Cain had gone quiet; more than just being his usual, sulky, moody, annoying self. I wasn't sure what home had meant for him exactly, though judging by my little vision thingo, it clearly had sentimental value for him - probably from when he was a child. If nothing, I was glad he decided to share with me some of his past in Hermes little prison, because I decided to respect his silence and give him time to think or mourn; whatever this was.
At the same time I was quietly screaming at him to get back to the plan. With every step we took through the town, I felt like it was in the wrong direction for where we needed to be going. Finally he started walking as though he had some purpose, and as we paused outside a tavern, the merry tunes were insane seemed strange considering what we had just witnessed on the other side of town.
"We need to blend in." Cain finally said, his features adjusting to a similar look of Leo with a big beard and bulky weight. "You too."
"No one here will know me, does it matter?"
"Yeah. Everyone knows everyone here, so if you don't at least try to blend in, you're going to stick out even more."
"Can't we go somewhere else then?" Instead of answering me, he put a hand on my shoulder and a strange jolt went through me. Saying nothing, he turned and went inside. "Um, okay?"
"Don't talk until we're seated." He instructed and looking down, my clothes were gone. Instead I wore a gown that reminded me of what Artemis had worn the first time I met her only this one seemed to have only one real purpose, which was to push up my cleavage.
"Are you kidding me? Are you trying to make me have a Janet Jackson moment in this thing?" Instantly I started to fuss, but he quickly stopped me as went inside.
"Look around." All the women here were dressed in similar attire. "This isn't a nice part of town and compared to your realm, the customs are more medieval. We will eat, book a room for the night, and I will do some talking to the locals and see what's been going on before we make our move."
"Fine." I snapped, obediently following him in. The first slap on my ass had me biting my tongue so I didn't turn around and test out my new powers on the jerk who had done it. The second, Cain actually saw and was apparently gentlemanly enough to threaten cutting off the idiots hand if he did it again.
"You know how to make a lady feel special." I mocked, but he ignored that.
Instead I got his arm around my waist as he held me close, acting like a dog with a bone as he practically carried me through the crowded room. From a small raised platform that didn't look as though it could actually support the bands weight, happy tunes I didn't know drowned out the assortment of voices. Really the whole place looked like it should have been one of the ones being burned down. The stench of stale beer, mixed with the body odor of the men and much too sweet perfume of the ladies was giving me a headache, so after talking to a woman who didn't speak any language I was familiar with, I'd never been happier to find myself locked away in a small bedroom with Cain.
Until another thought occurred to me as I saw the double bed by the window. "Oh god, is this place like a brothel? Am I going to catch a disease from those sheets?"
"Who knows. Shall I change it for something more to your standards?" He clicked his fingers and the old bed was gone, replaced with what I hoped was just a replica of my bed from home.
"Better." Passing a mirror before I sat down, I froze. My hair had been turned white, and pinned up into ringlets I doubt any hairdresser could replicate. "You made me look like a poodle!"
"Dinner will be here shortly. There should be a bathroom through that door." He pointed out, moving to sit at the small table in the corner. Clearly needing a minute, he rested his head on his hands, staring blankly at the dusty wooden surface.
As soon as I opened the door, I wasn't going to be touching a thing in the bathroom, the moldy, damp smell nearly enough to make throw up. As soon as I heard the door open and voices, I waited until it closed before going back out. Cain had already changed the table into something white and modern, a small bouquet or roses sat in the middle and the window had been opened to let in some fresh air.
"Better?"
I nodded, smiling at him. "Thank you."
"Can't have you roughing it now can we?" He teased and instantly I thought back to when I'd been travelling with Logan. He had always joked and called me a princess, though how he had lived in that house of his was beyond me, no matter my standards. I tried to ignore the guilt from taking over, and failed - my appetite gone. "Beef stew. It's quite good here."
I looked at the bowls on the table and took a seat. "How often did you come here?"
