A/N: Here at last is a new chapter for your enjoyment. Sorry it's a little late for Valentine's Day.
Chapter 11
Eros
"Agnon, get in here now!"
I jumped at the unexpected sound of Cronus' voice and hurried to answer his summons. I had been sitting alone in the chamber that served as living quarters for my brothers and me, contemplating our recent failure. I found I'd been spending a lot of time by myself lately, since my brothers still refused to speak to me. Two months had passed since the Echo fiasco and they were still furious with me. Not that I blamed them, I wasn't particularly happy either.
I still vividly recalled the last words they'd spoken to me.
After Clytius and I had extricated ourselves from the rubble of the cave-in caused by Echo, and Cronus had yelled himself hoarse, I decided to go and tell Alcyoneus what had happened. His reaction was exactly what I'd expected.
"You bonehead!" he'd screamed. "How could you do something so stupid? Thanks to you, we've lost what might be our only chance to get rid of those stupid heroes forever!"
Clytius hadn't yelled, but he made it clear he wasn't any happier with the situation.
"We lost two more brothers," he'd reminded me in a flat expressionless voice, "and it's all because of you. Cronus told you to watch the prisoners and no matter what you heard or thought you heard you should have done your job."
I knew they were right. I'd screwed up big time, but that didn't make their anger or the resulting silence any easier to bear. No matter how angry Cronus had gotten at us for the various failures we'd endured, I'd always thought I could rely on them, but now I knew I couldn't.
I entered the chamber adjoining our living quarters and found Cronus pacing restlessly. I waited patiently for him to acknowledge me. Considering how impatient he'd sounded, he didn't seem to be in any particular hurry.
"Agnon, do you know what tomorrow is?" he asked at last.
"Tuesday?" I ventured, uncertainly.
"It's Valentine's Day, Agnon," Cronus answered. "Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head, utterly baffled. I had no idea what Cronus might be driving at.
"Valentine's Day," Cronus explained, "is a holiday dreamed up by mortals as an excuse to show their affection for one another via the exchange of cheap gifts, sappy cards, and other assorted nonsense. Mortals give these things to their so-called sweethearts as a way of declaring their supposed love." Cronus spat the word love as though it were a curse, which considering how things had ended between him and his wife, Rhea, didn't surprise me.
"This festival of foolish fancy," Cronus continued, "has been perpetuated by Eros often know by his Roman name, Cupid."
I was now thoroughly mystified. I had thought that Cronus wanted to discuss his latest scheme, but this rant had seemed to have nothing to do with defeating our teenage foes. Frankly, I had about given up on our ever defeating them. It had been more than a year since our escape from Tartarus and in that time, we had accomplished nothing. I had absolutely no reason to believe that this year would be any different.
"Cupid," Cronus went on, clearly oblivious to my mounting puzzlement, "who travels the world on this day shooting mortals with his magic arrows and making them fall in love."
When are you going to get to the point? I wondered.
"I want you to bring Eros, his charming wife, Psyche, and his bow and arrows to me," Cronus instructed, coming to the point of his rant so abruptly that I was startled.
I stared at Cronus uncomprehendingly for several seconds.
You want me to go out and collect some love god, his wife, and his magic arrows, I thought, why?
"Why are you still standing there?" Cronus snapped. "Get moving!"
I hurried off, still unable to comprehend Cronus' plan.
I found Eros and Psyche living in modest home in the suburbs of New Olympia.
Why would a god chose to live here, like a mortal? I wondered.
I had a sudden vision of Cronus living in a neighborhood like this, inviting people over for backyard barbeques, holding garage sales, and putting up elaborate Christmas displays. It was so ridiculous I had to struggle not to burst out laughing. The idea of Cronus living a life like that, surrounded by his devoted family was utterly absurd.
Once I reached my destination, which looked similar to every other house on the block, I abandoned any thoughts of subtly. I knocked down the side entrance of the house and then the screaming started.
Why do they always scream? I wondered. It never does any good. Even if someone came to investigate the second they saw me they'd probably turn and run in the opposite direction. They wouldn't bother calling the police either because nobody's going to believe that a giant just broke into their neighbor's house. They'd think it was a joke or that the caller's nuts.
