Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise (Oracle of Delphi #2), page 29
But at the foot of the dais, curled up into a tiny, unconscious ball, was another body.
A little boy.
Benjy.
XXX. CHLOE
Now, she was pissed.
She should've listened to Strafford. Hypnos had lied to her. This was the reason he had wanted Benjy for an icey. Because Benjy was the Heir, the only one who could possess the Lullaby that Hypnos obviously thought was his by right. Chloe fumed at the deception and wondered what it meant for Benjy. She'd promised him to Hypnos and even though she still had no plans of keeping up her end of the bargain, especially with this new evidence of his betrayal, she was sure Hypnos would still expect her to.
And Poppy. The girl thought she was the Heir. Chloe's heart raced, knowing the demigoddess wouldn't hesitate to kill her brother the second she found out she wasn't. She had to find them. She had just run out of time. And patience.
"Show us the way out of here," she demanded. She reached for Isolde and pulled the girl to her feet.
Persephone smiled and nodded once. "It would be my pleasure, Pythia. And please, take her with you." She waved her hand and a small body appeared on the floor next to her and Isolde.
"Iris!" Chloe knelt beside the tiny, unconscious goddess. "What have you done to her?"
"Nothing that cannot be remedied. She sleeps now, but she will awaken once she is away from this place."
She glared at the Queen. "You poisoned her rainbow and kidnapped her to intercept the letter the twins' sent me about Benjy, didn't you?"
"Yes. Well, no, Hecate did. After I disobeyed my husband to collect Adonis for myself, he bound me to the Underworld so I could never leave without his consent again." The Queen raised her arm to show off the steel cuff on her wrists. It was marked with several Greek letters and Chloe knew at once that it was a curse. Gods and their stupid curses.
"I'll find a way to free you from that."
"Bring me my war, Pythia, and we shall all be free."
Chloe stared at her. "What about Zeus? Isn't he your father?"
"I care not for my father. When Hades dragged me here and imprisoned me as his bride, he did little to rectify the situation. He could have ordered Hades to release me, yet he did not. My mother Demeter pleaded with him, but she was ignored, and it is her alone that I would not see destroyed. Do what you will with Zeus. I will not stand in your way."
More family drama, she thought. "I need to find my brother."
Persephone nodded. "Before you go, I have a gift for you, as a token of my sorrow."
She snorted. "You're not sorry. You're selfish."
"That may be. However, I wish for you to have this, regardless of your opinion of me." Persephone placed a nugget of onyx in her hand.
"The black magic," she said, taking it. In her dream, Persephone had offered this to Nicolai. She looked at Isolde and swore the girl did not like the fact that Persephone had given it to her.
"It will crumble into dust at the meeting of your worst enemy. They are the one you are to beware of. For their true honor will only be accomplished with your demise."
"Their honor?" She stared at the goddess. "My worst enemy is a demigod?"
"Indeed. So beware. Some demigods are more dangerous than their parents." With a swish of her skirts, Persephone turned and walked away.
"One more thing," Chloe said. Persephone stopped walking to listen but did not turn around. "What if it isn't the Fates' design for there to be a war of the gods?"
The Queen looked over her shoulder and smiled. "Then start one anyway."
After Persephone vanished, a secret path was revealed that led through a low mountain pass. Isolde carried an unconscious Iris while Chloe led the way. It was only when she pointed out the tiny halo of light that guided them through the pass that she realized she was the only one who could see it.
At the end of the path was a door. They stopped in front of it and Isolde stepped forward to hand over Iris. "Remember, Chloe. Remember what you swore on the River Styx. Don't tell Strafford you saw me."
Her heart thudded. She wasn't feeling the idea of leaving Isolde behind in the Underworld while she returned to the land of the living. "Come with me," she said. "Please."
Isolde shook her head. "I can't."
"How do you know? Have you ever tried to leave?"
The girl frowned. "No."
"See there? We could at least try. What's the worst that could happen? You're already dead."
