by JJ King
CHAPTER EIGHT
Em laid a hand against the cool granite wall and peeked around the corner. A woman sat with her eyes closed under a break in the ceiling of the cave. Bright sunlight poured through the crack bathing her in iridescent waves, making her flowing blond hair shimmer with highlights of silver and gold. Her pale skin was flawless, even from a distance, and the serene look on her face as she meditated, pondered her existence, cast a spell, or napped, made her look like an innocent. Em narrowed her gaze and frowned, could this be the Queen of witches?
Poseidon's hand came to rest on her shoulder, squeezing gently. When she glanced back at him, Em saw doubt and nerves dancing in his gaze, and was glad that he was there with her. Witches were never to be trusted and, based on what they’d just come through, this one had tricks up her metaphorical sleeves.
Em reach deep inside to the place she rarely looked let alone reached and readied her power. She hadn't used the strength and abilities that had come with her punishment for a very long time, but it seemed like the perfect opportunity to call them up again. Hecate was the most powerful of her kind, who knew what she was capable of?
As she prepared to step forward, Hecate turned slowly and opened her sky blue eyes and lifted her hand, "Welcome, I've been expecting you."
Em’s stomach lurched as Hecate rose to her feet in one fluid motion, setting the crimson dress she wore fluttering around her long bare legs. She could feel the power wafting off the woman and wondered for the first time what Hecate really was. Surely the Queen of the witches must be a monster just like her.
"If you knew we were coming, why does it look as if you're unprepared?" Em walked forward with Poseidon by her side, he hands balled into fists and her anger simmering like her power, just beneath the surface.
Hecate stepped away from the sunlight, sliding easily into the shadows as if she belonged there more than in the light. "Looks can be deceiving," she looked up at Em with eyes that saw too much, "don't you agree, Medusa?"
Touché, Em thought, arching her eyebrow as she watched Hecate make her way around the cavern to stand at a table, covered in small jars that looked innocent enough, but could contain magics that would destroy. She braced herself and watched Hecate's hands carefully for any sign of deceit. Beside her, Poseidon made a sound like a low growl in the base of his throat, and lifted his hands. The earth beneath them began to shift and rumble, as power flowed through the man whom she rarely remembered was actually a god. She gawked at him for a moment, stunned into silence, then she looked back to the witch with a grin on her face. "And sometimes looks can be spot on the money." Her snakes hissed to life, writhing around her head with snapping bites towards Hecate, whose eyes locked on Em's with a keen mixture of respect and hope.
Em didn't know what to think of the look, but as Hecate still stood before the table with her hands outstretched, the threat was still there and so neither she nor Poseidon moved.
"I see," Hecate stepped away from the table and nodded, "then let’s talk. I know you're here to find a way to save your sister."
Em seethed, "There wouldn't be a need to save my sister if not for your dark magics," she gritted her teeth and stepped closer to the woman, "and your blind obedience to the bitch goddess."
"Athena? That's who you're referring to, right?" Hecate placed her fingers in front of her, looking amused, "Isn't that a little hypocritical, especially from you, Athena's most beloved priestess?"
Em's blood ran cold in her veins. "I stopped obeying anyone the moment I became a monster." She arched her eyebrow at Hecate. "What's your excuse? Seems to me you've always been a monster."
Hecate stared at her in silence, her blue eyes unreadable but filled with depths of emotion. For a long moment she didn’t move, then she turned on her heel and strode across the cavern, lifting her arms into the air and sweeping them down by her side. The dark rock wall shimmered then disappeared altogether, revealing another cavern. It was outfitted like a home, was a couch and rugs, and a bed covered in soft linens. There was art, hung from the stone walls, and bright splashes of colour and texture, and there, in the middle of the large room, was a man, lying prone on a bed with his eyes closed. There was a protective surface above him, like a prismatic glass that reflected the light pouring in from a nearby skylight carved into the rock. Hecate stopped beside the bed and rested her hand atop the barrier, which gave way beneath her palm. When she raised her head and looked back at them, Hecate's eyes were weary.
