Alex Anderson The Last Son of Zeus (13 page)

BOOK TWENTY-THREE

BACK ON THE MOUNTAIN

"Things have changed," Hera said to the other gods gathered around her at Mt. Olympus. "And they are about to change even more."

Mt. Olympus was a quaint place by godly standards, but its marble walls and furniture were certainly nothing in which a being could find umbrage. It didn't actually reside on
the
Mt. Olympus. Long ago, Zeus and the others decided to move their home into the heavens for fear of mortal contact. Hera found the idea deplorable at first, but years of human regression made Olympus' current location preferred and for the time being necessary.

The most remarkable aspect of Mt. Olympus was its transparent floor. The gods literally walked above all that was, is, or ever could be. The floor had been Hera's idea and it was one in which she had been immensely proud of. The others seemed indifferent, as though they had no idea what it meant to be a god.

Twelve chairs sat around a marble table, of which the one at the head of the table was empty. Hera sat to the empty chair's right.

Poseidon sat at its left. "Things are always changing, Hera. I do hope you have not brought us all together for something as trivial as change." Poseidon's gaze never left the floor. Drops of water fell from his beard and plopped onto the table.

Hera ignored the threat. Poseidon will have his day. Any who opposed her from this moment on would have his as well.

"Zeus is dead."

Poseidon's head didn't move, but his eyes shifted in her direction. Aphrodite remained in her seat, arms crossed. The others--Demeter, Ares, Apollo, Hermes, Artemis, and Dionysus--stared at Hera with varying expressions of fear, amusement, and relief.

"W-what? How is this possible?" Demeter faked. Both she and Apollo were given assigned parts in this little reveal. Hera wanted the common concerns addressed here and now.

"I killed him."

"HA!" Ares clapped his hands. Out of all the gods, he was the only one who insisted on wearing armor and weapons at all times. The leather and metal that covered his body creaked and clanked as he stood. "A truly marvelous tale, mother! And I do so hope it is true. The others will be far more likely to oppose you if it is!"

"Leave."

Ares' smile vanished. "Come again?"

"This is a time for our true purpose to unite us, not for your instigations to tear us apart. Leave Mt. Olympus. Do not return unless I have bid you to do so."

"I meant no
disresp
--"

"Ares, I have killed my husband Zeus, the mightiest of gods, for doing what you now attempt to do. Unless you wish to join him through the most meaningless and shortest of conflicts, you will leave this very instant."

Hera played Ares before he had a chance to play her, and the god knew it. He searched the table for support from his family. Finding none, the sound of clanking metal soon announced his departure.

"Hades won't hold him," Aphrodite said looking at Hades' empty seat. She rocked one of her legs back and forth in that irritating way mortals do. "Daddy is a tough cookie and
Hades'll
wanna
release him before he gets all thundery and finds his own way out. Cause, if that happens, Hades looses respect and--"

"Hades will be content to hold him and Zeus will be content to stay," Hera said. "He has no other choice. I have taken appropriate measures."

Aphrodite looked at the exit.

Hera stepped into her view. "Thinking of rushing off to your father's rescue?" "Well, go on. You are free to do so." Aphrodite
was,
of course, most assuredly
not
free to do so. Hera would kill her before she took three steps, but she had appearances to consider.

"But before you do, think of this," Hera said. "And this goes for all of you, including you Poseidon."

Poseidon's gaze remained fixed on the heavens below them.

"How long have we been denied what was given to us? Free reign over this now forsaken mortal realm. How long? Do any of you even remember?"

Everyone except Aphrodite and Poseidon searched each other's faces for the answer.

Hera began circling the table like a caged beast. "He took it all away from us. He said we can no longer do that which we were made to do. He said no more. 'We have gone too far, 'remember? 'We have gone too far and let us never touch another mortal soul again.' But what he really meant to say is that
you
shall never touch another mortal soul again. He betrayed us. He touched mortal woman after mortal woman."

"Is that what this is about?" Apollo said, playing his part. After Hera's tirade, he and Hermes were the only two left standing. "You killed him over jealously?"

"I killed him for us. All of us. This planet, these mortals were ours. We shaped, grew, and ultimately perfected them. We should come back not just for our sakes but for theirs. We owe them that. We owe ourselves that. Zeus would have realized this had he not been so distracted with worldly concerns."

