The night was slightly cloudy, so as the embers extinguished, nothing could be seen inside the cave. Cat took a deep breath trying to calm herself down, but she simply couldn’t do it. This was the first man to ever be this close to her body, and yet he still made no attempts to take advantage of the situation. He didn’t nudge up closer than needed, he made no unnecessary hands movements along her body, the closest thing to her from his, besides his hand that lay wedged between her own hand and her waist was his soft breath that tickled the back of her neck. Every exhale made her shiver, yet every inhale made her yearn for more. He was driving her crazy without even meaning to, yet Cat refused to believe it. She tried to rationalize with herself that holding his hand on her waist kept him from moving away from the warmth of the fire that had been out for a few minutes now. She wanted to believe that it was the fact that she had never felt breathing on her neck before that was making her feel so addicted to it, but she knew that was long. This man, this mortal human being, was everything she had ever wanted without ever knowing what she herself wanted. He was kind and caring, strong and humble, and was ready to fight for her. She started to wonder if this was how others felt when they looked at Aphrodite and not herself………..This feeling made her feel cold for some reason, she had never cared that the other gods wanted Aphrodite and seemed to only like her as a friend. So why was she feeling sad right now. What if Justin saw Aphrodite? This thought made her tense up for less than a moment, but it was still enough for him to notice.
I had to keep watch, no matter what I couldn’t let Cat be hurt for my carelessness. I had to keep her happy, she didn’t deserve to be in this shitty situation. I could tell when Zeus spoke before we left that I was resented by the others, but she still tried to be nice to me, she even called me by name. I was going to do whatever it took to keep her happy and safe, if that means keeping her warm then so be it. I tried to stay focused on the mouth of the cave to keep alert for any signs of movement, but I couldn’t help myself. This was the first time I had ever lain in bed with a woman, and I had never imagined in my wildest dream that I would lay with one as beautiful as Cat. Her being a god didn’t even matter to me anymore. It was the little things that made her seem special. The way she cared about others, how she tried to act like she was better than everyone even though she didn’t believe it herself. She tried so hard to be like how the gods wanted her to, but it just wasn’t her, and that made me feel good inside. I got to see a side of her that she hid from others. As my eyes trailed down her neck to the collar of the shirt she was wearing, I could feel my breathing get heavier. She was wearing my shirt, she looked so beautiful in it. This moment was almost too perfect, but as my eyes started to move down to her lower back, I felt her tense up. It was a very minute change, and I wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t focused on her, but I did notice. I moved my hand softly in a circle, rubbing her hip lightly before whispering lightly.
“What’s the matter Cat? Did something happen?” After a few moments of silence I stopped rubbing her side thinking she was asleep, but as I stopped she spoke.
“Don’t.” It was barely even a whisper so I thought she was speaking in her sleep at first, but as another few moments went by, she spoke a little louder. “Please don’t stop……It felt nice.” As she said this, the cloud covering the night sky parted just enough to give a brief few moments of light into the cave. As it did, I could clearly see Cat turned back facing me, and her cheeks were flushed red as her eyes almost pleaded with me to continue. I had never seen someone like this, so the only thing that I thought of was to continue. I started to move my hand in a circle again and I could feel the faintest of tension in her hand on mine as she turned back around and sighed softly in content. She would never admit it, but this feeling was one she would cherish for as long as she could remember.
I don’t remember falling asleep, but as I smelled the feint smell of smoke, I quickly pushed myself back towards the wall of the cave. Having just woken up I was still a little groggy, but I still had the instincts to stand quickly and place a hand against the wall to stop myself from falling as my eyes tried desperately to focus. Before my vision came to, I could hear a soft laugh coming from the mouth of the cave and slowly put together what had happened. My eyes adjusted to show Cat sitting by a fire alongside Lukos, cooking up what looked like a small hare.
“You have a very strange way of waking up, you know that?” Cat said with a laugh before continuing to tend to the hare. Lukos meanwhile stood, yawning lazily before walking over to my side. He looked up at me expectantly before pointing his nose between myself and Cat several times. When I continued to not understand his hint, he got behind me and pushed me towards Cat’s side where Lukos had sat moments before, then kicking out my knees from under me to make me sit beside her. As I sat rather abruptly, Lukos moved to the other side of Cat, before laying back down. “He can be so lazy when he doesn’t get to do anything for extended periods of time, but it’s tough to give him a chance to hunt when here since a giant wolf being seen by a human would cause a huge hunt to begin.” She ran her hand along his side, smiling down at him. “Not many people get to see this side of him, how calm and nurtured he can be. They only see him as a wild, bloodthirsty animal, or a trained, mutant-like killer.” She then looked back at me and continued. “Everyone but you it seems.” She smiled softly at this last bit before pulling the cooked hare from the fire and resting another to cook. She quickly split the hare in two before handing me a half and beginning to eat her own half. We ate in silence for a few moments before Cat put her food down and turned back to me. “Back in town…..were you planning on telling me what that was about? I understand if you don’t…..” She looked down, expecting me to blow her off saying it was none of her business. I sighed lightly knowing that this would eventually come up.
