"You've got some nerve!" John seethed as he approached the lounging figure. Iggy, still leaning against the railing, smiled as he removed his earphones. He tucked the buds and attached device into his sweatpants' pocket and shrugged unregrettably, perhaps with even a smudge of pride. Despite the strong lines of his jaw and his tall, lean body, the demi-god still had a boyish aura around him, youthful and mischievous. The Lantern found himself not just outraged, but also heavily annoyed, and it took nearly all of his self restraint not to strangle Iggy right there and then.
"I do what I have to do." Iggy chuckled and flipped his bangs from his face.
"And how has that not resulted in your death?" John said under his breath.
Iggy frowned as he turned and admitted, "Well, it did end with me having my soul tied to a jar and then being stuck inside of it for several centuries"
John's eyes narrowed in frustration. He was done with joking, playing, and games. He had spent weeks following this mythical being around, and he was finished with being out of control. Slowly, he approached the edge of the platform and placing his hands carefully on the cold metal surface. His eyes swept across the surface of the floor beneath, settling on Shayera as she chatted with a patron. Her dark hair swayed soothingly as she nodded her head and smiled slightly at the tall man standing before her. It was her polite smile, not the grin she would give him when she was happy and laughing under her breathe at a quip that only made sense to the two of them. Even from his distance perch, he knew she was just biding her time until she could escape.
The hero's grip tightened subconsciously as he whispered, "I wish her memories back."
Iggy turned to Lantern in shock and scoffed, "Nope."
John turned to him in astonishment and spoke more loudly than he intended, "Excuse me? It's my wish. Genies aren't supposed to get a say about whether or not they do what their masters desire."
"Good thing I'm not a genie." Iggy rolled his eyes as he followed where John's eyes had been. Just like he suspected, he saw Shayera standing there for just a second before she finished her conversation and slipped into the locker room. He thought carefully about his next words before he raised his brows and met John's eyes once more. The demi-god continued patiently, "Genies are bound by different laws. I'm supposed to give you three of your heart's deepest desires, and trust me when I say that's not what you want."
John glared, "I know what I want."
"In this case, you don't." Iggy's voice grew darker and more serious. He finally stood up to his full height and took a deep breath before he explained, "You know nothing about the person who did this or what he wants. Maybe she doesn't know who she is, but in this case it works in our favor…." He sighed as he admitted, "Summer is much better at handling her emotions than Shayera. Her memories will hurt her much more than they will help right now."
"Then why did...he even take them in the first place?" John asked as he started to pace nervously. He clenched and unclenched his fists against the mesh material of his shorts before resorting to anxiously running his hands over his smooth scalp. Iggy watched as the usually composed Lantern's eyes glazed with worry and his nostrils flared in anger.
Finally, Iggy explained, "Because he doesn't want her dead. He wants leverage."
"For what?" John crossed his arms.
Iggy shrugged, "Can't be anything good."
"You weren't curious?"
Iggy leaned backwards against the beams once more. His eyes roamed across the cracks in the concrete floor, seemingly wrapping his mind around some immense problem. The tensions between the two of them grew with the silence only broken by the sounds of weights and echoes of music from the floors below. While people bounced, danced, and laughed below, the two of them stood stoically overhead. Finally, Iggy spoke quietly, "The last time I messed with the Gods, I ended up cursed by one. Forgive me if I didn't exactly want to get involved."
"The Gods?" John choked.
"Hades, to be specific. He may not have cast the memory charm, but his lackeys did." Iggy confirmed.
Suddenly, the boy's shoulders tensed and he spun around to look at the situation below them once more. His eyes searched the area quickly before landing on a woman with striking platinum blonde hair making her way through the rows of equipment towards them. Her legs practically danced across the floor because of the sheer grace with which she moved, and she let off an aura of calmness and serenity. Even from so far away, John could get the feeling as he looked at her that she was otherworldly. She seemed almost like a ghost, floating through the world without drawing attention to herself but once you saw her, you couldn't take your eyes off of her. She was so natural and innocent, yet unusual and striking at the same time. As she came closer, John swore he caught the scent of lilacs floating off of her.
Iggy let out a sigh of relief once he saw her. As he ran a hand through his hair, John noticed the boy's hand shook just a bit. He was on edge even if he didn't show it.
"Ignatius." Her voice rang out like a song once she reached the top platform, "The girl's going home with Galen."
"Sounds good, I'll be there in a sec. Thanks, Bea." Iggy said stiffly.
The woman eyed John warily, but kept her lips pinched in a clearly annoyed expression. Something unspoken passed between her and Iggy, but she didn't say anything more as she twirled around and pranced back down the stairs. The hair swished provocatively against her skin tight shirt as she hurried out of sight.
Finally, John asked, "Who's that?"
"A nymph who owes me a favor."
"She doesn't seem to like you much." John noted.
"She doesn't much like anyone." Iggy countered. He turned back to John and spoke at a fast pace, "Listen, I know that this is a lot to take in. But talk to the Amazon Princess, and she can tell you all about Hades."
"Diana?" John asked.
"The one and only." Ignatius confirmed. The boy began searching through his pockets for something frantically as he watched the nymph float across the room. At that moment, he pulled out a clump of papers, receipts, and fortunes from cookies and spoke rapidly, "Listen, I have to go. But I'm working on your next desire."
Finally, his eyes lit up as he found what he was looking for and picked it up between two fingers. He shoved everything else back into his shorts, but held the folded up note card out to John with a look of great achievement. The Lantern took it nervously, and Iggy rushed through the next words as he started to hurry back down the stairs, John right behind him, "Tonight, the whole crew is going out to this new bar downtown. It's called the Cracked Sundial, and Summer is going to be there. You should come introduce yourself."
"Where are you going?" John exclaimed.
"To keep the Harpies at bay." He snapped under his breath.
"Wait!" John grabbed Iggy by his forearm and yanked him around so they were standing face to face, "You can't just keep disappearing without any explanations."
"And what else would you have me do?" Iggy looked tired.
"I'm coming with you." John said without thought.
At first, he thought Iggy would vanish in another cloud of smoke, but instead the boy simply stared at John thoughtfully for a few moments. His blue eyes had lost much of their fight, and John could see the weeks of exhaustion creeping in from the bags under his eyes to the way his shoulders were slumped forward at that moment. Iggy blinked slowly, but finally nodded. "Fine, but you better keep up this time."