A tall teenage male poked his head around the corner, a few strands of shaggy blond hair falling into his eyes. No candles had been lit yet, as he wanted to surprise the guy sleeping. "It's clear." He whispered, and began to tiptoe around the corner.
Another cadet, shorter with curly blond hair followed. "It's not like Jason to sleep in." Iolaus whispered.
Hercules shrugged, "Give Jase a break. With a kingdom to run, sleeping in this late must be a rare luxury." Both boys approached the cot with caution, and it was so dark that they had to be careful not to trip over anything. Stopping a few feet away from the bed, they both shouted, "SURPRISE, JASON!" and began to laugh. Their laughter quickly died down as they noticed that no reaction had issued from the cot. Iolaus lit the candles nearby and revealed that the only occupant the cot had was a lonely piece of paper. Fearing that perhaps Ares had kidnapped the king of Corinth or some other such dastardly deed had been done, Hercules snatched it from the bed and began to read aloud:
~~~
To Hercules and Iolaus;
I'm sorry to have to cut my vacation
short, but I just received terrible news
from Corinth. I must return immediately
to try and handle the situation.
Jason
King of Corinth
~~~
Sometimes Iolaus could almost read Herc's mind. This seemed like one of those times. "Did you want to walk or borrow Academy horses?" he asked his best friend.
Hercules thought aloud, "It must have been big for him to leave right away."
"And if it's so big, then he might need help." Iolaus prompted.
"If he needs help, we should get there as fast as possible." Hercules continued.
"If we need to get there fast, we should probably borrow Academy horses." Iolaus prompted again. "So you go and clear it with Cheiron, and I'll get the horses ready."
~~~~~
*Two eighty-three...two eighty-five...two eighty-seven...* Max counted silently as he walked down the hallway of the apartment building, *Ah. Two eighty-nine.* Taking a deep breath, he knocked thrice on the door.
Max didn't have long to wait before the door opened a crack and a girl looked at him through the slit. One dark blue eye regarding him, half-hidden under strands of blue and black hair obscuring her face. "Yeah?" she asked, and from the sound of her voice and what he could see of her, he guessed she was only about eighteen.
Confused, he glanced down at the sheet in his hand. *Sirel...Apt. # 289...* *This is the woman that Madame Vivan sent me to?* A silence stretched out between the two as they each waited for the other to speak. Finally the girl lifted her eyebrow in an annoyed expression and shook her head slightly as if to say, 'Well?'
Max said, "I'm sorry to bother you. I am looking Sirel."
~~~~~
"You found her," Gordon replied, opening the door wide enough that the boy could see her face. "I'm Gordon Sirel, Greek Extraordinare. How can I help you?" *where have I seen his face before?* she wondered.
"She said you could help me with finding out what spell-" the boy was going to continue but she cut him off. *the word 'spell' should have tipped me off. Time for cover story #12. The one I heard every time mom gets hassled by the young men*
~~~~~
The girl's voice took on an air of authority. "Look, I told you kids that I'm not doing them anymore. I don't care how much money you have or how tragic the situation is, the answer is no."
"What are you talking about?" Max was starting to doubt the wiseness of his trip, but he was here now so he mineswell find out what was going on.
"You want me to cast a love spell, right?" Gordon accused, "Sorry. I'm not making them anymore. So just get over the girl 'cause she's never gonna fall for you." She started to close the door but he stuck his foot in the way.
"It's not like that..." he started to explain.
"Fine." Gordon rolled her eyes, "*He* is never going to fall for you. Happy?" She tried to force the door closed.
"No." he said, "I didn't come here for a love spell."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise, "You didn't?" Suspicion filled her features, "Then what did you come here for?"
"Madame Vivian recommended you."
~~~~~
Gordon froze as she realized who the boy standing in front of her was. Before she had learned about her godhood, before she had accidentally traveled to the past and learned who her parents were, she had been an avid fan of the TV show 'Roswell'. How could she have not recognized him? Another thought exploded in her mind. She had a bunch of the Roswell book series on her shelf! If he should find them... Gordon quickly got rid of that danger by teleporting those books to her bedroom. Then she smiled as she opened the door wide. "Vivian sent you? Well why didn't you say so in the first place? Come in, come in. Me casa est su casa and all that stuff."