” I lived in Greece for a year about three years ago.” As I started to explain, she looked up surprised and listened intently. “There was a population high in Greece so the need for housing was almost nonstop and I was always working. It was great for pay, but I was only 16 at the time, so my body wasn’t prepared for this type of manual labor. I was working during the day building rooftops and outer walls, and spent most nights making the cabinets I’d need to later install. I was working so much that I started making sloppy mistakes, but I just couldn’t say no to an employee, so I continued to work. One day while I was up on a ladder working on a rooftop near the marketplace in town. I was so tired from spending the night making cabinets that I overestimated how far I could lean over the edge and I fell. I only feel about eight feet so I didn’t get hurt too bad, but the problem was how I landed. I was so unlucky that I happened to land on top of two of the royal guards working for the king of Greece. A group of people had supposedly stole something from the king and the guards were chasing them when I landed on them, and my landing on them caused the people to get away. I tried so hard to explain that it was an accident, but since I was living in town on a work visa they didn’t believe me. They didn’t have enough evidence to hang me, so they banned me from ever stepping foot in Greece again.” I took a deep breath while looking up at the sky. ” I never knew someone had gotten hurt from my mistake until yesterday…..That little girl will never walk again, and it’s all because I wasn’t strong enough to my job.” I felt a tear begin to well up in my eyes while saying this, but as I finished I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I turned to find Cat looking up at me with sad eyes.
“Justin……I’m so sorry, if I had known I would’ve gotten supplies somewhere else. I’m sorry I put you through that.” I was worried for a moment that I might actually make her cry so I quickly pulled myself together and smiled softly before putting my hand over her own.
“I’ll be fine, but thank you for caring.” She smiled back at me and for a moment it almost seemed like she was leaning closer, but before I could put any thought into it, a loud explosion could be heard, accompanied by a rumbling spreading across the mountain side. “Cat what was that?” I asked before watching her point out of the mouth of the cave at what looked like a man flying through the air towards the mountain.
“It’s trouble, we have to move fast.” She quickly got onto Lukos and I joined her, but before we could leave the cave, I felt a familiar burning sensation overcome my arm, only magnified tenfold. I crumpled over Lukos’s side and on to the floor, writhing in pain as the sign on my arm started to glow a bright yellow.
“It’s time you used the powers she gave you, the clock shall now strike 1.” Cat quickly looked up to see Phtonus standing at the mouth of the cave smiling towards my writhing body. Cat quickly turned back around in time to watch in astonishment as the mark slowly crawled up my arm once again, save for this time it was not doing so to heal me. Cat understood that what was happening was bad, but decided, this time, that she needed to act to try to help me. Cat dropped down and wrapped one of my arms over her shoulder before helping me up on to Lukos once again. With me in front this time and Cat behind to steady me, Lukos quickly leapt passed Phtonus who made no attempt to stop us. Cat knew that the only person close-enough to help was Hermes, who had just raced to the top of the mountain, so she made Lukos head for the peak of the mountain. As they got closer, Cat could make out two forms standing at the peak: Hermes and Hades. As they reached the top of the mountain and descended near the two, their voices could be heard as Hermes turned to Hades.
“What is the meaning of this brother, you said that Cronus had been released, and yet here we stand on his cage still intact. And why are you here and not the underworld?” Hermes questioned Hades in bewilderment at the actions beginning to transpire. Hades at first didn’t acknowledge this question, leading Hermes to move closer as Cat dropped down from Lukos leaving myself sitting there. As Hermes moved closer however, Hades unsheathed a concealed dagger and firmly stabbed it into the chest cavity of Hermes, slicing open his heart and left lung. Hades withdrew his hand quickly as to not get blood upon it, but left the dagger in place and grabbed hold of Hermes’s arm as to not let him fall.
