Author notes: Thanks to all the people who took time to review chapter 1 or mark this story as a favorite. As this story is in the world-building stage, I am very interested in having reader opinions.
Special thanks to Narsil for betaing this chapter.
Disclaimer: see chapter 1
Rating: FR18
Calcutta, 1948
Ariana mentally thanked Nigel's wife once again for the various fashion tips she had given her. In her opinion, human clothing was very impractical, particularly with all the rules one was supposed to follow to dress properly according to gender, ethnic group and societal class.
Of course, as they traveled by boat from Australia to India, she had noticed some things. Like the fact some people with fair skin considered people with darker skin as inferior.
How did Philippe say it? Most people will think I am a 'métisse' and wonder which human ethnicities I am made up of… and yes they will consider me inferior, because they are stupidly believing… enough of this.
An image flashed through her mind, making her think that there had been a moment when she had been pale enough for those people. It was shortly before she slept in the stasis pod. According to her estimations, she only had sixty days left before the Curse killed her then. So she had come up with a desperate plan that would take twenty years to accomplish. Her pod was programmed to wake her up for one day every six months and if some emergency signals came from the lab inside the mountain. While she slept, a healthy female Argyreas body would grow. All she would have to do then would be to transfer her mind into it.
Except that I never woke up for the 6.5 year mark. I woke up… From what Alain told me about the collapsed staircase… the lab was destroyed with the central computer.
Another thing she had no idea about was how she could have healed. Maybe her long sleep had made the Vril-corrupting effect of the curse decompose… all that she knew was that her body was clean and that she was even maybe vaccinated against the disease.
She clenched her fists as she looked at her reflection in her cabin's mirror. She remembered the smile of the Council member who told her that she would be abandoned on Terra. Oh, officially, it was because she had contracted the Curse and they could not risk having her on Atlantis. But she knew the truth. Her contamination was not a matter of chance or even carelessness. It was a cruel, calculated move done by the Council to punish her for the Argyreas, to condemn her to death without ever explaining the real motivation to the Alteran people.
Her hand rested on a briefcase. Back in Antarctica, they had disguised it by gluing parts of a human one over the Alteran design. She sent a tiny jolt of Vril on its surface and felt the lock react to her aura. Opening the lid, she contemplated once again the few remnants of her past.
A bracer of a metal looking slightly like brass, made to cover the right forearm and the top of the palm. It was a prototype, with various functions of detection and amplification related to Vril usage. Its main point was that it allowed her to get in synch with a planet's Vril currents, something Philippe had told her they now called ley lines, and tap their energy.
Neatly arranged crystals with a hexagonal section. They contained the equivalent of millions of human books. It wasn't as much as a repository of knowledge, but it was more than enough to have this planet's science make a huge leap forward if she so wished. Near them was packed a small field science computer with a complete miniaturized sensor suite.
Then there was the final piece, a grey sphere with etched symbols of warning in the Alteran language. Her initial plan, after completing her body switch, was to use the Astria Porta and find the surviving Argyreas. But, as she had told them to hide where the other Alterans could not find them, it was possible that they were on a world without a Gate. So she had coded a matrix of nano-assemblers to build herself a base in case she didn't find them.
The whole question being: will I dare to use it on Earth in this century? Probably not if I am to blend in with the humans.
She closed her briefcase, making sure to spray some of the 'fragrance of unimportance' Philippe had created on it. What the Frenchman had explained her about alchemy… it reminded her of how some Alteran scientists had sometimes improvised equipment after a starship accident left them stranded on a planet.
Alterans had only come to detect and understand Vril late in their technological development. Alchemists had found a way to use it as part of their chemistry, using it as a catalyzer to produce reactions that normally necessitated nanotechnology or big machinery.
Even nuclear reactions…
Philippe had told her that the most fabled art of the alchemist, transmuting lead into gold, was indeed possible. However, other reactions were possible too. Uncontrolled chain reactions. This, more than gold, was the main reason why alchemists had shrouded their art in legends and hidden themselves.
But now, 'standard' human technology has unlocked nuclear fission…
She banished the thought. Their boat would soon arrive in that city called Calcutta, where they would wait for a few days for another ship that would bring them to Suez and from there yet another ship to Marseille. She took the last piece of her 'human disguise'. She remembered what Nigel's wife had told her. Even if society had made a lot of progress regarding women's rights lately, there were many places on the way to Europe where she would avoid a lot of problems if she and Philippe pretended to be married.
She toyed a little with the ring, before slipping it on the correct finger. According to her papers, she was Ariana Venturi and they got married in New Caledonia. To be fair, the idea of having him as a companion was quite pleasant to her but… well, human and Alteran women were similar in quite a few things. Wanting to be properly courted was definitely one of those and there was no way she would consider getting intimate without it. Still… she had asked Nigel's wife for some tips on how to send the proper signals to her 'husband' as she doubted that the tactics her mother taught her some eons ago were still valid.
She took the briefcase, checked the cabin one last time and put her hat on. She walked as quickly as those ori-damned heels allowed her, wondering once again what had pushed Prometheus to create a species so willing to torture itself for the sake of fashion. Thankfully the stasis pod had protected her clothing and the briefcase from time. Even if she had to wear human clothes on the outside, she still wore her self-cleaning, smart fabric underwear under that dress.
Time…
One of the first thing she had done once in Australia was to look at astronomical charts and use her computer to make some calculations. When the results had come… well, some people could have expected her to break down given the enormity of the number.
Thankfully, my people's history prepared me a little bit to discover that seven million years passed since I went to sleep.
When her ancestors' colony ship left their home galaxy to escape the Ori, the hyperdrive they used to cross the intergalactic void in search of a new home was rather experimental. Time for the travelers went just a tiny little bit slower than for the rest of the universe.
Yes, almost nothing, just a minor construction defect. Twenty years for my ancestors… a few millions for the rest of the universe, she thought with a little smile.
So while some may have melted down at the feeling that everything they knew was long gone for so long, she would do the same as her ancestors. She would take this opportunity for a fresh start and rebuild.
She reached the deck and rejoined Philippe. He was already arranging for their luggage to be transported to a hotel and they soon walked down on the pier. She felt him tense as he scanned the crowd and soon found the reason. It was a middle-aged, almost bald man with glasses rimmed in thick, black plastic. Probably European from his suit and tan and… he was looking straight at her, detailing her.
"Do you know him?" she asked Philippe.
"That's Jacques… why is he here?"
They walked quickly to reach the man.
"Ariana, please meet my old friend Jacques Berenger," said Philippe.
"Pleased to meet you," said Ariana.
