Goddess (34 page)

“I swear by the River Styx that the Olympians will not curse your little group,” Zeus said.

Helen pretended to think about it. She bit her lip and wrung her hands. Finally, she nodded quickly in assent, as if to get it out of the way.

“Hecate will not allow you to back out of this trade once you agree to it,” Zeus reminded her tentatively, gesturing to the sacred space around them, carved out of midair in orange fire.

“I know,” Helen said, truly saddened for a moment that she had to give up her world. She could feel it inside of her. Every lake, every tree, and every pane of glass in her sweeping city was a part of her—a part of her that she had to abandon forever to her enemy to save her family. Her voice broke with real pain when she spoke. “I’ll give you Everyland.”

“Swear it before Hecate.”

“I swear before Hecate to give you Everyland in exchange for the safety of my friends and family.”

Zeus smiled at her, lightning flashing across his face. “Aphrodite told me you’d do anything to protect the people you love. She said it was the quality she adored most in you. It certainly will save a lot of lives. For now.”

Helen dropped her gaze, so he wouldn’t see eagerness and regret warring with each other in her eyes. “So how does this work? Do we go to Everyland first?”

“Yes. When we get there you simply make a new rule that Everyland answers to me alone,” Zeus said, tucking her hair behind her ear, almost like he cared about her. “And then I’ll take you to Tartarus.”

Lucas saw Helen throw the Kraken’s tentacle to the side and launch herself into the air. He was about to follow her out of sheer habit, but he saw Orion on top of a giant horseshoe crab monster, screaming Cassandra’s name. Lucas’s little sister was nearly immortal, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be captured by the Olympians and used as their Oracle until she willed herself to death.

After seeing how she’d handled the Kraken, Lucas trusted that Helen could take care of herself and ran to help Orion get his little sister back. The monster was huge, and it had spikes sticking out of its sides and a long, swordlike appendage for a tail that it used to slash at anyone that came near. Avoiding the razor-sharp tail, Lucas ran to the front, crouched down and tried to flip it over, only to find about a dozen hairy legs that all ended in pincers under the dome of its top shell, clawing at him. He heard his sister screaming somewhere in there with all those legs.

“Luke, hold it so it can’t get to the water!” Orion yelled, and slid down the side of the carapace.

Lucas held the monster in place while Orion began hacking his way through the forest of appendages. They could both hear Cassandra crying Orion’s name frantically, and finally they saw her white face and tiny hand reaching up out of the suffocating bristles and grasping claws. Orion pulled Cassandra free while Lucas tipped the monster over onto its back.

“How do you kill it?” Lucas asked, climbing on top and hacking away at the underbelly with no idea where to aim.

“I don’t know,” Orion replied, dumbfounded.

“You’re the sea-god guy!” Lucas yelled.

“It doesn’t have a central heart or a brain!” Orion yelled back. “Maybe try boiling it?”

“Son of a . . . ,” Lucas swore, and jumped off of the struggling creature. Lucas wanted to end its misery, but he didn’t know how. He scrambled away, and turned his attention to his little sister.

“Orion!” Cassandra sobbed against his chest.

“It’s all right, Kitty,” Orion said soothingly, running his hands over her to make sure nothing was broken or bleeding.

Cassandra quieted down, and he checked every limb and every joint on her body. Then she reached up to put her fingers in his thick hair and turned her mouth up to his like a shy flower opening for the first time. In a daze, Orion lowered his lips and kissed her.

Lucas’s foot connected with the side of Orion’s head before Lucas was even aware that he was angry.

“She’s just a child!” Lucas growled, jumping on top of Orion’s sprawled body and hitting him as hard and as fast as he could.

“I am
not
!” Cassandra screamed.

Lucas was vaguely aware that Cassandra was scratching his face and trying to claw him off of Orion. She kept repeating that she loved him, but it didn’t matter much to Lucas. His little sister really was like a kitten. Her claws stung, but they didn’t have the strength to injure.

“I know!” Orion hollered. “I shouldn’t have—I’m sorry!”

Orion was holding up his arms to shield himself, and Lucas noticed he wasn’t even trying to fight back.

“You better kill me now, Lucas, because I’m not going to stay away from her. I
can’t
.” Orion’s voice was breaking with emotion.

“What the hell are you two morons doing?” Hector bellowed, pulling Lucas off of Orion.

