by Dee King
My wrist becomes red from us trying to break this thing free from me. My father was already one step ahead of me. How did this even happen?
“For now, just leave it, she will break it free when the time comes.” Zack pats Sebastian on the back, trying to get him to stop pulling on my wrist.
“Right now, we have other issues…” Zack points to our surroundings.
Not noticing what had been happening around us, we stop pulling at the bracelet, searching our surroundings. Nothing was as it had been before. No beautiful surroundings, buildings in ruins, water rushing over the debris. This place was unrecognizable.
“What the…” Was the only words that slipped from my mouth.
There was no sign of human life anywhere; barely any plant life seemed to be alive. We begin walking away from the dock, searching this now foreign land very carefully.
“Was that? Was that Athens?” Cato says with a shaken voice, pointing behind us.
“Oh my gods… that can’t be...” I say in shock.
What was once a beautiful place, surrounded by water, is now completely under water. You can barely see the pillars from Athena’s temple.
“Why hit here first?” Zack asks us.
“Because this was this place that Zeus had loved most on Earth.” Sebastian whispers.
“How the hell do we get anywhere?” Fears begin to rise from me.
“Well, with that stupid bracelet, we are going a have a hard time trying to find our way back to the Americas. That’s the last place they could be if they already took out most of this part of the world.” Cato is mad at me, even though I didn’t understand how this was my fault.
“Chill. I got this.” Sebastian says, pulling out some of the golden coins I had thought were long gone.
“You all know how this works by now. We should go to our house on the beach. Ready?”
Sebastian hands all of us a coin, rubbing it my hand, my thoughts travel to the last time we were
at his home. I had been unaware that he even had the coins, let alone we could go to places on Earth with these. Letting the coin warm in my hand, then flipping it high in the air, I’m transported back to Sebastian’s mansion. Somehow, I ended up on the balcony, Sebastian was in the bedroom, Zack and Cato were standing in the middle of the living room. Obviously, we were all thinking of something different that had happened here. Listening to Sebastian run down the stairs, bypassing Zack and Cato and finding me standing on the balcony, his face immediately breaks out into a huge smile.
“The bedroom?” I begin to crack a smile.
“What? I remember some very good times in there.” He pulls me towards him, holding me in his arms.
“You two really are the real deal…” Cato laughs at us, interrupting our moment.
“Yeah, we are.” Sebastian kisses me softly as we back away from one another.
“Where do we go now?” Zack asks, searching all around us.
“Follow me, boys.” I say, running back into the house, grabbing our car keys that were still hanging where we had left them.
My car… there it was in all its glory. Untouched, beautiful black beauty, just waiting for me to drive her. Sebastian laughs, he knew that this was something I missed on Earth. Driving this car always made me feel like I had the strength of a thousand horses. It kind of did, all that horsepower under the hood. Sliding into the driver’s seat as they try to fit very snuggly into this little car. I start the car, roaring the engine as it sits idly in the garage. Sebastian hits the garage door opener and I pull out of there like my life depended on it. The first place was to Elizabeth’s home. The only mother I had ever known. Somehow, I needed to apologize for my actions and I had an inkling that she knew where my father and Hera might be.
“You serious?” Cato says from the scrunched position he’s sitting in, listening into my thoughts.
“Yep. I need to make amends and she knows my father better than I ever could.”
Stepping out of the car, the house looks untouched. It didn’t look like anyone even lived here anymore. Sebastian comes around to my side, taking my hand in his, while the bracelet started trying to pull me back to the car.
“Oh, we are definitely in the right place.” I say, pointing down at the bracelet as the anchor keeps trying to point back at the car.
Answers were about to be told, sins forgiven in a form, and my heart was beating faster and faster as we approached the door. This was the beginning of what was to come. By the tugging of the charms, my father knew it was only a matter of time before we met again.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Most often the answers are in plain sight, we just get blinded from our truths
Walking to the door, I didn’t know whether to ring the bell or just walk in. This was no longer my home, and it hadn’t been for years now. All the feelings of the last day I was here rush over me like a wave as a single tear falls down my cheek. Ringing the doorbell, there was a sense of reality here. A sense of home, a sense of a life that once was surrounded with love. I wondered if she would even recognize me since so much time had passed, but that thought was simply pushed to the side as an older woman opened the door.
“Be still my heart…” She barely speaks above a whisper, grabbing at her chest.
The woman in front of me had long gray hair, a frail body frame, and sunken dark eyes. This was now Elizabeth, the only mother I had ever known. She looked fragile. Time had not treated her well and the dark circles under eyes showed no sign of sleep in what looked to be years.
“May we come in?” I ask her politely.
“Yes, oh gods yes, please.” She moves to the side to let the four of us enter.
We follow her to the same old couch she had always had, the living room looked like it was a death trap. Newspapers piled all around the floor, the same television that had been there since I was a teenager was now covered in dust. She moves things around taking a seat in an old looking chair that faced the couch, as the four of us sat down on the couch. Dust particles were flying around everywhere. What had become of her and our home?
