Hera, Queen of Gods (Goddess Unbound)

by Thomas, T. D.

  So was the giant.

  But it was far too large to fit through the doorway. Instead, it slammed into building with all its might.

  The side of the building began to cave. Cracks spread all over the walls of the room we were in. It wouldn’t last long. And then we’d be next.

  The giant reached into the doorway, trying desperately to catch one of us. But we were all pressed against the far side of the room. All except Zeus. He’d grabbed a metal folding chair that was leaning against the wall, and he smashed it against the giant’s arm with all the force he could muster. I shivered, just thinking of that force.

  There was a fantastic snapping sound, and the giant’s arm bent at an impossible angle, hanging limp. The giant howled in pain and fury.

  “Go, go, go!” Zeus yelled, dropping the mangled chair and barreling toward us.

  I quickly scrambled to my feet and threw the hallway door open, plunging deeper into the building. Everyone followed, with Zeus close behind, threatening to trample us all.

  The building shook again.

  “We don’t have much time,” I warned.

  “What was that thing?” Justin demanded. “Will somebody just tell me what’s going on?”

  “Out the front door,” Athena suggested, ignoring Justin.

  “We can’t just leave that thing on the loose,” Zeus growled. He rubbed his knuckles.

  “We’ll need more than our powers if we’re going to kill that thing,” Athena insisted.

  “Powers? What are you talking about?” Justin demanded. “This isn’t a game anymore!”

  “We need weapons,” Zeus realized.

  Another slam. The unmistakable sounds of glass shattering, wood splintering, metal groaning.

  “How far is the museum?” I asked Justin breathlessly. “If there’s power there, we might be able to boost our own powers.”

  Justin stared at me. He opened his mouth to argue, but seeing the look in my eyes, thought better of it. “Not far. Five minutes, maybe.”

  “We can make it,” I said.

  Slam. And then a roar. The roar of a wall collapsing. We were out of time.

  “Run!” Zeus commanded.

  We exploded out of the front door and ran toward the museum with Justin in the lead and Zeus carrying Athena in his arms.

  Cars and streets flew by. But still no sign of any people.

  The museum soon loomed before us. But when Justin hauled on the doors, they refused to budge. Locked.

  “We’re too late,” Justin sighed. “It’s closed. Now would someone please just--”

  “It’s not closed for us,” Zeus interrupted.

  He dropped Athena into Hermes’s arms, and grabbed the doors.

  “Hurry,” I warned.

  The giant couldn’t be far. When it demolished the building, it’d realize we weren’t there, and then it’d come for us.

  Zeus pulled on the doors, throwing his weight back and letting out a battle cry that had, once upon a time, literally melted men’s bones. The doors screeched in protest, but they jerked open, catapulting Zeus backward. He crashed to the ground, but not before he smashed into my shoulder, spinning me around and then knocking me down on top of him.

  Luckily, he broke my fall.

  “No more pomegranates for you,” he groaned.

  I smiled, and then I elbowed him in the jaw. It hurt me a lot more than him, but it delivered the message.

  I stood up, shoving him back down when he tried to get to his feet. Then I turned and strode into the museum.

  “Dude, how’d you do that?” Justin asked, as the others followed me inside. “What the hell is going on? What is that thing?”

  “I’ll explain later. I promise. Now, take us to the exhibit,” I said. “We don’t have much time before it figures out where we are.”

  His jaw clenched. There was fight in his eyes. I wouldn’t be able to put him off forever. But, for now, he relented and led us to a room lined with tall, scalloped columns like a temple. It even had a crude altar in front. My heart leapt when I saw it. But when I rushed to it, it was just a map of the exhibit.

  “Answer time,” Justin told me firmly.

  “Later,” Zeus grumbled. “We need weapons if we're going to fight.”

  “Fight what?” Justin demanded. “What was that?”

  “That was a giant. We’re real gods. There is no scholarship program. We made that up. It’s all real,” I replied.

  “Back to saving our lives,” Hermes said.

  We all looked at Athena.

