GODDESSES INC

9

Mnem's Mercedes coupe screeched to a stop in Axtis's driveway. She flung open the door, ran up the path as fast as her five-inch heels allowed, and bounded up the steps, almost colliding with Phra Naret.

"Hello, Mnemosyne." Phra Naret, Thai goddess of good fortune, beauty, and blessings, clutched a glass bowl. The single white candle floating inside sloshed in the water. "I just arrived." She bobbed her head at the front door. "Axtis won't answer."

"We'll see about that." Mnem pounded on the door. "Axtis! Let me in!" She pressed her ear to the front door. "Let's go around back."

It wasn't easy. Thick foliage blocked the way. Mnem cursed and fought her way through the tangle of pink-flowering bougainvillea, the thorns scratching her skin and catching on her Valentino silk blouse.

"Will these leave scars now?" Phra Naret dipped under a long thorny branch.

Mnem's head whipped around. "What? You too?"

Phra Naret pushed her lips into a pout. "Axtis too. The FEM elevator was a one-way ticket to Mortal Land that day."

Mnem lifted a blossoming branch over Phra Naret's head. "How are you doing?"

"I don't think I've processed it yet. It's all so surreal." She lifted the bowl. "Will this work anymore? Will the water and candle help Axtis find comfort? I brought it as habit. Water...flame..." She sighed. "Does it no longer hold the ancient magic?"

"The ancient magic works." Mnem pushed through a thicket at the corner of the house. "Just not for us."

"I should dump this then."

Mnem turned around, set a hand on Phra Naret's arm. "Don't. You never know." She dipped under the branch of an overgrown tree, an unripe avocado hitting her head. "Finally." She broke free of the foliage into the little backyard and bolted for the sliding glass door. Her two hands splayed wide and her forehead pressed to the glass as she peered into the room. "Axtis?"

The room was dark.

Mnem tried the sliding door. It eased open, moonlight slicing the darkness.

Axtis, Persian ex-goddess of peace, justice, and victory sat cross-legged in the middle of the living room. An ancient but sharp scimitar laid across her lap. One hand rested atop the carved ebony hilt, the other on the blade.

Mnem ran in. "Don't do it."

Phra Naret crossed the room, turned on the lights.

Axtis opened her eyes, swollen and wet with grief. "I'm ready to die."

Mnem crouched down beside her. "They fired me too."

"You?" Dark rings shadowed her eyes and her cheeks were wet and splotchy.

"Four that I know of. Probably more." Mnem sat on the floor.

Axtis gripped the scimitar's hilt, her knuckles white. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. We'll figure something out. All of us." Mnem bobbed her head at Phra Naret who took the hint.

"You don't want to do this." Phra Naret took a seat on the opposite side.

Axtis gripped the scimitar tighter. "There's no point. There's no reason to live. I blame myself. Shee is right. I'm irrelevant, a nobody goddess from a worn torn land. I've brought no peace, no victory, no justice." Fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

"It's not your fault," said Mnem.

"I should have tried harder. Done something."

"Done what exactly?" Phra Naret's voice was soft.