“Hermes, as the god of regret, it is only natural for me to regret many things in my long life. I believe it is only right that I enlighten you on some of the regrets you and your brothers seem to think I feel. I regret having ever called you my brother Hermes, you were weak and didn’t deserve that title. I regret working with you all to imprison the titans, their way of rulings was more correct than your own and I will help the cause of putting them back in power. The only thing I really don’t regret my dear Hermes……is this. Killing you is my atonement for all my regrets, and now I move forward a new man towards a new world. Goodbye Hermes, we shall not meet in the underworld.” As Hades spoke, he softly lowered Hermes to the ground in a lying position, and once he finished he slowly sank into the ground, moving back to his home once again. Cat quickly moved to Hermes’s side, leaving me trying to cope with the pain coursing through my body as the mark reached my shoulder and moved down across my chest. With tears streaming down her face, Cat held Hermes’s head in her arms as he tried to speak once more.
“Catarsus……warn gods of Hades……Gaia will destroy all………run with the wind.” With these last words, Hermes weakly kicked off his winged shoes, the icon that Hermes had become known for, before pushing them towards her. With this final act, Hermes closed his eyes and breathed in one last breath, before moving on from this world. Cat couldn’t stop crying over the loss of her uncle, oblivious of the problem beginning to arise on Lukos. My torso was mainly covered by branches from the mark at this point and I can’t even think straight anymore. Nothing matters to me anymore except getting rid of this pain. My eyes fell upon Cat by chance and watched as she cried and screamed over the dead man’s body, and I felt the pain start to lessen. My body was starting to go numb as I watched her cry, and then I heard a soft whisper seem to go through both ears at once.
“I can make her stop crying you know, I can heal her of all her wounds. All you need to do is release the power inside you, release the powers and release my son, do that and I will mend her wounds.” The whisper alone meant nothing until I heard it say it would heal her wounds, that was all that mattered me. With my mind clear of my body’s pain, I willed myself to drop down from Lukos, much to his disdain as he growled at me and stood between myself and Cat. Why he did that, I do not know as I finally couldn’t feel the pain. I simply needed to move over to Cat and I could help her, it was all I needed to do. Slowly I started walking past Lukos, who continued to growl but did nothing else to attempt to stop me. As I moved closer, Cat turned to look at me and I felt a small amount of happiness ripple across my numb body as I knew I was going to help her smile again, but this wasn’t what Cat saw.
What Cat saw before her was my body covered entirely with the branches from the mark save for my face and my eyes were glazed over with a yellow glow. My legs didn’t move as I moved closer, seemingly hovering over the ground as I was carried towards Herme’s body. My body seemed lifeless in itself as I arms seemed to dangle when I reached his body. The feint glowing around me started to die down as I was lowered to the ground on my knees next to Hermes’s torso. My left arm is brought up over the dagger still wedged inside Hermes’s chest and, without moving, the sword is suddenly pulled out of him. Levitating above his body, the dagger held motionlessly for a few moment before being cast aside, and without it in the way, my hand dropped down on to gash the dagger had left. Once my hand touches Herme’s blood soaked shirt, my body glows a bright yellow and my voice can be heard in a deep scream of pain as the marking completely cover my face and then rush down from my body into my hand. Once they all build on my hand, it is pushed in to Hermes body, leaving only the original sign behind. Once the markings leave my body, all of my energy seems to be drained as I fall to the ground beside Cat motionless. The markings that were left my body rush through the gash in Hermes’s chest, leaving a feint glow around the wound as they start to mend things hurt from the stabbing, but as they finish they go down into the ground instead of back out of the wound. Once finished leaving his body, the feint glow dies down and a sudden intake of breath can be heard from myself and Hermes simultaneously. Cat is left speechless having watched Hermes be brought back from the dead as he sat up breathing quick breaths, looking around in confusion.
“Catarsus what happened? I……I should be dead.” Cat was beside herself as she now sat with my head within her hands, a steady stream of tears of joy coming down her face.
“It was Justin Hermes, he saved your life. I don’t know how he did it, but he did.” Hermes eyes opened wide as he noticed the feint glow on the sign of Gaia on my left hand.
