by Amy Sumida
“Sure,” Triton said. “It'll take a lot of work and money, though. I'm hoping I won't have to repair more of them. Do you smell anything, Vervain?”
I closed my eyes and shifted into dragon mode. She rose up inside me and when I opened my eyes, Triton gave a surprised gasp. I suppose I should have warned him about the way my dragon tended to shift my eyes into hers; fiery irises with slit pupils. But Triton didn't say anything; he just stepped out of my way, and I moved forward.
I had Triton and Poseidon's scents stored in my head to rule them out from any I found. I was looking for another god smell that didn't belong. I saw it immediately, and it wasn't the golden haze I'd tracked from the mine. This trail was turquoise; bright and clean. It smelled like water to me but not salt. This was a water god—no; a water goddess—who wasn't connected to the sea. So, what was she doing wrecking a fishing boat?
I followed the trail with my eyes; out of the warehouse doors and then back out to sea. It went hazy a few miles out; dragon sight was exceptional but it still had its limits. That didn't matter, though; the trail came back in to shore. It looked as if I didn't need Torrent, after all. Just a car.
“I found her,” I announced. “Do you happen to have a car that can fit all of us?”
“Right this way.” Triton rushed out of the warehouse and over to a beat-up van.
A faded logo of a trident was painted on the side of the van; over the words: Trident Fishing. Triton slid the side panel open to reveal a surprisingly clean, but seat-less, interior. Hades helped Persephone into the back before following her inside, and then Donnie and Odin climbed in. I took a moment to notice that Odin's ass was even nicer than Donnie's. Then I shook myself for such silliness and got into the passenger seat. I needed the window so I got to ride up front. Triton jumped in the driver's seat, started the engine, and I pointed him in the direction of the trail.
We followed the trail up paved roads heading inland. This goddess had a car. She also had money because her tracks led into a very well-to-do residential area. Mansions rose up around us; unusual modern homes gleaming beside enormous castle-like Tudors and columned palaces.
The trail arrowed straight through a metal gate toward one of the more modern houses. I didn't know that it was modern at first; it was hidden behind a shield of massive palms, full-topped trees, and thick bushes and it was also set back from the road a ways. It wasn't until we disabled the gate and drove up the winding drive that we were able to see the unique design.
It was a double-tiered oval of glass and enameled white material (I have no idea if the material was metal, cement, or wood; just that it was shiny). The structure rose out of a pond like Aphrodite's clam shell. The pond appeared to be natural and was connected to a river that wound through the palatial lot as if it had been there forever. White flowers, blooming in fluffy spheres, grew in flower beds to either side of a cement bridge that led to the front door.
I gawked at the thing. It was obvious why it was hidden from the road; there would have been no privacy for its occupants otherwise. All the exterior walls were glass panels set into steel frames; displaying the entire interior like a movie set. At night, with the lights on, it would have been a stage for all the world to see.
The top floor of the structure had a balcony encircling it completely with a stainless steel balustrade. The first floor had a deck that mimicked the upper balcony perfectly; balustrade and all. A woman was standing on the balcony above; braiding her long, golden hair. It was so long that it rippled over the side and fluttered in the breeze. She hummed contentedly as she stared out over her private river; acting as if she hadn't noticed us. There was no way that she hadn't; we had rumbled up her drive and creaked to a stop right in front of her. And still, she just kept braiding.
She reminded me of Orco, and it wasn't just the way she was ignoring us. Their faces were different, and so was their coloring, but something about this woman was similar to the other.
“Pardon me?” I called up to her. “But do you happen to know Orco Mamman?”
The woman stopped braiding—letting her hair fall even further over the balcony—and turned to stare at me. She smiled a little and then nodded. Then her gaze strayed to the others; stopping on Triton. I glanced at the Sea God and found him staring back at the woman with the fascinated look of a besotted man. Great; Rapunzel had found a prince to climb her hair-ladder. I sighed deeply and shook my head. No good would come of this.