"My father, well, my adopted father, worked for a brewery so when ever he'd let me go with him on deliveries, we'd make this our last stop and stay for a bit." He smiled clearly remembering something. "I was just a boy then."
"I'm sorry about your home."
"Let's not talk about it." It wasn't a suggestion and so I tried the stew, which was really good. Only after half a cup of the beer that came with it, I was feeling a little lightheaded and full.
"So, hypothetically, say someone agrees to something they really didn't want and was given some kind of untold power. Is there a way to, say, um, give it back?"
Cain looked up from his bowl of soup. "You mean, become one of the three goddesses of fate to travel to another realm, and then give all comes with that power up once you've used it for your own purpose?"
"Hypothetically" I remind him.
"No." He quickly looked back to his dinner.
"You mean maybe, right?" Cain shrugged. "Why me anyway. How many others have there been?"
"Since Inana? Seven"
"Yay for lucky number eight then huh?" I mumbled enthusiastically, dipping the bread into my bowl with little intention of eating it.
"They've been hunted. Together, there is little that can stop them. You see, if all three die, their powers can be harvested by one person. They've been waiting for someone who would be able to live long enough for them to return to what they were."
"And they're completely positive that person is me?"
"It's been seen." He finished his dinner and then eyed mine. "Are you going to eat that?"
"No. Want it?"
Seconds later our bowls had been swapped. "They would never have pursued you if they thought you would fail. While they can not see their own end, Inana predicted hers was close as she saw someone, described awfully a lot like you, in her place with Adala and Nieve. "
"Alright. I'll play. What are my powers? Cutting gold threads and leaving annoyingly cryptic messages for everyone to work out, while knowing the future and doing little about helping or changing it?"
Again he shrugged. "That's for them to tell you, not me."
"But you've been so helpful so far." I say dryly. "From what I read, there is a maiden, a mother and a crone. I don't see how I fit into that."
"Maiden. It's an age thing. Adala has a few hundred years on you, and Nieve, well, it said she was the first of the three and the burden was too much for her, so she divided her power into three." He took a big gulp of his beer, before burping.
"If she is that old, shouldn't she be like unstoppable?"
"No. Age really does weary her. While she is still more powerful than your standard immortal, she needs the other two. It's a major flaw in her plan." With that, Cain got up and put our dishes on a tray by the door and pushed it out into the corridor. "I'm going out. Stay here, sleep. Rest. Tomorrow is the beginning of the end."
"You're leaving me? Here?" I said, failing to hide the hint of hysteria I was feeling. There were some big, mean looking guys out there and I didn't get an overly friendly vibe from some of them. Not only that, what if we hadn't arrived as undetected as we thought"I
"Only Others are here, Elise. To ease your mind, I will spell the room so no one, Power or Other can get through. You will be safe." He promised.
I got up and gave him a hug, which clearly surprised him as it took a couple of seconds before I felt him return it. "Thank you. I may not agree with everything you've said, or done, but we've come this far. Stay safe Cain."
We parted and with a slight nod, he slipped out the door and sure enough, I felt the magic surround me as he locked the door. Now alone, I braved going to the bathroom again, only to find it now clean with new clothes, soap and even a toothbrush waiting by the basin. After a long, warm bath I happily crawled into bed, even managing to fall straight asleep.
) O (
"I think wings would be a neat feature. Can I do that?" I ask Cain.
"No. "
"Can you?" He rolls his eyes, and a couple of seconds later, the sound of his shirt splitting finishes with two eagle like wings popping up behind him. "Oh now that's just showing off."
"Why can't you do anything?" I don't think he was actually asking me, and I merely stand there as Cain starts to pace; his wings bobbing along behind him.
Before we went further, Cain made a point of me needing to work out what I can, or more importantly the long list of what I can't do. Apparently, new powers take a while to kick in so it's no wonder the others died after being given that awesome title of the third.
