Kidnappers
Less than two weeks later Hebe woke up in a haste from a nightmare. Sweat was chilling her back and wetting the roots of the hair at the back of her head and she had a nagging, foreboding feel inside of her as she felt her heart rush in anxiety. The moon was almost full and since Hebe never used blinds, it shone into her room trough drifting ragged clouds and the whole air primed of approaching bad weather. And not only that. There was something else in the aether. Something strange and outlandish that her divine senses picked up and which made her get out of bed and put on her sandals and a thick woolen tunic over her night gown.
Parts of her dream were reappearing: Ares swinging a heavy axe, its large blade shining with a lethal, blue glow.
"It's Adamantine" the god of war said. "It can kill a god."
"It doesn't really kill" Athena replied. "But it severs the soul from the divine body and sends it down under in a way very similar to killing. And the effect might very well be the same if you can't retrieve that soul fast enough. Or worse, since it's almost impossible to find a soul lost on the lower levels. "
The goddess of wisdom was standing on top of a staircase to a magnificent temple-like building, large burners flaming on each side of her and casting eerie shadows and glows. She was dressed for battle, red-crested helmet covering her head and most of her face and she carried a large spear in her right hand. She looked dangerous. Lethal.
"Zeus can retrieve those souls," Hebe heard herself say.
"If he bothers," Ares replied. He was war-clad as well, and he looked like he wanted to fight his sister.
Then the image had shifted fast, she had seen Ares fighting Titans with that axe. Hordes of Titans coming for her brother.
"Ares" she had screamed, trying to drag him away only to find that she could not reach him, nor could she touch any of the Titans, who for some reason seemed to not even take notice of her. Athena had disappeared and with her the strange temple she had been standing in front of.
Then the image was shifting again and it was not Ares but Herakles fighting the beasts. Now the blade went from adamantine to regular steel and it snapped and fell to the ground. Then the hoards were attacking her friend from all sides.
"Herakles!" she yelled this time. That outcry was what had waken her.
Afterwards the uncanny feeling of lingering dread didn't want to leave her the way bad dreams usually did a few moments after waking up. Not even splashing cold water in her face helped, the dream didn't want to go away. Hebe conjured up divine light in her palm and followed her instinct out of her suite apartment on the top floor of the major building of the Academeia. She descended the three stairs and walked through the sparsely furnitured entrance hall, footfalls echoing in the dead silence of the night. Next Hebe opened the wooden double doors and went outdoors and down to the pupils and the students' dorms. The night was chilly and almost unnaturally quiet, the only thing heard was the breakers against the rocks down by the shore and a hunting owl's call.
The youngest pupils of the Academeia slept nearest the main building in an L shaped, two-storey house, neat and cozy if not overly fancy. Hebe could have opened the locked front door with her divine powers but normal courtesy had her using the keys instead. In the hallway of the dorm the bad feeling grew more prominent. The air almost reeked with the sense of something being wrong. Energies being distorted in an almost tangible way.
Hebe shone her light across the normally so cozy room with its sofas, tables and chairs where pupils could sit down a bit between activities. The place looked oddly forlorn now in the middle of the night with not a soul around, not a sound to be heard. There was a book left on a table, a forgotten ragbear in a sofa. As the goddess crossed the floor a cold draught was eddying around her bare legs, making her feel even more lonely and moody. In the distance she heard thunder, but it was not the rumble of her step father, neither was it caused by nature itself, but had its root in the disturbances of magic used the wrong way. The wile and bad-hearted way. Hebe shuddered under the presense of bad energies which were so strong that they were even disturbing the mortals, giving them nightmares too, even if most of them would not remember what they had dreamt in the morning. Hebe however felt the energies of night mares in the building and she really wanted to stop and sooth the poor children. But now was not the time.
Iaskar slept on the ground floor, almost farthest away from the entrance. As the goddess pushed the door open she knew what to find in there. Or to - not - find.
Correct, the narrow window was open in the small room, curtains fluttering in the wind which had picked up fast and the boy's bed was empty. On the other side of the window his room mate Aursenticus was tossing was tossing and turning in a disturbed sleep, and Hebe laid a hand upon the young boy's forehead, calming him mentally. At the same time she wondered where Iaskar may have gone, and why. She knew that she would almost be the only one to bother. Nobody else would miss that poor lad. Not even Herakles had liked him, he who always was so patient with outsiders otherwise! She remembered how Herakles had given Iaskar a try the other week, but he hadn't seemed to be able to reach the boy. Whatever Hebe still felt that the boy proved a kind of challenge. She so wanted to be able to get through to him one way or another and give him a chance to bound with another human being. Levitating out of the window the goddess begun to follow the boy's soul pattern, almost like a hound picking up the scent. She felt the first drops of rain falling on her face and sneaking themselves in a cold and annoying way between her tunic and her neck and spill down on her back.