"His name is Endymion." She smoothed the already perfect hair from his forehead and smiled sadly. “I remember the first time I saw him, up on the mountain with the sheep, the sun shining down on him, highlighting the gold in his hair. He looked like a god.” She chuckled wryly, “Except he wasn’t a god, he was just a man. A man who looked at me like I hung the sun and the moon, like I’ve never been looked at before. He made me feel something that I’d never felt before in all my years… alive.”
Em felt torn. Half of her wanted to shake Hecate and demand that she tell them how to save Eury right now, while the other half knew that Hecate was going to tell them absolutely nothing until she had her say. So, she took a deep breath and focused on what the woman was saying.
“We were together for years, always meeting under the light of the moon for that’s when my powers shine.” She leaned forward passing easily through the magical barrier, and pressed her lips to his sleeping form. “It was the perfect life, but it all changed. I didn't know it at the time, but Hera had been watching us, spying on us as we loved, and she grew jealous. Her marriage with Zeus is rocky at the best of times, but they were in the middle of a particularly bad spat that had Zeus raging against her most of the time. Not that it was all his fault, they were both to blame. All of Olympus knew of their attempts to spurn one another, and no one wanted to get mixed up with it." She moved to a chair in the living room area and sank down, motioning for Em and Poseidon to join her.
"I was away, working on a spell for Athena, your "bitch goddess," and Hera jumped on the opportunity to piss Zeus off just a little bit more." She closed her eyes for a moment as if stealing herself for the memory, then open them and stared straight at Em. "He didn't have a chance. Hera did no more than speak to him in the privacy of an open field right here on Mount Latmus, but Zeus saw, and his punishment was swift."
Em shifted her gaze from Hecate to where Endymion lay in his eternal tomb and felt her heart twist for the pain radiating out of Hecate. The hatred she'd walked into the cave with sizzled and died. She leaned forward and asked softly, "How did you manage to keep him alive?"
Hecate smiled but her eyes remained dark and deeply mournful, "I used everything I had, but it wasn't enough. He was dying, right before my eyes, and I couldn't save him. Then she came."
Em's eyebrows rose on her forehead, "Who?"
"Hecate."
Poseidon, who had sat quietly this entire time just listening, frowned and leaned forward, "Aren't you Hecate?"
The woman shook her head, then stopped and nodded once. "I am, in part, but before I was Selene, Goddess of the moon. It turned out I wasn't enough, I didn't have enough power, I needed more. So, I opened up to her, the Queen of the witches, the one that shared the night with me always, but existed on a completely different plain." She blew out a deep breath. "Her power was massive and it poured into me, giving me the strength I needed to save Endymion from Zeus' wrath. But it still wasn't enough." She grimaced and shook her head. "Nothing ever is against Zeus, you know. So, together we did what we could do and froze him in time, to never age or change, to stay alive but not really live, until we could find a way to bring him back."
The room was quiet for a long moment, then Poseidon said quietly, "How long ago was that?" Em was afraid she knew the answer.
"More than two thousand years ago, give or take a few centuries." Selene steepled her fingers together and pressed them against her mouth, "You're probably wondering why I told you all this, just as you probably anxious to get on wit
h finding your sister’s cure. The truth is, I can't save your sister," she looked up with troubled eyes, "no more than I can save my love. Athena is brilliant at what she does, which is why she had me create the spell using her blood, so that only her blood could break it.”
Poseidon cursed and reached for Em's hand just as a flood of panic and fear surged through her system. Em was no fool and, so it seemed, neither was Athena. The only source of Athena's blood was the goddess herself, as she was and always would be the virgin goddess. Unlike the other gods, Athena had never given birth to a child, so if they wanted to break the spell, they'd need to go straight to the source.
