by Crymsyn Hart
“That’s not Nas. That’s Aphrodite. How in the hell did you—?”
Kalliope put up her hand and silenced the sorceress. “Water first. Story later.”
Chapter Thirteen
The girls waited. Kalliope told them what had happened to her when she disappeared. She also told them about her ordeal with Nas earlier. Morgaine reiterated her concerns about Lugh, and Kalliope took it all in. Morgaine and the other priestess took Aphrodite and placed her in a small circle of ancient stones that Kalliope had never seen before. It was old and powerful enough that it would hold the goddess. The sorceress explained the Fey had built it long before Avalon even existed when it was in the real world, ages ago. That was when gods and fairies walked hand in hand with mortals and the worlds were not separated.
Kalliope had left Theresa with the priestess and set out back to her apartment. She needed some space and time to think. She had a plan. It was just going to be something she was not sure she could do. She figured out how she could get the Haleys. That was easy. The hardest thing was figuring out who bespelled Lugh. In her heart of hearts she just couldn’t believe that he wanted to take over the world. He was just too good. Maybe her love for him was making her blind to what Morgaine had said. Even Aphrodite was after the sword. If she kept it safe, then there would be no more problems. She just had to believe in herself to be able to do it.
First things first, she had to take a break. Kalliope arrived at her apartment very happy to be back. At the moment, all she wanted was to curl up on her couch under a blanket, with a cup of tea, some chocolate chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and watch, oddly enough, the Wizard of Oz. You would think I would have had enough of strange dancing and singing creatures. But I guess not.
She clicked on the television. The 11 o’clock news came on. She sat through most of it and decided that the kidnapping of all the fast food CEOs was still under wraps, at least for now. She still had a little time left. She got up and decided to make tea. When she opened her cabinet, the stench in the kitchen was horrendous. She pulled open the refrigerator and instead of seeing rows of all kinds of fresh food, all she saw was mold, bugs, and things starting to grow on the other products in the fridge. She put her hand up against her nose and slammed the door shut. Next she checked the cabinets to find that they were all empty save for a heavy layer of dust as if nothing had been in there for years. The freezer was the worst because it was filled with ice cream cartons that had melted and frozen on the shelves. She grabbed a bag from underneath the sink and started to throw the containers away. It was such a shame to waste such good ice cream.
As the cartons sloshed into the bag, her mind got to thinking about Lugh. There would be no way that he would all of a sudden make her things go bad in her refrigerator. True, she had not known the god for thousands of years like the rest of the supernatural beings and all the women folk that seemed to have slept with him. But she had a good idea of his heart. He just didn’t seem to have a mean bone in his body. It didn’t set right with Kalliope. He would tell her if he was going to stop restocking her shelves even if they had parted ways. Something else was going on. He had to be under some kind of a spell. He just had to be. There was no way that he would have treated Morgaine the way that he did either. He would not betray his friends. Kalliope picked up another carton of ice cream when she heard something on the news that caught her attention.
“…The owner of Burrito Bell has been reported missing. Mrs. Bell has no idea where he is. She reports they were fishing and the next moment there was a great white light that appeared in the sky and then poof, he was gone.” The camera panned to Mrs. Bell’s face. “I swear he was abducted by aliens. My father was abducted. He was never right after he came back. Horus, where ever you are, come back to me. Anal probed or not, I don’t care if they collected your sperm. I still want your baby!”
The newscaster forced a smile and started back into the camera, fighting the crazed wife off her microphone. “This is Deirdre Meriwether. Back to you Chuck.”
Kalliope stared at the news anchor. She was running out of time. All Hail wasn’t going to keep covering up the abduction for much longer. Either that or all the gods were starting to focus their attention elsewhere normally on saving their otherworldly butts. There was only a little time to get the Furies and put them back in the Underworld.
“A girl’s gotta sleep you know. You want to help me out here and clean up this mess?”
