The Gods and Their People

Jax

July third
Slapping some sense into an immortal, supernatural creature when you're half their size probably isn't the best idea, but sometimes they need it. And so I smacked Hecate across the face, or I suppose her faces. New, waxing and full moons all felt the sting of my calloused palm.
"Petulant mortal!" She screeched, "how dare you lay a hand on me! I should lay a curse on your bloodline!"
I raised an eyebrow, "that so? Might want to get started on that then, before your dearest uncle escapes Tartarus! You're going off the wall and I can't do my thing if you're freaking out! So take a deep breath or three, and get yourself together!" I grabbed her robes and glared up at her, "do I make myself clear?" She scowled and nodded reluctantly and breathed.
"You know, you've got a lot of courage for a human, telling the goddess of magic what to do,"
"I know," It was interesting to think about how one week ago I thought the concept of the being in front of me existing was completely ridiculous, now I was telling her to calm down so that I could use magic. I think it would make more sense if I just told you how it all started.
One week ago, June 28:
"Come on Jax, just one reading?" Ari begged, she knew I didn't believe in that magic stuff, but my best friend was enamored with the idea.
"Fine, we can do," I paused, looking at her face, I could tell, she would ask me to do more of her stupid readings, give an inch and they'll want a mile, I suppose, "two. We can do two readings, but that's it," Her face lit up, she would have to be okay with what she got.
"Good enough!" She grinned impishly, already pulling out the small bag. She opened it gingerly and slid the deck of oversized cards out of their carrier. They were beautiful, I had to admit, the designs on the back alone were lovely. She shuffled them once, then handed the deck to me.
"What do you want me to do with this?"
"Shuffle it a couple of times. I want to see what your romance life is gonna be like in the future," She waggled their eyebrows. I felt my expression fall flat. Still, I sighed and shuffled the cards nonetheless, twice, adding up to my number. Three, my favorite number, as it aligned with my birthday. March third, two thousand and three. "Going for that lucky number three, eh?"
I nodded, "you know it,"
She took the cards again and laid them out, "pick a card, any card,"
"This is ridiculous," I laughed as I pulled a card from the stack and flipped it over.
"Artemis," She muttered, speaking up as she continued, "goddess of the hunt and eternal maidenhood," She looked up at me and gave a smirk, "you got something you want to tell me?"
I laughed, I supposed she should be the first of my loved ones to know, "yes, actually. I'm aroace,"
"Link owes me ten bucks,"
"Why're you making bets about me with my brother?" I chuckled.
"He said that there was no way you were ace because you've had two boyfriends and I told him that's not how it works and so he bet me ten bucks you were straight. I got a vibe that you were ace, so I took it,"
"I see, so your gaydar was pinging," I took a swig of my soda and she shuffled the cards again, this time twice, then handed the deck to me. I shuffled it once and handed it back.
"Oh spirits," she said with a laugh, "are any deities reaching out to my friend?" She pulled a card out, looked at it, then laid the cards down.
"What was that?"
"What was what?"
"That look,"
"Didn't give a look, now shut up and draw a card,"
"Okay then," From the deck I pulled a card and flipped it over. On it was an image of three women facing different directions, all back to back, circles over all their heads. The left most woman had a black circle, middle was half white on the right side, and right most had a full moon. "Who're they?"
"Hecate,"
"Hecate and..?"
"Just Hecate. That's one goddess,"
"That's bunk," I chuckled as I got up. I drained the rest of the soda from my cup and grabbed my bag.
"Where are you going?" She watched me grab my motorcycle helmet and keys.
"Home. I have a cat to feed and a job that I have to be on time for in the morning," I gave her a fist bump, "and I also have, and this is an important factor, ASPD. I love you dude, but this isn't my place. I'll see you later,"
She smiled, "get home safe,"
"I plan on it. See you," With that, I walked out the door and inhaled the mountain air. I felt the cool fabric of my jacket slide over my skin. I found my bike and walked it out to the dirt road, I watched the sun bathing the small clearing in pinks, reds, and golden shades of yellow. The sticky, late June heat warmed all it touched. I kicked my leg over the saddle and pushed the key into the ignition.
By the time I reached my apartment, the sun had gone down and Naomi, my Scottish Fold, was at the front door. I unlocked it and gently pushed it open.
"Hey baby," I said as I bent down and Naomi jumped into my arms. She purred, rubbing her head against my chest and meowing as if she were starved and neglected. If she could talk she would be saying things like that, despite being ten pounds. I stood up, nudging the door closed behind me with my foot and scratching Naomi's belly.
