Fates' Folly (30 page)

He took a deep breath and smiled proudly.
"The experiment was considered a success, in that four out of the
five test subjects' souls, after suffering a normal unaided death,
were ferried across the Styx, with a pleased Hades waiting to greet
them.”

"That's horrible."

"Why? I did not kill them, their souls now
rest in the Asphodel Fields, and we received four more souls than
we otherwise would not have had."

"You took away their choice."

"Yet, they are happy and have no memory of
anything different, so again, why was it horrible?"

"What happened to the fifth soul?"

"I'm not sure. Mr. Kirby was atheist, so I
theorized that, because he had no belief to replace, he was unable
to accept the belief of mythology that I had suggested. I can only
assume that because he did not believe in a hereafter, for him,
there wasn't one."

"At least he was left with his choice."

Sebastian shook his head. "I do not see why
you sound as if you are disgusted."

"Because it's wrong! Hell, it's the one basic
rule that everyone has to obey because it's so wrong!"

He threw his hands in the air. "There are no
rules in a war. I have never understood the idea of fair play and
acts of humanity in battle. War is inhumane in itself, to try and
make it fair and pretty is ludicrous."

"Your test subjects weren't soldiers, they
were innocents and you violated their beliefs as if they had no
meaning. Your actions decided the resting place for their souls,
and though they may have no memory of their previous beliefs, you
can't tell me you have not caused some kind of damage to them."

"You are getting tedious, Myra. No, my test
subjects were not soldiers. We are the soldiers, and the battle is
for our existence. Souls are the prize. If you are naive enough to
think that we are the only ones willing to do what is necessary to
keep our realm in existence, you will not be with us for long."

"Fine. But if you're so gung ho about Hades'
plan, why were you planning to challenge him? Why did you become
Rogue?"

"Was, planning to challenge him. I gambled on
having your soul and lost. Now I am too weak to search for another,
and I don't have any more serum. I had planned to steal the serum
Hades had delivered to the Ambros plant, that was how I would have
had enough souls, enough power to take on the gods, but it's too
late. Now, all that is left is for me to die."

I looked toward the boarded up door again. I
was not going to hang around waiting for him to die.

Sebastian cleared his throat, bringing my
eyes back to his smiling face. "I am still strong enough to break
your bones. I can fracture every one in less than twenty minutes,
including the tiny ones in your fingers, it was a specialty of mine
a long time ago. It would be a fitting end for my reputation to
leave you broken. And though you would heal, it is excruciatingly
painful. Or, you could listen to my story, a much more fitting end
to my reputation, and a lasting blow to Hades."

I sighed. "Why did you go rogue?"

Sebastian's smile faded.

"Joshua Collins," he said, bitterness and
hate dripping from every syllable.

“Joshua Collins was the ideal pupil, bright
and eager to learn, with a wonderful mind. He understood the
intricacies of the Roman Empire and could have easily given
Bartholomew a challenge in strategizing. I loved being his mentor
and teacher. You may assume from our recent encounters that I enjoy
causing terror, but it just isn't true. I am actually a very gentle
person, an academic at heart and soul."

I rolled my eyes. "Yes, you are all that is
generous and kind, using your academic heart and soul to trick
children into believing in Greek mythology. I can see how I've
misjudged you."

"It is my duty to encourage Greek theology,"
he snapped. "Even so, I did not trick anyone I taught."

I didn't say anything. First of all, because
he was correct. He did teach. Hell the first thing I had thought
when walking into his classroom was how much I would have loved his
class- he was probably a damn good teacher. Secondly, though I was
no longer trembling in fear, it was hard to forget that he had,
just minutes ago, threatened to break all my bones. Sometimes I
actually do manage to keep my mouth shut.

I guess Sebastian took my silence as
acquiescence because he gave me a regal head nod and continued.

