Prophecy of the Setting Sunrise (Oracle of Delphi #2), page 32
She gritted her teeth, trying to calm her rising anger, and told him the story. The entire story, though she left out what she had learned about the G.U.P from Benjy. By the end, Strafford was fuming.
"Artemis..." He looked pained right before he became angry. The only god he seemed to have even the slightest bit of respect for couldn't be trusted either. That had to hurt a little bit. His fists clenched as he cracked his knuckles. "Why didn't we see this comin'? Why didn' I?"
"I don't know." She bit her lip. "Strafford? What about the Virgo? We made a deal."
"Screw the deal."
Ace approached them. As Strafford stepped aside, Ace took a hold of her wrist. "These look painful." He rubbed a finger over the welts Poppy's binds had created. "Let me give you somethin' for them." He side-glanced Strafford, who just stared back at him.
"That would be great, Ace, thanks."
Looking back and forth between them, Ace pulled out balm and began to spread it over her red wrists.
"I know there's somethin' you guys aren' tellin' us," he said. They just looked at him. He sighed. "I don't like feelin' like I'm being left out of things. None of us do."
"You're not being left out," she said. "I just need to sort some things out. You guys have risked everything to protect me. Now it's my turn to protect you."
"We don't need your protection. We're the guardians and we need to know wha's going on. I know you want to figure this out on your own and all, but —"
"Apollo."
Ace quieted. "Huh?"
She swallowed. "Apollo is the god that wants Zeus's throne."
He paled. "You —" he cleared his throat. "Are you sure abou' tha'?"
She nodded. "This is why we were keeping it from you. I know how you three feel about your dad." She let her fingers graze over his sun tattoo. "Despite everything, you love him."
Ace just stared at her, then his eyes dropped to the ground.
"I lied abou' the mirror."
Her hand dropped from his face. "What?"
"I said, I lied. Abou' the mirror. I did see somethin' in it."
She and Strafford shared a look. "What did you see?"
Ace stared past her, across the sea of lifeless poppies. "I saw me and our da. We jus' stood there for a minute, lookin' at each other. Then he held out his hands, palms up. There was this flash of light and a sword appeared. He gave it to me and said somethin', but I couldn' hear..." He trailed off and met her gaze. "I'm sorry I lied. I was scared the vision meant somethin' bad and I didn' want to add to your problems, you know?"
She nodded. "I understand."
"Would you, though?" Strafford asked. "Would you fight on his side, even if I told you Artemis was the one tha' had Benjy kidnapped? That Apollo's the one that turned Hector in to Tyche?"
Ace's eyes bulged. He shook his head. "Our da wouldn' do tha'..."
"Come on, bro. You know better than tha'."
"But..." He looked over his shoulder at Benjy. "Why?"
"So I would wake up Nyx," she said. "So Benjy could claim the Lullaby. He wants to use it against Zeus."
Ace was silent and she could sense him replaying their entire mission in his head.
"So answer me, bro," Strafford said. "Knowin' wha' you know, would you still fight on his side?"
Ace shrugged. "If I'm destined to. Maybe Chloe should read my Kismet..."
Strafford snorted. "Your Kismet? This isn' abou' your Kismet. This is abou' Chloe's Kismet, the Great Unknown Prophecy. You swore your life to her and as her guardian, her destiny is now yours. We have to find the Zodiacs and stop Chaos from risin'. We have to put the gods back in their places and return order to Myth. And I stand before you, not as your brother, but as your Prince, informin' you those are the only options you have."
Ace met his brother's hard stare. After a moment, he nodded and circled his fist around his heart. She wasn't sure if that meant he actually accepted Strafford's words or if he was just agreeing so his brother wouldn't be mad at him.
"Can I tell the others, Chloe?"
She sighed. "Please, yes. They should know too."
He turned to go, but before he could turn all the way around, she stopped him, leaned forward, and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"Thank you," she said, hoping he could hear in her voice how much she meant it. Those two words encompassed everything she wanted to say but couldn't really express.
