sorry about the non-postage, but as this is the second to last chapter, I wanted to make it really good. So, I wrote it, rewrote it, revised it, scraped it, rewrote it, lost it, rewrote, scraped it, wrote it, decided it sucked, thought "oh fuck it," and have now posted it. pity the perfectionist. oh, and I know I have Juno in the midst of this, but Juno always struck me as a hair more vindictive and bitchy than Hera. And then Juno had the peacocks….
But first, my dears, I give you… "When little Eddie said he didn't like his teddy/ you knew he was a no-good kid. Then he threatened your life/ with a switchblade knife…"gotta love rocky horror.
Chapter 22, Imperial Empyreal
"Welcome, Pandora, Ward of Hades," Zeus boomed. "I mean, the Merovingian."
"Smooth," breathed Ate.
"She's mine," Persephone corrected.
Zeus looked surprised. "Oh? Well, in that case, Pandora, Daughter of… now how would I say that?"
"Nevermind all that, dear," said Juno. "Pandora, welcome to the Parthenon. And now…" She paused as clouds rolled into the marble hall around them. It surrounded them in a thick white blanket, cool, but not uncomfortable. It grew bright, almost blinding, and suddenly tropical fragrances filled the warm, moist air. It smelled thickly of rain, so thick it filled one's mouth and one could almost taste it.
Trees grew out of the multi-coloured marble, patched with grass and flowers. Low clouds and mist floated along the ground, many gathering around the crumbling alabaster columns springing at random from the floor. In many places, ivy and other climbing plants had grown up into the thin air, thickly laced through invisible trellises and draped across inexistent terraces. Floating flowers and bushes thrived without the nurturing soil, their roots reaching through nothing as if it were dirt. Occasionally birds soared across the scene, but they were always singing somewhere unseen. If one squinted hard enough, one might imagine peacocks calmly stalking in the distance, strutting slowly. The world went on forever in every direction it seemed, disappearing into the pale white mist. It was bright enough to see, but dim enough for that singular air of mystery to suffuse the atmosphere.
"Welcome to Olympus," said Juno triumphantly, silence pervading the entourage.
Slowly, Pandora looked around her with the eyes of every Olympian eagerly upon her, ready to devour hungrily her next expression of awe and wonderment. She turned painfully slowly, as if drinking up the magnificence. As she finished her turn, a slow, sardonic smile crept across her face, her eyes shining in malicious glee. One by one, the gods understood, the horror dawning on them.
Nemesis purred through Pandora's lips, "Thank you for showing us so glorious a world, we'll make it our own when we're done with you," and before anyone could move, she attacked the nearest god, Achelous, taking him by the collar and tumbling away with him. Almost as fast as she had attacked, Aeolus fell on her, tearing her off his friend. Enraged that Nemesis had tried to hurt the river god, the Earth-shaker flew at her, throwing punches in every direction. As Poseidon and Aeolus wrestled Nemesis away, Hermes darted into the fray and pulled the barely injured Achelous from the mass of bodies. While Charon rushed to tend to Achelous, Nemesis threw Poseidon into a group of nymphs. They fell back like dominoes, and a flurry of wings and screams announced the appearance of the sirens and harpies, accompanied by Scylla and Charybdis. Nemesis flailed her arms, trying to push away the claws tearing at her eyes. With an angry, terrified screech, she pulled a spear from somewhere and began stabbing at the screaming feathered mass.
The Olympians watched silently as Nemesis dealt, however inefficiently, with the avians. It was not until most had fallen that Zephyr attacked in a straight-legged kick, which Nemesis caught. She snapped his leg and tossed him aside like a rag doll.
Horrified, Persephone began shrieking, the Merovingian trying vainly to comfort her and calm her down. Exasperated, he grabbed Aphrodite's arm, pulling her to Persephone.
"Calm her down," he commanded.
The Merovingian left Aphrodite nodding behind him as he went in search of Hermes. He stared around carefully and finally snatched Hermes out of the air as he flew by.
"Hermes," he said, yelling over the noise of the fighting gods.
"Yes, sir?" the small man stammered.
"Fetch my weapons."
"Yes sir!"
Hermes flitted away. A prolonged scream shattered the air, sending the Merovingian running back to his wife. He found them just as Aphrodite leapt on Nemesis, screeching like a she-devil. On the ground, Ares lay in a crumpled heap, clutching his dislocated arm and moaning while his mother stood over him, crooning. Rolling his eyes, the Merovingian realized he was crying. He turned his attention to the catfight between Nemesis and Aphrodite, which had extended to include Athene and Artemis. Artemis stood back at a fairly safe distance, firing arrows at Nemesis on every clear shot. However, it was not until Athene slammed her spear into Nemesis' left arm that she tried tearing the bow away from Artemis. Catching Artemis off guard, Nemesis quickly gained the upper hand and began strangling the woman. Nearby, Apollo began screaming and crying, helpless.
