Psyche

Chapter 39

It hadn't taken him any time at all to reach Atlantis, being that he was capable of teleportation when he was not burdened by a passenger, but Hermes wasn't at all sure how best to approach Prince Nikolas, whom he assumed would harbor some distrust of the gods. After all, two of his sisters were possibly...no probably dead and his favorite sister was in the underworld because of the gods. Still, Hermes had heard that the young man was a reasonable sort, so he decided to be direct. 

 Hermes jumped through the window of Nikolas's observatory, where he found the young man reading a book. Rather than prostrate himself before Hermes, the prince merely shut his book and folded his arms. 

"I assume you have a message for me," said Nikolas. 

Hermes nodded and he produced a parchment that contained a letter from Psyche, which explained everything that had happened. Hermes gave the prince a moment to absorb the implications of his sister's tale. 

"I have a favor to ask," replied Hermes. 

"You have a favor to ask? Of me? Since when do gods need favors of mortals?" asked Nikolas, slowly standing up and meeting Hermes's gaze with suspicion. 

Hermes suppressed a smile, still thinking he should look somewhat intimidating, but he always respected when mortals stood up to him. 

"Your sister's situation needs resolution. We can work together to accomplish that." 

Nikolas nodded. " Until tonight, I thought she'd probably just been drowned when the tide came." 

"Oh ye of little faith," said Hermes. "Her fate was much better than that until your sisters visited." 

Nikolas shook his head. "Whatever the misdeeds any of my sisters, none of them deserve the wrath of the gods... "

Hermes's felt a pang of guilt over the deadly prank he'd played on the unpleasant princesses, but he brushed it off.  "I'm assuming we'd both like to see your sister and my best friend back together, safe and happy in their Olympian palace, raising their  child and staying out of trouble."

Nikolas walked over to the god, who was tall and looked like he could hurt a man just by tapping him slightly. Still, Nikolas had had quite enough of the gods messing with him and his family.

"You'd assume right," replied Nikolas, "and I'm at least glad to learn of one god that seems interested in something other than destroying everything."

Hermes shrugged. "I'm not a destroyer. I'm a messenger, but to my great frustration, Eros - that's Erik to you - isn't listening to me. But you've seen Psyche, you've talked to her. You can tell him what's going on."

Nikolas ran and got his cloak, putting in around his body.

"How can you be so sure he'll listen to me, when he won't listen to you - his best friend?"

Hermes shook his head.

"I know a little about delivering messages, and sometimes who delivers the message makes all the difference. Eros has heard way too many messages from me to listen. I've lost my impact. But you are Psyche's brother, he's bound to care what you think because however furious he is with her, however hurt by his actions - he loves her and he'll want her beloved brother to like him."

Nikolas did not respond and confusion shown on his face.

Hermes walked over to one of the scientific instruments on the table. He spun it around. "It's amazing to me that mortals continue to believe that the opposite of love is hate. The opposite of love is indifference. Eros wouldn't be brooding and causing all this trouble if he weren't in love with her."

Nikolas nodded."Can you take me to him?" he asked.

Hermes grinned, "I thought you'd never ask."

Before he knew what was happening, Hermes scooped him up and whisked him off. They were flying, high above Atlantis so that Nikolas could see the palace and its gardens from above. They saw the capital city and the harbor and the expansive ocean and finally the island.

The mortal also began to shiver, until Hermes made a gesture and they were surrounded by a glass bubble of some kind. Nikolas reached out and touched it. Soon, he was warm and soon there was darkness all around and he fell asleep.