Chapter 6 Lyssa
Lyssa
Ifeel tiny as we move through the maze of ships hovering motionless under the platform. A gentle breeze rolls over us as the longboat drifts along, but the temperature never changes in the skies of Olympus.
Lucas is shifting in his seat, then points abruptly to a gargantuan ship we are passing, with a full-sized swimming pool set between masts twice the size of the Alastor’s, and palm trees lining the deck.
“No way,” he breathes. “I never thought I’d see a Zephyr-class ship this big.” To my surprise, his awestruck face feels like an antidote to my increasing anxiety, so I resist the urge to tell him to shut up, and try to embrace his youthful naivety.
“Why are you so into ships?” I ask him.
“My carer before I lived in the slums was a shipwright.”
“Huh. That’s good work, if you can get it.”
He nods, still gazing at the fancy Zephyr, and I don’t ask how he ended up parting ways with the shipwright. Another pang of sympathy pulls at me.
“Go on, then, tell me all about the ships here,” I say, folding my arms and leaning back.
“Really?”
“Sure. Why not.”
Epizon gives my a sideways smile, and Len leans forward. It’s highly unlikely Lucas knows anything he doesn’t, but the little satyr is a learning machine, absorbing information like a sponge.
“So although that’s a particularly large one, most Zephyrs are that size,” he says, pointing to a smaller one farther away.
“They’re the largest class of ship in Olympus.
They were originally designed as cargo ships, so the cargo deck is massive, and really tall, but now they double up as luxury cruising ships, like the one with the pool.
Apparently, Achilles has a Zephyr with the cargo deck turned into a show hall for all his longboats.
” His eyes get glassy. “Zeus’s balls, I’d love to see that. ”
“I guess Zephyrs have three masts and sails because they need more solar power to run?” Epizon asks. He’s humoring the kid, but Lucas nods enthusiastically.
“They sure do, but they can’t really run out of power, not as long as there’s light for the solar sails.
And it’s never dark in most of Olympus, so we’re all good.
Zephyrs also have a quarterdeck at both ends of the top deck, so you can steer from either end, which is pretty good.
Of course, the best ships ever made, that’s Whirlwinds.
” He starts swiveling in his seat, trying to find one to point out.
I cough.
“After your Alastor, obviously,” he says distractedly.
“There’s one!” He waves excitedly at a ship that is nowhere near as big as the Zephyr, but stands out all the same.
“The outside is encased in metal. They’re battleships.
Those towers all along the edges are weapons turrets; they all have ballistae in them.
They’re basically giant crossbows. And you see how the back of the ship is raised really high?
The quarterdeck is high up so the captain can see what’s happening in all the ballista towers.
Three masts again, but the sails are much higher up so they don’t block the view from the quarterdeck. ”
“One of many reasons my Crosswind is better,” I say. “I wouldn’t trade the view of my sails for any number of weapons.’
“Then it’s just as well Crosswinds can outrun ballistae, cap.” Len grins at me.
“The Alastor is faster than any normal Crosswind, and you know it,” I say.
“Look, that’s a Typhoon,” Lucas says. “A two-mast ship but much longer, and they have ballistae and a small sail on the front. You’ll see how much pointier the front is when we go past in a minute.”
I look again at the Whirlwind battleship as we float past, trying to read the name on the side. I’m looking for the Hybris. The ancient word for “pride.” That anyone could take pride in what that monster has done makes me feel sick.
This ship is called Pali, meaning “fight.” I turn and look back at my own ship, which seems tiny moored between the dozens of larger ships.
She may be small, but she’s fast. And she’s mine.
Lucas chatters on as we approach the platform, but as my apprehension grows I realize I’m not hearing his words anymore.
When the longboat finally crests the edge of the platform, bright light, no longer blocked out, makes us all squint. The longboat lowers securely into a gap in a short pier that juts out of a platform made of white and gray-veined marble.
Everyone draws a breath, Lucas falling totally quiet.
There are buildings at each end of the platform, in the ancient temple style, with huge white fluted stone columns holding up a triangular roof. One has deep blue curtains across the front of it, the backdrop to a large staging area with steps running down from all three sides.
The other building is a mirror image but has blood-red curtains, and the staging area holds twelve great white stone thrones. They’re empty.
I can see an ocean of creatures between the steps of the two temples. Humans, centaurs, satyrs, giants, Cyclopes; all manner of Olympian citizens are moving around rows of long marble benches, talking, taking drinks from trays offered by doulos.
White clouds drift above us, crackling with sparkling purple energy. They are the same lightning-filled clouds that surround Zeus’s sky realm, Leo. Their stark whiteness is emphasized by the brightly colored clouds swirling beyond them in the skies.
If Zeus’s clouds are here, then Zeus is here.
And if Zeus is here…
My stomach churns and I force myself to accept the reality of what is about to happen.
If Zeus is here, then it’s even more likely that his son will be too.
My father.