"Let's try shifting again. It should be the simplest, easiest thing for you to do." Cain loses the wings and try to keep my mind focused. "Just over there. See that green grass over there, close your eyes and go there. This should be done as simply as breathing. See it. Focus, just imagine yourself being there."
I could do this.
If he could do it, I could do it. That probably wasn't the greatest comparison and so I thought of that little patch of green in the otherwise dead area of the forest we were in. I imagined how soft it would be and tried to do what Ailin had done with me before - thinking about the smell and feel of it too.
"At last!" Cain exclaimed, and opening my eyes, I'd done it.
"Oh my god! I did it! I teleported!" I gave a little jump and suddenly was back in front of him. "I can do it!"
To prove that I really had nailed it, I started to move all around the clearing until I was suddenly stopped by Cain tripping me over.
"Hey!" I struggled to get up, and barely rolled away in time to move out from under his sword. Using my new talent, I moved back to the grass, only to have him taking another swing. "What are you doing!"
Again and again, until I finally I had my sword ready and met his with an angry clang.
"Good." He stopped.
"What?" I gasped, still not sure what just happened.
"I don't have months to teach you how to use this ability to fight. Think of how you can use this to your advantage with everything else you now know. You're a good fighter, now you need to be great."
"No pressure then."
"Diamonds are made under pressure." Cain winked and I returned his smile.
"Can we do this again?" I ask.
He's gone before I can blink and I barely get to twist around before his sword is coming straight for me. He doesn't hold back, and I work out I have new ability too. This whole, gift of sight, thing gives gut instinct a whole new meaning. The more I tune out my thoughts and just go with it, we're sparing practically invisible as each time he shifts around, I am already there. When it's Cain who falters first, my sword up against his neck, I can feel how proud he is.
"That was pretty good." He says casually.
Before I can answer, we both stop as right above our heads, a faint streak of lightning can just be made out against the blue morning sky. "Is that?"
"We need to go. Now." Playtime was over and as he grabbed my hand, we were now hidden by some bushes outside of a palace.
"What is this place?"
"You're world would call this Olympus. I call it Hell." He mumbled and we dropped to our knees as on the balcony in front of us, Hades emerged.
"We would know if they were here." He told someone.
"You are stupid to think that." A voice that could only be Hermes answered.
Hades rested against the railing, and I nudged Cain before making a gun shape with my hands and shooting him. He only shook his head and from where we knelt, I can could see him tenderly holding his stomach where I had stabbed him.
"I am still not recovered and will not be underestimating her again. Have nymphs patrol the forests, and rivers. If they pass by, we will be told. You should have remained and used that, seer of his, to find the portal." He snapped at Hermes.
"What if he was waiting? At least now Artemis is safe! That oracle is weak, from the time I have spent with them, she has told me how her vision is leaving her. She failed to see so much, I wish her luck locating it. By the time she does, the gateway will be gone."
"Send out the nymphs. Leave me, I want to rest. If they are coming, we will all need to be at our best." Hades just stood there as I sensed Hermes had gone and just when I was about to ignore's Cain decision to leave him be, the pair of us were now up in front of the god.
"Oh look, my favorite duo. Lucky me!" He greeted coldly, yet clearly not surprised.
"Did you do as I asked?" Cain answered.
"What did you ask?" I interrupt.
Hades produced a small black pouch, and passed it to Cain. "I'm fine by the way. Thank you for asking."
I ignore him. "Why aren't we killing him now?"
"Because he has his uses. After his visit, I stopped him from coming back here and we were able to strike up a deal." Cain tells me distractedly as he pulled out a small vile of something black. I know that is nothing good. "Besides, my sire's return hasn't helped my brothers rule. Most of those here are now my allies."
"That would have been nice to know."
"Where are they?" We both look at Hades, who glares at me before turning to Cain.
"The upper throne room. There was a terrible fire in the city last night. They're doing damage control."
"We saw." Cain told him.
