I stuffed the poor naked guy into an empty cupboard and slammed his helmet on my head and hurried into the main kitchen where I saw tons of guys wearing the same stupid costume I was hustling back and forth carrying plates full of everything from things that were as simple as shrimp to what looked like really fancy French stuff. I had no idea what everything else was but I didn't have anytime to wonder as someone shoved a silver pitcher of what smelled like wine into my hands shouting, "Hurry up! Dionysus will be wanting his drinks and I don't want him to be unhappy!" snapped the young man with a Bluetooth as he shoved me past the other saps in the stupid costume and out a sliding glass door to a massive pool.
Light danced across the water in multiple colors, loud music was blasting from a stero system I couldn't see but I could see a handful of people in it as well as out; males and females alike chatting and laughing some holding really fancy crystal glasses filled with red or white wine. Look for Chance, I thought to myself scanning the crowd for a bright green dress and orange hair. I scanned the surroundings and saw quite a bit of colors but nothing orange or green. I walked around the pool, eyes darting everywhere, kind of stopping on the giant pyramid behind the pool and at the lights every now and again because they were cool.
Still didn't see Chance anywhere and I was starting to get nervous, Hesita wouldn't have brought me here if she wasn't ready for me to come. Something had to be wrong, there was the only explanation. Something was up, well maybe she thought the bull-man wasn't down and wanted to get me and Alexa out of there before anything bad could happen to us. That made sense to the rational part of my mind, but the irrational, panicky side of me went a hundred miles an hour as I thought of a billion different things that went wrong. Some guy tried to get with "Aphrodite" and she flippped out. Chance was recongized and they feed her to the three headed dog in Hercules! She's bait for me to come and try (and then fail) to save her and we both die! The real Aphrodite showed up and-!
"Hey you!" shouted a female voice I knew all too well as a pair of soft gloves wrapped around my upper arm. I spun my head around like a globe in a classroom and saw the mane of orange hair that looked nice than I'd ever seen it.
"Y-yes?' I stammered like I was scared of being addressed directly by a goddess.
"Fill everyone up here?" she asked raising a glass that didn't look half empty to me, and I really wasn't sure drinking was a very good idea at all. We were surrounded by the enemy here, she needed every bit of brain power she had. For both of us really, I wasn't super good at making plans that were full-proof. Usually they worked halfway then backfired horribly in someway or another. Like my rescue plan for Chance, I'd saved her and almost had my soul eaten. Or when I dealt with the half bull thing I should have bit the dust when he dropped me. I needed Chance to have her head on her shoulders, but given that she wasn't Chance right now and I couldn't tell a "goddess" what she could and couldn't do without getting blasted to a pile of ashes.
So I made my rounds and starting filling everyone's glasses, smiling and nodding like a super polite servant boy who was hoping to get a nice tip. I filled Chance's last hoping to catch her eye and said, "Before I go does anyone else need anything?"
"Some company would be great," Chance said in a very un-Chance voice and she grabbed my arm again yanking me down onto the seat beside her and I felt my face flash red as I fell over into her lap wine pitcher crashing to the ground and spilling everywhere. "Why doesn't the sweet boy stay and chat with me a bit?"
"O-okay sorry." I stammered feeling incredibly exposed as the gods around us laughed.
"Don't worry about the mess," Hestia said and I glanced up at her glad to see something that made any sense. She waved her hand once and everything, the dented metal, the puddle of red was gone; vanished away into somewhere.
"T-thank you," I stuttered again this time forcing it. I couldn't act like I was comfortable around Hestia, I was supposed to be the help; I couldn't act like this didn't scare me. These guys were gods I was the mortal guy in the stupid costume helping them drunk.
"You are a nice boy," Chance mused running her fingers up my arm and I felt like I was seven years old again and getting exposed to cooties. She then shoved me off her lap and I stumbled onto the floor and she stood up, a smirk on her face. "Walk with me?" she said tilting her head and I scrambled to my feet. We were getting out of here! Hooray! No more having to deal with her acting like she wanted to get with me! I hoped to Hesita, Thantos and whatever other gods didn't piss me off/want to kill me that this never, ever happened ever again.
"S-sure," I said putting on my fake stutter and I heard Chance forced a giggle that was so un-Chance-like I felt tempted to grab her by the shoulders and shake her until the short-tempered redhead I knew and argued with came back to me. She grinned and slipped across the pool towards the building and I tried my best for a deer-in-the-headlights look and followed her I tried not to lag behind her all casual and comfy like I was used to doing with my friends. She was supposed to the goddess of love, I couldn't act like this was normal for me. How often do mortals that serve wine get a chance to hang out with a goddess?
I was going to guess not a whole bunch, at least not with Aphrodite. I had no idea if she had any kids in that prison, but some of the gods had to hook up with humans quite a bit or that place wouldn't have been nearly as big as it was. Shaking my head I followed Chance into the building and exited under a few massive pillars and more fancy couches and she began to walk quickly, not a run we might have been watched still, but it was much faster and more normal than that hip swinging thing she'd been doing earlier.