“Hey.” I whacked Triton in the chest. “That's the goddess who just wrecked your boats. You wanna snap out of it on your own or should I pull a Cher on you?”
Triton blinked as Donnie chortled.
“She means she's gonna bitch slap you like Cher did to Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck,” Donnie explained to his son. “Might be a good idea; you're lookin' a little swishy around the gills, Son. Like a noob spottin' a Betty for the first time.”
“I'm fine, Dad,” Triton huffed.
“You are the god who owns Trident Fishing?” The woman's eyes narrowed on Triton.
“I am,” Triton said as he stepped toward the bridge. “Are you going to come down and face me or stay up there and hide from what you've done?”
“Hide?” She laughed. “Does this look like hiding to you?” She waved her hand at her glass house. “I am Mayup Mamman, and I have only done what my magic has prompted me to do; sink the canoes of those who fish excessively.”
“Canoes?” Triton growled. “Lady, do I look like I'd fish in a fucking canoe? I'm a professional, and I've never over-fished in all my life. I respect the sea. But you wouldn't know anything about that.” He looked around himself with derision. “You're a river goddess, aren't you? You have no salt in your veins, no waves in your water. You're out of your element and your league.”
“Whooee!” Donnie declared. “That's my boy!”
“Fishing excessively is not the same as over-fishing,” Mayup said calmly. “Excessively means taking more than your share, and that is exactly what you've done, Greek. You came to my land—my territory—and fished my waters without permission. Then you took that bounty and profited from it by selling it to humans. You're a trespasser and a thief, and it is you who are out of your league. You just don't know it yet.”
“Why did you really attack his boats?” Odin asked before Triton could respond. “Your words reek of half-truths and secrets. Tell us what you want and be done with it.”
“I want the Greeks out of Argentina for good!” Mayup declared furiously. “Take your boats elsewhere, fisherman. Or I will continue to sink them until you have none left.”
“The hell you will,” Triton growled as a trident formed in his hand. “Territories in the God Realm are sacred and every god is entitled to protect their own, but the Earth is free game. You're playing by your own set of rules while you expect everyone else to not only know what they are but abide by them. That's not going to fly. I'm not leaving Argentina, and you aren't touching another one of my boats. Do so, and I will end your game permanently.”
Triton cast his weapon at Mayup and it sped by her; missing her head by half an inch. Instead of smashing her brainpan, it crashed into her glass house and shattered the panel it hit. Glass came crashing down in millions of tiny pieces like deadly rain. Obviously, Triton had added a little something extra to his throw; window glass doesn't break like that—not when its built to form walls.
Mayup barely moved; not when the trident whizzed by her, or when the glass shattered, or even when Triton called the trident back to his hand with a smug gesture. She just stared at Triton as if she was memorizing his face. I knew that stare; I had worn it myself. It wasn't about cataloging his features for her midnight fantasy session; not unless she was fantasizing about cutting him into pieces. No; that was the look of a hunter remembering the markings of her prey. And Triton stared back at her in the same manner.
After the stares of doom were exchanged, Triton's gaze slid over the three prongs of his weapon. He pulled something free; a few s
trands of golden hair. Triton inhaled deeply as he looked back at the goddess and then wound them into a tidy loop and tucked the hair into his pocket.
“I have a piece of you now, Mayup,” he said. “Attack me again, and I'll find you no matter where you hide; find you and finish you.”
“I told you, boy,” she hissed, “I'm not hiding.”
With that, Mayup Mamman dove into the river in the most graceful swan dive I'd ever seen—her hair cascading behind her like wings—and disappeared beneath the surface.
“Looks like hiding to me,” Triton scoffed.
It did appear that Mayup had fled, but I had an uneasy feeling about her retreat. I shared a glance with Odin that told me he felt the same.
“I vote we search her glass house,” I said.
“I'm with you.” Triton stalked forward with the menace of a jilted lover.
