by Alane Adams
A tall man with a long scraggly beard stood on the mansion porch. His eyes were like two burning coals that glowed with dark energy. In his long black robes, he looked like Death.
“Welcome to my home. I am Hades.”
CHAPTER 36
“Father, please, do not interfere,” Alekto said. Hades’s brows drew together like thunderclouds.
“Alekto, remember to whom you speak.”
She tilted her head. “Apologies, Father, but you tasked us with bringing justice.”
“Is this her?” He nodded at me.
“Yes. She has completed the Eye of Zeus. She must not be allowed to—”
He cut her off with a sharp slice of his hand. “Give it to me,” he commanded, holding one long arm out.
The lightning bolts in my hands evaporated into dust. My feet moved of their own power, as if I were a puppet on a string. I tried to fight it, but I had no control over my limbs. I dropped the mirror onto his outstretched palm.
He held it up, whistling softly. “Can you feel its power? Truly spectacular. And what else do we have?” His sharp eyes settled on Macario’s sunbeam. “A child of Apollo? How interesting.”
Cerberus howled through the bars, and Hades snapped his fingers. The gate flew open, and the monstrous hound bounded over to his side, rubbing up against him as it continued to moan its grievances.
“Yes, I know, very painful, but be grateful she didn’t take one of your heads off,” he said soothingly. “Besides, it will grow back. Go on now.” Cerberus trotted off and plopped down under a tree to lick its stub. “Now, where were we? Yes, the Eye of Zeus. This shall prove very useful.” He tucked it away in his pocket.
I wanted to scream in frustration. He had my prize. The thing I had worked so hard for was now going to be stolen from me.
“Father, there is the matter of her sentence,” Alekto said firmly.
“Hush,” he said, waving her off with one hand. “You grow tiresome. Let’s think of something more interesting than an eternity spent in the bowels of Tartarus listening to Sisyphus cry about his fate.”
“What would you have us do?” Alekto asked. “We have a sworn duty.”
“Yes, duty. The curse of our kind. It is duty that keeps me here, you know,” he said to me. “It’s not as if the gates of my mansion can hold me. I can leave anytime I want.”
“Then why don’t you?” I asked.
He shrugged, splaying his hands out. “It is who I am. Shepherd of souls. Keeper of the dead. Punisher of the betrayers of the gods.”
“But I haven’t done anything,” I protested. “I can’t be punished for something I haven’t done yet.”
Hades laughed, a booming baritone. “Then you understand nothing of our world. What you have done is little compared to what others believe you will do. It is that belief in what you will do that leads to the action itself, wouldn’t you agree?”
I wasn’t sure what he meant, so I didn’t answer.
“Consider, would you be here without the prophecy?”
“No, but only because Ares took my friend.”
“Ares.” He shook his head. “A pompous fool if I ever met one. Don’t blame this on Ares. You’re here by your own choices.”
“Because he has my friend. Carl is …” The words clogged in my throat. “He’s done nothing to deserve being in this mess.”
“Then your motives are pure.” He cast a glance at Alekto. “Are they not?”
“Her motives matter not if her actions lead to the end of Olympus,” Alekto snapped. “It is our duty to punish her.”
“Not if she intends no harm,” Damian said, his eyes still bandaged. “There was a story about Orestes. He killed his own mother but was found innocent.”
“Because she had killed his father,” Hades agreed. “And these three wanted to hang him by his heels for eternity, but wisdom prevailed, did it not?”
Grudgingly, Alekto nodded. “His motive was deemed justified.”
“And so, it would seem, is that of this young demigod. She must be allowed to continue her path. I have spoken,” he added as Alekto argued.
A tsunami of relief washed over me. “Great, so we can go?”
“Go?” Hades laughed. “I never said that. You’re here. Here you stay. You have no way home.”
I tugged my coin out of my pocket. “We can pay your ferryman.”
“He can’t go upstream,” Hades said with a satisfied shrug.
“But you can change the current,” I reminded him. “You did it for that guy Orpheus.”