I followed her picking up my speed as well, scanning everywhere for any eyes that weren't friendly and watched as we moved farther and farther away from the party and then I saw Chance slip into what I thought was a broom closet doing that one finger come hither thing I'd seen in movies. My stomached kind of turned unpleasantly when I saw Chance doing that. This was just so wrong the day Chance actually did that as a way to flirt and was doing so seriously I was going to wear gold sequin skinny jeans, dye my hair blonde and get a perm. At least we'll be out of sight soon, I thoguht as I folowed her into the little black closet, smelling pine floor cleaner and paper towels.
"What now?" I asked as I shut the door closing out the little light offered by the outside and I heard Chance but it wasn't an answer to my question. She was talking, but it was more like a chant and I was sure whatever she was saying it was not in English but before I could ask what was going on I saw a dull orange-gold glow spreading across the wall as she chanted. My mouth fell open and I then figured out our "what now" was making a visit to the only beings around that could tell us how to win this war.
Chance kept chanting in words that I now guess were Greek and the light expanded into the straight lines of a door and she turned her hand and the wall opened into an anti chamber. "Come on," she whisper hissed even as she id a crazy windmill motion to tell me to hurry up and go through the magical door. I didn't ask questions; I just ran like a madman and skidded into a long hallway with cement walls no sign of cells, cages, bared wire fences or anything that would say someone is being held captive here.
"What the hell?" Chance said as I heard her walk up behind me. "This is supposed to be where their held so where are they?"
"I don't know," I answered as that same certainty and cold feeling grabbed me in a choke hold. I didn't see the Fates, I didn't know where they were, but I walked towards the far wall, hand pressing into the cold grey cement. I wasn't thinking, I was just acting on a gut feeling I had no way of explaining. "Είμαι εδώ," I heard a foreign word leave my mouth and I had no idea what it meant, but I felt something else settle in my gut a content, sure feeling and next thing I knew I was flying forwards through the wall and crash landing on my knees, the jarring impact making my teeth vibrate as I reached out with my hands to catch myself on the floor which was slimy and cold.
"Yuck!" I exclaimed jumping to my feet and scanning where I was. It was pretty dark to start with, I was barely aware that the room was a circle shape and in the center of it all was a dim glow and I walked towards it which probably wasn't my best idea. I neared closer to the light and saw it was a broken metal can holding blue and white flames and around it was what scared me.. Three women; each with very long, straight brown hair all in black shirts and jeans where sitting around it. The first one I saw was sitting at some really weird thingamajig she kept holding some kind of spool in one hand and stepping on a pedal with her foot; muttering numbers and names under her breath while she worked. The woman next to her was a carbon copy of her, but she was weaving something, multiple threads of all different colors weaving in out and around each other while her hands blurred around her work. The last and still identical woman was grabbing threads from the massive blanket like thing and snipping them.
When I saw the scissors and cut threads a spark of hope turned into a fire inside my chest. I coughed once, clearing my throat. "Are you the Fates?" I asked my mouth dry as I waited for them to look up and notice me.
None of them looked up, but they all spoke with one voice. "Welcome Xander Shannon, please sit down." There combined voices sent a cold set of shivers down my spine and I plopped down onto the floor not caring if I got my butt wet in the process. "Listen closely," they said, "we have little time here."
"Yes ma'ams," I responded and they looked up at me their young faces changing and withering into old ladies. I jumped and swallowed a scream as their eyes glowed sliver-white and they spoke again with one voice.
"Go back to New York and wait outside the Brooklyn Bridge, the third person you see will be Hectate, take these with you." I felt the air by my hands grow hot and cold all at the same time as a bronze revolver fell into my hands. "When you see her infuse your own power with the weapon and shoot her, if you can hit her, graze her even she will loose her power and her spell will break."
"Power I don't have-," I began, confused as I studied the metallic surface that bent and changed my reflect like a fun house mirror. They all stopped glowing though it wasn't because of what Isaid, they shrunk down into themselves, young once again, eyes somber and scared.
"You must leave us," they said and I felt the same cold and sure feeling grab me again, a feeling I now knew was because of them. "Go back to New York and do as we said. You can prevail son of Zeus."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said as I felt myself get hurled back through their prison wall and right into Chance who grabbed me and helped me stay upright which I appreciated greatly. My legs felt like jelly and I didn't want to fall in this heavy of a costume. I doubted I'd be able to get up again. "Good catch," I croaked as Chance swatted me over the back of my head.
"You idiot! You scared me to death!" she snapped and I was really surprised to hear her voice break. "Do you have any idea how long you were gone for? Damn you!" she said as this time I really did hear her voice break and my heart skipped a beat when I heard her start crying and felt her hug me.
"No I don't," I answered patting her awkwardly on the elbow kind of freaked out by how emotional she was being. "But I do know we have to get our stuff and get out, we need to go back home to NYC. We've got a goddess to shoot."
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This chapter got really long holy crap...anyways what did we think of this chapte? Did the Fates seem half as creepy to you as they did to me? Was Xander's inner monolouge during Chance's false goddess act funny? I'd love to know what you think so please don't forget to COMMENT and VOTE if you enjoyed this chapter!
Write on!
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