by Jory Smith
The most impressive sight was all of the people. There were millions of them. Who am I kidding? It will take ages to find her.
Nicolai started to pace, trying to regain his composure. Getting angry, he picked up the heaviest boulder he could find and tossed it down into the valley. Going to pick up another boulder a shadow fell upon him. The residents down in the valley noticed the shadow and Nicolai and started to run from the destruction that was eminent. Nicolai turned his attention to the shadow and saw three figures descending out of the sky, landing hard near him.
Staring them down, Nicolai quickly conjured his weapon in his right hand and formed a death ball in his left. “Come and get me,” Nicolai yelled. I am in a bad mood and you’ll pay for it. “Now what one of you wants to die first?”
Nicolai was about to throw his ball of death at the middle one until a loud voice yelled, “Enough!”
A burst of black smoke appeared between Nicolai and the three gods. That took on the form of a man that towered over everyone. He was as pale beyond anything Nicolai had ever seen and just as thin. He wore a robe that was blacker than the darkest night. When he looked at Nicolai, his eyes seemed to suck out his soul, leaving him cold. If death ever took on a form, this truly would be it.
Turning away from the new arrival Nicolai saw the others down on their knees groveling.
“Who are you?” Nicolai said to the new comer.
The man in the middle looked up, pure hatred in his eyes. “That is Lord Hades, ruler of the underworld, Ditis Pater, Orcus, Polydectes. He is your doom.”
“Silence, Rhadamanthus. You don’t know who you are talking to.” Hades turned to Nicolai. “I beg your forgiveness. Help is so hard to find these days. You’ve met Rhadamanthus and the one on his left is Aeacus and the one on his right is Minos,” Hades turned back to the three gods. “This is my son, Nicholaus, or as he likes to be called, Nicolai Altukhov.”
“Enough with the formalities,” Nicolai said interrupting Hades. “I assume you know why I am here?”
“I do. But I wonder why didn’t you come straight to see me first? Why did you have to kill Charon? And most importantly, why did you want to come here? It must be something important if you had to kill Charon for it.”
“There is a woman whom I believe is here. She better be here.”
“You killed my most trusted servant for a woman whose whereabouts you are unsure of? You are worse than Thantos. What is her name?”
“Her name is Celeste. Celeste Ryashkina.”
“Rhadamanthus, do you recognize that name?” The man in the middle nodded. “Good you will bring her to my palace. Now Nicolai, if you will come with me, we will talk while your love is brought to us,” Hades grabbed Nicolai and they both disappeared from the valley.
When they reappeared again, what Nicolai found impressed him. The grandeur of the palace wasn’t like anything he had seen before, and it was totally out of Hades’ character. Inside the palace held some type of animal sanctuary. It had every exotic animal from earth, even ones said to be extinct.
“I would have never thought you would have something like this,” Nicolai said as he looked around. “How big is this place?”
“It’s as big as I want it to be,” Hades said, following Nicolai as he wandered around the palace. “Yes, who would have thought that the lord of the underworld would actually enjoy life?” He had a depressed look on his face. “I was like you, not caring about anything but death. Then I met Persephone and fell in love. She returned my feelings as well. But of course her mother would not allow us to be together, so she ran away to be with me. She changed my life.”
“The stories said you kidnapped her, raped her, and forced her to be your wife.” Nicolai said.
“Yes and the person who wrote that was a follower of Demeter. It fit so well with my persona that I couldn’t fight it. Who could ever love Hades?” Hades said disgustingly. “I am aware that you had somewhat of the same situation with your woman?”
“Somewhat. Celeste’s father did not approve of us, but it is alright. He is no longer in the picture.”
“Yes, the night when the change happened. You used a lot of your powers that night.” Hades said as he helped a turtle back on its feet. “We do need to talk about the reason you are here.”
From behind, Nicolai heard a soft voice. “Nicolai, is it really you?”
Nicolai turned to the direction of the voice. It was her. There, standing before him. He ran towards Celeste and clutched her tightly in his arms, giving her the biggest hug and kiss for what seemed like ages. For the first time since that dreaded day he’d lost her, Nicolai began to weep. But this time, he wept for joy.
As the morning sun peaked over the horizon, word of the Kraken reached the encampment. Scouts that patrolled the sea came in reporting that a terrible beast was heading their way. This caused Jessica to grab the trailer, carrying the bomb and dragged it to the boat. With Athena’s help they picked it up and tossed it on the boat.
With the bomb securely tied to the boat, Jessica started to prepare for the next step. Athena had told her what she needed to do and that caused her some concern. First was the outfit she had to wear. Just looking at it, she knew she knew the dress wouldn’t cover up anything and putting it on confirmed her suspicions. Jessica still wasn’t sure how wearing this outfit would make the Kraken eat the boat.
“Athena, can you explain to me again how this is going to work?” Jessica asked. “How does standing in front wearing this make the Kraken eat the boat?” She was standing in front of Athena pointing to her dress. The men around her had stopped working as she came out of the tent. They were working as they watched, but some of them injured themselves trying to do both.
