Heart

by Higginson, Rachel

  Hermes’s shoulders slumped with exhaustion. He didn’t bother saying another word, but I heard his unspoken irritation. He had lost three brothers in the last few days. They were evil men, but to Hermes, they were family.

  I couldn’t say what waited for us back on Olympus. We could be walking to our death. But for some reason I doubted it. I trusted Smith enough to go back and face the consequences of my actions.

  Plus, I needed to say goodbye to Honor. I couldn’t leave her again without at least offering her a sanctuary should she ever need one and giving her the tightest hug known to mankind.

  Hermes stepped between us and put a hand on each of our shoulders. Before I could take a breath we were back on the mountain. We were standing in the same frigid spot he’d first brought us to. The same ice cold wind assaulted our bare skin and after the warmth of the beach, the difference in temperature was shocking.

  We stepped through the gates and hurried up the hill again. It wasn’t at all quiet this time. It was loud and restless and I had to strain to hear myself think. Signs of the battle littered the streets and razed buildings. The carnage was overwhelming even after being a part of it.

  We walked in complete silence all the way up the hill. When we reached the plaza in front of the temple, we saw the true slaughter of the bloody battle.

  Servants to the Pantheon worked hard to clean up the blood that ran like a river through the streets. There were dead bodies everywhere and the stench of it made me want to gag.

  A huge funeral pyre had been made off to the side. The dead were collected and delivered unceremoniously onto the pile. The fire roared so loudly I couldn’t hear anything above the sound of it, not even my own thoughts.

  I kept my eyes locked on the columns, anxious to get inside the untouched building.

  Hermes seemed just as determined. We walked quickly through the chaos and ran up the long sets of stairs.

  Inside the temple, the remaining Greeks were gathered around Zeus and Hera. Their robes had been switched to black, a sign of mourning.

  They lifted their heads to find us walking toward them with a mixture of relief and animosity. Most of the gods had survived the battle. There were a few noticeably absent that I had watched die and a few more that could be dead or just not here. I didn’t know enough about them to make that call.

  “Poseidon is dead?” Hera asked in her usual demanding tone.

  I tried not to look cocky when I answered, “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “Chained to the bottom of the sea as requested.”

  Hera lifted her articulate eyebrow. “What do you mean as requested?”

  The Fates appeared just then. They popped into view parallel to Ryder and me, but they left several yards between us. My mother lay unconscious at their feet.

  “Our part of the deal,” Isadora explained coldly.

  I wanted to run to Ava. I wanted to pick up her frail body in my arms and hold her to me until she forgot any of this happened. Ryder’s hand on my wrist kept me from moving.

  “You had something to do with this?” Hera asked the Fates.

  Isadora lifted her chin haughtily. “My dear, we had everything to do with this.”

  I choked on my outrage and took long strides to stand before them. “If you mean you stirred the pot to begin with, then sure, take the credit. But you had nothing to do with Poseidon’s death. That was me. That was all me.”

  “She’s says it so proudly,” Enid sneered. “She brags about the death of your brother, my queen. Something needs to be done. She cannot be allowed to roam this world freely. She’ll kill you all before she’s finished. She’ll take down Olympus one god at a time until the throne is hers alone.”

  Hera stood up from her powerful seat and put a hand to her throat. “You’ve seen it?”

  In her creepy child-like voice, Veda said, “We see all.”

  Hera turned to her husband, “Zeus, we have to do something. She is responsible for the death of two of your brothers and the musician killed two more. You cannot let this behavior go unpunished.”

  “I told you, wife, I would banish them from the mountain.” His voice was hard and unrelenting. His starling eyes met mine across the distance and held something I couldn’t decipher.

  “Not good enough!” Hera screamed.

  Echoes of agreement shouted through the Parthenon, filling the open space with anger and resentment. They hated me. All of them.

  Lucky for me, the feeling was more than mutual.

  “She’s a child,” Zeus argued. “What would you have me do?”