“I assume you are here for your father and mother.” Her voice now loudly and stern.
“Yes, and I wanted to apologize to you.”
“Me? Why?” Her eyes perk up.
“I shouldn’t have left the way I did, and I wanted to thank you for raising me when you didn’t have to take on such a huge responsibility and burden.” My words crack as I hold back the tears.
“No, Selene, that was my pleasure. You were and are always the best thing that ever happened to me, please don’t apologize. I knew I had done wrong by you, but you had become mine along the way and I couldn’t… I didn’t want to lose you.” Tears streaming down her face, it was harder for me to sit here then I had thought it would be.
Sebastian places a hand on my knee as I hold back all the feelings inside.
“Misses Athens, we are here because we need to stop Poseidon and Hera before they kill the rest of the planet.” He says sweetly, but stern.
“Oh, yes. Well…” She pauses for a second.
“Then you will want to see this.” She stands going to one of the newspapers that surrounded us.
She lays the paper on my lap, pointing at the top of the page.
‘Do gods really walk among us?’ The first line reads, while there is a picture of my father standing out in the water. I keep reading through the paper when another headline pops out at me. ‘We are not alone.’ The next one reads, as it is followed by a picture of Hera holding Zeus’s lightning rod. My mouth drops open, as I hand the paper to Cato so he and Zack can see what they were doing.
“Are there more?” I point at the newspapers on the floor.
She nods, searching for more of the news of my parents and their path of destruction on Earth. Newspapers are flying, as she is tossing them over her shoulder one by one. She makes a ta-da noise. Handing me another newspaper, this one reads… ‘Friend of daughter of the gods speaks out.’ It’
s Chloe standing beside my father. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. My dad had found Chloe and there he was standing with his arm around her. My father had gone too far. One, everyone now knew of us, two, that was my best friend. The article goes on to say how supermodel Chloe strikes a pose with a true god. She proceeds to say that I had betrayed her and was part of the evil mastermind to take over the world. How my father was trying to stop her (me) from the mass destruction, and how the world needed to be aware she was coming. Me? He’s putting this on me? My temper begins to become uncontrollable.
“Oh, he’s dead! DEAD!” I scream out, throwing the newspaper in the air, making it shred into a hundred little pieces.
His truth was now out for the whole world to read and see, but not the truth. His lies again not only affected me but all of humanity. This was not going to be how it ended…
Chapter Thirty-Six
And with these words, my promise becomes my vow…
“Where is he?” I couldn’t help myself, as my voice is much louder than I intended.
“Um… that’s the thing…” Elizabeth says.
“What? Do you know or not?” I question her as I’m now standing.
“Well, I have tracked them for a while. First, it started with the newspapers, but now I think I have followed where they are according to the destruction path they are leaving.” She stands up from the chair, making her way to the kitchen where she pulls a stool up to the table in front of her old computer.
We all follow her, coming around behind her as she pulls up a news website. The newscaster begins to speak.
“Today, we see the path that Hurricane Selene has taken is going over the gulf coast of Florida right now, please take shelter where you can. Oh no… oh, gods, it looks as half the state is now under water in a matter of mere seconds. Please anyone who is in the path of the storm, please try to find higher ground.” My heart drops, as my knees begin to buckle. They are using my name as an evil plot against me and my father is destroying everything in his path. Falling to the floor, my hands holding my head as tears streaming down my face. We may have been too late. He was using my name as he destroyed the Earth I loved. Sebastian, drops to his knees beside me, wrapping his arms around my shaking body. How long had we been gone is the question that ran through my mind. How many more will have to die because of their greed? My body shaking with anger, I pull myself up with the help of Sebastian. We all just stand there listening to this poor woman telling people to take cover as the hurricane has now caused a tsunami. That’s when I knew this is where they would go last. It would be the final showdown between us. My father knew we would come and he was going to come here last. In his path he and my mother would destroy everything and everyone just to prove a point. This stopped now.
“Is Chloe still alive?” I ask Elizabeth.
“I believe she’s with your father.” She turns her head towards Sebastian.
“What?” We both ask.
“Yes, Hades has been quite busy.”
“What do you mean?” Sebastian questions her.
“He’s trying to save us. His face was shielded in one of the last articles I found, and he had… he had Chloe with him. It made the front page.” Elizabeth stands to her feet, making her way back to the piles of newspapers.
Finding the one she wanted, she hurries back to us, handing the newspaper to Sebastian. ‘Saint walks through fire disappearing in the ashes.’ The headline reads. Hades was on our side. There may be a glimmer of hope to all this madness after all. Sebastian gets a small smile that quickly fades as he keeps reading. ‘Is this the God of Hell taking our souls?’ The next line reads.
“Sebastian, you know him, you know he’s trying to save them.” I say, laying my hand on his shoulder.
He just nods. His eyes can’t believe what he’s reading. Could we trust any of them? How were they just walking around with not a care in the worlds? At least Hades had kept his face in the shadows, but nonetheless, he was also walking around showing his powers. Had they all gone mad? Seeing the ‘real’ people they were was heartbreaking. These were our parents, betraying everything and everyone, but mostly they were betraying us. Elizabeth stands, turning towards my direction, holding out her hands towards me.
