“If you can cast here, I need help.”
“Possible, but I don’t know if spells hold in Hades’ town, let alone where you’re headed,” Chelsea murmured. “What powers do you seek?”
“A god sized voice. Huge. And the ability to grow.”
“Spells, schmells,” Glenna whispered, rummaging in her waist sack before slipping two vials into my hands. “Drink these now. Touch your throat, and you’ll amplify. If you pat your belly button, you’ll expand.”
I decided ignoring Ballard’s eyebrows was prudent. With care, I unstoppered the vials, tossed the potions into my mouth, and swallowed.
Waldo’s shades turned my way, beard busy, and within the strands I saw colors. Eros. In the mix of Chaos. Was that a good thing? Hell if I knew, but it might prove promising.
“Well, Keeper?” Hades’ voice, vague disquiet evident, cut through the musing.
“I must make amends, first.”
No idea where that came from, but I turned toward Zeus, and quaking, stumbled within ten feet, stomach on a high boil.
Don’t barf those potions, Patra.
“Mighty Zeus, I kneel and beg forgiveness. My arrogance was unforgivable, public, and an embarrassment to you. In my efforts to follow the guidance, I did not realize the implications. Please forgive me.”
His glam-fest glasses slid down his nose. “You? You’re nothing. A mortal.”
“Agreed. Still, I did not understand the fundamental discomfort you faced when I put the record’s plan in motion. I am sorry.”
“Harrumph.”
“You can’t tell me you didn’t think she slighted you,” Poseidon laughed. “Keeper, this is unexpected.”
“A surprise, even,” Hades concurred. “Brother, in this shifting world, bowing is no longer guaranteed. Why not accept the gift?”
“Besides, if she’s successful, you’re going to be famous in a non-mythical way. How the humans see you is an image created by the Keeper. I know I’m going to rock.” Poseidon shrugged. “You?”
A bushy silver eyebrow lifted above the glittery lens.
“Very well, Keeper. I acknowledge this apology for your impudence.”
“So gracious,” Hades snorted. “Grant her a request. Ask for a favor, Keeper. I would.”
Shoulders bowed and shaking from the mojo blast, I raised my head. Zeus dialed down, and I found I could sit on my shins. Penitent, I sat and waited.
“Fine. What do you want, Keeper?”
Protect Ballard in Tartarus. Keep him alive.
“Done.” Zeus made a dismissive gesture, ending the interaction, and my body lifted, floating back to Ballard and landing with a stagger as he caught me.
“Ready?” Hades gestured to Tartarus. “Jump over. Hitting the ground won’t kill you, but that’s the only guarantee you receive.”
I secreted Waldo’s potion in my left hand and gripped Ballard’s in my right. With a couple of deep breaths, we walked to the railing, climbed up and sat on it, feet dangling above the void.
“You sure about this?” Ballard eyed the abyss and gave me a squeeze.
“As much as I can be. It’s a weird job.”
Ballard leaned sideways and pressed his lips to my temple. “I love you. Forever. Whatever the outcome, nothing changes the fact of us.”
“Originals. For all time. I love you with every cell.”
Hands interlocked, we stood on the lower rail, then lept.
“Gloria! What are you doing here?”
“Charlie, I’m fine. My throat doesn’t even have a scar. It’s a miracle.”
“Un-freaking-real. I wish The Boogie wasn’t closed. Patra left a message that she's gone for a couple of days, but she’d try for the last Bike Week weekend.”
“Oh, we’re gonna open, even if we can’t use the dining room.” Gloria plunked down at the bar and eyed Charlie and Ralph. “Guess who’s at the end of the pier?”
Ralph rubbed his bald spot. “Lester?”
“You know it. Here’s what we should do.”
Gravity suspended, the sense of falling vanished, but the eyes, blinking in the darkness, were disconcerting. Especially the cyclops. But hell, nothing ventured, right?
“Hang onto me!” Ballard’s grip on my shoulders tightened, and I unstoppered Waldo’s gift.
One, two, three drops… my hair darkened and twisted.