“No….Catarsus please tell me he didn’t use the sign of Gaia.” Cat looked up slightly confused, but could only nod slightly in response. Once she responded, Cat was quickly, to her confusion, hoisted up over Hermes’s shoulder before being carried to Lukos’s back, leaving myself and Hermes’s winged shoes lying on the ground. “We need to leave, quickly or he will kill us all!” Hermes slapped Lukos lightly on the shoulder giving him the sign to leave as Lukos quickly pushed off the mountain side and leapt into the air. Cat looked back in time to watch the mountain start to break apart from the inside as cracks started to form all around my body. Cat thought back once more to what Phtonus had said, “this boy will be the death of you”. The words continued to replay in her head, but she didn’t care. She couldn’t leave him behind with how she felt right now. So with a deep breath, she pushed herself off of Lukos and leapt back down on to the ground, rolling to avoid injury.
“Catarsus don’t!” These were the last words heard as a hand, no bigger than my own, pushed its way out of the earth beside my own body.
Cat landed about 100 feet from my motionless body and started moving closer as she watched a body begin to crawl from the ground beside me. As he stood tall and took a moment to stretch out his sore and tired body, Cat had a chance to size him up. Standing well over 6 ft tall with broad shoulders and a muscular physique, he stood wearing only the lower half of a toga, ripped apart just above the waist. He had many scars covering her chest and arms, but any scars that might reside on his chin and neck were covered in a black beard that matched his long, jet black hair that fell behind his ears. Cronus finished his stretching before Cat could reach me, and looked down at me before raising his own left hand. There, clearly shown in broad daylight, was the same sign as on my own my hand, much to Cronus’s enjoyment.
“Thank you Gaia, this time away from my family has given me a chance to think hard on how I should rule my land, and now I think it is time I show you what I have come up with.” Cronus clenched his left hand into a fist hard as the sign started to glow, encompassing his whole body with the feint yellow light without making the sign spread. As the glow covered his body, Cronus began to float off the ground as he levitated higher up, only to coast back down. When his feet touched the ground again, he unclenched his fist and released the power, causing the glow to dissipate leaving him looking like normal once again. Cronus frowned then looked back towards my motionless body. “You didn’t give me all of the power Gaia, I know you want this to be a fair fight, but I don’t think this human deserves the power either, so allow me to take it from him.” Cronus stood above my body with his left hand raise in the air. A sickle started to form out of thin air in his hand, which he grasped firmly with the intent to chop my hand off and retrieve the sign himself. As he started to swing down, the sickle was suddenly pushed off course by Cat’s dagger as she stood between my body and Cronus.
“Stay away from him, titan.” Cat’s words shot out like venom, but they did nothing to deter Cronus’s plans. He smiled malevolently before swinging his sickle quickly at Cat. She was able to move back in time to avoid this attack, but was unprepared for the harsh abdomen punch she received from Cronus’s off hand, sending her to the floor a few feet away. Cronus chuckled softly as he watched Cat sit on her knees curled over as she tried to breathe without hurting.
“A god protecting a human, how noble of you child. May I ask you one thing though?” He bent over with his head cocked to the side, emphasizing his waiting for an answer he knew would not come. “I may? What good manners you have, I must visit your parents to commend them on your upbringing. My question to you is who will protect you now child.” He smiled wickedly again before kicking her roughly. As Cronus raised his sickle to slash down into Cat, he felt an odd warmth coming from behind him that caused him to turn around.
I could hear someone talking to me as I lay on the ground, but nothing that was said seemed to make any sense to me, it was as if it were another language. My head hurt as I tried to figure out what happened, but one thing came to mind that cleared everything else up for me. “Cat!” I opened my eyes abruptly, hoping to see her close, but found something I didn’t expect to see instead. I expected to be laying on the ground where I had passed out, yet I was very clearly laying on a rug inside a well furnished house. As I rose up slowly, I could feel every muscle in my body fight against me, not wanting to move anymore. I persevered through this, knowing that I needed to find Cat, and as I got up onto my knees, I looked around to find the woman who started this mess sitting on the couch smiling softly.
“It’s good to see you again my dear, would you like something to drink?” She spoke so casually that it almost made me forget what it is that she did to me. I glared at her and decided to not respond to her question, but this didn’t deter her in the slightest. She merely took a sip from her cup and patted the seat beside her own. “Come and sit, the fact that you are moving after putting all of your energy into Hermes and Cronus is a miracle in its own right, but to do so and not be consumed by the sign is simply impossible, and we wouldn’t want that now would we?” This sentence confused me just enough to make me want more information, so I did as she said. As I sat down beside her, I realized just how sore I was as I felt my muscles give way again, even my eyelids fighting to stay open, but I knew I had questions that needed answers.