"The honor is mine, Madame" replied Jacques, rolling the r slightly. "I am afraid that there are some complications and that our timeline has become much tighter than initially expected."
"What do you mean?"
"I will tell you as we move. I have arranged for transportation to get you back to Europe faster. Your luggage is being taken care of."
He led them toward a black car that drove away once they got in. Berenger quickly closed the separation window after giving some indication in Vietnamese to the driver.
"Jacques…"
"I am sorry for rushing you, but time is of the essence. First, officially, I am in Indochina. Second, this is not about Ariana, but about you, Philippe. Thankfully, there are only very few people aware of your existence, Madame."
"The last thing you told me is that the French government asked you to take care of something. They didn't hire you for your knowledge in atomic physics, right?"
"No, they hired me because of what I saw – and survived – when in Mauthausen. They hired me because De Gaulle trusts the Watchers even less than he trusts the Americans."
Philippe could only nod somberly. Governments had always known to one degree or another about the supernatural. There were, however, some tacit rules in place since the Christianization of the Roman Empire about not using magic in 'mundane' wars. The supernatural was considered to be the problem of a few specialists like the Watchers, some religious orders and independent 'troubleshooters' like his own family. Since the beginning of the century however… things had started to change. The world's population was reaching unprecedented levels while the various supernatural organizations were unable to grow correspondently. So the various governments felt they had to take up their slack… or, in some cases, didn't care at all about those tacit rules and were seeing how to use the supernatural for their own profit. As could be expected, the SS had been up to the neck in supernatural stuff.
"The reason why you need to be back in Europe quickly is because of Venturi Manor."
"The vampires pillaged and burned the place... let me guess, not as thoroughly as I was led to believe?"
"An underground vault was not touched. As, officially, all the Venturi are dead, an American law firm is pushing the local mayor to sell the land. I have reasons to believe they are a front for demonic interests. So I am giving you a chance to go there and empty the vault before it happens."
"Why not just tell people Philippe is alive? He could claim his family's land then," asked Ariana.
"Except that if I do that, the Order of Aurelius will know about it and resume their hunt," replied Philippe, shaking his head. "If this vault is the one I think it is, it is indeed better to empty it and rebuild elsewhere."
"Do you know where?" asked back Jacques.
"La Réunion," replied Philippe. "My uncle Francesco wanted to spend his twilight years in Hell-Bourg and he had me and Cousin Maria scout the island in 35."
"A cyclone hit the island a few weeks ago, quite hard from what I was told."
"What kind of island is it?" asked Ariana.
"Volcanic and rather young from a geological standpoint," replied Berenger. "The good point is that there is little demonic activity there. As it is a French Department, this will make some things simpler for me too. I suppose what you will have to transport from that vault is heavy, voluminous and fragile?"
"All in all, yes. I have contacts that can get me an appropriate boat in Port Said."
"I already prepared for that. A ship will wait for you in Ajaccio."
"This is a hell of a favor, Jacques," replied Philippe.
"As far as the Republic is concerned, Ariana is a human who grew up in an isolated demonic community in New Caledonia. It's not the first time that we have helped such people to make their way into the world and nobody will look at her real story as long as you stay quiet. I would, however, like to hear it at some point. As for the favor to you, my service will ask for your expertise in the future. Nothing that your family wouldn't have done, except it will be 'official'."
"Agreed," replied Philippe.
"Good," said Berenger as the car stopped.
They were still in the port but the vehicle currently docked at that pier was not a boat as Ariana had initially thought. She detailed it with interest. Of course, fixed wing aircrafts had not been used by the Alterans since the invention of anti-gravity, except for gliders. She appreciated the twin propellers, the white, red and black livery and the small details like the wheels on the side that indicated that the plane could take off from water and land alike.
"Admiring the view?" asked a rather high-pitched voice in English.
She looked around and saw a petite Asian woman in a blue mechanic overall coming out of the aircraft.
"Achiko von Schlesien," said the woman, extending her hand.
"Ariana Venturi," replied the Alteran, shaking the offered hand. "I was… just wondering about some technical characteristics of this plane," she added, taking a gamble as she noticed the small black grease marks under the young woman's nails.
"Well… this is a Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina. It's an American design. As you can guess, it's not my favorite country but they sure know how to build planes. Let me do you the honors while our men stare at each other."
She looked at them. They were indeed staring at each other, probably unsure of what to say. Philippe on one side, with his dark hair and what she had been told to be a typical Mediterranean build. On the other side, a slightly taller man that she guessed to be Achiko's husband, with fairer skin and hair than her own 'man' and Jacques looking at the scene in a way that made her think of an ethologist observing two feral beasts vying for dominance.
It has to be because of that war Philippe told me about…
She followed Achiko inside as the Japanese woman explained how the plane had been refitted for civilian transport, both passengers and small, valuable cargo that needed to go from A to B quickly… and without too many questions asked.
Outside, Philippe was looking at Heinrich von Schlesien. The man had the rigid air of old Prussian nobility that went with his name and a piercing stare that had something of the eagle. Of course he had recognized the black leather jacket the man was wearing as an aviator jacket from the Luftwaffe.
He looked at Jacques. He knew what his friend had gone through, how much he had suffered, first at the hands of the Gestapo and then in the camps. Why did he, of all people, choose this man to play taxi?
"Mr. von Schlesien comes with references," said Jacques. "You have a common acquaintance. A man you met in Tibet in your case."
Pieces fell together in Philippe's mind, reminding him of the strangest encounter he had made during his stay in the Himalaya.
"How did you meet the Count?" he asked the German, following his hunch.
"By chance in Saigon, in '46. He needed a pilot immediately, so he bought this plane and hired me and my wife. He told me to keep it as payment… it was only later that I understood that I met a legend."
Philippe smiled, remembering kindly his own encounter with the Count of Saint-Germain. The immortal alchemist had an infuriating way of waltzing through difficulties like a character out of an Alexandre Dumas novel.
"If the Count trusted you, then that is good enough for me," he said, extending his hand.
"Gut. I am glad to let all that madness – I mean the war and what my people did by listening to him – behind me," replied Heinrich, shaking it.
Inside the plane, Ariana could only smile as she heard Achiko's enthusiasm when describing one system or another. The Japanese woman would have done well among her people. She also seemed terribly young to the Alteran, barely over twenty.
"How did you meet your husband? Pardon me if I am too nosy, I grew up in a secluded place and I still have some difficulties knowing what is considered proper."
Achiko looked at her, as if she was gauging her and finally smiled. From her discussions with Nigel's wife, Ariana had some idea of how hard some things would be for an active woman like Achiko. As the Alteran culture had no distinct gender roles apart from the obvious, biology-dependent matters, she knew that she would need time to at least fake it well enough not to be scandalous.
