Chapter Fifty

Ares

“Ooo!” Aphrodite squeals, clapping her hands.

“What is it now?” I demand.

“M&M are on a date!” She screams.

“What?” I ask.

“Oooo! Yas! I just have to bless them!” she says, shaking with joy.

“Wait!” I shout. “NO DON’T!”

But it was too late, the red rose petals slowly fell to the ground, all of them turning white except for one.

“Oh dear,” Aphrodite says, staring at the petals. “That’s not a good sign.”

“You can’t go around using your powers!” I growl.

She doesn’t look up from where the petals slowly were descending out of view.

“I can do what I want, while I still can, traitor,” She hisses.

۝

Mutt

Just as we were about to start eating, Moon starts to glow pink. I couldn’t help it and I burst out laughing.

“What?” Moon asks, looking slightly hurt and offended.

“You. You’re pink!” I say, laughing.

She looks down at herself with a frown, before looking back up.

“What are you laughing at?” she demands. “So are you!”

Immediately I sober up, and sigh.

“Looks like we have Aphrodite’s blessing,” I say.

“That doesn’t mean we’re going to be pink the rest of our lives does it?” Moon asks.

“No, I don’t think so,” I say, laughing lightly. “At least I hope not.”

For a second Moon was smiling at me, and then her eyes flashed a blue-white color. Like frosted over water and then she was falling.

“Moon!” I exclaim, leaping out of my chair to catch her. “MOON?!”

Closing my eyes I let Godville materialize around me.

“HELP!” I shout. “PLEASE! HELP! I NEED A MEDIC!”

An Apollo kid runs over, “What happened?”

“I don’t know. One minute she was fine and then she just… Passed out,” I say. “You gotta help her, please.”

“You know we will, Mutt,” Bat says walking over.

I glare up at him, “Don’t you dare come near us!”

He stops, “Mutt, look… I’m-”

“If you come near Moon or myself then I swear I will tear out your heart and feed it to a shark,” I snarl.

“Bat’s the best medic, Mutt,” the Apollo kid says. “He might be the only one that can help Moon.”

“I don’t care,” I snap.

Bat backs away, holding up his hands, “Okay. I won’t go near either of you. If that’s what you wish.”

“What I wish is that you were the new ingredient in shark fin soup,” I growl. “But that would mean killing a shark, and he deserves to live more than you.”

“Oh. Okay then,” Bat says. “I’ll just… Go where I’m needed then.”

“Come on,” the Apollo kid says. “Let’s move her to the Hospital House.”

He picks her up on a stretcher, motioning to a few others to help him. I go to help, except a familiar head of hair catches my eye.

“I’ll be right back,” I murmur.

The Apollo kid shrugs, like he couldn’t care what I did.

I walk over to where the figure had disappeared around the corner of the Artemis House.

“Howdy Mutt,” Caltaya says, leaning against the wall. “How’s it going? Is it the paradise you thought it would be? I heard that your getaway didn’t go well. I’m sorry.”

“YOU!” I snarl, leaping at her, shoving her back into the wall with a knife at her throat. “You’re dead!”

“Yeah, I decided that being dead wasn’t fun anymore,” Caltaya says. “Which is a slight problem for you and your beloved. Considering I can hold a grudge and you killed me.”

I roll my eyes, “Maybe I should do it again, and make sure that this time you stay dead!”

“Oh Mutt,” Caltaya says. “How the trials changed you. I have to say, I really am proud. I never thought that you would change so immensely.”

“And I never thought you would betray me!” I snap. “So I guess we’re even!”

“We will not be even until you and my sister are dead!” Caltaya snaps back.

“SHE IS NOT YOUR SISTER!” I whisper yell. “NOT ANYMORE!”

“She will always be my sister!” Caltaya snarls. “It does not matter what life she is in, or what face she is wearing. Or who she loves. We are blood! And by blood we are related. And furthermore, she will always be the same scared girl that I grew up with! The same cowardly girl that would rather kill the man she loves than live without him because he chose me!”

“She is not!” I say, getting defensive. “She is nothing like that! Moon is brave and noble and she wouldn’t kill anyone!”

“Funny,” Caltaya says with a grin. “I once thought that about you. But then again, dear ol’ Timothy shows that not everyone is who they seem to be.”

“Timothy’s death is more on you than on me!” I say.

