We Will Gain Our Fury

by Nicole Thorn

  My sister went to comfort her and I followed, but stopped. The demigods were staring at us. “What?” I asked.

  8: Mad Hope

  Kezia

  The rage was instantaneous. It was almost fascinating, actually. Feeling something so powerful come from out of nowhere. But it was there. It was real and it was genuine.

  “What the fuck was that?” I said, literally at the same time as Zander.

  The Seers didn’t seem to know what we were talking about. Jasper just had a normal look on his face. Like nothing was wrong. “What was what?”

  I made a sound. “He hit you.”

  He shrugged it off. “What? That? That was nothing.”

  Nothing? Don’t tell that to a girl who spent a good chunk of her life getting beaten up by people who didn’t like that she was different. “That was not nothing. He hit you. He came by to get money, didn’t bother to stay long enough to say more than a few underhanded insults and then he hit you when you didn’t give him the response he wanted.”

  “Insults?” Jasmine asked herself.

  I looked at Zander and I could see into his head. They didn’t get it. I didn’t know what to do with that.

  I wished that man hadn’t left. I just wanted to hurt him. I wanted to watch vines grow around his neck as they tightened. But I wouldn’t get that.

  “Does he do that a lot?” I asked.

  He shrugged. Shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  And the Furies are after Zander and I…

  “Really, it’s not a big deal,” Jasper said.

  There it was. Their deal. What was wrong with them. I’ve never felt lucky for being aware of every inch of brokenness in me. That changed today.

  I scratched my temple. “Zan, I think we should go get some clothes. This sweater is a little tight.” It was. All I wanted to do was squirm around in it. The only saving grace was that it wasn’t low cut in any way.

  “Sure,” he said, as upset as I was.

  “You shouldn’t go alone,” Jasmine said. “What if the Furies find you?”

  I shrugged. “No offense, but you can’t do much about that. I think we’re a little screwed either way. Zander can’t charm a Fury and I don’t know if I could do anything quick enough to protect us. You’d only be in danger.”

  “I can look out into the future for you.” She looked around. “Let’s all go.”

  Damn. “I think we’ll be fine.”

  “Too late! Get your shoes on.”

  Super… I went up to my temporary room and when I opened the door, my eyes fell on a box on the bed. There was a note that said Aphrodite. I opened it and sighed.

  I knew she was just trying to help, but it didn’t work. I found some clothes inside. Shorts and a couple shirts that were my size. I couldn’t wear them. She should have known better than to try that one on me. She even threw in some real bras as opposed to the sports bras I preferred. They covered more.

  I threw them back in the box and closed it, dropping it to the floor. I was about to leave, when I saw a little dirt filled pot on the dresser. The note was from my mother.

  Make something new.

  I smiled. I’d have to figure out something for that.

  I got back downstairs and everyone was by the door. The car we were getting into was an SUV. Jasmine had the keys and she was smiling. “I know a place with great clothes and candy. So I’ll take you there.”

  “Cool,” Zander sounded enthusiastic. He just liked being out of a house. I couldn’t blame him, though I personally just liked being outside. This was my second favorite time of the year and I hardly got to be out in it.

  Jasmine got into the driver’s side and Juniper got in the other seat up front. That left the boys and me in the back.

  Zander bent to my ear. “You’ll be okay, right?”

  “Sure,” I lied.

  I was between Jasper and Zander and I leaned to my brother. He was a big guy, so he took up a lot of the backseat. There was little I could do to keep from touching Jasper too, but he didn’t seem to notice. He was looking out the window.

  “Buckle up, children,” Jasmine said. “We’re off on an adventure.” The car went and I tried to stay very still.

  Zander put his arm around me and pulled me against his side. “You know this is all gonna work out, right?”

  I looked up at his blue eyes. “I don’t see how it could.”

  “I know you don’t, but I have enough faith for the both of us. We’ll figure out a way to give the Furies the slip, we’ll get a brand new place and it’ll be great. I’ll make sure you get a place where you can have a garden. How does that sound?”

