Chapter 22
The vast, glittering ocean stretched before Fay as she stood on the beach front, a city bustling behind her. Sunlight splashed diamonds across the water’s surface, reaching out to the horizon, blinding, breathtakingly beautiful. She could taste the salt on her lips, the bite of the sun and warmth of the breeze on her skin. For a moment, she was completely consumed by the setting; then, Andromeda appeared at her side, staring out at the ocean, not at all enamoured by its beauty, and the lustrous glow dimmed. Andromeda seemed impatient, restless. Fay glanced down at her hands, which opened and closed rapidly, as if she was restraining herself somehow. Andromeda released a long breath and moved forward.
Fay looked up. A figure emerged from the water. Even without having seen him in person before the trident clasped in the stranger’s hand betrayed his identity – or so Fay assumed.
“Arcadius,” said Andromeda by way of welcome.
Arcadius, with his jewel-blue eyes, looked just as Fay imagined Poseidon to be; handsome, wild, powerful. There was, however, a strange, somehow slippery snake-like gleam to his eyes that rubbed Fay the wrong way. “Andromeda. I have what you ask but, before I hand it over, are you sure in taking this. It will draw attention to you.”
Andromeda smiled patronisingly as she stepped forward and held out her hand. “All as I plan it to be.”
“You know the risk of taking this weapon in hand? Like Hade’s infamous sword, Zeus’s lightning bolt, this is a weapon that would destroy those unworthy to handle it. What makes you so sure you can wield it without destroying yourself?”
“Do not act as though you care for me. You can only wield it because you’re his son. You’re here as a demi-god gambling on the success of my mission, to spite your father more than anyone else,” she said with a smile and took the trident in hand.
Andromeda gasped as the trident, her eyes slamming shut. She seemed unsteady on her feet, which made Arcadius look, for one fleeting moment, nervous. When she opened her eyes, they were calm, focused. She straightened up and untied a small pouch from her waist, tossing it over. Arcadius caught it with greedy hands and peered into the pouch, grinning victoriously.
“You’ve outdone yourself Andromeda,” he said with a smile. “Remember, it will not be long before he realises it’s gone. I plied him with enough spiked ambrosia he will be slow to respond. In the meantime, keep away for the ocean.”
The setting dissolved into another. Rather than return Fay to the cabin she appeared in a large room off a central court yard. The room was dominated by a large table strewn with scrolls and tablets and weapons, the trident chief amongst them. It lay dominantly in the middle, somewhat carelessly deposited.
Andromeda was leaning over the table, reading an outstretched scroll with interest, her hair braided down her back. She was absorbed in the scroll that didn’t move as a shadow fell across her; after a second, perhaps really registering it, she stood and started to turn.
“Amon-“ The words died abruptly in her mouth as her eyes widened. “Abe?”
Abe’s large body filled the doorway. He was staring at her as though she were an oasis and he, a man dying of thirst. Like she was his salvation. For a moment, neither spoke, nor moved. Andromeda made the first move; a slow, tentative step, followed by another before she burst into a run and threw herself into his arms.
“You’re here,” she exclaimed. “You sent word that you were in Sparta, that you were meeting with a demi-goddess. I had not expected you back so soon…”
“Who is Amon?”
“An ally,” she said dismissively. “Come, I wish to know all you have done. Did you see who I asked?”
“Yes, and I found a great deal. Immortality is within your reach,” he said when something caught his eye behind Andromeda – the trident. “That cannot be…”
He pulled away from Andromeda and walked to the table. When he realised it was the trident, he froze. A look of horror overcame him, which deepened as Andromeda touched his forearm, their eyes meeting.
“Is that Poseidon’s trident?”
She nodded. “Yes, and don’t ask how I got it.”
Abe suddenly turned from her, ripping his arm from her touch. Andromeda recoiled, as if stung, watching as he began to pace, his eyes wild. There was a nervous, tense energy bursting from him, that scarcely seemed to be contained. He murmured to himself, rubbing his face worriedly. The whole time Andromeda watched him, her eyes turning from happiness to frustration, disappointment. Unbeknownst to Abe the more he paced, the further that Andromeda seemed to be moving from him. After a few minutes he stopped abruptly.
“You’re not after Immortality to be with me, are you? You’re trying to fulfil this damn prophecy, even after what happened,” he said accusingly.
“I had been gathering all of this to tell you but you returned early. I had hoped that when I told you that you would accept it, accept me, and stand by me, as you promised,” she replied defensively; her anger softened, briefly. “Please do not be like Nebiru. I can’t lose you. I need you.”
“If you continue this path it will destroy you!” He thundered.
Andromeda snapped. Her body exploded with ribbons of energy, her eyes glowing black, sending Abe staggering back. He even looked afraid. Before him wasn’t the girl he knew from his youth. Something else stood there, something inhuman, an ancient power thrumming through her. She lowered her arms but her skin still danced with energy.
