by Dee King
This was it. The Bugatti Veyron. Black on black. This car looked like a million dollars and it was worth every penny of that. It was sleek. It was fast, and it was going to show the world we didn't care to be in hiding anymore. The guy tosses me the keys as I open the door for my wife.
This was our first car together and it was one hell of a ride. We hit the highway in seconds, making our way to Colin's. I pull in fast, breaking hard, causing the car to screech to a halt. I was in love with this car. We
step out of the car as Colin races out of the house. Selene and I, hand in hand and smiling, walking towards him.
“What the hell, Sebastian?”
“It's our new car.” We all turn, looking at her. She was a beauty. The car. It was a majestic, mechanical creature, that I couldn't be more impressed with.
“You can't have that! You’re supposed to be responsible. Idiot.” Colin hits me on the shoulder, but I see a slight smile. Yeah, he liked it, too.
“We need to talk.” I place my hand on his shoulder, letting go of Selene's, and guiding him into the house.
He glances at me; he knows it's not good. We walk into the living room, where we find Iris sitting on a couch. This wasn't shocking either. She played Cato and Colin most days. She was the goddess of love, what could
one expect.
“Hey, you guys. Sit, sit.” She stands, moving to the larger couch. We take the love seat across from her.
Colin sits beside Iris, acting as if we may have interrupted them. I didn't care. This was more important.
“Okay, are you guys alone?” Selene asks before I can. We are both leaning forward to the two of them.
“Yes. What's going on, especially with you?” Iris looks at me, directly.
“We know something, but we aren't sure who we can trust.” They both pause for a moment, making me second guess my motivation for being here.
“Sebastian, you have never questioned me before on my loyalties to you, so don't think they are any different than any other time.” Iris is mad for what I have said.
She should be. I would be if I were her too, but this has to be done.
“I am your brother. You question my loyalty to you?” Colin points at Selene.
“Oh, please. You have been my brother all of five minutes. You could care less about me, so, let's not pretend there is anything between us.”
“That's because you won't let there be anything more.”
“Shut up! This isn't why we are here.” I yell at Colin, because he would argue for hours just to hear himself talk.
They both lean forward now, towards us. Listening. We had their attention. I begin telling him about Alex and Cali. They both shake their heads and then Iris sits back, folding her arms underneath her chest. Colin nods and
mumbles something every so often as I tell him that I think we are being played. I sit back, finishing my last words.
“Hence, the new car.” I say to the two of them.
Colin and Iris both look at one another, then no one is speaking. Not a single word. This was a bad sign. I just wasn't sure what it meant for Selene and me in this moment.
“I told you. Dammit! I told you, Colin!” Iris was yelling, and now standing to her feet.
“I know, I know. I just thought...” Colin doesn't finish his thoughts, and now, Selene and I stand up with the two of them.
“I told you he would find out. You all are so stupid. All of your games and plans, look, look at what you did. He found out, I knew he would.” Iris was screaming at Colin.
I wasn't sure whether to be mad at her, or him, or what was going on.
“Don't! You said that you were in this one hundred percent. You wanted to save them as much as I did. So, don't.” Colin yells back at her.
I glance at Selene, raising an eyebrow; she was as confused as I was. Do we leave or stay? What were they yelling about in the first place?
“Could the two of you shut the hell up and tell us what's going on.” Selene shouts at the two of them.
They both stand still as her words were so loud they shook the windows. She was definitely my girl.
“These idiots thought that you wouldn't find out. I told them you would, and now it's only a short time before the world is turned upside down.”
“What?” I ask her.
“Alex is planning something big. I mean like catastrophic to the world. I believe he wants his seat by our father is what I am guessing. We believe he is building an army against the two of you. He plans on causing mass
chaos to Earth, to see just how far you will go to stay hidden. If you break the rule, then he wins. We just thought we could stop him, before you ever found out.”
“He is WHAT?” This time my voice shook the windows.
This was the game that he wanted. Me to find out, act out, and be seen as a God. That would be the end of the world. The world as we knew it. Alex was going to start a war using his powers and he was waiting for me to
show mortals they didn't walk alone.
Then I guess I was going to have to be just a tad smarter than he was. As usual.
Chapter Thirty
Plans can fail
We decided to make a plan. A plan that needed quite a bit of work, and a plan that he wouldn't see coming. Anger fueled my insides, just trying to stay calm. We had been played. I had been played. The biggest fool of it all was me. He made sure I was no longer in line to be the God of the Underworld, and he knew that. It was going to be him or me. That's the only way I saw it, now. Him or me. I wasn't going down without a fight.