"That's all right. I'm not the typical Japanese wife as you can see, rather kind of a disgrace as far as most of my family is concerned. Did your husband tell you about the war?"
"Yes… this has to do with those stupid ideas about human races?"
"In part… Heinrich lets me be what I want to be. He doesn't mind if my hands are covered in grease and if I know how to pilot. For my family, that's not how a proper woman should behave. Otoo-san – my father – was the only one to understand me and… well, that's the past. I'm happy now, even if it's a little grating that some of our customers get nervous if they see me piloting."
"Maybe you can show me how later?"
Achiko's smile confirmed she had hit right with her question. The mechanic was, like herself, very much looking for a female friend. She would just have to make sure to hide the fact she came from a culture in which aerial vehicles were as common as cars were to the humans of this era.
It shouldn't be too hard… the mechanical controls will be a challenge by themselves.
She went back outside for a little while, just the time for Berenger to say goodbye. She thought again about those words Achiko had used: 'our men'. She knew that there was a part of her that wanted it. The little study she had done of the human genome had shown her that human-alteran hybrids would be fertile. It wasn't that surprising as the differences between them were of the same order of magnitude as the ones existing between two different breeds of dogs.
Let's give him a little more time to get the hints…
Corsica, 1948
Achiko von Schlesien was doing her best to keep concentrating as she helped to maneuver the rubber raft. They were somewhere on the coast of Corsica, a kilometer or so north from a place called 'Pointe de la Corba' and the place… well it was a little ominous with the burnt manor above the cliff. Their plane was anchored a little further away. For now, it was just her, Heinrich and the Venturi.
I hope my load calculations are correct…
During the technical stop in Aden, Ariana had come to her to ask about the plane's cargo capacity and had checked her numbers against some others provided by Philippe. They had come to the conclusion that it was possible to transport everything with the plane, provided they did a few stops on the way.
Philippe was now leading toward the cliff, to a place where the waves were thankfully small enough to allow for approach. He disembarked expertly and tied the rope Heinrich threw him inside a hole… a hole where a sturdy bronze ring was sealed to the rock. The adventurer made another manipulation in the same hole and a small section of the cliff slid back, revealing a dark tunnel.
"I feel as if I am in an Arsène Lupin novel," she said, remembering the paperbacks she had bought when they were in Saigon to help with her understanding of French.
"Well… this is not the Aiguille Creuse, but we have our share of secret passages," replied Philippe, laughing.
The two men helped the women to come ashore and lifted the raft out of the water, taking it inside the passage. Ariana turned her flashlight on and started to look at the tunnel.
"How old is this?" she asked as they all went in and Philippe closed the door behind them.
"Centuries. The first version of the manor was a watchtower built during the reign of Charlemagne. My ancestors arrived from Genoa during the fourteenth century and acquired the place. They discovered those natural caves and expanded them."
"How much?" asked Heinrich.
"See for yourself," replied Philippe, hitting a tuning fork against the rock wall.
As the pure note rose soft yellow light started to shine, coming from crystals globes suspended in various places about the cave. There was a dock and something that looked like a fishing boat moored there. They could also see a complex mechanism on the wall in front of the boat and something like an elevator at the end of the cave furthest from the sea.
"I understand better why you said there will be no problems getting things out," said Achiko, trying not to think too much about lamps triggered by sound. "Though… are you sure it's seaworthy? I mean…"
She was pointing at the poor state of the ship's hull.
"In this place, appearances are just that: an illusion," replied Philippe as he knocked on the hull.
It didn't resonate like the wood it was supposed to be, but like metal. Intrigued, Achiko went aboard and opened the small hatch leading to the engines. They were in pristine condition and much more powerful than she expected. Their compartment was armored, too.
"The Italian Navy misplaced a few spare parts back in '35," said Philippe. "A cousin of mine acquired them and… built this," he finished, his voice betraying his sorrow.
Ariana immediately went and laid her hand on his shoulder. She knew all too well what it meant to lose everything.
"Thanks, Ariana," said Philippe. "Let's get over with this."
He led them up three flights of stairs, explaining that he preferred to check the elevator from the top before using it.
"Am I correct when I say that this place was built for smuggling?" asked Heinrich.
"Yes. My family has delved in alchemy for centuries and this is an art with many needs."
"I still have…"
"Some difficulties believing it, which is perfectly understandable," cut in Philippe. "You have what the Count said, maybe one or two tricks he did but… it could just be tall tales and prestidigitation, right?"
"Yes… how old is he… supposed to be?"
"I don't know. It's very difficult because… I know from my meeting with him that he is an expert in the creation of homunculi – artificial beings, humans in his case – and that he has a technique to transfer his conscience from one body to another. I met someone who thought he is in fact the Babylonian god Nabu, living hidden among the humans since Antiquity."
"Did he do that weird trick with his voice?" asked Achiko.
"You mean that strange echo? Yes, sometimes. There is also a strange thing he told me once. He said that he first learnt alchemy to free himself from the need for a sarcophagus. I have absolutely no idea what he meant by that."
They soon reached a stone wall with a bas-relief representing two entwined snakes.
"It looks like that staff you Westerners associate with medicine," said Achiko.
"Is it another secret passage?" asked Heinrich.
"Rather the door to a safe," replied Philippe. "As for how to open it… well, I hope this will shake off some of your doubts."
Philippe nicked his thumb on the left one's tooth and smeared the blood on the right one's tongue. The snakes' eyes started to glow with an ominous red light and the stone around them started to move as they uncoiled to form a circle, revealing an arched passage.
"Gott im Himmel," said Heinrich.
The problem was the way the stone was moving. An instant before, it had looked if it was just one block of solid stone and now… it was as if countless grains of dark, basaltic sand were moving with a mind of their own, sucked into the walls to open the passage.
The two von Schlesien looked at each other. Until now it had just been tales that could be lies and small things that could be parlor tricks. The sound-activated lamps had brushed the limit but thankfully not too much. This 'door' on the other hand…
"If you want to go back," said Ariana, "Philippe and I will understand. We both belong to that world while you two are just standing on the door, wondering if you should come through or not. But be aware of that saying of my people: the truth cannot be unseen."
Achiko looked at her husband and cuddled against him, whispering something in Japanese that the Alteran easily interpreted as 'I will go where you go'.
"I had a friend," said Heinrich. "He was in the Heer – the Army – and was chosen for a special project by the SS. I never saw him again after that but there were rumors… saying that a certain fortress in the Black Forest was to be avoided at all costs during the full moon. That was true, right?"
"I never heard of this particular project, though it would be something they would have toyed with," replied Philippe. "As for the other part of the question, yes, werewolves do exist."
