With the deed done, he turned around and tried to walk away. However, he legs promptly failed him and he fell onto his ass. Hades body/dimension/whatever it was really took a lot out him.
For now, he had to rest. Just for a moment. He didn’t remember losing consciousness.
* * *
Athena sat eating in the royal banquet hall of the Crystal Palace. At the moment, she was only one of a few people in the castle, so she dined alone. Tall, and adorned with silky blonde hair and an elegant purple dress, she was the epitome of beauty, and she knew it.
She was seated at a long mahogany table. Although such a thing was normally reserved for a crowd of people, she enjoyed a sense of power and grandeur from having it all to herself. A massive stained glass window rose up behind her, and moonlight illuminated the grand display. The window showed scenes from her life in the previous universe: her attempted bribery of Paris; her judgment upon Medusa; and finally, her giving the Athenians an olive tree.
Her servant, an elderly man, brought her some more wine. “Thank you, Hemsworth.”
“Will there be anything else, Mistress?”
“No, Hemsworth. Thank you.”
He turned to leave, but stopped. “Oh, before I forget: Mistress Artemis is here to see you.”
If Artemis was here, that meant trouble. Still, she had to be a good host and keep up appearances. “Send her in.”
“Yes, Mistress.”
Hemsworth exited the far side of the room, and soon Artemis entered. “Yo, Big Sis!” At four-foot-six, with frazzled chestnut hair, bedazzled blue jeans and a tight white tank top that had “Huntress” scrawled across her ample chest, she was the complete opposite of Athena in appearance.
Athena didn’t even bother looking up from her meal. “I told you not to call me that.”
The pint-sized goddess walked confidently up to the table. “Awww, don’t be like that. We’re fellow Greek gods, after all. You’re practically my sister.”
“But I’m not your sister,” Athena insisted. “Why have you come here?”
Artemis smiled mischievously. “That should be perfectly obvious; Airlock 52B was accessed right after that ship attacked. 52B is right above the forest where you keep your rejects. Aren’t you worried the intruders will attack your castle?”
Athena took a sip of wine from her chalice. “They are trash, not even worth wasting a thought on.”
“I don’t know,” Artemis sang. “They must be pretty tough to survive the destruction of their ship and the vacuum of outer space. Seems to me, you could use some help with this.”
Athena couldn’t stomach the indignity. Now, she stared Artemis in the face. “I need no help disposing of those Academy wretches. If they come here, I will slaughter the lot of them.”
Artemis didn’t look convinced. “Yeah, well, Zeus is concerned you’re not taking this seriously, and it looks like he’s right. ‘The plan must not be interrupted,’ he said. And we can’t ignore the big guy.”
“Rest assured, the Academy trash will not get past me. I will personally execute each and every one of them.”
Artemis’ impish grin remained. “Oh? It seems like you haven’t heard the news.”
Athena tired of these games. “News? What news?”
“Oh, just the news that Hades’ body was just found. He’s dead, you see.”
Shock jolted Athena’s body. “Hades? Dead? That’s impossible.”
“Hate to break it to you, but it’s true. Old Hades is no more.” She let loose boisterous laughter.
Athena leapt to her feet. “This isn’t funny!” She immediately felt shame at having lost her composure.
“Who cares what happened to that guy. He was a dick. And creepy as hell.”
“Even so, he was one of us. Who killed him?”
Artemis’ grin morphed into a broad smile. “Ev Bannen.”
“Bannen? Impossible. He’s just a student. There’s no way he could have defeated a member of the Flawless Few. What makes you think he was even involved?”
Artemis shrugged. “Simple. He was found at the scene.”
“What?”
“Yeah, apparently he passed out after having fought Mr. Creepy. Zeus’ boys have taken him into custody. I expect he’ll be tortured before too long. Zeus wants to do the interrogation himself. Should be fun to watch, but I have orders to stay here and help you.”
“I told you, I don’t need your help.”
Artemis threw up her hands in an exaggerated display of surrender. “Yeah, well, Zeus disagrees. He thinks the female members of the Flawless Few need to stick together for this. ‘Don’t attempt to take them on by yourself,’ he said.”
Athena, gritting her teeth, muttered, “Of all the arrogant, chauvinistic…”
Artemis made another exaggerated gesture, this time of putting her hand to her ear. “What was that? Do I hear you badmouthing the big guy?”
“N-No. Of course not.”
“That’s what I thought. Now here’s the plan.”
Chapter X
Ev awoke tired but nowhere near as exhausted as he had been when he’d passed out. All right, time to get a move on.
But when he tried to move, he discovered he was sitting on the floor with his arms chained above his head. Furthermore, he was wearing one of Eden’s collars.
He looked around. He was in some sort of massive circular chamber. The walls were completely lined with windows and roiling green energy raged outside them; it looked like an alien world. Computers with monitors sat against the walls, apparently monitoring whatever that energy was. The screens displayed various stats he couldn’t understand. Ev felt he was in a sci-fi movie, but this was all too real.
