Iridescence

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

ARTEMIS

Athena joined us quickly. We sat in front of the fireplace and caught her up on things. After taking everything in, she nodded thoughtfully.

"You must play to everyone's strengths," she said. "And all consorts must be present."

"Even Billy?" Faith asked.

"Theadora and Nyght worked best as a pair," Athena replied. "Vanessa will be even stronger than she already is with Billy by her side."

"He isn't ready, Athena," I protested. "He was locked in a basement for most of his life until this week! I don't even think his soul has unlocked inside of him."

"Perhaps being thrown into battle will awaken him," she replied.

"That's a pretty traumatic way to recover his past," Prometheus said. "That boy has been through so much already. Can't we take an approach that's not so harsh?"

"This is a harsh reality we are facing," Athena countered. "There is simply no time to handle this gently."

"Alright, so we need Vanessa to bring Billy," Faith said. She pulled out her phone and typed up what I assumed was a text to Vanessa. "And Emily needs Jake. Lucky's coming already. Apollo goes wherever Eliza does, and I've got you, Gorgeous." She winked at me. "Did Rydia or Alexia have consorts?"

"Rydia never declared a consort. I'm can't be sure if destiny planned to give her one eventually, though. It's certainly possible. As for Alexia, she had a destined consort, but the matter was kept private because it had not been made official before her death. I cannot say for sure who it was. Hera or Aphrodite would probably know. I'm sure Nike, as her sister, also knows."

"Alright, so we can't call in whoever Alexia's consort is. Can we bring the other deities with us? The ones who blessed us? Or our families?" Faith asked.

"Deities tend to show up when they deem it appropriate," Athena replied. "If they are meant to come and assist, they will."

"She's right," I agreed. "The Universe will only allow so much interference from outsiders. This battle is meant for the members of Iridescence. The prophecy was about you girls, not everyone else. Apollo and I can help, but I cannot guarantee anyone else is meant to."

"I'll help," Prometheus said firmly. "I gave Faith my blessing. I will not abandon her now, no matter what the prophecy decrees."

"Thanks, Prometheus," Faith replied with a smile.

"I will spread word to the other Gods about the coming battle," Athena promised. "They will decide whether or not to become directly involved from there."

"And, with that decision made, I need to sneak back into my room before I get busted," Faith said. "Genie can only cover for me for so long before the staff figures out that I'm gone."

"I'll bring you home," I offered.

"I'll see you ladies at sunrise," Prometheus promised.

We left his house and headed toward the group home. I cannot deny that I was worried about the coming battle. No matter how prepared we tried to be, we didn't completely know what Altheos and Viktor were capable of. Altheos had the potential for unlimited power, and who knew what secrets he'd hidden from the rest of us? It was also possible that Viktor had hidden talents.

The girls had only had a small amount of training as their incarnated selves. They were deities, but they were also teenagers with mortal bodies. The risk to their safety was immense.

I began ticking off a list of obvious concerns in my mind. Billy might not be able to control his powers yet, which could be very dangerous to everyone around him. Emily and Jake had a twenty foot wall between them that I wasn't sure Emily would allow to drop enough for them to work together successfully. Krissy was missing and critically injured. We also had to worry about Eliza being forced to face off against her father. The girl was strong, but she'd seen him murder her mother. This might be asking too much of her. Honestly, this might be asking too much of any of them.

Stop it, I scolded myself. Apollo is the one who coddles them. My girls are strong. They can handle this. They're ready.

"Artemis, wait," Faith said suddenly.

"What's wrong?" I asked, immediately focused on our surroundings.

"Someone's close... We're being watched."

I reached out my senses to try to figure out what threat Faith had detected. I relaxed as I realized we were being stalked by a black cat. Her glowing silver eyes told me she was not of the mortal realm.

"She's a messenger," I explained.

"Like Hermes?" Faith asked.

"Yes, but far less hyperactive and annoying." I knelt beside the cat and began to pet her. "What is it you've come to tell us?" I asked.

The cat stared into my eyes. Danger! She cried in my mind. You are out of time! Beware!

I stood up and nocked an arrow immediately. "What's wrong?" Faith asked in alarm.

"We are out of time," I repeated. "The cat is quite insistent that danger is here."

The cat hissed in warning before fleeing into the night as something pierced my ankle. I looked down in confusion as pain shot through my entire body. I couldn't think. I couldn't breathe. I would have screamed in agony if any sound could escape from my throat, but without air, I was silenced.

Faith sent Fire magic at my feet. The creature that had bitten me released my ankle. I watched as the unusual golden snake burned to ash in seconds. I could breathe slightly better with its fangs no longer embedded in my ankle, but the damage had been done.

"Artemis!" Faith screamed. "Are you okay?"

"Venom," I managed to say. "Spreading..."

"You're a Goddess... It was just a tiny snake. Can its venom really do much damage to you?" She asked hopefully. I could tell how scared she was for me as I struggled to stay aware of what was happening.

"Not from Earth... Magical," I tried to explain. This was the sort of snake Chaos had sent as his minion during the original battle. These creatures had killed many of our allies during that dark time. They'd even killed a couple of Gods.

Faith looked panicked for a moment. "I'll find a way to fix this," she said with determination. "I'll get you to Apollo or Hermes... Hermes has the cure for all of the magical snake venoms, right?"

I nodded, too weak to speak. "Hermes! Yo, Hermes, I need some help right now!" Faith shouted.

"I'm sorry, but Hermes can't hear you," a female voice said. "In fact, no one can. I cast a spell to ensure it. I didn't want us to be interrupted, after all."

I tried to focus, but it was difficult. Faith summoned her sword. I saw her tighten her grip as she faced the person wearing the Apostasia's long black hooded cloak and a tragedy mask.

"Uh, uh, uh," the young woman said, wagging her finger at Faith as if she was a naughty school child . "If you want Artemis to have a chance of surviving this, you're going to come with me, Faith."

Something about that sentence made Faith tense. "Take off your mask," she said.

"In a minute," the girl promised.

Faith grabbed the mask and ripped it off of the girl herself. I tried to make my eyes focus, but my vision was blurring.

"No..." Faith whispered.

"I'm afraid so, Faith," the girl replied. I realized then that I recognized her voice.

"But... We saved you! They kidnapped you and put you in a trance!" Faith shouted.

I understood Faith's distress. It seemed impossible, yet I could not deny the truth as Genie replied, "Right... About that... I happen to be an excellent actress." Just before I blacked out, she smugly added, "I get that from my father, Altheos."