Forge of the Gods 2

by Simon Archer

  She tucked her head against my shoulder.

  “Do you want to get out of here?” Hailey suggested.

  My mouth popped open at the idea, and my brain stalled.

  “Only if you want to,” Hailey added quickly, the sultry nature of her offer fading away with the concern that I wanted what she wanted.

  I met Hailey’s eye so she could see the seriousness of my answer. “Yes.”

  The soldier jumped a little, a literal skip in her step as she pulled away from me but never relinquished my hand. She dragged me off the dance floor, breaking into a run. I threw my head back and laughed at her enthusiasm.

  It seemed my soldier was insatiable. It had not even been an hour since our tryst in the kitchen.

  Unfortunately, a voice broke through our excitement. It called out to the pair of us, dousing us both as easily as if they’d thrown a bucket of cold water over us.

  “Hailey! Cameron!” Genesis called out from her spot on the bench next to the goddess of desire. “Come here, please. Aphrodite would like to speak with you.”

  26

  My spine stiffened at Genesis’s words. I wanted to clap back at her and say that Aphrodite could talk to me later. But as if she sensed my defiance, Hailey squeezed my hand and led me forward to the garden tableau where the two Elemental Officials and the goddess sat, waiting for us.

  Makayla still sat at Aphrodite’s feet while Genesis sat on her right, conflicting expressions of happiness and confusion flickering through her eyes.

  It hurt me to see that look in her eyes just from her interacting with her mother, Olympian goddess or not, no child should feel unwanted. This god thought it fun to play with these demigods who did nothing but live to serve the gods. She created chaos on campus, and while we managed to handle it, it was still a cruel trick. She manipulated people. She forced them to feel things they might not have been ready to feel or acknowledge.

  Not only that, but we had to lure Aphrodite here. She couldn’t be bothered to inform her demigod daughter of what she was doing. That clearly told me that she had no intention of ever fixing her mistake. If she even considered it a mistake.

  A burning distaste for the goddess grew in my stomach, and I used all of my self-control to keep my mouth shut as we approached the three authority figures.

  “What can we do for you, Aphrodite?” Hailey said with a slight bow of her head.

  I didn’t acknowledge the goddess in any way. In fact, I dropped Hailey’s hand so that I could cross my arms in front of my chest, allowing my dislike to come through in my body language rather than my words.

  “It is not your skills that we need, daughter of Apollo, though your service is always appreciated,” Aphrodite said with a polite nod to Hailey. Then her golden eyes shifted harshly to me.

  I didn’t dare look away. I leveled my hardened gaze to her hateful one and matched her glare for glare. She might have been an Olympic goddess, but she threatened my friends, and I sure as hell wasn’t going to let her get off easy, not if I could help it.

  While we locked eyes on one another, something clicked in the back of my brain. It sounded like a key turning in a lock, a door opening, an invitation. A curiosity crawled up my spine and settled at the threshold of that new door. Something called to me beyond that door, asking me to walk through.

  I blinked once, breaking eye contact with Aphrodite for the briefest of moments. It happened in that millisecond when I looked away from her. My vision narrowed as though I were looking through a straw. Everything except for the center image was black and hazy, indecipherable shadows circling around the focal point.

  The image at the center was clear as day. Though shrunk down, I could still distinguish items within the scene. Even the characters in the story were known to me.

  Aphrodite lay in an open clam shell of gold, humming a melodic tune while doves fluttered and landed on her outstretched fingers. The clam shell was on the edge of a river bend, with a towering white marble palace glistening on clouds on the other side.

  Next to her was a small golden column, like an end table, with an assortment of shiny fruit. Grapes, strawberries, and slices of oranges spread out across the platter, barely picked at. On the other side of her shell was one of the most infamous pieces of armor in history.

  I gasped upon seeing it, knowing immediately that I was observing greatness. The golden girdle certus used to make beings fall in love and create a burning desire for attractive women stood in a glass case designed to match the shape of the weapon. It was attached to a standing outline of a woman’s bust. The gold wrapping around the model’s breasts and cinching above the waist.

