Iridescence

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

APOLLO

Something was very wrong. The tightness in my chest wasn't just general anxiety about the coming battle.

"Artemis..." I whispered.

"What's wrong?" Eliza asked me.

"Something happened to Artemis. I can feel it... She's in trouble," I explained, trying not to panic.

"We'll find her, Apollo," Eliza promised she as she took my hand. Her touch grounded me, but it didn't change the fact that I knew something catastrophic had happened to my twin.

I didn't wait for the sun to rise. Instead, I went to our designated meeting spot with Eliza. She texted the other girls while I reached out to the Gods.

Most of the girls showed up quickly. Jenna brought Lucky with her. Emily stood with Jake, and Vanessa soon arrived with Billy.

Hermes, Prometheus, Ares, Nike, Poseidon, Morpheus, and Tethys joined us. I thought we'd assembled everyone who was going to come, but then I saw the last of the cavalry.

Hades came toward us radiating with power. He was visibly ready for battle. Beside him stood Hecate.

"I heard we may need a portal to reach Krissy," Hecate explained. "Hades was hoping that my magic can counteract Viktor's enough to give us access to the pocket realm."

One other ally had arrived with Hades, and I was genuinely shocked to see her. "Nemesis," I greeted her. "I didn't think you'd be joining us today."

"I brought this evil into the Universe," Nemesis replied. "It's only right that I help destroy it."

"And people thought Hera was a bad mom," Hermes joked. "At least she didn't call her children it."

"Altheos was never a child," Nemesis replied sharply as she pinned him against a tree, her right arm putting pressure across his throat. "He was the embodiment of pure evil, but no one ever listens to me or to Hades."

"Calm yourself, Nemesis," Poseidon said, radiating the kind of power only he and his brothers possessed. My generally mellow uncle didn't do this as often as Hades, and he certainly didn't do it as often as Zeus did, but the force of his voice was enough to make the ground shake. It stopped Nemesis in her tracks.

"Stop wasting time and release Hermes," Poseidon said in a much calmer tone.

Nemesis glared at him, but she released my brother, who wisely ran and hid behind our uncle.

"Thank you for coming, Nemesis," I said politely, trying to calm our unexpected ally down. "We appreciate your assistance."

"Apollo... Faith isn't here," Prometheus said in concern. "When she left with Artemis, they intended to go back to the group home. I don't know if they made it there."

"I texted Faith along with the others," Eliza said. "She didn't answer."

"We need to go check the group home," I decided. I led the way. If any other deities decided to show up, they'd have to find us wherever we ended up.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by a little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes who stood in front of the group home. She looked terrified, and I suspected she'd witnessed something that had traumatized her.

"Hello, sweetheart," I said gently. "We're looking for Faith. Have you seen her?"

The child started crying. She looked at some of my scarier companions, namely Hades, Nemesis, and Ares, and cowered in fear.

I'm pretty good with kids, but I wished my sister was with me. Artemis had a way of calming terrified young maidens quickly. I put on my kindest smile and tried my best to reassure her.

"We're friends," I promised her. "Can you tell me your name, little one?"

She watched me nervously and did not respond. Eliza knelt in front of the girl. "I know you're scared, sweetie, and that's okay. Sometimes, I get scared, too," she said gently. "We're here because we want to help Faith. Will you help us help her?"

The child nodded slowly, so Eliza continued. "Thank you for being so brave, sweetheart. My name is Eliza. What's yours?"

The girl didn't speak, but she touched her hand to the center of Eliza's forehead. After a moment, Eliza looked at us and said, "Everyone calls her Baby Doll. Faith mentioned her to us. She's one of the girls the Apostasia abducted."

"How do you know?" Jenna asked.

"Baby Doll is an Oracle, like I am," Eliza replied. "She just placed a vision in my head because she was afraid to speak out loud."

Baby Doll hugged Eliza, visibly relieved that she had understood her message. She put her hand on Eliza's forehead again. This time, the gesture lasted longer.

Eliza's eyes widened in surprise before she pulled the little girl back into her arms. "Baby Doll sees a lot of things," she explained. "Between her visions and the fact that she's tiny and quiet, she has gained a lot of information."

"What did she see, Eliza?" I asked.

"She saw Liana's death... It really scared her. She also showed me something else... When Genie followed her out of the group home, she put Baby Doll under the trance, and then pretended she was under one, too. Baby Doll was too afraid to tell anyone. She couldn't understand why Genie betrayed Faith."

"Oh, Gods," I said in horror. "Artemis trusted Genie, too... Is she part of the Apostasia?"

"Apollo..." Hermes said.

"What?" I asked.

"You said Altheos has a daughter, right? Is it possible that this Genie girl is his child?"

I felt like a fool. It suddenly seemed obvious. His daughter had been hiding in plain sight, worming her way into Faith's life and pretending to be an innocent ally while secretly plotting against us all.

"It seems she's just like her father," I said with a sigh.

"I have a grandchild from that abomination and you didn't tell me, Apollo?" Hades demanded.

