Chapter 11: Olympus

"Where are they?" Rib asked Eros. "Did you see them leave? Are they playing tricks on me? Because if you are, now is not the time!" He raised his voice near the end and walked to the whale shaped rock to look behind it. He came out with furrowed brows, confused once again when he didn't find his men there.

"They're gone," Eros said. "They disappeared in front of my own eyes. The satyr and those humans. Gone."

"I don't understand." Rib shook his head. "Why are they gone and we're not? Could it be..." He widened his eyes and stared at the Helm piece he'd dropped in the sand. "Could this have caused their disappearance? Putting them together?"

"No," Eros mused, picking up the piece of black metal. "This couldn't have caused their disappearance. But it could be the reason that the rest of you were untouched."

"Are you saying that the Helm of Darkness prevented us from being taken?" I asked.

"Just a theory of mine." The God frowned and turned the metal in his hand, inspecting it. Then he tossed it back on the sand. "The Helm was forged by cyclopses from a special iron in the Underworld, the same one used to make the gates themselves. I think holding these pieces might have saved the three of you and rooted you in this world."

"And you?" Rib asked. "How are you still here then? You didn't hold that special metal."

"I'm not a mortal like you." Eros shrugged. "It isn't that easy to drag me into another world against my will."

Rib frowned in confusion. Lena and I knew who Eros truly was, but I'd kept that truth from the bandits, thinking that the God will reveal himself to them when he wanted to.

"I refuse to believe this," Rib suddenly stated. "I refuse to believe that they too disappeared. It makes no sense! It simply doesn't." He shook his head. "Not at all." Then he turned on his heel and marched to his camel, climbed on top of it and said, "I'm going back to the city to look for the boys."

"You can't be serious?" Lena said. "You truly think that they somehow teleported into the city in the split second we turned away from them? Does that makes more sense to you than their disappearance?"

Rib didn't answer, and it was clear to everyone that the man was in denial. "You can either come with me or stay here. I'm going to the city," was all he said before turning his camel and riding away.

"We might as well follow him. If the bandits suddenly disappeared, it's only fair to think that other people could have suffered the same fate," I said, picking up Rib's Helm piece from the ground and heading toward my camel.

Lena and Eros agreed, and we all followed Rib.

Once we entered the first road to the city, the absolute silence around us had my heart pick up its pace. I could no longer hear the swinging of doors as people entered and left their homes or shops. I could no longer hear the endless bickering between neighbours. There was no more chatter and humming as people went about their business. No more joyful laughter from children.

There was no one in sight.

"It has already happened," Eros said as we rode deeper into the empty city, passing by all the empty streets and buildings that were crowded with people this very morning. "Everyone was taken."

"They must have all gone to the palace," Rib argued. "That's why the city is empty. They're all there."

"Rib, I don't think--" Without listening to me, he headed in the direction of Kingdom Pesok's palace, and we followed him once again.

More empty streets greeted us as we silently rode to our destination on our camels. It was eerie how quiet it became here.

A bark of a dog startled all of us out of our own thoughts.

"At least the animals were spared," Lena murmured.

"Stop speaking as if everyone else is gone," Rib said, unwavering in his delusions. "They will be in the palace." Then he whispered, "They have to be."

I stayed quiet, pitying the man who refused to believe that his people were gone. Why he thought they'd all be at the palace of all places was beyond me.

When we arrived to the unguarded gates of the beautiful Palace of Pesok, we all slid off our camels and slowly walked in. I held my breath in anticipation, hoping desperately that Rib was right. Maybe everyone truly was here. Maybe we'd been wrong to assume they'd been taken.

I knew that I was simply feeding my own delusions, and the empty courtyard of the palace was unwavering proof of that. The absence of guards at the gates should have already been the first sign.

"Rib..." I started, then watched him shake his head and enter the palace. We looked through the entire building and found no signs of human life.

No one was here.

We currently stood in the throne room and I was holding my grandmother's crown in my shaky hand, the full weight of the situation we were in hitting me with so much force that I had to lower myself to the ground as it became impossible to stand.

