day one of Hades' deadline
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TWENTY-FOUR hours have passed since I last heard his voice. Twenty-three since my last training session with my mother ended. Twenty-two since I have been able to eat a single bite of any kind of food. Twenty-one hours since Melinoe, my mother, asked me to take a walk outside with her numerous guards to calm my nerves and nineteen hours since I shut myself in my room, awaiting another call.
Six hours back Jace called my mother again, he told her he was waiting with Art at a cabin nearby, checking if anyone had followed them. Five hours ago, I felt my mother dive into a prayer. At least that's what it felt at first. Later, I was told she was building the strength to repair the force field that was wrapped around us, which kept us away from Hades and the presence of his army. She would soon have to tear it ever so slightly to let Art in and swiftly close it, that itself required a lot on her part. Even a millisecond wasted meant a demon could sense us and report to Hades, or he himself would know.
I have spent the last hour of my waiting with Roy. The small porch that lifts us away form the knee length snow is an uneasy place to sit at this time of the day but we would be able to see them the moment the appear from the dead forest from here first.
"Ever since I heard the news of his birth, I have wanted to meet him," Roy whispered, his eyes diverting from the forest for the first time since we sat here.
His eyes are a misfit. On the face of it, he is a man of almost fifty years with an old charm in the way he keeps his dark hair. His skin, his hands, his posture, nothing speaks of his age, but those eyes. They are ages old. Maybe it is the grey in them or the fact that they know beyond what his skin does.
He reminds me of Clarissa. Young, yet old. At least Rubyn was stuck at an appropriate age but nothing about Roy says a century until one meets his eyes.
"Did you ever give up?" I asked him after a moment of silence fell between us.
"Never," he shook his head. "But I did come quite close to leaving it all behind and meeting him, especially whenever he was in the US."
"You were always nearby, weren't you?"
"Always at a comfortable distance when Reginald wasn't around to protect him," Roy chuckled. "I could never gather the strength to meet him...I am not an immortal with deep knowledge of technology, you see," he smiled and somehow even his smile spoke more of his age. "I was scared...to be caught in a camera near him...to face him because if I did, I thought he would remember my face."
"Roy, what if he had never changed; would you have still remained in the shadows?" I whispered, even though I knew his answer.
"You know that is what I would have done out of necessity, darling," he looked away to the forest again, waiting for the sight of his great grandson that was almost taken away from him. "That is the impairment of this life. His father wants to be an immortal like me...but he knows nothing of it."
"You could have told him, couldn't you?"
"I tried, oh, believe me, child, I did," Roy chuckled. "But from the moment he was born, I knew Reginald. He was barely a few years old when I left him, his father and my family behind but something about him since that age had always been...peculiar. He's my grandson and Art's father and my blood will always want me to love him, but I know that's not in his blood. He will kill me and his own son if that means that Gods like Hades will help him achieve immortality."
"I didn't...I couldn't ask you about this when we were first introduced but...how did you meet my mother? You've lived alone for decades now so why join her?"
"We're not in the right place for you to understand why anyone joins your mother, Aethera," he said, getting up to face me as he stood against the bannister of the porch. "There are many of us, some Gods, some Athanatoi...some like Jace, a ker, or a spirit as you would know, who lost their lives in the war. We can be of any blood but over the years whenever I meet another one who supports your mother, it is because of their impatience with being a pawn in a war that is neverending."
"In my previous life, I was a devout Christian and I had been taught throughout my fifty years of human existence that good was only good and evil was only evil. But that is not true for our Gods, at least not those who sit in Olympus or in the realms of the Underworld. There are many of those who fought on either side, merely to survive. Many like your parents couldn't leave...many like your father died. Smaller Gods is what they would call them...with no choice."
"My mother was born in the Underworld so she must fight alongside evil," I said, looking at her as she stood on the other end of the porch, knowing that she could hear me.
"Hades is not evil, my love," Melinoe said as she approached me, her warm hand finding my shoulder. "He is the Lord of a realm that is just...where the dead are damned to be. There is no life without death, so there is no Zeus without Hades."