All the light bulbs flickered and burnt in her apartment. She groaned. She did not have time for this. It certainly didn’t take three or four witches to replace a light bulb either. She closed her eyes and focused on the lights returning to her apartment. It took a few moments, but then lights turned back on. Somehow there were no more bulbs and she still had to clean up the glass.
“Pie?”
Kalliope fell back against the counter. It was the ghost of her Aunt Constance. Her appearance had not changed. She still had silver hair and a few wrinkles. The pie that she had in her hands smelled of warm cinnamon and gooey apples. The ghost walked over and set the pie on the counter before she took her niece in her arms. Kalliope had no more cares in her world. Who cared if the world was taken over by the Furies? Lugh didn’t bother her anymore all because she was in this woman’s arms, and she would make it better for her. Tears came to her eyes while she took in the scent of the spirit who was flesh in her apartment. She had not realized how much she had missed her aunt and how much she needed her in her life. She had tried to summon her in the past few months, but nothing had happened except a few candles had bit the dust because she had put too much energy into contacting the dead. Some other spirits got so upset that they came to her house instead of going wherever they were supposed to be. Finally, she had given up trying to contact Constance.
“Hush hush. All is not lost.” Constance pulled Kalliope away and led her to sit down at the dining room table. She pointed at the pie. A steaming slice appeared on a plate in front of her. It smelled wonderful, but with the knot in her stomach she was not sure she could eat it considering all the rotten food that she had seen in the refrigerator. “Aren’t you going to eat anything?”
The oozing caramelized apples made her stomach lurch forward and growl. She could taste the sweetness of it, but she just wasn’t hungry. Finally she looked up at her aunt. “Sorry. I can’t. Not after everything. Is that why you’re here?”
“My, my, getting right to the point! That is something new about you. I guess being with Lugh has made you more forthcoming. I see you getting all comfortable with your naked self and that naked love muffin of yours.”
Kalliope couldn’t help but turn red at her aunt’s comments. “Auntie. You are horrible. Is that all you do up there? Think of embarrassing things to say to me when you come down to visit? Well, at least I’m not asleep this time. Why are you here? Please don’t change the subject even if it is to cheer me up. I’ve got a dozen things on my mind like—”
“Saving the world from three nature-hugging snake haired goddesses all named Haley. Being chosen as Excalibur’s newest champion, and figuring out why your lover has gone complete bonkers and off the radar. Yes, I know all about it. That is exactly why I’m here to give you a bit of otherworldly advice.”
“Great and what is that? Hurry up and get my butt in gear? Yeah I kinda figured that part out by myself with the news footage and the exploding light bulbs that I’ll be vacuuming up from the carpet for the next few months.” She didn’t look at her aunt and didn’t care how she sounded. She was at the end of her rope. She started jabbing the apple pie with the fork to see the apples ooze out from the sides. It was not much help as a stress reliever.
“Well, Miss smarty pants. For your information, yes the newscast was a warning. But it was for your eyes only. No one else in the world saw it. You have forty-eight hours to collect the Haleys, put them back in the Underworld, figure out who is out to get All Hail, and take over ruling as head honcho. If not, you are in seriou
s trouble.”
Kalliope shrugged. What else could she do? She was doing everything she could and she was emotionally beaten down. “Let me guess, I’ll be burned at the stake for being a witch. That is so Burning Times. Hello, no one does that anymore.”
Her aunt put a hand on Kalliope’s. The pie was mush. She stopped and saw the concern on the ghost’s face. “Honey. I know you can save the world. I have faith in you. That was why I came so you would have a friendly face deliver the message instead of some thunder booming voice from the sky. We figured that would scare you too much. But you saving the world is not really what is bothering you, is it? What is the matter? Is it Lugh? Has your relationship finally come to an impasse? You know gods are fickle that way. They tell you they love you and then five minutes later they are on to another flower. Don’t fret over it.”