Hebe tried to pinpoint the boys intentions, figuring out where he was planning to go, what he was planning to do, but she realized as she went farther away from the Academeia that his soul pattern seemed to change, to become less human and more like - something else. Something almost - frightening! Oddly enough the boy seemed to have been flying. Or rather, she reckoned, those who had taken him away had been airborne. Those, who's faint, swirling and popping energies she felt dimly around her. Shivering Hebe wondered who or what those beings could be. No ordinary gods of her kind, of that she was certain. The next instant she had felt it behind her, a millisecond before it came for her, something dark and huge diving down from the sky. Something with a scaled body and bat wings, red eyes gleaning evilly in the dark.
She could hardly yell out before everything went dark.
0O0O0
The next instant he had felt it behind him, a millisecond before it came for him, something dark and huge diving down from the sky. Something with a scaled body and bat wings, red eyes gleaning evilly in the dark. He could hardly yell out...
Herakles sat up in bed, confused and disturbed by the dream. Too much of Dionysos' wine yesterday, and too much of Ares' war stories. Al right, his big brother was a braggart, but it had been interesting neverthele... No, this was not the wine. Neither was it something Ares had been conjuring up in spite of all his talks about smiting Titans with axes of Adamantine. This was something else. This was about - Hebe. Herakles knew it, felt it in his gut, as soon as he had finished his train of thoughts. Something had happened to Hebe. Something was wrong at the Academeia.
With an alarming speed Herakles jumped out of bed and into his tunic and pants, put on his boots, grabbed a broadsword he kept in storage and then he was out of the door before he could think another thought. But there he stopped himself, he wasn't stupid or reckless enough to hasten away to Cyprus before he knew what he was about to face there. So much had life taught him, that knowing your enemy was half the means to win a battle. He had learned that with the hydra, which severed necks he had let his squire Iolas burn to prevent the monster from growing more heads. He had learned that it took trickery and flattery rather than raw strength to gain the Amazon Queen Hippolyta's fancy belt. And now he needed to know what was coming for Hebe, and for that he needed help.
Ares' home was just like Hermes' placed at the very edge of Olympos, although more or less at the other side. Almost as if the two brothers were marking their independence by doing so. When Herakles arrived there his brother was already up and about, sampling from a large storage of arms.
"Glad you came," bellowed the large man as soon as Herakles was let in by a sleepy-looking nymph. "I was just going to get you. I know you might not be that found of my sister, Herc, but I also know you are a man of honour and that you never back out of a fight. But you'll need more than that plaything," he indicated Herakles sword with a nod.
"You know what happened to Hebe?" Herakles asked as Ares turned his back and started away into the armory room, with some heavy swords and axes on his mind.
"I know something has happened to her," he turned his head slightly, dark-brown eyes gleaming savagely in the divine light. "And the one who causes the slightest harm to my sister - to any of my siblings as a matter of fact - will pay for it by tenfold. I've kicked the living daylight out of enough assholes by now that people ought to understand that I mean business. But apparently some morons out there still need to be taught a lesson."
Ares picked down an enormous axe from its peg on the wall.
"I'm sure you can handle this, big man," he said and handed the weapon over to Herakles. His half-brother took it, thinking to himself that before he had become a god he wouldn't even have been able to lift this tool, let along swinging it, no matter what people told about his strength. This weighed far more than Geiron or the thatch over at Atlas' and Herakles guessed that just one swing and he would be able to decapitate the largest of Titans. But Ares didn't stop at that, he handed Herakles another, larger broadsword too. Then he went over to a chest at the other side of the room.
"The big stuff is impressive enough, but you can do a lot of harm with the little goodies too, if you only know where they go." Ares pulled one drawer and took out some small but sharp-looking star-shaped objects, and handed four of them to Herakles. They weren't larger than pineapple slices but they sure seemed dangerous in spite.