I scanned the room briefly. It was a typical kitchen. There was a partially eaten breakfast sitting on the table and two terrified people, wearing matching red and white tracksuits, clutching each other and yelling their heads off. For a moment, I wondered if I had the right people, I was certain I had the correct address, but these two didn't look much like gods. Then, I saw a bow and a quiver of arrows sitting nearby and knew I was right.
All this time, Eros and Psyche continued to yell. Finally, I had had enough noise it was time to put an end to the racket.
Reaching over I grabbed first Eros and then Psyche, gagged them, bound them, and shoved them into a sack.
Ah, blessed silence, I thought.
Tossing the sack over one shoulder, and ignoring the muffled protests of its occupants, I grabbed Eros' bow and arrows, and hurried up the street.
When I returned to our hideout, I found Cronus waiting for me. I tipped the contents of my sack onto the floor, placed my two captives side-by-side, stepped back, and waited to see what would happen next.
"Ah, Eros and Psyche," Cronus sighed. "Sorry to interrupt you both I know how busy you are this time of year and all, but I was thinking we'd try something new for Valentine's Day."
I handed Cronus the bow and quiver of arrows I'd retrieved.
"This year," the god continued, speaking directly to Eros, in a meaningful tone, "you will spread my message of hate to New Olympia. Especially to those annoying kids or you'll never see your beloved Psyche again!"
Taking that as my cue, I picked up Psyche while Eros looked on stricken and helpless.
I watched in horrified fascination as Cronus' eyes turned completely black. He then used magic to manipulate the bow, shooting Eros with one of his own arrows.
You had me bring him here just so you could shoot him with one of his own arrows, I thought utterly confused. What are you trying to do, turn him into Neil?
Suddenly, Eros' eyes turned as black as Cronus' eyes had been a moment before. Something was happening, but whatever it was, it clearly had nothing to do with making the god fall in love with himself.
"So, how do you feel, Cupid?" Cronus asked.
He snapped his fingers and Eros' bonds disappeared.
"My name is Eros!" Eros exclaimed angrily. "Cupid is a fat, balding baby! Do I look like a fat, balding baby to you?"
Two out of three, I thought.
"Ah, worked like a charm," Cronus pronounced in satisfaction, handing Eros his bow and arrows. "Now go forth and spread hate my cherubic Messenger of Mean!"
Eros disappeared and Cronus began laughing.
Oh, now I get it, I thought. Cronus did something to change Eros' arrows. Now instead of spreading love, they'll spread hate.
I took a moment to consider the possible repercussions of Eros shooting one or more of the heroes with one of his new arrows. It would be bedlam! If the heroes hated one another, they would effectively cease to function as a team. We could pick them off one by one. Nothing could possibly stop us this time! I just hoped nothing would happen to mess things up. I did not need a repeat of the Echo debacle.
Moments later, I was standing with Cronus and Psyche beside the scrying pool.
When I looked into it, I saw Archie, Atlanta, Herry, and Theresa playing a game of basketball. Herry jumped up to score a basket, but ended up bending the pole down so that it almost touched the ground. He picked up the ball and dropped it in.
"Two points?" he questioned, slightly embarrassed.
"You gotta take it down a notch, Herry," Theresa informed him.
"Sorry," he responded. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength."
Oh please, I thought, rolling my eyes, I doubt if you ever know your own strength.
Archie picked up the ball, but before he could do anything Atlanta whizzed by at super speed and grabbed it. She raced to the other side of the court and proceeded to throw the ball through the net Herry had just damaged.
"Whoo-hoo," she exclaimed, "the girl's win, oh yeah!"
"Hey no fair," Herry objected. "That's not a regulation net."
Suddenly, Eros appeared, but the heroes were unaware of his presence. I decided he must be able to make himself invisible. As we watched, he fired an arrow at Archie. Black and green light played briefly around Archie's body and his eyes turned black.
Meanwhile, Theresa and Atlanta were exchanging high fives and celebrating their victory.
"All right," Theresa laughed.
"We're not going down without a fight," Archie growled at the same time Eros took aim and fired an arrow at Atlanta.
"Bring it on loser," she taunted Archie.
"What did you say?" he demanded. Clearly, Eros' arrows had turned the two of them against each other.
"I said bring…it…on," Atlanta repeated her face inches from Archie's.
"What's that all about?" Theresa wondered.
Eros hit her and Herry with arrows almost simultaneously and they instantly turned on each other.
