Fate Chapter 1

Chapter 1

















Sweat dripped from Ethan’s chin as he guided the ball around the blocker and ran down the field. The other teamed converged on him trying to block his avenues of travel but that pulled them off Jake who was running down the other side of the field. Ethan passed the ball without looking to Jake just before one of the defender tried to steal the ball. Instead of hitting the ball which was no longer there the defenders cleat slammed into Ethan’s shin and with a curse they both went down in a heap. The screams of victory from the cheerleaders off to the side told Ethan that Jake had scored even before he extricated himself from the tangle of arms and legs. That was the final play and they had one seven to six. Ethan smiled as sweat poured down his face in the summer heat, this would be the final soccer game of the season and he was glad they won.

“You did awesome little brother,” Sabina said rushing over and handing him a water bottle. He took her in as he gulped down the water and could understand why everyone doubted that they were related. She stood 5’5″ and weighed maybe 110 and had long bark brown hair with reddish streaks running through it. Even though she spent a great deal of time outside with a lot of her skin exposed to the sun her coloring never darkened so she had the same milky pale skin she had been born with. The contrast between the dark hair and pale skin was striking but when combine with the milk chocolate brown of her eyes it was breath taking. Many guys had tried to date her over the years most had only gone on one date with her then never returned her phone calls. She didn’t know of course that Ethan had ‘spoken’ to them and as pretty as she was they feared the promise of pain in his eyes when he warned them off more. She was dressed in the cheerleaders outfit with her hair pulled back into a ponytail behind her head. The blue and red of the skimpy outfit went well with her color and Ethan turned his head away and tried to keep indecent thoughts from entering his mind.

“Thanks,” he said after finishing the bottle.

“Sabina,” one of the other cheerleaders called and held up Sabina’s phone which he could hear faintly over the noise around them. Sabina smiled at Ethan then ran toward her squad mate to retrieve her phone. Jake slammed into his back catching him unaware since he had been watching Sabina run back to the sideline. Jake wrapped his arms around Ethan’s chest and lifted him from his feet and squeezed before he let go and Ethan dropped back to his feet.

“Good job,” Ethan said when he turned to face Jake.

“That was an awesome pass I thought they had you for a minute there,” Jake said clapping Ethan on the back. A feeling in his gut caused Ethan to look over at Sabina just as his teammates surrounded him and then sight sent terror flooding through him like jumping into and ice cold pond. He shoved his way through his teammates who looked confused as he pushed them aside while they tried to congratulate him and Jake. He reached the edge of the group and broke into a sprint toward Sabina. She was on her knees and was curled around her arms which tightly held on to her middle as if she had a stomach wound. He couldn’t see her face since it was only inches from the grass and facing down be he knew she was sobbing. The cheerleaders were formed in a semi-circle behind her with concern on their faces. The one who had called her with the phone was kneeling beside her talking to her urgently; Sabina didn’t react as if she couldn’t even hear the girl.

“Sabina,” Ethan cried sliding to a halt and dropping to his knees beside her. He gripped her shoulders and forced her up straight check her stomach to make sure she wasn’t injured. It was then that he saw it was the phone she was clutching to her middle. He plucked it from her unresisting hand while holding her up with his free hand. He sat back cross legged and pulled her into his lap and rested her head against his chest. Once he had her situated he took a deep breath and raised the phone to his ear.

“Sabina, Sabina are you there,” his mother’s voice demanded.

“She is here Mom, but she kind of lost it. What is going on,” he demanded.

“I just got a call from the police to inform me your father is dead,” she said. He could hear the tears in her voice and her voice caught in her throat with a sob when she said ‘dead’.

“We’ll be home as soon as possible. I love you Mom,” he said into the phone.

“I love you too sweetie,” she replied and the line went dead. Ethan stood lifting Sabina into his arms with ease as he rose to his full height and headed toward his team. They were all still congratulating each other, unaware of his dire news. Tears burned in his eyes at that thought but he shoved down the emotion so he could function and get to his mother who would need his support now.

“Jake I need you to give me a ride home, now please,” Ethan said and Jake seeing the serious look in his friends face nodded. They bypassed the locker room at a jog on the way to the parking lot and Jake shot Ethan a look out of the corner of his eye but said nothing. They got into Jake’s old beaten up Cadillac with Jake behind the wheel and Ethan in the passenger seat with Sabina curled up like a child in his lap sobbing. He gently ran a hand down her back as they pulled out of the parking lot. Jake was silent for a few minutes but he finally asked the question that had to have been in his mind as soon as Ethan demanded a ride.

“What’s going on man? Your sister looks like someone died,” Jake asked.

“My Father,” Ethan said. Jake’s face scrunched up in confusion at that answered until it dawned on him what Ethan had meant and his face paled.

“That fucking sucks man! I am so sorry,” Jake apologized and Ethan nodded his understanding. They sat the rest of the way to Ethan’s house in silence and Ethan continued to offer silent comfort to Sabina. When they pulled up in front of the house Ethan climbed out of the car with Sabina in his arms again.

“You need me to do anything man,” Jake asked, leaning across the seat, and when Ethan shook his head he pulled the passenger door closed and drove off. Ethan carried Sabina up to the house, a one story brick house with three bedrooms and black roofing tiles, and pressed the bell with an elbow and waited as the sound of running feet approached the door. Lily through open the door and her hand flew up to cover her mouth as she saw them and she moved aside quickly so he could enter. He took her to the living room and sat still cradling her quivering body to his chest as exhaustion began to overwhelm her.

“What happened,” Lily asked sitting down beside them and putting a hand on Sabina’s brow.