"I think that was the plan. Do not fear, it was actually Apollo who ensured no harm came to those, Others. No idea why he thought that would mean something to you after what they did." He mused.
"Apollo? He's here too?" I kind of can't help feel a little excited about that. No one talked about him though apparently he was on our side and since he sent me his dagger, I at least wanted to thank him for that.
Hades grinned wickedly. "He is."
"Never mind that now, Hunter." Cain snapped.
"What about Logan? He's someone from my world that was taken a couple of days ago."
"Someone from your world? I haven't seen or heard about anyone being taken from your world and brought here."
My stomach sunk. Surely they hadn't already- "But I saw. Hermes had to have done it! It was a portal, and he went into it!"
"Calm down. We will work this out." Cain assured me.
"What is there to work out if he is already dead!" I yelled at him.
Instantly both of them tried to hush me, but the rush I felt build up inside of me needed to be released and as my hands started to glow white, just how Cain's turned gold, I got a new sense of fear and this one was for me.
"How is she doing that?" Hades asked nervously.
"Guess you do have some powers." Cain shook his head. "Seriously, calm down."
"How the hell do you suppose I do that with glowing fucking hands!"
"The same way you worked out how to teleport. Focus on calming down. Clearly anger is a trigger for you to get it going."
"Again, how is she doing that? I thought she was just a mortal!" Hades took a few steps away from us, and all I wanted to do was throw everything I had at him.
"Listen to me." Cain demanded, moving to block Hades from my direct line of sight. "Think of something that won't get you angry. Think of Alfie, or your family."
Thinking of them didn't help. It only made things worse because I could only think of the monsters that lived here, hurting them as they were, or had Logan. It made me think of everything that had happened so far to get me to this point and this time when I looked at my hands, sparks flew off each finger tip like lightning. I would kill them all for hurting him.
Logan.
I thought of going to bed with him that last night, which now felt like a lifetime ago. I thought of his smell, of his smile, of his laugh. The feeling I got from him in those precious minutes we found ourselves alone; the feeling that everything was okay. I wanted him here now. I wanted a hug, and to hear him something stupid that would just piss me off but in a good way. I wanted him to kiss my forehead, pull me close and tell me how much he loved me.
"No El-" Cain started to yell and opening my eyes, I froze.
This wasn't the balcony and it wasn't Cain that stood in front of me anymore either. What ever I had done, stopped my hands from glowing and I did feel calmer, but fear once again began to bloom in my stomach as I glanced up into an unfamiliar face, that had extremely familiar, stormy colored eyes that stared back at me with the same amount of surprise I was feeling.
"Bunny?" The stranger choked out.
Instantly I pulled out my sword, managing to keep a clear enough head to be able to shift myself into a better position. Glancing around, we appeared to be alone and in a bedroom, at least there was few chances of anyone just rushing in here, unless they teleported too and I half expected Cain to follow me. Yet a new, maybe logical part of my brain told me that wasn't going to be happening and not to be put the sword tip too close this guys throat.
"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.
He instantly held his hands up in surrender, mouth moving only no words were actually coming out, until they slowly did. "I can explain."
"Explain?" It came out as confused as I felt. Really, he should be demanding me to explain to him why I just appeared in his room. If the roles were reversed, I would have stabbed first and asked questioned later. All I knew was I had been thinking of Logan and, hang on. He had called me Bunny. "Logan?"
"I promise that I can explain." He assured me, right as I dropped my sword.
Oh hell no.
No.
No.
No.
"Please, just-" Alternate Logan started.
"No!" I covered my ears, moving across the room. "I can't. No. This is a joke. This, isn't, real."
Then he was there, moving my hands and talking softly. How can he tell me everything is going to be okay, when it really wasn't? Who the hell is this guy and why does he keep apologizing for things Logan did?