  “I’m not sure,” she admitted quietly. Her words sounded forced, like it was hard for her to even speak. She looked pale.

  “We should be able to sense anything with power,” she finished.

  I’d never heard her sound so weak. Her eyes drooped, but she forced them back open. She was fading. Fast. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

  “She needs help,” Demeter murmured.

  “She needs Apollo,” I said.

  I drew my power into my eyes until they became dazzling, careening pools of coloured lights. I caught Athena’s weary gaze.

  “Rest. Heal,” I instructed.

  I had no real knowledge of medicine. Mortal bodies had never interested me before. Now, all of a sudden, they were incredibly important.

  I couldn’t heal her body, but my powers spoke to her mind, and on some level, her mind controlled her body. I didn’t know how much good it’d do, but I hoped it’d buy her some time. Enough time for Apollo to return and heal her.

  “You hypnotize people,” Justin realized.

  I turned to him. It was time. No more putting it off. He had one chance. One chance to accept all of this. Otherwise, he’d snap. And I’d erase his mind before I let that happen. It was the least I could do after he’d saved me.

  It wasn’t fair. His world was turning upside-down, and that wasn’t supposed to happen. There were Rules. Necessity. He shouldn’t have to deal with any of this.

  “Yes,” I admitted. “I can control the minds of mortals.”

  “Because you’re a god,” Justin continued.

  “Yes,” I replied. “I’m a god. I borrowed the body of this person, someone who went to your school, so I could come to your world and save it.”

  “Save it. From monsters. Like that thing that’s chasing us,” he said. “Because monsters are real. Like gods.”

  “Yes,” I answered. “You’ve seen it for yourself.”

  I couldn’t tell how well he was taking this. It was easy for him to say it. Mortals said things all the time. But accepting it, really believing it, that was entirely different. And for once, Justin’s feelings weren’t in his eyes. He was hiding what he was really thinking and feeling from me. Even Zeus had never been able to do that.

  “Your world really is in danger,” I continued. “Terrible danger. And you need to help us figure this all out before it’s too late. But, if you need more proof . . .”

  I looked at Hermes. He grinned and bowed.

  “Now you see me?” His body slowly faded away until only his grin remained. Then, it too vanished. “Now you don’t.”

  Justin’s jaw dropped.

  “Demeter,” I instructed. “Quickly.”

  My sister bowed her head and walked over to a potted plant. She raised her arms, and the plant exploded from its pot, growing taller and taller until it reached the ceiling.

  “Touch it,” I said. “It’s real. Like everything else I’ve told you. I will never lie to you, Justin. I never lie to anyone.”

  Shaking, he went over and ran his hands along the massive plant.

  “That leaves me,” Zeus said. And, with that, he slammed his fist into the wall, leaving a gaping hole. He pulled out a piece of brick and smashed himself in the face with it. He grinned. He always was a show-off.

  I rolled my eyes. “You already know my power. Athena is a telepath. Artemis is a shape-shifter and Apollo is a healer.”

  “Gods can only bring one power to the mortal
bodies they borrow,” Demeter explained. “Your bodies just can’t contain the full power of a god.”

  “That makes sense.” Justin nodded. “It all makes sense now. Gods. Powers. Monsters. Anything else?”

  “Well, there’s magick--” Hermes started.

  “I think that’s enough for now,” I interrupted, giving Hermes a warning look.

  “Yeah,” Justin said. “That’s enough.”

  And then he fainted.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “He’ll be fine,” Demeter assured me. “It’s just shock. Probably a combination of the crash, and you know, having his reality blown apart.”

  “Keep an eye on him,” I said. “Right now, I’m more worried about Athena. She’s resting. But it’s not just her leg. Something else is wrong. Inside her body. We need Apollo. Now.”

  “Do you think he and Artemis were attacked, too?” Zeus asked.

  “Maybe,” I admitted. “But we can’t worry about them now. We have to take care of that giant first.”

  Hermes re-appeared beside us. “No luck with weapons,” he said.