Suddenly, the massive doors at the far end of the room opened, and in stepped the single biggest man Ev had ever seen. He was easily twice the size of Hercules, and Ev would have mistaken him for a Nephilim if not for the man’s attire. He was dressed in a fancy black suit with blue trimming—a far cry from what the Nephilim wore. “Ev Bannen,” he growled. His voice was low and accusing.
“Do I know you?” Ev said, trying to sound like he wasn’t intimidated by this guy (which he totally was).
The man had a neatly-trimmed silver beard and matching hair pulled back in a ponytail. Despite his obvious age, there were no wrinkles anywhere on his head. “You’re about to, you little shit.”
Ev gulped. This guy wasn’t screwing around. “Who are you?”
The giant rumbled over, each step reverberating painfully through the metal walls and floor. He soon stood mere inches from him. “I’m Zeus, leader of the Flawless Few and all of Zero Grade. How does it feel finally being in my presence? This is what you wanted, isn’t it?”
“Not exactly. I’d hoped to be… less chained up and more kicking your ass.”
The slightest smirk crossed Zeus’ face. “A funny guy, huh? Well, let’s put that to the test, shall we?”
Zeus bent down and squeezed Ev’s neck, smashing the collar in the process. His strength quickly returned, and he broke free from the chains.
Now face-to-knee with the king of the gods, Ev felt it was now or never. “I’ll make you pay for everything you’ve done to me and my friends.”
Zeus’ face showed only arrogance. “Well, what are you waiting for? Come get some.”
Ev leapt into the air and delivered his fist into the legendary god’s face. This resulted in instant pain—for Ev. He felt every bone in his hand shatter.
His body fell back to the floor in a heap. He moaned in pain as he raced to direct healing energy to his hand.
“What’s wrong?” Zeus laughed. “Didn’t you come all this way to kill me? Get to it, already.”
Ev managed to say, “I’m working on it.” He got back up and realized his mistake: He had forgotten to summon his gauntlets. He cursed his stupidity. So, he quickly wrapped his arms in the comforting metal and leapt up for another shot at Zeus. He punched the smug god in the face, and this time, felt that face give
slightly.
Unfortunately, his gauntlet gave as well, only completely. It fell to pieces under the force of the attack. Ev landed back on the ground and stared at the shattered pieces of his best tool on the floor.
Zeus chuckled. “Is that it? I expected more from the pipsqueak who dared to challenge the Flawless Few. Did you think I’d go down as easy as Hades? Don’t make me laugh. He was as weak as they come. I am the king of all gods.”
Ev didn’t see what happened next; his eyes simply couldn’t follow Zeus’ speed. But before he knew it, Zeus’ foot was buried deep in his upper body, not all the way inside but close enough. It was like getting hit by a train. He didn’t even feel the pain, not right away, at least. He simply flew back into the glass wall.
Ev lay there on the floor, his back against the wall. Zeus calmly strode up to him and pressed his gigantic foot onto Ev’s body. Ev cried out in pain while he was being crushed.
He thought back to his encounters with Belial. Ev had lost hands down against him each time, but even Belial was nothing compared to Zeus. The king of the gods was on a level Ev couldn’t even see.
It felt like an eternity under Zeus’ massive foot. Ev’s voice soon became hoarse from his own howling. Eventually, though, Zeus relented, and Ev’s broken body was spared any further damage—though Ev didn’t even know if further damage was possible.
“Now, then,” Zeus said, admiring his work. “Let’s discuss the location of Divine Protector Academy. I know they’re weak now, and I want to finish them off quickly. Tell me where Mt. Orleia is and I will make your death a quick one.”
At first, Ev couldn’t even speak; his body was simply too damaged. Within moments, though, he managed to heal himself enough to do so. Not that it helped him any. “N-Never.”
Zeus glared at him. “Fine. I’ll give you credit for holding out against normal pain, so I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way.” He removed a syringe filled with a jet-black liquid. “Normal diseases and illnesses don’t work on those with decent god-energy. But we managed to make a virus that only targets gods. We call it Olympian Flu. It’s far more deadly than its name suggests, however. As you’re about to find out.”
He bent down and jabbed the needle into Ev’s arm. Ev didn’t even feel it, not with all the pain he was already in. “You think this scares me?” Ev said weakly.
“It should, unless you’re as stupid as I think you are.” He removed the needle and stood up.
“Heh. I never claimed to be smart.”
“A wise choice, for once.” He put the syringe back in his pocket. “Not that that will help you any. Soon, the effects of Olympian Flu will become painfully clear.”
Within moments, a burning began in Ev’s chest. It began painfully, and only got worse from there. The pain multiplied, spreading throughout his body, until it felt as if every inch of him was on fire. He roared in agony and thrashed about, desperate for a way to stop the inferno that now engulfed him.