I pulled away from his hold and he gave me the space, which was technically a mistake because I was able to grab the dagger from where it was sheathed at my waist and this time when I struck out, I didn't care if hurting him would be a bad idea. Problem was, the second I did, I couldn't make my arm finish the move. I couldn't throw the dagger, it didn't matter if I shifted around, or how close I went; I couldn't strike him with it.
"That's my dagger. You can't hurt me with it. Did you want your sword back?" He held out his hand, and from where it remained across the room, Sobeks sword flew easily to his hand. From there, he held the blade and offered the handle to me. I was too dumbstruck to take it.
"So, you're Apollo?" My mouth dropped open and I didn't care.
"Yes. Technically, I am also Lo-"
"No. Don't say that."
"It doesn't change-" He started.
"Don't say that! Are you fucking stupid? It changes everything!" I screamed at him. Ditching the dagger, I used my fists and started to hit at his chest pathetically as my knees felt like they were about to give in on me. "It changes, everything. I hate you!"
I've had a few proud moments and even more, not so great ones too. This was one of those as loud, angry sobs escaped me and my tears felt like they were on fire as my eyes hurt that bad. He let me cry until I finally stopped; two fistfuls on his shirt in my hands that I wanted to rip off and shove down his throat.
"You can't do this to me. You can't!" I whispered, letting him go as I sunk to the floor and wished for it to swallow me whole.
"I was going to tell you, I just couldn't find the right time and-"
Looking up at the unfamiliar face, his eyes looked as bloodshot as mine probably did now. He couldn't find the right time?
He couldn't find the right fucking time?
Apollo, stood up straight then, no longer kneeling down in his attempt at comforting me. I saw the muscles in his arms tense, the way his brow creased in cautious concentration; Logan things to do and I knew that because I knew him, the same way he knew me. What a joke that is.
"I know you're mad, but-"
"You promised! All this time, you lied. No more secrets. When we got together, you said you wouldn't ever do anything to risk losing me again. In the shower, you promised? Remember? And when I thought we'd broken up, you came back and promised me again. Was this, us, just part of this game?" I mentally prayed he wouldn't answer that because I couldn't handle hearing the truth now.
"Don't think that. It's real, everything about us has been real! "
"How can you say that? I don't even know you!" I snapped back, instantly furious all over again.
"You do know me and I know you. Our time together has been completely real, and I am so sorry to hurt you like this. I fucked up, I know I did and I have in the past and I probably will do something in the future. I'm not perfect, but I love you Bunny. Let me explain, please."
"Please don't call me that."
He frowned, but gave a tiny nod. "It started once I heard Hermes and Zeus talking about the Fallen One." I held up my hand, stopping him right there.
"His name is Cain." I told him coldly.
"Right. Cain. It was rumored that he was close to returning home and that they had found what he wanted. You were in your final year and following them, they weren't threatened by what they saw. Most of that time was spent with them trying to work out if they had it right. Portia confirmed it with her vision, Hermes managed to eavesdrop on her and Cain."
"I don't want to hear this."
"You have to hear this!" He snapped. "Since Cain was already watching over you, they came up with the idea of sending someone in to stay close to you, mostly to try and track Cain when ever he managed to evade Zeus's other spies. If we could confirm it was you, then the orders were to remove the threat to our realm. I don't know who suggested me for the job, but I accepted it. I felt like I owed it to my brother since we failed to help him once before. I never planned to do as Zeus wanted. Artemis, Hermes and I were the first to start the rebellion."
"Great, well, good job." I got up and retrieved my weapons.
"Where are you going?"
I had no idea. "I need to go and punch, maybe kill some things so unless you want that to be you, I'm going now."
"Stay. It's safest for you here." He sounded so sure of that. "Besides I want you to hear the full story."
"Well I wanted to come to here to rescue my boyfriend and destroy the assholes who took him, but we can't always get what we want."
"Don't be like this!" Apologan sighed, throwing his hands up in frustration.
"How should I be? Shall I just, sit here and listen. Smile and nod and tell you all is forgiven?"
