“There must be a reason, but you keep so much to yourself. I want to trust you, but it seems like your holding—”
He held up a hand in protest. “You have questions, but I’m still hung-over and I’m not answering anymore questions until I’ve had some coffee.”
“But, I’m not—”
“Cof-fee.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“No, it’s early and I need caffeine if I’m to withstand another barrage of interrogation.”
“Fine,” she conceded. “You’re buying.”
“I’m happy to oblige,” he said, making a gesture for her to precede him. “After you, Amber, it’s your town. I’m sure you know where to get the best cup of coffee.”
“Yes, I know a place not too far from here.”
She started walking down the street towards the specialty coffee shop. “You’re not off the hook,” she rattled off, looking at him askance. “I’m serious. I can’t trust you until I know everything.”
“You are persistent,” Marcus said, mentally noting the trait they both shared.
“Well, I’m okay with that,” she hitched her head forward. “The coffee shop’s just past the cleaners.
“Oh…okay,” he mumbled as he turned to the newspaper stand behind her and grabbed a paper.
“What’s wrong?”
“Act natural. I think we’re being watched.”
“Oh,” she said, careening her neck to scan the shops and businesses that lined the streets.
“No sudden movements,” he calmly said, making eye contact with her. “How do you feel? Are you sensing anything?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. It’s hard to concentrate under duress.”
“Try. Honing your sense of our kind could save your life.”
Closing her eyes, she blocked out the sounds to focus. After a few seconds, she said, “It’s no use. I don’t feel anything except my toes feel kind of numb, but it’s probably from all the walking.”
His eyes shifted behind her. “There. Across the street,” he said, advancing in that direction.
“Wait, we don’t know what’s over there.”
“All the more reason to find out.”
He stopped in front of the entrance of a Pilate’s studio. Before entering the studio, he gave a quick discrete look around for onlookers. Inside, a woman was bent over stretching on a mat when he grabbed her arm sharply and pulled her upright.
“What are you doing?” The woman cried out, “Let go of me.”
“This is Vanessa, the Pilates instructor.” Amber said.
“No,” Ares said adamantly, “this is my sister, Aphrodite.”
“Oh, um, she’s—” Amber started, but could not find the words to speak.
“She’s been watching you, using Pilates as a cover,” Ares surmised.
Vanessa struggled in his grasp. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve been looking out for her.”
“Oh, sleuthing from the shadows? Find anything of interest?”
Through clenched teeth, Aphrodite said, “It’s easier to catch people in the act when one remains unseen.”
“It’s not your style to hide. You’re not one to shy away from the limelight.”
“Like I said, it’s more effective to be unseen and unheard.”
“And you expect me to believe you haven’t been following Amber to hurt her?”
“For goodness sake, Ares, if I wanted to harm her don’t you think I would have done so by now?”
“Then why haven’t you shown yourself sooner?”
“Because you’re still angry and I thought with time you’d remember.”
“Remember what…the fact that you abandoned me.”
“I didn’t abandon you. I was hoping that you’d see things didn’t happen as you remember.”
“You’re going to explain why you vanished? This should be good,” Ares said crossing his arms.
“Ares, you were so upset when our line rose as Olympians and never returned for you. I never meant to stay in Olympus.”
Ares shook his head, his ire rising as she recited a list of reasons which sounded more like excuses to him.
In spite of his opposition, she persisted. “Ares, I worked tirelessly to reach ascension not to leave you, but to be able to pass along the knowledge and keep you from descending into the Underworld.”
“Well you sure as hell never came back. So what happened?”
Aphrodite raked a hand through thick, beautiful auburn hair. Mystified and unable to make sense of it herself, she said, “It’s hard to explain.”
“Right,” Ares remarked, walking away.
“Kinda harsh. Don’t you think?” Amber commented.
“No. Trust me, Amber. She deserves it.”
“I don’t know your history with Aphrodite and I may be out of line in saying so, but we need her.”
He smiled and capped her shoulders, his anger subsiding. “I know. You’re probably right. I’ll play nice.”
“Wait,” Aphrodite said, steeling herself. “If nothing else, you owe me.”
“For what? You were in the wind.”
“1968 Wyoming.”
He blinked rapidly as recognition smoothed the deep lines across his forehead.
“Good, you remember.”
“Why are you here?” Ares asked, disregarding the leverage she seemed to think she held over him. Playing nice was off the table.
“Our people have gone missing.”
“Well, I'm not sure why you came to me. The only ones I'm in contact with are Corday and Harry.”
“When did you last speak to Harry?”
“Monday.” He paused to think about it. “Last week, maybe. I don't know, but it's not abnormal for Harry to take his sweet time calling me back. Maybe the others just don't want to talk to you.”
“No,” Aphrodite said with complete certainty. “Everyone always check in every Monday.”
“Who calls you?” Amber asked.
“All of them. Well, the ones from the third generation. There are two generations of ascendant races that precede us. The Protogenoi and the Titans. We were among the third generation to ascend—the Olympians—and when we were casted out our numbers amounted to seventy-eight.”
