The Immortal Heart

Chapter 24

Demeter was kept as comfortable as possible in the cart, though with most of the family’s possessions burnt or under debris, this was not very comfortable at all. Hestia had been able to gather leafy foliage as a cushion beneath the injured goddess’ body, and had torn a few strips of fabric from the skirt of her night robes as makeshift bandages, but she could do little else. All of Demeter’s potions had been destroyed in the ruins of the fortress.

As the cart was tethered to one of the horses, Demeter attempted to speak, but all that escaped her trembling lips was a weak, throaty whisper. Hades, who had not strayed far from his sister’s side, climbed into the cart with her and took her hand in his own.

“I am here, sister,” he said gently. “What can I do?”

The god had to lean in quite closely to hear the other’s request, for she was in such pain that she could hardly speak.

“Cold.”

“Oh dear,” Hades muttered, feeling like an idiot. Of course Demeter had to be cold, with her flesh burnt and no blankets available. A wind passed and she shivered worse than before.

“Oh, my dearest sister…” he continued to ramble. “We cannot find any blankets to warm you, but… oh, forgive me, I shall try to be as careful as possible…”

With the utmost care, Hades lay down next to Demeter, edging closer until he was pressed against her. She shuddered and made a small, dreadful noise at his touch.

“I know, it hurts for you to be touched,” he said apologetically. “But this is the best I can do… Sister… I’m sorry.”

Demeter surprised her brother when she replied, strangely cognizant despite her pain. “Why?” she asked.

Hades could no longer bear it. Tears fell as he looked at her serene, shut-eyed visage. “I caused you this. You are burnt because of me.”

Though she was quite weak, Demeter moved her head in such a way that Hades realized she was trying to nuzzle his face, to provide him some comfort, even in her pain.

“You did not leave me,” she whispered. “You carried me. If I die, then it will not be alone.”

“You will not die, sister,” Hades said immediately, even though he knew he had absolutely no right to give her such a promise. “We shall figure something out. We are together at least, are we not?”

“Oh, Hades…”

“You never gave up on me, and I will not give up on you,” Hades solemnly stated, brushing back the matted blonde hair from his sister’s forehead. Her face had been left untouched by the fire, and despite the agony she was in, he could see no bitterness or resentment in her expression when she looked at him. Even though Demeter did not blame him, the god blamed himself.

“I promise… that I shall fight,” Demeter said, looking her brother firmly in the eye as they lay next to one another in the cart. Every bump in the ground set her nerves aflame all over again, but Demeter was strongly determined not to waste anymore of her precious fluids on crying.

“And I will fight alongside you,” Hades replied, still cupping his sister’s face. “I won’t leave you.” //And you must not leave me// he added internally. //I have already lost my child. I cannot bear to lose you as well//

The journey continued for another few hours, and Hades was relieved to discover that Demeter eventually fell asleep in his arms. He held her close at all times, both to provide warmth and to detect any changes in her condition. Now he could feel the beat of her heart against his own chest and her breathy exhales against his neck, both of which had calmed down considerably since the goddess was allowed a small reprieve from the world of pain.

Hades had almost fallen asleep himself when a word whispered into his ear startled him fully awake.

“Thirsty…”

Of course, his sister needed water, perhaps now more than ever. Disengaging from Demeter as carefully as possible, Hades reached into the bucket of water securely tucked into one of the corners. With his other hand, he lifted his sister’s head and tried to pour the water into her mouth without spilling too much. They repeated the procedure twice before the goddess signaled she didn’t want more with a small headshake, and Hades allowed her to lie back down.

Brother and sister remained quiet as they lay in the steadily bumping cart, and though he was tired, Hades allowed himself no rest. He needed to be alert in case Demeter wanted something from him.

Afternoon was about to give way to evening when the horse pulling the cart suddenly halted. Hades turned to look at his brothers, who were leading to way, to ask about the reason for this, but Zeus answered his question before he even had a chance to speak it out loud.

“We can get no further with the cart,” the leader said, lifting sacks with fruits and vegetables onto the ground. “The cave is in the forest, a short walk from here. We must leave the cart and continue on foot.”

Hades nodded, knowing his brother was right. It would be impossible for their horses to pull the cart through such an abundance of trees and thick foliage, but it also meant that Demeter had to be carried in someone’s arms.

It should be me, he thought. I promised I would not leave her side. She is my responsibility. Reaching over to lift the wounded goddess into his arms, Hades instead found himself moved aside by Zeus.