"Queen Lily is gone too," Lena said, her own legs giving out and sending her to sit on the floor beside me. "That means the entire kingdom has been dragged into the Underworld."

I met her sea blue eyes and voiced something we were both thinking, but were too scared to say out loud. "If people of Kingdom Pesok were taken, that means everyone else in Asterin has been too." I fought back the tears that threatened to spill from my eyes. "Including Aunt Athena, father, mother... We couldn't prevent it. I couldn't prevent it. I was foolish to think that I could do anything. I couldn't even decipher what that ghost's vision meant!" As I said that, a ribbon with a sunflower caught my attention and I stood up to walk toward it.

"It's for the Sunflower Festival," Rib said with dejection. "This is why I was hoping everyone was gathered here for its celebration." He hung his head. "It was my last desperate thread of hope..."

"The image of a sunflower," I finally realized. "This is what she meant when she showed it to me. It was to happen the day of the Sunflower Festival! The most important clue and I ignored it. I ignored it." Tears prickled my eyes once again. I felt angry with myself. "If only I hadn't..."

A tap on a window facing the large courtyard made me turn around, and I saw a large golden eye of a dragon peering into the throne room through the thick glass. After a soft growl, the eye disappeared and all I saw were white scales.

I ran outside to greet the giant dragon. "Nephos!"

Lena, Eros, and Rib ran out after me. Rib halted as soon as he saw the fire-breathing creature before him.

"Why are you here?" I asked Nephos. "Did grandfather send you? Does he know what's happened?"

He lowered his neck to the ground, waiting for me to climb on, and I did. The white dragon then released a soft growl and motioned with his eyes for everyone else to climb on.

After Eros sat behind me, and Lena took her place behind him, we waited for Rib.

"Oh no. I-I'm not going near the dragon." Rib stood with his feet planted firmly on the ground, refusing to move. "I can't do it."

"He's taking us to Olympus. Don't you want to meet the Gods and ask for help?" Eros said.

Rib chewed on the inside of his cheek and took the smallest step forward. It couldn't have been more than an inch.

Running out of patience, Nephos released an annoyed growl, sending the bandit two full steps back out of fear.

"Nephos!" I scolded. "You're scaring him." To Rib I said, "Don't worry, he won't harm you. I promise."

Carefully and very slowly, Rib started to move forward, his eyes locked with the dragon's golden ones to watch for any sudden movement, until he finally reached him. Lena extended her hand to him and helped the man climb up.

A gust of wind blew some dust at Nephos and he sneezed, nearly shaking all of us off.

"A-Are you sure it's safe to fly on him?" Rib asked fearfully as the dragon spread his large wings in preparation.

"Hold on tight!" I told him as we took to the skies.

"How high are we going?" Rib worried as Nephos flew higher and higher into the clouds. "I think I'm going to vomit."

"Don't look down," Lena said. "It helps."

"Not much. We're amongst the clouds, which is clearly very very high." I heard him retch behind me.

"Don't throw up on me!" Lena yelped.

"I'm holding...it...in. Oh Gods. How much longer must we fly?"

"Not too long now," Eros reassured him. "We're almost at the gates."

"I don't see any gates."

"Because you can't. They're not visible to you."

I could see a slight shimmer in the distance, splitting a puffy white cloud into two. It was very faint, but I guessed that is where the gates to Olympus were. Though I couldn't be too certain, grandfather's blood only allowing me to see limited details.

Nephos flew toward that cloud, then straight through it, emerging into a different world that I've never seen in person. Olympus.

My mouth hung open at its beauty. The colours of nature seemed much clearer, much cleaner. The delicate curves and shapes of the buildings of Zeus's kingdom mesmerized me as we flew around them. Not a speck of dust seemed to exist in this realm. Not a speck of darkness.

There was only light and purity. Astoundingly beautiful.

"I'm afraid to stain this place with my vomit," Rib whispered, as if scared the Gods would hear and punish him for saying that.

Nephos landed on a very large courtyard made of smooth white marble and delicate gold. He waited for all of us to climb off, nuzzled his face against me, then flew away.

