From Origins (Descendant Prophecies Book 3) (13 page)

“You want to see your mother? This is my demand. Go get me the head of Medusa. I will gladly exchange your mother for her head. This is the only way you’ll ever see her again.”

“Medusa’s head? Medusa is dead, you moron,” Amanda said irately. “How the hell are we supposed to kill someone who’s already dead?”

“Her head is in the deepest part of the ocean. Only the ones with the purest hearts can reach it.”

“That’s certainly not you or Hades,” Amanda commented.

Hades arched his brows. “I’ve changed. I’m different.”

“Have you, uncle? Wasn’t this our plan? To confuse them so Skylar would get you out of jail so you could help me? We can stop the charade now. They’ve caught onto us.”

“Silence!” The whole house quaked this time. “He’s feeding you lies.”

“Am I, Uncle? I might have altered the plan, but whose idea was it to trick them to trust you?”

“Don’t listen to him.” Hades was beyond rage. I knew it was impossible, but I thought I saw smoke coming out of his ears.

“Oh…but they already have. I’ve fed them only the truth. By the way, here is another truth for you to think about. Sky is going to be a big sister soon. That’s right. Your mom is pregnant. She is so happy about this. You know she wanted more kids, but poor Victor left the family. Now your mom can make her dreams come true with me.”

I flinched when Hades stopped Sky from attacking Hephaestus. I was ready to jump in, but when she backed away, I did too. But I wasn’t prepared for Everett’s speedy hand. He threw the knife, aiming for Hephaestus’s chest. That’s when I charged with all my lights glowing out from my body. I was ready to damage Hephaestus. Though I couldn’t kill him, at least I could stop him from retaliating. That knife should have penetrated his chest, but instead it stabbed the wall right behind him. And my hands, which should have sent volts through his body, ended up almost hitting my friends.

Hephaestus wasn’t there. I was now standing where he had been standing. His image blended through my body. Only an oracle could do this for him. Immediately I stepped aside. Already feeling repulsed, I didn’t want his image reflecting on me.

His laughter rang in the room. “Surprise. I’m here, but not really. I’m not stupid to just show up when I know you’re hunting me.” He laughed again. “This is so much fun. It’s going to be much better when I have Medusa’s head in my possession. You have three days to bring it to me at Mt. Hem, or your mom will be turned into a vulture.”

“But you said she’s pregnant,” Amanda reminded, looking disgusted. “How could you do this to the mother of your child?”

“Turning her into a vulture won’t affect her pregnancy.”

“How do we get to the bottom of the ocean?” Sky asked, looking like the world around her was falling apart. She took a step in front of her, as if to stop from falling. Blinking, she grabbed her head. I debated whether to go to her, but waited to see if whatever was happening was a temporary thing.

“Ask Zara. She’ll know.”

Like a dying light bulb, his image flickered, then disappeared. Blood drained from Sky’s face. I got to her before she had a chance to drop to the floor. This was too much for her, too much for all of us. When would this end?

“We should get going, somewhere safe,” I said, carrying Sky in my arms. My poor Sky was knocked out.

“Where are we?”
Sky groaned, glancing around.

“We’re at the lake house. You’re on my bed,” I answered, shifting my position so she could have room to take her hand out from underneath the blanket.

“What happened?”

I took her hand in my mine and gently caressed her thumb with mine. Though I knew she would be fine, I was worried. Sky had been through so many changes in her body that I didn’t know if she was going through more changes. “You passed out.”

“I did?” She rubbed her head and ran her hand down her face.

“Do you remember seeing Hephaestus?”

Sky took a moment of silence, looking off to the distance. “Yes. I remember everything. How’s my dad?”

“He’s better than he was this morning. Actually, he’s up and walking around. He came upstairs to check on you many times. I told him that I would let him know the minute you were awake, but I think I’d like to have you all to myself for a little while longer.” Letting go of her hand, I ran my hand through her hair.

“I don’t mind it at all.” She gave me her sweet, sexy smile. Then her lips faded into a thin line. “Mason?” Panic struck her face. I could hear it in her tone and her facial expression. “My mom. We have to go.” Sky sat up, but just as I was about to stop her, she buried her face into the palm of her hands.

“You need your rest, Sky. You’ve overworked your body.” I helped her lay down. Keeping her eyes closed, she nodded in understanding.

“But…we—”

“Don’t worry. We still have two days. You need to rest, and so does everyone else.”