“Why is all of this happening? Why was I chosen for this? What is going on? What do you mean Hermes AND Cronus? Why would the sign consume? I’m so confused and lost, I feel like I’m being placed in the middle of world that’s not my own and I don’t what’s right or wrong anymore, so please answer my questions.” As I got the last words out I shut my eyes and gave up on trying to be tough. I relaxed my body and decided to leave my fate in her hands as she began to speak. I wasn’t unconscious and she seemed to know this as she began answering my questions.
“That is an interesting order you put your questions in dear, so interesting in fact that I will answer them in my own order. What is going on? Well, the gods you know were not always the ones in power. Before them were a group of beings that lacked in numbers, but took pride in their individual abilities. They were known as the titans for their monstrous abilities that seemed to quintuple that of your average gods abilities today. Of the titans, there were twelve that stood out from the rest and ruled over all of the land, rightfully named the twelve titans. Their leader was a young titan by the name of Cronus, who freed his brothers and sisters, the eleven other titans of power, from their father, the original king of earth. Cronus was a person of great power from a very young age, much like the god zeus is now. Tell me dear, did you come from a rich, prosperous family?” She stopped to ask me this question which confused me, seeing as she seemed to know everything.
“No, I never knew my father and my mother work in a brothel long enough to forget she even had a child.” This was very personal information, but I gave it to her as if it was common knowledge. Something about her put me in a zen-like trance that I couldn’t help but follow her along as she led me down a path.
“I see, now dear, I have a theory. People who, that have lived a long time with power, are given more power tend to abuse it for they have never known what is like to live without, but people who, that have lived without power, are given power cherish and protect this new power, because they know what is like living on the other end of the spectrum. With or without you, Justin, the titans were going to be released and a war was going to be reignited. I am not fond of what you humans call gambling because I have never found in outcome I didn’t already favor, so ,with that in mind, I have decided to change the stakes. I have given you a power on par with, if not greater than any god or titan that dares step foot on this earth. You could rule the world with your own hands, you could crush your enemies mercilessly, or you could watch the world burn from the sidelines. What will be your decision?” As I opened my eyes, I was no longer sitting in the living room of a home, but instead floating in endless nothing. In front of me stood two items, one on my left, one on my right. On my left stood a sickle that looked much sharper than would be needed for harvesting wheat. On my right stood a hand that seemed to extend from a portal made of thin air. Both items seemed to pull me to each other separately, indicating that I must make a chose on the two, but something about the sickle made my stomach turn over like no other. Whereas the hand felt warm and comforting, as if I had held it before. I believe the decision was easy as I softly took the hand within my own and realized why it felt so familiar. As thoughts of Cat came into my mind, I could hear her voice start to get louder.
“Justin…..Justin…….Justin..Justin..JUSTIN DON’T!” My eyes opened abruptly as I had returned to Mt. Crone, and before me stood four beings. On the ground lay a motionless Cronus, being dragged away by a bloodied Phtonus, while two others stood in front of me. The closest to Phtonus of the two was Hermes as he had his hands ready to fight, though shaking profusely they may be, and closest to me stood Cat, with her hand intertwined with my own. As I started to become more away of my surroundings, I realized my body was covered in cuts and gashes from the sickle that lay in my own hand, which I quickly threw aside. Once the sickle left my hands, Cat threw her arms around my neck and proceeded to let tears of joy that I had never expected to see from a god. “Justin thank Zeus you came back, you almost hurt Hermes! I didn’t know what to do, I was so scared!” Her crying died down only moments after it began, yet she held on to me still after she had stop before whispering a barely audible,” Don’t leave me again.” As she stepped back again I felt my legs give out and I leaned forward onto her shoulder for support, which she gave willingly. As I felt like I was about to pass out from sheer exhaustion, I looked up in time to see Hermes step forwards for an announcement.
“You are hereby under arrest for attempts to overthrow the guardian government and for the attempted murder of Hermes of Catarsus, may Zeus have mercy on your soul. My eyelids gave way finally as I felt sleep encompass me, but as I faded away one thought lingered.
“He was speaking to me.”
Time seemed to move at an abnormal pace as I drifted in and out of consciousness. My body hurt in every way and there seemed to be no end in sight. It felt like I was being crushed under the very powers that I used to help. This thought floated above the pain as I wondered if I could control that power. The more I thought about it, the more I realized just how impossible that thought was as I thought back to the body lying behind Cat when I had came back to my senses. I had done that and it was all because of this power, so there was no way I could control something that strong. As I drifted in and out of consciousness, I was able to catch glimpses of what was happening. I watched as I carried upon Lukos’s back heading straight for Mt. Olympus, then I was led to a cell underneath the temple I had been in before, and then there was yelling above my body. I couldn’t understand what was being said, but a bunch of people were in this cell with me, and as I felt a need to cough in pain from my chest, everyone went silent again. Feeling too tired to deal with this right now, I decided to stop fighting my body and closed my eyes again to rest.