When she spoke, her voice quivered with power, a tremulous rage. “I tried to deny my destiny, to fight what I was and this power within me. When I did, you died, my family lost everything, I was cast out. Every time I have tried to be what you and my brother want I am reminded that it is not who I am, what I am. My eyes, my love, have been opened and I know what I must do. You cannot understand what I have seen, what facts I have come to know but I had hoped that, in your love, you might still stand by your oath.”
“Andromeda…You cannot ask me to do this, to watch you die, to stand by as you rage a war against the gods. You know I love you, which means I want you safe, to protect you.”
With each word Andromeda slammed up another wall between them. She looked away, her eyes guarded, cold. As she stood there, glowing with energy, her eyes inhuman and cold, his words seemed more and more foolish to Fay. Abe couldn’t reconcile the girl he’d fallen for with the one that she’d become. To him, she was a young girl who needed a hero to protect her from the darkness of the world. How could he accept that she was that darkness now, that she’d become what she was always meant to become?
“I don’t need your protection,” she said quietly. “I have to fulfil the prophecy. It’s not just about me, not anymore. It’s bigger.”
The silence thickened between them, the tension poignant. It seemed to deepen the divide that opened between them, one a thin crack, now a vast abyss. Fay didn’t see the lovers from the olive grove, the ones who had laughed and spoken carelessly of love and gods.
“Andromeda?” Amon’s voice cut through the tension like a knife.
Abe and Andromeda turned to Amon, whom stood in the doorway, concerned. Andromeda dissolved her power within her, seeming to calm herself, or try to anyway.
“What is it, Amon?”
Abe looked from Amon to Andromeda, back and forth, before settling back on Andromeda. “I…I must go.”
Just as Andromeda went to stay something, maybe stop him, she caught herself and let him go, her stormy eyes betraying a myriad of emotions – disappointment, grief. For the second time in her life she’d lost him, truly lost him, and that fact seemed to register in her eyes, for tears glimmered there but didn’t fall. She wiped them away stubbornly, as if she refused to cry over him, and focused on Amon.
“Amon?”
The assassin turned friend seemed utterly bewildered for a moment. “I sensed your magic. You seemed distressed, angry.” He glanced at the doorway. “So, was that your Abe?”
She spun away, stalking back to the table. “He is my nothing.” She picked up the trident and turned to him. In that moment she actually looked like a Goddess, a queen in her own right. “We cannot rely on him to find me a path to Immortality. So, we must advance our own plans. Can I count on you?”
In her eyes betrayed the feintest insecurity, that he would abandon her, too. She held out her hand, which Amon didn’t hesitate with as she stepped forwarded, clasped her hand and stared her straight in the eye. There was no hesitation in her eyes, only his unwavering loyalty and quiet intensity.
“Until the very end, and beyond,” he vowed. “My life is yours.”
To say Mel was furious at being used was an understatement. Even Ben seemed angry. They’d known about Nebiru, accepted it but the talk with Athena made them feel used, betrayed on some fundamental level. As Fay sat there, silent as Mel and Ben argued in the next room, as if she couldn’t hear every word. It was more for show, one more way to exclaim how angry they were. When they finally returned Fay kept her features controlled, though her mind rattled from the latest vision. She’d had this idea of Abe and Andromeda being the one for each other. Yet she doubted they’d ever reconciled before Andromeda died, given that Abe had done the same thing with Fay. He seemed to see the innocent side first, then clung to it. Maybe, in some twisted way, he thought if he saved Fay from the darkness that he’d save Andromeda, too? The thought left a sour taste in her mouth.
“I knew if I told you that you’d never agree and I’ve learnt it’s better to go against someone’s wishes, rather than stand by them.”
Mel narrowed her gaze. “We’re not Abe.”
“Would you have refused to do the change?” Fay challenged.
“Oh my god, you’re not even sorry for lying!” Mel exclaimed. “You think by telling us now that you’re absolved?” She turned to Ben. “You’re being pretty quiet about this.”
Ben glanced from Mel to Fay, lingering. “We would’ve come. Well, I would’ve.”
Mel threw her hands up. “I can’t believe either of you. Whatever, I’ve contacted Ryan, said we have information about the location of Amanda, and the threat. We’re meeting tonight.” She dropped her hands and glanced coolly at Fay. “Abe will be there. There is a warrant for your arrest, Fay. He’s been given orders to bring you in and-“
“If I resist he’ll kill me?”
Mel nodded, then stalked out, leaving Ben and Fay alone. She wondered how deep his anger was, or if he was more worried about the danger she’d been in.
“Would you really have come?” She asked tentatively.
Ben glanced down at her. “Do you really have to ask?” Before he could ask he started to walk out of the room. “Fay?”
“Yeah?”
“It’s probably best if you don’t come tonight. Abe being there and all. We’ll tell them you’ve left town.”
Fay’s eyes flashed tempestuously. “I’m not standing this fight out. This is my fight just as much as yours. If Amanda does decide to fight you all properly I’m likely the only one who can stop her.”
“I know,” he replied. “Which is why when we’re on our way to the camp I’ll message you.”
With that, he was gone.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
