P. Hoover - Solstice

There are about fifteen sand sculptures scattered around the beach. The first I see is a giant head resting on its side with a crown of leaves around it. Its eyes are closed like it’s sleeping, and hanging above it is a giant hand pressing it downward. My face heats up when I see the next sculpture. A man and a woman are in a moment of complete ecstasy. The woman sits on top of the man with her mouth wide open, and birds flying out of it. I glance sideways at Shayne who looks over and reaches for my hand. I let him take it, and he gives it a squeeze. I squeeze it back and finally look away from the figures. Charlotte leads us through all the sculptures, and we stop at each one until we finally reach the smallest. My heart almost stops when I see it. It’s a perfect replica of the box Melina had given me on my birthday. The lid is wide open, and there’s a phoenix flying out. The sun sits just above the head of the phoenix such that the rays of light and the feathers of the bird become one.

“Do you like it, Piper?” Charlotte asks.

I nod. I can’t pull my eyes from it.

“I made it just for you,” she says.

“For me?” How could she have known I would be here?

Shayne smiles at Charlotte. “It’s definitely the best.”

And as if everyone in the contest can hear him, they all start cheering. I take this to mean Charlotte’s won the contest, and I’m not about to disagree. All the sculptures are amazing, but hers rises right to the top.

Charlotte grabs our hands again. “There’s the most wonderful view up from the hills. You have to come see it.”

“Of course,” Shayne says, and the excitement in his voice seems almost childlike. Like given his choice, he’d spend all his days on hills in the Elysian Fields rather than ruling over the Underworld. His eyes light up, and sunshine bounces inside them, mixing with the red flecks, making them glow. They seem to pour out love. But not just love for me. Love for the people around him. Joy from the Elysian Fields.

It’s everywhere, and I can’t help but let it touch me, too. From the beach to the trees to the clouds in the sky. And when we reach the top of the hill Charlotte’s taken us to, I look up and let out a gasp. The Underworld is a rainbow of unadulterated color.

Trees and bushes grow on rolling hills, and flowers of every size and color fill the spaces in between. Meadows of them—purples and yellows and even my favorite reds. Set underneath the tree tops are tree houses and hobbit holes and stone cottages. It’s a world of nature and beauty, and it reminds me of what I imagine our own Earth looked like before it got paved over.

Charlotte heads back to the beach, but Shayne and I stay, watching the clouds while lying on a blanket of daffodils.

“Do you like paradise?” he asks.

I laugh at the incredulity of the question. “It’s paradise.”

“Chloe would be happy here.”

“What if I say no?” There’s not really a what if about it.

“Then Chloe will live.”

It’s the answer I want. “And then when she dies much later on, she’ll come here?” I think of Chloe and me here together enjoying paradise. Forever.

Shayne’s words shake me from my thoughts. “She’ll have to be judged again, Piper. She’ll live her life tempting Fate, and when her time comes again, I’ll have to make that decision.”

“But of course she’d come here.” I can’t see that it’s really a question.

“Near death can change people,” Shayne says. “Not even I know what will happen if you choose to let Chloe live.”

I fall into a half sleep there on the grass, thinking about Chloe and death, but I’m woken by the sound of voices. I pretend to still be asleep, but I crack open one eye so I can see. Rhadam’s come back, and he and Shayne are sitting across from each other, talking.

“I’m not trying to tell you your business,” Rhadam says. “But you have a serious problem.”

“Like what?” Shayne asks, and suddenly I’m wide awake, though I try not to move.

Rhadam’s eyes flicker over to me then back at Shayne. Out of my peripheral vision, I see Shayne nod. He doesn’t know I’m listening.

“I talked to Minos yesterday,” Rhadam says. “I borrowed help from him to move the house. And he mentioned he had a visitor.” His words are staid, and I know it’s because I’m just a couple feet away that he doesn’t want to speak freely.

Shayne’s whole body stiffens. “What kind of visitor?”

Rhadam leans in close. “Okay, he started drinking, and you know how Minos is when he drinks.”

“Everyone in the Underworld knows how Minos is when he’s drunk,” Shayne says.

“Right. So, he started bragging. Saying he knew how to return memories and get souls back across the river.”

“He’s lying,” Shayne says.

Rhadam puts up his hand to silence Shayne.

“Maybe. But then he told me he’d been talking to Ares. That Ares found a way to get through the boundaries of the Underworld. He said Ares knew everything.”

Shayne’s fingers dig into the ground. “That’s impossible.”

“Impossible, but it happened,” Rhadam says. “And you need to watch out.”

Ares is the god of war; I know this from mythology. His name causes my skin to prickle while at the same time making butterflies form in the pit of my stomach.

Shayne stands up. “Tell me how the god of war has managed to enter my domain.” His eyes bore into Rhadam who matches his gaze. “Tell me that.”

Rhadam is silent for a moment while I watch. People getting into the Underworld without Shayne’s knowledge can’t be a good thing.

Finally, Rhadam sighs. “He must have help. Some shortcut in.”

I decide it’s time to enter the conversation. “There are shortcuts into the Underworld?”

Shayne keeps his eyes on Rhadam and doesn’t even blink at the fact that I’m awake. I wonder if he’s known all along. “There are no shortcuts into the Underworld,” he says. “Everyone has to go by Charon.”

Rhadam shakes his head. “Except Ares.”

“How?” I ask.

“Ares is working with someone on the inside; he has to be,” Rhadam says.

Shayne runs a hand through his hair. “I still say it’s not possible. The boundaries should be secure.”

“So this is a real problem?” I ask.

Shayne looks at me then and tries to give me a reassuring smile, but I see how white his face has gotten. “It’s nothing. Just normal stuff going on here in the Underworld.”

He’s lying. The Underworld has issues just like the world above. Maybe the worlds aren’t so different after all. And he really wants me to send Chloe here? “But other gods are getting in.”

“Yes,” Rhadam says at the same time Shayne shakes his head.

“So why now?” I ask.

Shayne’s eyes meet mine. “Good question. Why now?”

I glance at Rhadam whose eyes are fixed on me, waiting. Why would others be coming to the Underworld? I figure the Underworld can’t be much different from any world. “They want control?” I say.

Rhadam nods. “My thoughts exactly. They want control. Ares wants to claim the Underworld for his own.”

“The day Ares takes over the Underworld, I’ll tear his entrails out inch by inch and knit them into a chew toy for Cerberus,” Shayne says.

Rhadam opens his mouth, but hesitates.

“What?” Shayne says.

“You should go to the assembly,” Rhadam says. “Get a warrant out for Ares.”

“I’m not taking my problems to the assembly of gods,” Shayne says. “We’ve been over this.”

“Why not?” I ask.

Shayne turns to me. “Because it’s the ultimate show of weakness. There’s no better way to lose control than to admit you need help.”