Love Lines

8: Neptune

Chapter Eight 

"So. This is the last of the Valens line."

That is exactly what Neptune said after I'd only been standing in front of him for a few seconds. The God, who only looked to be in his mid-twenties early thirties at the most, sat in a chair that gave the impression like it belonged in the first class dining room of the Titanic instead of up on the platform where it currently was. It was simple, not something I ever thought I would see a God sitting in. A rather pretty woman sat on his right with Hades on his left. His chair was literally made of smoke. I was sure there was something invisible that was holding him up, something more solid then smoke but I couldn't be sure. Hades regarded me with nothing more than mild curiosity, no apology at all on his face. I was starting to doubt if Poseidon, or Neptune as the Assarions called him and I was supposed to be thinking of him, really wanted to discuss his brother's mishap from this morning.

"She's quite lovely," the woman said. "May I keep her, husband?"

Neptune smiled at his wife but then said, "I'm afraid not, my dear. Her...role is something bigger than that of a statue in your shipwreck garden." He turned his attention back to me and stood up. "No, I do believe she is the one I was told of quite a while ago. Someone I've been waiting patiently for."

That caused her to look at me a little differently. "She doesn't look like much."

"They never do." He stopped in front of both myself and Andrzej. Even though I could feel him look me over while he'd circled the pair of us, I could feel him appraising Andrzej as well. "But they always look the same. The true oracles. There are a slew of fakes, you know."

"They are all true oracles, brother," Hades said dryly.

"You are wrong in weighing them the same. In fact, I'm surprised you didn't notice just how powerful she was when you tried to kill her this morning. I could feel it the second her feet touched the floor of the hall."

Hades rolled his eyes. "I was focused on other things."

"Yes, like maintaining your pact with Cyrus." He glanced over his shoulder at his brother. "What you don't realize is their combined potential. You're viewing them separately and that is your mistake. You're acting like Logios and Janus, brother."

"Do not speak to me of those two. All they do is go back and forth over the Elite. It's tedious and annoying. They see what is good for them at the present which is uncharacteristic for Janus. His intentions are usually more long term."

Neptune just smirked at his brother and turned back to me. "What my brother is trying to say is..."

"I can speak for myself." Hades stood up, his chair disappearing instantly, and walked over to where the three of us were standing. "You don't really need an apology, do you?"

"I'd like one but I understand completely if you don't give it."

"Good. Then I'll be going."

"Not so fast, brother. There are...other things that need to be addressed."

"Such as?"

"Your deal. You should probably explain why you tried to gut her like a fish. Maybe even bring Cyrus himself down to help explain it. She just might understand better than you think."

"You want me to explain my actions to her? A mere...mortal? I don't think so, brother. You are..."

Neptune raised an eyebrow at him. "Summon your pawn, Plouton. Or I'll summon him for you."

"You can't threaten me, Poseidon. Cyrus would never listen to you."

"He would if he knows she's here. I think you underestimate, like Janus and Logios do, just how much they mean to each other. But that's the problem, isn't it? Everyone sees their past, the fact they grew up together and they view it as a problem. They've become attached, uncooperative if the other is absent." Neptune clicked his tongue. "You should know just how that is, brother. For it's the same for you without your Persephone."