"Oh no, you don't!" I warned him.
"You are too big for hugs and licks." I narrowed my eyes when he put his heads on his paws, and kept his bum in the air. His tail wagged the whole time, telling me he was in a very playful mood.
"Out! Go pee outside!" At my command, he sat up and looked at me. I was pointing towards the entrance of the temple.
"Go on, go pee." He seemed confused. I put my hands on my hips, thinking about a solution which would end in Apple going outside, without wanting to throw me to the ground and covering me in drool.
I threw one arm back, and when I saw Apple getting up and wagging his tail, I grinned.
"Catch!" I yelled, while moving my arm forward in a throwing motion. Apple bounded after whatever he thought I had thrown.
"Oomph, hey! Watch it!" I heard outside.
"Don't even think about it, there are many other trees around!" I burst out laughing when hearing Maria tell Apple off, for trying to lift his leg against her bark.
"Not funny Pana!" Everyone yelled.
"Yes, it is!" I giggled some more and went to get ready.
After washing my face, I noticed the comb and the dress from yesterday.
Deciding to give the brush a try, I looked into the mirror. Goodness gracious, my hair is one big knot! What has Phatostai been smiling at? A crazy little goddess, with one gigantic red knot on top of her head for hair.
"This brush had better work, or I will need to cut off the entire knot," I mumbled to my reflection. Upon the first stroke, the brush broke, bringing me nearly to tears. However, magically, it fixed itself. Letting go of the brush, I realised it moved of its own accord.
"Wow, now that is a neat trick!" Wincing here and there when the brush got stuck and broke, I watched the process. My hair was shining and the curls were looking like curls again, not frizz.
Clapping my hands in excitement, I looked at the dress.
The colour was gorgeous; green like the leaves of a young sapling, it was a smooth silky fabric. Picking up the dress, I frowned. How am I going to put this thing on?
So much fabric! I couldn't make out which was the bottom and which the top, I just threw up my arms with every intention of throwing it on the bed. Within the blink of my eyes, the dress reformed itself in the air. It was floating in front of me and it was beautiful! Hesitantly, I touched it.
Afraid the thing would come falling down in a heap at my feet, I went closer. Once I was underneath the dress, I put my arms up, and the dress gently floated down and moulded itself around my body. The fit was perfect. I twirled around laughing, and the fabric floated like a cloud around me. My boobs were nicely encased in two pieces of the fabric going around my neck and crossing in the back. Underneath my boobs was a golden waistband that cinched the material just right, making it flow to the ground without showing any additional curves. I looked good; not skinny mind you, but definitely not as big as I always thought I looked.
"Hecate are you ready to put the spell in our heads? Hades could arrive any time now." Hecate appeared from the other side of the forest with sparkling eyes; her face was practically glowing in excitement. Maria, however, was looking worried.
Hecate is waving her arms and mumbling some stuff, I feel a little tickle in my ear. By the time my hand reaches my ear to scratch it, it has stopped as have Hecate's mumbling.
I decline breakfast, afraid I will spill something on my dress. Every time Phatostai looks my way, I blush as his eyes keep sparkling.
"Have I told you that you look absolutely gorgeous?" He asks.
I shake my head and cast my eyes down; he lifts my chin with one finger, making me look deep into his eyes.
"Well, you are! Not just with the dress and hair different, you are beautiful both inside and out."
I sigh and lean forward. He doesn't take his finger from my chin, but uses it to lift my chin higher. He leans towards me and my eyes close.
"Uhum," Artemis interrupts. I twist my head in her direction so fast I hear a click in my neck. Artemis puts her hands up at my murderous impression, my fists are clenched ready to get up and punch her. She just widens her eyes and points in Hecate's direction. Confused, I look at Hecate and see the far-away look she gets when hearing something we can't.
Crap, Hades is here.
***
39
Picking up my dress, I get up and run in the direction of Hades, with Phatostai right behind me, and Cyriel flying above me. I hear Artemis curse at the fairies to conjure the bag faster. Upon reaching the meadow, I slow down. Just beyond the tree line in front of the Cornucopia is Hades. Bending forward, I put my hands on my knees to huff and puff.