“Really?” Caltaya asks. “I may have loaded the gun, but it was your choice to pull the trigger.”

“I used a sword,” I say, pretending to be confused.

Caltaya closes her eyes, breathing deeply for a second, before opening them again.

“I have no time for your jokes,” she hisses.

“Well then make the time,” I answer with a shrug. “Cause I got more. Lots more.”

“Who would’ve thought… That all someone needed to do was put you through the trials of Tartarus, and just like that… The great Mutt Shax is dead. Changed. Broken. I must say, It is not something I thought I’d ever see,” Caltaya says.

“BUT YOU DID THIS TO ME!” I shout. “YOU DID! BECAUSE YOU CAN’T LET ANYTHING GO! BECAUSE YOU HAVE SUCH A PROBLEM WITH SOMEONE THAT DOESN’T EVEN EXIST ANYMORE!”

“She does exist!’ Caltaya says, raising her voice slightly, but nowhere near as loud as I was.

“THAT IS NOT THE SAME PERSON!” I scream at her.

“Yes, it is Mutt. You’re just too blinded by love to believe it. I assure you though,” Caltaya says. “Love will not save either of you now.”

Alex’s words echo throughout my head, the complete opposite of what she had just said.

“No,” I say. “I already told you. Love is all I have to keep me alive.”

“Foolish words,” Caltaya scoffs.

“You once believed them,” I point out. “Long before I said them.”

“I was a fool, like you are now,” she says. “And I have long since learned that there is no such thing as love.”

I stare at her, suddenly feeling so sad, “So that’s what’s wrong with you.”

She gives me a funny look, but she doesn’t say anything, instead her eyes search mine.

“How can you do it?” I ask her. “How can you just forget in love? Don’t you remember anything about what it was like to love? Anything at all? How can you just go through life not believing in love? In the end love is all there is!”

“I gave up on that a long time ago,” she whispers. “And nothing you say will bring that feeling back.”

“Maybe you should try to remember that time, because until you do you’ll always be bitter and just… mean,” I say.

“That may be,” Caltaya says. “But you have only your fiance to blame.”

“Nope,” I say shaking my head. “The only one to blame is yourself.”

“We can stop this arguing and just agree that love is to blame?” Caltaya asks.

I throw my hands up in the air, pretending to be completely done with this, “Of course not! Haven’t you been listening to anything I’ve been saying?!”

“Of course I have!” Caltaya says defensively. “I’ve been listening to the important stuff!”

“Everything I say is important though!” I snap.

“NO!” Caltaya says. “It’s really not.”

“How would you know?” I ask. “It’s not like you know the difference between important and trash anyway.”

“Ooh! So that’s how you wanna play it?!” Caltaya exclaims.

“What way is that?” I ask. “I can’t really tell what you mean through the acres of poop that surround you.”

“Do you know that curse words exist?” Caltaya says.

“Of course I do! But you can’t use those! They’re naughty words!!” I exclaim.

“Are you for real here?” she demands.

“Oh. That’s a good point. I dunno,” I say. Then I make a big show of pinching myself. “Nope. I’m here. Are you??”

“Yes I’m here!” Caltaya snaps.

“Well then why would you ask such a stupid question?” I ask her, rolling my eyes.

“Matthew! We are enemies now! You can’t act as if we are still friends like when we first met! It doesn’t work that way!” Caltaya says.

“We were always enemies,” I say, shaking my head at her. “The difference is that you knew it before I did.”

“You always knew it,” Caltaya replies. “Deep down you had the knowledge. You could’ve figured it out sooner, if you wanted to. But the thing is, you didn’t want to. You have been blinded by people. Things. Blinded so that you don’t make acceptable decisions.”

“I think I make decisions fairly well, thank you very much,” I say, acting slightly offended.

“You trust too easily. People will take advantage of that trust,” she says.

“You mean like you did,” I say.

She inhales, as if just realizing the trap that she had just walked into. I don’t say anything, letting her sort through it on her own. After a second she gives one nod. Then she goes still

I yawn, blinking lightly, “Well, as much as I would love to have an epic showdown with you that results in someone’s death. I’m tired, so I’m gonna go take a nap and eat something. But come find me tomorrow, sometime around lunch. I might be feeling up to it then.”

“Are you kidding me right now?” Caltaya demands “You really expect me to just wait around until you’ve gotten your beauty sleep before attacking?”