He may think he has me fooled, but no, this was WAR. In war you must take procedures carefully, strategize, and make sure you're on target for your mark. Having the god of war on my side wasn't a bad thing either. The plan needed to be set into motion swiftly and quickly. We needed to build our defense system, and to hell with the consequences. Selene was furious, but I believe he had finally lost her forever. I knew when she said
yes, she loved me, but this was different. I could see just how much she wanted to cause him pain. A part of me was overjoyed. The other part of me knew that this was changing her. She had started changing before we
were wed, but she was finally ready to accept who she was. I felt like the guy that married the goddess, not the other way around. She was ready for what was coming next. It was like seeing her transform right in front of
my eyes. Today, we have to meet with my father and hers. This didn't seem like a plan I liked, but Colin swore this had to be done. Everyone that followed us to Earth was on our side. His words didn't provide much comfort in knowing that either. Iris said something about us being a team. I didn't want a team, I wanted an army. I wanted a group of gods that would help us bring Alex to his knees, begging for mercy. But, if a team is what we are, then so be it. We had never truly used our powers on Earth. It
was forbidden. We could do small things, but nothing to what Iris thought Alex had in mind. He was going to bring hell to Earth, and that wasn't going to happen as long as I was living.
“Your dad is coming.” Iris said to Selene, startling her.
“Cool.” Those were the only words she had, as she put the new fire and ice roses in the vase.
Then we watched the water in the vase start to bubble. She took a deep breath and the water turned calm again.
She was learning to control herself. I couldn't help but smile. The unmistakable footsteps of Poseidon reached our door in no time. Selene answered, which shocked me again. She was doing that a lot lately.
“Dad.” She held the door open for him to come inside.
“Selene.” He hugged her, and she let him. This was a serious time.
“Sebastian, Iris.” He nodded to Iris, then had his hand held out to me to shake.
Colin followed right behind him. Selene even left the door open for him.
“Is your father here yet?” Poseidon asks me.
“No, Sir. He should be here shortly though.”
“Well,
good. I wanted to talk to the two of you alone if I could for a minute.” He was staring at Selene now, and we both shook our heads yes.
I lead us into the dining room where we would be discussing the situation and strategy. He takes a seat across from us, folding his hands on top of the table. He looked serious. Selene rests her arms on the table,
waiting for whatever this might be about.
“I should have told the two of you more of the truth, but I didn't want to disrupt the wedding.”
“What are you talking about?” Selene asks him.
“There is one loophole to all of this.”
“To what? Us not killing Alex? Spit it out, Dad.”
“There's a reason why I am the only one that isn't married.”
“We know. Why is that?”
“I let Zeus have the throne.”
“What?”
“Yes, his rules won't apply to me because I was supposed to be the god of the gods, but I let Zeus have it. At the time, I felt he was better for it. I was wrong.”
“That's nice of you, but how does that help us?” I began rocking back and forth in my seat.
Waiting for him to get on with it, to get on with how we were to defeat Alex.
“The loophole is that if I want it back, my place as god of the gods, I would have to be the one to bring Zeus down. You do understand that if I do that, everything changes. You and Sebastian would be the next in line for the throne so to speak as you are now, just when the time was right. In the meanwhile, you and Colin would be the ones to take over the seas, but if I lose, Zeus gets to do what he wants.”
“Which is what?”
“Destroy whoever stands in his way. You wouldn't be acknowledged as Gods anymore; in fact, he may make you mortals. He could do that.” We both sit back from the table.
Trying to contemplate everything he had just said. We could be mortal? I could be mortal? I wouldn't even know where to begin to understand that. It would be easier for Selene since she is part mortal, but I have no idea
what that means for me.
“Sebastian, this would affect you most of all. You would never see your father again; you would be mortal. If I lost, that is.”
“Wait. We are the next in line to be the gods of gods, what would that help anyways?” Selene asks leaning over the table with her elbows.
“That's true, for right now. If Alex wins, you will be where you were, and Sebastian will not be recognized as a god at all. He gave up his rights when he let Hades marry Medusa. He would be like Cato. Or how he was I should say.” I lean forward this time.
“Are you telling us that my dad did this on purpose?”
“No. No, he didn't. I am telling you that because of all these games we have played. Your lives are truly on the line this time, and I can help. You two just won't like my plan.” Selene and I both stare at one another for a
brief moment.