"Well, what are you waiting for meathead?" Theresa demanded. "Give me the ball."
Instead of complying with her request, Herry squeezed the ball until it popped.
"Oops, sorry," he told her, not meaning a word. "Sometimes I don't know my own strength."
Eros chuckled nastily before disappearing. A moment later, he reappeared, inside this time. Odie was sitting at a desk, scratching his head while he mulled over a problem in front of him. Eros fired an arrow at him. Seconds later, he swept everything off his desk.
"The textbook clearly states the liquid should turn blue," he snapped, "not cloudy."
Next, Eros emerged in a bathroom, where Neil was preening in front of a mirror.
"I love me," the blonde nitwit stated. "I love me not. Like that's ever gonna happen," he scoffed. "I love me."
Eros fired an arrow at him, but Neil dropped his head to wash his face and the arrow ended up embedded in the mirror instead.
"Missed," Eros grumbled in annoyance. He quickly fired another arrow and this time it found its mark.
Neil had just finished drying his face and turned back to the mirror.
"Ugh, my hair it's awful," he complained. "I am so ugly."
He scrambled around in the garbage for a minute before finding a paper bag, which he promptly placed over his head. Then, he stumbled out of the bathroom, bumping into Eros in the process. Satisfied that he had completed his task, Eros left the bathroom to spread hate to the rest of the citizens of New Olympia.
A moment later, Jay came out of one of the stalls.
"Neil?" he called. "Neil are you in here?"
Receiving no response, Jay proceeded to wash his hands and noticed the arrow embedded in the mirror.
"Huh, that's strange," he commented.
Not as strange as Neil being in loathe with himself, I thought. I've never seen anything stranger or more entertaining.
I watched as Jay pulled the arrow from the mirror and looked at it more closely, then, whether because he understood its significance or simply because he didn't want to leave it lying around for someone else to find, he tucked it into his bag and left.
I turned to Cronus, expecting him to be furious that Eros had missed one of the heroes and not just any hero, but the hero Cronus seemed to despise the most. However, he seemed to be taking things in stride. Perhaps he figured that Eros would get Jay later or maybe he'd decided that with six of the heroes out of commission it didn't matter very much. After all, what could Jay do to stop Cronus' plan? How much of a threat could he be by himself?
It worried me though. We had been down this same road with the Echo disaster. We'd had six heroes all but destroyed when the seventh showed up and ruined our carefully laid plans. I did not think it was wise to take that same chance a second time. The trouble was I couldn't say anything because I knew that Cronus was not interested in the opinion of someone he so obviously considered inferior. I had no choice. Once again, I kept my mouth shut. I just hoped I wouldn't come to regret it.
I expected Cronus to stay by the scrying pool to watch the chaos he'd unleashed unfold, but apparently, he had other ideas.
"Agnon, bring the prisoner and come with me," he commanded, opening a portal.
I picked up Psyche, followed Cronus through the portal, and found myself standing on a mountaintop on the outskirts of the city. From our lofty vantage point, we could see the entire city spread out before us.
After a few moments, I began to wish that Cronus had chosen to leave me behind. There was nothing for me to do here and I was bored senseless. At least if I was back at our hideout I could've watched the unfolding chaos on the scrying pool. I looked around for something to amuse myself, but aside from Cronus, Psyche and a snake, which I decided to leave alone when it displayed a wicked looking set of fangs, the mountaintop was deserted.
Cronus turned from his contemplation of the city, for a moment, to address our captive.
"Comfy my dear?" he asked. "I do wonder if Eros will return for you. It seems he's found a new passion."
Cronus returned his gaze to the city spread out below, chuckling softly.
At least Eros gets to do something, I thought a little enviously, instead of just standing around.
With nothing else to occupy them, my thoughts began to drift once more to our recent failure. That had become something of a trend with me as I struggled to comprehend exactly what had gone wrong.
I simply didn't understand how everything had gone so wrong so fast. It seemed like one minute things were going our way and the next all our plans were in shambles. I knew I had played a part in that by leaving our prisoners unguarded, but I was also certain that I wasn't entirely to blame for our failure. Perhaps it was because of all our previous failures, not all of which I'd had a part in, but I didn't believe that I was solely responsible for our recent defeat. Something else had contributed to it. Granted, it was something I could neither explain nor identify, but that didn't mean it didn't exist.
