Rifts

by Nicole Hamlett

  "He's stupid for her," I started.

  "Yeah, he always has been."

  "How can I compete with that?" It was a ridiculous question but I couldn't help but ask. Someone had to have some answers. At least one fucking thing in my life had to simplify.

  She helped me place Drew on the couch and pulled me into her arms. "You can't," she said. "You can't fight his demons. You can only combat yours, Grace. You're a scary, intense force of nature when you get going. You have that in common with her. There's always going to be something within you that he remembers from her, and it's going to block any forward momentum. Your best option is to retreat."

  "Yeah," I sighed. "I figured as much. Sometimes, it's just hard to forget that I love him."

  "Believe it or not, I get it." She hugged me tight against her and I fought the tears. "Was this it? Was this what I needed to see before I could let it go? Rather than take care of that bitch, he was ready to let her kill him. What the fuck, Athena?!"

  I started crying. I was so unbelievably tired of crying. It seemed that someone looked at me wrong and the tears started to fall. I had to wonder if my hormones were off, because the water-works never happened like this. The last time I got this emotional was when I was pregnant and well - you can't get pregnant if you're celibate. I snorted and brought my attention back to Athena.

  "Grace, you will find someone who is perfect for you. They will be able to look at you and truly believe that you are the most wonderful thing that ever existed in this Universe. I promise you this. He isn't it, but someone will be. You have so long in this world. The time it will take won't seem so long, or so bad."

  I nodded, because what could I say to that? "You should probably get us somewhere we can get him healed up. There's something big going on and we're going to need every single person we can get to fight it. Hope shouldn't have this kind of mojo. Someone's juiced her up, and while she scares me, someone who could do that to one of us scares me more."

  Athena nodded and took hold of both of us before ‘porting us back home.

  Funny, when did I start thinking of Olympus as home?

  We landed right in the medical center. She gently laid Drew's prone body on a bed, and I left to talk to Zeus. It was time to get some council. I needed to talk about my suspicions with someone who might have a better clue than I did.

  I found him in the Archives. When I thought of Archives, I imagined great tomes of books hundreds of years old…maybe some scrolls. Olympus' Archives would have put NASA to shame. Everything was digitalized, and had been for thousands of years.

  Zeus sat in a comfortable chair with his legs crossed, holding a data pad. A frown settled on his face at what he'd recently read.

  "What's up, chicken butt?" It wasn't the most respectful greeting, but it amused me to see him perplexed.

  "I am certainly not a chicken's arse, Grace." I hid a grin, walked over to his chair and leaned forward to read over his shoulder. Sometimes it was hard to remember how old he was, considering how young he looked. He could have been my older brother instead of my father.

  "That is still up for debate, sir. What are you reading that has you frowning so?"

  "I've been investigating the happenings on Earth over the last few centuries. The number of natural disasters has increased greatly. I cannot decide if it's due to increased Rift activity or if someone is here orchestrating the entire mess. Earth is a relatively new planet, so some of this can be expected, but the frequency increase has me worried."

  "I'm so glad you brought it up because that is exactly what I came by to talk to you about. I just brought Drew home after he was mortally wounded by Hope."

  "What?" He exclaimed and jumped out of his seat, the data pad clattering to the floor.

  "He's in the medical center right now. She stabbed him in multiple places and God only knows what else. He was in pretty bad shape. I need you to tell me if she can have the kind of power to take down one of our greatest warriors. It just doesn't seem logical to me that she can. I can't quite wrap my mind around it. So, I'm thinking that someone has juiced her up."

  Zeus grabbed my wrist and pulled me along behind him. "Come, you can talk on the way."

  I stumbled after him, quickening my pace to keep up. "I had this existential moment today regarding my powers and was on the verge of a breakthrough…until the dog found me and brought me to Drew. He never raised a hand to her. You have the kind of glamour that makes people stop in their tracks, but she shouldn't. It's just not genetically possible, right?"

