by G. E. White
Surina ran as quickly as she could across the Hall of Erebus. She knew well that gates didn’t work in the Underworld or any of its subdivisions; her only option was to run. Spotting another tunnel that led upward she put on another burst of speed ascending the stairs.
She pulled her smart phone out of her pocket and scowled – the powers of the gods couldn’t penetrate this place but she could still get a cell phone signal. She hit the speed-dial for Leo, growing more anxious with each step up the stairs as the phone continued to ring.
“Hello?” she heard a voice finally reply.
“Leo I’m heading back to you. I need you to get a priest there now.”
“What? Why?”
“Things went bad. We got attacked by danaids, and Quinn is now somewhere in the Underworld.”
“Danaids!” he exclaimed. “What were they doing down there?”
“No time to explain. You have to find Quinn, he’s Athena.”
“Athena?” Leo replied in shock, though quickly falling into his accustomed roll of a soldier carrying out orders. “Don’t worry, I’ll have the Doyles track him down,” Leo assured.
“There’s more,” she admitted. “I killed the danaids.”
“All of them?!”
“No, maybe twelve – it doesn’t matter, their blood is all over me.”
“Ya gotta be kidding,” he said horrified. “Has the miasma set in yet?”
“If it hasn’t it will soon. That’s why I need a priest, priestess, anyone who can perform a proper cleansing ritual.”
“Ya got it, just get here as soon as possible.”
“I will, but just in case be prepared… you know, should the worst happen.”
“Okay… see ya,” he replied before ending the call. She still had a dozen more flights of stairs to climb. The trip would probably take her another ten minutes if she kept up this speed. She could only hope that she could fight the miasma till then.
Sebastien could cleanly make out the scent of metal and gunpowder, along with the sound of a revolver being loaded as he stood next to Leo waiting for Surina to arrive. “Is that necessary?” he asked.
“Surina said to be prepared,” Leo replied.
The Seer ran a hand through his hair. “Don’t you have a tranquilizer gun or something?”
Leo shook his head, his eyes constantly flicking up to the gate Surina was to come through, “No can do. If the miasma has taken hold a tranq would barely make her flinch before she ripped one of us in two.”
Sebastien turned towards Leo’s voice, his eyes narrowed – it was the closest his cloudy eyes could focus into a glare.
“If it makes ya feel any better, I’ll aim for a leg first,” the older man conceded.
“You do that.”
Leo opened his mouth to retort but Sebastien threw up an arm demanding silence. The two men heard quick but somewhat staggered steps come from the other side of the gate. Sebastien approached the door and grasped the handle. The sound of the steps grew closer. The current incarnation of Ares raised his weapon.
“Do it,” Leo ordered and the Seer complied, pulling open the door.
Surina entered caked in the blood of the danaids, her movements slightly off kilter. Sebastien stepped away from the door to once again stand beside Leo.
Her head was down, her hands hung at her side, one still clutching her bloodied sword, the other occasionally twitching with a disturbing nervous energy. Her breaths came in heavy pants as she turned her gaze towards them, her eyes thankfully still hidden by the dark glasses.
“Surina, you okay?” Leo asked, his weapon still at the ready.
“What’s he doing here?” she ground out.
Leo stuttered out an explanation, though Sebastien didn’t appear to be upset by her tone, “You said you needed someone who could perform a cleansing ritual and he was the only one I could think of.”
“It doesn’t matter, we don’t have time.” Sebastien gripped Surina’s arm and dragged her over to the bathroom door, shoving her inside. He turned to Leo once again. “I’ve got everything ready. I can take it from here.”
“You sure?” he asked genuine concern in his voice.
Sebastien nodded. “I’m sure. Besides, she has to take everything off, glasses included.”
“She could just close her eyes,” Leo reasoned as the slighter man entered the bathroom.
“Yes, but then I doubt you would,” he quipped back, shutting the bathroom door in the man’s face.
Inside the large bathroom, Surina had dropped her weapon and now stood struggling to remove her clothes with shaky hands.
The bath behind her was sunk into the floor and already filled to the brim with water Sebastien had blessed before her arrival. Two ornate shower heads loomed over the basin pointed in crossing directions.
Hearing the rustling of clothes and Surina’s own frustrated growls Sebastien stepped forward and placed his steady hands over her fidgeting ones.
“Let me get this,” he said calmly.
“I can take off my own shirt damnit!” she snapped.
“I know you can, but right now you’re having trouble focusing, so just let me do this… I promise I won’t peek,” he joked, hoping to lighten the dire mood.
Surina gave a shaky chuckle as together they peeled off her shirt and began fumbling with her belt and pants.
“This might sound horrible,” she said as she moved to unhook her soiled bra, “But right now I am very thankful that you’re blind.”
Sebastien, having finished with her pants, moved on to her socks, “No offense taken.”
His lack of vision wasn’t something that the two of them talked about. Sebastien moved with such ease and grace it was next to impossible to tell that he was handicapped.
Surina quickly placed her glasses on the floor beside her clothes before stepping back from Sebastien to remove her underwear.