Ballard pulled me tighter. “You need a makeover? Now?”
One, two, three drops… I watched as my body’s shape shifted, curving into hips and boobs I’d give a pile of jack to have naturally.
“Um, Babe? You were fine in your original packaging.”
One, two, three more drops… skin tone deepened, smoothing into a gorgeous deep bronze.
“Holy shit! Patra, you look just like her.”
The vial held a little more potion. Should I?
I held up the vial and squinted. Against my ear, Ballard nodded.
“Might as well go for it, Babe. We’re committed.”
I dripped the last onto my head and quaked in his grip.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. Feels weird.”
As our feet hit the ground, the sense of impending attack exploded across my skin. I gripped Ballard and patted my navel, shooting hundreds of feet into the air. I damn near dropped him, pinching his waist and stuffing him between my boobs.
“Did I hurt you?”
“I’m good. Not your sexiest lingerie choice.”
“I was going for maneuverability.”
“Remind me to find you some options.”
I touched my throat and boomed, “Bring me the dragon, Campe.”
A roar shook Tartarus, and fire filled the space. In my bra, Ballard shuddered.
“Holy crap, Patra. I thought that was a story.”
“Campe, come before me, the mother of the creation, and kneel!”
“Are we channeling Zeus, now?”
Ballard’s snark helped, and I hoped my thudding heart didn’t leave him deaf. I’d never been a giant before, but it had appeal.
The scrape of claws approached, and a huge scaled head stretched upward toward my gaze.
“Campe, I release you from your bondage and obligation to guard Tartarus. I’ve come to retrieve my children, to scatter them across a sickened planet. I must save my creation and together, we will restore Earth’s vigor and beauty.”
The dragon roared, lifting my hair. I stared back, unblinking. With a slash, he raked a claw along my arm, then licked the blood.
“It is the mother,” Campe spoke to the void, heavy claws scraping as he circled us. “The life force does not lie.”
Shit, so that was the final change. Way to go, Waldo.
“What will become of me?” Campe asked.
“Choose your place and I’ll protect you. In exchange, you harm nothing.”
“I would like to live amongst the sun’s creatures, fly with light and warmth on my scales,” Campe mused.
The thuds of heavy feet surrounded us as the children of Gaia moved to greet her. I felt my blouse shift as a mouse-sized Ballard peered between the buttons.
“Ouranos, my first love, come protect the moving moment where the sky meets the horizon. Pontos, my second love, join him in the sea’s alignment to the sky. Together we three will dwell in time’s motion, the continual renewal of life.”
“How is it you are here?” Ouranos asked. “Tartarus is absolute. None enter or leave, thanks to that brat Zeus.”
“Eros,” I replied. “Only through the expression of my love for my children was the entrance opened.”
Growls and shrieks met this pronouncement, followed by the thudding run of some big-assed feet. Six hands gripped me, enveloped into a hug with the three sobbing eyes of my cyclops kiddos.
“We love you, Mother!”
“I love each of you,” I rejoined, staring from eye to eye. “Equally. You’ll have an important task, one worthy of your skills.”
“See, I knew sh
e didn’t love you more.” A squabbling din accompanied them as they moved aside, and I contemplated the sea of hands surrounding me.
“My sweet Hekatonkheires, my hundred-hands beauties. I have a special duty for your unique strengths.”
“We are ready, Mother, to do the work of thousands.”
“I have special duties for all of you,” my voice echoed throughout Tartarus. “But my Earth has grown and changed. In order for it to survive, we must respect all life. The old ways, of constant war, cannot hold. The path forward is of Eros, it is of love within the creation.”
I turned in a slow circle. “Who can accept those terms? Who cannot? Boundless love is yours, regardless of your choice.”
The air compressed, and I hoped like hell I wouldn’t fall over as a disembodied voice shook every entity within Tartarus.
“I do not wish to leave here, Mother, but I despise being used as a trashcan. Let me be here, a void, as is my purpose.”
Shit, this is Tartarus itself, speaking.
Before I could open my mouth, a second voice boomed.
