Also, while depictions of Mount Olympus generally included large Greek columns, this bore the architecture of a Tuscan mansion. They had at least a football field’s worth of extraordinarily lush gardens filled with flowers of every color to walk through. About halfway there, Justice couldn’t keep his question to himself any longer. “Wait, so is this Mount Olympus, or not?”

Merlin looked at him out of the corner of his eye, as if he were trying to size up how gullible Justice was. Or maybe he was concerned about the altitude. It was hard to tell one from the other when someone’s expression was so fatally smug most of the time. “What do you think it is?”

“What does it matter what I think? I want to know what is true!”

“You really miss the forest for the trees, don’t you? You just learned about vampires and wizards, and then you rode an escalator into the sky, and now you’re worried about an address?”

While Merlin had a point, Justice was just trying to get his footing. He stopped a little way from the where the gardens began in order to catch his breath. He was suddenly very tired. He bent over, putting his hands on his knees. “I’m trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t. Sure, I know what vampires are, but I was told they were fiction. Much like zombies. And wizards. You tease me about Mount Olympus, but there are myths about gods and the rest, and if the rest of it is true, maybe Mount Olympus is too. I’m trying to get my head around how big the world really is!”

Merlin stopped a few steps ahead of Justice and stared at his home. He sighed. “All fiction has a grain of truth in it.” He turned around with a strange smile on his face. “I’ve been told this was the original location of Mount Olympus, that centuries ago the Pantheon got tired of watching Earth from on high and sold this place. At this point, it’s just real estate. I don’t know where they live now. I enjoy believing that they got cable and retired to Boca Raton, but I don’t really know.”

Justice snorted. It was nice to have a bit of honesty from Merlin. When he smiled like that, it was heartbreakingly beautiful. Or maybe that was just the altitude messing with him.

“All this”—Merlin waved his thin hand through the air “—could just as easily have been conjured by magical folk rather than by gods. And you can’t really throw a stone at those really old magic families without someone claiming to have bought Mount Olympus. So, you know, take it for what it’s worth.”

He crouched in front of Justice, whispering, “Just don’t mention any doubts about the validity of the claim to my mother. It makes her angry. And you don’t want to see her when she’s angry.”

Justice opened his mouth to ask if she was the Hulk, but he wasn’t sure if it was a joke or not. His head was already spinning with the possibilities of real and not real; he wasn’t sure if he could take adding comic books to everything he needed to consider as real.

Merlin took Justice’s hand and whispered words he didn’t understand. He wasn’t sure if it was the spell or the contact that sent energy throughout his body. Probably safer to think it was the spell. Though, Merlin’s concern for his well-being did make Justice tingle.

“Come on. We’re almost there.”

The remainder of the walk was lovely, holding hands as they walked past walls of roses and wild flowers. It smelled heavenly. Bees and butterflies floated on the breeze while birds sang sweet hymns as they passed. Or something. Justice worried that he’d been dosed with an antidepressant spell, because those weren’t thoughts he was used to having. At least, not since the apocalypse.

Rabbits led the way through the lawn and to the stone-paved porch to the huge oak double doors that opened immediately in Merlin’s presence. “Oh, I guess she knows we’re here.”

The inside of the mansion was a mix of homey, comfortable-looking furniture and huge murals painted on the walls—illustrations of divinity and suffering in almost equal measure. It was a significantly less happy home than the outside projected.

One portrait was of a giant lizard horse eating a man while children danced in a ring. Merlin grinned at Justice’s horror. “That’s my dad and his sisters. They really enjoyed feeding their pets.”

Before Justice could comment, the scent of bread baking wafted in along with a beautiful woman in long, scarlet robes. She held her arms out to Merlin. “My dear, you have returned! I have missed you so!”

Releasing Justice’s hand, Merlin hesitated and looked up at the ceiling and walls as if he was worried there was a trap, but eventually fled to her and swept her up in a hug. “Mother! I haven’t been gone that long.”

She held him by his shoulders after the hug. “It’s the longest you’ve been away from home since you left school!”