"I am here Hades, just give me a chance to catch my breath." I wave my hand in the air and suck in much needed air.
"I am not in a hurry, dear. I wouldn't mind seeing Hecate again before we leave."
I get up and truly look at the god of the Underworld. He is too ridiculous for words if he thinks Hecate wants to have anything to do with him. However, when my eyes land on him and the way he is dressed, I have to swallow.
Damn, he dressed up nice! He smiled a very charming smile twirling a black rose in his hands. He had some kind of tunic on, but this tunic was snug in all the right places. His undertunic, which should be loose, was split in two and sowed together between his legs. Blushing I realised that this fit quite snug as well.
"See anything you like?" Hades asked with a knowing glimpse in his eyes.
I scraped my throat and shook my head in denial. Looking around frantically for something to say, I saw Phatostai with a murder look in his eyes. Hecate was holding him back as they were hidden from Hades, but when I turned around, I saw the feral smile on his face.
"Come out, come out wherever you are!" He got up and walked in their direction.
With a great sigh of relief, I heard Cyriel screech and saw him dive straight for Hades.
The latter was not perturbed at all, he snapped his fingers and from the woods behind him came a gigantic bird.
The bird flew straight towards Cyriel.
Everyone screams at Cyriel, who doesn't notice anything, being so concentrated on his one and only task. When the shadow of this extremely ugly bird covers the ground, I panic.
It screeches so loud I cover my ears and drop on my knees to the grass. Cyriel looks up and sees the bird that is ten times his size. He swings to the left and around the bird, but one of its wings clips Cyriel, as he falls down to the ground, hard. Whimpering, I get up and want to go to him.
Phatostai comes out of the forest with his flame in his left hand; I look at him with wide eyes. What is he doing? He comes towards me and his right hand holds on to me. I try to shake him loose to go to Cyriel, but he holds tight.
I look up at him, certain that the tears flowing down my cheeks will convince him to let me help Cyriel. Instead, I see his eyes are focused on something other than me. I follow his eyes and whimper; the big bird is diving in for the kill. I cover my eyes; there is nothing I can do. When the bird lets loose a screech, it sounds full of pain, as my body instantly recognises an animal in pain. My eyes snap open only to see the bird crashing down to the ground, fully enflamed. Astonished, I watch as the bird thunders down to the ground. Through my tears, I look up at Phatostai and see that he is indeed controlling the fire. When the bird keeps falling, I can tell that it is suffering; I am however getting a sick satisfaction of seeing the bird that wanted to kill my Cyriel in pain. Phatostai is still concentrating hard on the bird. I turn to him and see his eyes are not their usual colour, they are the same colour as his flame. I shake him.
"Phatostai?"
"Phatostai, you are going to kill the bird!" When I get no reaction out of him, I start to panic. I can tell he is going to the dark side of his power, it makes my skin crawl. I do the only thing I can think of (don't ask me why) I grab his face and kiss him. Not my thought of my first kiss, but the moment he reacts I sigh in relief, as I feel the darkness creeping away again. However, he
is getting hot, and not in the good sense, as in really hot!
"Are you okay?" I ask.
"I need to do something. I am not sure how, but I need to get the flame to come back to me, it is burning me up with its dark intentions."
"Well?"
"What?" He asks.
"Take control of the bloody flame, you idiot. I want a decent first kiss and that is not going to happen if you burn to a crisp." At this moment, I have my fists on my hips and have totally forgotten about the whole scene around us.
Phatostais' eyes widen when he looks behind me, this time the bird is coming straight for us. It is a flaming stinking ball of fire.
"Nooooo." I stretch my hand out to try and stop the scene unfolding in front of me. Cyriel with his little body, is flying towards the bird, he screeches loudly. Behind me, I hear a wail from Maria. We all know what he is doing; he is distracting the bird. He flies into the bird's side, but the bird hardly moves from the impact, as I see Cyriels' body fall for the second time today and deep down I sense his soul leaving him.