Amber was flabbergasted by the statistic. "You're saying seventy-eight Olympians call you every week?”
“No,” Aphrodite said somberly, “Only seventy-eight survived the fall, but some decided to take their chances on their own. Now, only fifty-seven remain who contact me weekly.”
“They must think highly of you to diligently check in with you.”
Ares scoffed.
Ignoring him, Aphrodite replied, “We look out for one another. It's been that way for the last forty years, which is way we should work together.”
“Okay, so what now? Where do we go from here?” Amber asked.
“Amber, I’ll need your help making calls,” Aphrodite responded. “Ares, keep calling Harry.”
“If I keep calling him, he’ll assume the worst and go deeper into hiding,” Ares protested.
“For goodness sake, just do it, Ares. Amber, notify me as soon as you get anything on Kelly.”
Amber quipped, "Somebody likes to delegate.”
“We'll reconvene tomorrow with our findings,” Aphrodite said without waiting for a consensus from them.
Ares was already outside when he realized Amber wasn’t behind him. He casted a look at her and she held up a finger in a one second motion. “Hey, do you think you can show me projection?”
“Sorry, Amber, I'm no good with projection. Ask Ares; he's an expert in that area.”
“Oh-okay. Yeah, I'll do that.”
30
May 23, 2008
Eric entered the Pilates' studio, but remained at the entrance while he searched through the sea of Pilate enthusiasts standing elbow to elbow eager to work out. A waving hand, in the background, caught his eye. It was Amber sitting at the edge of the stage.
“Hey you,” Amber said as he approached her.
“Hey yourself.” Eric pulled a necklace from his jacket pocket. “Hold up your hair.”
She obliged, turning so that her back was towards him as he fastened it around her neck. She stared at the turquoise cat's eye in awe. Stroking it, she said, “It's beautiful.”
“I knew you wouldn't feel like yourself without it.”
She kissed his cheek and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Thank you, but what's the occasion?”
Taken aback, he pulled away from her embrace so he could see her eyes. “What do you mean? This is from your mom.”
Amber smiled. “Who?”
“Guys, let's roll.” Aphrodite said, sauntering out of her office.
Amber gave Eric two pats on the shoulder and grabbed her backpack. “You heard the boss lady. Time to go.”
As Amber and Eric made their way to their car, Amber bumped into a man on the crowded street of Saxton Avenue.
“I'm sorry,” she said, making eye contact with the man. “Hey, have we met?”
“Oh shit, it's you,” the man said, fumbling for his keys. “I'm sorry, lady. I mean, Goddess.” Holding his bandaged hand, he took off before she had a chance to respond.
Amber got her bearings while she tried to recall where she'd seen him.
“What was that all about?” Eric asked.
“Nooo,” Amber said, “It can't be.”
Aphrodite pulled up in a hatchback. “You okay, hon?”
“Yes, everything's fine,” Amber replied, squeezing Eric's hand to signal a silent accord.
“Well, hop in. I've got a lead on an Olympian.”
“Are Ares and Corday coming?” Eric asked.
“Yes, I'm picking them up on the way.”
“Then, we'll just follow behind you in our car. No sense in all of us piling into one car if we don't have to, right?”
“Good point. Well, hurry up.”
He nodded and hustled Amber to his car parked a few vehicles back.
As they pulled up behind Aphrodite, he said, “I take it, you wanted to speak in private?” They drove in silence for a bit until Eric insisted on bringing it up again. “He was a nut, right? The ramblings of a mad man?”
Amber leaned forward, burying her face in the palm of her hands. “I wish it were that simple."
“He was terrified of you—”
“Not helping.”
“I'm sorry. With everything that's going on, when did you run into him?”
Aggravated, she sat up and banged her head against the head rest. "It was the night of the Blissview riot.”
“He was there?”
“I know you're trying to help, but I can't talk about this right now. We've got too much going on. This can wait,” she said, brushing the hair out of her face, although she should have left it alone. She didn’t want him to know she was crying.
“Amber, you can talk to me. There's nothing more important to me than you.”
“I know and I love you for it, but, really, I'm fine.”
For the next twenty minutes, Amber turned up the radio to pass the time and to deter Eric from anymore heart to hearts. They passed staple landmarks every mile or so. The diner, to their left, was lit with a neon light.
“Eric, pull in at this diner,” Amber instructed. She jumped out of the car, shouting over her shoulder, “Tell Aphrodite to turn around and meet us here.”
She walked through the gas station surreptitiously, wary of her surroundings. She didn't know who she was looking for, but she felt a strong presence emanating from this building. With so many of their kind gone missing, she felt obligated to help find them. It couldn't be coincidental that the majority of them were mysteriously missing. If the Quorum was on their heels, then they had to act as a unit, and it wouldn't hurt to have an extra set of hands.
“Amber, what's with the detour?” Aphrodite asked with Ares and Corday in tow.
“Don't you feel it?”
“Feel what, Amber?” Eric asked.
“There's an Elysian here.”
The sense of their own kind was the one inherent attribute they all maintained after the fall, but even that was starting to abate.