Zeus laughed. “Not so tough now, you little shit.” He looked up and began staring off into space. “You know, I never liked the name ‘Olympian Flu’. It’s too misleading. You see, it’s actually more like cancer. Just as cancer uses your own cells against you, Olympian Flu turns your own god energy against you. It’s now ravaging your body from the inside.” Ev believed him; he felt as if he would be incinerated any moment. Just then, though, he didn’t have the luxury of pondering Zeus’ words.
Zeus removed a second syringe from his other pocket, this one filled with an orange substance. “This is the antidote, so to speak. One injection from this will cure you completely. It doesn’t have a name yet; we’re still working on one.”
Ev didn’t give a damn about names. He wanted that mystery injection as he’d never wanted anything else in his life, but suspected Zeus wouldn’t just hand it over. Nevertheless, he feebly reached for it.
“Not so fast, pooslicker. You want this, you’re going to have to give me something in return. You know what I want.”
By now, even Ev’s throat was on fire, making speech difficult. Nevertheless… “N-Never.”
Zeus scowled slightly. “Hmph. You might be able to take a minute or so of this pain, but I doubt you can last long against it. Do you want to know the worst of it? The Olympian Flu was designed for maximum suffering, both physical and mental. The instant you lose consciousness, you die. So you have two choices: Endure it indefinitely or pass out and leave this world forever.” He let out a booming laugh, deep and full of twisted pleasure.
Ev writhed on the ground, enduring more pain than he believed even existed. His body shouted at him to give Zeus what he wanted, but Ev was determined to not betray those that had placed their faith in him. “You… won’t get shit from me!”
Zeus nodded, apparently slightly impressed. “I admire your spirit, boy, if not your brains. But if you don’t give me what I want, your life ends here. You need to understand that.” Ev responded with a vulgar gesture. Zeus turned around to leave. “Fine. Have it your way. If you won’t talk, I’ll just destroy everything until I find the Academy.”
“Destroy… everything?” The words burned, but he felt compelled to ask.
“Oh, you didn’t know? We’re going to Narska to take over once and for all. All those battles you guys fought before the God Games? Just a fun little diversion. We didn’t want you to know what we’re really up to. You see, we’ve been building a little something to crush all resistance. The weapon that took away everyone’s powers? That was just another step in the process. The finale is about to begin. Too bad you probably won’t be around to see it.” He laughed again and left the room.
Ev was strongly tempted to yell out, “Wait! I’ll tell you where the Academy is!” But he couldn’t. No one—least of all himself—would forgive him if he did.
So he lay there in unending agony.
* * *
Maya and Priscilia followed Ardhanaishvara’s directions by heading north through the Crystal Forest. They eventually exited into a rocky cliff overlooking a large valley surrounded by high canyon walls.
At the very end of this valley, miles away, was the Crystal Palace. It consisted of a massive central building with four towers. True to its name, it seemed to be made out of crystal, at least on the outside. Countless windows dotted the complex, and a high curved roof sat atop the main residence.
“There it is,” Maya said.
“Yeah,” Priscilia said. “Athena’s house. Her Majesty sure lives well, doesn’t she? Even while her subjects suffer.”
A slight smirk played upon Maya’s lips. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve taken a liking to those poor children.”
“As if. I just don’t like people who think they’re so much better than others.” Maya didn’t bother to point out how hypocritical that sounded. She didn’t believe Priscilia’s words, anyway.
Instead, she said, “Have you noticed? In the sky, there’s a moon.”
Priscilia looked up. Indeed, hanging in the sky, was a perfect full moon. “But we’re in the moon. The one up there is obviously fake.”
Maya nodded. “Yeah. And we’ve been here for hours. The sun, if there is one, should have come up already.”
“Her Majesty must really love the moon, then.”
They didn’t say any more. They simply made their way down to the valley below and over to the Crystal Palace. When they arrived, they saw lights on in the windows. “I don’t like this,” Maya said as they approached the door.
“You won’t get any argument from me. This is supposed to be the home of one of the Flawless Few, but I don’t see any guards.
“You think it’s a trap?” Maya asked.
“Probably. But we didn’t come all this way to flee like cravens. We must enter.”
They found the door unlocked and promptly entered. Inside, they were greeted by a large hall. Torches lined the walls and exquisite tapestries hung above them. Oddly, all the furniture had been pushed off to the side. “I guess
Her Majesty’s never heard of electricity.”
Maya shushed her. If this was a trap, they wouldn’t do themselves any favors by announcing their presence.
They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when the door suddenly shut behind them. “I knew it!” a voice called out. “I told you they’d come.”
They spun around to see a diminutive girl, seemingly in her teens, standing by the door with wild hair. She beamed brightly and gave them a thumbs up.
Another voice behind them said, “So you did. Are you expecting a reward?” Maya turned around again. Strolling down the hall was another woman, looking much older (perhaps in her thirties). She had a dour expression. Maya realized the thumbs up was meant for this other person.
Where Gods Dare (Divine Protector Book 4) Page 11