Godsforsaken

Chapter 38: Frustrated Discussions

The next morning saw us sitting in a council chamber with a group of Heroes, among them Atalanta, Odysseus and, of course, Albrecht, who was practically glowing. I wondered idly if it was because of our fight or if he'd had fun with his wives last night. Honestly, I hoped it was the latter.

All of us were seated around a Table so enormous it gave the Desk we'd seen in the Atalanta cult penis envy. My women and I sat on one side of the Table, the heroes on the other, and Melinoe and Athena sat at the head and tail of the Table, respectively.

Yesterday had been about securing the heroes' support while today would be the war council where we would decide how to go about liberating Olympus. That said, despite how similar to our negotiations with Electra and Chief Silvermoon this sounded the meeting was anything but. These people were heroes, not politicians.

And so, rather than documents, the table was full of bowls of fragrant porridge, hearty bread and several different, thin-sliced meats and cheeses. This was a war council, yes, but it was also a breakfast shared with like-minded people. That meant the first few minutes were spent in comfortable silence, with everyone eating their fill.

I was particularly amused at the way Enya built Albrecht a sandwich of prodigious size while he was busy shoveling porridge into his face, all the while insisting that she wasn't his mother and that he could prepare his own damn food.

When the sounds of spoons and bowls grew fainter, I spoke up: “I suppose the first thing we need to worry about is how to make it to Mount Olympus. The gate in Hades's throne room isn't really an option unless we want to alert our enemies, right?”

“I'm not scared of a fight,” Albrecht said. “We can charge in there no problem.”

“We can't,” Odysseus replied bluntly. “We don't even know what we're up against, other than the fact that this force was strong enough to take down the bloody Olympians. Athena, you should have an idea of what we're up against, right?”

Athena had been suspiciously quiet all morning, scowling at anything and everything. She was flushed red and her breathing was labored, her pupils dilated and her eyes just a little bloodshot, making the blue of her irises pop as if they were glowing. She was rubbing her thighs together and wringing her hands as if to keep them from wandering lower. Athena was hopelessly aroused.

In fact, Athena was so lost in her frustrated arousal that it took her a few moments to reply. When she did, her voice sounded a bit strained but mostly under control. “The bulk of the enemy force is made up of orcs and goblins that have been tainted by the Black Goat. Lady Yume, would you be so kind as to show everyone present what these look like?”

Yume nodded and a light blue haze rose up around her. A moment later, we all saw the creatures Alisha, Selene, Yume and I had fought on our way to the Dark Lord of Shub-Niggurath. Goblins with backwards-bent legs and gold eyes, the combination of which made them look even more toad-like than usual. Orcs with goat legs and these same creepy eyes. And finally, the corrupted Orc chieftain I had dueled, the spines that usually covered a chieftain's back replaced by a carpet of glistening black tentacles.

“Corrupted Goblins,” Albrecht mused. “Do they put up more of a fight than the regular kind?”

“Nope. They're just more disgusting,” I said.

“Quite the accomplishment,” Atalanta commented.

Athena waited for the comments to die down and then continued: “Other than that I saw Manticores, Cyclopes, Dark Young and at least one Jabberwock. But the real danger lies not in the army, but in its commanders. I thankfully did not encounter any of them but...” she nodded at me, then gave me a death glare and squeezed her thighs together as our gazes met.

“This force is led by a possessor entity that calls itself the Holy Maiden,” I said. “We do not know her capabilities, but we do know that she is strong enough to anoint Dark Lords of Shub-Niggurath.” Murmurs broke out at that and I let them die out before I added: “Moreover, this possessor entity has taken over the body of a woman I care for deeply, so we can't simply slay the host body and be done.”

Odysseus pursed his lips at that, and it made me slightly concerned. I wouldn't call the man callous, exactly, but he was pragmatic. If he could solve the problem by simply killing Syr... “And do we have any exorcism rituals to use on this holy maiden?” he asked to my surprise.

“I have a general purpose ritual and one against Liches,” Athena said.

“And I have the Cleanse miracle in case neither works,” Alisha added.

“That's good,” Odysseus said. “You can't fight possessors without preparing methods to get them out. And the last thing we want is to condemn an innocent victim to death because of our own incompetence.” The words were harsh but the anger didn't sound as if it was directed at any of us. Rather, he sounded as if he was chastising himself.

I gave him a nod and then continued. “We also have reason to believe that some God is working with the Holy Maiden. We don't know which one, but given that they managed to break into Olympus, I believe it's fair to say the traitor is one of the Olympians.”