"How…"
"A very important question. It is often difficult to answer but not impossible, contrarily to what some people would tell you. Those would have you believe that their magic will remain unknowable. We alchemists believe that magic is just a way to say 'I have no idea how this works and I don't even want to try to understand'."
"Let's start with the door then," said Achiko.
"Do you have a compass, Heinrich?" said Ariana.
"Yes."
"Put it near the wall. This stone is not what it seems."
The pilot took the item out of his pocket and approached the wall. He saw the needle suddenly move as he passed a line marked by the snakes' bas relief and become parallel to the wall.
"This sand is metal held together by magnetic forces!" said Achiko, feeling all giddy. "This means… it's science, Heinrich! Think about it this way: what if we were two samurais from the Sengoku Era and we had a look at our plane?"
"You're right… but this leads to another question."
"Why," said Philippe with a tired smile. "You will see before the day ends why we alchemists keep our science hidden."
"Then another, more in the how," said Achiko. "The blood… it's like in some of the old stories, right? The door only opens if the right blood is smeared on it?"
"Of course," said Ariana with a smile. "The two coiled snakes should have made it evident."
"Hem… why?" asked back Achiko.
"Very simply, there is a part of human cells that is unique for each person, except for identical twins. My people call it the life code. Its shape is a double helix, just like those snakes before the door opened."
"I see… that's like the constellations in the sky?"
"In a way."
They followed Philippe inside the vault. He once again used the tuning fork and the light rose, revealing a collection of crates. Achiko immediately switched back into business mode and took out a measuring tape, checking the crates' volume.
"It will be a tight fit," she said. "And that's if your weight estimates are correct."
"Some of these crates are only half-full. We will gain both space and weight by re-packing," replied Philippe.
"Let's get to work then," said Ariana.
They started to open the crates and move things, Achiko marking the crates according to their weight so that she could easily balance the load in the plane. She said jokingly that such calculations were keeping her mind off the fact they would transport one point two tons of gold.
Ariana was more interested in the books and had to resist skimming through each of them. She still made mental notes of all the languages she would have to learn so that she could fully exploit this treasure.
"What is this metal?" asked Achiko as she unveiled a small black ingot.
"Philippe, is this orichalcum?" Ariana asked as she ran her finger along it.
"Maybe. Most alchemists call it the star-metal because what little there is on Earth is said to come from meteorites. Another name I read about in a text that was pretending to quote the Book of Thoth is naquadah. But as for it being the fabled orichalcum… I don't know."
Ariana and Heinrich continued to pack while Achiko and Philippe went to verify the state of the elevator. As the Frenchman had suspected, the stairs leading to the manor were full of rubble, probably because of explosions in the laboratories above when fire ravaged the manor. The upper elevator leading from the manor to this level was likewise unusable.
"It looks fine," said Achiko after she checked the machinery. "What about power?"
"There is a generator we can use downstairs. There should be enough fuel left."
"Let's go start it then."
As they came back to the vault, having satisfactorily powered and tested the elevator, they noticed that Ariana was waiting for them with what looked like a letter in her hand.
"Philippe, you may want to have a look at this," she said. "It was used as a bookmark within a book called the Pergamum Codex. It's addressed to 'The Last Venturi."
He frowned as he took the letter and started to read.
Monsieur Venturi,
A short time before Darla collected us to attack this place, the stars showed me what would come to pass. The vision was powerful enough to make me hide some things from my grandsire, such as the way to the deeper levels of your ancestral home or how to open the door to this vault.
I know that this is not the last time that the line of Aurelius and the Venturi clan will dance together. I have seen us all burn trying to extinguish the light of a blonde star-child bearing your blood… The stars showed me how a Venturi was hidden from us, how the clever owl led him to the star-lady that had fallen in the ice. We are doomed. I know it.
But the stars also showed me a way to save myself and my Spike. They showed me the broken doll of a shepherdess. A nasty dog thought her too precious to be lost and stuffed her with gears and red light to repair her. I saw her standing up to monsters coming to reap us all like wheat. She had a wonderful phrase then: "However 'insignificant' we might be, we will fight, we will sacrifice and we will find a way. That's what humans do."
I will therefore fight the future where I end up burning and sacrifice what is needed to find a way. When Darla will round up the members of the line once again to fight the star-child, she will find that their numbers are diminished. When the time comes, I will don the shepherdess' garments and play the role the clever owl assigned to me.
Faithfully yours,
Drusilla
"I get from the content that this Drusilla is part of the group that slaughtered your family and that she seems to have precognitive powers," said Ariana.
"Precognitive?" asked Heinrich.
"She's a seer," replied Philippe. "I don't know how seers do their thing but I know that while many are crooks, some have real power. Ariana?"
"Nothing I can explain without giving you first at least a few seminars on how my people theorized space-time is working and its interactions with Vril. But we definitely recognize the possibility."
Achiko was looking at Ariana intently. She was a romantic young woman and when they had been stuck for months in Indochina after the war she had read a lot of French novels, including one by an author called Pierre Benoit. The first time she saw the exotic beauty, she thought that it was how she pictured the queen Antinea from the novel. Now, with her name, her outlandish scientific knowledge and what she had called that metal…
"Ariana, that place you grew up in… it's not called Atlantis by chance?"
In an instant, she knew. She had caught the fleeting emotion on Ariana's face, a sense of loss.
"We will talk more about that later, I think," said Philippe as he saw Ariana's discomfort.
They loaded all the crates on the ship, except one that Philippe had told them they would be leaving here. He opened it, taking out what looked like a crystal ball laid on a bronze tripod and several glass vials and pipettes.
"What are you preparing?" asked Heinrich.
"Even if we took the most important, there is much to be learnt from studying these walls, the door of the vault and so on."
"Explosives?"
"Yes," replied the alchemist as he started to use the pipettes to transfer measured quantities of the vials in the crystal sphere and put an airtight plug in place.
Inside, the mélange started to glow softly.
"We have an hour to leave before the reaction reaches the critical point."
"What will happen then?"
"The philosopher's stone fragments will force the hydrogen inside the sphere to combine into helium."
"Eh…" replied Heinrich.
"Atomic reaction," cut in Ariana, her voice icily serious as she marshaled them toward the lift.
None of them resisted. Philippe knew what would happen, of course. Those were forces alchemists knew how to master and the very reason why they kept themselves hidden. The von Schlesien were understanding it too now as what little they knew of atomic physics reminded them that changing lead into gold was not dissimilar from the fission used in atomic bombs.
"How much yield?" asked Ariana.
"Enough to make the whole cliff collapse. Not enough to reach the surface and contaminate the environment."
