like a pleasure garden – with pillars. A large crystal clear lake was the central feature and many gods were enjoying a nude swim. Zeus sat on a large marble throne on a dais behind which was a circle of pillars. He looked bored.

  They were relieved to see that there was no sign of Poseidon. He was, although they were not to know this, in disgrace at the moment.

  They were treated as honoured guests. The whole experience was a little unnerving at first, until they realised that they were apparently not actually suspected of dark designs against th
e entire pantheon. It seemed to be assumed, from what they could make out, that Nemesis had simply been in their way, or had offended them in some way. And that, given what had happened to her, it was only wisdom to be courteous to their guests, in case the same thing happened to them.

  In any case, as soon as Zeus laid eyes on Tamar, he felt the stirring of desires that had been long dormant (and he was not the only one) there were not many mortals – if any – like her. He only had to look at her once to feel like a young god of five hundred again.

  Tamar, of course, was shrewdly aware of the effect she was having. It happened all the time. And in any case, Zeus was making no effort to hide it. She wondered how she could use this to her advantage without compromising herself. There was always the jealousy option of course. She was aware of Apollo, in particular, watching her, as she sat at the feet of the king, with smouldering eyes. She could feel his resentment towards Zeus from here.

  Meanwhile, Denny was having his own problems. Although, the Athame was protecting him from whatever pheromones or other magical love spells that Aphrodite was using on him shamelessly, and which would, no doubt, have had other mortal men drooling like idiots, she was not to be put off.

  However, it could have been worse, he thought. Of the other goddesses present there were only Artemis and Athena who had a high enough caste to challenge Aphrodite and both of them were chaste and, therefore, uninterested in doing so. Thank heaven for small mercies, he thought. However, while Athena was inclined to disdainfully ignore him Artemis challenged him to an archery contest, and he seemed to win her respect at least when he proved himself at least her equal in this art. Thanks, no doubt to the stolen power of Nemesis, who had been a master bow-woman. (Denny had never learned to shoot although he was good at knife throwing.)

  It was a swinging party. A Bacchanal, in fact. The ambrosia was flowing, and the antics of the gods were getting wilder and wilder. And all the time, Tamar and Denny were wondering what on earth they were going to do. If Denny used the Athame now, on one god, he would certainly never get a chance to go after the others. The rest of them would undoubtedly fall on him as one and that would be the end of him. He knew he was nowhere near a match for all of them. Unless, he went after Zeus himself – perhaps …