"But you're not."
Good point. "But don't you want to see Strafford again? Even if it's just for a moment? What about Ace? He's in there too. They would be so happy to see you and I wouldn't have to ever break my vow. Not if you go to them yourself."
Isolde contemplated this for a long time. "I don't know what the consequences will be of my leaving."
"Probably something horrible. But that's a chance I'm willing to take if you are. For Strafford and Ace, it'll be worth it."
Isolde thought it over some more. Then she nodded. "Okay, Chloe. I will go with you. For my brothers. And if it works, maybe there would even be a way for me to see Felicity and Teagan. Maybe even my mother."
Chloe doubted it, but didn't say so. She was just so happy Isolde had agreed to come with her, she didn't want to spoil the moment. She turned toward the door. "How do we bust this thing open?"
Isolde came closer. "Read the inscription."
She bit the inside of her cheek. "Um, I don't know ancient Greek yet."
Isolde raised a brow. "An Oracle who doesn't speak Greek? They should assign you a philosopher. I'm sure my father will at some point."
"I don't want anything from Apollo, not even a tutor. He cursed Strafford and I don't trust him. Besides, he's trying to take Zeus's throne, or don't you remember that?"
Isolde nodded, but didn't say anything. She turned her eyes to the inscription on the door.
"I command this door to open," she said. "Shall I pass from one hell to another, with hope never to return."
The large stone door immediately rolled away and ground to a stop once it had uncovered a pitch-black passageway that she, of course, couldn't see into.
"I'll go first," she said, feeling brave for the first time in a while, "then you can hand me Iris and climb through yourself."
Isolde agreed and Chloe pulled herself up and through the entryway. She crawled through a short tunnel, then came out on the other side and found herself outside, staring up at a sky that seemed darker than it should be. It was night, but the sky was darker than that. It was more like a...void. Like the sky wasn't even really there. It was super creepy.
She was blocked in on both sides by tall cavern walls with doorways that kept appearing and disappearing every few seconds. She wondered what their use was, as it seemed impossible that anyone could even walk through any of them.
"Hand me Iris," she said to Isolde. "And hurry. Maybe you can tell me what these doors are and where they lead."
"Doors?" Isolde said, handing her the tiny goddess. Chloe grunted, taking her. The little goddess weighed a ton. How in the world had Isolde carried her all this way?
"Yes, doors. Magical doors. They keep coming and going and changing position."
Isolde's eyes widened and she prepared to lift herself up. "I know those doors. They are the —"
A goblin's hand clamped down over Isolde's mouth and an arm grabbed her waist.
"Where do you think you're going, dead one?" Alecto cackled. "You belong to us forever!"
She snatched Isolde away from the door.
"NO!" Chloe screamed. She lunged forward. But she never stood a chance of making it.
The last thing she saw was Isolde reach for her, and then the door rolled shut.
XXXI. CHLOE
Isolde was gone and terror engulfed her entire being. Or maybe it was guilt. Strafford would never know now. Like an idiot, she had sworn on Styx and sealed her fate. She was terrified. She didn't think this was a secret she could keep from the guy she was supposed to love. He would never forgive her if he ever found out that she had, and this put her in an impossible position.
Iris stirred in her arms and let out a little moan. Kneeling, she laid the goddess on the ground and waited for her violet eyes to open.
"Pythia," Iris groaned.
Chloe pushed some of the goddess's rainbow hair out of her face. "Hey, Iris. How are you feeling?"
The tiny goddess stretched, then used her as a crutch to stand. "I've been better." She looked down and sighed with relief. "I have my mailbag. That's all that matters."
"Persephone kidnapped you," she said, standing too.
"I know." Iris reached into her bag. "To keep this from getting to you."
Chloe unrolled the letter she was handed and saw it was indeed the letter the twins had sent to her to tell her about Benjy.
"You knew."
"About the Thetan? Yes."
"More gods seem to know than I'm comfortable with."