Bra and panties now joining the rest of her clothes on the floor she turned her emerald gaze to her young employer. Regardless of the fact that he was blind or the fact that this was a necessary procedure, Surina couldn’t stop the flush that flooded her cheeks. But she did have to admit it was nice to be able to meet another person’s eyes without a barrier or anything terrible happening.
“I’m getting in,” she told Sebastien, climbing down into the bath, submerging herself up to her shoulders. Sebastien kneeled at the edge of the tub, cupped the water in his hands and poured it over her head, to wash off the blood and grime.
She closed her eyes against the water. Upon entering the bathroom, she could feel the irrational anger, bloodlust and hatred rage within her to be set free, yet as she listened to Sebastien’s voice crooning out the Greek incantations for the purification rite, those negative feelings seemed to drain out of her.
Sebastien picked up a small ceremonial dagger he had placed at the edge of the tub, but paused for a moment.
“Are you feeling okay? I mean, if I do this you won’t freak-out on me, right?”
Surina nodded. “I should be okay. I feel a bit more in control.”
Sebastien dipped his head in agreement before bringing the blade to his hand. Pricking his right index finger, he turned back to the young woman. With infinite care, he smeared small amounts of his own blood on her forehead and both cheeks.
“Sanguinem in furore effuso sanguine mundantur miserationibus. Ignosco tibi, et opera eorum teque,” Sebastien said, his hand now resting on her head.
The young man pulled back giving a soft tilt of his head, gesturing her to rinse any remnants of his or the daniad’s blood from her.
Surina drained the tub, turning on both shower heads before using the soap that was left for her to finish washing up.
When finished, relief flooded her. The taint of the hatred and violence that she had contracted from the daniad’s blood was now all washed away. Had Sebastien not done what he did Surina would have soon succumbed to the miasma. The only option they would have left would be to put her down lik
e the rabid dog she would have become.
Sebastien now stood at the side of the tub, a bathrobe in one hand and her glasses in the other.
Surina bypassed both offerings and embraced her employer. “Thank you,” she said, gratitude choking her words.
She knew that Sebastien would understand exactly what she was referring to. Surina had always prided herself on her self-restraint. Of course, there were times when certain behaviors were beyond her control, but the possibility of losing her mind was a truly terrifying thought and this man had saved her from it.
Sebastien stood shocked for a moment before his arms slowly moved to return the hug.
“De nada,” he replied, heat flooding his cheeks. “But while I might not be able to see, I can still tell that you are very wet and ah, very naked.”
Surina pulled back, having forgotten her state of undress in her desire to make her gratitude known. “Sorry,” she mumbled taking the robe and glasses and hastily putting on both.
“No problem,” Sebastien said, attempting to shrug off the interaction. “I’ll leave you to finish up in here.”
“Thanks, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
“Alright,” Sebastien said the blush on his cheeks still present as he exited the bathroom.
As the door clicked shut Surina gave into the amused smile that tugged at her lips. Who would have thought that the man who knew everything, past, present and future, a man who could be such an infuriating know-it-all, could still be so innocent?
A few minutes later Surina exited the bathroom wearing the robe and glasses. Her hair, while no longer dripping wet, was still damp as it hung in waves about her shoulders.
Sebastien and Leo were in the lounge-like room, Leo in the reclining chair, Sebastien on the couch opposite of him. Each nursed a cup of coffee; while a mug made up for her sat on the table between them.
She picked it up and took the seat next to Sebastien. “Any word about Quinn?”
“Jared called to say he found him. The kid’s a little shook up and has a new goose-egg but otherwise seems fine. I told him to take Quinn back to meet the folks for the time being, as you two were dealing with your own problem. Said ya’d call him back when everything was straightened out,” Leo told her.
“And you were cool leaving him in the care of that peacock?” Surina asked Sebastien, a note of humour in her voice.
“Jared was the one who found him. Next to Hermes, Thanatos is the fastest of the gods. He’ll get him back safely,” Sebastien guaranteed her. “Just because he’s concerned with his appearance doesn’t make him a coward, or any less deadly. You’re lucky you’re on good terms with him. You really should know better than to make fun of a god.”
Surina sighed, running a hand through her hair, “I know, I just hate sitting here doing nothing… Quinn was counting on me to have his back and I almost got him killed. Not only was I starting to like the kid, but I almost inadvertently committed deicide.”
“So, Quinn is Lord Athena for sure?” Leo asked.
“I wouldn’t say it if it wasn’t true,” she said.
“Just wanted to make sure – I’ve already told the Doyles,” the God of War said, making a noise of approval and appreciation.
Over the centuries, Athena had been the only one capable of keeping up with him on the battlefield. Quinn might not abide by bloodshed, but Leo was certain that he would make a fine strategist in time.
“Anyway Quinn’s in good hands Surina; I wouldn’t worry about it,” he said.
“You wouldn’t worry about a lot of things,” Sebastien muttered under his breath.
Leo glared at the blind man but otherwise ignored him. “Plus you should take into account that you were in a very unusual situation; it’s not like you could have foreseen this.”
“Yeah, well someone should have,” she said darkly before taking a sip of her coffee.
