The Next Task

Amid the silence following Lord Kronos’ confession, a familiar voice called out, “Yeah, yeah. You were selfish. Nothing new, Pops. Can we get on with the festival? I’ve got damned souls to drag to the Underworld. It’s about to get real busy down there with it being that sickening mortal’s Day of Valentines or whatever in the West. So…”

Hades sat languidly on his throne, twirling his forefingers around each other in the motion for ‘speed it up.’ He looked bored and annoyed and seemed to be waiting for one of his brothers to continue commentating.

Instead, that didn’t happen.

“Valentine’s Day?!” Caisey said in a voice that he thought was only loud enough for Rina to hear. He chanced a glance at her and found her still-teary eyes on him as well.

He blushed and asked, “How is that possible? I’ve been here about 3 days, right? It should still be early January!”

“Oh, you’re on the right path.” Rina answered, rubbing at her eyes. Caisey was glad she was speaking to him now. She appeared loads more relaxed. “Time moves much slower here than in the Mortal Realm. You guys age like exposed prunes.” She made a face and shuddered.

Caisey laughed and temporarily forgot where they were. He and Rina had never had a Valentine’s Day together and it was something he wanted very badly. He wanted to experience holding the girl he loved on a day as passionate as this one. He almost high-fived himself, realizing he no longer had to celebrate Singles Day and never planned to again.

With a shy smile, Caisey asked, “Rina?”

She hummed in reply, turning her body to face him fully. She looked up at him with big eyes, a slight close-lipped smile on her face. Caisey swallowed, hoping he wasn’t being too corny and if he was, that Rina would find it cute instead of repulsive.

“… Will you be my valentine?”

Rina broke into a full smile so blinding that Caisey found himself lost in it. It made him smile too. He thought she might begin to laugh at him like she always did, but this time she gave him a genuine grin. It was a smile for the books. “Of course, dummy.” She said, “I’ve been your valentine for centuries.”

One part of Caisey could hardly contain his happiness. A swarm of butterflies collided in his stomach and left him feeling woozy. The other part of him was immensely confused. “You said centuries?” He asked, but the moment was brought back to the masses as Hade’s voice cried out from above.

“Oh GODS, you’re those people. Weaklings of all species are the same. Pathetic,” he groaned. “I actually can’t watch any more of this. Let’s banish him... Niece, you can stay.”

Before either Caisey or Rina could say anything in protest, a high-pitched voice the same tone as a broken trumpet shouted across the room, “What have you got against love?!”

All eyes shot over to the right of the theater where a skinny individual wrapped in plain white clothing leaned against the edge of the balcony, pointing an angry finger at Hades. His face was cherry red and frowning. Hades let out a snobbish groan and said, “Not you again. You mushy gushy weirdo—”

Caisey gasped. Zeus bellowed, “ENOUGH!” into the open area. The supreme god seemed larger in response to his anger, a terrifying yellow glow ablaze around him. He stared at his brother and said in a sharp voice, “We will now commence the second half of the festival. Shut up.”

Hades shrugged with a grin stretching his lips. Then, Zeus spun to address the god who had opposed Hades. “Eros,” he called, his voice sounding tired, “why do you ever get him started?”

“But, my Lord—” Eros began, but Zeus cut him off.

“You shut up, too.” He said with finality.

Watching this spectacle, Caisey wanted to laugh. He felt the feeling rise up to his throat and he swallowed it down like his life depended on it—because it probably did. It was amazing watching these impressive beings behave in such uncharacteristic ways. It reminded him of himself, Lisa, and Don just messing around and being stupid almost every day.

A sharp pang in his chest told him how much he really missed his friends.

Meanwhile, Rina openly cackled into the silence. A fully bent over, arms hugging the stomach, tears in the eyes belly laugh. The number of eyes that instantly turned on them scared Caisey half out of his wits.

The worst part was that Caisey couldn’t tell if they looked amused or if they wanted to rip his face off.

