I didn’t know the goddess well, but something about her struck me as sincere. I had a feeling she had my back. She was right not to want Jiro and me to grow close. There was no way for it to end but in complete tragedy. He was a god. I was just a mortal girl with a fucked-up life and no claim to her own soul. Yeah, Jiro and I were a terrible idea. I knew it, and that was why I walked away when Thea mentioned lunch. I wasn’t oblivious. I could tell she wanted to talk to Jiro, to get him to stop whatever was blossoming between us. I didn’t even blame her. She was right.
After a few minutes of stumbling around aimlessly, I found a guard that directed me to the lunch hall. I stood at a long buffet table covered in a variety of foods. Some looked exotic while others were as commonplace as a hot dog. I had a feeling whoever set this up had no idea what a human actually ate—or that Thea created it from her water magic. I didn’t care. I was starving; puking every twenty minutes had that effect on me.
I grabbed a plate, filling it with a sandwich and mac and cheese. I wasn’t feeling like myself, so I knew comfort food was the way to go. The room was filled with long wooden tables lined with benches on either side like a giant cafeteria, and I took the one nearest me. I dug into my lunch, waiting for Jiro and Thea to appear, when a shadow was cast from behind, covering a large portion of the table.
I turned and looked up into the face of Hercules. The way he was staring at me was uncomfortable, but I’d dealt with men like him before. They got off on fear and I refused to show any. Instead, I cocked my eyebrow. “Can I help you?”
He offered me a grin and walked around my table predatorily, pausing to place his palms flat on the table. He leaned into my face, his grin menacing. “I beckoned you last night, mortal. When a god demands your presence, you come.”
His words got under my skin. Growing up poor, with an absentee parent no less, I was used to being looked down upon, but that didn’t mean I had to accept it. His heritage didn’t make him better than me. “Well, it’s a good thing you’re only half God, isn’t it?”
Hercules’ face flushed red with anger as he straightened. Being half-mortal was clearly a sore spot. He gripped the table that separated us and threw it against the wall. The wood burst into pieces and a splinter flew, lodging itself into the flesh right below my left eye.
I didn’t have time to react or flee. There was a mammoth of a man coming at me and suddenly... he wasn’t. A wall of water erected a barrier between us, hardening to ice almost as soon as it formed. I looked over my shoulder to see that Jiro and Thea had entered. Thea looked irritated and mildly amused. Jiro looked pissed. His anger sent waves of heat through the room, causing a sheen of sweat to coat my skin.
Stunned by his rage, I kept my mouth shut—for once—as Thea spoke, “Save if for the Trials, champion.”
Hercules glared at her but didn’t respond. Instead, he stared so intently that I felt like he was looking into my very soul as he spoke once more. “You’re mine, human. You’ll be the first casualty of the Trials—by my hand.”
Hercules exited the enormous hall after his ominous warning and I let out a sigh of relief. That relief came to a crashing halt, however, when Jiro gripped my biceps and pulled me up from my seat. The anger caused his body to radiate heat and, while it wasn’t burning me, it was uncomfortable. I opened my mouth to tell him so but he cut me off. “What did you do?”
“What makes you think I did anything?”
“The fact that Hercules couldn’t take his eyes off you last night and now he wants you dead.”
His last two words were a hiss. I answered him honestly, not wanting to anger him further. “He told me that I should have come to him when he nodded me over last night because gods are better and mortals aren’t shit. I’m paraphrasing. Anyway, I told him it was a good thing he was only half God then. He… didn’t like that.”
Jiro’s lips twitched. “You told Hercules he wasn’t a full god?”
“Something like that.”
He shook his head in exasperation and stepped back, releasing me from his smoldering heat wave. “Go grab yourself a new plate. We’ll be sitting over there. Eat light. We’re going to have to work ten times as hard now that Hercules is after you.” I groaned at the prospect of not eating until my heart was content. He looked at me, no pity in his eyes. “Should have thought about that before you pissed your largest competitor off. Now eat. Twenty minutes.”