“I will carry our sister,” the younger god said. “Help our siblings with the supplies, Hades.”

When Zeus put his hands out to take Demeter, he was surprised to see Hades step away, holding their sister closer to him. Hades’ eyes were wide and fearful, as though something awful might happen should Zeus take her.

“Hades…” he said, trying to be patient. “You have looked after her more than you even had to. Allow someone else to look after her.”

Hades glanced down at Demeter with uncertainty. She looked back at him, wakeful from the pain of being moved.

“Go on, brother,” she muttered. “I will be fine.”

“Will you?” Hades replied, the miserable thought of her grim predicament returning to his mind.

“Go and help our sisters,” Demeter said, her voice a little stronger in an attempt to sound forceful.

Sighing, Hades finally passed his sister onto Zeus, though his hands hovered above her protectively as Zeus adjusted his hold on her, making Demeter grimace in discomfort.

As he received his share of satchels holding their essentials, Hades remained only a few feet away from Zeus as the family traveled through the woods. The eldest god resented his new role during the family’s journey, wishing Demeter were back in his arms. Instead, he was carrying supplies with his sisters. How he wanted so badly to again be looking after Demeter, who had been injured due to his actions. He felt responsible for her, and yet Zeus had taken her as though he was the one who knew what he was doing. Zeus did NOT know what he was doing. None of the gods did, really.

“Up ahead,” Poseidon suddenly announced, pointing at a thicket. Beyond the thick mess of dead underbrush was a large hole in the rock wall of a hill. Hades automatically reached blindly for Demeter and touched her hair.

“We’re almost there, sister,” he said. “You’ll be able to rest soon.”

The opening of the cave was a roughly circular mouth, hewn out of grayish rock from the hill, large enough to promise a space inside that was adequate to house the Olympians for the time being. Still, seeing the cave made the siblings’ hearts sink when it dawned on them that this was their home now; their fortress was no more.

Zeus wordlessly passed Demeter over to Hades once they came within a hundred yards from the cave, and instead the Olympian leader drew his sword. Poseidon quickly followed his example and their pacing became cautious as they skirted the opening, looking for signs that something dwelled inside the cave.

Last time the two brothers had come here to wait out a storm, it had been uninhabited, but that didn’t mean it had remained so. Caves were a popular dwelling place for bears and other carnivorous animals, and Zeus did not want to risk a confrontation when their family was already so vulnerable.

Fortunately his suspicions were unjustified; there were no fresh tracks or droppings outside the cave that indicated the presence of any animal, and Zeus saw it fit to lead his siblings inside.

“We are there now, sister,” Hades whispered to the goddess in his arms. “Finally you’ll be able to rest, and we’ll do what we can to ease your pain.”

Demeter nodded, wanting to believe there was something her brothers and sisters could do. If she hadn’t been so weak, she could have tutored Hestia in the art of healing, but the goddess found speaking alone to be exhausting and all she could do was hope that her sister already possessed the required skills.

“I will inspect the area in case anything has followed us,” Zeus said, his tone still full of a certainty that came with the experience of victorious battles and successful choices. “Poseidon, remain at the mouth of the cave. Stand watch.”

Nodding, Poseidon passed his siblings without a word, although he lingered near Hades so that he could stroke his wounded sister’s brow. Hades smiled at his courtesy.

“Set her down here,” Hestia directed her brother, indicating the makeshift bedding she had taken from the cart and replaced on the cave floor. Hera was already adding moss to once more soften the cushioning which had been easily crushed under an Olympian’s weight. With the gentility of a subtle breeze, Hades set his sister down, placing a hand over her forehead.

“She feels warm,” he said in lifeless observation. Hestia seemed to ignore him.

“She needs some rest,” she muttered, carefully peeling away strips of the bandages which had come from the edge of her gown. Demeter did not cry out as her wounds were cleaned, only drowsily wincing at the pain. Hades’ heart sank. He hardly believed that his sister’s pain was lessening. Demeter was simply running out of energy to react.

“We’re going to need to redress her wounds,” Hestia said. She was preparing to shred more pieces from her robe when she heard the sound of sharp tearing beside her. Looking up, she saw Hades tearing the sleeves of his robe completely from his already chilled form.

“Hades, there is no need to rip so much away,” she said.

“Take it,” her brother said, reducing his robe to little more than tatters around his waist, the remnants ending halfway down his thighs. “This way you will have enough for the next time as well.”

