Changing Fate (Book 2: We're The Same But Different)

9

BRITOMARTIS JUMPED from the ledge and landed in a kneeling position, her skirts spread around her in a pool of netting.
(She loves those dramatic entrances. She is such an anime-character wannabe.)
The goddess rose. She pulled out her hunting knife. "Apollo, if you value your anatomy, hold still."
I had no time to protest that I couldn't exactly hold still while suspended in a swaying net. She slashed her knife across my groin. The net broke and spilled me to the floor, thankfully with my anatomy intact.
My landing was not graceful. Fortunately, Leo and Emma rushed to my aid. They each took an arm and helped me up. I was reassured to see that despite their recent spat, they could still unite on important matters like my welfare.
Leo reached into his tool belt, perhaps searching for a weapon. Instead he produced a tin of breath mints. I doubted that would do us much good.
"Who is this lady?" he asked me.
"Britomartis," I said. "The Lady of Nets."
Leo looked dubious. "Does that include basketball and the Internet?"
"Just hunting and fishing nets," I said. "She is one of my sister's minions."
"Minion?" Britomartis wrinkled her nose. "I am no minion."
Behind us, Josephine coughed. "Uh, sorry, Apollo. The Lady insisted on getting your attention this way."
The goddess's face brightened. "Well, I had to see if he would step in my trap. And he did. As usual. Hemithea, Josephine...give us the room, please."
Our hosts glanced at each other, probably wondering which of them would have to clean up the bodies after Britomartis was through with us. Then they retreated through a doorway at the back of the hall.
Emma sized up the net goddess. "Britomartis, eh? Never heard of you. You must be minor."
Britomartis smiled thinly. "Oh, but I've heard of you, ''Lady'' Emma. Daughter of Kronos and a Traitor!" She turned to Leo. "I wonder what the gods would do with if the knew you existed."
"Hey, lady." Leo shook his tin of breath mints. "I've blown up way more powerful goddesses than you before."
"My mother had good heart," Emma added.
"Yeah!" Leo frowned. "Wait, what?"
"And don't care what gods do," Emma mused. "If I die, I die."
A light glow radiated from Emma's golden eyes. "Anyway"—she look Britomartis in the eyes—"where do you get off ordering Jo and Emmie around like this is your house?"
I grabbed his breath mints before Britomartis could transform them into nitroglycerin. "Emma, I'm afraid this is her house."
The goddess gave me that coquettish smile I hated so much—the one that made me feel as if hot nectar were bubbling in my stomach. "Why, Apollo, you made a correct deduction! How did you manage it?"
Whenever I was faced with Britomartis, I made myself just a bit taller than she. Alas, now I could not change my height at will. The best I could do was push up on the balls of my feet.
"Nero called this place the House of Nets," I said. "I should've realized the Waystation was your idea. Whenever my sister wanted to design some elaborate contraption—something twisted and dangerous—she always turned to you."
The goddess curtsied, swirling her net skirts. "You flatter me. Now come, my friends! Let's sit and talk!"
She gestured to the nearest cluster of sofas.
Emma approached the furniture cautiously. Leo was about to sink into an armchair when Emma caught his wrist. "Hold up."
Emma pulled out the backbiter. She poked the chair's seat cushion. A bear trap snapped shut, ripping through stuffing and fabric like an upholstery sharknado.
Emma glared at Britomartis. "Are you kidding me?!"
"Oops!" Britomartis said gleefully.
Leo pointed to one of the sofas, though I could see nothing amiss. "There's a trip wire along the back of those cushions, too. Does that...Does that trigger a Bouncing Betty?"
Britomartis laughed. "You're good! Yes, indeed. That is a modified pressure-activated S-mine."
"Lady, if that went off, it would bounce three feet in the air, explode, and kill all of us with shrapnel."
"Exactly!" Britomartis said with delight. "Leo Valdez, Lady Emma, you'll do nicely."
Leo and Emma both glowered at her. Leo pulled some wire cutters from his belt, walked over to the sofa, and deactivated the mine.
I took a breath for the first time in several seconds. "I think I'll sit...over here." I pointed to the opposite sofa. "Is that safe?"
Leo grunted. "Yeah. Looks okay."