“Shock, I think, hold her I am going to get her a blanket,” he said and gently moved Sabina to Lily’s lap and then had to pry her fingers from the Death grip she had on his shirt. She whimpered when he moved away from her but she snuggled into her mother’s chest when Lily’s arms wrapped around her. Ethan came back with the blanket and wrapped it around them both snuggly then sat and wrapped an arm around his mother’s shoulders.

“What happened,” he asked.

“You know how the news has been reporting sightings of gods and mythical creatures,” she asked and when he nodded she continued.

“Well Hades appeared in Time Square and killed everyone and your father was there, probably getting lunch like he usually does,” she explained her final word coming out high pitched and strangled as tears began to run down her cheeks. A single tear tracked down Ethan’s face as hate and sadness welled up within him but he pushed the feelings down to be dealt with later.

“The funeral arrangements,” Ethan asked.

“There were no bodies left only the clothes and a pile of ashes that blew away with the wind,” she explained tears still streaming down her cheeks. She lowered her head and pressed her face into her daughter’s hair and Ethan sat there silently lending what little comfort he could with his presence. He watched over them both until they fell asleep and then he carried them both one at a time into his sister’s room and tucked them into the bed together. He figured his mother might not want to go to her own room and his sister could use the company. He then grabbed some clothes from his room and headed for the bathroom to take a shower. He turned the water all the way to hot because he was feeling kind of cold. He stepped into the shower and let the steaming water pour over his skin and tried to relax. The rising steam seemed to seep into his head and blanket his mind causing the world to shift under his feet. He sank to a sitting position under the fall of water before the dizziness caused him to fall. He drew his knees up to his chest and stared at the tiles of the wall his mind catching on small abstract details but not really taking anything in. Like a crack in the corner of one tile drew his gaze for several minutes but when his focus shifted else where he couldn’t remember what was so interesting about the crack. He must have sat that way for some time before a hand on his shoulder jerked him back into reality and realized that the water was now cold. He looked up into Lily’s worried eyes and tried to smile reassuringly but the muscles in his face didn’t seem to want to work right.

“Sorry must have lost track of time,” he said and shut off the water. Lily said nothing but held out a towel for him to stand up and wrap around himself. His lips were blue from cold and he shivered as she dried him off when she got to his face she wiped his face with her palm and it back wet after she had already dried it. It was only seeing the wetness on her hand that Ethan realized he was crying he turned his back to her and grabbed his clean boxers and slipped them on.


Mount Olympus


Hades returned to Olympus with a feeling of satisfaction at having struck down the mortals who showed him disrespect. The Fates were waiting for him in his rooms when he arrived and he waved a hand for them to speak.

“Today you have set the Twice Born on the path to your destruction. He will destroy you unless he is dealt with first,” Clotho said.

“His name is Ethan and he has reached maturity and his abilities are beginning to awaken,” Lachesis added.

“If you go and kill him yourself the world will be set on an unchangeable path towards destruction,” Atropos finished.

“Whose son is he,” Hades asked.

“Aphrodite,” Lachesis answered. Hades began to laugh at that piece of information and Atropos shook her head at his arrogance.

“Do not under estimate him or he will be your downfall,” Clotho said. Hades nodded his understanding and dismissed them as he pondered what to do about the situation.




Civitatem Amor



“Hades knows who your son is and where he is,” Clotho informed. Aphrodite paced in agitation at the news and she began to worry but Sophos. He was never far from her thought and she fought the temptation to go to him often as the years passed by.

“He wouldn’t know if you hadn’t told him,” Aphrodite accused and summoned her high priestess.

“If you send a squad of warriors out he will be gone by the time they arrive at his home,” Atropos informed her.

“You need not do anything he will come to your people on his own. If he survives that long,” Lachesis continued. Aphrodite sat and waved the Fates a dismissal before letting her face fall into her hands.



New York



The next day they sat around the house just staring off into space and sometimes Lily or Sabina would break into tears but Ethan’s eyes remained dry. He often fantasized about having the god Hades under his power and what he would do to the murdering deity. The following day Lily immersed herself in her work even though she didn’t need to thanks to John’s life insurance. Ethan cajoled Sabina into going to school and she went back but didn’t speak to anyone even though her friends tried to talk to her. Days passed and Lily became so immersed in her work she didn’t notice as her daughter slowly slid into a deep depression. Sabina quit the cheerleading squad and started wearing all black baggy clothes that hid her form. Ethan tried to talk to her but she shrugged off his concerns or screamed insults at him. Ethan watched his mother become a workaholic to hide from the pain of her husband’s death and Sabina, losing the support of both her parents, started down a path of self-destruction. A month after the death of his father Ethan was walking down a hall at school trying to figure out what to do to help his mother and sister when he rounded a corner and froze. Sabina was kissing local druggy he had her pinned to the wall and his hand was down the front of her jeans. Ethan was frozen in shock for several moments because Sabina had made no secret about how she despised this guy in the past.

“Sabina,” he called out loudly getting over his shock quickly. He stalked forward and pulled back his arm and punched the guy in the side of the head. The stumbled to the side and fell his eyes unfocused from the blow and Ethan stalked toward him. He grabbed the lanky punk by his greasy hair and pulled his head back.

“If you touch my sister again I’ll cut your arm off and feed it to you. Do you understand,” he hissed only inches front the other guys face. When he didn’t get answer fast enough he shook the guy by the fist full of hair and the guy yelped in pain.

“I got it man, hands off your sister or you’ll fuck me up,” he raised his free hand in a gesture of surrender the other covered the side of his face, were Ethan had struck him. Ethan released the guy’s hair and wiped his hand off on his jeans before he turned and seized Sabina, who was screeching obscenities at him, by the arm.