“Is that wise?”
“We don’t have a choice, Grace. You saw how strong he was. More than I could hope to handle. We can’t afford to get caught out alone by this this, whatever it is. If it can shift to look like any of us, none of us will be safe. Come on, we have work to do. And I want you to gather all your books and come to us. You’ll be safe there. I’ll send two of my best, including Aceso to help.”
“All of my books? You got a big enough truck?” Grace smiled.
“They’re the only things that can help us with this. You found information in those books that helped us defeat Hades. Maybe you can find something here.”
“Yes, maybe, but I’d have to know what it is we’re dealing with. With Hades, I knew what books to look for and where, but what is this we are facing? What is it called?”
“That’s what I intend to find out, but for now we only have one thing to go on. We know it can shift and take different forms. Maybe that’s enough for you to start with. It’s not exactly common.”
“Not hugely, but you’re talking about looking at histories and legends of every culture in the world?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to need some help.”
“When we’re not needed to fight, you will have it.”
She gestured to Aceso to continue on as she had suggested. She sighed, as she still despised humans. They went to a late model F150 in the parking lot and got on their way.
“You have any theories on what this might be?” Grace asked.
Aceso shook her head as she drove the truck out onto the highway and got them underway.
“Until now I’d never even heard of such a creature,” she replied sternly.
“Yeah, it’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”
“It will be if you keep talking,” she snarled.
* * *
“Hello, Ladies.”
Thanatos welcomed three beautiful women into the club and led them down to the bar. “Drinks for the ladies, on the house,” he said to the barman.
“Hey, how come the broads get handouts?” A man was waiting to order beside him where he had pushed in.
He smiled as he looked back and pointed at them. “If you ever look like that, I’ll buy you drinks, too, all right?”
“No, it’s not all right!”
He was in his early thirties and yet already mostly bald. He was wearing the suit he’d clearly worn at work all day, with just his tie loosened off at the collar.
“If you don’t like it, leave.”’
“Is that how you treat patrons who want to come in here and spend money at your establishment?” He pointed an aggressive finger at Thanatos.
“Ah,” smiled Thanatos as he saw the man’s aggressive tone and finally felt quite within his rights to respond in kind. He grabbed the man’s finger and broke it with ease. He cried out in pain as he staggered back.
“I don’t want assholes like you coming to my club, do you hear? I want people I like, fun people. Well, I won’t say you haven’t been fun, but there’s only so much fun to be had hurting pathetic creatures like you. Do you understand? Now get out!”
But the man reached behind his back and pulled out a gun. The women he’d greeted just moments before cried out in panic, but Thanatos smiled, making no attempt to protect himself. Two shots rang out, hitting him squarely in the chest. He wasn’t even moved by the impacts, despite the holes in his shirt.
“Are you done?”
The man looked terrified and turned to run.
“What the hell are you?”
He panicked, but as he went to flee, a burst of light appeared before him, dazzling and blinding all except Thanatos. He just about made out the shape of a man appear mid-air. He landed on top of the aggressive angry man who was running away. Thanatos couldn’t help but smile as the gunman collapsed flat to the dance floor.
“Maybe there is karma after all,” he grinned.
As the light faded and people went about their business, he noticed something about the one who had collapsed on top of the angry man. He was wearing Olympian armor, though barely visible through a coating of what looked like black soot, or volcanic ash.
“Everything is okay!” Thanatos yelled.
Few people had even bothered to concern themselves with the two men on the floor, assuming the light was all part of some show. The music was loud enough few had even heard the gunshots.
“Oh, my god, are you all right?” The women rushed over to him, ignoring the two on the floor.
“I’m fine,” he insisted.
“But you just got shot.”
“You must be wearing armour!” Another of the women ran her hands inside his jacket and up his shirt.
“Yes, I’m fine. Excuse me, Ladies, but work calls.” He ushered them toward the bar.
“Get that asshole out of my bar,” he said to the barman, pointing to the one who’d shot him. He was groaning as he came to. Thanatos grabbed his gun and put it inside his belt. He picked the Olympian up and threw him over his shoulder. Soot clouded out around him and coated his suit. He then looked down at the bullet holes in his shirt and sighed.
“Not another one,” he said, realizing he’d wrecked another expensive suit. He pushed his way through the patrons and out to an elevator, taking him to his apartment.
“Want a hand, Boss?” It was one of his bouncers.
“No, I’ve got this.”
Many people were looking at the body he was carrying with curiosity. Others were coughing from the dust cloud he’d left in his wake. He wasn’t going to apologize for it, though. He didn’t see it as his fault. The doors to the elevator opened once again, and he stepped out into his apartment. He laid the Olympian down on his sofa, despite how filthy they were. Whoever it was, he felt some responsibility toward them. He laid the body out. It was clearly a man, and bleeding from many wounds by the looks. But for how filthy he was, he couldn’t tell who, but he was curious. He pulled off his helmet and paused in shock.
