Legends and Heroes_War of the Gods

by Danielle James

  As soon as Thor let go, Freya’s limp body hit the floor with a thud. “Now tell us, what happened?”

  Thor recounted the events of only a few minutes earlier. He didn’t remember smashing skulls, but that is exactly what happened. He explained that Ares took Emma somewhere safe. When it was said and done, Thor dropped to his knees and covered his face with his hands.

  “I never told her,” he said into his hands. “She will never know.”

  They left Freya on the floor, forgotten for the moment, to go to Athena. “She gave her life for Emma and the baby,” Sharalyn said.

  Thor sat down beside her, lifting Athena’s head into his lap. He yanked the spear from her chest and tossed it carelessly across the room. “She did. That woman was a goddess until her last dying breath. I don’t care how human she’d become. Inside, she was still a goddess.” A single tear streaked down his face. “I never told her how much…”

  “Go ahead,” Sharalyn told him. “Tell her now.”

  Thor looked at her like she was insane. “Why? What’s the point now? She’s dead.”

  “Dead is what I do,” Sharalyn reminded him. “Tell her.”

  Thor didn’t understand why Sharalyn wanted him to talk to Athena now, but his heart was lying in his chest, broken into a million pieces. He was so full of anger, sadness and regret that he didn’t know what to do with it. He wanted to cry. He wanted to kill. He wanted it out of his body because there just wasn’t enough room for it all.

  He looked down into Athena’s face. She looked so peaceful. Even as her heart stopped, her face had been calm. She had known what was happening and she had been at peace with it. His warrior. His goddess. He stroked her golden hair away from her face and lifted her head to his lips.

  He kissed her still warm face once and then let his forehead rest against hers. “Athena,” he whispered, “I should have told you before. I should have made sure that you knew. I’m sorry I couldn’t save you. I promised to protect you and I failed. I hope that one day you can forgive me and that you’ll go into Valhalla like the warrior you are. I hope that you will go knowing that I love you.”

  Thor could hear his friends sniffling around him and he knew that they were grieving too. He didn’t understand it, but it helped to tell her that he loved her, even if she couldn’t hear him. He didn’t have the energy to look up, only cradle Athena’s body in his arms. Eventually, he would have to let her go. He would have to build a funeral pyre and set her body ablaze on the water so that she could move on to her rightful place. He had to do it, but not yet. For that moment, he just wanted to hold her for as long as he could.

  Her body was still warm.

  Thor closed his eyes and breathed in her scent. It was still so strong and her skin was still so soft under his hands. He couldn’t let her go. He didn’t want to.

  “Holy shit!” Thanatos said, forcing Thor to look up at him.

  “Oh baby, this is the good part!” Poseidon said with a grin.

  “Why are you smiling?” Thor asked, getting angry with his friends. This was no time to be happy!

  “Look,” Sharalyn said, nodding toward Athena’s body.

  Thor looked at the dead woman in his lap. At first, he didn’t see it. He looked harder and saw that where her skin had begun to turn an ashen color, was now getting brighter. The grey was being replaced with a golden glow. Soon, the glow had spread all over her body and the gaping wound in her chest began to close.

  Her body rose up from the floor and out of Thor’s lap, to hover a few inches above. Thor scooted back on his butt, unable to believe what he was seeing. Athena’s body moved upright, her toes inches from the floor. A wind that no one else felt moved around her, lifting her hair and rustling her clothes. The wound in her chest closed completely and her whole body was engulfed in golden magic.

  She was glowing from the inside out. The light was so bright that Thor had to squint his eyes, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off of her. Athena’s head snapped upright and her eyes opened. Thor’s heart thundered in his chest. Could it be?

  The light surrounding Athena grew brighter still, and then a wave of energy blasted out from her. Then the light dimmed and Athena descended back to the floor. The wind died down and the light mostly faded away. Athena looked at Thor and smiled.

  He didn’t make the decision to get up but the next thing he knew, Athena was in his arms and he was kissing her, pouring out every emotion he felt at that moment, hoping she would feel it too.

