The Gatekeeper's Promise: Gatekeeper's Saga, Book Six (The Gatekeeper's Saga 6) (9 page)

He covered his face with his hands and wept, hoping none of the gods could see.

At that moment
Scylla burst from the water and gazed down at him with her six ugly heads. He’d forgotten the sheer expanse of her size and the innumerable rows of her teeth.

He unsheathed
his sword and was about to go for one of the necks when he heard Therese’s voice.

“Don’t! It’s me! It’s Therese!”

Hip stared up at what he now realized was a docile monster, but that wasn’t enough to convince him.

“Why would you say such a thing?” He pointed his sword toward Scylla.

“Because it’s true!” the monster shrieked. “Ask me anything…about Jen, Pete, Mrs. Holt. Ask me about my twins!”

Hip thought for a minute. This was crazy, but okay. He’d play. “Which of the five ch
allenges given by Hades did Therese fail?”

“I looked back!” the monst
er screeched. “I saw Than and forgot about everything else.”

Still not convinced, Hip asked, “Where are Therese’s parents?”

“They live on an elm tree in Colorado outside my house! They’re Cardinals. I gave them immortality after Than helped me transfer their souls. Hip, it’s me!” the monster raged.

Hip struggled to think of a question no one else would know the answer to.

“What animal did you change me into today and why?” he demanded.

“An ass, because you were being one! And you’re being one now, Hip! Please help me!”

Hip staggered back. “How…”

“Circe did this to me.”

“Why?”

“I don’
t know. She changed Scylla into a beautiful maiden and left me to take her place.”

“What about the twins?” Hip asked, afraid of the answer.

“I still feel them, but I’m not sure.” All six heads drooped toward the shore. “You’ve got to help me. I can’t pray in this condition. Please find Than!”

Hip called to his brother and was shaken by Than’s rep
ly.

“How can this be happening?” Hip muttered.

“What?” Therese shrieked. “Has something happened to Than?”

The duties of Death called to him, and he
disintegrated in time to join Poseidon in an attack against the Old Man of the Sea. Poseidon freed Ares by slicing through Echidna’s tongue and hurling Phorcys across the room. Hip stabbed Echidna’s serpent tail again and again until she loosened her grip on his brother. The duties of Death left Hypnos back to his own duties of Sleep. Phorcys and his family disappeared.

Than said
, “We need to help Therese! She’s been captured!”

“First we search the castle,” Poseidon commanded. “We’l
l be more powerful with the aid of my trident.”

Hip and Than helped
the other Olympians search, but they found no sign of Amphitrite and the trident.

“Where could they be?” Poseidon said. “
And who could be working with Phorcys?”

Hip scratched his chin
. “Perhaps Circe.”

“Circe? Why
do you suspect her?” Ares asked.

Hip looked through the water at his brother, afraid to break his heart. “She’s done something terrible.”

Than’s eyes widened. “Where’s Therese?”

Chapter Seven: The Oldest Castle

Therese
grabbed Hip in one claw, lifted him a foot off the ground, and screeched, “For the tenth time, tell me what’s going on! Answer me!”

Before Hip could reply, Than appeared at her side
, followed by Ares and Poseidon.

“Scylla!” Poseidon shouted
.

“Not Scylla,” Hip said. “Therese.”

“How? And where’s the real Scylla?” Ares asked.

“Circe changed her into a beautiful maiden,” Hip explained. “We don’t know where she is.”

Therese was heartbroken by the sight of her husband’s mortification. He frowned, squinted, and turned pale. This gave her a taste of how Scylla must have felt being looked upon for centuries with eyes of fear and disgust. No wonder Scylla had become cruel. The humiliation and the rejection were overwhelming.

Not to mention the awkward feeling of being in such a strange body. Her six necks were long and heavy to hold up, so they drooped in the middle, nearly touching the rocky beach.  Her tentacles were difficult to control—al
most as hard as it is for people to move their ears. In the water, she managed, though not without difficulty, but on land, it took all her energy not to fall over. The six dog-heads at her waist moved constantly, but not through her own volition. These canine parts yapped like an uncontrollable twitch.

“Than
, it’s me.” Therese gently set Hip back on the rocky coast, but her feelings of insecurity couldn’t prevent her words from sounding scratchy and harsh in the body of the monster. She was twice the size of the others, but she felt small and helpless.

“Therese?” Than asked with a look of incredulity that brought tears to Therese’s
four eyes.

“Help me,” she cried.

“How do we know this isn’t a trap?” Ares shouted.

“It’s no trap,” Hip said.

“Oh no.” Than reached out and touched Therese’s slimy arm. “Are you okay? Are the babies…”

She pulled her six heads close together
and covered them with her claws. “I don’t know. I think I feel them there, but this body is so…different. The dog-heads at my waist seem to have minds of their own.”

All six dog-
heads growled.

“
Hera or Artemis can tell us,” Poseidon suggested.

“Therese is more helpful
to us in
this
form,” Ares said. “We can send her as a spy…”

“No,” Than said. “Absolutely not.”

“You mean you didn’t find Amphitrite with Phorcys and Keto?” Therese asked.

Ares recounted the story
of what had happened. Then he added, “Zeus would forget about your act of treason against him if you helped us find the trident.”

“Ares makes a good point,” Poseidon said.

“No!” Than shouted. “Enough! We’re going to Circe right now!”

“Your wife is not our priority,” Ares said. “Finding the trident is.”