  “What do you mean?” I demanded. “There must be something here.”

  The exhibits around us were laden with artifacts from the height of ancient Greece. Swords and shields, spears and knives, religious paraphernalia. Something should’ve had a residue of power after being used in our rites, an echo of energy that lingered on, even millennia later.

  “They’ve been drained,” Hermes said gravely. “Someone beat us here.”

  I closed my eyes. He was right. I felt nothing here. I’d hoped, somehow, that he might pick up something I’d missed. But there was nothing. Nothing.

  “That explains how someone’s been summoning giants,” Zeus said.

  “And how they got the Fates,” I realized. I gritted my teeth. I should’ve realized this sooner. “There were some very powerful things here. If all that power was taken somehow, pooled . . .”

  “Who could do something like that?” Zeus asked.

  “Like Athena told us, there are smarter monsters than giants,” I reminded him. “Titans, for one.”

  Zeus’s eyes went wide.

  “Justin’s waking up,” Demeter interjected.

  I followed her to where Justin was groggily sitting up. I readied my power. If necessary, I’d wipe his memory. Hopefully he could disappear before the giant found us.

  But when his eyes opened, I let the power go. His eyes were different somehow. Something had changed. No. Not changed. Awakened.

  “Now, Hera. Wipe his mind,” Zeus said.

  I ignored him. “Justin?”

  He sat up. His eyes never left mine. “This isn’t a dream or a joke, is it? This is all real. You’re all real.”

  “Yes,” I said.

  Justin took a deep breath. His mind was whirring. I could almost feel it.

  “The giant’ll be here soon,” Hermes warned. “It had to follow our trail, but I wouldn’t bet on that taking much longer.”

  “What difference does it make?” Zeus fumed as he paced. “We have no weapons! Our powers are useless!”

  “Can’t you just get the other gods to help?” Justin suggested.

  He was admitting this was all real. Impressive. Most mortals ran from truths they weren’t ready to accept. They didn’t run into them.

  “We can’t ask the others for help,” I answered. “To come to your world, we have to sever our connection to our world. We can’t have it both ways. It’s either the mortal world or the Heavens, not both.”

  “And the others have to run everything by themselves while we’re here,” Demeter added. “They have their hands full.”

  “Plus the cloud blotting out this town from the Heavens makes intervention impossible,” Zeus rumbled.

  A colossal smash resounded from the entrance of the museum.

  “The giant!” Hermes said.

  Zeus scooped up Athena.

  “Time to run,” Zeus said bitterly. “Again.”

  We dashed toward the rear of the museum, just as the giant plowed into view behind us, crashing through exhibits and bulldozing pillars. Catching sight of us, it roared in excitement and lunged forward, tearing through the decorative columns like tissue paper.

  My stomach churned. I was afraid. I was a goddess. The Queen of Gods. I was above fear. At least I was supposed to be.

  But fear gave me adrenaline, and adrenaline gave me speed. Before long, I was running at the front with Zeus. We reached the end of the hall, and a pair of doors marked “Authorized Personnel Only.”

  Locked. Of course.

  I spun around. My heart clenched at what I saw. The giant was at the end of the hallway. It’d reach us in seconds.

  Demeter stopped halfway down the hall. She began to gesture, and the potted plants on either side of the hall swelled, exploding upward and outward, swinging their enormous branches at the giant.

  But even imbued with divine power, the plants were no match for the juggernaut. Their blows glanced off it harmlessly, and with a roar, the giant smashed to one side, then the other, obliterating them. Demeter turned to run--but it was too late. The giant swung one of its massive arms and slammed her into the wall. She crumpled to the ground.

  I screamed.

  Hermes dashed to Demeter. The giant swung at him, but Hermes leapt out of the way and vanished. It roared in fury.

  Demeter’s body lifted into the air and began to head toward us at breakneck speed. Hermes was running as fast as he could. He’d almost reached us when the giant spotted them and hurled a nearby piece of rubble.