Emma nodded her head. She was no child of hephaestus, but as both a demititan and Athena's granddaughter she clearly knew a few things about traps.
Once we were all comfortably settled in, with no one mangled or killed, Britomartis lounged across the formerly bear-trapped armchair and smiled. "Well, isn't this nice?"
"No," the three of us chorused.
Britomartis toyed with her braid, possibly looking for trip wires she might have forgotten about. "You asked me why I sent Jo and Emmie away. I love them dearly, but I don't think they'd appreciate the quest I'm about to give you."
"Quest?" Emma arched her eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure I'm half older divinity than you, Bouncing Betty. What right do you have to give me a quest?"
Britomartis flashed that flirty smile. "Aren't you cute. Hon, I was around when the ancient Greeks were living in caves. I started out as a Cretan goddess. When the rest of my pantheon died out, Artemis befriended me. I joined her Hunters and here I am, thousands of years later, still weaving my nets and setting my traps. And little titan you better watch your mouth."
"Yes," I grumbled. "You're here."
The goddess spread her arms. Lead weights and fishing hooks dangled from her embroidered sleeves. "Dear Apollo, you really do make a darling Lester Papadopoulos. Come here."
"Don't tease me," I begged.
"I'm not! Now that you're a harmless mortal, I've decided to finally give you that kiss."
I knew she was lying. I knew that her dress would entangle me and hurt me. I recognized the malicious gleam in her rust-red eyes. And besides I wanted Emma now.
I flirted shamelessly with all my sister's followers. But Britomartis was the only one who ever flirted back, even though she was just as much an avowed maiden as any Hunter. She delighted in tormenting me. And how many times had she pranked me by offering to set me up with other people? Gah! Artemis had never been known for her sense of humor, but her sidekick Britomartis more than made up for that. She was insufferable. Beautiful, but insufferable. Emma was more beautiful though.
I admit I wasn't tempted. I shook my head. "You're tricking me. Besides don't want you anymore."
She looked offended. "I see, Lady Emma, you just a pest?"
I got hear Emma growling out of anger and confusion.
Britomartis shrugged. "Well, the two of you made a cute couple. Sadly Apollo your dating the enemy"
I whimpered and pulled my curly mortal hair. Britomartis knew me too well. I was a fool for being a cute couple.
Leo looked back and forth between us as if he'd stumbled across a heated game of Greek fire toss. (It was big in Byzantium. Don't ask.)
"In case you've forgotten," I muttered, "I am no longer immortal. So, please, no Burmese tiger pits and we're not dating!"
"I wouldn't dream of it!" said the goddess. "No, this quest isn't designed to kill you. It might kill you, but it's not designed to. I just want my griffins back."
Emma frowned. "Your griffins?"
"Yes," the goddess said. "They are winged lion-eagle hybrids with—"
"I know what a griffin is," Emma said. "I know Jo and Emmie breed them here. But why are they yours?"
I coughed. "Emma, griffins are the goddess's sacred animals. She is their mother."
Britomartis rolled her eyes. "Only in a figurative sense. I don't sit on their eggs and hatch them."
"You convinced me to do that once," I recalled. "For a kiss I never got."
She laughed. "Yes, I'd forgotten about that! At any rate, the local emperor has captured my babies Heloise and Abelard. In fact, he's been capturing mythical animals from all over the Midwest to use in his diabolic games. They must be freed."
Leo studied the disassembled land mine pieces in his lap. "The kid. Georgina. That's why you don't want Jo and Emmie here. You're putting your griffins' safety ahead of their daughter's."
Britomartis shrugged. "Jo and Emmie's priorities have been compromised. They would not be able to hear this, but the griffins must come first. I have my reasons. Being a goddess, my needs take precedence."
Emma sniffed with disgust. "You're as greedy and territorial as your babies. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" Emma crossed her arms.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that," said the goddess. "I promised Artemis I would try to help you three, but don't test my patience. You'd look wonderful as a northern crested newt."
A mixture of hope and sadness welled in my chest. Artemis, my loving sister, had not abandoned me after all. Zeus may have forbidden the other Olympians from helping me, but at least Artemis had sent her lieutenant Britomartis. Of course, Britomartis's idea of "help" involved testing us with land mines and bear traps, but at this point I would take what I could get.
