Gilded Ruins

by Chantal Gadoury

  “Darce?” I asked, my voice echoing all around us. Each floor that the elevator passed, there was a small ding.

  “Hmm?”

  I tightened my grip around his neck and licked my lips.

  “I’m glad you came for me,” I whispered. My words weighed in my throat as I swallowed. “I’m glad that…you’re here with me.”

  Surprise was in his eyes as he turned his chin down to look at me.

  “We started our journey here, in your hotel,” I began, “I guess. . . I just feel a little nostalgic. A lot has happened since that first day.”

  Darce flashed me a brilliant smile.

  “Our journey began much earlier than here, Summer,” he replied as he tenderly pressed a kiss against my forehead. “It began lifetimes ago.”

  I couldn’t sleep.

  I wasn’t even sure what time it was anymore. Darce had long since fallen asleep, leaving me to my thoughts. After we arrived at the room, Darce had tucked me into bed, and had fallen into place beside me. Everything became still and silent, except for the sounds of his gentle breathing.

  I tried to squeeze my eyes shut, praying for sleep to find me. I pushed the pillows underneath me, tried to shift and find a more comfortable place to sleep. My mind continued to drift back to thoughts of my mom, and the worry I felt in knowing I was about to see her again. There was an unfamiliar danger that lurked in that knowledge. She wasn’t just my mother anymore—she was Demeter. A Goddess. A Goddess who had ended the lives of her daughter on more than one occasion.

  A shiver ran along my spine at the thought, as I tucked myself into the crook of Darce’s arm. His scent filled me with a temporary comfort; a rich musk of cedar and jasmine. I never wanted to forget him. I never wanted to lose him. What if I ended up just like all the others? What if I disappeared too? He’d be alone.

  But this time, for good.

  My nerves twisted in my stomach, and before long, I became too hot. As I rolled to my side, catching the time on the nightstand.

  3:24 AM peered back at me from the red backlit glowing from the clock. Deja vu.

  Shifting again under the blankets, I looked to Darce, who was still sleeping soundly. I envied him. I wanted to be lost in my dreams; I wanted relief from my thoughts and fears.

  “There is no way I’m going to be able to sleep like this,” I mumbled to myself. I felt the same way I had on the very first day my mom and I had arrived in Athens to my dad. At least then I’d had the freedom to slip on my sneakers and run.

  I wasn’t sure how Darce or Hermes would feel about something like that. Would they think I was running away? Not that I could. Retracing our steps from earlier in the evening, I recalled seeing a “POOL” button in the elevator. Perhaps I could escape to the pool for an hour, and swim off my anxiety.

  Did I even have a swimming suit?

  In my suitcase, back in the Underworld, I did. Arae had taken charge of packing my things. Would she have deemed such a thing as appropriate to bring? If worse came to worse, I could always just wear my bra and panties. Bathing suits were becoming more and more questionable every summer. And at three in the morning, who would be swimming?

  I huffed softly, pushing my blankets away as I slowly sat up. Bathing suit or not, I knew I was never going to be able to sleep by just laying here. Darting a quick glance over my shoulder, I made sure that Darce was still asleep.

  I crept across the room to my bags and crouched as I carefully opened them. From the side compartment, I tugged out a hair tie, and saw the glimmering ring Arae had given me. I needed to find a better place to store it—I didn’t want to lose it. Darce’s breath hitched, and I paused, turning to look over my shoulder once again. The room remained still, and I turned my focus back on my bags.

  The ring would have to wait as I focused on my current goal: swimming suit. I opened the main portion of the bag and found with surprise Arae had thought of everything, including my preferences for sweaters and jeans, despite her own objections. As I opened the first layer, I was greeted with a soft, dark blue shirt, and a pair of white, creamy shorts. As I dug deeper, I found a black one-piece. She must have snuck it all in when I wasn’t looking.

  “Thank you, Arae,” I whispered as I rose back to my feet.

