Elementals 3: The Head of Medusa (3 page)

CHAPTER FIVE

“Primordial deity?” I repeated what she’d said. “What does that mean?”

By the way Kate’s mouth had dropped open and she was staring at Nyx in complete awe, I had a feeling that Kate knew the answer. But she stayed quiet, allowing Nyx to explain. 

“We—the primordial deities—are the first gods and goddesses to exist in the universe,” Nyx said. “We rule over every universe, every galaxy, and every planet. We
are
the universe itself.”

“So you’re more powerful than the Olympians?” I asked. “And the Titans?”

“Yes.” She laughed, the sound like twinkling stars. “We are the parents of the Titans and the grandparents of the Olympians. We are far more powerful than all of them. They—our descendants—can only live here on Earth, and on any parallels of Earth, like the distorted version called Kerberos that’s being used as their prison. But they cannot create portals between the worlds, and they do not have access to the rest of the universe as we do.”

“Does that mean that you can stop this war?” Blake asked. “You can seal the portal to Kerberos?”

“Perhaps,” she said, her lips curving up into a small smile. “But that’s not why I’m here tonight.”

I frowned, confused at her response. If she had the power to stop this war from happening, why wouldn’t she use it?

“Then why
are
you here?” Danielle asked what was surely on all of our minds.

Nyx nodded at Danielle, as if she’d expected her to ask. “Tonight, I’m here to give you a warning,” she said. “As a primordial deity, I can see what’s happening in all realms, and in all universes. I can also see the possibilities of how every event can play out.”

“You can see the future?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” she said. “The future is never written in stone. But I can see
possibilities
. Everyone—mortals and gods alike—has free will. You choose the path you will take. Some of those choices have a huge impact on the future, and others do not. The five of you will soon have some very important choices to make, but to make those choices, there is information you need that I must give you.”

“Are you going to tell us how to seal the portal to Kerberos?” Kate asked. “Darius and the Head Elders have been researching, but none of them have found any answers. I can tell he’s anxious that we may never learn how to close the portal. And if the Titans escape… I don’t see how we could be powerful enough to defeat them.”

“You will know in time,” Nyx said, slowly and calmly. “But you are not ready for that yet. No, I have something else to tell you. Something of extreme importance.”

If it was so important, she really was taking forever to spit it out. But I supposed that as an immortal, all-knowing deity, time wasn’t something she had to worry about often.

“We’re listening,” I said, since it didn’t feel right to be snarky toward a goddess.

“As you know, the most dangerous Titan of them all is Typhon,” she started, looking around at each of us. “He is powerful and cruel—if there was a ‘god of the monsters,’ Typhon would surely be it. He was the leader of the Second Rebellion, and many of the monsters fought by his side. The war was violent, and full of more blood and death than the world has ever seen. If that comet hadn’t shot through the sky and allowed the Olympians to create the portal to Kerberos, I fear how the war may have ended.” She swished her dress, the stars in it twinkling, and what appeared to be a comet sped across the fabric—as if she’d created it herself.

Had the
primordial deities
sent the comet? Both 3,000 years ago and this past January? If they had, it would mean our powers were a gift from them—not from the Olympians.

Before I had a chance to ask, Nyx continued with her story. “Once the Olympians won the war, Zeus decided that locking Typhon in Kerberos wasn’t enough of a punishment,” she said. “So he split Typhon’s soul and his body with a bolt of lightning. Typhon is a very physical creature, and without his body, his soul is weak. Zeus buried Typhon’s body under Mount Etna in Sicily, and sent his soul into Kerberos. Separating his body from his soul and imprisoning them in different realms was seen as the ultimate punishment. 

“But now, since Typhon’s soul is so weak, he was able to escape Kerberos,” she said. “As we speak, he’s making his way to Mount Etna so he can reunite with his body. But his soul and his body will not be able to become one until the day of the spring equinox—the time when the body and mind are in balance. You
must
meet him there on that day to defeat him once and for all.”

