“You shouldn’t,” Ares answered, his gaze glittering. “You should never truly trust anyone but yourself. That is something I’ve taught you since you were small. I’m the god of war. You are my daughter- a queen of the Amazon warriors and the strongest female I know. Trust your instincts. Look around you- look into our eyes. You know us.”
She did as he said and examined each of us, locking eyes with every one of us in turn. But when she looked at me, her gaze remained empty and I knew she didn’t know me at all. My heart sank and I moved toward her.
“Sister…”
She lunged toward me with her sword drawn. “Don’t call me that!” she snapped. “I don’t know you!”
I took a step back but it was useless. Ortrera was on the offensive now and kept advancing.
“I don’t trust any of you!” she shouted. Cadmus moved to protect me, but I motioned him back.
“No!” I cried. “She’s not herself. Do not hurt her. I have faith that she won’t hurt me.”
“Your faith is unfounded,” she said menacingly. “There is no reason why I won’t hurt you.”
She swung her sword and it sliced by my ear, the blade hissing as it split the air.
I jumped back and once again motioned Cadmus and my father back.
“It will only make it worse,” I said quickly.
“I don’t see how this can get worse,” Aphrodite replied. “Ortrera, I know you are not yourself, but if you hurt one hair on Harmonia’s head, I will kill you myself. Know that.”
Ortrera studied my small, slight mother and her lip curled. “Warning noted,” she answered wryly.
She chose that moment to leap onto me and shoved me to the ground, the tip of her sword pressed into my chest. My heart beat against the cool blade and I tried to think- to still my racing thoughts so I could form a plan.
But nothing. I could think of nothing. So I went with instinct instead. As Ortrera shifted her weight, I used that moment to throw her off and we tumbled together, rolling over and over before I came out on top. She outweighed me, so I knew my upper-hand wouldn’t last. I bend forward to try and pin her more securely and as I moved, my bloodstone fell from my shift and lay against her breast.
Her eyes instantly widened and clouded.
Her body went limp and she fell off of me to the side and rested in the grass, her chest heaving. She lay still and silent, her hands clenching and unclenching her sword. I was almost afraid to speak, but finally, I inched away just a bit and caught her eye.
“Ortrera?”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I know who you are. Father always loved you best.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Ares beat me to it.
“I have not,” he boomed. “I love you differently, that is true. Harmonia soothes my troubled spirit, as that is her nature as the goddess of peace. You are my fierce warrior- a child after my own heart. I love each of you.”
She nodded, a tear streaking out of the corner of her eye. I froze. I had never seen her cry, not in the thousands of years that we had known each other. She wiped it away impatiently.
“I’m sorry,” she mumbled. “I don’t know why I am emotional.”
“Because we are in a difficult situation,” I soothed, patting her shoulder. “It’s alright. Ortrera. You weren’t yourself.”
She nodded as she stood. She nodded to her warriors and they once again looked comfortable as they relaxed just a little. She looked around the group.
“Now what?”
Aphrodite shrugged. “Now we are free to proceed, I think. We’re none the worse for the wear even though you just tried to kill your sister.”
She couldn’t quite keep her grudge from her voice and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Mother,” I warned. “Ortrera didn’t mean it. You know that.”
She shrugged with her nose in the air. I shook my head, but Ortrera interrupted.
“It’s alright, Harmonia. I don’t blame her. But I do hope you know that I would protect you with my life.”
“I know.” I glanced at my mother and she looked slightly mollified. “Of course I know. You’ve proven yourself time and time again. And I would trust you with my life.”
That seemed to make Ortrera feel better and she examined the countryside in front of us.
“I have to admit, this is not what I thought the Underworld would be like. Which way do you propose that we go?”
“That’s a very good question.”
As we studied the horizon, however, a cloud seemed to descend from the distance. White and jagged-edged, it seemed to drift toward us, continually changing shape as it moved.
“What’s that?” Aphrodite pointed.
I squinted. “I don’t know.”
It got closer and as it did, we saw that it was made from butterflies…thousands of white butterflies. They fluttered in a huge circle above us before they floated down around us. They seemed to gravitate more toward Ortrera and clung to her arms and legs. She stayed frozen as she turned slightly toward me.
“What is going on?”
I shook my head slowly. “I have no idea.”
I reached out a finger and a butterfly landed lightly upon it, followed by another and then another. They seemed to be everywhere- all around us.
Ortrera was almost covered with the insects. They were pretty little things, but they were tangled in her hair, clinging to her arms and fluttering around her legs. And then suddenly, they weren’t. They formed a cloud once again and hovered directly in front of us.
“It’s almost like they want us to follow them,” Aphrodite pondered. At her words, they moved forward a bit.
“I think you’re right,” Cadmus agreed, taking my hand and swinging my knapsack onto his shoulder. “I think that’s exactly what they want.”
“So we should just follow a big swarm of bugs?” Ortrera asked incredulously.
Ares rolled his eyes. “Daughter, you should know by now, nothing is what it seems in the Underworld. Or anywhere else, for that matter.”
He looked down at Aphrodite’s scratched up legs. She had thin streaks of blood from a few of the deeper scratches running down her slender calves.
“Do those hurt?” he demanded.
But before she could even answer, he had snatched her up and slung her onto his back, as easily as Cadmus had swung my knapsack. She rested her face against his stout back, clearly exhausted. I felt sorry for her. This was not something that my mother was accustomed to. But then again, neither were the rest of us.