In a dimly lit room, Cronus awoke to a mixture of pain and embarrassment he hadn’t felt in a very long time. As he sat pondering over what had happened, Hades walked into the room carrying a folded rag and a tray of assorted meats and bread. He placed the rag on Cronus’s head before placing the tray beside him and sitting in the only other chair in the room, waiting for Cronus to speak.
“Thank you my son, but tell me, who was that boy? Is he a demi god?” Cronus asked these questions before eating a small amount of meat just to help with the knot in his throat. Hades closed his eyes and took a deep breath before speaking up.
“No, he’s just a normal human that Gaia chose to aid you in resurrecting the others. He was supposed to die after giving you the power, but that power……..the energy that exerted from his body was something I had never seen before. It should have pulled the muscles away from his bones, yet he was able to move even after the powers died down. I’ve never seen anything like that, and now Zeus has him locked up and even knows I am working with you. I am sorry father, but I have only succeeded in making your work harder.” As Hades spoke his mind, Cronus sat up and stretched out his arm before rolling his neck, succeeding in making a loud cracking sound. As Hades finished speaking, Cronus simply waved him off.
“Don’t apologize to me, you have done me a great service.” Hades took this in with much confusion before Cronus continued. “It has been a very long time since I have fought against someone capable of killing me, so long in fact that I want time to prepare for this fight………how grand it will be to finally fight at full power again. I’m so excited I can barely contain myself.” As Cronus spoke, the sign on his arm started to glow, slowly encompassing his whole body, before returning again as he sighed. “Unfortunately, our fight will have to wait until Gaia’s plan has come to fruition, but when it does….” He swiftly punched a hole in the side of room before smiling back at a scared Hades. “I will get my revenge.”
I hadn’t slept that well in a very long time, so long in fact that I didn’t wake up when someone entered the cell with me and sat beside me. As I opened my eyes and started to stretch out while yawning, my left arm was pulled back by a shackle of sorts chained to the bed. I tried to pry it open, but it wouldn’t budge in the slightest.
“That has strands of Pegasus’s hair woven through it, you’ll never break it.” The only voice I wanted to hear that moment spoke from behind me as I quickly turned around to see Cat watching me from the chair. “They refuse to unchain you until the rest of the gods have been rallied for the hearing. You’ve been deemed a threat to our ways, so much so that they are going to try to have you killed…….Justin I’m so sorry, I tried to stop them but they wont listen to me.” As Cat continued to talk, the panic became more and more evident in her voice and on her face. As She finally stopped she put her head in her hands and tried to breathe deeply, but I simply reached over with my right hand and took her hand in mine before smiling. As she looked up at me I spoke.
“Thank you Cat, you are so sweet it almost hurts, but I think I am the one that needs to apologize, I have put you under so much duress, I feel like I have been nothing but a burden for you, yet you continue to watch out for me. Thank you for trying so hard, but this is simply out of our hands now.”
“Technically that’s not true.” The new voice cause me to turn towards the door where Apollo stood looking in. He chose not to move closer even though the door was not closed and continue to speak. “We are waiting on Artemis to finish her rounds then the trial shall begin, but I think you are misunderstanding how this will work Catarsus. You are guilty until proven innocent and will need to prove your innocence in front of the gods, all of them. Are you prepared to put your life on the line and not only challenge a god’s words, but also to prove them wrong?” He asked me before starting to walk away. “Personally, I like to think that what people do instinctively shows more about their character than what they do planned. Keep that in mind and I wish you good fortune.” As Apollo started to walk away, I finally worked up the nerve to speak.
