Chapter 39 — Poker Face

"What a fucking prick," CeeCee grumbled, pouring a fresh shot for each of the women. Dark nibbled her lower lip, she wanted to mention Athena so badly but as much as she wanted to punch him, Poseidon's advice had been smart. She couldn't say anything until she came up with some kind of plan. Dark already had the bare bones of a plan no one would approve of, and much of that plan involved getting some alone time with Eos. She needed to visit the oracles again, too. She sighed and both CeeCee and Thia thought she was upset over Poseidon. They gave her understanding nods.

Jesus, she was upset about Poseidon, she realized. Why else would she be sitting here having fucking girl talk? She was supposed to track Thia down and head off to Dodona, but what had she done instead? Started an entire recap of the last few days spent with that entitled bastard, carefully leaving out all the Athena bits.

"You know what I say?" Thia smirked devilishly, "I say you tempt him for real and leave him high and dry for good measure." Dark laughed in surprise. She hadn't known Thia was so vindictive underneath all that good exterior.

"Fuck yea, you should! Of course, I would actually fuck him too, so maybe my advice on the matter is shit," Circe cackled wildly. Dark had always liked the memories of Circe the most. She was by far the most fun person Angel knew, and she was loyal to the teeth. Knowing the once human friend of Angel's was actually a full-blooded goddess who could seriously fuck shit up made her happy. Perhaps having some friends wasn't the worst affliction Dark could imagine.

"Gods, if you went that route, Hades would probably level the fucking underworld, so please don't," Thia's smile dropped into a shiver.

"Yea, why is he so sensitive?" Dark asked, leaning back in her chair. She brought her poker hand up to her face, "Also Circe, it's your fucking bid, stop getting distracted!" Circe rolled her eyes and tossed in two chips.

Dark, Circe, and Thia had been sitting around the small circular table in Dark's room, flicking out cards for the better part of an hour. They played poker like pros, which surprised Dark. She figured human card games weren't significant enough for them to have learned to play. But fuck, they were kind of kicking her ass.

Thia almost spit out her fruity cocktail, "Excuse me? Sensitive?! HADES? No, no, Dark, he's not sensitive at all. I mean, I've heard Thanatos' stories about the tortures Hades gives wicked souls. Whew honey, sensitivity isn't his thing." She chucked enough chips to match Circe and added a couple more. Circe cursed under her breath.

"So going feral isn't what the gods would consider being a little touchy?" Dark asked, "Just seems like an overreaction to me. I mean, what if she never comes back? What then? Is his plan to drink the world dry and then get put in a cage for eternity?" Dark tossed in her matching chips. She'd only called since her hand was absolute shit.

"Uh this is tricky ground to cover in the middle of his realm, Dark…" Thia whispered, "Angel…and I guess you, as well…bring that out in him. He's not been like this since…well, before I was created, honestly. What I can tell you with certainty is I know the king of hell you know and the one I knew for centuries before you came along are not the same." Circe matched Thia's raise with a small grimace and held her hand down against the table.

Dark fumbled with her dwindling pile of chips, knowing she really needed to win the next hand, and get off the topic of Hades because it made her uncomfortable, "Well it would seem terrible personality flaws run in the family then," she shrugged, watching Thia flip the remaining cards and lay her hand out. Circe laid hers down, too. Fuck, she lost again. Circe grinned, pulling the pot over to herself.

"I knew your ass was bluffing Thia, you've got a shit poker face," CeeCee smirked, flicking her wrist to bring the chips into orderly rows. Thia glared. Circe spent the most time on earth of all the gods Dark had met. It made her the most conventional one. She spoke as if she was human herself and for a new goddess like Dark, it was comfortable territory.

Dark didn't even bother showing her hand, sliding the cards into a slim stack, and tossing them against the pot. "Anyway, after all that shit with Poseidon, I just came back here to find you two. And now I'm trapped in an endless poker game and you're all robbing me blind! I'm tempted to get shitfaced, HA! Get it? Tempted?" Dark laughed an abrasive sound, her pun rimmed in violence more than humor. The other two women smirked and exchanged a glance.

"So…about what Poseidon said about Hades…" CeeCee started.

"Wait! Let's take this party out of the underworld before we start that conversation," Thia begged, "I really don't feel like him bursting in here to confront her. I already said too much. His room is right across the damn hall."

"Gods yes, where are we going?" Dark downed the rest of her drink, standing.

"Well, you've never been to Olympus and outside of here, it's the only other realm that's a safe place right now." CeeCee tossed her hand into the pile too and put a protective barrier around the table so the chips wouldn't fall.

"Who's house?" Dark asked, tossing her still shower-damp hair over the back of her jean jacket. She'd made it a point to wash off the last few days until her skin was red.