~~~~~
The door opened, revealing a tall girl in a dark blue shirt and black jeans. She had long black and blue hair that reached to her waist and he guessed she was about eighteen. Yet, despite her youth, there was something in her countenance to suggest that she had lived a very, very long time. As Max walked into the apartment, he took a look around. There were a few framed paintings on the wall... he recognized "Echo and Narcissus" by John William Waterhouse and "Ophelia" by Arthur from the European catalogs his mother got in the mail. On the walls was a cloud wallpaper, but unlike anything he had ever seen. The 'sky' was a soft cerulean and the clouds were navy blue, edged in light lavender. But the walls could hardly be seen since there were so many shelves all over the room crammed full of books and small sculptures. There was a large overstuffed old brown leather couch and two matching chairs, one of the chairs having a round white fur pillow. The girl motioned to the furniture, "Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Would you like water, juice, coffee, or maybe a soda? I just got some cherry coke this morning."
"Um, a cherry coke sounds good."
"Cherry coke it is. I'll be right back. Make yourself at home." The girl smiled and disappeared into an adjacent room. Max wandered over to one of the bookshelves and let his gaze flow across the authors.
_...Piers Anthony...Anne McCaffery...Bruce Coville...Annette Curtis Klause..._ There were also many books on Greek myths, wicca, vampires, dream interpreting, mermaids, dragons, cats, and various other subjects, all arranged in sections. Max smiled a bit when he got to the alien section, noting Atherton's "Among Us" on the shelf. That was funny... there was an empty section on the shelf, like someone had removed several books and had not put them back. He quickly cast his gaze around at the other bookshelves, but there was no other similar empty space. Strange.
Max plucked Atherton's book off the shelf and flipped through to the back cover flap, where there was a picture of Atherton standing in front of a geodesic dome. It was the same geodesic dome that Michael had dreams about last year, the dome that he, Michael, Isabel, Maria, and Liz had broken into last year as well. Thinking of Liz brought back the dull pain, and he put the book back on the shelf. It had been over a month since he had walked in on her and Kyle in bed together, but the pain of her betrayal still hurt. It had started to go away, as he got used to seeing her. He had thought he might have been over the pain in New York, but then he saw her and she saved his life... and things were complicated after that. They were 'friends' now, but the pain still ached whenever he thought of her.
Trying to change his train of thought, Max examined the small objects on the shelves. There was a small clay bowl with a greek box design around the center that was filled with various semi-precious stones, a few of them the kind that had words engraved on them. There were a sculpture of a man and woman embracing on a rock, little gargoyles here and there, and several egyptian and greek related statues.
Just then the girl came back in the room. "You like sci-fi and fantasy stuff?" she asked, handing him the can of soda and then sitting in the chair without the fur pillow.
"A little." he replied. _I bet my life qualifies as sci-fi_ he thought.
He headed over to the other chair and was about to sit when the girl said, "Watch out for Zan."
Zan. That was the name Ava had called his duplicate. His own name in his previous life. Wondering weather it was just a coincidence, Max looked around the room for this 'Zan', but there was no one else in the room. He shot her a curious look, and she gestured towards the chair. He looked down in time to see the white pillow start to move. Startled, he froze, and then relaxed as the white mound of fur revealed itself to be a cat.
"Come, Zandro." the girl spoke, motioning to the feline. Zan slowly got to his feet and looked at Max for a moment before jumping down from the chair, only to jump onto the girl's lap and curl up as she stroked his fur.
Max took the now vacated seat, opened the can of soda, and took a long swallow. This visit was getting creepier and creepier. "So," he said, "Where'd you come up with the name Zan?"
*Tell him the cover story* Zan mindspoke to her. *I have a feeling that he wouldn't believe that I'm a demigod. Not yet, anyway.*
"Oh," she lied, rubbing the cat behind his ears to let Zan know she heard him, "I got it from a Katherine Kerr book. His name is Zandro but I call him Zan."
"Ah." Max replied.
~~~~~
Jason was sitting in his throne, trying desperately not to put his face in his hands and breakdown. The reports were still coming in, but they were all the same. Nothing. Every lead had been checked. Nothing. None of the guards had known that the fleece was gone until it was too late, and no suspicious people had been lurking around. He had been lucky in the fact that as soon as his trusted advisor, Ophistus, had learned of the disappearance, he had tightened security. After sending the messenger to Jason, he had not let another murmur about it leave the castle. Jason was thankful, for if even a rumor about the fleece's theft had leaked out, he was sure that he would already have a war declaration from an outside kingdom. Just then the doors to the throne room opened and Hercules and Iolaus walked in. Jason managed a weak smile for them and waved everyone else from the room.
Once the doors closed, Jason asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
Iolaus smiled in return, "We thought that you might need help with whatever mysterious yet deeply important situation threatened your kingdom." Herc also smiled at his choice of words. "That is, of course, if you care to tell us what the situation is."