  Glancing over my shoulder only once more, I walked to the door and gently closed it behind me. As soon as I knew I was out of hearing range, I bolted to the bathroom and quickly changed out of my clothes. I was surprised by the mesh in the one-piece, and how much of my skin it still exposed. Just below my chest and around my stomach were two patches of mesh. It wasn’t anything like the swimming suit I had back at home.

  My go-to swimming suit had been a deep green one-piece my mom had bought me a few years ago. I adored the little ruffles over my shoulders and wore it every summer.

  I avoided my reflection in the mirror as I tossed my hair up into a ponytail and grabbed a towel from the shelf near the shower.

  Wrapping the towel around my waist, I tiptoed towards the door of the suite. Thankfully, I remembered to grab one of the key cards, waiting on a table near the door. The lights in the hallway were bright, and it took a moment for my eyes to adjust. Everything was so quiet; I wondered how many other guests were in the hotel with us—on this very floor. I wondered where Hermes and Morpheus were too.

  Pausing in front of the elevator door, I pressed the button and waited patiently until the doors opened. I slipped inside and pressed the button for the pool. As the elevator went up, I could make out the hint of music. I tried to catch the melody but couldn’t figure it out. The delicate notes of a piano played, reminding me of a movie I had once seen with my dad. A mechanical castle that moved over the gentle slopes of a mountain range, with a boy who caught a star and consumed it.

  It was soothing.

  Suddenly, the doors opened, revealing the outside world. The air was warm and sweet, and smelled strangely of coffee. It was familiar and refreshing. As I took a step from the elevator, I took in the sight of the large infinity pool and the breath-taking view of the Parthenon. I had never seen it so up close before. The sky was a hue of black and purple, and dark blue. I was surprised by how the pool was illuminated with lights of its own; it was welcoming even at three o’clock in the morning. Just beyond the pool, I could hear the sounds of Athens. A few cars drove by, and the echo of voices walking just below.

  Laying my towel on one of the nearby chairs, I crossed the remaining distance to the water. Dipping my toe in slowly, I found the water to be perfectly warm. Without hesitation, I jumped in. The feel of the water all around me was comforting and familiar. It brought me back to days at the community pool with my friends. For the first time in a while, I wondered what my friends were doing right now. What they thought had happened to me. Had news gotten back to them yet about the death of my parents? Did they presume me dead too?

  I pushed myself up, breaking through the surface. Small droplets of water rolled down my cheeks, and I brushed them away with my hands. I swam to the edge of the pool, taking in the sights of the sleeping city. I was even more surprised to find a step had been built against the wall, making a seat for swimmers to pause and admire the scenery.

  As I took a seat, I brushed a stray hair from my forehead, pushing it back with the rest of my wet hair. “This is so beautiful,” I whispered to myself.

  “It is, isn’t it?” A voice said from behind, startling me. I jumped and turned sharply. Morpheus was kneeling by the pool’s edge, watching me intently. He was still without his wings. Instead of his usual black outfit, he wore the most casual thing I had ever seen him in; a white t-shirt, black slacks and a soft brown jacket. Even now, he seemed nearly ethereal. It was always shocking to see him and realize that he was real…and not a figment of my imagination.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, trying to keep the alarm from my voice.

  “I could ask the same of you,” he said, arching a brow. He flicked a sliver of water with his finger while he watched me.
/>   “I couldn’t sleep,” I explained. “I just needed to get out and move. I would have gone for a run, but I didn’t. . .” I paused, wondering how stupid I must have sounded. “I came for a swim instead.”

  “Clearly,” he added with a smirk.

  “And you? Why are you here?”

  “I heard your door. I thought I should come check up on you.”

  He had heard my door? I didn’t even know where he had been staying. Was he next door to us? My cheeks burned as I realized I hadn’t even thought of where Morpheus was staying. How had he known to follow me?

  “I’m fine,” I replied, shaking my head. “I just needed some air. I needed some space to think…or not think.”

  Morpheus silently nodded before turning his focus to the view beyond my shoulder.

  “It’s a lot. All of this.”

  “It’s too much,” I confessed, feeling the exhaustion strain my muscles.

  He faltered, toying with the words in his mouth before he spoke them. “Do you remember when you asked me about Mount Olympus?” he asked, sliding a hand through his long, silver hair. “You wanted to know if I had a choice in whether I stayed in the Underworld or not.”