"And if we find these griffins?" I asked.
"Then I'll tell you how to infiltrate the emperor's lair," Britomartis promised. "Being the goddess of traps, I know all about secret entrances!"
I stared at her. "How is that a fair trade?"
"Because, you adorable Lester, you need to infiltrate the palace to rescue Georgina and the other prisoners. Without them, the Waystation is doomed, and so are your chances of stopping the Triumvirate. Also, the palace is where you'll find the Throne of Memory. If you can't retrieve that, your trip to the Cave of Trophonius will kill you. You'll never save the other Oracles. You'll never get back to Mount Olympus. You'll never see her again."
I turned to Leo. "I'm new to this heroic-quest business. Shouldn't there be a reward at the end? Not just more deadly quests?"
"Nope," Leo said. "This is pretty standard."
Oh, the injustice! A minor goddess forcing me, one of the twelve Olympians, to retrieve animals for her! I silently vowed that if I ever regained my godhood, I would never again send a poor mortal on a quest. Unless it was really important. And unless I was sure the mortal could handle it. And unless I was pressed for time...or I just really didn't feel like doing it myself. I would be much kinder and more generous than this net goddess was being to me.
"What would you have us do?" I asked Britomartis. "Wouldn't these griffins be held at the emperor's palace? Couldn't we do some one-stop shopping?"
"Oh, no," Britomartis said. "The really important animals, the rare and valuable ones...the emperor keeps those in a special facility with the proper resources to care for them. The Indianapolis Zoo."
I shuddered. I find zoos to be depressing places, full of sad caged animals, screaming children, and bad food.
"The griffins will be well guarded," I guessed.
"Absolutely!" Britomartis sounded a bit too excited about the prospect. "So please try to release the griffins before you get injured or killed. Also, you must hurry—"
"Here comes the time limit." Leo looked at me knowingly. "There's always a time limit."
"In three days," Britomartis continued, "the emperor plans to use all the animals and prisoners in one massive celebration."
"A naming ceremony," I recalled. "Nanette, the blemmyae who almost killed us, she mentioned something about that."
"Indeed." Britomartis grimaced. "This emperor...he loves naming things after himself. At the ceremony, he plans to rechristen Indianapolis."
That in itself did not strike me as a tragedy. Indianapolis was a rather difficult name to love. However, if this emperor was who I thought he was, his idea of a celebration involved slaughtering people and animals by the thousands. He really was not the sort of person you wanted organizing your child's birthday party.
"The blemmyae mentioned something else," I said. "The emperor wanted to sacrifice three special prisoners. Me, Emma and the girl."
Emma clasped her hands like the jaws of the bear trap. "Georgina."
"Exactly!" Britomartis again sounded a bit too cheerful. "The girl is safe enough for now. Imprisoned and insane, yes, but alive. You concentrate on freeing my griffins. Go to the zoo at first light. The emperor's guards will be ending their night shift then. They'll be tired and inattentive."
I gazed at the land mine pieces in Leo's hands. Death by explosion was starting to sound like a kinder fate than Britomartis's quest.
"At least I won't be alone," I muttered.
"Actually," said the goddess, "But Leo Valdez must remain here."
Leo flinched. "Say what?"
"You've proven yourself skilled with traps!" the goddess explained. "Emmie and Josephine need your help. The Waystation has defied discovery by the emperor so far, but that won't last much longer. He can't tolerate any opposition. He will find this sanctuary. And he means to destroy it. You, Leo Valdez, can help shore up the defenses."
"But—"
"Cheer up!" Britomartis faced Emma. "You can go with Apollo, Lady Emma. One former immortal and titan on a quest for me! Yes, I like that idea a lot."
Emma stated. "But I nee—"
"You can," I looked at Emma.
Emma nodded emphatically. "I need to watch you, so no one—"
"It's settled, then!" The goddess rose from her chair. "I'll meet you back here when you have my griffins. Don't fail me, mortals!" She clapped her hands with glee. "Oh, I've always wanted to say that!"
She twirled and disappeared in a flash like a fishing lure before Emma could cut her with the backbiter. "Dam it, I wanted to hit her."
I choose not say anything about that. I don't really know why Emma was mad and not think I want to.