Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people are coincidental. If you are under the legal age in your area to read erotic literature, please stop reading this and go somewhere age appropriate. If you are offended by homosexual material, please stop reading this and go somewhere your bigoted little mind can handle. If you're looking for pure sex, and plot/character development only get in your way, this story is definitely not for you. The rest of you, please enjoy chapter fifteen of this tale.
----------------------- Godsend Chapter 15: Showdown
"Take me to Olympus," I told my parents. My voice was cold.
"Stefan, no," Mom pleaded.
"Take me or I call O'onerut here to do it," I said. I was deadly calm. "Directly, too. Not the road to Olympus to stall for time, like Hebe did."
"I know what you're going to do, Stefan," Mom said. "I can't do it, it's suicide."
"Angie," I asked, "is Hebe's name in black?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Hebe, Goddess of Youth, I, Stefan, God of Homosexuality call upon you for your aid. Please come to me as soon as you are able." I turned to my mom. "Take Angie and grandma and go to Athens. If you're all there, you'll be safe for a month or so, and I won't worry about you."
"Stefanos Alexander Kereanoi," my mother said firmly. "You are not going to challenge him. I will hit you with a stun blast if that's what it takes to stop you. Do I make myself clear?"
"This looks ugly. Maybe I should come back later." Hebe appeared in the room. She was still a stunning teenager.
"No," I said. "I need a lift back to Olympus," I told her.
"And I forbid it," Mom said. "He's going to challenge O'onerut, and he's going to lose."
"Not until I've saved mankind," I said. "Until the prophecy is fulfilled, I will live."
"You're living after you fulfill the prophecy, too," Cade said. I had forgotten there were humans in the room. Something inside me was suppressing my humanity, I could feel it. It felt numb and hollow.
"My life is no longer important," I told him and the rest of my family. "Only my goal is relevant. I am going to stop him tonight, or my death will make it so someone else can. Either way, it will be over."
"Aphrodite," Hebe said, her tone commanding, "hear me." Her eyes were glowing white, and I could swear I heard three voices instead of one coming from her. "Stefanos has spoken a mortal vow this night. He is now bound to it. It has been woven and it shall be so. Threads shall be cut. If you stand against him, you stand against us."
My mother's face went ashen. She nodded dully and turned to cry into my father's arms, who was now also weeping. "As the fates themselves command," he said softly.
Hebe, in control of the fates, opened a shining circle in the wall. The room, moments before filled with only gentle incandescent light, was now bright with sunlight coming from Olympus, where it was day. I walked forward, annoyed at being delayed for so long, and walked into the forum. Hebe followed and closed the portal as Mike, Victor, and Cade attempted to come through.
Her eyes stopped glowing. "Olympus is not a place for mortals," she said in her own voice. We walked forward and the remaining gods saw us. Most of them were male, besides Hebe and Cassandra."
"Stefan?" Ares asked. It took me a moment to remember that this was the man I had known as Uncle Cal all my life, so he had reason for the familiarity. "What are you doing here?"
"I made a mortal vow to the fates that I would finish O'onerut this day or pave the way for someone else," I told him. "This is the battleground. Anyone who wishes to flee may do so now. You will not be judges for leaving a battle you have no part of." The last few lines were announced to the smattering of gods present. I saw several leave, but didn't know who they were.
"O'onerut, hear me!" I called, shaking the foundations of the forum. "I call you to Olympus so you may pay for your crimes against the gods and mortals you have murdered and abused! Come in surrender, and there may be mercy upon you."
There was no response for a few minutes, but I stood rigid as I waited. Finally, there was a shimmer in the air. O'onerut appeared before me, still dressed in the striking black costume he had been wearing before. His mental fingers briefly grazed my head, then withdrew their delving. I knew they were still there on the surface, though, as they were on everyone present.
"This ends now, Monster," I told him.
He glowered at me. "You disappoint me, child," he said. "I had hopes of winning you over, but now I see your mind is closed completely. I must destroy you now."
