Goddess Trials

by A Lonergan

  Crawley looked to be falling into a food coma. While he dozed off, I pulled my shirt up over my midsection and gazed at the work that was on my stomach. A long jagged scar filled with gold. When I had been in Apollo’s prison, it had gotten worse from the torture Jericho had put me through, but it was still a wonder to behold.

  It proved to me that I was strong. That I was less fragile than what I had always assumed. My blood was forged from gold and goddess and everything powerful. I traced a deep rivet in the center of it, right above my belly button when Crawley’s movement made me pause. I was almost afraid to turn to him. I was nearly too scared to see his reaction. He hadn’t seen the complete work Jericho had done to me.

  “It’s beautiful.” His voice was hushed and rough. His words were everything I hadn’t expected.

  “It’s interesting.” I didn’t know what else to say, and I couldn’t meet his eyes. His eyes would show the truth.

  “I think it’s incredible. Your body stitched its self back together in the most beautiful way.” He leaned forward and tried to look into my eyes. I averted them. “Have you heard of Kintsugi?”

  I shook my head.

  He continued. “In Japan, broken objects are sometimes repaired with gold. The damage is then seen as a unique and valuable part of the object's history.”

  I looked back at my scar with new eyes. It had made me stronger, and though I wouldn’t ever be able to parade my body around again, I would stand up straighter. My scars added to my history, they added to what made me- me.

  “I want you to always look at your scars and smile, you overcame them; every trial and you continue to learn from them. That’s what’s unique and spectacular about you.” He pulled my hand from my midsection. “You are one of a kind.”

  Chapter 11

  Crawley

  I threw the duffel bag over my shoulder and grabbed Jessa’s hand. I was done playing coy; I didn't want her to have to worry about my intentions again. I wanted them to be clear from now on out. I didn’t want her to have a question in her mind about where I stood, I was all in, and I was going to prove it to her every step of the way.

  It didn’t help that we were about to march into Zeus’ territory and have pretty boy back in our graces. I, couldn’t afford that. I needed to have all my cards on the table.

  I paid the cab driver and shouted as he drove away, “Efcharistó!”

  “I didn’t know you could speak Greek.” Jessa looked at me with new, curious eyes. She planted her hands on her hips and reminded me of Shaskia. That damn woman.

  “There are many things you don’t know about me.” I winked at her.

  “Enlighten me then.” She smirked.

  “We have more than enough time to take it slow.” I picked her hand up again and pulled her toward the woods, away from the road.

  She yanked her hand back. “Is that so?”

  I could have rolled my eyes. “Yes.”

  “What if I want to know now?” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave me a determined look. Why did I have a thing for the stubborn ones?

  “Okay, fine. I speak Greek, German, French, Italian, and Spanish.” She gave me an impressed look and grabbed my hand in hers.

  “I guess we follow the trail?” In front of us was a well-used path to the mountains.

  I looked at her short sleeves and jeans and knew she would need something warmer. I wasn’t sure how far we would have to go up before I would see the sign Shaskia mentioned. I unzipped the duffle and pulled a coat free for myself and a thick sweater for Jessa. I then removed hiking boots for both of us. Jessa pulled the shirt on without question, and as soon as our other shoes were in the bag, we were off.

  Jessa was practically jumping out of her skin to get up the side of the mountain; I could hardly keep up. The mountain grew colder and steeper as we continued to climb. Snow made our feet slip, and The rocky ledges weren’t making it any easier. I stopped to take a sip from Jessa’s water bottle and didn’t know how we would go any higher. My breath was coming out in white puffs around my face, and I was starting to get light headed.

  I remembered what my father had preached about Elevation sickness and tried to drink more water. Jessa’s eyes were shining, and when I attempted to pass her the water, she denied it. Her excitement was fueling her on. She skipped further and further ahead until I couldn’t see her anymore.

