Chapter Six: The Crossroads

Skylar placed Zillah down on the ground. She opened her eyes and blushed from the embarrassment of having fallen asleep. "Sorry guys," she yawned and then went wide eyed when she realized we were in danger.

"There's only one way I know how to get past a wall." Skylar balled up his fist, raised his arm and was set to punch his way through Lyra's wall. Before striking the blow, a young girl about eight years old with strawberry blond hair and bright blue eyes shimmered into existence.

That's right; she appeared out of nowhere. Her hair was a ripple of flames as she floated towards us. Her hoodie was covered in torches that changed colors with her movement.

"Hi there!" She gave us a bright smile. "Welcome to the crossroads."

She shimmed a neon blue and turned into a high school age teenager. This time her hair was a wispy jet black. Her legs were covered in green and black snake skin leather leggings and on top she had on a black snake skin corset. "I see we have six, undetermined heroes in our midst, three from the north and three from the south. Interesting…" She walked through the invisible wall. "Morpheus told me that there were several of you in the city. But, six," she pursed her bright red lips, "that is a real treat." Her hand lightly brushed Skylar's cheek and gave him a seductive look.

I was too stunned to speak. I thought back to one of the night classes my mother dragged me to last year. There weren't any day cares open past six where we live, and no babysitter in their right minds would watch us. So, mom brought us with her to her night classes. Generally we did our homework in the back, listened to our I Pods, or if we found the subject interesting, listened to the lecture. However, mom ordered us to listen to the lectures for Greek and Roman Myth, no excuses allowed. Which was fine by me, I was learning about that in school already, but in a more PG type of way.

I recalled learning about Morpheus. He was the god of dreams.

Hey, wait a minute, the creepy guy from yesterday told me 'sweet dreams.'

"He's the man I met yesterday, the one with the blurry face?" I asked.

The teenage girl shimmered back into the eight year old's body. "That's right!" She turned toward me and smiled. For the first time I got a good look at her eyes.

Thousands of years of travelers in all different types of garments were coming and going. Road ways shifted and changed from dirt paths to cobble stone and later asphalt. Cities and towns grew and shrunk with the changing of technology, food shortages, and hostile take overs.

"Whoa... You... your... the goddess of the crossroads and magic, Hecate."

"Right again!" She clasped her hands together. Soft singing floated from her lips as she started to skip around us.

A two-faced man appeared floating outside our box. "They must choose."

Hecate stopped skipping and tilted her head looking up at him. "I know that, silly Janus." She grinned as if she were having fun with us, "aren't you needed elsewhere?"

"They must decide." One face spoke. The other comment, "a choice needs to be made."

"Choice? What choice?" My mother spoke up. I don't know if she was scared, or worried, or whatever, but mom was not acting like herself. Normally she was confident, wise, and decisive. Now, she seemed uncertain, and it looked like she were second guessing herself.

Hecate spun around and looked at my mother, "which path to take." She shimmered once again and turned into an old crone. Kind of like the one from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but instead of being draped in a black cape and cowl, she was wearing a long sleeved dress with a multi colored key pattern. Her short white and grey hair was unkempt and blotchy around her withered face. "Take an oath of allegiance to the titans or to the Olympian gods."

"Is that what all of this is about? They're fighting again? I thought the titans were locked up in various places around the world." I blurted out.

She shimmered back into her eight year old self. "They were, now they're not!" Started to skip again as she sang in a language that sounded older than ancient Greek.

"There isn't enough information for them to make a logical decision." My mother stated. "They need to know more."

She stopped in front of my mother and shimmered into her teenage self. "You've made your decision?"

"I have." She proudly raised her chin. "I stand with…"

Hecate raised her hand and flicked her fingers. My mother shimmered blue. "Then you're done talking."

Mom stood there frozen as a statue. I prayed what Hecate did to her was only temporary.

"Hey! What did you do to my mom?" Trent shouted.

