Relics and Runes Anthology

by Heather Marie Adkins

  Anger crested at the surface, again, shoving the pity Ares had felt deep below where it belonged. “He means to kill you, Father. You know, in case you thought this was a joke.”

  “I know, son,” Zeus said, brushing the damp sand off the seat of his pants, shoulders, and any other crevice it might have gotten into. “I know he’s serious.”

  “Then why are you smirking like it’s nothing?”

  “Because,” Zeus said with a wave of his hand, “I smirk when I’m nervous. I’m scared of what else he might do to me.”

  Ares had never known his father to show any trace of fear, but perhaps he hadn’t known Zeus as well as he had thought. “I didn’t know.”

  Zeus cocked his head gently to the side. “I’m the Patriarch, always good at appearances.”

  Not going there. “What else?”

  “Pardon?”

  “I know there’s something else; there’s always something else with you. So just tell me so I know what we’re dealing with.”

  “I saw you.”

  Ares had tried to imagine what nonsense Zeus had stepped in, but he never fathomed Zeus’s secret pertained to him.

  “I’ve been watching you for a long time, now. I knew what you were planning. We were lucky to discover the blindspots, but what you were doing was putting us all at risk. I had to stop you.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I followed you to Melinda’s.”

  It was a good spell; Ares had done it numerous times and it worked every time. But it didn’t work that night and Ares had always wondered why until now. “You possessed James Stowe that’s why I was ejected from his body.”

  “I thought you would stop if you thought possession didn’t work. I thought you would give up this dangerous plan. I didn’t know you’d already possessed another.”

  “You sired Kelly.”

  “I did.”

  “This is why she hasn’t expired. Why would you do this?”

  “I’m sorry. I was only trying to save you.”

  As frustrated as Ares was about his father’s interference, he actually felt relief and gratitude, because he would have never forgiven himself if Kelly died because of a plan he never should have endeavored to enact. If it wasn’t for him, Kelly would have lived a normal, possibly mediocre but unencumbered life. Now, she was racking up a litany of offenses that would get her killed. The secret had been weighing on him and he had to fix it.

  “Father, maybe Kelly will listen to you.”

  “I think I’d better sit this one out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I have a family to think about.”

  “I can’t believe you! We’re your family, too. She is you daughter.”

  “I’ll just get in the way and make things worse.”

  “You are a sorry excuse for a—”

  “I know, I’ve never been much of an Olympian.”

  “—father, Zeus. I was going to say father.”

  “Ares…”

  “No, I’ve heard enough. You and I are done.”

  40

  May 27, 2008 evening

  Amber locked the door behind her. She was the last one to make it to the Pilate’s studio. She shrugged off her jacket while the others continued their discussion, and headed to the restrooms in the ‘staff only’ area.

  “That prick,” Corday exclaimed, “I knew there was something off about him. We played right into his hands.”

  “It was his plan all along. Get us to come to his cabin so he could get something of ours to do a location spell,” Ares stated.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Corday asked. “Prometheus is going to kill your father if we can’t prove his innocence.”

  Aphrodite, still stunned to hear about their father’s new family, said, “I’m not sure I want to help him.”

  “I don’t blame you,” Zeus said from the doorway.

  Ares face hardened. “What are you doing here?”

  “I remembered something when I,” Zeus replied, pausing to brace himself for what he was about to tell them. “I attacked the Titans, they weren’t killed. They survived my lightning bolts. I needed them gone and if lightning bolts didn’t work, I needed to trap them. So I trapped them in a chasm.”

  Aphrodite, Corday, and Ares all exchanged looks of optimism.

  “They may still be alive, if they survived. This is what started it all.” Ares surmised.

  “I’m afraid so. Son, I’m going to need the onyx stone and a little bit of that serum of yours.”

  Ares looked in his pockets, and then patted down his coat pockets. “I don’t have the stone; I must have lost it or thrown it out by mistake.”

  Amber came through the back hallway and tossed the onyx stone to Zeus, catching the tail end of the discussion. “I fished it out of the trash.”

  “You were right, son. I can’t pick and choose who to be a father to. I have to do right by you kids, and I should have owned up to what I did a long time ago. But I think I can make things right.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ares said.

  “The onyx stone is a keystone. It opens a doorway back to Cronus and your serum will allow me to tap into the last of my Olympian essence to free the Titans. Undo the mistake I made a thousand years ago.”

  “It might not work on you, Father. I don’t know what it will do to an Elysian that has already ascended.”

  “I know, son, but I have to try.” Zeus hugged Ares and Ares reciprocated, overcome with a flood of bottled up emotions: anger with his father for being the catalyst that set all of this madness into motion, and regret that he’d wasted so much time resenting his father, but mostly disavowing his sister for something she had no control over.

  Zeus downed the serum and with one word—home—the onyx keystone’s width and depth expanded. It formed a black hole, which seemed to lead nowhere until it slowly became bespeckled with an infinite number of twinkling stars, softening the opaqueness of its obsidian color to a deep plum. It was a way home and Ares unknowingly had it all along.

  Zeus stepped through and before the doorway closed on him, he said, “Take care of them, son.”