Kalliope shook her head. “That’s not it. I mean it is, but something’s wrong with him. I can feel it. The way he came to me in my dream and the way that he showed up at Morgaine’s demanding Excalibur. It just doesn’t make any sense. And then he impersonated me to try and get to Morgaine. He attacked her. There is nothing in him that would make him do that. I thought maybe he would be under a spell or something, but I don’t think that way either. I mean he gave me part of his heart and I threw it away because I thought he was keeping tabs on me because of Apollo. But I don’t know.”
“He gave you a piece of his heart? Do you know how rare that is? It means that he really loves you. No matter what happens you will always be connected to him.”
“Yeah, but I threw it away. What did I do? What must he think of me?” Kalliope couldn’t help the tears that slid down her cheeks. The emptiness that she felt in her soul burned a hole so large she didn’t know if she would ever be whole again.
“Darling. Listen to me. I know a thing or two about Lugh and gods in general. What if the man that appeared to you in your dreams was not Lugh? Maybe he was the one behind all of this? The same with getting Excalibur. Lugh is a powerful sun god. It would take a lot to get him bespelled. Not many gods have the power to do that. Whoever is after the sword, also wants All Hails’ job. Think about it. They want you to stop believing in yourself. You escaped the Delphic Oracle. You didn’t succumb to Zeus. All of these were plans to get you out of the way because you’re a powerful commodity. Even the Haleys ruling this world was only a distraction I bet. Whoever is after All Hail has had a plan to get you down in the dumps so you would be so mad with grief that your powers would be useless when the time came. Even getting Excalibur was unexpected. It showed them that you were more powerful than they anticipated because the sword would not pick just anyone.”
Kalliope stopped crying and listened to her aunt. What the ghost said made sense. Her powers were hinged on her emotions. If she no longer believed in what she could do then there would be no way that she could perform any magick. It made her understand it was not Lugh and that she had been right. It gave her hope that he really did love her still. If someone was using his appearance then something must have happened to him. She had to find him before it was too late.
“So, you think that Lugh is out there. Hurt maybe?’
Her aunt nodded. “It is a good possibility or being held prisoner. That was what I was going to tell you. You might have given his heart back to him, but you’re a witch. You can call it back to you. With it you can find him no matter where he is. He loves you. That magick is the strongest in the universe. You should know that from the stories I’ve told you about your parents. They loved each other so much they stepped between the worlds and pulled a goddess to them. Doesn’t that tell you something?”
Kalliope nodded. She hadn’t thought about her parents in a while. “Do you see them? You know Mom and Dad? Do they know about me?”
“They know. And they are so proud of you. They never thought their daughter would be such a powerful witch.”
“Will I ever see them like I see you?’
“I can’t promise anything, honey. Maybe if you save world they’ll be allowed to come down and see you. I know your mom would love that. But you can’t think about that right now. You have to focus on what you are going to do. Do you have a plan?”
Kalliope nodded. “I do, but first I need some sleep and to clean this mess up.”
Constance got up and pushed the sleeves up on her dress. “You go take a nap. I’ll wake you up when I have to go. I’ll get the mess. Don’t worry about it.”
Kalliope got up and nodded. She scooped up Humphrey who was still asleep on the couch and went back into her bedroom. She settled the frog down on the pillow next to her head and listened to his even breathing. Kalliope couldn’t help but think of Lugh and all that she had put him through. What had happened to him? Where was he? Was he taken prisoner? Was he hurt? Scenarios of him being tied up, begging for help, and wounded played through her. No matter how much she tried to shake them, her eyes fluttered shut and she fell asleep.
Chapter Fourteen
With Lugh on her mind, Kalliope drifted off to sleep. But she didn’t sleep for long because almost immediately she felt herself falling. When she landed it wasn’t on her carpet. It was on a hard stone floor. It was rather dark, but she saw firelight in the background. Flickering shadows. She saw a vast room before her with a ton of stone pillars. She was behind one of them in the back of the room. Every fourth column there was a large vat filled with flames. She heard crackling. On the pillars, she saw people bound to the stones, sitting on the ground. There was five to a post they were so big. Each appeared to be unconscious. She counted at least fifty pillars with people. That was a lot of fast food restaurants.
