Chapter Eighteen: Betrayal

 

Hip flew in his father’s chariot over the familiar Colorado skies, but it wasn’t comfort he felt when he pulled up beside the Melnor Cabin; it was dread.

The red birds immediately spotted him from the trees outside Than and Therese’s kitchen window, and they leapt from the branches on fluttering wings toward him.

Landing on the rim of the chariot, Therese’s mother chirped, “Are Therese and Than safe?”

“What can you tell us?” the father asked. “We’ve been worried sick.”

“I’m afraid I have some bad news,” Hip said solemnly.

***

 

Hermie sat at the back of the cave where Hermes and Ares had abandoned him. He’d sobbed for many minutes over his parents’ deaths, but now he was angry.

This shouldn’t have happened. And he needed to do something to avenge them.

The old women—nymphs, he now knew, because he remembered the stories his parents had told him about this cave on Mount Ida—bickered by a stream that ran through the cavern. They were positioned between Hermie and the exit. The nymphs might look old, but their hearing was excellent, as he’d discovered when he’d tried to make a run for it earlier. The goat had brayed during the excitement, which had caused the nymphs obvious concern. Apparently, they loved their goat more than each other and didn’t like to see it upset. So, they’d scolded Hermie and made him sit at the very back of the cavern in the darkness and had sworn that if he tried anything else, the goat would feast on his hair.

But Hermie couldn’t just sit there. He had to do something.

What?

It occurred to him that he’d have to use the goat. The innocent animal was sleeping soundly near the edge of the stream, about ten feet from the old nymphs. There were plenty of loose rocks in the cave. Maybe Hermie could bash in the goat’s head, which would distract and impair the nymphs, so that Hermie could get away?

No. He couldn’t bash in the goat’s head. He just couldn’t.

But perhaps he could frighten the goat enough to make it run away. Would the nymphs chase after it? Or would they remain in the cave, preventing Hermie’s escape?

Hermie thought long and hard for many more minutes and could think of no better plan. So, he reached for a rock, about the size of a golf ball, and aimed to hit the floor of the cave near where the goat was sleeping.

He threw the rock. It hit perfectly—only a foot from the goat. But the animal merely lifted its head and looked at Hermie sleepily. The nymphs didn’t even notice.

Hermie grabbed another rock and another, throwing at very high speeds, even allowing the last few to hit the goat’s leg—though not hard enough to hurt it.

The nymphs noticed and shouted at Hermie to stop.

Finally, the goat jumped to its feet and high-tailed it out of the cave.

The one called Ida followed, but Andy stayed behind. Hermie decided it was now or never. Maybe he had a chance against one nymph, but certainly not two. He jumped up and pushed the old lady into the stream—which seemed so wrong! It went against every fiber in his being to push a little old lady over like that. As he ran from the mouth of the cave, he reminded himself that she was a nymph and would be alright.

Outside of the cave, he climbed toward the top, praying to Morpheus to come and get him.

“I’m at Mount Ida, I think,” he prayed. “My parents were…they’re…dead. I’m next, if you don’t save me.”

***

 

Morpheus stood in his room in the Underworld, took a deep breath, and blew the painting dry. The moonflower shone bright against the black canvas. He hoped the silver highlights along the fragile-looking petals would make Iris think of him and his silver wings.

He god-traveled with the painting into the sky and searched for rainbows. He found one over the Aegean Sea. The sky appeared ominous, with lightning and thunder crackling overhead. He hastened inside the rainbow arch, before the rain began to fall.

“Iris?”

He didn’t see her anywhere inside the colorful arch. Surely, she wasn’t filling the clouds before they were even empty.

He set the painting down and flew toward the black clouds against the cold drops that were pelting his skin.

“Iris?”

“Morpheus?” she asked as she flew with her empty pitcher toward him. “What are you doing here?”

“I brought you a present. It’s there, in the rainbow.”

At that moment, he heard a distressful prayer from Hermie.

“Oh, man,” Morpheus said to Iris. “I’ll be right back.”

He god-traveled to Mount Ida, where he and his parents often went to play night Frisbee with Ariadne and Asterion. Clinging to a ledge in the darkening sky was a small figure that must be Hermie. Morpheus flew down, grabbed him, and god-traveled back to Iris’s rainbow, in the shelter of the colorful arch, where Iris was admiring his painting.

She had tears in her eyes. “I love it. No one has ever done anything like this for me before.” Then she turned toward him and noticed Hermie.

Hermie was drenched and shivering, so Morpheus blew on him until he was dry.

“Why did you bring him here?” Iris asked.

“Thanks for saving my life,” Hermie said to him. “Ares said that Hades killed my parents. I was captured by Harpies. I don’t know what to do.”

