by Dani Hoots
I didn’t even have time to go to her side before something stepped out of the sky and onto the pavement in front of us. It was a man with blond hair, blue eyes, and an air about him that meant business.
He looked down at Chrys. “Well, well. What do we have here?”
I gasped for air as every nerve in my body cried out in agony. What the fuck was that? I felt like I was hit by lightning, and if I wasn’t mistaken, that was what I had seen. I never realized how painful it would be to have such a shock knock me back. whatever did that to me was going to pay. Big time. I was sick and tired of all the shit that had been going on lately. There was no more holding back. I would get my revenge.
Speaking of which, what had I been doing before all this happened? Everything was still a blur, but I remembered Poseidon taking me down into the water.
Death and life. That was what my power truly was. I could create and destroy everything. I knew my power was dark, I knew I could destroy so much around me, but I never realized that I could bring it back, that I could summon life just like my mother.
Then it hit me. What I had done. I was summoning life and death upon Poseidon, killing him over and over again. Father had warned me about using those powers, that it was against nature, against the laws that held the universe together. If anyone found out about it, I would be in deep shit.
But I guess it was too late for that now. I had used my powers out in the open for all of London to see. Not to mention I used my powers on my uncle, Poseidon, one of the big three. There was no way this could be a secret any longer.
I opened my eyes to find a blond man standing over me. He needed a haircut and to shave, as he looked a bit shaggy, but I guess that was the style now. I preferred my father’s clean-shaven look for older men. Speaking of which, he kind of looked like my father, if my father had blond hair…
My heart practically stopped as I looked up at this man. He still appeared smug as he seemed to be waiting for me to respond. It couldn’t be, could it? My eyes slowly went towards the light that was coming from his hand. It looked like a lightning bolt. It was a lightning bolt.
Shit. Shit shit shit shit shit.
I rose to my feet as quickly as I could, backing away from the man before me. Backing away from Zeus himself.
He stepped one step towards me, still intrigued. “I saw your little show, young lass. So please, tell me, who exactly are you?”
I couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but stand there like an idiot, because I really was an idiot. My most dreaded nightmare faced me, the one person who I was supposed to stay away from, the person who would determine my fate. I had completely failed my father. And for that, I was going to die, I just knew it. It wasn’t fair, none of it was fair. I just wanted to be free, I didn’t want this god-crap any more. But that would never happen. I should have just listened to my father. I should have just stayed hidden.
“You’re…. You’re…” I mumbled.
“Zeus, the God of Olympus, God of Order and Nature, yes. I am the god all the other gods take orders from, the one who makes sure everything is working how it should, that life and death follow the rules I had put into place The rules of nature.” He glanced over to where Poseidon hung on the bridge.
Wow, did I do that? I guess I did, though, in my defense, he did try to drag me down to his ocean palace, and I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened then. Yeah, he pretty much deserved everything I had thrown at him.
Zeus went on, “seems you have slipped from my sight, because I would have never let any god have as much power as you seem to have.”
I could feel my heart pounding in my chest. I couldn’t move, couldn’t do anything against this god. And, as he said, he was the God of Gods, he could do whatever he wanted with me, he had the power. I could never stand up against him. I was royally screwed.
“So answer me, who are you?” he asked once more. Even though he appeared he was being patient with me, I could tell that patience was wearing thin.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. There was no point in lying now. When Poseidon woke up (at least I think he could wake up after everything I did to him), Zeus would learn the truth. I had wasted all the work my father had put into keeping this secret. It was time to come clean and pay the price of what I had done. So I did the only thing I could do—stand tall and accept my fate. “I am Chrysanthemum, daughter of Hades and Persephone.”
Zeus raised an eyebrow. “Daughter of Hades? That’s impossible, he can’t bear any children. He is the God of Death, I made sure conceiving children would be impossible for him.”
I shrugged. “Well, I guess you messed up.” Stupid thing to say to the God of Gods, but let’s be honest, he did mess up. If he supposedly made it so my father couldn’t have children, then I was living prove of that mistake.
Zeus circled me, examining every inch of my body, a little creepy might I add. I knew I looked like a wreck at this point. My dress was soaked, there was algae covering my tights, my hair was a tangled mess. I didn’t even want to know what my makeup looked like at this point. Not that it mattered, it wasn’t like I wanted to look good for this ass or anything. He was going to kill me anyway.
“You definitely have your mother’s body, and her scent.” He stopped in front of me, staring into my eyes. “But those eyes, you have the eyes of death. You have your father’s eyes. You are indeed their daughter.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, other than, yeah, it’s true. Pothos and Poseidon pretty much had said the same thing when they saw me, so there was no denying I looked like my father and mother. The cat was let out of the bag, so to speak, it wasn’t like I could have lied straight to Zeus’ face. It wouldn’t have been that hard for him to figure out who I was, given the power I had.