I entered the kitchen, setting her down and filling her bowl. I pulled a box of leftover Chinese food from the fridge and popped it into the microwave. My phone buzzed and I pulled it out of my jacket pocket as my big brother's name flashed on my screen, I hit the answer button.
"Chow time, little one," He jested when the call connected. It was good to see his face, "do I hear the microwave?"
I nodded, "leftover Chinese takeout,"
"You feeling nauseous at all?"
"Little bit. It's just the smell though,"
"Like food smell or microwave smell?"
"Microwave,"
"Yeah, that's fair," He nodded. We went through the motions, he asked me the questions that the doctor gave him, making sure I was actually going to eat. Picking through the box with a fork and Link monitoring me to make sure I didn't go to puke it up in the sink.
I continued to walk around with him for the rest of the evening until I finished getting ready for bed. He reminded me to step up onto the scale to see how much closer I was coming to a healthy weight.
"I still have to gain thirteen pounds!" I groaned.
"That's one less pound to gain than last week. Jax, you're a recovering anorexic, you've gotta cut yourself some slack. You're working on rebuilding a healthy relationship with food, that's hard. Last year we could see your ribs, now you can walk around in form fitting clothes. You're so close kid. Just keep pushing,"
"Okay," I felt more assured.
"You going to bed?"
"Yeah,"
"See you tomorrow then,"
"Yeah, okay,"
"Goodnight little one, love you,"
"Goodnight, love you too," He hung up the phone. I stepped off the scale, keeled over, and cried. This was so stupidly, ridiculously, unfairly hard. Thirteen pounds felt impossible. Naomi came in and rubbed against me. I scratched her head and stood back up, picking her up and carrying her into my bedroom. I slid under the covers after setting her down, and fell asleep starting out the window.
June 29:
"Jax," A woman's voice said, "wake up. Come on," I did not wake up. My alarm hadn't gone off yet and I wouldn't be getting up for work until that happened. I curled into a ball and went back to sleep.
Later I was awoken by the sun streaming through my window, I cracked my eye open to check my phone. My alarm wouldn't go off for another thirty minutes, I rolled over, away from the sun and could have sworn I saw a woman in a gray dress standing over me. Wait, what? I opened my eyes and over my head stood a woman with three heads, wearing a gray tunic. I screamed, sitting up in bed and scooting against the wall.
"No! Stop, you're going to wake up the whole building!" She put her large -and I mean large, even to me and I'm six foot one- hand over my mouth, muffling my screams. "Oh what is it your Christian nymphs say? Um, be- be not afraid," She spoke with a heavy Greek accent. I licked her hand and she pulled it back to wipe it on her robes, I raced out of bed and over to my closet, grabbing clothes and putting them on as I ran around. I got to the front door, grabbed my house keys, and bolted out. I didn't care where I was going, but I was getting away from the tall, three headed Greek woman who seemed to be chasing me.
"How did you get in my house?" I practically wept as I ran, I couldn't keep this up for much longer, I wasn't a runner.
"Stop running and I can tell you!" She shouted.
I veered right, into an alleyway, jumped to grab the ladder on the fire escape and began to climb. I got onto the platform and continued running up the stairs. Looking over the edge, I saw the three headed woman staring at me from below, thank god, I was finally safe. She pulled up her tunic and stepped up onto the wall, then began strolling up the bricks as if walking down the street!
"Why me!?" I shouted then began once again booking it up the metal stairs.
"Would you stop running!" She grabbed the collar of my shirt as if picking up a cat by the scruff of its neck. I didn't stop trying to run. "Stop squirming or I'm going to drop you!" I pouted at her and stopped squirming. She gently set me down on the fire escape. "Thank you," She smiled, "I am Hecate-"
"No, no, respectfully ma'am, I'm not involved in that whole paganism thing. You want my friend, Ariana Ramirez. Lives in the woods, does the whole tarot thing? Ringing any bells?"
"Interrupting is rude, Jax," She leaned forward, hands on her hips and frowning. "So are you done?" I nodded, "thank you. Now as I was saying, I am Hecate!" The world around us faded away and we seemed to be surrounded by smoke and stars, purples and blues bled into the air around me. The ground beneath me felt stiff, like the sidewalk and I was surrounded by darkness. Hecate stood over me, twelve feet tall and eyes glowing. She smiled eerily as her body split into three, "goddess of magic and spells! Goddess of the crossroads! And most importantly in the current moment, your patron goddess!"
