Creation's Guardian Ch. 10

As Hades appeared with the Titanides, Cassandra gasped in shock. They were naked, filthy, and covered in cuts and bruises from head to toe. "KADIR, ASIMAH, SELENA, GET OVER HERE NOW!" Cassandra screamed.

The three women came running over. "OH MY GODS!" Kadir exclaimed.

"Get them in Persephone's temple. Give them all a bath and get them healed!" Cassandra ordered. She turned to Hades. "You son of a bitch! You did this to them? Get your fucking ass back down to the underworld and stay there! If I EVER see your fucking face again I'll fucking kill you! You're on probation for eternity. One more screw up, no matter how small, and you're dead. Now get the fuck out of my sight!"

Cassandra turned to Destiny and Life. "Thank you both for your help."

"It's no problem Cassandra. That's what we're there for. Are you gonna be okay?" Destiny replied.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It's just that... some of the things he did to those poor women...it makes me sick. I should've just ended him."

"You could've. Mother wouldn't have said a word. She's just as sick about it as you are. We don't monitor the underworld. He knows that. That's how he got away with things for so long. The good news is that he's trapped in the underworld for eternity. Mother's interpreting your orders very liberally. Go there, stay there, one screw up, he dies. If so much as a fingernail leaves the underworld she'll see it as a screw up and he's dead. She's also made sure that he can't communicate with anyone outside the underworld and that only the dead can go there unless you or Bob order otherwise. He's totally cut off from everything now." Life said

"What about those undead Persephone told me about? Can they come here?"

"No. The undead are beings, that while not quite dead, aren't exactly alive either. The only place they can exist is in the underworld," Life replied.

"Good! That means that Persephone and the Titanides won't have anything to fear from that bastard ever again! Is there any way you two can stick around a while? I've got a feeling I'm gonna need your help again before this is all over with."

"Sure. In fact mother's told us to stay with you and do whatever you need for as long as you need us," Destiny replied with a smile.

"Wow, thanks! In that case, I think it's time we checked on the Titanides."

When Cassandra entered the temple she saw that all six of the Titanides were laying on cots. Kadir, Asimah, and Selena were each healing one while Bob worked on a fourth. The other two were moaning softly in pain. One of them was being comforted by Aphrodite and Hestia. Demeter and Persephone were kneeling by the last one's side gently comforting her. Cassandra looked at Asimah and said, "Summon two more healers, those last two can't wait any longer."

Asimah acknowledged Cassandra's order with a nod but never stopped working on the Titanide she was healing. Two female caliphs appeared giving Asimah a quizzical look. Asimah tipped her head toward the two Titanides and both caliphs nodded their understanding. Each one moved quickly into position and began healing the last two Titanides.

Cassandra turned to Bob. "How are they doing, my love?"

Bob didn't even look up as he replied. "Their bodies have all been thoroughly cleaned and we can heal all of their physical wounds. It's their minds I'm worried about. I don't see how anyone can go through the hell they've been put through and come out whole mentally. We won't know how bad that is until they're fully awake. Right now I'm keeping them all in a semiconscious state while we heal them. After that, I'll wake them one at a time and we'll go from there."

Cassandra shook her head. "That's not gonna work, Master. They're all gonna need a long period of rest before you can wake them." She walked around the room touching each Titanide on the forehead. "There, that's better. Now they'll all sleep until at least ten o'clock tomorrow night."

Bob glanced up at Cassandra in shock. "What? How did..."

"Easy darling, pay attention to what you're doing. I'll explain while you work. When Persephone told me what Hades was doing earlier, the Boss gave me what you'd call a gentle kick in the ass. I was told I not only had a duty to protect Persephone, it was also MY responsibility to deal with Hades and to protect the Titanides from him as well. She didn't care what I did, or how I did it, as long as I got the job done. I also found out that when she crowned me queen of the Olympians, she gave me both Hera and Zeus's powers. You already had all of their powers so instead of wasting them she gave them to me. Add them to the defensive shield and battle skills you've already given me and I guess that makes me the meanest, baddest, little bitch in all of creation."

