Chapter 4
Andromeda snapped her fingers and the door to Nebiru’s room swung open with a thunderous bang. She waved her hand and the heavy curtains parted. Bright light burst throughout the room. On the bed, Nebiru sat up with a curse, scowling at her through one cracked eyelid.
“I know you’ve been sleeping for the past few thousand years down in Tartarus but some of us haven’t,” he snarled and shoved the blankets away. “I vow you were not this irritating back in the void.”
She turned away as he got out of bed. He strode past her, grabbing his sword and sheathing it on his back. Clothes took shape around him as he moved. With another groan and a curse, he turned, still scowling.
As rude as it was to wake him up so early, there was much to do and a war to end, Andromeda thought.
“I need you to act as my voice here,” she declared. “I have to go away for a bit.”
He frowned. Sleep still darkened his eyes. “You have just claimed your throne and you’re about to run off? You really think that’s wise?”
She waved a hand. “I’ll be gone for less than half a day. It’s mainly if Persephone returns. Hopefully with Demeter in tow but I can’t base everything that Demeter will side with us. I just need you to manage any minor things that crop up and see that the hounds enter into training. They need to learn to work as an army, not just individual squads.”
He rubbed his eyes. “Very well. I’ll get the generals to work. Where are you going?”
“Topside and that’s all I’m saying. There’s groundwork that needs to be laid and messages delivered. If I’m lucky, we’ll have allies coming in.”
“And if you’re not?”
She glanced out of the doorway to the sprawling land beyond the balcony. Unease knotted her gut. “Then Chaos save us all.”
With Nebiru in charge Andromeda returned to her room. She waved away her formal dress, changing it to a clean shirt, a pressed black jacket, black pants and matching boots. Then, she sat down and by hand, braided her hair. When she finished, she stared into the mirror, wondering if she probably should’ve picked something more formal. She stood and snapped her fingers. A black cloak blossomed from her back, dotted with the night sky across it. As she moved across the room the sky on her cloak seemed to come alive, glittering. A shooting star even darted across in the blink of an eye.
With a deep breath, she waved her hand downwards in front of her. A black portal emerged. She passed through without blinking, stepping out on the other side. Her shoes clicked against the pavement. Looking up, the old university entrance greeted her. It had been a life time since she’d passed through those doors…and how different she’d been!
From the red-bricked walls to the beard of ivy that clung to the left side of the building, everything seemed little changed. It was she whom had changed. A new face, a new body, a whole soul, power beyond comprehension. It was a far cry from the lonely, bitter girl whose own pain nearly swallowed her whole. The girl whom had loved her partner, really the only person Andromeda had loved aside from Cerberus in his many forms. The person that betrayed her, like so many had before.
Shoving away the ugly feelings stirring beneath she strode ahead and pushed on the great wooden doors. The scrape of wood against the polished stone floor announced her arrival. From behind a glossy white desk a young woman looked up, startled. She rapidly glanced down and, likely seeing no one was due to arrive, and that Andromeda wasn’t wearing the uniform of an agent, stood up quickly.
“Hello miss, how may I help you? Are you lost?”
Andromeda purposefully looked around, then smiled at the pale blonde-haired woman. “Are the council still in for their monthly meeting? If so, I’d like to see them immediately.”
The blood drained from her face. Poor girl, remarked Andromeda, she had to be new. After a pause, she seemed to gather up her courage and squared her shoulders.
“I’m sorry but there can be no meetings without prior appointments,” she said firmly.
“Even for the end of the world?”
“We hear that every day but unless-“
“Darling, Hades is dead and Zeus is about to decimate this whole planet. I must insist.”
The blood drained away again. She grabbed the phone and started to make calls. As she did, Andromeda wandered over to the lounges and took a seat. It’d probably take a little bit for everyone to be told, panic, and then finally accept her request. They had a couple hours before she had one more stop to do before returning underground. Thinking on this plan she was lost in her own mind when the front door scraped open again. Two sets of footsteps entered. She only dimly registered that, dismissing it almost entirely until-
“Andromeda?”
She blinked suddenly, clearing her mind and she turned on her seat to the source. Her heart seized in her chest. Standing before her, as handsome and heartbreaking, as the day he became immortal, was Abraham. His ancient eyes were wide with shock, mirrored in the look of his partner, Amanda. The young hellhound’s mouth was open, as if stopped mid-conversation.
With a smile, she rose elegantly. Her cloak pooled behind her, glittering. She stepped away from the lounges and low coffee table towards them.
“You both look well,” she announced.
Amanda looked at Abe for answers. “You said she was in Tartarus-“
He didn’t answer her, however, as he stepped forward, seized by a cold anger. “Where’s Fay?”
She glanced at the receptionist, whom now watched them all with curious eyes. “We’ll be outside. Call me when the council is ready.”
Without waiting for a reply Andromeda gestured for them to follow. Back outside, she looked out across the sprawling gardens. The council’s central domain was a far cry from the mishmash of new and old from the agency’s HQ in the city. Still, it was familiar and dug up a whole host of memories she wanted to ignore for the moment. It was hard, though, given how close she was to Abe.
She turned to them again and let her new face bleed back into the old one. Fay’s mortal features twisted across her skin until the new face looked at Abe and Amanda.
“I’m here,” she said, her voice changed also.
In a flash, Abe yanked her into his arms, squeezing her as though he was terrified, she might vanish before his eyes. After a moment she carefully untangled herself from his embrace and took a step back, needing distance between them.
“Why are you with her?”
“I’m not with her. I am her. I’ve always been her – you knew that, though, didn’t you? It’s why you were so scared of my nature, why you used a command on me back then,” said Andromeda. “I always felt disconnected, an outsider always looking in – even with you. I felt incomplete, like something was wrong with me.”