  I recalled bits and pieces of a long-ago conversation on the boat, down in the Underworld. Morpheus was taking me to the getaway Persephone and Hades had created for themselves; the gift he had given to his Goddess of Spring. Morpheus had shown me an image in my mind of what Mount Olympus looked like; a lovely, golden place filled with wine and laughter. A place of beautiful, but cruel Gods and Goddesses.

  A palace of gilded ruins.

  “Yes,” I responded softly as my hand drifted in the pool. “You said there was more than meets the eye.”

  “A lovely impression,” Morpheus said. “But you’ll have to learn to see beyond it.”

  “I saw Minthe for what she was.” I was hopeful.

  “Minthe will be the least of your problems,” Morpheus mumbled as he sat and tugged his shoes from his feet. I watched as he carefully rolled his pant legs up to his knees and slipped them below the surface of the water.

  “Aren’t you going to get in?”

  Morpheus smiled and shook his head. “I didn’t plan to stay long.”

  “But you planned to come here.”

  “To check on you,” Morpheus said gently. “Nothing more.”

  “You can keep me company.”

  “You really should go to bed. The day ahead of us will be. . .overwhelming at best.”

  I pushed myself from the ledge and swam towards him.

  “Do you not know how to swim?” I asked with a playful laugh.

  He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Hardly.”

  “Then get in.”

  He gestured towards his outfit. “I’m not dressed for it.”

  “It’s not like you can’t just snap your fingers and insta-dry yourself,” I laughed, coming to stand at the ladder beside him. “Come on.”

  He pursed his lips and shook his head.

  “As tempting as you might appear, Summer, I’ve had lots of practice resisting.”

  “Resisting charms?” I asked with a laugh. I didn’t bother to ask whose charms he had resisted. I already knew that Morpheus had spent decades resisting the gentle teasing of Persephone all those centuries ago.

  “Exactly,” he replied with a chuckle of his own. “Speaking of which. . .” He released a sigh. “Perhaps I should prep you for the charms you should resist when we arrive at Mount Olympus.”

  “I have no desire to flirt with anyone,” I stressed, wrinkling my nose.

  “Oh, flirting will most certainly occur,” Morpheus said with a nod. “Flirting will only be the beginning. They love to flirt with each other. Sleep with one another. Tease and gossip. You’re entering a whole new world, Summer.”

  “Sounds like Gossip Girl,” I said with a roll of my eyes.

  Morpheus looked at me a little confused. “Never mind. So who should I prepare myself for?”

  Morpheus lifted his hand, stretching his fingers for me to see. He lowered his thumb and murmured, “Hera. For starters.”

  “Why?” I tried to recall what exactly she was the Goddess of. Marriage? Fertility?

  He grinned. “You’re an offspring of Zeus. Technically. You are royalty in the eyes of the courtiers, and Hera will hate you for that. You’re not one of her own. She is jealous of anyone who is deemed more beautiful than her.”

  “She sounds like an evil queen from a fairytale.”

  “Far worse,” Morpheus replied nodding. “You will either gain her favor, or she will turn the other cheek.”

  “And how do I gain her favor?”

  “You’ll have to decide if you want to,” Morpheus pressed. I wasn’t sure how to take his comment. He lowered a second finger before I could ask.

  “Ares.”

  “He’s the God of War,” I replied.

  “Yes,” Morpheus said. “He is not favored by the others. He is aggressive, and quick to anger.”

  “Which I suppose is why he’s the God of War,” I finished, leaning up on the ledge, resting my chin against my arms. Morpheus shrugged.

  “He was also once the lover of Aphrodite.”

  “Are they not anymore?”

  Morpheus raised a brow, his eyes twinkling with a hint of amusement.

  “Well, while they have children together, Aphrodite is promised to another.”

  “Oh right,” I said, “I forgot. This is like a soap opera show. Everyone is related to each other. They’re all sleeping together, and everyone hates each other.”