"I don't fear you, demon," I growled.
"Then you are a fool," he said. His voice didn't hold the mocking mirth it had had in the past. Now it was stern and fierce. "You should know by now that my only goal is winning. I will do whatever it takes to accomplish that."
"What have you done?" I asked, my fury wavering slightly as fear crept in.
"The boy you cared about - Cade - is now on my ship, in the hands of my Vaneel. They have orders to start the change upon my death. Should you kill me, you will kill him as well."
My confidence drained out of me as if I had been a water balloon and someone popped my feet. My breath was constricting as well. "You...you," I couldn't think of a name fitting enough to call him, or of anything to stop him.
"I cheat," he finished for me. "Yes, I know." He walked up to me and raised his palm at me. "You can be assured that Cade will live long after you are gone. He is a wonderful specimen, and will make an excellent toy."
Something inside me snapped at those words. Cade would not be his. Cade would NEVER be his. Cade was...Cade was...
Mine.
I felt power rushing into me like I had never imagined was possible. It flooded every vein, every pore, every atom of my body. I was no longer of flesh and blood. I was a being of power. I was desire. I was hope. I was love.
I was pissed.
I opened my eyes and they fired a beam at O'onerut, who wasn't expecting it.
I didn't know I could do it, and didn't know it was coming, so he couldn't read my mind. He flew backwards and landed on his back on the floor in the center of the forum. I blasted him again and again, each time sending him tumbling backward. I blasted him until he hit the base of the master podium, dazed and staring at me with wide eyes.
"I, I can't sense you," he said, actual fear in his voice. He sounded small, like a wounded child.
"Good," my uncle Cal, Ares, said. He punched O'onerut square in the face. His hand came back bloody, but it was all O'onerut's. "Now it's time to pay for all of the lives you took," Ares said.
"Including yours?" O'onerut asked, smiling through bloody teeth. With lightning reflexes, he raised his right hand and said, "obliterate." I watched in anguish as my uncle dissolved screaming before me.
O'onerut stood with only slight difficulty and stared directly at me. He looked over to Cassandra. "The weakest will defeat me?" he asked. "Watch as I turn the weakest into a pile of dust." He raised his hand to blast me, and then fell forward, a dagger sticking out of his back.
"Not so tough when you can`t read minds, are you," Hebe said, standing behind him.
"Ow," O'onerut whined. Growling, he kicked backward and sent Hebe flying to the back of the stands. She landed next to a Vaneel. "Tough enough for you?" he asked, pulling the knife from his back and dropping it to the ground. The whole time, he kept his eyes on me. The Vaneel handed Hebe a beautiful golden shield, completely circular, with an intricate gorgon`s head on the front, and was whispering instructions to her as he helped her up. It was Min. If I knew my mythology correctly, that was the shield of Perseus. Could it reflect O'onerut's power as it had Medusa's?
"Do you enjoy being on the losing end of things?" I asked him. I had to taunt him if they were to accomplish their plan. Hebe walked down the steps, making no noise.
"This is only a setback," O'onerut said. "I will prevail, and my mind reading power will return. I can feel it there, still. You have only silenced it briefly."
Hebe stood in open ground behind O'onerut now, holding the shield before her.
"V'trelut, face me," she commanded. O'onerut spun on his heel in fury. Why was he so angry? Was that a huge insult in his native language, or something? "You are nothing," she said. "You are a lowly trickster who cannot be trusted. You have disgraced your father and murdered your brother, stealing his name and his face. You did this because you could not gain respect as yourself."
"Silence!" O'onerut yelled.
"O'onerut was a wise and powerful god," Hebe continued, ignoring him. "You, V'trelut, are a pathetic waste of space. You are a spoiled child who throws tantrums to get his way. When you stole the powers of your gods, you remained a spoiled child, and forever shall be one."
"Still your tongue, wench, or I will still it for you," he said. His voice was shaking, though. I could tell she was getting to him.
