Forge of the Gods 3

by Simon Archer

  “Beth, don’t,” I warned. I wanted to hop off the bed but was still hooked up to all the things. I gestured with my hands to get Daniella to help me. She seemed grateful for something to do since she didn’t want to focus on the newcomer in the room.

  “She’s not who we think she is or was,” I tried to explain but quickly realized I was doing a poor job of it. “All the stuff she did, it wasn’t her fault.”

  “It wasn’t,” Hailey rushed in to aid me. “She was under the control of Eris.”

  “The goddess of Chaos?” Daniella asked as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “What really happened while you were down there?”

  “Yes, Cameron, we would like to know that as well,” came another stern voice from the door.

  Simultaneously, all of the demigod’s heads turned to find the source of the voice, though I didn’t need to see his face to know who it belonged to. The Stratego stood in the doorway of the hospital room with the rest of the Elemental Officials behind him, like an army ready to charge.

  “What could have possibly compelled you to bring back a traitor from the Underworld?” the Stratego asked.

  Even though we’d just made it out of the Underworld alive, something told me that the true test was happening right that minute.

  31

  “It would seem that you owe us quite the explanation, Cameron,” the Stratego said, his voice gruff and unimpressed.

  “You really want to do this here?” I asked the Stratego, clearly stalling.

  To my credit, it did seem like an odd place to lay out the events of the last several hours. We were in a cramped hospital room, with Hailey and I still sharing the thin hospital bed. Daniella, Jade, and Beth stood in various places while Kari sat in the chair against the far wall. The Stratego and the rest of the Elemental Officials stood in the doorway and out into the hall of the med bay. It was cramped and unceremonious, quite the weird setting for this encounter.

  “Now is as good a time as any and here is as good a place,” the Stratego replied, unphased by my suggestion.

  “How did you even know that we were in the Underworld?” I asked, not really expecting an answer from the Stratego. But that thought took up the most space in my brain at the moment. I wanted to know since I thought we had been so careful.

  “Effie got a divine message from her father,” Alya offered. She gestured behind her to acknowledge the daughter of Hades standing back in the hallway.

  My face pinched into a clear expression of anger. That bastard god! I should have known that he would have something up his sleeve. I was a fool to think that he would just stick with his deal and not do anything else. But that asshole had set us up from the minute we took Kari. I didn’t know what his endgame was by telling the Elemental Officials where we went, but I knew it couldn’t be good for any of us.

  “I would recommend that you start talking because right now, you are harboring a known traitor to the Military. All of you are, which doesn’t bode well.”

  The seven of us stayed silent, exchanging glances as though we were playing a game of hot potato. Who was going to explain everything to the Officials? How much were we going to tell them?

  Part of me hoped we would have enough time to plan this part. We could create a case in Kari’s defense so that she would actually have a chance against all of the accusations. But now, it seemed like we were going to launch that defense right then.

  I swung my legs over the side of the hospital bed and placed myself directly in front of the Stratego, trying to look more confident than I felt.

  “I ventured to the Underworld to rescue Kari’s soul from an unjust death,” I began. I kept my shoulders back and my voice strong as I continued. “She was not in control of her own actions for the past several years and was instead being controlled by the goddess Eris.”

  The reaction of the Elemental Officials ranged from shock, to scorn, to laughter. The Stratego remained stoic and listened to me, though his expression with his hooded eyes clearly said he didn’t believe a word I said.

  “Everything we thought that Kari did was really Eris,” I explained. I looked over my shoulder at Kari and offered her what I hoped was an encouraging smile. “So Hailey and I brought her back so that she could clear her name and return to the Military, continuing to protect the demigod legacy.”

  The Stratego shook his head. It started as a slow movement until he swung it from side to side with a sweeping gesture. “You cannot possibly expect us to believe this story.”

  “Do you have any proof?” Jasmine asked from over the General’s shoulder.

