The Protector

Chapter 3

Erebus began to stir on the ground. They gave Lyda a final look, we all knew this would be the last time we would ever see each other. This battle with Erebus will be the one she has been prepared to make since the day she first held Alessa. Being entrusted by a powerful goddess to protect her child was one the greatest honors ever bestowed on a meager forest nymph. The high gods of Olympus will whisper tales of her sacrifice. This is the beginning of the great standoff with Hades and it starts with her, now doing what she has done for 25 years. Fighting for these girls, protecting balance.

Lyda kicked the leg of the metal table and began to walk to Erebus. He was now making his way to stand. As she neared Erebus the façade of the old woman she wore for 25 years began to melt away to revel and Ebony haired woman with sun kissed skin. She didn't look to be a day over 30, how is that possible? Her clothes transformed into knee length white toga that was draped over on shoulder and bound with a copper colored cord. She gripped the leg of the table tightly, the muscle in her forearms up to her shoulder bulged with power as she swung and connected with Erebus head. We stood in awe as once again Lyda sent him to the ground.

"Why are you still here," she never turned back to look at us. Her eyes, her killer instinct was focused on Erebus. "Get the book and leave."

"Where Lyda, how do we get to Athens? We don't have passports." I said nervously wanting to move but unsure as to how or where.

"Dear child there is much to this world you not know. Get the book and head south. Find yourself on the shores of the oldest port. There you will your way across. Read the book. GO NOW!" Her voiced echo with the ring of thunder in the distance.

The thunder shook us to our senses and we raced inside. Mom, well Lyda, always stressed the need to keep an emergency bag packed. Both of our bags hung in the closet by the front door, I raced to grab them. It had been about a year since I last checked the bag so hopefully all is in order. Behind the bags on the wall was my staff, my knife set and the shot gun Lyda keep along with ammo. I grabbed all of it and tossed it in the back of the covered bed of Ol' Faithful. Cora came outside with water and what looked like a stash of canned goods. She also had her bow on her back. We were both trained in various martial arts and weapons. The bow fit Cora well because she could use it at a distance being effective while I get up close and dirty. I doesn't take as much energy as the staff that I arm myself with. As isolated as Lyda kept us, she always made sure we had the ability to defend ourselves.

We climbed in the cab of Ol' faithful and the truck roared to life. A fire ball rolled from behind the house where Erebus and Lyda battled.

"We should s***h his tires. Cut his battery lines too." As sweet as Cora is she has an evil destructive streak in her. Not a lot of people of seen that side of her. It might be more potent than her loving side. The Hades coming out in her now I'm sure of it. "If this fucker is after us, we aren't going to make it easy for him. I'll do it, give me your knife."

I reached in the pocket of my boot and grabbed out the knife that never leaves my person. I am always armed. She grab the knife from my hand and jumped out of the truck. She flipped the knife open with one hand as she stalked her way to the shiny blue BMW. She dug the knife into the tires, she didn't just stab them, she shredded them the whole way around. She closed the knife and started to walk away. She stopped and looked down at the knife. She sent me an evil grin as she made her way back to the car. She hit the butt of the knife on the window and it shattered.

"Good girl." Cora reached in and popped the hood of the car. She was doing something under the hood but I could not tell what. She made her way back.

She climbed back into the cab. "I cut the radiator hose. I figured he can try and drive on those tires but if I cut the hose lines the car will overheat somewhere out along the road and be stranded."

I tossed Ol' Faithful into reverse and tear down the driveway. We sat in silence as we barreled down the state route. Cora had the leather bond book open while she played with the necklace around her neck. She look of concentration or confusion on her face. Our whole lives were based off of a lie. Our lives were full of love none the less. I will miss Lyda, she played her role well. A small part of me hopes somehow she made it out of the fight, in reality a nymph had no shot in a battle against a God. Even a minor one. The only thing I know about our world of myths and Gods is what I have learned in school. It was always a subject I had been drawn to. Now I know why. A part of me was longing to wake up to its destiny.

"What did you find out?" I ask breaking the silence.

"So there will be a ferry man waiting on the shore of the oldest port of each country to usher wayward ones to the shores of Greece. Only the ones aware of the upper realm bearing the sigil of the language of the Gods of old." She looked down at her necklace. "So we need to head to, St. Augustine Florida. The oldest port in America. Remember when we went there for vacation when I turned 18?"

