Alex Anderson The Last Son of Zeus (21 page)

Hera's grip tightened as she prepared to break Alex's neck.

Alex used Hera's strength against her and shoved the rod into his chest. It ignited into a huge bolt of lightning and killed them both.

~ * ~

Alex gasped for air.

He opened his eyes and looked around. Fiona and Bos kneeled beside him.

Fiona kissed him on the forehead. "Not today, Alex Anderson. Not today."

BOOK FORTY

ALEX GOES TO OLYMPUS

"So, what you're telling me," Artemis asked, "is that my brother died for nothing?"

She looked at the other gods gathered at the table--Demeter, Dionysus, Hades,
Hephaestes
, Hermes, Ares, and Poseidon. A few of them met her gaze, but none spoke. "And it wasn't out of some sort of retribution from Zeus, as we all feared. Instead it was the meddling of some human child?"

Hermes shrugged. "None of us saw it coming! We didn't go because we thought there was no way we could lose. And then BOOM," he slammed his palm on the open table. "He totally fucking killed her!"

Ares smiled.

Artemis's grip tightened on the arms of her chair. "And you admit to both being there at the end
and
doing nothing?"

"What the hell would you do? I went down there to see what was what. I didn't think he would. He just killed Hera and came back to life! I didn't know what to think. I just fucking took off!"

Artemis's knuckles whitened. "Coward."

"Hey, I didn't see any of you fucks down there!"

Poseidon crossed his index fingers and touched the tip of his nose. "Had we known the future of our people was to be determined on this--and I use the term ever so lightly--battlefield, I would have been there."

Demeter nodded. "As would I. As would all of us."

Hades looked at some dirt under his fingernails. "Well, I probably wouldn't have."

"How did this Anderson child come back to life?" Poseidon said.

"I don't know," Hermes said. "He stabbed himself in the chest with a thunderbolt. It killed both of them instantly. And then, the next thing you know his body reformed. Just put
itself
back together."

Poseidon smiled.

"What?" Artemis said. "What do you find so amusing?"

"Zeus had nothing to fear from Athena. She was, essentially, an extension of his reason and will whose sole purpose was to do his bidding on Earth. He passed much of himself to her, including a fraction of his strength, skill, and--"

"Fucking immunities," Hermes said. "Holy shit, he made her immune to lightning."

"Yet neither of them knew this. Zeus used this knowledge, or lack thereof, to turn this child into an actual hero. How long has it been since we have seen--?"

"I don't give a flying fuck what he is!" Artemis stood up from her stone chair and pointed a trembling finger at Hermes. "He's still just a being with sixteen years of existence! And you're telling me he was able to best Hera, Apollo, and the most impressive army assembled since Troy--AND WE LOST!"

Hades stroked his beard. "Actually the army of Troy was there."

Artemis closed her eyes and barely managed to contain her fury. "We're going back."

Poseidon looked up.

"We're going back. We're not standing for this. I will wipe all traces of Alex Anderson's life from the face of the Earth. I will kill all of his family and friends. I will kill Athena for daring to oppose us. I will then lead all of us into a new golden age. What say you, my brethren? Are you ready to take this triumphant step with me?"

Demeter was about to respond.

Then Artemis exploded.

The sound of thunder still echoed through the halls of Olympus when the last of her blood and body parts fell to the marble table. All of the gods, except for Poseidon and Hades, stood, ready to bolt. They faced the chamber entrance.

And saw Alex Anderson.

Hades smiled.

The others acted like they wanted to do or say something upon the teenager's arrival, yet all they could do was stare. Alex walked right past them to the chair at the head of the table. A chair previously owned by Zeus then Hera. A chair not even Artemis in the middle of her
rantings
dared sit in.

Alex plopped right down.

"So..." he looked around the room, "how we
doin
'?"

Demeter took a step toward Alex. She slipped slightly on a piece of Artemis. "H-how did you? How did--"

Athena stepped into the chamber. All eyes were upon her as she calmly walked by the other gods and took her place at the table to Alex's right. The blood of Apollo still decorated her armor.

"You brought him?" Demeter said. "
You brought him!
You truly have no--
no
shame, do you? No self-respect? You don't care anything about your kind, your responsibilities!"

"On the contrary, Demeter, I care more of my responsibilities than you can possibly imagine. I unknowingly, yet gratefully, brought Alex Anderson back to life after his sacrifice. A sacrifice that firmly established his position as both hero and leader, then yours as follower."

Demeter started to say something, but the sound of heels echoing through Olympus stopped her. Aphrodite entered behind Alex. "Hi, sorry I'm late everybody, traffic's hell in the otherworld today."

Everyone save Alex and Athena looked at her in disbelief. "What? What'd I miss?"

Hermes took a step toward her. "She helped them too! She had to help them! I saw her leave Olympus all pissed off. She--"

Alex slammed a lightning rod on the table. Somewhere in the distance thunder sounded. "That's right. I found new ones. Now, sit down."