"As I was saying, Joshua was one of my best
students, a young man with unlimited promise and the strength of
character that is not often seen in this day. I saw him as
invincible, though I of all people, having known lifetimes of
sorrow and tragedy, should have known it wasn't so.

"I think if I had been quicker to notice how
despondent he had become, I may have been able to prevent his
death. As it was, I was preoccupied with the experiments Hades had
assigned me, and Amelia had just come into my life." He smiled
wistfully. "I was in love and feeling proud that Hades had chosen
me for such a task.

"By the time I noticed Joshua's change in
behavior, it was April, and he had become so lost, such a pale
shade of his former self…I tried to speak with him about it, but he
refused, said he was fine, and finally, after my third attempt, he
told me to mind my own business."

"Did you speak with his parents?"

"Yes. After several phone calls and heart
felt pleas by me, including my assurance of only having Joshua's
best interest in mind, I was made aware of the problem. Joshua was
homosexual and had just recently revealed his sexual preference to
his parents. Apparently, it was something he had been struggling
with for some time. His mother said she and Joshua's father were
not surprised and had both given Joshua their full support. She
said that Joshua had been so elated that over the winter break he
chose to come out to his friends, as well. Their reaction was not
as supportive as his parents' had been. I think if his friends had
responded immediately it may have not been as devastating, but they
chose instead to wait, and in a very public display, shunned and
ridiculed him."

"What did they do?"

"They cornered him after the district
wrestling finals."

"And?"

"They beat him. He was fortunate- it wasn't
as bad as it could have been. No broken bones or internal injuries,
mainly two black eyes, a minor concussion and bruises."

"Jeeze."

"He had never encountered even indifference
in his young life, so his idealistic mind assumed, after receiving
his parents' easy show of support, that his friends would do the
same. He was shocked at their cruelty, and he felt humiliated and
alone. If he had not told anyone, he could have kept his secret for
five more months, left for college and no one would have known. He
lost all self-confidence."

Sebastian looked as lost and helpless as
Joshua must have felt. All the animation of his previous craziness
had left, leaving his eyes blank, his lips thinned and his
complexion gray, but he continued, his voice growing thick with
despair. "With his parents' permission, I tried to show my support
for Joshua by sharing my experience with having male lovers. I
tried to impress upon him the importance of being true to
yourself."

"Did sharing your experience help?"

"I'd like to think so. He was responsive
enough to join a support group for homosexual teens."

"I don't understand. It sounds like he was
working on it, gaining back some of his self-worth. He had what,
two weeks left of the school year?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Friday was senior
skip day, I had only morning classes, so it was a short day. Amelia
brought me lunch-"

"Amelia? That's right your girlfriend, but I
thought you just said you were gay?"

Sebastian ran his hands through his greasy
hair. "I am from a time when we did not have to be one or the
other. We did not use labels to announce our sexual preference.
Neither, did we hold such strict opinions." His voice started
getting higher, more defensive. "I have lived many life times and
have had many lovers, male and female. Naturally, I could not
explain this to Joshua, nor to Amelia, later, when she asked. I
have made vows against sharing secrets of my immortality. I could
not explain."

"So what happened? I assume Joshua caught you
and Amelia getting hot and heavy and thought you lied to him."

"Yes. Exactly. He ran out of my office before
I could explain. I would have followed him, had intended to follow
him, but Amelia was hysterical. She misunderstood Joshua's
reaction, thinking I had been having a sexual relationship with
him. I was able to calm her down, enough that I could explain. We
had just finished a lengthy talk, and I remember feeling that our
relationship would be whole once more when Joshua showed up
again."

Sebastian wiped a tear from his cheek.

I felt like I should probably offer some type
of comfort, but no amount of tears or any sob story was going to
make me forget how much of a psychotic bastard Sebastian was, so I
sat there and let Sebastian sob in peace.

After several minutes of noisy bawling,
Sebastian made one last shuddering gasp and wiped his nose and face
on his sleeve. "Joshua had gone home, unlocked his father's gun
cabinet, taking one of the handguns. He drove back to the school,
walked into my office, and before I could do anything, stuck the
gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger."

