“You mean us,” Kate breathed.
“Yes,” Nyx said. “I chose the group of you.”
“But they all grew up here,” I chimed in. “I didn’t. I grew up in Georgia.”
“This is true.” Nyx nodded. “There was no need for me to arrange for your arrival until your powers were unblocked. You see, some of the Head Elders see demigods as dangerous, and centuries ago, they created a spell to block demigods from using their powers. But a few months ago, I filled the comet with magic again. This time the magic would connect the five chosen mortals—the five of you—to the elements. The magic in that comet also unblocked the powers of demigods all over the world.”
“Why did you choose us?” Danielle asked, looking around at our group. “We’re all so… different.”
“Each member of a team should have different strengths, and the five of you have that,” Nyx said. “Your personalities embody the characteristics of your element, and your dominant heritages—the godly ancestor whose bloodline is strongest in you—give you even better control over those elements. Aphrodite was born from the sea, Ares has a fiery temperament, Zeus has power over the sky, Athena is level headed and down to earth, and Apollo has an affinity for healing. Their blood in your veins reinforced your connection to your element.
“But due to your differences, you would not have worked together unless you had a push from the gods. So I designed your first mission—the ‘scavenger hunt’ around town, as you called it—to teach you how to use your powers, work together, and trust one another.”
“You designed that whole thing?” I asked. “Even the prophecy that we were given in the beginning?”
“Yes.” Nyx nodded. “The mission needed to have a starting point. So I visited a young witch in her dreams a few centuries ago and gave her the prophecy that would ultimately land into your hands and begin your journey.”
“What about the harpy?” Blake asked. “You planned on her being there, too? And on her kidnapping Nicole’s sister?”
“No,” Nyx answered. “I placed the Book of Shadows near the portal to Kerberos so that you could learn the location of the portal. You were supposed to grab the Book, bring it back to Darius’s house, and then use it to ask me questions. The harpy acted on her own free will—although I do feel as though her being there pushed you to train faster and harder.”
“We almost died fighting her,” Danielle said.
“But you didn’t.” Nyx smiled. “And if you had… I could have convinced Chronos to allow me to travel through time and correct that mistake.”
I shivered, wondering how many timelines the primordial deities had created and destroyed. I had a feeling that I didn’t want to know. Especially because technically, this was the only timeline that actually existed. All the other ones were gone.
“We’re getting off track,” Kate said. “I mean, this is all very interesting, and I’ll have lots of questions later, but our original question still hasn’t been answered. How do we seal the portal to Kerberos?”
“I suppose it’s time that you learned,” Nyx said with a sigh. “Although I fear that you’re not going to like the answer.”
“It doesn’t matter if we like the answer or not,” Blake said. “We need to know it if you want us to have any chance of closing the portal.”
“I know,” Nyx said. “I just wanted you to be prepared. You remember what I said earlier, about how the magic of mortals is the only thing that can seal the portal forever?”
“Yes,” I said, anxious for her to continue.
“That's because the portal is in between the worlds of Kerberos and Earth,” she said. “The worlds are pushing against each other, which has worn down the portal over time and weakened it. It will open fully on the summer solstice, unless you use your powers to close it permanently. To do that, you need to bind both sides of the portal with physical elemental magic from Earth, and then seal it with the power of spirit.”
“Okay,” I said, although I was still confused. “How exactly do we do that?”
“This is the part you’re not going to like,” she said. “The final part is the easy part—once the portal is strengthened by the binding, Nicole will have to touch it and fill it with spirit to seal it and make the binding permanent. But it’s the binding that’s more complex.” She paused, her eyes dimming, and she rested a hand on top of Chris’s gravestone. She looked more vulnerable than I’d imagined possible for a primordial deity.
I could barely breathe as I stared at her, waiting for her to go on. The others were silent as well.
“To bind the portal, one mortal with physical elemental magic has to be on the Earth side of the portal, and the other has to be on the Kerberos side,” she continued. “Together, they will press their palms over their side of the portal and fill it with their Earthly elemental magic. This will temporarily bind the portal, returning it to full strength so Nicole can seal it to keep it that way.”
“Okay.” Blake nodded. “So one of us has to enter Kerberos again. Since Kate is a goddess and can’t pass through the portal, it’ll have to be either me or Danielle. Then, once we finish binding it, we’ll return to Earth.”
“It won’t be that easy,” Nyx said sadly. “Because once the portal is bound, it’ll be strengthened again. Passing back through will be impossible.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Whoever went to the other side of the portal would never be able to return.
The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, and my mind raced, desperate for another solution.
“Why do we have to bind the portal at all?” I asked. “Why can’t I seal it with my magic as it is right now?”
“You cannot.” Nyx shook her head. “You went against my instructions and tried that in another timeline. We learned that if you seal the portal before the binding, you’ll seal it in the weakened condition that it’s in right now. Which means monsters will still be able to cross through it at will. In that timeline, the Titans eventually crafted a way to blast through the weakened portal and take over the Earth. Once that happened, Chronos allowed me to pass through a time portal to try again.”