“Apollo…..I am glad you have your wreath back.” It was all I could think to say, but those words seem to touch Apollo in a way he hadn’t expected as he smiled softly and nodded before leaving. As he rounded the corner, two gods wearing helmets and carrying spears passed him heading towards the cell. One walked in and unchained me while the other stood watch, then I was handcuffed behind my back andthe four of us together marched out of the cell and upstairs. The silence struck me by surprise as I figured the meeting would be held here, but as we moved out of the hall and up towards the top of Mt. Olympus, I could feel a lump form in my throat. We reached the top of the mountain to find an open-roof court room with all of the gods sitting in rows with 13 of the 14 main Gods seated in front above a single platform. I was escorted to the platform where I was forced to kneel and a steel pipe was inserted between myself and the handcuffs, effectively sealing me in place until someone moves the steel pipe. As I sat there looking around at all the gods I had heard stories of as a child, I could hear them speaking about me amongst themselves. Some spoke of my execution, while others, though few they may be, spoke of how heroic I was. As the time passed, the talking grew louder until Zeus felt enough time had been wasted. He looked up from his seat and cleared his throat once.
“We are here for the trial of the human Justin under the charges of attempted murder along with conspiracy to overthrow our government. Let the trial begin.” As he said this last sentence he slammed his hand down, causing a sound similar to a gavel with the added effect of a streak of lightning streaming across the sky in the background.
Zeus’s words caused everyone to quiet down and watch for his next move. It was Hermes; however, that stood and moved to the center of the room in front of where I was positioned and began to speak. “We are at war my friends, and we must realize this fact before we can move forward with this case. Hades is not with us today because he has chosen to betray us and is now fighting alongside the Titans against us. It is for this reason that we are here, for this human aided them and freed Cronus who is now preparing to free the others and wage war against our power. This human who sits before us has committed a crime against us once before. He was accused of stealing Apollo’s wreath no more than a few days ago, and here he sits, after freeing our enemy Cronus, alive and well. That should change and I will leave it to you as to how.” Hermes paused to ponder how to continue, giving Hera enough time to stand and intervene.
“Don’t let Hermes’s emotions deceive him, for he is leaving out very key details of this story. The allegations of this human stealing Apollo’s wreath were already dropped after investigation so we will not persecuting him for these reasons today, and furthermore, Hermes’s has chosen to leave out the fact that Cronus was released when this human used his powers to revive Hermes after being stabbed to death by Hades. From Catarsus’s report, it is said that your heart had stopped, yet he was still able to bring you back today. We have no records of any power like this human’s so there was no way we could have predicted what would happen, so keep these thoughts in mind.” Hera sat and watched as Hermes continued as if she hadn’t even spoke.
“After freeing Cronus, he continued to then fight and defeat Cronus using this power, but he didn’t stop there. After Cronus was unconscious, I moved forward to speak with the human, only to have him blindly attack me in place of Cronus. If it weren’t for Catarsus stopping him, this monster would still be free, or worse, in the hands of Hades. We have defeated the Titans before and we can do it again, but if we resort to relying on his destructive, uncontrollable power, we will digging our own graves. So my friends, I ask of you this: will we destroy this power and prepare ourselves for war? Or will we let this human continue to make a mockery of the pride of the gods.” Hermes moved back to his seat with a triumphant smirk across his face as he watched the other gods start to voice their agreement with him. It was Thanatos who stood and spoke.
“What are we waiting for? Kill the human and ready your weapons, we have a war to win!” I help a lump form in my throat as I understood now that this was where I would die. As I lowered my head in defeat, I heard the one person speak I didn’t want to hear.
“How can you all be so arrogant? Do you not remember that we barely survived the Titanomachy? Now the Titans are stronger, more prepared, and have Hades, Phtonus, and even Gaia herself on their side, so we need help if we are to survive again. Justin has shown he has the power to stand up to gods, so will we really let the “Pride of the Gods” stop us from accepting help when we truly need it? I have watched Justin put his life on the life for someone he barely knew and I know he wouldn’t let us down if we asked for his help, so I say we fight the Titans with everything we’ve got. And everything we’ve got includes him.” Cat watched as some of the other gods started to actually listen and consider what she said, but it was Hermes that spoke up as his eyes narrowed on to her.
“How do you know Phtonus is working with the Titans? There was no report of this, so how do you know that’s true?”
“Phtonus came to speak with me the day before yesterday and…” Cat paused to choose her words wisely as she remember him saying I would be the death of her. “And warned me that I was in danger.” Hermes stood once again as he saw an opportunity arise.
“Quite peculiar how one of our enemies just happened to visit and warn you of danger. That doesn’t seem like something you would do for an enemy and it makes me wonder if there is another traitor among us.” The crowd fed off this as others started voicing their agreements. It was Artemis who stood next, slamming her fist in to the table causing the court to go silent as she began.
“How dare you accuse my daughter of treason you overgrown mailman-” Artemis was cut off by another god yelling from the back.
