Chapter 5
Alaric
"What's Olympus really like? Like is there nothing, but non-stop orgies?" I asked. Since everyone was underground, I decided to go back to The Brotherhood mansion. I was currently sitting in the cafeteria with a box of pizza at my side and a case of beer next to that.
Since me and the book we're getting along so well, I decided to name it; Ajo. Because just like her this book was blowing my mind.
Olympus is home to the Gods. Each God has their own personality, they all enjoy different activities.
"Ajo, you're no fun. In all your infinite knowledge, you won't tell me about the fun stuff," I said taking a huge bite of my pizza slice. "Fine, what can you tell me about Nyx and Erebus?"
Nyx, the Primordial Goddess of Night
Nyx is a figure of exceptional power and beauty, so much so, she is feared by Zeus himself. She is one of the primordial Gods who emerged at the dawn of creation. Nyx is considered to be the daughter of the God Chaos, the very first of all deities.
Nyx resides in the depths of Tartarus, and the dark misty air which swirls around Tartarus is Erebus. There's never one without the other. Nyx cannot exist without Erebus. Like two heads of a coin, hand in hand, night and darkness
"Hey!" my attention snapped to Anson floating above head. "What the fuck is going on? Why can't I leave?"
"Better question, how the fuck did you even get on campus? Haven has shields up to protect itself against The Order," I said pulling my pizza down and standing up.
Floating down to me he said, "Don't get your panties in a bunch, I'm not even here from The Brotherhood. I came for Freya."
"Well good luck finding her because she's somewhere in the millions of tons of water trying to drown us." I said as we came to stand eye to eye.
Rubbing his templates Anson said, "Did I just get myself trapped in here?"
"Pretty much. For the next thirty-six hours it's you, me and Ajo," I said.
"Evelyn's going to kill me," he said running his fingers over his face and mumbling to himself.
Who's Evelyn?
"Pizza?" I asked.
He exhaled hard, and said, "No"
"Beer?"
"Sure" I tossed him a beer and we sat.
"Did you steal Freya's book?" He said pointing to Ajo.
"I stole it from a guy who stole it from Freya." Or at least I think that's what happened.
We sat in silence drinking our beers. What do you say to the enemy? Everything Anson stood for was wrong. Yet, here I am. Having a beer with him. As far as things I thought would never happen to me I never in my wildest dreams pictured me cracking a cold one open with The Order.
Well, this just went back to being a long thirty-six hours.
Damon
I teleported to the outskirts of Cutler. As long as the force fields shields were up, I couldn't get in to Haven. That's never happened before. So why now? The storm was not letting up anytime soon.
I still couldn't believe Freya. Why would she want to keep something so important about her sister no less to herself?!
"Help! Please, help me!" I heard a woman scream. I turned around barely able to see through the bullet like raindrops falling. "Help!"
Someone had swerved off the road and into a ditch. Without even thinking I teleported to the side of the old blue pickup truck, "Where...did you-"
"Hold on," I said cutting her off. It looked like the door was jammed. I pulled the door handle and melted the locks keeping the door shut with my fire element. With no problem, I ripped the door off the hinges.
"Thank you!" The woman yelled getting out of the truck. She opened her back door and I saw a child, a boy no older than two.
"Where are you going? It's not safe out here," I yelled over the raging storm.
"I know! We're not that far for our house." She said unbuckling the toddler.
"You're going to walk?" I said looking around to the hurricane-like winds and the sideways pouring rain. My hair was plastered to my face, and every minute I spend out here, I could feel heat leaving my body. How long would a two-year-old last in this weather without getting sick? I touched the woman's shoulder making her turn to face me and as soon as we made eye contact, I compelled her, "You never saw me, understand?"
"Yes" She said transfixed on my eyes.
"Mom, hungry." The boy cried out.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
She pointed down the street to a white house that sat on a hill, "There"
I grabbed her and the boy and teleported us to the front lawn. I could compel the kid too, but it could have long-term side effects. Besides he was only a baby. No one would believe him anyway. I left them on the lawn and teleported back to the motel.
Where was I supposed to go?
I sat down on the cold wet pavement looking out at the scene. Poseidon was really pissed off. I don't remember the last time we saw a storm this strong at Haven, if ever. Trees fell down as if they were toothpicks in the wind, businesses were boarded up, but that did little to help.
You can come inside. I heard Freya say. I didn't need to look up to know she had opened the curtains up and was staring down at me.
Tap tap
I looked up and saw Freya looking down at me through the window. In only a white fluffy towel.
"You'll freeze out there." She said muffled through the window.
I stood up and stared at her through the window. How could she trust Anson with such important information? Why didn't she tell me? Or even Alaric? But she chose Anson.
"I can explain, as cliche as that sounds?" She said.
I teleported inside. I was immediately greeted with the warmth of the room.
