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Previously on More Than A Friend:
Yet, she still decided to kill me.
It didn't work.
The week before, I'd requested a three day break when I was done with my project, to give my mind a rest before starting my next. She granted it, telling me I'd just about earned it with all the hard work I was doing. She was just grateful I hadn't had any contact with Sage in so long.
I finished out my day of work, working late to make sure I had absolutely finished my project and wouldn't have to come in another day. I was so close to done, it wasn't worth an entire extra work day for a couple hour's work. Not that the project wasn't worth it, it was a good thing, a soup kitchen for the poor, stationed in New York, but it was worth the overtime work to finish it up that day.
The first day of my break, I went home. Lindsey answered the door when I rang the bell.
"Mikayla. As you can clearly see by the lack of every vehicle this family owns in the driveway, I'm the only one here." She greeted.
"I know." I said. I took a deep breath. "I need your blessing to go do something extremely stupid and dangerous."
"What?" She asked.
A tear slipped down my cheek. "She'll kill me, the moment I speak out. And I don't know how much longer I can contain my emotions." I whispered.
"Come in, Mikayla, and tell me what's going on." Lindsey stepped outside and slipped an arm around my shoulders, then led me into the house. She brought me to the kitchen and had me sit at the island while she went about preparing two mugs of tea.
"You actually want to know? You're not just going to kick me out or anything?" I asked incredulously.
"You might not have noticed, Mikayla, but I am only on the colder side when my daughter is home, or supposedly going to be soon. Any other time, you just ignore me and find your father or brother." Lindsey told me.
I thought back to all the times I'd visited ever since I started working for my mother. She wasn't lying. "Why?" I asked. My voice came out kind of hoarse.
She sighed, setting a mug in front of me and taking a seat across from me with her own mug. "I care about you, Mikayla, I really do. But I also don't wish to alienate the only child I've given birth to. I consider all three of you my children, even if I am not your biological mother or Erin's biological mother." She explained.
"Why does Annika hate me so much?" I asked.
"I won't pretend to know, because I honestly don't." Lindsey sighed. "I wish she didn't, but she does, and nothing I say seems to help. If anything, she just gets angry whenever I say anything."
"It doesn't make any sense." I said.
"It really doesn't." Lindsey agreed. "Now, why don't you tell me about why you're here."
"There are new orders, for all of us minor gods that were made gods to work for others. Overpopulation and such." I started hesitantly. "If I don't follow my mother's orders, I'll be returned my mortality. And I really care about my job. I also have the choice to quit. But her newest orders..." A tear slipped down my cheek.
"What did she order you to do?" Lindsey asked, nothing but concern on her face.
"I'm not allowed to be around Sage anymore. She doesn't like him, that's why she gave the order. She says he's a bad influence, and he's dangerous, but he's the sweetest boy you'll ever meet. She knows he's my best friend, she's known he's been my one of my only friends for the past six years. But still, with my job on the line and her knowing how much I care about my job, I'm not allowed to be around him anymore." I explained. "She gave me three strikes. The first, he came to me, technically, but it still counted. The second happened... And he promised he'd make sure I didn't get the third. He left. He up and left, took everything of his from our house, and I haven't seen him in six months. It's killing me. I may be immortal, but I am dying a slow death."
"How did the strikes happen?" Lindsey asked. "You just decided to hang out with him twice because you could?"
"You remember my nightmares, right?" I asked.
"I do. You always used to come into our room as a little girl, and you'd lay down right between us and sleep. You stopped coming in when you were ten. We thought they'd stopped." Lindsey said. Surprise and concern lined her features.
"They didn't stop, but I started going to Erin." I told her. "He made me feel safe just like you and Dad did. He made me feel safe like... He made me feel safe like Sage did."
"The nightmares didn't ever go away?" Lindsey asked.
"No. I never got used to them for the few years I was by myself when I first started my job. Instead, I just took the godly form of an energy drink, and only slept when absolutely necessary. It got me by." I admitted. "And then Sage and I became friends, and then I offered him the extra room so he had a place on Olympus instead of a creepy palace in the pits of hell, and so he had a place outside his family's farm if he wanted it. He took it."
"He heard me screaming the first night. It was a particularly bad night. He came to my room, and he asked what was wrong, and he comforted me. And then he held me until I fell asleep, and stayed with me all night. And he did that for awhile after, until I started to go to his room when I woke up. He didn't mind, and it became routine." I continued. "And then after six years, when Zeus makes this new decree, Athena makes that order, knowing I won't go against it, knowing I won't risk my job..."