  Isadora waited until the room fell silent before suggesting sagely, “Give her to us. We are strong enough to keep her from harming anyone else. She would be safe with us.”

  Hera looked at the three witches thoughtfully. “They could keep her safe. They could keep us appraised of her power, of her comings and goings. It’s wise, my husband. We should think on this.”

  Zeus looked at Hera like she was out of her damn mind and I tried not to smile.

  Hermes stepped forward and threw his hands out. “Do you not see what they’re doing? They wish to control everything. They wish to turn Olympus-”

  “Quiet, Messenger!” Enid screamed. “Quiet before I cut out your tongue, you stupid fool!”

  “Enough!” Zeus bellowed. “You’re giving me a headache.”

  The murmuring that rippled through the crowd was aggressive and pointed mostly at me. No matter whose side they’d been on during the battle, it seemed the majority of their animosity was pointed towards me.

  “Let’s vote,” one of the gods I couldn’t remember suggested. “In favor of not having my remains chained to the bottom of the ocean, I vote we hand the Siren over to the Fates.”

  That suggestion met a round of applause from the rest of the crowd.

  This was a witch hunt. Unfortunately I was the witch.

  “You just saved most of their lives,” Ryder growled next to me. “I think you should chain them all to the bottom of the ocean. What a bunch of assholes.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “They’re more concerned with their own lives than the good I did for them. I have an idea though.”

  Ryder’s amused look made me laugh.

  “It’s a good idea,” I whispered. “I promise.”

  “So it’s settled,” Isadora called out. “We’ll take the girl.”

  “Yes,” Hera declared.

  “Wait!” Zeus growled. “There has to be another way that will satisfy you.”

  “It’s not like we can drop her off on an island and feed her sailors, Zeus!” Hera whined. “Times have changed. This is the simplest solution.”

  “And how do you know that we can trust the Fates with her?” Zeus asked.

  Before anyone else could say another stupid thing, I spoke up. “You can’t.”

  Every head in the room swiveled toward me. The rustling of robes seemed to scream through the tight tension.

  “What was that?” Hera screeched.

  I cleared my throat and tried again. “You can’t trust the Fates. They want exactly what Nix wanted. And what Hades wanted.” I cocked my head for dramatic effect. “And… what Ares wanted. They want to use me to take Olympus. And probably… eventually the world. You can’t trust them, just like you can’t trust me.”

  Zeus narrowed his eyes at me. “We can’t trust you?”

  “Not at all. I’m feeling very bloodthirsty after all of these deaths. It’s probably only a matter of days, er, hours before I need to kill again.” I leaned in with a stage-whispered, “I’m a monster. Or hadn’t you heard yet?”

  The room exploded with accusations and suggestions, most of which ended with my head detaching from my body or my body being locked away in the Fate’s cave.

  Thanks, but no thanks.

  “Quiet!” Zeus hollered. When at last it died down, he looked to me with more patience than I knew he felt and said, “Then what is your solution, Siren. Since you’re so willing
to fess up to your impending crimes, why don’t you tell us what you think we should do?”

  I took a deep breath and said, “I think you should strip me of my powers.”

  Unlike before when I incited a riot with my words, this latest confession met complete, stone-cold silence. I think I shocked an entire Pantheon of gods, which was quite a feat.

  Zeus spoke first, “You want me to strip your powers?”

  “All of them. Don’t stop until I’m mortal and completely human.”

  “Do you understand what you’re asking?” He didn’t seem convinced. For as wise as Zeus was, it was incomprehensible to him that someone wouldn’t want to be all-powerful. Actually, by the silence of the room, it was incomprehensible to all of them.

  “I do,” I answered honestly. “You told me before that you couldn’t forcefully strip the Sirens of the past because they would have put you under their control. Well, I’m not going to do that. I don’t want anything to do with these powers or what they’re capable of. I had my taste and I can truthfully say, it was more than enough. Take them from me. Destroy them. Strip me completely of anything supernatural and Greek. I just want to be normal. I just want to have a normal life away from all of this. And it’s a win for you. If you take my powers, then you have nothing to worry about. You can restore order and none of you has to worry about me taking your heads while you sleep.”