"They are too far gone," Hermes said. The wings on the back of his armor flapped slightly. "They will never accept us into their lives, into their temples again."

"They still remember us in song and literature, dear son. They will accept us again. If they do not, we will take steps together to insure they do."

Apollo's skin glowed slightly. "I am with you. I want to feel the sun on my back again and the worship under my feet."
 

Apollo's strong agreement carried most of the others, as Hera knew it would. They each still craved the worship and power Zeus had denied them. When it came to Zeus' betrayal, no god was surprised and no god felt sorry for what Hera did to him.

That is, no god except for Aphrodite. Her daughter's gaze danced around the table, looking for some sort of support for her father. As soon as an opportunity presented itself, Hera was certain she would stab her in the back.

Hera would just have to make sure she stabbed first.

Poseidon strolled to the exit, leaving puddles of water in his wake.

"And where do you go, dear brother?" Hera said. She needed to know if it was displeasure or indifference that compelled the sea god to leave. He and Hades both had far too much power for her to take either of them lightly.

Poseidon stopped but didn't turn. "I do not wish to leave the lone comfort of the tides that I have enjoyed for centuries. I came to see what has transpired. Having done so, my limited curiosity is satisfied. The rest of you have my permission to do as you see fit."

Aphrodite bit her bottom lip. "He still cares about us and the mortals. Don't forget that, guys."

"If he cared, daughter, why did he betray us so completely?"

Aphrodite failed to meet Hera's gaze. "He knew we were interfering too much. He knew we shouldn't have been doing what we were doing. He knew, after Troy, he knew things had gotten out of hand. Why would he do it?" The others gave Aphrodite their full attention. "Why would he go through all of that if he really just wanted a good lay?"

"Control," Apollo said. "It was about control. Control over the mortals and control over us. He then wished for sole control over the mortals. He was tired of sharing them. Through his
rules
, he received just that."

Again, Aphrodite looked past Apollo for a friendly or at least supportive face. It pleased Hera to see she found none.

~ * ~

"What the hell happened to Ares? He looked pissed," Cupid said as Aphrodite stepped out of the meeting chambers. He waited for her in a room that seemed to have no purpose other than looking impressive.

Aphrodite started pacing. "Shut up. Just shut up and let me think. This is too much. I've worked too hard and too long to have everything taken away by her."

Cupid shrugged and rubbed his throat. "Seems like to me, she's not taking anything. Seems more like she's giving."

"Well, think again,
monkeyboy
. I get tons more attention now than I ever did back in the day. I wouldn't give up the way it is now for anything. You hear me?
Anyth
--" Aphrodite stopped midsentence when she looked at Cupid and saw his collar was missing.

As in, the gold collar that kept him beholden to her.

"Oh," Cupid said. "I'm finally worth some attention now?"

"How?" Aphrodite was so flooded with emotions it was all she could do to articulate the question.

"That would be me, Aphrodite."

Aphrodite turned and saw Hera standing three feet away.

~ * ~

Aphrodite stood her ground. She was busted, sure. But she absolutely would not beg. If Hera wanted to kill her for what she said, there was nothing stopping her now anyway. If by some miracle Aphrodite could teleport past Hera, she would eventually find and kill her.

Hera smiled and closed the gap between them. Aphrodite never noticed how pointed Hera's teeth were. "I'm surprised you never mentioned your involvement in front of the others earlier."

"What did you do?"

"They did see things my way, you know. You could have used that to your advantage, as is often your way."

"What did you do?"

Hera smiled. "Did you bring it, Cupid?"

Cupid's eyes shifted to Aphrodite then back to Hera. He reached behind his coat and tossed Hera the golden apple.

Hera snatched it out of the air then turned it over and over again. "It has been a long time since I have seen it so close."

"And that's
my apple
," Aphrodite said. Her voice sounded distant.

Hera turned away, but continued staring at the apple. "You may leave now, Aphrodite. But I need Cupid to stay. I have work that he's agreed to do in return for setting him free."

Cupid stepped around Aphrodite and followed Hera out of the room. "You did this to yourself. You and that
fuckin
' collar."

Aphrodite stood in the meaningless room alone.

BOOK TWENTY-FOUR

HELEN'S STORY

"Are you sure about this, honey?" Helen's mother asked for the umpteenth time.