"But when they crave power that can transcend their realm, it shakes the balance," I said, giving into my mother's touch. I did not want to be scared of Hades, of death. I also did not want to be scared of the Gods I had learnt were the good in this world. But the grey in between felt clearer now.
"They will never reach you," she whispered, holding me in her embrace firmly.
"They should never have to," Roy said, "This war, whatever it has become, is not just threatening to the Gods like your mother, or you, or Athanatoi like Art and many others, but also the humans. In this world, in this era, we are the most exposed to a society that is bloodthirsty for us, for our powers."
"They're still no match for the Gods, right? The humans can never overtake Gods," I said.
"No...no, they can't. But in their ambition, they can anger Gods who will do everything in their power to remind them of their wrath. And that is not the kind of world any of us want today. Art's father is only one of those humans who will face the wrath of either of the Gods...but if we don't stop the Gods from using us or humans as their pawns, many will fall," Roy explained.
"I understand," I nodded as my mother stepped away.
It was only without her touch that I heard their footsteps. In the far of distance, I heard Jace tell Art that they would see our cabin anytime now. To my disappointment, Art didn't respond. Roy's hand found my shoulder and as I looked up at him, he flashed me a smile while gently nudging me to walk ahead.
"You deserve to meet him first," I said and while it took every ounce of energy from me to take a step back as a grateful Roy stepped ahead of me and landed on the snow, I held my composure. I watched Roy put slight effort into walking through the thick snow, his legs deep into the layer as he tried to pick up pace. A few decades in California had made him forget snow.
"Go ahead," my mother said, nudging me to use my powers outside of the dungeon for the first time.
The blue fire escaped my fingers so naturally that I almost forgot that it was a first. It circled Roy, who seemed unfazed by it and kept on walking. A second later, the fire after encircling him, straightened ahead and created a path of its own, melting the snow in a clear line that led us up to the forest. I guided the fire through my mind, hearing two pair of feet beginning to come closer to us.
"Stop," my mother whispered and all four of us stopped while my mother took a few more steps. "Take another step only when I ask you to, Jace," she called out.
The struggle of knowing that Art was right ahead of me, barely five steps ahead, yet without the barrier being down, no one except my mother could see him was a torture in itself. I could feel him, sense his breathing, but he couldn't sense me, not with the barrier being up. He had no idea what was ahead of him because of my mother's magic. All he could hear was her voice.
My mother stood at the edge, right in front of where Art would be. Once she would lower the barrier, he would be just a step ahead of her. Until she did, I held my breath, keeping my distance from Roy who seemed more eager than me. My mother was soon beginning to chant spells but all I could see was the nothingness in front of her that would soon reveal Art. I heard his breathing pick up as he felt the absence of the barrier. His image appeared within seconds, along with Jace who stood right beside him.
"Now!" my mother shouted and immediately, Art and Jace were inside and the barrier had gone up. She fell to her knees and while my eyes wanted to look at Art, I was beside her in a second to support her.
"Mother," I whispered, lending her a hand. She took a minute to catch her breath and get back on her feet.
"It's okay, love. We're safe," was all she whispered as she stood up. In the back, I knew Art's attention had also been diverted by Roy who held him in a strong embrace.
"It's you," he whispered as Roy broke their embrace.
"It's me," Roy smiled, tears welling in his eyes. "I have waited more than two decades for this," he whispered as Art smiled at him.
"No more waiting," Art said, chuckling but with a heavy voice that was on the verge of tears themselves. He waited a second more before turning to face me.
When our eyes met, the hurt in my chest increased before completely disappearing. I knew being away from him, for merely few days, was the toughest thing I had done. I didn't know how it pained as much as it did but when our eyes met, I finally realized the kind of pain our separation had caused me.
I don't know when the first drops of tears fled my eyes, or when his arms found me, all I could remember was his lips and how this time, they didn't hesitate to touch mine. The warmth of his arms circling my waist and the tightness of his hold made me shed more tears. The pain was finally gone.
My hands were shivering, not of the cold, but of the overwhelming feeling of finally being in his arms, as they caught his cheeks. Art deepened the kiss and with his touch, everything else around us disappeared. None of our senses worked to notice anything around us, except for each other.
