Barcode: Cavern of Youth (22 page)

The trishulas on my elbows glow as Shiva begins absorbing fog. I have no clue what effect that will have.

A high pitched sound omits from their suits and they activate their barcodes. Mel fires a projectile from his chest that travels directly through my body. I wanted to test the power of the missiles, but they explode ten feet behind me. Interesting.

Geb follows through accordingly and plants a roundhouse kick on my arm. I hold Shiva up to defend my beautiful face. Unfortunately for him, his rough armor behaves like padding to defend against his blows. He’d be better off without it.

Swinging around his friend, Mel connects with a hook to my cheek. Both men shine their barcodes intensively. An onslaught of bright and colorful projectiles release from their suits. The sound of the explosions announce the damage I receive.

I roll on the ground and flip up in an attempt to regain my balance.

These two aren’t taking chances.

In a flash, they close in to finish the job. Both men attempt to land strong finishing moves—one on my spine and the other on the back of my head—but their punches land on an empty ground. They seem disappointed.

“Is he turning into a shadow?” Geb asks with a smile.

“It seems like he can travel through the darkness.” Mel increases the energy surging through his barcode. “It looks like I finally get to go all out.”

“Damn. I wouldn’t have warn armor if I knew someone was this strong. He’s blocking my punches without rubbing his arm.”

“You say that now, but the first guy definitely would have killed you if you weren’t wearing it. And don’t even think about taking it off. Helios said you have to wait until training’s over.”

Forty feet directly in front of them, I yell, “Though this may seem like an excellent time to talk about your clothing choices, I’d like to finish this up, ladies.”

They concurrently rush towards me.

With two men approaching me at once, I don’t want to use a gentle fighting style like Muay Thai. I shift to a Southpaw stance to gear my counter attack towards Mel. Placing my rear foot on its toes, I worry if he’s quick enough to capitalize on the weakness in this fighting stance. If he’s willing to reach for my solar plexus or groin, it’s all over.

I prepare to disappear in the darkness just in case he goes for a low kick, but both men remove heavy hand guns from their armor. Stupid.

Before Mel can raise his, I lunge towards him while spreading my legs. As I grab his wrists, he fires a shot between the open space.

Geb attempts to take aim at my head, but I swiftly move to Mel’s right side and force his right arm and the gun against my body. Geb has to refocus. Before they can blink, I take one large step back and raise Mel’s gun into the air, forcing his hand and elbow behind his back while angling the gun at the ground.

Because the suit is mechanical, it isn’t able to change speeds quickly enough. The gears assist me in snapping his arm when I use Mel’s momentum to throw him to the ground. Still holding his right hand, I drag Mel along with me, consciously moving fast enough to avoid the scope on Geb’s weapon. Mel never screams or moans, but accepts his coming fate.

Pressing my knee against his back and yanking the gun from him, I jab the steel against his cranium and release three shots. Quickly, I vanish into the shadows.

I dash behind a rock and drop the gun because Shiva’s getting upset. Geb becomes infuriated at the sight of his dead comrade. With his better judgment clouded, he chases after a faint sound in the darkness. Using his rage against him, I sneak around to attack from behind.

When Geb notices me, it’s a bit too late. He’s unable to raise the heavy gun fast enough, so he drops it and swings at my face with his right hand.

Instead of defending against the entire blow, I use my short size to block his punch from his shoulder. As he swings widely, I direct my attack near his deltoid, wrapping my arm around his. Shiva releases a wicked pressure that nearly dislocates his arm. It causes him to freeze for a split second.

I step on Geb’s bent leg to quickly climb on his back. While pressing small daggers from Shiva’s wristband into his neck, I twist his right arm and secure my legs underneath his armpits.

I flip us both on the ground. Now I have his neck wrapped with my legs. I’m not only breaking his arm, but wrenching and tearing the muscles.

Geb screams from the pain as I sit up to nail down his other arm with a short blade that Shiva just provided me with. Leaning back I interrogate him by screaming, “Why does Eve want Dennis’ arm? Say it or I’ll do this for hours.”

Not providing him with time to recover or answer, I twist his arm and tighten my legs around his neck. Once I’ve caused just the right amount of pain, I release him and grab the blade. Ferociously, I drag the small sword through the ground and his flesh, which slices his bicep in half.