The outfit consisted of thin straps that barely covered her breasts, hardly holding them in place, while little material covered her sex below. With the dress being backless, her butt was bare for the world to see. The only way the dress stayed on was from two different straps; one around her neck and another around her waist. One wrong move and all of her goods would be showing.
“The Kraken has a thing for young, beautiful virgins. It’s like a drug for it,” Athena said.
“I have not been a virgin for a long time,” Jessica said.
“That is about to change. I have this elixir that will fix that problem for you.” She produced a clear small bottle that held a silver liquid that glowed radiantly.
“Are you sure this is necessary?”
“Yes, if we don’t take care of the Kraken, all of this will be for naught. You want to help Tereus, don’t you?”
Staring at Athena, Jessica hesitantly took the elixir and gulped it down.
“I don’t feel any different. Are you sure it worked?”
“It worked, believe me. Your glow is starting to come back. Remember when he picks up the boat it’s going to be a bumpy ride. You have to stay on the boat until he drops it in his mouth. When you jump off I can swoop in and grab you.”
“How are you going to do that?” Jessica asked still concerned with the plan.
“You let me worry about that,” Athena said. “You better get going or you will drive these men crazy.”
Noticing every solider of Amadi’s was just staring her down drooling. She walked with Athena to the boat, trying unsuccessfully to cover herself. “You better not miss me,” Jessica replied as she climbed into the boat and started it up. With one final glance back, she started driving towards the monster.
Driving towards the beast, she watched as it got bigger until she had to crane her neck to just see the beasts head. Even though the beast was just three miles away, she could tell it was a beast to fear.
What did I get myself into? Jessica thought as her eyes locked on the beast. Ever since Terry came into my life, I cannot think straight. I have been doing things I would never do. This one tops them all off.
Her thoughts went back to the days when they first started dating. Terry would always cause trouble and she would ha
ve to clean up after him. Every time he would come up with an idea, it would lead him to hire her law firm. Asking her mother what was wrong with him; she just laughed and said, “That is what you get when you fall in love with a man. That is how they are.”
She had no idea how true it was until now. Terry owes me big time. He better not die, or I am going to have Nicolai bring him back so I can kill him.
Halfway to the beast, Jessica turned off the motor, armed the bomb and took the detonator in her palm. Climbing to the boat’s bow, she got into the helpless position Athena had shown her and waited for the beast to come.
As the beast came closer, it started sniffing the air. Looking around one of the beast’s eyes fell on Jessica. Letting out an ecstatic sound the Kraken picked up speed heading towards Jessica. When the creature was only 200 yards away, the tentacles on its back began to stir and reached for the boat.
Watching the tentacles coming towards her, Jessica tightened her grip on the boats railing. The plan was working and all Jessica had to do was stay on the boat long enough to drop the bomb into the beast. One of the tentacles wrapped itself around the boat and started lifting it out of the water. Flying fast towards the beast’s mouth, she suddenly stopped causing her to get tossed over the railing. The Kraken began jerking the boat, trying to make Jessica fall from the boat. Getting tossed around, Jessica started using her powers to increase her hold onto the boat. Giving up, the Kraken dropped the whole boat into its mouth.
Jessica looked down as the beasts mouth rushed towards her. Without much time left, she used her power to push the boat down. Kicking off of the boat, she thrust her body sideways trying to dodge the Kraken’s mouth. Eating the boat, the Kraken shifted its head to the left coming under Jessica. Almost reaching the Kraken’s mouth, she felt something grab her free arm—above her was Athena on a winged horse.
“I told you that I would grab you in time. Where is the boat? Did it go in?” Athena yelled at her.
Jessica nodded that she saw the boat enter the beast as they dodged the flailing limbs of the Kraken. Pulling Jessica on the back of the winged horse they continued dodging the monsters limbs.
“I am setting the bomb off!” Jessica yelled pushing the two buttons from the detonator. Nothing happened as she hit them again and again.
With no sign proving the bomb detonated, Jessica yelled to Athena.
“Looks like the plan didn’t work. What now?”
“Now we get out of here. We will have to find a new staging area for our troops.” Athena said
As they flew away Jessica looked back and watched the Kraken stop moving. Jessica looked to Athena.
“What is it doing?” She asked Athena. “It’s not trying attack, looks like its choking on something.”
“I don’t know,” Athena replied. “Let’s go in for a closer look.”
Turning their mount around, the goddess flew back to the Kraken trying to find what affected the creature. Looking at the creature, Jessica saw a bright light pierce its throat then a burst of energy knocked Athena and Jessica off the horse.
As the horse went tumbling, Jessica fell off and landed in the ocean and a sharp pain surged through her body. Surfacing, she cleared her eyes to witness what happened. There she saw the Kraken with no head.
Fearing that she was going to get smashed, she started to swim as quickly as she could to get out of the way from the falling monster. Hearing a whistle above her, Jessica looked up and saw it was Athena back on her horse, coming full speed ahead towards her. Right when the horse banked to go up, Athena held out her hand and Jessica grasped it.
“I guess your bomb worked,” Athena praised. “Let’s head back and tell Assaraeus what happened.”
