Goddess of rain, p.17
Goddess of Rain, page 17
Hephaestus checks himself and speaks in a gentler tone. “The gods are tied to the Earth and the celestial objects within the galaxy. The Earth is our planet too. We only created Olympus so we could have a break from Earthlings. Your species is incredibly needy when they are in the mood for needing someone. Then when you don’t, you just throw them away. It takes an unbelievable amount of effort on Athena’s part to keep Olympus undetected from your Earth authorities. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t apply her goddess of wisdom talents to the education system. She can’t do everything.”
I am remembering about what my mother said about the gods living on Olympus and coming to Earth for their entertainment. It sounds like my mother got it wrong. Or maybe it was a matter of perspective. From my mother’s viewpoint, it would seem that Olympus is the home of the gods since that is where most of them live.
“Did you want to stay on the earth?” I say.
Hephaestus’s eyes go wide and he throws his hands up.
“Do you know who the earth is?” he says. “It’s Gaia! Gaia, who is Mother Earth, and the mother of everyone. Gaia was the first woman I ever loved. But I wasn’t allowed to marry her because she was one of the old gods and part of the old ways. My family wanted me to marry one of the new Olympian gods. So, they arranged for me to marry Aphrodite. She was young and beautiful. She came from the sea, which is so much newer than the old, rocky parts of the earth. I tried to make her happy but she didn’t want me. She left me for my brother Ares. And my wonderful Gaia just checked out. She went to sleep. She’s been asleep for a long time. No one can wake her. She has no idea what has happened.”
“Do you mean what has happened to the earth?” I say.
“It’s the same thing!” Hephaestus says, “Gaia is Earth, Earth is Gaia. Listen, I am sorry to get so worked up about this. These are concepts it takes a long time to learn and obviously the education system has failed you. But I know you understand about the dependence on celestial objects and that is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Witches need to commune with the moon as part of their rituals. You haven’t had a chance to see the moon and that must be affecting you. We have two beautiful moons on Mars. I’ll arrange for a lead suit and one of the guys can take you to see them.” Hephaestus smiles at me expectantly.
I don’t want to get in a vehicle with one of Hephaestus’s friends. “Thanks for the offer, but I don’t need to see the moon or, um, the moons. I’m not very observant of witch customs. I’m more of a free-thinker.”
Hephaestus is quite a lot taller than me. He leans against his walking stick so that he can bend down to look me straight in the eye without losing balance. Up close I can see the strong, vertical lines on his cheeks that run from his chin to his cheekbones. He has crinkly lines at the corners of his eyes that map many years of smiling.
“Zoe, you don’t have to see the moon if you don’t want to, but I’m concerned about you. You’ve been having nightmares. The robot who brings you your breakfast told me.”
“They report on me?” I say.
“They do a complete diagnostic on you when they go in the room, yes, but I don’t pay attention to most of that. You could use some iron. But I am most attentive to your happiness.
“It’s very hard for Earthlings to go without sunlight. I think you may have a case of SAAD — Sunlight Anti-Absorption Disorder. It’s very common for visitors here. I think we need to get you to the planet’s surface for some natural light.”
I don’t want to leave Hephaestus’s cave. I am happy helping to organize the gala. It’s really not much work, and it’s fun to see all the people getting in the mood for the party. Sometimes the party planner, the goddess Thalia, will come by and she gets me excited about what she is doing. She’s planning to have fireworks to cap off the event. There’s even talk of an ambrosia fountain.
________________
I can’t deny that I am having nightmares. I’ve been having dreams of the helmeted man every night since I’ve come here. I’m embarrassed that my screaming has woken people up and is being documented by the robots. It’s hard for me to know why I am having nightmares.
I wouldn’t say that I feel depressed the way I felt when I thought my mother had died. I couldn’t say exactly how I feel about my mother now. Whatever I feel is in a tight ball in the pit of my stomach. If it tries to get out I clamp it down. I can’t let it get out because if I do, it could explode and I may be rendered incapable of doing anything. I have the earth to save. I have to keep it together.