  The only thing I heard next was her blood-curdling scream. I took off running but was cautious all the same. I didn’t need the same thing to happen to me. Then the world seemed to drop off. I let out a harsh yell and looked around myself in fear. I was falling.

  The air was flapping around my face, and my limbs flailed wildly around me. Then I was beside Jessa, and it didn’t make any sense until I realized, it was only the illusion we were falling. When in fact; we were floating and not going anywhere. Clouds hovered below us, and all I could see around us was blue skies. Jessa gave me a panicked look.

  Out stepped Perseus before I could do anything. He wore dark wash, tight jeans, and no shirt. Tattoos wrapped around his arms and looked to flow onto his back as well. He snapped his fingers, and we both fell to the soft padding below us. Jessa didn’t pick her head up, and I knew she would probably stay down for a few seconds. Falling to your death would do that to you. When she finally lifted her head, her cheeks were pink, and her eyes immediately went to Perseus. I pushed myself from the floor made of clouds and glared at our savior.

  I couldn’t handle the shirtless thing he was doing for Jessa, but knew better than to start a fight in a domain I knew nothing about. For all I knew, I could fall through the cloud floor, and I wasn’t up for that. I would play nice.

  For now.

  Chapter 12

  Jessa

  I vaguely remembered watching the Disney version of Hercules when I was in school, and that’s what all of this reminded me of. Clouds and columns were everywhere. If there wasn’t white, there was gold. It was everywhere, covering everything. I could hardly believe my eyes.

  Perseus lead us through a long corridor, and I couldn’t help but admire the artwork and ink wrapping around his body. It was impressive. Everything about this place was impressive. Finally, a group of doors appeared ahead, and one opened. A girl with red hair came from the room and bowed low to us before scurrying off. She had been wearing a circlet around her head and a white dress.

  “Ah, good, they have finished preparing your room, Jessa.” Perseus swept his arm forward to the door the girl had come from.

  I had expected to find a bed made from the clouds or something similar to everything, else we had seen, but I was admittedly mistaken. There was a considerable oak bed against the wall

  “This is the sky room. One with your beauty and grace deserves the best. It is one of the best.” Perseus winked at me before continuing. “Don’t worry, Crawley will be right across the hall, and I’ll be next door if you need anything.”

  His intentions weren’t lost on me, and they hadn't been lost on Crawley either, with the way he was growling. I laughed and nodded my head, not sure of how to reply.

  “We will have dinner shortly. While you are cleaning up, Misa will bring you something to wear.” He excused himself and went to the room beside mine.

  Crawley watched his every move. “I don’t like him.”

  I just patted his arm and pointed to his door.

  The dress Misa brought me was very similar to the one she wore. Except for the dress Misa wore was floor length and the dress laid out on the bed was much shorter. She smiled at me and pulled a circlet from thin air. Before she laid it upon my head, I noticed the stags worked into the gold detailing.

  She threaded it through my hair expertly and pointed to the dress, expectantly. I waited for her to leave, but when I realized she wasn’t going anywhere, I stripped off my sweater and jeans and stood before her in my underwear. She cocked her head to the side and pointed to my underwear. I stripped it off next and stood before her in the buff. I had ha
lf expected her to gawk at my scarring, but she didn’t even bat an eyelash as she went around me in circles.

  After she had probably seen every square inch of me, she pulled the dress from the bed and helped it over my head. The material was the lightest I had ever beheld. It was smooth and weightless. It fit my body perfectly though I wasn’t so sure about not wearing anything under it.

  Misa smiled and nodded her head approvingly.

  As she pulled the door open, I said, “thank you.” Then she was gone.

  Crawley wasted no time and took space up in the door frame, watching me with lustful eyes. “You look like a goddess.”

  “You don’t look so bad yourself.” Crawley was now shirtless and wearing a pair of jeans that matched Perseus.

  “I thought he had shown up like that to impress you. I wonder why I couldn’t wear a shirt. I bet everyone is going to be half naked.”

