G A Y L E
07. requiem for the past
I'VE NEVER REALLY BEEN THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE SHED, Ariel was always the one to get us out of tricky situations when we were younger.
But now? Now, I'm alone in a group of people, the only representative of myself and I feel so small.
And I have no fucking clue as to what's going on.
My unconscious best friend is passed out on my bed, Artemis thought it would be decent to get her off the floor.
Apollo has been spacing out, his stony glare returning every now and again as he purses his lips.
For some reason, I cannot keep my gaze off of Artemis. She exerts a certain level of power, almost as strong as Ares which draws me to her.
"Caution your mortal, brother. If she continues to stare at me like that, I might just let my beast out of its cage for a little snack." She's not looking at me, but her words make me look away faster than I thought possible.
"Explain yourself. Now." Ares has his jaw clenched as he glares at the goddess, frustratedly brushing his hair back with his fingers.
Artemis sighs, seating herself on my couch rather casually as she rolls her eyes. "A year ago. Some time after you'd been to erase her memory," her eyes dart up to look at me. "Ariel summoned me into her chambers. Of course, I had to oblige. She is after all, our queen." She watches Apollo with her last words, the ghost of a frown on her face at his reaction to them.
His brows are furrowed deep in thought, his fists are clenched and he looks as though he might just explode.
This is awkward.
"You know she's paranoid, Ares. She was never meant for all of this. She's too fragile – "
"Proceed with your story." Ares chides, unwilling to hear anything else she'd like to say.
Her jaw clenches, but she releases it and sighs.
"She told me that she fears her mortal friends may be in danger, that they need protecting. At first I refused but she ordered me to put in guardians for them. So I did as she told me. I recruited some of my very best huntresses to serve as safeguards for the mortals. Thalia had to find a way to linger around Gayle without her knowing that she's being protected. She checks in with me regularly," she's talking too fast, I'm having trouble understanding everything she's saying.
All this time, I've been led to believe that meeting Thalia was by chance, that we'd stumbled upon each other at college and just clicked. I couldn't have been more wrong. It was all premeditated.
A piece of me kind of feels betrayed. Was everything fake? Does she even like me or does she have to pretend so that we can stay close?
"Of course Thalia doesn't know all this. I figured it would make everything easier if she thought she was just a young mortal girl.. she only remembers when I tell her to. If she senses you might be in danger, she transforms into her true form. When she changes, I'm alerted and then I rush to your aid. Like I'm your servant."
Somehow that makes me feel better. I'm not the only one who's been left in the dark about this. It explains a lot, how Thalia disappears for long periods of time and then returns like it was nothing. She also has lapses in her memory and blacks out a lot.
"Does Milo have a guardian as well?" My thoughts divert to those of my old friend. I left him behind when I moved away from our home town, but we still talk on the phone from time to time.
Artemis looks as if she would like nothing more than to wring my neck for addressing her directly, but calms herself before replying, "yes", coldly and with finality.
I want to press her further but decide against it. I would rather not be fed to her so called beast.
There's a bitter smile on Apollo's face, and he can't hide the wave of sadness that falls over it.
With the blink of an eye, Artemis has disappeared. She is no longer in the room with us.
"Figures," he rubs his temples, as if he too is having trouble processing it all.
Ares observes him and sighs before speaking up. "Figures what?" It's at this moment that I wish I was Artemis so that I could just disappear as well.
Apollo watches Ares with a derisive chortle. "I spend decades in Tartarus, being ripped apart and tortured by Zeus and Kronos – and you're up here getting married." He rolls his silver eyes.
It's like watching a train-smash, it's oh so terrible but I can't look away.
"You know time works different in Tartarus. You've been down there for a year and – "
"Did you even try to get me out?"
Ares brushes his fingers over his face, frustration more than evident as he groans aloud. "You know the risks. Believe me, we wanted to help you but Tartarus only has one door. If we set you free, we would have set all the titans and the spirits and Zeus free, and everything we worked for would have been for nothing."
Apollo seems like he's finally making peace with all the things Ares is saying. He calms down but there's still a misty look in his eyes as they dart towards his brother. "So you married her..." I don't need any super natural powers to sense the disappointment in his tone.
Suddenly I understand everything. Ares and Ariel were always meant to be. I knew they would be wed sooner or later, but apparently that didn't stop Apollo from falling for her.
There's a pinch of sadness in my heart at this realisation, but I know that it isn't me, it's Cyrene deep down inside me. She's experiencing everything around us firsthand.
I have a nagging inkling that the reason I haven't moved out of this space is because Cyrene wants to hear everything, she knows he's hurt.
Ares nods solemnly, almost as if he knows how this is all tearing Apollo apart.
"Where is she?" He pushes the question he's obviously been dying to ask all along.
Ares shrugs nonchalantly. "She's out on a quest." Apollo's eyes widen, brow arching judgmentally.
"You let her go on a quest alone?" He chides Ares, worry bubbling onto his face.
Jealousy begins to nip my insides at his reaction to this. It's like Cyrene is inside screaming, "why does it matter?!"
"How could you put her in so much danger?" Apollo admonishes him.
Ares frowns before defending himself. "She's stronger than you think. I took her to the garden myself."
Apollo is taken aback by Ares words, mouth agape as he glances at me incredulously then back at him. "You took her to the Garden of Hesperides?" Even as the words float past his lips, there's disbelief written over his face.
It's like I'm watching a soap opera, and every word Ares says is the wrong one. I have no clue what they're talking about but I can't seem to peel my eyes away.
Ares nods fervently. Apollo shakes his head in disapproval. "You let her eat one of the golden apples?" Ares nods again. "You do realise that one bite could have killed her, right? You put her life at risk." Apollo attempts to shove him back. A string of curses flutter past his lips when he remembers that he's mortal at the moment and that Ares is more powerful than he is.
"She's stronger than you think. She knew that there were risks when she bit into one of the apples, but she insisted I took her. The other gods refused to have a mortal as their queen, so she made the sacrifice. She survived in any case, and now she's more powerful than she's ever been. The apple made her immortal and it gave her all of my powers. It made our bond stronger. She's better than before." It seems as if Apollo's heard enough by the time Ares is finished.
"Alright then. Thank you for stopping by today, brother but I think it's time for you to go," he dismisses Ares.
Ares glares at the difficulty of this man. "What about your powers? How are we gonna get then back? We need to check in with Hades in the Underworld to make sure Zeus and – "
"Look, about my powers, I'll figure it out... and about the rest? Honestly? I couldn't give any less of a flying fuck." Apollo's wearing a blank stare as he motions towards the door. "Don't let it hit you on the way out." Are his last words as he saunters out the back door, sliding the door shut behind him.
Tension fills the room as Ares sighs, raking his fingers through his hair as he passes me a pained smirk.
"That could have gone better, am I right?"