I try to keep my answer vague. “I think I’m just getting used to sleeping in a different bed. I’m really feeling okay.”
Hephaestus stares intently at me. He presses his lips together and squints his eyes in thought. “I don’t mean to pry, but is it boyfriend trouble? With girls your age it’s usually boyfriends. Or you are fighting with your mother. Often it’s both.” He nods his head sympathetically.
I feel the pit in my stomach travel and start to press up against my sternum. Hephaestus is not going to let this go. Maybe I can tell him a little and it will satisfy him while offering me some relief.
“I don’t have a boyfriend, but...” I begin.
“Wait, you don’t have a boyfriend?” Hephaestus says, “How is that possible?”
“I don’t know,” I say, “my mom was asking that too.”
“The boys in your high school must be under a localized indifference spell,” Hephaestus says. “There’s obviously something wrong with them.”
“It’s not just them,” I say, “I’ve had a crush on someone for a long time and I didn’t think he noticed me, but now I think he may like me too. But there’s also a chance I’m completely fooling myself.”
The corners of Hephaestus’s mouth twitch upwards. “Zoe, I don’t think you have to worry. I’m sure Brandon likes you.”
“Brandon?” I say. “No, I’m not talking about him. There’s another guy back on Earth. Brandon is...I mean he’s wonderful. He’s probably the best person I’ve ever met. Because I can’t honestly say for sure I’ve definitely talked to Colton, but I think if I did, he would also be the best person I’ve ever met.”
Hephaestus puts his chin in his hand and nods his head. “So, two guys. That’s okay, that makes sense. And Brandon is the one who came here with you. That’s an important point. And the mother? How is she figuring into this?”
I look into Hephaestus’s warm eyes and I can’t help myself. I start crying. “I don’t know where she is. I missed her for so long and then she came back and left again right away. I don’t know if she left because she had to, or if she was kidnapped or if she just wanted to be with her boyfriend. I don’t know if I should be worried about her or mad at her. I don’t know what to feel so I try not to feel anything.”
Hephaestus gets me a box of tissues from a drawer in the table. “Zoe, let me ask you this. Was there a god involved in all of this?”
“Yes!” I say. I wipe at the tears under my eyes. “How did you know?”
“There always is,” he says with a sigh. “Listen, you don’t need to figure anything out right now. I’ve known a lot of people and I talk a lot with the guys in the shop. No one knows anything most of the time. The trick is to accept that the unknown will always be with you. Sit with it, everything will become clear eventually, in its own time. The things that you know for certain though, those you must hold onto and cherish.”
“Brandon is one of those certainties. He’s here, he cares about you and you care about him. He’s something you need to hold onto. I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll speak to the Cyclops he will be fighting. I’ll tell him to be extra-careful and go easy on Brandon.”
I want to jump in the air and give Hephaestus a hug. Instead, I settle on giving him a big smile. “Thank you, that would be amazing,” I say. “I have been so worried about Brandon’s fight.”
“Well, you should be,” Hephaestus says, “Cyclopes are tough. If you don’t want to go up to the surface, how about I offer you a change of scenery? I want to make sure the Martian Tartians are going to be happy with the gala. It will be hard for you to check in with them because they don’t really like Earthlings. They are at a reception tonight near the volcano and I thought maybe you could go to it and circulate about the room. You could see what they are saying. See if anyone is complaining about anything so we can fix it.”
“But, how will I do that?” I say. “Would they even let me into the reception?”
“I left out an important part,” Hephaestus says, “you can go and be invisible. I made a helmet for Hades that allows him to be invisible when he chooses. He has the helmet but I made a prototype when I was testing it out. It doesn’t have all the inscriptions and scrolls and I hadn’t worked out the shape yet but it will make you invisible. I have it back in the shop.”
