Frostbitten - Chapter Four

Present Time

“Have a seat, lady and gent,” Hermes said, waving a hand expansively to an overstuffed sofa in the corner of the room.

Jack glanced around the wide living room, fifth-story windows looking out on the hub of New Athens activity.  “Nice place,” he commented.  “Love the view of the Agora.  And is that a temple over there?”

“Hephaestus’s,” Hermes said with a nod.  “Still lives there sometimes.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack saw Holly shudder.  “Hol?”

“Yep?” she chirped, cheerful as ever, as if she hadn’t just looked like a spider had dropped down her back.  She tossed herself onto the sofa Hermes had indicated.

Jack shook his head.  “Never mind.”  He sat by Holly, as far from the windows as possible.  They were letting in way too much sunlight. 

Hermes seated himself in a chair of white wood across from the two, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees.  “All right,” he said, setting his wide-brimmed hat aside.  “I want the full story.”

“Full story?” Jack cocked an eyebrow.  “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean how you’re out already.  It’s the very day of the thousand-year deadline.  I was sure the Prophetic Board would ignore that and keep you in another century or so.”

Holly raised her hand.  “I would be the hero in this particular story.  Styx always keeps its records neat an’ tidy.  I came to get my employer as soon as I got out.”

Hermes flicked his lapis lazuli eyes between them, suspicion in his expression. 

“It’s completely legit,” Jack assured him.  “They showed me the papers and everything.” He leaned back, sliding his hands behind his head.  “Your dear little apprentice is a free man.”

“I wouldn’t say free,” Hermes said with a glance out the window.  “I saw the way people were looking at you.  You made the history books five years after your arrest, and you’ve stayed there.  One person hasn’t stayed on so many people’s minds since... since... I don’t really know who.”

Jack smiled.  “I’m flattered.”

Hermes’s calm exterior shattered.  He shoved himself onto his feet, fists clenched.  “Blast it all, Jack Frost!” he snapped.  “Can’t you see it’s not worth it?  All that... that destruction over a millennium ago – what was it for?  For your entertainment?  To prove some kind of point?”

Jack glanced at Holly, then back at his former mentor.  “There needs to be a point?”

“Yes!” Hermes whipped around and went to the window, staring out at the setting sun.  “People died, Jack.  I know the concept may be unfamiliar to such an esteemed Legendary as yourself, but some people actually can be killed.”

“I sense sarcasm,” Jack said.  He turned to Holly.  “Do you?”

She nodded sagely.  “Bucket loads.”

Jack couldn’t see Hermes’s expression, but the older man’s grip on the window frame tightened.  His knuckles turned white.  “You two just don’t get it, do you?” he said.

“I might see it if you told me what I was supposed to get,” Jack said.  “I really don’t know what you want us to get.”

Hermes let out a slow breath.  “Just go on back to Invierno,” he murmured.  “Go back to your Ice People and start kicking up trouble again.” He turned around, arms crossed over his chest.  “You’ll get it one day.”

Jack stood up.  “Does that mean we’re not welcome any more?”

“It means what it means.” Hermes drilled his stare into Jack.  “You know I’d love to keep you around, Jack.  Having you as an apprentice gave me some of the best years of my life so far.  But I... I don’t want you around right now.  Especially now.”

Jack got ready for a witty retort to come to him.  But there was none.  Just a sharp, piercing shock.

He gathered himself and held his hand out to Holly.  “Well,” he said.  “We’ll be on our way, then.”

Holly took his hand and pulled herself up.  “Never liked it here, anyway,” she said, trotting to the door with no more than a second glance back at Hermes.  “Too warm.”

Without even waiting for Jack, she slipped out of the living room.  Jack watched the door click shut, then glanced back at Hermes.  His mentor was turned to the window again, his back to the room.

“Just go, Jack,” Hermes said.  “You won’t be able to get that mag-char if you wait too much longer.”

Jack lowered his head, then went to the door again, letting his hand brush over Hermes’s hat, still tipped sideways on the chair arm, as he passed.

“Nice seeing you again, too,” he said, pausing by the door.

Hermes didn’t reply.

Jack closed the door quietly, then went down the hallway to find Holly.