Goddess of Light gs-3

by P. C. Cast

  He turned his gaze to Artemis.

  "Approach me, my Daughter."

  Showing no fear, Artemis walked to the dais.

  "Tell me what you learned in the Kingdom of Las Vegas," he said.

  She met her father's storm gray eyes. "I have learned what it is to be mortal."

  "Tell me what that means, Artemis."

  "It means that I have learned that they are not weak, inconsequential beings who live and die in the blink of our eyes. They are not weak at all—it is only their mortal shells that must succumb. Within many of them are the sparks of honor and loyalty, friendship and love, and they shine so bright that if we could see them as they truly are, their light would blind even the gods. "

  "And was it a valuable lesson?"

  "I will carry it with me forever," she said.

  "Then your lesson was learned through something more profound than any punishment I could mete out. It was learned through your own heart. Therefore, I will not add to it. The truth you carry within your heart is lesson enough. You are free to do as you will."

  Artemis bowed her head, but before she could leave her father's throne room, his voice stopped her.

  "One last thing, Daughter. Your brother has need of you. I grant you the power you will require to aid him. If you so choose."

  Confused, Artemis bowed her head again. Of course she would aid Apollo.

  "Thank you, Father."

  "Do not thank me yet, Daughter. Love is often as painful as it is sweet. Go to Apollo now." There was no mistaking the sadness in Zeus' mighty voice.

  As soon as she was free of her father's presence, she closed her eyes and willed herself to the Underworld.

  Chapter 34

  " Artemis, I'm asking you to try to understand, and to try to think of a way to help me," Apollo said.

  "I can't! I won't! I don't understand why you can't just leave things the way they are. Pamela seems happy. Why would she want you to change that?" Artemis plucked irritably at one of the perfect cream-colored roses that lined that part of the ornate gardens that stretched in tiers behind Hades' Palace and ended just at the edge of the Elysian Fields. As soon as she had materialized in the Underworld, she had barely had time to greet Pamela when Apollo had said he needed to speak with her and pulled her out into the gardens. She could hardly believe what he had wanted to tell her.

  Apollo sighed. "I haven't talked with her about it yet. I wanted to tell you what I was thinking first, so that you could help me decide what is to be done about…" His voice faded as he paced restlessly back and forth along the path in front of her.

  "You mean what is to be done about the insignificant fact that the God of Light is thinking of leaving Olympus. Forever."

  Apollo frowned at her. "Not forever. Just for one lifetime."

  "It will certainly feel like forever to an ancient world bereft of their Apollo!"

  "Perhaps we could talk with Father. You said he's not angry at us anymore. Maybe I could convince him to—"

  "To what! Be you. Make sure your chariot continues to usher the sun through the sky? You expect that of him?" Artemis tossed her long, golden hair back, trying to ignore the words that rang through her head: Your brother has need of you. I grant you the power you will require to aid him. If you so choose. Now she understood what Zeus had meant. She understood, and she hated it.

  Apollo shook his head miserably and wiped a hand across his brow. "No… I—I don't know what to do, Sister. I just wanted one chance. It seemed the only way…"

  Artemis' chest felt tight. "Pamela doesn't even know what you're thinking?"

  "No, not yet," he admitted.

  "And Hades and Lina? Have you told them what you propose?"

  Apollo nodded.

  "And what do they think of this plan of yours?"

  "Hades thought I might be going mad. Lina understood."

  "Well, I am more of Hades' mind than Lina's!"

  "I thought you might be," he said wearily.

  "What did you expect!"

  His eyes met his hers. "I thought maybe my sister could help me find a way."

  Artemis felt the slice of bittersweet pain as she made her decision. She really didn't have any choice. She loved him.

  "I will guide your chariot, Brother."

  "You? But how can—"

  The goddess held up one slender, perfect hand, and used arrogance to stop the tears that burned hot within her eyes. "Do you doubt my powers?"

  "No! I—"

  "Then it's settled." She studied her well-manicured nails. "I've always thought that chariot needed an update. It's much too old-fashioned—much too"—she shuddered dramatically—"Spartan."

  Apollo just stared openmouthed at her. She gave him a stern look. "Well, aren't you going to thank your sister?"

  With a whoop he threw his arms around her lifted her and spun her in a circle.

  Pamela's ethereal body stepped from one of the side paths. "Hey, what in the bloody buggering hell is—" Pamela gasped and covered her mouth. Then she started to laugh. "I said 'hell' and then freaked myself out." She shook her head, her wispy hair floating like sea foam around her face.

  Apollo grinned and held his hand out to her. Still giggling a little, she clasped his solid, warm hand in her cool one.

  "As I was saying—what is going on with you two? I could hear you yelling all the way up on the other tier."

  Apollo looked at Artemis, who looked at Apollo.

  "Well?" Pamela asked. "Someone tell me."