“Why wait?” Blake asked. “Why not find his soul and destroy it
before
it reaches his body?”

“Good idea,” Kate said. “It’ll be easier that way, since his soul is so weak. I don’t know how we would be able to defeat him in his true form…”

“A soul without a body cannot be found or destroyed,” Nyx explained. “It’s as impossible as trying to catch a shadow. Typhon
will
reunite with his body. There is no way to change that. Once he does, it’s up to you to be there and stop him. I know you have your doubts, but there
is
a way for you to do this—I’ve seen it myself. It’s the only way for Typhon to be defeated once and for all.” 

“
How
do we stop him?” I asked. “Because right now, it sounds impossible.”

“You have the tools you need to figure that out on your own,” Nyx said. “I prefer to interfere as
little
as possible. I am only here now because if I did not tell you tonight about Typhon’s soul escaping Kerberos, there would be no chance for you to succeed. By delivering this information, I have laid out a path for you to be victorious. But remember—the way to success is only one path out of many. It’s up to you to make the choices necessary to follow that path to its end. Those choices will not always be easy—there will be many difficult decisions ahead. But the five of you have the strength and the courage to bring peace to the world once more. You would not have been brought together and gifted with your abilities if you didn’t.”

“There’s one big thing here that I don’t get,” Chris said, and Nyx looked at him to continue. “Since you’re so powerful, why don’t you just defeat Typhon and seal the portal to Kerberos yourself? Why do you need
us
to do it for you?”

“Very wise question,” she said, which surprised me, because I’d never thought of Chris as particularly
wise
. “It is the job of the primordial deities to keep the universe in order. We’re not supposed to fight with or against the inhabitants of the universe, whether they are mortals or gods. It is ultimately up to
you
—the inhabitants of this planet—to determine how this war will end.”

“So why come to us now at all?” I asked. “Why not let Typhon rise and the Titans take over the Earth again?”

“Because…” Nyx smiled slightly, as if she were about to share an inside joke. “Just because we’re not supposed to fight with or against the inhabitants of the planet, it doesn’t mean that we don’t have preferences about how we wish present events to play out. I care about
all
of the planets in the universe, especially those that contain life. So I am here now because I believe that those living on Earth deserve a chance to save this planet. The horrors in the realm of Kerberos are enough to drive someone mad after a few days, let alone three thousand years. The Titans have been locked in there for far too long. If that portal does open, and if the Titans are unleashed, then make no mistake—it will be the end of Earth as you know it. And as a deity that has come to care about this planet, I most certainly prefer that not to happen.”

“As would we.” Danielle nodded. “But the spring equinox is in two weeks. How are we supposed to know how to defeat Typhon by then?”

“That is not for me to tell you,” Nyx said, smiling conspiringly. “But as the Goddess of Night, I am also the Goddess of Shadows. Whenever you’re in doubt, remember to look to the Shadows as your guide.”

Before we could ask any more questions, she swished the train of the dress around herself, and disappeared into the night.

CHAPTER SIX

We all agreed about what Nyx meant—she wanted us to ask the Book of Shadows for information about how to defeat Typhon. What she said also made me wonder: Did Nyx have anything to do with the Book? Was she the one who’d created the scavenger hunt for us to find it, and who was providing answers to us through it? And if so, why did she come to us in person just now to warn us about Typhon’s escape?

Unless she visited us again, we might never know the answers. But we all agreed about where we had to go next, so we hurried back into the van and headed to Darius’s house. Once inside, we caught him up on everything that had happened tonight.

“A visit from the original Goddess herself.” He sat back and looked around at us as if he wasn’t sure he believed it. “Are you positive that it was Nyx?”

“Who else could it have been?” Chris asked.

“I’m not sure,” Darius said. “Perhaps a monster in disguise, or an Olympian tricking you. I hear Aphrodite can be quite talented at changing her appearance.”