Bob whistled softly. "Yeah, I'd say so." He stood brushing off his knees. "Well I've done all I can for her until she wakes up. Since you seem to be in command of this little side operation, what's your next move sweetie?"

"I don't want this to affect the overall plan, but I don't want them seen just yet either. Can you finish it without me if I take Artemis, Demeter, Persephone, Hestia, Cailin, and Selena with me?"

"I don't see why not, but where are you gonna take them?"

Cassandra looked over at Demeter. "Would it be okay if we borrowed your temple until the Titanides are up and about?"

"Of course Cassandra, I'd be happy to help in any way I can." Demeter replied.

"Thank you Sis." Cassandra turned back to Bob. "Okay, that's where we're going. Once we're all in there, I need you to put a cone of silence over that temple and keep it there until we're ready to wake them. I'm also gonna keep Destiny and Life with me just in case I need them. I'm sorry my love, but you're gonna have to handle the governors and their teams on your own. I can't afford to leave the Titanides side right now."

"Don't worry about it sweetie. You just take good care of the Titanides. You're all they've got right now. I'll handle everything else. That way, hopefully, we can still finish on schedule." He gave Cassandra a kiss then ported her, the Titanides, and the team she had chosen to Demeter's temple. Once everyone was inside, he placed a cone of silence over the temple.

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INSIDE DEMETER'S TEMPLE:

Cassandra looked down at the cots the Titanides were lying on and shook her head. She turned to Selena and said, "Those cots don't look very comfortable. Can you create double beds for them to sleep on instead? I think they'll rest a little better that way."

Selena turned the cots into beds and said "You're right Sis. They do look a lot more comfortable now. I'm sorry about the cots, but when we first got to them, their condition was so bad we didn't have time to think ahead."

"I understand Selena. Don't worry about it. You did what you had to do under the circumstances and I appreciate it"

Destiny spoke up. "You know Cassandra, Bob may be right. When you wake them up, you may find that they have little more than scrambled eggs for brains."

"I realize that Destiny. But what was I supposed to do? I couldn't just leave them down there going through hell like that. There's got to be something we can do to help them. Otherwise why bother rescuing them?"

"All right Cassandra, because your powers are so new to you, we've been given some extra leeway to guide and help you. Lesson number one. There are ALWAYS possibilities. As queen of the Olympians, you have abilities you haven't even tapped into yet. I suggest you start by assessing their mental state. Pick one, it doesn't matter who. Then use your telepathic skills to enter her mind. Don't try to contact her yet. Just look around and see what you can find out. When you think you've seen enough, get out of there and tell us what you've found."

Demeter looked up at Cassandra. "Can you please choose this one? Her names Rhea. She's my mother. I really need to know how she's doing."

Cassandra knelt beside Demeter giving her a kiss on the cheek "Okay Sis, we'll start with her. But you might not like what I find."

"I don't care what you see. I just need to know how she is," Demeter replied.

When Cassandra slipped into Rhea's mind, she found herself in a grassy meadow sprinkled with beautiful flowers. There were a few scattered shade trees and a small lake fed by a bubbling spring. Rhea was lying in the grass by the lake with one arm over her eyes sleeping peacefully. Cassandra looked across the meadow and saw two corridors, one dark and one dimly lit. She walked along the dimly lit corridor and saw Rhea's memories as a young titan. As she approached the darkened corridor a sense of foreboding came over her and a chill ran up and down her spine causing the hairs on her neck to stand up. She entered the corridor and gasped loudly as her stomach began to churn. Both sides were lined with Rhea's memories of the horrific tortures the undead had put her through. At the end was a heavy metal door that was obviously locked. Cassandra quickly slipped out of Rhea's mind and ran to the temple doorway sticking her head outside. She stood leaning on one side of the doorway as she gagged and retched for several minutes.

Demeter and Persephone ran to one side of Cassandra while Cailin and Selena ran to the other side. Each had a Hand on Cassandra's back or shoulder as they each asked her if she was okay over and over. Finally Cassandra turned wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and said, "Yeah, I'm okay now. I just need something to wash this god awful taste out of my mouth."

