The vastness of the American Desert was something Euterpe found eerie. The emptiness of the dessert plains was something she could not get used to. She was from the old Hellenic world, rugged terrains, costal expanses and open seas were where she felt at home; the open plain was in her eyes the home of Horse-Riding Barbarians and dangerous beast. Euterpe was all too grateful she had not to do this journey by foot or bus.
Ironically the fact that El Paso had been chosen for this gathering was the open terrain and the nature of the city, making it easier to spot people trying to sneak in and strangers. It was also a safer place to be as many Gods and Demi-Gods had become leaders of dangerous criminal families and organizations in order to bolster their defenses, and El Paso was known to be the place where this crime-families met to negotiate, acting as a front and deterrent for anyone trying to attack them, although she knew of the rumors: That the Killer of Gods was not faced when it came to kill mortal men, regardless of the numbers, which too many deities had tried to use as meat shields. Not all Gods had failed though, some had actually found success repelling this assassin by becoming core part of new human institutions, and with them they had found secret worship that strengthen them and allowed the build-up of resources against their enemy. Those least successful met their end in a very dramatic way. The Muse of Music had heard of so many failed ventures among Gods to raise armies or make use of trickery to try and kill the Assassin who killed Zeus, Gaia, Atlas and Uranus.
Euterpe was taken away from her train of thought when her eyes captured the sight of a rainbow, the Goddess's Iris most prized creation, now used by the surviving Gods as watchdog and subtle way of communication. The Muse knew she was getting close. From her person she produced a mobile phone, the new advancements humans had created for communication, and dialed the number Echo had dictated to her.
The phone rang once, then twice, then trice…
"Hello, this is El Paso historical preservation society, how may I be of assistance today?" the voice was that of an old woman, dreary and dry like the world around Euterpe, but thanks to her acute ear she knew who was on the other end of the phone, no matter how much they tried to disguise their voice.
"Hello Bragi, this is Euterpe" replied the Muse, not particularly pleased to hear the Norse God of Poetry on the other side of the line, but she could not stop herself from cracking a mischievous smile when she clearly heard the voice change and the man utter a curse under his breath before pronouncing the other for Euterpe to clearly hear.
"Dammit Euterpe! How many times I am supposed to tell you that you are supposed to use the code!?"
"That is only for those who cannot tell who is on the other side of the line. I can tell a voice no matter how disguised it is, it is my gift as the Muse of Music".
"Yeah, yeah, you are lucky I am not a God or I would have your head nailed to a tree and poison raining on your eyes".
"Loki is still at large I pressume?" the question carried a whiff of true concern, event with her animosity towards the bard Loki may be the biggest of all Evils right now, second only to the man hunting Gods.
"..."
"Bragi?"
"We should keep this short. Keep going until you see the next Chinese restaurant, there you will get the information you need" Bragi's words were loaded with worry, even if the bard did not intend to show it an ear like Euterpe's could always pick the tone.
"A chinese restaurant? How I am supposed to know which one is the right restaurant?"
"Just follow the rainbow. Trust me and Good Luck".
Bragi hanged the phone with no further explanation.
"Wait! Bragi!"
Euterpe tried calling the number again, but this time it was a real old mortal woman who answered, and the password "Cry Old Man Born Old" lead to the woman asking Euterpe if she was making a prank call.
The Muse gave up the idea of further instructions and did as she was told, she just hoped that it was as easy as the Norse Bard had made it sound.
The road was long. Euterpe wondered if Iris was stretching herself thin by making a rainbow for such a long time, maybe Iris was having help from other Gods, after all what was once the job of one God now had to be pulled by many, sometimes barely.
As the Muse of Music drove old memories snuck their way into her train of thought. She remembered how Iris had acted as guide to help her brethren. Iris had helped the lesser Gods and Demi-Gods to find their way to the palaces of Neptune and Hades, though that did not ensure the survival of the Gods. The House of Hades had remained silent for Millenia, all known doors to the Underworld vanishing without trace, and the rivers to the Underworld sealed through strange spells and perils so insurmountable not even Hermes, the Messenger God, Trickster God, God of Thieves, the most devious mind that was not old King Sisyphus, could not have made his way through safely. Then again Hermes was long dead, she knew, she was there.
Before the memories could continue barging their way through Euterpe opened the glove compartment, pulled a bottle of Jack, and took long swigs of whiskey. She was not in the mood to revive such painful memories and she would not begin now.
The drink was bitter, and heavy, and cheap, and disgusting to her divine pallet, but compared to what she had to do for a living, and what she was trying to repress, it was sweet relief. Certainly it was not a good idea to drink and drive, but she needed a lot more to become incapacitated., a lot more. And if any cop tried to stop her? She would just charm them and they would give her money and let her go with their blessing.
Euterpe continued her journey, never loosing sight of the rainbow until she arrived to the end, and with it all became clear.
Sinuosa was one of those little towns that dotted the great desert plains of Texas. A town that crossed an old pit-stop town with services for the oil rigs that dotted the area. It was not a particularly small town, but it was not a medium town, it held to the world in-between, one step away from vanishing, but somehow surviving despite all odds. The men there looked old, a life under the hot sun had made their skins dark and hard, the women moved with a spring in their step, trying their best not to let the sun get them; the old men remained under the shades of the porches while children played with a soccer ball in the dust, all of the citizens squinted under the intensity of the sun. It was hard to tell whom from whom, not that Euterpe wanted to, for her all mortals looked the same. The Muse limited herself to drive and look for that sore thumb that would be the only Chinese Restaurant in this forsaken town, an objective that brought more pain that she could ever imagine.
Painted in a red eaten by the sun and dust, and a yellow paint that had faded thanks to the UV rays was the decoration of the restaurant. The place looked classic American-Chinese, only everything was painted rather than plastered, or mostly hang: Painted dragons embellished the front to a quite good degree. Two paper lamps hang from the porch, and a large sign with the name 'Caishen' written in English with the Chinese letters on top with a caricature of the Chinese God Cashien in an unusual style flanked the sign. And there she saw it, on Cahien's hands, the Cornucopia, spreading food.
The memories, long repressed, broke the damn built by decades of pleasures, drugs, alcohol, and escapism, forcing Euterpe to relive the pain once again.