Muse Unexpected (20 page)

“So why doesn’t it affect us? Aren’t we part Olympian?”

“I don’t know,” Callie said, turning to the Oracle. “Aletheria?

Aletheria stepped forward and touched one of the stones. “It’s not impossible for these stones to be intelligently designed to know the difference between a Demigod and an Olympian. But, I think the point of this trip is not to discuss how the stones work. This knowledge is given to the Leader of each Vasilikós and passed on to the incoming Leader. Your mother is introducing you to one of the many responsibilities you will have as a Muse. Each Muse has pledged, or, in your case will pledge, to defend this Portal until their last breath. As a Muse, you serve your Vasilikós, you serve your Leader and you serve this gateway. It requires a dedication starting the moment you become a Muse until the day you die. To serve this Vasilikós is to serve Humanity. It’s to serve the Divine.” A cloud of ink engulfed the Oracle and she was gone.

Sophie reached out and touched the stone nearest to her. It hummed under her fingertips. A small piece of marble fell from one of the columns and Sophie wished she was far away from the portal. She picked up the fallen piece of marble and placed it back to where it fell. The broken piece fused back in place. “Did you see that, mom?”

“See what, honey?”

Sophie shrugged. “Never mind, it was nothing. Do we have to go back through the mirror room?” she asked, groaning.

“No, it’s a lot easier to leave this room.” Callie grabbed Sophie and with a rush of energy they were gone.

The next few weeks were a whirlwind of planning and activities, all driven by a crazed Georgia. Due to the urgency of the situation, Georgia had called a videoconference with the other Vasilikós to discuss the newly adjusted timeline. Much to everyone’s surprise, they all agreed the best way to deal with the crisis was to combine the events and make the best of it.

As part of the planning, the Muses from the Greek and Italian Vasilikós, who weren’t on assignment, were called back from their remote locations to help with preparations. The Vasilikós, which had previously been deserted, was full to the brim with Muses and they all were excited to meet Sophie.

“It’s like I’ve been plopped right in the middle of a sorority movie from hell,” Sophie admitted to Angela. Her room was no longer a place for privacy because each time Sophie lay down on her bed for a moment of silence there was another knock at her door and yet another Muse who “just had to stop by to introduce herself to Georgia’s granddaughter.” To get some rest, Sophie ended up spending more time in Angela’s room.

Sophie thought Angela’s room was beautiful. It was done in a creamy white, with accents of yellow, red and black throughout. Her bed was a huge four-poster and there were several beautifully made quilts on the bed and stacked in piles throughout the room. The quilts were gifts from her full-blooded Gorgon mother, who was famous for her sewing. Some of the more intricate pieces were displayed on her suite of room’s walls.

“How many quilts do you own?” Sophie asked as she jumped onto Angela’s bed and sunk deep into its feathery comfort.

“Well, do you want me to count the quilts in storage, the quilts on display throughout the Vasilikós and the quilts currently touring Europe in an exhibit under the guise of American Folk art?”

Sophie laughed and threw a pillow at the other girl. “Why yes, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“About four hundred and twenty-nine.”

“You know, I’m planning on having them redo my room. I think I’m ready to move on from my childhood bedroom.”

“Really?” Angela said, getting up from the bed and rummaging through a big cedar chest. “This was given to me by Winnie. No matter how much I throw into it, it never seems to fill up. You have to love the purity of Hob magic. It would take quite a feat of magic for me to create the exact trick.”

“What are you looking for?” Sophie asked, rolling over to look at the ceiling. Her hand touched the gauzy material of Angela’s bed curtains. She considered whether or not she would like something along those lines and then decided against it.

“A gift,” Angela said, walking towards the closet to her right and flinging it open. “Damn. Wrong closet.”

Laughter burst from Sophie as macramé plant holders, doilies and little southern belle toilet paper doll covers fell out in the hundreds.

“Damn it! I’ll never get them all back into the closet.”

“What the heck is this stuff?” Sophie said, getting off the bed and standing in front of the huge pile.

Angela grabbed a toilet paper doll and threw it at Sophie. “I didn’t mention my mother has a sister and she likes to make—”

“Church bazaar crap?” Sophie said, laughing as she gathered a plant holder done in the shape of an owl and a toilet paper doll. “I think I’m set for gifts right now.”

“No, stop laughing. She means well. I don’t have the heart to throw this stuff out. I have a whole chamber in the catacombs dedicated to storing gifts from her. She was never the same after Medusa was killed. Kind of made her a few ingredients short of a potion. She loved her sister.”

“Well, I think it’s sweet that she makes this stuff for you.”

“You’re making fun,” Angela said. Palms facing front, Angela made a forward sweeping motion, magically shoveling some of the items back into her closet.

“No, I’m serious.”

Angela stepped out of the pile, walked over to the other closet and opened the door. “I love the smell of cedar,” Angela said as she took a deep breath. She sorted through a tall stack of quilts and found the one she was looking for.

“I think this will look great in your room,” Angela said and shook the quilt open. The quilt depicted the four seasons, with a tree as the main focal point in each of its four squares.

Sophie was touched, and for reasons she didn’t understand, she began to cry.

“Well, it wasn’t supposed to make you cry,” Angela said sitting on the edge of her bed.

“No, it’s beautiful and so sweet. You are so kind…and generous… I…I…I think it must be the stress of the whole situation. I mean, I’m only sixteen for God’s sake. I’m sixteen and somehow I’m responsible for saving the world. What the heck is that? How is that right? I have these powers and I don’t know how to control them. I came close to killing myself and my mother by releasing some ugly troll named Martha. Have you ever seen a troll? They’re disgusting and they eat human flesh…and have really bad skin…and smell. Dear lord did she smell. I should have better control of my powers so I can protect people—”

“But,” Angela interrupted. “You’re not supposed to, at least not yet. It’s only been a few months. It takes time.”