Tears filled Hermie’s eyes.

“You were captured by Harpies?” Morpheus repeated. “Why?”

“I don’t know,” Hermie said. “I don’t know why all this is happening.”

“It’s because he’s a prisoner of war,” Iris said angrily. “You shouldn’t have brought him here, Morpheus. You need to take him to Mount Olympus, right away, before we get in trouble. Zeus will rip out our wings for this. Come on!”

“No, wait!” Hermie pleaded.

“My dad will know what to do,” Morpheus said.

“Your dad’s a traitor,” Iris said. “Come on, before Zeus suspects us, too.”

Morpheus god-traveled with Hermie and Iris to the gates of Mount Olympus. The storm was fierce down below.

“What’s going on?” he asked Iris.

“Hades betrayed our king,” Iris said. “And your father helped him.”

Morpheus prayed to his father, asking him what he should do. “I’m at the gates of Mount Olympus with Hermie,” he prayed.

Within minutes, Swift and Sure appeared, pulling his father behind them in Hades’s chariot. Two red birds barked shrill notes at him, warning him to get in.

“Come on, sonny!” his father cried.

The gates of Mount Olympus opened, and Zeus stood, towering over him.

“Morpheus, bring the prisoner to me!” Zeus bellowed.

“Morpheus!” Iris pleaded. “Don’t betray our king!”

“Please,” Hermie begged. “Don’t throw me to the wolves.”

Morpheus looked from his father to his cousin to his girlfriend, and then at his father again.

“Trust me!” Iris wailed.

She’d been his best friend and constant companion since he was four years old. He knew her and she knew him better than anyone. How could he turn his back on her, let alone their king?

“Why are you doing this, Pops?” he asked. “This is treason. I can’t be a part of that!”

Morpheus followed Iris through the gates, with Hermie in tow, trying to ignore his father’s pleas and his cousin’s shouts. He wiped the tears from his cheeks and fought the urge to be sick. He couldn’t believe he’d just turned his back on his own father.

As soon as they crossed into the great hall of the palace, Hermie was taken by Ares and put on Hephaestus’s old trick chair.

“I’m sorry, Hermie,” Morpheus said. “I can’t go against my king. I hope you understand.”

Hermie glared at him with eyes full of tears, but said nothing. Morpheus turned away. Before he reached Iris’s side, a golden bird cage dropped around him, enveloping him and trapping him inside of it. He grabbed the bars and called out to Iris, who was imprisoned in a similar cage beside him.

His jaw dropped open as he turned to Zeus and Hera. “But, why? I don’t understand? We’re on your side!”

“I know,” Zeus said. “And I appreciate your loyalty. It hasn’t gone unnoticed. You see, I need leverage to coerce Hades back into submission. Since Thanatos is already dead, I’m afraid his son won’t be enough. But Hypnos and Jen will do anything for you, even sabotage their father.”

Morpheus couldn’t believe it. Why didn’t he listen to his father and jump beside him in the chariot?

“And Iris?” he asked. “Why imprison her?”

“I’m afraid her affection for you might weaken her loyalty to me, now that you’re my prisoner,” Zeus replied.

Morpheus sank to the floor in despair. What had he done?

***

 

Hestie screamed right alongside Mina as the salon window shattered and one of the monster’s pinchers barely missed snapping Jinsoo in half. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Unlike other mortals, she knew monsters were real, but she’d never been attacked by one. It took her a minute to comprehend the enormity of the moment.

“Run!” Hestie shouted to the twins, and, when neither of them moved, she grabbed each of their hands and led them toward the upper deck, looking for the captain and Poros.

But when they reached the cockpit, they found it empty.

She couldn’t think as she looked around, gulping at air.

Then the bow pitched again, throwing them toward the stern. Hestie grabbed onto the railing of the extended deck as a giant wave washed over her. The water was cold and forceful, knocking the air from her lungs, but she clung on to the railing. Once the ship leveled and the wave had passed, Hestie looked around and found herself alone on the ship.

“Mina! Jinsoo!” she screamed as she searched the turbulent waters for signs of her friends. “Oh, my gods! Help them!”

Please don’t let my friends be dead, she prayed.

Then she saw the captain and Poros. They were flying above the sea with swords and shields, battling the monster that had attacked the ship. She realized now it was Phorcys, the Old Man of the Sea.

She heard the captain shout to him, “Why are you attacking us? You’re no friend to Zeus!”

The Old Man of the Sea reared his ugly head and shouted, “He promised me the sea when Poseidon betrayed him.”

From the depths, another monster appeared right before Hestie, snapping its ugly snakehead at her. It had three heads—a lion, a goat, and a snake.

