Magic, Myth and Mysteries

Playthings of the Gods, Chapter Three - Sylvaine 8

Chapter 3

The Game

The house shakes, and Catalina’s eyes widen in alarm. Luke reaches out for her hand, anyway, but she pulls away. Hurt but still eager to help Cata, the young man rises to see what’s going on. The wall decor threatens to fall. The first one to go is the clock. It crashes on the floor. Then, the rest of Grandma Chel’s figurines smashes on the hard wood.

“Hold on to me, Cata. Hell, if you don’t want to, you can hold on to Beth. Come Beth!”

“I shouldn’t be here,” Beth whimpers, much to Luke’s dismay. Why now? The girl has never appeared to be the soft type.

“Come!” he bellows, making his voice as authoritative as possible. As the quarterback, he has known frustration in getting the rest of the team to follow him when they sometimes resent him - and sometimes fear him.

“They’re here,” Beth cries, running out of the house.

The shaking stops. Luke wonders if there’s something about what Beth said about her not supposed to be being there with them. He looks to see if Catalina is fine, and she is, somehow. Her lips are pale, but she’s in one piece and her breathing has started to slow down. Tears run down her cheeks.

“Can you smell that, Luke?”she asks.

“What?”

But he knows what she means. There’s an almost indescribable scent invading the house. It’s like nature and stardust rolled into one. It’s like heaven and hell cramming into one space.

A wind swirls around them. It’s strong enough to take them with it, moving them across space and time only to fall on the clearing of Lotheil Forest. The place triggers painful memories for Luke, and he immediately springs into action, getting up and dusting himself. Then, he helps Catalina to her feet and pulls her toward him, hugging her to his chest. She can complain later, but right now, he wants her safe. A quick glance to his left shows him that Beth’s also there with them in the forest. Damn.

“What the hell is this, Beth?” he demands.

“Why are you asking me? It has never happened to me before. But this - do you see what’s different today?”

“What?”

“We are all here together.”

“That’s right,” a seductive voice confirms. An impossibly beautiful woman with long black hair and golden eyes approaches them. Catalina now stretches her arms around Luke’s torso, needing protection. She feels small next to him, but she also feels safe.

“Who are you?” Luke asks.

“You mean, “Who are we?” the unearthly woman bounces the question back as more figures appear behind her. They all look like they don’t belong to this world.

“Let’s hunt, sister,” a large muscular man who looks like the first woman says. Luke feels the man’s eyes on him. Then, those golden eyes travel to Catalina’s face and then to Beth’s.

What does he want? What do they want?

“What’s the rule here, Ares?” asks a woman wearing white. Her eyes are on the muscular man near the forefront. She looks younger than the rest. She also looks like she’s uncertain. Maybe they can sway her to take their side instead of her companions’ own.

“They run. We run after them. Then, we will pry the shield from them. All will die if we can’t find the shield. If we find the culprit, he or she dies. Then, the rest will be made to forget this ever happened.’

“They are all demigods,” breathes one of the plumper strangers. “They are our own. Our children. Why can’t we forgive them,, Eris?”

“Because the game has begun and they are our playthings,” the first woman, Eris, replies.

“We are no f*****g playthings!” Luke roars.

“If they hurt you, I will take care of you,” whimpers Catalina. “I love you.”

Luke startles at the declaration of love. He has always thought the whole thing is one-sided.

“I love you, Catalina. They won’t hurt you.”

“Well, how can they hurt someone who’s already linked with death?” asks Beth, sounding exasperated.

“These aren’t Proteus’ children!” the plump woman shouts.

“We will still hunt,” says a man with leaves around his head. He looks drunk, too, reminding Luke of all the messed-up people he had to deal with at the university.

The football player thinks that the whole thing is just a prank, something to make them feel afraid. That thought dies as soon as he hears the clanking of weapons. They’re about to stab, skewer and pierce them. Instinct has him grabbing and carrying Catalina and he makes a run for it. Beth runs after him, faster than she looks. Spears whiz past them, one getting too close to Luke’s right ear, but he doesn’t stop or turn. He keeps on going.

Then, he hears a scream. He looks back to see that Beth has fallen down. Her left shoulder looks like it’s burned. Someone’s using powers, instead of just weapons.

The girl rolls on the forest floor in agony, holding her shoulders. Luke lowers Catalina to the ground, content that she’s unscathed.

“Can you heal her?” he asks.

“No, I can’t. She’s different like that. But I’ll try.”