I took an online quiz once where they asked what special power would you rather have: the ability to fly or the ability to be invisible. In the last week I’ve had the chance to do both. I immediately agree to become invisible and gather Martian gala intel.
“Good,” Hephaestus says, “I see someone dressed in an arctic char-skin coat coming up the path. That must be the Nereids. I’ll go greet them and show them around. Then I’ll get the helmet and bring it to your room so you can try it on.” Hephaestus takes his walking stick and pauses at the door.
“Zoe, you’re going to be told throughout your life to follow your heart and that’s a good thing. But your heart doesn’t just mean love. It means compassion. Try to always find that compassion in your heart. It will lead to great things.” Hephaestus leans onto his walking stick and jauntily walks out the door to meet the guests.
When Hephaestus was rejected by his mother he constructed a throne with magic ropes and kept her bound. He wouldn’t release her at first. When he was told he owed it to his mother he responded with his most famous quote:
“I have no mother.”
Dionysus convinced Hephaestus to have compassion for Hera. The god of smiths listened to the god of wine. In compassion, Hephaestus released the bounds of his loveless mother. And then Hephaestus finally ascended Olympus, where he had been cast off as an infant. On Olympus he became the beloved maker of the tools of the gods. He finally had a palace to call his own.
Chapter Fifteen
I don’t get a chance to go back to my room and try on the helmet until dinner time. Groups of visitors stopped by to see the forge and factory all day. The biggest group to process was Dionysus and his forty followers. They stumbled in calling for wine and cheese like they were on a Napa Valley wine tour. Hephaestus was worried they would fall into a vat of molten metal and told them the forge was closed for maintenance. He took them to his underground springs where they could drink and eat all day. He had several of his robots constantly circling the springs so that they could rescue any revellers who passed out in the pools.
Hephaestus has left the tarnished bronze helmet on my bedside table. It has a rough, unfinished look to it. It’s far from Hephaestus’s usual standard of design and is unembellished with the flourishes he likes such as intricate scroll work and lettering. I guess when he was making the prototype for the helmet he was concerned with whether its magical properties could work and he would fix the esthetics later.
I take the helmet over to the mirror in my room so that I can watch myself disappear when I place it on my head. The helmet is large and heavy. I think it will probably slip off of my head when I’m walking around in it if I’m not careful. I take a fur scarf that I found in my closet and stuff it into the helmet to help it fit better. For the first time in my life I am not worried about helmet head because of whatever magical thing Katie did to my hair to make it look like I get daily blow-outs.
I pick up the helmet and place it carefully on my head. I look in the mirror and expect myself to disappear into non-existence but nothing happens. Thinking that maybe I don’t have the helmet on quite right because of the fur, I jostle it back and forth. Still nothing happens. Maybe this thing doesn’t work anymore. I give it a reasonably firm smack on the top of my head to make sure it is all the way down. With a flash of bright light that momentarily blinds me, the mirror is gone.
I am not in my room anymore but instead I am outside in a meadow. It doesn’t look like a Martian meadow because the grass is green instead of lavender. Is it possible that the helmet has caused me to travel somewhere as well as make me invisible?
I hold out my hands and wriggle my fingers. Since I can see them I guess I must not be invisible. I look down at my clothes and I am no longer wearing my leather jacket and pajamas. I am dressed in a long, white gown and there are sandals on my feet. I reach up to feel my helmet and it seems to be gone. I pat my head and can feel I’m wearing a flower crown. The flowers trail through my hair and I have flower bracelets around my wrists.
I’m not sure what to do in this new place. Not knowing where I am, I wonder if it is better to stay put and wait for someone to come looking for me. It’s a beautiful spring day and the meadow is full of wild flowers. It has a quiet that’s unlike Mars because the environment is more active. I can hear the sounds of a light breeze moving through the grass and the chirping of birds is more varied and pronounced. This is a place that is alive and fertile. This feels like Earth. I think I must be having some kind of vision of home. My own planet was so beautiful and I feel a stab of guilt that I didn’t appreciate it more.