"That can't be right, I think you have the wrong person,"
She sighed exasperatedly, "I do not. You are of magic blood. Your ancient ancestors were Greek. Many were my high priests."
"I'm not Greek, I'm Jewish!"
"Yes! One married a Jewish man," She pinched the bridge of her nose, "your bloodline has had followers of mine since the ancient times,"
"Nope. I'm just a ninteen year old trying to finish college and hold a solid job, for which you have made me late. And I am most certainly not a 'follower' of yours," I took a few steps away and felt around for the handrail. Maybe if I jumped off the fire escape I would wake up from this insane nightmare.
"You're in my domain. The fire escape is gone and your boss thinks you're sick. You are a patron of Hecate, perhaps not by belief, but very much by blood. And you're going to help me."
"How am I supposed to help you? I don't know any magic. I'm just a normal person."
"Oh really? Could a normal person do this?" A deep blue energy sprang from the left body's hand and I put my arms up in front of my face, I squeezed my eyes shut and silently said my "goodbyes" then a loud thud sounded from in front of me. I felt no rush of cold, oddly enough. Just a buzzing in my fingertips. "Open your eyes, Jax." She spoke with a silky sort of calm, slowly, I lowered my arms and opened my eyes, what I saw before me was a glowing, translucent, purple disk.
"You did that, not me!" I insisted. There was no way I would be involved in one of those stupid fantasy plot lines.
"Jax," she looked at me, lips fixed into an exasperated pout, arms crossed over their respective chests, "the sword and shield spell has been an ability of yours since birth. Why else do you think the fights you used to get into always ended with you winning? Anyone who possesses that spell has the blessing of Nike. Jax," she shrunk down to eight feet and placed all six hands on my arms, "none of my other patrons have enough power to help me. Only a high priest or priestess of mine or the descendant of one can do what I need." She looked in my eyes as if searching for something she couldn't find. She trudged on nonetheless, "I need you, please." She begged me, her eyes bore a hole straight through me.
I pushed her hands away, gentle but firm, "why can't you just ask one of the other gods to help you?"
"The High Twelve, apart from Hades of course, tend to avoid matters having to do with the Underworld. The other gods that would be willing to help don't have the skill set. That's why I need you." She gave a pleading look, "I can grant you anything, wealth, power, whatever you want, just please help me,"
"Anything?"
She nodded, "anything your heart could desire, within reason of course,"
"So," I paused, I had to think this through, I could potentially be putting myself in danger, as well as Link or Ari, however, this could be my chance. She could make me healthy again, and could make the hurt stop, couldn't she? "Supposedly," I continued, "if I asked, you could help me get back to a healthy weight, thats at least thirteen pounds more, and you could get rid of my problems with food, is that right?"
"Oh," she brightened, "no problem! Easy fix, I just need you to agree to help me, and I can put you on the right track."
"You can't just, I dunno, make me healthy again?"
She shook her head. "I can't put in the work for you, but, if you promise to help me, I can give you what you need."
"Deal." I stuck my hand out without hesitation.
"Good." All three faces smiled as she reached out with all six hands, "swear on the River Styx, that you will be my loyal high priestess, and that if you break this oath, the goddess of the river may strike you down in consequence!"
I felt my hand begin to tingle and my veins start to buzz, my skin glowed an inky purple as I spoke. "I swear on the River Styx." My feet left the concrete, wind began to rush past me. Pain surged through me and just as quick as the violent sensations started, they were gone.
My feet hit the floor of my apartment and my whole body quivered, a buzzing sensation residing in my fingertips and a distinct heat coiled in my gut, like the one you feel when waking up from a nightmare. Hecate stood before me, body once again singular and only her heads staying as three.
"Congratulations," she smiled, "you've got magic." and with that, I blacked out.
I groaned as I lifted my head from my pillow, where had this headache come from?
"Welcome back to the land of the living." Hecate looked up from the computer that sat idly propped open on her lap, "I must say, Jax, this book that you've written is really good."
I snapped into an upright position, reaching to snatch my laptop from her hands, "how did you get into that!?" Heat smoldered in my cheeks, I flopped onto my face as she raised the computer out of my reach.