"You have tried to replace your lost love with anyone else you could find," Hebe said. "But none of them will have you. They see through your false face and into the real god below. They see the weakness inside, and they hate you for it."
"Stop," O'onerut whispered.
"I hate you for it," Hebe said.
"Stop!" O'onerut yelled.
"And your father hates you for it."
O'onerut screamed in rage. "Obliterate!" The beam fired at Hebe and she raised the shield to intercept it. I braced and waited as time seemed to stretch out. I was at once terrified that the beam would kill her, and hopeful that it would be reflected back at O'onerut.
When the shield dissolved and the beam passed through, I lost that hope. I turned away as I wouldn't have to see.
"What is happening?" O'onerut cried out.
I looked back and saw that Hebe was still holding the outside of the shield, a golden ring, and that the beam wasn't dissolving her. In fact, she seemed to be absorbing it.
"Stefanos came into his power," Cassandra said, stepping up to him. "He is no longer the weakest. That title reverted back to the one who had it before Stefan was born: young Hebe."
Min walked over, carrying a mirror. "Do you recognize that ring?" he asked.
"It's the same thing you used to kill most of your pantheon. Your father helped me build it. He agreed you needed to be put down like a rabid animal."
The power still coursed from O'onerut to Hebe, but he looked directly at me.
"I cannot hurt them any longer, but you, Stef, you I can still hurt."
"You're dying, and you choose spite?" I asked. "You are heartless."
"You destroyed my heart," he said. "You were my last hope. Now, I will make your future years miserable. The wave I created is unstoppable. Not even I could have stopped it if I had wanted to. No woman is safe. But I can save your mother."
"Tell me," I said. "Or is this how you plan to hurt me? Are you going to withhold this from me?"
"When I die," O'onerut said. "Cade will die, unless I rescind my command first. I offer you a gift. I will help you save one of them."
I fell to my knees. He was true evil. How could I ever decide between the two? I sobbed.
"Quickly now," he said, mirth back in his voice. "If I die and you haven't chosen one, you can't have either."
I glared at him, but I had no other recourse. "Save my mother," I growled.
O'onerut smiled. "If she surrenders herself to the mirror you stole from me, she will be captured forever as an inanimate object, but she will not be physically a woman. The wave will not touch her."
"How can I trust you?" I asked. "You're known for lying and breaking promises."
"Because telling you the truth brings me more joy right now," he told me, his words were becoming more hollow, and difficult for him to say. "If your mother traps herself in the mirror and the wave still destroys her, then you know you could not have saved either of them. My giving you the choice to save one only hurts you if it actually works, and you have to go through life knowing you were responsible for choosing to let a loved one die." O'onerut's feet and legs began to sparkle and fade to nothing. "Cade's death is now your burden, since you didn't choose him." O'onerut's entire body faded, passing in the beam of light into Hebe.
I wept.
O'onerut's death brought me no pleasure. He had won against me. He had broken me. I had given the Fates my vow and cast myself into a reckless battle. My side one, but the price of victory killed me.
My mother merged with Angie and Grandma that night. I teleported back to our house on my own. Even that victory was now hollow. I took the mirror back to Aphrodite. That's what she was when all of her aspects were merged into one. She wasn't Mom, or Angie, or Grandma, she was the goddess Aphrodite. She placed her hand on the mirror, and, with a flash, she was gone. Another loss.
My father picked up the mirror, crying, and I heard my mother's voice telling him it would be ok. Hearing her still there gave me a small hope that maybe I would be ok as well.
We teleported back to our house and waited for the wave to wash over us. We said our goodbyes just in case. When it passed, Dad asked the mirror a question. Mom responded, then Angie, and then Grandma. They were all still there. Dad was smiling, as were Hektor and Grandpa. Only part of me was smiling. O'onerut had told the truth. I was lost in the grief and shame that I hadn't saved Cade.
