Muse Unexpected (29 page)

Sophie’s attacks were coming quicker and quicker, and no one seemed to have a chance to mount a counterattack. Callie saw Qiaohui crouching low and as Sophie had turned her attention to another group, the leader threw a burst of energy at the man standing next to Sophie. It struck him in the head and his head cracked open, exposing a hideous face.

It’s clay
. Callie realized.

Qiaohui threw another energy burst, but a burst from Sophie collided with it, and the Asian leader was thrown into several guests and knocked unconscious.

Sophie raised her hands to her head and held it. Callie was sure Sophie was going to pass out.

“Mom?” Sophie said before collapsing.

Callie was within a few feet from reaching Sophie when the twelve men, who had received the signal from Pandora, stretched out their arms and promptly exploded into shards of pottery, the blast and debris knocking a larger portion of the ballroom guests unconscious. The guests who managed to avoid the blast fled in terror through the broken French doors, as the creatures that were hidden in the clay shells took flight and began attacking them.

Callie tried to stand again, but threw herself to the ground, nearly colliding with one of the flying demons. The sound of tearing flesh and screams made Callie terrified for the wounded and dying around her. She could see some had already begun to heal, while others were too far gone to be helped. Right now, she had to stop Pandora and Persephone. She had to make sure Bennett and Angela were okay. She had to save Sophie.

Callie stood up and saw Sophie unconscious at the feet of her dance partner. Before Callie could react, the man picked up Sophie.

Pandora raised her hand toward the man and with a flick of her wrist liquefied his exterior shell, exposing yet another one of the hideous creatures.

Pestilence.
My daughter is being held by one of the evils Pandora let out of her damn box.
Callie didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t risk attacking the creature holding her daughter for fear of hurting Sophie, so she focused on Persephone as the electricity crackled around her.

Out of the corner of her eye, Pandora saw Sophie’s tall mutt regain consciousness. She could smell the rage and fear building inside the boy, knowing full well it wouldn’t be too long before he wouldn’t be able to control himself.

“Finally, it’s going to get interesting,” she said.

She watched as the boy’s muscles underneath his skin grow, expand and stretch. A low, guttural sound of pain came from his throat. She enjoyed the sounds of his pain, as he stretched and grew, and even winced as the sickening sound of bones breaking, growing, and fusing together filled her ears. Blood seeped out of his mouth as his jaw expanded and teeth pushed out of his gums to form fangs.

“Now that has got to hurt,” she said, taking in the energy caused by his pain. It had been so long since she had experienced such horrific agony. It was delicious to her.

She was surprised how the extensive transformation only took a few seconds. Transformed, the boy was a ten-foot-tall Minotaur. Pandora knew now was the time to take care of the girl and she turned as the Minotaur roared at her and charged.

She laughed at him and raised both of her arms, levitating the shards of Persephone’s former escorts off the floor. She knew the creature was going too fast to stop and she smacked her hands together, sending the jagged-pieces of pottery shooting towards him. They struck him in the head, pierced his limbs and torso, and with each impact he roared in pain, but he didn’t stop.

She closed her eyes for a second and called her legacy to her defense. She didn’t have to open her eyes to know they were there, her demons in all of their hellish glory, with their gnashing jaws and their leathery wings flapping with excitement. She reached over to the demon closest to her and her hand gently caressed its black flesh, which was covered in oozing sulfuric slime. Its yellow eyes glowed in ecstasy.

With her mind she commanded them to concentrate their powers on the Minotaur, bringing him to his knees.

“It’s amazing how far concentrated evil can go,” Pandora said, walking down the staircase, towards Bennett. “These creatures, the evils of the world, are my legacy. I carry them with me always. The gods thought they were cursing me for opening up the box, but little did they know they were giving me ultimate power.”

Pandora raised her hand and used her will to pull Bennett toward her. She licked her lips as she watched pieces of debris slice into his flesh.