“Chimera!” Hestie shouted.

As much as her parents had trained her, she hadn’t been prepared for this. How could she fulfill her destiny if the sight of these monsters had her weak and trembling like a dead leaf in the wind?

Just as the snakehead lashed at her again, Poros lopped it off with his sword, and blood spewed across the deck as the beast wailed and returned to the sea.

“Hang on!” he shouted down at Hestie, before the ship began to pitch.

She grabbed the railing as another wave washed over her, nearly ripping her from the deck. If it weren’t for her super strength, she would have fallen into the sea.

Once the wave had passed, she shouted to Poros, “Save Mina and Jinsoo! They fell in!”

A beautiful mermaid with hateful eyes leapt into the air. She held Mina tucked in one arm like a football. Mina flailed her arms and legs and screamed at the top of her lungs as the mermaid plunged back into the ocean, taking Hestie’s friend with her.

Hestie shouted at Prometheus, who was now facing a creature that was a woman from the waist up and a snake from the waist down.

It was Echidna!

Since Prometheus couldn’t help her, Hestie turned to Poros, but he was slicing his sword through the air, trying to cut off Phorcys’s claws.

There was no one else to help Mina, so Hestie dove into the water after her friend.

Hestie swam as fast she could in the direction of the mermaid, who she now realized must be Keto, Phorcys’s wife, and the mother of monsters. Hestie could barely make out the mermaid’s tail flapping against the current ahead of her. Keto was too fast. Every time Hestie thought she might be gaining on her, the mermaid plowed ahead.

Suddenly Hestie became aware of something silver swimming beside her. It was a beautiful goddess. She was fully silver but wasn’t a fish.

“I’m Dione,” the goddess said. “I’ve come to help you and your friends.”

“So have I,” said another beautiful goddess—this one gold—who had swam up on Hestie’s other side. “I’m Clymene, Dione’s sister and Prometheus’s mother.”

Hestie couldn’t speak underwater, nor could she breathe, and she was running out of air. She prayed to the goddesses to save her friends as she raced to the tumultuous surface to catch some air.

When she emerged from the water, she found Poros flying above her. He reached out a hand for her to grab.

“But Mina and Jinsoo!” Hestie cried.

Then something wrapped around her ankles and pulled her under, and she went down, down, down, faster than she could think. Above her, Poros swam toward her.

She looked down to see Echidna’s enormous serpent tail had coiled around her ankles. Hestie kicked against the leathery coils, to no avail.

A cloud of red blood surrounded her in the sea, and the coiled serpent relaxed just enough that Hestie could escape. She swam at her top speed toward the surface. Poros was no longer in sight, and Hestie was dizzy and on the verge of passing out.

When she reached the surface, she bit the air hard, filling her lungs, gasping, choking. In the distance, something was coming toward her—something huge.

Poros lifted her into the air, and she screamed before she realized it was him. He swept her down into the huge thing that she now saw was Poseidon’s chariot, being pulled across the sea by three white mares—Seaquake, Crest, and Riptide. Poseidon stood at the reins, his sun-bleached hair and beard blowing in the wind, his turquoise eyes narrowed and focused. Inside the chariot, Mina and Jinsoo sat on the bench behind him. Hestie burst into tears.

“Oh, thank the gods!” she cried as she and Poros sat on the bench behind them and Poseidon drove his chariot into the sky. “But where’s Prometheus?”

“There.” Poseidon pointed toward The Marcella.

Slowly, the ship rose from the tumultuous sea into the air, and beneath it, holding the bottom of the hull amidships with his bare hands was Prometheus. He lifted The Marcella at least fifty feet above the surface of the water. Clymene shot from the water to join him at the bow, and Dione flew up to hold the stern. Then Poseidon raised his mighty trident and pointed to the monsters in the sea below. A jolt of electricity shot from the three prongs, paralyzing all of them. Phorcys, Keto, Chimera, Echidna, and Charybdis floated stiffly near the surface before they began to submerge. Only their eyes were capable of movement, and they looked up at those in the chariot with hate.

Then Prometheus and his mother and aunt lowered The Marcella back into the sea, which had begun to calm. Except for the broken window in the salon, the ship appeared unscathed. Prometheus flew to the cockpit, where he was joined by the two goddesses—one silver and the other gold.

“Come, Prometheus!” Poseidon hollered from the chariot.

“A captain never abandons his ship!” Prometheus called back.

“The rebellion depends on it!” Poseidon shouted.

Prometheus turned to his mother and said something Hestie could not hear, and then he joined them in the chariot beside Poseidon.

“Where are we going?” Prometheus asked.

“To the Underworld,” Poseidon replied just as a lightning bolt shot at them through the sky.