"Yea," My brow furled. "I remembered one of the nights when we were there at the hotel she left in the middle of the night."

"I wonder if she had a meeting with somebody about us then. Do you think they know about us?"

"Who?"

"Zeus, your Dad Apollo," she sighs. "Do you think they knew about us? Why would they leave us like that without any protection?"

"We had protection. She did a damn good job of it. She just sacrificed her life for us, for you don't you dare disrespect her by saying we had no protection." I hit the steering wheel.

"Geez Les clam down. What I mean is if we are Goddesses why didn't the Gods on Mount Olympus care."

"If I remember from class, only full gods can be on mount Olympus. Mom tried to make us human in attempt to make sure Hades never got to you. I don't think we are granted full protection from them due to that."

"Pricks." She huffed under her breath. "If dear old Dad is this bad, ya know to the point mom didn't want us there and she is a full blooded Goddess why didn't they send someone after her then." The sky started to darken and the clouds rolled in as her anger built. "They abandoned us. In my opinion Hades is the only one that hasn't done anything wrong to us."

"That is dangerous thinking. It is about balance. Persephone, mom was kidnapped by Hades. She didn't want us down there to suffer her fate. Hades is pissed off that he got kicked off Mount Olympus to the underworld. Lyda said you were the key to the balance of life and death. He probably wants to use you for some hostile death overtake of the world."

"Yea, probably right." Cora keeps thumbing through the book as we made our way south. "Look, they have a break down of the Gods. Mom, Dad and you dad."

"Yea, what all does it say."

"Persephone, the kidnapped Goddess of Spring and the Queen of the underworld. Often referred to at Kore during her youth and took the name Persephone after becoming the Goddess of the underworld, name means bringer of destruction." Cora paused making the connection between her and mother's names. I can see it in her, the destruction. She might be more like old mom than she knows. She shook he head out of the daze she was in and continues. "Hades. The God of the dead, King of the underworld. He is known for his bad temperament coming from being bestowed the lowly position of king of the underworld while his brothers Zeus and Poseidon."

"Nothing like a little family drama to lay siege to the entire world as we know it."

Cora laughter filled the cab, "I cant wait for thanksgiving dinner. Its going to be like an episode of Jerry Springer."

She wasn't wrong.

"Now, your pops. Apollo. The god of healing and medicine. The God of prophecy. Married in secret to Kore, Mom, before her kidnap to the underworld."

"Well Dad, I think you missed something."

"Maybe not. Lyda said I was to bring balance and it was your job to protect that. Maybe he knew that his child would grow to be this awesome kick ass protector."

I shrugged my shoulders and kept looking forward. It almost feels worse knowing Apollo or um Dad knew what was to happen to us. Maybe he and mom came up with the whole Lyda hide out plan. Still it would have been nice to have some kind of knowledge of what was to come.

"I need a break. How long have we been driving?" I never really got a chance to recover from fully.

"We just passed mile marker 67, so I would say we still have another 5 hours of driving. Do you want me to take over?"

The thought of Cora driving is more terrifying than the threat of Erebus on our heels. "I should be good with a little break. There is food off of this exit. How are you feeling?"

"I could use a break from staring at this book while driving. It is making me a bit queasy."

"Then it is settled. We can get fuel at too at the next stop."

"Hopefully we can find us a nice greasy spoon with a killer cup of Joe."

Ol' Faithful rumbled off of the exit to the fuel station there. It is a diesel so no need to shut it off to fuel. Ill turn it off when we sit down for food. The old girl has not been run this hard for this long in ages, let the engine cool off a bit. We didn't bring any credit cards with us, only cash. I'm sure by this point Erebus knows exactly where we are headed and cant be far behind us if he isn't already there. I run inside to pay, while inside I grab a bottle of coolant and a map of Florida and Georgia.

"Cashier inside said about a mile down the road there is a diner called Hermes Café. Best coffee in 50 miles he said."

"Well I am ready to get out of this loud truck."

"Hey, she got us here!"