My mother, Roy, Jace, everyone was immaterial in that moment as my heart finally sped.
He is here. He is safe, was all I could think as he continued to hold me. Seconds turned into minutes when he broke our kiss, but didn't leave the embrace. He held me in place as his eyes searched my face, lost in thought.
Our eyes were still coming to terms with each other's presence when he spoke, "I love you," he whispered and another tear escaped my eyes. He didn't have to say it, I could tell, but he did. "And not because it is destined or because I am caught in the moment," he shook his head. "I love you because even before you and I began this life, I just wanted a glimpse of you everyday. Since the day I saw you at the Academy, I have wanted nothing more but to see you, everyday, each moment."
"And I want to see you," I whispered. "In the corners of a library, or on the bus, beside me as we run or in the middle of a battlefield, I want to see you beside me, Art." I said, giving him a small kiss again. "I love you, destined or not."
Seconds later, my heart calmed itself down as Art's hands held my waist while we walked back to our cabin. It would take a few minutes to wipe the smile from our face or even realise what had happened but the others were understanding. My mother had a smile of her own, and I knew from our numerous conversations since the day I had met her that if anyone understood us, it was her.
In the corner of her smile was a sadness that I don't ever want to understand. The sadness of knowing a whirlwind love and losing it to a war she didn't want to be a part of. This sadness, she carried with her but her redemption was to make sure my love survived.
"We meet tomorrow morning to discuss strategies. Others will be here by then," Roy said.
"Mother, will you recover enough to open the barrier again by then?" I asked, knowing that tearing and mending the powerful barrier for just two had been enough to drain her. Tomorrow, an army of my mother's supporters were arriving.
"It is a risk we must take," she said. "We are already at war, darling. Art and Jace leaving has alerted the other side as well. Varun, Karolina and Rubyn are smart enough to put the pieces together now," she explained.
"After tomorrow, we aren't hiding. We'll have the numbers, should there be a...skirmish with any side," Jace said, smiling victoriously. He had waited years to fight and it was finally here.
"Our priority is not to fight, Jace," Roy warned him. "We will not fight if they are ready to listen," he asserted himself.
"Are we expecting the Gods to...listen?" Art asked.
"No...to understand," I said. My mother and I depended on it, their support after they finally realise how pointless their war truly was. If they didn't, Nyx would help me. I knew she would. If I had to be a weapon, I'd rather be the one stopping a war from both ends.
"You both should get some rest, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow," while it was merely five in the evening, I knew my mother would retire to her bedroom soon. Her barrier was strong enough to resist a God and such was the drainage that it caused to her.
"Jace, we need to discuss a few things for tomorrow..." Soon, Roy and Jace had disappeared into the cabin, leaving me and Art alone.
"You're bunking with me," I declared as he followed me into the cabin.
"Where else would I sleep?" He laughed as I showed him my room. He took a few minutes to take it in and another half hour to freshen up and change the clothes he had been in since he had escaped with Jace.
"Did you meet him? Varun?" I asked, curious after he had finally settled in and we were nestled in the warmth of the plush covers of the bed.
"I did," he nodded. "Rubyn asked him to keep an eye on me when you know...you disappeared."
"And Karolina?"
"No...not her, no."
"They survived the war...both of them," I muttered. "Will we survive this?" I asked a minute later.
"Hey!" Art chuckled, turning to face me as he wrapped his arms around me. He pulled me in, holding my hands in his. "Of course we'll survive this. You're literally a Goddess, Aethera. You're yourself no match to Varun or Karolina, or anyone else for that matter."
"No..." I whispered. "Not without you, I am not."
"And I am defeated without you, practically fight-less," he said. "It is only a weakness if we think it is."
"You're right," I smiled, resting on his chest as he dimmed the light.
"We will stop this war, Aethera. And if we don't, we will fight it," he whispered.
"Can I ask you something else?" I said, looking up at his eyes which were definitely not tired.
"Anything, love."
"Can you make me a sandwich, again?"
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"Is this going to be a thing now?"
"No..." I said, without any seriousness.