“Okay.” Sky agreed and fell asleep.

“Skylar.”

“Mom?” Heading upstairs in a house that was not familiar, someplace I’d never been before, I knew I was dreaming. I could tell it wasn’t my reality when the only thing I could see was what was in front of me. Everything else from my peripheral vision was muted and blurred.

“Skylar,” I heard again, as I continued to go up the winding stairs that seemed endless. Every time I’d thought I had reached the end, more appeared in my path. Finally, I stood before a dimmed hallway, but I couldn’t recall how I’d gotten there. It was difficult to locate where my mom’s voice was coming from when I heard her call me again. It sounded like it was coming from the ceiling, but I knew that was impossible...wasn’t it? When I tilted my head up, it was dark and there was no end to it, like a black hole. As I turned the corner, all the doors were closed. I couldn’t count how many rooms there were; they seemed to be endless, as the hallway stretched as I walked.

“Mom? Where are you?” I called desperately, hoping she would be in one of the rooms.

“Skylar.” This time it sounded like an echo vibrating against one of the rooms.

I opened the door to my right hoping to see her, since it sounded like the voice was coming from there. But when I opened it, there was nothing but a dark space. I couldn’t even see any part of the room. The door slammed shut without warning. Startled, I backed away and continued down the hall.

“Mom,” I called. “Where are you?” Feeling cold under my feet, I looked down to see that I was barefoot. Where were my shoes? “Mom,” I called again, but only heard the sound of the wind blowing. How was that possible? We were indoors.

“Skylar.” This time the tone was sharp and angry.

“Mom?” A figure of a woman appeared at the end of the hall, and when she turned, I saw her face. Happy to see that it was my mom, I ran to her. “Mom. I’m here.”

I was only a few feet away from her when her face and body changed in a blink of an eye into something hideous. “Hephaestus,” I murmured under my breath.

“Come give Mama a hug.”

His words pierced my ears like the sound coming from a blow horn. I tried to run away, but my legs were planted to the ground. Using every ounce of energy I could muster wasn’t good enough. A strong wind came out of nowhere, making it impossible to move. He was coming for me.

Moving in a swimming motion I tried to push through air, but to no avail. I was short of breath and my muscles squeezed. I had no choice but to slow down—until I opened my eyes…only they weren’t fully opened. They felt so heavy that I couldn’t open them all the way. I wanted to know where I was. I wanted to know if I was still dreaming. I needed to see Mason.

It felt so strange to be running away from Hephaestus one second, then the next second to be somewhere else…more familiar. I was able to see everyone around me, but not clearly. Mason, my dad, and Zara and Tara surrounded me, looking worried. I knew I was lying on the bed, but why couldn’t I fully awaken? Unless…was I dead?

“What do we do?” I heard my dad asked. His words passed through my ears hazy and slow. It sounded like he was speaking in slow motion.  

“We do nothing,” Zara replied. She placed her hand on my forehead. I guessed she was checking to see if I had a fever. Then, I felt a tug on my eyelids.

“Why are her eyes white like that?” Mason sounded concerned. He was standing next to my dad with his hands inside his pockets. I wondered if he was so upset that he was afraid his hands would light up, so he kept them hidden.

Zara turned away from me. “If what I suspect is happening is correct, someone is trying to communicate with her. We should leave. The fewer around, the better.”

Mason sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m not leaving. I’ll let you know when she awakens.”

Dad patted Mason’s back in approval. “We’ll wait downstairs.”

Within seconds, I felt like I was being pulled into another dimension. My stomach dropped and I felt the wind get knocked out of me. I stood on solid ground, but everything was white around me, as if I was in the middle of a mist and there was no way out. Then, as if it was sucked by a vacuum cleaner, the mist disappeared within seconds…all of it, leaving me in an empty white space. I thought perhaps this was what Heaven would be like during the judgment stage, where God would evaluate you. But when a figure stood before me from out of nowhere, I jumped back in fright. This was not God. At least I didn’t think he was.

“Hello, Skylar.” The stranger spoke to me. His kind voice led me to believe he wouldn’t harm me. “Do not be afraid. I come in peace. I’m Zeus’s messenger. My name is Hermes.”

I didn’t believe him at first, until I looked down to his shoes. Small white wings fluttered as if they wanted to take flight. As my eyes traveled up, I noted he was wearing traveling clothes and a cap on his head. The cap started twitching, then wings sprouted out from it. I took a moment to watch them stretch and slowly fan outward until I heard him clear his throat, bringing me back to him.