"Cyrieeel, no, no, no." I struggle with Phatostai, who is now grabbing my waist again.
I can tell he is putting up the shield, but I don't care anymore. I can peep just over his shoulder and see Artemis come into action.
She fires off an arrow but uses the one meant for Hades. The flaming bird drops to the ground and smashes the bag underneath his heavy body; this covers the bird in the smell of chicken on top of its own charred smell. Putting my face back into Phatostais' chest, I hear the crashing announcement of Apple's arrival.
"You have got to be kidding me." Phatostai mumbles under his breath. I turn around in his embrace before he can stop me. Right that moment, Apple jumps on the bird and starts ripping it apart. I bend over trying not to throw up.
Hades is still staring at the scenario of his bird and my three-headed dog, at the same time as Artemis and Maria recite the spell, which floats effortlessly from my head to my lips:
"Dicimus autumn per quattuorangulos
Ad alligandoshulus magical saecula
Auferre quod date is protestatem
Eorum extempore et spatioevanescere."
As we are chanting, Hades moves closer to Apple, making it difficult for me to concentrate. Full of wonderment, Hades turns to me in amazement.
"Is this Cerberus? My Cerberus?" He asks in a gentle and surprised voice.
While saying the last words of the binding spell, I shake my head.
"This is Apple, My Apple!" I look at him and see no change in him. Did the binding spell not work?
He moves closer to Apple. However, this time I can feel his emotions towards my baby have changed. He turns around and points to Apple while yelling at me.
"Your 'Apple' is killing my Ascalaphus. I will kill you for that and keep 'Apple'." The murderous intent in his eyes both scare and anger me.
Who is he to try to take my baby from me?
"You have no right to speak! Cyriel died because of your bird, I should let Apple kill him. Maybe I will."
I keep walking closer to him, all fear gone and just anger consuming me. Anger for this despicable god that is so ready to kill animals. I call upon all the souls of the island. The wind raises my dress, while I raise my hands and revel in the power of having all these souls at my command; I want my revenge, but something in the back of my mind is telling me this is wrong. I look at Cyriel and shake my head; this is what is supposed to happen. A life for a life.
Hades hesitates upon seeing me and I smirk.
"Not liking what you see? I can feel all the souls. They all want to help me in exacting my revenge for the lost soul of Cyriel. I am wondering if it should be the bird or you?" I put my head to the side as if thinking, then I look at the bird and decide on a different course of action.
"Maybe I can kill two birds with one stone." I laugh at my own joke as I tune into the mind of Hades' Ascalaphus and order it to attack Hades.
Hades is moving towards me when a flame passes me going towards Hades. The bird is flying towards him, as he looks up in surprise but is too late to see the fire coming. Just as Ascalaphus is diving for Hades' head, Phatostai grabs my waist and I lose my connection to the bird. I couldn't see what was happening. For the second time Phatostai’s protection bubble bursts out of him, this time, however, he is in control as he doesn't feel like he is burning up.
The murderous haze that took over my mind is gone, and I shiver from the sudden loss of that power. I also am afraid of what I almost did with all that power, and I still hold souls within my mental grip and have to consciously release them.
Phatostai keeps me close and rubs my back, while I get my breathing and shivering under control.
***
40
I hear a thump and a curse. Looking around, I see that the bird was trying to change its course of attack on Hades. The bird too injured to fly properly, lands on Hades.
Hecate jumps from behind a bush with the wire in her hands, and without further ado, she wraps the wire around his wrists and chants the last part of the binding spell.
Phatostai lets go of his protection bubble and stumbles. I turn around to smile at him, just in time to see him fall over. With a little snore, I realized that he had fallen asleep from all the fire and protection use. The bird lets out a loud painfilled screech.
I call Apple to me, and he runs over and drops down next to Phatostai looking up at me. I enter his mind again and ask him to stay, as he looks at the bird with hungry yearning. The pain of the bird is calling to me, and it cannot be ignored. The longer I try to stand there and stay, the more my head hurts. Frustrated, I turn around and walk to the bird.
"Stop! Don't touch him, you know why." Hecate warns me. I nod my understanding.