"Slow down, you've just gained a considerable amount of magic and your body needs to adjust!" She gently pushed me back into a sitting position then sat back down at the foot of my bed, "and please," she gestured to the laptop, "this is primitive technology compared to what we gods have. Plus, I'm the goddess of magic, I can find ways to slip into places for information."
My face burned, not even Ari knew about my book. Just me and Naomi. "Please don't read any more of it," I couldn't even look at her, mortification settling in, "it's still in the early phases of editing and I don't want people to read it yet."
"Um," she trailed off, "it's uh, sort of too late. I may or may not be on my second reread. It's really good though!" She gently closed it and set it on my desk, "have you sent it into a publisher's office yet?"
I shook my head, "It's only been through one round of editing. It isn't ready yet."
"Well when it's published and printed, I'd love a copy. Also, it's going to need a sequel."
"That's the plan. I work at a publishing firm and when it's done with editing I'm going to send a copy to my boss."
"Good. Now slowly, get up. It's meal time."
"Alright." I did as I was told, sitting up and swinging my legs off the mattress with gentle ease, Hecate offered her arm for me to use as a brace, I gladly accepted, grabbing on and taking a few steps.
She walked me out into the kitchen.
"Jax?" She asked me from the table once I had gotten my bearings and could walk around on my own.
"Yeah?"
"Those spots of discoloration, why do you cover them? They're beautiful."
I stood silent for a moment, contemplating my answer, "they're an inconvenience." I finally stated, "people called me a freak when I started developing them. When the first spot of vitiligo popped up on my hand, I thought I was going to die, then my dad explained it to me. It even started effecting my hair a little bit." I gestured toward my hair, it was a medium-dark brown color with little spots of blonde mixed in, "I started showing off my spots at school, and parents of my classmates thought my parents were bleaching my skin. Either that, or they, along with their children called me freakish or a monster. I got bullied for it and eventually, having had enough, I started putting concealer over the spots where my skin was lighter. And the bullying stopped."
"I see." She said as I sat down across from her, setting plates down in front of us. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and took a picture of myself, Hecate, and the food, then sending it to Ari. She wasn't going to belive this. "Who's that?"
"My friend Ari. She works with you, I'm pretty sure."
"Ariana Ramirez you said her name was?" I nodded, "yes, she leaves good offerings."
We ate in silence, the only noise being the sound of our forks against the plates.
"So, how long do you think it'll take for me to get control of this magic? Like, just as a general estimate?" I no longer felt tired, but I felt a constant vibrating, as if my very bones shook under the lightness of the airy, slick, energy.
"Not long," she said, "despite what others may think, it doesn't take a lot to get it under control. It's bound to your soul, it lives and breathes, but does what you want it to."
"So, if I wanted to, I could like, grab something off the counter with it?" She nodded toward the pair of tongs laying near the stove, as if telling me to try. I reached out, and felt an inky cold slipping down my arm, a light purple smoke drifted from my fingertips, toward the counter. Rolling over the utensil and scooping it up, tender as a babe, then pulling back to me, the tongs on a cloud of light smoke and dropping in my hand.
Hecate laughed, joy bubbling from her throat, "there we go! That was perfect!"
"What."
"I can't believe you did it! Just like that! Usually it can take weeks to get under control, you did it in five seconds!" She slammed her hands on the table, jumping out of her seat and leaning over me, "Jax, that was perfect!" A wide, toothy grin spread over her cheeks, reaching her eyes. I felt myself grinning too. Her face turned devilish, "You want to go see what else you can do?"
I nodded, a sudden energy filling me and I felt like a balloon about to pop, "let's go!"
Next thing I know, I'm in an alleyway, jacket on and veins buzzing.
"Okay," she leaned over me from behind, one hand on my shoulder, the other on my right forearm, "try to do a fire spell," she picked up my arm, "it's just whatever motion feels right." Then she let go, letting my arm float by its own trubalition. In the smoke that now drifted from my fingers, I drew a triangle in the air, then a circle around it. I put a finger to my lips and blew, fire spurred to life once breath passed my lips, and I felt like a child. I played with my newfound power for another twenty minutes, until a tremor shook the earth.
"Aah!" I stumbled about as the ground shook, using the wall as a brace. Hecate looked unphased, but distant. "What, the HECK, was that?"
"My uncle, Kronos. He's the reason I need you. He's trying to escape his prison in Tartarus so that he can defeat the gods, and return to power over the mortal realm." She looked at me fondly, "you're my last hope."
"And you're just telling me this now!?"