Merlin shot a look over his shoulder at Justice like he didn’t want Justice to think exactly what he was thinking: Merlin was one of those wankers who never left home?

Granted, it was a beautiful home, and where would he go that would top it? But still. For as worldly as he acted, he had failed to launch.

Her gaze rested on Justice, and she came at him with her arms open. “And you must be his boyfriend!”

“No!” Justice held up his hands, not to refuse the hug, but the boyfriend, no. “I mean, we’re just…friends. He’s not…”

Merlin’s face was a deep red, and Justice instantly regretted his outburst. What would it have cost him to let her think that? Though apparently she was under the impression that Merlin would have a boyfriend. So maybe all those looks Merlin had been shooting him weren’t entirely misconstrued.

Justice exhaled. “We haven’t had that discussion.”

Her arms were still outstretched, but she looked uncertainly between Merlin and Justice; then she dropped her arms and regarded Justice coolly. “I see. Well. My name is Medea. I am Merlin’s mother. I am pleased to meet you.”

She offered her hand as if she was royalty, and Justice, for reasons he couldn’t quite place, curtsied and kissed her hand. “My name is Justice.”

It was good that he hadn’t been told Merlin’s mother’s name in advance or he would’ve pictured a big black woman. But now, he couldn’t help but think of the famous legend of Medea as poisoner. She seemed nice, so he tried not to appear nervous.

“Can I get you a drink, Justice?” She smiled pleasantly.

“Um. No thanks.” Justice suddenly wished Merlin was holding his hand again. And shit. No wonder she thought they were together. He almost facepalmed at how oblivious he was.

Merlin had taken his hand; did he want that to be their cover story? God, why hadn’t he asked more questions?

Right. Because he was more worried about Mount Olympus. Forest for the trees. Fuck, Merlin was right. Justice was way off his game.

Merlin shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor as if he’d been rejected. “A drink wouldn’t kill you.”

Justice tried not to look at Medea as he entertained the idea that maybe a drink would kill him. Though why would Merlin bring Justice all the way up here to murder him? Unless, did his family still have those mythological lizard horses? Maybe it was feeding time. “Not thirsty.”

Medea looked between them with an amused smirk. “Come to the kitchen anyway. There will be fresh bread. Perhaps that will whet your appetite.”

“Not hungry!” Justice’s stomach gave a howl of protest that everyone politely pretended not to hear in favor of following Medea down the hall. He tried to get in step with Merlin, but the man seemed determined not to let them get too close. Was he embarrassed by his mother’s implication? Did he feel rejected?

The idea of Merlin having interest made Justice light-headed again. But no. That was not only unlikely, Justice wasn’t available. Merlin was probably irritated by something else entirely. Maybe embarrassed he was caught being one of those guys who lived with his mother.

“Merlin, it’s good that you’ve come home. Your uncle Sauron came by just this morning looking for you.” In the kitchen, pots and pans were flying into place. The mud from his shoes had been sucked away; everything was spotless. He wondered why anyone would bother baking bread that probably could be automatically provided without magic, but then, what would anyone do all day? Maybe it was a hobby.

As he took a seat at a large, rustic table that looked as if it was not only hewn straight from a tree but was the whole tree, a thought occurred to him. “What? Sauron? Your uncle’s name is Sauron?”

Medea looked at Merlin, who shrugged as he took a spot a few seats down. “It’s a perfectly reasonable name.” He glared at Justice. “At least he’s not named after a concept.”

Whatever was going on, clearly Merlin was angry with him. He didn’t know how to deal with that, so he babbled. “No, I mean…Sauron, that’s the name of a really bad guy in a story I read once.”

Another look passed between Medea and Merlin. She smiled sweetly at Justice. “Let me fix you up a cup of tea, dear.”

“Not thirsty!”

She put her hand to her chest as if his outburst was going to give her a heart attack. “Silly thing. Let me just make you a little something. You need to calm down.”