  Morpheus snorted, dropping his chin to his chest. At least he still laughed at my jokes. “That sums it up perfectly.”

  “So beware the wife of Zeus, who is jealous of everyone. Don’t make Ares angry, because he has a quick temper…who else?” I mimicked him and counted down on the one hand, too. Ticking them off like chores I needed to get done.

  “Stay away from Minthe,” Morpheus said cautiously. “Keep your distance. You should already know that by now, but it’s still worth repeating.”

  “I don’t plan on being alone with her at all,” I said, lifting my chin. “Anyway, go on.”

  “Demeter, your mother,” he continued without pause, “she will paint a lovely picture for you. A picture of the life she wants you to have. You’ll need to see it for what it truly is.”

  “A sham?”

  Morpheus pressed his lips together and lifted his gaze out over the pool again. After a moment he said, “it will be up to you if it is a sham or not.”

  Was it wrong to miss my mom? Was it wrong to miss hearing her laugh, or watching her flip through her romance novels? I even sort of missed her home-made pizzas. If my mom painted me an image of our old life—what would I do? I had a feeling she would make it hard for me to resist.

  “What about Zeus? Should I be cautious of him?”

  “Always,” he replied. “Always. Zeus does what he wishes, when he wishes. He is the God of all Gods. Whatever his will, it shall be done. Zeus could shower you with endless blessings one second, and then rip them away in the next breath. There is no rhyme or reason.”

  He sounded a little unstable, though, I was too afraid to voice my thoughts aloud.

  “You told me that they’ll try to change my mind about Darce. My mother. . . Zeus.”

  “A lovely impression,” Morpheus repeated. “Just remember. Nothing is as it seems. Not with them. Truly, not with any of us. None of us should be trusted. We certainly do not deserve your trust.”

  I couldn’t ignore the ice in his tone, and his words sent a shiver down my spine. I wanted to ask what he meant by that, but even I wasn’t sure how much information I could get from him. Besides, maybe I was being paranoid, and all this talk of Gods and Goddesses that I should be cautious of, only made that worse. Morpheus narrowed his eyes as he peered at the sky and jerked his chin back towards the door.

  “It’s nearly four. We should get you back to bed. You s
hould have some sleep before we leave.”

  Releasing a groan, I slipped under the water, wanting to ignore him. I wanted to forget that the dawn of the day was mere hours away. I didn’t want to go back to bed. I didn’t want the morning sun to come up yet. I didn’t want to go. . .

  Suddenly, an abundance of bubbles swarmed me like angry bees. There was hurried movement in the water; arms reached for me and began to yank me back up towards the top. I gasped and water gushed into my lungs. As I broke the surface, I opened my eyes wide with surprise and I began to cough. Morpheus was in the water beside me, his long silver hair surrounding us. His black eyes were filled with alarm.

  “Why did you do that?” I asked, pushing my wet hair from my face as I reached for the pool’s edge. I continued to cough, my lungs burning for relief. Morpheus’ warm hand was on my back as he held me up.

  “Do what?” He asked breathlessly.

  “J—jump in?” I sputtered. I wanted to slide my hand over my face, to hide my mortification.

  “Weren’t you drowning?”

  I darted my gaze to his and shook my head. “No, Morpheus,” I replied with a small laugh. “I wasn’t.”

  The fear in his eyes slowly eased away as he processed what I said. The corner of his lips turned into a cracked, breathless laugh.

  “I thought you said you were able to resist other’s charms?” I asked as I eased away from the wall. He looked defeated, surrounded by his silver, tangled hair and his drenched clothes. I suddenly felt bad for him. I reached for the ladder and pulled myself up from the water. Morpheus didn’t follow me out, instead he was floating on his back staring hopelessly up at the sky.

  Then, just as I turned away, I heard him murmur, “it seems, Summer, I’m able to resist all but yours.”

  Chapter 5

  Morpheus walked me to the door of my and Darce’s hotel room. It was a long walk back from the pool. We were both soaking wet and I was the only one with a towel, which was flimsy for such a nice hotel. I thought about cracking down on Darce about the quality, especially when he could afford Gucci boxers and other such nonsense.