"What's this?" Herakles turned the shining steel items over in his hand, felt the sharp edges trigger divine shielding reflexes around his fingers, the these days well known sensation prickling slightly.
"I'm calling them Death Stars. Had them made over at Hephaistos' after my own design. You know how to spin a discus, right?"
"Yeah, I was in some competitions," Herakles nodded.
"These work almost the same way." Ares made a fast twist with his right hand and the object flew across the room and buried itself in the wooden torso of a man-sized dummy of the kind Ares used for target practicing.
"Lethal!" Herakles admitted admiringly.
"Yeah. You know, most of these savages scream a lot when they come hoarding. Aim for their mouths, and these little darlings go right through the front door and into the headquarter, doing quick and fatal damage and the enemy is down in a few moments. Try it!"
Herakles complied and although he wasn't as good as Ares at twisting his hand the very right way he too could bury his Death Star in the belly of the dummy.
"Come on now," Ares then urged as Herakles retrieved his Death Star from the dummy. "No more shit chat, it's time for action."
"A little less conversation."
"What?"
"Forget it," Herakles felt a sting in his chest as he quoted Hebe.
0O0O0
"We went there to fight," Ares told his parents. "But there was nothing to be found save for upset teachers and crying children. Apparently no one knows what happened when Hebe went missing. And there was a kid missing too, even if no one seems to be the slightest bothered with his disappearance."
"But you think these disappearances are related?" Hera asked, massaging her hands.
"I do."
"You found any mind patterns of what could've been the kidnappers?" Zeus wanted to know.
"I'm not sure," Ares admitted. "There were so many conflicting patterns over there that both Herakles and I had a hard time pinpointing what had come for her, not to mention where it went. And those troubled teachers and children didn't make it any better. We're going to need a better trapper. We're going to need Artemis in this. Where's she?"
"She's still sound asleep I bet," Hera said. "But I'll have her up by the minute if she can be of any possible help in this matter." The queen nodded to one of the attending nymphs who dashed away to do her mistress' biddings.
"I'm convinced the disappearances are very much related," Herakles said and looked with intense emerald eyes at the king and queen of the gods who were seated opposite of him and Ares in the living room sofa of their private apartment. The room was pleasant and nicely furnitured and with a large fire sparkling in the hearth, chasing away the humid winter chill. Soft pillows covering generous sofas and coaches and large flower pots were cornering off parts of the room and making it cozy and airy at the same time. Under other circumstances the gathering would have been quite nice, Herakles guessed. Even with Hera present. But now the situation was much too dire.
"What makes you think they are related, Herakles?" Zeus wanted to know.
"Because of their correspondence in time and space. Both Hebe and Iaskar – the missing kid that is – disappeared around four hours after midnight. Both seemed to have been taken by beings heading towards north-east, although we lost their tracks out over the waters. So those who took Hebe must have taken the kid too, at roughly the same time. On top of that there's the coincidence factor. I don't think two persons would disappear from the Academeia, more or less without a trace, if not the incidents were related."
"But who could've taken Hebe?" fair haired Iris let up her voice, crossing one feet over the other and adjusting her long, multi-coloured dress. "She hasn't got any enemies as far as I know. A more nice and tender..."
"She's Olympian, that's enough for some people," Zeus grumbled. "They – whoever they are - probably want to get at Hera. Or at me. And they do so by attacking one of our beloved little ones. Both Hera and I are warriors of origin, although mixed with other divine traits, like weather and procreation, and they know better than going up against any of us. Or against Ares or Herakles either for that matters. But - as you pointed out, Iris - Hebe is kind and gentle and she has hardly ever been interested in anything violent. Some archery, that's the only thing I can think of. 'What is it good for' as your own daughter Palaistra uses to say. That combined with being away from Olympos where we others could had defended her, made her an easier target than almost anyone else. I've actually been worried that something like this might happen."
"You haven't said anything about that!" Hera gave her husband an almost angry look.
"I haven't been wanting to worry any of you but I have felt it for quite some time now, something evil is stirring. And as late as yesterday I planned to ask you, Herakles to keep an eye on Hebe."
"Why Herakles?" Now there was a plain irritation in Hera's voice as she glanced from Zeus over to his son and then back again. "Why not Ares?"
"Because Herakles has been expressing his interest in training some of these skilled children down at the Academeia. Thus it would look less suspicious if he went there than if Ares did."
"As if those alien barbarians would care about the finer nuisances of Olympian plans," Ares made a face at his father and Zeus sighed.
