Godsforsaken

Chapter 43: Aftercare And Departure

I was still balls-deep inside Alisha and locked in a passionate embrace with her to boot but I couldn't simply ignore Athena's feelings.

She had looked jealous, nearly upset, at the way Alisha and I so casually confirmed our love for each other. And it bothered me.

Did she expect me to confess my love for her as well? I had spent a decade of my life hating her for very good reasons. Did she think a little heart-to-heart and a bit of admittedly amazing sex was enough to erase all of that history?

No, that was unfair. I did like her. I did enjoy her company. Even if I was still furious at her, even if I still loved sniping at her, the passionate relationship we shared was no longer one of hatred and fury.

However, it was still far too early to even consider using the L-word with her. But that didn't mean she didn't deserve any tenderness.

“Come over here, Athena,” I said gently.

“You want me to clean you both up?” she asked, not entirely put out by the idea but not entirely happy about the situation either.

“No, silly. To cuddle.”

She blinked and I opened the embrace Alisha and I shared for her. With beet-red cheeks the goddess of wisdom crawled over to us and slowly, tentatively, joined our hug. Once she felt our warmth against her skin she relaxed into it and we all stayed like this until I was acutely reminded of the fact that I was still inside Alisha and only that fact kept a deluge of my cum from leaking out of her ass.

“How about we go clean up in the bathroom?” I suggested and the two women nodded at me.

**

Sharing a bath with Athena was an experience. She seemed endlessly fascinated by the idea of cleaning each other up, by the idea of sharing that level of intimacy without any kind of sexual arousal involved. It was a little silly until I thought about why someone would be so fascinated with such a simple act and when I realized what it meant my heart broke a little for her. Never in her life had Athena shared this kind of simple intimacy with anyone. She had never had a childhood, yes, but that also meant that she'd never been allowed to just be a child around her dad. She had never simply been held by a parent, never been tucked into bed, never been washed by another person.

It explained her twisted idea of intimacy. The first time we'd slept together I had tried for gentle intimacy but Athena had been the one who had pushed me into slapping and choking her but this time she had been jealous of the gentle way Alisha and I had made love before her eyes, had been jealous of the casual affirmation of our feelings for each other. She was only just realizing that there was a kind of arousal and a kind of intimacy not based on aggression, not based on antagonism, but on sheer and simple affection. And she wanted it.

And it was shocking that all of that was apparent just from the way she stiffened up and melted into our touch as we lathered her in soap in the bath. At first she had clearly assumed that we would be continuing what we had started in the bedroom, had even started spreading her legs as I had begun cleaning her up. Once she realized that we would not be continuing the bedroom activities she had been concerned, the question of whether she had done something wrong clear on her face, and that expression had then gradually melted away as we had kept up the simple, intimate act of cleaning her up.

And by the time she was back to her normal, glamorous divine looks she had understood what this was about and had returned the favor with enthusiasm, cleaning us up and admiring both my body and Alisha's without trying to turn it lewd.

By the time we made it back to the bedroom she had completely surrendered to the feeling of just being pampered and comfortable around people who cared for her. When she laid down cuddled into my side and with her fingers laced with Alisha's she fell asleep with a content little smile on her face. And I didn't even mention the fear I felt hitting my chest.

**

The next morning we woke up feeling rested and content and Athena and Alisha went to make breakfast together while I decided to wake the others up. I had assumed to find my girls in one of their rooms and Melinoe in the one we'd given her but instead I found a bizarre tableau.

I found the girls in Anna's room. All of them. Melinoe was cuddled into Anna's chest, such as it was, Yume was spooning with Melinoe with an arm possessively wrapped around the demigoddess' waist and Selene was likewise pressed up against Anna's back.

I just stood there blinking for a good long while. What the fuck was going on? When had this woman grown so close to all my girls? Did I need to be jealous? Were they trying to, I dunno, recruit her? And wasn't that kind of fucked up?

At least they were all wearing nightgowns or I would have been a lot more bamboozled than I already was but even so. Well, I said that but the nightgowns my girls wore were... well they weren't modest. And evidently Melinoe's taste in nightwear wasn't any more modest than theirs, consisting of a lacy black undergarment and a little black chemise that was translucent except where it cupped her breasts. The garment exposed all of her supple, milky thighs and gave a delightful view of her modest cleavage and cute bellybutton. She looked at ease like this, that nervous overconfidence she usually cloaked herself in absent as she just lay there in Anna's arms, snoring softly.