“So you’re saying that one of us has to volunteer to bind the portal from the Kerberos side, and that person will end up stuck there forever,” Danielle clarified. “Correct?”
“Yes,” Nyx answered. “I wish there were another way, but unfortunately, no war is ever won without sacrifice. There’s no other option.”
“We don’t know that,” I said. “There’s still time to figure out something else. We have months until the summer solstice.”
“Three months,” Kate jumped in.
“And the longer you wait, the more monsters will escape through the portal,” Nyx said. “It’s best to seal it sooner rather than later.”
“I know that.” I clenched my fists, determined not to give in that easily. “But what if we can research and figure out another way to close the portal? A way that doesn’t involve one of us getting stuck in Kerberos forever?” I swallowed back tears, desperate to find a solution. Because like Blake had said, the person in Kerberos would have to be either him or Danielle.
I had a dreadful feeling that Blake would try to be brave and volunteer.
I couldn’t let that happen. I’d just gotten him back. I couldn’t lose him again.
“You said the same thing before,” Nyx said. “You found nothing—this is the only time a portal to another world has been opened from Earth, so there was no information on the subject. But you decided to try sealing the portal without binding it anyway. Like I said, it did not work.”
“If this is the only time a portal has been opened to another world from Earth, then how do you know this is the only way we can seal it?” I asked.
“I’m a primordial deity,” Nyx reminded us—as if we needed reminding. “Which means I don’t just rule over Earth—I rule over all the planets in the Universe. Portals to other worlds have been opened on other planets before. Binding the po
rtal with the elements from one of the planets and then sealing it with spirit is the only way to close it. I wish I had another answer for you, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”
“I thought we couldn’t even access our powers from Kerberos,” Danielle said. “If we can’t access our powers, how are we supposed to use them to bind the portal?”
“As long as you’re touching the portal, you’ll be able to use your powers,” Nyx answered. “But the moment the portal is sealed, that connection will be severed.”
“You knew the portal couldn’t be sealed without our help,” I said, unable to keep the anger from my tone. “So why did you create it at all?”
“The Titans had already escaped Tartarus—the one place in the underworld of Earth that’s supposed to be inescapable,” Nyx said. “During the Second Rebellion, I saw two possible futures for Earth—a bright one full of the greatest technological innovation I’ve ever witnessed, or a dark one full of chaos and destruction. The former was what would happen if the Olympians won, and the latter was what would happen if the Titans won. I wanted the Olympians to win, so I interfered, creating the portal to Kerberos and helping them lock the Titans inside. Then I closed the portal, but I knew it wouldn’t last forever—that permanently sealing it would have to wait until it weakened enough for mortals to pass through. Now, it’s your responsibility to complete what I started all of those thousands of years ago—to ensure that the Titans remain in Kerberos forever.”
“Okay.” Danielle nodded. If she was scared, she didn’t show it. “I suppose, on one level, I can understand that. But why did you wait until now to tell us? Why not tell us earlier, so we had more time to research other options, or to prepare?”
“Telling you earlier wouldn’t have changed the inevitable,” Nyx said. “There was no point in worrying about who would bind the portal without knowing which of you would survive to this point. Plus, knowing earlier only would have made everything harder for you. It would have distracted you from your previous missions.”
“Let me guess how you know this,” I said, past caring about being snarky to a goddess. She might have put us in this position, but it didn’t mean we had to be happy about it. “You told us earlier in another timeline? And it didn’t work out?”
“Yes.” Nyx nodded. “In that timeline, you all became distracted and reckless. By this point, you were all dead, so the portal could not be closed.”
“If we keep failing, why do you always choose to give us powers over the elements?” Kate asked. “Why not choose some other mortals—ones who won’t give you this much trouble?”
“As I explained earlier, the five of you are uniquely suited to controlling your elements,” Nyx said. “Witches are rare enough—let alone witches with your precise bloodlines and temperaments. There is no one else to choose.” She paused to look at each of us, her eyes dark and serious. “I know this is a lot for you to process. But remember—the world is counting on you to make the right decision. This responsibility is yours, and yours alone.”
Then she swished her dress around herself, and she was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
Nyx wasn’t all that had disappeared—the Book of Shadows was gone as well. Now that she’d given us our final task, apparently she didn’t think we needed it as a direct line to ask her questions anymore.
I swallowed, not knowing what to do. Sacrificing either Blake or Danielle to Kerberos couldn’t be the only way to keep the Titans from destroying the Earth. Or at least, that’s what I wanted to believe.
But I had a sinking feeling that Nyx was telling us the truth.
“I wish it could be me,” Kate broke the silence, resting her hand on the top of Chris’s gravestone. “After all, I’m not even supposed to be here. I was supposed to have died back when we fought Medusa.”
“No.” I gasped, shocked that it had even crossed her mind. “You’re supposed to be right here, where you are now. I have no idea what the future has in store for you, but whatever it is, you’ll do great things. I know it.”