Pain warred in Abe’s eyes. He had seen the familiar features in their natures, must’ve guess of a link between Fay and Andromeda. The fact Fay had been drawn so naturally to the dark must’ve scared him, having seen how disastrous Andromeda’s own mortal life had been. The pain that she had endured.
He closed the distance again, his gaze searching every inch of her. When his hand fell away, his face was unreadable.
“Um, hate to be interrupting this moment but we’re late for a meeting,” declared Amanda.
Andromeda had almost forgotten that Amanda was there. She glanced at the young hound, whom stared down Andromeda with the same young defiance as she had before. It seemed, regardless of whomever was in charge of the Underworld, Amanda was determined to steer clear. Be whoever she decided. For that, Andromeda decided she liked the plucky hound.
Abe blinked. “Yes, the council meeting-“
“Oh, what a coincidence, that’s just whom I need to see,” said Andromeda, clasping her hands together. “Let’s go, shall we?”
Amanda stiffened beside Abe. “The council won’t like this.”
“The world is about to end. I don’t care what they like,” said Andromeda as she set off back inside. “Better not keep the council waiting.”
As she ascended the steps her old face bled away. Her ancient eyes looked forward, fire burning in her eyes.
Abe and Amanda went in first. They’d looked at her strangely, at first but with a wink from Andromeda, they’d conceded warily. She smoothed down the front of her shirt, removing the non-existent wrinkles. As she listened to Abe provide his report and go into the arrival of Andromeda, questions were returned from the council. The way he spoke about her made her realise the attire she’d chosen, whilst well intentioned, had been too simple. Too mortal. She waved her hand across her body. Her plain clothes bled into her dress made of the night sky and stars sparkled through her unbound hair, lighting the black crown that sat firmly atop her head. Her sword remained sheathed at her back, like a single black wing of a very dark angel. She waves her hand over her back, too, and two black wings, dark as the very void she was born from, sprout from her back.
The transformation was complete.
A female councillor started asking questions again about Andromeda. Intentions, if she could be trusted. What she really was.
Andromeda pushed her hands against the cold door and it swung forward with very little effort. Gasps of outrage erupted as Andromeda swept in, gliding past Abe and Amanda, who gasped too at her transformation. Abe’s eyes grew wary. She ignored him and looked to the council, all seven of them. Men and women, warlocks and vampires, a witch too, whom sat stony faced at the end behind her veil.
“My name is Andromeda, Goddess of Death and ruler of the Underworld. I did not come for allies, nor to charm you. I came to warn you. Zeus is reading his power and when he has what he needs, he will burn this world to the ground.”
For a moment, no one spoken. Then, it was the witch who rose first, her calm eyes not wavering from Andromeda. There was ancient power in those eyes, wisdom in the lines that pinched the corners.
“Why do you warn us? Why do you care if Zeus kills us all when it impacts little on your world?”
“My first true memories are of myself staring out from darkness into a world I could not touch. I was made of shadow and death but that didn’t quell the hunger inside of me. Then I met someone whom showed me more of this world than I ever believed possible. In time, I thought I found a way to cross into your world. In a way, I was right but I was betrayed and my family stolen from me. To deny my enemy, I splintered my soul into three and spent the next few thousand years on earth, living. So, you see, I have breathed your air, felt the wind and sea on my skin. I have known love and I have known loss. I have been human, hellhound and now I am reborn. I may be a Goddess before you but I still care about this world. I care because though I guard your after life, I do not hasten anyone towards it. That is my role.”
The council members turned to each other, whispering tersely. If she wanted to, she could’ve listened in. There was no need. She didn’t turn to Abe to see his face. Part in fear of what she might see, mostly in knowing she had to be seen as a Goddess. For them to truly see any link to Abe, it’d humanise her.
When the whispers ceased and silenced reigned, it was the witch whom rose again.
“Even if we believe you, what would you have us do? How do we fight a God?”
“You prepare for war. Your first step will be to speak to a man named Perseus. He lives deep in the Himalayan mountains. Abe here knows how to find him. He’s done it before. He will teach you what you must know to kill a God.” She paused and gave a cold smile. “I tell you this because if Zeus kills me, your world will be next. Good luck.”
She spun around. Her eyes flickered faintly to Abe, holding his gaze as she spun away into darkness.
Andromeda emerged in the middle of an ancient forest. All around her trees rose to block out the sun and dug roots so deep that they wove a web beneath her feet. Only the faintest bands of gold pierced the canopy above and defined the small cabin before her. Ribbons of smoke billowed up from a stone chimney and floating lanterns hung in the windows.
It was to the naked eye, simply a cabin. To her eyes, which pierced the veil between light and dark, life and death, she saw something else. The whisper of gold that clung to the edges, like a fine dusting of sunlight. Just enough to reveal whom lived within. She released the breath she’d been holding since leaving the council. In her hand, a golden coin hummed warmly. It had been a life time since the coin had been thrust into her grasp and a quiet voice told her that, should the day come, where help might be.
She squeezed the coin and approached the cabin. One slow step after another, silent against the softened leaf litter. Or, perhaps, whatever sound she made, was swallowed up by the forest, much in the way it seemed to swallow up everything else.
At the first step, she hesitated. The door screeched, then scraped across the wood sharply as it opened. A figure emerged. A woman, whose golden hair framed an ethereal face. With eyes like her father and a sneer like her mother, there was no mistaking the child of Zeus and Hera. Hebe.
Nor was there any mistaking the figure that loomed protectively behind her. His name fell from Andromeda’s lips.
“Hercules.”
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