Hera and Hestia glanced at one another, perplexed, until Hestia finally accepted the offer of the rags.

“Zeus is going to be angry with you, you know,” she said, binding Demeter’s wounds.

“I know,” Hades replied, folding his arms over his colder body.

Demeter had been lying on her right side when her clothing caught fire, which limited the most severe burns to her left side. The area encompassed the goddess’ thigh, hip, buttock and part of her side. Due to Hades’ fast intervention, the flames had been extinguished before they could reach her upper body, and the burns on her right leg consisted of reddened, blistering skin rather than complete destruction of the skin tissues. Still, the wounds on her body were grave, and none of her siblings had the proper knowledge to treat them.

Hades stayed close to his sister even as Hestia worked, frequently asking if he could assist her in any way. The older goddess accepted his offer of help when the time came to bandage Demeter’s legs and she needed someone to hold the limbs up to give her the best access. Hades dreaded having to touch the affected area and cause his sister more pain than she was already in, but he agreed to do what was necessary at the moment.

Demeter, again situated on her right side to avoid pressure against the burns, moaned miserably when her legs were lifted and spread, despite Hades’ attempts to be as gentle as he possibly could.

While assisting Hestia was an emotionally very painful task for her brother, at least Hades was relieved to note that Demeter’s pubic hair had not caught fire and the organ between her legs was left undamaged by flames. He spoke nothing of it, guessing that it would be a small consolation to the goddess in her current state.

Hestia and Hades were just about finished with their treatment of Demeter when Zeus returned. The Olympian leader carried the huge carcass of a wild boar on his shoulder and dropped it just outside the mouth of the cave; while his family no longer had a home, Zeus was adamant in not letting himself or his siblings starve.

*

Hours later, the boar had been roasted and the gods ate sparingly. The notion that all of the family’s food storage had been destroyed brought a subconscious fear in all of them that they did not know when their next source of food would come, despite Zeus and Poseidon’s skill in the hunt.

Eating the least was Demeter, who in her pain hardly had the appetite for food. Hades and Hestia had managed to cajole her into eating some of the meat, but mostly she drank water. Though she claimed to be cold, her cheeks were flushed and when Hades placed his hand on her forehead a second time, the heat of her skin caused him to recoil as though burnt.

“Hestia!” he cried. “Feel her.”

Doing as instructed, Hestia felt her sister’s brow and her eyes widened. “She has a fever,” she announced to her siblings, tears falling, “and I fear it’s getting worse. Her wounds are weakening her body. If her fever does not break, she will die.”

A dark shadow of anger and worry crossed Zeus’ face. Hera remained passive, but she was anything but happy about the situation. Poseidon only rubbed at his eyes, tired and overwhelmed by the predicament of himself and his siblings. Though the heat of his sister’s illness disturbed him, Hades leant closer to Demeter and pressed his forehead to hers.

“Why…” he muttered to her unresponsive form. “Why you, of anyone on this earth…? Why not one of our despicable predecessors?”

“Indeed,” Zeus said quietly, though he stared out of the mouth of the cave, sitting still as one of the rocks around him, lost in thought. If only Cronos was the one experiencing such horrific wounds…

“Wait.”

His brothers and sisters looked up at him quizzically. Suddenly Zeus’ body was animated again and his eyes were wide with the idea which had come to him. “Someone may be able to help.”

Hades looked up from his feverish sister, his eyes filled with doubt but now also a sliver of hope had entered them. “Who?” he asked.

“We have nothing,” Zeus replied, rising to his feet and pacing the cave. Four pairs of eyes began to follow his movements intently; when Zeus spoke in that particular voice, it was wise to listen. “Our home has been destroyed, along with everything we ever owned. Should Cronos find us now and launch another attack, we would be unable to defend ourselves.”

The statement received a sad but affirmative murmur in response from the others.

“Our sister is badly wounded. I fear that without proper medicine, she will not last long. What is your prognosis, Hestia?”

“I am no healer,” the goddess replied when addressed. “But there is not much I can do for her here.”

“We need a place of refuge, where we can rest and strategize a counterattack against our father.” Zeus’ voice trembled at the mention of Cronos, whose name he would not even utter before his family.

“But where do you propose we go?” Poseidon asked. “Cronos has spies everywhere; we cannot trust any of Gaia’s children to take us in. I don’t even know if—”

“Poseidon, please let me finish,” the younger god commanded, and his brother acquiesced, bowing his head. It had not been Poseidon’s intent to question Zeus’ authority; their grim situation had simply made him less inclined to rely on anything in general.