  My father made the armor in celebration of getting Aphrodite’s hand in marriage. Even though Aphrodite bedded Ares, and bore the Erotes, Hephaestus couldn’t turn down a challenge like this one. Aphrodite wouldn’t settle for anything less. It was golden, with cream colored laces threaded throughout miniscule holes. The cups were perfectly rounded to cradle Aphrodite’s breasts.

  The scope of the scene panned away from the girdle, though I could have stared at it all day. I noticed that the goddess of love and desire had an audience for her performance. They were gods with magnificent wings that folded against their backs, tucked away to make room for the others. Some instinct told me that these were the other Erotes. And standing nearby, was the god of lust himself, Eros.

  These male gods were a group that focused on love, longing, and sex. The six were siblings of Eros, all sons of Ares and Aphrodite, which was appropriate, considering their parents were the two sides of hate and love. The brothers all had wings, white and pure, and each ruled over a different kind of love.

  Eros stood with his lyre in his hands, strumming a tune that matched the melody his mother was humming. He was a burly god with perfectly coiffed golden ringlets accented by his large pristine white wings.

  Anteros leaned against a tree in the back of the group, though his soft eyes were closed as he listened to his mother hum on. The god of Love Returned had a soft disposition and a calm face, serene and gentle.

  Himeros sat cross-legged right in the front, like an over-eager child ready for story time. He held onto his shins and rocked slightly back and forth. He focused on Impetuous Love, a kind of desire that accompanied one-night stands and hookups.

  Hedylogos brushed his long hair out of his eyes as his lips moved soundlessly to Aphrodite’s melody. The god of Sweet Talk focused on the words in his own mind that accompanied her mother’s tune.

  Hymenaios leaned back, propping himself up with his straight arms, while he stuck his legs out, crossed over one another tightly. He grimaced slightly as Aphrodite hit a particularly high note. He was the only one who seemed to be annoyed by the performance. Though, Hymenaios was a bit of a prude as he was the protector of Bridal Virginity.

  Hermaphroditus paid attention, as evidenced by his tapping foot. However, the god focused on picking at his nails rather than looking at Aphrodite while she performed. He was the most polished of all the brothers, wearing a winged eyeliner that any make-up artist would be jealous of. The god of Hermaphrodites and Effeminity embodied every stereotype that came with his evocation.

  Finally, Pothos laid flat on the ground with his eyes closed. He looked to be sleeping, though there was a corner of drool that came out of the side of his open mouth. His blond curls splayed out on the ground in an elegant array. I wondered what dreams the god of Desire could possibly be having while her mother hummed this erotic tune.

  I wondered why I was seeing this. It seemed like an ordinary moment. Even though they were gods, the brothers appeared to be enjoying a concert from their mother Aphrodite. Nothing special was happening here.

  Determining this to be a fool's errand, I made to blink and pull away from whatever weird connection Aphrodite and I had at the moment. However, my attention jerked back to the narrow vision, like a dog yanking on his leash. I rubbed at the soft spot under my ribs and waited, albeit impatiently.

  Sudd
enly, the serene scene dipped into cool colors, a shadow coming over their concert. Eros immediately stopped playing and looked up at the sky. His brothers followed suit, most of them, save for the sleeping Pothos, getting to their feet as they watched something streak across the sky. Aphrodite seemed unbothered as she continued humming, watching the doves fly by.

  The shadow quickly faded, but then a new figure entered the scene. I recognized her immediately with her lithe form and broad shoulders. Even though her hair was shorter, cropped right at her jawline, there was no mistaking Kari, daughter of Prometheus.

  She stood as confidently as a queen amongst peasants, looking down her nose at the gods as she stepped right through their lounging area on the river bank. She no longer wore the Academy all-black uniform, which didn’t surprise me. Instead, she adorned her body with a Grecian Amazonian uniform, with a metal bodice and a pleated skirt. Her strong legs stomped forward in flat sandals with strings that crisscrossed up her shins and calves. She approached Aphrodite at the base of her shell and stared at her expectantly.