  I smiled. “It sounds nice. Maybe you can plant some stuff.”

  He rubbed my arm and smiled back. “Not a chance.”

  We got to what looked like a big department store. Jasmine ran up to the front and got a cart. Then she rode it back to Zander. “Wanna ride in it?”

  He laughed. “I think I’m just a bit too big for that.”

  “Boo. You’ll have to push me then.” She got on the end and Zander pushed the front. We all marched into the store and the first place we went was the men’s section.

  Zander was an easy shopper. If it fits, he’ll wear it. As proved by his Future Mrs. Solo shirt. Sadly, that wasn’t something he had anymore. Zander threw a bunch of shirts into the cart and Juniper went behind him, folding them and putting them in stacks in the cart. He got about a dozen shirts and half as many pairs of pants.

  Then it was my turn.

  We got over to the girl’s section and I sighed. They never had what I liked to wear and it made things hard. First, I needed jammies.

  Normally I slept in drawstring shorts and one of Zander’s shirts, but I couldn’t do that in a house full of people. I needed to be properly dressed.

  Zander was already throwing in the Batgirl jammies set that he saw. I took it from him. “Not that one.”

  He looked confused. “But you had a pair just like these.”

  “I know. But I want something else.” I looked at a pair of sleep pants. They were upsettingly thin, but they would have to do for now. I grabbed a few and put them in.

  “Now to the fun stuff,” Jasmine rubbed her hands together. “What’s your favorite color?”

  “Green,” I answered.

  She smiled. “I figured.”

  I watched her start weaving through the clothes around us. She dismissed a lot of things before she found a rack of dresses. “Oh, this is pretty. Kizzy, come here.”

  Not good.

  We all followed her and I ended up next to Jasper. He walked slowly and it was like he wasn’t even here. I tried not to still be upset about his father, but that wasn’t happening. All I wanted to do was hurt him.

  Jasmine was holding out a dress. It was bright green and very pretty. “I think you’d look so pretty in this,” she smiled. “I mean, you probably couldn’t wear a push up in it, but you can work around that.”

  “Why would I wear a push up?”

  She stared at me. “You’re in one now, right?”

  My cheeks burned. “No.” Jasper wasn’t paying attention and Juniper was folding, so I just said it. “I wear sports bras.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Oh my gods. They get bigger?”

  Zander cleared his throat. “I think jeans are over there.” He pointed. Too late. It was this damn sweater. Too tight to properly hide what I had going on under here. The god part of me unfortunately gave me as close to perfection as a person could get. I was curvy in every place a normal girl could want to be. I was thin enough to when a girl would see even a hint of my body, they’d glare at me. All the good and none of the bad. I’d hate me too.

  “Do you want to try this on?” Jasmine put the dress in my hands. I couldn’t stop staring at it. It was something that I would love to wear if I were another person.

  “It wouldn’t even get to my knees,” I pointed out.

  “Yeah, you can show off your legs. You’d knock
a guy dead.”

  I looked away from her. “I’m not really looking to knock a guy dead.”

  “Oh,” she said. “You probably didn’t get to date much, the way you grew up, huh? Did they have rules against that?”

  The subject wasn’t as uncomfortable as it could have been. Zander was still on standby, waiting for me to need a bailout.

  “Yeah, some of them. You can’t date anyone you live with. And you’re not really allowed to leave. Not a lot of options. Some of the foster parents had different rules, but I haven’t been in a foster home since I was thirteen.”

  Jasmine’s face changed to something darker. She knew not to push. “Ah, well maybe not this dress then, huh?”

  She went to take it from me and Zander grabbed it. He looked it over and glanced at me before he put it in the cart.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  Juniper didn’t touch the thing, even all bunched up. She was watching Zander and I.

  He whispered. “You want it.”

  “When am I gonna wear that, Zander?”