  He looked back at me and frowned. "It shouldn't be. Her father was a human. I've done extensive genetic testing on all of the Hunters to determine which powers, which specialties they'll have as they mature. She would have simply been a mediocre Hunter. She has your Mother's gift of Rifting and some healing, but her human blood was weak."

  "So?"

  "So, yes. I believe that someone may have tweaked her genetic code. But the only person who can do that is your Mother."

  My jaw dropped open. "My mother can tweak genetic code?"

  "She made you human for most of your life. What do you think?"

  "Good point. However, I don't see Diana causing this havoc. So it has to be an Interdimensional."

  "Yes. We've been so busy putting out fires; we haven't been monitoring Rift activity as closely as we should." He stopped abruptly and then reversed his course, still dragging me along.

  "Hey, use your turn signals next time," I complained as I tripped.

  "Yes. Yes," was his short reply.

  "Where are we going? I thought you wanted to check on Drew?"

  "He can wait. He's very difficult to kill. I need to check some readings in the Lab. I want you to see something. You gave me the idea of using the human satellites to correlate data and I want a second opinion."

  Don't get me wrong, I was flattered that Zeus would think that I had a mind analytical enough to compare readings, but I was fairly confounded by the idea.

  "Okay," I said hesitantly.

  We burst through the door and I noticed that this was the first time I didn't shudder upon entering the room. When had I hardened against that trauma? Not that I was complaining. It was nice to not feel the fear. Things looked different, more shiny and modern.

  "Do some redecorating?" My voice was nonchalant.

  "Yeah, I figured it would make you more comfortable."

  "Well that's very…um…something of you." What could I say? I was grateful but confused.

  "After you've finished your training with Hephaestus, you're training with me. Also, I've had Dylan in here running experiments with me. He's a smart boy. You've done well."

  Aw, that made me beam with motherly pride. He was a very smart boy. "Well, try not to spoil him would you? I kind of like him without the trauma. Puberty is rough enough."

  He threw a disgusted look back at me and went over to a wall of screens. He typed in a few commands on the flat keyboard built into the panel. Bright blue circles began appearing over a transparent map of the world.

  "The brighter ones are newer. I had to program in the older disasters since there was no satellite feed." He pointed to a region off the coast of Africa. "These are the newest."

  "Why would someone be setting things off there?" Okay, I was confused. That continent had enough troubles without someone dicking around with their environment.

  Zeus took a deep breath and crossed his arms before turning to me and saying, "That's where I sunk Atlantis."

  My jaw dropped again. At this rate I was going to start catching flies. "Why would someone be fucking around in the same area you sunk Atlantis, Zeus?"

  "We weren't able to get everything out before it was completely submerged. The only one of us able to safely descend to that depth is Poseidon, but he's taken to hanging out in the Pacific Ocean lately. Says the water is warmer and the fish are friendlier."

  I nodded. The Island Folks were okay by me. "Have you considered that it may be him?"

  He
frowned. "Yes. I have. So we had a talk. It's not him, I searched his mind thoroughly. Since his daughter went missing, he’s mostly just confused and angry."

  I leaned against a steel table, thinking. "Has anyone else gone missing?"

  "Actually, yes. A child from each of the original Houses has been attacked or has gone missing in the last fifty years."

  "Who were the original Houses?"

  He paused to think on this. "Your mother, me, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hera, Ares, Apollo and Mercury. Others have followed but we were the original eight.”

  I frowned. "Do you think that someone is trying to raise Atlantis?"

  He paused, taking a deep breath before responding. "It was my first thought, but all of the power at our disposal couldn't raise it when I sunk it. I can't imagine that there is someone out there with more power than eight of the strongest beings on earth."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's someone out there with eight children of the strongest beings on Earth and whomever they've brought with them. I think it's something that we should consider."

  He sucked in a quick breath and turned around, grabbing my wrists. "I think I know what's happening, but I need more information. You have to go to Hephaestus and bring him here."