  “I…” I started and then realized the answer was no. I only had Kari’s word and Hailey’s belief in her. When I looked back at Kari this time, it was a much more desperate glance than encouraging one.

  Her face pinched together, revealing that she didn’t have anything to clear her name either. My gaze split between the Officials and Kari. Everyone else looked at me, some with hope, others with skepticism. The pressure of every single pair of eyes on me made my stomach curdle.

  A sliver of doubt crawled up into the back of my brain. There really hadn’t been any proof of Kari’s innocence. Sure, the image of Eris and the shopkeep in the dress shop matched up, but other than that, the explanation had come from her mouth. And it was a good, believable story. Had she tricked me into being able to come back from the dead and wreak havoc like before? Had the whole memory thing been an act from the beginning to get close to us, to get back on campus?

  I thought back to all of my moments with Kari in the Underworld and in Italy. All of them seemed genuine. I believed in Kari’s remorse and regret. It made sense that Eris would be the goddess to trick her and manipulate her this whole time.

  I caught Kari’s eye and got an instant reminder of her sincerity. There wasn’t a trace of the evil or vengeance that I had seen in those eyes when we fought. This was the gaze of the woman who welcomed me to the Academy as my recruiter, who had told Hailey when they were first-years that she wanted to protect the stories. Well, now I needed to protect her so she could do that.

  Making up my mind, I took a stand. I placed myself directly in front of Kari and faced the Elemental Officials.

  “Cameron, what are you doing?” Kari hissed out of the corner of her mouth, but I didn’t respond to her. All of my focus was on the Officials, the Stratego specifically.

  “I don’t need proof,” I declared. “I believe her. I don’t need any more proof than her word and you shouldn’t either.”

  “That’s not how this works, Cameron, and you know that,” Ashley said with a sad shake of her head.

  “I don’t care,” I said, widening my stance. “It’s how it should work. I know she’s innocent, and if you don’t believe her or me, that’s fine.”

  “We don’t,” the Stratego declared.

  “Not without sufficient proof,” Alya added, a finger in the air.

  “We’re going to have to arrest her,” Ashley said, taking a step into the room.

  “Alright,” I said with a shrug, “but you’re going to have to go through me to do it.”

  All the Elemental Officials looked at me with shocked expressions. They weren’t the only ones. My girlfriends, too, stared at me with open mouths and awe in their eyes. I knew they thought I was crazy, but Kari was innocent, and I wasn’t going to let them take her away and wipe her memory. I’d fought already to right her unjust death, and I wasn’t going to stop now.

  “Is that a threat?” the Stratego said through tight teeth.

  “It doesn’t have to be,” I countered. “Don’t arrest her, and then nothing has to go wrong.”

  “You’re on thin ice, Cameron,” Alya said sharply. “Do not regret this decision.”

  “I don’t,” I said, speaking the words to Kari. She sent me a grateful smile before I continued speaking to the Officials. “You have been wrong in the past. About me, about Irema, about Jade,” I gestured to my friend. “It’s possible that you’
re wrong about Kari too.”

  “This is foolish, Cameron,” Ashley said with her arms out wide. “Just let us take her in. You don’t need to do this and hurt yourself in the process.”

  “If that’s what it takes, then I will,” I announced. I lifted my chin and held my ground.

  Then, there was a quick brush of air as someone came to stand beside me. “I believe him and her, too,” Hailey agreed, mimicking my strong stance. “Kari and Cameron.”

  “Hailey,” Jasmine, the other daughter of Apollo, warned. “Don’t do this.”

  “It would be wrong not to do anything,” Hailey proclaimed. She stood shoulder to shoulder with me, protecting Kari with our bodies.

  Then, to my astonishment, Jade joined us on my other side. Even though she was shorter than the pair of us, her statement was clear.

  “I trust Cameron,” Jade said, giving me a half-smile. “And I know what it's like to be accused of something you didn’t do. If he believes Kari was manipulated by Eris, then I believe it too.”

