Volcanoes (2 page)

Okay, I could focus on this but I needed someone to check on my kid.  The last I
’
d seen of him, Scooter had taken him to safety. I couldn
’
t do that right now but I
could
send Drew after him. Despite our differences, Adonis
was
his father and I could trust
him to see to Dylan
’
s well-being.

"Drew could you go check on Dylan? I told Scooter to take him somewhere safe, but I can
’
t do this without knowing that someone is taking care of him
–
that he's okay."

"Send Hephaestus. I need to be here in case you need
protection."

My head fell to the side as I looked upon him with disbelief. "Did you just insinuate that our son
’
s life was less important to you than standing around here on the beach waiting for me? Because I know you didn
’
t just do that."

"Grace, you mis
took my meaning. I
’
m our best fighter and your life just became extremely important. I am only concerned that you
’
ll be left unprotected."

That caused a widening of my eyes
–
not only that, but Heph and Poseidon joined my little
‘
what the fuck
’
club.  "Soo
o you
’
re saying that Heph and Poseidon aren
’
t strong enough to defend me, should the need arise? Two of the strongest warriors of our race? Two of the oldest members of the original expedition?"  My voice raised in pitch with each question. 

Was I trying
to shame him? It was a possibility. Okay, yeah - it was strong probability.  Who the hell did he think he was?  It made me stop for a moment and question again whether or not Lyssa had gotten her fingers into his head without anyone noticing.  Had Zeus ch
e
cked him before we'd left?

He looked away with a small flush. My tactic had worked. But I didn
’
t want him looking for the kid while he was pissed off.  "Hey," I said, trying to soften the blow.  "You know I feel safer when you
’
re around. I just really need
to know that Dylan is safe, or I won
’
t be able to concentrate.  You
’
re the only person I trust to do that right now."

He nodded brusquely and disappeared without a further word.

"Grace, you sure do know how to emasculate a man." 

Heph
’
s words weren't me
ant to be a blow, but you wouldn
’
t have known it with the way my body flinched.  I hadn
’
t meant to emasculate Drew.  Okay
–
maybe I had.  The back and forth discussions in my head weren't making me feel especially vindicated because yeah - I wasn
’
t necess
a
rily feeling generous toward him lately and if I were to be honest
–
making him squirm was an added bonus to my day.

"Do you need to continue punishing him for something that happened in another lifetime?"

I scowled at Hephaestus and spat, "What if I do?
What do you know about this? Who are you to judge me?"

His fingertips reached for my jaw and he stroked downward. "I see into your heart, baby. I know that you
’
re better than this. Forgive him and let it go."

It wasn
’
t something I wanted to think about. I
t wasn
’
t something that I wanted to do
–
forgive and forget. It is
much
easier to hold a grudge than it is to let it go.  Sitting in my own stinking pile of crap is much more comfortable than plunging into an icy lake.  Sure the lake would get me nice and
clean but it
’
s cold and that
pile of crap is nice and
warm.

"I want to." And I did. I wanted to let this go because I liked the Grace and Drew that had existed before I
’
d found out that he was Dylan's father.  I
’
d liked that he had become my closest frien
d.  I missed that time. I missed the puppy love I'd developed and I hated the bitterness that welled within my chest every time I thought of my betrayed feelings. "I can
’
t make any promises, but I
’
ll try."

"That
’
s all I
’
m asking for," he said softly.  "Now
let
’
s take care of this rising city problem, shall we?"

Nodding, I turned to Poseidon. "Okay. What do you think about me creating earthen hooks to anchor it to the ocean floor while you push with water?"

He considered my question for a moment before noddi
ng. "That could work. We
’
re going to need a more permanent solution, though."

"Right. I can
’
t think of what that would be right now but I
’
m sure something will come to me while we
’
re at it. So let
’
s get this party started."

He gripped my shoulder and squee
zed with encouragement. "You
’
re all right, kid."

I grinned, blushed, and shrugged.  "You
’
re not so bad yourself," I said before sinking down to the ground and re-establishing my connection to the Earth below the waves.

The floor of the ocean was cold and
unresponsive at first.  It was one thing to create a fifty foot wall on a whim. I didn
’
t have to fight against thousands of tons of water pushing against the dirt. 

My senses explored for miles under the city, looking for weak points that could be exploit
ed by anyone with half a sense of earth crafting.  Granted
I only had half a sense
when it came to this stuff. I just didn
’
t want anyone else mucking up my hard work.

I didn't want to
over think
this. I just wanted to pull it back down to the bottom so I
thrust everything I had into the ground and dropped the core ground beneath the city, creating a vacuum.

"Yes, that's it." Poseidon nodded at me. "I can feel it slowing. We need more though. Can you push walls up around it?"

"I think so," I replied.  I pi
ctured smooth walls sliding up around the city, but it didn't feel substantial enough. I needed something that would keep it down and blocked off
–
something big. 

