Chapter 27 #3
Vulcan leaned forward. “Think of it like a scale—MODA’s move tilted it, but not enough to send everything crashing down. If
we act now, we turn a violation into an open battle between gods. But if you act first—if mortals free Effie—then the scales
shift. MODA is no longer holding her. At that point, her retaliation is justified. And then we have options.”
Aida’s stomach twisted. “So the balance is already breaking?”
Sophie exhaled. “It’s holding. Barely. But once Effie is free, we’ll finally be able to work alongside her to seek justice.
If we jump in before then, we start a war. If you do it first, we can control what happens next. That’s why we need you. Mortals
aren’t bound by our laws. You’re our best chance at getting Effie back without setting everything on fire.”
“How will we go up against these gods?” Despite the aegis, Aida’s despair pricked at her. “We’re not superheroes. None of
us are particularly strong or athletic. This is madness.”
Sophie laid a hand on Aida’s shoulder. “Genuine power arises not from your physical strength but in your thought, soul, and
intent.”
Aida huffed. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way?”
She gave Aida a small smile. “Something like that.”
Vulcan went to a wall near one of his workbenches and waved his hand.
A sleek drawer slipped open, and he retrieved something from inside.
“You might not be warriors,” he conceded, “but you have qualities just as vital. Technological skills, intellect, resilience, historical knowledge, human resourcefulness—they are your true arsenal. And with this—” he handed Aida a compact, ornately engraved metal orb, about three inches in diameter, pulsing with soft golden light “—you’ll have a piece of divine craftsmanship to aid you.
This will shield you when you unlock Euphrosyne’s bonds.
Throw it on the floor in front of you. It won’t last forever, so your actions must be swift and sure.
Once you free her, she’ll make sure you can get out of the catacombs. ”
The device was warm to the touch, a comforting weight in Aida’s hand. As she watched, the orb’s engravings—a pattern of Greek
keys—began to disappear. It slowly lost its light and became inert, a simple metal ball. She looked at the god, unsure, but
he only nodded. Aida slipped the ball into her pocket.
“How do we unlock her from the chair?” Yumi asked.
“With this.” Vulcan produced a small golden key from another drawer and handed it to Aida.
“Before we even get there, we have to find her. Felix tells us the place is bigger than Disneyland! He is trying to find us
better maps. The ones they give out only extend to the areas where tourists are allowed on the first floor, so that’s not
helpful. Twelve miles of passages and four floors. And what about the misery?” Just the thought of going down there in the
dark and wandering around, potentially lost, was enough to make Aida feel sick.
“Worry not.” Sophie’s voice was calming. “Your aegis will protect you from the worst of Oizys’s gloom. But give me your hands.”
She reached out to Aida.
Aida let the goddess take her hands and a warmth surged through her.
“There. Now tell me. What is a smell that makes you happy, or nostalgic. Something you revel in that brings you joy?”
Aida was confused. It was the strangest question, but the answer immediately came to her. “When I was very young, I used to
visit my grandparents in the middle of nowhere in Idaho. They lived on a cliff above the Snake River. There were Russian olive
trees in their backyard. That smell . . . I haven’t smelled it in years, but oh!”
Sophie let go of her hands. “Then my guess is that’s how your nose will lead you to Effie.”
Aida raised an eyebrow. “I’ll smell her?”
Aggie laughed. “Effie smells divine! What a brilliant idea, sister.”
“Everything about her brings joy to the people around her. I just helped you home in on it a little. But the aegis may not
work the same way in the catacombs,” the goddess warned. “It will dull the misery and keep you from falling into despair,
but it may not alert you that a god is near in the same way it does above ground.”
“Great.” Aida let out a sigh of frustration. “You also said that the catacombs aren’t structurally sound. What do we do if
our path is blocked?”
Vulcan grunted. “Try and find another path.”
Sophie nodded in agreement. “There’s only so much help we can give you without directly interfering. To do more might only
backfire and bring you harm.”
“When will you go to the catacombs?” Aggie asked.
“I need to be sure about the security system. That will take me a couple of days. It sounds like we’ll need to find a few
things for our spelunkers,” Yumi said.
“One more thing,” Vulcan said. “You won’t have much luck with your phones down there. The catacombs are ancient, layered with
old magic and misery that interferes with technology. Even I can’t cut through that.”
Aida cursed under her breath. “Great. We’re going in without a lifeline.”
Silence hung between them for a moment, the gravity of what lay ahead sinking in. Yumi crossed her arms, her lips pressed
into a tight line. The idea of wandering through the dark ancient tunnels with no way to call for help left a pit in Aida’s
stomach.
She tried to laugh it off. “Guess we’ve got to be our own backup this time.”
“I’ll take you home,” Sophie said. “Get some rest. You’ll need it.”
Before Aida could ask another question, the goddess laid a hand on her shoulder, and in a blink, she found herself in Yumi’s living room. Yumi collapsed on the couch behind her. The goddess was nowhere to be seen.
“I will never get used to that,” Yumi said. “It gives me an upset stomach.”
Aida fell onto the sofa beside her friend. “So, Felix can’t go with us.”
Yumi looked at her. “Why not?”
“He doesn’t have an aegis, so he would have no protection from the misery. And I was thinking about that. I’ve long thought
about asking Sophie to give him one, but I don’t want him to be in danger because of us. He’s only been peripherally involved.
Now he definitely won’t be. I don’t want him down there.”
Yumi huffed. “Well, guess you and lover-boy Luciano will have the most interesting date ever.”
“I don’t think this will be terribly romantic,” Aida said, smacking her friend with a throw pillow.
“Felix lives right near there, at least. It’s a good place for me to set up. I wish the cell or Wi-Fi coverage would travel
with you.”
Aida cursed. “We could be down there for hours. What if we get hurt? Gah. This is such a bad idea.”
“I think the alternative might be worse.”
Aida leaned her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes. She tried to think of all the places she’d been since she started
the job with MODA. There were museums that seemed to tickle the edges of her mind, but then slipped away. Every morning, she
looked at her shorthand list to try to remember, and she did, for a little bit as she read the secretarial scrawl, but then
as soon as she put the list away, the memories were gone again. She had done that . . . She had helped remove those places
from the world, and not just her mind, but the collective consciousness of the people.
“I hate that you’re right,” she finally said.
“We’ll figure it out,” Yumi said, her voice taking on the cheerleader tone that Aida had heard countless times over the years when she was feeling down. Yumi had always been a good counterbalance to Aida’s natural cynicism.
“At least I won’t be doing it alone.” Aida’s fingers hovered over the screen of her phone, her mind a whirlwind of apprehension
and determination. As she typed out the message to Felix and Luciano, she couldn’t help but feel a tinge of excitement beneath
the dread. The possibility of finding Effie, of changing something in this messed-up world, gave her a sliver of hope.