Destiny handed Cassandra a glass of cold wine. "Here rinse and spit a few times before you swallow any. That'll that will take the taste of the bile away."

After Cassandra had rinsed her mouth several times, she took a sip of her wine. Then she sat on one of the stone benches leaning her head back against the cool wall closing her eyes. She took a few deep breathes to calm herself, then opened her eyes and took another sip of her wine. She looked up at Destiny and Life as her eyes filled with tears. "I should've just killed that fucker. You wouldn't believe the things he put that poor woman through."

"Judging by your reaction, we'd believe just about anything right now. Are you up to telling us about it yet?" Life asked.

Cassandra explained everything she'd seen while she was in Rhea's mind. When Cassandra finished speaking, Destiny let out a soft whistle. "I know it was tough on you in there Cassandra. But you did a great job finding out everything we need to know. I realize how bad things look, but Rhea's in a lot better shape than I thought she'd be in. All her early memories seem to be intact. The meadow you started out in is what you could call her safe place. When things got to be more than her mind could handle, it created that spot as a place for her to hide in. It also created that locked door to shield itself from the ongoing hell. When the time comes for you to go back into her mind to contact her, whatever you do don't let her open that door. The fact that you saw her sleeping peacefully in the grass means that whatever is behind that door's a hell of a lot worse than the stuff she let you see. I realize all that shit's gonna have to be dealt with. The question is, do we deal with it for her, or do we let her deal with it herself a little at a time? I don't know the answer to that yet. A lot of it depends on the shape the others are in. You're gonna have to asses each of their minds the same way you did Rhea's."

Cassandra drained her glass of wine and shuddered. "Yeah I know, I kinda expected that. Just make sure you have something for me to rinse my mouth with when I come back out each time." She steeled herself and entered Phoebe's mind. She smiled as she realized Phoebe's safe spot was more like a fortress than anything else. Other than that, everything was pretty much the same as in Rhea's mind. The memories of the torture ended in about the same spot with the worst of it behind a locked door and once again Cassandra found that Phoebe's early memories were intact. Cassandra slipped out of Phoebe's mind and explained everything she saw to Destiny and Life.

Life held up two crossed fingers and said, "I've got this really wild idea Cassandra. I'm beginning to think that the Titanides saw it coming. I believe they talked about it and came up with a strategy to deal with it. I think you'll find they agreed that when it became too much for any one of them, they'd all shut down simultaneously. If I'm right, things are gonna be a hell of a lot easier than we expected. Let's not take any chances though. Let's see where we're at when you've finished with the other four of them."

Now that she knew what she was looking for, it took Cassandra less than twenty minutes to zip through the minds of the other four Titanides slipping out of one mind into the next without pausing. She wasn't at all surprised to find that while all their safe spots were different, everything else was basically the same. Cassandra reported her findings to Destiny and Life with a smile on her face for the first time since this all started.

Destiny and Life were ecstatic. Destiny took Cassandra's hands in hers while looking her in the eyes. "Okay Cassandra, now comes the hard part. You need to go back into Rhea's mind and contact her. You're gonna have to be very careful, but we need to know what she wants us to do with those horrific memories she has locked away. We'll keep her body asleep while you're in there so you'll be talking to just her subconscious mind. But I think Life's right, they planned all this. I'm betting Rhea knows what they all want done with those memories and if I'm right, you'll only have to do this part one time."

"Okay, so exactly how do I contact her?" Cassandra asked.

"Just sit next to her and say hello. She should respond almost instantly. If she doesn't something's wrong. Get out of there and let us know right away," Life replied.

Cassandra entered Rhea's mind again. She sat next to Rhea's sleeping form while taking a deep breath and composing herself. She smiled softly and thought, "Hello Rhea."

Rhea opened her eyes smiled up at Cassandra and replied, "Well hello there, and who might you be?"

"My name's Cassandra. You're probably gonna find this hard to believe, but I'm the new queen of the Olympians. I'm here to see if we can figure out the best way to help you. But there are a few things I should tell you first. You're no longer in Tartarus. You and the other Titanides are on a planet called Neuveia. We've got you all resting and recovering in Demeter's new temple. I've sanctioned Hades for the horrible things he's done to you and your sisters by permanently exiling him to the underworld. You have my word as your queen that he'll never hurt any of you ever again."

