Chapter 20
“Ben!” Fay jolted awake, a hand to her chest, crying out Ben’s name.
Her mind, filled with the sight of Ben and Amon, blinded her briefly to the world around her; or, rather, as she realised after a minute, the small room. A figure was leaning in front of her, their hands on her shoulders. Her vision cleared. Nadia. Fay blinked several times, looking around and took stock of the room. Remus stood by a large window, peering out through a slit in the curtains. He glanced at her when she looked at him. Nearby, Tiberius had stirred awake and was mumbling something in confusion. Lucilla leant in, her white hair falling loose from its braid around her face, and spoke softly to him. From there, Alexander brooded in the corner with Arcus. They both looked up, returning her stare. She quickly moved on, saw Mariko and Mei by an old table, playing a little game between each other using a dozen pebbles. Fay didn’t see Motep – or Diana – and the thought worried her.
“Diana? Motep?” Fay asked, as she slowly looked back at Nadia searchingly.
“Motep is fine. He was just a little bruised after the fight. Diana and he are out scoping the village, seeing if we can find a way out,” she said quietly.
Fay’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean ‘find a way out?’”
Remus spun around, stalked over. “We entered this village some time ago and haven’t been able to find our way out. It was pretty quiet until recently. That’s when we started to see this man around the village, sometimes looking like he’s in a fight, other times he looks lost. Diana caught him calling out for Andromeda once.”
He was looking at Fay for clarification. She swallowed hard, realising all eyes of the room were suddenly on her, and that there was no escaping what had to be said. Since she’d been able to tell Motep she knew she had to try and tell the others, explain to them her connection to Andromeda. They’d likely throw her to the wolves – or try and kill her. So, with a deep breath, she plunged into the story, starting at the moment she turned and the visions she had when she returned to the village. She tried to assemble the visions into an accurate time line; from Andromeda’s prophecy, which became a search for understanding that had, at some point she hadn’t seen, became something else. She became filled with an understanding of some greater purpose and that fuelled all that happened after; all the scheming and manipulations, dismissing Abe, how she fell in love with Amon. She explained that there was a gap between Andromeda’s mission to the Underworld with Amin and her death.
For a moment she paused, letting it all sink in, before she ran straight into all she’d learnt from Tartarus. That there had been a life before the human one, a life where Andromeda was, she believed anyway, a Goddess of some sort. A Goddess that lived in darkness and whom had seen a soul outside of her viewing portal to the real world. That through him and that portal she learnt of a world, fell in love, and wanted to join him, as well as bring her family through. When she told them that the man was Cerberus there was shocked and sceptical expressions. She said that as far as she knew Andromeda struck a deal with Zeus but was betrayed; that, in an effort to not join her family in Zeus’s control, she drove a sword into her chest. Somehow, that freed her.
No one spoke for a moment. Remus stepped away from her bed, half-turned from her, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. He looked grim, uneasy at her story but, at least, it seemed like he believed her. Believed some of the story, anyway. He glanced back at her.
“What happened to Cerberus?”
“I don’t know exactly but I think they killed him, sent him here to keep him quiet. They must’ve done something to his mind so he wouldn’t talk about what Zeus did,” she replied evenly. “She’s doing this to get her family back.”
“For revenge,” he corrected.
“That, too, though I think there is something else she’s doing. Something else she wants.”
He took a deep breath, as if trying to steady himself. “And she’s connected to you how exactly?”
“That I’m still trying to figure out.” She thought of Ben and worried. “Did you see anyone else at that fight besides Motep and myself? A guy around my age? A new hellhound?”
His eyes snapped to her, narrowing. “No. Who else is here?”
She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Before I left a new hellhound arrived. It was Ben, a werewolf I knew when I grew up.”
“Someone you cared about, you mean,” broke in Lucilla with her cool, assertive eyes. “Still do, perhaps?”
“The point is I think he’s here, in this village.”
“Following you?” Remus asked.