  The clump of rock crashed into Hermes’s back. He re-appeared, flying through the air with Demeter still in his arms, and then they both crashed down onto the floor.

  The giant surged forward to finish them off.

  Without thinking, I ran to them.

  The giant swung at me before I had a chance to summon my power. I narrowly avoided the blow, hurling myself to the side. I landed painfully, but forced myself up. I ducked another clumsy swing, and ran toward the monster.

  Then I realized that the giant wasn’t aiming at all. It was just swinging wildly, hoping to hit me. It refused to look directly at me.

  It knew about my powers.

  I smiled. I scooped up a chunk of wood as I ran, dodging another swing, and when I reached the giant, I jumped as high as I could. I thrust the wood like a spear at the giant’s belly, but it only scratched the monster.

  Still, the giant bellowed, more in surprise than pain, and looked down.

  It realized its mistake too late. My power was already in my eyes. I would end this. I would save us all.

  But nothing happened.

  I wasn’t sure who was more shocked: the giant or me. But I recovered quicker. I snatched the piece of wood embedded in the giant’s belly and hurled it as hard as I could. I wasn’t particularly strong, and my aim wasn’t particularly good. But, at this distance, it didn’t matter.

  The wood lodged itself deeply in the giant’s right eye. The giant howled.

  As I turned to run, I saw Zeus was already running toward me. His eyes were locked on the giant. His body screamed for battle. He wanted blood.

  “Get the others!” I shouted.

  At first, I was sure he wouldn’t listen. He was lost in bloodlust. But when he reached Hermes and Demeter, he stopped and dragged them away.

  I ran. The giant wanted me now. It wanted revenge. The others were safe. Whatever else happened, at least I’d done that much.

  I reached the end of the hall and hauled on the doors. They were still locked. Zeus must’ve stopped working on them to save Demeter and Hermes.

  I was trapped. The giant was right behind me. Before I could react, it raised both enormous fists and brought them down on me with all the force it could muster.

  I should’ve been crushed. But I was fine. Someone had pulled me out of the way.

  Justin.

  Justin had saved me. Again.

  The giant wa
s staring in disbelief at the spot where I’d been standing.

  “I need the doors opened!” I told Justin. I pushed him toward them just as the giant spotted us and swung. I managed to throw myself backward, narrowly avoiding the strike.

  Justin hurled himself at the doors. He struck them hard, and stumbled backward. But the doors didn’t budge. If Zeus couldn’t open them, what hope did a mortal have?

  The giant glared at me, blind to everything and everybody else. His remaining eye was crazed with vengeance. And I was running out of luck. I couldn’t dodge forever.

  ‘Use it,’ I heard Athena’s voice in my mind. She was barely a whisper. She sounded exhausted.

  The giant swung again. And I knew what I had to do.

  I ran to the doors. The giant pivoted as it swung, almost smashing me. The ground trembled with the force of the blow. I kept running.

  Justin stared at me. “What’re you doing?”

  “Just get out of here!” I cried.

  I shoved him away from the doors. Well, I tried. He didn’t budge. But the look in my eyes did what my body couldn’t. Confused, Justin obediently backed away from the doors.

  The giant swung again. I pushed myself backward until I was pressed flat against the doors. Its fist passed a hair’s breadth in front of me, the air whipping my hair into my face.

  Still, I didn’t move. I just waited. There’d be no margin for error. No second chance.

  Sure it had finally cornered me, the giant swung with both arms. At the very last second, I threw my body to the right, plastering myself against the wall next to the doors. The giant’s arms swung just past me, almost brushing my nose, and slammed into the doors. The doors exploded off their hinges.

  I darted inside.

  The giant howled in fury, and I felt the building shake as it smashed into the doorway, intent on following me. Good. As long as it didn’t turn on the others.

  It’d take a few precious seconds for the giant to batter a hole big enough to fit through. Those seconds were all the lead I had. The question was a lead to where.

  I couldn’t spot any escape. The back of the museum was a narrow and featureless hall, lined with doors, all of them locked. I kept running. Finally, the hall opened into a larger space.