"You've all made it!" boomed a voice as loud as thunder itself. A God with white hair and beard appeared in front of us with a wide smile. "I'm glad." He looked at Eros. "And I'm glad to see you back. Your father has missed you."

Eros gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Follow me, please. We were just about to begin the meeting," Zeus said, disappearing behind a door to our left.

Rib blinked, his mouth open in awe. "Zeus just spoke to us. Did you see? He just spoke to us."

"It's not that special, human," Eros said before following behind Zeus.

"But he's the King of all Gods. It's very special," Rib marvelled, walking beside Lena and I as we stepped into a large meeting room with multiple thrones arranged in a circle, facing each other. And each throne was occupied by a God. Only one of them was empty.

"Aren't you going to take your rightful seat, Eros?" Zeus asked when he saw the God of Love standing with his arms crossed.

"He's still in his rebellious mood," a God with scars on his massive arms said.

"Ares, will you stop it please?" A very beautiful and very familiar Goddess sighed a long sigh. Aphrodite then smiled at her son. "It's your choice to do as you wish."

"Your permissiveness is what made him rebel in the first place!" Ares exclaimed.

"Silence!" Zeus boomed. "We're not here to discuss your parenting issues. Eros can stand if he wants to."

"Oh, right." Ares sneered. "We're here to discuss your parenting issues."

"It wasn't Persephone's doing this time," Zeus said, sitting back in his throne and clearing his throat.

"This time!" Hecate, who I recognized sitting beside my grandfather exclaimed. "Are you saying she's abducted the living before?"

Zeus waved his hand. "Only a few."

"You mean to say thousands." All eyes were on me after I let that slip past my lips. I suddenly felt nervous with all the Gods and Goddesses looking at me. My grandfather nodded in encouragement when I met his golden gaze. I cleared my throat. "This man's wife was one of the victims." I pointed at Rib, who bowed fearfully when everyone's eyes went to him for a brief moment. "He's part of a group of men whose wives had also disappeared. Persephone had abducted thousands. Not a few."

"This is all your fault, Zeus," another Goddess spoke up.

Bewildered by her accusations Zeus rose from his throne. "How can you say that, Demeter? Did I make her do what she did? Did I tell her to do any of it? No."

"You might as well have," Demeter snapped. "Letting Hades take our daughter into his kingdom in the Underworld. I heard you give him permission to do it. You did this to your own daughter. You let your brother take Persephone! And that broke her!"

The God of Sky and Thunder sat back down. "I didn't know it would come to this..."

His statement caused an eruption of arguments with all the Gods and Goddesses speaking at once, raising their voices to speak over each other.

"This meeting is a complete mess," Lena whispered beside me. "I thought the Gods would be more...graceful."

"They're far from it," Eros said, his eyes pinned on his father.

I followed his gaze, wondering what his father did to make Eros hate him so much.

"Silence!" Thunder boomed outside to accompany Zeus's angry roar. "This meeting is over! We'll come back to discuss this issue when everyone's calmed down."

"Are you serious?" grandfather questioned him. "We haven't even discussed any solutions! Thousands of human lives are at stake here, Zeus. We need to take action."

"I said the meeting is over." Zeus planted both hands on the armrests of his throne and pulled himself up. A black stone on the ring on his finger gleamed into my eyes.

"Are you afraid of going against Hades?" I shouted loud enough for everyone to hear me clearly. "From what I gathered, you fear your older brother enough to let him take your own daughter. And now you're even willing to throw away thousands of lives instead of fighting him to free them."

Zeus froze, then his expression morphed into one of anger. "Tread carefully, granddaughter of Helios. I will not take insults from you. Choose your next words wisely."

I stayed silent, not because I feared him, but because I knew that nothing I say would make him see sense.

Satisfied with my silence, the God walked out of the meeting room, his long tunic the last thing I saw before he was completely out of sight.

"You might be right, Cassia," grandfather said when he approached me and engulfed me in an embrace. "I believe Zeus fears Hades. The Underworld is not his domain and he has no control over it. He knows he'd be vulnerable if he goes there to confront his brother. Hades has all the power there."