  "Hello, only person in Olympus that can't teleport, here. Why don't you just call him on your bat-phone?"

  He gave me "the look" and shook his head. "I need some quiet time. If this is what I think it is, we're in big trouble. I left something very specific buried in Atlantis. If it comes back up, we're all going to die."

  My eyes widened. When Zeus was afraid, shit was bad. Very, very bad. "Oh-okay," I stuttered. "I'll go get him now." Suddenly I felt the need to hug him. He looked like someone had come back from the dead and shit all over his birthday cake. I needed him to be okay. I wasn't sure why, but he needed to be.

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest. His heart was hammering. Yeah. This was bad.

  He squeezed me back and said gently, "Go. I'll be fine."

  I nodded, and then turned toward the door. I wanted to make a calm and cool exit, but my legs wouldn't listen as they sprinted out into the hall and towards Heph's compound.

  Chapter 18

  I didn't think of the things I wanted to say to Heph as I ran. I didn't think about the fear on Zeus' face. I didn't even think about my relationship with Drew. My mind was instead filled with questions about my power fluxes. I concentrated on my legs as I sprinted. The muscles bunched and elongated with each stride. I took a deeper breath and envisioned my body pushing more blood and oxygen into those areas - making them stronger, more efficient. I wanted more speed and I got it.

  Buildings blurred as I sped by. The speed was glorious and freeing - until my clothing began to disintegrate. I skidded to a halt, dragging a few feet of pavement with me. My feet lost their footing and I tumbled ass over head to the ground in front of Hephaestus' forge, nearly naked and laughing with the joy of it all.

  A deep shadow loomed over me and I looked up. Heph stood with hands on hips staring at me with a perplexed look on his face. "Are you drunk?"

  That made me fall back with the giggles. I lay there holding my stomach and laughing. Endorphins were indeed the best high. "Speed," I gasped. "I figured it out!"

  "Ah, so you're drunk on endorphins. Well then, let's get your drunken, naked ass into the house before someone sees you and thinks that you've gone mental."

  He picked me up effortlessly and carried me into the compound. "You're a mixed back of tricks, Grace Murphy. Where’d you get the speed?"

  My head lolled back and I stared at the line of his jaw. "You're pretty."

  He closed his eyes, muttered something that I didn't quite catch and took a deep breath. "You can't really get drunk anymore because of the nanites, but until you can control the endorphins your body creates from the running, you're going to act like a drunken sot. Just my luck, I get to babysit you on your first go-round."

  He set me down on a chaise and disappeared for a few moments before returning with a platter of meat, cheese and fruits and some clothing.

  "Here," he said popping a piece of cheese in my mouth. "Eat this. It helps. The more fuel you put into your body, the better off you're going to be. Try to stick to proteins. Not just lean stuff. If you're going to be zipping around, you need to give your body calories to burn."

  I nodded and chewed slowly, grinning like an idiot. When was the last time I’d been drunk? I couldn’t remember. Wasn't there something that I needed to do with this guy? I blushed hotly and shook my head. No, not that. I came here for a reason.

  Clothes! Right – I needed to put some clothes on. I took a few minutes to pull on a pair of drawstring pants and what looked like a camisole. My eyebrows rose at him as I glanced down at my attire. So…he just kept ladies clothing around for funsies?

  "Has anyone told you that you have an expressive face?"

  I nodded and grabbed a morsel of meat from the platter. "It's my burden in life to not be able to lie well," I mumbled between chews.

  "So, quite a few expressions just crossed that pretty face and one of them turned you scarlet. What were you thinking?"

  "Nothing?" I squeaked.

  This made him grin, which in turn, made me grin even harder. Of course he knew what I was thinking. "I'm supposed to be mad at you right now," I blurted out.

  "But you're not, are you?"

  I shook my head and popped a strawberry in my mouth. "No," I whispered.

  "Do you remember why you tumbled to my door?"