"Are you sure? There's no other way?" But even as she asked the question, Em knew there would be no other answer. If they wanted to break the curse, they would have to come face-to-face with the goddess that had dammed her to be a monster for all eternity.
“The gods are cruel, Medusa," Selene glanced pointedly at Poseidon who frowned and looked down at his lap, "and we live our lives at their mercy."
Em leaned across the small distance between them and reached for Selene's hand. It was soft and cold, but just as real as her own, and the pain and misery she saw written across Selene's face was so familiar that she couldn't find it in herself to see the woman as a monster anymore. Instead, she saw passion and empathy, and a desire to help that she'd never expected. But most of all, she saw the depths of love and loyalty Selene/Hecate had for Endymion, to keep him like this for all these years and to watch over him at the exclusion of all others.
An idea sprung to Em's mind and she pulled herself up straight, excited by the prospect. "There is something you can do," she glanced over at the sleeping man. "Slow down the curse, do for Eury what you did for Endymion. Just give us more time so we can figure out a way to save her." Hope filled Em's chest, making her heart beat erratically, almost painfully, while she waited for Selene to respond.
Selene stilled and frowned, and began muttering to herself. She pushed up from the seat and walked across the room to the table, and began opening various jars and pulling things out, occasionally shaking her head and cursing. Em gripped Poseidon's hand and looked at him with wide eyes and tenuous hope.
"I think this is it," Poseidon murmured, "if she can buy us some time, I swear, Medusa, I'll find a way to get Athena's blood and save Eury."
Em stared at him, letting his words sink into her conscious mind, layering over all the insanity until they finally registered. She pulled in a shaky breath and blinked back tears of frustration, "How? She's insane, Poseidon, and she hates you. Worse, if she finds out that you're trying to help me there's no telling how she'll react." Em lifted a hand to her snakes who were quiet now, "It's not like she took it so gracefully last time."
"I'll find a way, I swear." And his expression was so fierce, so passionate, that Em believed him.
Selene poured ingredients into a bowl and begin crushing them, mixing them together with some kind of liquid that released noxious smells into the room, making Em cough. As if in her own world, Selene swayed waving her hands over the bowl and closed her eyes, murmuring incantations under her breath. Em watched, fascinated, as tendrils of smoke began to rise from the bowl, twisting and turning before Selene's body, winding their way around her, through her, then dissipating as if they'd never been.
She continued chanting, speaking in an ancient form of Latin that even Em didn't recognize. Her speed picked up, racing over the syllables, until they were a blur of sound spilling out of her mouth. Em knew she was still holding Poseidon's hand, she could feel the pulse in his thumb against her fingers, but for the life of her she couldn't let go.
Power filled the cavern, spreading until it filled every corner, until the pressure of it felt like agony and ecstasy. Em prayed it would be over soon and that whatever it was Selene was doing would work.
Brilliant light burst from Selene’s body, nearly blinding Em. Instinctively, she cried out and turned into Poseidon's chest, burying her face in his broad body. Then there was silence and darkness.
Em blinked, trying to acclimatize her eyes to the dull glow. As always, it didn't take long for her preternatural vision to clear.
"Sorry," Selene crossed the room quickly holding something in her hands. She lowered herself down onto the coffee table, and took a deep breath before meeting Em's gaze. "Please don't take this the wrong way, I want nothing more than to help you free your sister from this curse, but I have someone else counting on me, and I have to take whatever chances I must to keep him safe and bring him home." Selene lifted a small silver locket on a simple chain, letting it hang from her fingers. "I charmed this locket with a smaller version of the spell I used to keep Endymion alive and asleep. It won't work forever, the magics I used before were out of desperation and fear, and I couldn't do that again. I'll give it to you in return for a promise."
Em chewed on her lip and took a deep breath, "What kind of promise?" She remembered now just who and what Selene was. Promises could be deadly things.