I still thought it was odd he appeared like he did, as the worlds were vast and he couldn’t see everything that was happening all at once. I had been releasing a lot of power though, I was probably like a big beacon. But if that was the case, wouldn’t all the gods be here?
Or was I such a monster that they wanted to stay far away?
Zeus examined me for a few more moments, then turned to the others. “Agenor, you spoke the truth. I will hear your plea.”
My mouth dropped a little. What did he mean that A.J. had spoken the truth? He couldn’t have alerted Zeus about all of this, could he? That would have been impossible, not to mention A.J. would never betray me like that. We have been friends for centuries, what would he have gained by telling Zeus? And he had tried to help me against his father when he attacked. It made no sense.
“A.J., what’s going on?” I asked.
Zeus laughed. “What does it look like? He alerted me the moment you stepped onto Earth, that you were Hades’ daughter. And in return, I was to hear his request.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, that he would do this to me. Then everything he had said the past few days hit me, why he was so eager to leave the Underworld, why he wanted us on Earth, why he never went to Elysium. He wanted to come back to Earth, to escape the Underworld. After all these years, he held on to that want of freedom. He even said that days before. I had been such a fool.
Before I could say something, before I could tell him what he could to himself and it would have not been kind, Huntley punched him. Hard. Harder than I had ever seen him punch anything. I mean, if I didn’t know him, I would have thought he was a demigod or something that arm. A.J. hit the ground hard.
Pothos and Melinoe held Huntley back before he could lay any more punches on him. Why they stopped him, I wasn’t really that sure. A.J. had it coming. Then again, Zeus was right there and probably would have no problem destroying Huntley. If I wasn't so shocked and afraid of Zeus, I would also be sending A.J. to the depths of the Underworld right then and there.
“Traitor!” Huntley yelled at him. “How could you do that to her? She was your friend! You don’t betray friends like that!”
A.J. rubb
ed the blood that had been dripping down his chin. Huntley had hit him good. “Stupid human, you have no idea what’s going on do you? What happened when we came to Earth?”
Huntley shook his head. I felt as if my stomach was in my throat. I didn’t think they noticed, I didn’t think they realized… I wasn’t even sure what had happened was real…
A.J. pointed at me. “When she brought us up here, she made us mortal again! We are alive, as humans! We don’t have to go back to the Underworld again, we can be free! She broke her father’s laws, yes, but in doing that we can have our lives back. the Earth is our home, not that dreadful place.” He turned to Zeus. “And that is what I want, I want to be immortal and never age. I don’t want to go back to the Underworld ever again. I want my life back. I’m a demigod, I do not deserve death. Only humans do.”
Zeus appeared as if was genuinely thinking about his request. I mean, could he do that? I had heard stories but I felt as if this would go against his law of nature and what not. It didn't make sense.
“You may have your life back, but I cannot make you immortal if you have ever eaten or drank anything in the Underworld. By doing so, you tie yourself to the place and must return someday. It’s the rule.”
A.J. shook his head with a bit of a smirk. “That I know, which is why I have neither taken a bite of food or a sip of drink in that dreadful place.”
My eyes widened. How was that possible? After thousands of years, he would have been starving, thirsty beyond belief. No he couldn’t die from not eating or drinking, but he would have been in grave pain the entire time. Even the dead have to consume food and drinks for their bodies, even if just for the effect of making your bodies satisfied. Just the thought of it made my body cringe. If I didn’t eat for a few hours, I was cranky, let alone thousands of years. And there was always food and drink in front of him. How would he have had the strength to resist for such a long time. How would he have the strength to do anything, as a matter of fact? I guess he was a demigod, but still. I was a goddess and I couldn’t even imagine.
It was nearly impossible but the more I thought about it, the more I realized every time I ate with him, every time we kicked back and had drinks, he either said he was full or not that thirsty. I couldn’t recall one instance that he joined us in eating or drinking.
Zeus looked as shocked as I did. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who felt as if this would deb impossible, even for a god. “You didn’t?”
“No.”
Carefully Zeus went on. “You will never grow old and you will never die. But realize that while this may sound like a gift, it can also be a curse. Are you really sure it’s something you want?”
A.J. nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it for thousands of years. I am sure.”
“Then your request is granted,” Zeus turned to back to me. “A request I only had to grant because of the laws you have broken.”
Seriously, he blamed me for this? It wasn’t like I could have possibly known that was A.J.’s plan all along. I mean, he had to be starving, but it did explain why he ate so much at the restaurant when we first arrived to London. As for why he didn’t try to sneak out of the Underworld earlier, well, he must have wanted immortality. And the only way he could have done that is by selling me to Zeus.
Which meant he had been planning all of this since the moment he met me.