"Cassandra... I know that name from somewhere... It was...five...maybe six thousand years ago. Aphrodite had a daughter she named Cassandra. I remember it caused quite a stir, even in Tartarus. The Olympians did something to her and it really pissed the fates off. I think they trapped her in a ring or something like that. Are you THAT Cassandra?"

"Yup, that's me, and it was six thousand years ago. It's a long story. I promise I'll tell you all about it when we wake you. For now suffice it to say that Zeus is gone. The Maker of All Things tossed his stupid ass in the void. So you also have a new king. His name is Bob and he's a really great guy. He's also Creation's Guardian so he has dominion over everything in creation. He answers directly to the Maker of All Things who he calls his boss, and he calls the Fates his big sisters. Destiny and Life are being a big help to me right now. I'm kinda new at being queen of the Olympians so they're here in this temple with us guiding me so that I don't make too many mistakes."

"Okay Cassandra, you've convinced me that you're for real. I guess there are a few things I should tell you too. Mnemosyne overheard Hades making his plans with his undead bitches. We had a pretty good idea of what was coming. We established what you could call a physic lock between the six of us. Essentially, we're all tied together telepathically. We could've taken a lot more than what those undead sluts did to us. But they were attacking us all at the same time so our lock wasn't really helping. We decided to pretend we couldn't take anymore and gave in. That way when Hades was raping or torturing one of us, she could draw on the other five of us for strength. We didn't know if we'd all survive, but we were hoping if one did, she could get justice for the rest of us. I'm pretty sure you wandered around a bit before you sat down next to me. Behind that locked door you saw is the memories of all six of us. We each have the full memories of everything Hades did to any one of us. I should also tell you that everything you've said to me and everything I'm saying to you is being heard by the other five."

"Thank the Heavens for that! I need to know what you want to do about those memories you've got locked away. There's a thousand years of horrific memories behind those doors. Once we wake you, the physic lock will be broken. You won't be able to draw on the others for strength. If those memories pop out at you all at once they're liable to drive you insane."

"A thousand years? Holy shit! None of us realized that much time had passed. You're right, without the strength of the link none of us could handle all those memories! What are our options?"

"Well, we could permanently seal off each of your individual doors. That way none of you'd ever have to deal with those memories. The down side is that you wouldn't have access to a part of your own mind. Although in this case you'd all know why. We could temporally seal them off and let out a few of the memories. Once you've dealt with them, we'd let out a few more. It'd take thousands of years but eventually you'd deal with them all. Or we could erase those particular memories completely. It would mean a thousand years of missing memories, but again you'd all know why."

"Give me a couple of minutes while I check with the others." A few minutes later Rhea continued. "One quick question. What are the chances Hades will break exile?"

"Zero. The Maker of All Things has interpreted my order to Hades in such a way that if even a hair on his head leaves the underworld she'll end his existence."

"In that case, erase them. It makes the most sense. We realize a thousand years have gone by. But what you're forgetting is that each of us has the full memories of all the others plus our own. That's a total of six thousand years of memory space. I'm sure our minds will find some way to put it to good use."

"All right Rhea, I'll get to work on that. In the meantime, try to let your mind rest. I'll talk to you more when we wake you later tonight."

Cassandra slipped out of Rhea's mind. She sat back on the stone bench grinning as Destiny handed her another glass of wine. She said, "Thanks Destiny," and sipped her wine. She then proceeded to tell Destiny and Life everything she and Rhea had talked about. "The only problem I have is that I don't know how to erase those specific memories without accidentally erasing their entire memory," she said.

Destiny smiled and said, "I can think of at least three easy ways it can be done Cassandra. If you want to do it yourself, just focus on the doors and erase everything behind them. But you'll have to do them all one at a time. Life and I can do it for you. There are two of us so we can do it two at a time. Or, you can just have Selena do it with a simple wish. She can do them all at once for you."