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 six of this tale.
Author's Note 1: Chapter 5 hit me like a ton of bricks. It had strong ties to a straight friend I had while coming out. Stefan's reaction to Cade's homosexuality was similar to how my friend took mine. In honor of that friend, I ended the chapter in the warmth of acceptance.
Author's Note 2: Yes, Stefan is straight. If you thought he was gay, then you read more into Stefan's actions than were actually there...which was fully intended. Angie, Kelly, and Aphrodite all did the same, and I wanted to put the readers in their position.
----------------------- Godsend Chapter 6: Pallas in the Grove
"Thank you," Cade whispered, finally.
I walked around him and placed my hands on his shoulders. "Come on," I said. "I'll tell you what's been going on. I'll even tell you the parts I haven't, and won't tell the others. I think we're close enough friends now for you to know what I really am, since I know you for who you are, without the fake bullshit everyone uses in school."
"I'd like that," Cade said softly.
We walked a few minutes in silence while I tried to formulate the right words. "I have this...uh...power," I told him eventually.
"Ok, don't tell me, but don't make shit up," Cade said in a growl.
"No, Cade, I'm completely serious," I said quickly. "It started accidentally two days ago when Kelly and I were in the car, just after Jacob and I had our talk. Darren didn't show up until afterward. When he did, I sorta made them kiss."
"Yeah," he said. He still didn't believe me.
"Look," I said, lifting my shirt. He turned and looked, and I drew on my power a little, just enough to make my stomach glow. "I'm not joking about this. I'm really not normal."
"How are you doing that?" he asked.
"I'm tampering slightly with your attraction to males," I said. "Right now, what do you feel for me?"
"I feel like I'm seeing something strange from my friend, and...oh."
"What is it?"
"I'm not attracted to you at all right now," he said, confused. I let the glow fade. "And there it is again. Ok, so your power is...what exactly?"
"I can make guys go gay, or, it seems, deplete it. But it's only temporary, while I concentrate," I said. "Do you believe me now?"
"So far," he said. "Can you make me straight?" he asked quietly.
"I don't think so," I said. "I can hold down your gayness, but only while I'm with you and focused on it. I'm sorry."
He shook his head. "It's ok. I started the day trying to cope with this, and I'll end the day the same way." He started walking again in the way we were headed. "Please, continue."
"When the power faded, I stopped Darren and Jacob from killing each other, and Kelly and I explained what we had seen and felt from where we sat. We all went home then and Darren called me to swear me to secrecy. We made an agreement that their group would stop tormenting my friends."
"That explains why Mike walked by Newton without knocking him down," Cade said. There was a right turn that led down toward the center grove in an almost straight path. We started down that way. Cade was patient when I told him about the time stop at the party and the experimenting we did afterward.
"Here's the part no one outside my family knows," I said. "I had talks with my mom and my sister and found out what I really was. I don't know if you'll believe it, though."
"You're going to have to tell me to find out, right?" he said, giving me a reassuring smile.
"How much Greek mythology do you know?" I asked.
He looked at me sideways. "A little."
"I'm the newest addition to the gods of Olympus," I told him. "I'm not in my full power yet, but when I am, I'll be the god of gay love."
"And you're straight," he said, deadpan.
I laughed. "I know. Isn't that a kick in the `nads?"
The sound of water bubbling started to come upon us as we approached the grove. Inside was a large reflecting pool with water lilies and koi. A stone bench surrounded the perimeter of the pool. At the four cardinal points of the pool, there were four small fountains, each producing just enough force to give the grove a sound of running water. There was also the sweet scent of honey, though I never did know what caused it. All I knew was that it was intoxicating and relaxing.
"That's a little much, even from what I've heard, Stef," he said. "I don't think I can believe you."
"You don't believe I'm a Greek God," I said flatly.
He chuckled. "I know you're a Greek God," he said with a smile, "but in a different sense." I laughed as well. I realized that, if I actually was gay, I'd probably have fallen in love with Cade at that moment. I dipped my hand in the pool and splashed him. "Hey!" he yelled with a chuckle. "Watch it." Then he reached in and returned the favor. Things quickly escalated into a water fight. I reached in to try and splash him, and he lunged at me to knock me in. I grabbed his arm and pulled him in with me. The water was only two feet deep, so we didn't go down very far. Both of us sat up laughing.
"Stef?" a voice called. It sounded like Kelly.
"Kel?" I called back. "Is that you? Where are you?"
Cade put his hand on my arm. "What's going on, man?" he whispered. "Do you hear Kelly somewhere?"
"You don't?" I asked quietly. He shook his head.
Suddenly, there was a flash in the air above the pool, and Kelly dropped into the water, giving Cade and I another thorough soaking.
"Not funny, Mom!" she yelled. She turned to face me, saw Cade there, and turned deathly white.
