“And yet you certainly fight like one.”
“You can’t put this on me. It’s not fair.”
“You have no choice. You have chosen this path.”
“I know you have lost a lot, and now you’ve lost Thanatos, but I cannot live up to this. You’re making me out to be something I am not. I cannot live up to those expectations. It’s not possible.”
“Yes, you can. I know you can. I’ve seen you achieve what I never thought possible from any mortal. I believe in you.”
“I cannot do what you’re asking of me. I’m not good enough, not strong enough.”
“Then learn to be.”
He looked puzzled.
“You have become what you are from a lifelong pursuit and passion to be great. I’ve seen you achieve things many immortals could not. But why should this be your limit? You improve and get stronger. It’s what you’ve been doing your whole life.”
“But I can’t beat Hades. Whatever potential I have left, it ain’t enough for that, and you know it.”
“No, I don’t. I told you already, I believe in you. I’m not asking you to do this alone. I am asking you to be our champion. It’s nothing you weren’t already doing. You just didn’t know it. You didn’t realize how much you were achieving. How much good you were doing.”
He sighed as he thought it over, and soon shook his head.
“I am sorry, but I can’t. Hades nearly killed me, and I wasn’t even close to beating him. I’ll be here for you, but I can’t spearhead whatever it is you have in mind. Maybe Thanatos is right. Maybe we can let it all go. Move on?”
“You know that isn’t true. Even if Hades believes it himself, how long will that last? He’s hungry for power, and when the time comes for him to try and take it, there must be someone willing and able to stop him.”
He picked up his gun and slipped the holster onto his belt. He grabbed his coat and headed for the door.
“You won’t do this? You won’t fight for what you know is right?”
“I’ll fight, but I can’t be what you want me to be. I can’t be the answer to all your problems. Lock the door on your way out.”
He stormed out through the door. He didn’t have anywhere to be, but he just wanted to be away from her. He couldn’t take that sort of pressure and didn’t believe she had any idea what kind of a load she was trying to place on his shoulders. It made him angry that she was being so selfish as he saw it.
Thanatos won’t do your bidding, so you come to me? What the hell am I supposed to do about it?
He rushed down the stairs and burst out onto the street in a furious whirlwind. His pulse was up, and his blood was boiling. He stopped and took a breath for a moment. He wanted to hit something, or better still, someone. It was an awful realization for him. He’d always wanted to fight, but for sport. Now he wanted to fight to do someone harm.
“Is this what it means to be the good guy?” he whispered to himself.
He felt so much rage inside. He wanted to talk to someone about it, but his partner was the only one he’d go to, and he was nowhere to be found. He didn’t know where to go or what to do, but he needed to turn to someone. There was only one person left he could go to, even if he didn’t want to lay that kind of pressure on them. He sighed as he decided he had to do something. He growled and set off once more with purpose, knowing exactly where he was going.
Chapter 7
Dr. Grace Harris kicked her feet back and relaxed on her sofa. She put a fresh glass of wine down beside her as she delved into an old book. It was so old the pages were brittle, and the leather binding looked hundreds of years old. She opened it to be met with a puff of dust. She sneezed as she brushed it away.
“So much knowledge lost to time, where would we be without books?”
She smiled, as she took a sip of the wine before getting stuck in. The work was in Latin, and she was one of only a handful of experts in the city able to read it. Her coffee table was strewn with dozens of similarly antique books, as was her dining table in the next room. She’d clearly been hitting the books hard, many of which had not been seen by anyone still living.
Her house was a lavish old town house, the sort no assistant at a museum could ever hope to afford. There was a sudden bang on her door. She jumped and spilt a little wine over her sofa, but saved it from going on the book. She breathed a sigh of relief, for she could not live with damaging the old works. She lay the book down and quickly patted the wine down with a cloth. The door was knocked again violently, as if urgent.
“All right, I’m coming!”
She rushed to the door and swung it wide open to find Aaron standing there.
“That’s it? You don’t check who is at your door or anything? Do you know how dangerous this city can be?”
“Good evening to you, too, Officer Miller.”
“I’m serious. Not everyone in this city is good.”
“We don’t get a lot of trouble around here.”
“Just because you live in a nice neighborhood, doesn’t mean you are beyond the reach of criminals.”
She giggled.
“What? What’s so funny?”
“We faced Hades, gods, and you’re worried about a petty thief? Come in, officer.”
She stepped aside and ushered him to come forward. He didn’t look impressed, but he knew he wasn’t going to get anywhere. He carried on inside and saw the pile of books. It was chaos in the room. The living room was almost as large as his whole apartment, and yet books were strewn everywhere. He knew this wasn’t normal, not even for her.
“You’re still fighting this war, aren’t you?”
“I never knew there was a war when I began, but it was my reading and my knowledge that gave us an edge when we needed it. Knowledge is power,” she replied and went back to her wine.
He shrugged as if he’d never thought about it that way, but knew he should, considering how he’d become as skilled a fighter as he was.