"Welcome back," she said bending the water out of my clothes and putting it in the bathroom sink. She was still floating a few inches off the ground too.
"Why? Why Anson, when you know he's a danger? As soon as this end of the world mess ends, he goes back to The Orders side. He is still the enemy!" I yelled.
"He's not my enemy." She said softly.
"He is! The only reason he's nice to you is because he wants you to join him with The Order! If you were any normal Elemental, Descendant or even Demigod, he would drag you back to their compound and do Gods know what. But since you're a God-killer, he's faking being nice! I know you're not stupid that you can't see past his bullshit," I was taking this way too personally. Why? I shouldn't be the one getting upset, it should be Cecilia.
"Anson the person, is my friend or at least I like to think he is. Anson that works for The Order isn't. Why can't you separate the two? I do it for you," she said.
"What? I'm not a monster that kidnaps and tortures our own people!" I exclaimed.
"I'm not saying that. I'm saying Damon the man it's different from Damon who takes orders from The Elders," she said getting frustrated. "Let's just drop it!" She said exhaling hard, "I'm wrong keeping that information to myself. I'm sorry you're so offended I told Anson. I will tell Cecilia just as soon as the shields are down. Are we good?"
I didn't really have a choice, did I? Freya was going to do whatever she wanted to, and she wanted Anson.
I couldn't understand why, and I didn't need to. But that realization made me feel small, like something was breaking inside of me. I had never felt this way before. I just wanted it to stop.
"Yeah" I said only fooling myself. I knew Freya could feel my emotions just as I could feel hers.
"Let's just get some rest, clearly you can't get past the force field. Let's just wait it out here, and then as soon as they're down, we'll make everything right," she said. I nodded in agreeance. "So, bed or pull out couch?" She asked.
"Pull out," I said marching over to the couch not even bothering this time to get comfortable. I quickly got the couch into bed form took off my shoes and laid quietly on the bed.
Freya came into view dropping a pillow and blanket on my chest, "Night" She said tightly.
"Night" I said dryly.
We stayed in silence from what had to be more than an hour. I knew Freya was calling me every word she could think of in her head. As I turned to look at her on the bed, I saw her back was turned towards me. She was still awake, but neither one of us wanted to speak to each other.
Like a child I turned my back on her. I kept staring at the bare walls. It took most of the night, but I finally got over myself. Maybe it was the four hours of staring at a blank wall, but I had to admit to myself I was jealous. I was jealous of Anson, I don't know what Freya saw in him, but that's why I was so upset. She confided in him, and they had an understanding, even I couldn't comprehend.
Or maybe I didn't want to.
"Freya?" I called out turning to face her only to see, she was lying flat on her belly facing me. She was awake.
"Yeah?"
Instead of attacking her I should ask the real question, "Why didn't you tell Cecilia?"
"Ares will tell her." She said blankly.
"Okay, but why not you? Your sisters, your friends, you both survived Poseidon together. I would think it would be easier coming from you," I said genuinely trying to understand.
"Ares wants to take Cecilia to his realm." She said looking down at the carpet.
"And that means?"
She exhaled hard, "Ares is picking her. I overheard them at the castle, and he was so...Different with Cecilia. He was kinder and there was a loving tone in his voice when they talked. And I was mad at him." She said honestly.
"Why?"
"Because I thought he meant what he said, 'that I'll never be alone. For all the Millennia to come, he would be there for me'. Well, it looks like he really wants Cecilia and I can't really blame him. It doesn't make me happy, but I can't blame him. Cecilia's perfectly poised in every way. I mean if he had to pick, I see why he wants her over me. It's just a hard pill to swallow." She said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
This wasn't a Brotherhood or Order thing. This was a family matter, she felt lesser. Which didn't make sense; Cecilia was basically human. And Freya took more after Ares then she did her mother, "You know most of the Gods treat their... non deity off springs pretty poorly. I bet if you asked Hercules how Zeus treated him before he became a God, it would be wildly different from how Zeus treats him now as a God."
"It doesn't matter, whatever Cecilia decides to do is her choice. I need to get over myself and focus on the big picture. Saving the world so my mom and grandparents can come back to Earth and we can go back to our normal lives." I know Freya believes that in her heart, but even after this threat is over, there was no going back to how things were. But now wasn't the time or place.
"You're just going to ignore Ares summons?" I asked. I've seen Elders get summoned by Hermes before. None of which have ever said no. I just assumed if you dare mumble that word or even began to think it you were immediately hit by one of Zeus's thunderbolt, almost like an instant kill. Yet, here Freya is, untouched.
"Yup. I don't owe Ares or Olympus a damn thing. Besides, I don't need to go when I already know it's going to be about. Hercules has been beating the idea of me protecting Olympus every time he comes around me and I just say no."
"Well, I guess that's a good thing, you're not just saying no to The Brotherhood and The Order, you say no to the Gods too." I said almost laughing.