"What just happened, Kel?" I asked.
"Shit," she said. "I really wanted to tell you over dinner or something." She stood up at full height. Her hair was bedraggled, her clothes dripping and drooping, and she had a lily pad cocked to one side of her head like a beret. "Stefan, I am the future incarnation of Athena, Warrior Goddess of Knowledge." To add to it, she dropped her mortal guise and stood before us in full Goddess form, glowing and beautiful. The goofy girl who had just been standing before us was now majestic. I could feel wisdom radiating from her.
"Now her, I believe as a Goddess," Cade said in my ear. "Can you do that?"
"Not yet," Athena answered for me, her voice strong and resonating, but still soft and feminine. "He will attain the ability to show his true form when his full power manifests. Yet, he is one of us."
I felt a stinging thought at the back of my head. "You knew," I growled. "You knew what was going on and you just let it happen. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Your experience was peaceful," she said calmly, making my anger subside a bit. "What happened to you was natural, and I wasn't to interfere, only to observe. I was under instructions to report powers of the son of Aphrodite emerged."
"Aphrodite's your mom?" Cade asked with definite awe in his voice. I shushed him.
"You were forced to be my friend," I said, softly.
The glow faded and Athena vanished, leaving Kelly behind in her place. Her hair was once again a dripping mass of frizz. Her baggy clothes were hanging from her dripping frame and she was starting to shiver a bit. The lily pad had slipped down a few inches. "No, Stef," she said softly. "This is why I didn't want you finding out this way. I wanted to tell you personally so you knew I was sincere when I said this: being your friend was not part of my orders, just observing you. I chose to be your friend because of the person you are. Not once have you made me disappointed in that choice, and more than once you've shown me what true friendship is."
I was speechless. Cade spoke for me. "He thanks you, for being honest," he said. "But I think it needs to sink in for him."
"I understand," Kelly said softly. "Know this, Stefan," she said. "Now that you know who and what you are, my job has ended. I'd like to still be your friend, if you'll let me."
My voice came back. "Get out," I growled. "You're a liar and I never want to see you again."
"You can't mean that," she said, her voice quivering. I didn't care. She had been pretending with me for my whole life, and I couldn't forgive her for that.
"I do mean that," I spat. "You're not the person you claimed to be all these years, the person I knew and respected doesn't exist. Get out of my life, Athena."
Cade put his hand on my arm. "Aren't you being a little harsh?" he asked, his voice frantic with pleading. "She's your best friend."
"No," I told him. "Anyone who hides who they are and pretends to be someone else for people who care about them don't deserve friends."
"And what about me?" Cade asked, rage filling his voice. "Do I deserve friends for pretending to be something I`m not?"
I felt about an inch tall. "Cade, I'm sorry," I said, calming. "I didn't mean it like that. Your secret wasn't a betrayal like hers was."
"Stef, listen to me," he told me. "Kelly's your best friend. Don't end that over this. She kept who she was from you because she had to. Her identity was fake, but it was fake to everyone, not just you. She was hiding, just like I was. The person she told you she was may not have been real, but her friendship was. You can't fake that."
I looked over at Kelly - Kel - my best friend of seventeen years. Tears were dripping down her red cheeks. I knew, then. I knew she was sincere. "I take it back," I said. She smiled and made a small jump as she clapped. The lily pad slid down and stuck to her cheek. I snorted. "You look ridiculous," I told her.
"And you have a frog on your head," she said with a giggle. I reached up and touched the top of my head, lifting the small frog that had been sitting peacefully up there. I placed it in the water.
"Just tell me," I said to Kelly. "Are there any others pretending to be my friends I should know about? Mike's not Bacchus is he?"
"Oh god no," she said. "Dionysus is a party animal, not a complete asshole."
Cade burst into laughter. I followed suit soon after, and then Kelly did the same. It felt good to have good strong laugh after the way things had been going. When it died down a bit, I interjected. "Maybe we should go to the house and get dried off, unless you can teleport us there, Kel."
"We'll have to walk," she said. "I was practicing teleportation by tapping into my mom's power with her permission and supervision. I can't touch it unless I'm near her and she lets me. It's the way of a god in training. I think I'll need a ride home, unless mom comes to pick me up."
"Stay for a while, then," I said. "You too, Cade. Let's enjoy the day." They both agreed to do just that. Cade came out to Kelly on the walk to the house, and she, of course, was more shocked that I was indeed straight - the final proof being my resistance to Cade`s homosexuality. We ended up spending the entire day outside once we were changed. Angie had something to spare for Kelly, and I found some of my looser clothes for Cade. Angie even spent a couple hours with us, throwing a Frisbee and chatting. I would always remember that day fondly as one of the most happy and carefree of my life.
Little did I know life was about to take a nasty turn.
Questions? Comments? Monkey pox? Email me at academygm@hotmail.com