“We can’t wipe our minds of what we have learned. Now we know what threats are out there, we cannot sit back and do nothing, can we?”
“Thanatos sure thinks so,” he snarled.
She reached into a cupboard, pulled out an unopened bottle of bourbon, and poured him a glass. He looked surprised; as it was obvious she didn’t drink it.
“You got this for me?”
“I knew you’d be around eventually,” she smiled.
He didn’t know how to take that, but he happily took the tumbler, which looked antique.
“My father’s, all of this was,” she said, seeing him marvel at the glass and her lavish home.
“It’s pretty sweet.”
“He never approved of my work. He made his money in this city. Living to make a fortune and had no idea what to do with it.”
“You seem to have managed to sort that out.” He looked around at it all.
“When you get this much opportunity in life, it’s a tragic waste to do nothing with it.”
“Yeah? Not been tempted to do what Thanatos has done, start a club and party every day?”
“Why? Parties are to celebrate something. What has he got to celebrate?”
“Being alive, I guess. Maybe that’s something we should all be celebrating.”
“Why are you really here, Aaron? This is no social call, as much as I wish it were.”
He looked surprised.
“I didn’t know you…” he began, stopping when he realized what she meant. The bourbon and the pleasantries, she’d been waiting for him to call on her.
“It’s okay. I’ve not exactly been great at the whole dating thing, but I hoped you’d come round some day. But that’s not why you’re here, is it?”
He looked awkward as he tried to find his words.
“It’s okay. You haven’t hurt my feelings. What can I do for you?”
“It’s about Theo, and me, and Hades, and everything.”
“It sounds like you have got yourself into quite the pickle, the
n.”
“Not by my doing.”
“But your mind is, and I thought I was the awkward one,” she laughed.
He smiled and slumped down onto the sofa. He made himself quite comfortable and sipped the bourbon. His eyes widened as he realized how smooth and how expensive it must have been.
“Well, damn,” he exclaimed.
“It’s nice to see my family’s money isn’t being wasted, huh?”
He nodded in agreement and looked at the books before her. Many were very old, the sort of manuscripts he worked from as a student of historical martial arts.
“These books. I mean, I work from facsimiles and translations, but these are the real deal, aren’t they? Some of these must be three, four hundred-years-old or more.”
She didn’t reply, but he could tell he was right.
“So what, you took these from the museum?”
“Not many, no.”
“So what, you just had them anyway? How come?”
“My father may have had no concern for history and learning, but my grandfather did. He was the one who led me to my work. Many of these books he collected in his lifetime, as his father did before him. Many of these works have been in my family for generations. Others I have found along the way.”
“So your grandfather was into the history? The mythology?”
“Yes, even more so than I was. I think he always thought it was all real,” she laughed, “But for me they were just great stories. I never thought for a moment any of it would be real, and that we’d see some of it in our lifetimes. I always studied the history more than the myth.”
“Likewise,” he said as he held up his tumbler.
“All those years I thought he was just a crazy old man. A fascinating one certainly, but I thought he was lost in the fantasy and the fiction of it, you know? Caught up in it like a religion, but he was right all along. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to see it.”
“Would you want him to? Our brush with the gods hasn’t exactly been a joy.”
“But it has been a most incredible experience, hasn’t it? If you could go back and live on never having known about any of this, would you?”
He sighed, already knowing the answer.
“No, because people like you and I, we cannot live in ignorance. We scour the world for knowledge. We’d rather know some of the horrible things that have happened in this world, and learn from them, than live a peaceful life in blissful ignorance. That’s probably why you became a police officer. Even now you must be able to make enough money as a teacher. You don’t need to police the streets and deal with some of the worst things.”
“It’s not all bad. There are good people out there, you know. The job brings you to the very best and very worst. It brought me to you, didn’t it?”
“And which am I?” Grace smirked.
He looked awkward, not having an answer for that. He knew she liked him, but he had so many things occupying his mind to give it much thought.
“Why did you really come here?”
He took a deep breath, wondering where he should start.
“Theo, she wants me to be her champion. She thinks I already am, that’s the crazy thing. Her champion? Can you believe that? What does it even mean?”
“She wants you to be the figurehead.”
“Why?” Aaron asked incredulously.
“Because you inspire people. You can probably never be the fighter Thanatos is.”
“Thanks for that, Grace.”
“Face it, he’s a god. He was born that way, and you can’t change that. But you are so much more than he is.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really,” she insisted.
“Because he’s strong as hell and could kick my ass, no problem.”
“It’s not about who would win in a fight. Thanatos was born great, but he doesn’t do anything with it. You were born as a man, a mortal man, and look at what you have achieved. While Thanatos squanders everything he is, you strive to be the best you can be. That’s why Theo needs you. It’s why we all need you.”
He looked lost in thought, as if he hadn’t been listening.
“What is it?”
“You asked me why I came here?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Theo believes she needs to me to be this champion, but I’m not ready for it.”