  I shrugged my shoulders and knocked on Pursues door. He opened the door with an enticing smile. “Change your mind about-” he stopped mid-sentence when he noticed Crawley behind me. His smile fell, and I could almost feel Crawley’s satisfaction.

  Perseus cleared his throat. “Let’s get going; I’m sure both of you are hungry.”

  He led us down winding hallways and twisting turns before we came upon a large archway entirely made out of gold. Six tables stretched across the room. Men and women laughed and joked as they ate and drank around said tables.

  I didn’t pay them any mind until Perseus led us to the front table and I wondered if this would be the moment I met Zeus. When I looked at all the faces, none of them seemed to be right for who I thought Zeus would be. They were all gorgeous people or rather, gods, but I knew they weren’t him.

  One face was familiar, but I couldn’t place it. She hadn’t looked my way yet as she spoke to the man beside her. Her dark chocolate hair fell like waterfalls over her slender shoulders. She had a circlet of leaves perched on her head, and she wore the same dress as me. Finally, she turned to look up, and her jaw dropped open. Her hand let go of her wine goblet, and it went crashing to the wood floor below us. Her gold eyes looked frightened, and I didn’t understand why until Crawley spoke her name.

  “Artemis.”

  She didn’t say anything and pushed herself away from the table. She didn’t take her eyes off of me till she started to sprint away. I had never caused anyone to flee like that before.

  Perseus looked amused. “I’m not sure what that was about, but I will tell you; we will find out soon enough.” He winked at me before pulling a chair out. He gestured for me to sit down and Crawley started to growl again. “Do you need a muzzle?” Perseus looked even more amused, and I wasn’t sure how it was possible.

  Crawley stopped growling and sat beside me as Perseus pushed my chair in. The plate in front of me had a pile of leafy greens and some sauce in a cup on the side. The forks and knives were solid gold, and the white plates were blinding against the dark dining table. Perseus didn’t wait and immediately dig into his salad. I tentatively picked up my fork and followed suit.

  I had never particularly liked salad, but after the first few bites, I doubted myself because it was the best salad I had ever had. It was perfectly crunchy and bursting with flavor, and I didn’t think that was possible for green vegetables. Crawley picked through his and pushed his fork around, not too sure of it all.

  I nodded my head to him encouragingly and pushed my fork, full of leafy greens, in his face. “You must try it!”

  He scrunched his nose up and pushed my hand from his view. Perseus was watching us with too much amusement from across the table.

  He filled his wine goblet to the rim and took a large gulp. “The gods dine from the best. You will never have anything better than what is placed in front of you right now. Some might say that you’ll miss it, but I have found that the Moroccans know how to cook. They are some competition, that's for sure.”

  I nodded my head and took a sip of my water glass. I was surprised when sweet nectar coated my tongue. It was almost too sweet. I made a face, and Perseus laughed. He was too amused all the time for my liking. The expression on his face made me feel like he knew something I didn’t. I didn’t like gloating and I felt like that was the kind of man he was. I continued to sip the nectar while I observed him.

  Perseus seemed always to be aware of his surroundings and never stopped looking around himself. He kept his right hand on his thigh; I imagined that he had a weapon there and wanted to kick myself for not having one on my person, as well.

  Then as I thought about it, I smiled, I wasn’t defenseless. Prim had made sure of that. I touched the pendant hanging from my neck and felt the warmth throughout my body. Perseus didn’t miss a thing. His eyes flicked to where my hand was.

  He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that? I don’t think I have ever seen anything quite like it. It is impeccable.”

  “Thank you; it was a gift.” I didn’t plan on saying anything else on it. He hadn’t earned my respect or my trust yet.

  More gods and goddesses started to pour into the dining hall and pretty soon, all the seats and tables were filled. I felt embarrassed that I had begun to eat and wondered if manners were something the gods worried about. A beautiful woman with golden locks found her spot on the other side of me. Her blue eyes twinkled as they landed on me and her perfectly pink lips turned up into a smile.