I quickly shook my head. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know—“
“That is irrelevant.” The lightning bolt in his hand grew brighter and brighter. He was ready to end it right then and there. He wasn’t even going to hear my side of the story. What a dick, seriously. Arrogant as could be.
“I cannot allow such a goddess to exist. Goodbye, Chrysanthemum, Daughter of Hades. You will be no more.”
He raised the lightning bolt up, the power surging through the air. I knew there was nothing I could do, that my power would never be able to save me. I didn’t even have a change to try and gather my strength as I did with Poseidon. This was the end and everything I wanted to do, wanted to say, would be no more. I just wished I could apologize to my father for being such a stupid daughter.
I closed my eyes and waited for the pain to come and for all of it to be no more.
“No!” I screamed out, Pothos and Melinoe still holding me back. I knew I couldn’t do anything, that I would simply perish alongside Chrys the moment the lightning bolt left Zeus’ hand. But was living worth it if Chrys wasn't there? I rather perish, to be destroyed completely, than face any type of life without her. Even if that meant suffering Tartarus alongside her. I owed her that much.
A.J. simply watched as the girl I thought he cared about, that I thought he would protect with his life just as I would have, was going to be destroyed by Zeus.
Lightening shot forward at Chrys, while light blinded me temporarily. That was it, I thought. Everything was over. Life seemed colorless now, the world devoid of meaning. I never knew love could be so powerful. It had been absent in my life for so long that it was hard for me to even recognize it until now. I loved Chrys and I could never feel any different about her than that.
I didn’t know what exactly what happened but when I was able to focus again, there stood Hades between Zeus and his daughter, dressed in black, just as normal, his hand blocking the strike. The light dimmed in his hand and he closed it as if it was nothing, just a little static shock. See, he would make a great movie villain.
“Brother, what a surprise,” Zeus commented with a bit of a smile. “I didn’t think you would actually come.”
“Father,” Chrys whispered as she stepped forward toward him. He looked back at her. I couldn’t see his face, but from the contrite look Chrys had after they made eye contact, I could tell it had to be one of anger and disappointment. She stopped reaching out to her father and stepped back. Ouch. Knowing Chrys, she probably, unlike me, had never disappointed her father before. And this wasn’t like, oh sorry for getting an “F” on my last test, I will do better next time. This was a matter of life and death for both of them. This mistake could lead to an all-out war between Zeus and Hades. I wished I could help her, but there was nothing I could do.
A.J. bolted. And I mean bolted. He was long gone, ran away faster than Prometheus had. He knew the moment Hades found out what he had done, he would have dragged him down to Tartarus himself. It didn’t matter what magic Zeus had placed on him. Hades watched as he ran off, probably figuring he had something to do with all of this. But at the same time, he knew that if he moved, Zeus would hurt his daughter. He would deal with A.J. later, and hopefully I would have front row seats to that showdown.
Hades turned back to Zeus. “What do you think you are doing?”
“You know perfectly well what I have to do. She can’t exist, not if we want to keep order in the universe. Her power is too great, no god should be able to have authority over life and death like that. We have already discussed this, you weren’t supposed to have any children. It’s against everything we stand for.”
“I can train her, I can make sure she doesn’t use her powers against the laws. Just don’t kill my daughter. She doesn’t deserve any of this.”
Zeus shook his head and pointed at Poseidon. “Look at our brother, Hades! Do you see what she is capable of? She killed him and brought him back to life again and again. You may be able to train her, but if she loses control even more, she could destroy this world and everything in it! She can destroy all of us when she is old enough, just like the prophet said! Can’t you see that?”
Whoa. A prophet? What did he mean by that? Was there some kind of prophecy that said Chrys was going to bring about Ragnarok or something?
Hades shook his head. “I don’t care, she is still my baby girl and I will protect her no matter the cost.”
Zeus let out a brief laugh. “You think you are so mighty brother, but you know you are not the one in charge. You are stuck in your own little world, without the company of other gods. You forget that this world and Olymp
us doesn’t revolve around you, that you aren’t even supposed to be here. You have no say or jurisdiction anywhere other than in your home.”
Wow, and I thought my family liked to put me down. Here, the God of Death was being told he was worthless and didn’t matter anywhere except in hiding. Geez, I wouldn’t ever want to go to that family’s Thanksgiving dinner.
“You hide me away in the Underworld only because you fear me and what I can do. I am much more powerful than you and Poseidon, and you are afraid my daughter is the same. It isn’t about keeping order you are worried about, but protecting your own skin.”
“Oh really? You think so?”
So, yeah, the gods are fighting. The rest of us were kind of just standing here, waiting for something. We really couldn’t do anything, so yeah... Shit was going on all around us and all we could do was watch. I felt so worthless right now.