Nero felt like he was making some progress, but one part of this job confused him. Why was he here? It was like sending a nuke to spy on another nation. Sure, it would handle the problem but that wasn't the point. He didn't ask why before because there was always a chance, they didn't quite know what he could do. Surely, there was someone better for the job.
Then there was his moderator.
She lounged on the motel bed, flipping through the channels, and waited with bated breath with a sailor moon T-shirt on. On a serving tray was a whole rotisserie chicken. Trisha didn't bother with a knife or a fork. There were three more chickens where that one came from. Nero was partial to the old Bugs Bunny cartoons and Scooby Doo himself.
"Found it just in time." She said before flipping to cartoon network. Nero waited for the tell tail them song of Sailor Moon. Instead they were greeted by the opening for Grim and Evil.
"What's going on did the time block change?" She turned her head. Serpentine eyes stared with unwavering conviction. "No this can't be right, I'm certain this is the right time. I checked and made sure of the time zone was right."
"Maybe you have the wrong channel. This is satellite."
"Don't patronize me. This is serious." She yelled.
"They might have just moved the block back a bit. Why don't you buy the whole series?"
Trisha closed her mouth and looked thoughtful. He didn't for a second believe she hadn't thought about it. On the other hand, she did seem a little scatter brained. Nero watched grim and evil for a minute and felt his stomach gurgle. He ordered the pizza an hour ago. A gaging sound returned his focus to Trisha.
For a minute he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Her lips wrapped around the down the chicken while she swallowed. They stepped in turn one independent of the other guiding the food safely behind her lips and down her gullet. How she could breath while swallowing a whole chicken was beyond him. The bulge slid down her throat and her collar bone stretched around the meal. He knew for a fact that bones shouldn't be able to do that.
"I have so many questions."
"I flavored it with a basil sauce of my own making. If you want some, I do sell it to friends. Now I have a very important question to ask you Nero. Are we friends?" Trisha asked.
Yea, I'd say we are. But that isn't my question and you know it."
"Well then ask away." He opened his mouth only to hear a knock on the door. Nero sighed and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out his wallet.
"Do you want any pizza to go with your chicken?" Nero asked. She smiled revealing a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth. Pieces of chicken skin clung to Trisha's mouth full of razors. "Remind me never to ask you for a blowjob."
"Awe, but I don't have a gag reflex."
Nero let out a sigh before opening the door. The barrel of sawed-off shotgun touched his chest.
Bang!
"For the lord." Nero felt a solid slug rip through his suit and flatten against his skin. Heat and force traveled through his guts before shooting his feet out from under him. He tumbled back. Trisha shot across the room and captured the man in her coils.
Nero made his way back to his feet. Police would get here soon. He'd have to explain himself, manipulate the mist, find a new motel, and order another damn pizza. Then there was the hole in his suit. Sure, he'd treated it poorly, but the rips were kept at a minimum. Then there was the sulfuric smell of gunpowder that he'd have to wash off. Nero took a breath. He steadied himself if he attacked now, he'd kill the guy.
Trisha released the gunman. "Sorry,"
"For," there were several bones poking out of the gunman's body. "There are other ways to get information." He took the man's wallet and read off his driver's license. "Assad Muhammed, why were you here and what did you hope to achieve by killing yourself."
He heard the roar of an engine and pushed Trisha out of the way. A car smashed into his side and drove him through the motel. He fell onto the remaining chickens covering his suit in sauces and dust from the broken wall. Sheet rock dust turned his once black suit white.
Nero reached out a hand and stabbed into the car. His hand clawed its way to the heart of the vehicle. Pistons snapped and steel squealed in pain. The driver came to in time to see him kill the car. Nero heard the click of a switch and the world exploded.
He kept his eyes closed while boiling plastic splashed and steel rods shot in every direction. Cling rooted him into place while he was pelted. Blinded by the smoke and boiling plastic covering his body, he dragged himself out of the burning motel. He felt gentle hands cup his ears.
"Come on, I'll hide us with the mist while we get away." He followed her with mana sense. Nero let out a coughing fit after his first breath of fresh air. Dying from smoke inhalation would have been an embarrassing death. A smile stretched his face. This was so interesting. They were willing to lose their lives to kill him. A mere clear-sighted mortal was worth a jihad.