"I'd never expect that from you, but-" He paused. "Someone is coming. Please, trust me, and hide over there." He pointed at the screen set up in one corner.
"Why would I, trust you?"
"Because I do love you Elise. Despite, everything, it's still you and me. All of that is true. If I was going to do anything to hurt you, I could and would have done it already." It was his stupid eyes that sold me, and reluctantly I moved behind the screen to find a wardrobe there too.
"Oh brother! You are here!" I peeked between a small gap to see Artemis hug her twin. "I was so worried they summoned you and- never mind. We have a problem. Elise came through the portal with Cain. She's here! Hermes had to tell Zeus and Hades delayed the search by getting him to send out those nymphs he loves so much. I just left Portia with Cain and he's lost her! We have to find her before they do!"
"Relax!" Apollo assured her. "She's here."
Artemis stopped mid step in her frantic pacing. "What?"
"Elise, it's safe. Come out." He called. Reluctantly I stepped out and started towards them, only neither really looked at me. "Elise? Shit!"
He ran right past me and looked behind the screen. "Apollo?"
"She's gone! I told her to stay and-"
"I'm here. What are you talking about?" I asked, and both turned my way. It was then I looked at my hands. "Woah! I'm invisible."
"You're what?" The pair said at the same time.
I focused on not hiding and slowly I managed to phase back into a more visible me. "That is going to be neat later when I prank Jordan."
Apollo shook his head in disbelief as an uncertain Artemis came closer. "I'm so glad you're okay. You've, ah, changed, Hunter."
"Haven't we all?" I said to her as I glared at Apollo.
"We should go back to Cain and the rest of them, everyone is worried about you." She tried to smile at me, but failed.
"Good idea." Her twin agreed.
Before I could tell them no, I was there and everyone went quiet as our arrival was noticed. Cain moved first, coming over I thought I was about to yelled out and prepared myself to argue back, but instead, Apollo was suddenly on the floor from the punch thrown his way.
"I knew it!" Cain hissed at him. "You were that Tracker, weren't you?"
"Cain, please!" Artemis moved in front of Apollo as he stood up. I couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for him.
"How did you do it? Hide your powers like that?"
"I had them removed. For as long as I was there, I was mortal too. Zeus altered my appearance so you wouldn't reconise me. We wanted to tell you, but if it was thought my cover had been blown... Well, we needed it more for our cause than theirs." Apollo shrugged.
Cain hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to say more only then he turned to me. "You okay?"
"Sparkle, sparkle." I told him, and took my chances beside Hades.
"Just so you know, I only did what I did because I knew it wouldn't work. You attacking me wasn't part of my plan though. I had hoped the Fallen One would chase me off so at least it looked dramatic to any watching." He whispered as Cain kept an eye on us, while talking about things I didn't understand and people I didn't know, but everyone else did.
"Sure, sure. You just don't want to admit you got your ass kicked by a mortal girl."
"From what I hear, you are not just a mortal girl." He glanced over at me, and I nearly got a smile from Hades McHottie.
As he focused back on what was being said, I risked a look over at Apollo to find him sending a death glare Hades way. It was childish and stupid, but right now seeing him get jealous made me happy. That stupid, new, logical part of mind seemed set on trying to get me thinking of a future where we'd be together, but my heart had left the building and was planning to set it all on fire on its way out. Lost in thoughts, it took an gentle elbow in the side from Hades to get me paying attention to Cain again.
"I said Elise, are you ready to do this?" He had that impatient look on his face he often got around me, especially when it was something important I should been listening to. Since it didn't really matter what was going on, because I was here and going to have to fight at some point, I sat up a little straighter and nodded.
"I am."
___________________
You & Me by You + Me.
Not sure if I have posted this song before, but it reminds me of Elise and Logan every time I hear it. Have a listen, it's a beautiful song.
I can count how many chapters to go on one hand now (unless that all changes, again - not inc. diaries) Have I mentioned how much I hate endings?