People who live in glass houses should never leave their enemies alone in them.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Re was waiting for me when I got home, but I wasn't in the mood for his type of therapy anymore. He saw it instantly and shifted his seductive expression into one of concern.
“What happened?” Re asked.
“A lot of posturing, a few threats, and a broken window,” Odin said.
“A broken wall, actually, and that was only the beginning,” I corrected him. Then I said to Re, “It was a glass wall; most of the house was made of glass.”
“And someone threw a stone?” Re quipped.
“A trident,” Odin said.
“We tracked a river goddess,” I explained as I took a seat beside Re on the couch in my master bedroom's sitting area. “She admitted to being the one who damaged Triton's boats, but she said her magic compelled her to do it. It was nearly the same thing that Orco Mamman said.”
“What's this river goddess' name?” Re asked.
“Mayup Mamman,” Odin said.
“That's awfully similar to the last one as well.” Re frowned. “Mamman is obviously the word for 'mother' but the other parts of their names are a mystery to me.”
“I asked her if she knew Orco, and she nodded,” I added. “I feel like this is just the start of something larger. Mayup said that she wanted all the Greeks out of Argentina, not just Triton.”
“I was wondering if you caught that,” Odin murmured. “I agree; this has the feeling of a conspiracy to it. I wouldn't be surprised if those two goddesses showed up again—together.”
“Is there some reason for the Argentinian Gods to hate the Greek Gods?” I asked Odin.
Odin was a lover of knowledge; he knew nearly as much as Torrent without ever having to consult the Internet. So, if Torr wasn't around, I asked Odin.
“Not that I know of, but perhaps we should look into that,” Odin said.
“You know; there is a large Greek population in Argentina; as in humans,” Re mused. “Did this goddess specify that she wanted the Greek Gods out of Argentina, or did she simply say 'Greeks?'”
Odin and I gaped at each other.
“I see by your open mouths that it must have been the latter,” Re noted. “I'm good at reading open mouths... and at filling them.”
“Stay away from my open mouth,” Odin said with a look that expressed all the horrible things he'd do to Re if he didn't. “In fact, just stay away from me in general.”
“No one has a sense of sexual humor here,” Re huffed. “I will share my knowledge with you anyway, Oathbreaker. Since you seem to be ignorant of this.”
Odin narrowed his peacock-colored eyes at Re. If there was one thing Odin hated, it was being called ignorant.
“What else do you know, Re,” I hastened him along before things got bloody.
“If my memory serves, the Greeks came to Argentina in a few waves,” Re said. “Once back in the nineteenth century and a couple times in the twentieth. That's fairly recent as far as gods view things. Perhaps these Argentinian mother goddesses have gotten tired of sharing their land with other humans who worship a thriving pantheon while theirs has faded away.”
“Jealousy,” I noted. “That's a plausible motive. Then you add onto it the insult of the Greek Gods making money off Argentinian goods and it becomes even more motivational.”
“Seriously so,” Re agreed. “Seminar-sized motivation.”
“I think it may be much more than that,” Odin murmured thoughtfully. “These goddesses were worshiped by the indigenous people of Argentina.”
“Yes,” I said as if we'd already reached that conclusion.
“The indigenous people were nearly wiped out when the Spanish colonized the area,” Odin said. “Then things got even worse for them. In the nineteenth century, the Argentinian Government put into place certain policies that worked toward the goal of a white Argentina.”
“Excuse me?” I growled. “Did you just say 'a white Argentina?'”
“There was a constitution made that favored immigration from Western Europe while penalizing the ethnic minorities already living in Argentina,” Odin' mouth tightened as he talked; a clear indication that it bothered him as much as me. “There were laws in place to protect the rights of the indigenous people but they've been largely ignored due to the extreme racism there.” Odin slid a smug look at Re. “How's that for ignorance?”
Re gave Odin a look that said; Got you to play.
“I had no idea,” I whispered in amazement. “When I think 'racism,' Argentina isn't the first place that pops into my mind.”