Before Lucas had a chance to tell Hector what Orion had done, Helen’s voice boomed out across the island issuing a challenge to Zeus. Lucas realized that as a full immortal, she could meet him in single combat, and none of her partially mortal champions could step in to stop it, not even him.
Clever girl
, Lucas thought.
I could strangle her right about now.

They all looked up and saw the clouds flash with lightning. The waves stilled like time had stopped and the aurora borealis appeared, sending eerie neon colors dancing across the sky.

The chaotic battle on the beach paused for a moment as man and beast craned their heads to watch the impossible spectacle.

Thunder rolled. Orange fire erupted in midair as Hecate set the battleground in the sky. Lucas thought about flying to Helen.

“She can handle it, Luke,” Hector said urgently. “I need you here.”

The Myrmidons took that particular moment to regroup into their precise phalanx, shields front and top, spears sticking out like a porcupine. A full unit again, they surged forward like an ancient war machine.

“Form the line!” Hector commanded, holding his bloody sword aloft.

Lucas, Orion, and Jason jumped up like a chip in their heads made them automatically respond to their general. They spread out across the front line, each of them taking a battalion to lead, and their infantry fell into ranks behind them.

The Myrmidons charged.

Helen and Zeus appeared in the middle of the field of wildflowers. Zeus looked around, taking in the purple mountains, and the half-modern, half-ancient metropolis that worked like a counterbalance in the distance across from the alpine range. He stared at every flower, every bug, every gust of wind, measuring them all.

“Well done,” he said approvingly. “Alive in every detail. Hades taught you a lot about life by making you slog through that barren hellscape of his, didn’t he?”

“He did. As hard as it was, I love him for the training he gave me. I can see more clearly because of it.”

Zeus breathed in the air, letting his head drop to the side in pleasure, appreciating every nuance of Helen’s world, like a foodie would a fine wine. “You learned well. You are truly gifted, sweet girl. Pity you can’t do more with Everyland. It’s still unfinished.”

“No it isn’t. It served its purpose,” Helen said quietly. “And I give it to you without reservation. You are the sole ruler of Everyland.”

Zeus tested Helen’s commandment by turning a white flower red and then white again with a thought.

“Thank you,” he said, smiling at her. He held out a hand gallantly. “Shall we to Tartarus?”

Helen looked at his offered hand and shook her head slowly. “That wasn’t actually the deal, as you’ll recall,” she said. “I agreed to give you Everyland in exchange for my family’s safety. I never agreed to go to Tartarus.”

Zeus sighed like he regretted Helen’s decision. “I really wanted to avoid a fight. You know I’ll have to destroy you if you do this,” he said reluctantly.

“How?” Helen asked, backing away from him. “I gave you Everyland—my gift to you—but I didn’t give you its borders. Those I keep for myself.”

Zeus looked around in a panic. Helen knew he was trying to open a portal and leave. She could feel it, but he couldn’t do it. And as long as Helen existed and held ownership of the borders, he never would be able to leave.

“Welcome to my Trojan horse,” she said with a tight smile. “Enjoy. You’re going to be stuck inside it for eternity.”

Helen saw Zeus’ face freeze with horror, and then she left him, locked in her heavenly prison forever.

Helen appeared on the battlefield and looked around frantically. A part of her expected to find Zeus standing right behind her, laughing at her insane attempt to imprison him, but he wasn’t. She concentrated and could feel him in Everyland, screaming at the beautiful blue sky. He really was trapped. Helen allowed herself one half-crazed laugh before she started running.

Helen negotiated the uneven ground, trying to peer through the confusion of smoke, shouts, and combatants running this way and that. The Kraken was still pounding the beach with its tentacles, killing indiscriminately. Combatants from both sides scrambled over the dunes in their desperate attempt to flee from it.

She stumbled forward, her feet catching on something and sending her sprawling. When she looked back, she saw that she’d tripped over a dead Myrmidon. Something moved under her, and she realized she’d landed on another Myrmidon. This one was barely alive, but he still recognized her.

“Tyrant,” he hissed, clamping on to her wrists.

Helen broke free and clambered off of him. She looked around and saw dozens of bodies—Scions, Myrmidons, and strange sea monsters—all entangled in death after what must have been a huge skirmish. She climbed to her feet and ran to the tent. Luckily, she found her family there as she’d hoped.

