"Why would they do this?" I asked the others. "It will level the playing field and even they will be rendered impotent. Why would they do that to themselves?"
"There is something that has been bothering me ever since you explained this whole mess,"
Ares said. "The Moirae held me, the Keres held your mother. They wanted you to think that they are enemies... that the Keres broke away from them years ago. But what if that was not the case?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"
"Meaning What if they did break apart but they reunited for this cause. In which case, they would be wary of each other- distrustful."
"Which is why they would want to meet on a level playing field." I finished for him. "They want to level each other impotent. That’s brilliant, Ares."
He shrugged. "I’m good at many things."
I rolled my eyes. Modesty wasn’t one of those things. I mentioned as much and he grinned.
Stretching out one of his long arm, he yanked me to him and crushed me against his side.
"I’ve missed you, you know," he told me. "You’ve got sass. You get that from your mother."
Ortrera rolled her eyes. She had never been much for familial bantering. She was pretty much a no-nonsense sort of person. But she was certainly effective that way.
"Focus, people." Ortrera asked. "We must prepare before we walk into their trap. Because you know they will have a plan."
"In order to form a strategy, we need to figure out what they have to gain," Cadmus interjected. "Why would the Keres and the Moirae reunite with so much bad blood between them?"
I pondered that.
"Because they feel like together they are invincible?" I wondered. "Separate, they are weaker, which would leave room for us to regain Zeus’ throne. But together, they feel they are stronger than we are. Do you think that could be it?"
Ares nodded slowly. "That is all I can come up with as well. There is nothing else I can think of." He turned and surveyed the vast damage to Olympus through the open windows.
"Olympus must be set right," he mused. "This is a tragedy."
Everyone nodded in agreement. We had all disagreed with Zeus on more than one occasion, but he had certainly never run the Spiritlands into the ground as the Moirae and Keres had.
"You know," I pondered. "Ahmose tried to alert me, I think. I think he disagreed with their actions and he told me to listen to what Annen had told me. Annen had already planted doubts in my head about my role as a Keeper. But I think he was doing that to lead me here. It was a ruse. He was pretending to hate the Moirae, when of course he was truly working with them. They wanted me here so that we could have this out once and for all."
"What does that have to do with Ahmose?" Ortrera asked.
"He died because he tried to warn me. At least, in his own way, he did. He told me to seek out Annen- it was like he was trying to tell me that they were together. But he couldn’t tell me in actual words because the Moirae had rendered him silent."
"He’s fortunate that they didn’t cut out his tongue," Ortrera remarked wryly.
"Not so much," I replied. "They tortured him and burned him alive instead. I don’t want that to be for nothing. We need to think of a plan."
"I’m way ahead of you," Ares muttered.
He turned back over a table and picked up several small broken pieces of furniture. Using them as battle pieces, he and Cadmus plotted our entry onto the island. I watched them murmur back and forth for a moment before turning to my half-sister.
"Ortrera, our father isn’t considering one important factor. We will have no powers on Ogygia. Plus, without the Fates secluded in the Spiritlands like they used to be, there will be no one to draw us safely back off the island. We will be sucked into the enchantment. We will eventually forget our purpose there and wander around care-free."
She nodded. "I know. I’ve been considering that. Perhaps we should stop at the witches one last time on the way."
"Maybe. Perhaps this is the third time they will assist us," I suggested.
I noticed her warriors restlessly eyeing one another behind Ortrera. They didn’t speak, but their body language said it all.
"You don’t wish to go to the island, do you?" I asked them.
The one in front shook her head. "Something doesn’t feel right about it. I know not what."
"I know," I agreed. "Being led into a trap set by the Fates is terrifying. But we have no choice."
Ares and Cadmus were wrapping up their strategy discussion and as I gazed at their backs, I felt a rush of warmth. Standing the way they were right now, if Cadmus’ hair was just a bit longer and straighter, they could easily be mistaken for Antony and Hasani. The knowledge that we never really die had never seemed more real or relevant than right now and that actually bolstered my courage. We had survived so many other lives in order to stand here now. No matter what we faced, we would do it together. And I had faith that we would persevere.
Walking to Cadmus’ side, I snaked my arm around his waist and leaned up to brush a kiss on his cheek.
"Are we ready?" I asked softly. He leaned down to press his soft lips to mine. Leaning back, he brushed my hair from my face, his hand cool.
"We are," he answered. "But you won’t be going."
"What?" I asked in amazement. "Of course I am going. You need me to be there."
"Why?" Ares turned to me. "Explain why we would need you since everyone will be rendered the same once we arrive. Your bloodstone will be useless. Neither of us will have our powers. I see no point in endangering you. Clearly it’s a trap. I don’t wish for you to fall into it, too."