Helen unbuckled her seatbelt and rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom, I'm sure."

She put her hand on Helen's knee. "Okay, sweetie. But you call me if you need anything. And call me if you change your mind. You know what? Why don't you just call me anyway around lunch time?"

"Okay, I will."

Helen's mom kissed her on the cheek. Helen shut the door to her mom's silver Lexus and put on her mirrored sunglasses. The students of AC threw an occasional glance her way but said nothing.

She took a deep breath. It had been a rough few months since what her parents and doctor consistently referred to as "the incident." Helen didn't know what had happened. One minute she was putting a fucking tampon in, and the next she was in an ambulance.

She remembered looking at the ambulance guy. "Did I...
did
I, like, fall or something at practice?"

Ambulance guy shook his head. "I don't think so,
hon
'. Not unless you have practice by yourself on a park bench."

Helen fluttered her eyes before passing out again.

When she woke, Helen was in a hospital bed, hearing mumbled voices. After her vision cleared, she saw her parents standing in the hospital room with a really old doctor.
Eww
, has he seen me naked?

"You're awake! Tommy, she's awake! How are you, sweetie, how are you feeling? Do you need me to get you anything?" Her mom rushed over with an extra pillow.

Helen attempted to prop up on an elbow, but the doctor gently pushed her back to the mattress. "I wouldn't do that just yet, Ms.
DeTroy
. You've had a busy week."

"A week? I've been here for a week?" Her mouth felt funny, like she hadn't spoken for a week.
Duh
.

Her mom started crying. "We were so scared. We didn't know what..." Her mom buried her with a hug.

After a few minutes, Helen convinced her mom she needed to come up for air. She yanked the covers back. "I need--" she stopped. She almost said 'I need a beer.'

"I need something to drink. And I need to walk some."

Her mom looked at the doctor to see if it was okay. Helen guessed it was because nobody stopped her from leaving the room. She wrapped one of the room's many itchy blankets around her.

~ * ~

Helen's parents sat with her in the hospital's cafeteria while she slurped on a box of orange juice.

Her dad placed his hand on hers. "Honey, I hate to bring this up," her father eventually said.

Then don't.

"Do you know what happened to
Augie
? Do you know anything about it?"

Helen stopped slurping. "What do you mean?"

"He...he disappeared last week. Around the same time you--around the same time we found you. We thought he may have had something to do with how we found you."

Her mom gripped her dad's arm. Her mom always did that when someone close to her said something she didn't want to hear.

Wait a minute.

"What do you mean, 'how we found you'?"

Her parents looked at each other. Her mom's face turned red.

"Mom, what happened? How did you find me?"

And so they told her. They told her some anonymous girl caller told the police she could be found on a bench about a mile from the old mill. And to bring clothes because she was exactly as God made her.

Who the hell would say shit like that?

Helen buried her face in her hands. "Oh my God." A small part of her knew her immediate thoughts should have been what the hell happened? How did she get there? Who was responsible? Instead, they drifted somewhere else entirely.

"How many people know? Does anybody at school know?"

Her dad placed his hand back on hers. "No, of course not. We would never, ever tell anyone, honey. It's none of their business. But do you remember anything? Anything at all? If
Augie's
responsible, you just say the word. I'll call the police right now."

Augie
...

"No, he didn't do anything."

Her dad leaned in closer. "Are you sure? Your memory might be a little fuzzy. You just say the word and I'll call the police. I mean it."

"He didn't do anything, dad. Where is he? Did he stop by?"

"No, nobody's seen him since that day, honey. That's another reason why we thought maybe he did something."

"Oh, I still just think his parents are just hiding him," her mom said.

And so, that's how they left the conversation. Everybody who did know something thought
Augie
did it and his parents were hiding him. Everybody that didn't know something thought Helen simply had mono for the past four months when in actuality, the doctors wanted her to stay at home for a while so they could monitor her condition and hopefully find some answers.

That suited Helen just fine.

Most of her time was spent texting friends, playing video games, and
facebooking
. When her parents tried to get her to do homework, Helen complained of imaginary headaches and dizzy spells. As a result, her dumbass parents quickly put the homework away and apologized for ever suggesting she do it in the first place. Life had been good for Helen
DeTroy
.

Until she saw snake lady in the mirror.