  “Daughter of Prometheus,” Aphrodite sneered.

  It was clear the two of them knew one another. Immediately, I wondered how. What connection did Kari have to the goddess of love and desire? Or was she there to talk to Aphrodite’s sons, the Erotes as a whole?

  The sight of Kari left an uncomfortable pit in the center of my stomach. I had completely forgotten about the threat she presented. All of last semester, she sat in the back of my mind like an itch that I couldn’t scratch. But this semester, I had been too consumed with other minor issues. Organizing the dance, making the rapiers, saving the campus from Love Struck. All the while, Kari must have been planning something. And I hadn’t even given her a single thought.

  Before I could chastise myself too much, the scene continued. Kari smiled deviously and dipped her head ever so slightly at the goddess. It was enough to acknowledge her, but just small enough to be insulting.

  “Aphrodite,” Kari replied. “Pleasure seeing you.”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot say the same,” Aphrodite said, the disgust never leaving her voice. She looked at her like a gnat that she couldn’t squish. “What do you want?”

  “I’m surprised you even have to ask,” Kari said as she put her hands on her hips. “You know what I’m here for.”

  Aphrodite rolled her eyes, and her body fell slack. She twisted herself around so that she could lay on her back to face the sky. “That deal was never finalized.”

  “I think we made ourselves pretty clear,” Kari threatened, taking an intimidating step forward.

  Hedylogos and Anteros immediately stepped forward to block Kari from approaching Aphrodite too closely. She held up her hands in surrender.

  “I don’t want to hurt any of you,” she said, the words sharp even though she said them under her breath as a warning to the Erotes.

  Aphrodite scoffed. “What can a demigod do to me? I am an Olympic Goddess.”

  Eros spoke from his spot, having not moved, “We are gods, girl, lest you forget it.”

  A darkness fell over Kari’s eyes at the insult. She bit the corner of her lip in concentration, plotting her next move. I thought she might reach out and strike them, using her Academy training against the gods. However, she opened her mouth and used her words as weapons instead. Against Aphrodite’s sons, the Erotes.

  “The gods of lust and passion?” Kari released a weak chuckle from the back of her throat. “As if they could do anything to harm me.”

  Aphrodite responded instantly to her insult. She leaped up from her shell and stormed across the sand to approach Kari, nose to nose. Fire flared in her eyes, a dark side of passion that frightened me, even though I was only a witness to this scene. Kari, however, didn’t move. She held her ground against her sudden surge.

  “You underestimate them, daughter of Prometheus,” Aphrodite growled. “You speak of some of the most powerful emotions in humans and gods alike. It taps into their basic instincts, and they can manipulate them anyway they choose. They can rip the happiest couple in two, or pair together beings that could destroy the world with their power.”

  Aphrodite held up a single finger and pointed it directly in Kari’s face. “It is not with swords and fire that they fight. It is with the mind, skewing the sense of reality. It might not be as flash as your methods, but it is far more effective.”

  The Erotes surrounded the dueling pair. They created a protective wall around their mother, while the gods behind Kari adopted wide stances, a signal of their impending attack.

  “I would ask that you leave now before we do anything to harm you,” Aphrodite hissed, venom dripping from her rosy lips.

  The daughter of Prometheus took a step back. She didn’t seem perturbed by the clear insult. Instead, she brushed it off and offered Aphrodite a kind smile, though there was something disturbing about the gesture.

  “I have no need to harm anyone,” Kari admitted. She swept into a low bow and lifted her head so she could witness Aphrodite’s reaction to her next announcement. “I merely needed your attention.”

  “Our attention?” Aphrodite took a step back, confused.

  “Most would call it a distraction,” Kari said as she stood up and shrugged her shoulder. “It seems to have worked.”

