Volcanoes (11 page)

"They are not the fish people," Poseidon yelled in return. "I'm following orders. You should try it some time. It's good for your character."

My mouth dropped open. I do believe this was the first time I'd ever heard anyone talk to Heph like this
. Generally he was treated like a top dog. If I were asked who came after Zeus and Diana I would have to say Hephaestus.  Seeing Poseidon shut him down like this was
–
well
–
entertaining.

"Don't be a douche," Heph muttered.  Did Heph just call Poseidon a
douche? I almost wished that I had popcorn to go with this drama.

"I don't mind going," I piped in. Of course I was ignored.

"She's not ready to go outside of Olympus yet. You know that they're still looking for her, right?  If she gets separated from y
ou, how is she going to get back?"

Heph had a good point. If something happened to Poseidon I was dead meat.

Poseidon threw up his hands and rolled his eyes. "Don't you think it's about time she learned to be resourceful?"

"Not without powers," Heph said
adamantly.

"From what I understand you left her for hours alone in Greenland to teach her the hard way."

"Again," Heph replied calmly. "She had powers then. Now she does not. I would never put her in harm's way. Besides, I was there for most of that time.
"

I threw him a black scowl in remembrance. I still hadn't forgotten. He had one coming to him for that.

"Has it occurred to you that I have a say in where I go and what I do?" I asked, leaning casually against a shelf.

"Since when do you make good decisi
ons regarding your own welfare?" he answered with a quirk of his mouth.

I narrowed my eyes and turned away before I could say something immature. Yeah
–
that's right. I was using prudence. It wasn't a skill that came to me often, but when it did
–
I made
use of it.

"Hephaestus, Diana wants her to learn how to negotiate peace contracts. We both know that she's not going to be any good at it. Hades knows that she couldn't talk a monkey into a banana. That's not the point. The point is that Diana wants this f
or her daughter and so I'm going to make it happen." Poseidon slapped his hand down on the table to punctuate his declaration and my prudence left me.

"I'm
IN THE ROOM
!" I yelled.

They slowly turned as one to give me a withering stare.

It worked. I shra
nk back into myself and shut up. Satisfied with my reaction they turned back to each other and continued their argument.

I shook my head, threw up my hands and just left. Sometimes you had to pick and choose your battles. This wasn't one I was invested in
.

With all of the posturing and goading going on behind me it would likely take them a while to realize I
’
d gone, so I was safe to hunt down my target.

I didn't care if I went on a mission or not. I had a bigger bone to pick and she was going to apologiz
e if it killed me.

Should I call my mother a bone? Probably not but what was she going to do
–
punch me in the face again?

Exactly
.

The air was a little muggy as I walked through the doors into the courtyard. I wondered for the first time w
here Olympus was located. Why hadn't it ever occurred to me before to wonder about this?

I'd never had to travel to get to Olympus. We
’
d always just teleported in. I made a mental note to ask someone as I navigated the maze of pathways and outdoor hallway
s to my mother's suite of rooms.

The door was shut and I could hear loud voices on the other side. Yep
–
my mother was in and it sounded like she was having one
hell
of an argument.

Normal people would have walked away and come back at another time. Not
me. I wanted to know who she was arguing with. Secretly I hoped the other person was winning. Okay, that was uncharitable. But it didn't stop me from thinking it.

My knocking interrupted the shouting on the other side of the door. It swung open with a vio
lent "WHAT?"

I stepped back out of arm's length - just in case - and replied, "I came to talk."

My mother took a shuddering breath and gestured for me to enter the room. I had mistakenly come to the conclusion that my temper had come from my father. This t
urned out to be yet another misconception on my part.

I glanced surreptitiously around the room for her victim.

Well spank me and call me Nancy. My champion was none other than her husband, Zeus. He nodded once at me and started for the door.

"Don't for
get what I said, wench." His voice was gravelly from yelling and my eyes widened in shock at the misnomer. Did he just call the Huntress a wench
–
and still have his head?