“Yep,” I say. “Thanks for being so understanding. Really. It means a lot. Besides, you really should get some beauty sleep of your own. Gods know you need it.”

“Did you seriously just say that?” Caltaya demands.

“Of course I did!” I say. “I don’t ever tell a lie! Night night!”

With that I skip away and head straight to the Hospital House. Dropping into a chair next to Moon’s bed and falling asleep.

۝

It didn’t matter how long I had been asleep. Because when my eyes opened, Moon’s remained closed. Suddenly a feeling that I had never felt before rises up within me. A feeling that brought a deep burning fire that ignited every bone in my body and made my blood spark.

Hatred consumed me. Tearing through my body like a disease. Making it impossible to think straight. All I could see is Moon’s face as she collapsed. And Caltaya’s smug grin when the betrayal set in.

In that very moment I made a decision that I never thought I would. I was going to kill Caltaya. I was going to make her pay. Even if it destroyed me.

“I’m sorry Moon,” I whisper. “But this is the only way. If I don't do this then you’ll never be free. And I can’t live with that. So even if I die, you shall live. As it is supposed to be.”

I don’t wait around for a response knowing that I wouldn’t get one. Not with the way that she was right now. Maybe not ever. I shake my head, refusing to think like that. All Moon had to do was wake up, and then everything would be fine.

But the only way for her to be fine was if I ended this. Once and for all. Which meant that Caltaya is going to die. I just hoped that she was the only one. But I would do anything to save Moon. Even if it meant killing the world.

۝

“Hello Mutt,” Caltaya says.

I don’t reply, I just stand there.

“Normally, I would wonder how you found me. But I guess it’s obvious,” Caltaya says. “It’s hard not to come back to the home of the Trials.  The place where you’re destroyed. Actually, I’ve been told it’s impossible to stay away.”

“You’d know that better than anyone,” I say.

“What?” she asks.

“It’s the truth right? This is the place where you were destroyed. You built the place where the Trials are held on top of the ruins of the ball room where he was killed,” I say. “He died here.”

“Yeah,” she says, glancing down. “He did.

“You hate to be called Cal, not because he called you that. But because she used to, am I right?” I ask.

“Yes,” she repeats. “How?”

“I did my research,” I say with a shrug. “So, tell me. Was it after his death that you and your sister switched places? When your heart went cold and her’s thawed?”

“HER HEART SHALL NEVER THAW!” Caltaya grows. “IT IS NOT POSSIBLE! AND MY HEART IS NOT COVERED IN ICE!”

“Maybe no literally,” I say, rolling my eyes. “But it’s true.”

“You know nothing!” she yells.

“I know more than you think I do,” I reply, trying to remain calm. “I know that you wanted to be there for your sister. But she didn’t let you.”

“I spent two years trying to get into that damn castle of hers! Two years! She never let me in,” Caltaya says. “So I broke in. And I nearly killed myself because I wanted to make sure she was okay!”

“She would’ve been better if you had left her alone,” I say.

“No,” Cal replies. “She would’ve been better if she had met you fifty years ago.

“Well, I’m so glad that you noticed,” I say, pretending to toss my hair over my shoulder.

But my hair was long enough so it looked like I was just being a drama queen. Though Zeus had no use for the title, so might as well take it.

“I am just that overly awesome,” I continue. “However, flattery will not save your life.”

“You are not going to kill me,” Caltaya says, rolling her eyes. “You don’t have it in you.”

I sigh dramatically and groan, throwing my arms, “Why does everyone keep saying that?”

“It’s the truth,” she says.

“No!” I shout. “It was the truth! It’s not no more, because of you! YOU MADE ME INTO THIS! YOU DID! SO DON’T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE THE FACT THAT I MIGHT KILL YOU, BECAUSE I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL!”

“You won’t kill me,” Cal rephrases. “You couldn’t last time. So there’s not actual way that you can this time.”

“Last time I did kill you, you just didn’t bother staying dead,” I snap.

“You can’t expect a girl to be willing to rot,” Caltaya replies.

“I was kinda hoping that you would do that regardless,” I say. “You know, just outta respect for me.”

“I only respect the dead,” Caltaya replies.

“Well pooh,” I say, fake pouting. “You sure? Cause I was kinda hoping that you would just lay down and die like you’re supposed to.”