“Stars above let it be Poseidon,” Odysseus muttered so quietly I barely heard him.

“Please be Hera,” Atalanta muttered just as quietly.

Apparently, I'm not the only hero with a grudge against a god.

That thought that gave me pause. Up until a short while ago, the grudge I'd been thinking of would have been directed at Athena. And while I still hadn't entirely forgiven her, what was left of my bitterness paled in comparison to the burning anger I felt towards Ares.

“And finally, one of the Holy Maiden's followers is a prince of the royal family,” I finished.

“I don't think some royal brat will give us much trouble,” Odysseus said and I was taken aback by the comment. I hadn't expected him of all people to disregard a threat like that. Before I could say anything, Annabella spoke up:

“Your legend predates the founding of the Trismegistian Kingdom so I can't fault you for your ignorance. But you would do well not to underestimate my brother.” Odysseus faltered at that and focused his gaze on Anna. When he looked her in the eyes, she summoned a sapphire sword and said: “Wilhelm can do the same only with alexandrite instead of sapphire. He's also adept at court fencing and has at least limited knowledge of the same techniques Felix used against Albrecht. And that's on top of whatever Outsider powers the Holy Maiden gifted him with.”

“He is starting to sound like a formidable opponent,” Odysseus admitted.

“It's not quite as bad as she is making it sound,” Yume said. “The five of us would have beaten him if he hadn't used a spell crystal to escape. However, given that it took all five of us to get him to retreat I would advise against underestimating him.”

Anna nodded. “He isn't unbeatable or anything but he is a legitimate threat. All descendants of the crown are skilled dungeon divers and Wilhelm is no exception. He was competent when he was still a normal mortal. Now, though, empowered by the Black Goat, he is a force to be reckoned with.”

“Be that as it may,” Atalanta said with a look back at Athena, “I am much more interested in the topography of Mount Olympus. I've never been there and I think at this point it would be really helpful to know the lay of the land.”

Athena nodded and looked over at Yume. “Would you be willing to use your magic to project my thoughts? I believe it would help to have a map that everyone can see.”

Yume nodded and a light blue haze spread out from her to Athena. A moment later a map, three-dimensional and superbly detailed, snapped into existence on top of the Table.

Olympus looked... different than I would have expected. It was a mountaintop, naturally, but it wasn't a single flat plateau. There was one large plateau at the center of it but arranged in a loose circle around it were over a dozen smaller peaks, each of which held a single temple-like structure. While most temples of the Olympian faith were rectangular in shape, the ones on this map were round. I recognized them as so-called tholoi, relatively small, round temple structures that were usually about 75 feet in diameter. If that size held here, that would make the main plateau of Olympus over three hundred yards wide. Frankly I had expected the place to be significantly smaller.

Of the tholoi nine were of that usual size. Two were noticeably larger and the final one was significantly bigger still.

“Am I right in assuming that these temples are the homes of the Olympians?” I asked.

“A crude term but not inaccurate,” Athena said, though the venom in her eyes suggested she wanted to bite my head off. “Indeed. Each of us has one of these tholoi to ourselves. Well, technically. Obviously Hera spends most of her time in father's tholos and Hades' stands empty save for a portal to the Underworld.”

I nodded. “Then I assume the two larger ones belong to Poseidon and Hades and the largest belongs to Zeus?”

“Precisely,” Athena said, crossing her legs as she stared at me with her bloodshot eyes.

I nodded again and looked back at the central plateau. It was a fascinating place, frankly. You wouldn't expect the realm of the gods to have normal housing but it did. A small, flourishing town took up most of the space on the plateau, with beautiful, sprawling gardens taking up the rest of the space, save for two large buildings. One was a coliseum not unlike the one here in Elysium and the other was a grand theater, a center stage surrounded by seating that soared far up into the sky. I suspected the sound quality was exceptional.

“Who lives in these houses?” Atalanta asked, saving me from having to ask myself.

“All the gods who do not rate their own tholoi, demigods who choose to reside upon Olympus and many of the clerics who train under the Olympians,” Athena said. “There are also artisans, actors and gladiators, though of course all of them are deeply faithful people.”

“So a circlejerk parade for the Olympians,” Albrecht muttered under his breath and the corners of my mouth quirked up in a smile.

“Urban warfare against Outsider cultists,” Odysseus muttered.

“I just hope those poor mortals managed to flee,” Melinoe muttered.

“There's one thing I'm confused about,” I said.

“Name it,” Athena hissed.

“How do people reach the tholoi? There are no bridges between the plateau and them.”