Amber signaled for them to follow her. Since the aisles were not conducive to accommodating large groups, they all filed in order with Ares at the end, trailing behind Corday. They crossed over to the restaurant side of the establishment.
Two kids—a girl and boy—could be heard, squabbling over something one aisle over. Ares looked at the circular surveillance mirror positioned on the ceiling, at the corner of the aisle, and watched as the boy broke out in a sprint with a little girl not far behind. Ares smiled, thinking they must be brother and sister. The boy—slightly taller than the girl—ran backwards to face her, showing her the red ribbon he had swiped from her hair not two minutes earlier. The mini duo reminded him of his own sister and a time back in 949 A.D. when they too would squabble over silly things and race one another.
“I bet I can run faster than you,” Corday challenged.
“Very unlikely. I can run as fast as Hermes! You’d never be able to keep up.” Ares countered.
She rolled her eyes. “Care to make a wager?”
“Sure. What are the terms, Lil one?”
“If I win you’ll have to stop calling me Lil one. I’m not that much younger than you.”
He smirked. “Funny, I would think you’d ask me to refrain from calling you Discord.”
“Even though you were making fun of my laugh when you nicknamed me Discord, I’ve grown to like it.”
“Fair enough.”
“I’m not done.”
“Oh, there’s more?”
“Yes, if I win, then you’ll have to surrender your onyx stone.”
“What onyx stone?” Ares asked as he stroked said stone in his pocket. Of course, he had known to which stone she was referring, but its sentimental value was great and he wasn’t sure if he could part with it. Not even for her.
“Why do you want it? It’s just a silly stone.”
“I wanted something to keep to remind me of you in case I don’t ascend.”
“Why would you say such a thing? Of course, you’re going to ascend. We both will.”
“You don’t know that with certainty, Ares. I’m sure you’ll ascend, because almost every member of your family has ascended. So the probability of you ascending is much more substantial than mine since three of my relatives have descended. I’m simply saying if I can’t figure out how to do it, then I wanted your stone to give me comfort and protect me when I start feeling despair and loneliness without your company.”
He gave her a pensive look as he mulled over her thoughts. “No, I can’t do it.”
“What do you mean no? You would deny me this one thing?”
“No, I’m not going to give it to you because you won’t need it. I’m not leaving you and we’ll figure out how to ascend together. It can’t be that hard if my vapid sister, Aphrodite, managed to figure it out. If she can do it, then so can we. Together.” He said as he ruffled her beautiful head of hair into a tangled bird’s nest.
“Really, Ares? I’m too old for that.”
Aphrodite was the latest amongst his relatives to achieve ascension, but whoever said blood was thicker than water had it wrong. Here, he had five relatives who had managed to ascend and do you think any of them came back to help him? No, not one.
They knew what would happen if he didn’t become an Olympian and yet they couldn’t be bothered to forgo a few minutes of their new lives to assist him. Ares was nothing, if not loyal, and he wouldn’t forget how quickly his family had left him high and dry.
His father, Zeus, was the first, then, Hera, Hephaestus, Apollo, and now Aphrodite. Ares had not been confounded by Zeus’s failure to return, because he had always been absent throughout his children’s lives. Ares was no exception, but like most young boys, he yearned for his father’s approval.
Zeus had been ap
pointed Division Leader of the Northern Region of Cronus, so he had to attend numerous council meetings which had monopolized the majority of his time. He had spent a great deal of his time strategizing about fortifying their regions and strengthening the community’s economic welfare. Although his leadership involvement was admirable, his neglect towards his family was deplorable. Even if inadvertent, it was a difficult offense to forgive.
The more involved Zeus became with his leadership duties, the more detached he became from his family. The sad thing about it was he had seemed completely oblivious to his actions. He had good intentions, but was just plain clueless. Even when he was home with his family, he never really seemed present. His mind had always been occupied elsewhere.
At first, Ares had felt inadequate somehow as if he wasn’t measuring up to his father’s expectations. However, even when he had outperformed all of his competitors and had arisen as the victor, his efforts went unnoticed.
So Ares had concluded his dad didn’t care about him and consequently adopted an indifferent attitude towards his father. At least this way his pain was much less significant when he blocked out any emotions regarding his dad. His dad never acknowledged Ares when he had his corporeal body, so it really wasn’t all that shocking when Zeus never returned.
But when his mother had abandoned him after ascension, Ares had felt as if he had been impaled by a bed of rusted nails. His mother’s love was unbending and she had reared him to be loving, loyal, and altruistic towards others. Most importantly, she had always instilled in him the values of family. She told him to look after his brothers and sisters, so her departure affected him the most. Her betrayal was abysmal and her words now lacked the gravity and resonance it once carried with him. He couldn’t fathom why he had followed her rules and instructions as if they were laws by which to abide if she couldn’t stand by her own beliefs.
By the time his siblings had ascended and followed suit, he had been depleted of any emotional attachment for his family. He would have forsaken the idea of family altogether if it had not been for Corday.
Sure, her following him around was irksome at times, but he had come to love her as a sister. He liked training her with weapons. She’d become quite adept with a sword, and deadly with a bow and arrow.
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