I really wanted to protest but I didn’t. He was right. If I wanted to survive, especially now, I was going to have to bust my ass.
32
Jiro
Fuck Hercules. I always hated him. I tapped on the table as I thought seriously about killing him. Despite his godly strength, his body was mortal. Maybe I could just singe the smug look off his face. I grinned as I imagined the panic as I mentally lit his hair on fire. But I’d never be so lucky to see it in real life. If I harmed him, I’d likely start a war of the gods, which wouldn’t be good for Yessi or anyone else. Not to mention I could wind up like Prometheus—tortured for an eternity.
It wasn’t Yessi’s fault that the guy was an idiot, and Herc had been the one to pick a fight, but when the Trials started I wouldn’t be able to protect her and, even with her training, Hercules could kill her with little to no effort.
Think, Jiro. I had to find a way to get her through this alive.
Yesenia scooped the last bit of mac and cheese into her mouth and I half worried she’d lick the plate clean.
“Are you finished?” I asked, and she seemed to mull it over for a second before she answered.
“One more scoop,” she said, hurrying back to the buffet. I didn’t know why I found her humanity so adorable, but Thea’s warning stopped the thought from lingering. I looked around the cafeteria where various trainers and gods sat with their trainees. They came and went, all moving on their own schedules. I wondered if I could get Yesenia an ally. Most of the goddesses in the competition hated me for… various reasons... and many of the gods hated me for… angering the goddesses, so my options were pretty limited. Lyrica would no doubt betray any alliance with Yesenia the first chance she got. Athena might be alright, but there was no way I wanted Manny getting closer to her. Which essentially left me with Hermes and Pitt.
After Yessi finished yet another plate of macaroni, I sent her with Thea for magic training so I could look for Hermes and try to barter for her protection, but when I got to his assigned training platform, I thought I’d missed him. There was no sign of him or Pitt, and I hadn’t seen them in the cafeteria. Through the fog, the clatter of battle rang out as I realized they were somewhere a great deal higher than their platform.
“Hermes!” I called, and the clash of battle halted. “It’s me. I have a proposition.”
His winged sandals came through the clouds first, his protege following closely behind. Hermes looked relaxed, as if whatever training he’d been conducting hadn’t affected him at all. Pitt, on the other hand, had streaks of sweat down his neck. Still, the cherub was as cheerful as ever.
“How’s training going?” I asked as he lowered to my eye line.
Hermes stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “I should’ve given it a pass this year. It’s not as amusing as I remember.”
“Come on, man,” Pitt said, nudging his shoulder. “We’re having a good time.”
Hermes rolled his eyes.
“Just wait ‘til the games begin,” I said. “You’ll have your share of amusement then.”
“Why are you here, Jiro?” Hermes asked, and I honestly appreciated his frankness.
I sighed. “What do you think about forming an alliance?”
Pitt’s eyes bulged. “With that hot Yesenia girl? Let’s do it.”
I bristled. Pitt held his hand out for me to shake but Hermes swatted it away. “What happened?”
I shook my head. “What do you mean?”
“You have to be in some kind of trouble if you’re talking about alliances. Who’d she piss off?”
/> I pressed my lips together. “Hercules…”
“Leave.”
“Wait!” Pitt said. “But… that red tight little battle suit.”
“Forget it,” I said, turning back the way I came.
Pitt flew in front of me, his feathers which I remembered as white were actually dark gray at their tips. “I’m not trying to steal your girlfriend, man. I want to help.”
Hermes flew between us, closing me out of the conversation. “You don’t want to draw Hercules’ anger. The girl sealed her fate. You still have a chance at winning.”
“You don’t have to help her win,” I said. “Just… keep an eye on her. Just see if you can get her out of there alive.”
Pitt's hands grabbed my cheeks and he turned to Hermes. “How can you say no to this face?”
I tore myself away.