I convert Shiva into a gun and aim at his legs. Geb cries, “Please. Please. No.” He wants to hold his arms, but neither moves at his command. He wails from the pain. He’s probably never suffered from so much damage; he’s not used to this type of agony. “Please,” he sputters.

I fire four more shots into his legs. “I’m not patient enough for this. Speak through the pain or I’ll keep going until you bleed out.”

“She!” He shouts in a swarm of tears, trying to get any word out that he can. “She wants his arm because his son cut off hers. She and Helios have been working nonstop to get her an arm, but none are strong enough to merge with her body. Helios believes that a really powerful barcode could solve the problem and Dennis has the best one.”

“Where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Shiva omits a humming sound as I provide her with energy. “I don’t know! I don’t! Please stop. Please!”

“Sure.” I shoot Geb in the head three times. “Let’s go Blue.”

Leading the way, I hop into the shadows, zip through the rocks, and dash between the two boulders that I could hardly squeeze in during my first trip. I’m able to stay in the shadows until we make it to the bridge.

Blue-Skin and I reappear, and calmly walk across.

“It’s just awkward to see you follow me without speaking.” He doesn’t respond so I blurt, “Get it off your chest.”

“I’ve seen you kill many intruders, but this was different. Merciless. Even your fighting style changed.”

“I’ve done far worse to many more.” My words cause him to flinch. “Now, I’m not the type to try and cheer people up, but I’d never turn against you if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Would you turn against your friends?”

“Depends on the situation.”

“Then you could turn against me.”

“Point taken. And that’s exactly why I’m not good at cheering people up.” Walking away, I mutter, “Ready?”

Blue-Skin follows behind me into the infinitely long room. We continue until we’re on the shore of the cavern. This time, the Daughters of Danaus don’t grab my feet, but I hear a faint sound behind me. I know I should continue to Hades’ place, but I open my eyes to hear and see things more clearly.

Light reflects off the surface of the water more brilliantly than it does with diamonds. The women coax,
Okodemah. Where are you going? Yeah! Drink us please. Your lips are gorgeous. Your body is too when you’re big.

“How did you see me before the bandages?”

We can travel through the fog too.

“I’m supposed to keep the bandages on for two years. I won’t be growing anytime soon.”

We can make you big this time. She’s right. We’ve been working on it and I think we have it down pat. Yes. Give us a sip Okodemah.

The temptresses make a tough bargain. Blue-Skin squints as I bend down to the water at the shore. It gently reaches to my face and creeps behind my neck. The water feels life-like. It reminds me of Carmen’s gentle hand.

Without warning, Hades appears behind me. The brute vehemently wrenches me from their grip. My feet dangle over the water as it stretches towards me.

Several voices cry,
Put him down Hades. Yes. We just want to kiss him again. He doesn’t have a girlfriend, right?
Shiva releases a few bolts of electricity. One reaches the water and many voices shout,
Ouch!

Hades advises, “Hey, you’ve survived one drink, don’t push your luck.”

As he places me on the shore, I ask, “What do you mean?”

“I told you, those witches poisoned their husbands. You never know when the water will turn against you.”

We’d never hurt Okodemah. We promise Hades. When do we ever make promises? Just let him take a sip and we’ll be nice to Zeus the next time he comes. Kind of.

“No. I can’t risk having my prized fighter hurt. I’m only giving him water made from the fog from here on out.”

“Wait,” I interrupt. “Why only the fog?”

“It’s boiled down and filtered.”

“You mean the water comes from here?”

“Yes. We get our water from the bridge room, but you can’t drink something that hot. So, if there’s another emergency, I’ll get you fog water. It takes time though. The one I sent you was my own personal stash.”

“How long?”

“Four months. Why?”

“Think you can get me a batch for finals?”

Hades joyfully replies, “Oh yes.”

In unison, the women yell,
That’s not fair Hades! Just let him drink us.

“Absolutely not. I can never tell when you’re in a good or bad mood.”

It’s okay, we can make the fog extra thick for Okodemah. Let’s start now. It’ll take a while to get the old stuff cleared out. Be ready Okodemah, we’re going to make you really strong. You better come thank us. It was such a good idea to come here with Hades.