“What would make you ready?”
“Godly weapons allow me to fight the gods, but I’m still not good enough to counter their strength.”
“It’s not like you can hit the gym and become as strong as a god, is it?”
“No, but I can counter their strength with skill, skill of the blade.”
“Aren’t you already one of the best there is?”
“I’m pretty good, but I need to be better, much better.”
“How can you do that? Aren’t you the master of your academy?”
“I’m the instructor, yes. I’ve trained to become a good fighter, and I’ve trained some really good fighters, great even. But what we need right now is beyond all that.”
“Where can you find that?”
“There is a man, more a myth. I’ve heard stories of this guy and the people he trains. It’s on the other side of the world. I thought it was nothing more than a myth, but I’m starting to take myths at face value.”
“And you think with the help of this man, you can defeat Hades?”
“No, but I think I can be something more than I ever was. Maybe be the champion Theo wants me to be. But this guy, he’s dangerous. Maybe very dangerous.”
“It’s not fair of her to put all that pressure on you, you know?”
“No, but life isn’t fair. I got myself into this. I could have walked away anytime.”
“But you didn’t,” she smiled.
“Yeah, maybe I’m a fool.”
She got up, walked over to sit down beside him, and placed a hand on his knee.
“I don’t think you’re a fool, Aaron.”
“No, then what am I?”
“You’re incredible. You are everything Theo says, and more. Without you, we would never have gotten through all this.”
“Come on, I played a part. We all did.”
“But you were at the heart of it all. You brought us all together and kept us going. So, you do what you need to do. If you need to go in search of some great teacher, if you think that’s what you need to do, you do it.”
She went across the room and opened a drawer at a desk. She came back with a bundle of notes.
“Here, this should pay your way.”
He was speechless as he leafed through the tightly packed hundred-dollar bills.
“There has to be thousands here,” he finally said in amazement.
“Ten thousand, and it should get you what you need. But if you need more, you call me, you hear?”
He looked uncomfortable.
“This isn’t charity, and it’s not a loan. We each do what we can in this fight. I have the means to pay for this without any hardship. I’m doing it for all of us, just as you are.”
He agreed and stuffed it in his coat pocket, before remembering something important. He reached into his other pocket and pulled out a small pouch.
“I need something else from you.”
“Yes? Anything.”
He opened the bag and reached in as she waited with anticipation, until he finally drew out the gleaming shard of Zeus’ crown. She marveled at it as if for the first time to see it.
“Is…is that?”
He smiled, as she was overwhelmed with excitement.
“How do you even have this?”
“I took it after the fight, remember?”
“Huh? Yeah, yeah,” she replied in a confused state as she stared at the object. It was as if she’d not seen it in his apartment when they’d discussed it just the night before. But he understood, it was like peering at something otherworldly, a piece of grace from Zeus himself.
“I need you to
look after this for me. Nobody knows I have it but you. We cannot trust anyone else with this knowledge, not even Theodosia, do you understand me?”
“What? Why?”
“Think about it. This is one of the most desirable objects on Earth, and whoever manages to reassemble this could become, well, we don’t even know. The less people know about this, the safer we will be. Can you do that for me?”
She nodded her head and tried to take it from him, but he didn’t let go of it.
“Really? I need to know for certain. You’ll keep this safe, and to yourself? Promise me, Grace!”
“Yes, I promise,” she said quietly.
He was finally satisfied and got up to leave.
“Miller.”
She rushed to him and kissed him like it was the last time she was ever going to see him. She pulled away as if apologetic for having accosted him, but he pulled her back, and kissed her more passionately. She looked surprised, but also blissful.
“I’m coming back. I promise.”
“I’ll hold you to that,” she said as a single tear rolled down her face.
“Hey, we’ve made it through the craziest of times, we can get through this. Keep your head in those books. Last time it saved our asses.”
“I will, in every waking hour.”
“If anyone asks, I’ve gone to see an old friend, you get me?”
“And your academy?”
“Ava can handle it. If you need anything, you go see her. She’s a lot tougher and more capable than people give her credit. You look her up if you need to, you hear me?”
“Yes, I will, and Miller?”
“Aaron.”
“Good luck,” she smiled.
He walked away without another word. He couldn’t help but share the feelings she did, but there was no time to act on them.
He went back to his apartment, taking in all the sights as he did. It could be a while before he saw the city again, if he made it back at all. He was serious when he’d told Grace about the risks, but he’d understated them. He didn’t really know what dangers awaited him, but he would never take them lightly. He needed to be something more than he was. He needed a miracle.
He arrived at his apartment and went straight for a rucksack and packed a few things. He put his weapon down, knowing he could not take it where he was going. He was packed in a matter of minutes, as he was traveling light. But he rushed out of his bedroom to be met with a voice in the darkness. He flicked on the lights to see Theo in his kitchen. She was still and watching him, arms folded as if judging him.
Fallen Gods II Page 9