Rasping, Artemis choked, "Phoebus…"
Eris watched calmly as Artemis nearly died because she knew at any moment Apollo's second, braver, more psychotic personality would show itself and rescue Artemis. Any minute…
Artemis eyes began to roll into the back of her head, her arms falling limp beside her. Just as she began to convulse, Phoebus leapt forward, kicking Nemesis into the Graces. He pulled his twin sister away and neither returned to the fight. Relieved, Eris looked up.
The Hours had appeared and, with Hebe, were asking Zeus about letting the Myrmidons into Olympus. They also mentioned the Liata, but Eris had never heard of them. Zeus gave his permission, struggling to give it formally and finally giving up as a sandal nearly crashed into his face. Eris snickered.
By the time Eris turned back to the fight, Nemesis resembled a terrible maiden-goddess, blood streaming down her pale face in rivulets; her hair and clothes were so stained they had turned bright crimson. Along her left arm, a gory, gaping wound glistened with half-clotted blood. Colourful bruises covered her body, and long shallow scrapes cut through half of her face and arm. A perversion of innocence, Nemesis stood drenched in her own blood, Pandora's blood, every wound on her twelve-year-old body open and bleeding. It was disgusting and wrong, and Eris wanted more than ever to stop Nemesis at whatever the cost.
But before Eris could blink, Nemesis threw her arms into the air, her wounds seemingly causing no pain, and with a scream, she fell on Eos, goddess of dawn, the innocent, rosy Eos, and tore her apart with her bare hands. No one moved. In the same brutal, ruthless manner, Nemesis shredded Chiron until nothing but slivers of meat and blood remained. The blood running down her arms was no longer solely her own; the blood on her hands was hot, red, and yearning for vengeance. Revenge made anything sweet, and Nemesis deftly licked her hand.
Nemesis, grinning wickedly, snatched her next victim, Terminus, but she did not kill him. She rammed her forehead into his, and every natural border failed. The physical boundaries went haywire, but most importantly, gravity broke down. Floating, Nemesis pushed away from him and began to grapple with Nyx, but unexpectedly, Terminus woke, sending everyone had been floating helplessly crashing to the ground. Scattered cracks, yelps, and moans announced the fracture of several bones.
Nemesis fell on Nyx, and she sat up, rubbing her head in wonderment in a very Pandora-like fashion.
She began to say something, but Eros tackled her. His shouting was incomprehensible; he was that angry. He threw several punches, screaming, before throwing her into Circe, snatching his beloved, and running away. Nemesis slammed into Circe just as she was healing Demeter's broken arm, sending the spell very awry. Although the arm healed, Demeter fell on all fours in the form of a wild pig and ran off in blind fury.
Meanwhile, the Graeae had gotten their hands on Nemesis, and after Lachesis had beaten Nemesis into submission with a meter stick, Clotho had tied her up with a long length of her gray thread. As Atropos raised a pair of gold scissors high above her head to bring them stabbing down into Nemesis, Demeter came crashing into her from behind. Atropos's eye flew out of its socket and rolled away as the furious Nemesis ripped the thread to shreds, tossing Clotho away. She stormed off to engage another Olympian in battle, and the Graeae blindly clawed the air for her, catching the Merovingian instead. After they had beaten him into submission with the meter stick, Athene had to pull him away so he could help Juno.
Juno had been trying to return Demeter to her original form when Nemesis jumped her, and suddenly a hundred peacocks had flown out of nowhere, all clawing and pecking at Nemesis. Furious, Zeus tore Nemesis away by her hair, wrestling with her and winning. Hephaestus, trying to help, slammed his great hammer into the floor, sending a small river of lava straight towards the two, but only Zeus fried. The apologetic Hephaestus tried to brush the molten chunks of rock of the king, but Zeus was too irate to even humour the poor man.
While Zeus throttled Hephaestus, Athene stabbed at Nemesis again. The spear hit her in the thigh, and hissing, she ripped it out. Nemesis threw the spear back into Athene, who collapsed.
Hermes reappeared next the Merovingian's elbow, startling him. He handed the Merovingian his helmet and two-pronged spear. Sighing, the Merovingian slipped his helmet on his head, and as he slid into invisibility, he murmured something in French. It sounded suspiciously like, "Pas encore."
Seeing him, Persephone began shrieking, for she knew what the Merovingian intended to do. She began shoving her way through the crowd of Olympians, searching for her beloved Pandora. As she found the epicenter of the commotion, she saw the Merovingian's spear, but her warning was several seconds too late. The Merovingian had skewered Nemesis.
MnI
it sucked. it sucks. i hate this chapter so so so so so much. i wish i had never conceived it. i want it to die. i'm going to wallow in self-pity, eating goldfish and fudge icing and reading eloise. Concrit is more than most welcome, and although I know just how much this chapter sucked, I kinda need to hear it.
Nicene-sorry for the what? month of delay? Anyways, I hope your computer works now.
Protectress-yeah, you were right. Weren't you? and no. the muses hate me. probably because concentration and focus mean nothing to me. look a bunny! Just kidding.