  "It's your plan. You tell her," Artemis said.

  "What is it?"

  Apollo drew a deep breath. "I have an idea. I spoke with Hades and Lina about it, and just now I told Artemis. Between the three of them, they have made it possible."

  "Mad, but possible," Artemis grumbled.

  Apollo smiled fondly his sister before turning back to Pamela. "You have been here long enough to know that there are seven rivers in the Underworld."

  Pamela nodded her head. "Yes."

  "My idea has to do with one of them—the River Lethe."

  Pamela shrugged her pale shoulders. "Okay, what's the idea?"

  "You must first understand about the River Lethe," Lina said, walking up the path arm in arm with her husband.

  "It is called the River of Forgetfulness," Hades said.

  Apollo shook his head. "Is there no privacy in the Underworld?"

  Everyone ignored him.

  "The River of Forgetfulness—what does that mean?" Pamela asked.

  "Its purpose is to wash a soul clean of all memories so that it can be reborn and live another lifetime," Lina explained.

  Pamela met Apollo's brilliant blue eyes. "Tell me."

  "If we drank of Lethe, you and I could be reborn. We would live a lifetime. We could marry, have children, and grow old together."

  "But you're not mortal," Pamela said faintly. His words had brought a rush of light-headedness through her spirit. To live again? To love and have children—Apollo's children?

  "Lethe will have the same effect on his spirit," Lina said. "All he needs to do is to choose to leave his immortal body, just like Persephone chooses to leave hers every six months."

  "But how can he do that? How can he just stop being Apollo?"

  "That's where Artemis comes in. She has agreed to make sure the Ancient World is not devoid of light while I'm absent from it."

  "She has?" Pamela said, looking at the goddess.

  Artemis moved her shoulders nonchalantly, and then under the pretense of smelling a milk-colored rose, she bent to the fragrant bloom and quickly turned her head away from them and wiped the wetness from her face.

  Apollo took Pamela's shoulders in his hands. "We would live a mortal lifetime together. Our children would carry on after us. Think of it, Pamela!"

  She felt dizzy, and she was glad Apollo was holding her so tightly. "But wait." She looked at Lina. "I thought you said that Lethe washes away memories. If we don't remember each other, how will I find him? Or
he find me?"

  Lina smiled and leaned into Hades, who wrapped his arm around her. "Soul mates always find one another."

  "On that you have my sacred promise," Hades said.

  Pamela's gaze shifted to the too-silent Artemis. "You don't want him to do this, do you?"

  "I don't want to lose my brother," she said.

  Apollo took one hand from Pamela's shoulder and rested it on his sister's arm. "I did not think you would lose me. I thought you would watch over me—carefully. As well as my children and my children's children."

  Artemis bowed her head and put her hand over her brother's. "As I will, my Brother. On that you have my oath."

  Apollo turned back to Pamela. "Then all that is left is for you to agree, sweet Pamela."

  She felt as if her soul would burst with happiness. "Yes! Let's do it!"

  Apollo turned to Hades and quirked one brow at his friend. "Now?"

  Hades shrugged, and Lina elbowed him.

  "Now is perfect," the Queen of the Underworld said.

  Apollo took a step away from Pamela, who was still frowning at him in confusion. He lifted his chin regally, and Pamela thought he looked exactly like the profile that had been stamped on the old coin he had given her so long ago. She was going to tell him so, when his body suddenly quivered and then changed into solid marble as his glowing spirit stepped from it.

  The God of Light's shining form turned to Hades. "Take good care of it. I will need it again someday."

  "I shall, my friend."

  Lina reached up and cupped his face in her hands and kissed him lightly on the lips, and then she moved back to her husband's side. "I wish you both a lifetime filled with happiness and laughter. You know the way, don't you, Apollo?"

  The glowing god nodded his head.

  "You're not going with us?" Pamela asked.

  Lina smiled at her. "For this, you do not need the presence of the gods. This is something that souls do best without our interference."

  "Then I will take my leave of you here, too," Artemis said quietly. First she went to Pamela and hugged her fiercely. "Take care of him for me," she whispered to the mortal soul her brother loved so dearly. Then she turned to Apollo and stepped into his glowing arms. Taking no heed of the tears that she now let run freely down her face, she pressed her cheek against his. "Wherever you are. Whoever you are. Know that my love and my blessing will always be with you, just as it will be with your children and your children's children."

  "Thank you for understanding, my Sister. And thank you for being my light while I can not be." He kissed each of her wet cheeks.

  "I love you," the Huntress Goddess said as her body faded and disappeared.

  Apollo and Pamela walked silently through the tall pines that began where Hades' gardens ended. Their hands were linked, and their shoulders and hips brushed intimately against each other. Soon between the trees they began to catch the crystal reflection of moving water. The river called to them with a seductive, whispering voice. Unconsciously, they wanted quicker. The trees ended, and they were standing atop a rocky bank looking down at water that glistened like liquid jewels.