“Selene, you may not be able to win this time… I fear that I had held you back from stopping all this many years ago. Please, know you are the greatest thing to happen to me. Your father and mother believe they are doing what’s right. I have always told you to follow your heart, I also told you to never do anything to anger your parents. But… this time… you do what I know you can.”
“What’s that?” I ask her, now holding her frail hands in mine.
“You win! You take what is rightfully yours. You are Selene, the Goddess of All!” A slight crooked smile comes across her face as her eyes light up and I bend my head down, kissing her hands.
“Thank you, Mom.” I let the words touch her heart as it does mine.
“Now, go… I will be fine… I’m a mother of a goddess.” She winks at me knowing what my next sentence would be.
Hugging her goodbye, I wanted to tell her of my beautiful children, but that would have to be in another lifetime. The time had come in my life for me to do what I was intended to do. Be the ever-evolving goddess of the worlds.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
When the student becomes the master…
Leaving the home, I had grown up in wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Watching Elizabeth wave goodbye to us, my heart was filling with a love it hadn’t remembered in a while. It felt good to say the words I had said to her. Carrying that burden was over and one weight had been lifted off, only to find that there was more to carry as I remembered where we were going. The engine roars as we take the sharp curves, speeding to our next destination.
“Well, I guess this is going to be a little harder than I thought.” Sebastian breaks the silence between all of us.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be harder, but it definitely wasn’t what I was expecting.” I tell him, glancing quickly at him as we take another curve.
“You handled yourself with poise and grace, Selene.” Zack speaks up, touching my shoulder.
The words were nice to hear. I had felt like I was failing so many, and that was something I had wanted to do - control my feelings, my heart, learn to be the leader the worlds needed. Making it back to the mansion, my mind races with thoughts of chaos that my parents were causing. Taking life after life, not caring who or how, just to destroy everything that was ever a part of Zeus’s plan. For the longest time, it made no sense to me; but now I understood. They wanted a world free of everything that Zeus had touched. They wanted a new world where they would be the ones that people feared and praised. After all, who doesn’t want the glory that comes with being a god? Not me. I wanted this to stop. Unclear of how many places they had already destroyed, there didn’t seem to be much of humanity left. Streets were clear of people, looters had hit stores all over the place, signs reading ‘end of days’ were almost on every corner we had passed. It was as if a zombie apocalypse had come, and we were the last ones left. In a way, I guess we were.
“We need to set up a perimeter. They will be here sooner than we think I fear.” Zack announces to us as we step out of the car, standing in front of the mansion.
That’s when we hear the crack of thunder over our heads. Hera. She was close. It was time for this to come to an end. Whichever one of my parents showed up first was going to be the one to see how their daughter had grown up to become the warrior goddess I yearned to be. As we run into the house, the thunder grows louder over our heads. She was coming. She was coming for me. Mother versus daughter. This was an unfair fight to say the least. She only had Zeus’s lightning rod and I had a whole ocean behind me. She wanted to wage the war among the two of us. She better hope that these chains hold me back, because I was ready. Zack begins sharpening his arrows as Cato opens all the doors, repeating something like ‘Let’s
do this’ the whole time. Sebastian follows me outside to the balcony. Another crack of lightning hits over our heads, my body doesn’t even flinch. The bracelet begins to weigh me down. They were both coming. Taking the anchor of the necklace in my hand, squeezing it tight, Sebastian’s blue eyes gaze down at my fingers.
“Break it.” He tells me.
“No, Sebastian, I can’t.” I hold it even tighter in my hand.
“It’s holding you back. It’s only gold and diamonds… it’s not my love for you. That lives here.” He places a hand on my breast where my heart is.
Staring down at it, he was right, this was only a materialistic thing and it was binding me to my parents. With all the force I could muster in my hand causing the beautiful necklace to break from my neck, it falls to the ground becoming dust. The bracelet was pulling me towards the ocean. In a way, I believe my father was trying to save me from the wrath of what was to come. Letting the bracelet guide me down the stairs of the balcony. Another huge clap of thunder with more strikes than the last one. Sebastian follows me, staying right on my heels, as we can hear Zack and Cato hitting the steps with us. Then the noise I remember so vividly makes us all turn our heads. My Pegasus was standing on the beach, with Colin and Iris. My eyes take a double look. If they were here, where were my children? Running to them, those were the first words that came out. Colin promises me they are safe. Iris makes the same promise, laying a hand on my shoulder. Calming me for a moment as the Pegasus flaps its wings, taking off as fast as he arrived.
“You didn’t think I was going to leave my little sister to do this by herself, did you?” He asks the four of us.
“Yea, you are. You’re supposed to be protecting our children.” Sebastian moves towards Colin.
“Apollo and Aries are with them. No one will protect them more than them. Promise you that.” He winks at me.
I glance towards Zack, who nods at us. He knew. They were right; no one would be able to get to our children with the two of them guarding them.