  He smiled, but just a little. “If you need a place, I’ll make one for you, honey. Just promise me you’ll wear it.”

  I stared at the thing. It was low cut and the fabric was soft. I did want it, but if I ever got the guts to put it on, I wouldn’t be able to leave my room. But my mouth betrayed me. “Okay.”

  The look in his eyes… I’d never seen it. Like a man, dying on a field in battle. He thought it was over, but then hope came into view. I gave him hope. And I hated myself for it.

  Zander hugged me tightly. “I love you,” he said softly in my ear. “I’m proud of you.”

  I just hugged him back.

  The girls were conspicuously trying not to watch us. I couldn’t even tell if Jasper was aware of what was happening. Juniper started folding up the dress and she laid it in the cart.

  I picked out some more things I needed and I carefully steered Jasmine away from the smaller clothes. She insisted I would look great in them, but that was just the problem. At least in their house I wouldn’t have to worry about anyone looking at me like that. I could probably even get away with wearing sleep shorts.

  It was so easy with Zander. We’ve never seen each other as more than siblings. Not for a second. We didn’t actually figure out that we weren’t until we were almost six. It was when we started understanding what we really were.

  Jasmine was sweet enough that I don’t think I’d be uncomfortable in those clothes around her. Juniper, almost. They didn’t really feel like strangers at this point. We didn’t know a lot about each other, but we knew the important stuff. Plus, we were living at their damn house.

  Zander’s phone rang and we were both confused. He looked at the caller ID and picked up. “Yeah?”

  “Hey, sweetie,” his mother said. He put it on speaker so the Seers could hear too. “Did you kids get what I left for you?”

  “Yes,” we said.

  “Great. Kizzy, you’ll like the dress I threw in there. I know you don’t wear them anymore, but I think you should at least try it on.”

  I sighed. “Thank you…”

  There was a pause and I heard Aphrodite huff. “Demi, if you take another fry from me…”

  Mom laughed, “What are you gonna do, Aphrodite? Turn all my clothes pink again? I dare you.”

  “Ares,” she snapped. “If you let her do that again, I will make sure to get my revenge.”

  A deeper voice laughed. “We both know what happens when you try to punish me.”

  Zander frowned. “Hey, Ma, maybe not right now, huh? No offense to your boyfriend or anything, but the innuendo was dripping from his voice.”

  “Cool it, kid,” the god said. “If your mom wasn’t friendly, you wouldn’t be around.”

  Another frown.

  There was an… understanding, of sorts, with the gods. There was so much infidelity that they hardly got pissed anymore. Everyone but Hera. She was always pissed at something.

  Zander sighed. “Where are you, Ma? You’re not home.”

  “Just out to lunch,” she said, but she was interrupted.

  “No, I don’t want a goddamned kid’s menu.” It was the voice of a little girl. “I want the steak… please.”

  I could practically hear a waitress running away.

  Jasper, who was aware now, looked confused. I cleared it up. “Are you and Artemis on speaking terms again?” I asked.

  Artemis answered. “We’re never not on speaking terms. Plus, she’s buying.”

  Artemis preferred the form of a child. I didn’t know why, or even what she looked like. All I knew was what Mom told me of her. She was… interesting to be around. A big attitude in a little body. A tornado, according to her.

  “Is there a reason for this call?” Zander asked, fed up.

  “Yes,” his mother said. “There’s a man I know that I want you to talk to. Don’t worry, he knows you’re coming and what he’s supposed to be doing. Bring him the parchment.” She gave an address and Juniper wrote it down.

  “What happened to no helping?” I asked.

  “What are you talking about?” Aphrodite said. “I’m just out to lunch with my friends.”

  I smirked. “Thanks.”

  “ARES!” she yelled. “Touch my drink and die!”

  He laughed at her. I bet the people around them were calling psych wards.

  “I have to go,” Aphrodite said. “Good luck to you kids. And Jasper, stand a little straighter. You’re so handsome when you’re not slouching. Take your hands out of your pockets. You look shady.”