His eyes flared in surprise at my knowledge. “So I did, but I was charmed by his story of love. And in the end, I kept what was mine, did I not? You have nothing to offer.”
He turned to go, but Macario stepped forward. “Wait, there is something you want.”
Hades paused.
“This place is dull and gray. There is no sunlight here.”
“That is true, but it is the underworld, after all.” Hades laughed bitterly.
“But you miss it, don’t you?” Macario stepped closer. In his hand he clutched a sunbeam.
Hades’s eyes flicked over it, but he gave a dismissive shrug. “Miss it? No, it’s annoying, gets in your eyes, burns the skin.”
“No, he’s right, you miss it,” I said, seeing the way his eyes were drawn hungrily to the glowing beam. “You crave the sun.”
“I do enjoy the occasional day topside.”
“Enough that you might let us go if we arranged a sunbeam for you?” I recalled how Macario had given a beam to Karisto’s street urchins.
“A single sunbeam?” He chuckled. “It would burn out in minutes here. But if I had the power to create a sunbeam, that would be something worth bargaining for.”
A creepy crawling feeling climbed my spine. “I don’t think so,” I began.
“I’ll do it,” Macario said. “I can get more from my father.”
Hades whirled, pouncing on the boy. “So we have a deal?”
“We all leave,” Macario said firmly, “all four of us with the Eye of Zeus, no strings attached.”
Hades pulled the Eye of Zeus from his pocket, eyeing it longingly, then passed it back to me. My knees sagged in relief. “We have a deal,” he said to Macario. “Now hand it over.”
Macario extended the sunbeam, but Hades gripped it so both their hands were on it. Flames rippled along it between them. The sun energy moved like molten liquid across the beam from Macario to Hades. Light emanated from the underworld lord’s eyes, his nose, his mouth, even his ears until the sunbeam sputtered out in Macario’s hands.
The boy sagged.
Hades laughed, tossing his hands up and sending beams of light from his fingertips.
I had a terrible feeling about this. Macario had acted like it was no big deal, but something told me it was worse than cutting off a limb.
“Sun-brain, are you okay?” I took hold of his elbow. His whole body was shaking.
“I’m fine,” he said. “Let’s go, before he changes his mind.”
We hurried to the river, leading Damian by the arms, and tossed our remaining coins into the water.
“You think he’s coming?” Angie asked.
“He has to.” We had no other choice.
We sagged in relief as first the tip of the pole appeared, then Charon bobbed to the surface, looking surprised to see us.
We hopped on his raft as sunbeams lit up the sky and the underworld took on a yellow tinge.
“Gods, what did you do?” Charon said, looking awestruck at the glowing sky.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just go.”
Charon stared at the golden beams a moment longer before the current tugged us upstream. He said nothing as he poled us along, and in minutes, we disembarked at the poppy field where we had begun. We ran all the way to the meeting center of the paths. Music still pulsed from Elysium. For a moment, I thought maybe Hades had double-crossed us, but a set of double doors shimmered into existence. We hurtled through them and tu
mbled into the cavern.
Safely on the other side, we picked ourselves up. Damian’s eyes were still bandaged. Macario looked pale and shaky. But all in all, we had survived.
“Let’s get out of here,” I said. Angie put her arm under Damian’s and I helped Macario as we crossed the bridge and began climbing the countless steps to the surface.
Outside, we collapsed onto the sand, gasping as we sucked in breaths of fresh air. Angie took Damian down to the sea and helped him splash saltwater on his face. Macario wandered over to the stand of trees that lined the edge of the shore.
I took a deep breath, feeling the thrumming in my pocket, wondering what on earth we were going to do next. Take the pegasuses, ride to Olympus, and somehow defeat Ares and free Carl, my mind listed.
Damian and Angie dropped into the sand next to me. Damian’s eyes were still bandaged.
“That was something,” Damian began.
“How’re the eyes?” I asked, dribbling sand through my fingers.
“I can’t see yet, but I think once the swelling goes down, it’ll be okay.”
“Where’s the kid?” Angie asked, craning her head to search.
“Over there by those trees,” I said. “I think he’s looking for our pegasuses.”
“Where?”