“I told you to be on your toes this morning. As of late some of my visions have been murky. I knew something was going to happen. I just didn’t know what,” Sebastien said with a sigh.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were having trouble with your visions?” she asked.
Sebastien waved off her concern. “Because there was nothing you could do about it and it would only cause you to worry. Besides, there are two other things that concern me more at the moment.”
Leo and Surina both raised an eyebrow in curiosity, waiting silently for the Seer to elaborate.
“My first concern is the thing you had in your pocket when you first came in,” he said to Surina.
Surina pursed her lips for a moment as she tried to recall what he might be talking about. In a flash of memory she was brought back to her stroll down the tunnel before her discovery of the possible miasma infection, and the strange cuff she had found on one of the danaids.
She shuffled back to the bathroom, taking care to use a wash cloth to pick up the cuff from her soiled clothes. She returned to the main room and held out the bracelet to Sebastien, who almost recoiled from it.
“That’s it. I could sense the strange aura off of it the moment you stepped in the door. What exactly is it?”
Surina shrugged as she placed it on the table, “It’s some sort of bracelet, I found on one of the danaids… in fact I think all of them wore one. I’ve never seen anything like it. Generally, it’s just a metal cuff, not too sure what it’s made of, but it has a round dial, kind of like a watch, but there are only two settings. Notches really, at the moment its set to the side with two marks, the other side only has one.”
Sebastien bobbed his head absently at Surina’s description, “There`s something off about it, a mixture of old and new magic and something else, it feels somewhat familiar… I just can’t put my finger on it.”
“No matter what it does or how it was made, I think the bigger mystery is how did the danaids get into Erebus? We all know that Erebus is a special part of the Underworld,” Leo jumped in. “It only exists in the Second Realm and last I checked the danaids were in the first. The miasma’s made them broads bat-shit crazy; they can’t think past their next kill. They’re not smart enough to get into the second realm on their own without anyone noticing.”
Sebastien’s face turned grim. “So we just need to figure out who sent them here, how they did it and for what purpose.”
Surina pursed her lips in thought, “Well, the miasma has made them eternal like the daimons. It’s not unheard of for daimons to keep an eye on anything that can live as long as they can. Perhaps some of the local friendlies might have some info.”
The God of War snorted. “Too bad not many daimons are willing to play nice anymore. Though not like they were the most cooperative to begin with… no offense Surina.”
“None taken.”
“I wouldn’t bother with that right now. Keep an eye and an ear out for any information, but at the moment I think my second concern takes more precedent,” Sebastien said.
His assistant shifted in her seat to look at him head on, “And what could be more concerning than eternal blood thirsty savages rampaging through the Second Realm?”
“War.”
Leo’s eyes widened. “What did I do?”
“I’m not talking about what you’ve done, but what might happen,” Sebastien said before once again facing Surina. “After the theft at the Earthen Temple I warned both the Solar and Lunar Temples to be careful…”
“But?” Surina prodded.
“There was a break-in at the Solar Temple. Vega was stolen.”
“Leaving only Polaris,” she said. “Do we have any idea who this thief is?”
Sebastien rubbed at his forehead trying to stem an oncoming headache. “Well that’s the problem…”
“We have no clue?” Leo asked.
“Actually the opposite,” Sebastien countered. “In fact, both the Earthen and Solar Temples have a good idea who is behind this. Too bad it’s not the same group or person.”
“So what does that mean?” Surina
asked.
“It means that I want you to investigate it, Surina. Leo, I know you’re just a stand-in, but I want you to arrange a gate for Surina, Jared, and Quinn to Delos. Surina I want you to check out the Solar Temple while the crime scene is still fresh,” Sebastien said before taking a sip of his coffee.
“You want me to take Quinn and Jared along? Are you sure that’s a good idea?” the demi-god asked.
“You said yourself you’d have a difficult time dealing with the temples, but no one knows their politics better than you. That being said we both know you’re not the most tactful person, but Jared has enough charisma to charm the robes off a priestess of Artemis. As for Quinn, with so many gods unaccounted for we need him back in the saddle as soon as possible, so he’s going to get a crash course with some on-the-job training. Besides, Athena has always been the smartest one of us, perhaps he’ll catch something the two of you might miss.”
Surina twisted her lips in a pout that was uncommonly childish on the young woman.
“Don’t make that face at me – this is not up for discussion,” the young Seer scolded.
Surina scowled, “How did you know?”
Sebastien ignored the question and shook his head. “Anyway, it’s getting late. We should all get some sleep. Contact the Doyles and inform them that they are responsible for Quinn for the night. Surina, you and I will head back to the apartment tonight; you can pick up Jared and Quinn around noon.”
“Can I take the Phantasm?” she asked.
Sebastien gave an indulgent sigh. “I suppose.”
His assistant silently pulled her arm down in a gesture of victory.
“Don’t look so excited,” he warned, standing. “You get one scratch on it and I’ll know.”
Wandering off into the kitchenette, Sebastien went about rinsing out his mug.
“How does he do that?” Leo whispered to Surina.
“I don’t know, but I’m starting to wonder if he’s as blind as we thought.”
Sebastien’s voice drifted back to them over the sound of running water, “I heard that.”