“I can only imagine the horrific visions you are seeing, paralyzing you with all of the human suffering and agony my evils cause in the world,” Pandora said. She knelt to look him in the face. “For all of your strength and ability, you still aren’t anything more than a disgusting Demigod born of inferior stock. You’re nothing but a mutt.” She kicked Bennett, sending him skidding several yards away from her. “Let me give you the honor of being the first I kill tonight. But first, I need to leave my mark on you.”

She wondered if she’d made a mistake and walked towards the boy. He was too far away from her demons and she needed to make sure he continued to remain frozen so he could watch her kill his love. She reached him and noticed his eyes were shut and chuckled.

I’m being foolish. He’s not going anywhere
.

She began to gather her energy to brand the Minotaur mutt with the word Nothos. She saw him turn over and heard his roar before she sensed she was flying through the air.

That little bastard punched me. How dare—

She grunted as part of her torso caught the balcony railing and her exterior clay shell cracked. A piece of the wooden orchestra screen smashed against her face and she was sure her flight took her through the middle of the piano, cutting it in half. She blacked out, as she tasted the back balcony wall and saw a huge chunk of her face break away and crash to the floor.

Callie was attacking Persephone. She glanced over and saw Bennett’s attack on Pandora. He clearly had used the last of his strength and lay unconscious as his body changed back into his human form, leaving the boy naked and bleeding. She thrust her hands forward and walked towards the goddess, hurling one energy burst after another, hoping she would catch the goddess off guard. But Persephone managed to deflect each of the bursts, sending them careening around the room.

Callie was exhausted. One energy burst struck a chandelier that crashed to the ground near Sophie. Not thinking clearly, Callie allowed her attention to be drawn away from Persephone as she made sure the chandelier hadn't hurt her daughter. Callie’s pause allowed Persephone to send a powerful burst of energy that struck Callie with such force she was slammed into the wood floors, shattering them and breaking her ankle.

I can’t fail
.
I have to keep them talking, delay them until I can heal, come up with another plan, do something. It can’t end like this. I refuse to let Sophie die like this. Please God, take me, not my daughter.

“Why?” Callie demanded in anguish, somehow managing to get back to her feet. She limped towards Persephone. She wiped away the blood dripping from her mouth and nose with the back of her hand.

“Do you
really
need to know why?” Persephone said. “How about you start, Penny?”

“With pleasure,” Pandora said as she made her way from the balcony. Bennett had hit the goddess so hard Pandora’s exterior casing cracked in several places. She now had large chunks missing from her face and other parts of her body. With each step she took, large chunks of her shell fell off, exposing a wet, bubbling center of hot molten clay.

“Excuse my appearance, but in a few short moments the damage the mutt caused will be fixed. The molten clay you see allows me to regenerate body parts. It has also allowed me to take on the painful process of slicing off portions of myself to create the living clay figures that were part of Persephone’s entourage. Thanks to Persephone’s painting talents, my evils were able to pass for mortal.”

Pandora smoothed out her hair. “Callie, for me, it’s all about who I am. Don’t get me wrong, revenge is part of it and I know that sounds so unoriginal, but it’s all about what I was born to do. I was placed on this Earth by the gods to inflict pain into this world. I was the punishment of Mankind. But allow me to correct one historic mistake about myself. I wasn’t torn up about whether or not to open the box. I
wanted
to open it because the sounds of sorrow and grief are music to my ears.”

Callie saw a brief flash of Angela’s dress and tried to get Persephone’s attention.

Oh, thank God. I have to give Angela a chance.

“I’m sorry, Pandora. I don’t mean to interrupt, but your babbling was boring me,” Callie said. “Where exactly do you fit in this, Persephone? Is this really your style?” Callie asked.

“I have an adaptable nature, but I’m always up for a good time. Take this wine for example. No wine, no Fates. No Fates, no mortal future. No mortal future, no souls for Hades. And if there is one thing Hades still takes pride in it’s his work. I know it’s dysfunctional, but I’m not the one who cursed me to an eternity in the Underworld. My mother still weeps at my loss.”