"It was the only way I could get you to help, besides, you won't be alone. You'll have me, the other gods, and their high priests alongside you. Besides, can't back out now. Keep playing with your magic. You need more control."
So I did. She drilled me for the rest of the day, which I had not been prepared for, but I fell into the flow of my magic.
"Please, can I please take a break?" I eventually asked, sweating and frustrated.
"Show me form fifteen again." I groaned, complying all the same. My arms were sore, but still, I moved them through the air, first in a circular motion, then drawing a line through it as if cutting it in half. Icy water rushed from the split, gushing into the alleyway like a waterfall shooting droplets into the air. "Change its position." I urged the circle over our heads, freezing currents spraying is both. I moved it again, grinning impishly as I made eye contact with her.
"How's that?"
She looked unamused, "Not funny is what it was," She swatted me upside the head and I laughed as I rubbed the point of contact.
"That's fair," at least I wasn't sweating bullets anymore.
"Whatever," she pinched the bridge of her nose, a smile tugging at the edge of her lips, "it's getting late, you need food."
"Oh yeah," the thought of food made my stomach churn, "right."
Then we were in the kitchen again, "is steak okay?"
"But I don't have any-
"Is. Steak. Okay?"
I nodded, "Yeah, steak is good. Thanks."
"I want some!" A old woman's voice said.
"Who was that? Hecate is someone else in the apartment!?" I whipped my head around looking for the source of the voice.
"Oh come on! I'm right here!" My eyes landed on Naomi, "Take a picture, it'll last longer."
Hecate laughed, "Naomi, be understanding, they've never heard a cat speak in a language they can understand before."
"Whatever." She then scampered off to go do cat things, I suppose. Only later did I find out she was scampering off to take a dump in my shoes, the little jerk.
June 30:
I woke up to a pounding on my window.
"What the heck?" I turned over to find that there stood my best friend and brother on the fire escape.
"OPEN UP," Ari's face was pressed against the window with her phone in hand, the picture I sent her on the screen, "RIGHT. NOW."
"Ugh," I groaned, "give me a minute." I closed the shade and went to get dressed.
"So," Ari stepped onto my bed after taking her shoes off, Link right behind her, "three headed women are in your apartment, and you didn't answer any of our calls or texts, we thought you were hurt! Explain, now."
"Okay, yeah, that's fair, but it's kind of hard to explain?"
"Hard how?" Link piped up, "hard like you don't know what words to use or hard like you're doing something illegal?"
"Just, watch." Form three, I thought, no problem. I made a circle in the air, a large square inside it. Hecate stepped through, a smirk playing at her lips.
"I was wondering when you would introduce me to your brother. And good to see you, Ariana." Ari nodded uncomfortably and waved politely, "Hello um, Link, was it?" He nodded too, as Hecate reached out to shake his hand.
"Guys, this is Hecate. I'm helping her to apparently prevent Kronos from escaping Tartarus and enslaving humanity."
Several hours later, after store bought coffee cake alongside my explanation, an aggressive lecture about answering my phone, and showing them some magic, Ari and Link were satisfied.
"Okay, jeez, this is still so much to get my head around," Link said, mug of tea in hand and eyes strictly avoiding Hecate, "you're telling me, that you've got to force the father of six of the twelve olympians back into his prison in the underworld,"
"Yeah,"
"By using magic to help several other high priests of various other gods,"
"That's correct,"
"Because he wants to kill the gods and enslave humans?"
"Yeah, that just about sums it up."
"Did you get a marking?" Ari piped up.
"Did I get a..what?"
"A marking," she rolled up her sleeve to reveal a small but otherwise indescribable tattoo on her wrist, "to represent your priesthood. I got one."
I almost choked on the bite of taco I had stuffed in my mouth, swallowing and taking a deep breath, as well as a drink of water, I gaped at the small marking, "You're a high priestess? When did this happen!?"
"Yesterday. I woke up and there was a man in a black suit sitting on my windowsill. I wasn't afraid of him, in fact he seemed familiar."
"Hades. I had a feeling he was in the area. He has a strong presence to him," Hecate spoke with a fondness that reminded me of how I talked about Ari.
"He does, I think it was sort of amped up by the area that I live in, all woodsy and such, reminds him of Persephone I suppose."
"Figures. Anyway, yes, Jax has a mark. They have my moons on her upper back, turn around please Jax," I did as I was told and she lifted the back of my shirt, and a cold finger traced its way back and fourth in between my shoulder blades.