“Mars,” he gasped.
He felt a little sick, remembering just how powerful the God of War was, and how they’d been on opposing sides the last time they met. His eyes suddenly opened as he regained consciousness and widened when he recognized Thanatos. He struggled to his feet with a furious look, despite how exhausted and hurt he clearly was.
“You! You traitor!”
Thanatos backed away, holding his hands up.
“Hey, hey, I was wrong, but I’m not with Hades anymore.”
“Liar! Deceiver!”
“Well, yes, but not anymore,” he shrugged.
Thanatos’ back was soon up against his own private bar. Mars closed in and wrapped his hands around his throat. As Thanatos resisted, he realized he was tougher than the god who was seemingly unbeatable before. He was clearly severely weakened. Thanatos shrugged off his arms. A punch swung for his face and connected. It hit harder than any human could, but with a fraction of the power he was used to. He pushed him away, and as he came back to swing at him, he stepped aside, letting Mars collapse into a chokehold that he was unable to escape from. He collapsed like dead weight, and Thanatos lowered him down. He sat down beside him, propped up against the bar.
“What are you doing, why won’t you fight me?” Mars had barely enough energy to stay conscious.
“Because I am not your enemy. I was wrong to fight against the Allfather, and I have fought Hades and his followers ever since.”
“I don’t believe you,” he replied, dozing off once more.
Thanatos sighed. Everything had just become much more complicated. He went to try and wake Mars once more, but remembered what had happened last time he did, and decided against it.
“What a day!”
He got up and went behind the bar to pour himself a drink. He knocked it back and poured another, but before he could drink it, Mars’ voice rang out.
“You’ve really changed sides? Again?”
Thanatos went around the counter and sa
t down on the armrest of a sofa opposite him. He was conscious, but not able to move. He’d accepted the fact he could not do Thanatos any harm even if he wanted to. The fact he’d shown no aggression in return convinced him something substantial had changed.
“Yeah, I did. I’ve been fighting alongside Theodosia and Vulcan, among others. But there aren’t many of us that we know of.”
“You, you have been taking orders from Theodosia?” Mars laughed.
“I didn’t say that. We’ve been working together.”
“Of course,” he laughed as he coughed up blood.
“You’re in a bad way.”
“Oh, you noticed?”
“What happened to you?”
“I think that’s a better question for you. Last I knew I was fighting against Hades and others. I was giving as good as I got. I was alone against them. I felt a blade bite into my side. I was thrown like nothing, as if off the end of the world into a pit of burning lava. I don’t know where, or when. But Hades was there, and many more who supported him. We fought for an hour until I struck down half of those with him, but I was being struck more and more. The wounds sapped energy from me, more each time. I thought I was to die there, when as if by some miracle, I was cast away in a flash of light. Never have I seen anything like it.”
“And then what?”
“What do you mean?”
“What happened next?”
He looked confused. “I appeared here, wherever here is.” He looked around, bewildered by the site of Thanatos’ apartment.
“This is not Olympus. What is this place?”
Thanatos smiled.
“We are on Earth, among the mortals. In the city of New York, to be precise.”
“What? Why?”
“You don’t know?”
“Know what?”
A wave of pity and sympathy suddenly overcame him, but also sadness that he was the one having to tell him.
“It can wait. You should rest.”
He wasn’t going to give up, that much was clear from the look on his face.
“Don’t hold out on me, Thanatos. If you say you’re on the right side now, you’ll tell me the truth, all of it,” he said, coughing up more blood.
He looked in a bad way. As much as it pained Thanatos to care for a former enemy, he put his glass down and helped him out of his armor before going for bandages behind the bar. Mars winced in pain as he dabbed the wounds clean and began to wrap a bandage about his chest. Thanatos knew there was little he could do besides patch him up and give him time. He was still waiting for an explanation.
“Please, if this cause means anything to you, you will tell me.”
Thanatos sighed, suspecting Mars knew almost nothing about the events he had experienced.
“All right, I’d say you’d need to sit down for this, but…” he smiled, “Zeus is done, finished. He smashed his crown at the end and scattered us all as we fell from Olympus. Some fell here, in New York, others elsewhere. Many are still unaccounted for. We don’t really know who even survived the war.”
“You talk like you have been here a long time?”
“For many months, yes, and Theo and others even longer. She was fighting Hades before I got here.”
“How is this possible?”
“Zeus, he cast us out, he must be responsible for this.”
“But this cannot be random. It can be no accident we arrived in the same place. How can it have got to this? How could you ever have supported Hades?”
Thanatos sighed.
“Look, there are only so many times I can say sorry. I did what I thought was right, same as the rest of us. But I have more than made up for my mistake.”
“Then you have restored Olympus and the natural order of things?”
“You know I cannot do that.”
“Then you have done nothing,” he replied, coughing up blood once again, “You say Theodosia was leading the way against Hades, did no loyalist more powerful make it?”