We pulled up to the diner. A neon sign shone boldly from the parking lot like the NorthStar for drowsy motorist. The diner itself looked to be a dump left straight out of the 1950's. A various allotment of vehicles scattered the lot. Large windows let you see clear inside to the staff cooking on the grill. Once you opened the door the smell of butter and coffee envelope you, instantly making your stomach growl.

"seat yourself, Mags will be right with ya." A middle aged woman passed her prime said to us across the diner.

We sat our weary bodies down in a booth in the far corner. It had a good view of the comings and going of those that entered. Though it was near the restrooms, it was equally close to the back door on case we need to slip away without notice. I scanned the other road worn faces. It was late at night now so there were mostly lone truckers chatting with each other, one family a few booths down with a sleeping Dad and a mother doing her best to keep the 3 young kids at bay. There were 2 cooks slaving away on the grill, a man and a woman. Lone waitress, the middle aged one that first spoke to us and a busboy moving about the diner slowly, almost calculated his movements were.

Cora lazily dropped the leather bound book on the tabletop causing a bit of commotion. Everyone turned and glanced over and she gave an apologetic smile while most of the gaze lost interest. All except the busboy. I couldn't read his expression. It was a mixture of annoyance, surprise and something else.

I shot Cora a look.

"Sorry Les, it a big book. What?"

I promise sometimes this girl is as clueless as the summer day is long. "Dude, you are already gorgeous, the truck can be heard coming from a mile away. Could you like maybe act like we are being running for our lives. Just a little bit of caution."

"I am not stupid." Her mood quickly changes.

"Then stop acting like it. You have been bossing me around my whole life. Im so tired of everyone telling me what I can and can not do," She gets up from the booth, "I am an adult. A goddess at that."

"Cora, will you shut it. This is why you need a protector. Look everyone is looking over here AGAIN. Will you for once take something serious in you life. Maybe then you would not always need saving." Oh that slipped out

A pained nervous giggle escapes her mouth. "Sorry that I have been such and inconvenience to your life. You wont have to worry about that anymore." She ran out the back door. I stood up to go after her but the busboy was there in my way.

"Let her go, she will be fine." His voice was deep and rich even while spoken in a whisper it commanded your attention.

"Sir get out of my way, you don't know the si..."

"I do, " he grabbed me right at my elbow and turned me to look in his eyes. They were pools of warm amber and fire with flakes of coal. "Alessa."

"How, who are you?" A gasp escaped me as I looked down at the tattoos on his are. There on his forearm was the same symbol from around my neck.

"Jan, the god of gateways. I can help."

He slide his hand down from my elbow and interlaced my fingers with his. He picked up the leather bond book from the table all the while not breaking eye contact with me. He moved with such grace, effortless the way you would imagine a deity would move. Muscle coil and relax smoothly rolling like the waves of the sea. This man was magnetic, he made me feel like I safe to let my guard down. Like he would never betray me, like he would be a safe haven. He drew circles with his thumb on my hand as he lead me along to the back of the restaurant. He was as awe inspiring from the back as the front, maybe even more so. His back was wide and strong with a waist that tapered down. There was no blending in with him, he was literally a god amongst mortals.

"I wont harm you." He closes the door behind us. "So as no mortals can over hear us, but this is a safe place."

"I know. I mean I don't know." I'm rambling, SHUT IT UP ALESSA! "I mean, I have no clue I'm new to all this but I know you wont hurt me." Is it hot in here? He gave a sly smile, he knows exactly what he is doing.

"Your father, Apollo, contacted me. He saw in his prophecy that you and your sister would be stopping here. So he arranged for me to get a job here as a busboy to wait for your arrival. Without me you will not make it."

My face hardens and I pull my hand away. "You said this was a safe place, I need to find my sister now."

"It is a safe place. This place is a know neutral zone for those of us in the realm of Olympus. Gods, nymphs, we all use this as a resting spot on the way to St. Augustine. This diner and the 5 acres it sits on are free of violence by order of Zeus."

I give a curt nod of my head.

"In Apollo's prophecy Erebus catches you just outside of the property."

"I couldn't protect her, we fail."

"No, you couldn't do it alone." He reaches a hand up and cradles my face. "You gotta stop putting yourself under so much pressure. You are more human than god, you can still get wrinkles." He drops his hand from my face. "Lets get Cora."