Ace smiled at her with an easiness that only he possessed, then left. She looked down at her wrists. They were all healed up.
"I hope we're doing the right thing," she said, rubbing them. "I hope I'm right about all of this."
"You are."
"But the G.U.P..."
"Choices, Red. It's all abou' choices. I refuse to believe anymore tha' you don't have any. You said so yourself, the Zodiacs have to go back to the Regalis Stella."
"But that just takes care of Chaos. Even if Chaos doesn't rise, it won't put an end to the gods' feud. I know it won't. Not after what Benjy told me."
Strafford's eyes narrowed. "Wha' are you talkin' abou'?"
She told him about the war that had never made it into the history books. The one where Apollo rose up against Zeus...and failed.
The Prince's expression turned stoic. "So you do have a choice."
She shook her head. "I'm not following."
He chuckled, but it was empty and cold. "You have to decide whether to fight for Apollo, or for Zeus."
There it was. The end game. What she didn't say was that the Fates had already decided and they were just waiting for her to figure it out. Deep in her gut, her Intuition was telling her that the decision was not going to be so easy. There was something she was missing, something important.
And it was going to change everything.
A cracking sound ripped through the air.
"What was that?" she heard Swindle say. Another crack, a louder one, came then. She searched around for the source of it and found nothing.
"The hell is going on?" Ace said.
She peeked and pushed Strafford to the side. "Watch out!"
A second later, a black...rock?...crashed down in the place he had just been standing.
"What the..." She stooped down to examine it. The piece of rock was dark...and glittering...with something...
She looked up. She hadn't noticed, but the black void that shielded the Underneath was now midnight blue and filled with beautiful, twinkling stars.
Which were now starting to crash down around them in huge chunks.
"The sky is falling!" Benjy shrieked. "It's Chicken Little all over again!"
He was right. It was. But her Intuition knew it was more than that.
"Bolt!" Strafford shouted, pulling her out of the way of yet another huge chunk of sky.
They took off for the only exit available. The dead poppies crunched under their feet as they ran and dodged the atmosphere and stars that pounded down around them. She was happy to see Hector carrying Benjy, as she knew he wouldn't have been able to keep up at the pace they were going.
"Damnit!" Strafford cursed again as they dodged a slab of sky that smashed into a thousand stars as it met the ground.
The falling sky was gaining on them, but the exit was near. The doors swung open, revealing the darkness on the other side. She felt a tinge of relief and dread as she wondered what awaited them. She just wanted this to be over. Had she not saved her brother? Had she not fulfilled the prophecy? What else was left for her to do? All of her friends were alive and well and if they could just make it out of this Labyrinth, the mission would end and all of them would be safe again.
"Go! Go!" She found herself stopping and letting everyone go through the door before her. A hunk of sky crashed only a few feet from her, but until everyone was through, she wasn't moving. Hector and Benjy went through first. Theseus and Anne Maria followed. Swindle blew past her, with Bill flying overhead, then came Ace. Strafford waited with her, and as the last piece of sky fell in one massive chunk, they leapt through the doors into the darkness.
They slammed shut behind them.
They all just stood there for a while, catching their breath and coming to terms with the fact that they were all still alive and kicking.
"Wha' the bloody hell was tha' abou'?" Ace said, breathing hard with his hands on his knees.
"That was a glimpse into the future," she replied, breathless. "Chaos is awake."
She gave it a moment to register, which it did with shared looks and drooped heads. "The Zodiacs are loose now, all of them except for the Taurus. If we don't set things right, that is what Chaos is going to do to Myth. He's going to bring it crashing down on our heads." Her tone softened. "And everything will be destroyed."
No one said anything and she took the opportunity to survey their surroundings.
They were standing at the plinth of a mountain. It wasn't one of those pointed, jagged ones, but rounded on the top and smooth all the way around. A cable trolley was dropping people off at the visitor's center near the summit, picking up others and carrying them back down.
"I know this place." Across the huge lake that was situated at the base of the mountain was the camping ground where Benjy had claimed to see the chimera all those years ago. Now it made sense. The entrance to the Labyrinth was in the mountain.