Gods damn it but it was really hard to stay mad at her when she looked this cute. She looked uncomfortably like a black-haired, slightly shorter version of Alisha and it was kind of messing with me.

I decided to let them all rest a bit longer, having no idea how to wake them up gracefully. Instead I went down into the kitchen and grabbed a cutting board to chop up come cured pork belly for breakfast.

“Are the others coming?” Alisha asked.

“Uhm...” I replied eloquently.

She gave me a confused look.

“Look, just... you go wake them up, alright?”

Alisha raised an eyebrow, but washed her hands and ran up the stairs. I could tell the moment she reached the open bedroom because she let out a snort so loud I heard it all the way back in the kitchen.

**

After everybody was up we had a pleasant enough breakfast together, though Melinoe was blushing whenever our eyes met. What exactly she was embarrassed about I could not tell. Had she tried to seduce my girls but failed? Or was she blushing because she knew I must have seen her in her skimpy nightwear? Gods, this was confusing. I needed to confront her but with us about to infiltrate Olympus it simply wasn't the right time. Once we made it back I would definitely be having a long talk with her about what exactly she was trying to accomplish by hanging around my women, though.

As we ate we talked about our plans. We had already decided to infiltrate Olympus during the night, which meant we would be entering the Temple of Zeus at dusk. I had a bad feeling that would lead to a fight. The temple had been safe back when Athena had fled but it had been months since then. But arriving at dusk would at the very least reduce the chance of civilians being around that could get hurt.

But that meant we had to waste away half a day. We'd slept in since it wouldn't do for us all to be tired before the fighting had even started but that still left us with a few hours to kill.

Athena and Melinoe decided to spend a bit of time tending to our little grove and feeding mana to our mystic fruit trees, Alisha decided to prepare food for the trip, and Selene, Yume and I had decided to head for the market, to repair our equipment as necessary and to buy a few supplies.

As for Anna...

“Are you sure we can trust the crown?” Athena asked.

“I doubt my mother is unaware of the portal to Olympus in the Temple of Zeus,” Anna said.

“Oh, no, not that,” Athena said. “The crown has known that for over a century. But asking them for help is...”

“We have spent months scrambling to shore up the kingdom's defenses against the Outsiders,” Anna said. “If mother learns that the seat of power of the Olympians has become a nexus of Outsider activity she won't hesitate to intervene.”

Athena mulled that over for a moment, then nodded.

“What we really need is your permission,” Anna said. “Marching on Olympus could be seen as the gravest sin were it to be misconstrued. So we need the express permission of one of the Olympians.”

Athena's lips thinned. “I hate the idea of asking the queen's forces for help.”

Anna nodded. “I understand that. But, if you'll allow me this comment, this is bigger than the Olympians.” Athena flinched. “If the Holy Maiden is allowed to do something like this unchallenged then all pantheons are in danger. The entire world is in danger.” Anna took a deep breath. “For all we know, mother won't even have forces to spare for this. But please, at least let me try.”

“Alright,” Athena said. “But I am asking you for help, Princess Annabella. I am not asking Queen Emilia.”

“Still playing politics even in this situation...” I muttered.

“Oh shut up, Tailor,” she hissed, but there was no real heat to it.

I shrugged. “I get it. You're the daughter of Zeus and so you're asking the daughter of the queen for assistance. Princess to princess. It makes sense, from a purely hierarchical perspective.”

“It's more that she doesn't want to owe mother any favors,” Anna said.

“That, too,” Athena said and a faint blush crept up on her cheeks. Apparently she thought that owing Anna favors might land her in the bedroom with both of us and she seemed to quite like the idea. Well, she wasn't wrong about that.

Melinoe's eyebrow rose as she watched Athena blush. Apparently the demigoddess could tell where Athena's mind had wandered. And it was testament to Athena's newfound acceptance of the situation that she was able to banter with us like this despite Melinoe being present. Apparently now that she knew that Melinoe knew she wasn't embarrassed about it anymore. Good.

“Another thing,” I said. “How are you getting to the palace? Want us to accompany you?”

Anna bit her lip. “I think that would be for the best. I had considered using my communication focus to contact my handmaiden but... this is too urgent. We can't delay anymore and getting an audience is much easier for me than it is for my handmaiden.”