  Ares composed himself, finally finding closure with his father. Ares felt hopeful that there was a chance he could repair his relationship with his progeny. “Where’s Amber?”

  “I don’t know,” Corday answered, scanning the vacant Pilates studio, “I didn’t see her leave.”

  Ares checked the offices, the kitchenette, and the storage room for Amber. Every single place was empty. Then he opened the backdoor. “There you are.”

  Amber was sitting on a cinderblock. “I needed some air.”

  “This is huge; the Quorum will have to take Zeus’s admission and maybe we can finally be free. No more running.”

  “Do you find it difficult or does it come so naturally to lie that you lose track?”

  Ares shoulders slumped. “I thought we were moving past this, Amber.”

  “What? We have one heart to heart and you think that’s all it takes?”

  “Okay, let’s get everything out on the table,” Ares suggested, taking up a cinderblock beside her.

  “Great, you can start by answering my question.”

  “Why would you think I’m your father?”

  “You told me about the universe’s checks and balances. The Quorum polices the entire universe, enforcing the cardinal laws that revolve around equality amongst races, which means only an Elysian could possess Olympian powers without dying.”

  “How did you know it was me?” Ares asked, never denying her accusation.

  “You seem to have a vested interest. You’re protective, always hovering…it was a guess, really. But you just confirmed my suspicion.”

  “Amber…” he trailed off, finding it difficult to explain the inexplicable.

  “My dad said the DNA test confirmed his paternity.”

  “It was a spell,” he hesitated.

  “I want to know. Please, tell
me.”

  “It was a possession spell. You’re right; the ambrosial serum wouldn’t work if you weren’t an Elysian descendant. I had to sire you to make sure you survived the transformation. There was no way your mother would have been unfaithful to her husband, so I had to possess the vessel. Since Michael and I shared the same body during your conception, you inherited genetic material from both of us. Biologically, we share paternity of you.”

  “My dad blacked out on the night I was conceived. He thought he had too much to drink, but it was you. You made my mother think…” Amber felt bile rising up her esophagus. “How could you?”

  “I didn’t know—”

  “That it was sick to bed a woman under false pretenses.”

  “It’s hard to explain. It was an egregious mistake on my part that I can’t even began to justify. I’m ashamed that I made this decision without hesitation.” Ares paused, pressing his lips together in consternation. “I didn’t even give it a second thought. It felt like no big deal at the time. It was simple; I needed a vessel and an heir in a hurry. So I proceeded, staying on task, checking it off my list.

  “But I don’t know how I did it? I don’t know how I managed to do something so despicable without remorse. I’m so sick with guilt now. The worst part is all of this was done after my powers were taken from me. I was mortal.” There was no blaming his actions on his powers; it was all him. “I never thought I could be capable of doing something so terrible—so uncharacteristic of me. Yet, I can’t deny it anymore. I don't want to lie to you about this anymore.

  “I know you don’t want to hear this and I don’t know why it’s taken this long for me to feel regret and guilt, to be plagued with innumerable, sleepless nights. But if I could take it back, I would. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I am sorry.”

  Ares had said all of this with his back turned. It made it easier, not having to look Amber in the eyes while divulging such a monumental secret. Once he was done reciting everything, he found the courage to look at her, but he wished he hadn’t. She had such hatred in her eyes.

  “Amber, I—”

  “No, let’s keep going. Get it all out on the table, right?” She didn’t wait for his rebuttal. She was going to get all of her questions answered one way or another. “You never wanted to go home, did you?”

  “Of course, I did. That’s why I created the serum.”

  “Then why didn’t you take it? Why haven’t you taken it?”

  “I will once you’re pardoned.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “Where is this coming from?

  “You just told your father that you didn’t know how the serum would react to an Elysian that’s already undergone ascension. Your words, exactly, which means you would have never taken it without testing it on someone else. Which means Kelly and my ingesting the flan wasn’t an accident, was it?”

  When Ares didn’t respond, his face marked by guilt, Amber started sobbing. “We had to take the serum, right? To test it for you. And you had to make sure I was a descendant so…”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “For all these years, you didn’t know Zeus was Kelly’s father. You just found that out, today, but you let her take the serum anyway.”

  “Amber, I wasn’t myself.”

  “Kelly could have died,” Amber cried. “How do you sleep at night?”

  “I don’t.”

  Amber stood with black streams rolling down her cheeks. For weeks, she tried to figure out why Ares drank so much. Now she’d give anything not to know. It was much easier not knowing the truth. “Never speak to me again.”

  Amber teleported home where Eric was waiting.

  “I have no one to turn to; no one to trust; no one to help me get Kelly back.” She tore sheets of paper towels from the roll and dabbed at her eyes.

  Eric didn’t respond, but Amber immediately saw to it to amend her statement. “You know what I mean, like, Olympian help.”

  But Eric didn’t take umbrage, he knew her heart and that she trusted him. She needed assistance of the supernatural nature and those who had possession of it left much to be questioned. “What about Corday? She’s always been reliable.”

  “No, she can’t be trusted, either.”

  “Since when?”