Hecate shimmered into her eight year old self. "She'll be okay. I've just taken her out of the discussion."

The twins exchanged looks. Skylar crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Miss Glew was right, my uh...goddess." He frowned for a split second. "We need more information. This choice could affect the rest of our lives."

"Maybe, maybe not." She skipped around once more.

I looked over at Trent. His free fist was clenched, and his eyes had narrowed. But when he spoke he sounded rather calm. "Whose side are you on, my goddess?"

She skipped over toward him once again. Perhaps she sensed that he was on the verge of boiling over. "It doesn't matter. My side is winning, and that's all that counts." She nodded happily and then shimmered into a teenager once again. Her hand came up and cupped my brother's cheek. Their eyes locked for several seconds, "he's chosen his path!" She flicked her hand at him and he froze in place. "Two down, four to go."

"Hey! Wait a second, what did he decide to do?" Zillah protested. She looked a little better. Skylar offered her his hand and then pulled her up to stand besides him.

"Ah, if it isn't the florist's daughter. A good friend of mine was awfully upset when she learned of your birth." Hecate swayed her hips as she walked back over to Zillah and Skylar. "Tell me child, all of those lonely nights on the run, sleeping in the woods or in mausoleums. I recall you washed in creeks and dug out half eaten dinners from garbage cans behind restaurants. How do you think you survived for three years? By pure luck?" She shook her head and pursed her red lips. "No, I helped you indirectly; as I have helped all run away half-bloods from all mythologies. But does anyone ever think to say 'thank you'? Or offer me a portion of their meals when they reach Camp Half – Blood or Jupiter or Asgard? No, they don't, they worship their careless godly parent who either doesn't remember siring them or just enjoys watching them struggle to survive. Not even my own children care to ever think that I could be their mother!"

Janus floated across the invisible box to the opposite side. My guess is that he wanted to get into Hecate's line of vision. One head asked, "do you worship the gods or the titans?" The other head responded, "the time to decide is now."

Zillah looked as if she were on the verge of tears. Her cheeks were as red as her hair. Later she told me that she was really embarrassed that all came out in front of Skylar. She didn't want him to think she was trash because she had to eat from the trash.

Grinding her teeth Zillah responded, "my mother told me that if the ancient laws prevent the gods from directly interfering with their children's lives. It would just be wrong to show anyone that much favor..." A blue light washed over her.

"Her mind is made up." She turned toward Lyra, "So quiet for one who has such a loud voice."

Before Hecate could make a full circle around her, Lyra blurted out. "Olympians. I choose the Olympians."

"As do I." Skylar added as he watched his twin sister freeze. Seconds later the same blue light engulfed him.

"What a shame." Hecate walked past Skylar and smacked him on his rear. An evil smile crossed her lips and she turned back towards him. For several seconds she whispered in his ear and then shimmered back into her child form. "Five down, one to go!" She skipped around me.

A shiver went down my spine. I knew what Lyra and Skylar had decided, but what about everyone else? Had a god really abandoned my mother? She would sometimes state that her 'real mother' must have done this or that, but she never mentioned who she thought she could be.

Think logically, I told myself, what did that professor say about the titans and the gods? My thoughts drifted back to her lectures. She had my mother's class write a five to six page persuasive paper asking a similar question. My mom had me proof read her work with and without the Benjamin Franklin glasses on. She felt it was good practice and that I should learn that writing a five paragraph essay for English wasn't as terrible as I normally made it out to be.

"I choose the Olympians." I held my breath expecting to have a spell cast on me too, but instead Hecate shimmered into an old crone.

"Very well." She rasped.

"They have all chosen the same response." One of Janus's heads sadly commented. "They will all die cruel and horrific deaths." The other cried. He began spinning like a top until he went so fast he popped out of existence.

"Foolish heroes." Hecate shook her head, "you've chosen the losing side. Pity, you would have been very useful and poor Morpheus will be utterly disappointed." With a shrug the neon blue light circled around her and she shimmered out of sight.