“I Typhoeus, son of Tartarus, wish to remain with my father. I have no purpose other than violence, and I’m tired of raging. To dwell in peace, here, is my wish.”
“Very well. Anyone else?”
A babble of voices filled Tartarus.
“I should like to see the Earth again.”
“I want to storm Olympus and kick the snot out of Zeus, but I’ll take freedom and a challenge.”
In the gloom I wasn’t certain, but I suspected the voice belonged to the Titan Kronos. He had a beef with Zeus.
“Yeah, why does Zeus go unpunished?”
Why indeed?
“The world grew fat with new life, and Zeus changed too,” I responded. “But my terms of leaving are not negotiable. Join me, be augmenters of change, and heal the creation.”
Chapter 30
“Gotta plan to get the hell out of Tartarus, Babe?”
I sent a prayer skyward, shrugged, and tapped the necklace.
Beyond the void, Chelsea looked at Waldo, whose glowing rainbow beard shot straight and curled with new options as the railing around Tartarus, in a slow earsplitting creep, spun, gaining momentum. A grating screech emanated from the whirling edge as the perimeter of the void released.
“What are you doing?” Gaia’s roar, angry and bewildered, echoed off the soul walls.
“Watching change,” Waldo replied.
“Those are my children! You cannot destroy them!”
Fury radiating, Gaia expanded, absorbing Hades, Zeus, Poseidon, Guru, Parker, Chelsea, Glenna, and Waldo before pulling the entire unmoored Tartarus up and into her gaping maw.
“I don’t know where we are, Ballard, but Tartarus just moved.”
“And we’re not dead.”
“Silver linings for everyone.”
“Even for you, Gaia, it’s beyond bitchy to pull us within you. Can’t you get it through your stubborn, primordial head that your creation grew too damn large to be handled by any single immortal?”
Hades’ tone slid from sardonic to irritated, and the whirl felt less safe. Inside my sports bra, Ballard shifted, unease rising.
Poseidon’s eyes moved from Gaia to me, then eased to a stop on Glenna’s tiny upturned face as she shot him a gap-toothed grin.
“Oh, not my work, although it’s a dandy potion,” Glenna laughed, whipping behind him and bumping off Chelsea before gliding back into the spin.
“That’s mine,” Waldo giggled. “And I passed it to the Keeper right under your salty nose.”
Silver blond eyebrows drew together. “And this amuses you?”
“Well, flipping everything on its head is my brand,” Waldo snickered. “Never gets old.”
“Mother, I restored your children and beloveds to you through the love of Eros. Together, they agreed to help us heal the world.”
“Us.” Gaia’s face left no doubt regarding just how enamored she was of this plan.
This is for you, Glo.
“Well, yeah. In case you forgot, I built a coalition and got them started in the work of healing, holding up my end of our agreement. Then you made Guru,” my thumb jerked toward his tortoise shell clad glare, “bushwhack me. I’m a long-range planner, so I moved past that setback and secured your kids for you. From where I’m spinning, it’s your turn to step up and help.”
Zeus snorted with laughter. Maybe seeing me fry somebody who wasn’t him held amusing elements.
I pressed. “I may be puny as hell, but I’m using every tool in my belt to save our damn planet. Plus finding myself stuck sidestepping you, the creator, to achieve measures of success. How about we get our collective butts in gear and tackle it together for a change?”
“I don’t have to do a thing, Keeper. I swallowed my enemies. Now, my beloveds are safe, free to remake the world to their liking. My reset expanded, thanks to you. I can have my gorgeous earth, empty and unblemished, home to me and mine. Not much of a plan, child. You aren’t as smart as you think you are, despite whatever the record told you.”
“Oh, I’m not as stupid, either, plus the Vapors helped.”
“Who cares? They are no more. I consumed them, too. Within me, I control everything.”
Zeus’s eyes narrowed, and I watched him exchange a glance with his brothers before swinging his majestic head my way.
“And just how brilliant are you, Keeper? From here, it appears you’ve run out of luck.”
Waldo’s shrill chuckle wafted across the void; Gaia’s head snapped his way.