  “Since this,” Amber said, producing a folded up piece of paper.

  Eric unfolded it. It took a moment to figure out what he was looking at. “Kelly’s transcript,” he said with misapprehension.

  “Look at the guidance counselor’s name.”

  It read C. Morgan. “Amber, this doesn’t prove anything.”

  “Except Corday pretended that her introduction at Kelly’s house was the first time she’d met me. But she’s been watching Kelly since high school, or maybe even longer. Kelly went to high school in Milwaukee and Corday was her guidance counselor there, too, while residing in Carrington? Think about it. Corday has never been too far behind. She’s been watching Kelly all this time and if she’s always been close by Kelly there has to be a reason for that. Like, she knew Kelly ingested the serum and was waiting to see if Kelly’s powers had developed.”

  “You think Ares had Corday keeping tabs on Kelly? I don’t understand. Both of you ingested the serum. So why did Corday follow Kelly and not you?”

  “Because they didn't know Kelly was an Elysian ascendant. They only knew of Kelly’s nephilim heritage at the time. I'm willing to bet they thought she wouldn't survive the change.”

  “Maybe Corday was protecting her or keeping an eye on her to make sure the change didn’t kill her.”

  Amber stood up so abruptly that she knocked the kitchen chair to the floor.

  “Okay, okay,” Eric said, trying to placate her. “Forget about her for a second. I think you should air things out with Ares. Try again, I mean.”

  “What is it with you? Whose side are you on?”

  “Yours, of course.”

  “Then why do you keep defending him?”

  “Because you didn’t see him that night you used temporal projection for the first time. When you summoned him, he was scared for you. He barely oriented himself before he saw you and rushed to your side to pull you back. He didn’t hesitate; he just acted as if your well-being was all that mattered. And if you think it was a front for me, it wasn’t. I was in our bedroom. I saw him, but he didn’t even know I was there.”

  Amber took this all in. She remembered Ares urging her to breathe, the earnest expression of his eyes when he saw to it that she was safe. She’d almost died, but Ares pulled her back.

  “I know he’s done some questionable things, but I do think he really cares about you. Hear him out, let him explain.”

  Amber gave Eric’s hand a squeeze and called Ares.

  41

  May 27, 2008 night

  Ares walked towards her, and exclaimed, “Amber.”

  She held up her hands. “Hold on. This doesn’t change anything. I still don’t trust you, but I trust Eric and he seems to think I should at least listen to what you have to say.”

  A small part of her still felt conflicted about disclosing any more information, but her heart told her to listen to Eric.

  “I have to tell you something. I don’t know why I feel bad about it, “Amber said, shuffling from side to side, “but I do. I stole your onyx keystone. That’s why I had it back there.”

  “Why?”

  “Because you always lie. I thought if I had something that belonged to you, maybe I’d see something…and I did.”

  As soon as she touched the keystone, it transported her to Cronus, where Zeus sat at the helm of a conference table. A woman beside him counseled him.

  “We can't allow a Titan to sit on the council, they're unpredictable,” Zeus said.

  “No, we can't but what are you going to do about them?” the woman asked.

  “Nothing, what can I do?”

  “As an Elysian, your hands were tied, but you're an Olympian now and a leader. You can ge
t rid of them.”

  “No, the Quorum would rain down on me. I'd never see my family, again.”

  She gave him a cynical look. “What Quorum? There's no such thing, just a fable to keep us in line. You could take care of our problem and I guarantee you'll live to tell the tale.”

  “How can you know that without a doubt?”

  “I helped you ascend, didn't I?” That, she did. “Trust me, I'll be by your side til the end.”

  The vision blurred, Amber's throat locked up. She’d let go of the onyx keystone to snap the tether. The blackness receded, and she could almost feel her lungs closing up again as she relived the vision.

  “Ares, it wasn't Zeus's idea. Someone pulled his strings. It was a woman with black, curly hair.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I saw it...in a projection.”

  Ares pulled out the device, Finneus had given to him with stored pictures of the Quorum. It never crossed his mind to show Amber the pictures because he didn't think she could possibly know what any of them looked like. However, projection changed things.

  He depressed the power source and an array of celestial faces floated in the air. “Do you recognize anyone?”

  He almost expected her to select Finneus's picture, but she bypassed him and pointed to a picture of a woman with dark hair swept up in a graceful up do, bountiful curls cascading down over her right shoulder, bright blue eyes stood out in contrast against her creamy, sienna complexion. “That's her.”

  Ares looked at the woman, jarring his own memory. “That's Athena; she sat on the council and became an Olympian just before my father. I can't believe I overlooked this.”

  “So what's she doing on the Quorum's roster?” Amber asked.

  “Good question. Finneus, if you are watching or you can hear me, I really need to talk to you.”

  Finneus was watching; he had forty-five minutes left on his shift, but if he left prematurely he would leave the quadrants unattended.

  Creator forgive me, he thought, locking the door behind him.

  He went straight to Conference Room three where the astral projection pods were stored. If anyone questioned the unscheduled trip, he'd improvise, stating he needed additional empirical data to close his Cronus case.