We had been in Alfhame for more than a week before I was medically cleared to start light training. Vada and I decided that we would go hiking up the mountain as we eased back into working out. We put on the hiking boots we had gotten at one of the leatherworking shops and set out toward the mountains.
“If you start feeling even a little bit tired, we rest. We don’t need to injure you further and set back your progress,” Vada said for the fifth time.
“I know. Gods, I promise, I’ll let you know. We have packs with food for the hike, and if we need to, we can stop and rest. If I’m too tired to continue, we can move back down the mountain. It’ll be easier going down than up,” I replied. She genuinely meant it, so I couldn’t be mad at her, but I was grumpy in my reply nonetheless.
Vada kissed me quickly. “Good. I’m just making sure youknow that you don’t have any reason to push through too quickly. ThePaxneeds you in shape before we can do anything about the issues going on elsewhere.”
“You’re right. I won’t let it prevent me from healing. We can’t afford it,” I said, reframing the way I thought about how she was begging me to take things easy. She’d already known that I overworked myself, and that I was prone to doing so to my own detriment. I just believed in what thePaxwas doing so much that I would suffer if it meant others got to live their lives free of tyranny.
“You’re right, we cannot. I also cannot afford to watch you do that to yourself anymore,” Vada said, a little choked up. I tried to put myself in her shoes. If she was the one who I’d traveled realms to save, I would likely have mother henned her, too.
I hugged her close to me, just breathing in her scent for a few moments. I would never take the safety of her arms around me for granted again. The mountain’s path was intimidating, but I viewed it as a challenge that I had to conquer in order to get back into the fight. We couldn’t afford any more delays. “You ready, baby?”
She nodded, then gestured for me to go ahead of her. “You just want to stare at my ass,” I jested, starting up the trail.
“Obviously,” she laughed as she began to follow behind me.
We walked in silence for a long while. I felt out of breath a lot quicker than I normally would. I wasn’t exhausted necessarily, but I could tell I hadn’t kept up with my routine for even a week. I was going to be sore later regardless. As the trail started to get steeper, we stopped for a few moments to add spikes to the bottom of our shoes and fashioned a couple of fallen branches as walking sticks.
We came close to the biggest waterfall I’d ever seen diving down into the lake below. We weren’t even halfway up themountain, but decided to stop for snacks and to catch our breaths.
“I’ve been thinking…” Vada started, plopping down on a large, smooth rock. “I’m curious what might’ve been released from the Box. Do you know what contents were in it?”
I was quiet for a long minute. “No, I can’t say that I was ever curious enough to open it, for fear of starting a plague or something. Every text I’d read about what could be in it seemed to be geared toward stories of the Four Horsemen, or all the aspects of human nature that humans believed to be antithetical to their ways of life, such as illness or harm done to one another. Other stories told of how feminine sexuality and impropriety were housed in the jar. Since I know who the Horsemen are, I doubt that is what it was holding. Have you heard anything?”
“I can’t say that I have, other than those same myths. I know there were some demons in Hell who had mentioned that they were the Horsemen, but I genuinely believe they were using it as leverage to boost their rankings in Hell.”
“I should get the Sluagh on their asses,” I snorted. “That’s what I’d heard, too. I don’t think whoever stole it knew what was in the Box. And since I received the Box from Tartarus, someone has to know.”
“Do we think it’s one of the Greek Gods or Goddesses?” she asked.
It was a good question, considering where I’d received the Box. I hadn’t spoken with any of them, but maybe I’d bring it up to Athena next time I saw her. I bit into a piece of fruit and chewed while thinking about it. “I’m not sure. I could see that, but with how passionate they are about keeping Cronus locked up, I would think they’d have chosen to keep their treasures locked up somewhere they could forget about its existence. Not because they’d want to forget about it, but because it was safer that way.”
We sat in silence again, both of us thinking about what Zeus could have gifted to Pandora all those years ago. I wasn’t even sure that the gift still existed. What if it was something else?Someoneelse? “I’m wondering if Poe and the Fates would know. I haven’t heard of Pandora since the myth’s creation. Do we think she was real, or just used by the Greeks as a cautionary tale?” I asked.
“That’s a great question. I don’t remember ever hearing if Pandora was real or not either. I’m surprised you haven’t asked Poe yet,” Vada replied, gazing across the waterfall while she chewed on some jerky.
“I didn’t even let her know that I had it in my stash of items. I was the only being, aside from Cronus, who knew about the jar leaving Tartarus,” I said, thinking it over.
Vada nudged my shoulder with her own. “What else do you have in that office of yours?”
I leaned my head against her shoulder. “I can assure you, that was the most dangerous of the possessions, but if you want to stop by when we get back to St. Louis, I’ll show you. May even take you on a tour of my office, if you get my drift,” I said back playfully.
Vada stood and held her hand out to help me up. “Alright, if you’re joking around, that means we’re not working you hard enough. Come on, sweet girl, we’re burning daylight.”
It was close to midday when we made it to the top of the trail. We could see for miles over Alfhame, and it took my breath away. The water below us was so clear that the animals and other beings swimming with one another were visible. We weren’t quite up to the snowy caps, but we were a few thousand feet up the peak. It might’ve been the exercise, since that always put me in a better mood, but I was invigorated the higher up we climbed.
We rested a couple more times, throwing around theorieson who could have organized such a well-executed attack—everyone from my father’s allies (he didn’t have many), to some of the doomsday monsters in the Cryptid Realm. We even theorized on some of the individuals within thePax. Nothing was fitting the narrative, but if we couldn’t figure it out soon, thePaxwould fail from all the finger-pointing. It’d turn into its own civil war, and I didn’t think Earth would survive it.
We were searching for someone with the power to convince many well-meaning beings to side with them. This being had to be charismatic, with the ability to tell lies with the best of them. They had to prey on the parts of every being’s needs that weren’t being met. They also likely were able to lie, which ruled out Fae and Elves. So, at least we could likely cut out two factions of suspects.
“My best guess is to assume it’s one of the deities; however, that seems too easy, don’t you think?” Vada asked.
I nodded. “With all the fuckery every deity has done over the years, I would suspect that they’re not the culprits. I’d guess a God or Goddess like Zeus, Apollo, Váli, Adzis Khanym, or various other deities known throughout history to sow chaos. I don’t want to completely speculate without proof.”
“I know Adzis Khanym. I wouldn’t guess she is at fault here,” Vada replied.
“Fair enough. We should consider the Gods and Goddesses, but I would be remiss to say that they’re not involved,” I said reluctantly.