"I'd say 'better safe than sorry' in this case, son."
"And now we're sorry in spite," Ares replied.
"What do you mean 'less suspicious?'" Hera wanted to know? "Were you planning to use my daughter as a bait?"
"No, dearest, that would never cross my mind." Zeus answered. "But if that had been the case I would be exposing my son as well."
"That's not really..." Hera began but Zeus held up a large hand:
"Hera dear, now this is a side-track, it doesn't help us reasoning over choices of words. We need to act and for that we need a course of action, which we cannot get if we don't know who took Hebe and where those bastards went. We need to get Artemis out there as soon as possible."
As on a cue, the door to Zeus' and Hera's living room opened up and there stood a sleepy-looking Artemis in a short, cerulean dress and her dark mahogany hair still in disorder.
"The nymph said Hebe has gone missing," the goddess of hunt said and leant her right hand against the door-frame. "What happened really?"
0O0O0
Hebe woke up with a sensation of dizziness and a strange, rough feel against her cheek, as if she was lying against something hard. Which she soon found to be the case, together with a tormenting thirst. Had she fallen out of her bed in the night? No, that was not... Trying to move, she found that she could not. She was tied - no, chained down to something. She strained at the manacles, had they been steel or any other familiar matter she could have broken them easily enough - or just passed her hands trough them, atom by atom the way Dionysos had taught her. Or she could've opened the locks telekinetically if there was any, but these restraints seemed to be not only made out of some strange, unrelenting material, but welded together as well. There was no lock not even a splice in the metal. Now, there was only one she knew who could make things like that. Her brother Hephaestos. But why? An imprudent joke?
No, opening her eyes and gazing around her surroundings, Hebe became more than certain that this was not a jest. She appeared to be in a cell of some kind. A cell with walls and floor made out of stone. Narrow, damp and cold, she was aware of her shielding being in place and protecting her from the chill. She breathed in and concentrated, gathered strength to break through the restraints holding her. But no matter how she tried, no matter how she strained she couldn't break that strange alloy. Then she tried to pull the chains out of the fastening in the stone wall, but that also became an effort in vain. It was apparent that those - whoever they were - who were holding her meant business very much. Whatever she had no clue about what they wanted with her. Of course it had to do with her Olympic family, that much hit home. But was it revenge, blackmail or something else? She couldn't even begin to guess, since she had no idea who or what these beings were.
With a sight she sat back against the hard and cold wall, resting her head against damp stone and tried to think. The last thing she remembered was trying to find Iaskar, the boy who had gone missing from the Academeia in the middle of the night. She had chased him out over the ocean, following a faint trail. Then there was – nothing. She must've lost consciousness somewhere out of the waters...
Taking out her bearings against the earthlines Hebe found she was way up north, far away from Hellas and quite a bit off to the east too, somewhere in those mountains the inhibitors called the Urals. This was one of the most desolate places on Earth and inhibited by all kind of fearsome beings which had been driven away from the human settlements. At that moment dread started to swirl around in her belly, but she forced the sensation down and away. She could not afford to panic now, she must keep her mind cold and calculating. Was there any way out here? Any way to slip free from these restraints and to get out from this cell?
Hebe took a deep breath and realized that it was pitch dark and that she was using her infrared sight, making out features solely based upon their heat. That was why she herself was the brightest thing in the tiny confinement. The rest was cold, and thus more or less dark. She conjured up a flame of divine light and used it to shine around the room. The first thing the light fell upon was a scull resting upon a heap of more or less broken bones. A long dead mortal. Eugh!
Then she realized three things:
1. There were no door anywhere
2. The walls were round
3. There was no ceiling either
Consequently, Hebe thought, she must be on the bottom of a well of some kind. Those who had taken her had probably restrained her and then thrown her down there. No, she changed her mind, because then she wouldn't be chained to the wall. No, someone must rather have wired her down and then chained her here. Not that it mattered how they had done it really, but every little detail she was able to figure out of her enemy might just prove valuable later. That was something Athena had taught her once. Hebe let her light travel upwards, until it reached the top of the oubliette. That was about twelve metres up. Up there was an iron hatch, locked together thoroughly. The only way to get out would be to levitate up there and try to get the lock up. If only she wasn't locked to this damn wall!
"Darn," she said to the scull. "They do mean business these faceless beings. But I guess you learned that too, poor sod."