“Your mother has long since forgotten about you. In case you don't remember, she’s locked away in Olympus and has other things to worry about.”

“How dare you! Shut your filthy Nothos mouth. ” Persephone shouted, shooting another energy burst at Callie. It struck her in the legs and her knees slammed onto wood floors again. But the pain didn’t deter Callie from struggling back to her feet.

“You’ve lost your sense of style, Persephone. I’m sure you can do better than that,” Callie said, throwing a burst back at the goddess, which almost brought Persephone to her knees. Persephone pointed to the decanter and gave a look to Callie, warning her if she tried that again, she would smash it.

Callie saw Angela had removed her shoes and was a few steps away from Pandora. Pandora faced the Gorgon, with Angela’s snakes hissing and her green eyes burning with intensity.

“Now that is hysterical? A Gorgon? You disgusting, ignorant, filthy Nothos, I’m made of clay,” Pandora said. She grabbed Angela by the throat, burning the Nothos brand on her neck. Angela screamed in pain and the goddess laughed as she threw her against the wall, instantly knocking the Gorgon out, the snakes in her hair retreating.

Callie’s heart sank. She raised her hand, hoping she would be able to stage an attack. Persephone shot a bolt of energy that struck a few inches from Callie’s feet. Callie put her hand down and stifled the energy building inside of her.

“Be a smart Muse and behave,” Persephone warned.

“Persephone, can we cut to the chase?” Without waiting for an answer, Pandora walked towards the unconscious Sophie.

“What we have here is a choice?” Pandora said. “Your Sophia or your harvest?”

“Well, that’s an easy answer,” Rose said, “Muses are a dime a dozen. Screw the girl. Give us the wine.”

Pandora leaned over and touched Sophie’s face. “Pick, Callie. If it’s the wine, then all we need to do is decide how Sophie dies. Pestilence could give her the plague or we can watch her suffer from an awful skin-rotting disease. With her being so close to him, I promise you it will be a quick death.”

“So pick, Callie,” Persephone said. ”Your daughter or the lives of millions of unborn mortals and the destruction of the Fates?”

“You are a nasty piece of work,” Agatha cried.

“Agatha, control yourself. We mustn’t interfere,” Rose said.

“Hurry, Callie, Sophie is running out of time,” said Pandora.

Callie began to cry.

Georgia had regained consciousness and got to her feet. “Take me. Pandora, your fight is with me. Take me instead of my granddaughter.”

“Not an option,” Pandora replied.

Persephone forced the older Muse to her knees with a mere glance.

Sophie coughed up blood and jerked awake with a gasp. With feverish eyes she looked at her mother. Callie saw Sophie was trying to talk and she knew her daughter would be dead unless she did something, but she didn’t know what to do. She had to stall.

“I will hunt both of you down,” Callie said, limping towards Pandora. “And when I’m done with you…”

Sophie said, “No, mama.” Grabbing the creature holding her, she lifted her head and kissed its blackened cheek tenderly. Callie screamed in anguish, as she watched her daughter mount a final attack. Sophie shot a burst of energy through the back of the creature’s head. Pestilence exploded and Sophie also hit by the energy burst was thrown roughly to the ground, her body lifeless. As quickly as it had disappeared, Pestilence reappeared and joined his fellow evils as they disappeared back into Pandora.

“Bottoms up,” Persephone said. She tilted the wine decanter and began to drink.

Callie rushed towards Sophie, screaming, as Persephone threw the decanter down, smashing it.

“What the hell?” Rose said.

Pandora laughed and turned to run. She took only two steps when an Olympian in armor and tunic crashed through the ceiling, landing on top of her and crushing her into hundreds of pieces. Several pieces of Pandora continued to move on their own. Her left and right legs flopped on the floor and her right hand crawled towards her attacker. The god raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist, causing the moving pieces of Pandora to shatter. Pandora continued to scream until he located and crushed the shard of pottery that was her moving mouth.