Catalina approaches Beth with Luke’s help. Before she can even touch the younger girl, however, Luke sees that the wound sizzles. The fire and burn give way to smoke, and Beth starts to calm down. She’s still panting, but no longer screaming.

“It’s gone! It’s f*****g gone!” she yells in half-triumph, half-madness. She stands up and tears the sleeve of her blouse to take a better look at her wound, but there’s nothing there.

“Do you have the shield?” asks Ares.

Luke’s mind goes back to the strange metal object in his room.

“Let them go. I believe I have the shield.”

“Where is it?” the man asks, his nose flaring. “It’s mine. Give it back to me.”

“It’s ours, Ares,” Eris reminds him. “It’s ours.”

“You know I’m the one who needs it the most. I’m the God of War.”

He may be the God of War but Luke still feels like the shield is his. But what choice does he have? He has to return it.

“What does it mean to return it?” Luke asks, the words coming out of his mouth unbidden. He sees Eris’ eyes widen.

“He’s not Proteus’ son!”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” the plump woman says.

“Hush, Cacia!”

“But it’s true. The girl whose shoulders burned and the girl who heals aren’t Proteus’ daughters, either. The fire. The healing. One’s inability to heal the other can only mean one thing,” Cacia says. “That means —”

“No matter what, they’re our own,” the youngest among the pursuers interrupts. “We can’t play with them.”

“We are not toys,” Luke reminds them all. “We have our own destinies.”

“That they are Hades’ daughters,” Cacia finishes.

“Hades?”

Beth runs toward Cacia, hugging her close. It’s not right to believe in what strangers have to say, but the words ring true.

“Is that why I couldn’t heal my own mother?” Catalina asks. “Is that why?”

“Yes. You are limited to healing people who are not of your blood,” Cacia confirms.

“Then, Luke is not my brother,” Cata says, her unseeing eyes focused on Luke. Another person may find it eerie, but it only warms his heart.

“He is not, but he is not Proteus’ son, either,” Cacia says. “Ares, hunt this boy!”

“W-what?” Luke and Ares gasp in indignation.

But the order has been made, and Luke finds himself running for his life with the God of War running after him with sword and spear. He’s f*****g running away from a god, but he manages to get ahead. He runs until he’s reached the edge of the forest. He knows he must run some more to get to his house, and he does.

After an hour of fast and tireless running, Luke arrives at his house. He hesitates. His mother must be inside. He’s left his dorm room after the incident and has gone home. He doesn’t want his mother to be dragged into this unholy hunt. He must be fast enough to retrieve the shield and leave the house before he can smell nature and stardust again.

With a quick burst of energy, he manages to enter and leave the house without his mother noticing. But he’s at the end of his energy. He’s a football player. He runs all the time, but today’s challenge pushes him to the brink. The anxiety ramps up the pressure, and his lungs feel like exploding. He limps as far away from his home as possible, wondering where the other man is.

“Give that to me, Luke,” Ares orders, but the young man knows that he must keep the shield safe.

Luke grips the shield and blinks from exhaustion. When his eyes open again, he sees that the whole party is right before his eyes. The drunken man with leaves on his hair holds Catalina hostage while Cacia embraces Beth. It’s a strange tableau.

“Give me the shield or Catalina dies,” Ares declares harshly. His breathing is ragged, which is curious for a god.

“No!” Luke yells.

“Give it to me or she dies,” the god repeats. The other god takes a bottle from seemingly out of nowhere and dips the tip over Catalina’s mouth. Is it poison?

“Don’t!” cries Beth, disentangling herself from Cacia.

“You may stop now, Ares,” Cacia declares.

“Why?”

“You’re blind, but not that blind. When you went past Luke’s house, you stopped. Didn’t you? Why?”

The god seems disoriented.

“The Squeezing stops now, brother,” Eris agrees with Cacia and the Goddess of Vice and the Goddess of Chaos nod at each other. Even they have their limits.

“Why?’

“Speed. Strength. The ability to outrun you,” his sister lists the reasons.

“He’s your son, Ares,” Cacia says, the soft voice ringing into Luke’s ears like a gong. What?

“Do you want us to Squeeze him?” the youngest of the group asks.

“No, Astraea. I think my brother has found his limit.”

“Why would a son of mine steal from the armory?” he rages.

Luke suddenly remembers falling asleep and dreaming that he was in a place above the clouds. Other young men are lined up in what seemed to be like a field trip for young men like him. Then, the shield called to him. When he touched it, it wouldn’t let go. So, he prayed for escape.

“It’s my shield,” he declares. “It chose me.”