Crouching next to the bird, I let my hands roam its body without touching. I close my eyes and concentrate, digging deeper when nothing seemed to be appearing in my mind. Suddenly a blinding light and I am back in the meadow, only now there are flowers instead of the scorched grass. Gaia is there and I realise that this will be her final goodbye.
"You did well my child, the hard choice is now. You can keep your powers as they are or extend them and use the magic that is within you; it is a part of you as it was of me. My gift of the Earth still stands, use it wisely. When choosing for magic, be careful of what the gods and goddesses might want from you. It will be a greater power than any of them have ever possessed due to your humanity. I must go now, but I will always be with you in your heart and every soul you touch."
I stretched my arm out trying to touch her, but before I can even open my mouth to say something back, she is gone.
I get pulled back to the meadow and the bird, hearing Hecate gasp and Hades ask what is going on.
"Nothing Hades dear, just a little binding spell." Hecate winks at me and nods her head towards the bird. I frown and look at the bird, it is healed. I gasp and pull my hands back. Hades wants to know what is happening to his bird, and Hecate does the only thing she can think of (making me think that she doesn't think much). She pushes his head between her boobs and casts a spell, and before my eyes, the fully healed bird disappears. When Hecate pulls Hades' face from her cleavage by his hair, he looks at her bewildered.
"What was that for?" He asks.
"My dear Hades, I have you all to myself, on MY Island. What do you think I am going to do with you?" Her laughter makes the hairs on my arms stand up straight again. Gods, her laugh is evil. Even Hades, Lord of the dead, cringes in the wake of her laughter.
***
41
Maria picked Cyriel gently Up, and when walking past the Cornucopia, it gives a soft ceremonial burial cloth. Hades' eyes widen and Hecate gives him a jab in the ribs.
"What?" She asks.
"Nothing," he says, "just very pretty."
"Pretty, huh? Yeah, I don't think so. What is this blanket?"
"It's nothing, really, just something they used to guide souls." He shrugs.
I was walking behind Maria when I heard this.
"What happens to his soul?" I asked.
"Without the Underworld? That is anyone's guess." Hades trips and nearly falls down, when Hecate gives him a shove again.
"Woman, would you stop it?!" He growls. She stops and puts her hands on her hips.
"Don't you 'woman' me! I bound you, I own you, and I will do as I please with you," she smirks, "so be careful how you address me." She crosses her arms and looks at him. With a finger, she taps her mouth. "I quite like the sound of Queen Hecate, what do you think, Maria."
"I think I doona care, I just want to say goodbye to Cyriel properly. Ya can do whatever ya want." The tears are streaming down her face. Looking at Hecate, I can tell she is embarrassed.
"Of course, Maria. Let us find a suitable place. Any ideas?"
"The place where I found Sparky is beautiful. Lots of flowers." Lottie said so quiet, I almost didn't hear her.
"I think that would be nice, don't you think Maria?" I gently touched her arm. She sniffed and nodded.
"Lead the way, if you will, Lottie." Lottie nodded at me and fluttered ahead.
I looked behind me and saw that Phatostai was looking at Hades weirdly. Stopping to let everyone catch up, I walked once Phatostai reached me.
"Everything alright?" When he heard my voice, he looked up as if surprised by my presence.
"Yes, yes, everything is fine." His smile, or rather grimace, was not convincing, so I raised my eyebrow at him. He sighed and admitted that not everything was ok.
"I was thinking about what Hades said about there not being an Underworld anymore; all the souls go there to be judged. So, he must have some idea what happens now, don't you think?" We were both looking at the back of Hades' head.
"You are right. When we reach the place Lottie is taking us, I will question him about it." I nodded, thinking that was the solution. Not quite, it seemed.
Upon reaching the flower field, our group formed a circle. It was beautiful, there were flowers in every colour imaginable. Big ones, small ones, tall ones, and all the leaves were in different shapes. Some flowers reached up to my waist and tickled my hands as I walked among them. Apple hopped around, having the time of his life, until one head sneezed, making the others bark in surprise.
Book of Panacea Page 16