  She gestured outward like a showgirl towards Aphrodite’s clam shell behind her and most of the Erotes. All heads turned in the direction she demanded, including my limited view.

  I noticed the difference immediately. The case was open and the girdle was gone. The custom buff stood bare.

  Aphrodite whipped around to face Kari. She threw herself at the former soldier, her hands outstretched for her throat. Instead of wrapping her fingers around her neck, the goddess of desire reached through her.

  Stunned, Aphrodite pulled her hands away in horror. Her flawless fingers were coated in a dark sheen of clay. Her wide eyes gazed up at Kari, who melted to clay before her eyes. As one, the Erotes backed away as if it were a toxic vat of poison rather than simple clay. Aphrodite dropped her hands to her sides and leaned her head back. She released a high scream that shook the foundation beneath them. Anteros lost his footing and tumbled into Pothos, who caught his brother.

  “Find her,” Aphrodite seethed. “Find her!”

  Just then, the door slammed shut, and my vision widened once again. I returned to the scene around me, with Genesis and Makayla by Aphrodite’s side and Hailey beside me. The Eternal Flame in the lantern above our heads danced wildly, sensing my irritation. Behind us, the music pounded on with some call-and-response lyrics. We could hear the students respond enthusiastically, their voices a chorus over the music.

  Aphrodite’s eyebrows pinched together as she looked at me, no longer angry but thoroughly confused and curious.

  “You have the Sight.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement that surprised everyone.

  “Sight?” I balked. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “It is not fully formed,” Aphrodite said, ignoring my response. She looked me up and down like a math problem she couldn’t solve. “In fact, it’s not fully there. Only traces live within you.”

  “We have never sensed the Sight in him before now,” Genesis said gently to her godly parent.

  “Did you ever test him for it?” Aphrodite demanded, her voice returning to something harsh and accusatory.

  “He is the son of Hephaestus,” Makayla defended. “We didn’t have the need to.”

  “Hephaestus may be his father,” Aphrodite said ominously, “but who is his mother?”

  A fierce need for protectiveness flared up inside me. I took a threatening step forward with a stiff finger pointed in her direction. God or not, I would not let her do anything to my mom.

  “You stay away from her,” I snarled. Hailey put a warning hand on my elbow, but I shook her off. “You hear me?” I said, never looking away from Aphrodite.

  The goddess of desire shook her head at me. “You m
isunderstand me, Cameron. I would never threaten her. I was only curious because I thought I was going to have to explain the story a second time, as I did to these Officials. But you saw everything when we connected. It was surprising.”

  “Yeah?” I asked. “Surprised me, too, okay? I thought you were doing it.”

  “No, son of Hephaestus,” Aphrodite said as she shook her head. “That was you.”

  I swallowed audibly and relaxed my muscles, relieving them from attack mode though my fist curled at my side. My head whirled with all of this new information. I could barely keep any of it straight, especially now that Aphrodite implied my mother had been involved somehow.

  As much as I wanted to dive into my mom’s potential involvement, I didn’t want to do that here with Aphrodite herself and the Elemental officials. That would be a conversation with my mom when I went home for winter break.

  Right now, we had to solve the problem of Kari. Even though she had been gone for weeks, she was still wreaking havoc on the Academy. Now, it appeared that she was the one responsible for Tainted Love, not Aphrodite. Though that revelation didn’t soften my feelings towards her one bit, I resented her foolishness and pride for landing us in this situation in the first place.

  “How long ago did Kari take the golden girdle?” I asked, getting to the point.

  Hailey’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “Kari did what?”

  I waved my hand at her. “Kari stole Aphrodite’s golden girdle, which makes me think that she did all this, right?” I gestured around campus, indicating the Tainted Love epidemic.

  “It would appear so,” Makayla said regretfully.

  “And let me guess,” I said snarkily, “you haven’t been able to find her or your armor?”

  Aphrodite sneered at my tone. “Unfortunately, no, we have not. Eros and his brothers and I have been searching since the Summer Solstice when she took it, but to no avail.”