Hermes eyed me. “We won’t go out of our way. But if we can help a little, we will.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Hermes. And you too, Pitt.”
I started back down the path, grateful that I was able to help Yessi’s odds. Hermes’ voice shot back from behind me. “If it’s between us and her, we’ll take her down to win.”
“Of course,” I called back. Of course.
33
Yesenia
Lunch was a tad bit awkward. While Jiro seemed to forgive me, Thea was as icy as the wall she had erected between Hercules and me. I tried to talk to her throughout the meal, but all I received in return was one word answers.
I had given up only to realize that, post lunch, I was hers to train. After we’d finished eating, Jiro went one way and I had to follow the silent Thea another. I didn’t bother to ask where we were going but, once we arrived, I had to ask one question in particular. “What is this place?”
“The Waters of Inception. It’s said to be where the magic of Olympus originated,” she responded, her tone flat.
I walked through the doorway she led me to before I realized there was no ground. I immediately took a step backward, only to have Thea nudge me back into the room. I held my breath, preparing to plunge into the veritable indoor ocean, when I found that I was standing on an invisible surface a foot above the liquid. Wicked.
I stood and turned in a circle to take in the room. Every visible surface was made of water. The clear liquid ran in every direction, crisscrossing smoothly, in the same manner the water that continuously covered Thea moved.
“Aren’t you going to ask why you’re not soaking wet?” Thea asked, clearly amused.
“Oh! Yeah. Sorry, it’s just so beautiful,” I responded, my voice a whisper. The room was so stunning and peaceful that it inspired reverence. I didn’t want to disrupt the calm. My companion had no such qualms.
She laughed before stepping into the room herself. “The water is protected by air above and earth below. Fire will rage if you intend to harm the pool. This room is the only place on Olympus where all the elements work in harmony. They coexist to protect the magic from being used by people who don’t deserve to use it. You’re going to learn how to siphon the magic.”
“Whoa! You want me to take magic from a pool that is protected by fire? Are you nuts?!” I exclaimed.
“You can do it, Yesenia. You’ve done it before,” Thea said softly, as she looked lost in thought.
“I most certainly have not. What are you talking about?”
“Shit,” Thea cursed.
“What are you talking about, Eidothea?” I asked, using her full name in an attempt to show her I was serious and wasn’t going to drop it.
She let out a sigh and walked into the center of the room before folding her legs beneath her to sit in a meditative pose. I joined her, mimicking her posture as I awaited her response.
“I didn’t realize it right away, but I’m right. I know I am. This isn’t your first time in Olympus, Yessi. It’s not even your first time in the Trials,” Thea said, her face mournful.
A deep frown burrowed between my brows, but she continued before I could protest. “Well, it’s the first time Yesenia Rodriguez has been here, but your soul is old. You’ve done this many times. Sometimes as a woman and sometimes as a man, but you always lose. Each time your soul returns, one way or another you find your way back to the Trials. And… die in the final round.”
I opened my mouth to interject once more, intending to tell her she was absolutely nuts, when water broke through the air we sat on. Two thin ribbons, one on either side of my friend, swirled up and headed for Thea’s head. They circled her, covering her eyes while continuing to revolve around her. When the water pulled back and returned to its home under the protective barrier, I looked back at Thea. Her eyes were void of any color—a pale milky white. Panic built in my chest as her voice rang out, echoing around the room. There was an ethereal quality that filled her words, like there was a reverb on each word on top of the echo. “A soul plucked from the river can never be whole until it is reunited with the piece it lost. The pattern will forever continue until two become one.”
What the fuck?
I reached out, grasping Thea’s arm and shaking her. This was beyond the level of weird I could handle, and I was terrified. As soon as I touched her, my vision blacked out and pictures filled my mind’s eye. A little boy crouched over the bank of a river, his face hidden from me as he reached into the glowing stream and lifted a white orb into the air. As he did, I felt the grip of his hands in my chest as if reliving a powerful memory.