"But you did go against it, twice?" Lindsey was confused, I could tell.
"I mean, technically... But I knew that there were three strikes, and that only with three would I be risking it. The first strike, it was the night she gave the order. Sage came to my room when I didn't go to his. He was concerned. I had to tell him about the orders, but since it would only be one strike, he stayed with me all night. She didn't make me kick him out or love out myself because she knew I would've flat out refused." I explained. "The second happened after three months of only being able to say hi if I passed by him in the house. I was reading, and he came into the living room to watch TV. That alone wouldn't have counted, the living room wasn't just mine. But then he took my book and set it aside, and he kissed me. He told me he couldn't let me go without doing that at least once. Then he promised I wouldn't get a third strike and left. I haven't seen him in sixth months. He's probably at his family's farm."
"And you need my blessing for what, exactly?" Lindsey asked softly.
"I'm going to do something stupid, soon, I know it. I can't keep my mouth shut much longer, and every single day, I want to yell and scream at her for what's happening to me. And if I do that, I'll likely quit or she'll fire me, but she's a god and she's never known any other way. She'll be angry, and she'll likely do something rash. I don't want to get hurt." I quietly explained. "You're much more of a mother to me than she ever was."
I took a deep breath. "Lindsey, I need a mother's blessing to go to the River Styx and get the curse of Achilles. I need your blessing to become invincible."
The second day of my break, I went to the River Styx.
When I went under, I thought of everything that I had to live for. Everything that mattered to me. My family, my few friends, my job of helping people. My mind kept going back to Sage. Back to Sage and his goofy smile, back to Sage and his laugh, back to Sage and his comforting embrace.
And so my Achilles spot became the spot that Sage touched the most - my left palm. It didn't matter what we were doing, we were usually touching in some way, and most times, we were holding hands.
So my Achilles spot became the center of my left palm and I walked out of that river, without a shadow of the doubt that the River tried to instill in any who touched it in my mind.
The third day of my break, I went to Aliya. I told her what was likely to happen soon, and what I had done, and she agreed to help me. She agreed to help me even if it might cost her her own place on Olympus. I never realized how good a friend she was to me until she said that. I guess I'd taken her friendship for granted.
Aliya helped me to stock a safehouse with things I would need when the time came. I would most definitely have to hide out for at least a little while. The safehouse was in a forest on a mountain, in a place that you could only find if you were told exactly where it was and had permission to be there. It had been created by Aliya's mortal grandfather, who had been a well versed follower of Hecate. She told me I was welcome to use it anytime, and that she didn't need it.
I also wrote a letter to Sage, and gave it to Aliya. She had learned some things from her grandfather, and enchanted it to arrive to Sage's family's farm a week after she brought me to the safehouse. It contained instructions on how to get there, and could only be read by the intended recipient. It would burn to ash once read.
Because of what had happened when I asked for that break, Athena's attempt to kill me did not work.
"How?" Athena demanded, rage flickering in her eyes. Everyone else was quiet, even Zeus. No one interfered.
I didn't give her an answer. I turned toward Aphrodite, toward where Aliya stood by her, attending her during this meeting. I could've sworn Aphrodite gave me a subtle wink as Aliya flashed to my side, grabbed my arm, and flashed us away.
My days in the safehouse were largely boring and restless. I had nothing to do but wait out the situation, wait for Athena to calm down and for Sage to arrive. I didn't want Sage arriving right away, because he'd no doubt be looked to in trying to find me, and I couldn't have him knowing just yet. I also wanted him there to protect his family in case anyone went after them for what he meant to me. Some gods had done more for less reason.
About an hour before Sage was supposed to arrive, I heard a voice.
No. I didn't hear it. More like it was in my head. It felt like someone was there, too, but when I looked around, there was nothing.
"Mikayla." The voice said. It was soft and feminine. I looked around again, but again, there was no one there.
"Who are you?" I asked. I likely should've felt suspicious, cautious, and all those other things, but the presence was... Comforting. Safe.
"It's not important who I am. All you need know is that I am old, very old. I am an old being, and I wish nothing more than to fade away. But, for that to happen, I need your help." The voice explained.
"What will you have me do?" I asked.