“Hi, Hermes,” was I all could say as I stared into his grey eyes.

Hermes shifted his cap, then tucked strands of his blond hair under it. “Don’t worry. I’ll bring you back to your world as soon as I explain why I’ve come. I’m sorry to have summoned you here, between your world and mine, but this was the only way. You see, as you already know, on the day of Blood Moon, we were supposed to have ceased to exist, but I was sending a message for Zeus. I was in flight, and because I travel fast, I was spared. I jump from one realm to another…the reason why I can get from one place to another as fast as I can. However, I’m stuck here, unable to return to your world until Zeus is saved.”

“Why have you come to me?” It was difficult to have eye contact. The wings on his shoulders, which were double the size on his cap, were beautiful and divine. They moved about in a hypnotic way.

“Actually, Zeus sent me to you.”

My eyes grew wide. “Me? How does he know me? We’ve never met before.”

The wings on his shoulders finally settled and lay flatly on his back. It was as if they never existed. “He doesn’t know you. That is not what I meant. But he knew someone like you would come along one day. And when that day came, I was to reason with you. I was to find you when Hades escaped. Though Zeus couldn’t tell the future, he had a hunch. Zara told him the possibility of what the future might hold, and so far, she seems to be right on target.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I know Hephaestus wants Medusa’s head. It’s located in the deepest part of the ocean. But in order to get there, you must go through the Night Forest. Go the opposite way from Mt. Hem. It’s a long way, so you must bring camping gear. The Night Forest directs you to two places, so you can’t get lost. Once you find the head, you mustn’t give it to Hephaestus. Your world will be doomed if it’s in his possession. You can’t portal to the deepest part of the ocean, but you can portal out from there. Portal your way to Zeus when you get the head. Free Zeus, then he can help you defeat Hephaestus.”

I bit my tongue, wondering if I should tell him the main reason why I was doing this, but I guessed it was better to get everything out into the open. “Hephaestus has my mother. He’s going to turn her into one of the vultures. I have to bring it to him.”

Hermes had a peaceful look about him, but when his eyes were stern, combined with his serious tone, he frightened me. “You mustn’t. Your mother will be fine, but your world will not. I understand how important your mother is to you, but you must give up one for all. This is war, Skylar. You might not see it that way, being so young and only thinking about yourself, but you must think of humanity. Don’t be selfish.”

His words had me steaming. He had no idea what I had been through, or any idea about who I was. He had no right to judge me or tell me to stop being selfish. “Selfish,” I repeated, a bit louder than I had anticipated as I took a step toward him. Feeling heat tingle through my arm, I curled my fingers into a tight fist in order to stop the lights from glowing. If I let anger get the best of me, I’d either shock the hell out of him, burn him into ashes, or freeze him. Oh God! Sometimes I didn’t know which power was dominant. I didn’t know what I was thinking. It wasn’t as if he was going to take back his words.

“I’m sorry.” The wings on his cap started to flap. Perhaps to take flight…just in case. “I didn’t mean it that way. I wanted you to understand the urgency of this. Once you retrieve Medusa’s head, I’ll give you a fake one to hand over to Hephaestus. He won’t know the difference until he tries to draw power from it. When he realizes he has been tricked, I suggest you get the hell out of there. But if we free Zeus and Poseidon before we visit Hephaestus, you’ll have a greater chance at winning the battle.”

“You have a fake one?”

“Of course. Zeus planned out every detail with me. I’m his most trusted one. We

have a plan A, B, and C. We have covered all bases. When Hades was freed, the plan was set into motion.”

“Why Hades? Why not before?” I tried to think of an incident as an example, but I couldn’t.

“Because Zeus believed once Hades escaped, things would happen very quickly.”

“But Hades doesn’t have any power. He can’t even produce fire. He can’t even teleport.”

Hermes started pacing and when he did, all his wings started to flap. It was so cool to watch. At one point, he even levitated off the ground. “We thought of three scenarios. One—Hephaestus would find a way to kill Hades in the underworld. Two— Hades would escape and plan something with Hephaestus. Three—find a way to help Hades escape, then kill him when the time was right in your world. But you see, being that they’re both stubborn and selfish, we were certain they would try to find a way to kill each other. There is no room for two kings. You can’t have two rulers. It just doesn’t work.”