Hades taps me on the back twice and motions for me to follow. “It’s a long walk, but you’ll be fine.”

Blue-Skin rubs his arm while stammering, “Master, he can travel through the shadows.”

“Who?” Hades asks with a skeptical expression. Blue-Skin gestures towards me. “Really? Who taught you that?”

Massaging my shoulder I reply, “You did.”

“You learned it just by watching?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t look like yours, but I can ride the frequency of shadows.”

Seemingly amused, he breaks out into an increasingly loud laughter. “But darkness has no frequency. It is nothing. You can’t measure velocity from nothing.”

“That’s the scientific theory, but I do it.”

Hades turns into a large circular shadow that spins at an alarming rate. He chuckles while bellowing, “Follow me.”

Using the darkness his shadow omits, I ride the waves down his path. We climb over walls and swing around trees. We even zip across a river nearly two miles long.

Within seconds, we’re standing in front of a magnificent building. There isn’t a single stone that’s missing from this structure. The brown bricks that were used to complete this haven’t been in style for centuries. I’ve only seen images on computer archives of something this marvelous.

The front of the structure is twenty percent stained glass. It looks like a library, which makes me not want to enter. But I could observe the flowers and grass that grow on the building all day. Hades laughs at my amazement as we walk up the ninety steps leading to the front door.

“Welcome to my home.”

“Man,” I say while dragging my feet through the front door. Between my fight earlier and trying to keep up with Hades, I’m spent. The beads of sweat falling at my feet are proof. “If you plan on killing me, this is a great place to do it.”

Hades slams the large door shut and removes his shoes. I almost do the same, but he waves his hands and gestures for me to follow him. “Do you always assume that people will kill you?”

“Yeah.”

The big man laughs loudly enough to make the walls rattle. Then, he covers his mouth. “Persephone’s normally home at this time. We have to be quiet.”

“Are you serious? You’re married to someone named Persephone?”

“Don’t you read kid? Of course.”

He does his best to quietly tiptoe across the wooden floors, but they creek the entire way.

The doors in this place are huge. The furniture and pictures on the walls are ancient, but nothing matches. There are times I see Hindu rugs next to a Mayan sculpture, which look pretty authentic. Then, there are American photo frames next to a Mexican flag.

“You’re well traveled I see.”

“We all are. Z especially, but he prefers collecting women. I’m satisfied with the mantles on the wall. I saw the things Hera does. She’s spiteful when he goes poking the family jewels in anyone.”

“That’s more than I wanted to know.” I don’t mind this guy calling himself Hades, but the fact that he’s married to Persephone, his brother is “Z”, and his sister-in-law is Hera takes things a bit too far. I’m afraid to continue following him. I may meet other delusional “gods” that want to make me bow down to them or offer a sacrificial lamb.

Once Hades opens the door to his pitch-black basement, he seems more relieved. Playfully, he rolls down the two hundred steps before crashing into his wall below. I decide that walking would be better.

By the time I get to the bottom, he’s already playing classical music, “O Fortuna” by Carl Orff in Carmina Burana, on his surround sound and smoking two cigars. He hands me what looks like the more flavorful one.

Spinning it around with my fingers, I ask, “Why is the wrapper red?”

“Can’t tell you, but take a seat.” As I draw the smoke into my mouth and sit down, he smirks. “You’re going to piss fire when you’re done with that one, but I promise there isn’t a cigar that’s finer.”

“Why’d you bring me here? And where did Blue-Skin go?”

“You still call him that? I wish I knew his real name. I have so many deliverymen and keeping up with them is difficult. I find myself giving him more tasks because he’s the only one I can remember. I feel stupid yelling
Blue-Skin
, but he joyfully responds.” Hades grunts, “The others get jealous.”

The massive sized man heard my question, but refuses to answer. He brought me here to avoid what he wants to talk about.

“We’re friends, right Okodemah?”

I lean back in my reclining chair and watch the smoke as it waves to the ceiling. In spite of all the space on the upper floor, Hades’ basement is compact. There’s only enough room for two chairs, a television, and large speakers.