  Athena didn’t know what happened. The last thing she remembered was Loki’s spear in her chest and the next thing she knew, Thor had his arms around her and his lips on hers. He kissed her like his life depended on it, and she returned the sentiment. There was no one and nothing else in the universe, only her Norse god and his kiss.

  Someone cleared their throat.

  Thor finally let her breathe and Athena looked up to see Poseidon, Thanatos and Sharalyn all standing side by side, their hair blasted back like they’d all been hanging out of a speeding car, with matching grins on their faces.

  The room was in shambles and there was carnage everywhere. “Emma?” she asked.

  “Ares took her to safety,” Thor told her. “You saved her.”

  “The baby?” Athena asked, worry lining her face.

  “Safe,” Thor told her.

  “You did it,” Poseidon said. “You’re free.”

  Athena didn’t know what he meant at first, but then she felt it. Her power had returned. She could feel it inside of her, pulsing in time with the beat of her heart. It felt so much more powerful than she’d remembered it. “I’m free?” she repeated.

  Sharalyn grinned and nodded her head. “You sacrificed your life for the blood of your blood. You saved the baby. You broke your curse.”

  Athena looked at the people standing in the room with her and then at Thor. It was then that she realized that she didn’t care about that curse or being free. She cared about these people. She had been given another chance to have them in her life and she was not going to waste it. Not one second.

  “Hello,” a feminine voice said from the entrance to the room.

  Athena looked and saw Freya standing in the doorway. “You,” she accused.

  Freya put both of her hands up, but not to use her magic. “I mean you no harm,” she promised. “I fear that I have done something terrible.”

  “Damn right you did,” Athena agreed.

  “I thought that Loki… well, it doesn’t matter. I was lied to and I was haste to judge. I was told that Ares stole the eye and that Thor was a traitor. I believed Loki and now I see that he was lying to me. I should have known.”

  “Are you apologizing?” Thor asked with a raised brow. “Because you have to know that you can’t just waltz in here and say you’re sorry and be forgiven. Because of you, my brother, however evil he was, is dead. By my hand!”

  “Your brother is not dead,” Freya told him. “He is immortal just as we are.”

  “I smashed his skull!” Thor shouted. The pain and regret in his voice was obvious.

  “He will heal,” Freya told him. “It will take time, but I assure you, he will live.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do with him?” Sharalyn asked. “He’ll just come back and try again.”

  “I will return him to his prison. This time, he will stay,” Freya promised. She waved her hand and Loki’s body disappeared.

  “Why should we believe you?” Sharalyn demanded. “You tried to kill a baby!”

  Freya hung her head. “I was wrong. I don’t expect you to believe me. What I saw today will remain with me for the rest of eternity. I saw a powerless woman wield Mjolnir. I saw her give her life to protect another. I saw a family.

  “When I woke and found all of you in here, I saw your pain and your grief for the loss of a loved one. These are feelings that I do not understand, and yet, I find myself feeling them with you,” she paused taking a deep breath, then looked around between the Olympian
s and continued, “I give you my word as a goddess that I will not take this any further. War between our clans is futile. It is my wish that one day, I will earn your trust and we can be allies once again.”

  Freya had never known true fear, but at that moment she felt it: fear of a war brought on by her own selfish motives, aggravated by untruths.

  She waited wordlessly, glancing at each of the gods and goddesses. Finally, someone broke the dead silence of the room.

  “She’s right about one thing,” Poseidon told them, “war isn’t going to do anyone any good. Let’s get out of here.”

  Freya heaved a sigh of relief, there would be no war. But what about the war raging within herself?

  Thor held Athena tight in his arms and glared at Freya. She may have been extending an olive branch, but he wasn’t in the mood to accept it. Honestly, he wanted to crush her. But Poseidon had a better idea. Home.

  He looked back at Athena and smiled. She was the only female in all of the universe that could keep up with him and handle his attitude. She was the only one who could make him truly happy. “My place or yours?” he asked.