“It wasn’t a trick,” I said, since while I couldn’t say
why
, I was sure of it, down to my bones. “It was Nyx. And there’s only one way to prove it.” I knelt down in front of the Book of Shadows, placed a hand on the cover, and said, “Tell us how we’re supposed to defeat the monster Typhon once his soul joins with his body.”

My hand tingled, and everyone else hovered around me, waiting.

“Did it work?” Kate asked, looking like she was about to jump out of her seat from the anticipation.

I didn’t answer, instead simply opening the Book and turning to the Table of Contents. A new section had been added—
The Head of Medusa
. 

“Yes,” I said, turning to the page number specified. “I think it did.”

Kate knelt down next to me and pulled the Book closer, ever eager to learn new information.

“The Head of Medusa,” she read the section title out loud. “How come I didn’t think of that? Medusa can turn any living thing to stone with a single glance. And if she’s beheaded, her powers still work.” Her voice rose in volume, and she pulled the Book closer, clearly coming up with a plan. “We won’t even have to fight Typhon. We just need to behead Medusa, bring the head to Mount Etna, and have Typhon look into Medusa’s eyes the moment he comes out of the mountain. He’ll turn to stone in an instant.”

“There’s only one problem,” Danielle pointed out. “To do that, we need to actually
have
Medusa’s head. Which, in case you haven’t realized, we don’t.”

“Does the Book have any instructions about where we can find Medusa?” Blake asked.

“That’s the spirit.” Chris smiled and gave him a high five. “After we slayed the hydra, beheading Medusa should be easy.”

“It doesn’t say where Medusa is.” Kate read over the rest of the chapter, frowning and shaking her head. “But that’s not our biggest problem. It says here that after Perseus slayed Medusa the first time, she was sent to Tartarus. But when the Titans broke out of Tartarus all those thousands of years ago to start the Second Rebellion, many monsters made use of the escape door as well—including Medusa. Most of them supported the Titans in the Rebellion and ended up locked in Kerberos.”

“So Medusa’s in Kerberos?” I figured the question was rhetorical, and continued before Kate could reply. “What’re we supposed to do—go in there and get her?”

“Absolutely not.” Darius sat straighter, his voice firm. “The five of you cannot, under any circumstances, enter Kerberos. The portal isn’t stable, and we can’t risk losing any of you.”

“And Nyx said that a few days in Kerberos is enough to drive a person insane,” Danielle added. “So going into Kerberos is a terrible idea. We won’t be
any
good in a fight if we’ve lost our minds.”

I pictured the brown, muddy portal that led to Kerberos and shivered. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, I agreed with Darius and Danielle. We wouldn’t be able to save the world if we lost our minds from crossing into Kerberos, or worse, if we ended up stuck there forever.

“Would you all please stop getting ahead of yourselves?” Kate asked. We all stopped talking, and I looked at her, surprised at the sudden outburst. “We don’t have to go inside of Kerberos because Medusa is not, and has never been, locked inside of there.”

“But I thought she escaped Tartarus with the Titans?” I asked.

“She did.” Kate nodded and pointed to a line in the Book. “But it says here that once she realized that the Olympians were winning the war, she made a deal with Athena. She promised that she would fight with the Olympians in the Rebellion, and that she would no longer turn any creature into stone, as long as Athena ensured that no one could ever behead her again. And so, Athena made Medusa’s skin as hard as a diamond, impenetrable by anything except for the Golden Sword of Athena itself.”

“The sword that can cut through anything it touches,” Danielle said breathlessly, resting her hand on the hilt of her own sword. “It actually exists?”

“Of course it exists.” Darius scoffed. “But no one’s used it since Hercules, when he cut off the hydra’s immortal head. Afterward, the gods decided that the weapon was too powerful for any mortal to possess. Since it’s impossible to destroy the sword, they sent it to the end of the world itself, where it’s been guarded by the snow goddess Chione and her ice nymphs for the past thousands of years.”

“That only means one thing,” I said, and Blake nodded at me, apparently having already figured out where I was going with this. “We’re going to the end of the world—and we’re getting that sword.”