"Stone Mountain Park is a Terra Gateway. We're back in Georgia."
They were in a very isolated part of the park where only trees and moss grew and red Georgia clay stained the soles of their shoes with every step. The chances of them running up on another person that wasn't a part of their crew were slim. Yet it was only minutes later that Swindle pointed out a tall figure headed right toward them.
"Hey, jukkas. Check it out."
They all turned to look.
A man was approaching, weaving his way through the trees. He moved slowly, as if in no hurry at all, like he knew they weren't going anywhere until he arrived. She recognized the white robe the man wore, just as the demigods pulled their weapons.
"Put your weapons away," she said. When no one listened to her, she shouted, "I mean it! I'm the Oracle and I said, put your damn weapons away!"
No one disobeyed her this time, not even Strafford. With surprised looks, daggers and swords were returned to their sheaths and the sword of Apollo was summoned back to its internal existence. Strafford's gray eyes glinted from the setting sun and she saw something in them that made her angry insides tingle. Pride. He was proud of her. The pierced side of his mouth rose up in a half smile and then he did something she never expected.
He gave her the Prince's Honor. With his fist still at his heart, he bowed his head and stepped back behind her, leaving her out front. In charge. Their leader.
The Oracle of Delphi.
The man was upon them now, and after getting a good look at his unhooded face, she knew right away who he was.
"Oracle." The man fell to his knees in front of her.
"Phoenix."
The robed man looked up but didn't seem surprised that she knew who he was. She couldn't sense anymore Thetans in the area and came to the conclusion that Phoenix had come alone. He obviously hadn't wanted them to feel threatened in any way. Smart of him.
"How did you find us?"
"Benjamin is my brother by fate, my lady. I can sense him, even though our bond is not as strong as it soon will be."
"So you've come to take him away." She heard the others move around behind her, but they kept silent.
Phoenix bowed his head again. "Yes, Oracle."
"You can't have him."
Benjy appeared at her side. "Sissy..." He started to say, but she cut him off.
"My brother's safety comes first. With you, he will always be in danger. With you, he'll always be marked for death. The gods will hunt you, and at some point, they'll find you."
"Yes, Oracle."
She paused. "You don't even bother denying it."
Phoenix looked at her. "How can I deny the truth? We Thetans are indeed marked for death. And yes, the gods hunt our kind and they will never stop hunting us. Not until every Thetan is dead and their false sense of security has returned. But it is not us they should fear, is it, my lady? It is each other."
She cocked her head. "Just because what you say is true doesn't mean I'll just let you take Benjy away. He's safer with me."
Benjy yanked on her arm. "Sissy, I have to go."
"You don't have to do anything. Now hush."
Her little brother stamped his foot. "But everyone will die if I don't!"
She looked down at him, surprised. "How do you know that?"
Benjy looked embarrassed all of a sudden. Everyone was staring at him, waiting for his answer.
"The crazy girl told me stuff, and this thing—" He hit at his chest. "—keeps trying to make me sing." His little brown eyes turned pleading. "I can help, Sissy. Please let me go with Phoenix. I...I want to."
She quickly became aware of the fact that her baby brother was serious. She realized something else too. Benjy had been given as Nyx's Heir, but that had only been part of it. Now he would be given to the other part of his destiny, as a Thetan. But she had known this all along, she had to force herself to admit. She had just wished for a different outcome, as she had in so many things.
But fate had won again.
Her voice was barely audible. "Okay. I will let you go. I have to let you go."
"Are you sure abou' tha', Red?" Strafford asked, giving Phoenix the evil eye.
"I have to," she said again. She glared at Phoenix. "If anything happens to him, the heroes you see standing behind me will be paying you a visit. A fatal one, and you can be sure there won't be any survivors this time."
He seemed startled for a moment, then bowed his head. "Yes, Oracle. I will guard him with my life."
"Swear to it on the River Styx."
The Thetan's eyes widened, but he did as she commanded. "I swear on the River Styx that I will protect your brother's life with my own."