"I can bring you to Greece, but you will have to journey to Athens on your own. I need you to journey to Athens and find my forgotten temple. From there, you can release me from my existence." The voice explained. "But you must hurry. Even now, my enemies search, search to destroy my entire being completely, rather than just allowing my consciousness to fade into the afterlife of the immortal. If they succeed, they will bring this world to ruin."
"How soon must I leave?" I asked, deciding to help. I couldn't let the world come to ruin. And, though it could be a trap, it really didn't seem like it. I didn't know why, but I completely trusted this... Presence, voice, whatever it was.
"Immediately." The voice told me. "To help me, you must put the needs of others above your own needs and wants." Sage was supposed to be arriving quite soon. I wouldn't get to see him. And I wouldn't see him for who knows how long, however long I was away.
I took a deep breath and steeled my nerves. "I'll help you." I announced.
One moment, I was standing in the living room of the safehouse, wearing casual clothing and armed with weapons, just in case. The next, I was standing on a beach, a forest in front of me, and wearing a very different outfit.
I had on a sky blue Greek chiton, like the ones women might wear in ancient times, a leather belt holding it closed. The leather belt held only a ceremonial looking dagger, and a small pouch holding a vial full of clear liquid. My hair was done up intricately, with strings of pearls and jewelled clasps. I wore no shoes. Also, my undergarments seemed to have been replaced with a kinda uncomfortable pair of leather shorts, and a band of fabric wrapped around my body instead of a bra.
Apparently, I had to wear all ancient clothing and arms. No modern things. Not even a proper ancient weapon, either. I had a feeling the dagger was definitely meant for something I'd have to do later on.
I had no idea what direction to go in or how to find the forgotten temple. I doubted I could just stop by a local convenience store and ask for directions. So I picked a random direction into the forest and began walking. I figured I'd eventually get there, even if I needed to be hurrying, because there was nothing else for me to do.
The first life I came across was an old woman, on the outskirts of a small town. She was standing outside a small hut, wrapped in a cloak. She called out to me as I passed by, and I paused. "Have you any food or change to spare for a poor widow?"
"I have no food." I told her. Then I realized something. "Sell these, I don't need them." I reached up to my hair and began pulling out the pearls and jewels, and gave them all to her. It left my hair flowing down my back, unbound, but I didn't need it up.
"You are very kind, miss." She said, placing them into a pocket in her cloak. "A bit of advice for your journey: something dark brews near. Careful as you go along your way."
I nodded once and began walking again. Her advice troubled me, though. Was she a clear sighted mortal? Or a demigod? Or was she simply a mortal who noticed something bad going on nearby?
I continued for three days. On the morning of the third day, I felt like I was being followed down a lonely dirt road, and broke into a run. Whatever it was chased after me, until I finally made it to a town and lost myself in the crowds at an open air market. I didn't dare look back to see what it was, not wanting to risk slowing.
It was during the afternoon of the third day that I ran into the young woman. Well, more like she offered me directions to the place I sought, in exchange for a favor, telling me she was a fortune teller. Which meant she wanted me to steal an amulet from a stall in the market. I agreed, if only because I had no idea where to go. And because she explained that it was an important family heirloom, one the man had stolen from her mother a year ago.
The amulet was a pretty green stone, carved and polished and set in iron. It hung on a thick iron chain, and seemed to be the vendor's most bragged piece.
I didn't generally like the idea of stealing, but this man was obviously rich, by the way his clothes looked and by the way he threw about his money. I also didn't mind so much because I'd seen him bullying a poor man who'd earlier wanted to buy a gold wedding ring for the woman he loved.
In the vendor's haste to get rid of the man, he pushed right through two little girls carrying baskets of eggs, and had simply shooed them away when they asked him to pay for all the eggs he'd broken.
The poor man gave the girls the rest of his money so they wouldn't go home empty handed.
Because of what I'd seen happen, I didn't think anything of stealing from the vendor. I pretended to be a customer, interested in purchasing a necklace, and got him talking about his wares. When he wasn't looking, I slipped the amulet off the display it hung on, and replaced it with a mist version that looked and felt like the real thing. It'd disappear once I was far enough away.
While he was taking out a necklace from it's box, I slipped away.
On my way back to the young woman who'd offered me directions, I pressed a golden ring into the hands of the poor man, offering no explanation and slipping through the crowd before he could say anything.
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