The god looked around at the many Demigods lying either unconscious or dead. He lowered his head, clearly saddened by what he saw and grimly walked over to Sophie’s lifeless body and knelt down, cradling her head in his hands. He wept.

“My poor little soldier. You were so brave,” the Olympian said.

A hysterical Callie tried to push the god out of the way. Tears and screams of sorrow came from deep inside her. He stood up, allowing Callie the chance to hold Sophie.

Persephone tried to look for an exit, but stopped as the ground shook violently and cracked open. Hades broke through the orchestra’s staircase, sending debris shooting into the air as his chariot and horses rode past Callie and Sophie. Hades, still wearing jeans and an Ohio State University sweatshirt, jumped off of the chariot and walked barefoot toward his wife. “I think, my dear Saphie, you have caused enough trouble for today. It’s time to return to me.”

“Just when things were getting interesting,” Persephone said, pouting. ”You always have to ruin my fun.”

“You’ve attempted to ruin the balance of this mortal world. It is a balance I have pledged to uphold.”

“Why are you so serious? You know that’s your problem. You can’t kick back and…wait…what did you mean by attempted? I
have
ruined the balance. The Fates will cease to be. This world will wither and rot. And you, my dear, won’t have any more new shades for your stupid book club and your ridiculous bridge night. You think I didn’t know about that? You think I didn’t know about your marriage counseling sessions?”

“Do you believe I didn’t know what you were up to?” he asked her. “I’m the god of the Underworld. I know everything that happens in my realm. Had you drunk the real wine”

“Real wine? You changed the wine?”

Hades glanced over at the other Olympian standing near Callie. “Perseus. It’s been ages. Who let you out of Olympus?” Hades motioned towards Persephone. “This woman will be the death of me, Perseus.”

Hades walked towards Persephone. “I’ve always been torn about the whole pomegranate seeds thing. It was a trick not worthy of the King of the Underworld. But you see, a shade, whom I have since allowed to cross over once, asked me if I wanted to hear the truth, and I’m surprised to find out that I do. Thanks to your need for chaos, I now have removed the one block that kept me from seeing who you really are. You aren’t a victim damned to the Underworld anymore. You’re a flawed, spoiled goddess with major mommy issues. With time and counseling I’m sure we can get you cured of your obsession with death and destruction. This is the new foundation our marriage will be built on. Oh, and by the way, the wine you drank wasn’t pressed from Georgia’s vines. They were pressed from the grapevine gripping the stone entrance to the ferryman.”

“Well, I wondered why the wine didn’t finish as nice as…. Wait…You tricked me again. You made me think”

“I did no such thing. You did it to yourself.” Hades walked to where his wife stood and threw her over his shoulders while she kicked and protested.

“I will make you wish you never were born, Haddie. I hate you. You will wish I never ate those damn seeds.”

“Don’t worry, Saphie,” he said. “I’ll bring you some company.” Hades snapped his fingers and the crushed pieces of Pandora fell into a black box strapped to the back of the chariot. Once the last piece flew into it, the box slammed shut. Hades tugged on his reins and the horses charged, taking the chariot back into the dark hole they had come from, the rubble filling in.

Aletheria appeared in a cloud of ink and stood before the remaining Olympian who watched Callie cradle Sophie.

“You must do it, Perseus,” Aletheria said to the man. “It is the only reason bringing you from Mount Olympus was worth the risk. It isn’t her time.”

“I know,” he said.

“Don’t you do it, Perseus.” Rose shouted from across the room. “I just got finished cutting her thread. I hate exceptions! Damn it, Cleo. Measure out another thread.”

Callie had been so distraught at the sight of her lifeless daughter; she didn’t have a chance to look at the god who’d defeated Pandora, but now watched as he took Sophie into his arms and brought her cheek to his lips, kissing it lightly. A burst of light shot from him, consuming Sophie.

Sophie screamed and writhed, gasping for air, and coughing out the remaining blood from her windpipe. She opened her eyes.

“Hi, Daddy,” she said.

“Hi, baby,” Perseus, formerly known as Angelo Drago, replied.