"The door to the dock?" asked Heinrich.
"It has a timer mechanism we will set so that it closes behind us."
"Good."
Later, as they were transferring the crates from the ship to the plane, they heard a rumble. A low altitude pass after they had taken off confirmed that what little was left of the Venturi House in Corsica was forever buried in rubble.
Venusberg, 1951
There were a lot of legends in Germany about Venus holding court in a cavern situated under a mountain. One of the most famous of those, thanks to the opera Richard Wagner made of it, was the Hörselberg. Legends about human men lured to live in some subterranean fairy land were also found in other parts of the world, for example with the trolls in Scandinavia.
The world being what it is, some of these myths were a reassuring wrapping on a horrible reality, demons with pretty faces luring men to their doom. Others were of course just legends. But not the Venusberg. In fact, all the legends of Germany and Scandinavia concerned a pocket dimension that could be accessed from any sufficiently deep cavern if you knew the correct ritual. Sometimes one of the ladies living there, or even the queen of the land herself, fancied a mortal and invited him in.
Sometimes, thing happened just like in the legends and the mortal, unable to adapt to the new life offered to him, returned to the surface. But there were others who embraced this new existence and, having decided to raise the child they fathered with one of the women of the Venusberg, became 'fairies' themselves.
One may wonder why Venus, of all people, chose for herself and her court a subterranean place. For the Romans, going underground was to risk reaching the domain of Pluto. There were two reasons to this. The first was that the Goddess of Love had only set up this place after the Romans put their legends together. It had been during the reign of Augustus, after she finally convinced Vulcan to let her go. The second reason was a little deal she had made with Pluto. The condition the Lord of the Underworld had set in exchange for that boon was that the Venusberg would be considered a chthonian domain, technically under his rule rather than under Jupiter's.
Despite this fact, the Venusberg was no dark place. It had a sun and a full ecosystem, though some of the animals that could be found there had not been seen on Earth for millions of years. The mad ramblings of some visitors had many authors dreaming of a Hollow Earth.
It was therefore on a sunny hill that an item well-known to all Olympians stood: a ring made mostly of a metal the Alterans called Orichalcum and that the Goa'uld called Naquadah. It wasn't bearing the symbols found on the Astria Portae – again Chappa'ai for the Goa'uld – on other planets in the galaxy. This was a different network that the Olympians had set up for their own use. The wormholes these gates created were not designed to bridge the vast distances between stars but to pierce the veils of dimensions, allowing the gods to link their various domains between them.
Symbols started to light on the ring, soon showing the origin address of the incoming wormhole. A Chinese teenage girl, who had been following a path near the gate to visit a friend in another village of the hidden realm frowned a little. It was not the matter of the gate opening. This was common enough. No, what was making her wary was that the address lighting on the ring was not one of the other Olympian realms but from one of the hidden gates on Earth.
Silvery pseudo-water swirled inside the ring, coming out like a horizontal geyser that soon stabilized in a shimmering vertical surface. The girl smiled, then started to run toward the person that had come through the wormhole's event horizon.
"Sifu!" she hailed joyously, barely remembering to bow properly.
"Hello, Xin Rong," replied Diana. "It was not too boring when I was away?"
"A little maybe… but Lord Pluto let us give a hand to his troops while sealing one of the lower rifts."
"And it was fun?"
"Of course! And there were a lot of cute boys among… sorry, that's…"
Diana smiled as she noticed the girl's blush.
"Nah, no big deal, Xin Rong. I know how Slayers are. There is that whole 'hungry and horny' deal after a fight. At least now you know why."
"Yes, because of how Lord Mars and Lady Venus created us… but we know it's also you we have to thank for being able to spend our afterlife here."
"Just an idea when Venus set up the place," replied the goddess, shrugging.
Pluto was notoriously strict regarding matters of the afterlife. True, some people had been resurrected from time to time, but they were exceptions that the Lord of the Dead allowed personally. Even Jupiter's power did not extend to the Underworld.
Knowing all too well the short end of the stick all Slayers were handed when called, Diana had come up with a solution that was acceptable for her 'uncle'. Technically, the Venusberg was a chthonian domain and therefore under Pluto's rule, Venus acting as a proxy. This made it acceptable for a few dead people to be 'misplaced' there. In practice, of course, much would have to happen for Pluto to intervene in the Venusberg's affairs.
"Will you come to the festival this year?"
"I'll do my… hell, tell Nefer I'll be there."
"Thank you, Sifu! I'll run and tell them."
"See you, Xin Rong," said Diana with a smile as she watched the teenage girl dart toward a nearby village.
Good to see her so lively… a pity she had to die to learn how to live… Relax, only a few decades left before we change the rules.
The Huntress walked quickly, soon taking a path that led to a fairy tale castle on the bank of a lake. She could easily feel Venus' aura now… as well as that of a person who was definitely not her favorite goddess.
Have to be fair. She helped a lot.
She easily retraced steps she had taken many times in the last two millennia, soon reaching a terrace on the bank of the lake. Venus was here, taking tea with a blue-skinned woman who had a black she-hound lying at her feet.
"Venus, Hecate," she said, waving as she arrived.
"Diana! It's such a pleasure!" replied Venus, rising to hug the younger goddess fiercely.
"How is your mortal cousin?" asked Hecate.
Diana looked into the pale blue eyes of the Goddess of Witchcraft. Once again, she was reminded that Hecate was not one of them. Like many of the chthonian Olympians, her origins were darker… and definitely something they had kept out of the official mythology.
"Ariana and Philippe are fine," she replied while they all sat back down. "They settled on that island, near a place called Saint-Leu… mean waves there, will have to get out my surfing board and check them. The von Schlesien got a house, too, and are getting interested in helicopters."
"D'Aaw…" said Venus with a dreamy smile. "Those two are cute. We will probably arrange something to 'join the houses' once their kids…"
"Venus, give them the time to make them, first," cut in Hecate with a grin.
"Right… getting ahead of myself," replied the goddess of Love. "So I suppose we can let things run on their own for a while?"
"I had a chat with the Oread in charge of the 'Piton des Neiges'. She will keep an eye on them," replied Diana.
She looked at her fellow goddesses and took the cup of tea Venus offered her. Like she had told Minerva some years before, she had played that game for too long, been a goddess for too long. But who she wasn't was the original Diana and she still had to stay guarded, to make sure that her peers did not start doubting her identity. Here, thankfully, she could relax a little. Hecate and Venus were both part of their little cabal, a group of seven gods and goddesses with a plan to change the world…
Earth, roughly -10'000 BC
Elizabeth Weir started as she took in the scenery. She had expected to arrive at the Antarctica gate, with the Ancient advance team having cleared a path from the gate to the open sky so the Puddle Jumpers the refugees from Atlantis took could deploy safely and assess if Earth was safe enough for them. This really wasn't what she was seeing. The Jumpers had landed in an idyllic pastoral landscape where the Stargate was sitting on the top of a hill.