  Zeus’ expression hardened. He knew I was only joking and he did not appreciate my sense of humor.

  I pressed my lips together in an effort to appear professional.

  Isadora stumbled forward. “You can’t… you can’t do that. You can’t give up the greatest power this mountain has ever seen. You can’t just waste all of that potential!” Her voice was harsh and screeching by the end of her speech.

  It made my decision that much sweeter.

  I turned to face her. “I can. And I’m going to.”

  “My queen?” Zeus asked Hera.

  She regarded me pensively for a while. I was confident with my choice, but her intensive scrutiny made me want to fidget.

  Finally she asked, “You’re willing to give up your powers? Truthfully? Or is this some kind of trick?”

  “It’s not a trick,” I promised her. “I never wanted any of this. It might not matter to you, but every moment I’ve lived with these powers has been torture. I have no desire to keep them. I have no desire to live this life or to be a part of this community.” Tears wet my lashes and I tried desperately to hold them back, but a few fell anyway. With a voice hoarse with emotion, I told her the truest truth. “I just want to go home. I just want to take my mom and my boyfriend and go home. And I never want to come back.”

  Several minutes dragged by before she finally said, “I believe you. Take her powers and let her go.” The queen of the gods held my gaze for a minute longer, before nodding regally and sweeping from the room.

  The rest of the crowd dispersed just as quickly. This meeting had become rather anticlimactic for them and they weren’t interested in watching me become less-than. Although, I had no doubt if I would have gone the opposite way and attacked them all, they would have stuck around for the macabre entertainment aspect.

  I would never understand these people.

  “You little bitch!” Enid screamed at me while gods filed out around them. “You horrid little creature! How dare you!”

  “You’re going to die!” Veda added. “As soon as you’re human, we’re going to cut your thread and send you to the deepest parts of hell.”

  “You will never get your happily ever after,” Isadora finished. “You won’t take one breath when you step off this mountain before you wither and die.”

  Real fear had just started to take root in my gut when Zeus stepped forward. “I am sick and tired of you three,” he growled. “I see through you, even if my wife cannot. I will never concede this mountain to you. So when I say I never want to see you again, I mean it. I banish you to your cave for the rest of eternity. My word is binding. My word is eternal. My word is complete.”

  Isadora’s eyes bulged from her wrinkly face. “You can’t-”

  “I can!” Zeus shouted. “And I just did! If I find that you’ve set a toe outside of that disgusting hovel you consider home, I will kill you myself.”

  Enid’s whimpering plea sounded as pathetic as she looked, “Zeus… my king... let’s be reasonable-”

  “Be gone!” he bellowed and the three of them disappeared with a flash.

  His shoulders relaxed after they left and when he turned to face us again, he seemed more Smith than Zeus.

  He rubbed his temples with two hands and looked at me exasperatedly. “Stripping you of your powers… very clever, Ivy.”

  I smiled again. “Thank you.”

  “I’ll take them,” he said with his own smile. “But I’ll leave you with a gift. Something to remember me by.”

  Unease made my stomach feel greasy. “A gift? What kind?”

  “Don’t look so ungrateful,” he laughed. “I’ll bestow you with my seal. That way the Fates can’t follow through with their outrageous threat.”

  “Your seal?”

  “Granted it won’t save you from sickness or old age… or getting hit by a car or having a piano fall on your head or any other silly way that humans can die, but it will keep you safe from the Fates. It will protect you from anyone belonging to the Pantheon.”

  “Thank you, Smith,” I told him sincerely. “Thank you for everything.”

  “Thank you, Ivy.” He winked at me. “For everything.”

  A swirling sensation started in my toes. It worked its way up to my knees and hips, then over my shoulders and to the top of my head. With a wave of Smith’s hand I felt the power riot in my blood, determined to stay with me. But Smith was… well, Smith was Zeus and with my willingness to let it go, it didn’t stand a chance.