As she walked away, Justice leaned in to whisper to Merlin, “Do you ever get the feeling your family’s a little evil?”

Merlin scooted away and rolled his eyes. “I’m pretty sure anyone who’s spent a significant time with their family finds them capable of evil. You haven’t spent much time with my family at all; what would make you say that?”

Justice held his hands up in question as if this should be totally obvious. Clearly Merlin wasn’t ignorant of Earth culture. “Your mother’s name is Medea. Your uncle’s name is Sauron.” He wanted to note also that Merlin was a wizard named after a wizard, and he was a cop named Justice, that really, they were all pretty much named for what they were.

“They do have unusual names.” Merlin chewed his lip, considering. “But my father’s name was Gay, which means happy. So my whole family isn’t evil. Merlin isn’t evil. Mostly. Depending on who’s writing.”

“Right! So maybe the people who are named after villains…” Was Medea a villain? She was definitely a woman scorned. She killed a lot of people, including her brother, he thought, though that wasn’t the famous story. No, if the Medea name were true, then there would be no Merlin for him to talk to. And Merlin’s father would be… “Wait. Your name is Merlin Pride.”

Merlin got up and went to the cupboard and got out two glasses. “Well spotted.”

Justice had to turn in his seat to watch Merlin go to the sink to get water. “And your father’s name is Gay? As in Gay Pride?”

Merlin brought the glasses back to the table and set one before Justice. He took the seat next to him. “Yes. There are parades for him on Earth.”

“No. That’s not what the parades are…” Justice watched Merlin drink his water, the way that his lips curled over the lip of the glass and his eyes closed and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

Medea returned with a few slices of bread, still steaming, and pats of butter sitting next to them. She gave Justice a sly smile. Apparently she caught him gazing at Merlin, which was awkward. “So if not to introduce him to me as your lover, Merlin, why have you brought your friend here?”

Merlin held his glass to his lips for an uncomfortably long time, as if he was trying to come up with a story. Yeah, maybe he had been planning on playing Justice off as his lover. Shit. And apparently he didn’t feel comfortable telling her the truth. He set the glass down and shrugged. “He’s a friend. Thought it would be fun to have a friend over.”

“You haven’t had a friend here in a very long time.” She sat. Noting that no one had taken her bread, she took a slice and looked meaningfully at both of them before she took a bite. “They never return. I wonder why that is?”

How sad. Merlin couldn’t make friends? Not that he seemed like he’d have lots of friends. He was kind of a jerk, arrogant, rude, demanding, and prone to sarcasm. Justice thought he got the worst of the condescending attitude because he was nonmagical, but maybe Merlin behaved that way to everyone.

Merlin narrowed his eyes at Justice as if he was daring him to show some pity. His jaw flexed a few times while his back was to his mom, as if he was holding something that he wanted to say back. “Hm. You say they never come back, but it seems to me like they never leave.” He cast a glance to the door, reminding Justice of that beautiful garden they’d walked through.

What? Justice wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

If the statement bothered Medea, she didn’t show it. She gave a benign smile. “Did you find why your television shows stopped coming on?”

“Television shows?” Justice wasn’t sure if he was ready to trust the bread or not. His appetite was gone anyway since it could be poisoned. Coupled with the threat of death and Merlin’s bratty personality, it wasn’t surprising he didn’t have many friends.

Medea looked between them. “He said he was going to Earth because his stories weren’t coming on anymore. He had grown bored with the news.”

Justice took a drink of water and sat back in his chair. He hadn’t given much thought as to why a magical being would come from this heaven to interfere in Earth affairs, had he? He supposed he had written it off as the right thing to do if you were someone with that kind of power. But no. Merlin had come down because he was bored. It was utterly a selfish goal. Why would he have believed differently?

And why was he disappointed? It wasn’t as if they’d known each other long enough to be personally invested. Of course Merlin would have his own goals and motives going to Earth. The important thing was that he’d come down and was committed to the truth. Right?

~~This series will continue in daily increments through the end of March 2026. After that, it will be once a week on Tuesdays~~