Lore

by Alexandra Bracken

“Trickster. Messenger. Traveler. Thief,” the new god said. Then he slammed the blade through the ridged bones of the prisoner’s spine. “Nothing.”

NOT HERMES

She had recited the English translation of the account of Zeus giving the original command for the Agon. The original version, in the ancient tongue, had been lost.

mistranslation or missing lines?

The goddess took in the sight of him with derision before turning back toward Lore. “This vessel requires sustenance.”

mood

victuals

Athena nodded. “This . . . poem you hold so dear, the one you recite as fact, it is either incomplete, or he searches for another version of it. One which tells of how the Agon ends and how its victor will claim unfathomable power.”

knew

Kleos is the honor that comes from becoming a legend—someone others keep alive through stories and songs. Your body can die, but your name will live forever.”

He descended the stairs the way the first ray of sunlight breaks through a window at morning. His form was immaculate—tall, corded with muscles, and a face that echoed in the sweetest part of her memory. Castor.

SHIDDD

She saw the edge of a shield held firm in front of her, repelling the darkness. A wing made of golden light. Bright eyes reflected in the blade of a sword.

Don’t fall, she thought. I won’t, his gaze promised. And as long as he wouldn’t, neither would Lore.

“Your father and mother may have delivered you into your bloodline,” the instructor said. “But they are not your family. Those around you are your sisters and your brothers. Your archon is your guardian, your light, and your leader. He is your patér. Your true father. It is for him that you learn pain. It is for him that you bleed.”

oh they are cults

“Evander, son of Adonis,” Philip hissed.

son of adonis !

Philip gripped Van’s shoulder and drew him toward the door. “There are hunters posted outside. Is there anything else I can provide you, my lord?” “Just your absence,” Castor said, still not turning around.

this is so tuff lmao

And a traitor, too, hiding behind another line’s mask. It wouldn’t have protected him from the kin killer’s curse, just as it hadn’t protected him from her.

BARS

“Surprise?” she said, because Lore had never met a situation she couldn’t make even more painfully awkward.

cringe

Castor instinctively moved to catch him, but Lore swung her gaze up, toward the open skylight. Another arrow appeared in the sliver of blue and released without so much as a whisper—ripping through the air, flying straight toward the back of Castor’s neck.

artemis hello

The goddess bared her teeth, but Lore’s gaze fixed on the way her fingers were curled into claws around her compound bow.

what tf is wrong w all their hands

“If I wanted a moral compass, I would have stopped at a store on the way here.”

cringe

He took it, even though she knew he didn’t need to, and they set off again.

him love her

She would always take care of the neighborhood that had taken care of her. It was part of the contract that came with being a New Yorker.

the author being born and raised in arizona makes so much sense

“What will you tell his family when you bring his body back to them?” he asked her. “Geez,” Miles said. “I’m standing right here.”

KISS

“The new Aphrodite, Heartkeeper—” “Heartkeeper?” Lore repeated, making a face. “Is it just me or are these names getting stupider?”

1. i like this epithet 2. of course it's aphrodite's being met with scorn

“I know a place they can use,” Miles cut in. “That is, if you can find it in yourself to accept help from a mere Unblooded.” Van said nothing, and his face betrayed little more.

he loves him

Not lost, Lore told herself. Free.

And Wrath, standing at the center of it all, had his hand around Heartkeeper’s throat.

this is so disrespectful to aphrares' legacy

He may possess power, but you have righteousness. And should even that abandon you, remember that I am beside you, and I will not let you fail.”

this is kinda bars

“Was it me?” he asked quietly. “Did I do this to you?”

PLSSSSS

For all the things that had changed between them, she wasn’t sure if she could take him lying to her for the first time.

real

“That’s why you were trying to talk to Artemis?” Lore said, finally putting it together. “You think she might know?”

girl come on we didnt suspect this?

“I don’t believe in the Fates, but I do believe in you,”

cute (you havent seen him in seven years)

“How shall I look upon the temple of a god whose followers destroyed the culture of the Hellenes, defiled our images, sanctuaries, and temples, and ravaged the people’s faith in their gods?”

real

I could have killed him. Icy needles pierced her skin, instantly cooling her blood. She shuddered.

ok do it

“I may yet alter course,” Athena said coolly.

i love her

“Hermes,” the Reveler said. “You know where he was those years he disappeared—you know, because he was with you.”

GIL ?!

“That fool was never going to help us,” Athena said. “Better him dead by my merciful hand than by his enemy’s.”

sus

If she didn’t acknowledge the pain, it would leave her, just like everything else.

plsss emo girl

“He is my lord and father,” Belen said. “An unfamiliar concept to you, I realize, as you have neither.”

direct attack critical hit

He blotted out the rest of the world. He created his own eclipse.

She wanted him to keep saying her name that way, like it was the only word he knew.

real

every part of him felt like a revelation to her now,

“Do that again when you mean it, Golden,” he rasped. “When it’s not to distract me.”

plsssss

The massive bronze statue of Atlas, struggling with the weight of the world on his shoulders, watched them come and go.

very subtle imagery

The word whispered through her. God.

this is tough actually

It felt as if he had been given to her by the gods, and she to him.

i wish we had any real relationship building for this to hit

“Like any craftsman,” Athena said, tilting her head toward her, “if I see potential in raw material, I have the urge to shape it into something great.”

fml baddie

“From whom? From what?” Athena asked. “Yourself? All that you might become if you embrace who you are and not who he wishes you to be?”

OK REAL

The fabric gave easily, but not as easy as the skin across his throat.

YUH

She was not defeated by my uncle’s assault. She was merely reborn as a being who could gaze back at the world, unafraid.

i weep

you, the one who knows the darkness of men yet refuses to be afraid.”

Van threw himself over Miles to shield him,

gaybies!!!

The goddess was singular in her nature, shrouded in shadows and silence, but without her twin, she was truly alone.

:(