Jason thought briefly about sending his friends away, but thought better of it. Many of the things that had happened since he knew Hercules had happened because of Ares, Discord, or Strife's meddling. Having Hercules around could be a valuable asset. Plus, Hercules always had a plan, and could be depended on to figure out this mess. And then there was the fact that both Iolaus and Hercules had been with him when he got the Golden Fleece, so they deserved to know what happened. "The Golden Fleece was stolen."
The smiled on Iolaus' and Hercules' faces dropped and they stared at Jason. "The Golden Fleece?" Iolaus repeated. "As in the golden fleece that heals all wounds? The golden fleece that Herc had to defeat a giant to get? That golden fleece?" Jason nodded morosely.
"When did this happen?" Hercules asked quietly.
Jason sighed, "The Guards discovered it missing last night."
"Do you have any leads?" Iolaus said.
"None that sound promising." Jason replied. He wasn't sure how to ask his friends for help. Luckily, Hercules caught on.
"Well, I guess that leaves Iolaus and I to look for clues." Herc said, smiling to try and lighten the mood.
Jason looked at them, a genuine hopeful smile touching his mouth. "Thanks, you guys."
"No prob." Iolaus shrugged. "Come on Herc. We'd better start investigating before the trail gets cold."
~~~~~
"So," Gordon said after she had sipped her soda, "How can I help you? It must be something big for Vivian to send you to me."
Max pulled the paper with the greek letters from his pocket and held it out to her. "She was reading my fortune in a crystal ball and she saw this." Gordon leaned forward and took the paper, unfolded it, and read it, stroking the cat absently. "What does it say?" Max asked, curious.
She looked up, and dark blue eyes pierced him as she considered him for a moment. Max met her gaze and stared back, and she finally blinked and smiled. "This is a very powerful spell, designed to alter time and space in order for an exchange of beings." She tilted her head and watched him. "It seems that both yourself and someone else need you to travel soon... Your Highness."
Max stared at her. "How do you know that? Who are you?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gordon," the girl replied, "Goddess of Involuntary Transportation."
~~~~~
I hope that you guys enjoyed the detail, long though the post was. Nope, no inane questions this time. I appriciate you guys just getting all the way to the end :)
Bryn
Goddess of Unrequited Love
Another cadet, shorter with curly blond hair followed. "It's not like Jason to sleep in." Iolaus whispered.
Hercules shrugged, "Give Jase a break. With a kingdom to run, sleeping in this late must be a rare luxury." Both boys approached the cot with caution, and it was so dark that they had to be careful not to trip over anything. Stopping a few feet away from the bed, they both shouted, "SURPRISE, JASON!" and began to laugh. Their laughter quickly died down as they noticed that no reaction had issued from the cot. Iolaus lit the candles nearby and revealed that the only occupant the cot had was a lonely piece of paper. Fearing that perhaps Ares had kidnapped the king of Corinth or some other such dastardly deed had been done, Hercules snatched it from the bed and began to read aloud:
~~~
To Hercules and Iolaus;
I'm sorry to have to cut my vacation
short, but I just received terrible news
from Corinth. I must return immediately
to try and handle the situation.
Jason
King of Corinth
~~~
Sometimes Iolaus could almost read Herc's mind. This seemed like one of those times. "Did you want to walk or borrow Academy horses?" he asked his best friend.
Hercules thought aloud, "It must have been big for him to leave right away."
"And if it's so big, then he might need help." Iolaus prompted.
"If he needs help, we should get there as fast as possible." Hercules continued.
"If we need to get there fast, we should probably borrow Academy horses." Iolaus prompted again. "So you go and clear it with Cheiron, and I'll get the horses ready."
~~~~~
*Two eighty-three...two eighty-five...two eighty-seven...* Max counted silently as he walked down the hallway of the apartment building, *Ah. Two eighty-nine.* Taking a deep breath, he knocked thrice on the door.
Max didn't have long to wait before the door opened a crack and a girl looked at him through the slit. One dark blue eye regarding him, half-hidden under strands of blue and black hair obscuring her face. "Yeah?" she asked, and from the sound of her voice and what he could see of her, he guessed she was only about eighteen.
Confused, he glanced down at the sheet in his hand. *Sirel...Apt. # 289...* *This is the woman that Madame Vivan sent me to?* A silence stretched out between the two as they each waited for the other to speak. Finally the girl lifted her eyebrow in an annoyed expression and shook her head slightly as if to say, 'Well?'