“U-Uh… Rina?” He whispered, more than a little terrified, and shuffled away from her a little when she didn’t let up on the laughter.

No way am I standing near her in the event she gets zapped by lightning for laughing. Caisey thought, although he briefly considered how awesome he’d look in her eyes for getting zapped with her.

But then again, he was human.

She was immortal.

There was a clear answer here.

Sorry, love. He thought and scooted farther away.

Just then, a booming, “Caisey Legna,” stopped him in his tracks and his body immediately snapped to attention. This time, the speaker was Poseidon.

“Y-Y-Ye-Yesss?” Caisey responded, his entire body shivering with goosebumps. On his right, now several feet away, Rina absolutely guffawed at Caisey’s stuttering answer. He wanted so badly to kick her but instead returned his focus to the powerful god addressing him.

“I, Poseidon, King of the Seas, will preside over this next task of our Nth Festival of the Gods.” Cheers erupted all around the room, encouraging the usually quiet Poseidon to keep talking. He cleared his throat and continued, “Before we begin, I must ask, Chosen One: Why have you declared the desire to become a god?”

I have never said that. Caisey thought pointedly. The question was all wrong. He had no desire to become a god. It was something he needed to do.

“For Lady Terpsichore.” He answered.

“To join as a cherub of her palace?”

“No, no, no!” Caisey shook his head violently, waving his arms in protest, “No. I…” He glanced over at Rina as he paused. She was being annoying, fluttering her eyelashes and bouncing on the balls of her feet because she knew what he was about to say. A helpless breath of laughter escaped his lips as Caisey finished a little awkwardly. “It’ll be different for us.”

He imagined how ballsy that must sound to the gods coming from an inferior human being and worried about Poseidon's response.

“Very well.” Poseidon said and conjured a soaring tidal wave out of precisely nowhere. The wave of sparkling blue water loomed over the heads of all the cherubs in the audience, their alarmed cries echoing around the theater. The arch of the wave sped towards the stage where Caisey and Rina stood. While Rina happily bounced on her feet asking Caisey in her most annoying teasing voice, “You really think it’ll be different for us? How? You wanna be a god now??” Caisey stood there, eyes on the water, petrified.

This is it… He thought. I’ll be officially deceased when that thing swallows me whole. And the last thing I’ll hear is Annoying Rina echoing in my ears for all eternity. That’s cruel, man.

Still, he found himself taking Rina’s hand in his own and squeezing tightly as he braced for impact. The tidal wave smashed into them, a monstrous force that lifted them off their feet and sent them spiraling backwards, swimming in midair. The pressure smacked the both of them against the wall of the theater’s stage and, after a moment, Caisey felt the stone against his back begin to fracture and shift.

The wall is breaking! He cried internally, his lungs about to burst from holding his breath. Finally, the wall splintered into a thousand pieces and Caisey and Rina were sucked right through the opening.

With a thud, Caisey’s back landed on a hard surface, and he coughed up the water he had swallowed. The wave had vanished, bright light shone against his eyelids, and when Caisey opened his eyes, he saw that he had been deposited outside onto a field of very green grass.

With his forearm, he shielded his eyes against the sunlight as he heard Poseidon’s voice announce, “Your task… Hero’s Rescue, another festival favorite. You will be given the remainder of the time in the hourglass—an hour—to locate and rescue your goddess. May you be blessed with supreme safety and good fortune.” Poseidon said with no emotion whatsoever. “Your time starts now.”

Locate and rescue my goddess? Caisey wondered, confused. He was sure he still felt the weight of Rina’s hand in his grip, and he squeezed for good measure. Just to make sure.

“Why should I have to find you,” he began, “when you’re already right— AHHHGH!”

He had turned his head only to see Elise Reedy lying on the grass beside him where Rina should have been and holding the hand Rina had been holding. She matched his scream with one of her own.