  It took a few minutes, but the happy endorphins that had been carrying me on a euphoric high dropped me like a fucking hot potato. Suddenly, I was bent over retching.

  "Yes, it looks like you do and it's not good." He brushed my hair away from my face as I gagged. Fortunately, nothing came up and it only took me a few minutes to get myself under control.

  "We need to go to Zeus' lab immediately. Shit just got real. I've never seen him scared and right now he's very, very scared."

  That got Heph's attention. He gripped my arms and popped us out of his cozy room into Zeus' sterile Lab in seconds.

  "Oh good, you're back," Zeus said with a sigh of relief. He pulled Heph over to the panel of screens on the wall and asked, "What do you see?"

  Hephaestus closed his eyes and muttered, "Oh, fuck."

  "Yes, that's what I thought, too. Do you think it's possible?"

  "We talked about this when you did it. I distinctly remember mentioning that this could happen," Heph warned with ire.

  "That was thousands of years ago, Hephaestus. Do you honestly think that if I hadn't done it, we'd all be here right now?"

  Heph shook his head and stepped back. "Which one do you think it is?"

  "Who else could it be," Zeus answered.

  "I think it's time that you tell her."

  "I don't know if she's ready. She can't even teleport yet."

  "Hello! I'm still in the room," I called. I had been watching the conversation volleying back and forth like a kid at a tennis match who didn't have a clue how the game was played.

  They both turned to me, faces grim. Oh, I guess this wasn't the time to start cracking sarcastic jokes. I plastered my game face on and said, "Okay, tell me. I can take it."

  "Maybe you should sit down," Zeus started.

  I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. "Really? What could you even tell me that would wig me out more than I already have?"

  "Remember when I gave you a shot of nanites?" He looked at me with a grimace. Shit, this was going to be bad.

  "Okay, maybe I need to sit down." I hopped up on a counter and hunched over, waiting for the bad news.

  "Well, they weren’t just any nanites. It was the original dosage that your Grandfather created for all of us combined. That means that it's mixed with the different genetics and nanites of the original eight."

  "Are you fucking kidding me?" God, I hoped that he was kidding me
. No wonder new stuff kept popping up. No wonder I couldn’t get a grasp on how to control anything. I had all sorts of genetic anomalies running through my system.

  He shook his head. "At the time, it seemed like a really good idea."

  "Injecting me with eight different strains of DNA and nanites seemed like a good idea?! What are the ramifications of this? Why are you telling me now?"

  "Well, I've been able to - mostly - mask your power levels. But not fully, which means that you have a big bullseye on your forehead."

  "This is different from the usual how?"

  "There's a reason I sank Atlantis. It's not because I was losing my mind, Grace. I have someone buried there. She needs to stay buried there. With your unique DNA, you have the ability to fight her if she doesn’t."

  "Who is she?" I felt like I was in a conversation with some quantum physicists and I was still in Kindergarten Earth Science. Listen, this was nothing new. I often spent time completely clueless. This seemed bigger, definitely something I should be trying to grasp.

  "Nyx," Heph stated shortly.

  "I…can't say that I know who she is."

  Zeus walked over to me, grasped my forearms and quietly stated, "She is nightmares, Grace. Look her up and we'll continue our discussion.” He turned, “Heph, I need you to work with Grace on her teleportation skills. She's a sitting duck without them. With her power levels amping up, she's going to be even more of a target."

  "Wait, I don't understand. I feel like I need more information," I began, but Hephaestus steered me out of the room.

  "We'll get to it, Grace. In the meantime, keep this under your hat. Only your mother, myself and Zeus know for sure what we left buried in Atlantis. We need to keep it that way. Let's go. I think I have a way to help you grasp this."

  "I'm glad someone does," I muttered.

  We ‘ported back to his forge and I adjusted my body temperature to match the sweltering heat. "I know why you keep it so damn hot in here now. Nobody in their right mind would want to be here for more than five minutes."