Max said, "I'm sorry to bother you. I am looking Sirel."
~~~~~
"You found her," Gordon replied, opening the door wide enough that the boy could see her face. "I'm Gordon Sirel, Greek Extraordinare. How can I help you?" *where have I seen his face before?* she wondered.
"She said you could help me with finding out what spell-" the boy was going to continue but she cut him off. *the word 'spell' should have tipped me off. Time for cover story #12. The one I heard every time mom gets hassled by the young men*
~~~~~
The girl's voice took on an air of authority. "Look, I told you kids that I'm not doing them anymore. I don't care how much money you have or how tragic the situation is, the answer is no."
"What are you talking about?" Max was starting to doubt the wiseness of his trip, but he was here now so he mineswell find out what was going on.
"You want me to cast a love spell, right?" Gordon accused, "Sorry. I'm not making them anymore. So just get over the girl 'cause she's never gonna fall for you." She started to close the door but he stuck his foot in the way.
"It's not like that..." he started to explain.
"Fine." Gordon rolled her eyes, "*He* is never going to fall for you. Happy?" She tried to force the door closed.
"No." he said, "I didn't come here for a love spell."
The girl's eyes widened in surprise, "You didn't?" Suspicion filled her features, "Then what did you come here for?"
"Madame Vivian recommended you."
~~~~~
Gordon froze as she realized who the boy standing in front of her was. Before she had learned about her godhood, before she had accidentally traveled to the past and learned who her parents were, she had been an avid fan of the TV show 'Roswell'. How could she have not recognized him? Another thought exploded in her mind. She had a bunch of the Roswell book series on her shelf! If he should find them... Gordon quickly got rid of that danger by teleporting those books to her bedroom. Then she smiled as she opened the door wide. "Vivian sent you? Well why didn't you say so in the first place? Come in, come in. Me casa est su casa and all that stuff."
~~~~~
The door opened, revealing a tall girl in a dark blue shirt and black jeans. She had long black and blue hair that reached to her waist and he guessed she was about eighteen. Yet, despite her youth, there was something in her countenance to suggest that she had lived a very, very long time. As Max walked into the apartment, he took a look around. There were a few framed paintings on the wall... he recognized "Echo and Narcissus" by John William Waterhouse and "Ophelia" by Arthur from the European catalogs his mother got in the mail. On the walls was a cloud wallpaper, but unlike anything he had ever seen. The 'sky' was a soft cerulean and the clouds were navy blue, edged in light lavender. But the walls could hardly be seen since there were so many shelves all over the room crammed full of books and small sculptures. There was a large overstuffed old brown leather couch and two matching chairs, one of the chairs having a round white fur pillow. The girl motioned to the furniture, "Have a seat. Can I get you something to drink? Would you like water, juice, coffee, or maybe a soda? I just got some cherry coke this morning."
"Um, a cherry coke sounds good."
"Cherry coke it is. I'll be right back. Make yourself at home." The girl smiled and disappeared into an adjacent room. Max wandered over to one of the bookshelves and let his gaze flow across the authors.
_...Piers Anthony...Anne McCaffery...Bruce Coville...Annette Curtis Klause..._ There were also many books on Greek myths, wicca, vampires, dream interpreting, mermaids, dragons, cats, and various other subjects, all arranged in sections. Max smiled a bit when he got to the alien section, noting Atherton's "Among Us" on the shelf. That was funny... there was an empty section on the shelf, like someone had removed several books and had not put them back. He quickly cast his gaze around at the other bookshelves, but there was no other similar empty space. Strange.
Max plucked Atherton's book off the shelf and flipped through to the back cover flap, where there was a picture of Atherton standing in front of a geodesic dome. It was the same geodesic dome that Michael had dreams about last year, the dome that he, Michael, Isabel, Maria, and Liz had broken into last year as well. Thinking of Liz brought back the dull pain, and he put the book back on the shelf. It had been over a month since he had walked in on her and Kyle in bed together, but the pain of her betrayal still hurt. It had started to go away, as he got used to seeing her. He had thought he might have been over the pain in New York, but then he saw her and she saved his life... and things were complicated after that. They were 'friends' now, but the pain still ached whenever he thought of her.
Trying to change his train of thought, Max examined the small objects on the shelves. There was a small clay bowl with a greek box design around the center that was filled with various semi-precious stones, a few of them the kind that had words engraved on them. There were a sculpture of a man and woman embracing on a rock, little gargoyles here and there, and several egyptian and greek related statues.
