“Jumbo shrimp?” Styxx had the baffled tone he always got whenever he tried to shop for food. “How? Is this some trick of Lyssa’s or Poseidon’s?”
Urian laughed. “Neither. It’s a trick of marketing, to make you buy it.”
“Ah. Is that why it looks so strange?”
“No, that’s because the store already prepared it for you. You can take it home, wash it, and eat it.”
Suddenly, Styxx was real quiet.
“Hey, you there? Did I lose you?”
“Um, yeah. Urian … they have worms in alcohol that you drink. My God, man, what is wrong with you people?”
He laughed at the serious tone Styxx used. “It’s tequila. You’re fine.”
“That’s all kinds of wrong.”
Like Styxx had any room to talk given what his people had eaten back in the day? “Cobra hearts? Blood soup? Bitter vetch?”
Styxx blustered. “I only ate those during war, and because it was that or starve. And they were disgusting … and speaking of? Casu marzu? Is this what I think it is?”
“Yeah, maggot cheese. Stay away.”
Styxx made a loud sound of disapproval. “That’s it. I’m getting Pop-Tarts and I’m going home.”
Urian laughed at his horror. “Can you identify them? Or do you need me to come and help?”
“Little blue box. I’ve got this. And I know what milk looks like. Get a jug from the back. I remember what you said.”
“All right. I’ll be there tomorrow to help you shop for groceries.”
“Thank you. Sorry to be such a pain in your ass. I’m slowly learning.”
“It’s all good, brother. Think nothing of it. See you tomorrow.” Urian hung up, feeling bad for him.
That was the worst part of what Ash had inadvertently done. He’d forgotten the small fact that while Styxx could speak English, he couldn’t read it. Unlike Acheron, he wasn’t a god who was fluent in all languages, nor was he like Urian and the other Hunters who’d been exposed to modern culture throughout history. He’d been imprisoned away from everything and everyone.
Styxx’s native tongue was ancient Greek. He couldn’t even read the modern Greek version. Nor did he understand modern currency. He knew nothing at all about the modern world or how to navigate it.
So when Ash had literally dumped him in his apartment without any kind of orientation, Styxx had been at a loss on how to do anything, such as write a check or use a credit card.
He’d never used a phone or computer. Had Urian not tracked him down, he’d have starved to death.
But to be fair to Acheron, Styxx had asked to leave at a bad time. That very day, Acheron had been in a near-fatal accident and had almost lost Tory. Normally, Acheron would never have been quite that cold.
Even to Styxx.
But his mind had been on other things and other concerns. As the old saying went, bad times made for bad people. And these times were making for some of the worst. So in anger, Acheron had lashed out, and sadly Styxx had been in the line of fire to catch the fury that should have gone toward the ones who hurt Tory.
They were all under threat, and the most insidious part of their enemies was that the darkness was trying to drive a wedge between them. To isolate them.
And it was working.
Divided we fall.It was much easier to take down an enemy when they were fighting among themselves than it was one united against you.
But what Urian couldn’t figure out was how to unite two brothers who were determined to destroy each other, any more than he could figure out how to stop his father and get his own vengeance.
November 20, 2008