"You can't stop eating because you're anxious, you know that, right?" He muttered, tossing the sandwich on top of my plate.
"But I can stop eating because technically I don't need to..." I whispered, biting into the juicy centre and tasting the meat.
"I am going to make a sandwich everyday just to make sure you remember how good food tastes," he said, chuckling as the soup neared completion.
"That's beautiful, mate," Jace's voice startled me as he appeared from the corner of the kitchen.
"Stop with the accent," Art snapped playfully. "You're not getting any better at it."
"I don't want to get better at it; I just want it to be good enough to annoy you," Jace chuckled, grabbing a bowl to take a serving.
"Please feel free to eat the soup I made for my girlfriend, mate," Art said, sarcastically while I blushed at the title he had used for quite some time in the kitchen now before Jace appeared. There were a lot of things I had come in terms with in the last two hours. Multiple kisses, new titles and that beautiful smile that never seemed to leave us.
"You're the chef of my dreams, my man!" Jace exclaimed, taking the first, literal gulp of the soup. Before Art could even pass me a bowl of it and take a small serving himself, Jace had already tossed his clean bowl into the dishwasher.
"That good, huh?" I asked as he plopped himself on the seating beside the kitchen, melting into the cushions.
"What can I say? I am a hungry ghost," he laughed heartily as Art and I shook our heads and smiled.
This moment felt surreal. And while nothing around us was calm, being here felt...normal. Someone cooking, someone eating, someone joking. In another life, this would be an ideal moment of the day.
"This could have been us, you know?" Jace said, looking up at the ceiling.
"Us?" Art asked.
"Both of your destiny would have mirrored this moment if you hadn't changed," Jace whispered. "Fates have a peculiar way of working and a ker like me predicts it well."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's a thing...I don't know how to describe it but I can feel your path. I don't know if other kers can...it's just something I can. I could sense your path since you were brought on earth and allowed to be born, Aethera. That's why your mother assigned me to take care of you," Jace whispered.
"And I would always think how things would pan out if you wouldn't undergo the change...if a glitch occured. I could...perceive it. You were always meant to be an Athanatoi, always meant to change, which is why I waited nearby for you," he said, still staring at the ceiling as Art and I turned to completely face him from our bar stools beside the kitchen island. "But when you joined the Academy, my vision changed."
"What did you see?" Art asked.
"I saw an alternative life for Aethera for the first time. And at first, it made no sense to me because she should have got her powers anytime then," Jace finally met my eyes, his own still lost in through as if he was reliving the memory of his vision. "I used to visit the campus, but stay afar. And one night when I was on your campus grounds, doing my rounds because the pandemic had begun and you were supposed to change any day then...I saw you," he pointed at Art.
"Me?"
"Yes, you stood between me and her. Aethera was arranging books in her shelves and you stood on the pathway to the boys' dorm, your eyes were looking up at her," I caught Art's eyes from the corner, looking at me. I smiled, knowing that it was true, he had been saying the truth when he said he had seen me before, there was never any doubt.
"Nothing changed then but when Art turned and I saw his face for the first time...I think you're the first human I saw in my vision then," Jace muttered. "I saw you and I can't believe that I didn't understand it then until you came to Rubyn."
"But what did you see in your vision?" Art asked.
"Us...three of us," Jace said. "That night I saw a vision of the three of us if you hadn't changed, Aethera. You both would have still found each other. You would still be together, humans and nothing special in a rented apartment in a city, sitting on a kitchen island."
"Where do you come in here?" I asked.
"I would still need to keep an eye on you and I would meet you when you're adjusting in a new city as the friendly neighbour. I would be your friend still...steal some soup occasionally, meet you enough to keep a watchful eye on you, be near enough to protect you in case the change happened late...but," he smiled. "That's how life would be, that's how I saw it for you, Aethera."
"Fascinating," I whispered, knowing that just a few minute before, I had imagined too what it would be like to be in a similar setting without the situation we were in.
"We would have still found each other, huh?" Art smiled, kissing my hand to bring me back.
"Of course, if you could see what I saw when I caught you looking at her, you could know with as much conviction as I do that fates would have still kept both of you together...changed or not. It was only a matter of time."
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