She remembered how he looked at Amon, how he reached for him, and she wondered if something else had called Ben. It might be a nice thought that he’d come to Tartarus for her. Perhaps, a small part of him wanted to. Still, something in her mind told her something else called him.
“Maybe but I don’t think so. Look at it like this, Andromeda has been assembling the pieces on her board for a very long time and she’s taken a lot of precautions to ensure everyone is where they have to be. I think Eris has challenged a lot of that down here but Andromeda still has majority power, for now anyway.”
Somehow, the space of the conversation, the rest of the squad had drawn closer. She felt surrounded and exposed, drawn and quartered before them. It had felt freeing telling them the truth but it was unsettling. Andromeda hadn’t allowed it before but now she had? Or, was her power waning and she had no control anymore? Either way made her nervous, made all of them edgy it seemed.
“We’re part of this, aren’t we? Pieces on her puzzle?” Anger slipped into Remus’s carefully controlled voice, flashing in his eyes like the first sign of an oncoming storm.
She nodded, just once. “Yes.”
“What for?” He ground out.
“I don’t know, I’m sorry. When I find her, I’ll know.”
Remus froze. “That’s why you came, isn’t it? Not for us, your family but for her?”
She only nodded. With a snarl Remus stormed from the house, out through the door, slamming it with a thunderous bang behind him. Dust fell softly through the air.
Next to her, Nadia stood. “Everyone outside, squad meeting.”
As everyone filed out Fay went to stand but Nadia set a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder, looking down at her pityingly.
“Squad only.”
It seemed like an eternity before the squad returned. By then Fay was pacing the room, feeling a restless energy build within her; slowly, at first, then flooding her limbs. A cord tensioned in her chest, drawing her out into the village. To what, she didn’t know, only that she was being called and it was becoming harder and harder to resist. When the squad filtered back in, their expressions guarded, she was ready to get out – with or without them.
“The verdict?” She asked as Remus entered the room.
“We are to proceed on our original mission. Go to the source of the problem and end it,” he said.
Fay snorted. “You’re going to take on Andromeda?”
That didn’t earn her any points but she didn’t cower beneath their gaze. She’d hoped they’d see reason, understand that Andromeda wasn’t what they all believed. Fay may not have been sure of all of Andromeda’s intentions but she knew enough that she wasn’t the real villain of the story. That they’d disregard the orders of their master.
“You don’t think we can do it?” Diana said.
Fay hadn’t even realised that she and Motep had followed the squad in. She stared Diana down, whom didn’t balk or hesitate.
“I had expected more from you all,” she said, realising it was true.
All she wanted was another damn hound to be able to resist Hades, to show she wasn’t just the bloody exception to the rule. She wanted them to see her way, to be able to persuade them that Hades could be defied, to join a side she was beginning to realise she’d been on from the start. A side that she may not necessarily have chosen at the start but one that she was beginning to accept. A side she didn’t want to join alone.
She was tired of being alone. It was exhausting.
“You expected more?” Diana said angrily. “Who do you think you are?”
The question made Fay laugh, drawing more frowns. “I have had no idea who or what I am for years. It’s not new to me. What is, is that I realise I’ve found something wrong, an injustice and I won’t stand on the side condoning it. I’d hoped that by telling you that you’d understand, that you’d believe but you’re no more than the chains that bind you.” She took a deep breath. “So, if you’re going to kill me, stop me, do it now or I’ll walk out that door.”
Remus crossed his arms over his broad chest and stuck his ground in front of the door. “You walk out that door the next time we meet it will be as enemies. Hades won’t stand for this treachery.”
Fay found a strange kind of strength staring at them all. A familiar feeling. She stared them all down, undaunted.
“Then let him come.”
Remus held her stare, then after a beat, stepped aside. Diana opened her mouth to argue but a sharp look from Remus silenced her. The squad moved aside and let her pass, their eyes following her as she stepped out.
She didn’t dare to look back until she was around the corner. There she slumped against the wall of a building, closing her eyes for the moment. The failure of convincing the squad bore a hole in her chest. She was shaking. She’d felt strong in the threat of Hades, that she wasn’t scared of me, despite the fact she probably should be. However, she mourned the fact that when she saw the squad it’d be from different sides. She’d be their enemies. She opened her eyes, determined that her decisions – wrong or right – wouldn’t break her.