  Lightning flashed overhead and sparks flew around my body. Hermes and Ryder jumped out of the way as the sparks became flashes of light that sailed from my body to Smith’s hand with a flourish.

  My lungs seemed to collapse in my chest. I buckled forward, sucking in a harsh breath that rasped against my raw throat. My vision went black, my blood seemed to dull in my veins and my entire body sagged with the weight of something foreign and unwanted- mortality.

  When I could see again, I watched a necklace appear in Smith’s hand. A long silver pendant, with a heavy dazzling ruby the size of my fist, dangled from his fingers.

  He held it up for me to see. “The power of the Siren.”

  “That seems dangerous,” Ryder murmured. He was at my side again, his hand running in soothing circles over my back. He pressed a kiss to my temple and I felt the sweetest lightness in my chest.

  He was happy with how things played out.

  I was too.

  Smith patted his robes and dropped the necklace into a hidden pocket near his breast. “I’ll keep it safe.”

  I snorted, “Famous last words.”

  He smiled at me patiently. “We have a vault for things like this. Pandora’s Box, a certain golden fleece, a recently acquired trident made out of lightning… You get the picture.”

  “Ah.” I trusted him just a little bit more.

  “It’s been a pleasure, Ivy.” Smith walked over to pull me into a quick embrace, pressing a fatherly kiss to the top of my head. “But I think your mother is anxious to be home. You will take care of her?”

  I nodded immediately, “I’m going to help her get better.” Wow, how weighted those words were.

  “I think that’s the nicest thing you’ll ever do.”

  “What about my sister?” I asked in a low voice. “Can I say goodbye to her?”

  Zeus frowned. “I moved her off the mountain. It had ceased to be… safe for her.” At my look of alarm, he hurried to assure me, “She’s in good hands. In fact, you’ll see her soon. I promise.”

  I couldn’t help but wonder who Smith trusted with Honor. “Will I see you again?
”

  His answering smile was from the man I knew would do anything to keep me safe, the man I had known as Honor’s father and the man that had saved my life when I needed help most of all. “Not if you’re lucky.”

  Surprising tears heated my eyes, but I let this be our goodbye. It was enough to have known him and to know that he would be looking out for me from this moment on. It was enough to know I would see my sister again and that he would always do whatever it took to keep her safe and to keep me safe.

  “Are you ready?” Hermes asked softly.

  I nodded. Ryder took my hand while Hermes lifted my mother into his arms. This time we put our hands on him. Once again I blinked and when I opened my eyes we stood in my old apartment in Omaha.

  “You brought me home?” I whispered, completely choked up.

  He set my mother down on the couch and looked up at me curiously, “Isn’t that what you wanted.”

  I was crying too hard to speak. My chin trembled as I nodded. Yes. This was where I wanted to be.

  I just never thought I would get here again.

  “Ivy!”

  I whirled around to find Honor squealing behind me. I opened my arms just in time to catch her. She threw her arms around me and I cried into her hair.

  She was here. And she was beautiful.

  I looked up to see Delphi’s indistinguishable form wavering across the room. “You did good, Human.” Her melodic voice drifted over us warmly. Her term of endearment was intentional and amused.

  “Thank you,” I told her.

  “You will bear these scars forever, I’m afraid. But my wish is that you never forget how necessary they were. Only a daughter of the sea could have defeated the god of the sea. His fate was sealed the moment you were born. Your destiny is fulfilled.”

  “And now I’m free to live my life how I please.”

  I couldn’t really make out her face, but I could tell she was smiling when she said, “I hope you do. That would give me the greatest pleasure.”

  “I expect our paths will never cross again?”

  “That is your wish, is it not?”

  I nodded. “That would give me the greatest pleasure.”

  She laughed. Even Hermes laughed. “Then we shall take our leave as soon as you ask your last request.”