“Until you got here, no. Both sides took a beating, and now Hades is back again.”
“You didn’t defeat him?”
“We did, but he came back.”
“What are you doing to fight him?”
“My fighting days are over. Hades has called a ceasefire. It’s over, so long as we maintain the peace.”
“Peace? You think there can be peace while Hades roams free? He will deceive and cheat you at every turn. He is not to be trusted.”
“It’s not my problem. I don’t want any part in this war anymore. I meddled once, not again.”
“What happened to you?” Mars asked in an angry tone, “You used to be honorable. Where is the Thanatos we once knew?”
He finished bandaging the wound and shot up, furious at Mars, but unable to inflict any damage on such a wounded adversary. He paced back and forth angrily, trying to formulate an answer.
“Have you ever thought it’s maybe not me that changed, but the world? Things do not always stay the same.”
“They do if you protect them!”
“I’m sorry, okay. But I can’t change what has already been done.”
“Where is Theodosia now?”
“No idea, probably plotting some ridiculous scheme that will get her killed.”
“Why are you not helping her?”
“I’ve had my fill. They’re on their own now. I gave it my best shot. We couldn’t win, but we don’t need to.”
“You’re a fool if you think Hades will give up. With Zeus gone, he’ll take everything he wants, unless someone stands up to him.”
“Well, you’re here now, so I guess we’re good.”
“Look at…” he coughed, “Look at me! I’m barely of this world. It’ll be a miracle if I recover from these injuries.”
“You’ll recover. You’re too much of a pain in the ass to die.”
Mars didn’t seem to see the funny side of it.
“How could it ever have come to this?”
“What?”
“Us, here, you, a traitor, looking after me. We fought in the greatest battle of all our lifetimes.”
“It seems like so long ago,” replied Thanatos.
“To me it was yesterday, or maybe even today.”
Thanatos shook his head and picked up the bottle of spirits. He drank straight from it as he realized what that must feel like. He was missing time compared to Theo, but little had changed in the time he’d lost. Mars was stepping from one life to another.
“Do you need anything?” He went around the other side of the bar to pour another drink, “You can stay here until you recover, anything for a fellow brother,” he said and meant it, even if he was eager to get Mars off his hands as quickly as he could. He finished pouring and took a sip. It was as satisfying as he had hoped, and he needed it after the evening he’d had.
“I walk away and still this shit lands on me,” he said, looking up as if appealing to the gods. Mars?” Thanatos realized he’d not heard a reply.
He took another sip and went around to check on him. He was flat out asleep, slumped back against the bar. Thanatos shook his head.
“I try and get out, but nope, can’t get away from it.”
He put his glass down and picked Mars up, hauling him over to the luxurious sofa opposite. He propped his head up against a pillow and found a throw. He placed it over him, before retreating and feeling strange about the whole thing.
“You’d better live. I’m not explaining to Theo how you died here,” he said, lifting his glass to salute, and finally throwing it back.
Chapter 14
“Miller, come with me,” Aldred said sternly just as he was lying down to get some sleep before another early start.
He’d never known the master come to his bedside to him away during the night. It concerned him, and as he reached the door, he noticed Ava and Luca had also been called out for the same purpose.
“What’s going on?” Aaron asked as they came together, knowing Aldre
d would not be forthcoming.
They were led into the great hall where only a single man was standing guard beside the fire that was still burning. They didn’t stop and were led on through a doorway they’d never seen before, and down a corridor until they finally reached another door. It was heavy duty, like something off a ship or a bank vault.
“I’m showing you this because I believe it’s in your best interest, and because you have earned the right to do so.”
Aldred put in a keycode to the surprisingly advanced access point. The door slid open to reveal a room far larger than they had expected. Dozens of screens displayed images from around the world, while six men and women sat at consoles going about what seemed their daily work.
“This is where you monitor the world?”
“Some of it, Aaron, this is merely our own feed. We have many agents who monitor activity all over the world. The most important of which is displayed here for us to see and judge.”
“How do you decide what is important?” Ava asked.
“The sort of things that will change the world. Coups, assassinations, high level organized crime, government intervention, terrorism.”
“And then what?” Aaron asked.
“If we believe it could have a severe and detrimental impact on the world and we can change it, or if we believe we can benefit or be paid enough to change it, and that work aligns with our values, we act.”
“Who decides all of those things?”
“I do, but never without the guidance of the veterans among the Brotherhood.”
“So you have no formal structure?”
“Of course we do. We have a hierarchy, but we’re not modern government, if that’s what you are wondering. We want to see the world become a better place, and we will do all in our power to make that happen.”
“All while making a buck?”
“It is noble work we do here, but do you think it could be done without backing?”
Aaron shook his head as Aldred went on.
“The masters who we were taught by and those before them, they understood this. We are idealists. We work toward a better world for all, but it cannot be achieved by a poor man.”
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