Abe once told her that whatever decisions she made she had to stick to them, hold her ground no matter the odds. In the very end, it was all you ever really had.
She pushed away from the wall and set off in search of more visions – or Andromeda. The village trapped the squad, which made her think that she was probably stuck there, too. She didn’t like that feeling, so she decided to go hunting, get a better understanding of where she was. Really, she just wanted to find Andromeda and understand. Not just what was going on but how she fitted into everything, what her role was.
Back at the village square she looked over the scars of the battle. She stood in the middle, right where Eris had her by the throat, and replayed her words over and over. What had Eris meant when she said Fay was nothing without Andromeda, vice versa? She looked around, hoping for one moment she might see Ben or Amon or someone useful.
No one appeared.
She frowned and knelt down, pressing her flattened palm into the earth, closing her eyes. Something that bound her to Tartarus, a link she needed to understand. In her mind she saw something hovering the darkness, a glowing orb. She reached for it, drew its warmth close to her chest – and as it touched her the world exploded around her. Suddenly, she saw Tartarus – a blinding rush of it. As though everything at once was laid before her, and she the mistress of it all. In a flash, though, it was gone and she stood alone in a stone room. In front of her, a man, one she’d never seen before. Tall, lean, dark-haired, with moon-pale skin and eyes completely black. He looked at her with mild interest. She felt a tremulous rush snake down her spine as he stepped towards her and she tried to move, to speak, she found herself frozen. In six steps he was reaching for her, his hand cold against her cheek. His hand fell away.
“You truly don’t know how exquisite you are, do you?” He said with a soft tone of awe. “Zeus is a fool.” He cocked his head to the side, then snapped his fingers and her voice was free.
“Who are you?”
He smiled and he was breathlessly handsome – something eerie and ancient, beautiful and timeless. “You don’t know? Look at me, really look. Your eyes can see what others cannot. You just haven’t opened them properly yet.”
Fay swallowed hard and looked at him, tried to see beyond the pretty face and those ancient eyes. To peer within him and as she reached out with her mind, drawing on that thin grasp of her own strange abilities, something burst before her. Like a flower unfurling for the first time – and within him she glimpsed everything; a darkness that swallowed the world, a hell that drove others mad, something terrifyingly powerful. A power that wouldn’t be contained or bound.
It was beautiful.
His name whispered through her mind like the first wind of a storm.
“Tartarus.”
He smiled again and she saw the man once more. “Hello.”
“How? Where are we?”
“Within me. I simply thought this form would please you,” he said with a conspiratorial wink. “I can see that it does.”
Fay blushed, then scowled. “What do you want?”
“To see what all the fuss was about. Andromeda and Eris are raging their own little war – it is endearing, really – and both sides are after you. A little hound. Now I see you I can see you are more than that, can understand why Andromeda wants you and why Eris is terrified of that happening.” He leant in close. “You truly don’t know what you are, do you?”
“Then tell me,” she snarled. “Everyone keeps acting like I’m so bloody powerful. Yet I’m bound to Hades, I get my ass kicked regularly and I’ve nearly died more times than I can count. So, what the hell am I?”
He pulled back with a low chuckle. “Now, now, I know why Andromeda hasn’t told you. Timing is everything, you see? I believe that was a little joke her sister said once. What was her name? What name did Andromeda give her? Oh, that’s right, Io, Goddess of Time and Fate.”
“There’s no such Goddess,” said Fay. “You’re lying. You just won’t tell me. Why can’t anyone ever give me a straight answer?”
He stared. “Timing, child. Now, I should return you, you need to go to Andromeda. She’s been waiting for you for a long time…and it’s time you go home.”
Fay had so many more questions but the world started to spiral out from beneath her.
“Wait – how do I escape the village? How do I find her?”
She couldn’t see him anymore but his laughter rumbled through her very soul.
“Open your eyes.”
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