“Thanks.” She smiled, although it didn’t reach her eyes. “But if I could walk through that portal, I would volunteer in a heartbeat.”
I knew she meant it. But I supposed that level of self-sacrifice was what made Kate qualified to successfully complete the apotheosis, while most others were not. Whatever she chose to stand for as a goddess, she would be giving to the good of the Earth long past when the rest of us were gone. She was going to do great things with her immortal life. She belonged here—not in Kerberos.
None of us belonged in Kerberos. But either Blake or Danielle would be stuck there anyway. It wasn’t fair. Why did we have to go through so much, only to be forced into an impossible decision like this one?
“I wish Chris were here,” Kate spoke again, looking sadly at his gravestone. “He would crack some kind of joke that would make this situation feel not as dark and daunting.”
“He might try,” I said. “But I don’t think even Chris could make this feel any less difficult than it is.”
“I miss him,” Kate said, wrapping her arms around herself. “We spent a lot of time together in the past week when we were together… but I never got to tell him how I felt about him. I was going to wait until this was all over. But now he’ll never know.”
“He knew,” Danielle said, as confident as ever. “And he felt the same way about you.”
“Maybe.” Kate shrugged. “But it couldn’t have worked out between us, anyway. After all, I’m immortal now. He wasn’t. I was going to have to watch him die sooner or later.” She gazed out at the statue of Zeus, her eyes distant.
“I just wish it hadn’t been so soon,” I said.
“Me either,” she said, snapping back into focus. “But none of that matters, because he’s gone, and he’s never coming back. All we can do now is move forward.”
“You’re right,” Blake agreed, stepping forward. “We need to close that portal as soon as possible. And we won’t have to worry about the big decision, because I’ve already made it. I’m going to be the one to bind the portal from Kerberos.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
“No.” I grabbed onto his hand, as if that would be enough to make him stay. “I just got you back. If you do this… you’ll be gone. Forever. I’ll never be able to see you again.” I stared up at him and blinked away tears, begging him to take it back.
But I knew deep in my heart that he wouldn’t.
“There are only two options for who can close the portal from Kerberos,” Danielle reminded me. “Me or Blake. Are you saying that you want me to be the one to do it?”
“No,” I stuttered, since it was the truth. “I don’t want either of you to do it.”
“That’s not an option,” she said. “One of us has to do it. And… I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted it to be me.”
I didn’t reply this time, because as much as I wanted to tell her she was wrong, I couldn’t. Yes, Danielle and I had learned to work together, and we didn’t completely hate each other anymore, but I loved Blake. If one of them had to sacrifice themselves, I didn’t want it to be him.
But he’d already offered himself. And I didn’t expect Danielle to volunteer anytime soon.
We had to figure out something else.
“If you’re closing the portal from the Kerberos side, then I’m going with you,” I told Blake. “Nyx said I have to use Spirit to seal the portal—but she didn’t say which side of the portal I had to be on to do that. So I’ll do it from the Kerberos side. I won’t let you get stuck there alone.”
“Think about what you’re saying.” Blake took both of my hands in his, his eyes sad and resolved. “Sealing the portal will stop the war, but all of those creatures who escaped between the time the portal first opened and the time we closed it will still be out there. Not to mention the fact that all of the demigods who recently had their powers awakened—who knows how many of them there are—will need to learn about who they are and what they can do.
You can help them. The world needs you here, Nicole. Not in Kerberos. You can’t sacrifice yourself unnecessarily.”
“Maybe you’re right,” I told him. “But I need you here. So if I need you here and the world needs me here, then that means you have to stay here, too.”
“You don’t need me.” He smiled sadly, tracing his thumb over my cheekbone. “You might want me here with you, but you’re strong. You’ll be able to move on without me. You’ll have to.”
“You’re wrong.” I shook my head, and unable to stop the tears anymore, the floodgates opened. “I can’t let you do this. Not after I just lost you and got you back. We’ve been through so much together—I can’t imagine my future without you in it.”
“You’ll have to,” he said. “Because if I don’t do this, then there won’t be any future for the world at all. And what about your family? Your mom, your step-dad, your sister, and even Apollo. Do you really want to leave them when you don’t have to?”
“You have a family, too,” I told him. “I’m sure you don’t want to leave them either.”
“I don’t have a choice,” he said. “You do.”
I glanced at Danielle, wishing she would step up and volunteer herself. Shouldn’t she feel guilty that Blake volunteered and she was letting him walk into that hell world without even contemplating to sacrifice herself? The two of them had dated for months. Their relationship had fallen apart, but she’d cared for him at one point. That had to mean something.
But she refused to meet my eyes, and she said nothing.
Even if there was a part of her that still cared about Blake, there was one person she cared about more—herself. After all these past few weeks of fighting to save the world, I thought she would have changed. Clearly I was wrong. She was just as selfish as ever.
Elementals 5: The Hands of Time Page 10