The more I thought about it, the more convinced I was that something important had changed between the time we'd caught Jay, Odie, Herry, Atlanta, Archie, and Theresa and the time they'd escaped. I racked my brain trying to determine what that something might be. What had changed between the first event and the second?
It was no use. The only thing I could think of was the arrival of Echo and Neil and…
Then it hit me. Finally, I understood not only how our luck had changed with such blinding speed but also why the heroes' put up with Neil.
I had always wondered why Jay and the others didn't kick Neil off the team. He seemed useless as a hero. He took no apparent interest in anything other than himself. He was always fussing about his appearance and staring at his reflection in that ridiculous mirror, he carried everywhere. How could anyone so self-absorbed possibly be a hero? Now, though, I realized that Neil did have something to contribute to the team.
Neil was their good luck charm.
It made perfect sense. Neil had always seemed to enjoy unusually good luck and apparently, that luck extended to the rest of the heroes as well. When Echo had kidnapped Neil, they'd lost that advantage, allowing us to capture them easily. Once Echo brought Neil back, his good luck had helped them to escape.
I couldn't wait to explain this to my brothers! This proved I wasn't solely responsible for the Echo catastrophe. I was elated! I was ecstatic! It wasn't my fault! Then, a sobering thought hit me.
Would they believe me?
They had absolutely no reason whatsoever to believe that my theory was the truth. It wouldn't matter to them that it was a perfectly reasonable explanation for what had happened, not only recently, but also in every conflict, we'd had with the heroes so far. I could try to explain my reasoning to them, but given their anger, I had little cause to think they would give me a fair hearing. They would probably just ignore me or insist on proof they'd know I could not provide.
Still, I wondered if it would hurt to try. At worst, they would belittle my conclusions, but it was possible they might listen, if I decided to wait until they were in a more receptive mood. Perhaps if Cronus' current plan succeeded I could convince them. They would certainly be happier with the heroes eliminated.
As for Neil's luck getting in our way, even the greatest luck had to run out sometime. There was no reason to think his wouldn't run out today. Eros had already managed to shoot him with an arrow maybe that was a sign that Neil's luck was finally starting to turn. I certainly wanted that to be the case, but only time would tell.
After what felt that an eternity, but was probably no more than a few hours, things finally began to get interesting.
Three of the seven heroes showed up on jet-powered gliders. They were too high up and wearing helmets that completely covered their heads, so it was impossible to be sure whom they were, but I was reasonably certain that one of them was Jay.
I knew it, I thought. I just knew this would happen.
Cronus had seemed so unconcerned about Eros' failure to shoot Jay with an arrow that I had started to believe there was no reason to worry. Now, however, I could see that I was right to be concerned. Obviously, Jay had discovered the arrow's purpose and managed to find a way to counteract it, probably with the help of one of the gods.
In a flash, I realized which god it probably was, Aphrodite. Who better to reverse the effects of one of Eros' arrows than his mother the goddess of love? No doubt, she'd whipped up a love potion or some such thing and poof Eros' spell of hate was broken.
This was exactly the sort of thing that always happened to spoil our plans. Still, with only three of the seven heroes here we might still have a chance.
"Eros has failed me," Cronus growled, "time to take matters into my own hands."
He grabbed the snake I'd noticed earlier and squeezed two drops of venom from its fangs. The drops hit the ground and three enormous, black, and green flying serpents appeared.
"Since those kids are always poisoning my plans," Cronus chuckled, "let's change the plan."
I watched transfixed, as the terrifying creatures launched themselves into the air and set off in pursuit of the heroes. Our enemies did their best to deal with this new and unexpected threat, but they were no match for the flying monstrosities. Despite their best efforts at evasion, two the heroes were knocked from the sky almost immediately.
One of them got his parachute caught in a tree and when he removed his helmet, I recognized Odie. A few seconds later, another hero landed a short distance away.
"Odie?" he asked in a voice I recognized as belonging to Neil.
Odie pointed to us and Neil turned around.
"Nice of you two to drop in," Cronus mocked.
I seized the two hapless heroes, quickly bound and gagged them and dumped them on the ground beside Psyche, but I couldn't stop staring at Neil.