I wasn't the only one sporting an incredulous look. My mother's jaw literally dro
pped open. I watched as her hand fisted and wondered if she was going to launch herself at him in a brutal attack.

"Leave. Now," she growled.

He smiled benignly and waltzed out the door as if he hadn't a care in the world.

That man balls weren't made of
steel. No
–
they were titanium balls. Yeah, because anyone else would have been eviscerated.

"Damn," I breathed.

"Right?" she said exasperated. "Can you believe the balls on that man? He's lucky I love him so much."

"Seriously." I nodded and made my way
to a chair. "Sit," I commanded. "If we don't talk this out, I'm going to hold on to this resentment and neither of us wants that."

She tilted her head and studied me for a moment before making her way to the chair across from me. "Well, this is a change. N
ormally I'm trying to track
you
down to talk. It's not often that you come to me."

"Uh, I believe I did the ultimate tracking down when I brought you back from wherever the hell you were." I leaned back and let the volley settle.

"Hmm, fair point." She re
plied with a ghost of a smile. "So, what would you like to chat about?"

Good, she was letting me take the lead. There were times I was afraid this woman would roll right over me. It was partially why I was so stubborn with her. If I didn't stand my ground
I wouldn't have any control over my own life.

"I recognize that I shouldn't have offered my life for Drew's," I began. She nodded vehemently and I raised my hand to stave off any commentary. "But, as a mother, it's my nature to protect.  The only thing I
could think about was that Dylan was going to lose two fathers in such a short time and I couldn't have dealt with that."

She shook her head in frustration. "How do you think he would have dealt with losing both his mother and father? Baby, I hate to say t
his, but you are more important than Adonis right now. No, don't interrupt me.  Because of what my idiot husband did, you are the best hope we have of defeating Nyx if she rises. The best of us couldn't keep Atlantis down, but you and Poseidon together st
o
pped the ascent."

She sat back and closed her eyes. "Why do you think they're trying so hard to eliminate you? All of us together have a fighting chance. Without you, we are doomed. How do you think that makes me feel, Grace? I've lost enough in my mission
to keep this world safe. Knowing that you are so fragile right now and that I could lose you - but I have to keep you in the fight
–
that kills me."

Oh, I was such an asshole. Of course I hadn't thought of her feelings regarding sending the last of her ch
ildren into battle. I claimed to be a mother and to be acting on motherly instincts but I didn't stop to think about my own mother's instincts.

"I can't imagine it's easy to send your children into battle. I don't know if I could do it with Dylan."

She to
ok a deep breath and shook her head sadly. "He's a Hunter, Grace. He's going to face battle. Why do you think we're training him so hard right now? We want him to survive. Zeus is grooming him."

"Yeah, I don't want to talk about that right now," I grumbled
. "So, point taken. I just wish I knew what fucking happened. I never thought I'd miss having superpowers so damn much. I bitched and moaned about them and now that I don't have them, I wish they'd come back."

Diana's smile was a little bitter. "Yeah, gras
s is always greener, huh?" She stood up and perched on the arm of my chair. Her fingers threaded through my hair and I felt myself relax a tiny bit. Was it paranoia that had me on edge - afraid she'd yank it out? Probably, but it wasn't conducive to my se
r
enity having my mother bust me in the face in a burst of anger.  The woman was brutal and I couldn't keep track of her mood swings. One moment she was loving, kind and patient. The next she was an epic warrior with one hell of a temper.

"Well," she began.
"I found out what caused your loss of power. I was coming down to tell you when that whole fiasco with Hypnos occurred.”

Only Diana would call what happened on my front lawn a fiasco.

"Oh thank goodness." I took a deep breath filled with relief. She cou
ld fix me and I'd be back to kicking ass and taking care of the bubby in no time.

"I don't know if I can fix you," she continued.

The relief turned to dread and I tensed up, ready to run screaming from the room.