“Kore!” I hear someone calling. I turn around to look for the voice and not far behind me are a group of four girls in long, filmy dresses.
One of them waves at me and then picks up the hem of her dress so that she can run towards me. The other girls see what she is doing and run after her. The four girls arrive before me with big smiles and flushed cheeks from running.
“We couldn’t find you, Kore!” the same girl says. I know this girl. Her hair is long and flowing to the waist, which is different from her usual style, but I know her, as well as the others. I used to cheer with these girls back at my old cheer club. We were on the same stunt team. I haven’t seen them since I quit cheer in my senior year because the season was over and I thought I would be leaving town to go away to university after graduation.
They were nice girls who I enjoyed cheering with, even if I didn’t become very close to them. We were all-star cheerleaders, not high school varsity cheerleaders. That meant we cheered as a competitive sport and not for our school teams. We didn’t even go to the same high school. We cheered for a cheer club and did pretty well in competitions.
Sometimes I would watch nineties teen movies with Brandon and the female villain was always a cheerleader. She was stealing boyfriends and barring girls from the cheer squad because they weren’t popular enough.
This was not my life as a cheerleader. In all-star cheerleading there are no pompoms and being popular will get you nowhere. What you need is a good back hand-spring and the ability to form a strong pyramid.
Lauren, Paige, Hailey, Jamie, and I had legendary pyramids. We had perfect form and our flyer Hailey never had to worry about us dropping her from ten feet in the air. Cheerleading is a sport and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Yes, we wear make-up, teased pony-tails, and sparkly uniforms, but to execute our routines we needed strength, balance, grace, and synchronized gymnastics skills. Movie cheerleaders are socially terrifying. All-star cheerleaders are all about sit-ups and push-ups.
I feel a pang in my stomach when I look at them. I think what I’m feeling is loss. I hadn’t even realized that I missed them. We made promises to get together when I left the team but not long after that my mom died — or so I thought. They texted and phoned but I didn’t have much to say. I sent short replies and didn’t answer their pleas to go out. Lauren showed up unannounced at my house one time, and I turned up the TV and hid under my duvet until she went away. After a while they stopped calling me. Their life went on without me and my life just stopped.
I wonder if they all hang out together all the time without me. They have flowers in their hair like they are going to Coachella. Maybe I’m going to get to see a concert, that would be fun.
“Hi, Hailey,” I say.
Hailey furrows her brow. “What’s hihailey, Kore?” she says.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I say. “Why do you say Kore after everything?”
The girls burst out laughing. “Kore, what’s wrong with you? Did you drink something?” Paige says.
It dawns of me that they think Kore is my name. “My name is Kore?” I say. The girls look at each other with concern. Paige seizes my arm and says, “Seriously, Kore, what’s wrong with you? Did you slip and hit your head? Do you know my name?”
I’m pretty sure I will get this wrong but I go ahead and say it. “You’re Lauren, Paige, Hailey, and Jamie,” I say. The four of them look at each other like I’m crazy.
“Kore,” says Jamie. “I don’t think those are even names.” She stands closer to me and speaks very slowly to me. “I’m Europa,” she says while pointing to herself. She then gestures to the other girls. “This is Asia, this is Ephyra, and this is Rhodos.”
I don’t know what is happening but I decide to roll with it. I laugh and say, “I know, I was just kidding. It was just a joke.” The four of them laugh and look relieved. They have baskets in their hands that are full of flowers. I look around to see if there is a basket on the ground that I should be holding. I see one a few feet away and go over to pick it up.
“Did you find any yellow flowers?” Jamie/Europa says.
I look in my basket and see purple, orange, and red flowers but nothing yellow. “No,” I say, “but these are really pretty.”
“Yes,” Europa says, “but you said you wanted to find yellow flowers for your arrangement. Are you sure you didn’t get too much sun?”