“There is someone we can trust,” Zeus said. “You, my brothers and sisters, have never had the pleasure of meeting her in person, but I can assure you that she is no ally of Cronos.”

“Who, brother?” Hera inquired.

“Our mother, Rhea. She travelled to Crete in order to give birth to me, and ever since she has remained there in exile. Our father does not respond well to deceit.” He smiled grimly, remembering how he himself had deceived the Titan king in order to free his siblings. “If anyone can help us, it is she.”

“What makes you think she will help us?” Hera asked. “After all, she is still a Titan. And if Cronos knew we were seeking her help, she may run the risk of facing his anger.”

“She saved me once,” Zeus argued stubbornly. “And she allowed me the chance to save all of you. She may help us again.”

Hades looked hopelessly at his unconscious sister, stroking her cheek. He would give anything to see her survive, but he hardly trusted any titan, even his own mother. Perhaps when they finally reached her – if Demeter even lived long enough – she might be unhappy to see them, and then they would all be dead.

At least we would all be together, the god thought.

His contemplation was interrupted by a hand against his shoulder, squeezing gently. Zeus stood over him, sympathy in his eyes.

“We have to try,” he said. Hades nodded.

“How will we get to Crete?” Hestia asked. There was a lack of passion in her voice that made Hades wonder if she had accepted her beloved sister’s death already, to keep her heart from breaking anymore than it already had.

“Poseidon,” Zeus addressed his elder brother. “How many will our fishing boat hold?”

Poseidon’s eyebrows raised at the question. “I’m not sure. It may not be able to hold more than four, especially if we are bringing our supplies with us.”

“We will have to make it hold,” Zeus said. “Crete is separate from our land. The sea is our only way.”

“If our boat still stands,” Poseidon added doubtfully. He did not wish to cause argument or dispute his brother and leader, but to feed hopes only to find them nonexistent was a harsh thing indeed. “For all we know, our enemies have found and destroyed it.”

Zeus felt despair creeping back into his mind at his brother’s words. If their boat was no more, then all hope had been vanquished. Demeter would not last long enough for them to build a new one, and it was doubtful if she would even survive the voyage to Crete.

“Poseidon and I will head to the shore tomorrow to check on the boat,” Zeus decided. “We will also go back to the fortress and see if anything can be salvaged. Clothes, food… weapons.”

Currently only Poseidon and Zeus himself carried a sword, and though Hades and their sisters weren’t used to wielding swords, every god and goddess needed to be able to defend themselves now that the fortress no longer existed to protect them.

Darkness had fallen over the lands, and the six Olympians saw no other choice than to try getting some sleep in their temporary new home. Zeus explained that someone would always have to stand watch to keep an eye out for predators and possibly also a second attack by the titans and offered to take the first shift himself.

Hestia and Hades were both reluctant to stray from Demeter’s side. The wounded goddess was shivering despite the heat radiating from her form, and despite her siblings’ attempts to hold her still, Demeter began to thrash in her feverish haze and gave out unintelligible delirious mutterings.

“She is burning up,” Hades said, shortly realizing what a bad euphemism it was for what had actually happened to his sister.

Hestia nodded, her eyes tearing up once more. She desperately tried to think of something, anything, that would help take down her sister’s fever as well as relieve her pain. Demeter had taught her some of her own magic; if only Hestia could remember.

“Willow bark…” she murmured. “I must try to find her some…”

The goddess stood up, ready to head out to retrieve the willow even though it was already dark. Hades demanded to know where she was going, but Hestia did not feel like explaining herself to her brother. What mattered now was to get the willow for Demeter as quickly as possible, or she feared that Demeter would not last the night.

“Sister, what is the meaning of this?” Zeus asked, moving to stand in front of Hestia when it dawned on him that she was indeed leaving the cave. “It is not safe for you to go outside!”

Hestia did not move when her brother stepped in her way, but she did not back away from him either. “Willow bark will help to lessen her pain and reduce her fever,” she said. “It may give her body more time to rest and heal if her discomfort is not as great as it is now. Besides…” She turned back to look at her sister. “If she is to die, I do not want her to die with thoughts of nothing but agony.”

Zeus wanted to argue that Demeter would not die, but he knew the situation was grim. The best he could hope for was that she would live long enough to be looked after by Rhea, and even that was a naïve thought. If Demeter’s family could lessen her pain so that she may not suffer until death, it would be the best they could do.