"It's beautiful," Ari whispered.
"What does it look like?" I found myself asking.
"Here," A phone camera shuttered and Link's phone was in my hand, black, half, and white circles were there, black tendrils slithering off of them.
"New, waxing and full moons. My symbol," A hint of pride laced her voice. The earth then began to rumble, our mugs of tea jumping around on their coasters. I heard Naomi screaming in the next room, she ran and jumped into my lap.
"Those earthquakes, do they have something to do with the whole Kronos thing?" Link finally looked at Hecate.
"Yes. They mean that he draws closer to the surface. Gaia is trying to push him out. I'm expecting him to emerge within the next five days,"
"Like an earth turd." Ari said gravely. We all gave her the same unamused look. "What? Just trying to lighten the mood. I get that this is life or death stuff, but it doesn't have to be all doom and gloom."
"Ari, what can you do? I can do spells and stuff, but what did Hades give you?" I asked
"Raise the dead. I have an undead army."
"She came knocking at my door with a zombie that had a sword." Link seemed to find the situation amusing in hindsight.
"Did he scream?"
"Like a baby in Santa's lap," Ari's voice got higher as she spoke, a giggle somewhere behind it.
Even Hecate gave a small laugh, "you mean like those pictures of small children in the lap of the old man in red? Those are hysterical, I feel so bad for the children though."
"Tis' the purpose, my goddess," I scratched Naomi's head then let her go as the shaking stopped, and I took another bite of food, "it's late," I said as I glanced over at my kitchen clock, "you guys should stay the night,"
"That's a good idea," Hecate nodded, "the night is when the monsters come out,"
"Wait, monsters?" I looked at her, "like as in guys like the Minotaur and like, hydras and stuff? Those are real too?"
"You're really surprised at this point? I exist, the other Greek gods exist, the underworld exists and the fates are stringing together your destiny, and you're surprised that Greek monsters exist?"
"You had me training outside until nine thirty at night! It was dark by the time we got back inside!"
"Yeah but you're fine, you didn't get hurt."
"No, you know what we've got to talk about your communication skills!"
July 01, 6:45 am, 65:15:00 until Kronos' emergence:
"Jax, up. Come on," Hecate stood over me, cracking my eyes open and looking outside the sky was still pitch dark. I groaned as I rolled over and my overhead light turned on.
"Why must you torture me like this!?" I laid my arm over my eyes and sat up, dropping my arm and sighing.
"Because you have forms to work on. Ari has been up for an hour already, keeping her technique. Get dressed, food is in the microwave. Be outside in twenty, ok?"
"Yeah alright, fine," I slid my legs out from under the covers, got dressed and went into the kitchen to have my breakfast. An omelet with chopped bell peppers, spinach, goat cheese and bacon waited for me. I smiled as I cut into it with my fork and took a bite. God, how long had it been since I'd had one of these? Too long.
"Good?" Link asked from the table, of course he had made it, who else would've? Ari would've burned it to a crisp, that little rich girl couldn't cook for the life of her, all she ate was mac n' cheese and pre-cooked food. I once saw her set a saucepan of water on fire.
"Just as good as I remember. Thanks Link," I didn't look up at my brother. I think if I saw that smile he was probably giving me, I'd break down and cry right then and there. He got up and walked to me and I let him take my plate from my hands. He hugged me and rubbed his hand up and down my back as I began to sob. "I'm scared Link. I'm so scared that you and Ari are gonna get hurt and it, I just, I-"
"Shh, I know, Jaxxey, I know. It's ok. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere," from there the conversation devolved into mindless sputtering from myself and my big brother consoling me. Terror pooled in my stomach, like a snake making a home for itself coiled in my gut. The day went something like that, fear seeping into my blood and screaming at me to run away as I let Hecate critique my forms until I was making perfect spells. Tremors continued to make the world beneath my feet rumble and shake. Ivy that once clung to our homes and apartments let go of its previously mighty position. Trees began to loosen hold of their roots and many people had to input structural support to protect their homes. The risk was so incredibly far beyond the two people I had initially worried for, the whole world was at stake, and the knowledge of that made the fear in my stomach knot even tighter around itself.
July 02, 2:27 pm, 33:46:00 until Kronos' emergence
"Jeez Jax, for someone who only just started recovering from an eating disorder a year ago, you seem to be doing really good! You've made a lot of progress in such little time. I'm impressed," Ari said as we sat around my small dining table and ate lunch. I was on my second serving of matzoh ball soup.
