Tempting the Fates

Chapter 28

We ascended the spiral staircase to the tower, the stairs making clinking sounds as my high heels connected with the metal. I had to lift my skirt above my ankles just to be able to climb.

"Maybe next time you can give me royal flip flops." I teased.

"Ah, yes, the height of fashion." Hades smirked as I looked back at him.

The tower was pretty much exactly how I had pictured it in my mind. The place was made of stone, with a single window that wrapped around the entire circular room. How it held, I wasn't sure, but I figured magic had to be involved. There were several benches around us, but I didn't sit down. I was mesmerized by the sight of Olympus.

It looked like a city, but one made of flawlessness and gold. All the houses were the size of a palace, and every inch of the kingdom was manicured to perfection. Some palaces were made of stone, others of metal. There was even one that looked like a huge treehouse, and one that looked like a store, though no one entered or exited.

"It's quiet." Hades whispered, a hand on his jaw. "Usually this place is bustling, with attendants and gods mingling around like an eternal block party. I'm not sure if it has something to do with Zeus hiding, or if it's something else looming on the horizon. There are a lot of good gods out there. Some of them I'd even consider friends. I hope we can defeat whoever is trying to harm us, or it will likely spell all our dooms."

I grimaced, the despair of his voice sinking in. "Perhaps someday we can return when it's thriving again."

Hades didn't answer me. His jaw was set, and his sights were locked on the largest of all the homes. Zeus' home, I figured.

It was gigantic, nearly five times larger than the second-biggest building in Olympus. It was hard to make out the shape or even the material it was made from, because it sat upon the top of the largest hill, overlooking the rest of the kingdom. It was so high up that the sun's rays blinded it from my vision. It looked like a sunspot, or like Olympus' very own mini star.

"Zeus?" I questioned.

He nodded. "I haven't seen him in a few decades. The last time I spoke to him, he... well, he threatened the life of innocent people. He has forgotten his responsibility as a god. He is supposed to be there to serve. Instead, he lays around like a gluttonous fool, only caring about himself."

"I'm sorry." I touched his arm. "I'm sure it's hard to see someone you love make the wrong choices."

"I just worry what those bad choices will do to the rest of the world." He sighed. "I don't see any guards or traps. We should be able to sneak right in."

As we turned to leave back down the spiral staircase, a bolt of lightning cracked and struck the ground right outside Aphrodite's home. The entire building shook as thunder rumbled with a fury, echoing around the room. We flew to the window and looked down. The lightning bolt had singed the grass where it struck. Sitting in the very center of the burn mark was an envelope.

Hades shuttered outside and grabbed the envelope, tearing it open. I followed him outside, and found that shuttering was as easy as blinking to me. Was my power increasing, or was I just getting better at harnessing it?

He pulled out a letter and scanned it quickly, his face tightened with worry. He handed me the letter, and I read:

To the Master and Mistress of the Underworld,

You are hereby formally invited to the Sky Palace for a meeting with His Majesty, Zeus, God of the Sky. Your presence is requested immediately.

Hades took the letter back when I had finished and tucked it into an inside jacket pocket. He glanced up at Aphrodite, who was up in the tower watching us. He gave her a single nod, and she nodded back.