Baby Doll flinched and hid her face in Eliza's shoulder. Eliza scooped the girl up in her arms and stood, rocking her gently to try to soothe her.

"It slipped my mind, Hades," I replied. "You have my apologies, but please reel in your temper." I motioned toward the terrified child.

"Right," he mumbled.

"We need to find Faith and Artemis," Nike said. "Does Baby Doll have any idea where they are?"

Eliza looked at the girl and asked, "Did Genie take them somewhere?"

Baby Doll nodded. "Where?" I asked, trying to keep the panic out of my voice.

Baby Doll started wiggling out of Eliza's arms, so she released her. The child waved her hands in front of her. I stared in shock as fire appeared. An image made entirely of flames began to take form. It looked like an abandoned church.

"My Gods," Prometheus said as he studied the flames. "This girl is a Fire Nymph!"

"That's impossible," Poseidon argued. "Every last Fire Nymph was wiped out by Chaos."

"Apparently, that's not entirely true," I said. "It seems that, somehow, our young friend escaped that fate."

"Faith," Baby Doll said, shocking me by speaking aloud.

"What about Faith, little one?" I asked gently.

"Faith is Tana," she explained softly. "Tana saved me. She hid me from everyone to keep me safe. She even made herself forget."

"How long have you known all of that?" I asked.

"I remembered last year. I dreamed about it."

Morpheus nodded. "Her dreams were memories of her past," he confirmed. "This child was not killed, but she incarnated to remain safe after she realized everyone else had fallen. Her gift as an Oracle gives her the ability to recover the information she needs to survive in each of her new incarnations."

"Faith is scared," Baby Doll said softly. "That scares me."

"That scares me, too," I admitted. "Did you see what happened?"

"Artemis got bitten by a special snake. She's not awake anymore. Faith went with Genie even though she knows she's bad because Genie said she can fix her."

"Then let's go find the church and rescue them," Prometheus replied.

"What about my daughter?" Tethys asked.

"Our daughter," Hermes reminded her with a smile.

"Krissy is in a pocket realm," Poseidon said. "We need a portal to get to her, which means we can technically reach her from any location. We'll start at the church and go after Krissy from there."

"I can take you to the church," Baby Doll volunteered nervously.

"It's too dangerous," Emily protested. "We can't risk her life like that. She's just a little girl."

"I'll protect her," Lucky offered. "If things get out of hand, I'll lock her in a labyrinth and no one will be able to get to her."

Vanessa moved closer to Baby Doll. "Lead the way, cutie," she said. She made stars appear and dance around the girl before manifesting a butterfly in front of her face. This seemed to mesmerize Baby Doll and put her at ease. She shyly took Vanessa's hand after a minute and started walking, so we followed her. It didn't take us long to reach our destination.

The church had not been used by its intended tenants for quite some time. The property felt dark, like an evil presence had forced its way into every inch of what had once been a sanctuary. I was very concerned by what we might find once we entered it.

Baby Doll hesitated as most of us moved forward. She hung behind, clinging to Vanessa's hand. That worried me.

"Everyone, stay together," Jenna said firmly, apparently feeling concerned as well. "This could be a trap."

"Let me take the lead," Jake said. "I can't die again, and if I'm fatally wounded, Hades will heal me."

"Again?" Vanessa repeated in confusion.

"I'll explain later," Emily promised.

Jake walked toward the front of the church. He opened the door. Nothing happened, and I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. The rest of us headed toward the doors, staying as close together as we could.

I was toward the back of the group, with Eliza, Vanessa, Billy, and Baby Doll. Suddenly, Baby Doll's expression turned significantly more terrified. She tried to drag Vanessa forward just before an explosion went off.

Some God of Prophecy I am, I thought as I realized Baby Doll had seen this coming but I hadn't.

"Is everyone alright?" Hermes asked as he ran toward us.

I looked behind me. A hole had opened up in the ground. Smoke filled the air. Baby Doll was sobbing a couple of feet away from me. Tethys took her into her arms and healed the minor cuts and bruises the explosion had given her. Baby Doll was shaky, but it looked like no serious damage had been done to her.

"Where's Vanessa?" Emily demanded.

I realized Vanessa and Billy had vanished from sight. I tried to process that as Hermes tended to a pretty serious cut on my head.

"Eliza..." I mumbled. As my mind cleared, I became much more concerned. "Eliza, where are you?"

"Did they get blown up?" Ares asked.

"Hades, are they dead?" Poseidon demanded, asking the question that I was far too terrified to voice aloud.

"They're alive," Hades replied quickly.

I nearly sobbed in relief. "You're certain?" I asked.

"Yes," he promised. "I don't know where they are, but they're alive."

"I sense portals," Hecate said after a moment. "The explosion was just a distraction. I believe Vanessa and Billy are in a shadow realm. As for Eliza..." She hesitated as she looked at me.

"Oh Gods," I whispered as I realized what she wasn't saying. "He has her... Altheos has Eliza."