“Why do you do this to me?” Cal demands.

“Well Cal, it’s just cause I think so highly of your ability to die,” I say.

“Oh Lord above save me from this earthling,” Caltaya prays.

“No one is listening,” I say. “No one every listens. They just worry about themselves and kill us off by needing us to do a bunch of things that they could easily do. But they never listen when we need their help.”

“Like many people, I believe that it doesn’t matter if they’re actually listening, just if they think that they are,” Caltaya says.

“I came here to fight you, not discuss your beliefs,” I snap.

Caltaya rolls her eyes at me, “If you wanted to fight why didn’t you just ask?”

“Because you wouldn’t be quiet long enough for me to get a word in!” I say. “Now can we please get on with this? You’re talking is boring me to death!”

“If that's all I have to do to get you to die then I think I’m pretty good,” Cal says. “Though it’s not nearly as fun as gutting you and then sending your internal organs back to that childish town. But I ask once more, what makes you think that you can kill me this time?”

“This time you hurt Moon. This time you’ll die,” I say simply.

“You can’t kill me Mutt. I’m immortal for as long as she lives. Nothing you do can change that. My hate for her keeps me alive. The only way to hurt me, is to kill her. Until that time I cannot die, and I can't be hurt.”

“If you think that you can trick me into killing her, then you're wrong,” I say. Standing taller. “I will not kill her.”

Caltaya bares her teeth at me, in such an animalistic move that I couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. One that I regretted when she leaped at me.

“THEN YOU SHALL DIE THE SAME WAY SHE KILLED HIM!” She roars.

“Maybe not the same way, I kinda want my death to be unique, you know?” I ask her.

“You have no way to defeat me!” She shouts.

I don’t reply, because in truth, she was probably right. I was being reckless, and insane, and all the things that Quinn told me not to be during a fight. Quinn. I wince slightly at the thought of my sister. I had been so devastated and struck by grief that I hadn’t even told her goodbye. I hadn’t even told her that I was back. That I was okay.

Quinn had looked out for me my entire life. And I didn’t even bother telling her that I was okay. Despite the fact that I might die soon. I hadn’t even thought about her. Or Lenzie. Or James. None of them. I didn’t care. All that had been on my mind was Moon.

Now you have a reason to fight and win. Win Mutt. You must win.

The voice that whispered in my head was familiar. And held diminishing power. It took me three seconds to figure out that it was Athena.

Yes, Mutt. It is me. I can’t stay long. But you must win this Mutt. I cannot explain. It’s just a feeling. I believe in you, and your family does to. You must win. If you don’t, I fear the world will be covered in ice and unable to thaw. Manoa is powerful, but love breaks all.

Then there was nothing. And all I could do was blink. Stupid, I know. But at the this very time, it’s not like I could sit down and think about it. I wave my hand, and the water in the air forms a sword.

Caltaya laughs, “You shouldn’t bother with a weapon. I will kill you before you can use it.”

She doesn’t move, and neither do I. Both of us waiting for the other to make the first move. Finally I grow impatient and leap at her, dropping to the ground and sliding when she goes to hit up. I drag my sword across her leg. She gives an inhuman scream and turns on me. She punches me straight in the stomach, with force that sent me flying a few feet in the air. Before I dropped to the ground and skidded to a sloppy halt.

I leap up, anger coursing through me and fueling the fire that was still inside me. All I could do was run at her, slamming my sword down. She reaches out and grabs it, ignoring the blade that was slicing through her skin. She twists the sword and it falls from my grasp.

I jump away, creating another sword easily. Caltaya raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn’t say anything. Instead she swings her sword in an arc straight for my head. I jerk my arm up to block the sword, falling back a bit due to the strength that she had put into it.

“WHY AREN’T YOU DEAD YET?” She snarls at me. “I have killed thousands of people and they have all died by now.”

“Guess I had a great teacher,” I snap back.

But whether I was referring to anyone in town or Cal, I didn’t know at that moment. All I knew was that I had to win this. For Moon.

Caltaya twirls to the side, jabbing at my arm with her sword. Blood follows the blade. I stare at my arm for a second confused at what was going on. My blood wasn’t red. It was grey.

“You didn’t know?” Caltaya laughs. “Side effect of being in the trials.”
I don’t answer her, instead I swipe my sword to the left, she moves to the right. Spinning I kick at her, but she just jerks back laughing. I slam my sword down to the right, and kick at her when she moves to the left to avoid it. She falls, collapsing to her knees. In seconds she was back up.

