The Greatest Sin

You never defeat Olephia. You merely survive her.

• Saying among White Pantheon soldiers during the Great War

Raymond sat in the monitoring centre of the Artican Prison Facility. In glasses, a white coat and balding, he looked like the scientist this job said he was. It was a simple job, it should be a simple job, it had been a simple job for the past twenty years. Simple and well-paid, directly from the coffers of Olympiada. All that was needed was a lot of time and the willingness to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Still, it was six months on, six months off. The wage was more than good enough to pay for his entire family. “It’s going down.” He said.

“I CAN SEE IT’S GOING DOWN!” Georges screamed back, a Karainan man, tall, he had been fit a few years ago when the project accepted him. Now a beer-belly stretched his white coat. Officially, they were scientists, unofficially, their ‘science project’ relied entirely on monitoring a screen and finding ways to pass the time. Right now, the Goddesses were coming so the monitoring centre had been cleaned up. Spare PCs had been moved away, the boxes of snacks had been hidden in cupboards, the extra monitors were taken down. Raymond wondered if this was what the bridge of ship looked like, seats, various simple screens filled with graphs, and a large screen ahead of them. It read 28.9% in white letters over a red background. “When will they get here?”

“We’ve sent the report a month ago, Olympiada told us Leona would be here…” Raymond sighed. “Well, she should be here now.”

“I KNOW THAT!” Georges shouted again. They all knew that, it was their last method of coping with the fact Leona’s energy was running low. Everyone got nervous whenever it hit below 40%, then panic mode hit at 30%. The less there was, the faster it went. It made no sense, the drop from full charge to 90% took four months usually, then the next ten percent would take two. By the time they got to the sixties, they would lose a percent a day.

The screen changed. 28.8% now. Aron opened his mouth to give more bad news. A tall fellow, in the white coat they wore, with a rather snakish face. He was borderline unbeatable in the game nights they held. It flicked again. 28.7%. Raymond took a deep breath, that was the first time he had seen it lose a full tenth of a percentage so quickly. “LOOK AT THAT!” Georges shouted again.

The door to the monitoring centre slid open. The guards came in. Ex-Order members, all of them, usually pulled from Seekers although a few Guardians and Clerics were mixed in. Weaponry, officially, was forbidden in the monitoring centre. No one cared about officiality here though, all of them had the standard issue greatswords they received when Olympiada accepted them for the job. The tallest man, Isaiah, was the captain, he got the rank because he had served as a Seeker Captain some decade past. “I have bad news.” He said.

“Worse than that?” Georges pointed up at the 28.7% on the screen.

“Worse.” Isaah said, it was the first time Raymond had ever seen traces of Seeker discipline in the man. “We called Olympiada about Leona. They said five planes set off some fifteen hours ago.” Raymond put his cup of tea down before he dropped it. Strength drained from his arms and he felt his cheeks go pale. It was only a twelve-hour flight.

Georges sat down in his seat. “Then when are they?”

“We sent out drones to chart the area. They were on a direct route to us, the same one they always take.” Isaiah faltered for a moment and leaned on the desk to continue. “We found them.” The control room went silent. Raymond felt his breath catch, he did nothing to ease it. “Five planes downed, bodies around them. Goddess Allasaria brought thirty-five minor deities with her. We confirmed the deaths of twenty-one. Goddess Allasaria is not among them. Goddess Leona is.”

Raymond was glad he put his cup down just in time. His arms dropped to his sides. Georges collapsed into his chair, the rest of the so-called scientists in the monitoring centre did too. A few dropped whatever they were drinking. Cups and glasses smashed on the cold tiles of the ground. Raymond looked back to the screen. That 28.7% was all between them and the awakening of Olephia.

“Le…” Georges could not even the name. “Co-confirmed?” Isaiah replied with a slow nod before speaking.

“It’s the Sunset Contingency, worst case scenario. We will prepare for her awakening.”

Raymond wanted to turn and run. To flee. That wasn’t an option though, they were in the middle of Artica, in the middle of nowhere. No one among them even knew the co-ordinates of the location. Only the pilots of Olympiada and the Gods themselves were privy to that information. Planes where scheduled to pick him up a month from now. Raymond looked at the 28.7%. 28.6% now.

“Have you called it in?” Georges asked. Isaiah nodded again.

“I’ve called it in already. Olympiada has told us to hold.”

“Hold?” One of the other scientists shouted. “That’s it?”

“Do you have any ideas?” Isaiah shouted back. “Does anyone have any ideas?”

No one answered.

He turned back to his monitor and turned on a screen that was checked out of boredom and curiosity only. It was a direct feed to Olephia’s sleeping chamber. The Goddess of Chaos almost two miles deep in the ice below them, the only connection was a single staircase carved out a millennia ago. Olephia lay on the floor in the middle of the room. It had been refurbished as time went by, now the walls were white-painted titanium, reinforced with beams of Godstone.

A series of yellow crystals lined the room, each one with a thick leading from it into the wall. Those were the dream generators. They kept Olephia wandering for all eternity. How it worked, no one really knew. Maybe Olephia and Allasaria themselves did, but everyone who worked on the project had long passed away by the forces of time. It wasn’t even supposed to work. Theoretically it only had a one-in-five chance to keep her asleep for an hour. The chance dropped to near zero after a day. It was a statistical impossibility for Olephia to be held in her dream state longer than a week.

Through Leona’s powers, it had maintained Olephia asleep for a full millennia.

And now there was no Leona.

Raymond looked up at the main screen again. There it was, a single number in white on a red screen: 28.6%

28.5%

28.4%