“And what the heck does a Muse do? No one has told me how I am supposed to ‘inspire’ anyone. How does that work? How do you know who the heck to inspire? And then all of these people are coming to gawk at me. What if I disappoint them? What if I’m nothing more than an awkward girl from Ohio?” Sophie said, hiding her face in her hands. “Name a sixteen year old who had such responsibilities.”

“Well, history is filled with people who have been asked to make great sacrifice. Joan of Arc was much younger than you.”

“And it worked out so well for her,” Sophie said.

“Good point, but I bet that was some good barbecue.”

Sophie knew she shouldn’t, but she couldn’t stop herself from laughing.

“Sophie, let me give you some advice my Nanny gave me. She said, ‘Listen to me little girl…’ Whenever she got serious, she called me little girl. She said, ‘Listen to me little girl. At the end of the day, no matter what happened, no matter who did what to whom, you have to laugh because, next to love, laughter is the most powerful magic.'"

“Laugh? Her advice was to laugh?”

“Yes, laugh, because laughter will always overcome the mistakes of the day. Laughter always resets your mind for another day. Laughter feeds your soul and allows you to let it all go. Without laughter—”

“I’d be Georgia,” Sophie said

“Little girl,” Angela said. “You do realize that under all of the complex layers is a woman who loves you?”

“Yeah, right. She gushes love out of her black heart.”

“She knew you’d need a friend. She knew I needed a home because although they’re good at quilts and plant holders, Gorgons are kind of awkward mothers. She put the two of us together.”

For a second, Sophie chewed on what Angela said. “You know, I was going to ask you how you came to this Vasilikós.”

“Georgia, that’s how. Now, don’t get me wrong. With Georgia, there's always a motive behind her generosity. Whether she brought me here because she was sorry for me, or she was in a generous mood, or she knew her granddaughter needed a friend, or even if she knew having a powerful witch with Gorgon abilities would be a big plus for the battle to come, who knows. But I’m here. Think of it this way. Thanks to Georgia, you’ve a whole household of powerful entities available to you. And if anything goes wrong, you’ll have eight other Vasilikós to stand behind you. Compared to Joan of Arc, I think you’re in pretty good shape.”

Sophie knew Angela was right and nodded in agreement. Wiping her tears away, she touched the beautiful quilt her friend was still holding.

“Are you sure you want to give this to me? It’s incredibly beautiful.”

“Yes, I think I’m covered in the quilt department. Besides, I have a duplicate of this hanging on the wall in my sitting room over the fireplace. But, let me make this one a little extra special for you.”

Angela closed her eyes and mumbled some words Sophie couldn’t hear. A sudden burst of air took the Muse by surprise. Angela gave the quilt a shake and opened her eyes.

Sophie broke out into a wide smile. “How did you do that?”

The quilt was still the same, but now each of the squares had come alive. In the spring square, snow melted away, tulips bloomed and bare trees became green and lush. For summer, the tree remained green, but stalks in the right hand corner grew taller and produced ears of corn. A child swinging on a rope jumped into a lake with a big splash. The square for fall had the tree’s leaves turn vibrant red and orange. The same child jumped into a leaf pile. Sophie noticed the little girl had dreads like Angela. The dreads had tiny smiling snakeheads. Winter was a classic New England holiday scene, complete with a sleigh and a young woman in a white muff and red bonnet. A man climbed into the sleigh and shook the reins. The candlelight from a Christmas tree flickered inside a small cottage.

“I love it,” Sophie said. “I will always treasure it.”

“The scenes should continue to run, but if they stop, shake the quilt. The spell kind of makes it like a snow globe.”

There was a small tap on the door and Angela yelled for the person to come in.

In walked a girl Sophie didn’t recognize.

“I am so sorry to interrupt.” Her southern drawl dripped like honey. “But Georgia sent me to find you. My name is Miranda and I’m assigned as your personal assistant.”

“Miranda?” Sophie said, searching her mind, wondering why it sounded familiar. Suddenly she remembered and panicked.

It couldn’t be
.
What are the chances Bennett’s ex-girlfriend would end up here?

“Which Vasilikós are you from, Miranda?” Sophie asked.

“Well, I originally was stationed out of this Vasilikós, but an opportunity opened up in our Italy branch and I took it.” She leaned over and touched the gold coin necklace that lay against her collarbone. “A bit of boyfriend trouble made it necessary for a change. Being pretty as you are, I’m sure you understand.” Miranda said.

Sophie’s heart sank. It was bad enough the last interaction hadn’t gone well with Bennett. And now, she had to deal with Bennett’s ex-girlfriend as her personal assistant for the event preparations?

Is this one of my grandmother’s tricks? It’s probably my incredibly good luck. My life continues to be one big crap pie.

“Sophia?” Miranda said.

“Oh, sorry,” Sophie said, flustered. “Yes, boyfriend troubles can be a bit awkward.”

“Well, I’ll get through this. Bennett is just the sweetest boy and as hard as it was for him to deal with our breakup, I’m sure he’s completely over me. I felt so awful about breaking his heart. It wasn’t a good match. The whole Minotaur thing kind of freaked me out.”

“Minotaur?”

“Soph,” Angela said, jumping off the bed. “Let’s go take the quilt to your room.”

“Wait,” Miranda said, pulling out her note pad. “We have several things to do today. We have a dress fitting to take care of. Angela’s mother has arrived and then—.”

“Wait,” Angela said, holding out her hand. “My mother is here?”

“Yes she is and what a lovely woman. Just looking at you tells me you most definitely take after your father.”

Sophie walked out of the room, carrying the quilt.

“Don’t forget. I have to take you to your fitting in about an hour,” Miranda called after her.