"Give you two guesses who has the nicest house and is never home…" CeeCee smiled and Dark watched as she melted into Zeus' body. Thia cursed and Dark shivered. It was so weird seeing somebody else do that.

"Come on, don't waste time!" CeeCee huffed as Dark turned herself into Hera and pulled her best regal pose. Thia nodded palely and opened the portal. Tossing an invisibility glamour over the table, the three stepped into the space of a large, overflowing garden.

"We're playing outside?" Dark made a less than pleased face at her voice not being her own. She sounded like Hera was born in the twenty-first century and it was jarring. Turning to let herself take in the splendor and beauty, Dark schooled her face before her glamour slipped, "Well shit, this place isn't like hell at all, is it?" she whispered.

Olympus wasn't like anywhere or anything else. There was so much fucking light. Gorgeous, endless light. She didn't think a place like this could ever be dark, even in the dead of night. It was like the stone and foliage glowed with a shimmering life of its own. Her breath caught. She studied the pinks and blues and pale purples of the clouds above them. It was a living painting, something heavenly, something humans had only tried miserably to depict in its divinity.

The hedges surrounding them rimmed the enormous expanse of the garden, cut into beautiful, clean lines like maze walls or fencing. There were bunches of sectioned flowers growing beautifully from the ground. Some were bordered with wrought iron fencing, while others were left to grow freely in their wildness. Someone had laid a lovely winding path of gravel through the grounds, dispersing periodic benches and bird baths. Dark saw how perfect everything was, even in the rougher growths of flowers, and marveled. There just weren't words.

"Nope, we're not playing outside, even though it's particularly inviting today," Circe laughed, sounding exactly as deep and smooth as Zeus, but with her popping the p, Dark couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "Zeus can sense if people portal into his house so we're walking in."

Dark's mind was a mix of all the ways her friend's persona and her body didn't match at all. Dark stilled as she realized she really considered Circe her friend. Not just Angel's, but her own. The goddess had never made her feel like she was impersonating Angel as some of the others had. The wild chaos she saw in Angel was Dark's true heart. Dark was made up of that kind of mischief and darkness. She and Circe were kindred in that same wayward spirit, and it was pure relief she felt as she stood in the gardens with someone who didn't mind her as she truly was.

As Circe led them up to the large castle doors, Dark almost gasped. If it hadn't been for the guards standing at attention for Zeus, who wasn't actually Zeus, she would have forgotten herself entirely. How had she missed the giant, pure white castle? Its brightness sliced into her pupils until she felt like they were bleeding. It was too awe-striking, nearly awful in how the beauty made her feel. She could hardly bear it.

Circe didn't acknowledge the guards as she pushed open the doors, leading Thia and Dark towards the interior. Dark blinked several times, trying to clear the black spots polka dotting her vision. Tears welled and slipped down her cheeks. Inside, it was the bright twin to Hades' palace, though it lacked the utilitarian elements he'd added for his hellraisers. White marble and precious metal were everywhere. The marble barely had any veins at all, and the ones it did have, were pale gray and brown, barely noticeable, looking almost perfectly white among the platinum vases, gold roses, giant crystal chandeliers that almost made her heart cry, platters of silver and mirrored finishes. Gods, this place was a treasure trove.

Part of the shock Dark felt was that nothing seemed to clash. Somehow, all the surfaces complimented one another. Shiny matched with Matte, glitter matched with rough, gloss matched with weathered. Everything completed itself. Dark had never felt quite so struck by anything so beautiful. This place was heaven's heaven. The kind of beauty that beauty strived for. She inhaled sharply, biting back the sting of her eyes.

Once the doors were safely closed behind them, Circe nudged her arm, "You get used to the kind of beauty Demeter and Hera can create up here. Are your eyes still burning from looking at the castle?" Dark nodded, still dumbstruck.

"Fucking Zeus picked the exterior and no matter how many times we all say we can't fucking see after we look at it, he won't tone it down," Thia laughed, shaking her head, "He's such a proud bastard sometimes. I think he won't change it because it's the one thing Hera let him pick, and he fucked it up."

"Excuse me, Pythia?" CeeCee growled in Zeus' voice, her face breaking the scowl as if she couldn't hold the act any longer. Thia squeaked and rasped a breath.

"Don't do that again!"

"Stop talking shit," Circe cackled, finally letting her glamour fall. Dark followed suit and they pulled the cloak off the table too. Without so much as another word, Circe started walking down one hall as if she owned the place.

Dark said, "How many times exactly have you done this?" when she could finally speak.

"Enough times to know exactly which room is his billiard room. He only uses it for 'guys night' which is next to never," Circe grinned, continuing on as the others followed.