Athena nodded in understanding. “I suppose it is a little confusing.” She pointed at a spot on the map that showed a tiny contraption set into the ground of the plateau near one of the tholoi. “These devices will create a small bridge of light between two masses of land. They allow for easy travel.”

“Bridges of light?” I asked. “That doesn't sound very useful if we're trying to stay inconspicuous.”

She pressed her lips together and for once I could tell it was because she was seeing the problem I was seeing and not because she was annoyed with me. “There is a way to reach the tholoi without making use of the bridges though it is a way I was hoping to avoid.”

I waited for her to continue.

Finally she pointed at the fluffy clouds the rocky spires were jutting out from. “The clouds of Olympus are not like normal clouds. They have mass and consistency. They can be walked on, though it is as exhausting as trudging through deep snow.”

“So it is possible, just not ideal,” I muttered. “Alright, I suppose we should decide on a plan. First of all, where would we show up when we get there?”

Athena pointed at the center square of the plateau. “The main entrance to Olympus would deposit us here but appearing in the most conspicuous place of the entire realm would be suicide right now. As such, I would propose we use the entrance I used to flee the realm when I realized it was under attack.” She moved her hand to point at an inconspicuous ledge on the side of the plateau, almost but not quite hidden by the clouds. “When I fled Olympus three months ago this side entrance was still unguarded. I cannot guarantee that it still is but even if it is not, it is still the safest way to enter Olympus, simply because of how secluded it is. Even if they did post guards there, there cannot be too many of them.”

I nodded and was about to ask the next question when Albrecht said:

“What about us? Should we all just join you for a frontal assault?”

I had thought our talk of trying to stay undiscovered had been obvious enough but apparently Albrecht hadn't quite gotten the message. And to prove that it had been clear to everyone but him Enya smacked the back of his head and called him a dumbass.

“Looking at the geography of Olympus,” I said, “I assume that most, if not all, of the Olympians are captured inside their own tholoi. So I would prefer we sneak in, try not to make a ruckus, and try to free the Olympians one by one until we reach Hades' tholos. Once we kill whatever guards were stationed there we can open the portal to Hades' throne room and you all can join us.” I looked over to Athena. “Would that be doable?”

Athena considered, then traced a possible route on the map. “If we make for the nearest tholos from the entrance then we'd have seven of them between us and Hades' tholos. While it is likely that many of the Olympians will be held within their own tholoi, I cannot guarantee it. But the tholoi between us and Hades' would be those belonging to Hermes, Aphrodite and Hephaestus, Hestia, Ares, Demeter, Poseidon and, well, mine.”

“Ares...” Yume growled under her breath.

I pressed my lips together. I wanted to promise Yume she could leave him in whatever torment he'd wound up in but unfortunately we needed the bastard if we wanted to have any chance of surviving this madness.

“Not my cunt of a grandma...” Melinoe groaned and it made me raise an eyebrow. Melinoe hadn't exactly been subtle about the way she despised her grandmother but complaining about it made it sound as if she intended to come with us. I was beyond curious about that but I wasn't going to ask right then. Instead I said:

“At least a few of them sound like they would be handy to have in a fight, so that's good. There's also the matter of the one god who got away.”

Athena nodded. “Thanks to a vague but reliable source we know there is one god among the Olympians who managed to elude our foes.”

“You sure that mysterious source wasn't talking about you?” Odysseus asked.

“The mysterious source is the original owner of the Holy Maiden's body,” I said. “Her name is Syr and she can listen in on her body snatcher every now and then. And Syr very clearly heard her talking about a 'him'. So it has to be someone else since Athena is pretty clearly all woman.”

A pink blush touched Athena's cheek for just a moment before she started scowling at me more fiercely than this entire meeting and I suddenly felt like smacking my forehead as I got it: She used her scowl to explain away her blushing.

She'd been giving me red-faced scowls for years and years now. Was that what it had always been about? Gods above. I was starting to see why my girls had been doubting my observational skills as of late.

“Fair enough,” Odysseus said, pulling me out of my thoughts. “I don't think it helps us to speculate about that god's identity.”

“True,” I said. “But it's good to know that we have someone in our corner.”

“Indeed,” he said. “Now, shall we start working out the details?”

**

And that took the better part of the day. Surveying which Heroes would be joining our fight, talking strategy, sharing tricks, and so on and so forth. By the time we were done I had a better idea of how Anna's diplomatic meetings could drag on for so long without either party growing bored. If you actually had interest and a stake in the topic it was far easier to keep going on and on.