Something very strange had happened to the usually lucky hero, someone had shaved all the hair off his head. I remembered Neil complaining about his hair after Eros shot him, and I wondered if he had done it himself. It didn't seem likely though, I doubted if Neil's self-loathing had extended that far. I wondered who had done it and why. I also wished I could have seen Neil's reaction when he stopped hating himself and saw what had happened to him.
Things are looking up, I thought with satisfaction. We have two prisoners and at least four of the heroes may still be at each other's throats. Perhaps their luck is finally starting to turn.
Cronus seemed happy with things too.
"I kind of like the way this turned out, don't you?" he asked our new prisoners.
Everything did seem to be going our way, but, of course, it couldn't last. It never did.
"Don't be so sure of yourself, Cronus," Jay shouted.
I stared in shock as Jay came barreling out of the sky, striking Cronus with his staff and sending the god flying. Cronus landed on a ledge a few feet below and Jay set down across from him. I watched the two of them fight for several minutes. Then a well-aimed blow from Cronus sent Jay sliding over the rocky surface. Jay's staff tumbled over the edge. Now he was alone and, apparently, unarmed. I waited for him to pull out his sword and when he didn't, I concluded that he must have dropped it during his skirmish with the serpents. I was certain victory was at hand.
Jay rose to his feet and stood fists cocked waiting for Cronus to make his next move. I observed the scene with mounting disbelief.
Is he crazy? I wondered. He doesn't stand a chance!
"Oh look," Cronus laughed gazing upward at our three captives and me, "he wants to fight like a man!"
He's definitely crazy, I decided, because only a lunatic would be foolish enough to face down Cronus without a weapon.
"I am not a man, Jay," Cronus admonished turning his attention back to the hero. "I am a god!"
Without further comment, Cronus used his scythes to blast Jay over the cliff. I listened with satisfaction as the boy's terrified shouts faded away to silence.
It's over, I thought, there's no way he could survive a fall from that height.
I was wrong.
Before my astonished eyes, an unexpected scene unfolded. Archie, Atlanta, and Jay came swinging up over the cliff edge. I climbed down to the ledge Cronus was standing on eager to help.
"Jay," I heard Atlanta say her attention focused on her teammate. "He's hurt," she informed Archie worriedly.
Then, their attention turned to me. I growled menacingly. I could hardly wait to start knocking these heroes around.
"He's yours," Archie told Atlanta. "He won't stand a chance against you."
"I won't go as easy on him," she answered back.
What is that supposed to mean? I wondered.
While Atlanta moved to confront me, Archie attempted to help Jay regain his feet.
"Archie, look out!" Jay shouted as one of the serpents moved to strike.
They managed to avoid the creature's jaws and the next thing I knew it had set its sights on Cronus.
"Foolish beast," he snapped.
He used one of his scythes to slice it in two, reducing it to a pile of dust, while another one snuck up behind him. Cronus managed to climb aboard this serpent and moved to attack Jay and Archie.
"Heads up, Jay," Archie called, tossing Jay his sword.
Jay managed to use his regained weapon to parry the serpent's jaws, but injured as he was I was certain he couldn't last long. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that he had Archie to help him. The purple-haired hero used his whip to pull Cronus from the serpent's back and a sudden blow from the monster's tail sent Cronus plummeting toward the ground so far below.
"Ba-bye," Archie called mockingly as Cronus fell.
Now, I focused my attention on fending off Atlanta.
I was about as successful as Cronus. I ended up standing on the cliff edge with Atlanta pointing her laser crossbow at me.
"Jump!" she commanded.
"Uh-uh," I grunted, shaking my head. There was no way I was jumping off a cliff.
"Fine then," she muttered and shot me with her crossbow sending me plummeting to the ground so very, very far below me.
I sat up groaning some time later and immediately began plotting the painful revenge I would take against Atlanta. I turned my head and saw Cronus standing a short distance away glaring up at Mount Olympia. As I expected he looked unscathed while I felt as though every bone in my body was broken. It was a miracle I'd survived that fall, but judging by the number of broken branches around me, the trees had slowed my descent somewhat.
As I heaved my aching body upright, I heard Cronus shouting at the sky.
"You may have escaped me this time, Jay," he roared, "but someday I will have my revenge!"
Oh shut up, I thought, disgusted, just shut up!
A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I'll try to have another one posted soon.