Raquel spoke up hesitantly.
"I forgot to tell you that part."
We all turned to her. She looked as if she wished she could melt into the floor.
"Lachesis wanted me to tell you that if you did not come, Aphrodite would suffer the same fate as Ahmose. They cannot kill her without Zeus’ sword, but they will torture her and burn her over and over."
I gulped.
"Is that reason enough for you?" I asked Ares.
My shoulders slumped. To even hear the threat of someone torturing my mother it was chilling. Her faces all swirled together in my mind Jade, Aphrodite even Cleopatra’s kohl-lined eyes as they crinkled when she laughed. Aphrodite loved to laugh. All of those images swirled around in my heart and I almost crumpled to the floor in my instant panic.
We had to save her.
"Let us go," I murmured. "We need to reach her. Now."
Ares shook his large head. "No. We will stay the night here in the city and travel to the island in the morning. We’ll stop on the way to visit with Hecate." He looked at me drolly.
"I’m not an idiot, daughter. Of course I considered the lack of magic on the island."
I smiled sheepishly at him before I turned to Raquel.
"Come with me, child. I will show you where I used to play here in the palace when I was your age. Did you know that I grew up here? I know every nook and cranny of this building."
I froze.
"I know every nook and cranny of this building," I repeated softly. "Ahmose knew that. I think he left something here for me," I exclaimed with excitement. "I don’t know how I know it, I just do."
"Where should we look?" Ortrera asked.
"Everywhere," I answered.
We split up to search the palace for whatever it was that Ahmose might have hidden for me. Cadmus and Ares took the dungeons. The Amazons split up two to each floor. And I led Raquel with me as I sought out my old nursery.
No one else knew where I was headed, but I felt certain that I would be the one to find what we sought. In the back of the palace’s nursery, there was a hidden room. Filled with crystals of every shape and size, it was the most beautiful and magical sight when light flooded the room. Rainbows shone on every surface. It was a magical place for a child to play. I had spent hours there when I was small. It had been a gift to the children of the palace from Zeus himself.
When we reached the doorway, we paused and I heard Raquel suck in her breath. And it truly was breathtaking. Every color of the rainbow ricocheted from every surface in the room.
Magical toys lined glass shelves and I picked up a doll that I had played with when I was young, an exact replica of my mother. It was as new- it didn’t appear to be over two thousand years old, which just drove home the fact that everything in the Spiritlands was timeless.
I sank to the floor on my knees with the doll clasped in my lap as I gazed around the room, my eyes flitting from one thing to the next. A rocking Pegasus, an ivory piano, a little bag of magic beans. I fondly remembered planting one outside of the palace and waiting for it to grow. My gaze froze and shifted back. Something was out of place.
A small black box sat on the bottom shelf. I innately knew that it wasn’t meant to be there.
Crawling on all fours, I crossed to it and picked it up. The box was made from some sort of shiny black stone, maybe agate. A rolled up piece of parchment was lying on the top. It was waiting for me to find it. I could just feel it.
With Raquel at my side, peering over my shoulder, I unrolled the parchment. Ahmose’s dark scrawl filled the page. My eyes welled up at the familiar sight, but I brushed my tears away impatiently. Now was not the time.
Harmonia,
You were always meant to be the one.
I apologize, my dear, for leading you astray for so long. It was not something I could change.
You have the knowledge to save everyone. I never stripped you of the memory that you will need, I allowed you to hide it away time and time again. I knew you would need it someday. Call on it when you are ready. This box will help you also. Use caution. It contains the soul of every murderous soul that the Keres ever claimed. They would enjoy vengeance.
Forgive me.
I allowed the parchment to fall to the floor as I absorbed what the Aegis had written. I felt sorry for the old priest, not anger. I felt certain that the priests on both sides, Annen included, were simply pawns enslaved and used by the Moirae and Keres. They had no choice but to comply.
I slid my hands over the glossy surface of the box. It seemed so sinister. Even without knowing what the box contained, I would have felt the ominous presence surrounding me as I held it. I wished I could destroy it or leave it but we could not. Instead, I made sure the clasp was tightly fastened and I stuck it under my arm. The knowledge that so many murderers were contained so close to me was unsettling.
Raquel and I hurried back to the great room to wait for the others to return. It didn’t take long.
Cadmus quickly crossed the room to me.
"Did you find anything?" he questioned.
I nodded. "Yes, but it is a riddle. Apparently, I have knowledge that will save us, but I don’t remember it right now. I will focus on trying to retrieve the memory as we travel to the island."
"We’ll leave first thing in the morning," Ares announced. "So think quickly, daughter. We cannot leave your mother there any longer or she will kill us all when we arrive."
