Alice tried to ignore it, even though it bothered her deeply. She was just so puzzled! He knew where she was going, so why would her dad pack her the wrong supplies? Icarus caught her drift and dropped the subject.
He stared up at the sky. Night had fallen, and it made the still water look like oil. Icarus looked down to see that Alice was cleaning off her knife because it had been used to prepare the fish. The fire's radiance made it glint, and the darkness made it seem menacing. She looked up from her work, and Icarus diverted his gaze. The two of them hadn't yet recovered from the awkwardness from before. He glimpsed at Alice just long enough to see her put the knife in the backpack again. That was good. Seeing the knife made him uncomfortable.
Alice stretched out onto the sand. It wasn't nearly as nice as her bed at home would've been, but it was what she had. Sparky curled up beside her to protect her. She closed her eyes and fell asleep (completely forgetting that they had a blanket), and Icarus was right behind her. They would set off for Calypso's island in the morning.
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Hermes flew through the night air on his chariot. It was pulled by six pitch-black horses that were gifts from Hades long ago. Hermes hadn't done this in a long time. No one had needed him because no one had believed in the ancient religion.
Nonetheless, he was running late because of sticking around to listen to heavy metal with Ares. Hades was going to have his head if he couldn't do his job in time. Literally.
He landed in the grass beside two crashed cars. He didn't slow down enough, so he ruined the grass. You could see where he landed because of the tracks he left in the ground.
Hermes hopped out of the chariot and walked briskly over to the crashed cars. He hummed his favorite metal song as he went. He saw that one of the doors on a little red car was open. He peered inside and saw that the car was empty. There was blood on the steering wheel, suggesting that a body had already been removed. Hermes stopped humming. He was in trouble now. He had to get that soul to Hades before the end of the week. No one should survive a car accident that bad. You can't mess with fate. Or the Fates, for that matter.
He turned around to see a striking woman. She had your average supermodel's body: long limbs, a gentle face, and flawless skin. Her eyes were bluish green, and reminded Hermes of the ocean. Her dark blonde hair looked like spun gold, and it came down like a waterfall to her hips. She wore an indigo velvet dress that stopped just before her ankles. She had aquamarine jewelry hanging around her neck and circling her fingers and wrists. They could have only been crafted by Hephaestus himself.
Looking at her made Hermes wish he were wearing fancier clothes than his black skull shirt and jeans that he had been wearing for more than a day. He would've chosen something to impress her if he'd known he was going to find the elusive woman.
"Hello, Hermes," she greeted him. Her voice was smooth like a gently flowing stream.
"Hello, Aphrodite," Hermes said back.
"Do you like my ring?" she asked. She held up her delicate hand and pointed to a beautiful diamond ring. It faintly sparkled, but it looked like it belonged to someone else.
"It's nice," he replied, immediately wishing that he had better word choice.
"My husband made it."
Aphrodite glanced over to the hood of the car. Maybe he left it for me? No way . . . I still hate him. This is probably Mrs. Stone's. She laughed a little inside her head. She knew her plan genius. Mrs. Stone wouldn't be around much longer. With a little puppeteering here and there, she could get whatever she wanted.
"You were supposed to pick up a soul here, right, Hermes?"
"Yeah, but the body is gone. You wouldn't happen to know where . . ."
"It went?" she finished for him. "No. Who are you looking for?"
"Giselle Stone," he answered.
"Perhaps I can help you."
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Alice awoke to the smell of fish cooking over the fire. The aroma wafted into her nose and tingled her senses. She sat up and watched Icarus work. Though Icarus was a pretty good cook, she wished it were her mother making breakfast. Alice sighed. She missed her mom so much. The thought that she might never see her mom alive again ripped holes in her heart.
Those thoughts were quickly washed away like footprints by a tide. Sparky had realized that she was awake, and bounded all over her lap. Alice scratched him behind the ears.
Icarus turned around to see that Alice was awake. "Good morning," he said. He smiled, hoping they could get through the day without mention of the supplies.
"Right back at you."
Icarus handed Alice her share of the food. She ate it somewhat slowly because she didn't want to leave. She gave Sparky little tidbits of fish, and he gobbled them up gratefully.
Alice envied Sparky. He didn't have to carry the burden of emotions that weighed her down. He could go through his life without a care in the world. It didn't seem fair to her, but then she remembered that he was still her friend.
After they ate, they stood on the shore together. Sparky bounded around their ankles. They savored their final moments on land and set off in the little rowboat. Icarus rowed first. He seemed more comfortable in an actual boat than in a shabby raft. Alice looked back at the shore. She felt like it was calling her. Her dislike of water grew as it became all that she could see. How long would it be before she'd set foot on land again?