Several Alterans including Moros, the chief of the Council, were looking at the Stargate and she could guess why. It wasn't the standard model, neither the one from the Milky Way the SGC was used to nor the model they had seen in the Pegasus galaxy.
She focused her attention on the rest of the scenery, deciding to wait for the Alterans to report their findings. The weather was warm, maybe Mediterranean and the flora seemed consistent for a temperate area. She could see a small herd of horses grazing in the plain below…
"Is it me or do those horses have wings?" asked Faith.
"You are right," replied Janus who had taken out the Alteran equivalent of binoculars.
"They do indeed," said a voice in strangely accented Alteran.
"The dove on the branch," said Faith, nudging her to look at a nearby tree.
"Ooh… you're a smart one!" replied the bird as it took flight.
As it neared the ground, the dove's shape started to change, morphing into a strawberry blonde woman in a white dress that seemed right out of… mythology.
Of course… she thought. No need to look for them. They noticed their 'cousins' coming back and they're the ones coming to us. Now, we need to find a way to talk to them discreetly.
"I am Moros, chief of the Lantean Council," said the senior Alteran who had just come back from the gate. "Why did you divert our arrival?"
Elizabeth saw Faith barely repress a snigger and mutter something like 'sucker' as the man started to look very uncomfortable. The woman had just made what was probably the ultimate sad puppy eyes at Moros, sending him into an immediate guilt trip.
"I just wanted to be nice! Better to have you here rather than let you freeze in that horrible place!" she said, sniffing.
"Lady Venus, I presume," said Elizabeth, moving forward. "I am honored to meet you."
"Ah! Finally someone polite," replied the goddess, her sadness evaporating instantly. "Hmm… you are not an Alteran, but one of Prometheus'… interesting."
I can feel that you are eager to see us, that you seek us, said Venus' voice directly in her mind. I have some things to clear with the Alterans first and then we will talk.
Are you not an Alteran yourself? thought back Elizabeth.
No, which is the reason I am the one to greet you here. Those of us who were Alterans… there are old wounds that never healed.
"As the nice Ferreas lady already guessed," said Venus, pointing Elizabeth, "I represent Olympus, a nation founded by the Alteran Saturn."
Ferreas… thought Elizabeth. That's almost like the Alteran word for iron.
"I am afraid that I am coming with a warning. While the Nefastus do not control this world anymore, the Alteran people has, once again, split. You are Lanteans, the last scions of those who left. We are Olympians. We are those who stayed and fought. While I am a loving person, there are many among us that feel bitter at what your ancestors did. To appease them, Jupiter has decreed that those of you who want to join us can, but that they will have to become Olympians, to adopt our culture."
"And if we don't?" asked Ganos Lal, another of the Council members.
"While we Olympians are only concerned with Terra, we know what happens in the rest of the galaxy and there are many opportunities out there. The old Astria Porta network is mostly intact, so no problem to move. Should you decide to leave, the people of this planet may be a good start," replied the goddess, a holographic gate address appearing above her hand.
Elizabeth recognized the address from the SGC files. It was the one of the Nox homeworld and she had the feeling that Venus was steering the Lanteans in the direction that would lead to the founding of the Alliance of the Four Great Races.
"We need some time to take a decision," said Moros.
"Of course. You are safe in this place. When you have reached a decision, just say my name three times and I will hear it."
The goddess turned into a flock of doves that disappeared as they scattered. Elizabeth heard a Lantean use the word 'arcanum' as if he spat it. In Alteran – or rather in the Lantean dialect of Alteran – this word had connotations beyond the idea of secret or mysterious knowledge. It implied the knowledge was forbidden, corruptive.
"What is known of the Olympians in your time?" Moros asked her.
"There are many stories but which ones are true, I cannot say. Two human civilizations worshipped them as gods but that's not the case anymore."
"Were they all dead then?" asked Ganos Lal.
"Yes, but it was a recent thing. The creatures you call Nefastus are coming from other universes and they were preventing them from invading ours."
She started to make a quick summary of the Roman mythology, detailing what she remembered of Venus and the other Olympians. This led the Lanteans back to their internal discussions. This time a word she did not recognize, 'Ori', was often used and she could tell that things were becoming heated.
"I hoped they wouldn't use that word," said Venus with a sigh. "We're not like them."
Elizabeth started and then… she noticed something. There should have been gazes aimed at the goddess and there were none save for hers.
I am the only one seeing and hearing you?
"Yes… though Faith must be feeling part of my presence. I'm sorry for this but I realized it was better if I hid you both from my peers' eyes."
Why?
"I realized that the most likely way for you both to exist includes time travel. I called a friend more expert than me on the matter but until she arrives and we clarify matters, it is better to limit the number of people meeting you."
Changing the future will not create paradoxes.
"Sure, but it may very well make our future worse than the past you remember, if we are not cautious."
Can you include Faith so that she sees and hears you?
"Not yet. The Lanteans see you as harmless but Faith is for them a hybrid with unknown capabilities, so they are watching what she does a lot more. Anyway… I see that they are almost finished."
"What has happened to our people?" said Janus. "There was a time where we would have marveled at the opportunity of something new to learn."
"Yes, and this led our people on the brink of destruction, again and again," replied Ganos Lal. "This is what made the Olympians become like the Ori. You heard it: these humans they created are worshipping them."
"I wonder, Ganos, if this is not why the Council was in such a hurry to order the destruction of the Asurans when they were revealed to be sentient. Were we afraid that they would look up to us, their creators, that we would be tempted by their reverence for us?"
"You cannot…"
"Yes, I dare. Look at our history. The Argyreas were culled. All research on artificial intelligence has been systematically limited. We destroyed the Asurans. We are afraid that any sentient creation of ours would start to worship us. The fear of the Ori still governs us."
There were murmurs among the Lanteans but Elizabeth could see all too well how things were about to turn. Fear and weariness were plain on the faces of almost all of them. They had just lost their war against the Wraith and what they wanted was safety. Had this conversation happened after a few years of peace, it may have had a far different outcome but now… now, Janus was alone.
He is one of the most intelligent men I ever met and he had to know what his people's reaction would be…
"Is that your decision, Janus?" asked Moros.
"Yes. I will stay here. I refuse to flee again, so I will stay with those who fight."