She nodded, in no way satisfied with this turn of events. "First, he has to come back to Savannah with me. Our mom will want to see him again before I let him go."
And they could expect to go another round with Beth who would be even more against letting her eight-year-old son run off into the world with a complete stranger.
"Of course, Oracle," Phoenix said, standing, "I would never—"
"Watch out!" Anne Maria screamed.
Without thinking about it, she dove to the ground and threw her body over Benjy's, just as a huge, fire-spewing creature leapt over their heads. She screamed and rolled her body, taking Benjy with her.
The herd of chimeras came down on them like predators on the hunt. From the right, from the left, even down the side of Stone Mountain they came, roaring and spewing fire in every direction. Trees and grass caught on fire and began to spread to the forest beyond.
She rolled to her feet, pulled Benjy up, and thrust him into Phoenix's arms. "Take him!" she screamed. "Keep him safe!"
"No! I want to stay with you!" Benjy screamed.
"Take him, Phoenix!"
Phoenix obeyed her, swept Benjy up into his arms, and headed for the rock cluster near the mountain's base. A chimera bounded after them and her reaction was instantaneous. With Lawless drawn as a sword, she sprinted after the lion-serpent hybrid and with a wide swing, cut off the head of the snake it had as a tail. It turned on her and tried to blast her with a round of fire. She dove and rolled away and was instantly attacked by another chimera. It reared back a clawed paw to maul her.
"DIE!" she shrieked as Lawless morphed, she swung her arm up and buried the blade of her dagger in the chimera's face. The beast bellowed and collapsed dead on top of her. Its weight nearly crushed her. She pushed and punched at its corpse with no progress, then it was suddenly shoved from off of her.
Strafford pulled her to her feet. "Kill as many more as you can, wan," he said. And just like that, he was over his short-lived aversion to her fighting.
She nodded. "I'll keep them from getting to Benjy. You keep them from getting to me."
They split. She ran to the foot of the rock cluster, leaping over the dead chimera that someone had put out of its misery. Phoenix and Benjy had made it a good ways up the mound and watched the battle unfold from a considerably safe distance. She positioned herself into a crouch, sword on the ready, psyched up to defend them if she had to.
Strafford jumped right back into the heat of the battle, sunsparking as many of the fire-breathing beasts as he could. Fire blew through the fight, catching Ace's clothes on fire. Shouting, he rolled on the ground to put it out, only to be jumped on by three chimeras. The twins dove in to save him. Hector cut off the heads of two while Theseus dragged Ace out of the pile-up. The third one Swindle took care of by gutting it down the side of its abdomen.
Anne Maria had a chimera lassoed and pinned to the ground. But she underestimated its strength and with a roar, it flipped her. In the struggle, its claws raked across her face, leaving behind a set of red gashes.
"Theseus!" Chloe screamed. "Anne Maria!"
The hero turned away from the chimera he had just put down, and when he saw the bounty struggling to keep the beast from mauling her entire face off, he ran and lunged for it. The chimera and Theseus rolled away, and Anne Maria stumbled to her feet, holding her face and screaming.
Chloe ran to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Come on!" she shouted, pulling the bounty away. Back at the cluster of rocks, she forced Anne Maria to climb. "Phoenix! She's coming to you!" The Thetan nodded and proceeded to slide down a few rocks to meet Anne Maria halfway.
Chloe turned back to the battle just as a chimera bit down on Strafford's left leg and another leapt up and clamped down on his shoulder, bringing the Prince crashing to the ground.
"Strafford!" she screamed and before she knew it, she was in the fight, slashing and stabbing whatever beast came within her reach. Swindle and Hector took on the chimeras attacking Strafford, while Ace and Theseus helped her defend against the rest.
That's when she heard, "So, you furballs like to play with fire, eh?!"
She jerked around. Standing there was Haley Havoc, completely engulfed in flames. In the distance, the water rose up out of the lake and bathed the landscape as it headed their way. She almost cheered. Mystic Mayhem had come too. She didn't know how or why, but the Chaotics had come and not a moment too soon.