“Kill the human and the girl, kill them both and prepare for war!” The crowd was now a frenzy of fear and excitement towards the war that they were willing to accept anything, but before Artemis could reply, Hermes continued.
“You have spent so much time with this human, it’s only fitting that you would stoop to his level and betray. You must have also slept with him while you were at it, am I right? Filthy whore-” Hermes was cut off by the sound of metal scratching against metal. Everyones eyes refocused on the center of the room as they watched in amazement as the metal pole holding me in place started to bend forward while my arm glowed a bright yellow.
“I’ll kill you.” It came out as barely an audible whisper, but Hermes heard it non the less.
“What did you say to me, you impudent human. Do you not understand the situation you’re in? You and your whore of a girlfriend will die here-” He was cut off by my voice as I yelled back.
“Speak badly on Cat one more time, and I’ll tear you apart, limb from limb.” I pulled forward one more time, causing the pole to bend a little more, before I felt a sudden pain wash across my face as I was kicked roughly. Dazed and confused, I looked up to see none other then Apollo standing above me.
“Do it then.” He said this before reeling back and unleashing a barrage of blows across my face and exposed upper body. The crowd watched silently as Apollo mercilessly attacked me with an almost lackadaisical expression upon his face. After about a minute, it was Poseidon who held back Apollo’s arm, allowing my body to fall forward against my restraints.
“He’s passed out Apollo, you’ve done enough.” Poseidon let go of Apollo’s arm, and Apollo sighed before walking back to his seat, feeling let down by the outcome of events. Before Apollo could reach his seat; however, there was a voice behind him that rose up.
“Is that all?” Apollo looked back astonished to see me, bloodied and breathing heavily, but staring back at him. “You all are scared of the Titans, and of me……so you want an excuse for why you’ll lose, but I won’t sit here and let you talk badly of the one person who cared about me. So continue to hit me, hit me as much as you want because I will take it all, but if you try to hurt her, I will kill you all.” I leaned forward again, coughing loudly as more blood came out. Hermes saw this as an opening and moved forward quickly, but Cat moved as well and met him before me, holding his dagger in place with her bow. Before they could continue, Zeus stood and began to speak, causing them both to stop and step back.
“You really would die for Catarsus…Cat wouldn’t you?” I was too tired to look up again so I simply nodded my head, allowing him to continue. “So if Cat were to fight against the Titans, you would fight alongside her?” He took my silence as a yes as he turned to the rest of the gods. “The enemy of my enemy is my friend. This saying is very important in our decision here, for if we do not kill him, this human will in turn side with the Titans. But I see another option for us to take. He very clearly agreed that he would help Cat fight the Titans, so I no longer see a problem anymore. Cat?” He turned to Cat who nodded. “Will you fight for the sake of the gods?”
“Of course I will…..no WE will.” With these words, Cat moved over to my side and helped me sit back against the pole and started to assess the damage Apollo had done. Zeus moved forward into the center called a lightning bolt down from the clouds that landed softly in his hands in the shape of a spear.
“Then I see no reason for us to stay in this meeting. The human Justin is officially a protected member of the gods and any who dare try to harm him will feel my wrath. My friends family…..we are at war.” With these last words, Zeus threw his spear high in to the air, causing it spread out across the sky, signifying the start of the war. Catarsus undid my restraints, but let me stay seated while she moved back to Zeus.
“My lord, where will he stay then?” Cat asked, worried about my well-being, to which Zeus responded with a light smile.
“I’m sure you had a place in mind for him, just make sure he is ready for what is to come.” With that said, the gods slowly dispersed and once most were gone, I started to stand, only to be helped up by Apollo.
“Thank you for reacting the way you did. I was worried you weren’t able to handle it for a moment, but you played it brilliantly.” I sigh upon hearing this leave his lips before responding.
“You are the devil you know that? I wish you had warned me at least.”
“If I had warned you then it wouldn’t have looked realistic. The reason the gods reacted is because of your spirit Justin, you stared a god in the eyes and didn’t falter, and that isn’t something anyone can do.” At this point, I stood on my own feet and nodded.
“Well…thank you for helping…..but I’m tired and my head hurts so I really want to lie down.” Right on queue, Cat sprinted by, taking my hand and leading me away from the courtroom to a tree where Lukos lay. Quickly climbing aboard, Lukos moved towards the edge of the cloud city where a single, rather large house resided. As Lukos landed in front of the front steps, Cat exclaimed happily with a slight blush.
“Welcome home Justin.”