“What's your plan?” We both ask him. He is about to tell us when I hear footsteps.
Turning to see my father standing in the doorway speaking to Colin and Iris. He wasn't alone. He had brought his entourage with him. Great. We didn't get to hear his plan yet, and my father was probably not going to
help anyways. I was still relishing in the fact that one God had the power to make me mortal. A human being. Me? The son of Hades. How was this possible? Interrupting my train of thought, my father spoke two words to
me that got my attention.
“It's time.”
You wish that when you hear those words that somehow it was a time for something good. It's time for your new life to begin. It's time for you to get a million dollars. Yet, I only hear those words when it was time for something bad or major to happen in my life. Poseidon stands and greets
my father, along with Selene. I hardly acknowledge him. In all honesty, he wasn't my father anymore. He gave the right up the day he married her. He knew that Cato was his son this whole time, he kept my mother a prisoner
and then had her banished. This was not what a father did. Not my father.
“Sebastian.” My dad says my name in a pathetic voice.
“Hades.” I knew this was wrong, but I was smiling inside. He was going to blow a gasket over that.
I sat back looking up at him.
“Okay, I get that your mad, Sebastian, but there's not time for this foolishness.”
“This isn't foolish, Hades, this is just how it is.” Folding my arms over my chest, leaning back in the chair.
It was him or me, and I wasn't backing down. He sits across from me beside Poseidon, with Medusa clinging onto his arm. A part of me wanted to puke in my mouth, but I refrained.
“Sebastian.” Her voice was soft, sweet, with a little bit of arrogance.
“Medusa.” She smiled at me, I didn't smile back.
“Selene.”
“Medusa.” This table talk meeting was becoming more stressed as they all began filling in the seats.
No one was speaking. The tension was high. There was a part of me that wanted to take my chances with becoming human. Who cared, anyways? I was now an orphan.
“Sebastian, Selene.” Cato says my name, but there wasn't any way I was going to answer him.
Selene just nods towards him. She lays her hand on my knee. I didn't even notice that I was tapping it so hard that it was hitting the table. I lay my hand on hers, feeling a sense of relief.
“Now, that we have you all here, we would like to set up a strategy for what we are facing.”
Selene had taken control. She was something magical. She had stepped into a world she didn't even know existed just a short while ago and was already stronger than I could have imagined.
“Yes. I have a plan. Let's go find Alex and kill him. He likes to run people over. I say what comes around goes around.” The others laughed at what Cato had said. Not me. Idiot.
“I am afraid it won't be that easy, son.” My dad does his hardy laugh at him, but then realizes he just called Cato his son, so he was quiet fast. I roll my eyes turning my head away from him.
“We need to catch him off guard. We need to meet him on our terms, not his. Alex is building an army. All we have is you guys. No offense, but I took you all out with some water. I think we need a better plan than a car. Idiot.” This time I laughed along with the others.
Selene had just made Cato feel small, and it was great. Cato was about to have a rebuttal when Colin stood to his feet.
“My sister is right. We need to go at Alex how he thinks he is going to come after us. We have all been sitting around waiting for him to come to us. We thought we were helping him, but I told each of you this was a
mistake. All he has done is use us. I am tired of this. He wants a war; a war he shall have.” Colin tells us like he is going to make the decisions.
That's funny to me, so I smile.
“What you don't understand is he doesn't want any of you. He got what he wanted from each of you. The others helped provide him hiding spots. You marrying Medusa, claiming Cato as your son, and all of you acting like we can just ignore this. You two started this, you two are going to help us end it.” This time I stood up at the table pushing my seat back.
“The two of you are going to war with your brother, so you better get ready. You started this and you will end it. Otherwise, I will kill you myself!” My voice shook the whole house.
I was mad as hell and I wasn't holding back anymore.
“Sebastian, how dare you!” My father stands, coming around the table to me.
“How dare I? How dare you!” I stand up to him. We were so close I could feel his breath on my face.
Aries comes to my side along with Selene, Zack, Colin, and Iris. The fear I once had is long gone. He couldn't rule me as he once had. Because of him, I had to marry at an age that no one should have to and I had to fight
to get where I am at. How dare he think he was going to keep ruling my life. Selene and I were the ones going through all this. Not him.
“Your arrogance is going to get to you into a dangerous situation, son.” My father says in a tone that has no one moving or speaking.
“And your arrogance made you lose a son.” That was it. I was done.
Chapter Thirty-One