“What have you done!” she hissed, pulling him in a color streaking cartwheel toward her.
“Me? I do nothing. But the stories are interesting.” His beard glowed, a multihued waving sea of strands.
My hands landed on my hips. “You claim you consumed the Vapors, but they weren’t taken, Mother. Joining within you was always part of their strategy. Nobody plays the long game like the Vapors.”
Zeus grunted, then glared at Poseidon, shaking in silent laughter.
“Everyone you swallowed is supposed to be contained and connected in this moment of non-linear time,” I continued.
“Ridiculous. There is no plan, Keeper. Just me winning and ridding the world of ego and manipulation.”
“Don’t you mean cementing ego as the driver?” Hades glowered.
His slide to displeasure worried me. If Death decided to be unpredictable, he’d add a wrinkle. The rock star shades slid my way.
Please trust me. If not me, count on the Vapors. We’ve got this.
Chiseled lips set and his gaze shifted back to Gaia. While improving the status of my squeezed heart, the reprieve felt tenuous.
“You haven’t won, Mother, because your actions disrespect balance.”
Her mouth tightened and the colors in Waldo’s beard glowed brighter.
Yes!
“While you can initiate a reset, life itself isn’t that simple, a known truth. The body’s will to live, the forces of each soul to continue, this power outstrips yours when they join against a common threat.”
“It is my creation! I am not the enemy.” Gaia’s voice grew soft.
“Destruction isn’t an act of love, but of war, and a choice. You can’t be the Mother if you choose annihilation. A decision to shift every single soul to Hades forces him to assume the responsibility for keeping them safe and maintaining balance. And we both know that’s not his job.”
Gaia’s brown eyes swept from Hades’ to my imposter ones.
“No,” she whispered. “The balance is mine alone.”
In my bra, a tiny fist pumped. “You go, Babe. Bring this home.”
“Where was this moment seen? I received no prophecy predicting a unity in time.” Receptive or not, Gaia wasn’t finished.
“The Vapors showed me, in the record, how the world heals.”
“Who wrote it?” Poseidon’s voice was noncommittal, but I sensed disbelief.
Here we go.
“They did.”
“Impossible!” Zeus’s anger rattled, and Ballard squeaked from the pressure.
“No, it’s not. They don’t answer to gods, primordials, or anybody else. They are their own entity, and if they let you believe they had a limitation, and you bought it, kinda on you.” I shrugged, hoping that particular insolence wasn’t smite worthy.
Things went to shit in rapid order, with Hades and Poseidon raging at Zeus, while Gaia attempted to pull the Vapors from within to explain themselves. While they directed their mojo at each other, I rested, waiting for an opening. Or an explosion leading to the end of everything.
Glenna floated up and gripped my right pinky, her other hand gripping Parker’s. Chelsea flowed into me and grabbed my left earlobe, peeking over her green glasses.
“I know where you’re going with this,” Parker called up toward my face as he bobbed near my waist. “I told Glenna and Chelsea what we read in the book.”
“You’re pretty damn smart,” Chelsea muttered in my ear. “I’m proud of you. If we survive today, I might not shave your head.”
“Whee,” I whispered. “Small favors. Ballard just wants my old body back.”
“And better lingerie,” wafted from the sports bra.
Chelsea squeezed my ear as Gaia, Poseidon, Zeus, and Hades swung their heads toward our little band of resistance.
“Well? What was the prophecy?” The voice was not theirs, but Tartarus.
“The Vapors knew one would reunite the four,” I began. “Before the infighting and swallowing, and general bad manners between y’all,” I leveled a stare at them over my glasses, “there was a single uniting force between the four of you, and it sure as hell wasn’t ego.”
Waldo giggled, beard emanating rainbows in multiple directions, a tiny tumbling pinwheel of joy.
“The Vapors saw the four pieces needed one another to survive, and your split into separate entities created rifts in the creation and the life to follow. Chaos initiates all things, but lacks a sense of direction, a key,” I nodded to the squealing figure. “Until connected, movement to wholeness can’t happen.”
Salt Shaken Page 17