Ryker was not entirely sure as to whether finding Hecate as easily as he did was a good thing or bad thing. He had already gone searching for someone to heal his chest. To his relief Apollo had quickly offered his services and now his injuries were much more manageable. The sun had just set over the trees casting the last pale orange rays of light over Camp Jupiter.
"I had wondered when you would seek me out, son of Cybele." Hecate said as he approached, not looking up from the lantern she held before her. Her eyes were transfixed onto the flame, seemingly examining something that Ryker did not bother and did not care to see. "I am glad to see that it is sooner rather than later. Avoiding crossroads can only last for so long. In the end all paths you take lead to at least one."
"Good to know." Ryker answered, readjusting the straps on his backpack. The bag had mysteriously appeared in his bed at the Hunters' tent though it was not the traditional silver material that the Hunters' used. He had not yet checked the contents of the bag. He felt certain enough, judging by its weight and feel, that it provided everything that he might need for his quest. "So you know why I am here?"
"Naturally." Hecate said smoothly, dissolving the lantern into a burst of flames and crossing her arms as she looked over Ryker. "As I said, you are at a crossroads."
"Meaning I have a choice as to what I do?" Ryker barked out a laugh and shook his head. "Yeah, sure. You and I both know there really isn't a choice."
"There is always a choice." Hecate shrugged one slender shoulder. "You simply are too set on your current course to even consider the other. But that too is a choice in of itself. So, allow me to bring to light the reason for this visit since you have not yet done so. You wish for me to take you to Tartarus, is that correct?"
"I saw you there." Ryker said bluntly, "I know you can go there."
"There are other ways to get to Tartarus." Hecate reminded him. "Other ways, some even perhaps even easier."
"Easier, but not faster." Ryker said, glancing over his shoulder as a gaggle of demigods passed by presumably for the evening meal. "And I want to leave before anyone knows I am gone."
Hecate pondered this, one finger stroking the side of her face as she stared the demigod before her down. "One might argue that speed on this venture will only hasten your demise." She paused and shrugged, "Though I suppose that is the definition of speed in of itself. My point is, do you truly wish to leave so soon? If I take you to Tartarus I will not be able to get you out. Nor will I be able to control where exactly your landing will place you. Tartarus is vast, and your quest is for a specific item. There is every chance you could be deposited in some dark, desolate corner of that place that even the gods would fear to tread. There are creatures in Tartarus that prefer it there, that prey upon their monstrous brother even as they prey upon humans. Creatures that make Python look like a mere basilisk."
Ryker did not hesitate even in the face of this information. "Do it." He said again, raising his chin defiantly. "I'll figure something out one way or the other."
"That line of thinking has led to the deaths of more than one hero." Hecate chuckled, shaking her head. She tilted her head slightly and a mischievous smile played at her lips. "Are you certain that you wish to leave? No desire to say goodbye to any of your friends? What about that little blonde Amazon with the romantic interest in you? I imagine she will be very discontented if you leave without wishing her goodbye. It may very well be your last chance to do so. Or your owl-girl friend whom you rescued? You have had so little time to reconnect since you rescued her. I can't imagine that sits well with you."
"Let's go." Ryker said through gritted teeth. "I don't have to say goodbye to anyone. No point."
Hecate chuckled softly again and waved her hand before her. Ryker half expected to vanish immediately, but he remained in the camp. Shimmering in the air before them was a magical impression of a road, four different paths leading into nothing as a dark figure stood in the center of them. "May I share with you a secret, Ryker?" Hecate asked as she began to walk a slow circle around him and the magical image. "Tell me, what do you see?"
"Someone in the middle of a place where four roads meet." Ryker said warily, glancing only momentarily to Hecate as he answered. Her circling of him was disconcerting, like a predator that was slowly closing in on its prey.
"A crossroads?" Hecate asked innocently.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Tell me, how many paths do you think this character can take?" Hecate asked, her voice almost a purr in Ryker's ear as she passed by him once more.
"I just told you, four." Ryker said uncertainly, growing more cautious by the second.
"No, you told me there was four roads surrounding him." Hecate corrected, her voice light and playful though it kept that purring note. "That is not how many paths he can take."
"I'm not sure what you are asking." He admitted, suppressing a shiver as he felt chills run down his spine. "I don't have time for this, what are you after?"
"Look at the figure in the magic." Hecate said softly. Ryker followed her advice, looking at the image. The dark specter walked alone one road and disappeared. It then reappeared in the center and took yet another. It reappeared and took all four roads, each time reappearing in the center of the image. When the image returned after taking the course of the last road Ryker thought that the apparition would vanish, but to his surprise it did not. The image departed from the center again, this time walking off the four paths and disappearing in between two of the routes. He frowned as the figure did this four times as well. Each time that he was certain that the figure had exhausted all possible routes it found yet another. "Do you now see?" Hecate asked.
"It didn't just choose the roads?" Ryker asked, unsure of what Hecate was attempting to impart to him.
"Mortals often visualize crossroads as set paths." Hecate said, coming to stand back before Ryker and staring down at the small dark figure. She waved her fingers and the magical figure threw back its hood and shocked Ryker when he saw that it was, in fact, him. The two locked eyes for just a moment before the magic fizzled away. "But that is far from the truth. You see, crossroads are far from simple. Oftentimes when one faces such a choice they only see the most obvious choices. They disregard all other possibilities thinking them impossible, or simply not thinking of them entirely. Both lines of thinking are entirely incorrect."
"But sometimes a choice is impossible." Ryker argued.
"A normal mortal, one ignorant to the gods and our world, might argue that rising from the dead is impossible as well." Hecate pointed out. "What is impossible and possible, both are frames of mind constructed by those people who refuse to understand such things. When not bound by such thinking, the possibilities that a crossroads are⦠infinite. Or very close to it."
"Why are you telling me this?" Ryker asked. "Why bother?"
"Because it is important for you to understand." Hecate said mysteriously.
"Understand what?!" Ryker asked, growing tired and impatient of the goddess's games.
"Understand that everything you do is a crossroads." Hecate said, suddenly intense. Her eyes burned with a fire very similar to that which was in her lantern. "Every choice you make, no matter how insignificant, is a crossroads. 'Walk this way' 'Eat this' 'Slay this monster'. Every single thing that you do is a crossroads with various outcomes. Demigods see crossroads as massive decisions before them. The truth of the matter is that the smaller decisions, the ones that you make every day without an errant thought, those are the decisions that lead to the bigger ones."
Hecate stepped back and let her words sink through, a satisfied smile on her face. Ryker frowned as he considered what he had been told. "So am I correct in thinking that you would prefer me to find another way to get to Tartarus?"
The goddess shrugged noncommittally. "What you do, that is up to you and only you." She said.
"I'll take that as a yes." Ryker said with shake of his head. "You wouldn't deny taking me, but at the same time you don't see it as the best path I could take."
"Did I ever say that?" Hecate asked innocently. "Interfering in the decisions of a questing demigod is quite the offense. Zeus would never forgive me if I did such a thing."
"Of course not." Ryker said dryly. "Because that would be wrong."
"Naturally."
"Then I guess I should get looking for a different way." Ryker sighed.
"Might I offer you a suggestion?" Hecate asked casually, examining her perfectly cared for nails. "That is a very lovely bag you have on your back. I can only think of one more who used a similar one. Perhaps you should look inside it."
"What will I find?" Ryker asked, already knowing the sort of answer he would get.
Unsurprisingly, Hecate smiled her knowing smile. "Another path."