  Out of nowhere, Daniella walked around the edge of the bed to join us on Hailey’s open side. “She should at least be given a fair trial,” Daniella declared. “With time to prepare a defense and assemble the facts. To just take her now would go against the code of the Military.”

  “The code doesn’t apply to traitors,” the Stratego sneered.

  Before any of the Officials could get in another word, Bethany decided to join our ranks. “These are my friends, and they stood by me when I was an idiot and under the influence of something I couldn’t control. I’m standing by them now.”

  Bella stood beside Beth, not saying anything, but making her position clear with her actions.

  The six of us looked at the Officials with similar sinking feelings in our stomachs. These twelve had every right to arrest us too now, for harboring a fugitive and defying direct orders. But there was something powerful about the fact that Hailey, Jade, Daniella, Bella and Bethany had all supported my decision to stand beside Kari. It was quite a different feeling from when I first proposed going down to the Underworld. This kind of loyalty was rare and incredible. I didn’t know if it would be enough to save Kari, but she would at least know that she wasn’t alone. None of us would ever be alone again.

  “While that sentiment is all well and good,” the Stratego said, his abrupt tone never changing. “If you prevent us from arresting Kari, then we have the right to arrest all of you as well.”

  None of us said anything, but none of us moved either.

  “Don’t do this, guys,” Kari said from behind us, her voice low. “It’s not worth it. I don’t want you to get in trouble, either.”

  “Shut up,” Beth hissed from over her shoulder. “We’ve got you, okay?”

  My heart sang at her words, such a big shift from moments ago when she was accusing Kari. It really was an example of how good of friends I had that they allowed my lead on this, believing me over their own doubts.

  “If this is what you all have decided, then we have no choice but to arrest you,” the Stratego announced. He moved his hand forward, signaling Ashley and the other Officials to come at us.

  I readied myself, unsure if I really was going to start a battle with the Elemental Officials. They were powerful demigods, with way more experience than any of us. Despite the potential beating, we held our ground and stayed in a row, protecting Kari.

  Before Officer Ashley could get close enough to any of us, there was a flash of light. It went off like a firecracker in the center of the room. There wasn’t a loud noise to go with it, only the bright light, and it soon revealed a woman in its place.

  I recognized her sun-kissed skin and the messy, dirty blonde bun. But the most recognizable marker was the copper staff she held in one hand. Her body glowed with an aura of light around her, vibrating radiance. The goddess Phaethusa joined the already crowded hospital room, but she commanded the space.

  We all backed away from her, giving her the room she simply needed to exist. The air shifted in the room from one on the brink of war, to something filled with reverence and awe. The Elemental Officials immediately showed signs of respect towards the goddess, with smiles and bows of their heads. The Stratego’s face twitched with annoyance at the minor goddess’s appearance.

  “Phae!” I shouted excitedly, not caring about cordiality. A weight I didn’t know I’d been holding fell off my shoulders. I hadn’t seen her since she and Kari fought in Italy. I was afraid I would never see the goddess again, but here she was.

  “Hello, Cameron,” the goddess greeted me, though she kept her expression straight-laced.

  “I can’t believe it,” I said with my arms open. “You’re alive.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you?” Phae said with a roll of her eyes. “I’m immortal.”

  “Yeah, I know, but it’s still good to see you,” I said lamely.

  “You as well,” Phae said with a nod of her head before turning back to face the Officials.

  “You know her?” Daniella whispered to me.

  “We go back,” I said casually with a wave of my hand.

  “Great Phaethusa,” Emma, daughter of Hestia, said by way of welcoming the goddess. “To what do we honor the honor of your presence?”

  “I’ve come to defend this demigod you have been so quick to condemn,” Phae said as she reached out a hand to point to Kari.

  As though we were choreographed to do so, Jade and I parted so that the Officials could properly see Kari, who stood. Phae beckoned Kari forward with the flick of her hand, and Kari obeyed. The goddess wrapped a protective arm around the daughter of Prometheus.