  Her pearly teeth were showing the more she smiled and pretty soon her entire face was lit up with it. “You must be Jessa. It is so nice to finally meet you!”

  She held her hand out to me, and I noticed she had gold scarring up and down her arms, very similar to mine. The dress she was wearing showed many scars all over her body. I closed my eyes to seep from looking before I grasped her hand. She shook my hand and gave me a sympathetic look.

  “It’s okay to look; I can understand the curiosity. It can be overwhelming.” She looked down at my wrists then continued. “I’m Aphrodite.”

  I was shell-shocked. Out of all the things to surprise me, out of all the things that had happened, she surprised me the most. I had expected her to be different, snobby maybe and not scarred up.

  “Wow,” It was all I could say, and I felt like an idiot.

  Crawley dropped his fork on his plate, and I had no doubt he had figured out who I was talking to or he had just heard her name and put the pieces together a tad too late.

  “I know what you’re thinking, how could Aphrodite have these scars or anything like I am?” She looked at the head of the room where an empty throne sat. “Zeus doesn’t know mercy.”

  Her words frightened me, and I wondered if we had made the right decision to come here. Crawley seemed to have read my thoughts because he soon pulled me back against him and whispered in my ear, “We need to tread carefully here.”

  His eyes were wide with fear when I looked at his face. I pulled his hand into mine and squeezed it under the table. I didn’t want to be away from him. I didn’t want to get separated. I held onto him as if it made a difference as we ate dinner and more gods flooded around us to meet me.

  I didn’t understand it, but to them, I was a legend. My head was spinning by the time the first course was placed in front of me. Pursues had disappeared five fans ago and I was staring at the wall. Crawley was practically choking on his food to get it down, and I couldn’t help but pick at it this time until Artemis gracefully took Perseus’ seat. She gave me a look of warning before picking up the fork and knife and started eating.

  “Do you want to tell me what you are doing here?” Artemis spoke under her breath. I could barely hear her. Crawley continued to eat and was oblivious to our new guest.

  “I was invited.” I chewed on a piece of steak slowly.

  “Yes, we all were. By whom?” She glanced up and looked around herself.

  “By Zeus.”

  She coughed at my words and jerked her head up. It took her a minute to recover and then she started talking again, “Something is going on, and
I don’t understand it. I’m scared for you.”

  “You mean this isn’t always a full house?” I looked around trying to find Perseus. No such luck.

  “No. Few gods can stand Zeus; most can only handle him in small doses. I’m worried.” She was cut short by the silence that settled over the room.

  No one spoke as the door beside the thrown opened. A man ducked his head so he wouldn’t hit on the door frame and took a seat. He had long blonde hair, similar to Perseus’, falling in waves down his bare shoulders. He wore jeans just like the other men in the room, and when he tilted his head, I noticed the circlet there, right at his hairline.

  He reclined slightly as Pursues then came through the door. Pursues eyes met mine briefly before he straightened against the wall like a bodyguard of some sort.

  Zeus didn’t say anything as he observed every face. The room stood still, everyone holding their breath for his next move. When he finally looked upon me, his grey eyes lit up, and a smile touched his lips. His eyes flicked away before he spoke, “What a pleasant surprise. It has been so long since I have seen so many loving faces in one room.” Someone snickered in the back, but no one paid him attention. Zeus would probably deal with him later. “What a day to be alive. What a day to be a god!” A wine glass appeared in his hand, and he raised it high. “What a day to see the demigods rise!”

  I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move. His eyes found mine again, and where they had been shining before, they were hard as stone now. His voice took on a different tone. “Feast up! It will be a long week of celebrating.”

  When I turned back to Artemis, her eyes held horror. She shook her head before looking at her lap. If I hadn’t been watching so intently, I would have missed the tear that had fallen into her lap. Her hair fell around her face like a curtain, and her circlet had started to slip. Perseus tapped on her shoulder and helped her stand before whispering in her ear. She nodded once and fled the room.