  “Mine,” Athena said. “I want to get out of here as fast as possible.”

  After the Olympians left Freya’s altar room, she sank to the floor with her head in her hands. She felt grief for the first time in her very long life and reminded herself of Athena’s words. She was a powerful goddess with or without Odin’s eye. She was also blessed with extraordinary magic and she would do whatever it took to make amends with Athena and hopefully Emma someday. Freya knew it wouldn’t be an easy feat, but she made a vow to herself that very day to aid the Olympians if they were ever in need. She would never again allow perceived grievances to overpower what was right and just.

  Everyone used the bridge to return to Earth and then ghosted to Athena’s apartment in New York City. Emma and Ares were already there.

  “It’s about time,” Emma said, lying back on the sofa with her hands over her belly. “He’s been pacing like a nervous horse since we left. Tell me that somebody kicked some ass up there?”

  Ares spun to meet his friends, the look on his face expectant. “There was some ass kicking,” Athena told them.

  Ares looked at how Thor had his arms around Athena and then back to his sister. “Your curse?” he asked.

  “Broken,” she said.

  “Loki?”

  “Back in his prison where he belongs,” Thor told them. They skipped the details, unwilling to relive what they had just been through. Everyone settled down and began talking excitedly to one another, but Thor couldn’t take his eyes off of Athena.

  “Can we go somewhere less crowded?” he whispered in her ear.

  Athena shivered as his breath touched her ear. “Come on,” she said, grabbing his shoulders and walking backward toward her bedroom. They ignored the catcalls and whistles all the way to their destination.

  Thor used his foot to kick the door closed once inside. He noticed that she had a king-sized bed, but that was the extent of the décor that he was aware of. Nothing else mattered as he kissed his woman with everything he had.

  Athena broke the kiss and pushed him against the bed, staring down at his scrumptious body. “I’m gonna need to see those leather briefs again and don’t forget the cape,” she commanded, smiling down at him wickedly with one knee resting between his legs on the bed.

  “Oh you mean this?” Thor smirked, then willed his battle gear to appear on his body and Athena gave him an appraising nod, conjuring a whip. “Yeah, that.” she said, then pounced, straddling his rock hard body.

  “Woman!” he demanded, clutching her hips where she sat firmly upon him.

  Athena smiled sweetly and cracked her whip. “You were saying? Shut up and kiss me!”

  In the living room, Poseidon and Thanatos brought Ares up to speed while Sharalyn did the same with Emma.

  “What the hell?” Emma asked when a loud crashing noise rattled throughout the apartment.

  “Oh lord,” Sharalyn sighed. “This is awkward.”

  “I miss sex,” Emma said sadly.

  “Not much longer,” Ares promised her.

  “But—” Emma tried to argue but Ares wasn’t having it.

  “Woman, I won’t risk hurting the baby,” he reminded her.

  A loud, rhythmic knocking vibrated the wall separating the bedroom from the living room.

  “Gross!” Emma shouted. “Ares, take me home! I’ll die of jealousy if I stay here.”

  After quickly saying their goodbyes, Ares did just that, scooping her into his arms and ghosting them both away.

  Poseidon stood, looking extremely uncomfortable. He glanced toward Thanatos and Sharalyn shifting his feet, attempting to ignore Thor and Athena, but damn. “Yeah, my wife is probably pissed. I’m out,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck just before he disappeared.

  When the moaning and screaming began to accompany the crashing and banging, Thanatos took Sharalyn’s hand and they returned to their own home as well. There was no need to worry about Athena and Thor, not since Athena’s curse was broken. No, the couple needed privacy and a lot of it.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “I don’t understand why we have to meet here,” Athena grumbled as they walked up Thirty Eighth Street to Hot Rods.

  “You’ll like this place,” Thor assured her. “The people here are very happy.”

  “I’m all about going to a gay bar,” Sharalyn said. “Seriously, we can dance and not worry about being hit on by sleazy men.”