"I'm hungry," I reasoned, "and Hecate helped me, she made me want to eat again,"
Hecate smiled the way a parent would at their child's achievements, "Can't have a malnourished priestess. And I've grown to like them quite a lot. It's the least I can do for her," she rested a gentle hand on my back and I felt like a kid eating pizza after a soccer game, my mother bragging over my academic or athletic prowess. I continued to eat. Not looking up from my bowl again as I chowed down. I don't think I'd ever appreciated my ability to cook and Link's interest in trying Jewish foods half as much as right then and there. I spooned down the warm liquid like I needed it to survive. In a way I suppose I did.
July 03, 07:03 am, 04:00:00 until Kronos emergence
Ah, here we are. Back to the moment that started it all. Hecate's panic. Allow me to reiterate, slapping the sense into an immortal deity when you're half their size probably isn't the best idea, but sometimes they need it. And so I smacked Hecate across the face, or I suppose her faces. New, waxing and full moons all felt the sting of my calloused palm.
"Petulant mortal!" She screeched, "how dare you lay a hand on me! I should lay a curse on your bloodline!"
I raised an eyebrow, "that so? Might want to get started on that then, before your dearest uncle escapes Tartarus! You're going off the wall and I can't do my thing if you're freaking out! So take a deep breath or three, and get yourself together!" I grabbed her robes and glared up at her, "do I make myself clear?" She scowled, nodded reluctantly, and breathed.
"You know, you've got a lot of courage for a human, telling the goddess of magic what to do."
"I know," I smirked, "we both know you didn't choose me to be your high priestess for my patience, after all," she smiled at that and seemed to calm down.
"You know, I'm glad you're showing off your vitiligo today," she gently placed her hand on my cheek, warmth flooded my body. I felt safe. Panic seemed to ease and my gut unclenched for the first time in three days.
"I figure if it might be my last day on earth, I ought to go out with all of myself out in the open,"
"This won't be your last day on earth child, I will do everything in my power to ensure it," she smiled at me and I smiled back. I would protect my goddess and my home with my life.
"I believe you," I pushed my face against her hand, big, swaddling and warm. I was safe.
"Alright. You remember the sealing form?"
I nodded, "form thirteen, I got it,"
"Good," her look softened, worry seemed to drain from her eyes and ease seemed to slip in to take its place. She once again starred into my face, once again searching. This time she found what she searched for. She found faith. The earth trembled, shaking and shuttering as I felt the floor of my apartment cracking. The mountain seemed to be like a dog shaking a flea from its back. "That can't be good." I picked up Naomi and we ran down the stairs, looking around, the ground had begun to form cavities, deep and deadly.
I turned to Hecate, "Do you know where the others are?"
She shook her head, "no, I haven't seen them, they left an hour ago, but I think I know where they're going," she looked urgent but motioned her own version of form three and we stepped through. A barren wasteland stood in front of us, like the world without the mountains, as if they had never arrived, less than a shrub grew here.
"What is this?" I turned around, neck craned to the sky, Hecate was doing something, but I wasn't paying close enough attention to much care.
"It was once the capital city of your country, the people who once lived there leveled the mountains. The leaders were overthrown and the city was abandoned as your ancestors took to the mountains to build their homes,"
"Woah," I muttered.
"Here, give me Naomi," she reached for the cat as I turned back to her.
"Why?" She gently passed my little one into the hands of someone on the their side of the travel spell she had made.
"I don't want your little baby getting hurt in the battle that is likely to ensue, so I'm placing her in the care of someone I trust,"
"O-oh," I scratched Naomi's head and kissed her nose.
"Bye Jax," she spoke, sad sounding. That old cat would die if she were involved in this fight.
"I love you baby girl. Be good,"
"I will," she licked my nose and was gently pulled through. I would see her again, I knew so. Then the earth began to rumble, cracks and chasms opened up, splitting the ground. I looked around, Ari and Link were running toward me.
"Guys!" I ran toward them too, Hecate close behind me. I crashed into Link, his arms enveloping me in a hug and kissed me on the forehead. It felt like goodbye.
"Go. I'll see you later, I'm in the backup, but you and Ari need to get moving, you're the front lines. I'll see you after all this is over,"
"Good to see you, Hecate," said a man in a dark suit as he hugged Hecate.
"You too boss, see you out there, yeah?"