She'd been getting ready for doing her usual nothing that day by taking a shower. Helen often wondered why she even bothered to take a shower if her parents wouldn't let her get out of their sight. She was looking in the mirror, wondering if she should skip it for the third day in a row, and there it was: Snake lady. Looking right at her.

Helen jumped away from the mirror.

She sat on the floor breathing heavy for at least fifteen minutes, staring at the mirror. At Helen's angle, she couldn't see it and it couldn't see her. There was no way to tell if it was still there without standing directly in front of the mirror.

This has to be a result of the thing. It has to be whatever made me pass out two months ago. There's nothing there, especially a snake lady. It's all in my head.

Helen crept forward. Her hands gripped the sink as if she received some sort of emotional support from it. Her right eye appeared in the mirror.

It was still there, right behind her.

Looking at her.

Helen jerked away. There was nothing behind her except wall and a tacky collage her mom put together last Christmas.

She looked back. It smiled.

God, it had an awful smile. And the snakes on its head, they all looked at her while slithering this way and that.

Her mom knocked on the door. "Is everything alright, dear? You've been in there a while."

The thing turned its head to the door. It smiled and
raised
what passed for its eyebrows. Helen somehow knew what the thing was thinking:
Let's get her. Let's kill her. Let's kill her right now.

Helen shut her eyes. She backed away from the mirror. When she reopened them, snake lady was gone.

"Helen?"

"Yeah? Yeah, mom, I'm okay." She opened the door and put on her best sweet little girl face. She had a lot of practice after smoking pot for two years. "Yeah, it's all good."

"Okay, well, breakfast is almost ready. I made pancakes and sausage."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Helen shut the door.

She didn't look in a mirror for a week.

Not until she and her family were sitting on the couch one day watching an old piece of shit movie called
Clash of the Titans
. The hero--
Purso
or something--was about to fight some lady named Medusa. Medusa came on screen.

And it looked just like the snake lady in the mirror.

It wasn't exactly the same. But it was close enough to startle Helen so much she shot Dr. Pepper out of her nose. She was on the Internet ten minutes later looking up everything she could about Medusa.

As she read, Helen's mind unlocked doors she didn't know existed. This thing could turn people into stone. This thing was--
is
her. She could turn people into stone. She
did
turn people into stone.

Augie
...

Helen waited until her parents were asleep that night and snuck out of the house. She knew where
Augie
was. She knew where she'd left him: about a mile from the old mill.

Helen ran most of the way there. Nobody saw or paid any attention to her, as par for the course in this town.

She passed the mill on the way and stopped. Helen wondered why she never came to the place before. It felt like she was born there.

Thirty minutes later, Helen found the statue that used to be her boyfriend. He lay on his belly, partially covered in leaves and grass growing from his ear. He looked like he had been screaming himself shitless when it happened.

She remembered flashes of fighting in the library, turning
Augie
and one of his friends into stone in the parking lot,
then
dragging her boyfriend here.

She killed them.

Helen didn't cry. She just walked away.

On her way home, she passed the mill again and Helen thought of butt-boy Alex Anderson. She remembered seeing him, Salvador somebody, and Fiona Avery in certain places at certain times doing certain things. Her eyes darted around the mill as her memory recreated scenes. She saw phantom versions of all of them fighting her--it--her as it. Somehow, she knew right then what Alex Anderson had to be. She could even guess what Fiona was.

Jesus Christ.
She buried her head in her hands.
Is this for real?

Snake Lady was a common occurrence in the mirror now. Helen put up with its never ending taunts while getting ready and even having conversations with her mother. She went from being terrified of the crazy new world she was in to somehow having the piece of mind to convince her mother she needed to return to school.

She had to talk to Alex. God help her, he was her only hope.

She had come close to asking his mom at the drug store for their phone number but decided against it. What if his mother asked why she wanted the number? She didn't have the strength to tell a convincing lie to somebody smarter than her parents.

Helen looked around and her friends finally started acknowledging her with nods or smiles but still avoided talking to her. They were probably upset over the texts she hadn't been returning for the past week, which was perfectly fine. Helen wanted nothing to do with them either. They seemed small for some reason.

She scanned the parking lot for Alex or Fiona. There wasn't any sign of either, so Helen went to the cafeteria for some breakfast.

That's when she saw a cop pointing a gun at Alex's mom.