  “I’m not sure I can dance,” Emma said, holding her belly. “This is getting ridiculous. I feel like you guys should just roll me wherever I need to go.”

  “Nonsense,” Ares told her. “You look just as stunning as the first day we met when you hit me in the head with an iron skillet.”

  Thor turned around to look at Ares in surprise. “She hit you with a skillet?”

  “Yep,” Ares said, beaming. “And that was the day I knew that she was the one for me.”

  “He just needed a little nudge from an old friend,” Poseidon said.

  “We all do sometimes,” Thanatos agreed.

  “Or a violent shove,” Sharalyn said on a laugh.

  “Hey Pixie!” a woman said from the doorway of the club. “I was wondering when you were going to come back and see me.”

  Thor looked at her in confusion. She looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her face. She was tall for a woman and her shoulders were much too wide, but she was pretty. She had very big blonde hair and paint on her face that sparkled in the light. Her eyes were drawn like a cat’s and she had a mischievous grin. “I’m sorry, do we know each other?” he finally asked her.

  “Cody,” Sharalyn called out, embracing her with a quick hug.

  “Cody?” Thor asked. When she nodded, he said, “You look… different. You look…”

  “Beautiful,” Athena said with a smile.

  “Thank you,” Cody answered. “But tonight, let’s call me Candy.” He winked at Thor.

  Thor smiled at his new friend. Cody or Candy rather, was something special all right. He didn’t care if he, or she... Either way, Thor didn't care how he dressed or what he wanted to be called. Cody was a stand-up respectable man whom Thor was honored to call his ally.

  Cody had taught Thor the meaning of true friendship and human compassion. He helped Thor when it was not his duty to do so. Cody was a warrior of the human spirit and genuine kindness. Other gods and goddesses could learn a lot from this man, his friend, who Thor now knew he would give his life to protect.

  They walked in and Candy showed them to a large, circular booth in the corner that was big enough to accommodate everyone.

  Once seated with drinks in front of them, they got down to business.

  “There are no less than ten gods running free on earth,” Ares began.

  “And let’s not forget one of them is Hades,” Thanatos added.

  “What are we gonna do?” Sha
ralyn asked to anyone and everyone.

  “Why is it our job?” Emma asked, sipping her Shirley Temple. “Why do you guys have to clean up the mess Loki made?”

  “I helped to make it,” Thor admitted. “I can’t stand by and allow the trouble I caused run free without consequences.”

  “I helped too,” Athena reminded her. “And, it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Since when do you care about the right thing?” Ares asked teasing his sister.

  “Shut it, horse-face,” Athena snarked at him.

  “I think I may have a suggestion,” Emma offered. “I don’t like it at all that you guys are going to go out looking for these gods. I hate it actually. It scares the hell out of me. But I have to keep reminding myself that you’re all gods too. It’s really one hell of a head trip. Anyway, it would make sense if you split up.

  “Thanatos and Sharalyn can look for Hades because they know him best. Poseidon knows Demeter, Persephone’s mother. She probably knows what’s going on with her, so he should seek her out.”

  Poseidon nodded in agreement, taking a long swig of Scotch.

  “Ares has already found two gods, Apollo and Aphrodite in Las Vegas, so he and Athena should go there.”

  “I’m not leaving you,” Ares reminded her, “And no one here is going to let me even if I tried.”

  Everyone looked to Emma confirming Ares’ statement. “Fine, you win. Anyone else have a better suggestion?” Emma asked.

  Thanatos finished his Scotch, then added, “Well, Hades tricked me into ghosting him from the Underworld. I believe it’s best if Sharalyn and I stay close to Poseidon just in case Hades follows Persephone.”

  “You’re right.” Poseidon agreed. “Not to mention, the asshat has probably learned his powers are waning now that he’s on earth. We’ll have a better chance of finding him together.”

  “I think it is an excellent plan,” Thor told them. “I will help Athena in her endeavors to find her relatives.” He held his over-sized beer stein up and then said, “A toast! To new family and to kicking ass!”