I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears
away.

"That lovely, brilliant boy was reduced to a
shell and brain matter all over my office wall. I prayed to the
gods," he sobbed and pounded his fist into the mattress. "I pleaded
with them. I took Joshua's soul into safekeeping and begged Hades
to help me, to put the boy back together, to give him immortality,
to give him another chance. But no one answered. Hades ignored my
pleas, and Amelia was trying to leave me, she had become hysterical
again, she was trying to leave me. I needed her, and she was trying
to leave!"

He was looking at me, his eyes pleading, as
if asking me for absolution which, even if I had the power to give,
I would not, because whatever he did to Amelia- and I could tell
from the look on his face it was horrific- was not all right.

He drew his legs up to his chest, laying his
arms across his knees, his head hanging limply in between.

"Everything had gone wrong again. It always
goes wrong. But I knew Amelia was meant to be with me. I just
needed her to be quiet for a moment." He lifted his head, at the
same time letting his legs relax to the floor, and held out his
hands. "I…I…just wanted her to be quiet, just for a moment, but she
fought me, and I didn't realize what I had done until it was too
late. I would have taken care of her, I loved her."

His high pitched whine turned into a snarl,
"Hades chose to finally appear, and he took her from me. He took
Joshua's body, confounded Lloyd Bartow's minuscule mind when he
showed up to investigate and left with Joshua and my Amelia,
ordering me to clean up my mess and report to him when I was
finished."

"So you became rogue when you didn't report
to Hades?"

"He wouldn't fix Joshua. He fixed Amelia,
erased me from her mind, created memories for the Collins, but
refused to fix Joshua."

"Did he say why?"

"He said he couldn't because Joshua was
Christian and had taken his own life. Lies! All lies!" He punched
the mattress for emphasis. "Amelia was Christian. Amelia's neck was
crushed, but he fixed every bone," he sucked in a shaky breath,
"…and left her mind empty of me." He sobbed, using his shirt again
to blow his nose. "After all I had done for him. He said I was his
trusted Assassin, his best Assassin. He didn't tell anyone else
about the experiment, not even Caisus. I understood about Amelia, I
was bad, and she deserved better. But Joshua, Joshua is innocent,
and he has so much to offer, so much potential! Hades refused."

I let out a lung full of air trying to shake
the suffocating feeling Sebastian's rambling confession had given
me. And then, with clarity I normally would never possess, the
truth screamed through my mind.

"What happened to Joshua's soul?"

Sebastian folded his arms across his chest.
“Why do you wish to know?"

"You know damn well why I want to know, what
did you do with the boy's soul?"

"Nothing." He touched his chest. "I have it
within me, but I've done nothing to it."

"What do you mean you have it within you?
Like you had my soul gloriously in your grasp?" I screamed,
realizing but not caring that I was yelling.

"No, I would never! You have to believe me,
I…I…couldn't assimilate his soul, even if I wanted to. Joshua is of
Christian faith, remember? I can only hold him, keep him safe."

I tried to feel relief, but I couldn't quite
shake the sickening feeling that came from imagining the fate of
Joshua's soul. "So you took Joshua's soul and continued to refuse
Hades' summons. Since Hades wouldn't help you and you were going
rogue anyway, why not take over the universe... which started with
looking up your old student from Dempsey Community college, Doug
Pittard."

He shrugged. "Basically, though the plan
sounded much more intellectual in my head."

"Plans to take over the world always sound
better in our heads, which is where asinine ideas should stay."

I found myself up and pacing while
Sebastian continued to cry and sniffle into the hem of his shirt. I
was irritated that I was stuck in this dim boarded up room and had
absolutely no access to a cake roll when I so desperately needed
one, but for the most part, I was just downright pissed off that I
had this nagging feeling of pity welling up inside me.