Excitement flooded his senses before a thought stopped it cold. What if they went after his sister next? He wasn't by himself anymore. The thought made him smile wistfully and growl blood hungry at once. He wondered what Aphrodite would call this feeling. He was certain it wasn't love.
Trisha was also a soft target. He'd given her a good toss before the car hit him. That didn't mean she was out of range of the car shrapnel. Lamia were monsters and turned to dust when killed. Until they died, they'd bleed like anything living. She might be in a lot of pain. He let that feed his rage on a simmer he'd save it for his own soft target.
Another thought caught up to him. They knew he was a clear-sighted mortal. They didn't know or suspect he was anything more. The likelihood of a centaur being behind this attack went up significantly. It lent credence to Rodger's statements.
Where would centaurs even get jihadists? They don't exactly sell their services to the highest bidder. They were very inefficient targeting systems. If he'd used cling before the car hit the jihadist might have died before he could pull the trigger. Smart bombs were simply better.
"You need to get out of those clothes."
Nero sighed and gripped his suit. With a tug it came free along with most of the congealed foam from the destination. She pushed a rag against his face clearing the suit and plastic away. His notepad fell out of his suit no worse for wear.
"We must withdraw. I think another pantheon is involved."
Nero spotted his bag. It was covered with ash, but the leather held up. After wiping himself down he laid out his replacement suit.
"Thank you for saving my bag."
"The Olympians must be informed." Trisha whispered.
"Then leave Trisha and tell them a few mortal Jihadists blew up a motel that happened to have a clear-sighted mortal and lamia inside. Even if you shared his bed, I doubt Zeus will believe another pantheon is invading. What evidence do you have that this isn't a random attack?"
"You were there. I'm an expert at manipulating the mist. The pizza guy should have called after failing to find our room. We also rented a room and broke into another."
"Isn't it more likely you made a mistake and happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time." Nero sighed and took a bite of some jerky from his bag. "That's how the gods will look at it. We need hard evidence and a solid case. The only way to do that is to continue with the case." Nero said.
"I've already given you passing marks. Let's get out of here you're in, take a different case."
Nero stared at the suit he wore. It was scratchy, the pants were a little loose, and it was grey. Nero preferred either solid black or red for his suits. Grey just wasn't his color. It was a cheap backup that he hoped he wouldn't need. Another reason to be pissed off at whoever was behind the attack.
"You smell like the fields of punishment. Go get a shower, I have some calls to make. And sugar." Nero turned to Trisha.
"We're going to make those bastards pay." Nero nodded and closed the bathroom door.
The window shut with a gentle click. He walked in silence through the wealthy home of Bradley Jones. Jean's friend lived in a large two-story home. Nero glanced to the side to see a hound whimpering. He walked through the home silent as a shadow on a moonlit night. Through the kitchen he found a locked door. He jiggled it open easy enough and opened the door to a set of stairs. A chill ran through the house the second the door opened.
Nero leapt down the stairs and turned on his flashlight. What he found shocked him to his core.
They turned their basement into a theatre. There was a movie projector, a popcorn machine, and red felt seats. Two shelves were filled with movies and games.
A gun safe laid in the corner of the room. Nero thought about pulling it apart for whatever goodies laid within but tossed out the idea. He'd get paid after this job. The room did give him some ideas for later. Nero left the basement to explore more of the house.
He entered the parent's room. They were asleep clothes was laid out for the next day. He closed their door and searched for another. After opening the door to the sister, he looked around. She slept calmly in her bed. A few posters covered her walls mostly pop artists. There was nothing obviously supernatural in her room.
Nero glided over her carpet and searched through her dresser drawers. It would be just like him to miss an important clue because it was safely concealed in a drawer. All he found was her diary and a drawing stuffed between the pages.
Journal Entry 07/08/2002
'It won't get out of my head. "Remember me." It yells and I burn up in my bed. As the fire burns me and my lungs fill with smoke. "Can't you remember my name? Its," I scream, and everything goes black. I'm trapped in the fire burning forever another flame among billions. I burn but I can't scream. Then I wake up. I'm going to draw him and show him to Bradley, he's into this supernatural shit.'