  The two of us had an equally confused look on our faces and he looked down at his pockets, pulling his hands out.

  “Good boy,” she said. “Remember, like the Tooth Fairy, I see you when you’re sleeping and know when you’re awake.”

  “That’s Santa, you bimbo,” Artemis sighed.

  “Oh! It is. Okay, the point has been made. Go forth and multiply! So says Santa.”

  “Fucking m—” Artemis was cut off when the phone call ended.

  The Seers all looked at each other. Yeah, this was new to them. The gods were insane and it took a while to fully get that.

  “Okay,” Jasper said, very slowly. “I guess we have someone to see.”

  Ψ

  We were at a college. We had to go back to my car to pick up the parchment and we had clothes to drop off anyway. It was quick and Zander got us to where we needed to go.

  “Excuse me,” he smiled at a girl passing us by. She looked about nineteen and she was very pretty. She spotted Zander and she looked like she was seeing an angel. He did that to a lot of people. Not only was he half god, but his mother was the goddess of beauty. That made him very attractive, so I’ve been told.

  “Yeah?” she asked, already under a spell he hadn’t put on her yet. “Can I do something for you?”

  Jasmine and I crossed our arms and sighed at the same time.

  “I’m looking for Professor Mooz. Do you know where I can find him?”

  The girl’s smile faded a little and she hooked her thumbs in her pant loops, pulling them down enough to get a peek at her underwear. I just didn’t get how people could do that.

  “Do you know him?” Zander asked.

  The girl let her eyes scan the area. We were outside, but the halls were all leading to rooms. To the left was a courtyard. The right, the classrooms.

  “He really doesn’t like it when people try to talk to him after school. He’d kill me if I told you where he was.”

  Zander smiled. “He’s expecting us, I promise.”

  She nervously refused.

  Well, we didn’t have a lot of options, so Zander used the one he didn’t like. His voice was different when he spoke again. More alluring and focused. I didn’t know what it sounded like to a human, but it was pure god from where I was. It wasn’t directed at me, so I was fine. I’d been on the other end of it a couple times, for various reasons. It was all consuming and
wonderful, right up until you sobered from it. At least, for me.

  “Would you please help me out,” he said, smiling at the girl. Her face was blank as she looked at him. “I would really appreciate it.”

  She pointed us in the direction we needed to go and Zander told the girl to go home. She smiled at him and left, almost dancing down the hall.

  “Whoa,” Jasmine said. “Interesting.”

  He shook it off. “We should go.”

  We got to the door marked Mooz and Zander walked right in. The room was massive. It looked like a university classroom. A half circle shape was what held the chairs. They cascaded down to the bottom of the room, where a desk and a large chalkboard were.

  A man was messing about with papers. He looked like he was in his late fifties, with graying hair and a worn out looking suit.

  “Professor Mooz?” Zander asked as we walked down the stairs. “My name is Zander Dovetree. My mother sent us.”

  The man turned. “Yes, she came by this morning. You have something for me.”

  There was a moment of hesitation before Zander handed the paper over. But this man was trusted by Aphrodite. So either that meant he was trustworthy, or he would die shortly after he betrayed us. Either worked out.

  He took a look at the paper and blew out a long breath before adjusting his glasses. “Ah, well this is… going to take a while.”

  I shifted on my feet. “You don’t have a clue what it says?”

  The man looked up. “I’m quite good with ancient artifacts, but this isn’t something you see every day. Well, at least, I don’t. These are characters I’m mostly unfamiliar with. But the good news is that I know enough to know where to look to know what the others say.” He paused and his eyes squinted. “That made sense in my head.”

  Jasmine nodded. “We got it. Do you know how long this’ll take? We’re kinda on a time crunch.”

  “Sorry,” he sighed. “Not quite sure. I have your contact information, Mr. Dovetree,” he looked to my brother. “I will call you the very moment I can help you.”