Hermes looked at Alex.

"Sit. The fuck. Down."

Hermes sat the fuck down.

"Here's how it is," Alex took his seat again. "Listen good,
cause
I'm only
gonna
say this once. Hera's dead. I killed her. If anybody else comes down and start's
doin
' shit he shouldn't, I'm
gonna
kill him too. You killed dad. Now I'm taking his place."

Demeter snorted.

Alex picked up the rod. "Try me."

Demeter scanned the table looking for support. Finding none, she stood and left.

The other gods soon followed. Many of them stared at Alex. Many of them wanted to say something, yet, to Poseidon and Hades' amusement, none dared.

It didn't surprise Alex to see Aphrodite stay behind. It also didn't surprise him to see her demeanor completely change once the other gods were out of earshot.

"I guess you know what happened?" she said to him.

"Uh-huh. He tried to kill us twice. Beholden or not, he deserved to die. If you decide to get
retributional
, the same will happen to you."

She looked at Fiona and smiled. "There are many different manners of retribution, honey."

Aphrodite left.

Alex turned to Fiona. "What does that mean?"

Fiona slowly placed her sword on the table. "It means coming here was a one-way trip. I can't go back without merging with another human."

"What?"

"I'll merge with another human and change. Fiona will be gone. I don't want that, Alex. I
feel
now. I'd rather feel separation than nothing at all."

"I don't...I don't want that either, but why the hell bring me up here?"

"They had to see you. They had to know you were serious. It was the only way."

"There has to be a way..."

"There is. Aphrodite. She is the only other one with enough power to teleport another."

Alex looked at the exit Aphrodite left through. "Perfect."

"But..." Fiona placed his hands around her waist. "She is both fickle and foolish. Soon she will realize Paris was not a substantial loss. She will replace the role of Cupid with another as she always does. Furthermore, I will be in a position to help you up here while Bos and Hector help you down below."

"Wonderful. An obnoxious sidekick and an out of time Trojan. It's starting to sound like an X-Men comic."

"There are worse lives to be had."

Now is the time
.

Alex looked at the ground. "Fiona...I'm sorry about that night. I'm sorry about getting you drunk, I'm sorry about making you leave." He looked at her.

She grinned. "I was drunk, but it wasn't your fault. We made love, and that wasn't your fault. I said I loved you. I didn't leave because of what you said or did. I left because of what you didn't say. But that wasn't your fault either."

Alex could barely remember that night. His mom had been out of town. Fiona and Bos came over and they got drunk. Really drunk. Alex remembered Bos passing out, but certain details about him and Fiona had been lost. He thought a kiss at least, and a fooling around at most. He never thought...

"I still can't say it," Alex said. "I'm just..."

"Numb. I know. Believe me, I know."

A long silence passed. All Alex could think about was a pissed off and drunk Fiona driving her car right into that oak. And
it being
his fault. She drank because of him and left early because of him. Now, she was stuck up here because of him.

"And I also know you will say
it
eventually," Fiona said, interrupting his thoughts. Her light tone and smile made most of Alex's morbid thoughts fall away. "When you're not inebriated and the fate of the world isn't riding on your shoulders."

Alex couldn't help but laugh. "And how do you know that?"

Fiona reached into her armor and yanked out Alex's mashed up ball of yarn. "See? Says right here: 'I love you, Fiona. You complete me.'"

"Are you serious?"

Fiona tossed the ball of yarn away. "Nah, I'm just fucking with you."

She kissed him.

He kissed her back.

~ * ~

Hera hated Hades.

Admittedly, not as much as she hated Earth. But still, quite badly.

She looked over her shoulder, past the boiling lava and saw
him
there. "After three thousand years, I see you finally found your way home, dear."

Zeus walked to her and plopped down on a rock. "You lost everything didn't you, sugar-tits? You thought that by talking the others into their betrayal you could finally overtake me. Me," he slapped her playfully on the shoulder, "Zeus. The god who always wins. The god who sees everything. The god who knows everything.

Hera looked at Zeus and stood. She hadn't even realized she'd been sitting. "You knew. You knew events would--you--
you
planned this. You planned," gesturing all around her, "
this?
"

"Yep."

"How? The fates decreed Anderson's death. It said nothing about being linked to my death." Hera struggled to put everything together. "You--
you
switched the thread. That's the only way. You switched Alex Anderson's thread."

"You'd be amazed at how much bargain bin thread from Wal-Mart resembles the thread of three Fate sisters. Threw in some convincing acting both up there and down here--"

"How far back does it go?" HOW FAR?"

Zeus kept his tone neutral. "Since right after The Fall."

"
All
this time?"

"All of the Greek Heroes, Hera. Every single one of them was an attempt to get you down here. All of the affairs I had on Earth were an attempt to force you to overthrow me. And guess what--none of them worked until now. I knew I needed a little extra something to spur the others into action."