He flipped the picture open and shined his flashlight on it. The creature stood on hooves, it had a peacock's tail feathers and, the head of an ass. Great horns curled atop its head and his mouth was filled with human teeth. It was stenciled in black and white. This wasn't a Greek monster; he was sure of it.
If he had his Greek deities right, then dreams were Morpheus's domain. Did something happen to the deity or was he distracted somehow?
He took the diary and the drawing. It was better to get the image away from her.
Nero made his way to Bradley's room. Slipping into the room hadn't been difficult. Sneak mode let him slip through any home unseen. The mercenary made his way to the boy's shelves. One by one, he looked through the occult books. Then he spotted one on the desk.
He opened the book-marked page to see the monster in question. It was a demon and a Syrian god. Beside it was its consort and fellow demon or god. Their names were Adramelech and Anamelech. Were they possessed, manipulated, or blackmailed into serving the demon or were they the servants at all? Where did the jihadists come in? When did this start?
Nero had a written confession and proof of research. If he had to guess, then the demons needed Jean for something. His first stop was the drop off the evidence with Trisha.
"This is great. With this I'm sure we can get some of the gods to investigate. Welcome to the Mythological Mercenaries sugar." Trisha said and wrapped her arms around him.
"This isn't over the case isn't finished. I still need to save Jean."
"It isn't our job to save people. Our job is only to solve the mystery and minimize damage to the mortal world. Sugar, we aren't heroes." Nero nodded.
"I'm sure I can get more evidence. If not in Jean's room then in Greg's."
"Be careful, I'll make a call to my contact."
Nero made his way under the light of the crescent moon. The streets were clean. Not a group of drunk centaurs causing trouble or teens driving muscle cars in sight. There wasn't a party on any street. On the month before school started back a lack of partying was abnormal. It wasn't raining fire and brimstone, but it was odd.
He thought about the two he'd seen in the book. Both deities were of the equine persuasions, did the centaurs support them? Was this a betrayal on their part?
He had to think. Why would the centaurs betray the gods? They had it good from what he could see. Under the rule of the Olympians the centaurs were free to party and build wealth for generations. They occasionally warred among themselves, and with the demigods but that would happen under any regime. Would they have a choice if equine deities are involved? Maybe.
There was no evidence of betrayal. Morpheus didn't report the dreams to Olympus or Zeus could be too busy recovering from being pegged to care.
Under stealth, he entered the centaur gated community. Their eyes couldn't find him. The last sliver of the moon shown above. Nero knew that tomorrow night would be a new moon. He slipped into Jean's room and looked around. He looked under the bed and through drawers. The entire house was empty.
Nero used cling to traverse the outside of the house and opened the blacked-out window to the parent's room. He nearly fell when the smell of rot assaulted him. It was the money shot of a slasher film. Guts were ripped from their bodies and wound out on the ceiling fan. Their heads were gone replaced by those of donkeys sewn into their place. A symbol was stitched into each of their chests. He backed up from the window and shut it. The husband's tail was replaced with bright green peacock feathers sewn in place.
This was a ritualistic sacrifice it had to be. The fact that it was carried out despite his presence meant something was coming. He might be too late.
This happened hours ago. He could tell by the fresh blood. They were kept alive for a while before their heads were taken.
It was his inexperience. He should have investigated the parent's room. He could have saved them. There was another room he needed to search.
He opened the door to Greg's room and searched the place. On a shelf crystalized in amber was a single peacock feather. Nero heard hooves approaching the room and dove under the bed. He had no idea what level of power this monster had but knew it wasn't alone. This time when Greg entered the room Nero smelled sulfur.
He wanted to kill this monster and take his chances. That could be just as likely be a mistake. What if that fulfilled some part of the sacrifice? Nero was indecisive and that's what they wanted. Or they might think he's dead. That could be why they moved ahead.
Nero decided to wait and let it lead him to Jean. The possessed centaur laid on the bed pushing the mattress springs to the bottom and kicking up dust. Nero held his stealth and waited.