[NeOPulP] Discordia: Installment Ten

“The name doesn’t ring a bell. Are you a male stripper or something?” she further inquired.

The god rolled his eyes and sighed. Sometimes he found it difficult not to hate Yahweh. A beautiful young woman was in his presence, and thanks to God she wasn’t impressed by his name at all. Apollo longed for the old days. In the old days she would have been down on her knees before him, begging him to use her so that she might bear his offspring. Unfortunately, it seemed he would have to talk to her.

“No, Lena, I’m a god. I was rather an important god a long time ago. I was the god of the sun. I had this fantastic chariot… never mind. I’m here to talk to you,” Apollo informed her.

“If you’re a god, then why do you want to talk to me? Surely if you’re in my dream, and you know my name, then you know I’m nobody important. So why me?”

Lena leaned back in her chair to wait for an answer. The fabric of the dress was beginning to chafe her nipples, and she no longer felt sexy without her undergarments. She felt uncomfortably exposed. She thought about trying to wake up, but Apollo was just so pleasant to look at.

“I wagered a lot on the outcome of a contest on Discordia. Jesus will play a key role in that contest. Judging from your dream, you have an interest in the handsome Colombian. If you were to stay close to him, then you might be able to perform a few services for me. Should you choose to help me, I will make sure you are lavishly compensated,” the Greek promised. He reached up and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I’m done performing services for compensation, mister. Even if I wasn’t, I’ve never liked a man who beats around the bush. Don’t get me wrong. You look great, but you’re just not my type. Besides, like I said, Jesus took me away from all that,” Lena put her foot down. The table rattled, because she literally put her foot down as well.

“You don’t understand. I want you to do a few things for me, and I will pay you…”

“I understood perfectly, and I’m not interested. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to wake up,” Lena told him sharply.

Lena stood up from the table and snapped her fingers, but nothing happened. She pinched herself, but the pain didn’t do the trick. She grew impatient. She clicked her heels together three times and said, “There’s no place like home.”

Apollo watched the spectacle with increasing disbelief. He had never seen anything like it. When Lena started into “Super-cala-fragilistic-expy-ala-docious,” Apollo knew he needed to do something. He cleared his throat loudly to stop her.

“Look, Lena, I’m one of the good guys. I don’t want you to have sex with me. I want you to have sex with Jesus. I have a side bet going, and it involves you and the Colombian. I can’t directly interfere, but I can make a deal with you. If Jesus tells you he loves you, then a certain Grecian goddess will allow me into her clamshell. I want that to happen. I want you to help make that happen. Get my drift?”

“No, I don’t. What the hell are you talking about? Are you trying to get into a girl’s pants? Is that it? You need my help getting into a girl’s pants?” Lena asked him good-naturedly. She understood very well, she just wanted to make him uncomfortable.

Apollo regretted his decision to visit the girl. He found her lusty innocence unnerving. “Yes, that’s basically it. If you can get Jesus to tell you he loves you, then the ‘girl’ will sleep with me.”

“I bet she would. You’re kind of cute. So what’s her name?” Lena inquired playfully. She sat back down in the chair, hungry for more information.

“Her name is Venus. She’s the most glorious creature in all of creation,” Apollo’s eyes clouded over as he drifted away on a memory of Venus. “She’s been teasing me for thousands and thousands of years. She always uses our lineage as an excuse for why we can’t be together.”

“What do you mean by that, Apollo?”

“She is technically my sister. I don’t see how that makes any difference, but every time we get to the heavy petting she stops me. She says it goes against the laws of nature.”

Lena gasped and jumped back out of her chair. “She’s right. You can’t have sex with your sister. You creep! Get out of my dream!”

Apollo attempted to calm her down. Lena grew even more frantic to wake up when he stood up and reached out for her. She hopped in little circles and hollered at the top of her lungs. Apollo realized that it was no use. He straightened out his toga and clapped his hands together.

Lena woke up in her bed in the fortress. Somebody knocked at the door and entered without waiting for an answer. All thoughts of the dream left her. Rosie walked into the room. Lena would have gotten angry, but the look of fear on Rosie’s face stopped her.

“What is it, Rosie?”

“There are thousands of soldiers converging on the fortress. We’re surrounded, Lena, and I’m scared,” she confessed. She started to cry.

“Come here, Rosie,” Lena said kindly.

Rosie went over to Lena. Lena patted the bed next to her, and Rosie sat down. Lena took Rosie in her arms, and the young woman cried and cried while Lena stroked her hair. Lena kissed her on the forehead, and wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

“Don’t worry, Rosie. Everything is going to be all right. I won’t let them get you,” Lena comforted her, and she meant every word she said. “Do you know where Jesus is?”

“Yeah. I think he’s on the third floor. He’s in a priest’s room,” Rosie told her.

Lena wished she had taken time to explore the fortress before she fell asleep. She had no idea where anything was. She held Rosie’s hand for another second, and then she stood up.

Lena was glad she fell asleep with her clothes on. She noticed Rosie was wearing a pretty pink negligée, and for a second she wondered if Rosie had lesbian tendencies. Lena put the idea out of her mind. She was sure Rosie really was scared, and it wasn’t the time to entertain such notions.

“You need to get dressed, Rosie. I’ll come with you. We need to stay together until we find Jesus,” Lena advised Rosie gruffly. Lena imagined what it would be like to dominate the young woman, and the idea appealed to her.

“Okay. Thank you, Lena, for holding me. It meant a lot to me,” Rosie said timidly as they crossed to her room.

“If we get out of this, then I’ll let you thank me as long as you like,” Lena informed her. Lena totally misread the signals that Rosie was giving out. Rosie really was frightened. The young lady didn’t have anything sexual in mind when she awakened Lena.

“What do you mean by that?” Rosie asked in confusion.

Lena decided the only defense was to pretend like she hadn’t said anything at all. Lena walked Rosie to her room, and waited for her to dress. When she was fully clothed, both of the ladies took off in search of their handsome assassin. They didn’t know what Jesus planned to do, but they knew they needed to be with him. Both of the girls were essentially helpless in Discordia. Neither one of them liked needing a guardian, but they liked the idea of death and torture a lot less.