“Back there. I just saw him.” I turned, staring at the stand of trees. They were tall and slender, waving in the ocean breeze. A smaller one grew off to the side. Had that been there a minute ago? And where was Macario?
A terrible feeling crept over me. I got to my feet, brushing the sand off. “Oh, crud,” I said. “Crud, crud, crud.”
“What is it?” Angie jumped to her feet, drawing her sword.
“Macario.”
“What did he do now?”
“Look.” I pointed at the slender tree.
“What about it?”
“I think it’s Macario. Come on.” We helped Damian up, guiding him over to the small tree.
Its trunk was no thicker than my arm. It stood about as tall as I was. Its leaves were a pale green that rattled in the breeze.
“Macario?”
“Uh, Katzy, you know you’re talking to a tree,” Angie said. “That’s not sun-brain.”
“I think it is. He gave his sun power to Hades. Remember—he said his mother was some kind of tree creature. Maybe it’s part of him as well.”
The bark shifted, swirling until a familiar face took shape.
A set of eyes blinked at us. Blue, the color of the sea.
“Oh no, sun-brain, you didn’t.” I reached a hand out to brush at his face.
“Hey, Phoebe.” Wrinkled bark formed a grimace. “Sorry about this.”
“Don’t be sorry. Why did you do it? You gave up your sun powers for us.”
“You’re the only friends I’ve ever had,” he whispered, his voice raspy. “And friends sacrifice for friends. Besides, I was never going to impress my father. That was just a dream. I belong with my mother’s people. I’ll be fine here.”
Fine?
Nothing about this was fine.
Macario was a child of the sun, a fierce warrior with the bright light of energy in his eyes, not a tree stuck in the ground.
No.
I was not going to stand for this. But there was nothing I could do about it, because the rumble of thunder and rattle of hooves had us looking skyward. A carriage landed in the sand behind us.
“Sister, I hear there is good news. You have been triumphant in your journey.”
I turned to find Ares jumping down from his carriage, arms flung wide with that hateful grin on his face. Phobos and Deimos slumped in the front seat, looking bored.
Behind them in the carriage sat Carl, his face haunted as he looked across the sand at me.
CHAPTER 37
“Hey, kid, you all right?” Carl called out.
I nodded, swallowing the lump in my throat.
“You?”
He shrugged. “The food’s terrible and the company’s worse, but I’m doing okay.”
“I promised no harm would come to him,” Ares said. “Look at you!” He grasped my shoulders, dancing me around in a circle. “You did it. I had my doubts, but you showed us what you’re made of, Princess of Argos. I am impressed.”
“Don’t be.” I shrugged free of his grip. “Because I’m not going to help you destroy Olympus.”
“Oh, it’s too late for that.” His lips turned up in that evil grin of his. “You’ve returned the talismans to the Eye of Zeus, where they belong. Can’t you feel it pulsating in your pocket? The heart of the beast is waking up. All it needs now is a spark, and we will have our monster.”
“Monster?” Blood drained from my head. “What monster? We destroyed all of them except for Cerberus and Agatha.”
Angie helped Damian to my side. “She’s right,” he said. “There aren’t any monsters alive that can destroy Olympus.”
“Not yet there aren’t. Let’s remedy that, shall we?” Ares nodded to his sons.
Phobos and Deimos hopped down and dragged Carl to a spot in the sand, shoving him to his knees. They went back to the carriage and rummaged around in the back.
“You’ll want a front row seat for this,” Ares said, beckoning. “Come, come, children, don’t be shy. The show is about to begin.”
We looked warily at each other. What was he up to? We helped Damian over to sit beside Carl. I tried to sit down, but Ares swooped his arms around my shoulders. “Oh, not you, dear. You are the star of the show.”
I hesitated, not liking where this was going.
“It wasn’t a request, sister.” He frog-marched me across the sand as the twins carried an altar over, setting it down with a thump. It looked heavy, made of aged bronze, and had serpentine monsters carved into the four legs. It stood about waist high.
“When this is over, you belong to us,” Phobos hissed, bumping me hard as he passed by.