I'm not really sure if I should feel insulted or if I should be in love with this man but I think it might a little bit of both. Girl get it together. He takes me by the hand again and we head outside. There she is sitting at a picnic table. Crying in the rain. I messed up.

"It wasn't supposed to rain tonight." Jan says as we make our way to her.

"No, it wasn't it. Its my fault. Her emotions seem to some how affect the weather. Really only put that together over the past oh 8 hours, but it explains our childhood and that massive earthquake we got caught in."

"That mean Erebus knows. That is how he tracks you here. We don't have much time then."

"I thought you said this was a safe place?"

"It is but that means I cant use my powers here on the grounds."

"You should have lead with that." I stomp away from him trying to cool my temper before reaching her. Last thing we need is for her to have episode from us fighting with Erebus right on top of us.

"Leave me." Cora's tone is tone and void of emotion. Here we go.

"Cora, I, I didn't mean it like that." I take a deep breath and sit next to her. "Cora listen to me please. I am sorry. I am exhausted and I just."

"Spoke what you really felt at the moment."

"No. I have nothing else in this crazy world that I know nothing about besides you. I am not strong enough to keep on going if something happened to you that I couldn't stop. In that moment Cora I was afraid. I am sorry."

"The mighty Alessa, afraid. No." Cora says playfully and the rain begins to slow.

"I know right. So we have an ally here. He has a way for us to get to St. Augustine."

"ok, well spill the beans. Lets go inside."

**********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Cora and I ran threw the plan one more time in Janus room as we changed. He had given us some dry clothes to change into after Cora's little pop up thunderstorm. I felt comfortable as could be in Jan's basketball shorts and sweatshirt. Yea the were a few sizes too bug but the felt lived in and secure. Cora on the other hand was literally being eaten alive. She, being the fashionista that she is decided to steal the poor man's sheet and fashion a dress out of it. Goddess in a toga, talk about flying under the radar much.

The plan was that we would stay here and rest for a few hours. Jan said this was a safe haven and no harm could possibly come to us here. It was the law of Zeus himself, which meant eternal death for any that broke it. At dawn we would take Jan's car to the edge of the safe zone where he will be able to open a door for us. Once we arrive, he will escort us to the port, to the ferryman that will take us to Athens. Jan was moving Ol' faithful to the field behind the café and bringing our supplies into. Just because it is safe here doesn't mean Erebus doesn't have eyes on us the second we step off the property. I mean he is the god of chaos so there is no way to predict anything he does.

"'Les," Cora breaks me out of my thoughts. I relaxed my grip on the end for Jan's oversized shirt I had been mindlessly wringing. "do you think we can trust him. What if he is working with Erebrus? What if he is only stalling us so he can catch up?" He voice was an uneasy whisper.

"He wont." I say a bit more confidently than it should have considering Jan really has done nothing to prove himself. He told us Apollo said we would get caught on the edge of this property, is he the reason we fail? Or is he the reason will we change Apollos prophecy? "I don't know how or why but I trust this sis." I walk over and grab her hands into mine and look her in the eye. "I wont let anything happen to us. If I really got weird vibes from this guy, I would have high tailed it out of here an hour ago."

"Yea, ok. I trust you, you aren't the one I ever questioned." Yes squeezed my hands and then pulled me into a hug.

Jan rapped on the door softly before entering. "Hey, so we have a bit of a situation." We broke our hug and faced him. "Toga, classic."

His eyes roved across my body making me heightened sense of awareness of my body and the fact that I was without a bra. Have you ever tried to wear a wet bra? If you have then you understand why I opted to free the titties. His gaze burned into me and I could not tell if it was one of disgust of interest.

"Its cold in here." Im not one to be shy but for some reason that statement departed meekly from my lips.

"JAN! They are boobs! What is the situation?" Cora said breaking the silence. I grasped my right bicep with my left hand effective covering up the t**s in question.

"Yea, they are nice boobs. Nice for a mostly human body anyway." He shrugged returning his eyesight north. "Don't panic, but he is here."

"You have got to be kidding me!" I whisper yell at him throwing my arms in the air and plop down hard on the bed in defeated anger. "YOU said this was a safe place Jan!" I look over at Cora and she is surprisingly holding together well. She is trembling but not crying.