“I will escort you,” he finally answered. “But wait a moment first.”

Glancing down at Hades, who refused to leave Demeter’s side and stayed pressed against her, Zeus removed his robe. He frowned a little at Hades’ lack of clothing, as the eldest god’s robes had been torn apart. Despite his annoyance that Hades would be so willing to catch cold in the night’s chill, Zeus gave him a kiss on the cheek after he draped his robes over the both of them.

“Hestia and I are going to find willow bark for Demeter,” he whispered. “We will be back as soon as we can.”

“Alright,” Hades replied, his green eyes both so fearful and sad at the same time. He nodded his head toward Demeter. “Please hurry…?”

“We will.”

Hera felt a sting of jealousy at the kiss she saw from her curled up position on the floor, but she said nothing. She was too tired from the tragedies of the day to make any sort of response, and instead tried to cover more of herself with her robes, to hide her chilled flesh from the night air. Her attempt was in vain, and when she shifted to get comfortable once more, her arranged clothing slipped off and exposed her once more.

Poseidon, who was not yet asleep, noticed his sister’s futile attempts to keep warm from a distance and an idea formed in his mind. Though Hera had made it clear that she would never again welcome his advances, surely the goddess would not be so stupid as to turn down a chance to keep warm?

The god rose from his own resting place and walked over to Hera, who frankly looked quite miserable despite not having acquired any physical wounds from the attack.

“Sister,” he said softly and placed his hand on her shoulder. “I could not help but notice your predicament. If we were to sleep together, I could help keep you warm.”

Hera lifted her head, frowning at the proposition. She was thoroughly sick of Poseidon’s infatuation with her and figured that his generous “offer” was only a way for him to get close enough to grope her body.

“No thank you…” Hera muttered, curling up in an even tighter ball. “I will be fine, brother. Without your help.”

“Suit yourself…” Poseidon muttered and returned to his sleeping spot. “I was only trying to be kind…”

Hera spent another half hour writhing and turning, but the chilly night seemed to draw whatever warmth she had left like a sponge, and fairly soon she found the situation unbearable.

Damn all of this, the goddess thought as she got up and walked the short distance over to where her brother lay. Poseidon opened his eyes at her approach and lifted an arm, indicating the spot right next to him.

“I do not want to hear or see you gloating,” she muttered as she curled up against him. Poseidon said nothing, resting his arm around her. Hera adjusted his arm so that the god’s hand was nowhere near her breasts or her sex, and Poseidon discreetly rolled his eyes.

*

Hades surmised that he must have dozed off, for Hestia and Zeus had returned far more quickly than he had expected.

“Hades,” he heard Hestia whisper. “Could you let go of Demeter for a moment? We need to give her the bark.”

The eldest god did as told, but he still hovered over his sister like a bear sow protecting its cub. The mental image of such would have made Hades laugh in different circumstances, as he hardly had the strength of any furious mother animal, let alone a bear. Even so, he knew he would have shown just as much tenacity to protect his sister, possibly more.

As Hestia prepared the medicine, Zeus placed a careful arm under Demeter’s back, letting her head rest on his shoulder as he lifted her. Placing her in a seated position would be too painful, so he only lifted his sister upwards to the point that she could swallow the medicine with ease.

Being moved, however, was enough to wake the injured goddess, and she gave a strange, moaning whine, as though she would have rather remained where she was instead of receiving the bark.

“That’s right, sister,” Zeus murmured to her, grasping one of her trembling hands. It was unsettling how easily he could feel her burning fever. “I am sorry, but you must wake up. Once you take this, I promise you may sleep again.”

“Here we are, darling,” Hestia said, raising the cup to Demeter’s lips. Too delirious to make sense of what was going on around her, Demeter initially refused the foul-tasting medicine, and Hestia had been expecting such a response. She managed to pull the cup away before her sister could feebly knock it aside.

“No, dearest sister,” she said patiently. “I know it tastes awful, but it is for your own good.”

“You can do this,” Hades added, a poor attempt at encouragement, but encouragement nonetheless. He and his siblings hoped that at least their sister would not vomit the medicine back out once she had taken it.

Demeter finally cooperated and drank all of the willow bark tea, gagging once but otherwise keeping the dosage down. She received praise by her brothers and sister and was placed back down on her bedding.

“Do you think it might help?” Hades asked, joining her back under the robe-turned-blanket.

“I don’t know,” Hestia said, her expression blank but her eyes reading of misery. “I hope so.”


TBC...