Just then the girl came back in the room. "You like sci-fi and fantasy stuff?" she asked, handing him the can of soda and then sitting in the chair without the fur pillow.
"A little." he replied. _I bet my life qualifies as sci-fi_ he thought.
He headed over to the other chair and was about to sit when the girl said, "Watch out for Zan."
Zan. That was the name Ava had called his duplicate. His own name in his previous life. Wondering weather it was just a coincidence, Max looked around the room for this 'Zan', but there was no one else in the room. He shot her a curious look, and she gestured towards the chair. He looked down in time to see the white pillow start to move. Startled, he froze, and then relaxed as the white mound of fur revealed itself to be a cat.
"Come, Zandro." the girl spoke, motioning to the feline. Zan slowly got to his feet and looked at Max for a moment before jumping down from the chair, only to jump onto the girl's lap and curl up as she stroked his fur.
Max took the now vacated seat, opened the can of soda, and took a long swallow. This visit was getting creepier and creepier. "So," he said, "Where'd you come up with the name Zan?"
*Tell him the cover story* Zan mindspoke to her. *I have a feeling that he wouldn't believe that I'm a demigod. Not yet, anyway.*
"Oh," she lied, rubbing the cat behind his ears to let Zan know she heard him, "I got it from a Katherine Kerr book. His name is Zandro but I call him Zan."
"Ah." Max replied.
~~~~~
Jason was sitting in his throne, trying desperately not to put his face in his hands and breakdown. The reports were still coming in, but they were all the same. Nothing. Every lead had been checked. Nothing. None of the guards had known that the fleece was gone until it was too late, and no suspicious people had been lurking around. He had been lucky in the fact that as soon as his trusted advisor, Ophistus, had learned of the disappearance, he had tightened security. After sending the messenger to Jason, he had not let another murmur about it leave the castle. Jason was thankful, for if even a rumor about the fleece's theft had leaked out, he was sure that he would already have a war declaration from an outside kingdom. Just then the doors to the throne room opened and Hercules and Iolaus walked in. Jason managed a weak smile for them and waved everyone else from the room.
Once the doors closed, Jason asked, "What are you guys doing here?"
Iolaus smiled in return, "We thought that you might need help with whatever mysterious yet deeply important situation threatened your kingdom." Herc also smiled at his choice of words. "That is, of course, if you care to tell us what the situation is."
Jason thought briefly about sending his friends away, but thought better of it. Many of the things that had happened since he knew Hercules had happened because of Ares, Discord, or Strife's meddling. Having Hercules around could be a valuable asset. Plus, Hercules always had a plan, and could be depended on to figure out this mess. And then there was the fact that both Iolaus and Hercules had been with him when he got the Golden Fleece, so they deserved to know what happened. "The Golden Fleece was stolen."
The smiled on Iolaus' and Hercules' faces dropped and they stared at Jason. "The Golden Fleece?" Iolaus repeated. "As in the golden fleece that heals all wounds? The golden fleece that Herc had to defeat a giant to get? That golden fleece?" Jason nodded morosely.
"When did this happen?" Hercules asked quietly.
Jason sighed, "The Guards discovered it missing last night."
"Do you have any leads?" Iolaus said.
"None that sound promising." Jason replied. He wasn't sure how to ask his friends for help. Luckily, Hercules caught on.
"Well, I guess that leaves Iolaus and I to look for clues." Herc said, smiling to try and lighten the mood.
Jason looked at them, a genuine hopeful smile touching his mouth. "Thanks, you guys."
"No prob." Iolaus shrugged. "Come on Herc. We'd better start investigating before the trail gets cold."
~~~~~
"So," Gordon said after she had sipped her soda, "How can I help you? It must be something big for Vivian to send you to me."
Max pulled the paper with the greek letters from his pocket and held it out to her. "She was reading my fortune in a crystal ball and she saw this." Gordon leaned forward and took the paper, unfolded it, and read it, stroking the cat absently. "What does it say?" Max asked, curious.
She looked up, and dark blue eyes pierced him as she considered him for a moment. Max met her gaze and stared back, and she finally blinked and smiled. "This is a very powerful spell, designed to alter time and space in order for an exchange of beings." She tilted her head and watched him. "It seems that both yourself and someone else need you to travel soon... Your Highness."
Max stared at her. "How do you know that? Who are you?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gordon," the girl replied, "Goddess of Involuntary Transportation."
~~~~~
I hope that you guys enjoyed the detail, long though the post was. Nope, no inane questions this time. I appriciate you guys just getting all the way to the end :)
Bryn
Goddess of Unrequited Love