"Yup, no special treatment for anyone." She said with a slight smile.
I'm sorry, I flew off the handle I said.
It's okay. I was being a brat.
"Ares isn't going to be happy about your rejection," I said not wanting her to be caught off guard for the backlash.
"I know, I'm kind of adopting the attitude of, 'Well what are you going to do about it?'" I laughed at that. Well, if anything Freya's tough.
"So how long will we be calling this Motel home sweet home?" She asked.
"A day and a half," I said.
"Hhmm...exciting," she said rolling on to her side. "Tell me more about your trip to the past."
"Charles and Olivia?"
"Yeah, since we have some time, we can dissect it maybe we'll learn something." She said sitting up holding a pillow in her lap.
She's right we can't go or do anything. Might as well make the most of our free time. I sat up on my pullout bed and told her everything I remembered about the vision: the car, running away, Olivia's pregnancy, the engagement and finally our deaths.
"Who shoots a pregnant woman?!" She exclaimed.
"My thoughts exactly," I said until I remembered something. "Hades" I said jumping up.
"What?"
"A man who shot me had Hades' symbol on his cufflinks. I don't know many humans, but I don't think they're walking around wearing the symbol of the Gods on them. And he said, 'Just like all the other times'."
"Like there been multiple Charles's and Olivia's and this dude is killing them?"
"No, like he's been hunting them. Think about it," I said going to sit next to her on the bed. "These men knew Charles and Olivia were leaving town. They block the road off on purpose and then gun them down."
"Okay, I'm sure hate crimes were very high in the sixties in Alabama," she said.
"I agree with that but that doesn't explain the cufflink logo. What does Hades have to do with this? And why send a team of assassins from The Underworld to take out two ordinary Mortals. Remember what I said this was premeditated, it was more than just an execution it almost felt personal."
"Just like all the other times," she repeated. "So, the next step is to find the other times."
"Yeah, that may be hard to do. I don't know about you, but I have no control over when I'm thrown back in time," I said staring into her eyes.
"Me too", she said. We stared at each other slowly coming to the realization we both knew, "If Hades killed Olivia and Charles..."
"...he may be coming for us too."
"But, you're a Descendent of Hades. Why would he kill you after he Gifted you? And he doesn't even know me," Freya said. I gave her a look that said, 'bullshit he doesn't know you'. "Fine, he may have heard of me through some gossip."
"I guess we'll find out when we head into The Underworld," I said thinking why Hades would want anything to do with humans. It's not like they've been particularly fond of him throughout the years. And I derive all my abilities from him.
"Wait, why are we going to The Underworld?"
"That's the only way we can get to the Primordial Realm. If we're going to stop Erebus and Nyx, the smart thing to do would be to stop them while they're still in Tartarus."
Where Poseidon is. She said to herself. I'm a hundred percent sure I wasn't supposed to hear that. She still had a grudge against him, and I couldn't blame her.
We just stopped fighting and I didn't want to start another one, so I chose to ignore that comment. I continued, "If I were leading point, that's what I would want to do. That way if we fail in Tartarus, we would still have a fighting chance in The Underworld., and then a final stand on Earth if it came down to that," I said just thinking out loud.
"I feel like I should be writing this down," Freya said going to the small desk in the corner, pulling out some stationary. She spun around and then look down on herself realizing she was still just in a towel, "One second"
She turned invisible and I saw the towel gently fall to the ground. My heart couldn't help but fall, and at the same time be jealous of that towel. I saw her dress on a nearby chair start to move within moments she had it on and reappeared in front of me, "Okay, I know nothing about leading a group of people into battle. Like I told Leo I'm more of a vanish and run away, type of girl. And even now all I do is fight with the purpose of running away. But when we do get to the Primordial Realm will be a stand your ground type of deal."
"We have time, and I'll help you hone-in your skills," I saw what she did in the arena, and what she did to Hercules. She was good just a bit sloppy. "We'll face Hades together, come what may."
"You would think The Underworld is big. Couldn't we just sneak in?" She asked.
"Couple things; yes, The Underworld is big it holds all the souls that have ever existed. And we still have to cross the River Styx, which if we're going by the legends, will drop us off at Hades Palace. Which is basically the front door and only door into The Underworld. We have to get his permission if we're going to go forward."
"You should lead," she said writing down the things I said.
"No, Gaia chose you to lead us. Besides, the only people that will listen to me would be Leo, Bash and Milo." Which is true. I could see it now, me trying to tell Alaric what to do and him just flicking me off. Or me just trying not to kick Anson out entirely.
Freya could do this.
"We're a team and-"
"When I summon you, Freya, you come." A voice that has seen only a lifetime of war boomed in our small space. A shiver ran down my spine as I turned to see the God of War himself. Looking extremely pissed.
I did warn her.