I jerk my sword upwards, trying to stab her through her stomach. But she ducks and hits my sword away. Before punching me in the stomach. I groan, and fall to the ground. Blinking away stars.

I jump back up, turning as I did so, bringing my sword down onto her. But she just grabs my wrist and throws my sword arm away, before grabbing onto my other wrist and turning it behind my back.

I yelp slightly at the sudden pain, it turns into a anguished cry when she kicks me in the knee cap and I fall to the ground.

“You can’t beat me,” She says. “Stop trying. You’re hurting yourself. You can join me.”

I stay kneeling on the ground, before deciding to spin around, still not standing, my pant leg tearing at the knee due to the action. I slice my sword upwards, before bringing it back down in an arc.

Caltaya’s hand goes to her stomach, and I knew that I had drawn blood. She screams, apparently not used to being hit and then attacks with a new fury. Her sword slams into mine, over and over again. It was becoming harder to block her strikes. She was becoming stronger and more ruthless. As if she had decided that it finally wasn’t a game.

She fakes an attack on my left, and I fail to figure it out and switch to my right. Her sword drawing a clear line of blood on my arm. I ignore the slight sting of pain and spin around, standing as I do so. This time I lead the deadly dance. Smashing the hilt of my sword into her head, and then turning so that I was jabbing it into her side.

She kicks me in the leg, the same one she hurt last time, and I drop once more. I turn and hit her legs with the sword, but she just kicks me down again. I lay there for one second before I turn around and attack her again. Standing up this time.

I spin my sword around in my hand, moving it in an arc and bringing it down on her with a force that made her kneel down to be able to counter it. I bring my sword down, and she grabs my forearm.

Using my arm to hoist herself up she brings her sword down my other arm. So that they were both running red with blood.

“Gah,” I groan lightly, grabbing my arm.

Caltaya walks away, just a foot and a half, before turning back to me. I run at her, my sword up high, I bring it down fast, but at the last second I move it just slightly to the left. Caltaya sees the move coming a little bit too late and when she looked back up from jerking to the side, she had a cut on her cheek.

She bares her teeth at me once more and throws everything she has into the next attack. All I could hear was the clanging as our swords met. And then there was the cool feeling of metal against my neck. I freeze.

“I told you, you can’t win against me,” Caltaya says.

I swing my sword up, hitting hers against the side, knocking it out of her hand and out of the way. Except when I move in for the kill shot she reaches up and grabs the blade.

I stare at the spot where her hand connected to my blade. Knowing once and for all that this was it. I was done for. She spins and then sinks the sword into my stomach. Slicing through internal organs. I drop to my knees.

I look up at her, eyes wide with surprise as blood slowly dripped from my mouth. As we looked at each other the clouds darkened, and snow began to fall in heavy waves.

The blood that was falling from my mouth painting it red. I look at the ground, eyes still wide as I try to fight through the shock. Sort through what was happening.

Caltaya speaks in a language that I didn’t recognize.

“Protect and shelter him as he journeys into the Dead World,” Caltaya repeats in English. “Save him from his sins and bring forth the good inside of him so that it can blossom throughout death. Protect him from the fire and shelter him in your light.”

I barely heard her. All I could think about was that I failed. I failed Moon. Flashes upon flashes of memories invaded my brain as I thought of all the people I was going to leave behind.

“It’s okay, Mutt,” a voice says.

Alex appears out of nowhere, kneeling down beside me.

“It’s okay,” she repeats. “Come on, it’s time for you to come with me. Time for you to move on.”

I stare at her, not quite comprehending anything. Other than, I was truly gonna die.

۝

Caltaya

The sun hit Mutt’s face at an angle, lighting up half of it. It made him look almost angelic. Like the angels were mourning his death. Mutt was staring at something, or someone that I could not see.

But I knew that it was death. The snow falls faster, as my sister mourned the loss of her love. A feeling I knew too well. The blood dripping from Mutt’s mouth seeming almost vibrant in contrast to the white. He looked like he was remembering something. Thinking hard. But I had no idea what.

“Goodbye, Mutt,” I whisper, before kicking him off the side of the cliff. Straight into the edge of his town. Where he might be found. Or he might not be.