  "Are you afraid?" Apollo asked her.

  "No," Pamela said. "You'll find me. I know you will."

  "Always," he said.

  Together they knelt at the edge of the water. Apollo cupped his hands and dipped them in the cold water, lifting them so Pamela could drink deeply. Then, while she watched, he dipped them again and drank. Standing, he took her into his arms and kissed her. As their spirit bodies moved together, they began to shine. Their hair and clothes suddenly whipped wildly around them, as if they were standing in the middle of a raging windstorm.

  Apollo threw back his head and laughed joyously, and Pamela's shout joined his own as their souls were filled with an incredible rush of love and joy. Again, Apollo pulled his soul mate into his arms, and Pamela wrapped her glowing body around him. While they were embracing, their bodies continued to change, losing shape so that it seemed that they merged together and truly became one. Then the incandescent, blazing ball of light exploded, raining sparks into the water. From the center of the shining geyser appeared two fist-sized globes of identical light. They hovered there above the river for a moment, acclimating themselves to their new senses. Then, as if following a trail of sweet memories, they began to float downstream and toward their new beginning.

  Epilogue

  Kristin was so bored she thought she would die. She wished she would die. She might as well die—like there was anything else to do? It was just like her parents to force her into a stupid family vacation. Could they have let her stay home with her friends Janice and Rebecca and Ruth? Of course not, even though she had just turned thirteen. Definitely old enough to stay home alone for two tiny weeks. It totally made no sense.

  So here she was, sitting on a beach while the sun was rising, all by herself. Why? Because no one else in her family got out of bed practically before noon. She was doomed to live with people who slept away the best part of the day. It was just the second day of the two-week torture her parents called vacation. She considered hurling herself into the ocean. No, she swam too well. It would take forever for her to drown.

  Kristin dug her feet into the white sand and let the edge of the waves lap over her toes. She supposed she could read a book. Another book. She ran a hand through her short hair in irritation. She'd just had it cut before they left, and she couldn't get used to the feel of it—or the way it kinda stuck out sometimes, especially in front. She sighed. She probably shouldn't have cut it. She'd never get a boyfriend now. Ever. She'd die an old maid.

  A shadow blocked a piece of the morning sun, and she sighed again. It was probably her little brother. Perfect.

  She balled up a handful of wet sand and got ready to throw it at him when the shadow spoke.

  "Hey," said a stranger's voice.

  Kristin squinted and held her sandy hand up against the glare of the rising sun. And she almost passed out. It was a boy! A really hot, tall, blond boy. He looked practically sixteen. And he was smiling at her.

  "Hey," she said.

  "So, are you just getting up or just going to bed?" he asked.

  His voice didn't even crack.

  "Gettin' up," she said, trying to stop herself from staring like a retard at his eyes. They were, like, as blue as the ocean.

  "Me, too," he said and flopped down next to her. "I like morning best."

  "Me, too," she said.

  "My family's all 'sleep still," he said.

  "So's mine. They sleep forever."

  "Yeah."

  She couldn't believe how warm he was. He wasn't even sitting that close to her, but she could swear that waves of hotness were coming from his body. She wanted to say something to him, but she didn't want to babble. Or sound stupid.

  "Hey, what's that?" he said, pointing at something that was glittering just at the edge of the surf, half covered by the sand her toes had dug up.

  He leaned forward—practically touching her—and grabbed a hold of the thing, lifting it free of the sand.

  "Wow!" he said.

  "It's awesome," she said. She couldn't look away from the bright coin that hung from the gold chain. It shined in the growing light, and she could see that it had the head of a man stamped on it. A really cute man with curly hair.

  "It's yours," he said solemnly.

  "Mine? Nuh-uh."

  "Yes-huh. It is. It was by your feet on your beach during your morning. It's definitely yours." He opened the little clasp and put it around her neck. It hung there like a piece of the sun. Kristin touched it. It felt warm.

  "See," he said. "It fits perfectly."

  He smiled at her, and Kristin thought she was going to faint. He was so unbelievably, totally cute.

  "My name is Kristin," she said.

  "I'm Jordan," he said.

  "Hi, Jordan."

  "Hi, Kristin."

  They grinned at each other, and the sun exploded from
the ocean and into the morning sky.

  "Hey," Jordan said. "I like your hair."

  "Thanks," she said and thought that maybe this summer's vacation wouldn't be such torture after all.

  Neither of the teenagers noticed the tall blond woman who watched them from the shadows. Soul mates do always find each other, Artemis thought. I should have never doubted you, my Brother. The goddess wiped her eyes and smiled wistfully as she faded silently into the waiting palm trees.

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  P.C. Cast

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