“You can find racism everywhere, unfortunately. But the point is; perhaps the worship of these Argentinian Gods hasn't faded after all. Perhaps it's simply that their followers have been persecuted into near-extinction and so there is no one left to worship them,” Odin said. “That's enough to make any god furious.”
“And take up arms against the oppressors,” I added.
“The question is; How do they plan on ridding Argentina of the Greeks?” Re asked. “Getting rid of the Greek Gods will be difficult enough, but that's just two gods; getting rid of whole communities of humans is another barrel of fish.”
“A barrel of fish,” I whispered. “For a goddess, getting rid of humans is as easy as shooting into that barrel.”
“And if this is about vengeance on behalf of their followers, these gods could be aiming for more than Greeks,” Odin said. “In which case, they wouldn't have to worry about which fish they hit.”
“They could just overturn the barrel,” I said.
“This analogy is getting too fishy for my taste,” Re noted. “Let's move on, shall we?”
“The entire white population of Argentina may be in danger,” Odin declared. “Is that more palatable for you?”
“Not really; no,” Re said with a grimace. “Frankly, it stinks.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
That evening, I called another meeting of the God Squad and presented our theory on the Argentinian Goddesses. The Squad agreed that it sounded likely, but then Torrent started doing some research online.
“These goddesses are minor deities,” Torrent said. “Orco is the Mother of the Hill; she guards precious metals. When metals were mined excessively, she'd punish the miners. Mayup is similar except she is the Mother of the River.”
“Let me guess,” I said. “She punishes fishermen who fish excessively.”
“That's right,” Torrent said.
“And that's pretty much what they told me,” I said. “But I don't think they're stopping there, and Mayup had some serious threats for Triton.”
“I'm not saying they're not working to a larger goal, but I'm wondering if they have the power to back their threats,” Torrent said. “And if they don't, why are they making them so confidently?”
“It was only Mayup who made threats,” I noted. “But then, I didn't give Orco any reason to threaten me. I wanted to stay out of it because I thought it was just a fight between gods over gold.”
“But now it seems to be more than that,” Odin said grimly. “Tha
t being said, do we pursue these women without proof? And what do we do with them if we catch them? It seems extreme to kill them for doing what their magic compelled them to do.”
“There were deaths at the mines,” Finn reminded him. “And people could have drowned from the fishing boats sinking. They're not so innocent.”
“But Orco did express guilt over the deaths,” I said. “That doesn't fit with our theory that they want to kill humans too. There are too many questions that we need answered.”
“I agree that we shouldn't act without proof,” Hades said. “But I don't want to sit back and wait for them to do something horrible either. This is my nephew we're talking about.”
“Let me send Hugin and Munin to take a look around Argentina,” Odin offered. “They may be able to spot something helpful.”
“And I'll be on the lookout for any news coming out of Argentina that sounds suspicious,” Torrent added.
“I think that may be all we can do for now,” Thor said. “We should tread lightly in this; we don't want to start a war where there was only an argument. We could end up escalating matters instead of settling them.”
“True, but Triton has dug his heels in, and I don't want to see him hurt,” Hades pointed out.
“He's family,” Persephone said as if it explained everything.
And it did. Family changed things; you could easily end up on the wrong side of a war because of family. I hoped that wouldn't be the case this time.
“Vhat vould you like us to do, Hades?” Kirill asked him.
“Just be ready to help Triton, if he needs it,” Hades said. “Other than that, I agree that there isn't much to be done at the moment.”
“What about Dhumorna and Katila?” Azrael asked Brahma.
“I told you when I arrived; I haven't found them yet,” Brahma said patiently.
Azrael had cornered Brahma as soon as he stepped out of the tracing room; demanding a progress report. Unfortunately, there had been no progress.
“I know, but what are we going to do about that?” Azrael asked. “Do you need help? Do you have any idea where we should be looking? You were so certain you'd find them and it's been days. We don't have much time left.”