There were several dozen soldiers left, gathered around the map table, which they had pulled out in front of the tent so they had room to gather around it.

Lucas spotted Helen first and ran to her.

“What happened?” he asked, holding her tightly to his chest. “We heard you challenge Zeus.”

Helen pulled back and looked Lucas in the eye. “I beat him,” she said, still not wholly believing it herself. The other Scions grouped around her, making shocked sounds. “I tricked him and trapped him in Everyland. As long as I exist, he’s never getting out. What about the Myrmidons?” she asked.

“We think there are only three left,” Castor said darkly. “Telamon had them retreat. They’re done—for today, anyway.”

“We still have that Kraken to deal with,” Hector reminded her, his face grim.

Helen nodded and turned to Orion. “Does Poseidon control the Kraken?” she asked.

“Sort of,” Orion replied. “He can set it loose and call it back again, but once it’s free, it mostly does its own thing.” He gestured to the slapdash carnage around them.

“All right,” Helen said with a sharp nod. “I guess Poseidon’s next.”

“Helen? Are you sure that’s the wisest—” Jason began, but Helen didn’t let him finish.

“Challenge! I challenge Poseidon!” she shouted, somewhere in the direction of the ocean. Nothing happened. “Damn it!” Helen swore, turning to face the group. “Does anyone have a pumpkin?”

Cassandra went to one of the campfires and pulled a pot off the flame. She dumped the liquid out quickly and came back to Helen, placing the pot on the sand in front of her. Helen looked at the pot skeptically.

“Cauldron,” Cassandra said with a shrug, like it was self-explanatory. The pot disappeared, and orange fire erupted in a circle as Hecate accepted the offering.

Poseidon came up the beach, flanked on all sides by his fellow Olympians. He stopped just outside the ring of fire but wouldn’t enter it. Hermes was at his side, speaking to him urgently.

“She did what?” Poseidon remarked, his surprise making him loud enough for Helen to hear. He glanced back at Athena, and she nodded once to confirm what Hades had told her.

“She defeated Zeus,” Athena announced. Helen could have sworn she saw a small smile tilt up the edges of Aphrodite’s lovely mouth before she schooled it straight again.

“Poseidon. I’m calling you out. Get in the ring,” Helen commanded, trying hard to ignore the fact that he looked exactly like Lucas.

“And why would I do that?” Poseidon answered with a sneer. “So you can send me straight to Tartarus? I’m no Worldbuilder. I can’t control the portals like you can.”

“That’s right. I can control the portals, and none of you can. You’d better remember that,” Helen yelled back, her anger rising until her cheeks were hot and her fingers dropped sparks from the tips, like her hands were spilling stars on the sand. “And if one of you even
breathes
on a mortal the wrong way, I swear I’ll hunt you down and send you to Tartarus. Now, get in the ring, Poseidon. Or forfeit this fight, take all your smelly monsters, and get the hell away from my family.”

Poseidon took a step forward and glared at Helen from across the ring as Athena whispered frantically in his ear. Finally, he settled down, but Helen saw a grudge growing in his eyes.

“I forfeit!” Poseidon snarled. Helen felt her knees quiver with relief, but she couldn’t back down just yet.

“Anyone else?” she said, looking each Olympian in the face. “Does anyone else want to fight me?” They all dropped their gazes. “Good! Now shut that giant, rotten squid
up
or I’ll send it—and one of you—to Tartarus on principle.”

Helen stared extra long at Apollo, just so he knew who would be joining the Kraken in Tartarus if it came to that.

Poseidon’s eyes drilled into hers from across the ring. His bare chest swelled with incensed breaths. Helen met his stare and didn’t flinch. She held all the cards. He couldn’t even curse her, and somehow, he seemed to know it. After a few tense moments, he raised a hand, concentrated, and the Kraken began to retreat. Strange trumpets sounded, and the rest of his sea-creature army pulled back, slithering or scurrying to the water.

“Forever is a long time, Helen,” Poseidon warned as his army retreated. He narrowed his eyes at her. “We’ll be seeing you.”

“And we’ll be watching you,” Helen warned, gesturing to her group of Scions. Unless Helen put all the gods in Tartarus, she couldn’t stop them from wandering the Earth. All she and her family could do was make sure the Olympians didn’t hurt anyone. She shared a look with Hector and saw her worry mirrored there. The Scions may have won the war, but that didn’t mean the threat was gone.