"We have to free them," I said. "With or without Zeus's help. All those people must be so afraid. So lost. And mother and father..." I suddenly thought of something. "Is grandmother here? I know she comes to Olympus with you sometimes."

Grandfather shook his head. "Not this time, she didn't." He sighed. "She'd wanted to stay to tend to Kingdom Pesok's affairs, and now she's trapped in the Underworld with everyone else from Asterin. I've been trying to get into the Underworld myself, but Hades has all the gates locked. No one can get in."

"Welcome back, son." Ares came up to Eros and slapped him on the back as a greeting. "Had enough of you little tantrum?"

Eros squeezed his hands into tight fists and stormed off.

Ares rolled his eyes and sighed. "Children."

I shot him a glare and followed after Eros. He was walking fast, his long strides making him move farther than my shorter legs could take me, which is why I had to run to keep up with him.

He finally slowed and walked into one of the many doors in the wide marble hallway, closing it behind him.

I stood in front of the door, chewing on my lip and wondering if I should open it. I didn't want to disturb him if he wanted to be alone, but I was also very worried for him and wanted to see if he was all right or needed anyone to talk to. I stood there for a few minutes, reaching and retracting my hand from the door handle.

Right when I decided to walk away and give him some time alone, the door opened and his honey eyes locked with mine. "Come in."

He closed the door behind me and watched me as I looked around the room. My eyes took in the beautiful interior of the bedroom, but my mind was on him. "Are these your chambers?" I asked, turning to look at Eros.

He nodded. "They were my chambers. Before I left."

"I see..." I suddenly felt nervous around him. When he was on Asterin, I'd often forgotten that he wasn't a mortal like me. His playfulness made him seem so human.

But now that we were in the realm of the Gods, standing in his own chambers in Olympus, towering over me with a serious expression on his face, he looked completely like the God that he was.

"Why did you leave Olympus?" I finally asked.

Eros looked away, staring at the armour that hung on one of the walls.

"Was it because of your father?" I probed. When he didn't say anything, I said, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I didn't mean to pry. I'm sorry."

"I haven't told anyone," he finally broke his silence. "Not even my mother." He ran a hand through his hair and sat down on his bed, looking at the marble floor. "I don't know what she'd do if she knew."

I didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue.

Still gazing at the floor, he said, "My parents always had different opinions about my future. Father wanted me to follow in his footsteps and become a God of War. Mother wanted to take me under her wing and teach me how to be a God of Love. They always fought over it, until I was grown enough to make my own decision."

"And you chose to become a God of Love," I murmured.

"I knew I couldn't please them both, but I wanted to make at least one of them happy with my choice, so I chose Love." He met my gaze, then looked away to stare at the armour on the wall. "My father was livid. He couldn't understand why I didn't choose his path. I was quite good at it. With more training, I could have even surpassed him in battle."

He stood up and walked over to the armour, tracing his fingers over the gold metal.

"Then one day I got sick," he continued, dropping his hand. "I was poisoned. But the poison didn't take my life as mother feared... It took away my wings. Made it painful for me to even use them. I could no longer fly and shoot my arrows of love into the hearts of shy lovers who were too afraid to declare their love to each other. It was my favourite part of my duty...and it was taken from me forever."

"No," I whispered, realizing where this story was going. "He couldn't have."

Eros laughed humourlessly. "That's what I thought too. I could have never imagined that my own father would poison me to get his way. Not until he told me to stop whining about my wings and start training with him. That's when I knew it was him. He didn't even deny it when I asked!" He took in a shaky, angry breath. "I couldn't stay in Olympus after that. I had to get away."

My hands balled into fists. "I'll make him pay for what he did."

As I turned to leave with intent to battle with the God of War himself, Eros caught my wrist. "Don't. He will hurt you."

"I don't care. He's despicable! He needs to know!"

A small smile tugged on his lips and he pulled me into him for an embrace, engulfing me inside his strong arms. As he gently caressed my hair, I began to relax against him. "You're quite something, little human."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the gleaming armour on the wall and wondered if his father had given it to him. My anger rose again. "When you let me go, I will fight your father."

He chuckled. "Then I won't let you go, love."