We were gathered on Olympus a month after O'onerut's defeat. Hebe and Cassandra were the only females left. I was actually surprised at the number of remaining male gods that remained from my pantheon. There were only two Norse gods, though, and I didn't know their names. Min was there as well, with K'lemut's mirror belted to his waist.
This was a goodbye ceremony. All the males stood in a circle, and the females went from one to the next saying their farewells. The wave was to converge on Olympus within the hour. Hebe was the first to reach me.
"You're not the weakest any more," I said to her. "You're stronger than all of us combined. Couldn't you make a shield like Hera did?"
"Yes," she said, "but I won't. O'onerut's power is pure evil. I can feel it writhing in me. If I were to make the shield, the power would eventually corrupt me, and I would become like him. This power has to die. My death is a small price to pay for it."
"I'm sorry, then," I said to her. "I'll miss you. I'll never forget my first kiss." She smiled and blushed, then moved to the next person.
A bit later, Cassandra approached me. "Your destiny is still unfulfilled."
"I helped kill O'onerut," I said. "Mankind is saved."
"Is it?" she asked. "I walk the paths of destiny, child. I have seen the paths where you were never born. O'onerut still comes. He still sends the wave, angered by a human who has your same desires. Min still escapes and gives the shield to Hebe, and O'onerut still dies by her hand. You were not necessary to accomplish what has already transpired. Destiny only placed you in those roles because you were there."
She looked into my eyes and repeated herself. "Your destiny is unfulfilled." Then she moved on, leaving me more confused than ever.
As they finished their circuit, the two women walked to the center of the circle. The wave was now just outside the forum. As one, the male gods knelt on one knee and placed their right arms across their chests, fists clenched, as we bowed low. The wave passed over us. This was the honor due to all women, given to the final two, by those who loved them. We all lowered our eyes as the wave reached them. None of us wanted to watch the end of womankind.
There was a bright flash of magenta light and the wave was gone. We all stood. Aside from a little ash in the center of the forum, there was no sign of Cassandra or Hebe. For once, I was holding strong and not crying. My tears were used up. I was sad, yes, but also relieved that this part was over. I felt guilty for that.
Min walked over to where I was sitting, alone with my thoughts. "I just thought I'd let you know," he told me, "that I finally located O'onerut's ship this morning. K'lemut and I are leaving."
"Don't go," I requested. "Please. You've been such a great help to us, we'd gladly accept you with open arms."
He smiled, an odd look for a Vaneel. "I do not leave in exile," he said. "I go in hope. You have forgotten the tale, but I have not. There is a goddess that O'onerut left alive. This goddess has the power to cure the Vaneel, to make bring their victims' skin back. I seek this goddess. I will take the Vaneel with me so they may be cured as well."
"Then you can save Cade?" I asked.
"I do not know the length of the journey. The universe is larger than you can imagine. The Vaneel will last indefinitely, but the humans, once healed, will not. You may be waiting, not for Cade, but for his great-great-grandchild."
I smiled. "I'm not as upset about that as I should be," I said. "Why is that?"
"Because you know that, should they be cured, that all of the Vaneel will live out the rest of their lives in peace and safety. I share too much with them to abandon them once they are healed." He looked at his mirror. "Besides, K'lemut will not allow me to be anything less than benevolent to mortals."
"K'lemut is a good person," I said, "and so are you, Min."
K'lemut's face appeared in the mirror. "V'trelut would have corrected you and said that we are not people, we are gods. I make no such distinction. We should all strive to be like the mortals. It is the way He wants it."
I bowed my head to K'lemut in assent. I would miss the two of them, but they were going on a highly important journey. The rest of us were just going to be rebuilding the Earth. I also had to figure out my destiny.
Mankind was still in peril, Cassandra had said, and I had to save it. What was I going to do? I had my mother's stun beam, and I could make guys go gay. I could also make them lust for each other, though it still grossed me out. I chuckled. Victor was right, that was funny. I looked deep inside to try and find an answer. I found something else.
I understood my destiny.
Questions or comments can be sent to me at academygm@hotmail.com I welcome feedback.