Philoscifi

Phil Safari is no more, shattered into a million pieces. Will a hero emerge from the ashes, and will it be in time? Find out in this second chapter of the Safaris

I collapsed in the chair and wearily took off my helmet. These battle shifts were becoming more grueling by the day. Wave after endless wave pounded our fortifications mercilessly, and morale was at an all-time low.

I turned my gaze to the scenery visible from the terrace of Mount Olympus. Small farms and sheep dotted the rugged green landscape, and the deep blue Mediterranean sparkled off in the distance. Beautiful, simply beautiful. Once upon a time, we lorded over these lands as masters without a care in the world. Now we were no different than the mortals struggling to survive. It was a hard pill to swallow and something that many gods long denied… until now.

A goddess died today. These accursed bugs managed to kill Elpis, a minor goddess in the grand scheme of things, but a hugely symbolic one. She was hope personified - a sweet soul who lifted the spirits of those around her - and her passing signaled a turn for the worst. There could be no argument now: we were immortals no more.

I was stuck in time, unwilling to let go of the past and unable to fully accept the present. It was an extremely disconcerting feeling. This must be what Phil feels like after his world was shattered into a million pieces…after I shattered it, I thought. Was it the right thing to do?

My thoughts turned to Phil. I had no idea where he was; he was off the grid, shielding himself from view. That meant that he was still alive, but beyond that, there was no way of telling what he was doing. I could only hope for the best… No, I thought grimly. Hope was dead.

I learned later that Phil was also contemplating his mortality at that very moment. After an hour of slogging up the slopes of Mount Rainier one cold morning, he was now looking down a valley blanketed by a thick white fog. He couldn’t see anything…not a damn thing. February was obviously not the best time to visit, but then again this wasn’t exactly a well-planned trip, was it? Phil laughed bitterly. How fitting, he thought. Just another @#$%ing failure in a life full of @#$%ing failures.

Let’s review, shall we? Phil’s life began with an unforgivable sin, and he spent the majority of it helping people who didn’t care to be helped and serving gods who weren’t really gods ! And now, after being a puppet for so long, he was supposedly free…HA. He was a prisoner of his own device. All the habits that he had developed over the preceding 10 years now conspired against him, and it would probably take another 10 years to unlearn them. No way. Phil was spent; he had nothing left in the tank.

This was the end. Alone. On a mountain. On a cold, foggy day. How fitting.

It began to rain, and Phil laughed again. And the heavens wept for me…HAHA. Who was he kidding? Nobody would even notice that he was gone. Not his parents nor the 2 friends he had in the world. No one. Jumping off a cliff didn’t rank too highly on his list of great ways to die, but hey, you gotta make do with what you got.

You know, it’s a good thing that I can’t see into the valley, Phil thought. Otherwise, I’d probably crap out like the chickenshit that I am. He took a couple steps back to get a running start when a voice from behind stopped him in his tracks.

“Don’t! Please don’t.”

Phil whirled around and stared with mouth agape at the bedraggled figure of Evie Ryan.

“What the hell?! Evie?? How did you…”

“You never called me back, so I thought I’d surprise you at work. But your boss told me that you had quit a few days ago and that no one had seen you since. I got a really bad feeling about this, so I begged a PI friend of mine to hunt down your address.”

“You broke into my place? Great, just great…”

“I had to! I told you about my premonitions; they’re usually right. You left the boarding pass information on your computer, so I knew where to find you. Mount Rainier: one of the places you said you always wanted to visit.”

“And you happened to find me on this hiking trail at exactly the right moment? Bullshit!! Athena sent you, didn’t she? Athena, show yourself!”

I materialized next to Evie who let out a surprised yelp.

“Oh my God…you weren’t kidding, were you?” she gulped.

“No,” Phil replied grimly. “Athena, I thought you said that you wouldn’t bother me. What the hell do you call this??”

“I had nothing to do with this, Phil. I swear. I didn’t even know where you were until you summoned me.”

“Riiight… so I’m supposed to believe her story?”

“You know her better than I do. Does she seem like the type to lie?”

“I don’t know anymore… and it doesn’t matter now. Go away, both of you, and let me die in peace.”

Evie took a step forward and reached out to Phil. “Please! You don’t want to do this.”

“Don’t you dare play mind games with me!” Phil jabbed an accusatory finger at her. “You hardly know me. You don’t know what I’ve been through and the burden that’s been placed upon me. I never asked for…stay where you are!!”

Evie frozen her tracks, and uncertainty filled her eyes. Heart racing, I opened my mouth to say something, and then thought better of it. There was nothing I could say to make the situation better. My role in this drama was done; it was up to her now.

Evie swallowed hard and bit her lower lip. Looking down at her feet, she was barely audible when she spoke. “You are right. I don’t know you very well…but I would like to, if you’d give me a chance. We had something together… no matter how brief, it was real. Isn’t that worth living for?”

Phil let out a long drawn out sigh. “That was only one night, and that Phil no longer exists. Besides, it wouldn’t have worked anyways. We are too different, and the challenges ahead are staggering. It would be better if you forgot that I existed.”

“Why can’t I judge that for myself?!” Evie cried, wringing her hands in frustration. “I’m willing to take the chance.”

Phil stared out at the sea of white nothingness in silence. When he finally spoke, it was mostly to himself. “As a kid, I dreamt about saving the world like the storybook heroes. You know: knights in shining armor, damsels in distress, evil wizards…all that good stuff.

“If only the real world was so simple! When you realize that you cannot save the world? What do you do when all that you believe in is swept away? Is life worth living anymore?”

Evie padded softly up to him and slipped her hand into his. “I don’t know, Phil…but I’m here… I’m here.” Tears gently rolled out of her eyes, and she put her head on his shoulder, overcome with emotion.

Phil looked down at Evie and seemed to really notice her for the first time. Her hair was a tangled mess and her eyes puffy from crying. She was drenched from head to toe and shivering from the cold. It looked like she hadn’t slept in days… and yet she was radiant in Phil’s eyes. Like an angel. Maybe there was something to live for after all.

Phil wrapped his arms around Evie and gave her a tight squeeze. “You’re right. It was a crappy day to die anyways. Let’s get out of this rain, shall we?”

Evie sobbed in relief. Phil took off his raincoat for her, and they slowly headed back down the trail.

I watched them go until they disappeared around the bend before returning to Mount Olympus. Phil once wondered who would catch him when he fell, and today he found his answer.

And I found my smile despite the day’s somber events. Elpis maybe gone, but hope remained. One could always hope. Hope springs eternal.

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