"It is safe. He cant hurt you here." His voice calm.

"BUT HE IS HERE JAN!" I am now up pacing back in forth nervously. I stop and look at Jan who is staring at my chest. I shimmer my shoulders and really give him a show. "There ya go, are you satisfied?"

"Hardly." He casually leans his shoulder into the door frame and crosses his arms. "You know if you care that much..."

"This is going nowhere, we are going to die or be prisoners of the underworld for the rest of our lives which I guess is really no different than death itself." Cora said now slowly losing her nerve.

"I need you two to calm down for 2 minutes," He walked over standing between us now. He took one of each of our hands. "He is here, yes. Which may sound bad but,"

"That means we know where he is." I interrupt him as the realization dawns on me. "We just need to make sure he stays here while we go."

"Exactly." He looks down at me and our eyes connect while he runs his thumb along the inside of my wrist as he did earlier.

"And how exactly do we do that or are the two of you so lost in whatever," Cora makes a frantic hand motion at Jan and my hands. "is going on here."

"Easy, keep him distracted." Jan says like it is the most obvious answer in the world. "A pair of good t**s will keep any man, god or human, distracted long enough to get out of here. And I've got just the pair." His attention has yet again drifted south.

"I. AM. NOT. SLEEPING. WITH. HIM." I yank my hand out of his grip and raise my voice a bit too loud for the situation at hand.

"Calm down ambrosia t**s. You aren't the one I had in mind."

"You, have got to be out of you ever loving mind!" Im in his face now.

"The man that is trying to kidnap and maybe kill us, you want me to sleep with." Cora was laughing in the background.

"You definatly are a protector, Ill give you that." A smirk played across his face.

"You damn right and that is not happening." The fury was starting to blaze through my veins now. I have walked him back to the door. "What are you working for him? First it is a safe place and you are our savior now all of a sudden that murdering psychopath is here." I poked him in his chest with those last few words staring up into his eyes with the amber dancing in them playful. This man could be truly hypnotizing if he wasn't such a pain in the butt.

"As much as I am enjoying our current deposition," we both looked down at this point were chest to chest and he had managed at some point in my rage to grab hold of my wrist yet again. "I am actually talking about Sara. Waitress, she owe me a favor and also happens to be a siren. Got her out of a bad situation in the south pacific."

"She will be able to get him under her siren trance for long enough for us to get off and away." Cora finishes from the background. "Ok, lets do it."

"He is a god he wont fall for that." My words were full of doubt that a siren would have such pull over Erebrus even being a minor god.

"One thing you will learn about gods," He brings my hand up to his mouth and kisses it while keeping eye contact. I cant help it but a gasp slips from my lips. "a pretty face can make us do just about anything. Look at all the kids Zeus has."

"So we should probably get a move on it then guys." Cora speaks up again from behind us.

"Yea," I cleared my throat and backed away from him. "we need to get going. Go use your charms on her and get us some time."

"Give me a few mins and we will be on our way. Get your stuff together and be ready to go when I get back. We will take my car, keep your truck hidden. I'll be back. Oh, I almost forgpt," before I could react I was being kissed, by a god. And I liked. I like the way his lips moved across mine, I liked the way he tasted, the way he smelled, I liked the way his hand traveled up my....

"Really?! Cant we not right now. Of all times 'Les." I stepped back as she looked on at us in frustration.

"Told you, pretty faces." He winked and practically floated out of the room.

"Uh so we just going to act like didn't just happen?" Cora said as we began getting our stuff together.

"Yep."

"Like this smoking hot GOD that is trying to save our lives, didn't just kiss you full tongue."

"Nope."

"You like him." I remain silent as she turns her hands into puppets and makes them kiss.

"We are running for our lives. Don't have time to try to make connections fir a relationship."

"I didn't say a word about a relationship."

"He is just being nice."

"Nice guys dint put their tongue in your throat in front if your sister in the middle of a crisis. If we ever get a min to breathe, I think he would be a good way for you to blow off some steam."

"Cora Anne!"

"He has a nice butt too."

"It IS a really nice butt." Nice is an understatement for this man, I mean gods physique. He is the epitome of strength. "Honestly right now, I would take a nap."

"Next to him." Cora finished.

She wasn't wrong.