She caught Janus' gaze. It only lasted an instant but she knew. It was painfully evident now. The conversation was actually reaching the point he had aimed for from the start. Janus was burning his bridges voluntarily, because he promised to help them, because he felt that preventing the future she told him about was more important.
"So be it. Ganos, can we open the Astria Porta?"
"Yes. The controls still use the standard nomenclature. Do we go to the coordinates the Olympian…"
"No. Set the sequence for Vis Uban."
The refugees soon went back to the jumpers while the gate was activated. Elizabeth was feeling the respect she had for the Ancients diminish. The more she learnt, the more she saw them as a people at the end of their rope. She hoped that wasn't the case with the Olympians.
"Janus," said Faith as she watched the shuttles go through the gate. "You didn't have to…"
"No, I had to… even if I had never voiced it, I thought everything I said."
"What were the Asurans?" asked Elizabeth.
"We created nanomachine colonies as a weapon against the Wraith but… they became sentient and they started asking questions. Rather than rejoicing in this miracle… the Council only saw a failed experiment and they were destroyed as well as most of the project's data. Our ancestors did the same with the Argyreas… they were a genetically engineered species, designed to be warriors."
"That's nice and all but I would enjoy taking a bath. You mind if I call her back?" asked Faith.
"No need, I am already here," said Venus, revealing her presence. "Sorry for the deception but I needed to make sure the other Olympians would not see you two before we could discuss some… timely matters."
"Five by five," replied Faith. "That's exactly why we are here."
"Oh… it's that bad?" asked back the goddess with an adorable pout.
"So it seems your hunch was correct, Venus," said another voice as a blue-skinned woman shimmered into existence.
Faith felt her Slaydar going into overdrive. It was already active thanks to Venus but the Slayer had pegged her desire to call the goddess mommy to some kind of love-me aura. The blue woman now… pure demon to a degree she had not felt since… she knew. She had already felt an aura very similar to this one.
"How come your friend is an Old One?" she asked, turning toward Venus. "Don't try to trick me, she feels just like Illyria."
"So you met my… well, mother is probably the Alteran concept that would be the nearest. I am Hecate. As for your initial statement, young demigoddess, I was, rather than am one of those you call the Old Ones."
Gears clicked in Elizabeth's mind. This sounded awfully like what happened with the Goa'uld and the Tok'ra: a revolutionary faction splintering from the main culture and turning against it. The Tok'ra also insisted a lot on the fact they were not Goa'uld anymore.
"I never said that all Olympians were of Alteran descent," said Venus. "To make short a very long story, Saturn didn't defeat the Nefastus alone. He found allies."
"Are you an Old One too?" asked Elizabeth to Venus.
"No… you see, my sympathy for the Lanteans diminished a lot when I heard about the Asurans… no offence to you, Janus, you seem like a nice guy."
"None taken. Why, though?"
"I am the unexpected result of an experiment gone wrong too. Initially I was… the Idea of Love is maybe the simplest way to put it. Saturn's experiment made me sentient and gave me the desire to experience the world, to feel love rather than just incarnate it. So I created myself a body and joined the Olympians."
"You…" began the Lantean before he started to laugh manically.
"Janus, are you all right?" asked Venus, visibly concerned.
"It's easy to understand, dear," replied Hecate. "Remember that the Lanteans' research on Ascension points towards a solution that would have them forsake flesh to reach 'a higher plane of existence'. That an Ideal, a being… born Ascended, was eager to Descend, to 'trap' herself inside a physical body… you're just the counter-example demolishing their theory. So! Venus transmitted me the fun stories about us you told the Lanteans. They are probably what we will tell the Ferreas – or humans to use your word – once they have done a few things like discover how to work metal."
"You are not… uplifting them?" asked Elizabeth.
"Now, this is a big debate among us. The reasons are complex and they do not make for unanimity but the result is that we only do the minimum, like making sure some asteroids do not impact the planet. But, from what you told, I can see that Jupiter's policies will ultimately lead us to our doom. Who were the demons that destroyed us?"
"You mean Wolfram and…" said Faith, who had been busy helping Janus to get over his small episode.
"The Wolf, the Ram and the Hart… predictable," cut in Hecate. "The little peddlers have made their way in the world... What do you think about it… Minerva?"
Hecate's staff struck the ground and all assembled could feel a shockwave of icy blue light go through them, sending an owl and a hawk sprawling on the ground. With a wave of her hand, the Goddess of Witchcraft gave the two beings their original shape back, two women, one in a kind of centurion armor and the other dressed in a short dress and armed with a bow and silver arrows.
"Looks like I wasn't fast enough in shielding the event," said Venus with a sigh.
"Father doesn't know about it," said Minerva as she got up. "I saw some inconsistencies in what we could scry from Olympus and came to check."
"And you, Diana?" asked Hecate.
"I was here from the beginning. Had the Lanteans settled on Earth, they would have…"
"I see, you are really not eager to see cities taking the place of forests," replied the dark goddess.
"No and I never will."
"Can I count on you two to say nothing until we reach a decision?" asked Venus.
"Only if you Elder Titans deign to listen to our advice," replied Minerva.
"Fair enough," said Hecate. "Faith, Elizabeth and Janus. I am asking you for permission to scan your memories and share it with Venus, Minerva and Diana. We only have a little time before more of us come to see what is happening and I have the feeling that it would be far better if we finish before that."
Elizabeth started to think very quickly. Getting the Olympians' help was the very reason they were here but, on the other hand, information was the only thing of worth they had…
Irrelevant. They can take it by force and we wouldn't be able to do anything to resist except maybe killing ourselves. At least they're asking nicely.
"Please do it," she replied, having reached a decision.
"Right… go with the mind mojo but try not to break anything. I like myself like I am," said Faith.
"Agreed," said Janus.
They suddenly felt like an icy stab through their brain. It only lasted an instant and Faith likened it to what happened with medical needles. After that, just a pressure, like if she was concentrating hard on a math assignment. There was a part of herself that knew she should have said no but… she had seen too much lately. Dawnie, slaughtered on an altar. Willow, eaten alive by an Old One who devoured her magic at the same time. Xander, mercy killed by O'Neill as a vampire was turning him. Buffy… staying behind to buy them time. Countless others, civilian or military, all dead. If letting Hecate in her brain could help prevent that, she would put her pride aside.
She started to feel not only Hecate but the other three's presence in her head. Strangely, the Slayer was… tame. In that place of her mind that looked like a savannah, the primal Slayer was actually cuddling with Venus, who was telling her it was all right, that mommy was here now. The image was… disturbing.
She shifted her attention away and found Minerva's very structured mind checking facts, examining the events of her Slayer career. Faith remembered what Daniel had told her about the Ascended Ones. The Olympians were different. Sure, it was expected from Venus and Hecate who had different origins but from what she was getting Minerva and Diana were kind of Ascended Alterans, right?