Selene glanced back at Endymion for a split second, "A promise to help me in my search for a cure. A promise to help me find a way to save the man I love."
Em exhaled slowly, thinking over the different ways that a promise such as this could play out. She took her time, knowing her sister’s life depended on this promise, but knowing that other’s lives could depend on her oath to the Queen of the witches. "I promise to help you find a way to save Endymion in exchange for this locket and the charm it contains." She hoped she wouldn't regret her oath.
Selene nodded and handed the locket to her. "This will buy you time, perhaps a month maybe two, but if you can't get your hands on Athena's blood, even a few drops of it, then there's nothing more I can do for your sister. I'm sorry."
Her eyes flickered over their combined hands then up to Em's face. With a deep exhale, Selene seemed to steel herself for one last confession, "I really am sorry, you know. Athena promised to help me free Endymion, but after she got what she wanted out of me, she reneged on our deal and disappeared. I hated doing what she asked, I knew it would tear family and lovers apart, but..." she trailed off looking ashamed.
Em blinked slowly as her mind churned with Selene’s words. Family and lovers. Lovers. She opened her mouth to ask Selene what she meant but no words would form on her lips.
Poseidon cleared his throat, "What do you mean "tear lovers apart?"" He glared at her, as a destructive mixture of power and anger seeped from his pores.
Selene eyed him with an uneasy expression, rising to her feet and backing away to stand under the skylight, where the setting sun’s rays were just disappearing. As Em watched, the light of the full moon touched Selene’s skin and she began to glow softly.
"I had no choice,” her voice deepened as the woman they’d been speaking with began to fade and another, darker, more powerful woman, took her place. “Athena demanded it be done this way. She said it wasn't enough that Medusa be cursed to live the life of a monster for eternity." Her voice resonated with power and Em, shuddering under her gaze, recognizing that this was no long Selene, but Hecate, the real Queen of the Witches. She drew back her shoulders and stared straight into Em’s eyes, "She wanted you to think Poseidon had abandoned you,” she shifted her gaze to Poseidon, "and she wanted you to think Medusa was dead."
For a moment all was silent, then Poseidon surged to his feet and let loose a sound that rocked the very earth beneath their feet. Instantly, Hecate threw up her hands and a sound like thunder filled the cavern, echoing off every surface until Em clutched her head in agony and stumbled off the couch onto her knees. Then she blinked, and found herself kneeling on the ground outside the cave, where the conjured wall was now thick, impenetrable rock, unlike her heart, which was blown wide open and utterly exposed.
CHAPTER NINE
Em braced herself against the ground and closed her eyes, lowering her head to focus only on breathing in and out. The searing pain that filled her chest expanded so quickly she didn't have
time to think or feel anything but confusion. A humming sound filled her mind like a million bees buzzing inside her brain, and she couldn't push past them no matter how hard she tried. So, instead, she focused on dragging air into her lungs and praying that she would either pass out or the pain would end.
Strong arms wrapped around her, righting her until she was sitting cross-legged on the cooling mountain rock. "Medusa," Poseidon lifted his hands to her face, pressing them against her cheeks and forehead, then shaking her by the shoulders, "Medusa!"
She could hear him, feel his hands on her skin, even feel the ragged emotion seeping from his pores, but she couldn't breathe or think. Little by little, she began to make sense of the chaos and lifted her head to look into Poseidon's eyes. She saw it then, a reflection of the agony that was trying to drag her down. Em pressed her hand against her heart and opened her mouth, but no sound escaped, it was too big, too horrible, to form into words.
Her hand began to shake as it rested over her heart, until her fingers refused to work and the silver locket she'd held clutched in her hand slipped and fell to her lap. Em stared down at it, unable to understand the significance but knowing that it was the most important thing in the world to her right now, or that it should be. She lifted it with shivering hands and stared at the simple necklace, then flicked her gaze up to Poseidon. "Eury," she whispered, "take me to my sister... please.”