**

And so that's what we did. Melinoe and Athena busied themselves in the garden, feeding whatever mana they could spare to the mystic fruit trees. Alisha made sandwiches and told her goddess precisely what was going on and what we were doing about it, though she had told us that there was very little hope for the Tuatha Dé Danann to help out. And Selene, Yume and I accompanied Anna to the Royal Palace. Once there Yume stayed with Annabella while Selene and I went to get our gear fixed. Alisha suffered very little wear and tear of her gear, Yume's sword was enchanted for durability and the only thing Anna had that required maintenance was her bow and she'd given that to us to get repaired. Selene and I meanwhile wielded multiple weapons each. We both relied strongly on our enchanted swords but we each had a few trusty sidearms for certain situations.

Selene had started out with nothing but her sword and her buckler but after every adventure she'd spent a little on other pieces of gear as she kept seeing how useful it was to have different weapon types on hand. She wasn't quite as crazy about it as I was but her arsenal now included a mace, a spear and an axe as well as a few differently sized shields.

Of course, it also gave Selene and me a little time to ourselves, which we got way too little of. She often faded into the background when we were in a larger group and that had a lot to do with her simply being a quiet person. She didn't speak much, especially in group situations, though it didn't mean she wasn't paying attention. But in situations like this, when the other girls weren't crowding around me, I could just enjoy the simple pleasure of her company. The small gestures, the tiny touches, the quiet words of companionship, all of the little things that so often got lost. We showed our love for each other every day but we did so in a quiet, understated way. Unfortunately we couldn't really indulge the more carnal side of that love right now but that was alright. There would be plenty of time for that once we'd won.

By the time we made it back to the mansion Anna and Yume were already back and Athena, Melinoe and Alisha were done with their respective preparations.

“So, how did things go with your mother?” I asked.

Anna's expression wasn't sour, exactly, but she didn't sound too happy. “Mother was not prepared for such a sudden request for help. She was willing, of course, but she gave me two options. Either postpone the assault for two weeks so that she could rally a proper force...”

“Not gonna happen,” I interrupted. We were not going to let the Holy Maiden run amok for another two weeks just to get more help. We'd spent more than enough time recruiting the Heroes of Elysium.

But Anna was nodding before I had even finished speaking. “I didn't phrase it that way but I thought the same. We can't postpone this any more than we already did. So mother's other option was that she will send a small scouting force after us, two members of the Royal Guard to shadow us. Once they've ascertained that we have brought the Heroes onto Olympus they will send a guard detail in. It won't be a full army, not even a full fighting force, but it will be several dozen highly trained fighters.”

“Is this wise?” Melinoe asked. “Could any of them be working for this traitorous prince?”

“Apparently mother went on a bit of a witch hunt while we were in the Underworld,” Anna said. “It's possible that some of them are loyal to my brother but... I doubt it. None of my siblings have much sway over the Royal Guard. Nobody wants a civil war to break out over succession once mother steps down.”

“We pretty much ruled out the idea of the Royal Guard being corrupt back when the whole mess with the dungeon was going on, didn't we?” Selene asked, causing everyone to look over at her.

I smiled and nodded at her. “Exactly. If there had been traitors in the Royal Guard then Wilhelm and his cultists wouldn't have had to slaughter the guards on duty at the time. He could have just made sure to have his people stationed there to let him in without a fight.”

Melinoe digested that information, then nodded. “Yes, that makes sense.”

“But that brings us to another question,” I said.

“What question?” Melinoe asked.

“Once we're in the Temple of Zeus there won't be any turning back,” I said. “I doubt we'll even make it to Olympus without a fight. So this is your final chance to bail. Are you sure you want to go through with this? Just getting one over on your cunt of a grandmother isn't a good enough reason to risk your life.”

Melinoe's lips thinned and for the first time since I met her she looked genuinely angry. “I told you already. There is no way I'm sitting this out. This isn't about my grandma. Pissing her off is a bonus. It's about the world itself. And, if I'm being frank, I am getting quite annoyed with your attempts to push me away.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. This, coming from the person I kept finding cuddled up to my women? But what I said instead was: “Very well, I apologize for doubting your intentions. Once this is all over, we will have a proper chat. For now, you are part of our group and I will trust you the same as I trust everyone else. Is that alright?”

She gave me a nod, looking much more relaxed now. “That's great. We're in this together.”

“Very well,” I said. “Then we're off to the Temple of Zeus.”