"Stop. You're going to give yourself a hear
t attack and your nanites aren't strong enough to repair you yet." She whacked me on top of the head before continuing.  I flinched and scowled in response.

"It looks like your genes have mutated. The DNA that gave you your powers isn't quite the same any
more. From what I can tell, your last big power burst burnt out most of the nanites and then altered your body on a genetic level. Frankly I am completely at a loss here as to what happened or how to fix it."

I tried to shrug off the cold fear coursing th
rough my system. I couldn't. It was funny that I'd finally become used to the idea of being nearly immortal. Who gets used to that? Without warning I
had
to face my own mortality and it didn't feel so good. All of the worries I
’
d had when I realized I was
going to outlive everyone starting screaming in reverse. Yes, I know
–
it was completely wishy washy.

"Holy shit," I whispered. "You just solidified my genetic code within the last month. Where did this come from and why did it wipe me out now, not before?
"

She grinned and shook her head. "Baby in an epic, classic Grace move, you went supernova before your body was ready to allow that. When you tapped that volcano you extended yourself further than you should have been able to and you literally burned out n
early every nanite in your body - which probably halted any repairs that they were doing to your cellular structure. The mutation is just a mystery." She shrugged and looked away so I wouldn't see the pity in her eyes.

"Holy shit," I repeated. Let's hear i
t for being hasty and premature.

"So, your remaining nanites should repair themselves but I'm not sure how long it will take. It's the genetics that I'm worried about. On one hand the mutation was able to attack a significant portion of your DNA before yo
u burned it out. On the other
–
your body isn't acting like any other Atlancean's I've treated so I'm not really sure that this is permanent."

"What's the worst case scenario?"

She paused and thought about it before answering. "Worst case scenario is that
your nanites are repaired and you live longer than you would have as a human but you won't have any of the power associated with your race. You'll be stuck either here or back at home and I'll worry about you."

I wrapped my arm around her waist and leaned
in for a hug because I really needed one. It definitely could have been worse so I guess it wasn't as bad as I'd imagined.

"Until your nanites repair you will begin to age at your normal rate."

Okay, there it was. I was vain enough to have been grateful t
hat I wouldn't have to deal with dying gray hair or dealing with wrinkles. "So I could end up looking like an old woman before my nanites are repaired."

It was a statement rather than a question. I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear it said out
loud.

"Vanity is thine own enemy, Grace. Remember that."

"Hey," I grinned suddenly. "I'm a woman. I'm allowed some vanity. Also, I don't think that's a real quote."

I could feel her silent chuckle and she ruffled my hair. "Okay kid, you got me there. I'm
pretty sure that I told Poseidon to take you on a diplomatic mission. Why are you still here?"

I rolled my eyes. "He and Hephaestus started arguing about my ability to go and stay safe. I got fed up and left so I could talk to you."

She smiled. "Of course
they did. They'll probably be at it awhile. Would you like to go check on the progress of your spawn? He's doing so well in his training that Zachary thinks we should activate him before he hits Age."

"Whoooooa." I gripped her arm. "He's not even a teenag
er yet. I don't agree that he's ready to start fighting, Diana. What the hell is Zeus thinking?"

"Don't worry dear. He wouldn't be fighting. He'll just have access to the full cadre of powers that he would
’
ve eventually grown into anyway
–
just at a younge
r age."

That didn't sound like a good idea to me. I mean
–
he was already a moody bitch half the time. Giving him the ability to wipe out a small city didn't seem like an intelligent option. "Don't you wait until they're sixteen because their hormones have
calmed down by then? Have you spent any time with my kid lately? Everything sets him off. I want to hug him and drown him at the same time."

I looked up to see her biting her lip to contain her mirth. "Sure, laugh it up. You don't have to live with his mo
od swings."

At that she burst out laughing. "No dear. I have to live with yours."

She had me there.

"Bah. Let's go see the kid."