Iris nodded, but she was barely paying any attention. She was too busy watching the doors come and go.
"What are these?" Chloe asked.
"These are Doors of Lost Time."
"Doors of Lost Time?"
Iris nodded and yanked on her flower skirt. "They can take you away, back in time, and show you events that never happened."
She frowned. "How does that work? I don't get it."
"Don't you? Just because something never happened, Pythia, doesn't mean it was never fated to."
She glanced at one of the flickering doors. It disappeared a second later. "That's creepy."
"I must agree. I don't suggest opening one unless you are positive you can handle what you find, and even then, you may find nothing." The goddess waved a hand. "Nevertheless, everything has changed and there are things I must seek out now."
"Like what?"
"Like what would've happened had I gotten the letter to you on time. It would've changed so much, don't you think, Pythia?"
"I don't want to think about it at all. It'll only piss me off more."
"And as I've always said, there is nothing worse than a pissed off Oracle. The ancient Pythia is a testament to that." Turning away before Chloe could pry, Iris grabbed the handle of a door before it could vanish again. But then, she let go and turned around to face her once more. The door went about its merry way, disappearing.
"I almost forgot. I have another letter for you." Iris reached into her bag.
"For me?" She scrunched up her face. "From who?"
"Beats me. It just appeared in my mail bag."
"Does that happen a lot? Letters just appearing out of nowhere?"
"No." Iris smiled. "This is the first time it's ever happened."
Chloe gulped and held out her hand. "I don't want to read this."
"But you will." Iris handed her the scroll and motioned for her to unroll it. Reluctant, she did and began to read out loud.
"You do not know me and who's to say if you will when you do. Circumstances aside, I do hope we get the chance to meet before it is too late for Myth. I have what you need. You are what I want. Fate would be cruel to keep us apart. We meet before the darkness."
Chloe flipped the letter over. "That's it. That's all it said." No name. No signature. More riddles and vague statements. "Who is this from?"
"Again, I don't know," Iris replied. "You will probably find out sooner than you want to." She opened the door that appeared before her. A bright light seeped out and Iris stepped into it.
"Farewell, Pythia. I hope you find what you are looking for." The goddess looked around her, smiled, then slammed the door in her face.
Chloe just stood there for a moment, letter in hand. Many doors came and went before she turned to go in the only direction she could. Before going, she folded up the letter, yanked up her pants leg, and slid it between the half-dried pages of her journal of symbols.
The cavern walls grew shorter as she walked. She had Lawless all ready to go and was prepared to use it if necessary. Doors came and went around her, reducing in size as the walls shrunk away. She made it pretty far before a pungent floral scent assaulted her sense of smell.
She saw the field of flowers and stopped just short of the field's perimeter. She stared out over the horde of red-orange flowers, trying to get her bearings before proceeding. Was this some kind of forest? Home to some beast or creature that wouldn't hesitate to eat her face once she was within their territory? She was relieved to still be flanked on both sides by walls. At least an attack could only come from one direction. Yet that left her with only one direction to go too. Forward.
She hesitated. She wished there was a way to be sure of what she was getting herself into before going on, but it took her all of two seconds to remember she was in the land of "unsure". Nothing was ever really as it seemed.
A flash of silver caught her eye and dragged her gaze to the center of the field. There was a platform there and a stunning woman was laid out across the dais constructed upon it. Chloe immediately wanted a closer look at her, but something far more important caught her eye.
At the foot of the dais was a little boy curled up asleep in the fetal position. He was small and skinny for a boy his age, but he made up for it with intelligence and humor. His hair was dark brown, and his eyes, she knew, were even browner behind his soft lids. He wore his favorite superhero pajamas and only one shoe because the other was tied to the belt loop of her jeans.
"Benjy!" she screamed and took off across the field of flowers, blowing off any reservations she had.
The flowers seemed to part for her as she ran, coming together behind her once she was past. She didn't understand it, but she didn't question it either. Maybe it was the will of the Fates that made the flowers move for her, but maybe it wasn't. Either way, nothing would have kept her from getting to her brother. Nothing.