I'd skipped over a dormant volcano in my earlier exploration. Yeah
–
that would be big.

In typical Grace Fashion, I didn't think this one through; I just blew it
–
the volcano, that is.

I could hear Hephaestus screaming his objection in the background but it was too late. Lava rocketed from the Earth's crust, ballooning up around the city, c
ooling almost as fast as it propelled forward, creating a hardened shell. 

I threw everything I had into this. I coaxed, teased, and silently pleaded with the Earth for this to work, willing the lava to stream upward, faster, and harder.

Without thought,
I threw myself into the stream
–
my psyche surfing a river of fire while my body lay unconscious on the shore. The heat of it filled me like a luscious caress and I never wanted it to stop.

I directed the flow of lava as it propelled toward the rising is
land but resistance came in the form of icy cold water cooling the stream before it could work as an anchor - binding the sunken city to the ocean floor. In my frustration, I poured more power into the task - my very existence broke apart and barreled thr
o
ugh the now boiling water.  Nothing could cool me down and I distantly realized that I'd burst into flame within my living body.  

Somewhere in the back of my mind, human Grace was jumping up and down
–
waving her arms around in a panic that my present th
oughts were choosing to ignore. The focus became a singular pinpoint of desire.

Atlantis needed to stay on the floor. Nyx needed to stay buried.

I wasn't ready for her yet, because I wasn't ready to be the Hero of everyone's expectations. 

I could do
th
is
though. I could wall this city up, keeping it from moving any higher.  Nothing could stop me, not even my own sense of self-preservation.

The sheer output of power was staggering in retrospect, but the idiotic tactic worked. Atlantis' ascent slowed as
chains of mud and lava wrapped around the city. Typically lava rock is a porous material that isn't much stronger than a pumice stone. However, the mixture of saltwater, sand, lava, and eau de Grace created an unbreakable wall that brought Hypnos' efforts
to a complete standstill.

I'm sure Poseidon had something to do with it as well, but I'm taking credit. Who stopped the raising of Atlantis? That's right, this kid did.

When I came to, I was panting and lying like a limp ragdoll, limbs akimbo. "Poseidon,
can you tell?" There was no energy for words, or even for complete thoughts. Drained was a road sign that I'd passed ten miles ago.

He waded into the water and stood still, concentrating intently on the flow of the ocean.  Finally, he nodded. "It won't b
e going anywhere soon.  Girl, I don't know how you got that much power, but you've done it. Atlantis has stopped its ascent. I'm going to head back to Olympus to give a report. I will see you there."

"Oh good," I breathed a sigh of relief stared at the cer
ulean sky, digging my head further into…
glass? I rolled enough to see that the sand beneath me had burned so hot that it'd created a glass outline of my body. I let myself relax with a shocked exhale. Whoa. "Give me a few minutes and we can get the hell
o
ut of here."

The sun was blotted out by a mountain, casting me in shadow. Hephaestus kneeled next to me and took my face in his massive paw, turning my head side to side.

"Do you know what you just did? Do you realize that you have completely wrecked the
balance of nature in this area with your stupid stunt?"

I opened my mouth to reply but his fingers gripped my jaw, preventing words. "No, you don't talk. You listen."

His face held a fury that I'd never seen before.  If there'd been any energy left in me,
my fight or flight instinct would have teleported me the hell out of there.

As it was, I shrank into myself and nodded as much as I could with his grip limiting my movement.

"I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall with all that you listen to me," he gro
und out between clenched teeth. "I cannot recall how many times I've asked you to stop and think about the effects of your power. All I get back are hissy fits, sullen snits or pandering nods. That is going to stop now or you are getting magically neutere
d
.  We're here to protect this planet, Grace
–
not destroy it."

My first instinct was to nod and promise that I would do whatever he wanted as long as he stopped being mad at me. I stopped myself at the last minute because that was what he was talking about
. I either fought him or agreed with him so he wouldn't be mad. I'd never stopped to think about what he was telling me without my ego getting in the way. I was always in defensive mode around Heph.

A large part of me wanted to justify my actions because
of what he'd done to train me. Who threw their apprentice in a forge so hot it could create nuclear fallout that made Chernobyl look like a day at the beach? Nobody, that's who!  My need to deflect created a division between the two of us that was now cau
s
ing real problems.

I didn't want to listen to him because I was too proud
–
and spiteful - and he was tired of me acting like a goddamned brat.  Once that realization hit, the shame came with it
–
which, unfortunately, led to more defensiveness. It was a
brutal emotional cycle that needed to stop now, or he was right
–
I could destroy this planet.

He sensed my surrender and loosened his grip enough so that I could speak. "You're right. I'm sorry. Tell me how I can fix this."

"You can't fix it. Now you hav
e to just leave it be.  Let the fallout settle so you can help pick up the pieces."