Trials and death. Over and over and over. I felt like the world was spinning around me as the images assaulted me, and I was vaguely aware that I had begun to cry. I knew each determined champion that fell because they were all me.
My vision returned to the boy at the river as pain surged within my very essence before my soul settled. I glimpsed each life I had lived, but I couldn’t remember how long I’d been broken. I couldn’t remember who held my soul or why I had been pulled from the river, but I had to know. Taking hold of the vision, I ran toward the boy, my only goal to see his face.
“Yesenia,” Thea’s voice broke through the battering images, ripping me back to reality.
My world was spinning and I gagged, trying not to be sick in such a spiritual room. Thea took one look at my face and conjured a bucket from the magic waters just in time for me to heave up all the lunch I had consumed. When I finished, she magicked the bucket away and put her arm around me.
“We were friends. When I was...” I paused over the name, “Nora.”
“We were. The very best. After the introduction ceremony, I knew you were her. I could just... feel it.”
I nodded before asking the obvious, “What was that?”
“I felt the water’s energy shift, so I channeled the magic. Your touch pulled you into the spell. It went from a prophecy to a window into your past. I could see it too, but I was stuck. I think you held me there because you wanted to see—to know. It took a few minutes before I could break free.”
I shook my head and took a fortifying breath. “This is fucking insane. I want to say you’re lying, but I saw everything. I felt everything. There are... holes... but I remember so much.”
I stuck my hand out and pulled water from below, shooting it into the air and creating small fireworks that made floral shapes. “I remember how to do magic, and I know I’m meant to die in the Trials… The only thing I don’t understand is the boy. Who is he?”
Thea shrugged. “I don’t know who he is. It’s good that you remember magic though. That may help.”
She didn’t show any outward signs that she was being dishonest, but I knew she was. I had a strong gut feeling she knew who the boy was, but pushing her wouldn’t get me anywhere. I stood as I addressed her. “Since I remember... can we call magic training a win for the day and head out? I need to rest. That... vision... took a lot out of me.”
She nodded and stood alongside me, grabbing my arm to stop me as I made my way to the exit. “Yessi... Don’t tell Jiro.”
I opened my mouth
to protest but she soldiered on. “He might be your trainer, and he might care for you, but he is still the son of Hades. This secret would kill your chance at freedom. If the God of the Underworld found out how ancient your soul is, he’d pull you from the tournament and keep you in his personal well of souls forever. It’s a miracle he hasn’t realized who you are. We need to keep it that way.”
I nodded as a knot formed in my stomach. I didn’t want to lie to Jiro—he had done so much for me—but I also didn’t want to end up in Hades’ private collection. I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly, but it sounded fucking miserable. Thea was right; I had to keep my lips sealed on this one.
34
Jiro
I was anxious to get back to Yesenia’s training as I hurried along the narrow paths that branched out to various training areas. The clouds spilled onto the walkways, making the air cold and wet, which was ideal for practicing combat. Through the mist, I saw the shadows of two figures. I knew who one of them was with just a short glimpse of her misty silhouette. Lyrica. I considered turning back, or at least ducking out of view until she passed with her trainer, but her voice shot through the mist. “Is that you, Jiro?”
“Hey, Lyrica,” I said, increasing my pace with the hope I could quickly pass her. I wasn’t sure what irked me about her exactly. I mean, I’d liked her once. I looked forward to her stopping by the Underworld to see me. It wasn’t the kind of place most immortals dared to travel. And Lyrica’s bravery wasn’t the only thing I’d liked about her. She was fun and strong, spontaneous—wild even. But as she approached, all I could think about was Yessi.
I kept replaying the night when Yess had taken an angry shower—fuming about Lyrica and how I’d felt that same sting when Yesenia danced with Manny. I guess at the end of the day I didn’t like how Lyrica treated Yessi like a phase I’d grow out of. Like I’d tire of her and go back to my old routine.
The Trials of Olympus Page 11