"Wrong,"replied a voice in her mind that she recognized to be Diana. "Get that in your little doll brain: I am not some kind of spirit faking materiality. I am a physical being and a part of this planet's natural cycle… and from what I see your species really screwed up."
"Didn't you create us?"
"It was before my time and I never agreed with that. You're an invasive species that will wreck the ecosystem. If I had it my way, we would wipe you out and leave Terra do without you."
"Hey! We did good things too!"
"Before you assault me with memories of things you think are good, know that man-made…"
"Bullshit. If you're that wired against civilization, why do you wear clothes? Why do you even bother to speak? You should go all feral girl."
"You… impudent… I will hunt you until the end…"
"Hunt? I'm a Slayer. Hunting is what I do. Demons are my prey. So come and try and we'll see who the hunter is and who's the hunted."
"Peace you two," said Venus' mental voice. "Diana, do you know enough to take a decision?"
"Unfortunately, yes… though at least it means I can leave that cesspool."
Reality shifted back as the mortals felt the goddesses' presence retreat.
"Janus, thank you for giving us insight on the history of the Lanteans. Our own intelligence on the matter was sketchy," said Minerva.
"Elizabeth, Faith," said Hecate with a little smile. "What you revealed us has to be prevented but doing so will require us to be very clever."
"Why? Can't you just tell Jupiter about it?" asked Elizabeth.
"I have to tell you a few things regarding the way Jupiter really gained his throne so that you understand the situation," replied the dark goddess. "You will see that it differs from the myths you know. So, once upon a time lived a prince full of ambition. He was chafing under the rule of his father and, the king being immortal, he knew that waiting would not bring him the changes he desired. So, he conceived a plan.
"He knew that the kingdom was a fragile alliance of beings light and dark. He started to sow dissension so that all distrusted the King, believing him to have fallen under the influence of the Kingdom's Ancient Enemy. Those of darkness, to protect themselves and the Kingdom's peace, soon retreated in chthonian domains. Leading them was the prince's half-brother, who was both light and dark, irredeemably tainted for those who praised the Prince as the one that would restore the Kingdom's greatness.
"It is at this moment that the Prince struck. The King and the loyal Lords and Ladies were slain, to be sealed for all eternity in Tartarus. In the Celestial Court only remained the Prince's partisans and those who, seeing how the wind blew, feigned allegiance. The Prince's half-brother saved what he could. The Black Court would be an ally of the White Court against the Ancient Enemy but it would never be a vassal. This rivalry, while not major in the myths of those Romans who will worship us, is probably what will give birth to the legend of the Faerie Courts of Seelie and Unseelie I have seen in your memory, Faith."
"So what you are saying is that Jupiter is just a dictator who made a coup to serve his own interests?" asked Elizabeth.
"To be frank," replied Minerva, "yes. I was born long after that but I observed him enough to know that if the good of the people was ever his objective, it was the good of one people: himself. I must however add two things to Hecate's story that will lead us to our current problem. First, Jupiter didn't manage his coup without demonic help."
"What?" asked Diana, obviously outraged at the revelation.
"It took me three thousand years to gather the pieces, sister, and… Hecate?"
"Pluto and I did the same, but we agreed not to reveal it, at least not until we had a solid plan to deal with the consequences."
"All too true. In exchange for his help, Jupiter swore on the Styx to ignore a few apparently unimportant things. Was he stupid, blinded by his ambition or anything else when he agreed to it, I cannot say. What I know, though, is that what the both of you showed me of Wolfram and Hart's plan takes too much advantage of these blind spots for it to be a coincidence."
"Even if Jupiter's hands are tied, why didn't you do anything?" asked Janus.
"This leads me directly to the second point: the oath of allegiance I swore on the Styx and the treaty between Seelie and Unseelie. Thanks to them, Jupiter is in a position to veto any significant action. Note that this oath specifically names my father and not the Crown, so I cannot use the 'national security' loophole."
"Why… Saturn's curse?"
"Saturn's curse. Those oaths are his way to neutralize the prophecy saying that one of his sons will be responsible for his death. The only son who didn't swear is Mars, but father exiled him and if he tried something… well I bet that Daddy dearest will gladly use me as his shield. The rest of the major gods are also concerned."
"Well not me," said Venus. "I belong to neither court. My advantage is that Jupiter sees me as a shallow, flighty bimbo incapable to think further than her next lay."
Elizabeth started to think about this, looking for loopholes, wondering if some of the allies the SGC had could help. The Asgard were probably already… she smiled. The Asgard. How Loki killed Balder in the myth. The specific wording Minerva had used. Her gaze met the one of the goddess of wisdom. Minerva's smile mirrored her.
"Now, I have a solution. The oath of allegiance being on the Styx, Father thinks it cannot be violated. This is inexact. Father is prisoner of his own ego. Because he prefers to see the universe burn rather than face the consequences of his actions, it doesn't mean that others will be as selfish as him."
"Minerva, you aren't…" started Diana.
"For our world to have a future, I am ready to break my oath and, as a consequence, to see my immortality and my life end. This is my proposal to you: I will transfer my power and my knowledge to either Faith or Elizabeth. She will then be able to impersonate me. As Styx never forgets, Father will not even think about asking her to renew the oath as long as she plays my role convincingly. She will then be in a position to change the future."
"That's for you, Doc," said Faith. "No way I could…"
"Not Minerva, that's sure. Me on the other hand, that you could do easily," cut in Diana. "Before you ask, yes I still think humanity is bad. But the Nefastus reigning once again is a lot worse and if I have to sacrifice my life to save the planet, so be it."
"Holy shit…" replied Faith, now realizing the enormity of what Diana had just said.
She was mustering every bit of discipline she could, doing her best not to freak out. Her, one of the Powers That Be?
Calm, breathe. Think about what B would do. She would do what's right to save the world and now it means becoming a fuckin' goddess.
"And Janus?" she asked.
"We have a more normal deification process for him," said Venus. "I will have Jupiter hear a slightly edited version of his tirade, just to make sure he thinks he's a troublemaker."
"Which means he will not object when he swears allegiance to Pluto, as one of the gods of Chaos," added Hecate. "I will arrange things with him."
"And I will get Mars on board," said Venus.
"Why?" asked Elizabeth.
"He and I have regular… quarrels. He is therefore the most likely to notice something is wrong as your fighting style and mine will not be identical," replied Minerva.
"Do we all agree?" asked Hecate.
All the persons assembled nodded. Hecate then snapped her fingers, instantly drawing two pairs of ritual circles.