She stumbled, but quickly righted herself. She blinked as her vision became a little bit blurry. She shook her head and stumbled again, this time going down to her hands before resuming her clumsy sprint. Red pollen from the flowers was all over her hands now. She dusted her palms together and a puff of pollen blew into her face. She coughed and sneezed as it went right up her nose, stumbling once more, tripping forward.
She wasn't moving as fast as before. Her shoes weighed a ton on her feet and the weight of her hair was making her head bobble on her neck. She wished she could get rid of the shoes and the hair. She had to get to Benjy and these things were slowing her down. She blinked again. She could barely keep her eyes open now. What in the world was happening to her?
The platform was so close. She heard her name being called. Strafford? No. Ace. It was Ace. She couldn't see him and her mouth wouldn't work properly. She heard more voices call for her, but they could've been in her head.
She stumbled into the platform and with her remaining strength, she crawled up to Benjy. As soon as she was within reach, she touched his face. Crawling closer, she kissed his cheeks and forehead several times. She was too weak to cry with joy and knew she only had minutes before the darkness took her too.
She rose up to look at the beautiful woman lying on the dais, sleeping so soundly she wasn't even breathing.
Her hair was long and silver and her body was covered in a sheer robe of the same color. The woman had skin the color of the midnight sky and it sparkled all over, reminding her of how the Dropper's eyes used to twinkle all the time. That was what convinced her.
"Nyx..." She couldn't say any more, but at the moment, she didn't need to.
She glanced down at her brother. She mouthed the word 'Benjy' and bent down to kiss his closed eyes.
I'm so sorry, Benjy, she thought. I'm just so sorry.
She felt a sudden presence behind her. She turned, something slammed into the side of her head, and everything went black.
One eye opened, and then the other.
She groaned with pain at the simple effort.
Her head throbbed and the entire left side of her face ached something serious. Where was Ace with the pain meds when she needed him? She remembered hearing him calling out to her, but she hadn't seen him. Didn't matter now. He couldn't help her way down here.
She had no idea how long she had been out, but figured it had been long enough for the platform to lower itself into a dark abyss with no bottom and no hope of escape. She couldn't see the opening above her, yet could see everything around her as clear as if there were actual lights nearby. Must have been a trick of the Labyrinth.
She turned her head, looking for her brother and found Benjy sitting up, awake and alert. But his hands and mouth were bound and he seemed too afraid to move his feet.
"Benjy!" She tried to move, but found her hands and feet were bound as well. She jerked on her binds, grunting with the effort, but they didn't even budge. Benjy whimpered.
"Give it up. You're not going anywhere."
Chloe froze and turned to look at who had spoken. Anger consumed her when her eyes landed on the girl who had just stepped from around the dais Nyx slept on.
"Poppy."
The girl grinned. "Welcome to the party, Pythia."
Chloe actually hated the fact that she was going to have to kill this pretty girl. Poppy was gorgeous, with short blond hair dyed red in the front but swept back into a red pompadour and brushed flat in the back. Her sleepy eyes were a glittering hazel and her lips were truly pink and pouty. If Chloe didn't hate her so much, she might have envied her beauty. But as things stood, the girl was as good as dead.
"Did you drug me?" she asked. "Did you drug my brother?"
Poppy laughed and flipped up the collar of her leather jacket. "Haven't you ever watched the Wizard of Oz, Chloe? Poppies are potent. That's why they're used in morphine." She punched her fist into her open hand. "Knocks you right out."
She gritted her teeth. "Where are we?"
"This," Poppy turned in a circle, "is the Underneath."
The place Barnaby had mentioned. "What's the Underneath?"
"A never-ending void. A bottomless pit. Fall in there, and you'll fall forever."
Her body shuddered at the prospect. She swallowed. "What do you want with me?" It clearly wasn't to lead her to Nyx as that had already been done.