But clearly not all in attendance had felt the same. Within an hour most of my girls had checked out of the discussion. Alisha had snatched up a bunch of grapes, plucked them from the vine, arranged them by size and then started eating them one by one, starting with the smallest and working her way up. Selene had pulled out a deck of cards and was playing against herself and even Anna had started fiddling with some of the plants she'd harvested in the underworld.

Melinoe, while not one of my women, was similarly bored and alternated between watching Selene losing against herself and staring at Yume's swaying fox tails.

Yume herself was laser focused on the discussion, commenting on shoddy tactics and giving input on how strong certain Outsiders were. Athena, the one with the most investment in the matter at hand, was of course the most focused on the discussion.

Eventually, when things began winding down, Selene spoke up: “In all the excitement I think we've glossed over a pretty important detail. Where is that entrance to Olympus anyway?”

Athena began gesturing at the map, pointing towards the side entrance we'd already discussed. Her mouth opened and I was sure she was about to make a scathing comment about Selene not paying enough attention but before she had the chance Selene clarified:

“I know where that gate will spit us out. But you haven't told us where on the mortal plane we need to go to get there.” And it was at that moment that I realized she was right. Athena had managed to go not just this entire conversation but the entire time we'd been together without mentioning where that side entrance connected to.

Athena's mouth opened and her eyes darted around and I could all but hear her thinking that this was information that shouldn't be shared with just anyone.

“Athena,” I said very firmly, “you were the one who wanted to ask the Heroes of Elysium for help. We are sitting here to discuss how to liberate Olympus. If you don't think you can trust the people in this room with that kind of sensitive information then this entire exercise is pointless.”

She glared at me and this time I knew it had little to do with her desperately quelled arousal. I'd seen that particular look a few times thus far and I knew it meant that she grudgingly accepted that I had a point.

“It's in the capital, isn't it?” Selene prodded, quite gently. “That's how you managed to reach the Adventurer's Guild building there, wasn't it?”

Athena stayed silent a moment longer, then let out an exaggerated sigh and admitted: “It is. The gateway is located in the Temple of Zeus.”

Now it was my turn to let out an exaggerated sigh. “That fucking place.”

“Is there something wrong with it?” Alisha asked around a large grape that she'd been busy sucking the skin off with the patience and exactitude of someone who knew they had to entertain themselves for a couple of hours. “It's that huge structure in the temple district, isn't it? I mean it's a bit pompous but other than that I don't see the issue.”

'A bit pompous' was a very nice way of putting it. The architects had clearly attempted to create a building to rival the dimensions of the royal palace before lack of funds had forced them to scale their ambitions down to something that merely towered over everything in the already pretentious temple district. Then again, even if they had managed to build something as enormous as the royal palace the temple would have never even approached the grandeur of the royal palace for the simple reason that the royal palace had the Crystal Crown towering above it and dwarfing not just everything in the capital but everything in the entire kingdom. Not even the giant, gilded marble statue of Zeus on a throne could rival that staggering structure.

But no, that wasn't the problem.

“You know how the more well-known gods have several different cults that worship different aspects of that god, some of which have violent differences in opinion?” I asked.

“Of course,” Alisha said. “My goddess is worshiped by blacksmiths and housewives.”

I nodded. “The congregation at the Temple of Zeus in the capital worships a particularly off-putting version of Zeus.”

“Off-putting in what way?” Alisha asked.

“You'll see when we get there,” I said. “But the fact that the passage to Olympus is located there of all places implies that Zeus approves of that particular faith, which makes it even worse.”

“I cannot say I appreciate this particular aspect of my father,” Athena admitted, “but yes, he does. To a quite unfortunate degree.”

“It's got to be pretty bad if Athena is reacting like that,” Enya said.

“Trust me,” I said, “whatever you think, it's worse.”

“Be that as it may,” Athena said, a touch waspish, “everyone now knows how to reach Olympus and what to do once they get there. I believe we can proceed onward?”

“Indeed,” Odysseus said. “I believe everyone present is in agreement when it comes to Zeus'... escapades... However, talking about them is unproductive so I believe it best to move on.”

And move on we did. Oh, I would have loved to complain about Zeus' temple a little longer but honestly I was looking forward to Alisha, Selene and Yume walking into it blind, just to see their reaction. But before I could savor their repulsed reactions, there was...

I caught Athena's gaze and it was filled with the deliciously odd combination of fury and longing I'd seen before. She was so angry about the way I'd denied her and yet so desperate for me to pay attention to her once again. Once we were done here I was going to savor all the frustration I'd nurtured inside her. I'd make her beg for it, make her debase herself, and then make her come her gods-damned brains out. And I'd have Alisha cheering me on when I did.