“Amazing, isn’t it?”
Kalliope looked over and saw Humphrey flapping next to her. “How did you get here? Where is here anyway?”
The frog shrugged. “Beats me, babe. This is your astral projection.”
“Astral what?”
“You know, out of body experience. It’s about time you figured it out”
“I know what astral projection is. How did I get here?” Kalliope whispered. Someone spoke at the far end of the room. She had to get closer.
“You were thinking about Lugh before you fell asleep, right?”
“Yeah. So?”
“Didn’t you hear anything Constance said? Or were you so enamored with destroying the pie you forgot?”
“How do you—”
“I’m part of you, Kalliope. You made me. So, I obviously know what you do. Women!”
“Oh.”
“Now what did Constance say to you about love?”
“That it’s the strongest magick in the world.”
The frog nodded. Then it hit her. “My love for Lugh pulled me here. Which means he’s here! I have to find him.”
The frog didn’t respond, but started to flap behind her while she crept along the shadows and ducked behind the granite pillars. She got to the first row of tied up hostages and tried to untie them, but her hands moved through the rope. Damn it! Wherever I am I’m only a ghost. I have to be here in person to free all of them. But no one can see me here. I have to be careful.
“You idiot!” Kalliope heard a man scream. She tried to get a little closer. She spied Nas tied to one of the pillars in the same chains she had been bound in at Del’s, the ones that kept her from doing magick. She was unconscious too. Across from her was Lugh. He looked beaten up and was also knocked out.
“I tried. Please, believe me.”
Kalliope got to the column beside Lugh and peered out. She saw a scared Apollo in front of the ugliest man she had ever seen. He was dressed in a torn and dirty toga with a grizzled beard and a large flap of skin covering his left eye. His nose was crooked, maybe broken one too many times. By the look of his forearms he would be envied by any wrestler on steroids.
“How can I believe you when you can’t even get a sword? You cannot even make the woman sleep with you. I even sent my wife after them. Now she’s a prisoner in the very chains th
at I forged. I need that sword if I am to rule. Why did you have to rescue the witch from Del? You could have left her and Nas there!”
“I had to make her believe that I wanted to help her,” Apollo pleaded.
“Just like you had the idea to shoot the witch with one of Cupid’s arrows? See where that got you! Get out of my sight before I decide to mar that perfect complexion of yours. If you’re not careful you’ll look like me. Where would that get you then, pretty boy! Go play with the Furies to get them off my back. I’m tired of hearing how bored they are kidnapping humans for their own little game.”
Apollo bowed lowed and disappeared in a pillar of fire that made Kalliope wince at the heat. The god that was with him looked in her direction. She pressed herself against the pillar, praying that he did not see her. After a moment, he walked to the back of the room. She heard the sound of metal on metal. The room began to get really hot. At the end of the long hall, the god leaned over a forge and hammered something. Kalliope could not see what it was, but the flames that were behind him were from a fireplace that could have been right in the Devil’s living room.
She watched the fire god for a few minutes and realized that he was not about to stop anytime soon. “Humph, stay here and be a lookout.”
The frog nodded. She took another look to see if she was being watched. She wasn’t. She crossed the wide space and went to Lugh. Her heart broke seeing the man that she loved badly beaten. The once perfect chest that her fingers had memorized had angry red burn marks on it. His bottom lip had dried blood on it from a cut that had split it. A hot tear burned her cheek. Anger seared her soul for the god that had done this. Since he was tied up, he didn’t have the ability to heal. I will get you out of this.
She brushed his chest lightly. Her hand fell on his chest as if she were corporeal. Kalliope kissed the side of his cheek and felt the heat burning him. “I’ll get you out of this. I promise.” It was then that Lugh stirred. She backed away. He lifted his head. His eyes focused, but it seemed he could not see her.