  “I fought with this demigod less than a week ago,” Phae told the room at large.

  Because of her status as a goddess, even a minor one, the Officials had no choice but to listen to her as she spoke. All of us were hung on her every word. Once the shock of seeing my godly friend wore off, I realized that her presence was going to be the thing that tipped the Officials in the right direction. She might be the final piece of the puzzle if this went the way it seemed to be going.

  “However, while I thought it was the daughter of Prometheus that I fought, it wasn’t,” Phae continued, her voice smooth as she proceeded with her story. “My powers of radiance exposed the true demon living inside her. I forced the goddess Eris from the body of this mortal and fought her one-on-one.”

  Suddenly, a memory flashed against my inner eye. I thought back to the moment when Phae rushed Kari at the cyclops’s villa. I closed my eyes, and instead of seeing only one figure glowing, I saw two. I didn’t know what to make of that sight at the time, but if what Phae was saying was true, then that second figure I saw had been Eris. Phae’s powers disconnected the two women, letting Kari live free once more.

  The timing also made sense, considering that was when Kari returned to normal and couldn’t remember the last several years.

  Part of me wished that Phae had shown up sooner, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I would have rather had her seal of approval now than at any other time during this journey. While gods and goddesses were capable of lying, the Officials would have been a bunch of fools if they didn’t believe Phae. The mark of a goddess wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

  “She is who she says she is,” Phae declared. “Her word about Eris is true, for I have seen it with my own two eyes. You should believe your fellow demigods because they speak the truth as well. They are noble for standing up for the daughter of Prometheus. They were willing to fight for the truth, and that shouldn’t be discarded so easily.”

  Pride swelled in my chest at Phae’s kind words. I saw her kindness have the same effect on my girlfriends as well as Beth and Bella beamed, Jade blushed, Hailey pushed her shoulders back, and Daniella straightened her glasses, a smile brushing her lips.

  “Thank you for that information, goddess,” Emma replied, her manner that of a noble lady.

  “We will take it into consideratio
n,” the Stratego interjected, his manner much less polite than his fellow official.

  “You will take it as truth,” Phae commanded, her glowing eyes snapping to the Stratego.

  “That may be, Phaethusa, but we cannot simply absolve her of all of her crimes,” the Stratego argued.

  I couldn’t believe the words coming out of his mouth. Who did he think he was going up against a goddess like that? He must have had balls of steel. But as I watched the two of them confront one another, I was struck with a sense of familiarity. Wasn’t I the kind of person to do the same thing? Hadn’t I gone up against gods with the same kind of recklessness and sass?

  I didn’t want to think about the similarities between the Stratego and myself. That led me down a path I didn’t want to confront. So I focused on the matter at hand and tried to find a compromise.

  “Then what about a trial?” I offered. “Like Daniella said. She deserves the chance to defend herself, and we can give testimonies on her behalf.”

  There was silence as the Officials considered my offer. I had to remind myself to breathe because my lungs threatened to stop working from sheer nerves.

  “I, for one, believe a trial is the fairest way to assess this situation,” Genesis, daughter of Aphrodite, claimed, the first one to voice her opinion.

  “I agree,” Makayla, the daughter of Hermes, soon added.

  I was happy to hear that the Officials I’d worked with so closely last year to rid the Academy of Tainted Love decided to agree to the compromise. Another round of agreements happened as the various Elemental Officials spoke up. Finally, it was just the Stratego left. While his vote didn’t matter at this point, because he was outnumbered if he disagreed, I still wanted him to vote yes to a trial. It would be a sign that this man was perhaps not as heartless as I originally thought. The decision wasn’t going to make me like him automatically, but I might be more receptive in the future.

  The Stratego’s stormy gray eyes flicked to me for the briefest of moments before he gave Phae a sharp, single nod.

  “We shall give her a trial,” the Stratego conceded.