“In the wrong hands, my trident could bring down Mount Olympus,” Poseidon added. “Especially if there are more lightning bolts at large.”

Therese unleashed an earth-shaking wail.
“I need to know if I’m still carrying my babies!” she cried. Then in a lower, though still scratchy, voice she added, “If they’re unharmed, and if you swear on the River Styx to do everything you can to change me back, I’ll do whatever you want.”

Than flew up and took one of her center heads in his hands. She was
surprised by his gentle touch. He stroked her, and this show of affection in spite of her repulsive appearance made the tears flow from her eyes like rain.

“Oh, Than!”

He lifted one of her center heads, wiped away the tears, gazed in the one eye, and pleaded, “Don’t do this. Let’s go to Circe now.”

“
She uses black magic that makes her as powerful as any god,” Therese screeched, hating her monstrous voice. “With their help,” she pointed to the three other gods with one of her claws, “our chances improve.”

“But what if the real Scylla has already told her parents?” Hip asked.

“She wouldn’t,” Poseidon said. “Circe transformed her once before, and Keto rejected Scylla and was outraged that she wanted to change her natural form. I highly doubt she would suffer the same rejection from her mother again.”

“But we don’t know for sure,” Than said. “Let me go and scout it out. My duties take me near the castle all the time. In fact, I’m there now, and I can see the old man and his wife dining with Echidna.”

“Licking their wounds. No doubt,” Ares scoffed.

“No sign of Scylla?” Poseidon
asked.

“Wait,” Than said. “I see a
girl hovering outside the castle. She has black hair, pale skin, and turquoise eyes.”

“That’s her!” Therese screeched.

“Damn!” Poseidon shouted. “I was sure…”

“Wait!” Than said. “She’s looking at her parents through a window.”

“Why?” Hip asked.

“I do
n’t know. I can’t tell for sure, because we’re underwater, but I think she’s crying.”

“She must feel conflicted about her improved form,” Poseidon speculated. “She has to choose between beauty and her mother’s acceptance.”

“It’s so unfair,” Therese screeched.

Hip shook his head. “You
feel sorry for
her
?”

“She’s such a bleeding heart,” Ares complained.
“She swims with baby penguins, for heaven’s sake.”

“I’
ll watch to be sure she doesn’t stay,” Than said, ignoring Ares’s remark.

After several long minutes, Than finally said, “Poseidon was
right. She doesn’t want to face her mother. She’s swimming away.”

“Can you stay there and watch my back?” Therese filled with fear at the realization that she was about to go down into a house of monsters alone.

“I won’t leave without you,” her husband promised.

“I’ll hide nearby
, too,” Hip said. “If things get out of control, I can put Phorcys and his household into the deep boon of sleep.”

“Why don’t we do that to begin with?”
Therese asked.

“Because we need information,” Ares said.
“We’ve already searched the castle.”

“
I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Poseidon said.

“Something bad already has,” Therese moaned.

“Just find out all you can,” Ares said.

“First call Artemis t
o make sure the babies are okay.” Than pointed a finger at Ares. “That was part of the deal.”

“I’m searching for her now,” Hip said. “I left as soon as the idea was mentioned.”

Than clamped a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You’ve always had my back.”

“And I always will,
bro’.”

Arte
mis appeared with an arrow fitted to her bow. “Is this a trap?”

Therese rolled all four of her eyes and shook her heads in frustration. “It
’s not, Artemis. It’s really me. Therese. Can you sense if I’m still carrying my babies?” That’s all that really mattered to Therese: She needed to know her babies were okay.

Artemis returned her arrow to her quiver. “So help me, Hypnos, if this isn’t Therese, I’ll never help you again.”

Ares laughed, and Than gave him a dirty look.

Artemis extended her palms
out toward Therese and closed her eyes. Therese filled with anxiety and prayed to every god she knew to let her babies be okay. She didn’t know if anyone could hear her, since she could no longer hear the prayers of others. Perhaps this monstrous body was incapable of prayer. But she prayed anyway.

Please let my babies be okay.

***

Than held his breath as he waited for Artemis to reply. He prayed to her to do everything in her power to save the twins. He prayed to Hera, and to Hestia, and to his mother, and to Aphrodite. He begged them all to come to his aid and save his children.

He was struck with emotion when they each appeared at his side. They listened to his explanations
through prayer. Aphrodite, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, Persephone, and Hecate had all come. Soon after, Athena and her mother joined them. These goddesses, who often bickered among themselves, held hands in a ring around the body of Scylla and waited for Artemis’s answer.

Hera lifted her chin, “I sense them.”

“As do I!” Artemis said. “But wait.”

“They’re alive?” Therese screeched.

“They are crabs now,” Hera said. “In eggs that want to be laid.”

“Crabs?” Than repeated, his stomach sick.

“Don’t lay them,” Artemis added. “If you do, we might not be able to change them back.”

Than felt fain
t.  “Are they in danger?”

“As long as Therese resists the urge to l
ay them, the babies have a chance of becoming human again,” Artemis said.

“And if she lays them?” Hip asked.

Artemis frowned. “They’ll be born as crabs.”

“But
I can transform them,” Therese shrieked. “We both can.”

“
We don’t want your twins to start off as crabs,” Artemis said. “Even if we change them, they’ll never be like real humans.”

“Just don’t lay the eggs,” Hera said. “No matter how great the pressure becomes. And the pressure will become great.”

“How long before that happens?” Than asked as he raked a shaky hand through his hair.

“I don’t know,” Hera said.