Deimos did the same from the other side, jarring my teeth. “Congratulations on being the destroyer of Olympus. Your friends will be the first to die.”
I stood silent, uneasy, trying to puzzle out what came next.
“Put the Eye of Zeus on the altar.” Ares indicated a round opening with his finger. “Place it with the mirror facing upward.” His eyes were feverishly excited. Even his twin brats were keenly watching.
I looked at the mirror in my hands. I had gone through a lot of work to get all the talismans, but I had never figured out what I was meant to do with it. Was it a weapon? Was it going to wield some kind of magical power? I had placed all my faith in a scribbled prophecy, but now, a mountain of doubt landed on my shoulders, and my knees almost buckled.
Ares leaned in to whisper in my ear. “I won’t ask again. Do it, now.”
My palms were slick with sweat, but I forced my legs forward. I repeated the words of the prophecy silently to myself, “When the Eye of Zeus is finally complete, only then this prophecy will she defeat.” My arm shook as I placed the mirror on the altar. It fit perfectly into the round opening.
I stepped back. The sound of the sea breaking on the shore was the only thing that could be heard.
“Now, Phoebe, one last favor.” Ares squeezed my shoulder. “I want you to call up one of Daddy’s little lightning bolts and place it in the mirror.”
I looked up at him, seeing the madness in his eyes, and knew with certainty that was the worst idea in the whole world.
“No.” I backed away.
Ares snapped his fingers, and the twins turned toward my friends, each casting a hand out. Immediately Carl, Damian, and Angie were dragged to their feet by invisible strings. They hovered in the air, clawing at their throats, eyes filled with terror.
My heart broke open. “Stop it! I’ll do it.”
Ares nodded, and my friends collapsed in the sand.
Carl looked up at me, clutching his throat. “It’s okay, kid. Do what you gotta do. Remember what I told you—you got potential.”
His wor
ds gave me enough courage to allow that familiar tingle in my palm.
I would do whatever Ares asked of me. And then I would find a way to shove a lightning bolt in his smarmy, smug mouth.
“Now, sister, raise the bolt up and bring it down into the Eye.”
I raised the lightning over my head, grasping it with both hands. The Eye of Zeus winked at me in a glint of sunlight. I thought of all the times I had tossed it aside in my drawer and given it hardly a second thought. And now I was about to turn it into a powerful weapon that was going to destroy Olympus.
“Now, Phoebe,” Ares gritted out.
I brought the bolt down as hard as I could, aiming straight for the piece of glass. Part of me hoped the lightning would shatter it into a million pieces, but that didn’t happen.
The glowing bolt simply disappeared into the mirror, as if the mirror wasn’t there. A burst of blinding light shot out. I threw my hands up over my face to protect my eyes. I squinted through my lashes, dreading what came next.
It was like something out of a nightmare.
As the mirror glowed and rattled in its slot, something began to climb out of it. First it was a single claw, yellowed and ancient looking. A scaly green toe followed, and another, until a foot clawed its way out of the mirror, growing larger as it freed itself. The foot extended into a reptilian leg that crashed down into the sand. The sharp pointed edge of a wing poked its way upward, stretching wide. Another wing emerged on the other side, lined with barbed tips. A second leg began to pry its way out. A curving tail with razor-sharp spines lashed the air.
“What’s happening?” I asked through numb lips.
Ares eyes were riveted on the unfolding scene. “Have you ever heard of Echidna?”
What did Macario say, back when we were reading the prophecy? “Wasn’t she the mother of monsters? She gave birth to all six of the creatures we were sent after. Is that right?”
“Yes, that hideous she-hag gave birth to the most awful creatures ever known. But the touching part is, she loved an even bigger monster. Typhon, the father of all monsters. The only monster to defeat Zeus. He cut out the sinews in my father’s legs, stole his lightning bolts, and left him helpless. But Zeus had help from the other gods, and when he faced Typhon again, he tricked him. But even Zeus couldn’t kill him, for Typhon is immortal, so he trapped him in this mirror, scattering his powers in Echidna’s children, knowing none but he could bring them back together.”
