Iridescence

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

JENNA

We were as ready as we'd ever be. I took the lead, and everyone seemed to accept that. It felt weirdly natural to be commanding our small army, almost like I'd led countless battles before. Alexia had actually faced off against Chaos and his minions several times, but this would be my first big battle, and I was a little bit nervous.

"You've got this, Jenna," Nike said to me with a smile.

"Of course she does," Ares chimed in. "Alexia was excellent at this sort of thing. Now, enough talking! Let's go slaughter our enemies!" He eagerly raised his sword and looked to me. "After you, Jenna," he said with more respect than I'd expected from him.

You've led every team you've ever been the captain of to victory, I reminded myself. You can do this, too.

I had no more time to hesitate as we walked into a room that shouldn't have existed. The solid black door in the church looked like it should lead to a closet, but this room was the size of a ballroom. It was bigger than the church looked from outside.

"It's a pocket realm," Nike said. "Everyone, be careful."

Once the last of us entered, people started coming into the room from the other side. They wore hooded black cloaks and Greek masks.

Baby Doll hid behind Vanessa. I couldn't blame her. We were surrounded and outnumbered, even with a bunch of Gods on our side.

"It's the Apostasia," Emily said in warning.

I summoned my javelin. Vanessa already had her athame in her hands. Krissy summoned her trident, and Emily pulled out her dagger. Jake had a sword in his hands.

"Can you fight, Jack?" I asked.

"Um... I don't usually get into fights, but I'm pretty agile," he replied.

"You're a dancer," Vanessa said. "Just find your rhythm and don't overthink it!"

There wasn't any time for further coaching as we were attacked. The Apostasia fought with both magical and physical attacks. I felt like we'd gone from a Battle for Beginners class to our final exam in an instant. We weren't prepared for this level of assault, but it didn't matter. There was no turning back now.

"Nike, stand beside me," I said. "We work best together. Ares, cover us. Lucky, stay with Baby Doll and keep her safe. Emily, Vanessa, Jake, and Billy, stay close to Morpheus and take down as many cult members as you can. Poseidon, work with Krissy and Tethys. Hermes, Apollo, keep an eye on everyone and focus on healing anyone who gets wounded. Hecate, Hades, make sure the spirits of the fallen go straight to the Underworld so Altheos can't control them. Prometheus, feel free to burn anyone who's on the wrong side of this fight. Nemesis..." I paused for a second before deciding where she would fit in the best. "Embrace all of your rage and take it out on the Apostasia. Jack, let's see how well you can put your teleportation to good use. Help anyone who ends up in serious distress."

Ares smirked as he studied me. "Not bad, kid," he said with pride. He turned to our army. "You heard her! Get to it!"

Everyone focused on their individual assignments. I was amazed as things came together perfectly. With everyone having a specific role to play, we fought efficiently. They had numbers, but we had a strategy. The Apostasia were just a bunch of followers with no leader guiding them.

The followers started falling quickly. Some tried to flee, but Hermes kept chasing them back into the center of the room. I watched as Hades and Hecate worked hard to collect each soul of the dead followers. Jack started teleporting around like crazy to move people out of harm's way. I was impressed with how much control he was displaying, although he seemed to be getting tired the more he used his powers.

I stood beside Nike. She and I worked well together, and with her by my side, I was positive we'd be victorious. As much as Ares and Nike hated each other, they put it aside in battle, and the three of us combined were essentially unstoppable against the Apostasia.

"Yeah, Na! Keep kicking butt!" Lucky cheered as I took down an especially aggressive cult member.

"Lucky!" I shouted in warning as someone got too close to him and Baby Doll.

Lucky wrapped a labyrinth around Baby Doll that immediately sealed shut, effectively protecting her from harm. I let out a sigh of relief as Lucky started to head toward Morpheus, Vanessa, and Emily.

My relief was short-lived. In an instant, someone grabbed Lucky's head and twisted it sharply to the right. I screamed as the cult member tossed Lucky's limp body to the ground.

"No!" Vanessa sobbed. Emily stared in silent horror. Morpheus wore a similar expression on his face.

"Move, Jenna! You can't stop now!" Ares reminded me.

He was right, but that didn't make it suck any less. My best friend was dead, and I was just supposed to keep going.

That's what war is like, Alexia reminded me. You have to keep going. You can grieve later.

I flew into motion, attacking the man who'd murdered Lucky. He was dead in an instant. Emily suddenly let out a scream of grief and rage that struck down several of the remaining members of the Apostasia. The few who survived fled in terror. No one stopped them as they watched the scene unfolding in front of us.

For a moment, no one moved. I was very disturbed when I suddenly heard, "Ugh... That hurt."

I stared at Lucky in shock as he snapped his neck back into place and stood up. Vanessa paled and looked like she might faint. I understood her reaction.

"Lucky... How are you still alive?" Emily demanded.

He smirked and cheerfully replied, "I'm just lucky, I guess!"

The extremely bad pun snapped me out of my shocked state. I hugged Lucky tightly, refusing to let him go. I knew if I didn't ground myself quickly, I'd cause an earthquake that might kill us all.

Hades stared at Emily. "What did you do to this boy?" He asked.

"I have no idea!" She replied.

"Emily... Remember how I said there might be unexpected consequences to all the spells you cast when you resurrected Lucky?" Jake asked.

"Yeah," she replied cautiously.

"Exhibit A... Lucky appears to have become immortal."

"Immortal?" Emily repeated with wide eyes.

"Well, sort of... It looks like he can die, but he'll resurrect soon after."

"Oh my Gods..." Vanessa whispered.

"Cool!" Lucky declared.

"This is remarkable," Apollo said as he studied Lucky.

Morpheus came over to us and looked like he was still trying to convince himself that Lucky was really okay. "It is fortunate your sister is so attached to you, Lysander," he said softly. I could feel his relief.

"Alright, enough celebrating," Ares said. "We won one battle. Another is surely coming. Artemis and Faith are still missing. Altheos still has Eliza and we have yet to face him or Viktor directly."

"He's right," I said. "Don't let your guard down. We took down the foot soldiers. The real fight is about to begin."