Chapter 18
Lying down, with Celeste’s blonde hair draped over his arm, feeling her body up against his, made the last few days the best Nicolai had for a long time. Watching as she slept, he slowly traced his fingers along her face and into her hair. Trying to play like she was asleep, Celeste tried to hold her smile in until she couldn’t handle it anymore. With her smile growing with every passing minute she finally spoke up.
“You know that tickles me when you do that,” Celeste whispered.
“I know,” Nicolai whispered back. “That is why I love doing it.”
Looking into her deep blue eyes, he saw a sadness that wasn’t there before. Running her hands through his hair she asked, “You have turned back to your old ways haven’t you?”
“No, my dear,” Nicolai said trying to assure her. “I only did it to get to you back. I am still the man you love.”
“No you’re not.” Celeste’s hand went to his chest to feel his heartbeat. “The man I love does not kill needlessly. You killed the god who was in charge of the ferry. You killed my father.”
“I did it to get to you. I would have done anything to get to where I am at now.”
“Yes, but it’s destroying your humanity. My dear you don’t understand.” She pushed him down and put his hand on her chest. There he felt her life force emanating from her body. “Our humanity isn’t the ability to take life; it is the ability to show mercy—to give thought to others and to care for people. Most importantly it is to give life.”
“I know. But there is something I must do. I will try to not disappoint you. When I am done, we can be together forever.”
“How? I am still dead. I can’t leave this place.”
“After my task, I will be the new lord of the underworld. I will bring you back to life. Together we will rule.”
“What do you mean that you will be the new lord of the underworld? What are you going to do?”
“He is going to kill me,” Hades said from the door. “I am sorry to intrude. But it has been three earth days. Events have been moving ahead and you need to continue on your quest.”
“Nicolai you’re going to kill him. How can you?” Celeste said. Filled with sadness she grabbed his hands. “You have to stop your killing. I can’t stand it.”
“It is okay Celeste.” Hades said to reassure her. “I have lived for a long time. My only reason for living has died. I am happy someone will be taking my place. I would have done this a long time ago, but no one was worthy enough to pass my duties to. Now I do.”
Hades looked at Nicolai. “I will be waiting in my throne room. I will give you what you seek and give you transportation back to earth.” Hades turned around and walked away.
Celeste watched as Hades walked away. As soon as she thought he was out of ear shot, a violent slap was dealt to Nicolai and a small amount of blood dripped from his lips.
“How can you do this?” Celeste demanded. “We have discussed this. Soon you will be just like him, cold and void of life. I don’t know if I can be with that.” she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. “Find a way where you don’t have to kill him.”
Nicolai promised her that he would not kill Hades. Leaving her side to get dressed, he gathered his possessions and walked into Hades’ throne room. Hades was near a table, pouring whine into two cups.
“I am sorry I had to intrude, but we have pressing matters to attend to.” Hades moved his hand to his chest and pulled something out. Nicolai saw it was his shard. “This is what you have come to get, isn’t it?”
“I suppose so. What is going to happen to Celeste while I am gone?” Nicolai asked.
“That is up to you. You can either have her stay here or take her with you.”
“What do you mean? She can’t leave this place, can she?”
“Not in her present state. But I can bring her back to life so she can leave. I am afraid if she stays here, the friends you made earlier will do something to her.”
“I want you to do it. What do you want in return?”
“I want to watch Zeus die before I do. I want to see him stripped of his power and made helpless. I want him stripped of everything he holds dear. Promise me this, and Celeste can leave with you.”
“Where will she stay?” Nicolai asked.
“I will take her to a place that I built for Persephone. No one will be able to reach her there except you.”
Walking to Hades, Nicola extended his hand. “You have a deal,”
Even though it was against everything Celeste would want, he needed her to be safe if he was going to concentrate on his task.
“You will hear Zeus’ scream when he is brought down,” Nicolai said in a cold voice.
Three nights had passed since the Kraken was killed. The area finally had settled down and the reports mentioned small sightings of enemy combatants. The camp that held the command center was set up and in the officer’s tent was Amadi, his officers and staff non-commissioned officers continuing with the celebration of the victory over the mighty Kraken. Amadi stood up and the room went silent.
“Well gentleman, we did it. We killed the most feared beast in all of history.” He lifted his goblet and the whole room cheered. After the room quieted down Amadi continued. “We have these lovely ladies to thank. Let’s hear how you did it.”
The whole tent erupted with agreement and yells for the story carried throughout the tent.
Athena stood up and yelled for silence. “I will be glad to tell this wonderful tale.”
Athena began the tale with Jessica manning the boat, heading towards the Kraken. Athena went on to explain how courageous Jessica was facing the beast head on. Then the Kraken picked up the boat to eat the damsel in distress.
“Here is the best part gentleman.” Athena said with a grin. “As our hero fell to her certain doom, her magnificent breasts became bare for the whole world to see. Let me tell you gentleman they are a sight to behold.”
Jessica was drinking some wine when Athena said that and spit it out. Someone in the back yelled, “Tell us more.”
“Well gentleman, what more can I say?” Athena asked. “Aphrodite herself will be jealous of her assets. Any man would lose himself in their hypnotic gaze. Just ask the men from the fourth. If you like the front or the back, you will not be displeased.”