"Of course. And you're Jax?" He turned to me. I nodded. He smiled and shook my hand. He seemed pretty sociable for someone known as "The Lord of the Dead".
An ear splitting crash sounded through the valley, a loud voice boomed, "finally, my prison is broken! Seven thousand years in Tartarus, and freedom finally is within my grasp!" A hand the size of a high school gym shot up from the ground, followed by an arm like twelve school buses stacked. Large rocks flew through the air and the gods, along with their patrons ran toward the enormous mass. I saw people get crushed by the falling boulders, blood spattering like paint on the boulder and the gods grieving for their lost friends. I kept running.
"Seven!" I heard Hecate shout. I complied, a smoke circle appeared in the air in front of my hand, I drew an 'X' through it and I, as well as Ari, was covered in plated armor. An army of hundreds upon thousands of dead soldiers flanked Ari and I as we made our way to the front. If we could get close enough to injure him, I could seal him away. We just had to get there. I sprinted, wind gushing past me and air becoming increasingly difficult to get into my lungs. A rock came hurtling toward me, barreling down, I shielded my eyes.
this is the end, I thought, I'm going to die.
"Jax!" Hecate and Ari's voices rang out, all the sound around me had faded away, only they remained. Not Kronos, not the dead people surrounding me, not even the short man -who I assumed must be a god due to his sheer size- running around and collecting bodies, throwing them into the infinitely deep basket on his back. Just my goddess and my best friend. "Keep moving, come on!" Ari grabbed my arm and dragged me forward until I ran on my own strength again.
We ran until we got close enough for Hecate and I to start the sealing spell. I didn't even see the rock that flew through the air, down, down, down, toward me. Not until I was violently shoved out of the way by Ari, she smiled at me. She didn't look at the boulder, didn't scream. She was completely unafraid. But she smiled, the last thing she said to me before I was painted in her blood were three words. Three simple, beautiful, heart wrenching words, that nearly killed me.
"I love you," and then smash. She was gone. I screamed. Loud enough to be heard across the battlefield. I pounded against the rock, denial setting in.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Tears slipped a blazing path down my cheeks, I punched and kicked at the stupid boulder to get my friend out, something shattered within me and suddenly Kronos didn't matter, nothing mattered except getting Ari back, "ARI!" I drew a circle and cut through it with my hand, sand blasted out of the circle and buzzed through the rock, there she was, body flattened and bones crushed but I picked her up and put her on my back, not a chance would I let anyone take her.
"Jax!" Hecate shouted, tears lining her voice, "We both have to focus. For her." I wept as I started the sealing circle, a complicated spell with one hand but it could be managed. I felt rocks falling around me, making the land shudder, I was undeterred. This loathsome titan would never see the light of day again. This time I did see the boulder that sped toward me, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. I refused to drop Ari, not a chance that I would set her down, and the other hand was occupied. The spell was so close to being there, just three more lines, now I really was going to die, so close to the finish and yet, it was inevitable. Then a dark blue, translucent shield stood in front of me, cracked but enough for me to finish the spell.
"Go, come on little one, finish it. I can't hold the shield for long," Link said from behind me, strain in his voice. Three lines of smoke, one, two, three, I pushed it off and looked at Hecate.
"Thank you," she reached out toward me, screaming, she couldn't save me. Link couldn't hold the shield. We all knew it. I turned and hugged my brother. He hugged me too. Dropping the shield. You want to know the funny thing about being crushed to death by a large falling rock? It doesn't hurt. It doesn't feel heavy. It's so fast you can hardly tell you're dead. You feel light.
And then I woke up. That's how I got where I am now. I just..woke up. "Link?" I sit up and look around, next to me is my brother. Across the room is Ari. She runs to me and tackles Link and I.
"Guys!" She smothers me and I can't help but laugh. I feel so light. Not a scratch on me. Like I've just taken a long, long bath. A black woman in silver armor comes into the room, holding my baby girl, Naomi.
"Jax!" She jumps out of the woman's arms and ran to me.
"Naomi!" She curls up in my arms and I cry joyfully into her soft, inviting fur.
"Did we win? Jax did you put Kronos away?" Ari asks, anticipation lining her voice.
"Yeah. We did," I think of Hecate's face, the scream that escaped her lips as I died, I look over at the woman in the corner, "can I visit someone?"
She nods wordlessly, "I think you know how, yes?" I nod, "then welcome, children, to Valhalla," Ari, Link and I look at each other, but we don't say anything.